ă€ŠTransmigrated as a Ghostă€‹


 Chapter 1 - 0 Surviving Just To Die

    My vacation in Australia had been great for the first few days. I visited the Daintree Rainforest, got to enjoy Taronga zoo and tour around Sydney.

    Then today I finally went out to go swimming in the ocean when a freak thunderstorm whipped up out of nowhere.

    Lightning started shing in the sky all around me as I panic swam back to shore.

    I had gone pretty far out from the shore following schools of fishes and had to hightail it back as fast as possible.

    I swam like my life depended on it mainly because it did.

    In my haste, I sshed up a storm moving my arms and legs as fast and with as much force as I could muster all the while thinking ''I am not going to get struck by fucking lightning on my first vacation in years''.

    After vigorously swimming for what felt like hours (in all actuality it was only a couple of minutes), I look back to see how close the storm was, and it was now right over my head.

    After ncing at the impending storm, I notice that my rowdy swimming has attracted a friend.

    A huge razor sharped toothed friend that looks hungry and is easily three times my size.

    In this moment I wondered what the world has against me and why it decided I had to die one way or another.

    I begin moving towards the shore again as fast as my arms and legs can take me with renewed strength, hoping that my huge new shark friend would not be interested in me.

    However, contrary to my whishes in just a few seconds I see big ol Brucy swimming under me right before they point their head at me with their big toothy maw aimed right for my body.

    I abruptly stop my life shing before my eyes thinking ''what did I do to deserve this, I certainly wasn''t a perfect person, but I never did anything so bad as to go out this way.''

    Then bang the shark impacts into my body pushing me out of the water with the shark right behind me.

    By some miracle, my abrupt stop messed up the sharks aim and instead of being grabbed by its mouth full of sharp deadly teeth, I was knocked into the air by its snout.

    Nevertheless, that still hurt like hell and the shark''s mouth is once again directed towards me on our descent back into the water when all of a sudden there is a huge sh and a loud boom.

    After beingpletely disoriented by the recent events I eventually make it back to the surface of the water.

    The sight in front of me blew my mind, the shark that almost ate me was struck by lightning while in the air and now sits roasted on the surface of the water.

    I had heard that both the odds of being struck by lightning or being attacked by a shark are quite unlikely but the odds of a shark being struck by lightning must be astronomical.

    Well better you than me Brucy.

    Reveling in my good luck, and that I got out of that situation with nothing more than a bruised side, I make my way back towards the shore albeit at a slower and calmer pace as to not attract the ire of the world again.

    Finally, I had made it back to the beach exhausted as hell, and being rained on as the storm raged on all around me.

    After panting heavily for a few minutes to regain my stamina after swimming with everything I had so as to not die, I begin to make my way back over to the stuff I had left on the beach.

    Once I make it back to where I had set up on the beach, I find that all my stuff is gone either because someone took it, or the storm blew it away.

    As I look around, I notice that everyone has already vacated the beach, but I guess there is no surprise there, as it was currently raining cats and dogs out here.

    ''Well, it could have been worse I only lost a beach towel, a cheap bag, my sunscreen, sunsses, and a water bottle''.

    After the near-death experience, I had just gone through I had to look on the positive side of things.

    I manage to head back to the locker where the rest my stuff was stored and atst get out of this infernal storm.

    After multiple attempts to remember the passcode, I eventually get the locker open and I am reunited with my possessions.

    I dry off with the spare towel I brought and get changed into some fresh and dry clothes.

    Now wearing my fresh and dry t-shirt and blue jeans I had a new predicament.

    I had no sort of protection from the rain such as an umbre or a jacket and I refused to get soaked again after finally getting dry.

    I take out my phone which still had over sixty percent battery even though with all that had gone wrong today I expected it to be dead.

    Checking the weather, I found that the storm blew in quick and is predicted to move out just as fast in a few minutes.

    After around ten more minutes the storm has passed by and the sun was shining once again.

    ''Even though I only have three days left in Australia I think I''ve had enough excitement for one day and am going to spend the rest of the day lounging around my hotel room''.

    I call for a cab toe pick me up because after what had happened earlier today, I was in no mood to walk to the nearest bus station.

    Once the cab arrived, I got in and gave him the address of the hotel I was staying at and enjoyed the ride back to my temporary abode.

    As we were driving back while passing through an intersection a truck ran a red light and nearly plowed straight into the cab, I was in.

    ''Holy shit they missed us by just a few inches I swear I am not going out via truck. The world must want me to have a heart attack. Okay world message received I will be a better person I''ll start recycling more, get a hybrid, donate to charity just please stop trying to kill me today.''

    At longst the cab pulled into my hotel.

    I exchanged some niceties and then payed the driver.

    I scurried into the hotel and up to my room as fast as possible and when I closed the door to my room, I could finally breathe easy again.

    ''Okay I am not leaving my room for the rest of the day, I need a shower and some food, and then I am spending the rest of the day in bed.''

    After getting out of the shower I dried off and ordered up some room service.

    I would not normally do so, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

    I ordered the most expensive thing they had, the lobster thermidor. Almost dying three times in one day makes a man want to try new things.

    After eating the quite delicious lobster thermidor I spent the rest of the day watching videos and reading a book.

    Once the day turned to evening the fatigue from the day''s activities started to encroach on me and I decide to call it a night and get some shut eye to recover.

    Right before sleep overcame me, I thought ''todays has been one crazy day but I still have three days left on my vacation and as much as I like the beach, I probably will not be returning any time soon. There is still plenty to do here like visit the opera house, maybe that''s what I''ll do tomorrow''.

    Unfortunately, I never did get to visit the opera house or do anything else on Earth for that matter because I never woke up again after going to sleep that day.

 Chapter 2 - 1 Terminal

    My name is Marcus Ferrous and welp, I died.

    I was just your average guy on Earth with pretty much my whole life ahead of me. I did not think that I was going to die so young or that I deserved to die for some reason, but the world is often cruel and unpredictable so here I am.

    I was a 28-year-old man of average height around five foot nine inches and was working for aw firm as awyer. I had recently been given a pay raise and decided to go on a vacation to celebrate. Turns out it was myst vacation as I happened to die somehow.

    But back to what is currently happening. I am in some sort of long automated line of what I assume are souls.

    When I suddenly appeared in this line, I received a message in my mind that I had died and to wait for my turn to be served.

    That''s it, that was all I got before having to stand, well float in this long line of souls. I can no longer move, hear, touch, taste, or smell. The only thing I can do is see around me what appears to be an infinite number of souls in lines moving forwards.

    ''Well, this is bleak, hopefully it does not take too long for me to get served because this is incredibly boring. I don''t even know how I died, I just went to bed and then ended up here.''

    After waiting for what seemed like an eternity (in all actuality it was only a few hours) I am finally able to see some sort of structure.

    At longst I am at the front of the line waiting to enter a small white building that I can only assume is the service station that I have been waiting for.

    Now that I am here, I am incredibly nervous, if I could sweat there would be a massive puddle under me, I do not believe I ever did something bad enough to get sent straight to hell, but the thought is creeping in the back of my mind.

    The door into the white room then opens and I am pulled into the great unknown.

    All of a sudden, I just appear in front of some sort of desk with what looks like a white blob in a vaguely human shape in front of some sort of monitor.

    I then hear in my mind "hello wee to the soul terminal, I am the officer that will be helping you with your soul cement today. Let us get started now, I will give you a time for questions after my exnation of what is going to happen to you isplete, please refrain from asking any until that time."

    "To start you died on your home of Earth via a gas leak in your hotel that caused you to suffocate. Now that you have died there are two options for how we can handle your soul."

    "Normally there would only be one option where your soul is wiped of your memories and randomly assigned to a new world however because of special conditions you have been given a second option."

    "Your second option is to transfer to the world of Mirrion with your memories intact. This option is only avable to every ten millionth soul that dies on your. Which option will you choose?"

    "Um can I ask why exactly I have the option to be transferred to a new with my memories still intact like what is actually going on here."

    "Now is not the allotted time for questions please make your choice or one will be made for you there are many more souls waiting for their turn to be served."

    ''Well, this is unexpected I either get to have my memories wiped and my soul sent to who knows where or I can go to some unknown specified because I won the death lottery or something. I also can''t get anymore information on either option because I am not allowed to ask questions right now.''

    "Please promptly make your choice you have 15 seconds before one will be made for you."

    15,

    14,

    13,

    12,

    11,

    10,

    ''Ah I don''t need a countdown.''

    9,

    8,

    "Okay I decided I want to transfer to Mirrion."

    ''At least this way I''ll be able to keep my current memories and not be someone else.''

    "Understood you have selected to transfer to Mirrion, I will now give you a rundown of the transfer procedure and some general information about Mirrion."

    "Mirrion is a world that is quite different from your previous world in many ways. It is over 36 times bigger than Earth and is a world with what you call magic. It would be considered by you to be a world that is simr to many of the fantasies depicted in fiction on Earth. Mirrion is also supported by a system that helps people to advance in strength and learn skills more efficiently." Mirrion also has many other intelligent races other than humans unlike your former world."

    "The transfer process can follow either one of two methods. The first in which you will be reincarnated as a newborn to any possible intelligent race along with four random blessings, or you can be transferred using your old body as a temte for a new one on Mirrion along with one random blessing and starting at level forty."

    "In either case you will also receive the unique skill personal status, a small item box, a singlenguage token, and an introduction to Mirrion booklet. At this time, you may ask any questions you have in the allotted ten minutes before you need to make your choice of transfer process or one will be chosen for you. Also, there may be some question I am unable to answer your time starts now."

    ''Okay I need to think about these questions carefully I have a limited amount of time and information could invaluable.''

    "Earlier you mentioned blessings could you give me some more information on what effect they have on me".

    "Understood a blessing is a boon granted to people that gives them special abilities. For example, the blessing of fire would give a person a higher affinity and a boost in power for fire rted magic and skills as well as some minor resistances to fire. Blessings are normally given to people at birth, but it is possible to obtain themter in life. As there are hundreds of different blessings, I will not be able to give any more specific examples."

    "You told me that every ten millionth soul from Earth are also given the option to go to Mirrion how many other people from Earth are there."

    "Currently there are 127 other individuals from Earth residing on Mirrion."

    "Okay my next question is what is the average level for intelligent life on Mirrion."

    "The current average level for intelligent life on Mirrion is 13."

    "Then what is the average level of all life on Mirrion."

    "The current average level on Mirrion is 21."

    ''So, starting at level 40 would definitely put me well above the average level but I should also ask about how high the levels can go on Mirrion for all I know level 40 is still pretty weak.''

    "Next question what is the highest level possible on Mirrion."

    "I cannot answer that question."

    ''Well, that sucks guess I''ll have to find that outter.''

    "Then what is the highest level anything currently has on Mirrion."

    "I cannot answer that question."

    ''Guess they are not going to make it easy on me huh. I can''t really think of anymore good questions to ask about Mirrion itself without more information. I really don''t want to go through infancy or puberty again, so I am definitely not picking to be reincarnated as a baby. Maybe I can barter for some better starting rewards it''s worth a shot worst thing they do is say no.''

    "I have seen in plenty of fantasy stories where the main character would get some special ability that makes them untouchable would it be possible for me to get something like that in exchange for the blessing or levels."

    "I am afraid that that would beˇ­ wait I have received a message from the system administrator allowing it. Very well you request has been epted and your starting level has been lowered in order to facilitate the necessary changes."

    ''Wow that was surprisingly easy, I now get some broken ability that makes me untouchable, and it only cost me a few levels that I should be able to get backter. I guess I should ask about what kind of ability that I just got.''

    "What type of ability was I given and how many levels will I lose for it."

    "The ability that makes you untouchable is given via."

    DING!

    "Ah I am afraid that is all the time you have been allotted for questions and I will now begin your transfer to Mirrion."

    ''Wait that''s it I could have sworn I had more time left to ask questions.''

    "Transfer initiated thank you for your patience during this process and enjoy your new life on Mirrion."

 Chapter 3 - 2 Arriving On Mirrion

    After being told to enjoy my new life, I am suddenly surrounded by a bright light and everything bes a blur. I feel like I am moving at an incredible speed and then I see it. A huge full of vibrant colorses into view.

    ''I guess that must be Mirrion, it definitely looks huge inparison to earth.''

    In that brief moment where everything was still, I was able to get a good look at Mirrion seeing dozens of continents one which lookedpletely purple and vast oceans that could swallow the entirety of my former world.

    Then the moment was over, and I began hurtling towards the surface of Mirrion at an incredible pace.

    ''Oh, shit are they going to smash me right into the surface was this all just some sick game and they are going to kill me again right away.''

    Thankfully when I hit the surface there was no huge ker st and I appeared to be perfectly fine.

    I look around to get my bearings and notice that I am on a road that cuts through the middle of a lush forest.

    ''Well, if there''s a road there must be civilization not too far from where I am, at least they did not drop me in the absolute middle of nowhere.''

    I then I check out my new body which seems to be exactly like my old one except that I have some new clothes. Instead of the clothes I died in I am now wearing a light-colored shirt that''s almost white maybe beige, some ck pants, and some brown leather shoes.

    ''Now that I''ve checked out my physical person lets take a look at my status and see what cool ability I was given as well what type of blessing I got.''

    ''Okay here goes nothing STATUS!''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost

    Level: 1

    HP: 150/150

    MP: 140/140

    STR: ¨C

    AGL: 12

    VIT: ¨C

    INT: 14

    SPR: 15

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 0

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Level 1

    ''Wait what the fuck. Unbound Ghost, level 1 what the hell is going on here. I thought I was supposed to be a human and I''d get to start off with at least some levels. Where is the special ability that I asked for, I certainly did not ask to be turned into a fucking ghost. This is bullshit that system administrator or whatever must be fucking with me. Do you think that this sick joke is funny? I bet yourughing your ass off right about now. You better hope I never find you or I''m going to wring your neck.''

    After Marcus cursed out the system administrator for a few more minutes he finally decided to look at his status again and check out the particrs of his abilities.

    ''Whateverining hasn''t gotten me anything, so I''ll just have to deal with it. I traded 39 levels for being a ghost, so the powers have to be good right. Let''s check out the description of my race maybe it has some cool secrets that I have yet to uncovered.''

    Unbound Ghost is a unique race that has never existed before on Mirrion. As a Ghost this race has no physical body leaving it without a STR/strength or VIT/vitality score with HP being determined by their SPR/Spirt stat instead. An Unbound Ghost unlike other ghosts is not bound to a ce or goal or has an affinity for light or darkness. This Unique race ispletely neutral and free to follow its own desires.

    ''Hm so I''m some sort ofpletely new race that has never existed before I guess that''s cool still not happy about being a ghost but at least I''m not stuck on this dirt road for all eternity.''

    ''I have a pretty good idea what the stats do but I might as well check them out to make sure that they don''t do anything special.''

    STR/Strength is the measure of one''s physical might, AGL/agility is the measure of one''s ability to move quickly and efficiently, VIT/Vitality is the measure of one''s hardness and endurance and determines the amount of HP one has, INT/Intelligence is the measure of one''s ability to learn, apply, remember knowledge, and determines MP, and SPR/Spirit is the measure of one''s strength of soul, ability to resist mental effects, and increase the power of magical abilities.

    ''Okay pretty standard the stats all do pretty much what I expected. Next let''s check out the blessing I got, hopefully its really powerful.''

    Blessing of Iron gives the holder increased Strength and Vitality by making the holders body more durable and gives higher affinity to magic and crafting skills that use metal.

    ''Its official I''m being fucked with. This blessing is basically worthless to me, as a ghost I have no Strength or Vitality and there is no way for a ghost to be able to craft anything either. Unless I''m able to get some magic that involves metalter on this Blessing of Iron ispletely pointless.''

    ''Finally, all I have left are race abilities and specter powers but from their names alone I have a pretty good guess as to what they all do already.''

    Invisible: Makes the user unable to be perceived by normal senses.

    Ethereal: Makes the User untouchable they have no physical form can pass through most matter and are unaffected by most forces in the world.

    Chill Zone: The users presence lowers the temperature in a given area effect can change based on mood.

    Float: Allows the user to move in three dimensions.

    Possession: Allows the user to take control of a body. Effectiveness is determined by the difference in SPR stat.

    Undying: The user is incapable of dying through normal means such as aging, thirst, hunger, suffocation, or disease.

    Ghost Sounds: Allows the user to create sounds of chilling wind or quite wails. Power and range affected by level of skill.

    ''It''s official this suck. I basically don''t even exist no one can perceive me, and I can''t physicallye into contact with anything. The only way for me to affect the world is to give out free A/C, make spooky sounds, or possess someone. When I asked to be untouchable, I did not mean it so literally. It''s like some kind of asshole genie granted me my wish and I got a curse instead of what I really wanted.''

    ''However, staying on this road forever isn''t going to get me anywhere, guess I''ll have to borrow people''s bodies until I''m able to get an ability that allows me to interact with the world. Wait what the hell has the ground gotten closer or am I getting shorter.''

    Marcus then looked down to find an unpleasant surprise in store for him. His body had sunk into the ground up to his thighs and he was slowly sinking even deeper.. His body soon waspletely swallowed, and he could no longer see anything except the dirt in front of his face.

 Chapter 4 - 3 Getting To The Core Of The Issue

    Marcus continued to fall through the ground around him as the speed of his descent increased with every second that passed. Marcus tried everything that he could think of to stop his decent into the world. He tried to p his arms around wildly free style swim through rock, he even resorted to praying toe to a stop. s everything he did was futile as he only sunk deeper and deeper into Mirrion. The ground passed around Marcus''s eyes with the changing of color of the rock around him and the subtle feeling of falling alerting him that he was still falling. At one point he came into a massive open cavern that was full of brilliant colors and housed a massive metropolis. This scene managed to distract Marcus from his predicament for quite some time as he looked around in wonder at the beautiful cavern and sprawling underground city. His descent even seemed to slow down while he viewed the city and its splendor however, the cruel embrace of the ground once again covered Marcus. For hours then days Marcus kept slipping deeper into Mirrion, after trying everything that he could think of to stop he finally gave up hoping that he would eventuallye out on the other side of the world. Unfortunately for Marcus this did not happen, he did eventuallye to a stop but instead ofing out on the other side of the world he was stuck in its core.

    ''No no no don''t stop now, don''t take away the little hope that I had left to escape this nightmare. This was supposed to be a new start in an amazing new world yet so far all it has been hell. I''m literally now trapped in a fiery molten prison.''

    Marcus had already tried everything he could think of to use his float ability but for some reason he could only move down and never up. He had even read the newbies guide he was given but the only information that he got from it that could help was that skills could be purchased and upgraded with skill points. Unfortunately, with Marcus only being level 1 he had no skill points to spend on a skill that could get him out of his current situation.

    ''Maybe this is all just a dream. Yeah, I''m going to wake up in my hotel room any moment now and can continue with my life. Please wake up I don''t want to spend all eternity stuck at the center of this world. I miss my old life I wish I could just go back to how everything was before. I want to see my family again. Everything has just happened so fast I hadn''t even considered how I''ll never be able to spend holidays with my family, I''ll never go see another movie with my brother and sister or meet my newborn nephew. This world is horrible I thought it would be a cool adventure exploring a new magical world but instead I will be stuck in the core of the until eventually I lose what semnce of sanity I have left.''

    As Marcus''s thoughts became bleaker and darker as he begged to anything and everything to escape the hell life''s cruelty had bestowed upon him, when his thoughts and emotions were at their darkest Marcus moved ever so slightly downward until bouncing back up into the center of Mirrion.

    ''What the hell just happened why did I just move down farther only to bounce back up. I know gravity must have some affect on me otherwise I would have just floated out to space instead of the core of Mirrion so why did I suddenly move down again after reaching the center of gravity.''

    After searching his memories from his beginning on Mirrion to his rapid descent into the center of the world Marcus slowly begins to piece together how his float ability really works.

    ''I do not remember starting to sink immediately on my arrival to Mirrion, at first I checked out my body and the surroundings and was certainly not moving in any direction. I only began to fall through the ground while I was reading my status. I was bing quite angry because I had been screwed over by the system administrator. Then when I noticed that I was sinking into the ground I started to panic and began to sink faster. However, there was one point when I felt like I began to slow down, when I saw the amazing underground cavern and city, I was so enamored that I almost forgot that I was falling though the ground. In the few minutes in which I was marveling at the city my descent really did slow down. And just moments ago when I was feeling at my lowest it felt like the whole world was waying down on me I moved slightly for the first time since being stuck at the center of the world. The thing that affects my float ability is my feelings, my own negativity was waying me down so if I think positively, I should be able to move up instead of fall down.''

    With Marcus''s first spark of hope since he began falling into the ground he began to rise instead of fall and as the feeling of hope continued to swell, Marcus began to ascend faster and faster making his way back to the surface of Mirrion.

 Chapter 5 - 4 To The Surface Once More

    After Marcus figured out how to use his float ability, he began his trek back to the surface. Though he had figured out how the ability worked in general putting it into practice was another story. At first Marcus was able to ascend without too much difficulty but he soon found that keeping his emotions in check and the precise control of his float ability to be difficult to master.

    At one point he could only go directly to his left not ascending or descending and then after that he found himself doing circles for awhile unable to tell up from down. After days of practice and passing through the center of Mirrion multiple times in order to get his bearings Marcus finally had perfect control over his float ability.

    Weeks after Marcus had mastered the use of his float ability, he once again emerged unto the surface of Mirrion.

    ''At longst I have made it back to the surface, I nearly lost my sanity trying to get back here but it is done my journey can finally begin.''

    Marcus then looks around at the scenery before him which is full of rolling hills coated by a dense forest that went in every direction for as far as he could see. He then floated above the canopy of the forest to get a better look around him.

    ''Well, I am definitely not where I was before, for all I know I could be on the other side of the world from where I started. I do not see any signs of civilization this time around, just a bunch of trees and hills. Also, these trees are huge, some of them seem to be as tall as 500 feet. I am definitely not in Kansas anymore.''

    ''The first thing I need to do is figure up how I am going to level up. When I was trying to find away out of my sinking predicament and skimmed through newbie''s guide, I was given I read the section on leveling up to hopefully find a way to level up and get some skill points but stuck underground I had no means to level up.''

    During his reading Marcus learned that there are multiple ways to level up such as training, using special treasures,pleting a quest or objective that the system considerers to be difficult, or by fighting and killing other creatures. The most time efficient method that is easily essible but also deadliest is of course to fight and kill other creatures. This is because you not only get experience for fighting but also when you kill another creature you absorb some of the exp they had as your own.

    ''The problem is that I have almost no way to interact with other creatures because I am a ghost. I guess I could try and freeze something to death with my chill aura, but I highly doubt that''s possible especially because this area looks naturally cold to begin with. I guess the only way is for me to try and possess some sort of creature. It is a good thing that exp is absorbed by the soul and not the body otherwise I would be screwed.''

    After searching around the forest for a suitable body to possess Marcus atst finds some sort of bearlike creature that instead of fur has scales that looks kind of like what a pangolin has.

    ''Welp, it looks a little weird, but it seems like it would be pretty strong, let''s see if I can not use it to grind out a few levels.''

    Marcus floats towards the scaled bear ever so slowly mostly because he can not move all that fast and when he got with in just a few inched of the bear he tried to jump into its body and possess it. However, as he tries to possess the bear, he is very violently ejected from its body unable to take control for even a second.

    ''Ah shit that hurt what the hell I could not even possess it for an instance and why do I feel pain all of a sudden.''

    Marcus then checked his status and noticed that he had lost 10 HP and his personal log said that his possession had failed.

    ''It did not say anywhere in the skills description that failed possessions can hurt me and this means that this stupid scaled bear has a higher spirit stat than me. Being level 1 sucks, I am only going to be able to possess things that are significantly weaker than me and have a low spirit stat.''

    After searching around for a while more and quite a few more failed possessions Marcus eventually found a creature that he believed that he could take control.

    ''Finally, something that looks like I can possess that is not an insect, you will be mine winged carnivorous squirrel thing.''

    After fighting for control from the winged carnivorous squirrel for about a minute Marcus was able to wrestle control over the body away from the soul of the squirrel. He then promptly examined his new status after possessing his first creature.

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Winged Carnivorous Squirrel Level 1 Possessed)

    Level: 1

    HP: 132/150-60/60

    MP: 140/140

    STR: 3(+1)

    AGL: 12

    VIT: 5(+1)

    INT: 14

    SPR: 15

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 0

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities: w, bite, flight (poor)

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Level 1

    After checking his status Marcus then did a little dance in the squirrel''s body and made a v pose with his little wed fingers to show off his first victory on Mirrion.

    ''Ha-ha yes I have done it my start has finally arrived I now have a physical form to use, the world will one day tremble before my power.''

    After indulging in a few more delusions and a bit of celebrating on his sessful possession Marcus calmed down and went over his status in detail.

    ''Okay looks like while I am possessing another creature, I lose ess to all of my race abilities and gain the abilities of the creature I am possessing. I also have now gained a strength and vitality score and for some reason they have plus one. Let''s see here ah its because of my Blessing of Iron, I guess that blessing is notpletely useless after all. Sorry for cursing you out Blessing of Iron I now know that you are an impressive ability and I will be relying on you from now on. I also seem to have some extra HP which I guess is how much this squirrel normally has. Very well then let''s go find some other creatures to fight so I can finally level up.''

    Marcus began to search around for some other creatures to fight but finding creatures in his weight ss was easier said then done. It took him about two hours before he eventually caved on trying to find something around his strength level and decided to kill a small insect, he found just to see how much exp he could get.

    ''You seem to be some type of beetle and while you have not done anything to me, I need to fight and kill to gain exp so you''re going to have to die to make me stronger.''

    Marcus the raised his paw extended his ws and swiped down toward the beetle. His ws sunk into the beetle''s carapace taking arge chunk out of it. The beetle tried to scurry away, but Marcus then used his bite to finish the beetle off.

    ''Pfft pfft, that beetle was disgusting I need to remember not to use my bite on them. Now how much exp did I get from that.''

    Marcus checked his status to see how much exp he had attained from his first kill only to see the scant amount that the beetle had given.

    ''Great these beetles barely give any exp at all I will need to kill like 5000 more of them just to level up once. That could take months to aplish, I need to find something else to fight that gives me more exp. I may have to fight something in a higher weight ss and hope Ie out on top.''

    Marcus then went off in search of more powerful foes to fight so that he could gain exp and hopefully level up.

 Chapter 6 - 5 Fighting For The Next Level

    After defeating a random beetle as his first opponent Marcus went looking for stronger more exp foes to fight. Even though both Marcus and the beetle were level 1 the amount of exp a beetle has is nothingpared to what Marcus needs to level up. The strength of a creature is not solely determined by level but also by race. A level 1 dragon is still far stronger than a level 10 horse and thus would give more and need more exp.

    Marcus searched around for a while until he found the perfect being for him to fight against for exp. He managed to find a silver furred ferret that was eating the body of a smaller rodent.

    ''The perfect situation that silver furred ferret is already distracted by its meal and will never notice my ambush. It is time for you to be the foundation for my first level up.''

    Marcus then moved along the branches of the trees as quietly as he could slowly positioning himself above the silver furred ferret that he had found. Once he was in position, he was ready to pounce on the unsuspecting ferret.

    ''Here we go one two three death from above.''

    Marcus then jumped towards the ferret teeth and ws ready and when he was only a foot away from the ferret it suddenly leaped to the side dodging the sneak attack forcing Marcus to m into the hard ground.

    ''Ah that hurt that crafty ferret dodged me, how the hell did it know I was here. Whatever I will just have to fight it head on and hope I get a victory.''

    Marcus and the ferret then squared off against each other with Marcus attacking fist lunging towards the ferret teeth first hoping to score a nasty bite only for the ferret to dodge out of the way once again. This time however, the ferret also struck back racking its ws across the side of the squirrel that Marcus is currently possessing.

    ''Ow that really fucking hurts not having a physical body has almost made me forget how bad pain can be I cannot believe that this stupid ferret is beating me right now.''

    Of course, the ferret had far more experience inbat then Marcus who was also fighting in an unfamiliar body as well as having sustained an injury at the beginning of the fight, there was no way Marcus had any chance of winning. After exchanging a few more blows, with the ferret taking almost no damage the ferret had pinned down Marcus and was about to deliver the final blow when Marcus abandoned the squirrel''s body.

    The squirrel let out a deafening cry as the ferret bit into its throat to finish it off.

    ''Good job Mr. ferret, you managed to defeat me in squirrel form however, it is I who shall have the final victory as your body is now mine.''

    Marcus then floated towards the ferret that had begun to eat the previously possessed squirrel and activated his possession skill. Once inside the ferrets body the two souls fought for control over the body and after quite a bit longer than Marcus would like he finally obtained control over the ferret''s body.

    ''Huff-huff that was harder than I expected it to be, this thing must be higher than level 1 otherwise taking control of its body should have been easier. Let me check out my new status and see if this thing has any good abilities.''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Silver Furred Ferret Level 2 Possessed)

    Level: 1

    HP: 150/150-80/80

    MP: 140/140

    STR: 6(+1)

    AGL: 12

    VIT: 7(+1)

    INT: 14

    SPR: 15

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 0

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities: w, Bite, Silver Hide

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Level 1

    ''Okay this ferret is level 2, from the fight it put up I was expecting little higher but it has higher stats than the squirrel so I will take it. It has both w and bite just like the squirrel but instead of flight it has silver hide which increases resistance to physical damage. No wonder I could barely hurt the thing and it felt like my attacks were bouncing off. Oh well time to use this ferret to level myself up.''

    Marcus possessing the ferret headed out in search of more creatures to fight. He went searching for more of the winged squirrels, but they would always fly away before he could get close to them and none of them were dumb enough to attack Marcus head on.

    ''Why won''t these stupid squirrelse down and fight like a man. This forest sucks there are hardly any creatures that I can take over and even fewer that I can fight for exp once I have a suitable body. I really did not want to have to resort to killing bugs for exp, but I can''t waste all my time looking for something that gives better exp and that I can fight. At least this way I will be feel like I am doing something.''

    Marcus then went on a bug massacring spree for a few hours killing every insect her could find. This of course hardly gave him any exp even after killing many dozen beetles, moths, and what else he could get his paws on. Marcus finally caught a break and managed to find a small mouse and after chasing it around for a couple of minutes had pinned it down ready to make the kill.

    ''I finally got you hopefully you are going to give far more exp than those stupid bugs I have been killing. Do not look at me with those eyes you lost and no I am going to kill you for the exp staring at me with so much fear will not stop me. Damn it, fine go you get to live you would barely give me any exp anyways.''

    The little mouse then scurried away from Marcus thanking its lucky stars that it managed to survive somehow.

    ''Whatever it does not matter it probably would have been about equal to 10 beetles anyway. I am basically immortal so if I have to spend a few months killing insects to get my first level up it is not that big of a deal.''

    Marcus continued his hunt for exp killing whatever insects he could find slowly but surely making his way to the next level. However, moving all over the forest without regard for stealth eventually would lead anyone to ruin as Marcus came across a beast, he had no chance against.

    ''There there nice doggy your massive like the size of a truck you don''t want to eat this tiny ferret I would barely be a snack for you. Let''s just be friend and walk away from each other okay.''

    As Marcus tried to turn around and run away a massive w decapitated the ferret he was possessing in an instant shunting him out of its body.''

    ''Ah fuck that hurt, it still hurts damn what the hell, god what is this my body has a crack in it.''

    After checking his status Marcus noticed that he had lost about a quarter of his HP after being forced out of the ferrets body upon his death.

    ''Ow ow ow, I guess my soul takes damage if I am killed while inside another creatures body. This is just great now I have to be even more carefully about using other creatures bodies. And fuck you gargantuan wolf I hope I never see you again. Woops got to be carefully I''ve already sunk up to my waist in the ground.''

    After pulling himself back out of the ground Marcus floated away from the wolf in search of another body to possess. After searching around for a few days without finding a suitable body to upy Marcus noticed something that really piqued his interest.

    ''That is definitely some smoke over there in the distance and where there is smoke there is fire and where there is fire there might be people.. Time to go investigate if I follow some people around, I may eventually find a treasure that will help me level up.''

 Chapter 7 - 6 The Cruelty Of People

    After noticing smoke and hoping to get his first human interaction sinceing to Mirrion, Marcus starts making his way towards the billowing plume in the distance.

    ''I wonder what I am going to find when I arrive. Will it be a lone cabin in the woods where a wizard has secluded himself in the pursuit of magic or maybe a group or adventurers resting after a long day of fighting. Whoever it is I just want to be able to meet some other people again after being alone with only my thoughts since I got here, I think I my be starting to go a little crazy.''

    Floating straight towards the first sign of human activity Marcus had seen since arriving on Mirrion, what would have taken a day for most people to navigate took Marcus only a few hours because he could go in a straight line passing through any obstacles.

    What he found when he arrived was not what he had been hoping for. All around him were eight smoldering buildings with no semnce of life remaining. Marcus'' mind was in a haze for many minutes as he looked at the horror scene in front of him and he only snapped out of it when his entire body had been enveloped by earth. It then took him a bit longer to get his emotions in check so that he could rise back above the surface.

    ''I have read about stuff like this happening back on Earth, but this is the first time that I have seen anything like this in person. There are over a dozen charred people in the remains of these houses and if I had still had a stomach, I would probably vomit right now. I wonder what happened here, the houses are still smoldering so whatever it was could not have been to long ago. I guess that I should check around and see if anyone is alive, I am not sure I would be able to help anyone right now but who knows maybe I will figure something out.''

    Unfortunately, even with Marcus'' selfless thoughts of helping people after searching around the area of the smallmunity he found nobody alive and all but one of the bodies were burnt to a crisp. At first when Marcus saw the body of the young women not far from the buildings near a dirt trail, he thought she might still be alive. however, when he got closer, he could see that she was dead. She had a horrible scar from a burn on the left side of her face and shoulder however, these seemed to be old wounds and it was the indentation of a hand on her neck that gave away how she died.

    ''This world just keeps throwing more and more at me. How na?ve I was to think that this world would be like some video game where I fight monsters and level up and at the end of the day get a drink in a tavern to celebrate. So far all I have seen and experienced is suffering, and I can''t even give these people a proper burial.''

    Aftermenting the cruelty of the world for a while Marcus decided to leave, he could not stay in this ce as it was only making it difficult for him to stay above the ground. However, as he was turning around to leave an idea sparked in his head.

    ''This girl is dead, so her body no longer houses a soul, she also does not appear to have any irreparable damage so maybe I could possess her body and use it. I know this is a bit disturbing but if I just leave her here so is either going to rot or more likely be eaten by some animal. It is worth a shot and if it works, I can at least bury everyone else as a means of amends for taking over her body.''

    Marcus then floated over to the girls body and activated his possession skill. Unluckily for Marcus while the girl had been suffocated her neck was also broken so when Marcus took over her body, he began to feel unimaginable pain. He experienced terrible suffering unable to die and unable to leave the body he had just possessed he was in a state of such pain that he could not get his thoughts under control. After suffering for many hours, the pain started to slowly subside into a dull soreness and Marcus was able to think again.

    ''Ugh what the hell just happened why did that hurt so much. Her neck must be broken because that is where I am feeling the most pain. How did I even possess her body if it was that damaged, I figured if the body was unable to function, I would just be forced out. My neck is killing me, and I still can''t move her body I should just cut my loses and get out. What the fuck why can''t I leave, I should be able to stop possessing herˇ­ STATUS''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethering in Progress)

    Level: 1

    HP: 150/150-48/110

    Status Condition: Nerve Damage

    MP: 140/140

    STR: 10(+1)

    AGL: 12

    VIT: 10(+1)

    INT: 14

    SPR: 15

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 0

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Level 1

    ''Seriously what is going on, soul tethering, nerve damage, and I have lesser regeneration for some reason. I suppose I need to read the description of these new abilities and check my log to find out what is happening.''

    After reading about soul tethering and his new skill as well as checking his personal log Marcus managed to get a decent understanding of his current situation.

    ''So, I think I have everything sorted out now. When I tried to possess Irene''s dead body a small portion of her soul that was still here because she died with a powerful regret. This piece of her soultched onto mine and forced me to stay in her body even though it was too damaged for me to normally possess. To fix this conundrum the system gave me the lesser regeneration skill to heal the damage and I am now stuck in this body and can''t move until it finishes repairing the nerve damage.''

    Once another few hours had passed and the nerve damage had fully healed, Marcus then tried to get up but was suddenly struck by the most horrible headache he had ever experienced. Scenes of Irene''s life shed before Marcus''s eyes, first showing the birth of her little sister, then to the scene of Irene protecting her little sister from a falling pot of boiling water only to be burned herself. Next to her family having to move out to this small loggingmunity because they could no longer afford to stay in the city, then the scene of illegal vers rounding up all the young women and children and killing everyone else. Finally, the scene of Irene attacking the leader of the vers with a wooden board only for it to shatter on his body without harming him and then him chocking Irene and snapping her neck and throwing her body on the ground like trash. Marcus could feel all the regret, rage, and anguish that Irene had experienced in her final moments and the wish to save her little sister contained in the small fragment of soul now tethered to him.

    ''That was awful on multiple ounts that headache sucked but what happened to this poor girl was far worse. I can still feel the fragment of her soul pushing me to save her sister, although I could probably ignore it and even expel it once I be a higher level. However, as rpense for taking your body, I promise to save Lilia in your stead.''

    As Marcus etched this vow into his soul, the fragment of Irene that resided inside him calmed down a bit. Now with ess to a human body and a new goal toplete Marcus was ready to truly get started in this world.

 Chapter 8 - 7 The Hunt For Food

    Marcus now had full control over Irene''s body and had epted the dying request of her soul. However, as good as Marcus'' intentions are he still knew that he was far too weak to save Lilia. Marcus first had to level up and get stronger in order to have any chance ofpleting his goal.

    ''I am still woefully underprepared for fighting against a group of armed men who are definitely higher level than me. Heck right now I probably would not be able to make it out of the woods in one piece. One month I will give myself one month to prepare and by then I should be ready. The first thing that I should do though is dig a grave for all these people, it would be too sad and too disturbing to leave all these bodies lying around.''

    With Marcus having decided on his course of action he began looking for a shovel that was not destroyed, and with the help of the fragments of Irene''s memories, he eventually managed to find an underground cer that had escaped the carnage. This was the cer where themunity had stored old worn-out tools that could still be used in case new ones broke or became damaged.

    ''It took me about an hour to find but without the small amount of Irene''s memories I have I never would have known this existed. I was hoping that there would be more room in here, so I could sleep in it, but all these old supplies take up the whole thing. There is barely enough room to walk, oh well I will have to find some where else to rest. Wait, I almost forgot about my item box skill. Even with it''s limited capacity of 10 cubic feet I should be able to store all of this stuff.''

    Marcus then spent the next few minutes storing everything that had been left in the small cer getting quite the collection of saws, a few buckets, a well-worn tarp, a couple of shovels, and many other misceneous items.

    Now that Marcus was fully supplied, he headed out of the cer and towards the remains of the houses to gather up the people and bury them. After many hours of digging and vomiting quite few times Marcus had managed to dig a grave for the residents of the smallmunity and bury them.

    ''That was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done, after not having a physical body for so long I had forgotten how being tired felt. I need to eat something and go to sleepˇ­ wait I do not have any food. I have water from the well and shelter in the cer but there is nothing to eat.''

    After searching through the entire littlemunity, Marcus was unable to find anything that resembled food as it had all been burned or stolen. He was incredibly hungry, but the day wasing to an end, so Marcus instead decided to go to sleep and making finding food his priority tomorrow.

    Marcus woke up the next morning feeling quite refreshed both mentally and physically after the first sleep he had sinceing to Mirrion. He realized quickly how hungry he was and set off in search of food.

    ''I vaguely know that there are some wild nut trees around here somewhere but how far away they are and what direction they are in are a mystery to me. Oh well it is the only lead on food I have so I will just have to search around until I find them.''

    Wandering around in search of the fabled nut trees for a few hours, Marcus eventuallyes upon them about thirty minutes south of themunity.

    ''Ah finally something to eat, if I do not get anything to eat, I will never have enough strength to level up.''

    Marcus then proceeded to fill the buckets that he had acquired full of nuts, and then storing everything back into his item box. He then headed back to the remains of themunity and began the long and painful process of cracking open all the nuts he had gathered. After getting to the edible center Marcus began his first meal on Mirrion devouring handfuls of nuts to satiate his hunger.

    ''God, it has been a while since I have eaten anything, I had forgotten how satisfying it is to eat. Though I wish I had something better tasting and more substantial than these nuts. I know a couple of basic traps from Earth so maybe I can catch something.''

    Once he hade up with a n to try and trap a few animals Marcus headed out into the woods to see what he could get. He roasted some nuts to let the smell attract animals and he set up a bucket so that when he pulled the rope connected to the bucket it would fall. Marcus waited for quite awhile until he finally saw something that had taken interest in the roasted nuts.

    ''It looks like some kind ofrge shrew mixed with a roon, well whatever it is will hopefully be my dinner. Come on just a little bit closer, you know you want to eat.''

    Right as the creature bent over to start eating the nuts Marcus pulled the rope letting the bucket fall over trapping the animal. Marcus ran over and put his hands on the bucket to make sure that the creature could not get out.

    ''Now that I have caught it how am I going to kill it, can I kill it. No, I have to this is not like before when I just wanted exp now I am doing it also because I need to eat. I am going to have to kill things to survive in this world even if I do not want to.''

    Unfortunately for Marcus another way that this world is not like Earth, is that the strength of creatures can be misleading based on their size. The creature that he had trapped soon started thrashing about and the old bucket could not contain its might busting apart. The angry creature then targeted Marcus biting into his leg and locking on.

    ''Ow fuck, how did it breakout of the bucket, why is it biting me. Ow ow ow get off me.''

    Marcus took out the shovel he had obtained and started to hit the creature repeatedly in order to get it to let go. However, the more he hit it the harder it bit until after multiple hits from the shovel it eventually stopped moving. What Marcus did not know was that if not for his blessing of iron the creature definitely would have been able to bite his leg off.

    ''Ouch that hurts that really hurts, why wouldn''t the stupid thing just run away. Whatever I beat it even if it took of 20 percent of my HP and now, I am going to have to wait for forty minutes for my leg to heal.''

    When Marcus was able to walk again, he grabbed the corpse of the creature he had just fought to the death with and headed back to his current base. Once there he bled and butchered the animal to the best of his abilities without ruining to much of the meat. He than roasted the meat until it cooked through and let off a delicious aroma and began eating his hard-won meal.

 Chapter 9 - 8 The Fire Cat

    After finishing up eating his diner Marcus began to ponder on how he was going to be able to consistently catch food to eat.

    ''The trap I used yesterday really is not that effective in this world, after what happened I have realized that some creatures while small can be pretty strong. I really did not want to do this, but I think it is the only way I am going to be able to consistently trap creatures for food and exp.''

    Marcus then crawled into the makeshift bed he had set up in the cer to get some sleep before the long day he knew he had ahead of him.

    Once Marcus got up, he headed out in search of a suitable spot to set up his new trap. After searching around for around two hours he finally found a good area where there were not too many trees, and the soil was soft enough to dig.

    ''Time to get started I do not know how long this is going to take but it is the only suitable trap I can think of that might work.''

    Marcus than began digging his future pit trap. He dug the entire day only taking breaks for food or when he became too tired to continue. Marcus spent the entire day digging and he had managed to dig a pretty sizeable hole.

    ''I think it will probably take about two or three more days of digging but I should be able to get it done and then I will have the perfect trap for food and leveling up.''

    After Marcus spent the entirety of the next five days digging, he had managed toplete his pitfall. He had managed to dig quite therge hole around six feet wide and long and nine feet deep. It certainly would have been impossible for him without the use of his item box to store the dirt. In that time, he had also fashioned a crudedder so he could go in and out of the trap.

    ''All I have left to do is disguise and bait the trap and it will be ready. Hopefully, it will work out otherwise I will have wasted nearly a week.''

    Marcus then dressed up the trap to make it look inconspicuous and left some roasted nuts in the middle as bait. Around an hour after that Marcus saw arge bird that looked like chicken on steroids approaching the trap. After pensively walking around for a few minutes the bird decided to approach the nuts. When it got about a foot away from the bait the trap copsed plunging the unsuspecting bird into the hole. Marcus then swiftly went over to the hole and dropped arge rock out of his item box onto the steroidal chicken. Surprising Marcus the bird survived having therge rock thrown on it and was currently pinned under it. The bird was pecking at the rock and its beak was actually starting to break into it. Marcus hurriedly got out histter and climbed down into the hole. The oversized chicken then gave Marcus a hateful re and began squawking at him. Marcus took out his shovel and walked towards the bird, the bird struggled with everything it had to get out from under the rock, but its resistance ended after a few whacks on the head from Marcus'' shovel.

    ''That was pretty effective if I do say so myself, I did not expect the thing to survive getting hit by such arge rock but I was able to finish it off without getting hurt this time so I will call it a win.''

    Marcus stored the rock and body of the oversized chicken into his item box and made his way back to his home base to dismantle the bird. Once he had bled the bird and plucked the feathers, he roasted it up on a makeshift rotisserie he had made to give the bird an even cook.

    ''It smells pretty good not quite like chicken but pretty close, I hope you taste as good as you smell.''

    Marcus then took a bite of the bird only to find that while it did not taste bad it was incredibly tough.

    ''Man, this is like eating jerky, my jaw is already starting to get tired from all this chewing. At least it does not taste bad otherwise I would have spent way too much effort for way too little reward.''

    Now that Marcus was well fed, he went back to the pitfall to reset and rebait it. He did this for the next few days attracting quite a few small animals that he was able kill thanks to his trap. Once he had acquired a sizable stockpile of food, he decided it was time to attract bigger creatures. Instead of using nuts as bait her used some of the meat he had gotten to lure out some predators.

    ''Now that the trap is set, I should go hide farther away, if something like that massive wolfes by it could easily get out of the trap and I do not want to be anywhere near that thing ever again.''

    Marcus waited a good distance away from the trap so as to not be within sight but so he could still here the crashing sound once the trap was triggered. It only took around twenty minutes before Marcus heard a loud crash and the angry growl of the creature that had fallen for his ruse. Marcus waited for a few minutes before heading over to make sure that what ever was in his trap could not get out. When he made to the edge of the pitfall and looked down, he saw a cat that as about the size of an ocelot withpletely red fur. When the cat noticed him, it let out an angry growl and then spit a fireball right at Marcus'' face.

    ''Oh shit.''

    Marcus dove to the ground in a hurry to avoid the fireball that nearly hit him square in the face.

    ''Fuck me why did I not think that there would be creatures with ranged attacks. How am I going to beat this thing, it is going to shoot a fireball at me whenever I get up to try to kill it. I guess I can try to wear it out by leaving it here but then I risk it getting out somehow or another creatureing by and taking it. No, I need to beat it now or I probably will not get another chance.''

    Solidifying his determination Marcus stated to formte a n to kill the fire cat without getting injured. The n he came up with was pretty simple, but Marcus believed that it would be effective. He activated his specter power ghost sounds on the other side of the pitfall to distract the fire cat. When the cat heard the noise, it turned around and fired off a fire ball. In that moment Marcus got up, took the biggest rock he had in his item box and flung it at the beast. The cat noticed the rocking towards it and tried to dodge but was an instant to slow as therge rock mmed into its side. The rock did not kill the fire cat, but it was heavily injured and could no longer mount any form of resistance. Marcus took out hisdder and climbed down into the hole. The cat turned its head towards Marcus and tried to shoot a fireball at Marcus, but it was too injured and only blood came out of its mouth. Marcus took out his shovel and after a few hits on the head the cat sumbed to death.

    ''You have leveled up to level 2.''

    After killing the fire cat Marcus received a notification in his mind informing him of his level up.

    ''I managed to level up, I almost can''t believe it. It feels like I have been trying to level up forever and now it has finally happened.''

    Marcus took a few moments to celebrate his first level up sinceing to Mirrion, shouting, and crying with joy a few times.

    ''Now that I have leveled up, I can purchase some skills to help myself fight and hopefully level up easier.. It has been a while since I have checked my status, I wonder what new skills I will have ess to now.''

 Chapter 10 - 9 Level Up And The Magic Core

    "Status"

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethered)

    Level: 2

    HP: 180/180-120/120

    MP: 140/140

    STR: 10(+2)

    AGL: 12

    VIT: 10(+2)

    INT: 14

    SPR: 15(+3)

    Stat Points: 10

    Skill Points: 3

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Lvl 1

    After looking at his status for the first time in many days Marcus was incredibly surprised to see the many differences fromst time.

    ''Wow many things have changed since thest time I looked at my status, I really should make sure to check it more often. I now seem to have a bonus to my spirt stat for some reason, my bonus from blessing of iron went up presumably from my level up, and I got the digging skill at some point.''

    Marcus then looked through the information on his status and found that the bonus to his spirit stat came from the soul tether with the fragment of Irene''s soul and he guessed that the blessing of iron gave him a bonus based on his level. He figured he must have also obtained the digging skill some time during the making of the pitfall trap.

    ''The bonus from the soul tether is pretty nice but I need to figure out what to so with my skill points and stat points now. This is my first level up so what I choose now will be the foundation for the rest of my life and as I can not age that could be a very long time. First things first I should review my newbies guide since it had been quite a while since I skimmed through it.''

    Marcus closed his status window and was about to take out his newbies guide when he noticed the body of the fire cat that he had just killed.

    ''I should probably take this back to my current home before another animales by or I could be in trouble.''

    Marcus then stored the body of the fire cat and headed back to the burnt remains of the loggingmunity. Once there Marcus decided to butcher the fire cat first so that its meat would not be ruined. He tried his best to skin the animal and remove its pelt but with his paltry skills Marcus was unable to get the pelt off in one piece and ruined about half of the meat. Unexpectedly while Marcus was dismantling the cat, he came across a small light green gem.

    ''Did it swallow a gem at some point, but it was located around its chest nowhere near the stomach or intestines. I did not read the section in the guide about beasts maybe there will be some useful information there.''

    After taking out the newbies guide Marcus found the section on beasts and monster. The section was pretty short only about one page, but it did inform Marcus about the green gem he had just found.

    ''Okay so this little green gem I have is a magic core. Only monsters and magical beasts have magic cores for other creatures such as humans they do not. The guide also mentions that the stronger the beast or monster the deeper the color green of the core. The core I got was pretty light colored and small, so it is on the weaker side.''

    After searching the guide for more information on magic cores Marcus only found that they are often used in the making of items or as a source of fuel. After not learning much but some basic knowledge about cores, Marcus then turned his attention to the section on skills again to consolidate his knowledge.

    ''At least this section was a lot more detailed and gave me useful information on the working of skills and how special my personal status unique skill is.''

    Marcus found that his personal status unique skill not only allows him to see his status at anytime but also allows him to buy specific skills and allocate stat points how he desires. The types of skills cost different amounts based on power, affinity, and the level of the person. So, a powerful skill would be far more expensive for a low-level person than a high level one. Marcus was now in the dilemma of figuring out what to do with his points.

    ''There are way too many skills to choose from and I only have three points, do I choose three skills that cost one point each or one skill that cost three. I really need skills that increase mybat abilities, but a lot of these skills are notbat focused like hide, or swordsmanship which won''t help me right now like. I would love a magic skill but the only one I found so far is fire magic and it cost three points, but I also need the skill magic cirction to use magic, maybe I can find a cheaper one further down the list.''

    Marcus spent hours pouring over the skills he could currently buy and finally settled on three skills, fighting, magic cirction, and iron magic. These were the skills that Marcus thought would give him the bestbat ability he could have right now. Fighting just increased ones general skill inbat allowing them to better utilize their abilities while iron magic was the only magic that Marcus could afford along with magic cirction.

    ''Here goes nothing, purchase fighting, magic cirction, and iron magic. Let me also use my stat points since I am using magic, I should give higher priority to spirit and intelligence.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethered)

    Level: 2

    HP: 210/210-130/130

    MP: 170/170

    STR: 10(+3)

    AGL: 14

    VIT: 10(+3)

    INT: 17

    SPR: 18(+3)

    Stat Points: 10

    Skill Points: 0

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 1, Magic Cirction Lvl 1, Iron Magic Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Lvl 1

    ''Hm, I put one point into strength and vitality just to see what happens and it is now considered a bonus. I guess since I do not normally have a strength or vitality score it just gets added to whatever body I am currently in. Now what is the tier one magic spell thates with iron magic.''

    ''Okay it is called iron skin and it allows me to cover my skin in iron that protects me and can be used as a weapon. Let''s give it a try''.

    Marcus then cast the iron skin spell which took about three seconds to activate, and it covered both of his hands and forearms in a thinyer of iron.

    ''looks like with my current spirit stat I can only cover parts of my body with iron. It cost me ten MP to cast the spell and it is using one MP every second it is active so I can hold the spell for a little over two minutes currently.''

    Marcus then tested how strong his new power was by first taking out a nut and finding that he could now crush it in his hands. He then went over to a rock and punched it as hard as he could, and cracks started to appear all over the rock.

    ''That still hurt a bit, but the iron skin did absorb most of the impact and its power is pretty good. Now I have a decent weapon and defense, but this still will not help me in case I have to fight another fire cat. I should make some other weapons even if they are really crude.''

    Marcus then got to work on making some basic weapons that he could use to fight with so he could level up before leaving in three weeks.

 Chapter 11 - 10 A Real Fight

    Marcus began making some basic wooden stone tipped spears as it was the best weapon he could make currently. Luckily for Marcus there were many good pieces of wood around for him to turn into spears. Searching around the stones to use as the spear tips took Marcus quite a while but once he found five useable rocks, he activated his iron skin spell and used his own hand to sharpen the stone.

    ''I finally have some weapons to use, they are pretty basic but hopefully they can get the job done. I think I should also use a long stick as a polearm, and I should be able to make sling as well.''

    Examining all of the logs and sticks that Marcus had he eventually found the one he thought would work best as a polearm. He then got to work on making a sling which took him the rest of the day as he had to test and try out many things until he made a decent sling.

    ''Now I should be able to fight a lot better than before and level up faster.''

    Now that he hadpleted his goal Marcus noticed howte it had gotten and how hungry he was. He proceeded to make a fire and cook some of the meat from the fire cat he had killed earlier.

    ''Ah that hit the spot I was so focused on my work I forgot to eat, now that I have eaten, I am really tired. I made a good amount of progress today and starting tomorrow I am really going to have to work hard. I only have about three weeks before the time I decided to leave. If I wait too long it will be much harder to find Irene''s little sister and save her.''

    Marcus headed to his makeshift bed and went to sleep to rest for theing day. Once morning came around Marcus quickly ate and went back to reset his pitfall trap. He hurriedly reset the trap and baited it with some cooked meat from the fire cat and went to hid nearby. After around two hours Marcus heard a loud crash followed by a yelp. After judging that from the sound the creature was not very big Marcus headed towards the trap to check on his prey. When he arrived, he was in for a very unwanted surprise.

    ''Crap, it had to be a pack of animals and there are over ten of them. They look a bit like coyotes, but they are pitch ck, I really screwed myself this time.''

    The coyotes noticing Marcus'' arrival rear up and charge at him. Marcus takes out one of the spears he recently made and casts iron skin covering his hands and forearms. When the two lead coyotes got within five feet of Marcus one of them suddenly jumped at the other and disappeared into its shadow. In the next instance it appeared behind Marcus and bit into his left calf.

    ''Ow fuck they can jump in and out of shadows.''

    The other lead coyote then jump at Marcus''s throat hoping for a quick and easy kill. Fortunately, with the help of his fighting skill Marcus kept his calm and knew what to do. He swiftly took out another spear with his left hand and stabbed it into the coyote biting his calf and brought his right arm in front of his neck. The coyote that lunged at his throat bit into his right arm only to have its teeth shatter on the iron skin currently covering Marcus. The two injured coyotes then retreated and regrouped with the other members of their pack.

    ''Okay I managed to fend off their initial assault and now they are circling around me to prepare for their next attack. I should cast iron skin on my legs instead of my arms so they can''t get any more sneak attacks on me.''

    While the coyotes were getting into a formation to attack Marcus, he recast iron skin and covered his legs and feet this time to prevent any more attacks on his legs. The coyotes began their attack threeing from the front and twoing from both sides. One from each side jumped into a shadow and reappeared behind Marcus and took bites into his legs only to find they were now covered by ayer of iron. The three in front timed their attacks perfectly for when Marcus would be reeling from the bites on his legs. Unfortunately for the coyotes Marcus had prepared for this and the two coyotes that had taken a bite out of his leg currently had shattered teeth. He then took his two spears and stabbed them into two of the ones lunging at him from the front and preformed a high kick on the remaining one. However, even though Marcus had sessfully repelled five of the attacking coyotes the other twoing from the side wed and bite into his upper thighs. He dropped the two spears in his hands and pulled out his polearm and knocked of the two coyotes biting him.

    ''Shit this hurts I feel like I can barely stand, I have injured half of them pretty badly, but the remaining half are still in good condition. I am also running out of MP and will not be able to use iron skin much longer, need a n or I am going to die.''

    While the coyotes were regrouping and getting ready for another round of attack Marcus was looking around trying to formte a n to survive. He searched around for a couple of seconds and then saw what would help him win this fight. Marcus quickly began running towards his pitfall with the uninjured coyotes giving quick chase after their fleeing prey. Once at the edge of the hole Marcus jumped in seeing an injured and surprised coyote at the bottom. The polearm connected with the ground bent and then shattered but took some of the impact for Marcus as his legs mmed down. With the help of his polearm and iron skin enchanted legs Marcus was able to remain standing from the fall. He immediately took out thetter he made and ced it on the wall of the pit. The coyotes that were chasing him then began to fall into the hole unable to stop their momentum. By the time they had regained their senses Marcus was already halfway up thedder. Marcus soon reached the top and put thedder back in his item box. He stood up and saw the injured coyotes fleeing except for the two with spears stuck in themying on the ground dying.

    ''Hah I won, seven trapped in a pit, two bleeding out, and the rest injured and retreating. I think I need to sit down and let my legs heal awhile, those coyotes are not going anywhere anyway.''

    Marcus took a few dozen minutes to rest and heal his injured legs while looking down into the pit seeing the coyotes frantically trying to get out by merging with the shadow. s the range on their ability seemed to be only around five feet so none of them were able to get out of the hole. After healing up Marcus went over and finished of the two dying coyotes and then went over and dropped rocks on the seven in the pitfall trap until they stopped moving.

    ''You have leveled up to level 3.''

    ''You have leveled up to level 4.''

    ''Wait did I just level up twice.''

 Chapter 12 - 11 Gaining Ground

    ''That was one heck of a battle that I just finished, and I have miraculously gained two levels somehow.''

    Marcus activated his status and looked through his personal log seeing that he leveled up because hepleted an achievement recognized by the system as substantial.

    ''Defeat a group of enemies while outnumbered and out matched in a battle you had no reason winning. Wow kind of rude saying I had no reason winning that fight. I mean yeah, I was horribly outmatched and without their initial blunder and my pitfall trap I probably would have died, but I still won in the end.''

    ''I should collect all of the shadow coyotes'' bodies and head back to base to recuperate and figure out what to do with my new stat and skill points.''

    Marcus went around collecting the nine bodies of the coyotes he had killed and stored them in his item box. He also picked up the spears he had dropped during the fight, cleaned the blood off of them and put them back into his item box.

    ''Okay everything is cleaned up around here let''s head back and check out my gains from this battle.''

    Marcus trekked back through the forest to where the small loggingmunity once resided. On the way back he encountered a weird monkey bat thing that immediatelyshed out at him fangs first. Marcus summoned a spear from his item box and threw it towards the oing beast, the monkey bat dodged the spear, but it gave Marcus enough time to activate his iron skin spell for defense. The creature tried to bite Marcus right in the neck put he put up his left arm for defense, however the sharp fangs of the money bat managed to pierce through Marcus''s iron skin. As Marcus felt his blood begin drained, he summoned out another spear and stabbed it into the neck of the beasttched onto his arm. The monkey bat tried to fly away after being stabbed but Marcus grabbed onto its leg as it tried to flee and mmed it into the ground.

    "After attacking me like that you are not getting away after stealing some of my blood."

    Marcus then lifted his spear stabbed through the creature and into the ground to prevent it from escaping. He then took out another spear and jabbed it right into its head as the creature was screaming and iling about. The monkey bat stopped moving after having its head impaled and the battle was won.

    ''Damn as much as I thought this world might be fun with its game like system, but it is at moments like these that I really miss myfy bed and smart phone. That fucker attacked me out of nowhere and if I had not seen it before it attacked, I would probably have been killed. I also feel incredibly weak right now and my arm has not stopped bleeding.''

    Marcus checked his status and noticed he had a condition called vitality drain and that his vitality score had dropped by three lowering his HP by thirty.

    ''Great now I am going to have to wait longer until my vitalityes back up, hopefully I can make it back to my base without being jumped again.''

    Marcus then continued on his way back home having to wrap up his still bleeding arm and hoping that it would stop bleeding soon. Once he made it back, he sat down and recovered for a few hours until the wound fully closed, and he felt less exhausted. He then got to work on dismantling the coyotes he had just killed. He tried his best to skin all of them and butcher the meat, but he messed up a few times on the first seven but on the final two he was able to do a respectable job. After dismantling the coyotes Marcus went onto the bat monkey that had attacked him and managed to do a decent job even though it was his first time with such a weird creature.

    ''At a certain point it just felt like I had a bit of intuition on how to properly take apart the bodies without ruining them. Maybe I got a skill that helps me to carve up beast and monsters that I kill.''

    After checking his status, Marcus did indeed have a new skill called disassembly that helped him to take apart corpses with more precision and less chance of ruining the valuable parts of the body.

    ''That''s a pretty nice skill and it only took me getting the blood and guts of around two dozen animals on me to acquire. On another note, the lesser regeneration skill had been my savior. Without it I probably would have died of blood loss from the two battles I just had. I mean it took hours of excruciating pain to get, but it has been invaluable for keeping me alive. I know even if this body was killed, I would not die but having the soul tether destroyed my soul would take permanent damage and I would be without a body again.''

    ''Now I need to use my new skill and stat points, I need to figure out if it is worth it to try and upgrade my skills or buy new ones.''

    Marcus assigned his stat points first going with three points to strength and vitality, four points to agility, and five points to both intelligence and spirt. After that he looked at how many skill points it would take to upgrade his iron magic and was surprised to see that it would cost him all six of the skill points, he currently had to level it up.

    ''Damn that is expensive even with my blessing of iron that gives me a high affinity for metal-based skills. I guess at level four I am not normally strong enough to have a level two magic skill. I should just pick up some level one skills and I can always train the skill to level it up instead of using skill points.''

    Marcus scoured through the massive list of avable skills looking for some that would be beneficial for him. There were tons of skills he considered not very useful such as jumping, climbing, whistling, and other random skills. After spending hours reading through all of the skills, he could acquire Marcus settles on two. He choose the stealth skill for two points and the lighting magic skill for three, leaving one point left over since he could not find any skill for one point he really wanted.

    ''The stealth skill should be pretty useful since I havee to realize just walking around in the open like I have been, is a good way to get myself killed. If I ran into that massive wolf or scaled bear, I am certain I would currently have no way to fight or escape. This lighting magic sounds cool, and I think it could pair really well with my iron magic. I was really close to choosing fire magic but in the end, I think lightning will be more useful and less likely to burn down the forest.''

    Marcus spent the next hour testing his new skills learning how to move silently and keep his body hidden with the stealth skill and practicing with the tier one lightning spell spark.. After exhausting himself he crawled back into his temporary bed and fell asleep wondering what theing days would bring.

 Chapter 13 - 12 Natural Treasures

    Marcus wakes up once again a part of him hoping his experience on Mirrion had all been a dream and that he was still in his hotel room ready to continue his vacation.

    ''Whelp I am still on Mirrion, still a ghost possessing a dead girls body and sleeping on a pile of rags I call a bed. I am still staying in a cramped damp cer in the middle of a burned downmunity. Oh well I have to keep on living eventually I should reap some rewards from all the suffering I have had to endure.''

    Marcus got up and went through his daily routine, getting water from the well, cooking some meat and nuts for breakfast, and cleaning off his body the best he could.

    ''I did not notice yesterday because of how frantic I was but my clothes are in pretty bad shape. My pants have holes all over them and my shirt looks like I have been attacked by a sher. Unfortunately, there are no other clothes around here and I have zero tailoring skills whatsoever. I still have a couple of weeks before I n to leave, and I hope I can reach at least level ten before leaving. I guess I should have a quick look at my status before heading out for the day.''

    "Status"

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethered)

    Level: 4

    HP: 260/260-180/180

    MP: 220/220

    STR: 10(+8)

    AGL: 18

    VIT: 10(+8)

    INT: 22

    SPR: 23(+3)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 1

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 1, Magic Cirction Lvl 1, Iron Magic Lvl 1, Disassembly Lvl 1, Stealth Lvl 1, Lightning Magic Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Lvl 1

    ''Yep, looks good I can see how much progress I have made sinceing here. The passive bonus given by my blessing of iron has made it so my strength and vitality scores can still keep up with my other stats. Going forward I need to figure out if I want to keep going with a more bnced approach or just dump all of my stats into magic.''

    Marcus spent a great amount of timementing about his future decision on whether to continue staying bnced with his stats or pushing everything he has into magic.

    ''I have decided I should keep the bnced approach as cool as magic is I am currently alone and if my magic is not up to a certain task I will be screwed. Since I currently have to do everything, myself sticking as an all rounder who is focused on magic but not devoted sounds good.''

    Marcus went about his day a bit different than usual; he did not head for his pitfall trap but headed deeper into the woods to practice his stealth skill. He soon came across a family of some type of rat which he shadowed for around an hour to practice his stealth skill. During the time he managed to stay hidden from the rat and other beast until he made a mistake and tripped over a tree root and face nted into the ground.

    ''Ah fuck, that was so stupid I tailed the stinking rats for a whole hour only to trip on a root. Whatever at least I know my stealth skill is pretty affective now, I guess I will head back now.''

    Marcus then headed back towards the destroyedmunity he currently resided in. However, along the way he saw arge boar digging into the ground looking for something. Marcus decided to investigate and snuck towards the boar and saw that it had just unearthed some shining mushrooms. Marcus knew at once that he had to have those mushrooms, as he had read in the newbies guide about natural treasures that could give bonuses to stats, give special skills, or even level people up. He was not sure if these mushrooms were really natural treasures but even if they were not, he had to try. Marcus approached the boar using his stealth skill and right as it was about to take a bite of the first mushroom Marcus leaped out towards it. He cast his new lighting magic spell spark immediately on the boar causing it to spasm and grunt in pain. While the boar was stunned, he took out two spears and jammed them into both of its eyes. The boar reeled back in pain and started to thrash about trying to impale Marcus with its tusks. However, Marcus had already retreated and moved away from the rampaging boar. The boar soon stopped iling around and began sniffing the air. Once it locked onto Marcus'' scent it charge towards him. Unfortunately for the boar this had been a part of Marcus'' n as the boar mmed right into the tree Marcus was hiding behind. As the boar impacted into the tree, it broke the two spears jammed into its eyes but also pushed them deeper into its head. The boar began spasming on the ground from the pain and Marcus came around and began to pummel it with his arms covered in iron skin and electricity. The boar could no longer offer any resistance as it was beaten and electrocuted to death.

    ''I definitely thought I had gotten stronger, but this gives me some real proof at how powerful I have be. This time I was able to win a fight without the use of a trap and I got out uninjured. My stealth skill is really paying off, without it I never would have been able to catch this boar by surprise. The problem now is that I do not have enough room in my item box to store it, guess I will just take out some of the old equipment I don''t need right now.''

    Marcus emptied out some space in his item box by dropping old saws and nks of wood he did not think he would ever need. Once he had made some space, he put the body of the boar into his item box and headed over towards the unearthed mushrooms.''

    ''Wow these mushrooms are quite beautiful now that I see them up close, they are glowing vibrant colors like red and orange and there is even one purple mushroom. I should pick them quickly before another creaturees and steals them.''

    After gathering up a dozen glowing mushrooms of various colors Marcus made his way back home to inspect his recent gains.

    ''I managed to get three red mushrooms, two orange, two blue, one purple, two yellow, and two green. Let me try one of the red ones first and see what it does.''

    Marcus began eating one of his red mushrooms and as soon as he took the first bite, he immediately threw the rest of the mushroom into his mouth as he savored the best vor he had tasted sinceing to this world. It took all of his will power to not continue to plop mushrooms into his mouth one after another and check his status.

    ''Yep, it is as I thought it really is a natural treasure, the red mushroom raised my strength score by one and these things are really delicious.''

    Marcus then ate one of each color and checked his status to see what effect each mushroom had. He found that the blue increased his agility, the orange his vitality, the purple his intelligence, the yellow his spirit, and the green gave straight exp.

    ''Ah I feel great those mushrooms were some of the best things I have ever had, and I basically got a full level worth of stats from them and I am now incredibly close to leveling up again. This has been the best day I have had on Mirrion, if everyday was like this I think I could really like it here. To bad natural treasures are incredibly rare and hard to find, if not for the boar sniffing them out for me, I never would have known they were there. Speaking of that boar I still need to butcher it.''

    Marcus took out the body of the boar and began to dismantle it taking great care to not damage the valuable parts, especially the tusks. With the help of his disassembly skill, he managed to get the tusks out and only ruined a small part of the pelt of the boar in the process. However even with his skill it was his first time cutting into a boar and he ruined most of the meat because he made a few cuts to deep into its stomach.

    ''Well, it is a good thing those mushrooms have already filled me up, and I can still use it as bait for my trap. It really has been a good day and I think I have finallye to ept that this world is my new home. From this point onward I am going to have to take a few more risks but if I am sessful, I will be able to get stronger much faster.. The whole world is waiting for me and this is my start line.''

 Chapter 14 - 13 Time Moves On

    After Marcus'' exceptionally good day where he defeated arge boar without getting injured and obtained some stat boosting mushrooms, he started up a new training program. Now Marcus would bait his pitfall trap and head out into the woods and stealthy look for other creatures to fight. While doing this he would find various creatures from a small pack of dogs to beasts that wereplete abominations from what he knew on Earth. If the creature looked like he could beat it, he would take the initiative with a sneak attack. Marcus would then check his pitfall trap every few hour and if a creature was stuck in it, he would dispatch them. With this method Marcus was able to gain exp much faster than he had before. While sneaking around the forest Marcus would asionally see creatures, he knew he had no chance against. One day he saw a massive vaguely humanoid monster that looked like depictions of a troll or ogre from Earth fiction. Marcus made sure to stay away from that area for the rest of his stay in the woods.

    Marcus managed to get through the remaining two weeks with his current training method he had quite a few close calls during his training such as being jumped by a feathered lizard that looked like a dinosaur and having a swarm ofrge bees attack him. In the end though he had been able to get out of the situations by staying calm, using his brain, and getting really lucky. Now it was hisst day before he nned to leave, and he had managed to hit level eight.

    ''Now I can see why the average level for people is thirteen the exp curve got much harder after level five. I was hoping I could reach level ten before leaving but I should be able to get to level ten during my journey to save Lilia. I should check my status to make sure that the poison from the giant spider I killed earlier is gone and then check my trap onest time and call it a day.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethered)

    Level: 8

    HP: 400/400-270/270

    MP: 350/350

    STR: 10(+18)

    AGL: 30

    VIT: 10(+17)

    INT: 35

    SPR: 37(+3)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 2

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 2, Magic Cirction Lvl 2, Iron Magic Lvl 2, Disassembly Lvl 2, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 1, Creature Appraisal Lvl 1, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds

    ''Looks good the poison effect has worn off and my HP is back up to max, onest look at my hard working pitfall trap and I will be done with this forest.''

    Marcus leisurely walked over to his pitfall trap not really expecting to find anything since he had only reset the trap around an hour ago and it normally took a bit longer for something to get caught in the trap. Unfortunately for Marcus something had triggered his trap something he was hoping not to see again. Sitting next to his trap with a very angry expression was a bear that had scales over its body like armor. Once Marcus came into view the bear locked on to him with its angry expression and let out a menacing growl.

    ''Oh shit it looks pissed, the fucker waited for me toe back just to kill me. It is a bit smaller than the other one I saw before but it is still around seven feet long. I can''t see its level so it must be higher than me, think Marcus how are you going to get out of this.''

    Marcus started to weave his spells and formte a n when the scaled bear got up and charged towards him. The bear was incredible fast and was on top of Marcus in an instance. The bear opened its jaws to take a massive bite out of Marcus. Right as the jaws were just inches away from him Marcus suddenly jerked back missing the toothy maw of the bear by mere inches. Marcus had used his new tier two iron magic spell iron threads to attach himself to a tree behind him and pull back for a quick burst of speed.

    Marcus then unleashed his tier one fire spell fire shot towards the bear. The fire shot hit the bear square in the face however, its sturdy scales protected from most of the damage and the bear was even more pissed off. The bear continued its charge towards Marcus attacking with its ws this time. Marcus could sense a huge amount of danger and ducked and rolled out of the way of the w as it impacted against the tree that was behind Marcus. Cutting deep into it Marcus then used his iron threads to tie up the bears hind legs and sent his spark spell through the threads towards the bear. The bear let out a roar full of rage as it was shocked by the spark spell and it ripped the iron threads binding its hind legs. The bear then began to attack Marcus in a frenzy as Marcus did his best to dodge the bears attack by using the trees an when that was impossible he would defend with his iron skin. After running around ying defense for a few minutes Marcus was covered in wounds and had a piece of his right arm missing where the bear bit a chunk out of it. The bear charged towards the exhausted and wounded Marcus to deal the finishing blow when Marcus'' mouth curved up into a smile.

    ''Checkmate you vindictive bear.''

    Marcus then pulled his iron threads with all the might he had left in him and the tree he had been using to absorb dozens of the bears attack began to fall. The bear noticing this tried to stop its charge but it was toote as the seventy foot tall tree crashed onto the bear. After using up all of his strength Marcus copsed on to the ground. He looked towards the tree and saw as the dust began to settle that the bear while still alive was trapped under the tree.

    ''You were certainly one tough bastard but I won. My whole body hurts everywhere, this is the most pain I have felt since I first possessed this body. I only have about forty HP left and I can''t move right now, hopefully nothinges by in the next few hours or I really will be screwed.''

    Marcusid on the ground for hours letting his HP slowly recover, the bear struggled with all of its might to get out from under the tree but to no avail. After it had exhausted itself it stared at Marcus with a furious expression and if looks could kill Marcus would have been turned into a bloody pulp.

    ''Ah I feel a lot better now still really sore but at least I can move again. Okay now I need to figure out a way to kill this bear to get the exp and so it does not have to suffer any longer.''

    Marcus began trying everything he could to kill the bear but his threads could not pierce its body and his spark spell could only hurt the bear not finish it off. After a few minutes of trying to kill the bear Marcus finally thought of a way to do it although it was a horribly cruel method. However, it would have been crueler to leave the bear here to slowly starve so Marcus reluctantly forced the bears mouth shut with his threads and then covered its nose. The bear began to thrash around again with renewed strength as its breathing was sealed, unfortunately for the bear it could do nothing to stop its impending suffocation. After a few dozen minutes the bear''s life came to an end and Marcus heard the familiar sound of leveling up.

    ''You have leveled up to level 9.''

    ''I managed to make it to level nine, only one level off my original goal. I guess in certain way this was my final test before leaving these. I am going to miss this ce a bit but at the same time I cannot wait to get out of this forest and rejoin civilization.''

    Marcus quickly stored the bear''s corpse in his item box and left his pitfall trap for thest time. Once he made it back to his base he tried to dismantle the bear''s corpse but its scales were too strong for him to cut through. Dejected Marcus made the decision to leave the bears body in the woods and let whatever animal could eat it have it.. He then headed to sleep in the storage cer on his bed of rags, excited and frightened of the journey he was about to set off on.

 Chapter 15 - 14 Out Of The Woods

    The day had finally arrived, Marcus got up full of excitement and began to arrange his item box with everything he wanted to keep. He left a lot of the old tools and other surplus items he had taking only one of each useful item. He then packed the rest of the item box with food and water and his other valuables like the beast pelts and magic stones he had. Once he had finished organizing his items he had about half of his item box free.

    ''I really had been carrying around a bunch of junk as much as ten cubic feet may not seem like that much it is still a pretty big amount as long as you do not stuff it full of unnecessary stuff. I guess thest things I need to do before I leave is spend my skill and stat points and pay my respect to the former residents of thismunity.''

    Marcus assigned his skill point''s as usual one point to strength and vitality, two to agility, and three to both spirit and intelligence. After that he went through the skill list looking for useful skills. He soon came across one however it would cost him all five of his saved skill points.

    ''Ah this skill is incredible useful but so expensive, but there is nothing else other than basic skills like swordsmanship or jump which are not very useful to me now. Fine I am going to do it, better to not need it then regret not having it.''

    Marcus then spent all five of his skill points to obtain the darkvision skill, he felt that the ability to see clearly even in pitch darkness was too valuable to pass up.

    ''Okay let me look at my status before paying my respects and then it will be time to leave.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethered)

    Level: 9

    HP: 430/430-290/290

    MP: 380/380

    STR: 10(+20)

    AGL: 32

    VIT: 10(+19)

    INT: 38

    SPR: 40(+3)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points:

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 2, Magic Cirction Lvl 2, Iron Magic Lvl 2, Disassembly Lvl 2, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 1, Creature Appraisal Lvl 1, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 1, Darkvision Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Lvl 1

    After checking his status Marcus headed over to the graves he dug for the former inhabitants of the small loggingmunity. He offered his prayers for them and promised that he would try to save the other people who were kidnapped along with Lilia.

    ''Now it is time for me to leave, the vers have a month head start on me but moving all those people will slow them down. As long as I can find the trail I should eventually be able to save Lilia even if I have to resort to unsavory methods.''

    Marcus walked towards the neglected dirt path he knew would lead him out of the woods and towards the nearest vige. Marcus knew it would take around three days of walking to reach the next vige from the fragments of Irene''s memory.

    Marching through the remnants of the path that no one had used for a month Marcus began his decent out of the forest. While the days were longer on Mirrion then they had been on Earth around thirty hours instead of twenty-four the tall canopy of the dense forest blocked out a majority of the light and made the days seem to end sooner. After hours of hiking through the woods when there was only a little bit of light left Marcus decided to set up camp. Heid out his tarp to sit on and then began making a fire for warmth and to make dinner. After cooking up some of the assorted meats in his item box and roasting some nuts Marcus began to enjoy his dinner. Once he was finished he began toy out the rest of the old cloths he used as a bed spread. While preparing for bed he noticed a flicker of movement at the edge of his darkvision.

    ''What the hell was that, did my cooking attract some type of beast? Since it is hiding in the shadows it is probably not that powerful otherwise it would''

    ''Oh shit''

    As Marcus was contemting what he could have seen in the shadows an arrow came racing toward him from his right side. With the help of his danger sense Marcus managed to dodge the arrow within a hair''s breadth. Marcus cast his iron skin spell and covered his arms and legs as more arrows began to barrage him from every direction. With the use of his danger sense and iron skin Marcus deflected all of the arrowsing towards him. After around a minute the arrow attack ceased and the creatures that were attacking Marcus came within the range of his darkvision.

    ''Green skin, big heads, red eyes, kind of small, if those aren''t goblins than I''m not a ghost.''

    Once the goblins hade into view and began to surround Marcus he started to check their levels. He found that the highest level of the seven goblins was eight while the lowest was three with most of them being level five or six.

    ''Okay I am stronger than anyone of them but I need to finish this fast before I run out of MP. Should I go for the strongest or weakest first, I can probably kill the weakest one with one attack but if I run out of gas while the strongest one is still up, I do not know if I can beat it.''

    The goblins having surrounded Marcus brandished there weapons toward him, most just had crude wooden clubs but one had a rusty sword, and the leader had an old iron spear. Seeing their weapons Marcus charged towards the leader first hoping for a quick kill on the most troublesome foe. The goblin seeing its prey charge towards it thrust its spear, however Marcus brushed it aside with his arm d in iron, grabbed the spear and pulled the goblin in for a kick. As the powerful kick impacted the lead goblin it went flying a few feet losing grip on its spear. The remaining six goblins did not remain idle as three began to attack Marcus from the right, two from the left, and one from behind. Marcus cast his iron thread spell and entangled the three goblinsing from his right, and swept his spear towards the two on the left. Marcus then cast his spark spell sending electricity down his iron threads electrocuting the goblins tied up by his threads. However, the goblin with the rusty sword parried Marcus'' spear allowing the other goblins to close in on Marcus. Marcus raised his leg to block the club of the goblin attacking from the left but the weakest oneing from behind mmed its club into Marcus'' unguarded back. Marcus then threw a kick back towards the goblin behind him knocking it away as the goblin with the rusty sword shed towards Marcus. Marcus cast fire shot point nk at the goblins face in an attempt to stop its advance, and while the fire shot sted the goblin its momentum carried its attack through giving Marcus a horrible wound. The goblin with the sword began to writher on the ground from its horribly burned face, and Marcus grasp his stomach where he was now profusely bleeding. The remaining two goblins did not let this chance slip by and began to assault Marcus with their clubs. Doing his best to block their attacks Marcus struggled with everything he had but his movement were dulled from his wounds. The club strikes kepting and more and more managed to connect against Marcus when as the goblins were going to deliver the final blow they suddenly could no longer move.

    "Here let me pay you back SPARK!"

    With Marcus'' iron threads coiled around the goblins his spark spell finished off thest two goblins assaulting him.

    ''That was rough I never imagined that I would get ambushed by a bunch of goblins I should be more careful from now on and not have a fire or cook any food at night. I should store there corpses and weapon and move somewhere else for the night.''

    Marcus began hobbling over towards the bodies of the goblins when he saw the first goblin he kicked and disarme out. It bent down and picked up the rusty sword from its fallenrade and red towards Marcus. The goblin had a dent in its stomach and blood dribbling out of its mouth, but Marcus was doing no better, beaten and bleeding all over and out of MP. The goblin charged towards Marcus sword in hand, Marcus was doing his best to defend against the goblin''s onught but even with a higher-level Marcus was too injured to keep up for long.

    ''I did not want to resort to this strategy but I am going to lose at this rate.''

    Marcus then instead of using his spear to block the goblins sword used his bare arm. The sword cut down into Marcus'' arm only stopping once it was half way through the bone. In that moment Marcus grit his teeth to endure the searing pain and jammed his spear into the goblins head. The two of them copsed simultaneously the goblin dying and Marcus using up thest of his strength. In hisst moments before passing out Marcus thought.

    ''It is a good thing that sword was not well maintained otherwise I would have certainly lost my arm.''

    Marcus woke about an hourter his wounds had stopped bleeding but he was sore all over and still had a sword stuck in his arm. Marcus removed the sword enduring the pain as more blood began to seep out of his arm. Marcus knew he needed to get to a safe location before the carnage attracted a predator or more goblins showed up. He quickly stored the goblin corpses and weapons and used the small amount of MP he had regained to cast iron threads and climb into a tree. Once nestled safely in the tree Marcus once again embraced unconsciousness.

    Marcus woke up after spending many hours recuperating, he had slept much longer than usual and the sun was already high in the sky.

    ''My arm has healed up pretty well and my HP is back to full but I still feel like I got hit by a bus. I am going to need to be a lot more carful from now on because if there was even one more goblin I would have been toast.''

    Marcus climbed down the tree and headed back down the path. Now that he knew that goblins were around Marcus moved extra carefully, using his stealth skill the entire way out of the forest.. While it took two extra days to get through the forest because he needed to avoid multiple goblin camps and patrols Marcus, eventually came out of the woods andid his eyes on the first live human settlement he had seen sinceing to Mirrion.

 Chapter 16 - 15 Civilization

    ''There it is the little vige on the edge of the woods, the trees have be a lot scarcer reced by grasnds, and it is still pretty hilly. The vige looks like it is growing nut trees like the ones I found in the woods and I also see herds of animals in the distance.''

    As Marcus got closer he was able to better make out the animals and could see that they were goats and some type of yak.

    ''The goats look pretty normal but those yaks are a bit smaller and stouter than the ones on earth. Now that I think about it, these goats are the first animals I have seen that look almost exactly like animals from Earth.''

    Once Marcus got to the edge of the vige he began to see quite a few people picking nut and taking care of animals. The people soon noticed Marcus as well and started to stare and whisper to each other. Soon one of the men who looked like he was in charge came towards Marcus.

    The man started to speak to Marcus with a concerned look on his face, but all Marcus heard was gibberish.

    ''Crap I do not know thenguage that these people speakˇ­ wait I almost forgot I have thengue token I was given when I first came here.''

    Marcus took out hisnguage token and the next time the man spoke he received a notification.

    ''Would you like to learn Borealian?''

    ''Yes please.''

    Information suddenly filled Marcus'' head giving him a major headache but after a few moments the headache stopped, and his head was filled with a newnguage.

    "Miss are you okay."

    "Yeah I am fine just a bit of a headache."

    ''Wait did I just understand him, and I talked back as well, my first human conversation in what feels like an eternity.''

    "Ah you had me worried there for a second I thought you were badly injured. Might I ask who you are and why you came out of the Great Gome Woods?"

    ''Shit what do I say, I guess I should just steal Irene''s identity at this point hopefully this is not like a vige from a horror movie where they sacrifice outsiders to their god.''

    "Um my name is Irene and Ie from the small loggingmunity about three days north into the woods."

    The man''s face suddenly had a solemn look as he stared at Marcus, he pondered for many moments before he opened his mouth to speak again.

    "There certainly was a girl called Irene that lived in the smallmunity a little north of here and you do have striking resemnce to her but she had a horrible burn scare on her face and shoulder."

    ''Wait the scar is gone, when did that happen, did my lesser regeneration skill heal even such an old wound, it may not be the fastest but it sure is effective.''

    "Ah yes I did have a scar on the left side of my face and shoulder but I recently got a healing skill that has gotten rid of the scar."

    The man Looked at Marcus full of suspicion, Marcus knew that his story sounded pretty farfetched since he imagined self-healing skills were pretty rare. Marcus thought quickly and took out the knife tied to his waist and cut his index finger.

    Marcus showed the man how the wound began to close at a visible speed until around ten secondster it was closed. The man looked at Marcus with a face full of shock, how a random girl in the middle of the woods could get such a rare skill was baffling. By the time the man had collected himself a small crowd of people had amassed around Marcus

    "You really are Irene then, I am sorry for doubting you but if you do not mind me asking do you know what happened to the rest of yourmunity. The normal shipment of wood was supposed toe a week ago and we thought something bad might have happened when we noticed the goblins upying the trail."

    Marcus then told the tale of the vers that came through and ransacked themunity and kidnapped the women and children. He told the story truthfully for the most part until he came to Irene''s death. In his new version Irene was stabbed by one of the vers and left for dead when she miraculously awakened her healing skill and spent the next month recuperating and gathering supplies to make the trip to the vige. The vige folk had looks of surprise and then sorrow and anger on their faces after hearing the story.

    "I am incredibly sorry for what happened to you and your family, those men did pass through here about a month ago but they told us that they were here to pick up arge order of lumber. If we had known they were vers we could have tried to stop them."

    Marcus looked over the vigers and while he appreciated the sentiment he knew that these unarmed vigers who all have a single digit level other than the lead man had no chance of stopping the armed vers.

    "Thank you very much for you condolences but could you tell me which way those men went I have to go and save my little sister no matter what."

    Many of the vigers started to cry at Marcus'' words some because of how touching it was and other because of how futile it would be to try. The man who had been speaking to Marcus walked up and put his hand on Marcus'' shoulder and said.

    "Listen Irene I know you must want to save your sister with your entire being but you should give up and stay here. Even if you did pull off a miracle and found her, rescuing her would be impossible. You should just stay here and we will help take care of you, it is already a miracle that you are alive you should not through your life away on a futile quest."

    Marcus was surprised by the concern and sincerity of the man, but he has already promised that he would see Irene''sst wish through to the end.

    "I know that you are concerned for me but I have to do it, I already promised myself I would save Lilia no matter the cost."

    The vigers seeing the resolution in Marcus'' eyes knew that there was nothing they could do to stop him.

    "Very well at least stay the night here in the vige, you can stay at my house so you can talk to my dad, he knows this area the best out of any of us."

    "Thank you I will take you up on your hospitality, by the way is your dad some kind of traveler or something."

    The man had a slightly disappointed look on his face when he heard Marcus but soon began tough.

    "Was I really so unremberable that you do not recognize the vige chief''s son?"

    Marcus looked at the man with a surprised face and quickly made up something about how the injury made his memory a bit fuzzy in some ces and that was why he did not remember the people of the vige very well. The man had a sad look on his face but introduced himself as Amos. Amos led Marcus through the vige and stopped outside thergest building. He then turned around and said.

    "My old man knows a good deal about the surrounding area and should hopefully be able to point you in the right direction of those bastards."

 Chapter 17 - 16 The Kindness Of People

    The son of the vige chief, Amos opens the door to his house and begins calling for his father. He turns around and beckons Marcus to follow him inside. Walking inside Marcus sees arge room with some simple furniture made of wood and a gentle fire burning in the firece. There is a young girl with blonde hair, maybe around twelve cooking what appears to be a stew in arge pot over the firece. A few momentster an old man that looks like a professional body builderes barging in yelling.

    "Amos what is all the yapping for, I can here you fine without you yelling so loud and aren''t you supposed to be leading the others in harvesting the trees."

    "Yes, father but there is someone here who needs to speak with you and the harvesting will be fine even without me there."

    The old man then looks over at Marcus studying him before he once again opens his mouth and begins speaking.

    "Ah good for you Amos, you finally got yourself a wife I do not know what you see in my boy but please take care of him from now on."

    The vige chiefs statement leaves both Amos and Marcus with shocked expressions on their faces. Marcus in particr has a hard time processing what this old man just said. After a couple of seconds, the old man begins tough uncontrobly obviously pleased with the reactions of both Marcus and Amos. Afterughing for about a minute the old man begins to speak again.

    "Sorry I just could not help but to make a joke at my son''s expense hopefully it was not too ufortable for you miss?"

    ''Oh, I think he is asking for my name I guess I should give Irene''s name again since calling myself Marcus is bound to cause trouble.''

    "Ah yes my name is Irene, and I came from the small loggingmunity a little ways north of here."

    The vige chief ponders for a moment looking over Marcus and staring intently at the left side of his face.

    "Hm Irene, ah yes Vance''s daughter, however while you do have quite the resemnce to her, she was horribly scared by a burn on the left side of her face and shoulder."

    Marcus once again goes through the lengthy exnation of how themunity was attacked, the scar was healed, and why he is here.

    The vige chief looks at Marcus with a pained expression after hearing his story he contemtes what he should do for almost a minute before he opened his mouth to speak again.

    "Are you sure that is what you want to do, in my eyes it is a suicide mission doomed to fail, you should stay here, and we can tell the authorities what happened even if it is unlikely that your sister will be found."

    Marcus shakes his head and looks at the vige chief with a face full of resolution before answering.

    "Yes, I have to try to save Lilia no matter what even if you are not willing to help me, I will still go since I already swore to myself that I would."

    After seeing the resolute expression on Marcus'' face, the vige chief sighs once and tells Marcus that he will give his knowledge on the area and his insight on where he thinks the vers are likely to be headed.

    "But first things first you need some new clothes, you look like you have been attacked by multiple beasts and your clothes are shredded."

    The vige chief looks over towards the young girl cooking on the fire and beckons her over.

    "Marianna, would you help Irene find a new set of clothes, preferably something easy to move in since she has a long journey ahead of her."

    The Girl name Marianna nods her head and then looks at Marcus and begins speaking.

    "Follow me Irene I am sure we can find something in my wardrobe that you can wear."

    Marcus then follows Marianna to her room where she starts to take out multiple different outfits and lets Marcus try them on. At first Marcus was pretty embarrassed to undress in front of a girl but he soon realized that he is currently in a woman''s body and it is not even his own. Marcus tried on many different sets of clothes from dresses, skirts, pants, and shirts. However, there was slight problem, Marianna was around five feet three inches while Irene''s body was five feet six inches. All of Marianna''s clothes were a bit too short for Marcus and the shirts were also a bit small in another area, namely the chest.

    ''Even her biggest clothes are a bit to small for me to wearfortably, I guess I will just have to get over it and fine some clothes once I make it to a bigger town.''

    Marianna looked disappointed with the clothes choices she had but she suddenly looked over at a chest sitting in the corner of the room. She walked over with a bit of hesitation and opened the chest. She then brings over a beautiful white shirt and ck pants.

    "Since nothing I have fits you very well, I figured that these might, they belonged to my mother and from what I remember she was around the same height as you."

    Marianna has a bit of sorrow in her eyes as she hands the clothes to Marcus who promptly changes into them.

    ''These clothes fit pretty well, almost perfectly and are much softer and higher quality than the other clothes that I tried on.''

    Marianna sees the satisfied expression on Marcus'' face and says in a solemn tone.

    "Those were my mother''s favorite clothes, she had them specially tailored with the highest quality yak and goat fur that we usually reserve only for selling."

    Marcus'' expression turns sour as he contemtes whether he should ept such precious clothes from a bunch of strangers. Marianna noticing the change and Marcus'' face begins to speak gently.

    "There is no reason to be apprehensive, those clothes look great on you and I am sure my mother would be happy to see them being used again rather than collecting dust."

    Marcus thanks Marianna for her generosity for letting him have her mother''s exceptional clothing and the two of them begin to head back towards the main room of the house.

    ''These people sure are incredibly nice, even if they think I am Irene she still was not even a part of this vige and yet they have given me new clothes and n to help me even more.''

    As Marcus thinks about the kindness that these people have bestowed upon him, he and Mariannae back into the main room and see Amos setting a table and serving the stew that had been cooking. When the vige chief and Amos look over and see the clothes that Marcus is wearing tears start to well up in both of their eyes for an instant before they get their emotions under control. The vige chief then begins to speak in a friendly manner.

    "Well, I see you have found some fine clothes to wear, nowe you two dinner is ready and we can talk while we eat."

    Marcus and Marianna sat down and began eating, after everyone had eaten a bit the vige chief was ready to begin telling Marcus about the area and his insights on where Marcus should go to find the vers and save Lilia.

 Chapter 18 - 17 The Kingdom Of Borealia

    The vige chief finishes scarfing down arge portion of stew with a satisfied expression when he turns towards Marcus and begins speaking.

    "Before I start to tell you about the area and which direction, I think it is likely those vers went, would you mind telling me how much you know about the area, so I do not spend time exining unnecessary details."

    Marcus considers exactly what he should say, he only has a few vague memories from Irene and does not know any details about where he is or the surrounding area. He really wants to get as much information as he can but also does not want to seem suspicious because there are certain things that Irene would have known.

    ''I guess I should just ask for everything about the area I am in even if it does seem a bit suspicious, they have already been incredibly nice, and I find it unlikely for them to get really wary of me at this point.''

    After having mulled over how he was going to approach getting information he looks at the vige chief and says, "I really do not know much about the area at all I have been living up here for most of my life so any information you have would be useful for me."

    "Okay I understand, I know a good deal about the broader workings of our kingdom but there are plenty of details I know nothing about, but I will tell you what I can,"

    The vige chief then begins to exin about the kingdom that Marcus currently finds himself in. The kingdom is called Borealia and is located at the northern most inhabitable part of the continent. The chief does not know of the names of any of the surrounding countries as his vige is one of the farthest north settlements in the kingdom. He tells Marcus that following the road south there would be arge river flowing roughly east to west called the Tortoise River. At that point there would be arge town called River Landing that is thergest trading hub in the region. The vige chief exins how River Landing while not the mostwful ce would be a horrible ce to sell illegal ves. This is because of the vested interest the kingdom has in collecting taxes from thergest trading hub in the northern region, so they watch out for illegal trade to make sure it does not cut into their profits. He then goes on to exin that heading east is impossible, heading south while possible is unlikely, and heading west is almost assured.

    "To the east of River Landing is mostly small viges like ours that deal in agriculture and husbandry so other than the lords of the regions there would be no one who would have any money to purchase ves. The farther south one goes the closer they get to the capital and their influence. The kingdom does its best to uphold and enforce itsws and the closer they are to the capital the more likely those vers are to be found caring illegal ves. No, the most likely direction they would go would be west after Rivernding towards the city of Loursend. Loursend is the only deep-water port in the entire kingdom as far as I know and is a hub of trade for foreign merchants. The area receives a constant influx of people from the nearby countries as well as the continent to the west making it much harder for the kingdom to monitor illegal activities. The city is also separated from the southern part of the kingdom by the Verkoudhied Mountains making the crown''s power their rtively weak. In terms of distance from the capital they may be even farther than this vige. Once in the city the vers would have a plethora of people to sell to from merchants both domestic and foreign as well as nobles."

    After giving a general exnation of the area and his thoughts on where the vers are likely to go the vige chief looks towards Marcus waiting for any of his questions.

    Marcus then asks, "If very is illegal in the kingdom, then how are they able to transport so many people without being caught, I just do not see how they could have a sessful business."

    The vige chief stares at Marcus and ps himself in the face for not realizing just how clueless Marcus is about thews of the kingdom.

    "You misunderstand very in itself is not illegal in the kingdom, but the kidnapping of random citizens most certainly is. The majority of ves in this kingdom are criminals or people that could not pay off their depts. So yes, there is very however, what those men did is considered illegal and the punishment if they are caught would be to be made into ves themselves or even executed."

    ''Okay I have pretty good understanding about how very works in this kingdom now but there is something I just do not get. Why would someone want a criminal that is likely to stab you in the back and runaway as a ve? They must have a way to control people probably through some form of magic contract or cor is my best guess.''

    "Thank you for telling me all this from what you said I think your logic is sound and I will head towards River Landing first to look for clues and follow the trail from there. Could you also tell me how long it will take to reach River Landing from here?"

    "Ah yes I suppose that would be important if you are walking there, it should take you nine or ten days to reach as long as you do not run into any trouble. There are a number of other viges on the way, and you should be able to find some hospitality in them. However, I think you should wait for a few more days, as a unit of soldiers from River Landinges up around this time during the summer to clear out the periphery of the woods of magical beasts and monsters. I believe it would be much safer for you to travel in their wake as many others do."

    ''Yeah, there is no way I can wait for the unit of soldiers I am already a month behind, and worst-case scenario Lilia gets sold to some merchant from across the sea and it bes impossible for me to track her down. Wait and did he say summer, I thought it was fall, it has not gotten above the low seventies, this ce really must be far north. Whatever I just have to do what I have to do.''

    "Thank you for your advice but I n to set out as soon as the sunes up tomorrow, I am already too far behind to wait and y it safe."

    The vige chief nods his head as if expecting that answer and gets up and heads into another room. When hees back, heys a small leather pouch in front of Marcus and beckons him to open it. When Marcus opens it, he sees a number of brown coinsying in the pouch.

    The vige chief then says, "Its not much but it is what we can offer, I put fifty-three copper coins in there for you. While traveling through the small viges around here costs nothing forrge towns and cities like River Landing there is an entrance tax. Also, you will need an ID to enter mostrge towns as well and if you do not have one, I remember the fee being around twenty copper coins to have one made, although that was some years ago so the price might have changed."

    Marcus stares at the vige chief baffled by his generosity.

    ''This man really is too kind he not only gave me information and advice but is now even giving me money.''

    "Thank you very much, I promise to repay your kindness one day, you have done so much for me even though you barely know me."

    "Ah it''s no big deal you have gone through a horrible tragedy and yourmunity has had a long-standing rtionship with ours for a long time, since you are thest one left it is my duty to help you. Now it is gettingte, and you have a long day ahead off you tomorrow. You can sleep in our guest bedroom tonight and we will see you off tomorrow."

    Marcus then follows Marianna to the guest room andys down on the bed, soon enraptured by the soft warm bed falling into a deep peaceful sleep.

 Chapter 19 - 18 River Landing

    As Marcus sleeps, he dreams of his life on Earth, he dreams of his twenty first Birthday where his family threw arge party for him. He dreams of how he tried dozens of different types of liquor from beers and wines to even a sweet sake. He dreams of the horrible hangover he had the next day which caused him to skip his college sses. His dreams continue and feature many of the happy memories he had on Earth, before shifting to something else. His dreams begin to feature the memories of Irene, focusing on her love for her sister. Marcus can feel how deeply Irene cared for her sister, and when the dream features Irene''s final memories, he can feel her misery, fury, and helplessness. Marcus then wakes up with tears running down his face the dreams overpowering his emotions.

    ''Damn my chest hurts I miss my family so much and I can feel the fragment of Irene''s soul crying out for her little sister as well. I really can''t afford to let her down I have to find and save Lilia no matter what for Irene but also for myself.''

    Marcus then got out of bed and changed into the set of clothes he was given the day before. He checked through his supplies and figured he would have to restock in a day or two.

    ''I guess I am ready to head out, I will give my thanks and farewell and be on my way.''

    Marcus walks out into the main room and is greeted by the vige chief and Marianna. The two of them had been waiting for Marcus and were each holding something to give to him.

    The vige chief then said, "We figured that you might need a bag and an extra set of clothes for your journey, so we scrounged something up. It''s an old bag but it was made well, and I have filled it with some food and water."

    The vige chief and Marianna hand the bag and extra set of clothes to Marcus with a smiling faces.

    Marcus responds saying "Thank you again you have shown me a great deal of help and generosity I will not forget; I know because of the help you have given me I will be able to save Lilia."

    "It is only natural that we show our neighbor some hospitality in their time of need, also Amos would have been here to see you off, but he had some urgent work to take care of this morning."

    Marcus nodded towards the vige chief and then headed to exit the house. The vige chief and Marianna walked Marcus to the edge of the vige where Marcus saw Amos had gathered arge amount of the vigers to see Marcus off. As Marcus left, the vigers gave shouts of encouragement and wishes for safe travels, giving Marcus a fuzzy feeling in his chest.

    Once Marcus was out of eye shot of the vige, he stored the bag into his item box.

    ''I guess it would be weird for a person traveling on foot to have no bags of luggage of any kind, but those people really were too nice, I promise I wille back to visit one day.''

    With onest look in the direction of the vige Marcus begins his long trek down the road.

    ˇ­

    While most people would be slowed down by many factors during travel Marcus was able alleviate many of them. With his item box he was not encumbered by any heavy bags filled with supplies and with his dark vision skill he could travel even at night without the need of light. After traveling for six days and only resting around four hours a day Marcus acquired a skill called endurance that allowed him to stave off exhaustion for longer. On the seventh day Marcus saw a unit of soldiers heading up the road heading north.

    ''Those must be the soldiers that the kingdom sends every summer I heard about in the vige. I should probably avoid them since I really do not want to end up in any unexpected trouble.''

    Marcus veered off the road a few hundred feet and hid in some bushes waiting for the soldiers to pass by. After they were out of view Marcus got back on the road and continued his journey. Marcus had made exceptional time and the journey had been rtively peaceful, with Marcus being attacked only a few times by some low-level beast. Thening up over the top of arge hill Marcus saw therge town of River Landing nestled on both sides of the river connected by multiple bridges.

    ''Wow that is something, it is muchrger than any of the viges I have passed through on my way here. It kind of reminds me of Montreal with it being connected across a river by multiple bridges. I guess I should go get into the line of people entering the town hopefully it will not take too long.''

    As Marcus approached River Landing, he noticed that the long line of carts, carriages and people had certain individuals that were not human. He saw many people with animal like traits such as furry ears and tails, short and stout people that were obviously dwarfs, and there was one coach with a driver who had pointed ears.

    ''I knew that there were intelligent races other than humans in this world, but this is my first time seeing any in person. This really hammers home how this is a fantasy world. It is too bad that I am on a pressing mission right now and do not have more time to explore the cultures and areas of this world right now.''

    Marcus soon gets in line and waits his turn to be admitted into the town, after waiting for around thirty minutes and being near the front of the line, he see a for ornate carriage go past the line to the front gate. The carriage only stops for a few moments and shes what looks like a meatal te before the guards swiftly let them in.

    ''I guess they are probably a noble or someone with a high status since they did not even give a cursory examination of that carriage or take the entry fee.''

    After a couple more minutes Marcus made it to the front of the line.

    The guard then asked Marcus "Two copper coins and your ID."

    "I am afraid I do not have an ID, but I heard that I can have one made here for twenty coppers."

    The guard frowns at Marcus before responding "yes you can have an ID made in the guard station to the left however the price is thirty coppers, if you do not have enough money you will have to leave."

    Marcus nods his head at the guard and says, "I do have enough money thank you for directing me."

    Marcus then walks into the guard station where another guard is lounging about until he sees Marcus and promptly gets up and asks, "Yes miss how may I help."

    "I need to have an ID made so that I can enter River Landing can you help me."

    After hearing Marcus'' request and staring at him for a little too long the guard directs Marcus over to a podium in the center of the room.

    "Here you go miss please ce your hand here on this podium, ah but first I need to confirm your payment of thirty coppers."

    Marcus nods and takes his coin pouch out of his item box eliciting a surprised reaction from the guard.

    "You have an item box miss, that is an incredibly rare skill!"

    The man stares at Marcus in awe for a very ufortable amount of time before Marcus coughs to refocus the man and hands him the money. After the man takes the money, he once again beckons Marcus to put his hand on the pedestal. Once Marcus ces his hand on it the pedestal begins to light up and disys his status. For an instances Marcus has a heart attack as his full status is on disy before it suddenly flickers, and certain information is changed.

    Name: Irene

    Age: 28

    Race: Human

    Kingdom: Borealia

    Level: 9

    HP: 430/430-290/290

    MP: 380/380

    STR: 30

    AGL: 32

    VIT: 29

    INT: 38

    SPR: 43

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 2, Magic Cirction Lvl 2, Iron Magic Lvl 2, Disassembly Lvl 2, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 1, Creature Appraisal Lvl 1, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 1, Darkvision Lvl 1, Endurance Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Luckily, the guard was too busy staring at Marcus to notice that his disyed status suddenly change and when he did look at it, he was once again bbergasted. He stared at Marcus'' status for a good five minutes wondering how this randommoner had such impressive stats and skills for a level nine.

    ''This does not make any since, other than digging, disassembly, and endurance she has incredibly difficult skills to obtain not to mention having three magic skills one of which is level two. She surprisingly also has a blessing, even the children of nobles around this level do not have stats or skills this good.''

    Once the guard finishes looking over Marcus'' status, he chants a few words, and the pedestal spits out a piece of parchment which the guard then hands to Marcus.

    "Here this is your ID be sure not to lose it otherwise you will need to purchase another one. Also, since I assume this is your first time here, I would rmend the Livelily Goose Inn, it is a few hundred feet down the main street on the left you should have no trouble spotting it."

    After thanking the guard for helping him Marcus exited the guard station, paid the entry fee, and finally entered the town of River Landing.

 Chapter 20 - 19 Learning About Magic

    Walking into the town proper of River Landing Marcus is stunned by the number of people and beasts. Marcus sees all manner of people frommoners like him, wealthy merchants, and even nobles moving about the busy streets. However, what is even more shocking for Marcus is the number of beasts pulling carriages and people are ridding. There were of course horses, some type ofrge, majestic stag, a two-legged lizard that looked like some kind of dinosaur, and many others.

    ''Wow now this is what I imagined a fantasy city to look like, there are magic beasts all over the ce and I think I see someone doing a magic performance over there.''

    While Marcus was staring in awe at the amazing sites of River Landing, he had started to congest the traffic behind him when one of the people he was slowing down began to yell.

    "HEY, STOP GAWKING AND GET OUT OF THE WAY I NEED TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER BEFORE THEY START TO CLOSE DOWN THE BRIDGES."

    Startled by the man atop a cart yelling at him Marcus turns around and sees how he has been standing in the middle of the main thoroughfare blocking part of the road. Marcus quickly gets out of the way and stands at the edge of the road. His attention is then directed towards the magic performance that is being held in a small park off the side of the road. Marcus carefully walks towards the park making sure not to impede traffic again and joins the small gathering of people watching the performance. Marcus sees a middle-aged man in a funny get up shouting into the crowd.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, I still have few more tricks up my sleeves before the end of my performance, watch now as I create the natural beauty of a rainbow right here on this cloudless day."

    The performer then sped his hands together and began chanting, after three seconds hepleted his chant, and he slowly opened his hands as a bubble of water stared to form. Once it reached around a foot in diameter the man through it into the air where it popped into a cloud of mist. The man then started another chant which hepleted before a small beam of light left his hands crating a rainbow. The performer then did a bow as everyone around began to p and cheer. The performer then opened his mouth to speak once more.

    "Thank you, your apuse is much appreciated however, my final trick will be even more spectacr, prepare yourselves and be amazed."

    Holding his hands towards the sky the man initiated a chant and when he had finished a small ball of fire that reassembled Marcus''s fire shot appeared and flew into the air. Once it was around a hundred feet high it exploded reassembling a firework. The audience broke out into an even more vigorous cheer than before as the performing man took a few bows before taking off his hat and holding it out. While many people walked over and through a copper coin or two into the man''s hat before heading on their way, Marcus was contemting something seriously.

    ''That man certainly must have a lot of magic skills and I could not see his level so he must be higher than me, so why is he performing out here for coppers when he should be able to make more with his magic elsewhere. Also, why was he chanting when he cast spells, once I memorized the spell''s formation, I was able to use it whenever I wanted. I guess I should go and ask him, maybe the chants were just part of his performance.''

    After waiting for the crowd to have almost entirely dispersed Marcus walked up to the man to begin his inquiry.

    "Hello sir, that was an amazing performance, I was wonder if I could ask you a few questions about magic."

    Before responding the man holds out his hat and shakes it towards Marcus beckoning for a tip ahead of answering any questions. Marcus reluctantly took out his coin pouch and threw five copper coins into the performers hat. With a satisfied expression the man said, "And what would you like to know about magic miss."

    "I was wondering why you needed to chant to cast your spells I thought they could be cast without any words."

    The man looks at Marcus for a moment with a bbergasted expression before heughs a little and responds to Marcus.

    "Ah miss you must have read too many stories, only the strongest of spell casters can cast spells without chants. I am afraid that this old man never had the talent to get anywhere close to that level of skill in magic."

    Marcus is quite shocked when he hears this, because he has had no trouble casting spells without any chants since he was level two and even now, he could not be considered anywhere near the pinnacle of magic. Marcus collects his thoughts for a few seconds before asking his next question.

    "You must have at least three magic skills from what I saw, and I do not mean to be rude but why are you out here doing these performances."

    The man looks slightly offended but remembers the generous tip Marcus gave and sees the look of genuine curiosity on his face and then answers Marcus''s question.

    "Unfortunately miss you are mistaken again, all but thest of my spells were simple utility magic spells while my final one was just a tier one fire magic spell."

    ''Utility magic, I do not think I saw a skill like that when I was searching through my skill list even when I had six points. I must have either missed it or I have a really bad affinity with it. Also, he said that he used a tier one fire spell but while it looked like a fire shot mine does not explode. I should ask him how he does that it could be useful to send a signal or as a distraction.''

    "I just have one more question thatst spell you used looked like a fire shot but how were you able to make it exploded."

    The performer looked quite shocked when he heard this question not expecting someone who seemed to know nothing of magic to recognize the differences between a normal fire shot and what he had cast.

    "What I cast was not the basic fire shot that everyone gets when they obtain the fire magic skill, but another spell called exploding fire shot. I assume this must be your first time seeing a spell that was not created by the system but by people."

    Marcus was blown away for a moment as he thought about all of the new information he had just learned about magic.

    ''I still do not know why I do not have to chant to cast spells, as far as I know I have no skill or ability that should let me bypass this fundamental rule, so it must be for another reason. I also can''t believe that I did not think of the possibility that there might be more spells than the basic ones given by the system. This means there are probably dozens of more spells I can learn even with my current skill levels.''

    Marcus then thanks the man for his time and bids him farewell before he moves to an isted part of the park and takes out his guide.

    ''I did not check the section on magic before because it seemed really straight forward, but I guess I should thoroughly read this thing when I get the time.''

    Opening his newbies guide to the section on magic Marcus begins pouring over every detail. To Marcus'' surprise the section was quite detailed and gave him all of the information he had just learned and plenty more.

    ''So, people in the past studied the existing formations of the spells given by the system and used them to create new spells. This has given rise to thousands of different spells as people continue to make more and more. I wonder if I will be able to make my own spells one of these days, however that is definitely well into the future if it''s even possible. I also found the reasons why people can cast spells without chanting. The guide mentions that people with the silent casting skill are able to circumvent the need for chanting, I however, do not have the silent casting skill. What allows me to cast spells silently is because I am a monster. The guide specifies that all monsters and magic beasts are able to cast spells without the need to chant because they can store formations in their magic cores. However most magic beast and monsters do not have the intelligence for spell casting so only a few like dragons are proficient with magic. Since I am now a ghost, I am a monster with a magic core allowing me cast silently.''

    Once Marcus had finished reading everything, he could about magic he put his guide back in his item box and headed out in search of a magic shop hoping to obtain some more spells.

 Chapter 21 - 20 Magic Shop And Lively Goose Inn

    Marcus spent around an hour searching around for a magic shop before he gave in and asked a patrolling guard where to find one.

    "Excuse me sir I was looking for a magic shop could you give me directions."

    The guard looking a bit disgruntled before he took a good look at Marcus and enthusiastically responded.

    "Certainly miss, on this side of the river there is however, only one small magic shop, but I would be more than happy to lead the way for you."

    "Thank you and lead the way."

    ''Wow when I first opened my mouth the guy acted like I ruined his day, but once he turned around and saw me, he acted like it was the best day of his life, does he have some kind of disorder or something.''

    As Marcus followed the guard, he saw many other building to take note of. The first was the Lively Goose Inn he had been rmended, followed by a weapons shop, a bank, and something that nearly made Marcus stop, a building with a sign saying adventures guild.

    ''Damn I wish I could head in there right this moment but if I stop now, I may not find the magic shop and I can alwayse backter. Since this is a fantasy world, I was hopping there would be some kind of adventures or mercenary association that I could take jobs from to make money.''

    Marcusmented that he could not immediately run in a sign up to be an adventure, but he continued to follow the guard to the magic shop. While traveling to the magic shop the guard kept asking question of Marcus, such as how long have you been in town, what is your favorite food, where are you staying, and finally are you single? At that question even with as dense as Marcus is he was able to pick up what the guard was trying to aplish.

    ''This guy is hitting on me, sorry dude, I may currently be piloting a woman''s body, but I still have the soul of a man and am not interested.''

    Marcus tries to subtly hint that he has no intention of going out with him, but the guard was not taking any hints. After a few more minutes of walking, they finally arrived in front of the magic shop called Katrina''s Magic Cache. Marcus thanked the guard and bid him farewell before stepping into the magic shop. Once inside Marcus saw all types of strange things, from weird ores, parts of monsters and beasts, and an owl sitting by the front desk. Other than Marcus there was currently no one else in the store giving it a bit of an eerie feel.

    ''Okay this is kind of creepy but there are some books over there, and maybe I can find one with spells for one of the magic types I know.''

    Marcus started to peruse the books that were on the shelves in search of ones containing fire, lightning, or iron magic. Unfortunately, Marcus ran into a major problem, even after searching through all of the magic books the cheapest one on fire magic was still eight gold.

    ''Holy shit all of these books are expensive, forget gold I do not even have one silver, after paying for my ID, and the entry fee, and tipping that performer all I have left is sixteen copper. I guess I should have expected magic to be expensive, most people cannot just purchase a magic skill like me they have to work hard to obtain it.''

    Dejectedly Marcus left the shop and was unhappily surprised to see the guard still waiting for him.

    "Ah miss Irene now that you have finished up your business, my shift just ended, and I was wondering if you would apany me for dinner. I know a great restaurant that serves delicious fish caught right from the Tortoise River."

    ''Great I really am not in the mood to deal with this guy, sure you helped me out a bit, but I understand how guys think and I know you did not do it out of the kindness of your heart.''

    It took Marcus a few minutes to finally get the guy to give up on dinner, after which he stormed off yelling, "that after all the help he had given this was how you repay me."

    ''Well at least that is done, now I need to go and get a room at the Lively Goose Inn since the sun is starting to set. I wonder why he was so persistent on trying to go out with me, now that I think about, I have not seen what Irene''s face looks like without her horrible scar, let''s see if I can find a mirror or something.''

    Searching around for a bit Marcus manages toe across a building with a clear window that has a dark interior so he can see his reflection.

    ''Fuck no wonder I have gotten so many looks from people, Irene is hot, if it were not for her scar when I first saw her, I would have noticed then, but her face is incredibly beautiful. She also has striking purple eyes and while her hair was brown when I first saw her, it is now the most gorgeous tinum hair I have ever seen. This is both going to be a blessing and a curse, certainly people are more likely to be friendly to me at first, but I also stand out like a sore thumb.''

    Once Marcus was finished inspecting himself, he retraced his steps in search of the Lively Goose Inn. When he passed by the adventurers guild, he almost went inside but decided against it. After a few minutes of searching around Marcus found himself in front of the Lively Goose Inn as thest dregs of light were disappearing. Marcus then entered the inn and was immediately struck with the strong smell of food and booze.

    ''Wow that smells great, other than the one stew I had at the vige chief''s house all of the food I have eaten has just been roasted on a fire.''

    Marcus began to salivate a little at the smell of delicious food, but soon snapped himself out of it and walked over towards the front desk to rent a room for the night.

    "Hello, I would like to rent a room for one night how much would that be."

    The woman manning the front desk looked up at Marcus with and apologetic look before telling him, "I am sorry, all of our rooms are booked for tonight, if you want to stay here tomorrow though we should have some rooms avable then."

    ''Fuck me, I knew I should have rented a room first, but the allure of magic got the better of me.''

    While Marcus was frustrated about not being able to get a room and thinking up his next move two guys slowly approached him and started speaking.

    "Hey there, miss if you need a room tonight, we do not mind sharing ours with you, but we will of course need a littlepensation in return."

    Marcus waspletely stunned, these two random goons really came up to him and were offering a room if Marcus would have sex with them.

    ''This is so stupid do these guys really think that is going to work, do I look that desperate to have a room here, I would stay up all night standing in a park rather than sleep with these idiots.''

    "No thanks, I will find another inn, and even if I can''t, I would rather stay up all night than sleep in the same room as you two."

    The men looked a little peeved at Marcus'' response and one of them quickly reached out and grabbed Marcus'' butt and said, "No need to be shy we won''t bite, unless you ask us to."

    Marcus quickly pped the man''s hand away and appraised both of the men''s levels. Finding that they were only level eight and seven. Marcus swiftly imnted his foot into the groin of the man who had grabbed his butt. The man crumbled to the ground in an instance holding onto his most precious area and wallowing in pain. His friend then tried to backhand Marcus in retaliation, however Marcus caught his arm, grabbed his shirt, and mmed the man into the ground.. Leaving the two idiots that had just assaulted him writhing on the ground Marcus left the Lively Goose in search of another inn.

 Chapter 22 - 21 Ambush

    After Marcus left the Lively Goose Inn, he wandered around looking for another ce to sleep. Trying every inn, he could find, Marcus was met with disappointment as every single inn was already full to capacity.

    ''This sucks am I really going to have to stay up all nightˇ­ ah there is a guard maybe he can direct me to an inn that still has some open rooms and hopefully he does not suggest that I cane home with him like thest person I asked for directions.''

    Marcus approached the patrolling guard and asked him for directions to any inns he might know that are not fully booked. The guard told Marcus that if he crossed through an alley around a hundred feet down the road that on the other side there was a little-known inn that normally had rooms open. Marcus thanked the guard and made his way in that direction.

    ''Thank god that guy gave me some useful directions, judging by the way he described the inn it probably is not as nice as the others I have visited but I will take what I can get.''

    As Marcus was heading down the alley, he noticed three men standing at the other end looking kind of menacing, and when he turned around, he noticed four men blocking the way he came, one of which was the guard he just asked for directions.

    ''You have got to be fucking kidding me did I really just fall for such an obvious trap. Whatever let''s check these guys'' levels maybe I can take them since they will not be expecting me to bust out some magic.''

    Marcus then began to appraise the levels of the men surrounding him and recognized two faces, the men who had osted him at the Lively Goose were among the numbers ambushing him.

    ''I guess I must have pissed them off and they gathered their friends toe for revenge, the problem is I can''t see four of these guys'' levels and the other one I can see is level nine. Most of them are holding some kind of weapon that resembles a ckjack, but the man dressed as a guard has a halberd.''

    While Marcus was assessing his situation, the man dressed as the guard who appeared to be the leader began speaking.

    "I would rmend that you do not offer any resistance ande with us quietly, at this distance you will not be able to chant any spells before we can attack, and we do not have to worry about roughing you up because of your regeneration skill."

    Marcus was quite shocked when he heard this not only did, they know about his magic skills but also his lesser regeneration.

    ''How the hell do they know my skills, the only person who has seen my skills isˇ­ that bastard did he leak my status, it is either that or one of these guys has an extremely high appraisal skill and I highly doubt that. It looks like they mean to kidnap me, so I do not think it is just revenge for those two asshole that assaulted me earlier. I guess fighting them head on is probably a bad idea since they know all of my skills. Luckily for me I have another way to beat them, time to scare the shit out these assholes.''

    Marcus then did something he had not done since being soul tethered to Irene, he unpossessed her body. After he left Irene''s body it copsed on the ground lifeless startling all of the men surrounding Marcus.

    ''It has been a while since thest time I was in my ghost form, and it feels kind of refreshing. There is a glowing line that connects me to Irene''s body which I guess is the soul tether. From what I read about its description earlier I can only move a number of feet away from the body I am soul tethered to equal to my spirit stat. Luckily for me all of these guy are in my range.''

    Marcus then allowed his rage to build up in himself causing the temperature in the area to rapidly drop until ice started to form. He also activated his ghost sounds ability making the sound of a chilling wind and low moaning wails. The would-be kidnapers began to be quite frightened by the sudden turn of events. They had already been told all of Marcus'' skills and knew he did not have anything like illusion magic.

    ''Good they look pretty scared, that''s right if you stay here something horrible will happen to you just run away and everything will be fine.''

    Unfortunately for Marcus these guys were either braver or stupider than he thought and one of them started to approach toward Irene''s body.

    ''I really did not want to do this, but they are giving me no choice.''

    Marcus then floated over toward the level eight guy that had osted him in the Lively Goose Inn and activated his possession ability. While Marcus and the man''s soul fought for control, the man''s body began convulsing and spasming stopping the advance towards Irene and further scaring the kidnapers. After about fifteen seconds Marcus managed to take control and started his next move.

    "Hey Boris, are you alright what just happened to you."

    As the other men showed concern for theirpatriot Marcus put his hand on the stomach of the one closest to him and cast his spark spell. As the electricity moved throughout the man''s body he began to shake uncontrobly before he copsed unconscious.

    The leader of the men then said, "Boris what the hell are you doing."

    Without responding Marcus lunged towards the next closest guy hoping to take him out as well. However, after hisst attack his element of surprise was gone, and the man pped his ckjack right against the side of Marcus'' head. The pain immediately assaulted Marcus but he fought through it and grabbed the man''s wrist and cast his spark spell once again electrocuting him until he passed out. Once Marcus was sure the man was unconscious, he left the concussed body of the man he was currently possessing.

    ''Ow that hurt I nearly got shunted out of his body from that blow, but I guess it saves me the trouble of knocking him out myself. Now let''s see what the remaining four guys are going to do.''

    The other four men blocking the alley were currently trembling in fear at the devastation at the other side of the alley they could not understand. They no longer had any thoughts of kidnapping Marcus and began to run away screaming.

    ''Well, that worked out pretty well, this was my first time to scare people as a ghost and I have to say, it was quite fun. Now I can see why it cost me forty levels to be a ghost, I can turn anyone weaker than me into my own personal puppet. Though I did feel his soul continue to fight against me and I think I could have only possessed him for another minute or so.''

    Marcus then reentered Irene''s body and pred to check through the three unconscious men''s belongings.

    ''They did try to kidnap me so it should be fine if I take some of their things aspensation. Nice between these guys I got four silver and seventy-eight copper.''

    As Marcus was rifling through the failed kidnappers'' pockets, he noticed another man begin to walk down the alley towards him.

    ''Crap is that that their boss or something he is still pretty far away, but my danger sense is going off like crazy.''

    Unexpectedly the man began pping slowly before opening his mouth and saying, "Most impressive I am not sure what you did to beat those three and make the other four run screaming, but I am impressed. I was hoping to get you into my dept by rescuing you from them, but I suppose I will have to resort to other methods."

    The man then took out a book from under his cloak allowing Marcus'' to see it before speaking again.

    "I noticed you eyeing this in the magic shop and was wondering if you would not still want it, I have a little job I need you to do and if youplete it, I would be more than happy to give you this."

    Marcus stood bbergasted seeing the man holding the eight-gold book on fire magic and offering it to him in exchange for some type of job.

 Chapter 23 - 22 The Job

    ''What the hell is going on, I realize that my skills might be rare for someone at my level, but I am still just a level nine right now, why am I garnering all of this attention.''

    As Marcus was wondering what kind of events had led him to being a party of interest for so many people the man holding the book on fire magic started to get a bit impatient.

    "While I understand you may be a bit startled by my proposition, I will need an answer soon since after all the noise you made even with my interference the guards will show up soon."

    Snapping out of his delusions Marcus began to think quickly about what to do.

    ''While that book on fire magic is tempting this guy may know something about those vers that have Lilia, if he knows anything I will do whatever job he wants.''

    With resolution in his eyes Marcus opened his mouth to respond to the man offering him a job.

    "That book certainly is tempting but there is something else I want instead if possible. You seem like the kind of sketchy guy that knows things most other do not, there should have been a group of ver that came through here between three weeks or a month ago. If you have any information on them, I would be more than willing to help you."

    After hearing Marcus'' request, the man seemed quite shocked, he did not expect that Marcus would ask for something other than the magic book, and especially not information. However, the man began to smile before saying, "yes that certainly is possible, I do happen to have information on the many vers thate and go through this town. Now then since you have agreed, go to the Invulnerable Tortoise Inn, once you exit the alley it will be four hundred feet down the road on your left. There will be a room ready for you, and I wille visit you some time tomorrow night and we can hammer out the details."

    The man then disappeared as if he had never been there leaving Marcus alone with the three men, he knocked unconscious. Marcus quickly activated his stealth skill and made his way out of the alley. He then headed in the direction of the Invulnerable Tortoise while thinking about his next move.

    ''Worst case scenario this is another ambush, and I will have to abandon Irene''s body, but I do not think it is. That man felt incredibly strong to me, and I have no doubt that he could have easily beaten me without any trouble. He said he woulde tomorrow, and we could work out the details, hopefully this job he wants me to do is not too hical.''

    While thinking Marcus arrived in front of the Invulnerable Tortoise and immediately could tell something was different about this inn from the others he visited.

    ''This ce almost seems to radiate a certain invisible pressure, as if I am about to walk into a den of tigers.''

    Marcus opened the door to the inn and walked inside, when he did the scant amount of noise inside the inn stopped and everyone looked over towards him. Marcus could immediately feel the pressure that these people gave off. Marcus, however, did not lose his nerve and began appraising everyone in the inn. To his surprise everyone in the inn was higher level then him even the inn keeper. Marcus then approached the burly woman that looked like she could wrestle a bear who was standing at the front desk. When Marcus approached the desk, the woman took out a key and said, "Second floor all the way to the end on the left".

    Marcus grabbed the key and moved towards the stairs, once he was out of sight he stopped and listened as quite conversation returned to the inn now that the neer was gone. Marcus swiftly found his room unlocked it and went inside, before letting out a deep breath.

    ''Whew, all of those people are monsters, I could not see the level of any of them and the pressure they let off was suffocating. This certainly is not like the friendly neighborhood inns I had visited earlier today; this is a den of monsters.''

    Marcus then moved towards the bed andid down gettingfortable and falling asleep quickly in the warm embrace of the second bed he had slept on sinceing to Mirrion.

    When Marcus woke up, he headed downstairs to find something to eat. Finding a lone table Marcus sat down and soon a beautiful young woman came to take Marcus'' order.

    "What would you like."

    "Um I guess I will have the special with a ss of water."

    "Okay"

    ''Wow that was some cold service, did I do something to her, I hope the special is not something really weird.''

    After a couple of minutes, the server came back with Marcus'' order and the bill.

    "That will be twelve copper."

    Marcus then took out his coin pouch counted out twelve copper and handed it to the server who promptly left to attend to the other patrons. Marcus then looked down at the breakfast that was brought out to him and his stomach started to rumble.

    ''This looks pretty good, the main is some type of fish and the sides are a piece of ck bread and vegetable soup.''

    Marcus then began to eat, first taking a bite out of the bread and finding that it was quite different from what he had eaten on earth.

    ''Wow this pretty is hard, this is nothing like the soft bread I used to eat, I think I did read about how in medieval times the bread they ate was much harder and they would often dip it into soup to soften it up.''

    Marcus then dipped the bread into the vegetable soup and found that it became much easier to eat.

    ''It is still a bit tough but at least I can get my teeth into it now.''

    He continued to eat his meal until he had finished off everyst morsel of food in his bowl and on his te.

    ''Man, that was good, the soup tasted really good, being full of carrots, potatoes and some type of vegetable I have never seen before. While the fish was cooked to perfection it was a bit ky but not tough and had a great vor like a better trout. I wonder what I should do now, should I go explore the town a bit more or should I just stay here and wait until tonight for my meeting.''

    After thinking it over for awhile Marcus decided to stay at the inn, he really did not want to get into more trouble walking around the town and figured he could wash up and practice magic at the inn. Marcus headed over to the front desk and asked if there was any way he could take a bath. The burly inn keeper then went and grabbed a small metal tub and told Marcus he could get water from the well out back. Marcus went out back and filled every free inch of his item box with water. He then went back to his room and filled the tub and used fire shot on the water until it was a nice temperature.

    ''Ah this feels great I have not had a hot bath sinceing to this world, I think I am going to have to make some room in my item box for a portable tub and a lot of water. It is still a bit weird to be in a woman''s body if I still had my original body, I would be getting pretty hot and bothered right about now. However, I do not really feel much of anything right now maybe because I am ghost now or because of the connection I have to Irene''s soul.''

    Marcus leisurely bathed until he overheated and had to climb out of the bath to cool off. He then started to practice magic to increase his skill level and figuring out applications for his iron threads spell.

    ''Ugh training a skill to level it up is much harder than just dumping some skill points into, I wonder how much more I will have to do before I can level up lightning and fire magic.''

    Marcus'' then heard a knock on his door and then looked out the window seeing that it was already nighttime.

    ''I guess I lost track of time training magic and it is time for my ndestine meeting.''

    Marcus then got up and opened the door seeing the same cloaked man, the man came in and sat down on the chair in the room as Marcus was closing the door and locking it.

    ''Well let us get down to business, there is a certain lieutenant of the captain of the guard who is quite corrupt, and I have been unable to find any hard evidence against him so I would like you to nt these incriminating documents in his residence."

 Chapter 24 - 23 Honeytrap

    After hearing the objective of the job, this suspicious man wants him to do Marcus is stunned. The man sees the shocked expression on Marcus'' face and begins to borate more on the finer details of what the job entails.

    "First, I will tell you that I am a royal investigator, and it is my job to root out corruption in the kingdom and I am only looking out for its best interests. While I have no hard proof linking Lieutenant Ivar Poulsen to illegal activities there is to much smoke for there to not be a fire. You may be wondering why I have chosen you to nt these documents and it is because this lieutenant has shown an interest in you. In fact, there are quite a few people that have shown an interest in you like those thugs that attacked you in the alley earlier. I am afraid that the guard who made your ID leaked your status to many people for money. From what I heard from my source Lieutenant Poulsen wishes to recruit you into the city guard to increase his prestige for getting a talented young person to join. However, he also heard that you were quite beautiful, and his main objective is to add you to his collection."

    Marcus grimaces at thest sentence the investigator said and begins to think about his predicament.

    ''I guess my skills really were to eye catching, I did not think I would attract this much attention and from such unsavory people. What do I do, should I ept to nt these documents on this guy''s word alone that this lieutenant is corrupt? For all I know this guy could be some kind of criminal trying to implicate this lieutenant because he is getting in his way. Oh, whatever if he can get me information on those vers even if I am helping a criminal, I have to do it.''

    "Okay I have decided if you can give me information on a group of vers, I will help you nt that evidence on this lieutenant."

    "Very good you have deal, however there are a number of vers that operate in the kingdom so I will need a description so I can narrow it down."

    Marcus then went into as much detail he could about the vers who attacked themunity that Irene was a part of especially the description of the leader that killed her.

    After thinking for a few moments, the royal investigator scowled before giving his response to Marcus.

    "Yes, I know who you are talking about, they are a group of vers that like to go around attacking small, istedmunities and kidnapping anyone they deem valuable. I can tell you this right now that they are headed to Loursend, that is their base of operations. I have been trying to catch them for a couple of years now, but they always have the correct papers for ve trading and since they never make any sales here in River Landing, I have no grounds to investigate them further. I of course have more information on them and if you sessfullyplete this assignment, I would be more than happy to tell you everything I know."

    ''I really did not get any new information from him but if what he said is true, I have confirmation on where these guys are headed. He has not given me any information that seems tantly false, and my danger sense and my own instincts are not throwing up warning signs. At the end of the day, I am ghost so I doubt there are many situations I cannot get out of if I have to.''

    "Very well I understand what you want me to do, and I believe your information on the vers, so how do you want me to nt this evidence on this corrupt lieutenant."

    "Ah that should not be too difficult, I have already leaked information to him that you are staying here, and I know he ns to have someone contact you tomorrow. He is first going to take you around and try to convince you to join the guards, make sure you never agree to this, but act interested. He will almost certainly invite you back to his private residence for dinner and while you are there you should be able to find some time to ce the evidence somewhere in his house where it would not be to easily found. The main reason that I choose you for this task is your item box, you will be able to carry the documents in even past a full body search."

    ''Wait a minute am I, a honeytrap, this guy could have tried this with any girl that caught that lieutenant''s fancy, the only reason he is using me is because of my item box. There is no way I am sleeping with this random creep; I will hopefully be able to find another way out of this. Maybe I can just shock him into unconsciousness or tie him up for awhile with my iron threads.''

    Almost as if he could read Marcus'' thoughts the royal investigator coughed and told Marcus, "I would not rmend that you use violence in any situation, this lieutenant is level twenty-nine and the fifth son of a prominent viscount. You would have no means of beating him physically or politically even though you have powerful skills for your level. Just find a moment to excuse yourself and ce the evidence in a discreet location."

    Marcus started to think of many scenarios he could use to cause amotion if necessary, such as ying dead, possessing a servant and causing a ruckus, maybe even making it so cold the guy could not get it up. Thest thing he wanted to do was have to sleep with someone just to get information.

    After giving Marcus some time to think, the royal investigator stood up and began speaking.

    "Well, I believe that settles everything, I have left the documents on the chair here and you should have no troublepleting this little job. When you have finished ite back here and I will find you so you can tell me where you hid the documents, and I can begin a raid on Ivar Poulsen''s manor."

    Now that he had divulged the mission to Marcus the royal investigator quickly the room, while Marcus was racking his brains on how he was going to safely aplish this assignment

 Chapter 25 - 24 Ivar Poulsen

    ''There are just too many possible scenarios that can happen, I will have to be flexible and go with the flow. Hopefully, this is just an in and out procedure with as little pain as possible. Oh, who am I kidding from what I have heard this guy is certainly going to try to get me into bed. Great now that I think about it, he may even try to drug me, since I am soul tethered to Irene even if I pass out, I do not get forced out of her body. I am going to need to be careful of what I eat. Wait he is less likely to feed me any drugs if he thinks I am going to do it willingly, I need to act flirtatious and find a way to back out at thest moment. The problem is I am a guy and know nothing about seduction techniques, am I supposed to sh him some cleavage,ugh at everything he says, god this is difficult.''

    Marcus spent the better half of the night obsessing about whatever he could do to nt the evidence and get out without suffering any consequences. At a certain point he gave up and finally went to sleep. He woke up soaked in cold sweat from how nervous he was, and he was not certain when the person who was going to take him to Lieutenant Poulsen would arrive.

    ''I guess I should just go get some breakfast and wait around downstairs until whoever it ises to get me.''

    Once Marcus got downstairs, he headed towards a lone table and waited for the server toe take his order. When she got to Marcus, she gave the same cold an impersonal service as yesterday. Marcus once again ordered whatever the special was and began to observe the server. After watching her take the orders of the other guest he realized that she was not just cold to him but everyone else as well. Soon his food arrived and this time it was two fried eggs, a few pieces of sausage, and a fried potato.

    ''Wow this is just like a ssic breakfast from Earth except the eggs are a bit bigger and the potato is sweeter.''

    While Marcus was scarfing down his meal enjoying familiar tastes from home, a female guard entered the Invincible Tortoise and started looking around. Marcus acted like he did not notice her and when she spotted Marcus, she made a beeline towards him.

    "Hello there is your name Irene."

    Marcus then acted startled and looked at the guard before nervously responding.

    "Yes, I am Irene am I in some kind of trouble or something."

    The guard then started to smile before saying, "No you are not in any trouble, in fact my superior officer, Lieutenant Ivar Poulsen heard about your impressive status and wanted to invite you for an interview to be one of the town guards."

    ''It is exactly as that royal investigator said, now all I have to do is follow the n and nt the evidence.''

    "Oh, that is a surprise, and I am a bit interested in this opportunity, however I really do not know what being a guard entails, are you sure I am qualified."

    "Yes, the guards are always looking for talented young people to join and I believe you could learn how to be a guard with ease. So, if you would follow me, I can bring you to Lieutenant Poulsen and he can exin more details about the guard to you."

    Marcus then got up and followed the guard out of the inn and deeper into the town towards the river. The guard led him to arge four-story building made out of white stone that had banners and gs all over it. The gs and banners had the depiction of a snowke crossed by two spears on it depicting the symbol of the Borealia royal family.

    "This here is the pride and joy of River Landing the army headquarters for the northern region of the kingdom, impressive is it not."

    Marcus stood mouth agape staring at thergest building he had seen sinceing to Mirrion.

    ''Damn this building is big, even on earth this would be considered arge building, and while it has nothing on a skyscraper in this world it is probably the equivalent of one.''

    While Marcus stood marveling at the intricate architecture, the guard who was leading him began to get a bit impatient and opened her mouth and said, "Yes, it is something to look at, but the lieutenant is waiting for us, and he is a busy man so we should head on in."

    Marcus quickly snapped out of his daze and followed the guard into the building and led him towards the left side. Going down many hallways and walking up stairs to the fourth floor before entering onto the roof where Marcus saw a man standing out looking over the town.

    ''Is he trying to look stoic or something, would we not normally hold a job interview in an office or at least inside the building.''

    After staring at the town for a few more seconds the man turned around and walked over towards Marcus and the guard. While moving over towards them he never once took his eyes off Marcus and looked like he was appraising an animal.

    "Well, you must be miss Irene, it is a pleasure to meet you I am Lieutenant Ivar Poulsen, thank you for bringing her here Hallie you are dismissed."

    The guard that Marcus had been following gave a salute and quickly left, leaving Marcus all alone with Lieutenant Poulsen. Lieutenant Poulsen then led Marcus over to the edge of the roof and began speaking again.

    "Well, is this not a lovely town, when I look at it from up here, I can get a real feeling for what it is I am protectingˇ­ Now the guard who made your ID was so impressed by your status that he told everyone in the mess hall about it. When it reached my ears, I knew I had to at least invite such a promising person to join our guards, and while you have no weapon skill which is a requirement to formally join the guard, I am sure that you could learn one soon with your talent and dedication. While learning how to use a weapon I would be more than happy to train you myself and allow you to be a guard apprentice, and with your three magic skills you have a good chance of moving up to be an officer within a short amount of time. So, what do you say, would you like to be my personal apprentice and join the noble town guard?

    ''Wow this guy isying it on thick, he really has learned his nice guy devoted to the state act well, but my instincts tell me he is a real creep and to run away right now.''

    After acting like he was seriously considering the offer Marcus soon opens his mouth and says, "While I appreciate the offer very much and I am interested would you allow me to have some time to think about it, I was traveling down south to meet with my family to work in their shop but now I must seriously consider your offer."

    At Marcus'' response Ivar''s stered on smile twitched for a second before reforming and he then says, "Absolutely please take your time and think about it, however a person with your skillset would be able to aplish much more as a part of the guard then working in some shop. While you think it over let me show you some of the many instations that are the pride of the town guard so you can get a better understanding of what we do."

    Poulsen then grabbed Marcus'' shoulder and ushered him towards the door of the roof to continue his tour of the city guard''s instations.

 Chapter 26 - 25 Planting Evidence And Protecting The Pot

    When Poulsen had led Marcus to the door, he opened it acting like a gentleman but as Marcus was walking through the door, he felt a pair of eyes locked directly on his rear.

    ''Augh, I know that it is hard to not stare at a pretty woman, but this guy is oozing creep energy, he ys his nice guy fa?ade well but as a fellow man I can easily see through it.''

    Marcus then followed Poulsen around the base seeing the barracks, the mess hall, and then the weapons depot.

    ''Wow they have all manner of weapons from swords and spears to war hammers and whips. I guess in a world where people get varied skills, they will have proficiencies with a number of different weapons.''

    Seeing Marcus'' fascinated gaze Poulsen began speaking about the weapons that the town guard have.

    "I can see you are interested in the weapons we have here, these are the mass-produced weapons that all of the guards have ess to, and when you join you can pick one out. Of course, the higher quality and special weapons are stored elsewhere and can only be essed by an officer like me. Though it should not take you long to be an officer and once you do, I can help you obtain one of the special weapons we have."

    ''Wow this guy, he has already decide I will be joining, and he ns to put me in his debt, this is definitely not the first time he has done this.''

    Poulson went around picking up weapons and letting Marcus try them out and see which ones he had the best affinity for.

    ''Of all the weapons I have tried the spear feels the best but there is still something about it that does not quite feel right, oh well I can figure out my main weaponter since I have no intention of joining the guard anyways.''

    Continuing to be herded around by Poulsen, Marcus saw just about everything the guard headquarters had to offer before Poulsen told him he had one more ce he wanted to show him. Calling for a carriage Poulsen had Marcus get on and they began traveling towards the outskirts of the town.

    ''Where the hell are we going, is he just taking me straight to his house, I have not even agreed to any such thing. I have tried to make myself seemed as interested as I can without giving amitment, do not tell me he has given up and decided to just take me to some kind of sex dungeon.''

    While Marcus was thinking about possible horrible fantasies, the carriage he was riding in hit a bump in the road pushing Marcus into Poulsen. He then saw the driver look back and give a little smirk and Marcus quickly separated himself from Poulsen.

    ''That bastard did that on purpose, how many women has this guy done this to.''

    After that Marcus made sure to keep a good grip on the side of the carriage to not let himself be moved around again. Soon after the carriage stopped right at the city walls and Poulsen said, "Here we are, the town wall is the final thing I wanted to show you, the view from up there is magnificent, and only guard personnel are allowed up there, so normally it would not be something you could see."

    Leading Marcus through the guard station and up a set of stairs the two of them soon came to the top of the wall where Marcus got a breath-taking view of the scenery. After staring out for a while Poulson guided Marcus over to a device that was mounted on top of the wall.

    "This here is one of the mana cannons that is ced at intervals on top of the wall, it is used to fire a projectile of pure magic and is very useful during the asional monster attacks on the town. Since you have the magic cirction skill when you join the guards you may even be able to man one."

    ''Wow now that is cool, I am almost tempted to join just to have a chance to fire this thing, but I can probably find er down the road especially since, I can live forever.''

    Once Poulsen had finished giving the tour around the top of the walls he asked Marcus a question.

    "So, what do you think impressive right, have I convinced you to join the guard, I guarantee that you will enjoy it."

    "I really am tempted and probably will take you up on your offer, but I need to talk to my family down south first, since I did tell them I would being to work with them. Once I have done that I wille back up here, and we can discuss more about me joining."

    At Marcus'' reply Poulsen seemed visibly angry, with a vein on his head throbbing, however thissted only for a brief few moments before he collected himself and responded.

    "Very well, I understand, then how about I treat you to dinner tonight, my chef is an excellent cook, and I would love to get to know you better."

    ''Got him hook, line, and sinker. Now all I have to do is sessfully navigate the night and nt the evidence.''

    "Of course, I would be happy to have dinner with you tonight, I guess it has started to gette and I am quite hungry."

    The slight bit of anger left Poulsen''s face, and he and Marcus made their way back to the carriage that had been driving them around. Once inside the carriage began its route towards Poulsen''s manor. The carriage took what seemed like over an hour to finally arrive at Poulsen''s manor and the sun was already setting.

    ''I think he intentionally took a longer route to waste time; he almost certainly ns to keep me here till dark so he can insist I stay the night.''

    Seeing the three-story manor house Marcus was quite impressed by its size.

    ''Wow he is not a noble for nothing I think this house is over fifteen thousand square feet and he had an impressive garden as well. There are even servant quarters on the left side of the lot, and it is up against the river.''

    While marveling at the beauty of Poulsen''s estate, Poulsen soon grew a bit impatient and started to usher Marcus inside. Once inside Marcus was led to arge dinning room and sat down at one end of a small table before Poulsen took the other.

    ''He really nned this well I can tell by the grooves in the floor that there is usually a muchrger table and that he has this table brought out when he is trying to seduce a woman.''

    "Ah I hope you do not mind my chef is making an borate dish tonight and it may take awhile for the main course to be served, however we have plenty of aperitifs to sustain us until then."

    A server then brought out many appetizers to eat such as, a fish soup, some white bread, and even a few fruits. While all of it looked really delicious Marcus trusted Poulsen about as far as he could throw his whole house. Marcus would pretend to eat by sticking the food into his mouth and pretending to chew it before shoving it into his item box. He continued to do this even for the main dish that looked like it came out of a high-ss restaurant.

    ''While that steak and those mashed potatoes looked delicious, I cannot take any chance that this guy might drug me. He may act all nice and friendly, but he is a snake waiting to strike when his prey is vulnerable. I trialed a lot of guys just like him back on Earth for sexual assault and I know he would do anything to aplish his goal.''

    After finishing their meal Poulsen looked a little tense but soon said to Marcus, "Well look at the time I am afraid that I have kept you for a very long time and it is already night. It might be a bit dangerous for you to take the long walk back on your own, I insist that you spend the night here it is no trouble for me."

    ''Here it is he has been setting me up for this y for the very beginning, I may need to use drastic measures, but I have to avoid ending up in the same room as him.''

    Poulsen then led Marcus upstairs and at the top of the stairs abruptly turned around pushed Marcus'' hair back and went in for a kiss. Marcus'' mind then went into overdrive trying to think of a way out of this predicament.

    ''Shit, think fast I have to do something; augh this is going to hurt but it is better than being kissed by this sleaze bag.''

    Right before their lips touched Marcus thought of a way out and pretended to slip back, falling down the stairs. On the way down he made sure to cause as much damage to himself as possible since normally with his stats a fall doe the stairs would only give minor injuries. He bashed his head and limbs into stairs and the railing he made sure to m himself as hard as he could onto each stair and did not stop until he reached the bottom. Once he had a second to recover his thoughts Marcus began to assess the damage he caused.

    ''Owowowow, I have multiple broken bones, my left hand is at an odd angle my head is profusely bleeding and my HP is down to around forty percent. At least there is no way he is going to try to sleep with me tonight.''

    Poulsen frantically bounded down the stairs after Marcus, opening up a pouch on his belt and taking out a bottle with a slightly glowing blue liquid. When he reached Marcus, he shoved the bottle into his mouth forcing him to drink. Marcus did his best to try and store the liquid into his item box before it went down his throat but about half of it got by. He then started to feel a cool sensation in his body as his wounds started to close and some of his bones could even be heard creaking back into ce. After checking his status, he saw that in just a number of seconds he had healed around twenty percent of his health.

    "Irene are you okay you took a nasty fall there; do you need another healing potion."

    Panicking a little not wanting to be fully healed Marcus got up onto his feet, gritted his teeth and snapped his broken arm back into ce before responding to Poulsen.

    "No, it is fine you do not need to waste another potion on me the first one has already helped a lot and I have a self-healing skill so after a good night sleep I will be fully recovered."

    Looking a bit disheartened Poulsen agreed and led Marcus to a guest bedroom on the first floor saying that he would leave a servant outside the room in case Marcus needed anything.

    ''Okay I managed to get through that, now all I need to do is find a ce to nt these document.''

    Marcus then exited Irene''s body and floated up through the ceiling to the second floor. The room he came into seemed to be some type of office and Marcus began looking around for a good ce to hide the documents before he zeroed in on a suspicious painting.

    ''I wonder, people on Earth would often hide safes behind paintings.''

    Marcus then fazed through the painting into the wall behind it and passed through one safe and into another.

    ''Ah the old safe behind another safe, if my momentum had not carried me a bit farther than I intended I would have only seen the first safe but now I know about the second.''

    Searching through the first safe Marcus found many gems and gold coins but the second was full of documents with letters and ledgers proving Poulsen''s shady dealings.

    ''That guy was right he really is corrupt, he often takes bribes to lower security at certain times in order to allow illegal goods to pass in and out of the town. As long as they are not sold in the town there would be no extra investigation once they made it in and then out. He even received arge payment three and a half weeks ago to allow for a ve transport to not be searched on its way in and then out. So, he was an aplice in helping those ve traders, I now have lost even thest dregs of guilt I had for framing him.''

    After leaving the incriminating documents in the safe Marcus took twelve gold coins and ced them into his item box expecting that such a small amount only around one percent would not be noticed.. He then floated back down and reentered Irene''s body before falling into a deep sleep, in order to recover.

 Chapter 27 - 26 Clash

    After sleeping for many hour Marcus woke up feeling a lot better and being back up to full HP. He quickly got up and changed his clothes before trying to swiftly leave Poulsen''s manor.

    ''I need to get out of here quickly, the longer I stay the more likely something bad is going to happen. Once I get out, I can report back to that shady royal investigator and get the rest of the information I need.''

    Luckily for Marcus when he came out Poulsen was in an important meeting, and he was able to get one of his servants to allow him to leave the premises without any hassle. After escaping from Poulsen''s house Marcus made a beeline for the Invincible Tortoise Inn. It was a fairly long walk but after around an hour of searching around Marcus found his meeting ce. Once inside he walked up the stairs and went back to his room and when he entered, a familiar cloaked figure was waiting for him.

    "So, how did it go, were you sessful in your assignment."

    "Yes, I was actually more than sessful since I found actual incriminating evidence as well as nting what you gave."

    "Oh, I am surprised you actually found where he keeps evidence of his illegal transaction you are a lot better than I thought. Now would you mind telling me where this evidence is, and I will begin my raid immediately."

    Marcus then went onto describe where the incriminating documents could be found and how there was a second safe behind the first one.

    "I see that is how he did it, no wonder I could not find any evidence on my first raid he had it hidden quite well, I really am not sure how you managed to find this second safe, but it does not matter to me as long as I canplete my job."

    "Okay since I have held up my end of the deal I would like my payment, you told me you would give me more information on those vers I am interested in."

    "Yes, I am a man of my word, however I will need to hold onto that information a little longer until I have verified that you reallypleted your assignment."

    "Fine then let us go right now so I can put all of this behind me."

    Leaving the Invulnerable Tortoise Marcus and the royal investigator headed towards Poulsen''s manor, and once it came into sight the royal investigator told Marcus to find somewhere nearby to wait because it would be too dangerous for him to be proceed any further.

    Marcus then watched as the royal investigator took off his cloak revealing his young mid-twenties appearance, blue uniform, and golden hair. As he began approaching the manor more men in blue uniforms joined him until there were around twelve of them. Being curious Marcus slowly inched closer towards the manor to get a better look at the raid. Marcus saw the twelve blue uniformed men open the gates and start searching around the premises. He soon saw Poulsen appear before the golden-haired royal investigator, and he was yelling so loud that even Marcus could hear him.

    "Damn you, Wade I do not care if you are the kings nephew, I will have your badge for this. You did not find anythingst time and you will not this time either, at this point you are just harassing me and ruining my reputation!"

    Marcus continued to watch seeing Poulsen follow Wade into the house as the raid continued. After a few minutes Marcus heard a loud shouting from the second floor of the manor.

    "FUCK YOU, I WILL KILL YOU WADE YOU BASTARD!"

    ''I guess Wade found the evidence and Poulsen is not happy about it.''

    After Poulsen''s loud shout the entire manor seemed to tremble before there was a loud icy explosion on the second floor. Marcus watched as Wade jumped out of the manor coated in a thinyer of ice and holding a pitch ck wicked looking dagger. Poulsen soon followed now holding an ornate blue spear that was emitting a frosty aura. Once the two hadnded on the ground they began to fight at a speed that Marcus could only catch glimpses of, as Poulsen tried to skewer Wade while Wade defended with his dagger. The two continued to exchange blow after blow neither being able to cause a decisive injury. However, with his longer reach Poulsen had managed to keep Wade from going on the offensive and soon managed to make an opening. As he thrust his spear aiming to pierce Wade directly through the heart, Wade suddenly disappeared into the shadows only to reappear a distance away. Now that he was at a safer distance, he took out five throwing knives and started throwing them at Poulsen. Poulsen blocked each of the knives thrown at him and when he had just deflected the fourth one, he yelled. "DIE!" Before lunging his spear into the ground and the area Wade was standing froze into an ice pir around eight feet tall encapsting him.

    "Ha I win, you may have ruined my life, but I ended yours, I may have to hide in the underworld now, but I can still live the life of a king."

    While revealing in his apparent victory, Poulsen''s face suddenly turned to horror when he watched the frozen body turn into shadows. Sensing danger behind him Poulsen hurriedly turned around to see the fifth throwing knifeing towards him. He managed to bring up his spear to block in the nick of time, before he started to chant a spell. At the same time Wade had also started chanting his own spell, unfortunately Poulsen finished his first, and a massive serpent made of water lunged towards Wade. Wade however, calmly kept chanting and threw a ck orb towards the serpent. When the two met the orb sucked the serpent into it like a ck hole before shattering, and in that moment, Wade finished his spell and the five daggers around Poulsen grew darker before pitch ck chains erupted from them and entangling him.

    "I am afraid it is you who have lost, had you juste quietly you may have been able to avoid a severe punishment because of your father''s status, but trying to kill a royal investigator is likely to get you executed."

    Poulsen then began to curse Wade and try to break out of his restraints, when he started a chant to cast a desperate spell the chains quickly moved to close his mouth canceling the spell. Soon the other members of Wades team came over and put more restraints around Poulsen until he waspletely emascted. Defeated and in chains Poulsen was dragged away from his manor that looked like it was now part of a war zone.

    ''Damn so that is what a battle between two higher level people looks like, they moved so fast I could barely see them, and the magic they were using makes my spells look like parlor tricks. That water serpent in particr was about the size of a semi-truck but Wade managed to deal with it easily using some type of magic item. I really wonder how strong I would have been if I had been level forty.''

    While staring at the after math of the battle and thinking about the epic battle he just witnessed Marcus'' attention shifted when he noticed Wade approaching. When Wade arrived in front of him, he took out a few items from a magic pouch on his belt and handed them to Marcus.

    "Here you go, these documents have details on the vers you have an interest in, and since you did such a good job you can have these as well. Here is that fire magic book you wanted, and this is a letter of rmendation from me. If you are ever interested in joining the royal investigators, go to the capital and find the investigators headquarters and show them this letter. Though right now your level is a bit low in the future you could make a great investigator. If you want to go to Loursend I rmend you join the adventures guild and find a job as a guard protecting a caravan. The road there is heavily traveled and many monsters and bandits attack people on the route. If you go alone at your level, you are bound to die. Well, it has been a pleasure doing business with you and I hope to see you again."

    Marcus thanked Wade for the extra rewards before the two parted heading on their separate ways.

 Chapter 28 - 27 Upgrades

    While walking away from Wade after receiving his reward, Marcus heard a familiar ding in his head.

    ''You have leveled up to level 10.''

    ''Wait what, I just leveled up, I guess that was quite the ordeal and worthy of getting me a level up. So, I have finally made it to level ten, though after watching that fight, level ten does not really feel like that much of a milestone.''

    Marcus checked his log and found the notification of the achievement he had justpleted.

    Sessfully nt evidence against a much more powerful entity to get them arrested without letting them taste any honey and receive substantial rewards.

    ''Afterpleting my first achievement I thought it was a bit of a weird message, but this one clenches it, there is no way these are automated, and that administrator is still messing with me. I really must be some form of entertainment for them. Whatever now that I have some more stat and skill points, I should go and pick out a weapon to use since in closebat I am at a disadvantage without one.''

    Marcus then proceeded towards the weapon shop he had made note of during his first day. Once he arrived, he headed in and started looking around at there weapons. They had plenty of swords, spears, axes, and bows, but Marcus had already tried all of these weapons before and none of them felt quite right.

    ''I really cannot pin it down, but I absolutely need a weapon, I guess I should just go with the spear it felt pretty good even if it was not perfect.''

    While getting ready to give in to the spear Marcus noticed a lone weapon that was suspended on the back wall. He could immediately tell that this was the weapon he had been looking for.

    ''A scythe how could I have not thought of that earlier, I am a ghost so of course my weapon would have to be a scythe. Augh a part of my wants to pick another weapon just to spite the system administrator but I know I will regret not having my best weapon.''

    Marcus then walked over towards the scythe and took it off the wall, once in his hands he could feel howfortable it was. He gave it a few swings and instantly knew he was not being delusional this was the weapon he was meant to have.

    ''It feels pretty good, even with my amateur eyes I can tell how well made it is with its darkwood handle and I think the de is made of steel. It is not ornate in any way, but it feels solid, I hope I have enough money to buy it. I did liberate a dozen gold from Poulsen''s safe, so I probably have enough.''

    Marcus then headed towards the front counter to purchase the scythe eliciting a surprised expression from the owner when he saw the weapon Marcus was carrying.

    "Ah you found one of the best pieces of work in here, while not many people use such a weapon this one is exceptionally well made so it will cost you sixteen gold coins."

    "Sixteen gold, it is just a steel scythe, you have steel swords going for as low as two gold why is this scythe so expensive."

    "This is not just any old scythe; its handle is made from the wood of a Nightmare Treant, and the de is not just a simple steel but is a bronze steel alloy that conducts mana better. Other than the few enchanted weapons I have this is the best piece in my shop."

    ''Great just when I find a good weapon, I do not have enough money to buy it. It also does not appear that many people use scythes so even if I check other shops, I may not find another one. I guess it is time for a bit of good old-fashioned negotiating.''

    "I admit it is a good scythe, but this thing was sitting on the back wall and had dust on it, you have probably had it for years, and I am the first person to be seriously interested in it. However, I only have twelve gold, you can either take it or this scythe can sit around for another few years before another person like me eventuallyes in."

    After heavily considering it for a while the weapon store owner decided to sell the scythe to Marcus for twelve gold.

    "Fine you can have it, I bought it for eleven gold eight years ago and no one else has wanted it. Just do not think I am a pushover because the next time you buy a weapon from me, I will not be giving any discounts."

    Marcus handed the man twelve gold and stored the scythe in his item box making the owner jump with a start and stare at Marcus like he was some type of exotic animal.

    ''Woops I forgot that item boxes are pretty rare and that I should not casually show it off. Oh well I got my new weapon even if it cost me most of my money. I should be able to afford some cheap supplies with what I have left and with my iron skin spell I did not really need armor anyway.''

    Leaving the shop Marcus headed back to the Invulnerable Tortoise to look over his rewards. Once he entered the premises he stopped and thought ''Wait how long am I even allowed to stay here, I only have a room here because of my business with Wade. Eh guess I will stay until I need to leave, or they kick me out.''

    Marcus headed up to his room sat down on the bed and took out the rewards he got frompleting his assignment. He mulled over whether he should look at the magic book or intelligence report first.

    ''I think I should go with the magic first making myself stronger is always a good option and the info on the vers will not help me until I make it to Loursend anyways.''

    Grabbing the book like an excited kid opening a present Marcus opened the book and started reading through it, but after reading the first ten pages Marcus'' enthusiasm began to waiver.

    ''This thing has been worthless so far; it has mostly described how to start to learn the basics of magic and ways to obtain the fire magic skill. I already have the skills necessary for magic, so I do not need to stare at a fire for hours to understand its essence. The only thing I am looking for are new spells not this crap.''

    Once he had gotten to thest few pages Marcus had a slight amount of relief. At the end of the book there were the chants and formations for three spells Marcus did not have.

    ''me de, exploding fire shot, and floatingntern. Three new spells, though I have already seen exploding fire shot and it is not that impressive, and floatingntern is just a floating fire shot I can use as a light. At least me de is kind of cool and has some uses and with my current spirit stat it is around three feet long. Before I forget I should use my skill and stat points.''

    After spending his stat points as usual, Marcus scrolled down his skill list searching for something specific. When he came across it, he was pleasantly surprised by what he found.

    Scythemanship, Superior, A skill for those with the highest talent in using the scythe. Cost: 1 skill point

    ''Nice this skill looks perfect, and it is only one skill point for me. Now I have my main weapon and multiple magic spells to use as well as a slew of utility skills. I think it is time I spend my skill points to upgrade my current skills rather than buying new ones.''

    Marcus then purchased the scythe skill and spent his remaining two points to raise it to level two.

    ''Only three skill points for a level two skill, what a steal, it has been a while since I looked at my status so let''s see how I am doing.''

    ''Status.''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethered)

    Level: 10

    HP: 460/460-310/310

    MP: 410/410

    STR: 10(+22)

    AGL: 34

    VIT: 10(+21)

    INT: 41

    SPR: 43(+3)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 0

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 2, Magic Cirction Lvl 2, Iron Magic Lvl 2, Disassembly Lvl 2, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 1, Creature Appraisal Lvl 1, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 2, Darkvision Lvl 1, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 2

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds

    ''Nice I am looking pretty strong; I doubt there is anyone at my level I cannot beat. Now though it is time to look at the information I got on those vers, and then I will head to register with the adventures guild.. Hopefully, there will be a caravan heading towards Loursend that leaves soon, everyday makes it less likely I find Lilia.''

 Chapter 29 - 28 Information And Adventures Guild

    Now that Marcus had read the magic book and sorted out his skills and stats, he opened the envelope and took out a single piece of paper.

    Ander vers

    ? Leader name Ander approximate level 20, main weapon broad sword, magic skills unknown

    ? Lieutenants Osman approximate level 15, main weapon de tipped whip, magic skills unknown. Tyrell approximate level 17, main weapon staff, magic skills fire, air, and smoke

    ? Average number of members 14, approximate average level 11, mostmon weapons sword, and spear.

    ? Estimated base location, west side of Loursend in warehouse district.

    ? Believed to be backed by a low ranking noble or other influential person.

    ? Have proper ve trading credentials but never purchase any ves to resell.

    ? Under suspicion ofmitting multiple acts of murder, kidnapping, and illegal ve trading but cannot confirm.

    ? Known locations the group frequents, The Grand Iron Inn, Rivernding, The Turtle Tap Tavern, River Landing, The Fair Sunset Tavern, Loursend

    After reading through the report multiple times to make sure he had memorized it Marcus started to n out his next moves.

    ''Okay the report was simple and to the point and I now have a good amount of information. I may not know their exact location but at least now I have a few ces to start instead of having to search an entire city. Now that I think about it is pretty impressive that they had this much information when these guys are based in a whole other city. I should head to the adventures guild and sign up so that I can join an escort mission to Loursend. Once I arrive, I can track these guys down and The Fair Sunset Tavern should be a good ce to start.''

    Once he had finished collecting his thoughts Marcus gathered his belongings into his item box, left the inn, and headed for the adventures guild. On the way there he realized he would need certain supplies for the long journey ahead, so he stopped and bought around two weeks of rations as well as a sleeping mat and some nkets.

    ''I spent sixty-three copper just now so I only have four silver and eleven copper left, but I should be able to make some more money as an adventurerter on. For now, I should be ready for the journey since from what I have heard it takes around twelve days bynd.''

    Now that he had finished buying some necessities Marcus made his way to the adventures guild. The building was a good sized two stories building and had a steady traffic of peopleing in and out. Marcus could not help but be a bit nervous standing in front of the adventures guild.

    ''Steel yourself Marcus, this is just a normal part of this world, I already know that this is not like a game where quest can bepleted in thirty minutes and enemies turn into coins and items. I just need to head in there, register and find the earliest guard job to Loursend.''

    After he finished psyching himself up Marcus entered the building and searched around for a few moments getting a feel for the interior. He noticed that there was a bar area on the left side of the building where many adventures were sitting around and making merry, to the right had a board with a number of requests on it, and the center had multiple reception booths. Once he had finished gawking at the interior of the adventure guild Marcus headed towards one of the reception booths. The one he had chosen was maned by a young woman with raven hair, and when Marcus reached the front of the line the woman said. "Wee to the adventures guild are you here to ce a request?"

    "Um no I am here to sign up to be an adventurer can I do that here."

    The young woman''s smile cracked a little when Marcus said this and asked him," Are you sure being an adventure is not easy and often leads to injury or death, if you are just looking for a job, we have open receptionist positions here."

    "Thank you for the offer but I would still like to sign up to be an adventure."

    The young woman let out a sigh before responding to Marcus.

    "Very well but there are some requirement to be an adventure, first the registration is three silver this is nonnegotiable, second you have to be at least level eight any lower and you cannot apply."

    "Okay here is three silver and my level is ten so I should meet the requirements."

    The receptionist took Marcus'' money and then took out a stone from a drawer under her booth.

    "Here hold this so I can confirm your status."

    Marcus a bit surprised grasped the stone and it soon lit up and projected his name and level but not his stats or skills. After confirming his level, the woman took out a piece of paper and had Marcus fill it out. Once he had finished the receptionist took out a wooden card and touched the appraisal stone to it, causing an etching to appear on the card. She then handed the card to Marcus before exining some of the rules of the guild to Marcus.

    "You are now an official adventure, you starting rank is copper and you will need to sessfullyplete five requests to rank up to bronze. If you do notplete a request in two months your membership will be revoked. At your current rank you can take requests at your level, one level above, and requests open to anyone. If you wish to form or join a party, you can do that at any guild reception. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them."

    After thinking for a moment Marcus could not think of any questions he currently had and thanked the woman for helping him. Marcus then looked at the wooden card he had been handed noticing that it had some of his information on it.

    ''Irene, human, level ten, rank: copper. Hm pretty basic but since I am still the lowest rank, and it would be to much trouble for them to give out detailed cards to everyone.''

    Once Marcus had finished inspecting his new adventures card, he moseyed on over to the request board looking for an escort mission to Loursend. After searching through all of the copper request anding up nk he pred to look at the bronze requests finding no escort requests to Loursend among them. With hisst shred of hope Marcus looked through the requests anyone could take and towards the bottom of the list, he found what he was looking for.

    ''Guards needed for journey to Loursend, departure ninth day of J, meet in front of guild at dawn, reward one silver. Well, I can see why it is in the request anyone can take, the reward is pretty low for such a longsting mission since even copper missions like collecting herbs which can be done in a day pay around twelve copper. Oh well the pay does not matter since it leaves tomorrow and all I care about is making it to Loursend safely and swiftly.''

    Marcus then took one of the two remaining tags under the request and headed towards the reception booths to apply for the mission.

 Chapter 30 - 29 Gathering

    Taking the request tag to the raven-haired receptionist that had helped him earlier Marcus tired to get her to register him for the request.

    "Are you really sure you want to take this request, the journey to Loursend is long and dangerous especially if you are guarding cargo. I really would rmend that you take some easier requests before trying this. Please I do not want to hear about how another newbie adventurer who got in over their head and ended up dead, and with your looks it is likely that something a lot worse than simply being killed will happen to you."

    As the thoughtful but nosey receptionist fervently tried to get Marcus to reconsider his decision, he shook his head and said, "I really have to get to Loursend no matter what, and you need not worry about me I am pretty tough and can handle myself."

    Resigned that Marcus would not change his mind the receptionist signed him up as a member of the escort mission and handed him a tag and saying that when he arrives in Loursend to give it to the guild hall there and he would receive his payment.

    ''Well, she made a bit of a scene there but, I managed to sign up for a mission to Loursend, and hey maybe I will get lucky, and a high-level adventure will be part of the guard and I will not have to do any work.''

    After leaving the adventures guild Marcus went in search of something he was hoping to get ahold of but was not a necessity. Unfortunately, after searching around for a few hours, he came up empty.

    ''It was a bit of a pipe dream, but I could not find a portable tub that I could buy, the cheapest one I found was ten silver which is currently way out of my price range.''

    Mourning his inability to obtain a portable tub Marcus made his way back to the Invulnerable Tortoise Inn and requisition the tub for another long soak.

    ''Ah this hits the spot; it feels great to let the hot water seep into my muscles and wipe away the fatigue. Too bad this will be myst bath for a while, from here on out it will be dumping water on myself from a bucket.''

    Once he had thoroughly bathed Marcus got out of the tub and began practicing magic until night fall, and astonishingly during his training session Marcus made a breakthrough right as the sun was setting.

    ''Nice lightning magic level two and with it the tier two spell lightning javelin. Now that sounds like a cool name for a spell, I bet it is pretty powerful too.

    Marcus then cast the lightning javelin spell and a one and a half foot lightning bolt manifested in his hand.

    ''Awesome now this is a spell, it is kind of like the me de spell except I imagine I can throw it at enemies from afar. It cost eighty MP to cast so I cannot just go around slinging these like crazy, but it is another weapon for my arsenal. Um how do I get rid of it, maybe it will dissipate if I wait a bit.''

    After waiting for a few minutes Marcus grew a bit impatient and figured that the bolt would disappear if he let go of it. However, contrary to his expectations, when he let go of the lightning javelin it shot forward and into the wall of the room striking a hole into the wall and catching it on fire. Marcus then frantically ran over and dumped some water from his item box on the fire and after it was out, he moved the chair in the room in front of the hole he had just made.

    ''That should cover it up, I really should not practice spells for the first time in indoor spaces, next time I could burn down a whole building.''

    Once he had finished critiquing himself Marcus crawled into bed preparing to get a good nights rest knowing he had an early day tomorrow.

    Waking up before the sun Marcus prepared himself while being excited and nervous. Once he was finished with his morning preparations he headed downstairs and returned his room key. Making his way towards the adventures guild the first beams of light were beginning to crest over the horizon.

    ''What a nice sunrise really gets me pumped for my first mission like the sun is cheering me on.''

    When he arrived, he noticed three carts waiting outside on the street near the guild hall. There were already four other people who looked like adventures standing around having arrived even earlier than Marcus.

    ''These guys must be real professionals since they made it here before me even though I left around an hour early. Oh well I guess I should introduce myself.''

    "Hello, is this the caravan that is heading to Loursend today I am one of the adventures that signed up to be a guard."

    Everyone then stared at Marcus in disbelief as this unarmed, unarmored young girl had just announced herself as a guard. However, Marcus did possess the tag proving he was indeed an adventure tasked with guarding this group of merchants, that was when the young leader of the merchants stepped up and introduced himself.

    "Um hi there my name is Tha-THAdieus, and I am uh leading this trip for my father''spany, what might your name be miss."

    ''Wow he is nervous I figure this might be his first big journey without his father. Oops I need to introduce myself before this gets more awkward.''

    "Ah yes my name is Irene, and I am a copper rank adventure, I will make sure to do my best to make sure you stay safe during this journey."

    Hearing Marcus''s introduction the other adventures gave him slightly disdainful looks hearing his rank, while the young merchant on the other hand was looking at him like a lost puppy ready to follow him home.

    ''Augh I get that Irene is attractive, but I am certainly not going to reciprocate this guy''s puppy love, he does not even look like he is older than sixteen. Whatever I am just going to have to get used to being ogled for now.''

    Once he had introducing himself to the other merchants Marcus headed over to talk with his fellow adventures.

    "Hello, I am Irene nice to meet all of you, I guess we will be working together on this mission."

    One of the less polite members of the party then responded to Marcus.

    "Yeah, we heard you earlier, I cannot believe your nerve, you are just looking for a safe trip to Loursend hoping that the rest of us will protect you."

    After his rude outburst, the leader of the party interrupted him and chimed in.

    "That''s enough Jasper we do not know her situation, though miss you should reconsider going on this trip. I have seen plenty of adventures hoping to get a free ride to certain destinations going unprepared and they often in up hurt or dead. You do not have any weapons or armor that I can see, and you must have recently be an adventure. I do not mean to be rude, but we do not have time to take care of you just because you are pretty."

    Marcus then understood why they had been treating him with ire, he looked like apletely unarmed young girl they would have to protect along with their clients.

    "Sorry I realize I may not look like much, but I am pretty tough and can hold my own."

    Marcus then cast his iron skin spell followed by me de making sure to use the chants as to not arouse suspicion.

    "As you can see, I can use magic to produce armor and weapons whenever I need so you do not have to worry about me being dead weight."

    Seeing Marcus'' spells, the four men had shocked expressions on there faces with their mouths hanging open and their eyes bulging.. The group then started a round of apologies when everyone noticed four more adventures approaching the carts, rounding out the adventures signed up for this mission.

 Chapter 31 - 30 Escort Mission

    Noticing the other adventures arriving Marcus and the party he had been talking to stopped their conversation to listen to the what the arriving adventures had to say. Once the neers had finished there introductions to the merchants they came over towards Marcus and the other adventures.

    "Salutation, you must be the other adventures that will be joining us on this journey. It is nice to meet you all I am the leader of Shining Ice, the names Bodie, and these are my party members Ingrid and Mia. We are all copper adventures."

    ''Wow these guys are definitely new adventures like me, in fact they look even more green. They all have cheap leather armor and iron weapons, though I think the girl Mia is probably a mage judging by her staff. I can already see there group dynamic the two girls both like the pretty boy and decided to follow him being adventures.''

    The other man that had walked in with them introduced himself right after.

    "The names Ari, bronze adventure I use a war hammer."

    ''Well, that was short and to the point.''

    After the neers had introduced themselves the party that had arrived first began their introductions as well.

    "We are Wild Wind, iron adventures, I am the leader Bryce, this is Jasper, Bo, and Harold."

    ''I guess it is my turn to introduce myself.''

    "I''m Irene copper adventure pleased to make your acquaintance."

    After giving his introduction the adventures that had just arrived gave Marcus some skeptical looks noticing hisck of weapons or armor. Seeing that he was running into this problem again Marcus quickly showed off his magic to cate the other adventures. The leader of Wild Wind then spoke up and said. "Well now that introductions are out of the way, since we are the highest-ranking adventures here, I believe we should take charge of this mission are there any who disagree."

    Waiting a few moments to see if there would be any dissent the leader of wild wind began speaking again.

    "Since we are all in agreement, I think we should figure out our formation for protecting the merchants. Shining Ice, you will be the vanguard, Irene and Ari will be the rearguard, and we will take the side guard. As I have the most experience make sure to follow my directions and we should all make it out of this alive."

    ''Wow Bryce is a real take charge kind of guy I can tell he has a good amount of experience leading. Now I wonder what everyone''s levels are looking like, let''s take a quick peek.''

    Using his creature appraisal skill Marcus inspected all of the other adventure as well as the merchants.

    ''Hm, as expected I cannot see any of the levels of the wild wind party, or Ari, but shining Ice is about what I anticipated all of them are level eight and are definitely the weakest link. Of the Four merchants the kid is level six, two of them are level seven while thest one is level ten like me. Judging from his attire and the sword at his waist I suspect he was sent by the boys father as a personal guard.''

    Once he had finished his appraisal Marcus headed to the rear of the carts with Ari as the other adventures took their positions. Once everything was situated the group began to travel towards the west gate of River Landing starting their journey to Loursend. The group managed to exit River Landing without any trouble and got on the road heading to Loursend. The group traveled for hours on the road with the river to their left and rolling hills to there right.

    ''Well, this is boring, I thought traveling might be more fun but so far all we have done is walk and staring at the river or hills got boring around an hour ago. I also tired talking to Ari, but the dude is like a brick wall, I may not be very sociable myself, but this guy is quite as a mouse.''

    While Marcus was thinking to himself, and the party was just making it to the top of a hill Marcus saw a breath-taking site.

    ''Holy shit those are some huge mountains, some of them are so tall the tops are covered in clouds, it reminds me of the Himya Mountain range back on Earth.''

    While gazing at the massive mountain range before him it took Marcus a minute to notice that the rest of his group was leaving him behind and he hurriedly ran to catch up. Marcus pped himself on his cheeks to get his head back in the game since he was not here to sightsee but make sure that his clients stayed safe.

    Soon the rolling hills made way for a massive forest that seemed to go on endlessly making visibility a lot worse than before. The leader of Wild Wind then stopped the convoy and began addressing the whole group.

    "This is where things start to get more dangerous, whatever you do, don''t go to far into the woods and stick together. There are a number of threats such as magical beasts, monsters, and bandits, make sure to keep on your toes."

    After giving his warning the group began moving again and entered the woods. Once inside Marcus felt a sense of familiarity realizing that these trees were the same species as the forest, he had previously resided in.

    ''Now that I think about it considering its name this could just be another part of the Great Gome Woods, I wonder what kind of threats were going to run into, there were somethings I saw previously that I am certain we could not handle.''

    As he was reminiscing about his time in the Great Gome Woods one of the leader of Wild Wind spotted something approaching the carts.

    "There is an armored bear approaching from the north, prepare to defend the merchants, Wild Wind formation D, the rest of you back us up and stay out of our way."

    After wild wind pointed it out Marcus got a good look at the iing enemy.

    ''Ah it is my old friend the scaled bear, or I guess its proper name is armored bear. This one looks to be seven feet long about the same size as the one I managed to kill. I wonder if I will be more effective now that I am two levels higher.''

    Once the bear got closer it gave an angry growl and charged towards the members of Wild Wind who had finished setting up their formation. The leader and another member had a long swords and shield and were facing down the bear. While the other members were wielding a spear and a bow attacking from behind the protection of the shields. The bear tried to swipe its ws at the members of Wild Wind but with their expert shield work they deflected each of its attacks. The other member did not sit idly by during this and pressed the attack with flying arrows and swift spear thrusts.

    ''They are pretty impressive I can tell they have a lot of battle experience with each other. However, the bear''s scales are pretty tough, and they are not doing that much damage. This is a good chance to see how my new scythe can perform let''s get in there.''

    Marcus then rushed towards the bear having already cast his iron skin spell over his arms and torso to protect himself. Once in range he took out the scythe from his item box and shed it towards the bear''s side. When it connects it stabbed into the scales but only traveled around three inches into its flesh. The bear snarled at Marcus and swatted his scythe away before lunging towards him with a bite. Marcus barely managed to roll away as the bears jaws closed like a vice mere inched from him.

    "Are you trying to get yourself kill let us handle this, back up and support us with ranged spells if you have any."

    Marcus did as he was told and backed up and shot off the asional fire shot towards the bear while thinking.

    ''Hm, I thought that I would be able to do some more damage but I barley cut into the surface of the bearˇ­ wait didn''t the storekeeper I bought this from say something about channeling mana through the weapon, and now that I look at it, I think the weapon of the leader of Wild Wind has a green aura around it.''

    After his epiphany Marcus started circting magic through his body like he does when casting a spell but instead of using the mana as fuel for a spell, he sent it into the handle of his scythe causing his mana to engulf the weapon.

    ''Hah it worked I can feel that my weapon is a lot stronger, now let us see how that bear holds up this time.''

    Marcus once again charged towards the bear scythe in hand, and he shed the scythe downward with all his might and unlikest time the scythe sliced through the bear like butter. Blood stated to gush out of the horrible wound Marcus had just inflicted and the bear let out a death curdling roar. Realizing it could not win the bear turned around and tried to retreat, however, Marcus was not done testing his new enhanced scythe and shed sideways lobbing off one of the bears hind feet causing it to stumble. The bear then was quickly worn down by Marcus and the members of Wild Wind until it took itsst breath signaling victory.

 Chapter 32 - 31 Spoils And Offers

    Having finished off the armored bear that had assailed them, the members of Wild Wind looked at Marcus with respect before Bryce said, "That was impressive Irene, you have two magic skills and can already infuse your weapon with mana, you said you were a copper adventure but what level are you."

    ''Was what I did impressive or something all I did was send the magic I usually use to cast spells into my weapon anyone with the magic cirction skill should be able to do it.''

    If everyone could have heard Marcus'' thoughts, they would have started to cry since getting the magic cirction skill and learning how to channel mana into weapons was considered a right of passage from weak to strong for warriors and was considerable difficult for most.

    Marcus thening out of his stupor told them what his level is.

    "Currently I am level ten and imagine all of you are higher level than me right."

    Hearing Marcus'' level everyone''s jaw dropped, they were all thinking how could a level ten have such powerful abilities, most people at level ten would never have so many powerful skills. In fact, the leader of Wild Wind was level fifteen and he had only recently learned how to channel mana into a weapon, and he was considered a great talent.

    The leader of Wild Wind then thought ''What a monster she is only level ten, and she can channel mana into a weapon I do not think I have even ever heard of someone being able to do that. Not to mention she is good with magic as well; she must have trained hellishly hard from a young age to be this strong.''

    Once everyone had recovered from the shock of hearing Marcus'' level, they began discussing what to do next when the young leader of the merchants spoke up.

    "Tha-Thank you for protecting us but we really should be going now."

    Looking quite disheartened about leaving the armored bear that in all honesty would be worth far more than what their current job was paying the members of Wild Wind begrudgingly fell back into formation around the carts. Jasper noticing that Marcus had not yet gone back to his post called out to him.

    "Hey, Irene, I know that the armored bear is valuable, but we do not have the time to dismantle it and carrying it would slow as down to much hurry up and get back to the rearguard."

    Snapping out of his deep thought Marcus decided to store the bear in his item box figuring everyone was going to find out sooner orter anyway. When the bear''s body suddenly disappeared, everyone began staring at Marcus like they could not believe he existed. After a few moments of everyone''s astonished stares Marcus said, "Um I thought we were going to start moving again?"

    After Everyone had broken out of their daze, the caravan once again resumed its journey through the forest. They all traveled peacefully for a few more hours before the light of day was beginning to recede, and everyone began looking for a ce to set up camp. It did not take long before the members of Shining Ice located a suitable clearing to set up camp in. Once everyone had set up camp and dinner had been served, Bryce asked, "So who wants to take first watch tonight, I rmend that we split it into three groups of three to maximize rest and efficiency.

    At first no one volunteered for the first watch as everyone was tired and wanted to get some rest until Marcus spoke up and said'' Sure I will take the first watch so who is with me."

    After hearing that Marcus would take the first watch the leaders of both Shining Ice and Wild Wind quickly chimed in saying that they would also take the first watch. The second slot was filled with the two girls of Shining Ice and Ari, while thest was made up of the remaining members of Wild Wind.

    While on the first watch Marcus began to try to dismantle the armored bear but finding that he had the same problem as before. He could not pierce or pry of the scales that adorned its body and when he tried to infuse mana into his iron knife cracks started to from on it and it shattered into pieces. Seeing this Bryce came over and started talking to Marcus.

    "You know iron is one of the worst conductors of mana and breaks pretty easily, so even though bronze is not as strong normally, since it conducts mana pretty well it bes stronger than even steel. If you want, I can dismantle that bear for you and all I want is the top half of the hide and to share the meat with everyone for tomorrow''s dinner."

    Thinking about it for a bit Marcus decided to take Bryce up on his offer and pushed the bear over to him. Bryce then began to expertly dismantle the corpse of the armored bear and with a small amount of help from Marcus they managed to finish the work in about two hours. Marcus then stored half the hide and the meat into his item box. He then stared at the magic core he got out of the bear and began appraising it.

    ''It is bigger and a deeper color of green than the ones I got from the goblins or other magic beasts I beat before. I wonder how much it is worth, I guess when I get to Loursend I can see how much it sells for.''

    After he stored the magic core away Bryce looked at Marcus intently before asking him a serious question.

    "Say, Irene you are pretty strong how about join our Wild Wind party, we are up anding in the northern region of Borealia and I think you would make a good addition to the team.

    Pretending to seriously consider it for a few moments Marcus responded by saying, "While I certainly appreciate the offer, currently I n on working solo since I have something I absolutely have to do in Loursend."

    Looking at Marcus with a bit of disappointment Bryce thanked Marcus for his time and headed of to another corner of camp. A few minutester noticing that Marcus was now alone a new visitor approached him.

    "Hey there mind if I keep watch with you."

    Not waiting for Marcus'' response Bodie quickly sat down next to Marcus and continued talking.

    "It sure is tough for us copper rank adventures huh, just because we are new, we get looked down on even though most people start out as copper the same as us. So, us coppers need to stay together, what do you think Irene want to join Shining Ice I can tell you that Ingrid and Mia won''t mind."

    ''I really cannot get a read on this guy I do not know if he is truly being sincere or just wants me because he thinks it will make his party strong. Eh whatever either way I am not joining his or anyone''s party right now.''

    Marcus then told Bodie that he really was not interested in joining any party currently and with that Bodie apologized for bothering Marcus and went on his way.. The first watch soon ended uneventfully, and Marcus set up his mat and nkets and quickly fell asleep.

 Chapter 33 - 32 Trostenwald

    With the sun sending off the first rays of light, Marcus feeling rested and refreshed got up from his mat and nkets and started getting ready for theing day. He noticed that the three members of Wild Wind were still vigntly keeping watch around the camp while everyone else sleeps.

    ''Ugh stretchˇ­ that felt nice, looks like I am the first one up, now that I look at it I am the only one without a tent, wish that I had one but since I spent most of my money on my weapon it cannot be helped.''

    Marcus then noticed one of the tents moving like the upants were thrashing around and he moved closer to investigate. However, as he approached Marcus heard what sounded like flesh pping together and the soft moans of three people. Realizing what was going on Marcus quickly moved away and pretended not to notice.

    ''Holy shit they are having sex in the middle of the woods, I know they are young but there is a time and ce for everything. Man did I have Bodie pegged wrong, I thought he was the clueless nice guy that was a dense as a ck hole, but it turns out he is actually a harem master. So, when he offered to let me join yesterday it almost certainly was not just as a member of his party.''

    Thanking his good sense of not joining Bodies party Marcus went over to strike up a conversation with the three guys from Wild Wind.

    After around an hour the rest of the camp had awoken and began preparing breakfast. The meal was not anything borate just some simple porridge thrown together in arge pot. Once everyone had finished eating theckluster breakfast they packed up and got back on the road.

    The day''s travel had gone pretty uneventfully with the party begin attacked only once by a pack of wolfs that they were easily able to take care of. Setting up camp again for the night next to a small pond the merchants and adventures started to cook up a feast from the bear meat Marcus was carrying in his item box. One of the merchants who was well versed in cooking, took out thergest pot the group had and stated making a stew. He of course used the bear meat as the main ingredient followed by plethora of vegetables. He added wild mushrooms found nearby in the forest, carrots and potatoes, and many other vegetables Marcus had never seen. They even added a number of spices to the stew enhancing its vor to another level.

    ''DELICOUS, this is far and away the best thing I have had to eat in a long time, the meat is tender and juicy the vegetables are amazing and whatever spices he assed to this has made the sauce taste impable. I had always heard that animals like bears are incredibly gamey, but this guy knows how to cook pretty well because even on Earth I rarely got to enjoy a meal this good.''

    As the entire camp was savoring the delicious stew, conversations started to ir up and one of them between Jasper and Bo caught Marcus'' attention.

    "So far this has been a great trip no major injuries or deaths, we have only been attacked twice by beasts, this stew is the best thing I think we have ever had to eat while out on a request, and tomorrow we can sleep in a real bed in Trostenwald. So, what are you going to do tomorrow in Trostenwald Jasper see that girl of yours again, though if I remember right her mother hates you with a burning passion?"

    "Hey at least I have a girl I do not think you have ever had a rtionship in your life Bo, adventuring is fun and all but during the winter having a ce to go back to and call home is nice."

    After eavesdropping on Jasper and Bo''s conversation for around a minute Marcus decides to ask the question that had been on his mind.

    "Excuse me Jasper and Bo I could not help but overhear you say something about a ce call Trostenwald, could you tell me more about it."

    Having their conversation interrupted by Marcus Jasper and Bo looked at each other before shrugging and then Jasper responded to Marcus.

    "Sorry we did not realize you did not know but Trostenwald is a town that is in the middle of these woods on the route to Loursend. It has thergest coal mine in the entire northern region and supplies the majority of the fuel that keeps river Landing and Loursend warm through the winter. We should reach it before the end of tomorrow, and it is in fact my hometown."

    "Thanks for the information Jasper I am new to this region so other than River Landing and Loursend I had not heard of anywhere else."

    Marcus then excused himself from the conversation and prepared for bed early since tonight he had thest watch.

    The next morning the group got up rejuvenated by their excellent dinner and with renewed vigor set off once again. The day went especially peacefully as a group of merchants that wasing from Trostenwald had already cleared out any potential threats and aroundte afternoon Marcus'' band of merchants and adventures saw the wooden walls of Trostenwald.

    When the group approached the gate, the guards skimmed over everyone''s IDs and gave cursory nce at the carts'' cargo before collecting the entry tax of one copper and letting everyone into the town. Once inside the merchants led the way to an inn that they frequent called the Lesy Inn, arriving in front of the rustic inn the merchants got out saying that they would arrange rooms and to wait out here by the carts.

    ''This town is a lot different from River Landing, every building is made out of wood instead of stone and the streets are much quieter. I mean Trostenwald is only around half the size of River Landing, but it is a bit eerie how silent it is.''

    Soon the merchants came back and started to hand out room keys before telling the adventures that they had the rest of the day off to do as they wished and to be ready outside the inn tomorrow morning.

    ''So now I have a few hours to kill be night, I wonder what I should do I cannot imagine that a coal mining town is going to have the best tourist attractions.''

    While thinking about what to do Marcus is startled when Bryce yells out, "how about a drink I know a great tavern on the south side of town and the first drink is on me."

    At this everyone starts to cheer except for Jasper who had mysteriously disappeared already.

    ''You know I have not had any alcohol sinceing to this world and all these guys are pretty nice so a bit of drinking would not hurt.''

    Thus, all of the adventures minus Jasper, followed Bryce toward the aforementioned tavern.. Once they arrived the could all see the sign that said Tuknite Tavern and the group burst in ready for a night of fun.

 Chapter 34 - 33 Tragedy

    Entering the Tavern, the sweet smell of alcohol wafted around and into Marcus'' and the other adventures'' noses filling them with a sense of excitement. The barkeep noticing the groups showy entrance and recognizing Bryce and the members of Wild Wind yelled out saying, "Bryce you bastard good to see you again you are not going to wreck my ce again, there are still damages I am finding fromst time."

    Hearing the barkeeps abrupt criticisms Bryce responded saying, "Hey that was not my fault those guys started it and they already paid for the damages and have I not been a loyal customer for years."

    "Yeah, you are right about that so what can I do for all of you."

    "Ah the first round for everyone is on me we have the evening off, and we n to enjoy it."

    Bryce then dropped a pouch of copper coins on the bar and the barkeep took it before filling up eight mugs and handing them out to the group. With the first round of alcohol dulled out everyone began to drink.

    ''Hm, I think it is some type of beer, it is a bit more bitter than what I am used to, but it is pretty smooth and goes down easy. The alcohol content is also higher than the beers on Earth but that is probably because of less refined brewing. Ah let''s stop analyzing everything and just enjoy.''

    The whole group began drinking and talking, with the members of Wild Wind recanting some of their past adventures and the girls Ingrid and Mia hyping up Bodie as a peerless talent with the sword who was the apprentice of a knight and had set off as an adventure to hone his sword. After a few drinks even the quite Ari began talking mostly about his daughter and how he was a cobbler before but decided to be an adventure to make more money for his daughter''s education.

    While everyone else was telling stories and Marcus was listing, eventually a silence overtook the group as everyone looked to Marcus to regal them with some of his past adventures.

    ''Augh, I do not really have anything inserting to say that is not personal or could get me in trouble. Oh, whatever I can tell a few stories about my training in the woods with a few revisions.''

    Marcus went about telling the stories from his time in the woods, first with the ambush from the shadow coyotes and finished up with his defeating of the goblin party that had assailed him. The other adventures looked at him with flushed faces and beganughing obviously not believing that one person could face down so many enemies ande out unscathed.

    ''I guess it is not believable that I received no injuries in those battles, and sure I was horribly injured after both, but I do not want to reveal my lesser regeneration skill right now.''

    After having two beers Marcus decided he wanted something sweeter, so he ordered a mug of mead and was not disappointed.

    ''Man, that is sweet, I only ever had mead once before with my family on new year''s and this is about the same, I wonder how my family is, we used to have fun like this. I think the alcohol is getting to me I cannot stop thinking about sad things, I was pretty sure I was a happy drunk before but with all that has happened to me I must have be a sad drunk.''

    The loud conversations of the others halted when they noticed that tears had started to fall down on Marcus'' face. With looks of concern they asked if he was all right and Marcus responded saying he was just feeling a bit sick an excused himself early and went back to the inn to sleep off the alcohol.

    ˇ­

    Waking up the next day Marcus had a throbbing headache from his bout of drinking yesterday.

    ''Uhhhh, water.''

    After drinking around a quart of water Marcus started to feel better and his hazy mind started to clear.

    ''Been awhile since thest time I had a hangover, I should not have had that mead, Irene''s body is a lot smaller than my former one so I should have known I could not hold my liquor as well as before.''

    Once his headache had receded a bit and since he had woken up before the sun, Marcus set out in search of a tub. After berating the person at the front desk Marcus was able to convince them to let him use the tub in their vacant luxury room. Filling the tub up with water from his item box and painstakingly warming it with dozens of fire shots until he ran out of MP, Marcus then slipped into the tub to wash away his fatigue.

    ''Ah this is the best; I was more of a shower guy before but something about a long soak has really grown on me sinceing to this world.''

    Soaking for around a half hour, when Marcus noticed the first rays of light creeping into the room, he knew he needed to get out and get ready for his guard duty to resume.

    With theing dawn the adventures and merchants gathered together again and set out on the rest of their journey to Loursend.

    ˇ­

    The next eight days went by in a sh as the group got into the daily routine of travel, eat, and sleep. There were quite a few attacks on the caravan from beasts and monsters but with the experience of Wild Wind and Marcus'' prowess the party managed to repel every threat against them. In that time Marcus had polished up on his fighting technique to incorporate magic with his scythe arts.

    ''We should be arriving at Loursend in a few hours and then the hard part begins. While I am pretty strong for my level, against people that are many levels higher than me, I have no chance of winning a head on fight. I will need toe up with a strategy that involves stealth or subterfuge, I will probably only get one chance, so I need to make it count.''

    While his mind was busy thinking about how he would go about rescuing Lilia, Marcus'' danger sense suddenly red in his mind as he jumped back only for an arrow to pass millimeters from his stomach. However, Marcus was not the only one to be shot at as an arrow embed itself into Bodie''s left wrist and the back of Ari''s neck had been grazed and was now steadily bleeding. Luckily, the merchants carts were set up to protect the drivers from arrows and the armor of the Wild Wind had repelled the arrows that struck them. Another round of arrows followed most targeting Marcus because of hisck of armor and swift movements.

    Without giving care, Marcus cast his iron skin spell without chanting and covered his arms and torso with a thinyer of iron. Trying his best to dodge and deflect the arrows, one managed to get past his defenses and lodge into his left thigh.

    ''FUCK, these arrows are a lot faster and better made than the ones those goblins used.''

    Noticing that their arrow were no longer very effective without the element of surprise a dozen bandits rushed towards the carts trying to finish off the adventures and merchants and im their loot. The Wild Wind party reacted quickly getting into a formation around the merchants to defend them. Ari soon followed suit realizing that around Wild Wind was the safest ce, however Shining Ice was panicking and got sectioned off from the others.

    The bandits then went after their prey three going towards Shining Ice seven towards Wild Wind and Ari, and the remaining two headed towards Marcus who had been slowed down by an arrow in his leg.

    Ripping the arrow out of his leg not worrying about the damage the barbs would cause and taking his scythe out of his item box startled the two banditsing towards Marcus. With this moment Marcus recast his Iron skin spell to cover his wounded thigh to stop the bleeding. With his defenses reset Marcus charged towards the two bandits swing his scythe. His swing came fast and from the right, but the bandit managed to parry the attack with his spear. However, this was part of Marcus'' n as he stepped in and kicked the man''s leg with his iron coated foot. The swift and powerful kick knocked the man off his feet causing him to sprawl onto the ground.

    Of course, the other bandit attacking Marcus did not sit idly by and was swinging his sword at Marcus'' exposed back. With swift movements enhanced by his scythe skill Marcus brought the handle up to defend blocking the sword. Had the handle been made of ordinary wood it certainly would have been cut clean through but the wood from a Nightmare Treant was far sturdier. With the sword blocked and the bandit right in front of him Marcus finished the chant he had started earlier, and a fire shot appeared and struck the bandit square in the chest. The sudden fire shot burned the bandit badly as all he could do was writhe around on the ground in pain.

    Having incapacitated the two-bandit attacking him, Marcus noticed that Wild Wind was in trouble outnumbered by the bandits. Seeing Bryce locked inbat with the leader of the bandits Marcus Quickly cast his lightning javelin spell before hurling it at Bryce''s opponent. The bandit leader seeing the projectileing towards him raised his sword to defend, however when the lightning javelin struck the sword the electricity flowed through the de and into the man''s arms stunning him for a moment. Bryce not letting the opportunity go to waste decapitated the man with one swing from his sword.

    Seeing the severed head flying through the air and the fountain of blood gushing out of the bandit''s neck Marcus held his hand to his mouth and used every ounce of will power he had not to hurl. Deciding to look away figuring now that Bryce was freed up Wild Wind could win their fight Marcus looked towards Shing Ice only to see a more horrific scene. Mia had been cut clean in half, while Bodie wasying on the ground in a pool of blood and the three bandits were currently toying with Ingrid. Seeing this sorrow started to overtake Marcus'' mind before it was filled with rage, and he charged the three bandits. He let loose another lightning javelin causing one bandit to crumble to the ground spasming, before he attacked the other two infusing mana into his scythe.

    With the power of his scythe Marcus cleaved through the cheap weapons the bandits had and cut the muscles in their legs so the could no longer move. Ingrid seeing the incapacitated bandits that had been torturing her and had killed her friends, took her spear, and mercilessly jabbed it into their heads. Averting his eyes Marcus nced over towards Wild Wind again and saw that they were winning and about to finish off thest couple of bandits.. That was when Marcus saw the bandit he thought he had incapacitated earlier, had gotten behind them and impaled his spear straight through Ari''s stomach.

 Chapter 35 - 34 A Harsh Lesson

    With a spear jutting out of his gut Ari began coughing up blood, and his body soon went limp. The bandit then pulled his spear out and tried to run away noticing that most of his allies were dead and the remaining two were soon to follow. However, the highest-level merchant caught the bandit off guard and swung his sword shing the bandit''s throat preventing his escape. When life left the bandit, Marcus heard a familiar ding.

    "You have leveled up to level 11."

    At the sound of leveling up Marcus broke out of his daze and opened his status and began looking for a particr skill. Finding the skill Marcus went to purchase it immediately spending five of the six skill points he had just obtained. With his new skill Marcus rushed over to Ari and began casting the tier one healing spell minor heal. Marcus cast the spell over and over again until he had run out of MP but the tier one healing spell was from powerful enough to save Ari.

    "No no no, heal damn it, you cannot die here, do you not have a daughter waiting on you to return."

    However, try as he might Marcus was unable to do anything as life faded from Ari''s eyes. Sitting on the ground next to Ari''s dead body Marcus was soon pulled back onto his feet by Bryce who then pped him in the face before saying, "Get yourself together we need to move there could be more of them around and if we stay here, we will be sitting ducks."

    Snapping out of his crippling sorrow the group began moving as fast as possible, to create some distance from where they were attacked. Once the group had moved for as long as possible and had made it to the edge of the woods where they could see the outline of Loursend, the party stopped to rest and process what had just happened. Ingrid immediately copsed and started crying and wheezing, from the loss of her friends, while Marcus began slipping into a depression.

    ''They are dead, Bodie, Mia, and Ari they all died. Just when I was starting to have fun in this world it came and reminded me how cruel it is. If I had just been stronger everyone would still be alive, I let those bandits live and now Ari is dead because of me.''

    Wallowing in his grief Marcus could only me himself for the death of his temporaryrades. The group stayed there for a good hour no one saying anything before Bryce spoke up.

    "I understand that what we just experienced was tragic, but we need to keep moving if we want to make it to Loursend before they close the gates for the night. This is part of the job and we all knew the risks involved when we decided to take this job."

    At Bryce''s harsh words Ingrid snapped no longer able to contain her emotions.

    "Shut up, we knew the risks, is that how you consider it. Bodie and Mia are dead, and it your faults. Why didn''t youe to help us, you just stood there around the carts even when you saw us being section off. And you Irene with your strength you could have quickly killed those two bandits and helped us. You have healing magic but you did not even stop to try and help Bodie, were you to guilt ridden that your weakness got Ari killed."

    After Ingrid had finished shouting at the rest of the party she stormed off in the direction of Loursend, tears streaming down her face. What had been a bad experience had been turned even worse as everyone realized the mistakes that they made, and started thinking about what they could have done better.

    This did notst too long before Bryce the natural leader that he is once again tried to rally everyone.

    "If we keep looking back at the past trying to fix mistakes that have already happened we will not be able to look towards the future. Yes we have experienced a tragedy, we lost some good men and women but do not me yourselves, it was the bandits that killed them not you."

    With the slight boost in moral the party gathered themselves and managed to continue the march out of the woods and to Loursend. Once they exited the woods the full scope of Loursend came into view, and while the view would normally be stunning the somber group could not feel any joy.

    ''Steady yourself Marcus, it is sad what happened but I still have a job to do. I know that if I had killed that bandit Ari would still be alive but I cannote to grips with killing someone right now. I feel if I started killing people I would be a true monster, and I do not know what would happen to me.''

    While Marcus struggled with his morality about killing people, the group soon made it to the line of people waiting to get into Loursend. Looking up for the first time and really looking at it Marcus realized just how massive Loursend is.

    ''If it were not for what just happened this would be quite the sight, the walls are thirty feet tall and the city looks to be the size as some on Earth. While river Landing looked was pretty big I would not be surprised if this ce was ten times its size. The sight and smell of the ocean is also calming, there is nothing to do but move forward.''

    Soon the party had made it to the front of the line where their carts went through a routine search and everyone paid the steep entry tax of four copper. Once inside the hustle and bustle of the city perked Marcus up a bit seeing all the wondrous sites.

    ''There are people flying on some type ofrge birds all over the ce, and I even saw someone on a gryphon. This is what you would expect of a fantasy city, people all over flying on magical beast, food venders hawking their wares, and the ever moving wagons and carts.''

    As Marcus gawked around at the amazing sites the group was making a beeline towards the adventures guild in Loursend. Once in view Marcus was amazed at the massive building as it was easily five times the size of the one in River Landing. Going inside one of the merchants led the remaining adventures to one of the booths to collect their reward. Once they made it to the front of the line they were served by a rabbit eared man who dulled out the reward of one silver to the members of Wild Wind and Marcus. There rewards in hand the adventures and merchants went their separate ways.

    As Marcus was leaving he was suddenly pulled aside by Bryce who decided to give him some words of wisdom.

    "Irene, I realize that you cannot kill people and while that is an admirable quality it does not suit an adventure. I know this may not be my ce but I think you should give up adventuring. This job is not all sunshine and roses and if you cannot kill people there wille another day like today where it will cost you but if you can ovee it, I know you can be a great adventure. Also, if you need our help, we will be in town for a while exploring the Ocean Bluff Temple."

    With those words of advice Bryce and the other members of Wild Wind exited the guild hall, leaving Marcus to himself.

 Chapter 36 - 35 The Search Begins

    Having finally made it to Loursend Marcus could now start looking for Lilia. He nearly left the adventures guild preparing to search the city for the Fair Sunset Tavern when he realized he could just ask for directions.

    ''I really am an idiots sometimes, this city is massive, and I am currently in one of thergest information hubs in the city, they probably know at least the general location of taverns and inns.''

    Heading back inside Marcus got into one of the long lines of people waiting to be served.

    ''Damn there are a lot of adventures here, far more than River Landing, maybe it has something to do with that ocean bluff temple Bryce mentioned.''

    After waiting for around thirty minutes to be served Marcus finally made it to the front of the line where a young boy no older than fifteen was manning the booth and asked Marcus, "helLO miss How can I help you today?"

    Marcus visibly winced when he heard the young man''s voice crack multiple times.

    ''Uh I remember those days, good luck kid it gets better eventually.''

    Giving his silent support for the young man Marcus then told him that he was looking for the Fair Sunset Tavern. The poor kid looked like a dear caught in head lights before he asked Marcus to wait just a second. After around a minute he came back with a book and began rifling through the pages. When he found what he was looking for he said, "The FAir SunSEt Tavern is located in the southwest of Loursend and should be just a bit north of the Church of Aigean the Ocean Spirit. The CHurch is a big blue building and should be hard to miss."

    Thanking the young man for his assistants Marcus made his way out of the adventures guild and started heading towards the southwest part of the city. After having walked for over four hours Marcus finally stopped realizing his predicament.

    ''I''m lost, this ce is too damn big, and I have headed southwest until I hit the city wall. The sun has already begun to set, and I have no idea where I am. I figured this church would stand out, but this city is a like abyrinth, and I have yet toe across a big blue building.''

    Smacking his head against a wall Marcus wished he had one of those birds he saw people flying around on so he could have an aerial perspective when he remembered he was a ghost and could float above the buildings to search around.

    ''I cannot believe I forgot I can float, even if I am tethered to Irene''s body, I still have over forty feet I can travel.''

    Exiting Irene''s body Marcus floated up forty-three feet to try and get a better view of the city, however, some of the building were still slightly too tall and continued to obstruct his view. That was when Marcus remembered his recent level up and opened his status.

    ''I really need to calm down, frantically trying to find Lilia is not going to help me especially if I keep forgetting to use my abilities to their fullest.''

    Looking at his stat points Marcus discovered something.

    ''Why do I have twenty stat points and now that I think about it, I had six skill points when I leveled up to eleven. Wait so the system is exponential not additive, great this means the difference between levels bes more apparent the higher you get. So, I probably have no chance against anyone more than just a few levels ahead of me.''

    Marcus then assigned his stat points now giving two to strength and vitality, four to agility, and six to both intelligence and spirit. With his new boosted spirit stat Marcus managed to make it high enough to look over most of the buildings in Loursend and see pretty much the whole city.

    ''Now where is that churchˇ­ whoa it is glowing, how did I miss it, the building is around three stories tall and as long as a football field, I somehow walked right past it without noticing.''

    After Finding his bearings Marcus suddenly felt himself moving and when he looked down, he saw two men dragging away Irene''s body.

    ''Shit, this is not good.''

    Marcus then rushed back into Irene''s body, gaining control of it, and startling the guards.

    "What the hell, the corpse just came back to life."

    When Marcus took back control of Irene''s body the two men became rmed and dropped him onto the ground. When Marcus tried to get up, he was greeted by the pointy end of two daggers aimed at his face.

    "Um could I ask what you two are doing, I decide to take a quick rest against a wall and suddenly I am being dragged away by you two."

    While he was talking to them Marcus had started to appraise them and found that one was level eight while the other was level ten. The two men looked at each other before they both nodded and ran away.

    ''Well, that was certainly weird, I wonder why they are out looking for corpses. Whatever it has nothing to do with me, time to go find that tavern.''

    Marcus then made his way towards the direction of the church but once again seemed to get lost until he appeared on the other end of a street where the church was visible. With the church finally in view Marcus started Making his way north looking for the Fair Sunset Tavern. Unfortunately, the sun had already set, and Marcus was forced to slow down to thoroughly check the names on the taverns he passed. By the time he finally located the Fair Sunset Tavern it was already well into the night. Luckily for Marcus for a tavern in a major city the night was the time for their best business.

    Walking inside Marcus noticed the dozens of men and women sitting around enjoying food and drink. Finding an empty table Marcus sat down and waited to be served, while looking around for any of the vers that had kidnapped Lilia.

    ''Irene got a good look at seven of them and her death is the most vivid memory she left me, so I am sure if I see one of them, I will recognize them immediately. Hopefully, I do not have to stake this ce out for too long because my only other lead is to search through the whole warehouse district.''

    After a few minutes, the busy staff made their way to Marcus'' table were he ordered some ale and fired fish. When his order arrived, Marcus realized he had not had anything to eat since breakfast and dug in devouring the food.

    ''Ah that was satisfying nothing like some fried food and alcohol to help heal the soul. Now let''s take another look around and see if there are any familiar faces.''

    Marcus scanned the room thoroughly looking at everyone''s face before he finally recognized one. Staring at the man and his friends Marcus recognized another one of them and was now certain he had found his quarry.. The man noticing Marcus staring at him came over and said, "Hey there miss I could not help noticing you staring at me, did you want to head upstairs and get a better look."

 Chapter 37 - 36 Interrogation

    Marcus staring nkly at the man who was currently proposition him for nightly activities thought, ''Is this man an idiot, has that line actually worked for him before, oh whatever this is a chance for me to get one of the vers alone.''

    Looking up at the man Marcus put on his best smile before responding, "certainly I do not mind, so should we head upstairs?"

    The man was shocked for a moment before a lecherous smile appeared on his face and he started moving towards the stairs. Normally, one would not have been able to head to the rooms upstairs but since the band of vers were loyal customers, they had ess to certain privileges. Before entering inside one of the bedrooms Marcus decided to check out the man''s level.

    ''Hm, level twelve so he is one higher than me but with the element of surprise I should still be able to incapacitate himˇ­ wait level twelve I should not be able to see his level since it is higher than mine.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethered)

    Level: 11

    HP: 520/520-340/340

    MP: 470/470

    STR: 10(+25)

    AGL: 38

    VIT: 10(+24)

    INT: 47

    SPR: 49(+3)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 1

    Unique Skills: Personal Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 2, Magic Cirction Lvl 2, Iron Magic Lvl 2, Disassembly Lvl 2, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 2, Creature Appraisal Lvl 2, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 2, Darkvision Lvl 1, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 2, Healing Magic Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds

    ''Ah my creature appraisal is a level higher now, I must have just advanced it when I appraised those guys earlier. I wonder how effective it will be now, only one way to find out I just have to keep using it.''

    While he was checking his status and thinking about his leveled-up appraisal skill the ver had begun lighting candles in one of the upstairs rooms. Marcus then walked into the room confident in his n to siphon information from this ver. Closing the door behind him the man then said, "Are you ready to get started though I have to warn you I do like it a bit rough."

    "That''s fine I promise not to hurt you too bad."

    With a bewildered look on his face the ver suddenly felt a tug on his feet as he was knocked over onto his back. When he looked at his feet, he noticed threads glimmering in the candle light before Marcus mmed onto the man''s torso. Reeling from the shock the man had no time to defend when Marcus put his index fingers on both of his temples before unleashing a spark spell. Short circuiting the ver''s brain the man passed out immediately from the sudden influx of electricity.

    ''Well, that should do it, he probably will not wake up for a little while so let us get to work.''

    Marcus then took some rope out of his item box and began tying the man up. With his scant amount of knowledge with knots it took Marcus many minutes before he had a horrible tangle of rope that was binding the man.

    ''Definitely not my best work but, as long as he is restrained that is all that matters. Now all I have to do is wait for him to wake up and persuade him to tell me where Lilia is. Hopefully, they still have her because tracking her down across another continent would not be fun.''

    Waiting for the man to wake up for nearly half an hour Marcus finally decided to cast minor heal on the guy until he woke up.

    "What the hell, do you think you are going to get away with this bitch, I am part of a very powerful group and I promise you will wish you were dead when I am through with you."

    As the man struggled and kept throwing out threats he could not back up, Marcus started to get down to business.

    "Listen I do not have time for you rants, let us get through this the easy way where you answer my questions and this whole process is nice and painless. First, you recently attacked a vige up north where you killed and kidnapped all of the people, I am looking for the survivors where are they. Second, I want to know the schedule of your bosses Ander, Osman, And Tyrell, and third how many of you are currently in your group."

    The man looked at Marcus with a face full of surprise as Marcus knew the names of his leaders and of their recent attack on the isted loggingmunity. Shaking his head and steeling himself the man looked at Marcus with a mocking expression before saying, "I am not going to tell you anything do your worst."

    At that Marcus responded saying, "okay but you asked for it."

    He then went over and grabbed one of the pillows on the bed and tore it open causing a huge plumb of feathers to cover the room. Picking up the part of the torn pillow case Marcus headed over towards the man cing the cloth over his face ready to begin his torture. Soon the sound of wheezing and crying resounded in the well sound proofed room as Marcus began a round of water boarding on the unfortunate man.

    "Huff huff huff, please stop I can''t breath."

    After water boarding the man for nearly an hour making the man cry profusely and nearly pass out from not being able to breath, he finally caved willing to tell Marcus what he wanted.

    "Fine you win please just stop it hurts, I will tell you what you want to know."

    "Good now where are the people you recently kidnapped."

    "The ones that are left are being stored in our warehouse right now, it is located in the warehouse district near the river on the northwestern side, a big building made of dark wood, and it has a distinct red roof. There are always two guards posted out front."

    "You just mentioned the ones that are left, does that mean you have already sold some of them."

    Fear began to well in the man''s eyes when he heard this expecting that Marcus might start to water boarding him again if he gave an undesirable answers. However, when Marcus started reaching for the pillow case the man started spilling his guts once more.

    "Yes, I am sorry some of them have already been sold mostly just a few of the older women the younger ones take more time to train."

    A bit of relief filled Marcus'' face when he heard this hoping that Lilia was still within his grasp. He then asked the man if they still had Lilia giving her description and the man began nodding his head signaling that she was still in their custody.

    ''Okay they still have Lilia that is good, it sucks for the other people that were already sold, but I am no saint, and even if I can only rescue Lilia that is what I will have to do.''

    "Now then when are your bosses away and how many members are in your group right now."

    The tied-up ver then went into great detail about the numbers and schedules of his group which currently numbered seventeen. Unfortunately, they erred on the side of caution and their leader or one of his lieutenants are always present along with at least the two guards outside and three plus one of the leaders inside. Marcus also found that the best time for him to attempt a rescue would be in two days when the weakest lieutenant Osman and only the minimum number of guards would be there.

    ''Okay I have the information I want from this guy so now I need to make sure he is not found for the next two days.''

    Realizing that he had answered all of the questions Marcus wanted to know and figuring that there would be no more water boarding the man regained a bit of his bravado and said, "Even with that information it will not matter, I promise you will fail and get captured and when you do, I am going to turn you and that girl into my own personal dogs.''

    Rolling his eyes at the man''s impossible threat Marcus once again ced his index fingers on his temples before shocking him back into dreand.

 Chapter 38 - 37 Stake Out

    With the ver he had extracted information from once again unconscious Marcus now needed to find a ce to hide him for a while, so he did not spoil his n.

    ''Okay now where would you keep a guy hidden for a couple of days without anyone noticing.''

    Searching around the upper floor of the tavern, Marcus eventually came across a storeroom that had dust on the floor and crates, seeming to not have been used for some time. Going back to the room where he had left the man unconscious, Marcus grabbed him and dragged him towards the storeroom. Once there he shoved him inside into a cramped corner where he would have a hard time moving around so as not to allow him to make any noise.

    ''Whew, time to get out of here and locate that warehouse.''

    Heading back down the stairs Marcus made sure to stop before entering onto the main floor and check to see if the dudes buddies were still around.

    ''Ugh, they are still there, I cannot let them see me leaving or they could grow suspicious, time for a little distraction.''

    Exiting Irene''s body Marcus flew over towards the guys that had been drinking with the man he had just interrogated and checked there levels. Finding that of the three men the lowest leveled one was ten he went ahead and possessed that man''s body. Causing a bit of a spectacle as the man began convulsing a bit as his and Marcus'' soul fought for dominance until Marcus came out on top. Now in control of the man''s body Marcus stood up grabbed the edges of the table and flipped it over as he yelled, "THIS FOOD SUCKS."

    As everyone stared in shock at the sudden outburst Marcus had caused, he next ran up to the nearest guy and punched him in the face, before running towards the next and leaping towards him. While in midair Marcus exited the man''s body letting his momentum continue to carry him. Floating back to Irene''s body Marcus once again entered her body taking control of it. Looking out at the chaos he had just caused Marcus noticed that it had turned into a full-on bar fight.

    ''Well, I think that should serve as enough of a distraction for me to exit without being noticed.''

    Causally leaving the bar with the help of his stealth skill, Marcus managed to navigate the growing fight without being noticed and escaped back onto the street. With his sessful acquisition of information Marcus began looking for an inn to rest in for the remainder of the night. Finding one not too far away called the Owl''s Hoot, Marcus went inside and purchased a room for one night for forty copper.

    ''Damn that was expensive, I guess that is a big city for you everything cost more. I am starting to run low on funds, but hopefully in just two more days I will have saved Lilia and then I will have more time to make money.''

    Entering into his room that only had a cheap bed and wooden chair in it Marcus copsed down onto the bed as his physical and mental fatigue had ovee him.

    ˇ­

    Waking up well past the rise of the sun Marcus reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and started preparing for another long day.

    ''Yesterday was exhausting way to much happened, but I have to keep moving forward, my goal is now within my sight. Today I have to find that warehouse and keep watch over it for the next couple of days and then when the time is right sneak in and rescue who I can.''

    With his n ready to be set in motion Marcus headed out of the Owl''s Hoot and back onto the bustling streets of Loursend. Heading towards the northwest part of the warehouse district Marcus stopped when he hit the river. He then exited Irene''s body and floated up into the air. Scanning his surroundings, he soon caught glimpse of a warehouse with a prominent red roof. Moving in that direction with a closer look he saw the two guards posted outside therge bay doors serving as the only entrance.

    ''From the description I got this seems to be the ce where they are holding Lilia. Now I just need to wait for two days and observe them.''

    Using his stealth skill Marcus moved around until he found a nearby warehouse he could get on the roof of. Was he had climbed up he exited Irene''s body and floated into the warehouse of the vers to look around. Once inside he could see eight other vers sitting at a table ying some type of game. Along the walls Marcus saw dozens of cages which not only held people but also magical beasts.

    ''Hm, I guess they do not just deal in people but also magical beasts, now let me see if I cannot find where Lilia is.''

    Unfortunately, with Marcus'' short leash he could only explore a small amount of the warehouse before hitting his maximum range. He did however locate one of the other members of themunity giving him definitive proof that these were the guys he was looking for.

    ''Damn sometimes this tether is annoying, I mean at this point I could just severe it, but the description says that my own soul will suffer bacsh and permanent damage, so I do not want to resort to that right now.''

    Exiting the building and going back into Irene''s body Marcus kept watch on the warehouse for many hours before arge, covered carriage rolled up and entered the premises. Curious of what was going on Marcus once again entered the warehouse and watched the men begin to load the carriage with people. Noticing now that the people were all wearing some type of cor, Marcus finally had conformation on how ves were controlled in this world. A few momentster when Marcus'' eyes fell onto the leader of the vers Ander, the fragment of Irene''s soul began burning with and immense rage and desire to kill. In that moment as if he could sense the animosity, Ander turned and looked in Marcus'' direction before he disappeared in a blur and shed the ce where Marcus was. Luckily, Marcus was not only invisible but ethereal and the physical sword attack passed right through him. Marcus then swiftly left the building having made sure that Lilia was not on that carriage.

    ''Holy shit, did he feel the killing intent that Irene''s soul fragment was letting off, if I was not intangible, he would have cut me right in two. I really need to be careful of higher-level people, if I think myself invincible one day, I am going to run into someone that can actually hurt me.''

    Marcus continued to watch the building for the rest of the day being extra carful to not reveal his presence to Ander again. Once night set in Marcus scurried towards the middle of the roof he was perched on and took out his sleeping mat and nkets since this would be thest time he could rest until he broke into the warehouse.

    Waking up early the next day Marcus continued to observe the warehouse and whenever a carriage woulde and go Marcus would check to Make sure Lilia was not on it. Luckily, Marcus never saw Lilia being loaded onto one of the carriages and was almost certain she was somewhere in the warehouse.. As the day came to an end only the minimum amount of guards led by the weakest Lieutenant Osman were left in the warehouse and it was time for Marcus to enact his rescue.

 Chapter 39 - 38 Busting In

    Having waited for the optimal time Marcus began his n to break in. He had thought of many methods to try and rescue Lilia but ultimately decided for a more forward approach. Having scanned everyone''s level he was able to determine that the two guards outside were both level ten while two of the people inside were level elven and one was thirteen. He had tried to check Osman''s but found that he could still not see his level.

    Marcus then climbed down the warehouse and using the cover of night and his stealth skill approached the front of the warehouse before slipping into a nearby alley. Once he was hidden in the alley, he slumped up against the warehouse wall before unpossessing Irene''s body. Floating over towards the guards at the entrance, Marcus waited for one of them to leave to use the restroom before taking over the other ones body. After overshadowing the guards soul Marcus bid his time until the other guard came back, and he went over to him and sped his hands around the man''s head and casted his sparks spell knocking him unconscious.

    ''If it is not broke don''t fix it, as long as these guys keep letting me shock them right on the head who am I to stop.''

    Dragging the man into the alley where he had left Irene''s body, Marcus then climbed to the roof of another warehouse and jumped off leaving the man''s body before he impacted the ground. Afterwards Marcus repossessed Irene''s body and went over to the man who now had two broken legs and a concussion. The man was letting off groans of pain before Marcus knocked him fully unconscious. He then tied up the two men and had sessfully cleared the front guards.

    ''There we go now I havepleted the easy part; the hard part will be taking down Osman, but I think I can do it, I was hoping to be able to infiltrate with stealth, but I have to get the keys to the cages and only Osman has them.''

    With the front guards taken care of Marcus floated through the back wall of the warehouse and patiently waited. After observing the warehouse for thest couple of days Marcus had made note of the times when one of the vers would go around giving food to the upants of the cages. When his prey had separated from the rest of the group and was handing out food to the creatures on the back walls Marcus took this time to strike possessing the unlucky man. Unfortunately for Marcus it was the level thirteen who had lost thest game and been forced to make the rounds. With the man''s higher level, he fought Marcus tooth and nail for a good three minutes before Marcus barely managed toe out on top.

    ''Ugh that was probably the hardest battle over a body I have ever had, if my spirit stat was not abnormally high for my level, I probably would have had no chance of possessing him. I need to act quick though I cannot keep control for long.''

    Pretending to be the man Marcus then started yelling and screaming that one of the beasts had got ahold of his arm and that he needed help. With his passable acting he managed to lure over another one of the vers who he then tied up with his iron threads before mming him into one of the cages multiple times until the man fell unconscious. With the loud ruckus that Marcus had just created both Osman and the other ver began approaching Marcus. When the two of them came within his darkvision, Marcus unleashed a lightning Javelin towards the grunt hitting him square in the stomach causing his body to shack all over and copse his muscles twitching unable to move. Osman with an astonished expression said, "So you are a traitor Keith, well then die."

    Osman unfurling a whip with a de at the tipshed out towards the head of the man Marcus was possessing. Already at his limit of controlling the man''s body Marcus made a quick escape as the whip separated the man''s head from his torso. Floating back onto the other side of the wall Marcus reentered Irene''s body and took out his scythe. With his scythe in hand Marcus let his mana flow into it before shing towards the wall of the warehouse. As the scythe''s de connected with the wood it sliced through until there was a gaprge enough for Marcus to fit through.

    Surprised to see him burst through the wall Osman turned around going from angry to furious at the sight of another attacker.

    "And who the hell are you, are you partners with that scum Keith, well you are tote and he is already dead."

    Osman fury then receded a bit as he looked over Marcus thoroughly before saying, "Well now aren''t you a beauty, this is your lucky day since I am not going to kill you and being only a level eleven, you really do not have a chance against me. Oh, and do not worry I won''t scar your pretty face."

    ''Crap he must have creature appraisal as well, but from my intel he should only be around level fifteen, with my busted skills if I y this right, I should be able to eke out a victory.''

    After the two of them had finished sizing each other up Osman made the first moveshing his mana infused whip towards Marcus'' right leg. With the help of his danger sense and scythe skill Marcus managed to redirect the whip with the scythe''s handle so it only grazed his leg.

    ''Fuck, his whip is fast, if I had not blocked that he would have severed the muscles in my leg, and I would be unable to move properly I need to be careful this is going to be the fight of my life.''

    Continuing for a few more exchanges, Marcus was barely able to block and taking minor injuries with each flick of the whip, keeping him from approaching Osman. In order to close the distance, Marcus unleashed the lightning javelin spell he had finished chanting hoping to distract Osman. The javelin flew at an incredible speed towards Osman but being multiple levels higher than Marcus he was able to dodge the attack with only a bit of effort. However, this did allow Marcus to close the distance where the whip would be harder to use. Unfortunately, Osman had used the whip for many years and had already fought countless battles and had developed counter measures for close range fighting. With Marcus getting closer Osman cracked his whip into the ground causing it to rebound up in a v shape towards Marcus. The unexpected attack caught Marcuspletely off guard as he hastily moved his scythe to block the whip. While he did prevent the whip from giving him a debilitating wound it still sliced into his left arm prating Marcus'' Iron skin like it was not even there. Osman then delivered a powerful kick to Marcus'' stomach sending him reeling across the floor.

    ''Damn it this guy is stronger than I thought, he moves pretty fast and has way morebat experience then me, not to mention his overall stats are higher than mine. I need to hope this works or I am certain to lose.''

    As Osman approached Marcus'' battered body that was bleeding from multiple shallow wound in what seemed to be a very desperate attempt Marcus threw his scythe towards Osman. Astonished by Marcus'' level of stupidity for throwing away his weapon Osman simply sidestepped to the left letting the scythe harmlessly pass by. However, Marcus had intentionally chanted his lighting javelin spell earlier so when he unleashed his next one with no chant at all he caught Osmanpletely by surprise. Using every ounce of reflex and skill he had, Osman twisted his body to the right barely dodging the lightning javelin. With Osman off bnce and surprised by his chant less magic Marcus enacted the final faze of his attack, pulling with all his might the iron threads attached to his scythe reeled it back towards him before its de lodged directly into Osman''s right shoulder.

    Osman distressed to see the sharp de of the scythe protruding from his shoulder immediately moved to pull it out. Not letting this opening go unpunished Marcus leaped towards Osman tackling him into the ground. Osman tried to strike Marcus with his whip but with his right shoulder skewered by a scythe his arm could not get the whip to move with any precision or force. On top of Osman Marcus began to relentlessly thrash him with iron coated fisted asionally also throwing in a spark spell to stun him. After taking Marcus'' brutal beating for over a minute and being unable to offer any meaningful form of resistance Osman eventually sumbed to Marcus'' onught falling unconscious. Breathing heavily andpletely exhausted Marcus rolled off Osman''s bloody body taking a quick rest.

    ''I won, I had to abuse every trick at my disposal, but I won. Had he been trying to kill me I am pretty sure I would have had no chance, but he underestimated me. Augh I do not have time toy around right now, I have to find and rescue Lilia before any of the other vers arrive.''

    Shakily getting to his feet Marcus searched Osman and found the keys to the cages, he then started looking around for Lilia as everyone he passed begged and pleaded for him to let them out. Ignoring the other people but taking note of the other ones from Irene''smunity Marcus eventually found Lilia when he heard a loud bang.. Turning around he saw a deep depression in the bay doors before another loud bang and the doors splintered and broke open revealing the man that Marcus least wanted to see, the ve group''s leader Ander.

 Chapter 40 - 39 Breaking Point

    Marcus with a look of terror on his face stared at therge middle-aged man with short purple hair who had just busted into the warehouse.

    ''Ander, what the hell is he doing here, I watched him leave earlier and he was not supposed to be back until tomorrow. Fuck, what am I going to do, I barely beat Osman how am I going to deal with him?''

    As Marcus'' brain strained itself to find away out of his predicament, Ander scanned the entire warehouse seeing the damage Marcus had caused before fixing his gaze on Marcus. He stared at him like a judge at a dog show examining what made Marcus tick and once he was satisfied, he began speaking.

    "Well Irene I have to admit that I am impressed with how you thrashed my subordinates, Imend you foring out on top especially at only level eleven. If you had not let your bloodlust leak the other day, I never would have known you were targeting this warehouse. So, I have a proposition for you. This is going to end one of two ways; one you submit to me and join my group since you have really impressed me, and I can let bygones be bygones if you yield. The other option is that I beat you into submission and sell you away to the sickest pig I can find to recoup my losses, the option is up to you."

    During this time Marcus'' brain had never stopped moving at full speed looking for anyway to fight his current situation but he coulde up with nothing that would put him out on top. For just a moment he considered Ander''s offer before the fragment of Irene''s soul burned with so much rage Marcus nearly lunged towards Ander. Getting his emotions under control Marcus steeled himself before spitting on the ground in disgust and answering Ander.

    "I would rather die a thousand deaths than bow down and join you, you are a monster that goes around killing and kidnapping people, so I will have to choose option three, resist."

    Marcus then rushed towards Ander charging his scythe with mana and swinging with everything he had. The first shes fast towards Ander'' right side but in an instance, Ander drew his sword and deflected Marcus'' strike. Feeling the bacsh from Ander''s sword Marcus'' hands felt numb from the force. Marcus furiously swung and swung at Ander who effortlessly blocked all of his attacks until he suddenly moved with frightening speed and tripped Marcus. Falling over Marcus tucked and rolled getting back onto his feet in one clean motion.

    "Are you sure you do not want to reconsider, you would have no chance of beating me even if you were at your peak condition. I am twice your level and no amount of tactics of fighting spirit can help you ovee that difference."

    Marcus having already given into Irene''s fury began his assault again on Ander who then said, "Oh, well I have had my fun time to end this."

    In the next moment as Marcus was shing his scythe downwards Ander caught his arm and twisted it forcing Marcus to drop his scythe. Then in one fluid motion he picked Marcus up by the arm and mmed him into the ground with his full force. The ground caved under the pressure leaving an imprint were Marcus had impacted the ground. Marcus had blood flowing out of many wounds and could feel several broken bones and the arm in Ander''s grasp was shattered. Marcus was broken and barely able to move as Ander lifted him up by his shattered arm and said, "See what did I tell you, you never had a chance you could not even put a scratch on me."

    While Ander was gloating about his victory with the final dregs of his strength as adrenaline pumped through his veins Marcus cast his iron threads spell and shaped it in the form of a corkscrew at the tip of his fingers before manipting the threads to spin like a drill. Marcus then stabbed the rotating ws into Ander''s arm that was holding him aloft sinking in deeply. On reflex Ander brought his sword down on Marcus'' arm before kicking him away. Marcus then watched as his body seemed to fly backwards in slow motion and he could see his severed arm falling in front of him. However, this sense of slow motion did notst long as Marcus crashed into the ground skidding almost two dozen feet beforeing to a stop.

    Vomiting blood Marcus could feel his ruptured organs and the life of Irene''s body slipping away. Looking up Marcus saw Ander approaching slowly and saying, "Look what you made me do, with only one arm your value is going to go down by at least twenty percent, this could have been so much easier. Now enjoy yourst few moments of being free because when you next wake up you will be attending your new master for the rest of your life."

    As Ander slowly approached him Marcus thought, ''How could this happen, I tried so hard I did everything I could, why is this world so cruel. All the people from Irene''smunity were killed and kidnapped, the bandits on the road killed people in cold blood just for some goods. Why am I the one beaten and battered when these people are the worst that society has to offer. Why do I hold back and not kill when no one does the same? Why should I stay my hand against this monster? Why why why why?... I know I should just kill him there was no need for this sense of misce morality; Irene did not only want to save her little sister she wanted vengeance as well.''

    When Marcus had finally epted the entirety of Irene''sst wish the fragment of Irene''s soul resonated and merged with Marcus''. Ander noticing a change in the atmosphere suddenly stopped and watched as Marcus got back on his feet and the temperature in the room plummeted as ice started forming around the entire warehouse. He then watched as a translucent dark purple arm whose fingers looked like ws came out of the stump of Marcus'' severed arm. He watched horrified as the blood flowing out of the wound covered the arm giving it an even more sinister appearance. Ander tried to run but fear and ice had frozen him in ce and in the next instance Marcus'' ghastly arm had mmed into him sending him hurtling across the room, through one of the cages and leaving him imbedded into the wall behind it.

    Blood drooling out of his mouth and unable to move his broken body Ander looked down seeing the frightening imprint of a fiendish hand on his torso. Beingpletely unable to move Ander could only stare in horror as Marcus slowly approached him. When Marcus was only a few feet away his new spectral armshed out grabbing Ander by throat as Marcus began to slowly choke him and Irene started speaking.

    "Do you remember what you did to my friends and family. How you came into themunity under the pretense of wanting lumber only to kill and kidnap them. How you burned all our buildings to the ground. How when I tried to protect my little sister you killed me and threw me away like garbage."

    As the fragment of Irene''s soul let lose all of her feelings, Ander remembered who she was, the woman with a horrible scar on her face that had hit him with a board. When Marcus saw this realization on Ander''s face, he twisted his spectral arm snapping Ander''s neck before unceremoniously tossing his lifeless corpse on the ground.

    With the battle over, the power keeping Marcus going instantly vanished and he passed outpletely exhausted.

 Chapter 41 - 40 Message From The Administrator

    Marcus having used everything he had and more to beat Ander was currently in a state of unconsciousness. The battle had taken a toll on Marcus like no other, leaving not only Irene''s body in tatters but also Marcus'' soul.

    ''Ugh what the hell happened, I feel like I got run over by a steamroller, where the hell am I everything around me is just a big white space.''

    Looking around, all Marcus could see was endless white light that went on for infinity, until he looked down at his own form to see that it looked like grated cheese.

    ''Fuck what the hell happened to me, did I die again and this time I got sent to purgatoryˇ­ Holy shit what are those, why are there tiny glowing spiders crawling all over me, I absolutely hate spiders.''

    Internally screaming as he had a great fear of spiders Marcus could do nothing but watch as they crawled all over his body. After panicking for a few minutes, he finally noticed what the spiders where doing. He saw that they were crawling around his body and using their thread and a sharp needle shaped leg to sew him back together. This seemed to go on for days as Marcus could feel himself slowly being put back into one piece. When he wasplete again, he watched as all the spiders simultaneously jumped of into the white void soon falling out of Marcus'' sight. After all the spiders were gone a white orb floated in front of Marcus before it took the form of a familiar person. Standing in front of Marcus was Irene who uttered her final words to him, "Thank you." And with thosest words she turned back into an orb of light and flew into Marcus'' chest.

    ˇ­

    Waking up with a start as he was shunted out of Irene''s body, Marcus stared around at the scene in front of him in surprise. While it had felt like days had passed for him, it appeared that it had only been a few minutes as the ice he had created was only just starting to melt. After looking around the warehouse Marcus noticed two things, one that the tether linking him to Irene''s body had disappeared, and two that he could see the stiches holding his soul together.

    ''Damn, I guess that was not a weird hallucinations, I must have broken the soul tether and now my soul has taken permanent damage. I should look over my status and see how bad things are.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost

    Level: 15

    HP: 620/620

    MP: 470/470

    STR: ¨C (+39)

    AGL: 38

    VIT: ¨C (+38)

    INT: 47

    SPR: 62

    Stat Points: 80

    Skill Points: 25

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 2, Magic Cirction Lvl 2, Iron Magic Lvl 2, Disassembly Lvl 2, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 2, Creature Appraisal Lvl 2, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 2, Darkvision Lvl 1, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 2, Healing Magic Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm

    After looking over his status and personal log for over a dozen minutes Marcus was still dumbfounded.

    ''What the hell happened to me, I am suddenly level fifteen, and I can sort of understand that since I just killed Ander, but the soul tether is also gone now and when I check my log there is just a huge wall of error messages, with thest one being system rebooting. Also, my spirit stat has increased for no reason, my possession ability is now limited, I have a new specter power, and probably the weirdest thing is that I have a new unique skill that I cannot get any information on.''

    While thoroughly looking over his status Marcus suddenly heard a loud, ''DING, you have mail.'' Before a new message appeared in his log. A bit hesitant to open the abrupt and abnormal mail he soon received another ''DING, open the mail'' and he realized that this was probably not optional. Opening the mail, the following message appeared in his head.

    ''Hello there Marcus, it is good to see that you are back in one piece. I normally would not get so personally involved with anyone, but I cannot let my favorite transfer destroy himself. Also, since you seem a bit confused allow me to enlighten you about what happened. During your fight with whatever his name was you and the fragment of that girl Irene created a really nasty power that is well beyond your current ability. That power while allowing you to beat far stronger opponents shredded your soul into hundreds of pieces, and had I not intervened your soul would have dissipated. As such I have currently sealed away that power since if you used it again before you are ready, even I would be unable to do anything. Also, while I did put you back together as you can see your soul is still only being held together by threads, so I have limited your possession ability to ten minutes a day, so you do not unravel yourself. When you reach level forty, I will release this limit but until then sorry you will have to deal with it. Luckily for you, I am not heartless, as a constion for sealing some of your abilities I have sent you a unique skill orb that will be most helpful for you.

    ¨C Your Favorite Administrator

    P.S. This is the second time I have had to personally help you and there will not be another, so I rmend you stop trying to break my system.''

    After the message was finished ying in his head Marcus'' brain was overwhelmed and if he was in a cartoon steam would have been blowing out of his ears.

    ''This all just so weird, what is going on. I just received a personal message from that crummy administrator that put me here as a ghost, and he has sealed my new power and limited my possession ability. And that P.S. he left seemed really passive aggressive like I pissed him off or something. Oh, whatever I am still "alive" and kicking and even with the soul tether gone I still intend to see Irene''sst wish through. Now, let me see what this unique skill orb has.''

    Looking at his log and seeing that thest message had a little gift icon Marcus clicked on it and a vibrant golden orb appeared in his hands. Marcus then saw a message appear that said, ''Would you like to learn the unique skill: Solid Soul.''

    Immediately understanding how powerful this ability would be Marcus quickly learned it and activated it. Once activated Marcus could feel his ethereal body bing solidified and, soon he was able to physically interact with the world again.

    ''This is great, now I do not have to posses other creatures bodies, especially since Irene''s has seen better days. Hopefully, she can forgive me for the sorry state I left it in since I did seed in fulfilling herst request. Now I need to finish up here before anyone elsees by.''

    Marcus then moved to pick up his scythe when he noticed something was a bit off about his new solid form. He had expected to look like he did back on Earth however, he still looked like Irene.

    ''What the hell I know I have been in her body for nearly two months now but, I still have the soul of a man.''

    Turning his solid soul skill off, when he was back in his spiritual form, he noticed that he still looked like Irene. He then focused on himself trying to feel why he was stuck as Irene, and when he pictured himself looking like he did originally his appearance changed back. Fascinated by his new ability Marcus switched between himself and Irene multiple times before he was satisfied.

    ''Now this could be useful, I can seamlessly switch between myself and Irene, now that I think about it the fragment of her soul did merge with me so it makes since that I can still take her shape.''

    Solidifying himself once again this time in his original appearance, Marcus collected his scythe and stored Irene''s body ready to finish the job he had started.

 Chapter 42 - 41 Saving Lilia

    With his scythe in hand Marcus moved over towards the unconscious Osman and jammed the point of his scythe into his throat. After that he did the same to the remaining unconscious grunts in the warehouse. He then collected all of the valuables off of their bodies and was happily surprised by what he found on Ander.

    ''I guess being the leader of a group of criminals can be profitable, he has some type of magic storage bag like Poulsen, and Wade did, and his sword is made out of some type of metal I have never seen.''

    Dropping his spoils into the magic bag Marcus also found a key ring hidden in one of Ander''s pockets. With the keys in hand Marcus walked back over to the cage that Lilia was being kept in.

    ''Hm, should I use Irene''s appearance, or should I continue using my own, a familiar face might help the girl calm down, but I do not n on being her sister for the rest of her life.''

    Waying the pros and cons Marcus eventually decided to stay as his original appearance so as not to give the girl false hope that her sister was alive. Standing in front of the cage that Lilia was in he could see the brown-haired little girl with a striking resemnce to Irene huddled in a corner shivering from fear and cold. Flipping through the keys Marcus soon found the one that unlocked the cage, and when he entered, and Lilia saw him she curled up into a ball facing away from him as if he was a monster.

    ''I guess the poor thing is traumatized, but luckily for her I am not a monster, well I am but I''m not a bad monster.''

    As he approached Lilia she gave of a scared shriek when she could feel Marcus standing over her. Marcus'' heart hurt a bit at this since on this world this little girl could be considered the closest thing he has to family.

    ''I know I am not Irene but some of her memories and a part of her resides in me so in a way Lilia is like my little sister. Oh well, I have no ns to live with and raise her, but I will do what I can to help here and there.''

    While Marcus was thinking Lilia had closing her eyes and waiting for something horrible to happen to her, except nothing ever came and she eventually turned around to see Marcus staring off into space with a pensive look on his face. When Marcus noticed Lilia had turned around, he put on his brightest smile and crouched down before saying, "hello there Lilia my name is Marcus and your big sister Irene sent me toe rescue you, so if you woulde over here, I can take that ufortable cor off of you."

    Looking at Marcus with a dumbfounded expression for a few moments, when she finished processing what Marcus had said a glimmer of hope twinkled in her eyes before she responded.

    "Big sister Irene sent you, where is she, is she nearby, can you take me to her, I want my sister."

    Hit with a bombardment of questions he did not want to answer Marcus wished he had never mentioned Irene, but it was tote now and he was going to have to live with it.

    "I am sorry little Lilia, but Irene did not make it, she did everything she could to save you and when that was not enough, she had me promise to do it in her stead. I know that it is hard to lose a sibling, but I promised Irene that I would save you so here I am."

    Looking at Marcus tears started to well in Lilia''s eyes before she started balling, screaming about how she missed her sister and wanted things to go back to normal. Seeing that she was not going to stop anytime soon Marcus moved over and hugged Lilia letting her cry into his shirt until she cried herself unconscious.

    ''Huh, I definitely need to learn better tact, next time I rescue someone the first thing I mention should not be their dead sister. Though in some ways this might be easier since I do not have to deal with a scared child anymore.''

    After letting go of Lilia Marcus rifled through Ander''s keys until he found the right one. Marcus then inserted the key and unlocked the cor, and he heard a click and some runes lit up on the cor before it popped off. Having freed Lilia, Marcus picked her up and went around the other cages releasing the people from Irene''smunity first. He told each of them the same story about how Irene had tasked him to save them and how she did not make it. Once all of them were freed he handed Lilia off to one of the older women before freeing the rest of the people in cages. With everyone freed Marcus led the formerly kidnapped people out of the warehouse.

    He then directed the group to head east towards the center of Loursend to find some guards that could help them and that he would catch up in a few moment. After the group had moved a little ways away, Marcus ran back into the alley where he had left the outside guards and quickly dispatched them before he piled all of the bodies together and lit the rest of the warehouse on fire. Not staying to watch the ce burn Marcus ran in the direction of the people he had just rescued. On the way there as the fire intensified, Marcus heard a familiar ding.

    ''You have leveled up to level 16.''

    Not very surprised Marcus figured that the remaining magical beast in the warehouse had pushed him over the threshold to the next level.

    After running for a few minutes Marcus caught up to the group to see that multiple guards were surrounding them looking a bit perturbed to have to deal with such a hassle this early in the morning. Having confirmed that Lilia and the others were being taken care of Marcus deactivated his solid form not wanting to be on any sort of record since Ander was supposed to be backed by some power in the city.

    Marcus wanting to make sure that Lilia was okay shadowed her for a few days checking that she was not neglected. After a few days, the people that had been disced by the vers were let go to have to fend for themselves.

    ''I guess that is medieval society for you, there are no social programs to help people that have been kidnapped and disced.''

    Once the group that Lilia was a part of had separated from the rest Marcus appeared before them to help them out once again. All of the people recognizing him as their savior immediately started to heap praise upon him thanking him for rescuing them.

    "You are all wee, I was just following thest wish of my friend Irene so there is no need to repay me in anyway, and in fact if you want to head home, I can get you back or if you want to stay here, I can help you find a ce to stay for a little while."

    The group then started discussing about whether they wanted to stay or take the long trip home. All of the mothers and children decided they wanted to head home but a few of the young adult women without any family left decided stay. With everyone having made there decisions Marcus began leading them towards the adventures guild. Once he was outside the entrance to the guild, he took out the bag he obtained from Ander and brought out five silver for each of the six girls that were staying. Now that he had given them some money, he told them that they were on their own and wished them good luck. He then lead the remaining Fourteen people inside the guild hall and told them to wait while he talked to one of the receptionists. Choosing the booth who was manned by a middle-aged woman with blonde hair who seemed to be the most professional Marcus waited in line. Once he arrived at the front the woman asked him, "What can I do for you today sir."

    "I have group of fourteen women and children who have been disced by illegal ver and they want to go home. I am here to hire a group of adventures to escort them back."

    After telling her the job he needed done Marcus took out arge pouch of coins and counted out forty gold from it. The receptionist a true professional did not get flustered or even bat an eye.

    "I would like to hire a maximum of ten guards each one receiving four gold uponpletion, I would like the quest to be ranked at steel, and the date to be set five days from now."

    The receptionist nodded and handed Marcus some forms to fill out offering to help him if he could not read and write. With the request set up Marcus headed back over to Lilia and the others, and he pulled out another pouch of money and handed it to the de facto leader of the group.

    "Here there is thirty gold worth of assorted coins in here use them to pay for lodging nearby and to pick up any supplies you all might need."

    Marcus then pulled her in close and whispered in her ear.

    "And just to make certain, you will not run away with this money or spend it selfishly I will be watching you; my main objective is to keep Lilia safe and if you do anything that I feel jeopardizes her I will not hesitate to end you."

    Pulling away from the woman he just terrified Marcus then walked over to Lilia and pulled her aside.

    "Hey there kid this is goodbye for now, but I promise toe and visit you sometime in the future. I know this has been hard on you, but your big sister would want you to grow up healthy and strong so do you best for her. Also, this is for you in case you ever need money for anything but make sure not to show it to anybody lightly or you may attract some unsavory people."

    Marcus then put a small pouch containing thirty copper, ten silver, and three gold into Lilia''s hand, and as he was about to get up, she jumped on him giving him a tight hug as she began crying.. Hugging her back and consoling her for a few minutes, Marcus eventually had to pry her off and send her back to the rest of her group.

 Chapter 43 - 42 The Adventure Begins

    With five days until Lilia and her group were to depart Marcus made sure to keep an invisible eye on her until the day for her to leave hade. He watched as all of them piled into the carts they had bought for the journey home and inspected the ten adventures that were to be their guards. Finding that the lowest level among them was fourteen and the highest was beyond what he could see, Marcus felt satisfied that they would be protected. He then followed them all the way to the city gates and as they were waiting to exit, he entered the cart Lilia was in and deposited an urn with a note from him attached to it that contained the ashes of Irene''s body under her seat. With his final gesture for Lilia done and his goal of saving herplete Marcus flew back into the city.

    ''You have leveled up to level 17.''

    A bit surprised by the sudden level up Marcus checked his log and found this message there.

    ''Congrattions you rescued the little girl.''

    ''Well now I have gained six levels just saving Lilia, I really do want to go with her to make sure she is okay, but I know that if I had gotten any more attached to her, I was not going to be able to leave.''

    Havinge into a huge influx of skill and stat points Marcus was busy deciding what he was going to do with all of them. With a total of thirty-seven skill points and a hundred twenty stat points Marcus had a lot to think about. He first decided to distribute his stat pointspletely evenly so as to not have some of his statsg behind the others. With that done he now had to decide what to do with his skill points and with the amount he had there were now dozens of skills he could get that he could never afford before.

    ''Augh, there are so many good skills, that I have ess to that it is difficult to decide what to do. Do I spend a ton of them on one or two powerful skills, or do I keep myself bnced with a bunch of cheap but useful skills? I could also just pump the skills I already have as high as I can.''

    After much contemtion Marcus decided to stick with methods two and three. There certainly were some powerful skills like space magic or future sight but Marcus figured they would not be that strong at level one anyways. So, he instead purchased less powerful but useful skills, such as, mana regeneration, speed burst, mana body, powerful sh, physical resistance, and heighten spells. Having spent eleven skill point buying these skill Marcus had twenty-six more for upgrades.

    ''Hm, now which skill should I upgrade, definitely my scythmanship, iron magic, and mana regeneration.''

    Considering his options for nearly three hours Marcus finally decided how to use his remaining skill points.

    ''That should do now let me see how my new status is.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost

    Level: 17

    HP: 860/860

    MP: 710/710

    STR: ¨C (+65)

    AGL: 62

    VIT: ¨C (+64)

    INT: 71

    SPR: 86

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 3

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Solid Soul

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 2, Magic Cirction Lvl 3, Iron Magic Lvl 3, Disassembly Lvl 2, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 2, Creature Appraisal Lvl 2, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 2, Darkvision Lvl 1, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 1, Mana Regeneration Lvl 2, Speed Burst Lvl 2, Mana Body Lvl 2, Powerful sh Lvl 1, Physical Resistance Lvl 1, Heighten Spells Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm

    ''I am looking pretty good; I know that the average level for every intelligent creature is thirteen, so I am now much stronger than most people. My problem now is what I should do next, since I have arrived on this world, I have been either stuck in the middle of the''s core or trying to save Lilia. I have nearly infinite possibilities like bing a royal investigator, just exploring this world, or continuing to be an adventure. The problem with gallivanting around the world is that I only know the onengue, and I do not have anymore tokens that let me learn them instantly. I could be a royal investigator but if they find out I am a ghost, I may get hunted down by people many times my level. I guess I should just adventure for a while to build up my level and gear and then I can figure out what to do when I get board of it. I have evesting life so long as my soul is not destroyed so there will be plenty of time for me to find out everything this world has to offer.''

    Having decided to try being a proper adventure for a while Marcus floated his way towards the guild hall to find some requests to sink his time into. Upon his arrival he had one more major decision to make.

    ''Should I register as myself or just keep using Irene since I am already an adventure under her name. I really do not want to go through the registration process again and I already have one jobpleted as Irene so I can always just ept the requests in her form and switch back while actually doing the job.''

    Switching back into Irene, Marcus found a deserted alley to solidify in and then walked into the guild hall and headed straight for the request board.

    ''Impressive there seem to be dozens of more requests than there were in River Landing, now which ones should I take.''

    After looking over the copper requests Marcus decided not to go for any of them since even the hardest one was to hunt some type of oversized beavers. Looking over the bronze requests Marcus found many just asking for small light green magic cores and he had enough toplete three of them already. Taking those as well as a request for the bodies of seven bubbling crabs Marcus headed for one of the receptionists. When he got to the front of the line, he handed her the request tags and his adventure card. As she looked over it, she had a skeptical look on her face before saying, "I am afraid that copper adventures can only have two active requests at a time so you will need to pick which of these you want."

    ''Ugh, this is one of the reasons I did not want to reregister as Marcus since being a copper adventure is more like being on probation.''

    Marcus then asked if he couldplete two of the requests right now since he already had the magic cores on him, and the receptionist begrudgingly told him that he could. Handing over twenty magic cores Marcus sessfullypleted the two jobs and received forty-two copper as payment. He then registered for the two remaining requests and asked the receptionist one more question,

    "It says that the bubbling crabs are located in the Ocean Bluff Temple, but could you tell me where that is."

    The receptionist then looked at Marcus like how a doctor looks at a patient who they just found something really wrong with. Shaking her head and sighing she then said, "You must not be from around here if you do not know about the Ocean Bluff Temple. It is one of only three dungeons in the entire kingdom, and one of the reasons that Loursend is so prosperous. You can find it at the northwestern end of the city just outside the gates, you cannot miss it. Also, I do not have time to give you every detail about it so if you want to know more there is a library upstairs and if you cannot read there are people selling their services to read for you. Have a good day."

    Now that he''d signed up for the two remaining requests he had toplete to advance to the next rank, Marcus headed upstairs ready to read everything he could about the Ocean Bluff Temple.

 Chapter 44 - 43 Learning And Destination

    When he made it to the top of the stairs Marcus could see a dozen rows of books with many people sitting at tables reading or listening to others read for them. Marcus then started to head towards the shelves to look for books that had information on the Ocean Bluff Temple when a young boy in fairly nice clothes approached him.

    "Hello there miss did you need someone to read you some books, I am a very skilled with reading and writing ande pretty cheap, only twenty copper an hour."

    Surprised by the sudden proposition this kid had given him, Marcus brushed him off saying, "No, thanks I know how to read and write myself."

    However, when he tried to walk away the boy still stood in front of him persisting to sell his services.

    "Are you sure miss, being self-taught often leaves gaps in your knowledge and the books here are often very difficult to follow, I have had a proper education by an redited tutor and am certain my skills can help you understand the finer details in each book."

    Perturbed by the kids insistence Marcus tried to politely get the kid to leave him alone but the boy seemed to not be willing to take no for an answer. Finally, after telling the kid, he would get someone from the guild if he did not stop harassing him the boy relented.

    ''Man, that kid was annoying, I do not know why he was so insistent there will be other people he can sell his services toter.''

    Now that he was free Marcus approached the shelves of books and began searching for any that had information on the Ocean Bluff Temple. While he was scanning through the books another adventure came up to him and started up another conversation.

    "You really dodged a bullet there; Lars is the worst reader up here and while his prices are only around a fifth of everyone else, he takes about ten times as long."

    Looking at the man but not in the mood to strike up a conversation Marcus simply nodded his head in agreement and went back to looking through the shelves. The man obviously not picking up on Marcus'' wish to not be bothered continued speaking.

    "The names Leif, you must be new around here, since there is no way, I would not remember someone that stands out like you. Since you are looking at books are you perhaps nning on going to the Ocean Bluff Temple. Me and my party go there all the time and as steel adventures we have a lot of experience. If you want, we can take you with us the next time and show you the ropes while keeping you safe."

    Marcus then checked his level finding that he was only level fourteen, and any interest he had in partying up vanished.

    "While I appreciate the offer, I am only a copper adventure and am currently trying to focus on learning the ropes myself but if the opportunity presents itself in the future, I may take you up on that offer."

    Looking disappointed the man walked away leaving Marcus to his own devices. Finally, without any distractions Marcus went back to searching through the books and after just a short time searching, he found one that focused on the Ocean Bluff Temple. Finding a quiet corner where no one else was Marcus sat down and started reading through the book. Spending hours engrossed in the book Marcus found out a good deal about the Ocean Bluff Temple and dungeons in general. With his abounding amount of new knowledge Marcus felt ready to head over to the Ocean Bluff Temple.

    ''I should try to purchase a map for the dungeon''s current configuration, since the year is already more than halfway over, they should have a pretty detailed map of at least the first level.''

    Heading on back down Marcus waited in line for over two hours since he had unfortunately, finished up reading during the busiest time of day. After his long wait Marcus asked the receptionist if they had any maps of the first level of the Ocean Bluff Temple and was able to purchase one for ten silver.

    ''Damn that was expensive, I know I got a lot of money off of Ander and his goons but after paying for the quest, giving money to Lilia and her group, as well as misceneous things like this map I only have around eighteen gold left. I can probably get some money from selling Ander''s sword but it could lead trouble to me so I think I will hold onto it for now.''

    With map in hand Marcus made his way back onto the bustling streets of Loursend and found a quite ce to switch his form back before heading towards the Ocean Bluff Temple.

    ''This city is too damn big by the time I get there even with floating through obstacles it will be dark. I knew I should have gotten some type of skill that let me fly but since I can already float, I thought it would be a waste. The problem is I only float about as fast as I walk and at this point with my stats, I can probably just jog through the city faster.''

    Deciding to see if he could make better time jogging Marcusnded in a quite ce beforeing back onto the main road and breaking into a jog. Marcus could immediately tell that even though he had to pass around obstacles like carts and people he was making much better time. However, after around thirty minutes of jogging Marcus noticed something that had him stop. He saw that their was some type of giant bird taxi offering its services to transport people around the city. Intrigued, Marcus approached the owner of the bird and asked, "How much would it cost for you to take me to the northwest gate near the Ocean Bluff Temple."

    The man looked over Marcus with little interest before replying, "It would cost nine silver for me to fly you over there, but I doubt you have that much so please make room for a paying customer."

    Marcus a bit peeved took out nine silver from his magic pouch and handed to the bird taxi driver and, the man was shocked by how Marcus easily pulled out the money and from a magic bag no less.

    "Sorry, good sir, your appearance does not give away your status and I have been approached by a substantial amount of people who were unable to pay today, and I was slightly upset by it, otherwise I never would have treated you so coldly."

    The man then continued a round of hollowpliments trying to get onto Marcus good side probably thinking he was a wealthy merchant or someone of status. After he had finished ttering Marcus the driver helped him mount the bird and took off. It did not take long before Marcus was flying over the city and could see the sights moving by creating a breathtaking view.

    ''Wow I can see the ocean from here I have not really gotten a good look at it sinceing here but from this height the endless dazzling blue water looks amazing.''

    Absolutely entrapped by the view in front of him Marcus spotted a number of seagull type birds flying around and even managed to catch some type of massive silver fish break the surface. However, the amazing scenery did notst long only a few minutes before the giant hawklike bird soonnded near the northwest gate. Coming back to himself Marcus got curious and checked the driver and the birds level. Finding that the driver was level twelve, and the bird was level eleven Marcus thought that maybe he should see about procuring a giant hawk for himself.

    ''Well, I can figure that outter, right now I really want to see what this Ocean Bluff Temple is about, I should probably be fine since the first level of the dungeon only has monsters up to level fifteen.''

    Having arrived near the northwest gate Marcus excitedly headed towards it ready to start exploring his first dungeon.

 Chapter 45 - 44 Entering The Dungeon

    Approaching the northwest gate, Marcus noticed arge building with the words adventures guild posted on it and had to stop and do a double take. Unable to contain his curiosity he headed inside the building finding that it looked to be a legitimate part of the guild. After doing a little asking around, he found that this branch was solely for missions pertaining to the Ocean Bluff Temple.

    ''I figure people must have gotten tired of making the long walk from the dungeon all the way back to the main guild in the center of town. I mean if I spent all day fighting tooth and nail in a dungeon, I would not want to walk over three hours to the main guild hall.''

    Finished with his cursory examination Marcus exited the smaller branch guild and continued on his way, finding the gate, and easily exiting. Out of the city and in the open once more Marcus got on the road headed towards the steep cliff that dropped off into the ocean below.

    After around fifteen minutes of walking Marcus had arrived at the guard station right outside the entrance to the temple. As he approached azy looking guard got up and hobbled towards him.

    "Business for entering the temple?"

    A bit surprised by the guards blunt and uninterested question Marcus took a moment before getting out his response.

    "Ah, I am an adventure on a request to kill some bubbling crabs."

    "Are you a steel or higher adventure."

    "Um no."

    "Then please pay the five-copper entry fee or go away."

    ''Damn, another entry fee they sure do not mind charging, I mean I guess I understand that the kingdom needs money to function, and they do not want just anybody wandering into the dungeon. Whatever I guess I will pay this time but going forward I will probably just sneak in.''

    Handing the man five copper Marcus was allowed to continue down the path following some switch backs until he stood in front of the massive temple entrance in the middle of the bluff.

    ''Now this is outstanding, it looks like the entrance to a massive roman temple. I wonder how they even found this ce since it is situated right in the middle of a sheer cliff. They must have spotted it from the ocean or maybe someone who could fly liked jumping off of cliffs.''

    While being lost in his delusions the approach of more peopleing down the path to the dungeon entrance snapped Marcus back to reality and he entered the Ocean Bluff Temple. Walking down a long set of stairs Marcus soon came out into arge room lit by the gentle blue glow of luminescent moss. Taking a look around Marcus saw a few other adventures either nning there trip farther into the dungeon or resting after finishing their exploration. Pulling out his map Marcus scanned over it looking for the best route to get to the bubbling crabs.

    ''They should be down a corridor to the southeast and in arge room that is partially submerged in water. I do need to be wary of sneak attacks while traveling, since down here there are a number of monsters that specialize in stealthy ambushes.''

    Finding the passageway that would lead him to the area the bubbling crabs lived in, Marcus began making his way towards them. Unfortunately, even with his darkvision skill his visibility only extended for around thirty feet and Marcus decided to use his long neglected floatingntern spell to light the ce up.

    ''That is better, now I can see around eighty or so feet around me, and just having a bit of light isforting.''

    However, Marcus'' new light not only acted as a means for him to see, but also as a beacon for everything else in the dungeon. As he was walking past a pool of water in the long corridor, his danger sense started ring and while jumping back to dodge, Marcus was grazed by a sharp needle like harpoon. Marcus then mmed into the wall behind him having used far too much strength dodging.

    ''Fuck I have not done any fighting since I was level eleven, and my new stats make everyone of my moves more powerful. I guess this is one of the drawbacks of leveling up a bunch all at once.''

    However, Marcus did not have long to continue contemting his situation as the needle like harpoon shot towards him again. Wary of his new stats Marcus tried to use less force to dodge only to use not enough as the harpoon shed into his side causing a grey mist to leak out of the wound. Looking in the direction of where the harpoon wasing from Marcus locked onto arge six-foot-long cone snail sitting in the pool of water.

    ''Shit, I think that is an assassin snail, how unlucky can I get, those things are supposed to be really rare on the first level of the dungeon. It is a good thing I am not human and do not have actual blood otherwise its venom would have already killed me.''

    Marcus then spent dozens of more rounds dodging the strikes from the snail trying to get a bearing on his new stats. After he had taken many more ncing blows and shallow wounds Marcus managed to get better control ever his new power.

    ''That should do, it probably is actually a good thing I ran into this guy because a level twelve assassin snail would normally be lethal for a lot of the lower-level adventure that hunt around this area.''

    Used to his new strength Marcus took out his scythe and when the snail unleashed its next harpoon attack Marcus deftly sidestepped it before bringing down his scythe and cutting the membrane that connected the harpoon to the snail. While that snail was reeling in pain Marcus decide to try out his new tier three iron magic spell iron sphere. Casting the spell, a sphere of iron around the size of a ser ball appeared and Marcus sent it flying towards the assassin snail. Perceiving the iing threat, the snail slid into its shell only to find that the iron sphere smashed through like it was a sheet of thin ss. Horribly injured from the iron sphere the snail tried to run away but being a snail, it was incredibly slow. To finish it off Marcus pulled the iron sphere out of the snail''s body and positioned it above its head before mming the iron sphere down. With a loud squishing sound and a ssh of snail juice the snail''s head was pulverized and its body went limp.

    ''I am quite pleased; iron sphere is an incredibly powerful spell. Having a sphere of iron I can control like I have telekinesis is really useful for both offense and defense. The only problem is that it is a huge mana sink, so I need to be conservative with it.''

    Marcus then collected the snail''s harpoon and magic core figuring they would be worth a decent amount of money. He then decided to test the limits of his iron sphere finding that its maximum range was equal to his spirit stat and that the farther away from him it got the less fine control he had.. Satisfied with the results of his first battle since his mass level up and the power of his new spell Marcus continued his way towards the goal of his job the bubbling crabs.

 Chapter 46 - 45 Acquaintance Misunderstanding

    Coming out into arge, cavernous room, Marcus could immediately smell the salty smell of the ocean water that submerged part of the area. Looking around Marcus saw patches of glowing crystals that faintly illuminated the room giving it a mystical feeling.

    ''Okay now I need to locate where the bubbling crabs are and kill seven of them, and then even though I do not have any other requests toplete I think I will explore around a bit.''

    Heading over towards the submerged part of the room, Marcus noticed that there were a few other parties of adventures fighting different magical beasts and monsters. Giving them a wide berth so as not toe off as a threat Marcus made his way deeper into the massive room.

    ''There they are.''

    Having spotted a group of his quarry ttering around the corpse of some monster, Marcus rushed towards them brandishing his scythe. The five three-foot-tall crabs alerted to the approach of a hostile entity turned around and started posturing with their ws. However, Marcus kept approaching and with their attempt at intimidation failing the crabs unleashed their signature ability and shot numerous bubbles towards Marcus. Knowing that the bubbles were nothing like the kind he blew on Earth, Marcus took evasive action dodging each of the bubbles. Unfortunately, the barrage of bubbles got a bit intense and still not fully ustomed to his new strength one managed to strike him on the right leg. When the bubble popped Marcus felt a searing pain as the area began sizzling as acid started to eat away at his physical form.

    ''Shit, I need to be more careful, while one of these bubbles barely does any damage, I do not really enjoy pain and it is embarrassing to take damage from something ten levels lower than me.''

    Deciding to give up on trying to dodge Marcus cast iron threads and used them to pop all of the bubbles before they reached him. Soon the crabs had exhausted all of their acid and had to stop firing off bubbles and in a rage charged towards Marcus.

    ''These crabs are pretty dumb, the only thing threatening about them are their acid bubbles, but I guess I can try out some of my new abilities on them.''

    Marcus then summoned his dark purple spectral arm which was noticeably smaller and had lost its fiendish appearance from when he used it against Ander. Marcus then sent it flying towards one of the crabs and when the arm arrived, it formed a fist and punched the crab making cracks in its shell and sending it sprawling backwards. The other four crabs uncaring for theirrade, continued their charge ws snapping. Marcus readied his scythe and took a big swing empowering his scythe with his powerful sh skill. He felt a huge amount of his mana coalesce into the scythe and he cleaved through all of the crabs turning them into chunks of viscera.

    ''Oops that was a lot more powerful than I though it would be, I doubt that I will be able to use these four towards the request.''

    Havingpletely ruined the bodies of four of the bubbling crabs Marcus approached the one he had injured earlier and with a swift stab to the head it copsed. Marcus stored its rtively intact body into his item box and then searched around for the cores of the other four he had killed.

    ''I was only able to find two of their cores, but I guess that is to be expected since I sted them to pieces. On the bright side I did collect some of their legs and while I have no need to eat, some delicious crab legs sounds pretty good.''

    Pulling out a pot Marcus filled it with water and ced his floatingntern under the pot since trying to light a normal fire in the damp room would be nearly impossible. After around ten minutes he had finally managed to get the pot boiling and he threw in the crab legs. While he had to protect his prize from a few interested monsters and beasts Marcus persevered intent on enjoying his meal. Once the crab legs had thoroughly cooked and began letting off a delicious aroma Marcus removed them and waited a few moments for them to cool off. He then picked them up and cracked them open using his iron skin spell to reinforce his hands.

    ''Ah, that was satisfying, fresh crab legs are on aplete different level from the frozen ones I had a couple of times on Earth. Now I probably spent way too long cooking up these legs, so it is time to locate a few more crabs toplete my request.''

    Searching around for the six remaining crabs he needed Marcus ran into a group of people he recognized. Walking towards him was the party of iron adventure he had traveled to Loursend with Wild Wind. As he was about to go up and talk to them, he realized that he was no longer in Irene''s body, and they would not recognize him. Deciding against contacting them Marcus simply walked past while giving a friendly smile. The group gave few polite nods before their expressions turned angry and Bryce shouted out to Marcus, "Hey you there, hold up."

    Quite surprised by the sudden hostility in Bryce''s voice Marcus wondered if he had misjudged their character and they were actually the type of adventures that bullied and stole from the weak. However, he soon figured this was not the case as Bryce started interrogating Marcus.

    "Hello there, that is a nice scythe you have, where per chance did youe across something like that. A friend of ours uses a scythe that looks really simr, so we were just wondering."

    Realizing what was going on Marcus internally started to panic a bit.

    ''Shit they totally think that I stole this weapon from Irene. The problem is that was me all along, but how do I get them off my back without a fight or exposing myself. I guess I will have to try the old they must have a simr item ruse and hope that works.''

    "Oh, this scythe I had it made a few years ago by a weaponsmith here in Loursend, he said he had made a simr one in the past so maybe that is the weapon your friend has. So, while it has been nice talking to you, if you do not mind, I have a request toplete and need to be on my way."

    However, when he tuned around to go away Marcus found himself surrounded on all sides by the members of wild wind.

    "Did you think we would fall for such an obvious lie, what did you do to Irene, that is definitely her scythe and there is no way she would have given it up willingly."

    As all of the members of wild wind stared angrily at Marcus, his head was spinning trying toe up with a solution to his current problem.. Unfortunately, his long silence served only to further anger Bryce and his party, and the group began attacking Marcus intent on avenging their friend.

 Chapter 47 - 46 Marcus VS Wild Wind

    Leading the charge with his sword and shield in hand, Bryce positioned himself in front of Marcus trying to pin him down to limit the effectiveness of his scythe. Marcus not wanting to be attacked from multiple sides tried charging towards Harold since he was wielding a bow but Bo wielding a massive tower shield intercepted Marcus preventing his advance. He then had to spin around quickly to bring his scythe up to block Bryce''s attack that wasing from behind. Unfortunately, Jasper and Harold both took this opportunity to strike as Harold let loss an arrow towards Marcus'' left leg and Jasper jabbed his spear towards his right. However, Marcus had not been idle and right before the two attacks hit, he finished chanting his spell, and iron began to cover his body causing the arrow and spear to slide off of Marcus'' enhanced skin.

    ''Shit, these guys really know how to work together, I am higher level than any of them with Bryce being fifteen jasper and Bo fourteen and Harold thirteen, but they are still pressuring me. Yet now that I have cast my iron skin spell the only one that can realistically hurt me is Bryce since he is the only one that can infuse mana into his weapon. I only need to create a window for around three seconds, and I can turn invisible and ethereal again.''

    Continuing to fight for another few dozen seconds even though three members of Wild Wind could not really hurt Marcus, they still could throw him of bnce and create openings to allow Bryce to attack. Realizing that he was not going to be able to find an opening without hurting the members of wild wind Marcus activated his mana body skill enhancing his entire body.

    ''Well, I am ttered that they would go this far for Irene, but I do not n on letting them beat me. So, far they have only tried to incapacitate me but at this rate they will wear me down, so sorry this is going to hurt a bit.''

    With his new enhanced physique Marcus was able to move faster and stronger and the next time Bo tried to shield bash him Marcus wound up his leg and kicked with everything he had. When Marcus'' iron coated, mana enhanced leg impacted the shield, it created a huge dent and sent Bo skidding across the floor. Seeing an opening Bryce attempted to strike Marcus from behind only to find that Marcus had primitively spun his scythe around and the blunt side of the de smacked Bryce in the side of the head. With the two tanks taken down Marcus had created an escape route and to guarantee his retreat decided to try out another one of his new skills for the first time. Activating his speed burst skill Marcus felt energy welling up in his feet and legs before he shot off like a cannon leaving Wild Wind behind.

    Once he was out of view, Marcus quickly deactivated his solid soul skill going back into his full ghostly form.

    ''Okay I managed to get away from them, but I should probably find themter as Irene and clear up this misunderstanding so that the next time they see me as Marcus I do not get assaulted. But I do have to say I am satisfied with the results of my new skills, and after using them I realize that these are the skills that Ander used during our fight. The only one of my new skills I have not tried now is heighten spells but since it only doubles the MP cost of a spell for only a ten percent boost in power, using it regrly really is not worth it. And speaking of MP using mana body and iron skin at the same time for that long almostpletely drained me. Even with my mana regeneration it is going to take me around half an hour to get back up to full.''

    Waiting around for a couple of hours just to make sure that Wild Wind were gone Marcus resolidified and once again began his search for more bubbling crabs. Finding a small group of three Marcus immediately cast his iron thread spell using it to pop all of their acid bubbles. Once they had run out of acid, Marcus moved in and brought his scythe down low before swinging the point upward stabbing into their softer under bellies. Executing this maneuver for each of the crabs he easily defeated them all with minimal damage to their bodies.

    ''Now that I know how to fight them, they are really easy to beat especially since I have not run into any above level eight. Only three more and I will be done with this request.''

    Seeking out thest of his targets Marcus came across not just a few bubbling crabs but a swarm of more than twenty of them. Deciding against trying to wear all of them out, he simply cast his iron sphere spell and sent it barreling through the crabs turning most of them into mincemeat. Leaving three of them safe from his iron sphere onught Marcus quickly moved in and finished them off managing to cause little damage to their bodies. Having finished collecting the seven bubbling crabs he needed, Marcus went around gathering the cores of the ones he had smashed with his iron sphere.

    ''That should do it, I have got all of the bubbling crabs I need any more then two dozen light green magic core. I did n on doing a bit more exploring, but I think I should head back to the guild to find Wild Wind and smooth things out with them. And while I am at it, I can rank up to bronze and finally shed the stigma of being a copper adventure.''

    With his new n of action decided Marcus made his way back to the corridor that would lead him to the first room of the dungeon.. Getting back with little difficulty Marcus climbed the stairs out of the dungeon and headed back towards the nearby branch of the adventures guild.

 Chapter 48 - 47 Rank Up And Team Up

    Exiting the Ocean Bluff Temple in the dead of night, Marcus noticing the serene sight in front of him, lost himself for a few moments in the beauty of the night sky being reflected in the calm ocean water.

    ''Woah, when did that get there, since I have been here, I have only seen one moon but now a second is showing just a sliver of light. I wonder if there are even more moons if have not seen yet, this is muchrger than Earth, so it is possible. Maybe one day I can even visit the moons and who knows maybe there is one with life on it.''

    Once he had finished enjoying the beautiful sites of the ocean and sky Marcus headed back up the switch back path that lead to the top of the bluff and the guard station. Finding that the guard station was all but abandon with just one barely conscious guard, Marcus slipped by using his stealth skill on the off chance their was an exit fee.

    After leaving the guard station Marcus made sure to check to make sure no one was around before he deactivated his solid soul, and he floated back to Loursend and phased through the city wall not wanting to pay anymore fees. Finding a quiet corner Marcus switched back to Irene''s form before heading into the adventures guild branch.

    When Marcus entered the guild, he immediately scanned the building trying to find any of the members of Wild Wind. Within just a few moments he was able to spot them sitting at a table next to the bar on the right side of the guild hall. The group was drinking various alcohols while looking quite gloomy, and Bryce was even holding some ice to his head which had a nasty bruise covering its right side.

    ''Damn guess I hit him a little too hard, he probably has a concussion with how bad that looks. Oh well, hopefully they learned their lesson that you should not just randomly attack people on vague suspicions, especially when you do not know their level.''

    Walking up to them Marcus said, "Hey there, you all look worse for wear especially you Bryce, been having some hard fights in the Ocean Bluff Temple."

    When the members of Wild Wind looked up and saw Marcus in his guise as Irene, they all lookedpletely stunned having expect him to be dead at worse and mugged at best. After letting their minds settle for a few moments Jasper was the first to speak up saying, "Irene you are all right, we thought something horrible happened to you."

    Marcus expecting this responded, "Why would you think that I have been perfectly fine. I finished what I needed to do, and I justpleted the first request I had inside the Ocean Bluff Temple."

    "The thing is we ran into a guy in the dungeon, and he happened to have a scythe that looks exactly like yours, so we thought that man had done something to you and had stolen your scythe. Did you maybe lose your scythe or sell it, we thought for sure that guy had your scythe?"

    With Wild Wind right where he wanted them Marcus took his scythe out of his item box and showed to them that he most certainly did have it. The members of Wild Wind then experienced relief followed quickly by regret for their stupidity in attacking a random person in the heat of the moment. Seeing the look of shame on their faces Marcus prepared tond the final blow against them.

    "Wait, are you guys all beat up because you attacked this poor guy out of the blue because you thought he had stolen my scythe. While I am ttered that you all would do that for me, you really should be careful about just attacking random people, since they might kill you next time."

    Having hammered in thest nail, Marcus could tell that Wild Wind had learned their lesson by their downcast expressions. Feeling quite good with himself Marcus decided to throw Bryce a bone and went over and cast minor heal on the horrible bruise that currently upied the right half of his head. As the magic seeped into his skin, Bryce immediately felt relief from the horrible pain that was assailing his head. With a few more rounds of casting the bruise had visible receded and was now no longer a dark blue and ck but a light yellow.

    "Thanks, Irene that guy who we thought stole your scythe gave me a real whack on the head, but I guess I deserved it since I attacked him undeservedly. Since you are here and have finished the urgent business you had to attend to, would you like to join us on some requests. I know you said that you did not want to join our party but how about we team up for a few jobs so we canplete some that we could not do apart."

    ''Hm, if I am working with them, I will have to limit myself a bit such as chanting spells and not using my full ghost form. I also would need to be careful to not be injured since I do not actually bleed, but a gray mist just starts toe out of my wounds. But I could convince them to take on some steel level requests which will pay better and be more challenging. Yeah for a few requests I see no harm in working with them.''

    Havinge to his decision Marcus told Bryce that he would not mind working with them temporarily as long as they could do some steel requests. Bryce a little hesitant eventually decided that with Marcus'' help they could probably get through a few higher-level requests.

    "Well, I guess we should pick out a few jobs to do but first I need to turn in mypleted requests and rank up to bronze. Why don''t you all look at the request board while I do that."

    Going their separate ways Marcus headed towards the receptionist counters to turn in his requests. However, it being the dead of night, there was only one receptionist on duty and Marcus had to wait in the long line with all the otherte-night adventures. Arriving at the front of the line he could see the youngdy who was working the receptionist counter had bags under her eyes and looked incredibly tired. The woman then yawned before saying, "And what can I help you with this evening."

    Remembering all thete nights he used to work Marcus felt a bit of sympathy for the young woman especially since he figured he was about cause her a lengthy process.

    "Ah, yes I havepleted these two requests and would like to rank up to bronze."

    Marcus then handed her the two tags for the request he had taken, and the woman looked at him with disdain when she noticed he was not carrying any bags.

    "Ma''am are you messing with me, I do not see any of the bubbling crabs that were asked for by this request. If you have not actually finished this request, please leave the line so I can serve the other people waiting."

    Marcus realizing his blunder said, "Sorry I should have taken them out first before handing you the tags."

    Marcus then plopped the seven bubbling crabs and ten magic cores out of his item box to show that he hadpleted the requests. This caused no end of shock for the receptionist and the other adventures in the hall. While it was not unheard of for adventures to have item boxes, they were normally people of a much higher rank and a part of a famous party.

    "Um, since I have produced the requested materials can I collect the rewards and then rank up to bronze."

    With Marcus'' words the receptionist snapped out of her daze and had to go in the back to get some of the reserve employees to transfer the bubbling crabs Marcus brought in before paying him one hundred eleven copper and starting the paperwork for his rank up.

    "There that should do it, here is your new card and you are now officially bronze rank. You can now take up to iron rank requests, and once you havepleted twenty more requests one of which has to be iron you can rank up again."

    Nodding his head and thanking the receptionist Marcus headed over to the request board intent on picking out some new missions with the Wild Wind party.

 Chapter 49 - 48 New Requests And Supplying Up

    Meeting back up with Wild Wind Marcus asked, "Did you find anything good."

    Bryce looked up and smiled at Marcus before saying, "We sure did, there is a steel level request to wipe out a family of chuuls that have taken over a section of the first level where people often mine luminescent crystals. Since chuuls are one of the strongest monsters on the first level of the Ocean Bluff Temple we normally would avoid this kind of request, but since you are with us, we figured we could handle it. We also picked out a generic magic core collection job for fifty grade two or higher cores."

    "Uh, I know that magic cores have a deeper color of green the stronger the monster or beast but how do you tell the exact grade."

    "Ah, well once we get in the dungeon, I will help you figure that out, but for the most part any creature level ten or over is going to have a grade two core or higher. Now why don''t you pick out a few iron level jobs, and we can get registered."

    Searching through the iron rank missions Marcus found three that caught his eye. The first was a mission to collect ten pounds of scarlet carp roe, the second was for the bodies of five colossal shrimp, and the third to clear out a nests of dire bats that were polluting the dungeon''s ecosystem.

    ''These look interesting and all of them pay out pretty well.''

    Having selected the requests, they were going to do, Marcus and Wild Wind headed back to the over worked receptionist and waited in line for their turn to be served. When Wild Wind and Marcus applied for their chosen requests, the receptionist looked a little surprised to see the group of people submit so many difficult requests. However, they were not breaking any rules, so she quickly registered them and sent them on their way. Before leaving though Bryce spoke up and said to Marcus.

    "Okay, now that we have the jobs, we are going to need to gather up some supplies. Irene, you chose the request for scarlet carp roe so you will need a reinforced fishing rod and harpoon toplete that. We also will need two days to repair Bo''s shield since it recently got damaged. So, let us meet up again here after two days and we can make our trek into the dungeon."

    Heading their separate ways Marcus, quickly found lodging at a nearby inn and paid sixty copper to stay there for two days.

    ˇ­

    Waking up the next day Marcus headed out intent on finding a few things that would be helpful for his uing missions.

    ''The first thing I need to do is find the fishing rod and harpoon necessary for catching the scarlet carp and then I think I should try to find a magic shop and expand my repertoire of spells.''

    Looking around Marcus quickly found a fishing shop that sold rods that were reinforced to withstand the power of monster fish and arge harpoon specially crafted for piercing the scales of scarlet carp.

    ''Okay I spent around a gold for these, no wonder no one was taking those requests even though their pay was thirty silver, the startup cost is too hefty for most iron and bronze adventures. I already took the request though and since I already bought the rod and harpoon, I can always do more scarlet carp roe collecting missions. Now let me locate a magic shop and hope they have some cool spells for me.''

    Searching around for a magic shop Marcus had to travel deep into the interior of Loursend before he came across arge four-story tall build called Lewalt''s Vault of Magic. Walking inside Marcus immediately could tell that this shop was different from thest one he had gone to. Finding dozens of people looking around and numerous items for sale Marcus was nearly overwhelmed by the some of the things he saw.

    ''Wands, staffs, hundreds of alchemical items I have never seen, and there is even a flying carpet behind a ss case over there. Shit two thousand gold, who do they think is going to be able to afford that for a flying rug. These wands all have basic spells stored in them like fire shot and the staffs apparently help increase the power of spells and lower the cost of mana. But damn is everything in hear expensive, just the basic fire shot wand cost two gold and they even eventually run out of charges. I only have around seventeen gold left hopefully I can purchase a few good spells at least.''

    Finding an employee sitting behind a counter Marcus asked, "Do you sell any fire, lightning or iron magic spells."

    The employee looking up from her book seemed disinterested and responded saying, "Yeah we have spells of fire and lightning magic for sale, but we do not have any for iron since that is a rtively rare type of magic."

    "Could I see the spells of fire and lightning magic you have for sale then."

    "I guess but just so you know I can only sell you spells up to tier two unless you have a license from the city."

    "That is fine."

    The woman then got up and leisurely grabbed a few scrolls beforeing back and cing them in front of Marcus.

    Looking over the scrolls Marcus found that most of them were fire magic spells and three of them were spells he already had. After looking them all over Marcus picked out three spells, he thought would be useful. He picked out the tier one fire magic spell searing weapon which coated a weapon in fire and another tier one fire spell heat resistance. The third spell Marcus decided to get was the one he was happiest about, the tier two lightning magic spell lightning strider which boosted the casters speed by coating their legs in electricity.

    "For the two tier one spells it will be three gold each and the tier two spell will cost eight gold bringing your total to fourteen gold."

    Looking at his wallet with a bit of reflectance, Marcus eventually pulled out the fourteen gold and handed it to the employee. With a now bright smile since she would receive amission from this sale the employee thanked Marcus and told him toe back if he was ever in any need of magic spells or items.

    ''Whew, that certainly hurt the old pocketbook, but there is no use in having money if you do not spend it on things you need. Now, let me read these spells, store their formations, and test them out.''

    Finding a quite alley Marcus memorized the chants and formations and tested out each of the spells. He first tried heat resistance and found that his body suddenly felt cooled off and when he hit himself with a fire shot it did almost no damage. Next, he tried out searing weapon on his scythe and watched as the metal on the de became red hot before bursting into mes. Giving it a few practice swings, Marcus felt quite satisfied with his new ability. Finally, he cast lightning strider the spell he had the highest hopes for. After casting the spell Marcus could immediately feel his body tingling, and he found that his speed had increased by around twenty percent.

    ''That should do it, as I thought lightning strider is the best spell of the lot and when Ibine it with speed burst, I can reach truly terrifying speeds. I may even be able to outrun a cheetah if I use them both in conjunction. Now there are a few misceneous things I need to get like food rations and a tent and then I will be ready for exploring the dungeon once more.''

    Finding some general stores Marcus purchased a rtively cheap secondhand tent and some dried food rations when he heard argemotioning from the direction of the adventures guild.

    ''It sounds like a festival is starting over there, I wonder what is going on, if there was some important event, I think I would have heard about it at least in passing.''

    Curious about what all of the mor was Marcus made his way over towards the guild hall hoping to find out what was the cause of the excitement.

 Chapter 50 - 49 Royal Frost

    Coming out of the back alley he had been practicing his new spells in, Marcus could see what appeared to be arge parade of people shouting out cheers of excitement. In the middle of this parade were a group of people in shy armor that were holding up a bunch of rare looking items.

    ''I wonder what is going on, who are those people, they appear to be decked out in magical equipment and they are showing off rare items like skill orbs in the street.''

    Far too curious about what was going on Marcus approached a random onlooker and asked them what was going on.

    "You mean to tell me you do not know who they are, have you been living under a rock. They are the strongest adventures in Loursend, Royal Frost. They are lead by the thirteenth princess of the kingdom and they have juste back sessfully from their expedition to y the boss of the second level of the Ocean Bluff Temple."

    Hearing their conversation another random person decided to be noisy and give his two cents.

    "I am afraid I have to disagree with you, while Royal Frost may be the most famous adventures in Loursend, it is undisputable that Unmovable Sea is stronger than them."

    As more people started to join in on the conversation of which of the top parties in Loursend were the strongest Marcus quickly excused himself, regretting the me war he had somehow started.

    ''These people sure are passionate about the higher-level adventure parties, they are acting like people did on Earth about their favorite sports teams.''

    Deciding he wanted a better look at Royal Frost Marcus quickly ran ahead and caught up to them and unleashed his creature appraisal skill. To his expectation the first four members he tried to appraise came back with the message cannot appraise but when he moved his focus to the blue haired princes the results came back appraisal blocked. However, this is not what shocked Marcus the most, what had him really on edge was that the princess stopped and stared back at him. She then put on a chilling smile and started to approach him, panicking Marcus felt like he needed to run away but he was surrounded by a crowd of people that slowly began to part as the princess grew nearer to him.

    "Hello there, I could not help but feel that probe you sent out, did you not know that it is rude to try to appraise random people, especially royalty. However, I am willing to forgive you if you tell me your name, aren''t I generous."

    Marcus felt the pressure that the princess was emitting and sensed that she was willing to kill him if he did not answer her.

    Bowing his head and giving off his most apologetic voice Marcus said, "My, name is Irene I am sorry for disrespecting your highness, I am just a country hick that does not know manners, I swear it will not happen again."

    The princess then startedughing and pping Marcus on the back as the tension in the air began to fade.

    "Ah ha-ha, thanks for the goodugh Irene, walk with me back to the guild I would like to talk with you some more."

    Nervously Marcus walked back to the other members of Royal Frost who all had quizzical looks but ultimately just shrugged their shoulders used to the whimsical nature of their leader.

    ''What the hell is going on, how did this happen, is this a cruel lesson from the universe to not stick my nose where it does not belong. I do not know what type of interest this princess has in me, but I cannot imagine it is anything good, the second I find a chance I need to escape.''

    While it would normally have been a short walk back to the guild hall, with the added fanfare it took nearly an hour. During that time Marcus had to awkwardly stand with the members of Royal Frost while they regaled the tale of their fight with the four headed hydra floor boss and people gawked at them and the items they had won from the dungeon. Eventually though the group moved inside the guild and the branch master came down and had a private room readied for the members of Royal Frost. During this time Marcus tired to get away but the princes grabbed his hand intent on keeping him there. Dragged into the private room Marcus realized he had nothing to do but be resigned to his fate or use his ghost form to escape.

    ''I really do not want to go ghost since I will never be able to use Irene''s identity again, but if they try to do something horrible to me, I always have it as my trump card.''

    Soon an official for the kingdom came into the private room and started inspecting the goods that Royal Frost had obtained from the boss of the second floor of the Ocean Bluff Temple. Even though he was ufortable Marcus still was amazed by the items he saw. When he was reading about the Ocean Bluff Temple, he came across how when one of the floor bosses were defeated rare treasures would appear. This allowed Marcus to recognize the ingots of mithril, ice gems, and other valuable materials that the group had. Though what could be considered the most valuable were the skill orbs and stat increasing treasures. Marcus almost wanted to jump out and store the rare treasures into his item box and run away but contained himself realizing that would probably get him killed.

    After the kingdom official had finished appraising the goods, he handed the princes a list of what items he would buy and for what prices. The princess then handed over all of the materials that could be used for making magic items but decided to keep the stat boosting items and skill orbs. Marcus watched as the kingdom official took out a chest containing thousands of gold from his magic bag and handed to the princess.

    ''Damn, that is a lot of money, I understand that those were rare materials but there must have been at least five thousand gold in that chest. From what I read the boss of the second floor is usually between level twenty-four and twenty-eight, but they are always of a higher quality than most creatures at that level. I was kind of hoping I would be able to take a crack at it, but it will not respawn until the end of the year when the dungeon''s formation resets. I guess I could attempt the boss of the lowest level but it is usually between level twenty-nine and thirty-three and is the strongest monster in the whole dungeon so I doubt I could beat it.''

    While he was thinking of his grandiose ns to fight the boss of the Ocean Bluff Temple''s third level the kingdom''s official left and a private party started for the members of Royal Frost and Marcus.

    ''Uh, when are they going to let me leave if they just wanted another person to party with, they could have just grabbed anyone else.''

    After a while, the thirteenth princess came back over to Marcus and started talking to him.

    "Hey there Irene, why do you look so glum, this is a celebration, have some wine, enjoy the food, you are not going to be able to have quality products like these every day."

    Looking up and from his cup Marcus finally ran out of patients and decided he wanted to know what the princess actually wanted.

    "Okay thirteenth princess what do you want from me, I have other things to do, and I realize I should not have tried to appraise you earlier but if you want to torture or kill me can you just get it over with."

    The princess then stared at Marcus nkly for a few moments before she burst outughing and did not stop for over a minute before she responded to Marcus.

    "What made you think I was going to do something awful like kill or torture you, have people been spreading weird rumors about me or something, and there is no need to address me so formally you can call me by my name."

    "You never told me your name and if you are not going to kill me can I leave."

    The princess shook her head a bit before standing up from her chair and saying, "You must not have been lying when you said you were from the countryside. Allow me to introduce myself I am Mrazivy Borealia, but you can call me Mraz and I am sorry I gave you the impression I was going to kill you, I just wanted to get to know the person my cousin Wade thought so highly of."

    Breathing a sigh of relief now that he finally knew why the princess had been so interested in him, Marcus let the tension release from his body.

    "So, you heard about me from Wade, that makes more sense I seriously thought I had offended you and you decided to make me suffer for it."

    "No, if I killed every person that tried to appraise me there would be a mountain of corpses around the kingdom, I normally just give them a disapproving re and move on with my life but when I saw you, I thought of the girl my cousin had told me helped him catch Ivar. That is why I wanted to know your name to make sure, and low and behold it really was you. Wade normally does not talk so passionate about the people he meets and if I did not know him better, I would have thought he was in love with you by the mountain of praise he heaped onto your shoulders."

    With his misunderstanding cleared up Marcus let himself go and drank and ate to his hearts content while talking to the princess and before long the day soon turned to night and Marcus left to go back to his inn.

 Chapter 51 - 50 (Spoiler Title At Bottom Of This )

    Waking up feeling refreshed from his stressful activities the day before, Marcus got up and took a long warm bath for the first time in a while.

    ''Ah, it has been to long, even if my current body does not feel things exactly the same way as I used to, warm water still helps to ease the soul. I managed to finish up everything I needed to do to get ready for my dungeon delve with Wild Wind tomorrow so I should just spend today practicing my abilities and figuring outbinations that work well together.''

    Getting out of the bath Marcus transformed back into his ghost form letting all of the water slide off him before he got dressed and headed out of the inn and then the city. Finding a secluded field in the middle of the forest Marcus began practicing with his skills and spells.

    ''Mana body, lightning strider, speed burst.''

    "BOOM"

    ''Ouch, using three abilities that boost my speed at once was a bit difficult to control, but if I can get it down my speed will be truly formidable.''

    Marcus then spent hours executing the same three abilities trying to figure out how to control his speed but, in the end, he found that while he could manage two of them at once all three either sent him crashing into a tree or rocketing off into the sky. Eventually he had to stop and regenerate, or he was going to destroy his physical form.

    ''Ugh, that was rough, but I have a better understanding of how to use these abilities, now to practice with my spectral arm and ranged spells.''

    Welling with determination Marcus went on to exercise his magic spells and spectral arm until the sun started to set and he could no longer stand having exhausted his mana and stamina.

    ''Huff huff, I needed that, just having abilities that are strong is worthless if you do not know how to utilize them. I think I am ready for tomorrow now. My biggest concern is to conserve my mana, when I chain a bunch of my skills and spells together, I can drain it pretty fast so I should hold back unless the situation demands it.''

    Afterying around on the ground for a few hours to recover and watching the sunset over the horizon Marcus stood back up and stretched out his body. He then found his way back to Loursend and slipped through the city walls and entered into his inn. Getting back to his room Marcus plopped onto the bed and fell asleep letting his physical and mental fatigue fade away.

    ˇ­

    ''Hm, I wonder where they are, we said that we would meet up right after sunrise, but they are already around an hourteˇ­ Wait there they are, but Harold is missing did something happen to him.''

    As he got closer Marcus could see that the members of Wild Wind had downcast eyes and seemed to be worse for wear.

    "Hey, are you guys okay where is Harold, is he nning to meet up with uster or did he have something else he needed to do today."

    Shaking his head and putting on a fake smile Bryce responded saying, "Sorry Irene, Harold will not being today, he came down with fever and is resting in bed, but we can still go do the jobs we were nning to do today without him."

    "Are you sure we can do this another day when Harold is feeling better if you need to take care of him."

    "NO!... I mean we are all ready and Harold would feel bad if we did not go today on his behalf, anyway we should get going since we are alreadyte."

    Bryce and the other members of Wild Wind then hastily walked out of the guild hall and made a beeline for the dungeon. On the way there Wild Wind was far quieter and less cheerful than they usually were and would only respond with one-word answers when talked to.

    ''Hm something bad must have happened to Harold, maybe the sickness he has is really bad and the medicine is really expensive, that is the only reason that I can think of that exins why they are so adamant on doing these requests.''

    Walking past the guard station Marcus begrudgingly handed over the five-copper entry fee since he could not justify sneaking in with Wild Wind around. Once inside Bryce pulled out a map and said that they should head to clear out the dire bats fist since it might take a while and was best to do while everyone was fresh. Once they arrived in front of the cave where the dire bats had made their nest Marcus noticed that Bo''s shield still had the dent, they wanted to repair in it.

    "Hey Bo, I thought you were going to get that dent repaired?"

    Hearing Marcus'' question Bo looked startled and then responded nervously.

    "When we took it to the shop, they told us that the damage was pretty much only cosmetic and that it would not be worth it to be repaired."

    ''Really, I am pretty sure I kicked the shit out of that shield, but I figure if my theory is right, they need all the money they can get.''

    With everyone geared up they approached the cave entrance seeing a couple of bats hanging from the top acting as sentries. Bryce then turned to Marcus and told him to take the one on the right while he took the one on the left. Bryce pulled out a javelin from his pack and looked back at Marcus waiting for him to cast his spell.

    ''Okay a level nine and eight bat, nothing to be afraid of, lightning javelin should do the trick here.''

    Casting his spell Marcus let lose his lightning javelin while Bryce threw his, however, while Marcus'' lightning javelin hit the bat square in the chest Bryce''s went wide a few inched from the bat.

    ''He missed, I know Bryce mainly fights with a sword and shield, but the bat was not even moving.''

    Unfortunately, Bryce''s miss not only left the bat unharmed but also awaken it as it let off a loud screech signaling that there were intruders. Around Two dozenrge bats then swarmed out of the cave and began assaulting Marcus and the members of Wild Wind. Realizing that he was being surrounded Marcus immediately cast his iron skin and lightning strider spells. Using his increased mobility and near imprable defense Marcus moved nimbly swinging his scythe around cutting through the bats trying to kill him.

    With each swing he killed or incapacitated one of the bats, but the swarm seemed to never end and when he looked over towards wild Wind, he notices that they were on aplete defensive and mostly just shooing the bats away from themselves and towards Marcus.

    ''Come on none of these bats are above level twelve, I understand that it is important to not get hurt but they do not even seem to be trying to kill any of the bats.''

    After fighting for around two minutes Marcus had killed over half of the dire bats and the remaining ones had taken to the air wary of getting close to Marcus'' scythe. Seeing that Wild Wind had not left their turtle formation Marcus resigned himself to finish off the remaining bats and cast his iron sphere spell and sent it ramming through the remaining bats.

    Realizing that they had no chance the two surviving bats tried to flee but Marcus gave a fast pursuit. Sending his iron sphere, crushing one into the ceiling Marcus jumped towards the other trying to sh it with his scythe but the bat took a nosedive dodging the attack. However, Marcus had expected this and used one of the moves he had practiced yesterday, and he summoned his spectral arm under his feet using it as a foot hold in mid air to spring towards the bat. Unable to stop its momentum the bat tried to turn around and bite Marcus but only found the tip of his scythe ramming down its throat killing it.

    Marcus then cut one of the ears of the bat as proof of defeating it and removed its magic core before hobbling back over to Wild Wind exhausted. When he arrived, Marcus found Bryce and the others already cutting off the ears of the bats and collecting their cores. Needing a rest after having used nearly all of his mana Marcus sat down on a rock to recover but when Bryce saw this he said, "Hey Irene this is no time to rest we need to collect the ears and cores before more monsterse by."

    Resentfully Marcus got up and began cutting of bat ears and collecting cores.

    ''What the hell is wrong with them today, are they purposefully trying to get on my nerves, they only killed a few bats while I killed over twenty, and when I sit down, they act like I am slowing them down. I have half a mind to just ditch them now andplete the rest of my requests on my own. I will give them a little longer to get their attitude together or I am out of here even if they are down because Harold is sick.''

    Once they had finished with the dire bats Bryce said, "Okay now that we have finished here, we should head to the area where the scarlet carp spawn."

    "Are you sure, the giant shrimp are a lot closer, and I would like to rest a bit before we move own to restore my stamina and mana."

    "We really should go to the carp now since the area can get pretty crowded if we take too long, you can rest once we get there."

    Not waiting for Marcus'' response Bryce stated making his way in the direction of the scarlet carp. A bit pissed off with Bryce''s domineering attitude Marcus unenthusiastically followed Bryce since the scarlet carp roe collection was his request anyway.

    ''Shouldn''t we have arrived by now where is Bryce leading us, is he perhaps lost, maybe I should check my map real quick even though Bryce said he would lead the way.''

    Taking out his map Marcus retraced their steps and realized they had taken a wrong turn a few corridors back.

    "Hey Bryce, I just checked my map and I think we are going the wrong way we need to turn back and get on the right path."

    Bryce turned back towards Marcus with frightful eyes before responding and saying, "Um this is an unmapped route that we know of it is a short cut when wee around that bend over there we will enter into the room where the scarlet carp are."

    ''Whatever I will follow them around that bend and if we are not at the scarlet carp, I am going to give my farewell and go it alone.''

    When the group came around the bend, they entered arge dark room that appeared to be a dead end and Marcus then heard a loud ng as a metal grate fell behind them closing off the entrance. After the grate had sealed the entrance, a pudgy old man walked out of the shadows followed by six well equipped guards. The old man then turned to Wild Wind and said, "Good work you lot, as I promised I will return your friend to you."

    Turning his gaze towards Marcus the man red and said, "Did you really think you would get away with what you did to my son you bitch, you have sullied the name of Poulsen and now you are going to pay for it."

    Chapter 50 Betrayal

 Chapter 52 - 51 Viscount Poulsenâ€™s Vengeance

    Marcus looked dumbfounded at the old man in front of him before he realized what was going on.

    ''This bastard tracked me down, how did he even figure out that I helped in his son''s arrest. Fuck I am surrounded and trapped, and Wild Wind lead me into it.''

    Marcus then red at Wild Wind for betraying him and he noticed how they would not look him in the eye and had looks of resignation on their faces. Seeing the furious expression on Marcus'' face Viscount Poulsen sneered at him before saying, "You only have yourself to me for this you little tramp, they only decided to put their friend''s well being above yours. Now since you got my son executed and have destroyed the reputation of my family do not think I am going to let you off easily. I may not be able to do anything to that bastard Wade, but I can leave your mangled corpse at his doorstep, and I know you have a regeneration skill so even if I disembowel you, you will not die easily."

    Poulsen then looked at his guards and was about to signal them to attack. However, even as his fury had risen to its max Marcus had kept a cool head and appraised all of the guards and the viscount and knew that Poulsen was level eighteen, two of his guards were level neen and another was twenty, but he could not see the levels of the other three. With this information Marcus timed his attack for when the viscount turned his head and he activated his mana body, cast lightning strider without care to feign chanting, and then used speed burst.

    Even knowing that he could not control himself when he used all three of these abilities at once Marcus did not care as long as he killed Viscount Poulsen. Having preemptively swung his scythe when his speed burst activated Marcus fired forward like a cannon ball, aiming to ram into Poulsen scythe first. Moving at an incredible speed in an instance no one was able to react to Marcus'' suicide charge other than one man.

    Poulsen''s strongest guard a man who specialized in speed had never let his guard down and when Marcus suddenly sted forward, he had moved to intercept with his rapier. Even being many levels higher than Marcus the man had only just been able to react to Marcus'' sudden burst of speed and using all of his skill managed to divert Marcus away from his master.

    Feeling a sudden force mming into his side Marcus'' trajectory changed and instead of smashing into his target he impacted one of the lower-level guards skewering him with his scythe before his momentum carried him into the dungeon wall.

    Leaving an imprint of his body in the wall Marcus felt a massive wave of pain and could feel cracks starting to form in his body.

    ''FUCK, I missed. I doubt I will get another chance like that now. My body is already starting to crumble from the impact against the wall and the sword sh that guard hit me with, but I am not going out easy, I am going to kill as many of them as I can before I go down.''

    Standing up with some difficulty Marcus noticed that his body was leaking gray mist out of numerous wounds on his body. Of course, he was not the only one to notice this and the lead guard then said, "Sir stand back, this woman is not a human but some type of monster in human guise, her level is also well above what was reported so the rest of you be carful and take this seriously."

    The other guards gulp down some saliva as this supposedly easy mission to kill a girl around level ten had already left one of their numbers lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Viscount Poulsen heading the words of his senior guard moved farther away from Marcus as the others took out their weapons and got into a formation to surround him.

    Marcus knowing, he was in a dire situation threw caution to the wind and activated every spell and skill he had. The guards then watched in horror as Marcus'' entire body became covered in iron, his legs became coated in electricity, his scythe burst into mes, and an iron sphere started floating around him.

    Jumping towards the lead guard knowing he could only use his full power for around a minute, Marcus swung his scythe using his powerful sh skill arcing the de so that if he dodged, it would sh through the other man behind him. However, his second inmand jumped forward wielding a massive double-sided ax and counted Marcus'' powerful sh with his own. As the two weapons shed the level twenty guard tried to take the opening and impale Marcus with his spear. Except when his spear was inches away from Marcus a translucent purple arm appeared and yanked his weapon away before an iron sphere mmed into his face breaking his skull and neck killing him.

    Marcus, with no time to rejoice taking out one of his enemies, saw the strongest guard with the rapier slip under the muscle-bound ax wielder and was moving in for the kill. Bring the handle of his scythe in front of him to guard against the shing towards him, Marcus was only able to divert the blow away slightly as it left a hideous gash on his torso.

    In a desperate attempt to kill the strongest guard Marcus took his right hand off of his scythe and summoned Ander''s sword and stabbed forward. Unfortunately, Marcus watched as his arm detached from his body as one of the other guards had brought his massive ymore down. Gritting his teeth Marcus contoled his iron sphere trying to smash in the head of the guard that had just taken off his arm only for the ax wielding guard to intercept it and cut it in half.

    His connection from his iron sphere severed and down an arm Marcus could feel the ending and wanting to kill at least one more of the guards sent his spectral arm towards the rapier wielder to distract him, before activating his speed burst and aiming his body towards the ax using guard. Smashing into him at a speed that he could not respond to Marcus and the guard were flung into the wall of the dungeon.

    When the dust of their impact had settled everyone first saw the ax imbedded deep into Marcus''s left shoulder before their eye''s move to the stomach of the ax wielder seeing Marcus''s scythe had eviscerated him.

    Completely out of mana Marcus'' enchantments began to fade and his body started to crumble away having reached its breaking point.

    Looking back at the remaining guards and Viscount Poulsen with a crazed look Marcus said, "I may have lost this time, but it is not the end. I will see all of you again and next time I will make sure you wish for death before I am done."

    Not willing to listen to Marcus say another word or give him a chance to kill another of his men the leading guard lunged forward and stabbed his rapier through Marcus'' throat causing his body to burst into a cloud of gray mist and dispersed ending the fight.

 Chapter 53 - 52 Recovering And Iron Golem

    With his defeat at the hands of Viscount Poulsen''s guards, Marcus'' physical form had beenpletely destroyed. However, being a ghost even with his physical body turned to dust his soul still remained mostly intact.

    ''Fuck, shit, damn, this fucking hurts way more than I thought it would.''

    Having his corporeal form created by his solid soul skill destroyed had left Marcus in a difficult situation. While his solid soul skill allowed him to use his vitality stat for HP and his spiritual form used his spirt stat the two were not mutually exclusive. When the rapier had pieced his neck taking off thest of his physical HP the remaining damage was transferred to his spiritual HP leaving Marcus'' soul in an injured state.

    ''Calm down I need to keep my mental state together or I am going to slip deeper into the ground and my soul will be even more unraveled. If I had known that the stiches holding my soul together woulde undone this easily, I would not have pushed myself so hard.''

    Having taken a massive amount of damage and his HP being at only around thirty percent, it was taking everything Marcus had to keep himself together and not sink down into the depths of Mirrion.

    ''It is going to take me two weeks to regain the use of my solid soul skill, and I now have a status condition called soul damage causing my spirit stat to be lowered by nine right now. This is all Wild Wind''s fault; they should have told me what had happened, and I probably could have helped them. Instead, they decided to throw me to the wolves, so they better hope I never see them again because if I do, they are dead. I guess I have learned my lesson not to trust anyone, since they will betray me in an instant to save their own skin.''

    Unable to do anything but hold himself together until his soul was no longer in danger ofing apart Marcus spent his time nning on how he was going to get his revenge against viscount Poulsen and his guards, when he heard a familiar sound.

    ''You have leveled up to level 18.''

    ''Hm, I guess the guard I impaled with my scythe finally croaked, it took longer than I thought it would, people at higher level really are resilient. I managed to store my scythe back into my item box before my body was destroyed but I lost Ander''s sword which I had found out was made of a mithril alloy. Oh, well I was not nning on selling or using it anyway, so it frees up some room in my item box. Speaking of my item box at first, I thought it was capped at being small but since it is a regr skill, I tried upgrading it and low and behold it can be turned into a medium item box. The problem is that it costs thirty skill points which is quite steep for me at the moment. I will just have to upgrade it when I break into the twenties and skill points are more abundant. For now I need to increase mybat power.''

    Marcus then spent six days recovering his soul before he feltfortable floating around again. Deciding to spend his time trying to level up before he was able to form his physical body again Marcus tried to kill the monsters and beasts he came across. However, he found that most of them would just run away from his invisible assaults before he could kill them.

    ''Huh, the monsters on the second level are quite a bit stronger than the ones on the first. They are all level fifteen or higher and the stronger ones can take a hit from me and escape since I cannot move very fast. I was hoping to save my skill points and buy a really powerful skill but at this rate I am going to be wasting my time.''

    Having made the executive decision Marcus spent eight of his nine skill points to upgrade his iron magic skill to level four. This of course would make most people green with envy since a level eighteen having a level three magic skill was already impressive, but a level four skill was nearly unheard of.

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost

    Level: 18

    HP: 830/830 (True Value 920)

    MP: 770/770

    Status Condition: Soul Damage

    STR: ¨C (+67)

    AGL: 67

    VIT: ¨C (+67)

    INT: 77

    SPR: 92 (-9)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 1

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Solid Soul

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 3, Magic Cirction Lvl 3, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 3, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 2, Creature Appraisal Lvl 2, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 2, Darkvision Lvl 1, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 1, Mana Regeneration Lvl 2, Speed Burst Lvl 2, Mana Body Lvl 2, Powerful sh Lvl 1, Physical Resistance Lvl 1, Heighten Spells Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm

    ''That should do it, I equaled out my physical stats and it seems at some point I leveled up fighting and disassembly. Now it is time to try out my new tier four iron magic spell.''

    "Iron Golem."

    After casting the spell Marcus felt a massive amount of his mana converge into one spot before being expelled and he watched as a five-foot tall vaguely humanoid shape formed out of iron.

    ''Wow casting this spell once cost me nearly half of my mana, tier four spells really are much different from tier three and lower.''

    Marcus then noticed that the golem''s status had appeared next to his and looking it over he was quite happy.

    Race: Iron Golem

    Level: 15

    HP: 1150/1150

    MP: 0/0

    STR: 140

    AGL: 50

    VIT: 115

    INT: 0

    SPR: 0

    Skills:

    Race Abilities: Follow Command, Durable Body, Iron Strength, Magic Resistance

    ''It is more than two times stronger than me and has a huge amount of HP, its race abilities are also pretty strong making it difficult to destroy and physically stronger. The only thing that holds it back is the time limit, after ten minutes if I do not feed it more mana it will disappear.''

    Giving the Golem a few mentalmands Marcus watched as the golempleted them all seamlessly until he gave it amand that was impossible, and it just sat there unmoving.

    ''I guess telling it to fly will not suddenly give it rocket thrusters or something. Oh well I figured that would not work but now that I have something to help me fight, I should be able to level up a bit before my solid soul is back in order.''

    Searching around Marcus soon came across a pack of six hulking aquatic ogres and figured that they would be good opponents to test out his iron golem. Giving it themand to engage, the iron golem bounded forward garnering the attention of the ogres. Tackling into one of the eight feet tall ogres, the iron golem knocked the hulking figure known for its strength onto the floor. The other ogres angered by this small metal man that had assaulted them brought up their makeshift clubs and started pounding into the iron golem.

    However, the difference in sturdiness was obvious as after just a few blows the ogres'' clubs would break apart and the iron golem only had a few dents to show for it. Even with the iron golems impressive sturdiness, as the fight continued for another few dozen seconds, Marcus realized that his iron golem had no chance of winning this fight alone. Fighting six other opponents of equal or higher level was just too much to ask.

    Deciding to not let his iron golem go down Marcus stepped in throwing off numerous lightning javelins and using his iron sphere to bash the distracted ogres in the back of the head.

    For as dumb and impulsive as the ogres were there instincts still told them when it was time to flee, and they tried to make a break for it away from their invisible assant. Unfortunately for the ogres with his new iron golem slowing them down, Marcus was able to keep up his ranged assault and only one of them sessfully got away.

    ''I think I can call that a sess. With my iron golem I can keep monsters pinned down and in range of my spells while I finish them off.''

    Absolutely pleased with his new spell Marcus recast his iron golem recing the one that was heavily damaged by the ogres and set off in search of more prey.

 Chapter 54 - 53 Monster Festival

    Having spent thest eight days fighting monsters and magical beasts on the second level of the Ocean Bluff Temple, Marcus had managed to reach level twenty. He did however run into the asional problem. While his iron golem was useful against most monsters, it also attracted the attention of any adventures that came across it. These unwanted times of interference had slowed Marcus down and cost him numerous hours as the adventures always destroyed his golem forcing him to waste copious amounts of mana.

    ''Huh, I was hoping that my nonstop fighting in thesest eight days would have yielded a couple more levels, but I have to kill over a hundred monsters around my level just for one level up. Oh well in a few more minutes I will be able to use my solid soul again and then I can level up faster.''

    Soon Marcus was once again able to reform his physical form and stretching out his new body Marcus felt great to once again be able to feel, smell, and taste.

    ''Ah, while being a ghost has its perks not being able to sleep can start to weigh on the mind, and even though I do not need to eat, I can still taste, and I have missed delicious food. Now then, I should spend a little while longer grinding out at least two more levels before I head back and deal with Poulsen.''

    With a body to fight with again Marcus set off in search of more monsters to kill. Soon he ran into a powerful monster that looks like is a bipedal crocodile, was over twelve feet tall and level twenty-two. Preparing to engage Marcus cast his iron skin and lightning strider spells and infused his body and weapon with mana. Ready to begin the battle Marcus shot forward towards the monster, until suddenly he felt a massive pressure on his body, and he then found himself in apletely different area.

    Looking around Marcus noticed that he was not the only thing in the massive room he had been transported into. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of monsters surrounding all around him, and more were appearing ever second. Trying to run away Marcus found that he was unable to move no matter what he tried.

    ''What the hell is going on, one moment I am fighting that crocodile monster and the next I am in a massive room surrounded by monsters.''

    Stuck in ce without the ability to activate any of his spells or ranged abilities, Marcus hoping that something appeared in his personal log open his status. When he did, he found the message that said, ''You have been chosen to participate in dungeon 658''s biannual monster festival, the final monster left will be the winner and receive glorious prizes.''

    In the message he also found a countdown clock that had around four minutes before it reached zero. With nothing to do but wait Marcus thought of how he was going to get out of his current predicament.

    After only about a minute, Marcus hade to the decision to flee, he had no guarantee that he coulde out victorious against the other thousands of monsters that were continuously appearing. With his mind made up Marcus deactivated his solid soul and returned to his ghost form. Looking around he found that the nearest way out was to simply go through the ceiling that was two hundred feet above.

    When the timer ran out Marcus could feel that the force keeping him locked in ce had vanished and he immediately made a beeline for the ceiling as the other monsters began fighting.

    However, when Marcus reached the ceiling, he was immediately repelled by some invisible force and no matter how hard he tried he could not escape.

    ''This is not good now my only option is to fight; I could try waiting until they all kill each other but then thest monster standing will probably be too much for me to handle. I am just going to have to fight my hardest and win.''

    With no other option but to fight in the massive brawl of monsters, Marcus dropped down from the ceiling and cast his iron golem spell. Marcus then resolidified and brought out his scythe beforeunching himself towards the nearest monster.

    Marcus fought like a fiend hacking and shing through numerous monsters carefully reserving his mana to use against only the strongest foes. While he fought with near no regard for getting injured, he had ordered his Iron golem to protect him using its massive HP and durable body.

    Unfortunately, he could not keep his iron golem up forever and after ten minutes it began to crumble leaving Marcus to fend for himself. No longer being protected by his iron golem guard, a massive ten-foot-tall monster that looked like the fusion of a raptor and a pelican leaped towards him. Dodging to the side Marcus swiftly brought up his scythe to block the creatures w swipe and was pushed back over a dozen feet from the impact.

    Realizing that he could not beat this monster with half measures Marcus activated his powerful enchantment spells and skills before letting off a heightened lightning javelin. The pelican raptor tried to evade but with its massive size it was unable to avoid the speedy lightning javelin.

    With the pelican monster hurt and stunned by the electrical attack, Marcus initiated his assault jumping up and trying to decapitate the monster in one massive swing. The pelican raptor not willing to go down easy anding out of its stun brought its ws up to intercept Marcus'' attack. As the two opposing forces collided Marcus''s sh managed to win out as he slice through the ws and deep into the monsters arm.

    Detaching his scythe, Marcus began falling to the ground when the pelican raptor opened itsrge mouth and champed down on Marcus.

    Feeling the razor-sharp teeth grinding against his iron skin trying to tear him to shreds, Marcus calming his mind to not panic, realized that the monster had just exposed a major weak point.

    Reaching his left hand forward he began sting fire shot after fire shot down the pelican''s gullet, and with his spirt stat being much higher than it was thest time he used the spell Marcus was astounded to see the level of power this basic spell had reached.

    As three-foot diameter balls of fire continuously sted into its stomach the, the pelican raptor gave up on trying to eat Marcus and spit him out.

    With its internal organs burned the pelican raptor was in horrible pain and instinctively tried to flee from Marcus. However, anticipating that this might happen Marcus had primitively tied his iron threads around its legs causing it to fall over, exposing its back.

    A huge opening created Marcus leaped onto the creatures back and began hacking and shing away. Within just a few seconds Marcus had managed to carve up the monster, leaving its corpse in multiple pieces.

    Unfortunately for Marcus, his current situation was not a sprint but a marathon and just defeating one strong monster meant nothing as more began to surround him.

    Fighting with everything he had for as long as he could, Marcus soon concluded that he was eventually going to lose if he did not take a break and recover his mana.. With this realization he quickly distanced himself from the other monsters fighting and went back into his ghost form to recovery and prepare for hising battles.

 Chapter 55 - 54 Monster Festival (2)

    Needing time to recover his mana and stamina, Marcus had retreated from the free for all brawl of monsters by returning to his ghost form. Taking a few moments to examine the battlefield Marcus could see that thousands of monsters were already lying on the floor dead arge number of them killed by himself.

    ''Okay, I have managed to get this far and in about three minutes I should be ready to fight again but for now I should spend some of my skill and stat points so I cane back even stronger.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost

    Level: 21

    HP: 980/980 (True Value 1070)

    MP: 970/970

    Status Condition: Soul Damage

    STR: ¨C (+83)

    AGL: 82

    VIT: ¨C (+83)

    INT: 97

    SPR: 107 (-9)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 4

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Solid Soul

    Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 3, Magic Cirction Lvl 3, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 3, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 3, Creature Appraisal Lvl 3, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 1, Mana Regeneration Lvl 3, Speed Burst Lvl 2, Mana Body Lvl 2, Powerful sh Lvl 2, Physical Resistance Lvl 2, Heighten Spells Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm

    ''There we go, reaching level twenty-one was a huge milestone since it means the skill and stat points I get at every level has doubled, but skills are starting to get more expensive to upgrade. I still have few skill points, but I think I should save them just in case. Now then, it is time to get back to it.''

    With his status sorted out and upgraded Marcus dropped back down into the fray ready to fight once more.

    Looking around Marcus identified a dangerous opponent, a massive slime that was running through the other monsters and dissolving them with its acid body. Wanting to get rid of this major threat since it was already level twenty-three, Marcus charged forward and let of six incredibly fast scythe shes slicing through the slime.

    Unfortunately, each of his shes did barley any damage, and the slime noticing the threat lunged its body towards Marcus.

    Marcus using his speed burst quickly moved away, left a fire shot in his ce, and watched as the mes boiled and evaporated some of the slime. However, he noticed that the slime quickly recovered the mass that he had just burned away.

    ''Figures, slimes are always known for their recovery speed. I am going to need to hit it with a bunch of damage at once, so this is the perfect opportunity to try out my new spell.''

    Dodging another one of the slime''s body ms Marcus began spinning his arm around as rings of electricity started to form before he shot them off towards the slime. When the rings connected with the slimes body they wrapped around and restrained it while constantly shocking it.

    Having his new lightning bind spell shocking and restraining the slime Marcus moved in with his searing weapon enchanted scythe in one hand and a me de in the other. shing and stabbing the slime as fast as he could, the thing''s entire body began to boil and steam from the massive amount of heat Marcus'' attacks were generating.

    Soon the slime''s entire body began to shake and, his danger sense ring louder than it had in a long time Marcus stored his scythe and deactivated his solid soul. With not even a millisecond to spare, the three seconds it takes for Marcus to go from solid to ethereal was all he had before the slime exploded, dousing a massive area in its acid.

    ''That was close it nearly dissolved me there, but it looks like that move killed it so that is one massive threat beaten. If it were not for me that slime may have been the ultimate winner since most monsters only have physical attacks. Now where to next, should I seek out the other top contenders or fight some more fodder to level up. That was a pretty intense fight so I think I will alternate between strong foes and fodder monsters each time I level up.''

    With a new strategy, Marcus went to an area where a group of weaker monsters none being over level twenty were currently fighting, and joined the fray. Swinging his scythe around in circr motions slowly increasing his centrifugal force Marcus tore through dozens of monsters who were unable to resist his veracious offense.

    After killing hundreds of monsters this way, Marcus leveled up to twenty-two and jumped out of the fray going back into his ghost form to safely assign his new stat points. Going with ten to spirt and intelligence, six to both vitality, and strength and eight to agility Marcus, was ready to fight once more.

    ''Hm, who should I go for now, there are still dozens of strong monsters around that I could consider front runners, but which one should I fight first. The strongest creature I can see is that huge level twenty-five octopus, but it is currently engaged with another strong monster, and I do not want to fight both of them at once. Ah, that one will do, a level twenty-four ogre that is wearing a crown and he appears to even have a magic great sword.''

    His next target chosen Marcus floated right above the ogre''s head before he resolidified and dropped down swinging his scythe. Casting his searing weapon spell as well as activating his powerful sh skill, Marcus was certain that he would be able tond a fatal blow.

    However, the ogre feeling its life in danger, quickly swung its great sword towards the sky. When the two weapons met the frosty aura from the ogre''s great sword and the mes surrounding Marcus'' scythe created a mist as the two weapons fought for dominance.

    Surprisingly, it was Marcus who lost out, as the ice enchantment on the great sword overpowered his searing weapon spell. Acting quickly Marcus kicked away as ice had started to form over his hands. Landing on the ground a few feet away from the ogre, the monster red at Marcus the being that dared to challenge it.

    Full of rage the ogre rushed towards Marcus swinging its massive sword around in wide arcs. As Marcus avoided each powerful blow the ogre''s fury continued to intensify and its attacks became even more clumsy.

    ''Even with its impressive weapon it is still just a big dumb brute swinging its sword around like a club. While this may be effective against other unintelligent monsters, he is never going to hit me with those attacks.''

    While Marcus was thinking about theck of skill the ogre had with its sword and evading each of its strikes, the ogre had bepletely livid. Fueled only by anger the ogre started swing its sword down like a hammer trying to squash Marcus like he was ying a game of whack-a-mole. With each of the massive strikes the ogre unleashed it left a ring opening which Marcus exploited. Soon the ogre was riddled with cuts and punctures as blood flooded down its body.

    Having lost a massive amount of blood the ogre dropped its sword and fell to it knees no longer able to move. Bringing his scythe around in one big arc Marcus detached the ogres head from its body.

    Having defeated another top contender Marcus searched out for another group of weak monsters, quickly picking them off and continuing his strategy.

    ˇ­

    After over a day of fighting there were only three monsters left, Marcus, the massive octopus, and a three headed hydra. Marcus had just finished off his previous opponent giving him enough experience to reach level twenty-four.. Exhausted from his nonstop battling Marcus sat down and watched the battle between the hydra and octopus, waiting to see which one would be his final opponent.

 Chapter 56 - 55 Festival Finale

    While the hydra and octopus were duking it out Marcus was formting ns on how to beat whichever one came out as the victor.

    ''Hm, I would give the hydra a thirty percent chance of winning and the octopus a seventy chance. The octopus is a level higher at twenty-eight and seems to be able to alter the structure of its body. Whenever the hydra tries to bite it the octopus'' body hardens and whenever it tries to use blunt attacks the octopus bes springy and malleable. However, the hydra''s regenerating heads is making it difficult for the octopus to deliver a decisive blow.''

    After thoroughly analyzing the two creatures abilities, Marcus came up with some counter measures for both of them.

    For the hydra, its weakness was obvious, cut off the heads and burn the stumps to prevent regeneration. The only problem with that was that Marcus felt he did not currently have enough fire power and would have to upgrade his fire magic skill should the hydra win.

    The octopus on the other hand was going to be much trickier since it could seemingly endlessly adapt to its situation. Luckily, Marcus had found a vulnerability in this in since it could only adapt to one thing at a time, so it would not be able to defend against two or more differing attacks.

    ''Okay now that I have a n ready for either of them, I guess all that is left is to sit back and enjoy the show.''

    Marcus watched as the hydra and the octopus let off one ferocious blow after another. The hydra would m its heads into the body of the octopus knocking it around. And the octopus would jam its tentacles that had formed into spears into the hydra''s heads.

    The hydra then tried to bite into the octopus'' tentacles only to find that they were harder than steel and its teeth had broken. In response the octopus would wrap multiple tentacles around the hydra''s heads and squeeze until they popped.

    This exchange went on for quite a while giving Marcus ample time to recover until one of them finally reined the victor.

    The hydra even with its regeneration eventually ran out of stamina and sumbed as the octopus ate it alive.

    ''Well, that was brutal but now it is time for me to get back into action.''

    Giving the octopus no time to rest after its hard-won victory, Marcus charged forward, activating speed burst, and shing toward the octopus. Except when his scythe connected its skin had turned solid and even Marcus'' mana infused powerful sh could only leave a shallow cut.

    Nevertheless, this was not unexpected as from behind him his freshly summoned iron golem that was now level twenty-one and had much higher stats unleashed a powerful punch. Impacting the solidified body of the octopus therge ten-foot-tall golem smashed through its exterior, causing major damage.

    Feeling pain for the first time in its life the octopus went into a frenzy mming its tentacles around like crazy. Evading the tentacles with his increased agility from his mana body and lightning strider spell Marcus swung his scythe at one of the frenzied tentacle that had changed consistency tobat the blunt attacks of his iron golem.

    With the octopus no longer hardening its body Marcus'' scythe slid through its soft tentacle like butter.

    Enraged by the loss of one of its tentacles the octopus focused its entire attention on Marcus ignoring his golem as it sent all seven of its remaining tentacles towards him.

    Except right before the octopus'' spear tentacles impaled Marcus, he vanished in a blur having moved too fast for the octopus to keep up. Having activated his speed burst skill which, he could now use in tandem with lightning strider and mana body, Marcus appeared in front of the defenseless octopus'' main body and unleashed a devesting series of scythe attacks.

    As expected though, the octopus had hardened its body, and when it did Marcus'' iron sphere which he had preemptively suspended in air came down in a corkscrew motion and mmed into the top of the octopus. At the same time his battered iron golem got back on its feet and flung itself at the octopus unleashing a devastating body m.

    Cracks began forming on the body of the octopus as it reeled from the massive amount of damage it had just taken.

    However, the octopus'' body began to glow blue, and Marcus watched in horror as its entire body started to regenerate.

    ''Fuck, did it absorb the hydra''s regenerative abilities somehow, there were no records of a creature like this in the book I read so I do not know if it naturally had this ability or if it stole it from the hydra. I am just going to have to hit it as hard as I can and out damage its regeneration.''

    Unfortunately for Marcus, that was easier said than done. He tried endlessly to st it with spells, sh it with his scythe, and pummel it with his iron golem and sphere but he was unable to deal a decisive blow. Soon Marcus was running low on mana and had to retreat deactivating his solid soul in order to rest and think up a new strategy.

    ''Damn, this thing is tough, even when I do significant damage it quickly regenerates, even the tentacle I worked so hard to cut off has grown back. It makes my lesser regeneration look like a joke. If it could not adapt to my damage types so quickly, I could deal a decisive blow, but it always blocks my strongest attacks. I need something more powerful to finish it off in one big move.''

    During his nning while Marcus thought he was safe from the octopus it had been doing its upmost to locate him and eventually its extrasensory perception found him. With its target pinpointed the octopus once again changed its body bing ethereal like Marcus.

    Lashing out one of its tentacles the octopus grabbed a hold of Marcus and began squeezing. Distressed by being sessfully attacked for the first time in his spiritual form Marcus quickly assessed his situation as his HP was draining at an rming rate. Realizing that he only had one way to escape Marcus activated his solid soul skill and prayed.

    Luckily for him his physical body formed before the octopus was able to crush his soul and his now solid body slipped out of the ethereal tentacle''s grip.

    Landing back on the ground Marcus jumped back multiple times to create as much distance as he could from the massive octopus.

    ''Shit this is really bad, this is the first time anything has ever threatened me while I was ethereal, I mean I knew it was possible, I just did not expect it from a random octopus in a dungeon. Crap it ising right towards me.''

    The octopus giving Marcus no time to think began mming its tentacles at him hoping to ensnare him once again. Of course, Marcus would not be caught so easily, and using his higher agility dodged each of the octopus'' blows while trying toe up with a n.

    Running low on stamina and realizing that he had no surefire way to win, Marcus decided to leave it up to a Hail Mary and opened his status. He quickly found the two skills he wanted to upgrade and brought both of them to level four using most of his saved skill points.

    This did however leave Marcus open as the octopus managed to finally get one of its tentacles wrapped around him again. Under the crushing force Marcus could feel his body cracking before the octopus pulled its tentacle back with extreme force towards it beak.

    Realizing that he was not going tost much longer and that he would not survive being eaten by the massive octopus Marcus unleashed hisst-ditch desperate attack. He first fired a fire shot at the body of the octopus and as nned it emitted a liquid from its body that nullified the mes. This is what Marcus had been waiting for as he used the two skills he had just upgraded casting his new tier four lightning spell heighten by forty percent.

    "THUNDERDBIRD STRIKE"

    As he screamed the name of his new spell all of his mana coalesced before turning into electricity and forming into the figure of a gargantuan bird. With its massive twenty-foot-long body and thirty-foot wingspan the thunderbird sted forward straight into the octopus.

    Unable to adapt in time, a devastating amount of electricity shot through its body destroying its cells faster than they could regenerate. Overwhelmed by the spell the octopus copsed, its body fried and dead.

    Pulling himself out from the limp tentacle of the Octopus, Marcus leaned his head back before letting off a victorious yell towards the sky.

 Chapter 57 - 56 Rewards

    ''You have leveled up to level 25.''

    With the familiar sound of leveling up all of the strength in Marcus'' body left him as he fell onto the groundpletely spent after beating the giant octopus and winning the monster festival.

    ''Ah, it has been one hard fought battle after the other but now I can finally rest awhile.''

    Laying down on the cold floor of the dungeon, Marcus looked over his status applying his new skill points and reading his log. In his log he found a message awarding him a level up for sessfullypleting and winning a monster festival. After he was finished reading, he closed his status and began to close his eyes until the room was suddenly enveloped by a bright light and right in front of Marcus a chest full of items appeared.

    Immediately Marcus noticed the sweetest scent he had ever smelting from the chest, and almost in a trance he lifted himself up and moved towards the chest. Looking inside he discovered the source of the smell was a fruit that looked like a pear but was golden in color and the size of a melon.

    Picking it up Marcus nearly shoved the thing into his mouth before he shook his head breaking out of his stupor.

    ''Control yourself Marcus sure it smells good but do not go shoving random fruits into your mouth. I think that it is a natural treasure of some kind but for all I know this is some sick trap meant to poison me.''

    As he let the paranoid side of his mind get the better of him, Marcus looked over the rest of the contents of the chest finding five white potions, one green one, and four different skill orbs. Realizing that the other items in the chest seemed to all be positive Marcus gave in and started eating the fruit he was still holding in his hands.

    Munching down on the fruit after the first bite and the richest vor he had ever experienced entered his mouth Marcus did not let up until he had eaten the entire thing.

    When he was done, he let out a satisfied sigh before he felt a throbbing in his head, for a moment Marcus thought that he had been tricked until information flooded his head and Marcus knew the entire contents of the chest.

    ''So that is what is going on, the fruit I just ate is called a fruit of cognizance and is meant to give normally unaware monsters the ability to think. Unfortunately for me, it only gave a plus ten to my intelligence, but I will take it. Now it is these other items that are the real winners, five potions that boost all of my stats by ten, an experience potion, and four different skill orbs.''

    Marcus the checked over the skill orbs and found that there was one magic,bat, profession, and unique skill orb. Except the magic andbat orbs were useless to Marcus as they only gave the user their mostpatible skill in each respective field and Marcus already had found his.

    ''Oh well, these rewards are definitely tailored for previously unintelligent monsters so it make sense that some of them would not work for me. Luckily, the profession skill orb worked, and I managed to obtain the forge skill but the unique skill orb was even better.''

    Looking over his new unique skill Marcus was happy with its incredible power. The new unique skill he had received was called soul burst and allowed him to double his stats for three minutes. It did however,e with a few down sides. The ability could only be used once every two months and after the three minutes were over the users stats would be quartered for a week.

    ''Still even with its down sides it is an extraordinary trump card, with it I can probably beat people that are even ten levels higher than me.''

    Very pleased with the new skills he had managed to acquire Marcus moved to the potions and first downed the experience one. He immediately felt a rush of energy in his body and soon heard the familiar level up notification.

    ''You have leveled up to level 26.''

    After finishing off the experience potion Marcus grabbed the five stat boosting potions and began consuming them. Drinking their contents, he could feel a rush of strength filling his body with ever sip but when Marcus was drinking hisst sip of the third bottle, he no longer felt anything.

    Checking his status, he noticed that all of his stats were one lower than they should have been after finishing the third bottle.

    ''I guess I must have reached my limit, this is not the first time I have raised my stats outside of leveling up so I must have reached the peak for my current level. I suppose it is not all bad I may be able to use the other twoter or maybe I can sell them for a huge chuck of cash.''

    Marcus then stored the remaining skill orbs and stat boosting potions into his item box, and when he did the western wall of the room began to shake before opening up.

    Sunlight then rushed into the previously dark room and created a way for the winner to escape the dungeon.

    ''Hm, so is the actual purpose of dungeons, are they meant to strengthen monsters and then release them out into the world. No that can''t be it since people also get valuable rewards for beating the floor bosses. For people that were born on this world this would all seem natural, but I know better. Their was no system on my original world and I know that there is some deity like being that manages this world. What is their goal for this system and brining people from Earth here? Is it all just some type of entertainment for them or do they have a greater objective?''

    Realizing that he could sit and contemte about the purposes of Mirrion for an eternity he soon pped himself back to reality and got back to work.

    While he had collected the obvious rewards there was actually still a treasure trove left in the massive room that had contained the monster festival. There were thousands of corpses of monsterying around and most of them still had cores that were ripe for the taking.

    Using thirty of his skill points Marcus upgraded his small item box to medium increasing his dimensional storage from one hundred cubic feet to one thousand cubic feet. With his storage space having gone from the size of a small room to the size of a shipping container, Marcus went around collecting all of the magic cores he could find. After hours of painstakingly cutting through monster bodies Marcus had managed to collect two thousand seven hundred thirty-seven monster cores.

    ''That should do it, the low-grade cores are only worth about two copper each, but I also got plenty of higher-grade cores as well. The total price I can get for all of these cores should be in the hundreds of gold so I can refill my coffers. Now a quick look at my status and I can head out of here.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost

    Level: 26

    HP: 1620/1620 (True Value 1710) ¨C 1520/1520

    MP: 1710/1710

    Status Condition: Soul Damage

    STR: 152

    AGL: 152

    VIT: 152

    INT: 171

    SPR: 171 (-9)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 14

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Solid Soul, Soul Burst

    Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 3, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 1, Mana Regeneration Lvl 3, Speed Burst Lvl 3, Mana Body Lvl 3, Powerful sh Lvl 3, Physical Resistance Lvl 3, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Possessed Race abilities:

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm

    Looking over his status Marcus was surprised to see how many of his skills had leveled up during his fight with the octopus and that his mass core collection had increased his disassembly skill level.

    ''With this I am more than strong enough to take my revenge on Poulsen.''

    With that though Marcus moved towards the exit of the dungeon and walked out back into the open world just as the sun was setting.

 Chapter 58 - 57 Return

    Having survived the gauntlet of that was the monster festival Marcus exited out of the dungeon far stronger than he had entered it. Staring out at the beautiful sunset that seemed to be there just to greet his return to the world, Marcus thought about all of his experiences on Mirrion.

    ''It has been mostly one bad situation after another for me, the only good I have done is to bring to light Ivar''s corruption and save Lilia. One of those things has alreadye back to bite me and the other is probably not far behind. But things are different now, I am much stronger than I was before and can deal with anyone who gets in my way. From now on I will return what people give, hurting those that hurt me and repaying those that show kindness.''

    As thest streaks of light faded over the horizon Marcus felt it was time for him to get back to Loursend and track down Poulsen. Looking around Marcus noticed that he had exited the dungeon onto a cliff that overlooked the ocean and that the way back into the dungeon had already closed. Finding that there was no easy path to the top of the cliff Marcus simply reverted back to his ghost form before floating up.

    When he reached the top, he noticed that he was deep into the wilderness and surrounded by trees. Looking towards the sky Marcus found thergest moon which he knew rose into the sky from the north and using the moon as a bearing figured out which direction Loursend should be.

    ''Since I appear to be somewhere in the Great Gome Woods Loursend should be south of here. Hopefully, I was not transported too far away since the longer it take for me to get back the more likely Poulsen will have left Loursend.''

    Landing on the ground and activating his solid soul Marcus broke out into a run heading due south towards his destination.

    With his new stats Marcus was able to run for hours before he even felt a hint of exhaustion and soon a familiar sight came into view. After traveling for around five hours and over seventy miles Marcus was able to see the guard station that blocked the entrance to the Ocean Bluff Temple.

    ''Damn, I knew that the dungeon was expansive, especially in the lower levels, but to think part of it extends over seventy miles away from the entrance.''

    Having finally made it back to familiar territory, Marcus eager to get back to civilization, increased his speed by casting his lightning strider spell and infusing his body with mana.

    Moving at an incredible speed Marcus sted past the dungeon guard station startling the guard who was posted out front. In just a couple of minutes Marcus had arrived back at the city walls of Loursend and using his ghost form slipped in unnoticed. Finding a nearby inn Marcus rented a room for three evenings and crawled into a warm bed for the first time in over two weeks.

    ''Ah, nothing beats a good sleep after being awake for so long. While it is convenient to not need to sleep in my ghost form, resting the mind is important. Now the first thing I need to do, is find Mrazivy since she is the only one, I know who might have a clue as to where I can find Poulsen.''

    ˇ­

    Getting out of bed and switching his form over to Irene, Marcus made his way out of the inn and headed for the adventures guild.

    Entering into the bustling guild hall Marcus made his way towards the receptionist booths and made sure to get in the line which had the most professional looking receptionist even though their line was long.

    Waiting for nearly an hour Marcus finally made it to the front of the line where the old woman who was working the booth asked, "And how may I help you today."

    "My name is Irene, and I am a friend of Mrazivy and was looking for her, would you happen to know where I can find her."

    The receptionist''s expression then turned cold before she reflexively said, "I am afraid that her highnessˇ­ wait did you say your name is Irene."

    The receptionist then carefully looked over Marcus'' appearance before rifling through a stack of papers. When she found what she was looking for she carefully read it over and when she was done said, "I am d to see that you have returned safely, her highness Mrazivy Borealia organized a search party when your group did not return. Though when they found the remains of the party you were with it was assumed that you were also dead, and the search was called off."

    ''So Wild Wind is dead, serves them right, they should have known to never let a scorpion on you back and not expect it to sting you.''

    "I am sorry to hear that they died, they stayed behind to let me escape but I got lost and fell down into the second floor of the dungeon. I barley made it back alive after wandering around for over two weeks. So, since Mrazivy was looking for me could you tell me where to find her that way I can tell her I am alright."

    "I am sorry miss Irene her highness is currently on an expedition in the dungeon with her party Royal Frost and are not scheduled to return for another eight days."

    Marcus then sighed before saying, "Then can I leave a message for her here."

    "Yes, that is certainly possible what would you like to say in your message."

    "Tell her that I am staying at the Silent Wave Inn and that I am doing okay and would like to speak to her when she has the time."

    The receptionist then intently wrote down Marcus'' message before remembering something and looking up and saying with a slightly pained expression.

    "I know that this is probably not what you want to hear right now but since you failed to return within the time limit of your chosen requests, they have all been designated as failures. Since you are a bronze rank adventure you will be put on probation, this means you can no longer take requests one rank higher than yours, and another failed request will result in guild membership termination. However, once you havepleted ten request of any level your probation will be lifted."

    The receptionist then asked for Marcus'' adventure card and etched arge P in the bottom right corner.

    Handing the card back to him the receptionist asked if he had anything else he needed, but Marcus hadpleted his goal and thanked the receptionist before heading off.

    ''This sucks, probation, and I am going to have to wait for over a week before I can talk to Mraz. I could just go around searching for Poulsen on my own, but I do not even know where to start. I could always just head to River Landing and find Wade but if Poulsen is still here I will have wasted nearly a month to do that.''

    Thinking over his options Marcus decided to wait for Mrazivy since he felt it was his best option.

    ''I guess I can justplete some easy requests real quick, or tour around Loursend some. Or maybe I should register as Marcus, I am level twenty-six now so maybe the guild will automatically award me a higher rank. Certainly, people with a high level would not want to start off collecting herbs for next to no money.''

    Hoping that the guild would allow for him to jump the ranks Marcus found a quite corner to switch his form before heading back inside.

 Chapter 59 - 58 Noble Status

    Walking back inside the adventures guild Marcus once again joined the queue to be served. Arriving at the front of the line Marcus immediately asked, "Hello there, I would like to join the guild, but I am level twenty-six and do not think it would be appropriate for me to start off as a copper rank."

    Looking at him skeptically the receptionist responded saying, "Sir if you are really level twenty-six, please show me your ID as proof and then we can discuss what rank you should be initiated as."

    "I thought that I could have my status viewed here and I uh lost my ID, so I do not have it with me."

    Looking at him like a parent that had just caught their child in an obvious lie the receptionist said, "Sir we only have the means to view basic statuses here and we need to see your full status if you really intend to skip ranks. So, if you are done wasting my time, please allow the next person in line toe up."

    Realizing there was no way he was going to convince them of his level without an ID Marcus left the guild and headed for the nearest city gate.

    ''I am just going to have to have a new ID made for myself, hopefully it glitches again and sets my race to human since I doubt, they will be cool with me being a ghost.''

    Finding the guard station next to the city''s entrance Marcus tells one of the guards that he lost his ID and needed a new one made.

    With a face of annoyance, the guard told Marcus to head into the station and wait until someone could help him.

    After waiting for a few minutes another guard who was yawning came into the room to make Marcus a new ID.

    "Okaye over here put your hand on the pedestal and it will bring up your status, oh but first it will be fifty copper coins to make your new ID."

    "Wait fifty it only cost me thirty in River Landing."

    "Then head back there for all I care; I am not the one who sets the price so either pay up or get out."

    Begrudgingly Marcus took out the money and handed it over before he ced his hand on the pedestal and his status was disyed.

    Looking over it Marcus let out a sigh of relief to see that it still listed his race as human, while the guard looked at his status in horror.

    The guard immediately bowed his head and said, "I am so sorry sir, I did not realize that you were of noble lineage. Please forgive my earlier rude behavior I do not know what came over me."

    The man kept his head bowed, nervously sweating a flood afraid that Marcus might have him brought up on charges.

    ''What is happening I am certainly not a noble, and how would he get that from my status anyway. Wait only people of the nobility havest names in this world but I still have mine from Earth. Oh, well guess I will roll with it since there are perks to people thinking you have a high status.''

    Looking at the man who was still prostrating himself and bing more afraid every second he stayed quiet, Marcus said, "It is fine I am not very important anyways so let us get this over with and I can be on my way."

    The guard then looked up at Marcus with a face of gratitude before making his ID. He pressed a few symbols on the device and Marcus new ID was pressed onto a sheet of parchment. However, this paper was of far higher quality then the one he had made as Irene and had gold leafing to denote the owner as a noble.

    Pleased with his new ID Marcus bade the guard farewell before heading back towards the adventures guild.

    Once he arrived, he made sure to queue up into the line with the earlier receptionist that doubted him and when he got up to the booth, he mmed his ID down in front of her.

    ''Since I am apparently a noble now, I need to act the part.''

    The woman looked down at the piece of gold leafed parchment in front of her before staring at Marcus with a look of shock. Not only had hee back with an ID that proved he was level twenty-six but also that he was a noble.

    "Thank you, sir this does certainly prove, that you are level twenty-six. Nevertheless, the only one that can approve rank jumps is branch master Joras. If you would give me a few moments I will go and see if he is avable."

    As the receptionist left with a slightly devious smile, Marcus noticed that everyone behind him had gotten into different lines and would no one would make eye contact with him.

    ''I wonder what is going on, do they not want to offend me because they think I am a noble or is it because of my high level.''

    However, Marcus soon found out that it was because none of them wanted to be associated with him when the branch master arrived.

    Looking towards the stairs that lead to the second floor Marcus saw the branch mastering down except contrary to when Marcus saw himst when he greeted Royal Frost, he now had a frown and was looking at Marcus with disdain.

    When he stopped in front of Marcus he basically shouted, "So you are the little brat who is trying to use his noble status and artificially boosted level to jump over the ranks because you think you are too good to start from the bottom like everyone else. I do not give a shit about what family youe from, here we only value strength so if you are really want to prove to me that you are worthy of a rank higher than dirt you can show me in the ring."

    The branch master then looked at Marcus with a provoking re and started walking towards the back side of the building were the training hall was located.

    ''Judging by his reaction he does not like handing out higher ranks to people, especially nobles. Now I wish I could have just gotten themoner ID, but whatever, I fought hard for my levels and am going to show him that I am not just hot air.''

    Following behind, Marcus entered the training hall and walked over to the ring the branch master had chosen.

    Seeing that Marcus had actually followed him the branch master look a bit surprised.

    "You must be more ignorant than I thought or maybe you actually have some guts. Most of the noble brats I tell off normally run away andin to their daddy or make up some excuse about how it is beneath them to fight me. Now let me see if you are made of tougher stuff or are just another spoiled kid."

    As the branch master pulled a massive light bluish mace that could only be made of mithril Marcus started to get a bit worried.

    ''Fuck, that whole thing is made of mithril, and I cannot see his level so he must at least be level thirty-three. I can see why most people would run away at the thought of fighting him. But I already came this far and am confident in my abilities, I fought through hundreds of monsters, so I can take on just one man.''

    Marcus then brought out his scythe from his item box and took a battle stance.

    "No need to hold back show me everything you got the only rule is no killing anything else is fair game. Now brace yourself here Ie."

    The branch Master thenunched himself towards Marcus intent on finishing this in one blow.

 Chapter 60 - 59 Marcus Vs. Joras

    Seeing Joras rush towards him right off the bat and readying for a big swing, Marcus realized he could not block or dodge on time. So, he followed the only course of action he had, attack.

    Quickly using his mana body and speed burst skills Marcus shoot forward intercepting the branch master.

    Surprised by his sudden burst of speed and decisiveness Joras had to change his stance and swing his mace with less force.

    As the two weapons collided there was a bright sh of green light as both Marcus and Joras were pushed back several feet.

    ''Damn even though I had more momentum than, him his attack was still stronger than mine. Part of it is because he has a higher strength stat, but the main reason is his weapon, it conducts mana far better than mine making each of his attacks that much stronger.''

    Joras then stared at Marcus with an impressed look before saying, "I am amazed that you are still standing, most people in your shoes would have been taken out by my first attack. It seems I misjudged you, but now I think it is time I get serious, try not to go down to soon."

    Luckily for Marcus while Joras had decided to monologue he had been casting spells and had finished chanting lightning strider, iron skin, and iron sphere.

    Marcus sent his iron sphere straight towards Joras while he followed right behind ready to attack in tandem. Unfortunately, Joras simply swatted the iron sphere away with his mace and stepped in close to Marcus and delivered a swift punch.

    Feeling the powerful impact on his gut Marcus was pushed back and there was now an imprint of Joras'' fist in his iron skin.

    Joras not letting up came swinging in with his mace and Marcus had to use his speed burst, only dodging by a hair''s breadth.

    However, this left Marcus of bnce and Joras followed quickly with his own speed burst. Except right before he was about deliver a powerful blow to Marcus, he stopped and swung his mace to the left blocking Marcus'' iron sphere that wasing in for a sneak attack.

    Not willing to let this chance go by Marcus just managed to finish chanting another spell and as he spun his arm around rings of lightning flew towards Joras.

    Seeing the oing threat Joras raised his mace above his head and infused it with a massive amount of mana before brining it down onto the lightning rings.

    When the mana infused weapon impacted the lightning bind spell the two canceled each other out.

    Dumbfounded Marcus stared at Joras with a look of disbelief.

    ''Did he really just hit a magic spell out of existence.''

    ''This kid is not bad, that was the tier three lightning magic spell, but let me see if he can take them as well as he can use them.''

    Chanting a quick spell Joras threw his left hand onto the ground causing numerous spikes made of earth to spring up and move towards Marcus.

    Caught of guard by the sudden rush of earth spikes Marcus jumped into the air since it was his only means of escape.

    ''Got you.''

    After chanting another spell Joras sent a pir of stone directly towards Marcus who was suspended in midair.

    With only one way out Marcus summoned his spectral hand under him and used it to jump up barely missing the pir of stone.

    Catching Joraspletely off-guard Marcus was able to get off another spell andunched a lightning javelin right at his face.

    With the impending dangering right for his face Joras flexibly brought his mace up to block and the four-foot-long bolt of lightning bounced off the mana infused mithril.

    This did however give Marcus enough time tond back on the ground and start chanting his next spell.

    Noticing that Marcus had started a long chant Joras rushed towards him trying to interrupt the spell.

    Fighting him off with the use of his spectral hand, iron sphere and scythe Marcus was able to buy enough time and finished the chant.

    Arge eleven-foot-tall iron golem then appeared, and Marcus immediately ordered it to attack.

    ''Tier four spells certainly are a pain to chant but, now that I have my iron golem out, I think I can win.''

    Working in tandem with his iron golem Marcus would attack fast with scythe shes and fire shots since it was the fastest spell he could chant, while his golem would let loose powerful blows that had to be blocked of dodged.

    Noticing his disadvantage situation Joras began chanting a spell and Marcus danger sense started ring. Attacking as ferociously as he could Marcus did not want to allow the branch master to finish his spell since from its length it was obviously at least tier four.

    By some miracle Marcus managed to create an opening with thebination of his spells and spectral arm allowing him to deliver a gash onto the branch managers torso.

    Unfortunately, being a man who had fought hundreds of tough battles a wound at that level was not enough to break his concentration and he brought back his mace as hepleted the spell.

    ''Titan Blow''

    As Joras swung his mace forward towards Marcus a huge mass of earth that dwarfed Marcus'' iron golem coalesced around it. When the mass of earth was about to impact Marcus his iron golem stepped in front of him and took the brunt of the blow.

    The iron golem then crumpled like foil under the force of the attack and Marcus who was right behind it was also blown away.

    Impacting deep into the wall behind him Marcus felt a rush of dull pain and could tell he had received series injuries.

    ''Fuck I cannot move my left leg; I did not expect that he had such a devastating attack, and that could have easily killed a normal person.''

    Looking down Marcus noticed his iron golem looked like it had been through a carpacter and Joras was slowly approaching him.

    When Joras stopped in front of Marcus who was imbedded into the train hall''s wall he said, "That was a good fight kid here take this and heal up."

    Taking two blue potions out of his bag Joras threw one to Marcus and drank the other himself.

    Marcus watched as the branch master''s wound closed up almost instantly and then downed the potion he had been given.

    He felt a sudden warm feeling and could tell that the internal injuries he had sustained were quickly healing.

    Once he had pulled himself out of the wall Joras said, "I am really impressed you are the first person in a long time to put a scratch on me and I even had to use my tier four earth spell to win. I take back what I said earlier about you being a noble brat, you have what it takes. With your skill and level, I would say you are at least silver rank. Come with me and we can iron out the details of you joining the adventures guild.

    With the fight concluded and Marcus having won the approval of the branch master, he followed Joras out of the training hall and to his office ready to receive his new rank.

 Chapter 61 - 60 Silver Rank Mission

    Sitting down on a couch in the branch masters office Marcus was filling out the relevant paperwork while Joras did the same.

    "Are you really twenty-eight Marcus, I thought you were only around twenty, twenty-two at the most. And your status is really impressive, you must have worked incredibly hard from a young age to get this many powerful skills. How did you ever convince your family to let you be and adventure, normally only weak kids that have no chance of inheriting join our association."

    Coming up with a quick lie off the top of his head Marcus said, "Yeah, I was the runt of my family and ran away when I was young and survived in the woods. I got really lucky and got my hand on some natural treasures which boosted my stats."

    With his answer, the branch master could tell Marcus was lying and realized he was not going to get a straight answer and went back to his paperwork not asking Marcus anymore question he did not want to answer.

    When the two of them were finished with the paperwork, Joras had his secretarye in and take it away and when she came back, she was holding a silver card in her hand.

    She then handed it to Joras who in turn handed it over to Marcus.

    "Here you go you are now technically a silver rank adventure, which is the highest I can award without approval from my superiors. However, to make it truly official you are going to need toplete a silver request within the month or I will have to nock you down to steel rank. Silver rank adventurers and higher are considered representatives of the guild so they need to be vetted properly. There should be a few silver rank requests downstairs so go pick one out and once you havepleted it, we can make your rank official."

    Nodding his head Marcus exited the office and went back to the first floor and looked over the silver rank requests.

    Most of them were for the bodies of powerful monsters or rare materials on the second level of the dungeon and even a few on the third.

    However, one request caught Marcus'' eye since it did not pertain to the dungeon.

    ''Hm, I thought that ever request in this branch had to do with The Ocean Bluff Temple but this one is for the Church of Aigean. The request is also really weird since it does not give any details, just to meet the head priest at the church. But since I am tired of the dungeon I might as well give it a try.''

    Taking the tag off the request board, Marcus made his way to the receptionist booths to register for the request.

    When he made it to the front of the line and handed his new adventures card and the tag over to be registered the man working there looked at him like he was crazy.

    "Sir are you sure that you want to take this request, I heard that the other parties of adventures that epted it ended up missing. I know that this church has a lot of pull and the reward of a magic item is alluring but I think you should reconsider."

    ''So, I am not the first one to take this request, but I am not so easily killed and have plenty of ways to escape where most people would end up dead.''

    "Adventures risk their lives all the time and I am confident in my abilities, so I still want this request."

    "Very well, you are registered for this request, good luck."

    With his new request in hand Marcus headed out of the guild and found the nearest air taxi.

    Asking them to take him as close to the Church of Aigean as possible Marcus handed the man twenty-one silver coins and hopped on the back of a bird that looked like a massive seagull.

    ''I am starting to run low on money, I only have around sixty silver left now, once I am done with this request, I will grab as many magic core collection requests as I can and hand in some of the cores I have for a huge payday.''

    After about an hour of flying Marcus could once again see the impressive building that was the Church of Aigean''s headquarters and a few momentster the air taxi began to descend.

    Landing back onto the ground Marcus got off therge magical beast seagull and thanked the driver for taking him to his destination.

    ''Now, the church is due south from hear so I should not have any trouble finding it likest time.''

    Trying to head directly towards the church contrary to what he believed Marcus ended up walking around the church multiple times never quite being able to reach it.

    After going on like this for thirty minutes, he became a bit frustrated and decided that he would simply approach from the air in his ghost form.

    ''I know I am not this directionally challenged, I may get lost every now and then but not to aical level as this. Now that I am above the buildings, I can see it is only around a thousand feet away from me, how the hell do I keep missing it.''

    With nothing to impede his sight of the church Marcus floated directly for it having no problems until he was within a hundred feet of the building. At that point he ran into some type of barrier that repelled him. Not willing to give up Marcus pushed himself against the barrier and slowly started to force his way through.

    However, after just a few second, he suddenly felt a massive pressure on his spiritual body as if he was suddenly supporting the weight of the entire ocean, and then he heard a voice say, "I got you now, did you really think that you could attack while I was present."

    Marcus could feel the crushing sensation getting stronger by the moment and nothing he could do could stop it. And right when he was about to activate his soul burst in a desperate attempt to escape, he felt the pressure recede and was no longer crushing him.

    In the next moment, arge blue ball of light appeared in front of Marcus and said, "Sorry about that I thought that you were my enemy. While it is faint you must havee in contact with one his followers at some point since I can slightly sense his presence on you. Now what are you doing here, it is rare to see one of you transfers from another world."

    Dumbfounded by what was going on Marcus stared at therge blue mass of light for dozens of seconds as his brain racked what was going on. Finally, getting the torrent of thoughts in his head under control Marcus was ready to speak.

    "I am here because I epted the request that the church posted with the adventures guild, and I was having trouble getting here for some reason, so I tried floating in and ran into some kind of barrier. Also, how did you know I am not from this world."

    "Ah, so epted that request, good with someone like you there should be no problems this time. As for how I know that you are not originally from this world, it is because you are not the first transfer I have met, and only transfers have the unique skill called personal status. Now this is no ce to talk so let us head inside and we can discuss the details of your mission."

    Therge mass of blue light then started floating towards the church and going with the flow of his situation Marcus followed behind, his head filling with more and more questions.

 Chapter 62 - 61 Details Of The Request

    Floating into the church behind the mass of blue light that had intercepted him, Marcus watch as when it reached the ground its form shifted into that of a woman with dark blue hair.

    The woman then brought out two chairs from her item box and sat down in one of them. Following her lead Marcus activated his solid soul and sat down on the other chair facing her.

    With his curiosity piqued, Marcus let off the first question on his mind, "Are you the spirit Aigean."

    With a look of surprise, the woman responded saying, "No, no, no, I am not master Aigean, my name is Voda, and I am the spirt he left in charge of running and protecting this church."

    With his first question satisfied Marcus let loose another one.

    "You said that I was not the first transfer you met, could you tell me about the others."

    "Sure, though there really is not that much to tell. Around thirty years ago a man named Makoto Yamada caused a huge storm here by taking his party and clearing through all three bosses of the Ocean Bluff Temple in one day. I was very impressed with his skill and at that time, I hired him and his party to obtain a certain item for me. Hepleted the job and went on his way, and I have not seen him since."

    ''I kind of had my hopes up that I could find this guy but if thirty years have passed, he could be long gone. But at least now I have a name and judging by it he was probably Japanese. Maybe, one day I can meet him but for now I have other things to worry about like my silver rank request.''

    While Marcus had been racking his brains over the new information he had just acquired, Voda had pulled out some tea and was patiently sipping on it. When she noticed that Marcus had looked back up at her expectantly, she put down her tea and said, "It certainly is reassuring to have you on this request since it is a bit dangerous, but for a being such as yourself it should not be as threatening. The first thing you need to know is that someone is polluting this city with undeath, and unlike you who has a calm neutral aura these creatures are bathed in negativity. What I would like you to do is find them and get rid of them. I know that they are led by a necromancer in who''s level is in mid-twenties so they should be no problem for you. Though he has caught the interest of a low-level demon that is helping him, but that demon is cowardly and is unlikely to appear. However, take this and if he does appear smash it on the ground and I wille to your aid. If the demon does not appear though, please do not summon me, thest time I went out to confront this menace the demon came and attacked this church defiling part of it, which is why I need you to deal with this."

    "Okay kill the necromancer and his undead while beware of demon, got it. There is one other thing I would like to know; do you know their general location this is a big city and searching blindly could take months."

    "Ah, yes while I do not know where their base is currently, I do know that the necromancer has a number of people that work for him and collect bodies off of the streets. They typically frequent areas with arge poption of homeless and pick up anyone who dies or would not be missed. This is how they have stayed off the radar of the kingdom since they are being very careful about who they use as materials."

    Marcus then remembered back to the time when two guys had tried to take Irene''s body away while he was floating outside her body.

    ''So, that is why they were dragging her away at that time, and it is probably where I picked up the taint of that necromancer. Now just one more thing I need to confirm."

    "Thanks, just one more question the request said that the reward was a magic item could I perhaps see it just to make sure."

    "Of course, though it hurts a little that you do not seem to trust me, here you can pick one from any of these."

    Voda then took out a dozen different magic items from her item box from weapons to armor and essories.

    Looking them over Marcus could tell that they were all of exceptional quality and he eventually keyed in on a pair of boots that he felt gave off the most powerful aura.

    ''Its too bad there is not a scythe since I could use a more powerful weapon, but I will have to stick with what I have for now. Those boots however, seem to be really powerful, I wonder what type of enchantments they have.''

    After ogling the magic items for a few minutes Marcus rposed himself and said, "Everything looks good I will make sure to deal with your problem and be back quickly."

    "Good luck I believe you can do it but if it is beyond you do not be afraid to run away, I will not hold it against you."

    Nodding his head Marcus headed out of the church and back onto the streets of the city. Thinking long and hard Marcus decided to search around and see if he could find someone who had died.

    Unfortunately, after searching around for hours he was unable to find a corpse before the sun began to set and opted for n B.

    Finding a dark alley with no one in it Marcus, plopped down on the ground and pretended to be dead.

    ''Hopefully this works,st time they thought I was a corpse and tried to take me away so it might work again.''

    Marcus then waited and waited but know one came. After three hours ofying on the ground Marcus gave up and got off the ground.

    ''I never was any good at fishing since I hate waiting hours for something to happen. How am I supposed to find these guys, I suppose I could start asking around to see if anyone has seen suspicious people skulking around?''

    Trying this n out yield even worse results as most people would either run away, try to mug him, or say things like the lizard people were popping out of the sewers and brainwashing the city.

    ''Well, that was a huge waste of time, it is going to be morning soon and I am no closer to finding these guys. Oh, well I can try again tomorrow, might as well go back to my inn and think up some new strategies.''

    Making the long way back to his inn since he was on the other side of the city, and on his way, he spotted two thugs he recognized carrying a brown leather sack. Marcus could see the sack moving slightly as if whatever was inside was trying to get out.

    Approaching the two men Marcus used his stealth skill and discreetly followed behind hoping that they would lead him to their boss and the target of his mission.

 Chapter 63 - 62 Necromancers Hideout

    Marcus followed behind the two thugs that were obviously carrying someone they had stuffed into a sack hoping that they would lead him to his quarry.

    They cut in and out of dozens of allies moving with the utmost stealth as to not be seen, and Marcus using his stealth skill tailed behind them.

    After a dozen or so minutes the pair stopped in front of a small building and slipped inside along with their captive.

    Realizing he would have difficult time following them in his physical form Marcus reverted back to being a ghost and slipped through one of the building''s walls.

    Once inside he spotted them moving some furniture that was situated over a rug, and when they had finished pulled off the rug to expose a hidden door.

    One of the men then pulled out antern that was filled with arge chuck of luminous crystal and the two men dragged their victim down a flight of stairs.

    Following the men down the stairs Marcus noticed them stop at the bottom of the room where there was a sealed metal door.

    The kidnappers then pulled out a pair of mps and used them to forcefully shut their noses. Once they hadpleted that one of them unlocked and opened the metal door.

    As the door was opening Marcus could here the soft sound of flowing water and realized where these guy were going.

    ''The necromancer is hiding in the sewers how clich¨¦ can they get. But I guess whatever works is all they care about, and most people would not want to go prowling around the sewers, so it makes a good hiding ce. It is at times like these that I am grateful I can not smell while in my ghost form.''

    Floating behind the two men Marcus continued following them through the sewers for another five minutes before they stopped in front of a wall.

    One of the men then pressed a brick and the wall slid to the side revealing a secret corridor. The two men then hurriedly passed through the opening and the wall slid closed behind them.

    ''This certainly is arge amount of security; most people would have a hard time following these guys to this point but luckily for me physical obstacles are the same as air.''

    Passing through the wall that had just been closed Marcus continued to tail the men until they came to arge room three hundred feet down the corridor. In the room Marcus could immediately see arge stack of around two dozen corpses piled up in one of the corners of the room.

    The men then walked up to the pile and unceremoniously through the sack and the person inside of it onto the heap of bodies and then began talking.

    "The boss sure is letting them pile up, normally he takes them away every day but some of these bodies are from three days ago."

    "Did you not here, he said he was going to be busy with some kind of ritual involving the bodies of those adventures that snuck down here about a week ago."

    "Ah, right, he did that thest time as well saying he was happy he got some premium material."

    "Yeah, he is a pretty sick dude but hey five silver a body is better money than we can make anywhere else."

    "Let''s head back out we might be able to round up another one before the sun fully rises."

    The two thugs then turned around and started to walk back to the false wall until suddenly both of their views suddenly changed, and they could see their own bodies.

    Their heads then sttered onto the ground as the two men''s lives came to an end.

    Having rematerialized and quickly and stealthily sliced off the two men''s heads Marcus stared at their bodies in disgust.

    ''The world is now a slightly better ce now that those two guys are dead. I understand that in this world you have to be ruthless to survive but what these guys were doing went well beyond what any sane person is capable of. I am an actual monster butpared to them I am a saint, oh well they are dead now so no more need to worry about another piece of garbage I have already taken out.''

    Storing his scythe back into his item box Marcus walked over to person in the leather sack the two thugs had just thrown onto the pile of corpses and used his spectral hand to retrieve them.

    Opening the bag, he found a little boy no older than eight barely breathing and seemingly struck with a fever.

    Looking him over Marcus tried using his tier one healing spell on the boy but it seemed to have little to no affect as his fever still burned hot.

    While Marcus had be far crueler than he once was he had not turned into an inhumane monster that would let a child die in front of him if he could possibly help.

    essing his status Marcus spent four of his reserve skill points and leveled his healing magic up to two. With the new level came the tier two spell lesser restoration and hoping that it would be enough Marcus cast the spell on the boy.

    ''Come on get better I really do not want to sink anymore skill points into leveling up my healing magic at this moment. Ugh I should have bought some potions; I may not have much use for them since I am immune to things like poison and diseases, but I may need them to help someone else in the future.''

    After a few minutes of casting lesser restoration while thinking of contingency items he would need to obtainter, Marcus noticed that the boy''s fever was starting to go down.

    Soon the boy opened his eyes with a start and took in a deep breath and was about to scream. Noticing this, Marcus acted quickly and covered the boy''s mouth before he gave away their position. With the boy''s mouth now covered and the threat of his infiltration being noticed Marcus said in a hushed tone, "Okay, kid I just rescued you from the guys that kidnapped you but more of their friends might be around, so I need you to stay quite. I am going to take my hand of your mouth now so do not scream."

    Marcus then uncovered the boy''s mouth who just looked at him fearfully before quietly asking, "Where are we mister, it is dark down here and I cannot see anything."

    "We are down in the sewers but do not worry I will take you back to the surface real quick and you can head back to your home."

    The young boy looked down with a solemn expression before saying, "I do not have home to go back to I have been living on the streets for as long as I can remember."

    With a slight pang in his chest Marcus sighed before taking out his coin pouch and saying, "Here kid take eight silver and use it to live off for a while, since I have some more things I need to do down here once I take you back up to the surface, I will not be able to help you anymore than this."

    The kid then looked at the small pouch of coins Marcus had handed him with a face of disbelief. He had never even seen a silver before in his life and now some random stranger had given him eight just out of the kindness of their heart.

    Staring up at Marcus with a big smile the young boy thanked him profusely getting a bit loud causing Marcus to nt his hand over his mouth once again.

    Marcus then carried the boy back out of the sewers and onto the city streets just as the sun was begging to rise.

    After telling the boy to take care of himself Marcus headed back down into the sewers and into the necromancer''s hideout.

 Chapter 64 - 63 Hoard Of Undead

    Phasing through the fake wall in the sewers Marcus came back into the corridor that leads into the necromancer''sir.

    Looking around Marcus noticed a few doors and another passage leading deeper into theplex.

    Popping his head through all of the doors, most of them seemed to be just storage areas that were not in use but one of them had crates full of grave soil and powders Marcus did not recognize.

    ''I do not know anything about necromancy in this world so maybe these are ingredients to make things like zombies or something. Well, it does not really matter, once I kill the necromancer it will al just be junk anyways.''

    Finding that there were no other obvious or hidden passages, Marcus directed his attention to the corridor that lead farther inside their and seemed to give off an ominous atmosphere.

    ''Okay no need to be afraid if people here that a ghost was getting spooked by something like zombies or skeletons they wouldugh. In fact, if I think about it that way, I am the scariest thing down here, so they should be afraid of me.''

    Getting his nerves steady as he was expecting to run into the impending creatures of undeath Marcus floated along down the corridor anticipating a jump scare at any moment.

    Luckily, that scare never came as after around a minute of floating Marcus came to another room with corpses piled up in it that had two doors at either end.

    Checking around to make sure that their was no one in the room with him, Marcus checked the door to his right first phasing his upper body through to have a look around.

    On the other side of the door, he saw another fake wall that would lead back into the sewers. Satisfied that this was not the right way to go he turned around and headed to the opposite side of the room where the other door was situated.

    When he poked his head through this door however, Marcus nearly had a heart attack as he noticed dozens of zombies and skeletons moving around.

    Pulling back with a start, if Marcus could breath he would have been panting in fear right now as would anyone who abruptly saw a bunch of corpses shambling around.

    ''Fuck I knew it wasing but in some ways that made it worse. I just need to calm down a bit this world is a lot different than Earth and undead are just another type of monster. I have killed hundreds of other monsters and these guys will be no different.''

    After calming himself down and thinking about it rationally Marcus was ready to confront the horde of undead thaty behind the door.

    Floating back through Marcus rematerialized and prepared for battle, except none of the zombies or skeletons attacked him. Standing their baffled Marcus walked right in front of one of the undead but there was still no reaction.

    ''Huh, guess they will not attack another undead, well if they did, they would all be fighting each other. At least this gives me ample time to prepare.''

    Marcus then checked the different undead finding that their levels ranged from seven to sixteen which was not really a threat to him.

    Then with the knowledge of their level''s Marcus figured the best way to get rid of the horde of undead would be to let his iron golem squash them since it would have been too exhausting to try to kill them all alone.

    Summoning his iron golem their was still no reaction from any of the undead so Marcus just ordered it to crush all of the zombies and skeletons it came across.

    The iron golem then moved over to the nearest zombie raised up its fist and brought it down and under the enormous pressure the zombie sttered all over the ce.

    As the first zombie was destroyed the other undead in the room finally began to react, keying in on Marcus and his iron golem as the threat that had just attacked one of their own.

    The hoard of undead then rushed towards Marcus and his golem. The hundreds of zombies and skeletons began throwing themselves at the iron golem trying to tear it apart with little sess. Most of them were barehanded and fruitlessly wing or biting at its solid iron frame while the few with crude weapons managed to inflict no more than a few dents and scratches. The iron golem also did not remain idle during this time stomping and thrashing the undead swarming it, destroying many of them with each of its devastating attacks.

    While most of the undead horde were attacking his iron golem a few did slip by ande towards Marcus.

    With the fast-approaching zombies and skeletonsing for him, Marcus brought out his scythe and cast his iron sphere spell.

    As the first skeleton approached him, he sent his iron sphere barreling through its boney body smashing it to bits and rendering it unable to move. He next swung his scythe decapitating a zombie that was running for him.

    After a while when the horde of undead were slowly decreasing Marcus ordered his iron golem to advance down the hall while destroying the undead in its way.

    His iron golem then slowly advance swing its arms and stomping down any undead unfortunate enough to cross its path.

    Some of the undead though were lucky enough to slip past the rampaging iron golem but unfortunately for them they were greeted by Marcus'' scythe and iron sphere.

    Eventually with the help of his iron golem Marcus had managed to destroy the entire hoard of undead though his iron golem did look a bit worse for wear after being assaulted by over a thousand zombies and skeletons.

    ''Well, I suppose a death by a thousand cuts really is a thing, even though my golem is now level twenty-three these guys managed to slowly chip away at. Guess I will just summon another one.''

    Letting his first golem crumble into nothingness Marcus recast his tier four iron magic spell and brought forth another one.

    With his new golem ready to be his punching bag incase of another undead horde Marcus set off deeper into the hideout.

    Walking for around a thousand feet he eventually came to arge double door that had two skeletons in full armor guarding it. Checking their levels, he found that one was twenty-one while the other was twenty-two.

    ''So, he did create some formidable undead after all, I was wondering if all he had were basic zombies and skeletons.''

    Looking over the two high level skeletons Marcus quickly came up with a n to defeat them easily.

    Walking forward nonchntly with his iron golem at his side the two skeletons reacted to him once he was within a hundred feet of the door. The two armored skeletons then drew their swords and shields and charged towards Marcus.

    Of course, while these two skeletons had higher levels and impressive gear inparison to the others Marcus had faced, at the end of the day, they were still mindless undead programed only to attack intruders.

    When the two skeletons were only around ten feet away from Marcus, they suddenly fell over face first on to the ground tripping on Marcus'' iron threads.

    Having expected this from the start Marcus had already ordered his iron golem to attack when they fell over, and it quickly mmed each one of the skeletons'' heads with its fists.

    Even with their steel helms, under the immense force of the iron golems attack their heads were crushed helm and all.

    This however was not the end as even without heads the higher-level skeletons were still able to get up and began assaulting Marcus'' Iron golem.

    Unfortunately, even with their higher levels they had a bad matchup against the iron golem and were soon crushed under it and Marcus'' power.

    ''Well, they were a little tougher but after destroying all of those undead with minimal effort I see it was stupid off me to be scared earlier. But now that I have taken out all of the sentries it is time for me to deal with the boss.''

    Turning his attention towards therge double doors, Marcus walked forward ready to finish up his request and kill the necromancer.

 Chapter 65 - 64 Necromancer And Demon

    Moving up to therge double doors blocking his way, Marcus looked around for a way to open the doors but found that they had been barred from the inside.

    ''Guess I am going to have to do this the hard way.''

    Pulling his scythe back Marcus infused it with mana and activated his powerful sh skill carving through the doors and creating his own entrance.

    He then sent his iron golem in through first and after following behind it he saw a man dressed all in ck and wearing a gue doctors mask sitting in a chair facing the door.

    As Marcus stared around taking stock of everything in the room the man in the chair stood up and started speaking.

    "So, you are the rat that has snuck in this time, you certainly made it farther than thest ones, but your fate will be the same."

    Of course, after the necromancers initial words Marcus had finished looking around the room noticing that their was a huge mass of bodies stitched together and a few high-level zombies and skeletons.

    With his appraisal of the room over Marcus did not care to listen to the rest of the necromancer''s monologue and cast lightning javelin intent on ending this quickly.

    Surprising Marcus however, even though his sudden attack did catch the necromancer off guard the ne he was wearing lite up and formed a barrier around him that blocked the lightning javelin.

    "How dare you, fine you can go ahead join my army of undead."

    The necromancer then reached over and pulled a lever that was next to him which caused a plum of dust to fall from the ceiling and the necromancer continued monologuing like he had already won.

    "Ha, do you feel it your body burning, soon the ghouls fever that I have perfected will transform you into one of my servants."

    ''God this guy likes to here his own voice, but judging by where he hangs out, he probably does not get many chances for social interactions. He is only level twenty-five, I honestly expected him to be a bit higher, but this just means he really is not a threat to meˇ­ So is this powder supposed to do something to me since so far all it has done is make my visibility a bit worse.''

    Marcus then stood around looking at the necromancer who wasughing manically until he noticed that Marcus was not turning into a ghoul.

    "What the hell, why are you unaffected, I made sure that this powder would be potent and fast acting how are you still fine."

    "I guess I can tell you since you have shown me such great hospitality. I think your powder is having a hard time since I already happen to be an undead and now that I have stalled long enough you can go ahead and die."

    Marcus then raised his hand which he had charged with a massive amount of mana ready to cast his most powerful spell with the boost from his heighten spell skill. A huge mass of electricity then shot out of his hand and took the form of a thunderbird before firing forward towards the necromancer.

    The thunderbird strike then impacted into the barrier that formed around the necromancer but unlike with the lightning javelin the tier four lightning spell was not so easily blocked, and the barrier held for only a moment before breaking.

    However, at that point something else unexpected happened, as two huge, wed hands shot out of the necromancer''s shadow d in some sort of dark read energy that fought for dominance against Marcus'' spell.

    Eventually the two shing powers fused together creating a massive explosion and once the dust settled Marcus could see arge fifteen-foot-tall humanoid creature with grey skin wed hands and feet, and a pair of horns that protruded out of the side of its heads.

    The demon that had just appeared then leaned its head back before quickly jerking it forward, opening its mouth, and releasing a enormous breath of fire right for Marcus.

    The demon then watched as Marcus becamepletely engulfed in the fire and after a few seconds stopped its fire breath and turned around to talk to the necromancer.

    "You idiot why did you just stand their while heunched attacks at you, that amulet I gave you is not invincible, if I had not stepped in you would be dead. You are lucky I have already invested so much into you otherwise I would have let you die."

    The necromancer looked down at the ground angry at the demon for berating him and disappointed in himself for almost getting kill, when he noticed a huge mass of smoldering iron and it began to disappear exposing that Marcus had survived.

    The demon then noticed the gaze of the necromancer and noticed itself that Marcus was still alive.

    ''Whew that was close, if my iron golem had not stepped in front of me, I would have been roasted. I got a bit carried away there and forgot about the demon. Ugh level thirty-one, that is what Voda considers low-level.''

    The demon then red back at Marcus and said, "What are you, my appraisal says that you are human, but all of my other senses say otherwise."

    "I am afraid I have no reason to answer that so let us get back to killing each other."

    Having already activated all of his physical enchantments Marcus burst forward at and incredible speed and shed right for the demons left leg nning to take it off in one swipe. However, the demon kept up with his speed and paired with its ws and evenunched its head forward intent on skewing Marcus with its horns.

    Using another speed burst Marcus managed to dodge the horns and unleash a lightning bind towards the demon.

    Unfortunately, the demon sent off a st of the darkish red energy it used earlier and destroyed Marcus'' spell.

    Of course, the necromancer did not stay idle during this time and had just finished chanting a spell and sent his own lightning javelin towards Marcus.

    Sensing the danger Marcus shed his scythe towards the javelin intercepting it and while his own mana defused most of the javelins power, he still felt a bit of electricity flow into his body.

    At that moment, the demon caught up to him and started shing wildly with its ws and chasing after Marcus wherever he retreated too.

    Even with itsrge size the demon was able to keep up with Marcus who was only just barley faster.

    The fight then continued with Marcus doing everything he could just to stay alive while the demon ferociously pursued him, and the necromancerunched ranged spells.

    That was until Marcus managed to get his trap in order. He had managed to discreetly wrap an iron thread around the demon and when the necromancer sent another lightning javelin forward Marcus extend this thread towards it and the electricity followed the iron thread back to the demon. At the same time Marcus also unleashed his spark spell along the thread and the two sources of electricity met at the demon electrocuting it.

    This literally shocked the demon and figuratively shocked the necromance and using this opening Marcus quickly ran around the demon towards the necromancer.

    Noticing the iing danger, the necromancer ordered his remaining undead toe forth and protect him.

    ''Toote, thunderbird strike.''

    Unleashing another powerful thunderbird strike he had been preparing, the undead and demon were unable to protect the necromancer this time as he was engulfed by the spell.

    When the torrent of electricity dissipated all that was left was a smoldering necromancer who was obviously dead.

    The demon then roared in anger and charged towards Marcus. In the demons rage it did not however, see a certain item Marcus had taken out and smashed onto the floor.

    ''I hoped I could win by myself, but I am spent so best to let someone else finish up''

    It was at that moment when and overpowering pressure filled the room and the water spirit Voda appeared.

    The demon stared in fear and tried to open some type of portal only to find that its body had been wrapped with water and was unable to move.

    "You are not getting away so easily, I still have to repay you for what you did to my sanctuaryst time."

    The demon thrashed about the best it could shooting out fire breaths and unleashing st of dark red energy, but the water was overpowering and the small amount the demon was able to destroy was reced instantly.

    "Oh, now this is a surprise, even for demon destruction magic is rare, but it will not help you here."

    Voda then controlled the water binding the demon sending it down its mouth and nose filling it up like a balloon until it popped in a very gruesome death.

 Chapter 66 - 65 Clean Up And Payment

    With the demon and the necromancer now dead Voda turned towards Marcus and said, "Thank you for your help, I am finally rid of that nuisance, so once you finish up heree back to the church and you can im your reward."

    Voda then disappeared in a puff of mist leaving Marcus alone with a few high level undead that were left.

    Looking around Marcus counted three skeletons and four zombies all above level twenty and decked out in armor and weapons.

    ''Fuck, she could not stay and help me finish these things off, I used up practically all of my mana and am running on fumes right now.''

    The now unbound zombies and skeletons began chasing Marcus around swing their weapons at him and trying to rip him to sherds.

    Marcus tried his best to fight them off but without the mana to use magic or enhance himself he was having a hard time doing meaningful damage.

    Marcus figured he could not win without his mana, so he went about stalling waiting for his mana to replenish enough for him to bring back his iron golem to help him finish off the undead chasing him.

    However, a seven on one fight was bing increasingly more difficult, and Marcus was slowly taking damage when he realized something.

    He then broke off and ran as far away as he could and reverted to his ghost form.

    ''Sometimes I am an idiot, I should have just done this from the start. Now all I have to do is wait for a few minutes and I can take care of this easily.''

    Once his mana had fully restored Marcus summoned up his iron golem and had it start fighting the undead along with him.

    The iron golem would take the brunt of the attacks while Marcus quickly moved in swinging his scythe around slicing up the undead and when any came after him, he would batter them away with his iron sphere.

    After a few minutes had managed to finish off the remaining undead and finally could be done with them.

    ''That was a bit of a pain, but it is over now, and I think it is time I look over the possessions that necromancer had since that amulet seemed pretty powerful.''

    Walking over to the necromancer''s corpse Marcus first looked for his amulet but unfortunately found that it had broken. He figured he either overloaded it with his thunderbird strike or it was just an item that could only be used once.

    Sighing with disappointment at finding the amulet was unusable, Marcus rifled through the rest of the necromancer''s body taking anything he thought was valuable.

    ''Well, I was hoping for a bit more, but it is a decent hall overall. He had a magic bag with around thirty gold in it so that helps out my financial situation a bit, but the real draw are the other items. He has a few healing and mana restoring potions as well a staff that empowers magic a bit. Though the other things he had are all rted to necromancy like this ghastly ritual book which I do not really have an interest in.''

    Happy for the most part with the loot he got off the necromancer, Marcus did a once over of the ce to make sure he did not miss anything.

    Once he had finished up examining the area and finding that there was nothing else of value or any hidden undead Marcus, went around lighting all of the corpses on fire before making his way back to the surface.

    Having made it out of the sewers that he hoped to never venture into ever again, Marcus started moving directly for the Church of Aigean to im his payment for a sessfullypleted request.

    When the church came back into view Marcus felt a bit of trepidation, since on his previous visits the barrier around the building had caused him to get lost and forcibly kept him out.

    Luckily, this time he was able to approach without issue since Voda had already adjusted the barrier to no longer repel him.

    Once inside Marcus looked around at the grand entrance seeing stained ss windows that were arranged in what he assumed were representations of Aigean.

    ''I did not get a good look at this cest time, but it actually has some really great architecture reminiscent of some of the famous gothic churches from Earth.''

    After he had finished gawking around like a kid in a candy store, Marcus found an acolyte and asked her if she could take him to head priest Voda. However, their response was, "There is no one by the name of Voda here, the head priest''s name is Urs. I do not know who gave you that name but if you have no other business, I will be on my way."

    "Wait I am the adventure that epted the request at the adventures guild and havee to report itspletion."

    "Oh, in that case I will lead you to the head priest, but I did not even know that they had met with an adventure already."

    Marcus then followed the young acolyte around the church and up arge set of stairs and was thinking that he had been bamboozled by Voda, and now he was going to meet someonepletely different and would have toplete a new request.

    However, When he was led into the head priest''s office, he saw that the person sitting their looking over some forms while sipping tea was indeed Voda.

    Looking up from her paperwork she noticed Marcus and the acolyte, and a smile crept onto her face.

    The acolyte then said, "Head priest this man says he is the adventure that epted your request and that he haspleted."

    "Yes, that is correct, thank you Vanessa, you can leave us now and I will finish up with him."

    Vanessa gave a small bow before exiting leaving Marcus alone with Voda.

    "I have finished up ande to collect my payment as promised, Urs or is it Voda?"

    Realizing her blunder she said, "Sorry about that, my real name is Voda, but I go by the name Urs while acting as the head priest here. Normally I would introduce myself as Urs but since I first met you in my spirt form I forgot and gave you my real name, hopefully that did not cause you too much trouble."

    "No, it was fine just gave me a bit of anxiety is all, since I was afraid that you were not the real head priest, and I was going to have to do another job."

    "Well, I really am sorry about that but since it all turned out fine let us get down to business, which of these magic items would you like."

    Voda then took out the items she had previously shown him and allowed him to look them over again.

    After examining each of the items, Marcus decided to go with the pair of boots that had caught his eye before since they gave off a powerful aura.

    "You have a knack for picking out magic items, of everything I showed you those boots a certainly the most powerful. I suppose I should tell you what they are. They are called boots of the deep and with give you the ability to walk on water as well as breath underwater. You will also be uninhibited by water pressure allowing you to move as you do onnd. And its strongest abilities are that it will increase your agility by five percent, and it has a special attack called tidal stomp. To use it simply pour mana into the boots and m it down onto the ground."

    Looking at the boots in his hands Marcus had a twinkle in his eyes nearly, overwhelmed with how powerful these boots were.

    ''This was definitely worth it; in terms of value these things must be worth thousands of gold and for me they are basically priceless. I need ever boost I can get, and these boots are absolutely stupendous.''

    Marcus immediately tried the boots on, finding that they adjusted to his foot size and fit perfectly. Once he had put them on, he could feel the enchantments in them effecting his body.

    He then looked up at Voda and said, "These boots are certainly impressive are you sure you want to let me have them."

    "Yeah, it is fine, I actually have another pair for myself so those are just spares, and since you did such a good job for me, I have another rewards for you."

    Marcus'' entire body was then bathed in a bright blue light and unlike the crushing pressure he felt during their first meeting this light gave off a soothing aura that eased Marcus'' soul.

    After a few minutes Marcus feltpletely refreshed like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

    "What did you just do I feel much better than I did before."

    "Oh, I noticed that your soul had some damage so I healed it for you, it is not good to let a wound to the soul go untreated since if it festers you could have died."

    With a look of fear on his face Marcus realized he needed to be more carefully as there were a lot of things, he still did not know about this world, like that a soul could fester.

    "Thanks for healing my soul and I will keep that in mind, but now I need to turn in thepletion tag for this request so I can solidify my silver rank."

    "Oh, I understand this was your rank up mission, here is the tag and if you need my help do not be afraid to ask and if it is within my power, I will lend you some aid."

    With his requestplete and reward collected Marcus made his way out of the church and started heading towards the adventurers guild.

 Chapter 67 - 66 Uproar At The Guild

    With the token that proved he hadpleted the silver rank mission that would solidify his promotion in hand, Marcus made his way back to the guild hall to report his sess.

    Looking around now that his finances had be more secure after obtaining around thirty gold worth of coins from the necromancer, Marcus located a flying taxi.

    "Hello there, could I trouble you to take me to the branch of the adventures guild that is located near the northwestern gate."

    The young woman who was manning the air taxi station looked up at Marcus and looking him over a bit smiled before saying, "Sure I can take you there, but it is going to cost twenty silver, you okay with that."

    Nodding his head and pulling out the bag he had acquired from the necromancer Marcus took out the twenty silver and handed it to her fine with paying for the convince of flying in order to save a few hours.

    Counting the money to make sure she had the right amount, when the woman was finished, she gave a satisfied nod and said, "Hop on, Sta won''t bite and if I do say so myself is one of the fastest birds in service."

    Getting onto the saddle on the back of the bird that looked like a massive goose Marcus checked over it and its riders levels and was surprised to see how high they were.

    ''The bird is level twenty-two, and the rider is level twenty, no wonder this bird is one of the fastest, it is many levels higher than the other birds I have flown own.''

    The woman then mounted the bird that looked like a giant goose named Sta and gave it a good kick in the side like a horse rider and with a loud honk it leaped up into the sky taking flight.

    Flying above the tops of the buildings of the city, Marcus once again got a view of the grand city scape of Loursend.

    Scanning over the horizon Marcus could see many more magical beast than he had before, flying about the sky and even noticed what appeared to be an entire squadron of gryphon riders.

    ''Wonder what is going on, I have seen one or two gryphons flying about with knights on their backs before, but a whole squad, there must be something going on. I suppose that their could be a monster outbreak somewhere nearby, or maybe a really important official is arriving, and those guys are their honor guard or something.''

    While Marcus was thinking up wild ideas for why the gang of gryphon riders were about, Sta the giant goose was moving quickly across the city and Marcus noticed that the mor of flying magical beasts were actually mostly heading for or away from the adventures guild branch he was headed for.

    Soon Sta made her decent towards the station nearest the guild and what had taken him over forty minutes to traversest time had only taken thirty.

    However, the station was so packed that they were not able tond there and had to head to the next closest station which was almost at full capacity itself.

    Disembarking fromrge goose Marcus thanked them for the ride and started walking towards the guild hall.

    ''I wonder what happened, the situation seems to be centered around the guild hall, maybe a really powerful monster escaped from the dungeon, or an enemy nation is attacking. Ugh there are just too many possibilities, I guess I will just have to find out when I get there.''

    Moving with that thought towards the guild hall Marcus managed to arrive within around ten minutes even though he was dropped off a little ways away.

    As he got closer, the number of people rushing around increased, and so did Marcus'' curiosity.

    When he arrived at the guild entrance, he saw that their were dozens of people moving around franticly, and that the squadron of gryphon riders hadnded right outside the guild building.

    Unable to contain his curiosity Marcus appraised each of the gryphons and the three knights that had been left to watch them.

    He found that none of the gryphons were below level twenty, the highest being level twenty-six and that the three knights watching over them were all level twenty-eight.

    ''Impressive, they must be some of the elites of the city''s guards and since those three were chosen to stand watch over the gryphons they are probably even the lowest level of the gryphon riders.''

    After he had finished with his appraisal of the knights and their gryphons Marcus decided to head inside and find out what was going on and, better yet if he could get a payday off of it.

    When he reached the entrance though he found that their were two people standing guard and while they let some people by, they turned away others.

    Wondering if he was going to be able to get in, Marcus queued up in the line waiting to get in, and after three minutes of waiting made it to the front where one of the guards asked him, "Business for entering the guild."

    A bit baffled at why they were barring people from entering Marcus decided to go with the truth and figured that he could sneak in as a ghost if necessary.

    "I am here to submit a request forpletion."

    "Okay can I see the request tag."

    Marcus then handed over the tag and the guard gave it a cursory nce and said, "Okay you can go in, but be quick and, if you want to know what is going on you can find out inside."

    Being given the okay, Marcus walked in and made a beeline for the reception counters when he noticed someone he knew moving around in hurry.

    Wanting to know what was going on Marcus approached Joras and said, "Hey there Joras I just finished my request and was wondering what was going on here."

    Snapping out of his daze when he heard Marcus address him, Joras looked up a bit surprised and said, "Ah Marcus good to see you made it back, I wish I had more time to talk but Princess Mrazivy Borealia has gone missing in the dungeon. One of her party members made it back and it has caused a huge uproar, and we are currently nning a rescue mission. Since you are silver rank, you should stick around we could use you on this expedition. Okay, I need to get to the meeting with the guild master of the main branch, and the leaders of the city so see youter Marcus."

    With that Joras swiftly headed off in the direction of therge conference room in the back of the guild hall leaving Marcus stunned.

    ''What Mraz is missing, I had heard that she and her party had delved into the dungeon, but I did not think something bad could happened to a party as strong as theirs.''

    Rushing towards the reception booths intent to hand over hispletion tag and find out more information, Marcus got into the shortest line and impatiently waited.

    When it was his turn to be served Marcus mmed hispletion tag down on the booth and quickly said, "I finished this request and have already been rewarded for it, so I just need the paperwork done to solidify my silver rank."

    The receptionist took the tag and wrote something down on a piece of paper before saying, "We have received you tag ofpletion and when we have time, we will process that you are now a true silver rank adventure."

    Once the receptionist said that before she could say anything else Marcus asked, "What happened to Mraz I n on helping so could you tell me everything in detail."

 Chapter 68 - 67 Mrazivyâ€™s Predicament

    The receptionist looked at Marcus with a look of disbelief after his question because he referred to the princess by a nickname.

    Shaking her head, she quickly pulled herself together and responded saying, "Her highness Mrazivy Borealia and her party Royal Frost, after having sessfully defeated the floor boss of the second level of the Ocean Bluff Temple, decided to make an expedition to the third and lowest level and subjugate the boss of that level. However, on their way they unfortunately ran into a very rare and dangerous teleportation trap and were separated from each other. One of the members of the party were able to make it back out of the dungeon and report what happened. As the princess is an important figure in the kingdom, both as royalty and a tinum adventure her safe return is of the utmost importance. I believe that currently the big wigs of the city are having a meeting and nning a rescue mission. Of course, finding the other members of Royal Frost is important but the priority will be put on the princess. If there is nothing else you need, we are very busy and need to focus on this issue so please make room for the next person in line."

    "Wait there is onest thing I need; do you have a map of the current third level that I can purchase."

    Giving a slight sigh the receptionist rifled through some documents and brought out what Marcus was looking for.

    "Here is the current and most up to date map of the third level''s configuration, it will cost three gold and I must warn you that there is still a tremendous amount of the third level that is uncharted."

    Coughing up the three gold with no hesitation, Marcus took the map and with his business concluded he left the reception booth and waited in a corner until he could find out the details of the rescue n.

    After sitting around for around two hours Marcus finally saw a group of men and women exit the conference room where the leaders of the city were discussing the rescue n.

    He only recognized two of the people one being Joras and the other being the member of Royal Frost that had made it back out of the dungeon.

    Watching and waiting for when Joras had separated on his own Marcus went up to him and said, "So what is the n I intend to help so could you give me the run down of what you all decided in there."

    With a frown on his face Joras scoffed before saying, "Yeah follow me I will tell you what they decided in the meeting."

    Following Joras upstairs and to his office Marcus sat down on one of the couches in Joras''s office while Joras sat opposite him.

    Giving off a loud and obviously frustrated sigh Joras began speaking.

    "After a long and heated debate, it was decided that the rescue expedition would be set for two days from now."

    Joras pausing to hear Marcus'' reaction got exactly what he was expecting.

    "Two days, why the hell do you need two days, their was already so many high-level people gathered here just for the meeting, it should only take a few hours to gather personnel and supplies before the expedition is ready."

    "Yes, you are correct if rescuing the princess was everyone''s top priority, unfortunately she is not only an adventure but a member of this kingdom''s royalty and even if her session is low on thedder, she still holds immense political power especially here in Loursend as the royals representative. A majority of the knights of the city answer directly to the city''s Viceroy Marquis Krenston and he has stated that it will take two days to get the forces organized and supplies together.

    Realizing that the dys for Mrazivy''s were a political stunt by the powers at be in Loursend Marcus became furious.

    ''What the hell, those bastards would rather she die so that they can grasp at a few extra stands of political power than man up and do what was right.''

    Joras seeing that Marcus was fuming continued on about the remaining details of the rescue operation for Mrazivy.

    "It is sad, but it is the way things are, the guild is of course could be ready tounch a team in a matter of hours, but we hardly have the manpower to bust through the third floor of the dungeon. Even with me and the main branch master the third level is far different than the first and even second level. Every monster is above level twenty, and they can often appear in droves that can overwhelm even people at my level. Luckily, we have the princess'' location thanks to a magic item she has on her that transmits her location every fifteen hours, but she is deep in the third level of the dungeon, and it will take even an experienced team at least a week to get there even if we run into no problems."

    With the information that Joras had just given him about having Mrazivy''s location a glimmer of hope crept into Marcus'' eyes. While he was not that close to Mrazivy he did have a few reasons, he wanted to save her. He had really hit it off with her in his form as Irene and thought they could be good friends and if he ever got in trouble with the kingdom or some pompous noble having a princess as and ally would be invaluable. He also needed her to help him locate Viscount Poulsen who he still nned to get revenge on.

    With a resolute look in his eye Marcus asked Joras if he could have the information detailing Mrazivy''s location.

    Joras looked at him with a look of disbelief before saying, "Are you serious if you think you have a chance down there you are wrong. Do not get me wrong you are strong probably the strongest person I have ever seen at your level, but I am level thirty-five and even I would not be able to go farther than just the periphery of the third level without support. I do not know why you want to help the princess so bad, but you can''t help her by charging head strong into the dungeon. There will be an emergency mission posted in a few hours and any one silver rank or higher and level twenty-five or higher will be able to sign up. I rmend you wait till then and sign up for the mission if you really want to help."

    Shaking his head not willing to budge on the issue Marcus said, "I do not n to wait I can get there faster than anyone else, and I will go looking whether you give me the location or not."

    Joras seeing that Marcus was adamant about going now with or without his help caved and pulled out the information on her location and gave it to Marcus.

    Looking it over Marcus found that it was a map of the surface above the dungeon and the first level pinpointing the area where she was except that she was about three thousand feet underground.

    "Thanks, with this I should be able to reach her by the end of the day."

    "Yeah sure, when you find that the third level is too much for you to handle alone,e back here and you can join up with the team that is going to execute the rescue mission."

    Getting up with a determined expression on his face Marcus exited Joras''s office and set off towards the dungeon.

 Chapter 69 - 68 Searching The Third Layer

    With the information on Mrazivy''s location in hand Marcus rushed out of the guild building and ran towards the northwest gate.

    Upon arriving Marcus quickly exited through the gate and started running at top speed to the entrance of the dungeon and once the guard station that protected the entrance came into view Marcus went back into his ghost form.

    Now intangible and invisible Marcus slipped by without any hassle or having to pay the entrance fee and was able to get to the grand entrance of the Ocean Bluff Temple with ease.

    Floating into the first chamber of the dungeon where most adventures would finish up final preparations for their dungeon exploration since monster rarely entered the area, Marcus found a quiet corner where no one else could see him and returned to his physical form.

    Now that he was safely within the dungeon Marcus took out the map, he was given by Joras and looked it over to find the best route to Mrazivy''s location.

    Looking through the many routes he found the most direct route followed through a massive set of caverns that were filled with a shallowyer of water and were home to some of the most dangerous creatures on the first level.

    ''She is about seventeen miles away from here, and while for most people this would be a dangerous and arduous trek through waters thate up to their thighs for me it might as well still be solid ground.''

    Shooting off in the direction of the caverns Marcus ran at top speed intent on making it to Mrazivy with as much haste as possible since inside the dungeon every second could be deadly.

    Passing through a few corridors and barely slowing down to dispatch monsters that got in his way Marcus moved at incredible pace through the dungeon and soon came to the massive group of caverns he was aiming for.

    Now standing on the edge of the water that filled up around the first foot and a half of the dungeon''s floor, Marcus poured a small amount of mana into his new boots and tested them out for the first time.

    When he put his foot on the water for the first time, he instincts told him that he would sink, but the magic enchantments in his boots of the deep held him above the water allowing him to walk over it.

    With the power of his boots proven, Marcus ran atop the water even faster than he would have on drynd.

    Running across the water Marcus made better time than most could hope for and simply used his iron sphere or a lightning javelin to blow away any monsters that impeded him and after around two hours he managed to reach the general location above Mrazivy.

    ''I should be right above her give or take a few hundred feet, so with a bit of searching around I should be able to find her.''

    Shutting off his solid soul and turning back into a ghost Marcus used one of his greatest abilities and slipped through the ground. While most people would have to navigate through all threeyers of the dungeon to reach Mrazivy''s current location, Marcus was able to circumvent them and head straight for the correct location on the third level bying in from above.

    Phasing through the floor Marcus had to be careful to not go to far since thest thing he wanted was to end up at the center of Mirrion again, because he lost his sense of direction.

    Knowing exactly how fast he could float Marcus counted each second estimating exactly how far he had gone and once he had descended a thousand feet, he came into another opening on the secondyer of the dungeon.

    After giving a cursory nce just to make sure he was on the second level, Marcus continued his decent down into the earth.

    After floating down for another few minutes Marcus stopped still surrounded by earth on all sides but believing that he had reached the depth he wanted to be at.

    ''I was hoping I could juste out into another room like with what happened on the secondyer, but it looks like my precautions paid off. If I had not been counting my distance I just would have kept going until I reach another opening at who knows how deep.''

    Thanking his good sense Marcus started floating in every direction a hundred feet and when he moved towards the south, he once again found himself in an open space.

    Noticing that their was a sizeable poption of some type ofrge crabs that were all above level twenty Marcus was certain he had made it to the third level.

    ''Now all I need to do is search around for her and with a bit of luck I can locate her within a few hours.''

    Systematically searching around the area in a circr fashion slowly increasing the circumference of the area he was looking in Marcus was unable to find any trace of Mrazivy, even after having searched over and area with a diameter of half a mile. However, Marcus did not give up and soon while he was passing through a wall, he ran into a barrier that prevented him from entering.

    Circling around the area he could not enter Marcus eventually came out to an opening where there was a massive stone door depicting powerful monsters and was nked on either side by massive statues.

    The two statues depicted different monsters, one being arge forty-foot-long serpent that coiled around a pir while the other was a thirty-foot-tall cyclops holding a massive club.

    ''Fuck, if this is what I think it is I am incredibly unlucky. From what I read in the book that had details about the Ocean bluff temple, the boss rooms on each level are protected by two guardians and only once they are defeated can one enter and challenge the boss.''

    Thinking that there was no way Mrazivy was unlucky enough to be teleported straight into the boss room on the third level, Marcus continued his search but after going for another whole day and covering a massive amount of ground concluded that the only ce, she could be in was the boss room.

    ''This blows, I have looked all over but there is not a single sign of her, even if she had moved from herst recorded location, I should have found at least some traces of her by now. The only option left is for me to check the boss room, but if she ended up in there how would she even survive. While she may be a high level the bosses of each level are far stronger than normal monster at their same level, simr to me. I am not sure I have a chance of winning even if the current boss is as low level as possible. There is a good possibility she is already dead so maybe I should just head back to the surface and cut my losses. But then I would have wasted all this time for nothing and if she is still alive, I might be able to save her.''

    Mulling over his options figuring out the pros and cons of leaving or trying to confront the thirdyer boss Marcus eventually decided to give it a try.

    He figured worst case scenario he could probably escape and if he did manage to kill the boss and rescue Mrazivy he would obtain arge quantity of valuable items.

    With his mind set he approached the doors leading into the bossesyer and when he was around thirty feet away the stone statues started toe to life as the two guardians prepared to defend the boss room.

 Chapter 70 - 69 Guardians

    Staring at the statues that were slowlying to life Marcus cast his iron skin and lightning strider spells and channeled mana throughout his body, enchanting himself expecting a difficult battle. He then proceeded to summon his iron golem before appraising each of the guardians.

    ''Both are level twenty-eight; this is not going to be easy.''

    The two guardians now fully formedunched themselves towards Marcus intent on killing or driving him away as a test to see if he was worthy to challenge the boss of the thirdyer.

    Ordering his iron golem to engage the cyclops Marcus met the serpent head on taking his scythe out and letting loose a powerful sh right off the bat.

    However, the giant serpent sprung back with incredible agility dodging Marcus scythe attack and coiling itself upunched a quick strike attempting to swallow Marcus whole.

    Seeing the impending strikeing Marcus sent a huge amount of his mana into his left boot before raising his leg and mming it back onto the ground.

    A massive fifteen-foot-tall wave then burst forth from Marcus'' boot mming into the serpent as itshed towards Marcus.

    While the power of the wave did little damage to the serpent it did have enough force to redirect its strike causing it to go wide missing Marcus and mming into the dungeon wall behind him.

    Using this opening Marcus used his speed burst to rush forward and take another powerful sh at the serpents body and this time it was in no position to dodge.

    The scythe then cut through the serpents hard scales and thick skin cutting through around a quarter of its thickness.

    Blood began gushing out of the horrible wound on the serpents body and Marcus jumped back feeling something was off due to his danger sense.

    Looking at where the blood impacted Marcus noticed that the ground was sizzling and melting away.

    ''Acid blood, this is not good, I will need to be extra careful to not get any of its blood on me, oh shit.''

    Interrupting his thoughts Marcus quickly had to evade a huge object that came barreling towards him.

    ncing over at the object that just flew past him Marcus could see his iron golem now with a huge dent in it imbedded directly into the dungeon wall.

    Looking behind him Marcus noticed that the cyclops was approaching from behind after thoroughly trouncing his iron golem.

    Unfortunately, the serpent having recovered from its impact into the wall and Marcus'' sh took the opportunity in hispse of awareness and swung its tall right at Marcus.

    Even though his danger sense started ring Marcus was unable to move out of the way of the serpents tail thatshed out at him like a whip and was mmed incredibly hard in the side.

    Flying across the room from the force of the serpents tail whip Marcus smashed into multiple walls bouncing off of them like a pinball until he final stopped and the wall he smashed into copsed on top of him.

    Collecting himself after getting hit by the equivalent of a bus Marcus climbed out of the ruble and watched as the serpent and cyclops perused him nning to finish him off.

    Deciding to hold back no longer Marcus lifted up his hand and condensed arge amount of mana before sting off a heighten thunderbird strike.

    Therge birdposed off electricity shot forward towards the serpent and cyclops crackling with overwhelming power.

    The two creatures though, were notpletely stupid and recognized the threat of Marcus'' tier four lightning spell and activated defense measures.

    The cyclops jammed its club into the ground and runes began to light up on its weapon and body, while the serpent excreted acid from its skin that covered its entire body.

    The spell then impacted into the two powerful creatures causing a massive explosion of electricity to course through their bodies and the room.

    However, while Marcus thought that his attack would kill or at least incapacitate one of them, but when the scene cleared, he could see that both the cyclops and the serpent were still raring to go.

    Of course, they did not escape the powerful spellpletely uninjured as they now had scorch marks throughout their bodies but neither off them were seriously injured.

    ''Fuck, that was my best single attack, and they are both still standing, how am I going to deal with them now.''

    Unfortunately, the monster and magical beast duo were not going to give Marcus any time toe up with a strategy as the cyclops raised its club up high before smashing it into the ground.

    The immense power of the strike caused a shockwave to st through the ground directly for Marcus.

    Seeing the impending danger Marcus leapt into the air avoiding the shockwave only to find the serpent hadunched itself towards him ready to impale him on its massive fangs.

    Acting quickly Marcus cast his tier three lightning bind spell and closed the serpents mouth shut and instead of being skewered by its fangs he was bashed by its head.

    Marcus then yed another round of human pinball bouncing off of the dungeons walls and floor until he eventually came to a stop.

    Beaten and battered from the heavy impacts he had taken from the two monsters Marcus could feel even through his enchantments that his body was nearing its limits.

    Trying to gather himself together Marcus looked up in fear as he saw the hulking form of the cyclops looming over him ready to bring its club down on top of him.

    His reflexes taking over Marcus used his speed burst to leap into the air dodging the massive swing of the cyclops by only a few inches.

    However, the cyclops recovered quickly, and wound up like a baseball yer before swinging at Marcus like it was trying to hit a home run.

    Except right before the club hit him Marcus jerked forward missing the powerful club strike andnding on the cyclops'' shoulder.

    Having just managed to dodge thanks to his iron threads spell he had attached to the cyclops'' shoulder Marcus quickly swung his scythe with everything he had jamming the de deep into the sole eye of the cyclops.

    The cyclops screamed in agony as its precious only eye had been destroyed and, in its fury, mmed its club towards the little pest on its shoulder.

    Unfortunately for the cyclops, Marcus jumped down from its shoulder a moment before the club impacted and instead of crushing a pest the cyclops destroyed its own shoulder.

    Feeling immense pain, the cyclops began rolling around on the floor in agony, when it suddenly felt a massive shock of electricity course through its body as Marcus had unleashed another thunderbird strike on it.

    Although at the same moment Marcus had unleashed his tier four spell the serpent had broken his lightning bind and whipped its tail at Marcus mming into his side and causing cracks to form through his body as he skidded across the ground for over fifty feet beforeing to a stop.

    Shakily getting to his feet Marcus looked up and saw the serpent looming over him, anger in its eyes ready to deliver the finishing strike.

    The serpent thenunched itself forward fangs out ready to piece though Marcus, who then tried to jump to the side using his speed burst but was unable to evade fully and the serpents right fang impaled straight through his right side.

    Feeling the pain from the fang sticking out of his side and the acid in the snakes mouth burning his skin Marcus transferred his scythe to his left hand before bringing it down on the serpent''s head.

    The scythe then stabbed directly into the serpents brain causing it to convulse violently shaking its head around and dislodging Marcus off of its fang.

    Smashing into the ground Marcus watched as the serpent writhed around in immense pain until it eventually became still.

    With the battle concluded Marcus could tell that his body was reaching its limit and pulled out one of the healing potions he had obtain from the necromancer.

    Drinking the potion Marcus could feel his wounds trying to close but the damaged was to immense for a single potion and he had to drink three more before he felt that his body would no longer fall apart.

    ''That definitely would have killed a normal person luckily my body is really sturdy, or I would be stain on one of these walls.''

    Laying on the cold dungeon floor Marcus waited for nearly two hours before he felt his lesser regeneration had recovered him enough to move around.

    Getting up and walking over to the serpents body Marcus removed his scythe from the top of its head and then moved over to where the cyclops was.

    When he got to the cyclops, he was surprised to find it still alive, but it was too badly damaged to move.

    Taking his scythe Marcus sliced across the cyclops'' throat causing a torrent of blood to gush out until the cyclops sumbed to blood loss and died.

    With the two guardians dead the door to the boss room lit up with a soft blue light before opening and allowing Marcus to enter.

 Chapter 71 - 70 Boss Of The Third Layer

    ''You have level up to level twenty-seven''

    Marcus was not surprised by his level up since he had been fairly close to the next level after defeating the necromancer and his army of undead. He then quickly essed his status and distributed his stat points, giving nine to both intelligence and spirt, eight to agility, and seven to strength and vitality.

    Looking over his skills Marcus desperately wanted to get one of his level four skills to level five but found that the difference between level four and five to be steep.

    Even for the two skills he had the most affinity for, scythemanship and iron magic, Marcus found that it would cost him fifty-six skill points to level up scythemanship and fifty-eight for iron magic.

    ''I wanted to save up and get a more powerful skill but if I am going to challenge the boss of the thirdyer, I need every advantage I can get.''

    Using everyst one of his skill points Marcus leveled up his mana body, speed burst, mana regeneration, and powerful sh skills to level four.

    With his status now updated and hisbat strength once again increased, Marcus looked at the open boss door in front of him, and instead of entering turned around back towards the cyclops and serpent.

    Marcus knew that he would need around another hour to get back into peak condition and he had no intention of fighting the boss if he was not in top form.

    He then headed of to the cyclops and sliced open its chest and hacked away at its muscles until he pulled out arge, green magic core slightly bigger than his head. Satisfied with the color and size of the core Marcus stored it away in his item box before heading over to the serpent''s body.

    He had to proceed very carefully using his iron threads to lift the serpent in the air as he cut arge gash on its throat, allowing the acidic blood in the serpent topletely drain out.

    Once there was but only a few drops of blood left in the serpent Marcus, removed its fangs and magic core before storing them in his item box.

    With his loot now collected, Marcus sat down and focused on his recover so he could take on the boss at his best.

    ''Now I need to not lose track of my goal, if Mraz is not alive in there, I have no reason to risk my life fighting a creature that is obviously going to be stronger than me. It took everything I had and then some too beat the two guardians, so the boss is certainly stronger. And if she is alive, I need to try to get her out without fighting if all possible, I may be tough and near unkible, but I do not want to stress test my survivability if I do not have to.''

    With his ns set Marcus sat down and rxed for around an hour calming his mind and strengthening his spirt.

    Once he felt he was at his prime, Marcus stood up and made his way towards therge double doors that lead to the boss'' chambers.

    Walking through the doors Marcus finds himself in a small room with only a descending spiral staircase in it.

    Checking around just to make sure that there was no secret door or hidden space, and when he was satisfied that here were none he went over to the stairs and began his decent.

    After walking down about the equivalent of five flights of stairs Marcus arrived in a massive open room that had huge luminous crystals jutting out of every wall.

    The room also had streams of water flowing through it causing their to be a light mist in the room obscuring Marcus'' vison slightly at farther distances.

    Carefully walking deeper into the room Marcus kept his eyes out for the boss and Mrazivy.

    Soon he found Mrazivypletely encapsted by ice like a cocoon and the massive boss of the thirdyer trying to chew through the icy protection.

    Looking at the massive boss Marcus saw that it was over twenty feet tall, around fifty feet long and had numerous distinctive features.

    The thirdyer boss had the head and body of a lion, but its mane was made up of writhing tentacles instead of hair, its four legs all had webbed feet like a duck, it had tworge lobster ws jutting out of its shoulders, it had wings like a bat, and its tail was like a shark but at its end had spinesing out like a stegosaurus.

    ''What the hell is that thing, while the book I read did not have many details about the type of monsters that could spawn as the thirdyer boss, there were no records of any creature remotely like this. Ugh and just my luck it is level thirty-three the highest recorded level of any boss on the thirdyer.''

    While Marcus was appraising the weird monster than was the boss of thirdyer of the Ocean bluff temple it had been continuing to chomp down on the ice protecting Mrazivy and cracks were beginning to form all over the ice.

    Realizing that to rescue Mrazivy he would have to fight and that it was only a matter of time before the monster broke through whatever power was protecting her, Marcus snuck forward doing his best to not garner the boss of the thirdyer''s attention attempting to get off a sneak attack.

    He had managed to get within about a hundred fifty feet when Marcus felt that any closer and he would certainly be noticed.

    Sending as much mana as he could into his right-hand Marcus unleashed a powerful heightened thunderbird strike hoping to catch the beast off guard and do serious damage with his first attack.

    Unleashing the powerful spell, the electricity taking the form of a thunderbird shot forward with amazing speed and power.

    However, the boss of the thirdyer was not so easily surprised and when the spell was being formed, it sensed the new intruder that was trespassing into its home and turned around to counter.

    The boss of the thirdyer then let forth a torrent of boiling water from its mouth, which impacted with and overpowered Marcus'' tier four lightning spell.

    Seeing the st of boiling watering right for him, Marcus used his speed burst to quickly move out of the way as the water sted through the ground carving out another stream in the dungeon''s floor.

    Looking over towards the boss Marcus saw it leisurely lumbering towards him as if it did not view him as any threat but simply some food to be yed with.

    Realizing he was going to be in for a tough fight, while the beast was slowly approaching him, Marcus cast his enchantment spells, and infused his weapon and body with mana.

    He then summoned his iron golem and ordered it to attack, while he followed right behind.

    Letting his golem take the attention of the boss monster Marcus swiftly ran around its side and tried to sh the underbelly of the beast.

    Unfortunately, the boss monster cared not for the iron golem and simply swatted it aside with one of its huge paws, while at the same time swinging its tail at Marcus.

    Having to cancel his attack and take evasive action Marcus jumped out of the way of the spiked shark tail and looking over towards his iron golem saw that the single paw swipe had totaled it leaving him alone to fight a creature well above his level.

 Chapter 72 - 71 Three Minutes To Win

    Staring up at the massive beast that he was currently fighting Marcus wondered if he had gotten way in over his head.

    He thought about retreating as he was under no obligation to save Mrazivy and could probably get away so long as he reverted to his ghost form.

    However, Marcus quickly shook this though out of his head, he hade down here with the express purpose to find her and he knew that letting her die would cut off plenty of advantageous avenues for him.

    ''I will give it my best shot and if that is not enough then I can retreat.''

    Steeling himself Marcus, cast his iron sphere, and brought forth his spectral hand ready to engage the boss of the thirdyer once again.

    Shooting forward with his iron sphere on his left side and his spectral hand on his right Marcus charged directly for the monster before him.

    In return the boss of the thirdyer looked at him almost mockingly as if it was thinking about how silly it was for this tiny thing to challenge its power.

    Approaching with a burst of speed Marcus found his first obstacle to be one of the monster''s lobster ws which hade down to crush him.

    Spinning on the tip of his toes Marcus moved around the lobster w, getting closer to the main body of the boss monster.

    Seeing that Marcus had evaded its fist attack the beast picked up its right paw and brought it down with immense force.

    jumping into the air to dodge and aiming to attack the monsters face Marcus readied his scythe for a powerful sh.

    Of course, now that he was in the air, the boss of the thirdyer thought that Marcus would be an easy target and brought down its second lobster w, expecting to smash Marcus back into the ground.

    However, before the w impacted him Marcus used his spectral hand as a midair foot hold and leaped forward directly for the monster''s face. And while the boss of the thirdyer was surprised by Marcus'' midair evasion he was still heading for its head, so it simply opened its mouth intent on eating him with one huge bite.

    Again, right before the monsters toothy maw sank down into Marcus, he used his iron sphere as another foot hold jumping just above the boss''s jaw and right in front of his target.

    With his strategy having worked and being able to create and opening Marcus swung his scythe and even added his searing weapon spell to the de before he cut deep into the left eye of the beast.

    Blood and other fluids then began to burst out of the destroyed eye some of them boiling into mist from the heat of Marcus'' weapon.

    Unfortunately, at that moment the boss of the third level experiencing the indescribable pain of having its eye cut open and burned started thrashing about in a frenzy.

    Jumping off the monster''s face Marcus tried to get back to the ground and get to a safe distance but on the way down the tentacles that made up the monster''s mane began thrashing about and a couple of them connected with Marcus blowing him away.

    Smashing against the ground and sliding for a few dozen feet Marcus quickly regained his bearings and jumped back to his feet ready to continue the battle.

    Looking over towards the boss monster Marcus could see that its expression had changed from one of yful indifference to that of seething rage.

    The boss of the thirdyer then let off a powerful roar that shook the entire room before swing its tail forward at Marcus and shooting of a barrage of its tail spines at him.

    Not expecting the sudden flurry of spines Marcus hastily avoided the attack that was equivalent to multiple tanks opening fire, except he found that his escape route had been left open on purpose and the boss monster was waiting for him.

    It then let loose a rush of paw swipes trying to slice apart Marcus who was just barley able to keep up.

    However, when it started adding in attacks from both of its lobster ws Marcus was having immense trouble dodging ever attack.

    Soon he was overwhelmed, now that the boss monster was no longer ying around with him and taking their fight seriously Marcus had no openings to counterattack, and it was only a matter of time before he was hit.

    Trying to create some distance between him and the boss monster Marcus charged his right boot with mana before mming it down and creating a twenty-foot-tall wave of water.

    Unfortunately, the boss monster simply opened its mouth and released another jet of boiling water from its mouth blowing apart the wave and nearly engulfing Marcus who just managed to get out of the way.

    Except in his pathy one of the boss monster''s lobster ws ready to grab him like a vice.

    ''I guess I have no choice, time to give it a try.''

    After that thought right before the w grabbed a hold of him and crushed him, Marcus suddenly vanished, and the boss monster''s lobster w was falling to the ground severed from its body.

    Giving off earsplitting howl of pain and anger the boss monster looked around for the little being that had caused it more damage than it ever thought possible and when its one good eyended on Marcus, it saw that he was slightly glowing with a soft white light.

    The boss monster could tell that the aura that Marcus was now emitting felt far more dangerous than before and even felt a tinge of fear for the first time.

    Quickly checking himself out Marcus could feel his body brimming with power, now that he had activated his soul burst unique skill for the first time.

    Understanding just how much stronger he was now Marcus looked up at the boss monster and gave a chilling grin.

    ''Time to get serious I have three minutes before my soul burst runs out and I am a sitting duck.''

    Coming up with a quick n Marcus first summoned forth another iron golem expect this time now that his stats had doubled the iron golem was an even higher level than him at level thirty.

    Now standing at twenty feet tall the farrger and more powerful iron golem was ready to fight and would not be batted around so easily.

    Allowing his iron golem to charge the boss monster head on Marcus made his way around the left side of it where its lobster w had been severed.

    The boss monster tried the same thing it did the first time Marcus executed this strategy but unlikest time found that the iron golem could hold its ground and caught its paw swipe.

    Like wise it tried to knock Marcus away with a tail strike but now that Marcus'' stats were doubled his speed was many times higher and he easily slipped past the tail and under the boss monster.

    Now under its exposed belly Marcus leaped up and jammed his scythe into the flesh of its stomach before bring his spectral hand out and grabbing hold of it with his left hand it.

    He then used his spectral hand to pull himself across the entire length of boss monster slicing open its stomach.

    Letting off another howl of anger the boss monster tried tounch another barrage of tail spines under it to skewer Marcus, but he had alreadye out from below it and delivered a powerful sh to its right side.

    At the same time his iron golem connected a powerful punch to its face causing some of its fangs to shatter and break off.

    Enraged by the to attack the boss monster wrapped its mane tentacles around the iron golem''s arm before using its remaining fangs to bite down on the arm and rip it off.

    It had also retaliated against Marcus swinging its remaining lobster w right for him trying to crush him.

    Except, Marcus cast his iron threads and attached them to the w andunched himself above it and as he was passing by unleashed another powerful sh cutting through the second lobster w.

    Afraid of its worsening situation the boss monster bashed Marcus''s iron golem away and using its wings leaped into the air to get away from it and Marcus.

    Flying to the top of the three-hundred-foot-tall ceiling, the boss monster figured it could pelt its enemies from the sky with its tail spines and unleash its boiling water breath attack to finish them off.

    Unfortunately, now that it was in the air where it was less nimble Marcus condensed a colossal amount of mana into his left hand before unleashing another thunderbird strike right for the boss monster.

    Seeing the iing dangerous mass of electricity that was now asrge as it was, the boss monster once again released a torrent of boiling water from its mouth to try counter Marcus'' spell.

    But unlikest time the water was unable to overpower Marcus'' tier four lightning magic spell and the electricity ran throughout its body causing it massive damage and its muscles to seize up.

    Marcus seeing the boss monster now plummeting toward the ground and running out of time, ran over to his iron golem and jumped onto its remaining arm.

    He then ordered the iron golem to throw him up toward the boss monster and with all of its strength the iron golemunched him forward.

    Flying up with incredible speed Marcus charged his scythe with as much mana as he could, and the powerful mana unable to be contained within the de spread out creating the image of a ten-foot-long scythe.

    Swinging up with everything he had the powerful mana scythe sliced through the neck of the falling boss monster causing its head to separate from its body.

    The now two parts of the boss monster then mmed into the ground causing two separate craters and Marcus impacted into the ceiling of the room.

    Realizing he was about to fall Marcus attached his iron threads to the ceiling and lowered himself back down to the ground and looking at the severed head and body of the boss monster Marcus knew he had won.

 Chapter 73 - 72 Treasure And Rescue

    However, while looking at the now dead body of the boss monster he had just defeated Marcus could only feel a sense of aplishment for a moment before the bacsh of his soul burst kicked in.

    He felt his body and soul be incredibly heavy and it was as if someone had loaded him up with multiple balls and chains.

    Luckily, the feeling of weakness was soon ignored as Marcus heard two familiar notifications in his head.

    ''You have leveled up to level 28''

    ''You have leveled up to level 29''

    A bit surprised by the two-level ups Marcus soon had a massive smile on his face.

    Checking his log since he doubted that even though the boss monster of the third level was incredibly strong it would give him enough exp to level up twice.

    ''Low and behold, a notification that says I leveled up for defeating the strongest monster in a dungeon. It has been a while since I got two levels at the same time, except even with the increased power my stats are only at a fourth of their strength for a week.''

    Looking at his status Marcus assigned seventeen skill points to spirt and intelligence, sixteen to agility, and fifteen to both strength and vitality.

    Once he had finished doing that Marcus noticed that a blue light was traveling across the dungeon floor from many directions and all of them were converging in the center of the room.

    A few momentster a chest popped up out of the ground, and the lid slid open.

    Seeing the chest appear Marcus could not help but rush over to it even though he was exhausted.

    Looking through it he found a load of rare and valuable items, there were a few dozen ingots of mithril, multiple natural treasures, vials of different colored liquids, and minerals imbued with magical properties like ice crystals. But the thing that stood out the most was therge egg that was half ck and white and was nked by two skill orb.

    ''Wow that is a lot of treasure, with this I should be able to have a number of magic items manufactured and anything I do not need will fetch a pretty penny. Though the most curious thing is this egg, from what I read, after beating the boss of ayer a few adventures did receive eggs and hatched powerful magical beasts out of them. I wonder what I will get out of this, maybe it will be a dragon or a phoenix or something really powerful like that.''

    While he was fantasizing about what kind or creature would hatch from the egg he had just received, he heard the sound of shattering ice behind him and watched as the cocoon of ice protecting Mrazivy broke apart releasing her.

    Looking behind him he saw Mrazivy coughing loudly as she recovered from being encased in ice.

    Marcus then walked over to her, and said, "Hello there your highness are you doing okay."

    Pulling herself together Mrazivy stood up and gave a little bow before saying, "Thank you for killing that monster even if it was not your intention to help me. Though I must say I am surprised that I do not recognize someone as strong as you, I thought I knew who all of the strongest people in Loursend were."

    "Yeah, I just arrived a few days ago and became a silver rank adventure. That was when I heard of your highness'' disappearance and decided to see if I coulde down here and find you."

    Mrazivy then looked at Marcus with a look of shock and then some suspicion wondering what was going on. She had her fair share off enemies, and she would not put it past some of them to hire an unknown expert toe and kill her during her time of plight.

    However, she soon washed away these thoughts since her crystal prison artifacts would not have deactivated if a hostile mana source was still nearby.

    ''If he had any malicious intent towards me, I would still be encased in ice, and I doubt that there are many assassins that would be willing to stick around and fight the thirdyer boss when it was obvious that it would kill me on its own eventually.''

    With her worries abated Mrazivy gave Marcus a bright smile before saying, "Again you have my gratitude foring down here to save me and in the name of the thirteenth princess of the kingdom I promise you will be rewarded."

    Hearing the possibility of a reward Marcus stared imagining what he could get for recuing a princess, he already had plenty of magic materials since he had just received them from dungeon chest, so he did not need any of those.

    ''I guess what I need most right now is more money, exploring the world is expensive and a few thousand gold would do me good right about now.''

    Once he was done thinking about how much money he was going to ask for from the kingdom Marcus realized a fatal w in his rescue n.

    Certainly, he hade down here headstrong and found and rescued the princess from the boss monster of the thirdyer of the dungeon, but he had no idea how to get back to the surface since he had cheated his way down with his ghost form.

    He also had another problem, even though his stats were especially high for his level they would be only at twenty-five percent for another week, and he would not be strong enough to fight through the dungeon''s thirdyer.

    While he was racking his brain on what to do Mrazivy spoke up and said to him.

    "Are you okay, you have been deep in thought for a while now and I was wondering if you were going to collect your treasures so we can get out of here."

    Coming out of his thoughts Marcus realized he was in no condition to traverse the dungeon right now and said, "I am afraid that I have a slight problem, I did manage to beat the boss monster over there, but I had to use a double-edged skill to do it, my stats are going to be quartered for the next week. I would like to leave now, but currently I am afraid I do not have the strength to make it back out of the dungeon."

    With the look of suspicioning back onto her face Mrazivy took out a magic item that looked like a monocle and put it over her eye. She then looked good and hard at Marcus for about a minute before she saw Marcus'' status and was blown away.

    She did find that his stats were all currently lowered to only a quarter of their normal value, but they were all unnaturally high to begin with. Not to mention the slew of powerful skills that only the most experienced adventures and knights would normally have.

    ''What the hell is he, he is only level twenty-nine, but he is already stronger than me, and I did not see the skill he was talking aboutˇ­ wait could he have a unique skill.''

    Marcus noticed that Mrazivy had been staring at him intently with the magical molecule she had pulled out and was starting to get a bit ufortable.

    "Um, do I have something on my face or have you not finished appraising me yet."

    Mrazivy realizing that she had been staring at Marcus'' face for too long quickly looked away with her cheeks turning slightly red.

    "Sorry about that I know it is rude to appraise someone without their consent, but I have to be extra careful since it would not be the first time for assassins to try to kill me. On another note, I did not find the skill you were talking about that lowered your stats temporarily, do you by any chance have a unique skill?"

    Thinking that there would be no harm in answering that questions since lying about it would just make him seem suspicious Marcus confirmed that he did indeed have a unique skill.

    Mrazivy then looked at him with a gaze of respect and even a tinge of jealous, before saying, "Well if you are not confident in leaving the dungeon right now, we should stay here until you have recovered since now that the boss is gone this room should be safe.. Though I am sure that a rescue party will have already been dispatched and since you found me in only a little over a day, I am sure they are not far behind."

 Chapter 74 - 73 Dungeon Woes

    Sighing Marcus started to realize the problems that his n to save Mrazivy had. While he had managed to find her and rescue her from the strongest monster in the dungeon, he had no idea how to get back to the surface.

    He also was currently in a predicament since his stats were at only twenty-five percent and was far to weak to even attempt fighting back to the surface.

    Of course, he could just float back up through the ground using his ethereal ghost form, but then he would have to leave Mrazivy behind and that would have defeated the whole purpose of his trip down to the thirdyer.

    ''I suppose I need to tell her the truth with a healthy sprinkle of lies.''

    "Your highness I have to tell you that the rest of the rescue party will not being as fast as you think. I came this far on my own because I heard that the knights were going to need two days to gather suitable personnel and supplies to make the trip to look for you. Moreover, I used a ime use magic item that allowed me to slip through walls to get here, and from what branch master Joras told me I do not expect anyone to get here any earlier than five days from now.''

    Understanding what was going on from what Marcus had just told her Mrazivy said with anger in her voice, "Krenston, that bastard has had it out for me since I would not marry his son or roll over to his political schemes. He must have seen this as his best chance to get rid of me by dying the rescue effort. Though I am surprised that a random stranger like you used such a valuable item just toe and rescue me but you seem to be an upright person so I will trust you for now. Also, there is no need to keep calling me your highness just call me Mrazivy."

    "Okay, no problem Mrazivy, so I guess we should stay here for either until I recover my stats, or the rescue party arrives, though we are lucky that one of your party members managed to make it back to the surface and inform us of your predicament otherwise we would not have even known what was going on."

    When Marcus had finished speaking his words had reminded Mrazivy that she was not the only one in a precarious situation in the dungeon but that the rest of her party was as well.

    She then started to rush towards the exit in a frenzy to find her party and help them out.

    However, Marcus grabbed ahold of her and said, "Wait, do you think you are going to be able to help anyone if you just rush out into the dungeon. You know that your party got hit by a teleportation trap and could be anywhere in the dungeon. The only reason I was able to find you was because of the magic item you have on you that transmits your location."

    Mrazivy looked at the golden emblem on her arm before sighing and slumping to the ground in defeat. She was the only one in her group that had such an item, and she only wore it because her father made it a requirement if she wanted to be an adventure.

    "Hey, since you ended up in the worst possible location in the dungeon maybe the rest of your party got lucky and were teleported to rtively safe locations. One of them already made it back so maybe the rest are already on the surface waiting for you."

    Mrazivy looked up and gave Marcus a slight smile since he was obviously trying to cheer her up.

    She then collected herself, and in an effort to forget that most of her party might be in trouble or already dead decided to get to work.

    "Since we are going to be down here for a while how about we set up a camp and cook some food."

    Nodding his head Marcus searched around for the driest and ttest area in the boss''s room and eventually found one a dozen or so yards away from the chest that still housed his treasures.

    Marcus then quickly walked over to the treasure chest he had won from defeating the boss monster of the thirdyer and stored everything he could in his item box.

    Unfortunately, he could not store the egg since living beings could not go into his item box.

    Picking up the egg Marcus wondered what he was going to do with it when Mrazivy came over and said, "Ah I see you have found us some dinner."

    Marcus then looked at her with an appalled face before she startedughing loudly and only calmed down after a minute.

    "Sorry your face there was pretty funny, did you really think that I was serious. Obviously, it would be a waste to eat whatever is in there since it will probably turn out to be a powerful magical beast."

    At that moment while he was holding the egg Marcus heard a ding in his head saying, ''Would you like to add the supplementarypanion system to your personal status for twenty-two skill points.''

    Marcus quickly excepted the request spending twenty-two of the twenty-four skill points he had just received from leveling up and when he checked his status a new option that saidpanion status, had appeared.

    Companion Status

    0/1 Companions

    0/1 Companions Stored

    After looking it over for a couple of minutes and trying to register the egg he had as apanion Marcus found that nothing, he did worked to add the egg to his system.

    ''There must be some other requirements to add apanion, maybe I can only do it after whatever is in the egg hatches.''

    Once he had finished looking over his newpanion system Marcus noticed that Mrazivy was already getting to work on setting up her tent and that he was falling behind.

    Getting himself back together Marcus started setting up his kind of shabby secondhand tent but found that he had no idea how to do it. After fumbling around for a few minutes Marcus gave up and when he went to look for Mrazivy for help he noticed that she had already finished setting up a massive ornate tent that looked like it was meant for royalty.

    Heading over towards it Marcus walked in and saw that Mrazivy had just taken a fancy cot and mattress out of her magic bag, and that the interior of her tent seemed to have temperature control and lighting.

    Marcus stared dumbfounded at the grandeur of her tent for a good minute before she said to him.

    "Have you already finished setting up you tent, then we can get started on cooking something to eat."

    Marcus then looked at her slightly embarrassed before saying, "How did you get this thing set up so fast, and I am afraid that I have never set up a tent before and could not get the one I have to stay up. Would you be willing to help me out"?

    With a shocked expression on her face Mrazivy responded saying, "Sorry but I do not know how to set up a tent either, mine is a magic item that sets itself up and my party members call it Mrazivy''s portable pce."

    "Oh well, I guess I will just sleep on the ground it is no big deal."

    Marcus began to leave the tent when Mrazivy spoke up and said, "There is plenty of room in my tent so if you want to you can stay in here with me."

    "No, I could not stay in here with you, you are a princess and if word gets out, we slept in the same tent it could cause problems."

    With a slightly angry expression Mrazivy said, "While I may be a princess, I consider myself an adventure first. I have shared my tent with my party members before even at the dismay of my guardian knight, so this is no big deal. You came down here and recued me, so I was willing to help you out, but I suppose if you want to sleep on the cold damp ground outside you are wee to."

    Realizing he was in a no-win situation consented to staying in the tent and brought out his sleeping mat and nkets and arranged them on the opposite side of the tent from where Mrazivy was staying.

    "Now, then we should make something to eat I am staving, what might you have happened to bring down with you."

    Marcus then pulled out the dry rations that he had bought before going into the dungeon with Wild Wind and Mrazivy looked at them with a face of disgust.

    "Is that all you have on you, those are some pretty shabby looking rations."

    A bit offended Marcus said, "Sorry, I did not buy the best rations, I am not royalty with an infinite amount of wealth to buy the best food especially for an impromptu delve into the dungeon to save you. Any way do you not have your own food."

    "I do have some emergency rations which are better than yours, but Marius is the one who carries the food and cooking supplies.. I suppose we will just have to work with what we have."

 Chapter 75 - 74 The Waiting Game

    Both Mrazivy and Marcus took a full inventory of the food they had together and nned out what they were going to eat.

    Luckily between the two of them they came up with the idea to rehydrate some of the dried rations in a stew that tasted much better and was more fulfilling than just eating the rations as is.

    "Ah, that was not bad, considering all we have are these dried rations, it was a good idea to boil off the water flowing through the room so we could get some salt." Mrazivy said after eating far more than Marcus who had no reason to eat other than to keep up appearances.

    "Yeah, well if you had not keptining about how awful the rations were I never would have thought of the idea."

    "Okay I admit, I was whining a bit too much, but can you me me, even while delving into the dungeon I am used to eating better food, but I understand that sometimes you have to deal with what you have. Though if you were stuck down here with some of my sisters, they would have said that you would be executed for trying to get them to eat this food."

    She then startedughing while Marcus held his neck and thanked his lucky stars that Mrazivy was not like her sisters since he did not want the trouble of having a princess'' ire.

    Once they had finished eating fatigue started to set in and the two of them gradually went to their respective beds and fell asleep.

    Waking up the next morning Marcus found that Mrazivy had already left the tent and when he walked out, he saw her practicing with her sword repeating multiple swings.

    When she noticed him, she stopped swinging and said, "Did you want to practice with me a little, there really is not much else to do down here and you do not want your skills to get rusty."

    Figuring he had nothing better to do Marcus brought out his scythe, but when he looked at it, he noticed that some cracks had begun forming on the de.

    Seeing that he had stopped and was starting at his weapon Mrazivy came over and saw the cracks as well.

    "Looks, like you overcharged your weapon, I have had this happen before, if you send to much mana into a weapon it can start to crack and in the worst case even shatter. The damage does not seem to be irreversible, but you should be careful until you get it fixed."

    Thanking her for the advice, Marcus knew that his current weapon had gone just about as far as it could and that he needed to procure a new scythe once he got out of the dungeon.

    The two of them then separated and took a battle stance ready to spare. Unfortunately, Marcus was overwhelmed unable to keep up and lost ever round of sparing.

    This was not only because of his lowered stats but also a difference in experience. While Marcus did have a high skill level for wielding the scythe, he had only truly been using it for a little over a month.

    After Marcus had fought to exhaustion Mrazivy said while breathing heavily, "Your skill with the scythe is impressive but it is like you are relying on talent alone. You fall for every feint I throw at you, and you seem to have almost no experience fighting against people. Swinging your scythe around with expert precision may work well against most monsters, but against people with years of experience honing their weapon of choice you are going to find yourself incking."

    Realizing the wisdom in her words Marcus understood that although he did have high level skills, he did not have to work hard for them like most people. All he had to do was dump some skill points in and his levels would go up, so he had never really practiced with his scythe, and he really was just all talent.

    With that realization Marcus asked Mrazivy if she could help train him how to fight against people, and that was how Marcus'' hellish week of training began.

    With nothing better to do the two of them spent the majority of their time training, and Marcus was able to jump leaps and bounds in his understanding of how to fight with his scythe.

    And when they were not training, they would recant some of the highlights of their adventures though Marcus had to be carful not to tell any of the stories he had already told to her as Irene.

    ˇ­

    One day when they were taking a break form training Marcus was looking over the egg he had received from the treasure chest, and kept wondering what he needed to do to add it to hispanion system.

    Eventually Marcus decided to ask Mrazivy if she knew anything, and he felt like a total idiot after she told him what to do.

    "Wait are you telling me you have not been giving that egg some of your mana, pretty much everyone at your level knows what to do with a magic beast egg. Normally it would be the parents of the magical beast that give it mana, but when a person gets ahold of one, they need to do it instead. This will help to deepen your bond when it hatches and make it less likely to fight back when you but a seal on it."

    Admonishing himself Marcus thought, ''Why did I never try to send any mana into the egg, I even tired sitting on it like a bird, but it never urred to me to give it some of my mana.''

    "Yeah, I really do not know anything about raising a magical beast could you also tell me what this seal is about."

    "Sure, there are actually two types of seals used in this kingdom, the seal of domination and the mutual seal. Most people use the seal of domination since magical beasts are not usually keen on working with humans. This seal allows forplete control of the magical beast and if the holder dies so does the beast. However, if the person subjugating the magical beast is too weak when they try to form the seal it can kill them. However, if a person is able to make a strong bond with a beast, they can make a mutual seal where the two parties work and can grow together and even share some of their powers. So, since you got an egg, I would try for the mutual seal since unless it is an incredibly powerful creature it will not fight back since it is still an egg."

    After getting all the information she knew about magical beasts and how to use them, Marcus felt ready to give the egg some of his mana.

    Circting his mana into the egg Marcus suddenly felt as if vacuum had attached to him as all of his mana was drained at an rming rate.

    After just a few seconds Marcus waspletely wiped out of all of his mana and copsed on the floor exhausted.

    Mrazivy then started snickering at Marcus'' sorry state before saying, "Looks like it was hungry, I guess this is what happens if you go a couple days without feeding it."

    ˇ­

    Marcus continued his routine of training with Mrazivy and feeding the egg his mana whenever he had the chance for the next few days until finally a week had passed, and his stats were back to their full power.

 Chapter 76 - 75 Secret Revealed In The Dungeon

    With the end of the seven days from when he had used his soul burst unique skill Marcus'' stats were restored to their full power.

    He knew immediately when it happened as it felt as if a great weight had been lifted off of his body.

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost

    Level: 29

    HP: 1970/1970 ¨C 1770/1770

    MP: 1970/1970

    STR: 177

    AGL: 176 (+8)

    VIT: 177

    INT: 197

    SPR: 197

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 5

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Solid Soul, Soul Burst

    Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 3, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 2, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful sh Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 3, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure

    Looking over his status just to be sure that his stats had reverted to their original values Marcus felt relief when he saw all of his stats had gone back up. However, what really surprised him was the addition of his new new specter power, phantom pressure.

    After reading the description of his new specter power Marcus was ecstatic since while his ghost sounds had the asional use, and his spectral arm was rtively strong his new specter power was incredible.

    His new power allowed him to directly apply the pressure of his spirt stat onto someone else and depending on the difference between their spirit stats determined the effect. If they were around the same strength, it would just make them feel slightly heavy but if it was weaker, he couldpletely immobilize them or even kill them depending on the difference.

    ''I was happy to see my stats back to their true level, but this new specter power is amazing, I want to go out and try it right away.''

    Marcus then informed Mrazivy of the good news that his stats were no longer under the negative effect of his unique skill and that he was ready to get out of the dungeon.

    The two of them quickly gathered up their supplies putting it away into their respective dimensional storages.

    Once they had everything packed away, they headed towards the stairs that led out of the boss'' chambers and back into normal area of the dungeon.

    However, before they exited the boss'' room Mrazivy stopped Marcus and said, "Before we head out there, we should discuss our battle formation."

    The two of them then discussed their respective fighting styles and found that they both fought fairly simrly going for an all-rounder approach using both magic and weapons. Except while Marcus used a scythe, lightning, and iron magic as his focuses, Mrazivy was and expert with the sword and ice magic.

    Eventually they came to the conclusion for Mrazivy to be the vanguard since Marcus'' weapon was damaged and he would take the rear guard supporting with spells. Nevertheless, this was just a general n and both of them knew there would be times that they needed to be flexible.

    With their battle ns prepared both of them marched up the stairs back into the confines of the dungeon infested with monsters and beasts.

    Of course, normally two people trying to traverse this deep into the thirdyer of the Ocean Bluff temple would end up dead but since both of them were especially powerful they knew that unless something extraordinary happened they would be fine.

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy had no idea where she was in rtion to the dungeon''s exit while Marcus only had a general idea of the direction but did not know where they would find a path leading to the upper levels.

    Pointing the direction that the dungeon''s exit should be in Marcus and Mrazivy started their journey out of the dungeon.

    ˇ­

    "Ice Floor"

    A sheet of ice then covered the floor of the room Marcus and Mrazivy had wandered into and been ambushed by group of magical beasts that resembledrge iguanas.

    They had been fighting this group with little trouble when a huge frog like abomination with multiple mouths came in and started assaulting them as well.

    It kept assaulting themunching its tongues at them trying to reel one of them in and make a meal out of them.

    That was when Mrazivy decided to cast her tier two ice spell ice floor to knock it off bnce.

    "Marcus I will handle the lizards you deal with that frog abomination."

    Nodding his head Marcus sent his tier three lighting bind spell towards the frog abomination coiling it up rings of lighting.

    However, the thing wriggled free almost immediately its body being heavily stic and resistant to electricity.

    Marcus tried shotting it with some fire shots but even with his high spirt stat the level one spell was only doing minimal damage to monster.

    He then tried smacking it around with his iron sphere but found that due to the sticity of its body the blunt attacks were doing almost no damage.

    Unfortunately, the frog abomination eventually got its footing together and though he was doing his best to evade Marcus eventually got tagged by one of its tongues and it reeled him in towards its mouth.

    Reacting quickly Marcus brought out his scythe even though he was trying to avoid using it lest he damage it further.

    Using his scythe Marcus infused it with mana and cut clean through the tongue of the frog monster and used his iron threads to stop his forward momentum so he did not crash into it.

    Getting his bearing back Marcus had juste up with a good idea and charged directly for the frog abomination.

    The monster frog continuedunching its remain tongues towards Marcus, but he wrapped his iron threads around the ones that he could not dodge with ease and soon was right in front of the monster.

    It of course being a hulking mass simply jumped forward intent on crushing Marcus.

    This however, left its stomach open and Marcus used his speed bust skill to shoot under its stomach in midair and sliced vertically down its length cutting open the frog''s belly.

    It then crashed into the ground sprawling around in pain, leaving it open to a follow up attack.

    With his opening created Marcus used his new phantom pressure ability exerting his spiritual power over the frog monster and immobilizing it. He then leaped onto its head and embed his scythe deeply, killing the frog abomination in matter of seconds.

    At the same moment, the air in the room dropped several degrees and Marcus saw a massive flower made of ice appear and then all of the petals mmed together crushing and freezing all of the remaining iguana like magical beasts.

    This was Mrazivy tier four ice spell rime flower that was not inferior in power to Marcus'' own thunderbird strike.

    Walking over Marcus noticed that Mrazivy had a few w wounds on her body that were lightly bleeding.

    Using his healing magic Marcus quickly fixed up her wounds, and she said, "Thanks, now we should head out of here before more monsters or beasts show up. This is already the third time we have run into a fight in thest hour and if this keeps up, we will fall to exhaustion."

    Unfortunately, the dungeon was not so kind as a gargantuan spider that was over eight feet tall, and twenty feet wide dropped down from the ceiling right above Mrazivy.

    Seeing the gargantuan spider, Marcus reflexively fired off a heightened thunderbird strike without feigning the need to chant half in order to protect Mrazivy and half because of his acute fear of spiders.

    The massive bird of electricity then engulfed the spider turning it into a crisp in a single instance.

    However, this did not go unnoticed by Mrazivy as she certainly saw that Marcus had just unleashed one of the most powerful spells she had ever seen and done so without chanting.

    She then positioned her sword at Marcus and said, "What the hell was that you did not chant your spell. When I checked your status, you definitely did not even have chant shortening let alone silent casting. Exin yourself how did you do that."

    For the fist time since he had met her Mrazivy was now showing him an immense amount of hostility, and while she had been suspicious before she had never been hostile.

    Realizing his blunder Marcus decided toe clean and hope that she would still trust him and if not, he would have to kill her in order to keep his secret.

    "I guess you have found me out, I am not human but a monster, but I would like to state that I was a human at one time and still think like one. I am actually a type of ghost that has gained my freedom and since I used to be human, I just decided to keep acting like one."

    Mrazivy stared at him menacingly for a good minute trying to gage whether he was telling the truth before she spoke up and said, "How can I trust anything you say, you are just a monster that is probably nning on doing something unspeakable. It has always been told that intelligent monsters are the most dangerous and can even drag a kingdom to ruin. If I let you live it could be the end of the kingdom of Borealia, you are already strong enough to be a major threat and if you get any stronger no one in the kingdom will be able to stop you."

    Mrazivy thenunched herself towards Marcus her sword glowing a vibrant green and blue from its enchantments and her mana.

    Marcus seeing her approach opened his arms leaving himselfpletely open taking no defensive actions, and when Mrazivy''s sword was only inches away from his neck she stopped her sword and looked at him with a face full of confusion.

    Sighing Marcus said, "I consider you a friend after spending thest week in the dungeon with you and I have no designs to destroy this kingdom or hurt anyone unjustly. I simply want to explore this world and enjoy myself on the journey. If you still think I am a threat, go ahead and strike me down, but after that I will consider you an enemy and treat you as such."

    Mrazivy could feel the cold resolution in Marcus'' voice and could tell she had no chance against him. Lowering her sword, she copsed onto the ground her mind in disarray.

    Marcus crouched down to be at the same level as her and gave her a hug before saying, "Just because I am a ghost does not change anything, I still came down here to save you because I wanted to, and we still became friends over the week we spent together down here. I promise you that as long as you never try to hurt me, I will never hurt you so let us go back to the way we were before."

    Coming to the realization that if Marcus was truly evil or trying to use her, he would not have gone this far, and without him she certainly would have ended up dead at the hands of the thirdyer boss.

    "Your right, you have already done more for me than most of the people who im to be my friends ever would. I am sorry for attacking you, so let us forget about this and go on being friends."

    The two of them then got back onto their feet and continued searching for a way to exit the dungeon.

 Chapter 77 - 76 Exiting The Dungeon

    Having solved the turmoil between them after Mrazivy had learned that Marcus was not human but a ghost, the two of them continued the journey to find the dungeon''s exit.

    Continuing on they did their best to use stealth and to avoid areas that were swarming with monster but on the thirdyer of the dungeon, around almost every corner there was another threat.

    However, as they continued both Mrazivy and Marcus found that the traps were the most difficult thing for them to deal with.

    Neither of them had any experience detecting or disarming traps so even though their vignce was high they only avoided around one out of every five traps.

    This in turn caused Marcus to take the lead since his danger sense at least gave him a little forewarning right before they triggered a trap.

    Unfortunately, he could not avoid every one of these traps and had already been shocked, frozen, buried, and stabbed numerous times.

    This would have certainly kill any normal person but with his ghostly abilities and regeneration he could take a near infinite amount of punishment as long as he was not taken out all at once.

    With his senses incredibly sharp Marcus kept himself on edge ready to take action in case of another trap.

    Nevertheless, when they walked around a corner and into a new room Marcus'' foot pressed down on the wrong ce and the exits to the room were sealed as the area began to fill with water.

    Marcus gave a sigh of relief thankful that this trap was not going to cause him anymore pain. In fact, if he was alone this trap would have absolutely no effect on him but because he was with Mrazivy he could not simply phase through the walls escaping the trap.

    Marcus then used his long-neglected chill zone using his rage at the traps to lower the temperature and freeze the water while Mrazivy did the same with her ice magic.

    Once they had frozen the water and stopped it from filling the room, Marcus summoned his iron golem and had it bust through the wall that was impeding their path.

    "Damn, I am sick of all these traps, I know we went this way because it was sparse with monsters, but the reason is because there are so many traps that even the monsters cannot live here. Maybe we should just take our chances fighting through the monsters since at least then I have something to take my anger out on."

    Mrazivy looked at Marcus with a look of sympathy since this route had been far harder on him than her since he had taken the brunt of the traps while she followed behind avoiding them after he had already found them.

    "I understand but with your sturdiness and ability to bounce back from pretty much anything makes this the more reliable way to go."

    Sighing but having to give into her logic Marcus continued on mostly just running into traps, until he had a good idea.

    He mentally berated himself for not think off such an obvious solution before and quickly cast his iron threads spell sending them out like dozens of feelers.

    With this new strategy while they did move a bit slower Marcus was able to detect a majority of traps and avoid them and eventually even got a skill called trap sensing that increased his rate of finding traps even more.

    ˇ­

    After having traveled a few miles after walking all day through the dungeon Marcus and Mrazivy found as safe a ce as they could to rest and recover their stamina and mana.

    Marcus decided to take the first and only watch since he really did not need to sleep other than to dispel mental fatigue.

    While taking his watch and allowing Mrazivy to sleep Marcus was giving his magical beast egg its daily dose of mana when he suddenly heard a ding in his head.

    ''Your bond with magical beast egg of, error no information in the systemˇ­ has reach suitable levels, would you like to add it to yourpanion status.''

    Stunned by the sudden notification Marcus looked at the egg with a slightly dubious expression wondering what it could be since it was not in the system.

    ''Is it another w in the system, I have already found multiple things that could be considered like bugs in this world''s system so maybe this egg was not cataloged or something. But I got it as a reward for beating a boss monster which is almost certainly a part of the system so how could this end up a reward but not be in the system.''

    Eventually deciding that it was probably a glitch of some kind Marcus decided to add the egg to hispanion system and got a window that showed the status of his new egg.

    Companion 1/1

    Race: Magical Beast Egg of Error

    HP: Healthy

    Hatch Progress: 1%

    Marcus looked over the bare bones status of his newpanion and tried to get more information but when he did the system asked him if he wanted to upgrade hispanion system for eighty-eight skill points.

    ''This is a rip-off, eighty-eight skill points to upgrade something I already spent twenty-two on. And my hatch progress is only at one percent, this thing has been guzzling my mana for a week and it is only at one percent. At this rate it is going to take nearly two years to hatch whatever this thing is, and for all I know it could turn out to be a useless orange fish that can only ssh around.''

    Marcus quickly threw the thought that this magical beast would turn out to be useless to the back of his head, since it dide from a dungeon and had already taken inrge quantities of his mana.

    Once he had depleted his mana into the magical beast egg of unknown origin Marcus stored the egg using hispanion system and continued to watch making sure that no monsters ambushed them while Mrazivy slept.

    When four hours had passed Marcus entered the tent and woke Mrazivy up telling her that it was time to get going again.

    Heading out of the small hidden alcove in one of the dungeon walls Marcus and Mrazivy continued heading towards the exit of the dungeon.

    Walking through the dungeon for about another hour the duo managed to get through ever trap and the asional beast and monster with little difficulty, as they had quickly be experts on how to handle the obstacles they faced on the thirdyer.

    Soon however, they were running into less and less traps and more and more beasts and monsters.

    That was when they heard the sounds of fighting not too far away from them just a few rooms over.

    Now the beasts and monster in the dungeon would of course get into fights between each other but the sound of nging metal and the shouting of people gave away that it was not a fight between monsters or beasts.

    Both of them quickly head in the direction of the fighting and came out into a massive room where they could see around two dozen people battling it out with a swarm of three foot tall six-foot-long quadrupedal fish withrge toothy mouths and sharp ws.

    Seeing the group Marcus immediately recognized Joras swinging his huge mace around crushing any of the fish monsters that got near him.

    Looking over towards Mrazivy, they both shook their heads in unison and headed into the thick of the battle.

    Marcus started off by letting loose some quickly chanted fire shots making sure not to slip up again and reveal his secret.

    Each of his fire shots caused major damage to every fish he hit causing them to flop around in immense pain while also starting to give the room a delicious smell.

    While Marcus unleashed ranged cover with magic Mrazivy leaped into the fray and began hacking away at the fish monsters with her powerful magic sword which Marcus had yet to see fail to cut through anything.

    With the aid of Marcus and Mrazivy the group of knights and adventures quickly dealt with the over one hundred fish monsters.

    Once the battle was over, a middle-aged man in the most ornate armor came forward and in a monotone voice almost as if he did not care said, "Your highness it is good to see that you are alive, we have been dispatched to rescue you, but who might this fellow you are with be I do not recognize him."

    At that Marcus noticed that some of the knights were sending him looks of suspicion and hostility until one man ran forward yelling not noticing the mood.

    "Marcus, you are alive, when you left saying that you were going to rescue the princess, I thought you would be back that same say when you realized how it was impossible to navigate the thirdyer alone. When you did note back, I wrote you off as dead."

    Joras was then interrupted by the ornately dressed knight who looked at him inquisitively and said, "Branch Master Joras do you know this young man."

    Snapping out of his surprise of seeing Marcus not only alive but with the princess in tow, Joras responded quickly saying, "Yeah I know him, he is a silver rank adventure who the day we found out the princess was missing charged straight into the dungeon to look for her. I thought for a bit that he might have even been her secret lover or something with how adamant he was about going to rescue her."

    Everyone then turned their gazes towards Marcus with judging looks while both he and Mrazivy had slightly red faces.

    Mrazivy then coughed getting everyone''s attention before saying, "There is no need for baseless rumors, Marcus here is just fellow adventure who came to help me in my time of need. In fact, he arrived far quicker than any of you and I am quite surprised that it took you this long to find me especially with your aid head knight Vensarious.

    Having redirected the conversation some of the knights had looks of embarrassment on their faces while the adventures stared at them angrily.

    That was when the head knight spoke up with his excuse all ready and said, "I am sorry your highness we were ready to leave much earlier, but an assassination attempt was made against the viceroy and that dyed our departer by a number of days. However, we left as soon as that matter was resolved, and you are safe so our rescue has been a sess."

    Sighing Mrazivy said, "Very well all''s well that ends well. I assume that you are prepared to head back to the surface now that you have found me, and I would very much like to leave post haste."

    With her orders ryed the group of knights and adventures headed back the way they came and after just two and a half days managed to exit the dungeon back to the surface once more.

 Chapter 78 - 77 Wrap Up And Magical Beasts

    Walking up thest steps of the dungeon back out into the open, the first thing Marcus noticed was how much he had missed the light of day. Something about the warmth on his body given off by the light of the sun seemed tofort him.

    After everyone took a moment to rx now that they had finally left the dungeon the group of knights and adventures along with Mrazivy and Marcus headed for Loursend.

    As the group approached the gates, they noticed more and more people began to gather and most of them shouting about how they were happy that the princess had returned.

    It turned out that Mrazivy was quite popr with themon people since she would often address them during festivals and did not act stuck up like other nobles and royals.

    The cheers of people resounded across the streets as they flooded around the group on there way to the adventures guild branch.

    Of course, the knights had wanted Mrazivy to immediately go to the viceroy''s mansion in order to thank him for sending the rescue party, but she had said that she wished to go to the guild before in order to get an update on her missing party members.

    Both of them had found out from the rescue group that two more of her party members had surfaced during the time after Marcus had ventured into the dungeon and since it had still been seven days since the knights and adventures had entered the dungeon, they were both hopeful for more good news.

    Once the group arrived there was a huge crowd of adventures that began pping upon seeing that Mrazivy was safe.

    Nevertheless, the fanfare did notst long as our group quickly ushered into therge conference room in the back of the guild hall.

    A meeting then started about what happened in the dungeon as most people were curious about what had happened with Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Mrazivy being the princess took over telling the tale starting with how she and her party ended up walking into a teleport trap, and after that the lies began. She told of how she found herself in a corridor somewhere in the dungeon and decided to stay put until a rescue came. However, when Marcus ran into her a few dayster this n changed as with Marcus'' help, she now knew the correct path to exit the dungeon. She then recounted a few of there tamer battles to keep the story believable and went until both Marcus and her met up with the rescue party.

    When her story ended some people had skeptical faces knowing that some of her details did not add up but none of them had the status to openly question a princess.

    However, the lies that she and Marcus hade up with were actually far more believable than the truth. No one would have believed that Marcus could defeat the boss of the thirdyer by himself when he was only a silver rank adventure. Also, that Marcus had found her in only a little over a day would have beenpletely unbelievable since it had taken the elite team of knights and adventures more than four days to find them.

    After the meeting was settled and everything was squared away Marcus was quite happy that he had been granted a reward of three thousand gold for his acts of bravery in assisting the princess.

    Mrazivy had actual fought for a much bigger reward but since they had yed down Marcus'' achievements in their retelling of events three thousand was the number they ultimately came to.

    As everyone was exiting the room Marcus and Mrazivy went their separate ways as she had to go and formally thank the viceroy in order to keep up appearances and Joras immediately dragged Marcus up to his office.

    Sitting down on opposite couches Joras started off the conversation saying, "So what really happened down there since anyone with half a mind could tell that what you both said down there was full of lies."

    Marcus feeling his innerwyering out said, "Are you saying that the princess did not tell the truth, that is quite the usationing from you. She is the most credible person in the entire city, she is both a tinum adventure and a princess of the kingdom why would she ever need to lie."

    Joras right away realized that Marcus had no intention of telling him the truth and decided toy off on questioning him.

    "Fine I get it, what happened in the dungeon stays in the dungeon, but I can assure you that some nasty rumors are likely to spread about you two."

    Shaking his head understanding what Joras meant Marcus asked a few of the questions that had been on his mind.

    "Okay, so I heard about this assignation attempt on the viceroy''s life what was that all about."

    Joras then frowned and scoffed before saying, "That was just another stall tactic used by the viceroy in order to dy the rescue party even more. He need a legitimate excuse to dy sending aid to the princess, so he manufactured a fake assassination for himself. He made sure that the attempt happened in the public so no one could question his credibility. Of course, everyone saw it for what it was but without evidence no one could question the viceroy. Though at the end of the day, it does not matter since you seem to have saved the princess before any of us got there anyway.

    Satisfied with Joras'' answer Marcus asked the next question that had been waying on his mind for a while now.

    "Joras, I wanted to know where I could go to put a mutual seal on a magical beast egg would you happen to know any ce where I could do that."

    Joras stared shocked at Marcus wondering where the hell he could have procured such a thing since they were not so easily obtained.

    "That depends on the grade of whatever magical beast is in the egg. There are numerous ces that can handlemon and umon grade magical beasts but for any thing of a higher grade you will need to find a more specialized store."

    Marcus looked at Joras in confusion not knowing that there was a grading scale for magical beasts. He obviously new that some monsters and beast were naturally stronger than others, but he did not know that there was a grading scale that people used to rank them.

    "Could you tell me what the grades used to measure magical beasts are, I actually do not know."

    Shocked once again Joras wondered how Marcus had made it to his level without knowing such basic things about magical beasts.

    "I guess you did tell me you ran away from home and lived in the woods so you would not know. The grading scale goes like this,mon being the lowest, followed by umon, then rare, epic, legendary, and finally mythic. Most of the magical beasts that you see around here are going to bemon or umon magical beast and maybe the asional wealthy merchant or high-ranking noble will have a rare magical beast. Ah a good example would be those gryphons you saw. They are all considered rare grade magical beasts which is why only the elite knights of the kingdom get to ride them. In fact, the only person I can think off that has even has an epic grade magical beast under theirmand is the knightmander of the entire kingdom and his cial bear."

    Understanding the rating system Marcus asked, "Where is the best ce to assess my magical beast egg in the city since I believe that it might be at least rare grade."

    "Wait you do not know what kind of beast is in the egg. How did you get it then, normally in order to obtain one you have to kill at least one of its parents or buy it from a merchant, but they would still tell you the origins of the egg?"

    Marcus just continued smiling not nning to answer that question since anything he said would have to be a lie.

    "Listen Marcus you are going to have to give me something if you want my help. Even if you find the ce on your own, they are not going to allow you ess to their best resources unless you have a letter of rmendation from a high ranking noble or reputable organization like the adventures guild."

    "Fine I got the egg while in the dungeon, I have no idea what could be inside it so that is why I want to use the best in case it happened to be something really powerful."

    Joras looked at Marcus not believing him since magical beasts and monsters did not spawn naturally in dungeons so the only way to get eggs from them was to defeat a boss. However, with that realization Joras had the wild ideae into his head, what if the two of them actually killed the boss of the thirdyer. It seemed like it would be impossible for just two people to do but Joras knew that Mrazivy was even stronger than him and Marcus was no slouch either. If the boss was lower level than he could see the two of them pulling it off.

    "I understand so that is why the two of you made up that story, you must have gotten some incredible loot from the boss and did not want the kingdom to try to confiscate any of it."

    Marcus immediately realized his error when he noticed that Joras knew exactly where he had gotten his egg. He had no idea that magical beast did not spawn naturally in dungeons and thought that Joras would think that he just came across a random egg.

    Joras seeing the concern in his eyes said, "No need to worry I am not going to say anything, anyway you have the princess on your side so it should be fine. Give me a moment and I will write you that letter of rmendation."

    After writing up the letter and handing it to Marcus, Joras told him that the name of the shop was called the Sea Beast and that he could get direction downstairs from any of the receptionists.

 Chapter 79 - 78 Above And Beyond

    With his letter of rmendation from Joras in hand Marcus quickly headed out of his office and down the stairs.

    He then immediately got into one of the lines for the reception booths and once it was his turn to be served, he obtained the location of the Sea Beast shop and quickly left the guild.

    He located the nearest air taxi and asked them to take him to the center of the city.

    Shelling out another twenty-six silver, Marcus hoped onto the back of the giant hawk magical beast and the rider thenmanded the bird to take off.

    Flying though the air above the city streets Marcus felt giddy about finding out about the egg in his possession.

    He was really hoping that he had managed to score at least an elite level magical beast from the dungeon since it had been draining his mana like crazy and was still only one percent of the way to hatching.

    Soon the flying taxi made it to the center of the city where the wealthiest of shops were set up to cater to the nobles and wealthy merchants whose mansions were nearby.

    Hopping off of the bird Marcus thanked the rider before going off in search of the Sea Beast.

    Quickly making his way through the streets Marcus managed to find his destination after just around a half hour of walking.

    Standing in front of therge four-story building Marcus felt like a kid on Christmas waiting to see what was inside their presents. He then took the half ck half white egg out of hispanion storage since most people would be unable to store away a living creature and he did not want to seem suspect.

    Walking in Marcus notice numerous people with magical beasts in cages as well as a few people that were holding magical beast eggs like him.

    Looking around Marcus found the reception desk and moved to join the long line.

    After waiting for over an hour due to one of the beasts escaping from its cage and causing a ruckus Marcus had managed to make it to the front of the line.

    The receptionist looking a bit haggard after the magical beast escape incident asked Marcus with a stered-on smile what service he need.

    "I have a magical beast egg here of at least rare grade but believed to be epic or higher with me that I would like to have tested and apply a mutual seal to."

    The receptionist''s smile shook slightly before she said, "I am sorry we are only able to perform that service for long time members, reputable organizations, or high-ranking nobles. The highest grade we can test for the general poption is up to the rare grade."

    Marcus remembering the letter Joras gave him swiftly pulled it out and handed it over. The receptionist looked at the letter and recognized the seal used on the wax as a branch master of the adventures guild.

    Flustered by the letter the receptionist said, "Could you wait here a moment while I get the manager to confirm that this letter is genuine."

    She then picked up the letter and scurried on over torge door in the back of the building and entered inside.

    After around five minutes the receptionist and an old man in incredibly fancy clothes came out of the room and approached Marcus.

    The old man addressed Marcus first saying, "Thank you for choosing our establishment for testing the grade of you magical beast egg. I am the manager Octavius Varga and I have indeed verified that this letter is genuine and if Joras is giving you his support then we will be happy to measure the grade of this mystery egg you have acquired."

    The old man then beckoned Marcus to follow him and led him to a flight of stairs in the corner of the building.

    While climbing up the stairs Marcus had given the manager the old appraisal and found that he was actually quite strong at level twenty-seven.

    Reaching the top floor, the manager led Marcus into a room that had two guards posted outside and once inside Marcus saw that the room was lined with shelves and in the center, there was arge, raised magic circle with six crystals imbedded around it in the center of the room.

    Octavius walked over to the lone desk in the room and pulled out a few sheets of paper before walking back over to Marcus.

    "Here are the contracts for assessing your egg and applying a mutual seal to them."

    Marcus read over the contracts finding the usual spiel about how the Sea Beast does not take any responsibility for damaged property and that they will not disclose information except in cases of emergencies. Though what caught Marcus'' attention was the cost of the test. To test for up to epic grade would cost five hundred gold, while legendary would be a thousand and mythic would cost thirteen hundred. Then there was the cost of adding the mutual seal which would be three hundred gold for any beast epic or above.

    Octavius seeing the look of horror on Marcus'' face said, "Sir if you do not have the funds to afford our services then we will have to stop for today and when you are able to afford the service you cane back. The test will only be administered after a full payment and signed contract. This is our policy even for the highest ranked nobles."

    Feeling as if he was giving up one of his limbs Marcus reluctantly took out the chest of gold he had been given for saving Mrazivy, and began the lengthy process of separating out sixteen hundred gold.

    Octavius did offer to have one of his staff members do it for him, but Marcus was obstinate about not letting anyone touch his money since he did not want any of his gold wandering off.

    Once he had finished counting out the gold Marcus signed the two contacts one for administering the test to rate his magical beast egg up to mythic and the other for applying the mutual seal.

    Octavius looked over the contracts and finding everything to be in order put Marcus'' gold into his magic bag and said, "It has been a while since thest time we performed this level of test so it may take me a while to get it set up. Pease bear with me and be patient."

    The old manager then went around gathering items out of drawers and off of shelves and cing them within the magic circle in the center of the room.

    After he had finished adjusting the items and the magical device that was going to measure the grade of Marcus'' magical beast egg two hours had already passed.

    Letting off a breath of relief Octavius turned around and said, "There we go it is ready. I am sorry it took so long, it has been over a few years since thest time anyone wanted to test above the legendary grade, so I am a bit rusty at setting up the procedure. But it is now ready so if you can hand over the egg to me, we can get started."

    Handing over the magical beast egg he had received as a reward from the treasure chest in the dungeon, Marcus watch as Octavius ce the egg in the center of the magic circle.

    With the egg now in ce Octavius walked out of the circle and activate the magical device.

    The circle began to light up with a green light as the objects that Octavius had ced in the circle acted as points that connected to form an borate formation.

    The crystals imbedded around the circle then quickly lit up, one, two, three, four, five, six, every single one of the crystal each one representing a higher grade of magical beast had lit up almost instantly causing a shocked reaction from both Marcus an Octavius.

    However, what happened next caused Octavius'' expression to change to that of horror as the crystals started shattering like overheated lightbulbs.

    Each one shattered as quickly as they lit up before all six of the crystals had shattered into thousands of pieces.

    Octavius could not contain his pure dread as the Sea Beast''s best beast grader had just broken along with revealing the egg of a beast above the mythic grade.

    He quickly moved to exit the room nning to notify the kingdom at once of the great danger this beast would pose. If a normal legendary beast could destroy and entire country once they reached a level of around thirty, then he figured whatever was in that egg could threaten the entire continent.

    However, before he could get to the door he suddenly felt as if the weight of the world had fallen on his soul, and he failed to take another step forward as Marcus used his phantom pressure ability on him.

    Marcus walked forward standing in front of Octavius and made his spectral hand appear. He then had the hand fly right at Octavius'' chest, grab around his heart, and then made it disappear.

    "I have just ce a curse on you, if you tell anyone about the results of this egg you will die. I can also kill you at any time wherever you are. If I feel you have betrayed me, heck if I am just having a bad day, I can end your life with a single thought."

    Of course, Marcus was just putting on a show since he did not really have the power to curse people, but Octavius did not know this, and Marcus could tell that by the sheer terror on his face that he believed him.

    Releasing his phantom pressure on Octavius Marcus said, "Now we need to apply the mutual seal and then we can conclude our business."

    A light of hope then glimmered in Octavius'' eyes as even if it was just an egg a beast of this level would almost never willingly enter into a pact with a human and the bacsh would surely kill Marcus.

    Octavius hurriedly gathered up the special ink needed to apply the mutual seal and got to work drawing it on the egg.

    He made sure to make no mistakes since if the seal failed to activate, he feared what repercussions Marcus might unleash on him.

    Once it was done Octavius said, "It is ready, now all you need to do is apply some of your blood to the seal and the pact with be formed."

    ''Blood? Fuck, I am a ghost I do not have any blood, the only thing thate out of me when I am injured is some sort of grey mist. Though, maybe I can use that since in a way it is sort of my blood and if that does not work maybe I can posses this guy and try using his blood."

    Marcus walked over to the egg and took out the cheap bronze knife he had purchased quite sometime ago and infused it with as much mana as he could.

    It took him everything he had just to cut open his hand but after overcharging the bronze knife and causing cracks to form in it he managed to create a deep gash.

    Appling his now cut hand to the seal on the egg Marcus felt the grey misting out of his wound get absorbed by the seal and after a minute the seal disappeared merging with the egg.

    At that moment he felt as if the egg said, ''I suppose you will do.''

    After that Marcus could feel a new connection with the egg forming before a massive beam of darkness and light enveloped him.

 Chapter 80 - 79 Light, Darkness, And The Administrator

    As the beam of light and darkness had fallen from the sky and enveloped Marcus the entire city was put on high alert from this mysterious phenomenon.

    Hordes of people began running away from the area around where the beam of darkness and light had touched down and even the guards and knights on duty did not dare approach feeling the overwhelming power the phenomenon had.

    At the same time, Marcus waspletely enveloped by its power and felt as if his soul was begin torn apart and put back together multiple times. The pain he felt was indescribable as it nearly pushed him to insanity.

    However, after everything he had been through sinceing to this world and the slight hope, he may be able to see his family again on Earth, Marcus gritted his teeth and took the pain until the beam finally receded leaving him feelingpletely spent.

    Copsing onto the ground his strengthpletely gone Marcus moved his head to towards Octavius and could see that he had passed out from the shock.

    Marcus then looked over towards the egg he had just formed a bond with and remembered that while the beam had been tearing him apart, he had heard two voices that had told him ''Take care of them.''

    That was when Marcus heard a ding in his head followed by a message saying, ''You have new mail.''

    Groaning in displeasure Marcus opened up his status and looking at his log found the message and as he thought it was from the mysterious administrator of this world.

    ''Good day there Marcus, it appears that you are very lucky and unlucky to be the one that ended up with the little present I left. That egg happens to have the child of two of my good friends and they asked me to find someone exceptional to take care of and raise it for them. I left it so it could only be obtained by a reincarnation or transfer, but it appears that you are the winner. Make sure to take good care of her since if something bad happens you do not want to upset her parents.''

    P.S her parents seem to have sent you a little present, make sure to take a good look at your status.

    Sincerely, Your Favorite Administrator.''

    Marcus groaned a bit more after reading the letter wondering what sort of mess, he had gotten himself into. He really had no idea who or what the administrator of this world is, but it is certain they are beyond powerful.

    He also, now had to deal with some sort of child whose parents were beings of a simr level and if something bad happened to them who knew what they would do to him.

    Shakely Marcus got back onto his feet and shook his head to snap himself out of his daydreaming and quickly looked over his status only to be blown away from what he saw.

    Name: Marcus Ferrous

    Age: 28

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirt of Light and Darkness)

    Level: 29

    HP: 4340/4340

    MP: 2270/2270

    STR: 207

    AGL: 206 (+10)

    VIT: 207

    INT: 227

    SPR: 227

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 5

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness

    Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 3, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 2, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful sh Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 3, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 1, Trap Sensing Lvl 2

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure

    Looking over his status the first thing Marcus noticed was that his race had a new additionbeling him as a great spirt of light and darkness. This was followed by the discovery that every one of his stats had been increased by thirty points.

    However, what came off as the biggest surprise was his unique skills. He now had two new ones and his solid soul unique skill had transformed into one called Master of Soul and Body which made it so that his solid and ghost forms were no longer separate. He could now seamlessly switch between being solid and ethereal with no timeg at all.

    Unfortunately, he was cut short while reading the descriptions of his new unique skills when he heard the loudmotioning from outside.

    He heard the shouting of guards and knights as they approached the building and even heard multiple magical beastsnding on the roof of the building.

    Realizing that if he stayed around any longer, he was going to be found out Marcus quickly grabbed his magical beast egg and stored it within hispanion storage.

    He then turned ethereal and invisible and slipped out if the building and once outside he could see a small army of guards and knights that had surrounded the building.

    There were even a dozen gryphon riders that were circling around the building from the air led by none other than head knight Vensarious.

    Luckily though, none of them noticed as Marcus slipped away floating past the lines of people until he was far away from the scene.

    Once the building and congregation of guards and knights were out of sight Marcus found a quite corner to return to visibility.

    ''Well, I definitely left a shit show in my wake, and I think I will need toy low for a while since there is a chance, they will connect this incident to me. I thought about killing that manager since he knows who I am but plenty of other people saw me there and killing him might have caused me even more trouble.''

    Coming to the decision that his identity as Marcus was going to take a little break, he quickly switched his form over to that of Irene and started heading for the Silent Wave inn he had been staying at.

    Once he arrived, he paid up for another room for three days and headed upstairs to his new room and sat down on the bed.

    Now that he was in a quite ce where he had all the time he needed, he once again opened up his status and began reading the details of his new unique skills.

    Reading through them he found that they were both incredibly powerful skills. Each one of them would envelope his body with their respective element and increase all of his stats. However, unlike his soul burst that had a t times two increase each of his new embodiment unique skills gave different boosts to each stat and unlike soul burst would increase in power along with him.

    Currently his embodiment of light would increase his strength by eight percent, agility by forty percent, vitality by eleven percent, intelligence by sixteen percent, and spirt by twenty-two percent.

    Conversely his embodiment of darkness would increase his strength by forty percent, his agility by eight percent, his vitality by twenty-two percent, his intelligence by sixteen percent, and his spirt by eleven percent.

    Also, each skill has the added effect of allowing Marcus to manipte the element enveloping his body and use it as a weapon while also increasing any ability that used the same element.

    There was additionally no usage limit other than how much he could take before the ability started to overwhelm and cause damage to himself.

    ''While neither of them are quite as impressive as soul burst, their usability is way higher and all I need to be careful about is not to overuse them and cause damage to myself. On top of that the exalted blessing that gave me these new unique skills have the added benefit of increasing my stats at every level up like my blessing of iron. Except they are even more impressive increasing my agility by three at every level up for the light blessing and increasing my strength by three for the dark blessing.''

    Once he had finished thoroughly investigating the details of his new abilities Marcus closed his status window and decided to try out one of his new unique skills.

    Activating his embodiment of darkness first, Marcus felt a surge of strengthe out of him as darkness enveloped his entire body and the energy flickered around like a me.

    He immediately could tell that he was being empowered but at the same time that a new pressure was being put on him.

    Molding the darkness around him Marcus tested how far he could move it from his body finding that after it had gone more than three feet away it started to dissipate.

    Happy with how the ability was working Marcus wanting to see how embodiment of light worked activated it but was in for a nasty surprise.

    When he activate embodiment of light along with embodiment of darkness the force of the two fighting against each other started to crush Marcus. He could feel the two powers fighting each other and it took all of his focus to keep the two from harming him. After just around thirty seconds Marcus gave up trying to figure out how to use both abilities at the same times as his body and soul were reaching their limits.

    Marcus then sat down on the bed in his room needing time to recover his stamina since he feltpletely wiped after using both of his new unique skills.

 Chapter 81 - 80 Egg Of Terror

    After having exhausted himself testing out his new unique skills Marcus spent around an hour to recover and think about his next move.

    ''I wonder what I should do next. I still n to get revenge on Poulsen for trying to kill me but after that I have nothing I really need to do. I suppose I do need a new weapon, but it is not like that is urgent since I do not n on going into the dungeon anymore. Heck I did get the forge skill from the profession skill orb that was a reward for winning the monster festival so maybe I should make a new weapon myself. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea that way I do not have to worry about the workmanship of others and can make exactly what I want. Speaking of skill orbs I did get two from the chest that appeared after I beast the boss of the thirdyer, I wonder what could be in them.''

    Marcus then took the two skill orbs out of his item box and quickly learned each of them.

    When he used the first one, he found that the skill he obtained was light magic and the second one to no surprise was darkness magic.

    Looking over the tier one spells for each of his new magic skills Marcus found that the tier one light magic spell was called shield of light and the darkness magic spell was called darkness bullet.

    ''Not bad, two new magic skills will give me some more versatility, but I need to be careful not to overextend myself and pick up more skills than I can effectively level up.''

    Satisfied by the addition of his two new magic skills Marcus felt the fatigue he had been building up since he had entered the dungeon to save Mrazivy andid down in the bed to get some much-needed rest.

    However, as soon as his head hit the pillow, he suddenly felt the connection with hispanion magical beast egg sending him a signal.

    The signal while not exactly words and more of a feeling pretty much tranted to ''I am hungry''.

    Sighing that he was not going to be able to get any rest yet, Marcus sat back up and took the egg out of hispanion storage and began feeding the egg his mana.

    As usual the egg drained him dry, but it still was sending out the signal of wanting more mana.

    Giving in since the connection was too strong for him to sleep through Marcus downed one of his mana recovery potions and after a few minutes was back up to max mana capacity.

    He once again emptied his entire mana stores before the feeling that the egg was hungry had abated.

    ''Ugh, what am I going to do with this egg, it is certainly a glutton and I only have so much mana at one time. Even with my mana regeneration I only recover around eight percent a minute so feeding this thing is a real hassle especially now that it can whine when it is hungry. But it is toote I am stuck with this egg now that I have applied a mutual seal to it, and I doubt that its parents would be happy if I neglected it. At the very least once it hatches, I should have a strong partner to fight with, so I just need to think of it as an investment.''

    With his egg no longer sending him the hungry signal Marcus was finally able toy his head down and go to sleep.

    Waking up the next day Marcus felt refreshed now that he had given his mind a good rest.

    He had many things he needed to do this day but the first was to feed the egg most of his mana once again.

    He figured that giving the egg mana three times a day when he could, would allow it to hatch in a timelier manner than if he just tried to load it up once a day.

    When the egg had finished off around eighty percent of his mana Marcus cut off the flow and returned the egg to his storage.

    With the morning feeding out of the way Marcus took out the portable tub he had procured for himself and filled it with water.

    After using his fire magic to heat the water to an optimal temperature Marcus slid in and enjoyed his first bath in a long time.

    Soaking in the warm water for nearly two hours Marcus felt the stress in his mind flowpletely away as he simply rxed.

    ''Ah that was nice, it has been to long since I had a bath and it really helped me out with the fatigue I have been building up. Even as a ghost I still have my mental limits and I need to be carful not to drive myself insane. Now then, the only thing I have left to do in this city is talk to Mrazivy and find out where Viscount Poulsen is so I can pay him back for the hospitality he gave me in the dungeon.''

    Getting out of the bath Marcus went ethereal and allowed all of the water to fall off his body before storing the tub away and getting dressed.

    He then exited the inn and found the city streets to be full of people, more so than usual.

    He thought that maybe there was some type of festival or event happening in the city but soon found that not to be the case from the grim expressions on most of the people''s faces.

    Marcus wondered what could be going on but simply shrugged his shoulders figuring that he could find out when he made it to the adventures guild.

    Walking towards the guild he found that their were dozens of carts outside of it and all of them in the processes of trying to get adventures to escort them out of the city.

    Marcus found this incredibly odd since this branch of the adventures guild almost exclusively was catered to requests pertaining to the Ocean Bluff temple dungeon.

    When he was walking inside a few of the people with shabbier looking carts approached him and tried to get him to him to join their caravan as a guard offering him twelve copper as payment.

    When he refused, they tried begging saying that the city was soon to fall to ruin since a sign of cmity had appeared yesterday, and that there were rumors of a mythic grade monstering to destroy the city.

    Marcus then realized that the "sign of cmity" was just his egg and the beam of light and darkness that fell down on him yesterday and that nothing else was actually going to happen.

    He eventually managed to get the people to leave him alone when he told them that he had no intention off leaving the city and that he did not need their money.

    The people trying to recruit him through insults at him as they walked away calling him things like a damned fool.

    With the people that were blocking his way into the guild gone Marcus walked in and found the ce to be fairly deserted by normal standards.

    Most of the staff still seemed to be around but their was easily only about thirty percent of the usual number of adventures.

    That was when Marcus realized the amount of panic, he had actually caused by forming a mutual seal with his newpanion magical beast egg.

    ''Well, nothing I can do about it, the hysteria will calm down after a few days when nothing else happens.''

    Marcus then queued up in line to be served and to ask if his previous message had been received but when he made it to the front of the line, he found an unpleasant surprise waiting for him, a wanted poster with his face on it.

 Chapter 82 - 81 Mrazivyâ€™s Manor And The History Of Borealia

    Looking at the wanted poster Marcus saw that it gave details about his physical description, level, and even some of his skills, although his level and skills were not entirely urate.

    The poster mentioned that he was wanted for being in possession of a hazardous item and there was even a reward of a thousand gold for his capture.

    ''Fuck, how did they move so fast, it only took them like half a day to get these posters made. It is a good thing I decided to change my form over to Irene since it looks like I will not be going as Marcus in this kingdom anymore. Oh well, this is a big world, and it was not like I was going to stay here forever anyways.''

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus turned his attention to the slightly peeved receptionist who had patiently waited for him to finish reading the poster.

    "What can I do for you today, are you also here to sign up for a transport quest to River Landing."

    Shaking his head Marcus said, "Actually I left a message for the princess many days ago and heard that she had just gotten back yesterday, I was just wondering if she had gotten my message."

    The receptionist looked at Marcus and remembered that she had indeed been left with a message for the princess and had given it to her yesterday.

    "Yes, I did give the letter to her highness, and she left a message for you as well."

    The receptionist then handed Marcus a letter that said, ''Dear Irene, I am d to hear you are all right, I am currently very busy so it may be a few days or even weeks before I can get back to you, but if you urgently need to talk to mee by my manor in the noble district and show the guards the seal on this letter and they will let you in.''

    After reading the letter Marcus was a bit disappointed but understood that Mrazivy was royalty and had a lot to do other than check up on him.

    ''The problem is at this point I have a closer rtionship to her as Marcus, but as far as she knows I have no rtionship to Viscount Poulsen so asking about him would require an exnation. Also, this whole egg fiasco has made it so I cannot show my face around without peopleing after me for the reward.''

    Marcus figured that he might as well try to get Viscount Poulsen''s location from Mrazivy and if that did not work, he could always make the trip over to River Landing to find Wade and ask him.

    Leaving the guild hall Marcus tried to locate a flying taxi but the turmoil in the city had caused them to be in short supply and he was unable to get one.

    Resigning himself to walk Marcus made his way towards the noble area of the city where Mrazivy''s manor was located.

    Unfortunately, the traffic in the city was horrible as people were bustling all over the ce trying to procure supplies and weapons.

    Eventually Marcus gave up on trying to proceed on foot and turned ethereal and invisible in order to float above the traffic.

    It took him a couple of hours to finally reach the noble section of the city and Marcus could see that while it still seemed frantic the streets were less crowded.

    Marcus then slipped through the gates that were being guarded so that ordinary citizens would be unable to pass through and found a quite alley to solidify.

    With his body again able to interact with the world Marcus took off in a jog searching for Mrazivy''s manor and while it would normally seem weird for a person to be jogging around the noble quarter the current turmoil had other people running around simrly.

    Soon Marcus found Mrazivy''s Manor and was impressed by its grandeur. The manor was three stories tall and was at least thirty-thousand square feet.

    The house was also made out of beautiful blue and white stone which in certain intervals were shaped in the emblem of the kingdom.

    A beautiful garden adorned the entrance full of flowers and trees that produced vibrant colors in the otherwise dull city.

    ''She really does not act very much like royalty, but this manor definitely proves that she is indeed. I wonder how much a ce like this would cost, even the three thousand gold I got as a reward probably could barley get me a ce a twentieth of this size not including the massive garden and yard.''

    Once he had finished gawking at Mrazivy''s manor, Marcus approached the front gate that had four guards posted in front.

    Using his creature appraisal Marcus found that each of the guards was level fifteen or above and the highest was level eighteen.

    When he was around a dozen feet from the gate the highest-level guard who seemed to be in charge called out to Marcus and said, "You there stop, this is her highness Mrazivy''s property and unless you are here on official business you will need to leave?"

    After taking out the letter from his item box Marcus said to the guard, "I have a letter given to me by the princess saying that I could meet her here, it has her seal on it to prove its legitimacy."

    Two of the guards seeing the letter approached and the lead guard read the letter while the other kept an eye on Marcus to make sure he did not try anything.

    When the guard had finished inspecting the letter, he nodded his head and said, "Lady Irene you are indeed permitted to enter but we will need to see your kingdom identification first before in order to make sure you are who you say."

    Taking out his long unused Irene ID, Marcus handed it over to the guard who once again began inspecting it.

    After a minute of looking it over he handed the ID back, and said, "You are cleared to enter, Vargas will escort you to the front door."

    The two guards at the gate then opened it allowing Marcus to enter while the guard named Vargas led him inside.

    After a couple minute walk down the front path, Marcus arrived at the grand entrance to the manor that was made up of two ornate wooden doors.

    Vargas walked up and grabbed the knocker on the door before banging it three times in quick session.

    A middle-aged man, in nice attire promptly opened the door afterwards and eyed Marcus and the guard.

    The guard then quickly said, "We have a visitor for her highness, she is a personal guest and friend."

    The man who was obviously a butler gave a slight bow before saying, "Unfortunately her highness Mrazivy Borealia is away on urgent business right now and will not be back tillter. If you wish to wait in the drawing room for her highness to return you are wee to."

    Nodding his head in agreement Marcus followed the butler inside and down a great hall that had beautiful pieces of art hanging on the walls.

    Soon the butler stopped at one of the doors and opened it up leading Marcus inside.

    Once inside Marcus found that the room was full of high-quality furniture, mainly consisting of chairs, couches, and tables.

    There also was a great bookcase in one corner of the room that was filled with many books.

    Marcus found the chair that had the best view of the entry and decided to sit down there.

    Once he had sat down the butler came over and asked him if he would like any refreshments while he waited, and Marcus wanting to see what would be served in a royal''s manor asked for some tea and cakes.

    The butler then said, "Certainly I will go and have them prepared at once and I will be back shortly should you need anything else."

    Once the butler had left to get Marcus the refreshments he had asked for, Marcus got up and went over to peruse the books that Mrazivy had.

    Quickly one caught his attention and was titled ''The History of the Kingdom of Borealia.''

    Interested in the topic Marcus grabbed the book off of the shelf and returned to his seat where he opened the book and began reading.

    Marcus opened the book and started reading and soon found something that piqued his interest.

    The book began when the area that now makes up the kingdom was still only a vast wilderness around five hundred years ago.

    At that time the man who would be the first king of Borealia set out to explore the northern wilderness.

    The man''s name was Boreas, and he was apparently a man of unparalleled strength rumored to be at least level fifty.

    He and his band cleared the northern areas and settlements began forming in their wake, soon turning the area into a colony for the Kingdom of Tralenstein.

    However, after the old king of Tralenstein died and his son reced him the kingdom began to fall into ruin under his tyrannical rule.

    Soon the northern colonies rallied behind Boreas and won a rebellion in a single week as Boreas and his party nearly overwhelmed the Tralenstein army by themselves.

    After that Boreas imed the area as his own founding the current kingdom of Borrelia, which he ruled for nearly thirty years before he suddenly named his son as his sessor and disappeared.

    Marcus continued to read the book but after the beginning it was not nearly as interesting to him since it mostly just detailed the rise of the kingdom to its current strength and continuing skirmishes with Tralenstein which still bordered them to the south.

    ''Judging from his name and the ounts of his strength I think this Boreas might have been from Earth like me. Boreas was the name of a god in Greek mythology so someone from Earth might have decided to use it as their name here. Of course, I could be wrong, but I will keep my ears out for this guy since for all I know he is still alive somewhere in this world.''

    Once he had done all of the reading he wanted to Marcus, focused his attention onto the cakes and tea that had been brought to him.

    After around another thirty minutes the butler came back into the room and said, "Her highness has just arrived and will be with you shortly."

 Chapter 83 - 82 Finishing Up In Loursend

    Looking up from his tea and cake a slight smile creeped on his face when he caught a glimpse of Mrazivying down the hall.

    Soon after she arrived and said to the butler, "Thank you for attending to my guest Sedrick you can leave now while we talk."

    Sedrick then gave a slight bow before saying, "As you wish your highness."

    Mrazivy then looked towards Marcus who was currently in his guise as Irene and said, "It is good to see that you are alive Irene, when I had heard that you went missing in the dungeon, I tried to find you but when the remains of the party you were with were found you were presumed dead, and the search was called off."

    "Yeah, that is actually why I am here I realize you must be busy, since you just got back from your own misadventure in the dungeon but I there is something I could use your help with. Truth be told there was no ident in the dungeon it was an ambush by Viscount Poulsen and his guards. They tried to kill me, but I managed to get away using a special skill of mine. I do not know where he went after trying to kill me in the dungeon, could you tell me where he is now.

    Mrazivy looked at Marcus dumbfounded for a few seconds before she brought up her left hand and began messaging her head.

    After thinking for about a minute Mrazivy said, "I understand why you want to know but trying to get revenge against a member of the nobility is suicide for you. It would be your word against his and without any witnesses or hard evidence the kingdom will not take any action against him. I rmend you try to steer clear of him and hope he does not try again."

    "Mraz, he tried to kill me, he even turned the other adventures I was with who I thought were my friends against me. I helped out his son for the corrupt bastard he was, and I can tell you that the apple did not fall far from the tree since his father is just as bad or worse. I know you are trying to look out for me, but I can handle myself and no one will be able to trace his death back to me."

    Sighing Mrazivy took a spherical stone that had etchings on its surface out of her magic bag and said, "I will ask around and see if I can find him."

    She then left the room leaving Marcus alone for a good hour beforeing back and slumping down into one of the chairs in the room.

    "I do not know where he is exactly, but he has already left the city and is headed back for his mansion in the royal capital. If you really want to find him, you should head there but I still think you are making a mistake. While his status may have taken a hit since his son was found to be corrupt, he is still a powerful noble of the kingdom. I know you are angry that he tried to kill you but is it worth your life to get revenge?"

    With a resolute face Marcus replied saying, "Yeah it is, I cannot let anyone who tries to kill me get away with it, but do not worry I honestly can get it done without any threat to myself."

    Seeing the confidence in his eyes Mrazivy decided to stop trying to convince Marcus to not seek revenge and said, "I understand, I wish you good luck, but if you get caught do not expect me to bail you out. Now if you do not have anything else to discuss, it has been a long day and I would like to get some sleep."

    Mrazivy then got up from her chair and headed out of the room and instructed the butler to lead Marcus out.

    Following the butler out of the manor Marcus was then escorted back through he gates of the property by one of the guards.

    Marcus then quickly found a secluded ce where he switched his form and tuned invisible and ethereal.

    ''I guess I should go say goodbye as myself now, since I at least owe her that much. Hopefully she is not mad about the whole egg thing.

    With his form changed back to himself and his ghostly form active Marcus floated back to Mrazivy''s Manor.

    Phasing through the gate and the front door of the manor, Marcus went searching around for where Mrazivy was but found that therge size of the house made it a long search.

    After having looked into over twenty rooms, Marcus finally found a room that was farrger than the rest and had a massive bed in the center.

    ''This must be her room, but I do not see her anywhere right nowˇ­ well she shoulde back eventually so I will just wait here.''

    With his decision to wait made Marcus found a chair and resolidified before sitting down in it. He figured that while it would be startling for Mrazivy to find him sitting in her room, it would be even more so if he appeared out of thin air.

    After around ten minutes Marcus saw one of the doors in the room that he figured was a closet open and Mrazivy came out.

    Except, she was only covered by a towel and steam wasing out of the room she had just exited.

    At that point she saw Marcus and froze up for a moment and stared at him like a deer caught in headlights while he did the same.

    After a couple of seconds, she quickly backstepped into the bathroom and mmed the door shut.

    ''Shit did that really just happen, things were already going to be awkward enough as is, but now it is going to be worse. Hopefully she does not starting after me with her sword since it really was just an ident.''

    Marcus then waited for about ten minutes when the door opened again and Mrazivy came out fully clothed.

    She walked right up to Marcus her face still red from embarrassment and said, "So are you going to exin yourself."

    Marcus quickly stood up and bowed his head and said, "Sorry I did not mean to mean to walk in on youing out of the bath I just came to say goodbye since I will be leaving Loursend soon."

    Mrazivy''s expression then turned into one of anger as she began berating Marcus.

    "I do not care about you seeing me in a state of undress, what I am talking about is the incident yesterday. Surely you noticed that the city is in chaos because of that egg of yours, they even have issued a wanted poster for you along with a rewards. I tried to get them not to issue that poster since I knew you would just run away, but it took all of my political influence just to keep them from putting a kill on sight order out on you, that is how dangerous the egg you got is. I know none of this is your fault since you received that egg from the dungeon but whatever is in there could be a threat to the kingdom. If you hand the egg over to me, we can go turn it into the authorities and get this mess cleared up."

    Mrazivy held her hands out expecting Marcus to hand the egg over to her when he said, "Sorry I already formed a mutual seal with the egg, and I cannot get rid of it now. I promise to make sure it does not run amok in this kingdom once it hatches."

    When Mrazivy heard this, she looked like she was about to have a mental breakdown before she simply gave up and said, "Fine do what you want but I cannot protect you, that egg is going to put a massive target on your back, and if I did not know what you are I would try to take it from you by force to protect you. If you are really intent on keeping it, I rmend you find somewhere secluded in the wilderness and wait for it to hatch."

    Marcus shacking his head said, "Sorry I am nning on heading to the capital after I leave tomorrow, but no need to worry I have the ability to disguise myself so I will not be caught. Well, I just dropped by to say goodbye to you so I should be on my way. It was pleasure to be your friend your highness Mrazivy Borealia."

    As Marcus was turning around to leave Mrazivy got up and said, "Not goodbye but see youter, I will not forgive you if you do note see me again, and whenever you are ready there is always a spot in Royal Frost waiting for you."

    Marcus then turned around and gave Mrazivy a big smile before turning invisible and leaving her manor ready to set off on the next part of his journey.

 Chapter 84 - 83 Back To River Landing

    With his business in Loursend nowpleted Marcus turned his sights east back towards River Landing.

    He did not know exactly where the capital was but knew that it was south of Rivernding and that it was the usual route to head through River Landing fist.

    ''It will probably take me about a week to arrive back in River Landing if I head there at full speed. Since I am much stronger now, I do not need to worry about bandits this time so I can get there by myself.''

    Marcus nning to waste no time switched back over to his ghost form and floated out of the city.

    As he floated over the streets of Loursend he could see long lines of people in carts and on foot trying to leave the city.

    A bit regretful since he was the cause of the mass panic in the city, Marcus decided that if he came across anyone on the way to River Landing that was in trouble, he would lend a helping hand if he could.

    After around three hours of floating Marcus finally came to the city walls and passed through them officially leaving Loursend.

    He then located an enclosed area in the woods where no one could see him and resolidified.

    Walking back onto the path Marcus cast his lightning strider spell and began running forward at full speed.

    As he past by numerous people on there way out of Loursend they all turned their heads as they watched him run by looking like a blur.

    Marcus ran fast and with a single purpose, to get back to River Landing as fast as possible.

    However, as Marcus kept running, he soon got ahead of the crowds that had left the city and saw a caravan with twelve carts and around thirty guards that was begin assaulted by over fifty bandits.

    Seeing that the group was in trouble Marcus infused his body with mana and used speed bursts to shot forward and join the fight.

    Marcus took out the magic great sword he had obtained from the ogre king during the monster festival, using it instead of his scythe in order to preserve its durability.

    The guards around the caravan and the bandits all looked in shock as they noticed Marcus appear seemingly out of nowhere and start ughtering bandits shing them to pieces with his sword.

    He managed to kill three bandits before any of them were able to react, and the bandits tried to group up and encircle Marcus.

    Unfortunately, Marcus simply jumped forward and swung his massive sword with a powerful sh, and while his swordsmanship was atrocious the immense power behind it still cleaved through a dozen bandits in one swing.

    That was when Marcus felt a sense of danger from behind him when a man in high quality armor lunged from behind him with a spear.

    Marcus quickly brought his great sword around and blocked the spear thrust that the man had sent at him.

    The man had a confused look on his face wondering how this random girl that he hadpletely blindsided blocked his attack.

    He tried to jump back out of Marcus''s range and use the longer reach of his spear to his advantage only to find that his soul felt a crushing weight on it as he mmed into the ground immobile.

    Marcus quickly checked his level finding that he was level twenty-one as he was trying to experiment with his phantom pressure ability and find out the how much people could take depending on their level.

    He quickly verified that the level twenty-one man was not dying from his phantom pressure and then stabbed his sword into the mans chest killing him instantly.

    At that point the moral of the remaining bandits vanished as they watched their leader fall without being able to mount any resistance.

    Each of the bandits tried to run but many found they had been immobilized and some even died on the spot.

    Soon there were no bandits left only the guards and members of the caravan looking at Marcus with shock and horror.

    ''Hm, looks like my phantom pressure can kill people of around level twelve or thirteen depending on their spirt stat. I also found that the more people I try to effect with it at once the weaker it gets so if there are too many targets it bes ineffective.''

    While he was analyzing the results of his experiment the strongest guard of the caravan who was a level twenty steel adventure came up to Marcus and said, "Thank you for saving us miss, we would have had a hard time getting out unscathed from such arge force of bandits. My name is Randolph, and I am the one leading the guards on this caravan''s journey to River Landing. This caravan is delivering salt for the Silver Raven tradingpany, and I am sure that they would be willing to reward you for defending us and pay even more if you apanied us the rest of the way."

    Marcus who was still thinking about the results of his test with his phantom pressure ability barley noticed the guy talking to him, until Randolph grabbed his shoulder.

    "Huh what, did you need something from me."

    "Yes, I just wanted to thank you foring to our rescue and wondered if you would like to travel with us the rest of the way to River Landing, I can guarantee you will be paid well for your services."

    After thinking it over for a second Marcus said, "No thanks I am in a hurry and just made a quick stop to help out."

    Marcus did not even wait for the man''s response before taking off again down the road intent on making it to his destination as fast as he could.

    Along the way he helped other groups that were being assailed by bandits, monster, or magical beasts often scaring the people more than whoever or whatever was attacking them.

    After just three day of travel in which Marcus had taken no breaks the familiar town of Trostenwald came into view. It would have taken a normal group around seven to nine days to make this journey, but Marcus ran without rest through night and day.

    Slowing down his pace Marcus approached the wooden fence that encircled the town and used his ghostly powers to slip through in order to not pay the entry tax and to leave no records of his travel.

    Finding the same inn he had stayed at during his previous stop in Trostenwald, Marcus rented a room for one night before heading out to the tavern he had visited before.

    He soon arrived in front of the Tuknite Tavern and entered into the familiar establishment.

    Once he was inside unlikest time when his group had visited during off hours and the tavern was empty, this time now that it was well into the evening the tavern was full of people.

    Many of the people in the tavern turned their heads and looked at Marcus as he walked in, many of them continuing to stare at him as he walked to the bar.

    Sitting down Marcus ordered a mug of ale and some fried fish and started enjoying his food and drink. It had been quite some time since he had any alcohol and while he could not get a buzz since he had no blood, he could still enjoy the taste.

    Unfortunately appearing to be a lone beautiful woman in a tavern full of drunk men, it was only a matter of time before one of them tried to hit on him.

    Arge man well over six feet tall came up to the bar next to Marcus and said, "Good day to you miss, I have not seen you around here before, I am the cousin of the owner of one of the mines here in Trostenwald, and I was wondering if you would share a drink with me."

    Not even looking at the man since he had no interest in drinking with the him Marcus said, "No thanks I am just passing through and wanted to enjoy a quick drink and bite to eat alone."

    The man being persistent put his left hand on Marcus'' right shoulder and said, "Don''t be like that, just have one drink with me, everyone in here wants to get to know the beautiful mysterious stranger that came in all alone."

    Not wanting anymore to do with this man Marcus pushed the man''s hand off his shoulder and went back to drinking.

    The man getting a bit angry tried to grab Marcus by the arm and pull him off his seat, but found that Marcus would not budge even when he used his full strength.

    However, Marcus was now thoroughly annoyed by this man who he had politely asked to leave, so Marcus grabbed his hand lifted him over his head and tossed him behind towards the tavern''s entrance.

    The man then flew through the air and mmed into the tavern door and continued outside smashing into the ground unconscious.

    Marcus looked back a little surprised since he had not meant to toss the man with such force but being a rtively high level, his strength was far above normal people.

    Everyone else in the tavern looked at Marcus in shock as they watched someone who appeared to be an average sized woman toss a mountain of a man through the air effortlessly.

    Normally if a stranger had done this to one of the town folks in the tavern it would be the start of a fight but no one in the tavern was stupid enough to antagonize Marcus after that disy.

    While most people were around the same level of strength even some at level fifteen being considered quite strong, everyone knew that there were some monsters well above the average level that you never wanted to upset.

    Sensing the sour atmosphere in the tavern Marcus quickly downed the rest of his ale and left, going back to his inn.

    Once inside his room Marcusid down onto the bed ready to sleep for the first time in three days and recover his stamina.

    Waking up the next day Marcus exited the inn and got back onto the road expecting to reach River Landing by the end of the day.

    When he was just around and hour away from river Landing Marcus saw the first group of carts he had seen in a while and notice that they were under attack by something.

    As he got closer, he was able to see that they were being attack by what looked like two dozen blue ants that were around the size of corgis.

 Chapter 85 - 84 Ice Ants

    Seeing the carts being attack by therge blue ants Marcus rushed in letting loose a couple of fire shots that incinerated about a half dozen of the ants.

    The ants sensing the new threat spread out in search of Marcus, leaving the guards and the people in the three carts with less foes to deal with.

    Marcus quickly checked the ants levels finding that they ranged from two to eight none of them being very strong.

    However, what theycked in strength they made up for with ferocity and numbers as well as a special ability.

    When three of the ants located Marcus, they began shooting a seemingly steaming liquid at him out of their abdomen.

    Seeing the liquiding for him Marcus deftly dodged out of the way and cast his me de spell before bursting forward and burning up the three ants with a couple of quick strikes.

    Looking back at where the liquid hit Marcus could see that the ground had frozen where the liquid hadnded.

    ''What the hell, I have heard of ants that spray acid, but these things seem to be shooting out liquid nitrogen or something.''

    Having analyzed thebat abilities of the ants Marcus charged towards the remaining dozen or so and helped defeat them with the help of the carts'' guards.

    Once it was over Marcus noticed that some of the people in the group he had just rescued, had ice stuck to their skins and some even were frozen to the carts.

    Acting quickly Marcus cast his floatingmp spell and used it to melt the ice and found that under the ice the areas of skin were horrible damaged by acid burns.

    Marcus used his tier one healing magic spell to help as many of the people who were in too much pain to function once the ice acid had been melted off of them.

    After casting his healing spell over and over again on the numerous people that were injured Marcus managed to get everyone''s condition under control even if he could notpletely heal the damage.

    With the emergency triage over the leader of the group Marcus had rescued came up to him and bowed his head before saying, "Were are eternally grateful for your assistance, if not for your help many of us would have died, allow me to reward you on behalf of the Grinswald tradingpany."

    "No that is fine I really do not need anything, I am just passing through on my way to River Landing and decided to give you a hand. Now if you will excuse me, I am trying to get to my destination quickly so I will take my leave."

    However, as Marcus tried to leave the woman in charge who had just offered him a reward moved in front of him and continued pleading their case.

    "Please would you apany us the rest of the way to River Landing it is only a short trip left and once we arrive, I can promise that thepany I work for will reward you handsomely for assisting us. There could be more of the ant monsters about, and the cargo we have is especially precious."

    Marcus looked at the sorry state the group was in after the attack, and after appraising everyone found that their strongest member was only level fourteen.

    Sighing Marcus responded saying, "Fine, since River Landing is close and I would feel bad if you all died after I rescued all of you, I will apany you the rest of the way."

    At that the entire group of people Marcus had rescued all beamed with smiles and thanked him profusely.

    The group working for the Grinswald Tradingpany and Marcus continued on the road making there way towards River Landing.

    Unfortunately, they were quickly assaulted by another group of therge blue ants.

    Marcus seeing the small party of around eight ants told everyone to stop and let him handle this.

    He then quickly rushed forward casting his me de spell and striking at the ants with swift strikes that incinerated them instantly.

    Of course, the poor ants that were all in the single digits stood no chance against Marcus who was nearly level thirty and many times stronger than any of them.

    At this point Marcus realized that something was wrong,st time he came through here there were no signs of giant ants and he had heard nothing about them.

    ''If these things were always around then no one would be able to take the trip safely between River Landing and Loursend, they must have recently put up a nest around here somewhere.''

    Realizing the threat that a swarm ofrge ice acid spraying ants were, Marcus increased his vignce to the max while helping to guard the people form Grinswald Trading.

    After walking down the path for another twenty minutes, the group had already been assaulted by three other groups of ants all of which Marcus took care of swiftly.

    However, when they finally caught site of River Landing and the area around it, everyone looked out in horror at the scene before them.

    They could see the roving bands of ants all over the area around River Landing and the sh of explosions and magic around the walls whenever any of these ants got to close.

    Looking around further Marcus caught the sight of a hill that seemed to have snow on it and while that would not be unusual for Borealia during any other season, it was still summer when there should be no snow.

    As he focused on this hill Marcus could make out what looked like little blue lines moving about its surface and at that moment Marcus understood what the hill was.

    ''That is the ant mound, this really is not good. Where did these thingse from, there are easily thousands of them just wandering the area around here? I need to get into River Landing quickly and figure out what is going on, the only problem is, how am I going to keep these guys safe.''

    Mulling it over for a bit Marcus decided to bring forth his iron golem even if it was a bit shy.

    When everyone noticed that Marcus had begun chanting and did not stop after a couple of seconds, they realized he was using a powerful spell.

    After eleven seconds, Marcus finished the chant and brought forth his huge fourteen-foot-tall iron golem.

    Seeing this everyone else looked in awe at the golem Marcus had just brought forth, obviously from a powerful spell.

    Turning to address the group Marcus said, "Okay, we are going to move fast and make it to the gates, I will do my best to protect all of you along with my Iron Golem but keep your guard up. Do not stop for anything, if you stop moving those ants will catch you and I will not help anyone thatgs behind."

    Everyone took a gulped at Marcus'' words imaging the worst that could happened to them.

    Leading the charge Marcus ran forward and the people driving the carts urged the horses drawing the carts to speed up as everyone else set off into a run.

    Marcus sooning down the hill spotted the first ant attracted by the group he was protecting and hade to investigate.

    However, this ant died in the next instant as a fire shot engulfed and incinerated it. The group continued forwards running at full speed to close the rest of the distance to River Landing.

    Of course, they did not go unnoticed by the ants roaming the area, as more and more came to investigate.

    As more ants came from their left side to investigate Marcus ordered his iron golem to squash them while he continued to clear the road ahead.

    With this strategy the party managed to make good progress not needing to slow down as Marcus killed any ants blocking the group''s way and the golem dealt with any that came at them from the side.

    Unfortunately, soon a group of farrger ants closer to the size of a Saint Bernard rather than a corgi, took notice of the carnage Marcus had caused and came to eliminate the threat.

    With the addition of theserger soldier ants Marcus found himself having to move around even faster shing his me de like wild while unleashing fire shots.

    Luckily even with the ever-increasing swarm of ants, Marcus along with his iron golem had managed to keep everyone safe, until when they were only around a thousand hundred feet from the gates Marcus'' golem fell over, covered in so much ice it could no longer move.

    Seeing this Marcus raised his hand and unleashed his tier four lightning magic spell sting through the remaining ants blocking the path to river Landing''s gate.

    He then turned around and said, "Make your way to the gate I will hold the rear until you make it."

    After that Marcus allowed the rest of the group he was protecting run past him as he turned around to face the swarm of ants that had formed in their wake.

 Chapter 86 - 85 River Landing In Crisis

    ''Embodiment of Darkness''

    Staring down the swarm of ice antsing for him Marcus decided to hold nothing back and activated one of his strongest unique skills.

    He then took out his scythe which he had been carefully preserving since it was currently damaged, since he did not want worsen its condition.

    However, Marcus nned on not allowing a single ant to get by him and knew that to achieve this he needed to use the weapon he was most skilled with.

    Quickly casting his enchantment spells lightning strider and searing weapon, Marcus leaped towards the ants ready for a fierce battle.

    Marcus swung his scythe around like a fiend cutting through multiple of the ice ants with each sh, while also firing off darkness bullets that were enhanced by his embodiment of darkness at any ant that tried to slip by him.

    The smaller ants tried to fling their ice acid at Marcus while the muchrger solider ants attempted to bite into him with their massive mandibles.

    To counter this Marcus would cast his shield of light spell to block the ice acid while any ant that got close enough to bite him found itself cleaved into multiple pieces by Marcus''s scythe, and whenever he was close to being overwhelmed by the hundreds of ants Marcus would quickly turn ethereal and slip back to a more advantageous position.

    After about three minutes of intense fighting and being pushed back around a hundred feet, Marcus saw that a muchrger ant around the size of a tank wasing his way.

    Looking back at the gate of River Landing Marcus could see that the group he had been escorting were currently about to be let in as the guards raised the gate.

    Seeing this Marcus turned his attention back towards the tank sized anting for him and giving it a quick appraisal found it to be many levels higher than the rest of the ants around at level twenty-four.

    ''You are not getting any closer.''

    Marcus then cast a heightened darkness bullet which he then further charged with the energying off of him from his embodiment of darkness and fired the powerful projectile straight for the tank ant.

    The ant''s instincts sensed the iing danger, and it tried to move out of the way, but the powerful darkness bullet shot straight into its side where it exploded with the strength of an average person''s tier four spell.

    Of course, even though this tank ant could be considered quite powerful, it was still blown apart by Marcus'' powerful darkness bullet.

    ''That should do they managed to make it inside the city, and I am not going to be able to keep this up much longer. It is time for me to make my retreat.''

    Having bought the people, he had been protecting enough time to enter River Landing Marcus deactivated his embodiment of Darkness and made a break for the city gate himself.

    He thought about simply turning ethereal and slipping through the walls, but his one man stand against the army of ants had attracted him a good deal of attention from the guards on top of the wall and he did not want anyone to see himter and question him about a disappearing act.

    Running for the gate into the city with a swarm of ants hot on his trail Marcus saw the guards on top of the wall manning the mana canons and begin to open fire on the ants closing in on the city.

    In just a couple of seconds Marcus cleared the remaining distance between him and the gate and noticed that it had been left cracked open for him to slip under.

    Diving under the gate the second he had crossed the threshold into River Landing the guards mmed the gate shut.

    With the immediate crisis abated Marcus copsed onto his knees feeling the exhaustion that came with using his embodiment of darkness.

    ''Ugh, it takes more of a toll on me than I thought, when I used it for the first time in my room at the inn it did not take this much out of me, but moving around while fighting puts more pressure on me than when I was stationary.''

    Once the guards had finished assessing the situation and made sure that the ants would not break through the gate turned their attention towards the group of people that had miraculously made it to their gates.

    "Miss are you okay do you have any injuries."

    Looking up Marcus saw that one of the guards hade over to check on his condition.

    Standing up despite his fatigue, Marcus replied saying, "Yeah I am fine, I managed to make it without getting a scratch on me, but could you tell me what happened, when I was herest just over a month ago, there was no swarm of ants patrolling the area around here."

    The guard''s face tuned sour at the thought of the ice ants that had appeared suddenly before saying to Marcus. "They appeared around two and a half weeks ago, at first it was just an ant here or there but now it has turned into a full-blown crisis. But enough about that I need to get back to my post, you should join up with your group over there and one of the guards will take you to the refugee camps"

    The guard talking to Marcus then headed off back towards the gate leaving Marcus on his own.

    However, as he was heading over to join the caravan he had been protecting, a man who had juste from the top of the wall came running towards Marcus.

    "You there miss wait up."

    Turning around to see someone in a different uniform than the guards approaching him Marcus looked confused wondering what this guy could want.

    Once the man had caught up to Marcus, he took a few moments to huff and puff while he caught his breath.

    "So, what was it that you needed from me."

    "Ah yes, mymanding officer Lieutenant Thora Drevon of the northern army toon number three, wishes to speak with you. If you would follow me, she is still at her post on top of the wall."

    The solider then looked towards Marcus waiting for his conformation, and when he nodded his head yes, a look of relief filled the soldiers face since he new if he did not bring Marcus back with him, he was going to be royally chewed out.

    The soldier turned around and lead the way to the station in which they could ess the stairs that went to the top of the wall.

    When they arrived there was one soldier posted outside the door who noticing the return of the messenger that had juste through, opened the door allowing Marcus entry.

    Once inside Marcus noticed that therge room that would normally have a few people stationed in it waspletely deserted.

    Seeing the quisitive look on Marcus'' face the soldier escorting him said, "Yeah, we do not currently have the manpower to house anyone in these stations, right now it is all hands-on deck. Now if you would not mind the stairs are over there and we can make it to the top of the wall."

    Continuing to follow the soldier escorting him Marcus walked up the flight of stairs and emerged on top of the wall looking out over the vast area around River Landing.

    Seeing Marcus, staring out at thendscape around River Landing the soldier escorting Marcus said, "It certainly is impressive, but we do not want to keep Lieutenant Drevon waiting, she can have a bit of a temper, especially when people arete."

    Continuing across the top of the wall Marcus could see dozens of soldiers running around manning the mana cannons and restocking supplies.

    Soon they came to a small station on top of the wall and walking inside Marcus saw a short woman no taller that five-feet tall in full te armor and with a sword bigger than herself strapped on her back, yelling orders at some of the soldiers.

    When she noticed Marcus and the soldier she had sent to retrieve him, she yelled, "Enio, I told you to be back with her in three minutes tops, it has already been over five, what did you do stop by themissary on your way."

    The other soldiers around looked at poor Enio who was getting chewed out with looks of sympathy and after around twenty seconds of berating Enio, Lieutenant Drevon turned her attrition towards Marcus and said, "Sorry about the sorry condition of my men, this lot is still green and need to be whipped into shape. However, the reason I called you here is because I saw your battle against those ice ants and was impressed. You stood your ground against over a thousand ants while you protected your group, that is no easy feat.. So, how about it would you like to join my toon I can promise you the rank of sergeant right away with your level of strength."

 Chapter 87 - 86 Reunion

    Marcus stared nkly at Lieutenant Drevon, not expecting the sudden requirement offer. Marcus thought about it for a few moments but was interrupted before he had the time to fully process what was going on.

    "Do you have a block in your ears or something, it was a yes or no question are you going to join me or not."

    A bit peeved by the loud and rude Lieutenant Drevon Marcus responded quickly saying, "Thanks for the offer but I have no intention of joining the army, I am just passing through and decided to help those people to the city gates."

    Not having expected Marcus to turn her down Drevon looked slightly angry at Marcus'' refusal.

    "You really do not have much of a choice right now, you look like an adventure to me, and the emergency conscription is in ce so any and all adventures iron rank or higher have to join the army ranks until this crisis is over. So, you can either join me or be ced in some random squad as a foot solider, or I suppose I could have you arrested for insubordination."

    Drevon looked at Marcus smugly expecting him to realize that her offer was far better than any alternative, until Marcus took out his adventure card and showed it to her.

    Seeing the bronze adventure''s card in Marcus'' hand Drevon was shocked since there was no way someone as strong as Marcus could possibly be such a low rank.

    "Give me that and show me your ID, you are not going to be able to fake your way out of this."

    Marcus then took out his Irene ID and handed it over, and as Drevon looked at them a vein on her forehead started to visibly throb.

    "Do you really think that you can fool me with these, as good as they are they must be forgeries, there is no way that you could have been only level nine a month and a half ago."

    Seeing that this woman was not the kind to listen to reason and was used to getting her way Marcus decided to y his final card and hope it was enough to get her off his back.

    "While it may be hard to believe I really was only level nine a month and a half ago, and while I have no intention of working under you, I will help out during this crisis. I happen to actually work for royal investigator Wade so I need to go and report back to him, since I am sure he will know what to use my skills for."

    Drevon''s face contorted into a disgusted expression as soon as she heard Wade''s name, remembering all of the unpleasant experiences she had with him.

    "Fine if you want to follow that bastard you are more than wee to, but if I hear that what you just told me is a lie when this crisis is over, I will make sure to make you are punished ordingly."

    After giving Drevon onest disdainful look and giving her a quick appraisal, Marcus was surprised to see that she was level thirty-one.

    ''I guess she is not just filled with hot air, she has the strength to back up her attitude but that does not mean she needed to be that rude to me. Hopefully I will never have to deal with her again.''

    His business concluded Marcus headed back towards the stairs and left the top of the wall.

    Back on the city streets Marcus noticed the absence of people. Pretty much the only ones moving around were soldiers or city guards and it seemed that everyone else was holed up inside their residences.

    ''When I came back this really is not what I was expecting to see. Things have really turned for the worst around here, but hopefully it can all be resolved soon. The town is still standing, and I doubt those ants could breach the walls easily especially with how many soldier they have stationed on the walls.''

    Marcus not knowing exactly where to find Wade but wanting to speak with him so he could get the full run down of the current situation, headed for the army headquarters building.

    Once the army headquarters came into sight Marcus could see the frantic state everyone around it was in. There were soldiers running around with boxes full of supplies, guards handing out powerful weapons like magic storing wands, and even a massive mana cannon being wheeled out of a storehouse.

    ''It really is all hands-on deck, I wonder how long those ants have been around, and why haven''t they been dispatched yet. The kingdom certainly cannot just allow the town to be run over by these ants, surely, they have at least a few people above level forty that could deal with this crisis.''

    As he was thinking while approaching the army headquarters, when he was a few feet from the building''s entrance one of the soldiers stopped him and said, "What are you doing here, we are in a time of crisis and this is no time for you to be wandering around, head back to your residence or you will be detained."

    With an exacerbated look on his face Marcus said, "I am here to see royal investigator Wade, I work for him and just arrived back in River Landing so, I need to report to him."

    The soldier''s face then turned into a grimace since he had always heard awful rumors about royal investigators and not wanting to get on their bad side told Marcus that there office was on the top floor in the east wing.

    Thanking the guard for the directions Marcus entered the building, and quickly found a quite corner where he reverted to his ghost form in order to not get stopped and questioned again.

    Floating up through the ceiling Marcus soon came to the top floor which was practically desertedpared to the rest of the base.

    Resolidifying Marcus then went around searching the area until he found the office of the royal investigators.

    Walking inside Marcus noticed that there was only one man sitting at a desk looking over dozens of reports at a breakneck speed.

    The man quickly noticed Marcus and looked up from his reports and said, "What do you need can you not see I am busy, official request are currently suspended so whatever it is you are here to report will have to wait until after this crisis is resolved."

    The man then immediately went back to staring at his reports until he realized that Marcus was not leaving.

    "Did, you not here me I am busy right now so get out of here unless you want me to forcefully remove you."

    Sighing Marcus said, "My name is Irene, and I am looking for Wade, he should be around here somewhere, and as much as I would like to see you try to remove me, I do not want any trouble so could you just tell me where he is."

    The manpletely enraged stood up from his desk ready to put Marcus in his ce until he remembered the name and description of the person Wade had hired to infiltrate Poulsen''s manor.

    Realizing his mistake, the royal investigator quickly calmed down and said, "Wade is currently in a meeting with the other higher ups, if you wait here for a bit, I am sure he wille back. Though do not expect him to give you much time this crisis is taking all of our attention."

    After waiting for around two hours Marcus finally saw Wadeing into the office room along with two other royal investigators.

    When Wade noticed Marcus sitting in the room his normally calm and collected face twisted into one of surprise since he was not expecting to see Marcus during this crisis.

    Dismissing the other two investigators with him Wade walked over to Marcus and said, "Good to see you Irene I am d to see that you are doing all right but if this is a curtesy visit, I am afraid I do not have the time right now. When this current crisis is resolved we can catch up with each other."

    As Wade started to walk away, he felt a tingle on the back of his neck as the magic item he had the altered him to being appraised went off and he then heard Marcus say, "Level thirty-four, I figured you were at least thirty, but it is good to finally be able to put a number to you strength."

    Wade then turned around apletely shocked expression on his face as he realized the implications of Marcus being able to see his level.

    Wade quickly used his own appraisal skill and found that Marcus had leveled up incredibly quickly to level twenty-nine.

    Letting off a quick hardyugh Wade then said, "To think you would return at the same level that Ivar was, you have impressed me once again Irene, very well in light of you achievement I can give you a few minutes what did you want from me."

 Chapter 88 - 87 Reunion (2)

    With Wade''s undivided attention Marcus told him about how he had help escort a group of merchants past the ice ant hordes, his one man stand against them, and the forceful recruitment methods of Lieutenant Drevon.

    Nodding his head Wade looked impressed at Marcus before saying, "So you are the one who caused that spectacle outside the city gates. It caused a huge uproar in the guards and soldiers since they watched you churn out powerful spells one after the other while being cloaked in a shroud of darkness. You were even one of the topics of the meeting I was just in since no one knew exactly who you were, and now you have delivered yourself to me on a silver tter."

    At that point Marcus was starting to regret his decision to rely on Wade when Marcus noticed Wade looking at him like he was a prime cut of meat.

    Of course, Wade picked up on Marcus'' wariness and said, "Sorry it is not every day I get such a valuable pawn drop itself right into myp, while the city is currently in a bit of a crisis everyone is still looking to achieve their own agendas. Also, there is no need to worry since you will be joining us royal investigators, you will not be used as amon foot soldier."

    Marcus began looking at the exit wondering if he could get away when he felt Wade''s grip on his shoulder. Resigning himself to being Wade''s pawn until this crisis resolved Marcus followed him into his office and sat down.

    "Now then I suppose that I should exin to you exactly what is going on. It all started around four weeks ago when the people that inhabit the viges to the north came running down to River Landing in droves. They told us of the impending ant swarm that had descended from the Great Gome Woods. Apparently, the swarm was discovered by the soldiers during their yearly cleaning operation around the periphery of the woods and those soldiers managed to evacuate all of the viges down south to River Landing."

    When he heard this Marcus'' face contorted into fear as realized that the group he had sent Lillia with, should have been on their way back to those northern viges and would have run into the ice ants.

    Wade noticing the sudden fear on his face said, "If you are worried about the group of people that were kidnapped by the Ander vers that you rescued, you do not need to worry. The adventures that were escorting them got them into the city safely since the ant hoards were not as active at that time. Now back to what happened, after the people from the viges up north told us about the ants, a battalion of soldiers was dispatched to eliminate them but were unsessful and had to retreat. After that the ants tried to overrun River Landing but failed to break through our defenses, so instead they set up just past the range of our mana cannons and have been slowly wilding us down."

    Wade then gave pause for Marcus to ask some questions since he could see the quisitive expression on his face.

    "Has anything like this happened before and are you telling me that even with all the strength here in River Landing you cannot just overrun these ants."

    "No this has never happened before, while there are some experts from past explores saying that they had run into ants that shoot ice, those reports detailed that they lived far further north. As for your second question no we can not simply overpower them. Even the strongest fighter in the town the general in charge of the army here is only level forty-one. As strong as he is he cannot defeat the queen of those ants since we know she is above level forty as well as being an intelligent monster."

    Surprised to hear this Marcus could not contain himself and asked, "How do you know she is an intelligent monster I thought that they were pretty rare."

    Wade nodded his head in agreement before saying, "Yes they are rare but not unheard of, and we know she is intelligent because of the strategies she has employed. That bitch has actuallypletely put River Landing under siege. She sent arge group of ants across the river by freezing it over in ces and has made it impossible for us to escape south. Of course, we could try to break through, but it would take a massive amount of manpower, and she has station some of her flying ants to inform her of our movements, so if we congregate our power to the south the ants will overrun us from the north."

    Understanding how dire the situation truly was Marcus then asked, "So what is the n, certainly we are not going to wait to be rolled over."

    At this Wade sighed before saying, "That is exactly what we are doing, although we are not waiting to be overtaken but waiting for reinforcements from the capital. The only problem now is if our supplies will run out. We are currently running out of magic cores to fuel the city''s defenses and when they run out the ants will be able to crawl right over the wall and into the city."

    Seeing the desperate look on Wade''s face Marcus opened up his item box an allowed a flood of magic cores toe out. He currently had more than two thousand cores and other than the hundred strongest like the one he had obtained from the boss of the thirdyer Marcus was willing to share.

    Wade looked out in surprise as over two thousand magic cores flooded the room before he gave an angry look at Marcus, since while he was happy to have the cores there was no need for Marcus to put on such a show about it.

    "Where the hell did you get all of these, while most of them are only the lowest or second lowest grade the sheer volume is impressive. However, it was not necessary to fill my office up with them so if you could store them back in your item box, we can take them to the storeroom and replenish our supplies. This should at least let us hold out another two days and hopefully by then reinforcements will arrive."

    Of course, Marcus did not n to give away all of these cores for free and began rubbing his fingers together indicating his wish forpensation.

    Sighing Wade said, "Yes you will be properly paid for the cores, but right now we are in a crisis so your payment will have to wait."

    Nodding his head in agreement Marcus then followed Wade out of his office and to the stairs where they descended all the way to the building''s basement. Once down there Marcus could feel that the temperature had risen a few degrees.

    As they walked forward Marcus soon saw a door leading into massive room that had a single guard posted in front of it.

    Seeing the two of them approaching the guards called out saying, "Who goes there and what is your business."

    At that point Wade responded saying, "I am Royal Investigator Wade Ophiria, and this is my subordinate Irene. We have found arge collection of over two thousand cores and havee to deliver them."

    Hearing Wade''s name and title the guard''s face stiffened, and he quickly stood aside before saying, "You are free to enter sir, thank you for procuring much needed cores in our time of need."

    The guard lowered his head as Wade passed by doing his best not to offend someone of such high rank.

    Once inside the room Marcus could feel the temperature rise once again as he stared at a massive furnace made out of a vibrant crimson metal.

    "Impressive isn''t it, this mana furnace provides the energy that powers almost ever defensive formation and instation in River Landing. Now let us store those cores of your and we can be on our way."

    Wade then tracked down one of the dozen works that we keeping the furnace running and told them about the new supply of cores. When the workers heard this all of their faces had smiles on them as they brough empty boxes to Marcus.

    Marcus began emptying his magic core stores into each box filling them to the brim before moving onto the next empty box.

    When he had finally finished emptying the over two thousand cores and only kept ahold of his top one hundred Marcus gave the signal that he was out, and he and Wade left the furnace room.

    As soon as they made it out of the room Wade sighed in relief and said, "Ah it is really too hot in there for me, but now we can figure out how to incorporate you into our group."

    However, before Wade could say anything else Marcus said, "Actually there is something I need to do before that.. Could you tell me where the people I rescued are right now, I need to talk to one of them urgently."

 Chapter 89 - 88 Reunion (3)

    Wade looked at Marcus understanding that someone from the people he had rescued must be important to him.

    "Yeah, I know that they are in refugee camp five but other than that you will need to locate them yourself. The camp is located inrge park on the west side of the town."

    After getting the location Marcus started to head on out when Wade stopped him and said, "Wait, take this, it is a badge to identify you as a royal investigator. For the remaining duration of this crisis, I will have you working under me so try not to get into any trouble. Also, report back to the office tomorrow morning at thetest since we will have some work to do."

    Nodding his head Marcus moved towards the stairs and as he was leaving heard Wade say under his breath.

    "Now I need to report that I was the one who caught the mysterious big fish."

    Hearing this Marcus felt a chill down his spine and quickly ran out of the army headquarters building.

    Finding himself back on the empty streets Marcus quickly turned back into his ghost form and floated above the buildings.

    When he caught sight of the vibrant green area that could only be the park he was looking for Marcus floated towards it.

    Once he got closer, he could see hundreds of tents set up with people milling about, most of them headed for onerge tent that appeared to be an emergency kitchen.

    ''Now then I need to find Lilia and make sure she is doing okay. I did not go through all the trouble of recuing her just for her to end up killed by some ants.''

    Floating down to ground level Marcus began his search for Lilia checking the people walking around outside and eating at therge dinning area set up outside of the kitchen.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was unable to locate Lilia from among the mass of people and began searching through the tents.

    After, poking his head through around three hundred tents in the refugee tent city, Marcus found the little girl he was looking for.

    Laying on a small mat in the tent was Lilia bundled up in some cheap nkets.

    Marcus moved over above her and noticed that she was breathing unsteadily, and her face was flushed.

    Frantically Marcus resolidified and put his hand on top of Lilia''s forehead and could feel that she was burning up.

    He quickly began casting his tier two healing spell lesser restoration and after a dozen casts felt that her temperature was beginning to recede.

    She then shakily opened her eyes and when she saw Marcus she said in a weak voice, "Big sister Irene?"

    When he heard this Marcus immediately realized his blunder since he had not taken the time to switch his form back over to himself in his rush to cure Lilia.

    Quickly moving out of Lilia''s view Marcus switched his form over before going back to her side and saying, "Sorry, I am afraid I am not Irene, but your big brother Marcus is here to help you in her stead."

    Lilia finally breaking out of the daze her fever had left her in blinked her eyes a few times and stared at Marcus.

    For a moment she felt incredibly sad as the hole in her heart of losing her sister felt reopened, but she soon felt a warm feeling as she looked at Marcus the mysterious man that hade to save her at her sister''s behest.

    After lightly coughing a few times, Lilia managed to get herself together and say, "What are you doing here big brother Marcus, I thought you had other things to attend to."

    Hearing Lilia call him big brother, Marcus felt his heart strings being pulled and he said, "I finished up my business and when I heard you were in trouble, I rushed right on over to make sure you were okay. It is a good thing I did too since you were in pretty rough shape. How did you get this fever anyway, you were in fine health when I left you?"

    However, before Lilia could say anything the tent''s door was opened and a woman that Marcus recognized as the de facto leader of the group Marcus sent Lilia with walked in and began saying, "Lilia I managed to get some warm soup from the kitˇ­"

    However, when she saw Marcus crouched over Lilia she immediately froze and, in her shock, dropped the bowl of soup she had.

    Seeing the soup falling Marcus reflexively shot forward and grabbed the bowl out of the air before it could touch the ground.

    The woman who was taking care of Lilia then stared at Marcus with a look of utter dread remembering the threat he had given her about keeping Lilia safe.

    Marcus gave the woman a quick look before taking the soup over to Lilia and handing it to her and saying, "Here thedy that has been taking care of you got you some soup to eat, make sure you finish it all otherwise you will not get better."

    Lilia slowly got up and Marcus could here her stomach rumble and here face blushed a little embarrassed by the loud sound.

    She then quickly took the soup from Marcus and began scarfing it down since now that her fever was nearly gone her appetite hade back with a vengeance.

    Seeing how hungry she was Marcus took out a loaf of bread and some jerky and handed them over to Lilia who began devouring them as well.

    Marcus then stood up and walked over to the woman who had brought the soup and said, "Maybe you can tell me how Lilia got sick."

    A glimpse of fear ran through her eyes, and she looked back towards the tent''s exit before squashing the idea of trying to escape.

    After seeing how fast Marcus moved, she knew she had no chance of escape if he really wanted her dead.

    With a look of resolutioning over her face she recounted the events that caused Lilia to end up sick.

    When Marcus heard what had happened, he immediately felt incredibly bad since it was in many ways his fault that Lilia had gotten sick.

    From what he heard Lilia got sick because she slipped into a deep depression when she found the urn Marcus had left under her seat in the cart.

    In her heart while she knew that Irene was dead, she still held onto a small sliver of hope that she was alive.

    This was until she found the urn and the letter Marcus had left with it. She then slowly stopped getting out of the carriage to stretch her legs and move her body like everyone else and would barely eat.

    Eventually her body got too weak, and sickness overtook her when they were unable to proceed home and were put into the refugee camp.

    ''I thought giving her the ashes of Irene''s body would help give her some closure, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. I should have known not to have given something like that to a child that is barely eleven and expect them to react like I would.''

    Mentally kicking himself Marcus knew he needed to make this better somehow and decided that he would need to make sure Lilia was taken better care of from now on.

    Turning around and seeing that Lilia was still munching on the bread he left her Marcus said to the woman that had been taking care of her, "Thanks for looking out for her I know it must not have been easy. I am not going to do anything to punish you since she got sick mostly because of my thick headedness. Now I need to talk to her alone for a bit but once I leave make sure to keep looking after her for me."

    The woman shook her head in agreement before exiting the tent waiting for Marcus to finish up whatever business he had with Lilia.

    Steeling himself Marcus walked up to Lilia who was just finishing up thest piece of bread Marcus gave her.

    Crouching back down to be eye level with Lilia Marcus said, "Lilia there is something important I need to show you."

    Lilia then turned her head back towards Marcus and when he saw that he had her undivided attention he switched his form over to that of Irene and Lilia stared at him with a look of disbelief.

    She looked at Marcus dumbfounded as even though the scar was gone, and his hair and eyes were a different color the face was exactly like her sister.

    Seeing this Lilia began crying harder than she ever had before as she through her arms around Marcus and between her crying kept saying, "Sister Irene, Sister Irene."

    Marcus continued to hug her back as he allowed her to cry her eyes out for a good five minutes before pulling her out of his embrace and saying with tears in his eyes, "Again I am sorry Lilia, but I am not actually your sister, she died that day in the woods when the vers took you all away but even in death, she could not allow her little sister to suffer a fate worse than death."

    After he said this the happy face on Lilia''s face began to recede but before she started crying again Marcus said, "I am going to tell you the full story of how I came to inherit your sister''s will. I happen to be from another world and when I died there, I was reborn on this world as a ghost, I wandered around thends while trying to find a purpose for my new pitiful existence. At one point I came to your littlemunity in the woods and found the body of a young woman who had died. However, her regret at not being able to save her little sister was so strong a fragment of her soul stayed behind andtched on to me. This fragment begged me to save you and shared the experiences you had together with me. After seeing the love you had for each other, especially when Irene stopped the pot of boiling water from hitting you, I was moved and vowed to rescue you no matter what. I may not be your sister but a part of her still rests within me along with her memories, so I will do my best to take her ce."

    Lilia was staring at Marcus intently as she listened to his entire story and when he was finished, she through her arms back around him and began crying again half out of sadness and half out of happiness.

 Chapter 90 - 89 Gifts For Lilia

    After another long round of hugging and crying Lilia eventually released Marcus and looked at him with a slightly conflicted expression.

    He was still in the guise of her big sister, but she knew that he was not actually her. However, he did know intimate details of her life with Irene, and she could feel that he was genuine.

    Lilia stared at Marcus for a good long minute before pping her face and putting on a bright smile. She had thought she had no one left in life since her entire family was dead, but since a fragment of her sister still lived on in Marcus, she felt as if he was a new member of her family.

    "So should I call you big brother or big sister?"

    Marcus stared happily at Lilia as he really did feel like she was his little sister and the acknowledgement she was giving him warmed his heart.

    "Well, when we are around other people it would be best if you referred to me depending on my form but when we are alone, I would prefer big brother."

    Lilia then happily started saying big brother over and over but after the initial excitement wore off her body remined her that she was still not in peak condition, as she lost her bnce and fell over back onto the mat she was sleeping on.

    Worried Marcus quickly got up to check on her but found that she was just exhausted.

    "Are you doing okay Lilia, if you are feeling unwell, I can try casting a few more spells on you to make you better."

    Lilia shook her head before saying, "No I am just tired I will feel better after some rest could you tell me some stories about yourself."

    Nodding his head yes Marcus began telling her about his previous life on Earth about how the world was very different from the one they were on now. After about ten minutes of telling her about himself Marcus noticed that Lilia had fallen back asleep.

    Marcus then pulled the nkets around over her and added his own just to make sure she stayed warm.

    Once he was certain Lilia wasfortable Marcus got up and exited the tent finding the woman who had been taking care of Lilia.

    When she saw him, she said, "Is she okay, she cried for so long I was being to get worried."

    "Yeah, she just needed to work out her feelings and I helped her along, again thank you for helping her out, and if you would not mind could you tell me your name.:

    A bit surprised by Marcus'' request she realized that she had never introduced herself since Marcus had frightened her during their first meeting.

    "Sorry I should have introduced myself much earlier, my name is Janice."

    "Okay Janice I know this may be an inconvenience for you, but I will be staying the night with Lilia to make sure she recovers, would you be able to find somewhere else to sleep tonight."

    "That might be difficult, the tents are full to capacity, and it was difficult enough for me to convince them only to put the two of us in this tent without another roommate."

    Understanding her dilemma Marcus took out ten gold and handed it over to Janice and then said, "Here take this and I am sure that you can find somewhere else to sleep for the night."

    Janice stared at the ten gold coins in her hands with utter shock, since she was holding more money than most people would make in a year.

    Nodding her head, she went off with a smile on her face figuring she could probably get a tent to herself with just one gold.

    With that problem solved Marcus entered back into the tent and watched over Lilia. During that night Lilia would often wake up in a cold sweat and Marcus would give her some water and food before lulling her back to sleep with stories about himself.

    When the night was over, Marcus told Lilia to wait in the tent while he prepared breakfast for her.

    Heading to the kitchen tent, Marcus slipped in using his ghost form and stared collecting ingredients to make a soup for Lilia.

    Once he had collected a good assortment of vegetables and even some meat, Marcus floated back to the tent where he reappeared in front of Lilia giving her a bit of a shock.

    Once Lilia had recovered from Marcus'' sudden entrance he took out his cooking pot lifted it off the ground with his spectral hand and ced his floatingntern spell under it to boil water.

    After adding a bunch of the ingredient Marcus had swiped from the kitchen, he took out a few of the natural treasures he had obtained from the chest in the dungeon and added them to the soup.

    He added some stalks of blue grass along with what looked to be apletely yellow leek, as well as other assorted natural treasures.

    After about thirty minutes Marcus figured that the soup was ready since it was giving off a lovely aroma.

    Filling a bowl to the brim Marcus handed the soup over to Lilia and said, "Here you go breakfast is served."

    Lilia took the bowl in her hands and blew on the hot soup before taking a big gulp of the broth.

    When the soup entered her mouth Lilia was incredibly surprised finding that this was the best thing she had ever eaten.

    She quickly downed the first bowl of the soup and when she was finished held it out towards Marcus who quickly refilled it.

    Of course, Lilia did not realize that her stats had already doubled from the natural treasures she had eaten since she was only level three.

    After he made sure Lilia had eaten all of the natural tressures in the soup Marcus took out a certain potion from his item box and handed it over to Lilia.

    "Here drink this, it will make you stronger and it actually has a pretty good taste."

    Taking the potion Lilia began drinking it and felt a warm feeling well up inside her as the rainbow-colored liquid went down her throat.

    She actually began glowing slightly as the stat boosting potion did its magic and increased all of Lilia''s stats by ten.

    Lilia could feel the strength welling up inside of her and looked at Marcus and asked, "What did you just give me it feels simr to when I leveled up but even stronger."

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus said, "I just gave you a spare stat boosting potion I had on me, that way you should be able to take care of yourself better from now on."

    Lilia looked at Marcus in shock, even if she was just a young girl from the country, she still knew how rare it was to have any thing that boosted ones stats. She then remembered the feeling she had while eating the soup and how Marcus made sure she finished off certain items in it.

    As she looked at Marcus Lilia began crying again since this gesture showed how much he really cared for her.

    "Are you sure you wanted to give these to me, they must have been incredibly valuable, you could have sold them for enough money to live on for the rest of you life or used them yourself."

    Shacking his head Marcus said, "I have plenty of money right now, and I already maxed out my limit for now so giving them to you makes the most sense. I cannot always be around to protect you so I need to do my best to make sure you can take care of yourself. Ah speaking of making you stronger I have one more thing for you."

    Marcus then took out the two skill orbs he had left from the monster festival that gave someone ess to their best magic skill and best weapon skill.

    Handing them over to Lilia Marcus said, "I have no need for either of those, so you go ahead and use them."

    Lilia held the skill orbs in her hands before activating them and absorbing the power held within them.

    Of course, even though she obtained the new skills she could not effectively use them since she did not have the corresponding weapon or the magic cirction skill necessary to use magic.

    "So, Lilia what did you get out of the skill orbs was it something good."

    Nodding her head Lilia responded saying, "I got a weapon skill called gauntlet fighter, superior and the force magic skill."

    Marcus looked at Lilia impressed not only did she mange to have the talent to have a superior weapon skill, but Marcus figured that force magic was also incredibly rare.

    "That is great to hear Lilia, I am d you managed to get some good skills. Unfortunately, I need to get to work to resolve this crisis. I am sure you know what is going on and I have to help out since I am strong. Once everything is over, I wille back, and we can discuss what we are going to do next."

    Lilia looked a bit sad to see Marcus go but she knew he had his own things to do and was happy to wait for him toe back.

    ''I never nned or wanted to take care of her which is why I sent her ahead in the first ce but, when I saw her again and she was sick I could not just leave her. She remined me too much of my own sister back on Earth, and the part of Irene within me could not bare to leave her alone.. I suppose I can look after her until she is ready to live on her own, but first I need to resolve this crisis so I can continue on to the capital.''

 Chapter 91 - 90 Taking The Queen

    With his visit with Lilia concluded Marcus thought about his next n of action.

    ''Hm, should I just go back to the royal investigator office and take orders from Wadeˇ­ No, I have a skillset unlike anyone else that is perfect for handling this situation. If it was any other type of monster this might not work but even monster ants have the same weakness as the ants back on Earth, their queen. Just like in a game of chess as long as I take the king, well queen in this case I win the game.''

    With his course of action decided Marcus began walking towards the northern city walls and the ice ant hill.

    While it would normally be suicide for one person to infiltrate an ant hill and make their way to the queen, with Marcus'' ghostly abilities he can easily slip into the queens chamber and assassinate her.

    ''Once I kill the ant queen the other ants will lose their intelligent leadership and their ability to reproduce. After that it will only be a matter of time until the forces of River Landing mange to overwhelm the remaining ants.''

    After around thirty minutes of walking Marcus came to therge wall that protects the northern part of River Landing.

    With a quick look around to make sure no one was watching him Marcus once again reverted to his ghost form and passed through the wall unabated.

    Coming out on the other side Marcus saw the lines of ants marching around in search of prey, and also making sure that no one from River Landing escaped.

    However, with Marcus'' ethereal and invisible abilities he slipped right past the ants and floated towards therge snow-covered hill in the distance.

    When he got closer to the ice ant''s mound Marcus could finally appreciate the size of it. The mound was easily over four hundred feet tall, and at least five hundred feet wide at the base.

    Of course, this was only what was on the surface and the depths that the ants would have dug out could be astronomical.

    Looking around Marcus noticed hundreds of the smaller worker ants moving in and out of therge openings into and out of the mound, with the asionalrger soldier ants monitoring the perimeter.

    ''Looks like the average level for the little worker ants is around four while the soldier ants average around ten. I have not seen anymore of thoserge ants that are around the size of a tank, but I can only assume that the one that came to fight me was not the only one. In fact, if what Wade told me was correct and the queen is around level forty there are probably even a few ants in the thirties down here as well. Not that it matter to me anyway since I will simply be slipping in and assassinating the queen.''

    With his reconnaissance of the outside of the moundpleted, Marcus floated towards the closest entrance he could find and went into the tunnel.

    Marcus had ultimately decided to use the ants own tunnelwork since he did not want to get lost underground andpletely lose his bearings.

    Floating along Marcus continued to follow the tunnel along with a line of ants until he came to a branch in the path.

    One of the branches was leading up while the other went down and the group of ants Marcus was following split into two groups.

    ''Which way should I go, if it was an unintelligent ant, I would go down a hundred percent of the time, but there is the possibility that the queen has an ego and decided to take up residence at the top. Checking the top of the mound will be easier, so I should go down and hope that instinct trumped vanity for this queen ant.''

    Following the tunnels that led deeper into the ant mound Marcus tired following a group of ants that were carrying the corpses of local monsters and beasts such as goblins hoping they would lead him to the queen.

    Unfortunately, the only thing he found was a room full of frozen corpses that were slowly begin dissolved by the ants'' acid, that would have made Marcus hurl if he could.

    Quickly exiting the room Marcus decided not to follow the ants carrying corpses anymore since he had no desire to see such a grotesque scene again.

    ''That was appalling, I am d I cannot smell right now. I should have known better than to follow those ants, I was just hoping that they had the queen''s lunch or something.''

    After shaking his head in order to forget the image he had just seen Marcus once again set off in search of the queen.

    Floating down tunnel after tunnel Marcus was beginning to get fed up with all of the dead ends, he had encountered when he finally made it to a room that proved he was going in the right direction.

    In front of him was thousands of eggs, that were being tended to by the smaller corgi sized worker ants.

    Looking around Marcus was hoping to find the queen in this room but was ultimately disappointed.

    However, he did make a discovery seeing for the first time since he had entered the nest one of therger tank ants.

    Giving it a quick appraisal Marcus found that this ant was actually a few levels stronger than the one he had encountered on his way to rivernding sitting just below him at level twenty-eight.

    Figuring that since he had entered the egg nursery the queen must not be far off Marcus descended to the bottom of the room where he found a tunnel leading farther into the depths of the mound.

    Floating along Marcus found another half dozen nursey rooms before he finally entered into a massive chamber that, waspletely covered in ice.

    Looking around Marcus soon saw his quarry sitting on a massive throne made of ice surrounded by around a hundred of the worker ants that grooming and catering to the queen.

    Unfortunately, along with the queen ant who was formidable in size being over ten feet tall sitting down and forty feet long, there were three other imposing ants that had formed a triangle around the queen.

    Each of these ants were around twice the size of the tank ants and when Marcus attempted to check their levels, he found that he could only see the level of the weakest one who was level thirty-five.

    ''Those must be the queen''s royal guards; they are quite formidable in their own right. Along with the queen and two of her royal guards I have no idea what their levels are. But I should still be able to dispatch the queen with a well-timed heightened thunderbird strike since being a higher level does not necessarily mean being stronger.''

    As Marcus approached the queen nning to deliver his strongest spell from above, he noticed that the antennas on top of her head began twitching before she cast her head upwards looking straight at Marcus.

    With a slight look of fear creeping onto his face Marcus looked back at the queen hoping that it was just a coincidence that she had looked up.

    Unfortunately, this was not the case as Marcus soon received a telepathic message from the queen.

    ''You there spirit leave at once, I know not why you have invaded my kingdom, but I have no qualms with you. I rmend you hurry up and leave less you anger me, I haven''t the time to deal with you I must make it south quickly.''

    Marcus stared at the queen for a minute while she stared back at him. He was hoping that she would take her attention off of him allowing him to strike but she was trained on him with no intention of allowing him free reign in her chambers.

    Acting decisively Marcus floated up feigning that he was leaving and once he passed through theyer of ground separating the queen''s chamber from the next, he immediately turned around and went back into the queen''s chamber.

    With his strongest spell tingling at his fingertips Marcus passed back into the queen''s chamber and was about to unleash his heighten thunderbird strike when the queen looked up at him and a cold mist shot towards him.

    Marcus figured that he would be fine since the attack should not be able to affect him while he was ethereal.

    However, when the mist hit, he suddenly felt his soul freeze up as he was covered in ayer of frost.

    Marcus began plummeting towards the ground his soul seemingly too heavy to float any longer.

    Bracing himself Marcus solidified his form before impacting into the floor of the room.

    Using his physical form Marcus was no longer burdened by the weight of the frost covering his soul but he could still feel its icy chill that was attacking his very being.

    Standing up Marcus looked towards the queen still hoping toplete his objective. Unfortunately, now that he was tangible and visible again every other ant in the room honed in on him including the three powerful royal guards.

 Chapter 92 - 91 A Big Mistake

    Marcus stared down the swarm of antsing right for him which was led by the weakest of the three royal guards.

    ''Embodiment of light''

    As light enveloped Marcus'' body he shot forward at an incredible speed straight towards the swarm of ants, but right before he was about to impact the first ant, he became ethereal again and slipped through the ants.

    Coming out the other side Marcus turned solid once more and having already finished gathering the mana for his tier four lightning magic spell, unleashed the thunderbird strike straight for the ice ant queen.

    Therge mass of electricity flew at an incredible speed towards the queen ant, but the two members of her royal guard that had stayed behind to protect her moved forward to intercept the spell.

    At the same time both of them shot forth a st of the ants'' signature ice acid which impacted Marcus'' spell causing it to discharge well before hitting the queen.

    Of course, Marcus had anticipated this as he used his speed burst to run right past the two royal guards straight for the queen.

    Taking his scythe out Marcus imbued it with as much mana as the scythe could handle, before getting into a stance to strike down the queen.

    Appearing right before the queen like a sh of light Marcus swung his scythe up nning to cleave her head right in half.

    However, as he was bringing his scythe up a massive spear of ice appeared out of nowhere and pierced right through his torso leaving a massive gaping wound.

    Marcus immediately felt the searing pain of having his body impaled and tried to jump back to a safe distance, but the queen ant swatted him away with one of her legs sending him skidding across the ground back towards the swarm of ants.

    When Marcus came to a stop, he could feel his body staring to crack as a massive amount of the grey mist that was equivalent to his blood gushed out of him.

    Unfortunately, he had no time to think as a horde of ants pounced on top of him determined to tear him apart.

    The horde of ants moved around in a frenzy biting, stinging, and sshing around ice acid.

    After a minute of carnage, the queenmanded the ants to part so she could see what was left of the intruder that dared attack her in her own chamber.

    Looking at what was left, there appeared to be nothing, but the faintest scrapes of clothes and the queen was satisfied that Marcus had perished.

    After that all of the ants went back to their post ready to cater to the queen''s ever need, except one.

    One ant was quickly crawling away, using the confusion of the situation to slip out of the queen''s chamber.

    This one little worker ant continued its way back up towards the exit of the nest until after ten minutes its body began shudder.

    The ants body shook all around before Marcus popped out of it having exhausted the ten-minute limit he could use his possession ability each day.

    Looking around Marcus noticed that there were no other ants than the one he had been possessing in the tunnel he was currently in.

    Looking at the confused ice ant Marcus exerted his phantom pressure on it crushing its fragile soul.

    He then quickly stored its corpse in his item box before resolidifying and slumping against the tunnel wall.

    Marcus knew that this was incredibly dangerous, but he had no choice, he still had a massive gaping hole in his stomach and his HP was draining at an rming rate.

    Acting quickly Marcus used his iron threads to wrap up the hole in his gut preventing any more of his essence from leaking out.

    ''Ugh, I cannot remember thest time I felt this much pain, even though the pain I feel is leagues less now that I am a ghost a hole in my gut still hurts like crazy. I need to hope that no antse down this tunnel for around an hour so I can recover enough to float out of here.''

    With the immediate danger gone, and his "life" currently no longer at risk Marcus focused all of his energy on recovering from a wound that would have been instantly fatal for most.

    To speed up his recovery Marcus drank everyst healing potion he had in his possession as well as constantly applying his tier one healing spell to his wound, but the effects were only minor since neither the potions nor spell were meant to deal with this level of damage.

    While doing his best to recover Marcus'' luck ran out after ten minutes as a line of a dozen ants came down the tunnel he was in.

    Quickly acting Marcus let loose a chain of consecutive fire shots incinerating each of the ants.

    However, Marcus knew that this would only give him a brief respite as more ants would eventuallye to investigate the scene he had made.

    Struggling onto his feet Marcus went down the opposite end of the tunnel hoping to find a more secluded ce where he could rest.

    He dared not use his ghost form to escape right now since his iron threads would no longer block the wound in his torso and his lesser regeneration skill only worked while he was using his solid form.

    Trudging along Marcus, did his best to avoid the ever increasing number of ants, but the more of them he had to kill the more the ants searched for him.

    Eventually Marcus came face to face with one of therge tank sized ants along with over a dozen of the soldier ants.

    Marcus knew that in his current condition he had no chance of dealing with this threat and against his n reverted to his enteral form.

    He immediately felt the wound in his torso start to leak again now that his iron threads no longer closed the wound.

    Looking up towards the ceiling Marcus floated right through the ground making a beeline for the surface.

    After passing through what seemed to be an endless maze of ant tunnels Marcus finally breached back into the surface just in time to see the sun set.

    ''Fuck, I only have around ten percent of my HP left, and I can feel my strength draining. I need to find a ce to rest quickly and hope I am not found out.

    Swiftly moving his head from side-to-side Marcus looked for a suitable ce to hide and eventually came to the conclusion to perch on top of one of the trees he could see in the distance.

    Floating along Marcus made his way towards the small patch of trees around three thousand feet away hoping to find a temporary respite.

    As he approached, he could see a group of the ice ants patrolling the area, but they thankfully did not seem to be investigating the tops of the trees.

    Finding the tallest tree Marcus carefully positioned himself on a sturdy branch that was obscured from the ground and once again returned to his physical body.

    Once he had made sure that he would not fall he reclosed the wound using his iron threads, and Marcus for the first time in a while felt the need to sleep.

    He then slowly closed his eyes feeling that his strength was exhausted and went to sleepmenting his big mistake of attacking the ice ant queen.

 Chapter 93 - 92 Unending Swarm

    "BOOM!"

    Marcus shot awake startled from hearing a loud explosion and nearly fell out of the tree he was resting in.

    "BOOM!"

    Anotherrge explosion brought Marcus out of his stupor as he looked around and saw what looked to be a blue tide assaulting the walls of River Landing.

    However, upon closer inspection Marcus could tell that the tide was in fact thousands upon thousands of ice ants attacking the town.

    Anotherrge explosion went off along with a bright sh of red light as Marcus stared out in shock at the unending swarm of ice ants.

    Finding the source of the loud and bright explosions Marcus could just barely make out three massive mana canons situated on the walls of River Landing.

    ''What the hell is going on, how long was I out.''

    Looking out at the sea of ants Marcus could immediately tell that this was not like before where the ants were slowly chipping away at the defenses of River Landing but a full-on assault.

    He even spotted the queen and her royal guard sitting in a formation around hundreds of other ants while shotting of attacks at the walls of River Landing.

    For their part River Landing was doing a good job of defending itself shooting down any flying ants while also preventing any froming over the wall.

    But for every ant they killed it seemed that two more would take its ce and slowly but surely the ants would overwhelm River Landing.

    ''Shit this is bad River Landing is done for. I hate to do it, but I need to get out of here, I already tried my best and lost.''

    Marcus then stood up and prepared to float past River Landing and continue his way to the capital when he remembered something important.

    ''Fuck I cannot leave without Lilia and I do not know if I can protect her own my own while fleeing.''

    While Marcus was frantically thinking about what he needed to do to get himself and Lilia out safely he watched as three dozen of the tank ants ran full steam towards the city gates.

    The defenders on top of the wall fired magic and mana cannons at the charging ants, and while they did managed to kill a half dozen of them the others impacted the gate and tore it apart.

    At that moment Marcus began to panic and floated directly for the city no longer trying to think but acting on instinct.

    While floating towards the city gate Marcus watched as the ants began to funnel in ready to overrun the town, when a bright sh of green light sted through the gates and sliced through every ant in its wake.

    Standing in the gate''s entrance Marcus saw a single old man holding a massive mithril sword and full te armor facing down the swarm of ants.

    The ants seemed to hesitate for just a moment as their instincts told them they had no chance against this man, but the orders of their queen were absolute and the ants advanced.

    The man was soon joined by a unit of elite looking knights and they began defending the hole in the wall left by the destroyed gate.

    Seeing this Marcus breathed a sigh of relief until just a few momentster he noticed the soft glow on one sections of the wall faded signaling it was out of mana to power its defenses.

    With the barrier that protected the wall in that section no longer active the ants began climbing up unhindered ready to invade the city proper.

    Of course, the defenders on the wall attempted to stop the ants, hurling spells, firing arrows, and some where even droppingrge rocks, but the seemingly endless ants kept climbing.

    ''I have not fully recovered yet, but I will be damned if I let them kill my little sister.''

    Floating over to the section of the wall that was about to be breached Marcus resolidified right above the wall and began falling.

    While in the air Marcus charged up his tier four spell and when he impacted onto the top of the wall, he let loose the thunderbird strike shocking the already terrified defenders.

    The spell flew forwards crackling with power, incenting, and electrocuting every ant that had currently been climbing on the exposed section of the wall.

    It then crashed into the ground causing a grand explosion of electricity and blowing away the ants that had congregated at the bottom of the wall.

    As Marcus stood up and looked out over the wall, he could see for a brief moment the ground around the wall before like the ocean tide the ants filled in and began climbing up the wall again.

    Marcus looked around for support and saw that all of the soldiers were staring at him instead of preparing to fight the next wave of ants.

    Angrily Marcus shouted at them, "Stop gawking and get ready I only pushed them back for a few seconds the next wave is alreadying."

    All of the soldiers and guards took a big gulp before getting back to their stations and preparing for the next swarm of ants.

    Some of the soldiers wanted toin that they did not take orders from him but seeing him unleash another massive thunderbird strike without chanting, not even the haughtiest soldier dared question Marcus'' authority.

    Marcus continued to defend the section of the wall that had lost its mana supply unloading rapid fire darkness bullets and fire shots on the ants trying to climb the wall along with what ever the soldiers could muster.

    Unfortunately, the ants steadily made their way up and Marcus once again had to use his tier four lightning spell to push them back.

    Marcus knew he would not be able to keep this up forever since he would eventually run out of mana as more ants continued to congregate at the weaken section of the wall.

    Fighting for another five minutes Marcus held the section of the wall he was protecting not allowing a single ant toe on top of the wall when he saw it.

    One of the royal guard ants was flying directly for his section of the wall d in a frosty armor.

    Marcus could tell that therge royal guard ant intended to smash through the wall no longer waiting for the weaker ants to force their way up.

    Seeing this Marcus gritted his teeth and jumped of the wall right towards the royal guard ant intent on stopping it.

    ''Embodiment of darkness.''

    Cloaking himself in the power of his unique skill, Marcus took out his scythe and enveloped it with his darkness and mana.

    He then brought out his spectral arm ced it behind his feet and leaped forward with all his might shooting towards the ant like a ck rocket.

    The ant seeing Marcus recognized him as the one that tried to kill its queen and met his charge nning to crush the being that dared to threaten its sovereign.

    Just before impacting with the royal guard Marcus pulled his scythe back before swinging with everything he had.

    When the two collided there was a massive explosion of darkness and ice creating a scene that grabbed the attention of every person defending River Landing.

    A few momentster both the royal guard and Marcus began falling out of the sky like an icy cket crashing into the ground below.

    As the two of them smashed into the ground they left a deep crater and blew away all of the other ants in the area.

    Forcing himself to his feet Marcus immediately realized something was wrong as he looked to his right and saw that his arm was missing along with his scythe.

    However, he had no time to apply any first aid measures to his now stump of an arm as the royal guard ant lunged towards him.

    Sensing the danger Marcus quickly turned ethereal as the massive ant tried to jump on him and tear him apart.

    Floating above its head Marcus resolidified and took out the magic great sword he had and jammed it into the joint connecting the ant''s head and torso.

    The royal guard ant reeled back its head feeling the sharp pain of the sword imbedded in it and its body suddenly burst with ice forcing Marcus to jump off without his sword less he be frozen.

    Landing back on the ground Marcus could finally get a good look at the ant and was able to see that his earlier attack had managed to deal significant damage as its right mandible was cut in half and the residual darkness was slowly corroding away its head.

    After the royal guard had finished shacking loose the great sword it tuned its gaze towards Marcus with a hateful re.

    Fortunately, its re could not kill and Marcus fired a powerful darkness bullet right at its head.

    The ant moved with extreme speed unbing its size and managed to dodge the projectile while also letting loose a massive quantity of its ice acid towards Marcus.

    Jumping into the air Marcus leaped over the deadly liquid and brought forth his iron golem which he right away ordered to attack.

    The iron golem moved into action and mmed right into the ice ant royal guard causing it to stagger for a moment.

    Unfortunately, the iron golem was quickly covered in ice due to the frosty aura the ice ant was producing.

    It then battered the iron golem away with its legs and looked for Marcus. However, he was nowhere to be seen when suddenly the ice ant royal guard felt extreme dangering from under it.

    At that moment Marcus used thest dregs of his mana to fire off a heighten thunderbird strike thatpletely engulfed the ice ant royal guard.

    Marcus then quickly ran out from under the colossus of an ant as its body copsed under its weight now that it was dead.

    Marcus looked at his work proud for a moment before he looked back towards the wall and saw that the ants were climbing over it.

    He saw that the ants were swarming into the city as the defenses could no longer keep them at bay despite the best efforts of himself and everyone else.

    Even though he had managed to defeat one of the strongest ants it still did not matter as the unending swarm of ants breached the city.

    Marcus was about to fall into despair, he had done everything he could and was now out of strength, he had failed to protect the city and Lilia who was in it.

    That was when he saw them, three people were floating above the battlefield an old women, with middle-aged man, and a young woman at either side of her.

    The olddy then pped her hands together and for just a moment the entire battlefield was silent before a loud boom like a jet breaking the sound barrier resounded through the entire area.

 Chapter 94 - 93 Kingdom Of Borealiaâ€™s Elite

    (This chapter is not from Marcus'' POV)

    ''Uhhh, why did this have to happen now, I was so close to getting the formation for my new spell perfected. There were plenty of other students that master could have chosen to take with her, but she had to take me. And of course, she also had to pick that idiot Jared as well, of all her other students I like him the least.''

    The beautiful youngdy sighed deeply wishing that she did not have to make the trip to River Landing as part of the kingdom''s reinforcements.

    Of course, her master who was sitting in the carriage with her noticed the foul mood she was in and said, "Diana, get your mind out of the clouds we will be there within just a couple of hours, and we will have to get right to work."

    Diana shot up when her master addressed her not wanting to receive her ire and promptly responded saying, "Yes Master Aria."

    Seeing Diana'' reaction Jared the other student of Master Aria let off a quite sinker which caused Diana to send a disdainful re at him.

    ''I really wish it had been anyone else but him, he thinks he is so great because he is a few levels higher than me, and his family has the title of marquess, and I am just the daughter of a bar. And just because our magic works well together we often get paired up for missions. Hopefully we can finish this up quick and I will not have to see his face for a while.''

    Just momentster her wish seemed toe true as a loud ringing sound came from Master Aria who promptly took out a message stone that was used for long distancemunication.

    Her face quickly turned dire as the message was ryed to her.

    She then turned to her students and said, "We are going to be speeding up, the monsters sieging River Landing have begun to attack in full force and if we do not arrive soon their defenses will not hold."

    Right after Master Aria had told her students of the dire situation Diana herd a loud yell that even pierced through the carriage walls.

    "Men prepare yourself River Landing needs our aid now; we advance at full speed until we arrive."

    Diana covered her ears, as the loud shout was followed by more shouts of agreement from the rest of the soldiers outside.

    ''I guess Knight Commander Darius and his troops are in high spirts, I just wish they could be a bit quieter.''

    The carriage she was in soon picked up speed causing Diana to brace herself against the carriage less she be tossed around.

    The reinforcements from the kingdom bounded forward at full speed and soon could see the southern wall of River Landing.

    However, the reinforcements had to stop early as a group of over five thousand ice ants were currently blocking the southern road ensuring that there would be no retreat from River Landing.

    When the carriage that they were riding in stopped Diana wondered what could be happening since she was certain they had not arrived yet.

    When she decided to take a look outside, she saw the mass of blue ants blocking the road preventing the reinforcements from advancing without dealing with them first.

    Upon seeing this Master Aria kicked open the door and said, "Jared, Diana, let the knights handle these insects, the real battle is happening on the north side. Cast your flying magic and the three of us will go and make sure the city is not breached."

    With the directions of her master Diana cast her tier three fire magic spell me jets and lifted off into the sky.

    At the same time Jared used his wind magic to begin flying and the three of them shot up into the sky over the ice ants blocking their way.

    Some of the ice ants with wings flew up to intercept them,unching shots of their ice acid trying to knock the three mages out of the air.

    Diana looked at the ants like they were less than garbage before waving her hand forward and casting a powerful spell.

    "Mass Immtion"

    A moment after the spell''s name left her lips every single one of the ants that had begun to attack the three flying mages burst into mes leaving behind only ashes that quickly blew away.

    Seeing this Jared looked back scornfully at Diana and said, "Was it really necessary to use a tier four spell to kill a few ants, we are heading towards the main battlefield and you should try to conserve your mana."

    Diana snorted in anger at Jared before saying, "Unlike you I have the mana regeneration skill so by the time we make it over to the northern wall I will have already replenished my mana."

    Jared looked at her with hate filling his eyes since not having the mana regeneration skill was the only reason, he had not ascended to the rank of archmage and Diana had mentioned it just to pick on him.

    Master Aria looked back at her two students with a look of hopelessness before yelling at them, "If you have time to bicker pick up your pace, if the walls of the city get breached, I will be holding the two of you responsible."

    With fear in their eyes both Diana and Jared increased their flight speed to the maximum and shot straight towards the northern wall of River Landing.

    The three mages soon passed over the southern side of River Landing and across the river making it to northern side of the city.

    They could now see the walls and the soldiers and guards doing their best to defend the city.

    The three of them immediately spotted two problem areas, one being the city gate which had been breached and the other being a section of the wall that had lost its mana supply.

    Luckily, though both areas were in a precarious situation neither had been breached yet and the three of them immediately flew towards the powerless section of the wall since the destroyed gate was already protected by the strongest knights in River Landing.

    When they were only a few thousand feet away they noticed a massive ant flying straight towards the unpowered section of the wall.

    Diana seeing this began to prepare her spell when she saw someone jump off the wall and shot towards the ant like a rocket made of darkness.

    The two then collided causing a massive explosion in the sky that even impressed Diana.

    ''I wonder who that is, is it maybe Wade, but his shadow magic does not look like that and he is not rash enough to charge headfirst at a massive flying ant. It must be some expert I do not know.''

    The three mages soon made it over to the mana deprived section of the wall just in time to see the figure that had intercepted the flying ant finish it off with a powerful tier four lightning magic spell.

    ''Wow she can use a tier four spell at her age, she must be nearly as talented as me, but I do not recognize her, I thought I knew of all the other magic prodigies around my age.''

    "Diana, Jared stop gawking the ants have stared making it over the wall."

    Both of them then looked down to see hundreds of ants climbing on top of the wall and as they were about to prepare their spells, they saw their master pull her hands apart.

    They both knew this meant she was casting a big spell and immediately covered their ears with their hands when Master Aria brought her hands back together.

    For a moment everything became silent and then a loud burst of sound smashed into the swarm of ants climbing the wall and sted them all into little pieces.

    The attack did not stop with just the ants on the unpowered section of the wall as the sound ripped through every ant within a hundred feet of the entire length of the northern wall of rivernding.

    Diana looked at the carnage her master had caused with awe. She had heard tale of this spell, but it was her first time seeing her master using her tier six sound magic spell sonic boom.

    Master Aria then said to her two students, "Well, I have given the soldiers some breathing room so while I make sure that no more ants get on top of the wall you two should go and deal with the queen and her elite guard before that muscle brain shows up and takes all the glory."

    Both Diana and Jared nodded their heads in agreement and flew straight for the queen and her remaining royal guards.

    As they flew straight for the queen hundreds of flying ants sensing the threat to their ruler flew to intercept the two mages but were burnt to a crisp or sliced into bits without even slowing the two mages down.

    The two of them soon found themselves situated above the ice ant queen and her royal and elite guards who were staring up at the two mages.

    Many of the ants began shotting their ice acid directly for the mages nning to eliminate the danger to their queen.

    ''Like that is going to work.''

    "Fire Wall."

    As the ice acid flew towards her, the wall of fire she had just conjured evaporated ever ounce of the liquid before it could get anywhere near her.

    Looking over she saw that Jared had used a simr spell of the wind verity and had managed toe out unscathed as well.

    However, in the next moment Diana felt a sense of incredible danger as a massive flower of ice formed around her before mming shut.

    Jared stared at therge ice flower that hadpletely engulfed Diana wondering if she survived when a massive column of me burst out of the flower melting it away.

    Diana now freed from the rime flower looked down furiously at the ice ant queen that had cast the spell.

    She then cast her gaze towards Jared and said, "Were using it I want this bitch dead now."

    Jared looked shocked since this was the first time Diana had willingly asked to use the powerfulbination magic they had been forced to practice.

    Jared Gave a nod of approval, and while he also did not like working with her, he wanted to wrap this up quickly, so he flew over and the two of them prepared their respective spells.

    "Eat this you bitch, Fire Storm"

    "Grand Twister."

    As the two of them cast their respective tier five fire and wind spell, the two powerful magicsbined into a massive ming twister heading directly towards the ice ant queen and her guards.

    All of the ants feeling the power from thebination spell moved to protect their queen with their bodies and abilities.

    Many ants tried shooting their ice acid at the ming tornado while others covered themselves in it to create a barrier around the queen.

    The queen herself tired casting another tier four rime flower but while it was a powerful spell it only blocked the ming twister for a single moment.

    The ming twister then impacted into the wall of ants and ice trying to protect the queen tearing through them like a blender.

    As the power of the spell receded both Diana and Jared looked at the area the queen was, only to see that she had managed to survive theirbined attack along with her two remaining royal guards.

    However, the three strongest ants did not escape unscathed and while the queen only had minor burns here and there the two royal guards were damaged significantly.

    Diana looked at the queen angrily before saying "Again, we will finish them off with another one."

    Unfortunately, before either of them could cast their next spell a massive white bear over five hundred feet long and three hundred feet tall dropped out of the air and shook the entire battlefield.

    The two mages looked over towards the massive beast and could see a familiar man riding on top of its head.

    When she saw this Master Aria thought, ''Looks like the two of them could not finish the job before that muscle brain of a knight and his big ass bear arrived.''

 Chapter 95 - 94 Overwhelming Victory

    After Marcus had managed to defeat the ice ant royal guard he nearly fell into despair as the ants were climbing over the walls of River Landing.

    Luckily though, the ants were stopped by a powerful mage that had created a st of sound that killed every ant within a hundred feet of the city wall.

    Seeing this impressive feat Marcus no longer felt despair and could tell that the town would be safe since this mage had just demonstrated a level of power far above anything he had ever seen.

    ''I do not know what tier spell that was or what level she is but that olddy just wiped-out thousands of ice ants with one move. I wonder how long it will take me to get to that level of power.''

    With the security of River Landing assured Marcus reverted to his ghost form and floated back towards the wall of River Landing to watch the rest of the show.

    While he was making his way back to the wall, he saw the two mages next to the olddy that had repelled the ants fly off in the direction of the ice ant queen and her guards.

    Marcus watched the two mages'' epic battle with the ant queen and the thousands of ants protecting her, and was incredibly impressed by the power of their spells.

    ''Those two are also incredibly strong, the spells they are using must be tier five spells since the destructive power they have are well above mine. This just shows that I was getting too overconfident with myself. There are still plenty of monsters like them out there that are far stronger than me.''

    Marcus continued to spectate the mages do battle with the ice ant queen and her forces when seemingly out of nowhere a bear the size of a small aircraft carrier fell out of the sky and shook the entire battlefield.

    The ground began quaking and splitting in the area around the bear causing fissures in the ground to form that swallowed up scores of ice ants.

    ''What the hell is thatˇ­ wait there is a guy riding on top of that things head. I remember now Joras told me that the knightmander of the kingdom has an epic grade magic beast under hismand called a cial bear. Except I thought that meant it would have some ice-based abilities and powers not that it is the size of a small cier.''

    Marcus stared out in awe at the massive bear and could even feel the powerful aura the creature emanated.

    However, as strong as the cier bear was its master was even more so as Marcus watched the Knightmander leap off the bear''s head and pull out a massive ax.

    The knightmander then swung his ax and a massive st of green energy shot forward towards the ice ant queen and caused a huge explosion that blew her and her royal guards apart.

    Marcus'' mouth stood gaping open unbelieving at the sight of raw power that had just been unleashed.

    With the addition of just four people and one magic beast the tide of the battle had turned, and River Landing was no longer in peril of being run over by monster ants.

    With the death of their queen every single one of the ice ants could feel their connection cut off from her and they began moving around in a frenzy.

    No longer receiving any orders the ants fled, many heading back towards their nest while others simply went in random directions.

    ''Looks like it''s over now. Those four really are incredibly strong to be able to turn the tide in just a matter of moments. Hm now that I look at it, those fleeing ants are just free exp for me to farm now that I do not need to worry about the town being overrun.''

    Seizing the opportunity Marcus floated back towards the battlefield where the ants were fleeing and started systematically eliminating the strongest ants he could find.

    He stared going after the tank sized ants hitting them with his tier three lightning bind spell to hold them in ce before he unleashed fire shots on their helpless bodies.

    Once he had managed to kill around two dozen of the tank sized ants this way, he found that there were no more of them left so he set his sights on the remaining soldier ants he could find.

    After around thirty minutes of exterminating the fleeing ants Marcus heard the familiar sound of a level up.

    ''You have leveled up to level thirty.''

    A big grin creeped across Marcus'' face as he had finally made it to level thirty and now had a new supply of skill points to use.

    ''It has been a while since myst level up, they keep getting harder to get as the exp I need gets steeper and steeper. While I would love to slot all of these skill points into some of mybat skills, since I n on learning how to craft weapons using my forge skill, I should probably save them.''

    Having made it to the next level Marcus no longer continued his ughter of the fleeing ants as the only ones left within his effective range were in the single digits and practically worthless for someone of his level.

    Turning back towards River Landing Marcus floated back towards the city that had just managed to survive an assault from thousands of ice ants.

    Once he made it to the wall, he turned off his ghost abilities and became tangible and visible again.

    He then began walking towards the front gate so that the soldiers could see him return after he had leaped off the wall to intercept the ice ant royal guard.

    When he came to the now destroyed gate the soldiers and knights that were guarding it looked out at Marcus with surprise.

    They all wondered who this young girl was that had managed to survive beyond the safety of the walls.

    However, when they got a better look at Marcus, they could see that his right arm was missing up to the elbow.

    One of the knights immediately ran forwards and took a healing potion out of his magic bag, and when he arrived in front of Marcus said, "Miss you are badly hurt drink this and then I will lead you to the emergency medical station."

    A bit surprised to see the sudden arrival of one of the knights Marcus looked at the bottle in his outstretched arm and took the bottle and downed its contents.

    Marcus immediately felt the warm sensation of the healing potion and his arm actually started to heal at a visible rate as the potion stimted his natural regeneration.

    Unfortunately, that single potion alone only helped to regrow his arm by a few inches, and he was going to need about another full day before his arm was fully recovered.

    The knight who had handed Marcus the potion looked at his arm inplete disbelief since the normal healing potion he had given should not have been able to regenerate part of a lost limb.

    Marcus seeing the shock on the man''s face said, "I happen to have a regeneration skill and it seems your potion has helped me regrow my arm a bit faster. I will be fine after a day of rest so no need to worry about me anymore."

    Marcus walked by the stunned guard as he stood outside the gate with his mouth hanging open from the incredible sight he had just witnessed.

    When he walked through the now destroyed gate many of the guards and soldiers looked at him wondering where he hade from.

    Marcus hoping to quickly go find Lilia and make sure she was safe tried to leave the area around the wall but was intercepted by the old man he had seen defending the gate when it was first breached.

    "You there young miss please wait. I am General Erastalven of the Borealia Army, would you mind identifying yourself."

    Marcus looked at the general with a look of annoyance since he really just wanted to make sure Lilia was safe, but immediately realized that offending the leader of the kingdom''s northern army would not be in his best interest.

    Marcus opened his mouth and was about to responded when he heard a loud shout from his left side that interrupted him.

    "I see her, it is the darklight princess, she has returned safely."

    Marcus looked over to where the man who was shouting was and could see a bunch of soldiers and guards beginning to mor ande towards him.

    When the group of men got closer, Marcus recognized some of them as the soldiers and guards that had been fighting with him on top of the wall. Apparently, they had given him the cringy nickname of darklight princess.

    Sighing Marcus realized that this was probably going to give him a massive headacheter as more and more of the guards and solders approached him.

    Of course, as they got closer and saw who Marcus was with, they immediately straightened themselves out and saluted the leader of the army in River Landing.

    Erastalven seeing the group of over four dozen soldiers and guards that had started amotion after seeing Marcus looked at one of the soldiers and said, "Soldier report, who is this woman and how do you know her."

    The young soldier gulped before promptly responding, "She is the person that held the section of the wall that lost its mana supply during the battle. She dropped down from the sky and unleashed a powerful spell onto the ants before they could climb over the wall. She is also the one who intercepted the massive flying ant that attempted to breach the wall. Without her sir the city of River Landing certainly would have been invaded before reinforcements arrived."

    The general then looked at Marcus with a newfound respect in his eyes as he had seen the massive explosion of darkness and ice in the sky between Marcus and the royal guard ant.

    "Well then miss sorry to hold any suspicions of you, I am eternally grateful for the service you have provided for this city. If you would not minding back to army headquarters with me, we cane up with a suitable reward for your act of heroism."

    Dor signs stared to form in Marcus''s eyes wondering what rewards he could get, when he heard a familiar voice say, "Erastalven are you trying to poach my subordinate out from under me."

 Chapter 96 - 95 Wadeâ€™s Embarrassment

    Appearing seemingly out of nowhere Marcus looked back and saw Wade standing around with a big smirk on his face.

    Erastalven seeing Wade was quite surprised by his sudden appearance and interruption of his attempts to recruit Marcus.

    "Royal Investigator Wade, it is good to see you survived the battle, but would you mind exining to me how this heroic youngdy is under yourmand,st time I checked you did not have anyone like her working in your department."

    Wade continued smirking and walked over towards Marcus and put his hand on Marcus'' shoulder and said, "While Irene here is not an official member of the royal investigators, she has done work for me before and was once again working under me during this crisis. She is a promising recruit who may soon be one of the royal investigators of the kingdom."

    A serious look came across Erastalven face when he heard this before he looked at Wade and said, "So she is not an official member of your team but only a perspective one. It would be a waste of her talents to stay hidden away in the shadows trying to pin me on exemry officers when she has the talent to be one of the greatest knights of the kingdom. What do you say miss Irene I can promise you the title of knight if you decide toe work under me?"

    Marcus looked back at Wade and Erastalven who were fighting over him like a pair of starving dogs and wondered why they had to make such a fuss about requiting him since he had no ns to join wither of them.

    After letting out a long sigh Marcus said, "While I have worked with Wade in the past and I am grateful for his help, I have no intention of joining the royal investigators. Let me also make it clear that I do not n to join any order of knights either as much as I am ttered by the offer general Erastalven."

    Both Wade and Erastalven looked surprised by Marcus'' refusal to join either one of them since the benefits of being a royal investigator or knight were quite good.

    However, while Erastalven nodded his head in understanding Wade was not quite finished with his requirement effort and said, "I understand Irene but why don''t we discuss this more back at the royal investigators'' office. Your little sister is waiting for you and has been wondering where you have been since you disappeared three days ago."

    Hearing this Marcus looked at Wade in disbelief since while he did not out right say it, he was implying that he was holding Lilia hostage.

    ''I knew he was a snake, but I did not think he would go this far. No, he might be bluffing I doubt he would actually do anything to antagonize me to the degree that I start plotting against him. He probably just wants to try to convince me some more, I know he is not a good guy, but he also does not feel like a bad guy. But if he tries to harm of threaten Lilia in anyway, any leeway I am willing to give him is gone.''

    Calming himself down after letting his emotions get the better of him Marcus looked at Wade and said, "I see, you have been taking care of Lilia for me, thank you for that. I would like to make sure she is okay so if you would be so kind as to lead the way."

    A victorious smile creeped onto Wade''s face and he began to walk back towards the army headquarters urging Marcus to follow when everyone heard a voicee from the air above them.

    "It looks like you are all having fun, would someone mind telling me what is going on here."

    Floating down was the old woman that had single handedly repelled the entire ice ant army away from the city wall.

    When everyone looked up and saw her, they all bowed even the general and Wade, and Marcus seeing this quickly bowed himself.

    The old woman thennded on the ground and said, "No need to bow, this is not a formal setting and I have long since shed the title of queen. And Wade is that any way to greet your great grandmother,e over and give me a hug."

    Marcus watched as Wade raised his head, and for the first time Marcus could see a look of fear on his face.

    The olddy opened her arms as if to beckon Wade to give her a hug except once he got closer instead of a hug, he received a resounding p upside the head.

    "Don''t think I did not notice that veiled threat you gave that youngdy. You have always been like this trying to manipte people to do what you want never being able to say what you really mean. Whenever there is a girl you like you torment them because you do not know how to express your feelings. Like that poor Drevon girl, if you do not break this bad habit you are never going to get married."

    Wade''s great grandmother continued lecturing him about love and how she was not getting any younger and that she was hoping for some great great grandchildren before she died.

    After she had finished berating Wade leaving his face flushed red with embarrassment she turned towards Marcus and said, "I hope you will not think badly of my great grandson, he is not really bad he just does not know how to be honest with people."

    Marcus looked at the olddy and said, "No problem your majesty, as long as my little sister is safe everything is fine. And from the first time I met Wade I knew he was not the best at talking to people."

    "No need to call me your majesty as I said earlier it has been quite a while since I was the queen, you can simply call me Aria."

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Got it and thank you Aria for saving this city I do not know what I would have done if my little sister got hurt."

    "No need to thank me I was just doing my job; in fact, I should be thanking you since without your assistance there would have been far more casualties. Your heroism was truly something, I happened to see you leap off that wall and charge into danger. Not many would be willing to do such a dangerous move and fewer would survive. In light of your service to the kingdom I will personally reward you once everything is back to normal. For now, why don''t you go see your little sister and rx for a bit."

    Once Marcus had finished his conversation with Aria everyone around looked dumbfounded as they wondered how Marcus could so casually talk with one of the most powerful figures of the kingdom.

    Walking over to Wade who was obviously still reeling from embarrassment Marcus said, "Well if you would not mind could you take me to see my little sister, I am certain she has beenfortable during my absence yes?"

    Wadeing out of his stupor quickly collected himself and said, "Yes I will take you to her, now let us go."

    Wade then quickly turned towards the direction of the river and briskly walked away hoping to get as far away from his great grandmother as possible.

    The two of them walked in the direction of the army base for a few minutes before Wade abruptly tuned down a different street and started going away from the army headquarters.

    Seeing this Marcus quickly ran in front of Wade and said, "The army headquarters are that way where are you going."

    "Your sister is not at the headquarters she is currently staying at my residence, now you have already caused me quite the headache today so could we go the rest of the way in silence."

    Getting the message Marcus continued to follow behind Wade in silence anticipating his reunion with Lilia.

    Soon they arrived in front of arge manor that was easily ten thousand square feet. However, unlike the other manors around, the yard in front of Wade''s manor was unkempt and devoid of any sort of garden.

    ''I wonder why his yard is so disheveled, I know that Wade is supposed to be a pretty high ranking noble so you think he could afford a gardener or two to maintain his yard.''

    When the two of them made it up to the gate Wade pulled out some sort of card and ced it in front of the gate that bared entry to the manor from the street and a magical darkness enveloped Wade.

    Marcus looked at the area in surprise wondering what was happening since even his darkvision could not pierce the vale surrounding Wade.

    Luckily after a few moments Wade reappeared, and the gate began to open.

    He then looked at Marcus and said, "Sorry about that but in my line of profession you can never be too careful."

    Wade then led the way across the paved path that went from the front gate to the manor''s doors.

    When they arrived in front of the manor Wade once again took out a different card this time and was enveloped by darkness once more.

    Again after a few moments the darkness receded, and the Wade opened the front door to his manor.

    Walking inside, contrary to the messy state of the front yard the inside of the manor seemed immacte and only a few seconds after they entered a middle-aged man in butler attire appeared in front of them.

    "Master Ophiria, it is good to see that you have returned safely, is there anything I can do for you."

    A slight smile appeared on Wade''s face when he saw his butler and he responded to him saying, "Yes I will be having an additional quest tonight so if you could prepare an extra room for her, I would be appreciative. Ah but first if you would retrieve the other guest I brought over a few days ago."

    "Right away sir."

    The butler then promptly headed down the hall and after a few minutes returned with Lilia who when she saw Marcus ran forward and gave him a hug.

    Marcus looked down lovingly at the Lilia before saying, "Hello Lilia I havee back to get you."

 Chapter 97 - 96 Time With Lilia

    Lilia and Marcus shared a good long embrace as Lilia did not want to let go since it had been over three days since shest saw Marcus and she had been incredibly worried.

    "Okay Lilia I am d to see you as well, but we cannot hug forever, it must be getting close to diner time and I have not had anything to eat in over three days."

    As if on cue, the second Marcus mentioned diner Lilia''s stomach let out a loud gurgle agreeing that it was time for diner.

    Lilia''s face started to turn slightly red, and her stomach let off another rumble causing her even more embarrassment.

    Seeing this Wade looked at his butler and said, "Freid, if you would not mind preparing diner for the three of us and make it something hearty since I myself have not had anything to eat since early this morning."

    Freid bowed his head before saying, "As you wish sir."

    Freid then walked off towards the kitchen thinking about what he should prepare for his master and his guests.

    With Freid gone it was now just the three of them and Marcus finally realized something. Unlike Mrazivy''s manor this ce was incredible still and quite.

    In Mrazivy''s manor their were many maids and servants moving about, but in Wade''s manor it waspletely still as if their were no other people in the house other than the four of them.

    And as almost definitive proof Wade said, "Since Freid is busy I will show you to your room myself."

    Wade then moved towards the staircase that led to the second floor and Marcus along with Lilia followed behind him.

    As they walked Marcus kept his eyes out for anymore servants wanting to confirm his suspicion that Wade only had one person taking care of this whole house.

    Soon Wade stopped in front of a door and opened it to reveal a room that would be about the size of a master bedroom in most houses.

    However, for these noble houses even a room of this size was only a guest bedroom.

    Looking inside Marcus found that there was arge bed easily a king size, as well as a desk, nightstand, and numerous lounging chairs.

    ''Damn, I am never going to get used to how big the rooms are for the nobles in this world. This room is close to the size of the apartment I had back on Earth, and it is only a guest room.''

    Wade then looked at Marcus and said, "Go ahead and look around and when it is time for diner Freid wille and get you. Until then I will be resting in my room, so you can explore around or talk to your sister in the meantime."

    Having showed Marcus to his room, Wade took his leave and went back to his own room to rest until diner.

    With Wade now gone Marcus turned towards Lilia and asked, "Lilia how did you end up herest I saw you were still in the refugee camp."

    Lilia looked up Marcus and said, "A few hours after you left, mister Wade came looking for you since you were supposed to meet up with him that morning but did not show up. He managed to track me down and ask me where you went, but I told him I did not know. And when I told him I was your sister he told me toe with him and wait for you at his house."

    Understanding the sequence of events Marcus remembered that he was indeed supposed to report to Wade that morning but had blown him off when he went of his foolhardy quest to assassinate the ice ant queen.

    ''Wade must have taken Lilia so that when I came looking for her, I would have to find him first. Now I really wish I had not tried to kill the ant queen since it would have saved me a lot of trouble if I had not.''

    "Okay I understand what happened, so have they been taking good care of you here."

    A big smile than creeped onto Lilia''s face and she said, "Yep, while mister Wade has not been by in a few days, mister Freid has been taking good care of me. The room they gave me is nearly as big as our old house and the food is the best I have ever had. The bed here is also the softest thing I have ever slept on and I was even able to take a warm bath. Even the vige chiefs house was nowhere near as nice as this ce."

    While Lilia was recanting her joyful experiences, a big smile appeared on Marcus'' face since he was happy to see such a cheerful grin on Lilia since she had been through so much grief.

    ''Now there was one thing Lilia said that really got my interest.''

    "Lilia you said you were able to take a warm bath, could you show me where that was."

    Lilia looked at Marcus inquisitively and said, "Yeah I know where the bath is, but without Mister Freid the bath will not be able to be prepared. The bath uses some type of magic and apparently I do not have the skill to use it."

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Don''t you worry, I happened to have the necessary skill to use it so if you would lead the way, it has been too long since myst bath."

    Lilia then headed out the room and back down the hallway to the stairs and after going back to the first floor went down one of the long hall ways to a room with arge double door.

    She opened the door reviling arge changing room that at the end had another set of doors.

    A bit impatiently Marcus went to the doors at the end and opened them revealing arge tub that looked like a cross between a Roman and Japanese style bath.

    Seeing the massive tub Marcus went over and looked for the controls and after a bit of investigating found two crystals at either end of the tub one red and one blue.

    Marcus ced his hand over the red crystal and allowed some of his mana to flow into it and a slot on the side of the tub opened and water starteding out.

    Looking at the water Marcus could tell it was already hot since their was steaming off of it.

    After he had confirmed that the red crystal produced hot water he went to the other end of the tub and poured mana into the blue crystal.

    And to no surprise another slot opened on the side of the tub and cool water started flowing.

    ''Hm I wish they had put both crystals on the same side of the tub so I would not have to run back and forth to adjust the temperature, but there must be some reason they have it this way.''

    Marcus spent the next few minutes painstakingly filling up the bath making sure to get the water just right.

    Once the water was at the perfect temperature Marcus turned around to go back to the changing room and saw that Lilia was currently at the wash off station cleaning herself before getting into the bath.

    Seeing Lilia there Marcus froze for a second since he did not expect Lilia to join him for a bath.

    However, he quickly realized that he was still in Irene''s form and the more time he spent with Lilia the clearer the memories he inherited from Irene became, and he could distinctly remember numerous times that they used to wash up together.

    ''I guess she just wants to connect with me like she used to with Irene. I did bath with my sister back on Earth when I was younger and as long as I stay in Irene''s form it should be fine. Anyway, she really does feel like my little sister and it is not like I am really a guy anymore since I am more like a creature that is both and neither sex at the same time now.''

    Getting over any inhibitions Marcus went back to the dressing room and disrobed before going up to the wash station and joining Lilia in cleaning off.

    When he sat next to her Lilia gave Marcus a warm smile and continuedthering herself with the expensive soap that was provided in the bathroom.

    To Marcus'' surprise the soap waspletely different from the cheap bar he had bought when he was buying general goods, but was surprisingly close to what he was used to on Earth.

    ''Now that I think about it, I am not the first or only person originally from Earth and I know at least one other has been in this kingdom. I wonder what technologies and othermodities from Earth have made their way here.''

    While thinking of the effect other people from Earth may have had on Mirrion he continued washing his body and when he had finished got up and joined Lilia who was already soaking in the tub.

    ''Ah this tub is great, and the water feels nice. I suppose when I get to the capital, I will need to find a ce for me and Lilia to stay and I have decided that it must have a bath like this.''

    Marcus and Lilia soaked in the tub enjoying the rxing feeling of the warm water while having conversation and deepening their connection with each other when they heard a knock on the door.

    "Lady Irene and miss Lilia, master Ophiria has instructed me toe get you as diner is ready.. I left a fresh set of clothes out for the both of you and will be waiting outside when you are ready to head to the dining room."

 Chapter 98 - 97 This Meal Cost How Much!

    With Freid announcing that diner was ready both Marcus and Lilia quickly got out of the bath and dried off before going back into the changing room.

    Once inside they saw that their were two dresses that had beenid out for them, a royal blue and bright yellow.

    After picking them up Marcus could tell by the sizes'' of the dresses that the yellow one was meant for Lilia while the Blue was for Marcus.

    Marcus handed the yellow dress to Lilia and stared a bit dubiously at the blue dress.

    He had never worn a dress before and was deciding whether to put it on or slip back into his dirty clothing.

    ''I guess I could bring forth the set of clothes I started this world in, but they are pretty bad quality and would not fit my current body very well.''

    Marcus then looked at the set of clothes he had been given at the beginning of his journey from Marianna that had belonged to her deceased mother.

    However, the clothes were currently quite dirty and had holes throughout since he had done the majority of his fighting while wearing them.

    Realizing he really did not have any other option Marcus decided to wear the dress figuring that if he was going to be masquerading as Irene for a while, he would have to get used to wearing girls'' clothing.

    Unfortunately, having the will to and being able to, were two different things as Marcus struggled to get the royal blue dress on.

    ''Ugh, why is this so hard, how do you put this thing on. I tried putting it on over me like a shirt and that did not work, and I could only get one leg through the top.''

    Marcus spent a good three minutes utterly failing to get the royal blue dress on before Lilia came over and said, "Um I think it would help if you undid the zipper first."

    Marcus looked at Lilia with a face of confusion since he had already looked for a zipper but had found none.

    However, Lilia came over and pulled a thin piece of fabric away revealing the zipper on the side of the dress.

    Marcus with a look of defeat slowly undid the zipper and began slipping into the dress when Lilia said, "Before you put on the dress you should probably wear some underwear since it will be difficult to get on otherwise."

    Marcus then saw the pair of underwear left out for him and looked at Lilia with pleading eyes asking for assistance.

    Lilia understanding Marcus'' dilemma grabbed the bra that had been left out and helped Marcus into it.

    Once the bra had been properly put on with the help of Lilia, Marcus began putting on the pair of panties when he a few questions popped into his mind.

    ''Why the hell does Wade have this stuff and how the hell did he know my measurements, when even I do not know them. Also, this dress and underwear is too simr to what was on Earth and I doubt that these designs came about by ident.''

    While Marcus pondered these thought there was again another knock on the door and Freid said, "Is everything alright in there, it has been taking a while and the food will get cold if we do not leave soon."

    Hearing this Marcus threw the lingering questions he had into the back of his mind and opened the door to find the Freid was standing in the hall waiting for them.

    When Freid saw Marcuse through the door for just a moment, he was mesmerized by his kingdom toppling beauty.

    However, being the professional he is Freid quickly got his senses back under control and began leading the way to the dining room.

    Soon the three of them came into a massive hall that had a grand chandelier hanging from the top of the ceiling and a luxurious table that could easily sit thirty people.

    Sitting at the head of the table Wade was already waiting, ready to begin the meal.

    However, when he caught site of Marcus who was using Irene''s form, Wade could not help but stare since now that he was cleaned up and wearing a beautiful dress, it would be hard to find someone that could match his looks.

    Marcus seeing Wade''s stare looked directly at Wade and gave him a bright smile causing him to avert his eyes.

    ''As someone who lived their first twenty-eight years as a guy, I of course know how difficult it is to not stare at a beautiful woman, but I can also tell that while you are great at being a conniving royal investigator you have no real experience with women.''

    Marcus thought about teasing Wade a bit more, but decided against it since he was still trying to get used to the fact he could be either a woman or a man at any time.

    ''It certainly is going to take some getting used to, but at the end of the day I am still me whichever form I take.''

    He and Lilia then took their seats on either side of Wade and Freid began bringing out the first dish.

    To start with he brought out an appetizer that looked kind of like raw bacon that was wrapped around some sort of cheese and served on top of a fruit that was incredibly close to a tomato.

    Picking it up with his fork Marcus took a bite of the dish and immediately the delicious vors of the food washed over his mouth.

    ''Damn, that is good. The meat tastes like pork, the cheese has a mellow but rich vor, and this fruit tastes quite good though not exactly like a tomato.''

    Marcus quickly finished off the two pieces of the dish on his te and let out a satisfied huff after taking a big gulp of water.

    However, the appetizer was only the beginning as the next dish that was brought out was a fragrant soup that used mushrooms as its main ingredient.

    Taking a sip of the soup Marcus fully enjoyed the perfect vor and texture of the broth.

    Moving his attention next to the mushrooms he took one out and to his astonishment he recognized the mushroom.

    It looked exactly like one of the mushrooms he had found in the woods back when he was training.

    Marcus then looked over at Wade and said, "Are you sure you want to serve these so casually I recognize these mushrooms and I know they are natural treasures, surely they must be incredibly rare and expensive."

    Wade looked over at Marcus with a shocked face since he never expected him to know what these mushrooms are.

    Wade then put his spoon down and said, "These are indeed natural treasures but each one is only worth about seven gold each. Truth be told they are the most abundant natural treasure, and they stop working on people above level ten and are only able to raise people''s stats by a couple dozen points before no longer having any effect. They are however, incredibly tasty so you will find them used often in noble dishes, so feel free to eat them without reservation."

    Marcus looked over at Lilia who was still thoroughly enjoying the soup and was certainly getting some benefit out of the mushrooms.

    ''Well while they are not doing anything for me those mushrooms will increase Lilia''s stats a bit further and at this point even though she is only level three her stats are probably simr to someone at level ten.''

    With his worries cleared up Marcus continued enjoying the soup savoring the vor of each of the mushrooms.

    Once the three of them had finished off the mushroom soup Fried brought out the main dish which consisted of some herb roasted vegetables and arge piece of fish that resembled a tuna steak.

    Marcus immediately cut off a piece of the fish and put it into his mouth and when the piece of fish made contact with his tongue it practically melted.

    With just one taste of the fish Marcus was hooked and had already eaten half of the fish steak before he even remembered that there were also vegetables.

    Marcus quickly calmed himself down and took a bite of the vegetables that werepletely different from anything he had ever seen before.

    The first bite was simr to a tofu that had been marinated in a sweet and sour sauce and was quite delicious as well as having a great texture.

    With the discovery of one vegetable that tasted incredible Marcus quickly went on to eat the others finding that each one was just as good as thest until there were no more vegetables to be had on his te.

    After every vegetable was gone Marcus once again turned his attention towards the fish steak and finished off the rest of it bing quite satisfied.

    ''That had to be the best meal I have ever had on this world or my old one. The ingredients on this world are certainly top notch and seem to surpass even the wide array back on Earth.''

    After beginning incredibly satisfied by the delicious meal he had just eaten Marcus was ready to get some rest when Freid brought out desert.

    On a silver terid a delicious freshly baked pie that smelled absolutely great.

    Freid expertly cut off a piece for each of them and then poured a light amount of cream on top.

    Marcus could see that the pie filling was some type of vibrant orange fruit.

    Taking a bite Marcus was surprised to find that the fruit was quite tart and not sweet, but with the addition of the sweet cream and crust the pie was absolutely delicious.

    Soon the piece of pie that was given to each member at the table was finished off leaving three satisfied individuals.

    Marcus then asked Wade the question that had been weighing on his mind for a while.

    "Wade how much exactly would this meal cost, it seemed like it would be incredibly expensive on the mushrooms alone, would it be around fifty gold or something."

    Wade the gave Marcus a mischievous look and said, "No you would never be able to afford this meal on a mere fifty gold, just the ingredient alone would run around four hundred gold and with the cost of service it would cost at least five hundred."

    Marcus then stared at his stomach imagining that he had just eaten five hundred gold and Lilia who heard this practically passed out from shock hearing the price.

 Chapter 99 - 98 Soul Fusion

    As Marcus looked at his stomach thinking about how much money the meal was worth, Wade said, "No need to fret, you can consider this the reward from me for your service to River Landing. Since you were technically working under me during your heroic leap into danger, your merits be mine as well and I am sure to receive substantial rewards for bringing you into the fold."

    Hearing this Marcus realized like everything Wade did had an angle to y and this meal was just another way to stay in Marcus'' good graces or even make him feel indebted to Wade.

    ''I need to be careful not to get roped into anything long term. I have no intention of staying in this kingdom forever, so getting attached to the government or having a bunch of people rely on me is not a good idea.''

    After making sure to caution himself to not get toofortable Marcus went over to Lilia who was still in shock from hearing the cost of the meal she just ate and picked her up.

    Marcus then said that he was going to bring Lilia back to her room and call it a night.

    Walking down the hallways and back up the stairs Marcus soon arrived in front of Lilia''s room and opened the door and entered.

    He ced Lilia down gently on the bed and pulled the covers over her and made his way to exit the room.

    However, as he was leaving Lilia grabbed ahold of his hand and said, "Would you mind spending the night with me, it had been hard to get to sleep since the vers abducted me."

    Seeing the pleading look on her face Marcus went to the other side of the bed and got under the covers with Lilia.

    He then proceeded to sing a few lubies he knew from Earth to Lilia as she slowly lulled into a peaceful sleep.

    For just a few moments Marcusid there watching Lilia''s slightly smiling face before deciding to go to sleep himself.

    During that night for the second time since he hade to Mirrion Marcus had a dream. However, this was not a dream of his memories but of Irene''s.

    The dream started out with him crawling around an unfamiliar house only toe across two people he did not recognize at first but soon came to realize were Irene''s and Lilia''s parents.

    He watched as days then years went by as Irene''s memories yed out before him, her hopes, dreams, and feeling were no longer a blur but bing a true part of him.

    After what seemed to be an unending amount of time the scene of Irene dying having her neck snapped and thrown away like garbage yed forth one more time, except this time Marcus felt every moment of it as if it happened to him.

    As hey there lifeless Marcus thought the dream would end but it did not.

    What happened next were the events after Irene''s soultched onto his, expect he now viewed it from her perspective.

    He basically watched his entire life on Mirrion rey from the point of view of the fragment of Irene''s soul until the time when he killed Ander.

    At that point he felt the overwhelming rage both he and Irene felt at the time and their two souls stitched together.

    However, while they had joined, they were still two separate entities and Marcus watched his life y out again until the point where he met up with Lilia in River Landing and his soul and Irene''s began to fuse together into one.

    He then shot awake feeling an immense pain throughout his entire begin as his and the fragment of Irene''s soul finished fusing into one.

    When the pain had subsided Marcus felt like a different person. He was no longer just Marcus with some of Irene''s memories he was more of a true fusion of both of them.

    Marcus'' soul though had still been the dominant one and the majority of his personality was the same, but he could tell immediately that certain things felt different.

    It no longer felt slightly unnatural for him to adopt Irene''s form in fact it felt like he had always been like this since he could remember.

    He could also feel his connection to Mirrion strengthening while his wish to return home seemed to no longer linger in his mind.

    He had finallye to except that he had died and would probably never find his way back home.

    While he had not been actively searching for a way back home Marcus had felt that he would immediately leap at the chance to abandon Mirrion and return to Earth.

    Though he still had the want to go back to Earth, he now felt he could no longer do so at the expense of abandoning his new world, especially because he had someone who relied on him now.

    ''Everything seems so much brighter now; I feel as if I lived here for the entire neen years of myˇ­ no Irene''s life. I know I definitely started out as Marcus, but I also feel like Irene. I had to experience so much suffering at the start when I first got here but now, I have experienced how beautiful this world can be through Irene.''

    With his newfound look on Life Marcus turned ethereal and floated out of the bed as to not wake Lilia.

    He then floated out of the room and back to the dinning room where he found the entrance to the kitchen.

    Floating inside Marcus began looking for certain ingredients to make a special breakfast with.

    After looking around for a while he managed to locate everything he was looking for and got to work.

    He started moving instinctively as if he had made this meal many times before even though it was actually his first time.

    After a few hours of getting everything prepared Marcus looked at his work satisfied and was about to go get Lilia for breakfast when Freid walked in.

    He looked at Marcus surprised to see him in the kitchen, but more surprised to realize that Marcus'' presence had not alerted him since he must have passed by his room to arrive at the kitchen.

    "Good morning Lady Irene, I see that you have gotten up early and prepared something to eat even ahead of me."

    Nodding his head with a smile on his face Marcus said, "Yeah it is a special gift for my little sister. Ah, since you are here if you would not mind waking Lilia and Wade up, we can all eat breakfast together."

    Freid being the perceptive man he is, noticed right away that something was different about Marcus, he seemed more cheerful and less reserved than he was before.

    However, he quickly wrote off the slight personality change as the difference between just having fought a massive battle and having had a good night''s rest.

    Once Freid had awoken both Wade and Lilia he led them back towards the dinning room and found that Marcus had already finished setting the table and prepared arge serving of the meal he had made on everyone''s te.

    Lilia who had been rather tired and was still waking up let off a long yawn, but when she saw what was on the te, she becamepletely alert.

    She saw something she had not seen in over a year sitting on the table. It was the breakfast that her family had always prepared for her on her birthday which she had missed this year since the vers had abducted her three weeks before her birthday.

    Lilia moved towards the table almost in a trance and sat down. She then took a knife and fork and cut of a piece off the goat sausage and took a bite.

    As soon as she took a bite of therge goat sausage, Lilia began crying as it tasted exactly how she remembered.

    She then started gulping up the honeyed porridge and the roasted tree nuts and the single piece of white toast topped with goat cheese.

    While the meal would be considered quite simple inparison to the noble feast they had eaten yesterday, when Lilia still lived with her parents, every year they would use some of the scant amount of money they earned to splurge and buy the ingredients for Lilia''s birthday breakfast.

    As Lilia sat there eating and crying Marcus came up from behind and gave Lilia a hug and whispered in her ears and said, "I know it is a bitte but happy birthday Lilia."

    Lilia turned towards Marcus and began hugging him back while balling her eyes out while both Freid and Wade looked around awkwardly.

    Marcus turned towards them and said, "Go ahead and eat, while it may not be muchpared to what you usually have it has a great meaning to the two of us."

    Wade shrugged his shoulder before heading to his seat and once he sat down, he gestured to Freid who had be restraining himself to sit down and eat.

    The four of them all sat down at the table eating and while it certainly was not the tastiest food they had eaten; it certainly was the best meal.

 Chapter 100 - 99 Heroic Reward

    After everyone had finished eating the special breakfast Marcus had prepared just for Lilia, Wade wiped his face of with a napkin and looked towards Marcus and said, "Well, thank you for cooking Irene, while I may not know why this meal was so important to the two of you, I can appreciate the sentiment. Though now it is time to get back to business, the Grand Archmage Aria wants to talk about the rewards she will be giving you on behalf of the kingdom and sent me a message earlier asking me to bring you to the kingdom''s government office."

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Yeah that sounds good I am wondering what kind of reward she had in mind for me. Also, when should we get going."

    Marcus stared at Wade waiting for and answer when Wade abruptly stood up and said, "The first rays of light are starting toe through so I suppose we should leave immediately."

    Wade then looked towards Freid and said, "If you would not mind preparing another outfit for Irene here, one appropriate for meeting some one of Grand Archmage Aria''s status."

    Freid stood up from his seat and gave a nod of conformation to Wade before heading off into the depths of the manor to find some suitable clothing for Marcus'' meeting with Aria.

    Hearing this Marcus remembered one of the questions that had been on his mind the day before and said to Wade, "That reminds me, where exactly did you get the dresses me and Lilia wore yesterday, I cannot imagine that they are yours."

    Marcus looked at Wade with a judging stare waiting for his response when Wade startedughing before saying, "Ah yes, I had nearly forgotten that you are amoner. I have those outfits for the rare asions that I have to host important guests and for some unfortunate reason they damage or dirty their clothes. In those situations, it is better to be prepared with a spare outfit than to anger the person by forcing them to leave or continue wearing their damaged or dirty clothing."

    After Wade had finished his exnation Marcus finally understood why Wade had these clothes and could find no w in his logic. If he happened to have a nobledy over and she spilled something on her dress she would of course have to change out of her dirty dress into a new one.

    ''Okay I guess Wade is not as much as a creep as I thought, this is a different world from Earth and they are bound to have different customs and cultures, so I need to try to keep an open mind.''

    Soon Freid came back and said, "I have prepared a few outfits for you that I have left in your room, feel free to try them on and pick the one you like."

    Marcus thanked Freid for his help and got up and headed back to his room.

    Going back down the hallway and up the stairs Marcus came back to the room that had been prepared for him which he had not actually used yet.

    Walking inside he saw a rack of clothes standing in the middle of the room filled with a few different outfits to choose from.

    Going over and inspecting his options Marcus found that there were around a half dozen different dresses which he really was not in the mood to wear so he slid those to one end and perused the rest of the clothes.

    He soon found a pair of ck pants and a royal blue blouse that went well together and decided that they were what he would wear.

    After putting them on Marcus went to the mirror and admired how he looked and was quite happy with his appearance.

    With his outfit chosen Marcus exited his room and walked back down therge entryway of the house and found that everyone was their waiting for him.

    Looking at Wade, Marcus could see that he had put his royal investigator uniform on and was ready to go.

    Once Marcus had walked down the stairs, he approached Lilia and said, "I am heading out but once I get back, we can start making preparations for our next move, I already have some ns in mind, but I want to here about what you want as well."

    Lilia looked up at Marcus with a bright smile and said, "Yep when you get back big sister we can talk about the future."

    The two gave each other a quick embrace before Marcus let go of Lilia and walked towards Wade who then opened the door and began leading the way to the kingdom''s government office.

    Walking down the roads of River Landing, Marcus could see that the life of the town was slowlying back after the crisis with the ice ants.

    People''s trepidation was starting to subside and normal activities such as the backer hawking his fresh products and merchants roaming the streets looking for deals.

    As they continued to walk Wade looked back towards Marcus and said, "It is not tote to join the royal investigators. I can promise you that the pay and benefits are good, and you will even hold a status above a knight and in certain situations even above higher-ranking nobility."

    Marcus gave Wade an uncaring look before saying, "I have a good idea about what it is you do and while I may have some skills that would make me good at it, I have to think about Lilia. I am all she has left, and I need to be there for her, and I already know how being a royal investigator can put a target on your back. So, thanks again for the offer but I already know what it is I am going to be doing from here on out."

    Wade let out an exasperated sigh and shrugged his shoulders giving up on recruiting Marcus for now.

    The two of them walked down the streets of River Landing and soon came to arge white stone build that had scores of people running around.

    When they walked into the building, they could see things being even more hectic as any sort of civil work had been put on hold while the ice ants were sieging the city.

    Wade after a cursory nce around made his way towards the back of the building where there is a set of double doors that were situated behind a desk with a man sitting at.

    As Wade and Marcus approached the man noticed them and seeing Wade''s royal investigator uniform stood up at attention and said, "Sir, her grace Grand Archmage Aria is waiting for you in the noble waiting room, I will lead you to her now."

    However, Wade shook his head and said, "No that is fine I was just leading the darklight princess here since she is the one Grand Archmage Aria wants to see."

    Marcus gave Wade an incredulous look since he had not expected him to use the nickname the guards and soldiers hade up with.

    At the same time the man''s face lit up and he looked at Marcus with a face of reverence and said, "Ah yes I heard some of the soldiers and guards talking about you achievements, it was your daring heroics that prevented the wall from being breached."

    Marcus gave a slight sigh before saying," Yeah that was me, but my name is not darklight princess it''s Irene."

    Unfortunately, the man did not pick up on Marcus'' dislike of the nickname darklight princess and said, "Well, then darklight princess Irene if you would follow me, I will take you to Grand Archmage Aria."

    Wade gave Marcus a mischievous smile before taking his leave since he did not want to interact with his great grandmother right now.

    Following the man through the double doors Marcus walked to the end of the hall and to another door.

    The man then opened the door and inside Marcus saw Aria and the two mages that hade with her sitting in the room.

    Aria was at the moment sipping some tea while eating a pastry and actually had a book floating in front of her face.

    When she saw that Marcus had entered the room a soft smile appeared on her face and the floating book fell down and rested in herp.

    She then put down her pastry and tea and said, "Irene it is good to see you again,e sit and let me introduce you to my students."

    Marcus gave a slight bow before sitting down and Aria began introducing her students.

    "On my right here is Jared Kasrong and on my left is Diana Grenvine."

    Marcus looked at the two of them and recognized them as the mages that had fought the ice ant queen and her guards, until at thest moment the knightmander jumped in and stole their kill.

    Looking them over Marcus figured that Jared was probably in histe thirties or early forties while Diana seemed to be in her mid-twenties.

    Marcus then introduce himself and said, "Nice to meet the two of you I am Irene."

    Both of them gave quick nods of acknowledgement before Aria started speaking again.

    "Well let us get right down to business then.. It is time we figure out what to give you as a reward for your heroic actions of defending River Landing during its time of need."

 Chapter 101 - 100 Noble Title

    As both Aria and Marcus looked at each other, Marcus was about to open his mouth and say what he wanted when Aria beat him to the punch and said, "I know that you have turned down offers from Wade and Erastalven, but how about one from me. Would you like toe back with me to the Guldur Spire and learn the true art of magic? From what I saw from your fight you are adept at lightning, iron, and darkness magic. If youe back with me, I can promise that your magical skills will skyrocket."

    Aria looked at Marcus awaiting his answer but unlike the other offers he had received he actually gave this one a bit of thought.

    However, after pondering the option for a couple minutes Marcus shook his head and said, "Thanks for the offer but I n on focusing on forging weapons next. Maybe at ater time I will delve deeper into the realm of magic."

    Aria looked at Marcus figuring that he was not going to ept her offer but Diana and Jared looked at Marcus like he was crazy.

    In fact, Jared stood up and angrily said, "The disrespect, you stupidmoner, do you know how manyˇ­

    However, Jared''s outburst was quickly silenced by Aria who had created a zone of silence around his mouth.

    Jared immediately realized what happened and sat back down and hung his head in shame.

    Aria looked towards Marcus apologetically before saying, "Sorry about that, sometimes he has a hard time knowing when to control himself."

    She then turned towards Jared her normal happy grandma demeanor disappearing and said, "Jared leave and think about your actions, I only took you in as a student as a favor for your grandfather and if you cannot realize your mistakes by the time we leave, you will no longer be one of my students."

    Jared''s face distorted into one of terror when he heard Aria''s chilling words and he quickly left the room thinking with all his might how to resolve the situation.

    As Jared left the room Diana let off a quite snicker obviously pleased that Jared had gotten in trouble when she realized where she was and quickly got her emotions in check not wanting to anger here master as well.

    Aria then turned back towards Marcus her loving grandmother fa?ade back in ce and she said, "I understand you have your own goals to pursue but know that you are wee to join the Guldur Spire whenever you want. I would much prefer to have a talented student like you than that buffoon that just left. He thinks too highly of status when he should focus more on his magic. But enough about that, since you do not want to study under me, I have prepared some suitable rewards. First you will be rewarded with three hundred gold, second since you said, you want to learn how to forge weapons I will write you a personal introduction to the best in the royal capital, but it will be up to you whether that old codger epts you. And for final and biggest reward, I will award you the title of baress as well as an estate within the kingdom''s capital."

    The first two rewards while they piqued Marcus'' interest especially the letter to the best forgemaster in the kingdom but when he heard thest reward his calm demander went away.

    However, he was not the only one since Diana also stared utterly astonished since her own father was only a bar and here this random girl was getting the same title.

    Of course, this would be unusual even for someone aplishing such a heroic dead, but Marcus'' fame was spreading like wildfire from guards and soldiers tomoners and nobles. With such growing fame the kingdom could lose face if they did not offer a substantial reward.

    Also, Aria had discussed it with Wade and Erastalven and decided that they needed to pull Marcus into the kingdom somehow, and offering a noble title was a good start.

    It took Marcus a good minute to collect his thoughts before he said, "I really do not want any responsibilities thate with a title nor do I have any experience with governing or anything like that"

    Having possibly expected such a response Aria said, "No need to worry about that, this title does note with any authority overnd or agencies, unless of coure you want some. It will, however, give you plenty of benefits such as the ability to purchase goods and use facilities not normally avable to the public as well as lower taxes on any business ventures you might have in the future. There are of course plenty of other benefits, but I could spend the better part of the day listing them"

    Aria looked at Marcus triumphantly seeing that he was struggling toe up with a good reason to deny the title.

    Sighing Marcus gave in and said, "I will humbly ept."

    "Very good, then we will need to get things ready, in three days the viceroy of River Landing will be awarding titles to a batch of new knights and young nobles inheriting their family titles. At that time, I will also have the viceroy confer the title of baress to you. Ah, you should also think of the family name you want."

    Hearing this Marcus immediately thought to use his own family name when he remembered that he was wanted as Marcus and they knew hisst name so that would certainly be a bad idea.

    While he quickly thought aboutst names to choose Marcus realized something odd.

    ''How do they change people''s names, as far as I can tell people could call themselves whatever they want but the system has a record of your actual name. With the proper appraisal you can find out someone''s name so how would they give me ast name. The only thing I can think of is that they have a way to ess the system and modify the information on it. But how do they do it.''

    Marcus looked at Aria inquisitively and said, "How do you add ast name to people, as far as I know I have the one name and even if I call myself something different my status will still show only Irene."

    A surprised face appeared on Aria as she had not expected such an astute question since the answer to it was actually one of the kingdoms secrets.

    Aria seriously thought about it before saying, "Most people do not ask that question, so you have surprised me a bit. I normally would not tell you, but you are likely to find out anyway during the ceremony. There is actually an artifact that allows one to change the names of people and bestow noble titles to them. The kingdom has a number of these artifacts that it has distributed to the viceroys of major cities and towns. Any kingdom that wishes to function would need at least one of these artifacts otherwise they would have no way to maintain the nobility."

    Marcus sat there astounded by the information he had just heard since this was the first time he heard of an item being able to interact and change information used by the system governing this world.

    ''I see so whoever controls these artifacts can control the kingdom, but there must be some other rules to them otherwise everyone just give themselves the title of king. The more I learn the more questions I have, though if I did not originallye from Earth, I would not find any of this strange.''

    With her business concluded Aria was about to get up and leave when Marcus remembered something else important and said, "Wait there is onest thing I was hoping to get."

    Aria turned around a bit disappointed in Marcus since she had already offered quite sizeable rewards and asking for anything else would be too greedy.

    "Yes, what is it, but you know the rewards that have already been agreed upon are quite favorable and asking for too much can get you in trouble."

    "It is nothing much, I have a little sister and I was hoping that I would be able to enroll her in a school if possible."

    Hearing this Aria''s face immediately softened, and she said, "Yes there are a number of schools in the kingdom especially the royal capital. As a noble so long as you can pay the tuition and your sister can pass the entrance exam there should be no problem. I will have someone make a list of schools for you to choose from and you can decide with your sister which one to send her to. Ah, and you should know that once your title has been bestowed your family name will automatically be given to any immediate family members as well"

    Nodding his head in understanding and with the meeting discussing Marcus'' rewards now over, Aria took he leave along with Diana leaving Marcus to think about what he is going to do next.

 Chapter 102 - 101 Moving Out And Moving In

    With his meeting with Ariapleted Marcus got up and left the room he was waiting in and headed back towards the building''s entrance.

    Once he made it back to the doors that separated this area from the rest of the government office, Marcus pushed the doors open.

    Back into the main area of the building Marcus could once again see the crowd of people shuffling around trying to catch up on the work they were unable to do during the ice ant siege.

    Marcus thanked the man behind the desk for his service and began making his way to the building''s exit.

    However, before he could make it out, he heard a familiar voice say, "Looks like the meeting went well, how does it feel to be a baress."

    Looking towards the voice Marcus could see Wade standing there having appeared out of the shadows.

    "Yeah, it was pretty unexpected, I take it you had a hand in that being my reward."

    Wade shrugged his shoulders and nodded giving Marcus conformation that he had indeed been apart of the plot to give him a noble title.

    "Now you must have a lot to do in these next few days, so I have found a hotel to house you and your sister in. While I do trust you, I am not in the habit of giving out the keys to my house and I do not have the time to let you in and out whenever you want. Do not worry though the hotel is quite reputable andfortable."

    Marcus looked a bit surprised at first not expecting to be kicked out of Wade''s manor but soon realized it was for the best.

    The two of them then exited the building and headed back to Wade''s manor so Marcus could pick up Lilia.

    After they had reentered the manor grounds but before they got to the entrance Wade stopped and turned towards Marcus and with a concerned look in his eyes said, "Irene, I heard from my cousin that you n to get revenge on Viscount Poulsen which is the main reason you are going to the capital. I know I may not be able to convince you to stop but I should warn you that he is a dangerous man. He has been under investigation by the royal investigators before, but every time one of them got close they either quit or disappeared. He is certainly in bed with a dangerous organization though we do not know which one exactly. So, I just wanted to give you a heads up that even if you sessfully get your revenge on him you may find yourself and those you care about under fire."

    Marcus was quite surprised to hear Wade say this with genuine concern and for a second he almost gave up on getting revenge for Lilia''s safety.

    However, he soon remembered how the man had hunted him down to murder him and that it was likely he would find out about his survival sooner orter.

    ''No, I have to tie up this loose end, if he finds out that I survived and that I have a sister he could do something to her. I have to deal with the current threat and worry about future ones when they pop up.''

    With his mind made up Marcus looked at Wade with a resolute expression and said, "Thanks for the warning, I am afraid that I have no intention of giving up on my ns, but I will be careful."

    Wade then sighed before shrugging his shoulders and walking towards his manor when he stopped remembering something else and said, "Ah, onest warning from me. You have attracted a lot of attention, not all of it good. There are plenty of people that are interested in your talents and looks that would do anything to get you on their side. I can assure you that there are other nobles and organizations that will give you offers and some of them may not be as cordial about rejection as me and Erastalven."

    With that one final warning Wade continued to the entrance of his residence after giving Marcus plenty to think about.

    Once they went inside Freid appeared almost instantly and Wade directed him to bring Lilia to the entryway since Marcus was here to take her.

    After around seven minutes Freid reappeared with Lilia and she quickly ran up towards Marcus and grabbed his hand.

    Marcus let a slight smile creep onto his face as he returned Lilia''s grasps and held her hand.

    "Well then it has been good to see you again Irene and should you ever wish to join the royal investigators the door is always open. I have booked a room for the two of you at the Lush Vi for five days so feel free to enjoy your stay."

    Wade then handed Marcus a map of River Landing that detailed all of the major roads andndmarks with the Lavish Vi marked.

    Marcus took the map and thanked Wade and with Lilia in hand exited his manor and headed for the front gate.

    As the two of them exited Wade''s residence Freid turned towards his master and said, "You were unusually amodating to her even after see turned down your requirement efforts, you normally would not trouble yourself to this degree for no return."

    Hearing this Wade turned around towards Freid with his ssic confident smirk on his face and said, "Freid you are right, normally I would not go through the trouble, but there is something exceptional about her. She is a monster even without the backing of a noble house of organization, she has already surpassed what would even be considered the realm of a genius. I may not have gotten her to work for me, but she will remember the goodwill I have shown her. I haveid the foundation for her to align with our kingdom, and she may one day be one of the greatest assets we have."

    Freid stared skeptically at Wade not seeing the same value he had in Marcus since while someone at level thirty was quite strong around the same level as a veteran knight or a captain in the army, they were not that rare. There were still thousands of people that strong in arge kingdom like Borealia and just because Marcus had managed to get to level thirty quickly did not mean they could keep up that pace.

    However, Freid had not seen what Wade had when Marcus leaped out to intercept the ice ant royal guard that was many levels higher and came out on top.

    ''After checking her status, I know she only has level one darkness magic so that aura of darkness must be a unique skill. I can count all of the people known to have a unique skill in the kingdom on both my hands and feet, she is too promising to let slip through to some other kingdom or power.''

    ˇ­

    Back on the streets of River Landing Marcus and Lilia stood in front of a massive hotel that had a beautiful fountain madepletely out of a shimmering blue stone.

    ''Wow, this ce isplete different from the ces I have stayed at so far. It looks like a five-star hotel back on earth. This ce certainly caters to noble and wealthy merchants, I hate to think how much it costs to stay here even just one night.''

    Walking into the building Marcus immediately saw the grand lobby that had waterfall crashing down into a pond that fed a small stream that was flowing through the middle of it the lobby.

    Marcus and Lilia stood their astounded by the scene for a minute before one of the staff members of the hotel came up to them.

    Luckily both Lilia and Marcus were still wearing the clothes they had obtained at Wade''s manor, so they did not seempletely out of ce, and the hotel employee treated them respect instead of trying to kick them out.

    "Hello is this your first time in the Lush Vi, I am afraid that we are currently all booked up so unless you already have a reservation, I am afraid we do not have any rooms avable."

    Marcus looked at the young woman who hade up to him anding out of the daze the interior of the Lavish Vi had put him in and said, "Ah yes this is our first time here, but we do have a reservation made for us by Wade Ophiria."

    Marcus then handed a letter that Wade had given him along with the map to the hotel staff member and she quickly looked it over before immediately preforming a deep bow and saying, "Yes we do have a room ready for you Lady Irene and Lady Lilia, we are d to have you as our esteemed quests. Please allow me to escort you to the reception where you can get your room keys and then I will show you to your suite."

    "Yeah, sounds good thank you for your hospitality and lead the way."

    The young women let out a quite sigh of relief since her earlier interaction may have offended some other nobles and quickly led Marcus to the reception desk.

    When they arrived the young woman employee handed Wade''s letter to the receptionist and their eyes lit up for a moment before they began processing the paperwork for Marcus'' room.

    After just under a minute the receptionist said, "Everything is squared away, here is your room keys and if you get hungry, we do have a restaurant on the second floor that is open from dusk to midnight.. There is also live entertainment by the ownerdy Maryam Valorre who is famed throughout the kingdom for her beauty and her voice."

 Chapter 103 - 102 Shopping Spree

    With his room keys now in hand Marcus followed behind the employee that had greeted him at the hotel''s entrance.

    She quickly led both him and Lilia around a corner and into a small room that had a slightly raised tform in the center.

    "Lady Irene and Lady Lilia please stand in the middle of the tform and we will ascend to the floor your room is on."

    Hearing this a look of confusion appeared on Lilia''s face, but Marcus havinge from Earth immediately realized what this device was.

    ''They actually have an elevator; I suppose it must run on magic, but I am still surprised to see such a thing in this world.''

    Marcus confidently got onto the tform dragging Lilia along even though she showed a few signs of trepidation towards the magic elevator.

    The Lush Vi staff member then quickly got on the tform as well and said, "Fifth Floor."

    The badge she was wearing and the keys in Marcus'' hand began to glow before the tform under them lit up as well and began rising into the air.

    Startled by this Lilia grabbed onto Marcus who let out a softugh and patted Lilia on the head tofort her.

    After a dozen seconds the magical elevator stopped and the three of them got off of the tform.

    The employee then led them down the hall and to a corner suite that had been reserved for them by Wade.

    Inserting the key into the door Marcus unlocked it and opened the door to reveal the room they would be staying in.

    Walking inside Marcus was impressed by the interior of the room which had arge living area with two couches and three chairs as well as a shelf that housed a half dozen books.

    There was also a small kitchen which could be used to prepare meals and a fully equipped bathroom that had running water.

    Unfortunately, when Marcus tested the water, he found that they only had cold and not hot running water.

    He then explored the two bedrooms finding that each one had a king-sized bed and walk in closest.

    After he had thoroughly inspected the suite the employee that had led them to their room gave a slight bow and said, "I hope you find the amodations to your liking and if you need anything else you need only press the button over here and a member of the staff will be with you shortly. Now if you do not need anything else from me, I will head back down to continue my duties."

    The youngdy then raised her head and looked at Marcus expectably for a moment causing Marcus to remember that he should tip her for the service she had provided.

    Not knowing what the polite amount to tip was Marcus took a gold coin out of his item box and handed it to the youngdy.

    Taking the gold coin from Marcus the employee''s face lit up with a bright smile since she normally would only get a single silver or a few if she was lucky, and only the most generous or grateful guests would tip a gold coin.

    She then bowed and thanked Marcus profusely before heading out of the room and going back to her post in the lobby.

    ''Now that we have our room there are a few things we need to get done.''

    Marcus turned towards Lilia and said, "Lilia, we are going shopping there are a number of things we need to procure before we make our trip towards the kingdom''s capital."

    Lilia nodded her head and she and Marcus exited and locked the room before heading back towards the elevator and descending to the first floor.

    They then exited the Lush Vi and made there way back out onto the town.

    Marcus and Lilia walked around going into numerous stores, buying things like cook wear, soap, and other daily necessities they could need. And unlike before where Marcus would buy cheap and secondhand goods, this time he was pulling out all the stops and was thoroughly using the gold he had acquired.

    After buying numerous items one of which was arge magic fridge that ran on magic cores Marcus and Lilia had the majority of the items they would need to continue on their journey infort.

    ''Now all we need is to buy some clothes and obtain a method of transportation. I cannot expect Lilia to be able to run around at my pace and having something to ride in will make the journey easier and morefortable.''

    With that thought Marcus and Lilia searched around for a clothing establishment that dealt in high quality clothing and began buying daily clothing and clothing for formal asions. He even had three outfitsmissioned for him and Lilia each.

    After purchasing around eighty gold worth of clothing the staff of the store were wondering how Marcus was going to carry all of it out of the store when he simply plopped it all into his item box shocking everyone around.

    After exiting the store Marcus made his way to the adventures guild since there was a specific service he was looking for.

    Walking inside he walked up to the receptionist and to his surprise it was the same one that had helped him out when he first visited River Landing.

    "Hello wee to the adventˇ­"

    As the young woman looked at Marcus, she stared at him stunned and had stopped her greeting which Marcus was not expecting.

    "Um, miss are you alright, we met before my name is Irene and you helped me sign up to be an adventure a couple months ago do you remember."

    The receptionist looked at Marcus and a few tears started falling down her face. However, she quickly rposed herself, wiped the tears away and said, "Sorry about that I had heard that your party was attacking during the request and suffered casualties and that the rest ended up dead in the dungeon. I thought that another adventure I had signed up died but here you are."

    Marcus gave her a slight smile since he remembered how much she worried he was going to die on the escort mission he had chosen.

    "Yeah, I am still alive and kicking. But today I am not doing any more adventuring but looking to buy a magical beast, would you happen to know of any good shops around here."

    The receptionist nodded her head and took out a little book that had information on River Landing in it.

    After a couple minutes of reading, she had found the name and general location of a shop specializing in magical beasts.

    She began describing the way to get there from the adventures guild, but Marcus quickly handed her the map Wade had given him and had her mark it down.

    With the information he wanted in hand Marcus thanked the receptionist for her help and exited the building.

    Back on the streets of River Landing Marcus and Lilia headed towards the Northwestern end where the shop dealing in magical beasts was located.

    When they arrived in front of the shop Marcus stood their mouth agape since the shop was more of apound than the small shop as Marcus thought it would be.

    ''I know I wanted the nicest ce in River Landing, but I did not think it would be this big. I hope I have enough money left to get a good beast.

    Walking into the small building that served as the storefront Marcus saw that there were a couple other people doing business either trying to purchase or sell magical beasts.

    However, there was one young man that was currently standing at a counter waiting to serve whoever came in.

    As soon as he saw Marcus, he stared at him mesmerized for a few moments before nearly running forward and saying, "Hello there miss, my name is Frank and wee to Hugo''s Beast Emporium, what can I do for you today."

    Marcus was a bit surprised by enthusiasm of the young man but decided that as long as he got what he came for it would be fine.

    "I am looking for a magical beast that would be good to pull a small carriage, something of the umon grade would be preferred but I am willing to take amon grade magical beast if there are no suitable ones at the umon grade."

    Frank was astonished by how Marcus got right to the point and knew exactly what he wanted.

    "Yeah, we have a number of umon andmon grade magical beasts and normal beasts like horses that are perfect for drawing a cart or carriage. Allow me to lead you to where we keep those beasts, and you can pick out the one you like. Ah, and if it would not be to much trouble would you tell me your name."

    Nodding his head Marcus aid, "Okay then lead the way and my name is Irene hopefully we can do business today."

 Chapter 104 - 103 Bolt Stag

    With Frank as a guide, Marcus and Lilia followed behind as he led them out of the storefront and into the areas where they kept magical beasts.

    Walking down a dirt road Marcus could see numerous enclosures that were a lot like a zoo that housed any number of beasts.

    Of course, most of the beasts he saw were eithermon grade magical beasts or just regr beasts, but none the less they did have a wide range of selections.

    As they continued on their way Marcus saw a couple dozen horses that were being taken out to get some exercise and Frank noticing Marcus'' gaze said, "We rear some of the best horses in the kingdom here so if you do not find a suitable magical beast, I am sure we can outfit you with some decent horses. We even have some that have been trained up to level twelve and arebat ready if you are willing to pay a little extra."

    Hearing this Marcus thought that if he could not find a strong magical beast, abat trained horse would be the next best thing.

    After about a ten-minute walk Frank had brought Marcus and Lilia to the area where they kept their umon and higher-grade magical beasts.

    Frank wanted to show Marcus their best goods right off the bat in hopes of making a big sale and getting on Marcus'' good side.

    Looking around Marcus saw only about three dozen beasts that were at the umon grade and finally realized how hard it must be to get strong magical beasts under control.

    Almost immediately one of the beasts caught Marcus'' attention not because he thought it would be ideal but because he recognized it.

    It had been quite some time but sitting in a small enclose was a beast he had aptly named a fire cat.

    Except this one was not like the juvenile he had killed and was quite a bitrger being a full-grown adult.

    ''Hm, it is level fourteen, and it might just be big enough to pull a small cart or carriage. I suppose I should ask the expert since it might be a good beast to have.''

    Marcus stopped in front of the fire cat''s enclosure and then said to Frank.

    "What about this one do you think it would be usable to pull a small vehicle."

    Frank looked at the fire cat and quickly said, "No, while that me jaguar is a good size, they are not good moving at a consistent pace for long periods of time while moving a vehicle. They make good mounts because of their ability to move through any terrain but moving a cart is not their forte."

    Nodding his head in understanding Marcus continued to look through the selection of magical beasts hoping to find a suitable beast of burden, but for the most part the umon grade beasts were more geared towards being mounts such as hippogriffs and other sleek magical beasts.

    The only umon grade magical beast they had seen that would have made a decent beast of burden was the well named reek boar and Marcus had no intention of getting it.

    ''I guess I will have to settle for amon grade magical beast, if I just wanted a mount, they have plenty of good options, but neither Lilia nor I have any experience riding a beast so I was hoping to get a carriage that would be morefortable and easier to drive.''

    However, before Marcus gave up, he noticed a enclosure a bit away from the others that had a slight glow to it and that Frank had not gone anywhere near.

    As Marcus began walking towards that area Frank noticed the direction he was heading in and ran up to stop him.

    "Miss Irene I would not rmend getting any closer to that enclosure, the beast in there is quite temperamental and has actually injured a number of customers. How about we move towards themon grade beasts and you can pick out one among them."

    Marcus now intrigued by what could be in the mystery enclosure continued forward not heading Frank''s warning.

    Frank in a desperate move tried to grab Marcus, but was surprised to find himself being dragged along as Marcus was many levels higher and much stronger.

    Soon the creature that was in the enclosure came into view and Marcus could see arge stag with blue and white fur and impressive horns that resembles lightning bolts.

    At this point Frank let go of Marcus and said, "Please miss Irene that bolt stag is quite dangerous if you get any closer it will get territorial and open fire."

    Unfortunately for Frank, this bolt stag had piqued Marcus'' interest and he was not going to let it go without having a good look first.

    Marcus gave the stag a quick appraisal finding that it was quite strong at level twenty-four making him want this beast even more.

    As Marcus got closer in order to get a better look, the sag who was peacefully resting opened its eyes and looked hatefully at Marcus.

    Its horns then lit up crackling with electricity before multiple bolts of lightning shot towards Marcus.

    Luckily its encloser had been reinforced to block its electrical discharges but three bolts of electricity still managed to break through and fly right towards Marcus.

    But to the stag''s and franks surprise Marcus deftly dodged the blots and continued advancing.

    The stag seeing that its first attack had missed stood up showing of its entire ten-foot-tall height and faced down Marcus.

    This proud creature was quite furious for having been captured by humans and locked in a cage and would rather die than serve a weakling.

    The stag started ramming at the bars of its enclosure while shooting off more bolts of electricity at Marcus.

    However, Marcus simply cast his iron sphere spell and used the floating chunk of iron to block any of the boltsing for him.

    This of course made the bolt stag even more indignant, and its horns began to glow even brighter, and Marcus could actually taste the ozone in the air from the amount of electricity gathering around the stag''s horns.

    A huge bolt of lightning shot forward and hit the protections around the enclosure, and while the bolts power was easily reduced by seventy percent the power behind the attack was still massive and even an average level thirty would take some damage from the attack.

    But right before the bolt hit Marcus and even bigger mass of electricity shot out of his hand as he cast his tier four lightning magic spell and electricity in the form of a huge bird overpowered the stags bolt and flew forward.

    The stag stared at the iing bolt in shock since it never in its wildest dreams could imagine its own lightning being overpowered by another''s.

    As the stag braced for impact expecting to be seriously injured by the overwhelming force, the massive bird of electricity arced upwards and flew harmlessly into the sky.

    Frank looked at this scene dumfounded, a number of strong knights and adventures had at first tried to buy this bolt stag since it was quite powerful, but its violent temperament had sent all of them packing.

    Of course, plenty of them could have killed the bolt stag but getting it to submit was another story.

    The bolt stag stared back at Marcus a slight tinge of respect in its eyes now, no longer seeing him as an annoyance but a real challenger.

    Noticing its gaze Marcus understood the stags intention and turned towards Frank and said, "Open the gate I am going in."

    Frank looked at Marcus like he was crazy, while the disy of power he had shown was impressive, without the wards on the enclosure dampening its powers the stag''s attack would have been around equal to Marcus'' tier four spell.

    "Are you crazy that thing will kill me if I approach and you if you enter."

    Hearing Franks reply Marcus''s expression turned stern as he said, "Open the gate or I will open it myself. The bolt stag will not attack you so long as you do not provoke it, I can see in its eyes it has epted me as a challenger."

    Frank stared back and forth at Marcus and the stag wondering which one was scarier before he finally relented and slowly approached the gate.

    He thought that at any moment the stag would hurl lightning at him but to his surprise it let him approach and unlock the gate.

    Of course, their was a magical tether on the stag preventing it from leaving the enclosure even if the gate was open so it was unable to make a run for it.

    Nevertheless, even if it could have run away it would not have since its pride would never allow it to back down from a worthy challenger.

    As Frank ran away back to safety Marcus approached the enclosure and entered inside.

    He and the stag then stared each other down before the stags body exploded with electricity and it bounded towards Marcus.

    However, unlikest time when Marcus was just trying to impress the stag this time, he wanted topletely overwhelm it.

    He raised his hand upward and then threw it down and said, "Kneel."

    When the stag herd those words it internally scoffed since it never nned to kneel to anyone.

    However, after those words left Marcus'' mouth the stag felt and overwhelming pressure on its soul and it immediately came to a stop.

    It tried with all of its might to keep standing but after a couple of seconds its legs buckled, and it fell to the ground.

    The stag as onest act of defiance tried to keep its head aloft, but soon it could no longer handle the power of Marcus'' phantom pressure and its head smashed into the ground making it seem as if the stag was bowing to Marcus.

 Chapter 105 - 104 Expensive

    Marcus continued to apply his phantom pressure to the bolt stag keeping it locked in ce andpletely pacified.

    The proud creature tried to fight back with all of its might but the strain on its soul was so great it could not even generate the smallest spark of electricity or make the slightest move.

    Marcus himself was actually quite surprised by the strength of his phantom pressure, since it seemed to be quite a bit stronger than it had been before.

    ''I wonder why it feels so much stronger, it cannot be because I leveled up to thirty since I have not actually applied my skill points yet. I guess a quick check at my status would not hurt.''

    ''Status''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene

    Age: 28/19

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirt of Light and Darkness)

    Level: 30

    HP: 5240/5240

    MP: 2270/2270

    STR: 211

    AGL: 209 (+10)

    VIT: 208

    INT: 227

    SPR: 316

    Stat Points: 40

    Skill Points: 17

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness

    Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 3, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 2, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful sh Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 3, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 1, Trap Sensing Lvl 2, Dark Magic Lvl 1, Light Magic Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure

    Seeing the changes in his status Marcus was utterly shocked to the point that he idently removed his phantom pressure from the bolt stag.

    The bolt stag sensing the release of whatever power was holding it, quickly got up and charged at Marcus.

    However, as distracted as Marcus was, he still felt the iing danger and swiftly reapplied his phantom pressure once again forcing the bolt stag to the ground.

    ''Woops nearly got skewed by its horns there, but the changes in my status are too surprising and I lost focus. This is pretty bizarre, but I figure that when my soul truly fused with the fragment left behind by Irene my spirt stat grew nearly a hundred points. I also have acquired her name and age which is a bit odd, but I suppose in a way I am more of a mixture of both Marcus and Irene at this point, kind of like a certain green person named after an instrument from an anime back on Earth.''

    Seeing as he already had his status up Marcus applied his stat points evenly just giving eight to each stat for the sake of expediency.

    With his stat points assigned Marcus got out of his status window and stared down at the bolt stag he currently was suppressing.

    The stag was looking at him in disdain since it thought that Marcus must be using some dirty trick to hold it down.

    Seeing this look Marcus leaned down, right next to the stag''s ear and said, "I have won, my strength is far greater than yours, submit to me or your soul is going to break. I can already feel that your soul is starting to crack under my pressure, and it is only a matter of time before you cease to exist."

    The stag looked right into Marcus'' eyes and it could tell what he had said was true. The stag could feel its soul under extreme pressure and even as strong as it was, it would only be a matter of time before the damage was irreparable.

    The stag then cast its eyes downwards in an act of submission realizing it had been bested by someone far stronger than it.

    Marcus nodded his head and released his phantom pressure and then looked towards Frank and said, "I will be taking this bolt stag since we havee to an understanding."

    Frank stared out at Marcus and the stag wondering what he had just seen. Marcus had used some strange power topletely overpower the bolt stag in a way Frank had never seen. He had seen plenty of strong people use impressive abilities, but this was the first time he had seen an attack like Marcus''.

    Marcus seeing that Frank was in a daze called out to him again this time much louder and said, "Hey I am buying this bolt stag, get the paperwork together so that we can get this done before the day ends."

    This time Marcus'' yelling broke him out of his stupor and he slowly began approaching Marcus until he noticed the bolt stag begin to stand up again.

    Frank thought for sure that the stag would kill Marcus now that his back was turned but to his surprise the stag just stood there its head lowered in resignation.

    The stag had lost to Marcus in a challenge it had epted so the proud beast would rather die than do something cowardly like attack Marcus in the back.

    Seeing how calm the normally violent stag was Frank continued to slowly approach and when he was in front of Marcus he said, "Um I am afraid I do not have the authority to sell you this lightning stag, it is one of the few rare grade beasts we have and only my boss Hugo would has the authority to sell it to you."

    Hearing this Marcus was astounded since he though that the stag was just another umon grade magical beast. But now that he thought about it, the bolt stag did seem quite strong even for its level so it being a rare grade actually made sense.

    Marcus looked up at the stag with a new appreciation since having a rare grade magical beast would help him both in status and power, since a rare grade magical beast was pretty much the peak of what people could get under theirmand.

    Marcus then turned towards Frank and said, "Very well then, let us go and see your boss Hugo, I have decided to get this bolt stag since I already went through the trouble of having it submit."

    Frank let out a breath of relief because from the moment that his boss had purchased this bolt stag it had been nothing but trouble, and now they were finally going to be able to get rid of it.

    Frank began walking away towards the building that served as thepanies shopfront.

    Before following behind Marcus looked towards the stag and said, "I will be right back try to behave yourself."

    When Marcus walked away the stag looked angrily at his back, but it still made no move of defiance since its pride would not allow it.

    As Marcus followed behind Frank Lilia ran up to him and gave him a big hug and said, "Next time warn me when you are going to do something dangerous like that, I thought I was going to lose you again."

    Marcus looked down warmly at Lilia a slight pang in his heart and said, "Sorry about that Lilia, next time I will warn you but just remember that your big sibling is really strong."

    Once Marcus had finishedforting Lilia the two of them walked side by side as they followed behind Frank.

    Soon the group of three made it back to the storefront and walked inside where Frank told them to wait while he got his boss.

    Marcus then watched as frank walked into a back room and after about a minute everyone in the building heard a loud shout that said, "ARE YOU SERIOUS."

    After a few more seconds a burly old man that was easily six and a half feet tall came out from the back room followed by Frank.

    Seeing the man who was obviously the owner of thepany and seemed pretty strong Marcus gave him a quick appraisal and found that Hugo was at a level he could not see.

    Hugo then looked towards Frank who pointed at Marcus and therge man approached and said, "So you are the one who wants to buy the unruly bolt stag. Frank told me that you used some weird ability to get it under control, but I do not by it that a little girl like you is strong enough. I am the only one in mypany strong enough to wrangle that beast and even I need a special item to dampen its electricity."

    Marcus looked up at Hugo right in his eyes and said in a confident tone, "What Frank said is true I got that bolt stag to submit to me and now I want to buy it, I am far stronger than it and I bet I could even beat you if push came to shove."

    Hugo looked at Marcus for a second before breaking into augh, the idea of Marcus beating him was just too funny.

    However, in the next instance Hugo felt a mysterious force weigh down on his soul, and while it did not force him to the ground the pressure was still ufortable and making him feel heavy.

    Hugo then looked at Marcus seriously for the first time and raised his eyebrow and said, "Do not be too proud just because you are level thirty and have and interesting ability. I admit you are strong, but you should cease your attack before I get angry."

    Seeing the change in Hugo''s expression Marcus released his phantom pressure and said, "So, are you willing to sell that bolt stag."

    Hugo nodded his head and said, "Yeah but only if you can afford it, for a high grade rare magical beast at level twenty-four, I think four thousand gold would be about right."

 Chapter 106 - 105 Bartering

    Marcus stood there mouth agape when he heard that the bolt stag he wanted to purchase would cost him four thousand gold.

    Even if he still had the entirety of the three thousand gold he had received as a reward for helping to save Mrazivy, he still would have been a thousand shy.

    In fact, he only had just a little over a thousand left after all of the purchasing he had made earlier in the day.

    With a resolute face Marcus looked up towards Hugo and said, "That is preposterous, four thousand gold for a single beast even of the rare grade is too much. I will give you a thousand gold."

    Hugo stared down at Marcus and his expression turned angry as he said, "A thousand that had better be a joke, I was open to a bit of negotiation, but you are trying to rob me. Three thousand eight hundred take it or leave it."

    "Ha, that bolt stag has already acknowledged me, and I have heard the amount of trouble it has caused you. When do you think the next time someone who can get that thing under control wille by? I only have a thousand gold so you can take it or leave it. By the next time you have a perspective buyer that bolt stag will have probably cost you far more than it was worth."

    Marcus could see a vein popping up on Hugo''s forehead as he became more and more furious, and after a couple seconds of thinking Hugo said, "Three thousand four hundred, I will already be taking a loss at that price, but I would rather wait another century then get robbed by you. If you do not have the money, then get out and you cane back when you do."

    Marcus was exasperated since he had no idea how he would make that much money quickly. He was going to get three hundred more gold in a couple of days along with his title of baress, but even that would barely make a dent. He would still somehow have toe up with another two thousand gold.

    However, as Marcus was thinking of ways to make money an idea dawned on him.

    With a big smile creeping onto his face Marcus said to Hugo, "Will you ept payment in forms other than gold."

    Hearing this Hugo looked at Marcus and stroked his beard while pondering for a few moments before he said, "It depends on what you have to offer."

    Marcus then took out one of the ingots of mithril he had received from the treasure chest he won from beating the boss of the thirdyer in the Sea Bluff Temple.

    Hugo was surprised not only to see the six inches by three inches by two inches mithril ingot but also by Marcus'' item box.

    "Where did you get an ingot of mithril, that is not something you just carry around with you."

    Seeing that he had gotten Hugo''s attention Marcus said, "It is not important where I got it, but are you willing to ept this in ce of gold."

    Hugo coughed once before saying, "Yes I believe an arrangement can be made, but that single ingot is only worth around eighty gold and will not be enough to offset the bnce."

    Hearing this Marcus inwardly scoffed since he figured that they should have been worth more, but it was not like he actually knew the market rate for most of things in this world.

    Of course, Hugo was low balling Marcus since each one of his ingots if used absolutely perfectly could create two short swords and even the cheapest mithril swords cost around a hundred gold.

    ''I only have just a little over thirty mithril ingots so I would have to offer up most of them to cover the rest of the cost, but I still n on using them when I learn to forge weapons.''

    Marcus took out ten more of the mithril ingots and handed them over to Hugo before he took out one of the random vials of liquid he had obtained.

    Marcus had no idea what was in the vials but figured they must be pretty valuable since they came from a dungeon chest.

    Seeing the vial Hugo was once again surprised since it was a pretty powerful alchemical brew.

    "Hm a strength enhancing potion, you certainly have a number of umon items on you, are you actually someone important, though I think I would have heard about you if you were."

    Marcus hoping that it might score him a discount decided to tell Hugo the nickname he had somehow acquired and said, "Ah, maybe you have heard of me, I recently have been called the darklight princess and I am going to be given the title of baress in a couple of days."

    Hugo looked at Marcus with a newfound respect since he had seen the explosion of darkness and ice, because he had also been aiding the kingdom during the ice ants attack.

    Of course, as one of the strongest people in the town it had been expected of him, but even at level thirty-eight he would not have been confident in leaping out over the wall anding back alive.

    Hugo beganughing and after a couple of seconds said, "Yes I have heard of you, I even had the pleasure of witnessing your daring leap into danger, albeit from a good distance. I have no idea how you made it back alive, but you certainly are something. In light of your achievements in keeping this town safe I am willing to drop the price to three thousand two hundred gold, just make sure to remember me when you make it big."

    Marcus nodded his head and said, "How much for the strength enhancing potion."

    Hugo pondered for a few moments looking at the potion. He had nned to milk Marcus for everything he was worth but now that he knew who Marcus was, he had decided to give a fair price for the items presented.

    "I am not certain of the quality, but it should be worth at least five gold. If it was a rarer potion it would be worth more but other than healing potions and antidotes this is the mostmon type."

    Hearing this Marcus was a bit dejected but still took out one of each type of potion he had acquired and found that each of the different ones boosted a different stat for a short amount of time.

    "Okay with those four other potions I will shave off another sixty gold. If this is all you have, I will allow you to leave it as a down payment and you cane back when you have the rest."

    Marcus thought about it for a few moments, but he really wanted to obtain the bolt stag today and he doubted he was going to be able to raise the kind of capital he need in just two more days.

    Coming to a decision Marcus let out a deep sigh before reluctantly taking out two items that made Hugo''s eyes bulge.

    In Marcus'' left hand he now held a natural treasure shaped like a butternut squash that had a purple and green pattern and in his right hand was a melon that waspletely blue.

    Marcus had chosen these two fruits since among the remaining natural treasures he had left they had the strongest presence.

    Hugo stared at the two items greedily since they were obviously natural treasures and high-quality ones at that.

    Marcus seeing the look of desire in Hugo''s eyes said, "If I give you these two that will be enough to cover the rest of the cost along with a thousand gold yes."

    Hugo really had no idea how valuable Marcus'' natural treasures were, but even at the level he had obtained he had only gotten his hands on a couple of natural treasures and they had been worth every copper.

    Items that boost one''s stats permanently were rare and there was no way that Hugo was going to let these two slip out of his grasp.

    "Very well you have a deal, let''s get the paperwork together and then we can go ahead and put the seal on the bolt stag for you."

    Marcus then handed the two natural treasures over along with a thousand gold, and Hugo walked back into his office nearly skipping along.

    After Hugo had stored the gold and items Marcus had used in exchange for the bolt stag Hugo personally walked back with him to the bolt stags enclosure.

    Once they arrived the bolt stag who had been taking a quick nap opened its eyes and seeing that Marcus wasing back with Hugo it stood up and held its head high.

    Hugo was a bit surprised by this reaction since every time he had approached this bolt stag it had shot electricity at him even when he came to feed it.

    "I guess what you said is true, I am a bit surprised but hey now it will be off my hands."

    Marcus and Hugo then walked up to the bolt stag who lowered its head towards Marcus and allowed Hugo to apply the seal of domination.

    Once the seal was finished Marcus cut himself and applied his essence to the seal and could feel a connection form with the bolt stag.

 Chapter 107 - 106 Riding And Driving

    When the seal of dominance became active between Marcus and the bolt stag, he received a ding and a message yed in his head.

    ''Seal of Dominance detected, would you like to switch magical beast designated bolt stag with your egg of ...ˇ­ error no data.''

    Hearing this notice Marcus selected the no icon since his magical beast sub system could only currently have one magical beast registered and he had no intention of removing the egg he had obtained in case it caused some sort of negative effect.

    However, even without registering the bolt stag in his beast system Marcus could still feel the connection that formed between them.

    "Well, looks like it was a sess, but I have to say I am surprised that you tamed this beast, in terms of even rare grade beasts it is quite strong. Ha ha, you are going to be the envy of other nobles, as even though they have the money, being strong enough to subjugate a rare grade magical beast is not something anyone can do."

    Marcus nodded his head towards Hugo and then looked towards his bolt stag and said, "Now that you are going to be working for me you are going to need a nameˇ­ How about Blitz, since you use lightning and I bet you are fast."

    The bolt stag hearing the name raised its head high taking an immediate liking to its new name that it though sounded powerful.

    Marcus then tried sending Blitz a mentalmand and the bolt stag looked towards Marcus and nodded its head before lowering its body.

    Marcus jumped onto Blitz''s back and said, "Show me what you got, full speed ahead."

    Hearing thatmand Blitz internally smirked nning to give its new master a scare and sted forward with lightning surrounding its legs.

    As the two of them quickly elerate Marcus had to grab on tightly to Blitz''s neck in order to not fall off.

    After just a few seconds Blitz had already elerated to over a hundred miles per hour running around thepound stretching its legs for the first time since it had been captured.

    It ran along for a good minute as Marcus clung to its neck doing his best not to fall off.

    Soon the two of them ran back up to Hugo and Lilia and stopped, Blitz panting a bit since it had exhausted it energy running at top speed.

    Marcus dismounted Blitz and when his feet hit the ground, he nearly lost his bnce and fell over since his legs were shacking a bit.

    At the same time Blitz looked at Marcus with a look of respect and understanding since the seal between them had allowed it a glimpse into Marcus'' true character, and Blitz could tell he was not a bad person.

    After a minute to catch his breath Marcus went up to Hugo and Lilia and said, "Well now that we have our newpanion, we need to find a suitable carriage to purchase. Hugo you would not happened to know of any good ces we could get a carriage would you."

    A big smile crept onto Hugo''s face and he let out a big bellowingugh and said, "We actually have a few used carriages that we could outfit to your new bolt stag. I will even give you a good deal on ount of you being a good customer."

    Marcus nodded his head and had Hugo led the way to where he stored the few vehicles he had.

    When they arrived, he opened up the door to a warehouse that had a number of vehicles in it all in different states.

    Some were pristine but other were badly damaged and in various states of disrepair.

    As Marcus looked around Hugo said, "So tell me how much you are willing to spend, and I will pick out the best one I have around that value."

    Marcus gave it some serious thought, he only had forty-six gold, three hundred sixty-seven silver, and a hundred thirty-six copper left.

    However, Marcus knew he was going to get another three hundred gold soon and after spending all the money he had so far, cheaping out at the end on something he needed would be a bad idea.

    "I only have forty-five gold left so that is the maximum I can pay, I am not looking for a big carriage but a prettyfortable and nice one would be good."

    Hugo nodded his head and went in search of the best carriage he had that fit Marcus'' parameters.

    After about ten minutes Hugo called Marcus over and sitting in front of Hugo was a small ornate cart with gold and blue finishes.

    It had a few dings and scratches around, but its overall structure was still solid. The only problem was that it still had the family that had previously owned it coat of arms on each side.

    "This one here will run you forty-two gold, it used to belong to a small noble family that does not exist anymore, but it is still in good shape and has a superior quality."

    Marcus gave the carriage a good inspection finding that it did not have any damning damage and the inside seemed quitefortable although it could only seat four without bing over capacity.

    Checking the coachman''s seat Marcus found that it was also well made and once he had finished inspecting the cart, he had no qualms with it other than the coat of arms painted on both sides.

    "Yeah, it is pretty good, the only problem is the coat of arms if you can take that off you have a deal."

    Hugo agreed to take the coat of arms off of the carriage and Marcus handed over forty-two of the remaining gold he had leaving him with only four. And while this would still be considered wealthy by a majority ofmoners for a noble it would be considered pitiable.

    ''Now then I need to learn how to hook the harness up to Blitz and figure out how to drive this carriage.''

    Once Hugo had removed the former noble family''s coat of arms Marcus dragged the carriage out which was quite easy with his strength stat.

    He then called Blitz over and began the process of learning to attach the harness to Blitz who at first put up a bit of a struggle but when Marcus promised him a natural treasure that looked like an apple with yellow spots on it Blitz stopped being difficult and was on its best behavior.

    Of course, Marcus could have just used his seal of dominance to cause Blitz pain until it obeyed but he really did not want to resort to this unless he had to.

    It took Marcus a few hours of instruction by Hugo, but he eventually was able to attach the harness to a passable level.

    ''Okay just onest step, I hope driving this thing is easier than putting the harness on.''

    Unfortunately for Marcus, he was used to driving a car which was quite different than directing a beast to pull a carriage.

    After failing to properly maneuver the cart for about an hour Marcus opened up his skill window and searched for a skill that would help him.

    He soon came across a skill called driving and used five skill points to upgrade it to level two.

    ''It was a bit of a waste, but I can get skill pointster, I do not want to spend the next three hours looking like a fool.''

    With his new skill Marcus was able to direct and maneuver the carriage and Blitz with a good degree of control and looked like someone that had at least a year of experience.

    Both Lilia and Hugo were quite surprised to see Marcus'' sudden increase in adeptness at controlling the carriage, but they had no exnation other than a sudden burst of insight.

    Now that he could control the carriage to a passable degree Marcus directed it over to Lilia and told her to get in.

    He then said to Hugo, "Thanks for hooking me up with the carriage and bolt stag, if I need another magical beast and am in the area, I will make sure to see you first. I will also tell people about how good of a service you provide, and thanks again for helping me out."

    Hugo scratched the side of his face and blushed slightly before saying, "Ah, you tter this old man, just make sure you have the right amount of money next time, if I had to haggle like that for every sale my heart would give out."

    Marcus let out a slight chuckle at Hugo''s response and then sent a mentalmand to Blitz to go forward.

    Marcus, Lilia, and their newpanion Blitz then exited thepound of Hugo''s Beast Emporium and got back onto the streets of River Landing and began making their way back towards the Lush Vi.

 Chapter 108 - 107 The Diamond Of The Frost

    Now that he had purchased and formed a seal with Blitz his new bolt stagpanion, Marcus drove his carriage onto the main road and head back towards the Lush Vi.

    As Marcus drove his carriage along the streets many people gazed at Blitz who was pulling the carriage and wondered who must be the powerful noble or wealthy merchant inside the carriage.

    Of course, if they knew that the only one inside was just an eleven-year-old girl that currently had no title or rtion to a powerful organization they would started spitting up blood.

    It was not every day that a carriage was pulled along by a rare grade magical beast and anyone who recognized the bolt stag were immediately envious.

    Even the other nobles who were meandering around the town looked at the bolt stag with greed in their eyes.

    Believe it or not even with the greatest wealth and social standing without the power to back them up no one could make a rare grade beast bow not even a king.

    After traveling down the streets at a good pace while attracting the attention of many onlookers, Marcus and Lilia arrived back at the Lush Vi with a few tails who were hoping to find out the identity of the people in the carriage.

    Unfortunately for the people that had followed them, Marcus pulled the carriage into the Lush Vi''s garage area where guests could store their vehicles and beasts.

    Once they were inside the member of the staff that was guiding them brought them to an area the was filled with expensive looking carriages and located a spot for them to park.

    Once Marcus had parked his carriage, he got off the coachman stand and began detaching Blitz from the harness.

    During this time the man that had escorted them came up and started chatting up Marcus.

    "Hello there miss, it is rare to see such a beautiful coachman such as yourself, how about when you have finished attending to your lord ordy I treat you to diner. I know the chef and can get the best meals for the two of us."

    Marcus looked at the man bbergasted he did not think he was going to get propositioned for a date as soon as he entered the Lush Vi.

    ''Huh, maybe I should start wearing a veil or something, I understand that I look attractive, and my ghostly qualities give me an ethereal beauty, but I am tired of getting these offers.''

    "No thanks, and I think there may be a bit of confusion, I am not the driver for some noble I am the owner of this carriage and the only one inside is my little sister."

    The man looked at Marcus with a look of doubt he figured that this was just a way of being turned down without having his feelings hurt.

    That was until he saw the door to the carriage open and the only person that came out was a young girl.

    At that moment the employee of the Lush Vi felt a sense of dread since he realized that he had just propositioned one of the guests and not just one of their employees.

    Upon realizing his mistake, the man bowed deeply and said, "I am sorry if I offended you mydy, please forgive."

    A cold sweat began to run down the man''s face since if one of the guest put in aint about him at the very least, he would be demoted and have his pay docked or even get fired.

    Marcus let out a sigh and said, "Raise your head, I have not intention of taking any action against you so just lead us to where I can leave Blitz and we will be on our way."

    The man nearly copsed on the ground in relief, but still managed to collect himself and lead Marcus to the area he could house Blitz.

    Once they arrived Marcus could see that the area was arge outdoor pen with dozens of beast in it from normal horses to powerful magical beasts.

    As Marcus lead Blitz inside he sent it a mentalmand to y nice and not cause any trouble since it was the strongest beast that was currently there.

    Blitz gave Marcus a nod and went to rest under the shade of one of the trees finding a nice spot andying down.

    With that out of the way Marcus reentered the premises and was walking with Lilia back to their room when he heard a loud growle from Lilia''s stomach.

    Lilia then blushed a bit since the noise was quite noticeable, but it actually made Marcus realize he had skipped lunch in the excitement of purchasing a magical beast.

    ''I need to be more careful from now on, just because I do not get hungry and have to eat does not mean Lilia doesn''t.''

    Marcus turned towards Lilia and said, "I think I am a bit hungry how about we try out the restaurant here and get a little food."

    Lilia looked up at Marcus and gave big nod with her head right before her stomach let out another growl.

    The two of them then proceeded to the restaurant on the second floor of the hotel and stood in front of the waiters station.

    It was not long before a member of the staff came and wrote down their room number and led them to a table.

    Once they were seated the waiter brought them a couple sses of water and asked if they would like anything else to drink.

    Marcus looked over the drink menu thinking about ordering some wine but when he saw the prices put the drink menu down and said, "Just water is fine."

    The waiter bowed his head and went away to serve other quests while Lilia and Marcus picked out what they wanted to eat.

    Looking over the menu Marcus felt his wallet screaming in pain. Now that he did not have what seemed like an infinite amount of gold, Marcus was beginning to revert to his frugal ways.

    Once he had finished perusing the menu, he looked at Lilia and said, "Do not get anything that cost more than one gold."

    Of course, what Marcus did not know was that Lilia was having an even harder time with the prices on the menu since more than a few copper was a fortune to her.

    ''The difference between the lower and upper society really is vast, you could easily get through a month with just the price of one of these dishes.''

    Soon the waiter came back to their table and asked them if they had decided what they wanted to order, and both Marcus and Lilia had gotten the cheapest meal on the menu that only cost twenty silver.

    The waiter nodded and went back to the kitchen to deliver there order.

    After waiting for thirty minutes their food had arrived and sitting in front of them was a fish on a bed of rice covered in a light lemon sauce surrounded by a medley of vegetables.

    With the food in front of them both of them began eating and the delicious food began to leave their te''s fast.

    However, when they were about halfway done with their meal, the lights in the restaurant dimmed before a spotlight hit the curtains on the stage in the room and a voice resounded through the entire restaurant.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special surprise performance from herdy Maryam Valorre, the diamond of the frost."

    After that announcement the curtains on the stage pulled back and a stunning woman with hair and skin as white as snow walked on stage and began singing.

    The song immediately caught the attention of the surprised guest and everyone was enraptured by the lovely voice.

    Even Marcus could not help but stare at the beautiful woman singing on stage as the lovely melody washed over his ears.

    It even took him a moment to notice that Maryam Valorre was not human but when he saw her long pointy ears, he could immediately tell she was an elf.

    Her songsted for a good five minutes and when it ended the entire room broke into a round of apuse.

    Maryam Valorre''s singing was know far and wide throughout Borealia and some people would stay at her hotel just to hear her sing.

    She then pred to perform two more songs for the lucky few that were currently in the restaurant and when she was finished, she trained her eyes right on Marcus and walked towards him.

    Marcus was surprised to see hering right for him and even more so when she sat down at his table.

    "Hello there, I am the owner of this hotel Maryam Valorre, it is an honor to have the new hero of River Landing stay at my establishment."

    Marcus looked at her dumbfounded, he wondered how she knew who he was, especially since it was Wade who had prepared the rooms.

    Maryam seeing the apprehension on Marcus'' face said, "No need to worry, of course I would know when someone famous enters my hotel, in fact this impromptu show was put on especially for you. I have something I want to talk to you about so if you would not mind would you and your little sister apany me to my room where we can talk in private."

    Hearing this Marcus was astounded, he had no idea what she could want with him but, not wanting to anger the proprietor of the establishment he was staying at followed her out of the restaurant with Lilia in toe

    When they entered Maryam''s room, they were wide eyed and gawking at the majesty of the ce that looked like a room fit for a queen.

    However, Marcus quickly focused on the task at hand and sat down across from Maryam who was looking at them expectantly.

    Once all the parties involved were sitting Maryam looked at Marcus and said, "I have heard good things about you from my sources and am d I got the opportunity to talk to you before the other nobles. Let me just get right to the chase I want to join our families; you are a hot topic at the moment and your abilities are widely praised. I have even heard rumor that you may possess a blessing."

    Marcus was astonished, he thought he might get a few proposals at some point after he received his title, but he was not expecting to be ambushed before then.

    Sighing Marcus said as politely as possible so as to not anger Maryam, "I am ttered by the offer but I still have not even officially be a noble and marrying someone is the farthest thing from my mind. I have a number of goals I want to aplish and stopping to get married is not one of them."

    Maryam expression shifted to one of realization startling Marcus a bit before she said, "Oh I am sorry, I did not mean to make you believe I was trying to arrange a marriage with you, I was talking about you sister. My youngest grandson is currently ten this year and I was hoping to arrange for him to be betrothed to young Lady Lilia here."

    As surprised as Marcus had been so far, hearing this nearly made his brain overheat. He had certainly expected some suitor toe for him, but Lilia, he had not even thought about it.

    Lilia herself was looking quite confused and afraid, for amoner like her that had lived out in a small loggingmunity her entire life the prospect of an arranged marriage was horrifying.

    Marcus got up from his seat and mmed his hand on the table and said, "I am not giving my little sister over to anyone, she is free to choose for herself who she loves when that timees. She is way to young to think about marriage right now."

    Marcus then stormed out of there dragging Lilia along, he hated the notion of using her as a political tool and even the mere mention of it had set him off.

    ''Well, that was an utter disaster, but it was a long shot. However, there are other way to get what I want so it is time for n B.. I hope you are prepared Irene; you have jumped into a pool of sharks and many of them will do what ever it takes to get your blessing of iron.''

 Chapter 109 - 108 Equipping Lilia

    Marcus and Lilia quickly went down the halls of the Lush Vi heading back to their room.

    When they entered Marcus mmed the door shut and brought Lilia with him to one of the couches in the living area and said, "I am sorry about that Lilia, I should have foreseen something like this happening, but you do not need to worry I will never force you to marry someone even if I have to fight an entire kingdom."

    Lilia looked up at Marcus still a lingering tinge of fear in her eyes and said, "Thank you Marcus, I got a bit scared there at first but when you reacted just like Irene would have it made me feel happy. I am d that you care about me so much even though you are not really my sister."

    Hearing this Marcus felt his heart start to calm down and he said, "Lilia, I may not really be Irene, but I have recently inherited all of her memories and experiences. I have her feelings with me and the strongest one she left was her love for you. I had my own sister back on my original world and I feel the same love for you as I did for her, I am your real sister."

    Marcus then brought Lilia in for a deep hug as the two of the embraced each other for a few minutes before Marcus pulled away and steeled his heart for what he had to do next.

    "Lilia, we are going out, I will not always be within arm''s reach to protect you and you are going to have to be strong by yourself. There are many things that you need to do and learn and some of it is going to be very difficult, but know that everything I do for you is for your sake. I had nned to do thister when you had gotten a bit older but what happened today has changed my mind."

    Seeing the serious look in his face and the tone of his voice, Lilia put on a resolute expression and nodded her head, she knew that if she wanted to stay by Marcus'' side, she would have to get stronger.

    The two of them exited their room and went back to the pen that Blitz was currently staying in and took him out.

    Marcus then had Blitz get down and he put Lilia on his back and then jumped on.

    "Okay Blitz we are going out for a bit, make sure to not go to fast, this is Lilia''s first-time riding on the back of a beast and if she falls off because you are too rowdy you will regret it."

    Blitz looked back at Marcus and Lilia and gave a knowing nod since it could feel how serious Marcus was.

    Soon the two of them were back on the streets of River Landing and heading for a certain shop.

    After a few minutes of clopping down the street Marcus had Blitz stop in front of a familiar store.

    "Blitz stay here for a few minutes we will be back soon and try not to get into any trouble."

    Marcus and Lilia dismount and walked into the weapon shop where he had previously purchased his scythe.

    When he walked inside the proprietor of the store immediately recognized him since how could he forget someone as striking as Marcus.

    "Ah you are back, and I see you have brought someone with you this time. Are you here to get a weapon for the little miss here or are you looking for another weapon for yourself?"

    Seeing the jovial shop owner Marcus went up to him and said, "The first thing I am looking for are a pair of training gauntlets for my little sister here and I suppose if you have another good quality scythe, I could take it."

    The owner startedughing and said, "I can get you the training gauntlets pretty easily but a scythe better than the one you already have is probably going to have to be custom made since it is a pretty rare weapon, anyway, do you not still have a perfectly good scythe."

    With a slightly sad face Marcus shrugged his shoulders and said, "I broke it."

    The owner looked at Marcus with a face of disbelief before he said, "You broke it, that scythe may not have been enchanted but it was made by a master, how could you possibly break it. Were you trying to mine with it, what were you doing that broke that scythe?"

    The owner who had sold Marcus the scythe looked genuinely angry when he heard that Marcus had broken the scythe he had carried in his shop for years and could not fathom how it could have broken.

    Marcus simply shrugged his shoulders again and said, "It worked well but when I fought against the ice ants it broke when I intercepted the flying royal guard."

    The owner stared at Marcus in disbelief when he recalled the story one of his guard friends told him about a beautiful girl who jumped off the wall wielding a scythe and covered in darkness, and how she shed in midair with a massive ice ant.

    "Wait are you saying you are the one that is being called the darklight princess that became famous for defending River Landing."

    Marcus reluctantly nodded his head before saying, "Yeah that was me, but that nickname is really embarrassing so just call me Irene."

    With a proud smile on his face the owner said to Marcus, "Well as long as that scythe was put to good use and saved a lot of people, I guess I can forgive you for breaking it, and to think that someone as famous as you was using a weapon that I sold you."

    "Well now that that is out of the way how about those training gauntlets, I still have a lot to do today so if we could get this done quickly, I would be appreciative."

    "Okay no problem, now if you would follow me littledy, we can pick out a pair of gauntlets for you."

    Lilia looked towards Marcus wanting conformation that it was okay to follow the owner and Marcus nodded his head to signal that it was fine.

    Lilia then followed the owner into the back room of the shop where they began trying on different gauntlets.

    While they did this Marcus looked at the couple of scythes that were in the shop, but they were all made out of pure iron or steel and would probably break pretty quickly under Marcus'' strength.

    ''Guess I will have to make one for myself like I thought, if I had proficiency with a moremon weapon like a sword, I would probably have a near infinite number of choices but s I have to deal with the hand I was given.''

    After about twenty minutes Marcus saw Lilia and the ownere out from the store''s back room and Lilia was holding a pair of small leather gauntlets that were studded with bronze.

    "Are those the ones you want?"

    Lilia nodded her head and said, "Yeah they fit well, and I think they feel good."

    With Lilia''s choice of gauntlet chosen Marcus looked at the owner and said, "So how much are these going to cost."

    After thinking for a few moments the owner said, "Sixty copper, while they may be made pretty well the material is a bit cheap so they are not expensive."

    Marcus nodded his head and handed over sixty copper d that this transaction was not going to break the bank.

    With their business concluded Marcus and Lilia thanked the owner and exited the shop and when they did, they saw that everyone was giving Blitz a wide berth afraid to get within fifty feet of him.

    As Marcus got closer, he could see a scorch mark on the pavement near Blitz and figured that someone got a bit too close, and Blitz gave them a warning.

    Marcus quickly mounted Blitz and helped Lilia up in front of him before giving Blitz themand to head north towards the town''s exit.

    When they came up to the front gate that was still in sorry state from the ice ants'' assault, they could see a number of people working quickly to repair the damage.

    When Marcus approached one of the guards came up to him and said, "I am sorry miss, but you are not currently able to leave out of this north gate until the soldiers make sure that the danger ispletely dispersed."

    Hearing this Marcus clicked his tongue in displeasure but soon an idea formed in his mind and he said, "Actually maybe you do not recognize me but I amˇ­ the darklight princess and I happened to lose my weapon during the fight and was hoping I could and search for it."

    Hearing this the guard''s eyes widened with recognition and many of the other guards around started to mor.

    It was not long that themotion garnered the attention of the knight that was currently in charge of the gate who came to investigate.

    "What is all the ruckus going on here?"

    However, when he saw Marcus sitting atop Blitz his eyes widened and he lost all of the bravado he had.

    He could immediately feel the power of Blitz and was enchanted by Marcus'' beauty.

    "Hello there, mydy, it is an honor to make you acquaintance my is Sir Nics Graven, what might your name be and is there anything you need."

    Seeing Nics''s reaction Marcus immediately keyed in on his infatuation and put on his most enchanting smile and said, "Actually when I was fighting in defense of River Landing, I happened to lose my weapon beyond the wall and was hoping I could go and retrieve it and my name is Irene."

    Sir Nics nearly agreed instinctively to Marcus'' request, but he managed to catch himself and remember his duty and said, "I am sorry Lady Irene I really am not allowed to let any civilians out of the town right now, if you want, I can get a few soldiers together and have them look for it."

    Marcus not willing to give up so easily batted his eyes and said, "Please sir, I fought hard to protect this town and am more than capable of defending myself, I just want to retrieve my weapon, I lost it when I bravely leapt into the air to save this town."

    When he heard this Nics immediately recognized Marcus and any defense he had against him crumbled.

    "Well, if it is for the beautiful darklight princess I suppose it could not hurt to make an exception, just try not to take too long okay."

    Nics then had the guards remove the makeshift barricades to allow Marcus through and right before he left Marcus said with a mischievous smile, "Well then I will be back in a couple of days see you when I get back."

    He then ordered Blitz to run forward, and before Sir Nics could retort Marcus was already far out of earshot as Blitz bounded away.

 Chapter 110 - 109 Training Lilia

    Now that they had exited the confines of River Landing Marcus, directed Blitz to head northeast towards the nearest forest. He wanted to find some monsters and magical beasts that he could let Lilia fight since after his experience with Maryam Valorre getting Lilia strong enough to protect herself was of the upmost importance.

    With Blitz''s speed it only took them a couple of hours to make it to the periphery of the nearest wooded area a journey that would have taken a least a day by foot for an average person.

    Of course, had Blitz gone at full speed they could have arrived in just a dozen or so minutes, but Marcus did not want to shake Lilia up before starting her training.

    Marcus then dismounted Blitz and helped Lilia down before saying, "Lilia, I am going to start to teach you how to fight and take care of yourself, we have two days until we need to go back so I can receive my title and I n to get a lot aplished before then."

    Lilia could see the fire burning in Marcus'' eyes and not wanting to disappoint him put on a resolute face and nodded her head.

    "Okay the first and most important thing is to learn the skill magic cirction. Without this skill you cannot use your mana to cast spells or enhance your fighting abilities. Getting this skill is of the upmost importance and it is what we are going to work on first."

    Marcus then pulled out a couple of mats from his item box and sat down cross legged. Lilia then took a seat next to him and Marcus began instructing Lilia on how to train her magic cirction.

    "Now then try to rx, if you are stiff or try to force it the mana inside you will not flow properly. Inside everyone there is a certain amount of mana, it normally rests in someone''s body like a stagnateke, but what you are trying to do is make it flow like thatke has a bunch of streams that move throughout your body. Now try to look inside yourself and find your center and then try to get the mana to flow."

    After giving Lilia these instructions, Marcus sat there and waited, hoping for some good results.

    Of course, Marcus had no idea how effective this method was going to be since instead of training all he did was purchase the skill, and he was pretty much just reiterating the training method he found in the fire magic book he had gotten from Wade a long time ago.

    The two of them sat there for hours as Lilia tried to find and then move her mana around, but soon the sun had set, and night had overtaken them.

    "Okay Lilia that is enough, you should get some rest. Overexerting yourself will not yield favorable results so we can try again tomorrow."

    Hearing this Lilia stopped concentrating and allowed herself topletely rx. She had actually managed to feel the mana within her and tried moving it but found the process to be excruciatingly difficult. However, what Lilia did not know was that even just feeling the mana within themselves would normally take a week for even a genius at her level and she had her massively boosted stats to thank for her ability to sense her mana quicker.

    Seeing Lilia sprawled out on the mat Marcus cast his floatingntern spell to give them a bit of light and got to work.

    He quickly set up the new tent he had bought which was far more luxurious than thest one, and that he had made sure to know how to set it up before leaving the store.

    Once that was set up Marcus brought out the magic fridge he had bought and took out a number of ingredients and made some skewers for Lilia to eat.

    When Lilia got a whiff of the delicious roasting meat and vegetables she quickly got up and went over to where Marcus was cooking.

    Soon the food was done and the two of them enjoyed a quick meal before Marcus sent Lilia to bed.

    ''Now then while Lilia sleeps it is time for me to work on my own training, it has been too long since I have just sat down and worked on my skills.''

    "Blitz I am going out for a bit, make sure to watch Lilia and keep her safe, and if something you cannot handle appears shot a bolt of lightning into the air and I wille running."

    After giving Blitz his instructions Marcus headed deeper into the woods, and when he found arge rock, he began training his skills.

    He started with darkness magic firing off multiply bullets of darkness and then seeing how many he could managed to create at one time.

    It did not take long only a couple of hours before Marcus managed to level the skill up to level two.

    Seeing the increase in the skill level Marcus started jumping around in joy since it had been awhile since he had just sat down and trained a skill instead of using skill points.

    ''Now then I will work on light magic and then fire magic, hopefully I can get both of them up to level two as well.''

    Marcus then spent the rest of the night getting his fire and light magic skills to level two and practicing the new respective spells he had obtained.

    ''That was quite productive if I do say so myself, I honestly should have done this earlier, but oh well betterte than never. Now I need to go and collect a few things for the training I have in mind for Lilia today, I just hope she can take it.''

    ˇ­

    As the first rays of light began to creep through the tent Lilia began to rouse awake, and with a big yawn she rubbed her face and opened her eyes.

    She quickly noticed that Marcus was no longer in the tent with her, and she poked her head out to see where he was.

    When she did what she saw gave her quite the fright. There were over a dozen monsters and magical beasts tied up by iron threads and Marcus was sitting there in the middle just reading a book.

    Seeing this Lilia let out a quick scream before falling back into the tent.

    ''Looks like she is awake.''

    Marcus then moved over to the tent and parted the door revealing Lilia who was t on her back after having received quite the shook.

    "Lilia, everything is fine, I have all of these monsters and magical beasts tied up tight so there is no need to worry. Get dressed quick because today you are going to learn how to fight."

    After a few minutes Marcus watched Liliae out of the tent wearing some of the new clothes they had just bought that were easy to move around in.

    Seeing that Lilia was ready to begin Marcus said, "The first lesson you need to learn about fighting is, do not die. Even if you cannot win as long as you do not die you can always try again. Now Lilia have you ever fought a monster or beast before."

    Lilia a bit embarrassed shook her head no and looked down at the ground.

    "Hey, you do not need to feel down about it, fighting is not easy and if I could, I would make sure you never had to fight. Unfortunately, in this world the one who is right is the one with the bigger fist so if you do not want to be pushed around and trampled you need to be strong. Now put on your gauntlets and get ready because we are going to start."

    Marcus then moved them both into a nearby clearing and using his iron threads dragged along a small goblin.

    When he was certain Lilia was ready, he released the goblin from its bindings and said, "Your first goal is to beat this goblin before it beats you, now do not worry if things start too get hairy, I will intervene but do your best."

    The now free goblin looked around hoping to make a break for it but when it saw Marcus standing there looking at it its instincts told it fleeing was futile.

    It then looked towards the little girl that was in front of it and charged towards her hoping to kill her and then make its way past her.

    Of course, Marcus had chosen this goblin first since it was only level one and he figured Lilia would have no trouble at all defeating it.

    However, Lilia was a peaceful and gentle person by nature and when the goblin came running towards her, she froze up and the goblin tackled her to the ground.

    The goblin then used the only weapon it had left and bit its sharp teeth into Lilia''s thigh.

    Luckily Lilia''s high stats rtive to her level made it so the goblin''s teeth did not cause too much damage. Though it did break her skin and caused a trickle of blood toe out, and the pain caused her to reflexively punch forward.

    When her gauntlet d fist hit the goblin''s head her strength stat that was closer to a level ten than her level three, caused the goblin to go flying as its head cracked open and it soon died.

    Lilia sat there crying for a few moments before Marcus walked up and used his tier one healing spell to close her wounds.

    Marcus then picked Lilia up and said, "I understand it is hard to kill, it took me a bit of time to get used to it myself, but it will often be you or them so next time do not hesitate."

    After a bit offort and encouragement Marcus continued to train Lilia on how to fight monsters and magical beasts so that she would be strong enough to protect herself in the future.

 Chapter 111 - 110 A New Family Name

    Soon two days had passed and if anyone saw Lilia now that had known her before, they would be able to tell that something had changed.

    Her normal more innocent expression was gone and the glint in her eyes seemed a bit dimmer.

    However, she now had an aura of strength and reliability around her that she did not previously have.

    In fact, in these two days Marcus had managed to get Lilia up to level eight from level three which was quite the tremendous increase for such a short amount of time.

    Unfortunately, Lilia had still not quite gotten the hang of circting her mana, but she had managed to increase her skill with her gauntlets as well as her experience in fighting.

    ''These past two days have certainly been rough on her, but the progress is undeniable. On the way to the royal capital I can have her finish up learning magic cirction, and then we can practice magic and enhancing her body and weapons.''

    With their time training in the woods over Marcus and Lilia mounted Blitz and headed back to River Landing.

    It was not long before they could see the familiar walls of River Landing and the huge mass of people trying to get inside.

    Seeing this Marcus realized that this was the first wave of people that were a part of the mass exodus that he had caused.

    ''Looks like they are finally starting to arrive, I guess we will pop in to receive my title and then get the hell out of here. River Landing was already over capacity from the refuges escaping from the north and now it is going to get even more cramped.''

    Seeing that the line was not getting any shorter Marcus had Blitz hurry up so he could enter the town as soon as possible.

    After waiting in line for over two hours Marcus was beginning to get nervous that he was going to bete since the time he was supposed to have his title awarded was only an hour away and the line had barely moved.

    ''Damn it, if I was on my own, I could just slip through the walls but with Lilia and Blitz I cannot do that. I suppose I could leave them here, but then I know something is going to go wrong.''

    While Marcus was trying to think up solutions to his current dilemma a guard who was doing rounds along the line to make sure that things stayed civil noticed him and said, "Miss Irene what are you doing here, I heard through the grapevine that you were getting your rewards for protecting the town today."

    Looking over Marcus saw one of the guards he had fought side by side with during the time he protected River Landing from the Ice ant invasion.

    An idea then popped into Marcus'' head and he said, "Yeah I am supposed to receive a title today, would you mind escorting me into the town, I am afraid I will bete if I continue to wait."

    Of course, the guard immediately agreed to help Marcus since they had fought hand in hand and Marcus had certainly saved his life.

    Marcus then followed the guard past the long line of people waiting to enter, many of them looking at Marcus and Lilia with envious and hateful res.

    Soon they reached the still broken front gate who''s repairs were having to be put on hold due to the mass influx of people, and Marcus and Lilia with the help of the guards that recognized them slipped back inside River Landing.

    They immediately made a beeline for the office of the Viceroy where he was going to be receiving his noble title form the kingdom of Borealia.

    Soon the two of them arrived and the two knights that were serving as guards readily let them in.

    They then followed a secretary to a changing room where both Marcus and Lilia changed into formal clothing.

    Marcus then took out a blue and white dress which were the colors of the kingdom and began putting on the dress.

    And unlikest time now that he had fully integrated with Irene''s memories Marcus had no trouble putting on the dress.

    Marcus and Lilia then did each other''s hair with Lilia putting Marcus'' up into a bun while Marcus braided Lilia''s into one long braid.

    When the two of them were ready to go they both exited the changing room and were escorted to the chamber where the viceroy would conduct the conferment and title transfer ceremony.

    When they entered therge hall where the ceremony was going to take ce, their escort took Lilia to an area where family members were sitting, and Marcus was lead to the front of the room where those receiving titles were awaiting the viceroy.

    Once Marcus was ced next to the other half a dozen other people who were also getting a title, he noticed a familiar magical device on top of a tform.

    Sitting there was the same device that they used to check someone''s status and print out identification.

    However, this one was muchrger than the ones that Marcus had seen in the guard stations when he had previously had IDs made.

    ''I wonder what this one does, hopefully it does not expose my status as a ghost since if that were the case, I am not sure I would be able to get both myself and Lilia out safely.''

    Marcus was starting to get a bit nervous, but the viceroy soon entered the chamber, and the entire room went quiet.

    Marcus then watched as everyone bowed towards the viceroy and following their lead Marcus did as well.

    Once the viceroy had taken his ce at the front of the hall, he gave everyone permission to raise their heads and Marcus got a good look at him.

    He was an old man that looked around seventy and in his hand was some type of scepter, except at the end of the scepter was something that looked really familiar to Marcus.

    He then realized what it was, at the end of the scepter was what appeared to be a small tablet.

    ''What the hell is something like that doing in this world, so far I have not seen anything that looks like modern technology but that is undoubtedly aputer tablet. So then, that must be what allows them to change people''s names.''

    "Good day to you brave youngdies and gentlemen, for your courageous and invaluable service to the kingdom each of you will be receiving a title as a show of appreciation from the kingdom. And for you young men and women who are inheriting your parent''s titles the kingdom looks forward to your continued service towards bettering thend and its people."

    The viceroy with his announcementpleted walked forward towards the first young man in line and ced the scepter over one shoulder and then the other.

    Then he pulled the scepter up towards his face and touched the screen of the tablet a couple of times before saying, "Rise, you are now the new head of the Drenstal family, Baron Havan Drenstal."

    As the new Baron stood up the viceroy hit his tablet one more time and a soft blue light covered the new baron.

    The ceremony continued as the viceroy conferred titles onto the next five people one of whom began crying since he was only receiving the title of knight because his father died during the ice ant incident.

    Then it was time for Marcus'' turn, and he kneeled down and allowed the viceroy to bring the scepter over each of his shoulders and when he was done the viceroy asked him, "And now what shall your family name be henceforth for your new house."

    Over thest few days Marcus had thought almost nothing of what name he was going to take he had been to busy dealing with other things like buying Blitz and training Lilia.

    Of course, he had quickly thought of a name before the ceremony since not having one was not an option.

    "From this day forward my family name shall be Geist."

    The Viceroy was slightly taken aback by the unusual name but simply shrugged it off and continued the ceremony.

    He then made a few strokes on the tablet and the blue light that had enveloped everyone else before also enveloping Marcus.

    The blue light left as quickly as it had arrived and that was when Marcus suddenly received a notification from the system.

    ''Title detected, unlocking title subsystem. A noble title has been detected; all stats increased by one percent.''

    Hearing this Marcus'' jaw nearly dropped, he had no idea that such a thing was going to happened when he received his title. He nearly opened his status to check on what had changed, but since he was thest one to receive a title the next part of the ceremony was beginning.

    "Rise, you are now the head of the Geist family, Baress Irene Geist."

    Marcus quickly stood up wanting to get the rest of this ceremony over so he could take a good long look at his status.

    Unfortunately, he had to wait until the end of the next part of the ceremony where each of the new nobles that had received a title got a new ID which was now instead of parchment made from a te of silver.

    When it was Marcus'' turn, he ced his hands upon the device and watched as his status appeared.

    Marcus immediately looked at his status making sure that it did not disy his race as ghost and to his relief it still had himbeled as human. And after he looked it over thoroughly, he noticed that both of his exalted blessing were also omitted from his status.

    ''Hm, I wonder why the information is notpletely urate, maybe it has to do with my personal status unique skill, or it could be a bug or something. Oh well no use looking a gift horse in the mouth."

    Marcus then took his new head of a noble house ID and walked back over to Lilia now that the ceremony had concluded.

 Chapter 112 - 111 Goodbye To River Landing

    With the title conferment ceremonypleted, Marcus immediately opened his status so as to get a better grasp of the new title subsystem he had just unlocked.

    ''Status.''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 28/19

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirit of Light and Darkness)

    Title: Baress

    Level: 30

    HP: 5450/5450

    MP: 2370/2370

    STR: 219 (+2)

    AGL: 218 (+13)

    VIT: 216 (+2)

    INT: 235 (+2)

    SPR: 324 (+3)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 12

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness

    Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 3, Fire Magic Lvl 2, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 2, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful sh Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 3, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 1, Trap Sensing Lvl 2, Dark Magic Lvl 2, Light Magic Lvl 2, Driving Lvl 2

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure

    After looking over his status and paying keen attention to the new title, Marcus had managed to find out that he could have up to one title per ten levels and each one could add certain bonuses depending on the type and rarity. Of course, Marcus also found out that titles were exceptionally difficult to acquire, hence why had not obtained one before.

    However, he was soon forced to stop his inquiry into his new title system as someone he recognized came up to talk to him.

    "Hello there Irene, how does it feel now that you are part of the kingdom''s nobility."

    Hearing the familiar voice, Marcus quickly put his status window away and saw standing in front of him was Grand Archmage Aria.

    Seeing her in front of him Marcus gave a quick bow before saying, "It is good to see you Grand Archmage Aria, and things feel a bit different, I feel like I have gotten a little stronger and when they were checking my status before making my new ID, I noticed that my stats had increased."

    Aria''s eyes'' immediately narrowed hearing this since it was actually a state secret that being given a noble title increased one''s stats.

    "Well, are you not the perceptive one, most people do not notice the slight change in their stats unless they just recently checked their status, might you perhaps have some special skill or item that allows you to see your status."

    Marcus could tell that Aria was fishing, he knew that other people from Earth had been in this kingdom in the past and it was not impossible that an old monster like Aria knew about transfers and reincarnates.

    "No, I just happened to have my status checked after fighting with the ice ants, it just so happened to be a coincidence."

    Aria then put on her best I do not believe you smile and said, "Well no matter, ah yes I came here today to personally give you the other rewards I promised."

    Aria then took out a pouch which housed three hundred gold coins as well as some documents and handed them over to Marcus.

    "There you go, in those documents you will find a list of schools in the capital and what they specialize in, and a letter of rmendation from me to the best forge master in the kingdom. You also have a document that will allow you to gain ownership of an estate within the royal capital, so when you arrive go to the office ofnd management and they will give you a list of avable estates. And as an added bonus I have given you a letter with my seal on it, should you wish to speak with me again send that along with your own letter of invitation and I will get back to you as soon as I can."

    After Aria had told Marcus all she wanted to, she began to leave before stopping abruptly and saying, "Ah yes I nearly forgot, make sure to have a coat of arms designed before the kingdom meeting at the beginning of summer next year. And the kingdom has its eyes on you, and everyone is expecting great things from our new rising star."

    With thosest slightly ominous words, Aria took her leave and Marcus went back to Lilia a bit shaken up.

    "Okay Lilia we only have one more thing to take care of and then we will be on our way to the capital. Thest thing we need to do is get a new ID made for you."

    Marcus then walked Lilia up to the magical device that disyed one''s status and printed out identification.

    Lilia ced her hands on the pedestal and her status was disyed.

    Name: Lilia Geist

    Age: 11

    Race: Human

    Level: 8

    HP: 570/570

    MP: 360/360

    STR: 49

    AGL: 57

    VIT: 41

    INT: 36

    SPR: 50

    Skills: Sewing, Lvl 2, Cleaning Lvl 2, Wood Working Lvl 2, Horticulture Lvl 1, Force Magic Lvl 1, Gauntlet Fighter, Superior Lvl 3, Pain Resistance Lvl 1, Piercing Resistance Lvl 1

    The person who was making Lilia''s ID stared at her status dumbfounded. Here was this little girl who was only elven years old and level eight who had stats that were closer to someone who was level fourteen.

    This was the first time this man had seen such a high status on someone so young and low level.

    Even noble prodigies would not have status this powerful at only level eight and age eleven.

    ''What the hell kind of monster is this girl, she even has a level three superior weapon skill. She must have some sort of incredibly powerful backing; most families would not invest the level of natural treasures necessary for these stat gains until level twenty at the earliest.''

    As the man who was supposed to be making Lilia''s new noble ID stood their gawking at her status it was not long before other people were attracted and took a peak.

    Many of them were astounded, Lilia''s status was more in line with a crown prince or princess than that of someone who had been amoner for their entire life, and soon a crowd had gathered around Lilia and were throwing questions at her.

    "Do you belong to some type of powerful organization?"

    "Are you maybe the illegitimate daughter of the king?"

    "Were you trained in istion by some powerful master along with your sister?"

    "Will you marry my son."

    Seeing this Marcus rushed to the recue and looked at the man who was supposed to be printing out Lilia''s new ID not turning her status into a show and gave him a menacing re.

    The man felt a chill run down his spine and he quickly stopped disying Lilia''s status and printed out her new gold-leafed high-quality parchment noble ID.

    With Lilia having her new ID Marcus grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her out of the room, hoping to evade anymore of the nobles invasive inquiries.

    However, as they were exiting the building and were rounding a corner both of them heard, "Are you not even going to say goodbye."

    Lilia and Marcus both turned their heads towards the voice, and there was Wade standing against a wall waiting for the two of them.

    Marcus let out a long sigh before going up to Wade and saying, "Actually I was nning on leaving without saying goodbye so that I could beat the traffic, but since you are here, I suppose, I can say goodbye and thank you for your help."

    "Your thanks is weed, and I will remember that you have such a deep gratitude towards me should I ever need your help in the future. And now for you miss Lilia a parting gift for the best house guest I have had in a while."

    Wade then handed a dark shadowy bracelet over to Lilia and said, "Should you ever find yourself in danger just press the symbol on that bracelet and you will be safe from most attacks for five minutes. Now make sure to not mess around with it since it will only work once."

    A bright smile emerged onto Lilia''s face as she excepted the bracelet and promptly put it on.

    Even Marcus who was still wary of Wade and his veiled hints at repaying him, cracked a small smile.

    "Now then I will bid the two of you ado, I have much work to be done. Ah, and Irene I hope that your endeavors in learning the art of forging may be fruitful for both you and the kingdom."

    With those final words Wade left Marcus and Lilia to their own devices once more.

    ''Okay time to get out of here before the town bes even more congested, we need to go pick up Blitz, then retrieve our carriage from the Lush Vi, and we can be on our way.''

    Marcus and Lilia exited the viceroy''s office and quickly found Blitz who wasying down in a stable and retrieved him.

    They then headed on over to the Lush Vi where they retrieved their carriage and checked out without issue.

    Marcus soon put on the harness that affixed Blitz to the carriage and made a beeline for the south side of River Landing.

    Soon they came up to one of the great bridges that connected the north and south sides of River Landing and after looking at the traffic on the three bridges went for the one that was nearly empty.

    Of course, they found that this one was empty because it was an incredibly expensive toll bridge but with his new status as a titled noble Marcus was able to sh his silver te ID and pass by without spending a single copper.

    ''This title is already starting to show it merit, I guess it was not such a bad thing after all.''

    The three of them swiftly made it across the bridge that spanned the entire Great Tortoise River and made it into the southern part of River Landing for the first time, and shortly arrived at the gate exiting to the south.

    After waiting in a short line for around five minutes Marcus, Lilia, and Blitz had exited the boundary of River Landing and were on their way to the kingdom''s capital.

 Chapter 113 - 112 Road To The Capital

    After exiting the town of River Landing Marcus and Lilia were heading southwest towards the kingdom''s capital.

    Marcus was currently handling the reins connected to Blitz, and Lilia was sitting next to him with a rough map of Borealia.

    This was one of the items Marcus had purchased for their journey across the kingdom and while it was not the most detailed map, it did have major cities andndmarks, and at least gave Marcus a general direction of where to go.

    Soon they came to a split in the road and after consulting the map for a few minutes Marcus decided to head to the left, which while would take a bit longer, circumvented passing through a mountain range which Marcus figured would be wrought with danger.

    ''We will be going through the Marquessate of Gralden and then the Dutchy of Scriven before making it to the territory of the royal family. Hm, judging by this map if we go at full speed and make minimal stops, we could probably arrive in a five days. Unfortunately, this carriage can only go so fast before it starts to rattle and bump like crazy and even as strong as Blitz is, he cannot go indefinitely. I would guess it will take us anywhere from nine days to two weeks.''

    Once Marcus had finished nning out the route they would take, he handed the map back to Lilia and told her to keep it handy.

    Lilia nodded her head and went right back to practicing, she was trying her best to circte the mana inside her so she could get the magic cirction skill.

    The three of them continued traveling for hours and it was not long before the sun began to set, the three of them having traveled for most of the day.

    During their time traveling they had passed plenty of other carriages and carts causing all of them to turn their heads when they saw Blitz rush by.

    Most of the carts and carriages were being pulled by horses or the asionalmon grade magical beast which at best could keep up a pace of about four to seven miles per hour.

    Blitz however, was moving at a pace of around twenty miles per hour which while for Earth would not be very fast was quite the speed on Mirrion.

    ''The sun is going to be gone soon, so where is a good ce to set up camp.''

    Marcus kept his eyes out, looking for a spot where to hunker down for the night, and he soon saw a patch of trees that were surrounding a small stream and thought that it would be a nice spot.

    Pulling off the side of the road Marcus found a nice t spot and parked the carriage before untying Blitz.

    Once Blitz was untethered from the carriage he immediately shot towards the stream where he began drinking water and then eating some of the grass.

    Lilia on the other hand got off the carriage and wobbled her way over to one of the trees andid against it since she had gotten a bit motion sick from the travel.

    ''I suppose we will need to take more breaks tomorrow; Lilia is fine for a couple hours but after fourteen hours of travel she is not doing too well.''

    Of course, Marcus was perfectly fine since being a ghost meant that unless his soul or mind were heavily damaged, he had no need to rest.

    Seeing that Lilia and Blitz were doing their own things at the moment Marcus quickly took out his tent and got it set up.

    When that was finished, he headed over to the stream and found that it was actually full of a number of fish.

    Seeing as how they had just had a long day of travel Marcus figured that some fresh fish might help to raise Lilia''s spirt.

    Marcus using this as a good opportunity to use the expensive rod he bought back in Loursend cast his line out and waited.

    However, after sitting there for twenty minutes Marcus got impatient and stored his fishing rod away and instead used his iron thread spell to ensnare the fish and pull them out of the water.

    ''Well, there was no sport in it, but I cannot argue with the effectiveness.''

    Within just under ten minutes Marcus had caught a dozen of the plumpest fish he could find and brought them back to Lilia.

    Now that she had had nearly an hour to rest Lilia was back to training since she felt she was really close to a breakthrough on achieving the magic cirction skill.

    Seeing her concentrating so hard Marcus did not have the heart to disturb her and went ahead and cut and gutted the fish himself.

    Once he had all twelve of them fillet, he pulled out a metal grill he had bought and put his floatingntern spell under the grill as a cooking fire.

    ''I know that this spell is actually intended to be used as a light source, but its use as a heat source for cooking has been a godsend for me. I do not know what I would do if I had to collect wood for a fire every time I wanted to cook something.''

    Marcus continued to grill up the fish fillets along with some vegetables using some spices like salt and pepper that he had bought in rivernding.

    It was not long before the food was ready, and Marcus called Lilia over for dinner.

    "I managed to catch some fresh fish from the stream nearby and we have an assortment of vegetables to eat. Make sure to get what you want and we have plenty of food so no need to hold back."

    Seeing and smelling the food Lilia''s mouth started to water a bit and she quickly through two of the fish fillets as well as a three of each vegetable onto her te and she began scarfing down her dinner.

    Following her example Marcus filled his te up and savored the taste of his own cooking.

    When they had finished eating Lilia offered to clean up the dishes since Marcus had cooked the meal and in all honesty with her cleaning skill, she could get it done much quicker.

    Once Lilia had finished cleaning up the dishes Marcus sent her to bed and stayed up on watch.

    During his watch to pass the time Marcus was creating a study n for Lilia since he intended to teach her how to read and write.

    ''If I want her to get into a good school, she is at least going to need to be able to read at a decent level, hopefully I can get her to recognize the alphabet and maybe read a few easy line from a children''s book by the time we make it to the royal capital.''

    Marcus continued toe up with different approaches to teaching Lilia when he saw a few dim lightsing down the road.

    Marcus wondered who it could be since without head lights it was quite dangerous to continue traveling at night when visibility was poor.

    Of course, this did not matter to Marcus because of his darkvision but not everyone could see perfectly in the dark.

    Marcus observed as the lights got closer, but they suddenly stopped when they were not far from Marcus'' camp.

    Getting a bit curious Marcus stored his materials into his item box and went back into his ghost form.

    He then sent a mentalmand to Blitz to watch over Lilia and floated on over towards the dim lights that had all gone out save for one.

    As he approached Marcus could see around a dozen men dressed in dark cloaks huddled together talking to each other in hushed tones.

    Marcus immediately got suspicious and floated right above the group of men and listened to their conversation.

    "The two of them should be asleep right now, it has been over three hours since thest light of their fire went out."

    "I think we should wait a bit longer, that magical beast looked strong and if it is still awake, we could be in trouble."

    "You idiot that is why we have the darts coated with the poison of the vergif smander, even the strongest of beast will fall into a deep sleep with one of these."

    "Are you sure we should be messing with them; their carriage is quite nice they could be nobles of the kingdom."

    "Are you daft, if they were nobles, they would at least have a guard or two."

    Marcus continued to watch the more than a dozen men bicker about ns of attack and what they were going to do with him and Lilia.

    Some of them wanted to kill them and take their riches, others said that they should sell both of them to ve traders since they would both fetch a high price, and the ones that really ticked Marcus off were the two that wanted to tie them up at their hideout and use them as "afort station."

    A big grin appeared on Marcus'' face as he thought of how he was going to kill these men who he considered to beplete and utter scum.

    Marcus waited until the men had finished discussing their strategy and when they were about to move out, he appeared behind them and said, "Well, that would have been a good n if I did not hear everything."

    All of the men immediately froze and turned around except nothing was there. Then one of the men convulsed briefly before stabbing his dagger into the nearest bandit.

    Everyone looked at him in disbelief, they had no idea where that voice hade from or why one of their allies was attacking them.

    Of course, by the time they had begun to retaliate, Marcus had already moved out from that man''s body and into another one.

    He then repeated this process until they were all fighting each other and soon there was only one bandit left standing, and to Marcus'' surprise it was one of the ones that made thement about tying him and Lilia up.

    The man was haggard and injured and as he limped away Marcus appeared in front of him and said, "You know if you had not made thatment about me and my little sister, I would have just killed you all painlessly."

    Seeing Marcus suddenly appear in front of him the bandit''s face twisted in fear. He had heard of horror stories of monsters possessing people and using them as puppets, but to see it in person was truly terrifying.

    He then tried to run away but soon found that his body was immobilized, and in the starlight, he could see the faint shimmer of threads attached to his limbs.

    His body then involuntarily moved towards Marcus like a marite doll, and he was quickly right in front of Marcus who was seething with anger.

    "So, you want to, and I quote "Tie them up and pound them until they squeal like pigs." So, let me ask you, how does it feel to be tied up andpletely helpless. Do you think that people would actually enjoy this? Here how about you try to squeal for me and if you do a good enough job maybe I will let you go."

    The man in absolute terror tried to do his best impression of a pig squealing hoping that by some miracle he might get out of this alive.

    However, Marcus never had any intention of letting him live, and after a few seconds he said, "Enough, I would only give that an eight out of ten which is not nearly enough for you to live. Although maybe you can use this as a learning experience and not be such scum in you next life."

    Marcus then tighten one of his iron threads around the man''s throat until it dug into his flesh and then slowly sliced through his throat until it decapitated his head.

    With his eradication of the bandits that threatened him and Liliaplete, Marcus used his spectral arm to gather up all the bodies and then set them aze.

 Chapter 114 - 113 What Goes Bump In The Night

    Once Marcus had finished burning all of the bandits that nned to attack him and Lilia, he began taking inventory of the valuables he had taken off of them.

    ''Forty-seven silver, five gold, and six hundred thirty-four copper. Not very much money but what can you expect from a bunch of idiots who were all under level fifteen. I managed to get a number of weapons most of which are just cheap iron but their were a couple of quality steel pieces among them. If I find the right shop, I can probably get somewhere between ten and fifteen gold. They also had half a dozen darts coated in the poison of the vergif smander which I guess is potent, but it is not like it would work on me anyway. And finally, they had a couple of healing salves, and two low grade antidote.''

    With his inventory of the bandits valuable items done, Marcus stored the items and made sure to catalog them in a little booklet, so he did not forgetter that they were in his item box.

    Now that he had taken care of what he need to in regard to the bandits, Marcus floated back over to the tent and told Blitz to go back to sleep and continued his nights watch.

    When morning came Marcus let Lilia sleep in since she was quite tired after yesterday''s long travel and instead practiced with Blitz.

    He wanted to get a better understanding of Blitz''s abilities and see if they could pull of anybo''s using lightning.

    Unfortunately, when Marcus triedbining his lightning magic with Blitz''s innate lightning abilities the two would fight for dominance instead of merging together like he wanted.

    He did, however, have some mild sess withbining his iron magic with Blitz''s lightning, by having Blitz keep a continuous current on his iron sphere or golem.

    However, the practicality of such attacks was kind of low because it took most of Blitz''s concentration to keep infusing Marcus'' iron magic with electricity.

    Marcus continued his training with Blitz for about another hour, trying to figure out how to fight while mounted on his back.

    After practicing a few moves with mountedbat Marcus saw that Lilia was rousing and decide to end his training and go over and see how she was doing.

    "Lilia, how did you sleep, are you feeling better today."

    Yawning widely Lilia rubbed one of her eyes and said, "I slept pretty good, but at one point I woke up when I heard a bunch of people screaming. Do you know what happened?"

    With a slightly ufortable face Marcus told Lilia that he had dealt with some banditsst night but made sure to leave out the gory and unsettling details of the encounter.

    As big smile creeped onto her face and Lilia gave Marcus a hug and said, "Thank you for keeping me safe I really do not know what I would do without you."

    Marcus while returning the hug said to Lilia, "I just did what any big sibling should do, you have already been through a lot so my goal is to make sure you have a happy life from now on where you can do as you wish."

    The two of them then separated from each other''s embrace and went to work putting up camp.

    They swiftly brought down the tent and Marcus stored it back in his item box before taking out a pot of porridge and quickly heating it up for breakfast.

    Once the two of them had eaten Marcus called Blitz over and attached the harness back to him and the three of them got underway again heading towards the kingdom''s capital.

    Now that it was their second day of travel Marcus was starting to get the ropes of what to do.

    He made sure to take more breaks for Lilia and Blitz to rest, and during their breaks he would teach Lilia how to read.

    It did not take long for her to be able to recognize all of the letters of the alphabet and by the time they had finished their fourth break she could recite them all with nearly a hundred percent uracy.

    ''Wow, she managed to get the alphabet down pretty easily even though she just started today. I know she is not a toddler, so her mind is more developed, but this is still quite fast. I suppose it might have to do with the system, since her intelligence stat is fairly high for her age and level. I know that as I have leveled up and my intelligence stat has increased, I have been able to remember and sort information better than before."

    While Marcus pondered how the system effected one''s ability to learn, Lilia had already moved on to writing practice, writing the symbols that make up the alphabet in the kingdom of Borealia.

    Soon their hour and a half break was over and Marcus'' group of one monster, one beast, and one human moved out continuing their journey.

    Things continued pretty routinely as they traveled, they would go for around three hours then rest for an hour and a half and Marcus would teach Lilia during this time. The day quickly passed this way and just as sunset was upon the kingdom of Borealia, Marcus spotted a small town thaty at the edge of a valley that was in their path.

    ''I was nning to stop soon but that town is only a little ways away, I am sure Lilia would like to sleep in an actual bed tonight so maybe we should just push on into the town and find an inn.''

    Marcus passed this idea by Lilia and she readily agreed since while the tent wasfortable nothing could really beat and actual bed, and Lilia knew that if they stayed in an inn Marcus would not have to stay up all night on watch.

    With Lilia''s confirmation Marcus urged Blitz to continue on and the three of them sped forward heading towards the town.

    Unfortunately, even with Blitz''s speed they were unable to beat the night which had already descended by the time they had arrived.

    ''Damn, if the day had onlysted fifteen more minutes, we would have made it before thest light. Oh well, hopefully we can still get a room at the inn, well if there is an inn.''

    They soon were in front of the town gate which was connected to a six-foot-tall wooden fence that spanned the perimeter of the town.

    However, Marcus was a bit unsettled when they got to the gate and it was wide open, but there was not a guard in sight.

    Marcus wondered if the night guard waste for his shift, or if the town just felt so safe that it did not worry about leaving its gate open and unguarded.

    With a slight bit of trepidation Marcus urged Blitz inside, and while Marcus did not realize it at first because of his darkvision, Lilia quickly said, "There are no lights on anywhere."

    After hearing Lilia''sment Marcus took a good look around and found that she was right, there was not a single light to be had in the entire town.

    ''This is strange, even if the people here go to bed early, there should at least be a couple of light sources here and there for a town this size.''

    Seeing as how there was no light and Marcus could feel that Lilia was beginning to get a bit scared, Marcus lit up the area with his floatingntern spell lighting up a diameter of about sixty feet around them.

    Now that they had some illumination, they continued deeper into the town looking for an inn and along the way Marcus'' sense of apprehension increased because he had noticed that their was not a single person on the streets not even a night guard.

    Marcus was nearly beginning to think that they had walked into a ghost town, so he told Lilia to wait for a moment while he checked something out.

    He quickly found an isted area where if anyone had been watching him, they would be unable to see him, and he turned ethereal and invisible.

    He then floated into the nearest building and looked to see if anyone was inside and to his relief, he did find a young man and woman who were huddled in their bed.

    He checked to make sure they were alive and after he saw that they were both breathing he exited the building and went back to Lilia.

    He told her what he had found, and they went on with their search for an inn now that they were certain that this town was not abandoned.

    After another twenty minutes of searching through the town Marcus finally spotted the sign of an inn and pulled the carriage up to the building.

    However, when he went to open the door, he found it was locked. Marcus thought this was a bit strange so he instead tried knocking on the door hoping that the inn keeper woulde.

    Unfortunately, even after knocking multiple time and waiting for ten minutes no one came to the door.

    Marcus was about to enter the building by way of his ghostly powers when he saw something move out of the periphery of his left eye.

    Except when he focused his attention over to the area he saw the movement, nothing was there.

    ''Okay we are leaving; this ce is starting to give me the creeps.''

    With his mind made up Marcus began heading back to the carriage but before he was able to get back onto the drivers seat, he saw another flicker of movement and not long after a man in a dark ck suit walked into the light.

    "Hello there travelers, you are out quitete. I noticed you trying to get into the inn but, unfortunately everything has already closed down for the day. However, I am the owner of a tradingpany and I haverge house in town, if you would like a ce to stay for the night, I would be more than willing to show my hospitality."

    As soon as the man finished speaking Marcus felt what was like a small prick inside his head, like a needled had tried to inject something but failed to piece his skin.

    However, in a trance like motion Lilia grabbed Blitz''s reins and said, "Okay, that would be lovely."

    Seeing this Marcus gave Blitz a mentalmand not to move and make sure to keep Lilia safe.

    Lilia continued to shake Blitz''s reins to no effect, and when she realized the carriage was not moving, she slid off the driver''s seat and started walking forward.

    At that point Blitz grabbed her shirt with his mouth and lifted her into the air so she could no longer move.

    Marcus seeing this red at the man and said, "Who are you and what did you do to Lilia."

    The man in the ck suit looked genuinely surprised when Marcus talked back to him not expecting him to have been able to put up any resistance.

    "My you seem to have an especially strong will, not many level thirties would be able to fully resist my mesmer and suggestion. I suppose I will have to ask nicely then; would you apany me to my mansion, I have not eaten yet and you smell absolutely wonderful?"

    Marcus then saw the man''s face go into a wide grin revealing two elongated teeth the ssic indication of a vampire.

 Chapter 115 - 114 Ghost Vs Vampire

    Once he saw the sharp white teeth protruding out from the man in the man in the ck suit''s mouth, Marcus immediately knew he was a vampire and brought his guard up to the max. He then quickly checked his level and found that this vampire was at level thirty-four making him four levels higher than Marcus and the same level as Wade.

    ''Damn this guy is real trouble, I am not certain about the abilities of vampires in this world, and while I will probably be fine there is a possibility of him killing Lilia or Blitz.''

    After taking a quick moment to think of the possible ways he could get out this situation Marcus said, "You Vampire, I do not want any trouble, but I have no intent of letting you kill me or my sister. If you let us leave this town, we will not cause you any trouble and we can both get out of this unscathed."

    The vampire seeing Marcus'' wariness towards him simply continued to smile and said, "There is no need to be so hostile. I am simply offering my hospitality for a night, how about it, I promise not to drain you or your sister dry. In fact, for someone as powerful and beautiful as you I would even be willing to make you my bloodkin. How about it, you would gain even greater strength and an immortal body, it is a good deal don''t you think."

    The vampire continued to stand there smiling, trying to look as charismatic as possible. He was very interested in Marcus because he had never smelt a scent quite so alluring, and it was quite rare for anyone to resist his mind controlling powers.

    Marcus continued to watch the man and could tell that he had no intention of letting him go without Marcus giving into his demands or through a show of strength.

    "Are you sure you want to do this; do you think you can win against me and a rare grade magic beast just because you are a few levels higher. I have already fought and beaten monsters stronger than you before, if I have to, I will go through you, so stand aside."

    Marcus continued to stare down this vampire hoping that his intimidation would work and he could get the hell out of here without a confrontation, since he had no idea what tricks this vampire might have up his sleeves.

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' hopes were dashed as the vampire chuckled lightly before saying, "Yes even I might have a bit of difficulty handling the two of you, if I was alone."

    He then snapped his fingers and out from the darkness over thirty gray skinned people with skin that was tight around their muscles and bones and had sunken glowing red eyes appeared.

    They quickly surrounded Marcus, Lilia, and Blitz making sure that they had no route of escape.

    Seeing that they were now outnumbered Marcus scanned the new vampire spawn finding that they were mostly in the single digits level wise but a few of them were in the upper teens one even being level neen.

    Once he had ascertained the strength of his new enemies Marcus tried to test the waters by applying his phantom pressure to one of the low-level vampire spawn, but found it had no effect.

    ''Soulless and mindless just like I suspected, without a soul to attack my phantom pressure is useless. There are quite a lot of them and if I am not careful Lilia or Blitz could get hurt.''

    While Marcus was analyzing the situation and thinking of ways to deal with his current predicament the vampire was beginning to grow impatient and said, "Have you had enough time to think about you position. I rmend that youe with me willingly, it would be shame if your little sister got hurt if you were to struggle. I promise you that bing my bloodkin is quite the honor, you will be my queen of the night and we can rule over this worthless town until we be bored of it and move onto greater things. Or if you are not going toe with me willingly, I can drag you kicking and screaming, and I am sure you wille around to my way of thinking after the ceremony."

    During the vampire''s entire pitch Marcus had been using his mind on overdrive thinking about different ways tobat these vampires.

    However, once the vampire finished his speech Marcus knew he did not have much time so he responded trying to buy just a little more time so he could finish ironing out his n.

    "You talk about bing your bloodkin like it is the best thing in the world, but it appeared that it would just turn me into a soulless mindless puppet why would I ever want that."

    The vampire hearing Marcus'' statement shook his head before saying, "No these things are as you said, "mindless puppets" they are just what is left when I have finished draining the blood and soul form a person. But do not worry what I will be doing for you is sharing my blood and soul and turning you into a true vampire like myself. So, your answer, will youe willingly or am I going to have to restrain you first."

    Marcus put a finger on his chin like he was seriously contemting the offer, all the while he was putting the finishing touch on his n.

    After just a few moments Marcus had finalized what he wanted to do and took a certain item out of his item box and chunked it towards the vampire.

    The vampire quickly keyed in on the item flying towards him and when he saw what it was, he caught it with his hand and beganughing out loud.

    "Bahahaha, I do not know where you heard the old folktale that vampires are weak to garlic, but if you were hoping that this was going to be your saving grace you are sadly mistaken."

    He then took the clove of garlic and ate it to show how ineffective what he thought Marcus''st hope was.

    However, as he was eating the clove of garlic, he suddenly felt Marcus'' presence disappearpletely, and when he looked back at where Marcus had been, he was gone.

    The vampire smirked seeing Marcus disappear since while invisibly effects were quite powerful against most enemies, against a vampire, they were merely a slight annoyance.

    He began sniffing into the air trying to pinpoint Marcus'' location but quickly realized that their was not a sliver of the delicious smelling fragrance Marcus had been emitting.

    The vampire scoffed since his sense of smell had failed him and his eyes then began to glow allowing him to see heat sources.

    However, even this did not reveal Marcus'' location and while he looked around franticly Marcus made his move.

    Marcus had moved right next to the vampire and jumped into him to try and possess him.

    Once Marcus had jumped into his body, he began a power struggle between their two souls.

    The two of them fought each other hard but in the end even though Marcus was a lower level his incredibly high spirt stat still gave him the advantage and it was only a matter of time before he won the battle.

    However, as he was about to im victory Marcus felt another presence and the visage of a beautiful girl with pitch ck hair and eyes appeared in front of him and Marcus felt and immense pressure.

    The pressure quickly pushed him out of the vampires body shunting him back into open space and causing him a bit of damage from the failed possession.

    At the same time the vampire was coughing violently and even started throwing up.

    ''Owowowow, damn it is been so long since I failed a possession, I forgot how much it hurts. But what was that thing, where did that girle from and how did she kick me out.''

    After being forced out of the vampire''s body Marcus switched to n B and resolidified before charging at the vampire who was still reeling from the failed possession.

    Unfortunately, before he could reach his target the vampire spawn locked onto him and moved to intercept.

    The closest one tried to jump on him, but Marcus was ready and cast his shield of light spell creating a shimmering circr barrier.

    The vampire spawn then crashed violently into the shield of light and immediately began smoking before catching on fire.

    It then fell to the ground and began rolling around while screaming a high-pitched scream full of pain.

    The other vampire spawn seeing the glowing shield around Marcus immediately stopped their charge bing incredibly wary since they could instinctually feel how dangerous the shield Marcus had conjured was.

    ''Well, at least they are still weak to sunlight and light magic. Nevertheless, this is still going to be difficult, my shield of light is not meant to be used offensively and there are a lot of them.''

    While Marcus had been dealing with the vampire spawn the vampire in the ck suit had managed to recover from the bacsh of Marcus trying to possess him, and red at Marcus with raging fury and said, "You are not human what are you, and how dare you try to control me, one of the bloodkin of Empress Draayer.. I am going to rip you limb from limb and drain you till there is nothing left."

 Chapter 116 - 115 Ghost Vs Vampire (2)

    Marcus and the vampire stared each other down, waiting to see who would make the first move.

    Normally the vampire would have already attacked with wild abandon since he was absolutely livid right now from Marcus'' attempted possession but seeing the shield of light Marcus had conjured kept him from charging in blindly.

    Of course, against someone who wielded his greatest weakness, light magic, how could he just charge in without gaging Marcus'' abilities.

    However, seeing that their stare down was noting to an end anytime soon, the vampire ordered his spawn to attack, and even though they instinctually feared the shield of light Marcus had, they could not deny their master''smand.

    Over two dozen of the vampire spawn came rushing towards him, while the other eight went to attack Lilia and Blitz.

    ''Damn, this is not good.''

    ''methrower.''

    As Marcus saw the many vampire spawning for himself and the other others going for hispanions, he used for the first time inbat his recently learned tier two fire spell methrower.

    A jet of me burst forth from Marcus'' left hand as he ran the mes down in an arc engulfing a number of the vampire spawning for him.

    His attack managed to incinerate around a dozen of the weaker vampire spawn, but he was being attacked from all sides and there were a few that came out of his mes still barreling towards him while on fire.

    However, before any of them reached him, he turned invisible and ethereal and began making his way over towards Blitz and Lilia.

    The vampire spawn immediately looked to find their target, but it was as if Marcus had never been there to begin with.

    Marcus having left his pursuers behind and confused quickly made it to where Blitz was fighting some of the vampire spawn.

    Blitz was doing a decent job of holding off the spawn but with Lilia in his mouth he was unable to use his lightning abilities to his fullest, and he also had to take care to not move to abruptly and drop her.

    Luckily for Blitz Marcus appeared next to him and immediately cast his tier four iron magic spell and summoned an iron golem which began smashing and punting the vampire spawn.

    ''Okay now Lilia should be safe with Blitz and my iron golem protecting her.''

    Now that he had done what he could to ensure Lilia''s safety Marcus turned around and faced down the remaining vampire spawn that wereing for him now that he had reappeared.

    Marcus then activated his mana body skill and cast his lightning strider spell before charging right for the center of the horde of vampire spawn.

    ''Shining Lance.''

    As Marcus thought the name of his tier two light spell a nine-foot-longnce madepletely out of dazzling light appeared in his hands and impaled the nearest vampire spawn with no resistance.

    As the shiningnce pierced through the vampire spawn its body burst into mes and quickly dissolvedpletely into ashes.

    Marcus then swung hisnce around with fluid motions shing and piercing a vampire spawn with ever attack, each one bursting into mes and turning into ash.

    However, the vampire in the ck suit was not just going to sit back and let Marcus decimate his forces and now that he had forced Marcus to reveal his abilities he went into action.

    Once Marcus had destroyed his sixth spawn, he took his right hand and sliced open his left wrist with his sharp fingernails.

    Except instead of the blood flowing down his wrist and onto the ground, it began floating in the air and formed into the shape of chakram with protruding des and a diameter of around three feet.

    The vampire then sent it towards Marcus having it spin around like a buzz saw.

    Marcus having kept one eye on the vampire who was the greatest threat, saw the blood magic spelling towards him and quickly brought forth his iron sphere and had it rotate around him.

    When the chakram of blood the vampire had shot towards him tried to slice him in half, Marcus used his iron sphere to intercept it and the two powerful magic spells shed, sparks flying, before each one was pushed back and continued smashing into each other fighting for dominance.

    At the same time Marcus was dancing across the battlefield swinging his shiningnce around with grace and power mowing through the vampire spawn.

    The vampire in the ck suit seeing that he was down to just four vampire spawn remaining clicked his tongue in annoyance and sliced open both of his wrists.

    Blood began to burst forward from his cut wrists and began forming into stakes, from a few dozen until there were over a hundred, and right as Marcus finished off hisst spawn, he shot the more than a hundred blood stakes right for Marcus.

    Marcus seeing the barrage of blood stakes wanted to turn ethereal and have them pass through him harmlessly, but Lilia and Blitz were right behind them, so dodging was out of the question.

    ''Wall of Darkness''

    Marcus brought both of his hands together and a massive sphere of darkness appeared before he pulled his hands apart and a twenty foot long and ten-foot-tall wall of darkness stood in front of him.

    He then jumped back a dozen feet as his wall of darkness took the impact of the first blood stake and trembled before dozen mores smashed into it and tore it apart.

    Many of the stakes then began continuing forward having destroyed Marcus'' wall of darkness.

    However, Marcus had expected this since his wall of darkness was only a tier two spell and judging by the power of the blood spell the vampire had cast it was at least tier four.

    He then raised his right foot all the way above his head and sent an enormous amount of his mana into his boot before mming it down.

    ''Tidal Stomp.''

    As Marcus'' foot crashed into the ground creating a small crater, a twenty-five-foot-tall wave of water burst forth form his boot rushing forward.

    The wave and blood stakes quickly met and the stakes that passed through the wave lost most of their cohesiveness and began falling apart, losing the majority of their power.

    The wave then broke apart and the rushing water went speeding toward the vampire ready to wash him away.

    Gnashing his teeth, the vampire in the ck suit jumped into the air and onto one of the nearby buildings and waited for the wave to pass by.

    Once the wave had dissipated the vampire jumped down and red at Marcus and said, "You, what the hell are you, how do you have both dark and light magic that should be impossible, and you are far to strong to only be level thirty."

    Marcus smiled at the vampire seeing how he was bing frantic as the battle was beginning to turn against him and said, "I am just a humble ghost with a few tricks up my sleeve, and it looks like I had no reason to be wary of you since you are much weaker than I thought."

    The vampire hearing this began growling in anger, how could a lowly ghost stand up to a vampire one of the supreme undead races. And calling him weak when his abilities were recognized by his empress, enough that she had even made him one of her bloodkin.

    "Very well you want to see my power, I will show you what the difference between the two of us is."

    He then reached into one of the pockets on his suit and pulled out a glowing crimson orb and crushed it, casting the tier five spell sealed within it.

    A torrent of blood crushed out of the shattered red orb and began coiling around the vampire in the ck suit quickly forming into a menacing armor.

    Seeing that he had used one of his trump cards Marcus had no intention of allowing the vampire to enchant himself without putting up any resistance and switch the grip on his shiningnce and threw it forward.

    The shiningnce shot forward like a missile going directly for the vampire, but as it was about to pierce through him, the vampire in the ck suit pulled out a wicked pitch-ck sword and shed through the shiningnce.

    Marcus stared seriously at the pitch-ck sword that had deflected his shiningnce and could immediately sense the power of darkness it held.

    ''That thing is trouble, its level of strength is even above Mrazivy''s sword, and I can tell it is enchanted with darkness magic.''

    Unfortunately, as Marcus analyzed the properties of the vampire''s sword, his tier five spell sanguine armor had finished forming. Marcus could see that the armor had covered the vampire from head to toe and his hands now had sharp ws, his helm had two protruding horns, and he had a pair of red bat wingsing out of the back.

    "To think I would have to use both of the gifts my empress graced upon me on a mere level thirty. But after the insult you have afflicted not only me but my empress, I cannot let you live no matter what it takes."

    Marcus then saw as the vampire disappeared from his sight momentarily and he felt and immense sense of dangering from his right side, and when he looked over his saw a pitch-ck sword inches from his eyes.

    His reflexes kicking into overdrive Marcus activated his speed burst and jumped back as the de instead of taking his head off, shed deeply into the right side of his cheek.

    After moving away two dozen feet Marcus immediately felt the corroding effects of the darkness enchantment where the sword had cut his cheek and looked towards the vampire who had nearly taken his head off.

    "I am surprised, I never expected you to dodge that, but just give me a few more swings and I will get used to my new speed and power."

    The vampire then seemed to disappear once again, but this time Marcus got track of him much quicker and mumbled under his breath.

    "Embodiment of Light."

 Chapter 117 - 116 Death Of The Undying

    As Marcus mumbled the name of his unique skill, a burst of light surrounded him and covered his entire body.

    Then as the vampire was mid swing aiming to slice through his right shoulder, Marcus with incredible speed brought up right hand and cast his shield of light spell.

    The glowing circr shield appeared in front of his hand and blocked the deadly ck sword the vampire was wielding, but only for a moment before the powerfully enchanted sword broke through the shield.

    However, that moment had been enough time for Marcus to twist his body out of the way allowing the sword to pass harmlessly by him.

    He then cast his tier two light spell shiningnce and a new nine-footnce of shimmering light appeared in his left hand.

    Marcus jabbed thence directly for the vampire who was still stunned to see Marcus'' sudden increase in speed but feeling the threatening power of Marcus'' magic quickly got ahold of himself, and used the wings created by his sanguine armor spell to change his moment of shot up and to the right trying to avoid the shinningnce.

    Unfortunately for him, Marcus'' increase in speed from his embodiment of light was vast and the shinningnce managed to connect against his left side and even through his magical armor thence cause a deep wound.

    After hisnce had sliced through the side of the vampire Marcus watched him fly into the air while his side was slightly smoking.

    Seeing the vampire had retreated into the air Marcus smirked at him in a beckoning manner mocking the vampire for retreating.

    The vampire seeing this expression on Marcus'' face began to boil in anger, he was using all of his power even the gifts given to him by his empress, and he was still injured.

    Marcus then watched as the vampire raised his sword in the air and it began to shake violently as an aura of darkness starteding out of it.

    Once the darkness had grown to over four times the original length of the sword the vampire shed it down and st of darkness came directly for Marcus.

    However, as powerful as the sh of darknessing for him was, it made no difference to Marcus if it did not hit, as he simply used his ghost abilities to turn ethereal and let the darkness pass through him harmlessly.

    Unfortunately, the building behind him did not fair to well as the darkness impacted into it and caused arge explosion that brought the entire building down along with its upants.

    Marcus looked back at the building that had be coteral damage in his fight versus the vampire and felt a bit sad, especially since he had been doing his best to avoid buildings during the fight, but now that it had escted, he no longer had the luxury to worry about others.

    The vampire looked around the area he had just unleashed his attack looking for Marcus or what he assumed would be left of him.

    ''Where is she, did Ipletely destroy her. No, she must have used her disappearing act again. Fine if she does not want to fight me head on, I know how to weed her out.''

    The vampire noticing Marcus had seemed to disappear cast his gaze to over where Lilia and Blitz where and started to move in that direction.

    Marcus seeing where the vampire was heading immediately resolidified and cast his lightning javelin spell sending it right for the vampire''s head.

    Unfortunately, as fast as the spell was itcked power and with one swipe of his hand the vampire swatted the lightning javelin away with his left hand.

    "So now you show yourself do notˇ­ who the hell are you."

    The vampire seeing apletely unfamiliar person standing right under him began franticly looking around for the young girl he had just been fighting who seemed to be reced by a young man instead.

    Marcus seeing the vampire''s reaction smirked since the little trick he had pulled had its intended affect.

    "You asked who I am, I am just a friend of the girl you have been fighting, she asked me for some help so here I am, now you will be fighting the two of us."

    Of course, this was an absolute bluff by Marcus, he had simply switched his form over from Irene in order to cause the vampire to be wary of a sneak attacking at any time from an invisible girl.

    With his little trick working quite well as the vampire was constantly looking around to make sure he was not subject of a sneak attack Marcus began his attack.

    ''Embodiment of Darkness''

    Activating his other unique skill after having turned off his embodiment of light in order to keep up the fa?ade that he and Irene are two different people. Marcus then cast a heightened darkness bullet and further charged it with a massive amount of power from his unique skill, and fired the bullet towards the vampire.

    The darkness bullet sped forward at an amazing speed catching the vampire by surprise and causing him bring his sword forward to defend.

    "BOOM."

    Arge explosion of darkness energy exploded from the sh between Marcus'' overcharged darkness bullet and the ck sword of the vampire.

    However, Marcus was already on the move having used his spectral hand as a steppingstone to jump into the air and get closer to the vampire who was still reeling from the tier one spell, he thought would be easy to block.

    The vampire sensing Marcus'' approach wildly shed from his pitch-ck sword that sent des of darkness flying in Marcus'' general direction.

    s, as strong as each of the attacks were, they had not been aimed very well and Marcus easily dodged them and got within just a few feet where he cast his tier two iron magic spell, iron threads and attached the to the limbs of the vampire.

    Marcus then began falling to the ground and yanked with all of his strength pulling the vampire down along with him.

    Of course, the vampire was not willing to let Marcus drag him down to the ground without a fight and began shing at the iron threads cutting through a few of them before three rings of lightning surround him, sealed his movement, and began electrocuting him.

    The two of them then impacted into the ground Marcusnding on his feet while the vampire crashed into the ground iling around trying to break the magic that bound him.

    "AHHHHH"

    The vampire let out a vicious scream as he activated the full power of his armor and a glowing red aura burst forth from his body and destroyed the two spells Marcus was using to bind him.

    However, when the dust had cleared, in front of him was a huge mass of electricity in the form of a bird flying towards him.

    With the powerful tier four spell only a few feet away from him the vampire brought his sword forward and shed with all of his remaining power.

    As his sword shed with Marcus'' spell, the darkness enchantment in the sword began draining the vampire of his remaining mana and vitality, and an overwhelming force of darkness drove Marcus'' thunderbird strike back and caused a colossal explosion of darkness and lightning.

    The force of the explosion between the two attacks was so great that the vampire was blown away crashing into arge building and through multiple walls beforeing out the other side and skidding across the ground, onlying to a stop when he crashed into another building.

    Marcus seeing that the huge explosion had incapacitated the vampire made his move and resolidified right over the vampire, ced his foot on the vampires right arm which was gripping the sword, and activated his embodiment of light.

    The vampire who was nearly spent felt a searing pain in his arm where Marcus'' foot was as his embodiment of light began burning away the vampire.

    The vampire in ast ditched effort to fight back, stabbed his wed left hand into Marcus'' thigh, but while he did stab deeply into Marcus'' thigh the light enhancing Marcus'' body burned away the vampire''s hand almost immediately leaving it as only a stump.

    Wincing in pain as the gray mist that takes the ce of his blood began leaking out Marcus said, "It was a good fight, but you lose."

    He then cast his tier two shinningnce spell and jammed it deeply into the chest of the vampire causing its body to begin burning and turn to ash.

    As the vampire was dying turning into nothing but a pile of ash he red at Marcus with loathing and said, "The court of Draayer will never allow you to get away with this. They will hunt you down and kill you and everyone you know if you are lucky. Enjoy this victory while you can, your lifˇ­"

    Marcus stomped his light d foot into the vampire''s mouth causing hisst threat to end short as his head turned to ash along with the rest of his body, leaving Marcus as the victor in the fight between ghost and vampire.

 Chapter 118 - 117 A Town Freed

    After he finished off the vampire that had ambushed him and wanted to convert and then kill him, Marcus copsed onto the ground unable to make even the slightest movement.

    He had used up all of his mana and stamina by casting nearly every spell at his disposal during the fight and the fact that he had chained his two embodiment unique skills one after the other.

    ''Augh, next time I am not going to switch my embodiment skills, using them one after another takes too much out of me.''

    Having exhausted himself from overexerting both his mana and stamina Marcus simplyid on the ground trying to recover as fast as he could when he saw Blitzing over towards him with Lilia riding on the carriage.

    Seeing that both of them were okay a smile creeped onto Marcus'' face since he had been a bit worried that one of them could have gotten injured.

    Getting off the carriage Lilia ran up to Marcus and said, "Marcus, are you okay, why are you justying there and is the battle over."

    Marcus could see that Lilia was moving her head around looking to make sure that the threat was really over, and Marcus could not help chuckling a little seeing her reaction.

    "Yeah, I managed to win but it was a hard fight. What happened on your side are all the spawn dead?"

    Marcus saw that after he asked if the vampire spawn had died a sour expression appeared on Lilia''s face and she said, "They are not dead, no matter what Blitz or you golem did they would not die, but they have all been beaten down and are unable to move. Your golem is currently watching over them and continues to stomp on them when they try to get back up."

    Marcus nodded his head slightly, understanding that this was what truly made vampires dangerous, and that was their inability to be killed by most methods. You could hack them to pieces, but they would eventually pull themselves back together, you had to put them down permanently by burning them with fire or exposing them to light magic or sunlight.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was the only one of the three of them with the ability to use fire magic or light magic, but he was currently too exhausted to stand let alone use magic.

    ''My golem should continue to keep them immobilized for a few more minutes until it runs out of the mana I gave it, but after that they will slowly put themselves back together.''

    Sighting Marcus took out a mana recover potion he had received from the necromancer he killed in Loursend and looked at Lilia and said, "Lilia could you open this bottle and force the contents down my throat, I would do it myself, but I currently can barely move."

    Hearing Marcus request Lilia quickly grabbed the bottle. pulled the cork off, leaned Marcus'' head back. and poured the mana recover potion into his mouth.

    Drinking the potion Marcus could feel that his empty mana reserves began to fill up a bit and the exhaustion that was being caused by hisck of mana began to wane slightly.

    However, his stamina was still at an all time low, but now that he had refilled his mana slightly Marcus reverted to his ghost form since he did not need to use any physical albites and could move around simply using his spiritual powers.

    ''Now then I can float over and deal with those remaining spawn, if I have my iron golem round them up and put them in a pile, I should be able to burn them all with a single fire shot.''

    With his next n of action figured out Marcus began floating over to where his iron golem was currently smashing vampire spawn, and he sent a mental message to Blitz to head back over to his iron golem along with Lilia.

    It was not long until Marcus could see his iron golem moving around stomping on the vampire spawn that were slowly regenerating but unable to move as long as his iron golem continued crush them whenever they got close to being able to move again.

    Sending his iron golem a newmand, he told it to gather up the vampire spawn and to stack them up in front of him, but Marcus was soon interrupted when he saw a number of lights begin to appear all over the town.

    Of course, how could the people of the town not wonder what was happened outside when they could hear explosions and see bright shing lights outside.

    ''I guess that I should have expected that they town folk woulde to investigate when they heard that the sounds of fighting had ended. I had kind of hoped that they would just continue to stay inside their houses but, my fight with the vampire did level a small part of their town.''

    Marcus then looked back at the dozen buildings that had copsed during the final stages of the fight he had with the vampire.

    Marcus had tried his best to avoid causing coteral damaged but when two beings at level thirty and above fought, the surrounding were bound to get caught up in it since both parties could unleash devastating attacks.

    Sighing Marcus finally realized why people were so cautious of intelligent monsters, just him and the vampire had already caused devastationparable to a small natural disaster and this was when they were fighting each other. If the two of them had been working together they could have leveled the entire town without too much trouble.

    ''Oh well, judging by the fact that the people in this town were all hiding inside, they probably knew about the vampire, so maybe they will overlook the damage since I did kill it. Though I wonder why the kingdom did not dispatch someone to deal with it.''

    As Marcus pondered the response he was going to receive form the town''s people, and why the kingdom had not dealt with this situation, he soon saw over six dozen men and women with torchesing towards his iron golem.

    With a bit of reluctance Marcus resolidified making sure to take the form of Irene once again since he could not take the chance that he would run into someone that knew about the bounty on his head. He nearly fell right over again since the repercussions from exerting his unique skills were still effecting him, but he gritted his teeth and continued to stand.

    It was not long until the group of town''s people arrived in the area where Marcus was and many of them stopped in there track when they saw Marcus'' iron golem throw thest vampire spawn into a pile and Marcus use a magic spell to set them aze.

    Of course, Marcus had nned this so he could have witnesses that saw him killing the vampire spawn just in case they doubted him.

    When all of the town''s people saw this many of them gasped and some of the ones with a weaker constitution nearly threw up and had to avert their gaze.

    After a few moments one of the town''s people who was an old man with an air of authority about him walked forward and said, "I am the mayor of this town, Fredrik Crawn, could you tell me who you are and what you are doing here."

    Marcus looked at this old man that had identified himself as the mayor, and he could see a mix off emotions on his face, from anger, fear, and even a tinge of hope.

    Racking his thoughts together for a couple of moments Marcus thought about what he was going to say and when he had it figured out, he said, "My name is Baress Irene Geist, and I was on my way to the kingdom''s capital when I was attacked by a vampire and its minions. Could you tell me what is going on here, why have you allowed such a dangerous creature to inhabit your town, did you make a deal with that monster giving it free rein within your town."

    The town''s folk hearing Marcus'' response were at a loss, they were surprised to hear that Marcus was a titled noble, and that he was still alive after being attacked by the vampire. They were also angry that Marcus was using them of being in league with the vampire since they had been tormented by it for a number of months unable to do anything about it.

    However, this was a part of Marcus'' n, he wanted to see their reaction since he thought there might be a small possibility that the people of the town were in league with the vampire. But seeing the looks of anger on their faces when he had said as such, Marcus could understand that this was not the truth.

    The mayor after thinking for a bit opened his mouth and said to Marcus, "I have to know did you kill it; I no longer feel its hold on me, you killed that monster didn''t you."

    Marcus could see the pleading almost desperate look on the mayor''s face and the town''s people behind him and Marcus nodded his head yes and said, "Yes I killed it and its spawn, now would you tell me what has been going on here."

    After the mayor and the town''s people heard Marcus'' answer, they knew that it was true and not just some cruel trick, and many of them began crying since they had finally been freed from the vampire''s tyranny.

    Once the town''s folk and mayor had finished getting their emotions out, the mayor walked up to Marcus and got on the ground and bowed followed by the other people, and all of them began thanking him profusely.

    Marcus was a bit taken aback by their response, but he figured that they must have been through something incredibly difficult to show such a reaction.

    "There is no need to bow down on the ground and thank me, I just want to know what was going on around here before I showed up, could someone tell me how that vampire came to be in your town?"

    Hearing his question, the mayor of the town slowly got up and said, "It happened around six months ago, one night a well-dressed man came into town and bought up a lot of property. At first, I thought that a wealthy merchant had decided to set up shop here, but it was not long before we realized that something was wrong. The people of the town had begun to slowly disappear, and when I asked the guards to investigate, they woulde back to me that there was nothing wrong, butter I found out they had been hypnotized by that vampire. I still felt something was wrong and asked the nearest city for help but the knight who came to investigate was controlled by the vampire as well, and left, reporting that he found nothing. After that I tried to leave the town and visit my grandnephew who is a viscount and get his aid, but the vampire stopped me. He put the suggestion in my mind that I could not leave the town or talk about him during the day. It was then that I realized that he had already given this same suggestion to almost everyone in the town keeping us trapped like cattle. Many people tired to leave at night, but he would not let anyone get away and killed or turned them into his puppets. I felt so helpless and the only way I could try to keep people alive was by enforcing a strict curfew, but this hardly helped as the vampire already had full control over a number people who he used to drag others out of their homes."

    The mayor at this point stopped his exnation shacking a bit from anger that he had been unable to express up until to this point.

    After hearing the mayor''s story Marcus was beginning to feel quite bad for the town''s people, since they had been mind controlled and forced to live in a hopeless situation where they could only wait to die at the hands of a vampire.. However, now that Marcus had killed the vampire his hold on the people of the town had ended, and the town was finally freed of their nightmare.

 Chapter 119 - 118 Back On The Road

    Now that he had gotten the general rundown from the mayor of the town he was in, Marcus had a pretty good understanding of what had happened.

    ''To think that just a single monster only a few levels over thirty could take over an entire town. This world really does have a huge disparity in the power one can have.''

    Shaking his head Marcus pushed the thoughts in his head about how cruel this world could be and got back down to business.

    "I think I understand what happened and I am d that I was able to help you all out by killing the vampire. I would also like to apologize that during my fight with the vampire a few of your buildings were destroyed, I do not know if anyone inside those buildings survived but you should probably get some people together to search for survivors."

    The mayor and the other town''s folk hearing Marcus'' statement finally took a good look around and saw the full destruction that Marcus'' fight with the vampire had caused.

    Many of them started crying since this was a small town and the recognized the buildings that were now mostly ruble and knew the people that had lived in them.

    Some of them even began ring at Marcus since they had no one else to me since the vampire was already dead.

    However, this did notst long as the mayor turned around and said, "All of you I know that these have been difficult times, but Lady Irene here is our savior, now go and find if anyone survived, if we stay herementing our situation any longer more people that we could have saved may die."

    The few dozen town''s people around hearing their mayor''s words got themselves together and separated into groups and went over to the destroyed and damaged buildings hoping that their friends had somehow survived.

    Soon it was just Marcus and his party along with the mayor and two of the remaining town''s folk that had remained behind by his side.

    Seeing that the mayor was looking at him and waiting for Marcus to continue the conversation, Marcus with great effort walked over towards the mayor and said, "Here this is not much but I hope that it can help your town recover from some of the damage I caused."

    Marcus then took fifty gold coins out from of his item box and handed it over to the town mayor who stared at the bag and then Marcus in disbelief.

    The mayor waspletely stunned by Marcus'' selfless action, the mayor had actually been expecting Marcus to ask for some form ofpensation for being attacked by a monster in the mayors town. The mayor had not even put it past Marcus who was a titled noble to ask for his head since it was ultimately his failure as mayor for what had happened.

    The mayor overwhelmed by emotions began crying again and in between his sobs said, "Lady Irene there is no way that the town can except this gold from you, in fact we should be the ones rewarding you. You came into our town expecting to find shelter but instead had to fight a life and death battle against a fearsome monster. Please allow the town to gather an appropriate rpense for your inconvenience and saving the entire town. If you would only give us a few days, I am sure we can gather up a reward suitable for your achievements.''

    Marcus then watched as the mayor tried to shove the pouch of money Marcus had given him back, but Marcus really did not want to stay any longer in this town and he had given the mayor the money more out of guilty than out of good will.

    Sighing Marcus looked at the mayor and said, "I already gave you the money, so I have no intention of taking it back nor do I n to stay here any longer. I have somewhere I need to be soon, and I really just want to leave, so I am going to be on my way."

    After giving hisst words to the mayor Marcus turned around and shakily walked back to the carriage attached to Blitz and got back on the coachman''s stand.

    The town''s mayor tried to request Marcus stay and allow the town to reward him and acknowledge his actions, but Marcus did not care to stay any longer since he figured it was going to be a hassle.

    The mayor continued pleading with Marcus to stay up until thest moment even getting on his knees and begging, but Marcus did not want to be some local hero and ruffle the feathers of the noble that ruled over this territory, or worse get a marriage proposal.

    Once he had situated himself on the stand Marcus handed the reins to Lilia even though she had very little experience directing the carriage since Marcus was too tired to even drive the carriage.

    Marcus then gave Blitz themand to head back to the area where he had finished off the vampire, and the carriage began moving towards its destination.

    Soon Marcus arrived back at the spot where his epic battle with the vampire had concluded and he quickly found the two objects that he was looking for.

    On the ground where the vampire had died was the pitch-ck wicked sword the vampire had used and a vibrant green magic core.

    Using his spectral arm since he was too worn down to bother getting up, Marcus brought the two items over and stored them into his item box.

    However, before he stored them into his item box, Marcus noticed that the magic core was not pure green like the other ones he had obtained, but had a few red lines running through it.

    ''That is odd, it must be because it came from a vampire. Maybe certain monsters have cores with special properties, though this is only a hypothesis at this point.''

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus put the core into his item box unaware that in a ce far away someone had been watching him through this magic core.

    ˇ­

    In a dark room sitting on arge ck throne sat a beautiful girl who appeared to be in her early twenties with dark ck hair and eyes. In her hand she was holding a crystal ball and was looking at Marcus who was currently inspecting the vampire''s magic core.

    ''Such and interesting ghost. I have never seen or even heard of one like it. It is not bound to a ce nor does it seem to be pursuing some sort of dying goal, and it can even freely take a solid form. This ghost is far too intriguing even having the abilities of both light and darkness.''

    As the beautiful ck-haired girl continued to watch and rey the events that had happened during Marcus'' fight with the vampire, a smile creeped onto her face revealing two long canine teeth.

    Once she was satisfied with having watched the fight a few times she snapped her fingers and a young woman with blonde hair and red eyes appeared out of the shadows, and said, "What do you need of me mydy."

    With a big smile the ck hair beauty said, "I want you to go to the kingdom of Borealia and keep an eye on this ghost for me. Make sure that none of the other courts try to make a move on them, ah but no need for you to do anything else unless you feel it necessary."

    With a slightly confused expression on her face the blonde vampire looked at her master and said, "You do not want me to avenge Vesairous, that ghost is the one who killed him. I know he was only one of your many probationary retainers, but do you think it wise to let this ghost go unpunished."

    Smiling mischievously the empress of the Draayer Court said, "Normally you would be correct but, in this case, Vesairous died because of his pride, he could have simply fled when he was pushed onto the back foot, and this ghost could be far more valuable in the future than the need to avenge Vesairous. Now then you have a long journey ahead of you so go ahead and get ready, once you arrive keep me regrly updated on this ghost, and once I have a full grasp of their true nature, I will decided what I want to do."

    The blonde vampire while not agreeing with her master''s decision bowed her head before disappearing back into the shadows.

    ''Now I wonder what secrets you are hiding and how far you are going to be able to go.''

    ˇ­

    With his spoils from the fight against the vampire secure Marcus told Lilia to drive the carriage towards the southern part of the town so they could continue on there way.

    Marcus wanted to get to the kingdom''s capital as soon as possible and staying in this town any longer was only going to dy them further.

    Luckily, they managed to get through the town without obstruction as the majority of people were still inside their homes and the ones that were roaming outside were too busy rummaging through the destroyed buildings looking for survivors to further bother Marcus.

    Soon they managed to make it to the outskirts of the town where the southern gate was left open and unguarded.

    Passing through the gate Marcus and Lilia exited the town, using the light from Marcus'' floatingntern spell to light up their surroundings, the three of them continued their journey heading down the road to the royal capital.

 Chapter 120 - 119 Liliaâ€™s Progress

    Having exited the town where Marcus had fought the vampire, the trio of Marcus, Blitz, and Lilia, continued down the road for about an hour before stopping on the side of the road to bed down for the night.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was still too tired to bother with setting up the tent and decided to just sleep in the carriage.

    It had been a few days since thest time Marcus had slept and even though he still had no need to, he knew that resting his mind and soul would speed up his recovery.

    Marcus told Blitz to keep watch for a four hours and then wake him up after which Marcus would let Blitz get some rest.

    Nodding his head Blitz agreed to Marcus'' proposal sensing through the connection of the seal with Marcus, he could feel how rough a shape Marcus was in.

    Entering the carriage Marcus took one side while Lilia took the other and the two of them fell asleep nearly immediately as soon as their heads'' hit their pillows.

    Marcus slept soundly for the next four hours allowing his mind and soul to recover from the exhaustion of the all-out fight he had just a few hours ago.

    However, his rest could notst forever, as after four hours Blitz gave him the signal that it was time to get up.

    With a slight groan Marcus got up from the carriage seat still feeling a bit tired from the overuse of his unique skills but feeling much better after sleeping for four hours.

    Floating out of the carriage as to not wake Lilia, Marcus became solid again and undid the harness connecting Blitz to the carriage.

    Once that was done Blitz hurriedly ran over to a soft grassy area andid down wanting to get some sleep of its own after a long day.

    With his watch now starting Marcus took out a chair and sat down before taking out a book he had previously purchased and began reading.

    The rest of the night quickly went by and with the first glimmer of the sun rising Marcus got up from his chair and began making something for breakfast.

    He went with something simple, just cooking up some bacon and eggs and soon the smell of cooking food enticed Lilia out of the cart as she groggily walked over towards Marcus and the food.

    The two of them ate and enjoyed the simple breakfast and while giving Blitz a few extra hours to sleep the two of them continued to work on Lilia''s reading practice.

    ˇ­

    The next few days went smoothly as the three of them continued on their journey towards the kingdom''s capital.

    During this time, they did not have to deal with any major threats and the few times they were attacked by bandits, magic beasts, or monster, the situation was easily dealt with.

    A few times Marcus had even let Lilia handle some of the weaker monsters on her own allowing her to make it up to level nine.

    Lilia had also made great strides in her reading practice, being able to read a number of short stories and getting a grasp of the fundamentals of thenguage of Borealia.

    She was still a good ways away from being considered adept at reading, but she had managed to get to around a second grade reading level.

    However, the biggest achievement that Lilia aplished just a couple of days before they would arrive in the capital was learning the mana cirction skill.

    Lilia had spent countless hours trying to move the mana around her body and one day all of her effort paid off when she felt her mana begin to move much easier throughout her body.

    When Lilia had told Marcus that she thought she had obtained the mana cirction skill he immediately stopped the carriage and pulled over.

    Of course, they did not have method to check Lilia''s status but there was another way to verify that she had obtained the skill.

    "Okay Lilia concentrate your mana in you right hand and then say the chant for your tier one force magic spell."

    Lilia did as Marcus told her, and while she did fumble onpleting the chant a few times she quickly got it right and after around a half hour of practice Lilia cast her first spell.

    "Control Impact"

    After finishing the chant and saying the name of her tier one force magic spell, Lilia''s hand began to glow softly as the spell took effect.

    Lilia then took her right hand which was equipped with her training gauntlet and punched against arge rock.

    When her fist impacted the rocks surface cracks webbed across the rock as the power behind Lilia''s punch was augmented by her magic.

    Seeing the power she had just exerted, Lilia stared at the rock in awe, and Marcus came over and praised Lilia for her hard work and achievement.

    Lilia gave Marcus a big hug and said, "None of this would have been possible without you, thank you for saving and changing my life."

    Marcus smiled at Lilia and patted her head for a few moments before getting back to training Lilia on how to use her spell.

    From the description Lilia had told him Marcus knew that this spell was quite strong for a tier one spell but also veryplicated.

    It essentially had two forms, the first where the user used the spell to strengthen the force behind one of their attacks increasing the impact, and the other form was to use the spell to lessen the impact of an attack you were receiving.

    The spell could also be focused on certain areas or the whole body much like Marcus'' iron skin spell adding anotheryer of difficulty into mastering it.

    Marcus then instructed Lilia to practice the chant since being able to say it swiftly and effortlessly were important in the heat of battle.

    After a few hours of practice when Lilia could finish the chant between two and three seconds, Marcus began the next phase of Lilia training by having her continuously cast the spell and use it to empower her fists.

    Once Lilia had smashed a few rocks into pieces and exhausted her mana supply Marcus had her take a break and began making something for lunch.

    Since this was a special asion Marcus decided to make a dish from Earth that he had not tried yet but used to love.

    Pulling out some eggs, flour, salt, and oil, Marcus went to work on making some fresh pasta.

    He first spread out the flour on a clean worktable he had purchased and once he had gotten the flour in the desired shape ced the other ingredients in the center.

    Next, he used a fork to break up the eggs and once he had gotten the right consistency, he began mixing the flour with his hands until it became doughier.

    Marcus then kneaded the dough into a ball and when it was up to Marcus'' standards, he ced it in some wrapping paper and let it sit for around thirty minutes.

    Once that was done, he took it out and cut the dough ball into four pieces, took out a rolling pin, and began rolling the dough.

    It took him awhile but soon he had the pasta at the thickness he wanted, and he took out a knife and began cutting the sheets of pasta into noodles.

    Marcus did his best to cut the pasta into even slices but s he was no professional chef and many of them ended up slightlyrger or smaller than Marcus intended.

    Shrugging his shoulder since it was the first time he had made pasta totally from scratch, Marcus figured he did a good enough job and went onto the next step.

    Marcus added the pasta to a pot of boiling water and began cooking the noodles and at the same time he took out another pot and filled it with some milk and goat cheese.

    He quickly heated up the pot and melted the cheese and soon had a creamy cheese sauce with which to cover the pasta noodles with.

    Marcus had originally wanted to make macaroni and cheese, but he had a hard enough time just making normal pasta noodles and had no idea how to form them into the ssic macaroni shape.

    The pasta and the cheese sauce wereing along nicely but Marcus was not finished yet and took out the final ingredient he was going to use.

    In his hands was some type ofrge crayfish which Marcus was going to use in substitution for the lobster that would normally be used for this dish.

    Marcus took the crayfish and quickly peeled it apart and separated the meat from the rest of it and cut the meat up and saut¨¦ed it in butter.

    Once the crayfish was cooked Marcus added the pasta cheese sauce and crayfish together and his pseudo lobster macaroni and cheese wasplete.

    "Lilia, lunch is readye on over and get it while it is hot."

    Hearing Marcus'' call Lilia got up from her chair where she was trying to read a new book and ran over to where Marcus was.

    Seeing the pot of pseudo lobster macaroni and cheese Lilia''s stomach began growling and she quickly took a te and filled it up.

    Marcus chuckled lightly and followed suit filling his te high.

    The two of them then began eating and Marcus was pleasantly surprised that his first attempt at making this dish tasted pretty good.

    Of course, it was not as good as the times he had eaten it on Earth but for what he had, it turned out quite good.

    The two of them continued to eat mouthful after mouthful until they were both satisfied, and Marcus stored the leftovers within the magic fridge he had and then put it back in his item box.

    Marcus then gave Lilia a half hour to digest her food and rx before getting back to her magic training.

    This time Marcus wanted her to work on using the second form of the spell and reduce the impact of the attacks Marcus would send at her.

    Marcus started out moving slowly, allowing Lilia to easily see where the attack was going tond and allow her to get used to using her spell to reduce impacts.

    After around an hour Marcus began to slowly increase his speed and Lilia was having to really focus to keep up. This went on for around another hour until Lilia was too exhausted to continue and threw in the towel.

    Of course, Marcus was already impressed by Lilia''s tenacity as he did not expect her tost this long.

    ''She really has made a lot of progress; she has worked incredibly hard to get this far in such a short amount of time. Although in a way it is quite sad since she is only working this hard because she never wants to end up in a hopeless situation again.''

    Once Lilia had recovered a bit after a couple of hours of rest, Marcus got Blitz toe back over and reattached the harness to him and the three of them continued to travel for a couple of more hours making steady progress towards their goal of reaching the kingdom''s royal capital.

 Chapter 121 - 120 The Kingdom Of Borealiaâ€™ Capital

    Marcus and Lilia were currently doing their morning training where Lilia would try to use her tier one force magic spell over her entire body and deflect Marcus'' attacks, while also looking for an opening to counterattack.

    Of course, Marcus was holding back quite a bit since if he used his full strength even with Lilia''s magic spell one attack from him would send her flying.

    "Wham"

    Lilia after a long struggle managed to catch Marcus off guard and deliver a devastating blow to his side pushing him back a few feet.

    Looking down at his ribs where Lilia had hit him Marcus could feel a slight tinge of pain, but the damage was nearly nonexistent. However, Marcus was still impressed that Lilia had made an opening against him since he was trying to fight with the strength of someone around level fifteen.

    ''She is getting better every day, though it is kind of sad that today will be ourst training session for a while.''

    Looking towards Lilia with a proud expression Marcus said, "Good job Lilia, you managed tond a solid blow on me, and I can tell how much stronger you have gotten. Unfortunately, we should cut this training session short since if we take too long, we will not be able to make it to the capital today."

    Hearing Marcus'' words, Lilia''s expression became a little dejected since she wanted to keep going, but when she heard Marcus say that they could arrive today she perked up and began running towards the carriage.

    With a slight smile on his face Marcus followed behind her while sending a mental signal to Blitz toe and meet them at the carriage.

    Soon Blitz came bounding out of the woods near where they had set up camp and Marcus could see some blood on his antlers.

    Recently Blitz had been getting the itch to test his metal and if it could find any suitable beasts of monsters he would go and fight them. A couple of times he had even managed to anger a hoard of monsters he could not handle, and would lead them back to Marcus who had to deal with them.

    Luckily this was not one of those times and after giving Blitz a quick wash down with water from his item box Marcus attached the harness and got up onto the coachman''s stand.

    "Yah"

    With the crack of the reins Blitz began running down the road at a slightly faster than normal pace as it could feel Marcus'' anticipation and a bit of it was rubbing of on him.

    Moving at an impressive speed Marcus and Lilia passed by numerous carriages, carts, and even people on foot as they continued down the road.

    This was nothing new for them as the closer they got to the capital the more people they came across and this was especially true once they had entered the Dutchy of Scriven.

    At one point they even passed another carriage that was pulled by some type ofrge goat magic beast that tried to race them and for a short while they were able to keep pace until Marcus told Blitz to turn up the gas.

    Blitz following Marcus''mand began running with abandon reaching speeds close to fifty miles an hour, and Lilia getting a bit scaredtched onto Marcus for dear life.

    Though they soon had to slow it down since the carriage stated shacking violently and was close to falling apart.

    Once they had slowed down Marcus looked down at Lilia and beganughing and Lilia looked at Marcus and feigned pouting beforeughing as well.

    After their burst of speed they continued at a normal pace and after about six more hours of travel they could see the outline of the royal capital.

    ''Huge! What the hell I cannot see the end of it.''

    Staring out at the royal capital of the Kingdom of Borealia Marcus was in awe by how massive it was.

    ''I thought Loursend was big with maybe around a million people living in it give or take a few, but this city must be somewhere between New York and Tokyo. I never thought I would see a city thisrge in this world.''

    At the same time as Marcus was staring at the city and appraising its size Lilia was looking at it in disbelief. She had always heard of therge cities in the kingdom from the people in themunity she lived in, and when she saw Loursend it was alreadyrger than life, but the royal capital just seemed unfathomable.

    Marcus pped his face a couple of times to get his emotions back in check since he was getting a bit too exited too get to the capital and had been neglecting the reins of the carriage.

    Grabbing the reins Marcus steered Blitz over to the right side of the road and shook the reins a little signaling Blitz to pick up the speed a bit.

    Blitz getting the signal picked up the pace and quickly was going as fast as the carriage could handle.

    Over an hour passed and Marcus, Lilia, and Blitz were finally sure of something, the capital is so damn big it did not look like they had gotten any closer.

    Sighing Marcus was starting to think that they were not going to be able to make it to the city today, but after another five hours of straight travel as the sun was begining to fall in the sky, they were finally able to see therge gates of the city and the long line of people trying to enter.

    Luckily the long line of people trying to enter meant nothing to Marcus as he pulled the carriage to the other side of the road and passed by the people waiting to enter the city.

    Of course, this was one of the perks of being a noble, allowing Marcus to cut to the front of the line and enter without much of a hassle.

    Within just fifteen minutes Marcus''s carriage was in front of the gate and was only waiting for three other nobles that were in front of him and were quickly being let through.

    After just a little more than a minute it was Marcus'' turn and the guard in charge of checking identities walked up to Marcus'' carriage and right past the coachman stand where Marcus and Lilia were and went towards the carriage door.

    However, no one opened the door, and as the guard was about to knock, Marcus coughed loudly to get his attention and held out his sliver te that IDed him as a titled noble.

    The guard stood there stunned for a moment because he was not expecting a noble to be driving a carriage especially one with a title.

    Of course, the guard was correct to go towards the carriage''s door since normally that was where the noble was, and while he had heard of a few entric nobles that liked to drive their own carriages, he had never personally seen one before.

    "Sorry mdy, I should have been paying more attention."

    The guard then gave a slight apologetic bow before holding out his hands so he could take and inspect Marcus'' ID.

    Looking it over the guard was quite surprised to see Marcus'' status since it was quite impressive. The guard had of course seen certain nobles with stronger status'', but they had been quite a few levels higher and for a level thirty Marcus was the strongest he had ever seen.

    "Is there some type of problem." Marcus asked inquisitively since the guard was taking a bit longer than Marcus thought necessary."

    "Ah, no there is no problem Lady Geist. Here is your ID back and you are free to enter the city."

    However, before Marcus left, he had a question to ask the guard.

    "Excuse me I just have one quick question could you tell me where we could find a ce to stay that is nearby."

    The guard hearing Marcus question was once again shocked since most nobles would have their own estate within the city or at the very least have arrangements for lodging already taken care of.

    Quickly getting himself together the guard thought about the inns that were nearby and listed them off to Marcus.

    "But I am afraid that none of these ce may be up to yourdyship''s standard and if you where looking for a more high-quality inn or hotel, I rmend you head towards the inner wall and ask the guards their to lead you to a more luxurious establishment."

    Nodding his head Marcus thanked the guard and told Blitz to head into the city.

    ''What a strange noble, she did not have a single guard or servant, and the only one with her was her little sister.''

    As the guard racked his head about the strangest noble he had ever seen, Marcus and Lilia passed through the city gate and under the over eighty foot tall wall that protected the city, and they immediately saw the bustling streets andrge buildings that make up the capital city of the Kingdom of Borealia.

 Chapter 122 - 121 A Place To Stay

    Riding on their carriage along the city streets of the Kingdom of Borealia''s capital city Boreas, Marcus and Lilia looked at the diverse and numerous people living in the city.

    ''Wow, in Loursend I would see a few other races like the asional elf and beast person, but it was still almost all humans.''

    Looking around Marcus saw a number of races he had not seen since ending up on Mirrion. Some of them looked like ssic fantasy races from games and folktales on Earth such as, gnomes, dwarfs, and halflings, but there were also some that made Marcus do a double take.

    He saw, a group of people with charcoal skin and each one of them had four arms and three eyes, a couple of people that looked like normal humans except they were made up of wood, a single being that looked like a mass of floating energy, and many others

    Of course, the majority of people that Marcus saw were normal average humans, but the numerous new races he was seeing for the first time was making Marcus exited.

    ''This world is more diverse than I thought it was. It just really goes to hammer home that I have barely scratched the surface of what this world has to offer.''

    After Marcus and Lilia had their fair share of staring at the new sights they were seeing in Boreas, they headed over to some of the food carts that were lining the streets and bought something to eat.

    The first thing they bought were some skewers with the meat of a magical beast called an ogre frog which lived in arge swamp not too far away that adventures would often kill since their meat was quite tasty and profitable.

    Sinking his teeth into the meat that was slightly zed with a sweet sauce Marcus was surprised by how tender the meat was and the vibrant taste it had.

    ''I can see why it was five silver a skewer, this is pretty good. I never had frog on Earth, but I imagine it did not taste this good or it would have been more popr.''

    Marcus and Lilia continued to eat the local cuisine that the food carts had to offer and soon Lilia could eat no more and Marcus noticed that she was yawning quite often.

    Deciding to stop his eating spree on ount of Lilia being tired, Marcus began looking around for an inn using the directions he had acquired from the guard at the entrance gate.

    After investigating a few ces that either seemed a bit too seedy or did not have room for Blitz and his carriage, Marcus found a ce called the Cozy Respite which when he walked inside was quitefortable with an open sitting space around arge firece and it even had an attached restaurant and bar called the Respite''s Jewel.

    Walking up to the reception counter Marcus could see a young girl reading a book while waiting for customers.

    "Hello there, I was hoping if I could ask you a few questions about this establishment?"

    The youngdy hearing Marcus looked up from her book and said, "Yes what did you want to know."

    "I just wanted to know if you had an area where I could store a carriage and a magical beast for the night."

    Sighing the young woman said, "Sorry we do not have any facility like that, but there is a stable on the street behind us not to far from here."

    Hearing this Marcus began considering his options, he was hoping to find a ce with an area to house Blitz and his carriage, but that had been exceedingly hard.

    None of the ces he had visited so far had somewhere he could leave Blitz on site expect one inn that seemed extremely shady and Marcus thought was a front for some illegal activity.

    Clicking his tongue Marcus decided to house Blitz in the nearby stable since it was already gettingte with the sun still just barely illuminated the streets and Lilia was getting quite tired.

    "Okay thanks, I will go and leave my magic beast and carriage at that stable and be right back."

    The youngdy hearing Marcus'' response nodded her head and went back to reading her book.

    Exiting the building Marcus walked back over to the carriage where Lilia was slumped over her eyes fluttering a bit as she did her best not to fall asleep.

    Seeing this Marcus hopped back onto the coachman''s stand next to her and said, "Looks like we will be staying here tonight, they do not have any onsite area for Blitz but apparently there is a stable nearby."

    Lilia being incredible tired from a long day of travel barley responded to Marcus as she fought hard not to fall asleep.

    With a slight smile Marcus directed Blitz down the road and passing through an alley that connected to the road that was behind the Cozy Respite, and began going down the street looking for the aforementioned stable.

    Traveling around five hundred feet down the road they came across the stable they were looking for and after paying a cost of twelve silver Marcus and Lilia left leaving Blitz for the night.

    With his magic beast and vehicle now stored, Marcus and Lilia walked back towards the Cozy Respite but halfway there Marcus could see Lilia struggling so he picked her up and gave her a piggyback ride the rest of the way.

    Soon they arrived back at the Cozy Respite and purchased a room with two beds for the night for nine silver.

    ''Everything is quite a bit more expensive here, but I suppose I should have expected that since this is thergest city in the kingdom.''

    With his room key in hand Marcus walked up the stairs and to his room, where he saw the two beds along with a couple chairs and a desk.

    He then ced Lilia down in one of the beds and told her to get some sleep before leaving the room and going down to the attached restaurant and bar.

    Entering into the restaurant Marcus could immediately smell the aroma of cooking food and while Marcus had no need to eat, since he could still taste it would have been a shame if he did not try the local food.

    Sitting down at an empty table Marcus ordered something called fried quinzent which was some type of local bird along with a few of the drinks they had.

    The waiter looked at Marcus a bit strangely because he had ordered enough alcohol to satisfy even the most practiced binge drinker.

    But money was money and Marcus paid six gold coins for what he had ordered, which was nearly twenty time more than an average customer.

    Soon Marcus food and drink arrived and seeing it allid out on the table Marcus realized that he had gone a bit overboard on the number of drinks he had ordered.

    ''Whoops, I was so exited to try some new alcohol that I got carried away. Oh well not like I can actually get drunk though I do wonder what happens to the stuff I consume.''

    After thinking about what happens to the things he eats and drinks and finding no logical conclusion, Marcus just shrugged his shoulders and got to work on eating and drinking.

    Marcus then consumed the food and alcohol he had ordered finding that the fried quinzent tasted quite good like the best qualities of chicken, turkey, and quail, while he had some hits and misses with the alcohol.

    Some of it tasted like pig swill, while others were actually quite good, and Marcus made sure to note their names for future purchases.

    However, what Marcus did not know was that hisrge eating and drinking session had attracted some attention.

    Many people were wondering how this young girl was going to get everything they had ordered down when they watched Marcus eat and drink like he had a bottomless pit for a stomach and for all intents and purposes, he did.

    ''Ah that was pretty good, some of the alcohol was not to my taste, but this Fenres Wine was quite good, I may try to find a few bottles of itter.''

    While Marcus was thinking about which of the alcohols he wanted to procure, a person sat down right in front of him and when he looked up, he saw arge woman that looked like a body builder sitting across from him.

    "Sorry for the intrusion, my name is Bridget, and I was wondering if you would not mind giving me a minute of your time.''

    Looking at Bridget Marcus was a bit suspicious and decided to use his creature appraisal and was a bit surprised to find that she was level twenty-seven.

    After apprising her Marcus nodded his head and said, "Yeah sure what did you want to talk about, ah and my name is Irene."

    A slight smile creeping onto her face from hearing Marcus'' response, Bridget quickly cleared her throat before say, "Let me just get to the point, I am the leader of an all-female adventuring party called Eternal Queens, and I was wondering if you would join us. We are all gold ranked adventures and while I know it is a bit rude one of our members got curious and used her appraisal skill on you."

    Bridget then nodded her head over towards another table where Marcus saw six other young girls and women sitting around looking over at Marcus and Bridget.

    Sighing Marcus said, "While I appreciate the offer I am currently not working as an adventure so I will have to decline."

    With an expression of disappointment washing over her face Bridget stood up and said, "Well that is too bad, but if you change your mind you can often find us here since this is our regr ce to stay in the city."

    Bridget then held her hand out for a handshake and Marcus stood up and grasped her hand.

    As the two shook hands Marcus felt Bridget strengthen her grip with enough force to break the average person''s hand, but Marcus being even stronger returned the grip and Bridget winced in pain before releasing Marcus'' hand.

    Marcus could see a tinge of surprise on Bridget''s face since she had not expected Marcus who in Irene''s form seemed daintier than his actual strength reflected.

    ''I know she is three levels higher than me, but I did not expect her to be stronger than me. Now I really wish I could get her to join us.''

    As Bridget thought this, Marcus bid her farewell, walked out of the restaurant, and back up to his room nning to rest for the night since he had a long day ahead of him.

 Chapter 123 - 122 A Place To Have

    As the night began to turn to day Marcus woke up from his sleep and turned his head to look at Lilia and saw that she was still in bed curled up like a caterpir in a cocoon.

    Smiling lightly Marcus got up and took out the potable tub he had purchased, filled it with water before heating it with his fire magic.

    Once the water was good and warm Marcus slipped into the tub and began thinking about what he needed to do.

    ''First, we need to head to the kingdom''s office ofnd management and pick out the estate I was awarded when getting my title, and once that is done it has been a long timeing but I need to deal with Poulsen. After that I can find a good school to enroll Lilia in and then start learning how to forge weapons and armor.''

    With his basic n outlined Marcus finished washing himself off and then turning ethereal letting all of the remaining water on him fall off.

    Once he had finished with his rxing bath Marcus went over to Lilia who was just now groggily waking up and told her to get ready to leave soon.

    In just over thirty minutes Marcus and Lilia were ready to go and leaving their room walked down stair and left the room key with the receptionist before exiting the Cozy Respite.

    Back on the streets of Boreas, Marcus and Lilia headed to the stable where they had left Blitz and picked him and their carriage up.

    After attaching the harness to Blitz, Marcus and Lilia sat down on the coachman''s stand and began heading towards their destination.

    Marcus knew that the office of management was within the inner wall of the city and figured that once he was there, he could ask for more detailed directions.

    However, what Marcus did not expect was the amount of time it would take to reach the inner wall.

    After traveling for nearly three hours Marcus was finally able to see the inner wall which stood around fifty feet tall.

    ''I thought Loursend was already too big, but this ce really takes the cake. If only the streets were less crowded I could have gotten Blitz to go faster, but there are so many people moving about that at best we were able to move at ten miles an hour.''

    Whilementing the long travel times from ce to ce within the city, Marcus and Lilia finally made it to the gate separating the inner and outer city.

    Approaching the gate, a couple of guards immediately stopped them and asked for their identification and a seven gold entry fee each.

    However, when Marcus took out his silver te ID the two guards bowed their heads and said "Sorry we did not know you were a titled noble, you are free to pass into the inner city with no charge."

    Nodding his head at the guards Marcus then put on his brightest smile and said, "This happens to be my first time entering the city and I was wondering if one of you could give me directions to the kingdom''s office ofnd management."

    The two guards seeing Marcus'' smile began blushing slightly since in his Irene form, he looked quite attractive, and his smile could melt the coldest hearts.

    Quickly the first guard regained his senses and abruptly said, "Of course Lady Baress, this humble guard would be more than happy to lead you to the kingdom''s office ofnd management. If you would just give me a minute to fetch my horse, I will take you there."

    The other guard looked at his friend like he had been betrayed since he was also nning to offer to lead the beautiful baress but had been beaten to the punch.

    However, before either of them could make another move a loud andmanding voice echoed out from the gate.

    "What are you two ckers doing, stop trying to pursue someone above your station and get back to your post."

    Turning towards the voice Marcus saw a woman in full shining te armor was walking towards them and she was holding up a young boy by his shirt.

    She then walked right up to the two guards and dropped the boy and said, "Get back to your post, this boy nearly slipped in without paying the entry fee. If you two do not step up and do your jobs properly I am going to have you reced."

    The two guards then gulped before running back to their post and praying that theirmander was not going to be too harsh on them.

    Themanding woman in full armor then looked at the boy and said, "You scram, and next time I see you trying to sneak in you will not get off so easily."

    The little boy with a face full of fear scurried away as quickly as he could since he did not want to be sent to the mines or sold as a criminal ve.

    The woman then turned her gaze towards Marcus and said, "Sorry about the trouble just now, I will have someone else lead you to your destination since those two knuckleheads should have known better than to abandon their posts."

    The woman then whistled loudly and a young girl that looked about the same age as Marcus in his guise as Irene came running out from the gate.

    Looking her over Marcus could see that she was dressed in light leather armor and had two swords on her belt.

    The young girl soon arrived in front of themanding woman, saluted, and said, "You called for me Dame Harthen."

    Nodding her head Dame Harthen said, "Yes, and now I need you to lead this Lady here to the office ofnd management."

    The youngdy quickly gave a slight bow indicating that she would do it and then turned towards Marcus and said, "My name is risa Hall, Dame Harthen''s knight apprentice and I would be happy to show you the way."

    Nodding his head Marcus responded saying, "Nice to meet you risa, my name is Irene Geist, and this is my sister Lilia, we will be in your care."

    risa seeing Marcus''id-back demeanor began smiling since she hated dealing with stuck up and stuffy nobles, and then said, "Follow me, the office is a bit of a ways away, but we should be able to get there within the hour."

    risa then turned around and walked through the gate waiting for Marcus to follow her.

    Following behind Marcus finally passed into the inner city and could immediately see a stark difference from the outer city.

    First, the streets were much more sparsely popted maybe only being about a hundredth as crowded as the streets of the outer city.

    Marcus also noticed that the people were dressed much nicer, and the quality of the buildings had vastly improved.

    However, what really attracted Marcus'' attention was the massive castle he could see in the distance.

    ''That must be the royal families castle. I cannot make out its full details from here, but it must be huge. Maybe if I get some free time on my handster, I will go explore it using my ghost form.''

    However, Marcus was not able to think about his ill-conceived castle exploration ns for long, as risa mounted a horse and began quickly trotting away.

    Seeing that his guide was getting ahead of him Marcus cracked Blitz''s reins and Blitz began running to catch up.

    Following behind risa, it took Marcus and Lilia around fifty minutes to traverse the distance to the office ofnd management.

    Marcus looking at risa thanked her for her help and told her that if she needed a favor in the future, he would be willing to help her out since she had helped him.

    risa with a big smile said, "I was just doing my job and I was happy to meet a noble that was not stuck up. I wish more nobles would be like you and Dame Harthen. Well, it was nice meeting you Irene, but I need to get back to work so see you around."

    Giving her farewell, risa turned her horse around and began heading back to the inner wall where her master was posted.

    Now that Marcus had arrived at his destination, he pulled his carriage up to the building and parked it, telling Lilia to wait with the carriage and Blitz while he was inside.

    Walking into the building Marcus saw half a dozen desks with a person sitting behind them either talking to other people or looking over documents.

    Walking up to one of the unupied desks Marcus was quickly greeted by the employee there who said, "And what can the office ofnd management do for you today."

    Marcus not exactly sure what to say simply handed over the letter he had gotten from Aria and allowed the employee to read it.

    The employee taking the letter opened it and read it, but the further they got along the more their face contorted into one of surprise and a bit of fear.

    Once they had finished reading the letter they quickly stood up and bowed towards Marcus before saying, "It is a pleasure to serve a friend of the grand archmage, however, I will need to go and get my superior to approve of the request in this letter, if that is all right with you Baress Irene Geist."

    Marcus seeing the employees sudden shift in demeanor could tell that he was walking on eggshells, doing his best be as polite as possible to Marcus even though he would not normally be this carful with just a mere baress.

    However, the fear of displeasing a friend of the grand archmage had made him put on his best manners, and he was willing to jump through just about any hoop not to catch Marcus'' or more importantly the grand archmage''s ire.

    "Yeah, that is fine I was just told toe here to get the estate that was awarded to me along with the title of Baress."

    Sighing the employee continued to bow for a few more moments before he rose his head slightly and began walking away headed for his boss.

    After just two minutes Marcus saw the employeeing back with middle aged man who was dressed in fancy clothes and had an air of authority around him.

    As the man walked up to Marcus, he gave a quick bow before saying, "Greetings Lady Geist, my name is Count Flourensy and I am in charge of the office ofnd management, it is a pleasure to meet you."

    Count Flourensy then grabbed Marcus''s hand and kissed it before saying, "If you would not mind, we can pick out a suitable estate for you in my office I am sure that we can find a home that will be perfect for a friend of the grand archmage."

    Beckoning Marcus to follow him, Count Flourensy led the way to his office where he pulled out a luxurious seat for Marcus, and then asked him if he would like any refreshments.

    Marcus thinking about it for a moment asked for a honeyed tea and the count quickly had a servant go and retrieve what Marcus wanted.

    The count once he was sure that Marcus wasfortable said, "So what might you be looking for in a home, there are quite a few currently vacant estates within the capital''s inner wall from nobles that could no longer afford them or those that had lost their titles."

    Marcus had already thought about what he wanted for quite some time now, but he was not really picky and their were only two things he really wanted.

    "There are only a couple of things I am really looking for, one is arge bathtub, and the other is a personal forge."

    Count Flourensy was a bit surprised to hear what Marcus wanted since most nobles in this position would make demands about location and size more than specific amenities, especially ones that were not as sought after such as what Marcus wanted.

    Nodding his head, the count said, "Very well I will look for a few estates that match your preferences, but I must tell you that it is pretty rare for an estate to have an onsite forge so it may be difficult to find one."

    Marcus simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "If you cannot find one that is fine, I can always have one put inter."

    The count hearing Marcus'' response smiled since Marcus was not going to put up a fit like some nobles had in the past and he then had another employee go searching through some documents to find an appropriate estate.

    After nearly forty minutes the employee came back with three folders and handed them to the count who quickly nced over them before handing them to Marcus.

    "Here you go Lady Irene, these three estates have the two things that you were looking for, I hope one of them is up to you standards."

    Marcus then read through the three folders looking over the estates finding that overall, each of them was fine, but one of them was far better than the other two.

    Two of the estates shown were actually quite small only sitting on ten acres and thirteen acres respectively, and the forges that they had were quite small, along with the main manor only being around nine thousand square feet.

    However, the third choice was on over sixty acres, had a main building of around forty thousand square feet, a massive separate forge, and two servants quarters buildings.

    ''Is there even apetition, did he think I would not just chose this one, it is way better than the other two.''

    However, what Marcus did not know was that these estates were chosen based on their price range and this particr estate had some problems.

 Chapter 124 - 123 The Haunted Estate

    Looking it over onest time Marcus knew that it was no contest and handed the file of thergest estate over to Count Flourensy.

    Count Flourensy happy to see that Marcus had made a prompt decision, carefully looked over the file of the estate Marcus had handed him.

    However, as he read over the file his face became filled with dread and he looked up at Marcus with an expression of fear and embarrassment before saying, "I am incredibly sorry Lady Irene this estate never should have been added to the list of options, it appears that my employee only looked at the requirements you listed as well as the price range for your possible estate. I understand that this is a disappointment for you, but I could never rmend this ce and would ask you choose from the other two."

    Hearing this Marcus was wondering what could be so bad about this estate that it was suddenly being taken away. For a second Marcus thought that it may have been because it was above the value he was allowed to have, but then he remembered the count saying that they were brought because of their price point.

    ''I wonder what could possibly be so wrong with the ce that caused him to look terrified, maybe it is down wind of sewage or the foundation is faulty. Well maybe the problem is minor but has something to do with noble traditions in this world. I might as well figure out the problem and if I think I can deal with it, that estate really is too good to pass up.''

    Coughing loudly to get the count''s attention Marcus said, "Actually I had my heart set on that ce, if you would not mind telling me what is wrong with that estate, I would like to decide for myself how bad it is."

    The count listening to Marcus'' response froze in ce, it was already disaster enough that Marcus had been shown this estate but now that he was pushing for it, and the count did not know what to do.

    Thinking long and hard the count was weighing his options, he really just wanted to tell Marcus that it was impossible, and if he had been a normal baress he would have. But even with his lofty position in the kingdom he, did not want to make an enemy of the grand archmage by angering Marcus.

    Sighing deeply the count decided to exin the unique circumstances of this estate and hope that Marcus would give up when he heard them.

    "Very well I will tell you what is wrong with this estate, but no matter how far fetched it sounds know that what I say is true. This estate used to belong to a prominent Marquess until around twenty years ago when everyone inside the mansion was found dead except for a few young maids. Many high-ranking nobles perished that day even the son of one of the kingdom''s four dukes. Of course, there was an extensive search for the culprit, but none was ever found. However, this was not the end and the Marquess'' distant rtives after a few years moved into the estate only to all be found dead a few dayster. After this the kingdom realized they must have been dealing with some type of evil spirt or curse and sent the high priest of the church of great spirt of light Ragyog to the estate to purge the spirt or curse. Unfortunately, even after an extensive search and purification, the next noble family that moved in still died. The kingdom then tried to exercise the spirt or curse a number of times but was unfruitful and thus no one has lived there since. I am sorry that you were shown the file for this estate, but that was a grave mistake by one of my employees and I promise you they will be severely punished."

    After having heard the counts entire exnation about the estate Marcus was now even more intrigued to have it.

    He obviously knew that there were other ghosts in this world but having the chance to meet one sounded interesting.

    ''I may be able to do something that normal people could not, for all I know all I have to do is find the body of the spirt and bury it to let them pass on. Or if necessary, I could probably just destroy them if they really are an evil spirt.''

    Thinking that he was in the unique situation to deal with a haunted estate Marcus made up his mind to give it a try and if he could not purge the spirt, he would just go somewhere else.

    With his mind made up Marcus reached over and grabbed the file from the count causing him to be quite surprised before saying, "I will take this ce, I am not afraid of ghosts and am certain I will be fine."

    The count could not believe what he was hearing most people hearing about ces that were haunted would run the other direction since unlike Earth, on Mirrion ghosts were very real. But how could the count know that he was actually currently sitting across from ghost right now.

    "Please Lady Irene reconsider, if something were to happen to you because of that estate the grand archmage cou."

    However, when Marcus sent a re at him the count immediately shut up realizing the slip of his tongue.

    "I see so you really do not care about my well being but only what the grand archmage might do to you if something bad happened to me. Let me tell you now I am certain to be fine and if you want, I can even give you a letter saying that I was obstante and forced you to give me this estate."

    The count hearing Marcus'' offer to give him a signed letter made him perk up since he was quite afraid that Marcus obtaining this estate from him could send a misunderstanding. This was because this estate had been discreetly offered up to certain nobles the kingdom wanted to get rid of in the past which was why they even still had a file on it.

    However, if he had such a letter from Marcus, he would be fairly well protected from any bacsh the grand archmage could throw his way.

    "Very well if you insist on taking this estate, I will hand over the title to it so long as you right a letter detailing that you knew of the dangers and that I am not to be med."

    Marcus shrugged his shoulders before writing a letter down freeing the count of any responsibilities should something happened to him.

    Marcus then sealed the letter and handed it over to the count who began smiling.

    "Thank you, Lady Irene, now then I will have someone draw up the rest of the paperwork and have the estate''s title brought to you."

    After around another thirty minutes Marcus had filled out the necessary forms to transfer the estate to him and was given the title.

    "Now that we have finished up our business, I will have one of my employees show you the way to your new estate, but I would like to warn you one more time to be careful."

    With that Marcus bid the count farewell and followed one of the employees outside.

    When he got outside, he saw Lilia sitting on the coachman''s stand reading a book and asionally petting Blitz''s soft fur.

    Walking over to her, Lilia quickly spotted Marcus and waved towards him and when he stood in front of her, Lilia smiled at Marcus before asking, "So how did it go, did you get a huge mansion for us to stay in."

    Marcus smiling back gave Lilia a thumbs up and said, "Yep, although it does have an issue I need to solve before we move in, it should not be anything I cannot handle."

    At the same time the employee that hade out with Marcus was stunned to see him talking so causally with this young girl he assumed to be his carriage driver, but what she heard next surprised her even more.

    "Lilia if you would not mind getting in the carriage this employee is going to give me directions to the new estate so they will have to sit next to me."

    Lilia nodded towards Marcus and got off of the coachman''s stand and into the carriage''s car before Marcus hoped onto the coachman''s seat and waited for the employee to sit next to him.

    However, the employee was just staring in a daze wondering what was going on. They were certain that Marcus who had just jumped onto the coachman''s stand was a titled noble. So where was their coachman and who was the little girl that had just gotten into the carriage.

    Marcus seeing the employee just standing there said to them.

    "I know that Blitz is intimating, but I promise he will not bite so hurry up and get on."

    Of course, Marcus knew that the employee was more surprised over his actions than seeing Blitz, but he decided to say what he did so that they could save some face.

    Coming back to their senses the employee bowed her head and profusely apologized before carefully getting up onto the coachman''s stand next to Marcus.

    "Okay now which direction do I need to go."

 Chapter 125 - 124 The Haunted Estate (2)

    Taking the directions from the employee from the office ofnd management, Marcus went down a number of roads before he began passing through arge residential area for nobles and the most affluent merchants.

    Looking out Marcus could see many estates with mansions that ranged from around ten thousand square feet at the smallest to a select few that were absolutely gigantic, Marcus estimating them to be over a hundred thousand square feet.

    ''Damn half of the area of the inner city must just be the estates of nobles, which are even further cornered off by more walls and gates.''

    While Marcus was looking around at the noble estates around, he eventually saw one that was in a state of disrepair and was even given some extra space in between it and the other nearby estates.

    Seeing the ce that was obviously his destination, Marcus directed Blitz in the direction of the estate and the employee that had been guiding him visibly gulped when they saw the mansion in the distance.

    Pulling up right next to the gate that separated the estate from the road, Marcus pulled out a key had been given along with the title for the estate and unlocked the gate.

    "Creeeeee."

    With a loud creek the unmaintained gate slowly moved open unblocking the path to the mansion of the estate that Marcus had recently obtained.

    Marcus then turned around to thank the employee from the office ofnd management but found that she was already running away in fear since she hadpleted her assignment.

    Shrugging his shoulder Marcus walked up to the carriage and opened the door and said to Lilia, "Lilia if you would not mind please wait here while I go check out the estate''s mansion, and once I am sure it is safe, I wille back and get you."

    With an inquisitive look Lilia looked at Marcus but she quickly figured that he had some reason not to let her enter now, so she just nodded her head and went back to the book she was using to study.

    With that settled Marcus looked back towards the mansion and started walking towards it.

    Slowly getting closer while keeping his guard up, when he got within a thousand feet, he could feel that the mansion had a sinister aura about it.

    Narrowing his eyes and looking intently at the mansion Marcus could make out a flicker of movement and knew that something was watching him.

    ''That was quick as soon as I was within a thousand feet whatever it is has picked up on my presence. At first, I thought it might have just been a bad rumor, but I am pretty sure there is something in there of a spiritual nature.''

    Working up his nerves Marcus continued to walk towards the front door and when he arrived, he could feel as if something was trying to probe him.

    Of course, normal people would not be able to feel this probe but as a purely spiritual being Marcus was able to pick up on such things.

    ''Hm, I wonder what it just tried to do, maybe it was checking the strength of my soul, it could have also been some type of attack, but my soul was too strong for it to prate.''

    After thinking about it for a few minutes Marcus decided that the risks were worth it since he thought it was unlikely that the being in the mansion was supremely powerful.

    ''If it was incredibly strong it probably would have killed the persists that tried to exercise it.''

    Marcus thinking that whatever the entity was might not be too strong, put the key into the doors lock and opened up the mansion.

    When the door opened Marcus immediately felt an eerie cold but since he could do the same trick since level one it was really just amusing to him.

    Walking inside Marcus immediately noticed how dusty the mansion had be as no one had lived there for a few years.

    ''This ce is going to need a good cleaning; ah I am almost certainly going to have to hire a few people at least to maintain this ce, otherwise I am going to have to change my race to housebound ghost great spirt of cleaning.''

    Walking into the front entry Marcus cast his tier one spell floatingntern and sent it into the air allowing him to get a good look at the entire surroundings.

    Looking around Marcus could see that the front entry was shaped like an upside-down T with a main hallway going forward and two other hallways going right and left.

    He could also see arge chandelier hanging from the ceiling as well as a few doors along the walls of the main hallway.

    ''Hm, whatever it is, is still watching me but it does not appear to be getting close to me or making any type of move. Guess I will just tour around the building until I have seen everything and if that point it has note to me, I will go to it.''

    Deciding to head down the left hallway first Marcus soon came to a door which he opened to reveal just a simple closet.

    Sighing Marcus continued down the hall and into a massive kitchen.

    Looking around Marcus could see all manner of appliances such as stoves, a grill, and even a fridge.

    However, as Marcus inspected these items, he found that they were worn out and it seemed that the fridge and grill were out ofmission. But Marcus did find that when he sent mana into the stove it began to heat up.

    ''Well at least one thing still works.''

    Marcus then looked around the rest of the kitchen finding that there were still full sets of silverware, tes, bowls, and knives, although they definitely needed some cleaning.

    There was also arge table in the middle of the room that while dusty seemed to be made out of sturdy wood and in good condition.

    Satisfied with the things he found in the kitchen Marcus opened up one of the doors and found that it was arge pantry that was easily the size of arge bedroom.

    s, after opening the door Marcus was assaulted by the smell of molding food and he could see that things had been growing in the pantry for quite sometime making a huge mess.

    mming the door shut Marcus decided he had enough of the pantry and opened the next door which led into another hallway.

    Walking down this hallway Marcus came across a set of stairs leading to the second floor and made note of this since it was the first time, he found a way to the second floor.

    Continuing along the hallway Marcus came out into arge dinning room with a table big enough to sit twenty people along with that many chairs.

    Again, the quality of the wood was still pristine and only need a bit of cleaning and maintenance to be usable.

    Marcus quickly left through the next door and found the room he entered to be a massive living room with a number of couches and chairs.

    Unfortunately, their quality was starting to decline as the cloth and leather used on them was beginning to degrade and mold, and Marcus figured he would have to get rid of them.

    Sighing Marcus looked at the furniture before continuing on his tour of his new mansion.

    ''All of the bedrooms need new curtains and beds, the bathrooms definitely need work with their plumbing, and a few of the windows have been damaged and need to be reced. At least therge library has plenty of books left in it, but all of the furniture made with cloth or leather is going to need to be reced.''

    After around two hours Marcus had toured nearly the entirety of the mansion making note of all of things, he was going to need to do to get the ce into shape.

    However, whatever entity was inhabiting the ce had stayed a fair distance from Marcus not making its presence know.

    ''All that is left is the hallway on the ground floor leading to the right, since the kitchen was to the left, I wonder what is going to be in that direction.''

    Walking down thest hallway Marcus came across another set of stairs leading to the next floor and eventually came to another room.

    Opening the door Marcus could smell something putrid emanating from the room.

    Looking around Marcus realized that this was actually an attached apartment with another smaller living area with an attached kitchen.

    Marcus while holding his nose walked over towards the kitchen and opened the pantry expecting to find rotting food, but there was nothing inside.

    Looking around Marcus tried to find the source of the disgusting smell and soon found it wasing from another door leading elsewhere in the apartment.

    Opening that door even with his nose held shut the stench in the air was almost visible and Marcus nearly resorted to using his ghost form to escape the smell but using his better judgment did not since he did not want to take the chance it would spook the entity in the house.

    Walking down the set of stairs in this room, Marcus illuminating the ce and could see that this used to be a wine cer.

    However, it appeared that every bottle that had been down there was shattered their contents leaking out and creating an awful smell.

    ''It looks like an earthquake went through this room and destroyed every bottle. This is the first room I have been in that had obvious signs of destruction, so I wonder if the something bad happened to the entity here, or maybe they just hate alcohol.''

    Marcus continued looking around the cer and on the other side of the room he saw another staircase leading up.

    ''Must have missed that one, maybe its exit is on the outside of the house I suppose that is a possibility.''

    Marcus wanting to find where the other door would lead walked down into the depths of the cer.

    However, when he put his foot on the ground, he felt the temperature of the room begin to drop and in the corner of the room he could see an area that his floatingntern was not illuminating, and Marcus could sense that the entity was hiding there, watching him while releasing its malice.

 Chapter 126 - 125 Memories Of The Forgotten

    Looking at the dark spot in the room where the light from his magic would not reach, Marcus decided to try his creature appraisal skill and actually got back the entity''s level.

    ''Whatever it is, is level thirty-two. A bit higher than I thought it would be but still within the realm that I can handle it. Now then, is it just going to keep watching me or is it going to do something.''

    Deciding to take the forward approach, Marcus began walking towards the dark spot in the corner of the cer and said, "I know you are there so juste on out, or are we going to have to y a game of tag first."

    Marcus waited for a few moments to see if he would get any response, but the entity still just stayed in the dark corner not making any moves.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus began approaching closer when the figure of a young boy came out of the shadows with dark mist emanating off of his body and in pained raspy cries it said, "LEAVE, BEGONE, GET OUT."

    However, Marcus had no intention of leaving and kept walking closer when the ghostly figure of the boy let out a howling screech that sounded like a million nails on a chalk board.

    Covering his ears Marcus felt that this screech was some type of attack but luckily his spirt stat was quite strong, and while he did feel some mild difort, he managed to shrug off most of the effects.

    Unfortunately, this was not the only move the entity had made as the dark mist surrounding it flew towards Marcus and surrounded him.

    Marcus tried to run away from the mist, but it soon propagated through the entire room leaving Marcus nowhere to run.

    Thus, he used hisst trick and used his ghost form hoping that the mist would be unable to affect him.

    As the mist surrounded himpletely Marcus braced for something to happened, but the mist seemed to do absolutely nothing to him.

    Of course, what Marcus did not know was that this was the signature attack for malicious spirts call life drain, which while incredibly effective on the living was not going to have any effect on another ghost.

    Floating over to where the spirt of the young boy cloaked in dark mist was, Marcus could see him thrashing around violently.

    ''Well, I guess I can consider him to be hostile it does not sit right in my stomach to destroy the soul of a young kid, but it will hopefully put him out of his misery.''

    Marcus then focused on the ghostly child and exerted his phantom pressure using the strength of his soul to attack.

    The spirt of the young boy feeling the attack immediately started screaming in agony before training its gaze on Marcus rushing towards him.

    Marcus seeing this did not even try to get out of the way figuring that the malicious spirt would pass right through him but failed to realize that both of them were currently ethereal.

    The spirt of the young boy crashed right into Marcus startling him and causing him to lose focus on his phantom pressure.

    The boy then began tearing at Marcus with dark ws slicing him up until Marcus activated his embodiment of light unique skill.

    Marcus ethereal body then becamepletely enveloped in light which pushed back the darkness surrounding the child spirt and causing him to cry out in pain.

    This had been a gamble on Marcus part since he was not sure that his embodiment of light would have any effect on the child spirt, but it seemed to have worked incredibly well.

    The malicious spirt attacking Marcus quickly separated away from him and dove back into the shadows of the room and disappeared beneath the floor.

    Still reeling from the attack that had just happened to him Marcus shut of his embodiment of light and looked at his wounds.

    He looked over his ethereal body and could see numerous cuts from the child sprit''s wild wing and a few parts of his soul where the darkness energy had corroded him.

    ''Damn this hurts, this is the first time I have ever fought something that is also ethereal, and it is a bit difficult. Luckily it seems to be weak to light so if I can corner it, I should be able to bath it in light and win.''

    After taking a few moments to check his status to make sure he did not have any lingering effects like a curse or something, Marcus floated towards the area he watched the young boy''s spirt float to and noticed that there was a trap door that was leading even deeper down.

    Passing down through the trap door Marcus soon found himself in a long shaft with adder going deeper and quickly floated down into another room.

    Looking around Marcus could see that the room was made entirely of stone with etchings of demonic looking beings and in the center of the room was a stone altar.

    Floating closer towards the stone alter Marcus soon saw that there was a child''s skeleton stillying there with a small amount of dark mist simr to the boy''s spirting off it.

    ''What the hell is this ce, it looks like something you would see in a movie where a demonic cult sacrifices people, except this is not a movie and I am pretty sure that is exactly what happened.''

    Looking around some more, Marcus found many dried patches of very old blood around the altar.

    However, before Marcus could finish looking at the altar, he heard something, and listening closer he realized that it was the sound of sobbing.

    Floating over in direction of the crying Marcus soon saw the spirt of the young boy huddled into a small alcove sobbing.

    The boy sensing Marcus'' presence looked over at him and Marcus could see tears falling down his face although they disappeared before hitting the floor.

    "You should go before it gets back, you hurt it, but it is going toe back soon."

    The boy then continued to sob leaving Marcus dumbfounded by what he had just said.

    ''What does he mean by it, and why the sudden change in his demeanor. I thought he was just a simple site bound malicious spirt, but maybe I was wrong.''

    Taking a good look at the sobbing boy Marcus could see that a few things were different about him now. The wisps of darkness around him were barely visible now and he was no longer blocking all light around him.

    Marcus also noticed that the boy''s eyes had gone from ck to blue and that his entire aura was different now.

    Gritting his teeth Marcus squatted down, grabbed the young boy, dragged him out of the alcove, and brought him into a hug before saying, "Tell me what it is and maybe I can help you get past this, you no longer have to stay in this ce any longer."

    The young boy being in Marcus'' embrace felt a sense of warmth andfort. He had in thest twenty years never felt the embrace of another being and hisst contact before dying was so incredibly cruel and painful.

    The spirt of the young boy then began crying even louder no longer just sobbing but balling his eyes out.

    Marcus patted the back of the boy''s head allowing him to vent out his long bottle up emotions.

    ''There is something else clinging to this boy''s soul now and that I am in direct contact with him, I can tell. It is simr to the soul tether I had with Irene in the beginning but whatever this thing is, is eating away at this boy''s soul.''

    While holding the boy in his embrace Marcus decided to try something and activated his possession skill on the boy''s soul.

    Marcus then felt his soul begin to connect with the boy''s but something else burst forward and the boy began iling around while screaming like a madman.

    Pushing through Marcus continued to try and form the connection and activated his embodiment of light once again and his soul began glowing brightly as he pushed through the darkness.

    After passing through a torrent of darkness and shadows Marcus came out into a small room and sitting on a chair reading a letter was the young boy.

    Marcus moved towards him and tried to touch him but found that he passed right through the boy.

    Marcus tried to solidify his soul, but nothing happened and as he looked back at the boy, he saw him get up from the chair he was on and run out of the room.

    Marcus deciding that it was in his interest and decided to follow the boy running after him.

    Soon Marcus caught back up with the boy and saw him talking to his father.

    "Dad, I just got a letter back from your friend, he wrote that he could get me a job in his master''s estate as his kitchen aid. He wrote that I might have to do some other odd jobs as well, but the pay is good, and I will have enough money to send back home for you Emma."

    The boy''s father who was missing his right arm and leg look at his young son with tears welling up in his eyes and said, "That is good news Tyler, I am d, now you and you sister will be able to have enough to eat."

    The man then rocked the young girl that was sleeping in his remaining arm while he began crying.

    The scene then suddenly shifted to the young boy called Tyler standing in front of the gate to the mansion Marcus had recently obtained, ept it looked quite different no longer in disrepair but immacte.

    Marcus continued to watch Tyler walk up to the mansion and through a side door where the servants worked.

    Tyler then met up with a middle-aged man with blonde hair and a short scruffy beard who gave him a tour around the grounds and showed him where he would be sleeping in the servants'' quarters.

    The days of Tyler''s life quickly passed by as Marcus watched and could often see from his vantage point that people would look at Tyler with sad eyes.

    However, these days of hard work and hope for Tyler did notst long when one day the Marquess requested his presence.

    Tyler being the obedient and hardworking servant he was promptly went to the separate apartment where the Marquess was.

    What happened next Marcus did not want to watch, but he knew he had to witness what happened to Tyler.

    Marcus watched as Tyler was brought into the wine cer that was set up with a number of tables with people wearing masks sitting around them.

    Tylering into the room looked towards the Marquess and asked him what he needed him to do when the Marquess shoved him to the ground and said, "Who gave you permission to speak. What you will be doing is whatever theses finedies and gentlemen here want."

    Marcus continued to watch as the people in the cer took turns torturing Tyler some of them cutting him, others burning him, and some even used magic to do all manner of unspeakable things to him.

    It was a true horror show for Marcus to watch as they continued to torture him for over two hours using healing magic or items whenever he was close to fainting or death.

    After the people that had been torturing him had had their "fun" and broken his spirt, they opened up the hidden door in the cer and moved down to the stone room with carvings of demons along the walls.

    They then ced Tyler on the stone altar in the middle of the room and began chanting. Once they had finished the chant the Marquess stabbed a dagger into Tyler''s heart and then sliced his throat.

    Tyler''s blood began flowing out of his body and down the alter, beginning to fill up lines that had been carved into the floor.

    When his blood hadpletely filled the lines that formed a rune on the floor, it began glowing with a dark red light before a pulse of darkness enveloped Tyler''s body for a moment but then disappeared.

    The people in the room began moring and Marcus could hear some of them say,

    "So, it was another failure."

    "I thought for sure this time it would work."

    "Well, there are always more children maybe next time we should try more than one."

    The people that had justpleted a dark ritual using Tyler as their sacrifice slowly began to leave the room not even bothering to move Tyler''s body.

    However, what they did not know was that the ritual had notpletely failed and the demon they had tried to summon became entangled with Tyler''s soul.

    The demon using Tyler''s soul and rage as a medium then ughtered everyone in the house except for a few young maids, that with hisst ounce of will Tyler held the demon back and allowed them to escape.

    The scenes of Tyler being stuck in the house bound to the ce he was killed quickly began to pass by until during one of the scenes Marcus no longer continued to watch and grasped ahold of a dark tendril that had been surrounding his body.

    "Did you really think that showing me this was going to be enough to distract me."

    Marcus then turned around to see the shadowy entity that had been possessing Tyler for twenty years with multiply tendrils of shadow and darknessing out of its body and wrapping around him.

    Marcus smirked at the demonic entity and said, "Unfortunately for you I am not as easy to control as the soul of a broken little boy and now that have shown yourself you are not getting away."

 Chapter 127 - 126 Released

    As Marcus smirked back at the shadowy demon behind him, the entity that had thought it had managed to distract Marcus, screeched loudly and the tendrils of shadows that had surrounded him began to tighten aiming to restrict Marcus.

    ''Embodiment of Light.''

    Using one of his two signature unique skills, Marcus'' body becameplete enveloped in light and like a sh of lightning Marcus shot up into the air passing through the tendrils before they could grasp around him.

    Marcus then watched as the scene showing Tyler''s memories shattered, revealing what appeared to be a still ck ocean with a shatter sky, and in the middle was Tyler bound by a number of shadowy tendrils.

    Floating in the sky Marcus looked down at the shadow demon and shot towards it.

    Loudly screeching the shadows around the demon coalesced into a massive trident that flew towards Marcus trying to intercept him.

    Casting a heightened shinningnce, Marcus pointed his body towards the shadow trident in front of him and descended upon it like a missile.

    Light and darkness shed as Marcus'' superior power cut through the trident, and he fell upon the shadow demon like a meteor.

    The still water in Tyler''s sea of consciousness shook violent as Marcus crashed into the demon and began pummeling it with his body d in light.

    Marcus continued punching the shadow demon with hit after hit trying to destroy it, but after a few moments he suddenly felt the greatest sense of danger he ever had and jump off right as a massive beam of darkness flew out of the demon''s chest.

    Missing the beam by just a hair''s breadth Marcus rolled on the ground for a dozen meters before jumping back onto his feet.

    He then cast his gaze back over towards the shadow demon that was looking worse for ware after taking numerous hits from Marcus and using an incredibly powerful attack.

    The two had a stare off for just a moment before the shadow demon turned around and began rushing towards the bound figure of Tyler.

    The shadow demon knew that its only way to win this fight was to consume Tyler''s soul that it had been nurturing for two decades, and while it had notpletely tainted Tyler''s soul the shadow demon was running out of options.

    However, Marcus seeing the demon''s destination sted forward using every speed boosting skill he had and managed to cut the demon off just a few feet from Tyler.

    The shadow demon snarled at Marcus who hade out of nowhere and was thwarting its decades long n to evolve itself.

    Summoning another set of shadow tendrils, the demon sent them towards Marcus, who quickly jumped to the side to dodge.

    The shadow demon''s beak shaped mouth then curved upwards as a previously invisible tendril that was connected to Tyler appeared and yank him towards the shadow demon.

    Watching as if in slow motion Marcus saw Tyler''s soul being dragged towards the shadow demon.

    ''Shield of Light.''

    A shimmering circr shield quickly manifested in between Tyler and the shadow demon and instead of ending up in the shadow demon''s embrace Tyler became stuck against the shield of light.

    The shadow demon seeing the shield of light in between it and its prize shed out with its wed hand and shattered the shield with one swipe.

    It then moved to consume Tyler and increase its powers, except as it reach its wed hand out to grasp him Marcus shed down with another shinningnce cutting the shadow demon''s hand off along with the tendril connecting it to Tyler.

    Howling in pain and anger the shadow demon realizing it had been out matched began flying towards the cracked sky in order to escape.

    Giving chase Marcus shot into the air following right after the shadow demon and watched it exit out of Tyler''s sea of consciousness through the cracks in the sky.

    Passing through the same crack Marcus came out of Tyler''s spiritual body that he had entered through his possession ability and saw the wispy tail of the shadow demon as it was passing into the ceiling trying to flee.

    Sending his spectral arm out towards the shadow demon''s tail Marcus grabbed ahold of it right before it phased through the ceiling.

    He then wrapped the tail around his spectral hand and yank back pulling the ethereal shadow demon out of the ceiling and with a heighten shinningnce in hand Marcus stabbed into the center of the shadow demon.

    Thence made of light pieced through the shadow demon like a hot knife through butter causing it to let out a spine-chilling scream as Marcus pulled back and stabbed it over and over again until itpletely dissipated and a magic core with ck lines fell to the ground.

    Shutting off his embodiment of light unique skill now that the battle was over Marcus felt drained but knew he was not done yet.

    He turned back towards the spirt of Tyler that was floating in the air in a catatonic state.

    Reentering Tyler''s sea of Marcus floated over towards him and could see that he was still wrapped up by the tendril''s that had bound him for over two decades.

    Casting his tier two light spell Marcus summoned yet another shinningnce and stabbed it into the tendrils wrapped around Tyler.

    Except as he cut through the tendrils Marcus watched as Tyler began screaming in immense pain as these tendrils had long since bound with his soul.

    ''Shit, what the hell am I supposed to do now, the kid is too far gone for me to cut away the darkness surrounding him. The only thing I can do now is destroy his soul, but after all he has been through, he does not deserve such a cruel ending.''

    Marcus not wanting to use hisst resort just yet, Marcus began thinking of other ways to separate the lingering corruption of the shadow demon from Tyler''s soul.

    After nearly a dozen minutes Marcus decided to try one more thing although it was going to be difficult for him and the risks were not negligible.

    ''Embodiment of Darkness''

    Enveloping himself in darkness Marcus reached forward and grasped the tendrils as Tyler''s eyes abruptly opened for the first time since Marcus had entered his sea of consciousness.

    Marcus allowing his darkness to merge with the tendrils, tried to instead of destroy them, absorb them into himself.

    Concentrating with his entire focus Marcus began retracting the darkness back into his body absorbing the corruption left by the shadow demon into himself.

    As the power left behind by the shadow demon flowed into him, Marcus felt a searing pain spread through his whole body, but gritting his teeth continued to drain the tendrils'' power into himself.

    Nearly an hour passed until Marcus had caused all of the tendrils to wither, releasing Tyler, and when thest one fell and crumbled into dust the dark sea and sky suddenly lit up with a vibrant light as both turned a shade of light blue.

    Copsing now that his job was done Marcus felt his soul barely keeping ahold of consciousness as he saw the young boy who had been controlled by a demon stand up and smile towards him.

    Marcus then felt a force on himself as he was shunted out of Tyler''s sea of consciousness appearing back in the stone room.

    Acting quickly Marcus resolidified his body and mmed onto the ground since right now he did not even have the strength to float.

    Looking up Marcus saw the spirt of Tyler floating over him with a slight glow on his body as he slowly dissipated into particles of light and Marcus saw him mouth the words "Thank you" right before his soul left this world.

    Groaning Marcus rolled over onto his back and took out a mana recovery potion along with an orange colored and yellow colored potin he had obtained as a reward from the chest in the Ocean Bluff Temple.

    Drinking all three of these potions Marcus felt his manaing back quickly while the orange potion boosted his vitality stat for a short while and the yellow one boosted his spirt stat.

    With the effects of the potions he had just drank filling his body with temporary strength, Marcus stood back up and walked over towards the altar Tyler''s skeleton was stillying on.

    Taking out a nket from his item box Marcus wrapped up the remains of the young boy beofre storing them back into his item box.

    He then looked out in disdain at the room around him and cast his tier three spell iron sphere.

    With the floating mass of iron at hismand Marcus sent it smashing into the altar destroying it and then having it crash violently into the walls as he erased any trace of the foul interior.

    Once he was satisfied with the amount of destruction he had caused to the room, Marcus used his ghost form to float back out of the room and into the wine cer.

    ''The first thing I am going to do once I recover is fill that horrible ce in.''

    Resolidifying and walking up the stairs that lead out of the cer Marcus opened up a pair of doors on the outside of the house.

    Looking around after a few moments Marcus found arge and healthy-looking tree and walked over towards it.

    In front of the tree Marcus began digging taking out the shovel he had not used in a long time he dug and dug and dug, until he had made arge hole six feet deep.

    Marcus then took out the nket that had Tyler''s remains inside of it and ced it at the bottom of the grave.

    After sending out a quick plea to the administrator that ran this world that Tyler''s soul have a better life next time, Marcus began filling in the hole.

    Soon Marcus had finished burying Tyler''s remains and once he had he copsed the effects of the potions having stopped working a while ago, and only through sheer force of will Marcus had been able to finish.

    ''Ugh, I feel like I am going to have to sleep for a week after this. But first I need to tell Lilia and Blitz that they can enter.''

    Using his connection to Blitz Marcus sent him a message that the house was safe and then gave Blitz directions to where he currently was before falling unconscious.

 Chapter 128 - 127 Work To Be Done

    Waking up with a start, Marcus quickly looked around and found himself sleeping on a mat in a vaguely familiar room.

    ''What happened, where am I.''

    Marcus then quickly remembered that he had overexerted himself and fell unconscious once he was out of energy.

    Looking at the interior of the room he was in, Marcus quickly realized that he was inside the mansion on the estate he had been given.

    Standing up Marcus first felt for the connection he has with Blitz and sent him the signal that he had woken up.

    Blitz while not able to converse in words sent over a manner of feelings from worry, to relief, to hunger.

    Shaking his head Marcus exited the room finding that he was in one of the second story bedrooms.

    Walking down the halls Marcus began calling out for Lilia trying to find where she was, and when he made it to the first floor, he finally heard a responseing from over in the kitchen.

    Entering into the kitchen Marcus saw Lilia cutting up some vegetables and throwing them into arge pot.

    However, when she saw Marcus enter the room, she immediately ran up to him and hugged him before sobbing and saying, "Please do not do that again, I thought I had lost you forever. No matter what I did you would not wake up, and I did not know what I was supposed to do."

    As Lilia cried into his chest Marcus patted her on the back trying tofort her and when a minute had passed, he said, "How long was I out, judging by how you have cleaned up this kitchen I would say it has been a while."

    Lilia then moved her head out of Marcus'' chest and looked up at him with a smile and said, "You have been out for almost three days, I was really starting to get worried, but Blitzforted me and since you have a connection with him, I figured he would be freaking out if something was really wrong with you."

    ''Three days huh, I guess I did continue to use my embodiment of darkness for far longer than I ever have before. It really is a miracle that I was able to keep it up long enough topletely absorb the power that the shadow demon had left in Tyler''s soul.''

    Marcus then continued tofort Lilia praising her for doing such a good job cleaning up the kitchen and taking care of herself.

    However, as they were distracted talking to each other the pot Lilia was using to cook with began boiling over and, she and Marcus had to rush over and clean up the mess.

    ''Ah Lilia, actually is a pretty good cook, the soup she made was quite good.''

    Marcus after finishing cleaning up after dinner looked over at Lilia who had fallen asleep at the table and with a warm smile on his face Marcus carried her up to second floor bedroom she had cleaned up and ced her on the sleeping mat.

    ''Now then I have been sleeping for far to long and now it is time to get to work.''

    Putting on a set of cheap clothes Marcus decided it was time to really clean the ce up.

    Going around to every room Marcus put the furniture that was too degraded to be serviceable into his item box and once he had met his capacity would go outside and put them into arge pile.

    After just a little over an hour Marcus had finished gathering up arge pile of furniture and with a single fire shot set them aze.

    Marcus felt a bit bad about doing this, but he had no other idea what else to do with all of the decaying furniture.

    ''Okay now that that is done, I need to fill in that damned secret room below the cer.''

    Filling his item box withrge quantities of dirt, Marcus made many trips into the secret room and emptied the dirt into it until he hadpletely filled it up.

    Once Marcus had finished with his goal of getting rid of the hidden room where the former owner of this mansion had sacrificed children, he got to work cleaning up the wine cer that had the contents of many bottles of alcohol spilled throughout it.

    Using his boots of the deep to send out a few small waves of water Marcus began washing away the filth in the cer and once he had a goodyer of water, he brought forth a number of towels from his item box and began soaking up the water.

    The cleaning process even with the use of his skills was still going quite slowly but after nearly and hour he felt it getting easier and he thought, ''Did I just get the cleaning skill.''

    ''Status.''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 28/19

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirt of Light and Darkness)

    Title: Baress

    Level: 30

    HP: 5690/5690

    MP: 2490/2490

    STR: 231 (+2)

    AGL: 230 (+14)

    VIT: 228 (+2)

    INT: 247 (+2)

    SPR: 336 (+3)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 12

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, ##u#####o##, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness

    Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 4, Fire Magic Lvl 2, Danger Sense Lvl 4, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful sh Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 3, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 1, Trap Sensing Lvl 2, Dark Magic Lvl 2, Light Magic Lvl 2, Driving Lvl 2, Cooking Lvl 1, Cleaning Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows

    When Marcus looked over his status, the only thing he had been expecting to see that was different was the acquisition of the cleaning skill.

    However, what he saw instead was enough to shock him to the core.

    ''What the hell happened, all of my stats have gone up by twelve, whoa my sealed unique skill is now showing two characters, I even got two new specter powers, my digging and creature appraisal skills have leveled up, ah and I did get the cleaning skill as well as cooking.''

    As his mind started to overheat from the new information his status had reveled to him, Marcus took a moment to calm down and began reading the descriptions of his new abilities.

    He first tried to read the description of his now partly unsealed unique skill but found that the description read like a redacted government document saying things like, ''This unique skill allows the user to (redacted)''.

    Sighing Marcus figured he must have done something during the battle with the shadow demon or when freeing Tyler that subconsciously activated this skill.

    ''Whatever, I do not really know what this skill does, but it did nearly kill me when I first used it and the administrator must have sealed it for a reason. I am sure as time goes by I will figure out what it really does.''

    Pushing the thought of his secret unique skill to the back of his mind, Marcus read the description of his two new specter powers and was pretty happy with the two new additions.

    ''Life drain does pretty much what you would expect letting me steal the life force of living creatures and converting a small portion of it into my HP. Of course, its effectiveness is dependent on a lot of factors like the difference in level, the age and race of the target, and how strong my spirt stat is. I also need to be in contact with the target but I can still use it even if I am ethereal so they would not know I am there. Nevertheless, as strong as life drain is tendrils of shadows is better. This is the same ability that the shadow demon was using, and it certainly has a good amount of uses. It can be used to attack, bind, and even allows me to channel the life drain ability through it. Unfortunately, it cannot be used in ces where there is bright light but other than that it is quite powerful.''

    Once he had a good grasp of what his new abilities could do Marcus got back to work cleaning the wine cer and with another fifteen minutes, he had managed to eliminate the foul odor that had permeated the room.

    With thatpleted Marcus got to work through the rest of the night going around and moping the floors and using his magic to dust the ce.

    When the first light of day was beginning to crest over the horizon Marcus had finished cleaning the first floor and had even managed to get his cleaning skill up to level three.

    ''Okay that is enough cleaning for me. This ce is too damn big, and I cannot expect me and Lilia to clean this entire ce by ourselves. I am going to need to hire a few people to keep this ce in tip top shape, the only problem is my limited funds of around two hundred seventy gold left.. I suppose I will need to sell some of the stuff in my item box and learn how to forge weapons and then hope I can make a living off of that for a while.''

 Chapter 129 - 128 Increasing Funds

    Thinking of all of the things that he need to get done today Marcus was starting to get a headache since there was so much to do.

    ''First things first I need to increase my funds and then find a ce where I can hire maids, butlers, or something.''

    With his rough n thought out, Marcus decided to take a break for a while until Lilia woke up so that he coordinate with her, and after a full night of cleaning Marcus needed to rest his mind.

    After around two hours where Marcus a read story book about famous adventures of old, Lilia finally woke up and came down to the kitchen.

    Marcus seeing her heading outside probably to get water from the well took out a bucket he had already filled up and said, "Here you go I already have some fresh water ready."

    Lilia seeing the bucket of crystal-clear water went over towards it and took a huge drink before cupping some water in her hands and sshing her face.

    Once Lilia had washed her face Marcus exined what he wanted to do today and what he needed of her.

    When he had finished the exnation Marcus and Lilia went over to one of the two detached and close by servants quarters to have a look around.

    Taking a good look at the building Marcus could see that it was a long two-story building with one main room in front and eight smaller rooms going down each side for a total of sixteen.

    Entering into the main room, Marcus found what he was expecting seeing that it consisted of a kitchen, an area to eat in, and a ce with which to doundry.

    Satisfied with what he had found he looked through the other rooms on each side and found that they were all bedrooms of the same size with two built-in bed frames.

    However, unlike the main building that still had all of its furniture and appliances abandoned, the servants'' building was picked clean and all that was left was the barebone structure.

    ''Okay I am going to need to buy bedding for these rooms and other necessities like food. I can already feel my wallet crying out in pain, but I just have to do what I need to do. Now first things first I need to increase mt current funds.''

    After inspecting the servants living area Marcus asked Lilia to clean up the area as best as she could while he was out.

    Marcus then called Blitz over and mounted on his back before having him run towards the estate''s gate.

    Getting back to therge gate that separated his estate from the city''s road, Marcus noticed that he had forgotten to lock the gate when he first entered, but it appeared that the mansion''s reputation had kept any trespassers out.

    Exiting out the gate and making sure to lock it this time Marcus looked at the guard station right by the gate and sighed realizing he was going to need to hire someone to manage the gate as well.

    ''Huh, I always used to think back on Earth how morous it would be to own a massive house but now that I have one it certainly is a lot of work.''

    While Marcus was standing outside the gate to his estate a few passerby''s noticed him and began whispering and point wondering who the person that hade out of the cursed estate was.

    However, Marcus paid them no mind and directed Blitz towards the inner wall.

    With amazing speed Blitz shot forward in the direction Marcus wanted to go shocking the onlookers.

    Traveling at over fifty miles an hour Marcus made much better time than he had when the carriage was still attached and in just thirty minutes, he managed to make it to the inner wall.

    Stopping in front of the gate that connects the outer and inner-city Marcus asked the guards there for directions to the nearest adventures guild branch.

    Unfortunately, the guards told him that it was closer to the edge of the city and quite a distance from where Marcus currently was.

    However, the guards did tell Marcus that there was a series of toll roads throughout the city that people could use to avoid traffic if they had enough coin.

    Thanking the two guards Marcus rode Blitz towards the nearest toll road and for the steep price of five gold even after receiving a discount for being a noble, Marcus was allowed to get on the toll road.

    Looking down the road Marcus could see that it was basically a ghost town as almost no one used it for travel.

    Bounding down the road it took Marcus just over an hour to make it to the other side of the city using Blitz''s superior speed and after another ten minutes Marcus had located the branch of the adventures guild.

    Tying Blitz up outside the building Marcus walked into the guild building and saw a number of people milling about looking at the request board or having an early morning drink.

    However, when Marcus entered, he did attract a decent amount of attention since he was dressed better than the average person and his ethereal beauty was captivating.

    Ignoring the stares that were being directed at him Marcus made his way over to a certain board and wanted to check something.

    Looking around Marcus soon found his portrait and name hung up on the wall of wanted people and the bounty on his head had gone up to two thousand gold.

    ''Well, if I wanted some fast money, I could always turn myself in.''

    After having a quick chuckle thinking about how he could make a lot of money off of himself Marcus headed over towards the reception booths and waited in line.

    Once it was his turn Marcus asked the receptionist if they would buy some magic cores from him even without a request and the woman who was helping him said, "Yes the guild is willing to buy any and all magic cores since they are always in high demand but normally you will get a better price from one of the people requesting for magic cores."

    Marcus of course knew this, but since he was currently only at the bronze rank with Irene, he did not have the required rank to ept requests that were asking for higher level cores. This was done so that merchants did not scalp a bunch of cores and take request they normally could notplete on their own and undercut the hard working and higher-level adventures.

    Of course, Marcus with his impressive level and status could probably get his rank as Irene raised and even have his probationary status removed but he did not feel like wasting time with that whole song and dance right now.

    "Yeah, I understand that I could make more off of requests, but I have arge bulk of cores of varying grades to sell, around two hundred."

    The receptionist then looked at Marcus like he was pulling her chain, he did not have any visible bags or anywhere he could be holding that many cores.

    She was about to tell Marcus to leave and not mess with the receptionists again when Marcus took out a dozen cores and ced them on the counter.

    Marcus had made sure that these were all cores from beasts or monsters level twenty or over garnering the surprised attention of the receptionist.

    As she looked at the cores that normally only silver rank or higher adventures would bring in, she just stood there for a few moments staring at Marcus before she collected herself and took out a list of prices that the guild was willing to buy cores for depending on their size and grade.

    Pulling out a number of cores most of which he had obtained from monsters on the trip from River Landing to the capital, Marcus stopped once he had pulled out two-hundred and thirty cores leaving himself with only his best thirty left.

    The receptionist began counting and detailing the value for each of the cores Marcus had disyed.

    Taking a number of minutes to make sure of the quality of each of the cores the guild employee finally came up with a total price for the cores Marcus had disyed and handed a sheet over to him stating how much the guild would pay for his cores.

    ''Six hundred seventy-eight gold, eighty-one silver, and forty-three copper.''

    Looking over the price list Marcus found it eptable even though he knew that if he had the right connections or rank, he would have made more, but he was in need of quick cash and sold the cores away.

    Of course, the receptionist helping him did not have the authority to make such arge purchase and after getting the vice guild master''s approval Marcus was handed a number of sacks full of coins.

    With a new slosh of funds secured, Marcus asked the receptionist where he could find a weapons store since he wanted to sell the weapons he had taken from bandits along the road.

    Once he had the directions, he thanked her for her time and began heading towards the exit of the guild.

    However, before he could get out a handsome man with golden hair came up towards Marcus and said, "Hello there miss, I could not help but see you transaction with the guild just now and I must say that I am really impressed. My name is Tiberius, and I am a veteran silver rank adventurer, and I would like to give you the honor of joining my party. We are all over level twenty and I am certain we will soon break into the gold ranking. How about it with your item box and our strength we can easily rise to the top."

    Marcus not even ncing at Tiberius began walking past him and simply said, "No thanks I am busy and have no intention of joining an adventuring party right now."

    Tiberius a bit angry that Marcus was blowing him off reached out to grab his shoulder but before his hand could even touch Marcus, Tiberius was suddenly staring at the ceiling before he crashed onto the ground.

    Tiberiusid therepletely stunned, he had no idea what had just happened, he had not even noticed when Marcus had grabbed his arm and flipped him into the air.

    Many of the adventures seeing this looked at Marcus with surprise since they knew that while Tiberius was a bit full of himself, he was still quite strong at level twenty-three, but this random girl had just flipped him over like he was made out of cotton stuffing.

    Marcus then exited the adventures guild under the curious and wary gazes of every adventure in the building.

    Untying and mounting Blitz, Marcus continued on his journey to increase his wallets size and began heading in the direction of the weapon shop he had been told about.

    Finding and entering the shop Marcus unloaded every weapon he had obtained throughout his journey except for the wicked ck sword and managed to get another thirty-two gold coins.

    ''Okay this brings my total funds up to just shy of a thousand gold coins which should be enough to keep me and Lilia going for some time.. Now then I need to find a ce where I can hire some people to take care of therge mansion I have somehow obtained.''

 Chapter 130 - 129 The Servants Of Geist Manor

    With his funds increased to nearly a thousand gold coins, Marcus hopped back onto the back of Blitz and made his way back towards the inner city.

    Using the expensive toll roads Marcus was able to make good time flying by at a mile a minute.

    Within just a bit under an hour since he had really pushed Blitz''s speed Marcus had managed to arrive back at the inner wall.

    Having Blitz trot up to the guards Marcus pulled out his silver te noble ID and was able to pass by unimpeded into the inner city.

    Now that he was back in the inner-city Marcus directed Blitz towards the one ce, he knew he would be able to get some information and gloat a little.

    Soon Marcus was once again outside the kingdom''s office ofnd management and tying Blitz up outside giving him some time to rest after running around and exhausting himself in thest three hours.

    Walking inside the building made of white stone Marcus looked around and located the same employee that had helped him before.

    Walking up to the man who was sitting at his desk doing paperwork Marcus said in a polite tone.

    "Hello again would it be okay if I talked to your boss Count Flourensy."

    The young man sitting at his desk was about to tell the random person that had juste in without an appointment that it was impossible for them to see the count, but when he looked up and saw it was Marcus, he froze mid-sentence.

    "You okay there, I just have few things to discuss with Count Flourensy, if he is busy right now, I do not mind waiting."

    The young man quickly stood up and bowed before saying, "It is no problem I will go and get him for you right nowdy baress."

    The young man quickly disappeared into the recesses of the building and after seven minutes came back with the count who had a smug expression on his face.

    When the count arrived in front of Marcus he immediately began speaking and said, "Well I am a bit surprised to see that you survived going into that horrible mansion but am also d you are still alive Lady Irene. Now I suppose you havee to ask if you could have one of the other two estates you were looking at the other day. If you would follow me, I am happy to make the exchange for you and we can talk about how you will be willing to repay my kindness."

    Marcus seeing the look in the count''s eyes when he said "repay my kindness" made his spine shiver but as the count turned around ready to lead Marcus to his office, Marcus quickly said, "I am sorry Count Flourensy, you seem to have misunderstood my visit today. I actually came to tell you that I exercised the spirt that was guing my new estate and now I am looking to procure a few servants to look after the ce."

    The count hearing Marcus abruptly stopped and turned around with a face of incredulity, he thought that there was no way Marcus could have purged the spirt haunting that mansion.

    "Surely you jest Lady Irene, even the greatest priests in the kingdom could not exercise the malicious spirt that dwells within that mansion. If this is some type of negotiation tactic, I am afraid it is not going to work. I am already being generous in allowing you to return that estate for another more hospitable one so please enough of your jokes."

    However, Marcus stared at the count resolutely and said, "I am not making any jokes, I defeated the entity that had inhabited my mansion and I just wanted to inform you of my sess and ask for your wisdom as a senior noble as to where I could hire some capable servants. If you do not believe me, I am more than happy to let youe by and see for yourself."

    As Marcus said this he put on his best smile and the count was momentarily startled before he began coughing to catch himself and said in a not quite believing tone, "Fine if you really have defeated whatever was haunting that estate, I will tell you of a goodpany where you can hire well trained personnel, but your estate has quite the reputation and you may fine it difficult to procure any good talents."

    Marcus just shrugged his shoulders; he already knew that it would take some time to get people to believe that his manor was no longer haunted, but he was certain he could get at least a few talented servants toe work for him if he paid the right price.

    The count then gave Marcus the details and general locations ofpanies that trained servants and made contracts with wealthy merchants and nobles.

    Thanking the count for his help Marcus exited the building and directed Blitz towards his destination.

    After traveling for around thirty minutes Marcus was now in front of a building that had a sign that said Lady Delh''s Academy of Service.

    Looking the ce over Marcus could see a big courtyard where he saw arge group of men and women practicing putting outundry to dry.

    ''Wow they must be really dedicated if they are doing all of this just for practice, or no this is training to obtain or level up certain skills.''

    Impressed by the people attending this academy diligence Marcus decided to pop in and see if he could hire a few people to take care of and watch over his new estate.

    Walking inside Marcus saw a few people dressed up in either butler or maid clothing moving around and one of the maids walked up to Marcus bowed slightly and said, "Greetings, wee to Lady Delh''s Academy of Service, my name is ra, how may I be of service to you."

    Marcus looking at the young and very polite maid could already tell that the teaching at this academy was top notch and with a smile on his face Marcus replied saying, "Hello to you too ra, My name is Baress Irene Geist and I have recently moved into a new estate here in the kingdom''s capital and was hoping to hire some people from this fine academy to look after it."

    ra hearing Marcus'' introduction and request bowed once again saying, "I will be happy to assist youdy baress, please follow me to a private room and then I will go and find one of the mangers who you can discuss possible hiring''s with."

    Marcus followed ra into a private room that had two couches set up facing each other across a table and ra directed Marcus to sit at the couch farthest away from the door.

    ra then bowed towards Marcus and told him that she would be back quickly as soon as she had informed one of her mangers of Marcus'' business.

    Sitting in the medium sized room waiting for a few minutes Marcus read a book about rare skills and how to obtain them when the door to the room opened and ra came walking in with a well-dressed middle-aged woman with an air of power around her.

    Standing up Marcus was about to greet the new woman that was obviously in charge, but she managed to beat him to it and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Irene, my name is Viscountess Valorie Tenreion, and I am the current owner of this academy, I have heard that you wish to employ some of the graduates of our academy."

    Marcus quickly gave her a slight bow before saying, "It is also a pleasure to meet you Lady Tenreion."

    The two of them then sat down on opposite couches facing each other and Marcus stated off the discussion with a bit of genuine ttery.

    "I am d that I was rmended this establishment, I saw some of your students diligently working outside and I am very impressed by ra''s politeness and skill."

    Valorie hearing this smiled and said, "Yes we have been training maids and the like since the founding of the kingdom. Our academy was actually founded by the first king nearly five hundred years ago and its fist director was his close frienddy Delh who the academy was named after."

    Marcus could see the pride in Valorie''s expression as she talked about the origins of the academy she was currently in charge of, and Marcus felt that it was pretty much confirmed that the first king hade from Earth.

    ''I doubt that the style of dress the maids and butlers have came about naturally, this was definitely done on purpose since they look like they are all wearing cosy.''

    As Marcus looked at the maid outfit ra was wearing and thinking that it definitely looked like the ssic maid outfit from Earth, Valorie said, "Well that is enough reminiscing, how about we get down to business, how many servants and what type are you trying to hire. Ah and if you have any requests for someone with a specific skill, we may be able to find someone, but their contract will be more costly.

    Marcus nodded his head while thinking about the number of people he would need to employ to manage the upkeep of his new estate and after a couple of minutes he said, "Okay I have figured out how many people I wish to hire."

 Chapter 131 - 130 The Servants Of Geist Manor (2)

    "I would like to hire eleven maids, one of which is versed in cooking, four of which havebat skills and can watch over the gate to the estate, and one that is good at teaching,"

    Viscountess Valorie nodded her head and then looked towards ra and said, "If you would not mind bringing the recent graduates from ss eight here, I believe that a number of them will have the required skills that Lady Irene here wants."

    ra bowed respectfully towards her master before leaving the room and once she had gone the viscountess looked towards Marcus and said, "ra will be back shortly but, in this time, let us get the paperwork out of the way."

    The viscountess then took out a number of forms from a magic bag that was attached to her belt and handed them over towards Marcus.

    Looking them over Marcus found that the forms were pretty streamlined allowing for multiply boxes to be checked on the qualifications of each maid and the length and sry of the contract.

    As Marcus continued to look over the forms, he had been given it was not long before ra came back with a little over twenty young maids who all looked quite professional.

    Seeing the candidates for the people he was going to be hiring enter Marcus used his creature appraisal skill on them and found that they all ranged from level twelve to twenty-one.

    However, that was not all that Marcus'' appraisal skill revealed, he found that since it had leveled up, he was now able to see the basic statuses of living creatures, such as their name, race, age, and stats.

    ''Well, that was a bit of a surprise, I was wondering when I was going to be able to get more than just someone''s level. Now when will I be able to see entire statuses.''

    While deep in thought about the growing utility of his creature appraisal skill the viscountess noticed Marcus''s attention being elsewhere and slightly loudly said, "Lady Irene if you would not mind hearing the qualifications of each of academy''s graduates.

    Marcus hearing the viscountess quickly snapped his attention back towards her and began listing to each of the maids'' capabilities and once they were done Marcus figured out quickly which ones were the best.

    Marcus then remembered that there was one other maid in the room and deciding to see what a veteran maid''s status looked like Marcus decided to appraise ra.

    What he got back surprised him, he found that he could not see her basic status and only her level which was twenty-five.

    ''So, I must only be able to see the basic statuses of people who are a certain number of levels under me. Oh well the skill is still pretty useful since knowing someone''s level allows me to know if I can take them or not.''

    Looking over his choice of servants to hire Marcus looked back over at ra before looking at the Viscountess and saying, "Lady Tenreion, I would like to hire, Amy, Elianna, Grace, Hazel, Jenna, Leah, Mnie, Riley, Ste, Violet, and if possible, I was hoping to employ ra as the head maid."

    As Marcus finished listing off the names of the girls he wanted to hire, the ones who heard their names all internally rejoiced while the others who were not chosen by Marcus had sullen expressions.

    However, there were two people who were quite surprised, both the viscountess and ra did not think that Marcus would ask to employ her, and the viscountess looked towards ra with a slightly pitiable look before saying, "While I am d that you have taken a liking to ra it would be difficult for her toe and work for you. She was until recently employed at the estate of one of the kingdom''s barons, but the baron decided to get handsy with ra here and she in turn broke his arm. Luckily there had been a number of witnesses so ra did not receive any form of punishment and the baron in question was forced to give his title over to his oldest son since the kingdom gives a certain level of protection to the graduates of this academy. Unfortunately, ra could of course no longer work where she had been and came back here but after news of the incident spread no nobles would hire ra. Thus, I must inform you that hiring her could make other nobles avoid you or even try to undermine you."

    Marcus looked over towards ra and said, "I really do not care what the other nobles think, I have had this title for less than a month, so I certainly do not sympathize with the baron who had his arm broken. If that is the only problem than if you would like toe work for me, I would be more than happy to have you ra. Though I suppose that since you have been forthright, I should do the same. The mansion I have recently obtained happens to have its own history and had been haunted for thest twenty years. However, I have recently eliminated the spirt guing the ce, so it is perfectly safe to stay in."

    When most of the young maids heard Marcus'' description of his mansion, they did not know what he was talking about, but the expression on both ra and Viscount Valorie''s faces contorted into one of terror.

    As the two of them looked at Marcus with fear on their faces the viscountess said, "Are you joking, how did you get that ce. That bastard Flourensy must be going senile, did he want to get you killed. I do not know what he told you about that ce being cleared but no matter how many times they have said that a persist has sessfully cleansed the ce, the people who stay there in up dead."

    The viscountess then stood up and looked at Marcus and said, "Come with me Lady Irene we are going to go give Flourensy a visit, if this was a joke on his part it was not a very good one and I am going to let him have it."

    Marcus seeing that things were starting to get out of hand stood up as well and said, "There seems to be a misunderstanding, no one told me that the ce had been cleansed in fact Count Flourensy told me about its condition, and I took it anyway. I am the one who went in and fought the evil spirt inhabiting the ce and got rid of it."

    The viscountess looked at Marcus with disbelief, some of the greatest persist in the kingdom''s history had tried to get rid of the spirt that had upied that mansion, but none had been sessful.

    However, the resolute expression on Marcus'' face made it seem like he was telling the truth.

    With a bit of hesitation, the viscountess sat back down and said, "Very well then but I will have to go with you personally and inspect the ce before I allow any maids from this academy to work there."

    Marcus was a bit surprised to hear that the viscountess would go herself while all of the maids had a look of worry on their faces.

    "Very well when would you like to go, I must admit the ce is still in a bit of disrepair but me and my little sister have done our best to clean the ce up."

    The viscountess got back up and said, "We can leave immediately. ra if you would not mind getting my carriage ready and apanying us."

    ra nodded he head and quickly left the room before the viscountess said, "If you would follow me, I will lead you to my carriage and we can depart.

    Marcus just shook his head and said, "I actually came here riding my own magical beast so I will meet you outside."

    Marcus then left the room and made his way out of the building and found Blitz asleep under a tree near the area he was tied off.

    Calling Blitz back over to him Marcus untied him and jump up onto his back.

    It was not long before Marcus saw the viscountess''s carriageing out from the academy being pulled by a pure white unicorn.

    Looking at the unicorn Marcus could feel the majesty and power that the rare grade magical beast was emitting.

    Blitz and the unicorn looked at each other with hostility and if either of them was not in the presence of their master they certainly would have fought for dominance since in the wild their species were mortal enemies.

    Marcus sensing Blitz''s hostility told him to calm down a bit and had Blitz move over towards the carriage.

    The viscountess seeing Marcus approach and the type of magical beast he was riding was quite surprised.

    "Wow I am impressed Lady Irene, you even own a rare grade magical beast, not many nobles even in the capital can attest to such a feat."

    Marcus smiled at the viscountess and said, "You appear to also have your own rare grade magical beast so you must be quite strong yourself. Now then I will lead you to my estate and you can see that it is perfectly safe."

    The two of them set off towards Marcus'' new estate and within an hour they had arrived in front of it.

    Getting off of Blitz, Marcus opened the gate and then led the viscountess and ra who was acting as her coachman, towards the mansion.

    When they arrived at the front door, the viscountess had a bit of trepidation but seeing Marcus brazenly walk in without any worry, they gathered their courage and followed behind.

    Walking in they could tell that the ce had been recently cleaned and that it did not seem to have the oppressive atmosphere they were expecting.

    Marcus then began showing them around the first floor and when he came to the kitchen, he saw Lilia standing over the stove and cooking herself some lunch.

    The viscountess and ra seeing this could only stare in disbelief, here was a young girl cooking food in the kitchen of a supposedly haunted mansion, that had imed the lives of most who had entered it during thest twenty years.

    Marcus approached Lilia and said, "Lilia I see you are cooking lunch if you would not mind could you make enough for our guests here. I will show them to the dining area and thene and help you prepare."

    Lilia nodded her head and Marcus walked back towards the viscountess and ra and directed them towards the dining room.

    Sitting the viscountess down at the table Marcus moved over to pull out a chair for ra but instead she said, "Excuse me Lady Geist it would not be appropriate for me to share a table with you and the viscountess. Please allow me to go and help in the kitchen instead, since as the hostess it would be rude for you to leave the viscountess."

    Marcus simply shrugged his shoulders before going to sit next to the viscountess and began talking to her about her unicorn.

    It was not long before Lilia and ra came into the dining room carrying the meal that they had prepared.

    Marcus once again asked ra if she would like to sit down and eat but she still vehemently refused.

    After they had finished eating Marcus looked towards the viscountess and said, "So do you think that my mansion is safe enough now that you have seen it yourself and even enjoyed a meal."

    The viscountess then froze as she remembered exactly where she was and looked around expecting for some horrible monster toe and kill her.

    Fortunately, this did not happen and after having walked through the manor and even eaten a meal there, the viscountess could only sigh and say, "It appears that you tell the truth, this ce really does seem to be safe. However, I will still be adding a use to the contracts stating that if at any time any of the maids you hired though our academy feel that their lives are in danger, they can terminate their contract immediately."

    Marcus simply nodded his head and said, "That is fine I can assure you that this ce is safe."

    Marcus then turned towards ra and said, So, ra have decided if you would like to work for me as my head maid?"

 Chapter 132 - 131 The Beginning Of Revenge

    ra looked at Marcus while deep in thought. She at first had no intention of working for Marcus, especially when she heard of which estate he had obtained, but after spending some time with Marcus in his mansion she was really considering it.

    After a minute of thinking ra with a stalwart smile Said, "Very well then Lady Geist from this day forward for as long as you wish to employ me, I am willing to serve as your head maid."

    With ra''s positive response Marcus pulled out one of the contracts and quickly filled it out with ra, and once everything was signed away, she had officially be the head maid of Geist Manner.

    "Wee ra, from today forth you will be my head maid. This house still has a lot that needs to be worked on and I will be leaving most of it to you to take care of."

    Marcus then turned towards the viscountess and said, "Lady Tenreion if you are satisfied with the safety of my manor would you mind if we head back to your academy and we can hammer out the contracts for the other ten I wish to hire."

    The viscountess stood up and nodded before Marcus, ra, and the viscountess left the manor and got on there respective modes of transportation.

    Of course, Marcus still allowed ra to act as the viscountess''s coachman and it was not long before they had made it back to Delh''s Academy of Service.

    The maids that Marcus wished to hire were soon gathered up and after hearing from both ra and the viscountess that the mansion was indeed now safe, they all readily signed one-year contracts to be the maids of Geist Manor.

    ''Elianna, Grace, Leah, and Ste are all going to receive thirteen gold a month. Amy, Hazel, Jenna, and Violet are going to receive fifteen gold a month. Finally, Riley who will be Lilia''s personal teacher until she is ready to take an entrance exam for the schools around here will be paid seventeen gold a month, and ra as the head maid will be getting twenty-four gold coins a month.''

    Marcus quickly began doing calctions in his head and figured after factoring other expenses that with his current funds he would be out of money within three to four months maybe five if he was lucky.

    However, Marcus decided to worry about hisck of ie at ater time and instead gathered up the maids he had just hired and brought them back to his estate.

    Borrowing a cart from the academy, Marcus and his new troop of maids made it back to his estate just at the height of the afternoon.

    Marcus then led the maids over to the servants building that Lilia had cleaned up a bit and allowed his new maids to get acquainted with where they were going to be staying.

    Of course, since there were plenty of extra rooms Marcus told them that they could each have their own except for ra who would be given a room within the mansion.

    All of the maids let out a cheer when they heard this, already happy that they had decided to work for Marcus who did not seem like a stuffy noble that would treat them more like objects than people.

    After the maids had finished getting acquainted with where they were going to be living, Marcus brought them over to the main building and began giving them the tour.

    Going through the mansion Marcus and the maids soon came across Lilia, and Marcus called her over so she could meet the new maids.

    "Lilia, these people are going to be working for me for some time and will do their best to keep up the maintenance on the house. Ah and this here is Riley; she is going to be your tutor until we can get you enrolled in one of the schools in the city, so make sure to listen to her instructions and do you best to learn."

    Marcus then turned to the maids and said, "This is my little sister Lilia please treat her well from now on."

    The maids then bowed towards Lilia and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Lilia."

    Lilia getting a bit shy went and hid behind Marcus since she really was not used to being treated in such a way.

    Marcus seeing her reaction let out a little chuckle before showing the maids the rest of the building.

    "Now that all of you have gotten acquainted with the building you can see it still has a lot of work that needs to be done."

    Marcus then handed a list of things that needed to be aplished to ra such as, finishing cleaning the house, getting someone to perform maintenance on the house''s plumbing, buying new furniture for both the main mansion and servants quarters, and many more things.

    Marcus then took out the magic bag he had obtained from Ander and handed it to ra.

    "Here, as head maid you will need ess to a certain amount of funds and having a dimensional storage will help you in your daily duties. Inside I have left a pouch containing seven hundred gold. Use this to pay for anything necessary to aplish the tasks on the list I gave you and pay your and the other maids'' sry."

    ra and all of the other maids looked at Marcus like he was insane. Who would just hand over that kind of money to a new servant that had not even been working for them for a day? Not to mention that Marcus had just given ra a magic bag as well, which while not a rare item was still quite expensive.

    "Lady Irene, I am afraid that it would be unprofessional for me to ept this. While I understand that you need to leave me a certain amount of funds to do my job, this is far to much. If I wanted to, I could just leave now and head to a small town and live the rest of my life off of this."

    Marcus looked at her and with a big smile on his face said, "Yes of course I had thought of that possibility, but I think that I can trust you and, in all honesty, I am going to be very busy for the next few days and will not have time to give you funds for every little thing. Also, should any of you betray me and skip town with the money I have given to you to use, I will hunt you down and make you regret it."

    Marcus wanted all of the maids to know that he would not tolerate any sort of theft or other such actions that would deliberately harm him or Lilia and judging by all of their expressions, that point seemed to have been received.

    Even ra who is level twenty-five and considered quite strong felt a sense of terror from Marcus'' statement.

    Lowering the intimidating presence he had just released, Marcus with a resolute face said, "Now then, I have some urgent business that I have dyed for too long and I need to get to it. ra you will be in charge while I am gone, I expect to be back noter than three days from now."

    Marcus then began heading towards the front door leaving all of the maids a bit surprised since they had only just been hired but their master was immediately leaving.

    However, before Marcus left, he made sure to find Lilia and told her that he would be out for a few days and that she should not worry about him.

    The two of them gave each other a quick hug before Lilia said, "Be safe and try not to get into any trouble and be back soon."

    Marcus smiled at Lilia onest time before waving his hand and exiting the building.

    Sensing his connection with Blitz, Marcus sent him a mental message to watch over the estate and Lilia while he was gone.

    With his business with his new estate handled Marcus proceed to pass through the gates of his estate and begin his search for Viscount Poulsen.

    After a few hours of sleuthing around Marcus had finally arrived in front of Viscount Poulsen''s estate, which was actually only around twenty minutes from his own.

    ''It has taken me a while, but I am finally back to repay you Poulsen. You hunted me down and tried to kill me so there is no way I can let that go.''

    Marcus quickly found a secluded ce and reverted into his ghost form, and now that he was invisible and intangible, he slipped right through the front gate and floated directly for Poulsen''s mansion.

    Passing right through the front door Marcus cased the ce out floating into room after room until he knew the entireyout of the building.

    After that Marcus decided to wait in thergest bedroom which he could only assume was the viscount''s.

    Soon as evening was beginning to encroach on the world, Marcus saw his target enter the room and it was time for him to enact his revenge.

    Waiting ever so patently Marcus watched as the viscount got into bed and was about to go to sleep and at the exact moment heid his head down, Marcus brought forth his spectral arm, grabbed the side of one of the mirrors in the room and slid it off of table it was on.

    "CRASH"

    The mirror hitting the floor shattered into a thousand pieces and Poulsen shot straight up looking for what had caused the rming sound.

 Chapter 133 - 132 Long Awaited Revenge

    Viscount Poulsen shot up looking towards the sound that had just prevented him from getting to sleep and saw the mirror shattered across the ground.

    He then looked around, making sure there were no intruders, and in front of his eyes he could see that there was no one else inside the room.

    Grumbling angrily Poulsen called for one of the maids that worked in his service and she quickly cleaned up the mess before Poulsen once again tried to get some sleep.

    This time Marcus did let Poulsen fall asleep waiting for about an hour before he used his chill zone ability and made the temperature in the room plummet.

    It was not long before the viscount woke up shivering, noticing that there was frost forming on the windows in his room and that it was even cold enough to see his breath.

    Jumping to his feet with a start, he immediately thought he was under some type of attack and called the guards that stayed outside his room toe in at once.

    The men came rushing in quickly looking around except, Marcus had already shut down his chill zone and the room''s temperature while slightly cold was going back to normal.

    However, Marcus was incredibly fortunate with the guards that hade into the room since one of them was the lead guard that Poulsen had ordered to kill him.

    ''There you are, now let me see what level you are. Hm, twenty-six, not overly strong but still respectable. However, unlikest time I am not at level seventeen so this time will be much different.''

    Marcus quickly began reformting his n fitting the guard he was not sure he could find into it.

    The guards under Poulsen''s orders began searching his room but they turned up nothing which further enraged Poulsen.

    "My room did not suddenly get struck by a localized cold front; someone must have used magic of some kind to attack me. I want you to search this entire mansion until you find the perpetrator and how they got in."

    The two guards looked at their master with contempt since it would take them hours to search the mansion and they were sure that the viscount was just imagining things.

    However, they were being paid well and simply began searching the entire ce hoping to find something since finding nothing was going to be even more of a headache.

    Poulsen of course moved rooms going across to the other side of his mansion and using one of the buildings many guest room.

    Unfortunately for him, this made no difference to Marcus as he simply floated on behind stalking Poulsen.

    As Marcus followed behind Poulsen he waited for him to open the door to the new room, he summoned his spectral arm again, and quickly grabbed Poulsen''s leg and tripped him.

    Poulsen fell face first into the ground with a loud thud and began screaming saying that someone was attacking him.

    His guards then ran over to him and saw that there was no one around and their master seemed to have simply tripped.

    At this point Poulsen began acting frantic, he knew that someone had just grabbed his leg and was certain that something or someone was tormenting him.

    s, there was no concrete proof and while his guards decided to humor Poulsen and guard him through the night in his study, but nothing else happened.

    ''That was a good start, for the first day. You made a big mistake attacking me and getting the ire of a ghost. Now I will give him a few hours of peace so that he thinks it was all in his head or maybe he will just get more paranoid either way works for me.''

    Of course, Marcus could have just killed the viscount without any resistance, but he wanted Poulsen to suffer.

    Marcus then allowed the viscount a number of hours of peace continuing to watch and follow him waiting for the next opportunity to ruin Viscount Poulsen''s life.

    Luckily the perfect chance came when Poulsen was holding some sort of banquet where he was trying to drum up support for some type of bridge or something, Marcus really was not paying much attention.

    However, he was waiting for the right chance to ruin Poulsen''s reputation, and the perfect opportunity presented itself when one of the other nobles attending the event gave some discontent with the project.

    Seeing this Marcus floated right up to Poulsen and possessed him before he could respond.

    Now in control of Viscount Poulsen''s body Marcus walked up to the noble who had offered his grievances and dumped a ss of wine on his head.

    Marcus then kicked the chair out from under him and said, "That is what I think of your opinion, this project is going through no matter what and I do not care what any of you dumb asses have to say."

    After that Marcus bent over in Poulsen''s body pulled his pants down shing everyone in the room.

    Marcus then left Poulsen''s body leaving him to clean up the mess that he had just caused.

    Every noble, merchant, and servant in the room were appalled by "Poulsen''s" actions, and the noble that he had just assaulted got up and actually pped Poulsen across the face.

    Poulsen for his part had no idea what had happened, it seemed that he had nked out and suddenly everyone was mad at him.

    Many of the nobles and wealthy merchants immediately left angrily shouting at Poulsen telling him he would regret this, especially the count that he had just assaulted.

    Poulsen even though he was confused tried his best to contain the predicament saying that he must have experienced a bout of madness, or that he was afflicted by a curse.

    And while this did calm down a few of the people since it was not unheard of for a noble to be on the receiving end of a curse, they were not going to truly forgive him unless he could prove it.

    As everyone left leaving Poulsen in aplete mess he went into a frenzy tossing furniture around before he told his butler to get a priest to his residence as soon as possible.

    Marcus hearing this was a bit intrigued since he had heard that priests were supposed to be able to exercise malicious spirts, and the demon that had taken over Tyler''s spirt in his own home had avoid the persists by hiding in the secret room.

    ''They must have some sort of power if that demon hid from them instead of just killing them.''

    Waiting for the priest, Marcus decided not to do anything during this time since there were too many guards and servants around Poulsen.

    Soon a priest arrived, and Marcus quickly appraised him and found that he was level twenty-nine which was pretty good.

    ''Hm should I leave the area or see what he is going to do. I really am interested in what kind of magic he is going to useˇ­ It should be fine worst-case scenario I just use my phantom pressure and kill Poulsen instantly.''

    Marcus watched as the priest began tossing some type of dust into the area around the viscount and began chanting.

    When he finished the chant he said, "Reveal Darkness." And the dust began lighting up until the entire room was glowing and, the area where Marcus was floating was outlined.

    However, it onlysted for an incredibly fleeting moment and the priest was a bit confused.

    It was as if his spell thought it had found a dark entity but then decided that whatever it thought it had found was not really there.

    ''What is going on, if there is a dark entity it should still be outlined. It is not like my spell stopped working or was countered, it is still in effect. This has never happened before, maybe at one time an entity was here, but is now gone.''

    The priest tried wrapping his mind around what had happen but ultimately decided that it was probably nothing since if there truly was a being of malice and darkness that was attached to the viscount his spell would have reveled it.

    Internally sighing Marcus thought for a moment that he would be found out, but it appeared that the spell the priest had used failed to work, because while Marcus was a being of darkness, he was also equally a being of light and so the spell had disregarded him after a moment.

    The priest then informed Poulsen that he did not seem to be under the effects of a curse or was haunted but said he would use a purifying spell just in case.

    The priest started up another chant and when he was finished said the name of the spell, "Cleansing Light."

    A bright light shot out of the priest filling the entire room, and while Marcus felt slightly ufortable, ultimately the spell did nothing to him.

    After the spell had finished, Poulsen looked visibly relived since he believed whatever was targeting him had been destroyed or dispelled.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was perfectly find and moved onto the next phase of his n.

    Marcus then floated towards a certain painting in the viscount''s study and floated right through it.

    Passing through the painting Marcus found himself inside a safe, but he knew to keep going and went through the safe''s wall and found his head poking into another hidden safe.

    ''Like father, like son. This must be where Ivar learned this trick. Too bad I already know about it."

    Marcus then collected the documents inside the safe finding that many of them connected Poulsen to an underground organization called permafrost.

    Collecting all of the incriminating documents Marcus floated out of safe and went to the table inside the study and wrote a letter for Poulsen.

    Once he was finished, Marcus took the letter and one of the incriminating documents andid them on Poulsen''s bed.

    Marcus waited for Poulsen toe back to his room and could see that this time while he still seemed upset, he seemed to be less wary.

    However, when he saw the letter and document waiting on his bed Poulsen tensed up.

    Carefully he approached the letter and when he saw which document it was, he nearly screamed out loud.

    Luckily, he managed to keep calm enough to read the letter that had been left on his bed and when he was done, he began hyperventting.

    Marcus seeing this beganughing internally since his little prank had worked.

    He had left a message impersonating a member of the permafrost and wrote that they had a leak and that this document was on its way to the higher ups of the kingdom.

    This caused Poulsen to begin franticly packing as he nned to flee the kingdom.

    s, this had just been another way that Marcus wanted to rile up Poulsen and make hisst moments feel like hell.

    ''I suppose that will be enough, as much as I could continue to mess with him, I have better things to do.''

    Marcus then went into the final part of his n and found the guard that had been the reason for his defeated in the dungeon and possessed him.

    The man put up a good fight not wanting to relinquish control to Marcus, but the difference between their spirt stats was too high, and Marcus was soon in control.

    Having possessed the guard that who at one time nearly killed him, Marcus walked briskly towards Poulsen''s room since he only had ten minutes since the limit on his possession skill was still in effect.

    Luckily ten minutes was more than enough and after just two minutes Marcus was standing in front of Poulsen''s room.

    Walking in Marcus saw Poulsen shoving clothes into a trunk, while nearly frothing at the mouth.

    When Poulsen saw Marcus, who was possessing one of his lead guards, he shouted at him, "What the hell are you doing in here, I did not call for you, get out I only have a little bit of time to get out of here."

    mming the door Marcus disregarded the viscount''s order and approached him with a sinister smile.

    Seeing Marcus'' actions Poulsen loudly yelled, "What are you doing, I told you to leave, if you do not want me to have you executed you will leave now."

    Hearing this Marcus beganughing, causing Poulsen''s expression to distort into one of confusion.

    "Ah, that was funny, you really do think that you are more important than you really are. You should be carful about threating people that are much stronger than you, with the flick of my wrist I could leave you dead."

    Visible terror appeared on Poulsen''s face when he heard this. He knew that at only level eighteen his guard that is level twenty-six, really could dispose of him with no problem.

    Steeling himself Poulsen haughtily said, "Have you gone crazy Nash, even if you did kill me, the kingdom and the organization would hunt you down and torture you before killing you. Wait are you the one who put this letter on my bed, I know you used to work for the organization so you must know that if I am exposed you will go down with me."

    Marcus just smirked and said, "Yes that is what I am hoping for."

    He then lunged forward with one of Nash''s rapiers and stabbed it directly into the viscounts liver.

    The viscount feeling the searing pain let out a loud painful scream as Marcus pulled the de out.

    Marcus then kicked the viscount onto the ground and left the body of Nash, who fell to the ground unconscious after Marcus'' possession.

    Marcus now standing in front of the viscount in his form as Irene stared at him and said, "Remember me, you came all the way to Loursend after tracking me down, just to kill me, so I havee to repay the favor."

    Viscount Poulsen stared at Marcus in disbelief, he thought that he was dead, he had watched his body burst into dust.

    With all the strength he could muster do to his rage the viscount said, "What the hell are you, I saw you die in that dungeon you should be dead."

    Marcus shook his head and said, "You did destroy my corporal form, but it takes more than that to keep a good ghost down. You really should have left me alone, your son died because of his own ipetence and now you are going to be following after him."

    Poulsen hearing this began shouting for his guards, but unfortunately Marcus had already knocked them unconscious on his way here.

    Walking over towards him, Marcus picked up the rapier and jammed it into Poulsen''s throat

    As the rapier slid through Viscount Poulsen''s soft flesh a fountain of blood began flowing out of his mouth and Marcus watched as the life left his body.

    With his revenge now finally aplish Marcus ced the rapier back in the hands of the unconscious Nash, and then went around the estate cing the incriminating documents in different difficult but not impossible to find locations, nning to ruin Poulsen''s reputation even after his death.

 Chapter 134 - 133 To The Forge

    After having sessfully aplishing his revenge against Viscount Poulsen, Marcus floated out of the viscount''s residence and began heading back towards his own.

    Floating over the streets, once Marcus was a good distance away from Poulsen''s estate he found a quite corner and took on his tangible form.

    Walking leisurely down the street Marcus could not help but smile slightly since he had finally managed to get rid of the person that had tried to kill him.

    ''That is a huge weight off my shoulders. Now I will not have to worry about himing after me again.''

    Letting out a sigh of relief Marcus continued down the street and soon was standing in front of the gate that separated his estate from the rest of the city.

    Reaching for the key to the gate Marcus heard a shouting from the guard station saying, "You there, this is the estate of Baress Irene Geist. Back away from the gate and state your business."

    Hearing this Marcus looked up and saw one of the maids he had hired standing in the guard station wearing leather armor and having a sword attached to her hip.

    Marcus smiled seeing this and said, "Amy it is me, I havee back afterpleting my business."

    Amy the maid who was currently on guard duty took a good look in the dim light and recognized her master.

    "I am sorry Lady Irene I did not recognize you immediately, please allow me to get the gate for you."

    Amy quickly came out of the guard station and opened the gate before giving him a slight bow and saying, "Lady Irene would you like me to apany you back to manor."

    Marcus simply shook his head and said, "No that is fine, I will be okay on my own, you stay here and continue the good work."

    Marcus left Amy to her post and began walking down the path towards the front of his mansion and could see that the path had been groomed and was no longer overgrown with grass.

    Walking onto the front porch Marcus approached the front door and opened it allowing the light inside the mansion to flow out into the outside dusk.

    Looking into the entryway Marcus could see that the chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling was actually lit up and lighting the entire area.

    As Marcus walked into his home that he had been away from for two days, he could immediately tell that the ce was different.

    The atmosphere of the ce feltpletely different, and the building appeared to be spotless.

    It was not long before Marcus was found by one of the maids, who quickly bowed and weed him home.

    "Grace, I would like to thank you for your hard work. I can see that you and the others have gotten this ce into pretty good shape. Ah and would you go find ra for me I wish to speak to her."

    Grace gave slight bow before going off in search of ra, and after three minutes, hade back with Marcus'' head maid.

    "You called for me Lady Irene."

    As ra gave him a slight bow Marcus smiled and said, "Yes if you would not mind could you give me and update on how the restoration of the mansion is going."

    ra then informed Marcus of all that they had aplished in thest couple of days.

    ''They really have been busy. They managed to clean the entire ce, have gotten a few pieces of furniture delivered and are waiting on some more, the kitchen is now fully stocked. And they found a basement I missed on my first time though that actually has a mana furnace that provides power to the entire mansion.''

    Marcus was quite impressed since the eleven maids he had hired were working incredibly hard and had already aplished quite a bit and were soon to have the ce back in pristine condition.

    Unfortunately, the disconcerting thing was how much money they had gone through. In thest two days they had already spent a bit over a hundred gold, but Marcus knew that owning a mansion was going to be expensive.

    Thanking ra for getting things in order, he began walking down the halls and stood in front of Lilia''s room.

    Opening the door Marcus saw Lilia currently studying under the instruction of Riley.

    However, when they both saw the door open and Marcus walk in, Riley gave a polite bow while Lilia ran up to Marcus and gave him a hug.

    Marcus patted Lilia''s head while saying, "I am d to see you are working hard, I know that this has been difficult and new for you but just know that you do not have to work hard to please me, just do whatever you want."

    Lilia looked up at Marcus and said, "I know, I am really enjoying learning new things, while things were peacefully back in the forest, there are so many new and wonderous things for me to learn here."

    Nodding his head, Marcus told Lilia to keep at it and do her best before leaving to find his room and deciding to get some rest since he had nothing else he needed to do today.

    Waking up the next day Marcus went down to the kitchen and found Jenna cooking breakfast.

    Smelling the delicious food that was being prepared Marcus headed to the dinning room and waited for the food to be served.

    After breakfast Marcus had everyone gather in the main living room where he said, "I would personally like to thank you all for you hard work during thesest two days. Now then I need to inform all of you that I will soon be going to learn the art of the forge and may be gone for an extended period of time. However, I will stick around for the next three days and make sure that everything goes smoothly."

    All of the maids looked a bit surprised when Marcus said that he was going to learn how to forge since it was not amon profession and was incredibly hard to peruse, especially as a noble.

    However, they could see the confidence in Marcus'' expression and knew it was not there ce to give any unwanted advice.

    As such the next three days went by and many people came in and out of Geist Manor, some bringing in furniture, a few fixing broken windows, and the most important in Marcus'' view was the troop that had fixed the plumbing.

    Sitting in a nice warm bath, Marcus began nning out how he was going to approach learning how to forge weapons and armor.

    He had the letter from Aria that would rmend him to the best forgemaster in the kingdom, but from the way she had put it Marcus imagined this person to be hardheaded and entric.

    ''I just hope they do not look down on me because of my dainty form as Irene, if I could still go as Marcus that would not be a problem, but I really do not need to be chased after bounty hunters and the kingdom right now.''

    Sighing since Marcus could already picture the forgemaster he was going to see to be arge burly man that would say things like "Forging is a tough man''s job, get back into the kitchen and start cooking."

    Of course, these were just cliches that Marcus was imaging and likely to be pretty far from reality since on Mirrion one''s level determined their strength.

    Getting out of the bath Marcus dried himself off and put on a sturdy set of ck clothing that would not get damaged easily.

    He then quickly checked the items he had in his item box, and when he was certain that he had what he needed Marcus said goodbye to the maids and Lilia.

    Standing on the front porch Marcus called Blitz over and when he arrived Marcus jumped onto his back and began heading towards the gate.

    Having the maid on duty open up the gate Marcus entered onto the streets of the kingdom''s capital, Boreas.

    Many people around looked at Marcus with inquisitive gazes. At this point the news of Marcus inhabiting the cursed mansion had circted around and many people were intrigued to get to know the new noble that had appeared out of nowhere.

    However, no one had had the guts yet to be the first to visit Marcus'' mansion and were waiting a bit longer to make sure that something bad did not happen.

    Pulling out the map of Boreas Marcus had recently procured. He looked at the possible routes he could take and after deciding the best way to go Marcus directed Blitz down the road.

    Speeding through the city streets Marcus traveled quite quickly with Blitz''s speed, and soon he was parked in front of arge building that had plumbs of white smoke and steaming out from the top of it.

    ''This should be it, zegram forge.''

    Looking out at the ce he was hoping to learn how to forge at, Marcus dismounted Blitz and tied him off before entering the building.

    Walking inside Marcus was greeted with a wave of heat and he saw deeper inside the orange glow of mes.

    Sitting in front of arge desk Marcus saw a gruff man currently sharpening a dagger and as Marcus walked up to him the man said, "What will it be, are you here to pick up and order, do you want to have somethingmission, or do you want to look through our readymade items."

    Marcus hearing this shook his head and said, "I am actually here to see Thabon zegram."

    The man stopped sharpening his dagger and for the first time looked directly at Marcus and was surprised to see such a beautiful young woman standing in front of him.

    However, this did not change his response as he said, "The owner does not see people unannounced and unless you are his secret lover or something, I doubt he is going to see you at all. If you were hoping to have something made by him, you should give up, he only makes weapons for people he likes and will even turn away royals. There are plenty of other young talented forgemasters that do good work if you were looking to have something made."

    Marcus just continued to shake his head and pulled out the letter that Aria had given to him and said, "I actually have a letter of introduction from Grand Archmage Aria, and I havee here to try to be Thabon''s apprentice."

 Chapter 135 - 134 Show Me Your Skills

    As the man who was currently managing the front desk at the zegram forge listened to Marcus'' statement he actually dropped the dagger he had been working on.

    He then looked at the letter in Marcus'' hand, took it and looked it over.

    Of course, he had no idea what the emblem of the grand archmage looked like, but he had no intention of taking any heat from turning Marcus away.

    Gathering his nerves, the man said, "I will get this letter to the owner but do not expect a quick response, he is currently working on a weapon for someone and even if your letter is genuine do not think the owner is going to take you as his apprentice."

    The man swiftly went into the back of the building where Marcus assumed that people were working on their projects.

    After waiting for nearly thirty minutes the man came back and said, "Well, I got the letter to him somehow, but it could be up to a day before he reads. You are free to leave ande backter if you want but I would rmend you wait here if you want to meet him as soon as possible."

    Marcus nodded his head, found a seat, and waited.

    Taking out a book Marcus began reading through it, spending his time learning how to get a specific skill that all powerful warrior needed to obtain.

    However, contrary to his expectations and what he had been told, another man who was a strong looking dwarf came over to see Marcus within just a little over thirty minutes and said, "Irene, if you would not mind following me the master will see you now."

    Marcus a bit surprised by the speedy summons closed his book and stored it away before following the dwarf into the depths of the building.

    Walking through the building, Marcus saw a number of people working on all kinds of things from weapons and armor, to essories and even a carriage.

    He was also happy to see that while the majority of the people working in the forge were men around twenty percent were women so he figured that his form as Irene would probably not be a problem.

    Following behind the dwarf that hade to fetch him, they soon arrived in front of arge door.

    The dwarf pulled out arge key and put into the look of the door before opening it, and a st of incredibly hot air leaked out of the room.

    Looking in, Marcus could see an old man dwarf holding arge hammer made out of a material Marcus had never seen hitting away at arge ingot of the same material.

    As Marcus and the dwarf leading him walked in, the old dwarf that was hammering away said without looking at either of them.

    "Give me just a minute and I will get to a stopping point."

    Marcus then watched as the old dwarf hammered and hammered until the ingot had taken the shape of a massive spear head.

    When the dwarf was satisfied, he dipped it into a container of some sort of liquid, and a loud sizzling sound could be hearding from it.

    With a thud he ced the now cooled piece of metal onto a work bench, turned around, and looked at Marcus for the first time.

    "So, you are Irene. You look quite a bit younger than I thought you would be by the way Aria described you. You must have done something more than just protected a town from a monster invasion to have gotten Aria''s favor. Come here let me see you ID, I want to know if you will be cut out for forging."

    As Thabon beckoned him over, Marcus took his silver te noble ID out and handed it over to Thabon who thoroughly inspected it.

    Looking it over Thabon was quite impressed. People reaching level thirty at the age of neen was not unheard of but was still pretty rare, not to mention that Marcus'' stats were around the same as the average level thirty-six.

    ''Hm, blessing of iron huh. And she already has the forge skill, but her hands still seem to be immacte, must be because of her regeneration. She even has fire magic; it is almost as if someone gave her the perfect foundation to be a forgemaster.''

    As Thabon stroked his beard while looking over Marcus'' status he beganughing and said, "Very well I have taken a bit of an interest in you. Show me what you can make, you already have the forge skill so you must have at least some experience no."

    Thabon then looked towards the other dwarf and said, "Gurrom go and set up a station for Irene here."

    Gurrom quickly nodded his head before leaving the room, however, as Thabon was about to ask Marcus some more question, Marcus said, "Wait there seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding, I do not know how to forge yet, that is why I came here to learn."

    Hearing this Thabon was surprised since under normal circumstances one could not obtain a skill unless they trained hard to obtain it.

    With an inquisitive look Thabon asked, "borate, how did you obtain the skill then."

    Marcus then told Thabon how he had obtained a skill orb from a chest in a dungeon although he left out that it was obtained as a reward for being the victor of a monster festival.

    Thabon once again stroked his beard while in deep thought before he said, "No matter I still want to see what you can do. Just follow you instincts and try your best."

    Marcus looked at Thabon dumbfounded. Follow his instincts, Marcus barley knew anything about forging a weapon, like what kind of materials he need, how much force to apply when striking, and pretty much anything else.

    However, Gurrom came back quickly and before he knew it Marcus was standing in front of an anvil with a zing furnace next to him

    Sighing, Marcus put on some fire-resistant gloves that had been provided, picked up a pair of tongs and grabbed the iron ingot that had been supplied for him.

    cing the ingot inside the raging furnace, Marcus watched and waited for the metal to heat up hoping that the intuition that having the forge skill gave him would be enough to know when the metal was ready.

    Watching and waiting when the iron ingot began to glow with a yellow color Marcus took it out and ced it on the anvil.

    Marcus then took the hammer that was loaned to him and swung with all his strength.

    Unfortunately, with Marcus'' strength, the hammer''s wooden handle broke when Marcus hit the zing hot ingot and the hammer''s head broke off and began flying right at Marcus'' head.

    Seeing the hammer''s head flying right towards his face, with all of his reflexes Marcus just barely managed to move his head out of the way so that the hammer only just grazed his head.

    As the hammer''s head flew into the air there was a loud resounding bang as it smashed into the ceiling and then ttered to the ground.

    Thabon and Gurrom looked at Marcus with face''s full of surprise since they never imagined he would destroy that hammer.

    Sighing Thabon looked at Gurrom and said, "Get her another hammer, one that is a bit sturdier this time."

    Gurrom nodded his head and took apletely metal hammer out of his magic bag and brought it towards Marcus who was still staring at the hammer handle in his hand.

    Nevertheless, Marcus shook his head to snap himself out of his daze and took the new hammer while thanking Gurrom and apologizing for breaking the other hammer.

    Marcus then reheated the ingot and this time tested the hammer with just a light tap before slowly working up to the amount of strength he needed to shape the iron.

    Hours upon hours went by as Marcus began getting the feel for forging, learning how long to heat the metal, how hard to hit it, and when to switch sides.

    It took Marcus nearly the whole day, but after many hours he finally had shaped the metal into the rough form of a sword''s de.

    Of course, it was still incredibly crude but since it was his first time forging anything it was actually pretty good.

    The intuition from his skill and his blessing had pulled him through and he had managed to create something that most would need at least a week of practice to aplish.

    Thabon took the de after Marcus had cooled it down and looked it over. He knew that it was a piece of crap, and even if it was sharpened and had a guard and grip added to it, the de at most would be worth a silver.

    However, for a first try it was pretty impressive and Thabon could see that Marcus could potentially be quite the forgemaster given time and training.

    Putting the sword down Thabon looked at Marcus and said, "Well that was a good try but unfortunately you are not at the level where I could take you as an apprentice. And do not think you can go crying to Aria, I only entertained you as a favor to an old friend, but she does not have any authority over me. So, even if I do not teach you will you still try to go down the path of the forge."

    Marcus with a resolute expression said, "Of course I will still learn how to forge. When I got the skill from the skill orb, I had already made up my mind. I know that if you want the best gear you need to make it yourself."

    With a big smile Thabon began nodding his head before saying, "Very good, that is the spirt.. Gurrom teach her the ropes, and Irene, when you think you are readye and show me your skills again and maybe next time, I will take you as my apprentice."

 Chapter 136 - 135 The Learning Curve

    After telling Marcus he needed to advance his skills at forging before he would take him as an apprentice, Thabon began walking away heading back to his own personal forge.

    However, while Thabon was not going to personally teach Marcus right now, he had at least instructed his disciple Gurrom to show Marcus the basics.

    Looking at Gurrom expectantly Marcus said, "So where do we start."

    Gurrom sighed since he had been given some unexpected work he did not want to deal with, but the master''s orders were absolute.

    "The first thing we are going to do is have you watch me forge a sword and then you can try to emte me afterwards. However, it is alreadyte so you must be tired, why don''t youe back tomorrow, and we can get started then."

    Unfortunately for Gurrom who was trying to have the evening to himself, Marcus had already gotten engrossed in learning and was not going to stop any time soon unless he had to.

    "No that is fine I really am not tired, please let me see how you would forge a sword."

    Gurrom turning around could see the twinkle in Marcus''s eyes and with a very deep groan, he beckoned Marcus to follow him towards his personal work room.

    Wandering inside Marcus could see that Gurrom had a number of valuable pieces of equipment throughout the room.

    Gurrom could see Marcus looking over everything inside his room and with a hint of pride said, "Impressive right, other than a few people like the master I have one of the best forge rooms in the kingdom. Now I am going to make an iron sword in its entirety so watch carefully."

    Lighting up the furnace in his room that was made out some type of crimson metal Marcus could feel a rush of heat filling the room.

    He watched as Gurrom began chanting a spell and within under a second said its name, "Control mes."

    Marcus saw as Gurrom cast the spell the mes inside the furnace began to collect into the center making it incredibly hot.

    Gurrom with his bare hands then held the ingot of iron in the mes and it began to get visibly hot at an incredible rate.

    Marcus could only stare in disbelief as Gurrom''s arm seemed not to burn from the incredibly hot mes, and after only a few seconds he pulled out the ingot that was already glowing yellow.

    Marcus was baffled, it had taken him minutes to get the ingot he had used up to the right temperature.

    ''I had never even thought of using magic in this way. With that much heat he can spend far more time shaping the metal than having to worry about keeping up its temperature.''

    Marcus continued to watch as Gurrom went to work hammering away at the piece of iron with unbelievable speed and precision.

    It took him only twenty minutes to get the iron ingot shaped into a de that already looked far better than what it had taken Marcus hours to do.

    Gurrom next went over to a certain device that he filled with mana and began grinding down the de until it was to his satisfaction.

    Once that was done, he ced the de down and began working on the handle and guard.

    It took him only another fifteen minutes to miraculously make the guard and handle which he quickly checked against the de before adding a fuller to the de.

    Once that was done, he began etching a pattern into the de, guard, and handle.

    When he hadpleted that he quickly shaped an eagle headed pommel and attached it to the handle of the sword.

    Looking it over Gurrom was satisfied with the quick teaching sword he had made and went to sharpen it on a special whetstone.

    Marcus watched in amazement as Gurrom finished an iron sword that could go for a couple gold coins, in just an hour. Of course, if he had used a better material the same sword easily could have been worth hundreds of gold.

    Handing the sword to Marcus Gurrom said, "This is the degree of skill some one at level forty-three and with a level five forging skill can aplish. Now then you try and do it yourself. Ah but first."

    Gurrom remembering something went over towards his desk and began digging around in it beforeing over towards Marcus with a certain scroll.

    Marcus taking the scroll and looking it over, saw that it was the tier two fire magic spell control mes.

    Reading the contents of the scroll Marcus memorized the spells formation and stored it into his magic core before practicing the chant.

    During this time Gurrom had been preparing materials for Marcus to practice with, and once Marcus was able to cast the spell in around four seconds, he figured he was ready.

    Now Marcus could have just skipped the chanting but that would have at least made Gurrom suspicious if not out Marcus as a monster immediately.

    Gritting his teeth Marcus turned on the furnace in Gurrom''s room and cast the control me spell and began practicing how to manipte the temperature, size, and intensity of the me.

    Once he had spent a few dozen minutes getting used to his new spell, Marcus looked towards Gurrom who said, "You should be ready now to start your sword making practice again. Now then I have some work I need to do myself so I cannot watch over you the entire time, but if you get stuck on something and need my help feel free to ask."

    Marcus nodded his head and picked up an ingot of iron with a pair of tongs since he did not have heat resistance like Gurrom and ced it into the furnace.

    Using the me control spell Marcus condensed the mes like Gurrom had, but idently began melting the tongs he was using along with the ingot.

    Frantic seeing his blunder Marcus yanked the iron ingot out too fast and some of the molten iron sshed onto him and began burning his skin.

    Marcus let out a loud groan as he suppressed the pain of the molten iron running down his skin.

    Gurrom seeing this ran over towards Marcus pulling out a minor healing potion, but Marcus just put his hand up and began ripping the iron that had already begun cooling off his skin.

    Gurrom was astonished to see Marcus pull the molten iron off with ease and the fact that his skin began healing at a visible rate.

    After just a minute Marcus'' burns had already all but disappeared and Gurrom said, "I am surprised, you have regeneration skill. Even though it does not seem to be a high level just having one is incredibly rare. Ah and I am sorry I should have told you to be careful about heating the tongs. You need to control the mes so that they transmit most of their heat towards the ingot, give it a few more tries, and you should get the hang of it."

    Marcus nodded his head and practiced controlling the heat so that it would avoid the tongs. It was difficult but after another minute of practicing with he control mes spell, Marcus was confident in keeping the tongs from melting.

    Trying once again, this time Marcus was able to get the iron ingot to absorb the majority of the heat while protecting the tongs, and after thirty seconds he had gotten it to the desired temperature.

    Taking the ingot, he ced it on top of the anvil and began shaping it with his hammer striking over and over.

    ˇ­

    ''Eleven tries. It took me eleven tires, but I finally made a respectable sword.''

    Marcus looked at the iron sword he had just finished with a sense of aplishment since he had finally been able to make something that did not look like crap.

    Sighing Marcus sat down for the first time in over a day since he had worked on forging like a man possessed, doing nothing else.

    Gurrom of course had tried to stop Marcus but he soon found that once Marcus had his mind set on something it was not easy to change.

    However, soon Gurrom noticed that no matter how long Marcus was forging he did not seem to get tired or even sweat, which Gurrom eventually wrongly surmised was because of his blessing of iron.

    Staring over the de he had finished Marcus stood up and brought it over to Gurrom who looked it over before smiling and saying, "You certainly had me scared there for a while, but it seems that there is a method to you madness. This sword is pretty good, I think you are ready to learn the rest of the basics. But first get some rest, even at level forty-three I need to take a break after working that long and hard."

    Marcus nodded his head, even though he was not really that tired, but his mind really could use a break.

    Thanking Gurrom for his help in teaching him, Marcus left for the day nning toe back tomorrow and learn more.

 Chapter 137 - 136 Advancement

    Six months passed by in the blink of an eye as Marcus continued living in the capital city Boreas and a lot had happened during this time.

    Marcus had of course continued his training under Gurrom, learning all of the basics of forging during a two-week period.

    After that Marcus returned to his estate and once the on-site forge had been cleaned and resupplied, Marcus began getting to work.

    Marcus started perfecting his forging style during this time, increasing his skill level readily, and once every couple of weeks he would go back to the zegram Forge to show Gurrom what he had made, get some extra advice, and sell hispleted pieces.

    Unfortunately, in the first four months Marcus was not making much money off of his forging, and when Lilia got into the kingdom''s Royal Academy, Marcus had to supplement his ie with adventuring to afford her tuition.

    Luckily, Marcus was able to use his high level and noble status to quickly raise his adventure rank up to silver as Irene, although he did have to beat an annoying vice guild master in a fight first.

    Following his increase in rank Marcus joined back up with the adventuring party Eternal Queens that he had briefly met during his stay at the Cozy Respite.

    He did this mostly to get their expertise at what jobs could earn the most money, but it did not take long for him to also be good friends with them.

    During this time Marcus also received plenty of invitations from other nobles wanting to meet him, but he turned most of them down since he was too busy to deal with things of that nature.

    However, he did make an exception for Dame Harthen and her apprentice risa Hall who he had met a few times going between the inner and outer city and became friends with.

    Marcus continued with his routine of adventuring for money and using what time he had in between to practice forging until his fourth month of practice when Marcus got his forge skill up to level four.

    This meant that he was finally able to make items out of mithril and it was not long after he began making mithril weapons and armor that Marcus'' poprity skyrocketed, and he began getting personalmissions.

    At this point Marcus had already been epted as an official member of the zegram Forge and was making good money off of his forging, no longer needing to go adventuring for money.

    He did still help out the Eternal Queens every now and then, but his time with them dwindled quite a bit from before.

    Of course, during these six months Marcus also managed to get his level and other skills up and was now level thirty-five with all of his magic andbat skills being at level four expect for iron magic and scythemanship which Marcus had spent his skill points to get to level five.

    ˇ­

    Wiping some soot off of his forehead Marcus stared down at the mithril chainmail he had just finished, and a big smile spread across his face.

    ''Finally, I have made a chainmail where the enchantment stuck. Hehe, now I have a decent piece of armor for myself and I think I am ready.''

    Putting the chainmail on under his clothes Marcus could barely tell that it was there because of how light it was.

    Moving around to get used to his new armor Marcus could not be happier and he decided that it was finally time for him to once again try his hand at bing Thabon''s apprentice.

    Packing up his equipment Marcus walked out of his forge and called Blitz over who had also level up during this time making it to level twenty-seven.

    Mounting onto his magical beast, Marcus quickly bounded towards the road and not even waiting for the gate to be opened had Blitz jump over.

    With a loud bang Blitz''s hooves impacted the stone street and the two of them began rocketing towards the zegram forge at an incredible rate.

    Within just a few minutes Marcus had arrived at the forge and had tied off Blitz before entering.

    Sitting at the front desk Marcus saw one of the forge''s apprentices manning the lobby and when he saw Marcus, he immediately ran over and said, "Lady Irene, it is good to see you again. So, have you thought about my request, I promise I will do whatever you say if you take me as your apprentice?"

    Marcus sighed, this was amon urrence ever since he had be an official member of the forge two months ago and became quite popr.

    At some point Marcus even became the forge''s idol since he had gone from having a skill level of one to four in only just six months which was pretty good and because as Irene, he was incredibly attractive.

    This made it so that all of the appetencies wanted to know Marcus'' secret on how he had gotten his skill up so fast and the male and even some of the female ones wanted to get into a romantic rtionship.

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' secret was something others could not replicate, using hisck of need for sleep, he would work for days on end, and Marcus also had no intention of having any romance at this point in time.

    Looking at the young man who had been the most persistent Marcus sighed and said, "Jerrard I have already told you many times that I have no intention of taking any apprentices. Now I have some important business to attend to so I will be on my way."

    Unfortunately, Jerrard was feeling extra persistent today and did not get out of Marcus'' way and even got down onto his hands and knees and said, "Please I am begging you. I cannot get over the hurdle of getting my skill level up to four and until then I will always be an apprentice. You must have used some secret training technique right, if you could even give me a hint, I would be eternally grateful."

    Groaning Marcus looked at Jerrard and said, "Your level is too low, go kill a bunch of monsters or train like hell for a few months and once you are around level thirty you should eventually get you skill level up."

    With his advice given Marcus walked around Jerrard, who was feeling helpless since he thought Marcus was mocking him.

    However, Marcus had actually given sound advice since if you were not at a certain level it became very difficult to get your skill levels up.

    Marcus figured this out when he noticed that it was easy for him to get most skills up to level four but after that it was incredibly difficult if not impossible to raise them as they cost absurd skill points and no amount of training seemed to help.

    Walking into the forge many people greeted him and Marcus who was on good terms with most of the members of the forge smiled and greeted them back.

    After saying his hellos Marcus soon found himself in front of Gurrom''s personal room and he knocked on the door.

    It was not long before Gurrom opened the door letting out a st of heat and Marcus could see sweat trickling down his head.

    "Hey Gurrom, you got a minute."

    Gurrom seeing Marcus grew a big smile as he said, "Actually I am in the middle of working on something and if you could give me a hand, I would be appreciative."

    Marcus nodded and walked into Gurrom''s personal workshop and saw what he was currently working on.

    Marcus could only stare in awe as he saw that Gurrom was working on an adamantine axe.

    Marcus had seen the slightly green silver metal only a few times but each time he had wanted to get his hands on some.

    Unfortunately, only those with a forge skill level of five or higher could effectively work with it and it was incredibly rare.

    Sighing while looking enviously at the adamantine Marcus said, "So what do you need me to do."

    Gurrom exined to Marcus that he had used up all of his mana already and that taking another potion would cause him somesting damage, so he needed to use Marcus basically as a mana battery.

    Using his mana to power the magical equipment in Gurrom''s room it was only around an hour before Gurrom had put the finishing touches on the axe he had been working on.

    Marcus watch as Gurrom inspected the axe giving it a few swings before he smiled and said, "Thanks Irene, you are a life saver. It has taken me years to umte the amount of adamantine I needed to make a personal weapon for myself."

    Marcus with a jealous expression said, "Yeah you seem pretty pleased with yourself, while I have not even been able to get a scrap of adamantine to work with."

    Gurrom just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hey you are already working with mithril after just six months which is better than most. Just give yourself another couple of years and I am sure you will get some adamantine."

    Marcus shaking his head to get his mind off of the strongest metal he knew about and said, "Gurrom I actually came here today to show my skills off to the owner again and try to be his disciple."

    Hearing this Gurrom looked at Marcus seriously and said, "Are you sure, I know that your skill level is still only at four and the master did not even ept me who is an old family friend until I got my skill level up to five."

    Marcus just nodded his head resolutely and showed off the mithril chainmail that he had just made to Gurrom who inspected it thoroughly.

    After he had finished looking it over, he had a genuine look of surprise on his face and said, "You managed to get such an intricate and advanced enchantment to stick onto mithril."

    Marcus hearing the shock in Gurrom''s voice proudly said with a smug face, "Yeah it took a lot of trial and error but with the help of my little sister''s magic I was able to get it done."

    Gurrom just looked at Marcus like he was a monster since getting an enchantment on mithril the way Marcus had, was nearly impossible.

    Gurrom handing the mithril chainmail back to Marcus said, "Very well I will go get the master and bring him here, feel free to use my room during your test."

    Gurrom then left the room and Marcus began pulling out the materials he was going to be using during the test.

    ''Three ingots of mithril, a lightning stone, shine stone, and dark stone. The wood from a sun tree and a moon tree, a bonding agent for the two woods, and finally the magic core from the boss of the thirdyer.''

    As Marcus took the materials out of his item box and double checked their quality Gurrom came back with Thabon who was looking at Marcus expectantly and said, "So you think you are ready.. Very well, show me how much you have advanced in these six months."

 Chapter 138 - 137 Test And Knowledge

    Looking at Thabon, Marcus smiled confidently before lighting the crimson ore furnace, and picking up the three mithril ingots with his spectral arm.

    Using his spectral arm Marcus held the three ingots inside the furnace and with the control mes spell began heating them up.

    Marcus using all of his skill to control the fire within the furnace began melting the mithril and fusing the three ingots into one.

    After thirty minutes Marcus had sessfully created one veryrge ingot and then got to work.

    Pulling out a specially made enchanted mithril and steel alloy hammer, Marcus began hammering away at therge ingot.

    Minutes turned to hours, and soon Thabon and Gurrom who were watching Marcus were able to tell what kind of weapon Marcus was making, and it surprised them.

    They had never seen Marcus make this type of weapon before, but it was actually the item that Marcus had the most experience with, a scythe.

    Seeing it, Thabon remembered back when he looked over Marcus'' status and that the weapon skill Marcus had was scythemanship.

    ''So, she is making herself a personal weapon for her test. What a bold move, now let me see if you can actually impress me.''

    Once Marcus had the general shape of the scythe de design he wanted, he began grinding down the de until it was to satisfaction.

    When that was done Marcus moved onto the handle taking the two pieces of opposing wood, and with a very special glue, he began putting the two pieces together.

    After the two pieces were aligned, Marcus sent a massive amount of mana through the wood and the special property of the glue activated, causing the two opposing pieces of wood to begin fusing.

    Thabon was actually surprised to see this since it would normally be impossible to fuse these two pieces of opposing woods and it was only because of the nature of Marcus'' own duality that it was possible.

    Letting out a sigh of relief, Marcus looked towards the magic core of the boss of the thirdyer as well as the three elemental stones he had brought out.

    ''Now the hard part begins.''

    Picking up the magic core first, Marcus brought it over towards the scythe de and measured out the area where he was going to imbed it.

    Taking nearly twenty minutes Marcus was finally confident in where to ce the magic core and began condensing the core into a manageable size.

    Once that was done Marcus heated up the area he was going to ce the core, and chiseled it out.

    Next, he ced the core within the scythe de before melting the previously removed mithril and covering up the core.

    Taking a deep breath Marcus picked up the three elemental stones and measured out where they were going to go since it was crucial that they be aligned perfectly or one of them would overpower the others.

    Putting them into a triangr pattern with lightning being in front of the magic core while the dark and shine stones being behind.

    Marcus sure of his measurements chiseled out three hole for the elemental stones and inserted them.

    He then resealed them with mithril and began the most difficult part.

    Taking out a specialized pen that looked like a scalpel Marcus sent arge amount of mana into it and began etching a formation into the scythes de.

    Starting around the magic core, Marcus began drawing the formation for an enchantment that increased the power of mana before drawing out a line to each of the elemental stones he had ced into the scythe, having to control his mana with extreme precision as to not to have the mithril reject the enchantment.

    However, as he added the enchantment for the dark stone, the two opposing lightning and shine stones began to reject the energying from the dark stone.

    Seeing this Marcus began to panic, and he tried to change the formation he was drawing so that the lightning and shine stones would not pressure the dark stone.

    Unfortunately, even as he tried to change the formation the two stones that wereplementary began trying to destroy the dark stone.

    Clicking his tongue Marcus used hisst resort and hoped that it worked out somehow.

    ''Embodiment of Darkness.''

    Using his unique skill Marcus began enhancing the strength of the dark stone so that it was not overpowered by the light and lightning stone.

    With razor sharp focus making sure not to give the dark stone either too little or too much support Marcus continued his formation until he finally made the enchantment stable.

    Taking in a deep breath of relief Marcus could not believe that he had sessfullypleted the enchantment on his scythe.

    ''The hardest part is now done, now I just need to sharpen the de and connect it with the handle.''

    Taking the de over to a special whetstone Marcus began painstakingly sharpening it, making sure that it was perfect.

    Once that was done Marcus put slight amount of glue on the top of the handle before slotting it into the hole, he had left in the scythe de.

    Finally, he took the metal around the handle and slowly pressed it until it was constricting around the wood and would not release it no matter what.

    With that done the scythe was practicallyplete, but Marcus decided to add a few cosmetic etchings to the de and handle before handing it over to Thabon to inspect.

    In total it had taken Marcus around fourteen hours toplete his scythe, but there was no doubt that it was an impressive piece.

    Looking it over Thabon was actually surprised, it had been a while since he had seen such a fine item, especially from someone who had only been practicing for six months.

    ''A tripe elemental enchantment, and with one opposing element no less. She must have been crazy to have tried something like this, and if not for that unusual ability she used, there is no way it would have worked. Still there is no doubt that this a masterpiece and a practitioner of any of the elements within this scythe would love to have it. She also gave it a general strengthening enchantment which further makes this weapon impressive, and she used top quality mithril you can only receive from dungeon chests. However, the most extortionary part was that she did not degrade the enchantments at all and the mithril epted it. If she knew the proper way to add enchantments to mithril this would not be anything special, but she instead used extremely precise mana control. Unfortunately, this is as far as she can go without specialized teaching on the true ways of enchanting.''

    After he finished inspecting the scythe Marcus had just made, Thabon handed it back to Marcus and said, "Irene what you have shown me today is truly impressive, never in my wildest dreams did I think you would be at this level of skill within only six months. And while this weapon could not have been made without the unique albites you exhibited, that too is a part of you talent. I honestly can only call what you have made here a masterpiece for someone at you level and therefore I will take you as my apprentice."

    Hearing this Marcus jumped up into the air with joy. He had enjoyed every moment he had been working on forging and was desperate to learn more.

    Gurrom seeing Marcus celebrating Thabon epting him as an apprentice walked over and pped him on the back beforeughing loudly and saying, "Well I guess from now on you are going to be my junior, congrattions on bing one of the master''s disciples."

    Marcus smiled at Gurrom and said, "Yeah I may be your junior for now, but you should watch out since I have no intention of stopping until I am the best."

    Gurrom looked at Marcus with a fire zing in his eyes and said, "Don''t get too cocky now, you still do not know any of the advanced techniques of forging yet. I am already so far ahead of you that I would have to fall asleep for a decade for you to catch up."

    Marcus and Gurrom continued to bicker about who was going to do what, but this onlysted for a few more moments before Thabon coughed loudly to get their attention.

    "Irene, I have something important to show and tell you, follow me into my workshop."

    Marcus hearing this immediately became serious and walked behind Thabon as he went towards his workshop.

    Entering inside Marcus could see the impressive set up Thabon had, him even owning an adamantine anvil.

    Looking at the tools he did not appreciate the first time he was here; Marcus could only hope that one day he would have a setup as impressive.

    However, Marcus'' gawking did notst long as he saw Thabone back with a lockbox and a sheet of paper.

    Handing the sheet of paper to him Thabon said, "This here is a magically binding contract, if you are to learn the most important secrets to being a forgemaster you will have to sign it."

    Taking the contract Marcus looked it over and was surprised to see how harsh it was. Should he disclose the secret to one who is not privy to it, he would instantly die. However, the contract did be void when his forge skill reach level seven which was the qualification for a true master.

    Marcus continued to read the contract carefully and after thinking about it, realized that there was a good chance the instant death use would not work on him because he was not technically alive.

    However, this did not mean Marcus wanted to test his theory or break Thabon''s trust.

    Quickly signing the contract, Marcus handed it back over to Thabon who looked it over before unlocking the box he brought over.

    Marcus could see two different metals within, one which he immediately recognized as tinum although it was glowing slightly, and the other metal had a deep purple color and Marcus thought he had seen it somewhere before but could not ce it.

    Thabon first took out the glowing tinum and said, "This here is the single most important metal for making enchantments. It is called celestial tinum and is used to add enchantments to any weapon that can absorb mana without fail."

    Marcus looked at the celestial tinum dumbfounded since he had been told that to add an enchantment one need to embed a magic core into the weapon and then carve the requisite formation into it.

    However, with this method there was a chance of the enchantment being rejected and one had to be very careful and not add too many or too powerful enchantments that would cause the metal to reject them.

    Thabon looked at Marcus with a bit of sympathy and said, "Yes the way you learned to add enchantments is technically wed, instead of carving a formation into the metal itself you use celestial tinum to draw the formation and it will bond to whatever metal it is being applied to and as long as the formation was drawn correctly, it will set in."

    Hearing this Marcus could only feel cheated since he spent an incredibly long time perfecting his ability to put enchantments onto mithril, but if he had known this simple trick, he could have done it easily and added a more powerful enchantment.

    s, that was just the way of the world, people were not going to just hand over such valuable secrets readily and Marcus was lucky to be learning it at all.

    Snapping himself out of the negative feelings welling up in him, Marcus turned his gaze towards the purple metal and waited for Thabon''s exnation.

    Thabon seeing that Marcus had gotten over the revtion that had caused many others that had learned it to have a mental shut down for days, was happy and continued his exnation.

    "This here is a metal called amethros and is actually the strongest metal in the world. I am sure that until now you believed that spot was held by adamantine, but it is only the second strongest quite a bit behind amethros. However, amethros is not really a secret like the qualities celestial tinum and is just so incredibly rare that few know of its existence. Unlike every other metal in the world which urs naturally, amethros can only be found in the chests of high-level dungeons. In fact, even I myself have only ever worked with it a few times and the kingdom only has four weapons made from it."

    Looking at the small piece of amethros and hearing Thabon''s exnation, Marcus finally remembered where he saw this metal before.

    ''The kingdom''s knightmander, his axe was made out of a purple metal. It must have been made out of amethros.''

    Marcusing to this realization inquired with Thabon who acknowledged that the axe the knightmander used was indeed made from amethros.

    Sighing Marcus realized how little he truly knew about this world, but he was happy that things were still going to be interesting going further.

 Chapter 139 - 138 The Platinum Quest

    With his initial exnation about celestial tinum and amethros concluded, Thabon began exining what he wanted Marcus to do next.

    "So now that you know the secret to enchanting with the use of celestial tinum, I would love to let you have a go with it, but unfortunately, I am currently running low. I normally would have gone to restock while it was still summer, but I was busy making a new spear for the crown prince. So, as your first assignment as my new disciple I will have you go and mine some for me."

    Marcus looked at Thabon with a confused expression. He had know idea where or how to mine celestial tinum and thought it was odd that Thabon even if he was busy had not sent someone else earlier.

    Thabon seeing Marcus'' expression said, "No need to fret, the mine is only around a weeks travel from the capital and is not too difficult to get to. I just do not want to disclose its location with anyone other than my direct disciples, and it alsoˇ­ has a unique security system."

    Thabon then described how he had filled the mine with a type of lizard monster that propagated fast and was very territorial.

    The only problem was that it worked a little too well and now the mine was crawling with these monsters.

    Hearing this Marcus looked over towards Gurrom and said, "Why haven''t you sent Gurrom then, I am sure he could have handled it, he is a higher level than me anyway."

    Gurrom hearing this said, "NO WAY, I DO NOT CARE HOW MUCH PLATINUM IS IN THAT PLACE I AM NEVER GOING TO THAT HELL HOLE AGAIN."

    Marcus could see visible fear appearing on Gurrom''s face and was beginning to feel a sense of apprehension about going to this mine.

    However, Thabon simply rebuked Gurrom saying, "There is no need to be such a wuss,st time you went was four years ago, and you went alone and were only level thirty-six at the time. As you are now you would be fine, even the strongest lizard I saw thest time I was there was only level twenty-eight."

    Unfortunately, the trauma from Gurrom''s previous experience was still lingering in his mind and nothing Thabon could say would sway him.

    Sighing Thabon gestured towards Gurrom and said, "See Gurrom will not do it and my other disciple is currently on a journey gathering materials for themselves. So that leaves only you. But really you do not need to worry, Gurrom is making it out to be worse than it really is, and besides when he went, he went alone. If you want you can take a group of adventures with you, just make sure to make them sign this agreement first."

    Thabon then took out a number of papers that were a magically binding contract that made it so if anyone who signed it disclosed the location of the tinum mine, they would suffer a powerful bacsh.

    Marcus after reading the contract looked at Thabon dubiously and said, "You said that you were not able to get any during the summer like normal, why do you not just go now."

    Thabon hearing this winced before exining to Marcus that he had a unique constitution that made him basically invulnerable to fire but extremely susceptible to the cold.

    Marcus began rubbing his temples and thought, ''If he has such difficulty with the cold why did he set up shop in a northern kingdom that is only warm for around a little more than a third of the year.''

    However, this question was not going to be answered right now as instead Thabon seeing Marcus'' trepidation decided to bribe him.

    "Okay Irene how about a deal. I normally only let a disciple keep ten percent of the celestial tinum they mine, but I will let you keep twenty percent instead, and when you get back, I will personally teach you for a full week without any interruptions."

    Marcus hearing this readily epted, the alure of the extra tinum and the week of uninterrupted lessons was too much for him to refuse.

    Thabon with a satisfied expression then said, "Good now that you have agreed follow me."

    Marcus curious about where they were going, followed Thabon and soon they were standing inside arge storage room with a few pieces of mining equipment in it.

    Thabon rummaging around picked out a nice pickaxe that Marcus could see was made from mithril as well as a funny lookingpass.

    Bringing the two items over to Marcus, Thabon told him that thepass would point at areas that had celestial tinum, while the pickaxe was enchanted and would automatically mine so long as Marcus supplied it with mana.

    Taking the two items Marcus stored them in his item box when Thabon said, "Now why don''t you empty you item box of all unnecessary items so that you have as much room for the celestial tinum as possible"

    At this point Marcus realized another reason Thabon was so desperate to have him go was because of his item box.

    Certainly, with it Marcus could bring back much more than the average person since even thergest magic bags normally only had around half the storage space as Marcus'' medium item box.

    Sighing Marcus began emptying his item box of unnecessary items, until all he had was a few gallons of water, some rations, a small tent and bedding, a few potions, and the ck sword he had obtained from the vampire.

    Thabon with a surprised expression stared at all of the items Marcus had in his item box, mainly focusing on the few mithril bars and the magic cores from the shadow demon and vampire.

    "Where did you get the core from a vampire, and judging by the depth of color on the red lines it must have had a powerful bloodline. And this I have never seen a core like it, what kind of creature did you get it from."

    Marcus seeing Thabon nearly drooling over the rare magic cores he had, decided to store them back into his item box since he had a feeling that they may disappear should he leave them here.

    Thabon visibly sad, said, "I promise I would not do anything topromise your cores I just wanted to do a few tests and find out what special properties they had."

    However, Marcus was not going to relinquish either of the cores he had acquired from incredibly strong monster that would normally be the peak of their level.

    Thabon grumbling said, "Fine, do what you want. Ah and here take this as well."

    Thabon tossed a magic bag over towards Marcus who could tell it was of a high quality and probably had around a third of the storage his item box had.

    "Fill that up as well, I am going to need a decent amount in order to fulfill some orders I know areing up soon."

    Marcus happy to have the extra bag that would increase his overall profit smiled before saying, "Now, how much money are you willing to give me to pay for support during this request."

    Thabon grumbling saying under his breath "I was hoping she would forget." Took out three hundred gold and handed it to Marcus.

    "That should be enough right, if whoever you hire wants more just tell them that they can have any of the materials from the monsters they kill."

    Nodding his head Marcus was pretty happy with the sum he had received especially since he already knew what party of adventures he was going to hire.

    ''Now I just need to find Bridget and the rest of the Eternal Queens and get them on board. Well as long as they are not extremely busy, they will certainly help me.''

    With his n forming in his mind, Marcus bid farewell to Thabon and Gurrom before leaving the zegram forge and heading back to his residence.

    Passing through the gates of his estate Marcus headed up to the main building and when he entered, he was quickly greeted by one of the maids.

    Smiling Marcus told her to find ra for him and soon Marcus was sitting in the dinning room informing ra that he would be going on a trip for a couple of weeks.

    "So, would you inform anyone thates that I am presently out and make sure that everything is good with Lilia."

    "Yes, as you wish Lady Irene."

    Smiling at ra, Marcus then quickly finished off his dinner before heading out with Blitz to find the Eternal Queens and ask them to apany him to the tinum mine.

    Running through the streets of the kingdom on Blitz''s back, it was not long until Marcus was in front of the Cozy Respite and walked into the building.

    Looking around Marcus searched for the Eternal Queens and soon found them in their usual spot having a drink in the inn''s attached restaurant after a sessful mission.

    Seeing them there, Marcus approached and when they saw him, they all cheered loudly since he was pretty much an unofficial member of their party at this point.

    Bridget with a massive smile said, "Irene, have you finally decided to give up forging and join us as an official member."

    Marcus happy to see his friends smirked at Bridget and said, "Sorry I am still focused on bing a forgemaster so I will have to let you down."

    One of the other members a halfling girl with short brown hair named Jesnay said, "Awe on Irene, you have been adventuring with us on and off for five months now, if you joined us, we could easily get to tinum rank and be one of the top parties in the city."

    Marcus looked at Jesnay with an apologetic look before saying, "Sorry I am not the kind of person to tie myself down, but I do enjoy adventuring with all of you so while I am in the city you will always be my go-to. And speaking of adventuring I happened to have request for all of you.

    Marcus exined the details of what he was going to do, and once he was done allowed everyone to read the agreement that they were going to need to sign.

    However, before they even read it, the members of Eternal Queens signed and said, "We trust you Irene, and while your boss may need this for his own safety you can always count on us."

    Smiling Marcus took back the magically binding agreement and said, "Then we leave tomorrow, and I am d to have all you with me the."

    The eight of them then enjoyed a night of merriment before Marcus headed home and went to sleep for the first time in over a month, since he wanted to be at his best when he headed off on his journey to the tinum mine.

 Chapter 140 - 139 Marcus And The Eternal Queens

    Waking up the next day Marcus felt refreshed. He had not slept or rested his mind for over a month and even though as a ghost he could go pretty much infinitely so long as he did not use all of his mana or spiritual strength at once, the toll on his mind had definitely made his thinking a bit sluggish.

    ''Damn I just realized why my scythe nearly copsed in on itself yesterday. I forgot to add the strengthening formation around the darkness stone before connecting it with the lightening and shine stones.''

    With his mind fully rested Marcus was able to recall the slight mistakes he had made while forging his scythe and understood that this could have been avoided had he been at one hundred percent.

    ''I guess more than a month is just a bit too long to have my mind active all the time. My thought process was getting a bit dull after that much time, I suppose even a ghost has to rest some time.''

    Admonishing himself for working too hard, Marcus made a vow to get at least a little rest every two weeks so that he did not run his mind into the ground.

    ''Now then time to get ready.''

    Getting out of hisrge and luxurious bed, Marcus made his way over to the attached bathroom and began filling therge tub up with water.

    Sliding into the water Marcus allowed the warm water to rx his mind, body, and soul.

    After pushing his bath to the utmost limit of spare time he had before meeting up with the Eternal Queens, Marcus got out, dried himself off, and put on his normal adventuring wear.

    Looking over his gear for onest check, Marcus was satisfied that he was ready, and went downstairs where he found Elianna and Hazel preparing arge amount of food for his journey to the mine.

    Smiling Marcus thanked the two of them before having a quick breakfast and then storing all of the food into his item box.

    ''Sometimes keeping up the appearance of eating can get tiresome, but at least what Elianna and Hazel make is always tasty.''

    With all of his preparationpleted, Marcus said goodbye to his maids and exited his manor.

    Sending a mentalmand to Blitz, Marcus had the lightning stage over to him and quickly mounted on top.

    Riding like the wind Marcus and Blitz made their way towards the eastern gate of the city where he was going to meet up with the members of Eternal Queens.

    Soon Marcus could see the gate and as he got closer, he noticed seven young women standing near the gate along with four snow horses.

    Trotting up to the Eternal Queens Marcus asked, "Have you been waiting long?" but, Bridget seeing Marcus shook her head and said, "No we only got here around ten minutes ago."

    d he had not kept them waiting for too long, Marcus waited for them to mount their horses before they turned towards the gate and exited the city.

    Stepping out of the city Marcus could see all around him a vastndscape covered in snow and the immense cold assaulted him and the eternal queens.

    Now that they were out of the city with its citywide heating formation, the eternal queens activated the heating enchantments on their clothing making the freezing temperatures bearable

    However, Marcus was not bothered by the cold at all and actually forgot to activate the enchantment on his clothing until Atalie the most vignt member of the party said, "Irene, are you not freezing, you have not activated you warming enchantment. You are going to get frostbite if you do not activate it soon."

    Marcus realizing his blunder quickly activated the enchantment on his clothing and thanked Atalie for her help.

    ''Crap, the cold does not bother me at all, so I forgot. In fact, the only time I have ever felt a sense of cold since bing a ghost was when the ice ant queen hit me with that weird spiritual attack.''

    Shaking his head Marcus brought up his vignce level since he had allowed the beautifully scenery of the snow to distract him.

    The eight of them continued along the snow-covered roads using a map that Thabon had given Marcus to guide their way.

    Their current destination was arge town called Klopot which was only around a days journey from the mine.

    However, as they were making their way towards their destination, Atalie the parties scout stopped everyone and said, "Irenee here for a bit I want to confirm something with you."

    Marcus wondering what was going on moved towards Atalie and said, "What did you need me to do."

    Atalie pointing towards a small hill in the distance said, "That hill, it looks strange, and I could swear it moved slightly when we came into visual range. I am also getting a weird feeling from it, like it is anticipating our arrival."

    Marcus casting his gaze towards the hill in question used his creature appraisal skill and confirmed that it was indeed not a hill.

    "You were right Atalie, that is not a hill. It is a level twenty-eight frost drake, and I would say that it is waiting on the road to ambush us."

    Hearing what Marcus had said, everyone immediately put up their full guard.

    A drake was a lesser dragon and was considered one of the strongest types of rare grade beasts, and even for a group of strong adventures like the Eternal Queens, if they were caught off guard would have certainly had causalities.

    Luckily, Atalie was an impable scout and with Marcus'' creature appraisal skill they knew exactly what they were up against.

    Bridget the leader of the Eternal Queens said, "Very well we will do the usual, Irene and Branna step forward and get ready."

    Branna who was a young half elf with light brown hair moved to the front of the group and looked toward Marcus as she pulled out a staff that was topped with a red crystal gem.

    Marcus nodded towards her and they both began chanting the same spell.

    Soon as they both finished their chants, a small bead of fire appeared in their hands before flying off in the direction of the frost drake that had disguised itself as a hill.

    "BOOM."

    The two tier three fire ball spells impacted the frost drake causing a fiery explosion that immediately melted the surrounding snow and ice, and caused the frost drake to let out a roar of pain and anger.

    Seeing the ice drake il around in pain Marcus and Branna prepared anther double fire ball attack and released the spells towards the frost drake.

    Unfortunately, this time the frost drake was ready, and it released its ice breath at the fire balls causing an explosion of fire and ice.

    Bridget seeing that their initial attack had gone fairly smoothly said, "Okay you two get back and focus on support, let''s use formation C and get ready for battle."

    Nodding their heads, the members of eternal queens got into their battle formations, some of them dismounting from their mounts while others took up positions for evasion.

    "Raaaaaar"

    The frost Drake let out a loud roar and began barreling towards Marcus and the Eternal Queens covered in a thick armor made of ice.

    Bridget and another girl named Yrsa who were the party''s tanks, stood in the front with their heavy shields ready, and right before the drake impacted into them, they activate the enchantments on their shields and used the skill power guard.

    As the drake impacted into the barrier that Bridget and Yrsa created, even with itsrge size that was twelve feet tall and twenty feet long it still did not make them move an inch.

    With the drake''s movement marily stopped, Jesnay fired a bolt from her crossbow while Atalie let loose an arrow.

    As the two projectiles hit the drake, Atalie''s arrow exploded with a burst of fire, while Jesnay''s unleashed a bolt of electricity that coursed through the drake.

    The drake taking major damage from each attack let out a pained screech and locking onto Jesnay swung its tail past the barrier that Bridget and Yrsa had created.

    However, before its tail coulde in contact with Jesnay, Marcus cast the spell he had been holding onto.

    "Wall of Darkness."

    The drakes tail smashed into the wall of darkness unable to go any further, and the corroding properties of the darkness magic even began eating away at its tail.

    Swinging its tail back the drake looked angrily at Bridget and Yrsa that was preventing its advance and opened its mouth to unleash another ice breath.

    s, at that moment Branna cast the spell she had prepared, and a wall of mes burst forth in front of the drake blocking its breath attack.

    At the same time the fastest member of the Eternal Queens a rabbit beastwoman named He jumped high into he air right above the drake''s back.

    With her two swords crossed in the shape of an X, He charge each of them with a massive amount of mana causing their de''s to elongate before she let loose a devastating sh.

    Slicing through the tough scales and hard hide of the drake, a fountain of blood began shooting forth from the horrible X shaped wound on the drake''s back.

    As the Drake staggered from He''s attack Yrsa and Bridget who had been ying defense this whole time moved in for the attack.

    Yrsa, wielding a massive morning star, mmed her weapon into the front right leg of the drake and with a loud cracking sound the drake''s leg gave out.

    The drake slumping onto the ground had now exposed its neck to attack, and Bridget taking this opportunity, took her spear and jammed it directly into the flesh of the drakes neck.

    The drake now horribly wounded, in a desperate measure unleashed a frost mist that caused everyone to rush back from it, and taking this opportunity, began running away.

    Unfortunately for the poor drake, the final member of the Eternal Queens was not going to let it get away.

    Rekia seeing the drake running away, cast her tier four nature magic spell causing a mass of roots and vines to shoot out of the earth and begin wrapping around the drake.

    Marcus seeing the drake trying to tear and rip away the roots and vines restraining it, jumped off of Blitz''s back and said, "Blitz finish it."

    Hearing Marcus''mand, Blitz began to light up like christmas tree before a massive bolt of electricity flew from his body and sted the frost drake.

    The frost drake let out a deafening cry as the electricity fired its body and after just a few moments the drake could no longer resist and fell over dead.

 Chapter 141 - 140 The Town Of Klopot

    As the frost drake took its final breath and copsed after taking the full force of Blitz''s attack, the members of Eternal Queens who were preparing their long-ranged attacks lowered their weapons and gave Marcus slightly annoyed looks.

    It was not the first time Marcus had either let his magic beast or himself get the final hit on an opponent which would give more exp.

    However, all they could do was shrug it off since Marcus had simply acted quicker, and he did bring a lot of power to their party.

    Of course, Marcus could have easily killed the frost drake on his own with almost no trouble, but he did not mind being a team yer and letting everyone have their own time to shine.

    The group then went to dismantling the now dead drake since pretty much all of its parts were quite valuable.

    Once they had finished taking the valuable parts off the frost drake, the group continued on their way towards the town of Klopot, where they would rest for a day before heading towards the tinum mine.

    The days quickly rolled by with the group encountering a few more magic beasts and monster along the way, many of which were quite strong and had an ice elemental affinity.

    ''I can see now why most adventures and traveling merchants halt their business during the winter. Not only is the dense snow harder to move in, powerful beasts and monster that are not active during the warm summer months,e out of hibernation.''

    Luckily after traversing the snowy winterndscape that had already lost its novelty, the group of Marcus and the Eternal Queens soon saw the plumes of smoke and steaming from the town of Klopot in the distance.

    Increasing their speed now that their goal was in sight, it took them only another thirty minutes to finally be able to see the walls of the town.

    Looking closely, Marcus could see dozens of guards moving around the top of the eight-foot-tall wall that enclosed the town, and the gate was heavily fortified.

    All of the members of Eternal Queens and Marcus gave each other knowing looks since this kind of behavior was only exhibited when a town was under attack.

    As they got closer one of the guards on top of the wall called out to them and said, "Who goes there, state your business foring to Klopot."

    Bridget seeing the wary and haggard looks of the guards, had everyone stop and said up to the guards.

    "We are the gold rank adventuring party Eternal Queens, and we are on our way to the destination of our current request which is close by. We were hoping to be able to rest in this town before our departure."

    The guards hearing Bridget''s response began talking quietly amongst themselves and Marcus could see that their faces seemed to brighten up a bit.

    After just a few seconds the guard that was obviously in charge looked down upon them and said, "Please just wait a moment while we remove the barricade in front of the gate, Ah and please have you ID''s ready for inspection."

    Marcus and the Eternal Queens waited just outside of the gate as they saw numerous guards moving boxes, carts, and all manner of items that had been stacked in front gate.

    Within a few minutes the guards had cleared the way and opened the gates, allowing Marcus and the members of Eternal Queens to enter.

    As they entered into the city the head guard briefly looked over everyone''s ID and as he did arge smile began creeping over his face until he saw Marcus hand over his silver te noble ID.

    The head guard seeing this immediately kneeled on the ground and bowed before saying, "I am sorry we kept you waiting mydy. Had we known that you were a noble we would have opened the gate quicker, and had a proper reception prepared for you."

    Marcus while sighing said, "No need to act on ceremony, here is my ID just look it over real quick and we will be on our way."

    The guard following Marcus''mand stood up and with great care looked over his ID and his eyes nearly budged out of his eyes when he saw Marcus'' status.

    ''Level thirty-five! She is a monster; she has stats and skills that even make the baron''s knights look like little kids.''

    The guard captain after reading Marcus'' status began looking at him like he was his savior.

    "Um are you done looking over my ID, we would like to get going."

    The head guard hearing Marcus'' statement realized he still had Marcus'' ID and had been staring.

    With an embarrassed expression the head guard handed back Marcus'' ID, and as Marcus and the Eternal Queens were about to walk away said, "Please wait a moment. If you would all wait here for a few minutes, we have already sent for the baron who is the viceroy of this town toe and greet you all. I am sure that you have noticed the extra defensive measures we have been taking and the baron ising to personally ask for your assistance."

    Hearing this Marcus who the guard had been mainly addressing looked towards Bridget looking for her confirmation.

    Bridget simply shrugged her shoulders indicating that she was fine with whatever Marcus wanted to do.

    Sighing Marcus decided to meet with the baron since as another titled noble it would be seen as rude for him to openly avoid the baron and he had no intention of stirring up trouble.

    Marcus confirming that they would wait for the baron, followed the guard captain into a small building which was furnished with a table and chairs, and a small couch.

    The captain told them all to getfortable and even had someone prepare some tea.

    Soon a young man who had been left to attended to Marcus and the Eternal Queens finished preparing a pot of tea and began pouring out a cup for everyone.

    Taking a sip Marcus was actually surprised to find that the tea was pretty good which was not what he was expecting from the simple guard rest station they were in.

    While drink their tea, it was not long before the door to the room they were in opened, and followed by the guard captain were three individuals.

    Marcus looking over the three people could see that two of them were quite well built and were wearing armor and weapons, while the third was a young man dressed in fine clothing.

    Standing up Marcus bowed towards the man in the nice clothes who was obviously the baron and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you lord baron, my name is Baress Irene Geist."

    The baron returning Marcus'' greeting said, "No the pleasure is all mine Lady Geist. My name is Baron Jasper Maltan, and these are my two knights Sir Vincent and Sir Xavier. Please sit down, and there is no need to adhere to formalities with me, feel free to call me Jasper."

    Marcus was a bit surprised to see Jasper''sid-back demeanor towards normal noble etiquette, but Marcus was not one for it anyway.

    Sitting back down Marcus looked towards the baron and said, "Well then Jasper, what is it that you want from me and the Eternal Queens."

    Jasper with a grave look on his face sat down across from Marcus and said, "I was hoping to issue an urgent request to your party. You see for thest two weeks a tribe of ice trolls has set up in the woods not far from here, and every few nights they attack the town. We have of course been able to drive them off each time, but they are continuing to chip away at the town''s resources and defenses. As you probably know trolls have incredible regenerative abilities and even cutting their heads off will no kill them. Thus, since our town does not have any powerful fire or acid magic users, we have been unable to kill the trolls. As the viceroy of this town, I would make sure to adequatelypensate you for your service, please help us."

    The baron in an unprecedent move even got out of his chair, got onto his hands and knees, and bowed.

    Everyone in the room seeing this could not help but gasp since a noble bowing to this level to anyone, especially someone of a lower rank was unheard of and could even damage his reputation.

    The knight Sir Xander even said in an exasperated manner, "Lord Maltan, please raise your head, there is no need to shame yourself like this."

    However, Jasper simply looked up at his knight and said, "My pride is nothing if it can not help me save the town my family has been the wardens'' off for generations. I would be willing to bow a hundred times to Lady Geist if it would save my town."

    Marcus waspletely caught off guard by the sincerity of Jasper since most nobles were definitely not this selfless.

    Smiling Marcus stood up and said, "Sure I would be more than happy to help you since you asked in such a heartfelt manner. However, I am afraid I am not and official member or the leader of Eternal Queens, so if you want their assistance you will need to ask their leader Bridget."

    Jasper hearing this was surprised since he thought that with Marcus'' level and rank, he would naturally be the leader.

    Nevertheless, Jasper turned his attention towards Bridget and bowed his head giving his plea to her as well.

    Bridget not used to having nobility bowing to her said, "Please stand-up Lord Maltan if Iren- I mean Lady Geist wants to help, then of course we will as well. But for our services in this matter the Eternal Queens will be requesting five hundred gold pieces and the magic cores of any trolls we kill."

    With a look of gratitude in his eyes Jasper shook Bridget''s hand and agreed to her terms but, his Knight Xander in a fit of rage said, "Lord Maltan how can you agree to such terms, I can understand the amount of money it is reasonable, but the cores should belong to you as their employer."

    Jasper turning visibly angry looked at Xander and said, "Are you questioning my authority, what would you have me do, wait and see if another powerful adventuring party were toe through while the trolls destroy the town. I believe what they ask is reasonable and if they wanted, they could have asked for more. If you were able to kill any of the trolls than maybe we would not need to enlist outside help, but I will not have you insult the people that have agreed to help us."

    Xander being verbally reprimanded by his lord bowed his head in shame and held his tongue from any further outburst.

    Jasper then turned back towards Bridget and apologized for Xander''sck of manners.

    "Now then you all must be tired. The trolls have only attacked at night so far, so if you want to rest until then I will take you to my estate and you can stay there if you wish."

    Bridget looked at Marcus and the other members of the Eternal Queens and seeing no opposition agreed to the baron''s offer, and all of them began making their way towards his estate.

 Chapter 142 - 141 Attack Of The Trolls

    Following behind Baron Jasper Maltan and his two knights, Marcus and the Eternal Queens made their way across town towards the baron''s estate.

    On their way they could see a number of people that seemed to be quite a bit afraid, most likely due to the troll attacks that had been happening for thest two weeks.

    However, many of them when they saw Marcus and the Eternal Queens began whispering to each other, and some of them even had a bit of hope in their eyes.

    Of course, the news that a party of powerful adventures hade through was already making the rounds through the town with a poption of only around three or four thousand people.

    Soon the baron''s estate came into view and therge mansion that sat atop a hill overlooking the town could be seen.

    Passing through the gates without any obstruction since they were being led by the baron, Marcus and his group walked past the snow-covered garden in the front yard towards the front door.

    Standing in the entrance the baron opened the door revealing the rxing interior of his mansion and soon a troupe of servants arrived.

    Each member of Eternal Queens and Marcus were led by a different servant who showed them to their respective rooms.

    Entering into his designated room, Marcus could see that it was quite nice and exactly what you would expect from a nobles guest room.

    Heading over to the bed, Marcus sat down and took out his recently forged scythe as well as a kit to maintain it.

    Going over the scythe and making sure it was in tip top quality, Marcus was anticipating the fight with the trolls since he had not had a good chance to test out his scythe yet since he had been ying mostly support for the Eternal Queens.

    After finishing up the slight maintenance on his scythe, Marcus went and found were Bridget was staying.

    Opening the door to her room Marcus walked in and seeing herying on her bed walked over towards her.

    "Hey Bridget, can we talk for a moment."

    Bridget looking at Marcus got up and said, "Yeah sure what is it Irene."

    Marcus then exined to Bridget that he wanted to really test out his scythe, so he was nning on going on the attack instead of his normal role of supporting the party.

    Bridget looked at Marcus a bit surprised since she thought of him as more of a spell caster since he had never really gotten into closebat before.

    However, this was more because Marcus just did not have a suitable weapon and less of because of his skills.

    "Okay Irene, if you want to get into closebat you can, but we really have not practiced any maneuvers with you so it might take a while for all of us to adjust."

    Marcus shaking his head said, "No I am actually nning on going wild, and attacking the trolls while you and the others protect the town."

    Bridget with a look of concern said, "Irene I know you are strong but do not get ahead of yourself. Trolls are dangerous creatures and even at your level you are not invincible."

    Nevertheless, Marcus was adamant about his n and after telling Bridget that he would run away quickly if he got in trouble she reluctantly agreed.

    With that squared away, Marcus went back to his room and shut off his mind getting a bit of sleep.

    Waking up a few hourster Marcus could see the sun falling down on the horizon as dusk was beginning to set in.

    Getting out of his bed, Marcus found the members of Eternal Queens gathered in the dining room eating a hardy meal before they were going to go out on watch.

    Joining them at the table Marcus partook in the food as well, finding it to be quite good.

    Once they had finished eating their meal, the baron and his knights came over to them and put a small chest on the table.

    The baron opening the chest revealed arge quantity of glittering cold coins.

    "Five hundred gold pieces as promised."

    However, As the baron pushed the chest over to Bridget, she simply closed the lid and pushed it back while saying, "As nice a gesture that is baron, we do not ept payment until we have finished the job."

    The baron dumbstruck by Bridget''s words took a few moments before picking the chest back up and storing it within his magic bag.

    He then went over towards Marcus and said, "Lady Geist I know that you agreed to help us already but are you sure you want to fight, I am sure that with the assistance of the Eternal Queens we will be fine already."

    Sighing Marcus responded to the baron saying, "Irene, if you are going to let me call you Jasper than you can call me Irene. And I already said I would help fight so that is what I will do."

    Jasper looking at Marcus began blushing slightly before saying, "Very good, then I suppose we should get going night is already upon us."

    Following behind Jasper who was apanied by his two knights, Marcus getting a bit curious sent his creature appraisal at the three of them.

    ''Jasper is only level fifteen, while Vincent is level twenty-seven and Xander is level thirty. Both are pretty average for knights neither being anything special. In fact, the members of Eternal Queens are probably each just as strong. I guess we are a ways out here in a small town so even having two knights is the best they can do.''

    Once he was finished analyzing the strength of Jasper and his knights, Marcus turned his attention to the wall that they were going to be defending.

    Walking onto the top of the wall, the knight Vincent began exin the trolls attack pattern.

    "They normally attack along the southern side of the wall most of the time aiming for the gate. A few times they have made their way over towards the eastern or western gate but have never gone towards the northern one. They also have always attacked in arge group so far; they have never split their forces. We have tried our best to get an urate count of how many there are and to our best estimate it is somewhere between twenty and thirty. The leader of the trolls is quite a bitrge than the others and is some type of mutation. We are not certain what level it is but most of the time it has taken both me and Xander working in tandem to drive it away."

    Vincent then led them to the southern gate where the trolls normally attacked, and Marcus could see that their were a number of bottles filled with oil or alcohol that had clothing out of the tops of them.

    ''Molotov cocktails. Wow that is not something I expected to see in this world. Though I suppose that they would be pretty effective against trolls who''s main weakness is fire and acid.''

    Looking around Marcus could also see that there were number of torches lined up along the walls as well as bundles of arrows that had oil-soaked cloths wrapped around them.

    Marcus now understood how they had been driving away the troll, but also knew that as soon as the town ran out of incendiary items the trolls would probably overrun them.

    ''Well, they have done well to hold out for this long, but if the trolls were strong enough to be a threat to me, they would have already destroyed this town.''

    Standing atop the wall, Marcus cast his gaze out across the area around the town, scanning the surroundings for any signs of the troll.

    However, he was soon interrupted by Baron Jasper who came up next to him and said, "Lady Irene, you need not stand out here in the cold. I have prepared a seat for you just a little ways away that is next to a magic heater."

    The baron pointed towards a chair set up on the wall that had a canopy and was situated next to a magical furnace being used a space heater.

    Marcus shaking his head said, "As kind as that is Jasper, if the trolls attack the west gate that chair is going to be in the way so it would be best to remove it from the wall."

    Jasper realizing his blunder had some of the guards hurriedly remove the chair that he thought would make Marcus morefortable.

    Standing vigil for hours Marcus and the Eternal Queens stood alert waiting for the possible troll attack.

    However, the attack seemed to not being as the night continued on and soon it was only a few hours from sunrise, when.

    "Ring, Ring, Ring."

    Everyone was immediately brought to full awareness as the bells from the eastern gate began to sound, signaling that they were being attacked by the trolls.

    Cursing since the trolls had attacked a different area, Marcus and the Eternal Queens began running atop the wall heading for the eastern gate.

    The two knights not far behind them as Marcus and the Eternal Queens quickly made there way to the eastern gate, and got there just in time to see it struck by arge ball made of snow, ice, and rock.

    Looking out over the wall Marcus could see more than two dozen trollsing out of the woods some of them stopping to hurl projectiles at the wall while others were just charging ahead.

    Clicking his tongue Marcus began chanting a spell and when he was done said, "Sr re."

    At that point the tier three light magic spell shot out of Marcus'' hand and into the air before exploding in a bright sh of light that lit up the sky like it was day.

    Everyone other than Marcus, including the trolls were dazzled by the bright light for a moment before Marcus shouted out, "The light willst for just ten minutes, use it well and make sure that none of the trolls get past the walls."

    At this point Marcus looked at the trolls that were now in full view because he had illuminated the entire battlefield, and jumped off of the wall.

    Landing on the ground a cloud of snow flew into the air around Marcus shimmering in the bright light caused by Marcus'' spell.

    Xander seeing this shouted out saying, "Lady Irene are you crazy get back up here we cannot guarantee your safety if you act so brashly."

    However, Marcus was busy pretending to chant spells and did not give Xander any of his attention.

    ''Lightning strider, iron skin, searing weapon, arms of darkness, legs of light.''

    Casting his five enchantment spells, Marcus'' body became covered in multiple different types of magic. His legs began glowing with light and lightning, darkness coiled around his arms, his skin became as hard as iron, and his scythe set aze.

    With his preparationpleted Marcus rushed towards the nearest troll that had stopped its charge, still confused as to where the sudden light hade from.

    Xander at this point nearly jumped off of the wall to chase after Marcus, but Bridget stopped him and said, "Let he go, Irene is the strongest one here and she will be fine. She knows her limits and if it gets too tough for her, she will retreat."

    Xander looked out skeptically back towards Marcus as he was about to engage the first troll.

 Chapter 143 - 142 Troll Slaughterer

    Marcus approached the nearest troll moving at an incredibly high speed under the enchantment of his magic and skills.

    The troll seeing Marcus as a blur of light swung its club down towards him with an immense amount of power.

    However, as the club was about to crush Marcus, he deftly stepped to the side and with the quick swing of his scythe the arm of the troll went flying.

    The troll letting out a guttural scream, held its now bleeding and burned hand that was not regenerating due to the mesing off of Marcus'' scythe.

    Not allowing the troll any time to recover, Marcus moved in and sliced through its right leg, the sharp de of his scythe meeting no resistance.

    The troll falling to its knees soon found Marcus'' scythe plunging through the bottom of its head anding out of the top.

    The troll its head now impaled, quickly copsed onto the ground unable to regenerate but not quite dead yet.

    That was until Marcus used his methrower spell to cover its entire body in mes and the ice troll began to go up like a bonfire.

    Everyone that had witnessed this could not believe their eyes as in an exchange thatsted less than two seconds Marcus had killed one of the incredibly resilient ice trolls.

    Even the other trolls that were not the brightest bunch, took a step back felling fear form the entity that had easily killed one of their brethren.

    However, that was when a muchrger troll came out of the woods, and gave a loud roar causing the trolls to get back in line.

    Turning his gaze towards the leader of the trolls Marcus used his creature appraisal to check the trolls level and found that it was only at level twenty-nine.

    ''Most of them are in the low twenties, with a few being in the mid-twenties. The only one that is a bit strong is their leader, but even its highest stat which is strength is only just a few points higher than mine even when its spirt and intelligence stats are basically nonexistent.''

    As the troll leader got its followers back in line, a dozen of the thirty or so trolls began charging towards Marcus while the others made their way towards the wall.

    Smiling Marcus jumped right into the fray meeting the dozen trolls head on.

    Weaving past club strikes, Marcus shed with his scythe and with each swing he dealt critical wounds to a troll, and in some case even took off their limbs.

    His scythe which was incredibly sharp and powerful sliced through flesh and bone like it was made of tofu and even the wooden clubs of trolls would be cut through like twigs.

    The trolls tried piling onto of Marcus, but his agility was far to high and each tackle normally ended up with a trolls head flying off of its body.

    Of course, the trolls were regenerating but Marcus'' searing weapon enchantment was making it difficult for them as it slowed their regeneration immensely.

    At the same time the rest of the trolls had made it to the city''s wall and were trying to get over it.

    Unfortunately, with the assistance of the Eternal Queens, the barons'' knights and guards were pushing them back far easier than normal, especially since Marcus was handling about half of their forces.

    "Spiral Thrust."

    Shouting out the name of her attack skill, Bridget punched three hole into the chest of a troll that was trying to climb over the wall, forcing it to fall onto the ground.

    The incapacitated troll was then bathed in fire as Branna used her own methrower spell to engulf the troll with mes.

    On another part of the wall Rekia, cast her tier three spell arbor pikes and ten six-foot-long sharp pieces of wood materialized and stabbed into another troll.

    The troll pinned to the ground by the sharp wood created by magic, was soon pelted by the town''s guards with molotov cocktails, lighting it on fire.

    The ice trolls continued to suffer casualties under the assaulted of the Eternal Queens, the barons knights, and the town''s guards.

    The leader of the trolls seeing that his forces were losing on both fronts let out another loud roar and ten trolls that had been hiding in the woods in reserve came out, and began running to the wall to reinforce the other trolls, while the leader began bounding towards Marcus who it had designated as the biggest threat.

    ''Shield of light.''

    A round shield of glowing light apparated in front of Marcus blocking the club strike from one of the ice trolls.

    Having stopped the momentum of the trolls club, Marcus jumped up onto it before running up the arm of the troll, and with one fluid motion removed its head from it torso.

    Jumping into the air Marcus dodged the strike of another troll and casting his iron threads spell, Marcus attached them to the troll that had just attacked him and reeled himself towards it.

    shing down Marcus cut the troll he had justnded on from shoulder to waist causing it to split in two.

    With that attack Marcus had incapacitated all of the twelve trolls that had attacked him leaving most of them in multiple pieces.

    Seeing that they were still alive, Marcus jumped back thirty feet and a small bead of fire formed in his left hand before flying forward and exploding into burst of a twenty-foot diameter sphere of mes.

    The trolls that still could, began screaming as they were overwhelmed by the intense mes of Marcus'' spell.

    However, at the same moment Marcus felt a sense of dangering from behind him and turning around saw therge, mutated ice troll leader jumping towards him wielding a massive sword.

    Bringing his scythe up Marcus intercepted the troll leader''s wild attack and was surprised to see that the troll''s sword withstood his scythe''s sharpness.

    The two shed pitting their strength against each other, but s, Marcus was pushed back by the power behind the troll''s swing, sliding across the ground tens of feet beforeing to a stop.

    Nevertheless, he did still block a full powered sneak attack from a mutated troll that boasted strength as its highest stat.

    Staring at the muchrge troll leader, Marcus now that he was up close could tell that it was around fifteen or fourteen feet tall while the average troll was only around nine.

    The two of them continued to have a stare down for a few moments, each of them sizing up the other, until Marcus rxed his posture and held his hand out and beckoned the troll to attack.

    The troll seething in anger as a tiny being barely a third its height was mocking it, let out a horrible roar and charged towards Marcus with reckless abandon.

    Swing after swing Marcus and the troll leader traded blows neither one gaining any ground.

    However, after exchanging blows with the troll leader for around twenty seconds Marcus decide to activate one of the enchantments on his scythe.

    Darkness then burst forth from the de of the scythe increasing its power even further while also giving it a corrosive property.

    shing once again with the mutated troll leader with his darkness enchantment active on his scythe, Marcus began pushing the troll leader back and many shallow wounds began appearing on its body.

    "Clink, Clink, Clink, ng."

    The sound of metal hitting against metal resound around Marcus and the troll leader, until finally Marcus'' scythe corroded through the troll leader''s de and it fell to the ground broken.

    Seeing its sword broken, in a fit of rage the troll leader threw the handle and remaining part of the de towards Marcus while surging towards him and brandishing its ws.

    With a smile Marcus looked at his scythe with a satisfactory expression while thinking, ''That was a good test of my scythe and I have to say I am quite pleased with its capabilities. But now it is time to finish this.''

    Turning his attention back towards the charging troll, Marcus activated his speed burst skill that he had not used yet, and like a sh of light appeared in front of the raging troll leader, and with one quick powerful sh split the troll leader in half.

    The troll leader with an expression of utter surprise slowly fell apart as its two halves split away from each other causing a loud thud as they each crashed into the ground.

    Staring at the two halves of the troll leader that were slowly trying to merge back together, Marcus sent another methrower spell at the remains of the ice troll and burned it to ashes.

    With his fight now over Marcus turned his gaze towards the town wall and saw that a number of the trolls were dead, or currently on fire rolling around in the snow.

    It was not long before the surviving trolls began to retreat only four left from the around forty that made up the tribe.

    Unfortunately, Marcus had no intention of letting these trolls get away and a shinning light began to coalesce on the tip of his right index finger.

    ''Laser.''

    With a sweeping motion of his arm a bright beam of light sliced through all of the fleeing trolls cutting them in two at the waist.

    As the trolls fell down in two pieces, they were quickly assaulted by ming arrows from the defenders on the wall.

    Looking around all that was left of the trolls that had been attacking the town was ashes, not even a single one surviving.

    Cheers began ringing from on top of the wall as the guards that had been fighting these trolls for two weeks rejoiced in their victory.

 Chapter 144 - 143 Rest After The Battle

    With the band of ice trolls that had been attacking the town of Klopot vanquished, Marcus who had defeated the most of anyone and was standing in the middle of the battlefield began collecting the fallen trolls'' magic cores.

    Starting with the leader''s, Marcus collected nearly two dozen cores before the members of the Eternal Queens joined him and began collecting their share.

    Soon the forty-three magic cores had been collected and Marcus and the eternal Queens divided them up based on how many they killed.

    Marcus having killed thirteen trolls including the leader received that many cores, while the members of the Eternal Queens estimated that they killed around twenty and decided to give the other ten to the town for their collective effort.

    Walking back towards the wall now that they had collected their loot, the guards on top of the wall that they had fought side by side with began cheering once again.

    Getting back to the wall Marcus jumped right on top of it before reaching his arm down and helping the Eternal Queens up.

    Back on top of the walls many of the guards ran over to Marcus and beganplementing him on his fight against the dozen trolls and then the troll leader.

    They would say things like "I have never seen anyone fight like that." Or "Lady Irene you are impable, with your strength you could be a general easily."

    Marcus feeling a bit ufortable said to the guards that had begun surrounding him like a fan club, that he needed to meet back up with the baron and his knights and that he would talk to themter.

    Slipping away Marcus was quickly found by both Vincent And Xander who were looking at Marcus with guilty expressions.

    "Lady Irene I would like to apologize for my outbursts earlier today when you first arrived in the town. Truth be told I felt angry that the baron would so shamelessly ask for you and the Eternal Queens help. It made me feel like he was belittling my skills while I thought too highly of myself. I thought that since you were a group of adventures that you were beneath me, that if you had any true skills you would have been chosen as knights of the kingdom. I now realize how wrong I was, every member of the Eternal Queens is as strong as if not stronger than a knight. And you, I was also jealous of you, when I heard that you were five levels above me and only neen, it made me feel like my efforts had been trampled on. I convinced myself that you must have had a powerful family backing you and that they tied down monsters letting you powerlevel exp without any effort on your part. However, after watching your fight, I realize now that you must have experienced arduous training and any number of hardships to get to where you are. Again, I offer you my apologies."

    Xander then bowed his head deeply with Vincent following suit since he, while not having been vocal about his displeasure, had certainly had simr thoughts to Xander.

    Marcus who had not really cared what either of these two had thought of him simply said, "No need for that, if you are sorry then everything is fine. Now then I believe we have all had a long night and could use some rest so if you do not mind, I will be heading back to my room in the baron''s mansion."

    Walking past the two bowing knights, Marcus made his way through the town heading towards the baron''s mansion.

    However, on his way numerous people who had been awoken by the mor caused by the ice troll attack, beganing out of their houses and as they saw Marcus some of them recognized him as one of the adventures that hade through earlier today.

    Many of them wanting news of the battle rushed towards Marcus asking him what had happened.

    Sighing Marcus quickly exined that the battle had been won and that all of the trolls had been killed.

    The town''s folk hearing that the threat that had been looming over the town for two weeks was finally over began cheering as well, all of theming up and thanking Marcus for his help.

    ''This is what I was trying to avoid, while I do not mind crowds, I do not like being the center of attention.''

    Stealthily leaving behind the growing crowd of people that were joyously talking about the end of the ice troll threat, Marcus made his way back to the baron''s mansion.

    Once inside, Marcus quickly found his room and sat down on top of the bed before pulling out his scythe and looking it over.

    ''Not even a nick. Mithril really is strong material. And the enchantments seem to work properly without taking any damage from the battle.''

    Satisfied that his scythe had performed well and was going to make an excellent weapon for the foreseeable future, Marcus stored it back into his item box.

    With his inspection of his scythepleted, Marcusid down in his bed and let unconsciousness take him since he had nothing else to do until the next day.

    Waking up from a peaceful rest, Marcus looked out the window and saw that the sun was well into the sky.

    ''Hm guess I slept a bit longer than I thought I would. Oh well we will probably rest here for today and tomorrow and then head out towards the mine.''

    Getting out of bed, Marcus exited the room he had been staying in and quickly located a servant before asking them where he could find a bath.

    The servant who was a bit nervous, told Marcus that it would probably take at least an hour to prepare him a bath, but Marcus simply said, "No problem I can get it ready myself if you just show me where it is."

    However, the servant tried to stop Marcus saying that it would look bad on the baron if someone of his status was forced to prepare their own bath, but Marcus did not care and after a few minutes finally convinced the servant to lead him to the bath.

    Following behind her, Marcus was led to a small room that had a single w footed bathtub in it.

    Sighing Marcus realized that the baron of this estate must not have been a bath lover like him.

    ''Whatever, it is still a normal sized tub, I cannot expect everyone to have a massive room just for enjoying a bath.''

    The servant still hesitant about leaving Marcus to prepare the bath alone said, "Please at least allow me to gather the materials for you Lady Geist, it will only take me a few minutes to gather some of the other staff."

    Marcus hearing this simply smiled back at the servant that was trying to help him, and then allowed water to begin flowing out of his item box.

    The servant seeing this stared in shock as Marcus filled the tub with gallons of water from seemingly out of nowhere.

    In just a few moments Marcus had done the equivalent of dozens of minutes of work carrying buckets of water back and forth from the estate''s well.

    However, what he did next shocked the servant even more as Marcus quickly chanted a few words and a floating ball of intense me appeared.

    Using that ball mes Marcus quickly heated up the water and in just a minute had a hot bath ready.

    Marcus looking at the dumbfounded servant and said, "I am fine now so if you would not mind leaving, I would like to enjoy my bath in peace."

    The servant still shocked by what Marcus had done, just robotically nodded he head before leaving.

    Now that he was alone, Marcus slid into the bath and let the warm water rx him for almost an hour before he decided it was time to get out and fine the members of Eternal Queens.

    Asking around Marcus soon found that all of the Eternal Queens were currently in the dining room eating with the baron.

    Walking into the dining room Marcus saw the baron personally thanking each of the Eternal Queens while having a number of fine dishes served.

    But, when he saw Marcus enter the dining room, he immediately rushed towards him at a quick pace, nearly running.

    Taking a deep bow, the baron said, "Thank you Lad-, Irene. For what you have done for this town I can never repay you, but know you are wee here in Klopot at all times."

    Marcus looking at the baron said back to him, "No need for all of that, we were just passing through and it would have been impossible to get some rest if the trolls destroyed the town."

    After getting the baron to stop bowing towards him Marcus sat down and began filling up a te with the food that was beginning served at the table.

    Taking mostly dessert items since Marcus was in the mood for something sweet, he first took a bite of what appeared to be a chocte ¨¦ir

    ''Mmm, that is pretty good. I have not had many pastries sinceing to this world, but I think I should have the maids at my manor learn how to make some.''

    Eating a bunch of desserts, Marcus garnered a few stares but since he was the person with the second highest status in the entire town, no one was going to question his eating choices.

    When he had finished eating at least one of each dessert item avable, Marcus turned his attention towards Bridget and began discussing their game n for the next couple of days.

    "So, Bridget how long do you need to rest, I figured that we rest today and tomorrow and then head out to our destination."

    Bridget looked towards the other members of the Eternal Queens and none of them showed any discontent and were nodding their heads indicating that would be plenty of time for them to recover.

    However, the baron hearing this frantically said, "Please wait! I have been nning to throw all of you a celebration for your heroic victory against the ice trolls, but we need a couple of days to prepare.. I know that it may be inconvenient, but it would hardly be a celebration without the town''s heroes in attendance, could you maybe stay until after the celebration."

 Chapter 145 - 144 Celebration

    Marcus was caught off guard by Baron Jasper who had just asked him and the Eternal Queens to stay a bit longer than they wanted in order to attend a celebration.

    However, Marcus had no intention of wasting anymore time in the town of Klopot since he wanted to get to the tinum mine as soon as everyone had enough time to rest.

    Unfortunately, as Marcus was about to tell the baron that they were going to be unable to attend and had to leave, Jesnay shouted loudly, "Woo, a celebration for us, let''s go. Will there be fun games and delicious food?"

    Hearing this Marcus looked over to Jesnay who looked incredibly hyped for theing celebration and was infectiously spreading her attitude to the others.

    Marcus seeing things spiral out of control said, "Wait we have a mission to get t- oof."

    Marcus while mid-sentence was jumped on by Jesnay who was hugging him around the waist and looking up at him with pouting eyes using her halfling proportions to try and look cute.

    "Can we please stay Irene. It is not often that you get to have the hero experience, and anyway if we leave now it will ruin the mood for the whole town."

    Looking down at Jesnay who was trying her best to look pitiful, Marcus still wanted to say no but as he cast his gaze towards Bridget, he saw her giving him the why not look.

    Begrudgingly, Marcus sighed and said, "Fine we can stay until after the celebration, but I am not a fan of being the center of attention so please try to limit my exposer in the limelight."

    Jesnay hearing this shouted out, "Yay! Now we need to find some new clothes to wear to the celebration."

    Jesnay detaching herself from Marcus went over to the other members of Eternal Queens and stated nning how they were going to get ready.

    Marcus seeing how everyone was getting excited and looked happy, no longer had the heart to try and force everyone to leave before the celebration.

    ''I guess I am pretty much immortal so what is a few extra days to have a little fun.''

    Finally, having given into the idea of staying for the celebration, Marcus joined the jovial conversations that the Eternal Queens and the baron were having.

    In a sh three days had passed by and the day of the celebration for Marcus and the Eternal Queens having defeated the ice troll onught had arrived.

    Waking up and putting on a specially prepared blouse and pants Marcus left his room to meet up with the members of the Eternal Queens.

    Walking into the front entry way, Marcus saw the Eternal Queens had assembled each of them wearing new and stylish outfits.

    With a happy expression, Jesnay came up to Marcus and said, "Good morning Irene are you ready to have some fun."

    Nodding his head Marcus looked down at Jesnay and said, "Yeah it had been a while since I participated in any type of celebration." ''In fact, this will be the first time sinceing to this world.''

    Marcus with a nostalgic expression looked off out into space as he remembered christmas parties and new year''s festivals that seemed to have been far in the past.

    However, his reembrace did notst long before the baron and his two knights Xander and Vincent appeared dressed up in their own formal wear.

    Jasper looking at the Eternal Queens and Marcus with a gentle smile said, "Thank you all again for staying with us for the festival, I hope that all of you have fun, since without all of you this town may very well have fallen to ruin."

    He then personally shock everyone''s hand thanking them each one more time before leading the way to the festival venue.

    Walking out of Jasper''s mansion, Marcus could already see a number of people lined up at the estate''s gate waiting for the festivities to start.

    Exiting the estate, the crowd parted allowing the baron, Marcus, and the others to pass as they began the short walk to the town square.

    Once they arrived, Marcus could see that a small stage had been put together in these three days and the baron led him and the Eternal Queens to a group of seats that had been prepared for them.

    Sitting down on the middle of the stage looking out over a crowd of around three thousand people, Marcus was beginning to get a bit nervous.

    Luckily the baron soon took center stage and after a brief moment of allowing the mass of people to quiet down began speaking.

    "Ladies and gentlemen of the town of Klopot, I am d to see so many of you here today. Just a few days ago this town was in the middle of a crisis, being attacked by a group of ice trolls that seemed to be unkible. However, through some form of great fortune the gold ranked adventuring party Eternal Queens and their friend Baress Irene Geist came to our town during our time of need. With their great strength they defeated the trolls that besieged our great town, they are truly heroes to all of us."

    At this the crowd of people began pping and cheering, calling out the names of their favorite Eternal Queen.

    After giving the people around a minute to cheer, Jasper began his speech again starting off by saying.

    "However, while the Eternal Queens and Lady Geist were pivotal in the defeat of the ice trolls it would still not have been possible without my guardian Knights Xander and Vincent as well as all of the brave guards who fought night after night to protect this city.

    Another round of cheers then echoed through the town and many of the guards who were enjoying the festival as members of the crowd were patted on their backs and thanked by those around them.

    After that Jasper continued to give a riveting speech, capturing the hearts of the people and raising their spirts.

    "Now then, my boring opening speech is over, and to start off the festivities we will have a rousing disy of magic from the members of Eternal Queens and Lady Geist."

    Standing up alongside, Branna and Rekia, Marcus walked to the front of the stage steeling himself for the performance he had promised to be apart of after a decent amount of peer pressuring.

    With Marcus and Branna on either side of Rekia, they both raised their hands into the air, and started the same chant.

    ''You know I have never casted this spell, but in a way, it was important for my journey and had I not seen that day in the park I may not be where I am today.''

    While remembering the first time he saw this spell near the beginning of his journey on Mirrion, Marcus finished the chant and shooting out from his hands was the tier one fire magic spell exploding fire shot.

    "Boom."

    The fireworks like explosion of Marcus'' spell lit up the sky and dazzled the crowds, and just a few momentster Branna released her own and the two chained exploding fire shots.

    After around a minute of shooting off their fireworks like disy, both Marcus and Branna ceased casting as Rekia let loose he own spell casting the tier thee nature magic spell flower storm.

    Thousands of flower of all colors flew into he sky giving a beautiful disy causing many in the crowd to gasp since they had never seen something so beautiful.

    However, as the flowers reached their zenith Marcus and Branna shot out more exploding fire shots causing the flowers to burst into mes before Marcus used his control mes spell to form the burning flowers into the baron''s crest.

    Many people began cheering at this finale some even breaking out into tears as they stared at this magnificent disy.

    With their performancepleted the baron announced the start of the celebration and the people of the town began going to the multiple attractions that had been set up and prepared.

    Being dragged along with Jesnay and Yrsa, Marcus was going around to the various games and other activities that were around.

    They first stopped by a man who was giving out fortunes although they were vague and could almost apply to everything.

    Next, they went came to a man who was shuffling around cups with a pebble under one of them with people betting a few copper to see if they could guess correctly.

    Unfortunately, after Marcus had guessed correctly ten times in a row using his high stats to keep track of the pebble the man politely asked them to leave.

    After that hey found a little game where you were given what amounted to a toy crossbow and had to shoot a blunted wooden bolt at a few stacked wooden cups and knock them down.

    However, the game was obviously rigged, and it seemed that no one would be able to win the little stuffed toys that had been sewed together, that was until Jesnay came up and used her expert level crossbow proficiency to hit right at the weak point of the stacked cups and topple them all over.

    Cheers resound as she took shot after shot, knocking over the cups each time and then giving the stuffed toys out to the surrounding kids.

    Nevertheless, they did not want to clean out the poor person manning this game, so after winning about half of the man''s toys Jesnay called it a quits, and Marcus'' group continued along the with the festivities.

 Chapter 146 - 145 Celebration (2)

    Exploring the other festival attractions Marcus, Jesnay, and Yrsa, soon came up to a strong man''s game where you hit a target with a hammer and try to use enough strength to get the puck to hit the bell at the top.

    Yrsa, feeling that this was right up her alley walked up and paid the one silver coin entry fee and which allowed her to im the three-gold coin prize should she win.

    Propping the hammer up over her shoulder, Yrsa swung the hammer down with all he might hitting the target and causing the puck to fly up at an incredibly speed.

    However, as it was about to hit the bell it abruptly stopped, and Marcus immediately realized that this game was actually rigged to be impossible.

    ''Well, I guess I should have expected that even though this is a different world carnival games like this were going to be rigged. Although even that stupid crossbow game was winnable if you hit the cups just right, but I do not think they intended this game to be winnable at all.''

    Seeing Yrsa walk back a bit deject Marcus decided that it was time to teach these guys a lesson and walked up and paid the entry fee.

    Some people even began snickering at him since his stature was quite small, however, Marcus began chanting and what happened next shut everyone.

    Appearing out of the ground a twenty-foot-tall Iron golem shook the ground as it fully formed.

    Looking up at his imposinglyrge iron golem, Marcus handed it the hammer.

    With the hammer that would berge for a human, but lookedically small for the iron golem, Marcus gave his construct the order to smash the hammer into the target.

    "Wham."

    With a loud resounding crash the iron golem mmed the hammer down with incredible force, causing the puck to violently fly up and when it hit the mechanism that was meant to make the game unwinnable, the force behind the golem''s strike actually broke it before the puck hit the bell and actually broke it off before flying into the sky.

    Everyone around stared dumbfounded by what they had seen, while Marcus with a smug smile even had his golem catch the descending puck so that it did not hit anyone.

    Walking up to the stunned men that had been running this attraction Marcus said, "Looks like I won, I would like to collect my winnings."

    The men wanted to contest Marcus and say that he had cheated, but when they recognized who he was, their faces went pale, and they obediently handed over the three gold.

    Taking the gold, Marcus leaned in so that the three men could hear him and whispered, "Next time make sure your game is fair."

    Walking away having put the fear of death in the three men, Marcus joined back up with Jesnay and Yrsa who congratted him on his victory.

    Going about the town they met back up with the other members of the Eternal Queens and decided to stop by some of the food stalls that were spread through the festival area.

    Coming back with numerous fired foods and other festival goodies they began eating.

    Once they had finished eating, they heard people saying that the sign up for one of the to main events of the celebration was starting, the arm-wrestlingpetition.

    Walking up with the group of people that were making their way over to the location of the arm-wrestlingpetition.

    Getting in line with Yrsa and Bridget, Marcus and the two of them signed up for the arm-wrestlingpetition confident that one of them would be the winner.

    However, pretty much everyone in town who was confident in their strength was signing up since the winning pot was fifty gold, and even Xander and Vincent were participating.

    After signing up and handing over the rtively expensive gold coin entry fee, Marcus, Yrsa, and Bridget waited for their turns in thepetition.

    Soon Bridget and Yrsa had easily defeated their first opponents leaving only Marcus left to finish off his first round.

    Within another twenty minutes Marcus was finally called up, along with arge man who was named Duffy and was the owner of the local ironworks.

    Duffy looking at Marcus let off a slight chuckle since his opponent was just a small young woman and one of his employees even yelled, "Boss make you shirt explode."

    Hearing that Duffy flexed his muscles until the threads in his shirt began to rip and his shirt actually burst open.

    Duffy then looked at Marcus with an expression of satisfaction trying to show Marcus that he had no chance.

    However, all Marcus could do wasugh since he had never actually expected someone to do something asical as destroy their shirt using just their muscles.

    Duffy seeing Marcusughing sat down at the table and put his arm with a serious expression recing his previously one.

    Marcus seeing this stifled hisughter, sat across from the man challenging him, and sped his hand with his opponent''s.

    The referee then gave the signal to start, and Duffy began pulling with all his might but found that Marcus'' arm would not budge.

    Struggling using every ounce of strength he had, Duffy tried to push Marcus'' hand to the table for a good thirty seconds before Marcus said, "I suppose it is my turn."

    Slowly Marcus began adding more strength to his arm pushing Duffy''s arm back without any opposition until he tapped it against the table.

    Many people looked out in disbelief, they believed that the owner of the ironworks would be one of the top contenders along with the baron''s knights, but here, Marcus in the form of a small young girl had won effortlessly.

    Standing up the crowd cheered for Marcus while Duffy stood up and congratted him telling him that he had to be the winner so that he would not lose any more face.

    Thepetition continued to rage on until it was down to only the semifinalists with Marcus vs Yrsa and Xander vs Bridget.

    First off was Xander and Bridget, and Xander who after a long struggle, managed toe out the victor just barely overpowering Bridget.

    Next up was Marcus vs Yrsa and while Yrsa was quite strong in her own right, Marcus was seven levels higher than her and after a decent struggle won the match.

    The finals soon started after giving each contestant a few minutes to rest, and a massive crowd had gathered to watch the sh of the two strongest people in the town.

    Locking hands, Marcus and Xander looked at each other resolutely before each pulled with all of their strength.

    Right out the gate Marcus began pushing Xander back getting him about three quarters of the way to the edge of the table until Xander got a sudden burst of strength and pushed Marcus back.

    Feeling that he was losing ground now that Xander had activated some type of skill, Marcus used his mana body to strength his arm and began taking the lead again.

    As the two fought for supremacy Marcus was beginning to lose as Xander used his own mana body which he had been saving as a trump card.

    Struggling to beat Xander who had activated two strength enhancing skills, Marcus decided to go all out.

    ''Embodiment of Darkness.''

    As Darkness enveloped his body Marcus felt a massive surge of strength and in an instant, smashed Xander''s hand into the table actually shattering the wood and throwing Xander onto the ground.

    Swiftly deactivating his unique skill, Marcus checked to make sure that Xander was oaky, but after a quick look Marcus could see that he was fine and extended a hand to help him up.

    Xander taking Marcus'' hand hopped back up onto his feet and said, "Even with my adrenaline rush and mana body skills, I was still unable to beat you. I do not know what you did at the end, but I have to admit that you are incredibly strong."

    The crowd after witnessing the intense match went wild cheering "Irene, Irene" Causing Marcus to blush a bit since he was not used to so much attention.

    With his victory in the arm-wrestlingpetition, Marcus took his winnings of fifty gold and joined back up with the Eternal Queens.

    The rest of the day went by quickly as everyone was having fun and soon it was time for the final event, the pie eatingpetition.

    Marcus thought about entering but decided against it since he had already won the arm-wrestling and figured that it would not be sporting for him to win both major events for the celebration.

    Marcus and the Eternal Queens sat by and spectated watching the fierce fight as over five dozen men and womenpeted eating pie after pie.

    Surprisingly the one who won was a young girl who could not be more than five feet tall and had a bottomless pit of a stomach.

    After eating pie after pie in just a few minutes she still looked as petite as if she had before the event, it was like she had a separate dimension for a stomach.

    Marcus almost thinking that she may be a ghost like him appraised her and found that she was actually a half dwarf.

    With the end of the pie eatingpetition the festivities began to wind down, and soon everyone was making their way home with Marcus and the Eternal Queens heading back to the baron''s mansion.

    Walking into the mansion, Marcus and each member of Eternal Queens found their respective rooms, nning to get a good night''s rest so they would be ready to leave in the morning.

    However, when Marcus entered his room, he found and unexpected visitor waiting for him seeing Jasper sitting in a chair talking nervously to himself.

    Jasper seeing Marcus enter stood up and quickly walked over towards him and said, "Irene, I know we have not known each other for long but I know that you are a kind andpassionate person. You both beautiful and strong and I have grown quite fond of you. Over these few days I feel that we have gotten closer, and I cannot let you go without first asking."

    At this point Jasper got down on one knee and held out his hand and said, "Irene Geist will you marry me."

 Chapter 147 - 146 The Platinum Mine

    Marcus stared stunned at Jasper who had just given him a marriage proposal.

    ''What the hell, where did thise from. I mean he is a nice guy and I appreciate how hard he works for his people, but I am not looking for a rtionship right now, and I am still a guy at my core.''

    With a heavy expression Marcus replied to Jasper who had sprung a proposal on him and said, "Sorry Jasper, I have no intention of marrying anyone and while I like you as a person, I will never be able to think of you as more than a friend."

    Jasper hearing Marcus'' full-on rejection had his expression go from one of happy nervousness, to a sullen one.

    "I understand Lady Geist, I knew it was a long shot and I understand. I ah have to go."

    After that, Jasper left Marcus'' room looking incredibly dejected. and Marcus could swear he saw a couple of tears falling down his face.

    ''Well, that was awkward, I feel a bit bad for the guy but in my old world, you normally do not start right out the gate with the marriage proposals. I suppose that is just one of the differences in this world especially for those in the noble ss. I guess it is a good thing we are leaving tomorrow since staying any longer could cause a problem, but this will make the return trip a bit trickier.''

    Sighing since Marcus knew what a heart broken man could do, especially to the one who broke his heart, Marcus could only hope that Jasper would try to remain amiable.

    Not feeling like getting any sleep, Marcus instead decided to practice his skills even though he knew it was unlikely that he could level them up, he had nothing better to do and practiced till dawn.

    With the new day arriving, Marcus went to the dining room where he met up with the Eternal Queens who were currently enjoying their breakfast.

    Sitting down, Marcus half heartily ate a few things mostly just for show until it was time for them to leave.

    With all of their gear and supplies gathered, Marcus and the Eternal Queens were about to exit the manner when the two knights who they had befriend came to see them off.

    However, the baron was noticeably missing and Bridget who noticed this said, "Were is Lord Maltan I figured that he would probably send us off as well."

    Vincent and Xander looked at each other awkwardly before casting their gaze towards Marcus for a moment before saying, "Lord Maltan is not feeling well but he did tell us to give you his regards, and to say that you will always be treated as heroes here should you be passing through."

    Bridget simply nodded before everyone gave their own goodbyes and Marcus and The Eternal Queens left the Baron''s estate.

    Heading over to the stable that they had left their mounts at, Marcus got Blitz out who gave him a disgruntled whine since he had been couped up for multiple days.

    "Okay I am sorry, I know you have not had a chance to stretch your legs for a few days, but here I have some of your favorite treats."

    Blitz seeing Marcus take out a dozen or so of a nut called Nevanas, immediately began eating the treat and forgiving Marcus.

    With Blitz appeased, Marcus hopped on top of him, and with the Eternal Queens who had mounted their snow horses they left the town of Klopot and continued their journey to the tinum mine.

    After a day and a half of travel, Marcus and his group had managed to make it to the location of the tinum mine that was located on the outskirts of a mountain range.

    ''Yep, this is the ce. I can see the main tunnel along with numerous other tunnels the lizards that are living in there are using.''

    Looking at the Eternal Queens Marcus said, "This is the ce, everyone drink your long-acting acid resistance potion, we are going in."

    Drinking the incredibly bitter and expensive potion, Marcus felt a slight invisible membrane form over his body as the potion took effect.

    With their preparationspleted, Marcus instructed that Blitz keep the snow horses safe while they went inside and that if something he could not handle came by, to run away back towards Klopot, and Marcus would meet back up with him there.

    Blitz nodding his head in agreement, looked out with a bit of concern as Marcus entered the mine along with the Eternal Queens.

    Walking deeper into the mine Marcus led the way with thepass that detects celestial ptinum in hand.

    ''It is pointing down and to the left so the closest deposit must be that way, now we just have to find our way over there.''

    Continuing down into the recesses of the mine Marcus and the Eternal Queens had their vignce raised since they knew there was a good chance that they could be attacked by the lizards that call this ce home.

    Luckily by the time they made it to the first batch of celestial tinum ore they had yet to encounter a single lizard.

    ''Looks to be a pretty small deposit but every bit counts, now let me see how well this pickaxe Thabon gave me is.''

    Charging the enchanted pickaxe with a decent amount of his mana, Marcus felt the magic tool begin to shake before it started moving on its own.

    As if taking control of Marcus'' arm, the pickaxe went to work knocking out the rock surrounding the celestial iron ore, smashing away with great precision and force.

    Not long, in only around five minutes, Marcus had excavated the small baseball sized lump of ore.

    Picking up the piece of ore Marcus could only think that this pickaxe really did work some magic, before storing the lump of celestial tinum into his item box.

    However, in the next moment Marcus heard the crack of a bow string and saw that Atalie had shot an arrow hitting something that had been crawling along the ceiling around thirty feet away.

    Walking over Marcus could see the corpse of one of the monster lizards that live in the mines pinned to the ceiling of the mine shaft they were in.

    ''So, this is what the acid lizard looks like, it is a bit different than what I imagined but still quite formidable.''

    Marcus continued to inspect the around two feet long lizard that had eight limbs four of which were normal stocky lizard feet, while it had two extra limbsing out of its neck that were shaped like a praying mantis''s forelegs, and two others in the back that were shaped like grasshoppers.

    It also had a stinger at the end of its tail and a row of vicious teeth that were dripping with a highly acidic saliva that could even melt through stone.

    ''This must have been a young and low leveled one. From what Thabon told me they can easily reach eight feet in length when they are around level thirty. Also, I can see why they are ssified as monster and not magic beasts, no way whatever this thing is came about naturally from a normal animal.''

    After thoroughly examining the corpse of the acid lizard, Marcus and the Eternal Queens left the area following thepass to the next deposit of celestial tinum.

    Diving deeper into the mines Marcus and the Eternal Queens slowly but surely were increasing the amount of celestial tinum mined, with Marcus having already obtained around six hundred pounds of ore.

    However, along the way they were having to deal with more and stronger of the acid lizards living in the mine''s tunnel''s.

    ''Shinning Lance.''

    Piercing his tier two spell into the body of a five-foot-long lizard, Marcus turned around and saw another dozen crawling along the tunnel towards him.

    Some of them stopped around twenty feet away and shot globs of acid out of their mouths'' towards Marcus.

    Jumping out of the way Marcus dogged the globs of acid he could while casting his shield of light spell to block the others.

    Hearing a loud hissing sound Marcus saw as the acid began melting straight through the stone around him.

    Unfortunately, Marcus did not have much time watch the deadly acid as seven acid lizards jumped at him mouth wide open ready to take a bite out of him.

    Taking his scythe Marcus swung in a wide arc cutting through the heads of four of the lizards attacking him, killing them instantly.

    However, it seemed that the other three were going to make it and sink their teeth into Marcus, when two of them where blown back one by an elongated sword and the other by a heavy impact crossbow bolt.

    The third lizard though, managed to get its teeth to connected biting down onto Marcus'' torso, but instead of its teeth sinking in they were repelled by Marcus'' mithril chainmail.

    Feeling that its teeth did not find purchase, the acid lizard tried to swing down its mantis like ws, but before it could, Marcus had mmed the handle of his scythe into the body of the lizard flinging it against the wall.

    The lizard smashing into he wall with great force died immediately, and Marcus looked towards the other five lizards that were rearing back to shot off more globs of acid.

    ''Not happening, des of Darkness.''

    Finishing a quick chant to keep up appearances, Marcus shed his left hand forward a de of darkness flying off of each of his fingers.

    The five powerful des created by Marcus'' tier three darkness magic spell, flew towards the five remaining lizards that were attacking him.

    The three closest lizards were sliced in half without resistance not being able to react at all, while the two that were farther back managed to avoid being killed immediately only having a portion of their bodies slice off.

    Unfortunately, they still received fatal wounds as the corroding properties of the darkness magic continued to assault them until they fell over dead.

    With the lizards assaulting him defeated, Marcus turned around to see the two members of the Eternal Queens that had been supporting him, Jesnay and He.

    However, farther past them was the other members of the Eternal Queens fighting off the lizards that were attacking them from the other side.

    Rushing towards them Marcus, Jesnay, and He, joined the fight providing ranged cover and quickly helping to finish off the remaining lizards.

    Waiting for the Eternal Queens to catch their breath after the hard battle, Marcus looked at the lizard corpses that had been left in their wake and thought, ''No wonder Gurrom said he would nevere back here.''

 Chapter 148 - 147 Lots Of Platinum, Lots Of Lizards

    After having defeated thest acid lizard swarm that had attacked them, Marcus was keeping watch while the Eternal Queens removed the valuable materials from the lizards they had killed.

    ''Damn at first they were pretty easy to manage, with maybe five at most attacking us and none of them being over level thirteen, but the second we went down ayer where the amount of tinum is denser, they began attacking in groups of over twenty with all of them being in the upper teens or lower twenties.''

    Lamenting the increase in difficulty this mining trip was bing, Marcus could only hope that after the number of lizards they had killed so far which was over a hundred, things would settle down a bit.

    Once the Eternal Queens had finished collecting the valuable material from the acid lizards, namely their de arms, acid nds, and magic cores, they began heading off towards the direction of the next tinum deposit.

    However, when they could see the soft glowing from therge cave that most likely was full of celestial tinum ore, they also noticed a massive number of acid lizards.

    Abruptly stopping everyone did their best to hide their presence before walking a bit away to have a strategy meeting.

    "There is no way we can take on all of those lizards safely, maybe if you and Branna could use fire magic it would be possible, but we risk suffocating if either of you use powerful fire magic spells inside these tunnels." Bridget said with a grim expression.

    Many of the other Eternal Queens agreed since from a cursory nce they figured there must have been around forty lizards and that was just of what they could see.

    However, the alure of therge amount of celestial tinum was too enticing, and Marcus figured that the lizards were attracted to the stuff, so anyrge deposit was going to be simrly swarmed.

    With a resolute stare Marcus looked at the Eternal Queens and said, "I think we can take them, while I may not be able to use a big fire magic spell, I also have lightning magic. I will hit them with a big attack and hopefully kill arge portion of them in one go. After that I will take the front line while all of you support me from behind. If at any time you feel it is getting to dangerous feel free to retreat at you own discretion, and do not worry about me I can take care of myself."

    Hearing this around half of the Eternal Queens wanted to tell Marcus he was crazy while the other half were onboard since just the magic cores from all of those rock lizards would be worth a small fortune.

    Unfortunately for the discontenting half they could see it in Marcus'' face that even if they did not support him, he would go ahead on his own.

    Marcus with a smile on his face stood up and began walking over towards the cave that was full of celestial tinum and acid lizards.

    Beginning the chant for his tier four lightning magic spell, Marcus also activated his heighten spell skill further empowering the spell.

    At this point the acid lizards could feel Marcus'' presence since their instincts were telling them that a deadly threat was approaching.

    Many of them began letting out a distressed cry before running towards Marcus, nning to kill the threat before it could kill them.

    s, they were toote and as Marcus finished up the chant, he activated his unique skill to bring the spell''s power to its maximum.

    ''Embodiment of Light and'' "Thunderbird Strike!"

    His body being enveloped by a blinding light, Marcus unleashed the spell he had been preparing and a torrent of elctrictiy in the shape of a massive bird appeared and flew forwards, sting through the first lizards that had charged him, leaving them ass nothing more than ashes and their magic cores.

    The powerful spell continued to fly forward shocking every acid lizard in its way before flying into the cave''s entrance and exploding in a vibrant st of elctrictiy.

    After the spell had lost its power and was no longer releasing massive amounts of electricity everyone stared at the astounding power behind the spell they had just witnessed, even Marcus.

    ''What the hell. I knew it would be strong, but that was more than I anticipated. I guess this is the first time I have ever cast a heightened spell while using my embodiment of light since reaching level thirty-five, but still that was much stronger than thest time I cast that spell.''

    However, while Marcus was surprised by the power of his spell, the Eternal Queens had been left speechless.

    They had always known that Marcus was quite strong even for his level, but this was well outside of the normal level of power for someone at level thirty-five. In fact, if Marcus had told them that he had just cast a tier-five spell they all would have believed him.

    Bridget the first to regain herposure from the Eternal Queens walked up to Marcus and said, "Irene, what was that light surrounding you just now, and how was you spell that strong."

    Marcusing out of his own daze turned around and said, "Ah I guess I have never used it since the situation never demanded it, but that was my unique skill, and the spell was that strong because of it and my heightened spell skill working together."

    Bridget hearing Marcus had a unique skill froze. Unique skills were stuff of legend, only being possessed by those that were incredibly strong.

    It was said that only one in a hundred million people were born with a unique skill and only one in ten million would be fortunate enough to acquire one in their lifetime.

    Of course, these were just arbitrary numbers not actual statistics, but it still spoke to how rare a unique skill was.

    With a flustered voice Bridget said, "Irene if you have unique skill why are you out here adventuring with us and working to be a forgemaster. You could easily have more money and status if you joined up with some powerful noble or organization. With you strength on top of you unique skill, the royal family would probably even be willing to bring you into its ranks."

    However, contrary to what Bridget was thinking, Marcus just lightly chuckled before saying, "Yes you are right I could probably join with some powerful noble fairly easily but then I would be under them. I am a free spirt at heart and do not want to be tied down. I am more than willing to have to work hard on my own and be free, than be someone''s solider."

    Hearing Marcus'' reply, Bridget finally understood Marcus'' disposition. She had thought it was weird when a noble had joined up with her party as an adventurer, but it did happen on asion.

    But now that she new of Marcus'' unique skill, she figured he could get whatever he wanted so long as he served the kingdom.

    Except, Marcus would rather be free than be the kingdom''sp dog even if it was a cozy position.

    Sighing Bridget, said, "I get it you are not unlike us, wanting to do what you want whenever you want. I am d that you trusted all of us enough to use you unique skill in front of us."

    "Well yeah we have been friends for months now, other than my little sister you are the people I trust most in this world. And it was not like I was keeping it a secret or anything, the opportunity just never presented itself. Now let us go and check the cave, there is no telling how many survived my attack and we have already given them too much time to recover."

    All of the Eternal Queens remembering where they were once Marcus mentioned the lizards, brought their guard back up since they had been incredibly distracted by Marcus'' prowess and exnation.

    Walking into the cave full of celestial tinum ore, Marcus could see dozens of acid lizard corpses lining the area that had been killed by his spell.

    However, even though his spell was incredibly powerful there were still a few of the stronger lizards left alive, but they were currently stunned and with the quick work of Marcus and the Eternal Queens were finished off.

    With all of the lizards in therge cave killed, Marcus got to work on mining the celestial tinum ore, while the Eternal Queens began dismantling the acid lizard corpses except for Atalie who was keeping watch.

    Nearly three hours went by and other than the asional lizard that came by to inspect the noise and was then promptly killed, Marcus and the Eternal Queens had not been disturbed.

    ''This ce really is the motherload, I have nearly filled up my item box, and then I will only have to fill the high-end magic bag Thabon gave me, and we can get out of here. I guess it was a good idea to take this cave since just it by itself has enough topletely fill up my storages.''

    Continuing to smash away it was not long before Marcus had filled up his item box and had started on the magic bag, when he felt a low rumbling.

    Looking behind him he could see that the Eternal Queens felt it as well, and in a few moments the rumbling got louder until Atalie with a face full of fear said, "There are hundreds of Lizardsing, we need to get out of here now."

 Chapter 149 - 148 Fight To Escape The Mine

    As the rumbling within the mine grew louder and louder, the massive swarm of acid lizards was soon visible, and Marcus instinctually gulped seeing how many there were.

    There were easily several hundred lizards all of which wereing for them approaching like tidal wave.

    In the face of the overwhelming tide of monster lizards, some of the Eternal Queens even began to lose their focus until Bridget yelled, "Get into formation, we will use the natural chock point of the cave''s entrance to fight them off. There may be a lot of them but if we work together properly, we can repel them."

    With Bridget''smand the members of the Eternal Queens came back to their senses and moved into their best defensive formation, with Marcus adding himself into the middle so that he could act as both front line, back line, and support as necessary.

    Starting off with a barrage of ranged spells, Marcus rapid fired out darkness bullets which easily pieced through a lizard with each attack, while Branna was using her earth magic to fire off earth spears, and Rekia cast her tier three flower storm spell which blinded and confused the approaching lizards causing even a few of them to attack each other.

    Unfortunately, even with as powerful as all of their magic spells were, the sheer mass of lizards even while they were dying by the dozens were still pushing through.

    Atalie clinking her tongue, pulled out a special arrow she really did not want to use, and let it fly loose.

    The arrow shooting through the middle of the tunnel not hitting any of the acid lizards that were crawling along the floor, walls, and ceiling, stopped when it had flown one-hundred-sixty feet and exploded letting out a deafening sound.

    The sound explosion from the sonic arrow actually blew up the closest acid Lizards turning them into puddles of viscera and as the sound continued it killed every lizard within sixty feet, while those within around a hundred feet all had their eardrums burst open and begin bleeding.

    The tide of lizards now momentarily stopped was quite impressive, and everyone gave a brief look of surprise at Atalie before she said, "No time to gawk, I only had one of those and it will not be long before they regroup."

    Everyone hearing this understood that this was a one-time attack and the mages including Marcus began chanting some of their stronger spells preparing for the ongoing battle.

    Ten minutes passed by as the Eternal Queens and Marcus continued to defend the chock point of the cave they were in.

    At this point they had already killed over a thousand acid lizards, but the swarm seemed to show no signs of stopping and to put the nail in the coffin four muchrger lizards suddenly appeared each of them being around twelve feet long.

    Curiosity taking hold of him, Marcus quickly used his appraisal skill, finding that two of them were level thirty-four, one was level thirty-three, and the final one was level thirty-six.

    Luckily these four had not yet joined the battle and were just watching as if they were merely spectators enjoying the show.

    ''Fuck at this rate we are going to lose, if I did not have to feign chanting this would be much easier, but I do not want to reveal I am a monster if I do not have to.''

    Seeing that the battle would soon take a turn for the worse if this continued, as many of the members of Eternal Queens had slight acid burns and smallceration all of their bodies especially the frontliners, Marcus decided he needed to take drastic measures.

    "I need one minute if you can hold out for that long I can turn the tables."

    Everyone hearing this with really no other choice gritted their teeth and dug in, ready to defend without Marcus'' help for one minute.

    Moving to the back and starting his chant immediately, Marcus started at the lizards that continued to try and break through, ready to give in and reveal himself as a monster if things began taking a turn for the worst.

    Chanting with all of his focus Marcus watched as the Eternal Queens were slowly being beaten back as Bridget and Yrsa who were defending the best they could, were being covered in acid burns.

    Steeling himself, Marcus resisted the urge to cast the spell early and watched as the Eternal Queens used all they had left to by time for him.

    After the longest minute Marcus had ever experienced in either of his two lives, he finally finished the chant for his tier five iron magic spell.

    "Iron Wings of the Archangel."

    As his spell finished casting, nearly all of Marcus'' mana vanished as six, eight-foot-long wings made up of iron feather appeared behind Marcus, each one radiating immense power.

    ''Embodiment of Light.''

    Activating his unique skill and covering his body in blinding light, Marcus began pping his wings and iron feathers d in light began falling off of the wings.

    However, instead of falling to the ground the feathers stayed floating until shooting forward like shining missiles.

    The feathers passed by the nearly beaten Eternal Queens and began slicing through the horde of acid lizards.

    Each feather killed one lizards before flying onto the next, finding no resistance as they impaled and cut a lizard with each move.

    Marcus with incredible focus was controlling nearly a hundred feather having them move around like a swarm of bees killing hundreds of lower leveled lizards every few seconds.

    s, when most of the other lizards had died, the four apex acid lizards decided to no longer be spectators, and each blew arge spray of acid that sted forwards like a fire hose.

    The aciding right for the Eternal Queens and Marcus, forced Marcus to suspend his attack as he brought back all of his iron feathers and used them to crate a wall that blocked the acid.

    Unfortunately, even as strong as the feather created from his tier five spell were, the sheer quantity of acid melted through most of them, before Marcus'' iron feathers managed to stop the acid sprays.

    Looking out at the four high level acid lizards Marcus said to the Eternal Queens.

    "When I charge forward and engage those four lizards, I want all of you to make a break for it, I will hold them off while you retreat. We have no idea how long we have before reinforcements might arrive so this might be your only chance to escape."

    However, all of the Eternal Queens simply shook their heads and with resolute look Bridget said, "We will fight them together, you may be strong but we you cannot do everything alone."

    "Yeah, we have already made it through all of this together, so we are not going to leave until we see this through with you." Jesnay said with a bright smile.

    Sighing Marcus said, "Fine but wait to attack until I have all of their attention. I can hold all of them off for at least a bit, make sure to strike when the time is right."

    With everyone nodding their heads, Marcus stared at the four lizards that were keeping their distance and shot forward using his enhanced speed to rush at them.

    Running along the tunnel like a blur of light, Marcus approached the first lizard within just a few seconds swinging his scythe towards its head.

    "CLANG."

    Marcus'' scythe shed against the de arms of the strongest lizard that had moved to protect the one Marcus had attacked, while the other two shootrge balls of acid towards him.

    Flipping back using his incredible agility, Marcus twisted his body managing to dodge the majority of the acid, though a few sshes still connected against him.

    Feeling his skin singed in a few ces, Marcus gritted his teeth and began swinging his scythe around in wild arcs, making sure to move around shily and keeping all of the lizards attention on himself.

    With the lizards focus trained on Marcus who they viewed as the greatest threat, they were caught by surprise when one of the lizards that had been firing balls of acid at Marcus, suddenly was assaulted by a number of projectiles.

    A freezing bolt, a lightning arrow, and a number of wooden pikes stabbed into one of the level thirty-four lizards causing it to let out a pained screech.

    The other lizards seeing one of their own being severely injured turned back to look at the Eternal Queens who were rushing into the fray.

    The other level thirty- four lizard let out and intimidating screech before running along the wall towards them intent on killing them all.

    However, with two of the lizards that he had been fighting no longer on him, Marcus was able to gain some ground in his fight against the strongest and weakest of the apex acid lizards.

    Expertly maneuvering around the battlefield, Marcus was keeping the two acid lizards on their toes as he would often feint attacks at one lizards before moving his scythe towards the other.

    As the battle continued Marcus purposefully left his back exposed to the weaker of the two acid lizards, and the lizard seeing to opening lunged towards Marcus.

    Unfortunately, for this lizard Marcus had been waiting for this and turned around his left index finger beginning to glow brighter.

    "Laser."

    Casting his tier four light magic spell, Marcus caught the lower-level lizard off guard and cut it right down the middle with a deadly beam of light killing one of the two lizards he had been fighting.

    The remaining lizard jumped back as Marcus swung theser sting out of his finger around, narrowly dodging the powerful spell.

    Thest bit of power from the spell flickered out leaving Marcus with only the one opponent to deal with had to deal with.

    However, after casting hisser spell he had exhausted most of his mana, leaving him very little left to fight against thest and strongest acid lizard.

 Chapter 150 - 149 Fleeing The Mine

    Facing off against hisst opponent who was looking at him warily, Marcus charged forward using his higher speed to force the lizard onto the defensive.

    With every swing of his scythe Marcus was slowly chipping away at the health of the strongest acid lizard left, which could not keep up with his speed while he was under the effects of embodiment of light.

    Nevertheless, this lizards that had made it to level thirty-six did not n to die, and using a desperate move formed a dense ball of acid which it actually blew up causing the acid to rain down on itself and Marcus.

    The lizard with a natural resistance to the acid endured the pain as its skin began melting and looked towards Marcus expecting to find him dissolved, only to see that a massive shield of light had actually protected him against the acid.

    The lizard furious to see that its self-damaging attack had failed to kill its enemy, lunged forwardshing out widely.

    Unfortunately, for the lizard instead of biting and slicing into Marcus, a translucent purple arm flew out of Marcus'' body and punched it right under its head.

    Recoiling back from the heavy hit the acid lizard was unable to block as Marcus stabbed his scythe deep into its stomach.

    Feeling the searing pain in its stomach the acid lizard knew it was going to die, but it had no intention of going alone and as ast act of desperation, stabbed its venomous stinger towards Marcus.

    Seeing the stingering right for his head, Marcus pulled his scythe out and jumped to the side trying to avoid the attack, but the stinger managed to graze across his neck causing a faint trickle of Marcus'' essence to leak out from the wound.

    The lizard copsing onto the ground as its blood spilled out all over the floor of the tunnel, used thest of its strength to raise its head and look at Marcus who it believed to have gotten with its venom.

    However, instead of falling over and spasming from the lizards potent venom, Marcus was simply holding his neck to keep the grey mist like essence within his body from escaping.

    Unfortunately for the lizard, without any blood, venoms and poisons had no effect on Marcus unless the specifically targeted the soul.

    Watching the strongest lizard die as it stared at him with a hateful re, Marcus turned around and saw that the Eternal Queens had finished off the lizard that had gone after them and were currently drinking healing potions.

    Walking over to them Marcus said, "Looks like we managed to win but we really should get out of here, if we have to face a simr swarm, we will not be able to hold out."

    The Eternal Queens that were pretty much spent all began nodding their heads even though a part of them wanted to collect the valuable parts of the lizards they had just killed but knew it would not be worth risking their lives.

    However, as they were beginning to leave the heavily injured lizard that they had forgotten about had managed to crawl away before letting out a distressed squeaking sound.

    Hearing this, Marcus understood it was a cry for help, so he used the small amount of mana he had recovered to cast his lightning javelin spell and sent it directly for the lizard.

    The lightning javelin quickly stabbed into the heavily injured lizard cutting into its flesh and causing a devastating amount of electricity to kill the already nearly dead lizard.

    s, Marcus was toote and in the next moment he felt his danger sense going off like crazy, and with all of his speed and strength jumped towards the Eternal Queens, pushing them out of the way as a massive jet of acid sted from out of the ground below them.

    Every member of the Eternal Queens looked back at the area they had just been standing that was nowpletely gone dissolved by a massive acid spray.

    With an expression of rm on his face Marcus could see the Eternal Queens frozen in fear and yelled, "We need to run now, whatever that was is not going to stop with one attack, move as fast as you can towards the exit."

    The Eternal Queens hearing Marcus'' words came out of their dazes'' and got up and channeled the immense fear they were feeling into running.

    Running through the tunnels of the mine heading back the way they came towards the exit, Marcus felt the ground rumble before his danger sense went off like crazy again.

    "TURN TO THE LEFT NOW!"

    The Eternal Queens listing attentively to Marcus since he was acting as their early warning system, changed their path heading left.

    As they turned left another massive jet of acid shot out from the ground from where they would have been had they kept going straight.

    Being at the back of the line Marcus could not help his curiosity and looked down the hole that went down around five hundred feet and saw arge cavern of brightly glowing celestial tinum, and inside of it was a massive acid lizard that was bigger than any creature he had seen sinceing to Mirrion.

    As he looked into the monster lizard''s eyes Marcus could feel terror beginning to overtake him, and he nearly tuned back into his ghost form and fled right then and there.

    ''I cannot beat that thing, what the hell even is that, what level would it have to have obtained to be that big and radiate this pressure.

    Looking down at what he figured was one of the strongest existences he had ever seen, Marcus worked up his nerves and gritted his teeth before running to follow the Eternal Queens, knowing they would most likely end up dead without his help.

    Quickly catching up to the Eternal Queens who were running for dear life, Marcus continued to use his danger sense to help dodge the iing sts of acid that came every dozen seconds or so.

    Darting around corners, jumping into alcoves, Marcus managed to keep his group safe from the barrage of acid sts that showed no sign of ending, and the only saving grace was that the massive acid lizard showed no signs of leaving its cavern to follow them.

    However, the acid attacks never let up and soon Marcus and the Eternal Queens had been corralled into a dead end.

    ''Fuck, what are we going to do I need to think of a n right now.''

    Marcus'' brain began firing on all cylinders he was thinking faster than he ever had before, trying toe up with a way to get everyone out of this alive but the only idea he had was crazy and likely to fail.

    "Everyone back to the tunnel we just came from, we are going to have to climb up the hole that the lizard created."

    The Eternal Queens looked at Marcus like he was crazy for a second before understanding that this was their only way out now.

    Running out of the dead end they had been trapped, Marcus looked back momentarily as the entire room was engulfed in acid, and had they stayed any longer every member of the Eternal Queens would have ended up dead.

    Luckily, they ran back into he tunnel that now had arge hole in it and looked up seeing that it went all the way to the surface.

    The Eternal Queens began climbing up the hole as fast as they could using whatever items and skills they had to speed up the ascent.

    Unfortunately, the huge acid lizard that was trying to kill them soon poked its head into the hole that they were trying to climb out of.

    Nevertheless, Marcus had been expecting this and had purposefully stayed by the hole''s entrance ready to do whatever he could to slow down this lizard.

    Staring down at this titan of a lizard, Marcus cast his tier four iron magic spell and drop his iron golem down the hole.

    The lizard surprised to see the iron golem rocketing towards it, pulled its head back quickly as the iron golem caused a crater in the ground where it fell.

    However, in the next instance Marcus saw his iron golem fly backwards, getting hit by something moving too fast to see and he could feel his connection break his golempletely destroyed.

    Gulping loudly, Marcus cast his gaze upwards briefly to see that using her nature magic Rekia had conjured vines and roots that were helping the Eternal Queens to ascend much faster than normal climbing.

    ''I just need to stall for a little longer and they can escape, and then I will fly out of here on my own.''

    Seeing the lizard poke its head back into the hole and open its mouth, Marcus could see the massive spray of acid forming in its throat and in order to stop this attack Marcus unloaded around half of the celestial tinum ore in his item box and dropped it down the hole.

    The lizard then fired the acid jet it was preparing, which hit the falling celestial tinum ore and for a few moments was halted.

    Luckily the celestial tinum was resistant to the acid from these lizards and even under the full power from a lizard many levels higher than Marcus, it still held out giving the Eternal Queens just enough time to escape.

    Sighing at the loss of half of the celestial tinum ore he had mined, Marcus downed a mana recovery potion before reverting to his ghost form and slowly floating up the tunnel the acid lizard had created.

    The lizard no longer sensing the tiny beings that had invade its home began stomping away, angry that the insects had been able to evade it.

    Floating up to the top of the hole the Eternal Queens had climbed out of, Marcus right beforeing over the top cast his tier five iron magic spell, causing him to sprout six iron wings on his back, before he rematerialized and flew out of the hole.

    The Eternal Queens who were nervously waiting for Marcus to reappear, soon saw a blur fly out of the hole and began cheering seeing that Marcus was oaky.

    Flying over to them Marcusnded on the ground before dismissing his tier five spell and saying, "Well I am d we managed to survive that, and I am sorry I brought you here.. I had no idea that this ce had a monster like that living in it."

 Chapter 151 - 150 (Spoiler, Title At Bottom)

    Having narrowly escaped the celestial tinum mine, Marcus and the Eternal Queens sat on top of the mountain side where they had exited, trying to recover their strength.

    Flopping right onto the ground, Rekia looked at Marcus and said, "Irene, I love you, but remind me to never follow you anywhere again."

    All of the Eternal Queens then began shaking their heads in agreement beforeughing loudly, mostly out of relief that they had managed to somehow survive.

    "Yeah Irene, I think you owe us a bit of unconditional help after this, you can adventure with us full time for say, three months to make up for this debacle." Jesnay said, with a mischievous smile.

    Sighing Marcus looked at Jesnay before saying, "I guess that is fair, since I nearly got all of you killed, but this is also partly my master''s fault, I had no idea this ce was this dangerous. I mean who is he trying to keep out by infesting this ce with those kinds of monsters."

    Marcus and the Eternal Queens soon starteding up with wild theories as to things Thabon was trying to keep out, ranging from a fairy he had made a dark deal with, to an angry ex wife that had actually obtained the mine in the divorce.

    After their wild fantasizing and a goodugh, the Eternal Queens and Marcus thankful to be alive, began trekking across the mountain, back towards the entrance they had left their mounts at.

    Slowly hiking over the snowy mountain terrain, by the time Marcus and the Eternal Queens had reached the mine entrance they had started at, the day was already long over.

    Running up to their mounts that had stayed nearby, everyone except Marcus began hugging the warm fur of their snow horses in order to warm up since the cold winter night was beginning to take its toll.

    Walking up to Blitz, Marcus began petting him lightly before pulling out a few of the treats he had and allowing Blitz to eat his fill.

    Soon the Eternal Queens and Marcus had to leave their mounts and set up camp, bringing out a specially made pavilion tent which would act as shelter for all of them and their mounts.

    Once therge pavilion tent that took the edge off of the cold winter night was set up, everyone brought out their own respective tents before the shifts for watch were chosen.

    Luckily the night went by uneventfully, and after an extra-long rest the members of Eternal Queens got up and after taking down their camp started on their journey back to the kingdom''s capital Boreas.

    Trotting down the mountain and crossing into a valley, Marcus and the Eternal Queens were beginning to finally feel a sense offort now that they were down from the mountain where they had almost died.

    Continuing along down the valley after half a day of travel they all saw the bend in the valley, that was right before the exit that would put them back on the road that led to Klopot, where they could properly rest up.

    Turning the bend, everyone''s spirts began to raise a bit when a premonition of dread overcame Marcus, and in the next instance a thin shimmer epassed the area trapping them within the valley.

    Looking around, Marcus feeling a sense of dangering from above saw for a brief moment a figure standing in the sky before a massive tornado appeared and began falling straight towards him.

    Seeing this tornado that was radiating vast power, Marcus knew that this was no time to care about appearances and jumped off of Blitz before casting wall of darkness, shield of light, and iron wings of the archangel in the few instances he had.

    "BANG."

    The colossal tornado, smashed through Marcus'' wall of darkness, and shield of light like they were made of paper, before mming into his iron wings which he had wrapped around himself.

    Being hit by an impact stronger than anything he had ever felt, Marcus activated the enchantment on his mithril chainmail that was based on Lilia''s force magic, and began absorbing the impact of the tornado, charging it to a certain point before deploying a force barrier around Marcus.

    After being tossed around for a dozen seconds Marcus finally came to a stop and spread out his iron wings that were now missing many feather and were bent out of shape.

    Looking around Marcus saw the members of the Eternal Queens and their mounts scattered around unmoving.

    Seeing pools of blood forming under most of the Eternal Queens, Marcus was beginning to feel a sense of panic not knowing who to help first, when he saw Branna who''s head was bent all the way around and had eyes devoid of life.

    A sense of despair began to overwhelm Marcus when his danger sense brought him back to reality as he saw tens of wind desing for him.

    Bringing the remains of his iron wings in front of him, Marcus was assaulted by the barrage of wind des that soon cut past his defenses and began slicing into his body.

    However, before he took too much damage, Marcus activated his embodiment of light unique skill and using a speed burst managed to move out of the way of the wind des.

    After sliding back over thirty feet to avoid the wind des, Marcus looked up with anger in his eyes as he pointed his right hand towards the figure in the air, and it began glowing as he cast a heightenedser spell that was further enhanced by his embodiment of light.

    The powerful beam of light shot forward with incredible speed and force catching the figure in the sky by surprise.

    Nevertheless, when the beam was around two feet from the figure a shimmering barrier formed around them, and theser spell was deflected as it split into four parts and flew past its target.

    Seeing that his spell had been deflected, Marcus was getting impatient and tried running towards the closest member of the Eternal Queens hoping to cast healing magic.

    Unfortunately, the figure in the sky while dazed for a moment by the powerful spell that had been aimed at him, quickly descended and cut Marcus off, floating in front of him.

    Hovering in front of Marcus a few feet off the ground, Marcus could see a man who was dressed in fancy robes, and had many magical items on his person, including a staff that was made entirely out of wind crystal.

    Instinctively using his creature appraisal skill, Marcus found the man in front of him to be many levels higher, being level forty-six. However, this did not cause Marcus to be afraid as his anger was overwhelming his other emotions.

    With fury in his voice Marcus shouted at the man and said, "Who the hell are you, why are you attacking me? Do you think you will get away with this, I will fucking kill you!"

    The man seeing Marcus so flustered beganughing and said, "So this is what you are really like when your cool fa?ade is pulled away. And it pains me a little that you do not remember me when you ruined my life."

    The man''s face then twisted in anger itself before he said, "Do you not remember when you met with the grand archmage, and she introduced you to her students. Do you not remember how when you rudely dismissed her offer, I rightfully put you in your ce and for some unfathomable reason the grand archmage punished me? You caused me to be exiled from the Guldur Spire and my father even removed me as his heir. I have had to work as a lowlymon mage of the kingdom because of you, but after all this time I can finally enact my vengeance."

    At this point Jared Kasrong the man Marcus had met after the battle with the ice ants and who was a former student of the Grand Archmage Aria, began swelling with mana before yelling loudly.

    "Gale Wyvern Strike."

    A massive form of a wyvern made out of wind then formed around his staff before flying towards Marcus with tremendous power behind it.

    However, at the same time Marcus cast his own tier four spell and released a thunderbird strike which flew forward to meet the wyvern made out of wind.

    The spells that were the incarnations of powerful magical beast that were rulers of the sky shed, and lightning and wind fought for dominance.

    s, Marcus'' spell was soon overpower as the difference in level was higher than Marcus could ovee even with his unique skill.

    Taking evasive action Marcus cast his speed enhancing spells, lightning strider, and legs of light before using his speed burst skill to jump out of the way.

    Dodging out of the way with only a few inches of clearance, Marcus looked back at Jared who was staring at Marcus with a look of disbelief.

    "Impossible, there is no way you could have silent casting at only level thirty-five. I spent good money to get ahold of your status and I know you do not even have chant shortening. How the hell were you able to cast a spell without chantingˇ­ no it couldn''t be."

    Realization formed in Jared''s eyes as he understood that their was another way that Marcus could cast magic without the need to chant, if he was a magic beast or monster in disguise.

    Jared then beganughing like a crazy person before saying, "This is perfect, once I kill you and unmask you as a monster that had infiltrated our society, I will have my status restored and even the grand archmage will have to take me back and apologize for he folly."

    However, at this point Marcus''s rage was beginning to boil over as he kept seeing the mangled body of Brann and the horrible injuries the other Eternal Queens had sustained.

    "You''re the one who is a monster here, you not only attacked me for such petty reasons, but also my friends who had nothing to do with this!"

    After saying this Marcus turned off his embodiment of light and switched over to his embedment of darkness before pulling out his scythe and the ck sword he had obtained from the vampire, ready to use every means at his disposal to win this battle.

    Chapter 150 The Winds of Death

 Chapter 152 - 151 Marcus Vs Jared

    With two powerful weapons in hand Marcus charged towards Jared hoping to get into meleebat where he would have the advantage.

    Of course, Jared also knew that for a straight spell caster like himself, getting into a close quarters fight would put him at a disadvantage so utilizing the flying spell he had already cast, quickly shot up into the air where he nned to bombard Marcus with spells.

    Seeing this Marcus activated the enchantment on the dark sword he had, which absorbed his mana, stamina, and rage, before converting it into darkness energy.

    ''Darkness Drill.''

    Casting his tier four darkness magic spell using all of the umted energy he had gathered with his ck de, a drill of darkness that was incredibly powerful formed and flew towards Jared who was still trying to gain altitude.

    Jared seeing this sudden and far more powerful attack than he thought Marcus was capable of, had to deploy his own magic casting a tier five defensive spell.

    "Hurricane Sphere."

    A swirling mass of wind quickly surrounded Jared fighting against the huge darkness drill that Marcus had conjured.

    Watching his spell sh against the defenses that Jared had deployed, Marcus quickly stored his two weapons before taking out two high quality mana recovery potions and downing them both at the same time.

    His mana rapidly replenishing, Marcus recast his tier five iron magic spell sprouting six iron wings out of his back before taking his scythe back out and flying up towards Jared.

    Jared his focus on the sh of spells, controlling his hurricane sphere and using a counter spin against Marcus'' darkness drill, causing it to rapidly loose power until Jared had sessfully defended against the spell.

    However, Jared was now incredibly angry since someone over ten levels lower than him had managed to force him to use a tier five spell to defend against a mere tier four spell.

    ring down towards Marcus, Jared was surprised to see him actually flying up towards him with a mithril scythe that was emitting a deadly aura of darkness.

    "Whirlwind des."

    Casting a tier three wind spell, thirty des of wind formed around Jared''s staff before flying towards Marcus with deadly sharpness.

    "des of Darkness."

    With the sh of his scythe Marcus sent out the same number of des only they were made out of darkness.

    The two simr spells shed, de against de, as Marcus used this opportunity to catch up to Jared, flying up d in darkness like an angel of death far faster than Jared thought possible.

    Jared seeing Marcus shing his scythe that was d in dense darkness, in a desperate move brought his staff in front of him to defend.

    "ng."

    The two weapons connected and while Jared was able to block Marcus'' first strike, his staff was pushed out of the way and changing the grip on his scythe Marcus spun around and tried to stab the tip of his spear into Jared''s chest.

    However, as the scythe de was about to connect with Jared, a shimmer of light formed around his body and with a thundering cracking sound the barrier shattered and pushed Marcus back with tremendous force.

    Being pushed back around a hundred feet before he stabilized, Marcus looked over towards Jared in time to see that the amulet around his neck had shattered and he had an expression of incredulous anger on his face.

    Smirking Marcus began closing the distance once again but before he could Jared had cast his next spell.

    "Tornado Spears."

    Large spears made of wind formed behind Jared each being more the size of ballista bolts rather than spears.

    The eight spears swiftly began flying towards Marcus, forcing him to take evasive actions instead of continuing his charge.

    Flying to his left Marcus spun around like a fighter jet avoiding the eight spears as he began flying towards Jared.

    Except instead of the tornado spears continuing on their current trajectory the spears twisted around and began following Marcus like heat seekers.

    Seeing that the spears were still after him, Marcus tried to outmaneuver them but found that they could easily keep up with him and were slowly gaining.

    Clicking his tongue, Marcus abruptly stopped before throwing up a wall of darkness in front of himself.

    The first spear smashed into the wall losing its power but also shattering the wall, allowing the other seven to continued unabated.

    However, Marcus had been expecting this and when the spears were only thirty feet away from him, he summoned his iron golem in front of him.

    The iron golem acting as an impromptu barrier was skewered by the seven tornado spears causing it to break apart instantly, though it did its job of defending against the spears.

    Unfortunately, four of the spears still had a bit of power left in them after piercing through the golem and continued towards Marcus.

    Readying his scythe, Marcus shed towards one of the spears slicing it apart with his de, while using his spectral arm to punch another one dispersing it.

    The remaining two spears managing to break through Marcus'' defenses stabbed into his body one piecing into the thigh of his right leg, while the other stabbed into his left shoulder.

    Luckily after having passed through his iron golem, they had lost a lot of their power and the two spears stopped before going in farther than two inches.

    Gritting his teeth Marcus looked up at Jared who had a smug expression on his face as he threw away a bottle after having drank his own mana recovery potion.

    "You certainly put up more of a fight than I thought you would, but your resistance ends here."

    "GRAND TORNADO!"

    Yelling the name of his tier five spell, a massive tornado formed around Jared''s staff before falling towards Marcus with high-speed rending winds.

    Seeing the tornadoing towards him, Marcus fearlessly flew up towards it charging it head on.

    Jared thought that this was a suicidal move and figured Marcus must have gone crazy in the face of death, as he beganughing thinking that about his impending victory.

    However, right before the tornado was going to hit him, Marcus reverted to his ghost form and using his ethereal ability slipped through the raging winds harmlessly.

    Jared reveling in his perceived triumph, pulled out another mana recover potion and began leisurely drinking it, before casting his gaze towards the area his spell had hit expecting to see Marcus'' mangled corpse.

    Except there was no corpse to be seen, not even a speck of a body, and in the next instance Marcus reappeared right above Jared who could only look in disbelief as Marcus was already mid swing with his scythe.

    Using his powerful sh skill, Marcus shed into the wind barrier protecting Jared before cutting through and leaving arge gash down the side of his body.

    Crimson blood began to flow down Jared who for the first time in quite a while had suffered a wound and seeing Marcusing back for a follow up swing activated one of his spell storing rings.

    Marcus while trying to finish Jared with another sh of his scythe, was suddenly pushed back by the spell that was sealed within one of Jared''s ring which was a tier three spell called wind burst.

    Flying backwards, Marcus managed to stop his momentum quickly and saw that Jared had taken out a healing potion that he had sshed over the wound Marcus had given him.

    Not wanting to give Jared any more time to recover, Marcus fired off another darkness drill spell although this one was a bit weaker than his first.

    The darkness drill was spiraling towards Jared who was still in a lot of pain from the attack that Marcus had afflicted him with, but seeing the attacking towards him adrenaline was pumping through his veins.

    "Tempest Hydra."

    After saying the name of his tier five spell, seven heads in the form of a hydra appeared around Jared''s staff and burst forward devouring Marcus'' darkness drill.

    However, they did not stop there and began chasing after Marcus, each one trying to crush him in their jaws of swirling wind.

    Taking evasive action, Marcus utilized his aerial mobility to its fullest, making sharp turns and abrupt dives to dodge the deadly tempest hydra''s onught.

    During this time though, Marcus had not been sitting idly by as he was preparing for his arguably strongest single target attack.

    Casting his iron sphere spell, Marcus instead of having at its normal sizepressed it down to the size of a ball barring, and while normally this would make the spell mush harder to control and move around, but for what Marcus nned next that was unnecessary.

    With his iron sphere at the optimal size, Marcus quickly shot up in order to get an angle on Jared, even if it meant getting hit by one of the tempest hydra''s heads and cast the tier four spell extreme maism.

    ''Combo spell, Railgun.''

    The small iron sphere sted towards Jared breaking the sound barrier and catching himpletely by surprise.

    The tiny iron sphere then impacted the wind barrier Jared had redeployed multiple times and broke through with ease.

    Unfortunately, the barrier threw off the trajectory of the railgun and instead of piercing through his stomach, the iron sphere impacted Jared''s left leg, before tearing it clean off.

    At the same time one of the hydra heads smashed into Marcus who had exposed himself to make his attack and was hit with a heavy impacted before hurtling towards the ground.

 Chapter 153 - 152 Marcusâ€™ Trump Cards

    Crashing into the ground after being hit by Jared''s spell, Marcus let out a low groan as he felt pain throughout his body, and looking over at his left arm saw that it was bent at an unnatural angle.

    However, Marcus knew he did not have time to worry about the injuries he had sustained since one, they would heal anyway and two, he had a fight to finish.

    Shakily standing back up, Marcus cast his gaze into the sky where he saw the figure of Jared still floating there but now his left leg was missing and the stump that was left behind was bleeding profusely.

    Pulling out a healing potion and mana recovery potion, Marcus quickly downed both of them while he watched Jared do the same.

    Luckily for Marcus, his injuries while bad were far less debilitating than Jared''s and his innate toughness and regeneration meant he could take far more punishment.

    The only problem was that his limit using his unique skill was approaching and as soon as that happened, he would be unable to keep up against Jared who is eleven levels'' higher than him.

    Having taken his two potions, Marcus felt his arm snap back into ce and with his mana refilled to about the halfway point, Marcus took back to the sky heading towards Jared once again ready to finish this fight.

    ''Fuck, fuck, fuck. This little bitch she took off my leg, I am going to rip her apart. Fuck it I am going to use that.''

    While Marcus had been making his preparations, Jared had been doing the same and along with the healing and mana recovery potions Jared had taken out arge syringe and when Marcus began flying up towards him, he jammed it into the stump on his left leg.

    Feeling the cold liquid flow into his veins, Jared immediately felt a rush of power and even the horrible pain from his leg was gone.

    Marcus while flying up towards Jared saw him take some sort of syringe and jam it into himself and right after his body began convulsing, and Marcus could feel a sinister power growing inside of him.

    Feeling that approaching carelessly would be a mistake, Marcus abruptly stopped and cast hisser spell, aiming for Jared''s head hoping to kill him before the effects of whatever he had taken began working.

    However, as the beam of light flew from Marcus'' hand a powerful burst of mana erupted from Jared''s body and blocked theser spell.

    Except this mana was definitely not normal as it had an unnatural hue to it not being themon green but it seemed duller and more sickly.

    Staring at Jared who was now emitting an ominous aura, Marcus watched as his leg rapidly grew back, but instead ofing back normally it looked like it was made out of hundreds of tumors and was misshapen horribly.

    "HA, HA, HA, HA. This feels incredible, I knew the effects would be strong but this is much more than I ever thought possible."

    Jared whileughing like a mad man began tearing at his skin ripping it off of his body, and while it was regrowing rapidly it was with the same tumorous skin as his leg

    However, Jared just seemed to have a face of ecstasy as he was reveling in the power he had just obtained, though at what cost Marcus did not know.

    ''Darkness Drill.''

    Shooting off is tier four darkness magic spell, Marcus did not care to watch Jared''s descent into madness and was hoping to catch him off guard and end this fight before Jared could use the new foul power he had obtained.

    "Such a pitiful show of power you cannot hope to hurt me anymore."

    With the wave of his hand Jared unleashed a powerful burst of pure mana, that shed with Marcus'' spell and eventually overtook it.

    Marcus stared stunned; he did not expect Jared to gain such a drastic increase in power so suddenly, giving him the strength to overpower his spell with pure mana.

    Thinking desperately Marcus was hoping to maybe get Jared monologuing long enough for whatever he had taken to start having adverse effects.

    "What the hell did you take, you must realize that this power is going to eat away at you just look at your leg you think that is natural."

    Jared who definitely had more than one screw loose now began cackling before saying, "Say what you want you are just jealous of my power. But do not worry about me all that matters is that I kill you."

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' attempt to stall for time onlysted a few seconds before Jared burst forward towards Marcus moving much faster than he had before.

    Swinging his scythe forwards towards Jared who had uncharacteristically rushed towards him head on, Marcus was surprised that, Jared put his left arm out and allowed for the scythe to cleave through his arm in order to block his attack.

    This did however, allow Jared to m his staff right into Marcus sending him hurtling back into the ground.

    Smashing into the ground Marcus could not believe the strength behind Jared''s physical attack since up until now he had a clear advantage in closebat.

    Trying to stand back up and continue the fight Marcus was interrupted when Jarednded right in front of him and cast a spell.

    "Gale Force Wind."

    Being hit by a powerful gust of wind Marcus felt his body beginning to break under the pressure as he was blown back hundreds of feet while bouncing off the ground before smashing into the barrier that Jared had set up before his ambush.

    Lying t on his face in the snow, Marcus could feel that his physical body had taken an extreme amount of damage, and he was certain that if he was still human all of his organs would have ruptured.

    Putting his hands under his body and trying to push himself up Marcus turned his head towards Jared who was now slowly walking towards him, but when he saw Marcus trying to get back up unleashed a barrage of wind des.

    Marcus feeling the impending doom, turned ethereal and invisible allowing the wind des to pass him by harmlessly, now nning to wait out the power boost from the weird drug Jared had taken while hiding as a ghost.

    Jared no longer seeing Marcus or feeling his presence momentarily lost some of his bravado, but soon cast a spell called searching wind which allowed him to feel anything within a certain distance using the wind.

    However, even after his search of the entire barrier Jared was unable to find Marcus, it was as if he no longer existed.

    But a big smile creeped onto Jared''s face as he flew up into the sky and cast his gaze to one of the corners of the area he had sealed off where a gully in the valley floor had formed.

    Inside this safe area where the colleterial damage from Marcus and Jared''s fight did not reach, an injured lightning stag had dragged the living members of the Eternal Queens to safety.

    Flying over above them Jarednded abruptly shocking Blitz who was the only one that was still conscious.

    Blitz in an attempt to protect his master''s friends charged at Jared while shooting off powerful bolts of lightning.

    Unfortunately, the level difference between them was too high and Blitz''s lightning was unable to pierce through Jared''s defenses and when he tried to gore him Jared simply batted Blitz away with his staff.

    Blitz having the horn on his right side broken as Jared smacked him, slid across the ground before running into the wall of the gully and falling unconscious.

    With the only obstacle in his way out ofmission, Jared went and grabbed the nearest Eternal Queen and picked up the limp body of Jesnay.

    With his objectiveplete Jared flew out of the gully and into the air so that wherever Marcus was hiding he would be able to see him.

    "Irene, you coward. Show yourself now or I will slowly kill every one of your friends as painfully as possible. You cannot escape me I have lost too much to not kill you here today."

    After saying that Jared actually forced a healing potion down Jenay''s throat, causing her injuries to start healing as she regained consciousness.

    Jesnay blinking her eyes rapidly as she came to consciousness tried to move her head around but found a vice like grip around the back of her neck keeping her in ce.

    That was when she noticed that she was a hundred feet in the air and that she was being held in ce by someone.

    "Who the hell are you, let go of me yo- AHHHHHHH."

    Jared with a cold expression, crushed and ripped off one of Jenay''s fingers, before moving to the next one and continuing the process.

    Marcus who was still hiding in his ghost form watched mortified as Jared slowly pulled apart Jesnay one finger at a time while she cried profusely from the pain.

    After Jared had ripped off all of her fingers, he shoved his hand into her mouth and stared on her teeth.

    However, after pulling out six teeth Jared figured that Marcus was not going to show himself no matter how cruel he was to the Eternal Queens.

    Of course, Marcus wanted to pop out and help Jesnay, but he was not confident in beating Jared unless he put his life on the line, and he knew that if he died Jared would just kill of the Eternal Queens anyway

    "I see, it makes since I nearly forgot you are a monster. You must not care for these adventures that you have pretended to be friends with. But I wonder what about that cute little girl you have been ying house with, do you care for her."

    At this point Jared pulled out a scroll that was tucked under his robe and said, "I have a teleportation scroll that will bring me back to the capital, if you do not show yourself now, I will go and pay your little sister a visit. But do not worry I will not kill her I think she would make a good little pet since I am sure she will end up a beauty just like you."

    Hearing this Marcus could no longer hold back and stay hidden, repapering on the ground a few hundred feet away from Jared looking up at him with rage in his eyes.

    In fact, his anger was so intense he had a dark aura that seemed to be warping the space around him.

    "Ah good there you are, now stay there like a good girl and let me kill you, if you do not resist, I will leave you sister alone."

    His fury rising by the second Marcus was no longer even listening to Jared as he was at the edge of going berserk.

    ''I don''t care anymore, there is no need to hold back in order to heal everyone, it does not matter even if I die so long as I kill him.''

    As Jared touched down on the ground and started walking towards him, Marcus who was waiting for Jared tond said, "I am sorry Jesnay."

    ''Soul Burst and, Supreme Skill, Embodiment of Eclipse.''

 Chapter 154 - 153 The Price Of Victory

    ''Soul Burst and, Supreme Skill Embodiment of Eclipse, Dark Form.''

    Activating his soul burst unique skill all of Marcus'' stats immediately doubled, and his body started shimmering lightly.

    However, this shimmer was soon overwhelmed as Marcus'' supreme skill embodiment of eclipse, covered his body in pure darkness with a slight glow of lighting from behind him.

    Feeling incredible power coursing through his entire being, Marcus could only remember when he finally achievedbining both of his embodiment unique skills and created the supreme skill embodiment of eclipse.

    ''It took me months to achieve and now it is the first time I will be able to test out the power I worked so hard to obtain.''

    Jared seeing the sudden change in Marcus'' demeanor suddenly felt a sense of overpowering fear and instinctively started backing up.

    In fact, Jared no longer had the desire to fight and tried to pull the teleportation scroll back out from his robe.

    Except as he pulled the scroll out, he watched as his arm suddenly went flying, and Marcus was standing next time him his scythe emitting a dark aura with the outline of a bright light behind it.

    Instinctively Jared who had been using Jesnay as a shield held her in front of Marcus hoping he would not attack.

    Marcus froze a part of him was still hoping to somehow save Jesany which was why he had not attacked Jared in a vital area.

    Thinking at full speed Marcus was going through all of his abilities trying to think of a way to save Jesnay from Jared who was currently using her as a human shield, but found none realizing he would have to kill her as well.

    However, as Marcus was steeling himself to kill Jesnay along with Jared whose arm was growing back in its new tumorous fashion, Marcus saw Jesany who was barely conscious give him a sad smile.

    She then mouthed the words "save the rest of them" before pointing her fingerless right hand at her head and shotting out the hidden bolt she kept under her sleeve.

    Watching the bolt move in slow motion Marcus saw it pierce into Jesnay''s head as thest light of life left her eyes.

    With tears running down his face Marcus yelled a furious howl and sliced through Jesnay''s now dead body along with Jared who was behind her, cleaving both of them in half with one sh.

    Jared with a look of disbelief, as his body was falling began screaming, and the foul power he had obtained from the drug surged up again and his body actually began putting itself back together, albeit in a tumorous form.

    Marcus surprised that Jared could heal after being cut in half hesitated for a moment as Jared jumped back over a hundred feet and began running away.

    Anger washing over him, Marcus was not going to let this man who had caused him so much pain escape, and his form erupted in a massive burst of darkness and light melding together before shooting after Jared.

    Jared seeing the impending dooming for him, in ast desperate measure turned around and cast his strongest spell.

    "ZEPHYR BLAST."

    Using up all of his mana a colossal ball ofpressed wind formed around his tumor ridden arm and sted out destroying everything in its wake.

    Seeing this Marcus cast abo spell that fused both darkness and light which he could only perform while using his supreme skill.

    "Eclipse Meteor."

    All of Marcus'' swirling raw energy converged around him, turning himself into an unstoppable projectile of light and darkness.

    Impacting into Jared''s spell, Marcus was held back for just a moment by its power. giving Jared the slightest hope that he could win, before Marcus smashed through his spell overwhelming Jared''s and continued hurtling towards him.

    BOOM!

    A massive explosion of light and darkness that could truly bepared to a meteor impact shook the entire area, and even the barrier that Jared had set up at the start of the battle began to crack under the devastating power.

    Leaving a massive crater in the ground where he had impacted, Marcus looked at the remains that were left of Jared which only amounted to little more than a few pieces of bone and his shattered magic staff.

    However, as Marcus stared at the pittance of what was left of Jared, he saw what appeared to be a misshapen and discolored magic core.

    Reaching down towards this unusual object, the core broke apart and shatter before Marcus could touch it and a small light flew up into the sky and into the horizon.

    ''That was weird, but whatever, I do not have time to worry about that. I need to, gahhhh.''

    The battle now over Marcus'' strength began to recede as the bacsh of abusing his unique and supreme skills started to affect him.

    Falling to his knees Marcus felt like his soul was falling apart, and he soon realized that this was not just in his mind as his body looked like it was sweating but was actually melting.

    Copsing onto his side, Marcus felt that his mind was going ck and a feeling he must have felt before was oveing him.

    ''Am I going to die again. I was brought to another world just to end up like this? No, I have to fight, I have gone through so much already and have gained too much, I refuse to start over again.''

    Using all of his will power Marcus tried to keep himself together, but if spirt was enough to ovee every hardship, no one would ever suffer.

    Marcus feeling his mind slipping into darkness, felt his eyes go heavy as he had pushed himself well beyond his limits, and as thest moments of consciousness left him, he thought he saw the figure of a beautiful blonde girl walking towards him.

    ˇ­

    Waking up with a start Marcus found himself in an unfamiliar bed, inside arge room.

    However, before he could take stock of where he was an incredible pain assaulted his body.

    Feeling like he was being crushed, Marcus began convulsing on the bed screaming a blood curdling cry.

    Tearing the bed apart as he tried to quell the pain he was feeling, it was not long before Marcus felt the pain start to slowly subside, as he felt a warm pulse in his chest.

    The pulse of warmth continued to spread out over his body until the pain settled down to a dull soreness.

    ''What the hell happened, and where am I. Last thing I remember was defeating Jared and then copsing. I was pretty sure that I was going to die or even worse have my soulpletely disperse. But somehow, I ended up in an unfamiliar room, still alive, and my body has a warmth pulsing through it. Wait maybe I did die again and have been transferred to another world. No that is stupid, if that were the case why would I still have my same form. I need to check my status and see what is going on.''

    "Status."

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 28/20

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirt of Light and Darkness)

    Title: Baress

    Level: 36

    Status Conditions: Soul Damage Maximum, Soul Integration, Spirit Gem (Mythic)

    HP: (7400/7400)-370/370

    MP: (3400/3400)-170/170

    STR: 324 (+3) (-311)

    AGL: 318 (+19) (-320)

    VIT: 307 (+3) (-294)

    INT: 337 (+3) (-323)

    SPR: 426 (+4) (-408)

    Stat Points: 80

    Skill Points: 45

    Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, ##u#####o##, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness

    Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 2, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 5, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 3, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 4, Fire Magic Lvl 4, Danger Sense Lvl 4, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 5, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful sh Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 4, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 4, Trap Sensing Lvl 2, Dark Magic Lvl 4, Light Magic Lvl 4, Driving Lvl 2, Cooking Lvl 3, Cleaning Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows

    Looking through his status, Marcus first noticed that his age as Irene had increased meaning that it was either the day of, or sometime after when her twentieth birthday would have been.

    Except Marcus knew that from the day he had beaten Jared there was still over two weeks until Irene''s birthday, meaning he had been unconscious for at least that long.

    However, as he scrolled down, seeing his status condition left himpletely stunned.

    ''Soul Damage Maximum. ''Your soul has taken an unbearable amount of damage and can no longer support your existence. All stats are cut to a twentieth of their normal value and will continue to decrease until your soul ceases to exist.''

    Reading the details of his soul damage maximum, Marcus began to panic. He thought he was going to slowly fade into nonexistence but nothing else seemed to be happening and that was when he noticed the condition next to soul damage maximum.

    ''Soul Integration, Spirit Gem (Mythic). ''User is currently absorbing the power of a spirit gem (Mythic) that is used to strengthen the stats of spiritual beings. As a side effect this highest quality spirit gem is offsetting the loss of stats from soul damage maximum.''

    Looking it over carefully Marcus was able to find that he was still currently losing stats at about one a second but the spirit gem that he could now see imbedded in his chest was raising his stats at the same rate.

    ''Fuck this is not good, I do not know how long it will take me to recover from this soul damage but as soon as the spirit gem runs out, I could be in trouble.''

    Looking over the rest of his status carefully Marcus soon found that he had leveled up and gained twenty-four more skill points.

    Opening up the skill list menu Marcus scrolled down to one of the many skills he had marked in his mind to buyter and purchased it for the expensive price of forty-two skill points.

    However, as soon as he obtained the skill, Marcus felt its effects immediately as the power of his new skill soul regeneration began to take action.

    Watching his status for around a minute and noticing that his soul regeneration was now allowing his stats to recover, Marcus let out a sigh of relief.

    ''Looks like at the current rate it will be around three days or so until my stats get back up to full, though that is only as long as this spirit gem keeps working. Speaking of which where the hell did this thinge from. I certainly did not have it and I doubt that one of the Eternal Queens would have something like this.''

    While thinking about where the spirit gem came from, Marcus was soon interrupted as the door to the room he was in burst open, and he saw the five surviving members of Eternal Queens along with Baron Jasper and his two Knights Xander, and Vincent.

 Chapter 155 - 154 Aftermath

    Looking at the eight familiar people that had just walked into the room he was in, Marcus got a good grasp of the situation and figured he was back in the town of Klopot.

    The Eternal Queens seeing that Marcus was now awake all ran right up too him with concern in all of their eyes.

    "Irene how are you doing, you have been unconscious for around three weeks, and we were really starting to get worried. If you had not woken up soon, we were going to make the trip back to the capital and find an expert healer." Atalie said, with a hint of relief in her eyes seeing that Marcus was okay.

    "Yeah, I tried casting healing spells on you multiple times as well as feeding you stamina and healing potions, but nothing seemed to have an effect." Rekia said.

    With a heavy expression on his face Marcus began soaking in the information that he had just obtained before sighing and said, "Jesnay and Branna, they are dead right?"

    A part of Marcus was hoping that maybe it had been an illusion of some kind, that maybe they were not dead, but in his heart, he of course knew what he had seen was real.

    The remaining members of the Eternal Queens'' expressions all changed from worry and relief to deep sadness.

    Seeing their expressions, Marcus understood that any hope he had that either of them were still alive was gone and with a shacking voice full of grief and anger Marcus said, "I am so sorry, all of you got caught up in that because of me. The person that attacked us was after me and all of you suffered for it. Had I been alone none of you would have been injured and Branna and Jesnay would still be alive."

    Hanging his head Marcus was expecting to get yell at and cursed by the Eternal Queens, since he felt mostly responsible for two of their members'' deaths, but instead Bridget their leader said, "Irene, we already figured that man was after you, but it does not matter, as adventures we all knew the risks, that we could die at any time. And we have thought of you as a member of our team for months now even if you will not officially join. Any of us would put our lives on the line for the others and we know you are not any different. If you could have saved either Jesnay or Branna we all know you would have. We know you have just woken up but all of us have already had three weeks to grieve ande to an eptance about what happened. Now you have been unconscious for quite some time you must be hungry right?"

    After Bridget''s speech to Marcus, she looked at the Baron and his two knights who promptly got some servants to make some easily digestible food for Marcus.

    Of course, Marcus had no need to eat anything, but he figured saying that he was not hungry would bring up some suspicion.

    However, while waiting for the food to be delivered the itching question at the back of Marcus'' mind could no longer be contained.

    "So, what happened after I passed out, I was certain I was going to die but here I am and all of you seem to be doing alright now even though all of you were severely injured.?"

    Hearing this Bridget began narrating what had happened, telling Marcus that they had been saved by the famous wandering mage Kasonog who used a special magic to stabilize Marcus and cast high tier healing magic on all of them.

    However, for some reason Marcus felt that this was not right, the way Bridget was telling the story sounded almost rehearsed and Marcus could not get the image of the beautiful blonde girl he saw walking towards him out of his head.

    Looking towards Xander, Marcus wanted to confirm if he had heard of this Kasonog and to his surprise Xander said, "Yeah I heard some of my mage friends talking about a powerful mage who wanders the continent when I was still at an academy in Fornon City and I think his name was Kasonog, but that is all I know."

    Marcus was actually a bit surprised to hear that this Kasonog person was real but even if this powerful mage had helped them, why would he and how would he know that Marcus was a ghost.

    ''As far as I know the only one that has been able to see through my status was Voda, and she is some type of crazy powerful spirt. I suppose that there are probably other powerful people that could find me out, but as far as I know even Aria could not see that I am a ghost, and she is certainly the strongest person I have met.''

    While thinking over what he had been told it was not long before the food that had been sent for arrived. At this point Jasper and his two Knights wished Marcus a quick recover saying that they had work to attend to and that if he needed anything he need only ask the servants.

    Nodding his head and bidding them farewell, Marcus seeing the food being wheeled towards him tried to get up and move over to the nearby table, but soon found that his body was still in rough shape as he copsed onto the ground.

    His face t on the ground, Marcus began trying to stand up but adjusting from having herculean levels of strength back down to an average person was quite the ordeal.

    After being helped back into bed with the help of the Eternal Queens, Marcus was quickly served a light and warm soup along with a few pieces of bread.

    Soaking the pieces of the bread in the soup, Marcus did his best o y the part of a famished person who had been aa for three weeks eating for around twenty minutes before saying he was full.

    Once that was done, he talked with he Eternal Queens for a while longer making sure to get every detail that he could get while also rying everything he knew.

    Nevertheless, before long the day was gettingte, and the rest of the Eternal Queens began heading to their rooms.

    Except as they were leaving thest one in the group being Yrsa, stopped and walked back towards Marcus.

    Marcus seeing this was wondering what Yrsa could be doing when she pulled out a letter from her bag and handed it over to Marcus.

    "I nearly forgot the one who saved you left this message for when you woke up, please make sure to read it thoroughly." Yrsa said, in a robotic fashion as if she was in a trance.

    Marcus then saw a brief sh of red light in her eyes before she began rapidly blinking and told Marcus to get some rest before leaving the room.

    ''What the hell was that. There is no way that was normal, someone must have charmed her to give me this. I suppose that whoever gave me the spirt gem probably left this message. I still have no idea why they did it but hopefully this letter will tell me.''

    Opening up the letter, Marcus began reading the message and immediately felt a sense of danger just from the opening greeting.

    ''Dear Marcus Ferrous or Irene Geist, whichever you prefer. I am the one who imnted the spirit gem into you in order to save your life on my master''smand. My name is unimportant, but I am sure you realized that I am not the mage Kasonog, and even if you did not it would not have been hard to find out eventually. My master has taken a great interest in you which is why we have saved your life on this asion, and we are expecting you to pay back our good will in due time. In the future I wille and find you again ande to collect on your dept. The spirit gem that was given to you has been one of the crown items in my master''s vault for centuries and its value is nearly incalcble so do not think that your dept will be paid off easily and refusal to do so will activate the curse I have embed in the gem. I look forward to seeing you again.

    Sincerely,

    R.D.''

    Loudly gulping Marcus quickly burned the letter while shacking a bit since the ominous content of the letter was written quite threateningly and Marcus felt as if he had entered into a forced deal with a devil.

    ''They were able to see both of my names, but what else could they see. Could they see my unique skills as well, do they know that I originally came from Earth? Damn, and I have no idea what this person or their master are going to want me to be doing in the future. What if they ask me to bring them the bodies of ten thousand innocent children, or heck maybe they even want me to help them destroy the world. But when the hell did, I attract their attention.. Augh this is like someone just took a nk check from me and they can use it whenever.''

 Chapter 156 - 155 Back Home

    After sitting in dismay for nearly an hour Marcus finally got over the trepidation, he was feeling from the possible debt he would have to pay in the future.

    ''It''s fine, if whoever put this into me had not given it to me, I would have certainly ended up ceasing to exist with my soul scattered. As long as they do not ask me to harm any of the people close to me, I can do whatever I have to.''

    Thinking about the positives of what had happened, Marcusid back down in the bed he was in and decided to get some rest. He knew that recovering as fast as possible was imperative and that the sooner he was back to full strength the sooner he could head back home.

    Three days quickly passed by, and Marcus had managed to make a full recovery thanks to his recently obtained soul regeneration skill and the spirt gem that was imbedded within him.

    However, not only had Marcus managed to fully recover, but his stats were also still being increased by the spirit gem that did not seem to show any signs of stopping just yet.

    ''It is not moving as fast as before but my stats are still increasing at an unprecedented rate of around twenty a day. I guess that an item that is categized as mythic really is something else.''

    Starting to think that obtaining this spirit gem was probably the second most fortunate encounter he had other than obtaining the greater than mythic rarity egg from the dungeon, Marcus could not help but smile.

    Nevertheless, Marcus had now recovered and was strong enough to move out and head back to the capital city of Boreas.

    Finding the five remaining members of Eternal Queens, Marcus had a somber look on his face as they all left the baron''s mansion and headed to the graveyard where Jesnay and Branna had been buried.

    Each of them had been given a proper grave in the town of Klopot and after they did their final goodbyes, Marcus and the others began making their way towards the exit of the town.

    Retrieving Blitz who now had damaged antlers and two snow horses that they had purchased, Marcus and the Eternal Queens exited the town and began the journey back home.

    Traveling through the snow-coveredndscape, Marcus and his group managed to do their best to avoid any encounters with monsters and magical beast even though they normally would try to fight and obtain valuable materials.

    Luckily the journey back home was scarce on dangers and other than a couple attacks that they could not avoid from a band of roaming icicle wolves and a monster called a numbing treant everything went smoothly.

    Soon therge walls of the city came back into view and a warm feeling came over the group since they had finally arrived home after their sorrowful journey.

    Using Marcus'' status as a noble he and the Eternal Queens managed to enter the city easily and after saying some parting words went on their separate ways.

    ''I wonder what is going to happen to them now. They said that they were going to take the rest of the winter off and think about their next steps. I wonder if they will try to recruit new members or continue adventuring with just the five of them. I suppose that they may retire and find work elsewhere, I mean with their levels each of them could easily find employment. But I know now that my time adventuring with them is over, while at first, I was able to learn a lot from them, the difference in our levels just makes us lesspatible now and I will only bring more danger to them in the future.''

    After separating with the Eternal Queens and heading back towards his estate, Marcus soon heard a little ding in his head and heard a system notification saying.

    ''You have now fully integrated the item known as spirt gem (mythic) into your soul and unlocked a requirement for hidden evolution, Transcendent Ghost (Supreme Spirit of Light and Darkness).''

    Stopping abruptly in the middle of the street while riding Blitz, Marcus could not help but be absolutely stunned.

    Opening his status right away, Marcus looked over the message he had received and found a new window titled evolution on his status.

    Quickly opening the page this is what he found.

    Hidden Evolution: Transcendent Ghost (Supreme Spirit of Light and Darkness).

    1. Obtain Level Seventy

    2.?????????

    3.?????????

    4.?????????

    5. Absorb a Spirit Gem (Mythic)-(Complete)

    6.????????

    Staring at the window in front of him Marcus was nearly foaming at the mouth from how astonished he was.

    He had known that monsters, magic beasts, and even humans and such could evolve but it was pretty rare.

    Even formon and weak monsters like goblins evolving into something like a hobgoblin was around one in a thousand.

    ''This was certainly unexpected. I already started out as a unique being on this world, so I never thought about evolution. I mean I knew it was a thing but its not like it really happens, it is more of something in legends. Except as impressive as this seems the problem is the requirements. Even the first requirement is to reach level seventy which I can not even picture happening in five years. And that is probably the easiest requirement while I have four others that are still hidden, while obtaining the spirit gem (mythic) was only the second hardest. I have no idea how rare this item must have been, but I doubt I would be able to find another one any time soon. Oh well, I can worry about thister for now I have other things I need to do.''

    After spending a good amount of time looking at his evolution and thinking it over, Marcus decided to head back home since there was nothing he could do for now.

    Arriving in front of his estate, Marcus was quickly let in by Violet who was the maid on duty.

    However, before Marcus could head towards the main building Violet approached him and with a slight and respectful bow said, "Lady Irene, while you were away you received a letter from a Duchess Ophiria asking for a meeting with you. I know you told me and the others to refuse meetings with nobles other than the ones that you have approved but since this is a duchess and a rtive of one of the people you know, it would be inappropriate for me or the others to send a refusal letter."

    ''Duchess Ophiria? Wait that must be Wade''s mother. I wonder what she wants with me or how she even knows I exist. I guess refusing would probably be bad even though this will probably be a pain and a waste of time. I do not want to upset one of the most powerful people in the kingdom so I will have to meet her.''

    Taking the letter, Marcus told Violet that he would read it and send an eptance letter tomorrow.

    With that bit of business out of the way Marcus proceeded to head towards the main building on his estate and when he arrived, he noticed that ra was already waiting for him at the front door.

    Walking up to her she gave him a quick bow before saying, "Lady Irene, it is good to see you have returned from your journey unharmed. I have already instructed Mnie and Ste to begin preparing you a meal, and Lady Lilia is visiting right now during the school break."

    Hearing this a smile formed on Marcus'' face since he had not seen Lilia for nearly two months since the Royal Academy was a boarding school.

    Thanking ra for her hard work, Marcus went inside and immediately went to locate Lilia finding her in the back yard practicing fighting with Amy.

    Marcus standing from afar watched as Lilia using the mithril and steel alloy gauntlets he had made for her, fought hard against Amy who was the highest-level maid other than ra.

    As Lilia threw a couple of quick jabs, Amy used her shield to block most of them while using her foot work to narrowly dodge the others.

    Lilia continued to try and press the offensive attempting to break through Amy''s defense and when she saw an opening, she stepped in closed and punched forward with all of her force.

    However, this was a trap that was set by Amy who had lured Lilia in on purpose.

    Using her blunted steel training sword, Amy was able to slip the sword past Lilia''s defense since she had gone in for and all out attack and trip up her stance.

    Lilia her bnce broken went tumbling onto the ground and when she tried to get up found Amy''s sword at her throat.

    With the fight ending in her defeat Lilia had a slight pout on her face, but when she heard ppinging from her right side she looked over and when she saw Marcus a bright smile appeared on her face.

    Getting up and running over towards Marcus, Lilia practically jump at him giving him a big hug.

    Returning Lilia''s embrace Marcus said, "You have gotten stronger Lilia, your form is looking a lot better."

    Looking up at Marcus with a smile Lilia said, "Yeah the academy has taught me thoroughly and I even have personal master who is an expert in fighting with gauntlets."

    Surprised to hear this sincest time he had talked to Lilia she did not have master Marcus said, "That is wonderful, I will have to meet this master of yours sometime but for now how about we both get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready soon and we could both use a bath."

    Looking at herself Lilia could see that her cloths were covered in dirt and grass and with a lightly embarrassed expression nodded her head.

    Both Lilia and Marcus then headed inside to clean up and tell each other about what they had been doing for thest two months.

 Chapter 157 - 156 Catching Up With Lilia

    After washing up with up with Lilia, Marcus told her to head downstairs first since he had something he wanted to do before heading down.

    Walking into his room Marcus sat down on his bed and opened up his status wanting to see if anything had changed since he had fully integrated the spirit gem.

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 28/20

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirt of Light and Darkness)

    Title: Baress

    Level: 36

    HP: 11980/11980

    MP: 5540/5540

    STR: 525 (+5)

    AGL: 515 (+31)

    VIT: 497 (+5)

    INT: 549 (+5)

    SPR: 689 (+7)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 3

    Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, ##u#####o##, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness

    Skills: Medium Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 2, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Iron Magic Lvl 5, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 3, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 4, Fire Magic Lvl 4, Danger Sense Lvl 4, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 5, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful sh Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 4, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 4, Trap Sensing Lvl 2, Dark Magic Lvl 4, Light Magic Lvl 4, Driving Lvl 2, Cooking Lvl 3, Cleaning Lvl 1, Soul Regeneration Lvl 2

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows

    Looking at his stats Marcus became ecstatic; his stats had increased exponentially and after doing some math he found that they had all gone up by fifty-seven percent.

    ''I have to say it was even better than I thought it would be, but I wonder if I have reached my maximum potential or if I have more room to grow.''

    Taking out one of the three remaining natural treasure he had, Marcus quickly ate the weird purple banana and looked at his status to see if there was any change.

    Unfortunately, Marcus found that his assumption was correct, and his stats did not increase any further meaning he had reach the peak of his potential for his current level.

    ''A bit expected but still sad. Although I cannotin, that mythic spirit gem had enough power in it to stabilize my soul and bring me to the peak of my current potential. I suppose it is most likely worth whatever favor I owe the people who gave it to me.''

    Marcus was quite happy with his massive jump in power, that put him well above the normal prodigies of his level and gave him stats closer to someone around level forty-five.

    ''Along with my unique skills average people under level fifty are probably no longer my match. Of course, I doubt I am the only being that has reached their max potential, so I need to be careful and not get a big head. This world is still full of dangers that could swat me like a fly and one wrong step could be the end of me. I barely made it out of myst crisis thanks to the intervention of someone who must be quite strong, and next time I am unlikely to be that lucky.''

    Gathering his thoughts about his new increased stats, Marcus told himself to not get a big head, if he started acting like he owned the ce just because he was a little stronger, than it was only a matter of time before someone put him in his ce.

    pping his face with both of his hands, Marcus shoved the numerous thoughts swirling in his mind to the back, and decided it was time to go down and eat with Lilia. He had not had much time with her since she had gone off to school and every second counted.

    Walking down to the first floor, Marcus found Lilia in the main living area talking to ra and telling her about all the things that had happened to her at school.

    Approaching Lilia with a smirk on his face Marcus said, "So what was this about a boy that you have be friends with."

    Lilia hearing Marcus who had snuck up behind her let put a cute yelp and looked up at Marcus with innocent eyes hoping to avoid the subject.

    However, Marcus was not going to let this slide and told Lilia to tell him all about it.

    "I think I understand you got your own white knight that came to your rescue when some of the other kids were bullying you during the start of your enrollment."

    Sighing, Marcus was a bit upset with himself that he had not been paying enough attention to Lilia and did not even think about the possible bullying she would have incurred.

    Asking for further details, Marcus found that pretty much the only reason for the bullying was the difference in social status.

    As Lilia was only the sister of baress, which is the second lowest ranking noble title, and was a new noble raised from amoner, Marcus'' status and Lilia''s were considered pretty low in noble circles.

    Even knights with a long lineage could be considered to have a higher standing by some degree.

    Luckily after around a week where Lilia was being picked on by a group of girls who''s ringleader was a noble daughter of a count, another group helmed by the boy she had been talking about came to her aid.

    Lilia continued to narrate the experience about how the young boy with pointy ears and snow-white hair along with his friends defended her.

    The boy apparently came from a long linage of nobles and was rted to a number of people that held titles in the kingdom, with his highest-ranking close rtive being his great grandfather who held the title of Marques.

    With the help of these other noble children Lilia was able to fend off the bullies andter even got revenge on them when she showed off her superior prowess inbat training.

    Marcus was happy to hear that while Lilia had a rough start, she was now part of a good friend circle and was enjoying her time in the royal academy.

    In fact, Marcus found that Lilia had gotten a good grasp of most of her subjects other than math and in things like history and the political structure of the kingdom she was even further advanced than he was.

    ''She certainly has learned a lot and seems to be happy; I am really d to see she is doing well. She has even made it to level fifteen which is quite strong for her age, though unless she gets some more experience by fighting monsters or beast her progress is going to slow down.''

    Marcus continued to happily chat with Lilia for another ten or so minutes until dinner was ready and the two of them headed to the dining room to enjoy the meal.

    Eating a delicious soup that used a variety of mushrooms as its base and had a decent amount of tender beef along with a vegetable that resembled bok choy, Marcus could not help but smile while consuming the delicious meal.

    Finishing off the meal, Ste brought out a dessert that was simr to cobbler and was filled with a fruit that was simr to a plum in taste but had the texture of a pear.

    Satisfied by the delicious meal that had been far superior to anything he had eaten on the road, Marcus continued to talk to Lilia focusing this time on her closest friends rather than her studies.

    Marcus after a bit of prying was able to find out the names of Lilia''s four closest friends, one of which was the boy she had been talking about before.

    ''So, there is ric Skalbeck who''s father is a viscount and who''s great grandfather is a Marques. He is also the boy that Lilia definitely seems infatuated with, I suppose that in another world being someone''s hero can still sway hearts. Then there is Vania Kental who''s father is a Baron and is Lilia''s best friend that is a girl. After that is a boy named Jarett Hinsen who is the son of a prominent knight who is apparently one of the royal children''s personal knights. And finally, there is Thalia Brenato who''s mother holds the title of baress like me. I suppose I should meet with these four and their parents at some point and try and keep a good rtionship between all of them and Lilia.''

    With their meal concluded and Marcus having caught up with Lilia, he was about to say goodnight and let her get some rest when Lilia asked him how his trip had gone.

    Gulping a bit loudly, Marcus was not sure how to approach this subject, since he did not want to depress Lilia by telling her that two of his friends had ended up dead.

    However, Lilia could see that something was wrong especially since Marcus had a hard time hiding anything from her.

    Sighing, Marcus told Lilia the events of what had happened although he did change a few things like how seriously injured he was afterwards and the gory details of Branna and Jesnay''s deaths.

    With tears welling up in her eyes after hearing what Marcus had been through, Lilia gave him a big hug in order tofort him and Marcus even felt a few tears starting to well up in his eyes.

    Lilia continued tofort Marcus for a good hour and Marcus was really grateful for it since he had not been able to properly express his sce to the Eternal Queens since he felt responsible for their members deaths.

    "Thank you Lilia, you have been my treasure since we have been together, and I am d I was able to get a little sister like you."

    Lilia with a shining smile and a few tears in her eyes looked up at Marcus and said in a low whisper that only he could hear and said, "No thank you Marcus. I know you are not exactly my sister but the way you talk and care for me are so much like her and the fact that you inherited her will and memories has made me feel like she came back to me. Without you I would have been all alone, so I am d to have you as my sibling."

    After there touching moment the two of them continued to talk switching topics to happier subjects until the day had already descended deep into night and soon Lilia became sleepy barely able to keep her eyes open and the two of them headed off to their respective rooms.

 Chapter 158 - 157 The True Way Of The Forge (Experimentation)

    Heading to his room after he spent some time catching up with Lilia, after entering his room Marcus actually turned back into a ghost and exited the manor.

    Floating outside of his manor, Marcus made his way over to his forge that was on the premises of his estate.

    Passing through the door, Marcus entered the interior and resolidified before heading over to his work bench and collected his forging tools.

    With his tools collected, Marcus headed over to thergest furnace he had and lit it up using a few magic cores as the fuel source.

    While his furnace was heating up Marcus took out a small amount of the celestial tinum ore and using his spectral arm held it inside the furnace.

    Allowing the ore to heat up, the rock that was around the tinum began melting as it had a much lower melting point, and it was not long before all Marcus had left was the celestial tinum.

    Taking a few minutes, Marcus molded the tinum into an ingot before trying to figure out how to use it for enchanting.

    Of course, he knew that if he waited a bit and learned everything from Thabon he would not have to struggle with this part, but a part of Marcus really wanted to see what he could do on his own.

    ''I guess I will just etch the enchantments into item first without imbuing it, then add the tinum, empower the enchantment, and hope that ites together.''

    Coming up with this method that without the tinum normally ended with the enchantment exploding since it would normally be unstable if it was not infused with mana during its creation or at the very best woulde out much weaker than otherwise.

    It was basically the technique that was used by inexperienced or untalented crafters and made lower quality works.

    Pulling out a mithril ingot, Marcus quickly heated it up using his control mes spell and separated just enough to shape into the item he wanted to try making.

    Taking the mithril he had separated, Marcus formed it into the shape of a bracelet and after smoothing it out, started boring a hole in it where he could ce a magic core.

    Once that was done Marcus pulled out a magic core from one of the trolls that he had killed, and after condensing it ced it as the focal point of the bracelet.

    ''Now time to etch the enchantment and hope it does not blow up in my face when I activate it.''

    Etching the formation of his tier four healing spell persistent healing into the bracelet and tying it to the core of the troll already imbedded into the bracelet Marcus was hoping to make a powerful healing item.

    ''Okay the hard part starts now. I have to somehow get the molten tinum into the etching without ruining the formation or warping either of the metals. Yeah, there definitely had to be a better way than this but I am alreadymitted, and I can always find out tomorrow.''

    Taking the ingot of celestial tinum he had refined earlier, Marcus heated it up until it began melting and collected it in a crucible that was made out of crimson ore which was the material that had the highest known melting point.

    Taking the crucible that was now full of molten tinum, Marcus tried to carefully pour the tinum into the etching, but even with his high stats he found him pouring out to much and covering the bracelet in excess tinum.

    ''Fuck. This one is pretty much already ruined now. I am going to have to melt it back down and start over from scratch.''

    Sighing, Marcus melted the bracelet back down before going through the process of getting it to the point of adding the celestial tinum again.

    However, this time instead of trying to pout the tinum by hand Marcus brought forth his shadow tendrils using the ability for the first time in order to prevent the tinum from spilling over the etchings.

    ''I cannot believe that this is how I am using this ability for the first time, but the fact that it is working is the dumbest part. There is no way I am doing this right since most people would not have an ability like this to help them guide the tinum. The only other way I can think of is to make a guard out of crimson ore for every single item I make, but that would be incredibly expensive and time consuming. Oh well, I wanted to see what I could do on my own and this is the best I cane up with for now.''

    Finishing pouring the celestial tinum into the formation etched onto the bracelet he had made, Marcus quickly smoothed out the tinum and made sure that the formation was still intact.

    Once that was done, he then began pouring mana into the formation and magic core used as its focal point.

    Astonishingly the item did not explode or shatter, and Marcus watched as the celestial tinum absorbed the mana greedily before sinking into the mithril and bing a part of it leaving no trace that it was ever there.

    ''So that is how it works and why I have never seen the tinum on any enchanted items. It works as a buffer for excess mana that would warp the enchantment making it so you do not need expert control and can even strengthen an enchantment further. Damn now I wish I had known this from the beginning, I spent so much time perfecting my control over the output of my mana when it was unnecessary.''

    With a deep sigh Marcus picked up the nowpleted magic bracelet he had made out of mithril and activated the enchantment in order to see how well the item functions.

    ''Shit, I must have warped the enchantment when pouring in the tinum. It took me around four times the amount of mana I would normally need to cast the spell myself and its effectiveness is only around thirty percent as well. Now how many times can I activate it before it needs to recharge. Hm just three times, not really that great it should have been at least five for the materials that I used. I could have easily made a superior product just with my previous method, but I suppose that the failure rate of this one is much lower.''

    Taking the somewhat of a failure magic bracelet he had made, Marcus decided to sell it at the shop attached to the zegram Forge and if he was lucky, he might get around a hundred gold.

    After his attempts at using the celestial tinum, Marcus was satisfied with learning its effectiveness and was anticipating how Thabon was going to teach him.

    Waiting in anticipation, Marcus did numerous inventories of his supplies making sure he had numerous different materials that he could use since as soon as the sun came up, he nned to go to the forge and finally learn the true ways to forge.

    ''Time to go, I cannot wait to see what special techniques Thabon has to show me. I hope he is not to mad that I was not able to obtain as much ore as I could, but a normal person could never have escaped that hell hole.''

    With his preparationsplete and the sun justing over the horizon marking the start of the day, Marcus floated back to his manor and into his room, before making a show of exiting his room since his maids and Lilia had started to get a bit worried about him not getting enough rest.

    Walking downstairs, Marcus found that Leah was already up and cooking breakfast making a type of oatmeal along with eggs and bacon.

    Impatiently waiting, as soon as Leah had finished making breakfast, Marcus ate it at and unprecedented rate shocking everyone around him, before he told everyone that he was going to the forge and to not wait up on him.

    However, before he left ra asked if he had already written the letter to Duchess Ophiria causing Marcus to grumble slightly and quickly write a letter epting her request to a meeting whenever she was free.

    After that Marcus said goodbye to the maids and Lilia, swiftly leaving the manor before anything else came up.

    Calling Blitz over, Marcus mounted onto his magical beast and giving Blitz the mentalmand, began bounding towards the zegram Forge.

    Speeding across the city streets Marcus arrived at the forge only a few minutes after it had opened and saw that a number of the other early risers were arriving.

    Walking in Marcus gave his greetings to the other members of the forge and began making a beeline for Thabon''s personal room when the apprentice that was manning the front desk stopped him.

    "Ah Lady Irene, I am d to see you have gotten back from your trip. A number of customers came and specifically asked for you formissions, though when most of them heard you would be absent for an extended period of time, they switched over to someone else. However, three of them were adamant about only having you and they left letters for when you came back."

    The apprentice named Sully then retrieved the three letters and Marcus gave them a quick nce over and was about to put them away and deal with themtter until he saw thest one that was signed by one of his friends.

    ''A letter from Adrianna, I wonder what she wants me to make for her. She already has a good mithril sword but maybe she wants some armor. I suppose there is a chance it could be for rissa as well.''

    Holding himself back from rushing right to Thabon, Marcus walked into a corner of the room and cut open the letter deciding to prioritize reading his friend''s request before anything else.

 Chapter 159 - 158 The True Way Of The Forge (2)

    Unfurling the now unsealed piece of paper, Marcus quickly read the contends of the letter written by his friend.

    ''Dear Irene,

    I was hoping to find you so that I could ask you for amission, but it appears you are currently out. I have written this letter so that when youe back you will know that I am looking for you. I know it may be inconvenient for you but when you have the time, pleasee see me at my post or my residence. If that is not possible you can always write me a letter and I wille see you at the zegram Forge.

    Sincerely, your friend Adrianna Harthen.

    After reading the short message left by Adrianna, Marcus made a mental note to go and see her as soon as he had finished with his week of training under Thabon.

    ''I will be able to make her a better product once I have learned all of the tricks of the trade so I am sure she can wait just a little longer for a vastly superior product.''

    Walking into the forge, Marcus saw a number of the regr forgemasters hard at work refining metals and working on different products or teaching some of the apprentices.

    "Bang, Bang, Bang."

    Marcus knocked loudly on Thabon''s door and waited for just a minute before the old dwarf opened the door, and when he saw Marcus a smile appeared on his face and he said, "Irene you are back, do you have the goods."

    Hearing this, Marcus gave Thabon a frown and said, "Yeah I got some but less than I could hold since we were chased out of the ce by your "security"."

    Thabon with a look of guilt beckoned Marcus in and the two of them further discussed what happened in the mine.

    "I see so you attacked one of therge caves that was teeming with celestial tinum ore. I knew I forgot to mention something, yeah if you attack one of those the overlords of the level you are on wille, though it sounds like the master of the mine even took an interest in your intrusion. You are lucky that all of you made it out alive,st time I ran into her she was level fifty-seven and even I have a little trouble handling her."

    With an angry look Marcus stared at Thabon and said, "Level fifty-seven, were you trying to get me killed. Now I know why Gurrom will not go back there, if we had not been lucky that thing would have killed us. I even had to sacrifice half of the ore I had mined just to avoid being melted by its acid. Seriously who are you trying to keep out by infesting that ce with such dangerous monsters."

    Thabon just shrugged his shoulders and said, "When I found the mine, I did not have very much money to afford security and those lizards were cheap, so I just threw some in."

    Marcus almost went and whacked Thabon on the head wanting to berate him for being a cheapskate but held back since he did not want to upset him.

    "Oh well, all''s well that ends well, I guess just empty out the ore in my storage area and then you can take your twenty percent after we refine it."

    Nodding his head Marcus unloaded the around eight tons of ore he had stored within his item box.

    Taking the ore to the massive processing furnace that Thabon had, the two of them went through the tedious process of turning the ore into metal ingots and after around seventeen hours had refined the celestial tinum ore.

    What they had left at the end was four hundred ny-three pounds of celestial tinum which was around three percent of the total material they started with.

    "Well, you did pretty good Irene, this should be enough tost awhile so go ahead and take your cut and then we can take a break for today and get started on your training tomorrow."

    However, Marcus shook his head and said, "I am not tired, you said that I would get week of uninterrupted training if I went and got this tinum for you. I nearly died getting it, so we are not going to stop until you have taught me for the whole week. Do not expect to get any sleep until I have learned everything."

    Thabon looking into Marcus'' eyes had a sudden expression of fear on his face since he could tell Marcus was serious about going a whole week without sleep.

    Sighing Thabon said, "Fine let''s get started, your week starts now but you said you wanted to do it all at once so do not give out on me halfway through."

    As Thabon was heading over to his workstation, Marcus remembered the bracelet he made yesterday and decided to ask Thabon his opinion on it.

    "Ah but first I got a little restless yesterday and tried making something with a bit of the celestial tinum would you mind looking at it."

    Pulling out the bracelet he had madest night Marcus handed it over and let Thabon inspect it.

    "Ha, this is a piece of shit. I am surprised you even managed to do this and make a working item. I mean the base technique you used is already wed so of course you are not going to make a good item. Though the fact that you were able to incorporate the celestial tinum in this way does speak volumes to your talent. Now then I will teach you how to really use this celestial tinum."

    Walking over to his workstation, Thabon pulled out a mana etcher which was what was used to make enchantments on items, but this one was different than most, being made of crimson ore and had a long tube attached to a box.

    "This here is the tool you use to apply the celestial tinum while you etch the enchantments at the same time. With this it will deposit the correct amount of molten celestial tinum into the enchantment as you are making it, so the enchantment does not get damaged like with the method you used."

    Thabon then opened up the box at the end of the tool and showed Marcus that it was actually a mini furnace with a crucible in the middle that would keep the tinum from cooling. The crucible was then attached to the hose that would bring the molten tinum to the mana etcher and deposit it like wielding on Earth.

    ''Such an intricate design, I wonder how long it took people to figure all this shit out, I mean what is this tube made out of, it is flexible, but it must be heat resistant to take the molten tinum.''

    Thabon seeing Marcus looking at the tube intently said, "It is made from the hide of beasts or monster with high fire resistance. That one there is actually made from the skin of ava eel. Ah and I forgot to mention it is your present as my new apprentice."

    With a twinkle in his eyes Marcus looked back at Thabon and said, "Thank you, so can we get started."

    ˇ­

    Wham!

    "Not good enough, you spilled a bit of the tinum here, try again and next time you mess up I will hit you harder."

    Gritting his teeth and holding his now broken hand, Marcus red at Thabon who while a generally jovial guy, had be a monster while teaching.

    Unlike Gurrom who would help Marcus and point out his mistakes, Thabon would teach by hitting harder with his hammer.

    With a nasty smirk Marcus cast a healing spell on his hand and in a matter of seconds he was moving it around like normal.

    Getting back to work on perfecting the etching technique while applying the molten tinum, it took Marcus three days to master the technique up to Thabon''s standards and well over a hundred broken hands.

    Luckily, Marcus was a ghost and only had a pseudo internal structure that was only built for function, so he was able to repair his hand easily, though it still hurt.

    "Hm, your work is finally eptable, I must say I am impressed it took Gurrom two months to get to this point."

    ''Yeah, probably because he got tired of having his hand smashed every thirty minutes.''

    Holding his hand, Marcus looked at Thabon with disdain, but he could not question that he had truly learned a lot and there was no doubt that the old man was a genius.

    "Now we can move onto the next step, there are a number of enchantment formations I have personally created, and I am going to teach some of them to you, then after that we can work on beast and monster partbinations that increase mana output or give certain special properties."

    Steeling himself Marcus prepared for more hammer whacking throughout the next process but found that Thabon had decided to abandon his stick approach, and now began the carrot approach this time encouraging Marcus whenever he made a mistake.

    ˇ­

    Soon the long week of Marcus'' training was nearing itspletion and for his final test Thabon said, "Now then try making that same type of bracelet but this time use what you have learned."

    Marcus with a confident look took out a mithril ingot, a magic core from one of the trolls, along with a single troll bone.

    He then ground up the bone into a fine pounder before moving onto the mithril ingot which he ced into a crucible before melting.

    Next Marcus melted the mithril before carefully adding the troll bone powder and making sure to spread it out through the molten mithril.

    Once that was done, he poured out the mithril back into an ingot mold and let it cool.

    When the ingot was cool Marcus took it out of the mold and heated it back up before shaping it into a bracelet.

    ''Okay the form is ready now it is time to add the magic core and then the enchantment.''

    Quickly moving on, Marcuspleted the next steps of the process, boring a hole into the bracelet where he ced the magic core.

    With that done Marcus went onto the most sensitive part, adding the enchantment while applying the celestial tinum.

    Carefully etching out the formation for the healing spell that would be contained with the bracelet, Marcus allowed the celestial tinum to flow out while pouring his mana into it and the bracelet.

    The celestial tinum absorbing the mana bonded into he the etching as Marcus went along until he had finished the bracelet.

    With the bracelet that was the culmination of a week of learningplete, Marcus had a proud smile on his face as he inspected it.

    Taking the first bracelet he had made out of his item box; Marcus inspected the two items that were nearly identical on the outside butpletely different in their quality.

    "Impressive isn''t it, how much of a difference the proper techniques make. While most people would never be able to tell the difference between the two of them from a nce this old man can see that what you just made is easily ten time better."

    Marcus nodded his head and activated both items at the same time to figure out just how much of a difference they had.

    Immediately Marcus could fell that the bracelet he had just made absorbed far less mana to activate its enchantment and was much faster in applying it.

    And not only did it take less mana it was just as efficient as if Marcus had cast the spell himself.

    ''Wow, the difference is truly amazing. The first one I made is incredibly weak inparison taking way more mana for less healing, and after testing it my new bracelet can activate twelve times before needing to cool down.''

    "Well, your week of training is over, and I must say you learned at an incredible rate, in all honesty I expected you to quit after two days of getting you hand smashed, but you really persevered. I am also amazed that you were able to stay up for the whole week, at your level I would expect four days to be your max. Now then you have learned pretty much all I have to teach you for now. Of course, you can continue to ask for my guidance if you have questions or want to pounce off ideas but until you reach level five on your forge skill, I have taught you all you need to learn to start your journey on being a forgemaster. So, if you would not mind do not bother me for a while I have not slept in a week and am beat."

    After saying that Thabon patted Marcus on the shoulder before heading up to his room and copsing onto his bed wondering where a talent like Marcus hade from.

 Chapter 160 - 159 Doing The Rounds

    With his weeklong training session with Thabonpleted along with a swath of new knowledge, Marcus was feeling more confident than ever in his forging skills.

    ''Now I should head home first and see how things are going there, and then after that I will go see Adrianna.''

    With a rough n of what he was going to do next in his mind, Marcus left the zegram forge and began heading back to his estate.

    Upon arriving Marcus was quickly let in by the maid that was manning the gate and was given a letter that was a response from Duchess Ophiria.

    Quickly opening up the letter and reading through it Marcus found that the Duchess wished to meet at her estate in a week and six days and discuss possible business propositions.

    ''Does she want me to make some weapons or armor. I mean my skills have increased but there are still plenty of people more experienced than me, and as a duchess she should be able to get just about anyone. Maybe it has something to do with Wade as well, though I guess I will not know until I talk to her.''

    Folding the letter and putting it away into his item box, Marcus put the meeting he had with Wade''s mother to the back of his mind and headed up to his manor.

    Walking inside Marcus was greeted by a number of the maids, before finding Lilia sitting in the library reading a book about the royalty of the kingdom.

    "Hey Lilia doing some studying or did you really just want to know about the kingdom''s royalty."

    "Marcus you are back. And yeah, in the kingdom''s history ss I am taking we are going to have a test on the notable royal figures throughout the kingdom''s history the day after tomorrow. But what about you how did your training with your master go."

    Marcus remembering his training grimaced a little, but a small smile cracked on his face since he had learned a lot.

    "It was difficult, but I have gained a number of new techniques and a deeper understanding of how to make magic items. Ah and I have something to give to you."

    Taking out the bracelet that he had made using the techniques Thabon had taught him, Marcus ced it on Lilia''s wrist.

    "This bracelet has a healing spell sealed within it that will continuously heal you for five minutes so if you ever get hurt go ahead and use it. It will work twelve times a day so do not worry about holding back, although with the amount of mana you have activating it once will still probably take around half of what you have."

    Lilia looked at the bracelet on her wrist and then at Marcus and said, "Are you sure, would this not be worth a small fortune, I already have the protection item Wade gave me along with a few of the items you have already given me."

    Seeing the slight concern in Lilia''s eyes, Marcus just smiled softly at her and said, "Right now we have plenty of money and in fact I have threemissions I will need to get to soon so do not worry about anything like that. Your health and safety is what is most important to me so I will feel a lot better if you have that bracelet."

    Nodding her head, Lilia held the bracelet with her other hand and looked at it lovingly before remembering something and whispering into Marcus'' ear.

    "So, your friend is having a birthday next month and you want me to make him something. Okay no problem I can handle that."

    Marcus gave Lilia who was blushing slightly a mischievous smirk before heading out of the library and leaving Lilia to her studies.

    ''Puppy love huh. She really does have a crush on that boy. I guess I should prioritize meeting his family, though it will have to wait until after my meeting with the duchess.''

    Having checked in with Lilia and ra and dealing with the business he needed to, Marcus took out the two other letters he had gotten at the forge asking formissions and decided to read them.

    ''So, Sir Karter wants me to make his son a spear since he was quite pleased with the sword I made him. And Joy from the tinum adventuring party Vicious Cold wants me to make her three dozen enchanted arrows. Okay the spear should be easy, but I do not have the materials needed for all of the arrows she wants, but I will get in contact with both of them and work something out.''

    After having finished reading the twomission requests, Marcus decided it was time to get some sleep since it had been nearly ten days since thest time he had rested, and he felt his mind starting to dull just ever so slightly.

    Waking up the next day after a peaceful rest, Marcus decided to spend the beginning of the day spending time with Lilia before heading out to see Adrianna during the afternoon.

    Going downstairs, Marcus ate another hearty breakfast with Lilia before the two of them went into the main living area and began ying a few games of chess which had been "created" and poprized by the first king.

    ying three games, Marcus came out he victor every time since he had yed a bit back when he was on Earth, but he noticed that Lilia had vastly improved since thest time they had yed.

    ''She must be ying with her friends at school since before I was able to when without much focus but in thatst game, she managed to take my queen for just a bishop because I let my guard down. I need to be careful or soon she is going to be way out of my league.''

    With their few chess gamesplete Marcus and Lilia then went outside to y around with Blitz a bit before it was time for Marcus to go and visit Adrianna.

    "I will be backtter tonight and see you off tomorrow when you go back to school."

    Marcus after giving Lilia a big hug hopped onto Blitz and made his way towards the northern gate of the inner wall where Adrianna was posted.

    Bounding down the streets it was not long before the tall inner wall came into view and Marcus directed Blitz towards the guard station by the gate.

    Trotting up slowly with Blitz, the guard sitting in front of the station saw Marcus approaching and came up and said, "Yes how may I help."

    "I am looking for Adri- I mean Dame Harthen, is she currently here. Ah I forgot I am her friend Irene Geist and she left me a letter asking to meet with me so if you could tell her I am here I would be appreciative."

    The guard after hearing what Marcus has said, quickly stood up straighter and a bead of sweat began to trickle down his head even though it was rtively cold out.

    Of course, the guard had not realized that Marcus was a noble since they rarely traveled alone, and while he had not been disrespectful some nobles can be pretty moody if you do not actpletely subservient.

    But while these were factors for this guards fear the main reason was that Marcus nearly called his boss by her first name showing that they were quite close.

    And this guard had seen Dame Harthen be pretty brutal to guards that had gotten on her nerves even getting some of the ones that had been cking fined along with fined.

    Nervously the guard after taking a second to get over his fear said, "Yes Dame Harthen is here. I believe she is currently inspecting the fortifications on top of the wall. If you want, I can take her to you, I mean bring you to her, or you can wait in the guard station, and I will tell her you are here."

    Marcus seeing the nervous demeanor of the guard gave him a friendly smile trying to lower his anxiety and said, "Thanks, if you would not mind taking me to her, I would be appreciative, oh and if you would not mind can I tie Blitz here up in the stable real quick."

    Unfortunately, the guard was still nervous and nodded his head robotically before showing Marcus to the stable next to the guard station and help Marcus to tie off Blitz.

    With that done the guard began leading Marcus up the wall soon arriving on top where a number of guards could be seen keeping watch and looking further down Marcus could see two familiar people inspecting a mana cannon.

    Walking up to them Marcus waved and called out saying, "Adrianna, risa."

    The two of them looking up saw Marcus walking towards them while waving his hand and while risa had a confused expression on her face Adrianna simply smiled.

    Adrianna then looked towards risa and said, "I need to have quick chat about some business with Irene, so you continue with the inspection without me and when you have finished you cane join us."

    risa with a slightly sad expression since she also wanted to catch up with Marcus, nodded her head and got back to the inspections giving it her best to finish up early.

    Approaching Adrianna, Marcus said, "I got your letter, so you want me to make something for you. I know you already have a good weapon so did you want some armor or maybe an essory of some kind?"

    Shacking her head Adrianna subtly nodded towards risa and said, "Actually it is something else that I would like to discuss in private."

    Understanding that she wanted to discuss something regarding risa, Marcus said, "Sure lead the way then."

    Marcus following behind risa and soon the two of them came to the guard station on top of the wall and went inside.

    The two of them then at down at the table in the room and began talking.

    "So, what did you want me to do for you."

    Clearing her throat and with a serious expression Adrianna responded saying, "I know it may be an inconvenience for you but there are actually two things I was hoping you could do for me."

 Chapter 161 - 160 Adriannaâ€™s Two Requests

    Hearing what Adrianna said, Marcus simply nodded his head agreeing to listen to her requests.

    Marcus was the kind of guy that was willing to help out his friends as long as he could so if it was in power of course he would definitely do it.

    Adrianna with some relief on her face said, "The first thing I was hoping to get from you was to request a pair of mithril swords for risa. As you know she fights with a dual sword style using one long sword and one short sword, and I know paying for two mithril swords from and expert like you is expensive, so I have gather a three hundred fifty gold coins for your services. She has recently been epted as a knight and will receive her title during the kingdom''s meeting during the summer, and after that will be moving to the territory she has been assigned to. I want to make sure she has good weapons to support herself with since she is going to a frontier town near the Great Gome Woods. If you could make her a pair of swords, I would be very grateful."

    Seeing Adrianna bowing in front of him with a sack of money on the table, Marcus was feeling a bit awkward since he was not used to having his friends begging him for favors.

    "Um if you would not mind raising your head there is no need to be so formal with me. We are friends, and I am also friends with risa so I can be sure to make her a pair of swords. Ah and no need to pay, it will be my gift as well, I have done decently well in thest couple months so I can afford to make a few things for my friends ever now and then."

    Adrianna after finishing listing to Marcus raised her head with a slightly angry expression and said, "No I will not let you make these swords for free it would make me feel that I am taking advantage of our friendship. I worked hard to get this money together and will not take no for an answer."

    Adrianna then slid the pouch of gold over, adamant that Marcus be paid for his services.

    Sighing Marcus took the pouch seeing that Adrianna was going to be obstinate about him being paid.

    ''Fine then I am going to make her the best possible swords I can even if it goes over this cost.''

    Marcus not one to lose decided that he would make a pair of swords far more valuable than the money he had received mostly to help a friend but partly to spite Adrianna.

    While thinking about the materials he was going to use to make a pair of swords for risa, Adrianna began asking for her second request.

    "Now the other request I have may seem a bit weird and if you do not want to or do not have the time, I understand and do not want to pressure you. However, if you would be willing to, I want you to bring risa and her peers down a peg."

    Marcusing out of his thoughts about the swords he would be making, looked at Adrianna with a confused expression.

    ''Bring them down a peg. Why does she need me to do that and not only risa but her peers as well?''

    "Why do you need me to bring them down a peg, have they gotten too overconfident or something, and could you not do it yourself. I mean you are level thirty-six same as me, you should be able to do it, so why me.?"

    With a bit of a frown on her face Adrianna said, "Yeah their heads have gotten too big since they passed the trials to be knights. And while risa is not as bad as some of her friends, they have definitely rubbed off on her. I have seen it happen a number of times where young knights get overconfident in their albites and end up dead. While they are all strong and can handle most threats, there is always someone stronger, but they are acting like they have be invincible."

    Adrianna then sighed thinking about it putting her hand on her head and rubbing her temples.

    Nodding his head understanding how easy it was to get a big head once you got a certain amount of power Marcus said, "Okay I understand why they need to be brought down a peg but why does it have to be me, you could easily whip them all into shape."

    However, Adrianna just shook her head and said, "I already tried that, but they just said, it was because I was older than them and that when they got to my age, they would be even stronger. Can you believe that, I am only thirty and they are treating me like and olddy even though I am only around ten years older. That is why I want you to fight the six of them and show them that there are people stronger than them even at the same age."

    ''I get where she ising from, but I am definitely a unique existence in this world, and I have gotten strong by a few fortuitous encounters and constantly getting myself almost killed. Though I suppose I could take a day to give a few hot-headed kids a lesson, especially for risa. I do not really care about the others but if I can make even a slight difference in her ability to survive it will be worth it.''

    Havinge to a decision, Marcus told Adrianna that he would be willing to teach these soon to be knights a harsh lesson so that they never got too full of themselves again.

    "Thank you, Irene, I will arrange a training session within a week or two, if you tell me which day would be best for you, I will get it scheduled then."

    Thinking about it for just a bit Marcus quickly came decided on which day would be the most opportune.

    "Yeah, if we could do it in nine days that would be good. It will give me enough time to finish risa''s swords that way she will not think too highly of the strength she gets from stronger weapons."

    Nodding her head Adrianna agreed that the training would be held in nine days.

    "Now that we have settled out those details, I need to see Adrianna''s status and if I could inspect the swords she is using now that would be a big help. I know you want to keep this a surprise so just make up something."

    "Yeah, that should not be a problem I know her status by memory, and I can get you her swords when she brings them in for maintenance without her knowing."

    With a smile Marcus nodded and the two of them began making some small talk until not long after risa entered.

    "Dame Harthen I have finished the inspection of the mana cannons, and everything is up to standard except cannon number five which had a clog in its mana connector."

    With a satisfied look Adrianna said to risa, "Good then have one of the guards get someone to do maintenance on that cannon, the inner wall is thest line of defense the capital has so it always need to be in top shape."

    However, with a confident smile risa said, "I have already gotten someone toe down and fix it and they said it would be done within the hour."

    Adrianna happy to see risa''s initiative said, "Well thene and sit-down, Irene was just telling me about the grueling training her master put her through, how many times did you say he smashed your hands again."

    After that Marcus, Adrianna, and risa chatted away for around forty minutes until both Adrianna and risa had to get back to their posts having expended the time they could be on break.

    However, before she left Adrianna managed to get risa to hand over her swords for "routine maintenance" and allowed Marcus a few minutes to look at them.

    She then handed Marcus a copy of risa''s status and whispered in his ear, "Good luck, and thank you."

    With his business nowplete, Marcus headed down from the wall and went to the guards'' stable to retrieve Blitz who to no surprise was already king of the stable.

    Pulling Blitz away from his now subservient subjects, the horses in the stable gave out respectful neighs that caused Marcus to start chuckling.

    Riding along the streets, Marcus before going back to his home decided to head by some of the shops that he had been rmend by Gurrom and Thabon that carried quality supplies.

    ''Okay that should be everything I need to make the swords for risa. But damn did I not imagine that I would have already spent over eight hundred gold just on these supplies. When I am done each of these swords will be worth well over a thousand gold but hey it will be a good test of my new skills.''

    With his supplies collected Marcus made his way back to his estate so that he could spend the rest of the day with Lilia before she went back to the Royal Academy tomorrow.

 Chapter 162 - 161 Siblings Bond

    Arriving back at his estate, Marcus quickly located Lilia and the two of them told the maids that were on duty to take the night off as they nned on cooking together.

    "Okay so what do want to make Lilia, my skills at cooking have gotten pretty good so I am confident in making something delicious."

    Lilia began pondering for a few moments trying toe up with what she wanted to eat when she remembered one time that her father had purchased a goat from the nearby vige and wanted to have that again.

    "So, do you remember the time that we all ate goat together a few years ago after themunity got lucky and made arge sum of money since some noble needed a bunch of lumber to repair their town after it had caught fire. If we could have something like that, that would be my choice."

    Racking the memories he had gotten from Irene, it took Marcus around a minute to locate the specific memory that Lilia was talking about.

    "Ah yeah I can remember that time, the goat certainly did taste good, along with the roasted wild nuts and the medley of vegetables. Yeah, I can make something using goat meat as its main ingredient though it will probably be a bit different than what we had before."

    With the central ingredient they were going to be using decided, Marcus went over to the magical fridge that was set up in the kitchen and selected a prime cut of goat meat while Lilia began working on making fresh bread.

    Taking out the cut of goat meat he had selected, Marcus began to tenderize it, hitting it over and over with a small metal hammer almost feeling like he was back in the forge.

    Once he had finished tenderizing the meat, Marcus rubbed in a number of unique spices to the world of Mirrion that were not found on Earth in order to get rid of the gamey smell and taste of the goat.

    When that was done, he went on to making a curry like marinade which he soaked the meat in.

    ''Now I need to let that sit for around thirty minutes, so in that time I can prepare the vegetables.''

    Pulling out a number of vegetables, some that were simr to their counterparts on Earth like carrots and potatoes, and some that were particrly alien.

    Cutting up a vegetable that looked like a durian but with much longer spikes and a thinner body, Marcus removed the tips of the spikes before cutting them away from the body of the vegetable and setting them aside.

    ''To think that after boiling these spines they would be soft and delicious, this world certainly has some oddities to it but at least it never gets dull.''

    Continuing to happily prepare the vegetables, thirty minutes soon passed, and Marcus went over to the goat that had been marinating and put it onto a pan before sliding it into one of the house''s ovens which had been set to a low heat.

    With his preparationspleted Marcus looked over to Lilia who was just finishing up on preparing the bread and was getting ready to put it into one of the other ovens.

    "Now that we have finished that up let us get started on making dessert, I have something special ned that you cannot normally get."

    Marcus then pulled out a number of ingredients including, arge block of ice.

    "We are going to make ice cream but not any of the normal vors from around here. I have managed to procure a special ingredient to make it even better."

    Lilia look at Marcus with mesmerized eyes, she had eaten ice cream a few times before with some of her noble friends, and each time it had been delicious.

    However, Marcus saying he had aa secret ingredient only got Lilia even more enthralled as she imagined something even tastier that what she had already had.

    With a smug smile on his face, Marcus pulled out his secret weapon for making tastier ice cream, chocte.

    Yes, Marcus had managed to procure chocte which was quite rare in the Kingdom of Borealia and could only be procured from merchants on another continent.

    It had cost him a decent sum, especially since it was winter but for the sweet taste of chocte Marcus was willing to shell out a few dozen gold coins.

    "Now then let us get the ice cream prepared and then we will put it in the specially made freezer I recently obtained."

    At that Marcus pulled out a small freezer from his item box which most people in this world would not use because of the extreme amount of mana it took to power it.

    However, when it came to creatureforts if he could obtain them, Marcus wanted to have them.

    After the two of them finished preparing the ice cream and letting it sit in the freezer to solidify, Marcus went back to check on the goat flipping it over and letting it slowly cook to break down the tendons in the meat and keep it from bing too tough.

    Once he had finished that, Marcus began cooking the vegetables he had prepared earlier to go with the meal.

    Throwing them onto skewers and putting some into a soup, Marcus began making the side dishes for theirst meal together before Lilia went back to school.

    Time continued to go by and soon each of the items that Marcus and Lilia were cooking were ready, and pulling the goat outst they were ready for dinner.

    The two of them then took their now prepared meal to the dining room where they began eating the feast they had prepared.

    Starting with the vegetable soup he had made; Marcus ate the deliciously cooked vegetables that had soaked up the vors of the broth.

    After that he dunked in some of the bread Lilia had made eating it after it had soaked up the vors of the soup.

    ''Pretty good I have to say since getting my cooking skill to level three and taking some lessons from ra and the other maids, I have be pretty proficient with cooking. And it looks like Lilia is enjoying the meal as well seeing the way she is inhaling the food. Though I guess she is hitting her growth spurt since she has gotten around half an inch taller in just a couple of months.''

    While Marcus was looking at Lilia who currently had her face stuffed with the goat meat he had tediously prepared, she quickly looked up and gave him a bright smile.

    Continuing with his meal, Marcus finally got around to the main course eating the goat meat he had cooked.

    Tasting the juicy vor as the meat entered his mouth, Marcus could not help but shove a bunch in his mouth one after the other enjoying the taste.

    However, soon between the two of them they had eaten most of the food that had been prepared.

    But this was not the end as Marcus went into the kitchen and brought back with him the chocte ice cream they had prepared.

    Passing out a cup of the frozen treat to Lilia, Marcus beckoned her to eat first wanting to see her reaction to the first-time eating chocte ice cream.

    Watching as Lilia put a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, Marcus saw as her eyes went wide with shock before an expression of delight came over her face.

    Lilia then began to eat more of the ice cream in quick session until she stopped abruptly and held her head in pain.

    Not able to stifle his amusement, Marcus beganughing out loud seeing Lilia experience a brain freeze for the first time.

    Lilia with a pout looked over at Marcus with slightly angry eyes and said, "Did you add something in here that would cause my head to hurt as some kind of practical joke."

    Stillughing but calming himself down since he saw that Lilia was getting upset Marcus said while still slightly chuckling, "No I did not put anything in it to cause you a headache that is just what happens when you eat something cold too quickly and it is called a brain freeze. I know it tastes good, but you need to pace yourself or you will continue to get that sharp feeling in your head."

    Lilia realizing that the difort she felt was because of her hasty eating blushed in embarrassment before sticking the spoon back in her mouth and eating the chocte ice cream much slower.

    After that Marcus began eating his own serving of chocte ice cream happy to be able to taste it again even in another world.

    Soon the two of them finished up dessert and began cleaning up the mess they had made in the kitchen. Except halfway through they got into a water fight where the two of them began throwing the soapy water in the sink at each other, until Marcus escted things and sent a small wave at Lilia drenching the entire area.

    Seeing Lilia sprawled out on the floor covered in water, the two of them beganughing before ra came in to investigate the ruckus and looked at the two of them with a fretful expression.

    She then told them both to go take a warm bath before they caught a cold and that she and the other maids would clean up the kitchen.

    Relenting after a bit, both Lilia and Marcus went upstairs and got into the house''srge bath and soaked away in the warm water.

    When they had finished warming up and getting clean, they both went to Marcus'' room where the to of them were going to have a sleep over.

    Spending a good portion of the night making ns for Lilia''s next break in three months, the two made sure to set aside some time for a training trip so that Lilia could keep up with the other prodigies within the academy.

    However, soon fatigue began to take Lilia and the two of them decided to call it a night crawling into bed and falling into a peaceful sleep.

 Chapter 163 - 162 Working On Commissions

    Waking up then next day, Marcus saw Lilia off along with Riley who was going with her and staying with Lilia as her tutor and maid.

    Waving goodbye, both Marcus and Lilia smiled at each other until Lilia had gone out of view heading back on her way to the royal academy.

    ''Damn I am going to miss her but spending time with kids her age and getting a good education are important. Just knowing how to read to a high degree in this world can allow someone to make a living and I want Lilia to be able to do whatever she wants in the future.''

    After looking out at the horizon in the direction Lilia had been heading for a few minutes, Marcus headed back though the gates of his estate.

    With Lilia now no longer here Marcus decided it was time to get to work.

    The first thing he did, was have Grace and Elianna deliver a letter respectively to Sir Karter and Joy from Vicious Cold, agreeing to theirmissions and quoting them a price for the items they wanted.

    After that Marcus decided to get to work on creating the two swords for risa and he was especially excited since they would be the first weapons he would forge since learning from Thabon.

    Arriving in front of his own personal forge, Marcus began an inventory of his supplies making sure that he had everything that would be necessary for him to craft two high tier swords for risa.

    ''I managed to get two high grade magic cores that came from a type of monster with a lightning affinity since risa has lightning magic. Though the biggest find was the talon of a thunderbird which is an epic grade beast. I feel a little bad that the seller did not know what he had, and I got it for cheap since he though it just belonged to a giant shocker eagle but hey, he should have kept up with his own merchandise.''

    Marcus after taking out the core items he was going to use also took out a pair of lightning crystals, along with a few other supporting items before taking out the mithril ingots and celestial tinum.

    With all of the material he needed ready Marcus lit up his furnace and as it was heating up got to work.

    The first thing he did was separate the thunderbird''s talon into two halves one for each sword.

    After that he ced the necessary amount of mithril he need into a crimson ore crucible and began melting it.

    When the mithril had turned molten Marcus went through the painstaking process of separating it into two batches one for the short sword and the other for the long sword.

    Once he had the correct ratio to create swords that were the same length as the ones risa currently had, Marcus ced the two halves of the thunderbird''s talon within each of the separated crucibles of mithril.

    With that step finished Marcus heated each of these crucibles up with extreme heat using his control mes spell until the talon and mithril were melting together.

    However, at this time Marcus also added a small amount of celestial tinum to the mixture before supplying it with mana which helped to fuse the mithril and thunderbird''s talon together.

    ''Okay the mithril is prepared, now I just need to cool and treat it before shaping the two des.''

    After Marcus had poured the lightning enhanced mithril into two different ingot molds, Marcus waited for the ingots to cool before getting to work on the next step.

    Taking the smaller of the two ingots, Marcus heated it up until it became malleable and using a special enchanted mithril steel alloy hammer, began whacking away shaping the ingot into a de.

    Falling into a trance like state, Marcus continued to forge the first sword for risa and after around five hours finally had the correct shape and length.

    With thatpleted, Marcus grinded down the sword before adding the fuller and sharping the de.

    ''The first de is now ready. Now toplete the next one and then I can add the guard and handle before going ahead with the enchantments.''

    Having the first of the two despleted, Marcus went through the same steps with the next one with the only difference being that this de was around twenty percent longer.

    Once Marcus had the two despleted, he added the guards and handles he had made before getting to the enchanting of the two des.

    First Marcus imnted the magic cores he had procured into each of the des followed by the lightning crystals a few inches further up the de.

    When that was finished Marcus pulled out the special mana etcher that Thabon had given him along with an ingot of celestial tinum.

    After melting the celestial tinum and putting it into the storage area within his mana etcher, Marcus began carving the intricate enchantments he had nned out into the first sword.

    With his focus brought to the maximum, Marcus began etching the mostplicated series of enchantments he had ever done, using his intuition and training to add the correct amount of celestial tinum to strengthen and stabilize the enchantments.

    Hours went by as Marcus never once lost focus on his work not even registering ra''s presence when she had brough him food.

    ''Almost done, I just need to connect thest line to the magic core without crossing into any of the other formations, I barely have enough room, but I can do it.''

    With a steady hand Marcus brought the final formation topletion and the short sword which he had just finished began to glow softly before the image of a bolt of lightning actually formed on the de''s surface.

    Staring at this unusual phenomenon Marcus could not help but be surprised since he never expected this to happen.

    ''Thabon told me about this, but I did not think I would be able to achieve it on my first try. If an item is considered a true masterpiece the system may bless the item with a mark representing the items affinity increasing its power slightly.''

    Picking up thepleted sword, Marcus gave it a few swings feeling its perfect bnce and the noise it made cutting through the air sounded impable.

    He then activated the most basic enchantment on the sword causing numerous sparks of elctrictiy to cover the de''s surface.

    ''Wow, this sword is far superior to anything I have ever made including the scythe I poured my heart and soul into. This just goes to show the quality of the techniques that Thabon taught me.''

    Examining the de thoroughly, Marcus could only be proud of his work since every enchantment worked properly and the sword came out even better than he imagined.

    Setting the sword down, Marcus sat down for around an hour to recover his mana and mental strength.

    After taking his rest, Marcus felt that he was back at his peak and taking the other sword he had ready, Marcus began the painstaking process of enchanting it.

    Entering into the zone again, a trance like state where Marcus could only see the work in front of him, he once againpleted the enchantments on the long sword for risa, and again to his surprise the system ssified it as a masterpiece marking it with a lightning bolt.

    Swinging around the new sword to no surprise it worked perfectly causing Marcus to have big grin appear on his face.

    ''It certainly was difficult and took me more than an entire day, but the sense of fulfilment is truly great. With this I have created my first weapons as a budding forgemaster instead of just a novice. Now time to test out if the dual enchants work.''

    With both swords in hand Marcus exited his workshop and entered his yard where he began testing out the full capabilities of the swords he had made, causing many bright shes of lightning to light up the early morning sky.

    ˇ­

    The next few day quickly went by, and Marcus received response letters from both the other people that had requestedmissions from him, agreeing to the prices that he had quoted them.

    Getting to work, it took Marcus around a day to finish the spear for the knights son and another half day toplete the three dozen arrows.

    However, as he was finishing the enchantments on thest few arrows Marcus suddenly felt a loud message in his mind.

    "HUNGRY, I AM INCREIBLY HUNGRY! FEED ME NOW!"

    Getting this loud message that came out clearly unlike the normal more empathic messages he had received, Marcus pulled the beyond mythic magical beast egg he had received a long time ago out of hispanion storage and saw that it was shing rapidly.

    At the same time, he noticed that without giving any of his mana the egg began sucking it out of him forcefully and even the unfinished arrows on his work bench suddenly had the magic cores inside them drained.

    Not sure what to do Marcus ran out of his workshop before the rest of his projects were ruined heading to an isted area within his estate to deal with the current problem.

 Chapter 164 - 163 A Very Hungry Egg

    Running across his estate while holding his magical beast egg within his arms, Marcus was making a bee line for a secluded area that was surrounded by a number of evergreen trees.

    However, as he was running his mana was being forcefully drained from him by the egg, and Marcus watched as even the foliage around him seemed to be losing their mana and shriveling up.

    ''What the hell is going on, the progress bar for hatching was only at eighty-three percentst time I checked. I should have had around a month and a half before it began hatching but it suddenly started demanding mana at an unprecedented rate.''

    Continuing to run, Marcus felt his mana reserves which were already below half because he had been in the middle forging nearing depletion.

    Hastily taking a mana recover potion out of his item box, Marcus downed the bitter liquid in one gulp while continuing to run.

    Soon Marcus had made it to the spot he was looking for, a sequestered de full of evergreen tree with a small pond in the middle.

    cing the egg down, Marcus noticed that the water in the nearby pond began to lose its luster and the nts and animals living in it began dying.

    Soon even the grass and trees started to wither as the egg devoured any mana within around thirty feet of it.

    Seeing this, Marcus took out every magic core he had, even the rare shadow demon and vampire ones.

    As the pile of magic cores surrounded the egg, the surrounding area was no longer a target for its hunger, but Marcus watched as the egg was draining the magic cores at an rming rate.

    ''Fuck why did it suddenly have to go on a binge fest. If I had known it was going to do this, I would have gotten a bigger stockpile of magic cores.''

    Seeing the cores loose their luster one by one before crumbling into dust, Marcus pulled out a dozen mana recover potions and drank two quickly before pulling out a purple potion that would temporally raise his int stat.

    Once this was done and he felt himself teaming with mana, Marcus began funneling everything he had into the egg that had turned into a glutton.

    This went on for around five minutes before Marcus felt that he was nearing his limit.

    He then backed off and began drinking more mana recovery potions allowing the magic cores he had left to appease the egg while he recovered his mana.

    ''What percentage is it at nowˇ­ Shit only at eighty-eight percent, even after all of that it has only gone up five percent. Damn I do not know if I will be able to keep this up if it is nning on going all the way to one hundred percent.''

    Gritting his teeth, Marcus prepared for the long haul hoping that the supplies he had would be enough to get through his current dilemma.

    Watching his magic core supply dwindle, Marcus jumped back in as the main mana supplier using what he had recover to continue pumping mana into his magical beast egg.

    However, after another five minutes Marcus was reaching his limit again and had to back off and drink more mana recovery potions.

    This cycle continued for another thirty minutes as Marcus would jump in and give all of his mana before jumping out to recover.

    Unfortunately, the magic cores he had ced around the egg soon vanished, as the core of the vampire was thest to vanish, devoured by the egg.

    At this point the progress bar for hatching had reached ny-five percent, and Marcus still needed time to recover but he did not have much left to offer as the egg began siphoning the mana in the surrounding area killing everything in its path.

    Marcus in a desperate situation not knowing how far the egg would extend to find a suitable mana supply was about to sacrifice the weapons he had recently made, when Blitz bounded through the trees and hade to Marcus'' aid.

    Blitz had sensed that its master was in distress and hade to offer its aid in any way it could.

    Seeing Blitz arrive, a tinge of hope appeared in Marcus'' eyes as he sent a mentalmand to Blitz to move towards the egg and supply it most of his mana before running away.

    Blitz being the loyal beast he is did just that and felt the unsettling feeling of having its mana drained.

    Marcus watched as Blitz gave up its mana to appease the hungry egg doing his best to lessen the burden of the master he had grown to respect.

    However, in Blitz''s act of heroism he was pushing himself and soon was going past his limits.

    Seeing this, Marcus yelled to Blitz, "Get out of there, you dying is not going to help me, you have already done enough leave the rest to me."

    Blitz seeing Marcus approaching and having received a strongmand, backed off just outside the current range of the eggs draining effect before copsing and leaving the rest to Marcus.

    ''Okay Marcus onest spurt, give it everything you have got.''

    "Embodiment of Light."

    Activating his unique skill, Marcus began glowing with a bright light and all of his stats began raising along with it.

    With his unique skill active Marcus felt the egg no longer just eating his pure mana but also the light that wasing off of him.

    During this time every second felt like hours to Marcus, as he was suffering from an acute case of mana sickening from draining and restoring his mana pool over and over.

    However, Marcus knew he could not waver here as the egg was close to obtaining the energy it needed to hatch.

    Pushing on, Marcus felt his strength beginning to fade, even after going over his limits he was still two percent away from giving the egg the power it needs.

    Sighing Marcus took out a certain item and said, "Sacrifices must be made."

    Tossing the pitch-ck sword he had retrieved from the vampire he had killed, Marcus watched as the egg began to ravenously devour its power.

    In fact now that the egg had a strong source of light and darkness energy it began humming and its trembling began to slowly stop until the eggid motionless.

    Suddenly Marcus felt the force that was draining his energy stop abruptly and saw that the egg was now steadily letting out a soft bright and dark glow.

    With there no longer being any need for him to push himself, Marcus deactivated his unique skill and copsed onto his knees feeling the fatigue from this experience.

    Staring at the glowing egg in front of him Marcus'' gaze fell of the ck sword and saw that it was half dissolved and was certainly ruined.

    Nevertheless, as Marcus looked at hispanion status panel and saw the one hundred percent mark, he could not help but feel a sense of exception for what was going to hatch.

    Except nothing seemed to be happening for a minute, then two, then three, until a full ten minutes had passed.

    Wondering what was going on Marcus walked up to the egg and picked it up and when he did, he received a notification.

    ''Would You Like To Hatch Egg ofˇ­ data downloading.''

    ''Data downloading, what the hell. Wait this is the child of the administrator''s friends, so of course they know what it is and just did not put it in the system to keep me in the dark. Whatever, I am going to find out as soon as I hatch it, so yeah go ahead and hatch the egg.''

    The system then gave Marcus a conformation and the glowing egg suddenly released a torrent of light and darkness enveloping Marcus in and immense amount of energy as he felt the egg in his hands begin to shake and crack.

    "Crik, Crik, Crack!"

    The egg after shacking a few more times fully cracked open, and the burst of light and darkness slowly receded as Marcus felt something warm and fluffy inside his grasp.

    Looking down thest dregs of light and darkness faded away from the beast in Marcus'' arms and now he could see the form of hispanion.

    ''It is a puppy. Wait why did a puppy hatch out of an egg?''

    As Marcus was wondering about how a warm-blooded animal could hatch from an egg, even though since he had been transferred to another world as a ghost this should have been mundane, Marcus could just not get over it.

    ''How could this even be possible, here I was expecting a dragon, or some type of legendary bird, or maybe even a turtle. But a puppy? I suppose I could have epted it if it was a typus, since they alsoy eggs, but I am pretty sure dogs give live births. Ah whatever, I did not design this world and if the administrator wants ever beast to hatch from eggs who am I to stop them.''

    After having his internal debate about egg realism in a fantasy world, Marcus finally took a good look at the little fluff ball in his arms seeing that it was pure white on its right side and pitch ck on its left.

    Observing the magical beast that hatched out of the egg he had obtained quite some time ago; it was not long before it took a big yawn and its eyes fluttered open and looked up at Marcus.

    As the puppy stared at Marcus, he suddenly heard a voice inside his head that said, ''I am hungry.''

 Chapter 165 - 164 Divine Wolf

    Staring at the pup that was currently in his arms and had just said it was hungry even after eating so much mana, Marcus could not help but have an exasperated look on his face.

    However, before Marcus could say of do anything else the small canine in his arms swiftly rolled out of his grasp and looked at Blitz who was sitting not too far away still recovering.

    ''I suppose that one will do for my first meal. Marcus as my caretaker kill that beast and serve it up to me.''

    Hearing this telepathic message in his mind, Marcus stared dumbfounded at the little puppy that had just ordered him to kill Blitz for lunch.

    At the same time Blitz felt the hungry stare of the small pup and felt an indescribable sense of fear.

    Blitz had never felt such a presence before and every fiber in his being wasmanding him to run but he felt that if he took one wrong step his life would be over.

    However, Marcus was not just going to let his first beastpanion that had just hatched eat his second one and beganying down thew.

    ''Hey, I know you just hatched, but Blitz is also contracted to me, though in a different way than you. So, you cannot eat him since in a way he is your junior as a beastpanion. I will get you something else to eat if you just wait a few moments.''

    With a reluctant look the small pup retracted her aura of hunger that had been aimed at Blitz, and looked at Marcus and said, ''Very well then. If you have something else to offer, take me to it now.''

    Sighing Marcus looked at the bossy magical beast he had just hatched and was already missing the time when it was an egg.

    ''This is going to be a pain. Unlike Blitz who treats me like a leader, I can already tell that this pup is going to try and push me around. However, we have a mutual seal attached to each other so neither of us is above the other and I will not be steamrolled.''

    ''Okay if you are hungry, I have a fully stocked kitchen, you can take your pick once we get there.''

    With a big yawn the puppy sent a mental message to Marcus saying that she was going to sleep until the food was ready and then jumped back into Marcus'' beast storage.

    After that Marcus looked over at Blitz who still had a look of pure terror on his face.

    "It''s okay, I have already told her you are not on the menu so do not worry about being eaten, I will keep you safe."

    Blitz hearing this felt a bit better but the horror he had experienced would probably haunt him for the rest of his life.

    Once Blitz had calmed down enough, Marcus jumped on his back and had him run back towards the mansion where he would prepare his newpanion''s first meal.

    However, on the ride over Marcus decided to look at the mythical puppy''s status and could only stare astounded.

    Companion 1/1

    Name: ???????

    Age: 0

    Race: Divine Wolf of the Sun and Moon

    Level: 1

    HP: 3680/3680

    MP: 3450/3450

    STR: 397

    AGL: 456

    VIT: 368

    INT: 345

    SPR: 401

    Supreme Skills: Greatest Potential, Paragon of the Divine Wolf

    Unique Skills: Howl of Day, Howl of Night, False Status

    Skills: Small Item Box, Telepathy Lvl 5, Mana Cirction Lvl 5, Feral Combat, Superior Lvl 3, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Speed Burst Lvl 3, Mana Regeneration Lvl 3, Powerful Bite Lvl 3, Mana Body Lvl 3, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 1, Mana Barrier Lvl 1

    Divine Blessing of the Moon, Divine Blessing of the Sun

    Race Abilities: Darkness Form, Shine Form, Bite, w Strike, Scent, Intimidating Presence, Immortal

    ''What the hell is this status. She is only level one, yet her stats are already in the three and four hundreds. Not only that, she has two supreme skills, three unique skills, and a sloth of regr skills, plus her race albites, andst but not least two divine blessings.''

    Marcus seeing this could not help but feel cheated since he had worked hard for the powers he had obtained, but hispanion had been born with a status that was stronger than even most people at level forty.

    ''Now I see why everyone was so up in arms about finding me and this egg. Right now, she is manageable, but if left unchecked she could gain the strength to destroy an entire country with no possible resistance.''

    Shacking his head at the unequal circumstances of the world, Marcus continued forward sooning up to his mansion.

    Hopping off of Blitz at the front entrance, Marcus watched as the bolt stag quickly ran off heading towards one of the far corners of the estate his prey instincts telling him to nevere in contact with the small wolf pup again.

    ''Great now Blitz has PTSD. I am going to have to smooth this outter but for now I guess I need to feed the little glutton before she starts sucking the mana and life out of everything around her again.''

    Walking inside Marcus made his way straight to the kitchen where he found both Elianna and Grace cooking lunch.

    "Grace, Elianna, could youe here for a moment."

    The two maids hearing Marcus'' call for them stopped what they were doing and promptly came over and gave slight bows before waiting for their master''s instructions.

    "Okay we are going to have a new addition to the house from today onward, so to wee them I would like the two of you to prepare a number of meat dishes so that they will have their pick."

    The two maids nodded upon hearing Marcus'' request and went to work on preparing a number of different dishes using the best cuts of meat as per Marcus'' instructions.

    With that taken care of Marcus headed to the nearby sitting room and slouched down into a chair, allowing the fatigue caused by draining and replenishing his mana numerous times to catch up with him.

    ''Ugh that was draining. I drank way too many mana recovery potions and came close to permanently damaging my mana pool so I will need to wait at least a week before drinking anymore. But now I should have a reliable partner to fight with me once she has grown up a bit, though her albites are already close to mine.''

    Closing his eyes Marcus simply sat back and decided to rx until lunch was ready, taking a few minutes to shut off his mind and think about nothing.

    Soon the preparations for lunch had beenpleted and Marcus moved to therge dinning room where a small feast had been prepared.

    Seeing that there was now plenty of food, Marcus brought his new divine wolf out of hispanion storage and the little glutton smelling food woke up immediately.

    The maids seeing this were of course startled, they did not expect for Marcus'' new member to be a magic beast, and a small and cute one at that.

    ''So, Marcus is this the food that his been prepared for me.''

    Marcus receiving the telepathic message nodded his head in acknowledgement and the little wolf began scanning the wide variety of food.

    ''Hm, I would have preferred to eat the deer instead, its meat would have been more delicious, but I suppose I will make do with this for now.''

    The small wolf pup then hopped up on the table and began eating the numerous different types of meat on the table, trying a bit of each before deciding that themb was her favorite.

    Seeing this the maids all gave Marcus a strange look since it was unusual to say the least to allow a magical beast to eat at the same table as you.

    However, Marcus had already suspected that treating his recently hatchedpanion as a normal beast would only cause him a headache.

    It was not long before the little wolf had wolfed down most of the meat that it had been presented with eating more than its own weight in food.

    In fact, the only meat that was left was the pork which she seemed to not be fond of.

    Licking her lips with a satisfied look, the little wolf sauntered across the table before plopping down into Marcus''p and starting a telepathic conversation with him.

    ''Very well, now that this goddess has eaten her fill we can get down to business. First I suppose we need a name and as our caretaker you will provide one for us.''

    Looking down at the wolf that had made itself at home in hisp, Marcus decided that right now was the time to make things clear.

    ''Okay but first we are going to have toy down some ground rules. While I may be taking care of you, I am not your caretaker. We are both equal in this partnership that we havee to have, so I will not be taking orders from you. Now then do you think you can curve your attitude a bit and stop treating me like a servant.''

    The young divine wolf who wasyingfortably in Marcus''p raised its head and looked him straight in the eyes and said, ''Oh you think you are my equal. You may be one of Au- I mean the admirations favorites, but do you think you are our match.''

    The little pup tried staring Marcus down, letting out its intimidating presence causing the maids in the room to immediately start shivering and drop to the floor under the pressure.

    However, Marcus just continued staring, seemingly not affected and in retaliation applied his phantom pressure.

    The little pup feeling this pressure could no longer keep up her bravado and had to relent under Marcus'' power, shutting off her intimidating presence.

    ''Very well, you are more capable than we realized. Allow us to start over then.. I will be in your care,panion Marcus.''

 Chapter 166 - 165 A Name And Skill Sharing

    Having earned the respect of his recently hatched divine wolfpanion, Marcus was deep in thought thinking about her request for a name.

    ''Okay what am I going to name her. My naming sense is actually pretty bad but, ah maybe I can just use a ssic.''

    Having though of a name Marcus turned to the wolf pup that was currentlyying in hisp and telepathically said, ''So how do you like the name Fenrir, it hails from my home world and was the name of a mythological wolf said to eat the sun and defeat the gods.''

    Marcus who was feeling good about his choice, looked at hispanion with bright eyes only to see her look up with an expression of ridicule as she rolled her eyes, obviously not pleased with the name.

    ''Yes, I have heard of this Fenrir before, and I have no desire to follow the stereotype of being named after them,e up with something better.''

    The little wolf then ced its head back down and waited for Marcus toe up with a name suitable for her taste.

    ''Great here goes my best option, I suppose I will have to trying up with something else. Maybe she will like Artemis, she has moon in her race so it could work.''

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' next attempt also ended in failure causing him to start racking his head stating a number of random names which all got rejected.

    ''Damn why is she so picky, when I had to pick ast name for myself, I literally just used the German word for ghost.''

    Racking his brain for a while, after giving it much thought, Marcus finally came up with what he hoped would be a suitable name for the young diving wolf of the sun and moon.

    ''How about Roxene which means dawn, the time when night is transitioning to day and when both the sun and moon can be seen in the sky.''

    For the first time the little wolf pup did not immediately reject the name Marcus had suggested and gave it some serious thought.

    ''Hm yes we have decided we like this name. From this point we shall be called Roxene.''

    As Roxene excepted her new name, a white light wrapped around her and Marcus'' body, and Marcus suddenly received a notification from the system.

    ''Conditions met for skill sharing via the mutual seal with Divine Wolf of the Sun and Moon Roxene.''

    "SERIOUSLY!"

    Yelling out loud in surprise, Marcus startled the two maids that were still reeling from Roxene''s intimidating presence causing the two of them to bepletely dumbstruck by what was happening.

    Barely able to control his excitement Marcus opened up his status and navigated to a new window that was connected to his status and hispanions.

    Opening up this window Marcus found that the mutual seal allowed him to share three of his skills with Roxene and vis versa.

    Looking over the skills that could be transferred Marcus nearly jumped out of his chair when he saw that he could even share supreme and unique skills albeit with some restrictions.

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' embodiment skills could not be transferred over since they came directly from his blessings, and the same with Roxene'' howl unique skills and the supreme skill Paragon of the Divine Wolf.

    Marcus also found that personal status could not be shared, but the rest of the skills were all on the table.

    Looking at Roxene who was looking at Marcus weirdly after his outburst said, ''What is going on I am new to this system, but something just happened when you named me, would you borate.''

    Seeing the inquisitive look on the wolf pup, Marcus exined what was going on and once Roxene was caught up on what was happening, the two of them began formting the best skills that they could share with each other.

    ''Okay so from me I will share with you light magic, dark magic, and soul burst.''

    ''And we will bequeath you greatest potential, false status, and high-speed regeneration.''

    With their n set Marcus activated the skill sharing function which he would not be able to change once selected and suddenly a slight light connected between him and Roxene before slowly shimmering away.

    After that Marcus received another notification from the system confirming that he skill sharing had been sessful.

    ''Parties Marcus and Roxene skill sharing initiated. Error party Marcus has derivative skill lesser regeneration, merge lesser regeneration with shared skill high speed regeneration.''

    Receiving this message, Marcus immediately had a screen asking him if he wanted to merge the skills appear in front of him.

    ''Shit what am I supposed to do in this case. I just finally managed to level up lesser regeneration, but I guess I merge them. High speed regeneration is way better than the lesser regeneration that I have now. This is my only chance to get this skill since as a ghost I cannot even normally obtain a physical regeneration skill and the one I have now is just a fluke from an unnatural urrence.''

    With his mind made up, Marcus epted the merging of the two skills and lesser regeneration disappeared from his status permanently, and the experience he had gathered for the skill transferred to his new high-speed regeneration.

    Unfortunately, this did not level the skill up but the difference between the effectiveness of each skill was still astronomical.

    Now that they had finished the skill sharing process, Marcus felt ted since the powers he had just obtained were truly something.

    ''I have to say the greatest potential may be the best skill I have ever seen. Now instead of the base amount of stat points I get when I level up, I instead receive the maximum for my level and race as if I had consumed a bunch of natural treasure or other stat boosting items. This means that any stat boosting items I get can now go straight to Lilia and I will always be at my peak. Then there is false status which allows me to add falsify information on my status, so I can make myself seem to be level five or only have skills like gardening. Unfortunately, it cannot make me seem stronger than I am but just having people underestimate me and keeping my true strength hidden is enough.''

    Thinking of all the applications that he could use his new skills for, Marcus had a big smile on his face as he looked over his status and began rearranging it.

    Regrettably, since his ID already had him at level thirty-five, he could not go crazy, but Marcus did decrease his stats down to a lower value and hid his recently acquired high speed and soul regeneration skills.

    ''That should do for now and Roxene has changed her status to that of an epic grade magical beast called a light and dark hound. I wonder why everyone is not making mutual seals with beast, being able to share skills is incredibly powerful.''

    Had anyone heard this thought by Marcus most of them would have wanted to kill him since it was incredibly hard to get a mutual seal on a magical beast. One had to have the consent of the beast in question which normally only happened if the beast was reared from infancy, or some extraordinary event happened where you were able to gain the beast''s absolute trust. Not to mention that most beasts were not anywhere near as strong as Roxene, and they had either no or weak skills to share. In addition, only transfers and reincarnations could ess their status and chose what skills got shared, for other it would be random.

    With his application of the skill sharingplete, Marcus looked up from his status only to see both Grace and Elianna looking at him with concern.

    From their point of view Marcus had been staring off into space while asionally mumbling things after a soft light had enveloped him and the new magical beast in hisp.

    For all intents and purposes, it looked like Marcus was having a psychotic break and the maids in his service were wondering what they should do.

    ''Fuck they are looking at me like I am crazy, I need to defuse this situation quickly.''

    "Grace, Elianna, I am sorry about what just happened so let me exin. I obtained the egg of an epic grade magical beast some time ago and as you can see, they have recently hatched. What happened just now was me and her solidifying the mutual seal between us. I received a long message from the system which I put all of my focus into which is why I seemed to be spacing out. I assure you I am still in perfect health, and I am sorry that my new beastpanion unleashed one of her albites earlier that effected the two you."

    Both Grace and Elianna hearing Marcus'' exnation immediately felt better since it seemed that their master was not undergoing a break in their psych but were just preupied.

    "We understand Lady Irene, an epic grade magic beast must have been difficult to control but we are happy that you are still well. So, if you do not need our services anymore, we will beginning cleaning up."

    After that the two of them began to pick up the dishes while Marcus carried Roxene who had fallen asleep to his room.

 Chapter 167 - 166 The Costly Wolf

    Laying down Roxene who had fallen fast asleep, down onto his bed, Marcus then pulled out the unfinished arrows he had been working on, to kill time while he waited for Roxene to wake back up.

    There were still a number of things he wanted to ask her, and he did not know what kind of trouble she might get into should she be left to her own devices.

    After finishing up the set of arrows he had beenmissioned to make, Marcus saw that Roxene was still asleep, so he pulled out a few trinkets and began putting simple enchantments on them.

    Another ten hours went by as Marcus found things to keep busy with when Roxene finally awakened.

    Seeing the little pup twitch a bit and let out a big yawn Marcus moved over towards her and asked the question that had been burning in the back of his mind.

    "So Roxene, I have to ask, why were you sent to this world?"

    Marcus had been wanting to know this since he had learned about Roxene and her parents'' connection to the being that ran this world and was hoping to get some answers.

    Sleepily looking up at Marcus, Roxene let out onest big yawn before telepathically saying, ''The reason is quite simple, to keep me safe.''

    Roxene then began scratching her ear with her back paw and Marcus could not help but feel dissatisfied with the answer he had received.

    ''Okay I get that you are here for protection, but why did you need to be sent here for safekeeping, as far as I know your parents must be powerful right, could they not protect you?''

    Roxene hearing Marcus'' question as he tried to dig deeper, suddenly had a sad look on her face as she remembered something.

    ''Yes, my parents are strong just like Au- I mean the administrator, but they also have enemies that would stop at nothing to get the upper hand on them. Thus, I was sent here to grow stronger before returning to the higher realms. I am sure you understand that I have things I cannot say to you since the administrator forbid it and even what I have just told you is pushing the bounds.''

    Nodding his head in understand, Marcus had already figured he was not going to be able to squeeze all of the secrets of this world out of his newpanion, but he did at least learn one thing, there were worlds above the one he was currently in.

    ''How strong will I need to get to advance to this so-called upper realm I wonder. It must be possible since Roxene talks about returning after getting stronger, but I wonder when. I have at this point confirmed that at least level seventy is possible, but I feel like it probably goes higher.''

    ''Okay then can you tell me how you got into that egg; from the way you have told it sounds like you were already born beforeing here.''

    Nodding her head Roxene said, ''Yes I was already born beforeing here, the egg was just receptacle to transfer me here.''

    ''Okay so the egg was just a means to bring her here, though I wonder why magic beaste out of eggs, is it just a preference of the administrator or is there something else to it.''

    However, while Marcus was deep in thought about the purposes of the world he had been brought to, he was quickly interrupted by Roxene who said, ''I am hungry again.''

    Sighing Marcus told Roxene that it was the middle of the night and that everyone else would have gone to bed other than the maid who was watching the gate.

    s, Roxene would not take no for an answer and kept bombarding Marcus to give her more food.

    Eventually, Marcus relented to the little glutton''s demands, and the two of them headed downstairs where Marcus pulled out all of the remainingmb he had left in the magical fridge.

    After cooking it up Marcus watched as Roxene devoured all of themb in only a few minutes and when she was finished began licking her lips with a satisfied expression on her face.

    ''I think I am going to need to buy a bigger fridge and start making more items to sell. At this rate she is going to eat me out of house and home.''

    Marcus thinking about the increase in his future expenditures now that he had to care for Roxene, began walking towards his workshop while Roxene followed behind him.

    Entering into his workshop, Marcus first went over to his furnace and lit it up before heading to arge storage room and took out a massive amount of bronze.

    With over a two hundred pounds worth of bronze ingots now stored in his item box Marcus got to work mass producing weapons and armor.

    Hours went by as Marcus forged fourteen longswords, twenty spears, eleven maces, thirteen war hammers, seven breast tes, and three sets of full te armor.

    ''There that should do, now I just need to purchase some more magic cores and I can add some basic enchantments to each of them before selling them for a good chunk of coin to people who are in the mid-teens to low twenties level wise.''

    With his work done Marcus looked around for Roxene and found that she had left his workshop at some point.

    ''Crap where did she get to, hopefully she has not gotten into any trouble.''

    Running out of his personal forge, Marcus with a bit of relief found Roxene but also an exhausted and terrified Blitz that had been force into ying with Roxene. And by ying Marcus meant running for his life as Roxene tried to catch him.

    "Roxene what the hell are you doing I told you not to try and eat Blitz."

    Roxene hearing Marcus stopped chasing Blitz and turned towards him and said, ''I know, I was just working on my movements. I have been stuck in that egg for quiet some time and wanted to get some exercise while practicing my hunting, I was not actually going to eat him. Well, maybe just a nibble.''

    Hearing this and seeing the absolute terror on Blitz''s face, Marcus could not help but admonish himself for not looking after the mischievous little wolf.

    Walking over to Blitz, Marcus beganforting the poor horrified bolt stag that appeared to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

    ''Huh I am going to need to keep a better track of her or Blitz is going to have heart attack from all of this stress.''

    Looking at the innocent looking wolf, Marcus went and told her that he had some errands to attend to and needed her to get back within the system''spanion storage.

    Begrudgingly Roxene eventually did what Marcus asked after he promised to procure her some high-quality meat.

    With Roxene now safely tucked away in hispanion storage, Marcus continued to calm Blitz down until he was in shape to be ridden.

    Marcus then began heading down the city streets heading to a shop where he could procure some magic cores to restock the supply he had expended during Roxene''s hatching.

    Coming up to a shop he often used to procure rare supplies for forging, Marcus went in and bough a number of magic cores expending the majority of the money he had on him.

    ''Ugh I had not budgeted for the loss of thousands of gold worth of magic cores, and now I am getting low on funds. Not to mention I went all out on risa''s weapons spending way more than I was paid. I guess it will just be tight until the new set of items I have made sell.''

    Lamenting his plummeting funds, Marcus was trying his best toy out aprehensive n to bring his coffers back up while heading home.

    Arriving back at his estate Marcus immediately went back to his forge, where he began the painstaking process of applying simple enchantments to the armor and weapons he had just made, without the help of celestial tinum.

    ''Whew, that was tough it has been a while since I have not used celestial tinum, but I cannot being myself to use it on bronze. Though It really did not mater since I only ruined a few of the items while enchanting and making their quality any better would make them too expensive the target demographic. Now I just need to throw these in the shop at the zegram Forge and wait for my cut.''

    Luckily as Thabon''s personal apprentice Marcus had a pretty high status and good reputation so he figured he would not have to wait too long for the bulk of items he had just made to sell.

    Of course, each item was much cheaper than anything he could have made out of mithril, but they were still enchanted items and would fetch a good price.

    Heading to the zegram Forge when Marcus entered, he was greeted by a number of the regr workers and appetencies who all were quite friendly towards him.

    Walking into the back Marcus entered Thabon''s private room where he was hard at work hammering away at an adamantine shield that made Marcus slightly jealous.

    "Just wait a moment Irene I will be finished with the next part in just a minute."

    Without even looking Thabon addressed Marcus who had already taken a seat knowing to wait for his master to reach a stopping point.

    After around six minutes Thabon finally put the hammer down and turned towards Marcus with a big smile on his face.

    "So, what did you need, want to ask me about metalbinations, did you get some good monster materials you wanted to know how best to use, or maybe you came up with a new formation and wanted to test it out with me."

    However, Marcus just shook his head as he took out the two swords that he had made for risa which were currently by far his best work.

 Chapter 168 - 167

    Handing over the two swords he had had made for risa, Marcus had a proud expression on his face as he asked Thabon to look them over.

    Thabon for his part looked quite surprised to see the quality of Marcus'' work and immediately noticed the system''s mark on the two des.

    ''Impable, I cannot believe that she made these after just the one week of advanced training. A monster is all I can say, to get the system''s approval on your first weapon after learning the secrets of forging is unheard of. She must have but her heart and soul into the crafting of these des to make them as good as they are.''

    Thabon who looked thoroughly impressed inspected every detail of the two swords for a good fifteen minutes before handing them back to Marcus and saying, "Truly impressive Irene, your level of talent and skill are rare to say the least. Even I would have to give it my all to make something better without using higher quality materials. With this you are now either the fourth of fifth best forgemaster in this forge and within the top twenty or thirty in the city."

    Hearing Thabon''s genuine praise, Marcus could not help but have a big smile on his face although when he heard the ranking Thabon had given him Marcus was quite surprised.

    To be within the top thirty or twenty forgemasters within a city thisrge seemed practically impossible to Marcus. Marcus figured that there were somewhere between fifteen and twenty million people within the capital city that was asrge as some of the biggest cities on Earth. There must have been thousands of forges throughout the city so Marcus never imagined that he could be that close to the top.

    Thabon seeing the confused expression on Marcus'' face beganughing before saying, "I can tell you think my evaluation of your skill seems a bit off right. But let me ask you this, how many people do you think within this entire city know the secrets of the forge? There are maybe even only fifty, that is how closely guarded the secrets are especially the use of celestial tinum. In fact, even in my zegram forge, only you, Gurrom, my other apprentice, one other who learned from their own master, and of course myself know."

    With a look of realization Marcus understood now how far he hade. Most people did not want to go out risking their lives fighting so the majority of people were not very high level, but at a certain point no matter how long you trained a skill, without a high enough level you would reach a bottleneck.

    "So now you understand how spectacr you are, you have a great deal of talent and the amount of effort and spirt you throw into your work is second to none, so be proud of your aplishments. Now then is this all you wanted to show me or is there something else?"

    Remembering the other reason he was here, Marcus began taking out the bronze weapons and armor he had forged.

    "I was hoping that you could make some extra space in the shop for these items I have made. I am a little tight on money right now so it would be a big help for me."

    Nodding his head, Thabon walked over and appraised Marcus'' goods, fining them to be above average for the materials and enchantments used, but they were still nothing special like the swords Marcus had just shown him.

    "Yeah, I can make some room for you in a good spot since you have be one of my disciples. Though we can only show around a fourth of them at a time so until the first batch sell the others will have to wait in the warehouse. Ah, but what about those swords, did you want me to help you fins a buyer for them. With their quality I can guaranty at least eight thousand gold for the pair but probably more if I can find a rich noble family with an heir that has a talent with lightning magic."

    Gulping loudly hearing how valuable the swords he had recently made were really worth, Marcus could not help but imagine the pile of golf he could get for them.

    In the creation of the two swords Marcus had used around fifteen hundred gold worth of materials although it would have been more had he paid full price for the talon of the thunderbird, the profit margin was still quite good.

    However, Marcus could only shake his head and say, "Sorry I made these personally for a friend, so I will not be selling them, but I will try to get some higher quality goods made within the next month."

    Sighing with a slight look of disappointment Thabon responded saying, "It definitely would have raised your prestige if you sold these, but I get it, I have made items for my friends in the past and I never would have sold them for any amount of money."

    A smile creeped over Marcus'' face as he looked at his understanding master who while draconian in his training, has really supported him.

    "Well thank you for your praise, but I guess now I will go drop these off at the front along with the twomissions I havepleted and then head on my way."

    However, as Marcus was walking away a look of remembrance appeared on Thabon''s face as he stopped Marcus from leaving quite yet.

    "Wait Irene, there is something else I need to tell you. But first could you go and get Gurrom since it pertains to both of you."

    Nodding his head, Marcus went and found Gurrom in his private room currently resting after working hard on the piece of armor he was currently forging.

    "Hey Gurrom, master wants to see both of us to discuss something so if you woulde back with me to his room?"

    Gurrom turning his head over looked at Marcus with a smile before saying, "Irene it is good to see you again, I heard what happened during you trip to that mine. So now you know what kind of hell hole that ce is."

    Shivering slightly, Marcus affirmed Gurrom''s notion about the ce''s horror and the two started up a quick conversation before heading over to Thabon.

    "How does it feel to know how to really forge, it is invigorating right."

    "Yeah, there is so much more to do and explore now. I had never even thought of grinding down parts of monsters to enhance the properties of metals."

    "Yep, the path of the forge is boundless, there is always something new to discover."

    After talking for a couple of minutes catching each other up on what they had been working on, the two of them went to Thabon''s room to hear what he had to say.

    Sitting down in front of him, Thabon looked at both Marcus and Gurrom with a serious gaze before saying, "I assume you both know about the kingdom meeting that happens every year during the summer when the nobles of the kingdome together to discuss the goings on of the kingdom and decide how to allocate resources and personnel."

    Both Marcus and Gurrom gave acknowledging nods as Thabon waited for their reply.

    "Good at the same time there are often other events that go on, such as high-profile auctions, which the two of you may want to check out for rare materials. However, the main reason I want to talk to you is about the fighting tournament for those under the age of fifty that is held every three years right before the meeting."

    Thabon then gave a pause waiting to see if either Marcus or Gurrom had any questions orments but after a few moments of silence continued with his exnation.

    "This year is going to be special as it is the fiftieth time that this tournament will be held in the kingdom, and the royal family has already stated the rewards for those ranking high this year will be far greater than they have in the past. In fact, my friend Aria who you know as well Irene, personally told me to invite the two of you and tell you about the rewards you could get. I believe she wants to bring either or both of you into the spotlight since neither of you are greatly well known in the kingdom''s main circles. It is a shrewd tactic to try and raise the standing of the kingdom by showing off your talents, but the rewards are quite good so I figured I would discuss it with you. Now if either of you want to back out before hearing the possible rewards to avoid any temptation I would understand."

    Thinking it over Marcus had been doing his best to stay lowkey and while he was known in some circles the reputation of his estate was still managing to keep most people from approaching him, but if he showed off just how strong he had be Marcus was not certain how much attention he would get.

    However, from the way Thabon was talking, Marcus figured the rewards must be quite lucrative.

    Responding once he had weighed the pros and cons Marcus said, "I would like to hear the rewards, I do not care for any of the politics of the kingdom but getting supplies is necessary for me to continue advancing my skills."

    Hearing Marcus respond Gurrom quickly decided to stay as well, and Thabon nodded ready to tell them what they could get by participating in the tournament.

    "Very, well. Allow me to tell you what you could get. Fist though know that only if you rank in the top sixteen will you get anything, but the two of you are strong so it might be possible with some luck. Now then should you rank, the lowest reward will be five thousand gold coins, though I doubt that maters much to either of you. The real rewardse if you can ce in the quarter finals or higher. If either of you can get in the top eight you will be able to receive arge number of high quality mithril ingots as well as magic cores and materials from a number of rare magic beasts and high tier monsters. After that I was told if either of you make it to the semi-finals the kingdom would reward you with five ingots of adamantine as well as materials from level fifty or higher beasts and monsters.. Now if you win, I was told that they would reward you with an ingot of amethros along with the lower rewards."

 Chapter 169 - 168 The Looming Tournament

    After hearing Thabon''s exnation of the rewards that he could obtain by doing well in the uing tournament, Marcus could not help but be incredibly tempted to enter.

    ''Damn they are really trying to lure me and Gurrom out. Those rewards are any forgemaster''s dream, and in the future, I am going to need to get my hands on them one way or the other. I can get mithril easily enough, but adamantine is incredibly hard to get, and amethros is so rare that I have only ever seen the small sliver Thabon has. Not to mention the monster and beast materials that are being offered, are also icing on top. The only problem is that it will be annoying to have people try to recruit me once I show off my skills, especially if I do not make it to at least the top eight.''

    Sighing Marcus began weighing the pros and cons, trying to convince himself to participate even if it might cause him a headacheter.

    However, while he was thinking Gurrom asked an important question that had slipped Marcus'' mind.

    "Master what makes you so certain that either of us will be able to rank that high. Certainly, I am confident in my albites but against people more than ten levels higher you pretty much do not have any chance of winning no matter what."

    Thabon began nodding his head agreeing with Gurrom''s statement, but he just smiled and said, "That is true, but this tournament is mainly used as a means of recruitment or at least an ount of the prodigies in the kingdom. I have watched a number of the tournaments in the past, and the highest-level person I have ever seen participating was level forty-eight. Remember this tournament is only for those under the age of fifty so in that time people can only get so high of a level. If old people like me could enter, than participation would plummet since most people could never hope to win. Also, in the past the rewards were not as good as this year so people over a certain level simply had no interest in the tournament, but this year thepetition might be fiercer so do not getcent."

    ''Level, forty-eight. I should be able to win against average people at that level if I use my unique skills, but if they have blessings and have their stats boosted like me it could be hard. But I still have a few months to get ready, and the rewards are too good no topete.''

    Coming to a decision, Marcus told Thabon that he nned to enter the tournament and not long after Gurrom agreed as well.

    "Good to hear, I will ry the message to Aria since she is the one who wanted both of you topete. Luckily with her connections the two of you will not have to pay the entry fee and will be seeded past the first round of preliminaries. Now then I rmend that the two of you do your best to get ready. If you want to make new weapons or other items, you have bit of time but try not to dy to long. I have confidence in the two of you so go and make me proud."

    Nodding their heads, both Marcus and Gurrom thanked Thabon for the information about the tournament before exiting his room and going their separate ways.

    Walking to the front of the building, Marcus found the apprentice working the counter and told them about the armor and weapons he was unloading.

    A few minutester a number of wooden boxes had been prepared where Marcus could store his goods, which once full were taken away be employees of the storefront where the items people made were sold.

    ''Now I need to get ready for the tournament in a little over four months. I had already nned to go out and try to level up with Roxene, but now I have a real goal to work towards.''

    Having finished his business at the zegram Forge, Marcus made his way back to his estate although along the way he stopped by an expensive butcher shop and bought the high-quality meat he had promised to Roxene.

    Arriving back home, Marcus let Roxene out of hispanion storage and was immediately greeted by a yawning wolf pup that asked for food.

    ''Yeah, you were a good girl, so I got a special cut of meat from an umon grade magical beast called a puff cow. Apparently, it has very tender meat that melts in your mouth and tastes exquisite so hopefully it is to your liking.''

    Roxene hearing Marcus talking about the apparently delectable meat actually began drooling before remembering her normally dignified persona and caught herself saying, ''Very well, we would not mind partaking in this meat since you have procured it for us.''

    Seeing the look of anticipation on her face Marcus quickly made his way to the main building on his estate where he handed the meat over to his maids and asked them to prepare it.

    After that Marcus decided to do a bit of training with Roxene before eating since from this point on Marcus nned on having her fight alongside him.

    Working onbination moves Marcus found that Roxene''s fighting style was pretty simr to his as she would use magic or fight in closebat depending on the situation though she was more partial to getting up close and using her superior agility, while Marcus preferred to overwhelm with his powerful magic.

    ''Laser.''

    Firing off his powerfulser spell Marcus cut though the darkness drill that Roxene had sent at him but found that she had easily moved out of the trajectory and was already advancing towards him.

    Jumping towards him Roxene opened her mouth as she nned to chomp down on Marcus, but before she could reach him Marcus deployed a shield of light in front of him blocking the way.

    At the same time, he had conjured a shinningnce which he was swinging forward, except as Roxene was about to impact the shield of light in front of him, she conjured her own below her and used it as a tform to jump.

    With a short hop using her shield of light Roxene jumped over Marcus'' own shield and simultaneously avoided his attack before using her shine form race ability wreathing herself in light simr to Marcus'' unique skill, albeit without the massive stat increases.

    Opening her mouth again Roxene aimed for Marcus'' left shoulder hoping tond a powerful bite on him, however, Marcus had already moved forward to counterattack as he cast his arms of darkness spell increasing his strength as he sent his fist forward while also enhanced by his iron skin.

    As fangs and fist collided, Marcus with his higher stats and greater defense punched Roxene hard in the face knocking her small body far away as she heavily impacted on the ground.

    Standing up with a small trickle of blood going down her mouth that had already began healing, Roxene bent her head up towards the sky and was about to howl loudly.

    However, before she could, she received a mental message from Marcus saying, ''Roxene we already agreed to not use unique or supreme skills during these spares. If we escte any further will destroy the grounds and definitely attract unwanted attention.''

    Roxene hearing Marcus'' message came back to her senses as she had been about to use her unique skill howl of day since she felt her pride being pushed every time she lost to Marcus.

    ''Fine, but it is not fair, why can I not beat you?''

    Roxene then let out a few whimpers before slouching onto the ground sulking.

    ''I knew this would happen. I told her that it would be fine to just work on fighting in tandem, but she said she wanted to get in somebat practice, so I relented. The only problem is how much of a sore loser she is, but in all honesty the fact that she can keep up with me while at only level one is impressive in itself.''

    Walking over to her, Marcus tried to cheer Roxene up saying she had only been in this world a few days and that once they started leveling her up, she would get stronger, but the little wolf seemed adamant about feeling down.

    Luckily her mood immediately shifted when Grace arrived and informed Marcus that the meat he had brought back was ready, and Roxene shot up and began running towards the mansion.

    ''For as refined as she acts at the end of the day, she is pretty simple.''

    Slightly chuckling at the actions of his newpanion, Marcus apanied Grace back to the mansion and when he entered the dining room, he found the Roxene had already taken her seat as she wagged her tail barely controlling her urge to jump on the table and eat the items that were being ced there.

    Taking his seat, Marcus had a te prepared for himself and Roxene who now had a makeshift booster chair and the two of them began eating.

    Taking a bite of the puff cow meat, Marcus felt a surge of warm energy through his body as the delicious and tender meat basically melted in his mouth.

    ''Damn that is pretty good. I never experience the wagyu beef back on Earth, but I imagine that this must be simr.''

    Continuing to eat alongside Roxene it was not long before the two of them finished everything that had been prepared as Marcus actually forgot himself and ate way more than usual shocking the maids since he ate nearly six pounds of beef.

    Seeing their shocked faces Marcus realized his blunder and made a mental note not to let slip his bottomless pit of a stomach again.

    ''Well, it just tasted so good I kept eating until it was gone, next time I will hold back.. Ah but now that I have enjoyed such good food, I suppose it is time to get back to work.''

 Chapter 170 - 169 Clarisaâ€™s New Swords

    It had been a few days since Thabon had told him about the tournament and Marcus had been hard at work forging a number of items and taking everymission he could in order to increase his funds. In this time, he had also been training with Roxene even getting her to level up once after multiple days of intensive training. Andst but not least Marcus had set up a meeting with Lilia''s friends'' parents, that would be happening in a week.

    "Ting, Ting, Ting."

    ''Okay it is done.''

    Holding in his hands currently was the mithril dagger that Marcus had beenmissioned to make by his acquaintance Viscountess Tenreion for her son''s fourteenth birthday.

    The dagger was quite ornate being encrusted with a number of jewels that represented the families'' colors and had their crest etched on the guard.

    ''This is the first time I have made anything that was just meant to be an ornament, but the pay was way too good for me to decline the offer.''

    Giving the dagger he had been paid five hundred gold to make and included materials, Marcus could not help but be satisfied with his work.

    With the daggerplete Marcus had finished up evermission he currently had on his te and was now going to get ready to go to the training session that Adrianna had prepared.

    ''Time to go and teach some kids a lesson I had to learn the hard way, not to be to overconfident in your own strength.''

    Leaving his workshop, Marcus called Blitz over to him along with Roxene who was currently roaming the grounds.

    After a few minutes the two of them arrived in front of Marcus who had managed to get them to get along after a few days.

    Of course, Blitz was still terrified of Roxene but as long as Marcus was around, he would not bolt off as fast as he could.

    Hopping onto Blitz with Roxene in is arms Marcus began making his way towards the training ground that Adrianna had reserved for today''s lesson.

    Riding along Marcus was currently having a telepathic conversation with Roxene telling her about what was going to happen today.

    ''So, my friend asked me to show these new knights one of which is also my friend that they should not be too overconfident in their status and abilities. I already have a good n in mind to curb their attitudes, but I recently have been thinking about utilizing you as well, since it would be good training for you.''

    ''Yes, that sounds good, so far you are the only one I have fought, and I could use a few people to beat up to work off my frustration of always losing to you.''

    Shaking his head, Marcus could not help but feel that Roxene''s motivation was quite cruel but at the end of the day as long as she fought that was all that mattered.

    It was not long before Marcus stood in front of the training ground and after tying Blitz up in the stable and storing Roxene back in hispanion storage, he walked in and found Adrianna talking to risa along with eight other people.

    Looking them over Marcus was able to tell that the three extra people were the masters of some of the new knights same as Adrianna is to risa.

    Going up to them Marcus greeted Adrianna first followed by risa and the others.

    However, in contrast to the informal greeting Marcus had given, the future knights and their masters lightly bowed before greeting Marcus using his title as would be normally considered polite.

    With a slightly exasperated expression Marcus said, "No need to stand on formalities, I am just one rank higher than all of you any way and if you stand on ceremony, it will be much harder for us to effectively train. So please just call me Irene like Adrianna and risa do while we are here."

    After saying that, the tension in the atmosphere slowly began to fade as Marcus got acquainted with the future knights that were risa''s friends along with the knights that had trained some of them.

    ''Okay so the three knights are Sir Darian, Sir Kase, and Dame Herta. The five peers of risa, are Branson, Cain, Kieran, Amara, and Tessa. Apparently, Cain is the ringleader of their little group and the one that has the most ego. So, he is the one that has been riling the others up and giving them all a big head.''

    Going through and quickly apprising all of them, Marcus found the future knights to be between level twenty-five and twenty-eight and their masters to be level thirty-one to thirty-seven.

    ''The strongest one is Sir Kase at level thirty-seven, and he is also the one that trained Cain so his ego problems may have stemmed from his master. I wonder if Adrianna brought them here for me to fight as well, or if they are just here to reinforce the lesson.''

    Once the group began to settle down after everyone got to know each other a bit, Marcus lightly coughed to get everyone''s attention before saying, "Before we begin, Adrianna actually asked me to make a set of swords for risa as a present for her bing knight so before we get to the training exercises, I would like to present them to her."

    Hearing this everyone had surprise on their faces except for Adrianna, but when Marcus pulled out the two swords, he had made for risa even her expression shifted into utter disbelief.

    Everyone stared at the two swords Marcus had taken out of his item box in a daze, even the knights.

    But of course, they would, the weapons that Marcus had just shown them were even better than the ones they currently had, being in the same league as top knights and high-ranking army officers.

    Handing the two swords over to risa, Marcus said, "I made these special with your lightning magic affinity in mind. Each of the des has a number of enchantments on them, so it might take you awhile to adjust to using them, but I can guarantee their quality."

    risa holding the new weapons that Marcus had forged for her, actually began crying seeing the weapons that were far beyond anything she though she would ever have.

    At the same time Adrianna came up to Marcus and pulled him away before saying in a hushed tone.

    "Irene, what are those. I only paid you three hundred fifty gold for a pair of mithril swords. At best I thought you might put a sharpening and reinforcement enchantment on them. Why the hell did you make a pair of swords that are at the same level as heirlooms for noble families."

    Hearing this Marcus had a "what do you mean" expression his face. As far as Marcus knew he had just made a pair of good swords, but he did not realize how high quality they were. He figured that there were at least thirty or so people that could make weapons just as good from what Thabon had said. However, Thabon never borated since even if there were other people that were at the same level, maybe only one out of ever thousand items they made would be able to get the system''s approval, making items like the ones Marcus had just made incredibly rare.

    "Do you know how many weapons there are at the same level as the ones you made in the kingdom. Maybe a couple thousand at best and most of them belong to the royal family and nobles with a status of at least Marquis. Even my family which have been knights for three hundred years only have one weapon of a simr quality and it is being used currently by my older brother who is a royal knight protecting the fourth son of the king."

    With a look of realization on his face Marcus finally understood how impressive the swords he had made really were.

    ''Now that I think about it, while I was making those swords, I put more effort into them even than my own weapon. Also, even with my near unending stamina I had to take a break while making them, and how many people would be willing and able to make weapons of that caliber for a randommission.''

    Gulping, Marcus looked over at risa who was holding the swords with starry eyes.

    ''Guess I got a little carried away while making them. Oh well, if it is for a friend, I am willing to put in the effort to make the best.''

    After being chewed out by Adrianna, Marcus headed over towards risa and said, "Well I hope you like them, I put my all into making them for you so what do you think."

    risa began nodding her head vigorously before jumping at Marcus and giving him a hug and saying, "Thank you so much, I never excepted to get such an amazing gift. But are you sure that I can have these, they must be incredibly valuable?"

    "Yeah, I made them special for you, ah and you should also thank Adrianna since she is the one whomissioned me to make you a pair of swords."

    Hearing this risa detached herself from Marcus and ran up to her master and began profusely thanking her as well.

    However, at the same time Marcus scanned the expressions of the other knights and future knights and found that many of them were looking at risa with jealous expressions.

 Chapter 171 - 170 Teaching A Lesson

    After Marcus had given risa her new swords a bit of fanfare erupted between her and her friends as they rushed over and asked to look at the swords all taking turns examining them, some with an ugly look of greed on their faces (namely Cain).

    While that was happening Sir Kase came up to Marcus surprising him a bit and said, "My that was some fine work you did on those swords Lady Irene. I am surprised that I have not heard of you or your family. Are you perhaps the first in your line to be such a talented forgemaster and might I ask which family it is you serve under if I am not being to forward?"

    Surprised by the sudden interest that Sir Kase had, Marcus was caught off guard especially by his line of questioning, but after taking a moment to gather his thoughts responded saying, "Actually, I only recently obtained my title and I do not work under or for any other family. I am, however, the newest apprentice for Thabon at the zegram forge, maybe you have heard of him."

    Sir Kase''s eyes then went wide with realization, and he said quite abruptly, "So you are the antisocial Baress that has been made the apprentice of the greatest forgemaster in the kingdom."

    Taken aback by the sudden outburst of Sir Kase, Marcus simply nodded his head in acknowledgment before Kase realized his blunder and promptly apologized since what he said could have been considered offensive.

    "Forgive me Lady Irene for my loss of etiquette and I did not mean to offend you in any way."

    "It''s fine, though being called anti-social is a bit tactless, I certainly have not made any effort to make connections, so I suppose it is not untrue. Now raise your head and get back to what you were going to ask me."

    Raising his head with a slight expression of embarrassment on his face, Kase took a moment to collect himself before asking, "Lady Irene after seeing the craftsmanship of the weapons you made for young risa, I was wondering if I might be able tomission a weapon from you myself. And since you are not tied to any family it should not be a problem correct."

    Thinking about it for a second Marcus was not sure about the character of Kase, especially because his apprentice certainly seemed to have a problematic personality and Marcus was not confident that it was not from Sir Kase''s teachings.

    "How about we discuss it after the training that Adrianna went through the trouble of arranging is over. It seems that the others are finishing up looking over risa''s new weapons and I really want to see what new knights of the kingdom are capable of."

    Marcus intently watching Kase''s expression after giving his semi rejection, saw a sh of anger go across his eyes before a smile appeared on his face and he said, "Very well, though I do hope you do not hurt yourself, each one of them has been well trained and are professional fighters, please try to stay safe."

    After that Kase walked away and the conversations began to die down as Adrianna walked forward, towards the group of future knights and said, "So which one of you wants to go first and test out your skills on Irene."

    Scanning the group, Marcus watched the reactions of the group seeing that most of them did not seem to be all that interested except for Cain, though his interest did not seem to be in fighting as he gave a wink towards Marcus.

    "I will go first; I am quite curious to see what kind of skills Lady Irene has." Cain said, with a confident smile on his face.

    Cain then walked into he middle of the ring where they would be able to fight, and Marcus followed suit standing on the opposite side.

    Taking his scythe out of his item box, Marcus then looked towards Cain seeing him take his own weapon out of his magic bag, producing a mithril halberd with red streaks going down the de.

    Taking a good look at the halberd, Marcus analyzed the quality of its craftsmanship using his keen eyes.

    ''Hm decent work, whoever made it either does not know about celestial tinum or did not use any, but overall, it is pretty good. I would say it is only a degree or two below the quality of my scythe, though it is far inferior to the swords I made risa.''

    Standing in a battle-ready position Marcus decided to wait and see what the young future knight standing across from him would be able to do, confident that he would be able to deal with his attacks.

    However, instead of attacking Cain just smiled and said, "Lady Irene why do you not go first, I would not want to end this without seeing your skills so pleasee at me with everything you have."

    Internally sighing, Marcus could only look down on the young man who was talking so big even though he did not know Marcus'' level that was actually higher than his.

    ''What an idiot, if you do not know the level of the person you are fighting you should be far more careful.''

    Shacking his head Marcus decided to curb Cain''s ego earlier rather thanter and said, "Unfortunately you will not be seeing any of my skills, in fact against you I will not even use a single one of my skills that require activation."

    After saying this Marcus could see a vein on Cain''s head bulge obviously not happy with being looked down on.

    However, Marcus did not really care and quickly shot forward at an incredible speed catching Cainpletely off guard as Marcus appeared in front of him lightly pped his face and then back off just as quickly.

    Cain having been unable to react to Marcus'' swift p since he had been aid-back position with his guardpletely down, brought his hand up to his cheek that was now slightly red.

    With a look of disbelief Cain looked toward Marcus who was now standing around nonchntly and a wave of anger washed over him for a moment before he calmed down and said, "You just used speed burst did you not, I thought you said you would not use any skills."

    Shacking his head Marcus simply replied saying, "That was just my normal agility, no boosts in anyway, though I do not care whether you believe me or not. But now it is your turn why do you not show me your skills before this fight ends."

    Fighting off his anger from Marcus'' obvious goading Cain managed to keep his calm for the most part surprising Marcus a bit.

    "Very well, but I will make sure to hold back as it would be a shame to leave any scars on your body."

    Cain then carefully analyzed the situation before lunging forward with his halberd, swinging the blunt side towards Marcus.

    Not taking any evasive or defensive action Marcus simply stood there as Cain''s strike closed in sure that Marcus'' inaction was due to being unable to keep up.

    "Thud!"

    However, as Cain''s halberd was about to hit Marcus'' body, it instead suddenly stopped as Marcus simply put his hand out and grabbed the blunt end of the weapon.

    Everyone watching not just Cain, stared in surprise as Marcus caught Cain''s attack with his bare hand.

    With the halberd stuck in his grasp Marcus yank hard pulling Cain along with his weapon towards him, where he quickly threw his knee right into his stomach before twisting his body and bringing his leg up high before kicking Cain right in the face.

    The young knight then went flying a few feet from the force of Marcus'' kick before mming into the ground.

    Skidding a few more feet beforeing to a stop, Cain could feel the searing pain in his face and stomach where Marcus had hit him.

    "Hey, is that all you got, I thought I told you to show me your skills. Get up ande at me like you mean it or next time I am going to hit you hard enough to knock out a few teeth."

    Cain feeling his pride being stepped on could no longer control the anger welling up inside him as he quickly stood up and looked towards Marcus with hateful eyes.

    "Fine then see how you like this."

    Cain''s halberd then burst with mes before he began chanting a spell.

    "re Thrust."

    Cain then stabbed his halberd forward as he unleashed his tier four fire magic spell sending a massive st of fire heading right towards Marcus.

    Everyone seeing this lethal attack being sent towards Marcus could not help but look out in dread some of them nning to try and intervene, when they saw Marcus rush forward towards the mesing at him.

    Approaching the mes Marcus activated one of the enchantments on his scythe and a powerful dark aura began flowing out of it.

    With a wide swing Marcus shed towards the mesing towards him and a massive burst of darkness came out from his scythe and began devouring the mes.

    As fire and darkness fought it was not long before Marcus overpowered Cain cutting through his tier four spell.

    Cain for his part never expected such a thing to be possible, with just his weapon alone Marcus hadplete destroyed his most powerful tier four spell.

    Unfortunately for Cain, Marcus was not done yet and rushed forwards towards the dazed Cain and with the flick of his scythe smacked him upside the head sending him flying.

    "Bam."

    Cain smashed hard into the training ground''s wall headfirst leaving cracks in the stone before sliding down unconscious, a stream of blood flowing down his face.

 Chapter 172 - 171 Teaching A Lesson (2)

    As Cainid slumped against the wall he had just crashed into, everyone except Adrianna who knew Marcus'' strength, looked between Cain and Marcus with disbelief.

    For the young future knights, they could not believe how easily Cain who was the strongest of their group was defeated.

    At the same time, the knights especially Cain''s master Kase, were surprised by the power that Marcus had demonstrated. He had overpowered Cain without even using any enhancement skills, winning solely with superior stats and the enchantments on his gear, and none of them were confident they could do the same.

    However, their shock soon turned to worry as Marcus approached the unconscious Cain who was now bleeding profusely from his head.

    With his scythe slumped over his shoulder Marcus looked like the personification of death and some of them were afraid that he would finish Cain off because of his use of a tier four spell that could have been lethal.

    Except instead of attacking or harming Cain in any way, Marcus touched his head and a soft light enveloped him.

    "Minor Cure."

    Simply saying the name of his tier one healing spell now that he could fake having the skill chant shortening, Marcus channeled his magic into Cain''s head causing the bleeding to stop and the cuts on him to begin closing.

    After that Kase came running over to check on his apprentice and seeing that he was okay now looked at Marcus with a slightly hostile gaze and said, "What level are you?"

    Looking at Kase with indifference Marcus just shrugged his shoulders before saying, "Lower than you at thirty-seven, but higher than him at twenty-eight. If you really want to know, just ask Adrianna or if you have creature appraisal, go ahead and use it."

    A scowl then appeared on Kase''s face as Marcus walked away and he picked up Cain before walking towards Adrianna intently.

    Walking back into the center of the ring Marcus looked towards the remaining future knights who all had fear on their faces and said, "So which one of you wants to go next."

    However, none of them volunteered to go next, a couple of them actually looking towards their mentors for help only to see them staring back resolutely.

    With the exception of Kase the other knights were in on the "training" session that Adrianna had set up and were not going to give their apprentices a lifeline.

    The five terrified future knights then began discussing who was going to go next, arguing for a bit before ultimately drawing lots.

    Once they had finished deciding on their order, the unlucky one to go first was Kieran who was the weakest at only level twenty-five.

    ''Damn maybe I should have gone a bit easier on Cain, he seems genuinely afraid of me. I mean the poor guy is shaking.''

    Seeing the young guy across from him so scared, Marcus let out a sigh before saying, "No need to be nervous, as long as youe at me earnestly, I will not hit you as hard as I did Cain."

    Kieran hearing this and seeing the angelic smile that Marcus was shooting him immediately felt his heart calm down a bit.

    He then took out his weapon which was bo staff made out of some type of magical wood.

    ''Hm, I do not recognize that material, better be a bit careful just in case.''

    Wielding his scythe in a battle-ready stance, Marcus slowly approached Kieran testing the waters to see what was going to happen.

    Stepping into range Marcus sent a rtively weak sh towards his opponent hoping to gauge his reaction, only to find that Kieran intercepted his scythe with his staff.

    "Diiiiiiing."

    A loud reverberation traveled down Marcus''s scythe as the staff impacted its de and Marcus felt it in his hand as his scythe began shacking violently.

    It was at this moment that he realized that Kieran had not been shacking earlier because of fear but as a means to charge up an attack.

    ''That sneaky littleˇ­ crap.''

    Kieran not letting the miraculous opening he had created pass him by, lunged towards Marcus trying to jam his staff into his stomach.

    Reacting quickly, Marcus let go of his scythe that was still trembling violently and jumped out the way sessfully dodging Kieran''s attack, though losing his weapon in the process.

    Jumping back a few dozen feet, Marcus could only admonish himself for getting overconfident especially since that was the lesson he was supposed to be teaching.

    ''Great I wanted to see what he was capable of but instead I got caught up in his trap. Though his power is interesting, it is probably not a type of magic since he did not chant anything. Now how do I approach this.''

    While analyzing his opponent''s ability and thinking of a strategy, Marcus carefully watched waiting for him to make the next move.

    After just a couple of seconds Kieran rushed forward pushing the attack now that Marcus had lost his weapon.

    Of course, even without his weapon Marcus was far from defenseless, as simply activated his mana body skill and lunged forward slipping by as Kieran tried to swing at him.

    Marcus then sent a swift chop to his left hand causing it to let go of the staff as a sharp pain assaulted him.

    Feeling that he was in trouble Kieran tried to use his speed burst skill to run away only to find that as he leapt backwards, Marcus had already ced his leg in between his as he tripped and tumbled over.

    Crashing into the ground and skidding a few feet, Kieran tried to get his bearings again as soon as he had stopped, but before he could get up, found Marcus'' open hand right in front of his face.

    Staring at Marcus'' hand, Kieran wanted to fight back, but an overwhelming sense of dread seemed to be emanating from the open hand as if with one move it could end his life.

    "I surrender."

    Kieran understanding he had been beaten, decided to give up rather than try and fight back and feel the world of pain that would have been waiting for him had he resisted further.

    Hearing Kieran surrender, Marcus removed his hand from his face and rxed his posture before saying, "That was a good fight, I have not seen an attack like yours before, but it really caught me off guard."

    Kieran nodded his head towards Marcus happy to have the genuine praise, but he still had a bitter taste in his mouth from being so handily defeated even after gaining an early advantage.

    ''Well, that was interesting. I got to see a new ability and Kieran seems to think the least highly of himself out of all of them, probably because he has the lowest level. Although in terms of potential I think he is better than Cain who is far too full of himself.''

    After Kieran left the ring, he went over to the others, a dejected look on his face as the next opponent came up.

    This time it was Amara who promptly pulled out a dagger that was made of a mithril although its color was crystal clear instead of the normal light blue.

    ''Hm it must have been smelted with some type of monster to cause it to change color like that. I am not sure exactly what its properties are though.''

    Looking at the dagger with professional curiosity, Marcus nearly lost track that he was in the middle of a fight until he watched Amara disappeared from his sight.

    ''Invisibility? No refraction, she is bending the light around her.''

    No longer being able to see his opponent, Marcus opened up his other senses hoping to find her, but without any extrasensory skills he came up empty.

    That was until he felt a sense of dangering from his left side and in response Marcus jumped abruptly as a small sphere fell close to where he had been, and a viscous liquid burst from it.

    Watching the liquid that had just appeared, Marcus saw it rapidly harden and could immediately tell it was some type of restraining agent.

    With a smile on his face Marcus began looking around and found that his opponent had once again hidden, but Marcus also had some tricks up his sleeve.

    "My turn. Iron Threads."

    Casting his tier two iron magic spell, over thirty individual threads came out of his two hands and began snaking across the battlefield.

    The threads soon began epassing the entire training ring until Marcus saw a slight puff of dust in one area and he realized what had happened.

    ''Now.''

    After waiting just, a moment Marcus swung the blunt side of his scythe into he air seemingly at nothing, until there was a loud thump followed by a pained grunt.

    Amara then became visible again as her concentration was lost as Marcus smacked his scythe against her body, after she had jumped towards him in ast-ditch effort to avoid his iron threads.

    mming into the ground, Amara jumped back up onto her feet with incredibly agility as she looked towards Marcus only to see that he was gone.

    "Behind you."

    Amara hearing Marcus'' voice from behind instinctively thrust he dagger backwards, but found her arm soon grasped by a vice like grip.

    With his opponent''s arm in his grip, Marcus applied more and more strength until she dropped her weapon before cing his scythe next to her neck and saying, "You lose."

 Chapter 173 - 172 Teaching A Lesson (3)

    With an icy de situated against her neck Amara felt the slight trickle of blood flowing down as Marcus'' scythe ever so slightly broke the skin.

    At that point Adrianna came forward and said, "That''s enough, Amara you lost go back to the others and tell whoever is next to enter the ring."

    After that Marcus removed his scythe from Amara''s neck and she began shakily walking forward, still feeling the icy touch of Marcus'' scythe that could have easily killed her.

    Looking towards the remaining three future knights one of them being risa, Marcus with a dispassionate look said, "Which one of you is next."

    The young man who had been chosen to go next slowly walked forward and gulped already knowing he stood no chance.

    Marcus'' reactions and speed had seemed inhuman, and his strength was enough to toss them around like stuffed animals, so of course the future knight that had to fight him were afraid.

    With his new challenger in the ring, Marcus took a battle stance as the young man named Branson brought out a short stiletto and small round shield.

    His weapons now ready Branson rushed towards Marcus with good agility that was pretty fast for his level.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was at a much higher level and reacted by shing his scythe towards the young knighting at him.

    Branson seeing the scytheing for him brought out his shield to block expecting to deflect the scythe away and then attack with his stiletto.

    Except instead of deflecting the de, Branson felt and overwhelming force on his arm as he was thrown off his feet and went flying through the air and crashing into a wall in a simr fashion to Cain.

    ''Oops. Guess I should not have used my powerful sh skill. I thought he might have had some special defensive trick seeing as how brazenly he rushed forward, but apparently not.''

    As Marcus looked at Branson who was now twitching on the ground after making an indent in the wall, he just shook his head and looked at the remaining two waiting to see who came next.

    To his delight the next one to walk forward was risa who seemed to have steeled herself and was ready for battle.

    ''Now I get to see how the swords I made will do in actualbat. Hopefully she has figured out how to use some of the enchantments since a few of them are a bitplicated use.''

    Standing across from each other Marcus watched as risa pulled out her two new swords and said, "I did not know you were this strong Irene. You told me how you were an adventure that just got lucky to help out an get rewarded with a title, but now I see how truly strong you are. But do not think I will be going down easily I am going to show how strong I am."

    After giving out her quick speech risa immediately began chanting a spell, one Marcus was quite familiar with.

    "Lightning Bind."

    Once she finished chanting three rings of lightning began flying towards Marcus at high speed.

    However, Marcus did not run or try to evade he simply poured mana into his weapon and when the spell was about toe in contact with him swung his scythe with three quick shes cutting through the spell.

    risa seeing her spell destroyed was not surprised as she quickly chanted her next spell.

    "Lightning Strider."

    As electricity surrounded risa''s legs she shot forward swiftly brandishing her two swords towards Marcus.

    Smiling, Marcus activated one of the enchantments on his scythe as it began crackling with electricity of its own before moving to intercept risa''s charge.

    Swinging his scythe with quick and short movements, Marcus parried each of risa''s sword strikes as she tried to use her two swords to outpace him.

    Bolts of lightning streaked out as their weapons collided, and Marcus could tell that risa was using the speed boosting as well as the impact resistance enchantments on the swords.

    The two continued to exchange blows for a few more seconds until Marcus deftly deflected risa''s long sword knocking her off bnce.

    With an opening created, Marcus brought his scythe down nning to end their fight, however, risa brought forward her short sword and a shield of lightning burst from the de in front of her.

    His scythe impacting into the shield Marcus felt his weapon being pushed back for a few moments as risa jumped away in a sh of lightning.

    ''Damn, I gave those swords too many gimmicks. She is overpowering the electricitying off of my scythe with her own. I have even been taking a bit of residual damage just from the lightning epassing the des. If I was still human, I am sure my hands would have gone numb by now. I suppose I should get a little serious now.''

    "Legs of Light, Arms of Darkness."

    With his two spells activating, Marcus felt a surge of strength from the darkness around his arms and an increase in swiftness from the light on his legs.

    Pressing the attack, Marcus moved towards risa who was barely able to react to his new speed, crossing her swords in front of her as Marcus shed with his scythe pushing her back over a dozen feet from the impact.

    After taking Marcus'' devastating attack, risa felt a sharp pain in her arms and was certain she had a hairline fracture in her left hand.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was not going to give her a chance to recover as he leapt forward bringing his scythe back for a big swing.

    risa seeing this threw her short sword towards Marcus in a desperate effort to prevent him from attacking her again.

    With a sword flying towards him, Marcus reflexively smacked it away with his scythepletely deflecting it but also allowing risa to jump away.

    Repositioning himself and getting ready to attack again, Marcus suddenly felt a sense of danger from behind him as he rolled out of the way and saw the previously thrown short sworde towards him before flying back to risa.

    Looking at the sword that had just flown at him, Marcus could see a small thread of electricity connecting it to therger one intertwining the two.

    ''She certainly has figured out a number of the abilities I gave to those two swords, and I have to say I am impressed by their performance.''

    Happy to see how effective the swords he made were, Marcus could not help but smile widely and say, "You have done pretty well using those swords for the first time, but I think we should wrap this up. Come at me with everything you have, this will be thest attack to decide the victor."

    risa sensing Marcus intent, sheathed both of her swords before beginning a spell chant and Marcus could see here body begin to glow with power.

    ''Iai huh, and she is using the overcharge enchantment. Well, let''s see what she can do.''

    "Lightningedge sh."

    With her spellplete risa sted forwardpletely engulfed in electricity taking the form of a bolt of lightning.

    Impressed by the show of power Marcus charged to meet her activating his mana body skill and increasing all of his physical attributes.

    Swinging his scythe with all three of its elemental enchantments now going, Marcus felt the immense force being produced by risa as electricity surged all around him.

    As the two pitted their power against each other even with all of her strength, Marcus soon took over and with a big swing knocked both of risa''s des upwards.

    With risa''s attack blocked and her stance broken, Marcus brought the handle of his scythe upward and cracked risa hard in the chin.

    With a loud resound crack, risa crumbled to the ground as the hit to her chin shook her head and brain.

    risa now unconscious and lying on the ground, Marcus leaned down and cast a healing magic spell on her.

    Not long after, risa''s eyes fluttered open, and she shot up abruptly only to see Marcus kneeling over her.

    Realization then came over risa''s eyes and she lowered her head understanding she had lost.

    "No need to feel down, you put up a good fight, and handled those swords pretty well. Give it a bit more time and I am sure you will be able to master them. But also try not to get overconfident, there are always those stronger than you and being a knight does not make you better than others."

    Trying tofort risa who had downtrodden eyes, Marcus continued to encourage her while also trying to steer her away from the path of thinking too highly of herself.

    After walking risa over to Adrianna, Marcus made his way back to the ring where he looked at the one remaining future knight and waited for her to enter.

    The small girl named Tessa quickly walked into he ring and took out the biggest fuckoff maul Marcus had ever seen.

    In fact, the massive weapon was even bigger than Tessa who only stood at a little over four feet tall.

    Of course, Marcus was quite surprised to see the small girl holding such arge weapon, but not as much as if he had not used his appraisal skill on her earlier.

    ''I thought it was a bit weird that when I appraised her earlier that she had the highest strength stat among the group, at over four hundred. She must have some type of blessing or maybe a unique skill to have such a high stat at her level. Unfortunately for her, I am still stronger.''

    With his scythe in hand Marcus waited for Tessa to make the first move, and it was not long before she jumped into the air and brought down her maul with a big overhead swing.

    Jumping to the side Marcus dodged out of the way of Tessa''s attack as the maul impacted into the ground causing arge crater where it hit as cracks began snaking through the ring.

    Staring at the damaged that Tessa had just caused, Marcus was impressed by the sheer force behind the attack.

    ''Looks like I am having to give it some effort if I want to face her head on.''

    Activating his mana body skill as well as casting both arms of darkness and iron skin, Marcus sprinted towards Tessa nning to pit power against power.

    The two then began to exchange blow after blow each one creating a resounding sound and the ground around them even began trembling and falling apart.

    Tessa for her part was quite surprised to have Marcus go blow to blow with her, since most people could not even take one of her attacks head on without being blown back.

    Even her own master could not take her overwhelming strength for more than a minute or so.

    However, Tessa had quite the ring weakness in that her agility wasckluster, and soon Marcus began increasing his speed, attacking her from multiple angles faster than she could react.

    "Reckless Surge."

    After screaming the name of some ability, Marcus watched as a red aura began surrounding Tessa and she violently swung her maul toward him.

    Swinging his scythe to intercept, Marcus was surprised to find himselfpletely overpowered and his scythe was sted out of his grasp.

    Shock on his face from the sudden burst of strength Tessa was disying, Marcus had to quickly duck his head and jump back as she began swinging at him with wild abandon.

    Evading a few more heavy blows, Marcus could see that reason was leaving Tessa''s eyes and he could hear the sound of snapping and creakinging from her.

    ''Shit, she has entered some type of berserk state and its prolonged use is starting to rip her muscles and her bones are creaking under the strain.''

    Seeing that she was doing damage to herself, Marcus decided to end the fight quickly and cast his tier three lightning magic spell.

    "Lightning Bind."

    Spinning his arm three rings of electricity fired off from Marcus'' arm and enveloped Tessa causing her to be unable to move.

    She continued to struggle for a few moments thrashing around violently before the electricity from Marcus'' spell caused her to go unconscious.

    Sighing in relief, Marcus walked over to Tessa and cast his tier four healing spell, persistent healing on Tessa and watched as the pained expression her face soon turned to relief.

    ''Whew she had me worried there for a second. That skill certainly increased her power, but it seems that extended use has some nasty consequences.''

    After making sure that Tessa was doing all right, Marcus carried her over to her friends to let them take care of her.

    "She should be fine soon. I cast a powerful healing spell on her so in a few minutes she will probably wake up."

    Nodding their heads, the other future knights took Tessa andid her down on a near by bench when Marcus heard the sound of ppinging from behind him.

    Looking in the direction of the pping, Marcus saw Sir Kase who was standing next to the now awake Cain who was whispering something in his ear.

    "That was most impressive Lady Irene, but you do not seem to have broken a sweat fighting our soon to be young knights.. So how about it, would like to have a match with a veteran who can show you what the true strength of a knight is."

 Chapter 174 - 173 What True Strength Looks Like

    Looking at Sir Kase who had just unexpectedly challenged him to a match, Marcus quickly analyzed the situation and could tell what he was aiming for.

    ''Looks like he is a bit agitated that I beat up his disciple and have disrespected the strength of knights. However, defeating him will also help to hammer home the lesson Adrianna wants me to teach, and I do want to see what a veteran knight at level thirty-seven is capable of.''

    Walking towards Sir Kase and stopping right in front of him, Marcus put on a confident smile and said, "Sure I can go a round with you, but try not to take me lightly because if you do you will end up just like your apprentice."

    Marcus then turned around and made his way back into he ring but found Adrianna standing in front of him.

    "Irene, I think you should reconsider. Sir Kase is one of the stronger knights in the kingdom. Even I would only have around a thirty percent chance of winning a fight against him. I know you are strong, but he is a vindictive person and has crippled opponents he did not like in the past."

    Seeing the worry in Adrianna''s eyes Marcus felt a bit happy to see his friends genuine concern, but he was confident that there was no chance he could lose.

    "No need to worry. I still have a number of tricks up my sleeve, and I would be surprised if he even put a scratch on me."

    shing a confident smile, Marcus walked by his friend and entered the ring where Sir Kase was waiting.

    "Well, now that Adrianna has given you a little pep talk are you ready to go."

    "Yeah, no problem, oh and if you want to cast any spells before the fight feel free to, I want to see what you are capable of."

    After hearing Marcus'' provocation, Sir Kase began scowling and angrily shouted. "Do not look down on me, you may have been able to beat a few infant knights, but my abilities are far greater."

    He then took out a simr looking halberd to what Cain had, though of a superior quality and began chanting a spell only taking around a second topleted it.

    "Spirit ze."

    A red aura of shimmering heat quickly enveloped Kase, and Marcus could feel that his power had increased quite a bit.

    ''Wow, that is a powerful looking spell, probably tier four. I wonder if I could possibly get it somehow.''

    Seeing the impressive spell that Sir Kase ha just cast Marcus began formting a n and before Kase made any attack said, "Hey Sir Kase how about we make this fight a bit more interesting?"

    Kase who was about to initiate an attack suddenly stopped hearing Marcus'' question and said, "What do you have in mind."

    A devious smile then creeped across Marcus'' face as he said, "Just a little wager. If I win you will give me the formation and chant for the spell you just cast, and if you win, I will make you and your apprentice weapons just as good as the ones I gave risa."

    A stunned expression appeared on Kase''s face after hearing this since the value between what was being offered to him was far greater than what was being asked for.

    However, the spell he was using had been given to him after years of service and was restricted. If he handed it out, even to a noble, he would face some type of consequences.

    Nevertheless, what he could get in return was quite good, but Kase saw the desire for this spell in Marcus'' eyes and decided to up the ante.

    "Very well, I will give you the formation and chant for Spirit ze if you beat me, but only of well as making both me and Cain impable weapons, you will also be the subordinate of my lord, Marquess Vastik."

    Hearing this Marcus grimaced since making weapons was one thing, but bing someone''s subordinate was something he did not want to do.

    ''Hm, I could lose big, but I am pretty sure there is no way I cannot win. Oh whatever, worst case I just use one of my unique skills and overpower him.''

    Sure, that he would be the victor Marcus agreed to Kase''s terms, and in response he began chanting a spell hoping to catch Marcus off guard.

    "re Thrust."

    Stabbing his halberd forward a massive st of fire shot out towards Marcus, simr to the attack Cain had used earlier.

    However, unlike Cian''s re thrust spell, Kase''s was far bigger and stronger emitting enough heat that everyone within the training ground could feel it.

    "me Tiger Strike."

    Returning the tier four fire spell that Kase had shot towards him, Marcus used the tier four spell given by the system and the massive visage of a tiger made of mes appeared and pounced towards Kase.

    Of course, Kase knew this spell as well, but he was confident that the power of his re thrust was superior.

    The two fire spells crashed into each other, fighting for dominance as the two forces pushed each other back, until Marcus'' spell won out, to Kase''s surprise.

    Certainly, in terms of power his spell was greater but that did note close to making up the difference between his and Marcus'' spirt stats.

    Seeing the me tigering for him, Kase grimaced and quickly chanted another tier four spell finishing it right before Marcus'' spell engulfed him.

    "Fire Phnx."

    A dozen shields of fire formed around Kase as Marcus'' spell crashed into him and tried to burn him to cinders.

    Luckily, his defensive spell was able to block Marcus'' after having lost a decent amount of its power during the previous sh of spells.

    Breathing heavily, Kase looked at Marcus with disbelief on his face. He knew that Marcus had not been lying when he told him that his level was lower, so how was he so handedly overpowered.

    Marcus was not a pure spell caster; he was also proficient in meleebat meaning that his magic should not have been any stronger than Kase''s.

    ''What the hell. She has multiple magic skills as well as a slew ofbat skills. How did she do it, picking up that many powerful skills at such a young age should be next to impossible. Has she been training since she was a toddler?''

    Sir Kase was quite confused by Marcus'' strength that seemed far from the norm, but if Sir Kase knew Marcus could chose his skills, he would begin cursing the unfairness of the world.

    "That is a pretty good defensive spell you have there, did you want to add that onto our bet, and you can ask for anything else from me, how about it."

    Fury began to well up in Kase hearing this. Marcus was looking down on him, a knight with over two decades of experience.

    "Do not think you have won yet; I am going to show you what the power of a knight is."

    In a fit of rage Sir Kase rushed towards Marcus nning to win in close quartersbat since his magic had already been proven to be inferior to Marcus''.

    "Ahhhhh."

    With a loud battle scream Kase began stabbing and swinging his halberd around towards Marcus, actually pushing him back due to the power increase from his Spirt ze spell.

    "Iron Skin, Arms of Darkness, Legs of Light, Lightning Strider."

    While fighting defensively, Marcus quickly cast his four enhancement spells, increasing his strength speed and defense by arge margin.

    With his own spells now active Marcus soon began to push Sir Kase back, using his heighten abilities to toy with him.

    Bing ever frustrated, Kase felt himself losing and even when he used his best skills, he stood no chance now that Marcus was taking him seriously.

    "Fuck!"

    "me Pir."

    With a loud scream Sir Kase stabbed his halberd into he ground andpleted a quick chant before casting another tier four spell causing a burst of fire to st up from the ground below Marcus.

    Practically wheezing since he had used up the majority of his remaining mana and strength to cast hisst spell, Kase looked towards the area where Marcus had been expecting to see him terribly burned.

    Except instead of seeing a heavily burned body all he saw was six gleaming wings of iron.

    "The look on your face tells me you are surprised. Is this your first time seeing a tier five spell."

    Kase''s eye suddenly went wide as he heard what Marcus had said.

    ''Did she say tier five. That should be impossible, even supreme geniuses are at least level forty when they get a skill to level five. Did she lie about her level, but Adrianna even confirmed that she was a lower level than me?''

    His head spinning from Marcus'' revtion, Kase could not believe what he heard. Tier five spells were practically the height of magic only a select few reaching that level and even fewer getting past it.

    "I believe you brazenly told me earlier that you would show me the power of a knight, but this is what true strength looks like."

    Releasing over a hundred feathers form his wings, Marcus shot the feathers forward towards Sir Kase in a barrage of iron death.

    Kase for his part brought his halberd forward and tried to defend but being low on mana he only blocked a few feathers before the other began shredding him.

    The over one hundred feathers flew around Sire Kase, each one delivering a shallow cut that began bleeding until hundreds of cuts overwhelmed him causing him to copse.

    Walking over to his opponent that was now bleeding profusely from cuts all over his body, Marcus stood above him and said, "Looks like you lose.. And I just want you to know that each of those cuts on your body, had I wanted them to be, could have been a kill shot."

 Chapter 175 - 174 Finishing The Lesson

    Having overwhelmingly defeated Sir Kase, Marcus slow bent down and cast his tier one healing magic spell to stop the profuse bleeding all over his body.

    Of course, Marcus only did this to make sure that the haughty knight did not die, since he still owed Marcus the spell formation and chant they had made a bet on.

    With that done Marcus cast his gaze back over to the knights and future knights that had been watching the match and saw the astounded looks on all of their faces.

    ''Did I go a little overboard there with thatst attack. I mean I was still holding back my unique skills, but it seems that I have gone past what is normallymon sense.''

    Shrugging his shoulders and walking towards Adrianna, Marcus found her still looking at him in a daze until he said, "Well, I think now is the time for you to wrap up the lesson and tell them what you wanted to teach them."

    Adrianna rapidly blinking came back to herself and remembered what this "training" session had been for.

    Nodding her head, Adrianna began making her way towards the group of future knights that were still stunned by the disy they had just witnessed.

    "Well, that was certainly more of a show than I thought we were going to see but it helps to hammer home what I wanted all of you to learn from this training session."

    The six future knights seeing Adriannae in front of them soon began whispering amongst each other trying to figure out if any of them had known what the lesson they were supposed to be learning beforehand.

    Adrianna giving them a few minutes to discuss amongst themselves waited until they began quieting down and looked towards Cain and said, "So what do you think we were trying to teach you today."

    Thinking for a few moments, Cain looked out confidently and said, "Not to judge our enemies by their appearances."

    Shacking her head Adrianna looked pitifully at the one who needed this lesson the most and said, "That is a small part of it, but not the main issue all of you have. Amara can you tell me the lesson you all should have learned."

    "Um, that there is always someone stronger."

    Nodding her head Adrianna was pleased by this answer though it was not quite what she was looking for.

    "Closer but not exactly it, does anyone else have an idea before I tell all of you."

    Branson the one who had taken the hardest hit and felt that he had learned his lesson said, "Not to be overconfident. I was sure I could block Lady Irene''s attack and then counter strike. Instead, I got knocked off my feet and into a wall."

    With a smile Adrianna looked at the young future knight and said, "Yes that is the lesson you all needed to learn. Since all of you have gotten word that you will be promoted to knighthood, each of you has gotten more brazen. To a certain extent you have been touting you newfound status especially to your peers that were not as lucky."

    However, while five of the future knights nodded their heads in agreement one of them was not going to learn his lesson so easily.

    "So, what if we act above others, as knights we are their superiors, and they should know their ces. As knights we are the cream of the crop of the kingdom, the strongest forces that protect the nobility of the kingdom."

    Sighing, Adrianna looked pitifully at the young man and said, "You are a fool if you truly believe yourself to be above others just because of receiving the title of knight. Take Irene here, she may be a baress now, but she is the first of her house and has only had said title for less than a year. Yet she is still far stronger than any of you even though all of you have had the support of your families and resources given to you at the academy. Not to mention some of you are the personal disciples of knights, yet the strongest one here today is a low born girl who is the same age or younger than all of you. Anyone can gain strength if they work hard, and this is why you should not grow overconfident in yourself even as a knight."

    When Adrianna finished her lecture for the future knights especially Cain, Marcus approached them and said, "Now then I want all of you to meet someone."

    Roxene who Marcus had discreetly taken out of hispanion storage walked forward into view of everyone.

    Everyone stared at the new arrival for a few moments before the silence was broken by Tessa who shouted, "So cute!" and began running towards Roxene.

    However, as Tessa tried to reach out and pet Roxene, the little half white, half ck wolf pup jumped back behind Marcus and red at the girl who dared try to touch her.

    ''Marcus if that little girl tries to touch me again, I will rip her hand off.''

    Marcus receiving Roxene''s telepathic message bent down and patted her on the head before saying, "This here is my beastpanion Roxene. She is bit temperamental so she is not going to let anyone other than me touch her, and I would rmend that none of you try again, or she will rip your hand off."

    Marcus then saw as everyone around beganughing thinking it was joke, how could such a small puppy be any threat to them.

    ''Roxene go and attack Branson real quick and reinforce the lesson they have learned today.''

    ''With pleasure I have been waiting to beat someone up.''

    With a smile on her face Roxene bounded off in a blur towards Branson, reaching him before he could even react and mming into him, knocking him t onto the ground.

    She then began mming her two front paws into his chest which would have been cute if she were a normal puppy, but with each hit being backed up by a strength stat of over four hundred, it was bound to hurt.

    Roxene continued this for another five seconds and only stopped when Branson began to cough up blood.

    Jumping off of the poor sap that Marcus had told her to attack, Roxene slowly walked back over to him and held her head up proudly.

    At the same time everyone was dumbfounded by what they had just seen.

    The little wolf pup had just beat up someone who was soon to be a knight and had faced no resistance.

    Sure, it had been a sneak attack, but the speed of the attack was still so fast it would have been difficult to counter even if on guard.

    "Looks like all of you got caught off guard by the little trap I set. Roxene here may look cute, but she is actually, and epic grade magical beast and you thought her appearance made her look weak. Unfortunately, not every creature that is strong is going to look so, some may look like cuddly animals."

    ''Roxene go ahead and use Paragon of the Divine Wolf, but make sure not to strain yourself.''

    Nodding her head Roxene started to let off a quite growl before her body began to expand until she was around six feet tall and ten feet long.

    The aura Roxene was now emitting gave off an oppressive feel, and the knights that were present could truly sense the power behind the creature in front of them.

    "This is Roxene''s true form. (''well, this is actually a transformation, but they do not need to know that.'') All of you let your guard down because you thought she was a small and feeble pup. However, this is the true form of what you had all been facing. It is important that you be vignt about your opponent''s not only when they are humans, but with monsters and magical beasts as well. In fact, you need to be more careful with magical beasts and monsters since they never cared about your title as a knight to begin with. Now then I want the six of you to fight Roxene at the same time."

    Marcus then walked over to Branson who was still reeling from the attack he had received from Roxene and cast a healing spell on him.

    After that Marcus moved away and Roxene walked into the center of the ring awaiting the six future knights.

    The six of them looked nervously towards the wolf that was now the size of a small horse and then towards their masters hoping to find some way out of this.

    Unfortunately, the knights they were looking towards for help simply nodded their heads and gave them encouraging gestures. Frankly each of them wanted to see what Marcus'' beastpanion could do since it was rare to see the capabilities of an epic grade magical beast.

    Needless to say, if they knew the actual grade of Roxene, each of them would be running away to report it to the kingdom since she could easily turn into a catastrophe level threat.

    With no way out, the six future knights walked into the ring after forming a quick strategy.

    They were hoping to use both risa'' magic and Amara''s adhesive spheres to stop Roxene''s movements while Branson and Kieran yed defense for them, and then Cain and Tessa would use their strongest moves to finish the job.

    "Ahhhh."

    Each of them letting off a battle cry began charging towards Roxene hoping their strategy would be enough to win.

    While that was going on Adrianna came up to Marcus and said, "You never told me you had an epic grade magic beast as apanion. I knew about your lightning stag but the difference between a rare and epic grade magic beast is like night and day. So how long have you had her."

    Not surprised to see that his friend hade over to ask him questions Marcus was ready with the fake answers he had already prepared.

    "I caught her around four months ago, though it was not until recently that I was able to tame her. I had her contained in a cave a few miles away from the capital until I was able to get the necessary materials together to perform the seal between us. Luckily, I already knew what type of beast she was, so I was able to get the right items."

    "Wow I am surprised you were able to contain an epic grade magic beast for so long. Oh and what type of beast is she."

    "She was only level thirteen when I found her already injured from a previous battle, so it was easy enough to subdue her. And she is a beast called a light and dark hound which is a pretty special beast."

    Adrianna nodding her head was really impressed by Marcus. Most people would not be so lucky to find such a high-quality beast when it was still low level and be able to sessfully capture it.

    "You are quite fortunate Irene, there are not many people in the kingdom with epic grade magical beasts under them, maybe only around a few dozen or so."

    A bit curious Marcus looked towards Adrianna and said, "I thought The only person who has an epic grade magic beast in the kingdom is the kingdom''s knightmander?"

    "Well, he is certainly the most well know, but there are few families in the kingdom that have an epic grade magic beast either aspanions or have made a pact with one as a guardian. In fact, there are even rumors that the royal family has a legendary magical beast as a guardian left by the first king himself."

    Continuing their conversation, Marcus tried to get more information out of Adrianna, but the only other specific epic grade magic beast she knew of was owned by the current count of a territory far to the east.

    ''At least I managed to get a bit more information on the beasts people have contracted with in the kingdom, even if most of it is rumors. But I really wonder if the royal family actually has a legendary grade beast as a guardian.''

    While Marcus was pondering the information that he had just learned, Roxene was finishing up her fight with the young future knights.

    Unfortunately, their n hadpletely failed as Roxene ran circles around them and easily batted each of them away with a single paw swipe.

    Now the six poor victims who Roxene had used to vent her frustration were crawling away many of them with broken bones, but all of them with broken pride after being so easily dealt with by Marcus'' beastpanion.

 Chapter 176 - 175 A Bit Of Fun After

    After having thoroughly trounced the six future knights, Roxene deactivated her supreme skill and shrunk back down to the form of a small wolf pup.

    With a big smile she ran back over to Marcus and asked to be praised.

    ''Yep, you did a good job. I dare say that they will not forget this lesson for the rest of their lives.''

    Marcus then took out a big piece of meat he had stored in his item box and gave it to Roxene as a reward for her hard work.

    ''Now there is just onest thing I need to do before I head on out of here.''

    Heading over to Sir Kase who was lying on a bench in the arena recuperating from the injuries that Marcus had given him, Marcus pull out a piece of paper and a pen before bluntly saying, "Write down the chant and draw the formation for me."

    Kase with disdain in his eyes looked up at Marcus and wished he could kill him. He had never been so humiliated in his life, but what could he do.

    He could not use his status as a knight since Marcus had a higher title, and he already knew he could not win in a fight.

    The only thing he could do for now was to roll over and honor the bet he had made. If only there had not been any witnesses he would surely weasel out of it, but three other knights saw the bet being made. If he decided to shirk away from the bet it was likely that Marcus and the other three could raise hell, and in the worst case he could lose his status.

    With no other option Kase sat up and yanked the pen and paper from Marcus'' hand and began writing out the chant and formation, all the while grumbling about it.

    "There, I wrote down the chant and drew the formation. Now if you would not mind, I would like to be alone."

    After making sure the chant and formation were genuine, Marcus stored the paper away and left wanting nothing to do with Sir Kase ever again.

    ''Well, I managed to get a new spell out of this, so it was a pretty fruitful endeavor. Though this does show me how sparse I am in the spell department, since even as a baress I cannot get spells above tier three that are meant forbat, at least not without joining some type of organization. Maybe I will try my hand at making my own spells at some point but I have no idea how to do that right now so it will have to wait.''

    With his prize in hand Marcus made his way back over to Adrianna who had given some healing potions to the six future knights that had fought Roxene.

    "Well do you think they learned the lesson we were trying to teach them?"

    Turning her head to look at Marcus, Adrianna smiled and said, "Yeah I think they learned pretty well. You and that beastpanion showed them not to be too full of themselves, so you have my thanks. Though you are a lot stronger than I thought you were Irene. I mean we are the same level, but you demonstrated strength closer to someone in the middle levels of the forties rather than thirty-six. So, would you mind telling me how you got so strong?"

    Give it a bit of though Marcus decided to not lie to Adrianna since she was his friend, but he was going to omit the truth on a few things.

    "I see so you have a blessing and got a load of stat boosting items and skill orbs from a treasure chest in a dungeon. So that is how you got so many magic skills and your stats are above the average of most people. Though as a knight even my stats are a couple hundred higher than most people at our level since the kingdom invests natural treasure and stat boosting draughts into its talent. I guess the chests from dungeons really are good, your stats must all be at least in the upper three hundreds or low four hundreds huh."

    Nodding his head Marcus did not tell Adrianna that all of his stats had exceeded five hundred and his spirt stat was actually near seven hundred. He knew it would be far from believable since his stats were around the same as someone ten levels higher.

    The two of them continued to talk for a bit while the young future knights recovered and once, they had Dame Herta who was Tessa'' master suggested they all go and get a drink together.

    Since everyone had time to spare and getting a drink sounded fun, all of them readily agreed except for Cain who said he need to be there for his master.

    ''Looks like he did manage to get it through his thick skull that he is not inherently above anyone just for being a knight. Though I wonder how his master is going to take this, I get the feeling he is a sore loser that is set in his ways.''

    With just ast fleeting thought towards the wellbeing of Cain, Marcus headed out of the training area they had been using and joined the group of nine on their journey to a bar.

    Around twenty minutester, they had made it to a tavern called The Frozen Nightingale, which Sir Darian frequented.

    Walking inside to the establishment the employees quickly recognized Sir Darian and brought their group to the nicest table.

    "Wow you have been holding out on us Darian, you had such a nice ce you go to, but you never took any of us before." Adrianna said with a teasing tone.

    "Well, this has only been my regr spot for a couple of weeks, andst time I took you to get a drink you ended up drunk and got into a fight with a band of mouthy adventures."

    With her face turning slightly red Adriana grumbled and said, "Ugh why did you have to tell everyone that, it was like five months ago, and those adventures started the fight."

    After that everyone began snickering andughing much to Adriana''s dismay, until the waitress serving them came with a round of drinks and put them on the table and said, "This round is on the house for Sir Darian and his friends. We are still really grateful that you dealt with those hoodlums that were extorting us."

    The waitress then left the table to their free drinks as everyone clicked there cups together and got to drinking.

    The unlikely group of knights and a baress continued to enjoy a bit of revelry drinking and eating for a couple of hours.

    In fact, at one point Adrianna even challenged Marcus to a drinking contest.

    Unfortunately for Adrianna, Marcus had a bottomless pit for a stomach and could not get drunk, so after nearly a dozen drinks even with her strong constitution Adrianna lost passing out drunk.

    "Damn Irene you look so dainty and fragile, but you really can put them away. Your face does not even look flushed." Said, Kieran who was the only one that was still sober other than Marcus.

    Seeing the inquisitive look on Kieran''s face, Marcus not wanting to divulge his unlimited stomach capacity leaned over and said, "I have been cheating, I stored most of the alcohol in my item box as I was drinking it."

    Kieran with a surprised face look at Marcus and then to Adrianna before saying, "That was dirty." And the two of them burst out intoughter.

    The merrimentsted for just a bit longer as those that had gotten smashed tried to sober up a bit before heading out, and when everyone was more lucid other than Adrianna who was still passed out, they all started to go their separate ways.

    "Make sure she gets home okay, she really put herself through he ringer with all of those drinks." Marcus said, to risa who currently had Adrianna slumped over her shoulders.

    Nodding her head risa adjusted Adrianna who was sliding off and said, "Thanks for what you did today. I think deep down I had already understood the lesson you and my master wanted to teach us, but I still went along with acting superior just because the others were as well. Now I got to get master home before she wakes up and makes things more difficult for me. See you around Irene."

    Waving goodbye, Marcus made his way back to Blitz who was tied up nearby and began making his way home.

    Getting back to his estate Marcus said hello to the maid on duty before heading to his workshop where he pulled out a number of items and got to work on making a few things.

    ''It is traditional to give a gift when visiting another noble, and my meeting with Wade''s mother ising up soon so I need to make something that will make her not look down on me.''

    Taking his tools off of the wall, Marcus got to work on something special for the duchess he was going to be meeting within just a couple of days.

 Chapter 177 - 176 Meeting With The Duchess

    It was now the day of his meeting with Duchess, and Marcus was still hard at work making the gift he had nned to give the high ranking noble.

    Marcus knew he could not just give her anything, as a duchess there was little she could not obtain herself.

    But if Marcus made her something exquisite like the pair of weapons he had made for risa, it woulde off as him almost trying to bribe the family for political favor. However, too small of a gift would be and insult, so Marcus had been working painstakingly on a gift that had the Goldilocks Factor, neither too hot nor too cold.

    ''Finally, it is done. When I set out to make this, I never thought it would have been more difficult than the pair of swords I made risa, but I had to test out dozens of formations I was making from scratch. Luckily the enchantment is pretty simple it just required a lot of trial and error to get where it is.''

    Examining the finished product he had painstakingly worked on, Marcus gave it a quick once over, testing to see that it worked properly, and when he was satisfied by its effect stored it in a small gift box he had prepared.

    ''Now I need a bath, I am covered in soot and cks of metal.''

    Putting his hard made gift into his item box, Marcus exited his workshop and made his way back to his mansion and straight to the bath.

    After washing himself off, Marcus entered the massive tub filled with warm water and slid in letting out a relieved sigh.

    Sitting in the bath and rxing, Marcus opened up hist status and went to the skill menu to look for certain types of skills.

    After fighting against Amara, Marcus realized that he needed some form of detection skill since invisible opponents could cause him difficulty if he only relied on danger sense.

    ''Hm there are a number of good skills that could help me like enhanced hearing or heat vision. The only problem is I only have three skill points and they are too expensive right now. Ah wait here is one that only cost three skill points for me.''

    Coming across a skill called life sense, Marcus quickly read through its description and purchased the skill immediately.

    With his new skill acquired Marcus activated the ability and he could now pick of the signatures of living beings within a ten-foot radius.

    ''Well, there is nothing giving me a signal within ten feet, but I suppose that is to be ex- wait I just felt something.''

    Looking over to his right Marcus saw a small beetle crawling across the bathroom floor and had just entered the effective area of his ability.

    ''Hm, it did not make much of a signal, but I suppose the life force of a beetle is not high. Well at least I know the skill works.''

    Content with the skill he had picked up at the expense of the rest of his skill points, Marcus continued to soak for another few minutes before getting out and drying off.

    Now clean and rxed, Marcus went back to his room where he picked out a light blue dress to wear to his meeting with the duchess.

    With his clothing picked out Marcus made his way downstairs where he found ra who was ready to apany him to the Ophiria estate.

    Walking out the front door Marcus already found Blitz hooked up to his carriage with Amy acting as the coachman.

    Entering inside along with ra, Marcus sat down and tried to calm down since he was beginning to get a bit nervous, since he was still not sure what the duchess wanted to speak with him about.

    Traveling along the streets of the city after for nearly an hour the estate of the Ophiria family came into view, and Marcus looked out at the massive building that dwarfed his own.

    ''Wow, the mansion looks like it is bigger than one hundred thousand square feet. Actually, scratch it being a mansion that is a pce. They could easily fit three of my homes inside theirs and mine used to be owned by a Marquess which is only one rank lower.''

    Staring at the massive building that was the biggest he had seen sinceing to this world, Marcus could not help but gulp. The massive size of the pce showed just how much power and wealth the Ophiria family had.

    Driving up to the main gate, Amy who was acting as the coachman stopped and a pair of guards approached her asking what business she had here.

    At that point she handed over the letter of invitation Marcus had received from the duchess, and a minuteter when the guards had verified the authenticity of the letter the gates opened, allowing Marcus and his apanying maids entered the premises.

    Riding along it was not long before his carriage stopped in front of the main entrance and Marcus and ra got out leaving Amy to go and park the carriage.

    Approaching the front door, Marcus was quickly greeted by a number of servants who led Marcus and ra through the pce that was far grander than anything Marcus had ever seen.

    Walking down a couple of hallways, Marcus was led to the drawing room where he saw the duchess sitting with four servants around her and arge man decked out in full armor behind her.

    In fact, the man behind her was radiating a certain aura and Marcus did not even need to appraise him to know he was quite high level.

    ''A full suit of mithril armor, and his weapon is made out of adamantine. He is strong, I am not sure I could beat him even if I went all out.''

    While looking over the obviously powerful knight standing behind the duchess as her protector, Marcus felt ra give him a slight push on the back urging him to continue walking.

    Recovering after having stopped and stared at the duchess'' guard, Marcus made his way into he room where he bowed and said, "It is an honor to meet you Duchess Ophiria and thank you for the invitation into your home."

    Waiting for the duchess'' reply, Marcus continued to bow until she said, "Yes, it is also nice to meet you as well. I have heard much about you from my grandmother and Wade. Though your reputation has also gotten around since you have been epted as Thabon zegram''s apprentice. Now feel free to sit down and make yourselffortable, I have much I wish to discuss with you."

    With the duchess'' permission Marcus sat down on the couch that was facing her and ra took up a position behind him.

    "Ah but before we get into any discussion, I have brough a gift for your grace."

    Taking out the little gift box from his item box, Marcus ced it on the table that situated between the two and slid it over to the other side.

    Once he had done that one of the maids that were around the duchess went and picked it up before handing the box to the knight standing behind her.

    He then began examining it for a few moments before opening the box and checking the contents inside.

    While this was going on Duchess Ophiria smiled towards Marcus and said, "I hope you understand that Sir Dru is just looking out for my safety. Every gift I receive has to be inspected first since while notmon, other people have sent trapped boxes or cursed gifts in the past."

    Nodding his head, Marcus made sure to keep that in mind for the future in case he ever received any dubious gifts in the future.

    A bit under a minuteter Sir Dru was satisfied that the item Marcus had given was harmless and handed the box to the duchess.

    The duchess took the gift out and examined the mithril hairclip that Marcus had made for her.

    "My this is a lovely hairclip; it is even made out of mithril and the craftmanship is excellent. Where perchance did you get this, most artisans would not use mithril for such an item."

    Happy to see the genuine curiosity on the duchess'' face, Marcus said with a proud expression, "Actually I made that hairclip personally and it is also an enchanted item. If you wish, clip it to your hair and apply a bit of mana to it."

    The duchess with an inquisitive look put the hairclip in her hair and applied some mana, and in just a few seconds her hair actually arranged itself into a perfect bun.

    The duchess looked wide eyed as she brought her hand up to her hair and then look at Marcus in disbelief.

    She then applied some more mana, and her hair went back to normal, before changing into a braid.

    With an astounded face the duchess looked at Marcus and said, "Lady Irene, however, did you make such an item. I have never even heard of something simr. And there are even ten more formations on this clip what other styles does it do."

    Marcus seeing the duchess'' interest told her that the clip allowed her to change between eight different hairstyles and could also change the color of her hair to blonde, brown, red, or ck.

    After his exnation the duchess began ying around with the hairclip going through the options of hairstyle and hair color.

    This went on for another three minutes before one of the maids bent over and whispered into the duchess ear and she looked at Marcus with a slightly embarrassed face.

    "Sorry about that Lady Irene, I seem to have lost myself in this fantastic gift you have given me. I must say that it is truly an ingenious item, and your reputation as a genius may not be just for show. Ah but now how about we get down to business.. I have asked you here today because I would like you toe and work for the Ophiria family as our personal forgemaster."

 Chapter 178 - 177 Meeting With The Duchess (2)

    Staring at the duchess who had just offered to recruit him as her family''s personal forgemaster, Marcus was about to deny her offer when the duchess noticing the apprehension on his face said, "Now before you refuse, at least allow me to go over the finer details of what this arrangement would entail."

    Nodding his head, Marcus put on a stered smile realizing he had started frowning earlier and thest thing he wanted was to upset the duchess and make an enemy out of her.

    "Very good, then first off, we would not want to severe your rtionship with the zegram Forge and even if you worked for us, you would still be able to sell items up to a certain quality at the forge''s shop. Of course, if you wished to make more than basic enchanted mithril items you would need to receive the permission from the family, since we would not want you making high grade items for our rivals. Ah but if you just wanted to make something for yourself or family members you would not need our permission. And we would also want you to make weapons, armor, and other items for us when asked for as well as perform maintenance. In return for these conditions, we will supply you with a fully functioning workshop with the best tools and a staff at your disposal. You will also be provided with any materials that would be needed in the forging of any items the family requires, as well as a steady supply of materials and money for your own personal use. These materials of course would include any possible metals you could use, even adamantine. Please consider this offer for a bit, I promise it is quite good and many forgemasters would jump at the chance to be backed by a powerful family such as ours."

    After the duchess had given her pitch Marcus was actually tempted to agree. Getting materials was bing increasingly hard as he got more advanced with forging, and from what he heard from Gurrom getting adamantine was next to impossible. Very little of it would ever even make it to the market and it was always sold at exorbitant prices.

    ''Unfortunately, I have no intention of being tied down to one ce and as much as I enjoy forging, I also n to explore this world thoroughly. Damn but I really do want that adamantine. No there are other ways to obtain materials, and even if it takes more time, that is one thing I have plenty of.''

    Toiling with his possibilities for a bit, Marcus soon concluded that there was no way he could ever tie himself down.

    However, he did want to know one thing before he refused the duchess'' offer and asked, "If it is not too rude, could I know why you want me, surely as one of the four ducal houses you could get any number of forgemasters."

    "Yes of course there are a number of forgemasters we have been considering, but while some of them may have more experience than you, none are as promising. At the age of twenty you already rank in the top of forgemasters, meaning you have the highest potential to reach levels above the others. And of course, you already have a rtionship with my son Wade and my Grandmother Aria, so your character is assured. And the reason for the sudden offer is that our current forgemaster is getting old and retiring. In fact, I believe you were eyeing his work earlier, Sir Dru would you mind showing Lady Irene your sword."

    The knight standing behind the duchess as her protector hesitated for a moment not wanting to relinquish his weapon, but after a stern look from the duchess took out his sword and handed it over to her.

    The duchess then handed the sword over to Marcus, and he slowly slid the de out of its sheath to examined it.

    ''I have not had much opportunity to examine adamantine, but it seems to be pretty high quality. Unfortunately, their forgemaster either does not know how to use celestial tinum or choose not to on this weapon. However, the enchantments are still top notch and this weapon just by being made of adamantine is better than anything I could make.''

    Looking over the sword for a good ten minutes, Marcus wanted even more to get his hands on some adamantine. Nevertheless, even if he did have adamantine, his current skill level did not allow him to work with it.

    Once he had fully examined the adamantine sword, Marcus slid it back into its sheath and handed it back to the duchess who returned it to Sir Dru.

    "So, have you made up your mind."

    "Yes, I have. As much as I am humbled by your offer, at my core I am an adventure. I want to go out and see what the world has to offer and that would not be possible if I was contracted to your family. I hope you understand my decision and there are no hard feelings."

    Her smile falling from her face, the duchess looked at Marcus with determination and said, "Are you sure. If you wish we can allow for you to take extend tours around the kingdom to see the sites and explore. You would not be chained to an anvil forced to work day in and day out like a ve, you would still have your freedom. In fact, we would even be willing to send guards along with you as is normal for a traveling noble. There are also ces that you could not ess right now but with our political influence you could go to even those areas that are most protected. There are any number of benefits to aligning yourself to us and all we ask for in return is a bit of your time and expertise."

    The duchess waiting for Marcus'' response had a confident smile returning to her face as she waited for Marcus reply.

    "As amazing as that sounds, there will likelye a time when I will leave the Kingdom of Borealia for years if not decades to traverse other countries and even continents. Of course, I will always think of this ce as my home and wille back from time to time, but I do not n to be anchored here. This world is too big for me to stay in one ce my whole life."

    After hearing Marcus spirited rejection, the duchess let out a long sigh as her shoulders slumped down and she said, "Well I suppose that this was to be expected but I was still hoping to entice you. Well, if you ever get bored with adventuring feel free toe back and the offer will still stand."

    Nodding his head, Marcus thanked the duchess for her time and offer and said, "Should I ever want to settle down I will be sure toe back to ept your offer, and as long as I am in the capital, I would be more than happy to work onmissions for you."

    The duchess simply nodded at Marcus saying she may have something for him to work on in the future.

    With the primary reason for their meeting over, Marcus and the duchess made small talk for a few more minutes, mostly talking about Wade and Aria, until Marcus decided it was time to take his leave.

    However, as he was on his way out the duchess said to him.

    "Make sure to be careful, we are not the only ones who have taken notice of your talents. You are likely to receive other offers now that you are Thabon''s apprentice, and your skills are bing widely known."

    With thatst warning the duchess left Marcus heading into the depths of the pce along with her guardian Sir Dru.

    The meeting now over, Marcus was led by a maid to the exit of the pce where Amy was already waiting with the carriage.

    Entering inside Marcus and his maids began making the drive back home.

    Arriving back home, Marcus saw off both ra and Amy who had apanied him to see the duchess and went to his room where he nned to rest for the day.

    ''That was exhausting. Dealing with nobles really takes it out of me especially when they are that high ranking. I am just d that I was able to leave amicably since if a high-ranking noble wanted to make my life hell, they certainly could. Of course, I can always just leave without much problem, but Lilia has just gotten settled in. I suppose I should bring her with me to go training for the uing tournament. Right now, I am still not confident that she would be able topletely take care of herself. Okay after the meeting with her friend''s parents she can take a bit off time off of school toe with me.''

    With the thought of making Lilia stronger, Marcus began adjusting his original training n to include her and came to the conclusion that their was only one ce to go.

    ''It is a bit far away but if I want to level Lilia up fast and get stronger myself, there is nowhere better in the kingdom, The Cordelia Depths Dungeon.''

 Chapter 179 - 178 Getting Together With Liliaâ€™s Friendsâ€™ Parents

    Having finished making a detailed n for his training trip with Lilia and Roxene, Marcus decided to get some sleep since it had been the a few days since thest time he had let his mind rest.

    Laying down in hisrgefortable bed Marcus shut off his mind like a light bulb and entered the world of the unconscious.

    ˇ­

    A couple of days passed by, and it was now time for him to meet with the parents of Lilia''s friends.

    Marcus hade down the stairs to find that the pastries he had asked to be made as gifts being prepared by Ste and Leah.

    At first, he had thought about giving out the same hairclips he had made for the duchess, but he soon realized those would only appeal to the women and since this was a much less formal gathering would seem excessive.

    Taking one of the cream puffs that was being made, Marcus plopped it into his mouth and began eating it carefully assessing the taste.

    ''Damn these are good. Ste recently got her cooking skill up to level four and everything she makes has be just a bit more delicious. Makes me a bit jealous since my skill is only at level three. Maybe once the tournament is over, I can spend some time leveling up my cooking skill.''

    Taking another cream puff and eating it, Marcus began thinking with his void like stomach instead of his head for a while, nearly deciding to abandon the life of a forgemaster and adventurer to pursue the culinary arts.

    After his brief moment of food-based irrationality, Marcus came back to his senses and stopped eating the items he was nning to bring as gifts.

    When the cream puffs were ready, Marcus stored the boxes they had been sealed in within his item box assuring that they would not receive any damage on the trip to his destination.

    With everything now set Marcus said goodbye to Ste and Leah and went to find Hazel and Elianna who were going to be apanying him.

    With the two maids in tow Marcus exited his estate and boarded his carriage as the two maids got onto the coachman''s stand.

    ''Hopefully Lilia''s friends'' parents will be nice. Judging by how their children became friends with Lilia it is likely but when ites to nobles, they either seem to be quite nice or absolute snobs. I have met plenty of both and with luck none of the nobles I am meeting today will be on the snobby spectrum.''

    After traveling for around thirty minutes or so, Marcus had made it to his destination which was the estate of Baron Kental.

    Of the nobles meeting today he had the estate that was closest to the middle of everyone else''s, so he had ultimately been chosen as the one to host their little get together.

    Approaching the front gate Marcus was quickly let in and then led to the area that everyone had gathered at.

    On his property the baron had arge green house and it had been determined as the most fitting ce for everyone to meet.

    Being led inside the green house Marcus quickly saw the table where five other people were sitting meaning that Marcus was the second tost to arrive.

    Looking them over Marcus was able to identify Baron Kental and his wife since both of them were sitting at the front of the table, following them were a couple he assumed to be Sir and Lady Hinsen, and sitting by herself was Baress Brenato who Marcus knew was a widower.

    ''That means the only ones missing are the Skalbec''s whose son is the one Lilia has a crush on. At least I assume it should be them since apparently one of them is an elf and no one currently here is an elf.''

    Walking up to them, Marcus first bowed to the baron and his wife offering them a greeting and introducing himself.

    Afterwards they returned his greeting and then Marcus addressed the other nobles and got slightly more acquainted with them.

    "Looks like we are only waiting on Viscount and Viscountess Skalbeck, though as the highest-ranking noble attending it makes since for them toest." Sir Hinsen said with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

    Giving him a slight side eye Baress Brenato said, "I am sure they will be along shortly, how about in that time we get to know each other a little better and discuss what each of us do since this is the first time for all of us to meet."

    After that she looked towards the Baron expectantly, waiting for him to continue the conversation.

    "Very well then as the host I suppose I will go first. I am in charge of therge atrium within the royal castle that grows food, herbs, and even natural treasures year-round for the royal family. My family has long held this position and as you can see by our impable green house, are well versed in the subject of nts both normal and magical."

    Hearing this Marcus looked at the baron in a new light since managing such an important institution must have been quite prestigious. This was also the first time Marcus had heard of natural treasures being grown by people.

    ''Impressive I wonder what kind of techniques and magic they employ in order to grow items like natural treasures. As far as I know they only normally appear in location that are rich in mana and some of them even have innate defenses. Of course, you can get them from chest in dungeons as well, but in that scenario you have to defeat a boss monster.''

    While Marcus was thinking about how impressive it was that the kingdom had found a way to cultivate natural treasures, Sir Hinsen began telling what he and his wife did.

    "I am currently the guardian knight for the fifteenth princess her highness Eis Borealia, and my wife is herdy in waiting."

    Everyone except Marcus seemed impressed since being a guardian knight for one of the royal family was quite prestigious and showed that your strength was quite high.

    Marcus on the other hand was thinking about how the king must get around seeing as he had at least fifteen daughters and who knows how man sons.

    ''I already knew that there were at least thirteen princesses because of Mrazivy, but damn the king needs to calm down. I know that he has like six wives but still that is way too many children.''

    Once Sir Hinsen was finished, the others looked towards Marcus to tell about himself next, except until the baron pretended to cough to get his attention Marcus had been lost in his thoughts.

    "Ah sorry. Unlike both Sir Hinsen and Baron Kental my profession has no connection to the royal family, I am actually a forgemaster."

    Upon telling everyone that he was a forgemaster both the baron and his wife grimaced a bit, and while Baress Brenato did not show any outward signs of disapproval her eyes betrayed her slight dislike.

    On the other hand, Sir Hinsen actually seemed to be quite impressed by Marcus, probably owing to him being a knight and his appreciation for finer equipment.

    Of course, Marcus figured that he might get reactions like this since being a forgemaster was not normally considered a noble profession, and only a few were considered prestigious for their long line of expert forgemasters.

    However, once he said that he was the new apprentice of Thabon zegram everyone''s tune changed.

    All of them seemed to know who Thabon was seeing as he is the greatest forgemaster currently in the kingdom, and being his apprentice put Marcus up on a higher pedestal.

    "Lady Irene I know this might be rude, but would you mind looking at my weapon. It has been in my family for years and it is one of our treasures, and I was wondering if I could get your experts opinion on it." Sir Hinsen said with a gleam in his eyes.

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed, and much to everyone else''s dismay Sir Hinsen took out a long spear and handed it over to Marcus.

    Inspecting the mithril spear Marcus found it to be of a superior quality.

    ''The person who made this put a lot of effort into it. They even used celestial tinum from the strength and number of the enchantments. Well, it is far better than my current scythe, but it falls just a bit under the pair of swords I mad for risa. Still good but not at the top.''

    After looking over the spear, Marcus handed it back over to Sir Hinsen and said, "It is a good spear, almost top quality. I would have to put in a good amount of effort to make something of a simr quality or better."

    Sir Hinsen Looked at Marcus in surprise when he said he could make a weapon of simr quality and said, "Lady Irene you are telling me you could make another weapon as good as this one? Of every forgemasters I have seen, all of them told me that the enchantments on this spear were beyond them and that only true masters could make something like this. Please tell me, how much would it cost to have you make a weapon of this quality."

    With a fervent look on his face Sir Hinsen had actually stood up from his seat as he looked at Marcus with expectant eyes.

    The other nobles around the table unfortunately, all looked a bit peeved by Sir Hinsen''s outburst and Marcus was not sure what to do.

    ''I suppose this guy must not have gone to any of the forgemasters who know how to use celestial tinum. I guess that would actually be normal since from what Thabon told me only around fifty people in the capital know that secret. Though it looks like the others are a bit angry that the conversation has been derailed so I should try and steer things back towards our original topic.''

    "As much as I am ttered by your interest, we all came here to get to know each other because of my little sister and your children''s friendship. I would ask that if you want to discuss business, we do it at ater time in a more formal setting."

    Sir Hinsen then looked around and saw the expression''s on the other people''s faces and sat back down and gave brief apology for his outburst.

    After that everyone looked towards Baress Brenato who was thest to go.

    "Yes, I am currently the owner of arge textile and garment business within the capital. We manufacture both high end clothing for nobles andmon wear.. In fact, I believe the dress Lady Irene is wearing was made by mypany."

 Chapter 180 - 179 A Plot Discovered

    With Baress Brenato finishing up the conversation on what professions everyone at the table had, the conversation quickly switched over to the nts that the Baron was currently growing in his green house.

    Though this conversation did notst long as soon thest guests that wereing arrived.

    "Sorry that we arrivedte, me and my wife had a meeting this morning and it went a bit longer than anticipated. But we are here now, so I hope we have not caused to much of a disruption."

    Walking in was a fairly young-looking man with light blonde hair who would definitely be considered attractive but the one who gathered everyone''s attention was the woman standing next to him.

    She was an elf with pale skin, snow white hair, and crystal blue eyes. She would have definitely been considered extremely beautiful even for nobles who seemed to be above average in attractiveness across the board.

    ''Hm, she looks kind of familiar, but I am pretty sure we have never met.''

    As the two of them walked in everyone stood up and bowed since they were the highest-ranking nobles to attend this gathering, and afterwards the Viscount and Viscountess bowed towards the Baron and his wife as a show of respect since they were the hosts.

    After that everyone sat down and Baron Kental addressed Viscount Skalbeck and said, "It is a pleasure to see you again Viscount Skalbeck and Viscountess Valorre. We have just finished a discussion about each of our professions so if you would not mind while I know what it is you do would you like to tell the others."

    ''Wait they have differentst names that is unusual, in fact this is the first time I have heard of this. Maybe it has something to do with her being an elf.''

    While Marcus was in though about the surprising difference inst names between the viscount and the viscountess. the two of them began discussing what they did for a living.

    "I was actually within thest year appointed the position of foreign trade councilor, so I make sure to collect the information on goodsing and going from the kingdom and rmending actions based the kingdom''s interest. Of course, my job is far moreplicated than just that but going into the finer details could very well take a whole week." The viscount said ending with a slight chuckle.

    "Ah and my wife here I am sure as you have noticed is an elf, and she is actually the current ambassador with the kingdom for the Ice Elf City Gleann Reota which is located deep within the Verkoudhied Mountains."

    With a surprised expression Marcus looked at the Viscountess with curiosity. He had not heard of this Ice Elf city, but he knew that the Verkoudhied Mountains were located in the western part of the kingdom and were even bigger than the Himyan mountain range on Earth.

    The Viscountess seeing Marcus'' intense gaze smiled at him and said, "Do you perhaps have an interest in our city Lady Geist. It is a difficult ce to get to both in the journey and politically. We do not often allow outsiders but since our child and your little sister are close friends, I could probably arrange a visit if you wished."

    Hearing this Marcus was even more stunned, he had already seen a number of fantastical sites sinceing to this world, but the possibility of visiting and elven city was quite alluring.

    In fact, as surprised as Marcus looked so did everyone else including the viscountess'' husband.

    "Bianca are you sure, I know that her sister Lilia is close to ric, but you have to get special permission even to bring me to the city. I am not sure your grandfather would be happy if you brough along Lady Geist."

    However, Bianca simply waved off her husband saying it would be fine.

    After that the others quickly went over what they did again, and the group slowly got more acquainted with each other and soon began talking about the kids that had brought their group together.

    "So, your daughter Vania wants to be an adventure Baron Kental." Baress Brenato said with a bit of dismay.

    "Yes, the girl got her nose stuck into too many stories about the exploits of past adventures, most of which are exaggerated tales. And when I told her that adventuring did not fit a youngdy like her she shoved a book in my face that detailed the early life of the first king and hispanions who were adventures before establishing the kingdom."

    The baron looked quite concerned about his daughter''s future though Marcus thought being an adventure was fine since it allowed you to live more freely.

    Unfortunately, the other nobles around who were all from long lines that were used to continuing tradition did not have the same outlook, so Marcus kept his mouth shut as to not antagonize them.

    The conversation went on and soon the Viscountess asked Marcus what his little sister was nning to do.

    With a nonchnt expression Marcus said, "I do not know what Lilia might want to do in the future. Right now, I am letting her get and education and experience so she can make that choice when she is ready. She is free to do whatever she wants, and I n to support her choice."

    The other nobles after hearing Marcus'' answer looked at him like he was some kind of rare and weird beast, since for them their children''s future had pretty much been determined at birth.

    However, Marcus could have sworn he saw a slight smile on the viscountess'' face when he said this.

    "That is right you are the first generation of your family. Well, I suppose that she is just your sister so it is unlikely she would inherit your title anyway. That also reminds me, you are not married Lady Irene, do you happen to have fianc¨¦, because if not our second son ising of age this year." Baron Kental said with a big grin on his face.

    Marcus internally shuddered hearing this, one because he had no intention of getting married anytime soon if at all, two because in this kingdom people became adults at the age of fifteen and for Marcus that was still definitely a kid, and third he had no interest in men even if he was currently in the form of a woman.

    "No, I have no intention of marrying anyone at this time, though I am humbled by the offer."

    Marcus quickly shot down the offer and the baron shrugged his shoulders figuring it was a long shot anyways.

    A few momentster a number of servants entered the green house carrying a number of trays which held the lunch that was being served.

    Among the items ced out was a wide variety of vegetables and fruits likely grown in the very greenhouse they were in.

    And along with the pristine produce provided, the main course was some type of bird that had been dressed in a delicious smelling herb sauce.

    Once the food had been ced on the table everyone began eating and Marcus had to control himself from excessively eating the delicious assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables that were difficult to obtain during the winter.

    After finishing off lunch a dessert of a number of different fruit tarts along with the cream puffs that Marcus had brought wereid out in front of them.

    However, before they began eating them the viscount leaned over to his wife and whispered something in her ear.

    She then nodded and stood up heading towards a small tform in the room.

    Everyone was looking a bit confused until the viscount said, "I asked my wife if she would be willing to give us a bit of entertainment while we enjoyed this dessert. She happens to be an excellent singer one of the best I have ever heard so I am sure all of you will enjoy."

    The baron nodded his head giving his approval as the host and soon the viscountess began singing.

    ''Her voice certainly is lovely, but I am getting a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu. I am certain I have never met her before, but this song sounds familiar.''

    Marcus continued to search through his mind wondering why the viscountess seemed so familiar to him when it came back to him.

    Around eight months ago Marcus had met with a simr looking female elf that ran a high-end hotel in River Landing. During his stay there the owner Maryam Valorre had tried to arrange a marriage between his sister and her grandson. Marcus had vehemently refuse the offer and Lilia herself looked scared that she might be married away. After that Marcus had put the experience into the back of his mind never thinking he would have to deal with it again.

    ''Maryam Valorre, Bianca Valorre? She is Maryam''s daughter. How did I not see this earlier; she looks quite a bit like her mother, and I should have realized it when I heard Lilia''s description of ric, white hair and pointy ears showing his elven heritage.''

    Marcus began ring at he beautiful Ice Elf that was currently singing wanting to go up and rip her head off for ying with Lilia''s feelings.

    Marcus was now certain that ric''s little rescue Lilia talked about was not some coincidence, it had been nned from the very start.

    The only thing that still left Marcus baffled was why.. What could be so valuable about having ric marry Lilia to go through this much effort.

 Chapter 181 - 180 Nothing To Be Done

    With anger welling up inside him, the air around Marcus began to rapidly decrease in temperature, and frost even began to form around him and was spreading.

    It was not long before even those that were engrossed in Bianca''s singing noticed the sudden chill in the air and the ice that was now spreading across the table.

    "Lady Irene what is going on?" Viscount Skalbeck said with worry.

    Hearing the distress in the viscount''s voice, Marcus finally noticed that in his anger his chill zone ability had started to go rampant and the area around him was now covered in ice.

    ''Fuck, I lost control of my emotions. Damn think quick I need to exin this away somehow.''

    Racking his mind Marcus swiftly said, "Sorry about that everyone, the viscountess'' song was beautiful, but it made me remember a painful experience that happened not too long ago where my and Lilia''s parents were killed, and I seem to have lost control of one of my abilities."

    Quickly covering up his blunder, Marcus managed to get the others sympathy and direct their attention away from his icy outburst and onto a sad moment from his past.

    "My that certainly was a surprise though, perhaps you have a bit of ice elf blood in you Lady Irene, since when my wife is either sad or angry, she can affect the temperature as well, though not quite to this degree."

    After Marcus'' freezing disaster, the group moved to another area as the table they had been sitting at was now covered in frost and ice and many of the desserts were ruined.

    Marcus apologized fervently and luckily no one seemed to be holding it against him too much since it was just a minor disturbance.

    "Still to think that you could affect the temperature to such a degree without using any magic. Would you mind telling me what skill that was." Baress Brenato asked with genuine curiosity.

    "I am afraid I do not know what it is exactly, it is not a skill perse but maybe some ability I have, possibly from sometent ancestor."

    With no better option Marcus decided to y on what the viscount had said earlier about him possibly having ice elf blood, since under no circumstance, was he going toe right out and say he was a ghost.

    A number of questionster and a huge pile of bs, Marcus had managed to satiate the curiosity of the nobles that wanted to know more about his strange ability, and they all sat down at a new table where more desserts were brought out.

    While eating the desserts half heartedly now that he had calmed down, Marcus began thinking about how to deal with the current situation with Lilia and the nobles that had set their sights on her.

    ''Why are they so interested in Lilia? It cannot be for her status; she is only my sister, and my rank is the second from the bottom. Their family is well cemented in the kingdom and are even dignitaries from the Ice Elf City, so they have far more political power than I do. Lilia may be strong for her age and level, but it is still not enough, and as strong as I have gotten, I doubt they see having a rtionship with me as that vital. Maybe if this had started after I became Thabon''s apprentice I could understand it slightly, but this has been going on for a while.''

    Thinking long and hard Marcus could note up with a credible reason for the Valorre family to be so interested in Lilia or him by extension.

    Unfortunately, Marcus did not know that blessings were often passed down hereditarily and that they were hoping to add the blessing of iron to their bloodline.

    Of course, Lilia actually had no rtion to the blessing of iron since it belonged to Marcus from before his fateful encounter with Irene.

    If the Valorre family knew this, they would never have targeted Lilia and would have made a push for Marcus even if he would have been a harder target.

    Nevertheless, because neither side hade a grasp of the full picture the current situation was how it was.

    ''Do I just forbid her from seeing this boy ric. No that is unlikely to work, as far as she is concerned, he is her hero. She has already be infatuated with him to a certain degree and the two are currently pretty close friends. She may do as I say and break ties with him, but it will probably make her unhappy and she could fall back into a depression. There is also the possibility she would just pretend to do as I say and still see him in secret and when she bes an adult run off. Should I just have him meet and unfortunate ident, a quick possession and a fall from the roof of a building and then it is done. But I am not sure exactly how close they are and worst-case scenario I could cause a Romeo and Juliet situation.''

    As Marcus considered a number of possibilities for how to get out of the situation Lilia had fallen into without causing her harm, Marcus began entertaining ideas of killing everyone here, then the boy ric, or he could chain Lilia up at home and never let her out.

    However, Marcus knew as much as he wanted to, their was probably no situation in which Lilia did not end up sad. He also wanted her to live life the way she wanted, but he was still angry from the maniption that was going on around her.

    ''Damn what am I going to do, even if I tell Lilia that her friendship was because of noble meddling what would it really matter. This is why I did not want to have this stupid title in the first ce. If it was just me, I could brush things like this off without much worry, but Lilia is a preteen girl and is still incredibly fragile from the vers killing her family and kidnapping her.''

    With no immediate solutioning to him Marcus decided to at least have a "talk" with Bianca Valorre and ask why they are so interested in Lilia.

    After dessert had been finished and everyone began some idle chatter, Marcus approached the viscountess and said, "Lady Valorre would you mind if I talked with you in private for a bit."

    At the same time Marcus exerted his phantom pressure for a fraction of a second, causing the viscountess to go pale and nearly fall out of her seat onto the ground.

    The viscountess with a tinge of fear in her eyes could tell that Marcus was not going to take no for an answer, and not wanting to feel whatever force had been applied to her again, agreed since she also had much to discuss with Marcus.

    Walking to another room within the green house that was filled with rare flowers, Marcus began to have it out with Viscountess Valorre.

    "Why are you and your mother so interested in marrying your son to my sister. I am sure that you have better options than the sister of a bottom tier noble with few connections like me. In fact, your mother has been at this from before I was even given this title so what is it you are after."

    Looking at Marcus with cold eyes for a moment Bianca sighed and said, "Listen I just did what my mom asked and told ric to try and get close to your sister. She told me that you have the blessing of iron and that even if your sister does not, any children she has will likely have a good chance of obtaining it because you have it. Now I understand why my mother wants to do this but frankly other than telling ric to get close with Lilia I did nothing else. What happened between the two of them was not some borate plot on my or my mother''s part. I understand that you are angry that things seem to be manipted towards something you did not want, but what of it. You said that you were going to let your sister make her own choices so if she and my ric develop feeling for each other that is fine. I have not told him to try and court her just to try and be her friend, whatever happens is between them."

    After giving her impassioned exnation Marcus stood there with a conflicted expression.

    A part of him really wanted to kill the woman in front of him for having a part in toying with the one person on this world he really cared about, but he was certain that would not solve any problems.

    ''Is there anything I can do to alleviate this situation. Do I just go on pretending I do not know and let Lilia continue getting close to this boy? There is the saying ignorance is blissˇ­ no Lilia may still be young but keeping this from her would be wrong. I will just have to tell her what is happening and make sure she is strong enough to take care of herself. Of course, what Bianca said could have been a lie as well or even if it is the truth the mother could still be scheming with ric.. There are a couple of days left before I am going to leave with Lilia for the Cordelia Depths Dungeon, during that time even if it might be an invasion of privacy, I think a little ghostly reconnaissance is in order.''

 Chapter 182 - 181 Helicopter Marcus

    While Marcus was still mad at the shady maneuvering that the Valorre family had done in a move that he found out was an attempt to gain the blessing of iron from Lilia (though she has no ess to it anyway) there was nothing much he could do.

    He still nned to tell Lilia the truth about ric being the grandson of Maryam who had tried to make an arranged marriage between the two of them before, but not until after the training trip they were going on was over.

    Also, before they left Marcus was nning to use his ghostly abilities to observe Lilia and ric, and make sure that thetter was not up to no good.

    ''Depending on his intentions I may have to set him straight or even make him disappear if him being around would hurt Lilia more.''

    When it came to Lilia, Marcus had grown very protective of her. In fact, in the entire world, she was probably the only one he would be willing to risk his life for, at least for the moment.

    With his thoughts now straightened out, Marcus looked towards Bianca Valorre who was still in the room with him and said, "Fine for now there is not much I can do if it is Lilia''s choice, but you can be sure I will tell her about how her meeting with ric was not a random encounter. After that I will let her make whatever choice she wants. But know this, if your son ever intentionally hurts my little sister there is not a force on this world that can stop my wrath."

    After giving thatst warning to Bianca, Marcus left the room and headed back to where the other nobles were mingling.

    Copsing onto her knees now that Marcus was gone, Bianca felt a cold chill on her spine and a sense of relief now that Marcus had left.

    During their conversation he had been exerting some type of unconscious aura that had been smothering her and Bianca was able to glimpse the true strength Marcus had.

    ''Mother I hope you have not made an enemy that you cannot deal with.''

    Returning to the area the other nobles were in, Marcus made small talk with them for a bit, and set up a time to meet with Sir Hinsen in eleven weeks to talk about business when he would return to make preparations for the tournament.

    Soon the meeting with the other nobles was winding down and with what he wanted to do here aplished Marcus returned to his own estate.

    However, he did not stay long as he immediately told his maids that he would be going out for a couple of days and to not expect him back for a while.

    Leaving the gate of his estate on foot Marcus found a quiet alley and shifted into his ghost form bing invisible and ethereal.

    Now unseen Marcus began floating towards the royal academy where Lilia was studying, nning to observe her and ric and make sure Lilia was not in any danger.

    Taking nearly four hours of floating, Marcus finally made it to royal academy and passed through its normally tight security like it was nothing.

    ''It has been a while since I have enjoyed the perks of being a ghost. Now where is Lilia.''

    The sun was quickly beginning to set so Marcus was pretty sure that most sses would be done, so he started his search by heading to the mess hall, though while that was what it was called it was more like a high-ss restaurant.

    Floating inside Marcus made a scan of the students looking for Lilia, but unfortunately did not find her there.

    ''I guess the library next and then after that if I cannot find her, I can just locate her room and wait there until shees back.''

    Moving out of the mess hall, Marcus quickly found the library where arge number of students where going in and out.

    Entering the library Marcus was impressed by the number of books since things like the printing press had not been invented yet and books were still mostly transcribed by hand.

    In fact, this library was one of thergest collections of books in the kingdom only inferior in quantity to the royal families personal archive.

    Going from row of books to row of books Marcus searched for Lilia and after around twenty minutes, finally found her deep within the library sitting around a table with three other people.

    Marcus quickly identified ric because of his slightly pointy ears owing to his half elf nature who was sitting next to Lilia a bit too close for Marcus''fort.

    The two of them were currently reading the same book which was about how to mange resources within a territory, and they would asionally look up and talk to the other two students that seemed to be their friends.

    Floating closer Marcus hovered right behind ric keeping a close eye on him.

    However, for all of Marcus'' wariness, they just continued to study together, and soon he saw them pull out a stack of papers and it seemed they were preparing some type of presentation.

    ''It is still far too soon for me toe to any conclusion. He may be acting nice now but let''s see how he is when he thinks no one is watching.''

    Waiting for around another hour, Marcus continued to observe Lilia and her friends until they left the library and made there way to get some food.

    Following along, Marcus once again entered the mess hall and paid close attention to what everyone ordered.

    ''Lilia got some type of beef stew, simr to some of the dishes I made for her on the road. But that kid ric got some sort of vegetarian dish that uses a type of gourd as the main ingredient. Is it because of his elven heritage? No, his mother was eating meat earlier and she is a pure elf, so it is probably just his preference.''

    Watching them eat lunch, Marcus nearly jumped in when he saw ric and Lilia sharing their food with each other, but he contained himself.

    ''Crap their rtionship seems to be more advanced than I thought. Yeah, they are close I can tell that by the way the interact with each other. They are certainly being friendly towards the other students sitting with them, but the two of them sat next to each other and are talking with each other around twenty percent more.''

    Carefully analyzing every minute detail, Marcus was ensuring that nothing funny was going on that could endanger Lilia, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

    So far, they had just been acting like normal kids and Marcus had found no smoking gun like sociopathic tendencies or hidden messages being passed.

    ''Ugh this is getting boring do something damning already.''

    Waiting around until they had finished their meals, Marcus noticed that Lilia and ric split away from their other friends and towards what Marcus assumed to be a dorm building.

    Once inside they began heading up some stairs and made it to the third floor, when Marcus noticed a group of girls waiting around where they were heading.

    The group soon approached them and began throwing insults at them especially one girl who seemed to be the leader.

    "What do we have here, the country bumpkin and the son of a traitor. Has your father sold out more of the country to the elves yet? I heard from my father he was rmending basically giving away the majority of the kingdom''s magic cores, and in return all we were going to get is some lousy fruits. I wonder how far your whore mother had to spread her legs to get that through. And you little miss perfect; you think you are so special because you are a few levels higher than the rest of us. At the end of the day, you''re not really a noble, your sister just lucked her way into a title, and not a very prestigious one at that. She has no territory, no position in the kingdom, and I hear she is a forgemaster. Ha I bet she looks like a big gori sweating away in the heat doingmoners work every day."

    The pack of girls continued to throw insults at Lilia, obviously trying to provoke ric or her into attacking them in an attempt to get them in trouble.

    Marcus even noticed that someone that looked to be a teacher was standing nearby but out of eye shot, and since she was currently doing nothing was probably with the mean group of girls.

    ''The little bitch is even insulting me. I thought Lilia told me it was taken care of but apparently these girls still have it out for her. And I guess that means ricing to her aid was not aplete set up otherwise there would be no reason to continue this kind of act.''

    Marcus continued to watch the verbal sparing match that was going on which mostly consisted of the girls throwing insults, but asionally Lilia and ric would throw back their own.

    It seemed that they were both used to this, and it did not seem that it was going toe to physical blows.

    Well even if it did the highest level any of the girls flinging insults was only level nine and Marcus was certain Lilia could mop the floor with all of them.

    Soon their verbal match began reaching its finale and ric said, "Francesca maybe you should give it a rest. Over the break I am going to see my grandfather, and his territory is before your father''s on the major trade route from Loursend. I am sure if he hears what kind of brat Count Rassgat is raising, the majority of the goods might be diverted elsewhere."

    However, the girl Francesca seemed to not be in any way deterred and said, "Ha, your old grandfather may be a Marquess, but my father has recently be the right-hand man of Second Price Rowan who is currently the general of the aerial knights."

    The two of them continued to grandstand a bit more saying this and that about how they could bring down the ire of powerful friends and family until the girls eventually got tired and began leaving.

    ''Yeah, if you think you are getting away with insulting me and my sister think again.''

    Following the girls until they reached the stairs, Marcus waited until the girl named Francesca put her hand on the railing and using his chill zone ability froze her hand to the metal.

    The girl as she tried to step forward found her hand stuck and she began looking around frantically at the other girls who all seemed equally as confused.

    ''Ah I feel a little bad about doing that to a child, but after all the crap she gave Lilia and the insults towards me she deserves it.''

 Chapter 183 - 182 Helicopter Marcus (2)

    After having frozen the girl Francesca''s hand to the railing for bullying and insulting Lilia, (and himself by proxy) Marcus floated back up and found Lilia and ric standing in front of a door.

    Looking closely Marcus saw that Lilia had begun crying and when he looked on the door and saw what was written, Marcus nearly went back to the pack of girls and killed them all.

    ''Why don''t you go back to the woods and join your parents.'' That was what was written on the door to Lilia''s room.

    Marcus knew what this meant, those girls had basically told Lilia to go back home and die.

    ''Damn how could I have been so foolish. Did I think that Lilia would tell me if something bad was still going on? She told me a bit about her troubles at the beginning but said they were resolved. Though did I act any different when I was going to school back on Earth? No, I just gritted my teeth and took it telling my parents everyday that it was fine.''

    Continuing to watch, Marcus saw ric run off and Lilia went inside her room and sat on the bed and cried for a few moments before pping her face with both hands and putting on a resolute expression.

    Soon ric came back with a bucket full of water and a couple of sponges and began helping Lilia clean off the writing on her door.

    Seeing this Marcus was beginning to believe that maybe ric was actually a good guy even if he had ended up as Lilia''s friend because he was told to.

    Quickly the two of them had cleaned off the words written on the door, and after giving her a brief hug ric went off on his own.

    Slightly conflicted Marcus decided to follow ric to see if he would get up to any funny business now that he was alone.

    Floating along behind him, ric did not seem to be going to any weird area and soon arrived at his own dorm room and entered.

    Once inside Marcus saw that unlike Lilia who had her door written on their were a number of harsh letters that had been slid under his door.

    ''Hm looks like the rtionship the kingdom has with the Ice Elves is not as good as I thought judging by the number of letters calling ric''s family traitors.''

    Marcus continued to observe ric for a bit and waited for the boy to go to bed before he began searching his room.

    Unfortunately, he did not find some secret notebook where ric wrote down all of his evil ns or things that would cause him to be suspicious.

    ''Great now I feel kind of bad snooping around this kid hoping to find something to expose him as an awful person. So far all he has been a good friend to Lilia, and it seems that it is because they are in the same boat. Though I can still not bepletely sure, I still have one more full day before it is time to take Lilia with me to the Cordelia Depths.''

    Seeing that the boy ric had gone to sleep and there was nothing to find hidden in his room, Marcus made his way back to the library and decided to see what he could learn about the Ice Elves and why some of the nobles seemed to hate them.

    Floating through the long rows of library books, Marcus eventually found a book that detailed the history of the Borealia kingdom and their rtionship with the Ice Elves.

    ''So before even the First King Boreas turned this area into a kingdom, the Ice Elf city was already within the Verkoudhied Mountains. They well predate the Borealia Kingdom, but the first king was able to establish friendly rtions with them. Nevertheless, this peaceful coexistence did notst for ever as the fifth king decided tounch an attack on their city and im it as the kingdom''s territory. Except the Ice Elves defenses were far stronger than anticipated and around half of the nobles of the kingdom at that time had refused to back the effort. The kingdom''s forces apparently lost spectacrly though the details of how do not seem to be here. After that the Ice Elves severed all rtionships with the kingdom closing their borders. But then three generations ago around a hundred thirty years after the attack on their city, the king at the time went to repair their rtionship. It apparently took decades of hard work, but the Ice Elves eventually agreed to enter a diplomatic rtionship with the kingdom once again albeit far less than originally before the attack. I see and now some of the noble houses that took ce in the war along with the king at that time still feel that it was the right choice and any noble being friendly with the Elves is a traitor in their minds.''

    Finishing up on the limited history though detailed enough to get the overall picture, Marcus put the book away and went around looking for any other details he could find on the Ice Elves or their city.

    ''Well, they did not have much more other than that I found that the elves are protected by some powerful guardian. I suppose it makes sense that detailed information would not be left in a school.''

    With his research into the Ice Elves done for now, Marcus passed the time until first light by reading random books, until the first members of the school came to the library, and he once again used his ghost form to disappear.

    Waiting outside of Lilia''s room, Marcus waited until she left to go to her first ss and shadowed her throughout the day.

    Carefully watching Lilia, Marcus was happy to see her working so hard in her studies and she seemed to do excellent in most of her sses, (except math, which she was just barely scraping by in.)

    Marcus figured her academic sess was due to her diligent nature but also her above average level and stats making her Int quite high.

    Going through all of her sses Marcus found that Lilia would get back at the girls that were mean to her, in sses like magic development where Lilia who had a rare magic skill outshined them and inbat training where she would easily take down her bullies.

    ''Well at least I do not have to worry about her being in any physical harm. Though I think it is about time that I make sure that girl Francesca never hurts Lilia again.''

    Finding the girl that was the ring leader of the girls that had been tormenting Lilia and her friends, Marcus possessed her and separated from the pack she was in.

    He had already earlier located his target and quickly approached a girl who was an older student Marcus assume to be around fourteen and was surrounded by other girls and guys.

    Marcus had overheard that this girl was the daughter of Duke Scriven and figured that she would be the perfect target to cause Francesca''s downfall.

    Walking through the group, Marcus shoved his way through the kids around her and came out in front of Duke Scriven''s daughter.

    The girl seeing Marcus who was currently in control of Francesca''s body appear looked a bit confused and said, "You are Count Rassgat''s daughter rig- "

    Wham!

    With a loud resounding crack Marcus using Francesca''s body and pped the duke''s daughter with a tremendous force causing her face to immediately have a red hand mark on her face appear.

    And just as quickly Marcus ran off leaving everyone aroundpletely stunned, and when they came back to their wits some of them even began chasing after Marcus who was possessing Francesca.

    Running around for around a minute, when Marcus was sure he had lost his pursuers he hopped out of Francesca''s body and would allow nature to take its course.

    ''I doubt she will be able to stay in this school after that, and even if she does, tormenting Lilia is likely to be thest thing she has time for.''

    Satisfied that he had dealt with Lilia''s biggest problem, now that the girls ring leader was gone the other girls were less likely to bully Lilia.

    ''And if they do, I can always arrange embarrassing incidents for them as well. For Lilia I am willing to do just about anything to make sure she is happy.''

    With his little detourplete, Marcus continued his ghostly observation of both Lilia and ric making sure that no funny business was up.

    After the day passed and nothing of note happened except Lilia group of friendsughing about Francesca''s sudden outburst and having a mini celebration since she had gotten into a heap of trouble for assaulting a higher ranking noble.

    ''Looks like I was worried about nothing in regard to ric. His grandmother may be a schemer, but he seems to be a genuinely nice guy who cares about Lilia. Of course, even watching someone for two days may not reveal if they have bad intentions. Though he is still just a kid so I highly doubt he could be a good enough actor to fool me.''

    With his investigation of ric and Lilia''s school lifeplete for the time being, Marcus began floating out of the royal academy and back home to make final preparation for his trip.

 Chapter 184 - 183 To The Dungeon City

    After having made his little excursion to check on Lilia at school, Marcus had made his way back to his estate where he began final preparation for the journey he was going to be making the next day.

    He made sure that all of the supplies were in order and when he was satisfied with what he had, he went to the kitchen and asked the maids there to make a massive bulk of food for their journey.

    ''Okay I think that is everything we need for our journey. I made sure to get a good supply of the puff cow meat for Roxene, and I cannot wait to see Lilia''s face when I give her the new items I got for her.''

    With everything for his triping together, Marcus quickly ate a simple meal that the maids had prepared for him and took a nice rxing bath before going to bed.

    Waking up the next day Marcus could feel the anticipation welling up inside of him and he could not wait to get going.

    Rushing out of bed and heading to his closet, Marcus stored a number of hisbat outfits into his item box along with one formal dress just in case.

    ''Now once I put the extra magic fridge and the food stored inside it into my item box, I can collect Blitz and Roxene and go pick up Lilia.''

    Going down stairs Marcus found the new magic fridge he had recently purchased stocked full of food ,and when he was sure everything was there stored it inside his item box.

    Afterwards he found ra and gave her a bit of extra money to keep things running while he was away.

    "Please be safe on your trip Lady Irene, and are you sure you do not want to take at least one of us with you." ra said, with a bit of concern in her voice.

    However, Marcus was not going to budge on this and with a confident smile said, "No I want this trip to just be Lilia and me, like before we came here. I am sure we will be fine on our own, both of us know how to handle ourselves and with my abilities few enemies on the road are going to be a threat."

    After having turned down an escort by one of his maids for thest time, ra reluctantly let him go and as Marcus got onto the coachman''s stand of the carriage attached to Blitz, and all of his maids except the one currently manning the gate came to wish him goodbye.

    "I will be back in a little under three months until then keep this ce in tip top shape and make sure things continue to run smoothly."

    With thatst announcement Marcus began heading down the path of his estate towards the city''s main roads.

    Getting to the gate Marcus found Violet talking to a strange middle-aged man who was in an expensive get up and had three other people around him.

    As Marcus got closer, he heard the man saying to Violet, "Please allow me to speak to Lady Geist even for a moment. She has sent refusal letters to all of our attempts to have a meeting, but we really must talk to her about important business."

    The man continued to pester Violet as she refused him as per Marcus'' instructions, until one of the men with him tapped his shoulder and pointed towards me.

    ''Great now I am going to have to deal with this guy. Whatever, I will get it over with quick and then go and pick up Lilia.''

    Driving up to the gate, Violet opened it for Marcus and the man who had been harassing Violet moved on to his main target.

    "Lady Irene Geist it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ryker, and I am a representative for the Cattivo Trading Company. We specialize in the private disruption of arms across the kingdom and were wondering if we might be able to form a contract with you for a stable supply of high-quality weapons made by yourself, the famed newest apprentice of Thabon zegram. Of course, we would be willing to pay you quite generously if you would work with us."

    Groaning, Marcus looked at the man in front of him that looked shady and was currently stalling Marcus from the trip he had been looking forward to.

    "Sorry I have no interest in signing a contract with anypany, especially one I do not know about. Now if you would not mind getting out of my way, I have somewhere important to be."

    However, Ryker did not move and continued to block Marcus'' way trying to plead his case.

    "I only ask for a short amount of your time to discuss the details of how such an arrangement would benefit both of us. My superiors are very impressed by your work, and I have been tasked to get in contact with you. Our group is very powerful and working with us would bring you a number of benefits. Please if you would just spare an hour or two."

    Seeing the obstacle in his way was not going to willingly move and seemed ready to stand in front of him until he got what he wanted, Marcus sent a telepathic message to Roxene who was currently sleeping next to him.

    Getting the message and looking at the man who was ruining her nap, Roxene stood up and did as Marcus asked and unleashed her intimidating presence towards him.

    The man seeing the little wolf look at him with such malice suddenly felt fear for his life and began breathing heavily as he instinctually back up a few feet away from the carriage and fell t on his ass.

    The man in his terror of Roxene even began to wet himself as fear overwhelmed him.

    When Marcus saw this, he told Roxene to let up and he urged Blitz to go onwards now that Ryker was no longer blocking his path.

    Riding by the heavily embarrassed man, Marcus paid him no more mind and went on his way to pick up Lilia.

    After Marcus had passed by, one of Ryker''s men approached him and helped him up.

    Ryker then looked out towards the fading silhouette of Marcus'' carriage with pure rage.

    "I am going to make sure you regret this for the rest of your life for embarrassing me like that Irene Geist." Ryker mumbled under his breath with fury building up inside him.

    ˇ­

    Traveling along the city streets, Marcus made his way to the capital''s royal academy and soon therge campus came into view.

    Going up to the front gate, Marcus identified himself to the guard using his noble silver te ID and was promptly let into the grounds and guided to where he would meet up with Lilia.

    Marcus of course had already made prior arrangements for Lilia to take a break from school to go and train.

    Luckily the school''s spring break wasing up soon so Lilia would not be missing too much ss.

    Following the guide, Marcus was soon brought to avish waiting room where one of the school administrators "entertained" him until Lilia was brought to him.

    Seeing Lilia walk in, Marcus got up and gave her a hug since it had been a while since they had seen each otherst (not counting Marcus'' ghostly surveince).

    "Are you ready to go Lilia. It is going to be just like old times when we first made our way to the Royal Capital."

    With a bright smile Lilia nodded her head and said, "Yep and maybe we can pick up something special for ric and Vania. Especially Vania she is incredibly jealous that I am going to a dungeon since she wants to be an adventure."

    Marcus agreed with Lilia nodding his head saying they could probably pick up some gifts for her friends.

    With Lilia now back in his custody, Marcus thanked the academy administrator that had done the paperwork for Lilia''s leave of absence, and the two of them exited the royal academy.

    Heading over to the carriage Lilia went up and hugged Blitz'' neck before greeting Roxene for the first time.

    Marcus had already told Lilia about his new beastpanion and had devised a n to get Roxene to like her.

    Before they had gotten to the carriage Marcus had given Lilia arge piece of puff cow meat he had prepared earlier and told Lilia to give it to Roxene as a gift when they first met.

    "Hello there Roxene, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am sure you have already heard about me, but I am Marcus'' little sister Lilia, oh and I have special treat to give you in light of our first meeting.

    At that Lilia took out the still steaming puff cow steak and pushed it towards Roxene who began wagging her tail and wolfed down the steak happily.

    Marcus seeing this smiled since his n seemed to have worked pretty well and Roxene was already opening up to Lilia a little bit.

    ''I knew that the best way to my gluttonous littlepanion''s heart was through her stomach.''

    Once they had finished up their initially greeting, Marcus got back up onto the coachman stand and Lilia sat next to him while Roxeney in hisp.

    "Okay let''s begin the journey to the Dungeon City Lethan."

 Chapter 185 - 184 Lethallan City

    After Marcus and hispanions had left the royal capital to go to one of the kingdom''s dungeons to train, nine days had since passed and the outline of the walls of a distant city came into view along with arge mountain range behind it.

    ''That must be the Dungeon City Lethan. It is bit smaller than I thought it would be, quite a lot smaller than Loursend. Though I suppose that since this city was only built because of the dungeon that makes sense. Loursend may have a dungeon nearby, but it also serves as the kingdom''srgest port and the dungeon is more of a bonus. But here this is an unadulterated dungeon city, where the kingdom''s strongest adventures congregate.''

    Feelings of anticipation began to well up in Marcus as they got closer and closer to the city. Their journey here had been pretty uneventful. It had just been numerous days of straight travel and they were only attacked a handful of times by only the most desperate beasts and monsters.

    Most beasts and monster typically had good survival instincts and they could tell it was not in their best interest to attack Blitz who radiated a majestic and powerful aura.

    Of course, bandits would normally have thought that a lone carriage with no guards would be an easy mark, but the road from the royal capital to Lethan was not a major or even minor trade route, and during the winter far fewer bandits were active.

    So, their journey had been incredibly peaceful (but also boring), and Marcus was looking forward to some action now that they had made it to their destination.

    Traveling along the snow-covered road, Marcus and Lilia came up to arge gate that was guarded by only a couple of guards who werezing around.

    In fact, Marcus was the only one entering into the city and the guards were surprised since outsiders rarely came to the city during this time of year.

    Getting up and standing at attention, the guards waited for Marcus toe up to the gate and one of them stepped forward and said, "Wee to Lethan, could we see your ID''s and then the entry fee is four copper."

    Marcus nodded his head towards the guard before taking out his ID and handing it to the guard while L was fumbling around trying to pull hers out.

    The guard seeing Marcus'' ID suddenly went wide eyed since Marcus did not really look like a noble in the casual clothing he was wearing and the fact that he had no guards or servants.

    "Excuse my rudeness my Lady, I did not realize you were a noble. For your entry there is of course no need to pay the fee. Oh, and if you would like one of us would be willing to guide you to your destination if you need it."

    After realizing Marcus was a noble, theid-back attitude of the guards changed, and they were now standing upright ready to cater to Marcus'' requests.

    "Well, we do not need you to lead us anywhere, but if you could tell us where to find an inn near the dungeon''s entrance that would be great."

    The guard looked strangely when Marcus asked for an inn near the dungeon''s entrance and said, "Um my Lady all of the inns near the dungeon are pretty rough and tumble, the only inn in town that would be up to the standards of a noble like yourself is the Crystal Peak, which is located closer to the center of the city on the western side of the lord''s castle."

    With an exasperated expression Marcus said, "Yeah it really does not matter as long as there is a bed since we will be spending the majority of our time in the dungeon, so it would be better for it to be closer."

    With surprise written all over his face the guard looked at Marcus who seemed to be quite delicate and Lilia who was still just a child and said, "Excuse me for my impertinence but to enter the dungeon here you have to be at least a silver rank adventurer or be a part of the kingdom''s army. Even for a noble, without the proper qualifications they will not let you inside the dungeon. It is a dangerous ce that I rmend you stay away from, many people die in there every year."

    Sighing Marcus looked at the guard and thought, ''Well at least he is a nice enough guy to show me this level of concern, but it is misced.''

    Marcus seeing that the guard had not really looked over his ID and seen his level, took out his guild card that was ted with gold denoting his rank.

    The guard seeing this finally realized that Marcus was not some overzealous curious noble looking to have a romanticized adventure in a dungeon like some he had seen before, but a true veteran adventure.

    "Sorry you look so young and well not much like a fighter. If you are a looking for an inn near the dungeon the best one is the Towering Bear. The rooms are decent, and the food is really good. If you follow the main road north and then take a left when you are three streets from the wall it will be just down the road. It is only around a ten-minute walk from the guild hall and another five from there to the dungeon''s entrance."

    With the guard having given him the information he wanted, Marcus thanked him for his help and directed Blitz to head into the city.

    Entering inside, Marcus could see that the city was built almost entirely out of sturdy stone and was practically devoid of wood or any kind of vegetation other than a few potted nts in window seals.

    ''It is different than the other ces I have been to, there is almost a heavy atmosphere in the city like a loaded spring is ready to jump into action at any time.''

    Continuing to roll down the main street as Marcus got closer to the center of the city, the buildings slowly became nicer though they were all still made of incredibly sturdy materials.

    Soon Marcus was approaching the center of the city, where the lord of the city''s castle was situated on an artificialke that was almost perfectly symmetrical.

    Passing around it, Marcus found himself in a square that had an open market set up despite the cold and a number of people were milling about buying different things.

    "Hello there youngdy would you like to buy some of Lethan''s famous rock eel croquettes for you and yourpanion, only six silver a piece."

    One of the cart owners seeing Marcus looking around had taken the opportunity to approach Marcus and hopefully get a sale.

    Marcus was about to refuse since the price seemed a bit high when he heard a rumbling noise next to him and saw Lilia staring at the croquette.

    Smiling, Marcus told the seller that he would like three of them and handed over eighteen silver before giving one to Lilia and Roxene respectively.

    Continuing forward Marcus took a bite of his croquette while steering Blitz towards their destination and found it to taste pretty good.

    ''Well, I would not say it is as good as puff cow, but I suppose that is to be expected since one is reared specifically for consumption while the other is a dungeon beast.''

    Crunching down on thest bite of his croquette Marcus stared at the tall four-story inn that had a sign on it distinguishing it as the Towering Bear.

    Parking his carriage on the side of the road Marcus told Lilia and his beastpanions to wait here while he made sure that there were rooms avable.

    Upon walking inside, Marcus immediately noticed a bar situated on one side of the ground floor where a number of rough people were sitting around drinking and eating.

    A few of them eyed Marcus with interest though none of them approached him.

    Looking around for a few moments Marcus quickly Located the front desk and found a little bell on it. Giving it a quick ring, the bell''s noise was soon followed by a gruff yelling from farther back in the inn saying, "Just a moment I will be right with you."

    A few momentster arge man who was easily at least seven feet tall came out from the back of the inn and looked at Marcus with a big smile on his face.

    "Hello there, miss, it certainly is rare for us to get a girl as pretty as youing in here, so what can I do for you today."

    "Ah yes I was hoping to get a room with two beds here for a week, and do you have a ce where I could store my carriage and beast during my stay here?"

    Nodding his head, the big man replied saying, "Yes we have a small area where you can house you carriage and leave your beast, but it will be an additional charge. For a week that will run you three gold for both the room and stabling costs."

    Fine with the price Marcus took out three gold and readily handed it over, with which the man stored inside a small box and then brought out a key and handed it to Marcus.

    "Your room is on the third floor, the fourth room down the hall on your left. You can take your carriage and beast around behind the main building and you will find a small stable there."

    With a ce for them now secured Marcus exited the inn and went back over to where his carriage was still parked.

    "Welp, we got a room but first we need to put away the carriage and luckily this inn has a ce for Blitz too."

    After making that announcement Marcus hopped back onto the coachman''s stand and led Blitz around to the back of the building, where he found the aforementioned little stable where Marcus was able to leave Blitz and the carriage before heading aback inside the inn with Lilia and Roxene.

 Chapter 186 - 185 The Cordillera Depths

    With their lodging now set Marcus and Lilia headed up to their room and got settled.

    The first thing they did was take out any unnecessary items and equipment from their magic bags and Marcus'' item box.

    "Okay now that we have everything sorted here, I have a couple of things I want to give to you Lilia."

    Taking out of his item box, Marcus handed over to Lilia a small quite old looking book along with and intricately designed mithril pendant.

    Lilia gratefully took the items and first put on the pendant before looking at the book.

    When she opened it an expression of disbelief came over her face before she looked up at Marcus and said, "Where did you get this. Even at the academy they did not have any other force magic spells."

    With a proud smile on his face Marcus looked at Lilia and said, "I had to do a lot of digging and spend a couple thousand gold, but I finally found an old shop that had a book with a few force magic spells for you. None of them are above tier three but your skill is still only at level two anyway. This is just to give you a bit more versatility. Though the really important gift is that pendent. Send some mana into it and then press the button on the front of it."

    Doing what Marcus told her to, Lilia poured some mana into the pendant and pressed the button on the front.

    Then in just a couple of moments the pendant had expanded turning into a full suit of mithril scale mail around Lilia.

    "So, what do you think? I made it pretty light so you can still move around, and the enchantments are pretty basic so as to not drain your mana too fast, but it should hold up pretty well against most attacks."

    With big eyes and a happy expression Lilia said, "This is amazing. It is so light it almost does not feel like it is here. Thank you Marcus I really do not know what I would do without you."

    Lilia then moved in to try and give Marcus a hug, but he held his hands out to stop her since the scale mail was a bit sharp and he did not feel like being grated.

    Lilia quickly realized the problem and deactivated the armor having it fold back up into a pendant before giving Marcus a hug.

    "I know you said that we should take a day to rest before going to the dungeon but I kind of want to go now." Lilia said as she looked up at Marcus with big puppy dog eyes hoping to sway him.

    Sighing, Marcus told Lilia that they could go today but they had to stop by the guild hall and register her as an adventure and pick out a few missions.

    Of course, only silver rank or higher adventures and military units undergoing training were normally allowed within the Cordelia Depths Dungeon due to its high level of danger, but Marcus had alreadye up with a way to smuggle Lilia in.

    "Roxene get up we are going to the dungeon."

    Roxene who had already gotten onto one of the beds in the room and made herselffortable looked up at Marcus and Lilia, beforezily heading over to Marcus and entering hispanion storage and falling asleep again.

    ''Well, I guess she can take her time and nap while we pay a visit to the guild hall.''

    With everything now set, Marcus and Lilia quickly picked up Blitz and headed to the guild hall.

    Once there Marcus had Lilia register as a new adventure and then pick out a number of easy requests to increase her rank as fast as possible.

    ''Now then I just need to purchase a map of the known areas and we can be on our way.''

    After paying a high price of fifteen gold, Marcus managed to get a decent map of the currentyout of the first areas of the dungeon, though in terms of the dungeon''s total area it was probably only around three or four percent.

    ''This dungeon really is a lot different than the Ocean Bluff Temple near Loursend. There are noyers where the monsters get progressively stronger the father down you go, and it only resets every four years instead of one. It is just one big maze of tunnels andrge areas full of different monsters and beast ranging from around level twelve at the lowest and the strongest being in the low to mid-forties. Though that is just the normal monsters and from what I read beforeing here there are a number of boss rooms scattered throughout and the strongest recorded one was at level sixty-one.''

    Marcus continued examining the map thinking about the differences that this dungeon had from the one in Loursend, and after a bit found the first area he wanted to go to.

    ''It is arge, forested area where we can find all of the herbs Lilia needs toplete some of her requests and there are apparently a good variety of monsters.''

    With all of their preparations nowplete Marcus and Lilia exited therge and bustling guild hall full of experienced adventures and headed outside where they found a deserted alley.

    "Okay Lilia, I just need you to hang in there until we have entered the dungeon and made our way far enough from the entrance."

    Nodding her head Lilia braced herself for a bit and then Marcus possessed her.

    Now in control of Lilia''s body Marcus Jumped onto Blitz and hightailed it towards the dungeon.

    Reaching the massive fortress that surrounded the dungeon''s entrance, Marcus dismounted Blitz and walked up to the front guard that was checking people going in.

    As the man looked down on Marcus who was currently possessing Lilia''s body he said, "Sorry kid, this is not a ce to y around or look inside, go somewhere else to have your fun."

    The guard then tried to step past Marcus and check the next person''s credentials, when Marcus pulled out his gold rank adventurers card and said, "I am not ying I am going into the dungeon toplete some requests, I believe I have the qualifications for me and my beastpanion to enter yes."

    The guard stopped abruptly and looked at the card in Marcus'' hand and snatched it away.

    He thought for sure it was going to be a fake but quickly found it to be real and looked down once again at the little girl in front of him.

    "Kid you I do not know who you stole this from, but I am confiscating it and returning it to the guild."

    However, Marcus had been prepared for this situation as well and took out his ID and handed it over as well.

    The guards eyes went wide when he saw the silver te ID identifying someone as a titled noble and quickly looked it over finding it to be the same as the guild card.

    The guard then looked over at Marcus who had started tapping his foot and put on an angry expression and the guard not wanting to get in trouble allowed him in.

    "Thank you, and next time I expect not to be held up just because I look like a child. I mean do you stop every halfling thates through here."

    Marcus then after making sure to act a bit like a haughty and peeved noble entered into the fort that surrounded the dungeon''s entrance.

    Walking inside Marcus finally saw the massive entrance of a huge tunnel carved into the side of the mountain.

    Staring in awe for just a few moments, Marcus quickly walked through he entrance and into the dungeon known as The Cordillera Depths.

    Running down the main entrance along with Blitz, Marcus passed by a number of other adventures and a group of soldiers as he kept running until he found a small alcove to jump into.

    ''Whew, I was nearly out of time, I cannot wait to reach level forty and get rid of this restriction on my possession skill, which does not even matter anymore since my soul has already been healed.''

    Unpossessing Lilia, Marcus jumped out of her body and resolidified himself as Lilia reeled with the slight bacsh of not having been in control of her body.

    Looking around a bit Lilia smiled towards Marcus and said, "Are we in." To which Macus nodded his head and Lilia began cheering.

    "Now that we have entered the dungeon, we just need to finish heading down the main entrance and then we wille out to arge room that connects into a massive weaving web of tunnels to other areas. We will want to stay lowkey and head to the tunnel leading to the forest area as quickly as possible. There is a whole battalion posted in the firstrge room in order to fight back any monster or beast outbreaks, so we do not want any of them question you."

    Lilia nodded her had and the two of them began heading down the main tunnel which led to the dungeon proper.

    Soon the two of them came to arge room that wasbeled as area number one and saw therge number of soldiers stationed in makeshift fortifications with weapons like mana cannons being pointed down thergest tunnels.

    Of course, the room was also full of adventures that had stopped to rest either after already having delved into the dungeon or making final preparations to enter.

    However, Marcus had no intention of stopping lest Lilia attract unwanted attention and quickly found the tunnel that led to their current destination which wasbeled area six.

    "Okay let''s go, and make sure to stay vignt, I will do my best to make sure you do not die or get badly injured, but I am not going to baby you. If I help you too much you will not learn anything so just do your best."

    After giving Lilia a quick warning and encouragement Marcus and her along with Blitz (and the still sleeping Roxene) entered into the dungeon intent to get stronger and seek adventure.

 Chapter 187 - 186 The Cordillera Depths (2)

    After having traveled through the tunnels of the Cordillera Depths, Marcus and Lilia came out into a massive cavern that had a nketing forest that went on for miles within it.

    ''Damn it is hard to believe we are deep under a mountain right now. There really is a forest down here, and some type of crystals hanging from the ceiling that are providing light.''

    Lilia and Marcus awestruck by the scene in front of them took a few moments to catch their bearings and enjoy the view of the forest.

    However, it was not long before arge familiar looking scaled bear that had noticed their arrival came out of the woods and began lumbering towards them.

    The bear seemed to be approaching Marcus and Lilia without much care as if they were already as good as dead.

    The bear believed itself to be stronger and faster than the two weak humans and the beast that seemed to have almost no presence behind them.

    Of course, this bear did not realize it had made a huge mistake.

    ''Hm level seventeen. It is just in the range of where Lilia might be able to beat it, but I am not quite sure. Oh, she will be fine, if it seems she cannot handle it I can always jump in and help.''

    As the bear was getting exceedingly closer, Marcus turned towards Lilia and said, "Lilia you take this one. It is a little higher level than you so it might be a bit tough but do not hold back, I want to see just how strong you are now."

    Nodding her head though looking a bit nervous, Lilia step forward and began approaching the bear that was nearly five times her size.

    The bear in its arrogance thought that its appetizer was offering itself up before the main course.

    However, the small little girl that seemed to be no threat to therge bear suddenly moved with extreme speed and before the bear knew it, a heavy gauntlet impacted it right in the face.

    The bear recoiling from the hit to its face that had broken some of its protective scales, tried to reflexively swipe forward but found that the one that had hit it had already retreated.

    In anger the bear no longer taking its new prey for granted, reared up onto its hind legs and let out a roar before charging towards Lilia like a truck.

    The bear approaching Lilia with unexpected speed for its size began to let out a barrage of w swipes, but Lilia using her small agile body and speed enhancing skills dodged each of the attacks as she quickly chanted a spell.

    "Control Impact."

    dding her left fist in a shimmering aura as her magic spell took affect, Lilia slipped past one of the bears frenzied attacks and uppercuted its face using her magic to empower her attack.

    Crack!

    The scales under the bear''s chin shattered from the attack and the bear went airborne for a moment before crashing to the ground.

    With the scaled bear still incapacitated from her powerful blow, Lilia raced forward to try and finish the fight, beginning the chant for another spell.

    However, unlike what its position and actions may have suggested the bearunched forward slicing with its ws towards Lilia who was caught off guard.

    Turning to the side Lilia was able to dodge the majority of the unexpected counter strike, but as the ws raked across her armor the bear lurched forward with its jaws open and snapped closed around Lilia''s shoulder.

    Lilia immediately felt a crushing pain around her shoulder where the bear had mped its jaws.

    Luckily the armor she was wearing was keeping the teeth from piercing her flesh, but the force behind the bears jaws were still crushing her shoulder.

    In a desperate attempt to get the bear to let go of her, Lilia began hitting it in the head with a rapid barrage of punches from her still free arm, but the scaled bear endured them all and mmed Lilia to the ground where it pinned her still free arm with its front leg.

    The bear with its quarry now restrained continued to apply pressure with its jaws and the pain soon caused Lilia to begin screaming as she felt the bones in her shoulder about to break.

    Except before the bear could crush her shoulder it stopped moving, goingpletely limp and began falling over on top of Lilia until it stopped.

    It then seemed to magically fly away from Lilia and crashed into the ground a dozen feet from her.

    Looking up Lilia saw Marcus still standing in the same spot not having moved, but she did manage to catch a glimpse of a translucent purple arm before it disappeared.

    ''Looks like that was a bit to much for her right now. I guess it was to be expected, the scaled bear was two levels higher than her.''

    After having saved Lilia from her losing battle against the scaled bear, Marcus walked towards her as she struggled to get up.

    When he arrived in front of her, the first thing Marcus did was cast a healing spell on Lilia who had a number of bruises all over her body.

    As the healing magic took effect and the pained expression on Lilia''s face began to disappear Marcus looked at Lilia sternly and said, "Lilia you should not have charged that bear after you got that hit in. You have a ranged spell so you should have used that to bombard the downed bear without getting into its range. You also should not have stopped your chant when the bear attacked. Had you finished the chant you could have used your magic to counter even in that situation. And finally, I know that you are best at closebat, but beasts and monster are typically stronger, so you need to use your intelligence and skills to outdo them. Now you did pretty good at the beginning just try to be more wary, an injured beast willsh out more ferociously than you think."

    Once he had finished giving Lilia a run down of what she had done right and where she made her mistakes, Marcus told her that she just had to do better next time.

    With their first opponent being a scaled bear now dead, Marcus went over and began dismantling its corpse while Lilia watched and learned.

    Going for the core first, Marcus took out the small green crystal within the bear and stored it away.

    With the most valuable part now recovered, Marcus proceeded to butcher the bear, first taking out the cut of meats that were edible.

    However, while Marcus was doing this a pack ofrge wolves numbering eight in total, came out of the woods that they had been on the periphery of, obviously attracted by the smell.

    ''All pretty low level, the strongest is only fifteen, while the others are level twelve or thirteen.''

    Seeing himself and Lilia being surrounded, Marcus stood up and stared at the wolf that were trying to intimidate them and said to Lilia, "I will deal with all of them except the leader, you take it on alone and keep in mind what I told you before."

    Stepping forward, the wolves all of them began growling trying to scare Marcus and have him run away so they could begin the chase.

    Except Marcus had no reason to be afraid as he sauntered forward and then suddenly moved faster than the wolves could see, and with seven swings of his scythe cut down the pack leaving only the alpha.

    The remaining wolf seeing its pack unceremoniously cut down, turned to run but found Lilia in its way as it narrowly dodged her first strike.

    Seeing the wolf evade her first surprise attack and begin to try to run away, Lilia quickly began the chant for her tier two spell.

    "Force Cannon."

    Completing her tier two spell, a ball of pure force sted out of Lilia''s hand and headed straight towards the fleeing wolf.

    The wolf''s instincts began screaming at it telling it to dodge as the ball of force rapidly approached it.

    Jumping to the side the wolf avoided the force cannon from impacting the center of its body but was unable to fully avoid the attack as its left hindleg was ripped out of its socket.

    Letting out a sharp yap of pain the wolf fell to the ground as one of its limbs was torn from its body.

    Blood gushing out of its grievous wound the wolf tried to stand back up and continue running but found Lilia right behind it.

    With flight no longer an option, the wolf snapped towards Lilia but after her experience with he scaled bear before, she was being far more careful and jumped back to dodge the attack.

    She then positioned herself on the side of the wolf that was missing a leg and unleashed a series of punches with her mana d gauntlets.

    A sickening cracking sound could be heard after each of the strikes as the wolf''s ribs broke.

    Blood began flowing out of the wolf''s mouth after Lilia''s onught and the wolf who was no longer in any shape to offer resistance copsed onto the ground.

    Being careful not to make the same mistake she had early, Lilia began chanting her force cannon spell again and when it was done, she sent the spell flying right towards the wolfs head.

    With a final whimper the wolfid down its head right before Lilia''s force magic spell hit it, taking its head clean off and killing the level fourteen wolf.

 Chapter 188 - 187 The Cordillera Depths (3)

    Having defeated the alpha of the wolf pack that had came to attack them while they dismantled their earlier kill, Lilia looked towards Marcus with an expectant smile on her face.

    Seeing that his little sister wanted to be praised Marcus walked up to Lilia and patted her on the head and said, "You did a good job, you made sure to be carful even when you enemy was injured. Now let us get out of here, these were just regr wolves so we do not need to take them apart, if we stay for too long another beast or monster wille by."

    Nodding her head Lilia began following Marcus as he began walking around the periphery of the woods away from the sight of their battle.

    ''Well, that was a much better second battle for Lilia. I can tell now she has gotten too used to fighting people at the academy so this will be some good experience for her. Ah and the aura suppressor I made for Blitz seems to be doing well. The wolves and the scaled bear seemed to disregard him, which is good. Otherwise, Blitz would scare off all of the weaker monsters and beast with good instincts and attract the stronger ones.''

    While they walked around the outside of therge forest around them, Marcus continued to analyze Lilia''s battle ande up with a rough n of what they were going to do going forward, when he abruptly stopped and grabbed Lilia before jumping back.

    And in an instantter what appeared to be a tree suddenly bent forward and the top of it jammed into he ground where Marcus had been only moments ago.

    With its initial strike having been evaded, the creature that had been pretending to be a tree burst out of the ground, and before Marcus and Lilia was a huge scorpion that had dug underground and disguised its stinger as a tree.

    ''Level twenty-four faux tree scorpion. Damn that things camouge is good, if it were not for danger sense, I never would have known it was there until it attacked.''

    Looking at the twenty-foot-long scorpion that had just revealed itself, Marcus said to Lilia, "Step back and attack it with your ranged spell, I think it is time for Roxene to get a bit of experience."

    Popping Roxene out of hispanion storage, the sleeping wolf yawned once before looking at the at Marcus and then the fast-approaching scorpion.

    Jumping out of Marcus'' arms, Roxene bounded towards the scorpion as Lilia''s first spell impacted its body.

    Unfortunately, her spell did little damage as the hard exoskeleton of the scorpion barely dented from the impact.

    However, as Roxene got closer the scorpion reached out with its right pincer and tried to crush her.

    In a sh of light Roxene began shining and nimbly avoided the pincher before she began running up the arm of the huge scorpion.

    Feeling and seeing the small wolf pup running across its body, the faux tree scorpion tried to grab Roxene with its other pincer but found the small target she provided difficult to grab.

    With the little beast having avoided both of its pincer the scorpion struck towards Roxene using its stinger with deadly uracy.

    Seeing the stingering for her Roxene jumped and spun her body in the air as she cast the tier three darkness magic spell, des of darkness.

    A ten-foot-long de of darkness then flew from her tail and met the iing stinger.

    Meeting no resistance, the de of darkness cut clean through the scorpion''s tail causing it to let out a piercing screech as one of its most potent weapons was permanently taken from it.

    Its tail now severed from its body, blood blue began gushing from the stump that was left as the scorpion began iling around trying crush Roxene.

    Easily dodging the scorpion''s wild attacks, Roxene waited for one of its ws to pass by and as it did, she ran under the scorpion, jumped, and using her powerful bite skill ripped off one of the scorpion''s legs.

    Roxene then continued to slowly dismantle the scorpion until all of its limbs were gone having been ripped out by Roxene''s surprisingly powerful jaws.

    With the scorpion now torn apart and left with only its abdomen and head, Roxene jumped on top of the helpless creature and raised her left paw into the air.

    Striking down in a burst of light her ws pieced into he scorpion''s head and the light around them came out the bottom as the life of the scorpion was ended.

    Jumping off of the scorpion Roxene sauntered on over to Marcus and telepathically said to him, ''I suppose that will do as a warm up, so shall we go in deeper to find suitable prey.''

    Shaking his head Marcus looked at Roxene and said to her, "Actually I was thinking we stay on the edge of the forest for a few days and train Lilia up a bit where the weaker beasts and monsters are before heading in."

    Her interest rapidly plummeting Roxene said back, ''Fine but do not expect me to fight against anything weaker than that scorpion.''

    Roxene then made her way over to Blitz who flinched when he saw hering and nearly had a heart attack when she jumped up on him.

    Roxene not caring about the terror she was instilling in Blitz fell asleep on his back.

    ''Sometimes she acts more like a cat than a dog, but I guess that is just her personality.''

    With the scorpion that had threaten them now defeated, Marcus turned towards Lilia and said, "Congrattions on your level up, now how about we look for the herbs that you need for some of the request you took."

    Lilia and Marcus then got to work searching the outside area of the forest quickly finding themon herbs that Lilia had epted to find.

    During this time arge python had attacked Lilia, but the beast was only level thirteen and Lilia made quick work of it.

    "Well, we have collected all of the herbs you needed, now we just need to get a few more magic cores and you will have all of your first requests done and can rank up."

    Nodding her head Lilia stored away the collected herbs into her magic bag and their group continued to walk around looking for more opponents.

    Continuing, Marcus soon spotted something that caught his attention, there was an area of rock about forty feet high that had a number of tunnels going into it.

    Having everyone stop, Marcus went up in his ghost form and investigated and after floating in found that it was actually the hive of some type of bee monster.

    ''Tunnel bee level twelve, tunnel bee warrior level fifteen, tunnel bee captain level twenty-one, tunnel bee general level twenty-eight, and tunnel bee queen level thirty-two.''

    After going around the hive Marcus had appraised all of the different variations of the bees he could find and was pretty happy with what he had found.

    The lower-level bees would be a good way for Lilia to get some experience while the stronger one would not be bad for him and Roxene.

    With the information from his scouting Marcus floated back down to Lilia and his beastpanions and told them the n.

    "I will go and lure a few of them out and bring them back to fight. Lilia you will be taking on the first few batches which should be a bit weaker than you and after we get through a few groups I will go and really shake the nest and bring out the majority of the hive. Once that is done me and Roxene will go in and finish off the queen."

    Their n set, Marcus floated back up to the hive and began banging on the walls.

    After waiting a few seconds five bees came out to investigate the sound but found nothing around anymore.

    Except as they were searching a force cannon fired from Lilia sted one of them out of the sky and the four remaining bees angrily flew towards her.

    Of course, these were not your normal bees but three-foot-long flying syringes with a stinger sharp enough to pierce iron and a potent venom that could incapacitate an average man with one sting.

    Unfortunately, Lilia was more than capable than dealing with four bees lower level than her and as they tried to sting her, she easily avoided their attacks and with one punch killed each of them.

    Marcus then continued to bring out small groups of bees by making little disturbances near the openings of the hive and Lilia would take them out.

    However, it was not long before a muchrger group of bees numbering over thirty came flying out to investigate and being lead by one of the bee captains.

    Jumping out of the tunnel instead of his normal routine of turning ethereal and invisible when the bees came by, Marcus made his way back to Lilia.

    "There is a bigger swarming this time. I will thin out their ranks a bit and let you deal with the remaining ones."

    After telling Lilia their game n, therge swarm of bees came out and quickly locked onto Marcus and Lilia who had been attacking their hive.

    The bees unlike before did not swarm towards Lilia and Marcus but stayed airborne and began shotting some type of acid out of their mouths.

    Throwing up a shield of light Marcus brought Lilia close to him as the acid rained down harmlessly on Marcus'' magical protection.

    The acid itself was not very strong, but the bees now that they were being lead by one of their captains seemed to be more organized and were trying to tire out Marcus and Lilia and make an opening before going in for the kill.

    ''Fine you can go first.''

    Reaching his hand around the shield Marcus fired a darkness bullet toward the tunnel bee captain, but before it could reach one of the warrior bees around it flew in front and took the darkness bullet.

    Grumbling Marcus decided to get a bit more aggressive and this time instead of a darkness bullet he cast a fireball.

    Boom!

    With a loud explosion a twenty-foot radius fiery death expanded around the swarm of bees killing most of them.

    Luckily a few of them managed to survive just being on the edge of the fire ball, and with room to maneuver now Lilia went forward and dealt with the remaining bees.

    ''Well, I killed a few more than I wanted to, but Lilia managed to pick off the stragglers, and now I know to kill the captain first before they get into any type of formation.''

    However, before Marcus could go back up and lure out more bees, a loud buzzing sound reverberated throughout the area as a swarm of hundreds of bees began flying out of the hive and in the lead, Marcus could see one of the ten-foot-long tunnel bee generals.

 Chapter 189 - 188 The Bee Hive

    As the massive swarm of hundreds of tunnel bees flew out of the nest Marcus called over Blitz and Roxene who had been resting nearby for backup.

    ''Well, their response escted a bit faster than I thought it would.''

    The massive swarm of bees soon grew to cover the entire sky as over a thousand of therge tunnel bees began grouping into formations as they prepared to attack the intruders that had killed their brethren.

    However, even in face of the massive swarm Marcus only smiled as he looked at each bee as if they were floating experience points.

    Soon Blitz with Roxene still on his back arrived and as they did the swarm of bees began their assault. Except, unlike before the bees split into twelve distinct squadrons each lead by a captain and began attacking from different directions.

    Marcus was actually pretty impressed by their tactics since it made it much more difficult to kill them all with one big attack.

    ''Blitz and Roxene make sure Lilia stays safe but allow a few bees to attack her, I am going to take out the general.''

    And with that Marcus grew six wings made of iron feathers and flew up into he sky to take out the biggest threat.

    Of course, the tunnel bee general was not going to allow Marcus to juste and kill it and one of the squadrons went to intercept him.

    ''As if that will stop me.''

    s a single squadron of only around a hundred bees was not going to slow down Marcus as he began spinning and enveloped himself in darkness as he cast his tier four spell darkness drill.

    Cutting through the bees like they were made of paper, Marcus sliced through the entire squadron in his way before appearing in front of the general bee that was around the size of a rhinoceros.

    Seeing this many of the bees stopped their attack on Marcus''panions, turning around to defend theirmander from the threat that had just blown through one of their squadrons.

    The general tunnel bee now facing off against Marcus began beating its wings rapidly as a wind barrier formed around it and two wind des flew towards Marcus.

    Seeing the wind desing for him Marcus simply swung his scythe once and cut through them thinking they were far weaker than the ones he had to deal with when fighting against Jared.

    The general tunnel bee seeing that its first attack had failed, reared back and charged at Marcus.

    At the same time the bees that had diverted towards Marcus to back up their general had arrived, and many of them wereing at Marcus stinger first.

    Except as the bees closed in on their quarry Marcus suddenly disappeared, leaving many of the bees to crash into each other some even stabbing their stingers into their allies.

    The bees then began looking for the enemy that had attacked their nest but found nothing.

    With Marcus having vanished the bees redirected their attention back to the three beings on the ground that were currently fighting off theirrade''s attacks.

    However, as the bees began to fly back towards Lilia, Roxene, and Blitz, Marcus reappeared right next to the tunnel bee general and with a sh of his scythe cut right through its barrier and cleaved it in half from head to stinger.

    As the bees'' leader fell, they turned from an organized army to a frenzied swarm most of them trying to kill Marcus for the death of their general.

    Unfortunately for the angry beesing after him, Marcus simply shook off a few of the iron feathers from his wings and began slicing down dozens of bees every second, not a single one getting within ten feet of him.

    At the same time Roxene had jumped off of Blitz''s back and was firing out barrages of darkness bullets, killing any bee that got close to her.

    Blitz for his part had erected a type of lightning barrier around himself and Lilia, though a few bees would slip through ande after them only to be killed by Lilia''s punches or Blitz''s antlers.

    Soon the battle came to a decisive end as every bee that hade out of the hive was scattered across the ground dead.

    Landing back onto the ground, Marcus walked over to the exhausted Lilia and Blitz who had gone all out to keep up with the bees and gave each of them a stamina and mana recovery potion.

    Marcus then turned his gaze towards the tunnels that were the entrances and exits to the hive and waited for the next wave of enemies.

    However, after five minutes no other bees came out and Marcus figured they realized attacking them was suicidal.

    ''Guess they are hoping that we will just go away now, or maybe they want to fortify the hive and make sure the queen stays safe.''

    "Lilia, you go ahead and take a long break out here, Blitz you keep Lilia safe, and Roxene you areing with me to finish off the rest of these bees."

    Lilia who was still extremely tired slumped down onto the ground while Blitz came andid down next to her giving her something to lean against.

    Roxene then came up to Marcus and jumped back into hispanion storage and he floated back up to the tunnels of the hive where he let her back out.

    "Oaky let''s go pay the queen a visit."

    Walking down the tunnels, Marcus and Roxene met no resistance for quite a while until they came to a sweet-smelling room that was covered in honeb and had hundreds of bees moving about.

    The bees not willing to allow Marcus and Roxene to trespass any further flew down towards them buzzing angrily.

    Unfortunately for the bees, their attacks never got close as Marcus was able to repel any of the low-level bees with a swing of his scythe and Roxene just shot them with darkness bullets or tore them apart with her ws.

    The pair continued on meeting little to no resistance as they walked into the depths of the hive and Marcus kept wondering where the remaining tunnel bee general was.

    That was until they walked into, the chamber right before the queen''s, which was arge, cavernous space where the bees raised their young.

    Inside this space was nearly ever bee left in the hive and they had been waiting for the intruders in order to spring and ambush.

    A cacophony of angry wing beats soon filled the entire area as over a thousand bees swarmed towards Marcus and Roxene intent on killing them no matter the cost.

    "Awooooo."

    Bending her head up and releasing a loud howl, the visage of the sun appeared above Roxene as she used her howl of day unique skill.

    The bees not wavering in front of this, continued to fly forward until the visage of the sun in front of Roxene burst into a massive st of light that engulfed the entire area.

    When the light cleared a few momentster it revealed hundreds of bees that were dead, instantly killed by the powerful attack caused by Roxene''s unique skill. In fact, the bees closest werepleted turned to ash leaving nothing behind.

    Panting a bit after using the taxing unique skill, Roxene looked next to her as Marcus reappeared after having gone ethereal to avoid being caught up in the attack.

    ''I have to say that was an impressive attack, probably close to a tier five spell in terms of power right now. Though it appears to be harder on her than I first anticipated.''

    Roxene after unleashing that attack looked quite haggard nothing like her usually haughty and confident self.

    However, Marcus did not have long to worry about hispanion''s condition as a number of the bees had survived the attack including the tunnel bee general.

    The remaining bees loyal to their queen, instead of fleeing like many creatures would have in this situation began their assault anew with more fervor than before.

    ''Laser.''

    A beam of light firing from Marcus'' finger sliced through dozens of bees and quickly impacted the barrier around the tunnel bee general cutting through it like butter along with the general behind it.

    The level difference was just too high, and the bees were unable to apply any resistance against Marcus now that Roxene had lowered their number by ny percent.

    It was not long until every bee that had once made furious noise were now silent, strewn around therge cave dead.

    ''How are you doing Roxene, your unique skill seems to have taken more out of you than I thought it would. Did you want to go back into thepanion storage and rest while I take out the remaining bees and the queen?''

    ''No after resting a bit, I am doing fine. I just got a bit unlucky; it must be night outside. It is so hard to judge what time it is down here. As long as I avoid using howl of the day again, I should be fine.''

    Nodding his head Marcus understood, Roxene had told him before that the stress of using her unique skills were lessened when they were used in their corresponding times or heightened when not.

    ''Okay we can push on; the queen''s chamber is just beyond this one so we will probably face some fierce resistance, but since she is only level thirty-two it should not be too hard.''

    After making sure that Roxene was still fit for battle Marcus led the way into the chamber of the queen, where they both saw fifteen of the captain bees along with around a hundred warrior bees surrounding the queen.

    It was actually far less opposition than Marcus was expecting to see, and he realized that the mass of bees in thest room had been the majority of their remaining forces.

    The bees began shacking angrily not initiating an attack but trying to intimidate Marcus and Roxene to leave.

    ''Roxene, you take the queen I will keep all of the others off of you.''

    Marcus then shot forward as he unleashed a couple of fire balls towards the bees in the chamber garnering their fury.

    Most of the bees then moved to engage Marcus while Roxene let out a low growl and grew to twice the size of a normal wolf.

    With her supreme skill now in effect Roxene leaped forward towards the queen bee who had yet to make a move.

    Sensing the impending danger, the tunnel bee queen flew into the air and a torrent of wind swarmed around her wings and two mini twisters began flying towards Roxene.

    Stopping her charge Roxene deployed a wall of darkness in front of her as the two mini twisters tried to rend her apart.

    Fortunately, her spell easily took the attack from the queens bee''s innate wind ability and Roxene''s body soon became covered in darkness as she continued forward.

    The queen bee continued to throw out wind-based attacks at Roxene, but she either dodged them or used a defensive skill or spell to push forward.

    Soon Roxene was within striking distance of the queen bee and leaped towards her, jaws wide open.

    In ast attempt to fight back he queen bee met Roxene''s charge, herrge stinger in front ready to skewer Roxene.

    The two shed in the air, the queen''s long stinger having the reach advantage and reaching Roxene first.

    However, Roxene spun her body to the side and batted the stinger away with one of her paws throwing off the queen bee''s bnce allowing Roxene to sink her teeth right bellow the queen bee''s head.

    With a loud tearing sound Roxene ripped off the queen bee''s head, and the once powerful monster fell to the ground still and lifeless.

 Chapter 190 - 189 Into The Depths Of The Forest

    With nearly all of the tunnel bees now dead Marcus went around and began the tedious task of picking up all of the magic cores, along with the valuable materials from the stronger tunnel bees.

    It took Marcus quite some time even after he summoned an iron golem to help him pick up the cores.

    When all was said and done Marcus had collected around one thousand cores when he finally gave up and decided to just leave the rest.

    ''It is not worth it. Most of these cores are not very high grade anyway and I already collected the cores from the captain level and higher bees along with their wings and stingers.''

    Marcus then gave a perturbed nce towards his beastpanion that hadid down after the battle, not helping in any way with the core collection.

    With the best of the spoils collected Marcus finally told Roxene that it was time to go, and the little wolf pup got up and took a long stretch before walking over to Marcus.

    However, on their way out they passed through another room that was filled with sweet honeb and after taking a quick taste, Marcus no longer feeling his fatigue from collecting all of the magic cores began slicing off massive chunks of honeb until he had filled up his item box.

    Roxene looked at the smiling Marcus with ridicule since he was almost certainly going to have to throw out some of that honebter since it was still only their first day in the dungeon.

    Walking out of the hive, Marcus and Roxene jumped down andnded on the ground from a height of forty feet with no difficulty.

    They then headed over to Lilia who began waving at Marcus, happy to see him again as she was beginning to get worried.

    Rushing up to Lilia, Marcus said, "We cleaned out the hive and Roxene managed to easily dispatch the queen. Also, we found this incredibly delicious honeb which I made sure to bring back for you to try."

    Pulling out a small piece of honeb, Marcus handed it over to Lilia and she looked at him with a confused expression.

    Unlike Marcus who had the pleasure of trying honey back on Earth, very few people on Mirrion ever got to eat honey since obtaining it was quite the ordeal.

    However, as much as Lilia had no idea why Marcus was raving about something he had gotten from inside the tunnel bee''s hive, Lilia trusted him and plopped the piece of honeyb into her mouth.

    Immediately the sweet vor spread across Lilia''s mouth, and she reflexively held her hand up to her cheek as she savored the taste.

    Marcus smiled smugly seeing Lilia''s expression and said, "Did you perhaps want some more, I managed to get quite a lot of it."

    Lilia began furiously nodding her head and Marcus took out a te and piled a muchrger piece of honeyb onto it and passed it over.

    Lilia quickly began digging in and the effect of the honey started to invigorate her as her stamina came back and was increased.

    What Marcus did not know was that this honeb was one of the main ingredients for making high quality stamina recover potions, and even by itself had a limited effect.

    "There is plenty, so slow down or you are going to choke." Marcus said as he handed Lilia a water bottle that she took a massive gulp from."

    Unfortunately, their happy honey eating was soon interrupted as a different species of bear Marcus had not seen before lumbered out of the woods attracted by the battle and smell of honey.

    This bear had a deep ck color with the asion red stripe going down it and was farrger than the scaled bear they fought earlier.

    This bear was the size of a semi-truck and even made Blitz look small.

    ''Bloodlust Berserker Bear, level twenty-six. Well, it certainly isrge but not much a threat to me, Blitz, or Roxene. To bad it is still far to strong for Lilia to take on.''

    As Marcus appraised the massive bear that had just arrived, the creature in question began sniffing the air and its eye''s soon locked onto Lilia who had the strongest smell of honey on her.

    The bear then began to emit a blood chilling crimson aura and Lilia suddenly became overwhelmed by fear and even Marcus could feel a slight pressure on himself.

    s, the bear directing its bloodlust at Lilia was thest mistake it ever made as a beam of light shot through its body and straight through its heart.

    Its heart rupturing, the semi-truck sized bear copsed onto the ground as blood gushed out of it and it soon sumbed to death.

    With the oppressive pressure no longer suppressing her, Lilia looked at Marcus and thanked him before the two of the got to work cutting out the bear''s magic core along with its teeth and ws.

    However, Marcus was out of room in his item box so instead they stored it in Lilia''s magic bag.

    "Now I think we should get out of here. It will not be long before more beasts and monsterse here to investigate, and I think we are all a bit tired."

    Marcuspanions agreed and after traveling around and hour they set up camp under and outcropping of rocks that would give them some cover.

    "Okay the rest of you get some sleep, I will keep watch while you rest."

    Lilia and Marcus'' beastpanion readily took Marcus up on his offer as all of them had be quite worn out from the long day of fighting.

    Luckily, Marcus had no need to sleep and could keep a vignt watch as hispanions slept.

    ˇ­

    Three more days quickly went by as Marcus and hispanions continued to fight beasts and monster to get stronger.

    During this time Marcus was mostly focused on getting Lilia stronger since she was the lowest level.

    To do this Marcus would float around and search for suitable monsters and beasts close to Lilia''s level and lure them back over to her.

    This had been a pretty effective strategy and Lilia had just recently level up to level neen after days of mostly fighting.

    Of course, she was not the only one to have leveled up as Blitz was now level thirty-one, and Roxene after what seemed like an eternity finally made it to level three.

    Unfortunately, Marcus had still not been able to level up once, and he was pretty sure that unless he went deeper into the forest area to fight creatures at or above his level, it was going to take him far longer just to get one level higher.

    ''We still have three days left before we need to get back to our inn and pay for an extension on our room. And Lilia is starting to get a bit rundown after non stop fighting so she could use a break. Most of the beasts and monsters on the outskirts of the forest are in the upper teens in term of level with only the asional outlier being above level twenty. If I leave Blitz with Lilia, she will probably be fine, and it will be some good experience for her to get by without me.''

    Having made up his mind Marcus walked over to Lilia who was currently sitting down and recovering and said, "Lilia let''s talk for a moment."

    Lilia hearing the seriousness in Marcus'' tone turned towards him and awaited what he wanted to talk about.

    "I think it is time for you to get some experience without me around, and I have also hit a bottleneck fighting the enemies of this level and the experience I gain is negligible. So, I am going to head deeper in to the woods along with Roxene who is in a simr boat and find stronger opponents. We have three days left before we need to head back and it looks like you could use a break anyways. So, I will leave you with Blitz for protection and you can do what you want, just try not to get into any trouble while I am away. Though if you are really against this idea, I will stick around with you."

    After giving his spiel Marcus waited for Lilia''s response as she was deep in thought about what to do.

    A part of her really did not want to be left alone, but she also did not want to shackle Marcus down since this trip''s main purpose had been for him to get stronger before the kingdom''s tournament.

    Coming to a decision, Lilia smiled at Marcus and said, "Go ahead and go, you are right about me needing to try fighting on my own, otherwise I will get too reliant on you."

    Nodding his head Marcus thanked Lilia for her understanding and pulled out a bottle from his item box.

    He had been holding onto this item for a while now and figured now was the time to give it to Lilia.

    Lilia for her part recognized the bottle since Marcus had given her one before.

    "Here you go Lilia, this is thest stat boosting potion I have and now that you have leveled up there should not be any problem with you drinking it. And do not worry about me it would be useless for me now anyway."

    With the bottle full of multi colored liquid in her hands, Lilia gave Marcus a big hug before opening the bottle and drinking the contents inside.

    Like before a soft glow enveloped Lilia and after using his appraisal skill Marcus confirmed that all of her stats had gone up by ten.

    "Okay now if you need me toe back early just have Blitz seen me a distress signal through our connection and I wille running. Otherwise let us meet back up at the forest area''s entrance in three days"

    After saying their goodbyes Marcus and Roxene headed deeper into he woods, leaving Lilia and Blitz for the next few days.

 Chapter 191 - 190 Into The Depths Of The Forest (2)

    Having left Lilia and Blitz at the edge of the massive forest that made up the current area they were in, Marcus and Roxene headed towards the depths of the forest.

    There they would be able to find stronger beasts and monsters to fight in order to increase not only their levels but also their proficiency with their skills.

    Walking for hours through the woods with their vignce heighten, by using Roxene''s keen sense of smell, and Marcus'' ability to sense traps the two of them had gotten deep into the forest without encountering any resistance.

    Neither of them wanted to fight a bunch of pointless battles or be worn down by traps so avoiding the weaker creatures around was in their best interest.

    However, as they were getting to about the halfway point to the center of the forest, Roxene picked up a scent that caught her attention.

    ''Marcus something to the east of here has an incredibly powerful fragrance. I think it might be a rare herb or even a natural treasure. There is likely to be a strong creature around eating what is growing there and also using it to lure other beast and monster.''

    Thinking about it for a moment, Marcus nodded his head towards Roxene, and he began following her as she began tracking the scent.

    Soon the two of them came up to arge pond that had a number of water lotuses floating on the top, and at this distance even Marcus could smell the fragranceing off of them.

    After looking at them closely, Marcus found that the flowers where mostly pink but some of them had an orange color, and after Roxene carefully sorted through the different smells could tell that the orange ones had a better smell.

    ''Those must be natural treasures of some kind, though I am not sure how powerful they are.''

    Now that Marcus and Roxene had determined the existence of the natural treasures in the pond, Marcus went into his ghost form and floated down into the pond to find out what was hiding beneath the surface.

    The pond itself was actually quite deep and after floating down around a hundred feet Marcus found the creature that had made this pond its home.

    ''Level thirty-five Gloom Crocodile. It has a darkness affinity like me and Roxene and is around forty feet long. I suppose it is a bit stronger than the creatures we have seen so far but it is still lower level than I was hoping. Oh well, at least we will get some natural treasures along with a bit of experience.''

    With the current inhabitant of the pond confirmed, Marcus sent back the information he had found out to Roxene and then possessed the gloom crocodile.

    The crocodile tried to fight back against the possession but the difference between it and Marcus'' spirt stat was insurmountable, and it was not long before its body was under Marcus'' control.

    Swimming up to the surface, Marcus made sure toe out without disturbing or damaging any of the lotuses and crawled up ontond.

    With the gloom crocodile now brought out of the water, its best tactic of ambushing anything that got close to the water''s edge was now no longer in y.

    ''Okay Roxene I am going to give the gloom crocodile control of its body again in five seconds, and when I do go ahead and hit it with an attack.''

    After having finished nning with Roxene, Marcus counted to five and then unpossessed the gloom crocodile.

    As soon as Marcus left its body the gloom crocodile began looking around at its surroundings, realizing that it was no longer at the bottom of the pond.

    However, before it could get its bearings, Roxene who had activated her Paragon of the Divine Wolf supreme skill, hadtched onto one of its front legs and with her powerful bite skill crushed its bones and tore out a huge chunk from its leg.

    Feeling the pain course through its leg, the gloom crocodile swung itsrge tail towards Roxene, intending to swat her away.

    Jumping back, Roxene quickly moved out of range of the gloom crocodile that had just tried to smack her with its tail.

    The crocodile let out an angry growl as it charged towards Roxene, but with one of its front legs broken and bleeding its speed was far lower and it could not catch up.

    Seeing that it was not getting anywhere the crocodile stopped and shot out a powerful jet of water from its mouth towards Roxene.

    Seeing the water rapidly approaching her, Roxene cast a wall of darkness spell in front of her and as the st of water impacted it bounced off harmlessly.

    The crocodile getting angrier and angrier began shacking as a shroud of darkness began spreading throughout the area.

    With darkness covering arge area, visibility suddenly dropped and Roxene could only see a few feet in front of her and the crocodile had disappeared.

    Unfortunately for the crocodile, while Roxene could no longer see it, her acute sense of smell alerted her to its location.

    The gloom crocodile thinking it had concealed its location, began creeping towards Roxene with incredible silence not expected from itsrge size.

    Except right as it was about to strike out, Roxene who had known where it was the whole time leaped over it as it went to strike andnded on its back.

    She then proceeded to cast a shiningnce spell and sent the spell right through the crocodiles hide.

    As the sharp and searing pain of the shiningnce pierced through its flesh, the gloom crocodile began thrashing about and even started rolling in order to force Roxene off.

    The gloom crocodile soon smashed into a group of trees causing many of them to copse onto the ground as it got up, swing around in order to keep Roxene from attacking again.

    ''Guess I should finish this.''

    Reappearing right above the gloom crocodile, Marcus took his scythe and after activating the light and lightning enchantments on it swung down with a powerful sh and sliced deep into the neck of the gloom crocodile.

    To his surprise though, its tough hide actually stopped his scythe from going all the way through and Marcus was soon on the receiving end of a tail p from the heavily wounded gloom crocodile.

    Jumping to the side, Marcus felt a st of wind as the tail passed him by, but he soon felt a new sense of danger as he looked to the side and saw that the crocodile had opened it mouth and was preparing to crush him with its powerful jaws.

    However, before the gloom crocodile could bite down onto Marcus, Roxene mmed into its head and her ws ripped through its hide and she tore out another chuck of its flesh with her teeth.

    Taking this opening as the crocodile was knocked around and distracted by Roxene, Marcus spun around and jammed the tip of his scythe right through the gloom crocodile''s eyes sliding it in deep.

    He then cast his tier one lightning magic spell sparks and sent it through his scythe and into the gloom crocodiles head.

    Convulsing as the electricity fried its brain the gloom crocodile tried to shack Marcus off, but its numerous injuries were catching up to it and the mighty beast soon fell.

    Jumping off of the gloom crocodile''s head, Marcus could not help but respect its toughness.

    ''Its speed was prettyckluster, and its overall offensive abilities were not the best, but damn was it durable. I was pretty surprised when I did not take its head clean off with my first swing but that just goes to show that everything has its own strengths.''

    With the gloom crocodile that had taken the pond full of water lotuses as its domain dead, Marcus went to work harvesting the orange lotuses that were quite obviously natural treasures.

    He worked very carefully as to not damage them and when he was done, he stored them in his item box which was near full capacity from all of the honeb he had gathered earlier.

    ''Now what do I do with the gloom crocodile, even if my item box was empty, I could not store the whole thing.''

    Marcus contemted what to do with the gloom crocodiles body for quite sometime before he reluctantly emptied out around half of his stores of honeb and stored away a decent amount of hide along with its magic core, teeth, and ws.

    With their spoils now collected from their first major battle in the depths of the woodsplete, Marcus and Roxene continued on heading deeper.

    ˇ­

    "me Tiger Strike."

    Casting his tier four fire magic spell Marcus sent the massive zing incarnation of a tiger towards his current opponent.

    However, before his spell could get anywhere close, massive roots sprung up out of the ground and blocked Marcus'' spell.

    At the same time Roxene had fired of her own spell shotting aser across the main body of their enemy carving through its outeryer.

    "Crrrrrrrr"

    The creature after taking theser spell let out a horrible screeching sound and the area that had been hit began closing back up.

    ''Damn why are nt type monsters so resilient. This stupid elder treant is taking everything we throw at it, and it is only level forty-three.''

    The elder treant they were currently battling, after having taken damage from both Marcus and Roxene, began shacking its branches as hundreds of razor-sharp leaves started flying in every direction slicing through the forest.

    To counter this Marcus cast his tier five iron magic spell and spread out his six wings in front of him like a shield, allowing the sharp leaves to bounce off harmlessly, while Roxene deployed a wall of darkness along with a shield of light in front of her and for good measure used her mana barrier skill.

    After the onught of flying leaves, Marcus and Roxene continued to st the elder treant from afar but none of their attacks had yet to cause decisive damage and its regeneration kept it from going down.

    ''Roxene go ahead and use you unique skill, we need to break through and what we are doing now is not working.''

    Roxene receiving the okay from Marcus bent her head upward and howled causing the visage of the sun to appear.

    And a moment after a massive burst of searing light enveloped the colossal body of the elder treant causing many of its branches and leaves to burn up and turn to ash.

    Nevertheless, even after the incredibly powerful attack, Roxene had not managed to finish off the elder treant, but now that it was stunned for the moment and many of its defenses down, Marcus charged in to deliver the finishing blow.

    ''Embodiment of Darkness.''

    Activating his own unique skill, Marcus flew towards the injured elder treant and cast a heighten darkness drill spell and shot it straight through the center of its truck.

    The darkness drill bored right through the tough outer bark of the elder treant causing a huge hole to form into its trunk where Marcus flew inside.

    Now inside the monster, Marcus began shing widely with his scythe d in darkness and firing off a barrage of des of darkness spells.

    The elder treant for its part tried to stop Marcus, sending in roots and vines to try and grab him, but every attempt it made was shed to pieces by Marcus wild onught.

    Soon the powerful nearly a hundred-foot tall elder treant copsed, even its potent life force fading under Marcus'' relentless attack.

    Floating out of the now dead husk of the elder treant they had just fought, Marcus had a massive smile on his face because he had just received the level up notification from the system.

    ''Finally, I have made it to level thirty-seven. It has gotten quite a bit harder to level up now, but since my potential is as high as it is that is to be expected. At least it is not as bad for me as Roxene, she barely levels up any faster than I do even though she is still in the single digits. Though, I guess we should head back now. It is already thest day before we need to meet back up with Lilia.''

    However, as Marcus began making his way back over to Roxene, a loud explosion in the air shook the area and as Marcus looked up, he saw the silhouette of a person flying out of the smoke.

 Chapter 192 - 191 Fight In The Sky

    Marcus watched as out of the explosion that had just happened in the air not too far away from him, a man began falling towards the ground.

    However, instead of crashing into the ground the man stopped in the air as massive wings sprouted from his boots.

    Marcus stared at the man in the sky for a few moments giving him a onceover and quickly noticed the high quality of his equipment.

    ''He has an adamantine tipped spear, and an adamantine shield. Plus, he has a bunch of other enchanted items, and his armor is top tier mithril. Damn and his level is higher than mine to the point I cannot even appraise him.''

    After Marcus had finished looking over the man who was flying in the sky aftering out of an explosion, something farther in the distance caught his eye and he saw what manner of creature the man was fighting.

    In the distance Marcus could see a huge snake with vibrant green scales and rainbow-colored wings flying towards the man.

    As the winged serpent got closer it opened its mouth and Marcus could see fire building up before it released a powerful breath attack.

    The man who was its target put his shield in front of him and a barrier incased him as another explosion erupted throughout the area.

    While watching this fight, Marcus suddenly received a distress call from Roxene that she was under attack and needed help.

    Abandoning the fight of epic proportions he had been watching, Marcus floated towards Roxene and found her surround by four golden lionesses that were three times bigger than a normal lion.

    ''Crap they are over level forty. After all of the fighting we have done both of us are starting to get a bit worn down, and fighting four powerful beasts is not ideal right now especially since we could also get caught in the fight above us.''

    Marcus quickly descended towards Roxene who had found herself surrounded and reappeared in front of her.

    The caused the lionesses to back off momentarily as they became wary of Marcus.

    However, before they could reinitiate their attack, Marcus had Roxene jump back into hispanion storage and then disappeared.

    The lionesses looking confused began searching the area but without a special way to find ethereal creatures, they were out of luck locating Marcus.

    ''Roxene, are you doing oaky, I noticed you were bleeding pretty badly.''

    ''Yeah, I will be fine in just a minute, my regeneration is already working, and the worst wounds have already closed. Now when we have finished recovering our strength, we are going back to kill those stupid cats.''

    Marcus shuddering a bit since he could hear the fury in Roxene''s voice felt a bit sorry for those lionesses since he was pretty sure that Roxene was nning to tear them apart.

    However, that was the least of Marcus'' worries now as the fight in the sky raged on and the rainbow winged serpent and the high-level man were still doing battle.

    Taking a p from the rainbow winged serpent the man went flying incredibly fast and smashed into he ground leaving a massive crater where hended.

    Except even after taking such a devastating attack he seemed to only have a few cuts and his shield which had been taking the brunt of the attacks began glowing.

    A shimmering chain then formed between his shield and the area where the serpent''s tail had impacted, and the man reeled back with all his might dragging the winged serpent to the ground.

    With a heavy thud the huge body of the rainbow winged serpent shook the forest, and the man began running towards it and with a spinning thrust jabbed his spear into its body.

    Screeching in pain the serpent began glowing and the man who had jabbed his spear into it jump back quickly as a field of electricity burst forth from the serpent''s body.

    Having forced the man attacking it to back off the, winged serpent once again took to the air and began looking through the forest trying to find the man.

    It was then that a massive st of pure mana shot out from the forest and the winged serpent twisted its body around to dodge the attack and in return fired off another breath attack.

    Another huge explosion rocked the forest as the man who was engaged inbat with the rainbow winged serpent flew back into the air as the forest below him burst into mes.

    The man then flew straight towards the serpent his spear bursting with mana.

    However, the winged serpent was not just going to let him close in and with the p of its wings, hundreds of feathers began flying towards the man.

    Nevertheless, he did not stop his charge as he began maneuvering through the air dodging the feathers or smacking them aside with his spear.

    Soon the man hade up close to the rainbow winged serpent and was about to initiate his own offensive when its tail whipped forward at incredible speed towards him.

    "Ahhhhhh."

    Letting out a loud determined yell, the man braced his shield and with a loud resound p the serpent''s tail was pushed back.

    Having blocked the winged serpent''sst attack, the man had created an opening and with a powerful thrust pieced through the torso of the serpent with his spear.

    A massive hole then blew out the other side of its body, and blood began gushing out as the rainbow winged serpent screeched in pain and began glowing again.

    Lighting surrounded its body once again, but unlike before the man did not retreat and took the powerful electricity head on while continuing his attack.

    He began flying up the length of the serpent''s body sending thrust after thrust of his spear into the serpent boring massive holes in its thick torso.

    Realizing its life was in danger, the winged serpent began flying away no longer trying to kill the man it was fighting.

    However, as it beat its wings furiously and shook off the man, he just grinned as he changed the grip on his spear and threw it forward.

    The spear travel at and incredible speed and the rainbow winged serpent sensing the iing danger turned around and fired out a st of fire from its mouth.

    As the serpents breath attack met the spear, thetter shot right through and pierced straight into the serpent''s head.

    The massive beast with arge hole now bored through its head, plummeted towards the forest floor and crashed into the ground.

    The man with a proud expression on his face began flying towards the body of the rainbow winged serpent, but as he was flying the wings on his boots suddenly disappeared and he fell to the ground as well.

    Marcus who had been watching this all stared in awe at the battle of epic proportions he had just witnessed.

    ''I have not seen a fight like that before. The closest I can think of was the battle the mages had with ice ant queen and the head knight of the kingdom jumping in at the end, but that was less of a battle and more of a one-sided ughter. Now then what should I do, the man seems like he is pretty injured after the battle since he just fell out of the sky. Should I go check on him, or I could just go on my way. I suppose a look would be unlikely to cause any trouble and if I help him out, I could put him in my debt.''

    Thinking that it could be beneficial to establish a friendly rtionship with the obviously powerful adventure that he had just watched fight, Marcus resolidified and cast his tier five iron magic spell and began flying over.

    Arriving at the destination where the man had fallen to the ground Marcus saw himying on the ground obviously unconscious.

    Luckily no other monster or beasts were around to attack him since everything in the area had run as the battle between him and the rainbow winged serpent was not something to be caught up in.

    Walking over Marcus checked to make sure the man was still alive and found that he was just unconscious and did not have any life-threatening wounds, though he had numerous burns all over his body.

    ''I guess that is what you would expect after taking all of those fire breaths and flying through a lightning storm.''

    Bending down, Marcus put his hand on the man and cast his tier four healing spell, and the man''s wounds began to close and disappear as the healing permeated his body.

    Marcus then sat the man up against a tree and waited for him to regain consciousness.

    Luckily, he did not have to wait long as in just a couple of minutes the man''s eyes flung open and he began looking around before his eyesnded on Marcus.

    Then in what seemed like a daze as he stared at Marcus, he mumbled, "An angel?"

 Chapter 193 - 192 Mithril Rank Adventurer And Revenge Against The Lions

    "An angel?"

    As Marcus heard these wordse out of the mouth of the man he had just aided, he could not help but be confused.

    That is until he remembered that his tier five iron magic spell was still active, and he looked back and saw the six iron wings.

    ''Guess that was not just some cheesy line he was saying because he saw a pretty girl when he first woke up, I actual do look like an angel.''

    Marcus then erased his spell and the man who was still in a bit of a daze after waking up immediately became alert as he sensed the mana fluctuations of Marcus'' spell disappearing.

    "Skiver to me."

    The man after saying this position his shield forward and Marcus soon heard somethinging from behind him.

    He then saw the spear the man had been using earlier return, flying through the air andnding in his open hand.

    With his weapon now back in hand the man looked warily at Marcus for a moment before his posture rxed and he said, "Ah sorry about that Irene, looks like I was a bit hasty. I thought you might have been trying to kill me while I was out, but I now realize you were just healing me. Thank you for helping me out."

    The man then gave a quick bow to Marcus before slumping back over looking exhausted.

    ''Appraisal huh. As soon as he saw my level, well the level I am currently disying with false status, he rxed thinking a level thirty-five was not a threat to him.''

    After taking a long drink of water while resting his back against a tree, Jarek looked up at Marcus with a smile and said, "Now that I am refreshed a bit allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jarek, and I am a mithril rank adventure."

    Hearing this Marcus was a bit surprised; this was the first time he had met a mithril ranked adventure which was the second highest rank.

    ''Well, that exins why he is as strong as he is, and now that I know he is mithril rank I can gather that his level is at least fifty.''

    Now knowing the rank of the man in front of him, Marcus gave a polite nod towards him before saying, "Irene Geist, Baress of the Kingdom of Borealia, and a gold rank adventurer."

    Jarek listening to Marcus'' introduction had his eyes go wide as he just realized something.

    "What are you doing this deep into area six being only at level thirty-five and a gold rank adventure. This deep in most beasts and monsters are around level forty, it is a miracle you are still alive. Did you get separated from your party or something? Ah but you are in luck that you ran into me, since you helped me out while I was down, I will be more than happy to escort you back to your party after I harvest the materials from the couatl I killed."

    Jarek then hopped to his feet seemingly recovered and began making his way to where the couatl''s bodyy.

    However, before he got any farther Marcus wanted to clear something up with him.

    "I think you are under some kind of misconception. I am not lost or separated from my party; I am alone. And as you said there are plenty of level forty or higher enemies here but even at my level, I can handle them."

    Marcus hoped to set things straight as he did not want Jarek to think that helping him out of the area would be repayment for his help.

    Of course, Jarek justughed it off, thinking Marcus was acting tough not wanting to seem weak in front of him and kept walking.

    Seeing that Jarek did not believe him Marcus decided to leave for now, he had some unfinished business anyway with a few lionesses.

    ''Oh well if I cannot get anything out of him now, maybe I canter back at the guild when he sees I did not need his help.''

    With his mind made up Marcus had no intention of y a damsel in distress needing help and began walking away, heading back towards the area where the lionesses had ambushed Roxene.

    Jarek looking back and seeing Marcus walking away, yelled out, "Irene where are you going, it is not safe for you to be wandering around alone."

    However, Marcus did not stop and Jarek was conflicted for a moment about whether to go after Marcus or im the rewards from his hard-fought battle.

    Nevertheless, in the end Jarek decided it was more important to obtain the materials from the couatl he had killed toplete the current request he was doing.

    After arriving back at the area where Marcus had rescued Roxene from the lionesses, he brought Roxene out of hispanion storage and saw that she had made a full recovery.

    She then began sniffing around, familiarizing herself with the lionesses scent before heading east following the trail.

    Walking for around forty minutes, Roxene suddenly stopped and telepathically said, ''Up ahead there is another simr scent to the lionesses, but I think it is a male. Also, a powerful fragrance I believe is a natural treasure is also in the air, but it is hard to tell exactly because of how strong those stupid lion''s scents are''

    Nodding his head, Marcus got what Roxene was telling him, there was an additional enemy to face along with the lionesses.

    ''Okay I will go take a look and see what we are up against.''

    Turning back into his ghost form, Marcus followed Roxene''s directions and he soon came to a small de where he saw the four golden lionesses and onerge male golden lion eating the body of some beast that was now unrecognizable. And as he got closer, he could see arge tree in the middle of a spring with multiple fruitsing off of its branches.

    ''Two of the lionesses are level forty-one and the other two are level forty-two. But the big problem is the male lion who is level forty-four. Do I think we can take them all? Probably not without pushing ourselves pretty hard. I cannot say for sure, but I am pretty sure they are rare grade magical beasts so there strength is no joke. But I can tell Roxene really wants revenge and beating them would yield some pretty substantial rewards from not only their bodies but also the natural treasures that tree containsˇ­Wait what is that.''

    Looking closely Marcus soon saw two more shapes moving but they were significantly smaller than the others.

    ''There are two cubs as well. They are only level twelve and fourteen, so they are not a threat. Ah but this does open up a new avenue for attack.''

    Marcus then began a telepathic discussion with Roxene and after a few minutes they hade up with a strategy.

    Floating over to one of the cubs, Marcus possessed its body and began wandering away from the rest of the group towards the edge of the de.

    However, before he could get too far one of the lionesses also left the group toe and pick the runaway cub.

    Except as it opened its mouth to grab the cub Marcus was possessing by the back of the neck, he whirled around and fired a heightened fireball spell right down her gullet.

    The powerful spell exploded inside the lionesses stomach and smoke began billowing out of her as she copsed over with heavy internal injuries.

    Miraculously though she did not immediately die owing to the toughness of her species, but it was only a matter of time.

    With his surprise attackplete and one of the level forty-one lionesses down for the count, Marcus left the body of the cub and floated towards the male lion next.

    The other lions for their part werepletely stunned by what had just happened.

    From their point of view one of the cubs had just used some unknown power to attack one of their own.

    Unfortunately for them, Marcus and Roxene had no intention of giving them enough time to recover from their shock as Roxene jumped out already having used her Paragon of the Divine Wolf supreme skill and sent a darkness drill right for the male lion.

    The male lion seeing the iing attack let out a roar as his body began shimmering with golden light and braced for the attack.

    Except as the darkness drill wasing from his front, he suddenly felt a sense of dangering from behind him as Marcus reappeared and was mid swing with his scythe.

    Using all of its agility and reflexes the lion spun its body and instead of its intended target, Marcus'' scythe shed against the lion''s side causing a burst of sparks as the lion''s tough fur refused to be cut, and the darkness drill just a momentter sted into its other side sending the huge lion flying.

 Chapter 194 - 193 Mithril Rank Adventurer And Revenge Against The Lions (2)

    As the male lion went flying from Marcus'' and Roxene''s tandem surprise attack, Marcus could only grimace since he had failed to deliver a lethal blow.

    However, the male lion was still flung far away by Roxene''s darkness drill taking him out of the fight if only momentarily.

    Turning towards the nearest of the remaining lionesses, Marcus summoned up his iron golem and sent it to engage her.

    He knew his iron golem had pretty much a zero percent chance of winning, but he just needed it to hold one of the lionesses off while he and Roxene took on the remaining two.

    The lioness getting their bearings after the sudden attack began charging towards Marcus who was the closest enemy, but before they could arrive Roxene had charged towards one of them, causing the two to have to split their attention.

    ''Embodiment of light.''

    Activating his unique skill Marcus began shimmering with a bright light, and in a sh appeared in front of the lioness that would be his opponent.

    With a precise and quick sh Marcus aimed for one of the lioness'' eyes which was one of the area not covered by its near imprable fur.

    Of course, the lioness was well aware of her own weaknesses and ducked her head to the side allowing Marcus'' scythe to skid across its fur.

    The lioness then tried to swipe her ws across Marcus, but he quickly used a speed burst and jumped out of the way.

    ''Iron skin, arms of darkness, legs of light, lightning strider, and spirit ze.''

    Knowing he needed to end the fight quickly, Marcus cast a number of his enchantment spells and with even greater strength began his assault on the lioness.

    Moving around at incredible speed the lioness could not keep up with Marcus in any regard as he bombarded her with attacks knocking her around like a rag doll.

    Unfortunately, Marcus could still not pierce through the lioness'' golden fur, but every attack still had so much force behind it that the lioness was suffering heavy internal damage.

    Soon Marcus heard a loud roar from the distance and could tell that the male lion was going to be arriving in just a few seconds.

    ''Time to finish this,bo spell, railgun.''

    Now that he had heavily injured the lioness and was certain she did not have the agility to even attempt to evade his finishing blow, Marcus cast his iron sphere spell making it far smaller than normal and a momentter cast his extreme maism spell sending the iron sphere hurtling at the speed of sound towards the lioness.

    BAM!

    With a loud resounding crack the railgun impacted directly into the lioness'' chest, and even though the attack still did not pierce her fur, the impact was so violent her chest caved in and she was sent flying with most of her organs ruptured.

    As the female lioness went flying, the male finally returned to the battlefield looking incredibly angry.

    Its gaze first went onto Roxene who was the one that had sent it flying earlier with a darkness drill and was currently grappling with one of the lioness.

    However, as the male lion charged towards Roxene, Marcus shot in front of him and cast aser spell while shing with his scythe and amplifying the attack.

    The powerfulser struck the golden lion and pushed it back with the immense amount of force behind it, as the male lion dug its ws into the ground to prevent itself from being flung away again.

    Leaving a deep trench in the earth the male golden lion managed to stop itself after being sted back over two hundred feet and began its charge once again.

    CRACK!

    With a loud resounding snap, Roxene who had finally managed to get the upper hand in the battle with one of the lionesses, biting tightly around her neck and shacking violently tell it broke.

    The lioness then fell to the ground limp and the male lion let out a horribly pained roar as another of its pride was killed.

    At about the same time though Marcus'' iron golem was finally torn apart as the final standing lioness ripped its head off.

    ''Well, the iron golem did its job well enough.''

    ''Hey Roxene, how are you doing, need a break or can you continue?''

    ''I can still keep going, I won''t be able to sleep well if I do not kill them all.''

    Having a quick mental conversation, Marcus made sure that Roxene was still good to go, and after getting her conformation returned his attention to the male lion in front of him.

    The male golden lion in a rage began charging towards Marcus who was getting in its way from killing the hateful wolf it had just watched kill one of its wives.

    mming its paw down the tank sized lion tried to crush Marcus but found that he dodged easily as he appeared in front of it, and in a sh sent a devastating kick to the side of its head.

    The lion then tried to open its mouth and impale Marcus between its teeth but found a fire ball heading straight for its open mouth.

    Sensing the danger, the lion quickly closed its mouth preventing the fire ball from burning its insides, but it still sted in front of its face blocking its senses.

    The next thing the lion felt was a powerful blow to its abdomen, as Marcus had rushed under the lion and with a powerful sh struck with his scythe. And even though the attack did not piece the lion it was still sent flying into he air under the strength exerted by the attack.

    The lion soon began falling again and it red at Marcus trying to angle its body to crush him on impact.

    However, the lion did not hit the ground as dozens of iron threads came out from Marcus and held it aloft in the air.

    The lion feeling this, immediately began tearing apart the iron threads but was soon entangled by three rings of lightning that also restrained it.

    The golden loin began thrashing about trying to destroy the two spells that were binding it and it was obvious that it would soon break free.

    Nevertheless, this was still enough time for Marcus to move in for the kill, aiming for one of the lion''s weak spots.

    Of course, the lion thought it was already protecting its weak points by closing its eyes and mouth, but there was one area it could not guard.

    ''I may have missedst time, but this time you can die.''

    Marcus then cast his shiningnce spell and jammed the nine-foot-long glimmering weapon up the golden lion''s ass.

    The golden lion the proud beast it was, could not control its reactions as the shiningnce tore apart its insides and it let out a pitiful roar of pain and even began crying.

    Unfortunately for the lion, Marcus had no intention of letting it go no matter how miserable it sounded, andunched a darkness drill up its ass to follow the shiningnce.

    The lion then had its internal organs shredded from the inside as the darkness drill made it all the way through its body until a burst of darkness sted out of its mouth.

    With the male lion now most certainly dead, Marcus dropped its body that was suspended in the air with his iron threads to the ground.

    With a loud thud the corpse crashed into the ground shacking the area and distracting the lioness that fighting Roxene as she watched her mate and protector die.

    This turned out to be a fatal mistake as it gave Roxene the opening she needed, as she slipped under the lioness and pointed her head up and howled.

    Using her howl of night unique skill, it seemed as if all the light in the world disappeared as an area of over a hundred feet around Roxene was enveloped in an overpowering darkness.

    A few momentster though the darkness receded and inside the only thing left alive was Roxene.

    Every other nt and animal had died under the corroding properties of the extremely powerful darkness, and even the durable fur of the lioness was unable to defend against this attack.

    Roxene looked at the now dead lioness with contempt before slumping over onto the ground and shrinking too exhausted to keep using her supreme skill.

    Marcus quickly walked over to hispanion and found that she was pretty beat up, with cuts and bites all over her.

    Luckily it did not seem that her life was in any danger as her high-speed regeneration was already going to work, but Marcus still cast his strongest healing spell before putting her back inside hispanion storage to rest.

    Marcus then looked out at the battlefield that was full of craters and in some ces was still smoking from the powerful attacks that had been unleashed.

    That was when a bit of movement caught Marcus'' gaze as he saw the first lioness he had sneak attacked, crawling away with two lion cubs trying to help her move.

    ''Wow I am surprised she can still move at all after taking a fireball down the throat, but there is no way she is going to live without some high tier heal.''

    Marcus then walked over to the only surviving lioness left, nning to finish her off.

    However, as he approached the two cubs reared up and began growling at him in an attempt to scare him away, but after fight the fully grown adults two cubs were not going to scare Marcus.

    The two of them seeing that Marcus was not backing off rushed towards him nning to defend their mother.

    s, no matter how spirited the little cubs were Marcus simply picked one up with his spectral arm and kicked the other one away as it pounced.

    He then walked over towards the barely alive lioness and held the cub in his spectral arm above her and said, "If you want the cubs to live do not make this difficult."

    The lioness while not understanding Marcus'' words, got the message he was trying to convey and opened her mouth not providing any resistance.

    With one swift motion Marcus jammed a shinningnce down the lioness'' throat piercing through her organs and soon thest bit of life left her eyes.

    The lion cub being held aloft by his spectral arm began screeching in distress, but Marcus simply wrapped an iron thread around its mouth to keep it quiet.

    With one cub now secured Marcus walked over to the other one he had kicked and picked its unconscious body up and restrained it with iron threads.

    ''Now then what am I going to do with the bodies of these lions.''

    After giving it a lot of thought, Marcus emptied out the majority of the honeb he had stored away, leaving himself with only around one percent of what he had initially collected.

    He then proceeded to store away the male lion''s body along with one of the lioness filling his item box back up to capacity.

    After storing the bodies of the lions he could carry, Marcus made his way over to the tree that was situated in the middle of the de and picked off all of the rip fruits on it.

    In total he got seventeen ripe natural treasures from the tree and put them away in his magic bag which was also nearing capacity.

    ''Time to meet back up with Lilia, if I hurry, I should still be able to make it before the end of the day.''

    Running through the forest, Marcus was making a beeline for the exit when he came out into a clearing and saw a familiar face.

    In the clearing Jarek was doing battle with a massive ape with green fur.

    Thought he ape looked like it was already on itsst leg, and it was clear to Marcus that the battle would soon be over.

    One more thrust and the ape fell its chest impaled on Jarek''s powerful adamantine spear.

    Jarek then turned around having sensed another presence and was surprised to see that it was Marcus.

    He began waving and said, "d to see you are still alive Irene, have decided to take me up on my offer to escort you back to safety."

    However, his friendly demeanor soon changed as he saw the two golden lion cubs strung up across Marcus'' shoulder.

    His eye quickly became intense as he began surveying his surrounding, looking for an iing ambush as he ran up to Marcus.

    "Are you an idiot, I do not know how you stole those cubs out from under their parents, but golden lions are no joke. Stand behind me and get ready, even if you think you have avoided their parents they will being shortly."

    Jarek then moved into a defensive position seemingly to protect Marcus, but in the next moment Marcus simply dumped the male lion''s body out of his item box.

    Jarek then went wide eyed realizing that Marcus had certainly killed an adult male golden lion which was one of the strongest beasts in the forest.

    "How? At level thirty-five there is no way you could kill this beast."

    Marcus simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well I did kill it, so it really does not matter. Now I have someone I need to meet up with so I will be taking my leave."

    He then stored the body of the male golden lion back into his storage and began walking away leaving Jarek stunned and mouth agape.

 Chapter 195 - 194 Getting Acquainted With Jarek

    Continuing on his way, Marcus left the stunned Jarek behind him, not caring to show any interest in him since Marcus felt their was no need to.

    He of course was looking for some type of possible reward from Jarek, but he felt that ignoring him and acting nonchnt was more likely to get Jarek to seek his attention.

    This could also back fire if Jarek just decided to ignore Marcus, but even if that happened, he would only be out about five minutes and a bit of mana that he had long since recovered.

    However instead of ignoring him, Jarek was now interested in the person that was able to take on level forty beast and monsters while only at level thirty-five.

    Though Marcus'' level was not actually thirty-five he was just using his false status skill he had gotten from Roxene to pretend to be weaker than he actually is.

    Running after him, Jarek called out to Marcus and said, "Irene Wait up. If we are both going the same way how about we go together. It is not often I get to meet someone as interesting as you, and we can both exchange stories of our adventures on the way back."

    Jarek came running up enthusiastically to Marcus who in response said, "I am not offering a charity service if you are looking for someone to help protect you back towards the safer areas."

    Marcus then turned his head from Jarek who went wide eye with realization after hearing what Marcus had said.

    He figured that Marcus was upset since he while not expressly, had implied that Marcus was weak when he offered to protect him till, he met up with he party Jarek figured he was a part of.

    However, now he realized how wrong he was and that it seems to have upset Marcus.

    Except Marcus was not actually upset, he was just ying Jarek to try and get him to give him what he needed most, information.

    Marcus had read a good deal about the Cordillera Depths beforeing here, but there was a lot only experienced adventures that delved into the dungeon on a regr basis would know.

    And Marcus figured that Jarek being a mithril ranked adventure he was sure to have a decent amount of information.

    Also having a powerful connection in the city was a good idea since there were few people that could talk down to a mithril ranked adventure since their statuses in many regards were better than most nobles.

    Walking in front of him, Jarek lowered his head and said, "I am sorry if I offended you earlier by implying you were weak. I was just surprised to see a level thirty-five gold rank adventure so deep into the area where the strongest beasts and monster reside. But I can tell now you are no ordinary gold rank."

    ''Hook line and sinker.''

    Marcus could not help but smile since he was now pretty certain after that apology, he could build up his rtionship with Jarek and learn a few interesting facts and maybe even a secret or two about the dungeon.

    "Okay I understand, and you would be correct that most level thirty-fives are not as strong as me, so your misconception is understandable. Now I am headed out of the dungeon and if you are going the same way I would not mind thepany."

    Jarek nodded his head and followed along with Marcus, it was not everyday he got to meet someone so interesting, and as much as Marcus wanted to use Jarek, he was thinking the same thing.

    As the two walked, Marcus asked him questions about the beast he had been fighting which he had called a couatl.

    "Ah their was a request put up in the guild for the fangs and core of a high-level serpentine beast which offered a decent chuck of change. Luckily, I knew that the overlord of this area was that couatl since I have had a few run ins with it before. Though it looks like I bit off more than I could chew since we nearly took each other out. I should have know taking on a level forty-seven pseudo-epic grade beast by myself was a mistake, but I did not want to share the reward with anyone else."

    Marcus took pause hearing what Jarek just said. He had never heard the term pseudo-epic grade and wanted to know more.

    "Hey Jarek, what did you mean by pseudo-epic grade beast."

    Jarek then went to tell Marcus that beasts at the very pinnacle of the strength for their grade were often called pseudo of the next grade up since their power was almost as strong as the weakest of the beasts one grade higher.

    Nodding his head Marcus understood and so he asked Jarek about the two golden lion cubs he currently had strung up on his back.

    "Hm, I am not a true expert on the subject of magic beast I just know a bit from my time adventuring, but I would say that golden lions are probably in the upper tier of rare magical beasts. but not to the point of being pseudo-epic grade. They have some of the best defense capabilities out there and even I have to get serious to pierce through their fur. They are also fast and strong but that is about it, theyck in the versatility department so they can be countered easily enough. Do not get me wrong though, they are still pretty strong and if you are nning on selling them, I know the best beast master in the city if you want an introduction."

    "Yeah, I would not mind an introduction, though I do not think I am going to sell these two."

    Jarek then looked at Marcus inquisitively and asked, "And why not, nning to keep them for yourself."

    "No, I was actually thinking of giving them to my little sister, she is a bit lower level and I think having a couple of beasts by her side could be helpful."

    The two of them continued to discuss various things after that, while heading towards the exit of the dungeon.

    They mostly just talked about their experience inside the dungeon, though Marcus ran out of material much quicker than Jarek and switched over to telling a bit about his experiences in the Ocean Bluff Temple.

    "That certainly takes me back. It has been almost a decade since I have been to Loursend and the Ocean Bluff Temple. I never did defeat a boss on the thirdyer but once you reach a certain level that dungeon just doesn''t cut it anymore."

    Marcus could only nod in agreement. The ocean bluff temple was a great ce to train at lower levels but once he beat the strongest monster, he knew there was not much left for him there.

    Soon the two of them came out of the forest and Marcus immediately spotted Lilia and Blitz staying near the tunnel leading back to the dungeon''s entrance.

    Quickly Lilia also spotted their arrival and began waving at Marcus, while taking the asional curious nce at Jarek who was walking beside him.

    "So, this is the little sister you were talking about and a bolt stagpanion. I am surprised that you brought her in here, she is a bit young to being into this dungeon and at level twenty-one only just barely qualified."

    Jarek seemed quite concerned for Lilia since level twenty-one was normally the bottom for a silver rank adventure and most people did not start heavily training kids until they were at least thirteen.

    "Yeah, she is a bit young and under leveled which I why I left mypanion Blitz with her. Me and Lilia had a run in with a band of illegal ver a while back but were luckily rescued. Neither of us ever wants anything like that to happen again which is why we are striving to get stronger."

    Jarek after hearing Marcus not entirely true sob story nodded his head in understanding.

    "Sorry to a question you and your sister. I get it that you want to make sure that you are both strong enough to protect yourselves."

    Jarek himself seemed to be remembering some past experience probably something simr where he was powerless in face of a tough situation, making him even more sympathetic to Marcus and Lilia.

    "Well, it has been nice getting to talk with you Jarek but if you would not mind going on ahead, I have something I want to discuss with Lilia. If you want we could we meet back up again at the guild in about three hours, and you could introduce me to the beast master you mention earlier."

    "Okay that should not be a problem, and if they are around, I can introduce you to some of the other adventures in town. I am sure that plenty of them would like to get to know a new talent like you."

    Jarek then said goodbye to both Marcus and Lilia before heading down the tunnel towards the entrance, leaving Marcus alone with Lilia and Blitz.

 Chapter 196 - 195 Networking In Lethallan

    Having met back up with Lilia and Blitz after leaving the two of them alone to head into the deeper parts of the woods, Marcus began recounting his experiences since they had separated.

    "So that is how I ended up with these two golden lion cubs. They are a bit low level for me to bother raising and I already have Blitz and Roxene, so I was wondering if you wanted to have them as your beastpanions."

    Lilia after hearing Marcus'' story looked a bit sad as she stared at the two cubs that were currently tied up by Marcus'' iron threads since it reminded her a bit of her own past abduction.

    She almost wanted to tell Marcus to release them back into the forest, but she quickly realized that without their parents that was likely to be a death sentence.

    She then looked pitifully at the two golden lion cubs for a bit before nodding her head towards Marcus agreeing to take the two cubs as her beastpanions.

    ''Damn, looks like I upset her a bit. I thought I had gotten a bit better with being tactful, but I failed to realize how this might trudge up those memories for Lilia, especially since I just talked about it to Jarek.''

    Marcus realizing his mistake pulled Lilia into a one-armed hug and said, "Lilia, I know you might feel bad for these two cubs, but at the end of the day this is a dungeon. The onlyw here is that the strong survive and the weak die. The lions attacked Roxene first but found themselves outmatched by us when we struck back. I understand how you could liken their situation to yours, but it is different. I want to make sure you understand that."

    After giving Lilia a bit of a pep talk andforting her for a couple minutes Marcus could see the pain that had resurfaced start to fade away again and decided to get Lilia''s mind off it by asking her what she had been up to for thest three days.

    "Well, I am d you were able to rest the first day, and from what you told me you fight with the jumbo fanged squirrel was pretty intense. And you have made it to level twenty-one which is quite an achievement. Not too long and you will be as strong as a fledgling knight."

    Marcus continued to throwplements at Lilia''s achievements praising her for her efforts.

    "Also thank you Blitz for keeping her safe. If not for you, there is no way I could have gone off on my own and not been worrying every second about Lilia."

    Marcus then pattered Blitz a bit before pulling out a well-earned treat for him to eat.

    "Now I am sure we are all tired so let''s head out of here and rest up for a few days."

    Their group then head down the tunnel leading towards the exit having a couple skirmishes with weak monsters on the way but finding no difficulty in making it back to therge area where a battalion of soldiers were station in case of an outbreak.

    Passing through this area Marcus and Lilia moved hurriedly avoiding getting attention drawn to themselves, and once they had passed by the soldiers Marcus found a quite area and possessed Lilia''s body.

    He knew that people exiting the dungeon did not need to be checked but he would rather be safe than sorry.

    Walking out of the dungeon Marcus came back into therge fortress that surrounded the entrance and made his way out.

    Luckily, he did not run into any trouble and after unpossessing Lilia in a deserted alley the two of them began walking towards the inn they had rented a room at.

    Arriving back at the Towering Bear Inn, the two of them walked in and rung the little bell at the front desk and the same man who helped them before came out and greeted them.

    "Ha, good to see you again. If one of you did not show up soon, I was going to go up to your room and clear things out. So did you want to extent your stay or are you headed out."

    "I think we will continue to stay here for the rest of our trip. Would it be possible to keep our rooms for another seven weeks?"

    The man looked a bit surprised to see how long Marcus wanted to stay, but he was happy for the business and started calcting the price.

    "For seven more weeks that will be twenty gold."

    Marcus quickly handed over the twenty gold that was pretty much small change to him now and was about to head up to his room when the inn keeper noticed the two lion bubs on his back.

    "I am afraid you will have to find somewhere else to put those two, they are not allowed in the room."

    Nodding his head Marcus looked at Lilia and said, "I know you are tired so go ahead and go up to the room without me. I will leave these two with Blitz and he can look after and keep them in check."

    Lilia who was pretty tired from the days of fighting in the dungeon agreed to Marcus'' proposal and headed up to the room alone.

    With their lodging now secured for the rest of their time in the city, Marcus headed out back to the area his carriage was stored and left Blitz there along with the two lion cubs.

    ''Now time to go and meet back up with Jarek and get whatever information I can out of him.''

    Taking a casual walk over to the guild hall, Marcus walked in and found Jarek pretty easily.

    He was currently surrounded by people who were listing to his story about fighting the couatl.

    ''He must be more popr than I thought. I suppose that is what happens when you make it to the higher ranks as an adventure.''

    Marcus began walking over towards Jarek and a bunch of the other adventures started to notice him.

    Most of them had not seen him before since he had only entered the guild hall once sinceing to the city, and new arrivals were not all thatmon this time of year.

    However, what garnered even more people''s attention was when Jarek waved at Marcus showing that the two knew each other.

    Marcus quickly moved through the crowd of curious people and sat down across from Jarek.

    Once Marcus sat down with Jarek the two exchanged a couple of pleasantries before Jarek asked the group of curious adventures around them to leave so they could talk in peace.

    "Thanks for meeting up with me again Irene. I realize now I never properly thanked you for your help. So, I already know you want to meet the city''s finest beast master but is there anything else."

    Marcus thought about it for a bit, and something quickly came to mind.

    "Yeah, could you introduce me to the person that made your shield and spear. I happen to be a forgemaster myself and if they are in the city, I would love to meet them."

    Jarek looked a bit surprised to hear that on top of being an adventure and baress Marcus was also a forgemaster.

    "Okay, that should not be a problem. The one who made these is the best in the city and one of the best in the kingdom. He is actually the brother of the current royal forgemaster that works directly for the royal family."

    Hearing this Marcus got a bit starry eyed, Thabon had mention the royal forgemaster before when Marcus had asked him about the other top forgemasters, and Thabon had spoken highly of his skill as just being a degree under his own.

    ''Thabon spoke quite highly of the current royal forgemaster so his brother must be pretty talented as well if the spear and shield he made for Jarek are anything to go by.''

    Marcus and Jarek continued to talk for a bit more before Jarek''s eyes went wide when he saw someone approaching.

    Marcus quickly turned around to see who it was and saw that I was beautiful woman with long brown hair that looked to be in her early thirties.

    As she approached Jarek looked to be sweating a bit and stood up and said, "Honey did you finished up the paperwork you were working on early?"

    However, instead of a reply from the woman, he just received a resounding p on the back of the head that had enough force behind it to sound like a sonic boom.

    Jarek began holding his head which appeared to already be welting as the woman said to him, "How many times do I have to tell you to call me guild master when we are at work. Also, what is this I heard about you nearly dying in the dungeon. I know I told you to bring some support with you if you were serious about fighting that couatl. I do not care how strong you are, even you cannot handle everything yourself."

    The woman who was obviously Jarek''s wife continued to berate him for his reckless behavior for another minute before turning towards Marcus.

    Her expression shifted suddenly from angry to polite, unnerving Marcus a bit as she said, "I believe you are the one that helped my idiot husband out when he found himself copsed in the dungeon, you have my thanks."

 Chapter 197 - 196 Networking In Lethallan (2)

    "It was no problem I just happened to witness his battle with the couatl and when I saw him fall out of the air I went over to help, and did you say you are the guild master?"

    Jarek''s wife then nodded her head and said, "Yes I have been the Lethan guild master for nearly four months now since the old guild master moved to another branch. Oh, and where are my manners I have not introduced myself yet. My name is Dahlia and as you know I am the guild master here so if you ever need anything feel free to ask."

    Marcus smiled back and said, "Thank you guild master, and my name is Irene Geist gold rank adventure, and I will be in your care for the next two months."

    Dahlia looked at Marcus a bit surprised and then towards Jarek before saying, "Only a gold rank but you were in the depths of area six. Are you part of a party Irene, because if not I am sure that I could find a tinum rank party you could join up with should you wish?"

    Marcus thought about Dahlia''s offer for just a moment, but the memory of his friends from Eternal Queens dying shed in his mind and Marcus could not bring himself to party up with other people yet.

    ''Also, it would restrict my and Roxene''s abilities to be in a party. Right now, I can do fine on my own. Unless I run into a situation that I absolutely need help with, there is no reason for me to join a party.''

    "Thank you for the offer but right now I am working on getting my sister stronger, and I have my beastpanions to help me while fighting."

    Dahlia simply nodded her head at Marcus'' response, while most adventures were part of a party, there were still a decent number of people that preferred to go solo.

    "Well, I just came to check up on my husband after I heard he nearly died for the third time this year. Thank you again for helping him out, and if you ever change your mind and want to join up with a party you know where to find me."

    Dahlia then left after giving Jarek onest re basically telling him to get his act together and stop being so reckless.

    "Whew sorry you had to see that. She did not use to be that violent, but I guess since she became the guild master and stopped going into the dungeon with me, she has been getting more worried. But enough about that, who did you want to meet first the beast master or forgemaster?"

    Marcus thought about it for about a minute but ultimately decided to head to the beast master first.

    ˇ­

    ''Is this really the ce.''

    Currently Marcus was standing outside a small one-story building that seemedpletely ordinary and unremarkable.

    However, Jarek walked in to the building confidently and Marcus wondering what was going on followed.

    Once inside all Marcus saw was an empty reception desk with a bell on it and a single door in the back of the room leading to the rest of the building.

    ''For a moment there I was hoping it was going to be bigger on the inside, but it just looks like a normal reception area for a small business. Is this really the ce that the best beast master in the city operates?''

    Moving up to the desk Jarek rang the little bell and just a secondter a young-looking halfling girl came out and walked over to the counter.

    "Good to see you again Jarek, so have you gotten some rare beast you want to sell to me again, or have you finally decided to get a beast of your own."

    Jarek just shook his head and then beckon the halfling girl towards Marcus and said, "Actually the one who wanted to see you is my new friend Irene. She recently captured a pair of golden lion cubs and wants to make them her sister''s beastpanions."

    The halfling girl then turned her head towards Marcus as if noticing him for the first time and said, "A friend of Jarek''s hm. Come a bit closer Irene."

    Marcus then walked forward as the halfling girl stared at him intently looking him over and even began sniffing the air around him at one point.

    ''Am I being punked here or something. Jarek is not about to point to one of the walls and go, "your on candid camera" right?''

    Marcus was getting a bit ufortable as the halfling girl continued to stare him over and wanting to get some information of his own decided to appraise her.

    Except when he did, he was unable to get any information due to her high level, proving to Marcus that this girl was not as weak as she looked. And probably the real deal

    Another minute went by as Marcus was being evaluated by the halfling girl until she said, "There is something weird about you, your soul is a bit cloudy and far too strong for the level and stats on disy. And you have a mutual seal with some type of powerful beast and a seal of dominance with a much weaker one."

    Marcus hearing this nearly had a panic attack, he did not know what the halfling girl in front of him just did, but the information she obtained was close to unveiling one of Marcus'' big secrets.

    However, as Marcus was thinking about bolting, the girl smiled at him and said, "Well it is good to meet you, Irene. My name is Tris and since you seem to be a nice enough that I would not mind working with you."

    Marcus looked at Tris in surprise for a moment wondering why her demeanor changed so suddenly and what kind of power she had used.

    Yet before he could ask her anything she started talking again and said, "Bring you sister here tomorrow along with those two golden lion cubs and if I like her, I will perform the seal for them."

    Nodding his head a bit warily Marcus said, "Okay I will bring her tomorrow, but do mind if I ask what you did to notice that I seem stronger than my stats suggest and that I already have two seals with beasts on me."

    Tris then looked up like she was pondering something and after a couple of seconds she looked at Marcus with a devious smile and said, "Sure but a secret for a secret, I will tell you if you either reveal your status to me or show me the beast you have a mutual seal with."

    Marcus grimaced a bit when he heard this, he had no intention of doing either of these things and even though he was intrigued he was not sure it was worth giving away one of his secrets.

    But as he was thinking about it, he received a mental message from Roxene who must have been watching from thepanion storage.

    ''Under no circumstance are you to show me to her. She is likely to see through me as well and I do not want to be found out by anyone this soon.''

    Marcus sent back a telepathic reply to Roxene acknowledging that he would not bring her out and began contemting whether to turn off his false status unique skill.

    "Here I turned off the skill that was hiding my status go ahead and take a look."

    Marcus then noticed how Tris looked at him intently again and even Jarek used his own appraisal skill, too curious not to see about Marcus.

    Luckily, Marcus already knew that the appraisal skill and items that used it as a base would for some reason still pick up his race as human. This had been the case since the first time he had his status brought up in River Landing and he was pretty sure it had been done on purpose by the administrator.

    Tris began nodding her head after looking at Marcus'' status and said, "Yes that is more in line with the power I feel from your soul, though it is as if there is still some type of fog around you even if it got a bit clearer. Well, a deal is a deal. I have a unique skill that is called soul reading and I can tell the approximate strength of someone with it as well as see things attached to their soul like beast seals. It also allows me to get a read a person''s character which helps me from making deals with unsavory people."

    Marcus nodded his head, understanding how useful a power like that is. It did not make her explosively stronger like his embodiment skills, but it provided a great deal of utility.

    Jarek who had been silent up to this point finally chimed in and said, "So you are actually level thirty-seven Irene, and your stats are unnaturally high. I did not have stats like those until I reached level forty-five."

    Marcus just shrugged his shoulders at Jarek''sment and looked towards Tris and said, "Would it be fine if I brought my sister here after around lunch time tomorrow."

    Tris nodded her head in agreement and Marcus then left the building along with Jarek.

    "Well, she certainly is interesting."

    "Yes, she is a bit entric but is a good person and the best in the beast business around these parts. Though she is only known by word of mouth and will refuse to work with anyone she does not like."

    Marcus then began walking back towards the main road, but Jarek did not follow looking as if he was deep in thought.

    "Hey Jarek, are we going to see your forgemaster or not."

    Jarek then seemed to snap out of his intense thinking and walked back up to Marcus and said, "Yeah follow me it is not too far from here."

 Chapter 198 - 197 Lethallanâ€™s Forgemaster And Jarekâ€™s Offer

    Walking down the city streets, Marcus followed Jarek who seemed to still be deep in thought since seeing what Marcus'' status truly looked like.

    Nevertheless, he still led Marcus to the city''s leading forgemaster and they were soon standing in front of a shop called the Cobalt Forge.

    Just standing in front of the ce Marcus could see the heating off of it and if he listened closely could hear the sounds of hammering from inside.

    Walking inside Marcus felt the heat brush over his skin and saw the glow of mes deeper within the building.

    ''It is smaller than the zegram Forge but seems to still be of a high quality.''

    Marcus then followed Jarek deeper in where they were greeted by one of the men that was currently working on a mithril axe.

    "Ah Jarek are you here to see the boss. Did you finally get the money together to finish paying off your spear and shield?"

    Jarek just shook his head and said, "Not quite but after myst job I am closer, just a bit more and I will be able to. Ah but that is not why I am here today. This here is Irene, and she is an adventure and forgemaster and wanted to meet with Edzard."

    "Okay the boss is in his office right now so go ahead and go in."

    Jarek then thanked the man and led Marcus towards the west side of the building where a separate room was located.

    As Jarek opened the door Marcus saw a middle-aged man sitting at a desk drinking some sort of beverage while looking over a stack of papers.

    The man who was most likely Edzard then looked up to see who came in and a face of mixed emotions came over him.

    "Jarek please tell me you brought this months payment and are not asking for an extension again. Since we are friends, I do not want to enforce the contract and repossess the shield and spear I made for you."

    Jarek went pale faced for a moment but quickly regained his cool and took out a small chest from his item box and handed it over to Edzard.

    Edzard then opened up the chest and Marcus could see the glimmering color of tinum coinsing from the chest.

    Marcus quickly estimated how many coins were in the chest and figured it was somewhere around a thousand which would be equivalent to ten thousand gold.

    Edzard looked through the chest for a moment before nodding with a satisfied smile and putting it away and saying to Jarek, "Well with that you only owe another fifteen thousand gold until you are the true owner of the adamantine spear and shield, I made for you. Now would you mind telling me who this is you brought with you."

    "Ah yes this here is Irene Geist and she said she wanted to meet with you since she is a fellow forgemaster, and apparently even a new apprentice of Thabon zegram."

    Edzard''s eyes went wide when he heard that Marcus was Thabon''s apprentice, and he stood up and walked over to Marcus looking him over.

    "Your hands look like newly made porcin, and you say you are a forgemaster and Thabon''s apprentice at that."

    Edzard continued to look at Marcus skeptically and said, "So Irene, "Thabon''s apprentice", what is it you wanted from me."

    Marcus could see it on Edzard''s face that his mood was rapidly declining and that he did not believe him.

    However, what Marcus wanted was not much and he was sure he could smooth over this misunderstand if he steered the conversation the right way.

    "Well, I will be staying in this city for around the next two months and was hoping that I might be able to use the tools and facilities in your forge while I am here. Of course, I am willing to pay for my time here and any tools and materials I use, and as for why my hands looks so pristine is because I have a regeneration skill."

    Edzard looked a bit surprised when this was all Marcus asked for since he was expecting something more extravagant by a person, he presumed to be lying about being connected to the most famous forgemaster in the kingdom.

    "Very well then if you are truly an apprentice of Thabon''s would you mind making something for me and if your skills are good enough, I will let you use the facilities in my forge. You understand I would not want an amateur to damage any of the equipment I have here."

    Marcus nodded his head and said, "Where can I get started."

    Edzard then led Marcus over to an empty station and asked him what he needed and then had one of the other men fetch it.

    Marcus had just asked for some basic materials and tools so, Edzard was willing to provide them.

    "Okay Jarek I need you to leave, can''t be showing the tricks of the trade to those who are not privileged."

    Jarek looked confusedly at Marcus for a moment but ultimately left, and Edzard said with a smug face said, "Did you not want to have Jarek see you fail, it is not tote if you want to back out now."

    However, what Marcus did next shut up and wiped the smug expression off of Edzard''s face as he took out a small ingot of celestial tinum.

    Hastily as he saw this Edzard said, "Put that away, some of my men do not know about that yet, and revealing it to them would not be good for either of us."

    Edzard quickly herded Marcus to a private forging location after seeing the celestial tinum he had taken out and his attitude hadpletely changed.

    "So, you are actually the real deal huh. I still am not sure if you are Thabon''s apprentice, but no amateur would know about celestial tinum. Would you mind showing me your mana etcher, if you really are Thabon''s apprentice he would have given you one, right?"

    Marcus then took out the mana etcher that Thabon had gifted him when he became his apprentice and Edzard looked it over.

    "This is Thabon''s craftsmanship no doubt about it, to think after all the fakes the genuine article finally showed up. Sorry about my attitude earlier you are not the first person who hase to my forge saying they were an apprentice of some famous forgemaster looking to get something they did not deserve."

    Nodding in understanding Marcus said, "I get it some people will im to have a connection to someone famous to try and get ahead. But I am actually Thabon''s apprentice, so you do not need to worry this time."

    Edzard then put on a big smile and said, "So how had the old man been I do not think I have seen him in fifteen years."

    Marcus began telling Edzard about his master and the man seemed to get a bigger and bigger smile as he heard about his old friend.

    "Well thank you for telling me about how Thabon is doing, and feel free toe in and use the forge whenever you want. All I ask is that you pay for the cost of materials you use and feel free to ask me for anything up to mithril."

    Marcus dly epted Edzard''s offer since he had left most of his forging supplies back home to make room in his item box, and the two of them shook hands to mark their new friendship.

    "I probably won''t be back for a bit since I am going into the dungeon to look for certain materials, but once I have found what I want I will be back to work on something special."

    Marcus and Edzard then walked out from the back of the forge and Jarek looked at them bewildered since before it seemed like Edzard hated Marcus but now they looked like old friends.

    "What did you make that turned Edzard''s mood around so fast."

    "I just showed him that I really am Thabon''s apprentice and now I can use the facilities here"

    Jarek looked like he wanted to know more about how Marcus got on Edzard''s good side, but neither of them gave up anything and he eventually relented.

    "Well see youter Irene and it was good to meet you. Next time you are around how about we get some drinks, and we can discuss forgemastering at length."

    Marcus agreed to have drinks with Edzard and then said farewell before walking back outside with Jarek close behind.

    However, they did not get far before Jarek stopped and said, "Irene there is something I wanted to talk to you about, would you minding with me somewhere else."

    Nodding his head Marcus followed Jarek and they entered a nearby restaurant and got a private room for the two of them to eat in.

    When the sever who was taking their order left Jarek looked towards Marcus and said, "Irene would you want to apany me to fight a boss in the dungeon?"

    Startled by this question Marcus put down the drink in his hand and looked seriously at Jarek and said, "Where did thise from?"

    Sighing Jarek looked at Marcus resolutely and said, "I happened to find a boss room around two months ago deep in the dungeon. In my curiosity I engaged the room''s guardians, but one was level forty-five and the other was level forty-six.. I may have been able to both of them, but the boss would have certainly been out of my league being around level fifty. So would you like to go and fight a boss with me?"

 Chapter 199 - 198 Boss Fight Planning

    Marcus continued to stare at Jarek with a befuddled expression. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he was going to be asked to go and fight a boss with his new friend.

    "Jarek why would you want me to go with you to fight a boss that is going to be around level fifty. One I am only level thirty-seven, and two we just met."

    However, Jarek just shook his head and said, "Yes we just met but I already trust you more than most of the adventures around here. I am not saying they are bad guys but when ites to boss rooms, even tight nit parties have been known to kill each other over the loot. So, yes normally I would never taking anyone I just met with me, but if you were the type of adventure to kill your fellows for money, you would not have healed me but killed me and taken me for all I was worth. My shield and spear alone are worth over a hundred thousand gold, anyone who just wanted money would never have helped me. And to make sure I even brought you to Tris, who confirmed that you were not a bad person."

    After hearing this Marcus started to see it from Jarek''s perspective. Certainly, they had not known each other long but Marcus had potentially saved Jarek''s life and the two of them did seem to get along.

    ''The chance to get the rewards from a boss would be good even if I had to split them. I was thinking about trying to find a room on my own but even phasing through walls it was still a long shot.''

    Marcus was certainly interested in fighting a boss and getting the rewards from the dungeon chest. He knew that all types of rare items would be obtained, and if he was lucky, he could get some of the adamantine he was looking for.

    Nevertheless, there were still a couple of things he needed to confirm before agreeing to joining Jarek in the boss fight.

    "The first thing I need to know is how many people you are nning on brining with you other than me, and how you would n on splitting the items obtained from the chest."

    Jarek with a look of victory on his face seeing that Marcus was interested, smiled and said, "There is just one other person I will be bringing along. They are also a mithril rank adventure like me and are actually a bit stronger. And the way we will divide the loot is by picking lots and then going around one by one choosing an item."

    ''Well, it certainly is not borate but with only three people it should be fairly effective. But does he think that three people will really be enough, even if his friend is stronger than him.''

    "Jarek do you honestly think that just three people will be enough, I know you must be at least level fifty and the other mithril adventurer you are talking about must be as well. But I am only level thirty-seven, no matter how strong I am for my level, I am still far below the boss."

    "Yes, I have to agree with you there, but what I really am looking for from you is magical support. Me and my mithril ranked friend are both pure warriors but judging from your stats you are more of a magic fighter specializing in magic. I already know you have healing magic, which is rare enough in itself, but I am sure you have a number of enchantment spells you can use on other people as well."

    ''Wait use my enchantment spells on other people?''

    That was when Marcus realized he had never tried to cast any of his enchantment spells on others, and no one had ever told him he could.

    ''I though they were just for buffing myself. I have never seen anyone using enchantment spells on someone else, though I guess the opportunity never really presented itself.''

    Marcus then wanting to see if it would work went up to Jarek and cast lightning strider on him and watched as the spell actually took effect.

    "Your right it actually works!"

    Jarek then looked at Marcus with an astonished expression, as he realized Marcus had never used an enchantment spell on anyone else.

    "Irene was this your first time casting an enchantment spell on someone else. Since you are a noble, I thought you would have attended some academy where you learned magic, did they not teach you this."

    Marcus looking a bit embarrassed told Jarek that he had only recently obtained his title and that he was self-taught when it came to magic.

    Jarek seemed to find it hard to wrap his head around Marcus being self-taught on magic since it normally took years of studying just to get a single magic skill, but at this point Jarek had seen Marcus use three.

    "Irene just how many different types of magic do you have?"

    Marcus quickly counted the magic skills he had and listed them off for Jarek.

    "I have iron, fire, lightning, healing, darkness, and light magic skills."

    It had been a long time since Jarek had been this surprised but everything about Marcus seemed to be so far outside the norm as to be impossible.

    Six magic skills was the stuff of legends. Most people focused on one or two since it was hard enough to reach a level of mastery over just a couple of magic skills. Even the best and most talented in the art of magic might have at most four different types of magic.

    Of course, this was because of the great deal of studying and research as well as practice that was needed to learn and level up magic skills which Marcus circumvented by simply purchasing them or getting them from a skill orb.

    "So, Irene have you decided if you want to tackle a boss with me and my friend. I am sure you already know that it will be dangerous and that we could all die, but neither of us made it this far as adventures because we are adverse to danger."

    Marcus began thinking long and hard about what whether he should ept or not. The possible rewards were great, but the danger was equally high. It would also mean he would have to leave Lilia alone for an extended amount of time and he was not sure if he or she was ready for that.

    However, in the end the allure of possibly getting some adamantine which could appear in a chest from a level fifty plus boss was too much.

    "Okay I will agree to go and act as your magical support. So now we need to discuss details."

    The two of them began to talk about important details such as who would bring what, how long it would take to get there, and when they would be leaving.

    "So, we will be leaving in three weeks, and it is around a week long journey to the area the boss is located and before we leave we will all get together and have a strategy meeting."

    Once the two of them had hammered out the finer details of their n, their order from the restaurant they were at came and they began enjoying their meal.

    "Jarek, do you know of an area where I could find things like elemental crystals especially those of the darkness and light elements."

    Jarek who had been in the middle of eating his soup put his spoon down and thought about it for a minute before pulling out his own map of the dungeon.

    Looking it over Marcus could see that it was far more detailed and covered a muchrger area than the one he had purchased.

    Jarek then showed Marcus on the map and area that was quite deep into the dungeon and was apparently a massive area full of elemental crystals of all types.

    "However, Irene, while I know you are strong this area is very dangerous. Even I would not go far into it alone. It is full of beast and monsters with elemental affinities, and they guard the pockets of elemental crystals and ore very fiercely. Even the weakest creatures will be in the mid-thirties, but when I was therest over a year ago, me and Dahlia had a run in with a very powerful level forty-six epic grade inferno wyvern that was guarding the purest fire elemental crystal I have ever seen. That thing in itself is almost as strong as a boss and while we did not explore the area in depth, I am pretty sure that other beings on the same level probably inhabit the area."

    Unfortunately, while what Jarek was trying to tell Marcus to ward him away from the area was just making Marcus even more excited to go.

    ''If I could get my hands on some high-quality elemental crystals, I would be set for making updated gear for me and Lilia. While what we have now is pretty good, it is still not the best.''

    As Marcus was already making his ns to go to the incredibly dangerous elemental crystal caves area, Jarek was still listing off reasons to avoid such a dangerous area which went in one of Marcus'' ears and out the other.

 Chapter 200 - 199 Liliaâ€™s New Companions

    After they finished having their discussion on the expedition to the boss room that Jarek had found, the two of them went their separate ways and Marcus headed back to the Towering Bear to meet up with Lilia and get some rest.

    Once he arrived, he went and checked on Blitz along with he two golden lion cubs that were still tied up.

    The two of them looked hatefully at Marcus and if looks could kill, not a single speck of Marcus'' soul would be left.

    However, Marcus simply disregarded their looks sincee tomorrow they would be his sisterspanion''s whether they liked it or not.

    "Here eat up."

    Marcus put out some some pieces of puff cow meat he normally reserved for Roxene for the two cubs since they had not eaten since Marcus had captured them.

    Yet even though they were obviously hungry the disdain they held for Marcus was deep and they resisted eating the food he had given them.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus just walked over to Blitz and fed him, figuring that the cubs might eat once he had left, and if not, he had ways to force them to eat if necessary.

    Having fed Blitz and left food for the golden lion cubs, Marcus went back inside the inn and up to his room where he found Lilia passed out.

    Unlike him she had physical limits and after a week of being in a dungeon, she had reached her limit.

    ''I guess I will let her sleep, when she wakes up, we can go and get something to eat.''

    With a bit of time on his hands Marcus opened up his status and looked at the number of stat points he had after his level up.

    Normally he would have only obtained eighty stat points but because of the supreme skill he had obtained from Roxene he ended up with one hundred forty-one. This was not quite double the normal amount, but it was still far more than normal, showing that for someone to reach their peak they would normally need dozens of natural treasures and stat boosting items.

    After a bit of time contemting how to allocate his pints, Marcus decided to give his spirt stat thirty-six points, intelligence thirty, and his three physical stats twenty-five.

    ''Now, do I want to use any of my skill points? They are always in high demand, and unfortunately, even greatest potential does not change the number I get. I only have twenty-four and there are a number of skills I want to level up. I could also get some new skillsˇ­ ah what am I going to do.''

    Marcus then spent the better part of the next hour toiling with what to do with his new skill points but ultimately decided to save up for a couple more levels and upgrade his strongest skills for the biggest impact.

    With his status maintenance after leveling uppleted, Marcus decided to train his mana control and attempt to separate it from his body in its pure form. He had seen a number of warriors do this like the kingdom''s knightmander and Jarek, allowing them to fire off pure sts of mana and increase the range of their attacks.

    However, like the ability to channel mana into a weapon this was not a skill recognized by the system and more of a derivative ability of magic cirction, forcing Marcus to practice instead of just purchasing it.

    ''Damn this is harder than I thought it would be, I have been trying off and on for over a month now with little sess. I managed to do something simr once when fighting the boss of the thirdyer in the ocean bluff temple when I extended the range of my scythe with mana, but I have not been able to recreate it.''

    Marcus continued to practice the high-level ability that was a mark for the strongest warriors, but he still found himself unable to separate pure mana from his body by the time Lilia woke up.

    Once Lilia was awake Marcus could tell that she was hungry as her stomach began making loud gurgling noises and the two of them went down stairs and got some food.

    ''Wow, this is just as good if not better than the food Ste makes. I wonder what level their chef''s cooking skill is.''

    Marcus continued to eat the food he had ordered enjoying the taste of the vegetables and the meat that was from a beast called a vajra turtle.

    When they had finished eating, Lilia looked quite refreshed and ready to begin the day anew.

    Unfortunately, evening was already descending, and it seemed that being in the dungeon for so long had disrupted Lilia''s sleep schedule.

    However, Lilia still needed to go and turn in the items for the requests she had taken and pick out some more.

    Marcus wanted Lilia to increase her rank as quickly as possible so that if she ever wanted to be or needed to fall back on being an adventurer, she would already have a solid foundation.

    Thus, the two of them headed back to the guild and Lilia handed in the requests she had taken and got upgraded to bronze rank.

    Then with Marcus'' help picked out a couple of iron rank missions that could bepleted in the dungeon, though their were very few and eventually settled to pick some that allowed for people of any rank toplete.

    ''I guess with the dungeon being the big draw here, lower ranked request are far lessmon.''

    With Lilia now sorted out at the guild, the two of them wandered around the city going into shops to sell the surplus items they had obtained and opening up room in their storages.

    ''Damn who would have guessed that the bodies of those golden lions were so valuable. Selling both of them I managed to nearly eight thousand gold. Though I could have gotten a better price if it had been a request but just showing up and selling high quality materials is bound to get less money.''

    Luckily, Marcus was not too upset about not having made as much money as he could have, they still had nearly two months in the city and Marcus figured that the real value of their trip woulde from the rewards he would get from beating the dungeon boss.

    Having finished up all the little things they needed to do, Marcus and Lilia headed back to their inn as it was starting to gette into the night.

    The next day soon arrived and Lilia had slept for quite a while waking up again long after the sun had appeared in the sky.

    However, instead of getting ate breakfast from the kitchen downstairs, Marcus had fixed a special meal for Lilia using the orange lotus flowers he had obtained as the main ingredient.

    Lilia dly ate the meal and soon the exquisite taste of the natural treasures washed over her tongue, and she ate to her hearts content.

    ''Looks like those lotuses increased all of her physical stats but more so her vitality. Well, she is more of a physical fighter anyway, now let me see how these fruits I got from the lion''s de work on her.''

    Marcus then took out one of the fruits he had gotten from the tree the golden lions had taken as their own and had her eat it.

    Afterwards he once again appraised her and found that the fruit had increased all of her stats by three except for spirit which it had increased by five.

    Marcus then realized how high quality these fruits were, and he wished that the tree would have had some more that were ripe so that he could have boosted Lilia''s stats even more.

    "Lilia take these fruits and make sure to eat one every morning until you run out."

    Handing over six more of the fruits, Marcus wanted Lilia to slowly increase her stats and when she had reached higher levels, he would give her the remaining ten in his possession.

    Shortly after Lilia had finished eating, the two of them got ready and went to collect the two lion cubs along with Blitz and their carriage.

    ''Looks like they are still refusing to eat.''

    Looking at the to now spoiled pieces of meat he had left for the two lion cubs, Marcus could see that they still refused to eat and decided it was time for drastic measures.

    Marcus pulled out some already cooked meat and left it on a te before possessing the cubs one by one and eating for them.

    While he did this, the cub the was not possessing screeched out, making distressed squeaking noises.

    However, their resistance was futile, and Marcus had no intention of letting them die via a hunger strike.

    After making sure that the two cubs had eaten enough, Marcus tied Blitz up to the carriage and Lilia got inside with the two cubs while Marcus steered Blitz to their location.

    Arriving in front of the inconspicuous shop of the halfling beast master Tris, Marcus brought Lilia inside along with the two golden lion cubs.

    Ringing the bell on the counter, Tris appeared nearly instantly and after greeting Marcus moved over towards Lilia and began staring intently at her.

    "Like her sister, her soul is far stronger than the normal for her level, and she is quite young as well. And such a pained but still warm soul, it is not every day I see someone like you."

    Lilia was starting to get a bit creeped out by the way Tris was staring at her, so Marcus interposed and asked if they could get down to business.

    "Yes, your sister has a sound character, even more so than you, so I will be willing to perform the seal between her and these two cubs. Now for the price, five hundred gold per seal should be about right."

    Hearing this Marcus became a bit skeptical since the price of the seal that was even made between him and Roxene had been cheaper.

    However, as he asked why it was so expensive, it was because Tris was using a modified seal of her own making that would create and empathic connection between master and beast, allowing them to increase the bond between each other as well as bettermunicate.

    Handing over the thousand gold, Marcus waited in the reception area as Tris took Lilia into the back and performed her special seal of dominance between Lilia and the two golden lion cubs.

    Not long after Marcus heard Lilia give a loud scream causing him to panic, and he ran back even though he was supposed to wait and saw Lilia had blood flowing out of her nose, eyes, and ears.

    However, what really caught Marcus'' attention was that she was hugging the two cubs which were also bleeding from the same areas as her, though they appeared to be unconscious.

 Chapter 201 - 200 Back To The Dungeon

    Running over to Lilia, Marcus put his hands on her, casting a healing spell, and trying to get an understanding of the situation.

    However, moments after Marcus had cast the spell on her Lilia looked at Marcus and for a moment, he saw something in her eyes he never thought would be directed at him by her, hostility.

    Seeing how Lilia was looking at him with hate in her eyes, Marcus felt as if his metaphorical heart stopped, but as quickly as the look came, it vanished just as suddenly, and Lilia pushed her head against Marcus and began crying.

    Marcus was still not sure what was going on, so he looked towards Tris who was standing in the room looking nonchnt.

    "What happened, why was Lilia bleeding and why is she crying so much."

    Tris responded saying, "The cubs fought back viciously as the seal was being put on and I had to step in to keep them from killing themselves and severely injuring your sister. Luckily the seal managed to go through, though they all took a bit of damage in the process. Why she is crying is probably because of the empathic link she has with those two cubs now. I have seen it happen before, young magical beasts that are ripped away from their parents fight back hard and are resentful. That is probably why she is crying and gave you that hateful look, the empathic link they now share made her feel the disdain the cubs have for you."

    In a panic Marcus said, "Wait so is my sister going to hate me now, and are the emotions of these cubs going to change her personality?

    Yet Tris just waved her hand back and forth, before saying, "No, she is just feeling the initial bacsh of the cubs'' strongest emotions. She is the dominant one in the seal after all, so it is her emotions that will have the greater effect on the cubs in the long run. Anyway, if she hated you now, do you think she would be crying in your arms forfort."

    Marcus then looked down at his crying sister and began patting her head as she balled deeply.

    It had been a long time since Marcus had seen her like this, but it helped remind him that she is still a child, even after everything she has been through.

    Marcus continued tofort Lilia for a few more minutes as she got her emotions under control and stopped crying.

    She then looked up at Marcus with apologetic eyes and Marcus could tell she was feeling bad for the way she had looked at him earlier.

    "Its fine Lilia, I understand you were feeling all of the hate those two little buggers have for me."

    Marcus continued tofort Lilia for a bit more before the two of them stood up and looked at the two still unconscious golden lion cubs.

    At this point Tris came up right behind Lilia and said, "You should probably give them both names. It will help build your bond and make them less difficult in the future."

    Lilia after jumping up startled by Tris'' sudden appearance, calmed down and thought about the names for the two cubs.

    Both of them were female so she was trying toe up with good names for both of them.

    "Aurelia and Zareen."

    After a bit of time thinking, Lilia came up with the name Aurelia for the level fourteen cub and Zareen for the level twelve.

    Of course, these names held significant meaning to Lilia as they had been the names of the grannies that had help take care of her in the loggingmunity when she was younger, and her parents were busy.

    Unfortunately, they had been killed during the raid where Lilia was abducted, but her naming her new beasts after them showed that she still cared about and remembered them.

    Marcus patted Lilia on the shoulder and said, "Those are good names, and I am sure that the two of them would be happy that your knewpanions who will be looking after you have inherited their names."

    With their business now concluded Marcus and Lilia left Tris'' store and headed back to the inn to prepare for their next foray into the dungeon.

    The two of them went through their inventories taking out any unnecessary items from their magic bags and Marcus'' item box.

    Once they had narrowed things down to just the necessities, they began making their ns for the next trip.

    Marcus nned to head to the elemental caves area, but he knew that it would be far too dangerous for Lilia, so he was nning on leaving her in the area that was right before it which from the information he had gotten from Jarek''s map was a massive swamp.

    "It will probably takes us five days to get to the swamp area even if we are quick, and then it will take me another day to make it to the elemental caves from there. I will then spend four days exploring the caves beforeing back to find you. After that we will head back so I can have a bit of time to prepare before I head out with Jarek and his friend to fight the dungeon boss."

    Havinge up with a rough n, Marcus and Lilia took the rest of the day off and Lilia waited for her newpanions to wake back up.

    Luckily it was not too long before they regained consciousness although the first thing now that they were not bound, was to re at Marcus and attack him.

    Unfortunately for them, Lilia quickly ordered them not to and they were unable to fight the power of the seal on them and obeyed begrudgingly.

    Of course, they still gave Marcus hateful looks and were not very warm to Lilia either, but they could tell that she cared for them even if they were acting cold.

    ''She will wear them down eventually, though I doubt they will evere around to me, seeing as how they watched me kill their family and then abduct them.''

    ˇ­

    The next day soon came and Marcus along with Lilia and their beastpanions made their way back into the dungeon.

    Using the same trick, Marcus possessed Lilia''s body and easily slipped her into the dungeon, even if she was not technically qualified.

    "Okay we will pass through area four which is a massive dessert, next we will be into an area ten that is just a cavern with a river running through it, and finally we will make it to the swamp area that is not on our map."

    With their directions set Marcus and Lilia headed down the tunnel that would lead them into area four, sooning out into a huge dessert that seemed to stretch on forever.

    ''Wow it is bright, and the heat is intense, good thing we made proper preparations beforeing here.''

    Marcus then pulled out arge sheet and cast his iron threads spell and held it aloft in the air.

    Once that was done Marcus cast his iron sphere spell and pushed it up in the middle of the sheet creating a makeshift tent to shield their group from the harsh sun.

    And for the final touch, Marcus activated his chill zone racial ability and the temperature around him began to drop rapidly.

    "Lilia is that good or did you want me to make it cooler."

    "No this feels fine. It is just like a normal summer day now." (A/N: the Kingdom of Borealia is way up in the north so a summer day is still at max in the high seventies Fahrenheit or the mid-twenties Celsius.)

    Having made the trip through the dessert far morefortable, Marcus'' group began walking towards the other end of the area, though going at an angle to avoid the middle where the strongest beasts and monsters resided.

    Walking through the desert, the scenery consisted of mostly the same types of dessert nts, such as cacti and arid looking bushes along with the asional patch of wild flowers.

    However, it was not long until Marcus spotted a muchrger cactus then the rest, and sitting on top of it was arge fruit that was emitting a pleasant fragrance.

    Yet as they got closer Marcus noticed a slight depression in the ground around it and saw that under the cactus was some type of massive antlion.

    ''It is only level twenty-three. Lilia and the cubs could probably take it if I give them some support.''

    Sending out his spectral arm, Marcus jammed it into the sand where the antlion was waiting for prey to fall into its trap and yanked it out.

    The creature began iling around but Marcus'' spectral arm had a firm grasp that it was powerless to unhinge.

    With the antlion exposed Marcus flung it to the ground and at the same time cast Spirt ze on Lilia.

    With his sister now powered up by his spell she leaped forward and began her assault on therge antlion.

    Each one of her punches caused the creature''s hard outer shell to cave in and a yellow greenish blood began to pour out of its wounds.

    At the same time the two golden lion cubs, Aurelia and Zareen nked around back and were tearing away at it with their ws.

    Of course, they were not doing much damage but at least they were still trying to help Lilia out.

    Soon with the power boost from Marcus'' spell, Lilia dealt a devastation blow that was enhanced with her tier one force magic spell, and she split open the head of the huge antlion.

    "Good job Lilia your movements are getting better, and your use of spells has made great improvements."

    Afterplimenting Lilia for her hard work and achievements, Marcus used his spectral arm to pluck the fruit from the top of the cactus and bring it down.

    It was a fairlyrge fruit with a distinct purple color and Marcus could tell it was a natural treasure.

    He handed it over to Lilia and let her eat it and once it wasplexly gone, she had a refreshed look on her face.

    ''Hm only three points increase in intelligence. I figured it was not a high tier natural treasure from the monster guarding it, but I suppose every bit counts.''

    Having finished their first encounter in the dessert with no problems, their group continued on, marching through the desert towards their destination.

 Chapter 202 - 201 Trek Through The Desert

    After walking through the outer parts of the desert, Marcus andpany entered into an area that had be much more barren and practically devoid of life.

    The heat also became more intense but with Marcus'' chill zone ability and the sheet he had suspended above them, the temperature was still rtivelyfortable.

    That was until the massive crystals that were sting down the equivalent of sunlight slowly turned dim, and a simted night came over the desert within the dungeon.

    The temperature plummeted quickly, and Marcus helped Lilia set up their tents and used his fire magic warmed the area up.

    Now everyone was sitting around Marcus'' floatingntern spell that was going full st for heat and cooking.

    ''I can see why most people avoid this area. The temperatures are harsh during most of day and night. but in different directions. At least with my skills and abilities I am able to mitigate the worst of it for Lilia and ourpanions, though Roxene still refuses toe out.''

    Soon the warm soup he was making for Lilia was done, and once Marcus had made sure she had enough food, he went and fed Blitz while Lilia fed the two cubs who still hated Marcus'' guts.

    ''Well at least they are slowly getting closer to Lilia. I doubt they will ever like me but as long as they grow a close bond with Lilia and help keep her safe that is all that matters.''

    After everyone was fed, Marcus told them to get some sleep as he kept watch through the night.

    Luckily, the still desert stayed that way, and no wayward monsters or beast came near them, and the next day arrived without incident.

    Putting up their sun and heat protection once more, Marcus andpany continued their journey through the desert, heading deeper and deeper into the area.

    However, when arge rocky ind appeared in sight after a few hours of travel Marcus knew it was time for them to take a detour.

    ''That should be the center of the area where the strongest beasts and monsters fight for resources. As long as we avoid it, we should make it to our destination without a hitch.''

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' hopes were dashed just a few hourster as a massive dust cloud soon was approaching them. But as it got closer Marcus could make out that the dust cloud was being generated by hundreds of lizard type beasts running through the desert.

    Preparing for the tide of lizardsing at them, Marcus brought everyone close to him and stood in front.

    Yet as the lizards got closer and came into the range of his creature appraisal skill, Marcus found after rapid fire appraising the lizards, that they ranged from the high teens to the low twenties level wise.

    ''Roxene''

    Calling out to his partner, Roxene for the first time since entering the desert area popped out of Marcus''panion storage and activated her intimidating presence.

    The tide of lizards that was getting increasingly closer parted like a diverging river and went around Marcus'' group wanting to avoid the powerful aura that Roxene was emitting.

    Except it was at this moment that Marcus realized something.

    ''Why are these lizards running away in the first ce, and why did they only go around us and not turn back when they felt Roxene''s intimidating presence.''

    A few momentster Marcus'' question found its answer as a massive fin could be seen chasing one of the groups of lizards.

    Then out of the sand the titanic form of a shark flew up and crashed into the lizards eating dozens of them along with the sand around them.

    The colossal form of the over one-hundred-foot shark soon disappeared into the sand along with around a sixth of the lizards that had been running away.

    However, the leaping sand shark also caused a massive wave of sand to st out from around it and the aftermath of this was heading right for Marcus'' group.

    Knowing there was no way to outrun the sand waveing for them, Marcus sent a telepathic message to Roxene, and they each put up a wall of darkness, and working togetherpletely encapsted the group.

    The walls of darkness then began shacking as the force of the sand wave impacted but after just a few moments everything was still.

    After removing the walls of darkness Marcus looked around and saw that the remnants of the lizards were still running away.

    Except, Marcus expected to see the sand shark chasing after the remaining lizards but could not see it anywhere near them.

    That was when he had a premonition and looking straight in front of him saw the sand sharking right for his group.

    As useful as Roxene''s intimidating presence was for scaring off weaker creatures, it could also be seen as a challenge by stronger ones and the sand shark was answering the call.

    "EVERYONE RUN NOW!"

    Yelling sternly Marcus startled hispanions with the tone of his voice they had never heard, but when they saw the serious expression on his face they did as they were told and ran.

    ''You will not get past me.''

    Running forward to meet the sand shark, Marcus racked his brain on how he was going to stop it and came to only one conclusion.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Dark Form.''

    As if all the light in the world cked out for a second a massive burst of darkness surrounded Marcus and behind it a halo of light formed making the darkness seem even more powerful.

    Six iron wings then burst out of Marcus'' back, and he began rocketing forward straight towards the colossal sand shark.

    ''Eclipse Meteor.''

    In under a second Marcus and the sand shark met and a massive explosion of darkness, light, and sand followed.

    The impact of these two-meeting billowed out into the air in the shape of a mushroom cloud and the sand wave that came from the wake of their sh made the earlier one look like a ssh.

    The gargantuan sand wave quickly dispersed through the dessert swallowing everything in its path for thousands of feet before calming down.

    Luckily, between Roxene deploying another wall of darkness and shield of light, plus Lilia using her new force barrier spell, their group had managed to stay together and uninjured, albeit buried under a dozen feet of sand.

    Standing in the center of a vast crater that now stood as a scar on the desert, Marcus looked at the colossal form of the sand shark that was heavily injured but still alive. and was looking back at him with killing intent.

    ''Level forty-five and you have magic resistance. Truly a powerful beast. But you made a huge mistake, you threatened my sister andpanions.''

    The sand shark after regaining its bearing focused all of its attention on Marcus, the being that had injured it and interrupted its meal.

    Bouncing into the air the over a hundred-foot-long sand shark leapt towards Marcus mouth first nning to eat him along with a chunk of the desert.

    However, while the sand shark was a massive beast of immense strength and resilience, that was all it had, and since he could hurt it, Marcus knew he would win.

    With a burst of speed Marcus flew out of the range of its mouth as the shark collided into the ground missing Marcus by arge margin.

    Flying around Marcus began delivering slice after slice with his scythe, causing numerous shallow cuts to begin bleeding all over the titanic beast.

    Quickly a minute passed as the sand shark tried its best to use its power to kill Marcus.

    Unfortunately for the sand shark, its massive frame made it impossible to keep up with Marcus'' nimble assault, and a death of a thousand cuts soon found the king of the dessert as it bled out.

    ''Looks like you loss again Brucy.''

    As Marcus watched the life leave the sand shark, he deactivated his supreme skill and a wave of fatigue washed over him causing him to feel heavy and sluggish.

    Floating down to the ground Marcus slumped over and gave himself a minute to recover before sending out a mentalmunication to Roxene.

    ''Roxene how is everyone doing, do you need any assistance.''

    Waiting for a moment that seemed like an eternity, Roxene responded to Marcus saying, ''Everyone is fine, though a bit sand logged. Also, it is far too hot here, pleasee and get me out of this desert.''

    After hearing Roxene''s report and that she was well enough toin, Marcus breathed a sigh of relief.

    With his worries now alleviated Marcus moved towards the dead body of the colossal sand shark and began carving away at it, aiming to take out its magic core.

    It took him a bit of time, during which he received moreints from Roxene, but after going through the trouble of killing this titanic beast Marcus had no intention of going back empty handed.

    Carving around its core, Marcus pulled out the biggest most lustrous core he had ever seen.

    Having obtained his spoils, Marcus stored the sand shark''s magic core away and flew into the air over towards hispanions.

    When he arrived, he could see they were worse for wear, especially Blitz and Roxene who both had thick coats of fur.

    As hended on the ground in front of them, Roxene wasted no time and in a sh jumped back into hispanion storage away from the heat.

    The others however, could not find relief from the intense heat in Marcus'' storage, and to help them out he began channeling his chill zone and put up the sun shielding sheet.

    At that point everyone moved closer to Marcus who was the source of the cool air, even the two lion cubs.

    Their group then took a good hour to rest and recover, everyone other than Marcus working hard to get the sand off of their bodies.

    "Well, that certainly was a bit of a surprise, but we all managed to get out okay, so let''s get going before another beast or monster of a simr stature attacks us."

    With the fear of another attack by a massive creature in the forefront of their minds, Marcus and Lilia, along with their beasts double timed it through the dessert.

    Luckily, they managed to get through without further issue and soon came to the tunnel that would lead them to the next area right as the day was ending.

 Chapter 203 - 202 River Of The Dead

    Having made it to the edge of the desert area and to the tunnel that connects to next area, Marcus and his group decided to sleep for the night and head into the river area fully rested.

    Of course, Marcus took the one and only watch owing to hisck of need for sleep.

    However, halfway through the night Marcus suddenly felt something enter his life sense skill''s radius, yet their was nothing to be seen anywhere around him.

    The presence then quickly disappeared when Marcus looked in its direction exiting out of his skill''s area.

    ''I wonder what that was. It had a decently strong reaction, so it was not weak, and it was even able to render itself invisible.''

    After having his area invaded by some unknown entity, Marcus brought his vignce up higher and began spreading out iron threads in multiple directions hoping to snag whatever had approached him and hispanions.

    Unfortunately, whatever it was had moved far off already, or was incredibly tiny and lithe to evade his probing threads.

    ''Well, it is not within a hundred feet most likely. I suppose it could be an ethereal creature even as unlikely as that could be.''

    Marcus quickly reverted to his ghost form in order to check since only while he was ethereal could he see other ethereal beings.

    Nevertheless, Marcus still found nothing within his vicinity and decided that whatever it was, was not worth pursuing further.

    ''If ites back, ites back.''

    With the midnight interruption seemingly over, Marcus went back to trying to fire off a pure st of mana.

    He had been trying to get this ability down for a while now and he had been making a bit of progress recently.

    While he had been unable to separate the mana from himself, he was able to extend it a bit, though only when he was really concentrating.

    The night soon continued on without further incident and when the zing simted sun began to light up the desert, Marcus andpany entered into the tunnel that would lead them to the next area.

    Along the way a group of cave goblins ambushed them, but none of them were very strong so Marcus let Lilia and her new beastpanions handle it and the lion cubs both gained a level after the fight.

    Continuing down the tunnel after their brief encounter with the goblins, it was not long until Marcus andpany could hear the roar of the river that went through the next area.

    Walking through the end of the tunnel they came into a massive expanse that went on for miles and in the center was a river that was easily ten thousand feet wide traveling through the entire area.

    Unfortunately, the amount of light in this area was incredibly low, and everyone but Marcus was having trouble seeing more than a couple feet in front of them.

    That was, until Marcus cast his floatingntern spell and lit up the area around them, allowing everyone else to see clearly within around two hundred feet.

    With visibility now much better, everyone began moving forward, following the flow of the river that would take them to the next area.

    However, as they continued moving, the sound of hundreds of sloshing foot falls could be heard, and soon an army of over five hundred zombies and counting had surrounded them.

    Except unlike normal zombies these were heavily bloated, and it was obvious they had crawled out of the nearby river.

    ''None of them are very strong, most being between level twelve and fifteen, but the sheer mass of all of these river zombies is going to make this difficult.''

    As the army of shambling and in all honesty putrid zombies got closer and closer, Marcus cast his iron golem and sent it straight into the middle of the hoard.

    He had experience fighting undead before and knew that they had a hard time dealing with opponents they could not sink their teeth or ws into.

    Nevertheless, even though his iron golem was tearing the zombies apart and killed dozens of them each second, they seemed unending and began to tightly encircle Marcus'' group.

    ''Roxenee on out, we need your assistance.''

    Answering the call, Roxene jumped out of Marcus''panion storage and immediately regrated it when she smelled the overpowering stench of the zombies.

    ''Ugh you could not have called me out against better smelling enemies. I am just telling you now, I will let all of you die before I bite one of them.''

    After getting herining out of the way, Roxene waited for Marcus'' directions, and quicklying up with a simple n, everyone with ranged attacks began bombarding the enclosing zombies.

    Blitz fired off bolt of lightning after bolt of lightning sting tens of zombies with each attack, while at the same time Lilia was chanting her force canon spell as fast as she could, killing two or three zombies with each attack.

    Marcus for his part had cast his tier five iron magic spell and was mowing down the zombies by the hundreds with flying iron wings, while Roxene made sure no zombie got too close firing off a barrage of different spells.

    Their group was doing a good job at keeping the zombies at bay, but even after killing thousands of them the horde showed no sign of stopping.

    And then the worst happened when a massive form began lumbering over towards them, and what looked to be hundreds of corpse that had fused together into a giant wriggling mass of flesh was making it towards them.

    Appraising it Marcus found the new undead to be level thirty-nine, far stronger than any of the other zombies.

    ''Take this.''

    Firing off aser spell Marcus carved the wriggling mass of bodies in half and watched as it began to disintegrate into nothing.

    Unfortunately, more of these massive bodies of undead began approaching and the longsting fight was beginning to wear everyone down.

    Lilia was the first to give out, running out of mana and hitting her limit with mana restoration potions.

    Blitz followed a few minutester leaving just Marcus and Roxene to hold down the defenses.

    ''Fuck this is not going to end well if things keep going the way they are. Jarek said he had no trouble passing through this area, not even being attacked once, what the hell is difference this time.''

    Marcus began racking his brain, there must have been an exnation for why Jarek had managed to get through this area without any trouble.

    It took Marcus nearly a dozen seconds toe up with the answer but when he did, he wanted to kick himself because of how simple it was.

    ''The light! They are being attracted by the light from my floatingntern spell.''

    However, at this point Marcus knew that just turning off the spell would not help them much now. They were currently surrounded and without the light Roxene would be unable to see and assist as well as she was.

    But their was a way that Marcus could get them out, he just needed to be a brighter light.

    With a n forming in his head, Marcus began telepathically sending over the details to Roxene as they held the undead at bay.

    ''Now.''

    At the same time both Roxene and Marcus turned in the direction opposite the river and fired off two darkness drill spells to create a path out of the surrounding undead.

    With a path to escape now open Marcus ushered everyone to run away while he jumped towards the undead, bringing his floatingntern with him and bing the center of attention.

    ''Embodiment of Light.''

    And for good measure he activated his unique skill and light began to burst around his body making him a shinning beacon for every undead within miles.

    In fact, his n may have worked a bit too well, as he soon heard a massive ssh and a creature that looked like a spinosaurus came out of the river and riding on its head was a zombie in full armor wielding a massive ck great sword.

    ''Shit! Level forty-three and level forty-seven.''

    After appraising the two new opponents, Marcus was beginning to feel that the pressure was on. Normally he would have just used his ghost form to vanish, but he was not certain if Lilia and his beastpanions had made it far enough away, and he did not need these monstrosities going after then.

    shing around the battlefield Marcus cut apart the zombies between him and the zombie knight riding a spinosaurus, nning to deal with the biggest threat first.

    Yet when he was just a dozen of feet away, unexpectedly the spinosaurus like zombie opened its mouth and a ze of ck mes came out.

    Stopping for a moment, Marcus quickly went ethereal to avoid the dark mes but found that they still slightly damaged him as he felt a burning sensation over his soul.

    That was when Marcus saw the zombie knight leap off its mounts'' head ande at him with its sword causing his danger sense to go crazy.

    Realizing that these two undead had a way to attack his soul even if it was ethereal, Marcus became solid again and parried the knight''s sword with his scythe.

    However, the zombie knightpletely overpowered Marcus and pushed him back tens of feet before he crashed into one of the undead that was arge mass of bodies fused together.

    The creature then began coiling around Marcus trying to absorb him, but in retaliation he infused his scythe with arge amount of mana and light energy and shed the undead monster into pieces before turning back towards the greatest threat, the zombie knight and its mount.

 Chapter 204 - 203 River Of The Dead (2)

    ''You have leveled up to level 38.''

    As Marcus received the level up notification after he killed the undead mass that had been trying to eat him, the zombie knight stepped forward to engage Marcus once again.

    Using his speed burst skill to avoid the first strike, Marcus created some distance for himself and began casting his buff spells.

    ''Spirit ze, legs of light, lightning strider, iro- crap.''

    Before he could cast all of his buff spells the huge spinosaurus like zombie appeared behind him and bit down towards him.

    Luckily Marcus'' danger sense had warned him of the iing attack and with his knew speed enchantments he was able nimbly move out if the way.

    However, the zombie knight was quickly on him again, but this time Marcus was able to parry its attacks now that he knew how strong it was and he had some enhancements to strengthen him.

    Fighting for his life against the two powerful undead, Marcus was doing a good job at keeping the two at bay, but his power was slowly waning.

    It was only a matter of time before he was out of mana, or his embodiment of light overwhelmed him, and Marcus knew he needed to win the fight before then.

    Trading blow after blow Marcus eventually managed to create an opening and knock the zombie knight''s sword up and taking one hand off of his scythe fired aser spell right into its center.

    Yet instead of the spell piercing through it, a phantom shield that was not there before appeared in front of the zombie knight taking theser spell head on.

    And as Marcus was stunned by his killer move being blocked, the spinosaurus zombie released another st of its dark breath not caring that it would also hit its master.

    Throwing up a wall of darkness behind him, Marcus was able to block most of the dark mes though a few busted past his wall of darkness and burned him.

    ''Owowowow.''

    It had been a long time since Marcus had felt this level of pain, but the dark mes did not only hurt his physical form but also his soul.

    Unfortunately, Marcus had no time to deal with the pain as the zombie knight had recovered its stance and began trying to hack him to pieces again.

    At this point Marcus thought about using his supreme skill, but he was already pretty worn down after killing thousands of zombies and the bacsh might incapacitate him.

    ''Thunderbird strike.''

    Trying his hand at using lightning magic Marcus cast a heighten thunderbird strike hoping that the attack''s power would be enough to harm the zombie knight.

    s, with the sh of its sword d in an unhallow aura it swiped away Marcus'' tier four spell and sent back a st of energy towards Marcus.

    Taking the zombie knight attack, Marcus felt his body and soul being shredded and dozens of wounds opened up all over him.

    It as at this point that Marcus realized he had underestimated the dungeon. So far there had been very few enemies that could hurt him while he was ethereal, and he had taken this for granted thinking he always had a way out.

    Now he was barely keeping up with two enemies that could hurt him whether he was ethereal or not, and he was soon to lose if things kept up.

    Feeling pressured, Marcus was getting close to using his supreme skill even though he was already feeling overwhelmed just from using embodiment of light.

    He figured he would at least be able to take out the zombie knight before going down and maybe even the spinosaurus if her was lucky.

    However, as he was about tomit to this, he heard a telepathic message from Roxene.

    ''Go ethereal.''

    Trusting in his partner''s words, Marcus went ethereal even though it would leave him practically defenseless against the zombie knight''s attacks which could still hurt him.

    Yet as the zombie knight swung its sword in for the kill, Roxene burst out of nowhere already enhanced by her supreme skill and smashed into the undead knight sending him back dozens of feet.

    The huge spinosaurus zombie tried to bite down on Roxene who had interrupted it and its master battle, but before it could Roxene bent her head upwards and howled.

    The visage of the sun then appeared above her before exploding out in a massive burst of searing light.

    After the attack from Roxene''s unique skill had dissipated, every lower level undead within around two hundred feet had been reduced to ash and even the zombie spinosaurus was severely injured and unable to move properly.

    However, the zombie knight had protected itself with it shield again and was rtively unscathed, and a flicker of anger could be seen in its cold dead eyes.

    Yet before it couldsh out at Roxene, Marcus reappeared on her back and the young wolf set off running towards where the rest of the group was.

    Nevertheless, even without its mount the zombie knight began rushing towards them surprisingly keeping up with Roxene.

    "Eat this. Railgun."

    As the zombie knight was chasing after them, Marcus now had enough breathing room to prepare hisbination spell and fire it towards the zombie knight.

    Moving at the speed of sound thepressed iron sphere impacted against the knight''s shield, and as strong as the undead was, it was still pushed back over a thousand feet beforeing to a stop.

    Having broken out of the undead encirclement and escaped their pursuer, Marcusid down on top of Roxene who was running at an incredible speed and began recovering. He had used up a lot of mana and the negative effects of using his embodiment of light were catching up with him.

    ''Damn what the hell was that thing, it was way too strong. Even with embodiment of light active I could not hurt it with a point ckser, and it even tanked Roxene''s howl of day with ease.''

    What Marcus did not know was how lucky he was to have escaped. The zombie he had been fighting was near the pinnacle of undead being a revenant knight, and in the dungeon, it was one of the strongest monsters only out ssed by some of the boss monsters.

    While he wasying on top of her, Roxene soon sent Marcus a mental message that she could no longer keep up her supreme skill and when she stopped, he rolled off of her.

    Once Marcus was no longer on top of her Roxene began shrinking before she rolled over on her side and began panting painfully.

    That was when Marcus noticed that Roxene''s two front paws as well as her face and chest, were emitting a simr dark aura as the revenant knight and it was eating away at her.

    Seeing this, Marcus summoned up all of the mana he had recovered and cast a healing spell on Roxene.

    Unfortunately, the spell seemed to have no effect and Marcus began to panic.

    At least until Roxene chided him and said, ''Stop spazzing out. I just got effected by its undead aura a bit and got hit with a death curse. Give me a few minutes and I will be fine.''

    Hearing this Marcus started to be more worried since being hit with a death curse did not sound like something you just shrugged off, well at least for normal creatures.

    ''I told you I would be fine in a few minutes. Certainly, if I was a normal wolf this would kill me, but death curses eat away at your life span, but since I am immortal it cannot kill me, it just hurts.''

    After that Marcus began to calm down and Roxene no longer needed to force herself to speak and focused on recovering.

    And just as she said, within a few minutes the aura vanished having run its course, and Roxene shakily got up and said, ''Follow me to where the others are hiding. We got lucky and ran into a friendly beast down here and they are currently keeping them safe.''

    Marcus looked at Roxene in confusion, a friendly beast in the dungeon did not sound right. In fact, to this point Marcus was not sure he had met any friendly beast that were not someone''s beastpanion.

    Nevertheless, all Marcus could do at this point was trust Roxene''s judgment and hope that this beast really was friendly.

    Moving further and further away from the river, Marcus soon was able to make out the figure of Lilia sitting in an outcropping of rocks, with Blitz sitting around her protectively while Lilia held the two golden lion cubs.

    Yet as he got closer and was within ten feet of them, he picked up another signature from his life sense skill, one that he had felt before.

    He could tell it was the same being that had got his attention while on watchst night, and Marcus immediately cast his gaze towards the area the signature wasing from.

    Right on top of Lilia''s head was where the creature had perched and now Marcus was certain it was tiny.

    Pointing his finger at the not visible creature, Marcus was about to open fire on it until he heard it cry out in a high-pitched voice and say, "Please wait, I mean neither you nor any of yourpanions harm."

    The little beast then appeared in front of Marcus letting out a perpetual soft glow.

    Marcus was dumbfounded to see what had just appeared in front him, because it was a dragon, yet only the size of a kitten and it had butterfly wings.

 Chapter 205 - 204 The Pixie Dragonâ€™s Plea

    Looking at the tiny butterfly winged dragon in front of him Marcus was at a loss for words.

    It was incredibly rare to find a beast or monster that could speak, but also dragons were considered one of the strongest beasts in the world, even the weakest of them being at least at the legendary grade.

    However, after looking over the little dragon in front of him, Marcus was beginning to think it was not a true dragon but some type of lesser dragon like a drake or wyvern.

    One it was tiny, at a size Marcus was sure even new born dragons would be, and two it had butterfly wings instead of the normal more bat like wings that were associated with dragons.

    ''What the hell is this thing?... Well, it is level thirty-four, so it is fairly strong, but this is weird. I have never met an intelligent beast or monster in a dungeon before, and I did not think it was possible. Though what do I really know about dungeons in the first ce.''

    As Marcus quickly processed what was going on he turned his attention back towards the butterfly winged dragon and said, "Thank you for helping mypanions, but what are you and what do you want with us?"

    The little dragon with butterfly wings seeing that Marcus had ceased hostilities and was open to dialogue heaved a slight sigh of relief and said, "My name is Findlyier, and I am a pixie dragon. And the reason I sought you out was because I sensed a very powerful presence of light nearby fighting a powerful presence of darkness and came to see if I could find an ally. However, when I found you, it turned out you were the one emitting both the presence of darkness and light. So, I waited and watched to see what you are and how you acted. I had to make sure you were not some evil being, but after watching for a bit, I believe you are good so would you please help me and my fellows?"

    Marcus was left stunned for a moment by the rapid fire and lengthy exnation the pixie dragon Findlyier had given him, and it took him a bit to process all of that information.

    "So, you want me to help you and your friends with something. I am sorry but right now I have my own goals I need to aplish so unless it is an easy task, you will have to count me out."

    The pixie dragon looked saddened by Marcus'' response, but it quickly got itself back together and began its plea anew.

    "Please help us, the demon and his forces are slowly taking over our territory. We have other adventures that are helping us but even with their assistants we will be unable tost much longer. I was sent out to find more allies, but I fear time is running out"

    Hearing that a demon and other adventures were involved piqued Marcus'' interest a bit, but he still did not think that getting involved would be in his best interest.

    However, before he was about to reject the little pixie dragon''s request, he saw Lilia looking at him like she wanted to help.

    Sighing Marcus said to Findlyier, "What do you have to offer, my services are not free but if you have something to pay me with, I would be willing to help."

    The little pixie dragon perked up again hearing this and said, "Yes we have a number of natural tressures that we could offer you, or the magic cores from those that have fallen. And the demon has amassed resources from our area as well as others so if you help us defeat them, I am sure you could have some of the tressures it took."

    The pixie dragon became excited now that it believed it would get Marcus'' help, but Marcus began wondering where this pixie dragon hade from.

    "Where are you from and is it far from here."

    Findlyier then shook its head and said, "No it is not far from here. If you follow me, we should be able to make it in a day."

    The little pixie dragon thinking it had already obtained Marcus'' help began fluttering away heading in the direction opposite of the river and the area that was Marcus'' original goal.

    However, Marcus had one big issue to deal with and did not start following right away much to Findlyier''s dismay.

    ''What am I going to do with Lilia and her beastpanions. I can not just send her back, even if she got lucky and managed to make it out of this area somehow, she would never survive the desert. But bringing her with me when I know there is a demon around may be just as dangerous.''

    Marcus toiled what to do with Lilia for a few minutes but knew that he had to bring her with him, since he would not feelfortable leaving her in this incredibly dangerous part of the dungeon without his protection.

    "Findlyier is there a safe ce that Lilia could stay wherever we are going. Her safety is my highest priority and unless you have somewhere she can stay away from the fighting I will not be able to help you."

    Findlyier having flown back after seeing Marcus was not following, thought about it for a moment and said, "She would be able to stay with the young that have been put away from where the demon is attacking. It should be a fairly safe ce, much safer then where we are now."

    After hearing this Marcus nodded his head and told everyone that they would be following Findlyier.

    Truth be told Marcus was very interested in what was going on since he had met two demons up to this point and neither had been up to anything good.

    Then there was Findlyier himself and the ce he hade from. Marcus was not sure what it would be, but his curiosity was pulling him to follow the pixie dragon.

    ''I wonder who these other adventures are as well. Most people would either be afraid or try to kill a talking beast on sight. Well Maybe Findlyier''s close resemnce to a dragon helps him in dealing with people.''

    As Marcus followed behind Findlyier, he ran multiple different theories he had about the mysteries that surrounded the pixie dragon and hismunity.

    Things like why the demon was attacking, were they all just a bunch of pixie dragons, or was it a group of multiple different beasts.

    Soon Marcus and his group had to rest even though Findlyier wanted to keep going. Lilia and her two golden lion cub beastpanions Aurelia and Zareen were still tired from the earlier zombie attack and needed time to recover.

    "I understand you are in a hurry Findlyier, but none of us are at our best right now after fighting that swarm of undead. Give us a few hours to rest here, I am sure your friends can hold out a bit longer, and even if we arrived now, we would not be much help."

    Understanding it from Marcus and his group''s point of view, the pixie dragon settled down though sense of fear was ever present in its eyes.

    However, this rest gave him a bit of time to find out more about the situation and Marcus began getting details about what was going on.

    ''So around two weeks ago the demon began attacking his home and brought along with it a small army of monsters and beasts that were enhanced by the demon''s powerful darkness. And from the description Findlyier gave me the demon itself looks like a towing pitch-ck person with horns on its head and des for arms.''

    Marcus now understood a bit about the enemy that was attacking Findlyier''s home and there full situation at least form before Findlyier had left to find more allies.

    From what he had found out it was indeed amunity of intelligent beasts that lived in an incredibly resource rich area which exined why the demon wanted it for itself.

    Of course, they were not just going to roll over and let their home be taken from them and fought back against the demon.

    Though over time they were beginning to be worn down even after recruiting the help of a band of nearby adventures.

    ''This demon really sounds like trouble. Itmands an army of monsters and beasts it has empowered with darkness. The only caveat is that its army is severely weaken during the area''s simted daytime, forcing them to only fight when it is dark. ''

    While Marcus and hispanions rested, he began formting a n to defeat the demon and its forces and came to only one conclusion.

    ''The longer the demon is given to recruit more monsters and beasts into its fold the worse things are going to get. If I want to really help them taking out the demon first is the best way. It is probably weak to the light element so if I can engage it one on one, I might be able to win.''

    Marcus then opened up his status and assigned the new stat points he had gotten and used thirty-six skill points to level up his light magic skill.

    ''Let''s see if the tier five light magic spell does not give me an advantage against the demon.''

 Chapter 206 - 205 Joining The Battle

    Having just leveled up his light magic skill, Marcus was a bit disappointed when he found out what his new spell did.

    He was hoping for an incredibly powerful attack magic but instead it turned out to be a defensive one.

    ''Radiance scales. Create a barrier of translucent scales that automatically protect the target from attacks. Great, when I was looking for a finisher, I ended up with a support option,''

    However, after a few minutes of thinking about it Marcus wasing around to the idea of his new spell.

    Even though it did not give him some monumentally powerful attack, it provided a powerful defensive option he was missing and would allow him to fight harder without having to worry about getting damaged.

    ''If I had had this spell when fighting that zombie knight, I might have been able to win. I could have then pretty much ignored its mount and fought without dodging.''

    As Marcus continued to think of the new applications his tier five light magic spell could have, Findlyier came back over after having checked the perimeter for enemies.

    "Thank you again for your help. I am sure that with your power of light you can drive back the demon and his forces, but if you do not mind me asking, what are you?"

    Taken aback a bit, Marcus decided to tell Findlyier that he was a spirit of light and darkness, thought left out that he was also a ghost.

    "To think that a spirit that can take human form woulde to our aid."

    Findlyier began looking at Marcus with a type of reverence, but Marcus wondered how Findlyier knew about spirits, or demons for that matter.

    "Hm, that is just basic knowledge that we all learn when we eat the blessed fruit from the tree of wisdom. There are five main different types of beings, people, beasts, monsters, spirits, and demons, we all know that."

    Findlyier then looked at Marcus with concern since to him this was knowledge that anyone should know unless there was something maybe wrong with Marcus.

    ''Now I just have more questions, like what is this tree of wisdom, and how does it impart knowledge into these beasts.''

    Nevertheless, Findlyier did not say much more about the tree of wisdom other than that it was the most sacred ce within theirmunity.

    After talking with Findlyier for a bit longer the pixie dragon finally began to get sleepy and flew over to sleep on top of Blitz.

    Once everyone had rested up and were in tip top condition, they began making there way with haste following Findlyier.

    With Findlyier leading the way they eventually came to the edge of the dark river area they were in and Findlyier stopped.

    He then floated up around sixty feet and Marcus who was the only one that could see watched as what appeared to be a wall shimmered before disappearing to reveal a tunnel.

    ''Well that certainly is one way to keep anyone from finding your home. Unless someone went searching up and down the walls of this entire expansive area, they would never find something like that.''

    Findlyier having opened the path beckoned everyone to follow, except there was one problem.

    ''How the hell am I going to get Blitz up there.''

    While Marcus was confident, he could carry Lilia and her two beastpanion cubs up, and Roxene could ride in hispanion storage, Blitz was another matter.

    The lightning stag was by no means small, and Marcus did not know if he could lift him up with his iron wings.

    ''Well, first things first.''

    However, before he decided to tackle getting Blitz up, he brought the rest of hispanions to the elevated tunnel while he considered his options.

    ''I guess that is probably the best way.''

    Flying down towards Blitz, Marcus possessed hispanion and cast his tier five iron magic spell sprouting wings from Blitz''s back.

    It was a surreal sight to see the lightning stag grow wings and begin flying up, especially because of how clunky it looked.

    Luckily after fluttering around haphazardly for around a minute Marcus finally got enough control to steer Blitz''s body into the tunnel.

    With everyone now in the secret tunnel, Findlyier flew back over to the entrance and the illusory wall that was there before appeared once again.

    "Now then we must make haste, the night cycle has just begun and if we hurry, we should be able to aid them against the demon and its forces."

    The little pixie dragon then began flying forward at a fast pace causing everyone to have to run after it.

    After traveling for around and hour through what was a system of tunnels that branched off in dozens of different directions, Marcus suddenly felt a familiar sense as they passed through a certain tunnel.

    ''A teleport. It was a simr feeling to the time I got picked up for the monster festival. Damn how did this demon even find this ce, not only did we have to go through abyrinth of tunnels which could have taken months to get through without Findlyier guiding us, but it is also probably not even anywhere near the area we entered at.''

    As Marcus thought of the incredibly high security this ce where Findlyier was from had, he soon saw the end of the tunnel they were in and could begin to hear the sounds of explosions in the distance.

    Coming out of the tunnel Marcus saw what looked like an idyllic natural setting sprawling out for miles, but in the distance their were massive shes of magic and skills being used in a raging battle.

    Findlyier began flying in the direction with a grim look on its face, but before following Marcus turned around and said, "Lilia stay here, and Blitz keep her safe. When the battle is over, I will send a signal to Blitz that it is safe for you to enter the area, until then stay here."

    With thatstmand Marcus took off after Findlyier heading towards the battle.

    Running behind Findlyier for around twenty minutes, Marcus was finally able to make out more details of the battle and the first thing that caught his attention was what looked like a massive ball of light fighting against a pitch-ck giant form that was certainly the demon.

    ''That must be the leader Findlyier told me about, the only one that can currently fight the demon toe to toe.''

    Soon Marcus and Findlyier made it to the edge of the battlefield where a multitude of different beasts were fighting against monsters and beast that were d in a dark aura.

    Findlyier immediately began opening fire as he shot offpressed balls of light energy towards the dark d monsters and beasts.

    However, Marcus did not immediately begin attacking as he first decided to assess the battle.

    ''Findlyier''s people seem to be heavily outnumbered, but their quality is way higher. I checked a few of their levels and they all seem to be at least level thirty, while the monster and beasts under the demon''smand seem to mostly be in the upper teens, to low twenties. Thought that dark aura seems to be giving them a decent increase in power.''

    After observing the outskirts of the battle for a few more moments Marcus cast his gaze towards the center where the strongest opponents were currently fighting.

    Marcus knew that if he could defeat the demon the battle would end, so his n was simple, attack the demon hard and fast before it knew what hit it.

    ''This time I am not worn down from fighting thousands of enemies beforehand so I can go all out without worry.''

    Locking on to his target Marcus cast his tier five iron magic spell and began flying towards the huge demon who was the leader of the enemy forces.

    Flying straight towards the middle of the battlefield a number of flying beasts and monsters tried to intercept Marcus, but he simply let lose a few of his iron feathers and batted them away as he made a beeline for the demon.

    Unfortunately, as he got closer a powerful level forty-one bat like monster that was around twenty feet long began flying towards him separating from its previous opponent.

    ''Damn it, Roxene could you take care of this thing for me.''

    Heading his request, Roxene came out of Marcus''panion storage and leaped off his back towards the massive bat monster, activating her Paragon of the Divine Wolf supreme skill and crashing into it.

    The two of them then fought hard as the bat monster lost altitude and crashed back into the ground.

    With the way now clear Marcus charged through thest thousand feet in between him and the huge pitch-ck demon currently fighting the leader of the secret intelligent beastmunity.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form.''

    Activating his supreme skill all of the darkness around Marcus seemed to be sucked towards him like a vacuum before a tremendously powerful light burst from his body and left a dark halo behind him.

    Needless to say, this disy got everyone in the vicinity'' attention, even the demon locked in mortalbat took a nce towards Marcus, only to see the new powerful being of light and darknessing right for him.

 Chapter 207 - 206 First Encounter

    Flying straight towards the giant pitch-ck demon Marcus began activating all of his buff spells nning to end this fight as quickly as he could.

    ''Spirit ze, legs of light, arms of darkness, lightning strider, iron skin, radiance scales.''

    Appearing before the demon in a burst of light Marcus shed out with his scythe empowered by its enchantments and his supreme skill, aiming to kill the demon in one blow.

    Nevertheless, even though the demon was engaged with a powerful opponent already, it could not ignore Marcus and brought up one of its de arms to block his scythe.

    With a resounding ng, Marcus'' scythe and the demon''s de arm created an explosion bushing each of them back from the force.

    However, the demon''s other opponent, the leader of the intelligent beasts took this opportunity to charge forward its horn glowing with gleaming energy.

    The winged unicorn then jammed its horn into the side of the demon sending a st of light out that tore a hole through the demon.

    In retaliation the demon shed towards the neck of the winged unicorn but found that its foe retreated just as quickly as it had attacked.

    The demon boiling with anger over having been injured brought its two de arms together before throwing out a massive burst of dark energy that epassed a diameter of two hundred feet.

    The winged unicorn sensing the attack backed off out of range, but Marcus decided to dive right in and try to catch the demon off guard.

    Flying through the dark burst that the demon had just unleashed, Marcus saw his radiance scale spell go to workpletely shielding him from the attack, as he closed in on the unsuspecting demon.

    Appearing before the demon Marcus began sending powerful sh after powerful sh towards the demon forcing it on the defensive.

    The demon then began firing of darkness bullets at Marcus to try and force him back, but his radiance scales protected him, and the demon soon found himself being sted from afar by the winged unicorn that had been its main adversary up until this point.

    "What are you? I know you are no human or level thirty-five. How do you wield the power of darkness and light in such harmony?"

    The demon seemingly baffled by Marcus'' appearance and abilities could not help but ask its questions even while being pressured by Marcus and the winged unicorn.

    The demon was slowly being pushed back and while focusing on its injured side Marcus was able to parry one of the demon''s de arms away and create and opening.

    Firing a heightenser spell which was further empowered by his supreme skill, Marcus sent out a powerful st of light right for the demon, but before it hit a dark void opened up in front of it and began sucking in theser spell.

    However, the winged unicorn unleashed its own st of light from its horn at the same time causing the demon to have to bring up both of its sword arms to block.

    With the demon now practically defenseless Marcus pushed through and shed out with his scythe taking off the demon''s right leg in a sh of light.

    The demon howled in pain before yelling out, "ENOUGH!"

    The void like darkness that had been protecting it then suddenly shrunk before expanding in a massive explosion of darkness energy far stronger than the demon''s earlier one.

    This time Marcus'' radiance scales could not hold up as they began shattering one by one before Marcus was blown back.

    Luckily even though his spell had been destroyed it still took the entirety of the attack for him and Marcus remained uninjured and ready to get back into the fight.

    ''Time to finish this, Eclipse Meteor!''

    Using his strongest attack, the swirling aura of light and darkness condensed around Marcus before he went plummeting back towards the demon in a shining ball of death.

    The demon seeing Marcusing right for him went wide eyed, before clicking its tongue and cutting off its own arm.

    A ck ichor like mist then began sting out of the demon covering his whole body right before Marcus made impact.

    With a massive explosion that lit up the whole area Marcus crashed into the ground where the demon had been before.

    Everything in the vicinity began running away as the explosion expanded and those that were too slow ended up consumed and destroyed by the aftermath of Marcus'' attack.

    Standing in the middle of a new crater he had just made Marcus felt extremely frustrated since he knew that the demon had escaped him somehow.

    ''FUCK! I am not going to get a chance like this again.''

    With anger taking him over after not being able to take down the demon in his first encounter, Marcus flew up out of the crater he was in and looked down at the battlefield.

    Now floating above the battlefield Marcus saw that about half of the demon''s army was retreating while the other half suicidally attacked the intelligent beasts to buy time.

    However, without the demon to hold back the beasts'' leader, the winged unicorn went around sending out sts of light that were quickly wiping out the remaining forces of the demon.

    ''Your not getting away as well.''

    With nothing else to express his anger on, Marcus began charging up the iron feathers that made up his wings with the energying off of his supreme skill.

    Then when every feather was powered up, he fired them like a barrage of missiles towards the demon''s retreating forces.

    Marcus watched as hundreds of the dark aura beasts and monsters that made up the demon''s army died under his assault, some having their heads pieced, others losing all of their limbs, and the really unlucky ones were blown into bits and pieces.

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' attack while incredibly wide in range wascking devastating power and the strongest beasts and monsters survived his attack and made it to the exit tunnel escaping into a different area.

    The fury in him subsiding, Marcus felt his body beginning to crumble under the stress of his supreme skill and deactivated it.

    With all of the strength in his body now fading, Macus began plummeting back towards the ground but before he impacted, reverted to his ghost form and just floated there to recover.

    ''Great, now the demon knows about me, and my element of surprise is gone. Well, at least its army was whittled down, but that will only slow its advance.''

    As the defenders finished off the remains of the demon''s forces, Marcus floated right above the crater he created and watched while recovering.

    He wanted to get out there and help finish the fight, but he had truly used all of his strength to try and kill the demon and then subsequently attack its retreating forces.

    Luckily, the remaining intelligent beasts soon finished off the fodder that had been left behind to secure the other forces retreat winning the day.

    Marcus heard cheersing from the beast as they had managed to win the battle and he could not help but be astonished by the different number of beasts he could now see.

    ''All of them are intelligent beasts, most of them being at the rare grade, and even a couple being epic grade.''

    As Marcus scanned the battlefield looking at and appraising the beasts, the winged unicorn that was their leader appeared in front of him even though he was still in his ghost form.

    "I would like to thank you for your assistance, though I know not who or what you are, you have the gratitude of my people."

    The leader of the intelligent beasts then bowed its head towards Marcus, though to most of the onlookers it looked as if the winged unicorn was bowing towards nothing.

    Seeing as how he could not converse in his ghost form, Marcus reappeared and said towards the winged unicorn, "No need to thank me, Findlyier promised I would be paid for my help so if you want to thank someone thank him."

    The beast''s leader then raised its head and said, "So you are the reinforcements that Findlyier brought to aid us. Your help has been invaluable, bringing us our first victory against the demon and its forces in quite some time. For this will are more than willing to reward you with whatever we have to offer."

    After talking to Marcus, the winged unicorn cast its gaze out over the battlefield looking sadly at those that had fallen.

    It then told Marcus that it must aid the wounded and he was free to do as he wished for now.

    ''Guess I will help out as well.''

    Taking out a mana recovery potion Marcus chugged it down and felt his spent mana recovering.

    He certainly was still not in any condition to fight but walking around and administering the asional healing spell was still something he could aplish.

    Meeting back up with Roxene, Marcus went around using his healing magic on the wounded beast thaty throughout the battlefield, many of them giving him heartfelt thanks for his help.

    ''It really does seem weird; all of these beasts are more like people. I normally look at beasts as walking experience points or a resource to reap, but these guys really care for each other.''

    As thest of the injured beasts were being taken care of, a familiar pixie dragon flew up to Marcus and said, "Thank you so very much for your help. It has felt like an eternity since we have driven back the demon before day. And you even went so far as to help our injured, thanks to you the casualties of this battle were kept to a minimum."

    "Just doing my job, I expect to be rewarded for my help. Now would you lead me to where you guys are staying, I need to rest after having fought so hard."

    Findlyier nodded his head and said, "Follow me, I will take you to our home, oh and if you want, I can lead you to the other adventures as well.. They should be recuperating in the temporary dwelling they set up."

 Chapter 208 - 207 Unexpected Reunion

    While following behind Findlyier, Marcus sent a mental message to Blitz telling him that it was safe to enter the area and how to find the ce the intelligent beasts were staying.

    As they walked towards the intelligent beasts'' home, Marcus looked at the war-torn area that was certainly beautiful before.

    Fortunately, as they got closer to the ce the intelligent beasts resided, the scars of battle became less frequent, and Marcus saw an abundance of natural treasures.

    Normally just one type of natural treasure grew in a certain area, but all-around Marcus could see loads of different ones, some he even recognized.

    ''There are a group of the mushrooms that I first had so long ago, and there is a batch of yellow leeks like I once gave to Lilia when we met back up in River Landing, and there is even another one of those trees I found in the golden lions'' de.''

    As Marcus looked around like a kid in a candy store, he could not help but be overwhelmed by the treasure trove of natural treasures around him.

    Yet as they entered the perimeter of the beast''s home, the natural treasures seemed to be even more rare, and on top of a hill in the distance Marcus recognized the fruit growing on the tree.

    ''Fruit of cognizance! They have a tree growing fruits of cognizance here.''

    Stopping and staring, Marcus looked up at the tree that was growing a number of golden colored pears that were as big as melons and now understood why the magical beasts here had all gained intelligence.

    Marcus was tempted to go up and begin filling his item box with fruits of cognizance since in his opinion they were the most valuable natural treasure he hade across so far. And while they would certainly have no use for him personally, the ability to give a beast or monster intelligence was invaluable.

    However, Marcus held himself back since he figured that was probably the tree of wisdom Findlyier had mentioned as their most sacred ce, and he did not want to offend them and end up in trouble.

    ''I am confident that if I ask nicely once this war with the demon is over, that I could get at least three, so that Blitz and Lilia'' golden lion cubs could gain intelligence. Though I shudder to think of how the two cubs will be if they learn to speak.''

    Continuing through the area, Marcus looked at the beasts that were sleeping in different areas as suiting theirforts, but soon a serries of tents that were certainly none of the beasts'' came into view.

    ''That must be where the other adventures are staying. I will need to be careful how I deal with them, so as not to reveal too much about myself.''

    As they approached the tents both Marcus and Findlyier began to hear the sounds of arguinging from inside.

    "This is getting crazy, for all of our safety we need to leave. If this keeps up, we are all going to die, and I have been ordered to protect you at any cost."

    "We already promised them we would help and have been given a number of natural treasures as payment. Also, we cannot very well let a demon do as it wishes in our kingdom. For all we know it will set its sights on the city next and such a high-level demon could bring untold ruin."

    "I understand that the demon is dangerous but all of us dying in vain will not help the kingdom, if we leave now, we can get support from the grand archmage and the knightmander, and they can easily deal with this."

    While eavesdropping on this, Marcus winced a since Findlyier was obviously hearing the same and leaned over and whispered to him, "Are things going to be okay?"

    Findlyier then leaned in close to Marcus and said, "Yeah they argue like this a lot, but the leader of their group always stands by her decision to help us, and the dissenters eventually do what she says."

    The argument that Marcus was listening to continued for a bit longer, and while listening Marcus felt a sense of familiarity towards one of the voices.

    He then took a good look at the tent the voices wereing from, and his eyes went wide with realization as he was bing more certain about who this tent belonged to.

    With curiosity welling up inside him Marcus no longer stood back and approached the tent hurriedly.

    The voices quickly stopped as he got within ten feet of the tent, probably triggering some type of rm, but before anyone from the tent came out to investigate, Marcus flung open the tent door and saw inside.

    Sitting in a circle were eight people, and all of them were stunned to see Marcus open the tent door, especially since one would normally need prior permission from the tent''s owner.

    However, the surprise did notst long as at the appearance of an unknown person entering the tent, two of the people went into action reflexively.

    One was a middle-aged man who was dressed in full te armor and looked like a knight, while the other was a beautiful youngdy with fiery red hair in what were obviously mages robes.

    They had immediately moved in front of the person sitting at the head of the circle in a protective manner, obviously prioritizing her safety over anything else.

    Luckily though, no one was so rash as to attack first and ask questionster as looks of recognition began to pop up on most of the people''s faces as the recognized Marcus in his guise as Irene.

    A big smile then began to form on Marcus'' face as he looked towards one of the few people, he would actually consider to be his friend in this world.

    "Well, I certainly did not expect to see you here Mraz."

    Mrazivy Borealia the thirteenth princess of the kingdom looked out in surprise seeing her friend she had said goodbye to in Loursend over eight months ago.

    Six of the other members also recognized Marcus, five of them from their meeting in Loursend, though the mage with fiery red hair recognized him for another reason.

    "Baress Geist what are you doing here and how dare you speak to her highness so casually."

    As Diana one of Grand Archmage Aria''s apprentices began to berate Marcus for hisck of manners towards someone of a higher station, the princess stood up and put her hand on Diana''s shoulder and said, "It is fine I told her she could call me that before you joined us, when we met in Loursend."

    Mrazivy then looked towards Marcus and said, "It really is a surprise to see you here Irene. Last, I had heard you had been granted the title of baress and recently been epted as an apprentice from the famed Thabon zegram. So, what are you doing in the Cordillera Depths and how did you find yourself here?"

    Marcus quickly told Mrazivy about how he hade here to train before the kingdom''s tournament and that while exploring the dungeon he had run into Findlyier the pixie dragon and been asked to help.

    "I see, so not much different then us. Well, it is good to see you again Irene although these are certainly not the best circumstances. Now would everyone else leave, there are some things I want to talk to Irene about alone."

    The other members of Mrazivy''s party heading her request got up to leave though both Diana and the man who is her guardian knight took some extra persuading to leave.

    Once everyone else was gone Mrazivy slumped back down into her chair before beckoning Marcus over and saying quietly so as to not be heard, "How did you get in here, hm. I know I never gave you permission to enter, yet you opened the door without any resistance, and I know you did not use some method to force your way inside."

    Marcus was a bit shocked to suddenly be getting the third degree, and he was wondering what was going on as he did not know about this enchantment on Mrazivy''s tent.

    However, It was now that he realized she must have permitted him to enter when they were stuck in the dungeon together but while he was in his form as Marcus.

    Sighing Marcus decided toe clean to avoid gaining Mrazivy''s distrust and he switched his form over to once again take on his original form.

    Mrazivy let out a little gasp when she saw this but her overall level of surprise seemed quite low inparison to the secret Marcus thought he was revealing.

    "You do not seem all that surprised, that I am both Marcus and Irene."

    Mrazivy began nodding her head and said, "I did start to have my suspicions on the day you came to say goodbye to me twice, first as Irene and then as Marcus right after.. Also, you told me you were heading to the capital both as Irene and Marcus, plus in either form you have the same hair and eye color."

 Chapter 209 - 208 Catching Up With Mrazivy

    Mrazivy then went on to list the ever-expanding amount of details that had led her to believe that Marcus and Irene were one in the same.

    "I heard from Wade that you used a scythe in the battle against the ice ants in River Landing. I also heard about the magic you used which was simr to what you used when we fought our way out of the dungeon from my great grandmother. I mean how many people do you think have iron magic, not many. And when you opened the door to my tent just now, it pretty much served as conformation."

    Hanging his head low Marcus realized that the simrities between him and his persona as Irene were a bit too simr.

    ''But at least there are very few people that have met me as both Irene and Marcus. Other than Lilia who I opened myself up to, and Mrazivy who I interacted with as both personas no one else should be able to make the connection. Maybe Joras or some of the people I rescued along with Lilia but only if they meet me again as Irene, since so far, they only know me as Marcus.''

    As Marcus though of the handful of people that could maybe make the connection between his two identities, Mrazivy pulled out her appraising eye and put on the monocle like device.

    "Level thirty-five and your stats are pretty high as well. Also, the number of skills you have has increased, but why did you go through the trouble of learning chant shortening when you do not need it."

    Coming out of his thoughts, Marcus noticed that Mrazivy had put on the appraisal magic artifact she had that let her look at people''s status.

    However, Marcus now knew that her item was still not strong enough to look past the unique skill he shared with Roxene, and she had only read his false status.

    "Well, you have gotten a quite bit stronger but the fight we are in right now is pretty tough, so try to stay away from the center of the battle and stick with us and act as a support alright."

    Mrazivy seemed to be showing, Marcus a bit of concern, though when they were still in the dungeon together, she was only a little stronger than him when he could not use soul burst.

    "Mrazivy what level are you, I know you must have been in the low thirties when we met in Loursend."

    Mrazivy then gave a smirk and said, "You want to know, too bad I am not telling. Even my own party members only have an estimate of my level, but I can tell you now that it is above yours at level thirty-five."

    ''Acting all high and mighty huh, let''s see what you think of this.''

    "Why do you not take a look at my level again you may find that you know as much about my level as I know about yours."

    Mrazivy with a smirk still on her face used her appraisal lens artifact to look at Marcus'' status once more and found that everything was the same except that his level was now one.

    Marcus then looked at Mrazivy smugly as the smirk on her face disappeared.

    "How did you do that; I know for a fact that you are not level one."

    Mrazivy was beginning to get a bit flustered now that she was not the one with the advantage in the level hiding game.

    Certainly, she had some type of magic artifact that hid her status from appraisal, but Marcus was able to change up his information to a certain degree and could make himself appear far weaker than he actually was.

    "Come on tell me how you changed your status just now and what your level really is. If you tell me that I would be willing to let you know my level as well."

    Marcus thought about it for a minute and decided to tell Mrazivy the truth, she already knew enough about him that this was a small secret inparison.

    "Okay I changed my level with a unique skill I have called false status, which allows me to alter the information obtained by the appraisal skill or items that use it as their base. Now go ahead and tell me you actual level and I will let you see what mine really status looks like."

    Mrazivy let out a sigh before leaning in close to Marcus and telling him her level.

    "I am level forty-two right now."

    Surprised to hear that her level had gone that high, Marcus was pretty impressed since she must have worked hard to get to that level.

    Nodding his head Marcus undid his false status and let Mrazivy see what his stats and skills really look like.

    Seeing his true status, Mrazivy''s jaw dropped since his skills and stats were iprehensibly strong for his level.

    His stats overall were still around three hundred higher than hers even though she had ess to plenty of stat boosting items and recently got a huge influx of natural treasures from the intelligent beasts that had brought her stats to their peak.

    ''How the hell does he do it. I am four levels higher, yet his stats are stronger than mine. And what is with that ridiculously high spirt stat. Not to mention the number of powerful and high-level skills he has.''

    Mrazivy felt herpetitive spirt rising as she looked at Marcus'' status that was superior in most ways. She was used to being considered one of the kingdom''s top prodigies and after the incident in the Ocean Bluff Temple she had worked much harder to get stronger.

    However, there was no doubting that Marcus was stronger whenparing stats and skills so Mrazivy sat down in defeat and said, "You got me beat, I worked as hard as I could to get stronger after getting trapped in that boss room, but you still are stronger than me."

    After taking a moment to collect herself Mrazivy pped both her hands against her face and stood up and said, "But I did also managed to get this which at least puts us a bit closer together."

    A viscous looking blue liquid then began to ooze out of Mrazivy and the temperature in the tent began to drop rapidly.

    Marcus then watched as Mrazivy manipted the liquid turning it into different shapes and expanding and contracting it.

    "When the dungeon reset at the beginning of this year, me and my party went back in and cleared out all three boss rooms from the Ocean bluff Temple, and the only thing in the boss on the thirdyer''s chest was a single golden skill orb."

    Marcus then realized what Mrazivy was telling him. He had held a golden skill orb twice so far once from the unique skill he got from the administrator and another from the one he got after winning the dungeon''s monster festival.

    Seeing the recognition in his expression Mrazivy looked at him proudly and said, "That''s right this is my own unique skill mercurial ice."

    She then manipted the frigid viscous blue liquid that was her unique skill a bit more before it moved back towards her body and seemed to be absorbed into her skin.

    The two of them then began to talk more in-depth about what they had been up to since parting in Loursend.

    "Yeah, after we beat all of the bosses in the Ocean Bluff Temple, I decided it was time to move on, so we came here to the Cordillera Depths to continue to get stronger. Oh, and along the way my great grandmother after hearing about the teleport trap incident sent one of her students with me as an extra guard, so that is how Diana ended up in our party."

    "So that is why she is here. I was wondering if she quit being Aria''s disciple and decided to be an adventure."

    "Well, she has been pretty useful since she is a powerful magic user, but she is not much of a team yer and buts heads with me often, but she still follows my orders even if sheins about it."

    After talking for bit longer about little things that had been going on in their lives, Mrazivy eventually put on a serious expression and said, "I am really d we have been able to catch up, but I think it is about time we talk about the situation we currently find ourselves in."

    Nodding his head, Marcus went into serious mode as well, knowing that they would have to get to this topic eventually.

    "First I know you just arrived so let me tell you that demon is strong. I checked it the first time we fought with it, and it is level forty-nine. We tried our best to take it down along with the winged unicorn Veunlux, but it ran away before we could really hurt it. Then it came back a couple dayster with a stronger army with new monsters to take us on. We have been in a war of attrition waiting for the dungeon'' simted day while fighting for hours at a time ever since. At the rate we were going, it was only a matter of time before we were overrun, but yesterday I guess Veunlux used some type of secret attack to drive the demon back."

    Shaking his head Marcus decided to clear up Mrazivy''s misconception and said, "Actually that massive st of light was caused by me."

    Stunned into silence by what he said, Mrazivy took a few moments to wrap her mind around Marcus being the one who had caused that earth shattering attack and took a deep breath to calm down before beginning their strategy meeting anew.

 Chapter 210 - 209 Strategizing With Mrazivy

    "How were you able to cause such a devastating attack? Wait did you already use that unique skill of yours that boosts all of your stats for a short amount of time?"

    Mrazivy looked a bit worried that Marcus had already gone all out in the first fight, thus making him unfit to participate in any others.

    Of course, if she was thinking logically, she would have realized that Marcus'' stats would not be as high if he had used his soul bust unique skill just a couple of hours ago.

    Nevertheless, in frantic situations people often do not thinking logically and Mrazivy began to panic slightly thinking Marcus would be useless.

    "Calm down Mraz, I did not use my soul burst unique skill. In fact, I actually cannot use it right now since it had not been two months since thest time. I used a different ability to cause that attack and after resting for around a day, I should be able to do it again"

    Mrazivy''s panic stopped all at once when she heard what Marcus had just said, and thought, ''He can unleash that kind of power daily.''

    It seemed almost unfathomable to Mrazivy that such power could be used by Marcus even with the restriction of once a day.

    That was just not the kind of power one would expect from a level thirty-eight, heck not even a level forty-eight should be able to use that kind of power.

    "You really never cease to surprise me. So how where you able to cause that massive st of light and darkness."

    However, as Mrazivy said this out loud she suddenly remembered the huge pir of light and darkness that had descended just a day before Marcus left, and that it turned out that he had the egg of an incredibly strong mythic grade magical beast.

    As Marcus was about to answer her question Mrazivy suddenly went wide eyed and said, "Has it hatched yet?"

    Marcus stopping his train of thought, was caught off guard by Mrazivy''s question. He was kind of hoping to keep Roxene a secret, but Mrazivy already knew of her existence, so it was not that big of a deal.

    ''Roxene did you want toe out and say hello to my friend. Other than you and Lilia she is the person I trust most in this world. But I understand if you want to stay hidden, I will just tell her you have not hatched yet.''

    There was brief awkward silence as Mrazivy waited for Marcus to reply to her and Marcus waited for Roxene''s answer.

    Luckily it was not too long before Roxene responded to him telepathically and said, ''You can go ahead and take me out since she already knows a bit about me, but make sure you do not show me to any of her party members, I do not want more people than necessary to know about me when I am still this low level.''

    Nodding his head Marcus brought forth Roxene from hispanion storage and sat her down on herp.

    Roxene then looked towards Mrazivy and said to her telepathically, ''Nice to see you again, though I was still trapped inside that eggst time.''

    Mrazivy stared intently at Roxene who was sitting in Marcus''p and like some before her, was instantly captivated by Roxene''s cuteness.

    She got up and approached and said, "She is adorable! Can I pet her."

    It seem that even the normally tough and collected Mrazivy could find herself enthralled in the cuteness of Roxene''s puppy like form and was hovering over her as she waited for Marcus'' permission to pet Roxene.

    However, this decision was not really up to Marcus, and like all those that hade before her Roxene growled at Mrazivy and said, ''Touch me and you lose your hand.''

    Roxene was pretty picky about those who touched her and the only ones who she let pet her so far were Marcus, and Lilia but only after around a couple of days of feeding her fresh cuts of puff cow meat.

    Mrazivy instinctively feeling the pressure that Roxene was putting off pulled back her hand and looked disheartenedly at the little wolf pup that refused to be pet.

    "Okay now that, that is out of the way, let us get back to talking strategy, it is only a matter of time before the demones back and we need to be ready."

    Getting things back on track, Marcus began discussing how they were going to fight the demon next time and hopefully keep it from escaping when a different idea came to Marcus'' mind.

    "Why don''t we bring the fight to the demon. It took some pretty hefty injuries in thatst fight, from me and Veunlux, not to mention that its army lost around fifty percent of its strength."

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy squashed this idea and said, "We already suggested that before but the beasts that live here refused to leave the area unprotected, saying something about how it was their duty."

    Nevertheless, Marcus did not want to give up this avenue just yet and decided he would personally ask the leader of the beasts at ater time.

    "Very well, how about waiting at the natural choke point of the tunnel''s exit that they have toe out of, we can just bombard it with spells and abilities."

    Mrazivy just shrugged her shoulders at this suggestion and said, "The beasts had actually been doing that from the start and they told us at first it worked, but eventually the demon found away around that strategy by splitting its forces between two different entrances. He has a weaker force go through one and the main force go through the other. The only problem is the beasts do not have enough fighting power to block two entrances effectively and it turns into a game of chance. If they congregate their power at the wrong tunnel the demon and his forces slip in and make it harder for the beasts to regroup. We had been here only two days when this happenedst and the casualties that day were incredibly high. After that the beasts have just been waiting, putting their all into defense, but the demon''s forces always seem to replenish after each battle and slowly we are being overwhelmed as more beasts die or be crippled."

    After talking it out some more all Marcus could think was things seemed impossible. The demon has an unending army of monsters and beasts that it controls and strengthens with some type of dark aura, and the intelligent beasts have no recourse but to wait and slowly be killed.

    However, he quickly realized something game changing, ''Why does the demon not just wait and build up an overwhelming force that can break through. He attacks pretty much every day with a simrly strong army. So, it is either cruel and wants to watch the beasts suffer by prolonging the battle, or there is only a certain amount of troops it can control at once.''

    As Marcus thought about this for a bit longer, he began to believe that it had to be true.

    If the demon couldmand and endlessly big army, it would have no need to whittle down the beast''s strength overtime or risk its own life by participating in the battle.

    The only problem was that even knowing this did not help much because no matter how much of the demon''s army of corrupted beasts and monsters was destroyed, it could always just find more ande back at full strength.

    ''The only way to win is with a primitive strike while the demon is still recovering from my surprise attack.''

    However, this n would require the cooperation of the beasts since Marcus was not certain he could handle the demon on his own even if he snuck around and tried another surprise attack.

    There was also the problem of keeping the demon from running away again since its escape skills seemed to be top notch.

    ''Got to keep it pinned down somehow.''

    As ns began forming in his head Marcus began bouncing off ideas with Mrazivy and the two of them came up with what they thought would be a decent n.

    "The only problems will be if you can get the beasts to agree to it and it puts you at a lot of risk. Unfortunately, I cannot think of a better n, since just sticking it out and waiting to lose is pretty much the only other option." Mrazivy said with conflicted expression on her face.

    Smiling confidently Marcus said, "It should work out, and even if the beasts do not back me up, I have thought up a backup n, though it is quite a bit riskier."

    With their meeting now over Marcus made sure to take on his guise as Irene again before the two of them exited Mrazivy''s tent and saw that her party members were standing a bit away waiting for them toe back out.

 Chapter 211 - 210 Preparing To Defeat The Demon

    After exiting the tent Mrazivy went over to her party to discuss the n she and Marcus hade up with, and Marcus looked out and saw some familiar faces waiting for him.

    While he had been catching up with and then discussing strategy with Mrazivy. Lilia along with her beastpanion''s and Blitz had made their way over and were waiting for Marcus.

    Going up to them Marcus began telling Lilia his n and as he got further into the details Lilia began looking at him with concern.

    "Marcus please do not do that, there has to be a better way, what if you get yourself killed."

    Putting on his bestforting smile, Marcus patted Lilia on the head and said, "I am pretty tough to kill so do not worry, I promise I wille back and get you once it is done."

    After making sure that Lilia was not too worried about him, Marcus looked towards Mrazivy who had just finished up exining the n to her party members.

    The two of them then went to talk to the intelligent beasts leader heading towards the hill where the tree of wisdom was situated.

    Sitting under the tree Marcus could see the winged unicornying down and deeply sleeping, most certainly needing rest after fighting the powerful demon day after day.

    Veunlux noticing Marcus and Mrazivy approaching, lifted its head and looked towards them a tinge of concern in its eyes.

    "What is it that you need from me Mrazivy and Irene?"

    Veunlux got right to the point not wanting to beat around the bush in anyway as he waited for Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s reply.

    Answering first, Mrazivy who had been here longer said, "Great leader of the beasts, we havee up with a new n to deal with the demon. During thest confrontation with the aid of Irene, we were able to drive the demon and its forces away before the light returned and left them weakened. I know that you refused before but going after the demon while it is not at full strength is the only way to save all of you. At our current rate the only thing that awaits every one of you intelligent beasts is death."

    Hearing this Veunlux grimaced and took a number of moments to think about the proposal before saying, "I really wish we could, but our duty is to protect this area, if we leave there is too much to lose. If the demon were to attack while we were gone, they would ravage our home which is the only ce we can belong. Not only that but those that are too weak to fight would be ambushed and ughtered, the risk is just too great."

    However, even after Veunlux''s refusal Marcus was not ready to give up and began to borate on his n.

    "What if I could make sure that the demon would not attack while you and your forces engaged the demon, and that I could make sure the weak were protected."

    Veunlux surprised to hear what Marcus had said, Looked at him and said, "How might you do that, I admit that you are strong but how do you intend to protect us while also attacking the demon."

    A smile then crept onto Marcus'' face as he could tell he had grabbed the interest of the winged unicorn.

    "You have a number of crippled members of yourmunity that are currently unfit to fight. I will heal them all back up to their peak condition, then you should have enough to leave here for defense, and I will even leave my own beastpanion Roxene here as added security."

    Marcus then popped out Roxene from hispanion storage and Veunlux actually reared back when he saw Roxene.

    Normally Roxene would retract her aura but right now she was allowing her high-grade bloodline to be felt, and the power of it was even effecting Veunlux.

    Veunlux was still astounded to see Roxene, but he soon got himself back under control after a minute, and looked at her closely before saying, "To think that such a powerful beast would actually exist. Even though you appear to still be young, your strength is already near as powerful as I am."

    Marcus seeing that Veunlux was getting closer to agreeing to a preemptive strike on the demon, decided to tell him the final part of his n.

    "However, that is not all I have to offer. I have the ability to be ethereal and invisible as you already know. With this ability I can avoid most forms of detection and can keep an eye on the demon''s army. Of course, I will need to be careful since I have in the past dealt with creatures that can sense me, but I am confident that I can keep tabs on the demon''s army and keep you updated on their movements through my connection with Roxene."

    After listing to the details of Marcus n Veunlux was definitely being close to being won over but there was just one thing left on its mind.

    "How do you n to keep the demon from simply running away. As you have seen it has some type of ability to transport itself across space and escape. Will it not just run away if wee to attack it."

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed with what Veunlux was saying but he had already though about this.

    "That is true if the demon noticed all of you attacking and he thought he would lose, it is almost certain that it would flee. That is why I will serve as bait to distract him before you all arrive. After what I just did to it the demon will certainly want me dead, so I will attack it before any of you arrive and draw its attention towards me. I can then fight the demon until all of you arrive and this time, I will keep it from escaping."

    Marcus now knew that as long as he was perpetually pressuring the demon it would not be able to use its teleportation ability sincest time it had to cut its own arm off to activate it.

    Except Veunlux looked at Marcus like he was crazy and said, "Will that not mean that you n to fight the demon for several minutes before we arrive. You certainly showed tremendous strength in your earlier fight but offering yourself as a distraction is likely to get you killed. The demon is not going to sit idly by and fight with you but call in his army as well. Do you think you can hold them off for several minutes before we arrive?"

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Yes I do, if I just need to distract them, I can do that for a few minutes. I have a number of tricks up my sleeve."

    Once he had finished mulling over the n Marcus and Mrazivy had presented Veunlux looked seriously at Marcus and said, "Very well, if you can truly heal those that have been crippled, I will agree to your n."

    With their discussion finished Marcus and Mrazivy left as Veunlux hadid back down to rest and went and found Findlyier who showed Marcus to where the crippled intelligent beasts were.

    In total there were one hundred and thirty-four beasts with various injures, from missing limbs, shredded wings, and in some sever cases missing organs.

    ''This is going to hurt.''

    After telling all of the beasts not to resist what he was about to do and that he was going to be healing them, Marcus gritted his teeth and went back into his ghost form.

    Floating over to the first beast which was a gryphon that was missing both of its eyes, Marcus activated his possession ability and took over the gryphon.

    Feelings of pain immediately assaulted Marcus'' body as entered the gryphon, but he bared with it and within just over four seconds his high-speed regeneration along with casting a healing spell had fixed its eyes.

    Continuing this process over and over, Marcus moved as fast as he could to heal all of the beasts using his regeneration and healing magic, and on thest beast, he finished with only around ten seconds left before his possession ability reach its limit.

    Having finished up the healing Marcus simply floated in the air trying to catch himself after having experienced all of the beasts pain.

    ''At least that was still nothingpared to the time I first took over Irene''s body, but it still hurt like hell. Hopefully I will not have to use this trick too often.''

    Taking a good thirty minutes to get himself together, Marcus once again reappeared and all of the beasts he had just help began showering him with their thanks.

    Of course, Marcus had only helped them to add to the beasts overall fighting force, and with the addition of over one hundred beasts level thirty or above that would be a major boon.

 Chapter 212 - 211 Scouting The Demonâ€™s Stronghold

    Taking a single day to rest and n, the beasts along with Marcus and Mrazivy''s party Royal Frost, did their best to get ready for the assault nned on the demon.

    "You be carful out there Irene, I will not be able to sleep well for quite some time if one of my only friends gets killed." Mrazivy said with a yful smirk on her face but worry in her eyes.

    "Yes, do be careful, your help has already been invaluable and if you were to die for our cause it would leave a bitter taste in all of our mouths." The leader of the beasts the winged unicorn Veunlux said while bowing its head towards Marcus.

    ''You are not allowed to die out there. If you, do I will lose out on some of my best skills and my supply of that delicious puff cow meat.'' Roxene telepathically said to Marcus in a joking manner

    Andst but not least, pulling him into a big embrace was his little sister Lilia who said, "You already promised me you woulde back safely so I will be waiting."

    With thest of his friends and family wishing him luck, Marcus began walking down the tunnel that the demon and his forces normally came from and said, "I will send word once my recon is done and right before engaging the demon. Make sure everyone is ready because this ends today."

    At that Marcus disappeared down the tunnel out of view of all that hade to see him off.

    After passing through the part of the tunnel that teleported him to another area of the dungeon, Marcus returned to his ghost form just in case the demon had any scouts waiting around.

    He then began going down the tunnels that would normally bebyrinthine to navigate, but due to the frequent invading done by the demon and its forces, a number of easily distinguishable tracks led the way.

    Floating along for around two hours Marcus finally made it to the end of the tunnel as he saw the illusory wall that hid it from the rest of the dungeon.

    ''Looks like the demon could not disable the illusion, not that it really matters since once you know where it is the illusion is worthless.''

    Floating out of the illusory wall Marcus immediately noticed that four of therge bat like monsters that he had seen while fighting the demon before were positioned right outside the tunnel.

    They were obviously there to serve as the first line detection especially since every minute or so one of them would open their mouth an emit a screech using echolocation.

    Unfortunately for the bats, as good as their normal senses were, without something to perceive souls they were not going to notice Marcus.

    ''Now there is a problem.'' Marcus thought as he looked at the four bats.

    He was not sure how far their echolocation went, but with it the beast''s charge would probably be noticed sooner.

    The only problem was that dealing with them would likely alert the demon and possibly ruin the entire n.

    ''I suppose there is another way to deal with them.''

    After floating past the bats, Marcus began taking in the area better, and noticed that there were a number of the dark aura beasts and monsters around moving from ce to ce.

    Following where the majority of them were going Marcus found what looked to be a small fortress made out of some type of ominous dark red nearly ck stone.

    As he got closer Marcus saw that a number of the dark aura beasts and monster were caring regr beast and monsters that had either been restrained or knocked unconscious.

    ''Those must be the new recruits.''

    Taking the time now before he went any further, Marcus using his connection to Roxene gave her an update on how things were progressing and then Roxene ryed the information to Veunlux.

    With his first update done Marcus decided he needed to deal with the bats, but he had to do it in a roundabout way so that the demon would not suspect his infiltration just yet.

    Following one of the groups of the demon''s forces, Marcus waited until they encountered a group of monsters and then went off further into the area.

    It took Marcus a bit of time to find what he was looking for but when he did, he also discovered what area the demon had set up shop in.

    ''So, we were in the elemental crystal area.''

    Having searched around for a suitable beast or monster to possess, in order to attack those four bats without actually involving himself. Marcus had found a fairly out of the way location after a bit of searching that would have been near impossible to ess without flying.

    In front of him now Marcus was staring at a huge level forty-three gargoyle that was currently at rest next to a fairly sizeable earth elemental crystal gem.

    Unfortunately, asrge as the crystal was it was not actually a very high purity, so Marcus disregarded it and moved right over to the gargoyle that was still none the wiser.

    Luckily it also did not have anyway to notice Marcus, at least not until it was toote.

    Floating into it and activating his possession skill Marcus and the gargoyle began to battle for control of its body.

    It took Marcus quite a bit of struggle as the gargoyle put up and intense fight, but eventually he came out the winner and had control of its body.

    Now in control of the gargoyle''s body Marcus spread its wings and got used to moving around and flying.

    He was still pretty clunky but after minute Marcus figured that he was good enough and needed to hurry.

    Crawling out of the gargoyle''s hidden cave, Marcus came back out into he open and began flying in the direction of the demon''s forces.

    He nned to have the gargoyle fight and kill the bats that were acting as sentries or at the very least heavily injure them.

    Flying along as fast as he could it took Marcus around six minutes toe back to the cavern where the demon''s forces were congregated, and he made a beeline for the bats.

    He attracted a few of the other beasts and monsters attention and he made sure to attack them a bit while flying around to make it seem like the gargoyle was just going on a rampage before really going after his main target the bats.

    The bats let out an aggressive screech before dislodging from the ceiling and flying right for the gargoyleing at them.

    Crashing into them Marcus felt as the bats that were all around level forty began biting into the gargoyle''s body he was possessing, but its tough skin prevented the wounds from being too deep.

    Aiming for their wings Marcus used the gargoyle''s ws to sh at the bats using its greater physical strength to tear them apart.

    Going at it for about two minutes, Marcus had already managed to kill one of the bats and grounded two of the other, but the remaining one was getting away.

    That was until Marcus unleashed his phantom pressure on it, causing it to slow down and giving him enough time to catch up and bite into its neck with the strong jaws of the gargoyle.

    However, right as he finished off thest bat, he heard a loud roar and saw a massive wyvern wreathed in ck mesing for him.

    ''Well, my work here is done.''

    Hopping out of the gargoyle''s body, the poor unsuspecting monster began looking around and quickly noticed the powerful wyverning right for it.

    Even as strong as the gargoyle was it could sense that it stood not chance against this wyvern and tried to flee.

    Unfortunately for the gargoyle, the inferno wyvern caught up to it with blinding speed and in only an instant snapped it into its jaws and smashed the poor gargoyle into the ground.

    However, the wyvern did not kill the gargoyle and after incapacitating it began dragging it back towards the demon''s base.

    ''That must be the inferno wyvern that Jarek told me about. Seems that even as strong as it is the demon got control over it. Though unlike the other beasts and monsters it has some type of cor on it as well. It was probably too difficult to control with just the demon''s normal method.''

    Following the wyvern from behind, Marcus watched as it dragged the gargoyle into the demon''s strong hold and passed by a bunch of other beasts and monsters that were transporting their prey.

    The wyvern continued down this long line until it came to arge room where Marcus saw something that caused him to stop abruptly.

    Coming out of what appeared to be a portal was a colossal demonic blue arm that made the inferno wyvern look like amon lizard.

    Th arm was radiating an immense pressure and Marcus felt a type of suffocating aura all though the room.

    However, he quickly rposed himself and looked around and noticed that the portal was being generated by some type of device that currently had extremely pure elemental crystals along with high-grade cores as its power source.

    Continuing to scan along the arm Marcus noticed that it had a number of syringe like devices pulling blood out of it which were then administered to the beasts and monstersing in.

    Marcus then watched as these normal beasts and monsters suddenly began glowing with a dark aura after being injected with the blood.

 Chapter 213 - 212 Commence The Attack

    Looking out at the assembly line of beasts being corrupted by the blood that was drained from the arm of some massive blue demon, Marcus could only shudder.

    It was truly bone chilling to watch as the beasts and monster screamed out for mercy as the demon''s blood infected them only for them to gopletely silent a momentter.

    ''Well now I know how the other demon is controlling these beasts and monsters. But the real mystery is what kind of demon is on the other end of that portal. I can already tell just from its arm that it is absurdly strong, unfathomably so.''

    After examining the entirety of the room where the beast and monsters were being given demon blood as a means to control them, Marcus left hoping not toe anywhere near this room again.

    Floating around Marcus began investigating the entirety of the demon''s stronghold and got an urate count of the powerful beasts and monsters under its control.

    ''Looks like there are slightly more than thirty beasts and monsters above level forty, and any above forty-four also have those cors on them.''

    Luckily Marcus did note across any other big hitter like the inferno wyvern which seemed to be the strongest of the beasts and monsters under the demon''s control, being weaker only after the demon itself.

    With a decent grasp of the demon''s army''s strength Marcus telepathically told Roxene everything he knew and also asked her about the demon with the massive blue arm.

    However, as he told her about that Roxene sent him back a message immediately and said, ''Marcuse back here right now we are leaving.''

    Marcus was a bit taken aback by how stern Roxene sounded since she was normally pretty carefree.

    ''What do you mean leaving? I already promised the beasts I would help, and we will get plenty of rewards once it is over. The demon''s arm is the onlying through the portal anyway and if it coulde here itself, I am sure it would.''

    There was then a long pause as Roxene gathered her thought before getting back to Marcus and saying, ''Listen Marcus, Aun- I mean the administrator gave me a detailed list of beings to avoid in this world and what you just described is one of them. I cannot tell you any more since I would be breaking my promise, but just trust me when I say it is not worth it. So juste back and get me and we can leave the city and go back to the capital, there are other ces we can train.''

    Hearing the worry in Roxene''s voice, Marcus could tell that she was really scared of whatever that arm belonged to and was looking out for him.

    However, he had a feeling that if he left now, something worse would happen.

    And while Marcus certainly was not a hero, he did not want to let those he already agreed to help down, but more than that he did not want any of his friends toe to harm if he could prevent it.

    ''Mrazivy is here as well and if I leave now and she decides to stay, there is a chance she could die.''

    Coming to a decision Marcus resolutely responded to Roxene and said, ''I am afraid I have to see this through. I know it is dangerous but all the more reason it needs to be stopped now. If any of my friends got hurt or killed because of my inaction, I could not live with myself.''

    For a good minute Marcus heard no reply until basically growling, Roxene responded saying, ''Fine do what you want but no matter what do not die on me.''

    With his conversation with Roxene over, Marcus continued through the stronghold to the one area he had not visited where he believed the de arm demon would be waiting.

    Moving even stealthier than normal, Marcus phased his body into walls or the floor, only keeping his head out to see.

    Peeking his head into the room Marcus could see the demon sitting on what was essential a throne and holding some type of golden scepter that was emitting an eerie ck aura simr to the corrupted beast and monsters.

    ''That is probably what he used to control them.''

    Carefully watching and scanning over the demon, he noticed that its de arms were now currently in the shape of regr hands, and that its missing arm had already grown back.

    In fact, the demon appeared to be fully healed except for some slight scaring around the area that Veunlux had pierced it with his horn.

    Of course, Marcus figured that the demon had some type of regeneration ability seeing as it cut off its own arm, so he expected it to have recovered.

    ''Now, can I really keep it, along with whatever reinforcements it calls at bay for a few minutes.''

    Marcus was feeling a bit of doubt in his heart, but he began steeling himself. It did not look like the demon had noticed him yet, which was a good sign that maybe it had no way to detect him while he was ethereal.

    Crossing his fingers Marcus thought, ''Here''s to hoping.''

    Floating into the floor Marcus began making his way to situate himself right under the demon while still underground.

    ''Roxene it is time, tell the beasts tomence the attack.''

    Marcus waited for just a moment to receive Roxene''s acknowledgement and internally sighed.

    ''Here goes nothing.''

    Waiting for just a minute to give himself a bit of extra breathing room, Marcus floated up slowly right under the demon and fired a heightenedser spell right towards its head.

    However, as Marcus expected the demon noticed his attack and the dark like void that had absorbed hisser spell in theirst battle intercepted this one as well.

    The demon then looked down towards where the spell hade from but saw nothing.

    Unfortunately, a momentter Marcus watched its eyes glow for a second before it went, "There you are, did you honestly think that would be enough to assassinate me."

    The demons then transformed its left arm into a de while its right did something with the scepter it already had out.

    Then in the blink of an eye it shed towards Marcus with some type of thin film like substance around its arm.

    As the de arm came towards him Marcus instinctively knew that it would still harm him ethereal or not, and he cast his tier five light magic spell as quickly as he could.

    A millisecond before the de hit him his spell activate, and the shimmering scales popped up to protect him from the demon''s attack.

    The scales began shattering one by one but when the de was five inches from Marcus it stopped, the force from the swing dissipated.

    Having defend against the first attack Marcus floated out of the ground and away from the demon as he solidified and prepared for its next attack.

    Standing up from its throne, the demon began looking down on Marcus and said, "Oh did you get overconfident in your strength. Certainly, you caught me off guardst time, but without the meddlesome interference from that winged unicorn, you will not be my match. "

    The de arm demon thenunched itself at Marcus with speed that betrayed itsrge size.

    ''Embodiment of Darkness.''

    As darkness burst out of Marcus from his unique skill, the demon was a bit surprised because it was not expecting such a powerful darkness to begin emanating off of Marcus after seeing his affinity for light.

    However, the demon only slowed down for an instance before appearing next to Marcus and shing towards him with its de arms.

    Marcus using a speed burst jump back to avoid the first sh, but the demon''s other arm came at him with blinding speed he could only barely react to.

    Luckily his radiance scales spell was still in effect and the demon''s attack slowly lost power as it broke through them, and Marcus was able to parry with his scythe blocking the blow.

    Using the momentum of the demon''s strike Marcus let himself go as he flew back creating some distance between him and the demon, giving him a bit of time to cast a few spells on himself.

    ''Lightning strider, arms of darkness, and spirt ze.''

    With just enough time to get out three enchantment spells Marcus braced himself for the demon''s next attack as it caught back up to him.

    Nevertheless, this time, Marcus had already gotten his n ready, and seven tendrils of shadow emerged from around him and shot towards the demon.

    Being slightly caught off guard the demon began hacking away at the tendrils slicing them to pieces before they could reach it, but at the same time Marcus fired of a me tiger strike, sending the powerful fire magic spell towards the demon.

    Unfortunately, the dark void that was still hovering around the demon intercepted it and the spell was suck up without a trace.

    The demon''s arms then began to glow before it sent off a barge of des of darkness spells towards Marcus.

    ''Oh Fuck!''

    Countering with his own des of darkness, Marcus watched as it took three of his own to match one of the demons and he had to take evasive action using all of his agility to avoid being sliced into ribbons.

    BOOM!

    Bursting into he room Marcus watched as three of the demon''s strongest beasts and monster came into the room as back up.

    One was a troll that was asrge as the demon itself, but it had eight arms instead of the normal two, the second one was some type of massive mantis that had arms that instead of ending in des were shaped like the head of a morning star, and the final one was a huge floating dark blue jellyfish, with floating balls of water surrounding it that crackled with electricity.

    ''This is where the hard part starts.''

 Chapter 214 - 213 Stalling For Time

    Looking at the three new opponents that had arrived, Marcus quickly remembered the information he had obtained on them when first exploring the demon''s stronghold.

    ''Level forty-two mutant eight-armed troll, Level forty-four huge mantis of some kind, but the worst is definitely that dark blue jellyfish that can control water and electricity and is level forty-five.''

    With his situation taking a huge turn for the worse, Marcus quickly developed a strategy that would buy him the most time.

    Marcus knew that winning at this point would be impossible, but if he could hold out for just a few minutes, reinforcements would arrive.

    Making a break for it, Marcus began running away from the demon that was the biggest threat and straight towards the three new beasts and monsters.

    Unfortunately, the demon really wanted Marcus dead and like a blur it was right on top of him.

    The demon began stabbing forward with its de arms prioritizing speed over power while from behind the huge mantis with morningstar arms came up towards him ready to attack as well.

    ''Embodiment of light.''

    Knowing that he needed more speed than power, Marcus switched over his embodiment skills and with the sharp increase in speed Marcus was better able to avoid the demon''s rapid thrusts if only just barely.

    However, as the mantis began swinging its morning star like arms at him Marcus was unable to avoid it normally, so he went back to his ghost form to allow the attack to pass by him harmlessly.

    Nevertheless, while the mantis could not hurt him, the demon had some means of dealing with Marcus'' etherealness and thinking it had won stabbed straight towards Marcus who''s mobility was now lowered.

    Except this had all been apart of Marcus'' n as he backed up towards the mantis floating under it and putting it between him and the demon''s attack.

    Yet instead of redirecting his attack, the demon simply stabbed through the mantis and into Marcus who just barely managed to keep the demon''s de arm from impaling him and only slicing deep into his right arm.

    The grey mist that made up Marcus'' essence began gushing out from the wound and Marcus felt the sharp pain from the injury.

    Gritting his teeth and taking the pain, Marcus resolidified, and his high-speed regeneration went right to work healing his arm, as Marcus ran under the mantis and out the other side to where the troll and the dark blue jellyfish were waiting.

    When he appeared a rain of water balls crackling with electricity fell towards him from the jellyfish and the demon side stepped around the mantis and sent out a barrage darkness des.

    Weaving and dodging, Marcus did his best to avoid any of the more dangerous blows as he was sliced up and electrocuted by the jellyfish and demon''s attack.

    Getting out from the barrage of attacks with dozens of minor injuries, Marcus found himself in front of the eight-armed troll, with the demoning from close behind.

    The troll then lunged at him, and the demon raised its de arms to finish Marcus off no matter what he did.

    ''I made it.''

    Making no effort to avoid the charging troll that was right in front of him Marcus went back into his ghost from as its arms began pummeling the ground where he had been.

    A momentter the demon shed through the space not carrying about the troll''s arms intending to slice Marcus to ribbons.

    However, even as it sliced through the troll''s arms where Marcus should have been, he seemed to have disappeared even from the demon who could see invisible beings.

    The demon then noticed that the troll was beginning to act strange as it thrashed around and the dark aura around it seemed to be flickering.

    ''Shit this is way harder than I thought it would be.''

    Marcus was currently having a battle of wills against the troll, as he had possessed it when it tried to attack him.

    Nevertheless, the dark aura that currently had dominion over the troll was also fighting Marcus. But using a trick he had figured out after defeating the shadow demon, Marcus was attempting to absorb the power controlling the troll using his embodiment of darkness and the mysterious unique skill that was still mostly locked.

    Luckily since he had already done it before and now had the aid of his tendrils of shadow it was not as taxing on him, and soon Marcus had managed to absorb the dark energy that had been used to control the troll and take it over himself.

    ''You have leveled up to level 39.''

    Surprised to hear the sudden level up notification, Marcus did not have much time to worry about it as the demon seemed to have grasped the situation as the dark aura around the troll dissipated.

    Marcus while still in the troll''s body felt the demon stab both of its de arms into it and pump a massive amount of darkness energy in.

    Luckily the troll''s natural regenerative abilities along with Marcus'' kept it from dying, and Marcus brought down all eight of the troll''s arms towards the demon.

    Unfortunately, the demon was much faster and after taking its de arms out of the troll''s body, sliced off all of its arms with a few quick swipes.

    Feeling that staying in the troll any longer was not going to help him Marcus left its body and watched as just a momentter the dark blue jellyfish wrapped it up with is tendrils allowing the mantis and demon to tear it apart.

    The poor troll barelysted a second as it was ripped to shreds and the darkness energy from the demon corroded its body away even through its regeneration now that Marcus was no longer supporting.

    With one less enemy Marcus felt his burden decrease slightly, and he even felt refreshed after absorbing the energy controlling the troll along with some of its life forces by way of his tendrils of shadows.

    ''Done''

    Using the brief moment he had while the troll had his other enemies attention, Marcus had opened up his status and quickly distributed his new stat points.

    Now slightly stronger than before, Marcus darted around towards the mantis hoping to keep it in between him in the demon.

    s, the demon was not going to let Marcus keep using these kinds of tricks as it hurtled the swirling void of darkness toward him, and it slowly began topress.

    Marcus had seen it use this trick before and knew that a powerful explosion wasing his way, so even though he was trying to conserve mana Marcus deployed a heighted radiance scales right before the demon''s spell blew up.

    KABOOM!

    In a huge eruption of darkness, the demon''s spell exploded, the attack taking over arge area as Marcus braced for impact.

    As the explosion of darkness engulfed him, Marcus felt his radiance scales being broken apart quickly, and soon his spell copsed as the remain force of the demon''s attack began assaulting him.

    Luckily his spell had withstood most of the force behind the attack, and after taking only a slight bit of damage due to his high resistance of darkness energy Marcus made it out with only light wounds.

    However, as the attack dissipated Marcus noticed that all around him was a sheet of water coursing with electricity and many tendril of the dark blue jellyfish had surrounded him.

    Except the worst part was that the demon was standing right behind him, both of its de arms poised to attack the instance he moved.

    For all intents and purposes Marcus was trapped.

    If he tried to turn ethereal and pass through the jellyfish''s blockade, the demon would certainly cut him down, and trying to run away with still in his physical form would have him assaulted by the jellyfish.

    "You put up a good fight, but you were hopelessly outmatched against me. It appears that I even overestimated you since you seem far weaker this time. However, I will give you chance."

    Marcus then heard a loud metallic ng next to him and saw one of the cors that was affixed to the higher-level monsters and beasts under the demon''s control.

    "Put that cor on and submit to me willingly, and I will let you live as my ve. Try to flee and I will gut you like a fish. You have five seconds to decide."

    Turning around and picking up the cor, Marcus wondered if he could maybe resist its effects somehow if he put it on but pushed that out of his mind quickly.

    He was not willing to take the chance that he would lose his free will and would rather go out fighting.

    ''It is still a bit early, but it seems I have no choice but to go all out now and hope for the best.''

    With just one second left Marcus prepared himself for the fight of his life when he suddenly saw the demon''s face grimace, and a momentter in a burst of light, the winged unicorn Veunlux flew into the room and mmed into the mantis monster that was near the entrance sending it flying.

    The demon''s eyes then went wide as it understood what was going on and without hesitation moved to cut of its arm and activate its escape ability.

    ''Not going to happen.. Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony Form.''

 Chapter 215 - 214 Not Over Till Itâ€™s Over

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony Form.''

    Activating his supreme skill, Marcus'' body began to emit a terribly bright light from his right side, while his left side became wreathed in torrents of darkness.

    The two opposing forces then met in the middle, where they began swirling around fusing with each other creating a perpetual circr whirlpool on Marcus'' torso.

    Marcus could feel an immense surge of power flow through him, although it also came with an overwhelming pressure that threaten to crush him should he use this power for too long.

    Now enhanced by his supreme skill Marcus shot forward with blinding speed and deflected the demon''s de arm away from itself.

    With the demon''s attempt to activate its escape ability thwarted, it red towards Marcus who was standing in its way and began shing wildly, while the dark blue jellyfish under its control shot des of water and bolts of lightning at him.

    With attacksing at him from all sides Marcus once again cast his radiance scales spell, bing more and more happy that he had gotten it instead of some powerful attack.

    The bolts of lightning, and des of water began bouncing off of Marcus'' magical protection and with the demon in front of him Marcus deflected its de arms with his scythe, as the two were locked in a desperate struggle.

    However, the demon was still focusing on escape and after overpowering Marcus for just a mometn and pushing him back, the demon had the dark blue jelly fish move to crush Marcus, not caring whether it lived or died.

    Except before the jellyfish could do anything, a massive st of light shot through its body and the creature let out a blood curdling shrill as Veunlux attacked it.

    ''Darkness Drill, Laser.''

    Combing his two tier four spells, Marcus fired both of them towards the demon that was hoping to make its escape, making sure to keep the pressure on so it would not get away.

    Screaming out in frustration the demon pointed both of its arms forward and a sphere of darkness sted out towards Marcus'' spells.

    The two attacks collided and battle for supremacy before they both exploded in a burst of darkness and light.

    The demon hoping to take this moment to flee, began running away from Marcus trying to make enough distance to activate its escape ability.

    ''Not this time.''

    Having busted out his tier five iron magic spell along with the rest of his buff spells, Marcus flew forward like a rocket and intercepted the demon before it could even take one step as he unleashed a barrage of attacks.

    With iron feathers flying, four tendrils of shadowsshing, his spectral arm sending out punches against the demon''s body, and numerous shesing from his scythe, Marcus was quickly overpowering the demon as it umted hundreds of minor wounds using its all just to block Marcus'' more deadly attacks.

    Nevertheless, the demon was not done yet and knowing that Marcus had no intention to let it escape, began to use its full power to win.

    The demon''s body suddenly bulged up its muscles bing bigger and more pronounced, and a shimmering dark aura began toe of its body, not unlike Marcus'' embodiment of darkness.

    With its power increased Marcus'' attacks suddenly became less effective and the demon began pushing him back its physical stats now greatly raised.

    Unfortunately for the demon Marcus was not its only opponent and Veunlux who had just finished off the dark blue jellyfish, sent multiple sts of light at the demon.

    After taking a couple of the light sts head on, the demon once again brought forth its swirling void of darkness that began to greedily eat all of Veunlux''s light sts.

    As the demon did its best to defend against Marcus'' and Veunlux''s onught, the two of them soon began to overpower the demon, and in a desperatest attempt, it caused the dark void around it to being shrinking, getting ready to unleash another powerful explosion even if it would injury itself.

    However, in a sh of light Veunlux appeared right next to the demon and sent its horn into the void and a powerful light erupted from it overwhelming the demon''s spell.

    As the dark void was being erased the demon took this opportunity to sh out towards Veunlux who had kept its distance so far, but as it tried to move its arm it found that dozens of iron threads had wrapped around it.

    The demon then tried to sh its other arm towards the iron threads, but Marcus was not going to let this simply happen and cast a heighten lighting bind to keep the demon''s other arm in ce, even if only for a fraction of a second.

    ''This is the end.''

    With the demon being incapacitated for just a moment Marcus flew right up to its chest and stabbed his scythe in deep and the demon''s ck ichor like blood began gushing out.

    Feeling the searing pain in its chest the demon sent a burst of darkness to destroy the spells that were binding it before bringing both of its de arms down to sh through Marcus.

    Yet its des never reached Marcus as Veunlux charged forward and stabbed its horn right into the demons'' face, and with a huge st of light, blew off its head.

    With the demon''s heart and head destroyed, its huge body began to copse as Marcus let out a sigh of relief since he was nearing his limit.

    The demon''s body then red up with energy and its head began to grow back and the hole in its chest closed.

    The demoning back to life had already begun its attack on Marcus and Veunlux, who werepletely caught off guard.

    With expert use of its de arms, the demon sent one towards Marcus and the other towards Veunlux, slicing Marcus in half at the waist and impaling Veunlux like a skewer.

    Feeling himself separated from his lower half, Marcus began falling from the air as his spells began to crumble and his supreme skill started to dissipate.

    Gray mist began to gush out of him at an rming rate and Marcus felt his strength fading fast.

    ''Is this how I am going to die again.''

    Looking up as he was falling in two pieces Marcus saw the smirk on the demon''s face as it watched the silver blood drip from its de arm that hadpletely impaled Veunlux.

    Anger began to well up inside Marcus, he was not going to let this demon look down on him like that, and he certainly was not going to let it do the same to Lilia or Mrazivy.

    Summoning up all of the strength he had left in him, Marcus began erupting with darkness and light, and channeling all of that power into his scythe he shed towards the demon as his scythe began to extend.

    The powerful sh of darkness and light came flying towards the demon who had thought it had won.

    It made the same mistake that Marcus and Veunlux had made in letting its guard down after a perceived victory, and now it was its turn to suffer.

    Hastily bringing one of its de arms to defend itself, the demon felt Marcus'' sh stop for just and instance before it sliced right through the demon''s de arm and cut it apart from waist to shoulder.

    However, Marcus was not done yet as he brought the de back around and sliced through the top of the demon''s head cutting it in half like a water melon.

    Marcus then felt all of his strength leave him as his leg less torso hit the ground.

    With the rush of rage that hade over him gone; Marcus began to feel the pain of having his body cut in half as he struggled to stay together.

    Yet before worrying about his deteriorating situation, Marcus struggled to lift his head and look towards the demon.

    He was not sure if it would revive again, but if it did, he would be powerless to do anything this time.

    Luckily as he looked at the remains of its body he watched as it began to dissolve into a dark mist until its magic core dropped onto the ground with a loud thud.

    Out of mana, out of strength, and feeling the intense bacsh from using his supreme skill for too long, Marcus could tell he might not make it even as his regeneration skills tried to repair him.

    That was until he received a series of messages from the system.

    Ding!

    ''You have leveled up to level 40.''

    ''Three blessings detected, removing limiter.''

    ''Integrated power source mythic spirt gem detected, increasing utilized output.''

    Marcus after receiving these messages suddenly felt a wave of power wash over him and his lower body began to slowly reform.. He could tell that the spirt gem inside him that he thought had already used up all of its power had actually just been dormant, waiting for him to be strong enough to handle more of its power.

 Chapter 216 - 215 What Looms Ahead

    As his body slowly put itself back together, Marcus closed his eyes and began feeling the power of the spirt gem in his chest.

    Getting a grip of the overflowing power, Marcus managed to gain control over of it and sent it towards his lower half to speed up his recovery.

    However, as his legs were reforming Marcus watched as the inferno wyvern burst into the area having crashed right through the walls, and Marcus looked up at the powerful being with anticipation.

    He was certainly in no shape to deal with it and going into his ghost form and retreating would slow down his recover.

    Yet as Marcus was getting ready to flee, therge wyvern copsed onto the floor and he saw standing on top of it, Mrazivy with her sword jabbed into the wyvern''s head.

    Mrazivy then leapt off of the wyvern and sheathed her sword away, giving Marcus a quick glimpse where he noticed she now carried and adamantine de.

    Staring at her Marcus could not curb his surprise since in all honesty he did not think that Mrazivy would have any chance against such a powerful opponent. But momentter, one of the strongest of the intelligent beasts, a level forty-five epic grade pr owl flew in behind her.

    Mrazivy afternding on the ground quickly noticed Marcus and a big smile began to form on her face until she saw that he was copsed on the ground and his lower legs appeared to be missing.

    Running up to him quickly, Mrazivy pulled a potion out of her item box and was about to force feed it down Marcus'' throat when he said, "Wait I will be fine. Remember I have a regeneration skills, just give me another minute."

    Disregarding what Marcus had said Mrazivy still dumped the potion down his mouth and Marcus who had no strength to resist felt it go down his throat and disappear into his void like stomach.

    Luckily for some reason''s potions still worked for him and as the effects of the one Mrazivy had given him took effect, he felt himself bing revitalized and thest of his body quickly recovered.

    Looking up at Mrazivy, Marcus said, "What kind of potion was that, not only did it instantly heal me, but I feel much better as well."

    Putting her hand out and helping Marcus back up to his feet, Mrazivy with a smug smile said, "That was just a minor elixir my father had given to me for emergencies."

    Marcus'' jaw nearly dropped when he heard this since elixirs even minor ones were some of the highest-grade potions around and could fix just about anything wrong with a person.

    "Are you sure that it was oaky to give me something so valuable, I doubt that even you could have too many of these things."

    Simply shrugging her shoulders Mrazivy replied saying, "You can just consider us even now for the time you rescued me in the ocean bluff temple, and anyway you looked pretty rough, and I did not want to have to carry you out on my back."

    "SCRRRRRRRAAAAA!"

    Just a moment after Mrazivy had helped Marcus back up, the pr owl let out a loud sorrow filled screech as it looked down and saw its leader fallen to the ground in a pool of blood.

    The pr owlnded and began feeling around Veunlux hoping that by some miracle he was still alive, but death had already imed the once proud beast''s life.

    Looking over at the bereaved beast, Marcus could not help but feel a hollow sensation in his chest.

    Certainly, he had not spent much time with Veunlux, but the two of them had fought a life and death side by side against the same enemy, and a bond forged through battle was beginning to form between them.

    Staggering over, Marcus approached the pr owl who was looking over Veunlux''s body and said, "I am sorry that the demon killed your leader and friend. He fought valiantly and without him there is no way I would have been able to defeat the demon. You should be proud of him because thanks to his sacrifice, your nightmare will soone to an end."

    The pr owl nodded towards Marcus and said, "Thank you for your kind words and your help in defeating the demon. The battle outside is winding down, so I shall take my leave along with Veunlux''s body. Feel free to return when you want and retrieve your rewards for helping us."

    The powerful magic beast then picked up Veunlux''s body with its talons and flew towards the exit back out into the open cavern.

    Buzz buzz.

    A slight buzzing sound began to emanate from one of Mrazivy''s pockets as she took out a familiar stone Marcus had seen people use for long distancemunication.

    Sighing Mrazivy brought the stone to her ear and after a couple of seconds said into it, "Okay, I wille and meet up with all of you as fast as I can."

    Mrazivy then put the stone back away, looked towards Marcus and said, "My guardian knight is calling me back to his side so that he can "protect me", so I need to get back to him before he has a panic attack. Did you want toe with me?"

    Shacking his head Marcus responded saying, "No there is something else I need to do before leaving, you go on ahead and I will catch upter."

    Reluctantly Mrazivy ran out of the room heading through the corridors of the stronghold and back outside to where her worried party was.

    As Mrazivy ran off to rejoin her party Marcus looked towards therge core the demon had dropped and moved over towards it.

    Picking it up Marcus examined the core and could tell it was pretty high quality, though like some in the past had dark lines running through it making it stand out from normal cores.

    ''Well, this will certainly be useful forter.''

    After having finished examining the demon''s core, Marcus stored it away and began searching around the area for anything the demon may have left behind.

    ''Jackpot''.

    Coming across a secret door Marcus went into his ghost form and floated inside finding the demon''s stockpile of treasures.

    Inside there were a number of magic cores, some of them being of a high grade from monsters or beasts higher than level forty, and arge number of elemental crystals ranging in purity.

    However, that was not all as there were also a number of natural tressures along with some ores that could be refined into magic metals like mithril.

    ''That demon certainly managed to get arge stockpile of high-quality resources. I wonder what exactly it was doing here.''

    As Marcus pondered what the demons'' ultimate purpose was, he went around collecting the high tier items from among the demon''s horde, not stopping until he had nearly filled his item box and magic bags.

    Feeling quite pleased with the gains he had acquired; Marcus floated out of the hidden treasury and began making his way towards thest thing that needed his attention.

    Coming out into therge room that once housed hundreds of beasts and monsters that were being corrupted by the demons but was now devoid of any life, Marcus stared at the colossal blue demon arm that was still sticking out of some kind of portal.

    ''Time to put a stop to whatever this is.''

    Staying as far back as he could, Marcus brought forth his spectral arm and sent it towards the device that seemed to be generating the portal that the arm wasing out of.

    Once he had his spectral arm in front of the device, Marcus grabbed ahold of one of the elemental crystals that was powering it and yanked it out.

    As soon as he did this the blue arm jerked back so fast that Marcus could not even see it and a torrent of wind followed that began sting around the room.

    Marcus then watched as the portal began to waver and look unstable as it slowly began shrinking.

    He was about to start yanking out the other elemental crystals powering it when he heard a booming voice that held so much power in it that he froze unable to do anything but listen.

    "So, the one who has killed Jirroth hase. To think that there was a being that could kill one of my own prot¨¦g¨¦s in this backwater ce. Imend you ghost, for very few at your level can boast such strength. Now then I would like to extend my hospitality to you. Why do you note through this portal before it copses, and you can take Jirroth''s ce as my prot¨¦g¨¦."

    After the demon on the other side of the portal stopped talking, Marcus felt as if the weight of the sky had been lifted off of him and began making a break for it.

    He had no intention of going through that portal or sticking around any longer, it was already on the verge of copse anyway, so his work here was done.

    Yet before he got far the voice resound out again and Marcus felt the oppressive pressure once more.

    "A pity but expected. But do not worry we shall meet again when I make it over to your world. Until then savor your time for when next we meet you shall fine your end."

    The voice then went quiet and the portal that connected two world began to shrink rapidly until it shut closed leaving no trace it had ever been there.

 Chapter 217 - 216 Beyond The Limits

    With the presence of the blue demon no longer around, Marcus let out a sigh of relief since he was afraid that it was going to somehow bust out of the portal and start wreaking havoc.

    ''Now let me see if any of the elemental crystals and magic cores are still good.''

    Floating over to the device that had been creating the portal the blue demon''s arm wasing out of, Marcus checked on the magic cores and elemental crystals that had been powering it, but unfortunately, they were pretty drained and already starting to crumble.

    Seeing this Marcus was a bit disappointed but he had still received arge amount of resources from the de armed demon''s hidden treasury so he could notin.

    With what he hade here for nowplete Marcus decided to get rid of the device that had generated the portal to make sure it was never used again.

    Yet, even after trying to cut through it with his scythe, Marcus found that the device was solid, and he could not break it.

    ''I know I am still not anywhere close to full strength but still this thing is tough. In fact, I am not even sure what type of metal it is made out of.''

    After trying for another minute, Marcus decide to give up for now, the device was not going anywhere, and all he could do was hope it would not be active again.

    Havingpleted his objects and feeling absolutely worn out, Marcus made his way towards the exit heading back to the intelligent beasts'' domain.

    Floating out of the demon''s stronghold Marcus caught sight of the carnage that had befallen the area outside, which was now dotted with craters and the corpses of numerous beasts and monsters.

    It truly looked like the site of a war and Marcus could not help but feel a bit unnerved at the site of so many dead creatures.

    ''Get ahold of yourself Marcus.''

    Taking just a minute to collect himself, Marcus got his emotions under control and began floating towards the entrance to the beasts'' domain.

    There were still a number of intelligent beast around either helping the wounded or finishing up the few remaining skirmishes, but Marcus was spent and just wanted to get some rest.

    Making his way back into the lush and idyllic area that the intelligent beasts called home, Marcus made a beeline for the ce he had left Lilia.

    However, as he got closer Marcus noticed that a fresh battle had happened here recently, and it appeared that the demon had a sperate force ready to attack in case the beasts came to it.

    ''Looks like we were right to be prepared.''

    Luckily the battle had easily been won in the beasts favor, as they had left behind a few of their stronger fighters, but also Roxene had stayed behind as well.

    Once he had finished checking around to make sure that all of the fighting wasplete, Marcus went to where Lilia had been staying along with the younger of the intelligent beasts, but she was nowhere to be found.

    Getting a bit frantic over his missing little sister, Marcus began searching around aimlessly before after a couple of minutes he began to think rationally again.

    ''Roxene, do you know where Lilia is, I cannot find her where she was waiting.''

    A momentter Roxene responded saying, ''I think she is currently with that friend of yours Macy or something and her group. Alsoe and pick me up, much longer and I think that these beasts are getting ready to appoint me as their new leader.''

    Chuckling a bit at the distress in Roxene''s voice, Marcus made his way over to her where she was currently surrounded by some of the intelligent beast that were giving her their praise.

    Yet as soon as she saw Marcus, Roxene ran up towards him and jumped into hispanion storage where she would be able to avoid the intelligent beasts that were trying to recruit her.

    The beasts having lost their initial target moved over to Marcus and began offering him their appreciation for his help and even told him that he was free to stay should he wish.

    "Thank you for the offer. I will think about it a bit but for now I want to go check up on my sister and then get some rest."

    After excusing himself from the intelligent beasts that were grateful for his help, Marcus finally got back to Mrazivy''s encampment an found them all sitting around talking.

    It appeared that all of them had made it out of the fight in one piece and if any of them had been injured they had already been healed.

    Seeing him approaching Mrazivy waved her hand towards Marcus and said, "Irene over here."

    As soon as Mrazivy said that Lilia who had been facing away from him turned around and saw Marcus.

    Getting up from her seat Lilia ran over and gave Marcus a hug and said, "I am d that you made it back in one piece."

    Hearing this Marcus grimaced a bit as he thought about how he had been in two pieces just a few hours ago but decided that there was no need to worry Lilia with something like that.

    "Yep, everything is over now so how did you do being left here; I assume that you stayed safe."

    Nodding her head Lilia told Marcus that not a single enemy got anywhere close to where she had been hiding.

    "Good now that I know you are safe, I can rest easy, and speaking of resting Mraz would you mind if I used your tent."

    "Yeah, go ahead I know that you fought the hardest out of all of us so go on ahead, and I will look after and get to know your sister while you sleep."

    With Mrazivy''s consent Marcus made his way over to her tent though he did notice a bit of irritation on some of her party members faces probably because they thought Marcus was being overly familiar with the princess.

    Nevertheless, Marcus did not really care even when he was not exhausted and right now, he did not even give it a second thought.

    Once inside the tent Marcus copsed onto one of the beds that were set up inside and was about to let unconsciousness overtake him when he suddenly heard another ding from the system.

    ''You have mail.''

    Gulping Marcus knew what this meant, the only one that had ever sent him mail before was this world''s administrator.

    Groaning and rolling over since his rest was being interrupted, Marcus opened his status and found the mail page, finding the new message that had been sent to him.

    ''Congrattions Marcus, you have made it to level forty. How does it feel to have reached the starting level you could have had, good right? Now then on to business, I see that you have already found a way to heal your soul so oops guess I could have released the limit on your possession ability early but oh well. So, without further ado you can use you possession ability unlimitedly from now on, just try not to get to overconfident or you may find yourself up a creak. Ah and about that unique skill of your that I had sealed, you are getting much closer to fully unlocking it than it thought you would be so as a constion for having your possession skill limited for so long, I will unlock it for you. Now try not to destroy yourself with it, as I told you before it is a nasty power that could lead you to a bad end in more than one way. Well, this message has already gone a bit long so talk to youtter Marcus.

    Sincerely,

    Your favorite Administrator.

    P.S. Check your personal log.''

    Once he had finished reading the message from the administrator, Marcus felt a headacheing on but a little part of him was happy to know that known of his powers were being sealed or limited anymore.

    ''But first things first what is in my log that the administrator wanted me to see.

    Opening up his log Marcus noticed a number of messages, one being that his blessings were no longer limited and that the stat boosts they gave where now ten times what they had been before and the increase they gave him to his elemental affinities had increased.

    Next there was one about the mythic spirt gem that was enriching his soul and apparently increasing his quality allowing his stats to grow even higher.

    However, the finally message caused Marcus'' eyes to go wide when he read it since it was the aplishment of an achievement that had gotten him to level thirty-nine.''

    ''Steal power from a being that is fifty or more levels higher than you.''

    Marcus involuntarily began to shudder when he read this as he recalled how he absorbed the power that had been controlling the eight-armed troll.

    ''That blue demon is at least level eighty-eight.''

    A sense of fear began to well up in Marcus as he realized he had now made an enemy out of a being that was the stronger than he could possibly imagine.

 Chapter 218 - 217 Rewards From The Beasts

    Taking a few minutes Marcus did his best to calm down, as the fear of realizing what kind of entity he had as an enemy dawned on him.

    ''It is going to be fine, that demon seems to be somewhere else right now and I can make myself scarce before it shows up. Or maybe it will take so long to get here I will be like level one thousand or something and can kill it with a flick.''

    As Marcus started toe up with favorable scenarios for if and when the blue demon ever showed up, the fatigue of his earlier fights caught up with him and Marcus lulled into a deep sleep.

    Feeling his arm being shaken Marcus slowly opened his eyes and found Mrazivy standing above him, and when she saw his eyes open, she said, "Irene hurry and get up. The beasts want to see all of us."

    Shooting up Marcus looked around and found that the only one here was Mrazivy and after taking just a moment to examine his state asked, "How long did I sleep for."

    Mrazivy then told Marcus he had been asleep for ten hours, surprising Marcus a bit since normally just around four would be more than enough for him to be back in peak condition even after weeks of being awake.

    ''Guess getting sliced in half can really take it out of you.''

    Getting up out of bed, Marcus put on a new set of clothes before following Mrazivy out of her tent where the rest of her party along with Lilia were waiting.

    The ten of them were then led by Findlyier the little pixie dragon who had recruited all of them, to the hill where the tree of wisdom sat.

    As they approached, they saw that the intelligent magical beasts had lined up into two rows and were bowing their heads.

    It appeared that every beast that was not still terribly injured was here, and as they got closer to the top of the hill, they saw the fourteen strongest beast who were all of the epic grade, and above level forty sitting atop the hill.

    Among them was the pr owl that had been fighting with Mrazivy, but Marcus also noticed that some of the beasts he had made note of before were not here, probably having died in the battle.

    When they all made it to the top of the hill Marcus could see that right in front of the tree of wisdom, arge hole had been dug andying next to it was the body of Veunlux the former leader of the intelligent beasts.

    Except as Marcus looked at him, he saw that his horn was missing and there was a precise hole in one of his sides.

    However, before he could ask about this the fourteen epic grade beasts all bowed their heads as well, and their new leader a huge ape with crimson fur said, "I would once again like to thank all of you for aiding us in protecting our home. I know that each of you had your own reasons for doing so, but nevertheless without all of you we would not be standing here today. On behalf of all of us you have our eternal gratitude."

    A cacophony of cheers then resounded from the intelligent beasts around them, and Marcus could only feel ted.

    The cheering eventually settled down and the crimson furred ape once again began speaking.

    "Mrazivy and her party Royal Frost, you came to us in our time of need and stuck with us as the battles raged on and became tougher. Without your support we would have been overrun long before this day, so as agreed upon we will supply your kingdom with a certain number of natural treasures every three years and Eirwen shall be Mrazivy''s beastpanion."

    The level forty-five epic grade pr owl Eirwen then moved over towards Mrazivy and stood behind her.

    Marcus was a bit surprised to see this development since it meant that the intelligent beasts were going to lose one of their strongest, but overall, this was probably better for the beasts since it would give them a connection to the kingdom.

    A dozen baskets of natural tressures were then brought out to Mrazivy and her party who stored them away and the crimson furred ape then turned towards Marcus and said, "And you Irene, you are all of our savior. You came in our greatest time of need and fought back the demon, and then along with our valiant leader killed the menace. Your power is greater than any of us could have ever expected and without you we undeniably would have all been ughtered or enved. For this we can only offer you our thanks and wish for you to have this, we are certain that Veunlux would want you to have it."

    The crimson furred ape then walked forward and opened its hand to reveal arge magic core that had white lines going through it in the shape of a star and a softly glowing horn.

    Marcus was astounded to see this and could not believe that the beasts were giving him these parts of Veunlux.

    As the new leader of the intelligent beasts handed these out to Marcus, he hesitated to take them and said, "Are you sure, he was your friend wasn''t he, do you not think he should be buried with these."

    Shaking his head, the crimson furred ape said, "No, Veunlux would not want these parts of him to sit in the ground and rot, I am certain he would rather have them go to strengthen the savior that brought us all to the next day."

    With thatst conformation Marcus took the horn and magic core and stored them away in his item box while internally cheering since they were very high-quality materials he could use for forging.

    "Now while this is what we had decided on to give you as a reward, is there anything else you would like. I know we had no formal agreement with you like with Mrazivy and her party, but for all you have done if it is within our power, we will do what you ask."

    Thinking about it for a moment Marcus quickly came to a conclusion as he had already given this a good deal of thought.

    "If possible, I would like some of the fruits from your tree of wisdom, and to use this area as a base for training while I am here, along with ess to natural tressures for my sister and her beastpanions growth."

    Nodding his head the crimson furred ape said, "Very well that is well within our ability and shall be done."

    After that the beasts buried the body of Veunlux and there was a long moment of silence as the beasts mourned those that had fallen in battle.

    When the beasts had finished saying their goodbyes to their friends and family that had died in the war with the demon, a party began to ensue as the beasts celebrated their victory.

    However, Marcus only stayed for a brief moment for politeness'' sake, before heading off to a quite area next to a tranquil pool of water since there were a few things he wanted to check on.

    "Status."

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 31/20

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirit of Light and Darkness)

    Title: Baress

    Level: 40

    HP: 15330/15330

    MP: 7260/7260

    STR: 703 (+7)

    AGL: 680 (+41)

    VIT: 640 (+6)

    INT: 719 (+7)

    SPR: 878 (+9)

    Stat Points: 156

    Skill Points: 60

    Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse, Greatest Potential

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, Soul Devour, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness, False Status

    Skills: Medium Item Box, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 2, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 5, Magic Cirction Lvl 5, Iron Magic Lvl 5, Disassembly Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 4, Lightning Magic Lvl 4, Creature Appraisal Lvl 4, Fire Magic Lvl 4, Danger Sense Lvl 4, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 5, Mana Regeneration Lvl 4, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Powerful sh Lvl 5, Physical Resistance Lvl 4, Heighten Spells Lvl 4, Forge Lvl 4, Trap Sensing Lvl 2, Dark Magic Lvl 4, Light Magic Lvl 5, Driving Lvl 3, Cooking Lvl 3, Cleaning Lvl 1, Soul Regeneration Lvl 2

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows

    Looking over his status Marcus first noticed that his age had gone up by a year meaning that his birthday which he had long lost track off must have been today.

    ''To think after losing my sense of time when I fell to the center of this world, I would be able to find out the day of my birthday again.''

    After feeling quite happy to have once again discovered his birthday, Marcus looked over his stats and noticed that they had increased once again and was quite pleased with how high they had gotten.

    ''Now for the big one, I already have an inkling but what is my formally sealed unique skill.''

    Scrolling down Marcus found the unique skill that had helped him get over one of the biggest hurtles in his second life, albeit almost killing him in the process.

    There he saw it the unique skill that he had created along with the fragment of Irene''s soul called soul devour, and after reading its description Marcus could only feel a sense of anticipation and trepidation.

 Chapter 219 - 218 Time To Head Back

    < Soul Devour >

    -The user has the ability to devour the souls of those they kill, obtaining a slight bit of their power and nourishing their own soul.

    -The user has the ability to devour their own soul for a temporary sharp increase in power.

    -Compatible skill detected, with thebination of Master of Soul and Body, user may take the form of entities whose souls have been devoured by this skill. Note that the user''s stats may change depending on the form taken but may not exceed the maximum limit.

    After reading through the description of his once sealed unique skill, Marcus suddenly received another message that said.

    ''Warning! Overuse of this skill can lead to the destruction or warping of the user''s soul. Use sparingly and cautiously.''

    Once he had finished reading the warning on his soul devour skill Marcus wanted to test the ability out but also was almost too afraid to use it.

    He could vividly remember when he acquired the skill while fighting Ander and it had given him almost a euphoric like felling as he devoured his own soul for power.

    ''At least now I know how I ended up in such a sorry state afterwards.''

    Taking a couple of minutes to calm down, Marcus decided to activate soul devour for just a second and then turn it off.

    ''Here goes nothing.''

    Activating the second ability of his soul devour unique skill, Marcus felt an exhrating rush of power course through him and he felt as if he was capable of doing anything.

    In fact, the increase in his power and the feelings that came with it nearly made him forget to turn the power off on time, but Marcus still managed to control himself and after one second deactivated his unique skill.

    With his skill now turned off again Marcus opened his status and saw that his spirit stat had lowered by a few points but thanks to his soul regeneration they were already going back up.

    ''Hm, I would say eleven seconds is probably the max I can go with it for now. Any more would put my spirit stat dangerously low, better safe than sorry.''

    Having finished up his experiment with the second and what he assumed to be far more dangerous ability for his unique skill, Marcus looked over his normal skills and found that a few of them had increased in level.

    ''Magic cirction finally hit level fiveˇ­ wait maybe now I could.''

    Looking out at the pool of water in front of him Marcus focused, remembering the times when he had extended his mana and he found it much easier to do now.

    Then he imagined the mana being cut off from him and flying forward.

    BOOM!

    A st of mana fired off from Marcus and into the pond in front of him, causing an explosion that was followed by a spray of water.

    A bit surprised that it actually worked Marcus tried again to make sure it was not a fluke, this time aiming for better control.

    Focusing on his mana, Marcus separated a bead like amount and sent it flying until it hit the pool of water and caused a little ssh.

    ''And now I have another new weapon to add to my arsenal.''

    Quite pleased that he had finally ovee the hurdle of firing off his mana, Marcus had a bright smile on his face.

    Having finished inspecting his status and unsealed unique skill, Marcus turned towards his stat points and distributed them with twenty-eight points to each of his physical stats and thirty-six points to both intelligence and spirit.

    With that done Marcus moved over to his sixty skill points and looked around his skills for a while but ultimately decided to save them for now.

    ''Now I suppose I should head back to the celebration now.''

    Heading back over to where the celebration was taking ce, Marcus found that it was already starting to wind down, and so Marcus began looking for Lilia and Mrazivy when the new leader of the beasts approached him.

    "There you are Irene. I know that this may be presumptuous for me to ask after all you have already done, but a number of beasts that fought in the battle today have received injuries that we cannot fully heal. Would you mind doing what you did before and help those that have been crippled."

    Sighing Marcus told the crimson furred ape that he would do it tomorrow, though Marcus was definitely not looking forward to it since it meant a world of pain for him.

    Luckily after giving the leader of the beasts his confirmation, Marcus was able to go and find Mrazivy and Lilia before heading back to their tents to rest.

    ˇ­

    "Lilia keep your guard up another one ising from the right."

    Currently Marcus was watching over Lilia as she cleared out a nest of goblins.

    None of them were particrly strong except for their leader which was an evolved hobgoblin but still they were no match for Lilia and her beastpanions.

    Fighting alongside her Aurelia and Zareen were shredding most of the weaker goblins while Lilia was engaged with their leader, though every now and then a random goblin would go after Lilia making it difficult to finish off the hobgoblin.

    "Expanded Force."

    Finishing the chant for one of her tier three force magic spells, a burst of pure force emanated from around Lilia killing all of the goblins around her and sending the hobgoblin flying back with heavy injuries.

    She then rushed in and delivered a number of devastating blows to the near dead hobgoblin beating it to a pulp.

    After that Lilia and her beastpanions finished off the rest of the goblins beforeing over to where Marcus was and sitting down.

    "Congrattion on reaching level twenty-five Lilia."

    Marcus pped Lilia on the shoulder and praised her for her achievement before looking towards her beastpanions and saying, "And thank the two of you for keeping my sister safe."

    The two of them then gave off angry growls towards Marcus obviously not wanting his praise.

    Even after being fed the fruit of cognizance and gaining awareness the two of them still hated Marcus.

    Luckily, they still did not know how to speak, nor did they have a skill like telepathy so the only one that could understand them was Lilia.

    Of course, the two of them had gotten pretty close to Lilia over the past few days and hade to ept her as their master.

    "Now why do you all not take a break while we wait for Blitz and Roxene toe back."

    Taking out arge drill from his item box, Marcus began cooking something special to eat for Lilia to celebrate her aplishment of reaching level twenty-five.

    As Marcus was cooking along, he noticed a pair of beasts running towards him and saw the Blitz and Roxene had returned.

    "Hey, you finally made it to level nine good job Roxene and thanks for taking Blitz with you and getting him to level thirty-four."

    ''Of course, I must make sure that mine followers are notgging behind. Now I do not see any of my usual meat cooking right now so could you put some on for me.'' Roxene said with her usual haughty attitude.

    Giving Roxene a smile Marcus pulled out what was thest bit of puff cow meat he had and threw it onto the grill before turning towards Blitz and filling a bowl with natural tressures for him to eat.

    After everyone was done eating, Marcus looked out towards them all and said, "Well it is time that we head back to Lethan now. We have had a good training session, but I am sure we could all use a break and I need to prepare for my expedition to fight the boss with Jarek."

    Having spent thest few days in the dungeon training it was now time for them to head back.

    Everyone had made great strides in leveling up during this time except for Marcus.

    After fighting the demon and reaching level forty he found that other than the strongest beasts and monsters nothing was able to give him much experience.

    So, Marcus had spent this time training and perfecting his skills and testing out the abilities of his soul devour unique skill.

    He had found that eating the soul of a living creature caused him to experience a bit of their lives and emotions.

    Depending on how strong the creatures'' egos were he could start to be effected by them and he knew that overusing this ability could cause him to lose himself and go insane.

    Luckily the effect was not anywhere near as strong as when he became one with the fragment of Irene''s soul, so as long as he did not devour a bunch of souls in quick session, he would probably be okay.

    "Okay I guess it is time to go, everyone hope on."

    Marcus'' form then began to shift and erge as his body began growing at an exponential rate until it took the form of a huge white bird of the epic grade called a cdrius.

    This was one of the beasts and monsters that Marcus had devoured the soul of, and he had specially targeted it for its ability to fly fast and for long distances.

    Once everyone got onto his back and were stable, Marcus began running and pping his wings before achieving take off and flying high into the air heading back towards the intelligent beast''s domain so that they could say goodbye before heading out of the dungeon.

 Chapter 220 - 219 Sendoff Party

    Flying over the swamp area that they had been training in, Marcus kept a good eye out for any unwee guests that might want to attack them.

    Normally most beasts or monsters would not fly over and area for an extended period of time unless they were one of the strongest, since other creatures would oftenunch attacks at those that flew over their territory.

    Luckily Marcus had made it pretty far without incident probably owing to his form that was a replica of an epic grade beast that most others knew to stay away from.

    That was however, until a group of some type of flying lizard that were around five to eight feet long, with dark blue and muddy brown scales that blended in well with the swamp began flying towards Marcus in mass.

    ''Level twenty-one, level neen, level twenty-four. None of them are very strong. Either they are very aggressive or very stupid.

    Seeing the around fifty lizardsing for him, Macus simply shot out a couple of fire ball spells that incinerated most of them and left the others horribly wounded and scrambling back into the foliage of the swamp.

    However, after that Marcus heard a loud roar and a muchrger simr looking lizard began flying up towards him looking quite angry.

    ''Level thirty-nine. It is muchrger around twenty feet long. Probably some type of evolution and the boss of the other ones.

    Unfortunately, this beast had chosen the wrong person to attack, and with barely a nce Marcus fired off aser spell and cut the flying lizard boss in half.

    The creature then fell back to the ground in a stter of blood and quickly its former followers jumped on its remains and began eating.

    Continuing along Marcus soon made it to the entrance of the intelligent beasts domain without any more difficulties.

    "Okay everyone off."

    Landing just outside the entrance Marcus had everyone get off of him before he shrunk back down to his normal form as Irene, and they began walking down the tunnels towards the intelligent beast''s home.

    Taking the journey leisurely it took them around two hours to arrive but when they did, they saw the numerous young beasts running around and ying.

    In thest few days, the area that wasrgely war torn was already making a recovery along with those that lived there.

    ''It really is weird that such a ce exists in the middle of a dungeon, but this certainly a mysterious world full of things I cannot even image.''

    After taking in the area for a bit, Marcus and his group head toward the temporary shelter that had been made for them.

    Along the way a number of beasts greeted them like celebrities, and Marcus waved back towards them gaining more of the beasts admiration.

    By the time they had made it to the small house that they were using during their stay, Marcus actually found the crimson furred ape named Imre who was also the beasts new leader waiting for them.

    "Irene it is good to see you back and in good health, though I suppose that the dungeon does not pose much threat to you anymore."

    Nodding his head Marcus responded, "Yes after the fight with the demon not many opponents in the dungeon are much of a challenge, but a few of the stronger ones can still push me a bit."

    The two of them engaged in idle small talk for a bit getting up to date on what was happening with each of them, but after a couple minutes, Imre said with a slightly downtrodden look, "So today is the day you will be leaving. We have prepared a going away feast for you, so, if possible, it would be great if you and yourpanions could attend."

    "Yeah, that should be good. We just got back so a bit of rest and then a big meal to regain our strength would not be bad."

    With Marcus'' agreement Imre told him to head to the tree of wisdom in around two hours before departing to help make preparations.

    ''Now that that is done, we can sit back and rx a bit.''

    Laying down on the soft grass that covered ground, Marcus opened up a story book which he had started on the trip to Lethan but had not really had the time to read since arriving.

    And while he did that the other members of his group decided to get in a short nap, since until just a few hours ago they had been battling hard in the dungeon.

    Soon the luminous crystals that simted the day in this area of the dungeon began to dim, showing that dusk was fast approaching and marking that it was time for their sendoff feast.

    Gathering everyone up Marcus led the way to the tree of wisdom where he saw numerousrge leaves had been sat out with piles of natural treasures and other edible nts found through the dungeon, along with the asional piece of meat.

    Heading towards the top of the hill Marcus found an area that had been left open for him and hispanions to sit next to the strongest of the intelligent beasts.

    "Today we send off our friend and savoir Irene along with herpanions. She has done much for us so let herst day here be a memorable one."

    The beasts then let out a round of cheers and other strange noises before they began digging into the food provided.

    Of course, Marcus did not actually n on this being a final farewell since after the boss fight, he nned on using this area as a base for exploring the dungeon, but after such a rousing speech he decided to being that upter.

    Digging into the food, Marcus ate the natural tressures that were provided enjoying their rich vor quite a bit, though with his stats already being at their maximum received no real benefit from them.

    However, Lilia, herpanions, and Blitz were getting great gains from the influx of natural tressures and Lilia after having leveled up a couple times had room for more stat growth.

    ''I wonder what kind of expression I will see on the next person who updates Lilia''s ID.''

    Marcus could not help imaging the type of shocked faces that might be made by those who saw Lilia''s status because at the age of only eleven she was level twenty-five, and her stats were nearing her true potential.

    Not even the strongest prodigies raised with care by the kingdom would have this kind of power and Lilia could be considered in a ss of her own at this point.

    ''Now I just need to get her a unique skill or something to push her over the edge.''

    Continuing to eat the food provided Marcus was eventually asked to tell stories of his adventures, so he regaled them with the tale of how he fought the boss in the Ocean Bluff Temple dungeon, receiving apuse for his theatrical retelling.

    The sendoff feasts'' merriment continued well into the night but eventually everyone went back to their respective dwelling areas to get some rest, and Marcus and his group were no exception.

    Waking the next day, Marcus gathered everyone up for a quick breakfast before they would head back to Lethan.

    It had been nearly two weeks since they had been back, and Marcus was itching to get to work forging using the plethora of rare and high-quality materials he had obtained.

    "Okay I think we are all ready, time to head out."

    Exiting the temporary home, they had been staying in, Marcus found Findlyier waiting for them since he would be guiding them to the nearest area to the dungeon''s exit.

    Following behind the little pixie dragon that had found and recruited Marcus what seemed like so long ago, they soon came to the exit of the intelligent beast''s territory.

    However, there was also arge congregation of the intelligent beasts waiting to see them off and after one final round of goodbyes, Marcus and his group followed Findlyier into the tunnel.

    Coming to the end of the tunnel Marcus and his group thanked Findlyier for guiding them and in return the pixie dragon said, "No need for thanks, you did a great service for us, so helping you get back home is the least I can do. Also, I am d I decided to approach you now. I nearly passed you by since you emanated such a strong power of darkness, but I am d I did not. Remember you are always wee to visit, though I guess once the dungeon resets next year you will have to locate the new portals. Well goodbye and good luck."

    After that the pixie dragon Findlyier went on his own way, flying back down the tunnel looking like a little ball of light.

    Having said goodbye to the first intelligent beast they met in the dungeon, Marcus andpany poked their heads out of the illusory wall and found that as they expected it was a sheer drop down to the bottom.

    ''This one looks a bit stepper than the others, maybe around two hundred feet down.''

    However, a drop of two hundred feet did not mean much to them and the only one that was going to have any problem was Blitz.

    Going first Lilia picked up Aurelia and Zareen before jumping off and plummeting towards the ground.

    Yet before she hit, she cast her tier one force magic spell control impact and disperse the force of thending.

    Following after her Marcus possessed Blitz and flew down with his tier five iron magic spellnding on the ground easily and then unpossessing Blitz.

    "The dungeon''s exit should be to the west of here so lets go, we just need to pass through this area before we make it back to the safe zone."

 Chapter 221 - 220 Found Out

    ''Ah it is good to taste the outside air again.''

    Taking in a deep breath and enjoying the cool refreshing air outside of the dungeon, Marcus let his mind rx now that they were no longer in the dungeon.

    ''It is good to not have to be on edge ready for an attack at any moment.''

    Coming out into the city streets of Lethan, Marcus took a good look up at the night sky and stared at the stars that had been absent while in the dungeon.

    ''Hm, a third moon. All this time here and this is the first time I have seen it.''

    After looking at the new moon in the sky in a trance like state for a couple of minutes, Marcus suddenly felt a hand tug on his own and saw Lilia beckoning him to keep moving.

    "Sorry got lost in thought for just a moment there."

    Coming out of his daze Marcus continued walking down the streets as they headed to the guild hall, so that Lilia could submit herpleted request and rank up once more.

    Standing in line Marcus and Lilia were getting closer to the front of the reception windows when one of the guild staff came up to them and said, "The guild master would like to see the two of you."

    Looking towards the guild employee, Marcus was surprised to see the stern look on their face and was wondering why the guild master wanted to see them.

    ''Don''t tell me that Jarek did not tell his wife about the boss fight, and she found out and is angry.''

    With Lilia in tow Marcus followed the guild employee up to the guild master''s office, and when he walked in, he saw her sitting down looking over some papers.

    However, when she looked up there was a definite look of anger as she stared at Marcus, who could not understand why the seemingly polite guild master he had met was now looking at him with such displeasure.

    Without looking away from Marcus and Lilia, Dahlia said towards the guild employee, "Thank you Madelyn you may go now."

    Madelyn then gave a little bow before walking away down the hall leaving Marcus and Lilia alone with the guild master.

    In a stern tone Dahlia said, "Come in and sit down, you have some exining to do."

    Feeling the seriousness in her voice, Marcus began walking into the room, though Lilia seemed to be stuck in ce as she was sweating nervously.

    Grabbing her hand, Marcus gave Lilia a reassuring smile before leading her in and sitting down next to her in the chairs facing the guild master.

    "What am I going to do with you two. Did you really think that I would not find out huh?"

    "Um if this about me heading out to fight the boss with your husband I do not think it warrants this kind of intervention. If you do not want him to go you can always just tell him." Marcus said with an innocent smile.

    However, as he did Dahlia mmed her fist down onto her desk actually causing the wood to crack and splinter.

    Seeing this Lilia let out a slight yap and Marcus'' smile vanished as he looked at the guild master inquisitively.

    "This has nothing to do with you and Jarek''s n to go fight the boss, I already agreed to it since he is nning to bring you and Treasa along. In fact, it is only because of you saving my husband that I have not already revoked both of your guild memberships." Dahlia said with a conflicted expression.

    After hearing this Marcus wonder what was going on, as far as he knew they had not done something to warrant the ire of the guild master.

    ''Unless.''

    There was one thing they had done that was against the guilds rules and even actually against thews of the kingdom.

    ''Did she find out about me sneaking Lilia into the dungeon.''

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' fear was soon confirmed as the guild master said, "I know that you gave your sister your guild card and ID in order to get her into the Cordillera Depths. After your meet up with Jarek, I looked both you and your sister up. And to my surprise your sister only registered here a few weeks ago, but somehow got into the dungeon even at the cooper rank. And while I do not know how you snuck in after her, what you did is against the rules of the guild and the kingdom''sws."

    At this point Lilia was actually beginning to tremble, she had never really been in trouble like this, and she was not good with being yelled at by people in a position of power.

    Yet Marcus was remaining calm, showing fear or weakness in this situation would not help him.

    ''If she was going to just revoke our membership and turn us over, she would have already done so.''

    Confidently Marcus stared right in Dahlia''s eyes and said, "So why are we here then receiving a lecture. If you want to revoke our membership, go ahead and do so and then turn us over to the authorities since we broke thew."

    Marcus then had a stare down with Dahlia as she looked at him menacingly before she let out and exasperated sigh and began messaging her temples with her hand.

    "If I did that it would cause me a great deal of headaches and a mound of paperwork, and at worst all you would lose is your guild membership and receive a fine. If you were not a titled noble you would be looking at jail time, but since no one got hurt and I am the only one that knows, just this once I will let it slide."

    Hearing this Lilia''s stiff posture visibly rxed and Marcus let out an internal sigh of relief.

    "However, if you do this again, I do not care how much trouble it will cause me I will see you lose your guild membership and be brought up on charges." Dahlia said gravely.

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Fine I will not sneak Lilia into the dungeon anymore, but does that mean once she reaches silver rank, she can go in."

    "Yes, once she has the appropriate rank, she will be able to go into the dungeon without issue."

    ''I guess Lilia has already made some good progress, taking a bit of time to do some easy requests and rank up may be good for her.''

    Thinking about it in a positive light Marcus figured it would not be so bad, Lilia''s level was already that of a fledgling knight and her stats were already higher than someone at level thirty without any stat boosting items.

    Yet as he was thinking about this Dahlia began speaking again, and said with a severe tone, "Now then since I am doing you a favor you are going to do something for me. I do not care what it takes but make sure that Jarekes back alive. If he ends up dying in that boss fight, I will bring up what we just discussed about."

    Marcus then watched in a very subtle movement as Dahlia moved her hand over he stomach, and realized that maybe there was more than just being the guild master that had caused her to stop adventuring.

    "Have you already told Jarek."

    Dahlia looked at Marcus in surprise and quickly noticed that she had unconsciously put her hand over her stomach.

    "No, I have not. He has always wanted to fight a boss in the Cordillera Depths, but to this point has not had the opportunity. If I told him he would not go to prioritize me, but it would eat him up inside so I figured I would tell him when he got back, and he will get back."

    "Of course, I will do everything in my ability to make sure he gets back alive no matter what, I would not want his unborn child to grow up without a father." Marcus said with resolution in his voice and expression.

    "Very well then, go ahead and have your sister turn in herpleted requests, and I am sure at her current level she will reach silver rank in no time."

    With that Marcus'' and Lilia''s tense meeting with the guild master came to an end and the two of them headed back down to the main hall.

    Queuing up in line again Marcus and Lilia waited until they were able to turn Lilia''s requests in and get her ranked up to iron.

    "Okay Lilia I guess our little n has backfired a bit, but all in all things turned out okay. So go and pick up some request to do and you can get working on ranking up. Feel free to do it at whatever pace you want there is no hurry."

    Lilia nodded towards Marcus before heading up to the request board and picking out a series of steel rank and unranked requests.

    ''At level twenty-five I no longer need to keep an eye on her all the time, none of those requests should give her any trouble, so while she works on raising her rank, I can work on getting ready for the boss fight.''

 Chapter 222 - 221 New Gear

    Once Lilia had picked out her next requests, the two of them headed back outside where they picked up Blitz and Lilia''s beastpanion before heading back to the Towering Bear.

    "Get a good night''s sleep and feel free to do whatever you want tomorrow. I will be heading to Edzard''s forge tomorrow to work on some new items."

    After wishing Lilia good night, Marcus decided to get to work on visualizing and thinking out what he was going to do.

    ''Hm, I think that is probably a good idea. It will beplicated, but if it works, I will have an even more powerful attack.''

    Spending the majority of the night nning on what items he was going to make and what materials he was going to use, Marcus only noticed how long he had been at it when he saw the first rays of light peeking through the room''s window.

    ''Time really flies when you are engrossed in something.''

    Taking a bit of time to rest up, Marcusid down on the open bed in the room and simply closed his eyes allowing his mind to be still until Lilia woke up.

    Around an hourter Marcus heard the sound of movement and looked over to see that Lilia was just getting up.

    After waiting for Lilia to get ready, Marcus went down with her to get breakfast and ate some of the delicious food that was served at the Towering Bear.

    "Okay Lilia I am going to head off now, so enjoy your next few days but try not to get into any trouble you cannot handle. And if you need me juste to Cobalt Forge."

    With that Marcus headed out to the back of the inn and picked up Blitz, before riding out onto the streets and heading towards the Cobalt Forge that was run by Edzard.

    sting through the city streets on Blitz''s back, it took Marcus only five minutes to arrive at his destination and he stared at the building of the Cobalt Forge.

    "Okay Blitz you head back to the inn and stay out of trouble when I am finishing up here, I will call you back over."

    ''Understood my liege, I will do as youmand.'' Blitz said using their connection to respond to Marcus now that he had gain awareness from the fruit of cognizance.

    Blitz then took off running back to the Towering Bear while Marcus wondered why he refused to call him anything but my liege.

    Walking into the forge Marcus greeted those inside and asked where Edzard was.

    "In his office, oaky I will go pay him a quick visit." Marcus said to the apprentice that had answered his question.

    Having gotten the information he wanted, Marcus walked up to Edzard''s office and knocked on his door.

    "Come on in."

    With that response Marcus opened the door and found Edzard hunched over a drafting table, working on some type of design while also eating a sandwich.

    "Hello again Edzard, I am here to finally use your facilities."

    Hearing Marcus'' voice, Edzard looked up from his drafting table and a big smile appeared on his face.

    "Irene, I was beginning to think that you were never going toe back. Of course, you can use the facilities and tools within my forge, I have been dying to see what the skills of one of Thabon''s apprentices has. Give me just a moment and I will have a private area arranged for you."

    Edzard then popped his head out of his office and began shouting orders out to some of his subordinates beforeing back inside to talk more with Marcus.

    "So, what are you going to be making today."

    "Ah just a couple of different items, like new weapon''s and armor for me and my sister. Though I am afraid I will have to ask that you not watch me work, trade secrets and all. Well unless you want to give me an ingot of adamantine."

    Edzard beganughing after hearing Marcus say that, and responded, "No I am afraid not. Even I only get on average two ingots to work with a year, but it was a good try. Oh well I will have to forgo watching you work, but you will at least let me see the finished products?"

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Sure having another expert''s opinion on your work is always good, so once I am done, I will show you. Though I may take a few days to finish everything up."

    Marcus and Edzard then talked about different forging techniques and the most unique items that they had used until one of the men came in and said that Marcus'' room was ready.

    "Are you sure you do not need any supplies from me?"

    Shaking his head Marcus took in the work room that was being lent to him and said, "Nope I have everything I need already."

    After that Edzard left Marcus on his own. respecting his privacy as another forgemaster.

    ''Time to get to work.''

    Not having brought his supply of mithril ingots from home in order to make more room in his item box, the first thing he needed to do was obtain some.

    Luckily in the demon''s treasury their had been a few crates of high quality mithril ore that Marcus could smelt into ingots.

    Lighting up therge furnace, Marcus cast his control mes spell to get it incredibly hot before throwing in the hundreds of pounds of ore he had.

    With the ore now in Marcus simply heated it up melting off the other elements of rock that had a much lower melting point than the mithril, before removing the g and then pouring the pure mithril into ingot molds.

    After that, while waiting for the now two dozen ingots to cool off, Marcus began arranging the supplies he was going to use.

    ''Do I use the demon''s and Veunlux''s cores.''

    Contemting one of the issue he had, Marcus was still on the fence about using his highest-level cores.

    Certainly, using them would allow him to make the strongest possible weapon, but it would almost seem like a waste to use it on mithril.

    Giving it a great deal of thought Marcus finally decided against using the demon''s and Veunlux''s cores and nned to save them for when he could get ahold of some adamantine.

    ''These should work as good enough substitutes anyways.''

    Pulling out two different cores, one came from the cdrius which was the huge white bird like monster Marcus had killed, since it had a light affinity, and the other came from arge spider like monster that was able to create webs of darkness that he had found deep in the elemental caves area.

    Next Marcus took out things like elemental crystals, and parts of the monsters whose cores he was using and organized them on a table.

    ''Now onto Lilia''s new weapons.''

    With he items he was going to be using for his own new weapon sorted Marcus went onto Lilia''s.

    The first thing he took out was the core of the sand shark he had killed, and another core from a level forty-five plus monster he had found in the demon''s treasury.

    Going through the items he had, Marcus continued to pull out rare forging materials that most forgemasters would kill to obtain.

    Once he had everythingid out for Lilia''s new gauntlets, Marcus went onto armor, and then a couple of other unique items he had thought of.

    ''That should do it.''

    With everythingid out and ready to go, Marcus went over to check on the ingots and found that they had cooled off.

    ''Now where do I start.''

    Having so many projectsid out, Marcus was not sure which one to start on, but ultimately decided to go with Lilia''s new armor first.

    He had basically gone with the same design as before, making a pendant that had its own little dimensional space and would fold out into scale mail since Lilia liked it so much, but this time it would be far more powerful.

    Picking out a few mithril ingots, Marcus got to work on the painstaking process of creating Lilia''s new armor but after nearly twenty hours of nonstop work it was finally done.

    ''Whew it was pretty rough there for a bit, but at about the halfway point it seemed to get a little bit easier. Wait could that mean.''

    Frantically, Marcus opened up his status and scrolled down to his skills and there it was, ''Level five forging.''

    Seeing this Marcus actually began jumping for joy. Level five forging was the minimum requirement to work effectively with adamantine, without it everything that would be made would be incredibly low quality and difficult to manage.

    However, being able to work with adamantine still did not change the fact that Marcus did not have any.

    ''But as soon as I can get my hands on some, I will be able to make truly powerful items.''

    After taking a bit of time to celebrate his forging skill level up, Marcus got right back to work deciding to go for his armor next.

    He was nning to go with a simr approach to what he had mad for Lilia by making it into a pendant that would deploy into the armor, however instead of scale mail he was going with the chainmail he was already used to.

    Taking his time to work precisely on each of the individual chains, Marcus began to lose himself in a trance as he made his own armor going step by step until he had finished the final touches on the enchantments.

    Then to his surprise a pattern appeared on his chain mail meaning that the system had recognized it as a true masterpiece and then elevated even higher.

    ''Wow I honestly was not expecting this. I guess I really got into the zone on this one. The only regrettable part is that Lilia''s armor did not get the system''s recognition. Oh well, that just means I need to try that much harder on her gauntlets.''

    Getting himself hyped up, Marcus moved on to creating his and Lilia''s weapons, already nning to do a perfect job that would be recognized by the system.

 Chapter 223 - 222 New Gear (2)

    Starting with Lilia''s gauntlets first since they were going to be far more of an ordeal, Marcus heated up the mithril ingots and got to hammering.

    Shaping the gauntlets took quite a bit of time and then getting them perfectly smoothed out even more.

    Yet with near unending endurance Marcus worked, hammer blow after hammer blow until they were ready for the next step.

    Marcus first imnted the magic cores into each of them before adding four different types of elemental crystals into each gauntlet.

    On one side Marcus added lightning and wind elemental crystals to help increase Lilia''s speed and agility, and on the other an earth elemental crystal and a rare metal elemental crystal to increase toughness and weight.

    Of course, he would have liked to make them with something that would increase the power of her force affinity but finding something like that for a beyond rare magic like force was not going to be easy.

    So, Marcus made do with what he had and did his best to make the gauntlets as strong as possible.

    He put on many different enchantments using celestial tinum in high amounts to fortify and strength the powerful and numerous formations he was etching.

    And when he put on the finishing touches, the gauntlets began to shimmer before a pattern of the sky filled with a storm and tall powerful mountains appeared.

    Seeing that another of his works got the system''s recognition Marcus felt a sense of tion welling up inside him.

    It was as if the world itself was approving of the work he was doing, and it gave him a sense of pride.

    ''Maybe being awyer was not supposed to be my callingst time. I certainly was pretty good at it, but I never got this type of fulfillment out of it.''

    As his mind started to drift to his past life as it did every so often, Marcus felt a sense of sadnesse over him, but the pain of never seeing those he cared about on Earth had be duller as he spent more time on Mirrion and got closer to the new people he cared about.

    ''I think it is time for a little break before working on my scythe.''

    After having worked for over sixty hours straight with no rest in between, Marcus sat down and allowed himself to rx.

    He had certainly gone beyond the limits of a normal forgemaster already and could tell that even though he could easily keep going he was not quite at his peak right now.

    He had constantly been using copious amounts of mana and even with his mana regeneration skill he had nearly drained himself dozens of time at this point.

    Yet it only took him an hour of resting before he felt that he had gotten back to his peak and the anticipation of making himself a new weapon got him back on his feet and right to work.

    Moving over to the table where he hadid out the materials for his new scythe, Marcus quickly and expertly shaped the de using the mithril he had smelted with the fangs of the abyssal spider he had killed along with the talons of the cdrius.

    ''You served me well, but it is time for you to retire.''

    Taking out his first mithril scythe, Marcus removed the handle he had made for it as he nned to reuse it for his new scythe.

    However, he was nning to make a few improvements to the handle to increase its power.

    Using the biggest lightning elemental crystal he had, Marcus ever so carefully chiseled out two long strips, absorbing a number of shocks along the way, but a little pain in the pursuit of progress is inevitable.

    Once that was done, he carved away just enough wood on either side of the handle and imnted the elemental crystal.

    ''The next part is where it is going to get hard.''

    Bringing out the core of a lightning affinity monster, Marcuspressed it down as small as he could before boring a hole in the bottom of the handle and cing it inside.

    With that done he brought out his mana etcher and filled it with molten celestial tinum and began carving a formation into the handle.

    He had to be very carful during this process so as not to damage the wood with the heat from the celestial tinum and was using his new and improved mana control to reinforce the wood.

    Luckily, he somehow managed to do it, and when the tinum cooled it began absorbing into the enchantment and disappearing.

    ''Whew, it actually worked. Now I just need to add the enchantments to the de andbine the two and hope that the dual enchantment works.''

    With what he considered to be the hardest part of making his weapon, Marcus brought out the scythe de he had already made and got to work on its enchantments.

    As always, he ced the cores first before imnting a number of the strongest and purest darkness, and light elemental crystals he had.

    Once that was done, he took two more strips off of the lightning elemental crystal and ced them along the scythe''s de so that they would line up with the ones on the handle.

    After that he went through the process of adding numerous enchantments onto his scythe, that increase its mana output, sharpness, and connected the two normally opposing elements light and darkness.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, harmony form.''

    Activating his supreme skill Marcus used his own duality to help stabilize the scythe''s and when he was done the darkness and light that had been fighting each other fused in the middle of the scythe and became stable.

    ''Now onest step.''

    Taking the handle and de Marcus put them together and sent his mana into it to make sure that the enchantments would line up and found that his n had worked, and the handle and de had perfectly melded together.

    It was at this moment when the scythe shimmered, and it gained a pattern of intermingled light and darkness with streaks of lighting surrounding it.

    ''It''s done.''

    Giving his new scythe a couple of swings Marcus could only feel that it was quite natural and that the weight and bnce of his new scythe outmatched his old one.

    Having now finished the main projects he set out to make, Marcus figured he had a bit of time left before he was supposed to meet up with Jarek and Treasa, so he got to work on the other things he had thought up.

    Taking six small ingots of mithril, Marcus shaped each one into a ring before taking somerge darkness and light elemental crystals and carving them into the shape of lenses.

    When he had finished that, he affixed the lenses into the mithril rings and put in a high-level core into each one before carving in a series of formations.

    ''Hm it actually worked, I really thought that this was going to end in failure.''

    Having the six lenses three of each with darkness and light affinities float around him Marcus was quite pleased.

    He had used a part of the formation that allowed him to move around his iron sphere and feathers with his thoughts onto the rings and could now move them if he focused.

    Unfortunately, it did take a lot of his attention, but they still would be useful for amplifying his light and darkness based spells.

    ''Well, I guess that will do for now.''

    With the items he wanted to make finished Marcus exited the private forging room after five days of tirelessly working.

    During this time no one had disturbed him and as the people who were working on their own projects watched hime out, they were surprised to see the condition he was in.

    There was not a speck of soot on him, and it appeared that he was not fatigued at all.

    Of course, there was no soot or grim on him because he could just go ethereal and all of that stuff would fall off him, and his ghostly constitution kept him from looking haggard even after five days of near endless forging.

    Soon Edzard heard of Marcus'' emergence and came up to him and said, "You certainly were in there awhile, I assume you made something truly extraordinary."

    Marcus nodded his head and first took out Lilia''s new set of scale mail which was still in its deployed from since he already knew Edzard would want to see it.

    "Remarkable work. I daresay that this armor would protect you against attacks from quite formidable enemies. You used arge amount of elemental crystals to give the wearer protection against many different elemental attacks. Though their appears to be a set of formations I can not really gleam anything from."

    Marcus then went to exin what that formation was derived from and Edzard yelled out in surprise, "Force Magic!"

    Edzard''s eyes went wide as he thoroughly inspected the formation, though even with his expertise he would not be able to replicate it without Marcus'' help or ess to someone who knew force magic.

    "How did you do it, force magic is basically the stuff of legends in a simr league to space magic."

    Marcus exined to Edzard how his sister was actually a practitioner of force magic and that with her help he had learned how to imnt force magic-based formations.

    "I see you are truly lucky to have been able to have someone that allowed ess to such a rare magic type. From one forgemaster to the other, how about you introduce me to your sister and maybe let me have a go at making some force magic-based formations.. I of course would be willing to share any of my findings with you."

 Chapter 224 - 223 New Gear (3)

    Hearing Edzard''s plea to introduce him to Lilia so he could get a grasp on force magic and integrate it into his own works, Marcus could only shake his head.

    "Sorry my sister already put up with my own studying and testing and it was pretty hard on her, I doubt she could put up for it with a stranger. And while I do respect you and appreciate your allowing me to use your facilities, I am afraid I will not be divulging any of my secrets."

    With his expression turning into a frown Edzard nearly offered Marcus a ingot of adamantine but seeing the resolute look in his eye decided against it.

    Sighing Edzard said, "Very well, we all have our secret techniques and such, so I cannot fault you. Well thank you for showing this to me, it has been awhile since I have had a chance to see such good work from anyone else."

    Marcus winced a little hearing this since many of the members of Edzard''s Cobalt Forge were around and could hear him and looking at their faces Marcus could see the displeasure on their faces.

    Of course, what Edzard had said was true, most of the people working here were not above level twenty-five and only three of them other than Edzard could make truly quality work.

    "Now since you showed me what you have been working on, how about I take you back to my workshop and you can look at my most recent project."

    Edzard then turned around and started heading to his private work room and Marcus followed behind getting irritated gazes from those working in the forge.

    Naturally they were displeased that their boss and in some of their cases their master, was showing such favoritism to Marcus, but Edzard really did not care, having someone close to his skill level to talk to was rare and he was not going to pass it up.

    Walking into his personal work room, Edzard immediately moved over to one of the tables and brought back with him a mithril bow.

    "Here is my most recent creation, which is for theing-of-age ceremony for the city''s victory''s daughter."

    Taking the bow and looking it over, Marcus as impressed by the workmanship and the details on the bow.

    However, it definitely took in aesthetic over effect, but that was actually quite normal for weapons used by nobles.

    "It is impressive, I do not doubt that the viceroy and his daughter will be quite pleased with it. And since you showed me this, I suppose I should show you the other things I had been working on."

    Taking out his and Lilia''s new weapons along with his armor, Marcusid them out on one of the empty work benches and let Edzard inspect them.

    "Impossible!"

    In a state of shock Edzard looked at the three masterpieces that Marcus had just pulled out.

    He had never expected to see three different items that had been recognized by the system since he only rarely created one even with all of his experience.

    Needing a minute to get a grip of himself, Edzard took a deep breath and asked, "Did you really just make these."

    Nodding his head Marcus started exining the basic qualities of each one as Edzard listened intently.

    "Terrifying." Edzard mumbled under his breath while listening to Marcus.

    He had never heard of someone making so many different pieces of such high-level equipment in such short session. Making two items recognized by the system back-to-back would already be considered a miracle but three seemed like an impossibility.

    ''Thabon, you have found yourself a real monster.''

    Edzard continued to thoroughly examine Marcus'' work and he only became more and more impressed.

    Certainly, he had made better but only with far superior resources, and if he used the exact same supplies as Marcus, he doubted he could produce items of the same quality.

    "You have given this old man a real surprise Irene. To think you could make such items, to call you a genius would be an understatement. These are better than even some items I have seen made out of adamantine."

    Happy to receive such praise from a master Marcus had a proud expression on his face as he said, "Thank you for thepliments, I have worked hard to perfect my craft, though I do admit I have certain advantageous over most people."

    Marcus then exined that he had a blessing that increased his affinity with working with metal and Edzard nodded his head.

    "Yes, those with blessing like fire and the like, do give people an edge in forging. However, one''s talent is only a part of it, their hard work is what shows in the end."

    The two of them then continued to talk about forging for a bit with Edzard constantlymending Marcus for his fine work.

    "Well, I think it about time for me to go. I have left my sister on her own for five days now and I have a meeting I need to get to tomorrow."

    A bit reluctantly Edzard let Marcus go telling him that if he ever wanted to work on something together, he knew where to find him and that he was wee at any time.

    Exiting the Cobalt Forge the first thing Marcus did was try to ascertain Lilia''s whereabouts.

    ''Roxene, do you know where Lilia is.''

    Contacting his beastpanion via their link, Marcus wanted to see if she knew where Lilia was, but Roxene responded saying, ''No idea where she is, I have been busy trying the finest dishes in the city, so I have not seen her in a couple of days.''

    Hearing this Marcus shuddered since he had no idea what kind of trouble Roxene had gotten up to, but he figured eh could worry about thattter.

    ''Looks like a dead end, let me try Blitz.''

    ''Hey blitz do you know where Lilia is.''

    Waiting for a couple moments Marcus got a response from Blitz who said, ''Yes she is currently on a job outside the city walls my liege. A den of gnolls have been making trouble so she is dispatching them.''

    ''Okay when she is back in the city send me a message.''

    ''Understood my liege.''

    With nothing else to do Marcus decided to take a stroll into the dungeon and test out the new items he had made.

    Going into the familiar forest zone, Marcus pulled out Lilia''s gauntlets first to make sure that they worked as intended.

    Jumping into he air, Marcus activated one of the enchantments on the gauntlets and made a wind tform under his foot.

    The tform onlysted for about a second but by chaining them Marcus was able to hop around in the air quite effectively.

    ''Well, it works pretty well, and now Lilia can engage flying enemies in the air.''

    Landing back on the ground Marcus smashed the two gauntlets together and activated the enhanced fortification ability on them.

    Marcus then hit himself and could tell that the gauntlets were working as intend and increased his toughness.

    Testing out the remaining enchantments Marcus found them all to work perfectly, and he was quite satisfied with his work.

    Next Marcus pulled out the six lens he had made and brought one up in front of him.

    ''Let me see how well these actually work.''

    Casting a shiningnce spell, Marcus tossed it through one of the light crystal lens and watched as thence sped up and increased in power, before smashing into the side of the dungeon wall and leaving a deep hole.

    ''Hm I would say that one is an increase in power from somewhere to ten to twelve percent.''

    Continuing to test out his floating lens Marcus found that each individual one only gave a slight increase in power but when stacked together theypounded on each other.

    ''Laser.''

    Firing his tier four light magic spell through all three lens Marcus watched as the beam became more focused and cut through everything in its path for a far greater distance than normal.

    ''I have to say that these have worked out better than I thought they would. Most people use staffs to increase their magic but with these I can wield my scythe and use these to augment my spells.''

    Marcus continued testing out the floating lenses'' effects for a bit, but unfortunately found they did not work well with radiance scales since the spell had such a wide range and worked automatically.

    Yet the rest of his spell benefited greatly from the lenses so all in all, Marcus was quite happy about it.

    He then was about to test out his scythe when he received a message from Blitz that Lilia had entered the city again after sessfullypleting her mission.

    ''Guess it is time to go.''

    Running back out of the dungeon Marcus had Blitz keep him updated on Lilia''s position as he moved to meet back up with her.

    Thus, he began making his way towards the adventurers guild where she was going to turn in herpleted requests.

    Arriving outside Marcus quickly noticed Blitz who had been tied up and gave him a nod indicating that Lilia was inside.

    Walking in Marcus scanned the room and saw Lilia was at the reception window turning in the proof of herpleted requests.

    However, even after that Lilia did not leave and the guild employee handed her a number of pieces of paper before sending her off.

    Lilia looked a bit dispirited as she walked away but when she saw Marcus waiting for her, she perked up immediately and ran right for him.

    She then jumped at him and gave him a big hug that probably would have killed someone with a low level.

    "It is good to see you too Lilia. Let us go get a seat at the bar and we can talk about what we have both been up to."

    Lilia nodded her head furiously and nearly dragged Marcus towards an empty booth where they could sit down and catch up.

    "I see, sounds like you have had a couple of wild adventures, but I am d that you managed toplete all of your requests without too much trouble."

    During their time apart Lilia had been quite active doing the few lower leveled requests that the guild had and had actually started to make a name for herself.

    With her young age and rtively high level, many of the lower ranked parties in the city had tried to recruit her, though Lilia had rejected all of them.

    In fact, she told Marcus that one party that was angry at her for taking all the good requests even attacked her outside the wall, only for her and her beastpanions to beat them within an inch of their lives and turn them into the authorities.

    "I have also been pretty busy and while I am not go to whip them out here, I have made you a new set of armor and gauntlets that are much better than what you are currently wearing."

    Lilia''s eyes then seemed to beam with light hearing this, as she had started to notice that her current gauntlets were not able to keep up with her strength like they used to.

    "Oh yeah I nearly forgot, the receptionist told me that I needed you to sign this so that I could apply for bing a silver rank, which I just met the requirements for." Lilia said with a proud smile on her face.

    Taking the couple pieces of paper from Lilia, Marcus looked them over before finding a pen and signing them.

    Apparently, Lilia need permission from her guardian to be allowed to take the silver rank advancement test since she could incur injuries during it and was still a minor.

    But Marcus was not worried at all since he was confident that Lilia was more than strong enough to be silver rank.

    "There you go, I have signed them so go ahead and turn them in."

    With a bright smile Lilia took the papers and went back up to the reception windows and waited in line to be served.

    After that was done, she came back to Marcus and told him that her test would be conducted in three days.

    This caused Marcus'' mood to fall just a bit since he would already be gone at that point and would not be able to cheer Lilia on, but that was just how it was sometimes.

    "Okay I guess lets get out of here and go back to the inn where I can give you your new gear."

 Chapter 225 - 224 Prove Yourself

    After getting back to the Towering Bear and handing over Lilia''s new armor and weapons, Marcus watched as his little sister put them on and tested out some of the less destructive features.

    "So, if you crash the two gauntlets together you can activate a fortification ability that will make you incredibly tough and add more weight behind your blows but be carefully it will also make you slightly slower."

    Once Marcus had finished going through every one of the different enchantments on Lilia''s gauntlets and armor, she gave him another big hug and said, "Thank you."

    Patting Lilia on the back Marcus said, "No problem, you were in need of some better equipment that could keep up with your increasing power. Though when you go back to school, I would ask that you not wear these since they may attract unwanted attention."

    Lilia looked at Marcus a bit confused as she did not understand exactly why Marcus would tell her not to wear her new equipment at the school, but she still nodded her head understanding that Marcus must have his reasons.

    "Now why do we not get some sleep and start the next day off at our best."

    ˇ­

    "Okay Lilia, I will see you again tonight and we will go out to get something special to eat, before I head into the dungeon again tomorrow."

    Heading off to his meeting with Jarek and his friend Treasa, Marcus met back up with Roxene who had been up to god knows what during thest five days.

    "You did not get into to much trouble while I was gone right."

    However, Roxene did not answer him and said, ''How about we get going you do not want to bete for your strategy meeting.''

    Sighing Marcus let Roxene back into hispanion storage before mounting Blitz and heading to the adventurers guild to meet up with Jarek and Treasa.

    Entering inside the guild hall, Marcus went into the back where private rooms could be rented and found the one that Jarek and Treasa were waiting in.

    Walking inside Marcus saw Jarek talking to arge tiger beast woman who looked like she could wrestle an elephant and easily win.

    "Ah Irene you are right on time. Allow me to introduce you to my friend and colleague Treasa, we have been on a number of requests together and she is one of the strongest adventures in the city."

    Treasa then stood up and walked over to Marcus and put out her hand.

    Returning the gesture Marcus sped hands with Treasa who quickly began to exert a tremendous amount of force almost as if wanting to crush Marcus'' hand.

    Yet to her surprise Marcus held strong and returned the grip although not with quite as much force.

    "Hm, I guess your strength is not too, bad. When Jarek told me he was bringing in a level thirty-seven mage to act as our support, I thought he was crazy but maybe you will do all right. But before we get to nning, I want to see your skills, prove that you are strong enough to have my back."

    After saying that Treasa walked out of the room and beckoned Marcus to follow her, and Jarek just shrugged his shoulders.

    ''I guess this will let me see what her abilities look like as well.''

    Following Treasa to one of therge practice rooms that were often used by high level adventures, Marcus stood on one end while Treasa stood on the other.

    "Go ahead and make whatever preparations you want; I will wait for you to be ready."

    ''Seeing as she is being so gracious.''

    "Arms of darkness, legs of light, lightning strider, spirit ze, iron skin, radiance scales."

    Casting a huge number of buff spells Marcus saw that Treasa looked genuinely surprised to see so many spells going off at once and that Marcus had the mana capacity and focus to use them all.

    Marcus then took out the six floating lenses and had them hover around him, before pressing the button on his pendant and having it turn into a set of chain mail.

    "Okay I am ready anytime you are."

    Nodding her head obviously already having gained a level of respect for the skill Marcus had disyed, Treasa brought out an adamantine spiked chain ball.

    Looking at the weapon Marcus was surprised to see something that might be used as a weapon in a video game or animated show but really should not have any practical use.

    However, he did not feel that way for long as Treasa threw the spiked ball at him alerting his danger sense like crazy.

    Seeing the spiked balling right for his face Marcus moved all three of his darkness magnifying lenses in front of him.

    "Wall of Darkness."

    Casting his tier two defensive darkness magic spell, Marcus watched as a far thicker wall than normal formed in front of him, its strength greatly amplified by the floating lenses.

    Unfortunately, it was still only a tier two spell, and after stopping the spiked ball for a second it began to crack as the spiked ball broke through.

    Yet it still had dispersed most of the attack''s momentum and when it impacted his radiance scales it only broke through a couple beforeing to aplete stop.

    ''My turn.''

    "Darkness bullet."

    Firing a darkness bullet through the already set up lenses Marcus watched as the spell transformed into more of a cannon shot than a bullet as its power was enhanced.

    Seeing the attacking her way Treasa still just stood there calmly and right before the darkness bullet hit her a shimmering green film surrounded her body.

    BOOM!

    The darkness bullet exploded with a decent amount of power but as it cleared Marcus could see that Treasa was perfectly fine, not even a scratch on her.

    ''Mana barrier huh.''

    Recognizing the skill that his partner also had, Marcus was pretty impressed by Treasa''s control over the skill.

    "Well, you are tougher than I thought you would be I will give you that. But now that the initial probing is over how about we get a little serious."

    In a sh Treasa disappeared appearing in front of Marcus as she brought down her spike chain ball on top of him.

    The spiked chain ball that was teaming with mana began smashing through Marcus'' radiance scalesing right for his head.

    Yet right as it was about to hit him Marcus slipped away using his speed burstbined with all of his other enhancements to jump away.

    "Laser."

    Firing a heightenedser spell through all three of his light magnifying lenses Marcus aimed right for Treasa''s left shoulder nning to show her just how strong he was.

    As theser spell hit her, the green shimmer of her mana barrier went up again but this time it was unable to block the full power of Marcus'' attack.

    Theser then struck against her fur, and Marcus watched as something unexpected happened.

    Her fur seemed to block theser and disperse it, and after the spell ended only a slight singe on her shoulder could be seen.

    However, as surprised as Marcus was to see hisser spell do so little damage, Treasa and Jarek were surprised that Marcus even managed to cause any damage.

    "Looks like you are stronger than I thought, so I will show you what I can really do."

    Treasa then let out a low growl and her body began to change, but instead of getting bigger like Marcus thought she would, her body actually began topress, and he muscles tightened up.

    She also took on a more feral form looking more like a tiger as her fur seemed to grow thicker and ws began to sprout out of her feet and hands.

    "Get ready cause here Ie."

    If not for his danger sense and Treasa'' forewarning, Marcus never would have been able to react to Treasa''s next move as she ran right up to him and beganshing her spiked chain ball around so quickly Marcus could not even see it.

    ''Embodiment of light.''

    Realizing in less than a moment that he was going to bepletely overpowered, Marcus activated one of his unique skills in order to increase all of his stats but namely his agility.

    "Shield of light, wall of darkness."

    Ovepping two of his defensive spells, Marcus tried to block Treasa''s ferocious attacks but found that they quickly broke apart his defenses, and as she sent her spiked chain ball right for his chest it began breaking through the remains of his radiance scales.

    "Iron Wings of the Archangel."

    Quickly casting his tier five iron magic spell, Marcus coved his body with his six iron wings and absorbed Treasa''s blow.

    Yet even with his iron wings Marcus watched them bend and fold under the pressure of Treasa''s attack before it hit his crossed arms and sent him flying backwards.

    Marcus then crashed into the training room''s wall, leaving a deep intent in it, but thanks to the force absorption ability on his armor he took virtually no damage.

    ''Damn she is strong, but still not as strong as the de armed demon.''

    After analyzing Treasa''s power, Marcus could tell that she was incredibly strong and without using his supreme skill he was unlikely to be able to win.

    Dislodging himself from the wall Marcus deactivated his unique skill and let his spells fade away as he held up his hands and said, "I am done you win."

    Nodding her head Treasa deactivated whatever ability was altering her body and she returned to her normal size.

    She then approached Marcus and said, "Well, I think you are good enough to trust my back to.. Let us go beat a boss together."

 Chapter 226 - 225 Last Day Before The Expedition

    After Marcus proved himself to Treasa, the three of them went back to the private room that Jarek had reserved so that they could talk strategy and get to know each other''s abilities better.

    "So, are you really level thirty-seven Irene, and that shimmering glow of light around you was a unique skill, right?"

    Treasa getting right to the point asked Marcus some personal questions he normally kept secret, but if he wanted to work with Treasa and Jarek at least a basic level of trust was going to be necessary.

    "Yes, that was a unique skill and no I am not level thirty-seven. I certainly wasst time I saw Jarek but since then I leveled up to forty."

    Both Jarek and Treasa were surprised to hear this. Certainly, at lower levels going up by three in a couple of weeks was rtively easy but past level thirty the necessary experience curve was steep.

    "You must have been fighting incredibly hard in the dungeon to go up three levels in such a short amount of time." Treasa said with an impressed expression on her face.

    "Yeah, I guess if you perpetually fought creatures over level forty it would be possible. For someone with such high statspared to you level that is possible."

    "Oh yeah Irene, Jarek said you can use healing magic, could you show me."

    Nodding his head Marcus walked over to Treasa and cast his tier four healing magic spell, persistent healing.

    "Go ahead and give yourself a small cut and you will see how impressive my healing magic is." Marcus said with a confident smile on his face.

    Doing just that Treasa cut herself, and as soon as she did the wound began closing up as the effect of Marcus'' spell was still active, and before even a drop of blood was shed, the wound closed.

    "Wow that will certainly be useful. Now whenever we get injured, we will not have to use a potion which can cause problems if used in high doses. Damn I wish I always had someone with healing magic to party withˇ­ Hey Irene want to be my partner after this, I promise it will be worth your while."

    Both Jarek and Marcus were astounded by Treasa''s shameless attempt to recruit Marcus. but since he had no intention of staying here for an extended period of time he said, "Sorry I am just here to get in some extra training before heading back to participate in the kingdom''s tournament."

    Hearing this both Treasa and Jarek gave each other a knowing look before Jarek said, "Irene, I rmend you not participate. For free spirits like us it normally just creates a big hassle. When I participated eighteen years ago and took fourth ce, I had a number of noble families trying to recruit me for years, and some of them were very persistent. Even now I still get letters from a certain viscount every year."

    There was visible displeasure in Jarek''s eyes as he remembered the trouble he went through after the tournament and Treasa even went on to add her own experience saying, "I know that the rewards seem great, but I actually won the tournament twenty-four years ago, and I can tell you what some nobles and organizations will do to get you on their side is deplorable. A powerful marquis even tried to have me brought up on charges to turn me into a criminal ve just to get me under his thumb. Luckily though his whole family got wiped out by some sort of specter that took over his mansion before his n came to fruition."

    ''Sounds like the guy who used to own my mansion was into more than just sacrificing kids to demons. He is lucky he already ended up dead because if he was still alive, I would make sure he suffered far more than he did.''

    Treasa and Jarek continued to try and convince Marcus that he should avoid entering into he kingdom tournament. And while they did have a point, Marcus not only wanted to obtain the possible rewards but also test his abilities against the other strong fighters in the kingdom.

    "Thank you both for the advice but I still n on entering. Anyway, now that I know about your experiences, I can put up some walls that will help shield me. I have a couple of friends in high ces that I can cling to keep the small fish away."

    Once Marcus had reassured both of them that he would be fine they moved back onto the reason they had met today and began to talk about their team work.

    "So, the first thing I would like to know is what level both of you are." Marcus said with an inquisitive look.

    He had already divulged some information about himself and now it was time for them to do the same.

    Luckily neither of them put up any resistance and Jarek told Marcus he was level fifty-three, and that Treasa was level fifty-six and had actually evolved.

    This was Marcus'' first-time meeting someone who had evolved that he knew of, and it gave him an even higher respect for Treasa.

    "It is not that big of a deal, I am simply a tungsten tiger beast person, not like I evolved into something really rare."

    However, a person evolving at all was pretty rare in of itself, and from what Marcus had seen, Treasa''s evolution gave her exceptional defensive capabilities.

    The three of them then spent hours exining each other''s abilities and going back to a practice room to train and figure outbinations that they could pull off.

    "You really are something else Irene, to think I could beat Treasa with just your support." Jarek said while panting heavily after having won a spar with Treasa.

    "I just got blindsided, is all. Now that I know you can summon that golem and create those sneaky little threads, I would not be caught off guard again." Treasa said with a miffed expression.

    After spending another few hours working together it was already beginning to get into the night and the three of them parted nning to meet after lunch tomorrow before beginning their expedition into the dungeon.

    Heading out into the open guild hall, Marcus found Lilia waiting there for him sitting by herself and drinking some kind of juice.

    "Lilia are you ready to go."

    However, Lilia did not get up immediately and said, "Marcus there is something I need to show you."

    With that Lilia led Marcus to the request board and pointed out a specific gold rank request to him.

    ''Capture the white and ck dog that is presumed to be someone''s beastpanion and has been stealing food from restaurants all over town. The beast has ess to an item box and is fast enough to evade capture from level twenty guards.''

    Reading this Marcus was bbergasted. When Roxene said she had been eating the finest dishes in the city he did not realize that she had been stealing them right off of people''s tes.

    Seething with anger Marcus opened up the telepathic line with Roxene and yelled at her, ''Roxene what the hell have you done! You are now wanted as a menace to society. You do realize that if people find out that you belong to me it is going to cause us a huge heap of trouble.''

    Yet all Marcus got back in response was, a yawn followed by, ''What does it matter, I was just hungry and ate some good food. It is their fault that they were not strong enough to stop me from taking their food.''

    Hearing this Marcus began rubbing his temples as he decided what he needed to do about his partner.

    Certainly, he coulde forward as her owner, but then he was liable to be hit with a bunch of fines and the ire of the people Roxene had pissed off.

    ''Nope it is better that we stay mum and pretend this never happened.''

    "Lilia, we know nothing about this. We have never seen or even heard of this creature, now let us go get diner before it gets toote."

    Leaving the adventures guild Marcus and Lilia headed to a high-ss restaurant called the Dungeon Jewels where Marcus had made reservations.

    This restaurant apparently used ingredients found in the dungeon to make incredibly delicious meals, but also had more normal fare for the less adventurous patrons.

    However, when they arrived, they noticed that the amount of security for the restaurant was incredibly high and appeared that they had hired multiple extra adventuring parties in addition to their normal guards.

    ''Oh, this ce had some of the best food I tried, I think I ate here three or four times while you were working.''

    Receiving this message from Roxene, Marcus was d he was no longer a human because he felt like he was about to have an aneurism.

    Going inside the restaurant, Marcus confirmed his reservation and he and Lilia were sat down at a small table right by one of the restaurant''s windows.

    Looking out Marcus the window Marcus could see the viceroy''s castle which was situated on a manmade ind and was actually quite beautiful.

    Except as he was enjoying this view, he received anothermunication from Roxene as she said, ''You know I never tried the cooking in the castle, maybe that is where I should try next.''

    Letting out a low groan Marcus respond to Roxene and said, ''You are doing this on purpose now aren''t you.''

    ''Hehehe, maybe a little.''

    Experiencing a bit more torment from Roxene, as Marcus read the menu, she began suggesting all of the dished that she liked and giving Marcus a good understanding of how much damage she had caused.

    ''Just at this restaurant you ate more than fifty gold worth of items. No wonder they put such arge bounty on your capture. We are just lucky that they do not know what you really are otherwise every adventurer in the city would be after you.''

    After that Roxenexed on her teasing and let Marcus and Lilia enjoy theirst meal before he headed into the dungeon to challenge a boss.

    Yet when it came time for dessert, Marcus heard back from Roxene as she said, ''Oh, I did not get to try any desserts from here. Grab a couple of things for me to eatter.''

    Sighing at the shameless wolf that showed no remorse for her actions, Marcus still ordered enough desserts to satisfy her so that hopefully she would not pull a stunt like this again.

    Once Lilia and Marcus had finished their respective desserts, Marcus stored the remaining ones into his item box, and when the bill arrived, he left a generous tip to help elevate some of the guilt he felt for Roxene''s thievery.

    With theirst night together for at least a couple of weeks over Marcus and Lilia retired to their beds at the Towering Bear, to rest for theing days.

 Chapter 227 - 226 To The Boss Room

    "Lilia, you take care and I know you will seed on your advancement test. And once that is done do as nned and train in the dungeon. You will have Blitz and Roxene to look out for you but try to be careful okay."

    After saying his parting words to Lilia, Marcus made his way to the adventurers guild where he met up with Treasa and Jarek, before heading into the dungeon.

    "We have the route nned and Treasa has studied up on the former bosses that have been encountered in the dungeon and what abilities they have. Of course, you never know whether it will be a never-before-seen boss, but I think with the three of us we should be able to win." Jarek said, with a serious expression on his face.

    As the three of them wrapped up their final strategy meeting and took inventory of all of the supplies they had, it was time for them to head into the dungeon for their week-long expedition to the boss room deep in the dungeon.

    Exiting their reserved private room in the guild, all three of them certainly garnered the attention of the other adventures.

    Both Treasa and Jarek were well know and people had seen them together more often recently, which was leading to different rumors.

    However, it was the addition of Marcus to their group that had the most people gossiping.

    To this point Marcus was pretty unknown. People had certainly made notice of the beautiful girl with tinum hair who came by with a young girl who looked like her, but not much was known about this mysterious neer.

    No one had ever seen Marcus take a request, yet suddenly he was working with two of the strongest adventures in the city if not the entire kingdom.

    Many people wondered why they were getting together, and the rumors were all over the ce, to them delving incredibly deep into the dungeon to explore new areas, or that they found a massive nest of powerful monsters that were sitting on top of incredibly valuable resources.

    Some of the rumors even stated that Jarek was cheating on his wife with both Treasa and Marcus at the same time, but these were in the minority since few people thought Jarek would be brave enough for that.

    And of course, there were also rumors that they were searching for a boss room, or maybe even already knew where one was.

    Yet none of them answered any of the other adventurers'' inquires and it was not like the other adventurers wanted to get on Jarek of Teresa''s bad side so after a bit everyone left them alone.

    With the fanfare around them dispersed, Marcus, Jarek, and Treasa headed into the dungeon going first to the familiar nearby forest area that would be the start of their journey.

    However, before they got in too deep Marcus said, he wanted to go investigate something he had previously found, and that he would be back quickly.

    Neither of them wanted to let Marcus go alone but after a bit of persuasion Marcus was able to peel off and do something he needed to do.

    ''Okay Roxene this is your stop. I would like to bring you with me but seeing as how you are now a wanted criminal, and I am afraid that even with your false status Treasa or Jarek might see through you, so you will have to sit this one out.''

    Popping out of hispanion storage Roxene looked a bit dissatisfied that she would not be able to take on the dungeon boss with Marcus, but she understood his reasonings.

    ''Now Lilia wille by this area in a couple of days after she gets her silver rank, and you should meet up with her then. Until that time do what you want but try to stay out of trouble.''

    Nodding her head Roxene responded saying, ''I got it. Just make sure youe back to get me as soon as possible, otherwise I may have to go on another restaurant tour.''

    Rubbing his face and sighing Marcus promised to be back as soon as possible and then left hispanion to her own devices.

    Meeting back up with both Jarek and Treasa, Marcus told them that the hive he had cleared out a while ago was now devoid of the honey he was looking, much to his disappointment.

    And with that out of the way the three of them continued to traverse the dungeon running full speed ahead straight through the forest area.

    Running straight through the middle of areas, Marcus, Jarek and Treasa encountered a number of strong beasts and monsters but for the most part just ignored them and continued making a beeline for the boss room that Jarek had discovered.

    asionally they would run into a creature that they could not escape from or bat away and had to take time to fight the incredibly powerful opponents.

    However, with all of them being quite strong none of the regr denizens of the dungeon were much threat to them, and after traveling through nine different areas over six days with only the slightest bit of rest, they hade made it to the area the boss room was located.

    The area itself was incredibly beautifully being an area full of high cliffs that had waterfallsing down into a massiveke that was periodically dotted by inds.

    ''It is like all of the best waterfalls from Earth have been stuffed into onerge area and is surrounded by a beautifullyndscape full of vibrant nts and crystals that glow with a rainbow color.''

    As Marcus and Treasa who were here for the first time took in the breathtaking view, Jarek became deathly serious and said, "I know it is beautifully but stay on your guard. There are a lot of powerful beasts and monsters in this area, especially hiding in the water."

    Coming out of their daze, Marcus and Treasa heightened their vignce back up.

    The majesty of the area had been nearly overwhelming, so both of them had actually let their guard down.

    Luckily Jarek had been here before and was there to remind them to stay on their toes since at any moment they could fall under attack.

    "So, which was is it now." Treasa asked Jarek.

    Even up tot his point he had kept the exact location of the boss room secret, probably owing to paranoia of some sort of listening device or magic, but now that they had arrived at the correct area it was time for him to reveal that information.

    "It is located in the southwestern part of the area and is actually behind one of these massive waterfalls. So, we will need to travel across the water since flying will attract too much attention.

    Jarek then pulled out a shimmering tube and pressed a button on top of it. The tube then began to unfold and extend until it turned into a small boat.

    However, this was obviously not an ordinary boat and if Marcus was not looking right at it, he felt like he would not believe it existed.

    "This here is a special item I got prepared just for this journey, it is a stealth boat, that is very hard to perceive and takes on the color and feel of water so only a beast or monster with incredibly heightened senses would be able to notice it."

    Moving over to the boat Marcus'' intuitive mind took over and he began to thoroughly look over the boat.

    It was actually quite impressive work, using mithril, and different monster hides that had a water affinity along with dozens of enchantments.

    "Well, we should get going, it is going to take us about a day to get their by boat so we should hurry up." Jarek said, with a look of anticipation on his face.

    The three of them quickly piled into the boat andunched it into theke that made up the majority of this area before heading in the direction that Jarek was leading them.

    ˇ­

    "Get down."

    Pressing themselves against the bottom of the boat so that their heads could not be seen, all of them waited patiently hoping that the huge turtle that had just surfaced would go back under water.

    Certainly, they could have just beaten it as it was only a level forty-two beast, but that would definitely attract unwanted attention, and this area was full of dangerous beasts and monsters.

    Luckily thanks to the stealth functions of the boat Joras had, they managed to pass the turtle and continued on their way, making it all the way across the area without incident.

    Landing on the shore near the waterfall that Jarek had pointed out, the three of them walked up to the edge of the roaring waters that buffeted the area.

    "Okay we will need to pass through the waterfall, and while the pressure it exerts is a bit intense, just stick together and we should get through it momentarily."

    However, before they went in Marcus stopped them and cast a wall of darkness spell over their heads, giving them a shield from the water fall.

    "Having a mage really doese in handy." Treasa said with a bit of awe.

    The three of them then easily went under the waterfall, as Marcus simply ced walls of darkness above them as they continued, and soon they came out into arge cavern that at the very end had a massive set of doors.

    Yet these doors were not unguarded and the frozen form of two guardians waited in front of them, there to test any challengers that wished to enter.

 Chapter 228 - 227 Ambush In Front Of The Boss Room

    Standing in front of the boss room doors, Marcus, Treasa, and Jarek got their strategy together for facing the two guardians that were still lifelessly waiting for them to get closer.

    One of them was some type of bipedal fish monster with sharp spines all over it and wed feet and hands standing around twelve feet tall.

    While the other one was a magical beast that had the head of a fanged monkey the body of a tiger and what looked like a snake for a tail.

    Luckily Jarek had already seen them when he was here the first time, and after doing some research knew exactly what each of them was.

    "So, I will take the ghawwas which is the spined bipedal fish monster, and Treasa will take the nue which is the one with the fanged monkey head. And Irene, you will give us each a number of buffs before we engage, and then support us with ranged attacks and defenses." Jarek said, as they ironed out their battle n against the boss room guardians.

    With their nningplete, Marcus cast arms of darkness and lightning strider on Treasa, and legs of light, radiance scales, and spirit ze on Jarek giving each of them a sizeable increase in power.

    After that they all approached the guardians and when they were with around two hundred feet of them, they began to stir and the stone that coated them began to ke off as they came to life.

    Immediately the nue let out a loud deafening roar, while the ghawwas let out and ear-piercing screech.

    ''The ghawwas is level forty-five and the nue is level forty-six just like Jarek said. In all honesty this should be a piece of cake.''

    Charging forward Jarek fearlessly thrust his spear forward it glowing green with an aura of powerful mana.

    Of course, the ghawwas did not stand their and just take it as it fired dozens of spines that were coated in a lethal venom right for Jarek.

    However, the spines that should have turned Jarek into a pin cushion were all deflected by the radiance scales spell Marcus had put on him.

    Seeing the impending spiraling death of Jarek''s spearing for it the ghawwas jumped to the side and avoided taking lethal injury as Jarek''s spear cut through its side.

    In an effort to counterattack the ghawwas opened its mouth ready to spew out a paralytic gas before shing up Jarek with its ws and devouring him.

    "Lightning Bind"

    Yet as it opened its mouth Marcus was ready and sealed the monster''s movements with his tier three lightning magic spell.

    Being locked in ce and electrocuted the ghawwas had no recourse as Jarek closed in and sent his spear forward.

    "Threefold spiral thrust."

    Using his advanced attack skill, Jarek sent three thrusts through the ghawwas'' body, piercing its head, chest, and torso.

    With three holes drilled through its vital organs the ghawwas flew across the cave an impacted into the boss room doors, before slumping into a pool of mangled flesh and blood.

    At the same time that Jarek had engaged the ghawwas, Treasa had begun her battle against the nue which was definitely the stronger of the two.

    Swinging her spiked chain ball around Treasa beganshing at the nue which was having to use all of its focus on evasion and defense.

    "Shining Lance."

    Throwing his tier two light magic spell through all three of his floating magnifying rings, Marcus aimed for the nue''s left legs and in a sh, his shiningnce flew right past Treasa and took off the beast''s legs.

    Having lost half of its limbs the nue''s began to tumble over and no longer had the agility to keep up its desperate dodging, as Treasa'' spiked ball came right for its side.

    In ast attempt at resistance the nue began pulsing with its innate lightning affinity and sent a huge bolt of electricity at Treasa.

    However, she just stood their and took it as her spike chain ball smashed into the nue and sttered it against the wall.

    As it was dying, the nue took onest look towards its enemy, hoping that it had killed them only to see that Treasa was covered in a shimmering green barrier and unharmed, having easily taken its lightning attack.

    With the two guardians dying within just seconds of each other, the boss room doors began to glow before a loud rumbling sound could be heard and the doors began to open.

    "Well, that was almost too easy." Jarek said, with a dumbfounded expression.

    Certainly, the nue would be considered as pseudo-epic grade magical beast and the ghawwas was a pretty powerful monster, but the level difference plus the strategy they hade up with simply overpowered their foes.

    Of course, arge part of it was also Marcus'' support that increased both Jarek and Teresa''s prowess by a good margin.

    "Well, I suppose since we did not suffer any injury, we can rest for a couple of hours and make sure we are at our peak before heading into the boss room." Treasa said, with a calm expression

    Yet as they were about to set up their gear to rest, a loud serious of ps resounded through the cave.

    Turning around Marcus tried to find the source of the sound, but where it should have been there seemed to be nothing.

    A secondter a shimmering effect began to distort the area and where there had once been no one stood six people all decked out in high level gear.

    Immediately before anything else Jarek yelled out, "Draven you bastard. you followed us, are you really going to try and take this boss room from us."

    Marcus could see that Jarek was radiating hostility obviously not on good terms with this Draven guy, and Treasa was looking at him in disdain as well.

    ''Two at level fifty-one, Two at level fifty, one at level forty-nine, and one at level forty-eight.''

    Quickly appraising all of the people that had just appeared out of nowhere, Marcus was a bit surprised to see how high level they were, though they were all still lower than either Jarek or Treasa.

    The leader of the six men walked forward and said, "Now Jarek, Treasa, and doll face. We do not want any trouble, so how about you all just head back to the city nice and quietly and no one gets hurt."

    Shocked by the sudden development, all Marcus could think that this guy was acting like some third-rate viin, and he has actually called him doll face.

    However, what came out of Draven''s mouth next signed his death warrant in Marcus'' mind.

    "Actually, taking a really good look at you. If you wanted to stick around and serve as some entertainment for us doll face, we would not mind sharing some of the treasures from beating the boss."

    With a lustful gaze Drazen looked at Marcus as if he was a delectable dish just waiting to be eaten, and all Marcus could think was, ''He''s dead.''

    It had been awhile since someone had been rude to Marcus in this way, but every now and then a degenerate that makes the human race look bad had to appear.

    "Jarek, you take the two-level fifties, and I will take the level fifty-ones and forty-nine. Irene try to hold off the level forty-eight, once one of us are done we will support you." Treasa said, with a deathly serious expression on her face.

    And hearing this Drazen said, "Oh are you really going to fight us, you are seriously outnumbered, and you have a piece of dead weight tying you down as well, are you sure this is a good idea."

    The other men with Drazen then beganughing, though their guard was still up, and they were ready to go at any moment.

    Yet as tensions were rising, and the fight was about to begin, Marcus stepped forward past Treasa and Jarek who had positioned themselves in front of him and said, "Eleven seconds, give me eleven seconds to kill all of them, and if after that some of them are still alive, go ahead and jump in."

    Marcus then continued to move forward and Jarek tried to reach out to stop him, but Treasa grabbed his hand and said, "Wait there is something different about her right now, my instincts are telling me that getting involved would be a bad idea."

    "Oh, you are a smart one, you have decided to take me up on my offer. And do not worry we will make sure that it is fun for you too." Drazen said while licking his lips.

    Drazen and his party seemed to think that Marcus'' approaching them meant he had agreed to be their "entertainment" and of course they did not see him approaching as a threat.

    Naturally none of them were worried that someone who was showing a level of thirty-five was going to be able to hurt them.

    Yet if they had been paying close attention, they would have noticed that the air around Marcus gave off a stinging chill of death.

    ''Let me see if you can all can continuedughing in oblivion. Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form.. And Soul Devour.''

 Chapter 229 - 228 True Terror

    Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form. And Soul Devour.''

    Activating his strongest ability along with his most dangerous, Marcus felt an enormous spike in his power as the two skills worked in tandem.

    In fact, Marcus had never felt this good in either of his lives.

    As the immense power coursed through him Marcus felt as if there was nothing he could not do.

    ''It is time to see what I am truly capable of.''

    Now glowing with an immensely powerful bright light with a dark halo around him, and a dark purple aura of death, Marcus began giving of an overwhelming pressure.

    Drazen and his party were obviously stunned to see this sudden shift.

    In a mere instance a person that they had believed was of no consequence, someone they thought was more than ten levels lower than any of them, suddenly turned into an oppressive being that could kill any of them if they were not careful.

    "Azrel, Cal, take the front and activate your- ''Huh, why am I looking at the ceiling.''

    Drazen''s head then hit the floor as Marcus with speed that no one other than Treasa had been able to follow, had moved past all of Drazen''s party members and with one sh of his scythe sliced off his head.

    Drazen''s now dead body slumped over onto the ground as his party looked in horror at the tinum haired beauty that was looking at them all like they were already dead.

    The one named Cal who was the second strongest and Drazen''s confidant said, "Shit" As he pulled out a small glowing sphere and sent it right towards Marcus.

    The sphere quickly expanded creating a bubble around Marcus andpletely sealing him within.

    Yet the bubble that should have been strong enough to hold even a level fifty beast or monster for five minutes began to crack and shattered almost as quickly as it had formed.

    One of the men seeing this had charged toward Marcus thinking that this was his chance and swung his mithril cudgel forward with multiple skills activated to increase his power.

    Except as the cudgel was about to hit Marcus, a fiendish spectral arm whose fingers were now wed came out of Marcus'' body and grabbed the weapon stopping it cold.

    The man then felt an intense searing pain as both of his arms were cut off by one sh of Marcus'' scythe, and the spectral arm pieced right into his chest before smashing him into the cave''s wall and leaving a huge crater.

    However, even while their team members were being ughtered the remaining four people led by Cal got into a formation and unleashed a barrage of powerful attacks towards Marcus.

    Cal sent out a sh of mana from his sickle, and the man named Azrel had thrown a javelin that was enchanted with a powerful exploding formation.

    At the same time the other two members and just finished chants for two different tier five spells, one being a massive icicle over fifty feet long, and the other being a familiar powerful tornado Marcus had faced before.

    "Darkness drill,ser."

    Having lined up all six of his light and darkness magnifying lenses, Marcus sent abination of a heightened tier four light and darkness magic spell through them, and the two spells began to merge.

    The two spells then came out as one massive spiraling st of light and darkness that met the attacks from the four people remaining from Drazen''s party.

    However, even with all of the power the four men had sent at him, Marcus'' attack which was stronger than anything he had ever used before overwhelmed everything in its way.

    The st then reached its targets shredding and incinerating everything in its path before bursting through the waterfall and flying far into the distance where it caused a huge explosion that rocked the entireke.

    Marcus himself was actually quite stunned to see the devastating attack he had unleashed.

    It was a power that had exceeded even his eclipse meteor and had gone far beyond what he had thought possible of himself.

    Nevertheless, as he looked out at the carnage he had caused, one man had miraculously survived.

    He was torn up and bleeding all over, with horrible burns and darkness corroding him, but he was still most certainly alive.

    Cal the only one that had managed to survive the devastating attack and only thanks to a powerful one-time use defense artifact he carried with him that had put up a supposedly invincible barrier, was still alive.

    Yet this barrier that should have been able to stop even a tier six spell, had been broken in just a couple of seconds leaving Cal on his own to defend against the catastrophic attack.

    But somehow, he had persevered and survived and was now dragging his horribly injured body towards the exit struggling to live.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was not feeling generous enough to allow for survivors especially not while in the high like state the power he was using gave him.

    Moving in a sh Marcus appeared in front of the crawling Cal, reached his hand down and picked him up by the neck.

    Cal began to il about hitting Marcus with arms and legs trying to get him to let go, but he was quickly suffocating as Marcus crushed his throat.

    But of course, Marcus did not have time to simply suffocate Cal, it had already been nine seconds since he started using his soul devour unique skill and too much longer would lead to bringing him into the danger zone.

    So, he used the other part of his soul devour skill and began to eat Cal''s soul. Not only would this strengthen Marcus a bit, but it would also help to counteract a bit of the damage from devouring his own soul.

    Cal''s very being then began to scream as Marcus started to devour his soul.

    It was a terror that could not bepared, as even in death at least your soul would remain and go onto the next path of life, but with this all that awaited Cal was oblivion.

    Soon what little resistance he was able to mount faded as Cal''s soul was broken down by Marcus and parts of it were integrated into his own.

    Of course, this came with its own problems for Marcus, as the after effects of devouring someone''s soul kicked in and he began to feel some of Cal''s emotions and relive his most prominent memories.

    Yet unlike what had happened when he had merged with Irene or when he had tested this ability out on a couple of beasts, Marcus did not see the hardest moments of Cal''s life but his most enjoyable.

    Up until this moment where Marcus had killed him, Cal had an easy life being the second son of a count.

    He was a talented man who had excelled with the sword and never had to work hard to achieve anything.

    But at his core Cal was a vile man who liked to torture people and what Marcus saw was the monster of a man and his most brutal killings.

    It was truly like scenes out of a horror movie and far from what Marcus expected.

    However, as fast as it came so did it end as Marcus came back to himself and deactivated his skills.

    Now he had to not only suffer the physical bacsh of his abilities but the mental ones.

    He could feel Cal''s debauched personality trying to influence him, but Marcus stayed strong and pushed the shreds of Cal''s influence into the back of his mind.

    After doing that Marcus fell onto his hands and knees as he waited for his soul regeneration to get to work.

    He could tell that while his solid form was still holding up, his soul was truly a mangled mess right now and needed time to recover.

    ''Just a few minutes, I just need to bear the pain for a bit.''

    This was the first time Marcus had truly put his soul devour skill to the test, and even after only eleven seconds the damage it had caused was greater than Marcus would have thought.

    He had checked his status and found his spirit stat was currently at only forty percent of its normal value, meaning he was far weaker now and was at only about fifty percent of his normal HP.

    Luckily, he had picked up the soul regeneration skill which was fixing the damaged caused by soul devour otherwise he would have been in a weakened state permanently.

    ''What the hell was that.'' Jarek thought as he stared at Marcus panting on the floor.

    He had just seen something that seemed out of this world.

    Certainly, many people had different abilities and powers that could cause huge amounts of damage, but what Marcus had just done was pretty much unfathomable.

    Maybe if he had been some extraordinary level like seventy it would have seemed feasible, but Marcus was only level forty.

    At only level forty Marcus had just disyed power greater than either Jarek or Treasa could muster even at their best.

    And while it appeared that the bacsh of using such power had Marcus on the verge of copse, he had still wielded such power.

    However, as stunned as Jarek was, he quickly got himself together and ran towards hispanion''s side.

    They had spent a good amount of time together in the dungeon and the three of them had gotten pretty close.

    As Jarek approached he began thinking about what kind of potions to give to Marcus fumbling through his magic bag.

    When he arrived, he had pulled out three potions, one being a high tier healing potion, another being a mana regeneration potion, and the final being a stamina recovery potion.

    Yet as he tried to feed the potions to Marcus, he just raised a hand and said, "Unless any of those is an elixir, they are not going to help. Just give me a minute to recover and I will be fine."

    Jarek hearing this took a good long look at Marcus wondering if he should just give him the potions anyway, but Treasa came over and said, "Are you saying that you need an elixir because I do have one if it is necessary."

    Shaking his head and looking up resolutely at Treasa Marcus said, "No, it is fine, the bacsh of the skills I used will wear off in a bit, there is no need to waste something so precious when I will be okay after just a bit of rest."

    After that both Jarek and Treasa gave Marcus his space and appraised the damage he had caused, wondering what kind of monster they had allied themselves with.

 Chapter 230 - 229 Boss Fight Begins

    After giving himself around twenty minutes to recover, Marcus was feeling much better, and his soul regeneration skill had nearly finished recovering his tattered soul.

    ''I need to be more careful with my soul devour unique skill.''

    Having just used what were certainly his strongest two abilities together, Marcus now realized just how dangerous they were.

    Individually either one put immense pressure on Marcus but used at the same time, while the power was explosive so was the recoil.

    If he was not careful, he was liable to destroy himself with his own power as he hade close to multiple times in the past.

    Once Marcus had gotten back into working condition, he began approaching the corpse of Drazen nning to take his stuff, but Jarek came up and stopped him.

    "Irene, I rmend you not take anything off of him. Certainly, he was a scumbag, but he is the son of a powerful viscount that is a prominent retainer of one of the kingdom''s four dukes. In fact, their whole group was made up with talented nobles, albeit all of them having difficult personalities which is why they ended up adventures instead of elite warriors of the kingdom. There is likely to be an investigation into their deaths and there are certain magics and skills that can locate items that belonged to a person."

    Nodding his head Marcus understood, certainly these guys had attacked them first but if they brought it up it would just be their word for the events that had happened.

    And the gains that would be obtained from taking their items would not be worth the chance of having a bunch of powerful nobles gunning for him.

    Even a declining noble like Viscount Poulsen had tracked him down to kill him, so if a whole group of powerful nobles came after him, Marcus shuddered to think about the aftermath.

    "Okay so what should we do with the remaining bodies and their gear."

    However, as Jarek was about to tell Marcus what they should do, Treasa came in an addressed the elephant in the room.

    "Irene, before we do anything else, what was that. Power of that kind is not something a level forty should be able to wield. Even a unique skill should not have been able to make you strong enough to kill six people all around level fifty. So, what is it exactly you did?"

    Seeing the stern face on Treasa'' face Marcus began thinking about how much to tell them.

    He certainly did not want to divulge the details of his soul devour skill, and to this point he had not even heard of anyone having a supreme skill other than him and Roxene.

    ''I suppose a bit of truth while hiding the rest is best, I can do.''

    With a firm expression Marcus after taking just a couple seconds to mull over what to say, said, "That certainly was not just one unique skill, but actually three. I have three unique skills that can all boost my stats by a good amount, and I used all of them at the same time. Of course, using all of those unique skills at once puts a great strain on me so I normally only use one at a time, but I wanted to test how strong they would all be together."

    Marcus then gave a little apologetic bow before examining both Jarek and Treasa''s expressions.

    Luckily it seemed that Jarek fully believed him although he also seemed to be stunned to hear that Marcus had three unique skills.

    Yet Treasa seemed to still be harboring some level of inquisitiveness towards Marcus'' abilities but was satisfied for now understanding that everyone had their secrets to keep.

    "So, Irene could you use that level of power again during the boss fight?" Treasa asked wanting to know how much they could rely on Marcus'' huge bursts in power.

    However, Marcus just shook his head. He had no intention of using that kind of power again any time soon since he could tell that it would be too straining.

    "Sorry I can probably only use one of my unique skills for a couple of minutes after doing what I just did. Those eleven seconds took a lot out of me, and I really do not want to do that again unless I have to."

    "Okay then I guess let us take the remaining bodies and throw them along with their gear into theke. Even if an investigation into their deaths reaches this far it will just seem that they died in a dangerous part of the dungeon."

    The three of them then gathered up all of the evidence of their battle and went around a mile away to throw the remains into theke, letting them sink deep into the watery abyss.

    After that they head back to the cave where the boss room was located and decided to spend the night there to recover before heading to face the boss.

    ''From now on I need to avoid using the second ability of soul devour unless my life is on the line. It effects are just too dangerous to be used like any of my other skills.''

    Having decided to keep his soul devour''s power enhancing ability under lock and key except for them most dire circumstances, Marcus finally allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness making sure he was at his best for tomorrow''s boss fight.

    Waking up the next morning Marcus did his routine maintenance on his gear while they discussed their final strategies.

    "Okay remember the most important part will be for all of us to stay flexible. Once we identify what type of boss we are facing, we can use the different strategies we have developed." Treasa said, taking the lead since she had the highest level and most experience.

    With every preparation they could make done, Marcus, Jarek and Treasa began the decent into the boss room, walking through therge doors and going down a spiral staircase that led into a massive room where the trial of fighting the boss would happened.

    When they arrived, they could see the entire room that was easily the size of a football stadium.

    The room itself had a soft glow from multiple small protrusions in the ground that had magma flowing out of them.

    This also created a number of pools of magma throughout the room that would make moving around much harder.

    However, the small pools of magma dotted through the room were nothingpared to therge sixteen foot tall being in the middle of the room that seemed to beposed entirely of molten rock and was exuding a powerful aura.

    This being soon noticed Marcus and his group''s arrival and turned towards them before its head split in half revealing itsrge mouth that was full of incredibly bright magma.

    The being that was obviously the boss monster then let out some type of roar that sounded like grating rocks and boiling water and shook the room.

    The small pools of magma started to bubble and burst as the room that seemed to be dormant before began to heat up to dangerous levels.

    "Fuck it had to be the elder magma elemental. That is undoubtedly the most annoying enemy that we could have run into. Jarek please tell me its level is low." Treasa said with a grave look on her face turning towards Jarek who had the creature appraisal skill and hoping for good news.

    Unfortunately, Jarek just shook his head and said, "It is level fifty-two, as high as you would expect from the guardians we fought."

    Groaning Treasa looked out towards the magma elemental before saying, "We are unlikely to win against that thing. It has high resistance to physical attacks, and magic other than ice and water. Plus, with its body being that hot even getting close to attack it will cause us damage, I am afraid that retreat is our best option."

    After analyzing the enemy in front of them it seemed that it was truly the worst matchup against a monster that was incredibly resilient and difficult to deal with.

    Yet as the boss monster was approaching them and Treasa and Jarek were preparing to leave, Marcus stopped them and said, "We can still win. I did not mention it before because it did not seem applicable, but I do have a fire resistance spell, and my boots have the ability to generate a tidal wave. We should at least give our best shot before giving up."

    Treasa and Jarek seeing the resolute expression on Marcus'' face turned around and looked at the elder magma elemental that was approaching leisurely, almost as if it barely acknowledged their presence.

    Of course, both of them wanted to fight against a boss monster, test their metal, and receive the tremendous rewards, but survival was also the most important aspect of being an adventurer.

    They could alwayse backter with another person who had ice magic and would be more suited for this boss. Or they could even just sell the coordinates for this boss room and make some money that way.

    But could they turn tail and run when someone more than ten levels lower than the two of them was ready to stand and fight.

    "Very well Irene we will rely on you, but if I call for a retreat we will be leaving and there will not be any dissention." Treasa said with a smile on her face from the anticipation of theing battle.

    Nodding his head Jarek said, "We already came this far, and going back empty handed would leave a bitter taste in my mouth. This may be our only chance to fight a boss so let us give it our all."

    With everyone finding their fighting spirit, Marcus, Jarek, and Treasa looked at their foe, and got ready to engage in the epic battle that was toe.

 Chapter 231 - 230 Elder Magma Elemental Boss

    Leading things off Marcus cast the tier three fire resistance spell on Jarek and Treasa, while giving each of them a number of different buffs.

    He first started with Jarek giving him radiance scales to bolster his defense along with legs of light and arms or darkness to boost his strength and agility.

    After that he cast lightning strider and spirit ze on Treasa making her overall much stronger and faster.

    With his buff spells distributed both Treasa and Jarek stood to the sides of Marcus and got ready to move after he got the battle started.

    Raising his left leg all the way over his head Marcus pushed arge amount of mana into his boot draining his mana at a rapid rate until he was down to only around twenty percent capacity left.

    He then mmed the boot into the ground and a wave that was farrger than any he had ever summoned before popped up out from the ground and began rushing towards the elder magma elemental that had been leisurely approaching.

    The over one hundred foot tall and wide wave washed over the area cooling down the pockets of magma in its way turning them back into rock while also causing the room to fill up with steam.

    However, while the wave was indeed a powerful attack, using it had also garnered the elder magma elemental''s full attention since therge volume of water was an actual threat to it.

    Letting out another roar, the ground around the magma elemental began to shake as multiplerge spikes began to burst out and pierce the raging wave causing it to lose stability and break apart.

    Yet even after losing its structure the water from the wave still had momentum and began filling the area along with some of it still heading towards the magma elemental.

    Unfortunately, the remaining water quickly began to evaporate as it closed in on the magma elemental and met the perpetual puddle of magma around it thus ending Marcus'' first attack.

    ''You are wide open.''

    Having run along with the wave and using it as cover Treasa hade up from behind the Magma Elemental and used the massive amount of steam in the room to avoid its sight.

    Spinning her spiked chain ball around Treasa winded up for a big move as she poured mana into her weapon causing it to shimmer green before throwing it towards the elder magma elemental.

    ''Buster Smash.''

    Using one of her strongest attack skills, Treasa aimed straight for the center of the magma elemental boss monster as her spiked chain ball flew towards it like it had been shot out of a cannon.

    As Treasa''s attack went flying towards the boss monster, it being a creature that had attained a level of fifty-two certainly had the ability to sense iing threats, and even with her surprise the elder magma elemental began to manifest multiple walls of magma to block the approaching attack.

    Treasa''s spiked chin ball began smashing through the magma walls deployed by the elder magma elemental, and even managed to get to the other side and crash into the boss monster.

    The spiked chain ball sunk deep into its chest but stopped halfway through its force being dispersed.

    The Elder magma elemental then began to glow brightly as the heat it was emanating increased sharply.

    Seeing this Treasa yanked back her spiked chain ball and saw that it was now glowing from the heating from the elder magma elemental.

    Luckily her weapon was of a high quality and made from adamantine because a lesser weapon certainly would have been damaged or even destroyed bying in contact with such intense heat.

    After retrieving her weapon Treasa had gained the ire of the elder magma elemental that began to manifest over a hundred magma spears and fire them towards her.

    Yet since it had brought its attention towards Treasa, Jarek had taken this opening and thrust his spear forward from around four dozen feet away and sent of a spiraling st of mana.

    The st of mana then pierced into the magma elemental blowing a hole in its side and causing the boss monster to let out a guttural scream.

    However, the wound that Jarek had caused closed up almost immediately and the elder magma elemental turned towards him and opened its mouth wide as it spewed a huge st of magma towards him.

    "Wall of Darkness."

    Casting his tier two defensive magic Marcus focused the spell through the three floating darkness magnifying lenses and put up a thick wall in front of Jarek.

    Of course, the magma st fired by the boss monster quickly broke through Marcus spell but even just second was enough for Jarek to get far enough away and avoid the attack.

    Focusing on defense since his magic attacks would be less effective against the elder magma elemental because of its magic resistance, Marcus made sure that both Jarek and Treasa stayed out of harm''s way.

    The battle continued to rage on as Jarek and Treasa whittled down the elder magma elemental''s health.

    They had been lucky so far to avoid most of its attacks and whenever they took serious damage Marcus who was keeping track of the battlefield would appear and cast a healing spell on them allowing them to get back into the battle.

    Soon the elder magma elemental was getting worn down even with its natural hardiness and even as powerful as all of its attacks were its one default was its low agility.

    As long as Marcus, Jarek, and Treasa kept on their toes and did not engage too closely to the elder magma elemental it was unable to hit with any of its big moves.

    However, the three of them were starting to get worn down themselves since after every massive magma attack that the boss monster used the heat in the room increased and was already over the temperature at which water boiled.

    Without Marcus'' fire resistance spell both Treasa and Jarek already would have already copsed from the intense heat.

    ''Just a bit more.'' Marcus thought as he drank another mana recovery potion.

    He currently had a bunch of spells active and was constantly draining his mana at a faster rate than his mana regeneration could keep up with and had already consumed ten mana recovery potions during the duration of the fight.

    Bing more and more infuriated as it was being worn down the elder magma elemental mmed both of its arms into the ground leaving it open to attacks as Jarek and Treasa began to go into a full assault hoping to take out the resilient boss monster before it could finish whatever attack it was using.

    Unfortunately, as powerful as their attacks were, the elder magma elemental took all of their attacks before letting out a roar louder than any it had produced so far, and the room began to shake before plumes of magma began to st up out of the ground throughout the entire area covering everything in magma.

    To avoid the magma plumesing from every direction Jarek activated his flying boots and took to the air although some of the magma still sshed up towards him and began to melt the radiance scales around him.

    Treasa on the other hand had no convenient way to fly and had to simply jump into the air to avoid being melted but found that the elder magma elemental had followed her trajectory and a colossal ball of magma had formed around it and was about to be fired towards her.

    Yet right before the boss monster incinerated Treasa, a being made of pure iron that stood twenty-five feet tall appeared next to the magma elemental.

    Marcus'' iron golem which was now level forty-four due to his absurdly high spirit stat and was evenrger than the elder magma elemental suck both of its arms into it and began squeezing causing the elder magma elemental''s magma ball to fly off course and just barely miss Treasa.

    The elder magma elemental began thrashing around in the grasp of Marcus'' iron golem, and soon even the tough golem began to melt under the heat of the boss monster.

    "Volution Barrage."

    Having taken up a position above the elder magma elemental, Jarek began to send out rapid thrusts of his spear that was bursting with mana piercing through the elder magma elemental as it was still reeling from Marcus ''iron golem and was unable to fully defend against Jarek''s attack.

    "Iron Wings of the Archangel."

    Casting his tier five spell Marcus flew over to the falling Treasa and grabbed her before she fell onto the ground that was no covered in magma.

    Unfortunately, he had to drop some of his other spells in order to cast his iron golem and iron wings leaving only fire resistance on Jarek and Treasa.

    "Treasa, are you doing okay."

    Nodding her head Treasa said, "Yeah just a bit burned I will be fine in a bit, how is the elder magma elemental, is it dead."

    The two of them then cast their gaze towards the boss monster that looked like Swiss Cheese after Jarek''s relentless attack and was beginning to slump over seemingly defeated.

    "MRRRRRR."

    Letting out another yell the elder magma elemental began to glow brightly before all of the magma around it began to be sucked into its body and the area around it began to rapidly cool as it absorb all of the heat in the area restoring its body.

    ''Fuck.'' Marcus thought as he looked at the recovered magma elemental.

    They had already exhausted themselves just to bring it down the first time but now it was back up though its glow seemed to be more diminished than it had been before.

 Chapter 232 - 231 Finishing Blow

    ''Do we stay or do we go.'' Marcus thought as he looked at the elder magma elemental.

    It certainly looked a bit weaker now after its recovery, but all of them were fairly exhausted and the only thing really going for them right now was that the room had cooled off tremendously after the elder magma elemental had absorbed most of the heat to restore itself.

    "Treasa, do we have onest push in us or are we going to retreat, you are the leader so you decide."

    Treasa began pondering what to do while looking around at the battlefield.

    She could see that Jarek was huffing and puffing after using a bunch of big skills to try and finish the boss monster, and Marcus was certainly running low on mana and was near the limit of overdosing on mana recovery potions.

    However, none of them had truly busted out their trump cards. Each and everyone of them had been holding back their best to keep enough in the tank to escape if necessary.

    So, was now the time to go all in or escape.

    "Irene, do you have enough in you for onest spurt. I still have my trump card and you have not used any of your unique skills." Treasa said, with a discordant expression.

    Thinking about it carefully Marcus believed they could win, the question was whether they could make it out unscathed or not.

    Certainly, he figured worst case scenario he could escape, but he really did not want to leave Jarek or Treasa behind if he did not have to.

    "We can do it. I can get off onest big move to bring it down. I just need you and Jarek to keep it upied and do as much damage as you can for thirty seconds." Marcus said with resolved expression.

    Nodding her head Treasa removed herself from Marcus'' grasp andnded on the now cooled floor before activating her evolved race ability, unleashed ferocity.

    Her body began to shirking as her muscles became morepressed, her thick protective fur became thicker, and her hands and feet began to grow sharp ws.

    Now exerting her full power Treasa rushed towards the elder magma elemental that was still trying to recover from their previous brutal assault.

    However, now that Treasa was threatening it once again the elder magma elemental reared up and smashed its right foot into the ground causing numerous magma spikes to burst up from the ground towards her.

    Grinding her ws into the ground Treasa abruptly changed directed narrowly avoiding the magma spikes as she swung her spiked chain ball at the boss monster.

    Jarek seeing that Treasa was going all out gritted his teeth and rejoined the battle swooping down from the sar and sending out a number of thrusts towards the elder magma elemental.

    ''It''s time to see just how much stronger this attack is now.''

    Pulling out his scythe and onest high tier mana recovery potion, Marcus first downed the potion bringing his mana reserves back up, though his being was beginning to suffer from the effects of too many potions.

    With his mana rising Marcus watched as Treasa and Jarek continued to assault the elder magma elemental, but their movements were rapidly declining in speed and power.

    ''Just a little longer.''

    Waiting for his mana to reach his peak all Marcus could do was hope that Jarek and Treasa could hold out until he was ready.

    ''Now.''

    Feeling his mana return to an eptable level Marcus turned his scythe over and began channeling an immense amount of mana into as it began to glow and shimmer.

    He then activated the dual enchantment he had painstakingly worked into his scythe''s handle and de as it began to crackle with electricity.

    The scythe''s form began to change as what looked like a gun stock and trigger sprouted of the handle and the form of another de appeared on the other side of the scythe which now looked like a crossbow.

    "Iron Sphere."

    Casting a heightened iron sphere spell Marcus shrunk the wreaking ball sized sphere of iron down to that of arge water melon before cing it in between the strips of lightning elemental crystal.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony Form.''

    Activating his supreme skill Marcus began to crackle with light and darkness that fused together and gave him an incredible aura of power.

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' sudden spike in power alerted the elder magma elemental as the person who had been in the background since the start of the fight suddenly felt like the most powerful threat the boss monster had even experienced.

    "MRRRR"

    Letting out a powerful yell the elder magma elemental conjured a series of small magma spears that flew incredibly fast towards Marcus trying to kill him before he could unleash his big attack.

    However, Marcus just stayed calm. Certainly, moving would disrupt his focus and distort the big attack he was trying to unleash, but he could just go ethereal right before the attack hit and just say it was another one of his unique skills.

    Yet this is not what happened as Jarek who did not know about Marcus'' ethereal ability, jumped in front of the attack activating the enchantments on his shield and taking the brutal attack for Marcus.

    "Arghhhh."

    Piercing his defenses three of the magma spears jammed into Jarek''s body, one piercing his left knee. the other in his right shoulder, but thest one had gone straight through his right lung.

    Jarek then coughed up a spray of blood that turned into vapor as it was being evaporated from the heat the magma spears were emanating.

    Clenching his teeth Marcus watched as Jarek fell right in front of him, having taken the attack meant for him, but he was not about to let his sacrifice be in vain.

    "Extreme maism, Eclipse Railgun!"

    Sending a huge amount of power from his embodiment of eclipse, Marcus enhanced the strength of his iron sphere, before firing it off with the power of his extreme maism spell and the powerful enchantment he had added to his scythe just to increase this attack''s power.

    Flying forward at Mach Seven, the iron sphere enhanced by embodiment of eclipse created so much force that the ground in its trajectory began to tear apart and faster than the blink of an eye smashed straight through the elder magma elemental.

    The iron sphere then smashed into the wall behind the elder magma elemental, and kept going creating a massive hole until it broke apart under the strain of its own force.

    Even with its incredible toughness and high resistances the elder magma elemental had been basically blown apart.

    Its form was just barely in a recognizable state as the magma that made up its body oozed all around it bing unstable.

    Yet the powerful boss monster still tried to keep itself together even after taking such an incredibly attack and began to reform.

    Unfortunately for the boss monster, as it tried to get itself back together Tressa''s spiked chain ball came in from overhead and smashed it back into the ground, ending what little resistance the elder magma elemental could put up.

    The boss monster itsst struggle stamped out began to shrink and shrivel up, as the magma that was its body began to cool and harden and in the center of it, apressed incredibly high-quality core reveled itself, proving that the elder magma elemental had died.

    ''You have leveled up to level forty-one.''

    ''You have leveled up to level forty-two.''

    Receiving two level up notifications after defeating the boss monster, Marcus felt a sense of tion for just a moment before the pressing matter of Jarek dying came back into his mind.

    Running over to him, Marcus was relived to see that Jarek was somehow still alive but parts of his armor had melted into him and he was certainly fading fast.

    Luckily Treasa was not far behind Marcus and she had already pulled out the rare minor elixir she had in her possession.

    She quickly pored the valuable potion onto Jarek''s most pressing wound and at the same time crushed the now solidified magma and pulled the spear out of him.

    However, even with the powerful potion Jarek had taken a great amount of damage and the magma and mithril that had cooled had begun to fuse with his tissues.

    ''There is no other way.''

    "Treasa I am going to do something that will save Jarek''s life but no matter what you are not allowed to watch. Run to the other end of the room and turn around."

    Hesitating for a bit, Treasa did not want to leave her friend''s side but seeing the seriousness in Marcus'' face, turned around and ran towards the wall heading his words.

    With Treasa now out of the way Marcus looked at Jarek and said, "I promised your wife I would make sure you got back alive so that your unborn child would not grow up without a father. So, I need you not to resist since this is the only way I can save you."

    Marcus then went back into his ghost form and possessed Jarek.

    At first there was some level of instinctual resistance, the original soul of a body never wishing to be overpowered, but soon the resistance faded and Jarek allowed the warm embrace of Marcus'' soul to take over.

 Chapter 233 - 232 After The Battle

    Taking full control over Jarek''s body, Marcus also received all of the pain he was experiencing, and it certainly was one of the worst he had ever felt.

    It was so intense and horrible that Marcus wondered how Jarek was still alive.

    The searing pain of feeling burning rock in your lungs was intense and the melted mithril from Jarek''s armor had fused with his skin and muscles.

    However, Marcus took the pain allowing his high-speed regeneration along with the extra power his soul brought to the table to heal Jarek.

    It was a grueling process and Marcus had to actual at one point use his fire magic and forge skill to bring the mithril back up to its melting point so he could remove it from Jarek''s body causing another wave of intense pain.

    But after forty minutes which seemed like an eternity, Marcus had fixed Jarek up to the point that he would be able to function normally, though some small pieces of rock and metal had melded into his flesh and bones.

    Popping out of Jarek''s body, Marcus resolidified and copsed onto the ground, the strain of what he had just aplished being intense.

    ''I need to get stronger healing magic so that I do not have to do that anymore.''

    Lamenting the immeasurable pain he had to experience to keep Jarek alive, Marcus vowed to never do something like that again unless it was someone he really cared about.

    After giving himself a few minutes to recover, Marcus got back up and looked at Jarek who was still unconscious.

    There was no telling when he would wake up since his body had just undergone a tumultuous situation, but at least he was still alive.

    "Treasa you cane back over now."

    Hearing Marcus'' confirmation Treasa who had been obediently waiting in a corner facing away from Marcus and Jarek, turned around and rushed over to her downed friend.

    Seeing him stillying on the ground and unmoving, Treasa thought that the worst had happened and having heard the numerous pained screamsing from him over thest forty minutes had caused her to worry.

    Luckily when she got closer, she could see the shallow breaths he was taking and relief washed over her.

    "I do not know how you did it, and since you do not want me to know, I will not ask, but thank you for saving him." Treasa said with gratitude in her eyes.

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "It was pretty rough there for a bit and I almost gave up, but he is strong and made it through."

    The two of them exhausted from the battle and its aftermath, quickly set up their tents and gave Jarek a morefortable ce to rest before going to sleep themselves, even ignoring therge treasure chest that had appeared in the middle of the room.

    Sleeping for twelve hours, far longer than he normally would, Marcus felt the strain of the mental, physical, spiritual abuse he had endured the day before disappear and was now back into tip top form.

    ''Ah I needed that, sometimes even the dead need to sleep.''

    Once he had finished internallyughing at his little joke, Marcus exited his tent and went to check on Jarek.

    Unfortunately, he was still in aa like state his body and mind still needing more time to recover.

    "When do you think he will wake up." Treasa asked as she opened up the tent door and came in to also check on Jarek.

    However, all Marcus could do was shake his head and say, "He took a lot yesterday. We should give him at least another two days to recover before we think about just taking the loot and heading out of here."

    With that Marcus and Treasa decided to make something to eat, and the two of them just sat around and passed the time however they could, until after another fifteen hours Jarek finally showed signs of stirring.

    "Ughhhh, what happened." Jarek asked as he groggily came back to consciousness.

    Seeing him get up Treasa who had been in the tent with him looked over and with a relived expression on her face said, "We won and it is good to see that you managed to survive."

    Jarek then remembered how he had taken the magma spears for Marcus and reached down towards his right lung that had been punctured.

    However, instead of the horrible burning hole he was expecting to find, Jarek noticed that his skin hadpletely healed over, and the only thing to show that the horrible wound had ever existed was that the skin was slightly discolored by the few specks of rock and mithril Marcus was unable to remove.

    "How?" Was the only thing Jarek could ask with a bewildered expression.

    There was no doubt that the wound to his lung should have been lethal even for someone of his level.

    Yet here he was, still alive and in near perfect health.

    For him to survive was nothing short of a miracle, and seemed too out there to be a possibility.

    "To answer your question, I have no idea. After the minor elixir I gave you did not work well enough, Irene did something she did not want me to see, but afterwards you were alive and well."

    Jarek then began to look around for Marcus who had saved his life but he was not currently in the tent.

    But he only had to wait a moment before Marcus arrived nning to check up on Jarek and make sure he was not going to have any problems especially after everything he had gone through to save him.

    "How are you doing. Is there any area that you are feeling some difort in."? Marcus said, going into full medical mode.

    Shacking is head Jarek responded with tearsing out of his eyes and said, "No, nothing that I can not handle. You already did so much for me by saving my life and I have no idea how I can thank you. But there is just one thing I have to know. Was it just a hallucination that you said I was going to be a father or was that real?"

    Hearing this Marcus felt a bit awkward since he knew that Dahlia wanted to tell Jarek when he returned from the dungeon, but he had said it in a flurry of emotions to bolster Jarek''s will to live.

    Nevertheless, under the pleading eyes of Jarek, Marcus did not have the heart to lie to him, and figured that his wife would be happier that her husband had survived rather than that he had kept this secret.

    "Yes, Dahlia is pregnant. I just happened to figure it out when she told me to keep you alive at any cost. When you get back you really should thank your wife for letting you do what you want and looking out for you."

    After listening to Marcus, Jarek''s already teary eye began to flow like faucets as he let out tears of joy hearing that he was going to be father.

    "Okay enough of the water works. We have been waiting long enough. Get yourself together Jarek and grab a quick bit to eat, it is time to open up the chest and see what is inside." Treasa said with anticipation.

    Both her and Marcus had been waiting for quite some time to open up the treasure chest, but they had still patiently waited out of respect for Jarek and how hard he had fought during the boss fight.

    However, now that he was awake their patience was wearing thin and they wanted Jarek to get back up on his feet as soon as possible.

    Luckily as Jarek remembered about the treasure chest that they had won, he found his second wind and got up quickly, scarfing down a soup that Marcus had made earlier before the three of them approached the treasure chest.

    As they approached it, they found that it was actually a pretty small chestpared to the normal ones that would appear, but this often meant that the rarity of the items inside were higher.

    "Okay I suppose that it is time that we pick the lots and see who go first." Jarek said as he dug around for the three different wooden dowls he had made just for this.

    Once he pulled them out along with a box that had holes in it that would cover the names on the bottom of each one, Jarek ced each dowl in a different hole out of sight of the others and then held the box forward allowing Marcus to pick one at random.

    ''Okay here goes nothing.''

    Reaching out Marcus pulled out one of the three dowls and looked at the name written on the bottom.

    "Irene."

    Seeing that the name he was going by, was what he had picked, Marcus actually jumped up in joy since he would get to go first.

    Both Treasa and Jarek let out a low groan seeing this, but ultimately, they had all yed their parts during the battle, and everyone carried their weight so no one could be too dissatisfied.

    Next Marcus pulled out Jarek''s name, followed by Treasa''s, finishing up the order they would be picking items in.

    "Okay Irene I guess take out the boss'' core and put it next to the chest since it will also be one of the items we can choose." Treasa said, looking a bit down since she was getting to pickst.

    Nodding his head Marcus took the immacte and extremely high-quality core out of his item box and ced it next to the chest before walking up and grabbing the chest''s lid.

    "Now let us see what sort of treasures our hard work has brought us."

 Chapter 234 - 233 Picking Items

    With both of his hands on either side of the treasure chest''s lid, Marcus flung the box open with a dramatic movement and revealed what was inside.

    Just taking a nce Marcus could see a number of valuable items from skill orbs to potions.

    However, two items caught his eyes immediately.

    On of these items was something he had been trying to get ahold of for quite some time, an adamantine bar that he could use to make powerful items.

    But what had attracted his attention even more, was a small box that had a faint golden glowing from inside it.

    With excitement rising at what he believed to be in the box, Marcus reached in and opened it revealing the item he wanted to see.

    ''A unique skill orb!''

    Marcus could not help but be astounded, unique skill orbs were the jackpots of dungeon treasure chests and only very rarely found.

    Yet here one was, and now it made sense why this chest was so small, since this single orb was valuable enough to start a small war over.

    Unfortunately, this left Marcus in a precarious situation. The next most valuable item was certainly the bar of adamantine which was also incredibly hard to get ahold of and something he had been vehemently searching for.

    Nevertheless, unique skill orbs were far too valuable to pass up, and being the first one to get to choose, Marcus reached in and took it much to Treasa and Jarek''s dismay.

    With the skill orb in hand Marcus activated it an received the message asking if he wanted to learn the skill within.

    ''Would you like to learn the unique skill: Peerless Physique.''

    Clicking his tongue Marcus was a bit upset that this skill was pretty much useless to him.

    Its description stated that it adjusted the user''s muscles, bones, blood flow, and other bodily aspects to bringing their body beyond its natural limits.

    Luckily Marcus soon realized that this passive unique skill was perfect for Lilia.

    She was more of a brawler than anything else, and this would increase all of her physical abilities bringing her to a new level of physical prowess.

    Taking the unique skill orb, Marcus stored it away into his item box and stepped back away from the chest stunning both Treasa and Jarek.

    They had except to watch the skill orb disappear as Marcus learned the skill, but instead he had stored it away.

    This was pretty much unfathomable since no sane person would ever not learn a unique skill themselves.

    "Irene are you okay. Why are you not using that unique skill orb?" Treasa asked in a concerned manner.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus just responded saying, "It is not really that useful for me and I already have enough unique skills, so I n to give it to my little sister."

    Hearing this Treasa and Jarek, were bbergasted.

    Marcus wanted to give a unique skill orb away to someone else.

    Even if it was not good for him, he still could have presented it to the kingdom and received a fortune in rewards.

    Yet he was just nning to give it over to his little sister.

    However, Treasa after thinking about it could understand, she herself had a little brother and if she could not use a unique skill, she would probably give it to him to help keep him safe.

    "Well, Jarek you are up next go ahead and choose."

    Coming out of his daze after hearing Marcus'' words, Jarek looked towards the chest and walked over to it.

    He of course noticed therge bar of adamantine that was sitting on top of two dozen mithril ingots which was likely the most valuable thing left, but there were also six regr skill orbs which he checked first just in case an incredibly rare skill was among them.

    In fact, he found one orb that did interest him but it still was not more valuable than just taking the bar of adamantine.

    Seeing that Jarek had taken the bar of adamantine, Marcus felt a bit regretful but he knew when he took the unique skill orb, he would not get the adamantine bar.

    Next Treasa went up and began looking through the items before pulling out arge vial of rainbow-colored liquid Marcus recognized.

    It was a stat increasing draught like the ones he had found after wining the monster festival, however, this one was muchrger and more refined looking.

    Luckily while that would normally be a premium item for most people, Marcus had ess to arge supply of natural treasures from the intelligent beast''s domain and did not even need them himself.

    Walking up to the chest Marcus turned towards the skill orbs and checked what they were.

    ''Dancing, enhanced vision, magic cirction, steel body, chant shortening, and a small item box.''

    Picking up each of the skill orbs, Marcus was pretty happy to find that some of them were useful skills.

    Unfortunately, skill orbs were just less useful for him than most people since he could just purchase skills anyway, but if he could save a few skill points that was fine.

    Taking the only really useful skill for him, Marcus picked up enhanced vision and learned it right away.

    Immediately he could see a bit better and could almost zoom in and out a bit to focus on things that were far away.

    Satisfied with his new skill Marcus walked back away from the chest allowing for Jarek to take his turn.

    The rounds of taking one item after the other continued with Jarek and Treasa focusing more on the stat boosting items and Marcuspletely ignoring them.

    This surprised Treasa and Jarek a bit, but they quickly realized Marcus must have been confident in getting such items himself and wanted to prioritize what the other items.

    In the end Marcus obtained the chant shortening and dancing skill orbs, a piece of wood from some type of rare tree that absorbed mana impably well, fourteen of the mithril ingots, a number of high tier elemental crystals as good or better than the ones he had obtained from the demon''s treasury, and he had also managed to get the elder magma elemental''s magic core.

    All in all, it was quite the haul for all of them but in Marcus'' opinion he made out pretty good.

    The only things he was sad to not get were the bar of adamantine and the small item box skill orb, but neither one was truly crucial.

    It certainly would have been nice to give Lilia and item box, but he had snagged her a unique skill and chant shortening so he was satisfied.

    And on his end, he got some more materials to work with as well as a useful new skill, and while having the adamantine would have been nice, there were ways he could get someter.

    ''Worst case scenario, I may have to take some time and just float through the ground looking for a deposit of ore.''

    With everyone having taken what they wanted from the treasure chest, the three allies went back over to their camp and started on making a special victory dinner.

    Each of them had allocated a bit of space in their storages for brining fine ingredients to make a delicious meal to celebrate their victory if they beat the dungeon boss.

    First up Jarek took out something incredibly interesting especially to Marcus. "This is the finest bottle of wine I hav,e that was made in the vineyards of the Kingdom of Taglia on the southern end of the continent, where unlike here the weather is always warm and farms abound thend."

    Looking at the bottle Marcus was amazed by the workmanship of it as well as the beautiful color of the white wine.

    However, what interested him the most was that this bottle hade from a far-off kingdom he did not know anything about.

    Truthfully Marcus had not spent much time studying the geography of the area he was in, and other than the name of the kingdom directly to the south of Borealia, he did not know much about the world outside the first kingdom he had found himself in.

    "Jarek, do you mean to tell me that you have been to this far off kingdom?" Marcus asked inquisitively.

    Taking a minute to think about it Jarek seemed to be a bit conflicted about what to say but in the end decided to just tell the truth. "Normally you would not find out about this until you reach the mithril rank but seeing as you are likely to get there soon anyways, I might as well tell you. I am sure you know that the adventures guild is not just an organization in this kingdom right."

    Nodding his head Marcus was pretty sure he had heard about that somewhere though he could not remember where exactly.

    "Well, the exact number of kingdoms that the adventure''s guild is established in is sixty-eight kingdoms across five continents plus its own autonomous area where the main headquarters are. And in each of the kingdoms'' main guild hall, there is a teleportation circle that allows for movement between the kingdoms. Of course, this function is heavily restricted and can only normally be used by mithril and adamantine ranked adventures. So, around two years ago, me and Dahlia epted an emergency request to fight off arge monster outbreak in Taglia along with a bunch of other adventures and this wine bottle was something we picked up there."

    Marcus was surprised to hear how much of a force the adventurers guild was to be reckoned with, and now realized that if it brought together all of its members it could probably overthrow a kingdom if it wanted to.

    ''I suppose there is still a lot I do not know about this world and the way it works. I have been focusing more on my personal growth but maybe it will soon be time for me to see what this world really has to offer.''

    After listening to Jarek''s information about the adventurers guild, they got back on track with making the delicious meal tomemorate their victory.

    Treasa, actually took out a number of rare herbs and vegetables, some even being lower grade natural treasures.

    But the one who brought out the most luxurious item was Marcus.

    He had set aside some of the meat from the cdrius which was the epic grade beast he had killed.

    The meat itself was practically glistening, and when the meal was ready and everyone took their first bite, the rich vors that were beyond what could normally be experienced caused them all to begin eating in nearly a frenzy.

    In fact, they quickly devoured the entire meal, leaving both Treasa and Jarek with bloated stomachs, though Marcus still looked exactly the same even though he had eaten the most.

 Chapter 235 - 235 Meeting Back Up With Lilia

    After taking a day to rest and celebrate their victory over the boss monster in the Cordillera Depths, everyone began to prepare for the long journey out of the dungeon.

    "Okay I guess we are all ready to, time to make the trek out of the dungeon." Treasa said, as they packed away thest bit of equipment.

    Having packed up all of their camping and cooking gear, Marcus, Treasa, and Jarek exited the boss room that they had conquered, and walked back out into the massiveke area that was filled with beautiful waterfalls.

    Looking around it was still and incredibly breadthening view and Marcus nned to bring Lilia here to show her this amazing ce.

    Pulling out his stealth boat Jarek ced the craft gently into the water before all of them got inside and began the long journey to exit the dungeon.

    ˇ­

    Ten days soon passed as they had taken the journey out of the dungeon far more leisurely than when they were heading to the boss room, and they had just entered the forest area that was near the exit marking that they had just about one day left of travel.

    ''Roxene, we have entered the forest area, are you all still here.''

    Sending out a mental message to Roxene he waited for his beastpanion''s answer and soon got a reply back saying, ''Yeah we are, but we are a bit busy right now, contact you in a bit.''

    The telepathic connection then cut off and Marcus began to worry slightly since he was wondering if all of them were doing okay.

    He had of course been checking in daily with Blitz and Roxene, and they had apparently been doing well along with Lilia while exploring the outer areas of the forest area.

    But in the dungeon, your situation could change in an instance so he could not help his mind wandering to the worst-case scenario.

    However, just a momentter Roxene reconnected with him and said, ''We have finished up. So, what did you need?''

    With their connection reestablished Marcus exined that he had just arrived in the forest area and was nning to meet up with them before exiting the dungeon.

    ''Okay we are currently in the eastern part of the area but we should be able to meet up with you in around six hours.''

    Finishing their n to meet up, Marcus let Roxene go to manage things on her end, as he looked towards Treasa and Jarek who were currently eating a quick meal before they headed out again.

    "Treasa, Jarek. My little sister along with her and my beastpanions are training in this area, so I am going to meet up with them before heading back, so would the two of you mind going back first without me."

    Looking over at Marcus, both Treasa and Jarek gave each other a look before Treasa said, "That is fine but do you mind if wee with you. I want to meet the little sister you have been talking about."

    "Yeah, I only briefly got to talk to herst time and we would like to get to know the person closest to you."

    ''Shit.''

    Panic started to set in on Marcus. Certainly, he had no problems with them meeting Lilia, but Roxene was currently with her and the two of them might recognize her as the wanted food thief or even worse that she is mythic grade beast.

    However, the cogs in Marcus'' mind quickly turned and he figured out a way to get hopefully get rid of the two of them.

    "Are you sure that you want to take the detour Jarek. Dahlia is waiting for you to return and the longer you keep her waiting the more worried she is going to get. And Treasa I have no problem introducing you to my sister but she is currently embroiled in training and can get nervous around new people, so would mind waiting to meet her until we get back to the guild." Marcus said putting on his most innocent expression hoping that they did not realize that he wanted them gone.

    Luckily Marcus'' reminder to Jarek about his wife and unborn child was enough to have him go wide eyed and start running towards the exit with abandon.

    Treasa though stood back for a bit but eventually relented when Marcus promised to introduce her as soon as they got back.

    ''Whew, now that that problem is dealt with, it is time to meet back up with Lilia.''

    Running in the direction Lilia and their beastpanions were, Marcus went a couple of miles on foot just to make sure that Jarek and Treasa would not notice before transforming into the form of a cdrius and taking to the sky.

    Flying through the air, Marcus had to deal with the asional attack from other flying beasts and monsters but he was able to repel them with ease normally just firing off one spell and ending the battle.

    s, unlike when he was deep in the dungeon, the current area he was in was one of the three closest to the entrance and it was often hunted in by other people, and a group of them spotted him flying in the sky and began to attack.

    One of the members shot a fire ball at him and Marcus had to bank to the left to avoid it.

    ''Crap, guess I look like a prime target for arge group of high-level knights and mages.''

    The group below him wasprised of fifteen individuals who were obviously a unit of the army and not adventures, with six of them being level forty or above and the others being in the high thirties.

    Normally they would certainly be a force to be reckoned with, easily strong enough to take down the level thirty-five beast they thought they had found, but for Marcus they were merely and annoyance.

    Dodging a few more ranged attacks, Marcus watched as five huge roots began toe out of the ground and move towards him, obviously trying entangle and ground him.

    Yet long before they could get anywhere near him, Marcus simply went ethereal and invisible disappearing from the knights'' and mages'' sight.

    Now floating above the air in his ghost form, Marcus watched the confused looks on the knights'' and mages'' faces as the searched for therge ne sized bird that had suddenly disappeared.

    ''I need to be more vignt of people around this area.''

    Floating away from the unit of knights and mages Marcus descended back onto the ground and decided to continue on foot so as to not attract unwanted attention again even if it might be a bit slower.

    After traveling for a few hours Marcus finally caught sight of Lilia and their beastpanions.

    It had been three weeks since he hadst seen any of them and Marcus was quite excited to catch up with his sister andpanions.

    Running up Marcus began waving at them, quickly garnering all of their attention though their first response was to go on guard showing how they had gotten ustomed to being in the dungeon.

    "It is good to see that all of you are doing well. So Lilia, tell me about what happened after I left."

    Thrilled to be back with Marcus again Lilia first began telling him about her rank advancement test, and how it consisted of a few things like survival knowledge and basic etiquette since silver rank and higher adventures were often hired by nobles or wealthy merchants.

    However, the big part of the test wasbat prowess and Lilia''s examiner was apparently a level thirty-one gold rank adventurer.

    Lilia then described how it was a grueling fight, but in the end, using her tier four force magic spell after making an opening she was able to win surprising everyone around.

    "Well, congrattions Lilia, though I knew you would achieve the rank up from the start. You are already strong enough to be gold rank so getting to silver was going to be an easy feat."

    Soon everyone began talking about their experiences for thest three weeks and Marcus got plenty of apuse for his retelling of the boss battle.

    "Sounds like all of you have been working your hardest and I am d to see everyone has leveled up a bit."

    Currently Lilia was level twenty-nine, Blitz had gotten up to level thirty-six, Roxene had made it to level eleven, and Aurelia and Zareen were level twenty-five, and twenty-four respectively.

    It was incredibly good progress and showed how hard everyone one of them had been working.

    Once they had finished catching up, Marcus decided now was as good a time as any and pulled out the unique skill orb and chant shortening skill orb and handed them over to Lilia.

    "These are both for you. I got them from the boss chest but neither of them are very useful for me, so I figured I should give them to you."

    Looking at the two orbs Lilia recognized what they were but she had never seen a golden skill orb before.

    She realized that it must have been extremely valuable but at this point she had gotten pretty used to Marcus giving her things that were worth more than she could imagine.

    Taking the two orbs Lilia first learned the skill from the normal one, getting chant shortening which gave her a big smile since as a front-line fighter using long chants was pretty difficult.

    However, when she heard the message from the golden orb about it being a unique skill, she nearly dropped the orb.

    In her sses she had learned about unique skills and how they had been wielded by some of the greatest heroes of the kingdom''s past, including the first king.

    Having any unique skill was incredibly rare and would automatically elevate a person possessing one.

    With the orb still in her hand, she looked up at Marcus wondering if it was really okay for her to take this unique skill, but the smile on his face told her all she needed to know.

    Taking a deep breath Lilia once again activated the unique skill orb and this time epted it obtaining the peerless physique unique skill.

    However, as soon as she did, she felt as if her entire body was lit on fire and Lilia began screaming under a pain far greater than she had ever felt.

 Chapter 236 - 236 Liliaâ€™s Transformation

    Hearing the screams of absolute agonying from Lilia who had fallen over and was writhing on the ground, Marcus shot towards her and immediately cast his tier four healing magic spell.

    However, it seemed to have absolutely no effect and Lilia continued to let out the most heartbreaking pained wails Marcus had ever heard.

    With healing magic not working Marcus immediately decided to resort to possessing Lilia in order to hopefully heal her, but when he did, he found some type of resistance he had never felt before and noticed the golden glow around Lilia.

    Of course, Marcus felt like he could push past the resistance if he forced it, but he was unsure of what it might do to Lilia.

    In the end seeing the golden glow around her, and the fact that the unique skill he had just given her was supposed to rearrange her body, Marcus held back hoping that this was just temporary.

    ''I need to remember this world is not like a video game. Sometimes gaining certain skills can be painful. When I received the blessings from Roxene''s parent it certainly hurt like hell.''

    Trying to keep calm all Marcus felt he could do was hold Lilia as she underwent a transformation caused by the unique skill and try to keep her from hurting herself more.

    Yet the horrible sounds of the transformation made Marcus wince as he could hear bones snapping and reforming, and at one point even all of Lilia''s teeth feel out.

    The metamorphosissted for hours and Lilia eventually no longer screamed in agony, because the pain had gotten to the point that she could not do anything but stay in Marcus'' embrace and withstand it.

    ''How much longer will she have to endure this.'' Was all Marcus could think about not even paying attention to the number of beasts and monster that hade to investigate Lilia''s distress leaving them all to their beastpanions.

    After a total of four hours had past the expression on Lilia''s face took a turn for the worse and Marcus was about to throw caution to the wind and posses her just to give her some relief, when she began to vomit blood and bile that was ck in color and had a foul smell.

    But after doing so the pained look on Lilia''s face rxed and her breathing became more stable as sheid in Marcus'' arms.

    "Food." Lilia said with a hoarse voice.

    It was not the kind of voice that one would expect to hear from an eleven-year-old girl and it pained Marcus that she had to go through something like this, but now that it seemed to be over, he brought out some of the food he had and Lilia yanked it out of his hand and began eating.

    Marcus continued to bring out food and Lilia who was normally fairly calm and refined while eating, was devouring everything like a frenzied beast.

    Nevertheless, after giving Lilia over twenty pounds of food and four gallons of water, her body that had shrunk after the transformation began to swell up like a balloon and now looked much different.

    Lilia had certainly not been fat of anything, but now she looked incredibly toned and he skin almost seemed to have glossy sheen to it.

    Her face also had undergone a bit of a change, the minor imperfections in it gone, and her new teeth were pure white and looked hard as diamonds.

    Her eyes had even changed color, now glowing slightly green as if they were teaming with mana.

    It was certainly a massive transformation but overall, she still looked like herself, and anyone who knew her before would still recognize her.

    "Lilia how are you doing." Marcus asked with trepidation.

    He was not sure if Lilia was doing okay, and was afraid that the amount of pain she had just experienced might have driven her mad.

    However, this fear was soon quashed, as Lilia looked at him and said, "I feel better than I ever have before."

    She then jumped to her feet with incredible agility and began looking around as if she was seeing the world in a new light.

    Closing her eyes, she began listening to the sounds of the forest, and she could hear the smallest rustling within a few dozen feet of her.

    There was also the smell, it was as if she could pick out the distinct smells in the air and track where they wereing from.

    All of her senses were now enhanced and she was able to almost feel the world around her.

    Yet her enhanced senses were simply a minor byproduct of the transformation. and the major gain was that all of her physical stats were permanently raised by almost seventy percent.

    This made her physical abilities close to Marcus'' base even when he was a much higher level.

    Of course, he would get much stronger whenever he used his unique or supreme skills, but still, Lilia could be considered nothing less than a monster now.

    Once Lilia had finished taking in the new enhancements her body had received, she looked towards Marcus and a big smile formed on her face before she rushed up and hugged him.

    But she was not quite used to her new strength and speed, and actually crashed into him, causing him to skid back around ten feet beforeing to a stop.

    ''Damn she is strong now.'' Was all Marcus could think as he caught her.

    Lilia herself was a bit surprised since the amount of force she felt like she had used was far more than she had expected.

    Luckily, Marcus was still stronger than her, so she did not hurt him, but most people would have experienced and extended stay in the hospital after taking what was essential a tackle.

    "Okay Lilia I think we need to get you used to your new strength."

    Hearing this Lilia''s face went red with embarrassment since she realized now just how hard she had run into Marcus.

    "Now I just need to make sure onest time you are okay. You experienced a lot of pain while your body rearranged itself and I just want to know if you will be all right going forward."

    However, while Lilia remembered that she had been in an unending horrible pain, it almost seemed like it had happened to someone else.

    She could not actually recall how the pain felt, only that it had happened.

    "I think I am fine. I know I just experienced something beyond belief but it almost does not feel as if it was real." Lilia said with a pondering look on her face as she recalled the experience

    ''Well, if it did not leave anysting physical or mental scars, then all''s well that ends well.''

    After having made sure that Lilia was truly okay, Marcus asked her if she wanted to try out what she was capable of now, and Lilia nodded her head with bright eyes that surprised Marcus a bit.

    ''Is she starting to get enamored with fighting.''

    When he had first started training Lilia, she was very timid and had a hard time killing anything, but over time she had gotten used to it and now Marcus wondered if she was starting to enjoy fighting.

    ''Oh well as long as she does not get addicted to battle it should be fine.''

    With Lilia''s situation now resolved Marcus met back up with Roxene and Blitz who had been patrolling the area in order to make sure that no beasts or monsters attacked while Lilia was undergoing her reconstruction.

    ''How is she doing is she going to be okay.'' Roxene asked with a bit of concern in her voice.

    Nodding his head Marcus reassured Roxene that Lilia was fine and the tension in the little wolf seemed to rx.

    The two of them were pretty close now after spending days on end in the dungeon together, and Roxene herself was starting to see Lilia as a little sister.

    With their group back together again, Marcus had Roxene sniff out an opponent for Lilia to test her new physical abilities on.

    ''That tree there is one of those scorpions. I think it should do as a good test for Lilia''s enhanced physique.''

    Using his creature appraisal skill, Marcus found that this faux tree scorpion was level thirty-three, which probably would have been tough for Lilia to handle before, but now he was pretty sure she could win hands down.

    "Okay Lilia that tree over there is one of those scorpions, go ahead and see what you can do."

    shing Marcus a bright smile, Lilia activated her armor and put her gauntlets back on before rushing over like a blur rming the waiting scorpion.

    Unfortunately, Lilia was still getting used to the huge increase in her power, and actually overshot where she was going, mming face first into the scorpion''s tail.

    The scorpion dislodging its body from the ground shook its self-off, throwing Lilia from its back and then swung its tail down trying to pierce her with its stinger.

    "Control Impact."

    With her new chant shortening skill Lilia was able to cast her tier one spell much faster, and sending up a punch at the scorpion''s tail met its stinger with her gauntlet d fist.

    What happened next surprised everyone as the scorpion''s stinger exploded from the force of Lilia''s punch.

    Letting out a horrid screech, the scorpion looked hatefully at Lilia who had just destroyed its stinger and reached forward with its pinchers to crush her.

    But instead of dodging Lilia braced herself and when the pinchers closed around her, she pushed back with her arms.

    As the sharp pincers scraped against her scale mail and tried to crush her, Lilia pushed back with her arms holding her ground against the scorpion''s strength.

    However, she soon overpowered therge monster and with one big push actually broke apart its pincer.

    The scorpion now thoroughly injured, felt that it had no chance of winning and turned to flee.

    Yet before it got far, Lilia appeared right under it and with an uppercut smashed its torso and sent it flying into the air in an almostical manner.

    The scorpion then crashed back into the ground twitching, barely alive and soon going to meet its maker.

    "Well, I would say that was a pretty good test of you new strength.. Now let us head back to Lethan and you can practice more on the way."

 Chapter 237 - 237 Back In Lethallan

    Running through the forest area Marcus left any encounter they ran into to Lilia, who for the most part with her new peerless physique unique skill, one punched most enemies.

    It was pretty astounding to watch such a small girl send beasts and monster that were twenty or more times bigger than her flying.

    ''Her new strength really is something.''

    Watching Lilia Marcus could only feel pride and relief at his little sister''s growth.

    At this point very few things would be a threat to her and Marcus would not have to worry as much about her future.

    Coming out of the woods, Marcus and his group of Lilia and their beastpanions stood in front of the tunnel that would lead them outside the dungeon and back to the surface world and the city of Lethan.

    ''Okay Roxene this is your stop. Go ahead and get back inside mypanion storage.''

    Walking up to Marcus, Roxene entered hispanion storage knowing that being seen would not be good for her since she was a wanted criminal.

    However, she still had no regrets for her actions since the food she had eaten was truly delicious.

    With Roxene stored away Marcus andpany walked down the tunnel and into the therge area where the military battalion was set up in case of a monster or beast outbreak.

    Coming out into the area Marcus noticed that there were signs of a recent battle with the room having multiple new scars in the walls and ground.

    Also, a number of wounded soldiers were receiving medical attention, and there were numerous pools of blood everywhere.

    ''Looks like it was a hard battle. Though it seems to be over now so we can go on our way without worry.''

    Moving towards the exit Marcus cast onest look at the soldiers before leaving the area.

    Coming out of the dungeon Marcus could immediately tell that the atmosphere was different in both the town and the air.

    First there seemed to be far more people in the streets and things were incredibly lively with merchants and travelers abound.

    ''Looks like the height of spring hase.''

    Feeling the air Marcus could tell that it was probably in the high forties or low fifties, meaning that spring hade to the Kingdom of Borealia.

    That meant that the snow that covered thend throughout winter had melted and the trade routes would be easier to traverse not only because of the improved terrain but because a lot of the most dangerous beasts and monster would stay in hiding until winter came again.

    This did mean however, that bandits would be more active but they were like cockroaches, no matter how many you got rid of, more would pop up.

    ''To think we have already been here nearly two months. All of us have made some really good progress, but with just about a week and a half before we need to leave, after a couple of days of rest it will be time for onest push.''

    Having left the dungeon all of them made there way back towards the adventurers guild, so that Marcus could meet back up with Jarek and Treasa, and Lilia could turn in her requests.

    Walking inside the guild hall Marcus could see that the ce was extremely lively with more people than he had seen so far.

    There were plenty of new faces probably seeking fortune in the dungeon.

    Getting in line with Lilia, the two of them waited and when they got to the front Lilia handed in her requests and received a decent amount of gold for her hard work.

    In fact, at this point Lilia was able to make more money than most people would ever have in their lifetime in just a few days.

    After that Marcus went up to see Jarek and Treasa who were apparently waiting for him in the guild master''s office.

    Heading up with Lilia, Marcus entered Dahlia''s office and found that a small party was already going in full swing.

    There were seven people in total four of which Marcus had never seen before, but at a nce he could tell that they were strong.

    Noticing his entrance first. Treasa looked over and said, "Ah Irene you sure took your sweet time getting here, so we already started without you. Ah bute on in we have some people we want to introduce you to."

    Walking into the room Treasa who smelled heavily of alcohol came over and put her arm around Marcus being much more familiar than she normally was, and dragged him over to the four people in the room he did not know.

    "Neal, Maeve, Lia, and Kolten, this here is Irene the one we were telling you about who helped us defeat the boss monster and is incredibly strong for her level."

    The four people who were obviously and adventuring party looked at Marcus in an appraising manner before the one named Neal reached out his hand and said, "Good to meet you, Irene. We are the Depth''s Delvers and I have to say I am jealous that you all got to a boss room before us this rotation."

    Neal began shacking his head and the other members exined to Marcus that they had made a bet with Treasa and Jarek on who would be the first to beat a boss during the dungeon''s current configuration before resetting.

    "Yeah, it had been really unlucky for us, this time. In thest configuration we actually cleared three boss rooms but this time we went dry." Lia said with a shrug.

    After that Marcus got more acquainted with the members of the Depth''s Delvers and found out that they were actually the strongest party in the city with level ranging from fifty-two to fifty-eight.

    "So, I guess you guys are Treasa'' and Jarek''s rivals here. But I have to ask how many mithril adventures are actually in this city." Marcus asked inquisitively.

    "Hm there are two other parties each with five members and I think about six soloist that do not want to be affiliated with a party, so there are I believe neen of us here, if you include Dahlia who is semi-retired now as the guild master. Ah but I think some of the kids from Freedom''s Wings are getting close and could rank up soon."

    Hearing thatst part Treasa tensed and quietly whispered into Marcus'' ear that Freedom''s Wings was the party that Drazen was the leader of.

    ''Well, they will never make it to mithril since I wiped them out. But damn this city must have more fighting power than anywhere other than capital with so many high-level adventures.''

    And Marcus'' thoughts were right on the money, mostrge cities would only have a couple of people level fifty or higher but with the dungeon here, most of the strongest adventures took up working in Lethan even though it was kind of in the middle of nowhere.

    As the party continued Marcus let Treasa talk to Lilia who was attracting a good amount of attention from the other adventures because of how aplished she was at a young age.

    However, at some point Dahlia came up to Marcus and said, "Would you mind if I talked to you alone about some guild business."

    Seeing that Dahlia was looking at him seriously Marcus nodded and the two of them stepped out onto the office''s balcony where they could talk alone.

    "The first thing I need to ask is if you still have that unique skill orb in your possession. As the guild master here, I would be willing to negotiate with the organization''s headquarters if you wished to exchange it for something else."

    Hearing this peaked Marcus'' interest since there was one thing that actually interested him more than even a unique skill.

    "Would it be possible for me to get an ingot of amethros in exchange for the unique skill orb." Marcus asked with a mischievous smile on his face.

    Hearing this, surprise was written all over Dahlia''s face since most people did not know of amethros since it was beyond rare.

    Thinking about it for a few moments Dahlia responded saying, "Maybe if the unique skill inside is powerful enough it might attract someone high up enough to have a spare ingot of amethros, though I would say that is unlikely. But I could still put the feelers out if that is what you want."

    Shaking his head Marcus said, "Sorry to probe you like that but I actually do not have the unique skill orb anymore. I gave it to Lilia and she already used it. Though if I evere across another one, I maye and take you up on that offer."

    Sighing Dahlia gave Marcus a slightly aggrieved expression before moving on to her next order of business.

    "Well, if you do not have the unique skill orb anymore then there is something else, I would like to discuss with you. Do you want to be promoted to a mithril rank adventurer?"

 Chapter 238 - 238

    This time it was Marcus'' turn to be surprised by Dahlia.

    He had certainly not expected this kind of offer since as far as he knew someone had to be at least level fifty to be promoted to mithril rank.

    If it had been an offer to reach tinum Marcus would have certainly understood that, but the leap from gold to mithril was unheard of.

    With some confusion on his face Marcus asked, "Is that even possible, I was under the impression I had to be level fifty to get a mithril rank, and would it not look bad on you to suddenly raise my rank from gold to mithril. I am sure that plenty of adventures would think you are showing me favoritism just because I know Jarek."

    "Yes, there will be those that may be upset and certainly you would normally need to be at least level fifty, but Jarek told me about what you did in the dungeon against Freedom''s Wings." Dahlia said with a sullen smirk.

    Hearing this Marcus got a bit abrasive since he was afraid that it might lead trouble to him but Dahlia quickly reassured him saying, "No need to worry, Jarek told me this as his wife not the guild master, so I do not n on taking any action other than what is required of me as soon as their disappearance bes and issue. The reason I bring it up is because of the power Jarek said that you can use. From what he told me you have four unique skills which is an unprecedented amount so of course I want to bring you deeper into the fold of the adventurers guild. Of course, you will probably have to undergo some type of examination from a higher up from the guild''s headquarters but I am certain with your power they will ept you."

    Bing more confused Marcus wondered how exactly being given a mithril rank adventurer would make him any more connected to the guild than he already was.

    "What do you mean bring me deeper into the fold, I am already gold rank so I am considered an established adventure right."

    Nodding her head Dahlia replied saying, "Yes gold rank is considered pretty high but when you reach mithril rank things be a bit different. Jarek already told me that he gave you a bit of detail about the guild and how wide spread it is. So those that are mithril rank be more like citizens of the guild than their own nation. It also gives you a high status in any nation that supports the adventures guild and can allow you ess to other guild resources like purchasing and trading rare items and spells. However, it also means that the guild can call on you at pretty much anytime for emergency requests or even expeditions into unknow areas."

    Thinking about it Marcus did not want to be at anyone''s beck and call but the possibility to trade and purchase resources like spells was pretty appealing. Also, it would give him the ability to move around with the guild''s system of teleportation circles so the benefits were pretty high.

    Though before Marcus made his decision, he wanted to know a little bit more about what the requests he could be called on entailed and the whole process behind it.

    "Could you give me a bit more detail about what and when I might be called for if I became a mithril rank adventurer."

    Nodding her head Dahlia replied saying, "There are a number of things that you can be called for, and I believe Jarek told you about the monster outbreak we were at. During that time just about every mithril rank or higher adventurer on the continent was called to help. And while this has not happed in a while if a nonmember nation deres war on a member nation the guild will send in reinforcements, meaning that any nation allied to the guild is basically under their protection. Ah but being called on emergency missions like this is not all thatmon since most threats are solved before escting to that level. Since me and Jarek reached mithril we have only been called the one time."

    ''Hm it is not a bad deal but there is one thing I need to know before giving my answer.''

    "What happens if you refuse the guild''s request and do not show up for an emergency mission."

    "In that case if you have an epted reason to deny it then that is normally fine, but if you are just refusing because you do not want to, the guild will revoke your status and you will be cklisted, and in some cases the nations that are heavily involved with the guild may even bar you entry."

    ''Pretty harsh but I guess they do not want members that shirk the one duty they have.''

    Taking a bit of time to think about it, Marcus ultimately decided against it right now. As much as it did not seem like a bad deal, he really did not want to be tied down in any way right now or garnering too much attention.

    Bing a mithril rank would put him on more people''s radars and if someone powerful got serious about snooping around about him, they could discover some of the secrets that were damning to him.

    "Sorry but as much as I enjoy being part of the adventures guild, for me it is just a means and not an end, so I do not want to be beholden to it right now. Maybe sometime in the future after I have gotten around a bit more I maye back, but for now I just want to do whatever I want."

    Letting out a disappointed sigh Dahlia nodded her head in understanding.

    It happened every now and then that people would refuse mithril rank since they did not want to be under anyone even if it woulde with good benefits.

    Of course, Marcus'' main reason was to avoid someone finding out about him being a ghost or Roxene being a mythic grade magic beast, and he really did not have a problem with the guilds requirements.

    "Well, I cannot force you but the door is always open. The adventures guild is always looking for exceptional talents like you to add to our ranks."

    The two of them with their meeting now over went back inside with Marcus going first, but as he opened the door he heard Dahlia mumble under her breath, "Damn I really could have used that requirement bonus."

    Hearing this Marcus stopped for a moment realizing had he agreed he basically would have been used as a political stepping stone for Dahlia.

    However, he quickly shook it off and went back inside to join the party but what he found left him in shock.

    Lilia seemed to have gotten dragged into a drinkingpetition with Jarek and the members of the Depth''s Delvers, and she seemed to be winning.

    Lilia was putting drinks down left and right like she had been a heavy drinker for years and she had twenty-five mugs already finished next to her and she seemed to barely even have a flush face.

    On the other hand, only Jarek and Neal were still in thepetition with her but they looked close to passing out or vomiting.

    Marcus then watched as Lilia finished her twenty-sixth mug of ale, and both Jarek and Neal dropped out and looked at Lilia like she was some kind of freak.

    Of course, this was actually Lilia''s first time really drinking alcohol but with her peerless physique unique skill it would take her many times what a normal person needed to get drunk or even tipsy to affect her.

    The one member of the Depth''s Delvers who had not been participating and was acting as a ref then raised Lilia''s arm and dered her the winner, also giving her a bag full of gold that was the prize.

    "Does anyone want to exin what is going on here." Marcus said with his voiceced with anger.

    While there was technically no drinking age in this kingdom, giving minors who were not your family copious amounts of alcohol was certainly frowned upon.

    Lilia seeing the anger on Marcus'' face ducked behind a table, since she though he was mad at her.

    He had always told Lilia to be careful with alcohol and had only let her have just a little bit every now and then.

    "Sorry Irene I guess we should have gotten "hick" your permission first, but she said she wanted to join in and we thought "hick" she would give up after one mug." Jarek said, while holding his stomach and looking in pain.

    Sighing Marcus looked at everyone who was looking sick after Lilia drank them under the table, and figured that they had already received their punishment.

    Turning his sight towards Lilia Marcus went over to her and she tensed up a bit afraid that she was about to receive some type of punishment.

    Yet instead of being angry Marcus just patted Lilia on the shoulder and said, "I understand you wanted to get in on the fun and I certainly did worse things when I was a kid, so just try to wait until you are an adult to do something like this again. Now how much did you make."

    Seeing that Marcus was not mad at her, Lilia''s demeanor went back to her normal cheerful self and with a proud expression she opened the bag, reveling a number of gold and tinum coins totaling five hundred gold.

 Chapter 239 - 239 A Day With Mrazivy

    Wrapping up their small celebration party for defeating a dungeon boss monster everyone began to go their separate ways.

    Yet as Marcus and Lilia made it to the main guild floor, someone they knew came up to them in a hurry.

    "Ma- friend Irene, I am d I managed to catch you."

    Looking over to his right Marcus saw Mrazivy who had made a beeline for him and had almost called him the wrong name barely catching herself at thest moment.

    And following right behind her were her guardian knight and the mage Diana.

    "Hey Mraz, you seem to havee over here in a hurry so did you need something from me."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy said, "Actually I was hoping if you woulde with me tomorrow to the viceroy''s spring festival party. I do not know anyone here and it would be nice to have a friend to go with. "

    "Yeah, I do not mind but what about your party members, can they not go with you." Marcus asked curiously.

    Shaking her head Mrazivy said, "No only nobles will be allowed to attend this party, so the only one who can go with me is Diana. So will you do it, it would mean a lot to me."

    ''Eh why not.'' Marcus though as he shrugged his shoulders.

    "Sure, sounds like fun. It has been a bit since we have been able to hang out in non-life and death situations, Ah and could Liliae with us as well."

    A relived smile appeared on Mrazivy''s face when she heard this and she said, "Thank you, and sure Lilia cane since she is your sister. The party is in the evening but the festival itself starts early so we wille and pick the two of you up just after breakfast, so where might you be staying."

    After giving Mrazivy the details about the inn they were staying at, Marcus and her parted ways each of them going back to their respective lodgings.

    "I hope you are okay going to the festival tomorrow, Lilia. If you just want to stay back and rest, feel free to, there is no pressure on you to attend if you do not want to."

    "No, I think it will be fun to go around a festival with you and the princess, though I am not sure if I want to go to the viceroy''s party. I am still not very good with etiquette."

    Nodding his head Marcus told Lilia that she could do whatever she felt like and that she did not have to decide right this instance.

    Getting back to their inn, the owner who was arge man and a retired adventure and was normally in the back was actually out front.

    "Ah so you two are back. I was starting to think that you both might be ghosts seeing as how little time you actually spend in the rooms you have rented." The inn''s owner said with a jovial smile on his face, obviously pleased with his joke.

    Unfortunately, since Marcus actually was a ghost, for just an instance had fear course through him thinking he had been found out.

    Luckily, he quickly realized that the owner was joking and calmed down before letting out an awkwardugh.

    "Yeah, we have actually been taking extended trips into the dungeon that is why we have only been staying here every now and then."

    Hearing this the owner''s eyes seemed to look off into the distance as if he was remembering and incredibly painful memory.

    "Well, I am d that you are back now. Just try to be careful, the dungeon is dangerous and unpredictable, and death can be waiting around any corner."

    After giving thatst warning the owner went into the back most likely to get back to work.

    With their short encounter with the inn''s owner over, Marcus and Lilia made their way back up to their room and after washing up got into their beds and went to sleep.

    When the next morning arrived, Marcus got up very early just as the sun wasing up and left heading towards a certain location.

    Arriving in front of the Cobalt Forge, Marcus found that the doors were open and when he went inside, he found that Edzard along with a couple of his apprentices were working on something.

    "Sorry we are closede back in a few hou-ˇ­ oh Irenee on in."

    As Edzard noticed someoneing in he began to say that the ce was closed but when he noticed it was Marcus a smile appeared on his face, and he beckoned him in.

    "So, what can I do for you today." Edzard asked as he continued to swing his hammer on the project in front of him.

    Putting on his best smile Marcus said, "I was hoping to make something really quick if that was possible.

    Nodding his head Edzard said, "Sure go ahead and make yourself at home."

    With Edzard''s permission Marcus went back into the private room he had worked in before and took out a few different materials.

    Getting to work Marcus quickly hammered out and shaped an item he had made before, though this time he was improving it and actually using celestial tinum in its enchanting.

    ''There we go. Now I have a six hair changing clips.''

    Putting five of the clips into his item box Marcus took the other one and affixed it to his own hair and was quite happy with the results.

    Unlike the one he had given to the duchess, this new batch could change someone''s hair color to just about anything on the spectrum and had several different hairstyles programmed in.

    ''Now then I should hurry back before Mrazivy arrives.''

    Coming out of the private work room Marcus thanked Edzard before leaving and quickly rushing back to the Towering Bear Inn.

    Arriving a bitter than he would have liked, Marcus could only hope that Mrazivy had not arrived yet, but as he got closer, he saw that the blue haired princess was just entering the inn.

    Running up Marcus walked through the doors just a few moments after them and in his haste alerted her guardian knight who whirled around his hand on his sword ready to defend Mrazivy.

    Stopping in his tracks Marcus put up his hands and said, "Woah no need to be so on guard I was just trying to make sure I was on time."

    Mrazivy''s guardian knight seeing who it was took his hand off his sword and said while ring at Marcus, "You are lucky that I looked before striking, next time you may not be so lucky."

    With all the warmth of a blizzard, the disdain Mrazivy''s knight felt for Marcus was basically palpable.

    Of course, from his perspective Marcus acted far to overly familiar with the princess and he thought that he was just pretending to be her friend for political gain, or maybe even some more sinister reason.

    "As much as it would be fun to watch you two fight it out, I think you should be at least a bit more amenable to my friend Sir Heward,"

    Stepping in to alleviate the tensions, Mrazivy got in between the two of them and her knight''s expression changed immediately as he said, "As youmand your highness."

    With the tensions having been swept under the rug Mrazivy turned to Marcus and said, "So what were you doing this early that caused you to be in such a rush."

    A smirk appearing on his face Marcus simply reached his hand up to the hairclip in his hair and changed its color to the same royal blue as Mrazivy''s.

    Seeing this she let out a slight gasp before saying, "Wait is that the same hair clip that my aunt has been raving about."

    A bit surprised to hear that the duchess had been talking up the trinket he had made her, Marcus nodded his head towards Mrazivy confirming her theory.

    "How ever did you get one. From what I heard my aunt would not give out the name of who made it to anyone, saying it was made especially for her." Mrazivy said with intense curiosity.

    However, she soon put the pieces together and said, "Wait, are you the one who made it?"

    A proud expression on his face Marcus said, "Yep I spent quite a bit of time perfecting the enchantments, but you could say it was my first original product. Though the one I am currently wearing is actually a more advanced model than the one your aunt has."

    Mrazivy looked longingly at the hair clip since its applications would be incredibly useful for her.

    Her hair color was very distinct and wasmonly associated with the royal family, but also, she was much more of a rough and tumble person and hated having to sit still while people did her hair up into different styles whenever she attended social events.

    Seeing the look on her face Marcus said in a teasing manner, "Would you perhaps want one your highness."

    Hearing the way Marcus was talking to her Mrazivy knew he was poking fun at her.

    Putting on a noble face Mrazivy said, "Yes I would like to procure one from you, how much would it cost."

    Shaking his head Marcus said, "Sorry they are not for sale even for royalty, though I am always willing to give one out as a gift to a friend who asks nicely."

    Looking at the shameless and yful look on Marcus'' face, Mrazivy beganughing, breaking the little y they had going on and said, "Okay Irene could I please have one if it is not too much trouble."

    With a smile on his face Marcus opened his item box which did make Mrazivy''s guardian knight tense up, but when he saw that all Marcus took out of the box was an identical hairclip to the one he was wearing he loosened back up.

    "Here you go Mraz, I just made this one along with mine so it should work just as well. It may take a bit to get used to using it, so take a bit of time to explore the options it has."

    Doing just that Mrazivy activated the enchantment and her hair color changed to blonde in just a few instances.

    Unfortunately, at this point Marcus and Mrazivy''s disy had attracted the attention of everyone in the inn and a small crowd had begun to form around them.

    "Your highness this area is bingpromised, I believe it would be best if we went somewhere else more secure." The ever hypervignt Sir Heward said

    Looking around Marcus could see that around twenty people had been attracted to them and had formed almost a small circle.

    "Okay how about we go to my room, that way we can pick up Lilia before going to the festival." Marcus proposed.

    Agreeing with Marcus, Sir Heward along with Diana who had been quite up to this point kept to both sides of the princess as the four of them made their way to the stairs to Marcus'' room.

 Chapter 240 - 240 A Day With Mrazivy (2)

    Entering Marcus'' room and getting away from the small crowd they had gathered, Marcus and Mrazivy along with her protectors crammed inside the fairly small room.

    "Oh, you are back, and I see you brought her highness up with you." Lilia said as she bowed towards Mrazivy

    Smiling at Lilia who had gotten dressed in her favorite outfit which consisted of a warm white sweater and a light green skirt, Marcus replied saying. "Yep, I just met them at the entrance as I was getting back. Now if you all would just give me a moment to change then we can go an enjoy the festivities."

    Everyone then looked around the cramped room wonder whether Marcus was just going to change out in the open, but to their surprise he put up a small wall of darkness in between them and created himself a makeshift changing room.

    Storing away his current clothing, Marcus quickly picked out a pair of ck pants along with a light blue shirt that he had tailor made a long time ago.

    ''And for the finishing touches.''

    Activating the enchantment on his hair pin Marcus changed his hair color to something a little less shy, and made it the original light brown hair color that Irene had.

    With that done Marcus brought down his wall of darkness and said, "Okay I am ready, let us go enjoy the festival."

    However, before anyone made any moves to leave, they all stared at Marcus'' changed hair color especially Lilia since now Marcus looked almost exactly like her sister had.

    In fact, tears began to flow down Lilia''s eyes as she looked at Marcus.

    "Is something the matter Lilia." Mrazivy asked wondering why the young girl had started crying.

    Realizing she was attracting everyone''s attention Lilia wiped her eyes and got herself together and said, "No it is nothing."

    Of course, everyone knew it was not nothing, but only Marcus knew exactly why Lilia had started crying.

    "Ah Mraz did you want to change your hair color as well, that way you attract less attention too, also Diana your hair stands out a lot as well, so would you want one of my hairpins." Marcus said in order to change the subject.

    Nodding her head Mrazivy thought it was a good idea and changed her hair color to a slightly darker shade of brown than Marcus.

    Yet when Marcus tried to give Diana one of the hairclips he had made. she put out her hand and said, "Lady Irene, it would not be me to ept such a precious item."

    Sighing Marcus said, "If you do not want to keep it that is fine but feel free to use it for today."

    This time Marcus skipped past handing it over and simply ced it in Diana''s hair since if she did not go along with his n, it would be harder to ditch Sir Heward.

    "Now go ahead and try using the enchantment on it and make your hair a simr color to what mine or Mrazivy''s are." Marcus said with an almost devious smile.

    Activating the hairclip at first Diana idently changed her hair green but after a few attempts got it to the same color brown as Mrazivy.

    ''Roxene, I need you to contact Mrazivy for me using your telepathy.''

    Marcus then gave Roxene the message he wanted her to ry and the little wolf who was always up for some mischief smiled and id it happily.

    ''Mrazivy this is Roxene, Marcus'' partner. He has a message for you.''

    After Roxene had ryed the message, Mrazivy gave Marcus a slight nod of approval.

    "With all of us now having simr hair colors we almost look like we could be family." Marcus said in his most innocent manner.

    ying along Mrazivy nodded her had before making a face of revtion and saying, "Yeah if the four of us go around the festival together with our hair changed like this, people are unlikely to recognize any of us so we will not need to be as carful of crowds and can really experience the festival."

    Hearing this her guardian knight Sir Heward immediately spoke up and voiced his concerns.

    "Your highness I know you wish to experience the festival, but it will be difficult for me to protect you if you go into crowded areas. We already have the predetermined route that was made for you where extra guards will be posted."

    However, Marcus was ready for this and said, "Yes but would it not be safer if no one knew that the princess was even there. If it is a nned route, then that just means anyone can know exactly where the princess is going to be. If just the four of us move around together no one will realize that Mrazivy is a princess."

    Quickly understanding what Marcus was saying Sir Heward retorted quite defensively saying, "Are you telling me to not be by the princess'' side during the festival. What if something happened to her."

    Unfortunately for Sir Heward Mrazivy was ready to deliver the final blow.

    "Sir Heward if you stayed close to us it would attract more attention, since having a knight hovering around me would basically be broadcasting that I am someone important. Anyways this city has been quite safe already, and we have not even had a single incident while here. Please could you just stay back and keep an eye out for any shady characters from afar. And I will still have Diana around to protect me and it is not like I am defenseless myself. This may be myst chance to do something like this so could you humor me just this once."

    Pleading her case Mrazivy did her best to get Sir Heward to go along with her and after just a bit more prodding he finally relented.

    "But the instance I see anything out of ce I will rush in and take you to safety. I would be unable to face his majesty again and it would bring dishonor to my entire family if anything were to happen to you." Sir Heward said with a stern expression.

    With that settled, they all exited the inn and Marcus, Lilia, Mrazivy, and Diana began heading towards the center of the town where the festival was in full swing.

    Moving through the crowds Mrazivy was wide eyed as she looked at all the different things, and even Marcus was surprised because he saw a few attractions he did not think he ever would again.

    ''They have a Ferris wheel, and a merry go round.''

    Seeing these two things that weremon on Earth, Marcus was bbergasted.

    Of course, they were not exactly like the ones on earth in that they were being powered by multiple beasts of burden instead of electricity.

    However, for the most part they were the same and Marcus could not wait to give the Ferris wheel a try.

    "So, what should we do first. Do you all want to ride the Ferris wheel or go around and see what else there is." Marcus asked as he nudged his head towards the Ferris wheel to show his preference.

    "I will go wherever the princess whishes to go." Diana said, though she herself was eyeing a stand that was selling multiple types of treats.

    Looking at the Ferris wheel Mrazivy smiled and said, "How about we get of that one first, and then we should be able to see the rest of the festival grounds from up there and n out exactly where we want to go."

    With it decided that they would go to the Ferris wheel the four of them walked towards the line, but Diana started heading to the front as if she owned the ce.

    Grabbing her by the shoulder Marcus pulled her back and said, "What are you doing, the end of the line is right there."

    But Diana turned around and said, "Why does that matter, as nobles we of course should not have to wait in line with themoners."

    Sighing Marcus realized that Diana was one of those nobles, and said, "We are acting in disguise so as to not attract attention, if you go to the front of the line and dere yourself a noble that will blow our cover. "

    Realizing her mistake Diana apologized to Mrazivy before getting into line with all of them, though she would asionally grumble about the wait.

    "Wee to Lethan''s Great Ferris Wheel, the cost of admission is one silver per person." The manager of the ride said with a smile on his face.

    Taking out a gold Marcus paid for everyone, and whispered to the manager, "I would like it if you could stop the wheel at the top for us."

    With wide eyes seeing the gold coin, the manager said, "Of course it would be my pleasure, and you four lovelydies enjoy the ride."

    The four of them then stepped up and got into the open basket that just barely sat four people and crammed in.

    The Ferris wheel then began to move after they had gotten on and they were able to look out over the city.

    And just as they reached the top the Ferris wheel came to a stop, and the four of them could look out over the city and view the entire festival at their leisure.

 Chapter 241 - 241 A Day With Mrazivy (3)

    With the Ferris wheel having stopped at the top, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Lilia were able to look out over most of the city and pinpoint where they wanted to go next.

    "So, you want to go and check out the performances being held on the stage over there, right Mraz." Marcus asked as he pointed in the direction of therge stage that seemed to have a big crowd gathered around it.

    Nodding her head Mrazivy said, "Yeah I have only ever seen performances in the Grand Hall of Arts in the capital, and in all honesty, I find them quite boring, so I am hoping to watch a livelier outdoors performance."

    Having decided on their next destination the four of them enjoyed the view from the top of the Ferris wheel and decided on which food stand they should go to.

    Soon the Ferris wheel began its decent and Marcus was pretty happy he had bribed the operator to stop it for them.

    Back on the ground the first thing they did was head over to one of the foods stands that had been set up and ordered a number of things to eat while they watched the performance.

    "We will have two orders of grilled rock eel, three orders of the fruit crepes, and four orders of the steamed dumplings."

    After giving out everyone''s order to the stand''s owner, Marcus then stepped back as the half dozen people working the popr stand got to work on his order.

    "Here you go, and your totales out to twenty-three silvers."

    Taking out the money, Marcus passed it over before grabbing the cooked food that smelled quite good and went back over to where the others were waiting.

    After handing out everyone''s food, they all went over to where the stage was and bought the more expensive tickets that came with seats, since Diana looked like she might throw a fit if they had to stand with the masses.

    "I wonder what kind of performance they are going to put on. I am hoping it will be something lighthearted unlike the heavy ys always put on in the capital." Mrazivy said right before stuffing one of the steamed dumplings in her mouth.

    Fortunately, the y that was being put on was aedy, however, it was actually one that Marcus recognized.

    ''Why am I not surprised that someone from Earth stole this and touted it as their own.''

    Watching the paly Marcus very quickly picked up that it was pretty much just Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare.

    Of course, some of the elements had been changed like the names of the characters and that bits of magic had been put into the story but for the most part it was the same.

    At the end much cheering came from the crowd since the performers were actually really impressive.

    However, as Marcus looked over at Mrazivy he could see a sadness in her eyes as if the y had made her remember something upsetting.

    "Are you doing okay Mraz, did you not like the y." Marcus asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

    Mrazivy noticing that Marcus had seen her looking down, said, "Oh sorry no I am fine it was a good y, and everyone seemed happy at the end."

    She then let out a loud fakeugh obviously trying to change the subject and began pping along with the rest of the crowd.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus was not sure what had upset Mrazivy but if she did not want to talk about it, he was not going to pry.

    After the y was finished their group went around to some of the festival games around and had a bit of fun ying them and winning a few prizes.

    "Who thinks themselves strong enough to beat the strongest man in all of Lethan. Step right up and test your might for the chance to win ten gold for only the price of one silver."

    As they were walking around, they came across a short man who was wearing a tall top hat and standing on a box shouting out to advertise his game.

    Sitting next to the short man was a bear beast person who was quiterge and bulky.

    ''Hm only level twenty-one. He is not actually very strong, but I suppose not many truly powerful people care about winning ten gold.''

    Watching as someone came up and paid the entry fee, Marcus thought that it would be a close match since the guy who had just paid was actually level twenty-three.

    Yet as they started the level twenty-three seemed to be in a daze and did not offer any resistance until his hand was nearly pressed against the table.

    The man then tried to fight back but he was already in a precarious position, and it was not long before his hand hit the table.

    "Oh, too bad for you, the strongest man still reigns. But if you wish to try again you always can." The little man running the arm-wrestlingpetition said.

    ''Hm, I think that it is some type of awareness dampening enchantment on the chair. Talk about nasty. Plus, the other guy seemed stronger than he should be, probably some type of strength enhancement being cast on him.''

    Deciding that he wanted a closer look at the effects of the enchantments being used to cheat in the arm-wrestlingpetition, Marcus told the others that he wanted to give it a try and figure out how they were cheating.

    "Here I will give it a try." Marcus said as he held out a silver coin to the small man running the show.

    With a surprised face the man said, "Are you sure youngdy. This man is truly strong, and some people have ended up with broken bones after losing to him."

    "Yeah, it is fine, I am going to win anyways." Marcus said confidently as he pushed the coin into the man''s hand.

    Sitting across form therge bear beast man, Marcus put his arm out and waited for his opponent to do the same.

    However, when they locked hands, Marcus felt something incredibly subtle begin to sap away his strength and transfer it to the bear beast man.

    Quickly checking his status Marcus found that his strength stat had been lowered by ten, which while not much for him would be detrimental for people of a lower level.

    "Okay and begin."

    As the short man started the match Marcus felt something try to disrupt his mind but the enchantment was easily repelled by his ghostly nature.

    The man having excepted Marcus to go down easy pushed with all his strength thinking he had won, but Marcus held firm like a rock not moving an inch.

    "Unfortunately, your little tricks will not work on me."

    After saying that Marcus smashed the bear beast man''s hand into the table causing it to shatter under the pressure.

    Everyone around looked astonished to see what had just happened but when Marcus picked up the chair, he was sitting on they became even more confused.

    "The formation is ingenious causing a slightpse in the electric signals sent from the eyes and ears to the brain. Unfortunately, whoever engraved it onto this chair did it incredibly sloppily, so I doubt the one who created this formation engraved this."

    Going into research mode Marcus examined the formation that was engraved under the chair and the small man seeing that his ruse had been discovered tried to run away but tripped over, finding an iron thread tied to his legs.

    "Sorry cannot have you running off without my winnings and having some of my questions answered. So would you mind telling me where you got this chair."

    Unfortunately, the small man had gotten the chair from a friend of his that used to do a simr scam but had since retired so he did not know who made the formation.

    Sighing Marcus took the ten gold coins he had won, but is little stunt soon attracted the attention of the guards.

    "Please help me this woman suddenly assaulted me."

    Screaming out towards the guards in a desperate attempt to get out of trouble, the small man did his best to look pitiful and garner their sympathy.

    Nevertheless, by showing them the rigged chair and getting the cooperation of the surrounding people, Marcus was able to wrap up everything and the guards took the small man and his associate away.

    ''Maybe Thabon knows something about this formation, I will need to ask him when I get back to the capital.''

    After putting the chair into his item box, Marcus made his way back over to Mrazivy, Lilia and Diana, and the four of them continued to enjoy the festival.

    Soon the day wasing to an end, and it was time for them to get ready for the viceroy of the city''s party.

    "See youter Lilia and try not to get into any trouble." Marcus said to Lilia as she went off on her own.

    Ultimately, she had decided against going to the viceroy''s party and was going to enjoy the rest of the festivities before going back to the Towering Bear Inn.

    Once Lilia had gone off, Mrazivy and Diana led Marcus to a fancy store in the middle of town where they had purchased their dresses for the night''s party.

    However, they somehow got sidetracked at one point and began using Marcus as a dress up doll making him put on dozens of different dresses before ultimately settling on a fairly reveling green dress.

    "I already told you that I had something picked out, and I think that this dress it a bit shier than I would like." Marcus said with distress in his voice.

    Yet Mrazivy simply snickered a bit before saying, "No that other dress was too in and then you would not be fulling you purpose."

    Hearing this Marcus wondered what Mrazivy was getting on about. But when he saw the even more reviling and attention-grabbing dress that Diana was wearing, and the very in and conservative dress Mrazivy was wearing, he realized something.

    ''I am being used as bait.''

 Chapter 242 - 242 The Viceroyâ€™s Party

    Now wearing an incredibly revealing and eye-catching green dress, Marcus walked out of the high-end clothing store along with Mrazivy and Diana.

    He was still feeling a bit upset about it since he was basically being used as a distraction to divert the attention of other young nobles away from Mrazivy, but since he was doing it for a friend, he would get through it.

    And Diana was in a worse boat than him with a shy red dress, so hopefully she would attract the majority of attention.

    Waiting just outside for them was Sir Heward who had already brought the princess'' carriage outside the store to pick the three of them up.

    Getting down from the coachman''s stand Sir Heward got on one knee and bowed towards the princess and said, "Your highness, I havee to get you and take you to the viceroy''s party, where everyone is expecting your arrival."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy thanked her guardian knight before waiting for him to open the carriage doors and stepping in.

    Marcus and Diana then followed sitting across from Mrazivy who once the carriage doors closed slumped over and sighed.

    "I really do hate these kinds of parties; they are so stuffy, and you have to act all prim and proper all the time. Not to mention all of the people kissing up to me trying to get something out of it by ying nice. This is why I like adventuring; it is only your own achievements that matter and not what family you were born to." Mrazivy tantlyined.

    Diana then began nodding her head in agreement and said, "I understand what you mean your highness. My father is just a humble bar with very little money or power and when I was younger no one would pay me much attention at these types of parties. But the second I became one of the grand archmage''s disciples'' people that had ridiculed me before would flock to me and try to get into my good graces. I would rather just be practicing my magic than attending such events."

    ''Is it really going to be that bad.'' Marcus thought, hoping they were exaggerating.

    He had never actually been to a full-blown noble party since he barely got any invitations and the ones he did get, he rejected since he was always busy working on forging or as an adventurer.

    Now however, he would be attending a major party where all of the most powerful nobles in the city and nearby territories would be gathering, and as Mrazivy''s guest no less.

    ''Worst case scenario I can make like a ghost and disappear.''

    Crossing over therge bridge that was the only entrance to the Viceroy''s castle, Mrazivy''s carriage that was bearing the crest of the royal family was let through easily and they quickly made their way to the front of the castle.

    The three of them then exited the carriage and were escorted by a servant that was already waiting for them to the main hall where the party was happening.

    Yet before they entered, they had to stop and gave their names to some type of announcer who went in before them and addressed the room saying loudly, "Now arriving her royal highness Mrazivy Borealia thirteenth princess of the kingdom, and her attendants Baress Irene Geist and Diana Grenvine daughter of Bar Grenvine."

    After that the three of them entered into the hall with Mrazivy going being in the lead, and as he entered Marcus looked out and saw the hundreds of people looking right at them.

    Feeling a bit nervous, Marcus did his best not to fall over as he walked down the stairs, but luckily with his high stats, a little nervousness was not going to knock him over.

    Getting down to the main floor the three of them first went over to where the viceroy was in order to greet him.

    "It is a pleasure to see you again Count Vendrick and I must once again thank you for the amodations you have given me during my stay in your wonderful city." Mrazivy said, as she held out her hand towards the viceroy.

    Taking her hand Count Vendrick bent over and kissed the top of it before saying, "No the pleasure is mine, just having someone of you station at my spring festival party has made it twice as great. It has been almost a decade since thest royal attended one of my parties, when your esteemed elder brother was here to train in the dungeon, like yourself."

    Once the two of them had finished up their pleasantries, the count turned towards Marcus and said, "And I do not think I have had the honor of making you acquaintance before Lady Geist. "

    Bowing slightly Marcus said, "Ah yes I am actually a rtively new noble from the capital, and I came to train in the dungeon that this city is famous for."

    Nodding his head, the viceroy then said, "Ah I see, so you must be an adventurer like her highness, are you maybe a part of her party?"

    "No, we are just friends. We met back in Loursend when we were both still going into the Ocean Bluff temple and since I already knew her cousin Wade Orphiria we got to know each other."

    Hearing this Count Vendrick''s eyes went a little wide with fear, and a hint of sweat began to fall down his face. He had heard of Wade and knew he was a royal investigator that was known for arresting corrupt nobles.

    "Well, it has been a pleasure to talk to all of you and please feel free toe see me at any time princess, but I need to attend to the other guest right now."

    The viceroy who was now afraid that Marcus was sent by the royal investigators, quickly scurried off towards arge congregation of other guests.

    ''Wow Wade must be more infamous than I thought.''

    After that a number of the nobles approached the three of them, most of them wanting to talk to the princess, but both Marcus and Diana seemed to get the attention of the young male nobles and unfortunately Marcus was on the receiving end of most of them.

    "Lady Geist you simply muste by and visit my family''s estate while you are staying here. We have one of the loveliest gardens in the city and I would be happy to give you a personal tour." The son of some baron said to Marcus vying for his attention.

    Many second, and third sons, of mid and low-ranking nobles were trying to get Marcus to visit them in hopes of possibly kindling a rtionship, and some of them just came right out and asked if they could have marriage discussions at ater time.

    Of course, all of them were actually more interested in Marcus'' title than his appearance though the fact that he looked like a beautiful young girl did not hurt.

    None of these young men were going to inherit their families'' titles but Marcus was a rare chance for them to try and obtain their own title by marriage since very few people with titles would not already be betrothed.

    And to add to Marcus'' strife, after a bit an entire orchestra came out and began ying music.

    "Ah would you like to apany me for a dance Lady Geist." The third son of Count Vendrick said.

    He had been one of the more persistent men seeking Marcus'' attention using his status as the viceroy''s son to stay at the head of the pack.

    ''Now I understand why Mrazivy wanted me here, otherwise she would have been taking the brunt of these attempts.''

    Internally sighing, Marcus epted since he did not want to ruffle any feathers with the viceroy.

    Unfortunately, there was a big problem in that Marcus had no idea how to dance, but he had a solution that he hoped would help.

    ''I was nning on selling it but whatever.''

    Taking out the dance skill orb he had obtained, Marcus quickly learned the skill and hoped that it would help out.

    As they got out onto the dance floor, Marcus said to the viceroy''s son, "I must tell you that this is my first-time dancing so sorry if I step on your feet."

    "Ah yes you were amoner until just a few months ago, but do not worry I will be sure to lead."

    However, for the confident way that he talked, he really sucked at dancing actually stepping on Marcus'' feet.

    There was a reason he was not in a rtionship yet and it was because he was incrediblyzy to the point no one wanted much to do with him.

    Sighing Marcus did his best to watch the people around them and emte their dancing with the help of his skill and agility stat, and after a few minutes managed to dance passably well and keep from being stepped on anymore.

    "Lady Geist you certainly are a natural at dancing and incredibly beautiful."

    The viceroy''s third son then sent his nce downwards, and his right hand moved lower.

    Yet before his hand reached its destination Marcus'' foot had already stepped on the viceroy''s son''s foot and a unsettling cracking sound could be heard.

 Chapter 243 - 243 The Viceroyâ€™s Party (2)

    "Agh my foot."

    Yelping out at having his foot crushed, the viceroy''s third son flopped over onto to the floor and held his foot.

    Seeing this disy a few people came over to investigate what was going on when the viceroy''s son looked murderously at Marcus and said, "That bitch just broke my foot."

    Many people began looking at Marcus, but he feigned ignorance and said, "I do not know what he is talking about, we were dancing and then he just suddenly fell over."

    The viceroy''s son then went to take of his shoe off and show everyone his broken foot, but when he did his foot actually was fine.

    Marcus could only internally sneer since at the same time as breaking his foot, he had applied a healing spell so that there would be nosting damage.

    After that everyone just ignored the viceroy''s son since he was already a ck sheep, and his father came and apologized to Marcus before chewing his son out.

    Having freed himself of the viceroy''s son, Marcus headed over to where the food was being served, but before he could get there, a group of young nobles approached him and asked if he would like to dance.

    Groaning internally, Marcus agreed since it was part of the job he had unknowingly signed up for and kept the young men away from the princess.

    Having danced for an hour, a break in the music finally gave Marcus a reprieve, and he headed over to eat some of the food since it looked incredibly good.

    While eating Marcus pulled up his status and like he thought his dancing skill had already gone up to level three, being one of the fastest skills he had ever leveled up.

    Of course, at level forty-two and with a high agility stat getting the hang of dancing had actually been pretty easy once he got into it.

    ''Hm, I wonder what is going on.''

    As his eyes wandered around the room Marcus with his enhanced vision caught sight of Mrazivy standing alone on a balcony with Diana in front of it keeping anyone from disturbing her.

    Walking up to the balcony Marcus denied a number of requests to dance and made his way over to where Mrazivy was.

    "Diana, would you mind if I talked to Mrazivy."

    Thinking about it for just a moment Diana nodded and said, "Sure go ahead, I am sure she will be fine if it is you."

    Opening the balcony doors Marcus moved up right next to Mrazivy and said, "How are you doing?"

    Putting on a smile Mrazivy said, "Fine, I just needed a break. Even with you and Diana helping me out there is no shortage of people seeking my attention."

    Mrazivy then looked up into the sky at the stars and three different colored moons in the sky with a longing look.

    "Marcus, do you ever wish that you could sprout wings and fly away into the horizon and leave everything behind."

    Hearing this Marcus was a bit taken aback by the princess'' question, but he just looked off into the sky with her and said, "Yeah sometimes I do. I have moments when I just want to go to far offnds and see everything this world has to offer. But I have things I need to take care of here first, but once that is done, I probably will fly off into the horizon."

    With a couple tears running down her face Mrazivy said, "So you do have a set of wings and are not bound to the ground like me."

    At this point Marcus understood that Mrazivy was not talking literally and that something must have happened.

    She had been showing signs of being down all day so whatever was bothering her must have happened earlier.

    "Iron Wings of the Archangel."

    Casting his tier five Iron magic spell, sixrge wings made of iron feather appeared from Marcus'' back and he moved over and towards Mrazivy and said, "If you ever want to fly, I am willing to lend you my set of wings."

    Seeing this gesture that Marcus had given her, Mrazivy gave him a big hug as she started crying.

    She had still not told Marcus what was bothering her, and it seemed she had no intention of doing so, but Marcus was fine as long as he was able to give her some level offort.

    After about a minute Mrazivy pulled back, wiped away her tears, and said, "Thank you for the offer, but I still have a chance to make my own wings, so for now go ahead and keep yours. Now I need to head back into the hall before too many people notice I am missing and start to talk."

    With that, Mrazivyposed herself and headed back to the party leaving Marcus alone on the balcony.

    However, he did not go in immediately right after her, instead he disappeared turning back into his ghost form.

    He then found a quite area where no one was around and got ready for onest gesture to help Mrazivy out.

    Once his preparations wereplete Marcus floated back up to the balcony he had left from and appeared once again.

    Slowly opening the doors so as to not attract attention Marcus slipped back into the hall and quickly located Mrazivy.

    She was currently dancing with some older gentleman and while she had a smile on her face her eyes seemed cold and dead.

    Activating his phantom pressure for less than an instance, Marcus caused the old man to feel as if death had just knocked at his door, and the man began to breath heavily and excused himself saying he needed to sit down.

    Then with the opening made Marcus walked confidently onto the dance floor and said, "Could I have this dance."

    Yet instead of being in his form as Irene, Marcus had switched back over to his original self.

    "Marcus?!" Mrazivy said, with a confused and astounded expression.

    Smiling at her confusion Marcus just held out his hand and said, "Even if you do not want to fly away, how about I at least lift a slight burden off of your shoulders for tonight."

    A smile appearing on her own face after the initial shock was over, Mrazivy took Marcus'' hand and the two of them began to dance together.

    Of course, Marcus'' sudden deration to dance with the princess had gotten a number of people''s attention as they began whispering amongst each other trying to figure out who the young man dancing with the princess was.

    "Are you not worried that someone is going to recognize you, you are technically a wanted man." Mrazivy said yfully.

    "That is why I took the precaution and changed my hair color. I doubt many people would have recognized me here anyway, but now it is even more unlikely."

    The two of them then continued to dance for nearly an hour, Marcus making sure that no one else bothered Mrazivy.

    Unfortunately, the viceroy himself eventually had the music discreetly stopped early, so that he could question the young man dancing with the princess that he did not know.

    "Excuse me your highness might I inquire with whom you have been dancing with." The viceroy asked while directing a bit of hostility at Marcus.

    He knew for a fact that he had not invited him to his party, and that he had not shown up with any of the guest, therefore must have been an infiltrator.

    However, he had still been dancing with the princess like the two were familiar with each other, so he was trying to be civil.

    Yet even though the viceroy had directed his question at Mrazivy, Marcus stepped in front of her and said, "Oh, where are my manners, I should have introduced myself earlier. You can call me Cheshire and I am afraid that I arrived uninvited and decided to charm the prettiest girl here, but it appears she was a princess and I attracted too much attention. Well, I think I have perhaps overstayed my wee so I will be taking my leave now."

    The viceroy hearing this immediately moved to attack Marcus who he now believed had cast some type of spell on the princess.

    Seeing the punching for him Marcus was actually quite surprised by the speed and force behind it since most nobles were not actually that strong.

    But what he did not know was that Count Vendrick used to be a general in the kingdom''s army and was level forty-five.

    Still, it did not really matter to Marcus as he simply disappeared going back into his ghost form and letting the punch pass harmlessly through him.

    The viceroy then looked around trying to find Marcus but when he did not, he called for the guards.

    But before he could get out any instructions the viceroy felt a sense of danger and he noticed Marcus reaper right behind Mrazivy and say, "I had a lovely time dancing with you tonight, but it appears that we will have to say our farewells, so I will remove the spell I cast on you."

    After making sure to y up some theatrics for the crowd, Marcus once again disappeared right before a spell from Diana would have pierced right through his head.

    Guards then began to rush into the room and the count told them to search the entire grounds for the one calling himself Cheshire.

    Of course, the party was also put to an early end and even after searching for hours no sign of the mysterious being that had infiltrated the party was found.

 Chapter 244 - 244 Everyoneâ€™s Progress

    After Marcus'' little theatric show at the viceroy''s party, the entire city went up in arms looking for the person calling themselves Cheshire that had crashed the party and presumably charmed Princess Mrazivy with magic.

    Of course, that had all just been an act by Marcus, who now had a new wanted poster except now as the mysterious Cheshire, though it was probably only a matter of time before the two of them got connected.

    Luckily, with his ability to change forms, Marcus simply went back to his identity as Irene and no one was the wiser, well other than the princess who already knew about his dual identities.

    In fact, once things had calmed down a bit Mrazivy came by to see Marcus again and chewed him out for his little stunt saying that he could have gotten himself hurt or killed.

    However, she was not too mad about it, since he had done it all in an effort to cheer her up.

    After that, the days continued to role by as normal and Marcus and Lilia along with their beastpanions headed back into the dungeon for onest spurt of training.

    ˇ­

    ''Lightning bind.''

    Using his tier three lightning magic spell Marcus restrained arge elephant like magic beast allowing for Lilia and her beastpanions to attack it without having to worry of being trampled.

    "Force Wave."

    Using her tier four force magic spell, Lilia smashed her fist into the side of the twenty-five-foot-tall elephant and ripples began to st across its body before it went flying from the force.

    Lilia''s beastpanions Aurelia and Zareen then jumped in tearing out chucks of flesh with their ws and fangs.

    "BRRRRRRR"

    The elephant let out a piercing sound of anger as it tried to swing its trunk around, but while being heavily injured and restrained, it had no way to hit the nimble golden lion cubs attacking it.

    "Impact control and deadly rush."

    Jumping in for the finishing attack, Lilianded right on the elephant''s head and began pummeling it with a barrage of punches while using her recently aquired attack skill deadly rush.

    It was a chilling sight to watch as therge elephant''s head began to cave in under Lilia''s attacks, and blood began to spill out of its eyes, mouth, trunk.

    In onest desperate attempt to stay alive the magical beast used its affinity with earth to try and brining up an earth spike to knock Lilia off, but she simply moved out of the way and readied for a finishing attack.

    "Mighty Blow."

    With a dense amount of mana gathered into her first, Lilia struck down with the force of an iing truck and the elephant''s skull caved in and its head sttered like a watermelon.

    Walking up and pping Marcus said, with a proud expression, "Good job Lilia you managed to beat a level thirty-nine beast with only minimal assistance from me."

    Smiling Lilia jumped towards Marcus and gave him a big hug before saying, "I just level up, now I am level thirty-two."

    Patting his little sister on the head, Marcus praised her for her hard work before turning his attention to therge elephant magical beast they had just defeated.

    ''This is going to take some time.''

    Getting right to work Marcus began to take apart the elephant, grabbing its tusks, taking out its core, cutting off its hide, taking its bones, and cutting up its meat into smaller pieces.

    It took Marcus nearly two hours to do this even with his skills and high stats, but it was worth it and gave everyone else time to rest.

    Once everything was processed, Marcus put it away into his item box which was now twenty times bigger after he had upgraded the skill to arge item box.

    He now did not have to worry as much about space management as he now had twenty thousand cubic feet of dimensional storage.

    With that done Marcus looked at his sister and their beastpanions and said, "Well I think that we have made good progress on ourst expedition, but now it is time to head back."

    After saying that Marcus transformed into the form of a cdrius and had everyone climb onto his back.

    They were currently deep within the dungeon in the waterfall andke area where Marcus had fought the boss monster, so there was no need to worry about being spotted by other adventures or soldiers.

    Taking to the sky Marcus flew over thergeke that made up the majority of the area and allowed everyone to gaze upon the beautiful view of the area.

    Making his way towards one end of the area, it looked like Marcus was about to crash into a wall when he passed through it, going into one of the tunnels that would take him to the intelligent beast''s domain.

    During their stay in the dungeon, they had used this ce as their base and with its copious amounts of natural treasures, kept Lilia, and her beastpanion''s stats at their maximum.

    Flying through therge tunnels, Marcus made his way back to the intelligent beast''s domain and quickly headed on over to the ce where their leader was staying.

    Then after they said there goodbye and collected a bunch of natural treasure, all of them made their way to the closest area to the exit that was connected to the beast''s domain.

    Having made their way back to the beginning of the dungeon, Marcus looked back at the ce he had spent the majority of thest two month in and felt a slight sense of saddens at leaving.

    ''I am going to miss this ce, but someday maybe we can alle back and visit once more.''

    Exiting the dungeon, Marcus andpany got back onto the streets of Lethan and headed towards the city''s adventurer''s guild for thest time.

    Going inside they quickly turned in the requests that Lilia had taken, before going up to see Dahlia and Jarek to say goodbye.

    Unfortunately, Treasa was busy in the dungeon so they would have to go without seeing her off, and Mrazivy and her party had already departed for the capital since she had to attend the kingdom''s annual meeting this year.

    Once they had finished saying their goodbyes, and having a small farewell party, Marcus and Lilia headed back to the Towering Bear Inn to get some rest before leaving the next morning.

    "Good night Lilia, tomorrow we are going to leave bright and early so make sure to get some good rest since I have a surprise nned for tomorrow."

    Nodding her head Lilia slipped into bed, though Marcus probably should not have told her about the surprise he had nned for tomorrow, since the anticipation got Lilia worked up and she only slept a few hours.

    Nevertheless, they both got up on time and went down to the dining area of the Towering Bear and ate onest meal there.

    It was a delicious porridge with a few slices of thick bacon from some type of animal along with two sunny side up eggs.

    After that they went up to the front desk to check out and return their keys.

    Ring Ring!

    Ringing the bell to get the attention of the owner, Marcus patiently waited for around a minute before therge man who owned the ce came out with a sleepy look on his face.

    "Hhhhhh. What can I do for the two of you this early in the morning?" The owner said after letting out a big yawn

    Marcus then pulled out the keys and handed them over before saying, "Thank you for thefortable stay, your inn has been quite nice, but it is time for us to check out."

    The sleepy owner after hearing this quickly shot awake, pulled out some records, and skimmed through them before saying, "I''ll be damned, it really is thest day you had paid for. I honestly had forgotten exactly when you two were leaving. Well, it has been a pleasure to have such good guests, though you only actually stayed here a few days. If you are ever back in the city, feel free toe stay here again."

    With their keys returned and having said their goodbyes to the inn''s owner, Marcus and Lilia left the building for the final time before heading to the back to pick up their beastpanions and carriage.

    "Okay Blitz I know it has been a while since youst pulled the carriage but try to not go wild."

    Shacking the reigns Marcus signaled Blitz to go and their group began heading towards the city gates.

    When they arrived, Marcus had Lilia get an updated ID since he wanted to see exactly how much she had grown.

    However, when the guard who was doing the update saw Lilia''s status he fell t onto his ass and began mumbling, "That''s impossible."

    Leaning over and looking at her status that was still pulled up Marcus could understand the poor guard''s astonishment.

    Name: Lilia Geist

    Age: 11

    Race: Human

    Level: 32

    HP: 5650/5650

    MP: 2930/2930

    STR: 708

    AGL: 786

    VIT: 565

    INT: 293

    SPR: 408

    Skills: Sewing, Lvl 2, Cleaning Lvl 2, Wood Working Lvl 2, Horticulture Lvl 1, Force Magic Lvl 4, Gauntlet Fighter, Superior Lvl 5, Pain Resistance Lvl 4, Piercing Resistance Lvl 4, Magic Cirction Lvl 4, Fighting Lvl 4, Etiquette Lvl 2, Dancing Lvl 2, Arithmetic Lvl 1, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Physical Resistance Lvl 3, Disassembly Lvl 2, Steel Body Lvl 4, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Movement Awareness Lvl 2, Adrenaline Rush Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, Mighty Blow Lvl 4, Deadly Rush Lvl 3, Chant Shortening Lvl 2, Mana Regeneration Lvl 1

    Lilia looked mostly like any other young girl, but when the guard saw some of the highest stats he had ever seen, it had sent him into a state of shock.

    Of course, her list of powerful skills did not help the poor man either, and it was probably a good thing that he could not see that Lilia had a unique skill or he might have passed out.

    Once they managed to get the guard to calm down, he finished up making Lilia''s new ID, though the entire time he looked at the two of them while sweating nervously.

    With Lilia''s new ID in hand, the two of them got back onto their carriage sitting side by side in the coachman''s stand and exited the city.

    ''We really all made some good progress while here. Every single one of us is far stronger and my goal of getting Lilia to the point where she can take care of herself has been achieved. Now how about a look at how Roxene''s as improved.''

    Name: Roxene

    Age: 0

    Race: Divine Wolf of the Sun and Moon

    Level: 13

    HP: 5750/5750

    MP: 5390/5390

    STR: 680

    AGL: 772

    VIT: 575

    INT: 539

    SPR: 626

    Supreme Skills: Greatest Potential, Paragon of the Divine Wolf

    Unique Skills: Howl of Day, Howl of Night, False Status, Soul Burst

    Skills: Small Item Box, Telepathy Lvl 5, Mana Cirction Lvl 5, Feral Combat, Superior Lvl 5, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Speed Burst Lvl 4, Mana Regeneration Lvl 3, Powerful Bite Lvl 4, Mana Body Lvl 4, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 3, Mana Barrier Lvl 4, Light Magic Lvl 5, Dark Magic Lvl 5, Physical Resistance Lvl 3, Beastly Power Lvl 4, Evasion Lvl 2, Unnatural Fortitude Lvl 3

    Divine Blessing of the Moon, Divine Blessing of the Sun

    Race Abilities: Darkness Form, Shine Form, Bite, w Strike, Scent, Intimidating Presence, Immortal

    ''Her leveling has been slow due to her extraordinary quality, but she has made good progress going up eleven levels.''

    After examine Roxene''s status Marcus finally got to his own looking at his current status while remembering how it was before he had arrived.

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 31/20

    Race: Unbound Ghost (Great Spirit of Light and Darkness)

    Title: Baress

    Level: 42

    HP: 19470/19470

    MP: 9890/9890

    STR: 923 (+9)

    AGL: 884 (+53)

    VIT: 790 (+8)

    INT: 979 (+10)

    SPR: 1138 (+11)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 7

    Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse, Greatest Potential

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, Soul Devour, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness, False Status

    Skills: Large Item Box, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 3, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 5, Magic Cirction Lvl 6, Iron Magic Lvl 6, Disassembly Lvl 5, Stealth Lvl 4, Lightning Magic Lvl 5, Creature Appraisal Lvl 5, Fire Magic Lvl 5, Danger Sense Lvl 5, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 6, Healing Magic Lvl 4, Mana Regeneration Lvl 5, Speed Burst Lvl 5, Mana Body Lvl 5, Powerful sh Lvl 5, Physical Resistance Lvl 4, Heighten Spells Lvl 5, Forge Lvl 5, Trap Sensing Lvl 3, Dark Magic Lvl 5, Light Magic Lvl 5, Driving Lvl 3, Cooking Lvl 4, Cleaning Lvl 1, Soul Regeneration Lvl 3, Life Sense Lvl 3, Dancing Lvl 3, Mana Barrier Lvl 4

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows, Spirit Healing

    ''I managed to gain six levels, but the increased power of my skills has certainly been the real achievement.. Now all I need to do is win the kingdom''s tournament and reap the rewards.''

 Chapter 245 - 245 Return To The Village

    As they left the city of Lethan far behind, when it had disappeared from the horizon Marcus checked around to make sure they were alone before pulling off to the side of the road and parking.

    He then undid the harness on Blitz before storing the entire carriage inside his item box and looing at everyone and saying, "Now we are going to fly to our next destination. I know you wanted to stretch your legs a bit Blitz, but for the detour I have nned flying is going to be much faster."

    Once everyone had gotten ready Marcus transformed into his best flying form being the cdrius and allowed everyone to climb on top of his back.

    When everyone was situated, Marcus carefully took to the skies and began to gain altitude nning to fly high enough to not attract to much attention.

    Flying to an altitude of around fifteen hundred feet, Marcus was satisfied that it was unlikely for them to be attacked from the ground and began flying in a northwestern direction.

    Lilia quickly picked up on this and realized that Marcus was flying in the opposite direction of the royal capital, meaning that the detour he was talking about was much further away than she thought.

    However, even when she asked Marcus where they were headed, he just told her it was a surprise and to wait and see.

    As they continued to fly Marcus slowly built-up speed before staying steady at around two hundred miles per hour (322 kmh).

    Of course, without any protection the wind resistance on those on his back would have been difficult to deal with, so Marcus used his recently acquired mana barrier skill to give everyone a wind shield.

    Moving at what was an incredible pace by most people in this world''s standards, it took them only a day and a half to reach the Great Tortoise River and the sight of River Landing came into view.

    This was thendmark that Marcus had been looking for, and with it now in sight he turned due north towards their destination.

    At this point Lilia now realized where exactly Marcus was heading. She had thought he was maybe going towards River Landing but when he passed it by and continued north there was only one ce, she could think they could be heading.

    ''We are going home.''

    As Lilia thought this a feeling of anticipation began to well up inside her.

    She had not been back since the ver had abducted her and she was not sure if she was ready to return.

    However, she knew that she needed toe back eventually to at least pay respect to those who she had lived most of her life with and find closure in their deaths.

    Flying along the journey that would normally take multiple days on foot took them only around an hour as the flew high in the sky at incredible speeds.

    Unfortunately, along the way they had been slowed down by an attack from a flock of territorial hippogriffs, though when Roxene began firing off darkness bullets like a mobile turret on Marcus'' back, they quickly backed off and allowed them to continue on their journey.

    ''That spot should do.''

    Finding arge clearing a few dozen miles before the vige Marcusnded on the ground, let everyone off, and then took his form as Irene once more.

    He did not want to cause a massive panic in the vige bynding nearby, since an epic grade magic beast the size of a ne would seem like the end of the world for such a small vige.

    "Well, it is already gettingte. Did you want to make camp here and head into the vige tomorrow or did you want to push on and get there today?" Marcus asked looking for Lilia''s opinion.

    He was doing this mostly for her so he would do whatever she wanted, but like he expected Lilia said, "I think we should wait till tomorrow. It would be rude if we showed up as it was gettingte, and we do not want to make trouble for them."

    Nodding his head Marcus figured this would be Lilia''s response since she was a pretty conscientious person, always trying not to make trouble for others.

    Of course, Marcus could also tell that Lilia was feeling a bit of trepidation, but as long as she did not outright say she did not want to visit the vige he was nning on going.

    While Lilia set up the tent Marcus got to work on making dinner.

    He had obtained arge quantity of meat from the elephant magical beast so he figured he could use it as the main ingredient for tonight.

    Cutting therge pieces of meat he had into small cubes, Marcus began making a variety of different skewers for him and Lilia to eat, while he just threwrge chunks of the meat onto the grill for Roxene and the two golden lion cubs.

    Naturally with his decently high cooking skill even though the meat was a bit gammy, with the right spice rub and sauce Marcus was able to bring out the best vors of the elephant meat making it taste like a high-quality dish.

    "Dinner is ready."

    Calling out to everyone Marcus informed them that the food was ready to eat, and it was not long before everyone had arrived to enjoy their meal.

    Giving Lilia six skewers Marcus took only two for himself since he only ate for taste and not for substance.

    Though the biggest eater was still Roxene who often ate more than her body weight in food and Marcus wondered wear she put it all, though he was not one to talk since he could seemingly eat infinitely.

    Once everyone had their fill of food, they began to go to their respective sleeping areas while Marcus took watch as always not really needing sleep.

    With his life sense skill activated Marcus could feel if any living being came into a radius of sixty feet now, and to pass the time took out arge as he had purchased in Lethan before they left.

    It had cost him a pretty penny to get since detailed information about geography was a well-guarded secret, but with Dahlia''s help and around twenty thousand gold, he got his hands on one that detailed the entire continent.

    ''Hm if this scale is urate then this continent is about as big as both North and South America from Earth put together. Yet past the top of Borealia is still around a fourth of the continent which is uninhabitable tundra.''

    Continuing to examine the map of the continent, Marcus counted twenty-nine distinct nations on the continent.

    At the northern end just as he had expected was Borealia followed by Tralenstein which he had read about in Mrazivy''s library and used to be the kingdom that ruled the area that was now Borealia.

    These two were actually some of therger nations on the continent with only the nation to the far south that was mostly dessert being bigger.

    After that there were a number of smaller or medium sized kingdoms that took up the continent.

    ''Though, this could be somewhat inurate since it is from fifty years ago but getting this level of detailed information at all was pretty difficult.'' Marcus thought while reading the as.

    Flipping through the as Marcus found that of the twenty-nine nations eight of them were partners with the adventures guild while the rest were not or even in conflict with them.

    After examining the as for the entire night Marcus had a much better understanding of where he was and the surrounding areas, including their major political structures and trade goods.

    ''When I first parted with all that gold, I felt a deep void in my stomach, but now I can say it was worth it. The information here really is worth more than its weight in gold, and I can always make more moneyter.''

    When the sun started toe up Marcus put his as away and woke everyone telling them it was time to get ready to go.

    Marcus wanted to get to the vige so that they could have plenty of time to catch up with the people there, and then if Lilia was up for it visit the ruins of her old home.

    Once everything was backed up Marcus brought their carriage back out and tied Blitz up to the harness.

    "Yah."

    Yelling out and shacking the reigns Blitz began trotting down the road as they made thest leg of the journey to the remote vige that sat at the northern most popted area of the kingdom.

    As they got closer and crested over arge hill the view of the vige finally came into sight and it would only be another few minutes before they arrived at its borders.

    Driving into the vige Marcus could already see that they had attracted a lot of attention since it would be fairly rare for a carriage to pass through this part.

    In fact, only twice a year did a band of traveling traders make their way up here, and other than that it was quite rare for anyone to visit.

    Stopping their carriage right at the border of the vige that seemed to have received a new sturdy fence around it, Marcus waited for someone toe and greet them since it would be rude to just barge into the vige.

    Luckily it did not take long before the vige chief along with his son and a small procession of curious viger to arrive.

    Yet as they got closer some of them recognized both Marcus and Lilia, and they began to wave towards them beckoning them toe in.

    "It is good to see you again Irene, and I am d that you managed to find your sister and rescue her from those vers. I thought you had left on a fool''s errand, but it seems that you were really able to do it." The vige chief said, as he looked at the two of them.

    "Wow, when you arrived here from the woods you looked like you had just survived a war but now you have an incredibly nice carriage being pulled by a magical beast. You really have moved up in the world Irene." Amos the vige chief''s son said

    Since they had arrived everyone other than the vige chief had been looking at them like they were celebrities, though it was understandable since this was the first time many of them had seen such a nice carriage and a beast as majestic as Blitz.

    "Now this is no ce for us to have a long discussion. How about you follow me back to my house and we can talk at our leisure.. And I am sure Marianna would love to see you again after all this time."

 Chapter 246 - 246 Return To The Village (2)

    Stopping in front of the vige chief''s house, Marcus and Lilia got down from their carriage and went inside so that they could talk with him without the crowd they had gathered.

    As they entered Marcus quickly spotted Marianna who was currently setting the table, with what looked to be finer dining utensils than he had seen thest time he was here.

    "Ah father have our esteemed guests arri- Irene and Lilia?!"

    Turning around to talk to her father and greet who she thought was going to be a noble that hade to their vige, she instead saw Marcus and Lilia who were far from what she was expecting.

    When her father told her that a fancy carriage was approaching, she thought maybe the lord who ruled their territory hade for a visit, or maybe a noble had gotten lost which had happened once in the past, but it was actually Marcus and Lilia.

    Putting the tes in her hands down, Marianna walked up to Marcus and Lilia and said, "It is good to see that you are safe, and that you found Lilia.

    She then gave each of them a hug, before going back to setting up the table and allowing her father to talk with their guests.

    Sitting down on a couch across from the vige chief, Marcus waited for the vige chief to begin speaking since he looked like he had something he wanted to say.

    "It really is good to see the two of you again and in good health, butst I heard from Janice she said that you were dead, and that Lilia had been abducted by some noble." The vige chief said with a curious expression.

    He had honestly believed that he would never see either of them again, but here they were together almost a year since the incident happened.

    However, hearing the vige chief''s questioning, Marcus realized the mistake he had made. He had given Lilia the ashes of Irene''s body, so of course the people she had been traveling with learned of Irene''s death. But Marcus had once again taken up her identity, so he was going to need toe up for some excuse.

    Then there was the other problem which was that as far as everyone else from themunity knew, Lilia had been abducted by Wade and was never seen again.

    Of course, Marcus had just went and picked her up afterwards, but it was not like he had informed anyone from this vige or the survivors from Lilia and Irene''smunity that he had gotten her.

    Trying to think of a way out of this, Marcus quickly came up with a story about how he as Irene had gotten sick in Loursend, and his partner had left him in a hospital, but some records got turned around and his partner thought he had died.

    Of course, there was no partner and Marcus was both Irene and himself, but this seemed like the most usible way for him to have Irenee back to life miraculously.

    "I see so you did not actually die, that is good. So how did you meet back up with Lilia, and you seem to be quite well off with a nice carriage and a powerful looking magical beast. What all has exactly happened to you since you left this vige."

    With his death as Irene cleared up Marcus told the vige chief that the noble who had abducted Lilia was actually a friend of his and he had asked him to look after her during the ice ant outbreak.

    Of course, Wade had actually abducted Lilia without his knowledge, but since he had treated her well and she was back with him now so all''s well that ends well.

    Yet hearing about the ice ants, the vige chief scowled. He then told Marcus about how they had been forced to flee their vige when the ice ants came down from the north, and they had lost most of the livestock in the process.

    At the very least their homes were mostly undamaged when they came back, and the kingdom did give them some assistance and even put up a new sturdy fence for them.

    "I see so that is why I saw so few of the goats than you had before. I am sorry, I should havee to help you all out afterwards, but I got wrapped up in some other stuff and when I reunited with Lilia taking care of her became my first priority."

    Waving his hand and shacking his head the vige chief said, "No you had your own problems to worry about and we got through just fine for the most part. We are lucky that no one died and only around a dozen people were permanently injured. I heard from some of the other surrounding viges that they lost many people during that crisis."

    With sympathetic expression Marcus said, "I am sorry that you had such a hard time, but if you want, I can probably help you out with getting your livestock replenished and healing the injured."

    The vige chief looked surprised to hear this, but he just shook his head and said, "No it is fine, we will get by. You have your own life to live so we could not take your money. And I am afraid that the injured are far beyond the point of healing. Restoring lost body parts is something that only nobles or those with a lot of money could afford."

    However, Marcus was not willing to give up on helping them so easily. The people of this vige had shown him a great deal of kindness, and he was willing to return what they had given to him now that he could.

    "I am afraid that I cannot just do nothing. You and this vige helped me to save Lilia and without your help I would have been lost and never found her. So, everything I have earned originated from your generosity. Anyway, it will cost me nothing but my time and a bit of energy to heal the vigers since I have be well versed in healing magic. And you will at least allow me to pay you back for the money you lent me."

    Seeing that Marcus was not going to take no for an answer, the vige chief held out his hand expecting Marcus to give him back the same number of copper coins he had given way back when. But instead, Marcus dropped a pouch containing a thirty gold coins into his hands.

    The vige chief looked at the bag in disbelief, since this was more than the entire vige had by a lot.

    "Sorry I cannot offer you anymore, that is pretty much all I have on me right now." Marcus said looking sad as if what he had just given was only a pittance.

    "There is no way we can ept this. It must have taken you and your sister months of hard work to earn this much."

    The vige chief then tried to hand the pouch of money back to Marcus, but he just refused it saying, "No please take it. I did not mention this yet, but I have actually been given a noble title for helping during the ice ant attack. In the capital I can earn more that this in a week so feel free to keep it. Money goes a lot farther out here than the capital, so do not be bothered, it will not make much of a difference to me."

    After hearing this the vige chief just sat there astounded. At first, he thought Marcus was lying to make him feel better about taking the money, but when he pulled out the silver te ID the vige chief could no longer deny it.

    Marcus then told him about everything that had happened to him and Lilia since he had left, albeit leaving out and changing certain things that were unbelievable or would expose him as a ghost.

    "It sounds like you certainly went through a lot over this past year, but to think you could make such progress in only a year. Not to mention bing a noble and a high-ranking adventurer. It almost hard to believe, but I am d that everything has worked out for you." The vige chief said with a proud expression.

    After chatting a bit more with the chief and his daughter, Marcus asked if he could round up those that had been injured so that he could heal them.

    The chief nodded his head and then got up. He still was only half convinced that Marcus could use healing magic that would recovery lost body parts, but he did not have anything to lose by trying.

    Of course, he was right to think this way since Marcus'' healing magic could not regenerate lost body parts, but his new specter power in theory could.

    Exiting the vige chief''s house, Marcus saw that an evenrger crowd had formed with many people pointing and looking at Blitz with a few of the fearless children trying to go up and touch him just to be pulled back by the nearby adults.

    "Okay if you would lead me to those who are injured, I will do my best."

    The vige chief nodded his head and told some of the viger to get the injured rounded up before leading Marcus to the couple of people that had lost or heavily injured both legs and could not move.

    However, before Marcus followed, he noticed Lilia looking at some of the children who had also been looking at her.

    "Lilia, you do not need toe with me. Feel free to go and catch up and y with your friends. Just mind your strength since you are a lot stronger now than any of them."

    Lilia''s face then brightened up before she ran over to her friends that she had not seen in a long time to tell them about the amazing adventures she had been on.

    With a bright smile Marcus took onest look at his little sister before following the vige chief to heal the injured.

 Chapter 247 - 247 Spirit Healing

    Following behind the vige chief, Marcus soon came to a small house and the vige chief knocked and said, "Angie open up, we have someone to look at Lucas'' legs."

    A few seconds after the vige chief knocked on the door a young woman who was probably in her mid tote twenties opened up the door and looked at the vige chief and then Marcus.

    "Chief what do you mean they are here to look at my son''s legs. I do not have the time or money to deal with a scam artist and I am surprised that you would bring them here." Angie said, as she started closing the door

    However, the chief stuck himself in between the door and said, "Angie, this is Irene, she used to be apart of the loggingmunity just north of her. Ah and she is one of Vance and Whitney''s daughters."

    Hearing this Angie stopped and had a thoughtful look on her face before changing into one of recognition.

    "Yes Irene, now I remember. I did not see you when you came through here a year ago, but I guess you really did lose that nasty scar you had. Wait butst I heard I thought you were dead."

    The chief then retold what Marcus had told him earlier and Angie nodded before saying, "So you want to look at Lucas and see if you can restore his legs. But when we were in River Landing the priest that they sent around to look at our injured said it was beyond recovery."

    "Yes, for a normal healer it certainly would be, but I am confident I have a spell that can fix your son." Marcus said confidently.

    With hope welling in her eyes, Angie quickly let Marcus and the chief in and showed them to the small room where her son Lucas was resting.

    He had been bedridden since the ice ant''s attack, but he was still alive and had been learning how to sew, weave, and carve so as to not end up useless.

    Walking into the small room, Marcus saw the young boy who looked to be around eight years old and was currently working on sewing up some damaged shirts.

    "Lucas the vige chief and a healer is here to see you. They say that she might be able to fix your legs."

    Lucas then turned around and looked at his mom, then the vige chief, and finally Marcus.

    And to Marcus'' surprise, instead of the cold lifeless eyes he was expecting to see from the kid, his eyes were instead filled with determination.

    Shifting his body over Lucas moved closer towards Marcus and uncovered the nkets that were over his legs.

    What Marcus saw was truly a nasty sight, with half of the kid''s right foot missing and had horrible scarring all over up to the knee, but worse was his left leg which was now just a stump where his thigh used to be.

    Looking over the wound Marcus was actually surprised that the boy had survived them but after examining it a bit closer he noticed that the scaring was from frostbite, so the ice ants had probably frozen his legs.

    "Can you help him." Angie asked with hope and worry in her voice.

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "I think I can."

    ''Well time to see how effective this new power is.''

    This was actually Marcus'' first time using his recently acquired spirit healing specter power, but the description in his status stated that he should be able to heal any wound physical or spiritual so long as he had a high enough spirit stat.

    He had obtained this ability thanks to all of the times he had possessed people to use his regeneration on them, so now he was hoping to be able to use this power instead.

    Holding both of his hands towards Lucas'' right foot, Marcus wanted to try fixing the lesser of the two injuries first.

    ''Here goes nothing.''

    Beginning the chant for his tier four healing magic spell, Marcus made sure to make it look like he was using magic instead of some other ability he would have to exin, but when he finished the chant, he simply did not send any mana to use the spell and activated his specter power.

    A soft white glow then began to emit from Marcus'' hands and covered Lucas'' damaged foot.

    Time seemed to move slower for everyone present, as Marcus waited to see if his ability could truly recover lost body parts.

    Two seconds passed, five seconds passed, seven seconds passed, yet there seemed to be no change in Lucas'' injury.

    And just as they were about to give up hope, after ten seconds the flesh around his foot began to grow back and bone and muscle followed, and within just a minute Lucas'' right foot had been fully restored.

    Both Angie and Lucas began to cry seeing this, and the vige chief looked truly astonished.

    It could be said that what Marcus had done was nothing short of a miracle since it would actually normally take the tier seven spell regenerate to fix such an injury.

    ''Whew I am d that worked since n b was toe backter and posses him and say that my abilities had a dyed reaction.''

    With Lucas'' right foot healed Marcus first had him test it out by moving it around and standing on it to see if everything worked fine.

    And once it had been determined that his foot was fully functional, Marcus quickly fixed up the scaring on his right leg before moving onto thepletely missing left leg.

    Using his spirit healing specter power Marcus managed to restore Lucas'' missing leg in just five minutes and when he was finished Angie practically jumped on him and gave him a hug while bawling with tears of joy.

    "Again, thank you so much. I know there is nothing we can do to repay you but if you ever need anything from us feel free to ask." Angie said as Marcus and the chief exited her residence.

    After making sure that Lucas was perfectly fine Marcus had said that he need to go and fix everyone else''s injuries and promptly left to see his next patient.

    Quickly going to the other two households that had people that could no longer walk, Marcus simrly fixed their legs and received tears and thanks from their families.

    ''Now for everyone else.''

    Heading to the center of the ton Marcus saw the eleven people that were simrly missing limbs or extremities.

    The worst was definitely the guy who had lost both arms, but luckily most of them were only missing a single hand, or some fingers and toes.

    When he had finished healing everyone, basically the entire vige had gathered around him and began pping and thanking him from the bottom of their hearts.

    The people then began to swarm around him and many of them started giving him hugs or shaking his hands until the vige chief dispersed them telling them not to be a bother.

    Once the crowd was somewhat dissipated the vige chief led Marcus back to his home so that they could talk some more.

    "So, Irene, how long do you n on staying here. I figure you have note back permanently by the way you have been speaking."

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "A couple days at most. I have things I need to take care of in the capital and I have already been away for a while. However, I am not sure about Lilia. She may wish to stay but I have not asked her yet."

    A sad expression then formed on Marcus'' face since while he did not want Lilia to stay, he thought it was a real possibility. While themunity that had been her home was destroyed this vige now housed most of the survivors and she had plenty of friends here.

    However, the vige chief just shook his head and said, "I doubt she will stay if you leave. The way she looks at you, there is no way she would be willing to part with you. Anyway, you are her only family left, and while she would be more than wee here, she would be without anyone."

    Hearing this from the vige chief Marcus felt a bit better but he still nned to ask Lilia what she want before they left.

    "Well now since you will be here for a couple of days, we will need to prepare a feast for you. And no dissent from you, after everything you have done for us, a feast is the least we can do." The vige chief said with a stern expression.

    Holding up his hands in surrender, Marcus agreed to the feast since he did not want to argue with the vige chief when he seemed so dead set on it.

    "Now there is one more thing I want to ask you.. Has anyone been up to the loggingmunity since I left? I was hoping to take Lilia up there so that we could pay our respects."

 Chapter 248 - 248 Closure

    Listening to Marcus'' question the vige chief scowled a bit and said, "Unfortunately no one has been up there since you left. We tried too send a few people up a couple of times, but a group of goblins patrols the trail. In fact, the little bastards have been getting boldertely and a couple of times some of them have even gotten close to the vige. Luckily though, it has only been a couple of strays and me or Amos easily drove them off."

    "Well, if that is the only thing causing problems with the trail, then both me and Lilia should be fine to head up there, and I can take out goblins if you want."

    Shaking his head the vige chief said, "No you have already done enough for us so do not go out of your way to look for trouble. I know you said you have be a gold rank adventurer but being reckless and charging after goblins has gotten many people killed in the past. The unit of soldiers from River Landing will being in a couple of months anyways, and the goblins will get cleared out then."

    "Okay I will not go out of my way, but you can consider any goblin that attacks us on the way as good as dead." Marcus said confidently.

    "Got it so when are you nning on going."

    "Probably in a couple of hours, after Lilia has gotten some time to y and reacquainted with her friends."

    "Just a couple hours! Okay I will need to go find Amos; we will have to double time it on our preparations."

    The vige chief then shot up and began making his way towards the door but Marcus feeling like there was some kind of misunderstanding quickly got up and stopped him.

    "Um what do you mean by "go find Amos and make preparations." I know this may sound cocky but me and Lilia will be fine on our own."

    The vige chief then looked at Marcus and said, "There is no way we can let you go without our help. What if you get surrounded by a bunch of goblins, two people will not be enough even if you have gotten stronger."

    Sighing Marcus said, "I know you have good intentions and at level neen you are certainly not weak, but in all honest you will not be able to keep up with me and Lilia. Anyways we each have our beastpanions as well so it will not be the two of us."

    Getting the vige chief to calm down, Marcus eventually got him to agree to let the two of the go on their own after showing him his tier three iron magic spell.

    "I suppose if you have such powerful magic, you will not need an old man like me, just be carful out there. Those goblins are crafter than you would think." The vige chief warned.

    However, Marcus was not really worried about goblins, since if they were strong enough to beat him, they would have long overrun this vige.

    "Well, I guess while I wait for Lilia to catch up with her friends, I will partake in the delicious food that Marianna has been preparing." Marcus said, while eyeing the dishes that were being set out.

    Eating up the food, Marcus had a sense of nostalgia since it was food from the same person that had made the first real meal he had eaten in this world.

    "Ah that was delicious, Marianna, I think you have be an even better cook than you werest time."

    Responding in a flustered manner Mariann said, "No it must not have been even close to the food you eat in the capital now that you have be a noble."

    "You are right if just talking about taste, but they often lose the homey vor that gives you a warm feeling, so in many ways I prefer your cooking better. Ah in fact the only thing that really sets your cooking apart isck of seasoning. So here I have two huge sets of spices so you can have one."

    Marcus then took one of his spices sets out of the magic bag on his waist and handed it over to Marianna, though like her father she refused such an expensive gift.

    Yet once again Marcus would not take no for an answer and said, "Just think of it as thanks for giving me your mother''s clothing. Without those clothes I would have been in trouble, and I still wear them from time to time even today, so go ahead and take the spices since I have more than I need."

    With that Marianna reluctantly took the spices set and looked at as if she was holding a box of treasure.

    "Now I need to go find Lilia and then we are going to head back up to where our home used to be, but when I get back, I will teach you the best way to use those spices."

    After saying that Marcus exited the vige chief''s house and went to find Lilia.

    It did not take him long since on his life sense she gave out the biggest signal other than Blitz, and Marcus found her talking to a big group of young girls that were all cleaning goat fur together.

    "Lilia have you been able to reconnect with your friends." Marcus said as he approached the group.

    Many of the young girls hearing Marcus looked up and went stary eyed, since after Marcus'' healing sessions he had be like the vige''s hero.

    All of them then came over to him and started asking him questions, many of them wanting to confirm what Lilia had told them earlier.

    Talking to the group of young girls for around half an hour Marcus told them some of the stories of his adventurers and how strong Lilia had gotten.

    However, he had note here just to make idle chatter and once the young girls seemed mostly satisfied, Marcus said that he needed some time with Lilia alone and that they could all talk againter.

    "Lilia are you ready to go and pay your respects to those who died that day. I know it may be hard for you, but I am sure that our parents would rest better if you went to see them."

    Marcus could see the conflicted look on Lilia''s face, she certainly wanted to go and see where she had once lived and say goodbye to those she had lost. But another part of her was scared to go back to see the ruin of her childhood home and relive the scariest moments of her life.

    But she soon but on a resolute face and said, "I am ready, let us go."

    Putting on aforting smile, Marcus patted Lilia on the shoulder tofort her a bit before they went to pick up their beastpanions.

    "Okay Blitz we are going to go on a little trip so you can stretch you legs on the way." Marcus said as he undid the harness that connected Blitz to the carriage.

    At the same time Lilia had grabbed Aurelia and Zareen out of the carriage and brought them back with her as the twozy cats let out a big yawn.

    Though theziest beastpanion was certainly Roxene who had already taken up shop in Marcus''panion storage and fallen asleep.

    With their beastpanions in toe Marcus and Lilia made their way down the trail that led to the woods and entered, heading towards the destination hat had changed both of their lives.

    Walking down the trail everything was peaceful until Marcus suddenly felt a tingling on the back of his neck and stopped everyone.

    Looking down at the ground he quickly spotted and area of disturbed dirt that was definitely trapped.

    ''So, the goblins have trapped the path even though we are still only around ten minutes from the vige, they really have gotten brazen. Unfortunately, they are not within sixty feet of me, so I will have to resort to other methods to find them.''

    Calling out to Roxene, Marcus asked her toe out so she could locate the goblins that should have been lying in wait with her scent ability.

    After being promised some delicious meat from the cdriuster, Roxene jumped out of Marcus''panion storage and began sniffing the air before pointing towards the northwest and telepathically saying, ''There are twelve goblins waiting in that direction around a hundred feet away, though the stench of gobbling permeates this entire area, so I think there is a big group deeper into the forest.''

    Thanking Roxene for the information, Marcus went into his ghost form and floated over and quickly found the goblins lying in wait.

    However, when he arrived, he noticed that one of the goblins was gone and looking deeper into the forest he saw it running away.

    ''Not happening.''

    Exerting his phantom pressure Marcus crushed the fleeing goblin''s soul and the creature died instantly.

    Luckily the other goblins were still focused on Lilia and their beastpanions, so they did not notice that theirrade had fallen.

    ''This does not bode well.''

    Looking at the eleven remaining goblins, Marcus could see that their equipment was well above what a normal tribe of goblins would have.

    Not a single one of them had a wooden weapon and most of them had crude iron weapons, but the highest level one had a steel axe.

    Also, their levels were rtively high with all of them having double digit levels and the highest being level thirteen.

    Of course, this was not a threat to Marcus, but if these goblins that would normally be elites for a normal tribe were being used as scouts, it meant that the goblins in the forest had grown stronger than believed.

    ''Well, we can deal with the goblins after we pay our respects.''

    Marcus then quickly killed the remaining eleven goblins simply exerting his phantom pressure.

    He normally would not do this since he got less experience when he used it and it did not level up any skills, but these goblins were so far below his weight ss that even killing ten thousand of them would be a negligible amount of experience.

    With the goblin scouts cleared up Marcus floated back over to Lilia and said, "I dealt with the problem so we can continue on our way."

    After that they made the trip to what used to be the loggingmunity where Lilia and Irene had lived, though along the way they did have to deal with a half dozen other goblin groups.

    When they arrived Marcus quickly noticed that the there were a number of goblin tracks all over the ce and they had taken any usable tool or remaining piece of wood, making the ce look even more dpidated.

    However, the burnt-out houses were still there though having fallen mostly apart, but the most important area, where Marcus had buried everyone seemed to be undisturbed.

    "Everyone''s grave is over there. I am sorry I did not have the time to dig each of them an individual grave at the time, but at least their remains were able to be put to rest."

    Marcus then led Lilia who had been quite up to this point as she looked around over to the grave and began offering up some prayers for the deceased.

    Now that he had all of Irene''s memories and feelings, saying goodbye to everyone here had a much deeper meaning and Marcus actually began to cry a bit.

    Yet when Lilia saw the tears start toe out of Marcus'' eyes, the dam she had set up on her emotions broke and she began bawling her eyes out as she said, "I am sorry mom and dad. I wish I had been stronger back then. If only I could go back now, I could save everyone. I wish everyday that we could all be a happy family again. Why did this have to happen to us."

    Lilia while crying began to hit the ground in frustration and with her high strength stat was putting what looked like small crater impacts into it.

    Knelling down Marcus grabbed her and wrapped her up in a hug, giving her some level offort as she cried.

    Being here Lilia had to relive all of the trauma that she had experienced and the sadness of everyone she loved being killed.

    Yet as Marcusforted her, Lilia also soon began to realize everything she had gained after Marcus had saved her.

    She now was receiving an education, never wanted for anything, had made new friends that cared about her, and the sister she had lost came back through Marcus.

    Stifling her crying Lilia managed to get herself under control and was now only sniffling when she said, "Marcus I am d that you came back for me. Without you I am not sure if I would still be alive. You have given me another chance at life when everything seemed to be so meaningless."

    As Lilia said this, Marcus hugged her closer and said, "And you help keep away the biggest fear I have. Since I arrived on this world, I have always feared that one day I would truly be a monster that knows nothing but taking life and destruction. But so long as I have you, I know I can keep my humanity and not fall into depravity."

    After their touching moment where the two of themid each other''s feeling out, they went around the nearby area and collected some wildflowers to ce on the grave.

    Then Marcus carved the names of those who were buried here onto arge stone and ced it at the head of the grave.

    With that done, the two of them went around and looked over the area, mostly to remember the good times that had happened here.

    But before long, night wasing and neither of them want to stay here, so it was time for them to go after giving onest prayer.

 Chapter 249 - 249 Goblin Clean Up

    With night falling and both of them having said their goodbyes to the dead, Marcus and Lilia began leaving the burnt-out ruins that was all that was left of where Lilia and Irene used to live.

    Continuing down the trail that was now bing overgrown from disuse, Marcus found a nice clearing after the had traveled a few miles away.

    "Okay Lilia we should rest here for the night, but in the morning, we are going to have some work to do. I did not tell you this earlier but the goblins in this area have be more of a threat than anyone has realized. At this point I am certain that the goblins that were seen close to the vige were not strays but scouts that were testing the defenses of the vige. So tomorrow we are going to go and take them out to make sure the vige stays safe."

    Her expression going serious Lilia said, "Should we really wait the night. What if the goblins decide to attack the vige tonight? I am still good to go so we should go and take care of them right now."

    Shaking his head Marcus said, "No we will have a better chance during the day. You do not have any skills that let you see in the dark and goblins are more active at night so we will be able to get the drop on them easier during the day. Anyway, I find it unlikely they attack the vige tonight, especially since I took care of a bunch of the scouts they had watching this trail. They are more likely to be worried about a new enemy in the woods than going after a vige they can deal with at any time. But on the off chance something happens I will send Blitz on ahead."

    Marcus then told Blitz to head down the path and back to the perimeter of the vige to keep and eye out for any possible goblin attacks.

    ''As youmand my liege, I shall keep vigil over the vige and make sure no harm shalle to it.''

    After saying that to Marcus, Blitz shot down the path like a bolt of lightning heading back towards the vige

    "Now you should get some rest Lilia. It has been a long day and tomorrow we will have a lot to get done."

    Once they had settled on their n for tomorrow, Marcus and Lilia set up their tent and Marcus let her get some sleep while he sat out and waited.

    He was certain that they were being watched as his he could almost feel the presence of dozens of eyes on him from the shadows in the forest.

    ''Hm one just got close enough for me to notice it with life sense. It does not feel very strong so it should be less than level fifteen. Now are they going to make a move even with me out here.''

    Sitting around, Marcus waited for hours to see if anything was going to happen and during that time, he had felt at least fourteen goblinse into his life sense skill''s range but so far nothing else had happened.

    Yet around three hours before sunrise Marcus felt the presence of a stronger creature, though by his standards it was still insignificant, this one should have been in the low twenties in terms of the strength of its life force.

    Then Marcus heard what sounded like a few grunts, before a bunch of mes lit up in the forest and the goblins unleashed a barrage of ming arrows towards him and the tent Lilia and her beastpanions were staying in.

    ''They are certainly smarter than the ones I sawst time.''

    Seeing around twenty ming arrowsing for him and the tent Marcus stood up and cast his iron threads spell, plucking each arrow out of the air.

    With the iing ming arrows suspended in the air, Marcus aimed for the nearest goblin and flicked his iron threads sending them all back.

    The goblin that was the target of these returned arrows went wide eyed and tried to jump out of the tree it had climbed up in, but it was unable to dodge all of the arrows and seven of them pieced into its body and before it hit the ground it was already dead.

    With their initial assault ending in failure the goblins became restless. They did not expect their well-timed and executed ambush to be turned on them.

    However, as some of the goblins contemted retreat, there was a loud grunt from their leader whomanded all of them forward.

    Walking out of the forest Marcus found saw that there were twenty-six regr goblins and in the lead was a single hobgoblin.

    Checking their levels Marcus was pretty impressed since none of the goblins were below level twelve, with one being as high as level seventeen.

    But the hobgoblin was a ss above the rest being level twenty-three, and had decent looking armor made from the hide of a scaled bear.

    It also had arge longbow wrapped around its should and a crude but still steel spiked mace.

    ''I though it might be a possibility, but it seems more likely now.''

    Looking over the forces that hade to meet him, Marcus thought it was probable that at least one goblin had the creature appraisal skill.

    Marcus had currently set his level to twenty-one and from all of the shuffling around the goblins did to execute this attack and the forces they had assembled, it was likely they had seen the level he had on disy.

    ''There response is too precise otherwise. They specifically brought out a level twenty-three hobgoblin, and a number of other stronger than average goblins. And the way they are still brazenly attacking me, they must be confident that they can win.''

    Unfortunately for these goblins Marcus was far stronger than what he had disyed and now that they had showed themselves to him none of them were going to escape.

    Holding his right hand above his head Marcus conjured a ball of pure mana which he then separated into even smaller balls before firing them of at the goblins.

    The pure mana projectiles when flying towards the normal goblins far faster than any of them could have reacted to, blowing their bodies apart and flying into the surrounding forest and knocking over dozens of trees before dissipating.

    ''Oops guess I used a bit too much power there.''

    Looking at all the trees he had destroyed Marcus felt a bit bad, but in the end, it was still not that much damage considering howrge the forest was.

    With every one of the normal goblins now dead and reduced to piles of flesh, blood, and bones, the only remaining enemy was their hobgoblin leader.

    Of course, Marcus had not missed, but purposefully left this hobgoblin alive since he had something special nned for it.

    Marcus then began to approach the hobgoblin that could only look around at the force it had beenmanding that were all dead.

    It had not even seen how it had happened, there was just a bright green ball over its target''s head and then everyone of its subordinates was dead.

    Fear began to well up in the hobgoblin as Marcus approached and it knew that it would never get away.

    Even a goblin could feel the true terror of hopelessness, and in ast desperate struggle to survive the hobgoblin ran towards Marcus with its spike mace, hoping by some miracle it could win.

    Wham!

    After swinging its weapon down with all the force it could muster, the hobgoblin thought it saw a chance for victory. It did not seem that Marcus had reacted at all making no move to dodge or block its attack.

    However, when the hobgoblin looked down it saw that Marcus had grabbed its spiked mace with his bare hands and had suffered no damage.

    The hobgoblin then tried to pull back its mace, but it felt like it was stuck to mountain.

    The hobgoblin knowing it was doomed tried to flee, all of its instincts said to run, but as it tried to it found itself stuck in ce.

    Coiled around it was a shadowy tendril that was as cold as ice and hadpletely sealed off its movements. There was nothing it could do no matter how hard it struggled.

    "Well, I really do not want to understand goblins better, but I need to see the information housed in your soul."

    The hobgoblin then felt its soul being ripped from its body and within just a second it had been torn to oblivion and devoured by Marcus.

    The strongest memories and feelings of the hobgoblin began to wash over Marcus, and he felt quite disgusted by it.

    However, he wanted to see what its memories were, so he held out and sorted through the memories while pushing the hobgoblins depraved feelings into the back of his mind.

    Going through the hobgoblin''s memories the most prominent one was when it evolved, but others included a massive underground goblin stronghold, and their leader a goblin lord who all of the goblins revered.

    After the process was over Marcus let out a sigh since he wondered how the soldiers from the kingdom could have missed something like this, but luckily the goblin lord had not be a king yet.

 Chapter 250 - 250 Goblin Clean Up (2)

    With the information he had gotten from devouring the hobgoblin''s soul, Marcus now knew the rough location of all of their bases, and the numbers they had.

    It was certainly a frightening number since he estimated that there were nearly seven thousand goblins under one goblin lord, and they now had the strength to easily overrun every vige in the area.

    Of course, they would never have a chance of taking River Landing, but they could still do a lot of damage to the kingdom especially since it had not even been a year since the ice ants attack.

    Luckily, Marcus had caught onto the goblins before they decided to leave the forest and even seven thousand of them in all honesty did not make much of a difference to him.

    ''Now I should clean up this mess before Lilia wakes up.''

    After disposing of all of the goblin bodies, Marcus went back to his chair and began reading now that the goblins watching them had already been dealt with.

    Soon the sun came up and Lilia came out of the tent while yawning and rubbing her eyes.

    Of course, she had already known about the goblin attack, but she trusted Marcus to deal with it, so she had just rolled over and gone back to sleep.

    "So are we going to deal with the goblins now." Lilia asked wanting to get right to it and eliminate the threat that was looming over the vige.

    "How about we have a quick breakfast and then we can get to it. The goblins are more widespread than I thought but if we are quick, it should only take us a day to clean up the majority of them."

    Lilia was about to dissent and say she did not need anything to eat, but before she could, she heard the displeased growls of her beastpanions that were not willing to go without their morning meal.

    "Okay fine we can have a quick breakfast." Lilia said relenting on her hastiness.

    With that settled Marcus quickly whipped up breakfast allowing for everyone to get their fill, although Roxene who had a six sense for food came out and demanded the cdrius meat Marcus had promised her the day before.

    However, after a bit of a dy to give Roxene her fill, it was time for them to get to work on cleaning up the goblins that had taken over this section of the forest and were close to encroaching on the nearby human settlements.

    "Okay there are fourteen smaller goblin bases that are surrounding the muchrger underground goblin settlement. I am going to fly straight for the main goblin stronghold and destroy these four bases on the way, can I leave the rest to you Lilia." Marcus said as he pointed at the rough map he had drawn out.

    Nodding her head Lilia said, "Leave it to me, with Aurelia and Zareen by my side we are sure to take them all out in no time at all."

    Having finished up their battle n, Marcus and Lilia began heading into the woods, with Marcus leading Lilia to the first goblin base that was around three miles away.

    As they got closer Marcus began to detect a number of traps and they carefully moved closer to the base until it came into view.

    It was a very short and wide base that was dug into the ground with a roof made of wood, that would certainly have been difficult to spot if Marcus had not known its rough location.

    Luckily there was just one goblin on guard right now and it did not notice their approach.

    "I will be leaving you here now Lilia, so go ahead and clean up this base. We will meet back up at the edge of the woods by the vige in a few hours. Now good luck and see youter."

    After saying that Marcus shot up into the air and began flying towards his destination which was the main goblin stronghold.

    Flying across the sky it was not long before Marcus had made it to the first of the bases he was going to take out, and this one was a far cry from the other one seeming like a small fort instead of a scouting outpost.

    Yet this made little difference to him as he sent a st of pure mana towards the structure and blew it up into nothing.

    He then flew down to check if there were any survivors, but it seemed that they had all died under his ariel assault, and all that was left was wood wreckage and a crater where his attack hadnded.

    Continuing along his nned path, Marcus did the same to next goblin bases he came across reducing them to ruble in just a few seconds before flying on to the next one.

    Soon he was right above the area where the goblins had set up their underground town and he went back into his ghost form and slipped into the ground with none of the goblins the wiser.

    Quickly he arrived into a massive open space where the goblins had set up shop, and all around him he saw crude wooden building but in the middle was a single stone castled that Marcus was certain had not been made by goblins.

    ''Hm this ce must have been here before, and they moved in like a bunch of hermit crabs.''

    Taking a look at the goblin town Marcus noticed that tons of the little green nuisances moving around.

    But his main target was not the rabble on the streets but the leaders who were holed up in the castle.

    Floating over Marcus noticed the other instation he had been looking for and found that the goblins had made a unrefined forge.

    Going inside Marcus was impressed to see a bunch of very buff goblins working on steel or iron weapons, but overall, the quality was certainly poor and well below what humans could make even without the forge skill.

    Still, it was impressive that goblins were making their own weapons at all, since they were mostly known for just picking up whatever was lying around or taking items off of those unlucky enough to be their victims.

    After thoroughly examining the goblins forge, Marcus continued towards the castle, slipped inside without any problems, and proceeded to look for the goblin lord.

    Floating through halls and rooms Marcus eventually found the goblin lord in a central chamber sitting on top of a stone throne that was weathered and like the castle must have been here for years.

    Inside the chamber along with the goblin lord were a score of other strong looking goblins and they seemed to be having some sort of heated discussion though Marcus really did not have any idea what they were saying.

    Even after absorbing the soul of the hobgoblin he did not miraculously learn theirnguage so whatever they were saying went over his head.

    ''A few level thirty goblins and hobgoblins but most of them are in the low or mid-twenties. And the lord itself is actually pretty strong at level thirty-six, however the presence behind it is far more dangerous.''

    Floating behind the goblin lord''s throne Marcus could tell that some sort of invisible creature was hiding there, and when he used his creature appraisal on it he got a surprise to see.

    ''Level thirty-nine bugbear. And judging by its stats it is an intelligent monster and a caster since its intelligence and spirit stat are above its physical stats. It must be the true mastermind behind the goblin''s growth. Unfortunately, it could not escape my life sense and it is not strong enough to beat me.''

    Reappearing right in front of the bugbear the monster was immediately rmed by the sudden appearance of a person and quickly started a chant for a spell.

    Nevertheless, Marcus had already brought out his scythe and with one quick swing slice cut the magic using bugbear''s head clean off.

    As its head slid off, it fell to the ground and made a loud resounding sound through the goblin throne room, alerting all of the other goblins and causing them to stop their discussion.

    Marcus then walked out from behind the throne room and said, "Sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I am afraid this is the end for all of you. Next time just be content to y in the forest and not cause trouble for others."

    After saying that Marcus summoned his iron golem and had it crush the goblin lord with one big punch.

    The goblin lord tried to defend itself with its skills but even though it was the strongest goblin here, it still ended up a grease stain under the brute force of Marcus'' iron golem.

    ''Well, the most troublesome ones are dealt with now, so time to deal with the city.''

    Going back into his ghost form Marcus left the remaining goblins in the room to his iron golem, giving it themand to rampage through the castle and kill any goblin it came across.

    Back outside the castle Marcus made sure that his next target was the forge that the goblins had made.

    He did not want a single goblin with the ability to make even crude iron weapons to escape so he went with a bit of overkill and dropped a thunderbird strike spell and me tiger strike spell on top of the building reducing it to ash.

    After that the goblins in the town definitely noticed that something was up and began to swarm towards the castle to see what was going on.

    Unfortunately, this was a horrible mistake, and they should have abandoned the area since what wasing next spelled the end for the thousands of goblins in the underground town.

    ''Fire Storm.''

    Casting his recently acquired tier five fire magic spell, a massive ze of me sted forth from Marcus consuming hundreds of goblins and their wooden structures.

    With one spell Marcus had destroyed what would be equivalent to three city blocks and killed hundreds of goblins.

    Yet the fire from his spell continued to rage on as the shoddy wooden structures made by the goblins went up in mes like they had been doused in oil.

    ''Fire Storm.''

    Casting his tier five fire magic spell again, Marcus turned another portion of the goblin''s stronghold into a raging hell fire.

    Another after another, Marcus continued to unleash fiery death upon the goblins until the entire underground cavern that they called home was up in mes and filled with smoke.

    Looking down at the scorching town Marcus was actually a bit scared by his own power. He hadid waste to the equivalent of a small town in under a mintue, and he had not even been trying very hard.

    If he wanted to, he could turn his power towards a ce like River Landing and destroy it before anyone that could stop him could arrive.

    ''This world truly is terrifying, sometimes I wonder how civilization exits at all.''

    However, the world seemed to have some sort of bnce, so Marcus decided to put those thoughts to the back of his mind. He had no intention of going around sting civilizations off the map, well unless they threatened those he cared about.

    With his work done Marcus floated out of the goblin''s underground town and found that a few of them had managed to survive crawling out of tunnels like ants.

    Sighing Marcus cast his tier five iron magic spell, and with a swarm of iron feathers quickly dispatched of the remaining goblins.

    ''Whew now I should go to the meet up sight and see if Lilia is done.''

    Flying through the sky Marcus quickly made his way to the edge of the woods where he and Lilia were to meet back up, and sitting on the path, there she was already having finished up her task.

    Dropping down to the ground Marcusnded right in front of Lilia who had taken out a ball of string and was ying with her two beastpanions.

    Looking up at him Lilia said, "What took you so long I have already been here for twenty minutes."

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus said, "It took longer to search through the goblin lord''s castle than I thought it would, but everything is wrapped up now so we can go back to the vige. I know they have been preparing a feast for us so we should go and enjoy it after all our hard work."

    The two them then began walking towards the vige that was none the wiser of the danger they had been in.

 Chapter 251 - 251 Village Feast

    With the unknown goblin threat dealt with, Marcus and Lilia made their way back into the vige and gathered the attraction of everyone who was working.

    Many of the vigers came up and greeted both of them asking how their trip was and if they had any trouble with the goblins.

    Yet the two of them decided to keep silent about the huge horde of goblins so as to not worry the vigers and said that the path was now peaceful.

    Of course, they were not lying about the path being safe now, since the goblin poption in this part of the forest had been reduced by ny-nine percent.

    Soon the vige chief heard of their return and came to greet them, and said, "I am d you managed to get back to say your farewells. I know that this has been hard on the two of you, but I am d that both of you are now prospering."

    After thanking the vige chief for his kind words Marcus went with him to the vige''s meeting hall so that they could discus the feast they had been nning, while Lilia went off to y with her friends.

    "Chief, are you sure we can afford to ughter twelve goats. I know that Irene did us a great service, but we have to think about our stores for the winter." One of the more economically conscious vigers said.

    However, the chief just shook his head and said, "Irene here has already given us more than enough funds to rece any goats we might use. Once the soldierse to clear out the woods, we can send some people back to River Landing in their wake to pick up some more."

    Yet a few of the people were still a bit concerned with how extravagant the feast the chief was nning to prepare.

    Of course, they did not know how much money that Marcus had just given the chief since if they did, they would all be in shock.

    Coughing to get everyone''s attention, Marcus waited for everyone to get quiet before saying, "I actually have arge store of meat that I need to use before it goes bad anyway, so we can use that instead of the goats. It is far too much for me or Lilia to eat so I would be grateful if we could use it so it would not go to waist."

    Wording it so it seemed like the vige would be doing him a favor to take all of the meat he had on him off his hands, the varying vigers all came into agreement though many of them wondered where Marcus was holding so much meat.

    That was until he started emptying out dozens of pounds of the elephant meat he had in his item box, wowing everyone around.

    Most of them had never anyone with an item box skill or even a magic bag for that matter, so to see so much meate out of nowhere was astounding.

    A few of the vigers even began to be envious of Marcus thinking that if they had such a power, they could make it off just as well.

    Naturally none of those people knew of how hard Marcus had fought for his current abilities and just how close he hade to being destroyed on many asions.

    "Are you really sure that you want to give up all of this meat?" The vige chief said as he looked at the hundreds of pounds of meat Marcus had pulled out.

    This was already considerably more meat than the entire vige would eat in a month since they were only able to eat meat sparingly as it was quite expensive.

    "Yeah, it is fine, I still have plenty more so go ahead. I needed to open up some room in my item box anyway."

    After that a number of surprised and happy vigers took away the scores of meat Marcus had given them, and the nning for the feast was quickly finished up and gotten underway.

    Marcus tried to help with the cooking, but everyone said he had already done enough and to just sit down and rx.

    With nothing else to do Marcus decided to sit down and look over the as he had bought and n out possible nations he would want to visitter.

    Soon enough though the vige had finished up the preparations for the feast to thank Marcus for healing their injured.

    "Today we are here to thank Irene for helping to heal our injured. It was a true miracle that we could have never imagined to be possible for folks such as us. Also, we celebrate the return of Lilia and Irene who were part of the horrible tragedy that happened to our sistermunity in the woods." The vige chief said as he raised a mug of beer that he had specially brought out.

    The other vigers then followed suit and the feast began.

    Everyone began to eat the food and mingle around most of them wanting to talk to Marcus about his time since leaving the vige.

    "Do you think that we could be powerful adventures like you." A group of children around Lilia''s age asked.

    All of them had stary eyes hoping that Marcus could help them to realize their dream of adventure.

    However, Marcus knew how hard it was to actually make it as an adventurer and unless he helped guide them and make sure they did not end up dead like he had with Lilia, it would be likely for them all to die.

    "Anything is possible if you work hard at it, but being an adventure is dangerous with death waiting around every corner. There is a reason that not everyone bes one and that is because it is perilous. If any of you really want to be an adventurer, I rmend you wait until you have reached at least level fifteen. I know this seems like a difficult level to achieve but otherwise being an adventurer is really just too dangerous."

    After making sure that all of the children that dreamed of adventurers understood it was not some charmed romantic life, but incredibly dangerous, Marcus continued to mill about and talk to the numerous vigers.

    Talking, eating, and drinking, the feast continued on, and the vige was able to have some much-needed revelry after all of the hardships they had faced.

    Yet the fun could notst forever and soon night began to descend upon the vige, and everyone made their way back to their respective homes, while Marcus and Lilia went to the chief''s house where they would be staying the night.

    But before they went to sleep Marcus had something important, he wanted to discuss with Lilia.

    "Lilia, I want to know if you wanted to stay here. I know that this is not your original home, but you know everyone here and have a number of friends that you grew up with. So, if you want to stay, do not feel like you have toe back to the capital with me."

    Hearing this Lilia''s expression quickly went fearful and sad. She thought that maybe Marcus wanted to get rid of her, but those thoughts quickly left her since she already knew how much he cared for her.

    He really just wanted to know what she wanted as he always did.

    "I want to stay with you. As much as I like it here, it is still not home. You are the only family I have left so of course I will be going back with you." Lilia said with an unwavering demeanor.

    Nodding his head Marcus said with a smile, "Good, I would have been sad to go back without you, so I am d that you want to stay with me since you are also my only family, however, there is still something else I need to tell you."

    Marcus then let out a deep sigh as he steeled himself before saying, "Lilia I want to ask you if you remember when we were in River Landing and we stayed at the high-ss inn where the owner put forth the marriage proposal between you and her grandson."

    Confusion in her eyes, Lilia wondered why Marcus was brining this up, but she nodded her head in acknowledgment remembering the fearful experience.

    "Well, when I met with ric''s parents, I found out that he is the grandson that Maryam Valorre and that he had been told to make friends with you. But I also must tell you that other than that nothing else about him is being forced. I may have spent a couple of days to observe both of you after I learned about this, and I can tell that he really does care about you. Also, I might have possessed that girl that was being mean to you and been the one to have her p the daughter of that duke."

    Lilia''s eyes then went wide. Marcus had given her a lot to think about all at once but the first thing that came to her mind was, "You were spying on me."

    Lilia looked a bit hurt to realize that Marcus had been watching her with his ghost form since she thought he trusted her.

    However, seeing this Marcus frantically said, "No I was just making sure that ric did not have anything nefarious nned. And it was only for two days, I promise other than that I have never invaded your privacy, I just would not have been able to live with myself if something happened to you because of my inaction."

    Pleading his case Marcus quickly managed to get Lilia to understand and she said, "It is fine, please just tell me in the future if you are going to be watching out for me."

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed to that but now Lilia had to deal with the other facts that Marcus hadid out for her.

    "So, ric is only my friend because he was told to be."

    Saying it out loud Lilia felt her chest start to hurt a bit, ric was like her knight in shining armor that had given her a ce to be among the majority of nobles that shunned her for having been amoner.

    Yet Marcus had assured her that ric really did care about her even if it had been his families orders that brought the two of them together.

    Seeing the conflicted expression on Lilia''s face Marcus pulled her close and said, "I can understand how you feal hurt Lilia, but that also shows how much you care. I have actually seen a simr situation to this before back on my old world. Two friends made a bet to see which one of them could win over this one girl, and one of them eventually did. However, he soon found that he actually deeply cared about the girl, but of course she found out about the bet and was understandably angry. Yet that did not change that fact that the two of them had fallen in love and after a time they got back together. So, if you really do care about ric just give him a couple of good ps and start over."

    After saying this to Lilia, Marcus could see that she was visibly doing better.

    "Now you will have all the time during our return trip to think about this further. I know you are hurt but do not let a few moments of pain make your decision for you. I only want you to be happy, and whatever makes you so is fine by me."

    The two of them then gave each other onest big hug before turning in for the night and with both of them a lot to think about.

 Chapter 252 - 252 Back To The Capital

    Waking up the next day it was time for Marcus and Lilia to leave, as Marcus needed to get back to the capital to participate in the kingdom''s tournament and hopefully win the valuable rewards being offered.

    "On behalf of the vige I thank you once again Irene and Lilia for all you have done for us even when you did not have to." The vige chief said with gratitude in his eyes.

    "It was no problem; I was just returning your kindness so think nothing of it. Also, should you ever need anything from me, just send a letter to the address I gave you and I wille as fast as I can."

    After saying their goodbyes to the entire vige Marcus and Lilia climbed up onto their carriage that was being pulled by Blitz, and with onest look at the people gathered to see them off, began their journey back to the kingdom''s capital.

    Going down the road Marcus turned off once they had gotten about twenty miles away from the vige and had everyone get back onto his back after transforming into the form of a cdrius.

    Taking to the sky, Marcus wanted to get back to the capital as quickly as possible and while Blitz was quite fast, he just could notpare to flying in a straight line over any obstacle.

    Flying across the kingdom it took them only two and a half days to make the journey that normally would have taken a couple of weeks by cart, and as the kingdom''s capital came into view, Marcus found a remote location where no one was around andnded.

    He of course had no intention of flying right up to the walls of the kingdom''s capital since it was likely he would be shot out of the sky thought to be an invading beast.

    Luckily from where they were now it would only take a couple of hours for their carriage pulled by Blitz to make it to the capital''s gates.

    "Okay it is time for us to make thest leg of the journey back home." Marcus said with excitement in his voice.

    He had a lot waiting for him in the capital, and a near infinite number of things he needed to get done with only a finite amount of time.

    Soon they made it to the massive walls surrounding the city and the equallyrge gate that had thousands of people lined up outside trying to get in.

    Naturally though with his noble status skipping lines like these was one of Marcus'' perks and he quickly went to the front of the line that was especially meant for nobles or high-ranking civil servants.

    Getting to the gate''s entrance Marcus was happily surprised to find that the same guard who had let him in the first time was actually there since they had gotten to know each other a bit since Marcus often passed in and out of this gate.

    "Good day to you Lady Geist, it seems you still enjoy driving the carriage yourself."

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Yep it is nice to feel the cool breeze and this way I have a better view of the sights."

    After making a little friendly chatter with the guard Marcus was swiftly allowed entrance into the city and made a beeline for his estate that was situated within the inner wall of the city.

    Passing into the inner wall, Marcus was able to say hello to his friends Adrianna and risa who were still in charge of the northern gate of the inner city.

    The three of them even set a day when they would go out and get drinks together and celebrate the new post as a knight that risa would be getting after the kingdom''s meeting.

    Once his friendly chat with them was done Marcus continued on to his home, but when he arrived, he noticed something strange.

    Instead of the normal single maid manning the guard station, two of them were there, and in front of the gate there were four armored guards as well.

    Checking the levels of the guards Marcus found them to all be over level twenty with one of them even being level twenty-six which was pretty high inparison to the general poption.

    Seeing this Marcus was wondering if something bad had happened since the security had been increased.

    Driving up to the gate one of the guards stepped forward and said, "Halt this is Lady Baress Irene Geist''s estate, what business do you have here."

    Of course, this guard had never seen Marcus before, so he was unaware that this was in fact his property.

    "I feel like I should ask the same thing, what are you doing in front of my property keeping me from entering."

    The guard hearing this closely looked Marcus over and his eyes went wide as he realized that the young girl driving this carriage matched the description of the owner of this estate their employer had told them about.

    Luckily for the guard Violet ran over and said, "Lady Irene you have returned. Pleasee in quickly and ra will exin the situation for you."

    Bing concerned with what was going on, Marcus could only imagine that something terrible must have happened for ra to hire extra security of such caliber.

    Entering into the estate''s grounds Marcus noticed that there were even more guards that were walking the perimeter of the wall.

    Following Violet back to the mansion, Marcus wanted to ask her what was going on, but she seemed to not want to talk about it and said that ra had all of the details.

    Coming up to the front entrance Marcus got off the carriage and passed the reins over to Lilia before saying, "Would you mind taking Blitz to the stables and then you can show Aurelia and Zareen around the grounds."

    Lilia getting the message that Marcus wanted to talk to ra alone, nodded her head and began taking Blitz back over to the stable.

    Steeling himself for some bad news, Marcus entered into his mansion followed by Violet who led him to where ra was.

    Entering into the room ra was using as an office, Marcus saw his head maid sitting on a chair looking over a number of documents while seemingpletely haggard.

    Since he had gotten back everyone seemed on edge and worn out, but ra appeared to have it worse than the others.

    However, as she heard the door open, she began turning around, while saying, "Did I not tell you to knock when you are- Lady Irene!"

    Seeing Marcus, ra rushed to her feet and gave a short bow beforeing over to Marcus with a look of fear, sorrow, and relief on her face.

    "Lady Irene you do not know how d I am that you have returned. I am afraid that I have incredibly bad news to tell you, so please take a seat first."

    Nodding his head Marcus moved over to the small couch in the room and sat down before saying, "So would you mind exining what is going on. I have seen that you hired extra security and that everyone is on edge, did we get robbed while I was away?"

    Shaking her head ra said, "No it is much worse, I am afraid to say that Grace and Jenna have been abducted."

    Hearing this Marcus'' eyes went wide with shock. Someone had abducted two of his maids and it had happened while he was gone.

    He immediately began to feel rage and then regret that he was not here when it happened.

    "Continue give me the rest of the details." Marcus said with a deadly serious tone.

    ra then told Marcus everything she knew, about how three weeks ago both Grace and Jenna went missing after going to resupply the estate''s groceries. Then after getting in contact with the authorities, they found signs of a struggle but the two of them were still missing. Unfortunately, the city guards soonbeled the investigation as low priority and stopped searching letting the trail go cold.

    Apparently afterwards ra asked Viscountess Tenreion to get a royal investigator on the job since Grace and Jenna were under the protection of Lady Delh''s Academy of Service.

    However, even with the pressure put on by the viscountess the investigation did not start up again.

    Marcus had a feeling that something fishy was going on, since it made no sense for there not to be a deeper investigation into the disappearance of two maids in the service of a noble and with a connection to a long-standing institution.

    ''Something is going on here. Now the only question is if it is rted to me, the academy, or something about the two of them personally."

    Marcus was not sure why exactly they had been targeted, but he knew that he could not just leave them missing, so he nned to do whatever it took to find them.

    "Thank you for telling me this ra and do not worry about he added expenses of the guards, it was the right thing to do. Now first thing tomorrow I will send a letter to the grand archmage and see if she cannot get the investigation going again"

    Hearing this ra''s eyes seemed to brighten up and her shoulders seemed to have a weight lifted off of them.

    "Thank you Lady Irene, I am sure if such a powerful figure gets involved there is no doubt we will find them."

    After that, Marcus told ra to get some rest and that he would go and get started on that letter right away.

 Chapter 253 - 253 Correspondence With The Kidnappers

    As the next day arrived after Marcus and Lilia had returned home, Marcus was seeing Lilia off at the gate as she had to go back to school today, since she had already missed a bit more than two months for their dungeon training expedition.

    "Make sure toe and visit on your next day off okay." Marcus said as he gave a farewell hug to his little sister.

    "Of course, and when I can, I wille and root for you in the kingdom''s tournament." Lilia said, as she left Marcus'' embrace.

    Lilia then got onto the carriage that ra had purchased some time back, along with her personal maid Riley and two of the guards that ra had hired.

    With the disappearance of two of his maids Marcus was not going to take things lightly, so he had upped the security for Lilia by sending two of the guards with her.

    Naturally she also had Aurelia and Zareen who were level twenty-eight and twenty-seven with her, so she should be safe against most threats.

    Waving goodbye Marcus watched Lilia leave, heading back towards the kingdom''s royal academy.

    ''Now I need to contact Aria and hope she can help.''

    Marcus really did not want to bother someone of such a high station with his problem, but he had no leads to go on and it was not like he was some type of detective, so with the trail already three weeks cold, it would take him a miracle to actually fine anything on his own.

    Sitting down in the library Marcus pulled himself up to the nice wooden desk and pulled out a few sheets of paper and began writing.

    He needed to word this letter perfectly since he was asking a huge favor of someone that he really only barely knew, but she did seem to like him well enough.

    After struggling to write a letter that was both informative but did not seem too pushy in his request, over two hours had passed, and Marcus wondered where the time had gone.

    However, as he was about to exit the room and have the letter delivered, ra came into the room while huffing and puffing, obviously having run here at top speed. And in her hands seemed to be a package and a letter.

    "Lady Irene these came for you just a few minutes ago, and the letter says it is from Grace and Jenna, but it is definitely not their handwriting, I believe it is from the abductors."

    With a grave expression Marcus walked over to ra and took the package and letter before saying, "Thank you for brining these to me. I will look them over and after that I will decide on what are next move is."

    Nodding her head ra left this in Marcus'' capable hands knowing that he would be better suited foring up with a solution than she would.

    cing the package and letter down on his desk, Marcus looked at them seriously for a few moments to make sure they were not trapped before first opening up the letter.

    Reading its contents Marcus started to be infuriated by what it said, and he swore that as soon as he found the people responsible, he would kill them in a way befitting their crimes.

    ''Dear Lady Irene Geist,

    I am writing this letter to inform you that my associates and I are currently taking care of two of your maids. We have been trying to get in contact with you for months now, but you have rebuffed all of our advances, so we have invited your maids to stay with us in hopes that you might visit them. Of course, we have made sure that they have stayed in mostly good health but each of them did have an ident in the kitchen. Now onto the business. We are still hoping to make proper business ties with you so we would like to hold a meeting to discuss our future ventures. Now you did also assault and humiliate one of our valued members so we will be looking forpensation there, but after that we can let bygones be bygones. Now if you agree to a meeting with us, please send a letter to the address listed on the back of this letter and then we will get in contact with you about when and where to meet. Also, if you try to involve the authorities in any way we will know, and then we cannot guarantee that your servants will not have any more kitchen idents.

    Sincerely,

    The expansive cold.''

    After finishing reading the letter multiple time Marcus finally turned towards the package and had a sinking feeling he knew what was in there.

    Taking out a knife Marcus opened up the package and the scent of blood immediately assaulted him.

    Looking inside Marcus saw two hands one left and one right, one from both Grace and Jenna.

    Seething with anger Marcus wanted to go out and start blowing things up, but he knew he needed to calm down and think rationally.

    These people wanted something from him, and he could tell that from the color of the hands and the blooding off of them that they had been severed recently meaning that Grace and Jenna were probably still alive.

    And Marcus had found out one other thing from the letter, he now knew who had abducted Grace and Jenna.

    He had seen the ending that had been left before in some of the letters he had found in Viscount Paulsen''s room that were with the criminal organization calling itself Permafrost.

    ''I was hoping to never have to deal with people like this directly, but it looks like they want to pick a fight with me.''

    Calming his rage down Marcus switched tactics from asking for help from the grand archmage to agreeing to the meeting.

    All he needed to do was attend the meeting and devour the soul of the highest-ranking person and he was likely to find where Grace and Jenna were being held.

    He of course felt bad that they had suffered because this organization had their sights set on him, but as long as they were not dead, he could restore their lost hands or any other physical injuries.

    ''Now time to get things going.''

    Marcus quickly wrote up a letter agreeing to meet with them and in it he made sure to sound as docile andpliant as he could be.

    Once that was done, he told the entire staff that he was going out to personally deliver his letter to the grand archmage.

    Naturally all of them tried to get Marcus to take some of the guards with him but he refused saying he would be fine.

    Going to the address that was listed on the back of the letter Marcus made his way back into the outer city and found that it was a small bakery.

    He then followed the directions and ced it in the bottom box of a stack in the alley next to the building.

    With that done Marcus began the trip back to his estate not wanting to stick around since he felt like he was being watched.

    ''I am still not sure why they are after me so vehemently, but I doubt that it is because they found out I killed Poulsen. I suppose that the most likely option is for my skill in forging otherwise I cannot garner what they could want.''

    Getting back to his mansion Marcus waited patiently through the night and the next day throwing himself into work making a number of mithril weapons he nned to sell once this crisis was over.

    Then finally as the sun was setting ra came with another letter for Marcus with a serious expression on her face.

    "Lady Irene, I believe that this letter is from the same person that sent the letter yesterday."

    Putting down his hammer Marcus, walked over to ra, took the letter, and read its contents.

    ''Dear Lady Irene Geist,

    We are most please that you have agreed to our meeting and have not taken any action to find or obstruct us. As promised, we have set up a meeting ce where we can discuss our business. The address is on the back and once there someone will guide you to our meeting ce. Of course, we will know if you try to bring any outside help so, pleasee alone. Also empty your item box beforeing, we will be checking to make sure that it is empty before taking you to the meeting ce. Note that notplying with any of these requests will mean the likelihood of your maids having another ident will increase. The meeting will be held tomorrow after the sun sets, and we are anxiously awaiting you."

    Sincerely,

    The expansive cold.

    After reading this letter Marcus felt like things were going just as nned. As long as no one incredibly strong was at this meeting he could just wipe them all out and find the location of his abducted maids.

    ''They are going to regret harming my maids and making trouble for me.''

 Chapter 254 - 254 Permafrostâ€™s Security

    Continuing to channel his rage towards something productive, Marcus used the mithril he had obtained from the boss chest in the Cordillera Depths to make weapons to sell.

    Even though he had more pressing matter, he could not deal with them right now, so he worked on getting ready for the future.

    Along with the kingdom meeting and the tournament, there was also a number of high-end auctions that would be happening right afterwards, and Marcus needed capital to participate.

    He had spent a good deal of his money to purchase the as of the continent he was on, so his funds were pretty dry.

    Luckily with his skill level he would be able to make some decent money in a short amount of time since powerful weapons were always in demand.

    However, where he nned to make the real money was in the auction itself by selling top tier mithril weapons recognized by the system.

    But eventually it was time for the meeting with the ones that had kidnapped his maids and Marcus turned his focus back towards his new enemies.

    He had yed friendly up to this point in order to get close to them, and as soon as the little mice let the cat in, it would be time tomence the hunt.

    Dumping out all out all of the contents of his item box Marcus then looked towards Roxene who nodded her head and stored away Marcus'' scythe and floating rings in hers.

    Certainly, they had said to empty his item box, but luckily his partner had her own.

    "Okay Roxene stay hidden in mypanion storage unless I give the signal. There is a good chance I will not need you or my weapons but better safe than sorry."

    Roxene then jumped back into Marcus''panion storage and with his preparationsplete he headed out.

    He had told all of his maids and the new guards that he was going out to meet an acquaintance that could help find Jenna and Grace.

    Of course, everyone tried to convince Marcus not to go alone, but he said that he had to and that everything would be fine.

    Walking outside of his gate Marcus began making his way towards the outer city, and when he arrived there went into its depths.

    As he continued towards his destination, he quickly moved into the more seedy parts of the city.

    Luckily Marcus did not have to deal with much trouble, and while a few people began to approach him, as soon as they saw the look on his face and the feeling of death in the air, they backed off.

    Soon Marcus arrived at the destination he had been told to meet at and immediately was assault by a fowl scent.

    The store was a tanner and not a very good one judging by the horrible smell. But Marcus thought that this might have actually been a sound tactic for a criminal enterprise since no guard would ever want to go near something that smelled this bad.

    However, Marcus did note this far to be warded off by a bad smell and fearlessly entered the store.

    Unfortunately, inside the smell was even worse and Marcus was very grateful he was not a human anymore since he felt he would have started throwing up.

    Inside the front room Marcus could not see anyone, but he could hear someone working in the back, and after deploying his life sense found three people sitting in a hidden room.

    Knocking on the counter Marcus heard the sounds of working stop as the person who ran the shop came out from the back to see who was here.

    Looking at the man, Marcus saw that he was missing a number of teeth and had pustules all over his body from infection he had never cleaned.

    The man was the very definition of repulsive and it was certainly a choice by how far he had gone to make himself look appalling.

    "Yes, what can I do for you youngdy." The man said with a voice as pleasant as nails on a chalk board.

    "I am here looking for someone to help me with the cold." Marcus said while keeping a poker face and reciting the code word he had been told to use.

    The gangly old man nodded his head and said, "Sure no problem, someone will be out to help you in a minute.

    After that the old man went back to working on whatever he was doing, leaving Marcus alone.

    Sighing Marcus waited in the stench filled room hoping that whoever was going to lead him to the actual meeting site woulde soon.

    Luckily, he did not have to wait long before one of the guys from the hidden room came out from the back and said, "If you would follow me, we I will take you to your appointment."

    Nodding his head Marcus quietly followed the man into the hidden room that was now open and the other two guys were waiting.

    Once he was inside, the hidden door slid closed and Marcus quickly appraised the three guys.

    ''As I thought they are definitely grunts. Even the highest level one is only fourteen.''

    Now inside the hidden room Marcus wondered what was going to happen next since he did not peg any of these guys to be the mastermind behind Permafrost.

    "Now we need to check you to make sure you do not have any magic devices on you."

    One of the three men then began to pat down Marcus check his pockets and waved some type of rod-shaped magical tool like a metal detector.

    "Okay you are clean. Now open up you item box so we can check to make sure it is empty."

    Complying to their demands Marcus opened his item box and the man pulled out some sort of glowing sphere and put it into Marcus'' item box.

    Then after a minute the sphere forcefully came back out and was glowing blue.

    "Good looks like you followed the orders." The grunt said, with a look of relief.

    From the way he had been dealing with him, Marcus could tell that these grunts knew they were outssed, and that if he wanted, he could kill all three of them at any time.

    However, it was impossible for them to know exactly how strong Marcus was since any obtainable information would have him still at level thirty-five.

    "Now that we have confirmed that you do not have any magic devices or weapons stored on you, I will begin leading you to your meeting with our boss."

    One of the other grunts then pressed a brick into the wall and another secret door opened leading into awork of underground tunnels.

    Seeing this Marcus was actually pretty impressed by the level of security they had gone to, but this must have been what was necessary for them to stay in operation.

    Following one of the grunts into the tunnel, Marcus heard the door close behind him and they were now steeped in total darkness.

    Of course, this did not make a difference to Marcus, but for most people who could not see in the dark it would have been a terrifying experience.

    Going down thework of tunnels, the man leading him took many turns in order to make sure that Marcus was disoriented and would not be able to follow this path again before they made it to a small room far from where they started.

    "This is the end of the line for me. Someone else will be with you to guide you the rest of the way in a few minutes."

    The man then turned around and headed back the way he hade, leaving Marcus in the small room that simply had four doors going in the cardinal directions.

    Waiting for what seemed like quite a while, Marcus could feel that he was under some type of establishment since his life sense was picking up numerous signals above him.

    But eventually he started to feel a signaling from the door leading to the west which promptly opened.

    A man who belonged to the race of people that had four arms and three eyes then opened the door and looked at Marcus.

    Marcus could immediately tell that this neer was far stronger than the grunt that had led him this far.

    This new guy was decked out in high quality armor and had tworge mithril swords on his back.

    ''Level thirty-eight. Looks like they are not ying around anymore.''

    After appraising the guy in front of him, Marcus waited for him to say something, but the man simply turned back around and with his top right hand made a beckoning motion for Marcus to follow.

    Doing just that, Marcus walked behind the man but soon after he did, he heard a quiet clicking sound and the telepathic connection he had with Roxene was severed.

    This surprised Marcus greatly because he was not expecting them to do something like this, but it did make since once he thought about it.

    Luckily even though they could not send messages anymore through telepathy, the connection between the two was still intact so they could still feel the others emotional state, so Roxene knew Marcus was not in any trouble.

    Continuing through thebyrinthine underground system that Permafrost was using, after many twists and turns and one revolving room, the man leading him finally stopped in front of arge door.

    The four-armed man then fumbled around with a set of keys before unlocking the door and opening it to reveal avish room.

    Marcus was then beckoned into the room and inside he saw two couches facing each other and on the closest couch he could see the back of two people''s heads who were sitting down.

    In the room was also six other high-level men and women visibly acting as guards with four more hidden in the ceiling and none of them were below level thirty-five and the highest was forty.

    As Marcus walked into the room one of the men sitting at the couch turned around and said, "Ah it is good to see that you have arrived without issue, please go ahead take a seat on the couch across from us."

 Chapter 255 - 255 Deadly Meeting

    Taking a seat on the couch facing the two men who were representing Permafrost, Marcus immediately recognized one of them as the man who had been harassing one of his maids and gotten in his way while demanding a meeting.

    Rage began to build up in him upon seeing this man once again, since now he knew that it was this petty bastard that had been the one to have his maids kidnapped.

    "I see so you were working for Permafrost. I am surprised that such an ipetent person seems to have a high rank in your organization." Marcus said with a sneer on his face.

    Nearly frothing at the mouth Ryker, the man who Marcus had just insulted stood up and yelled in a fury, "You bitch, do you think you will get away with humiliating me again. You are lucky that I have not already had my men kill you and everyone you care about for the disrespect you have shown me."

    Ryker was about to continue on his ranting, when the other man who was far cooler and more collected, and also most certainly the one in charge here said, "Ryker sit down and stop embarrassing yourself. She is obviously trying to goad you into causing a scene. We are here for a negotiation not to antagonize each other."

    Hearing this from his boss, Ryker quickly calmed down but when he saw the smug smile on Marcus'' face, he nearly lost his temper again. But feeling the cold gaze on his back from his boss sat back down.

    The man in charge then turned his attention back towards Marcus and said, "I suppose that introductions are in order, you may call me Obadiah, and as you have surmised, we are part of Permafrost, though I am honestly surprised you knew of us."

    Obadiah after giving a slight bow to Marcus began speaking again, leading the conversation.

    "Now before we get down to business would you like some refreshments. We have tea and any number of pastries, though if you wished for wine and cheese that could also be provided." Obadiah said like a perfect gentleman.

    Without any hesitation Marcus responded saying, "I certainly would not mind some tea and cookies if at possible, and whatever vors you have would be fine."

    Obadiah was actually surprised to hear how readily Marcus epted his offer, since most people in his situation would be wary of being poisoned.

    ''She acts as if she is the one in control even though she has followed all of our demands and is now surrounded by people of the same or higher level. Has she already decided to give in to any demands we put forth?''

    Understandably Obadiah was confused by Marcus'' demeanor, by all rights he should be the one on the backfoot, yet he was acting as if he had already won.

    Of course, Marcus had reasons to be confident since none of the people here actually knew how strong he was, and even without his equipment he was far stronger than they could handle.

    Soon the refreshments that Marcus had asked for were put in front of him, and he immediately began to drink the tea and eat the cookies without fear.

    Naturally even if the items had been poisoned, they would have no effect on Marcus anyway, so he was doing this more as a means to assert his dominance.

    After taking a long sip Marcus put his tea down and looked at Obadiah and said, "I feel much better now, so how about we discuss my two maids that you have been taking care of. I would very much like to see that they are alive before we begin making any deals."

    Shaking his head Obadiah said, "I am afraid we cannot do that. They are quite far from here and it would take too much time to go and see them. Now I believe we have beaten around the bush long enough. The reason we have wanted to get in contact with you is because we want you to make weapons for us."

    Hearing this, it was what Marcus had been expecting. Making weapons was pretty much the only thing he was known for that would make him the target of an organization like Permafrost. His noble status was low, and he had almost no connections so that certainly could not be the reason, and if they knew how strong he was then their security would have been ten times higher.

    "And why would you go through all of this trouble just to have me make weapons for you. There are certainly plenty of other talented foragemaster that are better than me." Marcus said fishing for the reason he had been targeted.

    "You are selling yourself short Lady Irene. You are the apprentice of the greatest foragemaster in the kingdom, and have even made two swords that have received the system''s approval, putting you as one of the top twenty in the capital no."

    Obadiah then pulled out a mithril sword Marcus had made some time ago, before he had even been epted as Thabon''s apprentice and said, "This sword is of quite fine quality with enchantments that conduct mana well and a de that is as sharp as theye. And this was something you made before bing Thabon''s apprentice so we know your skills must have increased even further."

    Obadiah then swung the sword through a nearbymp cutting straight through it with no resistance as if to show off how much he liked the sword Marcus had made.

    "Now of course you are not the only foragemaster we have approached but you are the one with the best skills that is not already apart of some organization or the other, the only free agent so to speak. Having someone like you in our ranks would be a great boon so we have had to be a bit forceful and hasty since the current opportunity to use your skills ising to its peak. Let me ask you how much do you know about the situation happening in the kingdom to the south?"

    During their conversation Marcus had kept his cool the entire time, but his expression reflexively changed at Obadiah''sst question, since he had no idea why he was bringing up the kingdom to the south of Borealia.

    "No, I barely keep tabs on what is going on in this kingdom, so I have no idea what is going on in the one south of here." Marcus said with a curious expression.

    "I see so you do not know. Currently there are rising tensions in the Kingdom Tralenstein, and it seems that civil war is likely to break out any day now. So of course, as the leader of Permafrost in charge of weapons, armor, munitions, and the like, I cannot waste this chance. That is where youe in. The current rulers of Tralenstein are paying quite a bit more than normal market price for high quality mithril weapons and armor and having someone to make specific items for us to sell at a high price would be optimal. I can promise you it is a good deal, and you will make a considerable profit as well. We will supply all of the raw materials and all you have to do is to make the items requested."

    After giving his pitch to Marcus, Obadiah gave him a look that was saying "not a bad deal right", but Marcus never had any ns to join them no matter what.

    However, before Marcus started voicing hisints to antagonize Obadiah, Ryker spoke up and said, "Sir you forgot about to mention my retribution for the way she humiliated me."

    Ryker then gave a hateful look over to Marcus who had nearly forgotten that he was there.

    "Yes, I guess I did promise you something like that." Obadiah said while recalling his earlier conversation with Ryker.

    Sighing Obadiah looked towards Marcus and said, "You see I personally raised Ryker here up to the station of an executive, so you having shamed him in front of his subordinates, also makes me look poorly. We cannot have those at a lower rank looking down on Ryker here, so for your rpense you will be tied up andshed by Ryker while his subordinates watch."

    At this point Marcus was pretty much done. They wanted to tie him up and whip him as a show of dominance, like hell that was ever going to happen.

    Even just thinking about how ridiculous this sounded Marcus startedughing before saying, "And what if I refuse. Certainly, you have taken two of my maids hostage, but do you think that I care enough about them to humiliate myself like that and be under your heel. I have no real reason to work with you."

    Nodding his head Obadiah seemed to agree with what Marcus was saying before responding and saying, "Yes, it is a stretch to expect you to acquiesce to all of our demands simply because we took a couple of your maids hostage, and really we are surprised you even agreed to this meeting. Of course, that is why we currently have someone extending an invitation to your little sister."

    Hearing this Marcus'' aura changed from yful to dead serious in an instant, and the room''s temperature began to drop rapidly, and it seemed as if all of the light was being drained from the room.

    Ice crystals soon began to form on the couch Marcus was sitting on and many of the guards pulled out their weapons to attack, but Obadiah raised his hand to stop them and then said, "Lady Irene there is no need for any hostilities. As long as you agree to our proposal and sign a binding contract, your little sisters stay with us will be brief and pleasant."

    Calming himself down Marcus knew that losing control of himself would not help anyone, and he was now getting the information he wanted by having this conversation at all.

    He had made himself seem weak and vulnerable so that they would reveal their ns to him, and Obadiah had just tipped his hand, so it was time to fish for more answers.

    "Do you honestly think I would believe such an obvious bluff. My sister is attending the kingdom''s royal academy and I doubt you will be able to get by their security."

    Shaking his head Obadiah said, "Even though that is true, do you honestly think that we do not have agents inside the academy already. Your sister is likely already on her way to the same location as your maids at this point."

    Seeing the confident expression on Obadiah''s face Marcus could tell he was not bluffing, they really had sent someone after Lilia.

    However, thinking about it rationally Marcus knew that Lilia was not so easy to capture and that they were likely to underestimate her because she was a young girl.

    ''I need to have faith in the strength Lilia has obtained. However, I cannot waste any more time probing these guys, time to finish the job.''

    Now that he was sure about why they wanted him to join them, as well as that the person sitting across from him was actually an important member of Permafrost, Marcus stood up and said, "Well as much as I have enjoyed your hospitality is time for you all to die."

 Chapter 256 - 256 Deadly Meeting (2)

    Having stood up and dered that he was going to kill everyone in the room, Obadiah was stunned, since from his perspective Marcus was the one caught in their trap with no way out.

    Marcus was here alone and surrounded by armed guards on all sides that were the same if not higher level from Obadiah''s knowledge.

    This just did not make any sense from his point of view, but since this was how things were going, he could only sigh and say, "Go ahead and restrain her, it looks like we will be doing this hard way."

    Obadiah had been hoping to get Marcus'' consent since torturing people into submission normally made their work sloppier, but this was the choice Marcus was forcing him to make.

    However, as the seven guards in the room and the four above pulled out their weapons and got ready to apprehend Marcus, they all felt a sudden sense of danger.

    In just an instance the tendrils of shadow Marcus had already hidden next to each of the guards sprang into action ensnaring many of them who were too slow to react.

    Nevertheless, these guards were pretty high level and the three strongest on the ground managed to evade Marcus'' initial attack.

    They then began running towards him, weapons now trained to kill.

    Wham!

    The strongest of the guards mmed onto the floor as she felt a suffocating force smothering her as Marcus'' phantom pressure restrained her.

    The other two guards continued to advance and having closed the distance they swung their weapons aiming to kill Marcus.

    Yet before either of them could hit him, Marcus fired hisser spell right between the eyes of the oneing at him from the left and used lightning bind to restrain the oneing from his right.

    In just a few seconds Marcus had naturalized every one of the guards in the room, leaving both Obadiah and Ryker stunned.

    What they had seen was unreal and they were both wondering if it was some type of illusion.

    However, Obadiah quickly regained his senses and yelled up towards the ceiling expecting his hidden men to descend and attack Marcus.

    And hope began to fill his eyes when he saw movement from above, but it was quickly dashed as he saw the dried-up corpses of his four men fall from the ceiling.

    Both Obadiah and Ryker looked at Marcus in terror. They had no idea what kind of ability he had used to kill those four men, but seeing them as dried up husks of their former selves was beyond horrifying.

    "Do you think you will get away with this. If you continue any further, I can guarantee you that Permafrost will not rest until you and everyone you care about are dead." Obadiah said with whatever bravado he could muster.

    He was ying hisst card hoping that Marcus would be afraid to start a fight with their entire criminal organization.

    Unfortunately for him, Marcus had been prepared for that from the start, and simply smiled before saying, "If I was afraid of your organization do you think I would havee to this meeting alone and unarmed? No from the very start I nned to kill everyone here. You can simply me your own arrogance for thinking you could get away with angering me."

    Then as a show of further supremacy Marcus drained the life out of the remaining four guards wrapped up in his tendrils of shadows until they were nothing but dried up corpses.

    At this point, panic overtook Ryker who began to run towards the exit in hopes of escaping Marcus.

    Yet right as he was about to open the door, he felt himself being yanked back with great force before being mmed into the back of the couch he had been sitting on.

    Ryker then felt his body being lifted up as Marcus'' spectral arm brought him forward until the man was right in front of him.

    "Please spare me. I was wrong to have your maids kidnapped, I promise I will tell you exactly where they are, just don''t kill me." Ryker said pleading for is life.

    However, in response Marcus just put on his most monstrous grin before saying, "Sorry there is nothing you can do or say that will save your life at this point."

    "No, wait, I have money lots of money. If you have mercy on me, I will give you everything I have." Ryker said as he began crying.

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Okay I will show mercy if you tell me the location of my maids and give me all of the money you have. So first the location that you have my maids, and then where all of your money is."

    Ryker then gave Marcus detailed instruction on where to find the prison that his maids were located at and where his residence was along with a secret entrance and the ce where his safe was located.

    "Well thank you for being so forting and maybe in your next life you will not be such scum."

    After saying that Marcus had three of his shadow tendrils wrap around Ryker who frantically said, "I told you what you wanted to know, you said you would let me live."

    Shaking his head Marcus replied saying, "No I said I would have mercy. Now you will it least die with your soul still intact. Anyways I am grateful for your cooperation since I really did not want to have to eat your grimy soul."

    Marcus then had his tendrils of shadows squeeze around Ryker until he popped like a balloon causing blood and organs to spray all over the room, though Marcus protected himself with a mana barrier.

    With one more pest now dead Marcus turned his attention back towards Obadiah who had frozen in fear.

    He was a man who had always gotten what he wanted, was someone to be feared for his position, so he had never experienced this level of overwhelming dread.

    He wanted to run but seeing what had happened to Ryker he was certain that running would be futile.

    While he was not weak at level twenty-four, he was definitely not a fighter, he had always had subordinates to do that for him.

    Yet seeing the overwhelming power Marcus had was enough to scare him to his vary core, and looking at the mithril sword he had in his hand he knew there was only one way out.

    So far Marcus had caused everyone in the room a gruesome and horrifying death and Obadiah had no intention of going out that way.

    Thus, he pointed the sword towards his throat and thrust nning to take his life on his own terms.

    However, as he braced himself for the searing pain followed by death, nothing came, and he realized that the sword was no long in his hands but in Marcus''.

    "Sorry, but I cannot let you kill yourself. Yours is the only soul that I definitely have to devour for information. I would say you could me your bad luck in the next life, but you will not be having one."

    Locking his hand around Obadiah''s throat Marcus began to devour his soul.

    It was a messy process as he sundered the soul from the body it inhabited before the tattered remains were absorbed by Marcus.

    "Ughhhh."

    Dealing with the bacsh of absorbing Obadiah''s soul, he felt his feelings of greed and indulgence while reliving portions the vile man''s life.

    However, the information about Permafrost her gained from devouring Obadiah''s soul was worth having to deal with the negative effects of his skill.

    ''To think they would be this deeply rooted into the kingdom. But it does not matter,e tomorrow I will have their entire organization toppled.''

    With a n topletely destroy Permafrost already forming in his mind, Marcus suddenly felt a sense of dangering from behind him.

    Casting his radiance scales spell Marcus felt the shimmering barrier activate as the guard he had restrained with lightning bind had managed to get free and attack him.

    Unfortunately, his spear thrust only cracked through one of the shimmering scales protecting Marcus beforeing to a dead stop.

    "What kind of monster are you?" The guard said in terror.

    Hisst hope had been dashed when Marcus blocked his sneak attack, and after watching everything Marcus had done, there was no doubt in his mind that before him was a monster.

    Humans could not drain the life out of people or devour their souls, that was something that belonged to the realm of monsters.

    Looking at the guard with cold eyes, Marcus responded saying, "I''m the monster? I am not the one that kidnaps people''s maids or little sisters. I am not the one that sells weapons to tyrannical rulers so that they can ughter their people by the thousands. I am not the one that hooks people on deadly drugs. I am not the one who rips families asunder killing the old and men while selling the children and women. Yes, I may be a monster, but it is all of you who have lost your humanity."

    After devouring Obadiah''s soul Marcus'' emotional state was in turmoil.

    He had learned plenty of useful things but now he also knew of some of the darkest secrets that Permafrost had.

    Now he knew that it was them that Ander had been working for. His little band was just one of many roving parties that went to remote areas and kidnapped people for the illegal ve trade.

    With rage in his eyes Marcus pulled back his right hand and shed forward casting his des of darkness spell.

    Five des began flying towards the guard that had freed himself from Marcus'' restraint, and with all of his skills and techniques he did his best to block Marcus'' attack.

    Nevertheless, the difference between them was too great, and after blocking three of the five des the remaining two sliced through him.

    One of the des sliced through his left arm while the other sliced deep into his side cutting through his right lung and causing blood to begin gushing out of his side.

    The guard copsed to the floor in horrible pain as his body lost blood at an rming rate and the corroding properties of the darkness magic ate away at him.

    Soon he sumbed to the pain and blood loss, as life left his eyes, and he was finally able to find relief from hisst few agonizing moments.

    Turning towards the only remaining guard who was alive, Marcus saw her trying to get up and fight against his phantom pressure, but even just keeping her head up was all she could manage.

    Walking over to her, Marcus could see the look of fear on her face, but for him everyone here was scum not worth worrying about.

    So, thinking she as the strongest guard here might have some useful information, Marcus activated his soul devour and began to eat her soul.

    However, unlike Obadiah who was much weaker than him, this guard put up quite the fight her soul not being easily rended from her body.

    Yet in the end her resistance was futile as after a battle of the spirt thatsted a minute Marcus devoured her soul.

    Reliving some of the most memorable moments from the woman''s soul he had just devoured, Marcus fell to his knees as her painful life yed out in his mind.

    He saw her with a loving family only for her husband and son to be killed by a noble for standing up to them about their unjust treatment of the people.

    She then spent her years wallowing in despair before joining Permafrost and working her way up the ranks as an enforcer until she was able to have the noble that had taken her family away killed.

    ''Damn it damn it damn it.''

    This was the first time Marcus had devoured two souls in such quick session and the aftereffects were making him a bit unstable.

    Ripping out and integrating a portion of someone''s soul into his own was not easy and he was now having to deal with price of his power.

    ''Marcus get ahold of yourself.''

    Hearing the voice of his partner, Marcus came to his senses and pushed the cacophony of emotions and memories he had just absorbed into the back of his mind.

    He then rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes to sort out everything that was now swirling around inside him.

    Taking a good five minutes, Marcus was able to get himself back under control and telepathically said to Roxene, ''Thanks for your help back there, I am doing better now so no need to worry.''

    After sending that message Marcus got up and began to collect the items and magic bags off of everyone in the room, before rifling around the room and gathering anything of value.

 Chapter 257 - 257 Abducting Lilia!?

    (This chapter is not from Marcus'' POV)

    Just before Marcus started his meeting and subsequent ughter of the of the Permafrost members, a handsome man in histe thirties was walking towards the dormitories of the first-year students of the royal academy.

    This man was going by the name was Avery Tucker, a son low on the totem pole for a small noble family in the country, but with a great drive and talent.

    And through his hard work he had be one of the academies most popr and aplished professors.

    At level thirty-six he was one of the strongest professors in the academy and his charisma made him popr with the students and other staff.

    However, under his perfect teacher faced was a cold ruthless man whopleted some of the vilest jobs that Permafrost needed done.

    He had been ced in the royal academy three years ago, and during his time he had ckmailed other staff, kidnapped the children off problematic nobles, and when necessary, killed people under the orders of Permafrost.

    He was a man that worked only for the goals of his organization and could be said to be one of their perfect tools.

    Then a couple of days ago he had received a priority order from one of permafrost''s leaders to kidnap the sister of a noble they were currently "negotiating" with.

    It was all pretty standard for Avery, just another mission. He first collected the student''s information, learning her name, room location, schedule, and the status on file with the school.

    ''It says she is level fifteen at only elven. Though apparently her sister recently took her out of school for thest two months for a training expedition. She is a bit stronger than the other brats her age so I should be a bit more cautious.''

    Always a careful man, Avery did not n to leave anything to chance. He of course knew he was stronger than a little girl of age eleven, but he was one of the best because he always nned carefully and was always sessful.

    Unfortunately, he did not have much time since he had been ordered to finish the mission just after sunset the very next day, but he made sure to observe Lilia as much as he could, and he was actually quite astounded.

    The way she fought inbat practice was leagues above any other student in the academy, even those just a step away from graduating and Avery could tell she was holding back.

    He was not sure if even he could beat her in a one-on-one fight, and he wondered how she had gotten so strong in only two months.

    However, even as strong as she was, Avery had a number of tricks up his sleave to deal with people like her, and he rarely got into direct fights anyways.

    Thus, he had essed his hidden stores on the campus and pulled out a number of vials of different paralytic poisons, and one very powerful sleeping agent.

    With his n set and his supplies gathered, Avery got to work. First slipping into the kitchen and bribing the usual server he worked with to put the sleeping agent into Lilia''s food.

    Of course, he had actually been in disguise as another one of the school''s professors when doing this so nothing could be traced back to him.

    After that he waited for Lilia to finish her meal and head back to the dorm, but unfortunately, she did not go alone but a group of friends went with her.

    Sighing Avery discreetly followed them and watched as the girl who was his target started yelling at a young half elf boy who had a guilty look on his face.

    Avery then had to watch forty minutes of preteen drama he did not care to see until the group of friends his target was with, seemed to make up and go to get ice creams at the shop on campus.

    Watching this Avery wondered how Lilia could not be getting sleepy at this point.

    Certainly, the dosage he had given was not too high so as to not have her crash face first into her te, but it still should have made her unbearably tired by this point.

    He wondered if the server he had bribed had not put the drug into her food, or maybe the ipetent fool had put it in someone else''s dinner.

    However, Avery was a professional and he still had back up ns, all he needed to do was wait for the right moment.

    Luckily his chance came an hourter, when his target finally returned to her dorm room alone.

    It was now a little past the deadline he had been given, so he sped up his approach a bit and hiding in a hallway next to Lilia''s dorm, rolled a small pebble on a wire into her room.

    But this was no ordinary pebble, and it was in fact a magical device that allowed him to peer through it.

    Looking into Lilia''s room he was surprised to see that she was still awake and had not already passed out, but time was already running out.

    So, taking out arge vial and handling it carefully, Avery ced it under Lilia''s door and pulled the cork out by string it was attached to.

    The liquid in the vial now being exposed to air began to turn into a colorless and odorless gas that would fill up the room and paralyze Lilia.

    Of course, Avery felt a bit bad to have to use such a precious poison, because it was quite hard toe by since it had to be harvested from a powerful and deadly monster that likes to eat its prey alive after paralyzing them.

    Sliding a mask over his face, Avery was going to take no chance that he might breathe in some of the paralytic gas, and closely watched the other side of the door for Lilia to stop moving.

    However, as the gas filled the room Lilia''s danger sense started going off like crazy and she began looking around for the source of the sudden danger, but finding nothing began the chant for a spell.

    "Kic Search."

    Casting the tier three spell Lilia mmed her foot into the floor and a signal was sent out simr to sonar or echolocation, but instead of sending sound waves it sent out pure force.

    Getting a read of her surroundings Lilia now knew that there was a man on the other side of her door and that he had slipped multiple items under her door, one of which was an open vial emitting some type of gas.

    However, as Lilia was about to charge the door, she felt her body starting to seize up as the paralytic poison began to take effect.

    Seeing the poison finally start to take effect Avery let out an internal sigh of relief.

    He had been surprised by his target''s reaction time, noticing the poison as soon as it began to enter the room, and having enough time to get off a quick spell.

    But now that the poison had entered her system, she would soon copse unable to move, and she would be at Avery''s mercy.

    Yet as she staggered a bit, her body began to sweat expelling the poison and her breathing became shallower as her body adjusted to not take in as much of the paralytic gas.

    Avery''s eyes went wide seeing this but how could he know that Lilia''s unique skill peerless physique made her highly resistant to poisons.

    "Control Impact."

    mming into the door Lilia used her tier one spell to smash it off of its hinges, and Avery who had been behind it just a moment ago had just managed to dodge out of the way jumping back ten feet down the hall.

    Staring at the man that had just tried to poison her, Lilia wondered who he might be and why he was targeting her.

    "Force Cannon."

    Firing off her tier two spell, Lilia watched as the man twisted his body around in the narrow hallway just avoiding her spell, which continued flying before sting a hole in the wall at the end of the hall.

    At the same time Avery had tossed three knifes coated in venom at Lilia, but right as the were about to hit her, a suit of mithril scale mail formed around her.

    Clicking his tongue, Avery had no idea how things had gone so awry. This kid seemed to be resistant to the paralytic poison as well as strong enough to give him major trouble. And not only that, now they had made a scene and it would only be a few moments before others came to investigate.

    Nevertheless, Avery had never failed a job and he was not about to start now. It did not matter if he could nevere back here after being discovered. or if he had to kill dozens of people in his escape. All that mattered waspleting the job, so that was what he was going to do.

    Taking out his favored weapon a mithril dagger that had a slot in the handle to store venoms, Avery charged Lilia going all in to capture her.

 Chapter 258 - 258 Lilia Vs Avery

    Lilia seeing Averying at her with a dagger tightened her fighting stance and got ready to counterattack.

    Dodging Avery''s first blow Lilia turned on the tops of her toes and sent a right jab for his exposed side, hoping to smash him into the hallway wall.

    Yet Avery was no slouch either and bending his body at an unnatural angle with incredibly agility just managed to avoid Lilia''s strike and counterattack.

    Bringing his dagger down, Avery sliced at Lilia''s exposed hand that was not protected by her armor nning to take her whole hand off.

    However, as his de hit her skin it was repelled as if she was made of diamonds, and only the smallest scratch appeared on her skin.

    Seeing this Avery''s eyes went wide, but he had no time to digest what he had just seen as Lilia brought up her left leg to kick him away.

    Putting his arms in front of his body and leaning back Avery allowed the kick to push him back while dispersing the force.

    Flying back over a dozen feet, Avery managed to take minimal damage from Lilia''s kick even though her stats were definitively higher than his.

    This was the difference in battle experience they had, since while Lilia had plenty of familiarity fighting beasts and monsters, she had never had a true all-out battle with another person.

    ''It should only take a few more seconds.'' Avery thought.

    Even though his dagger had not done nearly as much damage as he thought it would, it was coated in a very powerful venom that normally even one drop would be enough to kill even someone at level fifty.

    Except Lilia was not just anyone and her unique skill quickly sealed up the small scratch and ejected the venom from her body.

    Seeing this Avery was now certain he had no chance of winning.

    He knew he could never physically overpower Lilia, and if his best weapon poison did not work on her, then his only option was retreat.

    Unfortunately, he took too long to analyze the situation and with the brief pause in their fight, Lilia had pulled out her best gauntlets prioritizing her safety over keeping the power of her gear hidden.

    ''Shit.''

    Seeing the top tier mithril gauntlets that Lilia had just equipped, Avery immediately began running down the hall to escape.

    He hated that he would have to abandon his mission and break his perfect record, but he was no good to Permafrost dead or captured, so retreat was his only option.

    However, Lilia was not going to let the man that had just attacked her go and began chasing after him, and with her far higher stats Lilia soon was gaining on Avery.

    Seeing this Avery dropped a smoke bomb behind him to cover his escape, but as the smoke began to fill the hallway and he was about to round the corner he heard Lilia finish a spell.

    "Force Wave."

    An instantter arge st of force flew out from Lilia''s fist expanding through the hallway causing it to shake and crack before mming into Avery.

    Yet Avery had just barely deployed a magical item that created a barrier in front of him, which took just enough of the spell''s power to leave him rtively unharmed.

    Unfortunately, the spell still pushed him against the hallway''s wall which was now crumbling after taking the power of Lilia''s tier four spell.

    In fact, if not for Avery''s barrier creating item taking the brunt of Lilia''s spell, she may have taken down part of the building.

    mmed up against a crumbling wall Avery tried to make his way towards the nearby window he had spotted just down the bend in the hall, but as he recovered his bnce his danger sense went off again.

    Putting up his arms in a defense posture Avery blocked Lilia''s punch with his arms.

    Crack!

    A sickening sound resounded in Avery''s ears and an intense wave of pain followed as even with the defensive capabilities of his cloak and its mithril threaded cloth his arms were both shattered by Lilia''s attack.

    However, that was not all the power behind the attack, as Lilia''s punch smashed him through the already damaged wall and flying outside.

    Falling towards the ground from three stories up, Avery did his best to position himself tond on his feet, but with his shattered arms and ruptured organs from Lilia''s full powered punch he slipped over and crashed into the ground worsening his injuries.

    By some miracle though Avery was still alive and conscious, and removing one of the false teeth he had, crushed the capsule hidden inside that contained a powerful healing potion.

    Of course, the potion was only a small dose, so it did note close to fully restoring him, but it did heal him enough to no longer be in danger of dying.

    Using his left arm which was slightly less damaged than the other, Avery bared through the pain and opened up the magic bag tied to his belt to get another healing potion.

    Unfortunately, as he did, two golden lion cubs jumped out of the nearby bushes and pincered him from two sides.

    Avery did not know where they hade from, but if he had waited one more day to gather information, he would have found that Lilia had just registered these two as her beastpanions.

    Hoping that the two magical beasts were just curious, Avery took a healing potion and tried to drink it, but before he could Aurelia swatted it out of his hands shattering the potion.

    Naturally, Lilia had already updated the two of them as to what was happening, and as intelligent beasts, they were not about to allow someone that tried to harm their master get away.

    Resigning himself, Avery knew that it was only a matter of time before he was found, so moving his tongue in his mouth aimed to pull out the false tooth that contained a capsule of deadly poison and kill himself.

    Except as he moved his tongue to where the tooth should have been, it was gone having been knocked out when Lilia smashed him through the wall.

    Frantically he tired to pull out any of the other lethal poisons he kept on his person, but Zareen came over and picked up his magic bag in her mouth while Aurelia removed his belt and dragged it away.

    Gritting his teeth Avery forced himself to stand up even though he was still horribly injured, and his body felt like it was on fire.

    "Hey, you there what are you doing here."

    Looking over Avery saw six of the academy''s guards running over, obviously alerted by themotion that his and Lilia''s battle had caused.

    Looking at the guards Avery though up a quick ploy that had a chance of getting him out of this mess.

    "Please help me. On of the students is attacking me and she has sicked her beastpanions after me." Avery said with a hoarse voice as he coughed up some blood and pulled down his hood to show the guards his face.

    Luckily a couple of them recognized him and the lead guard said, "Professor Avery?!... What is going on here?"

    The guards then began looking around at what was going on.

    The first year''s dormitory looked like it was partially falling apart and in front of them was a well-respected professor bloody and battered surrounded by two golden lion cubs.

    It was all very bizarre and none of them had ever experienced anything like this since working at the academy that was normally considered a cushy easy job.

    Then a momentter Lilia ran up onto the scene and seeing the guards said, "That man just attacked me arrest him."

    Hearing this now the guards were receiving different messages and were not sure who was telling the truth.

    Normally they would have believed the professor, but he was dressed up in a jet-ck cloak and what appeared to be the broken remains of a mask could still be seen around his neck.

    But on the other side Lilia was wearing top tier armor and weapons that made her look like one of the kingdom''s elite knights which made no sense for a student.

    "Okay both of you stay put. We are going to take the two of you in and get to the bottom of this."

    With no clear picture of who exactly was the perpetrator the head guard had no other option but to detain both of them.

    Yet Lilia who did not know why the guards wanted to arrest her as well said, "What do you mean take me in. I am one of this school''s students and that man is an intruder that attacked me in my room."

    Naturally Lilia was confused, from her perspective Avery was obviously suspicious and there was no reason for the guards to want to take her in.

    "Miss this man here is one of the academies esteemed professors, and he says you attacked him. Now we need both of you toe with us to get the bottom of this so if you are innocent juste quietly and everything will be resolved." The highest-ranking guard said trying to get the situation under control.

    Now understanding the whole situation Lilia stood down and began putting her weapons and armor away allowing the guards to do their job.

    She had done nothing wrong so Lilia was certain that the truth woulde out and her attacker would be found guilty.

    Of course, Avery knew this as well and under a detailed investigation he was sure to be found out.

    However, he was far too injured to run so his only hope was that his organization would value him enough to bail him out.

    Thus, the two of them were taken into custody as the entire poption of the academy woke up to find out what the hugemotion was going on at the first year''s dormitory.

 Chapter 259 - 259 Permafrostâ€™s Downfall

    After having searched the room, he had his meeting and subsequent ughter of the Permafrost members, Marcus had collected a number of documents about Permafrost''s business and a few pouches of precious gems and money that had been in a hidden safe.

    In fact, this was Obadiah''s personal meeting room where he conducted the majority of his business for his branch of Permafrost, so the number of incriminating documents and amount money was quite high.

    With everything he needed from the room now collected, Marcus went into his ghost form and floated up.

    Now that he had devoured the soul of Obadiah and the high-ranking guard whose name was Mara, Marcus knew exactly where he was.

    Currently he was under a high-ss bar that catered to wealthy merchants or low-ranking nobles, that was located just a stone''s toss away from the inner wall.

    Of course, it was just a front for Permafrost to do their elicit business.

    But for now, Marcus was more worried about Lilia than anything else, and as soon as he made it to the surface he reappeared and began running towards the royal academy.

    He was nearly certain now that he had some of Obadiah''s memories that Lilia would be fine since he knew who was after her, but he had to make sure first.

    ''Blitz I need you to leave the estate and meet up with me. I need to get to the royal academy as fast as possible so no holding back on your speed, run as fast as you can.''

    Receiving Marcus'' message, Blitz shot out of the stable moving at an incredible speed and leaving the guards and maids who saw him jump over the gate dumbfounded.

    Running down the streets with his full speed, Marcus rushed past dozens of other people creating a gust of wind behind him.

    In fact, some guards even began to getint reports about some mad person running around, and others of an unmanned beast going at incredible speeds.

    However, soon the two speedy nuisances for the other inhabitants of the city met up, and Marcus jumped up onto Blitz who shot off down the streets towards the royal academy.

    Marcus even pumped his legs of light and lightning strider spell into Blitz allowing him to move even faster.

    Of course, normally Marcus could have just flown which would have gotten him to his destination faster, but unlike Loursend, the capital heavily restricted flight, so Marcus was sticking to the ground so as to not have the militarye down on him.

    With Blitz''s extreme speed it was not long before Marcus could see the academy, and without even waiting for Blitz to stop Marcus jumped off his back and barreled towards the entrance.

    Naturally there were a number of guards outside and they were on high alert because of the incident that had just happened within the first year''s dormitory.

    So, as they saw this figure running up to them with incredible speed, they all braced themselves to deal with the intruder.

    However, a few dozen feet before he would have run into the guards Marcus slowed himself down and said to them, "I am Baress Irene Geist, and my sister Lilia Geist attends this school as a first year, I need to make sure she is alright."

    "I am sorry Lady Geist, but we have been ordered to keep anyone from going in or out without permission from the headmaster or the royal family. I understand you must be worried about your sister but please remain calm and we will let you in to see her when everything is resolved."

    Yet as Marcus was about to just decide to sneak in, one of the other guards came up to the captain that had stopped Marcus and whispered in his ear, "Sir, I believe that the student involved in this incident is named was Lilia Geist."

    The guard captain''s eyes then went wide as he looked at Marcus again and said, "Wait just a moment while I contact the headmaster."

    Pulling out a sending stone like the one Marcus had seen Mrazivy use in the past, the guard captain whispered something into it and waited a moment for a reply before turning to Marcus and saying, "Lady Geist please follow me. Your sister was at the heart of this incident and the headmaster wishes to speak to you."

    Having already expected that Lilia was at the center of the incident that had taken ce on the campus, Marcus nodded his head and followed the guard hoping that Lilia was okay.

    Following the guard, Marcus was soon brought before the headmaster of the academy who had a troubled look on his face.

    "So, you are Lady Irene and the sister of Lilia. I must say you arrived here with impable timing; it has only been slightly more than thirty minutes since the incident happened." The headmaster said in a probing manner.

    Of course, it seemed suspicious to him that the sister of one of the two perpetrators for tonight''smotion had arrived mere minutes after.

    "Yes, I found out that she was being targeted so I rushed right over. Now if you would not mind, I would like to see her to make sure she is not hurt."

    Shaking his head the headmaster said, "That will not be possible right now. We are still sorting things out and there is the possibility that your sister justmitted a number of grave crimes. Luckily no one has ended up dead, but she is under suspicion of assaulting a professor and she heavily damaged the first year''s dormitory. Now you said that you found out your sister was being targeted, do you have any proof of that."

    Unfortunately, Marcus had no concrete proof that would show that Permafrost had been targeting Lilia, but he could at least tell what he knew and hope that it would help.

    "No, I do not have any proof, but I was just being strong-armed by a group calling themselves Permafrost to join them, and they already kidnapped some of my servants and said they would do the same to my sister."

    "Permafrost!" The headmaster said with astonishment.

    Naturally as a high-ranking member of the kingdom he had heard of the criminal group that worked within their borders, but he never thought they would be brought up during this incident.

    However, as if everything started to put itself together the headmaster remembered certain incidents thinking about Professor Avery and his involvement in them.

    "That bastard."

    Connecting the dots from numerous incidents in the past. While individually they had seemed minor or other perpetrators were found, the headmaster could now only think that Avery had been behind any number of the students that suddenly dropped out ormitted "suicide".

    Storming off, the headmaster made a beeline for the room they had locked Avery in while Marcus and the guard that had escorted him followed.

    mming the door to the room open the headmaster saw Avery chained to a table drinking another healing potion to fully restore the horrible wounds that Lilia had given him.

    Yet as the headmaster rushed in, he knocked the potion out of his hands and grabbed him by the shirt and said, "How many. How many of the students did you kill or kidnap?"

    The headmaster seething in anger kept ahold of Avery who just looked at him calmly and said, "Headmaster I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never once harmed one of the students here and it was that girl who attacked me unprovoked earlier."

    Dropping Avery back into the chair he was in, the headmaster looked at him and said, "We already know that you are an agent of Permafrost, so you should just spill everything and make whatever sentence you receive lighter on yourself."

    Hearing this for just a moment Avery''s calm demeanor warped into one of panic but he quickly got back himself under control.

    However, the headmaster noticed this moment and while he had no actual proof Avery''s reaction had solidified in his mind that he was a member of Permafrost.

    Except a momentter a voice resounded through the room saying, "Headmaster I would appreciate it if you would not say baseless ims to a prominent member of a family that are my vassals."

    Looking over to see who had just interrupted him, the headmaster''s already angry expression hardened, and he said, "Count Eisher what are you doing here?"

    Walking deeper into the room the count moved right in front of the headmaster and said, "As the current leader of the academies board of directors of course I havee to investigate this incident. Now you say that our esteemed professor that my house rmended years ago is a member of a nasty organization, surely you must have mountains of proof to back this up."

    The headmaster knowing, he had nothing other than what Marcus had said and his own gut feeling backed off and said, "No, it is just a suspicion brought up by Baress Geist here. I was just questioning him to see if he might admit anything."

    "I see so it wasdy Grist here who is trying tobel the respected professor as a criminal. If I remember correctly, the girl used of attacking Professor Avery was named Geist as well. Surely Lady Geist here is just trying to protect her sister by iming the Professor who was brutally attacked, to be a criminal. And seeing as how you have alreadybeled him as so in your mind as well headmaster, there should be an independent investigation to avoid any biases. Therefore, I shall send for a royal investigator to take both of the persons of interest into custody, and headmaster you should have the academy''s guards cease any investigation and only seal off the pertinent areas."

    ring at Count Eisher Marcus recognized him from Obadiah''s memories since he was also a leader of Permafrost.

    His branch specialized in information and coercion and could be considered the backbone of the whole organization keeping them from being too heavily on the kingdom''s radar.

    Yet before the count could further enact his n, another voice resounded from the room''s entrance saying, "Very well then, I will be taking over from here."

 Chapter 260 - 260 Permafrostâ€™s Downfall (2)

    A vein visibly throbbing on his forehead, Count Eisher said loudly while turning around, "On who''s authority do you think you can take over this inve-"

    However, as he turned around and saw the blue uniform the man who had just arrived was wearing, he gulped ending hisint.

    Marcus himself was also incredibly surprised to see who had entered, because he had no idea why he was in the royal capital let alone here right now.

    "Royal investigator Ophiria what are you doing here." Count Eisher said with a tense voice.

    He had no idea why such a prominent royal investigator was here, but if he actually stuck around, it would spell disaster for his ns.

    "Oh, I was just passing through the area on a walk when I heard themotion here and decided to see what was happening. Then as I was looking for the headmaster, I could not help but overhear you wanting an impartial royal investigator to take over, so I am more than happy to oblige."

    Wade then gave Marcus a quick look to tell him not to say anything since if their past involvement was found out it would give Count Eisher a reason to get rid of Wade.

    Quickly locking on to this chance the headmaster bowed his head towards Wade and said, "Then as the headmaster of this academy I wee the impartial investigation by the renown royal investigator Ophiria. I trust that with someone of your caliber on this, the situation will be resolved quickly.

    The headmaster then gave a knowing look towards Count Eisher saying "Your move."

    "Royal Investigator Ophiria, are you sure that this insignificant incident is worthy of your time. A man of your station certainly has better things to do especially with your weddinging up. Surely another royal investigator would be able to handle this" Count Eisher said hoping with all of his being to get Wade out of here.

    Wade had been one of his greatest nuisances in River Landing, having put away many of the nobles and high-ranking officials that had been apart of Permafrost.

    Unfortunately for him, Wade had alreadytched on and had no intention of letting go.

    "No, it is fine. I doubt that this will take too much time to clear up. You already have two suspects in custody, so it is only a matter of figuring out which one is lying. Though if you had another royal investigator in mind, I would be happy to bring them in to help me." Wade said with a devilish smile.

    He already knew the count was involved to some degree with Permafrost, though any proof of said involvement was nonexistent only being whispers.

    Grinding his teeth Count Eisher could tell things were not going his way.

    He had personallye out here to bail out one of his best agents, but now the biggest pain in his neck he could imagine had shown up.

    Naturally he could not suggest any of the royal investigators that worked for him since this as what Wade was fishing for by asking for a specific investigator.

    It had taken Permafrost years of hard work to get just two agents within the royal investigators, and Count Eisher was not going to risk one of them being found out on the very slim chance they could get Avery out of trouble.

    "Very well if you really wish to investigate this small matter, I am in no position to stop you, so I pray for your sess." Count Eisher said with a stered-on smile.

    Inside he was feeling unbridled rage, but letting it show would not help him in anyway. Now his only hope was that Wade would be unable to pin Avery to Permafrost and only as the culprit of this one incident.

    Leaving the room Count Eisher nned to head back to his home and get to work, since Avery was supposedly the member of a family under his, he would have to publicly denounce him after he was proven to be a criminal.

    With Count Eisher now gone Wade smiled at Marcus and said, "It is good to see you again Irene. Though it appears you have gotten into a bit of trouble so allow me to help you out."

    Nodding his head and smiling, Marcus responded saying, "Yeah I am d you showed up but how did you know to be here, no one believes you were just taking a stroll and happened to walk by."

    Shrugging his shoulder Wade said, "You are right, it was actually my great grandmother who told me I should go check out the royal academy."

    Hearing this surprise was evident on Marcus'' face since he had no idea why Aria knew to send Wade here.

    "Ah I can see you are confused. My great grandmother has taken an interest in you, so of course with her ears everywhere she heard about your maids'' abduction, and she told me toe and help you saying it would be worth my while."

    Understanding now that Aria had already been aware of the situation even though Marcus had not contacted her, he could only wonder how much she knew.

    ''Did she see me kill those members of Permafrost and does she know I am a monster.''

    Wondering this Marcus was hoping she had not been paying that close of attention, and if she had he did not know what she would do if she knew he was a monster.

    However, uncertain possibilities did not matter right now, and all that needed to be done was to clear Lilia and implicate the man who tried to kidnap her.

    "Wait you two know each other." The headmaster said with astonishment.

    He had already been surprised when Wade had shown up since it was practically a miracle for him.

    Yet seeing that he knew Marcus made him understand that Wade''s involvement was actually personal.

    "Oh yeah we met almost a year ago back in river Landing and Irene here helped me out on a job. Obviously, I cannot tell you what it was because her involvement was a secret, so keep quiet about it okay."

    Furiously nodding his head, the headmaster had no wishes to have some like Wade as his enemy.

    "Now do you want to spill your guts or are we going to have to do this the hard way." Wade said as he looked at Avery.

    ring at Wade. Avery responded saying, "I have nothing to say to you."

    After that Avery shut mouth and did not say another word, ready to be punished for his mistakes.

    "Very well, I will just collect the evidence here first before we go back to the office to have a nice long chat."

    Leaving the room, Marcus, Wade, and the headmaster went to the scene of Avery and Lilia''s battle and collected evidence

    Luckily with Wade''s skills it did not take him long to find evidence of Avery''s wrongdoing and eventually even found his little hiding spot of poisons and a sending stone that he used to get in contact with Permafrost.

    "Well, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Avery did indeed attack Lilia Geist. After looking over the scene as well as the items that were in his magic bag and belt pouches, there is no other conclusion. I also managed to find a stash of poisons and other tools along with a sending stone. Unfortunately, I found nothing that would link him to Permafrost, but he certainly is an agent for someone."

    It was unfortunate that nothing could be found linking Avery to Permafrost, but now it was certain that he was guilty of at least attacking Lilia and thus she was now in the clear.

    However, even though they did not find anything about Permafrost here, Marcus had a number of documents that incriminated several people and he had even more insider knowledge from Obadiah''s soul.

    "Actually, Wade if you want some evidence on Permafrost, I happened to pick up some after leaving one of their bases where they tried to coerce me into making weapons for them."

    Taking out a few stacks of papers, Marcus handed over the evidence he had acquired to Wade, who skimmed over a few pages before saying with a happy smile, "This certainly is going toe in handy. Though now I am going to be quite busy for the next few weeks."

    But Marcus was not done yet and leaning in he told Wade some of the secrets he had gotten from Obadiah''s soul as well as a promise for more evidenceter.

    "I see you really do good work Irene; with this we will finally be able to get rid of this leech that has been sucking the blood of the kingdom for too long. It really is a shame that you did not take me up on my offer to be a royal investigator, because you do great work."

    After that the two of them made a n to bring the entire organization of Permafrost to its knees, unbeknownst to the criminal organization hat had stood for two centuries.

 Chapter 261 - 261 Permafrostâ€™s Downfall (3)

    With their nning to take down Permafrost finished, Marcus and Wade had the headmaster lead them to where Lilia was being held.

    As the door to the room was opened Marcus could see Lilia sitting at a desk that she was chained to while talking to the guard posted in the room to watch her.

    But when the door opened and she looked over to see Marcus entering, she abruptly stood up from the desk pulling the chain connecting her to it, and actually yanked out the desk that was bolted into the floor.

    The guard in the room seeing this pulled out his sword and got ready to get in between Lilia and the people that had just entered, but the headmaster held up his hand and said, "Stand down, she has been proven innocent so there is no reason to hold her anymore. Also, you are dismissed, please give us the room."

    Sheathing his sword, the guard did as the headmastermanded and left the room.

    With the guard now gone the headmaster unlocked the restraints on Lilia and said, "As the headmaster of this academy please ept my apologies that a member of our staff attacked you. Naturally there will be no penalty towards you for defending yourself, and all of the damages will be covered by the school."

    After saying that the headmaster left Marcus and Wade alone with Lilia. He had a lot of work to do, and the academy was about to face a decent amount of bacsh when it got out that one of their top professors was actually a criminal that kidnapped and killed students.

    Unfortunately, there was nothing the kingdom or school could really do to cover it up, since a number of the students witnessed the ending parts of Lilia and Avery''s fight, as well as the extensive damage caused by Lilia''s tier four spell.

    Now that the headmaster had left, the first thing that Lilia did was to jump into Marcus'' arms and give him a hug as she cried.

    As much as she had put on a brave face during her fight with Avery and while she was being held by the academy, there was no doubt that what she just went through was quite scary for an eleven-year-old girl.

    Lilia had been abducted once before and having it almost happen again brought up those horrible memories.

    Luckily now she had the power to defend herself, and this time instead of being dragged from her home as a ve, she had beaten her assant within an inch of his life.

    "It is okay now Lilia. I am sorry that this happened to you because of me, but I am d you are fine. And do not worry, Wade and I are going to make sure that the people that attacked us never get the chance to do so again."

    Patting Lilia on the back, Marcus got her to calm down and she looked towards Wade and said, "Thank you for helping me again, Sir Wade."

    Shacking his head Wade responded saying, "Just doing my job, and if you want to thank someone, thank my great grandmother since she is the one who really helped you out."

    The three of them then took a few minutes to get reacquainted with each other, since it had been many months since thest time they had seen each other.

    "So Wade, what was that count talking about when he said that your wedding wasing up."

    His expression turning bashful, it was apparent that Wade did not want to discuss it, but Marcus just kept looking at him waiting for an answer not willing to relent.

    Sighing Wade said, "Yes I am getting married in a month''s time to my fianc¨¦."

    It seemed that Wade was hoping that would be enough to satisfy Marcus, but it was not.

    "Oh, and who might you be marrying. When we metst in River Landing, I am pretty sure you were not in any rtionship let alone engaged."

    Seeing that Marcus was not going to let this go, Wade finally came clean and said, "Yes my fianc¨¦ and I reconnected after the ice ant attack. I believe that you met her once, Thora Drevon."

    A shocked expression appeared on Marcus'' face hearing this. He had no idea how Wade and the haughty and overbearing Lieutenant Drevon had ended up together, but now they were even getting married.

    However, Marcus quickly remembered a jab that Aria had made at Wade about him always tormenting the girls he liked and how he had done so to Thora Drevon in the past.

    "I see good for you. It looks like you finally managed to learn how to express your feeling instead of trying to manipte people." Marcus said with a smirk on his face.

    Groaning Wade almost wanted to try arresting Marcus for insulting a royal investigator.

    Very few people ever talked to him like this because of the power he wielded, but he knew that he had already lost since this was just the way Marcus acted.

    He was normally polite in formal settings but as soon as he was alone with people, he was familiar andfortable with, he threw social status and norms out the window.

    "Anyway, we are getting off topic. Now that we have made sure that Lilia is safe both of us have work to get to. I need you to get me those documents that you promised as soon as possible. And in the meantime I am going to have to mobilize every royal investigator in the capital as well as a team of elite knights to deal with all the arrests we are going to have to do." Wade said desperately trying to change the subject.

    Nodding his head Marcus knew that now was not the time to further tease Wade as they both had work to get done.

    "Okay first I need to take Lilia home, since her room was recked in the attack and I need to make sure she stays safe while we clean up Permafrost."

    After that Wade said goodbye to Marcus and Lilia as they went their separate ways, with Wade heading back to the royal investigator''s headquarters and Marcus and Lilia going to her room.

    The two of them then gather up Lilia''s belongings before exiting the academy.

    Luckily, they had the full cooperation of the headmaster, so they were able to move around without issue and n a date for Lilia''s return.

    "Sorry that this happened right when you got back to school Lilia. But after this is over in a few days everything should go back to normal."

    Smiling up at him Lilia responded, "It is no problem. I know that with you on the case everything will turn out fine."

    The two of them along with Lilia''s beastpanion left the Academy and met back up with Blitz who they rod back to Marcus'' estate.

    When they arrived, they surprised the maids and new guards, but after a quick exnation of what happened, the two of them retired to their respective rooms for the night.

    Or at least that was what it seemed like, but while Lilia truly was in her room, Marcus slipped back out in his ghost form.

    The night was still young, and he had a lot to aplish before the members of Permafrost had time to take any actions.

    The first thing he did was head towards the prison where his maids were being kept.

    Time was of the essence since as soon as it was discovered that Marcus had killed Obadiah and his guards, Permafrost would dispose of his maids.

    Luckily when he arrived, he found them chined up in a cell still alive.

    Unfortunately, they both looked worse for wear, each of them missing a hand and obviously having been treated poorly.

    Reappearing in the dark hall where their cell was located, Marcus whispered saying, "Grace, Jenna I havee to get you out."

    The two captive maids hearing this abruptly roused, and recognizing the voice said with a tinge of hope, "Lady Irene?"

    Hearing their hoarse voices, Marcus felt a pang in his stomach since they had suffered so much just because they worked for him.

    But he could not change what had happened to them, and all he could do now was to break them out and fix them up.

    "Yes, it is me. I am going to get both of you out of here so just wait a second."

    However, as Marcus was about to break into the cell Grace said, "Lady Irene please leave us. This ce is dangerous, if you get caught there is no telling what they might do to you."

    But as touched as he was by the concern of his employees, Marcus was not going to leave them here to die and he was already confident that he could get them out with ease.

    Activating his mana body skill, Marcus enhanced his right hand that was now teeming with strength before grabbing the lock on the cell and squeezing.

    The steel lock quickly began to buckle under Marcus'' strength, until he had crumbled it up like foil and the cell swung open with no resistance.

    Naturally this left both of his maids stunned since no normal person could bend steel with their bare hands, but since the day he had arrived on Mirrion, Marcus had stepped far away from the realm of normal.

    "Again, I am here to break both of you out of here and I am not taking no for an answer. If you continued to refuse, I do not mind dragging you out kicking and screaming." Marcus said in a stern tone.

    Seeing as how Marcus had no intention of abandoning them, both Grace and Jenna began to cry a bit in relief, since they honestly thought they were both going to die down here.

    Doing the same as he did to the cell''s lock, Marcus ripped apart the chains attached to both of his maids, freeing them from their bonds.

    "Now we need to get out of here quickly before we are discovered. I have already figured out the best escape route so let us go."

    After saying that Marcus led his two maids out of the cell they had been confined in, but down the hall they saw an approaching light.

    It appeared that Marcus had gotten unlucky, and the patrolling guard had made his way down into the area his maids were being kept.

    "Hey you, what are you doing down here." The guard said as he spotted Marcus just exiting the cell his maids had been in.

    Yet the guard did not have time to say anything else ever again, as Marcus exerted his phantom pressure killing him instantly.

    The now dead guard slumped over and crashed into the ground causing a loud ttering sound to resound through the cell block.

    Hearing this many of the other people being held prisoner here began to make amotion, some of them noticing Marcus and begging him to save them as well.

    However, he was no hero and he had onlye here to rescue his maids.

    "We need to run; it is only a matter of time until more guardse to investigate."

    Running down the halls Marcus quickly made his way towards the nearest exit, but as they were getting close a number of Permafrost guards piled into the hallway and blocked their escape.

    "Darkness Drill."

    Firing off his tier four darkness magic spell, Marcus turned every guard in his way into mincemeat as his spell plowed through them like paper.

    Naturally, none of those guards had been above level thirty and they had no way to resist Marcus'' overwhelming power.

    Running by the heaps of corpses that Marcus had just made, both Jenna and Grace felt sick to their stomachs, but their survival instincts kept them going as they ran past the bloody mess.

    Continuing through the prison, Marcus sted away a few more groups of guards with no resistance before they finally made it to the exit he had been aiming for.

    However, as he opened the door his danger sense went off like crazy, and he noticed a number of attacksing his way

    "Radiance scales."

    Quickly deploying his strongest defensive spell, Marcus grabbed both Jeana and Grace and brough them close to him to keep the protected as well.

    A number of bolts, arrows, and spells then crashed against Marcus'' spell, destroying a couple of the shimmering scales around him but still causing no actual harm.

    "Oh, consider me impressed. To think you would have such a powerful defensive ability. However, you have been surrounded, so I will give you one chance surrender or die."

    Looking out at the man who was giving him an ultimatum, Marcus saw someone that was quite prominent in Obadiah''s memories since he was the man who oversaw this prison and one of the strongest members of Permafrost.

    "Sorry I am afraid that surrender is not an option since I will be killing all of you no matter how much you beg and scream for mercy."

 Chapter 262 - 262 Permafrostâ€™s Downfall (4)

    Standing in the middle of a courtyard outside the building where Permafrost held its important hostages or other prisoners, Marcus and his two maids Grace and Jenna were surrounded.

    However, Marcus feltpletely calm since he already knew that he outmatched everyone here.

    The only one that was even the slightest threat to him was the overseer of the prison and one of Permafrost''s top enforcers whose name was Firmin.

    Yet even though he was level fifty-two, ten levels higher than Marcus, from the memories he had obtained from Obadiah''s soul Marcus knew roughly how strong Firmin was.

    "Oh, you think that you are going to kill all of us. That has to be the worst bluff I have every heard. Did you think that none of us would be able to see that your level is thirty-five? Unfortunately for you, while that may be impressive among the rabble it will not help you here." Firmin said like a second-rate viin that was already sure of his win.

    ''Roxene I am going to go on the attack, would you mind protecting Grace and Jenna for me.''

    ''Yeah, but after this is wrapped up, I expect you to make me a new dish with the best cuts of meat you have.''

    As Firmin raised his hand and signaled his men to attack again, Roxene jumped out of Marcus''panion storage and cast her own radiance scales spell to protect Marcus'' maids.

    Spells and projectiles then came flying towards all of them but with Marcus and Roxene''s spells protecting them, not a single one came close to hitting them.

    "Grace, Jenna, stay next to Roxene no matter what. I am going to go take care of these guys while she keeps you safe."

    After saying that Marcus jumped forward leaving the three of them alone so that he could go and deal with the dozens of people blocking their way.

    Of course, both Grace and Jenna thought that what Marcus was doing was suicide, how could he possibly win against so many people especially when their leader seemed incredibly strong.

    But what they saw next changed their minds as they saw Marcus be enshrouded with an oppressive darkness that seemed to absorb all of the light in the area.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Dark Form.''

    Activating his supreme skill Marcus began teeming with a powerful darkness that covered his body while a halo of light behind him enhanced the depths of the darkness surrounding him.

    Seeing this sudden disy of power along with the fact that none of their attacks had worked yet, many of the members of Permafrost began to waver looking towards their leader who simrly seemed invincible to them.

    "What are you doing, do not stop attacking, eventually we will wear them down, there is nothing to worry about as long as I am here."

    However, contrary to his bravado Firmin was starting to get an eerie feeling from Marcus and the aura he was emitting made him wonder if he could win.

    "Now all of you die. Ravenous Abyss."

    Casting his tier five darkness magic spell augmented by his embodiment of eclipse and heightened spell skill, a massive sphere of darkness began to form above Marcus.

    The sphere soon reached a diameter of sixty-six feet and every spell and projectile that hit it seemed to be sucked into oblivion.

    With such a powerful spell having been conjured, Firmin knew he could no long stay put on the sidelines and let things unfold.

    Taking out two top tier mithril spears, he leaped towards Marcus activating a number of skills to increase his speed and power aiming to finish this in one blow.

    "Ah I see we have a volunteer." Marcus said with a devilish grin as Firmin approached.

    Truth be told this was his first time casting this spell and while he had a general understanding of what it could do, this would be the first time he would see what it was actually capable of.

    As Firmin was just a few steps away from Marcus the massive sphere of darkness above him started to move and dozens of jet-ck hands shot out from it all going towards Firmin.

    Wielding his two spears Firmin began swinging them around himself in order to fight off the handsing for him as he got closer to Marcus.

    However, as he got within the range of his spears and brough one back to pierce through Marcus'' chest, one of the hands got ahold of his arm and yanked him upwards towards the darkness sphere.

    "Aghhhhh!"

    Letting out a scream of pain Firmin could feel that the area where the hand had grasped him was corroding away, and with a quick thrust pieced through the hand allowing him to escape.

    However, as he was falling the other hands began making their way towards him with no escape.

    In a desperate attempt to escape Marcus'' spell, Firmin pulled out two talismans that created a powerful barrier around him that blocked all of the hands that were trying to grab him.

    "Die."

    With his barrier protecting him, Firmin finally had the room to unleash a full power attack and with both of his spears, thrust forward sending out two sts of mana from them.

    Yet instead of his two thrusts piercing through Marcus like he expected, Firmin watched as Marcus took out a scythe and with one swing sent and equally powerful sh of mana and darkness towards his attack.

    As the two powerful sts impacted each other they caused arge explosion that shook the area and left a huge crater where they met.

    With one of his strongest attacks blocked, Firmin could tell that he was not going to be able to win.

    He now believed that the enemy in front of him was concealing their level somehow since there was no way a level thirty-five was this strong.

    So, concluding that his only option was to retreat Firmin turned to run not willing to lose his life in this fight.

    But as he turned to leave the massive sphere of darkness that had been floating in the air had descended and was now right in front of him.

    Clicking his tongue Firmin prepared to use his strongest skill to break through the spell blocking his way when the sphere split apart revealing what looked to be arge mouth.

    The sphere then swallowed Firmin whole including the barrier around him.

    Being nowpletely surrounded in darkness Firmin could see nothing, but he could hear what sounded like and ever-present grating against the powerful barrier he had deployed.

    In fact, his barrier was the only thing keeping him alive now that he had been eaten by Marcus'' ravenous abyss spell.

    However, cracks soon began to form on his barrier, and he could now see needle like teeth breaking in.

    "This is not going to be enough to beat me."

    Screaming out into the abyss that had swallowed him, Firmin used all of the power he had and shot up dding himself in mana and using every skill at his disposable.

    sting through the darkness like a missile, Firmin somehow managed to escape piecing through Marcus'' spell.

    Marcus was actually pretty impressed to see this since he honestly did not expect Firmin to pop back up and he had actually destroyed Marcus'' tier five spell.

    Nevertheless, Firmin had paid a price to do so, and he was now exhausted and had a number of ckened patches of skin where the darkness magic was corroding away at him.

    "Kill her, Kill her now."

    Shouting out and order Firmin wanted his men to target down Marcus, since after facing off against him head on he now knew just how dangerous this intruder was.

    Having received orders from their leader, the members of Permafrost turned all of their attacks towards Marcus and many of the warriors that had been staying back charged.

    However, even though his first attack had failed, he was still in peak condition and all he needed to do was try again.

    "Ravenous abyss."

    Casting his tier five darkness magic spell again, everyone who was charging him stopped in their tracks as they watched this personification of horror appear again.

    "Kill them all."

    This spell was actually like Marcus'' iron golem and created an autonomous entity with its own stats and levels.

    However, unlike the iron golem this creature known as a ravenous abyss had a bit of its own ego and loved to eat things as they felt fear in their hearts.

    The ravenous abyss then opened its mouth up into a smile as numerus jet-ck hands began to flow out of its body and extend towards all of the people around.

    The hands began to grab the members of Permafrost and as they screamed in pain and terror while being dragged towards the ravenous abyss'' mouth.

    It was a truly terrifying scene to watch as the monster Marcus had created began to eat everyone in sight.

    Even Firmin soon fell victim to the second ravenous abyss, and having already exhausted himself he eventually sumbed to the numerous hands that grabbed ahold of him and dragged him towards his doom.

    As their leader was eaten by the entity Marcus had conjured, every surviving member of Permafrost began to run away, feeling the dread being emanated from the monster that consumed everyone in its path.

    Unfortunately, the ravenous abyss had already received its order and it was not going to let a single of the morsels in front of it go.

    Darkness hands extending from its body, the ravenous abyss grabbed ever member of permafrost and plopped them into its mouth.

    None of them were able to resist and in only a minute the only ones left alive were, Marcus, Roxene, and his maids.

 Chapter 263 - 263 Permafrostâ€™s Downfall (5)

    As the ravenous abyss finished eating thest member of permafrost it turned its attention towards Roxene and Marcus'' maids.

    It had been told to kill them all, and since these three were here they must have been a part of that.

    Noticing that the creature created from his spell began to creep its hands towards his partner and maids, Marcus stood in front of it and said, "That is enough, I do not need you anymore."

    Yet the ravenous abyss disregarded Marcus'' new order, deciding that it needed to follow the first one before executing the second.

    "Oh, that is how it is going to be." Marcus said, with an angry tone that even scared the ravenous abyss.

    The conjured creature quickly got ahold of itself and did as Marcus had ordered, not wanting to be destroyed.

    If it was killed, then the next time the spell was used it would create a new ravenous abyss, but as long as the current one survived, next time it would still be brought forth again.

    Watching the creature created by his spell disappear, Marcus could only think that this spell might be more trouble than it was worth.

    It certainly was powerful, but also the only ability he had that was unruly and did not follow his exactmands.

    However, he could worry about thatter, as right now he needed to get both Grace and Jenna to safety.

    "Okay now that the path is clear let us go back home." Marcus said as he deactivated his supreme skill.

    However, the two of them were looking at Marcus in a different light after watching what he had just done.

    Even though they had not been on the receiving end of Marcus'' attack, the two maids had still witnessed as scene more horrifying than they had ever imagined, and their master was the one who had caused it.

    Seeing how his maids were now looking at him with fear Marcus felt a bit sad, and he now realized that this was probably not the time to have tested out that spell.

    "Sorry that you had to see that, but it was a necessary move in order for us to escape. That was one of my strongest spells, and without it I was not sure I could win."

    Of course, Marcus was lying, he had any number of different ways to win, but he was hoping to put both Grace and Jenna at ease even if only a little bit.

    Luckily, it seemed to work as the two of them remembered how Marcus hade here to save them even at his own peril.

    "Forgive us Lady Irene for the way we just acted towards you. We are obviously grateful that you were willing to even use something like that to save us." Jenna said, putting on a brave face.

    With the way now clear of any resistance Marcus led Jenna and Grace out of the Permafrostpound and back towards his estate.

    When they arrived, the guards and maids on duty were naturally stunned to see Marcus who they thought was in his room, but even more so that Jenna and Grace were with him.

    Opening the gates and running out, the two maids currently on watch duty being Amy and Violet, ran right up to Jenna and Grace.

    Violet and Amy then pulled Jenna and Grace into their embrace as the four of them started to cry in relief.

    They had gone to the academy together and helped each other through thick and thin, and in many ways were like sisters.

    "Thank you for rescuing them Lady Irene." Violet and Amy said.

    They were truly grateful to be in the service of someone who was willing to stick their neck out for them and even risk their own life to keep them safe.

    "Do not mention it, it was the natural thing to do. Now Amy go and wake the other maids and tell them that Jenna and Grace have returned. Violet, you continue to stay watch here with the hired guards, and Grace and Jennae with me, I need to make sure you are both alright."

    Doing as they were ordered, Amy went off to tell everyone that Jenna and Grace had returned, while Marcus led Grace and Jenna to his workshop for some privacy.

    Once inside he told the two of them to take a seat while he looked them over.

    Luckily as he checked them for any hidden magic devices, he found none, and then turned towards their missing hands.

    A soft white glow then began to flow out of Marcus and permeate into Grace and Jenna''s missing hands.

    It was a far contrast to the cold oppressive darkness Marcus had disyed earlier, and both Grace and Jenna felt aforting warmth as the light enveloped them.

    However, when they felt and saw their hands starting to grow back, both of them went wide eyed and gasped out in shock.

    "Stay still both of you or the healing process will not go as well."

    After giving them a warning both Grace and Jenna calmed down and stopped moving, though both of them were still astounded to see their hands growing back.

    Neither of them thought this to ever be a possibility, and that they were likely to lose their jobs as maids, or at least have their pay heavily lowered.

    Yet here was their master using some mysterious power to restore their bodies.

    "There, all done. How does it feel can you move them without any difficulty?" Marcus asked, wanting to make sure that Grace and Jenna''s new hands worked fine.

    The two of them quickly moved around their new hands, finding that they were just as good as the ones they had lost feelingpletely natural as if their hands had never been cut off.

    Crying the two of them looked at Marcus and said, "Thank you Lady Irene. We both promise to serve you for the rest of our lives, and even then, that may not be enough to repay the kindness you have shown us."

    Having expected this outburst of emotion since it was pretty much the same he had gotten from everyone he had healed up to this point, Marcus said, "No need to worry about it. If not for me being targeted neither of you would have been abducted. Anyway, the only thing that the two of you need to do to repay me is to keep this power a secret. If anyone asks, I just gave each of you a lesser elixir to fix your hands."

    The two of them nodded their heads ready to take this secret their master had asked them to keep to their graves.

    "Now you two go and show everyone that you are fine before getting some rest. I know that it must have been hard on the two of you, so feel free to take as much time as you need. I still have more work to do so tell everyone else that I will be back in around a day or so."

    After having healed Grace and Jenna, Marcus headed back out. He still had some work to get done before Permafrost got into too much of an uproar.

    The first ce Marcus decided to go was to the main base of Permafrost where all of their leaders would get together for meetings.

    Normally this would be an impossible task, but with all of Obadiah''s memories and his stealth abilities as a ghost, Marcus easily made it into the inner portions of the base.

    Going around the base, Marcus collected any evidence he could, simply dropping it into his item box.

    Once that was done, he headed to Obadiah''s main residence and did the same, though he also grabbed any money that he could find.

    He then paid a visit to every high-ranking member of Permafrost in the city and collected incriminating evidence against them.

    Once that was done, thest thing he did was to go by Ryker''s home and clear out the safe he had been told about.

    In total Marcus had collected around eighty thousand gold worth of money and valuable items along with enough evidence to bury Permafrost in a deep grave.

    Of course, Marcus could have gotten even more money, but he only took the wealth from Ryker and Obadiah since he had already killed them.

    He did not want to raise any gs with mountains of missing money.

    Naturally he knew that if he ever wanted to make tons of money he could just floated into people''s houses and clean them out.

    However, this was not how Marcus wanted to live since it would make him feel awful and could possibly get him or Lilia in danger should someone really powerful get on his trail.

    Fortunately, Ryker and Obadiah were already dead so they would not miss their money, and with the storm that was about to blow in, neither the kingdom nor Permafrost were going to have time to worry about a little missing money from people who were already dead.

    ''Now I just need to go drop everything I collected off with Wade and let the dominos fall.''

 Chapter 264 - 264 Permafrostâ€™s Downfall (6)

    With all of the evidence he could obtained about Permafrost''s illegal activity as well as their members, Marcus made his way to the royal investigator''s headquarters.

    He had already made ns with Wade to deliver all of this evidence and have the kingdom take action to destroy Permafrost.

    Walking up to therge, isted building that was just outside the bounds of the royal castle, Marcus could see that there was incredibly diligent security and four high level knights along with a serious of guards were standing out front.

    "Halt what business do you have at the royal investigators office." The lead knight said.

    Stopping Marcus responded as Wade had told him to do and said, "I am Baress Irene Geist and I havee to pay my friend royal investigator Wade Ophiria a visit."

    Marcus then took out and emblem that wade had given him and handed it towards the lead knight.

    Taking the emblem after examining it and confirming its authenticity the knight said, "You are free to go in but make sure not to wander around or you will be arrested for trespassing. Sir Hayes take two of the guards and escort Lady Geist here to royal investigator Ophiria."

    Responding to hismander''s orders Sir Hayes who was one of the knights on duty selected two of the guards to help him escort Marcus before saying, "Follow me Lady Geist and do not leave my side."

    Following behind Sir Hayes while two guards nked him, Marcus wondered why a knight was escorting him.

    Of course, he was right to think this was odd, but the lead knight had used his appraisal skill and seen that Marcus was level thirty-five so just to make sure he had a knight go with him.

    Normally this would be considered excessive and maybe even an insult to some nobles but, these knights had been informed that a massive roundup of criminals was about to go underway, and they had to make sure that a hidden operative did not slip in.

    As he was being escorted to Wade''s office, Marcus could see a number of people frantically moving around within the building obviously getting ready for something big.

    Naturally this made Marcus happy since it meant that wade had been able to get the royal investigators and the kingdom to take action with the evidence he had provided already.

    Stopping in front arge door Marcus could see that a name que was next it saying Wade Ophiria.

    Knocking on the door Sir Hayes said, "Sorry to interrupt you Investigator Ophiria but a quest has arrived to see you. She says she is your friend a Lady Irene Geist and she is baring your emblem."

    Waiting for just a moment, the door slid open, and, in the doorway, Marcus could see Wade but further inside there were three other people who were radiating a powerful aura.

    Two of them Marcus recognized, with one being the knightmander of the kingdom, and the other being Grand Archmage Aria.

    However, Marcus did not recognize the other person who looked like a fairly young rabbit beast woman, but she was wearing the blue uniform of a royal investigator but hers was adorned with multiple badges and awards denoting her high rank.

    "Irene you are finally here. Pleasee in we have a lot to talk about." Wade said with a look of relief on his face.

    Walking into the room Marcus gave respectful bow to the three important people in the room and said, "It is good to see you again Grand Archmage Aria, and it is a pleasure to meet you for the first time Knight Commander Darius and investigator Ophiria''s superior. I am Baress Irene Geist."

    Waiting for the three important figures of the kingdom to respond Marcus kept bowing until he heard Knight Commander Darius say, "Ah I remember now. Erastalven told me about you. You were the one that kept River Landing from being invaded until I gantly jumped in and saved everyone. I think that you were being called the darkligth princess or something."

    Hearing his cringeworthy nickname again for the first time in a while Marcus'' smile twitched a bit since he was really hoping that he would never be called that again.

    "Darius if I remember correctly, I am the one who stopped the ice ants from invading the city while you weregging behind, and the only thing you did was to steal the final blow from my apprentices." Aria said in a jabbing manner at the knightmander.

    But before the two could start bickering with each other the leader of the royal investigators pped her hands and said, "I believe that you two will have plenty of time to pickerter. Right now, we have pressing matters to deal with and if we do a sloppy job, we could leave the kingdom in shambles."

    After getting the two old rivals to stop arguing with each other the leader of the royal investigators stood up and introduced herself to Marcus.

    "It is a pleasure to meet youdy Geist. My name is Alexandra Olympia, and I am the Head Royal investigator and as you have surmised Wade''s boss. Now I have heard good things about you from Wade and he says you are the one who has recently obtained the documents that he gave me detailing a number of Permafrost''s illicit activities. He also told me that you were going to be bringing more." Alexandra asked in an inquisitive manner.

    Nodding his head Marcus pulled out a handful of documents, that were ledgers for the activities that Permafrost was doing.

    Handing it over to her Alexandra quickly looked over the documents and said, "I see this is indeed helpful but not as substantial as Wade had made it out to be. However, we should still be able to cripple them with what you have provided."

    Yet as Alexandra was looking a bit despondent Marcus said, "Sorry that was just one of the items that I was able to obtain. I have too many to put into your hands, so I just gave you one of the broader documents. If I could use the desk, I can ce everything else there."

    Surprised to hear that Marcus had so much evidence that he could not take it out all at once Alexandra stepped aside and allowed him ess to Wade''s desk, which was currently mostly clear.

    That was until Marcus started dropping stacks upon stacks of paper on it which consisted of ledgers and correspondence from members of Permafrost.

    However, the best evidence he had found was actually a few crystals that were able to record sound and images like a camera, that some of the highest-ranking members had used in order to act as an insurance policy in case they were ever betrayed.

    Letting out a loud whistle Alexandra was impressed by everything Marcus had collected.

    "I am impressed you aplished more in one night than we normally get done in a year. With all of this there is no doubt we will be able to bury Permafrost, and anyone associated with it. I know Wade told me you already refused to be a royal investigator, but with your abilities I cannot help but ask you personally. I am even willing to give you the position as my lieutenant." Alexandra said with almost starry eyes.

    But before she could continue trying to push her pitch Aria spoke up and said, "Irene here has already said that she woulde and join me at the Guldur Spire and learn magic once she got tired of tinkering with Thabon."

    Looking at her with a bit of surprise Alexandra said, "Oh I see so you have already taken a liking to her. That must mean she is not only talented at stealth and investigation but magic as well. However, that just makes me want to recruit her even more."

    Now Alexandra was looking at him like a piece of prime meat and Marcus was wondering what this head royal investigator might be nning when Knight Commander Darius spoke up as well.

    "If we are all throwing out pitches I would not mind having someone of your talents as a part of my squad of knights. I heard about your bravery when facing the ice ants and how you jumped off the wall to defend River Landing. Anyone willing to do that is always wee in my ranks"

    As the three leaders of their respective departments in the kingdom fought over him, Marcus let out a loud sigh to get their attention and said, "Again I have no intention of joining anyone of you right now. I have worked hard to hone my skills as a forgemaster and am not going to give up now that I am just finally scratching the surface."

    With Marcus'' vehement refusal to everyone''s recruitment efforts, Wade who had been quite up until now took this momentary silence to steer things back in the right direction.

    "Head investigator Alexandra, I believe that now is not the time to be fighting over where Lady Irene''s talents would be best used but for us to get to work. We have much to get done if we are tond a decisive blow against Permafrost."

    Coming back to her senses, Alexandra nodded her head and said, "Yes you are right. I will go and gather up as many other investigators as you can to help sort through all of this information while I work with Aria, and Darius to put together our forces."

    After saying that Alexandra led the other two leaders back to her office where they wouldbine the forces under theirmand to swiftly arrest the members of Permafrost and their coborators.

 Chapter 265 - 265 Profit From Permafrost

    Having delivered the evidence he had collected against Permafrost to the kingdom, Marcus could now wash his hands of the issue.

    There was nothing left for him to do now since the proper authorities were going to handle the rest.

    So, before the city went into an uproar as Permafrost got destroyed, Marcus decided now was a good time to sell off the items he had obtained from Permafrost.

    Of course, Marcus decided it would be best not to use either of his two main forms and switched over to Cal one of the guys that had ambushed him in the dungeon.

    With his form nowpletely different, Marcus headed to the nearest weapon shop to get rid of all of the high tier weapons he had obtained.

    Normally he would set them up in Thabon''s shop since that was where he would make the most money, but since he had not made any of these weapons himself other than the one sword that Obadiah had, Thabon would certainly notice with his item appraisal skill.

    Walking into a high-end weapon shop that was one of Thabon''s mainpetitors, Marcus walked up to one of the employees and asked to see the manager since he was here to make a big sale.

    Naturally the employee asked to see what Marcus was offering first, to make sure it was worth his boss'' time, but when Marcus pulled out a half dozen mithril weapons one of which was top tier and recognized by the system, the employee''s eyes went wide.

    "Yes of course let me take you to see the owner of this establishment. I believe that he is here today working on the books." The employee said while looking greedily at the weapons Marcus was carrying.

    If the sale was to go favorably for so many powerful weapons, he could expect quite the bonus for helping to facilitate the deal.

    Being led to the back of the store the employee took Marcus to his boss'' office that was in the far back of the store where people were not normally allowed.

    Knocking on his boss'' door the employee waited for just a moment before hearing from inside, e on in."

    Opening the door, the employee bowed his head and led Marcus inside.

    Looking at the owner of the store Marcus could see that he was a portly mid aged man with a hard face that made him look perpetually mad.

    "Sir this gentleman here has a number of high quality mithril weapons to sell. I have already inspected some of them and one is even recognized by the system."

    The stores owner who looked barely engaged in what was going on suddenly perked up and looked at Marcus in a new light.

    It was pretty rare even for his store to have ess to such top tier mithril items since they were very rarely sold outside of high-end auctions.

    "Ah sir please sit down and let me examine the items you wish to sell; I am sure that we cane to a deal." The owner of the store said to Marcus.

    Nodding his head Marcus walked over to the owner and took out all of the weapons he had gotten off of the Permafrost members from a series of magic bags in order to not show off his item box

    In total there were eighteen mithril weapons and the two that were recognized by the system were the spears that Firmin was wielding.

    With dor signs practically popping out of his eyes, the store owner examined each of the weapons but took keen interest in the two top tier spears.

    "Well, I must say that this is an impressive collection of weapons. Now I do have to ask where you obtained all of these."

    Understanding what the owner was getting at, it certainly was not normal for someone to walk in with a cache of powerful weapons and sell them all at once.

    "These are the weapons from groups of criminals that I killed over the years. I am an adventurer by trade, so you understand that over numerous jobs I have collected the weapons from the scum I have gotten rid of. But right now, I need money over weapons that just collect dust in my magic bags."

    "Very well, then could I see you adventures card real quickly, just to make sure that what you say is true." The owner said, in a business-like manner.

    "Yes, here you go."

    Reaching into a magic bag Marcus pulled out a gold adventurer card and handed it to the shop owner.

    Naturally this was not his actual card but a fake he had made himself. And while it would not hold up to a thorough examination, a store owner just taking a quick look would not be able to tell the difference.

    "Thank you, everything looks good. Now how about we get down to making a deal." The owner said as he beckoned Marcus back over to his desk where the two of them sat down.

    The owner then pulled out a few pieces of paper that were obviously a sales contract, and after scribbling a few things down slid it over to Marcus.

    "Please feel free to read over the contract and at the bottom is the amount I am willing to pay for these weapons. Oh, and if you cannot read, I can have someone read it to you."

    "No that is fine I can read on my own."

    After saying that Marcus looked through the contract finding that everything seemed pretty standard but when he got to the price being offered, he frowned a bit.

    The store owner was only offering eight thousand gold for all of the weapons Marcus had brought.

    However, even just the two spears alone would be worth around ten thousand to the right buyer not to mention the other weapons he had brought.

    "Everything looks fine expect the price. I know very well the market value of these weapons and respectfully ask for twelve thousand gold for the lot of them." Marcus said in a stern manner.

    Changing his happy demeanor, the store owner got serious as well and said, "Nine thousand gold that is as high as I am willing to go."

    "Eleven thousand, any lower and I will find somewhere else to sell."

    Grumbling the store owner did some calctions in his head before saying, "Ten thousand is the absolute highest I can go. You have to understand that tying this much capital up into one sale will put me in a precarious situation until I am able to sell these weapons."

    pping his hands together Marcus said, "Very well you have a deal."

    He had been aiming to get around ten thousand gold from the beginning since that is about all he would have been willing to pay for these weapons himself.

    The owner then took back the contract he had given to Marcus and changed the amount to ten thousand gold.

    This was not an insignificant amount and for many small noble families was their entire wealth, including their property.

    Once the contract was signed and the dealplete, the owner stood up and reached his hand out towards Marcus.

    epting the gesture Marcus sped hands with the man and the two shook before the owner said, "If you ever get any more weapons like these to sell feel free toe back here and I am sure we can do business again."

    "Yes, should the opportunity ever arise again this will be the first ce Ie." Marcus said while thinking he would probably nevere by again.

    The owner then had a few employees collect the ten thousand gold to pay Marcus, while another took away the weapons he had just brought in.

    Collecting the money Marcus put it away and thanked the owner for his time before heading out to other stores to sell the magic items and precious gems he had obtained.

    Once everything was said and done Marcus was a bit dissatisfied with the amount of money, he was able to get.

    He had estimated that everything he had plus the money he had taken would get him close to around eighty thousand gold, but in the end, he ended up with just under sixty-five thousand gold.

    ''I guess this is what happens when you just drop by and sell things. Oh well they need to make a profit as well and it is not like it took me very long to get all of this. Anyway, I still have the weapons I made to sell at Thabon''s shop and the auction.''

    With the day quickly turning to night, Marcus decided to head back home and wait out theing storm that was about to happen.

    He thought it unlikely that anyone from Permafrost would target him now that Obadiah who was the one who had his sights on him was dead.. But just to make sure, Marcus was going to stay at his estate until things blew over on the off-chance Permafrost retaliated.

 Chapter 266 - 266 After The Storm And Back To The Blazegram Forge

    Soon after Marcus had delivered all of the evidence against Permafrost, the kingdom had put forth a number of task forces to arrest the members and theirpatriots.

    It was a massive undertaking and numerous knights and mages along with nearly every royal investigator was mobilized to conduct mass arrests.

    Of course, Permafrost did not go out without a fight and many of the bases that were hit broke out into massive brawls, and some even spilled out onto the streets of different cites as Permafrost was attacked in mass.

    In some instances, even entire city blocks were destroyed and for around a week the entire kingdom was in an uproar as its underbelly was forcefully rooted out.

    It could be said that this was the most turmoil the kingdom had experienced since the founding of the kingdom, as Permafrost did not go quietly into the night.

    However, even as much as they struggled, in the face of the full might of the kingdom, they stood no chance and nearly all of the highest-ranking members were arrested.

    Of course, there were a few that managed to escape either by using rare items to teleport away after getting advance warning, and a few that even fought their way out.

    Yet they still had to flee the kingdom as they were now wanted criminals with a bounty ced on their heads.

    Another effect that the mass arrest had was that around a fourth of the kingdom''s nobles were arrested for being members of Permafrost or heavily involved with them.

    Of course, in some way almost every noble had interacted with Permafrost, but some were only minor crimes that only warranted a fine. Though others were not worth mentioning since not all of Permafrost''s activities were illegal, and they had their hands in plenty of above the board business.

    Luckily the disorder caused by the destruction of Permafrost soon began to lessen as thest bits of resistance waned, and with their hierarchy disrupted Permafrost slowly began to cease to exist.

    Naturally this made certain things that they had provided be much scarcer, and the people of the kingdom soon felt the loss of Permafrost.

    They had been one of the biggest suppliers of merchants and certain everyday goods, mainly as a means to cover up their illegal activities, but this hurt the overall movement of supplies in the kingdom.

    But this stagnation onlysted for a couple of weeks as the kingdom awarded loyal nobles or other prominent members ofmunities with the legal businesses that Permafrost used to run. And using the numerous resourced they had seized from Permafrost it was not long before the kingdom''s economy bounced back as the royal family even used some of their own treasurer to stimte the wealth.

    Soon the loss of Permafrost became a huge boon for the kingdom as a whole, as more money began to circte through it instead of being horded by the criminal syndicate.

    Thus, as the kingdom''s annual meeting was getting nearer and the numerous events that came with it, the kingdom began to flourish as the leech that had been draining it was now all butplexly destroyed.

    During this time Marcus had stayed at his estate with Lilia to make sure that Permafrost did not make a move against him or anyone he cared about.

    Luckily, they had their hands full with the kingdom''s systematic attacks so that no one had any time to spare on Marcus.

    Though if they had known that he was the one responsible for their downfall, there is a good chance that more assassins than even an unpopr ruler would have to worry about would have descended upon him.

    Nevertheless, his involvement was known only to a select few and they had kept it a secret.

    Now Marcus was just finishing up hisst piece of equipment before heading over to see Thabon.

    He had not seen his forging master in quite some time and now that even the slightest threat of Permafrost retaliating against him was gone, it was time for him to get back out into the world.

    Gathering up all of the various items he had made sinceing back, Marcus called Blitz over and hoped onto his back.

    He then began racing towards the zegram Forge which he had not been to for months.

    When he arrived Marcus received a warm wee from everyone and some young adults who he had never seen came by and said that they had be new apprentices of the forge.

    Many of them asked him if they could receive pointers from Marcus, who as one of Thabon''s apprentices was actually pretty famous here.

    "Sure, I need to go and see my master first and talk to him, but after that I would be happy to watch you work and give you some advice."

    Once he was finished greeting everyone, Marcus made his way back to Thabon''s private room, and after knocking on the door heard the sound of something crashing against the wall. A few momentster Thabon opened the door wearing full armor and having arge war hammer resting over his shoulder.

    "Irene you are back. Come on in we have much to catch up on. A great deal has happened while you were gone, and I am sure that your journey to the dungeon city was fruitful as well."

    Walking into Thabon''s room Marcus could see that all of the equipment was put away and the room had been expanded a bit and was covered in mats.

    However, this was not all, and imbedded into one of the walls Marcus could see Gurrom who was breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

    Marcus was surprised to see this and understood that Thabon had transformed his personal work room into a training area.

    "Impressed right. This is actually one of my room''s different configurations, and it can change back in under an hour." Thabon said with a proud expression.

    Nodding his head Marcus looked around and could see that the room was kitted out with all kinds of training items.

    "Gurrom how long are you going to stay there pull yourself together ande and greet Irene." Thabon said yelling at Gurrom.

    Unfortunately, after thest hit he had taken from Thabon, Gurrom could not move, and try as he might he was stuck in the wall.

    Luckily his saving grace showed up and Marcus quickly cast a healing spell on Gurrom, before pulling him out of the wall and having him drink a stamina recovery potion.

    "Ah thank you Irene, you are a life saver. If you had not arrived when you did, I am not sure I would have been able to survive."

    Gurrom then gave Thabon a fearful nce obviously having been put through the ringer by their master.

    "Hey, you are the one who said you wanted me to train you up for the tournament that ising soon. I told you I would be working you to the bone to make you as tough as possible."

    Hearing this Marcus now understood why the room had been remodeled and Gurrom had taken up temporary residence inside the wall.

    Checking Gurrom''s level, Marcus was happy to see that he had reached level forty-seven, which was a few levels higher than he had been before and showed that his training was paying off.

    "Well, Gurrom the training seems to be paying off, so keep at it." Marcus said in an encouraging manner.

    However, what he heard next made him flinch, as Thabon said, "Actually now that you are here how about you join us. I can see that you managed to get your level up to forty-two so you should be able to go a round or two with me now."

    Quickly thinking up an excuse remembering the spartan like training he had received while learning about the art of the forge from Thabon, and seeing how badly beaten Gurrom was, Marcus said, "No that is fine. Since me and Gurrom are going to bepetitors in the tournament it would not be fair for me to see how he fights."

    "I understand but we can schedule different training times for the two of you so you can keep your abilities and strategies under wrap." Thabon said not taking no for an answer.

    At this point Marcus was kicking himself since he had tweaked his false status skill to show his actual level.

    He had done this since it would have seemed unbelievable for a level thirty-five to be as strong as he was and even level forty-two would be farfetched.

    Of course, his skills and stats were still changed up a bit, but his level was being proudly disyed at forty-two.

    Sighing Marcus agreed to training with Thabon and then the three of them sat down to catch up with each other.

    "Color me impressed Irene. To take down a boss that was level fifty-two with only the three of you is quite a feat. Normally bosses are challenged by groups of fifteen or more since their power is well above the norm of beasts and monsters you find around." Thabon said genuinely impressed.

    "Yeah, but it is too bad I was not able to get the bar of adamantine. That unique skill orb was just too tempting." Marcus saidmenting a bit.

    "Anyone in your position would have made the same decision. Adamantine may be rare but not to the same degree as a unique skill orb. If I could get my hands on one, I would even be willing to trade my prized axe." Gurrom said while looking at Marcus with a bit of jealousy.

    Naturally Marcus did not tell them that he had given the orb to Lilia, and after seeing Gurrom''s reaction he was certain the guy would blow a gasket if he found out.

    "So now that we have all gotten caught up with each other, you said you had something you wanted to discuss with me Irene." Thabon said curiously.

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Yes there are two things actually. The first is that I have made some mithril items I wish to disy in the shop, with your approval of course.. And the other is if you could rmend me to one of the auction houses to sell these."

 Chapter 267 - 267 Training With Thabon

    Pulling out five different weapons and two sets of armor that he had made, Marcus showed them to Thabon who looked at them with astoundment.

    That was because all seven of them were top tier and had been recognized by the system.

    These seven items were the masterpieces that Marcus had made since returning home and to say the least it was not easy.

    Unlike when he was making gear for himself or someone he cared about, making it just for money did not give him the same type of spark or passion, so creating these top tier weapons and armor had been incredibly difficult for him.

    In the end even after hundreds of attempts, the seven items before him were all he was able to make at the highest quality.

    Yet even though this seemed like a failure to Marcus, for most other forgemasters creating seven items of this quality even throughout their lifetime would be exceptional.

    "Irene this is truly impable work you have done here. To think that you would be able to make seven more items of this quality after having recently making those other two swords you had shown me." Thabon said genuinely impressed.

    Gurrom then looked at Marcus in a different light, a pit of jealousy welling up inside him. Marcus had been his junior and only started to learn how to forge around a year ago but had nearly caught up to him when he had spent five years to reach the point he was at.

    He was already considered a talent, and, in his time, he had only produced eleven items of the same quality as what Marcus was disying now.

    Of course, he had made items with adamantine which were better, but that was just because of his base materials being superior not his skill.

    ''How does she do it. Is it her blessing of iron that makes her that much better than me?'' Gurrom wandered while looking at the seven masterpieces in front of him.

    Unfortunately for Gurrom, if it was just his blessing of iron it would not have given him this much of an edge.

    In the end it was Marcus'' ability to continue near indefinitely owing to his ghostly nature and his mana regeneration skill.

    He rarely has to take breaks, and only after many days of nonstop work does his efficiency begin to decrease ever so slightly.

    "So, you want me to rmend you to an auction house to sell these. Are you sure Irene these are all the best of the best when ites to mithril items?"

    Nodding his head Marcus responded saying, "Yes I do. I need money so that I can purchase higher grade materials like adamantine."

    Hearing this Thabon suddenly perked up and asked, "Irene did you get your kill level up to level five?"

    If Marcus was now looking to buy adamantine it could mean only one thing, he had reached the level of skill where he could work with it.

    "Yes, I got my forge skill up to level five in Lethan. Oh, and that reminds me Edzard wanted me to give you this letter."

    Handing over a letter that Edzard had given him, Marcus waited for Thabon to finish reading it before starting up the conversation again.

    "I know that it is a bit frowned upon to send out such high-level equipment to whoever is willing to pay the most, but if I am to get adamantine for myself, I am going to need the money to purchase it."

    Thinking about it for a few minutes Thabon finally came to a decision and said, "Very well I will rmend you to one of the auction houses, but you will only sell the two sets of armor and two of the weapons. If you want to sell the other three weapons, I will help you find a reputable buyer even if you would make less than at the auction."

    Understanding where Thabon wasing from Marcus agreed to his terms and said, "That is fine and thank you for your consideration."

    "Just do not make a habit of selling off these types of weapons to anyone. I have had in the past a mass murder use one of my high end weapons that I sold at an auction to kill hundreds of people, and to this day it is one of my greatest shames." Thabon said as his expression darkened remembering his greatest regret.

    It was pretty much an unspoken rule to not sell off top tier weapons to the general public because horrible criminals could get ahold of them and use them for vile purposes.

    Of course, this was still rare, but it had happened enough for forgmasters to be warry of giving out their best weapons to people they did not trust.

    "Now that the business talk is over how about we get in some training. I would like to see what you are capable of Irene, so Gurrom you go back to your room and rest." Thabon said as he smiled at Marcus.

    Seeing this Marcus shuddered. He had certainly gotten stronger but even after checking Thabon''s level again he came up empty.

    This meant that he was still many levels higher, and Marcus was not confident in beating his master even if he went all out.

    "Well good luck Irene, and I suppose I will see youter at the tournament" Gurrom said as he hastily left hoping not to get dragged into anymore training from hell.

    Once Gurrom had left Thabon pulled out his adamantine war hammer and walked a few dozen feet away from Marcus and said, "Show me what you can do first, go ahead and give me your best shot."

    Sighing Marcus pulled out his scythe and activated his armor, receiving an interested look from Thabon.

    He had not yet seen Marcus'' new gear but now that he had he was quite impressed.

    Looking at his master Marcus wanted to see how his power without any of his unique or supreme skills active would measure up.

    ''Let me see how he takes this.''

    After activating all of his enchantment spells and skills, Marcus began to send a huge amount of mana into his scythe activating all of its enchantments and causing it to crackle with power.

    Then once it was fully built up, he released a sh of mana which was further enhanced by the darkness, and light enchantments on his scythe.

    As the powerful sh came right at him Thabon took no actions to dodge or put up any defense.

    That was until thest moment when he raised his left hand up and block Marcus'' sh.

    It was truly and astonishing thing to see. The attack Marcus had released could have easily turned most buildings into ruble, but Thabon had stopped it with one hand.

    Flicking his wrist Thabonpletely dissipated Marcus'' attack and sent his own st of mana forward.

    However, his was only the size of a pebble but when it hit Marcus, it sent him flying backwards.

    Even as the enchantments on his armor activated and absorbed some of the force while also deploying a barrier, Marcus was unable to resist the attack and soon found himself crashing against the wall.

    It was truly a surprising moment for him since it had been a long time since he had feltpletely helpless to block and attack.

    And he could tell that Thabon had been holding back tremendously yet his power was still far greater than Marcus''.

    But Marcus was not done yet. The attack had actually done little damage to him basically only pushing him back.

    Of course, this was all Thabon had intended the attack to do and if he had wanted it to hurt Marcus it would have.

    "I must say that was pretty impressive Irene. For only level forty-two it felt more like an attack from someone level fifty-fifty or so."

    Yet as Thabon wasmending him Marcus had already begun his next attack.

    He was now going to unleash his strongest attack with only his base powers and turning his scythe to the side activated its dual enchantment.

    The de then seemed to extend the other direction and a stock like a gun popped down from the handle creating the visage of a crossbow.

    The scythe then began to crackle with electricity as Marcus cast his iron sphere spell and shrunk it down to the size of a baseball before cing it over his scythe.

    ''Let me see if you can take this, Railgun.''

    Firing off his strongest single target attack, Marcus propelled his iron sphere at Mach seven as a loud resounding bang could be heard as it broke though the sound barrier several times over.

    Thabon''s eyes went wide when he saw the attack Marcus was releasing and time seemed to slow down immensely for him.

    This attack was far stronger than thest one, and he had to get a bit serious to deal with it.

 Chapter 268 - 268 Training With Thabon (2)

    With Marcus having fired his railgun at him, Thabon d his left arm in crimson mes before it shot out in front of him at an incredible speed.

    He then caught Marcus'' iron sphere that had been propelled at Mach seven with his me d hand.

    Being pushed back a dozen feet Thabon could feel the extreme power behind Marcus'' attack and was impressed by it.

    Nevertheless, as impressive as the attack was all it did was push Thabon back as the iron sphere quickly vaporized under the heat of his crimson mes.

    Clicking his tongue Marcus was disappointed that his railgun did not do anything against his master, other than cause him to use some sort of me ability.

    Of course, he did not expect his attack to hurt Thabon but the fact that it did so little was still a bit vexing.

    That was his strongest single target attack and Thabon had just taken it with one hand like they were ying a game of catch.

    Shacking his hand that was slightly tingling Thabon looked over at Marcus and said, "I hope you know it is rude to interrupt someone when they areplementing you. Though I do also have to congratte you for thatst attack since it is something I have never seen before."

    However, after giving Marcus a bit of praise it was Thabon''s turn to attack, and he disappeared from Marcus'' view while his danger sense went off like crazy.

    The next thing Marcus felt was his side caving in and smashing into a wall like a meteor.

    It took Marcus several seconds after being smashed into a wall to register what had happened to him.

    Everything had happened so fast it seemed almost unreal, but now that he could look back on it he knew that Thabon had punched him in the side and sent him flying.

    There was no special trick just a straight punch that had sent him barreling into a wall like a ragdoll.

    Marcus could feel that he had suffered some heavy internally damage to the pseudo structure his solidified soul created, but luckily his regeneration was already hard at work, and it was not like he had any organs to get damaged in the first ce.

    After just a few seconds Marcus could move again and he yanked himself out of the wall, only to see Thabon standing there with a potion in his hand.

    Thabon himself was astounded to see Marcus actually pull himself out of the wall since he figured he would have multiple broken bones after that punch.

    Certainly, he had held back but that was still around seventy percent of his raw strength which would have turned most people into meat paste if they were hit by it.

    Seeing the potion in Thabon''s hand Marcus said, "Thanks for the concern but I will be alright. Just give me about half a minute and I will be fully recovered."

    Marcus'' body then made a few cracking sounds as the bone like structures that his physical form had made snapped back into ce.

    "I knew you had a regeneration skill, but I did not know it was this strong. It seems to almost be on par with a troll''s." Thabon said as he analyzed Marcus'' healing ability.

    "Hm, oh yeah, it actually upgraded recently and became high speed regeneration." Marcus said in a nonchnt manner.

    Shacking his head Thabon could not believe that Marcus had obtained such a coveted skill, that was the highest tier of regeneration other than certain unique skills.

    "You certainly do have many talents, Irene. Not only do you have your blessing of iron but one of the greatest skills. Very few races that are not born with a natural regenerative ability like trolls or vampires every obtain such a skill. Even I do not have a regeneration skill after everything I have been through." Thabon said with a bit of envy.

    "Yes, I do have my fair share of luck, but I have also been nearly killed on numerous asions and fought hard for the strength I have obtained."

    Nodding his head Thabon said, "Yes you should be proud of yourself. You havee a long way in a short amount of time. Now would you mind exining the principles behind that attack you just used, truth be told I have never seen anything quite like it."

    After exining the principles behind his railgun spell, Thabon began rubbing his beard as he said, "Truly ingenious. To think that a spell developed for movingrge amount of cargo could be utilized in such a way. Of course, I had heard of people using it to disarm those that use iron or steel weapons, but mithril is not maic so it is not like it useful for dealing with stronger people."

    Thabon then looked over Marcus'' scythe and the enchantment he had embedded into it to enhance his extreme maism spell.

    "I see so that is how you got to that level of eleration." Thabon said after examining Marcus'' scythe.

    However, his happy expression at seeing a new type of enchantment changed quickly and he looked at Marcus seriously and said, "Never show anyone other than me or Gurrom this type of enchantment. Mana cannons are already powerful enough, but if nations started to make weapons using the same principle as your railgun as you call it, things could be ugly."

    "Understood. I never intended to spread this power around anyway."

    Marcus could understand Thabon''s worry. If some nation made a giant version of his railgun, they could easily send massive steel projectiles at their neighbors and demolish any city within range.

    "Okay now that I know about what degree of strength you have, we can get into some sparing practice." Thabon said as he brandished his hammer.

    Seeing this Marcus got into a defensive stance and immediately deployed his radiance scales spell.

    He was not sure how effective it would be against his master''s attacks, but it was better than nothing.

    Making the first move Marcus swing his scythe toward Thabon but as it was about to hit, he changed the direction and brought the handle up towards Thabon''s'' chin.

    Nevertheless, his master saw right through his feint and blocked it with his hammer before counter attacking.

    Immediately Marcus could tell that Thabon was holding back trying to only be slightly above his level of speed and strength.

    The two then continued to spare and as time went on Thabon started pushing Marcus harder until he was almost unable to keep up.

    ''Looks like now is the time. Embodiment of darkness.''

    Activating one of his unique skills Marcus caught Thabon off guard for a moment with his explosive increase in power but his master soon began pushing him again as even with his unique skill Marcus was still below him.

    "Good, a unique skill that temporarily raises your power. However, I can tell it is putting a strain on you, how long do you think you can keep this up." Thabon said while hammering away at Marcus giving him no room to breathe.

    Seeing as how even with one unique skill he was still far weaker than Thabon he decided to make one all-out attack and see what would happen.

    ''Embodiment of eclipse, Dark Form, and soul devour.''

    After using everything he had other than soul burst, Marcus exploded with power that shook the building as he sent a full powered sh towards Thabon.

    Thabon for his part was astonished to see the change in Marcus'' power. He had suddenly be many times stronger than he had been before and Thabon actually felt a bit of dangering from his attack.

    Channeling mana into his hammer for the first time Thabon met Marcus'' strike head on and even activated one of his attack skills.

    "Grand impact."

    As the two attacks met Marcus waspletely overwhelmed as even with everything he had, Thabon pushed him back, and with a loud boom Marcus smashed straight into the reinforced wall.

    It was the hardest Marcus had ever felt like he had been hit and figured that it must have been what it felt like to run into a train.

    Yet he was still alive, mostly because of Thabon''s excellent handling of his hammer sending most of the force up and instead of directly at Marcus.

    Running up to him in a hurry Thabon said, "Irene are you okay."

    Groaning Marcus replied, "Yeah just give me a minute."

    After hearing this Thabon let out a sigh of relief since he had gone a bit overboard using one of his attack skills.

    Once Marcus had recovered from the heavy blow that Thabon had hit him with and the bacsh of his supreme and unique skills, he pull himself out of the wall and brushed himself off.

    "You really are sturdy Irene. Also sorry about hitting you so hard, thatst attack of yours felt a little dangerous so I reflexively used an attack skill." Thabon said as he bowed his head apologetically.

    "No, it is fine. I attacked with everything I had there and aimed to kill so your reaction was understandable." Marcus said as he looked slightly dejected.

    He knew deep down that there was no way he could beat or even hurt Thabon, but he was still surprised to see how handedly he was beaten even with nearly his full power.

    Though he was certain that even if he used soul burst it would have been the same result just showing how strong his master really was.

    "Here your scythe." Thabon said as he handed Marcus his weapon which had gone flying out of his hands when they shed.

    "To think that someone more than thirty levels lower than me could make me feel even slightly at risk." Thabon mumbled under his breath.

    However, Marcus managed to just hear this and inquisitively asked, "So master would you tell me what level you actually are?"

 Chapter 269 - 269 Marcus And Thabon

    Thabon was a bit taken aback by Marcus'' question, but after thinking it over for a few moments said, "Sure, I have already told Gurrom, so it is only right I tell you as well."

    Marcus then stood looking expectantly as Thabon cleared his throat and said, "I am currently level seventy-four."

    That was it, that was all Thabon said but it was still enough to amaze Marcus.

    Other than the blue demon which he knew had to be at least level eight-eight, this was the highest-level Marcus had been able to confirm anyone having.

    Once people made it to such high levels, they typically kept it a secret and it was not like many people would have an appraisal skill high enough to see their level to figure it out.

    "So, you are level seventy-four. Might I ask how long it took you to reach that level?" Marcus said curiously.

    Certainly, he had pretty much all the time in the world, but getting an urate number of how long it took to reach such levels would at least give him an idea of how hard it was to level up to that point.

    Looking up as if trying to recall something Thabon made numerous different faces before saying, "Well I am going to be three hundred and eight-six this year, so I suppose that is how long it took me. Though if I were being honest, I did not get serious about leveling up until I was around a hundred and fifty when my parents kicked me out for being azy bum."

    Marcus was shocked to hear this not only because it had taken Thabon over two hundred years to reach this level but also that at some point his hard-working master had beenzy.

    However, Thabon was not done speaking yet and said, "But do not get me wrong, it was not like I was throwing myself into dungeons for weeks on end like you did. Though most people would not get away from that unscathed like you."

    Hearing this Marcus scratched the side of his face in an embarrassed manner since he certainly did have advantages most people did not.

    Sighing Thabon then looked off to the side as if staring into the distance and said, "Unfortunately I have pretty much reached my peak. You will find the higher you go, that this world is truly full of beings beyond yourprehension."

    Wondering what Thabon could be getting on about, Marcus asked if he could borate and Thabon said, "The higher level you go the harder it gets to level up, not only because you need more experience but also because of theck of creatures at high levels. I could go searching the wilderness for years to not find a single beast or monster near my level. Or I could walk into the den of something far beyond me, as I have in the past. Of course, there are also dungeons but those are far to dangerous at my level."

    After saying that Thabon had a cloudy look in his eyes and Marcus could tell he was remembering a tough experience he had in the past.

    "I assume you know that there are three dungeons in this kingdom?" Thabon asked looking at Marcus inquisitively.

    Nodding his head Marcus responded saying, "Yes there is the one near Loursend, the one that Lethan was built around, and another deep in the Great Gome Woods, though if I recall not much is known about that one since it is so far from civilization."

    "Yes, those are the three dungeons in this kingdom, but do you know why there is a city around the other two and not the one in the Great Gome Woods. It is not because it is too deep into the forest, it is because it is too dangerous. I have been there once a long time ago, and I can tell you now, it is far different from the other two. You could even say it was the reason I settled down here and decided to live the rest of my life forging instead of going out into the world."

    Hearing this Marcus really wanted to ask Thabon what was so dangerous about the dungeon within the Great Gome Woods, but seeing the look on his face Marcus could tell he had already said all he would.

    ''It must have been harsh, and it is likely he lost someone, or even multiple people close to him. I can always find out more information about it from somewhere elsetter.''

    Having decided to switch the topic since he did not want his master to have to relive anymore of his hardest memories, Marcus asked, "So, after our sparing how do you think I will stack up in the tournament."

    Coming out of his daze Thabon looked at Marcus and thought for a moment before saying, "I believe that you have a good chance to get into the quarter-finals, but whether you win or not I do not know. I have heard from Aria that the kingdom has sent out personal invitations to many strong prodigies that have not participated in the past. If it were a normal tournament, I would say either you or Gurrom would be a shoo-in to win. But as strong as you are Irene, especially for your level, do not think there are not others out there who are just as powerful if not more than you."

    Nodding his head Marcus understood what Gurrom was getting at. He had yet to meet anyone at the same level that was stronger than him, but that did not mean they did not exist.

    In fact, as he thought about it, he realized that if his partner Roxene was the same level, she would undoubtedly be stronger than him.

    "Now how about one more round and then I will give you some pointers on what you are doing wrong." Thabon said with a big grin that made Marcus shiver.

    The two then went at it for around an hour until Marcus hadpletely exhausted his mana even through his regeneration skill.

    "Okay that was pretty good towards the end you nearly got me with one of you attacks." Thabon said to Marcus who wasying on the floor suffering from mana fatigue.

    "I just took what you said and tried to put it into practice. You were right I had gotten too used to just brute forcing my way through things that Icked finesse to create openings."

    Certainly, after defeating the de armed demon Marcus had pretty much just been sting whatever came his way and it typically died.

    Even during the boss fight he had never been in any real danger since he could just run away, and in the end, he just sted it with a big attack.

    But fighting against Thabon, Marcus remembered all the times he had struggled and had to create openings or use the terrain to his advantage.

    "Now I think that has been enough training for today. You said you had other items you wished to sell in the shop, would you mind letting me take a look at them." Thabon said as he extended Marcus a hand.

    The two of them then went to a storeroom that was meant just for Thabon and his apprentices, and Marcus unloaded every weapon, piece of armor, and essory he had made.

    In total there had been twelve sets of armor of various types, followed by eighty-nine weapons which were mostly swords and spears which were the mostmonly used, though a few weird ones were sprinkled in. And finally, there were twenty-three essoriesposed of bands, rings, and nes each with varying effects.

    Seeing this huge pile of mithril items, Thabon looked at Marcus like he was crazy and said, "How did you find the time to make all of these. This is what I would expect someone to make in a year if they were working full time with next to no breaks. When do you find the time to eat or sleep?"

    Of course, Marcus had no need for either of those two things and they were more like recreational activities than a necessity.

    He had pretty much spent all of his time of thest few weeks just hammering away in his forge day in and day out.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus said, "Sometimes I just get lost in the work. I also got a bunch of good materials in the dungeon, but after this I am pretty much out."

    Shaking his head Thabon could not believe how unfathomable Marcus was, but just sighed and said, "I will find a good ce in the shop for the lower quality ones without celestial tinum, but the others I will probably need to find buyers for."

    "Okay thank you again for helping me out master." Marcus said bowing his head respectfully.

    Seeing this Thabon beganughing and said, "It is only natural. I epted you as my apprentice because I saw promise in you. Anyway, with all of the items you bring me it takes a big weight off my workload.. Now follow me back to my room and I will give you a letter of rmendation to the auction house I used to use in the past."

 Chapter 270 - 270 Teaching The New Apprentices And A Pest

    With the letter of rmendation from Thabon in hand, Marcus bid his master farewell before going back out into the main forge area.

    Once there he met back up with the new apprentices he told he would give a few pointers to, but another person he was not expecting nor wanting to deal with was waiting for him as well.

    Jerrard the apprentice that had been bugging him in the past had somehow heard that Marcus would be giving these kids a lesson, and using his seniority had weaseled his way in.

    "Jerrard is there something you wanted from me?" Marcus asked concealing the annoyance he felt.

    Smiling Jerrard said, "I heard that you would be instructing these new recruits and seeing as how this was a golden chance, I had to participate as well."

    Sighing Marcus thought about what to do. Jerrard had been persistent about bing his apprentice even though he had his own master who was a member of this forge.

    And what was worse was that Marcus himself was still considered an apprentice to Thabon.

    No, he had already figured out the real reason Jerrard was so interested in him, and it was not only for his forging skills.

    "Listen Jerrard I only agreed to help these new apprentices out this one time, and any advice I will be giving is stuff you already know. I do not need you here to get in the way when I am trying to help them out." Marcus said obviously upset.

    "Please Lady Irene, I feel I am close to reaching the next level, I only ask for a bit of you time." Jerrard said practically begging.

    At this point the new apprentices who were all fifteen or sixteen years old were beginning to get ufortable.

    "Fine you can stay and watch, but if you disrupt me or the others, you will leave alright."

    Furiously nodding his head Jerrard said, "Yes thank youdy Irene, I will be sure to be as quiet as a mouse."

    With that settled Marcus turned towards the new apprentices and asked each of them to show him how they made iron swords which was one of the most basic things that were made at the zegram Forge.

    Keeping a close eye on the new apprentices'' work, Marcus was impressed with their skills, and it was apparent that each of them had worked hard to get epted here.

    However, they did asionally make mistakes and Marcus woulde over and help them.

    "Stop, yourst swing was too light, and you did not shape the metal properly. If you continue like this the de will be uneven."

    "Your iron has cooled down; you need to reheat it, or your metal will be brittle, and the sword will easily break."

    Of course, he also made sure to praise the apprentices when they did well, but one person was starting to get frustrated that Marcus had not paid him any attention.

    ng!

    Jerrard purposefully hit the iron sword he had been working on with too much force to get Marcus'' attention.

    Seeing this Marcus moved over and said, "Jerrard I am sure you know better than to not hit the iron that hard, you ruined the sword."

    Naturally Marcus knew what he was up to and told Jerrard to get his act together before going back to the others to teach them.

    Unfortunately, Jerrard continued to make loud mistakes every now and then, causing Marcus no end of a headache.

    And to make it worse Jerrard would start apologizing and looking pitiful like he truly regrated his mistakes so that Marcus would have a harder time kicking him out.

    ''Okay I have had enough.''

    "I will be taking a break for a moment, continue on your own."

    After saying that Marcus went to find Jerrard''s master who also happened to be his father.

    He was a skilled man who was the only other person in the forge beside Thabon and his apprentices that knew how to work with celestial tinum having learned from his own master.

    Knocking on the door to Jerrard''s father''s private room, Marcus waited for an answer and soon a man opened the door.

    He was a fairly young-looking man seemingly only in his early thirties, but Marcus knew he was actually closer to sixty and only looked so young because of his high level which he achieved early on in life.

    "Oh, Irene this is unexpected. I figured it would be Thabon or Gurrom. Is there something I can help you with?"

    Luckily unlike his son who was kind of a pest, Conall was a good guy who Marcus got along with well enough even though they had not had many interactions.

    "Yes, if it would not be too much trouble could you do something about Jerrard. I am trying to teach some of the new apprentices, and he is making a nuisance of himself."

    Hearing this Conall''s expression turned into a frown, and he said, "That boy is supposed to working on an order of steel, and enchanted bronze swords."

    It was obvious that Conall was upset since he had been expecting his son to be working right now.

    Of course that was Jerrard''s biggest problem. He had inherited his father''s talent and because of it he did not need to work hard to excel. But as soon as he hit a roadblock he started to fall off and getzy.

    Telling Conall toe out and get his son in a few minutes Marcus returned to the area where the apprentices were and began giving out advice like nothing had happened.

    Then around five minutester, Conall came in with an angry look on his face, and when he saw Jerrard fiddling around with an iron sword clearly messing up on purpose, he stormed up to him.

    "Jerrard what are you doing here. You have an order of twelve steel swords to get done by next week along with three enchanted bronze swords. You have had two weeks already to work on this order butst I checked you had only finished four steel swords and one bronze. It is time to stop ying around here and get back to work." Conall said sternly to Jerrard.

    Jerrard for his part looked hurt and said, "But father this is a rare chance to get some insight from Lady Irene."

    Jerrard had practically whined this pretty much like a spoiled brat even though he was already twenty-four, and as far as everyone knew was younger than Marcus in his guise as Irene.

    Groaning his father grabbed him by the arm and began dragging him away as he said, "As far as I can see this is just a beginners'' ss, and you already having a forge skill level of three have no need for it. Now get back to work before I decided to cut you off."

    Jerrard''s face went wide in shock hearing this, since currently he was still receiving arge amount of financial support from his father, and without it would not be able to keep up hisx lifestyle.

    Though Marcus thought that might be better for the guy as it would hopefully light a fire under him, but who was he to get involved.

    Now with Jerrard out of the way Marcus was able to direct his full attention to the new apprentices helping them along with their forging.

    It brought him a sense of joy to see them smiling at him as he helped them, and it made him recall the times he thought about being a teacher, though he ultimately pursuedw instead.

    "Well now that everyone has gotten down the basics of working with iron, how about I give you all a demonstration of how I forge."

    Everyone of the apprentices looked at Marcus with bright eyes hearing this since they were going to get to watch a disy from someone whose skill was one of the best in the entire forge.

    Obtaining an ingot of bronze, Marcus got to work showing the kids how he used fire magic to heat of the ingot and then began to shape it expertly with his hammer strokes.

    Soon he had formed a bronze scimitar, and once he had let everyone take a quick look at it, he went to work on putting a few enchantments on the sword.

    "I am going to show you one of the most necessary skills that any striving forgemaster should have. Just being able to shape ingots very well will not get you to being at the top. For that you must also be well versed in enchanting weapons."

    After saying that Marcus pulled out his mana etcher that was for when he was not working with celestial tinum, and along with it the core of a level twenty or so monster before getting to work.

    He quickly imbedded the core within the de first before channeling his mana with precision and etching a few formations into the de.

    They were just basic formations such as sharpening, strengthening, and mana conductivity enhancements, but to the new apprentices it was truly something spectacr.

    Once he was done, he handed the scimitar back around for them to look at and for many of them this was actually the first time they had held and enchanted sword.

    Of course, this sword was pretty basic as far as enchanted weapons went but it would still fetch a price of around twenty-five gold at least.

    With his demonstration over, Marcus said, "Now I want to give all of you a bit of advice. Make sure to keep up with studying and listen to your seniors here at the forge. And I must tell you that if you wish to truly excel, learning fire magic is a huge boon, and once you have gotten your skill level to three to practice on precise mana control. This will help you when making enchanted weapons like the one I just did. And finally make sure to take some time to level up every now and then. If your level stagnates so will your skill forging."

    Saying those finishing words Marcus wrapped up his lesson with the new apprentices and bid them all good luck, before leaving the forge and finding that he had spent more time than he thought there, as the day had already turned to night.

 Chapter 271 - 271 Peningar Auction House

    With the day already at its end Marcus held off on going to the auction house Thabon had rmended him to and decided to go home first.

    It was thest day Lilia was going to be with him before going back to the academy again after the incident with Permafrost.

    Now that the criminal organization was gone, and Lilia''s dorm had been repaired, it was time for her to get back to her studies.

    Arriving back at his estate Marcus was easily let in by those on guard duty, and after returning Blitz to the stable went into his mansion and straight to the kitchen.

    Once inside Marcus found three of his maids hard at work and going over to Ste who was the one with the highest cooking skill, pulled out arge cut of meat before cing it on the counter.

    "Ste, I specially bought this tenderloin from a high-ss butcher. It came off of a rare grade magical beast called a tempest sow and today it is going to be a part of our main course. Feel free to use any of the ingredients we have no matter how expensive, this is going to be a special meal."

    After saying that Marcus walked away to find Lilia and Roxene. This meal was a double hitter in that it was meant to reward Roxene for when she protected Grace and Jenna, and also as Lilia''sst meal at home for a while.

    Going up to Lilia''s room Marcus found her reading a book and Roxene was sleeping on herp.

    It was certainly a precious sight to see, well until Roxene woke up and telepathically said, ''I smell something good on you what did you get me.''

    Roxene ever the little glutton noticed the lingering smell of the meat still on Marcus.

    "Yes, I picked up something special to thank you for the good work you did protecting Grace and Jenna. Though it is also for you too Lilia."

    Smiling Lilia put down her book and said, "Thank you for having something special made. It has been good to be able to stay here for a few weeks but now I am ready to get back to school."

    Passing the time, the three of them talked until dinner was ready anding down everyone was surprised by the feast that had been prepared.

    Even Marcus who had told them to pull out all the stops was impressed by the disy that his maids had made.

    Sitting down and digging in, everyone quickly became engrossed in the delicious food, especially the tenderloin from the tempest sow.

    It had a delicious vor and practically melted in their mouths with its perfect cook and excellent seasoning.

    Of course, Marcus had actually paid four hundred gold coins for this tenderloin, so the quality of the meat was to be expected.

    However, it was still one of the best, and most expensive meals Marcus had eaten, and with his recent increase in capital he could afford to splurge a bit.

    Once they had finished eating their meal, everyone went back to their respective rooms, and for the first time in many weeks Marcus decided to get some sleep.

    He had tired himself out fighting Thabon, and he had nothing pressing to do, so now was the perfect time to get some rest.

    Soon the next day came, and Marcus said his farewells to Lilia as she headed back to the royal academy, and once she was gone, Marcus made preparation to visit the Peningar Auction House.

    "Okay ra I am ready to go and thank you for acting as my attendant as always."

    Bowing her head respectfully, ra opened the door to the carriage for Marcus, letting him get inside before getting up onto the coachman''s stand and shaking the reins to direct Blitz.

    The two of them then made their way to the Peningar Auction House which was arge building located in one of the most affluent parts of the inner city.

    Of all the auction houses in the city, the Peningar Auction House was certainly one of the top three, and if someone were to say it was the best it would be hard to argue different.

    Driving up to the auction house ra was quickly directed by the staff to an enclosed garage for noble''s vehicles. And afterwards the two of them were led to a waiting room and told that a representative of the family that owned the auction house would soone to appraise the items that Marcus wished to sell.

    Naturally Marcus had told them who he was along with handing over the letter from Thabon which is why he was getting a meeting even on such short notice.

    However, the person who came to meet him was of a higher station than he thought would being and he could tell by the incredibly well-made dress she was wearing as well as a badge that was sewn into it.

    Standing up Marcus bowed and said, "I am Baress Irene Geist, and it is an honor to meet you Lady Peningar."

    "Like wise it is an honor to meet you Lady Geist, and I am Amelia Peningar first daughter of Marquis Rowan Peningar and the current chief executive of the Peningar Auction House."

    After the two of them had finished up the normal formalities they both sat down on couches facing each other with a table in the middle.

    "Mnda would you please get us both some tea." Amelia said to one of her attendants that had been apanying her.

    At the same time Marcus could only wonder why the boss the auction house hade to see him.

    He had expected someone of a high importance but not the person at the top.

    Other than her father who was the owner of this auction house, she was the highest authority and with his own territory to manage, it was not like a Marquis was going to always be here.

    Soon the tea arrived and after taking a few sips Marcus got right down to business and said, "Thank you foring to see me Lady Peningar. As I am sure that you read in the letter that my master wrote for me, I have two sets of armor and two weapons that I wish to put up for sale in you uing auction."

    Nodding her head Amelia took out the letter from a bag at her waist and looked it over onest time before saying, "We are just finishing up the catalog for this year''s major auction and normally I would not allow new entries to be submitted at this time. But when I heard that you were the apprentice of the famed Thabon zegram I had toe and see you myself. It has been some forty years since hest put up any of his pieces for sale here, but we are happy that he remembered us and is now rmending one of his apprentices to us."

    Amelia then picked back up the teacup and took a sip waiting for Marcus to continue the conversation.

    "Yes, I am sorry about thete notice, but I am sure you are aware of the recent turmoil caused by the kingdom uprooting the criminal organization calling itself Permafrost. I am afraid to say that I was being targeted by them and until everything blew over, I did not want to leave my estate." Marcus said in an apologetic tone.

    "Well, I suppose that is understandable. However, before I allow the items you wish to enter into the auction, I must examine them first. I am sure you understand that this is the highest-ss auction we provide so all of the items must meet at least a minimum standard." Amelia said in a businesslike manner.

    "Yes, I understand, and I am certain that the armor and weapons I made are certainly up to those standards."

    After saying that Marcus proceeded to take out the four items he would be selling, one which was a halberd he had made using ice elemental crystals as its base, and the other weapon which was a spear that had no elemental affinities but was incredibly strong with numerous other enchantments.

    However, as Amelia looked around for the sets of armor Marcus was going to show, she was surprised when instead he pulled out two pendants.

    "Um excuse me if I am not wrong, the letter said that you would be nning to auction two weapons and two sets of armor. Did you perchance decide against the armor in favor of these pendants?" Amelia asked, with a puzzled expression.

    Smirking ever so slightly Marcus said, "No there are two full sets of armor right in front of you. Here let me demonstrate."

    Picking up one of the pendants Marcus clicked the button and a set of chainmail came out and snuggly fit itself around Marcus'' body.

    A shocked expression then came over Amelia''s face when she saw this, but she quickly rposed herself and said, "My this is my first time I have seen armor that is contained in a piece of jewelry. From thest records I looked through I do not believe that this auction house has sold one since twenty or so years ago."

    Now it was Marcus'' turn to be surprised. He had gotten this formation from Thabon that allowed him to have the armor dwell within an essory but now he realized that maybe it was pretty rare.

    Taking the chainmail off Marcus put it back on the table and Amelia swiftly stood up and grabbed the four items bringing them closer to her.

    Marcus could see the excitement of her face as she looked them over and he soon realized that she must also have an item appraisal skill.

    Once she was finished with her appraisal, Amelia sat back down and smiled at Marcus before saying, "Yes each of these is first rate mithril works all having been recognized by the system. And seeing as how you are also Thabon zegram''s apprentice, the Peningar Auction House would be more than happy to auction these items for you."

    With a big smile on his face Marcus naturally agreed, and Amelia had the paperwork for the contract brought out.

    ''Hm twelve percent of the profits go to the auction house. I never had anything much to do with auctions on Earth and this is my first one here, but I think I read somewhere that ten to twenty-five percent was standard, so this is on the low end.''

    When he had finished looking over the contract and found nothing shady or abnormal in its Marcus signed right away before handing it back to Amelia who was quite happy at the items he had brought.

    They certainly would not be big ticket items, but they were still rare enough that they would sell well and bring a good profit to the auction house.

    However, it was garnering a rtionship with Marcus that was the big draw. If they could have a forgemaster that could supply such high-level items to them on a regr basis it would surely bring them even greater prestige.

    "Lady Irene how about a bottle of wine to celebrate." Amelia said, already having motioned for one of her attendants to bring one even before Marcus consented.

    Soon her attendant came back with a glistening white wine that was definitely not cheap.

    The attendant then popped open the bottle and poured out two sses, one for Marcus and one for Amelia.

    Not wanting to be rude Marcus graciously epted the wine and Amelia held up her ss and said, "I would like to thank you for choosing our Peningar Auction House Lady Irene and hope that in the future you would use us again."

    Raising his ss as well Marcus then took a drink at the same time as Amelia and enjoyed the sweet taste of the white wine.

 Chapter 272 - 272 The Tournament Begins

    After having finished off the wine, Marcus set his ss down and looked intently at Amelia before saying, "If it is not too rude of me, could I ask a question about if a certain item will be up for auction."

    Amelia was a bit taken aback by this sudden question but since she did hope to foster a business rtionship with Marcus, she figured it would be fine, so long as he was not asking about any of the surprise big ticket items that would not be released in the auction''s catalog.

    "Yes, feel free to ask but whether or not I can answer will depend on hat you want to know."

    "Very well, then could you tell me if any ingots of adamantine will be for sale."

    Letting out an internal sigh of relief, Amelia was d that Marcus did not ask about something that she could not talk about.

    Certainly, adamantine was exceedingly rare, but it was not a one-of-a-kind item, and until it was turned into something was just a lump of metal.

    Smiling and nodding her head, Amelia said, "Yes in fact we will be having five sets of three ingots for sale, though I must tell you that the price of each of those is likely to exceed even the weapons and armor you have provided."

    ''Yes, I should definitely be able to get my hands on some adamantine.'' Marcus thought internally celebrating.

    Of course, Marcus was also aiming to get the rewards from the tournament, but even with those to make everything he wanted was going to require more adamantine.

    ''Now the only problem is if I will have enough money.''

    Marcus had a pretty good idea about how much the adamantine would cost, and he was fairly certain he would have enough to buy at least one of the sets of three, though only if someone with deep pockets did not want them all no matter the price.

    Unfortunately, buying adamantine at auction or winning it at a tournament was the only way he could get some for himself.

    Certainly, if he just wanted to work with it, he could eptmissions from high-ranking families, but he would not be able to use the adamantine how he wanted.

    With everything he wanted to do aplished Marcus stood up and gave a respectful bow before saying, "Thank you for your time and approving the sale of my items at your auction Lady Peningar. It has been a pleasure, but I am afraid that I must go now to prepare for the uing tournament."

    "I see and here I was hoping to talk a bit more with. Oh, but before you leave, please take this with you."

    Amelia then stood up and took out a silver card with her name and the auction house''s emblem on it, and handed it over to Marcus.

    "When youe to the auction present this to the staff at the entrance and they will lead you to a private room where you can participate anonymously and infort."

    Taking the card Marcus gave Amelia another quick bow before saying, "Thank you very much, I will be certain to take you up on this generous offer."

    After that Marcus was led out of the auction house and back to his carriage, before heading back home.

    ˇ­

    "Well, it is time to get going."

    Jumping out of bed Marcus was welling up with anticipation since today was the day he would begin participating in the tournament.

    Of course, the tournament had actually been going on for a few days already at this point, but because of his connection with Aira and Thabon, Marcus had been seeded to the final preliminaries without having to fight.

    But today was the day his battle was scheduled, and Marcus was ready to get started.

    Going downstairs Marcus found arge breakfast waiting for him and his maids were going in full gear to make sure he was in tip top shape for the tournament he had been preparing for, for months.

    "Thank you Ste, as always your cooking is delicious." Marcus saidplimenting his maid who had the highest cooking skill and was in charge of most of the meals.

    "I am d it is to your liking Lady Irene." Ste said giving a slight bow.

    With his breakfast eaten Marcus went up to his room and changed into the clothes he had specially made for the tournament.

    They were a pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt that were made from the wool of an epic grade magic beast called a diamond ram that boosts incredible defensive abilities.

    The clothing had also been imbued with a self-cleaning and repairing function that made it ideal for fighting in, and the only negative was that it had cost Marcus around four thousand gold to buy.

    However, it was well worth the price and Marcus was happy to not have to worry about his clothes ripping anymore, since up to this point, he had just been wearing his everyday clothing while fighting.

    After that Marcus checked over all of his gear for thest time and when he was satisfied that he had everything he needed he made his way back downstairs.

    When he arrived, he found that all of his maids had gathered around to wish him luck.

    They all knew how hard he had been working to prepare for this tournament and wanted to give their support.

    "Okay I will be off. I will be staying near the tournament arena until it is over so hold down the estate until I return." Marcus said as he waved goodbye to his maids.

    "Blitz it is time to go." Marcus said as he hoped on top of his beastpanion.

    Riding down the city streets, Marcus soon exited the inner city and made his way towards the south end of the outer city where the tournament arena was located.

    Naturally the tournament was open to all to watch for only a couple of silvers, so its venue had been built in the outer city so that people would not have to pay more to enter the inner city than watch the tournament.

    Soon therge arena came into view though this was not Marcus destination as only the main tournament would be held there, and the preliminaries were held in ten smaller stadiums nearby.

    ''This is the ce.''

    Stopping in front the stadium where his match was going to be held Marcus got off of Blitz and tied him up before heading towards the entrance.

    Yet as he was approaching one of the guards in front of the entrance came up to him and said, "Miss this is thepetitors'' entrance if you wish to watch the match please go around to the other side and enter through the public entrance."

    ''I guess I do not look like much of a fighter, I probably should have put on my armor or taken out my weapon to look the part.''

    Of course, Marcus currently just looked like a delicate young woman, so he could not fault the guard for his misunderstanding.

    "Yes, I know. I am one of thepetitors Irene Geist."

    "I see then may we please see your ID to confirm."

    Taking out his ID Marcus showed it to the guard who looked it over before going down a list in his hand and saying, "You are free to enter. Just follow down the hall and go into the first door on your left to enter the waiting room. When it is time for your match to start, someone wille to get you and those you will be fighting against."

    Thanking the guard Marcus entered the stadium and following the direction he was given walked into the waiting room.

    Once inside he could see that around two hundred people were waiting, obviously the otherpetitors who had advanced to the final preliminaries.

    ''So, I will be fighting four of these people, I wonder who I am going to get paired up with.''

    For this final preliminary round, it was going to be a free for all of five people and thest one standing would make it to the main tournament.

    And currently there were twenty-five hundred people vying for five hundred spots in the main tournament which would consist of five twelve people, twelve of which had been seeded already.

    Finding a seat in the center of the room, Marcus could tell that everyone was looking him over and he was certain some of them were using an appraisal skill on him.

    Of course, he was also curious and began to do a sweeping appraisal of everyone but found that most of them were not above level thirty-five.

    ''The strongest guy I found so far was level forty-six. Though I suppose I have not gotten everyone, and a few have still yet to arrive.''

    Then as Marcus continued to appraise the people entering into the room, he saw someone he knew and the two of them locked eyes.

    Unfortunately, after what had happened with this person thest time they had been together, Marcus had begun distancing himself since he felt a sharp sense of guilt whenever he was around them.

    "Irene it is good to see you again it has been a while."

    "It is good to see you again as well Yrsa" Marcus said doing his best to feel how ufortable he felt.

    He had not seen any of the members of the Eternal Queens since they returned to the city after Jesnay and Branna''s deaths.

    Marcus felt responsible for their deaths since it was Jared''s grudge against him that caused it, so he felt ufortable around any of them.

    "So how is everyone I have not seen them for a while."

    Yrsa'' face darkened a bit hearing this and said, "Everyone has gone their separate ways and the Eternal Queens have been disbanded. In fact, the only one I still see is Bridget who joined the army."

    Hearing this just made Marcus feel worse about the situation, but it was already done so there was nothing he could do about it.

    "So, what brings you to enter this tournament Yrsa." Marcus said trying to change the subject.

    "Oh, I am hoping to get scouted by some noble family. I have had my fill of adventuring and settling down as some noble''s personal guard or maybe even bing a knight would be great. So, I am really hoping I can make it to the main tournament and catch someone''s eye."

    The two of them continued to have idle chatter until a staff member came into the room and started calling out names for the participants who would be fighting in the first round.

    However, neither of them was called first so they continued talking until when the seventh round was to start and the staff member said, "Landen, Lady Irene Geist, Sir Layton Whitlock, y, and Yrsa please follow me, you will be participating in this round."

    Both Marcus and Yrsa after hearing their names got up and walked over though Yrsa now had a glum look on her face and Marcus was feeling uneasy.

    Yrsa already knew how strong Marcus was months ago, and she stood no chance even if he had not gotten stronger.

    On the other hand, Marcus did not want to beat up one of his friends, especially since he still felt guilty about what happened.

    But he still had no intention of losing and could only apologize to Yrsa in his mind.

    Soon they were all brought out onto the raised stage of the stadium and looking around Marcus could see a few thousand people gathered in the seats.

    Naturally these preliminaries did not garner as much attention as the main tournament, but plenty of people still came out to watch the matches even though some of them could be pretty one sided.

    And after looking over hispetition Marcus was fairly certain that this match was going to be one of those.

    ''The only one above level thirty-five is the man called y at level forty-one. I can tell he has seen some battles and is likely quite strong, but he does not feel like a threat to me.''

    However, as he was appraising the other fighter Marcus noticed Yrsa going around talking to them and looking and pointing at Marcus.

    Marcus wondered what she was doing but he found out when the referee of the match loudly said, "And let the match begin."

    When the match was started Marcus could see that the other fighters had not begun duking it out amongst each other and instead had all turned towards Marcus ready to take him out first.

 Chapter 273 - 273 Overwhelming

    As the other fourpetitors surrounded Marcus, he could see a look of determination on all of their faces.

    Certainly, they had all fought hard to get to this point and were not going to go down without a fight.

    Though Marcus was not sure how Yrsa had gotten them all to agree to a truce to fight him first, but it had definitely worked.

    Of course, Yrsa had gone around to each of the otherpetitors and told them that she used to be in a party with Marcus and that he had a unique skill.

    And with the help of the guy named y who was level forty-one and had an appraisal skill, told everyone that Marcus was level forty-two. Yrsa was then able to convince everyone else that if any of them wanted to win they would have to take Marcus out first.

    ''I guess I cannot fault her or any of the others for their strategy. Individually I am definitely stronger than them. Unfortunately, I am probably still stronger than them allbined.''

    Naturally, this was not Marcus being conceited but simply a cold hard fact.

    He was a higher level than any of them, not to mention his absurdly high stats and slew of rare and high-level skills.

    "Oh, this is a first today."

    "Yeah, looks like everyone else has identified that young woman as the strongest and decided to gang up on her."

    "I wonder if she will be able to get out of this or if it is the end for her."

    "Hm this my first time seeing her in any of the matches, do you think maybe she is a seed."

    "Yeah, I think you might be right, so do you think she is really strong or just has some high up connections?"

    "She has got to be strong right I mean otherwise why would all those other fighters'' gang up on her."

    These were some of the conversations going on through the crowd as they watched the other fourpetitors slowly tighten their encirclement around Marcus.

    No one wanted to make the first move since they were certain that Marcus would take them out and were hoping to either all get close enough to attack all at once, or for him to choose who he wanted to attack first.

    ''I should just go ahead and wrap this up quickly.''

    "Iron Golem."

    Casting his tier four iron magic spell Marcus quickly summoned up his iron golem which now stood twenty-eight feet tall and was level forty-seven.

    All of the otherpetitors quickly jumped back seeing this, not having expected Marcus to use such a powerful magic with only the shortest possible chant.

    Unfortunately, Yrsa believed that Marcus had to chant to cast spells since he had kept up that fa?ade while he was with them, but now that he had the false status unique skill, he was able to make it seem like he was just using the chant shortening skill.

    "Knock them all out of the ring."

    With its orders received the iron golem went into action and began charging towards the four opponents that had tried to surround Marcus.

    The first unfortunate soul that had to deal with his iron golem was the man named Landen who was level thirty-two.

    He tried is best to counterattack, striking his mithril mace against Marcus'' iron golem, but it bounced of barely putting in a dent before the iron golem pped him into the air.

    Landen went flying over a hundred feet through the air before he collided into the barrier that was set up to protect the audience and slid to the ground.

    It was a brutal ring out and Landen was now vomiting blood and two of his limbs were bent at unnatural angles.

    However, as Marcus'' iron golem eliminated Landen the other three ran straight for him nning to take him out while his iron golem was out of the way.

    Except the slowest of them soon found that the iron golem was not done and had caught up smashing its foot in their way.

    "Ahhh."

    Letting out a battle cry the poor soul who was next on Marcus'' iron golem''s list was Sir Layton Whitlock, who was the nephew of a viscount and had entered the tournament to garner glory for his family.

    But after narrowly dodging the iron golem''s first attack Sir Layton Whitlock tried to counter stabbing his sword with all his might.

    ng!

    A loud sound of metal hitting metal rang out through the stadium, and everyone could see that Layton''s sword had failed to cause any damaged to Marcus'' iron golem.

    The iron golem then reached down and grabbed the stunned man and threw him out of the stage.

    Having dealt with two of his opponents Marcus only had two more, but they had managed to slip by his iron golem and were now within striking range.

    Yrsa brought down he great sword while y swept his ive towards Marcus side.

    For the first time the two were fighting together it was a well timed attack that would cause most people plenty of trouble.

    But Marcus simply jumped to the left avoiding Yrsa'' strike, before casting his iron skin spell and with his iron d hand smacking away y''s ive.

    Marcus then immediately jumped back as his iron golem sent a heavy kick right for y, who at thest moment brought forth his ive and deployed a mana barrier.

    y feeling the intense force of the iron golem''s kick barely managed to stay upright as he slid across the ring.

    Stabbing his ive down into the ring y did everything he could to stop his momentum and just a few feet before the edge came to a halt.

    Nevertheless, Marcus'' iron golem was already running after him intend on finishing the job, leaving Marcus and Yrsa facing each other down.

    "Sorry Yrsa, I know you wanted to win, but I have my own reason and cannot lose."

    After saying that Marcus turned into a blur before appearing right in front of Yrsa and mming his open palm into her stomach.

    He had moved far faster than she could react to and as Marcus hit her, she let out a pain gasp as the air was knocked out of her and she went flying across the ring.

    She continued to fly through the air until just a dozen or so feet from the edge of the ring where shended on the ground and skidded the rest of the way out of the ring.

    With another opponent down, Marcus turned his gaze towards the fierce battle of y and his iron golem.

    y for his part was putting up a good fight havingnded some blows on Marcus'' iron golem which now had deep scars on both of its legs and torso.

    However, y himself was pretty beaten up with blood flowing down from multiple wounds he had incurred after being hit a couple times by the iron golem''s devasting blows.

    Yet by some miracle y managed to outmaneuver Marcus'' iron golem and spinning his ive dealt a devastating attack, drilling a hole through its torso and causing the conjured creature to lose stability and fall apart.

    Marcus was quite impressed by this since his iron golem was six levels higher than y and he figured it was certain to win.

    Still even though y had pulled it off and taken out Marcus'' iron golem he was nearly spent.

    He had used most of his mana, and had some pretty bad injuries, which he had no way to fix.

    If it had been anywhere else, he would have taken out a potion, but limited use items were not allowed in the tournament, so his injuries were not going anywhere until the battle was over.

    "Imend you for defeating my iron golem, but you are at the end of your rope. In your current condition you have no chance of beating me so would you please surrender." Marcus asked not wanting to cause y any more harm.

    He had already shown how strong he was, and y was no longer in any shape to fight, so he was hoping to end this fight amicably.

    Though even though he suggested it Marcus was surprised when y nodded his head and said, "I give up, you have me beat."

    Marcus was actually a bit surprised to see this since he figured y was the type of person to fight to the bitter end, but it seemed he had a reasonable head on his shoulders.

    "It appears we have a winner. Lady Irene Geist will be advancing to the main tournament." The referee announced to the audience after y had surrendered.

    The crowd then apuded though somewhat halfheartedly. The battle had been short andpletely one sided.

    Still some people were impressed by Marcus dominating disy of power and he had certainly attracted a few people that could now be considered his fans.

 Chapter 274 - 274 After The Match

    Having won the final preliminary match, and earning his way into the main tournament, Marcus hoped down out of the ring and walked towards Yrsa.

    He wanted to make sure she was okay since he had hit her pretty hard.

    Luckily other than some scrapes and busies she seemed to be fine and was already trying to stand up, though she did have one arm holding her stomach.

    "Persistent Healing."

    Putting his left hand onto Yrsa''s back Marcus cast his tier four healing magic spell, and the injuries she had sustained quickly began to fade away.

    "Thank you, Irene." Yrsa said with a dejected expression.

    She had been hoping to prove herself in this tournament but even after rallying everyone together and revealing a secret Marcus had told in confidence, she had still lost.

    It left a horribly bitter taste in her mouth, and she just wanted to get away, so she yanked away and began walking towards the exit.

    Seeing this Marcus could tell how upset she was but as the victory it would be hard to console her as one of the losers.

    Sighing Marcus turned towards the exit himself, but along the way he saw the first guy his iron golem had knocked out and noticed that some of the tournament staff members were taking him out on a stretcher.

    The poor guy was in pretty bad shape after being swatted by Marcus'' iron golem and it was possible that he might still die if he did not received treatment soon.

    Of course, while the participants had been asked to do their best not to kill each other it was not against the rules to kill someone in the heat of battle.

    However, Marcus still did not want to have some random guy he had nothing against dying because of him, so he ran over and cast healing spell on the guy.

    It still would probably not be enough topletely heal his shattered and bent out of shape arm and leg, but at least the guy was no longer in danger of dying.

    Yet something unexpected happened as Marcus healed the guy as many of the audience members began to p and cheer for him.

    Though as he looked up at the audience, he could tell he had upset a few of the more bloodthirsty individuals as they had frown on their faces.

    ''I guess some of these people really wanted to watch me kill these guys.''

    But Marcus really did not care what the audience thought of him, so he just continued on to the exit now that everything he needed to aplish was finished.

    ''There is going to be a day before the main tournament starts, I wonder what I will do until then.'' Marcus thought as he exited the stadium.

    But his ns soon came to light as he walked out of the stadium and he heard in his mind, ''Something smells good.''

    Roxene then jumped out of hispanion storage and ran over towards one of the many food carts set up for the duration of the tournament.

    ''I guess sampling all of the food carts is a good way to pass the time.''

    Smiling Marcus walked up to the food cart Roxene had stopped in front of, though the owner was looking at her with a bit of apprehension.

    Luckily though this time she did not just grab the food and go, since she knew Marcus would buy her the food anyway, and it was not as enjoyable when you had to run and eat.

    ''Ah is this your pet youngdy.'' The carts owner asked.

    "Ah yes she is. Sorry, that she just ran up to your cart, she seems to always track down what smells good."

    "Oh, so did you want to try one of our delicious skewers. Just for this tournament I have even used a number of rare spices to enhance the meats'' quality." The cart owner said, giving his pitch and hoping to get a sale.

    "Yeah, that sounds good, I would like two of everything you have." Marcus said with a resolute face.

    At first the owner thought Marcus was joking but when he looked at his face, he could tell just how serious he was.

    His jaw nearly dropped at this, but this would be an incredibly big sale for him, so he quickly did some math the best he could in his head before saying, "That will be fifty-seven silvers for two of every type of skewer I have."

    Reaching into his magic bag Marcus pulled out a gold coin and handed it over to the man.

    He really did not feel like counting out fifty-seven silvers and at this point one gold was not very much to him.

    "Here you go and keep the change."

    The man looked shocked that Marcus had handed him a gold coin, but he was not about to question the situation and thanked Marcus profusely before getting to work on his order.

    "Here you go, two of everything. And feel free toe back again whenever you want miss."

    Now holding twenty-two skewers in his hand, thanked the owner onest time before walking down the street as he began handing some of the skewers to Roxene and eating his own.

    ''Themb was definitely the best no doubt about it. It was tender and juicy and the sauce on it was quite good.'' Roxene telepathically said to Marcus after having tried all of the skewers

    ''Hm, I have to say I was partial to the goat. Something about the vors just worked so well together and it was almost like a taste of home.''

    The two of them then went on to rank all of the skewers from their favorite to least favorite, but when Marcus said themb was fifth on his list Roxene seemed ready to fight him over it.

    Of course, the two were just messing around and after a while they began to peruse the other carts that had been set up buying and ranking their favorite ones.

    ''Oh, I am surprised to see her here.''

    As they were continuing their tour of the finest food carts around, Marcus spotted a friend of his who he was not expecting to see.

    Leading a band of guards around, was risa geared up in full armor and with the two swords Marcus had made for her at her waist.

    Heading on over Marcus waved his hand at risa, nning to just say hello quickly since she was obviously working.

    Yet as he got closer a couple of the guards ran up to him and said, "Are you in need of assistance miss."

    "Oh no I was justing to say hello to my friend risa." Marcus said trying to diffuse the guard''s confusion

    After saying that risa walked up and said, "I am surprised to see you out wandering the streets Irene, but it is good to see you."

    risa then turned to the guards that she was leading and said, "You guys go ahead and continue along the route I will catch up in a minute."

    The guards under risa''mand reluctantly left her behind, though Marcus was pretty sure their reluctance was more because they want to talk to him by the way they kept looking at him.

    "So, Irene what are you doing out here. I thought that you were participating in the tournament." risa asked inquisitively.

    "Oh yeah I already won my match, so I decided to get a bite to eat and got caught up in trying out all of the food stalls with Roxene here."

    risa now noticing the small half white half ck wolf pup at Marcus'' feet flinched a little, remembering the beating she and her friends had received.

    "I see you already won, but do you not think you should watch some of the other matches. That way you can see what types of skills and fighting styles your opponents are going to have."

    Hearing this Marcus felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. Here he was leisurely going around grabbing food, when he should have been watching the other matches to scout out hispetition.

    ''Agh, I got caught up in Roxene''s pace andpletely forgot to do something so obvious.''

    Having realized that he had made a mistake in not watching the other matches, Marcus said to risa, "Thanks for the reminder, and I guess I should get going. It was nice to see you again let us get together once this tournament is over."

    After saying that Marcus began running towards the nearest stadium where the final preliminaries were being held, hoping to make it in time to watch some of the matches.

    Unfortunately, when he arrived there were only two more matches to watch and one of them was andslide like Marcus'' match had been.

    In that match a gruff looking man who was level forty-nine, crushed all of the other opponents with his bare hands, seemingly being some type of martial artist.

    Marcus could not help but think he was pretty strong, as within just a few seconds he had knocked everyone else out of the ring with one punch.

    However, the next match was much closer, as it wasprised of a group of fighters all in the mid to high thirties, but in the end the winner was a young woman who was level thirty-eight and fought with ance.

    ''Hm the young woman with thence is probably not going to be a problem for me, but that martial artist guy seems pretty tough.''

    As Marcus analyzed the winners of the two fights, he had been able to witness, he soon found that everyone was exiting the stadium as the day''s matches hade to an end.

 Chapter 275 - 275 Fun At The Twisted Catsâ€™ Tailsâ€™ Inn

    With the final match of preliminaries over Marcus exited the stadium he was in and after picking up Blitz made his way towards the inn he had booked.

    It was a an incredibly nice inn called the Twisted Cats'' Tails and its sign had two cats'' tails intertwined.

    Of all the ces it had caught Marcus'' attention mainly because it apparently had a huge open-air bath.

    Riding up to the inn Marcus could only think that it lookedpletely out of ce in the city that''s architecture was more European because it looked like a Japanese style inn.

    Naturally Marcus had already suspected that this ce was built by someone from Earth.

    Yet as he went into, the building for the first time all doubt left his mind as he saw two young girls running the front counter and the fact that they definitely had Asian characteristics.

    However, that heritage was certainly a couple generations old, and neither of them looked entirely Asian.

    Walking up to them Marcus said, "Hello my name is Irene Geist and I have a room booked here for the next two weeks."

    One of the young girls bowed towards Marcus and said, "Please wait a moment while we check our books for you reservation."

    The girl then quickly pulled out what looked like a notebook and began skimming through it before saying," Yes we have your reservation Lady Geist. If you would allow me, I will take you to your room."

    Marcus followed the girl to is room which was on the first floor and actually was arge suit. He wanted toe back to afortable room after all of the fighting he was about to do so Marcus had spared no expense in his lodging.

    "Here you are this is your room and your key." The young girl said as she unlocked Marcus'' room and subsequently handed him the key.

    "If you would like I can give you a tour of the facilities, or if you wish to rx in your room, I or any of the other staff can show you around at another time."

    Putting on a nice smile Marcus responded saying, "I would love a tour of your facilities now, and thank you in advance for guiding me."

    Of course, Marcus also had another motive other than being shown the inn and that was to figure out if anyone originally from earth was here.

    Unfortunately, as Marcus probed the girl leading him around about who built the inn, she said it had been her great grandmother who had passed away around ten years ago.

    ''Guess I was a bitte. Oh well this is a big world and finding someone else from Earth was never going to be easy, though it is not like I am really trying to in the first ce.''

    So far Marcus had heard of or seen the influence others from Earth had had on this world, but he had yet to meet anyone else.

    But it was not like he was actively trying to; it was just something interesting to do when the threads presented themselves.

    Following along Marcus found the locations of the inn''s facilities the only one that really interested him was the open-air bath.

    "And here we have the open-air baths that our inn is famous for. The one with the red doorway is for women and the blue for men. It is in operation from dawn till a couple hours after dusk. Feel free to use it during any of those times. Of course, your room being a suit also has its own open-air bath albeit smaller."

    After that the girl led Marcus back to his room and told him that if he needed anything during his stay toe and visit the front desk.

    "Time to get what I paid for."

    With his tour of the inn over, Marcus decided to head straight to the open-air bath first, since as always, he was down for a good soak.

    However, as he arrived there were a couple of guards out front blocking the way and a small crowd of people had gathered around them trying to get into the bath.

    It had only been a few minutes since Marcus had been herest and everything had seemed normal then, so he was wondering what was going.

    Unfortunately, the answer to his question came soon as one of the staff members came forward and said, "We apologize for the inconvenience, but the open-air baths have been reserved by her Ladyship Baroness Cagna for the rest of the evening. We hope that you all can bear with us and topensate for your inconveniences dinner service in the restaurant will be free tonight."

    Hearing this Marcus immediately felt a sense of anger welling up inside him.

    He had rented a room at this inn pretty much specifically for therge open-air bath that resembled a hot spring, and now he was not able to use it.

    Heck he was a titled noble himself, but he had not felt so conceited as to have the entire bath reserved for himself.

    ''Guess I will just have to use the bath in my room.''

    Walking back to his room Marcus was feeling sour until something dawned on him.

    If it was just the baroness using the bath, naturally she would only be in the female side, and the male side would be empty.

    A smirk appearing on his face Marcus slipped into a deserted hallway and went into his ghost form.

    Now invisible and able to pass through walls, Marcus began floating towards the open-air baths and when he arrived, he slipped past the guards and into the men''s area.

    ''As expected, its empty.''

    Looking around the changing room, then the wash off station, and finally the bath itself, Marcus made sure he was alone before resolidifying and storing his clothing into his items box.

    ''Best to look the part.''

    Shifting his form, Marcus decided to go back to himself, figuring since he was in the men''s bath he should be a man, and just in case he got caught he would not get into any trouble a quick switch could not fix.

    Sliding into the warm water of therge bath Marcus felt the refreshing water wash over him.

    "Ah this is great. Sometimes being a ghost really has its perks."

    Not only was Marcus able to enjoy the bath, but because of the baroness taking over the whole thing even though she was only using the women''s bath, Marcus had the whole thing to himself.

    Exploring the bath Marcus soon came across a small waterfall that was providing the warm water and decided to sit under it.

    ''This hits the spot; I think I might want toe here more often. Or better yet, I have more than enough room on my estate, I could definitely install something simr.''

    Lounging about in the bath Marcus was having a great time letting himself go until he heard a ''When is dinner'' from Roxene as she jumped out of hispanion storage and sshed into the water.

    ''Oh, this feels nice, why did you not tell me you were in the bath'' Roxene said, as she bobbed up in down in the water enjoying the warmth.

    ''Well for one you were asleep and told me not to wake you until dinner, and two, this is a public bath so you should not be here.'' Marcus responded telepathically to Roxene.

    However, the little wolf looked around before turning her head back towards Marcus and saying, ''No one else is here, so what does it matter.''

    Sighing Marcus had no retort to that and decided to let Roxene rx as well, except after swimming around for a bit she got bored and sshed some water at Marcus.

    ''Hey Roxene, it is rude to y around in the bath.''

    ''Yeah, but again no one else is here so let''s have some furn.'' Roxene said as she sshed some more water at him.

    Being sshed in the face, Marcus looked over at Roxene before smirking before saying, ''This means war.''

    Marcus then changed his form over to a magic beast he had devoured the soul of in the dungeon''s waterfall area bing arge otter the size of a rhino that had horns like an ibex.

    With his newrger form Marcus swung his tail and sent a wave crashing down on top of Roxene washing her away.

    But the little wolf pup was not done, and utilizing her supreme skill grew to a simr size as Marcus and was about to retaliate when they both heard someone screaming from the other bath.

    "Guards, Guards, there is someone in the other bath."

    ''Oops.''

    Realizing his mistake Marcus had gotten too rxed and hadpletely forgotten about the baroness that was just a partitioning wall away in the other bath.

    ''Looks like we need to go Roxene, we can finish this another time.''

    Seeing as how they did not want to get caught Marcus got Roxene back into hispanion storage and went back into his ghost form.

    He then saw two armored guards run into the bath looking around for the intruder.

    However, even though the water was still moving from Marcus'' and Roxene''s ying around the perpetrators were already gone.

    ''Well, I guess we should head back to our room and get you dried off before going to get dinner. Hey and on the bright side it is free.''

    Hearing this Roxene perked up at the mention of dinner and the two of them headed back to their room before enjoying a delicious dinner on the house.

 Chapter 276 - 276 The Tournamentâ€™s Opening Ceremony

    After enjoying the first day of staying at the Twisted Cats'' Tails'' Inn, it was now the day of the opening ceremony and first matches for the main tournament.

    Now that thepetitors had been whittled down from tens of thousands to just five hundred and twelve, it was finally time for the massive arena that resembled the Roman Coliseum to be put into use.

    But before the matches began, the king himself was supposed to make an appearance and start things off with a rousing speech before the brackets for the tournament were revealed. Then after that it would be time for the fights to begin.

    Of course, whether or not Marcus fought on the first day would depend on how the brackets went since even just the first roundsted four days for all of the matches.

    There was a time limit of thirty minutes per match so some of them could wind up going quite long and if it came down to the time limit a panel of judges would decide the winner.

    However, Marcus doubted that any of his matches would go that long, since if he went all out, he was either going to win in a few seconds or loss to the bacsh of his own power.

    ''Time to get going.''

    After changing into is gear Marcus exited the Twisted Cat''s Tails'' Inn and began making his way towards therge arena, and along the way equipped his scythe for aesthetics.

    Normally Marcus just kept it in his item box since it was faster to take it out from there, but after yesterday when his nonchnt attire had gotten him confused as an audience member today Marcus wanted to look the part.

    Of course, he had also made a quick protector for his scythe''s de, to prevent any unfortunate idents from urring.

    Walking towards the arena Marcus certainly garnered his fair share of attention as a few people going to the arena to watch the matches recognized him as one of thepetitors that made it to the main tournament.

    Luckily none of them approached him, probably owing to the big scythe on his back, but one person seemed to show no fear and came right up to Marcus though he was certainly no spectator being decked out in high level gear.

    "Nice to meet you Lady Geist, my name is Novak, and I was really impressed with you match yesterday. You really beat my friend y, with just a single spell at that which really impressed me."

    Hearing this Marcus wondered for a moment if Novak hade to get some sort of revenge on Marcus, or was going to dere that he would crush him in the tournament.

    But as Novak saw the sharp look in Marcus'' eyes, he put his hands up and said, "Wait I did note to start a fight I just wanted to talk. You beat y fair and square and I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was by your disy."

    After Novak had cleared up Marcus'' misunderstanding the two of them walked to the arena together and talked along the way

    It turned out that Novak and y were part of the same adventuring group that traveled around from nation to nation which while not unheard of was pretty rare.

    Most adventures stuck to their home nation or just traveled between a few in a central area that they operated in, but Novak said that his group''s goal was to travel to every nation associated with the adventurers guild.

    Apparently, they had just finished up on their journey on the continent to the west, and this was their first kingdom they were visiting on this continent.

    Naturally Novack also asked Marcus about himself and since Novak seemed to be a nice and easy-going guy Marcus did not mind telling him.

    "Wow to think you would be so aplished at such a young age. Being a noble, adventurer, and forgemaster sounds like a lot of work."

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus said, "My title reallyes with no responsibilities and was more just honorary to reward me for the help I provided to the kingdom during a crisis. I am certainly more of a forgemaster and an adventurer than a noble."

    However, soon their conversation came to an end as they made it to thepetitors'' entrance, and after having their identities verified were led to separate waiting rooms to wait for the opening ceremony to begin.

    "Well see you around Irene, and good luck in the tournament." Novack said as the two went their separate ways.

    After separating with Novack, Marcus was led to a small private waiting room where a small couch was ced as well as somemon refreshments.

    At this point every one of thepetitors had their own private room to wait in so as to avoid any sort of tensions before the tournament.

    ''Might as well rx until I am called.''

    Sitting down on the couch Marcus pulled out a book and read until about thirty minutester a staff member came to get him and led him out towards the center of the arena.

    Along the way Marcus could see a number of otherpetitors simrly being led, and soon they all walked out into the open part of the arena where the cheers of the audience resounded.

    It was a far cry from the number of people that had been watching the preliminaries as Marcus looked around and figured that the number of people in the audience must have been somewhere near a hundred thousand.

    The cheers that they were letting out were near defending, but Marcus quickly disregarded them as he looked out at the people that would be hispetition in the tournament.

    This was his first time seeing most of them and he wanted to get a general idea of how strong they were and started firing off his creature appraisal skill.

    ''Thirty-seven, Forty-four, forty-one, forty-seven, thirty-nine, fifty-five.''

    Going through everyone he could see, Marcus found that no one was below level thirty-seven and the number of people below forty were few and far between.

    And at the height of levels, he had seen was a woman in full adamantine armor that looked like she could take and army down on her own at level fifty-five.

    However, there were a few people that he was not able to appraise because they had artifacts like Mrazivy''s, or a skill called hide identity that Marcus had recently seen when going through the skills he could purchase.

    Luckily none of them were able to pinpoint Marcus like Mrazivy had, probably because Marcus was not the only one using an appraisal skill.

    A number of the otherpetitors were darting their heads around as well, and it was almost certain that some of the audience members were using their skills too.

    However, the loud and frantic stadium soon came to a silence, as up on arge podium that was built into the arena a man with royal blue hair that was streaked with gray stepped out with knights nking both of his sides and even knightmander Darius at his back.

    It was quite obvious at a nce who this was, it was the current king.

    Marcus then watched as he pulled out some type of magical tool and as he spoke into it, a series of screens lit up and disyed the king as well as transmitting his voice throughout the arena

    "Good day to everyone, and it is good to be here again after three years. Now please give another round of apuse for these five hundred men and women who fought bravely through the preliminaries and have made it to the main tournament."

    The audience then went into another frenzy of cheering and pping until after minute the king held his hand up and all went silent.

    "And along with these five hundredpetitors we have twelve, whose fame and renown spread within and some even beyond our kingdom."

    The king then motioned towards one of the tunnels that led into the arena''s center and the twelve people began to walk out.

    These were the twelve people that had been seeded past the preliminaries, and among them was one person that Marcus recognized.

    Among the twelve seeds was Mrazivy, having been chosen as the royal family''s representative to fight in the tournament.

    ''They''re strong.''

    After looking of the twelve of them Marcus could tell that each of them had obtained a high level and quality.

    Unfortunately, he could not see what a single one of their levels actually were since they all had an item or skill that hid their level from him.

    The king soon continued his speech talking about how the kingdom''s history and how this was a momentous asion, but Marcus had stopped paying attention focusing his gaze on the people he had identified as the strongest.

    Even though he could not tell what most of their levels were, after all the time he had spent fighting he could at least tell if someone was strong or not.

    In fact, a couple of the otherpetitors felt incredibly dangerous even to Marcus.

    But soon his attention was once again drawn to the king as he said, "And now it is time to reveal the tournament''s brackets."

 Chapter 277 - 277 The Tournamentâ€™s First Round

    After the king announced that the tournament brackets had been finished and were about to be shown for the first time, he turned around and left the podium his obligation to the tournamentplete until the semifinals.

    The tournament''s brackets then appeared on the viewing screens throughout the arena so that everyone could see them.

    Of course, this was also the first time that thepetitors were seeing the tournament''s brackets as well, so everyone was looking intently for their names.

    The tournament had been broken up into four blocks of one hundred twenty-eightpetitors with the winner of each block going to the semifinals.

    Looking around Marcus found his name in block two and his first opponent was someone named Miguel LaRusso.

    Immediately he though it was a strange name for this kingdom, and he wondered if they hade from some far-off nation.

    Though there was another possibility that was at the back of Marcus'' mind, and he wondered if they were a transfer from Earth like him, or maybe was the decent of one as he had seen before.

    However, Marcus soon pushed his first match to the back of his mind when he saw who he might be facing in the next two.

    ''Gurrom and then Mrazivy huh. Did they rig this so I would have to fight my friends first?''

    Seeing that if they both won, he would have to fight Gurrom in his second round and Mrazivy in his third, Marcus could only think that the tournament was maneuvered to have him fight those close to him.

    And Marcus was actually correct, in the case of Gurrom. The kingdom wanted to pit both of Thabon''s apprentices up against each other and see who came out on top.

    It was actually a brutally tactical move in which they were hoping to cause a rift and force one of them to leave Thabon''s forge so that the kingdom could recruit them.

    But him having to go up against Mrazivy was actually and just a coincidence, though the person she would be fighting second had been a calcted maneuver just like with Marcus.

    Nevertheless, Marcus was not able to look over the entire tournament bracket before it disappeared from the screens.

    Luckily, he already knew that every one of thepetitors were going to get a copy of the bracketster, so it was no big deal.

    Soon after the brackets had disappeared, they were reced by the image of a halfling man who was dressed up in mboyantly fancy clothes and was going to be thementator and referee of the match.

    And while he may have looked kind of silly Marcus could tell he was strong, since otherwise he would not have been able to keep up with the matches.

    "Hello and wee everyone, are you ready to get this tournament started."

    Cheers began to echo across the arena as the halflingmentator riled up the crowd.

    "Well, it sounds like everyone is ready for the matches to begin, so without further ado, would all of thepetitors in block one head back to their waiting rooms, and in thirty minutes the first bout between Sir Gavan Grell and Andrea will begin. And for thepetitors not fighting today please feel free to stay and watch the matches in your reserved seats."

    Leaving the arena''s floor Marcus headed up into the stands to watch the matches that were going to be happening.

    Certainly, he would only be fighting the strongest person from this block when he made it to the semifinals, so analyzing everyone''s abilities would not be worth that much to him, but he could still enjoy the fights.

    "Looks like we are going to be fighting each other in the second round."

    Looking behind him Marcus found Gurrom who promptly sat down next to him and put on a smile, "I n on winning it all so hopefully no hard feelings when I beat you."

    "Yeah well, you may be a higher level than me, but do not expect that to help you win. I got a whole lot stronger fighting in the dungeon, and likewise n to win it all."

    After their little banter the two of them turned their attention towards the staff members that were handing out sheets of paper with the tournament''s brackets on them.

    Looking it over Marcus mapped out the names of the people he was going to possibly be fighting in his block.

    Unfortunately, other than Gurrom and Mrazivy he did not know anyone else in his block and before he could move onto the others, thepetitors for the first round had walked out onto the arena''s stage.

    Looking them over Marcus could tell that like his name gave away Sir Gavan Grell was a knight.

    However, inplete opposition to his clean-cut look and shiny armor, his opponent was a bear beastwoman who looked like a barbarian.

    She was wearing a number of thick hides over her body and had arge crude looking mithril club over her shoulder.

    Yet even though her appearance looked unrefined, it was clear how strong she was with her body covered in dense muscles and scars.

    ''She is going to win this hands down.''

    With only a quick look Marcus was sure of the oue of this first fight, and an appraisal soon backed up his gut feeling.

    Sir Gavan was only level thirty-nine, on the lower end of the remainingpetitors, and Andrea was level forty-six.

    Certainly, level was not everything as Marcus had proved that time and time again, but the presence that Andrea had was far more intense.

    "On my left we have the man known as the spiked fortress, and a knight in service of Duke Scriven. He is here to represent and bring glory to his lord, Sir Gavan Grell. And on my right, we have the leader of the nomadic beastperson tribe that lives in the northern part of the kingdom. She is known for her immense strength and fearlessness, Andrea."

    The announcer sh referee quickly gave a bit of background on the twopetitors getting the audience even more exited before saying, "Now it is time to start the first round of the tournament. Would bothpetitors take their ces, and the match will start on the count of five."

    "Five"

    "Four"

    "Three"

    "Two"

    "One"

    "Begin."

    With the battle started Sir Gavan who was wielding a massive tower shield with spikes on it charged toward Andrea.

    For his bulk he certainly moved pretty fast, and his wide shield would make it difficult to hit or get around him.

    But that was only if he was stronger or around the same strength.

    Andrea met his charge head on smashing her club right into his shield and actually bending some of its spikes.

    This was pretty impressive since mithril did not bend easily under pressure, but Andrea was just that much stronger.

    Quickly Gavan''s charge was brought right to a halt as he was unable to budge Andrea.

    "You knights all think you are so strong because of your title and fancy armors. But most of you are weaklings that grow soft behind your walls."

    After saying that Andrea side stepped Sir Gavan who was still trying to force his way through causing him to lurch forward.

    Then with his footing disrupted, Andrea brought back her club and with a heavy swing smashed Sir Gavan right in the head.

    His spiked mithril helmet caved in under the pressure, and his body that must have weighted over three hundred pounds went flying like a balloon.

    Yet the stage was incrediblyrge and even after flying through the air for dozens of feet Sir Gavan crashed into the ground and skidded to a stop.

    Still even though he had not bee knocked out of the ring, the match was obviously over.

    A crimson pool began to spill out from his helmet and there was no doubt that Sir Gavan was dead.

    Andrea had not held back and gone straight for the kill, not caring that it as frowned upon.

    Even the announcer was stunned for a moment by the brutal ending to the first match, but being the professional that he was quickly got himself together and said, "And the first round goes to Andrea. With one brutally swing she has defeated Sir Gavan. It may not have been a long match, but it was certainly an amazing disy of power from the leader of the nomadic beastperson tribe."

    Of course, he did not outright say that Sir Gavan was dead, but his unmoving body plus the pool of blood and gray matter around his head was more than an enough for everyone to know.

    Soon a couple members of the tournament staff came and collected Sir Gavan''s body and pulled it off of the stage and swiftly out of the arena.

    "ANDREA, ANDREA."

    A number for the audience began chanting for the wild woman that had killed a knight in one blow.

    Some of them were just bloodthirsty and were happy to see such a savage opening, while other were d that a noble had been shown up by amoner.

 Chapter 278 - 278 Marcus Vs Miguel

    After the first match of the tournament, the other matches of block one continued with varying results.

    Many of the fights were actually quite fierce with both fighters giving it their all.

    Of course, there were also plenty more one-sided ughters like the first match where Andrea overwhelmed Sir Gavan with one blow.

    However, other than that first round there had not been any deaths, thepetitors doing their best to uphold the wishes of the kingdom, though plenty of the losers and even some of the winners were now missing limbs.

    But soon a very interesting fight was about to happen where Marcus'' recent acquaintance Novak was going up against the powerful level fifty-five woman in full adamantine armor.

    Unfortunately, before the match even began, he knew Novack had lost.

    Marcus had already appraised him and found his level to be forty-six. It was certainly a high level by most standards but far lower than the woman he was facing.

    And not only was there a level difference, but their equipment was like night and day.

    Full adamantine armor was hard toe by and only the most elite warriors of a kingdom could be expected to be allowed to wear something so precious.

    "In our next match we have the leader of the adventuring party Endless Horizons, Novak. He hails from the continent to the west and was passing through our kingdom when he decided to join our tournament. And hispetitor who only goes by the name of Natalia. This mysterious beauty has won all of her preliminary matches with only a single move."

    Hearing this Marcus was a bit surprised to hear that nothing was known about her other than her name.

    That meant that she did not have any known affiliation in the kingdom or even to a notable organization.

    So, the real question was where did someone so stronge from.

    "Begin."

    But pondering that question would have to wait as the battle began.

    To start off Novak rushed forward with his sharp mithril w des glowing with mana.

    This was Marcus'' first-time seeing weapons like these, but it seemed that Novak knew what he was doing.

    Unfortunately, even though he moved very fast with plenty of enhancement skills, he soon found himself almost stopped.

    It was like he had run into a wall of msses, and he was moving slower than a snail.

    Natalia then walked up to him and touched him with one finger, before he went flying like a bullet and smashed into the barrier that protected the audience.

    It was an overwhelming disy of power and Marcus had no idea what had actually happened.

    Natalia had not used any chants and no visible phenomenon was apparent.

    The only thing he could liken it to was his phantom pressure, but the effect was definitely different.

    "One"

    "Two"

    "Three"

    The referee quickly began a ten count which was how longpetitors had to reenter the ring if knocked out unlike in the preliminaries when a knockout was the end.

    Nevertheless, even while Novack had stayed conscious somehow, he was in no condition to continue and soon the referee called the match.

    ''She is strong.''

    Marcus had no doubt in his mind that this woman called Natalia was the strongest fighter he had seen so far

    Her powers were unexinable, and she had overpowered someone as strong as Novack with no effort at all.

    After Natalia''s victory the first day''s matches continued to go by one after another and Marcus had now identified the strongest fighters in the first block.

    Of all of them, four had caught his eye as front runners, one being Natalia, and the other three being those that had been seeded all the way to the main tournament.

    All of them were incredibly strong and had defeated their opponents effortlessly, and Marcus was certain that he would be facing one of them in the semifinals.

    However, before that he was going to have to win his first match tomorrow, so once thest match of the first block had ended, he went back to his temporary home at the Twisted Cats'' Tails Inn.

    Then the as the next day came around it was finally time for Marcus'' turn in the tournament.

    His fight was going to be the third of the day, so he arrived at the arena just as the sun was rising and headed for his waiting room.

    Truth be told the anticipation was getting to him and Marcus was having a hard time resting.

    While he was certainly not a battle maniac this was going to be the best stage to test out his current strength.

    Luckily, he did not have to wait for too long as the two matches before his finished quickly and a member of the tournament''s staff came to get him.

    Following behind the staff member Marcus was led to a tunnel that exited out into the floor of the arena.

    ''Time to get started.''

    Walking out into the center of the arena Marcus looked around at the crowd of people in the stands and saw plenty of them cheering his arrival.

    Up on the main stage Marcus could see that the referee and his opponent were already waiting for him.

    Yet as he looked at his opponent, Marcus was surprised to see a young boy around middle school age.

    However, that was not all that surprised him. The boy also had dark tan skin and features that were distinctly Latino.

    It was a far cry from how the majority of humans in the Kingdom of Borealia looked with their more European features.

    Then as a final conformation Marcus found that the boy in front of him named Miguel LaRusso was exactly level forty.

    This left little doubt in his mind that the kid in front of him was a transfer from Earth like him.

    "On my left we have the rising start of the capital''s adventurers guild Miguel LaRusso. At only the age of fifteen he has risen straight to the tinum rank in just a couple of months and has proven himself in the tournament with his powerful sword skills. And on my right is one of the famed Thabon zegram''s apprentices, a noble of the kingdom, and a gold rank adventure herself, Baress Irene Geist. But she is also known by another name that she earned for her outstand performance defending the town of River Landing with powerful lightning and darkness magic, the Darkligth Princess."

    As the announcer said his unwanted nickname, Marcus felt a shiver through his whole soul as now everyone knew of it.

    Marcus almost copsed down onto his knees as the shame weighted down on him and he thought, ''I am going to have to give up on my identity as Irene.''

    Of course, this was just him being melodramatic, but the thought of being known by the entire kingdom as the Darkligth Princess left a bitter taste in his mouth.

    However, he did not have time toment his nickname going out to the public for long as the referee soon said, "And let the match begin."

    This quickly refocused Marcus'' mind but he noticed that Miguel had not made any moves against him yet, and was still standing there just looking at him intently.

    Whewoooo!

    Letting out a loud whistle Miguel gave Marcus a smirk before saying, "You are pretty hot Lady, how about it, did you want to be my woman."

    Stunned Marcus could not believe what had just happened.

    Here they were in the middle of a tournament and this kid had just asked if he wanted to be his woman.

    It practically made Marcus'' skin crawl thinking about it, and he wondered what gave this kid the fearlessness to do something like that.

    But it soon became apparent as Miguel said, "I am sure you can understand how awesome I am since I am a tinum rank adventurer and this world''s hero."

    ''He is drunk on his newfound power.'' Marcus thought as he sighed deeply.

    The kid had probably yet to run into anyone stronger than him or even have a hard fight for that matter, and thought himself invincible.

    Unfortunately, his luck had run out and Marcus was going to give him a lesson he was bound to learn at some point for free.

    "Okay kide at me with everything you have and if you win, I will be "your woman" as you put it."

    After saying that Miguel''s face lit up obviously pleased with the prospect.

    "Very well I will end this quick, and we can go out and get to know each other better."

    Pulling out his mithril sword from his item box Miguel began charging it with arge amount of mana before saying, "Light speed sh."

    Miguel practically vanished into a blur as he shot towards Marcus in a burst of speed.

    But even as fast as Miguel had be while using his attack skill, Marcus swung his scythe forward and met him head on.

    The two des then connected, and sparks flew as they grind against each other.

    "What!?"

    Miguel seemed utterly confused as to how Marcus had stopped him.

    He had used one of his best finishers and no one had every blocked it before.

    A couple had barely dodged it, but no one had ever taken it head on.

    "Well, that was better than I thought you would be able to do, but it was still not even close to enough."

    Marcus then sent a st of pure mana right into Miguel''s unguarded torso and sent him flying through the air.

    Once his surprise of being counterattacked wore off Miguel regained his senses and twisted his body in the air beforending back onto the ground.

    Even after taking Marcus'' attack, he seemed mostly fine, but that was because Marcus had held back since he was still teaching a lesson.

    "I see you are stronger than I thought Irene. I guess I should get a bit serious since we are out of the preliminaries."

    "Ahhhhhhh!"

    Miguel began screaming as he seemed to be powering up as a golden glow actually began to envelop his body, and Marcus was actually surprised by how much stronger Miguel had gotten.

    For a moment Marcus even wandered if his hair color was going to change from brown to blonde, but soon Miguel stopped screaming and seemed to be finished activating whatever ability he had.

    "des of Darkness."

    Testing the waters Marcus shed his scythe forwards sending out threerge des of darkness towards Miguel.

    Yet to his surprise Miguel did not move to dodge and he swung his sword around and cut through Marcus'' spell, dissipating it.

    "Ha do not think that the power of darkness will work on a hero."

    It seemed that Miguel had regained his earlier confidence now that he had activated some type of empowering skill and had blocked Marcus'' spell.

    "Spirit ze."

    Casting one of his tier four fire magic spells, Marcus became wrapped in a zing aura to match the boost Miguel had given himself.

    After that Miguel began running forward and started shing at Marcus with a flurry of swings.

    The two of them began exchanging blow after blow and Marcus could feel the increased weight behind Miguel''s sword that was far stronger than before.

    However, it still was far from enough to overpower Marcus who was keeping pace with ease.

    ''He is stronger than I thought he would be, but that is all he has.''

    As the two shed Marcus analyzed Miguel and found that his fighting style was terrible.

    It was simr to how Marcus fought until Mrazivy pointed out his ws.

    All Miguel was doing was swinging his sword around with speed and power, and while that would work on most monsters or people considerably weaker than him. It would show just how big of a gap he had between those that actually knew how to fight.

    Soon Marcus started adding feints to his strikes catching Miguel off guard and then hitting him in the legs with his scythe''s handle or p him in the side with the t of his de

    The poor kid was obviously not used to it since he fell for every one of Marcus'' feints, and was bing frustrated and sloppy.

    "Is that all you got, I have not even broken a sweat yet." Marcus said obviously trying to goad him into attacking.

    And like the emotional child he was,shed out at Marcus with a big, telegraphed attack.

    Seeing iting from a mile away Marcus simply side stepped and put his foot out tripping Miguel.

    The kid then fell face first into the ring''s floor and skidded for a couple of feet.

    Seeing this the crowd beganughing as they had long since realized that Marcus was toying with Miguel.

    Fuming with anger Miguel stood up and looking at Marcus with blood shoot eyes, before he began a frenzied attack using numerous different attack skills trying to overpower Marcus.

    But for Marcus this was nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum, and after dodging all of Miguel''s attacks pointed his left index finger at his right shoulder and said, "Laser."

    Casting his tier four light magic spell, Marcus sted a hole straight through Miguel''s shoulder, causing the kid to scream out in pain.

    Blood quickly began pouring out of the wound, and Miguel not used to this level of pain began writhing on the ground.

    Still Marcus was not done yet and walked over to Miguel and kicked him stomach with enough force to send him flying, until crashing against the barrier that protected the audience.

    The referee soon began the ten count, but Miguel quickly stood back up and began making his way towards the ring when Marcus said, "I rmend you stay back, because next time I put a hole in your head instead of your shoulder."

    Hearing this Miguel flinched as he realized that Marcus could have fired hisser spell wherever he wanted, and he had hit his shoulder on purpose.

    However, Miguel felt he was not done yet. He still had his final trump card and while he had never used it, he was certain it would grant him victory.

    "Valorous Comeback."

    The golden glow that had surrounded Miguel began to burst from him as if given new life, and Marcus watched as all of the injuries he had given Miguel disappeared, before the kid shot forward like a gold.

    Seeing this Marcus was actually astounded, this level of power was certainlying from a unique skill, but he wondered where this kid could have gotten one since he had definitely not been here long.

    Nevertheless, that would have to wait as Marcus had dealt with Miguel''s final attack.

    ''Soul Devour.''

    Activating his unique skill an instant before Miguel hit him, Marcus felt an immense surge of power and shed forward with his scythe meeting Miguel head on.

    The two of them shed for but a moment, before Marcus'' power overwhelmed Miguel and he was blown back in a massive st of mana.

    The st carved a path straight trough the ring before hitting the barrier and crushing Miguel against it.

    Luckily the kid had survived because Marcus had not gone for the kill, but his armor was in tatters and his sword had been broken in several ces.

    "Miguel is unconscious and unable to continue fighting. We have a winner, Lady Irene Geist."

    As the referee announced the oue the crowd went wild. Thatst disy had been breathtaking, and the best sh yet in the tournament.

    Yet Marcus did not care about the admiration of the crowd as he gave onest nce towards Miguel before exiting the ring.

 Chapter 279 - 279 Those Who Watch From Above

    High in the stands of the arena, in thergest and most luxurious private box at the tournament venue, sat the current king and queen of the kingdom.

    Naturally they were not alone and standing in the room with them was Knight Commander Darius and sitting to their side was Grand Archmage Aria.

    These two were here to act not only as protectors, but also to give the king and queen insights into the powers that thepetitors possessed.

    "So, Grand Archmage Aria were you able to gather up any information on the woman yesterday that used momentum magic."

    A frown appearing on her face Aria responded, "Aaren did I not already ask you to talk less stiffly when we are in private. I am your grandmother first and this kingdom''s Grand Archmage second. What happened to the cute little boy that woulde up to me and ask grandma to lift him up?"

    Aaren put a hand on his head and groaned a slightly.

    There were very few people in his kingdom that could get away with talking to him like that, but his grandmother was certainly one of them.

    "Fine grandmother, did you find anything about that woman named Natalia."

    Shaking her head Aria said, "No she is a mystery to me. I called out to everyone I could think of, but no one ims her as an apprentice or even knew of her. Of course, some of them may have just kept quiet, but no I found nothing."

    However, after Aria had finished giving her report that she found nothing, a shimmer appeared in the room, and a person walked out of it.

    Yet even though someone had just appeared unannounced in the room where the king and queen were, neither of their two powerful protectors made a move.

    That was because they knew who had appeared and were already used to them popping in from time to time.

    Standing in the room now, was a beautiful woman with royal blue hair that was the same as the royal family, and she actually had a striking resemnce to Mrazivy.

    "I could not help but overhear what you said little Aria and I happen to know where she came from." The neer said as a seat of ice formed under her.

    No one in the room looked stunned to see this, and in fact they all lowered their heads a bit as a sign of respect.

    "Oh, all of you raise your heads already. Now, that girl Natalia teleported here a few weeks ago from the continent to the east. She is an advance agent from the empire that has nearly taken over their entire continent, and now they are setting their sights over here."

    Hearing their everyone''s eyes went sharp, and they scanned the arena for her.

    "Oh, now no need to be so worried, she is just here to gage our strength and see if her empire would have an easy time conquering our kingdom. They have apparently done this to multiple nations on every continent within their range. After she witnesses how strong our fighters are she is likely to report that we are too strong to conqueror. Anyway, if they doe in force the adventurers guild will offer their support, and if worsees to worst I will step in."

    Everyone''s tension quickly released after that, trusting the judgment of the woman who had just told them about the possible future invasion.

    "I am guessing that is not all you came here for Overseer Gwyneira." Knight Commander Darius asked.

    Turning around Gwyneira put on a smile and said, "This time I have decided to watch the tournament since it is a special one. Anyway, I also need to cheer for cute little Mrazivy."

    Everyone in the room now understood, Gwyneira had always taken a special liking towards Mrazivy since she looked like herself and reminded her of her husband.

    The five of them continued to talk until the second day of the tournament started its matches, but the first two held little interest for them as the fights were among those that were already apart of the kingdom''s hierarchy.

    However, as Marcus and Miguel stepped up onto the stage the woman named Gwyneira looked intently at the two of them before saying, "Oh those two are very interesting. In fact, that girl has multipleyers of protection on her status."

    Gwyneira''s eyes quickly changed for a brief instant as her pupils became slits and her irises became golden.

    "Oh, it has been a long time since we had a monster participate in our tournament."

    Surprise quickly came over everyone else as they heard this.

    A monster participating in their tournament was a rare urrence and it so far had only been observed two other times.

    However, in both of those situations the kingdom had already identified the monsters before they had gotten to the main tournament and dealt with them ordingly.

    "Which one is it, which one of them is the monster." Aria frantically asked.

    She was hoping that it was not going to be Marcus. She had given him a title and while he had not truly joined the kingdom, he had already provided a great boon to them.

    He had single handedly given them the evidence they needed to uproot the criminal organization known as Permafrost and had protected one of their towns.

    "Oh, it is the girl, well I am not sure if I should call them that. They seemed to be a mixture of multiple souls, two of which are dominant, though the most prominent one is actually a male." Gwyneira said nonchntly.

    "How did she fool me. I appraised her myself and she came up as human." Aria said in disbelief.

    "Oh, you know that monster pretty well then. I am afraid to say that the normal appraisal skill will not work on them. They have a unique skill that can block it and even show false information, but it also appears that someone also put anotheryer of information over their actual status as well to make them appear as human."

    Clenching her fists Aria, felt a wave of angere over her. She had been tricked; how could she have not seen that Marcus was a monster.

    "Very well, I will deal with them personally. I am the one who gave them a title and have supported them. I thought they would make a good asset for the kingdom, but there is no way we can trust a monster." Aria said as she practically red down at Marcus.

    However, as her rage towards Marcus was building, Gwyneira said, "Oh there is no reason to destroy them."

    Aira looked dumbfounded at Gwyneira as she said this. Monsters were notorious for their wickedness and gaining intelligence rarely cured them of that. In fact, it normally made them much better at turning human nations into ruble and spreading destruction throughout thend.

    "What do you mean, you said they were a monster. Do they not most likely have some malicious plot brewing." Knight Commander Darius chimed in.

    "I highly doubt it. They may be a monster, but they also are not. They are a unique ghost that was once human, but it appears that they have somehow gained the power of a great spirit.. A true hybrid of many races."

 Chapter 280 - 280 Those Who Watch From Above (2)

    "What do you mean that they have the power of a great spirit. The great spirits are beings that rule over their incarnations of power, such as the Great Spirit of Light Ragyog and Great Spirit of Water Aigean who have blessed our kingdom." The king said, getting in on the conversation.

    The great spirits are considered beings of the highest caliber and were often worshiped, and even could bestow blessings upon their most devoted followers.

    "I am just telling you what I see. I have no idea how a ghost could gain the powers of a great spirit, but they did. However, they are still only level forty-two, and their powers are immature. Though if I had to gage their strength, I would put it at the same level as a mythic grade magical beast that is on the lower end."

    Hearing this everyone became silent to process what they had just heard.

    Mythic grade magical beasts were the pinnacle of the world with very few people ever reaching a simr level of power.

    Even Aria and Darius could not say they would be able to beat a mythic grade magical beast near their level, in fact even a legendary grade magical beast was probably beyond them if at the same level.

    And if anyone else had given this appraisal they would not have believed it, but if anyone knew about the power that a mythic grade magical beast held, it was Gwyneira.

    Unfortunately, the staggering facts about Marcus'' true status were not done yet as Gwyneira said, "And one more thing. They have the personal status skill meaning they are a transmigration from Earth, the same ce as Boreas is from."

    If everyone had not already been astounded, they were now.

    Everything about Marcus that Gwyneira had told them was nearly unbelievable individually, but all together seemedpletely impossible.

    A transmigration from Earth, that was a monster and a great spirit. That was beyond any expectation that they could have imagined.

    "So, what do you think we should do with them Gwyneira." The king asked.

    He trusted her opinion on the matter more than anyone''s and he was not certain how or if he could proceed on his own.

    A great spirit was a revered existence, while a ghost would normally be considered a monster that needed to be exercised, even if tale of them bing guardian spirits did exist.

    And on the other hand, was that the entity in question was also a transmigration, who normally either brought great boons, or ruin.

    After thinking about it for a moment, Gwyneira said, "Aria you are already friendly with them, yes?"

    Nodding her head Aria said, "I am. They helped to protect River Landing during the ice ant attack, and I gave them a title for their exemry work, and to connect them to our kingdom. And recently I helped them with an incident involving Permafrost, and then they brought us the evidence we needed to get rid of that parasite."

    "I see so they have already helped our kingdom on multiple asions. I see no reason to antagonize them, but we cannot sit idly by either without ascertaining their intentions. Aria once this tournament is over, would you mind setting up a meeting for me with them."

    "Very well it shall be done." Aria said as she bowed her head.

    With that settled the tension in the room began to wane as the higher ups in the kingdom feltfortable leaving this issue to Gwyneira.

    "Oh, I nearly forgot the boy she is fighting is also a transmigration from Earth." Gwyneira said, suddenly remembering it since Marcus'' uniqueness far outshined his.

    Nevertheless, having another bomb dropped on them caused the apprehension they were feeling toe back as they looked for Gwyneira for answers.

    "Ah yes that boy Miguel LaRusso is also from the that these transmigrators call Earth. Though he is human at least, though I suppose he will be a bit difficult to deal with as well."

    "What do you mean he will be difficult to deal with. Even if he is a transmigration, we can simply approach him and bring him into the fold. He is just barely an adult; I am sure we can just give him a title and a nice house to get him on our side. If he feelsfortable here, he will stay and protect his new home." The king said with a smile on his face at the prospect of having a transmigration in his army.

    "It may not be that easy, one he has already joined the adventurers guild so I doubt they will let us take him easily, and two his blessing makes him troublesome."

    "We have made concessions with the guild before so I am sure we cane to an agreement, and what do you mean his blessing is troublesome." Aira asked Gwyneira in an inquisitive manner.

    Remembering something Gwyneira lit up a bit and said to Aria, "Why do you not go ahead and look for yourself. He does not have anyyers of protection on him, so your level eight appraisal skill should show you what you want to know."

    Mentally berating herself, Aria could not believe she had made such a mistake. It was not like everyone had the ability to pull one over on her, and she needed to get her mind levelheaded again.

    Turning her appraisal skill towards the boy Miguel, Aria found quickly what Gwyneira was talking about.

    "Blessing of the Hero!" Aria said in an astonished manner.

    As she said this, everyone in the room other than Gwyneira who already knew turned their heads to look at Aria in surprise.

    "Are you sure, is that kid really a true hero." The king asked almost in desperation.

    However, Aria shook her head and said, "No he has the blessing of the hero, but he is not a true hero yet. His title is only fledgling hero."

    "But I thought that the blessing of the hero could only be obtained when someone obtained the title of true hero after performing an act the system deems worthy." Darius said, his interest on the subject obvious.

    "Yes, that would be right normally, but it appears that this kid got lucky and got the blessing as his gift when he was brought to this world. Still, it appears to have its limits since when Boreas obtained the title and blessing it gave him far more power than that kid has." Gwyneira said with a nostalgic smile on her face.

    "I see, well a fledgling hero is certainly difficult to deal with but far less than a great spirit. I will try my best to bring the boy onto our side, and if all else fails we can lean on the adventurers guild to restrain him." The king said, while staring intently at the fight that was happening between Marcus and Miguel.

    ˇ­

    High above the arena well out of view from anyone else, stood a man who was looking down at the battle between Marcus and Miguel interest just lie the rulers of the kingdom.

    He hade here specifically to see Marcus since one of his subordinates had reported how fascinating he is.

    ''You were right Voda, it was worth the trip here.. To think that a new great spirit would be born from a ghost and one of opposing elements at that.''

 Chapter 281 - 281 Gurromâ€™s Match

    After wining his first match Marcus headed up into the stands where the area was reserved forpetitors.

    He knew that the next match was going to Gurrom''s first and it was actually going to be the first time that Marcus saw him fight.

    All he had seen was that his weapon was an adamantine axe, but his fighting style and other gear was still unknown to him.

    Yet it looked like Marcus was going to get to watch a good match as Gurrom''s opponent stepped into the ring.

    ''Level fifty. Definitely one of the strongerpetitors in the tournament.''

    Gurrom''s opponent was the boss of a mercenary band that typically worked for the highest paying noble.

    They would do any job from rooting outrge nests of bandits, to killing monsters or beasts, and sometimes even suppressing rebellious citizens.

    However, unlike adventures who worked in small groups for the most part, a mercenarypany was like a small army, with no oversight and only one rule, who is paying the most.

    In fact, this man whose name was Lorenzo, was one of the twelve people that were seeded to the main tournament, showing just how much the kingdom valued his abilities.

    Yet as Gurrom entered the ring he made just as much of an imposing figure, decked out in full top tier mithril te armor and his adamantine axe on his back.

    The tension between he two of them was almost visible as they stared each other down.

    They could both tell that the other was strong and that this was not going to be an easy fight.

    "On my left we have the man who leads the strongest mercenary band in the kingdom, Lorenzo. With over a hundred fighters they have dealt with many issues across the kingdom at the behest of nobles and merchants. And on my right, we have another of the famed Thabon zegram''s apprentices Gurrom Durand. He is a senior apprentice at what many to be considered the greatest forge in the kingdom, and has even made weapons and armor for the royal family. His skills in the forge have given him renowned throughout the capital, but judging by the axe on his back forging is not all he is good at."

    Thementator sh referee continued to hype the two fighters up for around another minute, before beginning the countdown to start the match.

    "And let the match begin."

    As the referee announced the start of the match, Lorenzo leapt right into action holding in one hand an adamantine estoc and the other a mithril stiletto.

    It was certainly an unusual fighting style for this world since weapon skills normally only pertained to one type, but Marcus had seen something simr with his friend risa, so Lorenzo probably had a special skill to use both of those weapons at the same time.

    With Blinding speed Lorenzo closed in on Gurrom, and with pinpoint uracy thrust his stiletto towards a gap in Gurrom''s armor.

    However, Gurrom was not just going to let this happen and swung his axe directly towards Lorenzo''s arm aiming to chop it off.

    Twisting his body around Lorenzo with expert foot work dodged just out of the way of Gurrom''s axe de and thrust his estoc right towards Gurrom''s stomach.

    Sensing the dangering for him, Gurrom normally would have just let the attack bounce of his armor then counter, but the estoc was a weapon meant specifically for piercing through heavy armor, and Gurrom was certain that his would not hold up.

    Bringing his axe''s handle up Gurrom just managed to deflect Lorenzo''s estoc and instead of it hitting him right in the stomach it hit his side.

    And just as Gurrom had feared, the estoc had some type of armor piercing property and pierced through his top tier mithril armor and into him.

    Luckily, because he had deflected the blow its power was lessened and with his armor taking most of the force, the de had barely gone a half inch into his thick muscles.

    "Grand Swing."

    Using an incredibly powerful attack skill, Gurrom''s axe began to pulse with mana before he swung towards Lorenzo.

    It was a powerful attack that certainly would have spelled the end for Lorenzo, that is if it would hit him.

    By nature, Lorenzo was a speed fighter, and as soon as Gurrom began to make the swing for his big move, he had begun distancing himself jumping back and evading the swing.

    Nevertheless, Gurrom had not just swung his axe but also sent out a powerful st of mana along with it that was now heading straight for Lorenzo.

    Bringing his stiletto and estoc into the shape of a cross Lorenzo sent his own st of mana to counter Gurrom''s, and the two attacks met and caused a massive explosion leaving a crater in the ring.

    The crowd was going wild for this fight since it was one of the best so far. Two high level fighters going at it with everything they had was the reason everyone came to watch, and this fight was already as good as the finals of previous years.

    Bounding towards Gurrom again Lorenzo had decided to win by slowly whittling down his opponent with fast attacks in his blind spots.

    Running around Lorenzo was constantly sending out thrust after thrust at Gurrom forcing him to continue turning around to defend, but Lorenzo was just too quick for him to hit, and slowly he was beginning to bleed from multiple puncture wounds.

    "Time to end this." Lorenzo said as it was clear that Gurrom had lost a great deal of stamina after sustaining dozens of wounds.

    Rushing in Lorenzo''s weapons began glowing before a gust of wind formed around him giving him even more speed as heunched straight towards Gurrom.

    Yet unlike before he was rushing right in head on, and Gurrom seeing this as his chance, raised his axe and swung down with all his might.

    ''Grand swing.''

    Using the same powerful attack skill, Gurrom was sure to blow back Lorenzo this time.

    He had gotten used to his speed as the two continued to sh, and now that he wasing at him from the front his attack was sure to hit.

    ng!

    As his swing was about to hit Lorenzo who was right in front of him, Lorenzo had put up his mithril stiletto and somehow blocked Gurrom''s swing.

    ''Unyielding Fortress.''

    Lorenzo using a very powerful skill that allowed him to block any attack so long as it was not greatly stronger than him, had stopped Gurrom''s axe.

    Still such a powerful skill had its limits and Lorenzo could only use it once a day, but in a one-on-one fight that was all he needed.

    With Gurrompletely open, Lorenzo finished up his attack and jabbed his estoc straight through Gurrom''s stomach hitting the spot he had first aimed for.

    It was a horrible wound and Lorenzo''s estoc was now sticking out of Gurrom''s back with blood dripping off of its de.

    But as Lorenzo tried to pull back, he felt his estoc barely budge as it was now lodged in Gurrom''s strong muscles, and he was not going to let go.

    A smile on his face Gurrom looked up and said to Lorenzo, "You are right, it is time to end this."

    "Fire Storm!"

 Chapter 282 - 282 Gurromâ€™s Match (2)

    Lorenzo''s eyes went wide as he saw the mana beginning to form the mes for the spell Gurrom had just cast, and he immediately let go of his estoc that was stuck in Gurrom''s stomach.

    Jumping back Lorenzo tried to get as far away from Gurrom and the powerful spell he was about to release as possible.

    Unfortunately, the spell Gurrom had been preparing had arge range and as soon as it had finished building up power, Lorenzo was ingulfed in a raging inferno.

    Gurrom''s fire storm quickly spilled out of the ring and crashed against the barrier that was protecting the audience.

    The mes licked up trying to escape further but as powerful as they were, the barrier that had been set up was able to absorb even the full power of a tier five spell.

    Soon the mes began to wane, and as the ring became clear again everyone could see Gurrom standing tall, Lorenzo''s estoc still sticking out of his stomach, and his opponent blown out of the ring with horrible burns all over his body.

    Yet somehow Lorenzo was still alive and even stood back up.

    He had used every skill he had to take the powerful tier five spell head on, and while he had burns over most of his body, he could still move.

    "It is going to take more than that to keep me down dwarf."

    Staggering over to the ring Lorenzo tried to climb back up when Gurrom just finished another chant.

    "Chain fire shot."

    Three rings of fire then appeared behind Gurrom, started spinning, and shotting out fire shots like machine guns.

    Lorenzo in order to dodge had to give up on climbing back into the ring and rolled onto the ground.

    Of course, Gurrom was not really trying to hit him, all he needed to do was keep Lorenzo out of the ring until the referee finished the ten count.

    "Six."

    ''Just a little bit longer, I just need to hold out for a bit more.''

    As much as Gurrom was currently in the winning position, he was actually more injured than Lorenzo was, and he knew he would notst much longer.

    His stomach currently had a hole in it, and he was losing blood fast. If Lorenzo made it back onto the ring, he would have to use some of the abilities he had been keeping hidden.

    "Three."

    "Ahhhh."

    Letting out a battle scream to help him get over the pain and to bring out thest of his strength, Lorenzo jumped with all his might to get back into the ring before he was disqualified.

    He had been offered to great a prize if he could win the tournament, and he was not going to lose here to a forgemaster when he was one of the greatest warriors in the kingdom

    "me tiger strike."

    Casting a tier four fire magic spell, Gurrom used up the rest of his mana in ast attempt to take Lorenzo out.

    With a raging tiger made of mesing right for him, Lorenzo brought back his mithril stiletto and gave it all the strength he had before throwing it forward.

    This time he was aiming for Gurrom''s head, not caring about killing him.

    He would rather ruffle up a few nobles than to lose, and if they only way that was going to happened was by killing his opponent, then so be it.

    Seeing the deing right for him Gurrom knew he was in no condition to move.

    Just standing where he was, and casting spells was all he had.

    Clicking his tongue Gurrom had wanted to hide this function, but he was about to die and had no choice.

    "Axe auto defend."

    His axe having fallen to the ground when he cast his fire storm spell, suddenly shot up as if gravity no longer effected it and intercepted the stiletto flying for its master.

    Cling!

    The two weapons met and Gurrom''s floating axe blocked the weapon heading right for his head ending Lorenzo''sst hope.

    Boom!

    The me tiger strike that Gurrom had cast exploded right before hitting Lorenzo and sted him back away from the ring, causing him to crash back into the ground outside of it.

    "One."

    "Zero."

    "That is the match. And by ring out, Gurrom Durand has won against Lorenzo."

    Many in the crowd began to cheer at Gurrom''s victory, while others held their heads in despair since they had been betting on Lorenzo.

    However, some people even began crying.

    They were the members of Lorenzo''s band and now that their boss had lost, they knew that their dream was once again far out of reach.

    Gurrom with Lorenzo''s estoc still lodged in his stomach, began limping over to the edge of the ring as the tournament''s healers began running towards him and Lorenzo who were both badly injured.

    Luckily neither of them were dead, and with a few quick healing spells the two of them were stabilized, though Gurrom was going to have to experience a bit more pain.

    "Okay brace yourself because we are going to pull it out."

    Gritting his teeth Gurrom prepared for the tournament''s healers to pull the estoc out his gut, and when they did it certainly hurt like hell.

    "Greater cure."

    With blood flooding out of his now open wound, one of the tournament''s healers quickly applied a tier three healing magic spell to Gurrom to prevent him from bleeding out.

    Of course, the first spell was only enough to stop the bleeding and the multiple healers around Gurrom quickly cast spells one after another.

    "Okay that should do for now but pleasee with us to the infirmary where we can make sure that your wounds are closed." One of the healers said to Gurrom.

    "No, I am fine, just go and look after my opponent."

    Walking away Gurrom headed back into the arena disregarding the healer''s advice.

    Naturally the healer could not force Gurrom toe in for further treatment and headed over to Lorenzo who had a couple healers tending to his severe burns.

    Soon Gurrom appeared back in the stands and quickly found Marcus who turned around and smiled at him.

    "Well, that was certainly an intense fight you had there. When you got stabbed in the stomach I though you might have been a goner." Marcus said as Gurrom sat down next to him.

    "It is going to take more than him to beat me. Anyway, I let him stab me on purpose so I could lock him down. Most people look at me and think that I am just a strong warrior, but I am sure you know that I am also an expert of fire magic."

    "Yeah, well you did not need to do that, I am sure. I know you were holding back, since you did not activate any special enchantments on your armor and only one on your weapon that has it defend you."

    Clicking his tongue Gurrom said, "So you noticed huh. Well, I still have held onto most of my hand, but what about you. I heard you barely used any magic in your fight and for the most part just toyed around with your opponent."

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus said, "I saw that the kid needed a lesson, so I taught him one. Oh, and I can tell you are still not up to one hundred percent so here you go."

    "Persistent Healing."

    Casting his tier four healing magic spell on Gurrom, the internal damage that was still causing him pain slowly went away until his stomach had fully healed.

    "I guess I should say thank you, but I would have been fine by tomorrow anyway."

    "Yeah, I know, just helping out my friend.. Anyway, it looks like the next match is starting, so we can continue our conversation afterwards."

 Chapter 283 - 283 A Dominating Power

    With Gurrom having won his first match and joined Marcus in the stands.

    The two of them looked down onto the arena''s ring as the next set ofpetitors entered.

    One of them was a man who would definitely be considered handsome with golden hair and a chiseled face.

    He wore adamantine armor and also had what appeared to be an adamantine scepter at his hip, along with robes that would boost his magical abilities.

    It was quite obvious that he was a mage and one of the few in thepetition.

    So far Marcus had seen very few dedicated magic users since the tournament''s rules were typically more in favor of melee fighters.

    The ring whilerge was still a confined space, and with no means of backup or the ability to prepare beforehand, a mage who had to chant a spell would be taken out before they could aplish anything.

    Of course, at this level plenty of mages had the chant shortening skill allowing them to get off spells much quicker, but they were still at a disadvantage having to face a warrior head on.

    However, as Marcus appraised this blonde-haired man, he found that his level was fairly impressive at level forty-eight.

    It certainly was not the highest in the tournament, but still above the curve for the majority of fighters.

    Still his opponent did not appear to be a slouch either and was a level forty-four mountain of a man with two great swords hoisted over his back.

    "On my right we have the man known as the wilderness knight, Dagwood. He has taken it upon himself to protect the viges that live on the frontiers of the northeastern part of the kingdom and makes sure that they are safe from monster or beast attacks. And on my left we have the first son of Viscount Mudak, Lord Wyatt Mudak. His father is one of the leading archmages in the kingdom, and his son here has followed in his footsteps being an aplished mage himself."

    It was not long after thementator sh referee had made the introduction of the two fighters that the match began.

    To start off Dagwood, charged straight towards Wyatt knowing the best way to deal with a mage was to strike before they could cast.

    Yet as Dagwood was just a dozen feet from Wyatt, he mumbled some words under his breath and Dagwood slwoly came to stand still.

    It was obvious that Wyatt had cast some type of spell, but simr to when Natalia was fighting, what had actually happened was a mystery.

    Dagwood, a man that stood over two meters tall, had stopped mid charge seemingly of his own ord since his pace had simply slowed until he stopped moving.

    Still, what happened next was even more astounding, as Dagwood turned around and began walking to the edge of the ring, before jumping out as if he had given up.

    Everyone was stunned to see this.

    Never in the tournament''s history had someone simply walked out of the ring and stood there.

    In fact, even the referee was so stunned he had not started the ten count until Wyatt, said, "My opponent is out of the ring, should you not start counting."

    Catching himself, the referee shook his head to get himself out of his daze and began the countdown.

    Soon he reached the end of the count and Dagwood was still just standing there unmoving, as if nothing in the world mattered to him anymore.

    "And that is the end, the winner is Lord Wyatt Mudak. I do not know what came over Dagwood, but I suppose he decided to forfeit."

    However, as the match came to an end, Dagwood started moving again, looking around and wondering how he had ended up outside of the ring.

    Running up towards the referee Dagwood, asked, "What happened why did you call the match."

    Looking at him in a confused manner, the halfling man said, "You were outside of the ring for ten seconds, that is why. You are the one who walked out of your own ord, so I do not know why you are asking me."

    Of course, the referee had actually already figured out at this point what Wyatt had done, but he was not about to go bbing about such a dangerous person''s abilities.

    With raging building up in him and his eyes going blood shot, Dagwood looked at Wyatt who was exiting the arena and yelled, "You, what did you do to me."

    But Wyatt did not even acknowledge his formerpetitor''s shouts and kept walking, causing Dagwood topletely lose his cool.

    "Ahhhh."

    Letting out a scream of fury Dagwood charged towards Wyatt nning to beat the answers he wanted out of him, but before he got farm, the referee he hadplete disregarded appeared in his way.

    Putting out his foot, the halfling man tripped Dagwood who was five times his size, before grabbing him by the armor and smashing his face straight into the ring.

    "The match is over, you lost. But if you still want to fight I do not mind going a round with you before tossing you into a cell."

    Feeling the cold gaze of the referee he had barely registered before, it now felt like a giant was looking over him, and that at any moment he might be crushed.

    Standing up Dagwood put away his swords and quickly left the ring, not wanting anything else to do with the tournament.

    He hade here to get more resources for those he protected but him being locked up would not help.

    ''This capital is full of more monster than even the woods. I am nevering back here again.''

    With thatst though Dagwood ran out of the arena nning never toe back to such a ce again.

    ˇ­

    "Well, that was an interesting match albeit a short one. Oh, and do you happen to know what type of magic that guy used Gurrom." Marcus said hoping that his fellow apprentice knew.

    Shaking his head Gurrom said, "I am not sure what it is. I have a couple ideas, but I am not sure. Maybe it was some type of skill that alters perception, or it could have been invisible strings or something."

    With a disappointed frown, Marcus knew it was unlikely, but he was hoping that Gurrom would know what type of tricks the guy named Wyatt had used.

    As Marcus had watched the tournament, he found that plenty of other people possessed rare or strange abilities that he could not fullyprehend.

    However, as the nextpetitors came out into the center of the arena Marcus pushed those thoughts to the back of his head.

    Other than watching Gurrom, this was the fight he had been looking forward to the most, it was time for Mrazivy''s first match.

    ''Now the question is, if she is going to win. Her opponent is level forty-nine, and if she has not leveled up, she is only level forty-three.''

    Still Marcus knew that a level difference was not always definitive in the oue of a battle, and Mrazivy''s quality was top notch, not to mention she had a unique skill.

 Chapter 284 - 284 Mrazivyâ€™s Chilling Unique Skill

    "This next match is certainly going to be special one. On one side we have the man touted as one of the strongest prodigies of his generation and a member of Knight Commander Darius'' elite knight unit, Sir Leon Snearl. His family is one of the longest standing in the kingdom, being able to trance their roots as knights back to the time of the first king. However, his opponent does not lose out in her renown. She is the leader of the tinum rank adventuring party Royal Frost, but more importantly she is a member of the royal family. Her Highness, Princess Mrazivy Borealia!"

    Cheers rang out through the arena as Mrazivy was introduced and Marcus was actually surprised how popr she seemed to be.

    However, as he took a closer look, he could see some people with nasty looks on their faces that while cheering seemed to be looking forward to the violence that was about to befall Mrazivy.

    "And let the match begin."

    With the start of the match announced Sir Leon took no time to waste, and with his top tier mithril halberdunched a st of mana infused with the wind element towards Mrazivy.

    It was certainly a powerful opener, that would have defeated most of the otherpetitors, but Mrazivy stood there and did not move a muscle.

    Yet when the st of mana was ten feet away from her a silverish blue liquid spouted out of her body and formed a wall in front of her.

    The st of mana then met the wall trying to force its way through, but even though the wall began to shake like Jell-O, it did not budge, and the st seemed to disperse as if all of the energy had been drained out of it.

    It was quite the impressive disy to watch, and Marcus was actually a bit surprised to see how strong Mrazivy''s unique skill was.

    ''She showed me it when we met in the dungeon, but this is my first time seeing her mercurial ice in action.''

    With Mrazivy having blocked Sir Leon''s first attack, she quickly proceeded tounch her own as the wall made from her mercurial ice formed into a dozen spears and fired towards her opponent.

    Still Sir Leon was no slouch and began thrusting his halberd, sending sts of wind and mana to intercept Mrazivy''s mercurial ice spears.

    As the two attacks met in the air, they both dispersed themselves and Mrazivy''s mercurial ice began flying back towards her and returned to her body.

    "I see that I will not be able to win this match at range, so prepare yourself, here Ie."

    After saying that Sir Leon began running straight towards Mrazivy, who still just stood there, her arms crossed.

    She did not draw her sword or begin any chants, she simply waited for Sir Leon to approach and as he swung his halberd with enough power to wipe out a building, her mercurial ice sprung back up and formed arge shield in front of her.

    Pushing down with everything he had Sir Leon was still unable to break through Mrazivy''s mercurial ice shield.

    In fact, now that he was this close, he could feel the extreme colding off of it, as the water in the air began to freeze around his halberd and he felt his body bing increasingly cold.

    ''Shit.''

    Feeling a sense of danger Sir Leon jumped back taking evasive action as three spikes formed on Mrazivy''s mercurial ice shield and shot forward.

    Seeing that his current strategy was not working, Sir Leon decided to resort to using magic to try to win.

    He had not wanted to do this since he knew that Mrazivy was a master of ice magic while he only practiced wind magic to enhance his physical abilities for the most part.

    However, his opponent either did not want to or maybe could not cast spells while using that weird ability of hers.

    "Tempest cannon."

    Firing a tier three spell up into the air Sir Leon directed it to arc and fall down towards Mrazivy like a mortar.

    This way when she went to block his attack from above, she would be open from the front and he could rush in and deliver the finishing blow.

    ''Now.''

    Rushing forward his halberd poised to unleash his strongest attack skill, Sir Leon had a slight grin on his face as he was certain of his victory.

    He now believed that the powerful ability Mrazivy was using required her full focus, to the point that she could not cast spells or even move, so all he had to do was breakthrough and victory would be his.

    And just as he had anticipated Mrazivy had spread out her mercurial ice like and umbre to block his tempest cannon, leaving her front wide open.

    Yet as he got closer the nagging feeling in the back of his head that happened when his danger sense activated was ring loudly.

    It was enough to even make him give up on his charge, but it was already toote.

    He was not able to stop on time and when he got within thirty feet of Mrazivy two spears made of her mercurial ice sprout out of the ground and stabbed towards his legs.

    Luckily, he had armor on the prevented them from stabbing into him but, that did not stop them from freezing his legs.

    Controlling her mercurial ice Mrazivy had it wrap around Sir Leon''s legs, and they quickly began to freeze as his blood turned to ice and his skin became frost bitten.

    Sir Leon then let out a blood curdling scream as the intense pain of his legs being frozen over was more intense than anything he had every felt.

    He soon was not even able to stand as he fell over no longer able to feel his legs.

    Luckily, he was still a trained knight and quickly got ahold of himself and manipting his mana, actually sted the mercurial ice away from him as he crawled further from Mrazivy.

    This was actually a very smart move on his part since he just crawled outside of Mrazivy''s range as she could only freely control her mercurial ice within thirty feet around her.

    Unfortunately, it was not like she had to stay still and Mrazivy simply walked closer towards Sir Leon who was now looking at her in fear.

    Forming her mercurial ice into four tentacles Mrazivy had them strike towards her opponent nning to end the fight when he screamed, "I surrender, I give, please no more."

    It was certainly a sight to see a knight so frantic and afraid, but after what Mrazivy had done to him it was understandable.

    And now that she had moved everyone could see the reason she had been staying still through the whole match.

    There were two distinct holes right where her feet had previously been, and it was now obvious she had been preparing this from the beginning.

    "There we have it folks. Sir Leon Snearl has surrendered, and the winner is her highness, Princess Mrazivy Borealia."

    Cheers began to echo through the stadium as many people had been rooting for or even had ced bets on her.

    Of course, there were also those who frowned because they had lost money or because they had been wanting to watch a member of the royal family take a beating.

    However, Mrazivy had a wless victory and at the same time shown off just how powerful and terrifying her unique skill is.

 Chapter 285 - 285 Those Who Come From Another World

    With Mrazivy''s match now concluded Marcus was certain of one thing, she had been practicing with her unique skill.

    Unlike most of his that just gave massive temporary power buffs, hers was incredibly versatile and definitely had more uses than they had just seen.

    It could defend, attack, restrain, and it may have even more effects that Mrazivy'' had not shown during her match.

    However, its versatility also would make it more difficult to use and it was doubtful that she got many opportunities to fight against other people with it. So, she was basically using the tournament as a training ground to see just how strong her unique skill was against people.

    ''I certainly would not want to be on the other end of her ability, and it honestly would not even be very effective against me. But I can imagine that any flesh and blood creature not heavily resistant to cold, would pretty much lose as soon as it touched them.''

    After Marcus had thoroughly analyzed his friend''s powerful unique skill, he stood up and said to Gurrom, "I have somewhere I need to be for a while. I will probably be back in around an hour or two, do you mind giving me an update on the matches when I get back."

    Gurrom looked curiously at Marcus when he said this, wondering what could be more important than getting a read on their futurepetition, but he just nodded his head in confirmation.

    Putting on a bright smile Marcus thanked Gurrom before exiting the stands and heading into the arena.

    ''Now I need to find the infirmary area.''

    After quickly asking a tournament staff member Marcus located where he wanted to go and finding a deserted corner, went back into his ghost form.

    ''Good he is still here.''

    Floating into the infirmary Marcus found who he was looking for. His former opponent Miguel LaRusso.

    Marcus had wanted to talk to him and confirm that he truly was from Earth, though all of the evidence he had was pointing in that direction.

    ''Now how do I get him alone.''

    Looking around Marcus could see that a couple otherpetitors were still here, one being the man Mrazivy had done a number on, as well as Gurrom''s opponent who was still a little crispy.

    Luckily an idea quickly formed into Marcus'' head, and finding one of the healers he possessed their body before moving over towards Miguel who had a depressed expression on his face.

    "Miguel LaRusso, could youe with me for a bit. I need to use a magic device to check and make sure that all of your internal injuries are just find."

    Of course, looking at him Marcus was pretty sure he was mostly healed, probably just a bit sore from taking that final attack, but the kid appeared to moping.

    At least he still followed Marcus'' directions and followed him, and he brought him to an empty room nearby that he had already scouted.

    However, as Miguel walked in, he noticed that they were just in a in room, with no sort of magical devices, and his near lifeless eyes became intense as he looked at Marcus threateningly.

    "Why have you brought me here, what do you want." Miguel said while eyeing the door.

    He was currently in no condition to fight, his weapon and armor destroyed, as well as being exhausted from his earlier battle, all he could think about was flight.

    Yet as he moved to go back out the door, a translucent purple arm appeared and mmed it shut.

    "I do not know what you want, but do you think that you can honestly beat me." Miguel said trying to intimidate Marcus.

    Seeing that escape was not going to be an option Miguel got ready to fight, but what Marcus said next took that out of him.

    "No need to be hostile, I just wanted to talk with another person from Earth in private."

    Hearing this Miguel''s eyes went wide, and he looked at Marcus with a hopeful but also doubtful expression.

    "Are you really from Earth? ˇ­ Can you prove it?"

    Naturally Miguel had his doubts, this could just be another way for whoever was in front of him to get him to lower his guard.

    Marcus though about Miguel''s question for a bit wandering how exactly he should prove he was from Earth.

    He thought about maybe listing off some of the notablendmarks or monuments, like the Eiffel Tower, or Niagara Falls.

    But he soon realized a more surefire way and began speaking English.

    It was actually kind of difficult to do since the trantion token he had used way back when he first met people made it so that speaking thengue of this country was natural.

    But after a moment he was able to begin speaking English again and said, "Does this prove it."

    Of course, Marcus also thought it was quite possible that Miguel might not know English, but it was still likely that he would recognize it like how Marcus would recognize if some one was speaking German, Spanish, or Chinese even if he himself did not speak thenguage.

    At first though Miguel did not get what Marcus meant since he still understood him, but he quickly realized that Marcus was no longer speaking thengue of this world.

    "You speak English. So, you really are from Earth." Miguel said back in perfect English.

    Marcus quickly noticed how easy it was for Miguel to switch back to English while he actually had a bit of trouble.

    Still, he quickly likened it to the fact that Miguel had probably been here less time than he had and could switch back more easily.

    "Yes, I got transported to this world a bit over a year ago. (''well, that was when I got out from the center of the world.'') I assume you got given the same options I did after you died."

    Unfortunately, the mention of his death caused Miguel''s face to cloud over and tears to start to well up in his eyes.

    Unlike Marcus who had made peace with his death at this point, Miguel''s was still fresh in his mind, and he could still remember how horrible it had been.

    Seeing that he had upset Miguel, Marcus quickly said, "Sorry, I did not mean to make you relive something so painful, how about we move onto another topic."

    However, Miguel actually shook his head and said, "No it is fine. And could I ask how you died?"

    Nodding his head Marcus figured that this kid had somethings he needed to work out and he was more than happy to help.

    "I died in my sleep from a gas leak, at least that is what I was told."

    Marcus knew that his death was not morous, and right now he was kind of wishing he had been eaten by that shark or struck by lightning just to have a cool story to tell, but he miraculously survived both of those incidents only to die in a really mundane way.

    After that Marcus could see, that Miguel was struggling to say how he died and Marcus said, "There is no need to force yourself, I just wanted to have a little chat with you, an knowing how you got here does not really matter."

    Nevertheless, Miguel shook his head and steeled himself before saying, "I was stabbed to death."

 Chapter 286 - 286 Those Who Come From Another World (2)

    Marcus visibly winced when he heard how Miguel had died.

    Certainly, dying was never a good experience but at least Marcus had died without his knowledge.

    This kid had been stabbed and Marcus doubted that it had been a painless death like his.

    In fact, from the way Miguel was grimacing just recalling the memory, Marcus imagined it must have hurt terribly.

    Of course, even though Miguel seemed pained to remember the experience Marcus could tell he wanted to talk about it.

    It was likely that this kid had no one to really talk to in this world, and all the bravado he had been putting out was just to cover up how hurt and scared he was.

    Eventually though Marcus could tell Miguel was having a hard time getting it out on his own and said, "Feel free to get it off your chest, I am here to listen."

    With thisst push from Marcus, it seemed that Miguel managed to work up his nerves and began telling the story of how he died.

    "I was on my way home from school. I did not live in the best neighborhood but most of the people were pretty friendly. But when I passed by one of the alleys, I saw two of the local thugs roughing up my friend. He had just gotten a part time job at a fast-food restaurant, and they were shaking him down for his money."

    At this point Miguel started to breath heavily and it seemed that talking about this was pretty hard for him, but after a minute Marcus urged him to continue.

    "I could not just let them rob my friend, so I picked up a piece of nearby rubble and got close to them. I managed to sneak up behind them and smashed the rubble into the first guy''s back, and when the other one turned around, I threw the rubble in his face and kicked him in the balls. My friend looked at me like I was his savior, but that was when everything went wrong."

    Miguel''s face then distorted into one of extreme pain as he remembered what happened next, but he had alreadye this far, and he really wanted to tell someone about what had happened.

    "The guy I knocked down first, I guess I did not hit him heard enough because he got up and pulled out a knife. He stabbed me multiple times in the back before I was able to turn around and punch him. I do not know how I managed to retaliate but I guess it was the adrenaline. But it did notst long as I felt the horrible pain in my back and the warm blood flowing down my legs. It hurt so bad I feel onto the ground and could not move. And my friend had already run off, leaving me all alone. After that the thugs scurried away and left me bleeding in that alleyway. It hurt so much, but I did not want to die, so I tried crawling back towards the streets."

    Miguel began crying as he relived hisst moments on Earth but bared through it and finished telling what happened.

    "I never made it though. Soon the pain was too much, and my body felt so cold. I just could not move and so Iid their until I could no longer stay awake. I kept hoping that my friend woulde back to help me, or a passerby would call for an ambnce, but help never came."

    Going up to him Marcus gave Miguel aforting hug.

    He had been through a lot an obviously needed someone to console him, and while he may have been considered an adult by this world''s standards, to Marcus he was still a kid.

    After that Miguel''s told Marcus about his experience once he died. It was much like Marcus'' in that he got offered the chance toe to Mirrion and decided he wanted another chance at life.

    "I see so you have been here for three months."

    Miguel then went on to tell Marcus about what he had been up to.

    He apparently started off near the capital city of Scriven Dutchy and after exploring around for a bit discovered the adventurers guild.

    "Yeah, it was something like out of a video game. I suddenly got this panel where I could choose my stats and skills, and I got to pick out quests to go on to make money."

    Unfortunately, Miguel soon found that this world was not like a video game.

    He was seen as the rising star at his branch of the adventurers guild and when he made it to silver rank some veterans invited him to join their party.

    Of course, Miguel had wanted to make some friends in this strange new world and epted only for them to take him to a remote area where they tried to rob and kill him.

    "I see so since then you have relied on yourself not being able to trust others. I understand your feelings, but that road will just lead to sorrow. I have met my fair share of nasty people and had to deal wit a betrayal of my own, but I would say that there are more decent people than not."

    However, it appeared that Miguel was still going to have trouble trusting people for the most part, but at least he was opening up to Marcus.

    "That is enough about me. So, what are you doing here working as a tournament healer?"

    Now it was Marcus'' turn to tell Miguel about himself, but he now realized that it was going to be difficult.

    The kid already had trust issues and Marcus had basically been misleading him from the start.

    "Oh, sorry I nearly forgot, but this is not my body. I just took it over to get you to follow me so we could talk alone."

    Miguel hearing this looked shocked and abrasive.

    The power to take over someone''s body was pretty creepy and also terrifying.

    "Sorry I just did not think you woulde and talk to me alone if I approached you as myself. Here give me a minute and I wille back normally."

    Leaving the room Marcus headed back to the infirmary where he unpossessed the healer he had been using, and left him in exactly the same spot where he had taken him over.

    The guy would probably have a bit of a freak out once he realized that he could not remember where he had been for thest forty minutes, but the human mind could typicallye up with a rational exnation for any situation.

    Floating back to the room he had left Miguel in Marcus wondered exactly how much to tell the kid.

    Certainly, they were both from Earth, but that was pretty much their only connection.

    Marcus did not have any other reason to trust him, or to really help him.

    Still, he decided to give the kid the benefit of the doubt. They had bothe from the same world and it was a bitforting to know that someone else like you was around.

    Of course, Marcus also thought that with the right mentoring the kid could be a valuable ally in the future.

    Unfortunately, when he made it back to the room, Miguel was gone.

    ''Damn it.''

    Marcus thought this might happen, but he had been hoping that the kid would still want to hear him out.

    ''Roxene, can you find him.''

    Popping her head out Roxene began sniffing around before saying, ''He went down the hall and took a left.''

    Following Roxene''s instruction Marcus went after Miguel, but as they got closer to the arena''s exit and more and more people were moving around, she lost the scent.

    ''There are too many other people, sorry Marcus but I cannot get a good read on him anymore.'' Roxene said to Marcus telepathically.

    ''Damn, I should have just lied to him. Of course, he would get afraid if I said I could take over people''s bodies and control them as my own.''

    Looking around frantically Marcus tried getting a bird''s eye view in the air, and even used his life sense to see if he could find Miguel.

    Nevertheless, the kid had run off in a hurry, probably not willing to have his trust betrayed again.

    ''Great, if I had known he had trust issues from the start I would have gotten in contact with him another way.'' Marcus thought while mentally berating himself.

    For a moment Marcus thought about running off to the adventurers guild to see if Miguel had gone there, but he quickly realized this was not the best idea.

    The kid had decided to run away and if he wanted nothing to do with him, there was nothing he could do.

    Sighing, Marcus decided ultimately to let it go.. If their paths met again in the future, he could try to make things up to the kid, but for now he had other priorities to worry about and his own life to live.

 Chapter 287 - 287 The Strongest In The Tournament?

    Having given up on trying to find Miguel, Marcus made his way back to the stands to watch the remaining matches.

    However, when he arrived, he noticed that Gurrom was currently talking to someone unexpected, but very familiar to Marcus.

    "Mraz what are you doing here. I thought as royalty you would have your own private box to watch the tournament in."

    Yes, sitting next to Gurrom was Mrazivy, along with her guardian knight and the mage Diana standing behind her.

    All of the otherpetitors had even given them a wide berth since upsetting a princess could be disastrous for any of them.

    "Ah Irene you are back. I was actually looking for you, but your friend Gurrom here told me you had gone somewhere for a bit and would be back soon. Anyway, in the meantime I was able toplement and get to know the person that made my new sword." Mrazivy said with a smile on her face.

    It looked like she was happy to talk to Gurrom, or maybe she was still ted from her victory earlier today.

    Sitting down next to Mrazivy, Marcus could feel a number of curious looks from the otherpetitors and an icy re from her guardian knight that still did not like him.

    However, this did not deter Marcus who was used to this treatment and said, "So Mraz what did you want to talk to me about."

    Shaking her head Mrazivy responded saying, "Not here, could we go somewhere private to talk."

    But as Marcus was about to agree the announcer sh referee, loudly said, "And now it is time for our tenth match of the day. Thest three went long with one evening down to time, but will this match between two juggernauts be as fierce?"

    The twopetitors then stepped into the ring, and one of them was a veryrge man wear full adamantine armor, along with a huge adamantine shield on his back, and an adamantine il in his left hand.

    The other man had jet ck hair and a small body, but Marcus could tell at a nce that he was very strong.

    The man only carried a sheathed sword at his side and did not seem to be wearing any apparent armor.

    As the two of them stepped up onto the ring, the announcer began their introductions.

    "On my right we have the man known as the wall of the south, General Augustus Veral. He is one of the youngest generals in the kingdom, though the oldestpetitor at the age of forty-nine. He is known for his unbreakable defense and his years of service protecting our southern border. But on my right is a man who is no less formidable and is the apprentice to the man who has earned the title of Sword Savant, Quillon1"

    As the cheers of the crowd swept thought he arena it was pretty obvious that the man called the wall of the south was the more popr of the two.

    To the kingdom he was a patriot and they wanted him to win while his opponent was just the apprentice of some guy with a fancy title most of them did not know.

    Of course, among those who did not know was Marcus, but he figured that at least one of the two people sitting next to him would know.

    "Mrazivy, do you know who this Sword Savant is."

    Looking at Marcus in a shocked expression Mrazivy was surprised he had never heard of him.

    "I am surprised you do not know of him, but he is said to be one of if not the strongest warrior in the kingdom. Of course, he is not actually a part of the kingdom or any organization for that matter from what I have heard. He simply wanders around to hone his skills with the de, is what my father said once. I even heard that Knight Commander Darius challenged him to a duel once, but my father refused to tell me the oue of their battle."

    The way Mrazivy talked about him had a type of reverence that Marcus did not quite understand, and there was thing that was still bother him.

    "If he just wanders around, how did he get any form of notoriety here."

    Mrazivy practically beamed at this and said, "Around fifteen years ago a city in the western part of the kingdom came under attack from a gargantuan monster called a zomok. From what I was told it is a tangle of nts that takes the form of lizard that is over two hundred feet long. It threatened to destroy the entire city, but a single man walked out of the walls, and apparently with one sh of his sword cut the monster in half."

    Nodding his head Marcus could understand how that could get people''s attention.

    He had only defended one portion of the wall in River Landing and earned a name for himself, and this guy had defended an entire city single handedly, so naturally he had be a bit famous.

    "So then what do you know about this guy Quillon who is his apprentice."

    At this Mrazivy frowned and said, "I did not even know he had an apprentice until the start of the tournament. But it must be true otherwise he would not have been one of the seeds brought straight to the main tournament."

    ''Seems even Mrazivy does not know anything about this guy.''

    Marcus then tried to ask Gurrom, but he knew even less about the sword savant than Mrazivy, let alone his mysterious apprentice.

    It seemed that Marcus had gotten all the information he was going to get, and unfortunately, he was unable to see the level of either of the twopetitors since his skill was being blocked.

    ''Well, I should at least be able to gage their strength once they get started.''

    From what Marcus could tell both of thesepetitors were some of the strongest he had seen and since he was sure to fight one of themter, he wanted to get a good read on their abilities.

    However, something astounding happened instead.

    As soon as the referee called for the match to start, the guy named Quillon practically disappeared, and in a sh had appeared right in front of General Augustus.

    Yet in that same instance the general''s shield spilt in half along with a horrible wound going from the right part of his chest up to his shoulder.

    It had all happened incredibly fast that very few people had seen what had happened.

    In fact, even though Marcus had been fully focused on it, he barely caught a glimpse of Quillon''s sword as it cut through the general''s shield. armor, and body, before going back into its sheathe.

    ''An amethros sword.''

    Marcus nearly could not believe it, but he was certain that he had seen the sh of the distinctive purple metal that was the strongest in the world.

    Blood began gushing out of the general''s horrible wound like a fountain and his right shoulder which was now barely attached to his body began falling away.

    Thud!

    The general, losing blood at an rming rate and in shock from the damage and blood loss, fell over unconscious.

    There was a stunned silence for a moment as everyone in the stadium was in a daze, before the referee caught himself and said, "General Augustus Veral is unconscious and can no longer fight, the winner is Quillon."

 Chapter 288 - 288 Mrazivyâ€™s Plea

    After Quillon was announced the winner, there was no apuse from the crowd like normal, they all just sat there in disbelief.

    General Augustus could be considered a hero for the kingdom with how he had defended the southern border and kept the citizens safe.

    Yet now he wasying on his back unconscious with blood gushing out of a horrible wound, and very few people even understood how it had happened.

    Even Marcus had barely seen the single sh that had ended the fight, and all he could think was that this man Quillon was by far the strongest fighter he had seen so far in this tournament.

    ''Can I beat him?''

    Marcus wondered if he could win even if he gave it everything he had.

    With his base abilities, impossible, but maybe with his supreme skill and unique skills active he could win, but he was still not certain.

    This was the first opponent Marcus truly was not confident that he could beat even if he pulled out all the stops, and it was certain that they would fight in the near future.

    "He must have cheated somehow."

    "Yeah, there is no way that the southern wall could fall unless that guy used some illegal trick."

    Soon the people began to be enraged by what had happened, not believing it possible, for someone so strong to be beaten in an instant.

    The referee tried to calm the people down, but they started to call him ipetent and that he should be reced.

    In fact, the crowd was beginning to get so riled up that there was fear of a riot happening when over everything else a loud shout st throughout the arena.

    "SILENCE."

    It was such amanding voice that everyone became quiet even the most upset audience members that were causing the uproar.

    Everyone then turned their heads towards the sound of the voice, and knightmander Darius could be seen standing on the tform the king had given the opening ceremony on.

    "All of you need to calm down. I can say with a fact that no foul y happened. In this fight General Augustus was simply overpowered. It is Quillon''s win and anyone who wishes to continue toin cane and do so to me personally."

    After that no one had any discontent anymore, since not a single person was willing to actually go up to the kingdom''s strongest andin.

    The days matches then continued to go by and while Marcus did identify some other strongpetition, no one even came close to level of power and speed that Quillon demonstrated.

    Then when thest match hadpleted Mrazivy who had been waiting patently turned towards Marcus and said, "Now that everything is wrapped up, would you minding to talk to me in private."

    Nodding his head Marcus followed Mrazivy out of the sands and to her private box where she would normally watch the matches.

    Not surprisingly she told her two protectors to wait outside since what she wanted to discuss with Marcus was personal.

    Walking inside Marcus could see that her viewing box was quite nice with a luxurious couch as well as a table full of high-quality refreshments.

    However, once they were inside Mrazivy became serious, and turning a picture frame in the room Marcus felt a strange magical aura surround them.

    "There now no one should be able to hear us. Marcus, I have something very important to ask you, would you lose against me in our uing match.?"

    Hearing this Marcus just stood there stunned for a minute trying to wrap his head around what Mrazivy was asking when she came right up to Marcus and with a desperate look said, "Please I have to win, and I know I cannot beat you. I need you to give the match to me or my life will be over."

    Now Marcus was certain that something was up, and he could only imagine that it was probably the same thing that had been upsetting her in Lethan.

    "Why are you asking me this now. We both still have our next match before we go head-to-head, I could easily lose to Gurrom."

    Shaking her head Mrazivy said, "We both know that is not true. Your fellow apprentice and friend may be strong, but you are much more powerful. I know that we are both going to win and then face off."

    Marcus could not argue with Mrazivy''s logic there. As much as he did not want to discount how strong Gurrom is, he was certain that he was stronger.

    Thinking about it though, Marcus could not afford to just give up because his friend asked him to. He had a lot riding on winning this tournament and obtaining adamantine was his current main goal.

    "Mrazivy, I am sure you know that I was offered extraordinary rewards should I win this tournament. I cannot just give up because you asked me to."

    After giving his answer, Marcus began moving towards the door to leave when Mrazivy grabbed onto his arm and said, "Marcus I am begging you. If I do not win this tournament, I will have to marry someone that I hate."

    This made Marcus stop as he turned around and saw the distress in Mrazivy''s face.

    Seeing this Marcus actually felt his chest hurt a little bit for some reason.

    "Okay I will hear you out. I know you probably did not want to exin what is going on to me, but tell me properly and I might consider throwing the match for you."

    Hearing this a small smile of hope appeared on Mrazivy''s face.

    She then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before saying, "After the incident with the demon, I reported what I had discovered to my father since I have a duty to keep this kingdom safe. However, he got upset that I had taken such a dangerous matter into my own hands and called me home. This had happened in the past before, but this time he told me I was going to be forced into an arranged marriage with the first son of Marquis Krenston. My father told me that it was time to settle down and stop endangering myself, and that if I married Krenston''s son I could solidify the royal family''s power in Loursend."

    Marcus could see the look of disgust as Mrazivy talked about marrying the son of Marquis Krenston, and Marcus could not me her.

    He remembered how the viceroy of Loursend had continuously dyed the rescue effort for Mrazivy when she got sent to the thirdyer''s boss room via a teleport trap.

    "I thought the guy hated you why would he want you to marry his son. And could the king not just have one of his other daughters marry the guy''s son, why does it have to be you?"

    Scowling Mrazivy said, "It is about control. Krenston specifically requested me, since he wants me to be miserable. Just like him, his son is a vile person, and I would rather, marry a goblin than him."

    Mrazivy basically spat out Krenston''s name this time and it was evident how much she really hated the idea of marrying his son.

    "So how does the tournamente into y. I am guessing that it must be a way out."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy said, "My father gave me a condition. If I won, the tournament he would break off the engagement. As the tournament''s winner I would have even more value and would not have to marry anyone if I did not want to."

    With the whole picture now, Marcus understood why Mrazivy wanted him to throw the match for her, but even if he did there was still a problem.

    "Even if you get past me, how are you nning to win. Do you have a way to beat Quillon, or any of the other strongestpetitors for that matter?"

    Frowning Mrazivy responded saying, "I will get there when the timees. I need to think one step at a time."

    Of course, Marcus could see the worry on Mrazivy''s face, and it was clear that she herself did not believe she could win even if he did lose their match on purpose.

    Now Marcus had to decide what he was going to do.

    Mrazivy was one of his closest friends in this world and thinking that she would end up miserable for the rest of her life married to some scumbag was hard to stomach.

    "Very well, I will let you win."

    When she heard this Mrazivy''s expression turned into a big smile as she gave Marcus a hug and thanked him profusely.

    "Wait you did not let me finish. If I am going to throw the match for you, I am making sure you go all the way. So, I am going to help you win."

    Confusion all over her face Mrazivy had no idea how Marcus would help her win.

    "What do you mean help me win. I know you are a ghost but obviously even you would not go unnoticed tampering in the tournament."

    "Yes, you are right, if I was only a ghost. Remember you took a thorough look at my status. I am also a great spirit of light and darkness. I know that you cannot bring any sort of beastpanion or the like into the ring with you, but anything conjured with summoning magic is perfectly legal.. So, for the rest of this tournament I am your contracted spirit, and I look forward to working with you."

 Chapter 289 - 289 Marcusâ€™ And Mrazivyâ€™s Plot

    Looking at Marcus in bewilderment Mrazivy said, "I appreciate the offer and understand what you are getting at, but I do not have the spirit summoning skill."

    With a devious smile Marcus said, "Yes but we can just fake it."

    Still perplexed by what Marcus was saying Mrazivy wanted to know how he was going to fake her having spirit summoning magic when Marcus said, "I will simply possess you and then say a little chant and make a light show before popping out. Oh, and I have a number of forms I can take so do not worry about someone recognizing me."

    "Wait do you honestly think that will work. Everyone knows I am a magic swordsman that can only use ice magic. Even though few people know my actual status, my family certainly knows I do not have a contracted spirit or spirit magic."

    With a smirk on his face Marcus said, "If they ask just tell them you recently acquired it."

    However, Mrazivy was not finished poking holes in Marcus'' n and said, "What if someone gets suspicious and has my status read. In that case they would see I do not have a contract with a spirit nor the skills to summon one."

    But Marcus was still ready to alleviate these worries and said, "In that case I will possess you and using my false status skill, make it appear that you do have the right skills. Though I am going to need to see your full status to make sure I do not have any inconsistencies."

    "Also, if anyone questions you be sure to deny everything. You never admit to your wrong doings no matter what. As soon as you do it is all over."

    Soon Marcus had won Mrazivy over to his seemingly ridiculous n, but in the end, she felt that it was her only hope.

    "With the two of us working together I am sure that we can get you to be the victor of the tournament."

    "Okay but what about afterwards. It is not like you can pretend to be my contracted spirit forever." Mrazivy said with a bit of concern.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus said, "Just tell anyone who asks that you broke the contract or something. Once you have won it really does not matter."

    "Got it and thank you for your help in advance. You do not know what it means to me that you are willing to do all of this for my sake."

    Shaking his head Marcus said, "Well I am giving up a lot to help you, so you can do a small favor for me right."

    "Sure, as long as it is something I can aplish." Mrazivy said a bit hesitantly.

    "Well since I am giving up on my chance to get some adamantine, you can get some for me right, you are a princess after all." Marcus said with an almost devious smile.

    Gulping Mrazivy imagined her wallet being drained dry to aplish Marcus'' request, or she might even have to suck up to her father and ask for some.

    However, it was still a small price to pay for all of the help Marcus was offering her and reluctantly said, "Yes but not too much alright. Even the power of a princess has its limits."

    "Yeah, whatever you can get me is fine. I just need it to get my skill level up and make myself some higher quality gear."

    With their n now set, they needed to prepare to make their act convincing enough that people would not notice, or at the very least have a hard time making sure that it was being faked.

    The first thing they tried was letting Marcus possess Mrazivy''s body, but that was easier said than done.

    Her soul instinctively fought back against Marcus and trying to take over forcefully was not going to work.

    Even though Marcus had a higher spirit stat, Mrazivy''s was not low and at best he could control her for a few seconds when she resisted him.

    "I keep telling you to rx, and just let me in. I know that it is difficult to deal with the intrusion, but once you get used to it, I will back off and give control back to you."

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy''s honed survival instinct made it nearly impossible for her to simply let Marcus take over, as she felt her own will being repressed.

    And on the other hand, Marcus at the same time was trying to simply dwell in Mrazivy''s body instead of taking it over, which was proving harder than he thought.

    Still the two of them kept at it until Mrazivy was able to control her own naturally defenses and let Marcus take over her body.

    He then tried to give control back to her while still remaining in her body, but instead he just popped out.

    "Damn, and it took us over two hours just for me to finally be able to possess you, just for my n not to work."

    "Oh no I worked to hard to finally get my head around the fact of you taking over my body. We are going to figure this out no matter what." Mrazivy said not willing to let her efforts go to waist.

    Trying a bit more they kept having the same problem of Marcus simply unpossessing her when he ceded control back, but eventually he came upon an idea.

    He remembered how the shadow demon hadtched itself onto the soul of the kid Tyler and this time try to wrap his tendrils of shadows around Mrazivy''s soul.

    And it actually worked for a moment before Mrazivy fought back violently and pushed Marcus out.

    She then looked at him in a disgusted manner and said, "What the hell was that. It felt so wrong and slimy."

    Sighing Marcus responded saying, "Well if you want this to work you are going to have to deal with it. To overshadow your soul and then give you control back pushes me out, so I have totch on somehow."

    The two argued around for a bit, but Mrazivy eventually relented to dealing with Marcus'' tendrils of shadowstching onto her soul, since she would rather feel slimy for a few minutes then have to feel that way for the rest of her life married to Marquis Krenston''s son.

    After Mrazivy forcefully pushed Marcus out a few more times, she eventually got used to the feeling of his spirit beingtched onto to hers, and the two of them let out a sigh of relief that their n wasing to fruition.

    "Now we just need to work on the visuals and words for the fake summoning, and we will have everything we need to pretend I am you spirit down."

    "Yeah, it has been hard and thank you again for all your help. I know I have beenining about how unnatural it feels for you to possess me, but you have really put up with a lot for my sake."

    Letting out a soft chuckle Marcus said, "Well that is what friends are for. If I am ever in a simr bind, I expect you wille to help me out."

    "Yeah, something tells me if anyone ever tried to rope you into an unwanted marriage you would destroy them or simply disappear." Mrazivy said with a straight face.

    Then the two of them startedughing profusely, when the door to the room mmed open.

    Looking over both of them were surprised since neither her guardian knight nor mage had a key, but when they saw who was in the doorway it made sense how they could open the door.

    "Great Grandmother what are you doing here."

    Standing in the doorway was none other than Great Archmage Aria herself.

    "Sir Heward here said that you had locked yourself away here for hours with Irene and were not responding to his calls. For some reason he told me that he thought you were in mortal danger and asked me to open the door for him, but it seems that everything is perfectly fine."

    Aria then gave Sir Heward a re since she wanted him to know she was angry that he wasted her time before going on her way.

    Sweat could now visibly be seen flowing down his forehead, since he was afraid of what punishment he might receive for upsetting Grand Archmage Aria and interrupting Princess Mrazivy.

    "I see it has gottente and we both could use some rest, so we should go back to our respective abodes for now. See you tomorrow Irene and we can further work on what we have been discussing then. "Mrazivy said as she got up and winked at Marcus.

    The two of them then exited Mrazivy''s private box in the arena and went their separate ways, with Marcus heading back to the Twisted Cats'' Tails Inn, and Mrazivy going back to the nearby royal manor within the outer city.

 Chapter 290 - 290 The Apprentices Do Battle

    The next few days of the tournament went by and while there were a few other standout fighters Marcus made note of in the third and fourth blocks, he knew he needed to focus his energy on those that were in block two, especially his match today.

    He was going to be in the second match of the day and his opponent was going to be his first mentor, friend, and fellow forgemastering apprentice Gurrom.

    Winning this fight was not going to be easy, but Marcus was fairly sure he could pull it off without using any of his unique skills.

    ''I need to keep them under wraps so that when I bust them out while pretending to Mrazivy contracted spirit no one makes the connection.''

    Of course, if it came down to it Marcus was willing to use them, but he was confident he could win without them.

    "Lady Geist the first match has ended would you please follow me."

    Getting up Marcus left the waiting room he was in and followed the tournament staff member to the tunnel that led out into the arena''s center.

    Walking out Marcus received an abundance of cheers as he had gained a decent number of supporters after the disy, he had put on during his first match.

    Nevertheless, Gurrom did not receive any less apuse and as the two of them took to the ring and stared at each other as the announcer got right to it and said, "In todays match we have two of the greatest forgemaster in the kingdom Thabon zegram''s apprentices doing battle. Which one of them wille out on top, the established Gurrom Durand or the neer Irene Geist. Now let the match begin."

    With the match started Marcus quickly began casting his buff spells one after another nning to use everything at his disposal right from the start.

    "Legs of light, Arms of darkness,"

    Though Gurrom was not going to just let him do this and threw his adamantine axe right towards Marcus while saying, "Axe auto attack."

    With Gurrom''s axe flying right for him, Marcus clicked his tongue as he had to stop casting spells and prepare to defend.

    Quickly stepping to the side Marcus let the axe pass him by but as he suspected from what Gurrom had said, it abruptly stopped and began chasing after him.

    Taking out his scythe Marcus began parrying the persistent axe that continually was swinging at him.

    Unfortunately, this prevented Marcus from getting out his spells, since having to fake just saying the few words necessary and timing the spell correctly was difficult under the axe''s persistent assault.

    "Fire Storm."

    Having finished the chant for his tier five fire magic spell, Gurrom released the raging st of fire right towards Marcus as he was preupied dealing with the axe.

    With no time to lose Marcus first focused on the axe and after expertly parrying it with his scythe reached out with his left hand and grabbed ahold of its handle to restrain it.

    Of course, the weapon fought like hell to get out of Marcus'' grasp and continue its assault, but his iron grip kept it in ce.

    Then with is first problem dealt with Marcus active all of the enchantments on his scythe and sent arge amount of mana into before shing towards the fire storm that was about to hit him.

    The fire storm raged around him as he cut through with his scythe and deployed a mana barrier around himself as added protection.

    However, before the fire storm finished raging by, Gurrom yelled out loudly, "Axe split apart."

    The double-sided adamantine axe that Marcus had wrestled in his grasp, spilt into two different axes and managed to escape from Marcus'' hold.

    Yet as the two axes were splitting apart, they gave Marcus enough time to get off a quick spell to turn things in his favor.

    "Iron Golem."

    His iron golem rising up from the ground, Marcus immediately ordered it to deal with Gurrom''s split axe and keep it out of his way.

    ''Now I can focus on Gurrom.''

    As soon as the fire storm receded Marcus prepared to charge straight towards Gurrom and take him out in closebat now that his axe was away, but before he could Gurrom had already finished another spell.

    "Inferno cage."

    Dozens of pirs of fire sprung up around Marcus blocking him in and preventing him from charging in head long less he be horribly burnt.

    And as quickly as it had appeared, the cage of fire around Marcus began to shrink rapidly ready topletely engulf him.

    "Voltaic Bombardment."

    After casting his tier five lightning magic spell, Marcus'' body began to crackle with electricity before hundreds of bolts of lightning began to fly out of him, sting against the ever-shrinking inferno cage and blowing it apart.

    But the bolts of lightning did not stop there as the remaining ones all began flying towards Gurrom.

    "Armor, grounding mode."

    Giving his armor amand two dozen studs that were embedded in his armor flew of and quickly extended into taught wires that formed into a circle around him, before jamming into the ground.

    The hundreds of bolts of lightning flying for him where then sucked into each of the wires and sent into the ground where they were dispersed.

    It actually quite surprised Marcus to see, and he knew that any of his lightning magic spells would be useless against that defense.

    "Axe return."

    Seeing that his axe was being handled by Marcus'' iron golem, Gurrom decided it would be put to better use if he brought it back to use himself.

    "I must say Irene I am surprised that you managed to block all of my attacks. I had devised thatbo to defeat you specifically, and to see you deal with it without much issue makes me feel as if all my efforts were a waste. But now the real fight will begin."

    "Heart of the Forge."

    A zing aura far superior to the one Marcus had under the effects of spirit ze rose up around Gurrom, and Marcus could tell that the spell he had cast was increasing his power by leaps and bounds.

    Gurrom then leapt towards Marcus with his axe in hand moving at a speed far faster than Marcus thought possible until he noticed what appeared to be little jets of fire behind him.

    "Radiance scales."

    Casting his tier five light magic spell right before Gurrom attacked him, Marcus made no move to block the massive axe swing Gurrom was initiating and instead swung his scythe to cut off Gurrom''s left arm.

    And as he thought even with all the power he had put behind his axe, Gurrom was only able to cleave through around half of the shimmering scales protecting Marcus, beforeing to a stop and leaving him wide open to a counterattack.

    "Shield expand."

    Yet right before Marcus'' scythe took off Gurrom''s arm, an adamantine shield Marcus had never seen appeared out of an inconspicuous band on his left wrist and blocked the attack.

    "Pulverizing Blow."

    Activating an attack skill Gurrom swung his axe from overhead, and it quickly began to smash through the remainder of Marcus'' radiance scales, obviously being some type of powerful defense breaking attack.

 Chapter 291 - 291 The Apprentices Do Battle (2)

    As Gurrom''s axe smashed through his remaining radiance scales, Marcus could tell they were not going to be enough to stop the attack and brought his scythe around to meet the blow.

    ''Powerful sh.''

    Activating his attack skill Marcus'' scythe and Gurrom''s axe shed against each other.

    Sparks began to fly as the two fought for dominance but neither of them was gaining an inch.

    "Laser."

    Taking one hand off his scythe and turning to the side Marcus unleashed his tier four light spell nning to st Gurrom back.

    Except as hisser spell was fired, the shield on Gurrom''s left wrist detached and interposed itself in front of Gurrom.

    Marcus then watched as a reflective sheen passed over the shield andser spell bounced right off it and back towards him.

    Taking his ownser spell directly in the chest Marcus was the one blown back and knocked off his feet instead of Gurrom.

    Never in his wildest dreams did he expect his own spell to be reflected back at him, and at this point the difference in the strength of their equipment was apparent.

    Luckily between Marcus'' armor and the natural resistance he had to light element attacks from his exalted blessing, Marcus did not take any damage from his spell and was simply pushed back.

    However, this had created and opening for Gurrom who rushed forward towards Marcus, who was off bnce and swung his axe down aiming to end the fight with one massive blow.

    Yet as the attack was about to make contact Marcus'' armor activated and using the force it had been absorbing since the start of the fight, deployed a barrier around him which he further reinforced with his own mana barrier.

    Still, Gurrom''s strike swiftly shattered through both of Marcus'' barriers, though not before losing most of its momentum and allowing Marcus to twist his body around smack it away with his scythe.

    Catching his bnce again, Marcus stepped towards Gurrom and began unleashing a flurry of wild swings going on the offensive to make it a battle of speed instead of the one of power Gurrom wanted.

    Soon Marcus had Gurrom on the defensive and was managing tond a few slices which had caused cuts on Gurrom''s body which were trickling blood.

    "Heal."

    But he quickly gave out anothermand word and his armor glowed for a moment before his wounds began closing up faster than Marcus could make them.

    "Axe Split."

    With his healing activated Gurrom purposefully took one of Marcus'' attacks and at the same time split his axe into two in order to keep up with Marcus'' rapid attacks and even go on the offensive.

    And naturally Marcus had to make sure not to get cut even once, since he could not afford for any highly discerning eyes to see the gray smoke like substance that was equivalent to his blood leak out.

    ''I am not going to win this way.''

    Feeling that he was slowly being overpowered by Gurrom''s dual axe wielding, Marcus knew that his current method of fighting was not going to get him victory.

    Thus, he used one of the cards he still had on the field and called over his iron golem that had been standing stationary.

    Gurrom seeing the twenty-eight-foot tall, mass of iron lumbering over ceased his aggression on Marcus and prepared for a more defensive battle.

    However, unlike what he had thought Marcus would do, as soon as the iron golem engaged, he ran off making distance and leaving his iron golem to fight alone.

    "Giant yer."

    Using an attack skill meant for farrger opponents Gurrom quickly cleaved through Marcus'' iron golem causing it to crumble to the ground and dissipate.

    "Iron Wings of the Archangel."

    Still this had given Marcus the time he needed to cast his tier five iron magic spell and take to the air.

    Seeing this Gurrom was perfectly fine with having a ranged battle and was about to throw his axe and have it chase Marcus around again, when hundreds of the iron feathersposing Marcus'' wings began to fall off and fly right towards him.

    "Shield Repulsion Field."

    Flying out in front of him Gurrom''s adamantine shield began to let out a low hum and a nearly invisible field surrounded him.

    Then when Marcus'' iron feathers came into the barriers range, they rapidly slowed down before bouncing back unable to move closer even as Marcus tried to force them.

    ''Damn his shield is deploying some type of maic barrier. But this does make one thing painfully clear. That shield and armor were not made by Gurrom, they were made by Thabon and are meant to specifically counter my abilities.''

    Seeing this Marcus realized that Gurrom must have somehow gotten Thabon''s help to beat him.

    And Marcus'' deduction was certainly right. Gurrom had begged and pleaded for Thabon''s assistance and eventually Thabon relented.

    He had wanted to stay impartial, but he could not stand the depressed and defeated look that Gurrom had been touting around.

    Gurrom had been his apprentice far longer than Marcus, and so he decided to help him by crafting him new armor and equipment to deal with Marcus'' abilities that he had showcased during their training.

    Of course, Thabon thought Gurrom still might not be able to win since he knew just how strong Marcus was when he used all of his strength, but he at least wanted to allow Gurrom to put up a decent fight so as to not lose confidence in himself.

    "Do not think you are safe up there."

    "zegram''s Furnace."

    Finishing up the spell he had been working on while Marcus tried to break through with is iron feathers, the visage of arge furnace made of mes appeared in front of Gurrom and Marcus could see that it was incredibly powerful.

    This may have been a tier five spell, but Marcus understood that its strength was at the peak of what a tier five spell could be, and likely a spell created by Thabon going by its name.

    A jet of me like thating from a spaceship then sted out from the furnace and headed straight towards Marcus.

    ''I was hoping to keep this hidden as well, but it looks like I will have to use it.''

    Boom!

    Gurrom''s spell hitting its target caused a massive explosion that shook the entire arena, and the heat even began to scorch the air.

    Yet instead of seeing Marcus fall from the sky, now that the blinding light created from his spell had vanished, Gurrom saw what appeared to be a two-story tall and impossibly long iron wall.

    However, as he followed along the length of what he thought was a wall, Gurrom quickly noticed that it was not.

    "Cataclysmic Iron Sword."

    Casting his strongest spell, his tier six iron magic spell, Marcus had conjured a three hundred foot long and twenty-four-foot-wide iron sword.

    It took him nearly all of his mana to create this behemoth of iron, but the power behind it was worth the cost.

    It had easily tanked and blocked Gurrom''s strongest spell, and other than a bit of it being slightly warped by the heat, it waspletely undamaged.

    Everyone who saw this incarnation of destruction watched with batted breaths.

    Almost none of them had seen such a disy of power, and even those that had an understood what he had done were shocked.

    ''A tier six spell at level forty-two.''

    Aria easily the strongest mage present and the one with the most knowledge of magic could only be astonished by Marcus'' feat.

    Even she had not been able to grasp a tier six spell until level fifty-six and she was considered a prodigy.

    Heck even having a level five magic skill at level forty-two was well within the realm of a genius.

    Nevertheless, even under the pressure being emitted by Marcus'' tier six spell, Gurrom was not going to relent.

    He hade too far and fought too hard to lose here to Marcus.

    "Axe mana surge."

    After giving his weapon onestmand, it quickly began to drain everyst drop of mana Gurrom had, and even began to suck in the surrounding mana.

    "Grand Swing."

    With everything he had left Gurrom unleased a massive st of mana that went flying straight towards Marcus who was floating high above the ring.

    Raising his hand up Marcus''s Cataclysmic Iron Sword began moving pointing straight up towards the sky, before he swiped his arm down and the colossal de followed.

    Just the sheer mass of it moving caused violent gusts of wind as it struck down, and when it met Gurrom''s desperate final st of mana, it cleaved through it like warm butter.

    Watching his final attack beingpletely overwhelmed Gurrom saw the iron sword descending towards him almost in slow motion as all his hopes were dashed.

    Then as the sword crashed down into the ring right in front of him time began moving again and the force of the hundreds of tons de smashing into the ring, sted him backwards until he smashed into the barrier protecting the audience.

    The entire ring then crumbled and was torn apart like a massive earthquake had just happened, and gale force winds blew up huge plumbs of dust that covered the entire center of the arena, only being stopped by the barrier.

    In fact, if not for the barrier the entire arena would have already copsed under the sheer force of the cataclysmic iron sword smashing into the ground.

    And for the first time the referee actually abandoned his post and jumped outside of the barrier to avoid being caught up in Marcus'' attack.

    Soon the dust began to settle, and the audience looked out with batted breaths.

    The first thing they saw was Marcus still floating in the air with his iron wings, and then they noticed the colossal iron sword still imbedded into the ground.

    There was no longer any ring to speak of as it had beenpletely blown apart by Marcus'' attack, and it looked like the area has been carpet bombed.

    However, slumped up against the edge of the barrier, with hunks of rubbleying on his body was Gurrom.

    He had horrible wounds all of his body and blood was flowing down his head, and pooling below him, but he somehow managed to survive.

    Jumping back into the center of the arena, the referee ran right over to Gurrom and immediately noticed he was unconscious, and certainly unable to continue fighting.

    "Gurrom Durand has been rendered unconscious. The winner is Lady Irene Geist."

    For an instant after the referee''s announcement the entire stadium was still quiet, still in shock from Marcus'' final attack.

    But in just a momentter, it erupted into he loudest cheers so far heard in the tournament, as thousands of people stood up and pped with all their might and screamed at the top of their lungs.

 Chapter 292 - 292 The Best Laid Plans

    With his victory being dered Marcus let his tier six spell dissipate and turn back into mana, before flying down onto the ground.

    This was the first time he had really used his cataclysmic iron sword and the amount of destructive power it had surprised even Marcus.

    ''I am d I decided not to hit Gurrom directly with it.''

    After seeing the ringplexly leveled and looking like a warzone, Marcus was certain had he not purposely missed Gurrom by a few feet, his friend would have been turned into a pulp.

    That was just how much force had been behind even one swing from his cataclysmic iron sword spell.

    Back on the ground Marcus immediately ran over to Gurrom to check on his condition, and when he arrived let out a sigh of relief to see he had no life threating injuries.

    Certainly, he looked worse for wear with bruises and scrapes all over his body, along with a few broken bones, but he had managed toe out intact.

    Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his armor which was in tatters but, better it than him.

    "Persistent healing."

    Casting his tier four healing magic spell Marcus watched as Gurrom''s wounds slowly began to close, and once he was satisfied with Gurrom''s recovery he turned around and headed to exit the arena.

    "Well folks, in all of my years I do not believe I have ever seen this level of destruction during our kingdom''s tournament. The ring and field around it arepletely destroyed, far beyond anything we have had before. So, I would ask that everyone please be patient while our earth mages repair it." The referee sh announcer said anticipating the tournament''s dy and the crowd''s displeasure.

    Still the ring was in shambles, and it would probably take them around an hour to fix even with all hands-on deck.

    Luckily this did not really affect Marcus, though Mrazivy who''s match was supposed to be next certainly was surprised when in her waiting room she was told her match would be dyed since the ring had beenpletely destroyed.

    Nevertheless, with the aid of magic the ring was soon fixed and the crowd''s anticipation for the next fight was growing.

    "I again would like to apologize about the dy to everybody here, but after the tireless work of our staff the ring has been fixed and the days matches can now resume. And this next one is certainly not one to miss. On one side we have Lord Wyatt Mudak whose unknown magic won him the first match without lifting a finger. Then on the other side we have her highness, Princess Mrazivy Borealia."

    The twopetitors for the third round of the day then entered into the arena and the wound-up audience who had been waiting began a resounding cheer.

    They had been waiting for quite a while now and were ready to watch some more carnage.

    "Whenever you are ready, begin."

    With the signal from the referee to start the match, Mrazivy immediately brought forth her mercurial ice and charged straight for her opponent with her sword drawn.

    She nned on getting into closebat as soon as possible, since Wyatt was simply a pure mage and his closebat skills werecking at best.

    "Intellect Crush."

    Yet before she could close the distance Mrazivy''s head suddenly started pounding like she had the worst migraine imaginable.

    For her it suddenly felt like someone had turned on a jackhammer in her head and she had to abruptly stop to prevent throwing up from the pain.

    "Mental Marite."

    Whispering another spell under his breath Wyatt reached out his hand using his psychic magic and attempted to take over Mrazivy''s mind that was already vulnerable from his first spell.

    "Ahhhhhh."

    Screaming out in pain and distress Mrazivy''s head felt like it was on fire, and she copsed onto the ground and began shaking violently while holding her head.

    "I rmend you stop resisting. The more of a fight you put up the longer the pain willst. Just give in and everything will be much easier for you." Wyatt said in a soothing voice trying to stamp out thest dregs of Mrazivy''s resistance.

    With the searing pain in her head and hearing the sweet voice telling her to give in and let everything go, Mrazivy nearly gave in when the image of Marcus shed into her mind.

    "Are you really just going to give up, I thought we had a n already set? If you give up now, you are going to live the rest of your life miserable and with a vile man. You are better than that so get back up and win so that we can go all the way to the finals."

    As the image of Marcus her mind created gave her a pep talk, Mrazivy felt her mind clear for just a moment and allowed her to take a decisive action.

    Biting her own tongue hard enough to draw blood the physical pain she suddenly felt helped to wrestle her mind from the spells that Wyatt had cast.

    "Would you just give it a rest all ready."

    Bing a bit frazzled that Mrazivy was still resisting him, Wyatt walked over nning to finish this with an even more powerful spell, when he felt the two he had already cast break.

    He then looked down to see blood flowing out of Mrazivy''s mouth, and his eyes went wide as he saw the sh of her adamantine swording right for his face.

    Ducking to the side Wyatt just barely avoided having his left eye skewered as Mrazivy had gone for the kill, her mind still a bit in disarray.

    Yet even though he avoided a lethal blow, a part of his body slid off after being sliced through and blood erupted from the side of his face.

    "Agh, my ear, you bitch you cut off my ear!"

    With blood pouring down the side of his face, Wyatt''s normally calm demeanor was lost as the rage of pain made him lose his cool.

    And with hispse of judgment Mrazivy who was fighting mostly on instinct at this point, reared back and thrust her sword forward again.

    However, this time Wyatt was not caught off guard and using the enchantment on his scepter created a powerful barrier that blocked Mrazivy''s attack.

    "Psychic st"

    Manifesting the power of his mind into the world through his spell, Wyatt sent the created energy at Mrazivy sting her back and allowing him to get some distance from her.

    He now realized that he had gotten careless in approaching her and need to be more careful, since her resistance was stronger than he thought it would have been.

    After being sted across the ring, Mrazivy stumbled around for a few moments trying to stand up before using her unique skill as a crutch.

    She still had a pounding headache not to mention the pain from biting her own tongue and taking Wyatt''s psychic st.

    ''I am not going to lose here.''

    Back on her feat Mrazivy directed her attention towards Wyatt who was currently casting a healing spell over his ear to stop the pain and bleeding.

    Having her mercurial ice take the form of spears, Mrazivy fired them towards Wyatt while running at him with her sword ready.

    "Short jump."

    Right before the spears made from Mrazivy''s mercurial ice hit, Wyatt''s robe began to shimmer and expanded before epassing him and disappearing.

    Immediately Mrazivy recognized the space magic that had just been used via the robe Wyatt was wearing, and she could only wonder where he got such a valuable item from.

    Unfortunately, she had no time to ponder this as she suddenly felt her opponent appeared right behind her.

    Swinging around Mrazivy aimed to take Wyatt''s head off, taking nothing to risk and rather having to deal with the repercussions of upsetting his family than to lose.

    "Psybind."

    Having turned around Mrazivy''s sword was only inches away from Wyatt''s throat when his spell restrained her.

    Yet she struggled with all her might to break free, and the binds of Wyatt''s spell quickly began to fall apart, when he ced his hand right on Mrazivy''s head.

    "Cerebral Shutdown."

    Those were thest words that Mrazivy heard before her consciousness slipped from her body, and everything went dark.

    "Mental marite."

    With Mrazivy''s conscious mind disabled, Wyatt had no problem taking control of her this time with his tier five spell, and now Mrazivy was his walking puppet that follow any of his orders.

    "You fucking bitch." Wyatt yelled as he kicked Mrazivy in the stomach.

    He was beyond livid about having his ear sliced off and now that he had control, he was going to get his revenge.

    After kicking Mrazivy around for a bit, Wyatt had her stand back up and walk over to him.

    "You know princess, I wonder if the people would still adore you if I messed up that pretty face of yours. Or maybe I should have you strip down and parade you around the arena for the whole kingdom to see."

    Deciding why only do one or the other Wyatt controlled Mrazivy and had her start taking off her armor while he moved over to her face with a dagger in hand.

    But right before he cut off one of Mrazivy''s ears, he received a telepathicmunication from his father who was watching from his private box.

    ''Wyatt stop this foolishness now. Any further and I will not be able to protect you from the royal family''s wrath. They will not sit idly by if you mutte and humiliate the princess. You have already won so just have her walk out of the ring and be done with it.''

    Heading his father''s orders, Wyatt looked disdainfully at Mrazivy onest time before having her walk to the edge of the ring and with onest kick knocking her out.

    Then after ten seconds the referee called the match announcing Wyatt as the winner.

    Many cheers resounded through the arena at this, since while the royal family worked hard to keep the standard of living high, and the people safe in their kingdom, no ruler was without its critics.

    Plenty of people were simply jealous of the royal family''s position and were more than happy to watch one of their members get beaten and humiliated.

    Of course, many were also disturbed to watch Mrazivy who was actually a fairly well known and well-liked princess.

    "Mrazivy!"

    Running out of the stands and jumping into the middle of the arena, Marcus moved as fast as he could and arrived at Mrazivy''s side.

    Immediately he cast a healing magic spell to fix the wounds she had received during her match with Wyatt frantically trying to help her.

    Yet even as the healing magic repaired her body, Mrazivy who had fallen limp after Wyatt ceded control did not wake up.

 Chapter 293 - 293 Marcusâ€™ Distress

    Back before Mrazivy''s defeat and Marcus rushing towards her side. As Wyatt had just begun to kick Mrazivy around after she had sumbed to his spell, Marcus had already stood up and was ready to charge into the arena.

    Something inside him could not bear to watch Mrazivy being brutalized, and he was about to attempt to st his way through the barrier and help her, when a powerful presence descended upon him and forced him back into his seat.

    ''Now, now. Keep your calm and stay in your seat. I have not seen enough of your abilities yet, so I cannot have you getting yourself disqualified right now.''

    Marcus had no idea who this voice wasing from or why they were stopping him, but the amount of pressure being exerted on him felt like the weight of the world.

    No matter how much he struggled, he could not move an inch and the voice that had just talked to him said nothing more and did not respond to his cursing.

    But the oppressive force receded as soon as the match was called, and with no time to worry about what had just happened Marcus jumped out of his seat and into the ring.

    And now back in the present Marcus had just finished casting a healing magic spell on Mrazivy but she remained unconscious.

    So, with Mrazivy still not waking up after he had healed her, Marcus quickly scooped her up and was distraught with what to do.

    The person he was closest to in this world other than Lilia was currently unconscious and seemingly unresponsive.

    "Lady Irene you cannot be down here, right now. Please ce the princess down and the tournament''s healers will look her over." The referee said, looking displeased that Marcus had jumped into the center of the arena just after the conclusion of a match.

    However, Marcus was feeling agitated by the whole situation and said, "Get out of my way or I will move you. I will take her to the infirmary myself, it will be much quicker that way."

    Still even though what Marcus said was true the referee had a duty to uphold the rules and could not just let Marcus do what he wanted.

    "Lady Irene, put her down and get out of my ring, or I will have you disqualified from the tournament. I do not know nor care why you are so desperate to help the princess, but just leave her to our healers and get out of here before you make me angry."

    The tension in the air around the ref and Marcus was nearly tangible as he was getting ready to blow past the referee in his near hysterical condition.

    Yet before they came to blows a hand suddenly appeared on Marcus'' shoulder and a familiar voice said, "Irene stop this foolishness. Mrazivy is simply unconscious from one of her opponent''s spells. She will wake up perfectly fine in a little while, so go ahead and give her to me and I will make sure she isfortable."

    Turning his head around Marcus saw Aria standing behind him looking at him sternly, but also with a confidence that made Marcus believe her.

    "I understand please look after her." Marcus said as he handed over Mrazivy to her great grandmother.

    After hearing her words of reason, Marcus whose mind had been clouded by panic and fear of losing someone close to him began to clear up.

    He had not been thinking very rationally when he rushed in to help Mrazivy, and he should have tired to keep his cool better.

    Once he had handed Mrazivy over to Aria, Marcus turned back towards the referee and bowed his head in apology before moving towards the exit of the arena and leaving post haste.

    "Halgin thank you for not going off on Lady Irene there. I know you do not like it when people step on your authority as the referee."

    "Hm I am not that hot headed, but you are right that I would normally have just beaten any intruder out of my arena. But I have seen what she can do and my instincts tell me there is something dangerous about her." Halgin said as he nced over at Marcus who was just exiting the arena''s center.

    "Yes, that was probably for the best. Now I need to take Mrazivy here to somecefortable. She is liable to have a horrible headache and feel quite down when she wakes up."

    With having deescted the situation Aria walked out the opposite direction as Marcus, with Mrazivy in her arms.

    Then once she was out of view of the audience, she seemingly vanished into thin air as she warped away.

    ˇ­

    Smashing his hand into the side of the tunnel within the arena, Marcus put arge hole in the wall and caused cracks to form out from where he had hit it.

    He was currently full of rage and the target he wanted to take it out of was out of his reach for now.

    ''For all the nning and practice we went through, we never anticipated Mrazivy would lose here. Damn it, I should have been there with her, instead of going back up into the stands.''

    Finding no one else he could me; Marcus was now taking his anger out on himself.

    He should not have just unconditionally believed that Mrazivy would win the next round and the two of them would be able to use their little charade after he through their match.

    ''I am such an idiot.'' Marcus thought as he smashed his head against the wall.

    ''I should not have cared that it might look suspicious if I did not appear in the stands after my match. I saw that guy in his first match and knew he used some type of special magic. I should have been there for her.''

    After smashing up the walls of the tunnel and berating himself for a minute, Marcus reverted to his ghost form and began floating up when he noticed that the nextpetitor wasing through.

    He then floated back to the floor of the stands that were reserved forpetitors, and went to sit down and watch the rest of the matches.

    Of course, he was not really paying much attention as his mind kept wandering to Mrazivy''s condition, but he trusted that Aria would make sure she was alright.

    He knew that right now there was nothing he could do for her, and that worrying would not get him anywhere.

    Yet he could still not get the sight of Mrazivy being kicked around out of his mind and soon began nning on how he was going to pummel Wyatt when they faced off in the next match.

    However, he was soon interrupted when from behind he heard, "Lady Irene could I have a moment of your time."

    Turning around Marcus saw Diana standing there, and when she saw that she had gotten Marcus'' attention said, "If you would not mind following me, her highness would like to speak with you now that she has awoken."

    Standing up with haste Marcus practically warped over to Diana and said, "Okay, take me to her."

 Chapter 294 - 294 Mrazivyâ€™s Despair

    Following behind Diana, Marcus was led back to Mrazivy''s private box where she had been recuperating after losing to Wyatt.

    It had only been a few hours since then and Marcus was wondering how Mrazivy was handling it.

    He doubted that she expected to lose, and it was a misjudgment on both of their parts to think that nothing in their n was going to go awry.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Diana knocked on the door loudly before saying, "I have brought Lady Irene as request."

    She then opened the door and Marcus saw Aria sitting on the couch in the room, though Mrazivy was hidden from view as she wasying down.

    "Pleasee on in Irene." Aria said as she turned around to look at Marcus.

    Walking in Marcus felt like there was a lump in his throat as he went around to the other side of the couch to face Mrazivy.

    When he saw her his metaphorical heart dropped, since she had eyes that practically looked dead and were devoid of hope.

    "Great Grandmother, thank you for taking care of me, but would you mind leaving us alone."

    With a bit of concern in her expression Aria looked down at Mrazivy and then at Marcus.

    If it was before she had learned what he truly was she would not have felt any hesitation to this request, but now.

    ''No, it should be fine. Gwyneira told us that they are a transmigration and do not follow the normal logic for a monster. Anyway, they have already spent plenty of time together, so it is unlikely that now something will happen. However just to be safe.''

    After casting a listening spell behind her back, Aria, got up and left the room as Mrazivy had asked, though she nned on keeping tabs on the situation just in case.

    Once everyone else had left and the door had been closed, Mrazivy who had be emotionless let the dam break and began crying profusely.

    Before moving to sit down next to her Marcus switched his form back over, since he had been in his original identity when they first became friends and thought it would be moreforting this way.

    He then pulled Mrazivy into his embrace and let her cry while trying to put her at ease her.

    He had done this for Lilia a number of times, but he had never once thought he would need to do it for Mrazivy who always seemed so strong.

    Petting her head Marcus did his best to calm Mrazivy down, but her tears kepting and he could really not me her.

    "I know you are sad Mraz, and you have every right to be, but this is not over yet. You cannot go giving up hope right now, it does not suit you."

    However, as much as Marcus was trying to console Mrazivy, she felt like all the doors in her life had been shut and her only way forward was misery.

    "Of course, it is over, I lost. My father is going to force me to marry that sick pig. Do you not see, my life is over." Mrazivy said as her despair turned to anger and she began half heartily hitting Marcus.

    Grabbing her hands Marcus stopped Mrazivy from continuing to hit him and looked her in the eyes with a kind smile.

    "I am sure there is a way for you to get out of this. If your father saw how opposed you are to marrying Marquis Krenston''s son and how depressed it would make, he might reconsider."

    Calming herself down a bit after looking a Marcus'' kind expression and seeing how much he wanted to help her, Mrazivy tried her best to put on a smile and said, "No my father was raised to be the ruler of the kingdom and he always does what is best for it, even at the expense of his family. He would rather consolidate the crown''s power in Loursend through marriage than make sure I am happy. If he had to choose between burning all of us at the stake or letting the kingdom fall to ruin, he would light he fire himself with no hesitation."

    Mrazivy then let out a pitifulugh at this, thinking about how she had begged her father to not force her marriage with Krenston''s son and his firm stance that it was going to happen.

    Frowning a bit Marcus could understand the king''s reason, and while they may have made him an impable ruler, they certainly made him a lousy father.

    Thinking about other options, Marcus said, "If it is really that bad could you not just leave. Renounce your title as a princess and go to some other nation and live out your life as an adventurer.

    "Hee, hee. I wish it were that easy. Do you think the adventurer''s guild would be willing to damage their rtionship with an entire kingdom just for my sake? No, they would tie me up in a bundle and ship me right back home and any freedom I might have left would be taken away. Running away would just make me a fugitive just like you and yourpanion, except I cannot change my appearance and disappear whenever I want."

    "Fine, what if instead of the reward offered to me for winning the tournament, I asked for your engagement to be broken off."

    Stopping her self-deprecatingughter, Mrazivy looked at Marcus seriously and said, "Why would you go that far. And even if you did, I doubt it would change my father''s mind. It would have no value for him to do so."

    Nodding his head Marcus understood what she was saying and after letting out a deep sigh said, "Then I could always give myself over after winning the tournament. I can be a new royal forgemaster, and as the winner of the tournament would that not give the kingdom some more prestige. I am sure that the weapons and armor I can make for the kingdom are worth far more than slightly better rtions with Loursend. Heck I can ever fight on the front lines or delve into dangerous areas to collect valuable resources, whatever it takes."

    Looking up at Marcus in disbelief Mrazivy said, "There is no way I can let you do that. You are basically saying you would be a ve to the kingdom. That would just mean that you are transferring my suffering over to yourself. Do you think it would make me happy to be free in exchange for your misery?"

    "Do not worry about it, I have all the time in the world. Remember I am a ghost, so what is a hundred years or so of service to a kingdom I findfortable. While I did not n on staying here forever, it is a pretty nice ce to settle down. So even if I have to hold off on my ns for a century or even a millennium, it is fine as long as you are able to live your life how you want." Marcus said with a reassuring smile.

    With tears welling back up in her eyes Mrazivy began shaking her head violently and said, "No that is too much. I know we are friends, but this is well beyond just helping me out. You do not have to do this, our n already failed so it is fine to give up. I was born a princess and knew that at some point I would be asked to do my duty, even as much as I wanted to be an adventurer like in the tales of my ancestor Boreas."

    Then with a resigned expression Mrazivy said, "You have already done so much for me Marcus, just let my fate take its course."

 Chapter 295 - 295 (Hidden, Title At The Bottom Of The )

    Seeing the resigned expression on Mrazivy''s face, Marcus grabbed her by the shoulders and brought her face close to his and said, "I do not care what you say. I am going to help you out no matter what, and there is nothing you can do about it. I do not care if I have to work in the forges like a ve, or risk life and limb killing dangerous beasts. I am not going to let you fall into to despair so snap out of it."

    Marcus then released Mrazivy''s shoulders and pped her in the face.

    He could not bear to see the depressed look on her face, especially when she was normally quite happy and proud.

    Reaching her hand up to her face Mrazivy touched her red and tender cheek slowly as if she could not believe what had happened was real.

    No one had ever pped her before and the sting on her cheek made her begin to get angry.

    See then looked at Marcus with fury in her eyes, stood up, and started shouting at him.

    "What gives you the right to force your help on me. I can take care of myself, and I do not need you to fix all of my problems. Why are you always trying to protect me, huh? You descended into a dungeon to save me someone you had barely known at the time. And now you are trying to save me from marrying Marquis Krenston''s son. Is there some end game you are ying here? You are a monster right, so maybe I am just a part of whatever plot you have been cooking up."

    With her rage being unleashed Mrazivy was going off on Marcus, she just wanted him to stop trying to give her hope or find away to fix the situation.

    She had already lost, and it was time to give up, and the sooner she did that the easier it would be for her to move on.

    She would rather give into despair than feel the horrible pain that came with hope. She did not want to spend the rest of her life hoping that things would get better when they never would.

    Yet here was Marcus trying to make her live with the pain that she wished to discard along with her hope.

    "MRAZIVY!" Marcus yelled to get her attention and to quite her down.

    "There is no greater plot, no monstrous reason that I went to help you out when you went missing in the Ocean Bluff Temple. I cannot say that I did it for wholly magnanimous reasons. I certainly thought it would be nice to have a princess as an ally. I also did it because you were Wade''s cousin, but most importantly because I thought you were a nice person."

    Marcus then gave Mrazivy a few moments to digest what he had just said before saying, "And remember I told you I used to be human, but I did not tell you everything. This is not my original world. I died on a far of called Earth and then got transmigrated here as a ghost. I still hold all of the emotions and memories I had before dying, and I maybe a ghost now, but at the end of the day I would still be the same no matter what race I ended up."

    After saying that Marcus was about to continue when with a look of astonishment Mrazivy said, "Wait you are one of the legendary transmigrations!"

    With this new fact dropped on her from out of nowhere, Mrazivy attention was immediately drawn towards it.

    She was very interested in the people that came from another world since she had heard many stories about her ancestor Boreas who was said to also be from a ce called Earth.

    In fact, it was these stories that had originally made her want to go out on an adventure of her own, and even though her father had been against it at first and took much convincing, she had managed to be an adventurer.

    "I would not say legendary but yeah I dide from another world. But that does not really matter, I just wanted to get myst secret off my chest and to convince you once and for all that I have no nasty intentions because I ended up as a monster. I trust you Mrazivy now would you just let me to help you?"

    With Marcus steering the topic back to Mrazivy''s impending forced marriage, the tion she had felt a moment ago to find out that Marcus was from another world, quickly disappeared and the cold feeling in her chest returned.

    "Why are you willing to go this far for me? Even if I ended up as Marquis Krenston''s son''s wife, we would still be friends and be able to see each other every now and then. I may have to deal with beginning married to someone vile and repulsive that I hate, but I am still a princess, I can take care of myself even if I am a bit miserable. Why is it so important to you that you help me escape from my fate?"

    Standing up from the couch and facing Mrazivy, Marcus could feel his chest pounding even though he did not have a physical heart and said, "There are two reasons. One I cannot bear to see that gloomy look on your face, when you normally have such a bright smile. And the second is because I have grown far too fond of you to let anyone else have you without a fight."

    After saying that Marcus pulled Mrazivy close to him and kissed her.

    He had realized his feelings for her when he saw her being beaten and toyed with by Wyatt. His chest had begun to feel heavy and a rage like no other had told him to jump in and destroy the person hurting her.

    And if it had not been for the overwhelming presence that had stopped him, he surely would have done so.

    However, after the fact when Marcus thought about it, and he knew what the feeling he had experienced was.

    He had felt it before in his first life when he was still together with his girlfriend in college.

    Unfortunately, they grew apart as they went their separate ways to pursue their dreams, but Marcus would never forget the feeling of his first love and knew that he was feeling the same now.

    Marcus continued to kiss Mrazivy conveying his feelings to her, and for a moment after the shock had worn off, she kissed him back caught up in the moment, beforeing back to her senses and pushing him away.

    "No, I can''t. I am going to be married to someone else. Please just stop trying to give me hope."

    Tear began flowing down Mrazivy''s face once again as a turmoil of emotions began to fight inside her.

    "Oh, I see. I thought you said you would rather marry a goblin than Krenston''s son, but I guess that I must be even worse." Marcus said as he shrugged his shoulders trying to lighten the mood.

    "No, it is not that, I justˇ­"

    However, Mrazivy found herself at a lost for words as her mind was racing all over the ce trying to figure out what to do, while Marcus decided now was the time to deliver the final blow.

    "Mraz, I have fallen for you, and even if you do not want anything to do with me, I will do whatever I can to make sure you are happy."

    Marcus then held out his hand to Mrazivy and said, "Now, do you trust me."

    Chapter 295 A Confession of Feelings

 Chapter 296 - 296 A New Plan

    Looking at Marcus'' outstretched hand, Mrazivy felt the helplessness she had been feeling start to recede and reached out her hand to take his.

    She had seen him do amazing things, that most would consider impossible.

    He had taken on a boss monster many levels higher than him and won. He had defeated a powerful demon that threaten to take over the core of a dungeon. He did everything with confidence and it seemed that when he put his mind to it, he could aplish anything.

    Reaching her own hand out Mrazivy took ahold of Marcus'' and said, "I do trust you. Please help me break off this marriage and retain my freedom."

    With a big smile on his face Marcus bowed and said, "Of course your highness, anything for you."

    With her face still red from when Marcus kissed her earlier seeing the way he was bowing to her just made her feel even more ufortable.

    "Marcuse on and raise our head, and please stop teasing me." Mrazivy said in a flustered manner.

    She still was not sure with what to do about Marcus'' earlier confession, but she was certain she was not in the right headspace to deal with it right now.

    "And I know you just ah, told me how you feel and kissed me, but could you give me some time to figure it out." Mrazivy said with a conflicted and confused expression.

    "I literally have all the time in the world, so take whatever you need. I know I just sprung this on you, so let us just worry about that once everything is over."

    Naturally Marcus figured something like this would happen, but since he did not get pped or told in no uncertain terms that she did not like him, he felt he had a chance.

    Truthfully at one time Mrazivy had started to develop feelings for Marcus when he first saved her in the dungeon.

    He had been like a hero of legend, braving all dangers to save the princess, but when she found out he was a monster these feelings that had been growing slowly inside her shrunk back down.

    In her mind there was no way she could ever be with a monster, but over time she had gotten closer to Marcus as a friend, and just now he had dumped lighter fluid on the small embers of the remaining intion she had for him.

    However, she was currently fighting with the confusion of her feelings and the logic in her head, and needed time to figure out what she wanted.

    "Now we need a new n to deal with your obstinate father. Obviously, I believe winning the tournament and instead of the rewards I would get, asking for your freedom is the first move. It will bring me to the negotiating table in a much stronger position and then we can work out whatever deal is necessary."

    ''Roxene, I know you have been listening, are you willing toe on board in case I need to reveal my identity.''

    Marcus was pretty much willing to put all of his chips on the table, but he needed to confer with Roxene before he started betting with hers.

    ''Hm ask the princess first about how her father is likely to react to me. I want her insight on the matter before putting myself in danger just to help you win her over.''

    ''Okay let me ask her real quick.''

    "Mrazivy, you remember Roxene right, my half white, half ck wolf puppanion. Well, what would your father do if he knew about her, do you think me being her partner would bring something to the table."

    Marcus was hoping to win the king over with the backing of an even greater than mythic grade magical beast.

    He figured what kingdom would not want a powerful ally and Roxene''s strength was still growing and one day could be at the peak of the world.

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy shook her head and said," No my father would view her as a major threat. She has the potential to destroy this entire kingdom when she gets to a higher level, and right now he would view it as a chance to get rid of her. You saw the hysteria the two of you created in Loursend, and for the most part it was just rumors that the masses heard. The kingdom has tried to keep a lid on the information since they do not need a mass panic on their hands, but there are a number of people still looking for you right now."

    Hearing this caused Marcus to frown, but if giving away Roxene''s existence would only be a hinderance, then he would have to get by without her.

    But a momenttter Mrazivy''s face lit up as she remembered something else and she said, "Wait there might be someone else we can go to. She does not normally get involved in the politics of the kingdom but in this situation she might help."

    Wondering who this other person could be that could sway the king''s decisions, Marcus inquired with Mrazivy, but she said, "I am sorry I cannot say more, I have been bound by a magical contract not to divulge certain information about them. I hope you understand and if you do not want to bring Roxene out that is fine, but if I talk to them about her they maybe able to help you. Hm, it may even be possible for you to have the bounty taken off of your head."

    At this Marcus lit up since while he had fused with a part of Irene''s soul and wasfortable in his identity as her, the majority of his personality still came from his original soul and he would love to use his identity again.

    Sadly, Rexene still wanted to ythings cautiously and asked that she be left out of any sort of negotiation, since there was no guarantee for her safety.

    "Okay so revealing Roxene is off the table, so sticking to the n of negotiating after winning the tournament is what we will go with. Now which do you think your father would value more, my fighting strength or my ability to make high tier weapons and armor."

    Taking a few minutes Mrazivy seriously gave this some consideration before saying, "I believe he would value your strength as the winner more than anything else. It would prove that you are the strongest of the next generation and having you work directly for the kingdom would give him more political sway. However, it is likely that he might want you to marry one of my brothers, he likes making bonds through marriage, since people are often more loyal to their families and will not betray them."

    At this Marcus grimaced. Getting married was the one thing he did not n to bring to the negotiating table.

    "Yeah, I will take drastic actions before getting married to some random guy. Sorry Mraz, but I would rather just go and wipe out Krenston''s entire family than do that."

    Seeing that Marcus was serious, Mrazivy could not say she was not tempted for that oue, but she knew that would cause turmoil in Loursend and could send waves throughout the kingdom.

    "How about we save that for ast resort okay. Anyway, while your battle prowess and fame as the winner of the tournament might give my father more political power, in the long run, your forgemastering talents would bring in more military strength so he may prefer that. Of course, we are basing this all on whether you can win or not.. So do you think that you can."

 Chapter 297 - 297 Preparations

    With a confident smile Marcus responded to Mrazivy''s question and said, "Yes I can win."

    At this point winning the tournament was about more than just getting some supplies, it was about helping out someone he cared about.

    There was no doubt in his mind that he could not win it all, and he was willing to use every power and trick up his sleeve to do it.

    "And first things first I will go give that bastard Wyatt a beatdown for what he did to you. But before that could you exin what kind of powers, he used on you. I have a good idea already but having your insight would be helpful."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy went on to exin what she remembered and what she had just found out from her great grandmother.

    "Psychic magic huh. The ability to control someone''s mind is certainly scary and I understand now how you lost. Well, I simply need to strike first and prevent him from using his magic. Though his ability to teleport certainly might be annoying. Do you have any idea, on where he got something like that?"

    "Yeah, it is probably his father''s. He is currently one of the highest ranking archmages in the kingdom and his familyes from a long line of mages, so them having a rare item that lets them teleport is not farfetched. I guess he decided to let his son use their families best magic items to help win this tournament."

    Mrazivy then let out a long sigh since it was those magic items that ultimately led to her defeat, but there was nothing she could do about that now.

    "Well, I have some other ideas on how I might deal with him, but I am going to need to go and see someone about them."

    After saying that Marcus decided to leave telling Mrazivy that he would be gone for a while and that he may not be back until it was time for his next match.

    However, unbeknownst to them, someone had been listing in on their entire conversation and now had a lot to think about themselves.

    ''I certainly did not see thising. So, they are also called Marcus, and are the one that is possession of that egg, well I guess it has hatched now. So, what do I do with this? Do I take it to Aaren, or to Gwyneira?''

    With the decision that would decide Marcus'', Roxene''s, and Mrazivy''s fate seemingly in her hands, Aria was quite conflicted.

    On one hand she was not certain if Marcus could be trusted, but on the other hand, he has already proven himself a valuable asset to the kingdom, and if they could utilize his talents, it could be a great boon.

    ''I suppose I will go and see them first.''

    With her decision made Aria quickly headed off to figure out what to do with the information she had learned.

    ˇ­

    Bang! Bang!

    Knocking loudly on the thick metal door, Marcus waited for a reply from inside, before going in.

    "Come on in."

    Opening the door, Marcus'' senses were immediately assaulted by the strong scent of alcohol and looking into the room he could see his master hadrge cask on a table with a cup full of an amber colored liquid.

    Moving over to the table Marcus sat down across from Thabon who was quietly sipping his drink and poured his own.

    Thabon''s eyes went wide seeing this and said, "Irene I rmend that you not have any of that. This is the strongest alcohol I have and even I need to be careful drinking it."

    Nheless, even after Thabon''s warning Marcus took a quarter filled ss and downed it in a couple of seconds, before calmly cing the ss down and filling it up to full this time.

    Seeing this Thabon could not believe his eyes since this whiskey had an incredibly high alcohol content and most people would get tipsy just from the smell of it, and one sip would numb a person''s tongue and cause them to get drunk.

    ''Damn is that smooth, but this thing must have an alcohol content of around ny percent. If I still was in a human body, I would have spit it out and started coughing the second this stuff entered my mouth.''

    After taking one drink Marcus could tell that this was a high-quality alcohol and had not sacrificed vor for its high alcohol content.

    Still as much as Marcus liked it, he had note here to drink and so he looked at Thabon seriously and said, "I assume you saw the match."

    With a grimaceing over his face Thabon took another swig of his ss before looking at Marcus seriously and saying, "Yeah I saw it. I was really hoping that the two of you would not have to end up fighting, but sometimes that is the way of the world. You know I went to see Gurrom in the arena''s infirmary but when he woke up, he gave me the cold shoulder and told me to leave. It appears that he is quite upset with himself for losing to you when he is the senior apprentice. I am afraid that he may even leave the forge."

    Thabon then took a long look into his ss and Marcus said, "I suppose that the fact that he asked for your help and he still lost also yed a part in it."

    Sighing Thabon looked back up at Marcus and said, "So you noticed. Yes, I gave Gurrom everything I could to defeat you, and even designed his equipment to counter your magic. Of course, I knew that his chances were still slim, your strength is far beyond the ordinary. But even when he was giving it his all, he lost while you were still holding back."

    Marcus could see sorrow in Thabon''s eyes as he said, this, since he did not want there to be any animosity between his apprentices. But Marcus'' talent and speed of growth were enviable, and it was hard to keep feelings of inadequacy and jealousy in check when you watched someone with much less experience rise to the same level and then surpass you.

    The two of them then sat in silence for a good ten minutes simply sipping on the alcohol in their sses, before Thabon said, "I am surprised you are still drinking that, and your face is not even flush. You know that this alcohol is called Dwarf''s Poison since many people that have had it died. Even I cannot drink it as fast as you. Are you sure you are human Irene?"

    At this Marcus simply shrugged his shoulders and said nothing as he finished off his ss and decided to get down to business.

    "Master would you be willing to help me like you did Gurrom. I know I have not been your apprentice as long, and I have no animosity for you showing favoritism towards him. But I could really use your assistance if you would be willing to help me."

    Surprise was written all over Thabon''s face as he saw Marcus bow his head and ask for help.

    This was the first time he had seen him ask for his help. Certainly, he had wanted Thabon''s knowledge and training, but he had never once asked for help.

    "I see you must be desperate since, I know that you pride yourself on aplishing everything on your own.. Very well I helped Gurrom, so it is only fair that I help you as well. So, what did you need from me?"

 Chapter 298 - 298

    With Thabon telling Marcus he had his support, he quickly listed off the types of items he wanted and the skills and spells he wanted to learn.

    "Okay, we can do that, but it will take probably every second you have before your next match. Are you ready?"

    Nodding his head and with an exited expression Marcus said, "Yes let us get to it, I want to learn everything I can and get stronger before my next match."

    "That is the spirit, but before that, I have had this cask sitting around for around a decade and it would be a shame not to finish it all at once, especially when I finally found someone who can keep up with my pace." Thabon said as he filled up his and Marcus'' sses.

    Letting out a small sigh Marcus picked up his ss and said, "Cheers" before taking a huge swig and drinking his ss in one go.

    ˇ­

    "Well, you certainly are a pretty fast learner Irene, and your perseverance is admirable." Thabon said to Marcus who was currently face down on the ground beaten, battered, and out of stamina and mana.

    ''Ugh, and I thought he had been tough before, this time he was really and instructor from hell.''

    After two days of working and learning with Thabon, Marcus could feel his very soul creaking from strain.

    His master had not let up and forced him to do a hellish training program in order to learn certain skills, but also when they worked together to make a couple of items.

    ''Never again I am never asking him for help again.''

    Swearing on his soul to never again seek his master''s aid, Marcus rolled over and looked at the ceiling and tried to move but his physical form would not respond.

    "So are you just going to lie there all day, do you not have a match in four hours." Thabon said trying to light a fire under Marcus to get him up.

    "Just let me rest here for a few minutes. Actually, better yet I am going to sleep for three hours, just wake me then."

    Marcus then closed his eyes and shut his mind down, allowing himself to recovery his mana, stamina, and mental energy.

    "Oy do not just fall asleep on the floor."

    However, as much as Thabon tried to wake Marcus up, he was out. When he really wanted to shut off all of his mental faculties, noting short of extreme pain was going to wake him up.

    "Huh, fine, I guess even you need to rest sometimes."

    Thabon then picked Marcus up and went to his office where he put him on the couch, figuring he would rest better there than on the floor.

    ˇ­

    ''Ah I feel much better.'' Marcus thought as he woke up and felt that he was back in top shape.

    His regeneration skills had done their job and with three hours of rest he had long since made it back to his peak form.

    "Good to see you are awake. I was afraid you were going to sleep through your match, seeing as how I had not been able to wake you when you first fell asleep. In fact, with how soundly you were sleeping I was afraid that the end of the world might not wake you."

    Looking over at Thabon, Marcus could see him working on some paperwork, and with the little spectacles on his face he looked more like a kindly old man than the tough old bastard he actually was.

    "Well thank you for all you have done for me. With the knowledge and items, you gave me I am sure to win this tournament now.

    "Hm, try not to get cocky. Your level of mastery over those skills and spells is still not perfect, and the items we made together can only get you so far. But I believe in you so go win that tournament, for both me and Gurrom as well. Make it so he only lost to the champ."

    Nodding his head and smiling Marcus promised Thabon he was going to win it all, before leaving the zegram forge and hurrying his way back to the arena.

    ''Whew just on time.''

    Having made his way to the arena, Marcus had only minutes to spare.

    His match was going to be the first of the second half of the day after a short intermission once the matches from the first block had been concluded.

    "Please hurry Lady Irene, your opponent has already entered the ring."

    Following quickly behind a member of the tournament staff, Marcus was led to one of the tunnels that opened out into eh arena''s floor and was hurried along to enter.

    Walking out into the open of the arena''s center Marcus heard the sounds of apuse and from the people, but his attention immediately focused on Wyatt, his opponent.

    ''I am going to make you pay for what you did to Mrazivy.''

    "Now we have our first match of the day from block two, and it is shaping up to be a doozy. On my right we have Lord Wyatt Mudak, a mage who is well known and respected within the Guldur Spire. He is rumored to be one step away from receiving the title of archmage, and the power of is mysterious magic certainly is something. However, on my left we have Lady Irene Geist. As you al already know she is the apprentice to the esteemed forgemaster Thabon zegram, and the abilities she has shown so far are nothing less than extraordinary. She has shown proficiency in six different magics, as well as closebat skills that rival the best. It seems there is noting she cannot do, but does she have a chance agist Lord Wyatt''s unknown magic."

    The referee sh announcer continued to hype both Marcus and Wyatt up for another minute, wanting to make sure that the crowd retained the energy they had at the start of the day, and make sure this second round of matches in block two were just as exiting.

    "Well, it sounds like everyone cannot wait any longer, so whenever you both are readyˇ­ begin."

    As soon as the referee started the match, Marcus pulled out a long mithril pole with many elemental gems embedded within it and a very lengthy and intricate enchantment etched throughout.

    "Mental mario-

    "Laser."

    Firing off his tier four light magic spell, Marcus disrupted Wyatt''s casting, by using a spell that was much faster.

    This had been Marcus'' n from the start, and while theser spell was pretty weak in fire power inparison to other tier four spells, it more than made up for it in speed.

    However, while Wyatt did have to cancel the casting of his spell, he was able to defend against Marcus'' attack by holding his scepter in front of him and creating a powerful barrier.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form."

    Having expected his first attack to be blocked Marcus, moved to close the distance as fast as possible and shot forward towards Wyatt.

    And along the way as he passed over the center of the ring, Marcus deftly and swiftly jammed the long mithril pole in his hands and activating its enchantment.

    "Mental marite."

    With just barely enough time to get one spell of before Marcus was right in front of him, Wyatt''s expression turned into a smirk as his spell began to take a hold, until he felt it beingpletely resisted a momentter.

    Panic quickly began to set in for him, and he made the choice to activate the power of his robe.

    "Short jump."

    Yet as he tried to use the ability of his robe, the pole that Marcus had jammed into the middle of the ring pulsed and the portal Wyatt''s robe was creating fizzled out.

    "Sorry not this time." Marcus said as he appeared in front of Wyatt who was wide eyed in disbelief.

    "Perforation Strike."

    He then shed with his scythe while activating one of the attack skills Thabon had taught shed through Wyatt''s barrier, leaving him defenseless against his iing beatdown.

 Chapter 299 - 299 Marcus Beats The Sh*t Out Of Wyatt

    After having destroyed Wyatt''s barrier and disabling his robe''s ability to teleport, Marcus was about deliver his first blow to Wyatt, when the red gem embedded in his scepter began to glow and a torrent of mes burst out of it engulfing Marcus.

    "Ha ha ha. Did you really think that you could beat me, now feel free to burn to ashes for your arrogance."

    However, Wyatt''s bravado was brought to a quick end as Marcus'' hand shot out of the mes and knocked the scepter out of Wyatt''s hand.

    "Radiance scales."

    Casting his tier five light magic spell Marcus had managed to protect himselfpletely from the fire storm spell that Wyatt''s scepter had released, and easily disarmed him with the flick of his wrist.

    "I am actually pretty impressed by scepter daddy lent you. An item that is able to cast a tier five spell is no joke, but when its wielder is as ipetent as you, it is not going to make a difference."

    Anger welling up inside him Wyatt thrust out his hands and tried to cast another spell nning to destroy Marcus'' mind.

    "Rending Psyc-Guh."

    Yet before Wyatt could finish his incantation, Marcus moved like a blur and jammed his hand into Wyatt''s mouth.

    Luckily for Wyatt in his form as Irene his hands were pretty small, so Marcus had not actually caused mush damaged, unfortunately for him, he had grabbed ahold of his tongue and with a quick tug, yanked it out.

    "Ahhghghg."

    Withpletely incoherent screaming Wyatt began rolling around on the ground as blood gushed out of his mouth now that Marcus had ripped out his tongue.

    This served as a twofold measure for Marcus, as it would prevent Wyatt from casting spells, or surrendering since Marcus was nning to teach him a very painful lesson.

    "Persistent healing. Greater Cure."

    Casting two healing spells on Wyatt Marcus did not want him bleeding to death or being considered incapacitated.

    As long as he kept Wyatt form being outside of the ring, no longer being able to fight, or surrendering, the match would go on no matter what until the time limit was reached.

    It showed that the tournament probably needed to update their rules, but it was these same rules that had allowed Wyatt to thrash Mrazivy, so Marcus was not going to show any remorse.

    Soon the healing Marcus had administer had fixed all of Wyatt''s wounds, but of course they were not strong enough to restore his now missing tongue.

    Wyatt no longer in excruciating pain stood up and looked at Marcus with a hateful re, and Marcus in response held out his tongue and said, "Did you maybe want this back."

    But a second afterwards Marcus allowed the darknessing off of his embodiment of eclipse to engulf Wyatt''s tongue and turn it into dust as the darkness corroded it away.

    "Sorry looks like you will need to get a new one."

    With his rage having reached a breaking point, Wyatt pulled out a dagger from under his robe and activated its enchantment.

    The dagger then began to gather wind around it before it started spinning in its own mini tornado and shooting towards Marcus like a bullet.

    Still even though the dagger was quite powerful, it only broke through three of the dozens of radiance scales that were still protecting Marcus, before running out of mana and falling back to the ground.

    Picking up the dagger Marcus looked it over and was fairly impressed by its workmanship and the powers it had.

    "Daddy certainly made sure you were well equipped for this tournament I will give you that. Unfortunately, he cannote into the ring and fight your battles for you."

    Grinding his teeth Wyatt was furious that hisst attack had failed to do anything and once again tried to activate the enchantment on his robes to teleport away, but the mithril pole Marcus had embedded into the middle of the ring still disrupted the portal.

    With no other option Wyatt again moved to pull out another magic item on his person, but Marcus had already had enough of seeing Wyatt''s desperate tricks and was ready to begin teaching him a lesson.

    So, in a sh Marcus appeared right in front of Wyatt and punched him in the stomach causing him to reel back and begin vomiting, which Marcus jumped back to avoid.

    Wyatt then held his stomach where Marcus had hit him, and the imprint of his fist could still be seen in his clothing and armor.

    Seeing Wyatt barely standing upright after just one light punch, Marcus was certain that he no longer needed to use the power of his supreme skill and deactivated it so as to not eat away at his stamina.

    He then walked up to Wyatt who was just recovering from the punch thanks to Marcus'' healing spell that was still in effect.

    ''First things first.''

    Bringing his knee up Marcuspletely destroy Wyatt''s most precious ce, and a loud pained yelp escaped from Wyatt''s mouth that was almost pitiful enough for Marcus to show him mercy.

    Almost.

    "Well, you did not act very much like a man, so I have fixed that for you. Now I believe you were going to cut up Mrazivy''s face so why do I not start there."

    Balling up his hand into a first Marcus punched Wyatt who was still loopy from having his important equipmentpletely destroyed and smashed his head into the ground.

    There was then a sickening cracking sound as Wyatt''s nose and cheek bones were shattered, as Marcus crushed his head straight into the floor of the ring.

    With the immense pain and head trauma he had just experienced, Wyatt was on the verge of cking out.

    "Greater cure. Greater cure."

    Unfortunately for Wyatt, Marcus was not going to let that happen just yet, and pulled his limp body back onto his feet, before chaining healing spell after healing spell until his face was fixed.

    However, while doing so Marcus did not fix it quite correctly and now his formally fairly hansom face was disfigured.

    It was at this point Wyatt''s father who was watching in the stands was about to charge into the arena and kill Marcus to save his son.

    He did not care about any repercussions he might face for this, but he had already invested too much into his son who was his only heir to let him be destroyed here.

    ''As if I am going to let this farce go on any longer.''

    Yet as he moved to stand up a powerful hand had gripped his shoulder and forced him to stay down.

    "Who the hel-"

    But as Viscount Mudak turned around to see who had entered his room and was stopping him, his wrath quickly dissipated and was reced by fear.

    "Grand Archmage Aria what are you doing here?"

    Snorting Aira said, "Making sure you do not do something stupid. I could tell you were about to go out their and try to rescue your imbecile son. Well, let me make one thing clear, none of us made a move as he beat my great granddaughter, so you are also going to sit back and watch. If you have any grievances, you can deal with them afterwards."

    Aria then applied more force with her hand causing Viscount Mudak to sink all the way back into his chair.

    He could now only internally grumble since not matter how strong he was, he had no chance of going against the grand archmage and could now only watch out as Marcus enacted his retribution for Mrazivy.

 Chapter 300 - 300 I Feel Better Now

    After rearranging Wyatt''s face, Marcus gave him a break to recover from the beating he had just received.

    And as Wyatt got his bearings back, he quickly realized that there was something wrong with his face and brought his hand up to feel around.

    Immediately he could feel that his face was no longer symmetrical, and that one side of his face was caved in, and the other side had shifted positions about an inch.

    Disbelief followed by rage began to well up inside Wyatt as his hansom face was no more, and to fix something healed improperly would be near impossible even for his father.

    With a loud scream that sounded more like the sound of an angry goose than a person, Wyatt charged towards Marcus blinded by rage and began throwing out punches like a wild person.

    Easily evading each of the strikes Marcus had no problem dealing with Wyatt''s frenzied attacks which were backed by no technique and very little strength.

    Of course, Wyatt was simply a mage, so while his high level still gave him fairly high physical statspared to the average person, the difference between him and Marcus was far to great for him to ever aplish anything like this.

    "This is just getting sad at this point. So, I think it is time that I finish this, and hopefully you have learned your lesson."

    With what he set out to aplish done, Marcus stopped evading Wyatt''s pitiful blows, and instead grabbed Wyatt''s right arm and broke it with a resounding crack.

    The rage Wyatt was feeling was then once again reced by pain, but before he could do anything else Marcus began pummeling him with punches, and each time using his life drain ability to chip away a bit at Wyatt.

    Then when Marcus was satisfied with the beating he had delivered, he sent onest powerful kick right into Wyatt''s stomach and knocked him out of the ring.

    The referee who had been watching this one-sided beatdown, let out a sigh of relief when this happened since it had been getting difficult to watch, and he was afraid Marcus would kill Wyatt.

    "And that is it, the winner is Lady Irene Geist."

    The audience then broke out into a resounded cheer, since many of them were not a fan of Wyatt after what he had done to Mrazivy.

    Naturally they had all seen Marcus rush into the ring after Mrazivy and Wyatt''s match, and while there were plenty of people that were happy to see a member of the royal family getting beaten, there were more that were appalled.

    Therefore, they understood why Marcus had been so brutally and while parts of it had been hard to watch, they could tell that Marcus just wanted to avenge his friend.

    With the match over and his win secured, as well as getting retribution for Mrazivy, Marcus moved to the center of the ring to pick up the dimensional disrupter that he and Thabon had made.

    However, as he was about to pick it up, Halgin the referee stood in his way and said, "I understand why you did what you just did. But next time could you please refrain from taking out your grudges in my ring."

    "Okay. And I do not have a beef with anyone else anyway so I will be more civil in my remaining matches."

    Nodding his head Halgin epted Marcus'' answer and walked away allowing him to collect his dimensional disrupter and be on his way.

    ˇ­

    "Mrazivy are you in there." Marcus said as he knocked on the door to her private room.

    He wanted to check up on her since he had not seen her since the two of them parted ways after his confession, and they made their n to keep her from marrying someone she hated.

    Luckily the door to her room soon opened and Diana allowed Marcus to enter.

    "Would the two of you mind leaving us alone, I have somethings I want to talk about with Irene alone." Mrazivy said to her guardian knight and Diana.

    Her two protectors, nodded their heads, easilyplying to Mrazivy''s request even though her guardian knight would normally put up some form of opposition.

    Yet as he walked by Marcus, Mrazivy''s guardian knight Sir Heward who had pretty much hated Marcus from the start, gave him a smile and said, "Thank you for helping the princess."

    Sir Heward and Diana then quickly left and closed the door, allowing Marcus and Mrazivy to talk alone.

    "There now no one can here or see into this room from the outside." Mrazivy said as she turned the picture frame that activated the anti-eavesdropping spell in the room.

    Unfortunately, while this did work to prevent most outside interference, it was not going to work against Aria who had developed the magic, and was still able to listen in.

    Mrazivy then went back to sit on the couch in the room, and Marcus walked over and stood in front of her.

    "Thank you for beating that asshole for me. I know you did all that for my sack, and I am not going to lie that I feel better now that I have watched you take him down a peg. After what he did to me, I needed that. While it was like my mind was disconnected to my body, when I was under the control of his spell, I could still feel everything he did to me, and as he was kicking me, he broke some of my ribs and one of them pierced my lung."

    Marcus then saw as Mrazivy instinctively put her hand on her side as she remembered the pain of the broken ribs and her pierced lung.

    Seeing this Marcus almost wanted to go back and give Wyatt another beating, but even though he did it out of anger and for retribution, Marcus was not really a fan of hurting people just for the sake of it and decided against it.

    "So, what is next." Marcus said, while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

    He had confessed that he had feelings for Mrazivy a couple of days ago, and she had asked for some time to think about it, and he was wondering if she hade to a decision.

    Understanding what Marcus was asking her, Mrazivy, began blushing slightly.

    She was definitely a stranger to romance being a princess.

    For her it was either be forced into an arranged marriage or put it off for as long as possible by continuing to be an adventurer and denying any suitors.

    Unfortunately, that ship had sailed, as her father had now decided to crack down on her and force her to get married.

    In fact, Mrazivy was one of only three princess that was not already married or betrothed to someone, and she was certainly the oldest.

    She had managed to make it twenty-three years without being roped into an arranged marriage, and by most noble standards could be considered a spinster.

    "I have thought about what you said to me the other night, and I cannot deny that when you came to rescue me in the dungeon, I thought you were like a hero and my heart did sway a bit.. But you are a monster, a spirit, and a being from another world. Do you really think it could work out between us?"

 Chapter 301 - 301 Escape With Mrazivy

    "Do you really think it could work out between us?"

    With Mrazivy getting straight to the point, she wanted to hear what Marcus had to say about the possibility of there actually being something between them.

    They certainly were close, having be good friends starting when they were both stuck down in the Ocean Bluff Temple alone together for over a week, and continuing with their subsequent encounters.

    She had given it a great deal of thought, but she was still not able toe up with a definitive answer.

    Certainly, she could not deny that she cared for Marcus. She had poured her only emergency elixir down his throat without hesitation, and she could only think of very few other people she would have done that for.

    But right now, she was conflicted on whether a rtionship between them could ever amount to anything.

    She was a princess, and he was a ghost, how could it possibly end well.

    However, Marcus while having simr concerns as Mrazivy, was confident in trying to build their rtionship, and said, "Yes I think it could work between us. I realize that right now both of our feelings are immature, but I would like to see where we might end up if we give it a chance."

    Marcus could clearly see that Mrazivy was on the fence about the possibility of their being something between them, but he was certain it was not because she did not have any affection for him, but because of her position as a princess and the difference in their races.

    But an idea quickly pooped up into his mind and he took out the map of the kingdom he had and handed it over to Mrazivy.

    "If you are still unsure, how about we go on a date to see if we arepatible. Pick anywhere you want to go within five hundred miles of here, and we can go there today just the two of us."

    "What?!"

    Mrazivy was utterly shocked when Marcus said this. Five hundred miles? Anywhere she wants to go? How would that be even possible. She coulde up with over a dozen problems just right off her head as to why it would not work.

    "Are you joking around with me?" Mrazivy asked genuinely confused.

    Yet Marcus simply shook his head and said, "Nope, I really mean it. I can fly us anywhere within five hundred miles. Of course, it does not have to be that far if there is somewhere closer you want to go."

    "But what about the tournament, you have another match in just a day and a half. And anyway, Heward would never let me go off on my own like that."

    Undoubtably Mrazivy had brought up some good points, but Marcus was not going to relent so easily, and said, "The time is off no issue. We can go today ande back tomorrow. As for avoiding Sir Heward, do you not have any sort of secret exit we could sneak out of."

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy had to quash Marcus'' hopes of a hidden door that led to awork of tunnels or something. There was only one way in or out of the room, and currently it was being watched by an overprotective knight.

    "Okay give me a moment and I will find a way around him."

    Vanishing, Marcus returned to his ghost form, and quickly peeked his head outside.

    And just as he thought Sir Heward was firmly nted in front of the door, with Diana standing just off to the side.

    ''Well, it would be difficult to go out this way. I could try luring them away somehow, but I highly doubt that Sir Heward would leave for anything. Possession is too risky; they are both strong enough to put up a level of resistance. Time to look for another way.''

    With the front door not an easy option, Marcus peaked into he two room that were next to Mrazivy''s and found that they were also upied. But when he went down, he discovered an empty room, devoid of any life.

    Floating back up Marcus reappeared startling Mrazivy for a second as she threw the map in her hands away and reached for her sword.

    Letting out a breath of relief Mrazivy took here hand off her sword and said, "Next time could you warn me before you disappear and appear out of nowhere."

    "Sorry, sorry, I did not mean to scare you. It will not happen again." Marcus said, as he held his hands up and apologize.

    "So did you pick out somewhere you wanted to go."

    Remembering what she had been doing Mrazivy picked up the map of the kingdom Marcus had handed her andid it out in front of her.

    "Yeah, there is a ce I have always wanted to go, but I have not really had the chance since it is far away from any civilization."

    Mrazivy then ced her finger on the map where she wanted to go, and it really was in the middle of nowhere.

    The was no sort of settlement within fifty miles of the ce and it was almost four hundred miles from the capital city.

    Also, on the map Marcus had there were no discernablendmarks, it was just a nk space.

    "What is there, as far as I can see on this map there is nothing."

    Shaking her head Mrazivy said, "No your map just does not have it on there. Though it makes sense, since that area is normally pretty treacherous andcking in resources, and the ce I want to go is known by only a few. But my one of my older brothers who is the leader of the kingdom''s aerial knights, flew over there one time and said that there is arge ravine that runs through this area, and is full of beautiful crystal caverns. He told me that it was one of the most amazing things that he had ever seen, and I have wanted to go since I was a little girl when he told me about it."

    As Mrazivy talked about the ce Marcus could see the genuine wonder and happiness it was bringing her.

    It was a ce she really wanted to go but had never had the opportunity. However, Marcus was going to change that today.

    "Okay, I have figured out a way for us to leave unnoticed, I checked the room below this one and it is empty. So, if I carve out part of the floor, we can drop down into the room below yours, and leave unnoticed."

    Mrazivy then looked down at the floor with a bit of hesitation.

    She wondered if she should really be doing this. It would cause a good deal of trouble when she was discovered missing. But this was her chance to go somewhere she wanted without it being scrutinized or changed by anyone, a decision all her own.

    "Let''s do it. But first I should write a letter so that the entire kingdom does not go up in arms and think I was abducted."

    Mrazivy quickly wrote up atter telling her guardians that she was heading out on a quick trip with her friend, and that she would be back tomorrow.

    "I will probably get in trouble when wee back and get the scolding of my life, but this is going to be fun." Mrazivy said with a big grin on her face.

    The two of them then equipped the hair changing hair pins that Marcus had made, before he cut out a small square from the floor with his scythe.

    "Got it."

    Using his spectral arm Marcus was able to prevent therge b of stone from crashing into the floor below, and slowly lowered it down.

    The two of them then lowered themselves down into the room, and began making their way out of the arena, with Mrazivy''s protectors none the wiser.

 Chapter 302 - 302 A Date At The Crystal Caverns

    Having left the arena without alerting either of Mrazivy''s two guards, the two of them quickly found a carriage that would take them to the cities exit.

    However, unbeknownst to them, someone had heard their entire conversation, and was now tailing them from afar to make sure they did not get into any trouble.

    ''I honestly cannot believe that Irene, or Marcus, or whatever their name really is was able to convince Mrazivy to sneak away like this. But I guess this will be my chance to see what their true intentions are.''

    Aria continued to follow the two of them all the way to the exit of the city, but as soon as they left and were only about a mile away, she watched as Marcus picked Mrazivy up in a princess carry and took off into the sky with his iron wings at an incredible speed.

    ''This is going to be more trouble than I thought.''

    ˇ­

    "Marcus are you sure you canst all the way there, is this spell not going to drain your mana long before we get there."

    "Yeah, it would, but we are just trying to get some distance from the city first. Once we are a bit farther away, I will show you how we will get there the rest of the way even faster."

    And after they had gotten around thirty miles away from the city after twenty minutes Marcus moved over into a gulley that obscured any view from the capital.

    "Okay get ready and try not to be too shocked."

    After giving Mrazivy that warning Marcus soon took the form of a cdrius, and said to Mrazivy, "Hop on, and we can be there in around two hours."

    Mrazivy stared stunned at the huge form Marcus had taken, but after a moment''s hesitation jumped onto his back.

    "Make sure to grab on tight, I am going to be going pretty fast, and if you fall of, well, you would probably be fine, but it would slow us down."

    Marcus then began running forward and pping his wings, before taking off into the sky.

    Gaining altitude Marcus flew up to around fifteen thousand and feet before flying east towards their destination.

    Quickly the hours went by, and Marcus was sure he was getting close to the right area, where the ravine Mrazivy had told him about was, but he could not find it.

    However, neither he nor Mrazivy were going to give up easily and Marcus began flying closer to the ground and sweeping over the area.

    Yet even after searching for around and hour, the hilly area that was sparsely forested seemed to be concealing the ravine quiet well.

    But as Marcus was about to throw in the towel Mrazivy who was looking over the side said, "Wait go back, I saw it."

    Frantically pping his wings, Marcus turned around and passed back over the spot Mrazivy had seen, and sure enough there was a very narrow, but also incredibly long ravine snaking its way through thendscape.

    Landing on the ground nearby Marcus let Mrazivy off his back before transforming back into his normal form.

    "Wow it is actually real, and for a minute there I almost thought it might not exist." Marcus said as he stared down into the ravine that seemed to go on forever.

    "Yeah, it is actually real. After hearing the stories my older brother told me I can finally go and see it in person."

    Looking over, Marcus could see that Mrazivy had a big smile on her face as she looked down into the ravine, though it was far too narrow and deep to see the bottom.

    "Though I have to say it really is narrow only being about eight feet at its widest in this area. Not to mention how steep it is, no wonder no one ever tries to go down there."

    The two of them then continued to look around the ravine and see if they could find and area where the bottom was visible when they heard a loud roar.

    Rushing towards them they could both see arge bull over ten feet tall and twenty feet long with spikes all over its body charging towards them.

    Its eyes seemed to be fully of fury and was probably upset with the trespassers that were intruding on its territory.

    ''Level thirty-four. A pretty strong beast overall, but not any real threat to us.''

    "I''ve got this." Mrazivy said as the bull closed in on them.

    She quickly began the chant for a spell, and as the beast was only two hundred feet away from them finished and released it.

    "cial Lance."

    A nearly a hundred-foot-long massive chuck of ice formed in front of Mrazivy before firing forward and turning the changing magical beast into pulp, and then smashing into the ground and carving out a huge trench.

    "Hm, I guess that a tier five spell, may have been a bit overboard." Mrazivy said as she looked out at the damage she had cause to thendscape.

    Nodding his head Marcus could only agree with that statement as it looked like a natural disaster had just ravaged the area.

    "Now how are we going to get down. I can just float down in my ghost form, but what about you."

    With how narrow the ravine was using his iron wings would not work, and while he thought of a few other options, they would not be the mostfortable for Mrazivy.

    However, she quickly revealed that she had her own way down, as she created a small floating tform out of her mercurial ice and stood on it.

    "I may not be able to fly as fast as you, but I too have my ways to get around." Mrazivy said as she began descending into the ravine."

    With a smile on his face Marcus went ghost and followed along floating down beside her, though she could not see him.

    Down, and down, they continued to go, for what seemed like hours, and still neither Marcus nor Mrazivy could see the bottom.

    Reappearing Marcus jammed his scythe into the side of the ravine and hung from it as he said, "Mraz we have been trying to get to the bottom of this thing for a while now. Give me a moment to light the ce up brighter and see if we are anywhere near the bottom."

    Nodding her head, even Mrazivy''s wonder, and excitement had begun to wane as the end of this deep and narrow ravine seemed to go on to the depths of hell.

    ''Sr re.''

    Casting his tier three light magic spell Marcus sent out a ball of condensed light straight towards the bottom of the ravine.

    And when the spell reached the limit of its range, it exploded into a bright burst of light thatpletely illuminated the space they were in.

    Unfortunately, even as they looked all around them, all that could be seen was the earthen walls of the ravine descending into infinity.

    But as he looked around Marcus saw something reflecting the light from his spell just at the edge of its range. And looking closely he was able to make out a crystal jutting out of the side of the wall.

    "Mraz, think we might be getting closer, look over there." Marcus said as he pointed towards the one small crystal at the edge of the light.

    Looking carefully and squinting her eyes, Mrazivy let out a slight gasp when she saw it and said, "Looks likeing all the way down here may have been worth it after all. Oh, and now that we can see further, how about we speed this up."

    Mrazivy then dissipated her unique skill and began plummeting, allowing gravity to carry her at an even faster rate.

    Seeing her abruptly start falling into the abyss, Marcus stored his scythe away, and fell after her.

    Soon the two of them were falling at an increasing pace, and Marcus had to use his tendrils of shadows to continually stabilize himself from mming into the wall while Mrazivy used her unique skill to do the same.

    "There it is." Mrazivy shouted as she was able to see the bottom of the ravine, which now had crystals jutting out from all over the ce at this point.

    Going ghost, Marcus was able to quickly slow his momentum, while Mrazivy extended her Mercurial ice into the walls and used them toe to a stop only a couple dozen of feet before the bottom.

    Ssh! Ssh!

    The two of themnded onto the bottom of the ravine which had a shallow stream of water flowing through it, that gave the air a cool and crisp taste.

    And now that they were at the bottom, the ravine had widened quite a bit, and they could see the crystals that were the reason for their visit.

    "Here let me lighten the ce up a bit more." Marcus said as he cast another sr re spell and sent it up above them.

    The entire area was quickly engulfed by light almost as bright as the sun and the numerous crystals jutting out of the walls began to reflect and refract it, creating a beautiful light show that was dazzling to see.

 Chapter 303 - 303 A Date At The Crystal Caverns (2)

    With his spell illuminating the crystals all around them both Marcus and Mrazivy were able to take in the breathtaking view.

    "Wow it is beautiful." Mrazivy said while looking around in a daze.

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed with her and looked at the natural wonder around them.

    He had heard ofrge deposits of crystals back on earth that were a sight to be seen, but this seemed to be even more amazing.

    Crystals of many different colors had formed, creating a wide spectrum of beautiful colors that danced around the ravine in the flickering of the light.

    And they were currently still only just at the beginning, as Mrazivy had said that there were also caverns that led into more densely packed areas of crystals, and some that were even mystical.

    "Well, did you want to go ahead and explore this ce a bit more, see if we can find some of those caverns your bother told you about."

    "Huh. Oh yeah, we should do that. If this is what the preshow looks like I cannot wait to see the main event."

    After they had taken their time to appreciate the view in front of them, the two of them began walking down the stream that cut through the bottom of the ravine looking for any entrances into the caverns.

    However, while they were busy being enamored by beautiful crystals, a creature that called this area its home had locked on to them. Its face turning up into a smile as it began stalking its unwitting prey, that was soon to find out another reason why this was a little-known location.

    Searching the bottom of the ravine it did not take them long to find and entrance into a cave that delved deeper into the ground and was full of enchanting crystal formations.

    Of course, with all of the sharp crystals protruding out of the ground, for a normal person entering into the cavern would be impossible.

    But neither Marcus nor Mrazivy were anywhere near the norm, and using his iron skin spell, Marcus added anotheryer of protection to his already tough physical form.

    Mrazivy on the other hand continued to show the versatility of her unique skill and actually used it to create a makeshift walkway over the crystals.

    The two of them continued deeper into the caverns that were full of crystals while appreciating their majesty and enjoying each other''spany.

    However, when they made it to a certain area where the crystals color had all changed to bepletely clear instead of the multitude of colors they had been before, Mrazivy began looking around frantically before a massive smile formed on her face.

    "Marcus, could you turn off your light spell, I think this is one of the area''s my brother told me about, and we will not be able to fully appreciate it without darkness."

    Nodding his head Marcusplied with Mrazivy and stopped sending mana to his spell, and soon the bright light that had been with them faded leaving them in total darkness.

    Mrazivy then moved to the closest crystal and with her sheathed sword hit it lightly.

    Ding!

    A beautiful sound resonated off of the crystal Mrazivy had hit and the previously clear crystal began to glow a bright orange.

    With disbelief on his face Marcus looked at all of the crystals around them and realized that they were in some kind of giant instrument.

    ''What the hell is this ce. No way that it is natural right. I wonder if the administrator put this ce here on purpose. Ah whatever, since it is here, we might as well have some fun.''

    Marcus and Mrazivy then went around hitting each of the crystals in the room to figure what note they yed and what color they glowed.

    "Okay are you ready." Mrazivy said to Marcus after the two of them had figured out all of the notes that they could y.

    "Yeah, I am ready but if I mess up do not get to upset, I have little experience ying music." Marcus said as he took his ce and brought out his iron sphere and spectral arm and put them in front of specific crystals.

    Mrazivy then started the song she wanted to y and using her unique skill she was able to hit a majority of the crystals even while standing still.

    Soon it got to Marcus'' part, though he did mess up a few times. But Mrazivy would just start over and eventually they were able to y the entire song she wanted to hear.

    After that the two of them continued to y around in the musical crystal room, ying a few more songs, and sometimes just messing around to see what kind of crazy sounds or colorbinations they could make.

    However, at some point Marcus got and idea and said, "Hey, how about we try hitting them all at once."

    Nodding her head in agreement, the two of them maneuvered around so that they could reach every crystal with either their limbs or abilities.

    "Okay, three, two, one, go."

    With perfect timing the two of them hit every single crystal at once and a cacophony of different sounds echoed through the room.

    Except none of the crystal''s lit up this time after their initial hit, but a momentter they all lit up far brighter than before and the color they were emitting did not begin to dissipate.

    One of therge crystals, that was glowing green then became brighter and what sounded like the tolling of a bell resonated through the room.

    The crystals then began to y a song all on their own, and its beautiful melody was captivating.

    It was such a peaceful song that seemed to soothe the soul and every worry and inhibition that either Marcus or Mrazivy had, seemed to melt away into nothing as the profound song that could even quell titans yed.

    Listening to the song, there was no doubt in Marcus'' mind that it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

    Nevertheless, like all things, the song soon came to an end, and the crystals that had been perpetually glowing, began to return to normal.

    But just as thest bit of light was about to disappeared, a beam emitted out from each of the crystals and met in the middle of the room.

    The numerous beams of light that had met in the middle then exploded into what looked like an aurora borealis that danced around.

    A low rumbling sound began to reverberate throughout the room, and in the center the ground began to sink in and reveal a secret pathway.

    ''Well, this was certainly unexpected.''

    Never did Marcus think that they would run into something so fantastical while they were down here. This went well beyond just a beautiful site seeing experience he had been expecting.

    "That was certainly something was it not Marcus. Even when my brother told me he found a room with musical crystals I did not think it would be this amazing. And it was a good idea to hit them all at once, I have never heard such a breathtaking song."

    Naturally Mrazivy was still giddy after hearing the song that had been yed and while Marcus thought it did deserve further discussion, and an encore if possible. Currently however, the secret passage that had opened up took priority.

    "So, Mraz did you want to see where this leads. We coulde across something even more spectacr or it could be a death trap." Marcus said while looking intently at the hole in the ground.

    "You worry too much Marcus; do you think that after such a beautiful song the secret path it revealed would lead us to our doom. Anyway, I am an adventurer at heart before anything else. Not exploring what has been revealed to me would go against my nature."

    Mrazivy then moved towards the opening and jumped in without hesitation following her adventurer''s spirit.

    ''I guess I already knew this would happen, time to throw caution to the wind.''

    Jumping into the hole, Marcus began sliding down a descending tunnel that was made of smooth stone.

    The slide continued for a good minute, being full of twists and turns much like a massive slide from a park.

    Soon Marcus could see a faint glow at the end of the slide, and a shadow being cast by Mrazivy who was standing near the exit.

    Coming to the end of the slide Marcus came to a stop, and before him was another tunnel that was lined with softly glowing crystals in the ceiling, that seemed to be directing them forward.

    And as he stood up, he heard the soft sound of running water.

    Looking to his left and right he could see that part of the walls were carved out and had streams of crystal-clear water flowing through them.

    "Another unbelievable site, right." Mrazivy said as she looked all around the tunnel and taking it in.

    Of course, Marcus did the same and quickly understood something.

    "You realize it too right Mraz."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy said, "Yeah this area is not natural, someone or something carved it out."

 Chapter 304 - 304 The Tranquil Shrine

    Finding themselves in a hidden tunnel, Marcus and Mrazivy, began following down its path.

    The tunnel itself was carved in a perfect rectangle and waspletely symmetrical down to thest detail. Even the softly glowing crystals in the ceiling were ced equal distance apart at the same intervals.

    Naturally Mrazivy and Marcus wondered who or what could have made this ce, but there was also another option in the back of their minds. Could this ce be the entrance to a hidden dungeon?

    Dungeons could ur anywhere, and it was not unheard of for them to be in hidden locations far from any civilization.

    So, if Marcus and Mrazivy could discover a currently unknown dungeon, depending on its difficulty they could use it as a private training ground and gather all of its resources, or even bring it to the negotiation table to break off Mrazivy''s arranged marriage.

    They continued down the tunnel for around twenty minutes, the only sound being the flowing water on either side of them and their own footsteps.

    But they were soon able to see a light ahead and the end of the tunnel was near.

    With anticipation welling up inside them, they both began running towards the end wanting to see whaty beyond the tunnel.

    And as they excited into the bright room thaty at the end neither of them was disappointed by how impressive it was.

    It was arge room that was mostly filled with water creating a tranquil pond, and on the ceiling wererge luminous crystals that gave the ce a gentle light.

    However, what was most impressive was the small shrine in the middle of the pond which had two crystal fountains on either side of it that were spraying water into the air.

    The two of them continued to look around the area awestruck by its majesty.

    ''This ce is incredible. If this is a dungeon it is far more impressive than the other two I have been seen. Certainly, the entrances'' had imposing architecture, but they felt cold and like ces of death. While here it is warm and serene.''

    Once the two of them had their fill of just looking around the area, Mrazivy looked over towards Marcus and said, "Should we go and see what is in that shrine."

    "Yeah, maybe we will find some type of treasure hidden inside."

    With their excitement high both Marcus and Mrazivy began making their way over towards the shrine, that had a crystal bridge extending to it over the water.

    Yet as they swiftly walked across the crystal bridge, Marcus, who had kept his life sense ability active the entire time they were down here, got a number of signalsing their way.

    Nheless, his momentary apprehension vanished when he felt how weak the signals were and looked down to see a number of rainbow-colored fish swimming towards them.

    This school of rainbow-colored fish curious as to who these visitors were, began swimming around the crystal bridge and poking their heads above the water to get a better look.

    ''Well, none of them are above level five so they should not posse any threat.''

    After appraising each of the fish that hade up to them, Marcus was confident that they were not in any danger, and so he squatted down and put one of his hands into the water to see what the curious fishes would do.

    And as he thought they came up and started looking at his hand being wary at first before one of the braver ones came up and nudged him.

    All of the fish then began taking their turns inspecting the odd creature that hade into their domain.

    Though once they had finished their inquiry the fish slowly disappeared back into the depths leaving Marcus and Mrazivy alone.

    "I guess that means that there is probably nothing here for us to worry about." Mrazivy said after the rainbow fish swam away.

    "What makes you think that Mraz." Marcus said with a bit of confusion.

    The pond here was pretty deep and even he could not see the bottom, so he figured it was possible that there might be some powerful creatures down there.

    "You saw those fish right, if there was anything that was eating or even just attacking them, they never would havee so close to you just out of curiosity. Therefore, it is unlikely that any powerful predatory creatures live here." Mrazivy said confident in her analyzes.

    "Yeah, you are probably right, but we should not let our guard down, there could still be something around here that is a threat."

    Even though the area seemed very peaceful Marcus still had a nagging feeling like danger could spring up on them at any time.

    Nevertheless, they continued walking towards the shrine and soon came to its entrance and walking up the tform it was on, could finally see inside.

    Click!

    As soon as they got to the top of the shrine a loud clicking sound was heard from the inside and both Marcus and Mrazivy got ready for some type of trap.

    However, no spinning des, or poisoned arrow came flying towards them, and instead the interior of the shrine seemed to shift around.

    A soft song then began to y as if the shrine was weing them.

    With the momentary scare passed, Mrazivy and Marcus entered the shrine and found that along the walls was musical scores, and in the center was a pedestal with a lyre situated on top.

    "I wonder what this ce is. Maybe some sort of music enthusiast''s hideout or something." Marcus said as he looked around at the room.

    There were a few chairs and tables in one corner and the ce seemed to be quite clean even though no one else was there.

    "Hm, I do not know, but whoever, made this ce must have been a genius. This entire building itself is and instrument and it is ying on its own. And the song is quite lovely though not quite on par with the one the crystals yed." Mrazivy said as she investigated the mechanisms in the shrine.

    They continued looking over the shrine but found nothing incredibly valuable or any hidden areas.

    "Nope it is just a regr lyre. I would say its quality is top notch and it is made out of some type of wood I have never seen, but no visible enchantments and I do not feel any manaing from it."

    Both of them had been hoping that the lyre on the pedestal would be some sort of magical artifact, but s it was simply just a normal instrument.

    In fact, the only thing that was enchanted was the building itself, which was just one giant self-ying instrument.

    Gugurggl!

    Looking around Marcus tried to find the sudden sound that had broken the peaceful music being yed and saw Mrazivy holding her stomach with an embarrassed expression on her face.

    At this Marcus let out a slight chuckle and realized that they had been down here for several hours at this point, and while he could go without food Mrazivy needed to eat.

    "Well, I can think of no better ce to eat, how about we have dinner here."

 Chapter 305 - 305 A Growing Bond

    With Mrazivy''s stomach beginning to y a symphony of its own, Marcus told her he would whip up something really quick for them to eat.

    ''I am not sure exactly what time it is, but I think since we left the capital it will have been something like twenty hours, naturally Mrazivy would get hungry.''

    ess his item box Marcus first took out the grill he had bought sometime back, along with a magic fridge he always kept in his item box.

    Though now that his item box was quite a bitrger, he had upgraded the size of the fridge and it was basically as big as a small walk in you might find at a restaurant.

    "What the hell are you doing with a fridge that big in your item box. In fact, how could you even fit something that big in there to begin with."

    Of course, Mrazivy was stunned to see the huge fridge Marcus had just casually brought out. She had her own item box, but it was only a small one and the fridge Marcus just brought out was already even bigger than her entire storage.

    "Talk about a waste of space, what are you going to do when your item box bes full." Mrazivy said in utter disbelief that Marcus was carrying around something like this within the limited space of his item box.

    However, Marcus responded to her with an impish smile and said, "Wellst time we were stuck deep underground youined about the nd and overly salty rations we had to eat. So, this time I came prepared."

    Mrazivy''s stomach then let out another loud rumble, and the embarrassment she was feeling increased again.

    "Fine I guess it is better than eating dried food. But if you have the room to store this, just how big is your item box."

    Telling Mrazivy how big his item box was, she looked astonished to here that he had arge item box and that his was two hundred timesrger than hers.

    "Anyway, we can talk more about stuff like that after we finish eating. Now what would you like." Marcus said as he opened up hisrge magic fridge and revealed what was inside.

    "Wow, you really have a lot here. Even my party that normally eats well for adventures does not have anywhere near this much." Mrazivy said as she perused Marcus'' well stocked fridge.

    Soon Mrazivy picked out the items she wanted, and just like the princess she was had picked out some of the most expensive ingredients that he had.

    "You certainly do have expensive taste. You picked out the puff cow fillets that I normally only reserve for Roxene, as well as some of the umon vegetables that were imported from another nation."

    In total the cost of just the ingredients that Mrazivy had picked out would amount to several dozen gold coins, which would normally be more than enough for someone to livefortably for a couple of years even in the royal capital.

    ''Well, that is just the disparity of wealth in this world.'' Marcus thought as he remembered when he had only a few cooper coins to his name.

    With his ingredients picked out Marcus used his floatingntern spell as a heat source as usual, and first got stated on reducing down a sauce for the fillets.

    He then liberally seasoned the vegetables with a number of the spices he had, before throwing them into a pan and sauteing them in some oil.

    Next, he went to cooking the fillets first, searing them on both side and then putting them into an oven magic tool for a few minutes, before taking them out so they would be medium rare.

    "Okay we just need to let the steaks rest for a bit, and then it will be ready."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy took a bite out of a piece of fruit Marcus had given her to tide her over since she had gotten quite hungry.

    "Delicious!" Mrazivy eximed as she took the first bite of the puff cow fillet.

    She knew that it was going to be good, but this was beyond her expectations. In fact, it was nearly as good as the royal chef''s food.

    "I am d you like it. Cooking is actually one of my hobbies and I actually have the skill up to level four." Marcus said proud of how far he had advanced sinceing to this world.

    Before his skill in cooking was prettyck luster, but he had worked pretty hard to learn how to make good food aftering to Mirrion.

    "Level four, that is pretty high. Just one level below the royal chef." Mrazivy said in between bites of her food.

    "Really I figured that the chef in the royal castle would have something like a level seven cooking skill." Marcus said with a bit of confusion.

    However, Mrazivy quickly exined why, and said, "The kingdom only has so many high level people. Do you think that they could waste someone who is around level fifty just to be a dedicated chef with a higher-level cooking skill? A level five cooking skill is actually pretty decent, and I would say very few have any higher since it is not a skill most people would prioritize."

    "Okay, yeah I understand now. Oh, and did you want seconds."

    With excited eyes Mrazivy held out her te and nodded her head, obviously happy to ept more.

    Soon the two of them had finished their meal and had sat down on the steps of the shrine and looked out at the fountains while listening to the music being yed.

    "Hey Marcus, would you mind answering a few of my questions?" Mrazivy asked a bit bashfully.

    "Yeah, go ahead I have nothing to hide. I have already told you all of my most personal secrets."

    "Okay then would you tell me about the world you came from. I have heard and read a few records about it from the tales from my ancestor Boreas who apparently came from another world like you." Mrazivy said with a gleam in her eyes.

    She had been wanting to ask about this for a while, but the timing did not seem right until now.

    "I see so he really dide from Earth like I thought."

    Marcus had seen all the signs but now he had concrete confirmation that the first king of Borealia really dide from Earth.

    He then began to tell Mrazivy about the ce he hade from, how it was much different from this world.

    "There really is no system or magic, in the ce you are from? How does anyone aplish anything then? I mean would the wild beasts and monsters not just kill everyone."

    Shaking his head Marcus said, "No, while there are certainly a few beasts that could harm or kill people, they are nothing like the ones in this world. Anyway, instead of magic, in my world we have advanced technology. We could send messages from around the world in an instance like that sending stone you have but on a mass scale. And we had had metal birds that flew the sky anywhere in the world, even faster than I can fly."

    Marcus continued telling Mrazivy about the fantastic things about Earth he had taken for granted when he was still there. But now that he no longer had things like a cell phone, or aputer, he realized how important and convenient they had been.

    "I see it sounds kind of like a utopia. Here we may have cities and do our best to protect ourselves, but every day people lose their lives to monster''s or beasts, and no matter how hard we try bandits pop up like vermin."

    "Yeah well, my old world had its share of problems as well, some that are far worse than here. Now is there anything else you wanted to ask me."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy asked Marcus about his life back on Earth wanting to know what he had been doing beforeing here.

    "I was just your normal guy trying to live my life and find happiness I suppose. I had a good job, a family that loved me, and a few close friends. I mean I was only twenty-eight so really my life was just getting started when I died."

    Marcus continued to answer Mrazivy''s questions, telling her about his childhood, and his older sister who had recently had a child before he died.

    "Sounds like you had a good life. Do you ever wish you could go back?

    With a sad smile Marcus said, "There was a time that I did, especially when I first got here, but now my life is here. I mean if I could go back and see my family I would, but not at the expense of giving up what I have here, if I had to choose this world is my home now."

    "Really you would rather stay here when you had so much before." Mrazivy asked with a bit of surprise on her face.

    From her point of view Marcus had a pretty ideal life back on Earth, and if she would have had what he did, she would want to get back.

    "Don''t get me wrong I love my family, but they do not need me. They may miss me, and it may be sad for them, but they will be fine without me. Here there are people that rely on me and that I care about. Anyway, I already died so my time there is done, and trying desperately to find away back would just consume me.. Now enough about me, it is your turn to open up."

 Chapter 306 - 306 A Growing Bond (2)

    "Now enough about me, it is your turn to open up."

    After having told Mrazivy most of what he had to say about his past life, Marcus wanted to get to know her better.

    "Okay, I guess that you have paid for a decent chunk of my past so what did you want to know."

    Thinking about it for a minute, Marcus ultimately decided to start at the beginning and asked about Mrazivy''s childhood.

    "Well, there is not much to tell about my childhood, it was pretty boring and routine at the time. The first thing I really remember is having my hand pped by my etiquette instructor when I was three. It was certainly brutal for a little girl, but I actually had it easypared to some of my sisters since my mother is only the king''s fourth wife. After that all I remember was my days being filled with different sses to make me the perfect princess. My teachers would always tell me to be like my sisters who all excelled at things like dancing and being presentable. But when I turned ten that is when I finally found something I was good at."

    Mrazivy then looked out at the still pond in front of them with a smile on her face reliving the moment.

    "The day after I turned ten, I started a new ss, swordsmanship. Every member of the royal family begins receivingbat training when they turn ten, and I excelled quickly with the sword. It was far more fun than the boring etiquette and politics sses I had before, and my instructor picked up on my talent quickly."

    Bing quite animated Mrazivy told Marcus about her most memorable moments when learning the sword.

    "And by the time I turned eleven with how hard I had worked on my training I actually made it to level thirteen. Before I started, I was only level four, so it was considered quite the achievement. However, around that time I also became interested in reading stories about adventures and found some records of Boreas and his exploits in the royal archives. Those were some good days, when I was able to freely learn what I wanted."

    However, after saying that a scowl appeared on Mrazivy''s face, and she said, "Unfortunately not everything could stay the same forever, and when I was twelve, I was introduced to my first fianc¨¦. It had been apparently arranged since I was born, and I was to be wed to the son of some viscount in a far-off territory in the west of the kingdom. But there was no way I was going to go through with that, when my dreams of adventurer were blossoming, so I begged my mother to let me have an audience with my father so I could have it broken off."

    Sighing and taking a moment to breath Mrazivy held out her hand and created a small ice flower in her hand, before saying, "Luckily my father did care about me a bit, and I have the royal family''s signature blue hair and even the blessing of frost. So, I was able to convince my father that I would be able to better serve the kingdom as a warrior than just as a token to strengthen rtionships with some viscount, and he agreed. Of course, it was not like it had not happened before and it was the advice of two of my other sisters who had done the same that got me through this. Nevertheless, he did give me a condition, I would have to prove to him how serious I was by learning ice magic in a week. Of course, since I am here now you can already guess what happened."

    Mrazivy then fired of a few tier one ice bullet spells into the water to prove her point, and some of the rainbow-colored fish came to investigate the disturbance, but quickly left when they found nothing but ice.

    "Then after that I continued to train until my fifteenth birthday, when I began trying to convince my father to let me be an adventurer. It took some time to wear him down, but after around three months he finally relented after I convinced him it would be good training. Ah it was fun, it really was. Going out and collecting resources, fighting monsters and beasts, and making somepanions to travel and fight with. Of course, I knew that my group was just made up of members of the kingdom''s army, but they still treated me like a friend more than a princess."

    With that Mrazivy was pretty much done giving Marcus the abridged version of her life.

    "And now I am here with you in depths of a ravine in a secret cave with a musical shrine. My life has not always been the adventure I dreamed of as kid, but I would not trade it for anything." Mrazivy said with a smile on her face.

    "Now that I we have told each other about ourselves, there is onest thing I want to know, what is it that you like about me Marcus."

    Stunned by Mrazivy''s question Marcus simply looked at her in a daze for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "Well I will not lie and say that you being a beautiful princess did not have anything to do with it. But I also was pleasantly surprised to see how easygoing you are. When we first met, I was sure you were going to have me arrested or something for appraising you. Luckily though my perception of the greater than thou princess was quickly shattered, and you turned out to be a pretty good person. You are also fun to be around and are not shy to make jokes and act like yourself. Also, you are strong and adventurous. Overall, I just enjoy being around you and having fun together just like today."

    As far as Marcus could remember this was the most enjoyable time he had experienced sinceing to this world. Certainly, he had other memorable moments like when he saved Lilia, or hatched Roxene, but this was the moment where he was enjoying himself the most.

    "I see you think I am beautiful huh. I guess I am even so beautiful even a monster can appreciate it." Mrazivy said with a yful smile.

    "Yeah, you are almost as beautiful as me." Marcus said while chuckling a bit.

    At that Mrazivy began punching Marcus in the arm, and with her high strength stat the stairs they were sitting on actually began shaking.

    "Okay I give I give. You are at least as beautiful as me."

    The two of them then beganughing few a few moments, before Mrazivy scooted over and leaned her body against Marcus.

    "I am willing to give it a shot. I never really thought I would get the chance to try and find a rtionship on my own terms, but with you I feel like it might be possible. I doubt I will ever find anyone like you again who does not care about my status or has some other agenda. So, I know if I pass this by without a fight even though it may be hard, I will regret it for the rest of my life."

    Yet as Mrazivy leaned against him and both of them felt their minds'' racing, the tranquil scene around them abruptly ended as both of their danger senses went off like crazy, as their silent stalker finally made a move as they lowered their guard.

    Marcus then shoved Mrazivy out of the way and cast his radiance scales spell, while also deploying a mana barrier.

    But the attacking for him smashed through both of his defensive abilities, and Marcus felt and incredible force hit him as he went flying across the room.

 Chapter 307 - 307 Battle Against The Monster Of The Crystal Caverns

    After Marcus had shoved her out of the way to avoid the iing attack, Mrazivy watched him get blown away by an attack that looked like a blur.

    It had happened all incredibly fast, but Mrazivy was a seasoned fighter, and had begun a chant the second her danger sense had alerted her to the iing threat.

    "Fortress of Frost."

    With Mrazivy''s tier five ice magic spellplete, the air around her began to freeze and soon walls of ice formed around her into a defensive building.

    All she knew was that the enemy that had just ambushed them was, strong and she was absolutely going to need her strongest defense ability to try and protect herself and counterattack.

    Of course, Mrazivy was also worried about Marcus, but she knew that she needed to prioritize her own safety and that Marcus was pretty resilient and could take care of himself.

    However, unexpectedly Mrazivy''s defensive spell, that should have been able to take a bombardment from a dozen mana cannons ande out barely damaged was blown through in an instance as Mrazivy saw two arms extending towards her.

    Yet before they reached her, she deployed her mercurial ice in front of her as a secondyer of defense, and using all her strength and will power managed to stop the armsing for her.

    Then she began a counterattack having her mercurial ice wrap around her assant''s arms, as she charged up her sword and moved in for the attack.

    But before she was able to sh out with her sword the arms moved back incredibly quickly, like they were made of rubber of some other stic material.

    Following the arms back to their source Mrazivy finally got a good look at the creature attack them, and she could tell that this was not going to be easy.

    Hanging from the ceiling was a monster with the lower half of a snake and the torso of a human woman, though she had scaly translucent skin and six arms.

    "cial Lance."

    Completing her next chant that she had started as soon as she finished the first, Mrazivy fired off one of her strongest spells aiming to impale and crush the monster in front of her.

    Still even with as much power was behind her tier five spell that created a nearly hundred-footnce of ice, the monster in front of her simply reached out with her six hands and stopped it in its tracks before throwing it into the water.

    ''What the hell is this thing.'' Mrazivy thought after watching it toss aside one of her strongest attacks like she had thrown a balloon at it.

    She was now certain that whatever this thing was it was the strongest monster she had ever faced, even stronger than the de armed demon Marcus had killed at the cost of being cut in half.

    Realizing just how much of a disadvantage she was against her current opponent, Mrazivy began focusingpletely on defense to wait for Marcus to return, so the two of them could fight together.

    ''Crystal Prison.''

    Activating the artifact she had used when she had been stuck in the boss room in the ocean bluff temple, Mrazivy began to be encapsted in a far stronger ice than her own spells could create.

    See was not sure how long it would hold out against such a powerful monster, but she figured it would at least buy her a minute or so.

    Nevertheless, what happened next was beyond her wildest dreams as the six-armedmia coiled itself tightly like a spring beforeunching its entire body at Mrazivy.

    It moved like a blur and smashed into her before her crystal prison couldplete its activation and destroyed what had already formed to protect Mrazivy.

    However, that was not all, as it then mmed into Mrazivy, crushing her against the crystal bridge she was fighting on.

    Blood began gushing out of her body in multiple locations, as the immense power behind the attack had caused numerous of her blood vessels to burst.

    In fact, it made the beating Wyatt had given her feel like a love tap, as she felt her body on the verge of copse.

    Yet somehow even as her body was dying her mind as still racing to find away out of this, when she watched the monster stick out its tongue and lick up some of the blood flowing out of her mouth.

    "Mmmm, Delicousssss. It hassss been sssome time sssince Issst had human flesh."

    Mrazivy then watched in horror as themia''s mouth began to widen well past the point that seemed possible and was about to swallow her whole.

    But as it was about to eat her a massive st of darkness and light came flying towards the Lamia.

    ˇ­

    Being hit incredibly hard, Marcus as he was flying backwards, began skipping across the water like a rock.

    Luckily before he mmed into the wall of the room, he was able to return to his ghost form and rapidly lost momentum ing to a stop at the edge of the room.

    Unfortunately, the damage he had received was quite bad and his left arm and part of his upper body had been blown off.

    ''Fuck.''

    With his essence leaking out of the wound he had just received Marcus felt a horrible sense of pain, but gritting his teeth he began floating back towards Mrazivy as his regeneration skill got to work on putting him back together.

    ''Damn it.''

    As he tried to make his way back to the battle, Marcus watched Mrazivy put up her best resistance. But even as she unleashed powerful attacks and put up her defenses things were looking bad.

    Her best had barely held back their opponent who easily brute forced its way through everything she tried.

    ''Embodiment of eclipse, harmony form. Darkness drillser.''

    Activating his supreme skill and brining out his six light and darkness enhancing rings, Marcus unleashed the same attack he had used when he defeated the adventurer party that had ambushed him in front of the boss room.

    His two tier four spells began to merge and creating a spiraling st of light and darkness that razed through everything in its way.

    This was one of Marcus'' strongest attacks and while it was weaker this time since he did not have his soul devour skill active, it still had the power of a tier six spell.

    However, even as strong as it was themia that was about to eat Mrazivy, met it head on, bringing forward all six of its hands coated in mana and grabbed ahold of the st.

    It then wrestled against the powerful attack, and was being pushed back away from Mrazivy, when it whipped its tail forward and caused the st to change directions away from it.

    BOOM!

    A massive explosion shook the room as Marcus'' attack impacted against a wall, and chunks of rubble began flying all around, some of which hit the shrine damaging it, and causing the music it was ying to be eerily distorted.

    Seeing how easily themia had deflected one of his strongest attacks, Marcus knew that he was in for the fight of his life.

 Chapter 308 - 308 Battle Against The Monster Of The Crystal Caverns (2)

    ''Iron wings of the archangel.''

    Casting his tier five spell, Marcus grew six iron wings on his back and repapered, flying towards Mrazivy as fast as he could to prevent this monster from harming her further.

    Firing off a barrage of darkness bullets Marcus forced the six-armedmia onto the defensive trying to keep its attention on him instead of Mrazivy.

    Of course, he knew that his tier one spell was not going to be able to really hurt his opponent but, he was shocked to see it not even attempt to block or dodge as it simply let the darkness bullets bounce off its skin.

    ''I cannot see its level.''

    Trying to appraise themia, Marcus was in for a rude awakening when he found its level to be too high for him to see.

    With the current level of his creature appraisal skill, he should have been able to see the levels of anything up to fifteen levels higher, meaning that this monster was at least level fifty-eight.

    However, whether this monster was stronger than him or not, meant nothing because this was not a battle he could back down from.

    ''Lightning bind.''

    Casting a heightened lightning bind, Marcus attempted to restrain themia, though it simply shrugged off the spell in an instance.

    But at the same time Marcus had also sent out his iron threads and wrapped them around its limbs, as he finished closing the distance.

    If his spells would not work from afar, he would get into closebat and try striking it down with his scythe.

    Marcus quickly started sending out a frenzy of shes with his scythe, but themia easily ripped through his iron threads and began deflecting Marcus'' attacks with its six arms while even dealing counter blows.

    Still even as Marcus continued to take a multitude of hits, he never wavered quickly casting all of his buff spells, and slowly catching up with his opponent''s speed and power.

    Unfortunately, as his power kept increasing so did themia''s, as it seemed to be enjoying their fight slowly building up and matching Marcus''s every move.

    Channeling all of his power into his scythe Marcus caused it to erge and pulse with darkness and light, using the same attack that he used to kill the de armed demon.

    Yet even as he shed out with all of his strength themia caught his attack with four of its arms before sinking the other two deep into Marcus'' torso, faster than he could react.

    "UGhhh"

    With two of themia''s and embedded deep into his torso, Marcus felt a horrible pain as the monster began to spread its arms and try to rip him in half.

    But just as Marcus was about to go back to his ghost form, Mrazivy who had managed to down a healing potion and crawl away, sent her mercurial ice towards themia and began wrapping it around the monster.

    "Hisssss."

    Feeling some pain for the first time from the intense cold, themia turned its head toward Mrazivy and opened its mouth where it beganpressing a st of mana to fire off towards her.

    ''Soul Devour.''

    The monster''s attention diverted towards Mrazivy, Marcus knew this was his only chance and activated his soul devour unique skill, eating away at his own soul for a massive increase in power.

    "Ahhhhh"

    Screaming and putting his all into his attack, Marcus'' scythe that had been stopped, began moving again and themia who was distracted noticed tote as Marcus sliced through its four arms and into its torso.

    Themia was then sted away by Marcus'' full powered sh, and the attack it was about to hit Mrazivy with went wide and instead blew the roof off of the shrine.

    Falling down to his knees Marcus deactivated his skills, which had been putting an enormous pressure on his already damaged form.

    ''Uh I am going to feel this tomorrow.''

    After giving himself a few seconds to recover, Marcus began shambling over towards Mrazivy, who was drinking another healing potion to stop the blood that was flowing out of her body.

    "Here let me help."

    Holding his hands out towards her, Marcus activated his spirit healing specter power, and a warm glow enveloped his hands before moving over to Mrazivy.

    Quickly the horrible wounds that she had began to close up, and the pained expression on her face became calm.

    "Thanks Marcus, I feel a lot better now." Mrazivy said as thest of her wounds healed away.

    The two of them then stood up and looked at the damage their battle had caused. The once tranquil area was now in shambles, and the musicing from the shrine had been reduced to sporadic ticking sounds.

    "I suppose we should head out of here. This ce is more dangerous than I thought it would be. If we run into another monster as strong as that one, we may not make it out next time." Mrazivy said, feeling a bit guilty that she had led Marcus to such a dangerous ce.

    But as she said that Marcus had a sudden realization.

    ''That monster was at least level fifty-eight, so if we just killed it, why did I not level up.''

    However, Marcus'' realization came a bit toote, as themia using its camouge ability had snuck back up on them and lunged towards Marcus.

    Luckily this time he was better able to react and simply went back into his ghost form allowing themia to pass through him.

    ''Damn it can regenerate.'' Seeing that the Lamia had fully healed itself, Marcus knew that they were in for another tough battle, especially because he was still exhausted from using his supreme and unique skills.

    "Don''t think you can hide from me. I will rip you apart and feassst on your flessssh." Themia said as it searched for Marcus.

    "Frozen coffin."

    Yet as themia frantically searched for Marcus who it wanted to tear apart for injuring it, Mrazivy had finished up another spell.

    Ice began to form all around her and rush towards themia, freezing everything in its way, and full encasing the monster.

    Except even as it was being surrounded by ice, themia merely flexed its muscles and the ice around it shattered leaving itpletely unharmed.

    It then hissed at Mrazivy before slithering towards her.

    ''Not this time.''

    Reappearing above themia''s head Marcus began bringing down his scythe as he activated his embodiment of eclipse and soul devour skills.

    He was aiming tond a decisive blow slicing themia in half from top to bottom, but his opponent had been ready for him.

    Themia had already figured out that both Marcus and Mrazivy were desperate to protect each other and had gone towards her to lure Marcus out.

    And with its tail it managed to wrap around Marcus and begin to squeeze using all of its strength to pop him like a balloon.

    But themia had the same problem as before, as Marcus quickly used his ghost form to escape and then resolidified behind it.

    Now he and Mrazivy were nking themia, but he knew he did not have long before his own skills crushed him.

    ''I did not want to have to do this, but if we die here the tournament will not matter anyway. Soul Bur-''

    As Marcus went to activate his final trump card suddenly an immense power began to weight down on him, pushing him to the ground, and knocking him out of his supreme and unique skills.

    And the same was happening to both Mrazivy and themia, when a loud voice echoed through the area saying, "What the hell did you do to my home."

 Chapter 309 - 309 The Owner Of The Shrine

    "What the hell did you do to my home."

    After the immense pressure that was waying down on him, crushing him against the ground Marcus heard the loud and frantic scream from someone that sounded like a young woman.

    Following that were a feel distressed shrieks, and other such expression by someone that was incredibly disgruntled.

    "Which one of you kids destroyed my shrine. Do you know how hard it was to make this thing and have it actually work as an instrument with minimal enchantments. Now fess up whoever, did it and apologize."

    Marcus then felt the pressure on his body release, and he tentatively stood up to see a young-looking girl of maybe around sixteen with light green hair and eyes standing there.

    However, while she may have looked like a young girl Marcus was certain that she was unfathomably strong by the subtle aura she gave off.

    Over time he had gotten good at understanding generally how strong someone was even without appraising them. But the only other time he had felt something like this was in the presence of the blue demon. An immeasurable power that seemed as deep as the ocean.

    "Come now which one of you troublemakers damaged my shrine. Or maybe it was all of you. Either way if you damaged my shrinee clean an apologize and I shall be merciful."

    At this point the young woman who was still a bit blinded by anger really began to take a look at all of them who were still standing frozen in fear, when her gazended on Marcus, and she made a surprised face.

    "Well in all my years I have never seen or heard of anything like you existing. In fact, you should not exist, but here you are. A bit of a runt though." The girl said as she gave her entire attention towards Marcus.

    For his part he had no idea what she was talking about, and he had never once in his life been called a runt.

    Of course, he was not going to voice his grievances agist a being that was leagues above him and simply bowed his head and said, "Sorry about the damage to your shrine. We had no intention of ruining it, but that monster over there attacked us while we were enjoying the scenery. Please forgive us, we never had any intention of defiling this tranquil ce."

    Then like a sh themia who had been trying to gage how things would go began making a break for it. All of its instincts told it to get away from whatever that thing that had just shown up was, and while its attention was on Marcus nned to escape.

    Yet before it had even made it a dozen feet the light green haired girl snaped her fingers and themia abruptly stopped and was suspended in mid-air.

    "Now that was rude. Do you think that you can wreak someone''s property and just run away without at least apologizing? Now speak up this is yourst chance to ept your part of the me before I really get angry."

    With fear overwhelming it themia who was an intelligent monster and had survived for hundreds of years, said, "I did not do anything. It was thosssse two, they dessstroyed your shrine."

    Themia felt that if it admitted to damaging the shrine, this entity would kill her no matter whether she apologized or not. So, her only hope was to shift all of the me to Marcus and Mrazivy and pray to get out alive.

    "Oh, I see, so you had nothing to do with it and it was simply them over there that destroyed my shrine. Well let me see what really happened."

    The young girl snapped her fingers again and her eyes shimmered for just a second, before she looked at themia with a frown.

    "I am afraid that you are lying. The memories of the sounds you made are still here, and I distinctly see that it was one of your attacks that blew the roof off of my shrine. Now I gave you a chance to apologize but you instead lied to me. I normally do not like to bully the weak but if you do not even have the decency to say you are sorry for defacing my domain, you can die."

    Once again, the young girl snapped her finger, and themia, began to shake violently before exploding into a spray of blood and viscera.

    Seeing this both Marcus and Mrazivy looked out in horror at the carnage that had just happen to an opponent that had nearly killed them, wondering if they would be next.

    Unfortunately, they both knew that running away was not an option, as themia was faster than either of them, and had been done in without offering any resistance.

    "Now what to do with you two. Well since you apologized, I will let you off the hook if you help me repair the ce. And anyway, I need to talk with you some more, great spirit of light and darkness."

    Hearing this Marcus was astonished for a moment, wondering how his false status had been seen through.

    However, he quickly recovered, if he had a unique skill to conceal and alter his status, certainly there must be a simr ability to see through it as well.

    Then seeing the expression of surprise on Marcus'' face, with a look of realization the young girl made a fist with one hand and pped it into her other and said, "That is right you are a runt so you must not have noticed who I am. I suppose it should introduce myself properly then. I am the Great Spirit of Sound, Recha. It is nice to make your acquaintance Great Spirit of Light and Darkness, Marcus."

    Blinking his eyes furiously Marcus looked at the girl in front of him and thought, ''Great Spirit of Sound?!''

    With this new information, both Marcus and Mrazivy could only stand there stunned.

    This was their first time meeting any other great spirit and while Marcus may technically be counted in their ranks, but as Recha said, he is a runt.

    Shaking his head and regaining his focus, Marcus had a number of questions running through his mind, but even though Recha seemed to be acting friendly, he knew that if her mood shifted, she could destroy him and Mrazivy with but a snap.

    "I see I would like to apologize again for the damage we caused to your shrine. I did not know that it was your ce of worship, and of course we are more than happy to help you repair it."

    Yet as Marcus said this Recha startedughing profusely before saying, "God you are stiff. You look like you just saw a ghost.

    After saying that Recha beganughing some more, obviously pleased with her joke. And once she was done said, "Please be at ease, we are both great spirits and while you may be underdevelopedpared to me, I will still show you the respect you are owed. You and yourpanion have already apologized, so I can let bygones be bygones. Anyways, I have a lot of questions for you, and if I killed you, I would not have them answered."

    Recha then looked out past Marcus well into the distance before saying, "And you, the one hiding in the shadows. Do not think I did not notice you.. Come on out, I have a few things to discuss with you as well."

 Chapter 310 - 310 Discussion With A Great Spirit

    "And you, the one hiding in the shadows. Do not think I did not notice you. Come on out, I have a few things to discuss with you as well."

    After Recha had said this Marcus looked over in the same direction she was, only to see a shimmer before a familiar person appeared.

    ''Aria?! What the hell is she doing here.''

    Looking out at the edge of the room was Aira, who being beckoned by Recha flew forward, and when she arrived in front of her bowed and said, "It is an honor to meet you Great Spirit Recha, and please forgive me for trespassing into your domain."

    Stunned again, Marcus and Mrazivy, who were already surprised to see Aria here, but furthermore herid back attitude was gone, and she seemed deadly serious.

    In fact, if one looked closely, they could see a few bullets of sweat on her forehead, as she was obviously nervous as well to be in the presence of such a powerful entity.

    "Great grandmother what are you doing here? Mrazivy asked with a bit of suspicion.

    Of course, she already had a good idea, especially since this was not the kind of ce one just stumbles upon.

    Sighing Aria raised her head and looked at Mrazivy and Marcus and said, "I was following the two of you. You may havee to totally trust this monster and spirit called Marcus or Irene, but their intentions are unclear, and I could not let something happen to you."

    At this point Marcus who was still dealing with all of the information he had just obtained realized that he was currently in his original form and that Aria knew who he was.

    A bit of panic began to well up in him, since if Aria knew he could be in trouble.

    But while Marcus was feeling fear Mrazivy on the other hand was getting angry.

    "Were you spying on me?! That can be the only way, otherwise not even you could have found and caught up to us after just reading the letter I left."

    Mrazivy was practically fuming since never in her wildest dreams, did she think her loving great grandmother would be the one to invade what little privacy she had.

    "No Mrazivy I was not spying on you; I was spying on them." Aira said as she pointed towards Marcus.

    Naturally this did not make Mrazivy feel any better but before she started to get even angrier another voice interrupted.

    "Ahem! I do not know or care what is going on, but can you have your family spat after we have our talks, no?" Recha who was bing upset at being ignored said.

    Remembering whose presence they were in, both Mrazivy and Aria gulped, before bowing their heads and apologizing.

    "Now why don''t you two go ahead and get started on fixing up my shrine, while I have a chat with thisdy here." Recha said towards Marcus and Mrazivy.

    She then snapped her fingers and two floating balls of light one a light yellow and the other a light blue appeared.

    ''Spirits.''

    This was Marcus'' second time to see a spirit after Voda in Loursend, but there was not doubt in his mine that these two floating balls of lights were spirits.

    "These two little ones will give you the directions on how to fix the shrine. And take these, they should have any materials that you might need." Recha said as she threw each Marcus and Mrazivy a magic bag.

    After that the two of them followed the little spirits instruction and got to work on fixing the shrine they had damaged during their fight with themia.

    "Now that those two are out of the way I wanted to talk to you, Aria Borealia." Recha said with look of greed in her eyes.

    Seeing this Aria felt a shiver go down her spine, but quicklyposed herself and said, "Certainly I would be more than happy to talk with a great spirit such as yourself. What might you want of me?"

    "While it may have just been a coincidence, since I havee across someone who has such a great affinity towards sound, my very own domain how could I let them go without trying to recruit them."

    Hearing this Aria stood there dumbfounded for a moment, before bowing and saying, "It would be my honor to follow in your teachings, great spirit of sound."

    Internally Aria was cheering. To receive the acknowledgment of a great spirit directly, was considered quite the honor, and if she proved her loyalty may even be given a great boon.

    "Great I am d that you would be one of my followers. Ah and seeing as you already have the blessing of resonance, would perhaps want to receive my blessing of music?"

    Looking up, Aria could not believe what she just heard.

    A great spirit was offering her one of its blessings right out of the gate. She had not even done anything to prove her loyalty yet.

    It was not like she was a believer of any other great spirit, but she knew that they did not hand out their blessings easily, and normally only to their most devoted followers after years of worship.

    "Oh no need to be troubled by receiving one of my blessings. I am not like some of those others that build big churches to attractrge quantities of followers. All of my ces of worship are hidden away little shrines, like this one. In fact, I do not believe that anyone had made it here in thest three hundred years. So, I will ask onest time, do wish to receive my blessing?"

    Nodding her head, Aria got down on one knee and cupped her hands and said, "Yes, and thank you Great Spirit of Sound Recha."

    Smiling Recha held out her and a soft humming sound enveloped Aria as a beautiful melody began to y around her.

    Then after a few moments Aria began to glow softly and the melody slowly subsided.

    "There you go, you have now received my blessing of music."

    Standing up Aria could immediately feel the changes to her body as the blessing of music increased some of her stats, and her already high affinity with sound had increased further.

    "Now then, I would love to talk with you some more, but I have something more pressing to deal with. Recha said as she nodded her head towards Marcus.

    "Would you leave for now ande back in a months'' time to this shrine and we can talk some more then."

    Looking over at Marcus and Mrazivy who were currently fixing up the shrine, Aira was a bit hesitant to leave but she knew going against a great spirit and one she had just pledged her alliance to would not be in her best interest.

    "Very well, I will leave for now and visit you again in one month''s time. Thank you again for giving me your blessing."

    After that Aria began making her way back down the path and thought, ''With this I may finally be able to break past my limits and once again aim to go higher.''

    She then gave onest nce towards Mrazivy and Marcus before exiting the room and going back to the crystal caverns to wait for their return.

 Chapter 311 - 311 Discussion With A Great Spirit (2)

    With Aria now gone Recha walked over towards Marcus and Mrazivy who were hard at work fixing her shrine.

    Truth be told, she could easily have it repaired in an instance, but she figured that this would be a good way to keep them busy while she recruited Aria.

    "Okay you two, I would like to speak with you, and the effort you have put in is already enough for me to understand your sincerity."

    Then with a wave of her hand, the shrine began to repair itself, and any materials needed flew out of the magic bags that Recha had previously given to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    The two of them already having bottomed out their astonishment well, could only shrug their shoulders at this sight, realizing that Recha had abilities beyond their understanding.

    With the shrine they had damaged nowpletely repaired, Marcus and Mrazivy walked inside to talk to Recha who had already sat down in one of the chairs and was strumming the lyre that had previously been on the alter.

    Moving towards her they both sat down facing her though a bit of tension still existed seeing as how the being in front of them was one of the most powerful in the world.

    "Now I have some questions for the two of you, but mainly you Marcus. Would you mind answering them for me if possible, and in return I do not mind answering some that you might have as well." Recha said with an expression on her face saying, "not a bad deal, right?"

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Yes that should be fine. Feel free to ask anything I have nothing to hide."

    Then with a smile Recha said, "Good, then first would you exin to me how you became a great spirit. Judging by you level, and a few other factors it was not the normal method."

    "Okay but I am not sure on the exact details of how it happened myself, but I can at least tell you about the events that led up to my transformation."

    He then told her about getting Roxene''s egg in the chest from beating the boss of the thirdyer in the Ocean Bluff Temple, and that when he contracted with her through a mutual seal, a powerful beam came down and changed his existence into what it is now.

    After that he told her about the administrator and how they contacted him afterwards, giving him some more details on the transformation.

    Of course, Marcus was a bit hesitant to say anything about the administrator at first, but he figured that if the mysterious being that ran this world wanted him to keep quiet, they would have told him.

    And not surprisingly Recha already knew about the administrator and said, "I see so you must be one of their pet projects. To think that you would be given such power simply for taking care of an egg. Though now it makes since why you are so half baked and know nothing about being a great spirit."

    Leaning back in her chair Recha seemed satisfied with the exnation Marcus had given her, but for a number of moments it seemed like she was just staring off into space in front of her, like in a daze.

    Nevertheless, it took Marcus only around half a minute to realize what was going on. Recha was using some type of status panel.

    "Um Recha what are you doing do you not have anymore questions for me?" Marcus asked intuitively.

    "Oh, sorry I was just contacting the administrator to make sure they did not have anything they did not want me to tell you." Recha said nonchntly before going back to looking at whatever panel was in front of her.

    Hearing this a number of thoughts began racing through his head. What really are the great spirits? Why was Recha able to get into direct contact with the administrator? Was this something special about her or just great spirits in general?

    Then after a few more moments had passed while Marcus'' mind was racing, Recha''s face scrunched up and she looked at him with a slightly pitting expression.

    "Well, they told me that I was free to tell you pretty much anything you like but there are a few things I am barred from saying. So, if you asked something I cannot say I simply shall not respond."

    With permission from Recha, Marcus decided to ask the first question he had on his mind and said, "Does the administrator have some sort of n for me?"

    Frankly Marcus had very little understanding of the administrator and what drives them, and while they have been helpful in the past, did not mean he was not being led to some sort of bad end.

    However, a bit to his surprise Recha just shook her head and said, "Nope they have no real n for you. They simply are keeping a special eye on you because you are a transmigration, nothing more. Whatever you do is up to you."

    Needless to say, while Marcus believed that Recha was telling the truth, that did not mean the administrator did not have some evil scheme lined up for him.

    Unfortunately, there was little he could do about it, so worrying would get him nowhere.

    "Okay, then what about you and the other great spirits, what is it that you do and why can you get in contact with the administrator."

    "Oh, we are just here as moderators. We make sure that this world runs smoothly and does not fall apart. We normally stay out of most other beings'' business, except granting boons to certain individuals that catch our interests. But there are times when we have to step in and keep someone mad with power from causing destruction on a global scale."

    With wide eyes a puzzle Marcus had thought off finally madeplete sense. He had wondered why this world seemed as peaceful as it was, when individuals could blow up buildings in an instance.

    ''Heck if I was left unchecked, I could tear down a city in an hour or so without much trouble.''

    So, what about those that were in the higher levels at like ny or so. Would they not be able to crush entire nations on their own?

    But if whenever someone like that tried to cause mass destruction a great spirit showed up and put them down, it was no wonder that incredibly high-level people were not going around blowing up everything in their way.

    Still, this raised another question for Marcus.

    "So, if all great spirits are the moderators of this world, what about me? I have been given no such task and I do not have any way to contact the administrator."

    Shrugging her shoulder Recha said, "It is because you are special. Normally it is the administrator that bestows upon a high-level spirit the title of great spirit, thus elevating us. However, in your case you received it from the blessing of some other entities, and do not have the title of great spirit even though you are one. Also being a ghost is unprecedented as one has never be a great spirit before. Normally to be a great spirit you would already need to be the master of your element, but you have gained your powers while still only being half-backed. Frankly I can only specte on what exactly you are, but as far as I know you are apletely unique existence."

    With some of his most pressing questions about what a great spirit actually is, answered, there was one more that nagging at the back of his mind.

    "Could you tell me what the administrator''s ultimate goal is?"

 Chapter 312 - 312 Discussion With A Great Spirit (3)

    Waiting For Recha''s response to hisst question, for the first time she simply said nothing.

    Still her silence spoke volumes, and this meant that she was not able to divulge information on this topic.

    But that also meant that she did actually know what the administrator''s goal actually was, since as she said before, if it was something she could not talk about she would stay silent.

    Therefore, if she did not know the answer, she would have just told Marcus that she had no idea.

    "Okay I understand. Then could you tell me about why great spirits are worshiped, and how do you give out blessings."

    This was one of the aspects of the great spirits he was most confused about, and he wondered if he also had the power to give out blessings.

    "Oh, that is simple. When we are worshiped our power grows. To be more precise our followers give us a portion of the experience they gain, and those we give our blessings to, help to develop our abilities. It is a give take rtionship, I give out my blessings and in turn my followers get stronger, but I also gain some of the strength they acquire as they level up. Of course, you could say that my blessings are a part of my existence, so I only have so many to give out which is why I need to be careful with who I pick."

    Nodding his head Marcus sort of understood what Recha was saying but he was still unclear on the process of how it worked.

    "So, is there a way for me to give out blessings myself?"

    However, Marcus received an unfavorable answer to this when Recha said, "No right now you are too weak. Also, your spiritual energy is still stagnant, it is quite obvious you have no clue how to wield the true power of your spiritual strength."

    After hearing this Marcus was confused. He had no idea what spiritual strength was, as far as he knew his spirit stat was pretty high, and its power was shown with the strength of his spells and his specter powers.

    Yet he soon began to wonder something. He had tested it before but none of his specter powers used mana. So, what were they using to manifest? Even in this world that could break thews of physics as he knew them, energy was still required for any phenomenon to ur, so what was giving his specter powers the energy they needed to manifest.

    Deciding to give it a try Marcus brought out his spectral arm and said, "What about this, is this ability using my spiritual energy?"

    "Yes, that ability of yours is using your spiritual energy but you are not consciously using it, the system is just bringing it out set by whatever parameters your ability has. If you were able to consciously use your spiritual energy you could make that ability much stronger."

    "I think I get what you are saying, but I have never seen a skill called spirit cirction or spirit energy, or the like. What skill do I need to have in order to use it?"

    Sighing Recha looked at Marcus like a child that had failed to figure out something obvious and said, "There is no skill to wield spiritual energy, you have to figure out how on your own. It is much like sending mana into a weapon, or releasing it from your body, there is no dedicated skill for it."

    With his eyes going wide, this revtion allowed Marcus to understand something pivotal, that he had not really explored. And that was, that the system that governs Mirrion is not omnipotent.

    ''People are able to create new spells, and even I came up with a new enchantment formation even if it was simple and can only change hair color and shape. And now that I think about it, after my fight with Ander, the administrator said that mine and Irene''s souls created my soul devour unique skill.''

    "Looks like you figured something out." Recha said seeing the expression of realization on Marcus'' face.

    With a smile Marcus nodded his head towards Recha and said, "Yes, I get it now, the system is just a tool not a set of rules that have to be followed."

    And while Recha did not verbally confirm Marcus'' hypothesis, he did notice the corners of her lips seemed to turn up ever so slightly into a smile.

    But it was at this point during the lull in their conversation that the other person who was present and quite confused spoke up.

    "Um could one of you exin what is going on. Who is this administrator, and what is spiritual energy?" Mrazivy said, a perplexed expression.

    Of course, Mrazivy was lost in their conversation. She had no idea what the administrator was, and the talks about being a great spirit and what spiritual energy are was outside her understanding.

    "Sorry, Mraz I got a bit caught up in the conversation. I should have realized earlier that you might get lost in what we are talking about." Marcus said, with regret on his face.

    He then told Mrazivy everything he knew about the administrator and the system, as well as exined more about the insights into what a great spirit is, and spiritual energy.

    Afterwards, Mrazivy still seemed a bit confused but her overall understanding of the topic was to the point where she at least grasped most of what was going on.

    With Mrazivy now up to speed Marcus turned back towards Recha, who had been strumming a song on her lyre, and said, "Could you teach me how to use spiritual energy?"

    Naturally Marcus knew he needed to get stronger. In this world strength meant everything, and he knew that eventually he would head out to explore the rest of the world and see what it had to offer. To do this strength would be necessary, and since he was going to live forever unless he was destroyed, he figured he might as well aim for the heights of this world.

    Unfortunately, Recha''s response was not what he wanted, and she said, "Sorry I do not have the time to teach you something like that. While I may seem carefree andid back, I do have my own goals to aplish. Ah but here, I will give you a demonstration and a little guidance. The rest you will need to figure out on your own."

    Recha then stood up and held out her hand, which began to glow softly enveloped in a shimmering film.

    It looked simr to when Marcus used his spirit healing specter power, butcked the same vibrancy, and had a neutral feel instead of a warm one.

    However, Marcus quickly realized he had seen this before. It was the same strange ability that the de armed demon used to injure him even while ethereal.

    Recha allowed Marcus and Mrazivy to both observe her using her spiritual energy for a few minutes, before moving over to them and saying, "Now I will give each of you a little push to help you feel your spiritual energy."

    cing her handed on both of their back, Recha sent a small amount of her own spiritual energy inside Marcus and Mrazivy and knocked on their spiritual center.

    This allowed them both to get a better feel for their spiritual energy, though Marcus being an existencepletely made up of said energy felt the knock course through his entire being.

    ''Now I understand.''

    After feeling the vast sea of spiritual energy inside him, Marcus understood that it was simr to his mana pool, just being a different source of power.

    He had been using it unconsciously since the moment he arrived on Mirrion, but now he had a feel for it.

    Up until now he had been like a cook just throwing set ingredients into a pot without understanding why. However, now it was as if he had tasted the ingredient and understood how to bring out its best vors.

    Nevertheless, even with this insight, his ability to put it into practice was still not there and he would need to practice to truly figure out how to use his spiritual strength to the best of his ability.

    Still a new question came to his mind after learning this.

    "Recha, I now realize that I have only ever seen one creature use spiritual energy before, why is it not more well known."

    Shrugging her shoulders, she responded saying, "Well, the answer is simple. Because it is difficult to use, and the results are not all that strong. Its most practical use is as a defense against spirit-based attacks or to attack spiritual beings like us. But either situation is pretty rare. It can be used to strengthen the body, and speed up healing and stamina recovery, but not by very much. In the end the amount of effort to learn it is not worth the reward for most. Remember there is no skill to help anyone master it, and other than for spiritual beings, it is fairly worthless in most situation. Still for a spiritual being such as yourself, you will find a world of difference once you understand how to use it."

    Once she had finished giving her exnation on spiritual energy Recha, said, "Well I have already spent quite a bit of time here, and need to get back to my work. Feel free to stay and listen to the music as long as you like but try not to damage my shrine again. Oh, and Mrazivy, if you want, I would be happy to have you as one of my followers. So, if you wish to take me up on this offere back here in a months'' time with your great grandmother."

    Recha then turned into a ball of light before vanishing, leaving both Marcus and Mrazivy alone once again.

 Chapter 313 - 313 Out Of The Crystal Caverns

    With Recha gone, Marcus and Mrazivy were once again left alone.

    Of course, they both knew that they still had something else to deal with since Aria was certainly waiting for them.

    "What are we going to do about your great grandmother?" Marcus asked Mrazivy, with a nervous expression.

    He had no idea how or when Aria found him out, but what she might do was unclear, and Marcus was not sure what she could do.

    She was far stronger than him, and if he got caught off guard or if she had an attack that could hit him even while ethereal, it would be the end.

    Luckily Mrazivy responded favorably and said, "I think it should be fine. While I am a bit angry that she was following us around, she had plenty of opportunities to attack you if her n was to dispose of you. For now, we should go and talk to her, and see what she wants. But if she does start attacking you, I will get in her way while escape."

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed to Mrazivy''s suggestion. While under normal circumstances he would never leave her against a dangerous opponent, he knew that Aria would not kill her.

    With their n made, they began walking back the way they came, and exited back into the musical crystal room where Aria was waiting for them.

    "I suppose we should not beat around the bush, now that I have been found out. Marcus, Irene, or whatever you are, what is your intention."

    At this point Aria, was nearly certain that Marcus meant no harm to the kingdom.

    So far all he had done was help them even if it was only to his benefit, but Aria had also watched the way he had fought hard to keep Mrazivy safe, and it would be hard to fake the level of care he had shown for her.

    Nevertheless, she needed to hear his answer for peace of mind, since if he could ever be a threat, putting him down early before he became more powerful was the prudent move.

    Yet Marcus resolutely responded saying, "I intend to enjoy my life and see what this world has to offer. I do not seek any sort of dominion; I simply want myself and those I care about to be happy."

    After saying that Marcus looked at Aria, with and expression as if saying, "Your move."

    However, Aria''s reaction was not what he had expected as she began tough.

    ''To think his answer would be some simr to yours, Grandfather Boreas. I wonder if that is just how everyone from a different world is.''

    Seeing Marcus'' determined and truthful response, thest bit of hostility that Aria had towards him disappeared, and the tension in the room practically vanished.

    "Very well I believe you. From now on you can count on my support." Aria said, her friendly grandmother demeanor back.

    Still seeing the way that Aria, had suddenly changed her bearing shocked him a bit. One second she was radiating hostility, and the next she was smiling like nothing had happened.

    At this point though Marcus figured that this was the best oue he could get, since Aria seemed to still look at him favorably.

    "Great grandmother, if you know about Marcus'', what about the king, have you told him as well." Mrazivy asked wanting to know how far up Marcus'' secret had climbed.

    Nodding her head Aria confirmed Mrazivy''s suspicion and said, "Yes your father was with me when I found out. I must admit that even I was fooled, but it was Gwyneira who saw through their disguise and informed me, Darius, and the king and queen about Marcus."

    Wincing, Marcus felt like he had done a poor job keeping his secret hidden, seeing as how the upper echelon of the kingdom now knew about him.

    Luckily though, since no move had been taken against him, and Aria, had been keeping a watch on him, it seemed that the kingdom did not intend to kill him.

    "Now seeing as how you have learned that we found you out, I might as well move up the timetable. I was going to request your presence for a meeting to discuss your rtionship with the kingdom after the tournament, but since you already know, it might as well be as soon as possible. After your next match I will arrange a meeting for you with the king, so that the two of you can make your cases."

    Aria then gave them both a knowing wink, and Marcus and Mrazivy realized she had heard their private conversation about breaking off Mrazivy''s engagement.

    "Great grandmother, I would ask that you please never eavesdrop on me again. We were discussing a personal matter just between the two of us. I understand that you may have been worried about my safety, but I can take care of myself."

    Mrazivy was quite miffed by Aria''s actions, and while she could understand them, she still could not condone them.

    As a princess, to begin with she had very few moments that were truly private and knowing that one of her most personal moments had been listened in on made her feel frustrated.

    "I get it, I will not listen in on you without your permission."

    However, Aria then looked at Marcus and said, "But that means that you are the one that is going to need to look out for her."

    "Of course, I would never let anything happen to Mraz." Marcus said with determination.

    The two of them had grown much closer on their trip around the crystal caverns, and Marcus knew at this point that he was willing to risk his life for Mrazivy.

    And naturally the same went for her. Mrazivy hade to understand just how much Marcus cared about her, and her own feelings towards him were growing by the day.

    "Well, now that we have had our little discussion we can talk moreter. I need to get back and prepare a few things, and I am sure that you would want to be ready for your next match. So let us meet again after that."

    Aria, then began to shimmer before disappearing heading back to the capital first to inform a few people about these new developments, and to make some necessary arrangements.

    "I guess we should head back ourselves." Marcus said to Mrazivy with a slightly sad smile.

    He had really enjoyed their trip but the midway through interruption kind of brought the whole experience down.

    And they had to leave since otherwise he would not have time to get ready for his next match in the tournament.

    Thus, the two of them made the long journey out of the crystal caverns tracing back the way they came.

    Soon, they made it back to the deep ravine that was miles deep and began the ent back to the surface.

    Luckily, they were able to go a bit faster this time since they did not need to worry about looking for anything and just went straight up until they hit the surface.

    ''Ah it is good to be out. As much as all of the crystals were a sight to behold, being able to see the sky above is somewhatforting.''

    Having made it back out of the ravine Marcus looked up and appreciated the wide-open space before him.

    "Mraz I will go ahead and transform and fly us back to the capi-."

    Yet as Marcus was turning around but before he could finish his sentence, Mrazivy wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

    It was only for a moment before she backed off her face fully red from embarrassment and said "Thank you for taking me here. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed our time together."

    "Yeah, it really was fun, until we got interrupted. So how about wee back again some other time and we can really explore the depths of this ce."

    After that the two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment, before Marcus once again transformed into a cdrius and began the flight back to the capital.

 Chapter 314 - 314 Final Preparations

    Having made it back to the royal capital, Marcus and Mrazivy went their separate ways.

    Marcus needed to go and check on one final preparation for his match tomorrow, and Mrazivy had to go and deal with the consequences for disappearing.

    "Make sure toe by my box after you win tomorrow, so we can celebrate. Though I am sure that Heward will not let either of us out of his sight again."

    After saying that Mrazivy headed back to the royal mansion within the outer wall, while Marcus made his way to the zegram Forge.

    "Oh Irene, it has been a while. The owner said he was expecting you and is in his back room waiting." The apprentice who was manning the reception and closing down shop said to Marcus as he entered.

    Marcus nodded his head towards this apprentice and thanked him before heading into the back where Thabon''s private room was.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Knocking on the door, Marcus waited for a response, and quickly Thabon yelled out, "Come on in I have been waiting for you."

    Opening the door, Marcus entered inside, to see Thabon sitting down and taking a drink, while still having sweat pouring down his body after finishing up on histest creation that was still sitting out on a work bench.

    "Is that it." Marcus asked as he pointed at the adamantine shield that was Thabon''stest creation.

    "That it is. It was difficulty to make but since I made one for Gurrom as well, it is only right that I make one for you. But remember it is only a loaner, I do want it after the tournament."

    Nodding his head Marcus gave his confirmation to Thabon since that was what they had agreed upon beforehand.

    ''It is certainly strong, but will it hold up.'' Marcus thought as he picked up the shield and looked it over.

    His next match was going to be against Quillon and from what he could tell, this would be his toughest fight yet.

    In terms of power, Marcus was certain that Quillon was among the four strongest in the tournament, and certainly his biggestpetition within his own block.

    He had seen that in all of his matches that he ended each fight with one sh, and Marcus knew he would be no different if he did not prepare.

    "Master would you mind activating the shield for me, I want to test out how much it can take."

    Letting out a sigh Thabon stood up his body creaking a bit since he had pushed himself to finish this shield on time, but he also wanted to show off just how good his work was to his apprentice.

    ''Okay let''s hit it with everything right from the start.''

    Casting every single one of his buff spells and activating his supreme skill and soul devour unique skill, Marcus shot towards Thabon and delivered a full power sh utilizing all of his strength.

    Yet the floating shield that Thabon had painstakingly made managed to defend against this overwhelming attack, blocking Marcus'' first swing.

    Unfortunately, that was all it could muster, and was knocked away, but being able to block even one attack was all Marcus would need.

    Going over and picking up the shield, Marcus found that it had a small scratch on its surface but that was it.

    "Thank you master this will really help me in my next match. I was not sure if I would be able to cast my spells and activate my skills in time against my next opponent. But with this shield protecting me I think I can win."

    "Hmph, you better win after all the effort I put into making that. It does not have as many tricks as the one I lent to Gurrom, but its defensive ability is top notch and should be able to block almost any attack at least once without fail."

    With a smile on his face Marcus thanked Thabon for his assistance before stowing the shield away into his item box.

    "Well, I need to get going and get some rest for my match tomorrow." Marcus said, still feeling somewhat drained after his battle with themia, and the full power attack he had just unleashed.

    "Good luck Irene I will be rooting for you tomorrow." Thabon said as Marcus exited his room.

    After that Marcus made his way back to the Twisted Cats'' Tails Inn and headed to his room.

    And when he entered inside, he immediately noticed the steaming from outside, meaning that the rooms private bath was in use.

    Walking over to it Marcus found Roxene propped up over the side with her body mostly submerged in the tub.

    "Looks like you have been enjoying yourself Roxene."

    Opening her eyes and looking at Marcus, Roxene let out a long yawn before saying, ''Yeah it has been rxing around here. Oh, but you did arrive right on time, I was about to run out of food.''

    Rubbing his face Marcus could not imagine how Roxene could have already gone through the food he had left her but could only sigh and give into the little glutton''s demands.

    However, before that since the bath was already warm Marcus decided to get in as well and soak away some of his fatigue.

    Then once they were done with the bath Marcus went down to the restaurant in the hotel and picked up dinner for him and Roxene.

    Except before they began eating, he looked at Roxene seriously and said, "I need to tell you that I have been found out. Looks like someone in the kingdom''s upper echelon has an ability that can see through my false status. Luckily it seems that they are not going to take any actions against me for now, so it looks like the good karma I have umted is paying off."

    ''I see, what about me have I been discovered.?

    "I do not know, but it is possible. You were never brought up but since they also know of my identity as Marcus, they may put two and two together." Marcus said as he shrugged his shoulders.

    Letting out a low growl Roxene definitely seemed displeased by the turn of events, but there was little she could do about it.

    ''Whatever happens I will stick with you.''

    Smiling and thanking Roxene for her support, Marcus began serving the food and the two of them ate though Marcus allowed Roxene to have most of it, since he was only eating for recreation.

    Once they had finished eating the two of them curled up onto therge bed in the room and went to sleep.

    ''Tomorrow is going to be my toughest fight yet, but I have to win.'' Marcus though just as he lulled into unconsciousness.

    ˇ­

    ''Time to get going.''

    Fully rested and feeling in peak form, Marcus got out of bed and ready for his match.

    He did onest check on his equipment and sharpened his scythe back up to its peak, before storing everything he would need back into his item box.

    Certain that he was as ready as he could be, Marcus exited the inn and made his way over to the arena for his big fight against Quillon.

 Chapter 315 - 315 Marcus Vs Quillon

    "On my right we have the man who is the apprentice to the renowned expert known as the sword savant, Quillon. He so far has ended all of his matches with one swing of his sword so fast it is like a blur. And on my left we have the newest apprentice to another renowned figure Thabon zegram. Lady Irene Geist. She has shown both impressive magic and martial skills, in the tournament, even using a powerful tier six spell to defeat her fellow apprentice. However, does she have what it takes to be the first to survive a single attack from Quillon."

    While the referee continued to hype up Marcus'' match, he was busy looking over his opponent onest time.

    ''Still no good, something is blocking my appraisal. It cannot simply be because his level is too high, otherwise it would give me a message back saying cannot be appraised instead of appraisal blocked.''

    Hoping to get lucky and find out Quillon''s level Marcus had appraised him onest time but like he expected, came up empty.

    Of all the fighters Quillon''s true strength was difficult for Marcus to ascertain. He knew he was strong but how strong was something Marcus could not gage.

    ''I will just have to give it everything I have got and believe in my own strength.''

    Steeling himself Marcus got ready for the battle that was moments away from beginning, and when the referee sh announcer finally finished his opening speech, Marcus positioned his shield in front of him ready to take Quillon head on.

    "And let the match begin."

    As the ref started the match just as Marcus had figured Quillon executed the same move he had used to finish all of his other fights.

    He disappeared in a blur far faster than Marcus could keep up with without any of his enchantments activated.

    Yet even as Quillon appeared in front of him, and his movements were to fast to deal with, Marcus trusted in the shield Thabon had made for him and began casting his buff spells.

    ng!

    The resound sound of metal shing against metal echoed throughout the arena, as Quillon''s sword shed against Marcus'' shield.

    It as a powerful strike that had cut through adamantine like paper before, but against a shield painstakingly crafted by Thabon, it could not break through in one sh.

    In fact, Marcus could see surprise on Quillon''s face, as the shield blocked his first strike, and in that time Marcus had begun getting his buff spells cast.

    "Heart of the forge, legs of light, lightning strider, Arm-"

    Still even though he was shocked to see his first blow blocked Quillon struck forward with his sword again and knocked Marcus'' shield out of the way, before making another striking and getting in the way of Marcus'' fake chant.

    However, as his sword was about to hit Marcus, he vanished.

    Going into his ghost form Marcus allowed Quillon''s attack to pass through him harmlessly.

    He had not originally nned to use this strategy, but since the highest arthurites in the kingdom knew his secret, he figured he might as well use ever trick he had to win.

    And with the window of opportunity he had created, Marcus quickly finished casting all of his enchantment spells.

    Except as he was finishing hisst one, he noticed Quillon training his eyes on him with the slight shimmer of spiritual energy covering them.

    ''I figured this might happened.''

    Marcus then watched as Quillon sent out a sh filled with his spiritual strength right towards him, with no hesitation.

    ''Embodiment of eclipse, harmony form.''

    Reappearing and using his supreme skill Marcus met Quillon''s sh head on with his scythe.

    The two of them shed for a moment before Marcus was pushed back the power behind Quillon''s attack, still being greater than his even after using all of his buffs and using his supreme skill.

    But Marcus saw that Quillon was not done yet as he sheathed his sword and took his initial posture again before shooting after him like a blur.

    With Quillon iing Marcus straighten out his body and got ready to receive his blow.

    Now that he was fully buffed by his spells and supreme skill, he could keep up with Quillon''s movements, though he knew he was still going to be overpowered unless he did something.

    ''Soul devour.''

    At the moment before they shed once again, Marcus activated his next trump card gaining immense power and delivering a full-strength sh towards Quillon.

    This time their sh did not end in Marcus'' defeat as the two powerful blows colliding caused arge explosion that rocked the ring.

    Boom!

    Jumping back after his second timeing to blows with Quillon, Marcus had a smile on his face since this time he had won.

    ''I managed to push him back. If I time it correctly and use soul devour at the instance our weapons meet, I have more power. I can do this; I have everything I need to win.''

    However, Marcus'' tion did notst long as his gaze looked down at his scythe''s de.

    There he saw a deep nick on it where it had hit against Quillon''s sword.

    ''Damn it.''

    Seeing the damage to his scythe Marcus now knew that the difference in their weapons was too much.

    Quillon''s amethros sword was of a far higher quality and if they came to blows too many times his scythe would not hold out.

    Still, that just meant he needed tond a decisive blow before his scythe was no longer usable.

    As the cloud of dust their attacks had caused began to settle, Marcus and Quillon''s eyes met, and for the first time in the tournament Marcus saw Quillon smile.

    Then to Marcus'' surprise instead of attacking again he held his right hand up and removed one of the rings he had on.

    "You wanted to see right?"

    Quickly grasping what Quillon was saying, Marcus once again used his creature appraisal skill and this time it was not blocked.

    Yet what he saw now that Quillon''s level was visible was astounding.

    ''Level forty-six! He is only level forty-six!''

    Seeing that Quillon was only four levels above him, Marcus could barely believe it.

    He figured that he was something like level fifty-five or somewhere around there. But he was only a few levels higher, yet still so strong.

    ''His quality must be incredibly high. This is the first time in a long time that someone around my level is just as strong as I am.''

    "Now let us get back to our match. I have finally found a worthy opponent so try to keep this interesting for me."

    After saying that Quillon charged towards Marcus once again, but this time rather than facing him head on Marcus jumped into the air and cast his tier five iron magic spell.

    "Iron Wings of the Archangel."

    Flying into the sky Marcus aimed to get out of reach of Quillon''s sword and bombard him with spells from above.

    Of course, he knew Quillon was not going to take this sitting down, but it was his best n for now.

    "Voltaic Bombardment."

    Casting his tier five lightning magic spell, Marcus infused its electricity into his iron wings, and began sending hundreds of electrically charged feathers towards Quillon hoping to cause some major damaged with this barrage of attacks.

 Chapter 316 - 316 Marcus Vs Quillon (2)

    Sending hundreds of lightning boosted iron feathers towards Quillon, Marcus had himpletely surrounded by the countless number of projectiles making it incredibly difficult for him to deal with all of them.

    Though Quillon did not seem worried in the slightest about the numerous projectilesing his way as he switched up the hold on his sword cing it behind his back.

    Seeing this Marcus wondered what he was doing since it was not a very good defensive stance, but what he saw next made his eyes go wide.

    As his iron feathers got within fifteen feet of Quillon, they began curving around him, some mming into the ground and others going into the air.

    It was simr as to what happened with Gurrom, but the process waspletely different.

    Marcus had no idea how it had happened, but it was as if there was some force that was changing the direction of his iron feathers and preventing them from aiming at Quillon.

    However, he did not have long to ponder the reason as to why his iron feathers veered off target, as Quillon released a sh from his de swinging it upwards and sending out a very fast and powerful st of mana.

    Holding his scythe back Marcus began charging it with mana and the darkness and light energy from his supreme skill, brining it up to maximum power.

    At the same time, he also deployed a mana barrier in front of him and allowed Quillon''s attack to hit his defenses first.

    Quillon''s mana st quickly broke through Marcus'' mana barrier and then his radiance scales spell, that he had cast earlier.

    But right before it was about to break though thest scale Marcus finished imbuing all of his strength into his scythe and shed out against Quillon''s attack.

    His sh still at full power busted through Quillon''s and began flying towards him.

    It was a perfectly timed counterattack from Marcus, and now Quillon was going to have to deal with the st of light and darknessing for him.

    Yet even with as much power as he had put behind this attack, Marcus watched it get pushed aside splitting into multiple different parts and flying away from Quillon.

    Marcus had only caught a glimpse of what had happened, but Quillon had used some sort of sword skill to redirect the flow of his attack.

    Quillon then after having blocked Marcus attack took to the sky as well, creating tforms out of mana under his feet and running up them.

    It was an impressive disy of ability, and one Marcus put into the back of his mind to try to replicateter.

    Though having to deal with it now meant he lost out on the aerial superiority.

    "Laser."

    Firing of a heightenser spell further empowered by his supreme skill, Marcus was nning to push Quillon back, or at least force a defensive action that would give him enough room to maneuver away and keep up a ranged assault.

    Except like his iron feathers previously, Marcus''ser spell bent around Quillonpletely avoiding him and sting into the ring below.

    With his n aplete failure Marcus gritted his teeth and flew towards Quillon aiming to push him back in a physical confrontation.

    ''Soul devour.''

    Using his unique skill again right before attacking Quillon, Marcus drastically increased his power.

    But unlikest time where Quillon met him head on with brute force, this time he switched up his sword stance and with an incredibly smooth parry allowed Marcus'' de to slide past him.

    This allowed Quillon to attack Marcus'' exposed side and changing the grip on his sword unleashed a quick flurry of shes.

    Twisting his body around and using his iron wings Marcus just barely managed to avoid taking any damaged but after blocking Quillon''sst attack was sent plummeting back towards the ground.

    Luckily, he was able to stop his momentum by using his ghost form and then reappearing,nding on the ring gently.

    Unfortunately, Quillon was in hot pursuit rocketing towards Marcus with his sword posed to deliver a devastating strike.

    Raising his hand upward Marcus nned to cast a powerful spell and st Quillon away, but it became quickly apparent that he would not make it on time.

    ''Screw it.''

    Seeing as how he had already gone this far, Marcus came to the quick decision to forgo fake chanting a spell.

    ''zegram''s Furnace.''

    Casting the powerful tier five fire magic spell Thabon had taught him, the image of a furnace made of mes appeared in front of Marcus and sent out a powerful st of fire.

    Quillon who was only around a dozen feet away from Marcus at this point had no time to avoid the spell that appeared out of nowhere right in front of his face.

    Marcus then watched as Quillon waspletely engulfed by the torrent of mes his spell created.

    However, even as he was being sted by mes Quillon had begun swinging his sword in a zigzag pattern keeping most of the mes away from himself and creating enough room to jump out of the spell.

    ''Looks like I finally did some damage.''

    Keeping his gaze on Quillon, Marcus could see that he had slight burns on his hands and face, not having escaped from thatst spell unscathed.

    Nevertheless, the wounds on Quillon quickly began to heal on their own, and Marcus frowned understanding that Quillon also possessed a regeneration skill.

    ''Well, a war of attrition is out of the question now.''

    With Quillon having a regeneration skill, Marcus'' n to slowly injure him was not going to work, leaving him with only one real option.

    ''I guess I will have to win with one big attack.''

    The two of them then stared each other down for a moment seeing who would make the next move.

    Of course though, it was Marcus who got started first, since he was burning through his stamina and mana at a crazy rate, and he only had a little longer before he reached his limit.

    He needed to end this fight fast before his own overwhelming skills ended him.

    So, jumping back Marcus put some distance between him and Quillon, though Quillon was quick to pursue noticing the frantic expression on Marcus'' face.

    ''Iron golem.''

    Summoning his iron golem Marcus put it in Quillon''s path to slow him down a bit, and while it was cut down in one blow it served its purpose.

    ''Cataclysmic iron sword.''

    Draining nearly all of his remaining mana, Marcus cast his strongest and only tier six spell, creating a titanic sword of iron over three hundred feet long.

    Then with the swing of his arm the massive de began falling down on Quillon gaining speed by every moment that passed.

    But to Marcus'' surprise Quillon did not try to get out of the way.

    He simply stopped in his tracks and held his sword out in front of him after sheathing it.

    And when the cataclysmic iron sword was about to crash on top of Quillon, his aura seemed to explode, and he unleashed an upward sh at the colossal sword about to hit him.

    Unable to believe what he saw next, Marcus watched as his cataclysmic iron sword was deflected upward and now had arge nick in it, with cracks forming through its de.

 Chapter 317 - 317 Marcus Vs Quillon (3)

    Wide eyed with disbelief, Marcus stared at his cataclysmic iron sword that weighed hundreds of tons, and now had cracks webbing through it.

    He did not know how Quillon had been able to block his tier six spell when it had the force of a full capacity freight train behind it.

    In fact, it was as if he had dispersed all of the force from the attack, since the ring under his feet did not seem to have taken any damage.

    Quillon then shot forward again, and Marcus could see he was using a different technique as his sword was pointed directly at him, ready for some type of thrust.

    ''Let''s see if he can do it again.''

    Bringing his cataclysmic iron sword down again, it looked like Marcus had gone crazy sine its current path was heading right towards him.

    Yet Quillon understood what he was doing, and Marcus watched him click his tongue and stop mid charge to take up a defensive stance.

    Marcus then went into his ghost form as his tier six spell was about to crash down.

    And just like before Quillon''s aura seemed to spike and he shed upwards at Marcus'' cataclysmic iron sword.

    However, unlikest time where the sword was deflected, this time it was spit clean in two before shattering into hundreds of pieces.

    The ring under Quillon''s feet also began to crack, having to support him this time and being unable to take the weight of Marcus'' attack.

    ''Soul Devour, and Fire storm.''

    Still even as surprising as it was to watch his strongest spell, get destroyed, Marcus used nearly all of his remaining mana to cast one final big spell, now that Quillon was off bnce and unable to defend properly.

    The fire stormpletely swallowed Quillon and dyed the ring a bright red as the mes expanded throughout the area.

    ''I do not know what kind of ability he used to block my iron feathers andser, but zegram''s furnace worked, so firestorm should as well.''

    Giving it his all Marcus poured every bit of strength he had into his fire storm, and he saw that the heat even became so intense that the ring began to melt.

    ''Shit, I did not kill him, right?''

    Seeing as how powerful thest spell he had used was, Marcus was actually a bit afraid that he killed his opponent.

    Certainly, Quillon had seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut, but Marcus had caught him off guard with a very powerful spell, that would have left most people as only ashes.

    Luckily, when the fire storm receded Marcus could see Quillon was still alive.

    He had horrible burns on the exposed parts of his body, but he was still alive, proving once again just how tough he is.

    ''Time to finish it.''

    With Quillon critically injured, Marcus rushed in to deliver the final blow.

    He was out of mana and only had a bit longer before he reached his limit, but he felt he could deliver onest attack with his scythe and finish the match.

    Except when he was only a few feet away from Quillon, his aura exploded again, and his sword armed moved as if possessed even though it had third degree burns.

    It was a perfect strike, aiming for the exact moment when Marcus had begun his swing, and got under his guard.

    The sword then plunged into Marcus'' chest where his heart would have been, slicing through his clothing and armor like butter.

    ''Fuck.''

    Feeling the searing pain of a sword in his chest, Marcus disappeared back into his ghost form and floated back off the sword.

    He was currently in a decent amount of pain having a hole in his chest, but he had certainly had worse wounds before.

    Still the fact that Quillon''sst move would have killed most people, made Marcus a bit angry since he had been trying his best to not kill his opponents.

    Unfortunately, Marcus had reached his limit, with hisst attacking being thwarted and taking some damage from having his chest impaled, he knew he would not be able to muster any more effective attacks.

    While Quillon was actually healing, his regeneration skill having already fixed the worst of his burns ,leaving him only with a few blisters left that would soon be gone.

    ''No other option, huh.''

    Seeing that he was bound to lose if things continued this way, Marcus steeled himself and prepared to use his final trump card.

    ''Soul Burst.''

    Using his final unique skill, all of Marcus'' stats doubled.

    For the next three minutes he would be twice as strong, and along with it his mana and stamina recovered tremendously.

    Of course, he had been hoping to not need to use this ability since afterwards his stats would be quartered for a week, but he needed to win right now and could worry about the futureter.

    Having found his second wind, Marcus burst forth with immense power shooting straight towards Quillon who was nearly fully recovered.

    The two then shed again but unlike before, Marcus had theplete advantage knocking Quillon around and forcing him on the defensive.

    In fact, the only thing keeping Quillon from losing out right was his superior sword skills that were a few degrees higher than Marcus'' skill with the scythe.

    "Guh."

    As Quillon was focusing all of his attention on blocking Marcus'' scythe, he did not notice Marcus'' kick until it hit him square in the gut.

    It was a powerful strike and Marcus watched as blood and bile came out of Quillon''s mouth as he was blown back.

    ''And to finish it.''

    shing out with his scythe Marcus sent a powerful st of mana, darkness, and light after Quillon.

    It was certain to be a finishing blow with how much power was behind the attack and the injured state Quillon was in.

    But when the attack was only a dozen feet away Marcus saw a silver ball of light pop out of Quillon''s body.

    The ball of light then took on the form of a miniature woman and put up a barrier of wind in front of Quillon.

    ''A spirit!''

    Seeing this begin, Marcus knew immediately that it was a spirit.

    Naturally as one himself it was impossible for him not to recognize his own kind when they were right before his eyes.

    Marcus then watched as the spirt turned back into a ball of light and flew into Quillon, but instead of just entering back into his body, shimmered around him giving him a silver glow.

    A bright light burst forth from Quillon in that moment, and his hair color that was ck changed to silver, and his eyes that were brown turned a light green.

    Two fairy like wings sprouted out of his back, and the light around him faded down to a subtle shimmer.

    ''They merged together.''

    Marcus could not believe his eyes, the spirit that had just appeared somehow fused with Quillon and was now adding its strength to his.

    ''He is a lot stronger now.''

    With the presence Quillon was giving off now, Marcus could tell, that his already unfathomable strength was now at an even higher level.

    Still Marcus could not back down at this point and rushed in.

    His soul burst only had so much longer before it ran out, and he had to finish the fight before then.

    The two began shing against each other in a flurry of attacks.

    Their power now was nearly equal with Marcus having a slight edge in overall strength but Quillon being more agile.

    Their devastating attacks quickly turned the ring into rubble and shook the arena.

    The referee had even jumped out of the ring not wanting to be caught up in the fight that was beyond reason.

    Most of the people watching this match had never seen such a disy of power, and those that had, knew that this was not what a battle between people that were in the level forties should look like.

    The two of them continued to sh neither gaining an edge. When Marcus tried using his soul devour to increase his power for an instance, Quillon''s aura would rise like when he blocked the cataclysmic iron sword.

    And when Quillon used this power on the offensive Marcus would use his soul devour to block.

    Neither of them was giving an inch, but eventually one of them was going to give out, and Marcus knew it would be him.

    He was fast approaching the time limit for his soul burst and once it ran out that would be the end.

    "Eclipse meteor!"

    Using his strongest attack, Marcus condensed all of the power from his supreme skill and shot forward.

    He knew this would be his final attack, so it was all or nothing time.

    ''Soul devour.''

    Activating his soul devour Marcus'' strength exploded as he no longer held back his skill and let it eat away at his soul for greater power.

    Quillon not backing down held his sword with both hands over his head and met Marcus head on.

    His aura exploded once again and as the two shed for the final time, a massive explosion of power swallowed the entire floor of the arena, and cracks began to form in the barrier protecting the audience.

 Chapter 318 - 318 Quillon Vs Marcus

    (This chapter and the next are from Quillon''s point of view in his battle against Marcus.)

    ''I wonder if my next opponent will actually be any sort of challenge.'' Quillon thought while letting out a sigh.

    His master had told him to enter this tournament andpete with the kingdom''s elite that are around the same age and level as him, but so far it had been aplete waste of time.

    Even though he had his hopes up in the beginning to maybe find someone close to his level of strength, all he found were half-baked blowhards happy with the measly strength they had acquired.

    The tournament staff member then entered his room and said it was time for his next match.

    ''Guess it is time. Let''s get this over with quickly.''

    Following the staff member out into the ring, Quillon took a good look at his opponent but when he saw their level let out an internal sigh.

    ''Only level forty-two. Looks like a weakling got lucky to make it this far.''

    Of course, had Quillon seen any of Marcus'' matches he would not be thinking this, but after the first few matches of the tournament he watched, he had lost interest.

    However, when he heard the referee say that in theirst match, they had used a tier six spell his interest was piqued.

    ''Hm maybe this Irene will be the first able to take at least one blow from me.''

    With the referee''s opening speeching near its end Quillon readied his stance, nning to use his normal opening move.

    "And let the match begin."

    ''Sword savant style second form, light speed sh.''

    Using one of the skills his master had taught him, Quillon shot forward at a blinding speed.

    ''Hmph as if that will stop me.''

    Seeing the adamantine shield in front of his opponent, Quillon was certain the match would end in one strike as usual.

    He had already sliced straight through and adamantine shield in his first match and he figured now would be no different.

    Yet he was surprised when his sword impacted the floating shield, and not only did it hold up, but it also even managed to fully repel his first strike.

    Still even if the shield could take one strike, he only needed to attack again and this time it was battered out of the way.

    ''Well, at least she was able to block one attack, but this is the end.''

    With the adamantine shield that was his opponent''s only defense out of the way Quillon simply shed forward thinking that this match was over.

    ''She''s gone.''

    However, he watched as his target disappeared right before his eyes.

    ''Quillon they are not human, that is some type of upper ranked spirit.'' Quillon''s contracted spirit said to him.

    ''Thanks Aerial.''

    With the quick response from his contracted spirit, Quillon used his spiritual energy to coat his eyes and sword.

    This allowed him to see his adversary, and unleash an attack that could hit them, even while not in a physical form.

    But before his sword hit, they reappeared and exploded with an aura of light and darkness.

    Scythe and sword then shed, but of course Quillon won out just as he though he would.

    His opponent was sted back after losing out in the battle of power, and Quillon prepared his stance again to unleash his technique once more.

    ''Light speed sh.''

    Shooting forward, Quillon was confident to end this with his next attack, when the atmosphere around Marcus changed, and instead he was the one getting overpowered.

    He could not believe it, one of the techniques he had learned from his master had been overpowered, and now he was the one flying backwards.

    ''Looks like I may get a good battle this time.''

    With a smile on his face Quillon could not express how happy he was to finally be able to trade blows with someone.

    Then after regaining his footing and the dust cloud their sh had created began to clear Quillon said, "You wanted to see, right?"

    After that he took of his appraisal jamming ring, allowing Marcus to appraise him.

    He wanted them to know as well that there was someone out there just as strong.

    "Now let us get back to our match. I have finally found a worthy opponent so try to keep this interesting for me."

    After giving his fellowpetitor enough time to look at his level and let it sink in, Quillon got ready to begin their match anew.

    He charged forward nning to fight head on and see who could overpower the other, but to his surprise Marcus jumped into the air and began to attack with ranged spells.

    ''Unique skill, Trajectory disruption.''

    Unfortunately, for hispetition, Quillon had a unique skill that made any aimed ranged attacks go around and miss him.

    ''Sword savant style fifth form, sky yer.''

    shing his sword upwards Quillon sent a massive st of mana into the air, with a move specialized in taking down flying targets.

    Still his opponent managed to block it with a well-timed counterattack after using a couple of defensive abilities to wear his attack down.

    ''Sword savant style third form, flow redirection.''

    Swinging his sword in a fluid motion Quillon was able to cause the attacking for him to break apart and fly in multiple different directions away from him.

    After that he decided to take to the air as well using the mana barrier skill to create tforms under his feet so he could run up into the air.

    ''That won''t work. Trajectory disruption.''

    Seeing his opponent fire of some type of beam spell, Quillon once again used his unique skill to force it to curve around him harmlessly.

    Then with theirst attack having failed, Marcus flew towards Quillon with no other option but to meet him head on.

    ''Not this time.''

    Sensing the sudden explosion of strength from Marcus, Quillon instead of meeting power against power used his sword for a very smooth parry and slipped around to the side where his adversary''s guard was down.

 Chapter 319 - 319 Quillon Vs Marcus (2)

    ''Sword savant style fourth form, whirlpool strikes.''

    With a flurry of rapid shes Quillon nned to slice Marcus up, but he was surprised by how they expertly maneuvered and used their iron wings as a scapegoat to avoid all of his attacks.

    Then with one final sh from above Quillon was able to send his opponent rocketing towards the ground.

    Except instead of crashing into the ring, they disappeared for a moment before repapering andnding on their feet perfectly fine.

    Though Quillon had already begun his own decent his sword posed to make a finishing blow, when out of nowhere a massive furnace made of fire appeared right in front of his face and sent a huge st of me at him.

    ''Sword savant style seventh form, Warding sh.''

    Rapidly moving his sword in a zigzag pattern Quillon was able to block all of the mesing at him, but the intense heat radiating around him was still burning him.

    Luckily, he was able to jump out of the mes after only a moment.

    ''Looks like they are finally getting serious and decided to stop pretending to chant.''

    With a smile on his face Quillon waited to see what Marcus would do next, but was surprised to see them jump back and put some distance between them.

    ''You won''t get away that easily.''

    However, as he bounded towards Marcus, arge iron golem over thirty feet tall, appeared in front of him forcing him to stop for a moment to cut it down with one swing.

    But in that moment, it had been enough for his opponent to make it to the other side of the ring, where Quillon saw a colossal sword of iron appeared above them.

    ''This must be that tier six spell they used to win theirst match.''

    Seeing this Quillon was filled with tion. He had never had the chance to face a tier six spell before, and he could not wait to see what kind of power it had.

    Yet Quillon soon turned serious as the huge de of iron began to fall down on him, and he could tell that the power behind it was not something he could stop normally.

    ''Supreme skill, Ten Greatest Techniques, Rebound''

    Using his strongest ability, Quillon shed up at the titanic sword about to hit him, and all of the force behind it was rebounded back upwards.

    This caused the cataclysmic iron sword to bounce back up and its own force caused it to crack where Quillon''s sword had hit it.

    Then with his adversary surprised that their attack was blocked, Quillon rushed forward.

    Except as he got closer, he noticed the massive iron sword was moving again and would hit both him and its caster.

    Yet Quillon knew what was happening and clicked his tongue and stopped to receive the tier six spell again.

    ''Ten Greatest Techniques, Shattering Blow.''

    Using another of his ten strongest attacks, Quillon was able topletely destroy Marcus'' tier six spell but doing so had left him open to an attack.

    A torrent of mes thenpletely engulfed him, and while he put up his best defenses, the heat was too severe, and his flesh began to burn.

    Luckily, he managed to hold out, and while his body had third degree burns all over it he would only need a bit of time for them to heal.

    Of course, his opponent was not going to give him the time he needed and began running towards him, obviously aiming to end the fight with onest attack.

    ''Ten Greatest Techniques, Guided Strike.''

    Unable to properly move his arms on his own Quillon allowed his supreme skill to move for him using an attack that never missed.

    And just as expected his arm and sword moved as if they had a mind of their own and stabbed straight into his opponent''s chest right as they had initiated their attack.

    It was an attack that normally would have killed whoever, it was used against as very few living creatures could survive having their chest stabbed through, but he was currently dealing with a spiritual being that could survive being cut in half.

    ''They disappeared again.''

    Seeing Marcus vanish Quillon took up a defensive position and waited for his regeneration to finish healing him.

    Unfortunately, before he was fully recovered his adversary appeared again, their wound already gone, before they exploded with some new type of power.

    Quillon then had to block a powerful blow, that easily pushed him back and even broke some of his fingers.

    While flying backwards he watched as a powerful st of energy was sent his way, and with his hands barely able to grip his sword, he knew that he would be unable to counter on his own.

    ''Aerial I need you.''

    With no other option Quillon summoned his contracted spirit.

    He had not nned to use her but having alreadye this far, he was willing to use everything he had to win.

    Aerial appearing out of his body, took her humanoid form and deployed a powerful wind barrier in front of Quillon, and using all of her strength blocked Marcus'' attack.

    ''Spirit assimtion.''

    Fusing with his contracted spirit Quillon''s power soared to new heights, but the pressure on his body was immense.

    ''I only have a few minutes time to finish this.''

    Having used his final trump card Quillon began to unleash a flurry of blows, against Marcus.

    The two continued to battle it out, each trying to use all of their skills to win the fight.

    ''Damn even after using nine of my ten techniques I still cannot win. They counter me every time with that ability that can raise their strength for an instance. Both me and Aerial are not going tost much longer. I will have to put my all into onest attack.''

    And while Quillon was thinking this so was his opponent, whose powerpressed around them as they flew towards him like a missile.

    ''Sword savant style first form, Typhoon Fang. Ten Greatest Techniques, Final sh.''

    Using his strongest form, and strongest skill, Quillon met Marcus head on in a final sh, feeling a rush of exhration, as he was finally able to cross des with someone, he could call his equal.

 Chapter 320 - 320 And The Winner Is

    As Marcus and Quillon had their final sh Marcus was slowly overpowering him.

    The full power of all of his unique and supreme skills was more than even Quillon could deal with, until he felt a snap.

    With wide eyes Marcus noticed his scythe where he had concentrated most of his power had shattered, its handle and de breaking apart into numerous pieces unable to deal with the strain of his and Quillon''s power.

    After that Marcus was blown back crashing against the barrier protecting the audience which shattered being unable to take the full force of his and Quillon''s final attacks.

    But as the barrier shattered and the overflowing power of Quillon''s and Marcus'' attacks was about to spill out into the audience, a powerful figure appeared above the ring.

    With the p of her hands Aria, created a new barrier with her sound magic, incapsting the arena, and dissipating the raging powers within it.

    Many in the audience had even begun fleeing the stands as they watched the barrier break, as this was the first time it had ever happen since the tournament had been created.

    ''To think that the two of them would have the power to break a barrier strong enough to take the full power strike of most high-level sixties.''

    Aria along with everyone in the arena was astounded by the disy of power that Marcus and Quillon had shown, that was well beyond anything that had been seen in the tournament so far.

    Still after the panic of the barrier breaking subsided, everyone looked out at the ring curiously to see who the winner would be.

    Unfortunately, Marcus''s and Quillon''sst sh had blown up quite the dust cloud, and it took nearly thirty seconds before some level of visibility was able to be seen.

    However, when things began to clear a single figure could be standing on the rubble that was left of the ring, his sword stabbed into the ground below him to keep himself standing.

    And at the edge of the arena''s floor hispetitor whose clothes and armor were torn apart, was trying to crawl their way back to the ring not having given up yet.

    "Ten."

    With visibility restored, the referee began the ten count since Marcus was out of the ring.

    Of course, he could surmise that MArcus had already been out of the ring for longer than ten seconds, but since it was impossible to confirm, he started the count now.

    Hearing this a fire was lit in Marcus as he used every ounce of will and strength left in him to get back in the ring.

    Naturally he was in a horrible condition, his soul burst having run out, and his embodiment of eclipse and soul devourer having ravaged him. But defeat was not an option.

    ''I have to get up, I have to win.'' With these thoughts racing through his mind, through sheer will power Marcus began to stand.

    He needed to win not only for Mrazivy but for himself.

    He could not allow himself to lose after going all out and sacrificing so much.

    And with all of his determination Marcus stood up again even as his soul was falling apart, and he could barely keep his solid form.

    Even his regeneration skills could not keep up with the abuse he was subjecting himself to, but none of that mattered as long as he could get back in the ring and win.

    However, if determination alone was enough to always win, then the weak would not be beaten by the strong.

    As he staggered forward, the ten seconds he had to enter the ring ended before he could make the final few steps to the remaining rubble of the tournament''s'' stage.

    "That is it folks. Lady Irene had been out of the ring for ten seconds. The winner is the disciple of the sword savant, Quillon."

    Resound cheers echoed throughout the arena as the most intense and amazing match in the history of the kingdom''s tournament came to its end.

    Loud roars of excitement sounded through the area, but two people felt a deep pit of anguish.

    One was Marcus who''s hopes of winning the tournament were dashed, and the other was Mrazivy, who was worried about Marcus but also her future.

    Their n had revolved around Marcus winning the tournament, and neither of them had doubted that he would win.

    Unfortunately, someone like Quillon was not something that could be nned for, and in the end, it came down to the difference in their weapons'' strength.

    Marcus'' scythe just could not hold up to the immense power unleashed by his and Quillon''s final attacks and broke under the pressure.

    With his chances to win gone, all of Marcus'' strength left him, and he copsed onto the ground.

    He wanted to m his fists into the ground out of frustration, or yell and scream, but he waspletely unable to move.

    While he had no visible injuries the internal damage to his soul was great and he was going to need quite a while to fully recover.

    In fact, if not for his soul regeneration skill, he likely would have caused serious damage that could have left his soul crippled.

    ''Damn it, damn it!''

    Mentally berating himself, Marcus began ying the fight back in his mind, finding ces where he could have done better to eke out a win.

    If he had used fire storm instead of hisser spell, or maybe he should have used his tier five darkness magic spell and summoned the ravenous abyss.

    He even got to the point where he started thinking that maybe he would have been better of using more of his skill points to level up different skills.

    Of course, at the end of the day thinking back on it and trying to find a way to win would not matter, since he had already lost.

    Soon the tournament''s medical staff, came out cast healing spells on Marcus, though they did not really do anything.

    Naturally they became worried and put him on a stretcher and dragged him to the infirmary.

    Luckily, this world''s physical medicine was basically nonexistent as most injuries could be healed with magic, so none of them noticed that Marcus was not human.

    Though, plenty of people who had watched the fight did notice this, but the people at the top already knew, so it did not really matter to Marcus.

    After being brough to the infirmary, the medical staff forced some healing and stamina recovery potions down Marcus'' throat, before bringing over a device that detected mana.

    This way they were able to tell, if Marcus was still alive by seeing that he was still producing mana, since in his current state he looked almost like a corpse.

    Still, it was only a matter of time until he was able to move again, and when he could he told the staff member watching over him that he would be fine in a couple of hours, since he had a regeneration skill.

    ''Now what am I going to do about Mrazivy''s situation.''

    With his mind clearing up Marcus began trying to reformte their n.

    A big part of it had revolved around him leveraging the status that came with winning the tournament, but maybe they still had a chance.

    However, as he was thinking about, he noticed someone else enter the room he was in, and turning his head saw Mrazivy, with a frantic and worried expression on her face.

 Chapter 321 - 321 For Her Highnessâ€™ Sake

    After walking into the infirmary, Mrazivy began looking around for Marcus and when she found him rushed over and said, "Are you okay, you were not moving after you lost, do you need an elixir?"

    Coming up to Marcus who wasying on a bed in the infirmary, Mrazivy let off a series of rapid-fire questions, wanting to make sure he was okay.

    Seeing how worried she was for him, a smile creeped up on Marcus'' face and he said, "Yeah I will be fine. I went all out in that fight, so I am just worn out. Give me a week and I will be back up to full strength."

    Letting out a sigh of relief, Mrazivy looked at Marcus with a happy expression, before turning serious.

    "What are we going to do now. Without you winning the tournament, the main selling point of you being the new champion is not going to work."

    Naturally Mrazivy was worried since, their n to have her forced engagement broken off, revolved around the political clout that Marcus would bring to the table as the tournament''s victor.

    However, Marcus was not ready to give up and said, "I think we can still convince your father, that having me in the kingdom''s pocket, is worth more than shipping you off to be miserable just to appease that asshole viceroy."

    Of course, if it came down to it Marcus did not mind killing Mrazivy''s current arrange fianc¨¦ and his father, though this was a drastic measure he wished not to take unless all else fails.

    "Also, your great grandmother still seems to like me and even told me to take care of you in her stead, do you think that maybe she could help convince your father."

    Shrugging her shoulders Mrazivy said, "Maybe, but she does not really get involved with politics anymore. I heard stories of her being quite shrewd at the political game when she was still queen, but now she tries to stay out of it. Though she does still advise my father on important matters, so maybe she will help us a bit, but ultimately it will stille down to my father''s decision."

    Clicking his tongue Marcus was hoping that Aria might possibly strong arm the king for them, since in theory she could have almost as much political power, but it sounded like a good word was all they might get.

    "I suppose all we can do is our best to try and convince your father. Let us just hope it does note down to something drastic."

    After saying that Marcus, shuffled his way off of the bed he was on, much to the medical staff''s disapproval, but with Mrazivy with him there was little they could do as she lent him a shoulder and the two began walking out.

    And as they began making their way towards the room''s exit that was when Marcus caught sight of Sir Heward, Mrazivy''s guardian knight.

    He was giving Marcus a menacing re, not trying to hide his displeasure at all.

    From his point of view Marcus had exposed his charge to unnecessary danger, and staged an escape with her, preventing him from doing his duty.

    In fact, if it were up to him, he would have Marcus executed, but when he brough this up to the king after Mrazivy was discovered missing, he had brushed it off like it was no big deal.

    This further infuriated Sir Heward, since it seemed the king did not care about his daughter at all, but how could he have known that Aria who was following them at the time had already contacted him.

    ''Well looks like he hates me even more now than before. And after I just got his approval.''

    Marcus actually had no idea how much Sir Heward now despised him, and as he and Mrazivy walked by, Sir Heward had half a mind to take out his sword and strike down Marcus right here and now.

    He had seen the way Mrazivy looked at him, and how frantic she had be when he copsed after hisst match.

    They were not the actions of just a good friend, and he could tell there was something more.

    ''I will most likely be executed myself for this, but if her highness continues to associate with her, she will be led to ruin.''

    Sir Heward knew that this would probably be his only opportunity to dispatch Marcus.

    He had seen just how powerful he is during his match with Quillon, and while he hated to admit it, he could not hold a candle to Marcus'' strength.

    But right now, he was exhausted, and could not even walk without assistance.

    ''I can do this; I have to do it for her highness'' sake.''

    As Sir Heward summoned up the resolve to kill Marcus, he put his hand on his sword, ready to deliver a fatal blow as he walked by.

    Yet, as he was about to make a move a hand gripped his own, preventing him from drawing his sword, and Diana, was looking at him while shaking her head.

    She had noticed the way Sir Heward was ring and when his hand had gone to his sword, she realized what he was nning on doing.

    "You will not be doing the princess any favors if you kill her best friend. You are not a noble Lady, so I am sure you do not understand, but sometimes, we want to escape the cages around us even if only for a little while. Anyway, if you truly do this, who will be there to protect the princess. You will at least be turned into a ve and lose your position, and at worst executed. It will also reflect poorly on the princess if her guardian knight murders a noble in cold blood, while in his master''s arms. However, if you are dead set on it, far be it from me to stop you." Diana said, quietly, whispering into Sir Heward''s ear.

    Diana, then fell back into line following behind Mrazivy and Marcus who were moving slowly as Marcus could still barely walk.

    ''What do I do, this is likely the only chance I will get.''

    Looking at Marcus'' back, as he slowly walked away, Sir Heward imagined running him through with his de, and killing the person that had gotten his master into to trouble.

    However, after that he saw the image of Mrazivy, the one he was supposed to protect breaking down and crying over the corpse of her friend as blood soaked her hands.

    Of course, what Sir Heward did not know was that running Marcus through with a sword would not kill him, but the scene that just yed out in his mind convinced him.

    ''If I kill Irene Geist, her highness will be ovee with grief, and her life will certainly be ruined by my actions.''

    Coming to this conclusion, Sir Heward quickly caught up to Mrazivy taking up his position behind her as her guardian knight.

    He knew that he may not be able to prevent her from making decisions that put her own life at risk, but he could still do everything in his power to keep her safe.

 Chapter 322 - 322

    With Mrazivy''s help, Marcus made it back to her private room, where she let him sit down on the couch in the room and pulled up a tray of snacks and tea for them to have.

    "My great grandmother should be by in around and hour toe and takes us to the meeting with my father, do you think you will be up for it by then?"

    "Yeah, it should not be a problem, I am still just getting used to my stats being lowered, but in an hour, I should make a decent recovery." Marcus said with a confident smile.

    He wanted Mrazivy to feel at ease even though he did feel a bit of trepidation.

    He had no reason to believe that they would kill him, seeing as how they had apparently known for a while that he is really a ghost, but the possibility remained.

    Of course, if push came to shove Marcus was willing to roll over and show his belly and make whatever promises necessary to stay alive until he was strong enough to retaliate.

    ''No if they wanted me dead Aria would have already killed me probably. I have more value alive than dead. Anyway, I have already helped the kingdom out on multiple asions so that should show just how valuable I can be.''

    Steeling himself, Marcus pushed the lingering thoughts of his possible destruction out of his mind and went over his selling points.

    He wanted this meeting to go well, and he was hoping to get Mrazivy her freedom at the lowest possible cost to himself.

    Naturally, Marcus did not want to be tied down or beholden to anyone, but he hade to like Mrazivy, and while it may not have turned into full blown love yet, he knew he would regret it for the rest of his presumably infinite life if he did not give it a shot.

    So, for her he was willing to chain himself down a bit, if that was what it took for their rtionship to blossom.

    Soon the time passed them by, and with his soul regeneration, Marcus felt himself revering, and his damaged soul was soon back up to full health.

    Unfortunately, his stats were still going to be quartered for a week, which made him feel weak and lethargic but there was nothing to be done about it.

    Then after the hour was over Aria came into Mrazivy''s private room and said, "Ah good you are both here. And it looks like you have recovered enough, so let us not keep the king waiting."

    Getting up both Marcus and Mrazivy followed behind Aria, though Mrazivy''s two protectors looked somewhat confused.

    They had not yet been told that Marcus and Mrazivy were going to be having an audience with the king, though they quickly gathered themselves and began to follow.

    However, as they were about to exit the room Aria turned around and said, "There is no need for you two to apany us. This is going to be a private meeting, so just wait here for Mrazivy''s return."

    Hearing this both of them stopped and were surprised for a moment, but Diana following Aria''s orders bowed her head and went back inside.

    Sir Heward on the other hand hesitated for a few instances.

    Thest time he had let the princess go off on supervise she went on a dangerous journey to some far off and remote location.

    Still with the grand archmage apanying them, Sir Heward could only bow his head and relent to the higher authority even though he did want to stay by Mrazivy''s side in order to make sure she stayed safe.

    "Everything will be fine Sir Heward, I am just going to have a chat with my father." Mrazivy said to lessen his worry.

    Nodding his head Sir Heward back off and stayed inside the room as Marcus and Mrazivy followed behind Aria.

    ''Looks like no one is around, so this should be a good time for it.''

    After they made it to a certain floor of the arena, no one could be seen moving around, and Marcus took this opportunity to switch his form back over.

    He knew that there was no need for any pretenses during this meeting and he nned to be as honest as possible to win the king''s trust along whatever other higher ups might be there.

    Seeing this Aria, gave him a quick nce, before smiling, happy that Marcus seemed willing to put everything out in the open.

    And luckily, he was wearing his battle clothing that would change shape to fit his body and had already repaired itself after getting tattered during hisst match.

    Not longer after Marcus changed his form, he saw arge door down the hallway with two guards standing in front of it.

    Both of them were equipped wit full adamantine armor, and one was holding a top tier adamantine halberd, while the other had two adamantine daggers at her waist.

    Looking them over Marcus could teel that they were both impably strong, and that they were likely some of the king''s guards.

    Aria, then walked up to the door and gave slight nod to the two guards, and they both bowed before the man wielding the halberd opened up the door and allowed them to go inside.

    Walking inside, Marcus could see that they were in arge viewing box with luxuries that far surpassed what was in Mrazivy''s.

    There were a number of couches and othervish furnishings, along with what even appeared to be a private kitchen in one of the room''s corners.

    It was certainly an area that seemed to be the definition of royal, and the people inside certainly fit in this ce.

    There were currently only three other people in the room. One being the king who was sitting on a throne like chair which was facing a couch obviously set up for Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Then another person recognized was, Knight Commander Darius who was standing behind the king, his amethros axe on full disy, and gleaming in the room''s low light.

    However, it was thest person sitting on a chair to the left of the king, who Marcus had never seen that left him somewhat stumped.

    At first, he thought she might be Mrazivy''s mother since they looked quite simr, but he quickly disregarded this thought.

    She had the blue hair that was a symbol of the royal family, and thus the king''s wife and Mrazivy''s mother were unlikely to share this trait.

    Of course, Marcus did not disregard the fact that royalty in his world had been known to marry their cousins, but he would hope that since the first king of this country was from Earth, he would have made sure that such a practice did not happen.

    Also, while she looked quite young, when Marcus looked at her eyes, he had a feeling like they were very old and had seen quite a lot in their time.

    "Well, I brought them to you as you wanted Aaren. I have already told you and Gwyneira my stance on the matter, so I will leave it up to the two of you."

    After saying that Aria, turned back around and left the room, not staying for Marcus and Mrazivy''s meeting with the king.

 Chapter 323 - 323 Discussion With The King

    As Aria, left Marcus thanked her for bringing them here before going to sit down, on the couch facing the king, and the woman called Gwyneira.

    Seeing this Mrazivy went wide eyed.

    At the same time Knight Commander Darius slightly shook his and the king''s smile turned into a frown. Although Gwyneira kept her neutral expression, not betraying any emotions on her face.

    The king then grunted and said, "So you are not even going to bow to your king?"

    However, in responds Marcus simply put on his best smile and said, "You are not my king."

    Marcus then held out his hands and emphasized his form, which was no longer in the guise of Irene.

    The frown on the king''s face hearing this turned into a full-blown scowl as he said, "Oh you are in my kingdom, and have even received a title but refuse to acknowledge me as your king."

    Keeping up his confident smile Marcus nodded his head and said, "That is right. You noticed, did you not? I have note here today as Irene Geist, Baress of the Kingdom of Borealia. But as Marcus Ferrous, unbound ghost, and great spirit of light and darkness, as well as a man from the same world as this kingdom''s founder."

    After saying this the tension in the king''s face seemed to reach its breaking point, and anyone could believe he was seconds away from ordering the execution of the person who had upset him.

    However, a momentter, all of the tension in the room vanished as the kingid back and smiled.

    "I see so that is how you wish to y it. Well certainly as a great spirit I cannot deny your status. Very well speak freely, what is it that you want from the king of this nation."

    Letting out an internal sigh of relief Marcus was happy that his n seemed to work.

    He knew that if he came in her as a baress, he would have to act subservient to the king, but what if he came as a great spirit.

    They are beings that are revered and have whole religions focused around them.

    Therefore, even a king should not be able to take him lightly with the status of great spirit.

    Of course, Marcus also knew that he did not have the power to back up being a great spirit, as from what he could tell from Recha they were normally beings at the top of this world, but he is still technically one of them.

    "Mraze ahead and sit down." Marcus said beckoning Mrazivy over since she was still in a bit of shock from seeing the way Marcus had acted in front of the king.

    Still, she shook off her astonishment, and walked up to her father and bowed before sitting down next to Marcus.

    Now with Mrazivy sitting next to him, Marcus grabbed her hand with his own, and said, "I would like you to break off the arranged engagement Mrazivy has with Viceroy Marquis Krenston''s son."

    Coming right out and saying it, Marcus made what seemed like apletely ridiculous and one-sided request to the king.

    Naturally Marcus understood this, but he had no intention to beat around the bush and wanted toe right out and say what he wanted.

    Hearing this the king scoffed, obviously not going to simply given in to Marcus'' request.

    Needless to say, Aria had already informed him of what Marcus wanted since she had been listening in on their conversation, but the shameless manner in which he demanded it was far from what the king was expecting.

    "And why would I do something like that. I have nothing to gain, and plenty to lose if I do that. I have already promised my daughters hand in marriage to Marquis Krenston and his son. Even for a great spirit this request is too much for nothing in return. Especially when you are not a great spirit worshipped in my kingdom, or one with a great degree of power. Anyway, what interest do you have in the affairs of my kingdom and family?"

    The king then looked at Marcus with a smug smile, he pretty much had all the cards, and was nning to make Marcus dance in the palm of his hands.

    Nevertheless, Marcus had no intention of backing down, and said, "I do not care about the politics of your kingdom, but I became friends with Mrazivy when I saved her life after she got caught by a teleport trap in the Ocean Bluff Temple. We spent an entire week down there together, and after meeting a few more times after that, I have grown to like her. So, for my own interests I naturally can not let her be married to Maquis Krenston''s son."

    The king hearing this made an exaggerated surprised expression and said, "I did not think that great spirits coulde to like a human in a romantic sense?"

    "Well, that may be true for most great spirits, but I was once human. You understand right that I came from another world before this one, and while may now be a spiritual being, I still have the same thoughts and emotions as before. So, yes, I do like your daughter in a romantic sense, and n to see where our feeling will lead."

    After receiving Marcus'' response for the first time the king turned his head towards Mrazivy and said, "And what about you Mrazivy? Do you feel something for him as well? You have a duty to uphold as a member of the royal family are you willing to shirk away from, it to pursue your own selfish desire?"

    Trying to test his daughters resolve, the king, was expecting her to back down after the series of questions he had asked, since the way he had worded them made it seem like she would be betraying the kingdom.

    But to his surprise she held resolute and gripped Marcus'' hand even tighter and said, "Yes, I am willing to abandon my duty. Marcus has done so much for me, and I cannot say that he has not swayed my heart. I certainly never thought I would have the chance to pursue romance, but I cannot give up this chance to be with someone of my own choosing who I care for and cares for me."

    "I see so the two of you are both firm on your stance of being together, to try to find happiness. However, Mrazivy is already promised to someone and to break off that engagement would cause me to lose face and gain even more ire from the Krenston house. It is simply not worth it for me to do this with nothing to gain and everything to lose."

    With that the king''s stance on the matter was settled and now it was time for the negotiations.

    Certainly, the king did actually want Marcus on his side.

    Not only was he a great spirit, but also a promising forgemaster, and the disy of strength he had just demonstrated was beyond even the kingdom''s top prodigies.

    And if he could reap benefits for the kingdom and make his daughter happy, then it was a win win situation.

 Chapter 324 - 324 Discussion With The King (2)

    With the king saying that he had no intention of breaking off Mrazivy''s engagement to Marquis Krenston''s son since it would cause him too much loss, Marcus knew what he wanted.

    If he simply was not going to allow it, then the king probably would have just ended the meeting here telling Marcus to leave and not associate with his daughter anymore.

    No now was the stage of the game where he wanted to see how much he could get out of Marcus, who had plenty of valuable skills to provide.

    "So, what you are saying is that if you do gain from my rtionship with your daughter, over what you would get from her being married to Krenston''s son, you would break off their engagement," Marcus said with a serious look in his eyes.

    Hearing this a wry smile appeared on the king''s face and he said, "Exactly. As the king of this nation, I most always strive to do what is best for it. Currently Mrazivy as a princess of this kingdom, can best serve it by mending rtions between the Krenston family and the royal family. Certainly, I will not deny that she has done good work as an adventurer, but that has be too dangerous after herst excursion. Having her to oversee the interests of the crown, in one of ourrgest cites and biggest trading hubs is a much better and safer way for her to use her talents. However, if you have something greater to offer, I am all ears."

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "Have I not already proven my worth to this kingdom. I helped to defend River Landing when it was under siege from the ice ants, and most recently I helped collect heaps of damning evidence that allowed you to eradicate the criminal syndicate calling itself Permafrost, which had been leeching off of this kingdom for years. But if I do not have a reason to stay in this kingdom, I may just take my talents elsewhere."

    Saying this Marcus was pretty much trying to sell the king that just his very presence in the kingdom was more valuable than Mrazivy''s engagement to Krenston''s son.

    In fact, the king thinking that it was ridiculous at how shameless Marcus was being let out a quickugh before saying, "You hold yourself in such high regard that simply being in my kingdom makes it a better ce. And anyway, I believe it was an Irene Geist that aplished both of those achievements you are iming as your own. But if the baress really was here, I would never allow a noble of the kingdom to talk to me the way you are."

    Pretty much throwing Marcus'' own words back in his face, since he was here today as a great spirit, the king was not going to allow him to im any of his achievements that were in is other identity.

    Obviously both the king and Marcus knew they were just throwing around semantics and that Marcus and Irene were one in the same, but they were both ying a game to see who coulde out on top.

    ''Well, I knew that it was unlikely to work, but I just had to try.''

    Marcus was currently trying to find the king''s bottom line on what kind of benefits he would have to provide the kingdom in order to break Mrazivy''s engagement.

    While on the other hand the king was trying to push Marcus as high as he could, and in a best-case scenario have him serve the kingdom for eternity.

    "Very well, then how about I supply the kingdom with twelve top tier mithril weapons and sets of armor. Certainly, weapons and armor of that quality are useful to outfit the knights of this kingdom. There is always a shortage of good equipment, and I am sure that this would be of a great help. I will even provide all of the materials myself and can have it done in three months."

    Seeing that his first offer of just staying in the kingdom was not going to work, Marcus decided to try a ime deal of supplying weapons and armor.

    He knew that even in arge and prosperous kingdom like Borealia, good equipment was still in a shortage, and that stronger equipment could make a big difference in a battle or life and death for the kingdom''s knights.

    And for the first time the king did look a bit intrigued. Even the royal family only had so many top tier mithril weapons, and even less armor at their disposal.

    "Hm, while I am slightly interested, your skill is unknown. Also, you are calming the talent to produce mithril items of the highest quality as if you are making children''s toys. Not even our best royal forgemaster can make top tier items at the rate you suggest you can, and the only one in the kingdom who can is Thabon zegram."

    ''So, he is going to y dumb even to this extent.'' Marcus though with an internal sigh.

    It appeared that the king would not even consider any of the feat he had under him as Irene.

    Still, they both knew that Marcus was not just tooting his own horn, but the king still wanted to push him around a bit in order to show dominance.

    "Fine this should show you that I do have the skill to aplish what I have said."

    Marcus then took out one of the top tier weapons he had recently made and was not going to be selling to the Penigar auction house and had decided to keep for now.

    "This here is a mithril spear I made myself. As you can see it has received the system''s approval and is imbued with the power of the ice element."

    cing the spear on the table in front of the king, Marcus allowed him to look it over himself to prove his ability to create top tier items.

    Picking it up the king looked it over and was impressed, by the spear. It was a strong weapon that he would love to outfit any knight specializing in the spear with.

    In fact, a couple of promising knights came right to his mind, since ice magic was quitemon in his kingdom, and this spear wouldplement any of them quite well.

    "Yes, this spear is impressive, and I do believe you made it. However, only twelve sets of top tier armor and weapons are not enough for me to sour rtions with a powerful noble house in charge of one of the kingdom''s most important cities. Now, I do recognize your skills though, so how about you work for the kingdom as a royal forgemaster. If you do that so long as you work for the kingdom, I will not get in the way of your rtionship with my daughter and will break off her engagement."

    Feeling that the time was ripe, the king took this opportunity to state what he wanted from Marcus.

    Of course, what he had basically asked for was Marcus'' eternal servitude as a royal forgemaster, or the king would not allow his rtionship with Mrazivy.

 Chapter 325 - 325 Discussionâ€™s Outcome

    Frowning, Marcus was hoping to string things out a bit more and meet somewhere in the middle, but the king seemed to want to end this quickly now, and with Marcus working for the kingdom for eternity no less.

    However, Marcus was not going to just roll over to this if he did not have to. As much as he liked the kingdom, and forging was a passion of his, he did not want to do it every day at the kingdom''s beck and call.

    "How about this. I will work for the kingdom in whatever regard you want of me for a year. I can forge items, fight monsters, heck I am even adept at gathering information. But I have no intention of being nailed down for eternity."

    Putting his foot down Marcus was not willing to be chained to the kingdom and be there forging dog.

    He wanted Mrazivy to be happy, but he did not want to build up resentment for either her or this kingdom should he be forced to do something he did not want for the rest of his existence.

    Of course, if it came down to it, he could just wait it out until he became too powerful to ignore, and threaten the entire kingdom, but he really did not want to do that.

    Stroking his chin, the king though about Marcus'' offer for a bit before saying, "How about fifty years. A single year of service is not enough no matter how talented you are. Maybe if you had some aplishments under your name, like say winning our tournament, it would be worth it. But unfortunately, it is toote for that."

    The king taking a jab at Marcus losing in the tournament, was trying to make him feel down and give in.

    Unfortunately for him this simply made Marcus angry.

    ''Fifty years, as if. I may live forever, but I have not even been alive for fifty years yet, and I do not n to spend that long tied down.''

    Shaking his head Marcus responded and said, "Sorry fifty years is far to long even for me. For most people that would be the majority of their lives. At most I will give you two. I am sure you realize I can get done in two years what it takes most to do in ten. I have no need to sleep or eat and with my skills can go near infinitely. I am sure that having someone like me at your disposal for even just two years would benefit the kingdom greatly."

    Putting his foot down Marcus was not willing to sacrifice fifty years of his life, even if he could live forever.

    The king seeing this began thinking once more before a devious smile formed on his face.

    "Now that I think about it, I do believe that someone named Marcus Ferrous is a wanted man. Something about having a very dangerous egg in his possession, which could hatch into a beast powerful enough to threaten the entire kingdom. In fact, I do believe that you fit this individual''s description perfectly."

    After saying that the king took out one of Marcus'' wanted posters, which he obviously had prepared earlier.

    "Yes, it appears to be a perfect match. So then how about you hand over the egg or the beast that hatched out of it, or I will have to have you, and anyone associated with you arrested for the sake of the kingdom''s security."

    Hearing this Marcus became abrasive and then angry.

    He thought that the king might bring up Roxene, but his response was quite a bit more cutthroat that he thought it would be.

    However, after the king said this, for the first time the woman Gwyneira spoke up and said, "Aaren, I think that he has already showed his resolve. There is no need to continue to bully him, when we already came to a conclusion on what to do before this meeting began."

    The king who had been acting high and mighty and full of bravado, suddenly started sweating and became much meeker after what Gwyneira said.

    Naturally Marcus picked up on this and wondered who Gwyneira really was, but he did have some idea.

    He had heard rumors of it before, though they were unfounded, but now he thought it was likely seeing as how it seemed that even the king was not above this person.

    "You are not a human, are you? You must be the legendary grade beast that I heard is the royal family''s guardian." Marcus said with confidence.

    Smiling Gwyneira looked at Marcus and said, "You are half right and half wrong. I am the guardian beast of the royal family, but I am actually at the mythic grade. Now bring out your beastpanion I would like to speak with her."

    With surprise all over his face, Marcus was astonished to hear that sitting across from him was a mythic grade magic beast, and that she would admit it so openly.

    ''Roxene, what do you want to do?''

    ''Ugh, I guess I have no choice but toe out. But if things get hairy, I may make a mess of things in order to escape.''

    After saying that Roxene popped out of Marcus''panion storage and looked Gwyneira right in the eyes.

    For a moment Gwyneira even flinched backwards, feeling the strength of Roxene''s bloodline, which was far greater than even her own.

    "To think that a beast such as yourself could actually exist. You truly are beyond that of any beast I have evere across." Gwyneira said while looking at Roxene almost in a daze.

    Roxene not paying mind to Gwyneria''s words sniffed the air a couple of times before using her telepathy while targeting everyone in the room, and saying, ''You are some type of dragon, right?''

    With a bit of surprise on her face Gwyneira nodded her head and said, "I am surprised that you picked up on that when I am doing my best to conceal my true nature. Yes, you are correct. I am a frost lindwurm, a true dragon."

    ''I see, so what did you want from me.'' Roxene asked.

    "Oh, I just wanted to ask you why you are here, and what you want. A beast like you should not exist in this world as far as I know."

    ''You are right I should not be here, but certain circumstances forced my parent to send me here. And for the reason I am here is simple. I am to get stronger before going to reunite with my parents who are not from this world.''

    "I see, so you are not nning to take over this kingdom, or harm it in anyway." Gwyneira asked sternly.

    Roxene taking a nonchnt attitude began scratching her ear, before saying, ''I could not care less about this kingdom, or world for that matter. I am simply going to stick with Marcus and aim to get stronger.''

    Smiling Gwyneira said, "Very well then, I have determined that you will not be a threat to this kingdom."

    After saying that she turned towards the king and said, "Now Aaren, please give Marcus the terms we came up with for breaking off Mrazivy''s engagement.. You have already done enough to test his resolve and pushing him too far will bring us no benefit."

 Chapter 326 - 326 Discussionâ€™s Outcome (2)

    After receiving Gwyneira''s warning the king who looked like a child that had just been scolded by his mother and apologized to her before pulling out a sheet of paper and handing it over to Marcus.

    "Here, these are the terms that we came up with to break off Mrazivy''s engagement. And I just want you to know that earlier I just wanted to see how far you would be willing to go for my daughter and see how strong you are."

    As much as the king had been acting obstinate and unreasonable, he really was just trying to test Marcus. He wanted to make sure that he wasmitted to Mrazivy and that he was not a pushover but could also be reasonable.

    At the end of the day, he actually really did care for his daughter and wanted her to be safe, which was one of the reasons he wanted to force her out of adventuring and to settle down.

    Of course, he also had his position as a king to think about and using marriage as a tool for political gain was quitemon.

    Still if he could have his daughter be happy and also bring Marcus on board to the kingdom even in a limited fashion, he would fine that eptable.

    Taking the piece of paper Marcus was surprised by how the turn of events had gone.

    He thought he was going to be here for a negotiation and would have to fight for Mrazivy, but it appeared that everything had already been decided before he even arrived.

    Looking over the contract in his hand, Marcus read through the details of what the kingdom wanted from him, and he found them to be far less restrictive than he thought they would be and that they would be perfectly eptable.

    In fact, it only had two real requirements of him.

    The first being that he would give the kingdom three months of his time in whatever capacity they may need him in during each winter for the next ten years. And the second in the case of emergency toe and help if called for.

    Of course, there was also a third use to either marry or break off rtions with Mrazivy within a year, but Marcus did not really consider this an issue.

    He and Mrazivy were already getting pretty close, and within a year he was certain they would know whether they wanted to be together for life, or if it would not work out.

    "Very well this should be eptable. Though if you had already prepared this you could have just led with it, and it would have saved us both a lot of trouble." Marcus said with an exasperated expression.

    He then signed the magically binding contract and handed it back to the king who but it away.

    "Good, now we need to talk about you being a wanted criminal. Seeing as how Gwyneira has given her approval of you and your beastpanion, I could have your wanted status revoked."

    Hearing this Marcus perked up and said, "Yes that would be great. I would like to be able to not worry about having to be wary of bounty huntersing after me." Marcus said with his face lit up.

    He had missed being in his original form and being able to use it whenever he wanted again would open up a lot more options.

    "Then it will be done. Now here take this." The king said as he pulled out an emblem denoting a personal employee of the royal family.

    "When winteres around, please report to the castle, and show that to one of the guards and they will take you where you need to go. I already have a number of jobs lined up for your unique talents that no one else can aplish." The king said with a devious smile.

    Shuddering Marcus was not looking forward to whatever was in store for him, but he had gotten what he wanted, and now Mrazivy was free from her engagement.

    And while it was certainly unfortunate that neither of them won the tournament, at the end of the day all was well that ended well.

    Certainly, Marcus would have liked it if he could have obtained some adamantine and even that bar of amethros, but he could worry about things like thatter.

    "Okay I believe that is all that I had to discuss with the two of you so you may be on your way." The king said dismissing the two of them.

    Marcus and Mrazivy then both stood up and Mrazivy gave the king another bow before walking over to him and whispering in his ear, "Thank you father."

    She knew that if he wanted, he could have made things far more difficult for them, and that one of his goals was to keep her safe.

    Marcus and Mrazivy then made to leave when Gwyneira spoke up and said, "Actually before you go, I would like to talk to Mrazivy alone for a few moments."

    Everyone in the room looked surprised to hear this since it had obviously not discussed beforehand, but no one was going to argue with the strongest being in the room.

    A bit reluctantly Marcus exited the room and waited for Mrazivy toe back out.

    A part of him wanted to stay and ask Gwyneira some more questions, but he figured he would have time for thatter.

    ''To think that she was a lindwurm though. This was my first time seeing a beast take a human form as well.''

    Getting lost in thought about Gwyneira who was a bit of an enigma, Marcus waited for Mrazivy and after around twenty minutes she came back out of the room with her face somewhat red.

    "Are you alright Mraz you look a bit flushed." Marcus said wondering why she looked like she had just run a marathon.

    "Oh um, she just gave me a bit of advice. She said that people like you from another world have different values, and just what to do in the future."

    Looking at her Marcus could see that whatever Gwyneira had told her left her a bit flustered, but one thing about what she just said caught his attention.

    "Wait what does she know about transmigrations like myself? Oh, did she maybe know the first king Boreas?"

    Nodding her head and calming down a bit Mrazivy said, "Oh yeah, she is the first queen and Boreas'' wife, as well as the protector of our kingdom."

    A stunned look came over Marcus'' face as he heard this.

    He thought maybe that Gwyneira had been Boreas'' beastpanion or something, but it turned out she was his wife.

    "Wait how does a dragon and a human even have children together. And does that mean that you are part dragon?" Marcus said with confusion all over his face.

    Seeing this Mrazivy beganughing a bit forgetting about the embarrassing things Gwyneira had told her, and said, "Well you saw that she is able to take a human form, so it must have worked out somehow. And yes, I should have some of her blood in me, but it is very little, so I am mostly just a normal human. The only trait that we really have from her is our distinctive blue hair."

    Mrazivy then turned around after saying this and the two of them began heading back to her private viewing box.

 Chapter 327 - 327 Tournamentâ€™s End

    Once Mrazivy and Marcus had left the king went up to Gwyneira and said, "Are you sure you wanted to give that to Mrazivy, I thought you said before that she was not going to be worthy."

    Smiling and looking far off into the distance Gwyneira responded and said, "You are right, when I first looked her over to see if she would be the right one to receive it, I did not think she would be capable. But now things are different. She has changed since meeting that transmigrator and has gotten far stronger. I believe that we can entrust the future to them. One day the two of them may be even stronger than me."

    After saying that Gwyneira disappeared in a shimmer before appearing on argevish bed and burying her face into a pillow.

    ''I wonder when you will finally return Boreas, I miss you terribly.''

    Gwyneira then returned back into her beast form, and settled in for a long nap, as dragons often did.

    ˇ­

    Having returned to Mrazivy''s private box, Marcus and Mrazivy continued to watch the remaining matches of the tournament for the day.

    Of course, none of them were as intense as the one Marcus had with Quillon but now that the tournament had moved into the final sixty-four, things were heating up.

    There was not a single person left under level forty-five, and quickly only the strongest were remaining.

    The days soon went by and Marcus and Mrazivy spent their time watching the tournament, and before long it was time for the finals.

    "So, who do you think is going to win, that woman Natasha or Sir Varon." Mrazivy said before taking a handful of popcorn and eating it.

    Thinking about it, Marcus was having a hard time picking.

    He had watched both of theirst matches in the semi-finals, but it seemed that neither one of them had gone all-out.

    Of course, Marcus still thought Quillon was stronger than either of them, but unfortunately, Marcus was not the only one that had been drained from their match and Quillon lost against his next opponent.

    "I think it will be that woman, Natasha. She has a strange magic I still do not quite understand, and I think it will give her the edge."

    However, Mrazivy had a dissenting opinion and said, "I believe it will be Sir Varon. He is Darius'' nephew and has been trained by him personally. I actually had a sparring match with him around a year ago, and I can tell you he is very strong. Even while he was holding back, he knocked me around with his axe and I was not able to do anything to him"

    Mrazivy then grimaced a bit reliving her spar with Sir Varon, obviously not thinking very fondly on it.

    "How about a bet then. If Natasha wins as I suspect, you will do anyone thing I ask, and if Sir Varon wins I will do anything one thing you want me to." Marcus said trying to make things more interesting.

    Nodding her head Mrazivy said, "Your on. And I already know what I am going to have you do when I win."

    Mrazivy then gave Marcus a mischievous smile, before turning her head back towards the ring and watching as the two finalists entered the ring.

    At the same time, standing by the door and watching over them, Sir Heward was strongly grinding his teeth.

    As Mrazivy''s guardian knight now that Marcus was acknowledged by the king, he had been apprised of the current situation with them.

    And when he found out he was absolutely livid at the king even forgetting himself and calling him a fool to leave Mrazivy in the hands of such a shady character.

    Still his protest meant little, and the king quickly put him back in his ce.

    Now he just had to stand there and watch as this strange man who was also apparently Irene Geist all along, got closer to Mrazivy, worming his way into her heart.

    ''What was the king thinking, breaking off her engagement to a respectable noble, and then giving her to this creature. I know he must have charmed her and the king somehow, or there is no way this would have happened.''

    Sir Heward was now regretting that he did not kill Marcus when he had the chance, but there was little he could do now but pray that Mrazivy or the king came to their senses.

    Of course, Sir Heward was horribly wrong in his assumptions about Marcus charming people, but his judgment was horribly clouded by his emotions that were in disorder.

    "Good people of Borealia, it seems it is that time again, for the final match of the kingdom''s tournament. This year thepetition has been fiercer than ever before, and there is little doubt that the two remaining are the strongest fighters this tournament has ever seen. On my right we have the beautiful and mysterious Natasha. She uses a strange and powerful magic to force her foes into submission and so far, no hasid a single hand on her in the entire tournament. However, on my left we have Sir Varon, who is said to be the kingdom''s strongest prodigy. He is also the nephew of our kingdom''s greatest warrior Knight Commander Darius, as well as his uncle''s apprentice. His skills with the axe are second to none, and he has blown away all of his opponents with powerful moves. Now which one of these two will be crowned the champion of the kingdom of Borealia''s fiftieth tournament."

    The announcer then gave the signal to start the match, and Sir Varon started off with a big move mming his axe into the ring and causing cracks to spread through it as the ground shook like there was an earthquake.

    It was a move meant to disrupt his enemies footing, as very few people could keep their bnce while the ground below them shook violently.

    After that Sir Varon swung his adamantine axe and sent a powerful st of mana out towards Natasha aiming to end this with one big move from afar.

    He had seen how anyone that got close to her started to move sluggishly and was doing is best to stay out of her range.

    Yet as his mana st approached Natasha it gradually began to slow, and even the shaking earth around her began to move sluggishly.

    It was a surreal sight to see, as the ground outside of her spells range was moving at a normal rate, but near her it looked like the ground was resting on top of msses and moved incredibly slow.

    However, within her slow zone Natasha was still able to move freely and easily maneuvered out of the way of Sir Varon''s mana st.

    "Well, if you will note to me then I wille to you."

    Natasha then moved like a blur and appeared right in front of Sir Varon, who swung his axe down in front of him.

    His seasoned reflexes had allowed him to react even to Natasha''s blistering speed, and he had timed his attack perfectly to hit her.

    His axe then carved deep into Natasha''s shoulder and took off her left arm which went into the air with a spray of blood.

    "You lose." Natasha said as she ced her remining hand on Sir Varon''s chest.

    Sir Varon''s eyes then went wide as multiple shimmering blue gates appeared around his body, and with the slight flick of her finger Natasha sent him flying.

    He flew fast and mmed into the arena''s barrier at over a hundred miles per hour.

    Of course, that was not enough to take him out, put just a second after he had crashed into the barrier another of the shimmering blue gates around him activated and sent him hurtling into the air.

    Sir Varon then continued to be elerated around the ring pinballing against the arena''s barrier.

    It was a brutal sight to see as he got faster and faster mming over and over again into the barrier.

    Soon even as sturdy as he was, Sir Varon began leaving trails of blood in his wake, and when he finally stopped, he had blood pouring out over his body.

    With horrible external and internal injuries, Sir Varon vomited up what looked like a pint of blood, before copsing onto the ground unable to move.

    "And there you have it folks, the winner of the match and tournament is Natasha."

    The cheers in from the crowd went wild as the referee said this.

    While the match may have been short, it was incredibly intense, and Natasha''s final move had been a sight to see.

    ''Well, he was stronger than I thought he would be. If it were not for the barrier, I may not have been able to win.'' Natasha thought as she picked up her severed arm and reattached it using a powerful healing potion.

    She had not expected Sir Varon to react to her speed, but in the end, she was able to win by repeatedly bashing him against the barrier with her chain eleration gate spell.

 Chapter 328 - 328 Tournaments Rewards And Marcus Request

    After Natasha had won the tournament, and the crowd had begun to calm down, the king once again came out onto the podium overlooking the arena and addressed the people.

    "I have to say in all my years as king this is the first time, I have ever witnessed a tournament this grand. In fact, there is no doubt that this is the greatest tournament that has been held in the kingdom since its creation. All of the young men and women who participated fought valiantly, but in the end, there could only be one winner. Allow me to personally congratte you on your victory Natasha."

    The king then gave a few moments for the audience to once again cheer all while thinking about how unfortunate it was that Natasha had won.

    ''To think that an agent from another nation would be the one to win our tournament, and over one of our best and brightest.''

    The king could onlyment that someone from his kingdom had not won their tournament, but there was nothing he could do now.

    Certainly, he could have Natasha discreetly killed, but he did not want to incite a war with the empire she came from.

    They were a superpower in the world and while the Kingdom of Borealia was no slouch when it came to military might, if the empire to the east came after them in full force it could spell their end.

    Once the audience had begun to settle down again the king began listing the rewards that those that had ced in the top sixteen would receive and ended with the grand reward that Natasha would be getting.

    "And from the royal family''s personal treasury we have a very rare skill orb for the winner. It was procured over four hundred years ago by our first king Boreas from the dungeon within the Great Gome Woods."

    The king then took out the skill orb from within his item box and then loudly said, "The skill contained within this orb is called mana thief. It is a very rare skill that allows its owner to siphon off the mana of those around them and refill their own mana pool."

    After the king said this, many people looked up at the skill orb with awe, and even Natasha, looked stunned to be receiving something so valuable.

    However, there was one person watching that had different thoughts from everyone else.

    ''I wonder if I can buy that.'' Marcus thought.

    Using his advantage as a transmigration he began scrolling through the list of skills he could buy but came up empty.

    ''Most be a pretty expensive skill if I have never had enough to purchase it.''

    Sighing Marcus knew that some skills were still far too expensive for him to obtain right now.

    ''Maybe I should stockpile a big patch of skill points and purchase it when I can.''

    Currently Marcus had plenty of strong skills, but he did not have anything that was overly powerful or rare.

    Certainly, he had his unique skills, but each one of them had their limitations, and a skill like mana thief would make him much stronger.

    Not only would it constantly resupply his mana but also drain his opponents.

    ''Well, when I can get it, I will.''

    Making a mental note to pick up the powerful skill at the earliest possible time, Marcus then turned his attention back to the king''s closing speech.

    "Tomorrow as many of you know, we will be hosting a banquet for those thatpeted in the tournament. We encourage everyone of you toe out and participate and get to know each other better while enjoying the refreshments provided by the kingdom."

    The king then continued to talk up this banquet that was being touted as a celebration for the hard fighting participants, but most knew what it really was.

    It was the first chance for nobles, merchants, and even the royal family to approach those that had caught their eyes in the tournament.

    Many of the participants were free agents with great talent, and even those that were alreadymitted to a lord, were not free from attempts to entice them away from their current masters.

    ''Ugh I am not looking forward to it tomorrow.''

    Marcus already knew he would be approached by a number of high-ranking nobles, and wealthy merchants at the banquet.

    Unfortunately, he was being forced to go by Mrazivy, who said she did not want to go alone, and had to attend as a princess.

    At least though he had a n worked out and by sticking with Mrazivy he could im to have already been recruited by the royal family, which would allow him to easily deny any advances against him.

    Of course, there were things he was looking forward to such as the full spread of expensive and delicious food that the royal family would be providing.

    ''But before that.''

    With a mischievous grin Marcus looked over at Mrazivy and said, "Looks like I won our little bet so I wonder what I should have you do."

    He then teased Mrazivy a bit, until she started getting a bit angry and began lightly hitting him.

    "Okay I think I have decided. What I want you to do is give me a tour around the royal castle. Ever since I first looked at it, I wanted to get a look around the ce. And who better to show me than a princess."

    A bit surprised by Marcus'' request, she had thought he was going to ask her to do something more extravagant or embarrassing.

    "Sure, I can do that, but there are of course areas I cannot show you to, like people''s personal rooms, or the royal treasury. Though we will have to do it after the banquet tomorrow. So, what day would you like to do it."

    The two of them then discussed what day would be best and came to the conclusion that one week from today would be the best.

    "Okay so I wille and get you at your manor right at dawn, and then we can go over to the castle. Though I must warn you in advance that the ce is really big, and it might take more than one day to explore everything. But you can leave it to me. I was the thorn in the side of all of the castle''s staff, and when I was younger, I really explored the ce and know all of the secret spots." Mrazivy said with a big smile on her face.

    She was pretty happy to have someone she could show around and relive some of her best childhood memories with.

    On the other hand, Marcus was feeling exited since he really wanted to see what the castle was like.

    He had seen photo''s and even watched a few virtual tours of castles back on Earth and he had been really impressed by them.

    However, physically going into a still in use castle that was many timesrger than any on Earth, was quite thrilling.

    After that the two of them chatted for a bit longer about this and that before going their separate ways.

    ''Now tonight is myst night at the Twisted Cat''s Tails and I n to enjoy it.''

 Chapter 329 - 329 Meeting Up Before The Banquet

    ''Ah that was great.''

    Getting out of therge outdoor bath at the Twisted Cats'' Tails Inn, Marcus made his way back into the changing room, where he put on his clothes and drank a bottle of milk that was provided.

    ''I almost wish I could stay here longer.'' Marcus thought as he looked around onest time at the inn that had been his home during the kingdom''s tournament.

    However, he knew that this was hisst day here, and that he was going to need to leave.

    Still, he had made sure to use therge bath onest time before heading back to his room to collect his belongings.

    "Well, that should be everything. You ready to go Roxene."

    Nodding her head Roxene got off of her bed and stretched out while yawning widely before reentering Marcus''panion storage.

    After that Marcus headed back down to the reception desk and checked out, thanking them for the lovely stay, and that should the opportunity arise that he would be back.

    "Okay now I need to go and meet up with Mrazivy and we can go together to the banquet''s venue."

    Walking onto the streets of the city, Marcus began leisurely making his way towards the royal estate that was within the outer city and was where Mrazivy was currently staying.

    And when it came into view Marcus was blown away by the size of it since it was easily twice as big as his estate.

    ''I guess when you are the royal family you have the best.''

    Getting closer Marcus was soon able to see the gate that was the only visible entrance to therge estate.

    And around it were two watchtowers with mana cannons equipped an a number of guards.

    Of course, in front of the gate also stood a dozen rtively high-level guards as well, showing just how seriously the royal family took security.

    "You there halt. This is the estate for the royal family."

    Naturally the guards stopped Marcus and told him to leave the area, thinking that he was just another curious citizen trying to get a look at the royal family''s estate.

    It never even crossed their minds that he might be an invited visitor, since someone of high enough importance to be invited to the royal family''s estate would note on foot and all alone.

    However, for the first time in their careers they finally found someone crazy enough to do just that, as Marcus took out a letter Mrazivy had given him and handed it over to the guards.

    "I believe I am expected. Her highness Mrazivy is a friend of mine, and we are nning to go to the tournament''s banquet together."

    Taking the letter one of the guards read it over thinking that this might be some type of prank, but quickly located the royal family''s crest and Princess Mrazivy''s signature.

    "Excuse us for our rudeness Lady Geist. We were not expecting you toe alone or on foot. Please follow me inside, I will take you to the estate''s entrance and someone there will lead you to the princess."

    The guards then had the gate open up, and the one that had been addressing Marcus, began leading him down the path to therge mansion that sat in the middle of the estate.

    And along the way Marcus was able to look out at the beautiful front garden that was full of flowers and amazing decorative trees.

    ''Wow there is even arge pond over there full of some type of colorful fish. This is not even the royal family''s main residence. If this is how spectacr their outer wall estate is, I really wonder how amazing the royal castle will be?''

    As he continued down the path Marcus continued gawking at the scenery like a country bumkin seeing a city for the first time and the guard escorting him softly smiled.

    He was used to seeing shrewd nobles that always had stered on smiles and looked down on guards like him, and seeing the genuine expressions on Marcus'' face, as well as having been treated like an equal was very refreshing to him.

    Soon the two of them made it to the grand front entrance and the guard using the door knockers banged on the door three times denoting that an expected visitor had arrived.

    Quickly a woman in maids attire opened the door, and the guard said to her, "Here we have Lady Baress Irene Geist, a friend of her highness, Princess Mrazivy. The princess should be expecting her so I will now leave her in your care."

    After that the guard bowed to Marcus once before leaving, but was pleasantly surprised when Marcus said, "Thank you for guiding me."

    The maid then bowed her head to Marcus and said, "Please follow me Lady Geist, I will take you to the princess'' room where she is waiting for you."

    Following behind her Marcus walked through dozens of hallways and up three flights of stairs, moving around thebyrinthine estate until they finally stopped in front of a set ofrge doors.

    Immediately Marcus knew that this must be Mrazivy''s room, since standing outside like a sentinel was Sir Heward.

    "Good morning, Sir Heward. I have brough her highness'' guest." The maid said bowing to Sir Heward.

    Sir Heward then gave Marcus a hatful re much to the maid''s surprise, but she knew better than to make any sort ofment on it.

    "You can go now Jessie; I can take care of her highness'' ''guest''."

    Giving a quick bow, Jessie swiftly left the area not wanting to be around in case something happened.

    "Well, if you do not mind, I am going to say hello to Mraz."

    After saying that Marcus moved to open the door, but Sir Heward stood in his way and said, "As if I would let you into the princess'' bedchamber. I don not know what sort of magic you used to bewitch her, but mark my words, I will free her from your clutches."

    Sighing Marcus looked at Sir Heward with a pitiful look and said, "I realize you do not approve of me, but I am not using any sort of magic or other ability to control Mraz. We both make each other happy and that is it. If she ever wants to cut ties with me and tells me to leave, I will. But since that is never going to happen, would you mind getting out of my way."

    Unfortunately, Sir Heward stood stalwart in front of Mrazivy''s door, his misguided loyalty driving him to despise Marcus.

    "Fine you can stay there, but it is not like you can stop me." Marcus said brazenly

    In response Sir Heward moved his hand onto his sword, and was basically telling Marcus not to get any closer or else.

    However, this really did not matter to Marcus who simply went into his ghost form and passed by Sir Heward and into Mrazivy''s room.

    Then once he was beyond the door, he reappeared and saw Mrazivy just finishing up getting into her dress with the help of a maid.

    "Hey Mraz looks like I am just on time." Marcus called out.

    Turning around Mrazivy had on a devious smiled and said, "Yep I just finished getting ready. Now Aisha, let us fine a suitable dress for Lady Irene here.. There is no way she can attend a banquet in herbat clothes."

 Chapter 330 - 330 Banquet

    Seeing the look in Mrazivy''s eyes and the rack of dresses behind her, Marcus wanted to turn around and run away.

    He had seen this look before andst time it had ended up in him being put into over two dozen different dresses.

    As much as he had gotten used to acting as a girl in his guise as Irene, Marcus took no joy in being used as a dress up doll and found it quite tedious.

    In fact, he was currently working with the same magical weaver that had made his current set ofbat clothes to develop a shapeshifting outfit, just so that he would not have to worry about picking out clothes.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was unable to put up any real resistant and was soon dragged over where Aisha, Mrazivy''s maid began pulling out dresses and helping him into it.

    Luckily, he was only put into four different dresses before convincing Mrazivy and Aisha that they had found the right one.

    "Well, I guess this one does look good on you. And it ys to your theme, right, Darkligth Princess." Mrazivy said in a teasing tone.

    Internally groaning, Marcus knew that he was unlikely to ever live down the nickname he hated, but he knew he could get back Mrazivy some other time.

    ''At least this dress is not as shy as thest one she put me in.''

    Marcus was grateful that his current dress was not very revealing and was a pretty standard formal gown.

    Though it was a bit odd in that it was two colors both ck and white, which was notmon as most gowns were one color.

    "Well, I think we should be ready, yes? We do not want to bete so let us hurry up and go." Marcus said trying to get out of here before they decided to dress him up some more.

    Nodding her head Mrazivy said, "Okay. Aisha, could you go and get the carriage ready for us."

    "As you wish your highness." Aisha said as she gave a slight bow to Mrazivy.

    After that Aisha left the room and Marcus could see Sir Heward still standing outside the door, and even just from his back Marcus could tell he was fuming mad.

    Then as Aisha closed the door and Mrazivy was certain they were alone she came up and hit Marcus in the arm and said, "What were you thinking passing through the door as a ghost. If Aisha had seen you, it would have raised a whole bunch of questions."

    Naturally Mrazivy was a bit concerned with Marcus being found out even further, but he simply shrugged his shoulder and said, "I wanted to use the door, but your guardian knight did not want to let me in."

    Sighing Mrazivy looked exasperated since she was already tired of Sir Heward and Marcus'' hostility towards each other.

    "I will try talking to him again but maybe next time try to give him a bit of consideration. He has been my guardian knight since I was four."

    "Okay I will try to make nice, but he thinks I used some sort of brainwashing power on you and the king, so you should probably set him straight before he does something drastic."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy agreed that she would work things out with Sir Heward.

    Soon Aisha came back and said that the carriage was ready for their departure, and Marcus and Mrazivy began making their way to it.

    However, along the way Sir Heward interposed himself in between the two of them, making it difficult for Marcus and Mrazivy to hold any type of conversation.

    Still once they made it to the carriage that was pulled by two pure white horses, Mrazivy ordered Sir Heward to sit on the coachman stand to better look out for any threats.

    Then her and Marcus piled into the carriage and Mrazivy gave Marcus a conflicted look and said, "It is worse than I thought. He does not just dislike you; I am pretty sure he wants to kill you."

    Sighing Marcus responded and said, "I told you it was bad."

    The two of them then talked about how Mrazivy would convince Sir Heward to stop hating him, before moving onto some of the prepared answers they had for questions they were expecting.

    "Oh, is that it." Marcus asked as they were closing in on arge ornate building that had banners flying on top of it."

    "Yep, that should be it. The Boreal Hall. It was the first king''s original pce, but it has since been converted into a building exclusively for holdingrge events in the outer city."

    Looking out his window Marcus took in the sight of therge pce that was now basically an event center as they continued getting closer.

    Shortly they pulled up to the front of the building where plenty of carriages were already pulling up, and a number of nobles, merchants, andpetitors were getting out.

    Exiting their carriage, both Mrazivy and Marcus gained the attention of a number of people.

    Naturally after the tournament they were both quite recognizable, and Mrazivy being a member of the royal family had her attracting even more attention.

    Marcus even noticed a few of them whispering to each other and looking over at them with surprised eyes.

    ''Hm, I wonder what that is about.''

    Straining his ears Marcus tried to listen in on the conversations that a few people were certainly having about him and Mrazivy, but unfortunately none of them were within ear shot, and as they got closer these people switched up their conversation topics.

    A number of people then bowed towards Mrazivy and greeted her, showing respect to her status as a princess.

    Luckily, there were not too many people still milling about outside, so after just a bit of pleasantries Marcus and Mrazivy were able to enter the banquet''s venue, and head to the main hall where the event was being held.

    Once inside, a much greater number of people could be seen, and Marcus guessed that in this massive room that there was a bit over a thousand people milling around and talking to each other.

    ''Oh, a familiar face.''

    Spotting an acquaintance he wanted to talk to Marcus, began heading over to them, while bringing Mrazivy in toe saying she would want to talk to this guy.

    "Hey Novak, good to see you again."

    Novak who was in the middle of stuffing an entire leg of some type of bird into his mouth looked at Marcus a bit stunned, before hurriedly scarfing down the food in his mouth.

    "Ah, sorry about that Irene. I don''t get to eat food this good most of the time." Novak said a bit embarrassed by being seen with his mouthpletely stuffed.

    "No problem I understand how hard it is to not want to devour delicious food. Oh, and this here is my friend Princess Mrazivy Borealia." Marcus said gesturing to Mrazivy who was next to him.

    Then looking at Mrazivy as if he just noticed her Novak smiled and said, "Nice to meet you your highness. My name is Novak a traveling adventure."

    "Nice to meet you as well Novak. I am Mrazivy Borealia a tinum rank adventurer."

    Hearing this Novak was a bit surprised, but his grin just grew wider, and he said, "Same rank as me. You must be pretty strong then."

    Hitting it off almost immediately Marcus knew that Mrazivy would appreciate Novak''s straight forward character, and the fact that he was also an adventurer gave them all plenty to talk about.

    "Hey Novak, they have the best meat I have ever had you got to try some."

    Looking over at the neer that had just arrived Marcus recognized him as y one of the guys he beat in his preliminary rounds, and a member of Novak''s party

    And as y looked at Marcus and Mrazivy who had been talking to Novak he nearly dropped his te full of food.

    Naturally how could he forget Marcus who had handily beaten him in his final preliminary match.

    "y you are back. Good timing, I was just chatting with Irene and her friend here. So where are the others I would like to introduce them." Novak said while looking around.

    "Huh. Um yeah while we were all getting food some rich merchant approached them saying he was impressed by their disy in the tournament. Though he did not want anything to do with me since I got taken out in the preliminaries." y said while moving his head around and looking at Novak and Marcus trying to get a read on the situation.

    Still after a bit of initial fluster, y integrated himself into the conversation well, and the four of them quickly began telling each other stories about their adventurers.

    Of course, Marcus and Mrazivy were actually very interested to here from Novak and y since neither of them had ever been outside of the kingdom of Borealia and these two had explored an entire other continent.

    Unfortunately, their conversation was sort lived as an unwanted pest approached them getting right in front of Marcus and saying, "You must be Baress Irene Geist.. It is a "pleasure" to meet you, I am Viscount Mudak."

 Chapter 331 - 331 Banquet (2)

    Looking up at Viscount Mudak who had just approached him, Marcus could see that the smile on his face did not reach his eyes that had a murderous gaze in them.

    Of course, Marcus knew why this guy hated him, since he had rearranged his son''s face. But really Marcus did not regret what he had done, since Wyatt had brutalized Mrazivy even though he had already won.

    "Viscount Mudak I have been meaning to talk to you. How is your son doing?" Marcus said trying to push the viscount''s buttons.

    And his provocations soon proved sessful as the viscount''s eyes glowed for a second teeming with power, before calming down as the viscount knew not to do anything in front of so many people.

    Then with a voiceced with hate the viscount responded saying, "Wyatt is doing just fine. One of the top healers in the kingdom has recently finished a session with him and his injuries have been fully repaired."

    Though while the viscount was correct that the physical injuries and disfigurement that Marcus had dealt to his son had been repaired, there were stillsting psychological issues that Wyatt had not gotten over.

    "Well, that is good to hear, I am d he has made a recovery." Marcus said obviously not caring.

    After his battle with Wyatt, he did not give a crap about what happened to the guy and was fine since he had already gotten his retribution for Mrazivy.

    Unfortunately, it looked like his father was not going to let things go so easily and did not want to bury the hatchet unless it was in Marcus'' back.

    However, as Viscount Mudak was ring daggers at Marcus, Mrazivy interposed in between them and said, "Viscount Mudak I hope that you can let bygones be bygones. Lady Irene here is now the personal subordinate of the royal family and we are very keen on her wellbeing."

    Not beating around the bush Mrazivy simply came right out and told the viscount that Marcus was under the protection of the royal family.

    She wanted him to know right here and now that if he did something to harm Marcus, that she would bring down the entire weight of the royal family on top of him.

    Grinning his teeth and a with frustrated look in his eyes Viscount Mudak gave onest hateful re at Marcus before saying, "Very well then. It was good to meet your acquaintance Lady Irene and Princess Mrazivy.

    After saying that Viscount Mudak turned around and left, steaming over the fact that he would not be able to exact his vengeance for the damage done to his son.

    Even he was not stupid enough to against the royal family and he had also noticed during Marcus'' match against Quillon that there was something strange about him.

    ''If the rumors are true, it is best that I do not act rashly. I will need to follow the established rules to voice my grievances. I will be seeing you in court Irene Geist.''

    While formting his n to at least receive some sort of payback against Marcus for what he did to his son, Viscount Mudak was already formting his legal strategy to drain Marcus dry and bring him into financial ruin.

    With their unwanted pest now gone, Marcus and Mrazivy continued their conversation with Novak and y, getting to hear about some of their experiences that happened on the continent to the west.

    "Novak, y we got some important business to discuss with a merchant who wants to hire us."

    Coming up to them a woman who was obviously part of Novak''s party came up to get them and halting their conversation once again.

    Though at least this time it was for something important and not from a petty nuisance likest time.

    "Looks like we need to go and take care of this. It was good to talk to the two of you. And once we are done I we can meet back up again, and I can introduce you to the rest of my party."

    After saying that Novak and y went off with their party member, leaving Marcus and Mrazivy alone.

    "I suppose we should go ahead and make the rounds." Mrazivy said, looking out at the crowd of people.

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed to Mrazivy''s proposal and could already notice that a few people were already waiting to talk to them.

    Soon the two of them began talking to nobles and powerful merchants that wanted their attention.

    To start most of the nobles wanted to inquire about the new they had heard of Mrazivy''s engagement being broken off, and when she told them that it had been, some made requests asking if she would be willing to marry into their families instead.

    Luckily, she had already prepared or this and said that her father had other ns and that she could not ept any marriage proposals at this time.

    Of course, Marcus received plenty himself, but refused all of them.

    Then after those seeking marriage proposals were those trying to recruit Marcus into their fold.

    Some wanted him to be their family''s personal forgemaster, while others offered him positions as a head knight in their territories.

    Though to Marcus'' surprise one of the nobles that approached him was a duke''s son and offered him a viceroyship as well as the title of viscountess should he be his father''s subordinate.

    "Sorry but as grand as that offer is, I have already been recruited by the royal family." Marcus said showing the emblem the king had given him, as well as gesturing to Mrazivy who was standing next to him.

    Sighing the son of Duke Scriven could only shrug his shoulders and move on. Even a duke''s house did not have the power to pry someone away from the royal family if that person did not want to leave.

    Eventually Marcus and Mrazivy managed to talk to all of the nobles and merchants vying for their attention and pacify them.

    However, towards the end one of the nobles with less tact than the others, asked Marcus and Mrazivy, "So are the rumors true. Is Lady Geist actually your contracted spirit Princess Mrazivy."

    Both of them were a bit stunned to hear this, but they quickly realized that this was a good chance totch onto this rumor and make it work to their advantage.

    "No that is just a baseless rumor Baron Ineptus." Mrazivy said in a tone that sounded like she was lying.

    "Yes, that is just not possible is it. I am just Mrazivy''s friend. Any friend would have jumped into the stadium like I did." Marcus saidying it on and adding onto what Mrazivy had said.

    Naturally they both knew they sounded wholly unconvincing, but that was exactly what they wanted.

    They would much rather have rumors of Marcus being Mrazivy''s contracted spirit, than him being some sort of monster spreading around.

    And just as they wanted, the baron took the bait and said, "Yes of course one should not believe every rumor they hear."

    Of course, they both could see the smile on his face and his own tone revealed that he did not believe a word he had just said.

 Chapter 332 - 332 Conversation With Quillon And Aerial

    Finishing up their conversation with the rumor loving baron, Marcus and Mrazivy were certain that he was about to spread the gossip that Marcus was Mrazivy''s contracted spirit.

    Of course, this was not the truth, but their unconvincing denials had made the baron believe that the rumor he had heard was real, and he was now going off to spread it like a wildfire.

    "Well, that appeared to work out well. Now we just have to hope it catches on." Marcus whispered into Mrazivy''s ear.

    And in returned she whispered back, "No need to worry, I will have the royal family''s rumor mill make sure it spreads."

    The two of them then smiled deviously happy that this fortuitous opportunity hade about.

    After that they moved on over to therge tables full of food being served buffet style, and began picking out some of the high-quality food that had been provided.

    "Hm, it is not as good as the food you made me, but I guess that is to be expected." Mrazivy said as she took a bite of beef filet she had picked out.

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed with her, but while the quality of the food was top notch here, it still wasing from regr beasts, and could not even be prepared to the puff cow meat that Marcus had used.

    Of course, if the kingdom had supplied such high-quality ingredients for all of the food provided, it would have cost them tens of thousand of gold that would have put a big dent in their budget.

    Continuing to eat both Marcus and Mrazivy bounced around some tables talking to random acquaintances or greeting high ranking nobles.

    Yet, when they were nearly done with their meal, someone neither of them expected to see showed up.

    "Hello their Lady Irene Geist, would you give me a few moments of your time."

    Looking up from his te at the person that had juste up to him, Marcus was surprised to see Quillon standing there.

    "Sure, we can talk if you want. Go ahead and have a seat."

    However, Quillon made no move to sit and said, "Actually what I want to discuss with you should be done in private. There are too many prying eyes here."

    Quillon then motioned around the room and Marcus noticed that Quilloning up to him had attracted a number of people''s attention.

    Naturally this was because while neither of them made it to the finals, many believed that their match was the best and most intense in the tournament, and that if not for each of them wearing the other out, one of them would have been the winner.

    "Okay let us go find a private room, though would it be fine if I took my friend Mrazivy here with me?"

    Looking over Mrazivy for a moment Quillon responded saying, "Sure you can bring her with you."

    The three of them then got up and exited the main hall where most of the people were gathered and headed to find a private room.

    Luckily with Mrazivy''s authority, they were able to move to an area restricted only to royalty and were given a very nice private room far from where most of the other banquet attendees could find them.

    "So, what did you want to talk to me about." Marcus asked Quillon as they sat down across from each other.

    "Well, I do have a few things to talk to you about, but I am not the one who really want to speak to you." Quillon said as a bright light manifest from out his body.

    The light taking the shape of a miniature girl with silver hair looked at Marcus and said, "It is nice to meet you. I am Aerial a high wind spirit, are you perhaps a superior spirit."

    Looking at the small spirit that had just appeared in front of him, Marcus was a bit bbergasted, and did not quite get what she just said.

    ''I have no idea what a high or superior spirit is, but it must be some type of ranking. All I know is that great it considered the top. Damn I guess I should have asked Recha more about spirits in general instead of just focusing on great spirits.''

    Trying to get his thoughts in order, Marcus tried toe up with the best response he could but decided to answer the little spirit honestly.

    "No, I am not a superior spirit. I am a great spirit of light and darkness."

    Hearing this Aerial had an even more dumbfounded expression than Marcus had before, and said, "That is impossible, there is no way you could be a great spirit."

    Aerial said it with confidence and matter of factly as if what Marcus had just said was so preposterous as to not even be slightly believable.

    Though it would not be right to fault her since other than Marcus no great spirit would be as low level as him.

    "If you were a great spirit even with me and Quillon working together, we never would have been able to win. Anyway, you do not even seem to be able to use your spiritual energy."

    Taking a jab at Marcus'' inability to currently use spiritual energy, Aerial was further poking holes in him being a great spirit.

    But it was not like it was Marcus'' fault for not knowing how to tap into his spiritual energy. He had not been born a spirit or even a ghost for that matter, and he had only truly been exploring the intricacies of this world for a bit over a year now.

    "Here, I am sure that one of you can check my status somehow. I have turned off the skill that gives false information." Marcus said holding up his arms as if inviting them to look at his status.

    Both Quillon and Aerial looked at Marcus intently, before a shocked expression came over both of their faces.

    "Impossible!" Aerial shouted with surprise.

    She could not believe what she was seeing on Marcus'' status since it was so far from the norm as to be inconceivable.

    "You said you have a skill that can seen out false information. You must be using that to try and trick us." Aerial said usatorily.

    Sighing Marcus said, "Well it does not matter if you do not believe me, but I really am a great spirit. I am just a bit different from the rest. If you look at my status more closely you should notice that I do note from this world."

    After Marcus said this both Quillon and Aerial took a better look at his status, though Quillon was the only one of the two with an artifact simr to Mrazivy''s that allowed him to inspect Marcus'' full status.

    "Personal Status!" Quillon said in astonishment.

    "My master had told me about people thate from another world with this powerful unique skill, but I always though he was just making up stories to push me harder."

    Naturally Quillon was surprised to see his first transmigrator who he thought were myths.

    "I see so you are someone from another world. I have heard from the great spirit of wind that your type can be born as any intelligent race, but you must have really lucked out to have been born a great spirit." Aerial said with a bit of reverence slowlying to believe Marcus as more facts presented themselves.

    And not caring to correct her, Marcus decided to just let her believe he hade to this world as a great spirit, since telling the story of how it had happened would just add more confusion to the conversation.

    "Now then, since you seem to believe me now about being a great spirit, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

 Chapter 333 - 333 Conversation With Quillon And Aerial (2)

    With the initial disagreement about whether Marcus could be a great spirit or not cleared up, he waited for whatever Aerial and Quillon wanted to talk to him about.

    And going first Aerial who as another spirit was very interested in Marcus said, "Well, I originally wanted to know what side you were on darkness of light, but from what you said earlier it sounds like you are a free agent."

    After saying that Aerial suddenly had a very serious expression on her face and said, "I would rmend that you try to avoid interacting with any spirits of light or darkness if you can help it. I know both of their kind typically do not get along and both factions might see you as an abomination to be exterminated."

    Receiving this grave news Marcus grimaced since he thought that all spirits were fairly tight with each other judging by the way that Voda, Recha, and now Aerial acted, but it seemed that was not the case.

    "Would they really go that far. From what I have seen most spirits tend to get along, and can it really be that rare for a spirit to posses both the darkness and light element?"

    Shaking her head Aerial could only me Marcus'' being from another world for hisck of knowledge and said, "Have you ever met another spirit with dual elements?"

    "No but I have only met three other spirits at this point, so my range of knowledge is limited."

    pping her face Aerial looked at Marcus like someone with nomon sense and said, "Spirts with a powerful affinity for two or more elements are incredibly rare, and for one of opposing elements like yourself is even rarer. Now I have heard of a spirit of water and fire being born before, but light and darkness is something that I have never even heard rumors of."

    Hearing the insights that Aerial had into the world of spirits, Marcus'' impression of her was growing and he figured now was the time to fish for some more information.

    "Aerial would you mind telling me about the ranking of spirits, and where theye from. Naturally I was not originally one in my former life but now that I am I would like to learn about the race I am now." Marcus said his face full of interest.

    Smiling and knocking her hand against her chest Aerial said, "Sure no problem." And then began listing off the information Marcus had asked for.

    ''I see so there are five tiers of spirits, low, normal, high, superior, and great. I guess that means that no other spirit has unlocked the secret evolution I have for a supreme spirit. Or at the very least Aerial done not know of it.''

    Then after Aerial gave Marcus the rundown of spirits, she told him about the spirit world which was basically an alternate dimension where most spirits resided.

    Aerial also went into detail on how spirits were able to cross over to this world from the spirit world, and apparently the two main methods were to find or make a portal or be summoned by a powerful person and form a contract with them.

    Though she had also heard there were other ways, she did not know them, and she herself hade to this world when forming a contract with Quillon.

    "Well thank you for the information it was very useful. Is there anything that you would like to know about me?"

    Nodding her head Aerial began asking Marcus about his other world obviously interested, and even Quillon who had seemed mostly disinterested so far listened to Marcus intently.

    "I see your old world really is very different from this one." Aerial said.

    "Oh, but I do have onest question for you. Do you want to go to the spirit world?"

    Caught off guard by this question, Marcus could not say he was not curious, but right now he did not think it was a good time to go to a whole other world when he had barely scratched the surface of this one.

    "Thank you for the offer Aerial, but for now I want to stay here. I have a lot I need to do in this world before I start exploring other ones."

    Shrugging her shoulder Aerial just figured she should offer but did not have any stake in forcing Marcus to go to the spirit world.

    After that their conversations started to wind down, until Aerial was done with what she wanted to talk about, and Quillon asked Marcus what he wanted.

    "Irene, would you like toe back with me to meet my master? He is a man of much renown and skill, and I am sure that you could learn a lot from him. Also, it would be great to have someone around the same level as me to train with since all of the other disciples that my master has tried to recruit over the years, have been unable to keep up with his rigorous training and dropped out."

    Looking at Quillon''s face, Marcus could see that his offer was genuine and that he had been very exited by the match he had with Marcus.

    Of course, Marcus could rte to Quillon since so far, he was the only person around his level that was close to him in strength.

    However, Marcus knew he had to refuse. He already had a master in Thabon, and right now he really wanted to dig in and focus on his forging skills, now that the tournament was over.

    "Sorry I have other ns I want to attend to right now. Of course, I am interested in meeting your master, but currently I want to stay here. Maybe in a couple of years from now I will take you up on your offer."

    With a sorrowful look, Quillon had definitely been hoping to bring Marcus back with him to finally have a rival he could get stronger together with, but he had already known it was a longshot.

    However, someone who had been quite through the entire conversation finally spoke up and said, "I would like to learn from your master if possible?"

    Mrazivy who had left Marcus to talk things out with Quillon and Aerial seeing a chance decided to take it.

    She had been what could be considered an admirer of the sword savant since she had heard about him, and after watching the power and skill that Quillon had, she was certain that he was even more impressive than the rumors suggested.

    Naturally Mrazivy wanted to get stronger to keep up with Marcus, since even right now the gap between them was fairly wide, and one day she was afraid that her strength would not evenpare.

    Unfortunately, Quillon gave an unfavorable response and said, "Hm, I am sorry Mrazivy, but even if I brought you to my master, he would be unlikely to train you. You are not strong enough to keep up and at your level it would be difficult to catch up to the standards he has. In fact, since you have not evolved yet, it would be impossible for you to reach the special evolution that my master underwent and also had me attain."

    Yet even after receiving a denial from Quillon Mrazivy had not given up and plenty of fire was shining in her eyes.

    "Actually, I am working towards a special evolution of my own that requires me to reach level fifty first. I believe after that, I would certainly be able to impressive your master."

    Seeing the confident look in her eyes Quillon saw a glimmer of drive he was not expecting and thought that maybe Mrazivy might have what it takes after all.

    "I see. Then attain your special evolution and contact me when you are ready. After that I will once again evaluate you and see if you have what it takes to be my master''s second apprentice."

    Smiling brightly Mrazivy nodded her head a fire burning in her heart.

    After having her dream of grand adventure nearly stamped out by her previously arranged marriage, she was feeling more motivated than ever to get stronger and explore the world.

    "Here both of you take one of these." Quillon said as he handed a sending stone to both Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "You can use those to get into contact with me, when you want. But princess please do not contact me frivolously, if this is some n to recruit me to the kingdom neither I nor my master will be happy."

    Giving a warning to Mrazivy, Quillon was not certain whether she might try to rope him into the kingdom''s business somehow. And while he felt that she was being genuine he thought it best just to make sure nothing happened.

    "Of course, I have no intention of recruiting for the kingdom. I am more adventure than princess anyway."

    With what he wanted to do aplished Quillon bid Marcus and Mrazivy farewell.

    "Thank you for indulging me, and I am grateful I got to meet the two of you.. Let us meet again in the future."

 Chapter 334 - 334 Learning About Evolution

    With Quillon having left, Marcus turned towards Mrazivy and said, "So what is this special evolution you said you are working towards."

    Naturally Marcus had be very curious when Mrazivy said that she was aiming for an evolution, since it was not amon urrence.

    So far, the only ones he had met that had confirmed that they were evolved were Treasa and now Quillon.

    Of course, he was certain that he had met others, like Aria and Thabon, but they had never confirmed it.

    After hearing Marcus'' question Mrazivy looked around in the private room they were in, and got up to check and make sure that no one was listening in.

    Then when she was satisfied that they were alone, Mrazivy sat down next to Marcus and pulled out arge magic core, that was around three times bigger than a basketball.

    However, Marcus as immediately able to tell that this core was very special and of a far higher grade than he had ever seen.

    In fact, other than the very deep emerald green color, the core also had a snowke pattern all around it that seemed to be perpetually moving.

    ''Does she need that thing for the special evolution she is talking about.''

    As Marcus stared at the core, he could only wonder what it hade from, but he knew that whatever it had been, was far stronger than anything he had ever fought.

    "Does that core have something to do with the special evolution you were talking about?" Marcus asked staring intently at therge magic core in Mrazivy''s hands.

    Nodding her head Mrazivy said, "Yeah, Gwyneira gave it to me the other day when she wanted to talk to me alone. She said that once I reached level fifty, I would unlock a very powerful evolution and that this core would be required for it."

    "So, you do not know what it is yet." Marcus asked seeing the confounded expression on her face.

    Shaking her head Mrazivy said, "Yeah, I have no real idea. Gwyneira told me that I would find out when I reached level fifty and that not knowing would make me strive harder to achieve it. But it must be a powerful evolution if I need this core for it. And to think I was about to choose the new evolution I recently unlocked."

    Hearing this Marcus'' curiosity was peaked.

    He did not know much about evolution in this world, only that most begins were capable of it to ascend to greater heights.

    Of course, he had unlocked his own secret evolution by absorbing the mythic spirit gem, but he was able to see his evolution through his personal status, so he wondered how other people aplished it.

    "Mraz, could I ask you a few questions about evolution. I know that it makes any creature that attains it stronger, but how do you know when you can do it and what it will be."

    Mrazivy seeing the confusion on Marcus'' face found it a little odd since she had thought he had already evolved, since when they first met, he was not a great spirit.

    However, his bing a great spirit was more of aplete transformation via the power given from Roxene''s parents, than an evolution.

    "Well, when you first unlock an evolution, you receive a notification from the system like when you level up. And you can choose to undergo it or disregard it. Oh, but any evolution you unlock you can go back at any time and choose so long as you have not chosen a different one already, or so I have heard. It is like if I try to recall them, I feel them in the back of my mind and know that I can pick one. As for the evolutions I can choose, right now I have three." Mrazivy said with a jovial expression obviously happy to be talking about this topic with Marcus.

    "Well do not leave me hanging. Come on tell me what your possible evolutions are." Marcus said with obvious interest.

    Putting on a high and mighty smile Mrazivy said, "First is an evolution called an advanced human. When I originally unlocked this one, I asked Sir Heward about it since I had heard he was one. And it turns out that this is the normal evolution for humans when they reach level forty, and their stats are within a certain range. So as long as a person makes it to level forty and has the required stats anyone can achieve this evolution. Though from what Sir Heward told me it only boosts your stats by a few hundred and makes you a bit more resilient. And while he talked it up as being really impressive, I thought it soundedck luster, since it did note with any special abilities."

    With his eyes glued on her, Marcus was obviously pretty engrossed in what Mrazivy was saying as he was learning more about the secrets of this world.

    ''So, it seems that most humans can evolve at level forty. Though while Sir Heward is evolved he does not give off the same presence that Treasa did. She said hers was not a very rare one, but I doubt that it ismon either. She had a quite the powerful special ability that made her stronger, faster, and far tougher, at almost the same level as a unique skill. Hm and that means that Jarek could probably evolve as well but chose not to. I guess he is looking for something better than the base one anyone can get''

    Compiling the new information with what he already knew, Marcus was starting to connect a few dots on what could be considered one of the most important aspects of this world.

    "Now what are the other two evolutions you can achieve. Since advanced human is the basic one the other two most be more umon."

    Practically gleaming Mrazivy said, "Yes, my other two possible evolutions are much better than the first one, though one is still far better than the other."

    Mrazivy then abruptly stood up for some reason and held her hand out while holding up two fingers and said, "The second evolution I achieved when I turned level forty-two is called magi. It is an evolution not specific to humans apparently and is for any person with a high enough intelligence and spirit stat that have at least one level five magic skill. I assume that you can figure out by the name alone what this evolution does and focuses on. Ah, I believe that it is the one that Diana took. I have heard that a lot of the archmages take this evolution since it gives them an ability that boosts their magic and makes attaining magic-based skills easier. Of course, I never considered taking this route since I am also skilled with a de and do not want to focus entirely on magic."

    Nodding his head Marcus could understand wanting to be both an expert with magic and in physicalbat.

    He had found that being versatile would oftene to his advantage, and that being too narrow could lead to certain matchups that could just not be won.

    For example, anyone with a low spirit stat, Marcus could simply put down with his phantom pressure no matter how strong their other stats were. And it was abilities like these that were the reason why he tried to maintain somewhat bnced stats.

    "And the third one I just recently unlocked after our battle with thatmia when I level up to forty-five, and it is something not many people can achieve, and a goal I had been working towards."

 Chapter 335 - 335 Learning About Evolution (2)

    Standing proud Mrazivy told Marcus about the final evolution she had unlocked which was apparently very rare and nearly unique to her.

    "The third evolution I have possible is called ice queen. I unlocked it when I reached level forty-five because of my ice magic skill and blessing of frost. Though there are also two other requirements for this evolution. One is to absorb a very pure ice elemental crystal, and the other is to be a member of a royal family. In fact, this ss is pretty famous in our family since many of us tend to have an affinity for the ice element, and currently one of my older sisters has evolved into one."

    Mrazivy showed a bit of pride when she mentioned her older sister and Marcus figured that she was one of the ones that had encouraged her to stand up for what she wanted.

    "I see sounds like that is a pretty strong evolution. But I guess the one that Gwyneira told you to wait for is even better then?"

    "Yeah, I asked her about it, and while she said that the ice queen evolution is strong, the one she wants me to work towards is apparently leagues above it."

    Mrazivy then stored away the magic core Gwyneira had given her and had aplicated expression on her face.

    "I originally had been working toward achieving the ice queen evolution since I wanted to be like my older sister. And when I finally am close, only needing a high purity elemental crystal, I am told to wait and try for another evolution. I know that this other one is supposed to be more powerful, but a part of me really does not want to give up on my original goal. What do you think I should do Marcus?"

    Seeing the torn look on her face, the emotional part of Marcus wanted to tell her to follow her heart, but the logical side wanted her to choose the path of strength.

    "Mraz, I know you worked hard towards your goal, and I think it is great that you want to be like your older sister. But in this world strength reins supreme. I think you should go with the one Gwyneira suggested."

    Taking a deep breath Mrazivy closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, the conflicted expression she had gone.

    "Thank you Marcus, that was thest push I needed. With this I can put my old dream behind me and strive for a new one."

    After saying that Mrazivy sat back down, and said, "Well that is pretty much everything I know about evolution. I hope that you learned what you wanted to know, but why the sudden interest, are you not already at the top."

    Hearing this Marcus now knew that Mrazivy as well thought that great spirit was the pinnacle for him, meaning she did not know about his secret evolution.

    Though it was not like he had been expecting her to, since Aerial another spirit did not know about the even higher evolution.

    "Actually, I can evolve even after bing a great spirit. I unlocked one of the requirements when certain circumstances allowed me to absorb a mythic spirit gem. It is something called a Transcendent Ghost, Supreme Spirit of Light and Darkness."

    And astounded look came over Mrazivy''s face as she heard this obviously not expecting Marcus to have an evolution of his own, when he was already so strong.

    "Judging by the look on your face you did not expect me to be able to evolve. Unfortunately, it will not be happening until I reach at least level seventy, and that is just one of the requirements while the others are still hidden."

    Marcus then went on to exin what he knew about his hidden evolution, which really was not much.

    "I see sounds like you will be in for a rough time when you get there. But as you said that could be awhile. I know you made it to where you are in a rtively short time but, I have heard past level fifty it takes far longer to level up. Maybe in a decade or two you will get there."

    Continuing their conversation, the two of them started talking about the future, like what they both were going to do next, or some of the highlights Marcus could expect to see when Mrazivy gave him a tour of the castle.

    However, as they were talking about this Mrazivy perked up remembering something and said, "Oh when I show you around the castle, why do we not go to the royal archives. There is a good amount of knowledge there that you will not find anywhere else in the kingdom, and there might be a record of another being reach the same evolution as you. Or at the very least you might be able to find out more about the mythic spirt gem you absorbed."

    Nodding his head Marcus thought that was a good idea, and he figured that even if he did not find any information on his evolution which he thought likely, there would still be plenty of other information for him to learn.

    Soon the two of them finished up their private conversation, and decided to head back to the banquet, not wanting to be gone for too long.

    And when they arrived it seemed that they had gotten back just in time as the medley of desserts were being put out and the end of the banquet was drawing near.

    "Damn this fruit tart is good." Marcus said as he shoved a tart with fruit that had golden flesh into his mouth.

    Sighing Mrazivy leaned over to him and whispered, "We are still in public try to watch what you say."

    Looking around Marcus noticed that a few nearby nobles were ncing at him obviously perturbed by his sudden and crude outburst.

    ''Oops forgot to put my polite face back on.''

    Getting back into character, Marcus made sure to act like a noble, and not shout out crass words that irritated the others delicate ears.

    "Hey Irene, Mrazivy."

    Turning around Marcus and Mrazivy saw Novak and y along with the three other members of their party.

    "Novak good to see you again. Did you finish up your discussion with that merchant?"

    Smiling and giving a thumbs up Novak said, "Yep we did. Turns out theirpany is going to be shipping a lot of goods down south a couple kingdom''s away, and they wanted to hire us to protect it. So now we can replenish some of our funds while continuing on our journey."

    Novak and his party then sat down with Marcus and Mrazivy, and the members they had not met yet introduced themselves.

    The seven of them then began talking about adventuring and at one point Novak even asked if they wanted to join their party and go with them.

    Of course, Marcus and Mrazivy refused him, but they could not say they were not tempted for a moment.

    "Well, it was good to talk to you two, maybe our paths will cross again someday." Novak said as his party was getting up to leave.

    "Yeah, and good luck on your mission." Marcus said waving goodbye.

    After that Marcus and Mrazivy made onest round around the banquet, talking to a few other people, before the event came to an end, and they began making their way back home.

 Chapter 336 - 336 To The Royal Castle

    After returning home, once the banquet was over, Marcus for the first time in a while took a long break and simply rxed.

    He spent his days lounging about, reading books, taking long baths, and ying with his beastpanions.

    All in all, it was a lot of fun for him, and allowed him to really take a load off.

    He had been working pretty hard for quite some time, and while there had been little patches of respite, it had been far too long since he took multiple days just to rest easy.

    However, his days of respite soon came to an end as the promised day where Mrazivy was going to show him around the castle hade.

    And with the anticipation growing inside him, Marcus had decided to wait right by the gate in the guard station.

    Currently he was having a conversation with Violet and Amy who were the maids on watch, and both of them were a bit ufortable with talking to their employer so casually.

    Of course, most nobles would not treat their staff in such a familiar manner, but Marcus was not one to care about social hierarchy unless it would cause him problems to ignore it.

    ''Oh, there she is.''

    Luckily for the maids and Marcus, just a few minutes after dawn Mrazivy''s carriage could be seening down the road.

    Smiling Marcus was happy that she was on time, and had the maids get ready to open the gate.

    He then exited the guard station and went out front to greet Mrazivy much to her carriage driver''s surprise.

    "Lady Geist?!"

    Astonished to see her master''s friend waiting at the front gate, the carriage driver had not expected a noble toe to greet someone out in the open.

    Still, that was what Marcus had done, and Mrazivy and Sir Heward quickly exited the carriage, and the first thing that Marcus noticed was the different look that Sir Heward was giving him.

    It was by no means friendly but at least he was no longer ring murderously.

    Now he had more of an expression of a father who did not approve of the man his daughter was going out with.

    ''I guess Mrazivy managed to convince him that I am not some mind manipting monster.''

    "Looks like you were pretty eager to go to the castle huh." Mrazivy said with a wry smile.

    She could tell by Marcus'' being at the front gate as well as the subtle look of excitement on his face that he was really looking forward to seeing the royal castle.

    "And here I was hoping you would show me around your mansion first. But I suppose that you do not think of me as a good enough friend to show me your home even thought I offered to show you mine." Mrazivy said in an overly dramatic way, obviously teasing Marcus.

    Sighing Marcus yed along with Mrazivy and said, "Yes you are right, what kind of friend am I when I do not even offer you the hospitality of my home. Please follow me to my abode, so I may give you a grand wee."

    The two then stood there for just a moment before no longer being able to contain themselves andughing at how ridiculous they had been acting.

    "Ah but seriously if you want toe and see what my house looks like, we can. Though I doubt itpares to where you live."

    "No, it is fine, we made ns to look at the castle today. When wee back you can show me around your estate."

    The two of them then got into Mrazivy''s carriage while Sir Heward took up his post on the coachman''s stand, having already been told to do so.

    Along the way Mrazivy told Marcus a bit about the castle and some of the areas they were going to visit, like the grand hall, therge atrium where the royal family grew various types of nts, and the throne room, just to name a few.

    Soon therge castle that was made out of white stone, and was toped with blue stone, came into view.

    The castle was surrounded by a massive wall that was nearly as tall and thick as the city''s outer wall, and the number of fortifications on it made it look near impregnable.

    ''This is my first time seeing it from so close, but it sure isrge, unnecessarily so.''

    As Marcus fully appreciated the size of the castle that they were approaching, he realized that it was certainlyrger than any castle every built-on Earth, by a wide margin.

    In fact, it made his own manor look like a rundown shack, and there was little doubt that it well exceeded one million square feet if not even two million.

    However, as they entered beyond the wall with ease since Mrazivy''s carriage bore the emblem of the royal family, Marcus was able to see that beyond the wall there was not just the castle but also what appeared to be another city itself.

    There were a number of smaller estates peppered throughout the tens of thousands of acres that made up the castle''s grounds, as well as arge square full of shops in it.

    Of course, the castle was further separated from this area by another smaller wall, but Marcus was surprised to see that there was basically anothermunity behind the walls of the castle.

    "You did not tell me that this was here." Marcus said as he looked out in amazement.

    "Oh, did you not already know about Castle Town. This is where ministers, generals, lower ranking members of the royal family, and the like live." Mrazivy said as if this waspletely natural.

    However, for Marcus this was another wonder of this world, since back on Earth just the grounds of the castle would already be the size of a small city.

    Though the area was not as developed as a city would be, but there must have been at least ten thousand or so people living here.

    Unfortunately, while Marcus had wanted to stop and look around, not many things were open yet, as the sun had only just risen into the sky, and they continued on their way towards the main castle.

    Passing through the second wall that was quite a bit smaller but separated the castle from the rest of the area, Marcus was finally able to take in the full scope of the building.

    Shortly, they began making their way towards the eastern side of the castle, where they got out of the carriage and began heading towards a small side entrance.

    "Okay Heward, you can take the rest of the day off. I will be showing Irene around the castle, so there is no need to protect me here." Mrazivy said, clearly telling her guardian knight that she wished to show Marcus around alone.

    Bowing his head Sir Heward did as Mrazivy instructed though he was somewhat reluctant to leave.

    Then after Sir Heward had left Mrazivy led Marcus towards the castle''s entrance where two guards were standing watch.

    "Wee back your highness." The two guards said simultaneously as they stepped out of the way and opened the door for Mrazivy.

    And as the two of them stepped through the doorway, Mrazivy turned around and gestured out with her arms and said, "Wee to the royal castle."

 Chapter 337 - 337 Exploring The Royal Castle

    Entering into the royal castle for the first time, Marcus looked down the long hall that they first walked into that seemed to go on forever.

    "So where to first Mraz." Marcus said looking at the nearby doors.

    "I think we should first go and see the grand hall which is near the center of the castle. It is the biggest room in the entire ce and is where the kingdom''s meeting will be held in a couple of weeks. Then from there we can pick anywhere to go, since it is a central location."

    "Okay, lead the way."

    Going down endless hallway after hallway, for asrge as the castle was Marcus noticed it was pretty repetitive for the most part.

    Just a bunch of hallways with different types of rooms, from guest bedrooms, bathrooms, the asional kitchen, storerooms, and sitting rooms.

    ''How do people even navigate around this ce.'' Marcus thought as they continued walking through the castle that was starting to all look the same.

    At one point Marcus thought they might find the dead body of some poor soul that had been lost in this ce since it was so huge.

    However, Mrazivy seemed to know where she was going, and walked with confidence.

    Still even after they had been walking for twenty minutes, they still had not made it to their destination, and since seeing the two guards at the entrance, they had not seen a single soul.

    "Mraz where is everyone." Marcus said his curiosity reaching its breaking point.

    As far as he could tell the inside of the castle was a ghost town, but everything still seemed quite clean so someone must have been taking care of it.

    "Hm, oh this wing of the castle is not currently in use. That is why I had us enter here so we would not run into anyone else for the time being. Though once the kingdom meeting starts, this ce will be filled with nobles and their servants that will be staying here."

    ''Ah so this part of the castle is basically like a convention''s hotel.''

    Now understanding the function of this part of the castle, Marcus continued to follow Mrazivy until they exited one of the hallways and came out into a massive room, that was the size of a stadium.

    "This is the grand hall where the kingdom''s meeting will be held, impressive right?" Mrazivy said gesturing out to the massive room."

    Looking around Marcus first noticed the crystal ceiling that was allowing the natural light of the sun to flow into the room.

    And for the first time since arriving here, Marcus saw numerous servants moving about the space seating up luxurious chairs and tables for the nobles who would attending the uing meeting.

    At the head of these servants was a middle aged blue haired man that looked quite a bit like the king.

    The man who was certainly a member of the royal family quickly noticed both Marcus and Mrazivy and began making his way over towards them.

    "My is that little Mrazivy I see. It has been at least six years since Ist saw you." The man said as he approached them.

    "Uncle Kalt, I am not a child anymore there is no need to call me little." Mrazivy said with a nostalgic smile on her face.

    Marcus could tell at a nce that Mrazivy and her uncle here probably got along pretty well from the way she seemed happy to see him.

    "Ha ha. Yes, I guess you have grown up into a fine young woman. Ah and who is this next you." Kalt said looking intently at Marcus.

    "This is Baress Irene Geist, a good friend of mine." Mrazivy said introducing Marcus.

    Giving a slight bow Marcus said, "It is a pleasure to meet you your highness, Sir Kalt. As Mrazivy said I am her friend, and she is currently giving me a tour of the castle ahead of the kingdom''s meeting."

    Waving his hand Kalt said, "No need to act so formally. Any friend of Mrazivy''s is more than wee to treat me as a member of the family. Anyway, it is not like I hold the position of king like my brother, so there is no need to feel stiff."

    With Kalt''s permission Marcus eased up a bit and said, "Okay then, it is good to meet you Kalt. So, were you close with Mrazivy when she was younger?

    With a wry smile Kalt nodded his head and said, "Yes little Mrazivy here used to have me dote on here when her father was too busy. I would often read her stories to sleep when she was a young girl. Though since I never had any children of my own, I often acted as a second father for my brother''s children when he could not be around. Oh, but did you maybe want to hear some of the more embarrassing moments from when Mrazivy was a child?"

    Letting out a high-pitched squeal in a rare moment of fluster, Mrazivy vehemently opposed her uncle from disclosing some of her more embarrassing childhood moments to Marcus.

    After Mrazivy got Kalt to promise not to tell stories about her, the three of them continued to talk for a few minutes before a very serious looking woman with ck hair and blue eyes wearing sses came over and said, "Deputy King, we are in need of your assistance with the arrangements for the meeting. I know that you want to catch up with your niece but right now we require your time."

    Sighing Kalt looked sadly at Mrazivy and Marcus and said, "Well we will have to catch up another time. Work is calling, so I will have to be going. Enjoy your stay here at the castle and take care of little Mrazivy for me Irene."

    After saying that Kalt left with the serious woman that looked like his assistant and went back to supervise the preparations for the kingdom''s meeting.

    However, Marcus had picked up on something and he realized now that Kalt was not just the king''s brother, and his position was by no means low.

    "Did she just say deputy king, as in second only to the king?" Marcus asked Mrazivy who was looking a little forlorn now that Kalt had left.

    "Hm. Oh yeah, he is my father''s right-hand man. Apparently the two of them have been thick as thieves since they were children, and it was thanks to uncle Kalt''s support that my father became king instead of any of his other brothers. So, whenever my father is indisposed for one reason or another, Uncle Kalt acts as the king in his stead. In fact, you could say that the kingdom is as well of as it is now, because of uncle Kalt''s support." Mrazivy said with a bit of reverence.

    ''I see she seemed to really look up to him.'' Marcus thought seeing the look on Mrazivy''s face.

    In fact, he thought that she seemed to have a better rtionship with her uncle than she had with her father, but maybe that was only natural when her father was the king.

    "Now where did you want to head too next.." Mrazivy said gesturing towards the number of doors leading out from the grand hall.

 Chapter 338 - 338 Royal Castle Atrium

    Looking at the different directions they could go, Marcus thought intently about where he wanted to go next in the royal castle.

    "How about we go to the atrium. I have heard that you even grow natural treasures there, and the man who is in charge of it is an acquaintance of mine." Marcus said pointing toward the south where the atrium was located.

    Nodding her head and with a satisfied expression Mrazivy said, "Good choice. The Atrium is quite beautiful and full of different wonders. Oh, and you say you know Baron Kental?"

    "Yeah, he is the father of one of my sisters'' friends, so I have met with him before. He seems like a decent guy, though he did not like it that his daughter wanted to be an adventurer."

    Hearing this Mrazivy began rubbing her cheek and had a somewhat guilty smile, and said, "I may be partially responsible for that. When I was sixteen and just about to leave to start being an adventure, I ran into the baron''s daughter a few times and talked up being an adventurer to her. I was happy to tell some of the stories I read to someone who seemed so interested, but it looks like she reallytched onto it. I mean she was just a five-year-old little girl; I did not think she would take it to heart and want to be an adventurer."

    ''Sometimes the world really is a small ce.'' Marcus thought thinking about the small degrees of separation between people

    Letting out a slight chuckle Marcus told Mrazivy that maybe she should have been a priest seeing as how she was able to convert people.

    "I mean you must be a role model for every adventurous young girl out there. Eventually you may even have hordes of young noble girlsing up to you with swords in their hands begging you to teach them how to be an adventurer."

    Taking this moment to get back at Mrazivy for her past teasing Marcus got a goodugh out of Mrazivy and soon the two of them began jovially walking towards the atrium as Mrazivy yed along saying she would raise an army of hopeful young girls into the mightiest adventurers.

    Continuing on their way Marcus and Mrazivy just made idle conversation, talking about this and that, until they made it to the outside of the royal castle''s atrium.

    ''Wow.''

    Looking at the ss building that was attached the castle, Marcus was impressed by its size that was as big as his entire manor.

    He could also see rows and rows of different nts even just from outside and a slight flora fragrance was escaping from the cracks in the doors.

    "Princess Mrazivy and my guest Baress Irene Geist, we are going to take a look around the atrium, and maybe collect a few fruits, vegetables, and herbs." Mrazivy said to the two guards standing in front of the atrium doors.

    One of the guards then held out his hand and said, "May I see both of your IDs to confirm you are who you say."

    Seeing this Marcus was a bit surprised since so far Mrazivy had been able to walk aroundpletely unimpeded, but it looked like even she had to follow procedure to enter the atrium.

    Following her lead Marcus handed over his ID and allowed the guards to look it over.

    And as they did one of them nced up at Marcus warily, obviously cautious about his set of skills that could cause damage to the atrium.

    "Here you go, everything seems to be in order. You are both free to enter, and move about, but please make sure your guest follows all of the rules your highness."

    "Yes, will do. We are just looking around and enjoying the ce. I promise that we will not damage the atrium." Mrazivy said already used to the way the security in the atrium was handled.

    ''This ce must be more important than I thought if the security is this tight. I guess they must be growing some rare natural treasures in here.''

    Walking inside the full force of the smell that Marcus had gotten just a whiff of outside assaulted his senses and the sweet natural smell made him feel at peace.

    Then there was also the bright light that gave the ce a warmth that was pretty much unheard of in this kingdom that was situated far to the north.

    ''It feels almost like I have walked into the tropics.''

    Looking around Marcus could not clearly see the number of nts being grown, from fruit trees to rows of herbs.

    "Hey Irene, did you want one of these." Mrazivy said as she went over to arge tree that had some type of fruit growing from it.

    It was a long thin fruit that was yellow in color and Marcus had not seen it before.

    He wondered if maybe it could only be found here in this atrium seeing as how it was unlikely to be able to naturally grow within the kingdom.

    "Sure, go ahead and pick one for me." Marcus said while theorizing how the fruit would taste.

    Mrazivy then pulled of two of the biggest looking fruits and came back over to Marcus and handed him one, as she took a bite out of the other.

    Taking the fruit Marcus followed her example and took a big bite out of it.

    ''Mm, tastes a bit like a sourer pineapple with a texture simr to a mango.''

    As he was eating the fruit along with Mrazivy, Marcus noticed that there were a number of people watching them, some curiously and others alertly.

    "Mraz why is this ce so heavily guarded." Marcus said before finishing off the fruit.

    "Oh, this ce is pretty much the heart of the castle. Most of our produce is grown here, especially during the winter allowing us to have fresh food year-round. That way in case of a siege, the castle could hold out pretty much indefinitely, though that has never happened. Also, there are some natural treasures growing here that kingdom does not want damaged or stolen. But the biggest reason is because if the atrium were damaged, we would not be able to rece the magical formations that make this ce possible."

    "I see so whoever made this ce must not be around anymore then?"

    "Yeah. It was made by one of the first king''spanions who was apparently a nature magic expert and the first grand archmage of the kingdom. Unfortunately, after she died, no one of the same level of skill in nature magic has risen up, so if the formations were badly damaged, no one would be able to repair them. Therefore, even us members of the royal family need to tread cautiously here." Mrazivy said with a grave expression.

    "Ah but we do not need to worry. Just follow my lead and everything will be fine."

    After saying that Mrazivy began walking again, asionally grabbing a fruit or vegetable for Marcus to try.

    "And this here is the flower garden. It is pretty much the only ce in the atrium not growing some type of produce and is meant to be a rxing spot in the castle.." Mrazivy said as she opened the doors to a small section of room.

 Chapter 339 - 339 Princess Eis

    Looking around the flower garden Marcus saw that there were a number of roses at the entrance, all with vibrant colors and sweet smells.

    Examining each if the different roses Marcus found that depending on the color, they had a different smell.

    Then once Marcus had gotten his fill of looking at the roses, the two of them headed deeper into the flower garden and Marcus soon heard the soft trickle of water, before they came out into an area with arge fountain in it.

    Within the fountain there were plenty of water lilies floating on the top, and a few koi like fish swimming within.

    "Ah this used to be one of my favorite spots to read. It is quite tranquil and peaceful and allows you to forget all of your worries. You can really get engrossed into a good book here." Mrazivy said with a nostalgic smile.

    Seeing this Marcus pulled a book out of his item box and said, "Here how about we take a few minutes and read this book together. I have not gotten to it yet, but I am sure we will enjoy it."

    Sitting down on the edge of the fountain Marcus and Mrazivy began reading the book, that Marcus had pulled out that was called Tuknuk Hero of the North.

    It was aedic book about a hero named Tuknuk and his misadventures with his beastpanions and party members that seemed to always get kidnapped by the story''s antagonist.

    It certainly was not a deep or thrilling read, but it was funny with how nonsensical it was, and a number of times had both Marcus and Mrazivyughing out loud.

    However, after they had been reading the book for around forty minutes another person entered the flower garden and from the entrance, they both heard, "Your Highness please do not run, you are going to hurt yourself."

    Then the saw the silhouette of a person running backwards as she said, "I will be just fine, no need to worry Sir Hinsen."

    Except a moment after the young girl who had just appeared said this, she clipped against the corner of one of the flower beds and twisted around, before falling over face first.

    The girl began crying as she registered the injuries she received and as she sat up Marcus could see that she had scraped up her hands and legs which were bleeding.

    Standing up abruptly Mrazivy began running towards the little girl and Marcus followed suit.

    "Eis are you okay." Mrazivy said with concern for the little girl that had just fallen.

    "Here let me take care of it." Marcus said as he bent over and cast a healing spell on Eis.

    "Minor Cure."

    Using the tier one healing magic spell, Marcus quickly fixed up the young princess'' injures, and as he was a man who was certainly the girls guardian knight ran up to them.

    "Your Highness are you al-"

    Coming out into the opening where the fountain was Eis'' guardian knight noticed Marcus and Mrazivy and stopped abruptly.

    "Princess Mrazivy and Lady Irene?!" Sir Hinsen said bewildered as to why they were here.

    Looking at Eis'' guardian knight Marcus was certain he had seen him somewhere but could not ce him immediately.

    ''Who was this guy againˇ­ Ah he is one of Lilia''s friends'' father, Sir Hansen I think.''

    Having already finished healing princess Eis'' injuries, Marcus helped her stand back up and said, "Good to see you again Sir Hansen. This must be the princess you are in charge of protecting. She took a bit of a fall but I already cast a healing spell on her so she should be fine."

    Marcus then nudged Eis back over towards Sir Hinsen and Mrazivy who was next to Marcus whispered over to him and said, "You know him?"

    Nodding his head Marcus whispered back and said, "Yeah, he is one of my sister''s friends'' fathers. I met him once before when we all got together once."

    "Well then I thought you might want to know that his name is Sir Hinsen not Hansen."

    Realizing his blunder Marcus looked at Sir Hinsen to see if his misremembering his name had upset him, but he was currently busy, looking over princess Eis to make sure she did not have any hidden injuries.

    ''Whew safe. Looks like he did not notice because of how distraught he was.''

    Letting out a sigh of relief Marcus was happy that his name slip was not caught.

    "Thank you, Princess Mrazivy and Lady Irene, foring to Princess Eis'' aid. Sometimes I can lose track of her when she goes running of like that." Sir Hinsen said as he bowed towards them.

    Following that Eis gave a small curtsy and said, "Thank you for your help elder sister, and Lady Irene."

    "Oh, it is no problem, of course I woulde to help my cute little sister. Anyway, Eis we are not in a formal setting so you can call me Mrazivy like you used to."

    At that Eis perked up and ran over to give Mrazivy a hug, showing a bit of sisterly affection.

    ''She reminds me a bit of Lilia. I guess they are the around the same age and she has brown hair just like her.''

    Looking at princess Eis hugging Mrazivy, Marcus could not help but think about his little sister who he had not seen for a while since she had returned to school.

    ''Wait brown hair?''

    Thinking about it carefully for a minute this was the first time Marcus had seen a member of the royal family without their signature blue hair.

    However, as he looked closely, he noticed that while Eis'' hair was mostly brown it did have a few highlights of blue within it.

    When Eis had gotten enough affection from Mrazivy she came up to Marcus and once again thanked him for healing her and making the pain go away.

    "So are you part of my sister''s adventuring party." Eis asked as she titled her head.

    "No, me and Mrazivy are friends. Though we did meet as adventures for the first time."

    Hearing this Eis asked Marcus and Mrazivy about the first time they had met and then about the adventures they had been on.

    Yet as the young princess got up close to Marcus and Mrazivy asking them for story after story, her guardian knight Sir Hinsen said, "Princess Eis, we should not bother Princess Mrazivy and Lady Irene any further."

    A sad look came over the young princess'' face, but she nodded her head and walked back over to Sir Hinsen.

    But Marcus seeing the excited young girl suddenly look sullen, said, "We do not mind. Mrazivy was just showing me around the atrium, but I am sure that it would be fine if you came along."

    After saying that Marcus looked towards Mrazivy for conformation and she nodded her head and said, "Yeah it will be more fun with you around. If it is fine with you Sir Hinsen we would like Eis to apany us."

    "Very well if that is what you want your highness." Sir Hinsen said bowing his head.

    "Yeah!" Eis shouted out happy to be able to have fun wither sister and Marcus.

    "Oh, you said this was Lady Irene''s first time here right big sis Mrazivy.. Then we have to show her the amethyst blossom tree."

 Chapter 340 - 340 Atrium Adventure

    Being led by the enthusiastic fifteenth princess, Marcus and Mrazivy followed her to a ce where a special tree called the amethyst blossom was located.

    Marcus asked Mrazivy about what it was, but she kept quiet saying that when they got there he would see.

    ''Whoa it is more impressive than I thought.''

    When the tree in question came into view, Marcus had no doubt that it was as the most beautiful tree he had ever seen.

    It looked like a cherry blossom tree from back on earth, but its petals were a vibrant purple that looked like amethyst and were perpetually falling as if from a picturesque scene.

    Looking at the tree, Marcus was impressed at how it was able to continuously produce blossoms that began falling, and when they touched the ground, they seemed to be absorbed into it.

    "Are the petals always falling like this." Marcus asked curious as to how this was possible.

    "Hm. Oh no the petals only fall during the day and from the spring to summer. I do not actually know how it works, but it certainly is a sight to see." Mrazivy said with a bright smile on her face.

    "So, what do you think Lady Irene. Spectacr is it not." Princess Eis said, enthusiastic to show one of her favorite spots to Marcus and get his opinion.

    "It certainly is magnificent. I have not ever seen anything like it. Do you know where it came from?"

    Frowning Princess Eis shook her head and looked up to Sir Hinsen hoping to get the answer from him, but he apparently did not know either.

    "Mraz do you know about it?"

    Unfortunately, even Mrazivy shrugged her shoulders and said, "Sorry I do not know anything about it either. Maybe the keeper of the atrium Baron Kental would?"

    With no one knowing anything about the amethyst blossom tree, Marcus put his inquiry off for now, and the three of them simply enjoyed the view for a while.

    Once they had gotten their fill of viewing the spectacle that was the amethyst blossom tree, their group moved on and explored the rest of the flower garden, enjoying the stimtion to their senses and the goodpany.

    "So where should we go next Mrazivy and Irene." Eis said, wanting to keep having fun with her sister and her friend.

    She did not get to interact with other people that treated her like an equal very often, and she was having the time of her life.

    "I guess we could explore the vineyard where they grow the grapes we use to make wine, and then after that I am sure we could get a quick peek at the natural treasures." Mrazivy said while thinking about the other interesting ces in the atrium.

    After that Eis began running off again heading towards the vineyard.

    Following after her Sir Hinsen rushed off in a fluster to keep up with his charge who liked to run off in a hurry.

    "She sure is fast for her age." Marcus said watching the young princess able to move swiftly enough to give her guardian knight trouble.

    "Yeah, she has the blessing of lightning speed, making her quite fast even though she is still in the low double digits level wise."

    "I see, sounds like a useful blessingˇ­ Wait but if it is this strong already why is she not being trained up more. She could probably be a prodigy like you." Marcus asked confusion on his face.

    However, as he said this, a frown came over Mrazivy''s face, and she said, "It isplicated. I will tell youter when we are in private."

    Mrazivy then began walking in the direction that Eis had run off in, and Marcus followed along wondering what the young princess'' circumstances were.

    Soon they made their way to the vineyard where grapes of all different types were being grown, some of which had peculiar colors like grey. And trying one Marcus found that they had a smokey vor.

    ''That was not what I was expecting, but it was surprisingly really good.''

    Going around the vineyard, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Eis, enjoyed sampling the different grapes, and at one-point Mrazivy went up to one of the workers that was tending to the vineyard and said something to them.

    Then a few minutestter they came back with a few bottles of wine, and some sses.

    "Thank you." Mrazivy said as she handed a pouch of gold coins to the worker.

    "Now are you ready to have some of the best alcohol you have ever tried." Mrazivy said as she held up one of the bottles.

    Pouring a few sses, Mrazivy handed a full cup to Marcus, a very small amount to Eis, and though she tried to give some to Sir Hinsen, he refused as he was on duty.

    "Mm, looks like this year''s crop is a pretty good one." Mrazivy said as she took a drinking of the wine.

    "You are right this is pretty good. I think it might be the best I have ever had." Marcus said genuinely enjoying the wine.

    They continued to drink the wine, and explore the vineyard, before wandering towards the other areas of the atrium.

    "Well, I think that is everything but the natural tressure farm. And since we have not found Baron Kental, yet he is probably there." Mrazivy said.

    Having explored the rest of the atrium Mrazivy began leading the way towards the section where they grew natural treasures, that was in its own section removed from everything else.

    And as they approached the security in the ce noticeably increased, with guards patrolling the area, and in front of the door leading to the area were five high level knights.

    Marcus could tell just from the look of them that they were imposing, probably all at least level thirty-five. Though he did not dare actually appraise them in case they had a means to detect it and he angered them.

    "Please stop there your highnesses." The lead knight said.

    Doing as they were told, both Mrazivy and Eis stopped, and Marcus and Sir Hinsen followed suit.

    The knight then approached them, and said, "Please leave any magic bags that you have here, and we will need to check your IDs once again.

    ''Gosh it is like airport security in here.'' Marcus thought as he emptied out his pockets and handed over his magic bags.

    Of course, as the knights inspected his and Mrazivy''s statuses, they frowned since both of them had item boxes.

    "Princess Mrazivy, and Lady Geist. Seeing as you both have item boxes, we will need to assign a knight to apany you as per regtion."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy agreed to having a watcher since she already knew about the rules to enter the natural treasure area of the atrium.

    The kingdom did not want their natural treasures wandering off, even in the hands of one of their royals.

    "Dame Leona and Dame Kaiya, would you be their escorts inside." The lead knight said to the two female knights on watch.

    Both bowed their heads and moved over towards Marcus and Mrazivy keeping an eye on both of them.

    "Now you may enter but your highnesses please be mindful of the rules, and make sure your guest does not get into any trouble."

    After saying that, the lead knight had the fortified doors opened up, allowing Marcus his first glimpse into the area where the kingdom grew natural treasures.

 Chapter 341 - 341 The Kingdomâ€™s Natural Treasures

    Walking into the part of the atrium where they grew natural tressures Marcus looked around and saw a number of familiar nts.

    However, as he identified the ones he knew, he became a bit disappointed seeing as how none of them were very rare.

    It was a far cry from the vast amount that were growing in the intelligent beasts'' domain, but it was still something.

    ''Looks like they can only cultivate the moremon types. But I guess that this is still impressive in its own way.''

    Still even though the first impression was not breathtaking, as they walked further in Marcus saw some natural treasures he had never seen before, like a palm tree that was growing silver coconuts.

    ''Oh, there he is.''

    As they continued exploring the plots where the natural treasures were growing, Marcus soon spotted Baron Kental who was the man in charge of running and maintaining this atrium.

    Marcus then got everyone''s attention and they began moving towards Baron Kental who had a few assistants with him and appeared to work on something.

    "The moister in the soul around the soul strengthening grass is too high. We will need to lessen the watering in this area. And over here with the iron shell seeds. We need to spread more magic core fertilizer. I can see that their luster iscking." Baron Kental said to his assistants.

    However, as Baron Kental continued to evaluate the natural treasures his entire focus on them, he did not notice Marcus'' group approaching him, and one of his assistants tapped on his shoulder to get his attention.

    Unfortunately, Baron Kental had been in the middle of taking a clipping from one of the soul strengthening grasses, and when he felt the tap on his shoulders, he nearly ripped the grass out of the ground.

    "Braxton what did I tell you about distracting me when I am taking clippings. What if I would have damaged this natural treasure." Baron Kental said with a frustrated expression on his face and an angry tone.

    "Sir I am sorry, but it appears you have some visitors." Braxton said pointing towards Marcus'' group.

    Looking over, Baron Kental saw Marcus, and those with him for the first time, and an expression of surprise came over his face.

    He had not been expecting to see any visitors today, but the rag tag group in front of him was far from what he could have expected.

    "Your highnesses princess Mrazivy and Eis. To what do I owe the pleasure." Baron Kental said, giving a slight bow.

    "Oh, we just came to look around. This is my friend Lady Irene Geist, and I was just showing her around the castle, and she wanted toe here. I do believe that the two of you are also acquainted, correct?"

    Nodding his head Baron Kental said, "Yes her sister is friends with my daughter, so we have met each other once before. It is a pleasure to see you again Lady Geist."

    "Yes, it is good to see you again as well Baron Kental. Sorry to bother you at work." Marcus said apologetically.

    "No, it is fine. For members of the royal family, I am always avable. So, what is it that you need of me, or were you simply being polite and greeting me?" The baron said

    "Actually, we were hoping you could tell us more about the amethyst blossom tree in the flower garden." Princess Eis said, with eyes full of childlike wonder.

    Of course, this had actually been nned in advance to ensure that Baron Kelton would answer, since it was possible if Marcus or Mrazivy had asked he would have declined saying he needed to get back to work.

    But how could he refuse such a heartfelt plea from the young princess.

    Unfortunately, as she asked about the amethyst blossom tree, the Baron sighed and said, "I am sorry Princess Eis, but even I know very little about that tree. I have studied botany since I was young, and never have Ie across records of such a tree existent anywhere else. The only thing I know about it is that it was ced there by the original creator of this atrium and has been there ever since."

    Hearing the Baron''s response, Eis, Mrazivy, and Marcus all looked a bit downcast because they had been hoping to find out some facts about the beautiful and mysterious tree.

    "Ah but I do know just about everything there is to know about every other nt in this atrium, so allow me to give you a guided tour of the natural treasures while you are here." Baron Kental said, weak to seeing the sadden look on Princess Eis'' face.

    Receiving an unexpected offer, their group naturally took the Baron up on his suggestion, and he began guiding them around.

    Baron Kental then began leading them around and giving them insights into the natural treasures being grown, as well as some of the basic care they required to stay healthy.

    "However, without the formation put in ce by the atrium''s creator, none of these natural treasures would be able to flourish and in the best case they would put out far lesser products" Baron Kental said as he showed off the core of the atrium that produced the magic that that promoted nt growth and kept it safe from disease.

    They continued around like this on the guided tour of the natural treasures that were on different levels, each level higher having rarer natural treasures that stayed effective even intoter levels.

    "And this here is our pride and joy, the rainbow fruit tree." Baron Kental said as they made it to the top of the atrium.

    Looking at this tree that took up the entire top floor of the atrium, Marcus stared intently at the familiar looking tree that sat in the middle of a spring.

    ''That is the same type of tree that was in the de the golden lions had made their home.''

    Recognizing the tree, this was the first natural tressure that really impressed Marcus since the fruit it produced could raise any stat depending on the color.

    "As I am sure you can tell, this tree produces different fruits that can raise any of the five stats by a good margin. Even just one fruit from it is worth a few hundred gold, though the kingdom would never dream to sell such a valuable resource."

    Baron Kental then went on about the tree and how the spring it sat on was very special, needing to be constantly infused with mana, and have a particr concoction used to refill it.

    Yet as he talked about the rainbow fruit tree, Princess Eis became mesmerized by the beautiful fruit growing on it and said, "Could I have one?"

    There was practically droll flowing out of her mouth, though Marcus could not me her since he knew how good those fruit tasted.

    s, everyone knew that it would not be that simple and Baron Kental said, "I am sorry Princess Eis, but I cannot just give out one of those fruits. Perhaps try asking your father when you see him next."

    Sighing, Princess Eis and letting her head and shoulders slump over.

    She knew before she asked that she would not get one of those fruits, but they looked so good she had to try.

    "Here you go princess, I have plenty so you can take this one." Marcus said, pulling out one of the blue fruits from his item box.

    Everyone except Mrazivy who knew where Marcus had gotten this fruit from, looked at him with shocked expressions.

    At first, they thought he had somehow taken one of the fruits off of the tree, but the two knights watching him had not seen anything, and at a nce none of the fruits were missing.

    "Are you sure I can have this." Princess Eis asked timidly.

    "Yeah, go ahead. This one did note from that tree, but I came across a simr one in a dungeon and this is one of the fruits I took from it."

    Of course, Marcus said this not just to put the little princess at ease, but also for everyone else, so they would know that he had not stolen it.

    Princess Eis then took the fruit and began munching down on it, and as she took a bite her eyes went wide.

    The vor of the fruit had a mellow sweetness, and there was a refreshing coolness that it left in her mouth.

    "Delicious!" Princess Eis said as she held one of her hands up to her cheek.

    "Lady Irene are you sure it was oaky to give something so valuable to the princess." Sir Hinsen said in concern.

    He had never known anyone to simply hand out a natural treasure for free as they were a very valuable resource.

    Though how could he know that they meant nothing to Marcus who had no need of them other than being a good tasting treat, and that he had obtained hundreds of these fruits from the intelligent beasts'' domain.

    "Yeah, it is fine. I got a whole tree full in the Cordillera Depths. I am more than fine handing out a few."

    Marcus then pulled out a couple more of the fruits that he kept in his item box as snacks and tried to hand them out.

    However, other than Mrazivy, no one else took the fruits saying they could not ept something so valuable.

    "Oh well, suit yourselves.." Marcus said as he took a bite out of one of the purple fruits and enjoyed its vor.

 Chapter 342 - 342 (Hidden, Title At The Bottom)

    As Marcus ate a rare natural treasure like amon snack, Baron Kental and the knights were all wondering what was wrong with him.

    Even kings would not eat natural treasures of that quality without some purpose in mind, and they certainly would not hand it out like candy to a child.

    However, the party in question had done it willingly and even though everyone around other than the princesses thought Marcus had a screw loose, it was not their ce to intervene.

    "So how did you like it Eis." Marcus said as the young princess finished off the natural treasure.

    Smiling brightly Eis looked up at Marcus and said, "It was delicious. Thank you very much Lady Irene."

    "Well, I am d you enjoyed it. Once we get out of here, I will give you some more forter." Marcus said, happy to see the young princess enjoying herself

    ''Mrazivy certainly has a good little sister. Though I guess one day she might be my little sister as well.''

    After that their group thanked Baron Kental for showing them around and exining things to them even though he had work to do.

    "It was no problem. I enjoyed showing some people with genuine interest around, other than those just interested in the value of these natural treasures." Baron Kental said having enjoyed his time as well.

    At heart he had a real passion for botany, and it was a breath of fresh air for him to have others who did not just care about the gains these nts brought, but how they were cultivated and the care that went into it.

    Waving goodbye, Marcus, Mrazivy, Eis, and Sir Hinsen exited the natural treasure area, and collected their things.

    "Well, this is where we will say goodbye for now. It was fun to have you show me around Eis." Marcus said, as he patted the princess'' head.

    "Do we really have to go Sir Hinsen, could we not apany my sister and Irene for a bit longer." Princess Eis said with puppy dog eyes to Sir Hinsen.

    Unfortunately, as effective as they were on him, he still knew he needed to keep the princess'' schedule, and said, "I am sorry your highness, but you afternoon break is already over. We need to get you to your politics ss now."

    Sighing Princess Eis nodded her head, knowing she was not going to be getting out of her lesson.

    "Here take these. Once you finish your lesson feel free to have one to celebrate." Marcus said as he took out a dozen different natural treasures and handed them over to the princess who eagerly put them into her magic bag.

    Seeing this Sir Hinsen was truly bbergasted, since Marcus had just handed over more natural treasures than he could expect to get in a year.

    "Are you really sure Lady Irene? Is that not too much to give out to her highness?"

    "Yeah, it is fine. She is Mrazivy''s sister, so I thought I should treat her like my own. Anyway, as I said I have plenty, and my stats are already maxed out for my level." Marcus said nonchntly.

    Hearing this Sir Hinsen went wide eyed, since very few people would have their stats maxed out at any given time.

    In fact, only the strongest prodgies in the kingdom would be given enough resources for that.

    "You really are something else Lady Irene. Well, if you say it is fine, then I suppose it should be okay for the princess to have them. Just try to be careful giving out natural treasures so casually or some people may try to take advantage of you." Sir Hinsen said with some concern.

    "Thank you for your worry, but I will be fine. I only give out gifts to those that I like"

    After saying that Marcus and Mrazivy said goodbye to their temporarypanions and began their tour of the castle once more.

    "So where to next Mraz."

    However, an instant after saying that Marcus got his answer as Mrazivy''s stomach growled loudly.

    "I guess that means our next destination, is the kitchen." Marcus said with a wry smile.

    Mrazivy then began blushing and yfully hitting him for pointing out her stomach growling.

    Once Mrazivy was done hitting Marcus the two of them headed off towards the kitchen, to get some lunch.

    "Hey Kokki, would you mind making the two of us something to eat." Mrazivy said as she walked up to the royal chef.

    "Oh, Princess Mrazivy, it has been quite some time, and who is this beautiful friend with you." Kokki said as he looked over Marcus.

    "This is Baress Irene Geist. She is my guest, and as you surmised my friend."

    "I see. To think that the rambunctious princess woulde back with such a beautiful friend."

    Kokki then bowed towards Marcus and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Irene. Name anything you want, and I will have it fixed up for you."

    Smiling deviously Marcus said, "Sure, I would love some puff cow fillets if possible."

    Kokki''s smile slightly dropped hearing this, since puff cow fillets were some of the most expensive cuts of meat and were normally only brought out for special asions.

    Seeing the look on Kokki''s face Marcus dramatically said, "Oh I am sorry. I thought that the royal kitchen would have some. When Ist fed the princess here, I severed her the best puff cow filets I owned, and I figured I could receive the same here. Though I guess if you do not have any, we can have something else."

    Putting on a disappointed expression Marcus let out a deep sigh.

    "No, we do have some. Normally we would not bring them out casually, but just this once I will make an exception."

    Moving frantically Kokki got his staff in order and told them that they would be preparing a special meal for Princess Mrazivy, and Lady Irene.

    "Wow looks like you got that hardass Kokki to actually go all out. He only does that for a few people, like my father, and my great grandmother." Mrazivy said genuinely impressed.

    "Eh it is no big deal. I mean you do owe me for all those fillets you ate the other day."

    After that Marcus and Mrazivy moved into the dining room, that currently was empty even though it was lunch time

    "Looks like we have it all to ourselves." Marcus said as he pulled up a chair in the middle of therge table.

    "Yeah, this ce is actually not very utilized. Very rarely does anyone actuallye here to eat. Normally members of the royal family just have our meals brought to us. This ce is mostly used for social events or the asional family meal."

    Sitting down next to Marcus, Mrazivy pulled out a chess set, and the two began ying to pass the time until their meals arrived.

    However, their peaceful time was soon interrupted as a middle-aged man with blue hair entered the dining room, along with arge group of nobles behind him.

    "And this here is the royal dinning hall where we will be having our exquisite lunch." The man who was definitely a member of the royal family said.

    Yet after he addressed his guests, he turned around and saw Mrazivy.

    Seeing her a scowl formed on his face but he quickly got his expression back together, until he saw Marcus.

    His face then contorted into surprise, before a smile formed on his face, one that Marcus had seen before when he was with Ivar Poulsen.

    Chapter 342 Trouble Walks In

 Chapter 343 - 343 Trouble With The First Prince

    Seeing the man who was certainly royalty leering at him, Marcus could tell things were going to get messy.

    He had already seen this type of guy and knew that he was not going to back off until he got what he wanted or was put in his ce.

    And for further conformation Marcus could see the Mrazivy ring at this man who was approaching.

    "Ah sister it is good to see you again. I do not think that I have seen you since you left over six years ago. You have grown up well, and I have heard of your impressive exploits." Mrazivy''s brother said trying his best to act amiable.

    However, Mrazivy had no intention of ying along and said, "Yeah I have heard about you exploits as well. Now we must be going."

    After saying that Mrazivy grabbed Marcus by the hand and tried to exit the room and avoid dealing with her brother that she obviously did not get along with.

    Unfortunately, her brother had already set his sights on Marcus and was not simply going to let him leave.

    "Now is that any way to treat your eldest brother? You should at least introduce you friend first." The first prince said as he got in the way of Mrazivy and Marcus'' exit.

    "Baress Irene Geist, First Prince Soith Borealia. There now you are acquainted, so we will be taking our leave."

    Still as much as Mrazivy simply wanted to leave the area and defuse the situation, her brother was being persistent, and he did not get out of their way. And at this point his followers who were mostly young nobles had gathered around making it even more difficult to leave.

    "Geist? Hm, I do not think I have heard of your house before, but it is a pleasure to meet you Lady Irene."

    The first prince then tried to reach out and grab Marcus'' hand so he could kiss it, but Marcus kept his hand out of reach and maneuvered away from the prince.

    "My you must be a shy one. I apologize for being too forward." The prince said trying toy on the fake charm.

    Of course, neither Marcus nor Mrazivy were buying it, though the sheepeople around him were.

    "Well, since the two of you are here, certainly you were waiting for your own meal. Please do not leave on my behalf you are more than wee to stay."

    And to Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s misfortune, Kokki came out personally with some appetizers for them right then, making it even more difficult for them to leave.

    "Very well, brother, we shall stay to eat our meal. But I rmend you do not try to add my friend to your list of exploits. You may not find the oue to your liking." Mrazivy said giving her brother a warning though she doubted he would follow it.

    Sitting back down Marcus and Mrazivy, began eating the mushroom risotto appetizer that Kokki had brought out for them, and the first prince began talking to his associates.

    "Is that guy really the first prince, and going to be the next king?" Marcus whispered leaning over towards Mrazivy.

    "Yes, he is the first prince, but he will be the next king over my dead body. Anyway, even our father does not think highly of him and has not named him his heir. He is just a scheming yboy with no real ability other than tricking or forcing poor women to sleep with him. The second prince who has many great aplishments in the military, is far more likely to be the next king." Mrazivy said, whispering back to Marcus.

    ''I see he is one of those types. It has been a while since I have had to deal with one of them. Looks like I am in for a rough time, well, if he gets handsy I will just break his hands.''

    Yet Mrazivy seeing the look on Marcus'' face leaned back over and whispered, "Whatever you do just try not to hurt him. If you did that it would cause a huge problem, and my father would have to take some form of action.

    "Fine I will not harm him, but I refused to let him touch me." Marcus said, with a deep sigh.

    At the very least though the prince was currently upied with his supporters, and it allowed Marcus and Mrazivy to enjoy the mushroom risotto that they had been severed.

    s, the prince did not spend forever talking to the poor nobles he had convinced to follow him, and they soon sat down at the table.

    Naturally the first prince sat right next to Marcus, and then gave him a winning smile, that might make some girls heart skip a beat.

    Luckily Marcus was not really a girl, and he already hated this guy with a burning passion and could see through all of his tricks.

    ''Ah good it looks like our main course is here.''

    Thankful to see that their food was already here, Marcus just wanted to eat quickly and get out of here.

    "Oh, I see that you got Kokki to bring out the best. You must be quite the exceptional woman Lady Irene." Said to Marcus in an impressed tone

    The first prince then continued to heap praise upon Marcus, trying to butter him up, but Marcus simply ignored him and shut out any sound.

    ''Well at least the food is good.'' Marcus thought as he began eating the puff cow fillet.

    He could tell that it was better than his, but even its delicious taste was brought down by the horriblepany.

    "Lady Irene, I was wondering if perhaps you would like to join me tonight in viewing the castle gardens. It is a lovely scenery, and we could discus your houses'' position. I am sure that as the future king I could have you advanced to at least viscountess, should you join my camp."

    After saying this the first prince thought he had hooked Marcus and began moving his left hand towards his waist.

    He had rarely met a nobledy that rejected his advances once he promised to raise their houses peerage, even if it was just spouting lies and had no intention of following through.

    However, when his hand was only inches away from Marcus, he felt some sort of impediment that he could not force through, and looking down noticed a small shimmering green barrier.

    Marcus not allowing himself to be touched by the first prince, deployed a small mana barrier and used it to ward off the prince''s hand.

    Yet the one to explode was neither Marcus or the prince, as Mrazivy stood up and said, "You, the future king, do not make meugh. If you had the qualities necessary to be a king, father already would have made you his heir."

    The room that had been abuzz with conversation suddenly became quiet as Mrazivy said this, and a few of the first prince''s followers gasped at this tant disrespect.

    "Oh, and who else could be king. I am the first prince and the son of both the king and queen. What would you the thirteenth princess and the daughter of simply the king''s fourth wife know about father''s ns?" Soith said, a tinge of anger in his voice.

    Still Mrazivy was not done and said, "Naturally second prince James is going to be the next king. He has many military achievements, and the people love him. I am sure you already know how dire your situation is which is why you are trying to fool these young nobles here into joining you. It is likely that father will announce his heir at the uing kingdom meeting, and you are trying to garner what little support you can."

    Hearing this the first prince lost his cool attitude and stood up with anger in his eyes.

    He was used to getting what he wanted, and no one would ever dream of disrespecting him like this.

    "Dirik, Ruth, you saw how Lady Irene deployed some sort of skill against me. Arrest her for attacking the first prince."

    The prince''s two guardian knights who had been standing nearby began approaching Marcus following his orders.

    Of course, they knew that the prince was blowing things out of proportions and that if Marcus had actually used an attack they would have already intervened.

    Nheless, all they needed to do was follow his orders as they had many times in the past.

    ''Well, I knew this wasing. He cannot do anything to Mrazivy, so he is taking it out on me.''

    Having seen this scenario a mile away, Marcus had already prepared a few countermeasures to deal with the first prince''s tantrum.

    Though as the two knights under Soith''smand got closer to Marcus, Mrazivy stood in front of him, ready to take the two knights on.

    "Mraz, I will be fine. No need to make any trouble for yourself. Neither of those goons will be able toy a hand on me." Marcus said casually continuing to eat without a worry.

    Nodding her head Mrazivy got out of the way and decided to let what happened next unfold, hoping Marcus would not go too overboard.

    ''I think that is close enough.''

    When Soith''s two knights were five feet from him, Marcus activated his phantom pressure causing both of them to seize up.

    To them it suddenly felt as if a heavy weight was being pushed down on their very beings, and their reactions be sluggish, and a creeping fear was welling up inside them.

    And though they could still move owing to the fact they were both level forty and that Marcus'' pressure was spilt on both of them, neither one of them wanted to take a step closer.

    They could feel what seemed like impending death from Marcus who was currently only giving them an uninterested nce while finishing his meal.

    "There I am finished. Mrazivy are you ready to go." Marcus said, not acknowledging the two knights that were standing close by like statues, and the stunned room around him.

    "Dirik, Ruth, what are you two doing. Arrest her already." The first prince said fuming mad.

    He had no idea why his loyal knights had stopped moving but he was not going to let this embarrassment go unpunished.

    However, no amount of his shouting got Dirik or Ruth to move while they were still under the effects of Marcus'' phantom pressure.

    "It appears that your knights are not loyal or stupid enough to follow suicidalmands. I can see now why you will never be king. You think that because you were simply born first that you are special, but in reality, you are a sad little man who can only get by borrowing the authority of others. Now why do you not run to daddy andin and see who he values more, me or you."

    After saying that Marcus and Mrazivy left the room, and the first prince could only stand there fuming unable to actually do anything.

 Chapter 344 - 344 End Of The First Day

    Once Marcus and Mrazivy had made some distance from the dinning room, Mrazivy pulled out a sending stone.

    "Great Grandmother, I just had a run in with Soith and he tried to make a pass at Irene, and when that failed, he tried to stir up some trouble."

    Mrazivy then exined the situation to Aria in detail and enlisted her help to make sure that Soith did not blow things out of proportion.

    "Okay, thanks."

    "Looks like my great grandmother is going to help. She is going to tell my father about the incident and prevent Soith from fabricating some story."

    With any loose ends regarding Soith taken care of, Mrazivy continued to show Marcus around the castle.

    They went to ces like the throne room, the royal wine cer where Marcus and Mrazivy picked out a few choice bottles, and to Marcus'' surprise there was a massive recreation area dedicated to games, such as tennis and bowling.

    "I see that the first king brought over some more games from Earth than just chess."

    With a look of surprise Mrazivy said, "Wait so these games came from your world. I thought the first king invented them."

    "Nope, he took these straight from our world. Though I cannot me him, I would do the same if he had not already. Anyway, he did seem to make some adjustments."

    After saying that Marcus looked out at the tennis court that farrger than normal, and the rackets that were made out of mithril.

    ''I guess when you have a higher level these games can get pretty extreme.''

    "How about a game of tennis. I only yed a couple of times when I was younger, but I at least know the rules." Marcus said, as he picked up one of the balls and rackets, not realizing then what he was getting into.

    ''Fuck, why is she so good at this.''

    Having the ball st past him for the fifteenth time, Marcus was finding it impossible to beat Mrazivy.

    He certainly had higher stats, but the difference in experience ying the game made it so that even though he was faster and stronger, his skill was well below hers.

    "Looks like I win again." Mrazivy said while bouncing the ball up and down on her racket.

    "You only won because I am not used to the size of the court. They were a lot smaller on Earth. Anyway, half of your points were because I hit the ball out of bounds."

    "Whatever, you say." Mrazivy said with a wry smile

    The two continued to y some of the different games avable, and Marcus found much more sess at darts than he had at tennis, beating Mrazivy almost every time.

    "Okay you have to stand here." Mrazivy said putting Marcus as physically far away from the dart boards as possible.

    However, with his enhanced vision skill Marcus was able to pinpoint the dart board from anywhere within line of sight, and Mrazivy probably would have needed to move him a mile away for him to miss.

    Eventually the two of them had their fill of ying around, and as the day was gettingte headed to Mrazivy''s room.

    "This certainly is what I would expect from a ''room'' meant for a princess." Marcus said as he looked around Mrazivy''s "room".

    Going around her found that it was more like arge condo than just a room.

    "If you had a kitchen in here, why did we need to go to the dining room." Marcus asked thinking about how they could have avoided their encounter with her brother.

    "It is not like I knew that Soith was going to be there. Anyway, I wanted to return the favor for in the crystal caverns when you went all out with that meal."

    "I see. Well, the food was really good, better than what I can make for now. However, eventually I will be able to make even better food than a royal chef."

    When Marcus said this as if on que Mrazivy''s stomach once again growled, as it had been hours since they had lunch. And after all of the high-speed moving around they had done ying games, it made since she was hungry.

    "I suppose this is as good a time as any to work on my cooking skills. Give me a few minutes and I will make you some dinner."

    "Wait, that kitchen is not even stocked. This is my first time back in this room in over six years." Mrazivy said in a bit of a fluster.

    However, in the next instant she stopped in her tracks as Marcus brought out therge magic fridge he nearly always kept on him.

    "Did you forget about this already." Marcus said with a mischievous smile on his face.

    "No, I did not forget, I just did not know you carried it around with you wherever you go."

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus said, "I have found it is always better to have fresh food on hand. Last time I did not, a certain princess got a bit crotchety."

    "How many more times are you going to bring that up?" Mrazivy said with an exasperated sigh.

    In response all Marcus did was smile, obviously nning to bring it up whenever the chance presented itself.

    He then got to cooking dinner for Mrazivy, using some type of fish he did not know the name of, but it tasted like mahimahi, and was one of his favorites.

    "Dinner is served your highness." Marcus said bringing a te to Mrazivy.

    Yet before Mrazivy began eating even though she was hungry, she noticed that Marcus had not made any for himself and pointed it out to him.

    "Oh, that is fine. You know I really do not need to eat. I just do it to enjoy the taste, and I knew it would be quicker if I only made one portion."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy said, "Okay, thanks. Ah but you will have some of this with me."

    Pulling out one of the bottles they had swiped Mrazivy began pouring a couple of sses of wine for the two of them.

    "Hey, we are both alone now so you can take your original form if you want." Mrazivy said as she finished topping off her ss of wine.

    "Yeah, you are right."

    Taking a moment, Marcus disappeared for an instance before reappearing as himself.

    "I just remembered you never told me the details of your battle with the boss in the Cordillera Depths." Mrazivy said as she took a sip of wine.

    "You are right. It was a pretty epic battle so prepare yourself."

    Recounting the battle, Marcus told Mrazivy how he yed support for most of the fight, focusing on healing and disrupting the elder magma elemental, and that when they thought they had already won, it came back for a second round.

    "And right before I was about to deliver the finishing blow, it sent a bunch of spears made out of magma towards me, and Jarek jumped in front to take them even though I was simply going to go ethereal and let them pass by harmlessly."

    After giving a bit of a pause to build dramatic tension, Marcus told her how he fired his eclipse railgun and that it blew apart the magma elemental as well as the wall behind it.

    "Unfortunately, I did not get thest hit as that thing tried to reform again even after that, and Treasa deliver the final blow with her spiked chain ball. Ah but at least I was able to heal Jarek by possessing him and using my regeneration skill, though it hurt like hell." Marcus said finishing the retelling of the fight against the boss.

    "Ah it sounds like it was an exhrating adventurer. I wish you had invited me." Mrazivy said with a somewhat forlorn expression.

    "Sorry it was not my ce to bring you. Jarek was the one who found the boss room, so it was not like I could invite whoever I wanted. How about this. Next time, we go looking for a boss to fight together."

    Smiling Mrazivy raised her ss of wine that she had already refilled a couple of times and said, "Cheers to that, I cannot wait."

    The two of them then clinked their sses together, and it was Marcus'' turn to ask Mrazivy about her own boss fights in the Ocean Bluff Temple.

    "And then I plunged my sword into the chink in the bubble crab king''s armor, under his stomach, and cast an ice magic spell inside him, freezing him."

    "Sounds like it was a hard-fought battle, but since you got your unique skill from that chest, it was definitely worth it."

    "Yeah, it was pretty surprising when it happened. At first, we all thought the chest was way too small, but when we saw the golden orb, we knew we had hit the jackpot. Though I did feel a bit bad that I was the only one that gained from beating the boss."

    "That is just how it is sometimes. I mean I took a very powerful unique skill from either Treasa or Jarek and gave it to my little sister." Marcus said shrugging his shoulders.

    The two continued their conversation for another couple hours, untilte into the night, and through a few more bottles of wine.

    "I think it is time for bed." Mrazivy said as she finally felt the alcohol start to affect her body even with her high stats.

    She then shakily stood up, let out a big yawn, and nearly stumbled over.

    "Here let me help you." Marcus said as he lent a shoulder to Mrazivy.

    He then assisted Mrazivy to her room and got her to her bed.

    "Good night, Mraz. I will be in the guest bedroom next door if you need." Marcus said as he made a swift exit, leaving Mrazivy to get some rest.

    Yet as he left Mrazivy mumbled under her breath, "Idiot" Before curling up into bed, her face beet red.

 Chapter 345 - 345 The True Power Of A Great Spirit

    After their first day touring the castle, Marcus and Mrazivy spent the next couple of days leisurely going around the castle and viewing what it had to offer.

    There were a number of rooms that Mrazivy showed him, from a grand library that had more books than Marcus had seen sinceing to this world, to a massive indoor swimming pool.

    Yet even as big as the castle and its grounds were, eventually Mrazivy had shown him all that she could.

    Of course, there were a couple of ces he wanted to go that were off limits like the royal treasury, and the royal archives. Though for thetter Mrazivy was working on getting Marcus permission to enter.

    And while Marcus had originally nned to stay only a few days before heading home, Mrazivy had convinced him to wait until after the kingdom''s meeting which he would have been attending anyway.

    So, to pass the time, they spent their days, reading, ying games, but for the most part training.

    Both of them wanted to learn how to control their spiritual energy after Recha had opened their eyes to it, especially Marcus.

    He could tell that a whole new world would open up to him as soon as he figured out how to use his spiritual energy and convert it into strength, and he was not wrong.

    It only took him four days of practice before like a dam breaking, he was able to wield his spiritual energy.

    It was as if he could suddenly control the flow of the wind currents in the sky, and it gave him a deeper understanding of himself.

    However, that was not all that happened, since as soon as he was able to use his spiritual energy, he received a number of notifications from the system.

    Ding!

    ''Title acquired, Great Spirit.''

    ''Integrating moderator syste- error, error. Minimum level requirement not met, locking moderator systems.''

    ''Spirit Gem (Mythic) detected. ess to skills sealed within unlocked.''

    Shock on his face, Marcus did not expect the sudden flood of notification, but he was unable to look into them immediately.

    "Agh."

    A few instances after thest massage, Marcus felt as if he was soul was on fire, andva was flowing through his veins.

    In fact, this was quite the appropriate analogy as the raw spiritual energy from the mythic spirt gem was being released at a much greater rate and flowing through the spirit energy pathways that Marcus had just discovered.

    Luckily the pain did notst long as Marcus'' soul used the power to further enrich itself, and he felt as if he was undergoing another qualitive transformation.

    "Huh."

    Letting out a sigh of relief once the transformation was done, Marcus could immediately tell, that many things were much different then they had been before.

    ''Ah it is like I have been half asleep this entire time and am finally awake.''

    With his newfound power and understanding Marcus tried a few things out that he could not do before.

    The first thing he did was to float around, no longer bound by the inputs set by the system.

    With his ability to use his spiritual energy Marcus could now use as much or as little as he wanted to propel himself and move much faster than he had before while ethereal.

    After that he resolidified and made only his left hand disappear, now able to use his ability on only part of his form instead of it just being active.

    "Heh, heh."

    Chuckling Marcus was absolutely ecstatic by his newfound control over his abilities that used spiritual energy.

    Before it had been as if he was on a train bound by its tracks, but now it was like he had jumped into a car and could go where desired and as fast or slow as he wanted.

    ''This opens up a lot more possibilities.'' Marcus thought as he summoned his spectral arm, and was able to change its size at will, making it stronger or weaker.

    "Status."

    Once he had gotten his fill of testing out his new control over his abilities, Marcus decided it was time to check out how his status had changed, since he could already feel an overwhelming difference.

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 31/20

    Race: Unbound Ghost, Great Spirit of Light and Darkness

    Titles: Baress, Great Spirit

    Level: 42

    HP: 26590/26590

    MP: 13630/13630

    STR: 1015 (+162)

    AGL: 972 (+204)

    VIT: 869 (+139)

    INT: 1175 (+188)

    SPR: 1423 (+228)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 7

    Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse, Greatest Potential

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, Soul Devour, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness, False Status, Deny Destruction

    Skills: Large Item Box, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 4, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 6, Magic Cirction Lvl 6, Iron Magic Lvl 6, Disassembly Lvl 5, Stealth Lvl 5, Lightning Magic Lvl 5, Creature Appraisal Lvl 5, Fire Magic Lvl 5, Danger Sense Lvl 5, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 6, Healing Magic Lvl 4, Mana Regeneration Lvl 5, Speed Burst Lvl 5, Mana Body Lvl 5, Powerful sh Lvl 5, Physical Resistance Lvl 6, Heighten Spells Lvl 5, Forge Lvl 5, Trap Sensing Lvl 3, Dark Magic Lvl 5, Light Magic Lvl 5, Driving Lvl 4, Cooking Lvl 4, Cleaning Lvl 1, Soul Regeneration Lvl 5, Life Sense Lvl 3, Enhanced Vision Lvl 4, Dancing Lvl 3, Mana Barrier Lvl 5, Perforation Strike Lvl 4, Grand Swing Lvl 3, Magic Resistance Lvl 6 (Maxed), Telepathy Lvl 6 (Maxed), Death Dance Lvl 6 (Maxed)

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying, Spirit Portal, Summon Spirits, Ruler of Light, Ruler of Darkness, Confer Blessing

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows, Spirit Healing

    Looking over his new status, Marcus first noticed his new title of great spirit, and the power it gave him was beyond what he had expected.

    ''A fifteen percent increase to all stats! It makes my baress title look like trash with how good it is.''

    Astounded that receiving a title had increased his stats by fifteen percent, Marcus thought he had already reached the height of his excitement, but was soon proved wrong when he discovered his new unique skill.

    It was a skill called deny destruction and it allowed him once a year toe back into existence no matter what.

    Even if his soul was sted to nothing, with this skill he woulde back within twenty-four hourspletely restored.

    ''Whoever gave me this mythic spirit gem I will have to thank them. To think that it had such a powerful unique skill sealed within it.''

    Smiling from ear to ear, Marcus was extremely giddy by his increase in strength and soon went over his skills finding that many of them had leveled up since hest checked, and that he had three new ones.

    ''I see, magic resistance, telepathy, and death dance are the skills held within the spirit gem. And each one of them is max level but I can still only use them up to six. I have to say that learning to utilize my spiritual energy brought more gains than I thought it would.''

    After checking out the details of his skills, Marcus scrolled down to his race abilities that had many new additions.

    With full ess to his power as a great spirit, he was now able to open a portal to the spirit world and go in and out whenever he wanted, as well as summon any subordinate spirits to his side.

    s he did not have any spirits that currently served under him, and he was a bit afraid to go to the spirit world after receiving Aerial''s warning about other light or darkness spirits wanting to destroy him.

    Then there was his ruler of darkness and ruler of light abilities that increased the power of his light and darkness to the maximum, while also making him immune to those elements from anyone who was not also a ruler.

    ''So, what I can surmise is that only another great spirit of light or darkness can hurt me with either of those elements. Well, maybe there are other races that can get these ruler abilities, so I still need to be wary.''

    However, this at least gave him some peace of mind about other spirits hunting him down, since only the respective great spirits should be able to harm him with their main elements.

    ''Now all that is left is confer blessing.''

    Looking over thest of his new race abilities, Marcus'' smile quickly turned into a frown.

    While his confer blessing ability was powerful, the cost to use it was far too steep for him.

    ''I have to sacrifice two hundred points from my spirit stat to give someone either the blessing of light or darkness. And all I get in return is some of the experience they earn, and the ability to track their whereabouts.''

    Sighing Marcus knew that he would not be touching this ability any time soon. Maybe if he had a spirit stat in the tens of thousands two hundred points would not be a big deal, but right now doing it once would already use up an eighth of his spirit stat points.

    Having looked over all of his new skills, and the changes that came with understanding his spiritual energy, Marcus decided to go to the room where Mrazivy was meditating, trying to figure out how to use her own spiritual energy.

    He wanted to tell her what had just happened and hopefully give her some of his insights to let her progress faster.

 Chapter 346 - 346 Meeting Mrazivyâ€™s Siblings (The Ones She Actually Likes)

    After learning how to control his spiritual energy, Marcus had gone to Mrazivy to show off his gains and help her with her own practice.

    He knew that she wanted to be stronger, and he also wanted her to be able to be just as strong as him.

    Unfortunately, even as the days passed, Mrazivy''s growth was far slower than Marcus'', and even with his help when there were only two days left until the kingdom''s meeting, he ability to use her spiritual energy were shaky at best.

    "So today is the day that you and your siblings are gathering." Marcus said to Mrazivy as they were eating breakfast.

    "Yep, and you areing with me so I can introduce you. Oh, but do not worry, these are my siblings I get along with, so it will not be like with Soith. Actually, I did receive some good news about Soith this morning. It turns out he hired and tried to smuggle in some assassins, to kill the second prince, me, and you." Mrazivy said smiling and snickering like she had found out he tripped into a fountain and not hired professional killers.

    However, seeing the look of confusion on his face Mrazivy said, "Naturally if I know, that means he got caught red handed. Ah I wish I could have seen his face when Great Grandmother Aria appeared as he was brining in the assassins. Like how stupid does he have to be, to think he can sneak people into the castle without someone at a high level noticing."

    After saying that Mrazivy joyously shoved a bit of syrup coated pancake into her mouth obviously pleased.

    "So, what happened to him after that. Was he locked in his room, or is he going to be shipped off to some foreign kingdom in exile under the guise of studying?" Marcus said, thinking about things he had read about happening to disgraced royalty.

    "Nope, father disowned him, and kicked him to the curb. In fact, I heard that using the power of the king, father stripped my brother of his title andst name, before having his head shaved and burned to prevent the royal family''s signature hair from growing back. After that he was allowed to gather some of his belongings, and he was escorted out of the castle." Mrazivy said all while smiling brightly, her hated brother''s misfortune bringing her more joy than Marcus would have thought.

    ''I suppose I only saw the surface of how bad that guy was. Well, goodbye and good riddance. I thought I would have to be dealing with him again in the future, but it looks like everything worked itself out.''

    With one more potential problem nipped in the bud without any effort on his part, the good mood that was emanating from Mrazivy was slowly spilling over to him.

    "Though there is just onest thing I want to ask. If your brother was such a bad guy, why did your father not disown him sooner." Marcus said inquisitively.

    "Hm, I guess father was hoping that one day he might be able to use his scheming for the good of the kingdom, holding out hope that maybe his first born would some day rise up to his name. Though I would also have to say it was likely for the queen as well. I know that even if I was a rotten good for nothing my mother would do everything in her power to keep me safe. But trying to have assassins kill my other brother, me, and you, that was not something that could not go unpunished."

    With that, there discussion about Soith was wrapped up, and Mrazivy, quickly finished off the rest of her breakfast

    "Ah though that does remind me. I am going to meet some of you siblings today, but what about you mother, when will I meet her." Marcus said curiously.

    Shrugging her shoulder Mrazivy said, "I want to introduce you to her as myˇ­ well I am not really sure what to call us. But I want you to meet her as Marcus first. Sadly, we need to wait until after the kingdom''s meeting where my father will resend your wanted status."

    Latching onto what Mrazivy said first, Marcus was also wondering about them.

    Since Mrazivy had given him the quick kiss outside the ravine that led to the crystal caverns, they had not had any sort of intimate physical contact.

    Though at this point Marcus was starting to think that Mrazivy had definitely been trying to have him make a move.

    She had been leaving herself in very vulnerable positions, like on the first night when she drank enough alcohol to get tipsy, andst night she hade out of the bath in just a towel and walked right in front of him.

    ''I was trying to be respectful but maybe I should test the waters. It also does not help that I have next to no sexual desire since bing a ghost, though like sleeping I can still do it.''

    Still Marcus decided to tackle this conundrum at another time, as they needed to keep their schedule and go to meet with some of Mrazivy''s brothers and sisters.

    Thus, the two of them quickly cleaned up, and headed towards the depths of the castle towards one of therge and luxurious meeting rooms reserved only for the royal family.

    "This is it right?" Marcus asked stopping in front a set of double doors.

    Nodding her head Mrazivy gave her conformation, happy that he was getting used to navigating around the castle and got them to the correct room.

    Opening the door, Marcus quickly noticed that a number of people were already present even though he and Mrazivy were fifteen minutes early themselves.

    "Ah it is Mrazivy!" One of the women sitting at the table said with excitement.

    She looked incredibly simr to Mrazivy and there could be no doubt that they were sisters.

    Mrazivy''s sister then swiftly stood up and ran right past Marcus and gave Mrazivy a big hug.

    "Ah I have missed you little sister. It has been two years since Ist saw you when I visited Loursend."

    Walking into the room, Marcus gave Mrazivy and her sister, some space and went and sat down at the table that was set up for their meeting.

    Around the table there were currently four other members of the royal family identifiable by their blue hair.

    However, the one that caught Marcus'' attention was a middle-aged man, who had a sharp appearance and gave off the aura of someone very strong.

    ''That must be the second prince that Mrazivy told me about. If I remember correctly, he is the leader of the kingdom''s sky knights.''

    Looking at the second prince, Marcus could see that his gaze was also fixated on him, as if trying to look through him and discover whatever secrets he was hiding.

    Luckily Mrazivy and her sister soon finished up their reunion and came to take their seats, with Mrazivy sitting right next to Marcus.

    Yet as soon as Mrazivy had sat down, the second prince looked intently at her and said, "So is it true. Is this woman Irene Geist actually your contracted spirit?"

 Chapter 347 - 347 Meeting Mrazivyâ€™s Siblings (2)

    With the second Prince''s abrupt question, Marcus and Mrazivy were a bit stunned, but the other members of the royal family were looking at them intently also wanting to know the answer to this question.

    Naturally they had all heard the rumors, and some of them had subordinates or friends that had watched the tournament and told them about Marcus'' unusual powers and protectiveness of their sister.

    They all wanted to know if Mrazivy really had a humanoid spirit contracted to her, and if she did why they were acting independently.

    Still being blindsided by the question right out the gate was not what Marcus and Mrazivy were expecting. They had both figured this question woulde up, but they thought that it would at least be after everyone had arrived and at least been introduced.

    ''Looks like your brother is determined to know. Should we just give them the answer we prepared right now, or did you want to wait until everyone else arrives?'' Marcus said to Mrazivy using his recently acquired telepathy skill.

    ''Hm, I suppose it is probably best if we give the answer now. When James really wants to know something, he can get a bit forceful and will not let it go easily.'' Mrazivy said aware that blowing her brother off could lead to some unwanted tension.

    So, with their answer already prepared Mrazivy said, "No Irene Geist is not my contracted spirit. However, she is my friend, and have helped me out greatly, which is why I have brought them to meet all of you."

    "I see so she is not your contracted spirit, but she is a spirit correct? I have heard that she survived being run through the heart, and that instead of blood some type of gray mist came out." James said not letting the subject go by.

    Cutting into the conversation since he was the one being talked about, Marcus said, "Yes I am a spirit. Though that does not really matter in the long run. Whatever I am does not change who I am."

    With that everyone went silent for a few moments before the second prince spoke up again and said, "Very well, if you are Mrazivy''s friend and she trusts you that is fine."

    After the second prince said this, the room went silent, no one else taking the initiative to talk, until thest two siblings showed up.

    "Well, it looks like everyone is here now so as the oldest, I will start things off." The second prince said.

    "First today we are here to meet Mrazivy''s friend Irene Geist, so we should all introduce ourselves. I am Second Prince James Borealia, it is a pleasure, Irene Geist."

    "Third Princess Frostine Borealia, and Mrazivy''s full sister."

    "Sixth Princess Maya Borealia."

    "Fifth Prince Edwin Borealia."

    "Seventh Prince Braylen Borealia."

    "Nh Prince Rhys Borealia."

    "Eleventh Princess Serenity Borealia."

    Once the royal siblings were finished introducing themselves going from oldest to youngest, Marcus stood up gave a bow and introduced himself.

    "As you already know I am Irene Geist, and Mrazivy''s friend. It is a pleasure to meet her siblings."

    After saying that Marcus sat down and waited to see what was going to happen when the third Princess who had the same mother as Mrazivy, got up and came right over to Marcus and pulled him into her embrace.

    "Thank you for keep my little sister safe. I have heard that you have taken good care of her and that without you she may not be here today."

    Surprised by suddenly being grabbed Marcus was not expecting this at all, and was now stuck in Mrazivy''s sister''s embrace, his face buried in her chest.

    In fact, as he tried to wrench is way out of her arms, she strengthened her grip and Marcus found that he could not get out.

    ''What kind of monster is she.'' Marcus thought as he tried to wrestle himself free.

    Luckily Mrazivy came to his aid a momentter and started pulling on her sister saying, "Fros let go of him already can''t you see him trying to get away."

    However, her sister did not let go of Marcus yet and even with Mrazivy''s help her grip was like iron.

    "Oh, did you just say, him?" Frostine whispered into Mrazivy''s ear mischievously.

    In her fluster Mrazivy had forgot that Marcus was currently acting as Irene, since they had been hanging out alone for pretty much thest week and a half and she had gotten to rxed.

    Frostine then suddenly released Marcus causing both him and Mrazivy to stumble over before saying, "Well sorry to test you like that I just wanted to see how you felt. Though I am surprised to see how jealous you got."

    Hearing this both Mrazivy and Marcus began looking around the room and noticed some of them looking at this development enthusiastically while others seemedpletely disinterested.

    "Wait what is going on here?" Mrazivy said confused.

    That was when Frostine said, "Did you really think that father did not tell us about your ''friend'' here. Part of this meeting was so that we could evaluate this spirit that seems to have won father''s favor and taken your heart."

    Both Mrazivy and Marcus stood there dumbfounded after this, looking at everyone around the room who seemed too already have been in on this.

    "Wait, what, you all already knew!?" Mrazivy said in a fluster.

    "Yep, we know that Irene Geist, is also called Marcus Ferrous and is a being from another world like our ancestor Boreas. So why don''t you go ahead and take on your original form so we can get a good look at you." Frostine said winking at Marcus.

    Sighing, Marcus did as he was told, and disappeared for a moment before reappearing in his original form.

    "Here is this what you wanted to see. Yes, I am Marcus Ferrous as well as Irene Geist, it is a pleasure." Marcus said somewhat exasperated before sitting back down.

    Having changed back into himself, everyone in the room was looking at him more keenly.

    Yet while Marcus was taking things in strides Mrazivy was a bit angry to have been caught off guard like this and said, "So all of you were in on this. You could have just told us that father had already told you everything instead of creating this ruse."

    "We all just wanted to see what kind story you were going toe up with. I mean personally I was hoping you were going toepletely clean, but it looks like you did as we thought." Rhys said with a teasing smile.

    Groaning Mrazivy looked at her siblings like they had betrayed her, but Marcus grabbed her hand and said, "It is fine. They tricked us this time, but I can tell that they all care about you. I am sure they just wanted to get read on the situation."

    "Fine you are right.'' Mrazivy said calming down a bit and sitting back down.

    However, the eleventh princess aggravating things again said, "Wow, to think that someone could actually calm down Mrazivy so easily. You used to be so much more of a wild child, but it looks like you have been tamed."

    Standing back up Mrazivy was about to say something when a ball of mana went flying right for her head.

    Except when it was only a few inches away Marcus had put his hand out and grabbed it stopping the attack from hitting Mrazivy.

    Many of the royal siblings gasped seeing this and looked towards the source of the attack.

    With a hole now in his hand Marcus was ring at the man who had attacked Mrazivy, ready to attack the second prince who was sitting their nonchntly as if he had not just sent a killing blow towards his sister.

    "Hm, I have to say that was better than I expected. You blocked my attack with no hesitation and tant disregard for yourself." James said in an impressed manner.

    "What the hell are you doing James, you could have killed Mrazivy with that attack and now there is a hole in the spirits'' hand." Edwin said shocked by what he had just witnessed.

    However, before the room erupted into chaos, Frostine stood up and said, "Everyone calm down that was just a little test by me and our brother. Mrazivy was never in any danger, I was already in position to stop that attack if Marcus here had not."

    She then turned towards Marcus and Mrazivy who were still on edge and said, "Sorry about that. Both me and my brother wanted to see how far you would go for Mrazivy, and you have more than met our expectations."

    Bowing her head, Frostine was asking for Marcus and Mrazivy''s forgiveness.

    Understanding that he was being tested by Mrazivy''s siblings, Marcus rxed himself, and stopped giving a murderous re towards James.

    "I get what you are saying but was it really necessary to go that far." Marcus said feeling that this test had been a bit extreme.

    Standing up from his seat James said, "Yes, it was. Father may have acknowledged you but even he is not wless. I wanted to confirm with my own eyes your character. You are an unknown spirit that could bring ruin to the kingdom and could have just been using my sister. But after watching you just now I can believe my own eyes and gut, that you truly care about Mrazivy. If she was simply a part of some n, you would not have reacted like that, and the look of murderous intent for you gave me for trying to harm someone you care about is not something that can be faked.

    After saying that James joined Frostine in bowing and said, "I am sorry for testing you so harshly, but I would do it all over again to make sure that my family is safe."

 Chapter 348 - 348 Talks Of Succession

    After his sudden and violent test of his loyalty to Mrazivy, followed by the subsequent apology from her brother and sister who had set it up, Marcus sat back down, and put a hand on Mrazivy''s shoulder.

    He could tell she was a moment away from snapping, and while he could not me her, now was not the time.

    ''At the first sign of trouble with my little sister, I shadowed her for two days in my ghost form, and investigated her friends, and took care of her biggest bully. I can understand where they areing from, so try not to be too mad. Okay Mraz?'' Marcus said to Mrazivy via his telepathy to try to calm her down a bit.

    And luckily it seemed to have worked well, since she took a deep breath, before seriously looking at her brother and sister, and said, "I get why you did it, but please never do something like that again."

    Having handled things calmly, Mrazivy surprised all of her siblings once again.

    They were expecting her to start yelling, or maybe even to storm off but she had taken things quite well considering.

    ''It looks like that spirit has had a more profound effect on her than I thought.'' Frostine thought as she saw howposed Mrazivy seemed thanks to Marcus'' support.

    Clearing her throat to get everyone''s attention the sixth princess Maya, who had been pretty disinterested in the whole affair up to this point said, "Well now that the opening ceremony is done, can we get onto the main reason we all gathered here today. We need to talk about who is going to be the next ruler of the kingdom. A week ago, father told all of us that he is going to be announcing his heir at the kingdom''s meeting."

    Getting to the point that she hade here for, Maya was ready to get down to business and really had no interest in Marcus and Mrazivy''s rtionship.

    "Yeah, Maya is right. We need to figure this out especially since Soith was recently disowned for trying to bring in assassins to kill James. Now we all gathered here because we are going to support James, right?" Braylen said, being another disinterested party to Marcus and Mrazivy''s situation and being here for the talks of session.

    "I agree James is now technically the first prince since Soith is gone, and he is the natural choice to be the next king. He is strong, charismatic, and the people love him since his mobile sky knights have saved them from monsters, bandits, and even famine. There is no doubt that he is the best choice." Rhys said throwing out his support for his brother as well.

    However, before things went any further, the person in question James raised his hand to gather attention towards himself and said, "While I thank you all for your support, I have actually already told father that I have no interest in bing the next king. My ce is out in the field helping people from the front lines. My sky knights need me to be their leader, and the citizens of this kingdom need the sky knights."

    After he said this Maya and Braylen who were James'' staunchest supporters stood up and looked at him with incredulous expressions.

    "What do you mean James? Do you really not n to take the throne? That means that Reigen is likely to be the next king, and while he is not as bad as Soith was, his ideas for the kingdom, could lead it to ruin." Maya said not wanting to believe that James would not take the throne.

    "James if you do not take the throne, it is the people that you want to protect who will suffer. You know that Reigen is pro noble and with him as king, it is themoners that will hurt the most. If he became king, themon people would slowly be more like ves, and it is likely we would lose the support of the adventures guild under his rule. I know that he wants to make the kingdom more cohesive, but we all know that his ns are just too radical to work. I mean just look at the kingdom to the south. They have simr policies to what Reigen wants in ce, and they are on the brink of a civil war." Rhys said trying to convince James not to cede his right to the throne.

    Still James seemed stalwart in his position to not seek the throne, but to quell his sibling''s worry said, "It is as you say. If Reigen became king, he would try to implementws and polices that turned themon citizens into serfs and give more power to the nobles. He thinks that the freedom of our people has made us weaker, and that if everyone moved as a cohesive unit the kingdom would prosper. And while I do understand where he ising from, I cannot agree with him. Nevertheless, I still have no intention of bing king, but I have told our father who I think would be best to lead us. So, if you all were nning to support me, I would ask that you lend your influence to Frostine. I believe that she will be an excellent queen."

    Having said that James gestured towards Frostine who was raising her head high and looking towards her siblings for support.

    "I will back Frostine." Mrazivy said with no hesitation.

    Naturally if her closest sister wanted to be the queen, she would give all of her support even if she was the least influential royal present.

    "Very well if James will not be king, then Frostine is the next best choice. I will also support you in taking the crown." Maya said, getting on board the Frostine train.

    Then one by one the other siblings that hade to support James agreed to switch over to Frostine.

    "I thank all of you for your support. I believe that if we all work together, we can truly allow this kingdom to continue to flourish and grow to even greater heights." Frostine said after all of her siblings had given her their support.

    Each one of them held their own positions in the kingdom and having them on her side made her bid to be the next ruler all that much stronger.

    "Now there is only one person left who has not given me their support. Marcus what about you? Will you also back me to be the next ruler of Borealia?" Frostine said surprising Marcus who had refrained from entering the discussion so far.

    He considered himself an outsider to this part of the meeting and had the opportunity present itself he would have politely left.

    Yet now all eyes were on him, when he had not been expecting to have any input on who would be the next ruler.

    "Let me ask you. Do you want my support as a Baress or a spirit?" Marcus said wanting to know in what capacity Frostine was looking for him to back her.

    "Both of course." Frostine said without any hesitation.

    She already could tell that Marcus was strong and having him on her side would be useful since she knew how much her father valued him.

    "I will not support you publicly. I do not wish to get involved with the politics of this kingdom any more than I have to.. However, so long as Mrazivy is on your side, know that I am always behind her."

 Chapter 349 - 349 End Of The Meeting And Jamesâ€™ Proposal

    Nodding her head and smiling, Frostine, had never expected Marcus to give her his support, but she was d to know that he would help through Mrazivy.

    "I see that is perfectly fine. If you just wish to be there for Mrazivy I have no qualms about that."

    After that the meeting between the siblings continued as they hammered out their ns to strengthen Frostine''s position as the next ruler.

    "Well, that should wrap up everything for today. I want to thank all of you for going along with me, even though I know originally you wanted to support James. If the eight of us work together I know that we can bring the kingdom to even greater heights." Frostine said happy to have her siblings on board.

    "It was the best option. Other than James you currently have the strongest position as one of the nation''s top archmages. If we began fighting amongst each other for the throne it is all the more likely that Reigen would win, just like with what happened with our father." Edwin said remembering hearing about how in thest battle for session, many of their fathers'' siblings tore each other apart.

    He knew that as the former fifth now fourth prince since Soith had been disowned, his standing would normally be better than Frostine''s and that he could make a run for being the next king.

    However, he also knew that would split the support of his siblings here, and that it would simply cause turmoil between them and make it more likely for Reigen and his camp to take the throne.

    "Now what of our sisters and brothers that have married into noble houses, have any of them swayed their family''s support our way?" Serenity asked, wanting to know if they had the backing of their other siblings.

    Unfortunately, Frostine shook her head and said, "I reached out to them, but none gave me favorable answers at this time. Most of them are staying neutral until father announces his heir, and the ones that have picked a side choose to go with Reigen. Still with the eight of us we hold more power than our six other siblings working with Reigen. And while I do not mean to speak bad about them, we are the most proactive of our siblings. Each one of us excels at one field or another, even without the name of Borealia we have paved our own ways."

    Giving that final rousing speech, Frostine stood up and thanked everyone foring, and to giving her their support.

    ''It is finally over.'' Marcus thought.

    While he did not mind being here for Mrazivy, the talks about the politics of the kingdom, and the moves that each sibling needed to make to shore up their power had begun to bore Marcus.

    It was not like he was apart of any of their ns other than to help Mrazivy when dealing with the adventures guild as a liaison, and that part of the discussionsted all of thirty seconds.

    Luckily it was finally over, and he and Mrazivy got up to leave so that they could spend the rest of the day training.

    However, as they were about to go, James came up to the two of them and said, "Could I talk to the both of you in private? It is about something personal and does not have to do with the kingdom''s session."

    "Marcus you fine with that." Mrazivy asked, able to tell that his interest had long been waning and that he wanted to get out of here.

    Still, like Mrazivy was getting good at reading him, he was getting good at reading her and could tell she wanted to talk to her brother.

    "Sure, we can. I suppose this would be a good chance to tell him about our adventure into the crystal caverns, since he is the one who told you about them originally."

    Smiling James was pleased that Marcus had agreed to go with him, and he quickly led them towards the barracks within he castle where many of the knights and guards rested when off duty, and beastpanions were housed.

    "So why did we have toe all the way out here?" Marcus said, wanting to know the reason for them to need toe to the barracks to talk.

    "That is because there is someone I wanted to introduce you to." James said as he moved over towards a set ofrge double doors within the barracks.

    He then opened up the door, and called out saying, "Fallone on out."

    WHOOSH!

    A moment after James had yelled into the room, arge figure flew out andnded in the wide-open space of the barracks.

    Looking at the creature that had just appeared into the open, Marcus saw that it had golden and white feathers all over its body and stood around fifteen feet tall.

    "This here is my partner Fallon the minokawa, an epic grade magical beast. She was sent as an egg as a gift from a kingdom to the west that was trying to foster good rtions with us, and ultimately ended up with me." James said as he pet the side of Fallon''s head who was looking for attention.

    ''Level fifty-seven. It is pretty strong.''

    Appraising Fallon, Marcus was impressed by its level, but he figured that it made sense seeing as how it was the beastpanion for the leader of a unit of elite knights.

    "You know if you wanted to know my level, I would have told you." Fallon said to Marcus surprising him.

    He had not expected therge magical beast to start talking, but he quickly regained his cool as this really was fairly tame considering some of the crazy thing she had seen.

    "Sorry, I did not know you were an intelligent beast, I did not mean to offend you."

    "Do not worry about it. Now James why did you call me out here." Fallon said looking curiously towards James.

    "Fallon, you remember my sister Mrazivy right? This is her friend Marcus and I wanted to introduce you since we may be working together in the future."

    Nodding her head Fallon looked towards Mrazivy and said, "Yes I remember this one. West saw her when we were investigating the ocean around thatrge city called Loursend some three years ago. It is good to see you Mrazivy, it seems you have grown quiet well since west met."

    "And you are Marcus, the who just appraised me. Well, you do seem quite capable, so I look forward to working with you." Fallon said.

    However, Marcus was somewhat dumbfounded by what was going on. He did not ever remember signing up to join the sky knights, or any knight order for that matter.

    "Um James what do you mean working with you?" Marcus said wanting to get to the bottom of this.

    "Ah, naturally my father told me about the contract you signed to break off Mrazivy''s engagement. And when I did some digging about you, I heard from Great Grandmother Aria that you can fly incredibly fast and for prolonged periods of time. So, I have already asked that I have a crack at using you during the winter. During that time is when we are at our busiest and having another talented asset like you would help greatly. Oh, and of course I also want to invite you if you want Mrazivy.. I have heard that you recently obtained a flying beastpanion of your own, would you mind calling them over here."

 Chapter 350 - 350 Battle In The Sky, Marcus And Mrazivy Vs James

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy did as James asked and sent a mental message through their link to her beastpanion.

    A few minutester Eirwen the pr owl appeared in the horizon flying towards Mrazivy.

    "You called Mrazivy." Eirwen said as hended on the ground.

    However, before Mrazivy could respond Fallon said, "Oh an epic grade pr owl, and an intelligent beast. To think that the princess would have obtained such a powerful partner."

    Certainly very curious about Eirwen who had just arrived, Fallon got closer to him and began inspecting him.

    Naturally she did not have very many opportunities to interact with other beasts at the same grade as her and with intelligence to boot.

    In fact most other beasts cowered in fear of her, and while Mrazivy''s beastpanion showed some apprehension he did not coward like most.

    "Can I help you?" Eirwen said, wondering why this strange beast was inspecting him.

    "Ah I am sorry. It is not often I get to meet another epic grade beast an especially one that is also intelligent. Please excuse me."

    Backing off Fallon who was just a bit bigger than Eirwen who was around twelve feet tall, gave him some room and allowed him to talk to Mrazivy.

    "Thanks foring Eirwen. Actually, my brother wanted to see meet you, and the minokawa over there is his beastpanion." Mrazivy said brining Eirwen up to speed on the situation.

    "I see. Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Mrazivy''s brother, and his beastpanion. I am Eirwen and as thanks for Mrazivy saving my home, I am apanying her and lending my strength." Eirwen said bowing his head.

    "I have to say I am impressed. As a man that prides himself on his knowledge of winged beast, I can tell you are at the peak of your possible strength. I have changed my mind, Mrazivy you must join me. Along with your beast you would easily be able to be one of my top officers and could soon rise to the position of my second lieutenant" James said looking at Mrazivy and Eirwen as if they were treasures he absolutely had to have.

    Of course, how could James pass up this opportunity. It was rare for him to find someone this strong along with a flying beastpanion, and it was his sister none the less.

    Getting her to join his ranks would give him another officer he could trustpletely and someone that maybe could even bring the unit to greater heights.

    However, Mrazivy shook her head and said, "Sorry James, but I do not n to join the army in any capacity. I am an adventurer, and do not want to be tied down by following orders if I do not have to. Still if Marcus does get put under you, I may lend my aid, during that time."

    Groaning James looked really torn to hear Mrazivy''s answer, but he could not force his little sister to join him.

    "Fine, but this just makes me want to have Marcus on my side even more now." James said, eyeing Marcus greedily.

    Shivering Marcus now understood that the second prince was a peculiar person that was obsessed with his sky knights.

    ''I do not know if he just likes flying, or maybe it Is the idea of a unit of flying knights. Whatever it is he is way too into it.'' Marcus thought seeing the near manic passion James had.

    "Ah" James said as he smacked his fist into his palm as he came up with a good idea.

    "How about I show you how amazing it is to fight in the sky along with your beastpanion. I am sure that once you get a taste for it, you will want to join me." James said thinking that he might still be able to convince Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Still even though neither of them thought that they would join the sky knights, both of them still recognized that James was a powerful warrior and that this was a rare chance to test their capabilities against him.

    ''Are you up for it Mrazivy. I know he is a lot stronger than us, but I think if we work together, we can at least put up a good fight.''

    ''Yeah, I think we should go for it. We may never get an opportunity like this again, and we have both gotten a bit stronger and this a good chance to practice our teamwork.''

    Having a quick telepathic conversation both Marcus and Mrazivy agreed that having a sparring match with James would be a good experience and the perfect time to test out their new power.

    "Got it we are in. So, what are the rules." Mrazivy said, a fire in her eyes.

    Smirking James said, "The rules are simply. You two cane at me as hard as you want and try to knock me and Fallon out of the sky. And I will respond in kind, though I will make sure not to hurt either of you too bad."

    Nodding their heads both Marcus and Mrazivy were fine with the rules, since it would be simr to regrbat other than that they were trying not to seriously hurt their opponent.

    Jumping onto Fallon''s back James waited for Mrazivy and Marcus to mount Eirwen but when he noticed Marcus not making any moves to get onto Mrazivy''s bastpanion he was a bit confused.

    "Marcus should you not get onto Eirwen. If you are nning to take the form of a cdrius like my great grandmother said, I would not rmend it. We will be fighting out in the open and someone will certainly see you." James said with a concerned tone.

    A cdrius appearing in the middle of the royal castle would alert a lot of people, especially since no one in the kingdom has one as apanion. Not to mention they are the size of a medium sized passenger ne.

    "No, it is fine I have my own set of wings."

    Marcus then cast his tier five iron magic spell and sprout six wings on his back, pping them around to show them off to James.

    "Well, I suppose that will work as well, though I wish I could fight you while you were flying on a beastpanion." James said a bit disappointed.

    ''He must really like the aesthetic of fighting in the sky while riding a beastpanion.'' Marcus thoughting to understand James'' personality more and more.

    "To the air Fallon." James shout as Fallon ran out of the barracks into the open before lifting off into the sky.

    Following behind Mrazivy riding on top Eirwen, and Marcus using his iron wings, shot up after James until they had risen high into the air well above even the castle to prevent any sort of coteral damaged.

    "It feels nice up here, right? The wind in your face, unbound by the limitations of the ground, and to fight side by side with a partner that youpletely trust." James said as they hovered in the air.

    "Now get ready because here Ie."

    "Volution Barrage!"

 Chapter 351 - 351 Battle In The Sky, Marcus And Mrazivy Vs James (2)

    "Volution Barrage!"

    Keeping his eyes'' peeled Marcus was stunned to see James suddenly pull out an amethrosnce and unleash a powerful attack skill right of the bat.

    Luckily, he had seen this particr skill before, since Jarek had used it during their fight with the elder magma elemental boss.

    Still even though he had seen the move before, James'' was far stronger, and the spinning thrust from hisnce sent out powerful sts of mana that came flying right towards him and Mrazivy.

    Going into a nosedive, and flying in a corkscrew fashion, Marcus avoided most of the thrusts, and deployed his mana barrier along with his shield of light spell to block the ones he could not dodge.

    At the same time, Mrazivy on Eirwen''s back flew upwards, and separating her mercurial frost into four different rotating shields managed to evade and block all of James'' attacks.

    Still, this was just his opening move to separate Marcus and Mrazivy, and he began flying up towards his sister and her beastpanion, while Fallon fired off ten-foot-long ice missiles at Marcus to prevent him from catching back up.

    "cial Lance."

    Finishing up the chant for her tier five ice magic spell, Mrazivy sent the massive hundred-foot-long icicle flying down towards her brother.

    Yet as the spell closed in on him, James thrust out with hisnce that was teeming with mana and met Mrazivy''s spell head on.

    Mrazivy''s cialnce then shattered into thousands of pieces, holding no candle to the power that James had.

    With her spell easily being blocked, Mrazivy had Eirwen try to fly away while casting quick spells behind her to slow James down.

    However, even with her best attempts, Fallon was far faster than Eirwen and it would only be a matter of seconds until Mrazivy had to fight her brother and his beastpanion head on.

    ''Darkness drill,ser.''

    Except before James and Fallon could catch up to Mrazivy, Marcus unleased one of his strongest attacks firing his two tier four spells through his focusing lenses, while using his embodiment of eclipse to further boost his power.

    This created an attack of incredibly power, as a spiraling st of darkness and light went flying right for James and Fallon.

    In fact, the attack was more powerful than Marcus had anticipated, owing to his new ruler abilities that made it so all of his attacks using light or darkens were brought to beyond normal limits.

    "Fallon." James yelled as he saw the devastating attacking.

    Stopping in her tracks, Fallon gave up their pursuit of Mrazivy, and aiming her head down, opened her mouth, spewing out a powerful jet of mes to meet Marcus'' attack.

    The me breath from Fallon and thebined spells from Marcus met in the air, each pushing against each other for dominance.

    "Your wide open." Mrazivy shouted positioning herself above her brother and unleashing a series of attacks along with Eirwen.

    shing her sword rapidly Mrazivy sent a barrage of mana shes down upon her brother, while Eirwen pped his wings, sending down des of wind that were filled with shards of ice.

    With attacksing from above and below, and Fallon unable to move as it dealt with Marcus'' attack, James had no choice but to defend against Mrazivy and her beastpanion''s attacks.

    Taking out an adamantine shield, James poured mana into it and the shield began to expand until it had grown big enough to cover all of Fallon.

    James held strong as Mrazivy and Eirwen''s attacks impacted against his shield, while the battle between Marcus'' and Fallon''s attacks was reaching its climax.

    BOOM!

    With neither attack having enough strength to overpower the other, eventually Fallon''s me breath and Marcus'' spells swelled where they met, bing unstable and causing a massive explosion in the sky.

    The air trembled, and the shockwaves created by the explosion, sent Fallon and Eirwen further up into the air, pping their wings frantically to try and regain control.

    Marcus on the other hand had simply gone ethereal and was floating up at high speeds using his spiritual energy to elerate himself as fast as possible.

    ''Fire storm.''

    Once he had ascended past the explosion caused by his and Fallon''s attack, Marcus unleashed one of his tier five fire magic spells while James and Fallon where still off bnce.

    The torrent of mes thenpletely engulfed James and his beastpanion, seemingly spelling the end for themander of the sky knights.

    However, Marcus knew that would not be enough to win, cast his tier six iron magic spell to follow up, and swung the cataclysmic iron sword into the fire storm after James.

    "Piece through all Storm Breaker."

    Throwing his amethrosnce, James cut through Marcus'' fire storm revealing that Fallon had put up some kind of frost barrier that had protected them.

    Yet hisnce did not stop there as it impacted against Marcus'' cataclysmic iron sword, before splitting the titanic hunk of iron down the middle and continuing to fly towards Marcus.

    Still even as powerful as the attack was that James had just unleashed, it flew harmlessly through Marcus who was still ethereal.

    ''Now is my chance.''

    Mrazivy and Eirwen having stabilized themselves simultaneously cast the same spell aiming to take advantage of James who as currently without his weapon.

    "Rime Flower."

    Two huge flowers of ice then formed on either side of James and Fallon, before closing together and crushing whatever was within.

    CRACK!

    Breaking apart, Mrazivy and Eirwen''s dual spell as quickly as they had formed, broke apart, as James'' shield expanded further revealing them to be unharmed.

    James then went looking around for Marcus, but he was still ethereal currently moving into a better position, and even as strong as James was, he had no way to deal with Marcus if he did not take a physical form.

    Staying vignt, James was being wary of Marcus'' next attack, and after a moment suddenly banked left with Fallon as a fire ball came flying towards him and exploded.

    ''Found you.'' James though as he followed the trajectory of Marcus'' spell.

    Certainly, he could not go after Marcus right now, but he had another suitable target in Mrazivy.

    "Dragoon Buster."

    Hisnce suddenly appearing back in his hands, James and Fallon suddenly erupted with a powerful aura as they began rocketing towards Mrazivy.

    Flying at and incredible speed James closed in on Mrazivy so fast she barely had time to react, casting a tier three ice shell spell and brining all of her mercurial frost in front of her.

    s, James and Fallon''sbined attack skill, easily broke through all of Mrazivy''s defenses, and as she tried to attack with her sword, James''nce, pushed past her blowing her arm away.

    Then taking hisnce, James smacked the t side of it against Eirwen''s head, causing the pr owl''s brain to rattle, stunning him.

    With her beastpanion losing his ability to fly, Mrazivy began plummeting towards the ground, but she was not giving up yet.

    "Frigid st."

    Casting another tier five ice magic spell, Mrazivy swung her sword channeling her spell through it, and sending it out infused with a mana sh.

    It was a powerful attackbining both her martial prowess and magic, and its timing was in perfect sync with Marcus.

    The two of them had kept up telepathicmunications throughout the battle allowing them to y off of each other and make openings.

    Yet as Mrazivy''s attack came from the front and Marcus'' from behind, James threw his adamantine shield behind him, and it expanded blocking Marcus''bo thunderbird and me tiger strike spells.

    At the same time, he spun hisnce around in a circr fashion, blowing away Mrazivy''s attack, before lunging forward and hitting her square in the stomach with the blunted end of hisnce.

    "Aughhh"

    Having the breath knocked out of her, Mrazivy went flying backwards losing her grip on Eirwen, and going into a free fall without her beastpanion.

    Luckily before she had fallen too far Marcus reappeared and grabbed her out of the sky, and at the same time had used his spectral arm to pick up Eirwen and prevent him from falling any further.

    "I win." James said, as hisnce was held above his head poised to be thrown down at Marcus with blistering speed.

    Seeing this Marcus knew he had indeed lost. He had seen how fast James''nce could travel when thrown, and it would be impossible for him to fly out of the way. That left his only option to be to return to his ghost form, but then Mrazivy would take the attack instead.

    Nodding his head, Marcus said, "You beat us, there is nothing more we can do."

    "Good, knowing when to give up is also an important part of battle.." James said, as he lowered hisnce, and he and Fallon slowly floated down to the same level as Marcus.

 Chapter 352 - 352 After The Battle And Talking With James

    ''Persistent healing.''

    With Mrazivy still in his arms after catching her, Marcus applied his tier four healing magic spell to fix up the light injuries she had sustained.

    "Thanks Marcus, I am feeling better now. Would you mind bringing me back over to Eirwen." Mrazivy said once her stomach stopped hurting.

    Nodding his head, Marcus flew over to Mrazivy''s beastpanion that had now righted itself after being hit on the head by James.

    "I am sorry Mrazivy, it appears that I am stillcking." Eirwen said, sullen that it had fallen unconscious for a bit and allowed Mrazivy to fall.

    "It could not be helped. My brother James is one of the strongest warriors in the kingdom, and Fallon is at the peak of the epic grade, nearly as strong as a legendary beast." Mrazivy said to console her beastpanion.

    She had honestly never expected to win, and just having been able to put up a good fight was enough for her.

    "I suppose we should head back now. It appears we have attracted quite the crowd." James said looking down at the people that looked like a swarm of ants.

    Following James'' gaze, Marcus could also see that a small crowd of people had exited the castle, naturally curious about the battle that had just raged high in the sky.

    The five of them then descended back towards the ground and as they got closer many of the people cheered for James.

    Of course, a majority of the spectators had been his own men, and the rest were off duty guards or knights that had been resting.

    "That was an excellent battle sir." One of the knights under James''mand said, when James and Fallon touched back down on the ground.

    "Yes, it was. My little sister and her friend really put up quite the fight." James said praising Marcus and Mrazivy.

    James then waved his hand at the crowd, while having Fallon rear up, to put on a little show.

    Many of his men, and some of the guards and knights began chanting his name, showing how popr he was with them.

    "Looks like your brother is well liked." Marcus said to Mrazivy, as theynded down, and garnered almost no attention.

    "It only makes sense; he is known as one of the pirs that protects the kingdom."

    After theynded, James, Marcus, and Mrazivy answered some of the questions that were posed towards them, and generally talked to those that had spectated their battle.

    Many of them were curious as to why they had suddenly taken to the air and fought, but once James had exined everything, all of his men nodded their heads, and looked expectantly at Mrazivy and Marcus.

    "So, what did you think. Was it not fun to fight hand and hand with your beastpanion, while flying high in the air?" James said, still hoping to coax Mrazivy to join him.

    Still even though that battle had been informative, and Mrazivy could not say she disliked fighting while flying on top of Eirwen, she had no intention of joining her brother.

    "Sorry James, but I already have my path."

    Hearing Mrazivy''s reply James clicked his tongue, and his fellow sky knights also seemed disappointed to not have Mrazivy joining them.

    "Well, I already knew what your answer would be, but I at least had to try. Now why do we not find a more private ce to talk. You said you visited the crystal caverns and wanted to talk about them, right?"

    With that, James and Mrazivy said goodbye to the people that hade out to watch their battle, and along with Marcus they went back into the castle and found a private room.

    "Now how was it? Was it as great as you imagined it would be?" James said as he sat down on one of the couches in the room.

    "It was actually even better than I had ever imagined, a sight truly to behold. In fact, we found something that even you did not discover."

    Mrazivy then told her brother about how in the musical crystal room, and how they discovered the secret that yed a beautiful song and unlocked a hidden passageway.

    "And at the end of that passageway was another beautiful room with a shrine in it, that was actually a huge musical instrument. It waspletely unexpected, but after we looked around and saw no one was home we decided to have our lunch there." Mrazivy said a bright smile on her face as she remembered the experience that ranked as one of the best in her life.

    However, what happened next in the story brought the mood down a bit as she told her brother about how they were attacked and then subsequently met a great spirit.

    "Sorry that you ran into such a dangerous creature. When we were down there, we did not find anything of the sort, but I suppose that an intelligent monster of that level would know better than to attack an entire squadron of knights." James said, some regret on his face that he had been the cause for his sister to face extreme danger.

    "No, it is fine. We pulled through somehow and got lucky that the great spirit Recha showed up. Oh, but that is not all, it turned out that great grandmother Aira had been tailing us the entire time."

    Mrazivy then finished up retelling the rest of their adventure, though she did leave out the part where she kissed Marcus.

    "I see it sounds like the two of you had a good time. Maybe one of these days we can go there all together and really explore the ce. We only scratched the surface, and who knows how deep it really goes."

    "Heh, yeah right, with how busy you are I doubt we will ever find the time that." Mrazivy said, knowing that it would pretty much be impossible for her brother to get away for that long.

    "Ah, never say never. One day we can get together with all of our siblings and go down together and make it a huge retreat."

    Hearing this Mrazivy startedughing louder, since it would be difficult enough just for James to go, but all of them was a pipedream so impossible she knew it would never happen, especially since there was bad blood between many of their siblings.

    "How about we try to keep it down to just you. At some point that may at least be possible."

    "Okay, it sounds like a n. How about next spring, I will take some time off then once winter is over and things are less hectic." James said surprising Mrazivy that he was actually making concrete ns.

    "Are you sure, what about the sky knights, will they be fine without you for so long?"

    "Yeah, I have not had a proper vacation in over a decade. Next spring, I will definitely take some time off. The knights and the kingdom can make do without me for a couple of months."

    After saying that James and Mrazivy got to making ns and when all things were set, the two of them had decided to go and delve into depths of the crystal caverns one month after thest snow had melted.

    ''Now is my chance.'' Marcus thought seeing that Mrazivy, and James had finished up their conversation.

    "James, I hope you do not mind my asking but what level are you?"

    Naturally Marcus had grown curious and seeing as how his beastpanion was level fifty-seven, he figured James must be even stronger.

    "Hm, I suppose if you know it is not a big deal. Just do not go spreading it around alright?"

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed to not spread James'' level around, and it was not like he had any reason to anyway.

    "I happen to be level sixty-four." James said with a look of pride.

    He had worked hard to reach this level, and not many people would ever make it to the same or even higher level.

    In fact, the number of people that were around as strong or stronger than him, numbered in only the several dozen within the entire kingdom.

    "That is pretty impressive. Only ten levels under Thabon." Marcus said, showing admiration for the strength that James had received.

    "Only ten levels you say. The higher you got he more those ten levels make more of a difference. I would prefer it if it you did notpare me to an old monster like Thabon or my great grandmother. They are still in a realm far from where I am currently." James said, not wanting to be put in the same league as Thabon, or Aria.

    "Okay I understand. Oh, but there is one more thing. Can I see yournce?"

    Naturally he was not going to pass up the chance to examine an amethros weapon up close.

    "Sure, I do not mind." James said as he took out hisnce and handed it over to Marcus.

    With bright eyes Marcus epted thence, nearly yanking it out of James hand as he began to feverously look it over.

    ''Impressive work. Whoever did this was top notch, well above what I am capable of, and must have been at least at the level of skill as Thabon. Damn, half of these formation arepletely new to me and soplicated I have no idea what they actually do. And the speed and quality at which it absorbs mana is beyond anything I have ever seen. So, this is amethros. I can see now why it is called the world''s strongest metal.''

    Looking over every millimeter of thence, Marcus lost track of time while examining it, and soon over an hour had passed, when James said, "Um, have you finished looking it over yet, I do have other things to do."

    Looking up form thence for the fist time since he had gotten ahold, of it, Marcus could see the concerned expressions on Mrazivy and James'' face.

    Still, a part of him did not want to let thisnce go, and he thought about storing it in his item box and disappearing.

    However, he knew that this action would be beyond stupid, since it would not only ruin his rtionship with the kingdom, but Mrazivy as well.

    "Here you go and thank you for letting me look it over. It certainly is a masterpiece, well beyond anything I could create right now." Marcus said as he handed it back to James.

    "Yeah, it is one of the royal family''s treasures. Of all the weapons we have this one alone can only be wielded by a member of the royal family, since it used to be Boreas'' personal weapon."

    A bit surprised, Marcus looked at thence even more impressed than before, wondering when he might be able to make simr weapon for himself.

    "Now it is gettingte, and we all have things that need to be done before the meeting in a couple of days." James said, knowing that he had a lot of work to do and little time to get it done.

    After that the three of them said their goodbyes before going their sperate ways.. Each going to take care of somest-minute preparations before the kingdom''s meeting.

 Chapter 353 - 353 Before The Meeting

    ''It is finally done.''

    Standing up from the work bench he was at, Marcus looked at what he had been painstakingly working on.

    ''It has gone through many different design changes, but I think this is the best one.'' Marcus thought as he looked at the coat of arms he hade up with for his house.

    During the kingdom''s meeting, he would need to submit it so that it could go into the heraldry archives within the kingdom, and his house would have a recognizable symbol.

    ''Though this is the least of my worries for the meeting.''

    pping the sides of his face, Marcus got himself ready for what was toe, believing that the preparations he and his supporters hadid forth would be enough.

    Then once he was certain he was ready he left the room he had been holed up in and went back to Mrazivy''s room to meet up with her.

    There were still a couple hours before the kingdom''s meeting was going to start and he had promised her that they would have breakfast together.

    ''This ce certainly is livelier than it was a couple weeks ago.''

    Walking down the halls, Marcus made note of the farrger number of people moving around the castle, but that was only natural since hundreds of nobles from across the kingdom had arrived at the royal castle and were staying within the visitor''s wing.

    Still Marcus having be fairly adept at navigating the castle during his stay, used some less traveled corridors, and quickly made his was to Mrazivy''s room.

    ''Looks like Heward and Diana are here.''

    As he approached Mrazivy''s door Marcus could see that her two protectors were posted outside her room.

    Of course, this was because with the huge influx of guests the chances of an assassin entering the castle were far higher, like with what Soith had attempted.

    Still, it was still unlikely that any assassin would be able to get a high-profile target in the castle without alerting the powers within in.

    "Good morning, Lady Irene. Her highness has been expecting you." Diana said, greeting Marcus.

    However, opposite to Diana''s greeting, all Sir Heward did was give a disapproving grunt before standing aside and allowing Marcus to enter.

    Opening the door, Marcus quickly smelled something burning, before hearing a loud shriek, followed by the sound of metal hitting the floor.

    Rushing inside Marcus found Mrazivy in her kitchen along with a maid, and it appeared that Mrazivy was attempting to cook something, but was not being very sessful.

    "Your highness I told you need to slow down. Cooking takes patience, and moving like a whirlwind is just going to set you back when you drop things like just now." Her maid Aisha said, looking at Mrazivy who had just dropped a pan.

    "Did Ie at a bad time?" Marcus said teasingly.

    Looking up Mrazivy looked at Marcus and then the mess she had made before, standing up and saying, "No you are right on time. I was trying to make something for you, but it looks like my cooking skills are far from adequate. Aisha, would you bring the backups we got from the kitchen."

    After saying that Mrazivy walked defeatedly out of the kitchen and into the dining area, where she sat down and slumped over.

    "Sorry it did not go well, but I appreciate the thought. So, what were you trying to make."

    Sighing Mrazivy said, "I was trying to make turnovers using the fruit from the atrium that you liked, but as you saw it turned out a disaster. Even with Aisha''s help I ended up burning them.

    Patting her on the should Marcusforted Mrazivy telling her that he had been pretty bad at cooking at first as well, and that it just took time and patience to get better at it.

    Then a few minutestter Aisha came out with a tray of muffins and set them on the table allowing Marcus and Mrazivy to have their fill of the delicious pastry.

    "Kokki''s skills really are top notch. These muffins are delicious." Marcus said as he stuffed a berry filled muffin into his mouth.

    At the same time Mrazivy halfheartedly ate one of the muffins obviously still upset at failing to make Marcus breakfast herself.

    "So, have you heard anything about Marquis Krenston? Is he nning to make a fuss?" Marcus asked wanting to know what to expect.

    "Yeah, I heard that he is not going to go quietly. He is apparently livid that my father broke off my engagement with his son and has personallye here to the meeting to voice hisints, even though he would normally send a proxy." Mrazivy said, sitting up and looking serious.

    "I see. Well, it will be fine, even if he makes a scene, in the end it will not change a thing."

    The two of them then got ready for the meeting as each of them had their own roles to y.

    "I will be going on first, see you there and good luck." Marcus said, giving Mrazivy a hug before leaving.

    After that he exited her room and began heading towards the great hall where the meeting would take ce.

    ''Woah.''

    Entering into the great hall, Marcus could see that the once empty room he had seen when he first arrive was no more, and chairs, tables, and all manner of furniture were plentifully distributed throughout the room.

    And along with the furniture was a sea of nobles, many talking amongst each other, some having taken their ces and sitting quietly waiting for the meeting to begin, and others having made it over to the refreshment area where they were enjoying what the kingdom had to offer.

    ''Ah there they are.''

    Spotting his friends Marcus began navigating through the crowd, and soon made it to his targets.

    "Adriana, risa, it is good to see you here." Marcus said, walking up to his two friends.

    Turning around the two of them smiled when they saw Marcus and waved him over saying, "Irene it has been too longe over here and we can catch up."

    Integrating himself into the group that risa and Adriana were apart of, Marcus quickly noticed that some of the young knights he had taught a lesson to were there as well, and when they saw Marcus some of them shuddered.

    "Irene, I saw your match against Gurrom, and I could not believe how strong you were. That massive iron sword you summoned was beyond anything I have ever seen." risa said, raving about how impressive he was during his fight.

    Smiling and nodding his head, Marcus indulged the group of knights he was talking to, telling them about his fights and borating on the spells he had used.

    "To think you could wield a tier six spell. You have gotten even stronger than before." Adriana said, a bit astonished that Marcus could use such powerful magic.

    After that Marcus tried to steer the conversation away from the tournament, asking where risa and her friends were going to be posted.

    "I am being sent to a town called Trostenwald up in the northwest, in between Loursend and River Landing. Apparently, it is a coal mining town, but other than that I do not know much expect that I will be junior of five knights posted there since the senior knight recently retired." risa said, looking a bit nervous about her first post as knight.

    "Well, you are in luck today. I happened to have passed through Trostenwald twice and while I may not be an expert, I can at least tell you what I know."

    Marcus then told risa what he knew about Trostenwald, giving her a bit more insight into the ce she would be working.

    The other three young knights that were around then told Marcus where they were going to be posted, though he did not really care about them, but did register that one was being sent to the town of Klopot due to the trouble they had with trolls during thest winter.

    ''Looks like Jasper is getting the extra help he needs.''

    Thinking about the small town that he had passed through on the way to mine the celestial tinum, Marcus had though that it seemed to becking military power. Only having two knights who were by no means veterans to protect the whole town and Baron Jasper.

    "So, you are Irene Geist." A voice said from behind Marcus.

    However, even before he turned around Marcus could tell whoever was talking was no normal person, since everyone around him had begun bowing.

    Turning around Marcus saw a middle-aged looking man, who was nked by two strong knights on either side of him.

    Yet he immediately noticed the deep blue hair atop this man''s head denoting him as a member of the royal family.

    "Yes, I am Irene Geist your Highness. What might I do for you?" Marcus said following suit and bowing.

    Scoffing the man looked at Marcus with contempt, before saying, "If you want to do something for me you could join my side instead of my brother''s. Though I doubt that will happen since you are apparently glued to Mrazivy."

    Raising his head and smiling Marcus now knew who he was talking to and said, "So you must Third Prince Reigen. It is a pleasure to meet you."

    "Have you not heard it is second Prince now." Reigen said swiftly.

    "Oh, sorry that is right, Soith was disowned. Excuse my ignorance second prince.." Marcus said, in an almost mocking manner obviously not caring about Reigen''s position.

 Chapter 354 - 354 Kingdomâ€™s Meeting

    ring at Marcus and grinding his teeth, Reigen, was visibly annoyed with theck of respect in Marcus'' tone, but there was little he could do.

    If he made a scene over someone''s tone in front of this many people, it would only hurt his standing. And while he had not been told that Marcus and Irene were the same person, like the siblings that were close to Mrazivy, he did know that the person known as Irene Geist was a powerful spirit.

    ''Damn it. If only I had known about this beforehand, I could have been the one to make a deal. Instead, it was Mrazivy that somehow brought this spirit in and has gained father''s favor.''

    "Well, I have much to do and many nobles to greet. Goodbye for now Lady Irene Geist." Reigen said, having already gotten what he wanted from meeting Marcus.

    He had been hoping somehow to bring this spirit onto his side, but by their actions it was apparent they had no intention of helping him.

    "Ah, and Charles, you wanted to talk to your sister. Feel free to take five minutes I will be fine without you for that long." Reigen said to the knight who was on his left.

    After that he began moving towards a crowd of nobles, aiming to shore up his support for the throne.

    "It is good to see you again Adriana, I believe it has been around six months since I saw you at fathers seventieth birthday." The knight Charles said to Adriana.

    ''So, he is Adriana''s older brother.''

    Looking at the knight that had been by Reigen''s side, Marcus remembered that Adrian had told him that he was a personal knight to one of the kingdom''s royal family, and that he was the pride of her family.

    ''Oh, level forty-seven. He is certainly stronger than most of the personal knights I have seen for the royal family.''

    Normally Marcus would have held back on appraising someone, especially if they held a high status, since they might have a skill or item that alerted them, and some people with really good instincts could sense when the skill was being used on them

    However, in this instance Marcus could not help his curiosity and he figured that if he got caught, he could apologize and have Adrianna smooth things over.

    Luckily though it seemed that Charles had not noticed and now Marcus had a better read on him.

    ''Even Soith''s knights were quite a bit weaker each only being level forty. That means either the king values Reigen more, or he was able to somehow use his political sway to get Charles assigned to him.''

    While Marcus was analyzing the situation, Charles was being introduced to everyone in the group, and when he got to risa, said, "So you are my sister''s talented pupil. It is a pleasure to meet you, after hearing so many good things. In fact, I heard that you havee into possession of a set of top tier mithril swords. If you would not mind meeting me after today''s meeting is over, I would love to look at them, and in return you could look at our family''s heirloom."

    Seeing what Charles was trying to do, Marcus interjected and said, "Actually I am the one made those swords that risa has, so if you would not mind, I would like to join you. That way I can give you some insights into the weapon''s function and design. Also, as a forgemaster I would love to look at your family''s heirloom, risa has told me about it, and I am very interested."

    Looking at Marcus a frown formed on Charles'' face, and he was uncertain of what to do.

    Normally if you were going to be looking at a weapon, having its maker there to exin all of its functions would be ideal.

    However, in this situation, Charles cared little about examining the weapons themselves and had actually been ordered to try and get risa to join his master''s side, since a knight wielding top tier mithril weapons was notmon and such a person would normally be on the track for great sess.

    ''If Lady Geist is there, his highness will have a much more difficult time recruiting risa. Now how do I get her to back off.''

    Racking his brains, Charles tried to think of a way to have only risa join him, but before he could the person in question jumped at the chance to have Marcus along, wanting some tips about using her weapons.

    "Very well then, once today''s meeting has concluded we can all get together. But now I must take my leave and return to my master." Charles said, doing his best to contain his displeasure.

    He then walked off dreading having to tell Prince Reigen that he had failed to secure a meeting alone with the young knight risa.

    With Charles'' and by extension Prince Reigen''s n thwarted, Marcus continued to talk with his friends, until there were only fifteen minutes before the meeting proper started.

    When that time hade Marcus went and found his seat that was in the section for those of the bar or baress rank.

    ''It is a bit far away, but that is to be expected from the second lowest ranking title.''

    Using his enhanced vison skill, Marcus zoomed in on the front of the room where arge stage had been set up for the king and members of the royal family.

    ''Ah here theye.''

    Soon the royals began entering and taking their seats, with the king heading up to a podium which had a voice amplifying magic tool on it.

    "Good morning, everyone. It is that time once again for our kingdom''s triennial meeting. I am d to see that so many of you made it here again so that we can discuss the important business of the kingdom, and make sure that it continues to prosper. Now without further ado let us get started."

    After saying that the king pulled out a device Marcus had seen once before when he received his title of baress.

    Except while unlike the one that viceroy of River Landing had, the device in the king''s hand was much more refined looking and had a gold pattern on it that formed a crown.

    "To begin let us start with the conferment of titles to our next generation of talented knights."

    After saying that the king did some strokes on the tablet like device in his hands, and on the screens that had been set up in the great hall a long list of names appeared, and an automated voice began reading them out.

    Then, in what Marcus could only liken to a graduation ceremony where all of the students went up to grab their diplomas, arge group of new knights who were already formed into an orderly group began walking up and receiving their titles from the king.

    Of course, it was much more streamlined then when Marcus had received his title as there were hundreds of new knights receiving theirs.

    "I grant you risa hall, the title of knight. From this day forward you are Dame risa Hall."

    Smiling Marcus looked at his friend and somehow as she was walking off the stage their eyes met, and Marcus gave her a thumbs up.

    Then after nearly two hours of awarding titles to the new knights of the kingdom, the king announced the next order of business.

    "Now would the representatives of new noble houses pleasee forward, starting with those at the rank of Bar and Baress."

 Chapter 355 - 355 Geist Houseâ€™s Family Crest

    Getting up from his seat Marcus moved to the front of the stage along with two dozen and a half other people.

    These people made up the group of new nobles that had received the tittle of bar or baress, and it was apparent that this group was much smaller than those receiving the tittle of knight.

    Of course, this was because while a knight was a noble title, they were always subservient to either the kingdom, or another noble, and often they onlysted one generation, either for not having an eptable heir to take up their mantle, or due to death in battle.

    ''I guess even the title of bar or baress is pretty rare.'' Marcus thought as he looked at the other people going up with him.

    Though what he did not know was that this group was farrger than normal, due to many new houses being brought to power to rece the ones that were colluding with Permafrost.

    "Now would the representative from the Aband family please step forward."

    A young man who appeared to be in his early twenties then stepped forward, and kneeled in front of the king and said, "I am Tucker Aband, Bar Aband''s son, here to represent him."

    The young man then pulled out masterfully painted crest and handed it over to the king, who nodded and took the crest before handing it over to a servant that ced it on a pedestal.

    After that the crest appeared on the screens that had been set up, allowing everyone in the room to see it.

    "As king I now confirm the Aband house''s title of bar, may you serve the kingdom well and prosper."

    Standing up Tucker Aband gave onest bow to the king before going back to his ce and waiting for the rest of the bar ranked houses to go.

    One by one the new bar and baress houses had their family crests entered into the kingdom''s archives and each one of them was confirmed by the king.

    Of course, this was just a ceremonial confirmation, as the titles had already been awarded, but none the less every new noble bar or above had to be confirmed by the king.

    "Would the representative of the Geist family pleasee forward."

    With his turn finally up, Marcus moved up in front of the king and like everyone else kneeled down, though he did give the king a knowing smile beforehand.

    "I am Baress Irene Geist here to represent my family." Marcus said as he pulled out the family crest he had designed and made.

    However, unlike all of the others that were paintings or drawings, Marcus had made his out of metal.

    Taking the metal crest, the king raised and eyebrow when he saw what it was, but quickly regained hisposure and handed it off so that the emblem could be disyed so that the other nobles could make a record of it.

    The image of the Geist Family crest then became visible to all, and most of them were stunned by the work of art that Marcus had present, as well as confused for why it was chosen.

    Still, those that knew Marcus well, understood the reasoning behind this crest and could only think that it was fitting.

    ''A wolf howling up to the sun and moon, so this is what you have been working on in secret.'' Mrazivy thought as she looked up at Marcus'' new family crest.

    She had been wondering what he had been working on for hours at a time without telling her, saying it was a surprise.

    "As king I now confirm Geist house''s title of baress, may you please continue to aid our kingdom in its times of need."

    Hearing this the crowd of nobles were all aghast, as what the king had said was not the standard send off for new nobles.

    In fact, the way the king had phrased it, was as if he was asking for the continued help of an acquaintance or friend rather than a subservient noble.

    And to furtherplicate things, unlike the other nobles that had simply bowed and walked back to their ce, Marcus smiled and said, "Of course. I consider this ce my home now, and do not want anything bad to happen to it."

    After saying that, Marcus walked away without bowing, and many of the nobles watching were dumbfounded by what they had just seen.

    They had now idea why a low-ranking baress was talking to the king so familiarly and why the king was allowing it.

    However, the rumor of Baress Irene Geist being a powerful spirit quickly began to circte, and with thatst interaction with the king, many more were starting to think that this rumor could be credible.

    ''Looks like it worked.'' The king thought as he saw the nobles whispering amongst each other.

    Naturally this had been set up by him and his advisors to help add even more legitimacy to this rumor, that was partially true.

    This way it would help to prevent other less savory rumors, like Marcus being a monster in need of purging, rather than a mysterious spirit helping the kingdom.

    The king then finished up confirming the remaining bars and adding their family crests to the kingdom''s archive, before dismissing all of them back to their seats.

    Except, one of them after taking their seat briefly, stealthy exited the grand hall as to not draw attention.

    ''Now it is time for the next part. This is where it is going to difficult, and interesting.'' Marcus thought as he exited the grand hall.

    "Now would those new nobles receiving the rank of baron or baroness please step forward."

    Once the king had said this, a group of fourteen people stood up and shuffled their way down to the king and went through a simr process as Marcus had.

    However, unlike Marcus who already had his title, for any rank above Bar, the king had to personally award it.

    Now this did not mean that high ranking nobles like dukes, marquises, and counts could not award such titles, only that they could not add the title via the system. This power belonged only to the king.

    After that the king went up the ranks, next doing viscounts, with which there were only five of, then counts which were only two, and finally Marquis which had one new addition recing a family that had been purged for being leading figures in Permafrost.

    Yet, as everyone was getting ready to leave for the day, since the first day was always allocated for confirming and awarding nobles titles, and the kingdom had only ever had four ducal houses, all of the nobles were surprised when the king said, "Everyone please stay seated, I have a special announcement to make and another title to award."

    Looking about confusedly, none of the nobles knew what was going on, and even the four dukes'' houses were in the dark.

    "For their meritorious deeds in helping to bring down the criminal syndicate known as Permafrost.. I would like to wee the man that single handedly delivered us the evidence we needed, Marcus Ferrous."

 Chapter 356 - 356 Uproar

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    Hearing his name called Marcus walked out onto the stage, having switched his from over and changed into a high-quality suit.

    Smiling he walked right towards the king confidently and as he passed by gave a wink to Mrazivy.

    He then made his way over to the king and gave a quick bow before saying, "Thank you for inviting me here your majesty."

    "No, it is I who should be thanking you for bringing us all of the evidence we needed to once and for all pull off the leech known as Permafrost." The king said bowing himself.

    Seeing this a number of the nobles gasped, since it was no small gesture for the king to bow to someone.

    ''Who is that? They look very familiarˇ­ Wait, are they?''

    Looking intently at Marcus, one of the nobles in the crowd recognized him.

    Standing up abruptly Marquis Krenston, shouted, "Your Majesty, that man is a wanted criminal. He is in possession of a very dangerous item that could bring ruin to the kingdom. We need to have him arrested right now."

    As Marquis Krenston yelled this out loud many of the attending nobles looked confused, having no idea what Krenston was saying or why he was suddenly using the man the king had personally brought tomend of being a criminal.

    However, there were others that also began to recognize Marcus having seen his wanted poster, and in an even small minority were the ones that knew exactly why Marcus was wanted.

    After that, a number of nobles stood up as well, and began throwing outmands for knights and guards to apprehend Marcus, especially the ones that knew that he was in possession of a magical beast egg of a mythic grade beast at the peak of power.

    Confused most of the knights and guards made no action especially in the presence of the king, but a few of the more loyal and stupid ones followed themands of their superiors.

    "SILENCE!"

    Yelling out, the king quieted the entire room with one word and all of the knights and guards that had been on the move stopped in their tracks.

    "Marquis Krenston, do you think me so stupid as to not know all of the details of a person I have personally called here. I am well aware of the item that this young man had in his possession, but you need not worry, he has peacefully handed it over to the kingdom, and his wanted status and bounty have been revoked. He is now a free man once again and a hero to the kingdom. His help was invaluable for bringing down Permafrost, not to mention that he has in the past saved my daughter''s life."

    After saying this the king looked at Marquis Krenston sternly telling him to back down, but to his surprise the Marquis remained standing and said, "Your majesty, while I would normally not question you, in this case the security of the entire kingdom is at stake. That man Marcus Ferrous was in possession of a mythic grade magical beast egg of the highest caliber, and I know that he had sessfully formed a mutual seal with it. Even if you say he has handed it over, that means that it is still exists and could one day destroy the kingdom. I ask that the egg or if it has hatched the creature within be brought before us and destroyed."

    Stating his demands Marquis Krenston did not seem to be willing to back down.

    And following him a number of nobles stood up, some being afraid of aing disaster brought on by a cmitous beast, others not wanting the royal family to gain the power of this beast, and finally some that were simply followers of those already standing.

    CLAP!

    A resounding sound burst through the grand hall, causing an insufferable ringing in the ears of the dissenters, and forcing many of them to sit back down.

    "All of you children need to calm down and listen. How long has the royal family protected this kingdom and allowed it to prosper. Now all of you be quiet and allow the king to finish before whining like babies." Aria said having seemingly appeared out of nowhere and taking ce center stage.

    With Aira''s intervention, the nobles that had been making an uproar, med up, and sat there obediently, not wanting to be on the receiving end of Aria''s magic again.

    "Good, now that order has been restored, allow me to finish. The egg in question that Marquis Krenston has just disclosed information about even though he was forbidden to talk of it, has indeed hatched. However, know that it along with Marcus here have been ced under a magical contract preventing it from attacking the kingdom. And for those that wish us to destroy this beast, I tell you that would bring ruin to our kingdom. Marcus here has told us, and we have independently confirmed that this beast has two parents that would destroy our kingdom should we kill their child. Luckily Marcus and hispanion have already shown their resolve and worth to the kingdom by brining us the evidence that was necessary to expunge Permafrost and their coborators. On my authority as king I guarantee there is no threat."

    Waiting patiently the king scanned around the room looking for anyone to oppose him, and when his gazended on Marquis Krenston, the man stayed seated, knowing there was nothing he could really say.

    However, there was one person that decided not to backdown and stood up, and said, "Your Majesty, how are we to believe any of this without proof. This is a matter that concerns the entire kingdom. For us to simply roll over without evidence and ept everything you said is not possible in this situation."

    Scowling the king looked at the man who had decided to oppose him, and said, "Are you saying that the word of your king is not enough, Duke Fealltoir.

    "In this instance yes. You say many things, about how this man here helped the kingdom greatly, how him and his beastpanion are under your control, and how to destroy this mythic grade beast we know next to nothing about would bring its parents down upon us. How are we to know that any of these ims are true without proof?" Duke Fealltoir said, a serious expression on his face.

    And along with him, many of the nobles that had earlier been silenced were starting to rile up again, getting ready to jump on the bandwagon now that a powerful duke was spearheading the opposition.

    Except a momentter, two people walked in and one of them said, "If you want proof I have it for you."

    Looking for the source of the voice, when the nobles found the speaker, many of them shuddered seeing who they were.

    Entering the room and walking around like she owned the ce was head Royal Investigator Alexandra Olympia and along with her was Wade.

    Seeing her arrive even Duke Fealltoir felt a sense of unease since while she may look like a harmless young rabbit beastwoman, underneath she was the most cunning and underhanded person within the kingdom.

 Chapter 357 - 357 Marcusâ€™ New Title

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    With Alexandra walking in with Wade in toe she moved right up the stage where the king was and gave him a quick nod before looking towards the crowd of nobles.

    "You all said you wanted proof, correct? I myself was also present as well as Wade Ophiria here, when Marcus gave us the evidence, we needed to dispose of those pests known as Permafrost."

    Alexandra then pulled out a familiar looking crystal and Marcus quickly recognized it as a recording crystal.

    "I am sure that many of you know what this is. On this recording crystal is the meeting that I, Grand Archmage Aria, Knight Commander Darius, and Wade Ophiria had with Marcus Ferrous."

    After saying that Alexandra ced the crystal on the pedestal that projected images onto the screens set up in the hall and began ying the recording sealed within.

    Of course, what was yed was actually a manipted product where instead of appearing as Irene, it had been manipted to look like himself.

    However, other than that the recording of the meeting was exactly what happened, and it showed concrete proof of Marcus handing over materials pertaining to permafrost.

    Still, just seeing this did not put many people at ease, and plenty of nobles actually hated Marcus more, since while they had not had deep rtions with Permafrost, they had still been receiving services from them, and were not happy to see them gone.

    "This still does not prove that he and more importantly his beast are not threats to the kingdom. Anyway, do you really expect us to believe that one man collected all of that evidence by himself without getting caught? That is simply preposterous." Duke Fealltoir said not willing to give up.

    Truthfully, he could have cared less about Marcus and his beastpanion, and he did believe the king that it was under control. Except this was his chance to undermine the king and try to bring more nobles to his side, and in the best case push the current king out and have his son Reigen who he was supporting take the throne.

    "Yes, normally it would seem impossible. Even I am not confident I could have aplished something like this. Nevertheless, he did, owing to his powerful unique skill."

    Gesturing towards Marcus, Alexandra was telling him it was his go and nodding his head he held up his arm and made it vanish into the ground.

    "As you can see, he has a unique skill called ethereal form that allows him to move about unseen and phase through solid objects." Alexandra said hammering her point home.

    "This man has only helped the kingdom. And simply for having the luck to find and bond with a mythic grade magical beast he is suddenly a menace. What if any of you had found such an egg, or if it had been you children. Would you be demanding the same right now? Is there any reason to be afraid of the future? Maybe we should go out and cull ever single beast in the kingdom less one day they make it to the mythic grade and destroy the kingdom."

    Finishing her piece, Alexandra looked out at the crowd and could see that they were waning. Of course, there was little room to argue with her logic, since if any of these nobles got their hands on such a beast, they would do whatever they could to nurture it into an unstoppable force.

    "Yes, I believe that we should give this young man and his beast the benefit of the doubt. So far, he has done nothing to harm the kingdom. In fact, he has helped it in an even greater capacity than many of us have."

    With a new person standing up for Marcus, everyone''s attention was drawn towards them, and when Duke Fealltoir saw who it was he could only click his tongue.

    ''Duchess Ophiria.'' Duke Fealltoir thought angrily.

    He knew now that any way to use this situation to undermine the king was gone. With the support of another one of the ducal houses, those in the opposition with him would quickly wane leaving him in the minority.

    Internally sighing Duke Fealltoir said, "It is as Lady Ophiria says. I have now seen enough evidence and after listening to Investigator Alexandra I see that I may have been too rash. If this person and his beastpanion truly are a boon for the kingdom, then there is nothing to worry about.

    Sitting back down Duke Fealltoir did his best to save whatever face he could, and with their leader having dissented, the other nobles trying to jump on the bandwagon quickly fell off.

    "Now then, since everyone''s worries have been dealt with, I will be taking my leave. Good luck with the rest of your meeting." Alexandra said before leaving the room.

    Seeing her go many people let out a sigh of relief, since for any noble that was not perfectly straiced, she was basically the buggy man.

    ''Thest remaining member of the first king''s party. Truly whenever she gets involved everything turns out exactly how she wants it.'' Duchess Ophiria thought remembering how Alexandra had approached her for her support, already having expected this scenario.

    With everything having worked itself out, the king went on with the n, and looked towards Marcus and said, "For your service to the kingdom it is only right that you be given a fitting title as a reward. From this day forth you shall hold the rank of prince and be an honorary member of the royal family."

    The king then did a few strokes on his tablet that gave him his power within the kingdom and gave Marcus the title of prince.

    Of course, many nobles gasped when they saw this and went wide eyed, as handing out the title of prince was no joke.

    It pretty much put Marcus on the same standing as the royal family, and for many it was more surprising than if the title of even Marquis were to be awarded.

    But of course, the king had many reasons to give this title to Marcus.

    For one, it was not a title that woulde with any real sort of responsibility, and it would deter most nobles would be looking to bring Marcus into their fold. It was pretty much the king marking Marcus as the royal family''s territory.

    Second it would give Marcus a sizeable stats boost as the title of prince would increase all of his stats by three percent, rather than the one percent he got from baress. The king wanted Marcus to be as strong as possible, since he would be making use of his talents for the kingdom''s sake.

    And the third reason was to give Marcus a status worthy of Mrazivy, that way if the two ever did get married there would be no problem in that regard.

    ''Gwyneira said that it is likely that in the future Marcus and his beastpanion will be stronger than even her. All I need to do now is make sure that he will want to protect this kingdom, and we will obtain two more powerful eternal guardians. And if having Mrazivy marrying him is what it takes, she will have proved far more valuable than simply strengthening the royal family''s influence in Loursend.'' The king thought with a smile.

    His first goal would always be the safety of the kingdom. And Marcus'' strength was already high, but his potential could one day make him an unstoppable force.

    After receiving this new title Marcus bowed towards the king and said, "thank you your majesty, it is an honor to receive this title and your praise. I will make sure to meet your expectations and live up to your standards."

    Raising his head, Marcus looked out towards the crowd, of nobles seeing, that most of them still had confused expressions. Though some had greed in their eyes, seeing Marcus as a possible means for political gain, while others were already plotting his death for being the key yer in taking down Permafrost.

    For them he had ruined their businesses, or they were no longer able to enjoy certain products that were deemed illegal, now that their suppliers were gone.

    Of course, some just wanted revenge since either friends or family had been arrested for being members of Permafrost.

    However, both the king and Marcus knew this would happen already and it was a calcted move on the kingdom''s part.

    Now those that were disgruntled over Permafrost''s fall, and the subsequent sweeping arrest, would have a face to point their anger at instead of the kingdom itself.

    Yet, it mattered little, since Marcus could simply exist in another form for the majority of the time he was in the kingdom, and just make the asional public appearance to make sure people did not forget about him.

    ''Well at least now I am not wanted and can go about in my original form.. Even if some of these nobles are gunning for me, at this point I am pretty difficult to kill.''

 Chapter 358 - 358 Talking Weapons With Charles And Clarisa

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    With the king having revoked his wanted status, as well as having given him the title of prince as thanks for his help in bringing down Permafrost, Marcus turned towards the crowd of nobles and bowed before heading over and sitting next to Mrazivy.

    Seeing this many nobles tried to find meaning in this move, since logically it would make little sense.

    However, they quickly remembered the king''s earlier words, about Marcus having saved one of his daughters and things were starting to put themselves together.

    Yet one man realized that there was more to this move than simply Marcus sitting next to the princess he had rescued.

    ''So that is what really happened. You think you can slight me this way and get away with it.'' Marquis Krenston thought.

    He now believed that Mrazivy had been hiding Marcus which was how he had evaded being found.

    He knew that the princess felt indebted to him after saving her life, and it was partially because of her influence that Marcus'' bounty had been rtively low for how dangerous and valuable the mythic grade magical beast he had was.

    It also gave him the reason that the king had broken off Mrazivy''s engagement to his son, it was quite obvious now that he nned to give her to Marcus instead.

    Still Krenston knew that now was not he correct time to act, he would have a chance to voice his grievances on thest day of the meeting during the open speaking time.

    "That now concludes the kingdom''s meetings first day, feel free to go about your business as you please, and make sure to attend tomorrow''s meeting as well." The king said dismissing everyone who were waiting to see if there were any more surprise announcements.

    With the end of the first day of the meeting, the various nobles got up and began heading on their way.

    Many of them had much smaller meeting to go to with their peers and subordinates, as Marcus'' appearance was unprecedented and unexpected, and needed to be dealt with.

    "Mraz, I am meeting up with a friend risa really quick, so go ahead without me, I will catch upter."

    "Oh, you are going to ditch me right before we can make our first public appearance, and to go and see another woman at that." Mrazivy said in a teasing tone.

    Smiling and ying along Marcus said, "Yes I am, but she means nothing to me. We are simply talking about weapons. I will make sure toe back to you as soon as possible."

    The two of them then snickered a bit, drawing some attention from the other people on the stage who looked at them with confusion wondering what they were on about.

    After that, Marcus quickly found an empty and isted hallway, where he transformed back into his form as Irene, and changed his clothes.

    ''Now to go and meet up with risa.''

    Heading back into the grand hall Marcus located risa who was already talking to Charles.

    "Sorry to keep you waiting, we can go now." Marcus said.

    Seeing Marcus, Charles internally sighed, since he was just now subtly trying to bring risa over to his master''s side, but now that Marcus was here, he would have to hold back.

    "I have private room already set up so we should go there since pulling weapons out in the middle of this crowd might cause a panic." Marcus said taking the initiative.

    He did not know if Charles might have already picked out a ce where Reigen as waiting, so he figured it would be better to prepare his own location.

    "Okay let''s go." risa said excited to talk to both Marcus and Charles.

    Soon the three of them made it to the private room Marcus had prepared.

    It was nothing special just a small room with a single couch and table in it meant for small meetings or as a ce to rest.

    "Here are my swords." risa said as she took out her twin des that Marcus had made her.

    Both of them gleamed in the light, the lightning pattern of them being incredibly striking.

    Picking up the swords Marcus looked them over, and arge smile crept onto his face.

    "I can see you have been taking good care of them. The des still shine as if they were new, and there is not a nick on them."

    Naturally Marcus was happy to see that his first works that had been deemed as top tier masterpieces were being well kept and used by his friend.

    "Lady Geist may I see them as well." Charles said, not wanting to be left out when he was the one who proposed this gathering in the first ce.

    "Sure." Marcus said handing over the two swords.

    Looking them over, Charles was impressed by them, and even though he was not a forgemaster like Marcus, he still knew enough to recognize that the two des were full of powerful enchantments.

    ''These swords are full ofplex formations I hardly understand, and some seem to be dual enchantments that work only when the two swords are used together. It appears that her value is not only in herbat strength but also her ability to make weapons.''

    As he examined the two swords Marcus had made, Charles wished more and more that his master could somehow get him on his side.

    Not only had Marcus proved himself a force to be reckoned with during the tournament, but he was also a forgmasters of a high caliber.

    "So, when are we going to get to see the Harthen family heirloom." Marcus said.

    "Oh yes excuse me I got caught up in looking at these two swords."

    After saying that Charles pulled out an exquisite looking bow that had a fireworks like pattern all over it.

    However, this was not a run of the mill bow as its limbs were ded obviously meant for closebat.

    "This bow has been in my family for generations and is our greatest possession."

    Handing the bow over, Charles allowed risa to look at it first showing his favoritism to her.

    "Wow, it is so east to draw back, but it still feels like it has a decent amount of weight behind it." risa said as she pulled back the mithril thread bow string.

    risa then looked over the bow a bit more, before handing it over to Marcus who was the one that really wanted to see it.

    ''I can tell that it is an older weapon. Some of themon formations like the durability enchantment have been changed since this bow was made. Still, it is really impressive work that would be difficult to replicate. Whoever made this must have been quite talented.''

    Examining the bow Marcus peered over ever detail, making sure to make note of ever formation.

    ''Oh, now this is impressive.''

    As he was looking over the bow string Marcus noticed that it had an enchantment on it that many would miss since it looked like it could have just been part of the thread.

    Pulling the string back, Marcus activated this enchantment and an arrow of light formed in the bow string.

    Seeing this Charles was dumbfounded, wondering how Marcus could have discovered the secret enchantment on the bow that allowed it create arrows of light.

    Of course, Marcus owed it partially to his affinity to the light element allowing him to sense the well-hidden enchantment and his skills as a forge master to recognize it.

    "This is quite ingenious. This allows the wielder to fire off attacks even without any ammunition. I am sure that you could easily catch someone off guard with this." Marcus said, making sure to save this information for future use should he ever make a bow or crossbow for someone.

    "I am surprised you found that Lady Geist. You have a more discerning eye than I thought." Charles said genuinely impressed by Marcus.

    "When ites to weapons and armor, I am very detailed. My passion is forging, so whenever I have the chance to examine a masterpiece like this, I always take my time to look everything over." Marcus said taking pride in his expertise.

    He then handed the bow back to Charles, who put it back into arge magic bag he had.

    "Ehm, I did not n on doing this but after seeing your work and understanding just how talented you are I would be amiss to not try. Lady Irene, Dame risa would you not join my master''s faction. I know that Prince Reigen would be happy to have both of you join him." Charles said with a serious expression on his face.

    Certainly, he knew it was unlikely for him to get Marcus to join their side, but he felt he just had to try and gave out a heartfelt offer.

    "Sorry, I am on Princess Mrazivy''s side so whoever she backs is who I will back." Marcus said, giving a swift rejection.

    Nodding his head Charles had been expecting this, and then turned to look towards risa.

    Originally it would have been Reigen himself to ask this as it would be much more difficult for risa to refuse him in person.

    However, now that Charles had gotten to know her a bit better, he did not want to resort to pressuring her to join his master''s side.

    "Wow, all I can say is thank you for this unexpected offer, but I am a knight of the kingdom, and my loyalty lies there. Should Prince Reigen be king though, of course I will follow his orders no matter what they may be." risa said showing her resolve.

    "I understand. Thank you both for you time and allowing me to see your weapons Dame risa." Charles said giving a slight bow.

    After that he quickly excused himself leaving Marcus and risa alone.

    "Okay now would you exin all of the enchantments on my sword, some are tooplicated, and I cannot figure them out.." risa said turning towards Marcus with pleading eyes.

 Chapter 359 - 359 Helping Clarisa

    Looking at rissa''s desperate expression, Marcus smiled and said, "Sure, I will exin every enchantment I put on your swords. I suppose some of them are difficult to figure out if you do not know what they do."

    After that Marcus asked risa about which enchantments she already knew how to use, and it turned out she did understand most of them.

    She was currently only having trouble with two of the enchantments that could only be activated when the swords were used together.

    "I see. Those two are definitely the mostplicated enchants. Here let me walk you through how they are supposed to be used."

    Marcus then taught risa how to activate the enchantments and let her get a feel for them, though they had to be carful as to not blow up the room they were in.

    "I think you have a good grasp of them now, so make sure when you have time to go to a practice field and test them out. Then if you have anymore questions feel free toe and find me."

    Once Marcus had taught risa everything she needed to know, he was about to leave when he thought of something else.

    "Hey risa, what kind of armor do you wear."

    Taken aback by the is sudden question, risa looked up from her swords with a confused expression on her face and said, "I wear the standard enchanted bronze te mail that all knights receive from the kingdom."

    "I see but do you not find that clunky to fight in. Your fighting style is more based on speed, so having such heavy armor slows you down don''t you think." Marcus said, pointing out a w in risa'' equipment.

    Thinking about it for a moment, risa realized she had not actually fought in her recently acquired armor only having worn it for ceremonial purposes.

    Still the more she thought about it, she realized that the clunky te mail definitely would slow her down and go against her fighting style.

    "Yeah, you are right. Maybe I can get it switched out for some light armor instead." risa said hoping that she would not upset her superior with trying to switch out armor.

    However, smiling deviously, Marcus had another n and said, "No need for that, you can get one of the sets I recently made. I have plenty of different types of mithril light armor for you to choose from."

    Yet hearing this risa shook her head and said, "No there is no way I can afford such high-quality armor. Some of my friends and I went to a shop recently and I saw that even some of their cheapest mithril armor was three hundred gold coins. Right now, I have very little money, and even now that I am a knight, I only get paid eighty gold coins a month."

    Waving her hands in front of her face risa rejected Marcus'' idea of buying his armor, knowing it was well beyond her means.

    ''Hm, even as a knight she does not got paid very much. Well, I guess it actually is a decent sum considering most ces you can survive even with just a few dozen silver for a year if you are frugal. She is also a new knight so she will probably make more as her years of service and level increase.''

    Still even though risa made eighty gold a month Marcus knew that it was not really enough to afford his armor unless she saved up everything for a year, and even then, it would still not be one of his better works.

    "I understand, but you are my friend so I can give you a discount, and just charge you for materials, and not aim for a profit. And I can also allow you to pay in instalments so that it does not break the bank." Marcus said with an almost angelic smile

    Of course, if anyone else had told her this, risa would have called them a scam artist and punched them in the face, but she already knew how caring Marcus could be to his friends.

    When she had first gotten her swords, she became curious and had their value appraised, finding that together the two of them were worth at least eight thousand gold.

    She then went to her master and tried to return them saying she could not ept a gift that must have cost Adriana years'' worth of her sry.

    Except that was when risa had found out that Adriana had only paid Marcus a few hundred gold coins, and that he had made these swords of his own ord regardless of the loss he took.

    "I appreciate the offer, but you have already been too kind, to make these swords for me. I will just make do with what the kingdom can provide me." risa said humbly.

    However, Marcus just shook his head and said, "I understand that you are trying to be admirable, but when you have the chance, you should take whatever powerups you can get. You only have one life and losing it because you were too proud to ept a friend''s help will just make things worse for you and everyone that cares about you."

    Staring sternly at risa, Marcus was trying to wear her down into epting his offer. He had already lost friends before, and he did not want it to happen again if possible.

    "Okay, I will ept your help. But you must let me pay you the correct amount even if it takes me years. I do not want to feel like I did not earn what I have." risa said resolutely.

    "Got it. So once the kingdom''s meeting is over, we will go to the zegram forge''s shop, and you can pick out one of the sets of armor I made. I doubt that they have all sold yet."

    Lowering her head risa thanked Marcus for his help, and he responded saying, what are friends for."

    After that the two of them talked for a couple more minutes about this and that, before going their sperate ways, each having other things to do.

 Chapter 360 - 360 Meetingâ€™s Second Day

    Having finished up his gathering with risa, and Charles, Marcus headed back to Mrazivy''s room.

    Except when he arrived, he found an unexpected group had gathered there.

    Among them were all of the princes and princesses in the same faction as Mrazivy and it seemed they were having an intense discussion.

    "Ah perfect timing Marcus. We have somest-minute details to iron out." Frostine said as he entered.

    Sitting down, Marcus listened to what they had to say, and nodded along.

    "So, at tomorrow''s reception after the meeting you will go around with Mrazivy and myself, and we will introduce you to the nobles on my side. That way everyone will know where your allegiance lies."

    "Understood." Marcus said.

    He knew that Frostine wanted to show him off as the mysterious new honorary prince the king surprised everyone with. This would tell all of the nobles that Marcus, who seemed to have won the current king''s favor, was supporting Frostine to be the next monarch.

    "We may drive a few nobles away that hate you for bringing down Permafrost, but your mysterious alure will bring plenty more forward. Oh, and Mrazivy, I rmend you stay close by, you know how shrewd those nobles can be. I am sure that plenty of them will want to marry their daughters to him." Frostine said winking at Mrazivy.

    However, instead of the hot-headed reaction that Frostine was looking for, Mrazivy just sighed and said, "There is no need to worry. Even if they dangled a bunch of helpless stunning women in front of him, he would not take the bait."

    Hearing this Mrazivy''s siblings thought that this was her way of saying that Marcus was undyingly loyal to her, but at this point Marcus realized it was about his ownck of making a move.

    "Hm, well stay close anyway. The guild master of the adventures guild is going to be in attendance tomorrow and having you with us will help smooth things over."

    After saying that the meeting slowly wound down, as the night was gettingte, and everyone wanted to get some rest for theing day.

    Thus, everyone soon left, and Marcus retired to his guest bedroom, and decided to sleep, more to pass the time quicker than anything else.

    ''Just a couple more days and this will be over. Then there will be the auction and I can get my hands on some premium materials.''

    With his main reason for being at the meeting already over Marcus was now thinking about his next endeavor.

    He had been working hard towards growing his funds for the auction that wasing ever closer.

    ''Looking at past records and talking to Thabon, I have figured out I am going to need probably at least around thirty-thousand gold coins for a winning bid on one of the sets of adamantine bars. However, to make everything I want I will probably need at least two, but ideally I woulde away with three.''

    However, all Marcus had on him currently was around seventy thousand gold, but he still had a few ventures that would make him some decent money.

    First were the items he currently had for sale in the zegram Forge''s shop, and the other would be the weapons and armor he was putting up for auction.

    He estimated that after receiving the money from these two sources he would have somewhere around a hundred thousand gold.

    ''Still even with that amount it may be difficult to secure three sets. Also, I should try to conserve some money in case a very rare item catches my eye. I already know that there are secret items not listed in the catalog meant to draw out bigger spenders. Maybe I should try to maximize my wallet. I have a decent number of natural treasures I could sell, though I was holding on to them for Blitz and Lilia.''

    While Marcus was toiling over what to do for the uing auction, the time soon got away from him, and he did not realize that it was time for them to go until Mrazivy came an entered his room.

    "Hurry up the meeting starts in thirty minutes, and you need to be there, or it will seem disrespectful when you show up tot eh reception afterwards." Mrazivy said as she saw Marcusying around lost in thought.

    Getting himself together, Marcus got dressed into his suit, and met Mrazivy at in the front room of her suite.

    "I am ready, let us go." Marcus said seeing Mrazivy was waiting for him.

    After that the two of them headed towards the grand hall and made it to the entrance where the members of the royal family would be entering.

    Of course, as Marcus stood there next to Mrazivy he received plenty of stares from some of the royal members, especially the ones who did not know him.

    Luckily the awkward scene did notst long, before the meeting began and Marcus walked on stage and sat down with he other royal family members, taking his ce next to Mrazivy.

    ''Well at least today I have no role in the meeting and can just sit here and think.''

    Soon the day''s meeting began.

    The second day was the one most nobles considered the most important as they negotiated important resources, from magic core supplies, to troop cement.

    "The town I govern has had an influx of poption. We need a greater disruption of food."

    "Wait, just because the city my family governs has not been attacked in thirty years does not mean we need less cores. We demand that we receive our share. What would we do if a monster or beast rampage happened?"

    "River Landing recently had to defend against a massive siege from an ice ant colony. The town was nearly overrun because our defenses are not up to par. We may be situated far in the north and are not threaten by the kingdom to the south, but this recent event goes to show we are far too under protected. The Great Gome Woods is teeming with powerful beasts and monster within its depths, and while it may not bemon for any of them toe down to River Landing. This recent incident shows just how vulnerable we are."

    Discourse along these lines continued for hours as the nobles argued about what resources they needed, or about who was paying more or less taxes.

    Certainly, the royal family who was the heart of the kingdom did their best, but in the end, there are always limited resources even for a prosperous kingdom and some territories were upset about how little they had received.

    "Ahhhh-hhaaaa"

    Letting out a big yawn, Marcus could care less about what was going on.

    Even though he was a noble, he had no territory of his own and had no need to receive any sort of resources from the kingdom.

    Still, he did get a good kick out of watching the viceroy of Loursend, Marquis Krenston squirm as troops, magic cores, and food supplies were diverted away from his city.

    This came from a two-pronged problem, one from the mass exodus from when the giant beam of light and darkness hit Marcus and scared a number of people away from the city. And the other came from allocating more resources to River Landing, that was the first major settlement in between the kingdom, and the wilds to the north.

    Eventually the day''s meeting came to a close as the allocation of resource had been settled, leaving some nobles satisfied while others were steaming.

    And with the second day''s end came a reception where people could talk amongst each other and enjoy the hospitality of the royal castle.

 Chapter 361 - 361 Reception

    With the second day''s meeting over, the nobles and royals in attendance, began making their way out of grand hall and to their respective destinations.

    Some had small meeting to attend, others simply wanted to go and rest after the long day, but most were heading to the reception that was being held.

    And along with those majority of people was Marcus, being dragged along by Frostine''s group.

    This was their time to show off Marcus as supporting them, and it was also his first public appearance. Well, his first as himself.

    ''This is going to be a pain, but I will have to make it through. At the very least I can finally be myself again.'' Marcus thought as he entered into the reception hall.

    Immediately his group that consisted of the royal siblings that were supporting Frostine, were assaulted by nobles of all sorts trying to talk to them, and especially find out more about Marcus.

    This went on for quite a while and Marcus was pretty much paraded around the reception to make the acquaintance of the nobles that had thrown their support towards Frostine.

    However, not all of their encounters werepletely cordial, as eventually Marquis Krenston came over to them, a ss of wine in his hand and his face red.

    "You seem to be enjoying yourself, Prince Ferrous. To think that you would have a beautiful princess on either side of you. You must be a truly blessed individual." Krenston said, not hiding the displeasure in his tone.

    Sighing Marcus put on a fake smile and looked at the pest that had just appeared and said, "Sorry I do not believe we have met before. I am indeed Prince Ferrous, and who might you be?"

    A vein bulging on his forehead, it was obvious that Marquis Krenston was livid to see Marcus pretend not to know who he was, when he had stolen away his son''s fianc¨¦.

    "You know damn well who I am. I know that you were scheming with her, and somehow got the king to break of her engagement with my son." Krenston said pointing a finger at Mrazivy and practically frothing at the mouth.

    His anger had been stewing inside him ever since he got the message from the king that Mrazivy would not be marrying his son. And now that alcohol had lessened his inhibitions and the objects of his fury were right in front of him, he had lost control.

    Still his outbursts were not winning him and sympathy from anyone as every noble knew that this was not the time or ce to voice grievances such as these.

    "Oh, I see you must be Marquis Krenston. Yes, Mrazivy did tell me she was to be engaged but that she convinced her father that her talents would be suited better elsewhere than being some no names trophy." Marcus said, an innocent smile on his face not admitting to being involved in anyway.

    At this Krenston lost it and lunged at Marcus. He was already on edge from losing so many resources normally sent to his territory, and he knew he was now going to have less money to fuel hisvish lifestyle.

    This along with the broken engagement were enough to already have him livid, but Marcus''mits were the straw that broke the camel''s back, and the alcohol in his system prevented his better judgment.

    Except even as Krenston lunged at him, Marcus made no move. He had already collected some information on Marquis Krenston and knew he was only level twenty-seven, and that he was by no means a fighter.

    His level had been attained by having his knights subdue monsters for him to kill, giving him an inted level that did not actually represent his actual strength.

    So, as Krenston mmed into Marcus, he just stood there like a rock and the marquis bounced off him in an almost cartoonish manner.

    "Are you okay there, Marquis Krenston, it seems that you have tripped." Marcus said, not even acknowledging that he had attacked him.

    Shakily standing back up, Krenston looked at Marcus angrily trying to think what to do next, when a hand appeared on his shoulder.

    "Marquis Krenston, are you doing all right? It appears that you took a nasty fall there."

    Looking back at this neer, Marquis Krenston notices that it was Duke Fealltoir, and his face went pale.

    He and the duke were in the same faction and Duke Fealltoir was the leader of it, and not a man to upset.

    Coming to his senses a bit, Marquis Krenston nodded his head and excused himself, fear of Duke Fealltoir oveing his anger.

    "It appears that the marquis has had a bit too much to drink. Allow me to apologize on his behalf," Duke Fealltoir said, to Marcus, Mrazivy, and Frostine.

    After that he quickly left himself, catching up to Marquis Krenston and making sure he did not embarrass himself again.

    "Well, that was certainly odd and unexpected." Frostine said.

    Nodding their heads, Marcus and Mrazivy could only agree but decided to just leave it be, as there was nothing the Krenston could really do could do at this point.

    After that they continued moving around the reception talking to different nobles either to solidify or gain support.

    "Oh, there he is." Frostine said spotting the guild master of the adventures guild main branch within the royal capital.

    Meeting with him today was one of her main goals as she wanted to foster a good rtionship with him.

    "Looks like we have found him at the right time too. He seems pretty happy talking to knightmander Darius." Mrazivy said, seeing that the two of them were talking together like old friends.

    The three of them then approached the duo whose statuses kept most people froming near, and Frostine said, "Hello Knight Commander Darius, and Guild Master Leonard, it is good to see the two of you again."

    Turning towards Frostine both of them smiled and Darius gave a slight bow before he said, "It is good to see you as well Princess, did you need something from me."

    "Oh no, it just seemed that the two of you were having a lively conversation, and I had not greeted either of you yet. So, what were the two of you talking so excitedly about?" Frostine said, integrating herself into the conversation.

    Darius then nodded towards Leonard urging him to continue the conversation.

    "Oh, we were just talking about some of our past encounters together. I believe we had just started talking about when we battled that Ice Behemoth that went on a rampage some twenty years ago. Maybe you heard about that Princess Frostine?"

    Nodding her head Princess Frostine definitely remembered it since she had been a young teenager when it had happened, and it had caused quite the uproar in the kingdom.

    "Oh yes I recall that event. It was quite terrifying to here that a small town in the eastern part of the kingdom had beenpletely leveled by a terrifying monster. Luckily the two of you spearheaded an assault against it, Darius leading the kingdom''s troops and Guild Master Leonard brining in reinforcements from the adventurers guild. And if I remember correctly after it was defeated it was not long before you were given the title of knightmander."

    "That is sort of what happened, though the records certainly do not say how close we were to all being wiped out. I mean when a level seventy-three monster goes on a rampage it can be difficult to stop." Leonard said,ughing as he remembered the experience.

    "Yes, if it weren''t for Popsco wrestling with it for a couple minutes while we recovered our strength for onest attack, I am sure we would have been finished." Darius said with a nostalgic look.

    "There you go again talking on about that big bear of yours. Yes, he is an impressive beast, but at the end of the day he was not even able to put a scratch on that Ice Behemoth, and only held out for so long because of his heavy resistance to cold and bludgeoning attacks."

    Yet as the two of them seemed ready to gear up for a long argument about the usefulness of the knightmander''s beastpanion, Frostine cleared her throat to get their attention and said, "Ah I almost forgot. I need to introduce my sister and her friend to you Guild Master Leonard. This is Mrazivy my sister, and her friend Marcus Ferrous. Though I am sure you already know of them."

    Stepping in Frostine managed to prevent the two old warriors from going on a long tangent, and swiftly brough Marcus and Mrazivy into the conversation as the two had kind of just been standing there awkwardly.

    "Ah yes I have certainly heard of both of you. You have done some fine work for the guild Princess Mrazivy. I heard that you even recently took out all three boss monsters in the Ocean Bluff Temple, which is quite impressive. I do not believe anyone has done that since Makoto Yamada, did it around thirty years ago." Leonard said with a smile on his face, obviously having a good impression of Mrazivy.

    However, when he looked at Marcus a somewhat greedy expression appeared on his face as he said, "And certainly I have heard about you, the new honorary prince of the kingdom. You caused quiet the uproar from what I heard with that mythic grade magical beast egg you found. If only you had gone to Joras at the Loursend branch the guild certainly could have helped you to smooth things over.. Though from what I heard, everything has worked itself out so if you wish toe back to the adventurers guild, we would be more than wee to have you."

 Chapter 362 - 362 Receptionâ€™s End

    Once Guild Master Leonard, finished giving his not so veiled recruitment offer to Marcus, he looked expectantly waiting for his answer.

    Of course, Marcus felt little need to join back up with the adventurers guild as himself, since his persona as Irene was a higher rank, and would draw less attention.

    Also, Marcus could tell that a major reason that Leonard was showing such an interest in him was more towards Roxene then himself.

    ''Yeah, right if I had gone to Joras and tried to get the guild''s protection, at best they would have taken her away, and at worst, I would have been shoved in a weighted barrel and tossed into the middle of the sea.'' Marcus thought after hearing what Leonard had to say.

    Certainly, for the most part the guild was an above-board organization, but they still crave power above all else, hence why their strongest members basically be citizens of the guild rather than wherever they originated from.

    So, Marcus was certain that they would have much rather taken Roxene away from him and given her to one of their leading members than help him out.

    "Thank you for the offer, but as much as I enjoyed my short time as an adventurer, I have other endeavors to work on right now. Maybe in the future I might jump back into it again."

    Politely refusing Leonard''s offer, Marcus made sure to leave the possibility of a future return since he knew that Frostine was trying to foster good rtions with the guild and by extension Leonard.

    "I see I suppose that is understandable." Leonard said looking slightly disappointed.

    After that the five of them continued conversing mostly about perilous encounters and adventures they had experienced, until Frostine said, "Guild Master Leonard, you have been in charge of the Adventures Guild in our kingdom for nearly ten years now, and I am sure that you are aware that my father intends to abdicate within five years. I know this may be forward of me, but would you and by extension the guild give me your support."

    Having beaten around the bush long enough, Frostine felt the time was right to juste out and ask knowing that like most adventures Leonard had a straightforward personality.

    "Hm, I figured that was why you were here, but you are the first of your siblings to outright ask me. Your brothers Reigen and Florian came by earlier also looking for my support, though it seemed that they did not have the spine you do."

    Leonard then went deep into thought for a while before saying, "I assume that Mrazivy and Marcus here are also supporting you yes?"

    Nodding her head Frostine said, "Yes, Mrazivy has decided to join me, along with a number of my siblings, including first prince James who has ceded his im to the throne. And while Marcus here has decided not to back me directly, he said he would follow Mrazivy wherever she went."

    "I see. Well, I can tell that you are a great deal stronger than your brothers that approached me, and if Mrazivy here is with you, then I can expect for the good rtions with the guild to continue. Very well, I am more than happy to show my and the guild''s support for you. Right now, we are very happy with the current arrangements with your kingdom, and if you do not n to shake things up that would be ideal."

    Smiling brightly Frostine said that she had no intention of changing anything about the guild''s and the kingdom''s rtionship, and was very grateful for the security and prosperity they brought to the kingdom.

    With her goal aplished, Frostine and Leonard set up a date where they could further discuss the politics of the kingdom and the adventures guild, before they went their separate ways.

    "That went even better than I thought. It looks he does like and respect you Mrazivy and covets your beastpanion Marcus. It was the right move to bring the two of you along." Frostine said looking kind of like a scheming viin.

    Still of all of the royal''s Marcus had met he felt that Frostine was the most like her father, and while he may not have been the best dad, it could not that he was not an impable statesman.

    "Ah, we are finally done." Mrazivy said jumping onto one of the couches in her "room".

    Nodding his head and sitting beside her Marcus agreed.

    While getting tired physically was pretty difficult for him, having to deal with all of those nobles was mentally draining.

    "There is just one day left, and then we can get back to our regr lives. Oh, and how has it gone getting me permission to enter the archives." Marcus said, wondering if Mrazivy had made any more progress.

    "We have both been granted ess though in a limited capacity. There are certain areas that we will not be allowed to view, though that is normal since there are some items that only the current monarch has ess to." Mrazivy said a smile on her face.

    Expect a momentter an expression of remembrance came over her and she said, "Also my great grandmother sent me a message saying she wants to meet you in three days at the Guldur Spire. I think that she is going to give you ess to the spells archive now that you will be working for the kingdom even if in a limited capacity."

    Hearing this Marcus'' eyes practically started sparkling, as he began imaging all of the powerful new spells he could add to his arsenal.

    "Great, tell her message received. Also, when will I be getting a sending stone of my own. I only have the one that Quillon gave me, and it exclusively connects to his."

    "I think that my father is currently having one made for you, one that has especially long-rangemunication abilities. You know the farther its range and the more other stones it can connect to the longer it takes to make." Mrazivy said shrugging her shoulders.

    "Well, talking to all of those nobles has got me worn out, so I am going to go and recharge my batteries, see you tomorrow." Marcus said as he headed back to his room.

    "Yeah, see you tomorrow and good night.." Mrazivy said as he left, though she was not sure what recharging batteries meant.

 Chapter 363 - 363 End Of The Kingdomâ€™s Meeting

    Soon the next day came and as before Marcus attended the meeting with the royal family sitting down at the front next to Mrazivy.

    And just like the other two days, the third day had a theme and that was foreign rtions.

    The kingdom of Borealia, while only bordered by one other kingdom, still did trade with many of the kingdoms to the south, and some that were on the continent to the west.

    This day also dealt heavily with the adventurers guild which was almost like a foreign nation in and of itself.

    "That is why I will be giving mine and the adventures guild''s backing to Frostine Borealia." Leonard said, endorsing Frostine at the end of his speech.

    Hearing this many nobles began moring amongst each other, and looking over Marcus could see the distressed look on Reigen''s face.

    ''Looks like everything is shaping up nicely for Frostine to be the next ruler.'' Marcus thought.

    However, as the day continued on someone Marcus recognized came up to speak.

    "Hello everyone as many of you know I am Viscountess Bianca Skalbeck, and the current ambassador of the Ice Elf City, Gleann Reota."

    After giving her introduction and saying a few pleasantries, Bianca looked out seriously and said, "I know that in the past our two civilizations fought, and it has taken decades of hard work for us to build back up what was lost. But myself, and the leaders of my vige have decided to take another step forward. We believe it is time that the kingdom be allowed to once again have a representative within our city. For many years there has simply been an ambassador from our city to the kingdom, but now it is time for it to go both ways. Thus, I, along with the leaders of my city have chosen someone that both myself and the kingdom deems as trustworthy. Therefore, I would like to ask that Irene Geist be appointed the kingdom''s representative to Glenn Reota."

    As she finished her statement, Viscountess Bianca scanned around the room looking for "Irene" but did not find her.

    In fact, she had been looking since the first day but found that her target was elusive.

    Still, she believed that she had picked out the best person for the job, as they were a noble that had no ties to any political faction, seemed to be an upright and loyal person, and it was quite possible they would be family in the future.

    Unfortunately, she had not really passed any of this by anyone else, decided to make it a surprise announcement.

    All she had told the king was that she nned to announce a noble that she trusted to be the representative to her city, and of course wanting to foster good rtions he gave her the go ahead.

    However, if he had known who she was going to choose he would have tried to stop her, or at the very least given Marcus some heads up.

    Except now as everyone looked around for "Irene Geist." The king looked conflictedly at Marcus.

    ''Go ahead and ept for me. Tell her that Irene had some business to take care of but that she definitely will agree. Though obviously I will not be able to stay in the city all the time so it will be in a limited capacity.'' Marcus telepathicallymunicated to the king.

    Nodding his head in acknowledgement, the king got up and went over to Bianca and said, "I am afraid that Lady Geist is currently attending to some personal matters and is not currently in attendance. However, I am certain that she will agree to your proposal, even if she is only able to be there part of the time."

    Frowning Bianca did not seem to have received the answer she wanted but let it go for now until she could talk to "Irene" in person.

    The king and Bianca, then discussed a few other things, before she went back to her seat what she wanted to aplishpleted.

    ''Looks like thing are going to be moreplicated, but from what I have heard from Lilia, she made up with ric and the two are closer than ever. So, as the older sibling I need to do what I can to make sure that she ends up happy, even if it means spending a couple of weeks every now and then being a representative for the kingdom to the ice elf city.''

    The meeting then continued on for a few hours, as ambassadors from foreign nations talked about this and that, making promises and demands, though Marcus did not really care.

    Soon the talks of foreign policies came to an end and the floor was opened up for any noble to speak.

    Many of them came up to the front to argue about how they had been mistreated or some other grievance. And of course, one of them was Marquis Krenston, but after his little outburst the day before he revived little support, and ultimately ended with the king offering him a bit ofpensation for breaking the engagement of his son and Mrazivy.

    Of course, Marquis Krenston did not take the king''s offer saying that it would be a slight on his family''s honor to roll over.

    In fact, apparently his son was now suffering from emotional distress from having his future wife taken away, and Krenston demanded that Mrazivy, be given back, along withpensation.

    Still it was not like Krenston''s tantrum was getting him anywhere, and in the end the king got tired of his whining and told him he could return to his seat or be escorted out.

    Scoffing, Krenston stormed out of the grand hall all the while thinking about getting back at the king somehow.

    ''Just you wait. You will soon see that Loursend is far to valuable for you to upset me. Let us see how the kingdom functions without the majority of its forging trade.''

    Once Krenston had exited, the mood in the room had definitely dropped but nheless the meeting continued.

    Eventually, as the day wound down and was nearing the end, the king came up to the speaking podium once again to make a much-anticipated announcement.

    "I would once again like to thank everyone here for attending our kingdom''s meeting. We have aplished much and worked together to continue to allow this nation to prosper. However, my time as ruler is nearing its end, and it is time that I choose a suitable heir. So, after much consideration I have finally chosen which of my children shall be the next monarch of this kingdom. I have decided that my heir is to be Prince James, or at least that was who I had first chosen. Unfortunately, he wishes to cede his right to the throne, and forcing someone who does not have the want nor will to be king is how nations fall. Nevertheless, Prince James did give his support to another of my children and have deiced that he is right that they would be the next best choice. Therefore, from this day forth, my heir with be Third Princess Frostine Borealia."

    The king then beckoned for Frostine to join him on stage, and getting up with a victorious smile she walked forward and stood with her father.

    She began giving a quick speech about how she was honored to be the next ruler of the kingdom, and that she would do her best to see it prosper.

    After that some of the nobles stood up and called obviously happy to see Princess Frostine be the next ruler, while others sat still not happy about the choice.

    Of course, there was nothing they could do, but it was also not like everything was over yet. There would still be a few years before the king gave up the throne and, in that time, it was possible that Frostine might had an "ident" or one of his other children could be more suitable.

    "Now that concludes this kingdom''s meeting. It has been a fruitful endeavor for all, and for any who wish the royal family will be hosting a grand feast after this."

    With that the kingdom''s meeting came to a close, and many began getting prepared to depart to return to their own territories while others went to the feast nning to stay a few more days and enjoy the royal capital.

    ''Ahh that was some good food. Now time to take a long rxing bath to wash away the fatigue of thesest few days.''

    Finishing up at the feast Marcus had returned with Mrazivy to her room, and for the first time in a few days decided to take the time for a nice bath.

    ''Yep, the warm water feels great, and is replenishing my weary soul. And now that the kingdom''s meeting is over, I can finally get back to aplishing some of my goals. Though I suppose I will need to go and see Bianca soon, to figure out my new role, but if its for Lilia''s sake, I would do almost anything. Oh, I also cannot forget to visit Aria. Heh heh, soon I will have plenty more spells under my fingertips.''

    Giddy to have everything going his way, and distracted by the flowing warm water, Marcus did not notice when the door to the bathroom slowly opened and closed again.

    However, the person who had entered soon made their presence known as they stood in front of him.

    "Would you mind if I joined you.." Mrazivy said to Marcus, surprising him as he looked up and saw that she was not wearing anything.

 Chapter 364 - 364 A Night To Remember â€“ R18

    (Disimer: This chapter will contain sexually explicit content. You all know where this is going, so if you are not interested, feel free to skip this chapter.)

    Seeing Mrazivy''spletely bare body Marcus gulped as he could not take his eyes off of her.

    There was not doubt that she was beautiful, with wless snow-white skin, tworge and well-shaped breasts, and a nice and toned butt.

    And while normally Marcus had be pretty much immune to being attracted by the allure of the female body due to his time spent in Irene''s form, and hisck of desire as a ghost, staring at the woman he hade to love was entirely different.

    He could feel the desire to be with and embrace her growing, as he stared nearly mesmerized by her.

    "I will take your silence as a yes." Mrazivy said with a smile on her face, before sliding into therge tub with Marcus.

    "At first when Gwyneira told me that the men from your world were not very proactive, I thought she was exaggerating, but it seems she was right. I tried to give you signals and make myself vulnerable, but you never made a move. For a bit I thought maybe you just were not attracted to me, but seeing you now, I know that I had nothing to worry about."

    Mrazivy then began wading closer towards Marcus a seductive look on her face.

    However, at this moment Marcus got ahold of himself. He had actually been nning to take the initiative tonight with Mrazivy now that the kingdom''s meeting was over, but she had gotten the jump on him.

    Still, he knew that she was putting on a confident fa?ade, and while she was acting aggressive, she did not actually have any experience.

    Taking action, Marcus began moving himself, and met Mrazivy, abruptly grabbing her into his arms and kissing her passionately.

    It was the first time that the two of them had kissed for more than a moment and Marcus savored the sweat taste of her rosy lips.

    "Ahhh."

    Pulling back Mrazivy let out a tantalizing sigh, and her face was beat red from the water and the long and passionate kiss she had just shared with Marcus.

    Marcus could see she was breathing heavily, and he felt that he could even hear her heart beating rapidly.

    "Mraz, I know you think I have not been very bold, but I wanted to respect your wishes, and not rush you into anything. So, if you are not absolutely sure we should stop now, because if we continue, I doubt either of us will be able to stop."

    Smiling, and leaning close against Marcus, Mrazivy brough her lips up to his ear and said, "That day at the shrine I already decided I would be yours. So, hurry up and take me."

    With Mrazivy''s undisputed consent, Marcus gave into passion, and began kissing her again.

    However, as the two of them kissed, he used his hands and began caressing her body.

    He started with her chest, getting a hand full of her tworge breasts, and as he touched her a soft moan escaped from Mrazivy''s lips.

    After that he slowly made his way towards her pink tips and gently rubbed them causing Mrazivy to shudder and take a deep breath.

    Yet Marcus was just getting started, as he brought one of his hands down, gliding along Mrazivy''s abdomen until he made it past her waist, and to the entrance of her maidenhood.

    As he began touching her down there, Mrazivy let out a cute, surprised squeak, but she made no move to resist and quickly rxed again in Marcus'' embrace.

    Continuing to tease and bring her pleasure, Marcus wanted to make sure that Mrazivy was absolutely ready for when it was time to do the deed.

    He and his ex from Earth had a not so good first time where he had simply gone in guns a zing, and it had caused her quite a bit of pain.

    Luckily, he was far more experienced now than he was then, and he was going to make sure that Mrazivy''s first time had as little pain as possible.

    "Mraz jump up onto the edge of the tub and spread your legs." Marcus said, ready to move onto the next step.

    A bit embarrassedly Mrazivy hoped up out of the water her breathing still a bit ragged from Marcus'' earlier touching.

    She then did as Marcus had asked and slowly spread open her legs revealing her glistening pink private ce.

    With Mrazivy leaving herselfpletely exposed, Marcus moved in closer and began kissing her thighs, before slowly making his way to her honeypot.

    When he ced a kiss upon her precious area, Mrazivy let out a seductive moan that made Marcus want to push her even further.

    After that he continued to use his mouth and tongue to pleasure Mrazivy, until she was breathing raggedly and prepared for what was toe next.

    Seeing Mrazivy huffing and puffing, her face flushed red and looking at him with expectant eyes, Marcus jumped out of the water and up onto the edge next to her before pulling her into his embrace.

    "Mraz I am going to start now. At first there might be a bit of pain and if you need me to stop just tell me."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy gave her confirmation and having already reached her own limit moved her hips towards Marcus.

    With Mrazivy ready and unable to wait any longer, Marcus picked her up and slowly inserted his rod into her.

    "Ahh."

    Letting out a yelp of pain and pleasure, Mrazivy felt a sharp pain for an instant, but also a tingling pleasure, as Marcus slowly entered all the way.

    "Don''t stop, keep going." Mrazivy said with a seductive voice, when Marcus had stopped moving.

    Smiling Marcus did as his lovermanded and slowly began moving again, thrusting back and forth and figuring out exactly what made his partner feel the best.

    Then once Mrazivy was starting to get used to it, Marcus started to speed up, and reached his hand down and began stimting her pleasure button.

    This practically drove Mrazivy mad as she began groaning and moaning loudly as waves of pleasure assaulted her body, until she let out a cry of ecstasy as she climaxed.

    Panting heavily, Mrazivy felt a sense of blissful warmthe over her after having reached the height of her pleasure.

    It was a feeling that was difficult for her to describe but she knew that it was nothing like anything she had felt before, and that it gave her a great sense of euphoria.

    And feeling Mrazivy trembling and hearing her erotic panting, Marcus felt as if a fire was lit inside of him, and he began thrusting again and doing all he could to make Mrazivy and himself feel good.

    The two of them went on for hours, as Marcus brought Mrazivy to her peak over and over again, until she could take no more.

    "I can''t anymore Marcusˇ­ I am done." Mrazivy said still breathing heavily from theirst round.

    Smiling Marcus picked Mrazivy up off the ground and gave her a loving kiss, before sliding back into the bath with her.

    Both of them then sat in the warm bath cleaning themselves off and rxing after their many rounds of lovemaking.

    "How, was it?" Mrazivy asked as she leaned her back against Marcus and let him wrap her in his embrace.

    "It was great, the best I have ever had." Marcus said as he held Mrazivy tightly.

    And truthfully it was, though he was not actually sure how his new form worked.

    With his unique skill master of soul and body, he created a form that function mostly like a human body, and while it did not have any negatives that most humans had it certainly had all of the positives.

    "I see, so I was not your first though. Well, I figured since otherwise you would not have been so good." Mrazivy said with a bit of dejection in her voice.

    "Sorry Mraz, I was a healthy young man back in my old world, so I had a few rtionships before finding you. But, sinceing to this world you are certainly my first, and my all time favorite." Marcus said as he caressed the side of her face.

    Sinking deeper into the tub Mrazivy allowed her head to rest against Marcus'' sturdy chest and took ahold of his hand in hers.

    "Marcus, I love you." Mrazivy said as she closed her eyes and enjoyedying against him.

    Hearing this Marcus felt what seemed like the thump of a heartbeat throughout his soul and bending his head forward he ced a kiss on Mrazivy''s forehead and said, "I love you as well, Mraz."

    The two of them then sat there in the warm tub enjoying the blissful feeling of staying in each other''s embrace for a few more minutes, before hopping out and getting dried off.

    After that the two of them went to Mrazivy''s room and slept in the same bed for the first time both of them smiling from ear to ear having a blissful night to remember.

 Chapter 365 - 365 Into The Kingdomâ€™s Archives

    Waking up the next day as the sunlight began to filter into the room, Marcus looked at the beautiful sleeping face of Mrazivy until she began to rouse.

    "Good morning sleeping beauty." Marcus said, as Mrazivy yawned widely.

    "Good morning to you too." Mrazivy said sleepily as she rubbed her eyes still a bit fatigued from the vigorous activity she and Marcus had done togetherst night.

    Once she was fully awake Mrazivy moved over to Marcus and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and said, "So what do you want to do today."

    Taking a minute to think about it, Marcus quickly came to the decision that he wanted to see the royal archives, since he had been granted permission.

    "I think we should take a trip to the archives today and see what we can find. Oh, but first how about I make you some breakfast."

    After saying that Marcus got up and went to the kitchen that was located within Mrazivy''s royal suite, and fixed her a fruit sd made up of natural treasures and a delicious omelet made with the best ingredients he had.

    "Here you go your highness, breakfast is served." Marcus said while giving an exaggerated bow.

    "Oh, so formal now, when you were calling me by my nickname so passionatelyst night." Mrazivy said to Marcus teasingly.

    However, as soon as she said that her personal maid Aisha walked in to hear her and looking between Marcus and Mrazivy her expression was that ofplete shock.

    ''Oops.'' Marcus thought as he saw Aisha.

    As far as she knew the only one here other than Mrazivy was her friend Irene Geist, yet there was Marcus the new honorary prince, standing there flirting with the princess.

    "Um, uhˇ­ excuse me your highness'' Aisha said, in a fluster before hurrying out of the room.

    Yet, Aisha did not make it far before Mrazivy had run up to her like a bolt of lightning, and ced a hand on her shoulder and said, "Wait Aisha, we need to talk."

    Dragging Aisha back into the dining room, Mrazivy sat her down, and her maid looked around nervously wondering what was going to happen.

    Naturally she had heard horror stories of maids seeing things they were not supposed to, and then suddenly "taking trips to the county side." never to be seen from again.

    Of course, she doubted that Mrazivy would do this since they were actually quite close and considered each other friends, but the thought did cross her mind.

    "Sorry that you had to learn about us that way Aisha, but Marcus and I are in a rtionship, and we would like it if you would keep it a secret." Mrazivy said with a pleading expression.

    "Does the king know?" Aisha asked, knowing that Mrazivy and Marcus could get into trouble if they were found out and the king had not epted their rtionship.

    Luckily Mrazivy nodded her head and said, "Yes he knows and has approved of Marcus. In fact, he is the reason my previous engagement got broken off."

    Letting out a sigh of relief, Aisha was d she had not found out some huge scandal, and said, "I understand Princess, I will keep this secret until it is publicly announced."

    Thanking Aisha for her digression, Mrazivy told her that it was fine if she took the next couple of days off, and Aisha agreed.

    "See you in a few days your highness." Aisha said giving Mrazivy a wink as she left.

    After that Mrazivy sat back down with Marcus to finish her breakfast, and as always, she was most satisfied by the food he had made for her.

    "Well, I suppose that it is time that we head to the archives." Mrazivy said as she took thest bite of the omelet that Marcus had made her.

    The two of them then got ready and left Mrazivy''s room, Marcus using his ghost form to leave stealthily so that no other incidents urred.

    "This my first timeing to this part of the castle." Marcus said, as Mrazivy led him well into the depths of the castle, beyond even the living quarters of the royal family.

    "Yeah, we are getting close to the most important parts of the castle, where the royal treasure vault, defense systems, and of course the archives are located." Mrazivy said as they headed to their destination.

    And along the way they passed a few check points each that had a serious of enchantments to prevent any trespassers.

    In fact, the area was so guarded that not even any knights were posted, and all of the security was done by magical formations.

    Soon they made it to an elevator that had a shimmering magical barrier over it.

    "This is the ce." Mrazivy said, as they stood in front of the elevator.

    Yet she made no move of any kind simply standing there.

    "Um, so are you going to dispel this barrier or is someoneing to let us in?" Marcus said wondering how they were going to be circumventing the barrier.

    However, a moment after he said that, the door to the elevator slid opened and the shimmering barrier opened up, to reveal a middle-aged looking woman with blue hair.

    "Aunt Katzia, it is good to see you again." Mrazivy said a bit stiffly.

    "Yeah sure. Let us go, I have things to do and baby sitting the two of you is going to put me behind." Katzia said, clearly bothered to have to deal with Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Still, she let them onto the elevator which quickly descended moving down quietly deeply beforeing to a stop.

    And as the doors opened the distinct smell of old paper filled the elevator letting Marcus know they had arrived.

    "Chitchite here." Katzia said before any of them walked off of the elevator.

    Then a momentter a small bird with green and blue plumage flew into the elevator andnded on Katzia''s shoulders.

    "This is my familiar Chitchit, he will be watching the two of you in my stead to make sure you do not go anywhere you are not supposed to. Also, if you absolutely must have need of me for any reason, tell Chitchit here and I wille. Just make sure that you do not call me for something frivolous, I have work to do."

    After saying that, Katzia walked off the elevator not giving Marcus or Mrazivy another nce, before heading deeper into the archives.

    "Cheep Cheep." Chitchit said, as itnded on Mrazivy''s shoulder beckoning them to exit the elevator.

    "Your aunt certainly seems, ''dedicated''." Marcus said noticing how little she cared for even Mrazivy who was her niece.

    "Yeah, she is the royal archivist, and does not usually deal with people. In fact, I think the only one she actually likes is great grandmother Aria."

    Exiting the elevator, Marcus quickly noticed the array of shelves that had all manner of books and scrolls on them some of which looked quite old.

    "So, what did you want to look into first Marcus. This ce has a lot of information you will not find anywhere else in the kingdom." Mrazivy said while looking expectantly at Marcus.

    "First I would like to find out about spirit gems, if possible." Marcus said, having already given it a great deal of thought.

    "Okay got it. Chitchit are there any books with information on spirit gems." Mrazivy said to the little bird on her shoulder.

    A momentter, surprising Marcus, the little bird''s eyes began glowing and stayed that way for over a minute before returning to normal.

    "Cheep Cheep." The bird said as it jumped of Mrazivy''s shoulder and began flying in a specific direction.

    "Looks like he found something. let''s go.." Mrazivy said beginning to follow the little bird that was their guide.

 Chapter 366 - 366 Diary

    Walking through the archive, Marcus and Mrazivy followed the little bird familiar Chitchit, as it led them towards the information they wanted.

    They followed the little bird deep into the archives past different sections, until the bird flew into one that was very small and only had a few items in it.

    In fact, most of the items were recording crystals, followed by a couple of scrolls with paintings on them, and just a single book.

    "Cheep Cheep."

    Getting Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s attention, the little bird Chitchit, stood right in front of the singr book and was motioning towards it.

    However, before Marcus grabbed the book, Mrazivy who had been curious unfurled one of the paintings and a confused frown came over her face.

    Looking at the painting she now knew where they were and she wondered why the little bird had guided them here, since this was not an area that should contain any really valuable information.

    "Chitchit, why did you bring us to this section. Surely there is better information elsewhere." Mrazivy said believing that the bird had simply brought them to the closest item that mentioned spirit gems.

    Yet Chitchit just shook its head and looked towards the worn looking red book that was ced neatly in a ss container.

    "Um Mrazivy care to fill me in on what is going on." Marcus said bewildered as to what was wrong with the area they were in.

    Turning her attention back towards him, Mrazivy nodded her head and said, "This section does not really have information perse, it is just a collection of memories. It is where the first king and those that he journeyed with left behind things, like this painting."

    Mrazivy then showed Marcus the painting in her hands and he saw that it depicted seven people standing over a cliff at sunset.

    Except two of those people Marcus recognized, one being Gwyneira and the other being Alexandra the head royal investigator.

    The other five people he had never seen but he assumed that the man in the middle with ck hair and olive skin was Boreas the first king and fellow transmigration.

    "I see so these are all just mementos of the past. I mean that is interesting in its own right, but I suppose you are correct that it is not going to yield any real information." Marcus said looking around at the objects on the shelves.

    Still when he asked Chitchit if there was information anywhere else it just stayed by the red book not budging.

    "I guess that this book really is the only thing here that even mentions spirit gems, so I might as well have a look." Marcus said a bit dejected not to find any concrete information.

    Opening the ss case Marcus removed the book within and carefully opened it to the first page that had on it ''Diary of Juniper Brin.''

    Flipping to the next page, Marcus scanned through it mainly looking for the information on spirit gems, though the first page was just her writing about how some man named Rufus gave her this book for her birthday.

    But another odd thing that Marcus found was that some of the words were unfamiliar to him and he could not find meaning in them.

    "Hey Mraz, could youe over here, I think that some of the words might be smudged or something."

    Getting up anding over to him, Mrazivy looked at the book and said, "No everything is fine, andpletely legible. Oh, wait, I see it is written in thengue of the kingdom to the south of Borealia."

    Turning his head and looking at the words once more, Marcus read over them, and other than a couple of them he knew exactly what they said.

    However, if it was a differentngue, he should have not known them, since he had used his onlyngue token to learn Borealian.

    ''Wait that is right, this area used to be a territory of Tralenstein, so theirnguages are probably pretty simr.''

    Realizing what was going on, Marcus understood that thisngue from Tralenstein must have been simr enough to thengue he learned with his token that he could still mostly understand it.

    "Mraz would you mind reading this with me and helping me with any words I do not know?"

    Smiling Mraz sat down next to Marcus and scooted close to him and said, "Happily."

    After that the two of them poured over the diary that was written by Juniper, who was the nature magic specialist that had joined Boreas when he rescued her father''s territory from a horde of monsters.

    "Looks like she ended up with a bit of a crush on the first king." Marcus said, as they read through the diary and plenty of mention of Boreas were made, and quite a few of them were about how handsome he was.

    "Yeah, but we know it did not work out since, he ended up with Gwyneira." Mrazivy said.

    And as they continued to read, they found the point when Gwyneira joined Boreas and his party, since she was lovingly mentioned as ''that dragon bitch'' by Juniper.

    Reading her diary, apparently at first Juniper did not trust Gwyneira thinking she had used some sort of charm to seduce Boreas, but as time went on and she got older, her little crush waned, and she talked fondly about all of herpanions including Gwyneira.

    Nevertheless, eventually they did find what they were looking for, and as they made it to a section that was about their time in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon, and they found an item that when apprised came back as spirit gem umon.

    ''Today we found a beautiful spring in this hell hole, and at the bottom of it was this gem that Boreas appraised and said it was a spirit gem with a grade of umon. Except that was all he got, which is weird since his skill normally gives more detailed information than that. However, that gem was not all, along with it was a baby nature spirit. And to my surprise she took a great liking to me, though she seems to hate Gwyneira.''

    Reading on, Marcus and Mrazivy looked for more information on the spirit gem, but all they got was spection, that maybe it was the crystallization of power from the spirit world, or it could possibly be the heart of a powerful spirit or such things.

    "Looks like we are not going to find what you wanted to know." Mrazivy said as it seemed that any solid information was not going to be obtained.

    "It is fine, I knew it was a long shot anyway. Next time we see Quillon I can ask Aerial if she knows anything, and if that fails, one day I can make my way to the spirit world and find out. Though there is something else I want to know, if Juniper is dead now, what happened to this spirit."

    Getting back into the diary, the two of them read more and more about Juniper and her life, and the spirit she contracted with that she named Salvia.

    ''Today I showed Salvia, the spirit gem we found her with, and she ate it or something. I tried to get her to give it back, but she just ignored me.''

    ''It has been a few hours since Salvia took the spirit gem, and now she is glowing brightly, I have no idea what is going on.''

    ''For three days Salvia would not move and just floated in the air glowing, but today she finally stopped and something amazing happened. She took on a human form, which ording to Gwyneira is pretty rare and means she will be really powerful.''

    Reading passage after passage Marcus and Mrazivy learned more about Juniper and Salvia.

    Unfortunately, most of what they learned was mundane and unimportant just Juniper writing about her daily life, with next to nothing really interesting happening once Boreas abdicated the throne and left the kingdom.

    Of course, she did write a few times about when he woulde back to visit every couple of years, but for the most part her diary was just about interesting things she ate or about people that irked her.

    However, as they made it to the end of the diary thing began to get more interesting again.

    ''I can feel it is almost the end for me. So, this is likely to be myst entry. I just wanted to put down that I had a good life and am ready for it to be over. Of course, Boreas, Gwyneira and Alexandra said they would get a rejuvenation item for me, but I feel like I have had a good life and am ready to see what is next. I am not like, Boreas who evolved into a being that can live for a very long time, or a dragon like Gwyneira. And Alexandra received the blessing of immortality, so she also does not understand. I have lived for over four hundred years which is far longer than most and I am happy with my life. Still, I do regret that I will be leaving Salvia, since she sees me as a mother.''

    After reading that, Marcus thought that it would be thest entry but as he turned the page, there was one more, which told him about what happened to the spirit and Juniper.

    ''Salvia read my diary and begged me not to die, but I told her that I was ready, and that I had no intention to extend my life any longer. And while it took me a little while, I did manage to console her and get her to see things from my perspective. Except what she asked me next was far from my expectations. She said she wanted to protect my legacy and would be the eternal caretaker of the atrium that I designed. I told her that she should focus on her own life, but she is as stubborn as me. So, we have made a n to merge her with one of the trees in the flower garden, where she will be able to protect and empower every other nt within the atrium. Though to do this she will need what remains of my power and I will need to bury myself under the tree and willingly give all I have left to her.''

    Finishing thatst entry, a small stream of tears flowed down Mrazivy''s face, and Marcus himself felt a sense of sadness.

    Still, they had both learned a lot from reading this book, and while they had not obtained what they were originally looking for, a past question of theirs had been answered.

    "So now we know what that amethyst blossom tree really is."

 Chapter 367 - 367 Archives Exploration

    After finishing Juniper''s Diary, while they had not found any answers as to what Marcus had really been looking for, they had found out a few other interesting things.

    "I suppose we should go and visit the amethyst blossom tree again and see if we cannot get in contact with Salvia. I know it is a long shot, but she might know more about spirit gems, and at the very least I would like to see what happened to her."

    "Yeah, that is a good idea. But to think that tree housed such a secret and one of the king''s founders was buried under it." Mrazivy said with aplicated expression.

    "However, before we do that there are a few more things that I want to look up." Marcus said before walking back over to Chitchit who had been waiting patiently.

    "Chitchit, I am looking for books with information on spirits, would you guide us to them." Marcus said to the little bird.

    "Cheep Cheep." Chitchit said before taking back off and leading the way.

    "Tch"

    Clicking his tongue, even after pouring over a book about spirits, he did not find out very much he did not already know or had learned about from Aerial.

    ''I was hoping to find something about supreme spirits, but either they do not exist, or information about them is well hidden. I guess maybe I should try to see Recha again and see what she knows.''

    Putting away the book he had been reading Marcus decided now was a good time to see if he could find out about any powerful skills he did not yet know of that he should save up for.

    "Mraz I am about to head to another section, feel free to stay here and finish what you are reading." Marcus said as he prepared to leave.

    "Okay, I will catch back up with you when I am done reading here." Mrazivy said to Marcus while she read through a book about different types of beasts.

    "Lead the way Chitchit." Marcus said to his little bird guide.

    Following the familiar who was his guide Marcus was quickly brought to a section that had lists of different skills.

    Of course, Marcus could look through the expansive skill list offered by the system, but only for skills he ever had enough points to purchase.

    So, now that he had a pretty good set of core skills, he was looking for powerful and rare ones like mana thief, that would push him over the top.

    "Nope, nope, nope, ah, this one."

    Looking through the different books and scrolls Marcus soon found a small journal that was titled, useful skills at high levels.

    And when he opened it up, he found that as he thought this little book had been written by Boreas himself, probably after he had saved up a bunch of skill points in order to see most of the avable skills.

    However, when Marcus started reading a frown appeared on his face since thergest and mostprehensive section were resistance skills, that he already had or were not very useful to him as a ghost.

    There were things like poison resistance, and petrification resistance, and while he knew that the former already did not work on him, he doubted thetter did either.

    Still there were some good ones to make note of like charm resistance, since he had been on the receiving end of a vampire''s gaze and while he had shrugged it off, it was possible a powerful charm could work on him.

    ''I already have both physical and magic resistance which he has as the top two but let me see what else I can find.''

    Turning the page, Marcus was pretty satisfied with the skills he had made note of from the resistance section, but the next section made his eyes bulge.

    ''Stat enhancing skills.''

    Bing almost giddy, Marcus looked at this page that had only five skills listed with great interest.

    He had looked for stat enhancing skills before but had turned up empty and thought that they may not exist.

    ''Herculean Strength, Sharp Reflexes, Unshakable Vigor, Expanded Mind, zing Spirit.''

    Reading through the five skills, Marcus made special note of the two that would raise his spirit and intelligence score, since he felt those two would give him the greatest boost in power.

    Still as he kept reading, he became a bit sullen, as apparently each of these skills, was as Boreas put it ''hell of expensive'' or otherwise obtainable only through skill orbs.

    ''Still, I will need to keep them in mind. Even though they only raise a stat by one percent per skill level, that is still a sizeable increase especially the higher you go.''

    Having located some very useful skills indeed, Marcus moved on to thest page that had rare skills that were apparently almost boarding on the power of a unique skill.

    And as Marcus looked them over, he did find mana thief among them, along with plenty of other interesting skills he thought about obtaining.

    However, after reading through this list of skills, Marcus now had a new problem, he had far more skills that he wanted to purchase in the future but only a limited number of skill points.

    ''Well, I have written down all of the ones I want in the future, maybe tonight I can go through and put them in some type of actual order I should get them in.''

    After having spent hours going through the skills area of the archive, Marcus decided next to see what he could find out about the Great Gome Woods and more importantly the dungeon within it.

    ''I see, yeah if you entered a ce like this you better be extra prepared.''

    As Marcus read more about the dungeon within the Great Gome Woods, he came to understand more why even Thabon as strong as he was had his spirit broken, and why Juniper called it a hell hole.

    Simr to the Cordillera Depths, the Great Gome Woods Dungeon was made up of different area''s that were each their own ecosystem.

    Yet unlike the other dungeons he had been in the areas in the Great Gome Woods had different restrictions necessary to leave or advance through an area.

    It could also be different for any person who entered, and even if youpleted the restriction the first time and left the area, when you came back you would get a new one.

    Also, each area had its own true boss monster, so while a chest could be obtained from every area, apparently it was not rare to get kill the boss as a restriction to leave the area.

    ''This is one nasty dungeon all right, some of these restrictions could easily have you in the dungeon forever, if you do not have the right skill set. And apparently even the mob creatures are all at least level fifty even in the beginning area and they only get stronger.''

    Reading everything he could about the Great Gome Woods Dungeon, Marcus made sure to write down ever different restriction and the details about areas that Boreas and his party had explored, though apparently, they still had only barely scratched the surface.

 Chapter 368 - 368 Spirit Call

    After finishing up reading about the Great Gome Woods Dungeon, Marcus asked Chitchit to lead him back to Mrazivy.

    Following the little bird, he soon found her exactly where he had left her, still engrossed in a series of books about beasts.

    "Hey Mraz, find something good?"

    Raising her head up from her book, Mrazivy said, "Yeah, I was just familiarizing myself with the beasts and monster of certain territories I am considering going to explore next."

    "I see, so where are your adventures going to lead you next." Marcus said sitting down next to Mrazivy.

    "Hm I am still thinking about it but the front runner has to be the Delvien Swamp, that lies in the southwestern part of the kingdom. In fact, the area is really close to the border and actually extends into Tralenstein, but there are a number of species or beast and monsters there, some that are apparently pretty high level." Mrazivy said enthusiastically.

    She then continued to tell Marcus about the swamp and what manner of creatures could be found there, and her enthusiasm was evident.

    "Of course, you are also you are wee toe along, if you want to?" Mrazivy said blushing ever so slightly.

    However, Marcus was a bit hesitant to agree, certainly he wanted to go with Mrazivy, but he also had his own goals to aplish.

    "Well, I have somethings I will need to take care of and to do all of them might take a while. I know you are probably nning to go pretty soon, so feel free to go on without me, and I promise I wille and see you when I am done with everything else."

    Frowning slightly, Mrazivy nodded her head, before looking at Marcus with fiery eyes and said, "Fine, but next time we meet I will have be much stronger, and I will show you that I can keep up with you."

    "Um, you are not leaving today, we are about to head back to the same room." Marcus said, bringing fiery Mrazivy back down, and causing the two of them tough.

    "Cheep Cheep." Coming over and ruining the moment, Chitchit started yelling at them for being too loud, though itsining was actually even louder.

    "I suppose it is about time we head out. I have already looked into most of what I wanted to for today."

    "Yeah, you are right. And if we stay for too long Aunt Katzia will start to get grumpy since she cannot leave until we do."

    Having aplished what they set out to do within the kingdom''s archives, Marcus and Mrazivy made their way back to the elevator that would take them back up to the castle and said goodbye to Chitchit their humble guide.

    "Thanks for the hard work Chitchit." Mrazivy said right before the doors to the elevator closed and began ascending.

    "Oh yeah, so what were you looking into after you separated from me." Mrazivy asked curiously.

    "I just went to check on what types of skills I might want to get in the future, and the Great Gome Woods Dungeon."

    "Wait you are not nning to go to that dungeon are you? My father said it is a ce that idiots go to die, and I have read a bit about it, and he is right." Mrazivy said, worried that Marcus might be nning to go there.

    "No, I have no intention of going there right now. I am pretty sure with even all of my different abilities I could end up getting beaten, or at least stuck there for a very long time. I mean I read through everything I could about the ce, and apparently one time Boreas got a condition that forced him to headbutt to death a bunch of rock elementals before he could move on." Marcus said still perplexed by some of the weird restriction that happened within the Great Gome Woods Dungeon.

    "Really, there was something like that. I am actually surprised my ancestor survived going into such a ce."

    After that the elevator soon arrived letting them back out into the castle proper, and they began making their way through theyers of security, beforeing back to Mrazivy''s room.

    However, before opening the door Mrazivy turned around and said, "Marcus, I thought I could wait till tomorrow, but I think I want to go now. Would you minding with me to check out the amethyst blossom tree and see if Salvia is still there."

    ''Sure, I was feeling a bit restless about that issue too. Let''s go.'' Marcus said to Mrazivy via telepathy since he was currently in his ghost form to avoid being spotted going into Mrazivy''s room.

    Turning around Marcus and Mrazivy, headed towards the castle''s atrium, and even though it was already gettingte as they had spent hours in the archives, they were still able to get in owing to their statuses.

    Except this time when Marcus entered the Atrium, he suddenly felt as if he was hearing some type of static reaching out to him.

    ''What the hell is that.''

    Looking around and focusing, Marcus soon felt a small line of spiritual energy tugging at him, and that was producing the noise he was hearing.

    Mrazivy seeing the weird way Marcus was acting, said, "Marcus what''s up. You were just looking around frantically.

    "Sorry, but I think that Salvia might be trying tomunicate with me. Let''s go to the amethyst blossom tree and see what is happening."

    Following the thread that had connected to him, Marcus found that it was indeed leading them towards the flower garden, and when they entered, the sound it was making was much louder and Marcus was certain he was receiving a message of distress.

    Going straight for the amethyst blossom tree, Marcus felt the signal be akin to someone yelling at him, but he still approached and ced a hand on the tree.

    However, as he did, he felt some sort of force sucking at his spiritual energy, and he instinctively pulled away.

    ''noooˇ­e back.''

    Yet as he pulled away, he heard a very displeased and pained voice in his head.

    "Marcus what is going on, you took off so fast all of a sudden." Mrazivy said as she caught up to him.

    "I think that Salvia is suffering or something. When I ced my hand on the tree, I felt it try to take some of my spiritual energy, and when I moved back, I heard a voice in my head. In fact, I am still getting what feels like a loud and displeased spiritual distress call." Marcus said, not exactly sure what to do.

    "I see. Well go ahead and ce your hand back on the tree. If Salvia is in trouble, you should see if you can help." Mrazivy said with no hesitation.

    Still Marcus was a bit worried.

    What next time he ced his hand on the tree he was not able to pull back and got absorbed somehow.

    Of course, he thought this unlikely, but the worry was still there.

    ''Worst case scenario I will just blow myself up and see how well deny destruction works.'' Marcus thought before cing his hand back on the Amethyst blossom tree.

    ''Well, here goes nothing.''

 Chapter 369 - 369 Salvia

    Bracing himself, Marcus ced his hand back against the amethyst blossom tree, and immediately just like before he felt something trying to drain his spiritual energy.

    However, this time since he knew it was going to happened, and did not get startled and yank his hand back.

    ''Hm the amount of energy being taken is not very much now that I am really paying attention. Maybe I can speed this up by channeling my spiritual energy.''

    Feeling the vast sea that made up his spiritual energy, Marcus slowly began pouring it out, and allowing the amethyst blossom tree to absorb it.

    And after around five minutes of taking in Marcus spiritual energy, the amethyst blossom tree began glowing, and soon a number of new flowers began growing on it expect they were pitch ck, and when they fell off instead of dissolving into the ground they turned into mist and dissipated into the air.

    Continuing like this for roughly thirty minutes, Marcus felt that he had depleted nearly ny percent of his spiritual energy, but the amethyst blossom tree, or more precisely Salvia, seemed to show no signs of stopping.

    "Okay that is enough." Marcus said as he pulled his hand back, away from the tree.

    ''Ahhh.''

    Yet as he did, he heard a very disappointed voice that did not seem to want him to stop.

    "You done Marcus?" Mrazivy asked him, seeing him pull away.

    "Yeah, I have given about all I have to give, though I think that Salvia was not satisfied, judging by the tone of her voice."

    "Wait, you heard her." Mrazivy said in astonishment.

    Looking at her, Marcus realized now that the voice he heard must have only been transmitted to himself.

    "Who said you could stop."

    But a moment before Marcus could exin what he had heard to Mrazivy, a voice that they could both hear resounded through the area and its displeasure was obvious.

    Then as Marcus and Mrazivy turned around the amethyst blossom tree shimmered and the form of a beautiful woman with purple skin appeared out of it.

    ''Huge.'' Mrazivy and Marcus both thought at pretty much the same instance, when they saw the well-endowed form of Salvia.

    However, what Salvia did next surprised Marcus. and caused Mrazivy''s blood to boil.

    She floated right up to Marcus and grabbed his hand, and a soft glow could be seen between the two of them before via said in an almost seductive tone, "Ah, your energy really is good."

    "Hands off.." Mrazivy said, rushing up getting jealous and trying to push Salvia away from Marcus.

    Except as she ran into her, Mrazivy passed through as Salvia was in her spiritual form and not currently tangible.

    "Um, Salvia right, would you mind releasing me." Marcus said, as he had already tired to pull away, both while tangible or ethereal but Salvia had matched him and would not let go.

    She also had an iron grip he could not break by force alone, and while his spiritual energy was draining slower now that he was not freely giving it, Salvia was still taking what little he had left.

    "No, you have only filled me up by half, and I still need more." Salvia said not letting up at all.

    "We both said let go." Mrazivy saiding back and this time channeling her spiritual energy.

    And if she had been in a focused state of mind, she would have noticed that her spiritual energy was stable and not shacky, but she was too busy trying to rip Salvia away from Marcus.

    "Ugh."

    Unfortunately, when Mrazivy got her hands on Salvia, the nature spirit knocked her away with one of her arms sending Mrazivy flying into one of the walls.

    "Embodiment of Eclipse, Dark form."

    Seeing Mrazivy get hit, Marcus who was trying to remain calm, immediately went into a rage and prepared to attack Salvia.

    "Ow."

    No longer being able to hold onto Marcus as the dense darkness energy of his supreme skill covered his body, Salvia let go and jumped back, as darkness'' cording properties were one of the natural enemies of nature-based beings.

    "I thought I sensed someone familiar."

    Turning his head towards the neer that had just appeared, Marcus saw Gwyneira, standing not far away and looking at Marcus and Salvia.

    "Marcus, could I ask you to stand down. I am not sure what Salvia did to- oh!"

    As Gwyneira was about to tell Marcus to calm down, she spotted Mrazivy, pulling herself out of a wall and quickly understood why Marcus was acting so hostile.

    "Big Sis Gwyneira he was bullying me." Salvia said, running up to Gwyneira and hiding behind her like she was not the one who had started this.

    Of course, even though she was ying the victim, Gwyneira quickly grasped the whole situation, and as Salvia got close, she hit her on the head, which caused Salvia to yell, "Ouch."

    "Big Sis what was that for." Salvia said with a betrayed expression as she rubbed her head.

    "You know good and well what that was for, who gave you permission, to hit one of my descendants. And from the looks of it you did quite a bit to offend Marcus here as well. Now Apologize!" Gwyneira said scolding Salvia.

    Looking teary eyed, Salvia, turned towards Marcus and Mrazivy, and bowed her head before saying, "I am sorry, your spiritual energy just tasted so good I lost control of myself. I have been barely keeping on for thest thirty years and when I finally found some hope youpletely ignored my distress signal the first time, so when you came just now, I felt that it would be my only chance."

    Lowing her head, Salvia looked pretty pitiful, and seeing as how Gwyneira was here and had already hit her, Marcus stopped his supreme skill, and looked towards Mrazivy.

    "Are you okay?"

    "Yeah, I am fine. I just did not expect her to hit me like that all of a sudden." Mrazivy said as she wiped some rubble off of her clothing.

    "What the hell is going on in here." One of the knights guarding the atrium said as he walked in and saw the strange group of people, and a shattered wall.

    However, before he did anything else, Gwyneira looked at him seriously and said, "Stay out of this, and make sure no one elsees in here."

    Gulping, for some reason the knight felt as if the pressure of a mountain had beenid on top of him just from the quickmand this unfamiliar woman had given him.

    Still, as he looked her over, he noticed her blue hair meaning she must be a member of the royal family.

    "As youmand." The knight said, his voice squeaking a bit from the fear he felt as he looked at Gwyneira.

    The knight then ran out of the flower garden and mmed the doors shut, ready to keep anyone out, less he face the wrath of the scariest being he had ever met.

    "Well, now that we are alone again. Salvia would you mind exining what happened.. Last I heard, was that you nned to spend an eternity as the caretaker of this atrium in a dormant state. So, what happened to cause you to awaken again?"

 Chapter 370 - 370 Miscalculation

    Looking at Gwyneira, Salvia let out a long sigh before saying, "Yeah that was the n, but we made a mistake. We did not think of the waste that the natural tressures would put out into the soil. Normally this waste would be absorbed into the ground and dissipate over a wide area, but in the atrium it has nowhere to go, and eventually would have corroded the formations if I did nothing. So, I have been bringing it all to my tree and using my spiritual energy to purify it, but after a few decades it started to take more than I recovered naturally to keep up with it all."

    "I see so you have been working hard by yourself, without anyone knowing. I am sorry you had to deal with that burden Salvia." Gwyneira said while giving Salvia aforting hug.

    "Still why did you not just ask for help earlier." Marcus said wondering why Salvia had not reach out to someone as soon as she figured out there was a problem.

    "Well, I uh, thought it would be fine at first, but by the time I realized I would not be able to handle it, if I left to go and find help the built-up waste would have damaged the formations Juniper worked so hard to make. It was all I could do just to make sure that everything did not fall apart." Salvia said with a hint of helplessness in her tone.

    However, as Marcus was about to ask another question, Mrazivy with a frustrated tone, said, "Would you put something on."

    Looking down at herself, Salvia realized she waspletely naked as she had not taken a humanoid form for decades and forgot to make clothes.

    "Oh sorry, I forgot that humans be embarrassed so easily."

    Salvia then waved her hand and vines began growing around her before forming into dress that covered up her body.

    With Salvia now fully clothed, Mrazivy calmed down a bit though she was still pretty upset about being hit through a wall.

    "Now I have to ask. How were you able to get in contact with me?" Marcus said wondering what ability Salvia had used and why it only worked on him.

    Yet in return Salvia cooked her head to the side and looked confused before saying, "I just created a thread of spiritual energy to reach out and connect to you. Though now that I think about it, you didpletely ignore me the first time."

    With a grumpy expression Salvia was obviously upset remembering how she thought Marcus had ignored her plight the first time he hade to the atrium.

    But at that time, he had still not figured out how to utilize his own spiritual energy, so he had been unable to hear the connection that Salvia had tried to make.

    Marcus then exined this to Salvia, telling her that he was a being from another world like Boreas and that he had not always been a spirit, and only recently got ahold of his full powers.

    "So, that is what happened. And here I thought you were just being rude. Sorry. Salvia said bowing her head a bit.

    "But to think that you would be a spirit of light and darkness. I did not know that was even possible, but your light energy is really pure, so now that we havee to an understanding would you mind giving me some more." Salvia said shamelessly as she started approaching Marcus.

    Luckily before she got far Gwyneira grabbed her and said, "Salvia, you have already caused enough trouble, and can you not see that Marcus has given all he has already. If you need more spiritual energy, you can have some of mine.

    However, at this proposition, Salvia shook her head rapidly and said, "That will not work. I need the spiritual energy of either a light or another nature spirit to purify the harmful by productsing from the natural treasures."

    After saying that Salvia looked back towards Marcus and batted her eyes and said, "If you are out of energy today, I should be fine until tomorrow. I already used the energy you gave me to purify and release most of the built-up waste, so things will be stable for now. I suppose if you dropped by ever three months or so to give me a recharge, I should be able to get by."

    ''Yeah, that is not going to happen.'' Marcus thought.

    He already had more than enough responsibilities to deal with and having to always make sure he was nearby would be a pain.

    Also, he could tell that Mrazivy was not thrilled about the idea as her impression of Salvia was currently pretty bad, and Marcus could not me her.

    "Sorry I cannot be your battery for the rest of eternity. Is there not some way that we could fix the formations or some other way to help you out."

    Unfortunately, Marcus did not receive a positive response as Salvia said, "I do not know how to fix it. Maybe if Juniper were still here, she could figure it out, but I am not good with stuff like magic formations. And I guess if you can find a different light or nature spirit, they could supply me with the excess energy I need."

    ''Great. I cannot bring the dead back to life, and I do not know any other light or nature spirits.'' Marcus thought as the situation seemed to be helpless.

    Yet, Gwyneira quickly came to the rescue and said, "It is a bit of a long shot, but there might be a way to find a permeant solution. Though Marcus you will probably be the one who needs to go, since otherwise the chances of it working will diminish greatly."

    Hearing this Marcus turned his head expectantly towards Gwyneira, wondering what she had in mind.

    "Around three thousand miles from here is a veryrge tree that reaches all the way up into the sky. There you will find the Great Spirit of Nature Forlorieous, and if anyone can help, he can. Though I should also tell you that he is located deep within the kingdom of Tralenstein to the south of us, and around him is amunity of gnomes that are their own independent society much like the ice elves within our kingdom."

    Listening to Gwyneria''s solution Marcus certainly thought that the great spirit of nature was definitely the most likely being to be able to resolve this issue, but he also wondered why he needed to be the one to go.

    "If you know where he is why do you not just go yourself." Marcus asked inquisitively.

    "There are a couple reasons. First, I cannot leave the kingdom unprotected, since there are plenty of forces that stay away simply because I am here. And while I know of Forlorieous, I have never actually met him, and I hear he is a bigger sleeper than even I am. If I went there is a good chance I would be ignored, but I doubt he would ignore you, another great spirit." Gwyneira said giving out some convincing points.

    Letting out another sigh Marcus said, "I guess a one-time trip beats having toe back every few months to be Salvia''s battery. And I cannot say I am not curious to meet another great spirit.. Fine I will go and see Forlorieous."

 Chapter 371 - 371 Preparing For The Auction

    Having agreed to go and talk to Forlorieous and see if he could help out, Marcus and Mrazivy left the atrium and went back to her room, to get some rest after a long day.

    ˇ­

    A week quickly passed by as Marcus and Mrazivy, rxed around the castle enjoying their time together before they would be going their separate ways.

    However, as Marcus was about to leave, having retaken his form as Irene since that was how he had arrived, another person was upset to see him leave.

    "Are you sure you have to leave Irene, could you not stay just a bit longer." Princess Eis said,tching on to Marcus.

    During his stay he and Mrazivy had yed with the youngest princess a few times and they had all gotten pretty close together.

    Still Marcus knew he could not stay any longer as the auction he had been looking forward to was being held tomorrow, and Mrazivy apparently had something she needed to do as well.

    "Princess Eis you are making this difficult for Lady Irene. She has matters she needs to attend to and cannot stay any longer." Sir Hinsen said as he pulled Eis off of Marcus.

    "It is okay Eis, Irene here will being back in a few more days and we can all hang out again then." Mrazivy said trying to console her little sister.

    "But after that you said you would both be leaving again and would not know when you would be returning. Once the two of you are gone, I will be alone again."

    Eis then looked as if she was going to cry, so Marcus bent down, getting at eye level wither and said, "Eis, we may not be able to be with you for a while, but that does not mean that we will not see each other again. Anyway, you are not alone you have Sir Hinsen her to take care of you, so try and cheer up."

    Curbing her tears and sniffling, Eis tried to remain tough, and nodded her head.

    "Ah, here, take a couple of these, I know that you like them." Marcus said, pulling out a few natural treasures and handing them over to Eis.

    Seeing the fruits Eis hastily took them knowing how good they tasted, but though she wanted to eat them right then, she put them away forter, so she could properly say goodbye.

    "See youter big sister, and Irene. When youe back in a few days make sure toe and y with me." Eis said waving as Marcus and Mrazivy headed out.

    Smiling Marcus waved back, but at the same time he thought, ''I wish I could help her, but there is nothing I can do.''

    After their first meeting with the young princess Mrazivy had told Marcus that Eis was born for a singr specific purpose.

    Her mother was a princess herself, of the kingdom to the south Tralenstein, and during the bloody session that happened when the current king took over, she had fled here.

    That was when the king made her one of his wives and had Eis. That way should the opportunity present itself, she could be used as a tool for Borealia to take over Tralenstein.

    ''And with the unrest that is currently going on, it seems more likely that Eis may soon be used as a political pawn.'' Marcus thought, regretful that there was nothing he could do.

    He had already stuck his neck out as far as he wanted to for Mrazivy, and he could not save everyone from what fate had in store for them.

    Shaking his head, and putting those thoughts to the back of his mind, Marcus turned his attention back towards Mrazivy and asked for the dozenth time, "So what are you nning to do? You said that you have some important business to attend to, but you still won''t tell me."

    Putting on a devious smile Mrazivy responded, "Nope, I am not saying. Just know that it is a big surprise for you."

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus gave up on trying to get Mrazivy to tell him and turned his focus towards the auction.

    "Well, I will see you in a few days before we are going off on our respective journeys. Take care until then." Marcus said, as he boarded the carriage that was going to take him back home from the castle.

    Yet instead of back to his residence, Marcus asked to be dropped off at the zegram Forge so that he could see his master and collect any of the money he might have received from the sales of his items.

    "Oh, Lady Irene you are back." The apprentice manning the front counter said.

    Smiling Marcus greeted this apprentice and asked them how their forging was going since they were one of the newbies he had given a lesson to.

    "It is going great. I have been practicing what you taught me, and my skill level is now at two, and I am sure it is only a matter of time until it reaches three." The apprentice said happily.

    "Good for you. Keep at it and you are sure to reach your goal. Oh, and when you get your skill up to level three,e find me and I will give you another lesson." Marcus said wanting to motivate his junior.

    "I will do my best." The apprentice said enthusiastically.

    After that Marcus moved into the forge proper and greeted everyone there before heading to Thabon''s room.

    "Master it is me, you got a minute." Marcus said knocking on the door.

    A few minutester, Thabon opened up, shirtless and sweating profusely, obviously having been working hard on something special.

    "Wow master this is the first time I think I have seen you sweat. I thought you were pretty much immune to the heat." Marcus said surprised to see Thabon suffering the effects of heat.

    "Yeah, it is unusual. Come on in and I will tell you about it."

    "I see, so you are making some sets of armor out of crimson ore. Now that I think about it, I have never worked with it or seen anyone work with it, but all of our best furnaces are made out of it." Marcus said realizing he had never learned anything about it.

    "Oh, I guess I never exined it to you. Oh well, it is not like it matters much anyway. Unless you are making something that needs to be incredibly heat resistant it has no other function. It is far more brittle than mithril, so it is not really used for weapons or armor very often. Still, a group of mithril rank adventures are going to explore a volcano and wanted some armor that wouldpletely protect them from the heat." Thabon said gesturing towards the armor he had already made.

    Though as Marcus looked at it, he thought it looked more like a diver''s suit rather than armor.

    "But I am guessing that is not why you are here. So, what is up." Thabon said.

    Marcus then exined that he was here to collect the money from the items he had put up to sell a few weeks ago.

    "That is what I figured you came here for, and I have good news for you. Your items have be a hotmodity after yourst battle in the tournament. In fact, we have sold almost everything you left."

    Perking up hearing this, Marcus practically had dors signs bouncing in his eyes, since the amount of money he was about to get was more than he was expecting.

    "But before that I also found some reputable buys for the other top tier weapons you made. The sale is pretty much as good as done if you say yes. And since you are trying to gather as much money before the auction as possible, I would be willing to pay you now, out of my own pocket."

    Going wide eyed, Marcus shook his head profusely, and thanked Thabon for his generosity.

    "Ha ha, no need to thank me. You have done a lot of good work for me, and I enjoy having such a passionate and talented apprentice around. Anyway, as I said the sale is already a done deal, so I will get the money and be back quickly.

    After saying that, Thabon went deeper into his room where he kept a safe and pulled out eighteen thousand gold coins and gave them to Marcus, who in return handed over the three weapons.

    "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot to mention, but Gurrom has headed off on a journey to better himself, and I do not know when he will be back. Do you think you could pick up some of the ck while he is gone." Thabon said, hoping that Marcus could help alleviate some of his workload.

    Unfortunately, once the auction was over Marcus nned to go and see the Great Spirit of Nature Forlorieous, and after that he was going to meet back up with Mrazivy in the Delvien Swamp.

    "I see. Well, when you have the time pleasee back and help. Without Gurrom, only me and Conall can work on high level items."

    Nodding his head and telling Thabon that he woulde and help out when he could, Marcus said goodbye to his master and headed towards the shop to collect the money from his sales.

    "Forty-one thousand three hundred ny-six gold coins." The shop manger said to Marcus as he went through the record and found how much he had earned.

    Hearing this Marcus'' jaw nearly dropped since he had made what could be considered an outrageous sum in such a shot amount of time.

    In fact, only high-ranking nobles or powerful merchants with many lucrative business interests would normally be able to make this amount of money

    ''To think I could earn this much in such a short amount of time. And this is after the forge has already taken their cut.''

    Of course, Marcus forgot to take into ount the value of the materials he had used to make all of these items, but he had still made a sum of money that would make most jealous.

    "Here you go Lady Irene. I have ced your earnings into these five magic bags. The first four have ten thousand gold in each of them and the fifth has the remainder." The store manger said being as transparent as possible.

    Even for him it was rare to pull out this much money and give it over to one person.

    Still, he could not be happier with Marcus, since he had brought their shop a huge influx of business and made them a lot of money.

    "Thank you very much." Marcus said, as he grabbed the bags of money while feeling quite giddy.

    ''Now I have nearly one hundred thirty thousand gold which should be enough. And I should be able to get at least twenty-five thousand from the items I have up for auction. I highly doubt anyone will have as much and be willing to pay top dor for those adamantine bars.. They are as good as mine.''

 Chapter 372 - 372 Start Of The Auction

    Chapter 372 ¨C  372 Start Of The Auction

    With all of the funds, he could get together collected, Marcus was quite happy with the amount he had obtained.

    He was now certain that even if thepetition was fierce to obtain the adamantine bars. that he would definitely get at least two of the five sets of three ingots.

    ''I doubt that anyone else is going to be willing to drop fifty thousand gold coins on an item that normally does not exceed thirty thousand.''

    Heading back home, Marcus arrived back at his estate around lunch time, and his numerous employees greeted him happily upon his return.

    He had not seen them for some time, but it appeared that everyone was in good health.

    "ra, I will have you and Amy apany me tomorrow, so make sure that the two of you are prepared." Marcus said to his head maid as he entered into his manor.

    "As you wish Lady Irene. Oh, and there is a surprise waiting for you for lunch if you are not too busy." ra said, a slight smirk hidden under her face as she bowed.

    "That sounds good, I have not eaten anything yet today."

    ''Well not like I need to anyway.'' Marcus thought.

    Still, he did enjoy the taste of good food and he had missed Ste''s cooking, which while not as exquisite as what the royal chef could prepare, still had its own charm.

    Following ra into the dining room, Marcus certainly was surprised when he entered, as he was suddenly struck with a tackle hug.

    "Big sister." Lilia said tedly as she jumped at Marcus.

    Returning her hug, that had nearly knocked him over, Marcus said, "Lilia it is good to see you as well."

    Genuinely surprised, Marcus had not been expecting Lilia to return, since she was still supposed to be in school.

    After giving Lilia a long hug, the two of them sat down at the dining table and began eating the special meal prepared by the staff for Lilia''s return.

    "I see so you finished your exams early so that you coulde and see me again and apany me to the auction. But how did you do, you did not mess up on your studies because you were in a rush?"

    Yet it seemed that Marcus had nothing to worry about as Lilia, pulled out a card that had her grades recorded on it and all of them were well above the average with all being above ny percent other than math which she had gotten an eighty-one in.

    "A perfect score in magic andbat training. That is great Lilia. It looks like all of your hard work paid off. Now the only thing you need to work on is math, but you still did pretty well, since it is not your strong suit, so no need to beat yourself up over it." Marcus said, making sure to acknowledge Lilia''s efforts.

    Smiling andughing slightly, Lilia was obviously pleased by Marcus'' praise, and was all that much more motivated to keep doing her best.

    Once they had finished their lunch, Marcus scooted closer to Lilia and asked her, "So how is it going with ric?"

    Hearing this Lilia began blushing, but she still nodded her head and said, "After we made up, things have been going good. He even invited me toe with him when he visits the ice elf city next spring."

    "Oh, did he now? Hm, well I will make sure that I am here to go with you." Marcus said naturally not nning to let his little sister go to a whole other city unsupervised.

    ''That also reminds me that I need to go and see Bianca since I did agree to be the kingdom''s representative.''

    Marcus then made a mental note to go and see Bianca after the auction to find out the details of his new position.

    "Also, your birthday ising up soon. So, what did you want to do for it? If there is anything you want, I will do whatever I can to make it happened." Marcus said, wanting Lilia to have a great birthday.

    "Actually, ric and his family are throwing me a party at their house. But before we go, if you would make me the normal breakfast that would be all I need."

    Smiling, Marcus patted Lilia on the head, and said, "If that is what you want then that is what I shall do. Oh, but do expect some other gifts from me as well, and to attend your party."

    After that, Marcus and Lilia spent the rest of the day hanging out and catching up with everything the other had been doing.

    It was a good time for both of them, and they stayed up chatting until it becamete and was time for Lilia to go to bed.

    "Goodnight, Lilia. I will see you tomorrow and we can go to the auction together."

    Leaving Lilia''s room, Marcus went back to his own, and sprawled out on the bed.

    Yet instead of sleeping, he decided to think. He had a great deal to aplish in theing days and he wanted to mentally sort out everything he needed to do.

    And as he thought the hours quickly went by until the first light of dawn shined through, and it was time for them to get prepared to go.

    Going to Lilia''s room, Marcus woke her up and the two of them had a quick breakfast before making their preparation for the auction.

    ''I have the silver card Amelia gave me and all of my money. Ah, I nearly forgot, I need to grab the snacks that Ste made for us.''

    Having grabbed everything he needed, Marcus made his way down to the front entry where Lilia and ra were waiting for him.

    "Are you both ready to go?" Marcus said, wanting to confirm that there was nothing left to be done.

    "Yes Lady Irene, everything is prepared and Amy is waiting outside with the carriage." ra responded.

    Lilia also nodded her head, and the three of them exited the manor and got into the carriage that was being driven by Amy and pulled by Blitz.

    "Lilia, that dress looks good on you. When did you get it?" Marcus said, noticing the very beautiful yellow dress he did not remember getting for her.

    "I got it when me and my friends went out shopping together a couple of weeks agoˇ­ Actually, ric bought it for me." Lilia said a bit bashfully.

    ''Hm, so they are already to the point where he is buying clothes for her. Kids certainly grow up fast.''

    After that the two of the talked about idle matters until they arrived at the auction house and pulled into the garage that was meant for nobles and wealthy merchants.

    Exiting the carriage Marcus went up to the staff member that hade to greet him and pulled out the silver card that Amelia had given to him, and said, "Lady Amelia Peningar gave me this card and told me to show it to any of the staff members when I arrived."

    Taking the card, the auction house employee''s eyes went wide, since it was rare that Lady Amelia gave out her personal card to anyone, and only a very select few had one.

    Bowing his head, the employee said, "It is an honor to serve you today, Lady Geist. If you wish I will escort you to your private box, or if there is anywhere else you would like to go, I can take you there as well."

    "If you would not mind, please take us to our box. I want to get situated before the auction starts."

    Raising his head, and nodding, the staff member led Marcus to forth floor of the auction house where the most luxurious private boxes were and brought him to Lady Amelia''s personal box.

    "Oh, this is quite nice." Marcus said as they walked into the box.

    It was a fairly spacious room, with three couches set in the middle, and a number of chairs around as well.

    Plus, there appeared to be a stocked bar, with many different types of beverages and food items.

    However, the most impressive part was the viewing screen where the items up for auction would be disyed along with information about them

    Of course, there was also arge window that looked down onto the auction hall, but it was enchanted to keep anyone from looking in to make sure that those in the private boxes had their privacy.

    "Lady Geist, this tool will allow you to make bids on any item you wish for. Simply channel some mana into it and speak, and your bid will be heard." The staff member said as he showed Marcus how to work the magic tools within the box."

    "And should you need anything from the auction house, simply press this button here and someone wille to aid you."

    Thanking the employee for his help, Marcus told him he would be fine now and that he could get back to his work.

    "ra, could you grab me and Lilia something to drink. A fruit juice for her, and a white wine for me." Marcus said as he gotfortable on of the sofas.

    Bowing her head, ra did as Marcus asked and brought some drinks over to them and poured them out into a pair of crystal sses.

    ''Wow they really go all out here.'' Marcus thought as he tasted the wine and could tell it was of a high quality.

    Waiting for the auction to start, Marcus and Lilia, decided to go over the catalog that had been provided looking to see if there would be any items other than the adamantine bars they might want.

    Yet before they got in to deep, the lights in the auction house dimmed, before Amelia herself stepped out onto the stage and taking the limelight.

    "Good morning, everyone. I am sure many of you already know, but I am Amelia Peningar and today I will be the auctioneer. I am d to see that once again our Peningar auction house is filled for our special Triennial auction.. Now without further ado, let us begin with our first item."

 Chapter 373 - 373 Liliaâ€™s Got Her Own Money

    Chapter 373 ¨C  373 LiliaˇŻs Got Her Own Money

    As the first item was brought out onto the stage, numerous people looked on with intrigue, but after just a nce Marcus knew he had no interest.

    "Today our first item is a painting by the renown Rapha?l Dupont. His work is known far and wide throughout the kingdom, and it is said that thendscapes that he paints are some of the most beautiful ces in the kingdom. And this rare piece is actually one of his earlier works and depicts the beautiful scene of all three moons reflecting off of a tranquilke in the middle of the Great Gome Woods. I am sure that any of those who are coinsures of fine art understand how rare and valuable this piece is. Now the starting price for this painting will be twelve hundred gold coins, and every subsequent increase must be a minimum of one hundred gold coins."

    The crowd of people within the auction house did not hesitate to begin bidding, as a representative of a baron''s house called out, "Fifteen hundred."

    With the first bid starting off quite high any casual bidder quickly passed up on winning this item, but the war for the piece of art from Rapha?l Dupont quickly turned heated.

    "Sixteen hundred."

    "Seventeen hundred."

    "Two thousand."

    "Twenty-three hundred."

    "Twenty-four hundred."

    Quickly the price made its way up to twenty-nine hundred gold coins, as an art loving merchant spent most of his disposable ie for the year to obtain another painting from his favorite artist.

    "And the Rapha?l Dupont painting is sold, to bidder number 128." Amelia said bringing down a small wooden hammer.

    After that, the next item was brought forward, and this one was actually a box filled with a dozen natural treasures, that eventually sold for fifteen hundred and fifty gold coins.

    Continuing on, item after item were put up for auction, though none of them really piqued Marcus'' interest.

    Of course, he knew they were still at the beginning stages of the auction, and right now, items with a value of between one thousand and three thousand gold coins were being sold.

    Yet as the third tost item in this batch, was being wheeled out Lilia''s eyes lit up.

    "Here we have the original copy of Escapades of Soren Reeves. It is an acimed book that has sold thousands of copies and is a favorite of many. It is the fictional retelling of many epic journeys and battles, based on the exploits of numerous different adventurers and knights, all being brought together under the name of Soren Reeves. However, unique to the original copy there is an extra story at the end that was never released in any other copy at behest of the original author. It is a true collector''s item that is one of a kind and offers and even greater experience than any other book of the same story. Now bidding will start at seventeen hundred gold coins, and all subsequent bids must be a minimum of one hundred."

    As Amelia finished her exnation and hyping of the item, numerous people began bidding on this one of a kind item, and its price soon reached twenty-five hundred gold coins.

    However, surprising Marcus, Lilia grabbed the magic tool that allowed them to bid, and spoke into it and said, "Twenty-six hundred."

    With shook on his face Marcus had never expected Lilia to just start bidding on items and figured that if she wanted something she would simply ask.

    And along with Marcus'' surprise many people looked towards the private box that had been silent this whole time and wondered who might be in there, as anyone who knew anything about the auction house knew that it was Amelia''s private box.

    Still Marcus had a bigger problem to deal with than all of the gazes pointed at his box, as he looked towards Lilia and said, "Lilia what are you doing. You cannot just start bidding on items out of nowhere. If you want something you need to ask me first. I only have so much money and there are some items I absolutely have to obtain, so I cannot be spending it on random items that catch your fancy."

    For the first time, his well-behaved little sister had gone and done something to upset him, and it had really shocked him.

    Of course, if any other person''s child or younger sibling had done this they would have been in for the scolding of a lifetime, since twenty-six hundred gold coins was not a small sum for most.

    Luckily Marcus let out a sigh of relief as the bid jumped up to twenty-seven hundred as the pause caused by Lilia''s bid quickly dissipated.

    "Three thousand."

    Looking, at Liliapletely astonished Marcus could not believe she had bid again, and this time she had upped it by three hundred gold coins.

    At this point Marcus was ready to make a move and take the magic tool away from Lilia when she turned towards him and said, "Do not worry I have my own money, and will pay for this myself."

    Stopping himself from taking back the magic tool, Marcus could see the serious look on Lilia''s face, but he wondered where she had gotten all of this money from.

    ''I know she earned a good amount back in Lethan when she was working as an adventurer. But did she really manage to get this much money.''

    However, seeing that Lilia was serious and she had always been an upright person, Marcus sat back and told her to do as she wanted, but not to go over what she had since he would not be giving her any money

    "That is fine, I should have enough." Lilia said, as she bid again going to thirty-three hundred gold coins.

    "Congrattions to our esteemed guest in box number eleven for winning the original copy of Escapades of Soren Reeves for thirty-six hundred gold. Your item will be sent to you during our intermission." Amelia said, as she eyed her own box.

    Of course, she new exactly who was inside, and also knew that Marcus hade here toady for the express purpose of buying adamantine ingots.

    ''I wonder why Lady Irene wanted that book so badly when she is going to need her funds to purchase the adamantine ingots that should easily exceed twenty-five thousand gold coins.''

    Naturally, Amelia had no idea that it was actually Lilia who had bid on the book and that apparently, she had enough money to afford such an item.

    "Lilia do you actually have that much money? Where did you get all of it?" Marcus asked wanting to know where his soon to be twelve-year-old sister got ahold of three years'' worth of a new knight''s sry.

    "Yeah, that is almost all I have but, I have been saving up." Lilia said to Marcus with a smile on her face.

    After that she exined to Marcus about all of the money she had made in Lethan taking the most profitable requests she could, and since their return to the capital she had been using her time off to work as an escort.

    "Since you gave me that golden orb, and I got a unique skill, I have not had to sleep as much. So, during the nights or whenever I had the time, I would often take mission within the city to act as a guard whenever valuable goods were being transported." Lillia said, as if it waspletely natural for a little girl to be working as a hired guard.

    In fact, Lilia had actually started to make a name for herself, since it was unheard of for someone so young to be a gold rank adventure and be apanied by two rare grade magical beasts. Also, she had actually repelled a great number of thefts against valuable goods being moved through the city brining her even more renowned.

    Rubbing his head, Marcus was not sure if he shouldmend or admonish Lilia for her work.

    He understood all too well, the loneliness of the night when being unable to sleep, and most of the time he would simply go out to his forge and work if he did not feel like sleeping.

    ''I trained Lilia up and gave her that unique skill so that she could take care of herself when I am not around. Still can I really ept her going out in the middle of the night and fighting all manner of ruffians.''

    Toiling with this problem for a couple of minutes, Marcus ultimately decided to let Lilia do as she pleased. She had been sessful so far, and even if he told her to stop, there was little he could actually do to prevent her from taking requests without taking drastic actions that were likely to cause her to resent him.

    "Lilia seeing as you just spent most of your money one that book. Would you mind telling me why you wanted it so badly?"

    Nodding her head Lilia said, "Yeah, it is because that is mine and ric''s'' favorite book, and I wanted to give it to him as a gift."

    Sighing, Marcus could not believe that Lilia had just dropped that much money on a book simply to give it away. But it was her hard-earned money so who was he to tell her what to do with it.

    "Lilia just be careful with your money in the future. You never know when you might need it." Marcus said wanting to give her just a bit of advice.

    The first part of the auction then soon wrapped up, and the first intermission started so that people could get up and move around, but more importantly so that the already purchased items could be obtained.

 Chapter 374 - 374

    Chapter 374 ¨C  374

    With the start of the first intermission, Marcus decided now was the right time to pull out the snacks that Ste had made.

    ''Impable work as always.'' Marcus thought as he took a bite out a fruit tart.

    Passing over a few snacks to Lilia, the two of them enjoyed a bit of leisure time before a knock was heard from the door, and a voice called out, "The item that you have won is ready."

    After the staff member said that a panel in the wall next to the door opened as they waited for the payment for the item Lilia had won the bid on.

    A bit surprising to Marcus who was still slightly skeptical if Lilia had that much money, she quickly pulled out a bag full of gold coins and ced it in thepartment.

    Thepartment then closed and a momentter reopened with the book that Lilia had won.

    She then cheerfully took ahold of the box the book was sealed within and ran back over to the couch and quickly opened it.

    Opening the book a big smile appeared on her face, and she quickly but carefully flipped through the pages until she got close to the end and there were only thirty pages left.

    "There really is another story!" Lilia said with excitement.

    And once her initial exhration began to wear off, she started reading the book intently.

    ''Hm, I have not read that book, but if Lilia enjoys it that much maybe I should ask her to borrow it before she gives it to ric.''

    With Lilia engrossed in her very expensive book, Marcus passed the time by sampling all of the different drinks that were provided in the room, until the next part of the auction began.

    "Wee backdies and gentlemen. I hope that you all enjoyed the refreshments we have avable and were happy to obtain the items you have won. However, our auction is far from over and the next part is full of wonderous items that anyone would want to obtain. Now to start things off we have an item that we normally would not bring out this earlier and could easily be the headliner of one of our seasonal auctions."

    After saying that, Amelia motioned towards the left of the stag where the next item in question was being wheeled out on a cart and was ced within a clear box.

    ''A skill orb.''

    Immediately recognizing the item, Marcus wondered what skill it might have sealed inside it.

    Skill orbs could have any number of skills, from mundane skills like sewing, to powerful ones like mana thief.

    Still, they all looked the same on the outside, and there was no way to know what was within until you got ahold of it.

    "I am sure that some of you who have read through our catalog have already guessed which skill orb this might be, and for many of you, it is probably the reason that you havee to our auction. Within this skill orb is a very rare and sought-after skill that anyone would want. What we have here is a skill orb that holds the regeneration skill."

    As Amelia said this, for the first time the crowd of people that had gathered for the auction broke out into an uproar.

    This was an item that was truly valuable since it made even normally deadly wounds nothing more than an inconvenience.

    Smirking as she saw the reaction of the crowd, she was happy that she had decided to bring up the timetable on this item, as it had caused more excitement within the crowd and was likely to keep prices going high.

    Once everyone had settled down, Amelia walked to the very front of the stage and said, "Bidding on this impable item will begin at ten thousand gold coins, and any subsequent increased must be in values of at least five hundred gold coins. Now let the bidding begin."

    "Fifteen thousand."

    Right out the gate someone from one of the private boxes gave out amanding bid that increased the price by fifty percent.

    However, while this might normally scare some people away, for an item as rare as this, there was no way that they would give up without a fight.

    "Sixteen thousand."

    "Neen thousand."

    The bid on the regeneration skill orb quickly rose to staggering levels greatly blowing out the prices seen in the first part of the auction hat had not exceeded four thousand gold coins.

    "Thirty-four thousand!"

    When the bid had reached twenty-six thousand, once gain the private box that had started the bid, brought up the price once again, making it more than triple the starting price.

    The auction floor that had been abuzz with people bidding quickly red into silence, as most did not have enough money topete anymore and those that did knew it was best to conserve their funds for theter items that should be even greater.

    "Hm, are there no more bids. Have you all given up on this once in a lifetime opportunity to obtain one of the most valuable skills?" Amelia said trying to drum up some more interest in one of the auction''s big-ticket items.

    ''Well, I suppose it has already slightly exceeded what we estimated.'' Amelia thought seeing that no one else was making a move to bid.

    "Going once, going twice, and-"

    "Thirty-five thousand."

    Right before Amelia was going to announce the winner, Marcus who had been silent the entire time decided to throw out a bid.

    Of course, when he did, he attracted a great deal of interest from those on the auction floor. And from the man who had been close to winning, he had obtained his ire.

    ''I do not know who is currently in Amelia''s box, but do not think you can win against me.'' Duke Fealltoir thought as he raised the bid to thirty-six thousand.

    Yet Marcus just smirked when he heard this, and deiced to raise the bid once more up to thirty-eight thousand.

    After the firstmanding bid, he had decided to go and see who was in the box just two down from his using his ghost form, and when he found that it was Duke Fealltoir he deiced to make him bleed a little.

    "Forty-three thousand!" Duke Fealltoir practically yelled.

    He wanted hispetitor to know he was serious, and if they bid again, he would allow them to have this item forcing them to spend a fortune.

    However, no other bids came, and Duke Fealltoir won, though he was not happy that he had spent the upper limit he had set for this item.

    ''That is what you get for trying to have Roxene executed.'' Marcus thought still bitter about what Duke Fealltoir had tried to do to him.

    After the regeneration skill orb, the next items in the auction were steadily brought out. And while none of them matched the value of the regeneration skill orb, they still all sold for high prices in part owing to the fervor brought out by the regeneration skill orb.

    ''Oh, it is finally time..'' Marcus thought with a smile on his as he saw the next item that was being brought out.

 Chapter 375 - 375 Thatâ€™s Right, Spend Your Money

    Chapter 375 ¨C  375 ThatˇŻs Right, Spend Your Money

    Watching the next item being brought out Marcus was feeling a sense of anticipation.

    "Our next item as I am sure all of you can see is a top tier mithril spear. It is a powerful weapon that any spear wilding knight or adventure would want to have. And while it has no elemental abilities the other enchantments more than make up for that."

    Amelia then had one of the auction guards pick up the spear and demonstrate some of its powers.

    ''Looks like she has attracted a good amount of attention with that little demonstration.'' Marcus thought seeing the intent stares that many were giving his spear.

    It was practically the perfect weapon for a pure warrior that used the spear, and its quality was just about as high as a mithril weapon could go.

    "As you all can see it is an impressive weapon that would server any wielder well. However, I am sure some of you are wondering who could have made such an excellent spear. This spear is actually a very recent creation by who could be considered the most up anding forgemaster in the kingdom, Lady Irene Geist. I am sure that most of you have heard of her but for those of you who have been living under a rock, she is the most recent apprentice to the kingdom''s greatest forgemaster, Thabon zegram."

    After giving her opening speech to hype up Marcus and his weapon, Amelia gave the crowd a minute to discuss amongst each other, because there was one exploit of Marcus'' she had not mention.

    Naturally almost everyone currently in the auction house had either seen or heard of Marcus'' battles in the tournament.

    "I heard that she beat her fellow senior apprentice Gurrom in the tournament, and that her work is actually superior to his."

    "Yeah, you are right, I saw the match and it was spectacr. She apparently is even able to use a tier six spell and used that to blow Gurrom away."

    "Hey, we cannot forget about her fight against Quillon. That was easily the best in the tournament ording to most people, and her mithril scythe held up against his sword that had in an earlier match cut right through adamantine."

    As many different people began talking about Marcus and rumors floated abound, Amelia could only smile at the interest that had been generated.

    "Well without further ado, let us begin the bidding on this top-quality item. The starting price is forty-five hundred gold coins, and any subsequent bids must be at least three hundred gold coins."

    And wasting no time as soon as Amelia had finished speaking, the bids came pouring in.

    Forty-eight hundred."

    "Fifty-one hundred."

    "Fifty-five hundred."

    Fifty-nine hundred."

    Soon the bid had risen to over seven thousand gold coins, well within the normal market value of such a weapon, but it still had plenty of momentum and seemed to soon be going to reach higher.

    Yet before it went any higher, Marcus ced a bid of his own, wanting to try something.

    "Seventy-five hundred."

    Once again garnering the attention of the crowd, many looked up at the box where the mysterious high bidder who had so far abstained from most items was located.

    However, Amelia who knew Marcus was in there, frowned when she heard him bid.

    Currently it was his own item up for auction, and while it was not unheard of for people to try and raise the prices on their own items, it was certainly frowned upon.

    Yet what happened next made her realize why Marcus had done so.

    "Eight thousand."

    Immediately after Marcus'' bid, Duke Fealltoir made a bid of his own wanting to force Marcus up after fighting him over the regeneration skill orb.

    ''I see so that is what she is doing. I suppose that it makes the most sense to test on her own item to minimize any possible loss.'' Amelia thought figuring out Marcus'' motivation.

    Of course, while she thought that Duke Fealltoir was just being petty, truthfully it was Marcus who had started this, since he had no intention of winning the regeneration skill orb. But he was the only one who knew that.

    ''Looks like I was right. He ns to try and force my bids up, so that I lose more money. Well let us see who will win this game of chicken.''

    After that Marcus once again bid, bringing it up to eighty-five hundred gold coins, and as he expected Duke Fealltoir raised the bid once again to nine thousand thinking that Marcus really wanted this item.

    Except after that Marcus wentpletely mum, no longer bidding as the price had already gone above normal market value, and his experiment had proven fruitful.

    Still to both Marcus'' and Duke Fealltoir''s surprise, another person bid again and looking down into the seats below Marcus saw a grizzled man who was obviously a season warrior.

    "Sold, to bidder number sixteen, for ny-three hundred gold coins."

    ''Well, I suppose I would rather have one of my weapons end up in the hands of someone who will make good use of it, rather than Duke Fealltoir''s.'' Marcus thought seeing the ted expression on the man who had won his spear.

    With the bid for his spear finished, Marcus now knowing what Duke Fealltoir was up to, decided to see how far his adversary was willing to go in their game of cat and mouse.

    ˇ­

    "Sold to our esteemed guest in box number eleven for seventy-one hundred gold coins."

    Slouching back into his couch Marcus was feeling conflicted about the item he had just won, since it was thetest item that he and Duke Fealltoir were fighting over.

    ''Well, I still forced him to buy four other items a bit over their value, so four out of five is not bad. And anyway, I have made sure to only bid on items I do not mind having and a small item box skill orb for Lilia will be useful for her.''

    Coming to terms with the money he had just spent, Marcus knew he still had a sizable amount of funds left, and that he had more toe with the sale of his remaining items.

    ''Oh, speak of the devil.'' Marcus thought as he saw the next item being brought out.

    This time it was one of his sets of armor that were contained within a pendant one could wear around their neck.

    ''If my spear was able to go for over nine thousand gold, I wonder how much my armor will get.''

    "For our next item we have another masterpiece by the forgemaster Irene Geist. However, this time we have a set of armor instead of a weapon."

    Amelia then paused and held out the pendant, that certainly did not look like armor, and almost everyone thought that for the first time during the auction she had made a mistake.

    Yet before the crowd''s confusion had reached its peak and people tried to point out her "mistake", Amelia put on the pendant and activated it, causing a set of chainmail to unfurl and affix itself to her body.

    "As all of you can see, sealed within that pendant was a full set of chainmail, that can quickly cover your body. It is also enchanted to fit all sizes as any high-quality armor should be, so no need to worry for whoever may win this item. And I have personally tested its abilities and can say they are top notch, having plenty of unique enchantments that will keep you safe from any number of attacks. The starting price for this impable armor will begin at six thousand gold coins, and all subsequent increases must be at least three hundred gold coins.. Now, let the bidding begin."

 Chapter 376 - 376 Finally It Is Here

    Chapter 376 ¨C  376 Finally It Is Here

    With the bidding for his top tier mithril chainmail underway, Marcus sat back happily as the price continued to soar.

    "Sold, to bidder number 57, for eleven thousand eight hundred gold coins."

    Smiling Marcus was quite content with the price his armor had gotten, and he was looking forward to how much his final two items were going to make.

    ''It seems that putting them up for auction was the right move. Even after the twelve percent cut the auction house takes, I have already earned over eighteen thousand.''

    Very content with how things were going, Marcus leaned back and began drinking the wine he had found to be the most to his liking, and rxed.

    The rest of the middle part of the auction continued smoothly, and he decided to hold back on his antagonizing of Duke Fealltoir for the rest of the auction.

    He had already forced the duke to spend plenty of his money and the duke had won theirst match so he was hoping that would satisfy him.

    ''Ah here we go.'' Marcus thought seeing the halberd he had madee up next.

    And like the previous times his items hade up, Amelia paid special care to promote them, and as a result the price did increase even further than normal.

    "Thirteen thousand."

    Surprise on his face, Marcus could not believe how high his halberd''s price had shot, since it was now nearly over twice its normal market value.

    However, it had risen this high as a number of people in the private boxes seemed to want it, as well as a few high spenders down below.

    This was because of the ice magic enchantments etched into the halberd, and especially the one that actually allowed it to absorb a certain amount of power from cold-based attacks.

    Of course, anywhere else the halberd would not have made it so high, but in a kingdom that was cold and icy for more than half of the year, a weapon like this made a huge difference.

    "Fourteen Thousand."

    With the bid being raised by another thousand, even the most fervent bidders felt the pressure on their pocketbooks, and the bid of fourteen thousand soon won Marcus'' halberd.

    "Congrattions to our esteemed guest in box twenty-one for winning this halberd forged by Irene Geist, for fourteen thousand gold coins." Amelia said with a tinge of tion she could not hide.

    So, far all of Marcus'' items had sold above their normal value, and the auction as a whole had been following this trend.

    ''At this rate we are going to make a killing this year, and we have not even made it to the extremely valuable items yet.'' Amelia thought, imagining the huge sum of money she was going to get after the auction.

    After that thest few items in the middle section of the auction came out, and Marcus'' set of scale mail he had made sold for twelve thousand one hundred gold coins.

    "That concludes the second part of the auction. We hope that everyone has enjoyed our auction so far. Now we will be having a brief intermission, while we get prepared for the next section of the auction. And I am sure that this is the one most of you have been waiting for, where items or incredibly value and rarity will be avable. But until then, please use this time to rx, and those that have won any bids will be able to collect their items."

    Giving a slight bow, Amelia exited the stage, and went to inform her staff that they were going to make some minor changes to order that the next set of items would be auctioned in, as there was a certain item she wanted to go first.

    Waiting in his box, Marcus was reading the book Lilia had won, and he could see why his little sister had taken such a liking to the story, even after just the first couple chapters.

    However, as engrossed as he was in reading, when the knock on his door came, Marcus carefully ced the book down, and practically warped up to the door.

    Thepartment in the wall then opened and Marcus deposited the seven thousand one hundred gold coins he had spent for the small item box skill orb.

    A few minutester thepartment reopened, with the skill orb sealed within a clear box, along with a bag filled with his earnings from the four items he had auctioned were within.

    With his item and money in hand, Marcus sat back down at on the couch next to Lilia and ced the box containing the item box skill orb in front of her.

    "Here you go Lilia. Consider this an early birthday present."

    Looking at the box, Lilia was a bit hesitant to take it knowing how much Marcus had spent on it, but he had handed her items far more valuable in the past, and she quickly took the skill orb and obtained the skill inside.

    "Go ahead and test it out. Having an item box is really useful."

    Nodding her head Lilia began opening and closing her item box, and started testing how much she could ce inside and how fast she could take things out.

    Once Lilia had finished up her experiments with the item box, she gave Marcus a big hug that would have snapped most people''s spines, and said, "Thank you, this is a great birthday present."

    Returning Lilia''s hug, Marcus patted her head and told her that he was happy that she liked it.

    After that Marcus opened up the bag of money he had received, which contained a sizeable amount.

    ''Looks like they converted most of it to tinum. I guess it is easier to move a few thousand coins rather than tens of thousands. But to think just these four items were worth around the same as nearly a hundred other regr mithril items.'' Marcus thought as he stared at the bag that was filled with more than forty-one hundred tinum coins.

    And with this new addition Marcus'' total funds had skyrocketed up to just a little over one hundred sixty thousand gold coins.

    Waiting through the rest of the intermission Marcus'' anticipation was rising as he knew that the next part of the auction would feature the most valuable items, and that the adamantine ingots would be among them.

    ''I have five chances to win. At the very least I have to win one.'' Marcus thought as the intermission wasing to its end and Amelia walked back onto the stage.

    "I hope that you all enjoyed your respite, because now is the moment you have been waiting for. We are now going to begin the final section of our auction."

    Cheers then resounded through the auction floor as many people had been waiting for this, and a majority had saved their money just for the one item they really wanted.

    "Now our first item is one of the rarest metals in the world and is sought after by anyone wishing to make or have items made."

    Amelia then motioned towards the edge of the stage, and everyone could see the recognizable green metal that had a beautiful luster to it being wheeled out.

    ''There it is.. It is finally time for me to obtain some adamantine.''

 Chapter 377 - 377 Adamantine Bidding War

    Chapter 377 ¨C  377 Adamantine Bidding War

    Seeing the adamantine ingots center stage, the excitement that had been building up in Marcus had reached its peak.

    This was the reason he hade to the auction, so that he could obtain this rare material for himself.

    ''I will finally be able to make a new scythe, and hopefully some new armor. I have been working on designs for weeks now, and these adamantine ingots are the only thing left that I need.''

    "Our first item as many of you will recognize are three ingots of adamantine. Each of these ingotses to us from a group of adventures who wish to not be named. But do know that each of themes from a dungeon''s chest and are of the highest quality. Now I am sure that many of you out there would want these ingots, to make weapons or armor, or maybe even as a decoration as their green luster is quite appealing." Amelia said, trying to raise interest.

    However, as Marcus heard thest part he thought, ''If I ever find someone using adamantine as a decoration, I will haunt them.''

    As Amelia continued to draw out her speech before the bidding started, it could be said that her tactics were very effective and many people''s anticipation to bid was rising, and Marcus was certainly one of them.

    ''Come on already, we all know what it is. Hurry up and let us bid.''

    Luckily Marcus did not have to wait much longer as Amelia said, "The bidding will start at fifteen thousand gold coins, and all subsequent increases must be at least one thousand or more gold coins. Now let the bidding begin.

    "Thirty-two thousand." Marcus said right as the bidding began.

    He wanted everyone to know that he was serious, and by starting with such amanding bid that was more than double the starting price and slightly above the average value of past winning bids, he had done so.

    And it certainly was an effective tactic against most, as many people that hade here to bid on the adamantine, had only just enough to secure a normal winning bid and Marcus had inched out their upper limit.

    Yet, even then, there will still other serious contenders that while surprised, were not going to back down just yet.

    "Thirty-three thousand." A man down in the auction hall said.

    Tch!

    Clicking his tongue Marcus was a bit miffed that someone was still willing to up bid him, but when he looked down and saw who it was, he knew he was in for a fight.

    ''Conall. Damn I should have known he would be here. I guess probably most of the best forgemasters are here hoping to get their hands on some adamantine.''

    Moving to make another bid, Marcus was surpassed when another bid came out, this time from one of the private boxes.

    "Thirty-five thousand."

    Jumping up another two thousand gold, the adamantine ingots had now reached their usual upper limit, but Marcus made note of something else.

    The box that had just bid had been silent the entire rest of the auction, meaning that they were likely here for the express purpose of obtaining the adamantine.

    ''Looks like I am in for a fight.'' Marcus thought seeing that he was going to have some fiercepetition.

    "Thirty-six thousand."

    Bidding once again, Marcus took the lead, and as he looked down, he could see the conflicted look on Conall''s face, but it appeared that the other forgemaster had decided to tap out and wait for the next batch toe.

    Naturally he knew that there would be four other sets of adamantine ingots for sale, so there was no need to go all out on the first batch.

    "Thirty-seven thousand."

    Unfortunately, the other mystery bidder did not seem to want to back off, and was just as intent as Marcus on winning this bid.

    "Thirty-eight thousand." Marcus said, raising the bid again.

    Still his opponent was not going to stop and raised the value up again this time to forty thousand.

    However, it was at this point that a sinking feeling began to overtake Marcus.

    ''No, it couldn''t be?'' He thought connecting some dots.

    And taking a moment Marcus put down the magic tool that allowed him to bid and opened up his mind.

    Certainly, he could not make a telepathic connection with someone he could not see, but he could reopen one that was already made.

    ''Mraz, is that you bidding on the adamantine in box three.'' Marcus said sending out a telepathic message.

    Then for a moment there was silence, before he heard, ''Marcus?! Yeah, I am in box three, and I am bidding on the adamantine for you. Wait, don''t tell me. Are you the one in box eleven?''

    ''Yes, I am in box eleven. We have been fighting each other.'' Marcus sent back.

    Sending back a mental groan, Mrazivy could not believe how much money they had inted the price by bidding against each other.

    "Sold to our esteemed guest in box number three, for forty thousand gold coins." Amelia said, as both Marcus and Mrazivy had lost track of the auction as they were having a mental conversation.

    Luckily, no one else tried to outbid Mrazivy while she and Marcus were upied talking, and she came out the winner.

    ''So, this is the important business you had to attend to.''

    ''Yes, it was supposed to be a surprise. Don''t you remember I promised I would get you some adamantine when you decided to sacrifice your rewards for winning the tournament to help me.'' Mrazivy telepathically said to Marcus a bit exasperated by their current situation.

    ''Yeah, but I lost, so I thought that the agreement was null.''

    ''So, what if you lost. You still broke off my engagement to that bastard Krenston, and you have given more happiness than I ever thought I would have. Of course, I was still going to repay you as we agreed.''

    Sighing Marcus realized now that he should have told Mrazivy that he would also be participating in this auction. That way they could have avoided this situation.

    ''Sorry I made you spend so much and thank you.'' Marcus said happy to see how much Mrazivy cared about him.

    ''It is no real problem. It does not look like I would have had enough to get you three sets as I had nned anyway.'' Mrazivy said a slightly forlorn tone.

    Yet hearing this gave Marcus and idea.

    ''Mraz how much money do you have on you.''

    A bit perplexed by this question, Mrazivy said, ''I have around ny-six thousand which is the majority of my saving from my years of adventuring and the funds I have been given as a member of the royal family. Though now forty thousand of it is alreadymitted to thatst bid. So, I have around fifty-six thousand now. Why do you ask?''

    Smiling deviously a n to guarantee that between the two of them they would be able to get at least four of the sets of adamantine ingots, began to formte in Marcus'' head.

    ''Mraz I am sorry I ruined your surprise.. But now we have the opportunity to work together to make sure we get as much adamantine as possible without much of a fight.''

 Chapter 378 - 378 Marcusâ€™ Strategy

    Chapter 378 ¨C  378 MarcusˇŻ Strategy

    ''So, what do you think?'' Marcus telepathically said to Mrazivy after telling her his n.

    ''Hm, I mean it could work. It will depend on how much other people really want the adamantine.''

    ''Then are you in?''

    ''Yeah I am, but even I have limits so do not expect me to pay more than forty-thousand gold for another set.'' Mrazivy said, telling Marcus where her bottom line was.

    ''Got it. Worst case scenario, we just let it go. I wanted at least two sets, and I am certain I have more than enough to guarantee at least one more.''

    With their strategy meeting over, Marcus and Mrazivy turned their attention back to the stage just as the second item of thest part of the auction was sold.

    "Congrattions, to bidder number 57 for winning this lesser elixir for twenty-two thousand gold coins."

    Hearing the end of the bidding for the second item, Marcus turned his attention back towards the stage, not wanting to miss the next set of adamantine ingots.

    And he did not have long to wait as just three itemster there they were.

    "Our next item is as I am sure you can see another set of adamantine ingots. However, unlike thest set, thesee from the kingdom''s only mine that is controlled by the crown. Who graciously gave them to our auction house to raise money to fund the building of a new highways system, to allow for ease of travel across the kingdom. Now, bidding will begin at fifteen thousand and asst time, all subsequent increases must be at least in values of one thousand gold coins or greater. Let the bidding begin."

    "Thirty-five thousand."

    As soon as the bidding started Mrazivy from her box, gave a dominant bid that was already at the upper limit of the value of the adamantine ingots.

    This caused many bidders who were interested to already have their wallets surpassed, and even those with enough money felt pressured not to bid.

    Of course, this was because, Mrazivy had already shown her drive to win adamantine bars and nothing else, even having spent forty thousand gold coins on the first set.

    "Thirty-five thousand, going once. Going twice. Sold to our esteemed guest in box number three."

    Smiling Marcus was happy to see that his strategy had worked.

    He had figured that if Mrazivy who already showed her willingness to bid well above the upper limits that the adamantine ingots were usually sold at, were to bid again, there would be nopetition.

    Naturally everyone who hade for the adamantine ingots knew there were still three more sets even after this one, so there was no reason to try and fight.

    There was a good chance that the aggressive bidder in box three was low on money after spending seventy-five thousand gold, which was no small sum. Or that they might already be satisfied with what they had obtained.

    Unfortunately for them Marcus nned to make away with four out of the five sets, and only leave thest one for them all to fight over.

    After that, Marcus waited patiently, watching rare item after rare item be auctioned, though he held himself back from purchasing them.

    He had a goal, and he wanted a veryrge safety in case someone decided to fight tooth and nail against him.

    ''Looks like it is time.'' Marcus thought as he saw the next batch of adamantine ingots being wheeled out onto the stage.

    And like the previous times, its opening price was ced at fifteen thousand gold coins, and bidding had to be in at least thousand gold coin increments.

    However, just as Mrazivy had donest time at his direction, Marcus nned to make sure that no one else wanted to bid against him and started out strong.

    "Thirty-six thousand."

    Raising the price immediately to well over its value, Marcus caused a stunned silence. As those that had been waiting to bid on the adamantine, once again had to deal with another high bidder that cared not for the normal market value and was showing that they were going all out to win.

    Also, no one had tried to outbid Mrazivy at thirty-five thousand gold, so why would they attempt to bid when Marcus had just exceeded that price.

    "Thirty-six thousand going once. Going twice. Sold to our esteemed guest in box eleven for thirty-six thousand gold coins."

    With a third set of adamantine ingots secured, Marcus felt quite satisfied. He had now aplished his goal, and even if for some reason he did not get another set he would be content.

    ''Now I have enough to make myself a new weapon, and armor, and maybe a little extra for some other items.''

    Happy that things were going his way Marcus popped open another bottle of wine, and started an early celebration.

    Yet to his surprise when he turned his gaze back down towards the stage, he saw that the next batch of adamantine ingots were being brought out right after thest ones.

    ''Hm, I was not expecting this. Time to take a different approach then.''

    Sitting back in his seat, Marcus decided to let things y out a bit this time instead ofing out immediately with a high bid.

    He did not want some other bidders to get frustrated and start fighting him fiercely, so he was going to refrain from bidding at the start.

    "Let the bidding begin." Amelia said after giving her usual speech about the adamantine ingots.

    Except no bids came, as everyone looked towards Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s boxes, waiting to see if they would take the initiative once again.

    But, after a moment of silence, hope began to well up inside the other bidders that wanted to obtain some adamantine, and the bids starteding in.

    "Twenty thousand."

    Twenty-two thousand."

    The bids then steadily began to increase, until they slowed down around the thirty-thousand mark.

    However, as the finally three bidders were fighting to see who would win, Marcus picked up his magic tool that allowed him to bid and said, "Thirty-four thousand."

    After having waited, allowing the other bidders to let go of some of their frustration, Marcus hade back and raised the bid by three thousand gold coins.

    Looking at his box, the three remaining bidders one of who was Conall, were astonished.

    They had thought that the high bidders in the two boxes were satisfied, but now Marcus hade back to try and win another set of adamantine.

    Still, as much as it was a bit demotivating, two of the remaining bidders had decided that they would not back down, and the bid was soon brought up to thirty-six thousand.

    ''I thought this might happen. Now that there is only one set left after this one, those that truly want some adamantine are not going to back down easily.''

    "Thirty-eight thousand."

    Bringing the bid up another two thousand, and now well above the upper limits of its usual price, Marcus was hoping to dissuade the other two bidders.

    s, Conall was not about to give up here, as like Marcus he hade here prepared to spend a great sum of money to get his hands on some adamantine.

    "Forty thousand."

    With he bid raised up, to the same price that Mrazivy had spent on the first set, Marcus was now left with the choice of spending even more or waiting to see if he could get the next set.

    ''I guess I will let him have it.''

    Putting his magic tool down, Marcus decided to not bid anymore. He did not want to spend more money than he had to if possible, and if he was going to lose to anyone, it was best that it was Conall.

    "Congrattion''s bidder number 39, for winning these adamantine ingots for forty-thousand gold coins."

    Having won the adamantine ingots he hade for, a satisfied smile could be seen on Conall''s face, even though he had paid a premium for them.

    ''I will just have to get thest batch.'' Marcus thought reformting his n that had gone a bit awry.

    Continuing on, the auction brought out many different rare items, from skill orbs to batches of natural treasure, and even a couple of adamantine itmes started to appear towards the end.

    Still Marcus ignored everything, waiting for the final set of ingots.

    ''Here they are.'' He thought seeing thest adamantine ingots being brought out.

    "Ladies and gentlemen. As you can see here our auction house has had quite a number of adamantine bars this year. However, this here is thest set that we have, and anyone who wants them, this is yourst chance. Now the same as thest sets, the starting bid will be fifteen thousand gold coins and subsequent bids must be at least one thousand gold coins more."

    After saying that Amelia, went quiet and allowed the bids to flow in.

    "Thirty-eight thousand."

    Not wanting to y any games this time, Marcus started off strong bidding above what most had.

    And while there were still some that wanted the adamantine and had enough money to continue, they did not want to pay such an excessive price.

    There were other ces, and times that adamantine could be obtained, and paying nearly ten thousand gold over its normal price was not worth it for most.

    Yet there was one person that was not going to give up just yet, and from one of the other boxes another bid came through.

    "Forty-thousand."

    Hearing this Marcus let out a low groan, as he had not wanted to spend any more money unless necessary.

    "Forty-one thousand."

    Still, he hade here for a reason and was not going to give up easily.

    Yet, whoever he was bidding against now did, not seem keen on giving up and soon the price had risen to forty-six thousand.

    With the price having risen so high, Marcus sighed before putting down his bidding magic tool.

    ''I have already secured three sets. I have enough for now and can get some moreter.''

    Giving up on the final set of adamantine, Marcus let the high bidder in one of the other boxes win it, as he had still achieved his goal, and a fourth set would have only been icing on the cake.

    After that, thest few items that were in the auction''s catalog were brought out, until the final one which was a powerful staff that boosted water magic was sold for sixty-nine thousand gold coins.

    "Well, as I am sure that any of you that have read through our catalog know, that was thest item we have listed. But, as always, we have saved a few very special items for the very end of the auction. These items are all exceedingly rare and one of a kind.. And this year, we actually be auctioning five such items in honor of the fiftieth kingdom''s tournament that concluded a few weeks ago."

 Chapter 379 - 379 The First Three Secret Items

    Chapter 379 ¨C  379 The First Three Secret Items

    After Amelia had announced that there were five secret items that were up for sale, everyone looked even more intently at the stage waiting to see what the first of these beyond rare items would be.

    Of course, while these items had not been publicly revealed, there were whispers of what might appear, and plenty of people hade only for these items and had been saving their money to try and win one.

    Then when Amelia could see that the auction goers'' anticipation had reached its peak, she had the first of the five items brought out.

    Sitting atop the cart that was used to bring items on stage, everyone could see a beautiful circlet made of some type of wood that was letting of a slight glow and had five incredibly pure elemental crystals incorporated into it.

    "I see that this item has attracted quite a bit of attention from all of you. I am sure many of you are wondering what this item may be and let me tell you it is something truly special. Its origins are unknown,ing to be in our auction house from beyond the sea, but I have taken to calling it the crown of nature. This circlet contains within it, an immense and great power that could rival even an archmage. Some of you with more discerning eyes may have even noticed the five elemental crystals that are a part of this item."

    Amelia then took a moment to pick up the circlet and hold it aloft while spinning it so that all five of the elemental crystals would be easily visible.

    "With this item, anyone who wears it will be able to cast the system''s tier one through four spells of the elements, fire, water, earth, air, and lightning, thrice per day. However, that is not this circlet''s main power as it also imbues the wearer with the nature magic skill at level five. Truly this item is one of a kind and would bolster anyone''s power. In fact, this item, is so rare and unusual, that it was difficult for our auction house to ce a price on it. So, we have decided to simply start the bidding at fifty thousand gold coins, and see where the bids take us. Now for all those of you who might want this item, let the bidding begin."

    As soon as Amelia stopped talking the bids came flying out like rain in a storm.

    "Fifty-five thousand."

    "fifty-eight thousand."

    "Sixty-five thousand."

    Quickly the price of this item soared up to around ny thousand gold coins, which was a price only the wealthiest people orpanies in the kingdom could afford.

    Of course, one of the bidders was Duke Fealltoir, who felt he could not pass up on such a powerful item.

    Except, even as impressive as this item was, Marcus who still had the majority of his money, did not bid.

    He actually had little use for this circlet since he already had numerous magic skills at level five and one at level six.

    Also, he was certain that Amelia would not have the most valuable of the five secret itemse first, and that it was likely that thest one would blow this circlet out of the water.

    Eventually the circlet settled at ny-four thousand five hundred gold coins being purchased by an individual in one of the private boxes, far blowing out the previous high from the water magic enhancing staff that hade before it.

    Naturally, an item that gave someone a level five skill of any kind would be very precious, but one that gave a magic skill was in an entirely different league, not to mention that it also came with the ability to cast spells from the five mostmon elemental magics.

    However, there actually was a cavoite that Amelia had not mention, and that was that the circlet took a great amount of man to activate so if it was given to someone with a low level hoping to bolster their strength, they would find the resultsck luster.

    Still for anyone of a suitable level with enough mana, it would make an excellent tool that would make them more versatile.

    ''Ah this is going to be one profitable year.'' Amelia thought seeing how much the first of the unrevealed items sold for.

    Yet, she knew they had only just gotten started, and after giving the people a bit of time to stew and raise their excitement, she had the second item brought on to the stage.

    "Our second item as you can see is an adamantine shield. However, this is no ordinary shield having been forged by the great Thabon zegram himself. This shield actually saw recent use in the kingdom''s tournament, being used by Thabon''s apprentice Irene Geist. In fact, this shield blocked an attack from Quillon the sword Savant''s disciple, when he had previously sliced through adamantine like butter."

    Grabbing the shield, Amelia tossed it in front of her and showed off its self-defending enchantment, by having one of the auction house''s guardse up and unleash a flurry of attacks against her that were all easily block.

    "As I just demonstrated for you all this shield can defend its user without even being in their hands, so I am sure that any of you who used a two-handed weapon or cast spells can understand how valuable this shield is. Of course, this is also just one of its many enchantments that would keep you safe. Now, for an item of this quality made by the greatest forgemaster in the kingdom, the starting price will be forty-five thousand gold coins. Now who will be the one to take home this superb item that falls only just below the highest tier of adamantine items."

    Once the bidding started, the shield that Marcus had once briefly used, began to increase in price, quickly passing fifty-thousand gold coins, and then sixty, until it had passed seventy-thousand and people quickly began to drop off.

    "Sold, to our honored guest in box number fourteen, for seventy-eight thousand gold coins."

    Looking at the shield that had protected him against Quillon''s opening strikes, Marcus felt a bit regretful that he did not win it, but he knew that ultimately that shield would not be as valuable as the next items.

    ''It was a good shield, but it already did its job for me. Anyway, I n to make all of my own gear and one day I will make an even better shield than that one.''

    Rekindling his passion, Marcus said farewell to the shield that gave him a fighting chance against Quillon and promised one day to make an even greater item.

    After the shield that Thabon had made was taken off of the stage, this time Amelia did not wait and had the next item brought out immediately.

    And as it came onto the stage, everyone knew what it was, but what might be contained inside was a mystery. Nevertheless, since it was thiste in the auction it must have been something spectacr.

    "Our next item, as anyone could surmise is a magical beast egg. Yet this is not any magical beast egg as what is inside has been tested, and its grade may surprise you. This egg contains within it, a magical beast of the epic grade. But not only is it an epic grade beast, it is one that sits at the top of its rank nearly being as strong as a legendary beast. A pseudo legendary! I am sure that you all do not need me to tell you how rare and valuable this egg is.. Whoever is lucky enough to get ahold of it, would be able to form a mutual seal with a beast as strong as any other in the kingdom."

 Chapter 380 - 380 Shut Up And Take My Money

    Looking at the magical beast egg that was center stage and had everyone''s attention, Marcus contemted on whether to buy it.

    It was certain to be a very powerful beast that was sealed inside, and there were only two other items after this one.

    Still, he decided against it for a three main reasons.

    The first being that he already had Roxene who far outssed whatever could be in that egg. The second being that he did not want to raise another beast when he already had Blitz and Roxene to take care off. And the third because the final two items were probably even better.

    ''I will just wait for the final two items. Surely one of them will be useful to me. The only problem now is if I will have enough money.''

    Quickly the magical beast egg soared up in price having started at fifty-three thousand gold coins, and finally stopping when it hit ny-eight thousand six hundred.

    It was an impressive number just edging out the previous high from the powerful circlet that had been the first of the hidden items.

    With the magical beast egg having been sold, Amelia quickly had the second tost item brought out, nning to keep up the momentum that the auction house had going.

    Looking down at it, Marcus wondered what could be so special about it since it seemed like apletely normal ck cloak.

    However, for it to be the second tost item in the highest profile auction in the kingdom, it must be something incredible.

    "I can see from the looks on all of your faces that you are wondering what this cloak is. Certainly, it just looks like any run of the mill cloak you could pick up just about anywhere for only a couple of silver. But let me tell you, its looks are deceiving."

    Ameillia then picked up the cloak and put it on, and a momentter shepletely disappeared.

    ''An invisibility cloak, is that all?''

    Of course, Marcus was not the only one thinking this, as while a cloak that made someone invisible was great an all, it really did not stand up to the other items that had been showed before it.

    Heck, it was not even in the same league as the items shown in theter parts of the auction like the adamantine bars, being more in league with he items shown in the middle section.

    "Hm, I can see that none of you are very impressed. But do you honestly believe that this is a simple invisibility cloak. Now let me ask you this, can any of you find me." Amelia said challenging the members in the audience.

    And it was after she said this that some of the higher-level people in attendance realized that they could not find her even when using their detection skills.

    Then after waiting a few moments, Amelia appeared behind one of the stronger looking people in the audience who was currently looking around frantically for her.

    "No need to look so hard I am right here." Amelia said, startling the man that had been looking for her.

    "Yes, as all of you just witnessed, this cloak does not grant simple invisibility, but also hides your presences. Even those with the keenest of hearing, or with the ability to sense heat fluctuations will not notice you while wearing this cloak. It can hide you from almost any presence sensing skill." Amelia said as she walked back onto the stage.

    Hearing this those at the auction were starting to see the value of this cloak, and while no one thought it was at the same level as the other secret items, it was still pretty strong.

    Yet, Amelia was not done yet and a smile crept onto her face as she saw the growing interest in the cloak she was currently wearing.

    "Still, this is only the lesser ability that this cloak has been enchanted with."

    As she said this, one of the auction''s guards, who was wielding a staff and obviously a magician, walked forward and cast a fire ball spell right at her.

    Seeing this everyone looked out in horror, believing that this guard had gone mad, and was about to burn Amelia alive.

    Except as the fire ball got closer to her, the cloak opened up and the fire ball quickly broke apart into pure mana, before being sucked into the cloak.

    As this happened gasps escaped from the crowd, and everyone looked intently at the cloak that had just absorbed a magic spell.

    It was an amazing sight that had everyone wanting this cloak that was easily the most valuable item shown so far.

    "It appears now that you all understand just how amazing this cloak is. It not only can make its wearer invisible, but it can also absorb the power of magic spells. Oh, and the mana it absorbs can be used by the wearer as their own, allowing you to essential have another source of mana. Truly this item, is in a realm all its own, and its only limitation is capacity to store mana. Once it has reached that capacity it can no longer break down spells, but after extensive testing we found that it could take even a dozen tier four spells at the same time."

    Hearing this, everyone went wild. They wanted to know where this item hade from, how it was made, and everything else they could about it.

    "Please calm down everyone, I will answer your questions shortly." Amelia said, trying to get the situation back under control.

    "As for where this item came from, I am afraid we do not know. A traveler traded it to us for one of the items in our vault some two years ago. And as for how it was made, unfortunately even the best in the kingdom when we asked them about were unable to tell us. However, we did learn that the material used to make the cloakes from the fur of a mythic grade beast."

    Once Amelia had exined everything she knew about the cloak to the auction goers, things began to settle down.

    "Now, it seems that all of you are at the end of your patience and since I have demonstrated the main powers of this cloak, let us begin the bidding at eighty-thousand gold coins."

    After saying that Amelia let the bidse in. Ande in they did.

    Any and everyone with enough money began bidding, and the price quickly made it up to a hundred thousand gold coins and showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

    "One hundred twenty thousand."

    Raising the bid up by fifteen thousand, Marcus had determined that this item was certainly worth having, and he was ready to spend every coin he had on it.

    ''This is why I did not go all out on thatst set of adamantine. Because I knew something like this might appear.''

    Yet even after raising the bid by arge margin, those with even more money did not stop, and quickly the price had gotten to one hundred twenty-five thousand gold.

    "One hundred twenty-seven thousand."

    Putting in onest bid, Marcus offered up everything he had, hoping that it would be just enough.

    Unfortunately, his bid was swiftly outmatched, and the cloak made it all the way up to one hundred forty-nine thousand five hundred gold before finally stopping.

 Chapter 381 - 381 The Auctionâ€™s Final Item

    Having missed out on the magic absorbing cloak, Marcus sat back into the couch he was on with a defeated expression.

    However, at the same time a woman in another box, the one who had won the cloak had an unending grin on his face.

    "It looks like it was worthing after all. To think that I could obtain such an item." Duchess Ophiria said out loud.

    Certainly, she had just spent the majority of her wealth on this one cloak, but more money could be earned while items like this only appeared very rarely.

    ''Now I wonder who I should let use it first. Should I let Wade have it for his work as an investigator, or should I let Gideon use it as anotheryer of protection. Well either way, I have secured another artifact for our family.'' Duchess Ophiria thought, trying to best gage where this new item would benefit her family the most.

    Still while Duchess Ophiria reveled in obtaining the powerful cloak, everyone else felt a sense of bitterness that they could not obtain the item.

    And of course, it was not forck of trying. Everyone had gone all out with their bids, not holding anything back, and Duchess Ophiria had won simply because she had the most money left.

    In fact, many people were beating themselves up over earlier purchases that had made it so they did not have enough money to win thest item, one of which was Marcus.

    ''Damn, if I had held back on buying the adamantine, I would have been the winner. Ugh but I came here for the adamantine to begin with, but how was I supposed to know that such an item would be up for auction. And that means that thest one is probably going to be even more valuable, and I will not get it either.''

    Though as Marcus mentally berated himself, he quickly realized he was being foolish. He had aplished his goal and while that cloak would have been nice, in the end there was nothing he could do about it now.

    Looking back there were definitely other things he could have done, but the events had already yed out and all he could do was move forward.

    ''I will just have to hope that the final item is not as enticing. Maybe there is still hope left.''

    Staying positive, Marcus got himself ready for thest item in the auction.

    However, as it was being brought onto the stage, unlike any item before it there was a ck cloth draped over it.

    Looking down at it, Marcus wondered what it could be.

    It certainly was notrge as the impression caused by whatever was under the cloth was square and only about a foot long in every direction.

    Yet, Marcus quickly realized even that was misleading as thisst item was likely sealed within a box.

    "I can see that all of you might be wondering what item might be hidden under this cloth. Well, let me tell you it is an item that I am sure all of you will recognize the second you see it."

    After saying that, Amelia pulled back the cloth over the final item up for auction, and sitting in a clear box, was a golden orb.

    "A unique skill orb!" Marcus said out loud as he saw what the final item was.

    Naturally many had the same reaction as him, and a stunned silence soon followed.

    "It appears that we were right to save this for ourst item. We had toiled quite a while between this and the previous cloak, but for the recognition that this orb brough we just had to have it as our final item."

    Amelia then picked up the box the orb was in and held it aloft so that everyone could get a better look at it, and to build up the excitement in the crowd.

    "This unique skill came to us fairly recently as a retiring adamantine adventure sold it to us so that he could live out the rest of his life in luxury after many years of perilous adventuring. Now I am sure that all of you would like to know what skill is within this orb. Although as all unique skills, its name only gives a basic understanding of its powers, the one within this orb is called Winter''s Grace."

    As the name of the unique skill that was sealed within the orb was announced, many people began talking, specting on what it might do. And with a name like Winter''s Grace, it definitely had some sort of cold based powers.

    "Since this is ourst item, and you have all been here long enough, I will not beat around the bush. The starting bid for this item will be eighty-thousand gold coins, have at it."

    Getting right down to business Amelia quickly allowed for the bidding to start, seeing that everyone was at their limits.

    "Eighty-nine thousand."

    "One hundred thousand."

    "One hundred five thousand"

    Immediately the bids came one after another, shooting up past a hundred thousand gold coins nearly instantly.

    "One hundred twenty-seven thousand."

    Giving out his max bid as soon as possible, Marcus knew that for a unique skill orb there was no reason to hold back.

    Yet even after offering up all of his remaining money, the few people with more than him, raised the bid even higher, simrly willing to spend everything they had.

    ''Damn it. Once again I do not quite have enough.''

    Lamenting over hisck of funds, Marcus tried to think of something, going over anything he could when something came to mind.

    ''Ugh, why did I not think about this sooner.''

    With a new n formed, Marcus reached out his mind and reconnect with Mrazivy.

    ''Mraz how much money do you have left.''

    After sending out his message there was a short paused, before Marcus got back from Mrazivy, ''Why do you ask?''

    She was a bit confused by why Marcus wanted to know this but when she got his next message, her eyes went wide and understood.

    ''I am a bit short of money to win this item but if we pull what we have left together we might be able to win. So how much do you have left?''

    ''I see, that is pretty smart. I have a little over twenty-one thousand left. So, you think that will be enough?''

    ''I do not know but it is worth a shot.''

    With Mrazivy''s support Marcus now had a bit more money to use, and was able to get back into the bidding right before the end.

    "One hundred forty-six thousand seven hundred. Going once, Going-"

    "One hundred forty-eight thousand three hundred."

    Bidding everything he had along with Mrazivy''s money, Marcus just barely edged out the previous high bid.

    "One hundred forty-eight thousand three hundred." Amelia said almost in a daze.

    It was a staggering sum that was nearly the same as the amount the powerful magic absorbing cloak had gone for, making it the second item in a row to bring the auction house so much money.

    And this unique skill orb honestly could have gone for more, if anyone had anymore money. As the auction had progressed, everyone''s funds had dwindled, and now, thebination of Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s wealth just barely edged out as the highest.

    "Going once. Going twice.. Sold to our esteemed guest in box number eleven."

 Chapter 382 - 382 Collecting Items

    Having just managed to win thest item, Marcus stood up and gave a cheer, much to the surprise of ra, and Lilia.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Not long after Marcus had won the bid for the unique skill orb, a loud knock echoed from his door.

    Smiling Marcus knew exactly who it was and opened the door to let Mrazivy in.

    She quickly walked in and after brief look around, handed Marcus a magic bag filled with money.

    "Here this all I have left after buying the adamantine bars. I am d it was enough to get you that unique skill. Now I need to head back to my own box, so that I can pay for my items, but after that I wille back."

    Mrazivy then gave Marcus a quick hug before leaving the room and heading back to her own.

    Once Mrazivy was gone, Marcus put down the bag of money he had gotten and went back over to Lilia to celebrate.

    The two of them quickly brought out the best cakes that Ste had prepared and began eating them, savoring the vor of the cake and victory.

    While Marcus and Lilia were enjoying themselves, the staff of the auction house worked quickly to deliver the items to the winners.

    Soon, Marcus heard another knock on the door but this time he knew it was not Mrazivy.

    In fact, as he used his life sense skill, he detected five distinct presences all of which were fairly strong.

    ''Either someone is here to rob me, or the security for my items is pretty tight.''

    Of course, as Marcus got up, he was pretty sure it was thetter and not the former, since he doubted any thieves would be brazen enough to attack an auction house that currently had some of the strongest people in the kingdom within it.

    "Lady Irene it is me, Amelia. I have your items so would you mind letting me."

    A bit surprised that the items were being delivered personally by Amelia, Marcus swiftly opened up the door, and let her, along with her four high level guards in.

    "I see that you made yourselffortable. I hope that you enjoyed the refreshments."

    "Yeah, they were pretty good especially that wine." Marcus said pointing to the bottle of wine that he had found the most to his liking.

    "I see, you have expensive taste. That bottle is worth around seventy gold coins, and is the most costly that we provide"

    Smiling Marcus responded saying, "Well, I hope you will not charge me for it. I am about to be pretty much out of money after handing over one hundred eighty-four thousand gold for the items I won."

    "Of course, every item here isplementary. Oh, and since you brought it up, we can exchange the money for your items."

    After that, Marcus emptied nearly all of the money out of his item box and magic bags into some sort of money counting magic device, until he was left with only the one hundred sixty-two gold coins.

    "Well, it appears to all be here, so since we have confirmed the payment, here are your items."

    Opening up a magic beg that was securely attached around her neck, Amelia, pulled out the three adamantine ingots he had won, and the unique skill orb.

    With a greedy look in his eyes, Marcus grabbed the three ingots and unique skill orb, and quickly stored them within his item box.

    "It was good doing business with youdy Irene, and I am d that it ended profitably for both of us. Oh, and if you ever wish to auction off any of your finer works, pleasee see me again and will make the arrangements."

    Nodding his head Marcus said, "When the timeses, I will certainly take you up on that offer."

    Amelia then, left Marcus to his own devices having other items that she needed to deliver.

    Taking one of the adamantine out of his item box, a big grin formed on Marcus'' face as he thought about the new scythe he was going to make for himself.

    ''I cannot wait. Since my old one broke in my fight against Quillon, I have been dying to make a new one.''

    With the final material he needed now obtained, Marcus began going over the ns he had made in his head, mentally going through the steps he would need toplete to make his new weapon and armor.

    Not long after Marcus had gotten his items, Mrazivy came back to his room, though this time she was not alone and was apanied by Sir Heward.

    "Come on in Mrazivy. Did you want something to drink or eat to celebrate?" Marcus said, in a pretty good mood from winning the unique skill orb.

    "Sure, that sounds good. But, for a drink I swiped something special from the castle''s wine cer." Mrazivy said with a mischievous smile.

    Pulling out a very well crafted and decorated bottle, it did not take an aficionado to know that this bottle of wine was top quality.

    Popping open the bottle, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Lilia, had a small party, drinking the very rich wine that Mrazivy had brought, and finishing off the snacks that Ste had made.

    "Here Mraz I want you to have this." Marcus said as he pulled out the unique skill orb and handed it over to Mrazivy.

    He figured that with a name like Winter''s Grace, this unique skill would probably work best with Mrazivy, who already had plenty of ice and cold based abilities

    However, Mrazivy just pushed it back, and said, "Sorry I cannot ept this. I came here to pay you back for all the help you have given me. So go ahead and use it yourself or give it to Lilia."

    Frowning slightly, Marcus had not expected Mrazivy to reject the offer of a unique skill orb, but he understood where she wasing from.

    ''I suppose she does not want to be overly reliant on me.''

    Putting on a smile, Marcus took back the unique skill orb and said, "I understand. I just thought this one would be perfect for you. I guess I will use it, though I am not sure howpatible it will be with me."

    Yet, as Marcus was about to put the unique skill orb away, the look of an idea forming was apparent on Mrazivy'' face.

    "Actually, there might be away for me to have that skill orb, and for you to get something more suitable for yourself."

    Hearing this, Marcus looked intently at Mrazivy, for the details of her n.

    "Well, if that skill orb is not optimal for you, make a trade. The castle''s vault has a few unique skill orbs in it from what I have heard. And while normally, those in charge of the vault are very protective of these unique skill orbs, if we approach Gwyneira, we might be able to make a trade. Where I get that one on behalf of the kingdom, and you get to pick out one more in line with your skill set."

    Listening to Mrazivy''s n, Marcus saw the merit in it, and worst-case scenario, he was just left in the position he already was in.

    "It sounds like a n.. So, when Ie visit the castle next, we can negotiate and see what we can get away with."

 Chapter 383 - 383 Heading Back Home

    As Marcus and Mrazivy finished up their n to trade Marcus'' current unique skill orb for a more suitable one, another knock was hearding from his door.

    Except this time Marcus had no idea who it was, and when he used his life sense skill, he detected three presences, all of which were around as strong as Mrazivy.

    "Mraz, I do not know who it is, but there are three of them, and all of them are pretty strong. I do not know exactly how strong, but I would guess that none of them are below level forty."

    Growing serious, Mrazivy took out her sword, and sir Heward got ready to protect the two of them from any threat.

    Of course, it was unlikely that some hostile was on the other side of the door, but after receiving items worth hundreds of thousand of gold coins, it was better to be prepared.

    However, as Marcus was carefully approaching the door, a loud voiced called out, "Mrazivy I know you are in there. Would you mind opening up for your Aunt Cami, and introducing me to the mysterious high bidder in this room."

    Looking towards Mrazivy, Marcus nudged his head towards the door asking for her confirmation if she actually knew this person.

    "Yeah, go ahead and let her in. I think that you know her as well."

    As Mrazivy said, this, Marcus put it together, and now knew where he had heard this voice before.

    Opening the door, Marcus allowed Duchess Ophiria to enter the room and greeted her with a slight bow.

    "Duchess Ophiria it is a pleasure to see you again."

    A look of surprise shed on the duchess'' face for just a moment when she saw Marcus, before quickly catching herself and saying, "Lady Irene, so you are the mysterious bidder who managed to win that unique skill orb."

    Smiling and nodding his head Marcus said, "Yes I had just enough to eek it out. In truth I spent nearly all of the money I painstakingly saved up at this auction."

    After saying that, Marcus invited the duchess to join him and Mrazivy, and she did so with a smile on her face.

    "You really picked out a good one Mrazivy. I am surprised that you were able to swipe this bottle out of the cer." Duchess Ophiria said as she drank some of the wine Mrazivy had brought.

    Smiling proudly Mrazivy said, "I happened to know a secret way in. So, I can pick out any bottle I want for a special asion."

    Of course, hearing this Duchess Ophiria looked at Mrazivy a bit disappointedly, but she still kept drinking the wine regardless.

    Once they had spent a bit of time just chatting, Duchess Ophiria pulled out an item that caught both Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s attention.

    "It''s the magic absorbing and invisibility cloak." They both said almost in unison.

    "Yes, I just so happen to be the one to win it. It was just too impressive for me to pass up on."

    Duchess Ophiria then wrapped it around herself and disappeared, showing off the cloak''s abilities.

    However, Marcus took this as a good opportunity to test something out.

    ''Looks like it still works. As good as the cloak is, it cannot hide the fact that the duchess is alive.''

    Using his life sense skill, Marcus was still able to pinpoint where the duchess was, even though she was invisible, and hidden from most detection skills.

    And to show it off, Marcus walked right up to the duchess who had moved away a bit, and pulled the cloak right off her.

    Surprise was written all over her face when this happened.

    "How did you know where I was." The duchess asked as Marcus handed the cloak back to her.

    "Hm, let me just say that while it can hide you from most skills, it does not work on all of them."

    Nodding her head, the duchess, understood what Marcus was getting at.

    Even though this cloak was impressive, it was not omnipotent, and the wearer still needed to be careful.

    "Well, this has been fun, but I think it is about time that I get going. You two take care."

    Now that she had found out who the mysterious bidder was, that managed to win the unique skill orb, the Duchess'' curiosity was sated and decided it was time to leave.

    Then once the duchess was gone, Mrazivy handed over the adamantine ingots she had won over to Marcus, and the two of them got ready themselves and went back to their carriages to return home.

    "Well, I will see you again in a couple of days. Good luck on your forging." Mrazivy said as she got into her carriage.

    Marcus then waved goodbye to her, before going to his own carriage, and beginning his trip back home.

    "Lady Irene, it looks like the main road is damaged an impassable. Should I take the detour, or should we turn around and go a different way." ra, said with a bit of concern in her voice.

    Of course, she was right to be a bit worried, as it was the middle of the night, and they had just purchased some extremely valuable items.

    However, as Marcus looked out at the road, he saw that it was not just simply damaged. There was currently a work crew and guards around, and it seemed that everything was legitimate.

    "Hm we will just take the detour. It should be fine. Oh, but ra I will sit with you just in case. That way I can react to any threats if necessary."

    Getting out of the carriage Marcus took up the seat next to ra, though his head maid did give quite a bit of protest saying that he should stay inside where it would be safer.

    Still in the end she relented, as Marcus was not taking no for an answer and was the boss.

    ra then directed Blitz down the detour that traveled down an alley, that would connect them to another main road.

    Yet as they were heading down this alley, Marcus'' danger sense suddenly started ring in his head.

    In response, Marcus deployed his man barrier skill, spreading it out to epass the entire carriage even though it would be weaker and more brittle the further he stretched it.

    Still, as the arrows impacted against it, the mana barrier proved to still be more than enough to stop the dozen projectiles aimed at Marcus and ra.

    Quickly, a few dozen guys in cloaks began jumping off of roofs oring out of side alleys surrounding the carriage.

    "ra, get in the carriage, I will deal with this."

    "Wait Lady Geist, you cannot be serious. There are too many of them. Please let me fight with you. As your head maid I cannot let anything bad happen to you."

    "CLARA! This is an order, get into eh carriage and protect Lilia. I do not want either of you to see what I am about to do."

    Hearing he seriousness in his voice, ra nodded her head and quickly got inside the carriage as the dozens of people slowly enclose around the carriage.

    "My that is very brave of you to face us all on your own. But do you really think that being inside that carriage is going to protect them." The lead thief said.

    "Oh, you seem to misunderstand me. I did not send her inside to protect her from you. I sent her inside so she would not get caught up in what I am about to do to you." Marcus said as he got off of the coachman''s'' stand.

    "Ha, ha, ha. Ah now that is funny. We have you surrounded and outnumbered, and you say you are going to take us all on. Oh, but now that I get a good look at you, that is a pretty face you and a nice body you have. I like feisty girls like you so I think I will make you my new toy."

    ''Thirty-eight of them within my life sense''s range. And that lead man is level thirty-nine, while around half a dozen of the others are in the mid-thirties. These guys are not just your run of the mill thieves.''

    While the thieves'' leader was busy grand standing and talking about all of the "fun" things he was going to do to Marcus, he had been analyzing the battlefield and getting his strategy together.

    ''Ravenous abyss.''

    Casting his tier five darkness magic spell, Marcus summoned up a massive ck sphere of darkness, that seemed to draw all the light around towards it and snuff it out.

    In fact, the ravenous abyss was unable to even fitplexly in the narrow ally way and its body which was almost fluid, conformed to the space it was in making it look even more grotesque than it normally did.

    Seeing this, many of the thieves that hade after Marcus started to tremble in fear some even falling down on their asses.

    They could sense the unescapable and horrible death that awaited them at the mercy of this creature that had just appeared.

    "All of you get yourselves together. It is some kind of trick or illusion. There are dozens of us and only one of them."

    However, before the thieves'' leader could turn around, all he saw was an endless darkness, as the ravenous abyss shoved him into its mouth.

    "Kill them all. Do not let a single one of them escape."

    With a big and horrifying smile, the ravenous abyss did as Marcus hadmanded, and dozens of ck hands shoot out of its body, dragging all of the screaming thieves towards its mouth and eating them several at a time, until none remained.

 Chapter 384 - 384 Dealing With The Issue

    With his ravenous abyss having killed all but one of the thieves, Marcus dismissed the magically created monster that liked to eat living beings.

    And for the poor unfortunate soul that Marcus currently had wrapped up with his tendrils of shadows, an even worse fate than being eaten by his ravenous abyss was in store for her.

    "Well, I was hoping to get ahold of the big boss, but the creature I summoned got a little out of hand and ate him first. Still since you had the second highest level, I am guessing you were privy to at least a bit of information."

    Struggling with all her might, thest remaining thief, tried her best to break free from Marcus'' tendrils of shadows, but to no avail as he simply tightened his grip around her.

    "Please someone hel- umguggnd."

    As the thief, began trying to scream out for help, Marcus wrapped one of his tendrils around her mouth preventing her from making any noise, and ending thest of her resistance.

    Then once that was done, Marcus walked up to her, and ced his hands right on her face, and activated his soul devour skill.

    The thief woman feeling the invasion into her soul, instinctively fought back with all her will, but the difference between her soul''s power and Marcus'' was too great.

    Soon her soul was ripped asunder, being broken apart and absorbed by Marcus leaving only the dead husk of an empty body.

    Taking in her soul, the most prominent memories of the woman yed out in Marcus'' mind forcing him to relive some of her life as he absorbed her soul.

    Luckily though, this woman who Marcus quickly learned was named Selmia, did not have some tragic story or was a sadist with a warped personality, and had lived a fairly simple life.

    In fact, most of her important memories were just receiving promotions within the gang she was apart of and the pride she felt.

    However, at the end, there was one memory that was filled with absolute terror, and it was actually herst one as Marcus ughter all of her friends and ate her soul.

    "Ughhh, I hate using this ability. But at least I found the information I wanted. Still watching from the other point of view, I see how scary I really look."

    Shaking his head, Marcus got back to his senses and was somewhat grateful that his experience this time with his soul devour skill was not too bad.

    "ra, Lilia, it is done you cane out now."

    Just a moment after Marcus said this, both ra and Lilia, rushed out of the carriage, and looked around confused.

    ra herself was especially confused, as just a minute ago, they had been surrounded by thieves, but now, all she could see was one body.

    "Lady Irene where did they all go." ra asked, concerned that the thieves might still be around.

    "No need to worry ra. They are all gone and will not being back."

    Looking around onest time, ra wanted to be absolutely sure that there was no more danger.

    On the other hand, Lilia looked a bit disappointed that she had not gotten to fight. But while Marcus would normally be fine with her help, he did not want her to see the ravenous abyss eat people by the dozens, and him devour someone''s soul.

    "I am sorry. I put both of you in danger because I wanted to see who was targeting us. Like you ra, I understood that the damage to the road was most likely a trap, but I let my curiosity get to the better of me."

    Bowing his head Marcus apologized to his head maid and little sister. He had wanted to learn who was targeting them and for what reason, so he had willingly wandered into that ambush even though he knew it wasing.

    "Please Lady Irene, there is no need to bow to me." ra said somewhat flustered that her employer was bowing to her.

    "Yeah, everything is fine, and you found out what you wanted, right? Lilia said.

    Raising his head, Marcus said, "Yes, I did. One of the staff members at the auction house tipped off a gang calling itself The Crimson Stalkers about the auction goers who he believed to be easy marks. So, we should head back to the auction house and inform Amelia, especially since we were not the only ones being targeted."

    After saying that, Marcus and Lilia got back into the carriage while ra drove it back to the auction house.

    Once there, Marcus found one of the employee''s, though obviously not the one that had not been selling information on the bidders to the Crimson Stalkers.

    And showing this employee the silver card Amelia had given him, he was taken to a meeting room, and told that Amelia would see him shortly.

    "Lady Irene. I did not think I would see you again so soon after the auction." Amelia said as she walked into the room, looking a bit exasperated.

    She then sat down across form Marcus and said, "One of my staff said that you had something important to tell me. And I really hope that it is because I am quite busy since our auction just ended.

    "Yes, it is of the upmost importance." Marcus said with a grave expression.

    "I was just attacked by a group of thieves, and after interrogating one of them I found that an employee here tipped off these thieves calling themselves The Crimson Stalkers."

    Giving Amelia a moment to digest this information, Marcus saw theplicated expression on her face changed rapidly over the next few seconds before she said, "Do you know who it is, and do you have any proof?"

    "The employee''s name is Jude, and as for proof I am afraid I do not have any. Unfortunately, the method I used to extract this information, left the thief dead."

    Hearing this Amelia winced, since this either meant Marcus performed a torture so brutal that it killed the thief, or that he used some type of skill that ripped the knowledge from them and killed them in the process. Either of which was extremely brutal.

    "I am sorry but even though I trust you, just your statement is not enough for me to arrest one of my employee''s. As their boss I have to look out for them, or I will lose their trust. Still, I will make sure that Jude is watched closely, and pass on the information you gave me about The Crimson Stalkers to the city guard."

    Shrugging his shoulder, Marcus understood that Amelia could not just throw one of her staff under the bus on his word alone.

    "Oh, but I did also learn of the other targets that he gave to this gang."

    Marcus then gave the list of names to Amelia, who had a frown on her face.

    She recognized all of the names and they definitely were at the auction, and some of them had won some valuable items.

    However, there was one thing inmon with all of them and that was theirck of visible security, which was the reason Marcus was targeted.

    "Hm, this is quite disconcerting. I will need to look into this more tomorrow and reach out to make sure all of them are okay. Thank you for brining this to me.. If I find that Jude really was involved in something like this, I will make sure he is punished to the fullest extent of thew."

 Chapter 385 - 385 Adamantine Equipment

    Thanking Amelia for her time and help, Marcus bid her ado, seeing how tired she looked.

    "How did it go, Lady Irene." ra asked as Marcus came back to the carriage.

    "Everything should be taken care of. I told Amelia what I know, and she is going to investigate further, as well as tell the city guards. I am sure that it will not be long until this situation is wrapped up. Now let us go back home."

    Nodding her head, ra, got back on the coachman''s stand, and drove the carriage back to Marcus'' estate, this time making sure to only stick to main roads.

    "Goodnight, Lady Geist. Should you need anything from me do not hesitate to wake me." ra said, as she left Marcus in his room, and headed back to her own.

    However, instead of going to bed, Marcus was far too restless to even think about sleeping, and stealthy made it over to his workshop.

    ''Ah it has been a while.'' Marcus thought as he looked around his workshop.

    It had now been over a month since thest time he had been here, and he was raring to go.

    ''I will start off with something simple first before moving on to the adamantine.''

    Powering up the magical formations within his forging workshop, Marcus got everything ready to begin.

    Then when the crimson ore, furnace was extremely hot, he pulled out a mithril ingot and heated it up.

    After that, he made a few simple mithril items, though one he paid more attention to which was a set of mithril scale mail he made for risa.

    Originally, he was just going to let her pick out one of the ones he had already made, but all of them had already been sold when hest went to visit the forge.

    ''Still, this did allow me to make a more personalized set. Now, I am good and warmed up. Time to make my new gear.''

    Pulling out the nine adamantine ingots he had, Marcus stared at their entrancing green luster for a few moments before picking one up.

    ''Time to get started.''

    Using his spectral arm Marcus plunged the adamantine into his furnace, and using the control mes spell, went to work heating it up.

    However, while mithril usually only took a couple minutes for Marcus to heat up, this adamantine, even under all of the pressure and heat it was under, still took nearly half an hour before it was glowing hot red and was ready to be worked with.

    ''Finally.'' Marcus thought as all his senses and experience told him the adamantine was ready.

    He then took it out of the furnace and took it over to his enchanted mithril anvil that he normally worked with.

    ng!

    Making the first hit with his enchanted mithril steel alloy hammer against the adamantine, Marcus was surprised to find that he had not used enough force, and that even as malleable as the adamantine was, it barely budged.

    ''Looks like I am going to need to infuse more mana into the hammer and hit harder. As I thought, this is going to be tough.''

    Refocusing himself, Marcus began hitting against the adamantine, slowly finding the right amount of speed and power he needed and getting into a rhythm.

    Quickly four hours went by before he had molded the adamantine into the general shape that he wanted.

    ''Phew. I think about three more and I will have enough for the full set.''

    Getting back to work Marcus after many hours of nonstop working had forged four of the adamantine bars into his new set of scale mail which he had grown to like over his normal chainmail.

    Still as Marcus marveled at his work, he knew he was not even close to done, since while the base armor may have been ready, he still had to go through the tedious process of enchanting it.

    Pulling out his mana etcher, Marcus ced an ingot of celestial tinum inside the furnace attached to the etcher and allowed the metal to melt down.

    And while that was happening, he took out all of the materials he was going to use to strengthen the armor and began the tedious process of imnting them into the armor.

    ''Now I just need to etch in the enchantments. The only problem is if I will have enough mana.''

    Grabbing his mana etcher, Marcus began pouring massive quantities of his mana into it, until it was strong enough to cut into the adamantine.

    Marcus then began the lengthy and focus intense process of adding enchantments, connecting the main magic core he was using, along with subsidiary materials like elemental gems.

    With razor sharp concentration, he etched in one enchantment after the other, using copious amounts of celestial tinum, which seemed to absorb into the adamantine at a much greater rate than even mithril.

    Still this only meant that the enchantments were going to be stronger, and after around three hours of painstaking work, Marcus had finished up his new suit of armor.

    ''Ugh, that was difficult. To think even with mana regeneration, I am nearly out. But it is done.''

    After giving himself a dozen or so minutes to rest, Marcus, picked up the shimmering green pendant that was sitting on his workbench and put it one.

    He then activated the enchantment on the armor that allowed it toe out, and quickly the scale mail had fitted itself around his body.

    ''Time for a test.''

    Picking up one of the mithril swords he had made as a warmup, Marcus, pointed it right towards his chest and stabbed with all his might.

    Hissssss!

    As the mithril de hit the adamantine armor, it made a loud scaping sound as the mithril de slid off, unable to even scratch the adamantine armor.

    Trying again, this time Marcus activated the enchantments on the mithril sword and poured as much mana as the de could take into it, before stabbing at himself again.

    ng!

    This time, instead of sliding off, the mithril de that was much stronger now, bounced back from the force of Marcus quick thrust.

    Still at the very least when fully charged up, the mithril de had managed to put a small scratch on the adamantine scale mail.

    ''Hm, I guess without any mana flowing through it or its enchantments active, it can still be damaged by evenmon mithril weapons. I need to keep that in mind.''

    Next Marcus tried to see how it went when he channeled some mana into his armor, and this time the mithril de was unable to even scratch it. And at one point Marcus got a bit wild and actually snaped the de as he shed it against his armor.

    ''Oops. I guess that a normal mithril weapon just cannot hold up to my full strength anymore. Oh well, I am about to upgrade anyway.''

    More than satisfied with the toughness of his new armor, Marcus went outside, and summoned his iron golem, and tested the speed and strength enhancing formation he had ced on his new armor.

    BOOM!

    As Marcus delivered a full powered punch to his iron golem, it was like his fist caused an explosion, and the iron golem''s chest buckled in as it was pushed back dozens of feet.

    ''Yep, it is more like a power suit than normal armor. Still, I have to admit that it works better than I thought it would.''

    Happy with the performance of his adamantine scale mail, Marcus turned it back into a pendant, and went back inside his workshop, ready to make his new scythe.

 Chapter 386 - 386 Adamantine Equipment (2)

    Back inside his workshop, Marcus grabbed two of his remaining adamantine ingots and put them in arge crimson ore crucible.

    He knew that he was going to need more than one ingots worth of material to make the de of his scythe, but less than two.

    cing the crucible into the furnace, Marcus turned up the heat as hot as he could and waited for the adamantine to melt down.

    While he was waiting, Marcus began pulling out the items he was nning to use to strengthen his scythe.

    First, he brought out the two cores he was nning to use, one being the core from the de armed demon, and the other being from the winged unicorn Veunlux.

    Along with those, he also brought out Veunlux''s horn, and a piece of one of the demon''s de arms. He nned to melt these down along with the adamantine to further imbue them with he power of light and darkness.

    Then once he had the main items to make his scythe, he brought out the remains of his darkness, light, and lightning elemental crystals.

    He pretty much nned to make a copy of hisst scythe, though he did intend to add a few more enchantments, and obviously it was going to be much more powerful.

    When the adamantine had finally melted down after a bit over an hour of being sted by incredibly extreme heat, Marcus carefully pulled out the crucible, and poured out around twenty-five percent of the adamantine into a smaller ingot mold.

    This was the amount he was not going to need to make his scythe de, and he stored it away forter use.

    After that, he ced the fragment of the demon''s de arm along with Veunlux''s horn into the molten adamantine and melted them together.

    However, as he did this, the two opposing elements of the darkness-based demon, and a light-based beast, refused to meld together, and even as Marcus used his embodiment of eclipse, he could not force them to fuse.

    Yet, as he was struggling to keep things from falling apart, an idea formed in his head.

    But even though he thought what he had juste up with might work, he winced imagining how much it was going to hurt.

    Still, it was all he could think of to do, since he needed to stabilize the adamantine that was close to splitting into two distinct parts.

    So, with no other option, Marcus plunged his left arm into the roaring heat, and with an incredibly swift movement of a mithril, de, cut his arm off into the molten adamantine.

    Feeling the searing pain of having his arm cut off, Marcus gritted his teeth and took it.

    He had lost and arm before, and even been cut in half. So, he fought through the pain, and kept his focus while acting fast.

    His arm began dissolving into a gray mist almost immediately as it was cut off, and he had to use his spectral arm to shove his severed one into the molten adamantine, while also putting a lid on top of it.

    Once that was done, Marcus sent the energy of his embodiment of eclipse into the adamantine, hoping that would help stabilize it.

    Luckily, it did the trick, and the molten adamantine enhanced by Veunlux''s horn, the demon''s de arm, and Marcus'' own arm, stabilized.

    Letting out a sigh of relief, Marcus took the crucible out of the furnace, and poured the mixture into an ingot mold, and allowed it to cool.

    ''Time for a break.''

    Sitting down, Marcus took some time to let his arm fully grow back and pulled out a couple natural tressures and began snaking on them.

    Sure he did not feel hungry, but the delicious taste from them helped his worn mind and soul feel some relief.

    ''Much better.'' Marcus thought after taking a few minutes to rest, and letting his arm fully recover.

    Having recuperated back to his peak, Marcus went over to look at the cooling adamantine and immediately noticed something different about it.

    The green luster it normally had was now darker in some ces and lighter in others, while also seemingly mixing together all over.

    ''Hm I never got anywhere close to this kind of result while using mithril. It most have to do with the materials I added to it. I suppose that they were strong enough to warp the adamantine into something else.''

    Taking the now cooled down ingot, Marcus ced it back into the furnace so that it would heat up enough to be worked with.

    When the metal had begun glowing brightly Marcus took it out of the furnace and began hammering away, shaping it into a de.

    Except as he made his first stroke with the hammer Marcus noticed something was different.

    It felt as if his instincts were guiding him even more than before, and while the first time he used adamantine was fairly difficult and full of errors. Now it almost felt as if he was having a much easier time.

    ''I knew it.''

    Opening up his status Marcus found what he had been expecting and saw that his forge skill had leveled up to six.

    This helped exin why he felt much morefortable forging the adamantine, even though it was only his second time working with it.

    ''Still, I need to be careful. Even with the increased skill level, if I get carried away, I will start to make mistakes.''

    Turning his status screen off, Marcus refocused on the task at hand, and heated up the adamantine once again before finishing up the process of turning it into a de.

    With that first step done, Marcus marveled at the adamantine scythe de he had made for just a moment, before he began grinding it down, and sharpening the de.

    Then with that done, he began making the pole that would attach to the de.

    Unfortunately, this time he was unable to find any suitable enchanted wood, so he decided to just used adamantine as well, since it was not like he needed to worry about recoil on his hands at this level.

    Taking another adamantine bar, Marcus melted it down and added his freshly regenerated arm into it, since he now realized he was an infinite supply of powerful monster materials.

    Still, he did not think he would use this method often, since cutting his arm off hurt like hell.

    Then after his arm had returned and the metal had cooled down, Marcus shaped the ingot into the handle for his scythe, and once it waspletely ready, he attached the two pieces.

    Picking it up Marcus swung his new scythe around getting a feel for it.

    ''Hm this might take a little bit to get used to. It is quite a bit heavier than my mithril one, and even before being enchanted it can absorb more mana. Still, I feel an even greater connection with this one, maybe because a part of me is actually in the metal.''

    Once he was content with testing out his adamantine scythe before it was enchanted, Marcus ced it back onto his work bench and prepared his mana etcher to perform the final step in making his new weapon.

 Chapter 387 - 387 Soul Bound Weapon

    cing an ingot of celestial tinum into the furnace connected to his mana etcher, Marcus quickly melted down the metal that would stabilize and strengthen his enchantments.

    Once that was done, he carefully ced the two cores he was using as his focal points into the scythe''s de.

    After that he embedded a few darkness and light elemental crystals around the two cores, before carefully carving out four strips of lightning elemental crystals.

    He then took his mana etcher and carved into the pole of the scythe, making four parrel lines around it to ce the strips of lightning elemental crystals.

    When it was done Marcus sighed in relief since had he made even one miss step, he could have ruined part of the scythe, and at the very least had a major setback.

    ''All of the pieces are in ce and the prep is done. Time to get to work.''

    With everything ready, Marcus took his mana etcher and began feeding it his power.

    He needed to exert it nearly to its max to be able to cut into the adamantine, and it took a great deal of focus and stamina to aplish.

    Still, Marcus felt like he was in the zone when making the enchantments on his scythe.

    He first started with the basics, etching in formations that increased mana conductivity and the durability of the de

    After that he moved on to ones that increased the sharpness and power output, before adding a few more basic enchantments that were used in almost every decent weapon.

    Then he moved onto more specialized ones, adding the enchantments that allowed for weapons to fight and defend on their own, as well as return to the wielder.

    Yet even though these enchantments were pretty advanced, they were child''s ypared to what Marcus had to do next.

    Moving down to the scythe''s handle, Marcus began work on etching in the enchantment that amplify his railgun, and as hard as it had beenst time to aplish this time it was even more so.

    Luckily, Marcus'' preparations had been perfect, otherwise the lightning elemental crystals embedded into the scythe''s pole might have exploded, or when he connected it to the de it could have damaged the magic cores that were heart of the weapon.

    However, as difficult as that was, what came next was going to be the hardest part.

    Marcus needed to connect the two cores and the enchantments around them together, and hope that the two opposing powers did not cause the weapon to break.

    ''Embodiment of eclipse, harmony form.''

    For thisst part, Marcus used his supreme skill, in order to be more in tune with the elemental energies in his scythe, making sure to adjust the powers and make sure neither overwhelmed the other.

    ''And it is done.''

    Connecting thest enchantment together, Marcus turned off his supreme skill which had all butpletely drained him and let out a sigh of relief.

    Everything had seemed to go well, and his weapon waspletely stable, with all of the enchantments appearing toe together correctly.

    Yet, as Marcus was about to sit down an take a moment to rest, he felt a throbbing in his chest, and a searing pain through his entire being.

    He did not know what was going on, but if felt like someone was taking a hot knife and butchering him.

    And in truth this was a fairly apt description, as his chest began to dissolved, and the essence that normally leaked out when he was injured began flowing away from him.

    Except unlike when he was injured this essence was much more pronounced and denser, and Marcus quickly realized it was part of his soul.

    This part of his soul then flew into the scythe he had just finished and was absorbed inside.

    Once the pain had subsided, Marcus turned his attention to his scythe which was glowing and undergoing some type of transformation.

    "No that should not be possible!"

    Marcus watched as a pattern of and endless night sky full of bright stars began to appear on his scythe, as it was recognized by the system as a masterpiece.

    Ding!

    ''You have leveled up to level forty-three.''

    Ding!

    ''You have leveled up to level forty-four.''

    With even more surprisesing in, Marcus waspletely dumbfounded when he heard the notification for two level ups.

    "Status."

    Opening up his status window Marcus wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on, but the first thing he saw made him want to cry.

    ''My spirit stat has decreased by four hundred points!''

    This was a huge blow to him, since arge amount of his abilities relied on his high spirit stat.

    Still before he started to get too upset, he checked his system messages to find out what achievements he had aplished.

    ''Sessfully create a system recognized weapon made of adamantine while below level fifty.''

    ''Sessfully bind your soul to a system recognized item.''

    Reading through these notification''s Marcus now realized what he had done.

    When he had added his own arms to the adamantine, he had inadvertently tethered his soul to the metal.

    However, that was not all, when he finished the scythe, he had been focused on making it as strong as possible, and unconsciously gave it both the blessing of darkness and light.

    ''Great now a part of my soul is stuck in the scythe. Still, I suppose that somehow caused the system to recognize it when otherwise it would not have. And I got two levels out of it so I can always raise my spirt stat back up.''

    Trying to think on the positive side, Marcus went over all of the pros of what had just happened trying to console himself at the loss of a huge chunk of his spirit stat.

    Flopping down right onto the floor, Marcus justid there, feeling worn out after going all out to make his new scythe and having a portion of his soul ripped out.

    He had not been this exhausted in some time, but even he had his limits.

    ''I should go and ask Thabon about this. He might know something more.'' Marcus thought as his mind started to clear.

    While he did not think that there would be any problems, since even though he felt like a part of him was missing, everything seemed stable and none of his stats were constantly going down.

    Still, there was a possibility that what he had just done could have dire consequences down the road, so he wanted to confer with his master.

    ''Okay time for a test run.''

    After spending around an hour to recover, Marcus'' curiosity had reached its peak, and he could no longer wait to test out his scythe even though he was not fully recovered.

    Walking out of his workshop, Marcus noticed that the sun had risen high into the sky, and that the day was already well into the afternoon.

    ''Looks like someone has alreadye by and left some lunch outside. I guess I did not hear the knock on the door.''

    Picking up the covered food, Marcus stored it away into his item box, before moving over to a nearby clearing and summoning his iron golem to use as a practice dummy.

 Chapter 388 - 388 Weapon Testing

    "Attack."

    Dropping his scythe Marcus activated its remote attacking enchantment and sent it right towards his iron golem.

    And flying forward the scythe began its assault on the iron golem, cutting into it like butter.

    Of course, Marcus had given his golem themand to fight as defensively as possible, and it was doing a good job of keeping the scythe from chopping it to little bits.

    However, it was not long before the scythe started to ramp up its attack, much to Marcus'' surprise, since it started throwing in feints and maneuvering for angles, which the enchantment should not have been able to do.

    Normally, the auto attacking enchantment just had the weapon attack straight on with rapid attacks more meant to upy the opponent than actually defeat them.

    Yet, it was what happened as the scythe got under the iron golem''s guard that really caught Marcus off guard.

    When the scythe had the perfect angle for a devastating attack, it began glowing with mana, before activating the powerful sh skill and cleaving the golem in two.

    Seeing this Marcus could only stare in disbelief, since there was no way his weapon should have been able to use one of his skills on its own.

    Except that is what had just happened, and Marcus even felt the mana being drained from him to activate the skill.

    ''What the hell is going on.''

    Looking at his scythe that was just floating in the air over the destroyed iron golem, Marcus was trying to figure out what was going on.

    Weapons could not activate skills on their own, ore up withplex attack strategies, but his could and the reason was quite obvious.

    Since his new scythe had a part of his soul in it, it was almost like a living weapon, that could think on its own and use Marcus'' skills.

    After figuring this out Marcus tested to see what other skills his scythe could use and found that it could only use his weapon and unique skills.

    Still its use of the skills, were weaker than Marcus'' own, but the fact that his scythe could fight on its own was very impressive.

    ''I wonder, will this work.''

    Feeling the connection he had to his scythe, Marcus willed it toe back to him, and the scythe instead of flying back towards him, actually seemed to warp, right into his hand.

    Surprise all over his face Marcus had never expected that to happen.

    He had not put any type of teleportation or dimensional enchantment on his scythe, so it should not have been able to do that. In fact, what he was really trying to test was whether he needed to give verbalmands like normal to activate its return enchantment.

    Testing it over and over again, every time he sent his scythe far away from him, when he called it back it seemed to disappear before apparating into his hand.

    The best Marcus could surmise was that since the scythe had a part of his soul in it, he could call it back to the rest of his soul.

    After that he tried to see if it worked both ways, but unfortunately, he could not appear next to his scythe only the other way around.

    ''Even so, it is still a useful ability. But now it is time to see what it can really do.''

    Now that Marcus had satisfied his curiosity on the abnormalities that his scythe exhibited, he turned his attention to seeing just how powerful his new weapon was.

    ''Iron Golem.''

    Summoning up another iron golem, Marcus charged towards it his scythe at the ready.

    BOOM!

    shing with his scythe that he had fully charged with mana, Marcus sliced through his iron'' golems'' fist and into its body.

    However, he had overestimated the amount of power he would need and sent out a st of mana that caused a massive explosion creating a crater in his yard.

    ''Oops.'' Marcus thought seeing the thirty-foot deep hole in the ground he had caused.

    Naturally after causing such a disturbance, a handful of his maids, and the estate''s guards began running towards the disturbance.

    Marcus apologized to all of them saying that he was testing out he new weapon he had just created.

    Yet as he showed everyone the scythe he had in his hands, their eyes went wide, since not only was it an adamantine weapon, but it had also been recognized by the system.

    "Lady Irene did you make that." ra said, still not sure if she could believe her eyes.

    A system recognized adamantine weapon was considered the peak for most people, since amethros was so rare not many even knew it existed, and even less ever thought of being able to acquire some.

    "Oh yeah, I just finished making it a couple of hours ago. Pretty impressive right."

    Marcus then showed off the scythe a little and everyone was unable to keep their eyes off of it.

    It was an impressive weapon that would normally only be in the hands of the most elite of the kingdom, but here Marcus was swinging it around after having made it himself.

    Eventually though all those that had gathered needed to get back to their work, and with the crowd once again gone Marcus did some more tests of his scythe''s abilities.

    ''To think that it can cut through a fully enhanced mithril weapon. This scythe is something else.''

    Trying all types of different tests, Marcus quickly noticed how naturally the scythe felt in his hands.

    It felt like an extension of his body, and in truth it really was.

    Unfortunately, he was unable to test the full scope of his power as even when he simply tried using his embodiment of light, one swing from his scythe decimated thendscape around him.

    ''Hm, it channels my powers almost too well. I will need to test it outside the city sometime so that I can get a better feel for it and learn a bit more control.''

    After having tested the limits of what he could while on his estate, Marcus attempted to store his scythe into his item box, but to no avail.

    His scythe simply would not go inside, and the reason became apparent pretty quickly.

    Anything alive or possessing a soul, even a fragment of one could not enter the item box or a magic bag.

    ''Damn, now how am I going to carry this thing around.''

    However, an idea quickly formed in his head, and he focused on the part of his soul that was within the scythe.

    He then used his master of soul and body unique skill to turn the scythe ethereal, before he began absorbing it into himself.

    ''It actually worked.'' Marcus thought as he could now feel the scythe inside him.

    It was a somewhat weird feeling but her figured he would get used to it in time.

    Testing this new application of his unique skill a few times, Marcus found that it was quite seamless to take the scythe in and out of his form, actually being just a tad faster than when he used his item box.

    ''I suppose I should go see Thabon now. Since tomorrow I am heading back to the castle, and after that my schedule is going to be pretty packed.''

    Going back to his workshop, Marcus cleaned everything up, and put all of his important supplies back into his item box, before heading out to the zegram Forge.

 Chapter 389 - 389 Thabonâ€™s Reproach

    ''Blitze over to me.''

    Sending a telepathic message to Blitz, Marcus waited for only a couple of seconds before the intelligent lightning stag rushed over to him.

    Kneeling down Blitz allowed Marcus to hop onto his back and asked, ''Where to my liege.''

    "To the zegram forge. I want to talk to my master about the armor and weapon I just made."

    Following Marcus'' direction, Blitz bounded out of the estate and onto the streets of the city, moving incredibly fast towards the zegram forge.

    "Wait here this should not take long." Marcus said as he tied Blitz up outside the forge.

    After that he entered the forge and gave a customary greeting to everyone that was working before going back to Thabon''s room and knocking on his door.

    "Come on in, I am almost finished."

    Opening the door, Marcus immediately felt the heat that was still lingering in the room, and he saw that Thabon was finishing up applying the enchantments on a suit of crimson ore armor.

    "There we go, all done." Thabon said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

    He then pulled up a couple of chairs, sat down, and beckoned Marcus toe sit next to him.

    "It is impressive work." Marcus said as he looked at the suit of armor Thabon had just finished.

    "Yeah, it is not bad. I could do better, but I would have needed exceedingly rare materials. Still, it should get the job done." Thabon said while stretching his arms out.

    "So how did the auction go, I heard from Conall that thepetition for the adamantine was really fierce this time. He said he had to pay forty thousand gold coins just to get one set. So, were you able to get any?"

    Putting on a big smile, Marcus held up a victory pose and said, "I actually managed to get three of the five sets, and it actually was partially my fault that Conall had to spend do much."

    Looking a bit confused, from what Conall had told him, of the five sets only two had gone to the same bidder.

    And seeing the perplexed look on Thabon''s face, Marcus remembered that he and Mrazivy had been bidding separately and told Thabon that a friend had bought him two sets to repay him.

    "You must have really helped this friend out for them to feel enough gratitude to purchase so much adamantine. Good on you." Thabon said pping Marcus on the back.

    "So did youe to me today for some advice or guidance. I know I have already taught you what to do, but working with adamantine for the first time is not easy. So, if you want me to watch over you while you do it, I would not mind helping you."

    However, Marcus could only shake his head and refuse his master''s help, since he had already forged his adamantine equipment.

    Of course, Thabon''s misunderstanding was logical, as how could he believe that Marcus could have already forged a set of armor and a weapon in under a day.

    Naturally this would not be possible for most people, but with Marcus'' near endless stamina and regeneration skills, he was able toplete the work that would take most at his level a few days to finish, in just over twenty hours.

    Telling Thabon this, he first had a skeptical look on his face, but when Marcus pulled out the pendant around his neck and activated it, he was shocked to see the set of scale mail armor.

    "Impressive, you actually made this in such a short amount of time."

    Taking the armor from Marcus, Thabon inspected every detail of it, and every now and then mumbled something to himself.

    "I can truly see that you took my teachings to heart. This is an excellent set of armor, and it speaks to your hard work and talent that it turned out this well on your first try." Thabon said, genuinely impressed that Marcus had made such a good set of armor without any mistakes.

    Of course, in terms of what he could make himself it was only on the lower end, but this had more to do with the subsidiary supplies Marcus had used, which were not as powerful as what Thabon could get ahold of.

    "Now, you said you also made a scythe. Would you mind showing me that as well."

    With a massive smile, Marcus had his scythe appear in his hand, and looked at Thabon''s face anticipating his shocked reaction.

    And when Thabon saw Marcus'' scythe, he certainly was astonished to see that it had been recognized by the system.

    Seeing this Thabon, blinked a couple of times, wondering if his eyes were ying tricks on him.

    Never in his wildest dreams did he think that Marcus would be able to make a system recognized weapon out of adamantine so soon.

    Even he only had around two dozen adamantine masterpieces recognized by the system under his belt, and they were all some of his finest work.

    However, his surprised expression soon turned grave as he looked more intently at Marcus'' scythe.

    "Irene, hand that over to me now!" Thabon said with anger in voice.

    Hearing this Marcus was now the one to be surprised since he had never heard his master be angry.

    He was often stern and certainly could get a bit harsh when Marcus made a mistake, but he had not once expressed any anger.

    Doing as Thabon told him, Marcus handed over his new scythe and Thabon practically ripped it out of his hands and began looking at it in great detail.

    As he did his expression turned darker and darker, until after five minutes he set the scythe down, and looked almost hatefully at Marcus.

    "Who taught you how to do this? I certainly never once even mentioned something like this to you. So, who did it? Tell me which bastard told you to bind your soul to a weapon!" Thabon said as he stood up and practically yelling at Marcus.

    Seeing this Marcus was momentarily stunned by how absolutely furious Thabon was.

    This was just beyond being a bit displeased, this was fully on loathing, and Marcus did not understand why what he had done was so bad.

    "Master no one taught me how to bind a soul to a weapon, or even told me about it. It actually urred by ident; I never intend it to happen." Marcus said, answering truthfully.

    He then told Thabon about the process he took to make the scythe, though leaving out certain details that would reveal him to be a spirit.

    And when he told Thabon he had cut off his own arm not once but twice, he gave Marcus a look saying, "how stupid can you be."

    After Marcus finished exining what happened, Thabon who could tell that Marcus had been telling the truth for the most part, sat down and calmed down a bit.

    "So, you never intended to make a soul bound weapon, and this all happened by ident." Thabon said with a serious look in his eyes.

    Nodding his head Marcus gave onest conformation to Thabon that he never ned for this oue, and his master''s hardened expression softened up a bit.

    "I do not know what possessed you to think that adding a part of yourself would stabilize your weapon, but you are very lucky that you did not end up dead, or worse."

 Chapter 390 - 390 The Taboos Of Forging

    "I do not know what possessed you to think that adding a part of yourself would stabilize your weapon, but you are very lucky that you did not end up dead, or worse."

    Hearing Thabon say this, bit of fear creeped into Marcus'' eyes, and he looked at his scythe dubiously.

    However, Thabon shook his head and said, "There is no need to be afraid, your weapon is stable, and should not have any problems. But I must tell you that for every stable soul bound weapon made, a thousand more are the end of their makers."

    Thabon then let out a long sigh before saying, "I suppose I should have told you about the taboos of forging. I honestly did not ever dream that you would idently do one and was hoping to never even need mention them."

    Taking a pause to focus himself, Thabon racked his brain for all of the information he wanted to tell Marcus, and when he was ready said, "The first of the three main taboos, is what you just did. Binding your own soul to a weapon often has dire consequences, but still many try it since it can create an incredibly strong personal weapon just as you have made. Yet, most of the time it simply results in the forgmaster''s soul being shattered and their body bing a lifeless corpse. Unfortunately, this is normally the best oue for one who tried to bind their soul to a weapon, and in the worst case a monstrous weapon will be created instead."

    After saying this Thabon took a moment calm himself down, and Marcus could tell he had some sort of bad experience with one of these monstrous weapons.

    "These weapons feel iplete after the soul bonding failed and will begin reaping lives in an effort to make themselves feel whole. Sometimes, the nastier ones will even possess the bodies of people always trying to find a stronger host while leaving wakes of bodes in their way. Truly they can give rise to cmites, and the stronger the forgemaster the more powerful this weapon will be."

    As Thabon told him this, Marcus gulped imagining what could have happened in the worst-case scenario.

    Yet, he quickly realized that the worst case was probably impossible for him.

    He was not human and was both a ghost and a great spirit, making his case pretty unusual.

    ''Hm it is possible that my nature just makes me more in tune with creating a soul bound weapon. With soul regeneration as well as deny destruction it should be pretty much impossible for me to have a bad oue''

    And Marcus was actually correct in his assumption here.

    Since he was a purely spiritual being, it was much easier for him to bind a part of himself to a weapon.

    Still without his soul regeneration skill, it would be quite likely that having his soul ripped apart would have destroyed him, or at the very least left him permanently damaged.

    "I see. Well, I am d that I got lucky. I would not have wanted to start a cmity." Marcus said, trying to sound apologetic.

    Of course, he was actually pretty happy to hear that his weapon was not going to have any adverse effect and that it was pretty special.

    "Yes, you did get very lucky. But never show anyone you do notpletely trust this weapon, and especially never show another forgemaster. What you have done here is normally grounds for expulsion from the forge, and criminal charges. At the very least that weapon would be destroyed, and you would receive a hefty fine. However, just this once, since you were unaware of what you were doing and it is partially my fault for not teaching you about this aspect of forging, I will look the other way."

    Bowing his head, Marcus thanked Thabon for his understanding and discretion, and said that he would follow his directions.

    "Now I should tell you about the other taboos, though I doubt that you would ever do either one, since there is no way they could ever be aplished identally."

    Thabon then told Marcus about the second taboo of forging and that was to make an undead weapon.

    And while this could end up simr to some of the monstrous weapons, they were quite different as these weapons had no souls in them and were made entirely out of monster and beast parts that were reanimated.

    "Weapons like these can turn whole cities into deste ghost towns full of shambling undead. And while I do not know much about them, I have heard that an incredibly powerful one once turned an entire kingdom into an undead horde until a band of heroes gathered together and destroyed it."

    As Thabon said this, Marcus could see the fear in his eyes, and he could only imagine what an undead weapon made form the parts of a powerful beast or monster could aplish.

    Still, there was one more taboo, and this one seemed to be the one that disturbed Thabon the most, as he was having difficulty talking about it.

    "The third taboo is simr to the first, however, it is far more vile. Instead of trying to bind your own soul to a weapon, you forge a living person into it."

    Thabon visibly shuddered as he said this, and Marcus could tell he also had a bad experience with this taboo just like the first one.

    "In doing this, some of the most despicable forgmasters try to create a truly living weapon with the poor person''s soul bound to it, and being partially made from their flesh and bones. And those that do this unspeakable act, hope to create a weapon that can level up."

    Watching Thabon, Marcus could see that he was clenching his fists so tightly that they had gone white, and that this subject was really brining out his fury.

    "And I have never heard of this method being sessful in its ims. All it does most of the time is kill the poor person or create a monstrous weapon simr to the first taboo. But of all the taboos this is by far the worst and can lead to a mad man sacrificing hundreds of people to an agonizing death."

    Seeing the sorrow in Thabon''s eyes, Marcus could tell he had not wanted to talk about this subject which is why he had never told him to be wary of these methods before.

    Though it was also a preventative measure, since some masters who had told their disciples about these taboos only gave their disciples the idea to give it a try.

    "Now you know the taboos of forging. I should have told you earlier and you may not have idently bound you soul to this weapon. Luckily it turned out alright this time, but never try anything like this again. If I find out you attempted any of these taboos again, I will expel you from the forge and hand you over to the authorities. Though if I ever here you attempted the third taboo, I will put you down personally." Thabon said with a deadly serious expression.

    "I understand master and you have nothing to worry about from me. I will take your words to heart, and I thank you for your guidance." Marcus said bowing his head.

    "Good, make sure that you do.. I would not want to have to kill another disciple with my own hands."

 Chapter 391 - Orb Trading

    Hearing what Thabon saidst, Marcus unintentionally shuddered, since the idea of his master hunting him down and killing him was quite the terrifying prospect.

    Still, after saying that, the harshness that Thabon was exuding quickly vanished, and he gave Marcus some words of encouragement.

    "Do not let this get you down. You are still an amazing forgemaster, and this one mistake is not the end. I know that you will you continue to do great things."

    Nodding his head, Marcus thanked Thabon for his kindness and wisdom, before getting down to the other business that he needed to talk to him about.

    "Master, would you mind keeping this set of armor in the storeroom. I will being by again with a friendter and I n on selling this to her at a discounted price."

    After saying that Marcus took out the armor he made for risa, and told Thabon all about the situation.

    "I see. That should be no problem. Just leave it here and I will deal with it."

    With his business at the forge nowplete, Marcus said goodbye to Thabon and headed back to Blitz.

    The two of them then quickly made it back to Marcus'' estate just as the sun was setting.

    Taking the rest of the day to rx, Marcus read the book that Lilia had won at auction, and when he was done with that, he yed a few games with Lilia until the night was gettingte.

    ''Time for some rest.''

    Having had some eventful and fairly stressfulst couple of days, Marcus decided that he could use a few hours to fully recuperate his weary mind and decided to get some sleep.

    Then when the next day hade, it was time for him to head back to the castle and see Mrazivy before she went off on her next adventure.

    When he arrived, Mrazivy came and met him, and took him immediately to see Gwyneira who she had already told about the unique skill that Marcus had won at the auction.

    "Wow, I am surprised that they auctioned this off." Gwyneira said as she looked over the Winter''s Grace unique skill orb.

    She had a racial ability that all true dragons had to see the true value of things, allowing her to understand the properties of the unique skill even before learning it.

    "Even as far as unique skills go this one is pretty powerful. Very well, I will authorize you to pick out a unique skill orb from the castle''s vault in exchange for this one. And since you are about to do me a personal favor by helping out Salvia, I will agree to your request to give this to Mrazivy."

    Hearing this both Marcus and Mrazivy, had to hold back their cheers, but their tion was quite obvious on their faces.

    After that, Gwyneira pulled out a sending stone and made some calls to a couple of people, one of which was the king in order to confer with him.

    And though she did get into a bit of an argument with the king eventually everything got resolved.

    "Well, Aaren was a bit upset about handing over a unique skill orb at first, but I convinced him of the benefits and told him that it was part of a payment for the job you are about to do for us. Though he did put his foot down about letting you choose from any of the unique skill orbs in the vault, so your choices will be a little bit more limited. But I am sure you will still find something suitable."

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus was still fine with this. At the end of the day, he was getting a unique skill orb, and he was able to give Winter''s Grace to Mrazivy. So, it was a win win situation.

    Gwyneira then personally lead Marcus and Mrazivy to the kingdom''s vault, being their guide and guard as per the king''s request.

    Soon they made it deep into the depths of the castle, where its most secured area was.

    To get there they had gone through numerous check point areas guarded by powerful magical formations.

    However, when they made it to the vault, Marcus'' eyes went wide.

    In front of him was a wall that was made out of adamantine, and Marcus could only guess that the entire vault was made of it as well.

    "Impressive isn''t it. You would not believe how long it took us to gather all of the adamantine necessary for this. But Boreas said he wanted the strongest vault in the continent." Gwyneira said, a slight smirk on her face seeing Marcus'' reaction.

    But of course he was stunned. He had just spent a great deal of time, effort, and money to get nine ingots of adamantine, and here the royal family had an entire vault made out of the stuff.

    ''Just the vault by itself must be worth millions of gold coins. What could they have inside that needs this level of protection?''

    Yet, as the vault was opened Marcus who was expecting to see mounds of tressure all over the ce, was somewhat disappointed to see a room that just had numerous shelves that were neatly ordered with magic bags.

    Of course, as he thought about it, obviously it made no sense for the royal family''s treasures to be out on disy, and all of the space was being used practically by having things stored in magic bags.

    "Okay follow me and stay close. If either of you get to far away the vault''s defenses will activate."

    Walking into the vault Marcus and Mrazivy stayed right behind Gwyneira, as she walked purposefully towards their destination.

    However, along the way Marcus did look around, but everything was just rows and rows of magic bags with nothingbeled.

    "Mraz do you know what is in any of these." Marcus asked his curiosity getting to him.

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy said, "Yeah I know some what items are in some of these bags. But this is actually only my third time in here, so I do not know everything."

    Mrazivy then pointed to a shelf on the left in front of them and said, "That one holds rare magic skill orbs. And the one next to it if I remember correctly has materials from legendary grade beasts."

    Nevertheless, Mrazivy did not really have time to give Marcus an extensive tour of the ce, as Gwyneira soon stopped as they had made it to their destinate

    In front of them unlike the other items which were fairly easily essible once inside the vault, what stood in front of them now, was a locker made out of adamantine just like the vault. Adding anotheryer of security for the kingdom''s most precious items.

    "Give me a minute to disable the security enchantments." Gwyneira said, as she pulled up what appeared to be a type of touch pad on the vault.

    After that she put in an excessivelyrge string of symbols, that neither Marcus nor Mrazivy could read.

    Then Gwyneira, pricked her finger and deposited a drop of her blood into a vial that had popped out after she entered the correct password.

    And once that was done, she did what looked like a retinal scan, making Marcus wonder if he had actually been brought to a Sci-Fi world instead of a regr fantasy.

    "Finally, it is done." Gwyneira said once she had finished shutting off thest string of security that this locker had.

    Opening it up, Marcus saw that once again there were a series of magic bags ced within, but this time they were actuallybeled.

    ''Amethros ingots.''

    His eyes being immediately drawn towards the magic bag that had the most valuable metal in the world, in it, really wished he could grab it.

    Still as tempted as he was, he knew better than to try and steal something right in front of Gwyneira, especially when she had been pretty kind to him and Mrazivy.

    "Ah here it is." Gwyneira said as she plucked a magic bag out of the locker.

    She then turned towards Marcus and said, "Go ahead and empty the contents out of the bag. There should be three unique skill orbs inside. Feel free to choose any one of them."

    Nodding his head, Marcus did as she said and pulled out the three golden orbs that were inside the bag.

    ''Sound Mind, Ferocious Rage, Decaying Aura.''

    Checking the names of each of the three unique skill orbs, one stood out to Marcus immediately.

    ''Nope, not taking Ferocious Rage.''

    cing that skill orb back into the bag, Marcus had no intention of acquiring any sort of skill that impaired his judgment, no matter how powerful it may be.

    With one unique skill off the table, Marcus had to decided between the other two, and asked Gwyneira for a more detailed description of their abilities.

    ''Hm, both are pretty strong an have their merits.'' Marcus though after Gwyneira had told them what each did.

    Sound Mind would make him impervious to any sort of negative mental abilities, while also boosting his intelligence stat by twenty percent. On the other hand, Decaying Aura would allow him to create a field around himself, where any sort of organic matter would begin to rot into nothing. And this skill apparently did not disregard the user, but luckily Marcus was a ghost so that was a non-issue.

    Looking at the two unique skill orbs Marcus was having a difficult time choosing one of them.

    But after five minutes of going over their strengths and weaknesses, he finally came to a decision.

 Chapter 392 - New Unique Skills Acquired

    Having chosen which of the unique skills he wanted, Marcus put the other back in the magic bag and handed it back to Gwyneira.

    "So, which one did you choose." Gwyneira asked as she took the bag containing the other two back.

    "I decided to go with Sound Mind. It may have the least powerful effect, but it is the most stable, and a boost to my intelligence score is always wee."

    Nodding her head, Gwyneira, had expected Marcus'' choice from the beginning, since the other unique skills were quite dangerous.

    Of course, she had been hoping he would take Decaying Aura, since it was unlikely they would ever fine another suitable user, but she had left the choice up to Marcus.

    And while the danger that came along with Decaying Aura was a factor in Marcus'' choice, the main reason he chose Sound Mind was to prevent himself from ever being mind controlled.

    He had seen just how scary mind effecting abilities could be when Mrazivy had been turned into a puppet by Wyatt during the tournament.

    These types of abilities were now some of Marcus'' only weaknesses and having an immunity to them would make him that much stronger.

    ''Would you like to learn the unique skill, Sound Mind.''

    ''Yes.''

    Activating the golden skill orb in his hand, Marcus confirmed that he wanted to learn the skill, and a momentter, he felt a tingling in his head, before a sharp pain.

    "Ugh."

    Bending over and hold his head, it felt like someone was using a jackhammer inside his mind.

    "Wait. There is no need to worry, he is just getting used to the changes the unique skill is causing to his mind." Gwyneira said, as Mrazivy started to rush to Marcus'' side.

    After that, Marcus gritted his teeth and dealt with the pain for around thirty minutes as the unique skill strengthened his mind.

    In fact, this was actually quite simr to what happened to Lilia when she first learned Peerless Physique, though not quite as intense.

    "Ahhh"

    As soon as the pain had subsided Marcus let out a reflexive sigh of relief.

    ''Damn that hurt even more than cutting of my own arm.''

    Marcus then closed his eyes and focused on his mind, and he certainly was able to sense a fundamental change.

    He was able to think a bit clearer and faster, and he just felt more secure in general.

    "How are you doing?" Mrazivy asked as she saw Marcus no longer writhing in pain.

    "I am doing fine now. It just hurt for a bit, nothing I cannot handle."

    Now that Marcus had adapted to his new unique skill, and was doing perfectly fine, Gwyneira, led them back out of the vault and back towards the royal family''s quarters.

    "Oh, before I forget here you go Mrazivy." Gwyneira said, handing over the unique skill orb containing Winter''s Grace.

    "Go ahead and learn it. I can already tell you that you will be very happy with the effects." Gwyneira said, right before disappearing in a puff of mist.

    With the two of them being alone once again, Marcus and Mrazivy headed back to her room, and let Mrazivy sit down before learning Winter''s Grace, just in case it came with some pain just like Sound Mind.

    "Well here goes nothing." Mrazivy said as she used the unique skill orb.

    Immediately as she activated it and learned the skill sealed within, the temperature in the room dropped, and frost began to form around Mrazivy.

    She then began to hold her stomach obviously in distress and closed her eyes to bear the pain.

    It seemed that just like Sound Mind, Winter''s Grace fundamentally changed its user, and forced them to endure a painful metamorphosis.

    Luckily, after just five minutes Mrazivy opened her eyes, however, instead of their normal dark blue color, they were now a light blue almost like ice, and were glowing.

    Mrazivy then let out a breath, and Marcus saw that it was cold enough to freeze the water in the air.

    "How do you feel?" Marcus asked wanting to make sure Mrazivy was all right.

    In response she nodded her head and looked at Marcus with a big smile.

    "Thank you for letting me have this unique skill. It really is perfect for me."

    Mrazivy then cast the ice bullet spell without chanting, surprising Marcus.

    "Its outstanding. I no longer have to chant to cast any of my ice magic spells." Mrazivy said, ecstatic to have gained this power.

    However, she was a bit too enamored by this new ability and cast the tier two ice magic spell, ice floor, and coated her entire suite in ice.

    "Um Mrazivy, I think that you may have gone a bit overboard." Marcus said as he looked around the room that had been turned into a winter wondend.

    Her face red from embarrassment, Mrazivy said, "Sorry, I got carried away."

    After that, though, what happened next stunned Marcus, as Mrazivy seemed to absorb the ice, and cold around her until the room was back to normal.

    "That was pretty impressive." Marcus said surprised to see another application of Mrazivy''s unique skill.

    "Yeah, it is quite useful, and that is not even all of the powers this skill has."

    Mrazivy then exined what powers she had obtained from the Unique skill Winter''s Grace, and it nearly had Marcus staring at her in disbelief.

    The skill was incredibly powerful, with multiple different abilities within it.

    And while none of these abilities were quite as strong as a focused unique skill by themselves, whenbined all together they gave Mrazivy a power nearly as strong as a supreme skill.

    "Wow, that is quite the power boost. Not only did it give you all of those cold based powers, but it also raised each of your stats by eight percent." Marcus said, still wrapping his head around everything Mrazivy had just told him.

    "So did you want to help me test it out." Mrazivy said her excitement in to see.

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed to Mrazivy''s request and the two of them head towards the castle''s training grounds.

    However, when they arrived, Marcus told Mrazivy to warm up without him as he need to take care of something really quickly.

    ''Status.''

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 31/20

    Race: Unbound Ghost, Great Spirit of Light and Darkness

    Titles: Baress, Great Spirit, Prince

    Level: 44

    HP: 22560/22560

    MP: 16640/16640

    STR: 1095 (+197)

    AGL: 1032 (+237)

    VIT: 889 (+160)

    INT: 1410 (+254)

    SPR: 1023 (+184)

    Stat Points: 1052

    Skill Points: 103

    Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse, Greatest Potential

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, Soul Devour, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness, False Status, Deny Destruction, Sound Mind

    Skills: Large Item Box, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 4, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 6, Magic Cirction Lvl 6, Iron Magic Lvl 6, Disassembly Lvl 5, Stealth Lvl 5, Lightning Magic Lvl 5, Creature Appraisal Lvl 5, Fire Magic Lvl 5, Danger Sense Lvl 5, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 6, Healing Magic Lvl 4, Mana Regeneration Lvl 5, Speed Burst Lvl 5, Mana Body Lvl 5, Powerful sh Lvl 5, Physical Resistance Lvl 6, Heighten Spells Lvl 5, Forge Lvl 6, Trap Sensing Lvl 3, Dark Magic Lvl 5, Light Magic Lvl 5, Driving Lvl 4, Cooking Lvl 4, Cleaning Lvl 1, Soul Regeneration Lvl 5, Life Sense Lvl 3, Enhanced Vision Lvl 4, Dancing Lvl 3, Mana Barrier Lvl 5, Perforation Strike Lvl 4, Grand Swing Lvl 3, Magic Resistance Lvl 6 (Maxed), Telepathy Lvl 6 (Maxed), Death Dance Lvl 6 (Maxed)

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying, Spirit Portal, Summon Spirits, Ruler of Light, Ruler of Darkness, Confer Blessing

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows, Spirit Healing

    Looking over his stats, Marcus went wide eyed when he saw his intelligence stat.

    After obtaining the Sound Mind Unique skill, it had skyrocketed and was far and away above all of his other stats.

    However, when he looked at his currently crippled spirit stat, Marcus felt a hollow sense in his chest, as his former highest stat was now below even his agility and strength stats.

    Yet when he saw the number of stat points he had gotten from leveling up, he felt a fire burning within him, and did not hesitate to dump seven hundred of them straight into his spirit stat to bring it back up to its former glory.

    He then gave a hundred points to all of his physical stats, and the remaining fifty-two went into intelligence.

    ''Ah now that is better.'' He thought seeing his spirit stat once again reign supreme.

    And with his newfound stats increase, Marcus felt even greater power inside him now and was ready to get in a good spar with Mrazivy.. So, that both of them could get used to their new powers.

 Chapter 393 - Training With Mrazivy

    With his status now sorted out, Marcus entered the training grounds and found Mrazivy already working on using her chantless magic.

    "Mraz, I am ready, let us get to it." Marcus said, getting Mrazivy''s attention as she was about to fire off a tier five cialnce.

    However, instead of firing it off into the distance like she nned, she aimed it right at Marcus and fired.

    Seeing this Marcus was definitely caught off guard, especially because her spell was much faster and stronger than it had been before.

    Still Marcus did not back down, and summoning his scythe, cut the tier five spell straight in half.

    "That was a good try, but you are not going to catch me off guard with such a straightforward sneak attack."

    "Oh, that was not a sneak attack, just a greeting to make sure that you were on your toes." Mrazivy said while smirking.

    Yet as her eyes focused on Marcus'' new scythe, a look of disbelief came over her and she ran right up to him to get a better look at his phenomenal new weapon.

    "Wow did you really make this?"

    "Yep, it was not easy, but I got a bit lucky, and a little unlucky with making this scythe." Marcus said with a proud smile.

    Hearing this Mrazivy gave Marcus a confused look wondering how it could be unlucky to make a system recognized weapon.

    Seeing the perplexed expression Mrazivy had, Marcus exined to her what had happened.

    "I see, so you made something called a soul bound weapon. Well, I have not heard anything about them, but I will keep it a secret like you asked." Mrazivy said after listening to Marcus'' exnation.

    After that the two of them began practicing their respective skills, each learning how to better control their massively increased strength.

    Still as strong as she had be with her new unique skill, Mrazivy was having difficulty keeping up with Marcus, who was a league stronger than her.

    ''Raging Blizzard''

    ''Fire Storm.''

    As Mrazivy cast her powerfulrge area of effect spell, Marcus countered with his own, and ice and fire shed creating a massive cloud of steam.

    Nevertheless, even with as powerful as Mrazivy''s ice magic spell was, Marcus'' fire magic edged her out by just a bit and pushed her spell back.

    Mrazivy was not done though, as she rushed in with her sword teeming with mana and wrapped in a powerful cold aura, that would turn most into ice statues.

    But for Marcus, it did bother him in the least, as he channeled mana into his scythe and activated the lighting-based enchantments on it to fight against Mrazivy''s cold.

    The two then met in a flurry of shes sword against scythe, and for anyone watching it would have looked like a blizzard was fighting against a lightning storm.

    "Guh"

    Unfortunately, as intense and powerful as Mrazivy was, Marcus was just too strong for her to currently handle. And after they had exchanged blows a few dozen times, Marcus expertly parried Mrazivy''s sword, and deliver a swift hit to her gut with the handle of his scythe.

    Flying backwards, Mrazivy felt the soreness in her stomach from where Marcus had hit her, but what was really hurting was her powerlessness.

    She had been trying her hardest to get as strong as possible, but she always seemed to be a step behind Marcus.

    Even now, after acquiring a new and very powerful unique skill that was perfectly suited for her, she was barely holding her own.

    "Apex of Winter."

    Using the strongest ability that came with her Winter''s Grace Unique skill, Mrazivy entered a temporary state were all of her stats were increased, and she could unleash devastating waves of cold and ice.

    In fact, this ability was quite a bit like Marcus'' embodiment unique skills, although not quite as powerful and could only be used once a day.

    ''Frigid st.''

    Casting another tier five spell, Mrazivy sent out a powerful st of pure cold that began turning everything in its wake to ice.

    ''zegram''s Furnace.''

    Conjuring the form of a zing furnace, Marcus unleashed a jet of raging mes that met Mrazivy''s st of cold head on.

    However, this time Mrazivy''s attack was the one with greater power behind it and began pushing back Marcus'' spell.

    Putting up a mana barrier, Marcus deflected thest dregs of power that Mrazivy''s spell had after breaking through his own, but he soon found himself on the receiving end of an even more deadly attack.

    While their spells had were fighting against each other Mrazivy had quickly moved in, and using her mercurial ice, surrounded Marcus and was closing in with an omni directional attack.

    Of course, to evade this Marcus could have easily just gone ethereal and slipped by, but since this was training, he did not want to use such a maneuver since it would not benefit either of them.

    "Embodiment of Light."

    With Mrazivy''s Mercurial Ice closing in all around him, Marcus empowered himself with his Embodiment of Light, and began shing around rapidly.

    He sent out dozens of incredibly quickly shes and cut through Mrazivy''s unique skill that was surrounding him, blowing it away.

    Seeing this Mrazivy could only stare in disbelief, as Marcus crushed her best attack, that would leave most in a hopeless situation.

    Marcus then fired an impossibly swiftser spell, right past Mrazivy''s head, and where itnded arge explosion of light sted a hole in the training ground.

    Understanding what had just happened Mrazivy copsed to her knees, and the power that was all around her quickly dissipated as she sat there defeated.

    Running up to her Marcus crouched down and asked Mrazivy if she was okay, and in return she grabbed ahold of him and buried her head in his chest.

    "Why am I so weak? I have tried as hard as I can to get stronger, but I am still weak. I lost to Wyatt in the tournament, and watching you and Quillon, I could not even follow most of what was going on. And now, even after getting this power, you still beat me effortlessly. Why? Why am I not strong enough?"

    Hearing the frustration in her voice, Marcus wrapped his arms around Mrazivy and said, "Mraz I know you feel weak, but you are strong. Your drive to get stronger is greater than even mine andparing yourself to me and Quillon right now is not fair to yourself. Quilon is already evolved and was trained by a great master, while I have received a portion of my power from some outside source thanks to a lucky encounter. And while you may be weaker than either of us now, I know you will catch up soon. I promise I will not leave you behind and that we will both go on a grand adventure and reach the heights of this world together."

    Returning his hug, Mrazivy thanked Marcus for his encouragement, and the two of them slowly stood back up, and looked at the carnage of they had created in the training grounds.

    It looked as if some one had carpet bombed the area with missiles filled with liquid nitrogen, and both of them felt a bit bad for the people that would have to fix up the training grounds.

    "Well, I should at least clean up all this ice." Mrazivy said seeing the frozen field around them.

    She then began to absorb the cold towards herself, turning the ice back into liquid, and leaving water that quickly got absorbed back into the ground.

    After that the two of them went back to the castle and enjoyed the rest of theirst day together before Mrazivy embarked on her next exploration trip.

    Of course, they also made time to y with Eis who they had already promised to hang out with, and they spent most of the day entertaining the youngest princess until thete of night.

    "Good night Eis, we will be back in the morning to say goodbye, so do not stay up tote." Mrazivy said as they left Eis to go on their way.

    The two of them then headed back to Mrazivy''s room, and once inside Marcus changed his form from Irene back to himself.

    "Oh, are you that eager." Mrazivy asked with a teasing tone seeing how quickly Marcus had changed back.

    However, Marcus just shrugged his shoulders and said, "You were the one who so boldly asked me once we had finished training."

    Smiling Mrazivy walked up to Marcus and gave him a long passionate kiss before saying, "Well this is going to be ourst night together for at least a couple of weeks, so I am not going to let this chance go by."

    Taking the initiative this time, Marcus gave Mrazivy a kiss of his own, before picking her up and saying, "Very well then, but do not expect to get much sleep tonight."

    Marcus then carried Mrazivy back to her room, and ced her onto her bed, before the two of them indulged in a night of passion.

 Chapter 394 - A Goodbye And A New Set Of Armor

    As the sun began to rise, Marcus turned his head towards Mrazivy who still looked a bit worn out from their nightly activities, and gently shook her awake.

    "Mraz, it is morning. You need to get ready to leave."

    Grumbling lowly, Mrazivy sat up in bed and let out a long yawn before sleepily rubbing her eyes.

    "Mmm, how long was I asleep." Mrazivy asked to Marcus who she had requested to be her rm clock, so as to not oversleep.

    "About two hours. Sorry I got a bit carried awayst night."

    Shaking her head Mrazivy said, "No, I also kept going with you and knew I was not going to get much rest. Anyway, I enjoyed it as well."

    Mrazivy then gave Marcus a kiss on the cheek before getting out of bed and saying, "I need a bath, care to join me?"

    Smiling, Marcus got up and followed Mrazivy to the bath were the two of them enjoyed a nice rxing soak before getting ready to leave.

    "Well, it was good to see you before you left. And once I have finished up everything in need to here, and havepleted my other mission, I wille join you."

    "Make sure that you do, I can''t wait for us to have our first real adventure together. Oh, and you had better give me updates every day. I heard that your sending stone as finished, so make sure to call often."

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed to Mrazivy''s request to call daily, before turning towards the other person that was seeing the two of the off.

    "And I am d that we got to hang out with you Princess Eis. We had a good time ying with you yesterday."

    "Yeah, I was happy to get to see you again Eis, and when I get back, I will make sure that you are the first person Ie and see." Mrazivy said to her little sister.

    Grabbing ahold of the two of them, Eis pulled Marcus and Mrazivy into a hug, before pulling back and smiling.

    "See you both again and thank you."

    After that they all went their own ways, Mrazivy heading to the adventures guild to meet up with her party and take some requests. While Marcus headed back to the zegram Forge to meet up with risa, and Eis head back into the castle to continue her education to one day be used as a political tool.

    Being dropped off in front of the zegram Forge, Marcus went inside to check if risa had arrived yet, and when he found that she had not he waited outside for her.

    Around fifteen minutester, Marcus saw a silhouette running towards him, and as he looked over, he saw risa.

    However, unlike her usual knight garb she was wearing a white blouse and a light green skirt.

    Still, she did have both of her swords attached at her hip with a sword belt, making sure that she was prepared for a fight if necessary.

    "Sorry to keep you waiting Irene. It took me a bit longer to get ready than I thought it would."

    Smiling at risa, Marcus said, "It is no problem, I have only been here a few minutes myself. Now how about we pick you out a set of armor."

    Marcus then led risa into the forge''s storefront and took her into the back where they stored excess stock that was not yet on disy.

    And as they walked back there, risa looked around very interested, looking at all the different weapons, and armor.

    "Here it is. I am sorry to say that this is the only set that has not sold, so it is the only option." Marcus said, trying to make it seem like he had not made this armor specifically for her.

    Luckily though, risa seemed to buy his act, and since Marcus was doing her a favor, she had noints about theck of choice.

    Activating one of the enchantments on the armor, Marcus had it copse back into a pendant, and handed it over towards risa, who looked stunned.

    "Wha, what is that? Your armor just turned into a pendant!" risa said unable to hide her astonishment."

    Naturally she had never actually seen armor like this, and while she had heard about it, she thought it was something only the elite could have.

    "Irene, there is no way I can ept something like this. It must be incredibly valuable."

    However, as risa said this Marcus made a slightly confused expression and said, "No, this armor is not that expensive. I would only charge around two thousand gold coins for it."

    Hearing this risa looked at Marcus with disbelief, since he just made it sound like two thousand gold coins was pocket change instead of a sum that would take her years to make.

    "Sorry Irene, I know you want to help me, but I really cannot afford this." risa said as she tried to hand back the set of armor that was currently in pendant form.

    "Nope, you are taking that armor. Remember I said that I would ept payments in instalments. Also, you are my friend so I will give you a bit of a discount. So just ept the armor before I permanently affix it to you."

    Seeing that Marcus was not going to budge, risa bowed her head, and said, "Thank you, I will treasure it just like the swords you made me."

    She then ced the pendant around her neck and activated the armor testing it out.

    Immediately she could feel how light it was and that it was far sturdier than the standard enchanted bronze full te she had gotten for being a knight.

    "So how does it feel." Marcus asked already knowing it was a perfect fit but still wanting his armor to be praised.

    "It is great. I can move around so easily. Actually, with is on it feels like I can move even better. Also, it is incredibly sturdy. I feel like it could even block the ws of a manticore."

    Crossing his arms and holding his head up high, Marcus had an obviously pleased expression, and thanked risa for theplements.

    "Here this is all I have right now, but I promise that I will pay you back for this armor even if it is thest thing I do." risa said as she handed Marcus a pouch of money.

    ''One hundred forty-two gold coins. Hm I am actually surprised she was able to get this much so quickly.''

    Closing the pouch and storing it into his item box, Marcus thanked risa, and told her that there was no rush to pay him back and to not hurt herself to do so.

    After that, Marcus and risa went to a nearby caf¨¦ and met up with Adriana for lunch.

    "So risa when are you heading out to your new post." Marcus asked in between a sip of tea.

    "In five days. I will be traveling with a shipment of magic cores to River Landing as extra security. And then from there I will make my way to Trostenwald."

    "I see. Well, when I am up in that area again, I will make sure toe and visit." Marcus said.

    "Oh, but before that Irene, we are having a send off party for risa and her fellow new knights on five days. Would you have time to attend." Adriana asked.

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed, and Adriana gave him the information for the time and ce.

    The three of them then ate their lunch together, before going their separate ways.

    ''Now time to go to the Guldur Spire and get those new spells.''

 Chapter 395 - The Guldur Spire

    With his morning meeting with risa over, Marcus began heading towards the southern part of the capital, where the Guldur Spire was.

    Today he was meeting up with Aria, and now that he was going to be working for the kingdom even if only in a limited capacity, they were going to give him ess to a number of spells.

    Normally these spells were only handed out to the kingdom''s mages as they advanced through the ranks, but Marcus was a special case, and to make him stronger he was getting ess to all of the kingdom''s spells.

    Riding on a rented carriage, Marcus soon was able to see the Guldur Spire which rose up high into the sky and looked very different from all of the other building in the capital city.

    It was silver and sleek and stood above everything else in the vicinity.

    It was also the only area that had beasts and people actively flying around, its air space not being under restriction like most of the capital.

    ''Wow, that certainly is a sight to see.'' Marcus thought as he stared at the imposing tower.

    Eventually his carriage made it to the gate of the spire''s ground, and let Marcus off in front of the impressive campus that was the Guldur Spire.

    ''So, this is where the kingdom''s strongest mages gather, and teach the next generation the art of magic.''

    Even from the outskirts as Marcus looked in, he could see that this ce was very much like the idealist magic school he had in his mind would be.

    "Hello there, are you nning to enroll as a new student."

    Turning his head, Marcus noticed that one of the people that was manning the gates hade up to him.

    Looking at her Marcus could see that she was all smiles and acting quite polite.

    Of course, this woman who was actually also a teacher had noticed Marcus'' fine clothes that were enchanted with some powerful formation and must have been very expensive.

    So to her, Marcus was obviously some noble, and figured that he was here to be a new student.

    "Hm, oh no, I am not here to be a student. I am here for a meet with Grand Archmage Aria. This is my first time here, so I was just marveling at the spire and its grounds before going in."

    Hearing this the woman actually startedughing think that this was some type of joke.

    People did not just show up and have a meeting with the most powerful mage in the kingdom.

    In fact, even she had never had a one-on-one meeting with the Grand Archmage, even after being a teacher for three years.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus walked past theughing woman, and went up to the guard station and presented them with the letter that Aria had given him, along with the emblem he had received from the king.

    Seeing both off these, the guard who was currently at the station went wide eyed and said, "Please just a moment, Lady Geist."

    "Madame Comfrey, I need you to confirm this letter for me." The guard said with panic in his voice.

    The woman who had approached Marcus earlier, who was still chuckling a bit, looked confused before looking at the guard and then Marcus.

    Seeing the frantic expression on the guard''s face, she quickly moved back over to her post, and the guard handed her the letter.

    Immediately she recognized the grand archmage''s crest as well as the royal family''s on the letter.

    She swiftly pulled out a magical device that would reveal if the crests were genuine, and when it glowed indicating they were, her face went pale and she began sweating.

    Honestly, she had though that Marcus was just joking when he said he had a meeting with the grand archmage.

    "Please forgive me for my disrespect earlier. I will have someonee and escort you to the grand archmage immediately." Madame Comfrey said while bowing her head.

    However, just a few moments after she sent a message to the spire, Aria seemingly just appeared out of nowhere, and said, "Ah Irene so you are here. Come along I have a lot to show you."

    A secondter, she grabbed ahold of Marcus and the two of them warped away, stunning Madame Comfrey and the guards on duty.

    Reappearing, Marcus felt pretty shaken up, and was certain that if he was still flesh and blood, he would be throwing up right now.

    "What was that." Marcus asked, confused on how Aria had just warped them here.

    He had been teleported before in the ocean bluff temple, and this felt nothing like that.

    "Oh, that was just a simple tier six spell I created called sound travel. It allows me to slip into sound waves and travel along with them. Though it would not work as well if I left the range of this."

    Aira then flicked a floating crystal that was over her desk, and Marcus heard it emit a loud humming sound.

    Looking around the room, Marcus saw that Aira''s office was full of wonderous looking objects, as well as rows and rows of books lining her wall.

    "Here you go. These books contain all of the Guldur Spire''s known spells for the types of magic you possess." Aria said gesturing to a small pile of eight books that sat on a table.

    ''Picking up the first one, Marcus found that it was full of tier one through three fire magic spells, and nothing else.

    However, as he started reading through it, he found that most of the spells were just variations on the system''s spells.

    Still, some of them were pretty cool, like me jet which allowed flight, and a spell called heat vision that allowed the caster to see fluctuations in temperature.

    "Now go ahead and take your time learning them. I have other things to attend to so if I have note back by the time you are finished, just flick this crystal like I showed you earlier, and I will get the message."

    Aria then seemed to warp away again leaving Marcus alone.

    ''Well time to get started.''

    Going through the books, Marcus learned ever spell he thought might be useful, which was less than he thought.

    Some of the spells were just carbon copies of spells from different magics, like lightning shot, and firence. And Marcus did not want to waste his mental capacity on pretty much worthless spells.

    Still, when he got to the higher tier spells he found some more stand outs, like the fire phnx spell that Kase had used.

    Unfortunately, while Marcus managed to pick up some good fire magic spells from the tier four and five list, there were actually very few spells at that tier.

    ''If even fire magic only has a dozen tier four, and four tier five spells, how is it going to be for the other types.''

    Moving onto lightning magic, Marcus quickly scrolled through the tier one through three spells, picking out the few that seemed useful, or could have niche uses, and quickly made his way to the higher tiers.

    ''As I thought even less.''

    Learning the tier five and four lightning magic spells, Marcus moved onto darkness and light which were even more sparse.

    However, it was actually iron magic that was the smallest, with every spell being put into one small book that only actually had two dozen spells, from tier one to five.

    ''Well at least there is one tier five spell, and it is pretty powerful.''

    After spending a few hours to learn all of the spells he wanted, Marcus got up and flicked the floating magic crystal.

    Then a few minutester Aria, repapered in the room, and said, "Done already?"

    "Yeah, I learned all of the ones that I wanted to. Though there were less high tier spells than I thought there would be. And I did not see even a single tier six spell."

    Shrugging her shoulders Aria said, "Yes well tier six spells are closely guarded. I know that some of our mages have them, but it is not like they are going to share their trump cards. In that regard there are plenty of tier five and four spells that people, and families keep to themselves as well."

    Sighing Marcus understood what Aria was getting at. If he came up with a really powerful spell, he would not want others to be able to use it against him.

    ''I suppose that at some point I will need to learn to make my own spells.''

    As Marcus thought this, almost as if she could read his mind Aria said, "Would you like me to teach you how to craft your own spells."

    Nodding his head, Marcus most certainly did want to learn this skill, but unfortunately, Aria told him it would take quite some time to even teach the basics.

    "When you get back and have the time. Come see me at the spire, and I will teach you the intricacies of creating a new spell. Oh, and I have something else for you."

    Aria then moved over to Marcus and taking out of her item box handed him a sending stone.

    This was the one that the kingdom had been working on for him so that they could get into contact with him, and vis versa.

    However, the most important part for Marcus was that he could use it to contact Mrazivy.

    "Thank you for all you have done for me Aria. Now I suppose that it is time that I get out of your hair and go back home."

 Chapter 396 - Liliaâ€™s Birthday, Job Details, And The Beginning Of A New Journey

    With his goalplete, Marcus thanked Aria for her time, and all the help she had provided.

    After that, she warped him back to the entrance, and he went on his way, heading back home.

    ˇ­

    Days passed by quickly, as Marcus went to the forge to help out Thabon while he could, taking some of the workload from his master.

    Then when the time came Marcus attended risa and the other new knights farewell party, giving his best wishes to one of the first friends he made in the capital city.

    And finally, the day of Lilia''s birthday had arrived.

    This was thest thing Marcus had on his agenda before he left to find the Great Spirit of Nature Forlorieous, and he was going to make the most of it.

    So, getting up early, Marcus went to the kitchen an began preparing Lilia''s birthday breakfast that she had every year.

    ''And it is done. Hehehe, this year it is going to taste even better.'' Marcus thought as he stared at the simple meal he had just prepared.

    However, as simple as it was, this time Marcus used his higher cooking skill and knowledge to bring out the best of each part of the meal.

    For the goat sausage he had used a slightly different spice blend that paired better with the goat. And for the honeyed porridge he used the small amount of the tunnel bee honey he had left as a sweetener.

    Satisfied with his work, Marcus quickly ran up to Lilia''s room to wake her up.

    But when he got up to her room, he found she was already awake, and had a sending stone in her hand.

    "Thank you ric, and I cannot wait to see youter today."

    Lilia then put the sending stone down and had a big smile on her face.

    "Oh, now where did you get that from Lilia?" Marcus said, wondering where she might have gotten that sending stone.

    The one he had given her only went one way to the twin that he had in his possession, so he knew that this one was a different one.

    Looking up with a guilty expression, Lilia instinctively hid the sending stone since Marcus had used an using tone.

    Seeing this Marcus immediately felt bad since he just felt like teasing Lilia a bit, but now she thought he might be upset with her.

    "Sorry Lilia, you are not in any trouble. I was just ying around a bit. So would you mind telling me where you got that."

    Nodding her head, Lilia told Marcus that she got it from ric as an early birthday present so that the two could still talk to each other over school breaks, and that just now he had called to wish her happy birthday.

    "I see, so he beat me to it. And here I thought I would be the first to tell you." Marcus said almost defeatedly.

    Getting a bit frantic, Lilia pushed against Marcus who had slumped over on her bed dramatically, saying that he was still the first to see her in person.

    Hearing this Marcus began smiling and sat up abruptly and gave Lilia a hug while saying, "Happy Twelfth Birthday Lilia."

    After that, Marcus brought Lilia downstairs where they enjoyed their meal together, and Marcus was happy to see the smile on her face as she ate the nostalgic meal.

    "Okay, now let us get ready for your party." Marcus said as they finished up eating.

    Once the two of them had changed clothes and Marcus had gathered up Lilia''s presents, the two of them got into the carriage and began making their way to the Skalbeck estate.

    When they arrived, Marcus was impressed by their estate that was veryrge and lovely, showing the power and wealth of the family.

    Entering onto the grounds, their carriage pulled up to the front of the estate, where Lilia''s friends along with their parent were out their waiting for them.

    As they exited their carriage, Lilia''s friends all ran up to her and Marcus went to join the parents and give the kids some space.

    "Lady Irene it is good to see you again." Viscount Skalbeck said taking the initiative since this was his estate.

    A round of greetings was then had between Marcus and all of the other parents, and Bianca told Marcus that they would need to talkter.

    "Well, now that we have all greeted each other how about we move inside. There will be some more guesting in around an hour, but for now we can enjoy the festivities." Bianca said.

    Going inside the estate, their group was led to back yard where the party was set up.

    Once there, the kids began ying some games that were set up, while the adults sat down and had some drinks while talking amongst each other.

    However, it was not long before more party guests arrived, as numerous noble children from Lilia''s ss had been invited.

    Of course, some of these kids had been pressured by their parents, since this really was the first time that Lilia would be making any sort of public appearance, and along with her the elusive baress that was the talk of the nobles.

    "No, you should not believe every rumor you hear."

    "Oh, did the king say something weird when he confirmed my title?"

    "I have not heard anything special from Princess Mrazivy about her engagement to Marquis Krenston''s son begin broken off, or if she is in a rtionship with Prince Ferrous."

    "I am sorry but if you want me to make you something please go through the official channels and submit a request to the zegram Forge."

    Being bombarded by curious nobles, Marcus had to answer question after question while being as polite as possible, which was tiring as hell.

    At a certain point he even began thinking he would rather be fighting the de armed demon again instead of talking to these nobles.

    Still, he yed nice and did his best to act the part he was ying to ensure that Lilia did not face any trouble.

    And luckily as much as the noble kids had been instructed to get close to her, at least in the case of any of the boys, Lilia had a wall they could not get over.

    When any of the young boys tried to get too close to Lilia, or began making subtle moves on her, ric would step in and help her out.

    ''Well, it looks like they have gotten even closer.'' Marcus thought with a smile.

    Seeing ric sticking by Lilia here, his impression of the kid was growing. And he could see the smile on Lilia''s face whenever he was with her, telling him that he made her happy.

    Soon the time for Lilia to open her presents was upon them and everyone quieted down while Lilia took center stage.

    Though unlike in a normal party instead of Lilia opening the gifts, a number of the servants for the Skalbeck family opened them for her.

    Gift after gift was opened up and shown to Lilia.

    Some of the gifts were pieces of jewelry, others were books, and some where fine sets of popr games that were yed in the kingdom.

    However, one gift stood out among all of the others, and that was set of mithril bracelets.

    Yet these were not normal bracelets as they had a pattern running down them, showing they had been recognized by the system.

    Seeing this many of the nobles gasped and wondered who would get such an expensive gift for a child.

    In fact, even for a very close friend this would be considered and overbearing gift by most, and from anyone else, it was an obvious ploy to curry favor.

    Yet, everyone''s confusion vanished when they saw Marcus approach Lilia and say, "How do you like your gift."

    "I love it Lilia said."

    She then activated the bracelets and her gauntlets popped out and wrapped around her hands.

    Smiling Marcus was happy to see that it had worked.

    It had been very difficult to remake Lilia''s gauntlets and add this new enchantment to them, but now she could keep them on her at all times and deploy them at a moment''s notice.

    Though even now that the mystery of the person that had given Lilia such an expensive and rare gift had been cleared up, many still thought it was inappropriate

    It was quite unusual to give such a young child such powerful weapons that they probably could not use properly and could make them a target.

    But those few with appraisal skills that had seen Lilia''s level knew better, as they could see that this twelve-year-old girl was level thirty-two.

    Eventually the party began to wind down as the day grewter, and the guests slowly but surely left until it was just the core group that remained.

    "Lady Irene, I think now would be an ideal time to talk if you are avable." Bianca said to Marcus now that the party was all but over.

    Nodding his head, Marcus followed Bianca back into the manor and to a private room.

    "Now the king said that you would agree to be the representative of the kingdom to my city, but I would like to hear your conformation personally."

    "Very well. But first if I could ask, why did you request me specifically? I do not have any diplomatic experience, and I know next to nothing about your culture."

    Smiling Bianca said, "The reasons are simple. You do not have any political allegiances, you have no animosity towards my race, and most importantly you are practically a member of the family."

    Hearing this Marcus looked a bit confused, and asked Bianca to borate on thatst part.

    "Surely you noticed how close the two of them have gotten. They already seem almost inseparable. Also, ric has already begged me and his father to set up a meeting with you to arrange marriage talks. And while under normal circumstances I probably would have done so, I did not want to upset you as my mother had."

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, "I already told Lilia that she was free to do as she liked. Neither of us were born nobles so I am not going to force her to anything she does not want. But if she decides to marry ric after she bes an adult, I will support herpletely."

    Nodding her head, Bianca agreed with Marcus'' proposal, and said, "That is perfectly fine. Oh, but there is onest thing I want to ask you. Is it true tat you are a spirit?"

    A bit taken aback by this, Marcus hesitated for just a moment too long before answering and Bianca figured out the truth before he even said anything.

    "So, it is true. I honestly thought it was a baseless rumor, but your silence speaks volumes."

    Sighing Marcus said, "Since I doubt any denying will convince you otherwise. Yes, it is true, I am a spirit. But before you ask, yes Lilia is human, and is my sister. It isplicated but I did used to be a human before bing what I am today."

    Marcus then told Bianca a sort of true version of what happened, but left out anything to do with his identity as Marcus.

    "So is this going to be a problem." Marcus asked Bianca.

    However, contrary to what he believed Bianca said, "No, this is actually quite good."

    Tilting his head in bewilderment, Marcus had no idea what Bianca was getting on about.

    And seeing this expression Bianca said, "As I am sure you know, my people and the kingdom of Boreal have a rocky rtionship. There are still many in Glenn Reota that remember the failed invasion and loath humans. However, with you being a spirit you will be more openly epted."

    Understanding Bianca''s point of view, Marcus asked her for the details that the position of representative entailed.

    "Oh, it is nothing difficult. You will mostly be there to bridge the gap between our people and present the kingdom''s interests to our council. There will be a meeting here, a dinner there. You will need to live in the city for at least part of the year as well, but you will not be shackled there. Even as an ambassador I make sure to go home when I can. And if rtions start to improve further, it will be easier for me to bring my own family back with me."

    After that Marcus and Bianca hammered out the details for his new position, and ultimately deiced that he woulde to Glenn Reota and stay there during part of next spring to get everything situated.

    "Thank you for agreeing to everything. I know with your help, that the kingdom and Glenn Reota can once again regain the strong rtionship they once had."

    With their business concluded, Marcus and Bianca rejoined the party, which was pretty much over, and soon went their separate ways.

    "So did you have fun." Marcus asked to Lilia as they began their ride back home

    Smiling and nodding her head, Lilia told him that she had really enjoyed it, and that she could not wait for next year.

    Once they had arrived home, both Marcus and Lilia went to their rooms, and got some much-needed rest after the long day of partying and socializing.

    The two of them then spent the next couple of days together ying some of the games Lilia had received as presents and enjoying each other''spany, until it was time for Marcus to set off on his journey to meet with Forlorieous.

 Chapter 397 - Leaving The Kingdom Of Borealia

    With the day for his departure having finally arrived, Marcus was busy putting together thest of his preparation for the journey he was about to undertake.

    He knew that even in the best-case scenario it would probably be a week round trip but depending on Forlorieous'' mood it could take a lot longer.

    Still Marcus was quite exited to be getting back out there as he had been cooped up in the capital city for a while now and the call of adventure was beckoning him.

    Also, there was someone else that was getting a bit stir-crazy, and that was Roxene.

    She was starting to get board of ying around with Blitz and Lilia''s beastpanions, and was itching to get back out there and hunt.

    Even as an intelligent and immortal being, she still had some of her bestial impulses and she wanted to get back out there.

    So, Marcus had promised to bring her along and stop to let her stretch her legs periodically on their trip, since it was not like he was in any rush and figured he would enjoy the journey.

    He had already spent some time nning their route and using the maps within the very expensive as he had purchased, made sure they would not pass by any major settlements.

    ''I think I have everything in order.''

    Finishing up hisst check, Marcus was certain he had all of the supplies and items he needed within his item box or within the three magic bags he had on him.

    ''Roxene it is time to go. Meet me at the front entrance.'' Marcus said telepathically to his beastpanion.

    ''Finally, I have started to get bored senseless. I can only dig up freshly nted foliage to get a rile out of your maids so many times.''

    Sighing, Marcus now knew who the mysterious culprit digging up his garden was, but he really did have to put some of the me on himself for leaving Roxene alone for so long.

    Going downstairs, Marcus found Lilia along with the majority of his maids there to see him off.

    "Good luck at school and keep safe. Also, if you need anything from me do not be afraid to use that sending stone to message me and I wille as fast as possible." Marcus said to Lilia as they shared a goodbye hug.

    Marcus then turned to all of his maids and thanked them for their hard work and looking after the estate.

    With his goodbyes said, Marcus walked up to his carriage finding Roxene already inside and waiting.

    ''Hurry up and get in. I am ready to get out of here.'' Roxene told Marcus.

    Smiling Marcus patted the top of Roxene''s head, and said, "ra, it is time to go. Take us to the southern gate."

    Following Marcus''mand ra directed Blitz, and soon they were barreling down the city streets towards the southern gate where Marcus would be leaving from.

    "Take care ra. I trust you to keep everything running smoothly in my absence."

    "Yes, Lady Geist, I will do my upmost to keep the estate pristine and make sure that Lady Lilia is well cared for."

    After saying onest farewell to his head maid, Marcus and Roxene walked towards the southern gate and exited the kingdom''s capital.

    "Okay Roxene are you ready to stretch your legs." Marcus asked once they had walked a few hundred meters from the city''s gate.

    Nodding her head, Roxene began making a low growling noise, before her body erged as she activated her supreme skill.

    Many of the people that were currently waiting to get into the city saw this and went wide eyed, but before any sort of inquires could be made, Marcus had jumped on the Roxene''s back, and the two began rocketing down the road.

    Quickly Roxene began running at full speed, leaving gashes in the ground where her feetnded as she exceeded two hundred miles per hour.

    She had been cooped up in Marcus'' estate for quite some time, and while for any normal animal it would have enough space to run around, for Roxene it was small and cramped.

    However, as fast as she was, Roxene could not keep this up for long and after around twenty minutes of running at full speed while utilizing her supreme skill, she had worn herself out.

    "Do you feel better now." Marcus asked Roxene as she shrunk back down and was panting rapidly.

    ''Yeah, it felt good to run with abandon. But now I am tried, carry me.''

    Smiling at Roxene Marcus picked her up and began walking off of the road and into a nearby stretch of woods.

    With Roxene''s full sprint they had already traveled more than a hundred miles from the royal capital, and now Marcus was going to take to the sky for the next leg of their journey.

    "Hold on tight, I am about to transform."

    After giving Roxene a quick warning, Marcus took the form of a cdrius, and began pping his wings.

    Soon, with Roxene on his back, Marcus began flying high up into the sky, stopping when he had reached around four thousand meters.

    Once at this height Marcus began flying south towards the boarder of the kingdom.

    However, when they were around a hundred miles from the border, Marcus stopped andnded in arge rolling hills area which many different types of magical beast called home.

    "Okay Roxene feel free to go have some fun, just try not to pick on something you cannot handle."

    ''Oh, it will be fine. I doubt there are any beasts around here that can harm me.''

    Roxene then began running of into the hills, while Marcus felt like she had just raised a g.

    Luckily though, as much as Marcus expected for Roxene to lead a stampede of beasts back towards him, when she came back other than her fur being a little ruffled, she was perfectly fine.

    Though Marcus did notice one new thing about her and that was that she had leveled up.

    "You must have fought pretty hard to level up. So, what happened." Marcus asked.

    Yet as Roxene began to exin what she had done, Marcus began to twitch a little, since she actually had started a stampede.

    There was apparently arge group of a type of bison that had steel like tes all over its body, and she had angered the herd by killing a few of them.

    She then proceeded to ughter them with vicious attacks that tore through them, and finished off the leaders with one of her unique skills.

    "Roxene you should be more carful. If those bison were at a high level or had some special traits you could have been in trouble."

    ''Oh, there is no need to worry. I do not think any of them were even above level twenty-five. They were all just fodder to me.'' Roxene said as she scratched her ears.

    Sighing Marcus decided to let things be. Roxene was pretty smart and could take care of herself, and her judgment was normally sound unless she was trying to make trouble.

    "Now that you have had a bit of fun, it is time we get going."

    Transforming back into the form of a cdrius Marcus flew the rest of the way towards the border, until he had left Borealia and entered the domain of Tralenstein.

 Chapter 398 - A Big Misunderstanding

    Having flown over the border into Tralenstein, Marcus continued south towards the tree that Forlorieous was apparently inhabiting.

    And from where Marcus was, high in the sky, the outline of the massive tree that was still thousands of miles away was just barely visible.

    Using that as his guide Marcus flew with speed and purpose towards his destination.

    ''Marcus I am hungry. It is time for lunch.'' Roxene said to Marcus telepathically.

    ''Okay, I could use a break anyway. Jus give me a few minutes to find a good spot tond.''

    After flying for around three hours Marcus, felt they had already made some good progress and since it was not like they were in a race, they might as well enjoy themselves along the journey.

    Quickly spotting arge and magnificentke that was situated on top of a small mountain that had many creeks sprawling over it creating a beautiful pattern. Marcus decided tond their and try and catch some fresh fish for lunch.

    Landing on the banks of theke, Marcus noticed that plenty of different types of animals that were nearby began running into the woods or diving back into the water.

    Of course, most creatures would run in terror if an around forty-foot-long birdnded anywhere near them.

    Still this massive bird quickly transformed back into the shape of a normal human, causing some of the creatures that had been fleeing to do a double take as they looked back.

    ''Ah it is good to be back in my normal form. While being a Cdrius lets me fly much faster, staying that way for so long feels a bit unnatural. In the end my original form feels the best.''

    No longer needing to worry about appearances, Marcus was once again freely using his own form. Though he did use his magical hair clip to change his hair color to brown, since his normal tinum hair was a bit too eye catching.

    ''I am going to go and look for some fruits, mushrooms, or nuts. While I do that make sure to catch us some delicious fish.'' Roxene said before bounding of into the surrounding forest.

    Smiling as Roxene left, Marcus pulled out a chair and his scantly used fishing road and cast out a line.

    Naturally he had dozens of different ways he could go about this to catch fish faster, but he wanted to enjoy the process and rx while fishing.

    ''Oh, it looks like something liked the goat meat I was using a bait.'' Marcus thought after getting his first bite after around an hour.

    Feeling the tugging on his line, Marcus yanked back with a bit of force, and felt the mithril treble hook he had made, catch into the creature''s mouth.

    After that the battle began as the creature tried to swimming the opposite direction with its full force, while Marcus tried to reel it in.

    The creature began putting up quite the fight, and Marcus quickly realized he had not hooked some insignificant fish. Whatever was on the line was quiterge.

    Still while it probably would have been an absurdly hard fight to bring this creature in if it existed back on earth, Marcus was leagues stronger than it.

    Yet, as Marcus was starting to gain some real ground, he felt the line go ck, and thought he had lost his catch.

    However, a momentter he realized he was wrong as the creature that had taken his bait surfaced, and it had a very angry expression on its face.

    ''Oh, it is some type of catfish.'' Marcus thought seeing the behemoth of a fish sitting at the top of the water.

    The catfish as Marcus had identified it, was farrger than the average catfish that might be found on earth, already being over five hundred pounds and eight feet long while still being a juvenile.

    ''Level seventeen, not bad for a random fish that took my bait.''

    But as Marcus was busy apprising the catfish, it began making angry grunting noises, before sending out a st of water from its mouth.

    Seeing this st of watering for him, Marcus easily side stepped with a quick movement, getting out of the way.

    Except after he had dodged the catfish''s first attack, he realized something.

    "My chair!"

    Looking behind him, Marcus had forgotten his chair which had been right behind him, and was now busted up into multiple pieces having taken the catfish''s water st.

    "Gruuut"

    Letting out a few more disgruntled sounds, the catfish who was still hooked by Marcus began wiggling its whiskers back and forth, before jamming them deep into the water and further into the ground.

    A momentter, Marcus saw the water blow upwards and a shockwave began traveling through the ground towards him.

    Though instead of being afraid, Marcus was more enamored to see a catfish that could cause a small earthquake.

    Raising his foot, Marcus mmed it into the ground with all his might, and the shockwave caused by the catfish waspletely blown back, as Marcus caused an even greater shaking with his raw strength causing cracks to form in the ground all around him.

    Seeing this, the catfish while not an intelligent beast, still had its instincts screaming at it to flee understanding that it was no match for this adversary.

    Unfortunately, it was hooked by Marcus, and with one good yank, the fish came flying out of the water and crashing up on shore.

    "Sorry but you are going to be mine and mypanion''s lunch."

    After saying that Marcus cast one of his new tier two iron magic spells and created arge spike that impaled strength into the catfish''s brain.

    Then with that done he set to work on filleting his catch, when the noticed movement on the edge of the woods.

    That was when hundreds of people walked out into the clearing around theke, and spotted Marcus.

    ''What the hell are these guys doing here.'' Marcus thought seeing them alling rushing out of the woods.

    However, as he looked at them more closely, he noticed that they were all wearing uniformed armor and were moving in tight formation.

    That was when Marcus realized that this must be a battalion of soldiers.

    ''Damn did Ind in the middle of some sort of training exercise.''

    Wondering why all of these soldiers were here, Marcus could only think that it was either for training, or maybe some sort of dangerous creature was being subjugated.

    There were no major settlements that he knew about around here, and he had not seen anything when he peered down from high in the sky.

    Still hundreds of soldiers had just appeared out of the woods and were now surrounding him for some unknown reason.

    ''I have not done anything wrong so hopefully I can get by with some diplomacy.''

    Not wanting to cause any trouble, Marcus was wishfully thinking that these guys might just be curious about him and would leave him on his own after a quick chat.

    Soon the group of soldiers had moved over to him, and in the lead were a dozen or so people that were all riding some type of jaguar like magical beast.

    "You there identify yourself." One of the lead men said.

    "Oh, hello there. My name is Jed. What can I do for you find soldiers?" Marcus said giving the fake name he currently had in his status while also trying to sound as polite as possible.

    Yet before the man who had originally addressed Marcus said anything else, one of the soldiers next to him whispered something in his ear. "Sir I just apprised him, and his level is fairly high at level twenty-four. There is a good chance he is a scout."

    The lead man that had addressed Marcus then looked at him suspiciously, wondering if he was one of their targets.

    "Jed you are under arrest on suspicion of being a part of the rebel forces. We will be taking you into custody and preforming a thorough investigation. Come quietly and should you be proven innocent we will release you unharmed."

    Hearing this, Marcus now understood what a unit of the army was doing all the way out in the middle of nowhere.

    ''Looks like the mounting tensions have grown into a full-blown rebellion.''

    Sighing Marcus began using his appraisal skill on all of soldiers around him.

    And what he found was a bit surprising seeing that their leader who had so far been quiet, was level forty-six, and the other mounted soldiers ranged from level thirty-five to forty-two.

    ''They are pretty strong overall. Still, I doubt I will have a problem if I just disappear.''

    Unfortunately, right before Marcus was going to use his ghost form to escape, Roxene came running back into the clearing, drawing everyone''s attention to her.

    The soldier quickly took up position and those with bows and crossbows began firing at her, unleashing a barrage of projectiles at Roxene.

    Still these arrows and bolts meant nothing to Roxene as she cast a residence scales spell blocking all of them.

    Yet, this caused more problems, as the elite soldiers saw this and realized that Roxene was an intelligent beast.

    "Bradly, Ava, Nash. Deal with that beast, take it alive if possible." Themander of the unit said speaking for the first time.

    Following theirmander''s order, Marcus saw three of the mounted soldiers begin racing towards Roxene to subdue her.

    ''Ugh this is a huge mess.'' Marcus thought seeing how things had developed.

    Nevertheless, he was not going to leave Roxene out to dry and going into his ghost form quickly began flying towards her.

    Of course, his sudden disappearance got the attention of themander and his other elites, but even as they deployed all of their skills to find him, they came up empty.

    "Back off." Marcus said reappearing right in front of Roxene and brandishing his scythe

    ''Roxene get into mypanion storage and we can get out of here.''

    Nodding her head, Roxene began moving towards Marcus to do as he said when the chaos began.

    Spells and projectiles began raining down on the area, and both Marcus and Roxene had to take evasive action as an explosive arrownded right in between them.

    "Rahhh."

    A war cry then echoed through the woods as hundreds of more people began rushing towards the Tralenstein soldiers, attacking them with abandon and causing a melee to break out.. With Marcus and Roxene caught in the middle.

 Chapter 399 - A Big Misunderstand (2)

    With explosions going on all around them, Marcus and Roxene had been pushed further apart as hundreds of men and women began rushing out of the woods and attacking the solders of Tralenstein.

    The battlefield quickly turned bloody as the soldiers of Tralenstein were caught off guard and their weaker members quickly into pools of blood.

    Looking out at this, Marcus was momentarily unnerved to see his first real sight of war, as bodies went flying everywhere, and pained cries resonating throughout the area.

    Still, he quickly got ahold of himself, and scanned around for Roxene finding that she was currently doing her best to evade the attacksing at her from both sides.

    ''Roxene continue evading while running towards me. We are getting out of here.''

    With Marcus'' direction Roxene did her best to avoid those that were perusing her, and run towards Marcus, while he began slipping through the chaotic battlefield towards her.

    Yet, as Marcus was closing the distance, his danger sense started going off like crazy.

    Stopping and turning towards his left, Marcus reacted just in time to deflect a top tier mithril ive that was aiming to piece right through his torso.

    "Oh, you are good as I would expect of the leader of the kingdom''s mountaineer brigade." The man said.

    Hearing this Marcus was entirely confused since he really had no idea what was going on and was just an innocent bystander.

    However, he soon realized why this man thought he was some type ofmander, and that was due to his scythe.

    Only the strongest people would have such a powerful weapon, and from this guy''s point of view, Marcus was the strongest enemy on the battlefield meaning he must be the enemymander.

    ''Level forty-seven, and he seems pretty strong. Damn if I bring him towards Roxene, she might actually get hurt her.''

    "Listen I am not with mountaineer brigade as you called it. I am just a bystander that got caught up in this. Would you mind letting me go, and I promise I won''t make any problems you or yourpanions." Marcus said hoping to defuse the situation.

    s, he knew this was a long shot and the man with the ive said, "Yeah right. Like I am going to believe you. No, I said I would kill the enemymander so that is what I am going to do."

    Stuck between a rock and a hard ce, Marcus cast his gaze over to Roxene who was still doing her best at evasion and seemed fine for now.

    Unfortunately, things were not looking good, and the longer things went on like this the more likely that one of them might get hurt.

    ''Roxene, go ahead and start killing anyone in your way. I just need a few seconds to deal with this guy and then we can meet up.'' Marcus said to Roxene allowing her to stop holding back.

    He had hoped to get out of this without killing a bunch of people, but now that push came to shove, he was going to put down anyone in his way.

    "Keep your eyes one me." The man wielding the ive said as Marcus cast his gaze towards Roxene, taking this opportunity to attack.

    Yet as his de should have chopped Marcus'' head off, it passed right through his neck, leaving the man stunned.

    ''Die.'' Marcus thought as he used this opening swinging his scythe for the man''s head.

    But as the tip of his scythe, was about to piece the ive wield man''s left eye, a mana barrier appeared around his head, blocking the scythe for an instance.

    Nevertheless, the man''s mana barrier was unable to hold up to the power behind Marcus'' scythe and shattered an instanceter.

    Shinnnng!

    A new shinning blue barrier appeared in front of the man''s face, and the ne around his neck began to glow.

    "Whew that was close." The man said as he jumped back his second defense saving his life.

    Crack!

    Shattering the life saving magic item he had on him broke into pieces, stunning the man since it should have easily held up to a few attacks.

    "Well, you are stronger than I thought, I will need to stay on my toes."

    The man then took a defensive position no longer nning to finish Marcus off quickly, but wait until the rest of the fighting had wound down and he could fight Marcus together with hisrades.

    ''Laser.''

    Still, this meant little to Marcus who was just going to overwhelm this man quickly and then pick up Roxene.

    Barely reacting in time, the man used his ive to blocked theser spell, but it was toote, Marcus was already right next to him, shing out with his scythe.

    Yet with a feat of agility using all of his reflexes and battle experience, the man was able to twist his body back, and got off with just his right arm being cut off.

    Though as his arm was falling, Marcus simply took a step forward and swung again but the man using his ive managed to block the blow and only be sliced into a few inches instead of all the way in half.

    Even so, the man was still blown away from the force of the swing, and Marcus was satisfied that the guy would be out of his hair.

    "AWHOOOO!"

    A moment after the loud howl resounded through the area, a massive burst of light energy covered the battlefield.

    Seeing this everyone was surprised by what had just happened, but Marcus knew that this was Roxene''s unique skill howl of day.

    ''Shit she must be in trouble if she had to resort to that.''

    Looking back Marcus saw the scorched earth around Roxene as well as the numerous bodies from the people that were attacking her.

    ''Time to go.''

    Going into his ghost form Marcus took his opportunity to fly towards Roxene, so the two of them could get out of here.

    Yet as Marcus was flying towards her, the man with the ive began rocketing for her after seeing the damage she had done.

    He was aiming right for Roxene with his ive in front as heunched himself like a missile.

    And unfortunately, with Roxene panting and worn out from using her unique skill, she was in no condition to block or dodge this kamikaze attack

    With his only option to meet the attack head on Marcus reappeared and swung his scythe forward infusing it with a massive amount of mana while activating all of its enchantments.

    The two of them then shed, and the man pushed against Marcus trying his best to break through and kill both Marcus and Rexene who he perceived as the biggest threats.

    Nevertheless, he was horribly outmatched and within less than a second Marcus had deflected the ive out of the man''s remaining hand.

    Then bringing his scythe back down Marcus aimed to end this nuisance once and for all, when the man shouted out, "Captain!"

    And instant after, Marcus saw a blur moving at blinding speed and two des met his scythe stopping it in its tracks right before it ended this man''s life.

 Chapter 400 - Marcus Vs The Rebel Captain

    Looking at the person that had stopped his attack, Marcus was surprised by their characteristics.

    That was because they looked like a young girl that was around maybe sixteen or seventeen, but also because they were a fox beast person.

    Yet the most striking feature that Marcus noticed was her three fluffy golden tails that matched her hair.

    However, as stunned by her appearance as he was, Marcus could feel a sense of danger emanating from her and jumped back getting away from her.

    And even though he had his entire attention focused on her, so far, she had barely nced at him as her attention was on the man he had nearly killed.

    "Knox report, who is that?" The golden fox girl said wanting to know Marcus'' origins.

    "Uh captain is that not themander of the mountaineer brigade? He has the most powerful weapon and felt the strongest." Knox said still assuming Marcus was the enemy leader.

    Sighing the girl seemed exasperated by Knox and said, "I keep telling you that you need to read the reports now that you are in amand position. Themander of the mountaineer brigade is a middle-aged man with ck hair and fights with a three sectioned staff. This person is obviously not him, or any of the other officers of the brigade."

    Rubbing his head, Knox looked a bit embarrassed and said, "Then who is he? He is really strong."

    For the first time the captain of what Marcus could only assume were the rebel forces, took a good look at him and a scowl appeared on her face.

    "I do not know who he is, but he does seem familiar. He might be a high-ranking agent that works directly for the crown." The rebel captain said.

    She then turned back towards Knox as if Marcus'' presence was no threat to her and said, "Take this."

    "You sure captain, this is you emergency elixir." The man who was apparently named Knox said.

    "It is fine. I cannot have you dying on me when we only have so many capable fighters."

    Nodding his head, Knox drank the elixir and his wounds quickly healed and even his arm began to regrow.

    After that the fox beastgirl turned to looked at Marcus and said, "I am sure that you have already noticed but the mountaineer brigade is all but wiped out. I have already killed themander and all of his officers so do not expect any help toe. Now if you surrender and give us any information you might have, I will let you live out the rest of your life in a cell."

    ''Level fifty-three. Not only does she have a high level, but she gives me a simr feeling to Quillon. Also, those adamantine kukris she has are pretty high quality. Even just looking at them from here, I can tell they were one step away from getting the system''s recognition.''

    Analyzing the situation, Marcus was a bit curious as to what was going on, and now that he was not actively getting attacked or having to dodge explosions, he had taken a moment to assess everything.

    Also, Roxene had already quietly snuck back to him and entered hispanion storage, so he was ready to disappear in an instant, and had just been watching for curiosity''s sake.

    ''Hm, well this has been an interesting development. But right now, I need to make my way to Forlorieous. So, I should take my leave.'' Marcus thought.

    Putting his scythe away, Marcus held up his hands as if surrendering and said, "As captivating as this whole situation has been, I must be going now. Goodbye."

    After saying that Marcus went into his ghost form and began floating up and away, leaving almost everyone that had surrounded him bbergasted.

    However, there was one person who kept their calm and began searching for Marcus, and that was the rebel captain.

    But when all of her normal senses failed to locate him, she channeled spiritual energy into her eyes and spotted Marcus floating away.

    "You are not getting away."

    "Fight to the Finish."

    Thinking, he had made a clean break, Marcus began talking to Roxene about what had just happened, when he suddenly felt a tug on his back.

    It was an rming feeling since he had no idea where it came from, how it was affecting him, or why his danger sense had not warned him.

    Turning around he saw it. What appeared to be a translucent chain was attached to him, and following it down he saw that the other end was affixed to the rebel captain.

    Grabbing ahold of the chain Marcus tried to rip it apart, but it would not budge no matter how hard he tried.

    "You are not going to break that connection unless you kill me, or I release it. I am going to give you onest chance to surrender." The rebel captain said up into the air towards Marcus.

    Of course, all of her fighters wondered why she was yelling into the air since as far as they could tell there was nothing up there.

    Sighing, Marcus figured that this chain must have been some type of unique skill, since even when he tried soul devour on it nothing happened.

    Floating back towards the ground Marcus resigned himself and reappeared.

    "Very well. Then I guess I will have to kill you."

    Pulling his scythe back out Marcus charged towards this fox girl who had used some type of skill to tether them together.

    However, even as he approached, she just smirked and readied her twin kukris.

    shing with all his might while activating the enchantments on his scythe and using his powerful sh skill, Marcus aimed to st the girl back and then unleash a barrage of powerful spells.

    Yet that is far from what happened as her kukris lit up with bluish silver me and she met Marcus'' attack head on with one of her des, while cutting towards his neck with the other.

    Luckily, while she had spiritual energy channeled in her eyes in order to see Marcus if he was ethereal, she was not yet using it to enhance her des.

    So, Marcus sprung past her, making the area where the kukri would have cut into ethereal, as he brought his left fist straight towards her head.

    ''Inferno Fist.''

    Casting one of the new tier five spells he had learned, Marcus'' fist became engulfed in incredibly hot fire.

    BOOM!

    As his fist struck there was a massive explosion of white-hot mes that should have killed the golden fox beastgirl, but instead, it was Marcus'' arm that had been blown to pieces.

    Feeling the sting of his now missing arm Marcus jumped back right before a sh cut of his other arm.

    ''What the hell just happened.'' Marcus thought as he looked at his missing left arm that had for some reason been injured by his own spell.

    But as he remembered what had happened, he recalled that some sort of shield that looked like a tortoise shell made out of diamonds had appeared and intercepted his fist.

    ''Damn she just deflected my own attack back at me. Talk about a broken ability.''

    Understanding what had just happened Marcus could only think that this fight really was not going to be an easy one.

 Chapter 401 - Marcus Vs The Rebel Captain (2)

    With his inferno fist spell having been deflected back at him and blowing off his left-hand, Marcus was currently in a bit of a precarious situation being down an arm.

    Luckily his high-speed regeneration was already going to work and pumping in a persistent healing spell Marcus sped up the recovery process.

    ''Why is she just waiting there?''

    However, while he was waiting for the next attack toe his way since he was injured, nothing happened, and the rebel captain just stood there watching with her guard up.

    She had no intention of making the first move right now and was perfectly fine waiting for Marcus for now.

    Her subordinates were currently clearing out from the area, since after seeing Marcus''st attack, she knew that this was going to be a dangerous fight where any bystanders that were around would get caught up in it.

    ''Well, if she is just going to sit there, then I will take my time to prepare.''

    Seeing as his opponent was not making a move Marcus began casting buff spells on himself, starting with the new spell he learned called lightning warrior.

    It was tier five spell and while it was simr to the lower tier spell lightning strider it was far stronger and increased strength a bit along with a massive boost in agility.

    After that Marcus cast heart of the forge, followed by arms of darkness and legs of light, before reaching the point of mana consumption that was just a bit more than he restored with his regeneration skill.

    Unfortunately, he was not the only one that had been casting buff spells in preparation, and the rebel captain had been doing the same.

    ''Captain we have cleared the area. Feel free to go wild.'' One of her subordinates said using telepathy.

    ''Fox Fang Strike.''

    Keeping an eye on his enemy Marcus was a bit surprised to see her jump at him widely raising both of her weapons above her head in a posture that left her wide open.

    Yet, he immediately felt that something was wrong, and soon he understood what it was.

    Ignoring the form that wasing at him from the front, Marcus abruptly turned around and swung forward with his scythe towards what appeared to be nothing but the air.

    CLANG!

    The resounding sound of metal shing against metal could be heard as Marcus'' scythe met the invisible des of the golden fox beastgirl he was fighting.

    An instant after that the illusory recement the girl had conjured passed harmlessly through Marcus, as he fought the real one that had gone invisible.

    "Oh, I am surprised that you not only noticed that the me in front of you was an illusion, but also that you were able to locate me."

    Marcus then felt the force that was being pushed against his scythe back off, and quickly the fox beastgirl left the range of the skill he was using to find her.

    ''Damn this is annoying. Her illusions look incredibly real, and even danger sense did not detect her. If I did not have life sense active right now, I would have beenpletely blindsided.'' Marcus thought while trying to figure how to counter these illusions.

    He tired using the chain that connected them, but it had seemingly disappeared, and he could no longer see or feel it.

    ''Heat Vision.''

    Casting the heat vision spell Marcus looked around for the inviable rebel captain, but unfortunately, she had some type of heat shielding ability that prevented that from working.

    Sighing since nothing else was working Marcus opened up his status and was about to spend some skill points to increase the range of his life sense skill, when he felt her enter into his range again.

    Bringing his scythe around Marcus did his best to fight her off, but even thought he could feel her life force, she was still invisible, and he could not see exactly where her arms and swords were.

    After taking a few blows Marcus knew he was not going to be getting anywhere this way, and using the tier four spell darkness pulse, sent out a wave of darkness energy in every direction.

    Still his opponent was very fast and had zipped away once again escaping the range of Marcus'' life sense.

    At the very least this did give Marcus a chance to spend some points into life sense dropping thirty-six points to bring it up to level five.

    And as the skill''s range doubled for each level Marcus could now sense out to one hundred sixty feet and found the fox beastgirl currently perched up in a branch around a hundred feet away.

    The reason for this was due to it being the maximum distance she could get from Marcus, or he could get from her so long as her unique skill fight to the finish was active.

    ''Fire storm.''

    Now that he was able to locate her Marcus had no problems with barraging her with powerful spells.

    With the fire storm spell engulfing everything around her, the rebel captain had realized evasion was impossible and leapt straight through the raging mes.

    Feeling this Marcus was surprised but he got ready as his target came sting out of the mes and right towards him.

    ''Iron Ramparts.''

    Using the only tier five iron magic spell he had gotten from the kingdom, Marcus conjured an incredibly thick fortified wall that expanded out for two hundred feet and stood fifty feet tall.

    This forced the rebel captain to halt her advance and changing her posture used her feet to brace against the wall, before channeling mana into her two des and cutting through it.

    But Marcus had not stood idle while she had done this and was now floating in the air above as he cast his next spell.

    ''Luminous Prison.''

    Casting a tier five light magic spell, Marcus sent dozens of beams of light down which quickly shaped themselves into a cell around the golden fox beastgirl.

    Normally this spell would be absurdly difficult to escape from, but the rebel captain suddenly erupted with the same bluish silver mes that covered her kukris and began burning through the luminous prison.

    ''Tote. Cataclysmic Iron Sword.''

    Nevertheless, Marcus'' light magic spell had restrained her long enough, and using his most powerful spell, sent down a titanic sword of iron with the same amount of force as a freight train.

    ''Reflector Shield.''

    Having no other way out, the fox beastgirl once again used the same move she had to block Marcus'' inferno fist spell.

    And as if breaking thew of physics, very simrly to when Quillon first blocked Marcus'' cataclysmic iron sword, the hundreds of tons of iron bounced back receiving all of the force behind it back onto itself.

    Except this time, Marcus was in its return path and had to quickly go ethereal to avoid being hit by his own spell once again.

    However, as soon as his cataclysmic iron sword had passed through him the fox girl was right there covered in her bluish silver mes that had formed around her body in the shape of a fox.

    ''Fox Fire Twin sh.''

    Being blindside, Marcus was hit by the rebel captain''s attack that was infused with spiritual energy and went rocketing towards the ground with deeps cuts in his body while enveloped by fire.

 Chapter 402 - Marcus Vs The Rebel Captain (3

    Flying towards the ground, Marcus flew straight through as he was still ethereal.

    However, before he got too far underground the chain that was connecting him to the rebel captain tugged on him preventing him from going any further.

    ''I have never been more appreciative of my armor than right now.'' Marcus thought.

    If it had not been for his sturdy armor, he was certain that he would have been cut in half, but thankfully his armor and the spiritual energy he had used for defense had blocked most of thest attacks force.

    Still the power of the fox girl''s mes that had been infused with spiritual energy had done a number on Marcus and he felt the burns that had afflicted his soul.

    ''Hm seeing as how I am down here; I might as well just wait until I recover.''

    Unfortunately, just a few seconds after he thought this, the rebel captain cut through the ground to his location.

    The mouth on her me mask then opened and she unleashed a me breath that was like a beam straight towards Marcus.

    ''Embodiment of light.''

    With the me breathing right for him, Marcus had no option but to use one of his unique skills to boost his power.

    Since he had been forced into this fight, he wanted to see how far he could go without relying on his unique skills that drained him quickly. But his opponent was just too strong to hold back against anymore.

    He then covered himself with a mana barrier to hold back the mes for a moment while he cast a radiance scales spell that he empowered further with his embodiment of light.

    Yet even with his powerful defensive spell, Marcus saw it starting to crack under the pressure of the me breath, but his next attack was already in motion.

    Focusing on his cataclysmic iron sword Marcus had the titanic form of iron crash back down right on top of the fox girl that was currently trying to burn him to a crisp.

    BOOM!

    As the cataclysmic iron sword hit the ground, it broke thought the earth with ease, causing tremors and leaving cracks throughout thendscape.

    Even the nearbyke was not unaffected as it was rocked violently, andrge waves began sshing about.

    ''Damn I missed her.''

    However, as much power as was behind Marcus'' tier six spell, his target was quite fast and nimble and had dodged by flying in the air.

    ''At least she had to stop her attack.'' Marcus thought as he floated out of the ravine his and the rebel captain''s attacks had created.

    He then reappeared as he floated into the sky, casting his tier five iron magic spell and creating six wings to keep himself aloft.

    "You certainly are stronger than I thought you would be. I am surprised that the king had something like you hidden away. You are certainly not human, and your magic is already beyond the master ss. I also know there is no way you are level twenty-four, so you must have some skill to alter your status. Just who or what are you, and what is your rtionship to the king?"

    As their fight had gone on the rebel captain had grown more and more curious about who Marcus was.

    She used to be one of the kingdom''s great knights, but she had little to no recollection of ever seeing Marcus.

    Still, she felt like she had seen him somewhere before, and his power and appearance on this battlefield led her to believe he was a hidden agent of the crown.

    But now that she had fought him for longer, she was certain he was not human, and wondered if he was some type of monster or maybe even a spirit.

    ''Did the king or possibly someone close to him hire some sort of specter assassin or something.''

    Seeing that the rebel captain wanted to open a dialogue, Marcus dissipated his cataclysmic iron sword that was eating through his mana and was unlikely to ever connect against such a nimble opponent.

    He was also hoping that maybe there was a chance now that he could end things peacefully.

    He had shown that he was no push over and that it was quite possible that he could kill her. So, she might let him go if he could convince her that he was not some agent for the king.

    "To answer your question, I already said this before, but I have no connection to this kingdom, and was just traveling through. It was just an unfortunate ident that I was here. I promise that if you let me go you will never see me again."

    s, with the situation as it was the rebel captain did not believe Marcus, and with her attempt to fish for answers seeming to be unfruitful, she said, "Very well. You can keep all of you secrets in death."

    After saying that the fox beastgirl, began flying towards Marcus and she suddenly spilt into nine different images.

    Luckily even with these added fakes Marcus could still tell where she was thanks to his life sense skill.

    pping his wings and channeling his embodiment of light Marcus moved like a sh and flew straight towards the real one.

    Seeing this she was surprised, not that Marcus had once again found her but at how fast he was moving now.

    Before she had the advantage in speed, but now he was much faster.

    Fighting in midair, Marcus let loose a rapid storm of shes that were pushing back the rebel captain, who was having to use her all just to keep up.

    ng!

    Catching both of her kukris with his scythe, Marcus wrenched them from her hands, though he had to throw away his own scythe in the process.

    However, this was all a part of his n as he punched towards her head with his right arm casting another inferno fist.

    Seeing this the rebel captain once again conjured her reflector shield in the path of Marcus'' attack, using her final use of the ability for the day.

    ''Got you.''

    Smiling, Marcus pulled back his right hand having already expected this oue, and having lowered his left towards her abdomen cast aser spell.

    Yet right before that had happen the fox girl had all of her illusions blitz towards Marcus in what he thought was an attempt to distract him, until his danger sense started going off like crazy.

    Then simultaneously, Marcus fired hisser spell through the rebel captain''s abdomen right under the area her armor protected, and the illusions all disappeared revealing that they had been hiding a ball of blueish silver me within.

    KABOOM!

    The eight bluish silver balls of fire exploded around Marcus while the fox beastgirl was blown away by hisser spell.

    It was a simultaneous hit as both of their sneak attacksnded home.

    Crashing into the ground the rebel captain felt the stinging pain right above her waist and saw a pool of blood gushing out of the hole in her body.

    Still, she looked up expecting to see Marcus in an even rougher shape, only to look up in horror as she saw him unharmed.

    At thest moment he had closed his iron wings around himself, and while many of the feathers that made them had melted from the heat, he had managed to block the attack.

    Gritting her teeth and standing up, the rebel captain watched as Marcus pulled out six floating lenses and staked them all together to unleash one big finishing attack.

    ''No choice, I have to do it.''

    "Awaken!"

 Chapter 403 - (Hidden, Title At The Bottom)

    "Awaken!"

    As Marcus heard the fox beastgirl say this, he noticed her aura start to shift and a gold and sliver glow began to emit off her body.

    And seeing this he quickly realized he had seen something simr to this before when Treasa transformed.

    ''She is entering her evolved form.''

    Knowing what this was, Marcus was not going to just let her power up and quickly unleashed his next attack.

    ''Darkness drillser.''

    Combining his tier four light and darkness magic spell, Marcus sent them through all six of his elemental focusing lenses and unleashed one of his most powerful attacks.

    Quickly the spiraling st of light and darkness energy descended upon the fox beastgirl.

    But right before it hit her, she disappeared without a trace, as Marcusbination spell bored deep into the already shattered ground.

    ''sh Fire Step.''

    ''Fuck.''

    With barely an instant to react Marcus crossed his arms in front of him as the rebel captain appeared to his left and delivered a swift kick d in bluish silver mes.

    Before Marcus even had a moment to process what had happened, he felt his body crashing into the ground before he was tugged back by the chain that connected him to the fox beastgirl.

    Being wrenched back into the open, Marcus saw that his enemy had retrieved her kukris and was preparing to deliver a finishing blow.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form.''

    With the rebelmander using the full power of her evolved form, Marcus was beingpletely overwhelmed and knew he needed to resort to his strongest trump card.

    Increasing all of his stats drastically but especially his agility, Marcus quickly righted his posture and resummoned his scythe to him just in time to meet the fox beastgirls'' attack head on.

    A devastating explosion emanated from their sh, before the two of them were pushed back as far away as they could be.

    Then for just moment there was a stand still as they both appraised each other''s recent transformations.

    ''She is much stronger now and can move impossibly fast. Even faster than Quillon. However, the biggest change is the number of tails she has. Now she has nine.''

    Seeing this Marcus knew that this transformation was anything but ordinary.

    He already knew that things like dragons and other mythological beings from Earth existed here, and among some of the most powerful were supposedly nine tailed foxes.

    ''Her wound has also closed without a trace, and her mes are even hotter. This is not going to be easy.'' Marcus thought.

    And as Marcus was evaluating her, so was she, and she simrly was daunted by the level of power Marcus was emitting.

    Histest powerup made him just as fast as her when speed was the primary boost she got from her awakening.

    Still, she had no intention of backing down since she thought this might be her only chance to end such a dangerous foe.

    Disappearing in a streak of mes the fox beastgirl practically teleported towards Marcus with how fast she was moving.

    Yet he was able to keep up thanks to the powerful light that coursed around and through his form giving himparable speed.

    The two of them then shed back and forth over and over, no longer using any tricks or trying to position for spell, only shing against each other with raw power.

    Quickly their intense battle had them moving around the mountain, and wherever they met, explosions of fire and light and darkness wiped out thendscape.

    The two of them unleashed all of their skills, trying to crush the other, but each time they found themselves unable to gain much ground.

    However, they both soon realized that at this rate whoever ran out of stamina first was going to be the loser, and neither of them nned on letting that be them.

    Jumping back the fox beastgirl began glowing brighter, before twenty-six clones of herself appeared.

    This was a far cry from the eight she had made earlier, but Marcus quickly realized something.

    Of these clones eight of them were not simple illusions but were real physical manifestations.

    The fox girl and her clones then began circling around Marcus making it difficult for him to pinpoint which ones were real and which ones were fake.

    However, there was one cavoite and that was that he could still sense the life force emanating from the original.

    "Fox Fire Whisps"

    As Marcus was being encircled, each of the fox girls'' tails began glowing at the tip before small balls of fire formed on them and began flying towards Marcus.

    With two hundred forty-three balls of fire flying towards him, Marcus had no way to determine which of the eighty-one were real.

    So instead, he just decided to blow everything away.

    ''Shine Ring.''

    Casting a tier five light magic spell, Marcus sent a circr st of light out that grew in size as it moved away from him, enveloping everything within a three-hundred-foot diameter.

    This managed to blow back the fire whisps that wereing for him as well as forcing the fox girl and her clone to escape into the air or be engulfed.

    And while he was not sure which of the clones were real and which were fake, it did not really matter since he knew exactly which was the original.

    Yet before Marcus could make his next move all of the fox beastgirls opened their mouths and a coalescing ball of fire appeared as they prepared to unleash a simultaneous breath attack.

    But Marcus only smiled waiting for the moment right before they fired.

    Watching closely, Marcus waited until the rebel captain''s fire breath reached its peak and was about to be unleashed.

    This would be the moment when she could no longer hold back the attack and would be open to a counter.

    ''Now!''

    ''Eclipse Meteor!''

    Converging all of the swirling energy around him, Marcus rocket towards his target, be an unstoppable projectile of light and darkness.

    Flying upwards Marcus met the me breath that had just unleashed from the original fox beastgirl and sted through it, before smashing into her with an immense explosion of light and darkness.

    BOOM!

    As the explosion expanded the rebel captain''s body was blownpletely apart being reduced to nothing.

    Except Marcus realized that something was wrong.

    And instant before he hit, the me breath he was fighting against suddenly became much weaker, and the body he hit felt unnatural.

    ''She is still alive!''

    As the explosion he caused began to settle down Marcus focused on his life sense, and he located his adversary.

    She was now in the ce that the farthest real clone had been from Marcus.

    Somehow, she had switched ces right before Marcus hit her with his eclipse meteor.

    Though even then she had still taken a great deal of damage from the explosion which had expanded far further than the hundred-foot range her unique skill allowed her to go if she wished to keep Marcus tethered.

    However, Marcus was also worse for wear after using eclipse meteor.

    The attack drained most of power, and Marcus was nearing his limits now.

    "This is yourst chance. Release me or I am going to kill you. I do not want to push this any further if I do not have to." Marcus said trying onest time to end this fight amicably.

    "You must be getting desperate if you are asking me for that now. No, I am sure you are worn out after thatst attack." The rebel captain responded with a determined expression.

    She had already decided to put everything on the line to win.

    She believed that Marcus was too dangerous to let go now, and that if she did not stop him here the rebellion would be in danger.

    "Fine then. You can deal with you regrets in the next life."

    "Soul Devour."

    Activating his most dangerous skill, Marcus began devouring his own soul for power and the euphoric sense of strength it gave him began to overwhelm him.

    Its power was extraordinary, and he felt as if he could conquer the world as all of the fatigue he had been feeling quickly vanished.

    In fact, the power seemed to have grown even greater since thest time he had used it, and the aura around him was even more sinister

    Seeing this, for the first-time fear creeped into the rebel captain''s eyes, and she felt the overwhelming power that Marcus was currently emitting.

    ''He had another power like this up his sleeve.'' She thought seeing Marcus go beyond the extreme power he had already demonstrated.

    "Fine I will break the connection." The fox beastgirl said.

    A momentter the chain that connected them shattered, but it was already toote.

    Marcus was already on a set path and now that soul devour was active in full force he was not going to be stopped easily.

    ''Death Dance.''

    Using the strongest attack skill he had, which he had obtained from the mythic spirit gem. Marcus began spinning around using the tips of his toes to stop and start abruptly as he cut through all of the remaining clones at a blinding speed.

    He did not care if they were illusion or real as he sliced through them.

    This time he wanted to make that his target did not escape so he destroyed all of her clones to prevent her from switching ces again.

    Of course, as this happened, she did not stand idly by and began running away. She knew at this point she was no match for Marcus and fled as fast as she could.

    "You''re not getting away." Marcus yelled as he quickly began perusing her after finishing off thest of her clones that only had about a third of the strength she did.

    With all of his buffs along with the activation of the death dance skill, Marcus moved with extreme grace and speed, and soon caught up to the fleeing fox girl like a spinning top of death.

    ''Killer Phantasm.''

    In ast ditched effort to win, the rebel captain cast one of her tier six illusion magic spells.

    This spell unlike her others which created things everyone could see only targeted one person. But its effects were powerful.

    It made them see their worst fearse to life often forcing them into insanity where they took their own lives.

    She hated using this spell since it was horrifying just to watch what it did to people, but she was out of options.

    However, as she cast the spell, she felt it hit her target, and then dissipate having no effect.

    A momentter, Marcus had reached her and shed with his scythe.

    Yet by some miracle, she managed to raise her kukris just in time to defend against the attack preventing herself from being killed in one strike.

    Still, she was blown back by the power behind the attack, and soon crashed into the ground leaving a long and deep trench beforeing to a stop.

    And just a second after she hadnded, Marcus smashed into the ground right in front of her and shed his scythe down towards her.

    She brought up her kukris and fought for her life, as Marcus pushed against her, crushing her into the ground and causing a massive crater.

    Even through that thought the rebel captain resisted with all her might holding Marcus back as she was pushed deeper and deeper.

    But she felt her bones beginning to crack, and her arms were soon to waver.

    She could not believe she was about to die.

    Searching her memories, trying to recall something that could save her nothing came up, she knew she had lost.

    Her mind then moved to the one question it had during this entire fight, and that was who this was, wanting to remember the name of her killer

    She had tired to recall where she had seen him before, thinking to all of the people she had met in the king''s court or when she was still just a young girl.

    Yet it was not until her mind wandered very far back, from before she was who she was today, to a time that seemed an eternity ago did she recall who she had been fighting.

    "Marcus?!"

    Chapter 403 Reunion On Another World

 Chapter 404 - An Old Friend

    "Marcus?!"

    "Marcus Ferrous!"

    Hearing his name being shouted by the fox beastgirl he had been fighting Marcus was taken aback for a moment.

    Still, he disregarded it quickly, as his soul devour skill muddled his mind and pushed him to go for the kill.

    Soon there was a loud snap as the fox beast girl''s right arm broke and Marcus'' scythe stabbed into her chest.

    Yet, even as her right arm broke, she kept strong with her left arm preventing Marcus'' scythe from slicing her in two.

    "Marcus please stop! It is me Lyra. Lyra Bridger!

    This time, as this fox beastgirl called out to him, saying she was Lyra Bridger, Marcus stopped.

    The shock of hearing a name of someone that had once been close to him, cleared Marcus'' mind for a moment.

    And looking down at her expression Marcus could see that any hostility was gone, reced with a mix of fear, and disbelief.

    "If you are Lyra then you should be able to prove it. How did you die?"

    He still could vividly remember that day when he and his sister along with a group of friends went snowboarding like they did every winter, but this time things went horribly wrong.

    As they were going down a slope they had been on a hundred times, a new skier had lost control and ran into Lyra from behind sending her over the edge of the path and sprawling down the mountain.

    It had been a horrifying sight to see for Marcus and his other friends as they watched Lyra fall.

    By no means was it a sheer cliff, but it was steep enough and had rocks jutting out of it. And Lyra had bounced off one of them hitting her head along the way hard enough to dent her helmet.

    Marcus and all of his friends who had seen this stopped as quickly as they could, but there was nothing they could do as Lyra sunk into the snow once her momentum had stopped.

    The snow was too deep and loose to move over so none of them were able to even attempt going to help Lyra.

    They quickly called for the ski patrol to send up a rescue team all the while hoping to see Lyra pop out of the snow.

    But she never did.

    And by the time the rescue team had arrived, it was toote.

    They pulled Lyra''s corpse out of the snow, and Marcus along with his friends cried when they saw her limp body.

    After that, all of them were ushered down the mountain and Lyra''s parents were called to tell them about what had happened.

    It was a tragic situation, and when they all found out the detailster it was even more heart breaking.

    Lyra apparently had broken her neck but had not died instantly and was apparently still conscious.

    However, her legs and arms had been paralyzed, and as sheid there unable to move, she suffocated in the snow

    Marcus could only imagine the horror that she had experienced as she died in excruciating pain slowly bing unable to breathe.

    So, he waited for this fox girl''s answer, mostly not believing her, but some sliver of hope wanted her to be real.

    "I died in a snowboarding ident! Please Marcus stop!"

    As she said this Marcus who had actually been unconsciously pushing his scythe in deeper pulled back and started staggering.

    A whirlpool of emotions then began running through him.

    At first, he was befuddled, unable to think straight before believing that maybe he was having his mind read, but quickly brushed that off thanks to sound mind.

    ''Is it really her?''

    As Marcus thought this, he came back to his sensespletely and shut down his unique and supreme skills that were putting intense stress on his soul.

    "AGHHHH"

    Yet as he did the bacsh of using the two skills in tandem for too long caught up with him and he copsed to the ground now feeling the damaged done to him.

    He had pushed soul devour too far and his form actually began to unravel.

    Copsing onto the ground Marcus felt the intense pain of having a part of his soul missing as he had burned it for fuel to empower himself.

    Luckily his soul regeneration was just barely able to keep ahead of the damage he had done to himself, and he was slowly recovering, but he felt terribly weakened and could not move.

    Seeing this Lyra dragged herself over to Marcus to check on his condition, not caring about her own sorry state.

    She had never once thought she might meet someone she once knew again and was not going to let Marcus die here.

    She pulled out a strong healing potion that was equivalent to a tier five spell, and poured it down his mouth.

    Unfortunately, the damaged that Marcus had suffered was not going to be fixed by any sort of normal healing.

    "Save your potions, they are not going to help me. I just need a few minutes and I will be fine." Marcus said weakly.

    Of course, it was probably going to take him more than a few minutes to fully recover but he felt he would at least be able to move then.

    Nodding her head, Lyra who had tears welling up in her eyes, suddenly started feeling the damage done to her body.

    The adrenaline pumping through her was starting to lessen and her transformation was wearing off.

    She then copsed to her knees and held her right arm for a moment, before pulling out another potion and drinking it herself.

    Quickly her wounds began to heal, but the exhaustion she felt from fighting Marcus was quite high and she was pretty ragged.

    With both of them having worn themselves out, Marcus and Lyra justid there in the crater that their battle had created trying to recover their strength.

    "Marcus can you talk?" Lyra said as they both stared up into the sky.

    "Yeah."

    "Would you mind telling me what happened after I died?"

    Going quiet for a minute Marcus collected his thoughts on what to say.

    "It was sad. I know all of us that saw it happen had nightmares of the incident for a few months after. As for your parents it was devastating for them to lose you, and your little sister fell into a depression for a while. It was a tough time for all of us when you died, and the trial was pretty bad too. Your parents desperately wanted the man that caused your death to face some type of consequences, but they were unable to pursue criminal charges and the civil suit got dragged out so long they eventually did not have the heart to continue. Eventually though as time passed on, things did get better. Even after all these years your parents still live four houses down from mine, and they are doing well. Your sister just finished college and was apparently getting engaged. So, from what I knew before dying your family was happy."

    After saying this Marcus began hearing sniffling beside him, and as he strained to turn his head, he saw Lyra crying.

 Chapter 405 - With The Rebels

    As Marcus looked at Lyra, he watched her bawling her eyes out, partially out of sadness but also a tinge of happiness to know her family was safe and happy.

    Of course, after all of this time, being able to find out what happened after her death lifted a great burden was off of her shoulders, as the sense of unease that something terrible might have happened to her family was fading away.

    However, she quickly realized something, and that was that Marcus must have died as well if he was here now.

    "Marcus, if it is, okay? Could I ask when and how you died."

    Yet before Marcus could answer her question a loud shout resounded down towards them.

    "Captain!"

    Knox one of Lyra''s lieutenants called out to her, havinge to search for her now that the battlefield had gone quiet.

    But as he saw the man who he still viewed as an enemy lying next to his captain who was also down on the ground, he pulled back his ive and rushed forward.

    He did not know why the two of them were just lying there, but he intended to finish off the threat before if anything could do else.

    "Wait Knox."

    Using what little strength she had left, Lyra positioned herself in between Marcus and Knox who just barely had time to stop his ive from piercing his leader.

    "Captain what are you doing? That man is the enemy." Knox said confused by his leader''s actions.

    "Knox we both made a mistake. This man is not a part of the kingdom''s army nor our enemy. Now if you would please help us back to the rest of the soldiers, so we can return to base."

    Staring warily at Marcus, Knox was a bit conflicted by what his captain had just asked and said, "Captain, that man nearly killed me, and his beastpanion killed around a dozen of our men."

    "They were casualties of our mistakes. We were the ones who attacked them, and they defended themselves. I will take responsibility for their deaths, but this man here really was just a bystander as he said. Now this is an order, take us back to the rest of the squad."

    Hearing this Knox straightened up and nodded to his captain, following hermands.

    Still, he did not take his eyes off Marcus, not trusting him one bit.

    After that Knox picked up Lyra who could barely stand let alone walk, before going over to Marcus to do the same as he followed his orders.

    "No thanks I can move on my own." Marcus said pulling himself up off the ground.

    Of course, he was still reeling from the bacsh of his skills, but he felt well enough to at least move around now, albeit slowly.

    The three of them then made their way back to the rest of Lyra''s squad which gave Marcus weird looks.

    Some were confused wondering why this man they thought was an enemy was with Knox and their captain. While others were radiating hostility remembering what Marcus had done to Knox, and therades that Roxene had killed.

    However, a few did not even know who Marcus was having been far removed on the battlefield or had been on standby nearby.

    "All of you stand down. This man here is not our enemy. We made a mistake in lumping him in with the troops that that follow the king. Now prepare to return to base." Lyra said, quashing any sort of opposition to Marcus before it began.

    Though like Knox many of them had theirints, but Lyra was not having any of it and ordered them to get back in line.

    And while many were still not thrilled with the idea of having Marcus in their midst, they did as their captainmanded.

    Following that Marcus began following along with the rebel forces.

    He had a lot that her wanted to talk to Lyra about, so he was putting his mission to find Forlorieous on hold for now.

    Meeting someone from his old world was already a big deal but finding someone that he once knew and was friends with took precedence over anything.

    Eventually the sun began to set and the group of around three hundred fifty rebels stopped and set up camp.

    However, unlike Marcus who would normally begin making something to eat, all of the soldiers just pulled out dry rations and ate in silence.

    In fact, not even a single light of any kind was brought out even as the night fully encroached on the day.

    Soon everyone began huddling into their tents and only a few watchers were left posted, and each of them were wearing pitch ck cloaks that made them difficult to follow, and unless Marcus focused on them, they seemed to disappear.

    As Marcus watched all this, he was waiting for Lyra to return from giving a briefing to her officers.

    She had asked him to wait by her tent, and that she would be back as soon as she could.

    Luckily none of the other rebels paid him any mind, though some would give him wary or curious nces from time to time.

    So, he waited there until Lyra reappeared right next to him having been moving about invisibly.

    She then bent down and whispered in Marcus'' ear, "Come inside and we can talk freely in there."

    Nodding his head Marcus stood up and followed Lyra into her tent.

    But as he entered, he noticed something off about Lyra''s tent.

    It was muchrger on the inside than it had been on the outside, where it looked to be a standard two-person tent.

    Looking around Marcus saw that this was less of a tent and more of a studio apartment, with an open space to one side where a bed was located, and on the other side was a small kitchen area.

    There was also a fully functioning bathroom with a tub in it, though Marcus was not sure where the water would go.

    "Do all rebel captains have a tent as nice as this?" Marcus asked wanting to know where Lyra got this impressive magical item.

    Shaking her head Lyra responded saying, "No this is the only one of its kind that I know of. It was made by my family in this world and has been passed down for generations. And truthfully other than you only the leader of the rebels knows about it. But this is not an important topic. We have a lot to discuss, and my family''s magical tent is on the lower end. Now we got interrupted earlier, but would you mind telling me how and when you died?"

    His expression going serious Marcus turned towards Lyra and said, "Yeah, I can tell you. But in all honesty, I cannot be one hundred percent sure of how I died."

    Marcus then ryed the events that happened immediately before his death, and then about how he had been told how he had died in a gas leak but had no recollection of it to confirm.

    He also told her the date so that she would have some sort of corrtion to when event happened in rtion to her own death, which he could tell she really wanted to know.

 Chapter 406 - A Long Chat

    "I see so you died around thirteen and a half years after me. Well, you certainly aged gracefully. I mean you had a baby face to begin with, but even now you do not look much older than your early twenties. To think you are thirty-one, you are practically an old man." Lyra said in an attempt to lighten the heavily mood after Marcus told her about his death.

    Smiling, Marcus said, "Yeah well at least I did not have to go through infancy and puberty again."

    Wincing at this, Lyra remembered her first three years of her new life which were a bit rough. She did not have proper control over her body and due to her parent''s station, she was practically never left alone to explore or do much anything and spent her infancy in boredom.

    However, puberty had actually not been so bad this time around since she knew what wasing, and her race had a faster growing period.

    After the two of them had a little fun at each other''s expenses, Lyra got the topic back onto more serious matters and said, "So what exactly are you? I know that you are not a human even though you look and smell like one."

    "Well, you are right about me not being a human, but I am actually some sort of weird mixture."

    Marcus then exined to her about how he had originally ended up as a ghost, in what he figured was a cruel joke by the administrator when he asked for a broken ability that made him untouchable. And thenter he underwent a miraculous transformation bing a great spirit as well when he bonded with some sort of powerful being that was sent from another world.

    "Wow it sounds like you have been through a lot. But to think that you have actually be a great spirit. I have heard that they are begins that sit at the top of the world, but I guess you are a special case. Wait I just remembered. I still do not know what level you are. And do not try to pass yourself off as level twenty-four."

    Holding up his hands in defeat Marcus said, "You got me, I am not level twenty-four. I have actually risen to a much greater height and am at level twenty-five."

    Bending her head to the side Lyra gave Marcus a disbelieving stare, and he beganughing a bit before saying, "Okay for real I am level forty-four."

    Hearing this Lyra was still in a bit of disbelief since she figured Marcus was probably around the same level as her and at the lowest maybe level fifty.

    He had fought with incredible strength that just would not be expected of a level forty-four unless it was a mythic grade beast.

    Lyra herself was actually the strongest prodigy of the Tralenstein Kingdom, and at level fifty-three she was considered to have no peer within ten levels of her.

    But here was Marcus who was nine levels lower than her, and he was stronger than her even when she had started from scratch and built herself up as strong as possible.

    "I see being a great spirit is not just for show. To think you could be that powerful before even hitting level fifty." Lyra said with a tinge of envy.

    "Okay now it is time for another one of my questions. How old are you now? I want to see if there is any sort of timepse between this world and Earth." Marcus said wanting to confirm if this world and Earth''s times were synced.

    "I am around sixteen and a half. And now that I think about it, I guess I am just a bit older now than I was when I died back on Earth. If I was still alive, I suppose I would just be a couple of months away from turning thirty-four." Lyra said trying to imagine her past self at thirty-four.

    Nevertheless, as Lyra was off in her own fantasy, Marcus had confirmed exactly what he wanted to know.

    ''So, the times really are perfectly synced.'' He thought finally having the absolute confirmation he wanted.

    While Mirrion''s days did have a different length each being thirty hours instead of twenty-four, a year was still calcted on the same time for both.

    ''Hm, I guess that would mean that Mirrion would have two hundred ny-two days in its year instead. Still the only real measure of a year is when the number goes up for someone''s age in their status. Borealia does not keep actual months and bases things more on the seasons, which their timing can change from year to year.''

    As Marcus analyzed the intricacies of the workings of time on Mirrion, Lyra seemed to remember something and said, "Oh yeah, I meant to ask earlier but how was Sylvia before you died? I remember that she used to always want to be a marine biologist."

    Frowning Marcus had not expected the sudden change in the conversation, and for the first time a topic was making him a bit upset.

    "My sister was doing great before I died. She had recently had a baby girl with her husband. And for if she became a marine biologist, I am afraid that is a no. She actually ended up being an ountant, which she constantlyined about. But it paid the bills and had great benefits, so she worked her hardest for her family." Marcus said as a bit of sadness crept onto his face.

    He had been very close to his older sister and thinking about how he would never see her again or meet his niece made him a bit downcast.

    Seeing this Lyra said, "Sorry, I should have been more considerate of your feelings. Everything you have told me so far led me to believe that you have been doing well here. But I know how hard it is to suddenly be wrenched away from your old life. You must have also suffered your fair of hardships here."

    Shaking his head Marcus put his thoughts in order and said, "No it is fine. She was your best friend, so I understand why you wanted to know about her. And while I have dealt with some unpleasant experiences sinceing here, I would not trade what I have gained for anything. I now have a little sister who relies on and looks up to me. As well as a lover who is very dear to me."

    Hearing this a look of extreme confusion could be seen on Lyra''s face, and she asked, "Wait how did you end up with a little sister. And please tell me she is not also your lover.

    Immediately Marcus'' expression turned into one of terrible disgust as if he could not be any more offended in the world.

    "No, I am not some kind of freak that would ever go after my little sister. My lover is someone else and she is twenty-three. In fact, you may have heard of her. She is the thirteenth princess of the Kingdom of Borealia, Mrazivy Borealia."

    After Marcus said this Lyra''s eyes went wide and she began bombarding Marcus with questions and at a certain point he held up a hand and said, "Wait. Just let me start from the beginning.. That will be a lot easier."

 Chapter 407 - A Long Chat (2)

    Starting from the moment he touched down on Mirrion to just before he got into a fight with her, Marcus began telling Lyra everything that had happened to him on Mirrion.

    "Wow, so you managed to build yourself up this far in such a short amount of time. It has taken me over sixteen years to get as strong as I am, and you still beat me. Ugh, and to think you still had a broken skill that brings you back to life even if you getpletely obliterated. Talk about broken." Lyra said after Marcus finished telling her about his life sinceing to this world.

    Still hearing her say that his abilities were broken Marcus had an aggrieved expression and said, "Your abilities are pretty unfair as well. I mean you have a shield that can deflect attacks back to where they came. I mean how is that fair, a little shield blocking a three-hundred-foot-long iron sword. Plus, you also have all those weird illusion tricks and can breathe fire."

    Shrugging her shoulders Lyra had to conceded that she did have her fair share of powerful abilities, but she pointed out that Marcus managed to beat her so her was the one that was more busted.

    "Okay I have told you everything about myself. Now would you mind telling me about what has happened to you? How did you end up as part of the rebels in this kingdom?" Marcus said steering the conversation back to a more serious topic.

    And to match this Lyra''s expression turned sharp and she said, "Yeah, I owe you that much. Though my story is going to take a bit longer to tell than yours did."

    Lyra then took a deep breathe and said, "When I died, I experienced a simr situation to yours. Floating in a void like space while unable to move and in a long line of other souls. After that I was given the same options you mentioned, though I did not try to bargain and somehow end up as a ghost. And I am sure it is obvious at this point, but I choose to reincarnate as a new person. I just could not forget myst moments being in a broken body that would not move as I slowly suffocated. I wanted a fresh start and not to have the fear that when I was brought to another world my body would still be broken."

    After saying this Lyra closed her eyes for a moment to refocus herself as she once again remembered her painful and tragic death.

    Then once she was ready, she said, "The first thing I remember was pitch ck darkness followed by this force that was pushing on me. Next thing I knew I saw a blinding light and felt the urge to cry. It was not tell a couple minutester that I realized I had just been born as my mind began to be able to processing things."

    Lyra then stopped to smile for a moment before saying, "At first, I thought I was a normal human since the people that were holding and looking over me for the first few minutes were human. But then I saw the woman who was breathing heavily on a bed that was still soaked in blood. Even after having a child, she was still the most beautiful person I had ever seen, with flowing golden hair and a divine looking face. Still, those only kept my attention for a moment as I noticed the two pointed and furry ears on her head and long fluffy tail. That was the first time I saw my new mother, and when I was put into her arms, I felt a certain familiar warmth. That was what I remember from my first day in this world before the overwhelming urge to sleep took over."

    Pausing for a moment Lyra allowed Marcus to process everything she just said before continuing on.

    "For the next few days, I looked over what I could in my status, and toiled around with using myngue token to try and understand the conversations going on around me. But ultimately, I decided to try and learn thengue first, and while it took around a year, I managed to get a decent grasp of what was being said."

    Lyra then pulled out herngue token and showed it to Marcus proving that she had never used.

    This surprised Marcus a bit since if he had been in the same situation as her, he definitely would have used it immediately.

    Next, Lyra told Marcus about what she learned from the conversations she heard while still a baby about her family.

    Apparently, she was born in a noble family which sheter learned was a duke''s house that was in charge of the northern portion of the kingdom.

    This meant that she actually rarely saw her parents during her infancy as they were busy with work and left her to dedicated servants.

    Still when she did talk about her parents, she always had a warm smile on her face though her eyes seemed a bit sad.

    "Oh, and that reminds me. My name is not Lyra Bridger in this world, but Jadzia Augustyn. So, when we are around other people would you mind calling me Jadzia. Though when it is just the two of us, I do not mind you calling me Lyra."

    Nodding his head, Marcus made sure to make a mental note in his head to call her by her name in this world.

    Luckily, he was already used to the name juggling that he had to deal with by having two identities, so he did not believe it would be much of a problem.

    Continuing on, Lyra told Marcus about her adolescence where she would run around the massive pce her family lived in, and would throw her nose into any book she could get her hands on.

    Eventually her parents began to notice how active Lyra was even for her age and began assigning her tutors to channel her energy.

    "Ah and then there was the day that I finally leveled up enough to buy some of the skills I wanted. The first thing I did was buy mana cirction and then fire magic. And I idently burned down a room when I cast a fire shot inside." Lyra saidughing remembering the situation.

    "After that I thought I was in for the scolding or maybe even the beating of my life, so I tried hiding in a closet that was practically never used. But somehow my mother found me with ease and pulled me out of the closest where I hade wedged myself on the top self in between some towels. However, contrary to my expectations my mother had a gleam in her eyes and said she was very proud of me. She did not seem to care about the room I had destroyed since it was just a guest room of which they had dozens."

    Lyra then told Marcus about some of the happiest memories she had which were learning magic with her mother.

    "She was amazing. Her fire magic was so pretty, and she was able to cast by only saying the spells name. For the me then, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. My mother was truly and incredible person, and I hate to say it but when I imagine the person I love the most, it is her face that appears and not my original mother.. Every day I wish she was still here."

 Chapter 408 - A Long Chat (3)

    As Marcus listened to Lyra recount her past experiences, he could see that her face was animated, and she had quite the fair share of good memories.

    However, thest thing she said brought out something new, a seething anger as she talked about how she wished her mother was still alive.

    But as much as Marcus wanted to know more about this situation, Lyra quickly got herself together and continued telling the story of her new life in this world.

    "Eventually the days of my sheltered life in my parents'' manor came to an end when I turned ten. At this point they had long used a status reading device on me and had seen my four blessings. Apparently, this was considered a good omen, as very few are born with a single blessing, and yet I had four. So, my parents when I turned ten had me enrolled in the kingdom''s most prestigious academy where the most talented noble children were sent to gain experience and grow stronger."

    Lyra then told Marcus about her time at the academy where she quickly rose to be the top dog as her mother had trained her up quite extensively and when she started, she was already level twenty.

    "By the time I finished at the age of thirteen I had already ascended to level thirty and was chosen as an apprentice by the kingdom''s top great knight. That was when I started to learn the truth about this kingdom."

    Up to this point Lyra had been shielded from the true working of the kingdom, and while she knew of its political structure, she did not think it would be as bad as it really was.

    Around thirty percent nobles used their position to exploit themon people that had little rights of their own being considered serfs in most territories.

    Still Lyra had never expected to see people starving on the streets as the lords took most of what anyone produced for themselves or the few that worked under them and kept the people in line.

    Of course, not every ce had been like this and even territories that bordered each other could be vastly differ depending on the lord that ruled.

    Some like Lyra''s parents had made sure that the people were not bled dry and were able to live prosperous and happy lives.

    "Though things actually were starting to get better as the king was slowly reprimanding the worst offending nobles while enacting newws that allowed people a bit more freedom to move around some."

    Though after saying that Lyra frowned and told Marcus about what had happened not long ago that sparked the unrest and rebellion in the kingdom

    "Around six months ago, while I was in a dungeon gathering resources for the kingdom along with some of its other great knights, an incident happened. My parents were incriminated in an assassination attempt against the king, and of nning a coup. Of course, I know that this to be lie. My parents, while maybe not the staunchest supporters of the king were happy with the direction the kingdom was going and would never jeopardize the people they governed. No, it was obviously some type of set up." Lyra said while clenching her fists so hard that they turned white.

    She was visibly upset going over these events that had not happened to long ago. But after a minute she calmed down began again.

    She told Marcus of how when her parents were invited to the capital and when they arrived were ambushed by the usations. They had tried their best to defend themselves, but apparently the king had a mountain of damning evidence that his intelligence agency called the whispers had collected.

    Lyra''s parents along with plenty of other popr and progressive nobles were then found guilty and sentenced to death.

    This was the event that sparked the rebellion and led to Lyra joining it as one of its leaders to get justice for her parents.

    "The king took their lives of my parents, so I n to take his. Also, I want to uncover the truth of what really happened. I did a bit of digging before I left to join the rebellion, and found that the shadows had a file on me as well as a n to frame me for a crime if necessary, along with other possible threats."

    With that Lyra had finished up telling the most important parts of her life sinceing to this world and paused to allow Marcus to ask some questions.

    Though the first thing he actually did was give her a hug and say, "I am sorry that all of this has happened to you. I cannot imagine how horrible it must have been to lose your parents."

    Being in Marcus'' embrace, Lyra became quite flustered her mncholy disappearing.

    She had actually never been hugged by a man other than her two fathers, and Marcus'' sudden embrace had caught her off guard.

    "Uh, um, Marcus could you let go of me." Lyra said in a panic.

    Hearing this Marcus backed away and saw that Lyra''s face had turned bright red as she was obviously flustered by being hugged.

    "Sorry I should have asked first. You just seemed like you needed a bit offort, but that was my bad." Marcus said hoping he had not angered Lyra.

    "No, it is fine. And thank you." Lyra said as she began to cool off.

    After that Marcus asked her the question that had been on his mind, "Lyra you said that your master was the top great knight. What happened to him. Is he part of the rebellion or has something bad happened to him like your parents?"

    However, as he said this Marcus understood he had stepped on a sensitive topic as Lyra went stone faced as she thought about her master.

    "No, he is not a part of the rebellion andst I heard he was perfectly fine. He is still the number one of the kingdom''s twenty great knights and leads following the king''s orders. He is loyal to a fault and would not even consider helping me to find answers after my parents were executed. In fact, you could say he is now one of the rebellion''s greatest enemies."

    "I see would you mind telling me more about him. Like his level and how he fights." Marcus said wanting to know more.

    Nodding her head Lyra said, "He is level seventy-nine, and certainly the strongest man in the kingdom. I have seen what he is capable of, and his power is still well beyond me."

    "If he is that strong, do you even have a chance of beating him. Is the rebellion not doomed already?" Marcus said trying to find out if Lyra had resigned herself to a suicide mission.

    Yet the look in her eyes became fierce and she said, "Yes, we do have a chance. I am not the only great knight that defected, and the leader of the rebellion is actually the formerly ranked number four. And while his strength is not quite as strong as my master, he can hold his own. Anyway, I have seen it with my own eyes that my master is not invincible. When we were in a dungeon training, he challenged a boss room but had to flee, not being able to win.. So, I know that we can be victorious if we ythings smart, and fight with all we have."

 Chapter 409 - Possibility Of Collaboration

    After listening to Lyra''s impassioned speech, Marcus still had his doubts.

    He wondered if the rebels had any chance at all.

    Even if they had a few powerful fighters on their side, at the end of the day the kingdom proper would still be far superior in both quality and quantity.

    ''I cannot let her continue on a suicide mission.'' Marcus thought seeing no good end for Lyra if she stayed with the rebel army.

    "Lyra, I understand where you areing from, but I think you should reconsider. Fighting against an entire kingdom is not going to end well. I do not want you to die again, soe with me and I can set you up in the Kingdom of Borealia. There you can try and find another way to fight against Tralenstein." Marcus said wanting to get Lyra away and make sure she survived.

    However, for the first time since the two of them had met again, Lyra became angry and practically started yelling at Marcus.

    "You want me to run away, after all that happened! My parents were mercilessly executed for a crime they did notmit! There is no way I can leave until I have received justice for them! Also, there are millions of people counting on this rebellion to seed and to make this kingdom a better ce. If I, one of their pirs of the rebellion left, what do you think would happen? Right now we barely have enough strength as it is. I cannot just run off to another kingdom to spare my own life when so many others are counting on me."

    As lyra went off on him Marcus quickly realized his mistake.

    He had been trying to think logically about how to keep Lyra alive, but it was quite obvious that if she had any intention of fleeing, she was more than strong enough to do so.

    No, she was staying to avenge her parents and to protect the people she cared about.

    Raising his hands in surrender Marcus said, "Sorry I should not have suggested that. I did not properly take your feelings in to consideration. I have done plenty of dangerous things fueled by emotions as well, so I am in no ce to judge. I just did not want you to end up dying again."

    Seeing that Marcus was just concerned for her, Lyra began to calm down, and got her emotions under control.

    After she had found out her parents were dead, getting justice for them had been what continued to drive her. And once she joined the rebellion, she had found what felt like a new home.

    Lyra then sat there and thought for a few moments while Marcus did the same and eventually, she looked at him hesitantly obviously having something to say.

    "What is it?" Marcus said trying to coax whatever Lyra wanted to say out.

    And a bit timidly Lyra said, "Well if you want to make sure I do not die, how about you join the rebellion with me?"

    Hearing this Marcus blinked his eyes a few times astonished by what he had just heard.

    He had not once even thought of joining the rebellion with Lyra.

    Yet as the gears began turning in his head an idea began to from in Marcus'' mind.

    Yes, by joining he could keep Lyra safe, but there might also be an opportunity for him to score some major points with the Kingdom of Borealia.

    At one time they had been a part of Tralenstein, and Marcus already knew that the king while not actively pursuing any sort of agenda, was ready to pounce at his kingdom''s neighbor the moment the opportunity presented itself.

    ''Hm, while he can send any sort of troops or such since starting a conflict with another kingdom is against the adventurer guild''s tenants. He might be able to provide other support, and if the rebellion is sessful Borealia might be able to take over instead.'' Marcus thought.

    Of course, he never would have even considered this if Borealia was not a prosperous and decent kingdom.

    And while it did have its fair share of rotten nobles, they did not wield absolute power, and Marcus had met plenty of upstanding nobles as well.

    Also, the people were generally well treated, and so far, everywhere Marcus had been he had seen that almost everyone in Borealia at least had their basic needs met.

    ''Even in the farthest most backwater viges the kingdom sends out soldiers to clear the areas of monsters and beasts. And while that may not always be effective, they do not sit back and do nothing.''

    With the basics of a n having formed in his head Marcus decided to tell his proposal to Lyra.

    "Lyra, I already told you that I am connected to the royal family in Borealia. What would you think about trying to get their support?"

    Taken aback by this Lyra had not expected this question especially since she had honestly expected Marcus to refuse her offer.

    Still, she was wary of getting another kingdom involved, especially Borealia.

    Obviously Tralenstein was not on good terms with their neighbor to the north, and often had skirmishes on the border with them.

    Lyra herself had always heard about how awful Borealia was, and that its people were left to die in the freezing cold along with other horrible things.

    Of course, Lyra did not believe any of this and when sheter was able to ask some traveling traders about the kingdom to the north, they said that it was a generally great ce that was typically safer than Tralenstein.

    "What did you have in mind?" Lyra said trying to gage what Marcus wanted.

    He then told her about the princess that was the older sister of the current king of Tralenstein that had fled to Borealia and about Princess Eis who was both a royal of Tralenstein and Borealia.

    That she was nned to be a bridge between the two kingdoms should Borealia every get the chance.

    "I see I did not know that something like that had happened. I had heard that some of the king''s siblings had fled to other kingdom''s when he started killing his rivals."

    Lyra then took a moment to think before saying, "So the king of Borealia wants to take over Tralenstein by having his daughter be its new ruler. I am not sure how I feel about this, and I know that plenty others here would not wee it. In this kingdom everyone is taught to hate Borealia, the territory that betrayed its mothernd. But I have seen firsthand how screwed up this kingdom can be, so I understand why those territories revolted. Unfortunately, I cannot say if it would be the best to try and get their help, especially if we lose our sovereignty in return."

    But after she said this Lyra smiled and said, "However, it might prove to be exactly what the rebellion needs to win. Borealia is not much different than us fighting against a system that oppresses the people, and gives too much power to rotten nobles. So, while I cannot say we will agree to what ever terms Borealia gives, I think it is worth a discussion at least. Though I cannot make this decision on my own. We will need to run it past the rebellion''s leader."

 Chapter 410 - Joining The Rebellion

    Having finished up the necessary discussions that they needed to have, both Marcus and Lyra decided to get some rest.

    They were still quite tired from their earlier fight and had been staying up with sheer will power.

    Even Marcus was feeling worn since he had used his full strength for a too long and it had done a number on him.

    However, as he set up his sleeping mat right in front of Lyra''s bed, she looked at him with a confused expression for a moment before her eyes went wide.

    "Wait your going to sleep in here?" Lyra said in a flustered manner.

    Looking up at her Marcus could see that her face was going a bit red and that she was a bit ufortable with him staying with her.

    ''Hm, I suppose even though with her two lives she has technically lived for nearly thirty-four years, she has never made it past sixteen, so she still has some insecurities.'' Marcus thought.

    Still, he honestly did not feel like he would be able to get restful sleep if he left this tent since he could tell that some of the rebels were still hostile to him.

    Marcus then disappeared for a moment surprising Lyra before reappearing in his form as Irene, causing Lyra''s eyes to go wide.

    While Marcus had already told her about his transformation ability. this was still her first time seeing it and it was astonishing to watch him go from a guy to a girl in an instance.

    "There that should be better right." Marcus said trying to make Lyra feel morefortable.

    Yet this actually just made her feel a bit at unease, since now it seemed like a total stranger was in her room with her.

    "No, it is fine, I would prefer it if you changed back. I was just a little uneasy at first because this is the first time I have slept in the same room alone with a guy."

    Nodding his head Marcus switched back and said, "Okay, well good night then."

    After that Marcus dropped down onto his mat and passed out like aputer shutting down.

    Lyra was actually impressed that he was able to fall asleep so easily, though soon her fatigue caught up with her and she joined Marcus in thend of the sleeping.

    ˇ­

    The next few days quickly went by as Marcus traveled with the rebels as they headed back to their base which was located deep in the wilderness.

    Though along the way Lyra had a great idea to make her soldiers start to trust him more, by having him deal with threats like monster and magical beasts.

    Marcus also would use his item box to collect and deliverrge quantities of water allowing the troops to move faster as they did not have to make as many stops to refill their supplies.

    Soon many of the soldiers started to warm up to Marcus as he made their lives easier and was helping to benefit their cause.

    Of course, there were still plenty that hated him, since Roxene had killed some of their friends andrades, but at least no one showed open hostility towards him anymore.

    "We are getting close to the base." Lyra said appearing next to Marcus as he was scouting out the area to make sure that it was safe.

    "Some of my officers still do not trust youpletely and asked me to force you to wear a blindfold so you would not know the exact location of our base. Though I doubt it would actually make a difference, would you mind doing it for their peace of mind."

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus took the blindfold that Lyra had in her hands and tied it around his head.

    After that he was led around in circles for a bit as Lyra put on a show for her more cautious men that did not fully trust Marcus.

    Eventually though he felt them enter some type of cave an a few minutester her heard what sounded like arge rock being moved.

    "Okay we are here you can take that off now." Lyra said to Marcus now that they were inside the rebel base.

    And as he took off his blindfold, Marcus saw what looked like a small town that was underground.

    There were hundreds of tents set up but also buildings carved into stone and people bustling around.

    Quickly Marcus'' eyes were drawn to a nearby forge where weapons were being made and repaired.

    However, what caught his attention next was a tower that was made out of mithril and was situated in the middle of the underground base.

    "Ah I see that you have spotted our cloaking device. That magic item keeps any sort of detection magic or divinations from finding this ce. Oh, and it is actually the heart of our base where all of the leaders stay." Lyra said as Marcus looked at the impressive structure.

    "Now we need to report to the chief, so I can tell him how my squad''s operation went, and to introduce you."

    Lyra then beckoned Marcus towards the tower where apparently the other rebel leaders were located.

    Entering inside, Lyra led Marcus up to the top of the tower where a group of men and women were sat around looking at a map of the kingdom which wasid out on a sturdy wooden table.

    "Shroud Squad just reported back that they were sessful in liberating the granaries of their contents on Count Musze''s estate."

    "Yes, but Dimal Squad was almost annihted when they raided one of the mithril mines under Marquis Dupek''s jurisdiction."

    "That was an unfortunate mistake in our intel. We had no idea that a grand knight and elite mage were protecting the ce."

    "Well, at least August Squad seeded in destroying the mountaineer brigade. Those guys were getting awfully close to finding some of our bases."

    "Oh, and it looks like our sessful prodigy has just returned."

    As Lyra and Marcus entered into the room all of the rebel leaders that were sitting around the table turned towards them.

    All of them seemed happy to see Lyra return, though they all looked curiously at Marcus.

    None of them knew who he was and other than the chief of the rebels who Lyra had told earlier over a sending stone did any of them know he wasing.

    "Ah Lyra it is good to see that you have returned safely. And the man next to you is the one that you talked to me about." The rebel leader said as his gaze turned toward Marcus.

    Looking at him Marcus examined the rebel leader and could tell the old man was strong.

    He was quite massive being one of thergest people Marcus had ever seen. And while he had graying hair and the air of age about him, he still radiated the aura of someone very strong.

    ''Hm I would say he is about as strong as Thabon.'' Marcus though after looking the rebel leader over.

    Even though he could not appraise the man''s level, he was still confident in his ability to judge generally how strong someone was by the aura around them, and how threatening they felt.

    After a brief moment where everyone was looking at Marcus the rebel leader opened his mouth and said, "Well everyone I would like you to meet our newest coborator, that Jadzia has brought to us."

 Chapter 411 - The Rebellion And The Kingdom Of Borealia

    With all of the rebel leaders looking at him, Marcus smiled and said, "Hello there I am Jed, and I am here to offer my help on behalf of the Kingdom of Borealia."

    Marcus then gave a little bow to the room show his sincerity.

    "The kingdom of Borealia? Why did they send someone to us?" A middle-aged halfling man said with a suspicious look.

    "Marek, you seem to have already known about this would you mind exining." A young-looking woman who was wearing a white robe that was radiating magical energy said.

    Nodding his head Marek the rebellion''s leader said, "Yes, Jadzia here ran into his man while on her mission to deal with the mountaineer brigade. Apparently, he is an agent for the kingdom of Borealia and hase to offer their aid."

    However, hearing this a few of the rebel leaders looked at Marcus with dubious expressions, though the young-looking woman wearing the white rob smiled after she looked at him intently.

    "Chief are you sure. Borealia has been the enemy of our kingdom forever. I doubt that they really want to help us."

    "I agree, there is no way we can trust them. I heard that if they catch anyone from Tralenstein in their borders they turn them into ves."

    BANG!

    mming his fist on the table Marek got his twelve captains to turn their attention back towards him and stop their bickering.

    "I know that our kingdom has its problems with Borealia, but we need to think about this logically. They are a powerful kingdom, certainly more powerful than our own. I am sure that some of you do not want to admit that, but I can tell you it is true. I have fought against their knightmand, and he is stronger than anyone in Tralenstein. Even when I along with the second and sixth ranked great knight tried to defeat him, we lost. It is simply a fact that Borealia became stronger than us by allowing those with talent to prosper rather than only focusing on those born into nobility. Any stories you have heard are just lies and fantasies that were spread around to make the territory the kingdom lost seem worse. If they were really weaker, do you think that the Kingdom of Borealia would not have been taken over again by Tralenstein."

    With no recourse against what the chief had said the biggest dissenters to the idea of working with Borealia went quiet.

    "Now then Borealia sent you to negotiate with us. What are they willing to offer us for support? And what do they want in return?" Marek said while looking at Marcus a tinge of hope in his eyes.

    Pulling out the sending stone Aria had given him, Marcus sent a message to the king who he had already apprised of the situation earlier.

    A few minutester he got a reply and threw the sending stone to Marek and said, "Here, you can speak to the king directly."

    Grabbing the sending stone out of the air Marek raised an eyebrow not having expected to be speaking to the King of Borealia, but this did have both its advantages and disadvantages.

    "Hello this is Marek Laska the Chief of the Tralenstein Rebellion. I am told I am talking to King Aaren Borealia."

    After saying this Marek waited for a response before hearing on the other end, "Laska huh. To think that the leader of such a powerful house would rip away from Tralenstein''s nobility to turn rebel. Ah, and yes this is King Aaren Borealia. My agent told me that he had made contact and was sessful in getting me a meeting with the Tralenstein Rebels. Now I am sure we have a lot to discuss."

    Once their initial greeting was finished Marek and the king began discussing what Borealia would do to help the rebellion and what they wanted in return.

    However, at one point in the conversation with an astonished expression Marek practically yelled, "Princess Dani is alive!

    Hearing this all of the rebel captains seemed surprised knowing who this was.

    "Who is this Princess Dani?" Marcus whispered into Lyra''s ear.

    "She was the first princess and the eldest child during the previous king''s reign and a very popr choice for bing the next monarch over the current king from what I have heard. But most assumed she was killed when the current king who was the second prince at the time began massacring all of his siblings when their father was getting old and was unable to rule properly." Lyra whispered back into Marcus'' ear.

    A few more minutes passed by as Marek and the king talked, before they finished their negotiations.

    "So, we cannot expect any other reinforcements?

    "Very well I will consider your offer, but first I need to confer with my captains."

    Putting the sending stone down Marcus looked at all of them and said, "I have finished talking with the King of Borealia and he does indeed wish to support us. Also, as I assume you all heard me earlier, but yes Princess Dani is alive. The king allowed me to talk to her and I was able to guarantee her identity. Also, I should tell that she is now one of the king''s wives and she has had a child with him."

    As Marek said this all of the rebel captains had stunned expressions on their faces except for the woman in the white robe.

    They could not believe that the princess who most of them had actually supported before was still alive.

    "Yes, it is unexpected to hear but it also makes things moreplicated. The King of Borealia wants to ce his daughter on the throne of Tralenstein and eventually integrate it into a dutchy of his kingdom."

    At this around half of the captains began raving withints saying that they could not sacrifice the sovereignty of their kingdom.

    Though some of the more levelheaded captains seriously thought about this proposal.

    Tralenstein was not only bordered by Borealia to the north but there were four other nations to the south, three of which Tralenstein had less than ster rtions with.

    In fact, they were currently having a skirmish with one of these nations over a recently discovered dungeon thaty in between their borders which both were trying to im.

    So, the fear that some of the rebellion captains had, was that if they won and usurped the current king, that before the kingdom could stabilize one of their neighbors might try to take over.

    Of course, they did not have this fear of Borealia since to keep their pact with the adventures guild they could not be the aggressor in a war or initiate a hostile takeover.

    "What is Borealia willing to give us in return for this?" The white robed woman said.

    Yet as she did the middle-aged halfling captain said, "Lady Tesia you cannot be considering this deal? It is preposterous."

    However, as the halfling man''s outburst Tesia just turned her head towards him and calmly said, "Of course I am considering it. This is an unprecedented chance to gain a powerful ally. And did you not hear, Princess Dani is alive. If we had her backing us it would give the rebellion a great deal more legitimacy. Anyway, I can tell from what the King of Borealia said that he waspletely truthful. And this young man who hase with Jadzia is very earnest.. I see no deceit in his nature."

 Chapter 412 - An Unprecedented Arrival

    Outside the Rebellion''s main base just a couple hours after Lyra and Marcus had arrived and begun negotiations with the king of Borealia. A lone figure stood high up in the sky staring down at the entrance into the mountain where the base was hidden.

    ''So, this is where they have been hiding. Finally, I can put an end to this rebellion and discipline my foolish apprentice.''

    ˇ­

    With Lady Tesia who Marcus could tell had the respect of the other rebel captains vouched for him and the Kingdom of Borealia, Marcus could see that the mood in the room shifted.

    "To answer your question Lady Tesia, Borealia has offered to give us near infinite supplies. We would receive enough food to feed all of our members, magic cores to maintain magic devices and formations, as well as weapons and armor. Princess Dani will also publicly join our cause which will certainly give us more support from the more moderate nobles and the public. Unfortunately, as for any sort of troops or manpower they cannot provide that, or they would break their contract with the adventurers guild.

    Marek then paused a moment before looking towards Marcus and saying, "However, this young man who came as a messenger will be able to aid us. He is apparently not a true agent of the kingdom and is acting on his own as far as the king is concerned. Also, I was told that he is an excellent forgemaster that could work with even adamantine and is known to be able to make top tier mithril weapons. He will make a useful addition to our cause."

    As Marek finished speaking Lyra cleared her throat to get everyone''s attention and said, "I would like all of you to know that Jed here is greater in strength to me as well. His skills will truly be invaluable."

    Hearing this some of the captains went wide eyed since Lyra''s power was within the top twenty in the whole rebellion.

    In fact, of the captains here, around half of them were unsure if they could beat her in a fight.

    "Now should we put it to a vote on whether we wish to ept the Kingdom of Borealia''s aid." Marek said.

    Quickly the captains began raising their hands with nine consenting and three against.

    "Very well, we will enter into the agreement with Borealia. I know that this may not be what any of us imagined but it is our best chance to make this kingdom better. And for some to get the justice they want."

    With that the decision had been made for the rebellion and the kingdom of Borealia to join forces.

    However, there was one question on most of the captain''s minds.

    "Okay so how are we going to receive these supplies. Obviously if Borealia tried sending in caravans they would be noticed and apprehend." One of the captains who was a lithe looking cat beastman said.

    Nevertheless, upon hearing this Marek smiled and looked at Marcus and said, "This young man has arge item box and will be transporting the supplies for us. I have been told that he can make round trips from the border to any of our bases in a day and has an almost zero percent chance of being caught."

    With skeptical looks everyone stared at Marcus, who in turn opened his item box an unloaded the massive fridge he stored with in.

    Seeing this most of the captains went wide eyed since this fridge was already around the size of a medium item box itself.

    None of them had an item box of this level, a couple of them not even having items boxes at all.

    In fact, the only ones here with an item box bigger than small was Lyra and Tesia who both had a medium one.

    After that no one questioned Marcus'' ability to transport massive amounts of goods, though he was not sure if that was what he wanted to be known for.

    Having finished up their discussion Marek picked back up Marcus'' sending stone and once again contacted the king.

    "I have finished conferring with my captains and the majority were in agreement with epting your kingdom''s aid. When would you like to sign a formal contract?"

    Yet as the king was about to say something a grunt was heard on the other end of the sending stone and a new feminine voice began speaking out to Marek.

    "Hello there Tralenstein rebel chief. It appears that the king forgot to ount for something, so I have stepped in. Now, this is a very important question and if you cannot answer it or the answer is unfavorable, we are done here. What is Motis'' stance on your rebellion?"

    His expression going sharp Marek wondered who this neer was, but more importantly how they knew about Motis.

    "Might I inquire as to who I am speaking? I thought that I was negotiating with the king of Borealia, but I do not recognize your voice."

    "Who I am does not matter. Motis what is his stance? Tell me quickly or I am ending these negotiations right now." The voice on the end of the sending stone said quickly and with no room for argument.

    Sighing Marek picked up the sending stone and said, "Lord Motis is taking a neutral stance. I have heard that the king has beseeched his help multiple times but was turned away each time. He will not get involved in our internal conflict."

    "Very good. Then you can continue your negations with Aaren. Oh, and if you win, go tell Motis that Gwyneira wants to speak with him."

    A momentter the sending stone went quiet for just an instant before a conversation that was not meant to be heard was transmitted.

    "Aaren I just made sure you did not idently anger a mythic grade magical beast. Here you can get back to your negotiations. Now I am going to take a nap. In these recent weeks I have been having to work too hard."

    After that the king began discussing the finer details with Marek, and soon the two of them had agreed on a date in which Marek would crossover to Borealia and sign a formal contract with the king, as well as Dani and Eis.

    The captains then began talking amongst each other and some of them had approached Marcus and Lyra.

    Yet before any conversations got very far a loud crashing sound was heard outside the tower.

    Hearing this all of the captains along with Marcus rushed out of the tower to see that arge amount of dirt and rocks that had copsed in from above, leaving arge hole in the roof of the hidden underground base.

    And as the dust of this copse settled a solitary figure could be seen standing there, and all of the captains went wide eyed with fear and astonishment.

    "Ah Marek, Tesia, and Jadzia, there you are." The man said with a confident smile on his face.

    "The king told me to bring the three of you back. He said that if you returned to the kingdom and turned over all of the other rebels that he would be willing to give you amnesty. Now Jadziae back to your master''s side.. You have already yed around at this foolish rebellion for long enough."

 Chapter 413 - In Deeper Dept

    With everyone looking out in fear at this intruder, Marcus wondered who it could be until he called Lyra his apprentice.

    That was when Marcus realized they were in the presence of the strongest warrior in the kingdom.

    "EVERYONE RUN BACK TO THE TOWER AND PREPARE TO ESCAPE! I WILL HOLD CIBOR OFF!" Marek yelled astoundingly loudly so that everyone in the underground base could hear him.

    Most quickly heeded his call, as people left everything they were doing and began rushing towards the tower.

    They had heard the intense shout from their chief and not a single one of them did not know who Cibor was.

    However, three people stayed behind, one being Tesia who looked concerned to leave Marek alone. Another being Lyra who was looking angrily at her master, and the final one being Marcus whose primary purpose was to make sure that Lyra did not die.

    Seeing this Cibor smiled since the three people he wanted were staying behind to face him, but when his eyesnded on Marcus, he cooked his head to the side and wondered who he might be.

    Yet a momentter, his rxed posture disappeared and her drew two amethros daggers while looking towards Marcus.

    "You there, the one hiding in the shadows. Did you think you would be able to hide from me? Now reveal yourself." Cibor said while looking at Marcus

    Except as everyone followed his gaze, they all noticed that he was not looking directly at Marcus, but his shadow.

    "Wow to think that a human spotted me. I must be getting rusty." A beautiful and entrancing voice said from Marcus'' shadow.

    A momentter Marcus'' shadow seemed to stretch out and a beautiful blonde-haired woman with impossibly white skin appeared.

    And along with these striking features if one looked closely, they could see her piercing red eyes and elongated canines.

    Seeing her suddenly appear everyone was quite rmed by this mysterious person who had been hiding in Marcus'' shadow.

    ''Wait. She looks familiar.''

    As he stared at her, Marcus tried to recognize who she was and quickly recalled where he had seen her.

    He had thought this person was a trick his dying soul had yed on him, but seeing her here now, he was certain that this was the figure he had seen right before passing out after his battle with Jarek.

    Marcus now realized that this was the person that had saved him from destruction at that time by giving him the mythic spirit gem.

    But there was something else he could tell about her now, and that was that she is a vampire.

    With the striking blonde-haired vampire having appeared everyone''s attention was on her, as she stood around casually looking over Cibor.

    She then turned her focus to Marcus and with an aggrieved tone said, "Ughhhh. To think that after all this time it was something so stupid that got me found out. I had to work so hard to avoid a dragon''s and all those other monster''s in Borealia''s detection. I spent weeks camping out around your dull estate waiting for you to return while you fought in that tournament and visited the castle."

    "And now I have to reveal myself because this idiot crashed in unannounced." The beautiful vampire said pointing at Cibor.

    Cibor who had taken up a defensive stance said, "What is a vampire like you doing here? Have the rebels gone crazy and offered up this kingdom to a fowl creature like you?"

    Sighing the blonde-haired vampire cast a disinterested gaze towards Cibor before looking at Lyra.

    "I want to offer you a deal. My master is very interested in you. So, I will stall this guy while you and your buddies make an escape. And in return you will owe me a favor."

    She then turned her gaze towards Marcus and said, "Oh and I would like another favor on top of the massive one you already owe as well. I am not going to risk my life for nothing"

    However, as she said this a dagger went flying towards her far faster than the speed of sound aiming right for her chest.

    Yet even then she seemed to blend into the shadows and disappear for a moment as the dagger passed her by and pierced deep into the ground.

    "Yes or no? I do not n on fighting for free." She said as she looked at Marcus and Lyra.

    Nodding her head Lyra agreed immediately, she knew that with Cibor here they would be in trouble, and it was likely that reinforcements were not far behind.

    In the best-case scenario without this vampire''s help, Marek would be killed or captured leaving the rebellion without its main pir.

    ''In for a penny, in for a pound.'' Marcus thought seeing Lyra readily agree.

    "Fine I agree. So help us out." Marcus said with an exasperated tone.

    Smiling the blonde-haired vampire turned to face Cibor and said, "Well then I guess I will be ying around with you for a bit."

    Obviously angered by this, Cibor this time did not target the vampire who was certainly quite strong, an aimed for Marcus throwing his other dagger right towards his head.

    With his danger sense going off like crazy Marcus immediately turned ethereal, but the dagger had still pierced hallway through his head before he was able to escape into his ghost form.

    ''Ah fuck that hurts.'' Marcus thought feeling the hole in his head.

    Luckily a wound like this was not enough to kill him, and quicky healed. In fact, even if the dagger had actually pierced all the way through, he still would not have died.

    ''Where did he go.'' Cibor thought seeing Marcus suddenly disappear.

    Except he did not have time to dwell on this for long as he had to abruptly dodge as a massive ck de smashed into the ground where he had been just a moment before.

    "All of you get out of here. I will do as I said and buy you some time, but I will not be winning this fight. So, move it." The blonde vampire said as she rushed towards Cibor again swinging her massive sword around.

    And with the developments as they were, Marek gave a conflicted look towards Marcus who had just reappeared and a concerned one towards Lyra before saying, "Fine let us go. This is an opportunity we cannot waste."

    After that the four of them ran towards the tower where all of the rebellion members had gathered as they began the preparations to activate its teleport function and warp out of danger.

    "Are you sure you want to do this vampire. I will admit you are strong at level seventy-three, but you are not going to be a match for me. If you run along, I will let you live. But if you continue to get in my way, I will end you quickly and get back to my mission." Cibor said as his two daggers warped back into his hands.

    Smiling and revealing her two pronounced canine teeth, the beautiful vampire said, "No I do not think I will be dying today.

    She then stared right into his eyes as hers began glowing, and she said, "Now why don''t you put down those daggers ande over to me."

 Chapter 414 - Tralensteinâ€™s Strongest Great Knight Vs Relia Draayer

    Using her enchanting gaze, Relia the beautiful blonde vampire tried to bring Cibor under her control.

    Nevertheless, even as she attempted to push her will over his, it only caused him to shake his head for a moment to break the effect.

    "DO YOU THINK I WILL BE SO EASILY CONTRLOED!" Cibor said roaring with anger.

    He was infuriated that Relia had tried to take over his mind and that the effect actually got through his defenses.

    Still his higher stats allowed him to resist the effect, but he was now seething in anger.

    "Path of Asura."

    Activating his strongest unique skill Cibor grew four extra arms that were made out of mana and along with them were replicas of his amethros daggers.

    He then pulled back all six of his arms and sent six devastating shes of mana towards Relia.

    This attack unleashed enough power that the mountain they were in began to quake and the ground in its way turned to dust.

    Seeing this attacking for her Relia''s eyes went blood shot and all of the veins in her body became pronounced as she pumped her blood at an explosive speed knowing she would need everything she had to block this attack.

    ''Blood Blockade.''

    As she cast a sixth-tier blood magic spell, a torrent of blood gushed out of her body, far more than should have been physically possible and soon the entire area in front of her was covered in hardened blood.

    However, even this powerful defensive spell, quickly crumbled under the power of Cibor''s attack that could destroy an entire town with ease.

    ''Sanguine Champion.''

    Casting a tier seven blood magic spell this time, Relia covered herself in a glistening suit of armor made of blood that increased all of her physical abilities by arge margin.

    In fact, this was the advanced form of the spell that the vampire Marcus had previously fought used.

    Relia then swung her massive sword with both hands putting all of her power behind it and using one of her strongest attack skills.

    ''Vicious Strike.''

    Meeting Cibor''s attack head on, Relia pouring in as much mana as she could into her sword, overpowering the six shes and directing them upwards along with the power behind her own attack.

    BOOM!

    As the two attacks hit the roof of the underground base, they caused a massive explosion that blew gaping hole through the mounting, making it look like a volcano that had just erupted.

    Tremors then began to shake the ce and the buildings inside copsed under the pressure, while the mountain itself was losing stability as cracks formed throughout it.

    Soon the only building left standing was the mithril tower in the center of the base, and anyone who had been on the outskirts and were not close enough were crushed under massive chunks of rock that were falling down all around.

    "Consider me impressed. I did not think that you would be able to block that. You are no ordinary vampire are you. At this rate I really will be stalled, and the rebels will escape. But do you think that I came here alone"

    After Cibor said that five more figures descended into the mountain and headed right for the mithril tower where Marcus, Lyra, Marek, and Tesia were about to enter.

    Clicking her tongue Relia knew that she could not do anything to help against these neers as she already had her hands full dealing with Cibor who was stronger than she thought he would be.

    ''All I can do is keep this man busy. Worst case scenario I will grab those two and make a break for it.''

    Rushing towards Cibor, Relia jumped up and brought her sword overhead before mming down with all of her might.

    Bringing his six arms together Cibor crossed all of his daggers together and met the attack.

    He then forced back Relia''s giant de knocking her off bnce, and with her in a precarious position heunched his six daggers sending them flying like missiles.

    ''Manifest Shadows.''

    As the six daggers weing for her, Relia cast a tier seven shadow magic spell and dozens of shadows within the area began to elongate before jumping towards her and wrapping around the daggers veering their trajectory away from her.

    However, that was not all it did as her own shadow seemed toe to life and charged towards Cibor.

    Standing his ground Cibor summoned his daggers back to him and prepared to shred Relia''s shadow, when he suddenly felt something grab him from behind, and a sharp pain of something stabbing into his shoulders.

    ncing behind him he saw that his own shadow had be a physical body and was restraining him. Along with having stabbed two shadowy daggers into him where his armor did not cover.

    Relia''s shadow then stabbed its huge shadow de towards Cibor''s chest aiming to impale him.

    Still even in this disadvantageous situation, Cibor exploded with mana and broke free from his shadow, while using three of his des to cut it apart.

    At the same time, he focused on Relia'' shadow with his other three arms catching its de with one dagger while his two asura arms extended forward and sliced Relia''s shadow into three pieces.

    The two shadows after being destroyed quickly melted and returned to their sources no longer moving.

    Yet this did not matter to Relia, as she never expected these two shadows to do much and had been using them to buy time.

    Now she had focused all of the shadows in the area around her and sent the mass of shadows towards Cibor to engulf him.

    ''shes of Furry.''

    Swinging all six of his arms around with rapid and methodical movements, Cibor cut through all of the descending shadows turning them into mist that dispersed until the torrent of shadows were no more.

    After that Cibor looked up right towards Relia who was stunned to see one of her strongest attacks blocked so easily.

    Cibor then disappeared from her sight, and as she felt the impending danger, she tried to slip into the shadows to escape. But before she did, six cuts appeared on her body and she began falling apart as Cibor had separated her body into multiple pieces.

    Falling out of the sky Relia could tell that her head had been separated from her body and her torso had been split in thirds.

    Along with that her feet were chopped off at the ankles and her legs at the knee.

    It was a brutal sight, and no normal being could possibly survive being slices apart like this.

    Except Relia was not an ordinary being but a vampire, and even this level of damage would note to close to killing her.

    Though Cibor of course knew this as well and was already preparing his next attack, charging his six des with his mana.

    He then sent all of this umted mana into one big st that wouldpletely destroy the remains of Relia''s body.

    ''Guess I will have to go all out.''

    As the Cibor''s st of mana was about topletely blow her away Relia''s blood began to move reconnecting her body, and her red eyes turned an inky ck as she faced Cibor''s attack.

 Chapter 415 - Marcus And Lyra Vs Great Knight Number Thirteen

    As Marcus, Lyra, Marek, and Tesia rushed back to the mithril tower that served as the Rebellion''s true stronghold. They could hear and feel the battle raging on behind them but paid it no mind as they focused on escape.

    However, as they were about to enter the tower, they all sensed five more presences heading towards them and turned around just as theynded.

    Seeing them, Lyra, Marek, and Tesia recognized these people immediately, since not to long ago they wererades in arms.

    "Oh, looks like we hit the jackpot. We have the three biggest traitors right here in front of us."

    "Hey now, don''t you remember the king''s orders. He wants them toe back if possible so we should not call them traitors."

    "Shut it you two. You can bicker all you wantter. Right now, we have a job to do."

    As the five neers looked at the rebels and Marcus, they had a stare down for a few seconds before Marek said, "Tesia, go inside and hasten the preparations for the tower and make sure that it does not get damaged. I will hold off Armand, Edek, and Felcia. Lyra and Jed could I ask that you take on Ludwik. I do not think I could handle more than three of them at a time."

    Except as he said this, the man he had not mentioned looked at Marek in contempt and said, "Oh and what about me. Do you think that I am going to just sit back like a bump on a log?"

    "Hm no. Your opponent is up there." Marek said pointing towards the top of the tower.

    A momentter the lithe cat beastman captain dropped down from the top of the tower andnded next to Marek.

    "Very well I will be going then." Tesia said, seeing that reinforcements had arrived.

    She knew that her time would be better spent preparing the tower since she understood its intricacies the best. Afterall, it was her tower.

    "Francis, huh. Another traitor. Do you really think you can take me? I do not believe you ever one any of our spars." The man who Marek had left out said.

    Francis the ck cat beastman said, "I would not let that go to your head Wicus. I never tried very hard, and the only reason you kept your rank was at eight and I was nine was because I did not care. Now let me show you what I am like when I get serious."

    The two of them then leapt into action taking their fight away from the tower.

    At the same time Marek beckoned for his three opponents to follow him and they did confident that they would be victorious.

    This just left Marcus and Lyra with the man named Ludwik who was staring at them with disinterest.

    "Great and I get the leftovers. Jadzia, you know you cannot beat me. Your match up against me is horrible and you were only the lowest ranked great knight. You should just give up on this and return. Cibor especially wants you toe back and is willing to forgive you. Nowe on, before you take this too far."

    Of course, Lyra only shook her head and said, "No, it is the king that took things too far by executing my parents. I am not going to stop until my goal is aplished or my life is taken."

    After saying that Lyra transformed into her evolved form immediately and wrapped her bluish silver mes around her body. Going all out from the start.

    She then burst forward with her sh fire p movement technique, and brandishing her two kukris began shing wildly at her enemy.

    Yet even as fast and explosively she had attacked, Ludwik stayed calm and taking out a wooden staff began deflecting her attacks with ease.

    Quickly, Lyra was put on the defensive as smoke began to emit out of Luwik''s body and eat away at Lyra''s mes while trying try entangle her.

    "UGH."

    Being hit in the stomach Lyra was sent flying backwards as Ludwik hit her hard, and she crashed into the exterior of the tower causing a loud resounding sound.

    However, before Ludwik could follow up a titanic sword made of iron mmed down right in top of him forcing him to jump back.

    As the massive iron sword hit the ground it caused the already fractured earth to break apart even more while shaking the area.

    Except within around thirty feet of the tower a barrier erected and protected it from the shockwaves that were urring from the raging battles that were all around.

    ''Persistent healing.''

    Casting his tier four healing magic spell, Marcus gave Lyra a boost to her recover as she pulled herself back together.

    "Lyra you need to calm down. Attacking in a fury like that is not going to get you anywhere. This guy already knows how you fight, so let me take point and you back me up. I will connect us with telepathy so that we can coordinate."

    Nodding her head, Lyra understood that Marcus was right and the two began making a n over telepathy, as Ludwik jumped over Marcus'' cataclysmic iron sword and looked at the two of them with disregard.

    He figured that this would be an easy fight as he was level sixty-seven, and he knew that Lyra was only a bit higher than level fifty, and the other guy seemed to not have much of a presence.

    Or so he thought until Marcus exploded with power activating his supreme skill and began swirling with the power of light and darkness.

    At the same time Lyra used her illusory abilities to create her clones, manifesting eight real ones along with seventy-two fakes.

    She then disappeared turning invisible and moving away.

    "Hm you already know that your tricks will not work on me." Ludwik said as Lyra turned invisible.

    A cloud of smoke began to emit out of his body filling up the space and allowing him to figure out which of the images that Lyra had created were real, and where her main body was.

    Truthfully his ability was a perfect counter to hers, allowing him to not only find her location, but also obscure the area for everyone other than him.

    But Lyra was not fighting alone this time, and she had already begun to tell Marcus about Ludwick''s abilities allowing him toe up with counter measures.

    WHOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH!

    Positioning his cataclysmic iron sword into the air, Marcus began spinning it around like a fan sucking up the smoke that Ludwik had created.

    Noticing this Ludwik stared angrily at Marcus and leapt towards him while spinning his staff around and casting a tier five smoke magic spell, creating a dozen scimitars of thick smoke around him that moved with his will.

    Yet before he could make it to Marcus, his danger sense began screaming and he noticed a st of blueish silver mesing for him.

    Lyra had used her me breathe and unleashed it towards Ludwik to steal some of his attention.

    And as intended Ludwick formed eight of his floating smoke scimitars into a shield which he began rotating to disperse Lyra''s mes while sending it towards her to keep her busy.

    ''Grand Swing.''

    Taking advantage of this Marcus who had been charging his scythe up with mana and the excessive power from his supreme skill, used one of his attack skills along with increasing the size of his de extending it with the torrent of power he had coated it in.

    Gritting his teeth Ludwick met Marcus''s attack with his staff, using his own attack skill to try and overwhelm Marcus.

    However, he actually found Marcus'' attack to be more than a match for his, as he was being pushed back.

    Still, he had four of his smoke scimitars which he sent towards Marcus to slice him into ribbons.

    But as soon as his smoke scimitars moved towards Marcus, all of Lyra''s clones began swarming around him attacking now that his defenses were down.

    ''Smoke Serpent.''

    Nevertheless, Ludwik had been tracking these clones using his smoke field that while diminished due to Marcus'' rotating iron sword, still was able to give him the rough location of Lyra and her clones.

    The smoke serpent began coiling around Ludwik and blocked all of the attacks that Lyra''s clones were dealing.

    A momentter the scimitars he had sent for Marcus arrived and began shing at him forcing him to take evasive action, ending his attack.

    Then with his staff freed up Ludwik began dispatching Lyra''s clones smashing them to pieces with one hit from his staff.

    ''Now.''

    Stopping his cataclysmic iron sword Marcus had it once against crash down towards Ludwik, with the immense centrifugal force behind it.

    Except as the de was shing down its movements abruptly stopped as the smoke it had sucked up solidified and turned into chains that wrapped around the sword and kept it in ce.

    Smirking Ludwik looked towards Marcus expecting to see a look of shock and disbelief on his face, but all he saw was a smile.

    Leaving his smoke serpent behind to deal with lyra''s clones, Ludwik shot forward stabbing his staff towards Marcus, nning to wipe the smile off his face and show whoever this upstart was who was boss.

    Only right before he was about to hit Marcus he disappeared, and his staff passed through nothing but open air.

    Though one thing did not disappear as Marcus'' scythe remained and began shing towards Ludwik all on its own.

    Still, it did not have as much power behind it now that Marcus was not wielding it. Though it was still annoying to deal with, as whenever it became wrapped up in smoke it simply disappeared and reappeared freed.

    ''Damn it where did he go.'' Ludwik thought while looking around.

    He now thought that Marcus had used some sort of space magic to teleport out of the range of his smoke field.

    Of course, he was horribly wrong in this assumption and Marcus was now in his ghost form taking position to unleash his finishing attack.

    ''She destroyed thest scimitar.'' Ludwik thought as he felt Lyra take care of thest of the smoke scimitars he had been using to deal with her true body.

    He then turned to face her as he felt hering towards him, while knocking Marcus'' persistent scythe away once again.

    "You are an idiot to face me head on again. It will not end any differently this time." Ludwik said as he swung his staff at Lyra.

    But as his staff hit against her kukris, he could immediately tell that something was wrong as he sted her away with ease.

    ''A clone! Where is she then.'' Ludwick thought while focusing on his smoke field.

    He could still feel the same number of presences which was down to five after he had destroyed a few of Lyra''s clones, and he had not felt Marcus reenter.

    Yet a momentter he felt a sharp pain in the area behind both of his knees.

    Turning his head, there he could not see anything but he knew that it was an invisible Lyra that had stabbed him and slipped past his danger sense.

    However, that was not all. Right behind him was a pocket where his smoke field had been blown away leaving an open area.

    Still, he could not understand how Lyra had gotten there since he had never felt her leave his smoke field in the first ce, and the same number of presences were still inside it.

    Unfortunately, he did not have time to analyze the situation and thrust his staff towards Lyra''s head.

    BANG!

    And as it hit, her head exploded, but Ludwik quickly noticed that this was only one of her clones who she had switched ces with right before the impact.

    A momentter her felt what he assumed to be another of her clones rushing towards him, as he copsed onto the ground his legs unable to support his weight.

    ''It''s not her!''

    Looking towards the figure Ludwick saw that it was actually Marcus who had taken Lyra''s ce, making it appear as if she never left the smoke field as she slipped into open area Marcus'' scythe had created by blowing some of the smoke away.

    "Checkmate." Marcus said as he positioned all six of his focusing lenses in front of him.

    But before he could unleash his final attack, Ludwick cast the spell he had been holding and sent it towards Marcus.

    ''Suffocating Smog.''

    Plumbs of smoke quickly surrounded Marcus and began constricting around him.

    And this spell was not passive waiting for the target to breath in the smoke. It began wrapping around Marcus'' throat and forcing its way through his nose.

    A normal person would have immediately began choking and spasming violently as this happened, but Marcus just stood their unfazed.

    He had no need to breath, and the worst thing this spell did to him was make him mildly ufortable.

    Seeing this Ludwik was stunned.

    This was his most lethal spell that should have been able to kill anyone that it effected.

    Even Cibor was not immune to this spell and would make sure to avoid it during any sort of training.

    Yet Marcus only gave him a devilish smile and released the spells he has been preparing.

    ''Quasar st and Rending Void.''

    Casting both of his new tier six light and darkness magic spells together, Marcus fused the two of them as he had done with his tier four spells in the past.

    However, thisbination created an attack many magnitudes stronger.. So strong in fact, that as they went through the focusing lens, they began to crack before unleashing an explosion of light and darkness that obliterated everything in its path.

 Chapter 416 - A Devastating Loss

    BOOM!

    Unleashing a destructive force like he never had before, Marcus watched his focusing lenses break apart as the power of his two tier six spells went out of control.

    Luckily, they still followed the direction he had been facing and the torrent of light and darkness consumed Ludwik.

    ''Guess that one is going to need some work.'' Marcus thought as he saw the unstable nature of histestbo spell.

    Though to be fair it was the first time he had used either of these spells and the difference in their intensitypared to the tier four spells he normallybined was leagues apart.

    Still the attack had its intended effect as it had devastated Ludwik who had been caught off guard by Marcus'' and Lyra''s strategy.

    Yet as the attack cleared, to Marcus'' surprise, Ludwick was still alive having protected himself with a powerful smoke and mana barrier.

    "Guh"

    Coughing up a mouthful of blood Ludwik while alive, was in horrible condition with half of his body burnt horribly by the searing light and the other half was ckened and slowly corroding away from the darkness.

    It was a truly horrifying sight to see and the only thing that was keeping him alive was the toughness of his body that he had acquired from his high level.

    Unfortunately, his muscles had been destroyed in multiple ces and his bones were left exposed as blood gushed all around him.

    Seeing this Marcus could only pity the man since even though he survived, he was currently facing a fate worse than death in his current condition.

    Though Ludwik was not giving up yet, and using his smoke magic retrieved an emergency elixir he kept and was trying to drink it.

    "Sorry, that is not happening." Marcus said as he used his spectral arm to rip the potion away and brought it over to himself before storing it into his item box.

    A momentter Lyra appeared behind Ludwick like a sh and was about to cut his head off when Marcus said, "Wait do not kill him!"

    Stopping her des as they were about to take off Ludwik''s head, Lyra looked at Marcus with confusion wondering why he had stopped her from killing their enemy.

    "Lyra give me just a minute, but make sure he does not get away. I n on us winning this fight."

    Nodding her head lyra went along with whatever Marcus had nned and pierced both of her kukris into Ludwik''s barely alive body and pinned him to the ground.

    After that Marcus turned his attention to Marek''s'' fight which was not going well.

    As big of a game as the rebel chief talked, he was having trouble keeping up with three great knights at the same time.

    Surely this was to be expected though as he as currently fighting the rank fifth, seventh, and tenth great knight all by himself.

    But now that he was done with his fight, Marcus focused on the high-speed battle that was happening quite aways away, looking for the best target.

    ''I guess it will have to be that one.''

    Locking in on the tenth ranked great knight who was mostly ying support, Marcus held his scythe out in front of him and turned it onto its side.

    He then channeled an extreme amount of mana into it and his scythe started to transform taking on the appearance of a crossbow.

    ''Iron sphere.''

    Casting his tier three iron magic spell, Marcus conjured his iron sphere and had itpress to about the size of a ball bearing.

    This time he needed speed more than arger surface area, so he made it as small as possible while still keeping its integrity.

    ''Extreme maism.''

    Following it up he cast his next spell and began charging up the electromaic force on his scythe.

    Along with the enchantments on his scythe and his spell, Marcus'' iron sphere began crackling with power as he charged up getting ready to unleash his fastest attack.

    He then poured in the power from his supreme skill giving the iron sphere even more lethality and began waiting for the moment to unleash his attack.

    His eyes trained on the tenth ranked great knight Marcus waited, his senses sharpened to the maximum making every second feel like an hour as he focused on making the perfect attack.

    ''Now. Soul Devour.''

    ''Eclipse Railgun.''

    As the tenth ranked great knight named Edek went all in for a big attack, Marcus let loose his eclipse railgun at full power.

    The small iron sphere shot out at Mach Eight, creating gale force winds behind it, and carving a trench in the ground below as it sted forward.

    And in just a second it hit the side of Edek who had been unable to dodge even as his danger sense alerted him to the threat

    The iron sphere mmed into his side ttening out against his armor unable to pierce through the strong adamantine.

    Still with as much force as was behind the iron sphere it did not even need to pierce the armor to deal devastating damage as Edek was blown away.

    He was quickly smashed into the side of the mountain and felt his body being pushed through the earth until he came out the other side and went sting off.

    It was an unbelievable sight as a great knight, and one of the strongest people in the kingdom, was sted away unexpectedly by a high-speed projectile.

    In fact, Marcus had just blown away someone twenty-five levels higher than him who was sitting at level sixty-nine. This could only be considered an unprecedented feat.

    However, even after this Marcus was unsatisfied and clicked his tongue.

    ''Damn he did not die.''

    Hoping to receive a level up notification, nothing came to him, and Marcus was certain he had not been sessful in killing Edek.

    Though perhaps this was just him being greedy, since with this one attack he had changed the dynamic of the battlefield in an instant.

    And even though as they watched this the other great knights wanted to rush over and crush Marcus, they were too busy with their own fights and did not have the luxury to deal with him.

    ''Well, I still have him.'' Marcus said as he turned to look at Ludwik.

    The poor guy was now in an even worse state than before as the lingering darkness magic was eating away at him.

    "Lyra keep him pinned. What I am about to do next is not going to be pretty." Marcus said with a cold voice that even gave Lyra the chills.

    Marcus then squatted down and yanked Ludwik''s head up to be level with his own, and the nearly dead and destroyed man let out a pained howl as Marcus began to devour his soul.

    Yet unlike the other times he had used this skill, Marcus felt his own soul being fought back against fiercely and parts of him were being destroyed.

    This was the first tie he had tried to devour the soul of someone higher level than himself, and more than twenty levels at that.

    However, Marcus'' soul was impossibly strong for his level, having no equal, and Ludwik was in rough shape already having one foot in the grave.

    Fighting an intense battle that felt like an eternity, Marcus'' and Luwik''s souls fought for dominance until the man who was just barely clinging onto life faltered, and Marcus ripped his already wavering soul from his body.

 Chapter 417 - Escape

    Having ripped Ludwik''s soul from his dying body, Marcus began absorbing the great knight''s soul into his own.

    But along with the intense struggle to remove Ludwik''s soul, Marcus now had to deal with the bacsh of devouring it.

    The man''s strongest memories and emotions rushed through Marcus, and he saw many scenes and felt intense emotions from the man whose soul he had just eaten.

    It was an almost maddening event as many years of another person''s time yed out in his mind and soul.

    Ludwik had been a noble prodigy since birth, being born miraculously with two blessings and a natural talent for the staff and the umon smoke magic.

    Marcus felt all of his early memories of joy and pride as his abilities as he was able to grow to the point of being stronger than his instructor by the age of twelve.

    But after that came the envy and feelings of inadequacy, as he left his small bubble and found people that were stronger than him no matter how hard he tried.

    He had been only a year younger than Cibor, but he watched as he could never beat this man, and how after he became a great knight his rank which had once been nine was pushed back as the younger generation''s geniuses outshined him.

    However, the biggest blow was as he lost to Marcus and Lyra, people that he felt he should have had no difficulty in beating.

    For Marcus all of these things and more seemed to sh through his mind as the hundred and twenty-six years that Ludwik had been alive yed out before him.

    It was painful experience as a powerful and long-lived soul merged with his own, and for a few moments Marcus almostpletely lost his sense of self.

    ''I have to defend Tralenstein. No, I am helping Lyra. Kill the traitors! AGHHHHH!''

    Clutching his head Marcus began spasming around going in and out of ethereal and solid while also having his appearance flickering between Ludwik and himself.

    It was an unsettling scene to watch for Lyra who had no idea what was going on.

    Eventually though in what seemed like decades to Marcus, but was only actually a dozen seconds he pushed down Luwik''s soul and integrated it into his own, once again regaining his dominance.

    Ding!

    ''You have leveled up to level forty-five.''

    ''You have leveled up to level forty-six.''

    ''You have level up to level forty-seven.''

    As soon as he did, a number of level up notifications came to him, but Marcus was feeling way too wasted to even care about these.

    Roxene then jumped out of hispanion storage feeling that Marcus was in trouble.

    She had been keeping a low profile since while she was strong, these fights were currently beyond her.

    But with Marcus in this state, she could not sit back and let anything bad happened to him.

    ''You there, Lyra. Help me get him inside. Your and his parts are already over.'' Roxene said to the still stunned Lyra.

    Shaking her head anding out of it, Lyra help prop Marcus who was in a catatonic state up and along with Roxene and carried him towards the tower.

    Yet as they were about to enter another figure approached, and in his hands was the head of his enemy who he had just defeated.

    "I won." Francis said as he threw Wicus'' head on the ground as a morbid trophy.

    Though even though he had won, Lyra and Roxene were able to tell the battle had not been easy as Francis was missing his right arm and eye, while his left ear was cut in half.

    Along with that he had cuts that were bleeding all over his body and he looked like he had just survived being stuffed into arge blender.

    "Come on let us get inside the preparations should be almostplete." Francis said as he saw Lyra and Roxene looking at him.

    He was curious about where Roxene hade from, but disregarded the matter for now since he was in rough shape, and they were still in a precarious situation.

    Cibor was still nearby and while that random vampire that had appeared was holding her own, Francis knew that things could take a turn for the worse at any moment.

    Walking into the tower some of the lower ranking rebel soldier came up and started applying potions to Francis and Marcus.

    However, this was not enough to fully heal Francis, and Marcus'' damage was to his soul not his physical form.

    And anyone that could have truly helped either of them was busy supplying their mana to the tower to give it the massive amount that it needed to warp all of the away.

    Luckily it was only around half a minute after Marcus andpany entered the tower that a message was heard in every rebel''s head.

    ''The tower is ready. Everyone who does not want to be left behind make sure you are inside in forty seconds.''

    The tower then seemed to make a whining sound and glowed with a vibrant light as theplicated formations on it activated and it began to process of teleporting away.

    "Looks like that is my que." Marek said while fighting against Armand and Felcia.

    He then unleashed two powerful attacks from his amethros tonfas pushing his opponents back and forcing them to defend.

    In this time, he sped back towards the tower, as Armand and Felcia, blocked his attacks.

    The two of them tried to catch back up running after him, but the instant after he jumped into the tower it disappeared teleporting far away.

    BOOM!

    Just after the tower teleported away, Relia smashed into the ground and began skipping across it like a t stone on water.

    When her body finally came to a stop it was noticeably broken and turned in unnatural directions.

    And she was also missing about half of her torso, along with her head having a hole bored into it.

    Still, this was far from enough to kill her, but she was certainly beaten and incapacitated.

    Nevertheless, even though she was the one who had lost, when Cibornded in front of her it was him that was seething in rage and her with the smug smile.

    "I hope that it was worth it to you. You helped them escape but I am making sure you die."

    Cibor readied his six daggers and was about slice Relia into a thousand pieces before exposing what was left of her to the sunlight, when a dark shape rose up around her and the visage of a cape surrounded her before sucking her in.

    Cibor seeing this shed with all of his might, but as he hit this darkness his attacks were deflected and Relia was dragged into this unknown void and vanished.

    With the target of his rage now gone, having escaped alive. The veins on Cibor''s head could be visibly seen throbbing and he began sending out wild shes in a frenzy destroying what little was left of the mountain that used to cover the rebel base.

    "Cibor that is enough, that will not help us." Armand said as he carefully approached.

    Turning towards him Cibor was visibly quite angry, and it was understandable why.

    He had sacrificed the mountaineer brigade so that he could track the rebels, but they got away.

    And not only did they get away, two of the five other great knights he had brought with him had been killed.

    "Where are Felcia and Edek?" Cibor said the wrath in his tone apparent

    Gulping Armand said, "Edek got knocked away by a powerful attack from that unknown that killed Ludwik with Jadzia''s help. Felcia has gone to check on him, but I doubt that he was killed by one attack."

    Unfortunately hearing this did not give Cibor any piece of mind as everything had gone horribly awry.

    He hade here himself to put an end to this stupid rebellion, and he had brough what he thought would be more than enough backup to do so.

    In the scenario he imagined, he figured he would take on Marek and after around five minute he could beat the old man, while the other great knights slowly overpowered the rest of the rebels.

    Other than Marek and Tesia, though she did not really count since she could not openly fight, none of thebatants in the rebellion should have been strong enough to take Armand and Felcia head on.

    Instead, two unknown variables got in the way, causing what should have been a victory to end in aplete defeat.

    "Armand when we get back, I want you to mobilize the whispers. Have them find out who that man was that killed Ludwik. That is the top right now. Also, have them on the lookout for vampire activity. That woman was not some rogue vampire.. She has some sort of connection to a powerful being that I can only assume is a progenitor."

 Chapter 418 - Losses And Gains

    Repapering, the rebel''s mithril tower shook violently as itnded in a new spot and imbedded itself into the ground.

    As this happened many of the rebellion members lost their bnce and fell over, while some even began throwing up.

    Being warped so suddenly and violently was a tough ordeal on most people, and the fact that almost everyone had depleted their mana to power the formation did not help their condition.

    Though of everyone in the tower, the person in the worst shape was definitely Marcus whose soul was still in shambles from devouring Ludwik''s.

    Luckily, he was stable for now and it would hopefully only be a matter of time until he was restored.

    "Marek are you doing okay." Tesia said as she appeared on the tower''s bottomyer.

    For the first time real concern could be seen on her face.

    And she did have reason to be concerned as Marek''s face was quite bloody and he was now missing an eye, along with other wounds all over his body.

    Still Francis was definitely the most visibly injured and he said, "Lady Tesia what about me. I am missing an arm and ear. My wounds are a lot worse could you please heal me first?"

    Looking at Marek, Tesia was waiting for his orders, and he quickly nodded his head towards Francis giving his approval to treat him first.

    Nodding her head Tesia moved over to Francis and held out her hands, before a golden glow released from her as she cast the tier seven spell regenerate.

    Francis'' wounds began to close up and the horrible damage to his body disappeared.

    And when his minor wounds had been healed the spell focused on restoring his ear and then arm.

    She then took out a glowing purple potion and downed it, and her mana began to rapidly restore.

    After that she moved over to Marek and healed up his wounds as well, and soon the chief of the rebellion had been fully healed as well.

    "Now does anyone else need any healing from me." Tesia said looking around the room.

    Though no one else had any visible wounds, Lyra spoke up and said, "Lady Tesia, Mar-. Jed is in trouble. I do not know what happened but something bad is afflicting him.

    Turning her gaze towards Marcus, Tesia looked at him in confusion seeing no visible wound or sensing any sort of external mdy.

    Yet as she looked at him longer, she noticed something, before moving over to him, and cing a hand on him.

    "Aghhhh."

    Only a moment after she did she yanked her hand back and said, "There is nothing I can do for him. His soul is in turmoil. The only thing we can do is wait and see. It is up to him if hees out of this or not."

    Picking Marcus up, Lyra bowed her head to Tesia and Marek and said that she was going to take him to a safe ce and get some rest herself.

    "Jadzia. We are going to have a meeting in two hours to discus our next move. Until then get some rest and I will do the same." Marek said before Jadzia left.

    Nodding her head she acknowledged her chief''s order, and then walked outside the tower to see that they had appeared in a deep and wide valley, that had arge river running through it.

    ''Hm the Wielki Valley. Tesia certainly transported us very far away. If I remember correctly this is over four hundred miles from where west were.'' Lyra thought as she recognized where they had escaped to.

    She then moved over to where a grove of trees was and set up her tent.

    Entering inside she ced Marcus on her bed andid down on her couch to rest while she could.

    At the same time, thousands of members of the rebellion exited the tower and began setting up a makeshift camp. Though everyone moved fairly sluggishly due to mana exhaustion, and as soon as they had something suitable to rest on, theyid down to sleep.

    Not even the captains were free of this burden as the ones that had not fought outside, had pushed themselves giving most of the fuel the tower needed from their own mana pool.

    Two hours quickly went by, and the rebel leaders met back up in the top of the tower to discus what would be happening going forward.

    "Larks have you gathered the total?" Marek said fist thing as soon as the meeting started.

    Standing up, Larks who was a young dwarven man said, "Yes, I have chief. Unfortunately, around thirty percent of us did not make it to the tower and are likely dead or captured. Most of them were those that were on the outskirts of the base or those keeping watch outside. Though there is a good possibility that some of the watchers managed to escape and will head to a rtively close safe house. And for the officer ss we lost fourteen men and women over level forty."

    Larks then handed a list over to Marek, who looked over the names of the officers they had lost, and then skimmed the next page where the other hundreds of names began.

    mming his fist against the meeting table, Marek was obviously displeased but, Kazimir the halfling captain said, "Chief I know that the numbers look bad, but I am sure you realize as well that we are lucky to have gotten away at all. We were up against six great knights and four of them were in the upper ten, and Cibor was among them. If it had not been for that vampire''s interference, it is likely that many more of us would have died or been captured.

    As Relia was mentioned everyone looked uncertain as to whether her appearance was a miracle, or a bad omen.

    "Jadzia, that vampire came out of that man Jed''s shadow. I can tell that the two of you are not strangers, and while I was willing to disregard it before, now is not the time. How do you know him and what do you know about that vampire?" Marek said, wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery that is Marcus.

    However, Lyra looked around hesitantly at all of the other captains, not sure what to do until Tesia spoke up.

    "Marek, I believe that we do need to know about this character that Jadzia has brought to us, but it is obviously quite personal to her. I have already glimpsed his true nature and can tell you that he will not betray Jadzia. Now how about she just tell the two of us, and we can make the decision on whether we want to further extend our trust to him."

    Nodding his head Marek agreed with Tesia and asked the other captains to leave for now, which some did easily while other did begrudgingly.

    Still, everyone did as Marekmanded, especially since it was actually Tesia who had suggested it.

    "Now it is just the three of us. Please Jadzia would you tell me what connection you have to that young man who is an agent of Borealia, and has a powerful vampire following him around?"

 Chapter 419 - Who Am I?

    Drifting in a pool of murky water, Marcus wondered where he was. But another question soon came to him.

    ''Who am I?''

    He felt like his head was all jumbled up and no thoughts about who or what he was seemed to form coherently.

    ''Maybe if I see my face it will help.'' He thought

    Yet as he stood up, he felt his bnce was off and he stumbled.

    Immediately he could feel that his legs were not right, and he thought that maybe he was injured.

    Except when he looked at his legs, he saw that one of them was a slender leg of a woman and the other was thick and muscr like a man''s.

    Startled Marcus fell back into the pool of murky water and was fully submerged for a moment.

    Sitting up he moved his arm to wipe away the water in his face and saw that his arm was not even human, but a pure white wing.

    Seeing this his mind began to panic and Marcus began running away.

    He did not know why he started running, but he just felt like he had to get away from where he was, that this ce was the problem.

    Only no matter how far he ran it seemed that the murky water was all around him, and his misshapen body was staying the same.

    Until he saw it, a clear patch of water that seemed to be reflecting the light of a half-moon, half sun.

    Walking into the pool Marcus seemed to be at ease for an instance. That was until he looked down and saw his reflection.

    His face, his torso, no his entire body looked like some sort of patch work of many different creatures.

    Some were bigger than others, but Marcus looked at the horribly grotesque form that he was, and while he was not sure who he was, he knew he should not look like this.

    "I see you have made it here."

    Turning around to look at the voice, Marcus saw a shimmering figure that unlike him who was some mix match of many things, was a being that was like a nk white and ck canvas.

    "Who are you?" Marcus said to this formless being.

    "Oh, I am you and you are me. I am the infinite possibilities of what we could be, and you are all that we already are." The other Marcus said back

    Hearing this the Marcus that was an amalgamation of creatures began feeling exploding pain in his head, as waves of memories and emotions began to y out in his mind in a mad cacophony.

    Falling into the water he began shaking around in pain when the other version of him came and yanked him out of the water.

    "No, no, no. there is no reason to try and ept it all at once. We can take this one at a time." The other Marcus said.

    After that the images of a young boy with brown hair yed out, and Marcus saw the memories of himself back on Earth as he grew up and became awyer as he wanted.

    "Now are we the young man who worked hard towards his dream and became an assistant DA to make the world a better ce."

    However, as Marcus was about to nod his head, feeling a warmth in this the other form of him yelled abruptly and said, "Oh too bad, this it the one thing you can never go back to. Remember this Marcus already died."

    The scenes of hisst day on Earth then yed out as he escaped numerous life-threatening dangers, until he went to sleep, and everything went ck.

    But before he had time to feel sorrow for his lost life, the scene changed again, but this time it was apletely different person.

    A young woman with a scared face showed up, and she was ying with her little sister.

    "Or perhaps we are the loving sister that would do anything for their little sister."

    Memories of Irene with Lilia then yed out before Marcus'' eyes. Memories that seemed so familiar.

    And at one point the memories seemed to shift just ever so slightly, and things became even more nostalgic as he saw the sister''s determination to save her sister from vers after receiving a miraculous awakening.

    After that it showed all of the times Marcus had with Lilia while he was in his form as Irene, showing the love and care the two of them had together.

    "I see we are fond of this one are we not? But there are plenty more options, no need to pick one without seeing them all."

    Everything changed once more, this time showing dauntless adventures. Fighting off bandits to protect a caravan, delving into a dungeon to farm monster parts.

    Fighting against perilous odds in a free for all fight anding out victorious.

    Searching unknown areas, exploring dangerous dungeons, fighting bosses that were leagues stronger than most, all in search of wealth and glory.

    "We could be the adventurer. Always delving deeper into the unknown. Finding out things that no one every has. Discovering lost ruins forgotten by time."

    However, again before he could get attached to this one it all shifted once more, this time showing a zing furnace and the sounds of nging metal echoed all about.

    "Are we a forgemaster? Someone at the height of our craft that makes peerless weapons and armor for those we deem worthy. Do we work with metal day in and day out to improve our skills until we are the best?"

    Changing again this time Marcus saw a ceiling of bright crystals and an open forest that he knew was his domain.

    "Or are we a beast who rules over the sky of our domain. As we fly there is no one that can challenge us, and we strike fear into those that see us. We take what we want when we want, and none can question our authority."

    Shifting once more the next vision showed Marcus as a noble who grew up having everything he ever wanted and being incredibly talented.

    So talented in fact that the world bored him, until he found the desperate screams of those that begged him for mercy.

    He felt a sense of tion everything he whipped the ves he had bought, and they cried for forgiveness saying they would never make another mistake.

    Of course, there was no mistake to begin with, he just enjoyed hearing them scream.

    "Ah, the horrible noble. We could be the son of a powerful viscount, able to y with whoever we want whenever we want. We could even find a group of like-minded friends to y with. The more the merrier."

    Moving on things became different again, this time showing the life of a woman who lost everything to a rotten noble.

    Yet, she used her anger and grief as her drive to rise in the ranks of a criminal organization until she had enough power and clout to get revenge on the noble that had killed her husband and son.

    After that she stayed loyal to the organization rising even higher and bing one of its top enforcers.

    The scenes then shifted over and over again, showing the memories and emotions of every being that Marcus had devoured the soul of up until this point.

    But thest one that it showed was one of the most vivid as the life of a noble man who became a great knight shed before him.

    "Yes, we could be one of the protectors of a kingdom. Our status is high and almost everyone looks up to us. Sure, there are some that are stronger, but sometimes talent is not enough. We simply need to work harder. Our goal of bing the strongest is still ripe."

    Marcus shaking his head was not sure what to do. He had been shown so many possibilities, but which one was him? Which should he choose?"

    "Oh, but there is one more you cannot forget about. There is still one path you have not explored yet, and this one is my absolute favorite."

    Next Marcus saw himself as a formless creature simr to his other self that was currently guiding him, and he watched as all of his other possibilities every other thing he could be got devoured.

    He watched as a horrifying monster began eating people by the hundreds, by the thousands, until all that was left was a world of death, devoid of anything but him.

    "Yes, that is right. We could be the soul devouring monster that reigns supreme. We would eat any and everything, bing stronger and stronger until nothing was left. A cacophony of souls that grows and grows until we reach the pinnacle and be a god. This is our potential. This is the best path we could take. Why be one or a few things when we can be everything. Nowe, let us live up to our potential. You know don''t you. We already have plenty of delicious food waiting for us. They sit unsuspecting believing us to be an ally. That girl, the one with the pretty hair and fluffy ears. She is so trusting, so easy. She rests not far from us defenselessly. We can eat her soul first. It will give us even greater power. Come on it is time for us to wake up and realize our potential. We shall be the strongest being that has ever existed."

    The other Marcus began raving even more like a lunatic talking about how glorious their rise would be. But this helped give Marcus the rity he had been searching for.

    "I remember now. You are the part of me that I like the least, and never wanted to give into."

    Hearing this the other Marcus turned around and a smile made of half-darkness and half-light formed on its constantly shifting head.

    "Ha, you never wanted to give into me. You have been relying on me since you got to this world. Do you not remember, we have killed thousands already and devoured countless souls? You use my power so readily when it suits you. Just recently you devoured the soul of that already half dead great knight. Why, you had no need to do that? One more strike and you could have ended it. But you wanted his power. Whenever you are in trouble you eat away at your own soul without hesitation. Do you think just because it regenerates that it trulyes back the same?"

    "Look around you at the mess that has be our soul. It is muddy almost everywhere, and if you look further, you can see the malignance. Every time we are torn apart and put back together or add another part, things be like this. But that is only if we cling to the notion of ourselves and try to fight it. Give in and be everything that we devour, and we shall no longer need to worry about being torn apart and be a soul that is full of tumors."

    Sighing Marcus looked at the other part of him and said, "You are right."

    Smiling the other Marcus began cackling and said, "Good. Then let us forget about everything and begin. We shall eat all of these rebels and then move onto whatever is next, until we have had everything this world has to offer."

    However, Marcus put his hand up to stop the ravings of his other self and said, "No you are right that I have be reliant on soul devour. I was warned that it was an ability that could destroy me. And using it does bring me closer to bing a true monster each time. But I promised Lilia and myself that I would never be a monster that ughters indiscriminately. I cannot deny that you are a part of me, but I know that you are not what I ever want to be defined as."

    Marcus'' patchwork form then began to shift as he took the shapes of every different being he had every eaten the soul of, until he finally made it back to Irene and then himself.

    However, he did not fully take either form as both were who he was at this point.

    "I am who I want to be. Nothing more and nothing less."

    The memories and emotions of everyone he had devoured began to disperse as Marcus let them go, expelling them from his soul leaving only their forms to remain at his disposal.

    "So, this is your choice for now. But it does not matter, I will always be here waiting. Eventually you will give in, and we shall be the monster we were meant to be."

    The other Marcus then began to fade, and Marcus said, "Oh and you forgot one thing. I am also the great spirit of light and darkness; I am not only a monster."

    After he said this the murky world around him cleared up and the barely visibly sun and moon in the sky became brighter and darker respectively.

    A bright and sunny day was then seen across one half of his spiritual world, and the other was a dark night illuminated by only the stars in the sky with the silhouette of a new moon just barely visible.

    However, even as both forms were opposites, they sat in perfect harmony together, and Marcus once again felt at peace.

 Chapter 420 - Some Explaining To Do

    Waking up, Marcus shot up of the bed he was on, and he felt a lingering sting in his head.

    Yet only a couple of secondster it disappeared, and Marcus felt much better than he had in a while.

    He had not realized how much the bottled-up thoughts and emotions of the people''s souls he had devoured was weighing on him.

    However, along with this he realized that he had forgotten many things he used to know.

    He could not recall any of the information he had gained from taking these people''s souls into himself, and all that was left was their forms that had nothing attached to them.

    Still, Marcus remembered some of his time in his spiritual world that had been in turmoil, and now knew how badly he had been abusing the power he had.

    ''I should have headed the administrators warning more. I thought by just using it here and there I would be fine. But I now know I should only use it as an absolutest resort.''

    Getting up, Marcus moved his body around a bit and could tell the difference.

    ''I am a bit weaker.''

    After releasing parts of the souls he had devoured, Marcus could tell that his stats which had benefited from the skill, had taken a small hit.

    But he felt like he had done the correct thing, and that any strength he had lost could be gotten backtter through other means that did not damage his soul and psyche.

    Looking around Marcus tried to find Lyra, but she was nowhere to be found.

    Luckily Roxene was there waiting for him, and Marcus asked her where Lyra had gone.

    ''She has gone back into that tower to have some big meeting. Oh, and I am d you are doing okay now. For a minute there it felt like our connection was going to be severed. Try to take better care of yourself. We all have limits, and you need to know where yours are.''

    Nodding his head, Marcus thanked Roxene for her concern and advice, and said that he would do better from now on.

    "Also, when I get back, I will cook you a feast of puff cow meat. I need to thank you for always having my back."

    Letting out a few exited yaps Roxene was very happy to be getting her first cooked meal in what had now been days.

    Before that though, Marcus headed to the tower so that he could get some more information and find Lyra.

    When he entered, he received his fair share of stares from the rebels that were moving about and getting necessary preparations done.

    "Jed Right?" A young boy probably no older than sixteen said as he approached Marcus.

    And for a moment Marcus almost asked who the hell Jed was, but quickly remembered that was the alias he was currently using.

    "Yes, I am Jed. Is there something that you need?"

    "Yeah, the captains are in a meeting right now, and I was told that if you woke up and came to the tower to escort you up."

    "Well then lead the way. That is why I am here." Marcus said holding his hand out and beckoning the boy to take him to the top of the tower.

    Quickly the boy began leading Marcus up the stairs and when they made it to the second tost floor, the boy stopped abruptly and went wide eyed.

    "Why are we stopping?" Marcus said in confusion.

    But as he pushed past the boy, he saw that all of the captains except Lyra and Tesia were currently on this floor instead of in the meeting room.

    "Ah Mack thank you for brining him up here." Francis said to the boy who was a bit in shock to see all of these captains at once.

    Normally he only interacted with Francis who was the captain he worked under, and this was the first time he was seeing most of the others in such close proximity.

    Seeing this Francis said, "You can go now, we will take things from here."

    Nodding his head, Mack quickly began going back down the tower to get away from the room that was exuding a dangerous pressure.

    Of course, this was due to the fact that some of the captains were radiating a hostile aura towards Marcus.

    Though he did not care and said, "Where is Jadzia, I do not see her here?"

    Standing up, his anger evident Kazimir nearly yelling at Marcus said, "Do you think you can just walk in here and start making demands like you own the ce? You have a lot of exining to do. Who was that vampire, and what is it that you really want?"

    However, Marcus just ignored Kazimir and turned towards Francis who seemed more levelheaded.

    "Oh, do you think you can ignore me?" Kazimir said as he took out his weapon.

    "Stop that is enough." Larks said cing a hand on Kazimir''s shoulder.

    He then looked at Marcus and said, "Lyra is up with the chief and Lady Tesia. Right now, she is exining the situation to them, but I am sure that having your side would do them good. Head on up and you can exin everything to the chief."

    Nodding his head Marcus walked past the captains and went up to the top floor of the tower and stood outside of the single door for a moment to collect himself.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Knocking on the door, Marcus waited for a response and a secondter he heard, "Come on in."

    Opening the door Marcus saw Lyra standing up and she appeared to have been saying something to both Tesia and Marek when Marcus had arrived.

    "Ah good timing we were just talking about you, but more importantly that vampire that was following you around." Marek said as Marcus walked in.

    Moving next to Lyra, Marcus said, "I can tell you have some questions for me. Go ahead and ask away."

    "Would you mind telling us about that vampire first and foremost? We asked Jadzia what she knew but she said this was the first time she had seen that vampire. So, seeing as how she appeared out of you shadow, we were hoping you might know?" Tesia said taking the lead in the questioning.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus said, "I do not know much about her, and I had no idea she had been following me around. I happened to fight against a different vampire that was terrorizing a town a bit over year ago, and I killed them. I suppose that this vampire and that one are probably connected, but I have no idea why she is so interested in me. Though this is not the only time she hade to my aid, the first time I was on the verge of copse, so I thought it was a hallucination. Still, she saved my life and told me that I would owe her a favor in the future. Though I guess now I owe her two favors."

    After Marcus said this Marek turned towards Tesia and she said, "He is not lying, though he is holding something back."

    Marek turned back to Marcus and said, "So what is it that you do not want to say? We need to know we can trust you, so tell us or leave."

 Chapter 421 - Telling The Truth, Mostly

    Sighing Marcus looked at Tesia who seemed to have some uncanny ability to read people, and then towards Marek and said, "When I was on the brink of death a while back, that vampire saved my life by giving me a certain item that is very rare and valuable. It not only kept me alive but also made me a lot stronger. Though apparently in return I have to help out her master whenever I get called for or some curse will activate. So, I believe that she was just protecting an investment, and getting a new one by roping in Jadzia as well."

    Looking at Tesia, Marek looked for her conformation and she nodded her head confirming that Marcus had spoken the truth.

    "Okay, if that is all it was, and you are not nning something with that vampire then that is good. And I suppose without her assistance our loses would have been far greater. But that is only one question I need answered. Jadzia was withholding and would not say how you knew each other. But I can tell that you are closer than just two people that met a few days ago. How are you connected?" Marek asked to Marcus.

    In turn Marcus used his telepathy and said to Lyra, ''Should we tell them. I do not want to cause a rift between you and the rebellion if possible.''

    ''Okay, I guess if you are willing to it should be fine. I trust Marek and Tesia so I believe that they will ept it easily enough.''

    With both of them in agreement Marcus held his hand out to Lyra to let her speak, since it really was her ce to answer to her superiors.

    "You are right that we both know each other. We met a very long time ago, before I joined the rebellion or even lived in this kingdom. We actually are both from another world and that is where we know each other from."

    Hearing this both Marek and even the normal calm Tesia had shocked expressions as they looked at Marcus and Lyra.

    They both knew of the fact that sometimes people from another world would show up in their own, and these people often had extraordinary powers.

    Of course, both Marcus and Lyra fit this bill perfectly seeing as how for their levels they were some of the very strongest, able to hit above what their normal weight ss should be.

    "They are telling the truth." Tesia said almost in disbelief.

    For a moment she thought that maybe this was an borate lie, but with the insight given to her by one of her unique skills, she was certain that Lyra had just spoken the truth.

    Marek could only look at them, bbergasted.

    Meeting one person from another world was already a rarity, something that most never could confirm at least.

    But to meet two at the same time, and two that knew each other was infinitesimally slim.

    In fact, the odds must have been close to the same as a shark being struck by lightning while it was trying to eat you.

    "I see, so you both came from another world. I suppose that does exin why you are impably strong for you age and have so many rare skills Jadzia." Marek said still tryinge to grips with what he had just heard.

    However, Tesia who had already recovered from her momentary shock said, "Now then. Jed what are you exactly. You look human but when I tried to heal you, I felt that there was no blood or organs in your body."

    Wincing, Marcus had kind of been hoping to keep this a secret, but since the cat was out of the bag anyway, he decided to tell them, most of the truth.

    "I see I have been found out. Just like how Jadzia here became a fox beast person, when she was originally human on our other world. I have be something different as well. Now I am a spirit of light and darkness."

    To prove his point Marcus disappeared and reappeared and then cast his shield of light spell, and a darkness wall.

    Rubbing his head, Marek was definitely having trouble epting everything he was hearing right now which was far from normalcy.

    He could not im to be an expert on spirits by any means, but he knew that the powers of light and darkness rarely ever existed together in one entity.

    "I see so that is why I sensed such strong spiritual energy from you. To think that you were actually a spirit, and quite a rare one at that." Tesia said impressed by Marcus'' control over his dual elemental nature.

    After that Marek wanted to know a bit more about Marcus'' and Lyra''s connection, and the two told him that they were friends a long time ago.

    Though they did not go into any real details since it was a bit of a personal matter and at this point, they felt they had said enough.

    "Okay I just need to know one more thing then. Jed what are you really to the kingdom of Borealia."

    Taking a minute to think about this. Marcus'' status was a bit ambiguous.

    "Hm, I guess that I would have to say that I work with them on asion. I have recently gotten on the good side of the king by helping him out with a big problem, so while I do not fully work for him, I do offer my help when needed. But for the most part I am a free spirit that does whatever I want. And right now, what I want to do is help my old friend which is why I have joined in with your rebellion."

    Leaning back in his chair Marek took in everything he had heard and pieced through it.

    He then looked at Marcus seriously and said, "So you have no intention of betraying us?"

    "So long as Jadzia stays in the rebellion, I will not betray her. In truth I could care less about you rebellion. The only reason I am here is to make sure she survives."

    Nodding his head Marek understood where Marcus wasing from, and now he felt that he could trust Marcus.

    Not to fight in the rebellion, but to protect his friend.

    "That is fine I do not care what your reasons are so long as they benefit us. You have already done much, allowing us to kill two great knights and secure a new alliance. Now I believe we are done here so you are free to do as you please."

    Marek then turned towards Jadzia and said, "Jadzia could you go and get the rest of the captains and bring them back here. We need to tell them what we have learned about the vampire and to ease their worries about your friend here. Naturally what has been said in this room will stay between us. I have no wish to bring up unnecessary details that might make things harder you."

    With that Marcus and Lyra left the room and Marcus descended the tower before going back to Lyra''s tent to prepare a meal for himself and Roxene.

    While Lyra attended the rest of the captains meeting as the rebel leaders nned their next course of action.

 Chapter 422 - What Comes Next

    Entering back into Lyra''s tent, Marcus saw Roxene resting on the couch and dozing off.

    Except as soon as she heard Marcus enter, she got uppletely alert and said, ''Is it time for dinner.''

    Smiling and nodding his head Marcus got right to work on preparing a buffet of puff cow meat cuts for himself and Roxene.

    Neither of them had eaten a hot, home cooked meal for a few days, and Roxene especially was willing to kill for one right now.

    On the other hand, Marcus wanted to indulge in one of his hobbies and forget the worrying experience he had recently gotten through and express a part of himself that he enjoyed.

    He knew that the more he focused on the things he wanted to do the stronger his sense of self would be.

    Pulling out all of his ingredients, Marcus used the limited cooking space that Lyra had to start a soup and sear a few steaks.

    Soon the first round of steaks were done and Marcus put them on a te before serving them to Roxene.

    And like always the young wolf put away more than should have been physically possible, and this was still only a snack.

    Eventually Lyra also came back and the second she entered she began sniffing the air as her sharpened senses smelled the delicious food that Marcus was cooking.

    Her mouth even began watering as she smelled this food that was better than anything she had eaten in a very long time.

    "Judging by the look on your face you must be hungry. I have made enough for everyone so give me just a few minutes and it will be ready."

    Nodding her head and staring at the soup Marcus was making with expectant eyes, Lyra wiped her mouth before sitting down at the dining table and waiting for Marcus to finish.

    "Bon appetite." Marcus said as he served the soup to both Roxene and Lyra.

    The two of them quickly jumped into the food and as Lyra took the first bite she went wide eyed in shock.

    She had not eaten food this good other than maybe at a couple of meals that were served in the royal castle.

    Quickly she began scarfing it down and revitalizing herself.

    She had used a lot of energy, and this delicious food was brining both her body and spirits back up.

    "More Please." Lyra said holding out her bowl as soon as she had finished.

    However, a moment after she said this, she realized she had forgotten her manners and had just acted like she was back home on Earth.

    Still Marcus just smiled and filled her bowl up to the top before getting a little bit for himself.

    After that the three of them ate to their hearts content until everything was gone.

    "Ah that was the best food I have had in a long time. To think you were such a good cook Marcus."

    "I am d you enjoyed. It is one of the skills I have picked up sinceing to this world. You would not believe how effective a good meal is at bringing people together."

    "Though now that we have enjoyed ourselves a bit. Would you mind telling me what happened with the rest of your meeting with the other rebel leaders." Marcus said with a serious look in his eyes.

    Sitting up straight and matching Marcus'' expression Lyra said, "Yeah. I can tell you. Our first order of business it to make a new permanent base. Where we are now should be safe for a while but being out in the open is not a good idea. We never know when scout could fly overhead and discover us."

    Lyra then let out a sigh and said, "After that we are going to need to rebuild and recruit more members, while trying to spread our influence. Right now, we do not have the strength to hold any real territory since the kingdom still has more power than us. If we tried taking over anything the kingdom would just dispatch my master along with an army to wipe us out. We got very luckyst time with that vampire showing up, but it will not happen again. We need to get stronger while slowly chipping away at the king''s support. And to that end, the chief is eager for his meeting with the king of Borealia. Once we enter a formal agreement, we will get plenty more supplies, but more importantly a face for the rebellion. With Princess Dani on our side, we will have someone that nobles andmoners alike can rally behind. Currently, we do not have a dedicated representative to our rebellion. And while people like Marek and I may hold some level of recognition, we do not have what it takes to sway the entire kingdom."

    Understanding Lyra''s logic, Marcus could imagine the level of support that bringing in a member of the royal family to their fold would give them.

    "I see. So, what should I do in the meantime to help out?" Marcus said, wanting to pull his weight and make things easier on Lyra.

    However, what she said next was not what Marcus had been expecting.

    "Tomorrow there is going to be a memorial for those that did not make it yesterday, as well as a celebration for us taking down two great knights. Would you mind cooking all of the food to help raise everyone''s moral?"

    Taken aback by this for a moment, Marcus figured that his forging skills were what would be in highest demand, but it turned out his cooking was needed.

    Of course, of everyone in the rebellion he had the highest cooking skill by far since he had recently gotten it to level five.

    This was already at the level of a royal chef, so it made Marcus one of the best cooks in this kingdom and many others.

    "Very well that should not be a problem, I think. I have never cooked for more than a few people before, but I should be able to manage somehow."

    With that their immediate ns were settled and now that Lyra was full, she headed off to bed to get some much-needed sleep.

    ''I suppose I should go and practice my new spells while I have the chance.''

    Exiting the tent Marcus used his ghost form to discreetly leave the encampment and flew a couple hundred miles away before he began practicing his new tier six darkness and light magic spells.

    Each one of them by themselves had enough destructive power toy waste to arge area, and after using them recklessly during his fight against Ludwik, Marcus knew he needed to get better at using them.

    Practicing until his mana was depleted Marcus looked at out at thendscape that he had leveled into nothing and could only shake his head.

    He now knew that using these spells would be very difficult due to their vast effective range.

    They were powerful but using them in a city would be pretty much impossible, and if he had allies around, he would have to worry about them.

    Still, he had gotten a bit better control over them and was satisfied for now.

    He then began his long flight back tot where the rebels had set up their temporary base, so that he could begin preparation for their banquet tomorrow.

 Chapter 423 - Rebuilding

    As the next day came around Marcus put his all into the preparations for the memorial sh banquet for the rebels recent loses and gains.

    Certainly, they had lost a lot of good men and women, but they had also killed two great knights who were some of the strongest fighters at the kingdom''s disposal.

    "This needs more pepper. Right now it tastespletely nd."

    "I said this soup needed more salt, not that I wanted it to taste like brine. Pour it out and start again."

    "Feel that fish! Yeah, it is cooked to hell! You fucked this fish!"

    "Eh,e here donkeys."

    "What is this? What is this?"

    "Hm no answers?"

    "It''s one step from being a mooing cow again. It is not even close to rare. It is cold in the middle. This steak is raw!"

    Pulling out his best impression of a certain famous chef, Marcus was managing all of the cooks in the rebel army, some that did not even have the cooking skill.

    Unfortunately, this is what he had to deal with as there was no way even with all his skills and abilities that he could personally cook enough for the thousands of rebels.

    Still, he did have a few stand outs among those he was cooking with, three who had the cooking skill at level four, and another dozen that had it at three.

    Eventually with a lot of effort on his part, and making sure that everything was cooked well, Marcus had gotten all of the food prepared.

    After that Marek along with some of the other rebel captains gave out a few speeches, about how those that hey lost would not be forgotten and about how their sacrifice would not be in vain. That taking out two great knights was an equally heavy blow to the kingdom.

    Then once the speeches were over it was time to eat, and most of the rebels had the best meal they had consumed in their entire lives.

    Naturally this was due inrge part to Marcus'' skills and his supply of spices, but also due to the efforts of the cooks that worked alongside him.

    As everyone enjoyed themselves, Marcus was brought around the rebels by Marek and Lyra, being introduced as their new coborator.

    And with his glowing endorsement from their leader, as well as the fact that he had been integral in the recent battle, many of the rebels took to him quickly.

    Though not long after the banquet had started, Marek gathered everyone around and told them about them allying with the Kingdom of Borealia.

    Of course, there were a number that grumbled and some that outright protested the notion, but when Princess Dani was brought up, the opposition went down by a few degrees.

    The banquet then continued as people enjoyed the good food and drink that was being provided to raise their spirits, as well as get them to associate the alliance with Borealia with a good time.

    Quickly though, the day began to wind down, and the banquet came to an end.

    Everyone began going back to their respective sleeping arrangements to get some rest. since this was the only day they were going to be getting off for quite some time, as there was a lot of work to be done.

    However, before taking any sort of rest, Marcus pulled out his sending stone and steeled his nerves.

    He had a call to make and a part of him had been dreading it. But he knew he needed to be the one to inform Mrazivy since it was likely she would get mad if she heard it from her father or someone else first.

    ''Hopefully she takes it okay.''

    Contacting Mrazivy, Marcus received an immediate response and was bombarded with a few questions about if he was okay, and what he had been up to.

    He and Mrazivy had promised each other to call each other every day, but this had already fallen through before Marcus had even left, and they backed it up to once every three days.

    Regrettably though, Marcus had missed their scheduled time because of the mess he had found himself in, and now Mrazivy was worried that something had happened to him.

    "No everything is fine for now, but it looks like it is going to be a while until I can meet up with you like nned. Sorry, but I have to make sure that my friend stays safe. I already watched her die once without being able to do anything, I do not n on letting that happen again."

    "I understand, just make sure you stay safe. Also is there anything I can do to help?"

    Responding to her, Marcus told Mrazivy that it would be best if she just stayed in the kingdom. It was one thing if he was seen since he could take many forms, but if she was found out, it could cause a lot of trouble.

    Once he had gotten the important details out of the way, Marcus shifted the topic to what Mrazivy had been doing, and she told him all about the beasts and monsters she had been fighting in the Delvien Swamp.

    "Goodnight, Mraz."

    "Goodnight Marcus."

    Wrapping up their call, the two of them said their goodbyes, before shutting off their sending stones, and both getting some rest after a long day.

    ˇ­

    Days and then weeks quickly went by as the rebel army began to rebuild itself.

    The first thing they did was find a suitable ce to set up a new base. And luckily after some scouting around, they were able to find the perfect ce.

    Out in arge meadow that was deep in a rarely traversed forest, was a mischief of massive rat magical beasts that had created arge underground tunnels system.

    (A/N: A mischief is what a group of rats is called, like how a group of crows is a murder.)

    So, with the only problem being its current upants, the rebel army went to work clearing out the rats.

    This served as a three-prong mission, in that not only were they getting a new base, but it was the perfect leveling opportunity for some of the members, as well as a way to get some supplies.

    "Well, I think that is thest one." Marcus said as he killed the rat lord that was the leader of this mischief.

    It had been a pretty strong beast at level fifty-one, and along with it were plenty of rats that were in the mid-forties. Though it had not been too much trouble for Marcus.

    And his fight had been witnessed by plenty of the rebels, Making plenty of witnesses that had seen how capable he was, which would lessen the little doubt about him that still lingered among the ranks.

    "Okay, now we need to get this ce cleaned up and move in quickly. We do not want to be found by the kingdom again when we are in such a vulnerable position." Marek said, rallying the troops.

    Moving into action the rebels began breaking down the rat corpses and transporting anything that was left in the tunnels out.

    Then in a couple of days the rats'' former home was ready for the rebels to move into, and the mithril tower was warped into thergest borrow where the rat lord used to reside.

    After that, the rebels began to rebuild their facilities, and get everything into working order.

    They wanted to make their new base even better than thest, and hopefully, they would not have to move again until the war was over.

 Chapter 424 - An Alliance Forged

    With the rebel''s new main base well underway, the day that Marek would be meeting the king of Borealia had fast arrived, and him along with Marcus and Lyra set off.

    The three of them began by running a few dozen miles away from the rebel''s new main base, and then Marcus transformed into the form of a cdrius.

    Except as he did this it was much harder than before, and it was taking him a great deal of effort to keep ahold of this form.

    Immediately he knew why this was though, as now that he did not have the beast of the sky''s memories it was just so much more unnatural to shift into.

    Also, he quickly found that flying was harder, and he had quite the rocky start where both Lyra and Marek were tossed around until he got high into the air and started gliding.

    Luckily once he started to get the hang of it and used the air currents to help him along things got a bit better.

    Unfortunately, he was unable to go quite as fast as he used to at least for now, and stood stable at around one hundred sixty miles per hour instead of his usual two hundred plus.

    Still, this was a decent speed that was far faster than most methods of travel, and allowed Marcus to avoid any sort ofnd based obstructions.

    ''I can see the fort where we are going to be meeting the king at. We are going tond around forty miles away and walk the rest of the way, and hopefully everything will go well once we arrive.'' Marcus said to both Lyra and Marek with his telepathy.

    Beginning his decent, Marcus misjudged his trajectory and idently smashed straight into the ground and crashed into it. Smashing through a few dozen trees and leaving a trench in the ground beforeing to a stop.

    "Sorry about that." Marcus said after transforming back and looking towards Marek and Lyra.

    Of course, the two of them had jumped off of Marcus'' back as soon as he was about to hit the ground, easily avoiding the collision.

    "It is fine, you got us here with rtive ease and at a good speed. Now let us make haste. I do not want to be away any longer than I have to." Marek said as he turned towards the road and began running.

    The three of them quickly made it to one of the forts that sat on Borealia''s border to protect them from invasion from the south

    Naturally the soldiers posted here were concerned when three figures had arrived, and security was currently incredibly tight since a certain important individual was here to inspect the fort.

    However, with the emblem that the king had given Marcus, the three of them were led into the fort and brough to a meeting room where they were to wait until the king arrived.

    After waiting for two hours which was a fairly long time, Marek had be especially nervous since he felt that he was in enemy territory and may have been a sitting duck that had just walked into a trap.

    And when the door opened for the first time since they arrived the tension in Marek''s expression hardened as he saw Knight Commander Darius walk in.

    "Hm, and for a bit now I though that maybe his majesty was ying a joke on me. To think that Marek Laska would actually be asking us for help." Darius said seeing Marek sitting there.

    He had a smirk on his face, and he was obviously amused by the situation, much to Marek''s dismay.

    "Darius, I know you have a past, but we are not here to irritate our guests. So, just let bygones be bygones for now." Aria said as she walked in.

    Then after she cast a spell to make sure that the room waspletely safe, Aaren the King of Borealia walked in.

    "Well, it appears that everything I heard was true. You really do always get into the thick of things do you not Jed." Aaren said as he saw Marcus, with Marek and Lyra.

    Sitting down at the table opposite to Marek, the king pulled out a few sheets of paper that had been enchanted and slid it over to Marek.

    "Let us get right down to business. This is the contract that my advisers and I havee up with. Feel free to read it over, and if you wish to negotiate anything further, I am willing to listen. But I believe what is there is already more than fair."

    Nodding his head Marek took the contract and began reading it.

    However, as he read it, he was surprised to see how fair it was.

    In all honesty as much as the king had said he would not be harsh to the people of Tralenstein, he had expected Borealia to want to take as much as they could while leaving barely enough for the people.

    Of course, this would still be better than it was now in some areas where people had to struggle to survive and ate wild grasses for substance, but that was not what was happening.

    For the most part Borealia would only be asking for thirty percent of the kingdom''s gross taxes, along with fifty percent of the adamantine that was produced from the kingdom''s three mines for twenty years. And this would only go into effect after three years allowing the kingdom some time to recover.

    In return they would provide almost any supplies to the rebellion, and once they had won, would enter into a formal alliance and would offer any necessary military support tobat outside forces.

    ''Princess Dani shall be the new queen for ten years before abdicating the throne to her daughter Eis Borealia. Then the process of turning the kingdom of Tralenstein into a dutchy of Borealia will begin.''

    Reading this a smile appeared on Marek''s face, since he had actually been a supporter of Dani before she fled from her brother''s mass siblicide.

    After that he read the rest of the contract which just stated the process and rules that Tralenstein would need to follow as it became integrated back into Borealia.

    Luckily, as Marek read it, he found that they had no intention of recing any nobles in Tralenstein so long as they abided by the newws that would be going into effect once they joined Borealia.

    ''For all of the bad blood between our kingdoms, the king has been incredibly fair. If our king had this opportunity, he would have drained Borealia dry of all of its resources and executed droves of their nobles as an example.''

    Couniting to read the contract, Marek wanted to make sure that no little detail that might end up making his people''s life worse was hidden somewhere, but everything was quite straight forward.

    Though at the end he found an extra condition that looked like it had been added hastily after the contract had already been finished the first time.

    This was for any unique skill orbs, mythic grade magical beast parts, and amethros ingots in the royal treasure to be handed over.

    Reading this Marek winced since these were certainly the most valuable goods in the kingdom.

    Still, even giving these up was a small price to pay, especially since they did not impact the average person''s life at all.

    ''If they sit in a different vault doing nothing, it is not going to make much of a difference.''

    Once he had read through the entire contract three times, he signed it, along with Lyra.

    There was no need to try and negotiate since they had pretty much already discussed everything over the sending stones. And Marek could tell that the king had already put down exactly what he wanted.

    "There it is done. We are now officially allies." Marek said as he slid the contract back to Aaren.

    "Oh, you did not want to negotiate at all. Are you certain that this was the correct action to take?" The king said.

    Nodding his head Marek said, "Yes it was the right move. Without your support our chances of winning are far less. And even if we did win somehow, afterwards we might not even be able to keep our kingdom. Once we win as long as our people our able to live better lives that is all I care about."

    Smiling, Aaren took the contract and signed it as well, sealing the deal and activating the magic that now bound the two of them.

    "Well now that we have finished this, it is time that you meet someone again after a long time."

    The door to the room then opened and a woman with long brte hair, a pretty face, and sharp green eyes walked into the room.

    Seeing her Marek almost could not believe it.

    "Princess Dani!"

    Getting up from his chair abruptly Marek moved right in front of Dani and kneeled down on one knee.

    "Your Highness it is good to see you again after all of these years. I am d that you managed to survive, and I would like to apologize now for not being able to do more for you in the past."

    Putting a hand on his shoulder, Dani motioned for Marek to rise, and when they were face to face, she said, "There is nothing to apologize for. You did all you could, but the fact is that most of the military forces were on my brother''s side. If I had stayed, I either would have died from some assassin, or started a civil war that likely would have spelled the kingdom''s doom. I do not regret my choice, and I have had afortable life in Borealia.. I am just d now that I have a chance to take back my home."

 Chapter 425 - Marcus The Cargo Plane

    With the alliance sealed, Marek, Lyra, Marcus, and now Dani, quickly left the fort to return to the rebellion''s new base.

    However, before they did Marcus ced the first batch of supplies that Borealia had provided into his item box which he had already emptied before leaving the rebels'' base.

    And along with that there were also around three dozen magic bags of decent quality that were filled to the brim.

    After that once they had travel out of sight of the fort, Marcus took the form of a cdrius so that they could fly back.

    "Oh my!" Dani eximed as she saw Marcus transform.

    She had already been told that he had shapeshifting powers but seeing him go from a normal looking man to a massive beast in a couple seconds was still shocking.

    ''Sorry to startle you, but there is no need to be rmed.'' Marcus said using his telepathy, trying tofort Dani.

    Luckily, as a member of two royal families she had seen her fair share of unusual things and quickly returned to her normal demeanor.

    "Allow me to help you up your highness." Marek said offering his hand to Dani.

    Nodding her head, she allowed Marek to lift her up onto Marcus'' back, and then he and Lyra got on themselves.

    ''Brace yourself, I am about to take off.''

    Once everyone had given their confirmation that they were ready, Marcus took back to the sky and begun the journey back to the rebels'' new base.

    Nearly a dayter, Marcus finally caught sight of the meadow where the base was concealed underground, andnded a few miles before letting his passengers off before transforming back into his normal form.

    The four of them then entered the base to resounding cheers as everyone weed Princess Dani who was to be the new face of the rebellion.

    Unfortunately, Marcus did not have much time to celebrate as he simply emptied out the supplies he had brought with him, and immediately left again to pick up more.

    Even with his twenty thousand cubic feet of storage in his item box he was going to need to make numerous round trips to bring everything that the king had prepared for the rebels.

    At the very least now that he did not have any passengers, he could move quite a bit faster.

    ''Time to see just how I can push myself.''

    Going into his ghost form Marcus floated up into the air, before positioning his form vertically and elerating.

    Now that he had full control over his float ability, he could overclock it beyond the normal walking speed it was set at by the system and began moving faster and faster.

    Soon he had reached a speed of around four hundred miles per hour, but unfortunately, he could not hold this for very long.

    To reach this speed he had to channel his spiritual energy at a high consumption rate and after around thirty minutes he felt that he was starting to get drained.

    ''Okay next test.''

    Resolidifying Marcus cast his iron wings of the archangel spell along with the me jets spell.

    He wanted to figure out what his fastest travel methods would be, so he was giving all of is different abilities a shot.

    ''Hm, I think I am at around two hundred fifty or so. Now let me take this up a notch.''

    Activating embodiment of light Marcus began shimmering, and quickly his speed became even greater, and he was soon flying much faster at around five hundred miles an hour.

    Nevertheless, it was not like he could keep embodiment of light up forever, and after around twenty minutes, he felt the strain it was cing on him.

    ''Next test.''

    Continuing to fly Marcus deployed a mana barrier around himself that cut down on drag and wind resistance allowing him to reach around three hundred miles an hour.

    With that Marcus had figured out how fast he could move, and quickly came up with a n that allowed him to travel at his fastest sustainable speed.

    First, he would use up most of his spiritual energy in his ghost form and then switch over to his solid form and along with his magic and embodiment of light he would continue until he was worn out. Then he would take the form of a cdrius and allowing himself to rest until his spiritual energy had recovered before starting the process over again.

    Using this method Marcus was able to make a round trip from the rebel base and back just around eight hours.

    Over the next couple of weeks Marcus did this on end without stop, as he transported thousands of tons of goods to the rebels from Borealia.

    For the most part what he brought was food, which the rebels were now distributing in secret to the oppressed citizens in Tralenstein.

    This served to both help the people as well as bring prestige to the rebellion, who was doing a better job taking care of them than the nobles and royal were.

    Of course, the kingdom caught wind of this and tried to stop it, but they found it difficult to stop the unending supply that the rebels had.

    Eventually they even surmised that the goods must being from an outside source and set up blockades around the borders to stop any suspicious caravans, but none were ever found.

    Naturally Marcus could slip by any blockade undetected, and easily continued supplying the rebels with enough food to feed the people.

    Though food was not all Marcus brought, as on the third day caches of potions, wands that had basic tier one and tier two spells, mithril armor and weapons, and plenty of other munitions were given to him to bring back.

    Soon, the rebel army was armed to the teeth, and had an unending supply of any necessary goods.

    And along with all of that, those that were not happy with being aligned with Borealia quickly began to change their tune.

    Everything that had been supplied to them had made their lives much easier, and the rebels had begun to gain a lot of momentum.

    The kingdom''s armies just could not keep up with the rebels, who while not as powerful were able to outmaneuver them and hit strategic targets.

    They would disable military bases, destroy or steal weapons, assassinate the worst nobles that were aligned with the king.

    Certainly, things did not always go there way, but as long as the rebels focused there activity outside of the royal capital, there was little to worry about.

    Then after around a month they unveiled their secret weapon in one of thergest cities that was located in the territory of a duke that heavily supported the king.

    Princess Dani apanied by Marek and Tesia, made a public announcement, revealing that the Princess had returned and could no longer stand her brother''s tyranny.

    "I fled this kingdom to prevent the out break of a civil war, but now I see that my brother is too far gone to lead. In my time away I have seen how other kingdoms govern themselves and they prosper while we have be stagnant. Our system has long been outdated and stifles our progress. I have been to the kingdom to the north that Tralenstein has always called inferior, yet Borealia which was once a territory of ours is now a kingdom that is far stronger."

    Continuing on Dani, spoke her heart out, finally being able to get out all of the regrets she had and make promises for a better future.

    She told everyone who was listening to stay strong, to fight back with all they could, and that the rebel army would bring the people salvation.

    Unfortunately, her speech was cut short, as Marek received intel that the kingdom had dispatched forces that were rapidly approaching.

    "Sadly, I must take my leave here, but remember what I said. The time to sit back and take the crown''s and nobles'' oppression is over.. You have powerful allies in the rebel army, and we will not stop until my brother is dethroned and this kingdom is brought to greater heights."

 Chapter 426 - A Major Opportunity

    Many weeks went by and the support for the rebel army continued to grow.

    Princess Dani''s appearances all around the kingdom and her rousing speeches quickly won over many people, including the ruling nobles that had been trying to stay neutral to this point.

    Of course, none of these nobles could show open support for the rebellion while maintaining their territory, since that would mean death. But there was still plenty they could do.

    They could give out false information to the kingdom and its army, as well as make sure that the people knew that the rebels were the ones that were making their lives better.

    Quickly, the rebel army was less of an organization and more of a movement that was spreading throughout the kingdom.

    Numerous ordinary citizens and even soldiers were taking up arms to overthrow the nobles that were oppressing the people.

    Naturally the crown tried to restore order to these areas and would send in troops, but the rebel armies forces would often intercept them.

    At this point they had plenty of spies in the army who gave them solid intel most of the time, and with that they were able to outmaneuver and overpower the kingdom''s forces in many situations.

    Unless Cibor himself personally led a suppression force, it would not be strong enough to contend with the full might of the rebels.

    Certainly, they could have also deployed the rank two, but his job was to stay in the royal capital and protect the king and dissuade an invasion of the capital.

    As for the rank three great knight, news of him came to the rebels, and when Marek received it, he called a meeting of all of the rebel''s captains.

    "I am d that all of you have returned safely. I have recently received a piece of intelligence of the upmost importance. We have located the prison where some of our forces have been incarcerated. Except that is not all. I have also been informed that a few great knights and elite mages have been detained there. They are the ones that the kingdom is afraid might join our side or desert, and have imprisoned them on suspicions of any number of lesser crimes. Obviously, this is just a ploy to prevent them from adding to our strength, but it also gives us an opportunity. If we can free them, it is likely they will join us. And among them is Argus."

    After he said this there was silence for a moment, before the captains erupted and said that they must mount a rescue operation immediately.

    Argus was the third ranked great knight and with his strength on their side they might have a chance of going head-to-head against the kingdom.

    Raising his hand Marek stopped the captain''s moring and said, "Unfortunately it is not so easy as just going and breaking them out. They are held in the Sky Citadel, and I have been informed that Teivel is currently acting as the warden to prevent any escape."

    Hearing this all of the captain''s enthusiasm went out the window.

    They knew that the Sky Citadel was the strongest fortress in the kingdom, being located on top of their highest mountain peak.

    Yet, it was not this that was breaking their spirits but the fact that Teivel was there.

    He was currently considered the strongest mage in Tralenstein and was easily a threat on par if not greater than Cibor due to his powerful magic.

    Naturally the rebels had been wary of him, but so far, he had not made any moves, and it was assumed that he was staying in the capital to shore up its defenses.

    "That is definitely a problem, but if we have you and Tesia, we should be able to win. Tesia''s healing and sacred magic perfectly counter Teivel''s death and dark magic." Francis said not wanting to miss the opportunity to receive Argus'' and the other prisoner''s assistance.

    However, it was Tesia who shook her head and said, "While it is true that I can counter my brother''s abilities when they are targeted at myself, I am not sure that I could protect everyone. We will likely incur many losses in the attempt, and I fear that it may also be a trap. If we happened to encounter Cibor as well, it is likely we will bepletely overwhelmed. I believe that we should disregard this and continue with our operation''s as nned."

    "I have another Idea." Lyra said as the room was giving up on the possibility of the prison break.

    Turning their heads towards her everyone was looking at Lyra intently waiting for her to state her n.

    Yet what she said next infuriated some of the other captains.

    "I can only discuss this with the chief and Tesia though since it involves Jed. Could the rest of you wait outside?"

    Standing up from his chair with an angry expression visible on his face Kazimir was tired of the secrets that Lyra was keeping and said, "I believe that we have a right to know what you want to discuss. You are a captain just like us, but you have been moving around with that shady friend of yours from Borealia nning who knows what."

    "Kazimir, I understand your concern, but this has to do with Jed''s personally privacy and not anything to do with his affiliation. He told us about his secrets in confidence to gain our trust, and we do not n to break our word. So, I am sorry to do this again but would all of you step out." Marek said taking Lyra''s side.

    Frustratedly Kazimir got up and left, and the other captains followed behind obeying their leader''s orders.

    "Now, Jadzia what is your n?" Marek said with a curious glint in his eyes.

    Lyra then went into details about her n exining how Marcus could easily infiltrate the prison, and start a mass break out.

    "I see, that might work. However, it ces a huge burden on Jed, and it could easily end up having him die. Tesia what do you think?"

    "Hm, it is a good opportunity for us to strike a heavy blow. Let us bring in Jadzia''s friend and ask him what he thinks. Naturally we would not force him, but if he is willing to do this it could turn the tides in our favor."

    With Tesia''s approval, Marek asked Lyra to contact Marcus and tell him toe to the meeting room.

    ''Marcus could youe to the tower''s top floor? We have a special mission to discs with you.'' Lyra said sending out a telepathic message.

    Receiving this message Marcus woke up abruptly and groaned.

    He had been working nonstop for thest couple of months, spending every waking moment, flying back and forth from Borealia to rebel bases to receive and distribute supplies.

    This was the first day since then that he had decided to take a break to wash away his mental fatigue that was piling up with his new job as a cargo ne.

    ''Ugh, can it wait Lyra? Even ghosts need rest sometimes.'' Marcus sent back with an aggrieved tone.

    Unfortunately, there was no rest for the undying, and Lyra told him that it could not wait and that they needed him now.

    ''Fine I am on my way.. But I expect to be given at least a little time to rest afterwards.''

 Chapter 427 - New Mission

    Entering into the top floor of the tower, Marcus saw Lyra, Marek, and Tesia waiting for him.

    Immediately he noticed the expectant and hopeful looks on their faces that were simr to a pet owner trying to show off a cool trick their pet could do for their friends.

    "Jadzia said that there was something important to discuss. I assume this is not about transporting more goods." Marcus said wondering what he was about to be asked to do.

    "Here sit down we have a lot to talk about." Lyra said as she pulled out the chair next to her and beckoned Marcus to sit down.

    Cautiously Marcus took a seat and waited for the situation to be exined to him.

    "I would once again like to thank you for your cooperation. Your aid has been invaluable and allowed us to make arger impact than we imagined possible in such a short amount of time. However, your specific skill set is needed for a special mission." Tesia said to Marcus.

    She then looked to Lyra to exin it to Marcus, and she told him about he Sky Citadel and all of the rebels along with other potential allies that were being held there.

    Brining his hand up to his chin, Marcus began contemting the situation, doing his best to think it through.

    ''There is a high chance this could be a trap. I do not know anything about this Argus, but even though Marek seems to trust him, there is a possibility he could be a nt. As soon we break him out, he could turn on us.''

    Still, even though it sounded dangerous, Marcus could not deny the fact that increasing the overall fighting strength of the rebellion was of the upmost importance.

    Right now, they simply could not openly fight the kingdom''s armies, and had been whittling them down slowly, but the majority of the strongest fighters still remained.

    At this rate, the king might start taking drastic action and begin burning cites to the ground if the people kept fighting against him.

    ''Then there is also this Teivel character. Apparently, he is the strongest mage in the kingdom, and he is even more dangerous than Cibor. I am not sure how I am going to deal with him.''

    Wanting to know more about these two integral characters, Marcus asked Tesia and Marek everything he could about them.

    "Yes, Argus and I were pretty close. I even asked him toe with me when I left, but he said he wanted to see if the kingdom could still recover before taking such drastic action. His grandparents were also among some of the nobles that were executed, so I am sure he holds at least a bit of a grudge. Now that he had been imprisoned, I believe it likely that he will join us." Marek said with confidence in his voice and on his face.

    "As for his level, he is level seventy-seven one higher than I am. I can tell you that his strength is the real deal, and with him, even Cibor would have to think twice about fighting the two of us together."

    Marek then told Marcus everything he knew about Argus'' fighting style, and what skills he had.

    After hearing this, Marcus nodded his head and agreed that having him on their side would be a major boon.

    However, the biggest variable in this n was still Teivel and when Marcus asked about him, he was surprised that it was Tesia that answered instead of Marek.

    She began telling Marcus pretty much every skill that he had, his personality, what types of items he kept on himself, and plenty of other details that were beyond what Marcus expected.

    Yet after hearing everything about Teivel, Marcus realized that while the man was absurdly dangerous, he matched up horribly against himself.

    ''His only magics are death and darkness, and he is not skilled in closebat. He simply does not have much of a way to hurt me. Though being level seventy-five, I doubt I could do much back to him.''

    Yet Marcus wondered how Tesia had such detailed information on Teivel, and when he asked her, she frowned and said, "He is my twin brother. We used to be inseparable, but I suppose in the end our differences were bound to tear us apart."

    As Tesia said this Marcus could see that she was visibly upset about whatever had happened with her and her brother, but he needed to know more about him if he was to agree to this n.

    "I understand that you still care about your brother, but I need you to tell me everything about him if you want me to attempt this n."

    Sighing Tesia took a moment to steel herself and said, "I suppose that you have told us about yourself, so it is only right I do the same. Teivel and I were both born with powerful blessings that are opposites of each other. I have the blessing of pacifism, and he has the blessing of ferocity. I am sure you can gleam what they do from their names. Though that is not all we received together and each of us was born with the same unique skill called linked experience. The two of us share any experience points that we gain and always have the same level. Our powers are also opposites. I cannot learn any offense skills or magics specializing in harming others, while he cannot learn any defensive skills or those that help others. Though that does not mean we do not have our ways around this."

    Tesia then told Marcus about Teivel''s fighting style and what to look out for against him.

    Once Tesia had told Marcus everything about the current warden of the Sky Citadel, he came to a decision.

    "Fine I will do it. I cannot guarantee that I will be sessful, but I can try." Marcus said agreeing to what most would consider a suicide mission.

    Of course, he never would have even entertained the idea if not for his deny destruction unique skill, but for the possible gains they could make it was worth the risk.

    Smiling Marek was obviously pleased with Marcus'' answer and the four of them began nning exactly what they were going to do next.

    "Very well I will get to work on everything in six hours. Until then I want to rx so unless the base gets attacked, please do not disturb me." Marcus said after they had finisheding up with the n to break in and out of the Sky Citadel.

    After that he went back to his room and crashed.

    His mind was still a bit worn out after flying around nonstop for two months and for what was toe next, he knew he needed to be as sharp as possible.

    Luckily, this time he was able to get the rest that he wanted, and after having shut down for six hours he felt refreshed and back up to his peak capacity.

    ''Time to get to work.'' Marcus thought as he woke up.

    Yet as he exited his tent, he found an unexpected guest waiting for him.

    "Did you need something from me Tesia."

 Chapter 428 - Preparing For The Operation

    Nodding her head Tesia, said, "Yes, I do. Now let us go inside before we attract any attention.

    Not waiting for Marcus'' response, Tesia walked into his room and waited for him toe back in so that they could talk.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus followed behind and closed the door interested in hearing what the rebel army''s number two wanted to discuss with him.

    "So, what did you need from me?" Marcus said in a rxed manner.

    And in return Tesia flicked a golden token towards him.

    Catching it Marcus immediately felt that it was a powerful magic item and could tell that it was made with a veryplicated magic formation.

    Marcus then saw Tesia pull out another identical token, and said, "These are a pair of portal tokens. I know that Marek wants me to stay out of the operation to break into the prison, but I cannot just leave my brother alone. I am afraid that either he will be killed or that he will kill many people. But I have a way to suppress and seal him, so that he can be taken alive. I would ask that when you face him that you use that token to bring me to him."

    Looking at Tesia, Marcus could see the desperation on her normally cool exterior.

    Her eyes were pleading with him to go along with her selfish request to save her brother who was one of their greatest enemies.

    "Very well, I will use it when I can. But from what you and Marek told me the entire building is protected by a formation that prevents spatial fluctuations to prevent anyone from warping in or out. So, it may be difficult for me to aplish."

    "I know, but part of the n is to destroy the mana furnace powering the building anyway. Once that is done make sure to summon me when you can. I know you said that you had a way to deal with my brother, but I came to warn you not to underestimate him. In terms of destructive power, he far outsses even Cibor."

    After saying thatst warning Tesia left Marcus'' room, hoping that he would keep his word and summon her to his side when he fought her brother.

    ''Well, if the opportunity presents itself, I will do as she asked.'' Marcus thought as he looked at the portal token before cing it in his item box.

    With that done, Marcus once again exited his room, and headed to the forge that had been built in the rebel''s base.

    His first order of business was to make weapons and armor for the high-level prisoners that he was about to liberate.

    ''They really came through.'' Marcus thought as he walked into work room that had been prepared for him.

    There, he saw stacked neatly, were around fifty ingots of adamantine.

    This was everything that the rebels had on them and could procure for Marcus to use.

    ''It is too bad I cannot keep it all for myself, but maybe I can ask for some as payment for my services.''

    With a greedy look in his eyes Marcus began inspecting the adamantine, hitting it a couple of times and listening to the sound it made, then picking it up and thoroughly looking it over.

    ''Hm, they are good but there are still a few impurities in each one. These definitely did note out of a dungeon, but I suppose that they do have three mines in this kingdom so that is where these probably came from.''

    Picking up the first ingot, Marcus got right to work on making a suit of armor.

    There were apparently five great knights currently being detained on suspicions of whatever bullcrap crime the kingdom coulde up with to prevent them from possibly joining the rebels or deserting.

    So, Marcus was now making new sets of armor and weapons for each of them after getting the specifications form Marek.

    ''Okay two sets of light armor, and three sets of heavy.''

    After looking over the guide he had been given, Marcus got to work on the two sets of light armor first. He had more experience making this type and wanted to work up to the three sets of full te.

    Getting right to it, Marcus heated up the adamantine ingots and began hammering away.

    He quickly, got invested in the work and fell almost into a trance as he entered the zone. knocking out one suit of armor after the other. Until before he knew it, four days had passed, and he hadpleted all five sets.

    Wiping the soot off of his forehead, Marcus looked at his work with a smile happy with what he had produced.

    ''I did not get the system''s approval for any of them, but I suppose that is to be expected since this is only my second time working with it.''

    Of course, Marcus may have been able to make each one top tier, if he had once again literally put a piece of himself in them, but he no intention of lowering his spirit stat right now and making soul bound armor he was going to be giving away.

    With the five sets of armor done, Marcus sat down and took a break.

    He had been working pretty hard, only stopping to replenish his mana during the entire process of making the armor.

    Still, he had more to get done, so after taking a thirty-minute nap, he got back up and began working on the weapons.

    Each of the great knights currently incarcerated used different weapons, and Marcus was making a couple of them for the first time.

    ''I do not know why this guy fights with a giant rip saw but whatever.''

    Starting with the weirdest weapons and working his way towards the more normal ones, Marcus once again did his best making each of the weapons to the specifications he had been given so that they would best suit their wielders.

    It was difficult work, and Marcus found that making the rip saw was harder than he thought it would be, having to melt it down multiple times and start again.

    Eventually though, he had all of the weaponspleted and was very proud of his work.

    Certainly, it had not been easy, but it gave him another chance to work with adamantine and get more ustomed to the powerful sturdy metal.

    ''Time to go and find out what has happened while I was working.''

    Exiting his workspace, Marcus received concerned nces from the rebel forgemasters, who had seen him go in and note out for a week.

    He had never left once, not to eat, sleep, or even use the toilet.

    Of course, Marcus had no need for any of these actions and was actually incapable of thest one, but none of these people knew that.

    Though Marcus paid them little mind and quickly made his way to the tower where the rebel''s leaders normally were.

    ''Lyra are you around I finished up the armor and weapons.'' Marcus sent out via telepathy.

    Then a few momentster he received a response from her that was full of surprise.

    ''You are done already?! I thought that it would take you at least another two weeks to finish.''

    ''Yeah, I just finished. I can work without much of a break so it is done earlier than most could aplish. Now where are you right now.. It is time that we move onto the next phase.''

 Chapter 429 - Commence The Operation

    Meeting back up with Lyra, the two of them contacted Marek and Tesia telling them that Marcus had finished making the adamantine equipment for the great knights.

    Naturally, both of them were surprised to hear this, expecting Marcus to have needed a bit longer to finish.

    Still, they were quite happy that they could begin soon and said that they would contact all of the other captains and have them return as fast as possible so that they could begin the prison break.

    "It will take at least three days for everyone to return. Until then the two of you are free to do as you wish." Marek said over the sending stone before cutting of the connection.

    "Well looks like we have some time to rx so I am going to take a nap, and then go out to y with Roxene. What are you going to do?" Marcus said to Lyra.

    Sighing she said, "I know that the chief said I could do as I pleased, but I do have work that I should do. I am one of the leaders here so I cannot be seen cking off."

    After that Lyra began walking back towards the mithril tower, but before she left Marcus called out to her and said, "If you change your mind, you know where to find me. Remember you are allowed to have some fun, and do not have to push yourself too hard."

    Hearing this Lyra stopped for a moment but quickly caught herself and began moving forward once again.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus could not force his friend to take a break, so he went back to his room and jumped onto his bed, quickly shut his mind off going to sleep.

    Sleeping for around four hours, Marcus felt back up to peek condition after having rested his mind.

    ''Roxene, are you ready to go out.'' Marcus said to hispanion.

    And in response he received a resounding yes, as Roxene had begun to feel quite cooped up.

    However, as he exited his room, he found that Lyra was waiting for him.

    "Oh, did something important happen." Marcus said teasingly.

    Of course, he could tell she was not here on business, since she was actually wearing casual clothing instead of her usual uniform.

    "No nothing has happened. I have decided to take you up on your offer. So where are we going?"

    Smiling Marcus told her that he was going fishing in argeck he had found, since thest time he got interrupted.

    Looking down at the ground a bit guiltily, Lyra knew that it was partially her fault that Marcus''st fishing experience was cut short.

    "Hey, no need to worry. It is all fine now, so let us get going."

    Then not waiting for Lyra to responded Marcus began walking towards one of the bases exits.

    The two of them then flew to the destination Marcus had found and enjoyed a rxing break at theke.

    They indulged in activities such as fishing, and swimming, just having a good time and forgetting about the war for a couple of days.

    Though their rxed fun was short lived, as Roxene challenged the master of theke which was a massive snake that spat out poisonous water.

    By some miracle she managed to beat the beast that was level forty-five, but in turn the other beasts and monster in theke whipped up into a frenzy as they all vied for the open top spot.

    So, their rxing time turned into a no holds bar battle, where they began blowing away creature after creature until theke had be filled with chunks of viscera and no longer resembled the tranquil scene it used to.

    "I do not think I want to go swimming anymore." Lyra said looking out at theke that was dyed red on the surface.

    "Yeah, and I doubt that there is anything that will be biting anymore." Marcus said as he looked at Roxene who was scratching her ear as if she had not just caused a rampage.

    ''Oh, don''t look at me that way. The two of you looked like you were having fun while sting away those creatures as well. Anyway, I managed to level up twice, and the girl leveled up to fifty-five. Sitting around peacefully gets boring after a while, so I was just spicing things up.''

    Shaking their heads, both Marcus and Lyra knew that trying to reason with Roxene right now was not going to get them anywhere.

    "We need to get back to the base anyway. The others will be arriving tomorrow, and we need to be ready." Lyra said, pulling their focus back to the uing operation.

    "Yeah, you are right. Let us head back." Marcus said before transforming into a cdrius.

    The three of them then made it back to the base and waited for the next day toe, when all of the rebel captains would assemble to prepare for the prison break.

    However, when the meeting began, one of the seats was empty, and when Marek arrive he had a somber expression on his face.

    Seeing this everyone realized that something was wrong, and as soon as he sat down, he said, "I am sure that all of you have noticed that Larks is not here. It pains me to say but just an hour ago I received conformation that he is dead along with his entire squad. They were met with an ambush from Armand and there was nothing they could do. I am sure that many of you would like to hold a memorial for him, but right now we have to focus on our goals."

    After saying that, Marek gave everyone a few moments to process what they had just learned.

    Many of the other captains had been friends with Larks, so his lose was pretty devastating. But they were fighting a war, and there was no way everyone was going to get out alive.

    They all knew this of course, but it still did not make the deaths any easier to digest.

    "Now I we all must get ready for our assault on the Sky Citadel. This going to be a two-pronged n, and if all goes well, we may be able to double our military strength."

    Marek then went over the details of the n, telling everyone about how Marcus would infiltrate the prison and begin freeing the prisoners while causing a riot to sew confusion.

    During that time, he would also destroy the mana furnaces that powered the prison, which would allow a strike force from the rebels to attack from the outside.

    "It certainly sounds good on paper, but it is not like Teivel, and the other guards are going to stay quiet. There is a good chance that everyone who escapes might just be killed, along with Jed here." Francis said voicing his concerns.

    "Yes, you are right, I might end up getting killed, and all of the escaped prisoners could either die or be recaptured. But your chief thinks that it could work, and I believe that I can do it. The risks are worth the rewards." Marcus said, letting everyone know his stance.

    He was taking the majority of the risk in this operation, so if he was on board how could others shy away.

    If he failed, it would likely just be him dying and maybe some of the prisoners, and the rest of the rebels could simply leave without engaging.

    Sitting back in his chair Francis was now satisfied after having made his point, and was willing to go along with whatever Marek was nning.

    "Well, if we are all in agreement.. It is time tomence the operation to free the prisoners of the Sky Citadel."

 Chapter 430 - Loaded Up

    As soon as the meeting finished up, and everyone was set on the n to break everyone out of the Sky Citadel. Each of the participating captains went off to gather the respective members from their teams.

    This was going to be arge operation, and a powerful force was going to be necessary even if Marcus was sessful in sowing chaos within the prison.

    Unfortunately, the location of the citadel being high up in the mountains made it impossible for arge, concentrated force to attack, so a strike team of only a few hundred was being assembled.

    Still, the men and women that were being gathered were some of the strongest in the rebellion and none were below level forty.

    Quickly all the preparation were well underway, and Marcus especially was loaded up with all manner of items to help him in his mission.

    Not only did he have the five sets of armor and weapons for the great knights, but Tesia had given him staffs and robes for the elite mages, and for the other prisoners, he had a cache of mithril weapons to hand out.

    "Here take this as well. In the worst-case scenario this should disrupt any magic formations within thirty feet for around five minutes. If you cannot free Argus any other way this should be effective, but I would ask that you not use it unless absolutely necessary. I only have the one and recing it would be near impossible, since I would need the brain stem of a powerful and rare monster called a Balb that can disrupt magic."

    Taking the magic device that looked like a grenade, Marcus stored it into his item box with a greedy expression in his eyes.

    This was quite the item, and he was thinking that he might try to keep it if he did not use it.

    Naturally Tesia saw this, but she disregarded it and handed Marcus a dozen items that looked like beads.

    "These are spell absorbers, they can absorb the power of most spells theye into contact to, but do not expect them to work fully on anything above tier five. After that one will only dimmish a spell''s power, and I imagine it would take at least five to stop a tier six spell. And even if you used all of them, they might have difficulty stopping a tier seven spell. As for a tier eight spell, well hopefully my brother will not even think about using such dangerous magic inside a building."

    Tesia then took out a number of talismans that she had created and sealed spells within.

    However, as she pulled out thest one that was golden in color, she hesitated to hand it over to Marcus.

    "This one holds the tier nine healing magic spell, miracle of life. In truth this is the most valuable item that I have, and I am reluctant to hand it over. However, I believe that it will be best if you have it. This spell can heal any and everyone within your viewpletely, and even bring them back to life as long as they have not been dead more than a minute."

    Hearing this Marcus'' eyes went wide. He had to this point not heard anything about magic that could bring people back from the dead.

    But as he thought about it more, he actually had a simr ability in his unique skill deny destruction, and the de armed demon had also restored itselfpletely after dying.

    Though this also brought up another question to Marcus'' mind.

    Tesia said that she that she had made all of these talismans which meant that she should be able to cast this spell as well.

    And when Marcus asked her about this, she nodded her head and said, "Yes, I can cast this spell, but it takes all of my mana and leaves me in a weakened state for a week. This spell would normally be beyond me, but my blessing allows me to jump above the normal limits that most would experience for healing and sacred magic. Currently my healing magic is at level nine and my sacred magic is at level eight."

    "I see." Marcus said a bit taken aback by the power that Tesia had.

    Still, he was also simr with iron, darkness, and light magic, being able to get his skill levels up higher easier than most thanks to his blessings.

    But this made him realize something else.

    "Does Teivel have a level nine magic skill as well."

    As she hesitated for a moment, Marcus could see that Tesia did not want to tell him.

    Under his probing stare though, Tesia knew she could not lie and said, "Yes, his death magic is at level nine, and he has a simrly powerful spell. I did not tell you because I was afraid that you would back out of the mission. I truly want to save my brother, and this is my best chance to do so."

    Seeing Tesia who was normally collected acting so desperate, Marcus could definitely understand her feelings.

    If Lilia or Mrazivy suddenly ended up on an opposing side to him, he would want to do everything in his power to make sure they did not die. Even if it meant tying them up and dragging them back to their senses.

    "Well, it should be fine. Remember I am not a humanoid, but a spirit. Death magic should not really work on me, and I have a natural resistance to dark magic, so everything should work out." Marcus said confidently.

    Of course, he was not one hundred percent certain death magic would not work against him, but since he was technically undead, he felt there was a good chance it would be ineffective.

    As for darkness magic, there he had no worry thanks to his ruler of darkness race ability that made him immune to any form of darkness unless it came from another ruler.

    "I suppose that I know little about spirits. If you truly believe that you will be okay than I want to thank you in advance for going along with my selfish requests." Tesia said, bowing her head.

    Waving his hand, Marcus motioned for her to raise her head and said, "Hey I am doing all of this to help a friend. So, you wanting to protect your brother is not much different. Anyway, I doubt I could kill him anyway, so you sealing him is probably the best bet we have. Plus, you are giving me all of these cool and powerful items. This is the least I can do to repay you."

    "Um you mean borrow. Any that you do not use I want back." Tesia said with a worried look on her face.

    "Oh, would you look at the time. I need to go and meet up with Lyra and Marek. See you around."

    Marcus then disappeared going into his ghost form and floating away.

    It was at this moment that Tesia realized that she would likely not be getting back any of the items she was letting Marcus use.

    Still, she could only sigh and brush it off.

    ''It will all be worth it as long as I can make sure my brother survives.''

 Chapter 431 - Infiltration

    ''So that is the Sky Citadel.''

    Looking up at the peak of the tallest mountain within the Kingdom of Tralenstein, Marcus stared in awe and apprehension at the prison he was about to infiltrate.

    Even from the great distance he was away from the ce he could see it fairly clearly thanks to his enhanced vision and the imposing size of the building.

    There was no doubt that its security was top notch, with it not only being located in a nearly impossible location to attack, but also the manpower and magic protecting it.

    Still, Marcus had said he would get the job done and he nned on making sure that everything went well.

    ''We are almost to our destination, just stay strong for a bit longer.'' Marek said to the group with telepathy.

    They were all currently marching through a snowstorm, and the already difficult terrain had been made worse.

    At the very least though, not one of the fighters that had been brought along were below level forty, so they were able to continue on thanks to their high stats.

    Eventually they made it to the area where the group would be setting up camp, which was on arge ledge that was near the top of one of the mountains.

    This spot had been chosen due to its size and rtive proximity to the Sky Citadel.

    Of course, it was far enough away to avoid detection and was located behind another mountain that blocked it from view of the prison.

    ''Prepare to set up camp, but make sure to use as little magic as possible. We do not want to take any chances that we might be detected.'' Marek told everyone once they had arrived.

    Quickly the elite solders of the rebellion began digging into the snow that was many feet deep, so that they could set up their tents inside.

    Then once that was done, they attached white tarps that blended into with the snowy mountains above them so that the camp would not be spotted from above.

    During this time not a single soul spoke, as allmunication was now being handled by those with the telepathy skill.

    They were taking the upmost caution to not be discovered and thus far everything was seeming to go well.

    ''Jed, could youe see me. There is something I wish to discuss with you.''

    Receiving Marek''s message, Marcus sent back a reply, and said that he would be there in just a second.

    Opening up Marek''s tent and walking in, Marcus could see that he was looking at some type of spherical magic device, that he had been using periodically since they started the journey to the Sky Citadel.

    ''Take a seat, I want to ask your opinion on a certain matter.''

    Nodding his head, Marcus did as he was asked and sat down, waiting for Marek to tell him about what was going on.

    ''I am sure that you noticed that I have been using this magic tool for some time now. It is a magic device that lets me see what the weather is going to be in the near future. Well more precisely it just predicts it, but most of the time it is urate. And unfortunately, the weather is not going to be on our side.''

    After saying that Marek passed the magic device over to Marcus.

    Looking at the tool he saw that it looked like a weather map from a news report back on Earth.

    ''He is right this is not good.'' Marcus thought seeing the uing weather.

    They had nned on beginning the infiltration tomorrow night. But it appeared that a massive blizzard that was far worse than the little storm going on right now, would being in the afternoon and would persist for multiple days.

    This would certainly make it difficult for them to both attack and escape the Sky Citadel as the blizzard would cut visibility, and just generally be difficult to move in even for people at higher levels.

    ''Now since you are the key yer in this mission, I wanted your input. Do you think we should move up the operation and attempt it tonight, or try and wait out the storm?''

    Contemting this issue, Marcus could see merits to both.

    Right now, everyone was rtively tired from traveling for a couple of weeks through the mountains.

    But having to fight through a blizzard would likely not be very restful and could dampen moral.

    However, they certainly would have more time toplete the mission if they waited.

    Otherwise, there was the possibility they could get caught in the blizzard before finishing up the prison break.

    Still, as he thought about it more, one option just made more sense.

    ''We should start tonight. I understand it will not give us much to recover or prepare, but I believe that it will be for the best. The blizzard will help to dy any sort of reinforcements from the kingdom, and it will help cover our tracks as we escape. Also, everyone is raring to go right now, but after weeks of waiting out a storm, motivation will begin to wane.''

    Nodding his head, Marek agreed with Marcus'' points and said, ''Very well then, we shall get started tonight. I will inform the rest of the troops. You should spend the rest of the time until night to rest and prepare.''

    With his discussion with Marek done, Marcus did just as he suggested and went back to his tent andid down.

    Yet he did not sleep, but instead began running different oues through his mind and made sure that he thought of contingency ns for when things went wrong.

    There was an old saying that no n survives first contact with the enemy, and Marcus was pretty sure that this was going to be applicable here.

    Still, as long as he was flexible and was ready to adapt, he felt he could get through this ordeal sessfully.

    Quickly time passed by, and the day turned to night signaling the start of Marcus'' solo infiltration mission into the second most secure facility in Tralenstein, being only inferior to the royal castle.

    ''I am heading out now. I will send you a signal as soon as the formations are shut down.'' Marcus said to Marek.

    ''Just remember that you only have three hours. If I have not heard from you by then I will be ending the operation and we will retreat. Now good luck. Everyone here wants this to be a sess so do everything you can.''

    After receiving Marek''s''st words of encouragement, Marcus went into his ghost form and began cautiously floating towards the Sky Citadel.

    He made sure to stay out of sight even though he was currently invisible and ethereal, having phased his body into the snow, and only having his head popping out so that he could see.

    Soon, he made it to the side of the mountain where the Sky Citadel was located and went inside it.

    Normally he did not like going intopletely solid objects, since he could easily get disoriented, but this time he was taking the upmost caution.

    Slowly he began to rise until he once again found his head poking into open space, and he had now made it inside the prison.

 Chapter 432 - Argus

    Poking his head out of the ground, Marcus took a quick scan of his surroundings and found that he had appeared in arge dining room.

    Luckily it appeared to be empty right now and waspletely devoid of any signs of life.

    ''This must be where the guards take their meals.''

    Remembering the rough map that he had been shown by Marek, Marcus began trying to n out the route he would need to take to find the high security cells.

    ''It should be to the west, and down below in the recesses of the prison. Let''s just hope that Marek''s intel is correct, and Argus is not being kept somewhere else.''

    Moving quickly since he was on a time crunch, Marcus made his way through the prison only having his head exposed so that he could see.

    Along the way he passed by a few roaming guards that were always at least in sets of four, and whenever he did, he made sure to duck his head under just in case.

    And while he did not dare use his appraisal skill on any of these men, he guessed by the way they walked and the equipment they carried that none of them were below level twenty-five.

    ''Even there run of the mill guards are at a beginner knight''s level. This ce definitely has some tight security.''

    Still, these grunts were not any threat to Marcus and as he continued, he only passed by one stronger looking guard he figured would be around level fifty since he was decked out in full adamantine gear.

    Soon he made it into the area where he was expecting to find the strongest prisoners, and while he did confirm the presence of four of the great knights along with three elite mages, Argus was nowhere to be found.

    ''Damn looks like they have him stored somewhere else.''

    Unable to locate anyone remotely matching the description of Argus, Marcus began to feel a bit of panic since it meant that the mission might fail.

    His window to seed was getting smaller and smaller, and if he was not able to find Argus within an hour it, was unlikely he would have any chance of sess.

    ''He has to be around here somewhere.''

    Taking off, Marcus moved around far less cautiously and began exploring different areas of the prison, phasing through the walls and floors all over the ce in search of Argus.

    However, it seemed that he was not going to be able to find the primary target for this rescue operation, as he quickly searched through the majority of the Sky Citadel.

    Except right before Marcus was going to give up on finding Argus and go with n B, he miraculously stumbled upon a hidden elevator shaft that led deeper into the ground.

    Following it down, Marcus soon found himself in arge room that waspletely isted form the rest of the prison.

    ''There he is.''

    Looking into the sole cell in therge room, Marcus saw his quarry, sitting at a table drinking a cup of tea.

    It looked like he was being treated quite well for being a prisoner, something Marcus had noticed about the other great knights as well.

    In fact, other than the adamantine chains that were affixed around his arms and legs, it would be difficult to believe that Argus was imprisoned here.

    His room was well furnished, and it appeared that he had been provided with plenty to eat and drink along with a few dozen books for entertainment.

    ''I suppose that since they are still hoping he will take up his position again after the war, they want to cause as little resentment as possible.''

    After looking around the room for a bit, Marcus found no signs of a hidden guard, and it seemed that he waspletely alone in here with Argus.

    Yet as he approached the cell that Argus was confined in, for the first time his danger sense started going off like crazy.

    Stopping in his tracks, Marcus wondered what was so threatening, and as he opened up his senses, he noticed that what appeared to just be an adamantine cell actually had a barrier around it as well.

    ''Damn! They put up a really powerful barrier that can even effect entangle creatures. I guess I might have to use that disrupter that Tesia gave me.''

    Looking around Marcus tried to see if he could find a way to slip by the barrier or maybe shut it down, but to no avail.

    But as he was about to give up, he had an idea and slipped into the ground.

    He then floated over to the center of the cell, making sure that he calcted the exact ce he would end up.

    ''Here goes nothing.''

    Floating back up, Marcus was waiting for his danger sense to go off, but it never did, and he soon found himself poking up into the cell.

    Seeing this he could only let out a victoryugh, since the barrier around the cell had such a design w.

    ''What was the point of putting up such a barrier if it does not extend into the ground.'' Marcus thought.

    Still, he was not going toin about having an easy way in, and now that he was in the cell, he looked towards Argus who seemed to have noticed his presence.

    Of course, for Argus it was more of just a feeling like he was being watched, and he could not pinpoint where it wasing from and quickly brushed it off as paranoia.

    That was until he heard inside his head, ''You are the third ranked great knight Argus, correct?''

    Dropping his cup off tea and book, Argus went into a battle stance, though he was still restricted heavily by the shackles around his legs and hands.

    He quickly began scanning the surroundings trying to find the source of the voice, but he could not sense any sort of presence.

    ''Woah no need to be so guarded. Try and remain calm, I am here to help you.''

    Raising an eyebrow, Argus while calming down a bit did not lower his guard and said, ''What do you mean help me? And how are you talking to me, this cell should be blocking any sort of outsidemination?''

    ''To answer your first question, Marek Laska sent me to break you out. He said that the two of you were close, and he wants to help you out now that you have been unjustly imprisoned. And for your second question, it is because I am in the cell with you. If you can use spiritual energy, you should be able to see me.''

    After Marcus said this, Argus took a few moments to think before reaching back out with his mind and saying, ''Unfortunately I cannot use spiritual energy right now. These binding around my hands and legs drain both my mana and spiritual energy. I am being used as a furnace to power the barrier that keeps me contained. Now, if you were really sent by Marek, prove it.. Surely, he told you something so that I could guarantee that you are working for him.''

 Chapter 433 - Let The Chaos Begin

    Being questioned by Argus, Marcus could definitely understand his cautiousness in this situation.

    Luckily, Marek had already informed him about Argus'' wary nature and had told him what to say.

    ''I hope to never see another chestnut again.''

    As soon as Marcus said this, Argus'' eyes went wide remembering the time that both he and Marek had fought a giant organism that was made up of hundreds of trees andunchedrge exploding chestnuts at each of them.

    It had been one of their first missions together, and once it waspleted those were the words Marek had said, and it became a kind of inside joke for them.

    Smiling and chuckling to himself, Argus responded saying, ''Yes that is something that only Marek would have someone say to me.''

    With Argus now believing that Marcus was sent by Marek, his guarded nature seemed to rx a bit and he sat back down and said, ''So what exactly are you? How were you able to get past the security in this ce and find me?''

    Taken aback by this, Marcus became a bit guarded himself.

    While he trusted Marek to a degree, and it seemed that Argus was not showing any hostility. He had not written off that this could still all be an borate trap.

    ''Unfortunately, I am not willing to tell you that at this time. I am not one hundred percent sure I can trust you and that information will not be relevant to your escape.''

    Shrugging his shoulders Argus gave up on questioning Marcus and said, ''Fine I get it. Now how are you nning on getting me out of this ce?''

    Moving on Argus did not care enough to question Marcus further, since he had already confirmed that Marek had sent him.

    And seeing that Argus was ready to get down to business, Marcus began telling him the n on how he would break Argus out and then progressively free more and more prisoners to create chaos.

    After that he told Argus that they needed to take care of the mana furnaces powering the prison, so that the nearby strike team could attack from the outside.

    However, Marcus gave Argus false information about the location of the rebel team just in case.

    That way if a bunch of the kingdom''s solders popped up and went to the false area, they would know that Argus was indeed a nt.

    ''Now the first order of business is getting you out of here. Do you know if there is any way I can deactivate the formations around here and take the restraints off you?"

    Unfortunately, Argus told Marcus that the only two people in the entire prison that could get into this room, and they were the warden and vice warden.

    It was also them who held the only keys to unlock his shackles and knew the code to deactivate the barrier and open the cell.

    ''If I freed you from those bindings, do you think that you can bust out of here through force?'' Marcus asked to Argus.

    Argus then took a moment to look at the bars and barrier that were keeping him restrained.

    ''It would be impossible without a good weapon to channel and enhance my powers. As soon as I am released from these shackles the formations will switch over to using power from the prison''s furnaces. Also, I am pretty sure that an rm will go off and it would not take long for Teivel to arrive. I am strong but that guy''s magic is difficult to deal with, and in a fight to the death I would lose.''

    However, while Argus could not see it, Marcus smiled and said, ''You do not need to worry about Teivel, Tesia gave me some ways to deal with him. And, if you did have a good weapon and even armor to strengthen yourself, you could break out of here?''

    Marcus then exined to Argus that he had a perfect weapon and set of armor made out of adamantine ready for him.

    ''Hm, I am used to my amethros war hammer, but if it is a high quality adamantine one, I should be able to break out with a few dozen blows. But how exactly are you nning on getting me out of these shackles?'' Argus asked while holding out his hands and showing off the adamantine manacles that were binding him.

    ''Well, I thought of a way, but I am not sure that you are going to like it.''

    As Marcus told Argus about his n to separate him from his shackles, his eyes went wide and sweat visibly began running down his face.

    What Marcus wanted him to do was going to be very painful and exhausting.

    ''Is there really no other way?'' Argus asked, hoping not to have to resort to the method Marcus hade up with.

    Of course, Marcus could have just used the device that Tesia gave him to disrupted all of the formations and make it much easier for Argus to escape, but he wanted to save it if he could.

    ''Nope, it is all I can think off. There is just no way I could safely get the keys off the warden or vice warden.'' Marcus said tantly lying about not having another way.

    Sighing, Argus agreed to Marcus'' proposal even though he really wished not to have to do this.

    Still, after being locked up for a few weeks, the novelty of being trapped in a small room, and being permanently chained to a wall wore off pretty quickly.

    He had been hoping that the kingdom could fix itself back up, but when Cibor along with the second ranked great knight had told him he was being investigated for a bullcrap crime, he knew things had gone too far.

    ''Okay just make it quick and be ready. The second you free me the entire prison is going to go into high alert, and it will not be long before Teivel shows up personally.''

    ''Got it. Just give me a minute to get everything ready and when it is time, I will give you a count down.''

    While still ethereal Marcus opened up one of the magic bags he had on him, and began emptying the surplus weapons he had into it.

    Luckily, he was able to do this since anything nonliving on his person became ethereal with him and would stay that way as long as it was still connected to him.

    He did this so that he could hand these bags over to Argus and he could also distribute weapons to escaped prisoners, since Marcus felt that his hands might be full dealing with Teivel.

    ''I am ready. Now prepare yourself, I am going to begin in five seconds.''

    Gritting his teeth and bracing himself, Argus got ready for Marcus to free him. And after the five seconds were over, he saw a top tier adamantine scythe appear out of nowhere and swiftly cut of his hands and lower legs, separating him from his bindings.

    Immediately an rm began ring, signaling that Argus had escaped, but neither of them paid it much mind.

    Argus himself was in quite a bit of pain, and Marcus moved quickly not wasting a moment and pulled out one of the talismans that Tesia had given him, using it to cast the regeneration spell on Argus.

    Along with that he used his own spirit healing power to restore Argus even faster.

    Marcus then dropped Argus his new adamantine hammer and armor, along with a few magic bags and said, ''Let the chaos begin.''

 Chapter 434 - The Most Annoying Insect

    As soon as Argus had all of his limbs recovered, he picked up the adamantine pendant and war hammer that had seemingly appeared out of thin air.

    He then quickly deployed the armor that was sealed within the pendant and struck with all his might against the bars and barrier that were keeping him contained.

    ''Smashing Strike.''

    As Argus hit the adamantine bars that were confining him, they shook violently, and ever so slightly bent under the full weight of his attack.

    However, after his first blow, Argus knew he was going to have to hit much harder if he wanted to escape from his prison.

    ''Behemoth Aspect.''

    Activating one of his unique skills, Argus began to grow in size, and surprisingly along with him so did his hammer.

    BANG!

    Hitting against the cell once again, this time with a deafening sound, the barrier began to crack, and the bars bent much further than before.

    Argus began swinging his hammer around in a flurry, smashing against the bars over and over again.

    Unfortunately, before he could fully destroy the cell, a figure wearing a long ck cloak and holding a wicked looking grimoire teleported into the room with a very displeased expression on his face.

    ''How the hell did he get free, and where did he get that weapon and set of armor from?!'' Teivel thought as soon as he saw what Argus was doing.

    "Argus stop this foolishness. I do not wish to have to hurt you, but if you keep this up, I am going to have to." Teivel said hoping that his presence here would force Argus to submit.

    But to his surprise Argus did not slow down and kept hammering away, slowly breaking through his cell.

    Seeing this Teivel just sighed, and magical energies began to swell around him as he prepared to cast a powerful spell to bring Argus down.

    Except right before he was going to cast his spell, his danger sense went off and as he turned to his left, he saw a silver talisman appear in the air and unleash a spell.

    Quickly a glowing sphere encapsted Teivel, as Marcus had used one of the spell sealing talismans that Tesia had given him, and unleashed the tier seven sacred magic spell, sanctified imprisonment.

    And not a moment too soon, as Argus broke out of his cell, and had Teivel been unhindered it is likely he would have been hit with a powerful spell.

    Appearing for the first time, Marcus stood in front of Argus and said, "Hurry up and go to free the others. I will keep Teivel busy here while you cause chaos and destroy the mana furnaces powering this ce."

    Nodding his head quickly in conformation, Argus did not waste a moment and smashed through the ceiling, wanting to get away from Teivel who was the only real threat to him as fast as possible.

    Crack!

    Not but an instant after Argus exited the room, the spell that was confining Teivel began to break, and a very ominous aura of darkness began leaking out.

    Quickly the sanctified imprisonment shattered under Teivel''s power, and he looked at Marcus who was standing there with a rxed posture, with hatred in his eyes.

    "I see, you must be the rebel insect that managed to infiltrate my Sky Citadel. I appears that my sister gave you some toys to try and deal with me, but do not expect them to save you again. Now I will deal with you quickly and recapture Argus."

    Teivel casually flicked his hand towards Marcus and unleashed a very powerful darkness drill spell, that far outmatched Marcus'' own.

    But it was not like Marcus had to try and fight back with the same spell and activated his embodiment of light before unleashing a heightened quasar st.

    The powerful tier six light magic spell quickly engulfed the entire room, and overpowered Teivel''s darkness drill.

    Surprise was written all over Teivel''s face as the st of light began approaching him, and a resounding explosion rocked the entire prison.

    BOOM!

    As his quasar st expanded it began bursting through the area, and first destroyed the hidden room Argus had been held in before moving into the prison proper.

    It was a devastating attack that left a scar through the building, but due to its magical reinforcements the overall damage was not too devastating.

    And using his distraction to the fullest Marcus took this time to move away and floated back up into the main prison area before bing solid again.

    ''Yeah, I figured even that would not do any damage.''

    Looking down into the massive crater he had just created, Marcus could see that surrounding Teivel were a series of darkness des that were rotating all around him like a chainsaw.

    Certainly, Teivel may not have been high on defensive abilities, but that did not mean he could not rip through any attack that came his way.

    "You were right. To you I may just be an insect, but I promise that I will be the most annoying insect you have ever dealt with." Marcus yelled down to Teivel to get his attention and anger him further.

    Unfortunately, his provocation may have worked a little too well, as Teivel warped right up in front of Marcus, and hit him with the tier six darkness magic spell rending void.

    However, unlike when Marcus used this spell Teivel''s control over it was impable, and the powerful spell that normally destroyedrge areas waspletely concentrated on Marcus.

    ''Nope.''

    With a single wave of his hand, Marcuspletely dispelled the darkness magic spell that Teivel had cast on him, exerting his dominance as a ruler of darkness.

    Seeing this Teivel was dumbfounded as to how Marcus had not only survived bute out unscathed from his tier six spell.

    Marcus not wasting this moment jumped back creating some distance form Teivel.

    Of course, Marcus knew this was not going to mean much since Teivel was using his authority as the Sky Citadel''s warden to warp around.

    So, to prevent this he phased his left arm into the ground and created and opening with a small st of mana. Where he then deposited the spatial disrupter, he and Thabon had made together for his fight against Wyatt.

    This way he could prevent Teivel from teleporting around, but more importantly from getting away from him.

    Marcus knew he needed to keep Teivel''s attention away from Argus, who could move around and cause more damage than he could so long as Teivel did not go after him.

    "What did you just do? How did you cancel my spell?" Teivel said his frustration growing.

    He had already appraised Marcus and seeing that his opponent was only level forty-seven, it should have only taken an instant to deal with him.

    ''That aura of light around him, maybe protecting him from my darkness magic? Fine let me see how he fairs against the power of death.''

    Realizing that his darkness magic was having a lesser effect on Marcus, Teivel decided to switch things up and cast a death magic spell instead.

    ''Horrid Withering.''

    Unleashing his tier six death magic spell, Teivel sent out a wave of pure decay that destroyed every living thing in its way.

    Not even the smallest bacteria survived as the spell spread out, and any organic matter began to shrivel up and turn to dust.

 Chapter 435 - Horror From Another World

    As Teivel''s death magic spell washed over him, Marcus felt a slight tingling all over his form, but as he expected, being an undead it seemed that it had no effect on him.

    At least that was how it was as first, but as the spell continued, he realized he had made a huge mistake taking this spell head on as a test.

    ''My clothes!''

    Quickly the spell that turned any sort of organic matter to dust, destroyed the fibers that made up Marcus'' enchanted clothes.

    Luckily Marcus was still wearing his armor, so he was not running aroundpletely uncovered, but he had just lost his expensive and convenient set of enchanted clothing.

    On the other hand, Teivel was astonished to see that Marcus had escaped his death magic spell unscathed.

    ''No living being should have been able to withstand that without at least taking some damage. What the hell is he?'' Teivel thought seeing that Marcus so far had been immune to everything he had done.

    He had never seen anything like this before. Even most undead were not fully immune to this spell that destroyed organic matter at a molecr level.

    Taking a moment, Teivel tried to assess Marcus further now very wary of this mysterious being that had infiltrated his prison that should have been impregnable.

    Unfortunately, Teivel''s problems were just beginning as he soon got a telepathic message from the vice warden that was most concerning.

    ''Sir, Great Knight Argus has just freed the other great knights and elite mages, and they are going on a rampage. They are continuing to free more and more prisoner, and many of the rebels have been released as well. We do not have the manpower to contain them for long. Without your assistance we are going to be overwhelmed soon.''

    Tch!

    Clinking his tongue, Teivel was bing increasingly frustrated by what was going on, and quickly replied to his vice warden and said, ''Contact the capital and tell them to send Cibor and everyone else that they can. This is a plot by the rebels. They managed to sneak in an agent who I am dealing with now. Just keep the escapees stalled for a dozen more seconds and I will be over there.''

    With the situation rapidly detreating, Teivel gave Marcus and annoyed look before lifting up his grimoire and opening it.

    "I am afraid I do not have time to deal with you, so I will leave you with your executioner." Teivel said as his grimoire began pulsing with a very wicked ck mana.

    Not long after a ck ichor began to flow out of the book and form itself into an insidious looking monster.

    Looking at it there was no doubt in Marcus'' mind that this was the most horrifying creature he had ever seen.

    Even the ravenous abyss summoned by the tier five darkness magic spell was not as terrifying as this thing.

    It looked like some sort of abomination with a long, split head that opened up to reveal dozens of rows of teeth that were dark as night and dripping with acidic salvia.

    It also had four main legs it stood on that were ended with six long ws, and on the top of its body it had a dozen limbs resembling arms that were all different sizes, and in abnormal locations.

    Along with that it also had five writhing tentacles each that ended with a smaller version of the creature''s head.

    But worst of all were the hollow abyss like eyes that had a dim yellow light in each socket and seemed to unleashing a chilling sense of absolute doom.

    ''What the hell is that thing?'' Marcus thought seeing the creature that had escaped from Teivel''s grimoire.

    Tesia had not told him anything about this when she had divulged to him Teivel''s abilities and equipment.

    Unfortunately, even Tesia had not known about this grimoire that contained eldritch horrors, since Teivel had not wanted to expose it to his kindhearted sister.

    Trying to appraise the monster that had just appeared, Marcus received a response that he never had before from this skill.

    Instead of what normally happened where it disyed the information or gave a message that the skill had been blocked, Marcus instead received three question marks as if this creature was not even recognized by the system as existing.

    "Dreadmouth. Kill him."

    After it had received its order, the eldritch monstrosity that Teivel had summoned seemed to disappear, and Marcus did not even notice what had happened until the creature''s mouth had mmed down shut over his torso.

    Seeing that Marcus had gone down incredibly easily, Teivel could only let out an angry scoff since he himself had so much trouble with what he considered to be an insect.

    Yet as he tried to warp away, he instead only shakily teleported a few feet before being shunted out and mming into a wall.

    ''What the hell!?''

    Having no clue as to why his teleporting had been disrupted, Teivel quickly realized that Marcus must have done something before being eaten.

    Except as he looked towards his summoned monstrosity, he saw that it was now looking around in confusion with Marcus no longer in its mouth.

    "Whew that was close." Marcus said as he appeared a few dozen feet in front of Teivel.

    He currently had hundreds of small puncture wounds all over his body that were leaking the grey mist that was his essence, but overall, he was not too terribly damaged.

    Luckily, Marcus had been able to escape by going ghost and slipping away from the Dreadmouth as Teivel had called it, but he now knew that he was no match for this thing.

    Still, he needed to stall Teivel for as long as possible and prevent him from quelling the escaped prisoners.

    Of course, as soon as he showed up again the Dreadmouth charged towards him, but what the creature did not know was that Marcus had left it a present before escaping.

    ''Undefiled Sanctuary.''

    Activating the talisman he had left behind, a golden glow quickly spread out over arge area and engulfed everyone in a warm and peaceful light.

    "Crsaishrasch!"

    Letting out an indescribable screech of pain, the Dreadmouth began steaming and writhing around, unable to be in the presence of the tier eight sacred magic spell that had just be unleashed.

    Seeing this Marcus was actually a bit surprised because this went against the description that Tesia had given him of this spell.

    It was supposed to create an inescapable zone that denied any sort of suffering.

    People inside could not hurt each other, nor could they die even if severely injured. Along with that it was supposed to have a calming effect and could protect from any sort of outside attacks.

    It truly was the perfect spell for someone with the blessing of pacifism that could not hurt anyone.

    Except it seemed that this monstrosity was such an anomaly that its very existence must have been meant to cause suffering, and the undefiled sanctuarypletely rejected.

    Quickly the creature ran to the edge of the spell''s area and tried to escape as it began dissolving and turning into smoke.

    However, it was unable to get out of the sealed space, and fruitlessly scratched at the barrier until it turned into a cloud and was sucked back into Teivel''s grimoire.

 Chapter 436 - Teivelâ€™s Fury

    After the Dreadmouth had been destroyed as the undefiled sanctuary spell rejected its very existence, Marcus sat down now that Teivel was trapped.

    He knew that there was no need for violence anymore, and for the next thirty minutes while the spell was in effect Teivel was trapped along with him.

    "I am sure you already know what this spell is seeing as how it was given to me by your sister. You might as well sit down and rx, neither of us are going anywhere for a while." Marcus said hoping to get Teivel to settle down.

    Unfortunately, even through the calming effects of the undefiled sanctuary, Teivel''s anger was rising now that he was in this situation.

    "My sister must trust you a great deal to have given one of her tier eight spell sealing talismans to you. I wonder if you even know how long it took, and how valuable the materials necessary to make that talisman you so readily used are. But if you think that this can contain me you are sorely mistaken."

    A viscous aura then began to spread out around Teivel, and Marcus could only grimace since this is what he was afraid of.

    Tesia had already informed him that if Teivel got serious, he could break this spell and kill everything around him.

    Still, he would have to unleash his tier nine spell to do so, and Tesia said that he would suffer a simr bacsh to what she does when casting a spell above her normal level.

    Quickly standing up, Marcus went into his ghost form having no intention of trying to take on Teivel''s strongest magic that Tesia had warned him about.

    "Nothing is immune, and all shall perish. The end is inevitable andes for all. Even the stars shall blink out and turn to dust. Evesting is a lie, and the end is nigh."

    "Demise."

    As Teivel cast his tier nine death magic spell, everything went ck.

    Except even as the spell spread out over arge area, Marcus did not feel a thing.

    As powerful as the spell was, it had not been imbued with any spiritual energy meaning it could not hit Marcus who existed beyond the physical world right now.

    However, had Teivel used spiritual energy, even Marcus who was a ghost would not have been spared from this spell that meant the end for any creature that it came into contact with.

    ''Well, that was close.''

    Marcus thought as the spell began to dissipate.

    Even in his ethereal form his danger sense had gone off like never before, warning him of the impending doom should he touch the expansive ckness that had killed everything within a thousand feet.

    Of course, this was actually the smallest range that Teivel could make his tier nine spell, and if he wanted, he easily could have covered the entire mountain the sky citadel sat on.

    Luckily, he had not resorted to such a drastic measure in order to not kill all of his subordinates.

    Unfortunately. even with the restricted range he had ended up killing hundreds of people from guards to prisoners alike.

    Copsing onto his knees Teivel was entirely worn out after using his strongest spell. But anything less would not have freed him from the undefiled sanctuary, that was now destroyed under the pressure of a higher tier spell.

    ''To think that pest managed to push me this far. No, it was not him but Tesia that did this. If not for her, I would not have had to resort to that.''

    Pulling out a true elixir, Teivel knew he needed to restore himself and deal with Argus and the other escapees. But before he could drink it, he heard a voice that no longer should have existed.

    "Wow that was certainly something. Even I would have been in trouble if that had hit me." Marcus said with a smug smile on his face.

    Looking up Teivel''s expression was full of disbelief, as Marcus stood therepletely fine even after having been in the area of a tier nine spell.

    "Impossible." Was all Teivel could say after seeing Marcus alive.

    He could not think of any usible exnation for how Marcus survived or what he could be.

    At this point he knew that he must have been some type of spirit, maybe one of light, but that still did not exin the immunity to death and darkness magic.

    ''It does not matter. I have a job to do.'' Teivel thought as he steeled his resolve.

    Flicking the top of the potion bottle that contained the elixir, Teivel tried to drink it quickly, but found the bottle wrenched out of his grasp before he could.

    He then saw a translucent purple arm, fly away with his precious potion and bring it over to Marcus.

    "Sorry I cannot have you getting back up. You can just me your bad match up against me and your sister''s preparations for your loss. Still if you do not struggle, I will not hurt you since your sister asked me to bring you back alive."

    Brining out his tendrils of shadows Marcus warped up Teivel who in his weakened state was unable to resist, and he sessfully captured the warden of the Sky Citadel.

    "I did not want to use this, but you leave me no choice."

    As Teivel said this a secretpartment in his shoe opened and a small vile containing a dark ichor simr to what hade out of his grimoire was injected into him.

    The substance took effect immediately and Teivel''s veins began to turn ck, and his eyes became a sickly yellow color.

    Seeing this, Marcus could feel that Teivel had be much more dangerous and tried to use his life drain specter power to weaken him.

    But as he did, he received a sickly feedback as if Teivel''s life was corrupted and had be poisonous.

    A secondter his tendrils of shadows were ripped apart, and Teivel appeared right in front of Marcus before punching him in the face.

    He even imbued his fist with spiritual energy preventing Marcus from avoiding it as he went ethereal.

    Being blown back and feeling his face smashed in, Marcus waspletely disoriented as he flew through many walls, before getting ahold of himself anding to a stop.

    ''Owowowow.''

    Feeling pain for the first time in a while, Marcus could tell that just a single hit had messed him up pretty bad.

    At the very least though, Teivel had no fighting skills and his punch while backed with a lot of raw strength, was pretty weak for his level.

    Quickly Marcus'' face recovered itself, but now that Teivel had undergone some sort of transformation and understood how to deal with him, things were going to be more difficult.

    ''I just need to stall until the mana furnaces are down.'' Marcus thought while preparing himself.

    Floating back to where Teivel was, Marcus barely caught a glimpse of him as he was flying down the hallway towards the congregation of escaped prisoner.

    ''You are not getting away.''

    Floating through the walls Marcus went through the shortest path towards Teivel and cut him off.

    However, Teivel had been prepared for if Marcus showed back up and unleashed a st of mana and spiritual energy towards him.. Having figured out how to deal with the spirit that was immune to his magic.

 Chapter 437 - All Shall Die

    Seeing the impending st of mana and spiritual energying for him, Marcus cast his tier six iron magic spell, and flung his cataclysmic iron sword forwards.

    Quickly the three-hundred-foot-long iron sword smashed through the floor and ceiling of the Sky Citadel and impacted Teivel''s st, carving through it.

    As powerful as Teivel was, he was not used to using pure mana attacks, and was also still not at full power after using his tier nine spell.

    Even the eldritch essence he had injected into himself was not enough to fully recover from the bacsh of using his strongest spell.

    ''Umbral Web.''

    Casting a tier six darkness magic spell, Teivel quickly wrapped up and halted Marcus'' cataclysmic iron sword, stopping the hundreds of tons de in its tracks.

    Still the de had forced Teivel to stop, and he had to take a couple of seconds twist his webs around and constricted sword in order to crush it.

    And as he did this a thought came to him.

    Certainly, it seemed that Marcus was not hurt by his magic, but it was still possible that he could restrain him.

    Pouring spiritual energy into his umbral webs, Teivel sent them flying towards Marcus nning to ensnare him.

    Unfortunately, for Teivel, his umbral webs began to break apart and dissipate the second they hit Marcus, putting a quick and bitter end to his n to restrain him.

    ''Quasar st.''

    Casting hist tier six light magic spell, Marcus kept the pressure on Teivel. He knew he needed to keep him locked down, and he was more than willing to chain his strongest spells back-to-back to do so.

    Of course, even a heightened tier six spell from Marcus was not enough to put a single scratch on Teivel, but he was having to expend his time to deal with them.

    His frustration having hit its peak, Teivel rushed towards Marcus who was still ethereal, his body glowing with mana and spiritual energy, as he nned to unleash everything he had to take Marcus out.

    Barely able to react in time to Teivel''s extreme burst of speed, Marcus reflexively deployed his mana barrier and cast his radiance scales spell right before Teivel impacted him.

    An instantter all of the mana and spiritual energy he had been umting unleashed in a massive explosion, thatpletely engulfed Marcus and began busting through the walls and rooms of the Sky Citadel.

    Taking the st Marcus felt his ethereal form being overwhelmed, and his defenses quickly cracked and shattered.

    Following that both of his arms were blown apart as he used them to shield his head, and the rest of his form began to be destroyed as Teivel''s mana and spiritual energy attack overwhelmed him.

    ''Surely that was enough.'' Teivel thought looking at the destruction his attack had caused.

    The entire structure of the area was destroyed, and the building was even now shaking and rumbling from the damage it had endured, after repeatedly having devastating attack released within it.

    Yet as he looked out still channeling spiritual energy into his eyes, he saw that Marcus was still clinging on.

    Certainly, he was in rough shape, both his arms missing, and half of his head blown off, along with plenty of other injuries, but he was definitely still alive.

    ''It will take more than that to destroy me.'' Marcus sent telepathically to Teivel taunting him.

    His eyes going bloodshot with the sickly ck color from the ichor he had injected himself with, Teivel''s anger had exceeded its peak and he wanted nothing more than to eradicate this insect that had given him so much trouble.

    Charging up another strike filled with mana and spiritual energy, Teivel nned to finish Marcus with onest attack now that he was incapacitated.

    But as he was about to discharge his attack, it broke apart and became unstable.

    What he had umted then went wild sending his mana and spiritual energy in multiple direction, causing more damage to the already ravaged area.

    Except since the attack had broken apart, not even the smallest bit of it hit Marcus who was in a long straight line away from Teivel.

    Trying to build up his mana again, Teivel quickly realized what the problem was and his was astonished by what it was.

    ''I''m out of mana?!''

    Teivel had no idea how he could possibly be empty on mana.

    Truly had used up almost all of it when he cast his tier nine spell, but after injecting himself with the ck ichor, he had reached a huge boost. Not to mention his high-level mana regeneration skill that should have been constantly supplying him.

    Yet as his brain rapidly analyzed what was going on and searched for the problem, he saw it.

    What looked like thousands of nearly invisible threads of mana were flowing away from his body and heading towards Marcus.

    "Oh, looks like you finally noticed." Marcus said as he became solid again, most of his terrible wounds already having fixed themselves.

    Quickly even Marcus'' destroyed arms were good as new and all of the hard-fought damage Teivel had inflicted was gone.

    "Mana Thief!" Teivel said with surprise and rage in his voice.

    He was furious that this spirit apparently had such a rare skill, along with all of his other busted skills and abilities. But he was also pissed at himself for just now noticing that his mana was being stolen.

    "Correct. I indeed have the mana thief skill. If only you had been calmer, you would have noticed that I have been siphoning your mana from the start. Of course, it was just a little at the beginning, but after you used your tier nine spell, I have been draining you almost as fast as you recover your mana."

    With a smug smile on his face, Marcus was very pleased with the performance of the skill he had dumped most of his skill points into in preparation for this encounter.

    He knew that he was going to need multiple ways to deal with Teivel, and for a mage having their mana taken was the greatest disadvantage.

    Slowly and cautiously walking towards Teivel, Marcus aimed to incapacitate him, and then quickly wrap things up.

    However, what he heard next sent a chill down his very soul.

    "I guess everyone will just have to die."

    The absolute and ominous tone in Teivel''s voice stopped Marcus in his tracks, and a truly sinister aura began to emit from Teivel.

    ''Where is thating from.''

    Marcus had no idea how Teivel was emitting such an aura without any mana, but it felt incredibly ominous, even more so than his strongest death magic spell.

    Not going to allow Teivel to continue doing whatever it was he was trying, Marcus cast his voltaic bombardment spell hoping to electrocute Teivel into unconsciousness.

    But as the hundreds of bolts of lightning struck towards Teivel, the horrid grimoire he kept on his belt rose up on its own and blocked the raging storm of electricity.

    As Marcus looked at this he finally understood where Teivel was getting this power, since he had a skill that did the same.

    ''He is burning his own soul.''

    The book then ripped open and began shaking violently as its pages sped by and ck ichor began pouring out of it like a waterspout, as droves of ungodly creatures began to form.

 Chapter 438 - Tesiaâ€™s Intervention

    Looking at the monstrous abominations that were forming all around Teivel, Marcus could only grimace at the sight.

    Just one of these things were able to put him on the back foot before, and he had already used the most powerful sacred magic talismans that Tesia had given him.

    Also, he could tell from their presences that some of these horrors were far stronger than the Dreadmouth Teivel has summoned earlier.

    As for Teivel himself. He was currently raving like a mad man as his soul was burned for fuel to allow these creatures to form in a world that they did not belong in.

    But before they were able topletely manifest, Marcus quickly made the decision to take decisive action.

    ''Sorry Tesia, it looks like I will not be able to keep my promise to you.''

    Pulling out his scythe Marcus through it in front of him and turned it on its side, preparing to fire a railgun.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony Form.''

    Activating his supreme skill, Marcus'' power and presence rose another degree as thus far he had only been using embodiment of light.

    He had not wanted to reveal his power of darkness to Teivel in order to keep him on his toes, but now he needed everything he could muster.

    ''Eclipse Railgun.''

    After finishing all of his preparations as fast as possible, Marcus let lose one of his strongest attacks, firing his iron sphere that was the size of a bowling ball at just a bit under Mach Eight.

    Within less than one tenth of a second the iron sphere had propelled itself right in front of Teivel and was only a few millimeters away when it abruptly stopped.

    It was apletely iprehensible reaction, as a projectile moving many times the speed of sound had simply stopped, all of its force seemingly canceled.

    And an instant afterward the iron sphere that was still churning with the power of light and darkness began to disintegrate.

    Of course, Marcus realized quickly what had stopped his attack, as he saw a ghastly form a being that looked like two bodies wrapped around itself with wings made of tumorous hovering behind Teivel.

    And continuing with its terrifying appearance it also had two long arms that formed into over size gangly hands, which at the end of each finger were what looked like a smaller set of its already horrific hands.

    ''It is warping reality.''

    Looking at this creature, Marcus could see that everything within around ten feet of it had turned weird, and he could only assume that it had somehow stopped his railgun with its strange abilities.

    Soon, the other eldritch horrors began toe into reality and Marcus stared at two dozen nightmare creature that would definitely haunt him for the rest of his life.

    ''It was a good run, but I am out.''

    Having no desire whatsoever to try and face off against these creatures that had just appeared from Teivel''s grimoire. Marcus went back into his ghost form and was about to float away when he received a telepathicmunication from Argus.

    ''I have just destroyed thest mana furnace, and the building itself is pretty wrecked, so all the formations are down as you asked.''

    With the second part of his missionplete, Marcus stopped his retreat and looked back at the monstrosities that were all around Teivel, and certainly about to begin killing everything living being in the Sky Citadel.

    In a snap decision he decided to stay now that things had once again shifted, and pulled out the portal token Tesia had given him.

    He then flicked it into the air activating the magic sealed within while also sending a telepathic message to Marek.

    ''The prison''s defenses are down, and many of the prisoners are free. It is time to strike.''

    After sending out the message to attack he turned his attention to the coin he had flipped into the air, which quickly widened until it became arge open portal which Tesia stepped out of.

    She had a resolute expression on her face and her lightly glowing robe shimmered with power.

    As Marcus looked at her and then her brother, it was quite the contrast as she looked like an almost divine figure radiating peace and tranquility, while her brother was steeped in darkness and death surrounded by horrid creatures.

    Naturally, when Tesia saw this, she frowned since she did not know what power her brother had used to conjure these abominations that had a sickly air about them as if their purpose in life was only to create anguish.

    Immediately, one of the monsters which looked a bit like a tangle ofmpreys struck towards Tesia, not waiting for its summoner''smand.

    But as it got close to her, a translucent golden wall appeared and prevented the creature from advancing.

    In fact, much to Tesia''s surprise, her sacred wall spell caused the creature to begin sizzling and scream out in pain as it came into contact.

    She had never once seen any being be harmed by her sacred magic that specialized in protecting and sealing.

    "Teivel what is this? What have you brought here?" Tesia said in a very concerned tone.

    She could see that Teivel did not look normal, his veins were pulsing ck, and his eyes had changed to a horrid yellow.

    Also, these creatures were all vile, and she could not imagine what sort of horrific ability had brought them about.

    However, her brother seemed to not even notice her and in a raspy voice said, "Kill. Kill everything."

    Having received their orders, the eldritch horrors began going off in different directions, some heading for thergest congregations of nearby life sources, others going to where they sensed the weakest traces of life barely clinging on, and a few charging towards Tesia.

    "None of you are leaving."

    Tesia then began casting a spell, not wanting any of these creatures to get loose and begin killing people. But as her mana was building up, the strongest of the monstrosities stretched its arms out towards her at a blinding speed.

    Yet right before they hit her, Marcus who had been hidden nearby in his ghost form reappeared, already having position himself to defend Tesia.

    shing down with his scythe Marcus sent all of the power of his supreme skill into it, turning the de into a juggernaut of light and darkness.

    Except as it hit the creature''s arms the de stopped as the space around it became weird and twisted like before.

    Marcus then saw as his arms distort as well, until they broke apart into nothing and his scythe went flying away from him as its de and handle warped and bent ever so slightly.

    Luckily Marcus'' intervention had managed to divert the attack away from Tesia and she was able to finish her spell.

    ''Hallowed Binding.''

    Immediately a golden light spread out from Tesia and turned into golden chains that began wrapping around the horrific creatures and Teivel.

    This was Tesia''s own original tier eight sacred magic spell, and itpletely immobilized any targets while also prevented them from causing any sort of harm.

    As soon as the chains wrapped around these eldritch beings, they began to burn and turn to smoke while letting out pained screams of agony.

    Even the strongest of them was not immune, and its reality warping abilities seemed to be unable to affect the sacred chains.

 Chapter 439 - Teivelâ€™s Defeat

    With Tesia having all of the eldritch monsters as well as Teivel wrapped up in golden chains, Marcus let out a sigh of relief and focused on regenerating his shredded arms.

    However, as the screams of the horrific monster resounded all around them, one other cry of pain grabbed both of their attention.

    Teivel was also beginning to steam and burn as the ck ichor he had injected himself with was being rejected by Tesia''s sacred magic.

    Immediately Tesia removed the chains that were binding her brother, but it was in this moment that she made a grave mistake.

    The most powerful of the monster brought forth from Teivel''s grimoire warped its own body, ripping it asunder but allowing it to break free from Tesia''s hallowed binding spell.

    Once the creature was free it did not even give a nce back towards its summoner, or Tesia and Marcus, before flying away at full speed.

    ''Laser.''

    ''Sanctified Imprisonment.''

    Both Marcus and Tesia tried to stop the creature from escaping. With Marcus trying to shot it down while Tesia tried to recapture it with another spell.

    Unfortunately, this monstrosity was not going to be so easily pinned down again and warped everything around it twisting its body in an impossible way, allowing it to avoid both spells before making it far out of either of their ranges.

    And sadly, neither of them could worry about he fleeing creature right now since they were both still in the middle of enemy territory and had another problem to deal with.

    Teivel was convulsing wildly, and his skin and veins were letting out a frightful ck smoke still.

    At the same time the other eldritch monsters were fighting with everything they had to break free from Tesia''s spell, but none of them were able to like the strongest one.

    "Jed please give this to my brother, while I keep these things contained." Tesia said while tossing Marcus a potion vial.

    Grabbing it out of the air Marcus quickly recognized that he had just been given an elixir, since it looked identical to the one he had snatched from Teivel earlier.

    With the elixir in hand Marcus moved at blinding speed towards Teivel, and quickly emptied the contents of the potion into his throat.

    Immediately, the smoking he was experiencing began to stop, and the ck ichor in his body began to pour out his body from his pores, mouth, nose, and eyes.

    It was quite the disturbing scene to see, and the ck ichor smelled absolutely terrible. But it appeared that the strongest recovery potion in the world had managed to stop the destruction of his body and soul.

    Yet Marcus realized as he looked at Teivel that his soul was still being consumed by the grimoire that was attached to his belt

    He tried to rip the book away, but as soon as he touched it the infernal item began eating his soul as well, and his hand was broken down and absorbed since it was just his soul solidified.

    ''The fuck is this thing.''

    Seeing that this grimoire was not going toe quietly, Marcus pulled out one of the spell sealing talismans and unleashed the spell within it.

    A sphere of golden light then encapsted the grimoire as Marcus used the second andst tier six sacred magic spell Tesia had given to him.

    Luckily this seemed to do the trick and Marcus was able to wrench Teivel away from the book, preventing it from continuing to eat his soul.

    ''Damn his soul is shredded to bits.''

    As Marcus sent his spiritual energy into Teivel to check on his condition, he found that his soul was worse for wear.

    Even after consuming an elixir Marcus could only liken it to the time he first unknowingly used his soul devour unique skill against Ander and nearly destroyed himself.

    During that time, it had only been thanks to the administrator''s intervention that he survived, but no such miracle wasing for Teivel.

    ''I will just have to do it myself.''

    Pulling out all of his spiritual energy, Marcus ced his hands over Teivel and began using his spirit healing specter power.

    This was the first time he was using it to heal a damaged soul, but the description in his status said that it was able to heal both the wounds of a soul and the body.

    However, Marcus found his progress was quite slow due to a lingering malignance that had taken root in Teivel''s soul

    He had used a power that he should have not, and it seemed intent on iming what it was owed despite Marcus'' intervention.

    Thankfully, Tesia, quickly came up beside Marcus as soon as she had destroyed thest of the eldritch beings conjured by Teivel''s grimoire and began helping.

    ''Soul Purification.''

    Casting the tier eight healing magic spell, Tesia began to break through the lingering tant that the grimoire had left on Teivel, and along with Marcus'' help the two of them stabilized Teivel''s soul.

    Regrettably even after they did this, Teivel''s soul was still tremendously weakened and would probably take years of care to recover.

    Still, he was alive which was impressive after what he had done to himself to gain power.

    Tesia then used her hallowed binding to wrap Teivel up, and soon her brother began to awaken.

    Immediately he realized the situation he was in, feeling the golden chains around him.

    "I see, so I lost. Well go ahead and kill me." Teivel, said his expression resolute.

    Of course, neither Marcus not Tesia had any intention killing Teivel, especially after all they had done to save him.

    "Shut up." Tesia said as she flicked Teivel in the head. "Jed and I went through a lot of trouble to capture you alive, and I have no intention of letting you die.

    Sighing Teivel looked at his siter with a hurt expression and said, "Why did it have toe to this? Why did you have to betray the kingdom? They have treated us both well since our birth, and we have protected it for decades. So, why did you have to leave me?"

    A serious look in her eyes, Tesia responded and said, "Yes, we were well taken care of, always having everything and more than we needed provided. But I could not stand to see the disparity in this kingdom as some starved to death under an unjust rule, while others flourished. I wanted things to get better, so I left. I wish you had done the same."

    After Tesia said this Teivel went silent.

    It seemed that their differences were not going to be resolved, at least not of right now.

    "Jed I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me to capture my brother. I can tell that you understand my feelings and without you I am afraid he would have killed everyone here and maybe even himself." Tesia said to Marcus while giving a bow.

    Shrugging his shoulder Marcus responded and said, "It was not a big deal. I had no way to kill him anyway, so this was my best option.

    He then collected all of Teivel''s items and put them into his item box, including the horrid grimoire that had gone silent after being trapped in a sacred magic spell.

    Pulling Teivel up with her chains, Tesia had him walk towards the area where the majority of the rebels were gathered and were finishing up thest of the battles.

    However, as they walked towards their destination to meet up with their allies, a figure came dashing towards them at a blinding speed, and with a devastating swing of his adamantine hammer blew Teivel''s head clean off.

 Chapter 440 - End Of The Sky Citadel

    As Teivel''s head turned into meat paste, Tesia''s eyes went wide with shock and horror, and instinctually she ran towards her brother.

    She began pulling out the highest-grade mana recovery potion she had, movingpletely on reflex nning to cast her tier nine healing magic spell and bring her brother back to life.

    But in her frantic attempt to resurrect her brother, the figure that had killed him took advantage of her diverted focus and cracked her on the back of the head knocking her unconscious.

    Normally she would have been able to block or avoid an attack like this, but the shock of seeing her brother killed had been too much, and she was not able to fully take in her surroundings.

    Seeing this, Marcus thought that some unknown enemy had appeared but when he saw who it was, he was momentarily confused.

    Standing their Teivel''s blood and brain matter dripping on his hammer, was Argus.

    "What are you doing Argus?" Marcus asked the prime target the rebels hade to rescue.

    And with a very cold voice Argus said, "I was finishing off an enemy. Teivel was too dangerous to be left alive. As for Tesia I know what she was about to do, and it would be a mistake. I understand she wanted to save her brother, but this is a war and leaving someone like him alive would have made things more difficult."

    Looking at Argus, Marcus felt a sort of chill about him that he had not before.

    He talked as if he had been fighting in the rebellion since the beginning, when truthfully, he had not even formally joined yet.

    Also, Marcus was fairly certain that he had been waiting for Teivel to be restrained so that he could deliver the finishing blow.

    "Have you seen Marek; I am sure that he must have arrived by now?" Marcus asked changing the subject.

    At the same time, he was looking at Teivel''s now headless corpse wondering if he should try to use the talisman that Tesia had given him.

    He couldpletely understand her feeling about wanting to save her brother, and if he acted quickly there was time before the minute was up.

    However, Argus was still standing there, and Marcus felt that it was likely that he would interfere.

    ''Teivel was a powerful opponent and very few people other than me could stand up to him. Sorry Tesia but there is nothing I can do.''

    "No, I have not seen Marek yet. I was busy destroying the mana furnaces around the prison, so I have been on my own for a while. But once I finished, I rushed over here to help against Teivel. Though now that everything is wrapped up, we should go an meet up with him." Argus said answering Marcus'' question and trying to moving things along.

    Nodding his head, Marcus went and picked up Tesia who was still unconscious, and then cast onest look at Teivel who had now been dead longer than a minute.

    ''I doubt that Tesia will ever forgive Argus for killing her brother, or me for not saving him.''

    With thatst thought, Marcus began following Argus who led the way back to where he had left the rest of the freed prisoners.

    When they arrived, they got there just in time to watch the rebel strike force tie up thest of the living guards who had surrendered.

    "Ah Jed and Argus there yo-"

    Stopping mid-sentence, Marek who noticed Marcus'' and Argus'' arrival, saw Tesia slumped over Marcus'' back.

    It took him a moment to process what was going on, since Tesia was not supposed to be a part of this mission. Yet here she was unconscious.

    Quickly though he realized what must have happened as he looked at Marcus, before walking over towards him and saying, "Where is Teivel?"

    However, before Marcus could answer him, Argus spoke up and said, "I killed him, so he will not be a problem anymore."

    "Anyway, we should not dy here. It will not be long until reinforcements arrive." Argus said trying to change the subject.

    Hearing this, Marek scowled but he did not say anything against Argus, and turned back towards the rebels and freed prisoner, before saying, "It is time for us to leave. Any of you prisoner that wish to follow us may, or you are free to go it on your own. If you want to fight for a better kingdom, or maybe you even just feel resentment for being imprisoned it does not matter. There is a ce for all of you in the rebel army."

    After Marek gave a quick speech, he began organizing his troops to move out.

    At the same time, around half of the prisoners that were still alive began fleeing.

    They had no intention of joining a war and just wanted to enjoy their new freedom that they thought they would never have again.

    Obviously, all of the former rebels that had been captured stayed and fell into line. Wanting nothing more than to get back to fighting for a better kingdom.

    And luckily all of the great knights and elite mages stayed as well, two of them having already decided to join the rebels before their untimely detainment, and the others wanting to fight back against the kingdom they felt had betrayed them.

    Unfortunately though, one of the great knights had perished during the escape, having been just on the edge of Teivel''s range when he released his tier nine spell.

    Soon all of the rebels and the prisoners that were going to be joining them had formed up and began exiting the Sky Citadel.

    It was a bit precarious as they left the building that had copsed in many areas. But everyone got out without issue and began hastily moving down the mountain.

    Though Marcus who was still carrying Tesia, looked back at the ruined fort that used to look like an impregnable juggernaut, yet now barely stood and was smoking a ruin of its former glory.

    ''This is only the start. Things are going to be much worse as the war continues.'' Marcus thought, really taking in what he had gotten wrapped up in.

    With thatst thought Marcus turned away from the Sky Citadel and picked up his pace down the mountain.

    ˇ­

    ''Damn it all.''

    Crash!

    Kicking one of the few standing walls in the Sky Citadel and knocking it down, Cibor was immensely displeased by what he had found when he arrived.

    He was currently standing over Teivel''s dead body and looked all around the ruins that used to be one of the most secure facilities in the kingdom.

    This could be considered nothing but a definitive defeat, as not only had the kingdom lost its most powerful mage, but also the rebels had recruited the surviving prisoner into their ranks.

    "Sir I have located another body of interest. Great Knight number fifteen Sir Bis is dead." One of Cibor''s men said to him.

    Grinding his teeth, Cibor was conflicted to hear this, since Bis had been a friend, but it was good that he had not joined the rebels.

    "Prepare to return to the capital. We are not going to find them in this blizzard.. We need to head back ande up with a new n."

 Chapter 441 - An Unexpected Visitor

    With the prison break being quite the sess, the rebel strike team and those that they had freed were in high spirits, even as they trudged through the snow.

    However, one person waspletely distraught, and when Tesia woke up, she began screaming frantically for her brother.

    It was not a pretty sight to watch as she began crying profusely over the death of her brother.

    Certainly, they had been on different sides, but she had done everything she could to make sure that he survived. And in the end, when she had seeded in restraining him, he was still killed.

    And for the first time, everyone saw an emotion that Tesia had never once expressed around anyone. Pure unbridled rage.

    She looked at Argus like she wished she could murder him, but unfortunately, she had no power to do so.

    "Why!? Why did you have to kill him? I already had captured him, and he was in a horribly weakened state. He was not going to be a threat anymore." Tesia yelled at Argus with tears streaming down her eyes.

    "Hm you are too naive. Teivel was the most dangerous man in the kingdom. Letting him live would have been a detriment to the rebellion." Argus saidpletely dismissing Tesia.

    Yet this only made her even more angry, and she began yelling louder not caring about their surroundings.

    "Don''t preach yourmitment to this rebellion. You are barely even a member now. I do not know why you killed my brother, but it was not out of loyalty for our cause. Was it because he had imprisoned you? Or do you just get some sort of sick pleasure out of killing helpless people? Do you not understand that he was not just my brother, but that we were linked together since birth? I felt what it was like for him to have his head bashed apart by you, and now it feels like a part of me has been ripped out. I wish with everything that I could kill you right now."

    "Tesia that is enough! We do not want to attract any unwanted attention and we need to continue moving." Marek said intervening in the one-sided screaming match that Tesia was having.

    He had never seen the normally calm and collected mage so enraged and emotional, but he could not allow this situation to persist.

    For one it was incredibly bad for moral for the troops to see one of the rebellion''s leading figures fighting with Argus, who was likely to be one of the rebellion''s pirs in the near future.

    Also, Marek found it difficult to take Tesia''s side, since she had against his wishes participated in this mission by going behind his back.

    And the person that Argus killed, while being Tesia''s brother, was one of the rebellion''s greatest enemies and having him gone would be a huge boon for their cause.

    Looking at Marek with betrayal in her eyes, Tesia stomped off, heading towards the back of the group. Where she began walking next to Marcus, who had been silently watching what was going on.

    "I am sorry." Marcus said to Tesia after they had walked in silence for around twenty minutes.

    She then looked towards him and said, "You do not have anything to be sorry for. It was Argus who killed my brother not you."

    Still Marcus definitely felt bad for Tesia and said, "I did not use the talisman you gave me to heal your brother. I thought about it, but ultimately decided not to."

    Hearing this, Tesia looked at Marcus with unbelievably sad eyes, and said, "It would not have mattered anyway. Argus stopped me and I doubt he would have let you restore my brother either. No, I cannot be mad at you. Not after all of the help you gave me. Without you I would not have even had a chance to try and save my brother."

    Tesia then lowered her head again, and they walked in silence for another thirty minutes before she asked with telepathy, ''Would you help me kill Argus?''

    Stopping in his tracks, Marcus had not been expecting the peace-loving Tesia who was literally with the blessing of pacifism to ask this.

    However, he quickly got himself together and said, ''No I cannot. While I understand why you are upset, I do not have a reason to kill him, and doing so would hurt the rebellion. Or could even destroy it. I am sorry, but if you want revenge on him, then you will have to find someone else to help you. And I would ask that you at least wait until after the war is over.''

    Sighing Tesia nodded her head towards Marcus before drifting away from him, wanting to be alone.

    Looking at her, Marcus was not certain if she would be recovering from this any time soon, and he felt that she might even leave the rebellion.

    The rebels and freed prisoner continued to trudge along, moving as fast as they could before the inevitable blizzard hit.

    When that happened visibility practically became zero, and they quickly made as sturdy a camp as they could within a hidden nook in between two mountains.

    There was simply no way that they could continue in this storm, as it was likely they could be separated, and even at high levels most people were not immune to the extreme cold.

    So, they simply hunkered down and waited out the storm that on Marek''s magic device that predicted the weather was going tost at least a week.

    During this time, Marcus did not even try to sleep as the eldritch horrors he saw still haunted him. And he was afraid that the one that escaped coulde back at any moment for the grimoire that was now in his possession.

    He had not dared even try to touch it again, sincest time it began breaking down his soul and absorbing it.

    Every instinct he had told him to keep away from this item that seemed to be made to bring death and suffering.

    Yet on the fifth day of waiting out the storm, while he was practicing with his mana cirction trying to increase his control. He suddenly noticed someone sitting on a chair and leaning back with a steaming cup of what smelled like hot chocte.

    He had no idea where this person hade from, as they had seemingly just suddenly appeared in his tent, along with the chair and their beverage.

    Immediately he stood up and took a fighting stance with his scythe in hand ready to attack this mysterious figure.

    "Oh, there is no need for that. I did note here for a fight. Just go ahead and sit down and rx." The figure that was wearing a white cloak that obscured their body said to Marcus.

    At the same time, they waved their hand and Marcus suddenly felt a sort of pressuree over him, as he was forced to sit back down on his cot, and his scythe merged back into him.

    He tried to break free, but none of his skills or abilities activated, and he could not even go ethereal.

    It was as if an absolute power had been exerted over him, and there was nothing he could hope to do to break free.

    "Who are you?" Marcus asks seeing that conversation was all he was capable of.

    "You do not recognize me? Wait, I guess this is the first time we have met in person.. I am your favorite administrator."

 Chapter 442 - Something That Should Not Be Here

    Hearing this Marcus'' eyes wentpletely wide, since he was now sitting face to face with the mysterious being that ran this world.

    To this point Marcus still had no idea what they wanted from this world, and more specifically from him.

    Yet before Marcus could get over his shock, Roxene jumped out of hispanion storage and hopped into thep of the administrator who was leisurely sipping hot chocte.

    Roxene immediately knocked the administrator''s hood back and began licking their face affectionately.

    Looking at this, Marcus was stunned to see that the administrator just looked like a normal young girl with brown hair of around maybe the age of fifteen.

    "Roxene, I know you are happy to see me, but I am here on business. I need to get something from Marcus."

    Curbing her excitement, Roxene jumped down off of the administrator and took a seat next to Marcus while looking intently at the administrator.

    Waving her hand again, Marcus felt the pressure that was holding him down disappear.

    However, he was still at a loss as what to do now.

    He had honestly not expected to meet the administrator out of the blue right here and now, but also to see that she was just a young girl.

    And as if she could read his mind she said, "Oh, this is just my avatar that I use when moving around on this world. This is not what my actual body looks like."

    Shaking his head, Marcus tried to get his thoughts and emotions back under control.

    ''Just one step at a time. Find out what they want first, and then I can see what other information I can get.''

    Once his mind that was in turmoil from the sudden appearance of the administrator had calmed down a bit, Marcus said, "So, what business do you have with me?"

    "Oh, I got a notification that you tried to appraise something that was not connected to this world''s system. That should not be possible, so I did some investigation and found this."

    The administrator then opening up her hand and revealed the eldritch monster that had escaped him and Tesia.

    Except now it was shrunk down andpletely immobilized, with what appeared to be an expression of terror on both of its grotesque faces.

    "Yes, this little guy should not exist on this world or any of the ones that are adjacent. Unfortunately, I do not know how he got here, but I was hoping that you might, since you appraised it right?"

    Confusion all over his face, Marcus had little to no clue what the administrator was going on about.

    Still, he at least knew where this creature hade from, and figured that things would go much faster if he just showed her the grimoire he had taken off of Teivel.

    Taking the horrid book out of his item box, Marcus did not dare touch it himself, and used his spectral arm to hold it aloft instead.

    As soon as the book became visible, the administrator''s eyes went sharp and her calm and collected demeanor vanished.

    The grimoire then warped out of Marcus'' spectral arm and into her hands.

    She began looking over the book intently, flipping through each and everyone of the pages at a breakneck speed.

    "Those bastards, how did they sneak something like this on to my world without my notice." The administrator said with fury in her voice.

    It was quite obvious that she was very displeased to find this book here, and Marcus was d that her anger was not directed at him.

    "Is this the only one." The administrator asked Marcus while holding up the grimoire.

    Nodding his head Marcus confirmed that he had onlye across the one, and the administrator sighed before storing the book away.

    "This is just great. This is just one of a set of five, and now I have to track the others down."

    The administrator then grabbed her cup of hot chocte from out of the air where it was floating beside her and took a big sip.

    After that she looked towards Roxene and Marcus and said, "Well thanks for your time and handing that book over to me. I have a lot to do so I will be taking my leave now. It was good to see you again Roxene and it was nice to meet you in person for the first time Marcus."

    Now that she had finished her business, the administrator got up and was about to leave when Marcus abruptly stood up and said, "Wait! I have a mountain of questions to ask you. Please can you not stay for just a little longer."

    Stopping the administrator titled her head up as if she was thinking about what to do.

    "I suppose that you helped me out by securing this grimoire. Without you I might never have realized that these things made it here. Very well, I will answer any three questions you have so long as I am able to."

    Sitting back down, the administrator looked intently at Marcus waiting for him to ask his questions.

    However, Marcus had not actually been expecting the administrator to listen to him, and now he had to rack his brain on what to ask.

    With only three questions to ask he had to pick the right ones since this was probably the only chance he would get.

    Unfortunately, Marcus had so many questions he wanted answers to, but he had only been given three possibilities.

    ''What the hell am I supposed to ask about?''

    Trying his best toe up with some questions Marcus spent a good three minutes thinking about it before the administrator said, "Remember I am in a hurry, so if you take too long I will just leave. I am only doing you a favor here because you did one for me."

    Receiving this warning, Marcus sent his mind into overdrive, trying to pick out the correct question, and eventually settled on one of the ones that had been gnawing at him for a while.

    "What is this world''s purpose?"

 Chapter 443 - Questions And Answers

    Shrugging her shoulders, the administrator, did not look very concerned about this question and responded saying, "It is meant to make people stronger. I set things up so anyone could reach the peak so long as they put in enough effort. Other than that, I guess it does serve as some entertainment for me from time to time. Though I am normally too busy to be paying close attention here."

    The administrator then took another sip of her seemingly endless cup of hot chocte waiting for Marcus to ask his next question.

    Sadly, the answer he had just gotten was not exactly what he wanted, since he had also been hoping that the administrator would give away what her goal was in making people stronger.

    Of course, Marcus could think of a few, but some of them like being fattened up for ughter were not very pleasant, so he pushed them to the back of his mind.

    ''Looks like she is only going to give me direct and straight forward answers. I need to be more careful with what I ask in order to get more information.''

    With his first question being answered, Marcus now had quite a few more, but there was one that had been bugging him for the longest time. And even though it might not help him in any way he just had to know.

    "How did I die back on Earth?"

    Hearing this, unlike his first question the administrator put on a devilish smile that gave Marcus chills. and said, "Are you sure you want to know the answer to that? It is not like it matters at this point since you are already here and havee this far. Anyway, have you not already been told that you died in a gas leak. Are you saying that you were lied to?"

    After the administrator said this to him, Marcus stared at her intently, trying to figure out what she really wanted.

    She had answered his first question readily and without any pretext, but now she was ying mind games.

    Unfortunately, her expressions and tone were hard to decipher, and Marcus found it impossible to gage what she actually wanted.

    Either she really did not want to tell Marcus the answer to this question, or she was trying to steer him away from a worthless question he already knew the answer to.

    Or maybe she was just messing with him and did not care either way and was just having some fun at his expense. He really could not tell even though he was pretty good at reading people.

    ''No. I already asked the question knowing it might be fruitless. I just have to know to get it out of the back of my mind.''

    With a resolute expression Marcus looked at the administrator and said, "Yes, I really want to know. Please tell me how I died."

    The administrator after hearing this beganughing. An almost diabolicalugh that made Marcus shudder.

    "Ah I really did not think you would ask me about that. Oh, well not that it really matters. But if you must knowˇ­ You did die from a gas leak. It was just a freak ident that happened because of shoddy workmanship."

    Hearing this Marcus let out a sigh of relief, even though the administrator had been gaslighting him a bit.

    He was relived to here that he had not been killed in some otherworldly plot he did not understand, but also bit let down to here that his death was nothing special.

    However, what the administrator said next got his attention.

    "Since you just asked a worthless question, I will give you a bit of a freebie. During your time to ask questions when you had first died, I had it cut off short so that you would not find out that you were going to be a ghost. I thought it would be funny, and I did not want you to go back on your wish to be untouchable."

    Rolling his eyes and groaning Marcus had figured something like that had happened, but at least now he had confirmation that the administrator had indeed been messing with him.

    Still even though the start had been really rough, and he nearly lost his sanity. He was doing pretty well now and being a ghost had already given him plenty of opportunities he would not have had otherwise.

    "Now you have one more question. I rmend you make it count."

    Taking a minute to think Marcus felt like he could ask the administrator another thousand questions and not have his curiosity satiated.

    Yet a certain question came to mind and Marcus figured it might be worth a shot.

    "Would you tell me your entire life story?"

    Frowning the administrator obviously did not want to talk about herself.

    "Sorry, that would take far too long, and I have no intention of revealing anything directly about myself to you at this time."

    "Hurry up and ask your final question. My time is running thin."

    Seeing that he had upset the administrator with hisst question, Marcus could only shrug it off and try again.

    He thought it was unlikely that the administrator would answer that question, but it certainly would have given him a great deal of information if she had.

    "Okay. Then can you tell me what you have nned for me and Roxene."

    Smiling the administrator looked more pleased by this question and said, "For you directly I have no n per se, but I do have hopes. If one day you grow strong enough, I would not mind having you work under me. It is always helpful to have strong allies. But I am not one to bind others, so you are free to do as you please. As for Roxene, while she is free to do as she wishes, I assume she would like to rejoin her parents and I after she exceeds the peak of this world and is able to protect herself from our enemies."

    After finishing answering Marcus''st question the administrator stood and the chair she had been sitting on and the hot chocte she was drinking disappeared.

    "I will need to be going now, but it has been good to talk to the two of you. Oh, and keep your eyes out for any simr books. If you find any make sure to send me a message. I have enabled that function in your personal status. Just make sure not to contact me frivolously, I am a busy person."

    The administrator then began leaving when she abruptly stopped and turned around.

    "Oh, and just a bit of advice before I leave. You should search those crystal caverns around Recha''s shrine more thoroughly. You may find something useful down there."

    With thosest words the administrator left Marcus'' tent and disappeared into the blizzard heading on her way.

    Once she was gone the tension Marcus had been feeling left all at once and he fell back on his cot, his head pounding.

    He then looked towards Roxene who had a forlorn expression on her face, and for a minute thought about asking her some more questions about the administrator.

    ''No, she already told me she would not. Anyway, I already learned a lot and can figure out the restter.. For now, I need to focus on what is going on around me at this moment, instead of what may or may not be in the future.''

 Chapter 444 - Rebellionâ€™s Continued Growth

    Once the blizzard that had locked down the rebel strike team and freed prisoners began to subside, they began their journey once again, heading to a rebel base.

    Of course, this was not their main base, as each of the freed prisoners that they were recruiting still needed to be scrutinized to make sure they were not agents working for the kingdom.

    "He is telling the truth."

    "He is telling the truth."

    "She is telling the truth."

    "He is lying. I believe he intends to betray us when the opportunity arises."

    Going through all of the prisoner, Tesia with her ability to understand a person''s true nature, questioned everyone.

    However, unlike how she used to be, always having a slight smile on her face or at least giving off a peaceful aura. Now she was stone faced and seemed like a robot.

    She had certainly taken the death of her brother very hard, and at least for now, had done everything she could to suppress her emotions.

    It was quite sad to see, since she used to be so vibrant, but now was almost dead inside.

    Still, she was doing her job well, and helped to out twelve people that had intended to betray them, three of which were actually agents of the kingdom.

    Luckily preparations had been made before hand so that no one had been able to send a message while they were on the move and disclose the party''s location.

    "Well, I am certain that none of them n on betraying us right now, thought that could change in the future. I rmend that you keep an eye on each of the great knights and elite mages especially." Tesia said to Marek after finishing interviewing thest person.

    After that she got up and excused herself, saying she would go back to her room, and that she could be found there if anything was needed of her.

    Sighing, Marek was not certain what to do with Tesia''s current mental and emotional state.

    Unless she was given a task to do, all she did was sit alone in her tent.

    When meals were ready, she would eat alone, and was just generally unfriendly and cold to anyone that tried to talk to her.

    ''Hopefully some time is all she needs. If this keeps up, she may not be fit to be a captain anymore.'' Marek thought as he watched Tesia walk away.

    Now that all of the freed prisoners had been looked over, and the ones that would be problems had been taken care of, it was time to get back to work.

    First and foremost, Marek and the rebel captains came up with a good loyalty test.

    The freed prisoners led by Argus, were going to attack and raid one of the kingdom''s adamantine mines.

    Adamantine was one of, if not the most important resource that Tralenstein had. Their kingdom, making a good deal of its money through sales to foreign merchants who brought the rare and powerful metal to other nations that did not have their own supply.

    So, if the released prisoners were able to sessfully ransack one of these mines, it would go a long way towards advancing the rebellion''s goals and to prove their allegiance.

    As for Marcus, he had absolutely nothing to do with this mission.

    Now that the prison break was over, he was back to his usual job. Being a cargo ne.

    The rebellion''s supplies had started to dwindle during his absence, and now he was having to work overtime. Flying from the borders of the kingdom of Borealia to pick up supplies and taking them all over to the rebellion''s bases.

    It was grueling work, but he was the only one with the unlimited stamina,rge item box, and necessary stealth capabilities to pull it off.

    This went on for a couple of months and soon the beginning of winter was upon them.

    Still at the very least, he had been given a pass this year from reporting to help in the kingdom of Borealia inpliance of the contract he signed, as he had already been working for them as a liaison for the Tralenstein rebellion.

    Yet, on the day of the first snow fall, Marcus received a message from Lyra that something big was about to happen, and that he was expected to be in attendance for the meeting where for the first time all of the rebellion''s higher ups would be gathering.

    "Got it. I just need to deliver the inventory I have now to the base in Valenris, and pick up Roxene. So, I should be able to be there by tomorrow." Marcus said in response to Lyra''s summons over his sending stone.

    ''Guess I need to speed up a bit.''

    Going all out on flying, Marcus increased his speed drastically by burning through his spiritual energy at a tremendous rate.

    Luckily, he was already close to the city of Valenris where one of the rebellion''s most important bases was located.

    Once he had arrived, he unloaded everything he had in his item box and the numerous magic bags on his person, before taking off to where Roxene currently was.

    ''Ah there she is.''

    After flying for around six hours Marcus finally made it to wild area he had left Roxene in.

    Floating down to her, Marcus reappeared right next to her, and was immediately greeted by a series of surprised yaps followed by angry growls.

    However, before any of the surrounding wolves could make a move against him, Roxene let outmanding growl, and all of the wolves obeyed their alpha''smand and backed down.

    "Looks like you made yourself at home. When you said you wanted to take this time to get stronger and explore on your own, I never figured that you would assemble such arge pack." Marcus said as he looked out at the dozens of different wolves that were following his beastpanion.

    In fact, it was a bit surreal to see since Roxene looked quite tiny inpassion to most of the wolves in her pack, as she was still growing and was only around fifty percent bigger than when she had first popped out of her egg.

    ''Yes, I happened to get in a tangle with an alpha wolf over one of my earlier kills and won. After that I slowly built-up a following as more packs challenged me, until I became the queen of this forest. But I am d you are here. As much fun as this has been, the charm is starting to wane, and I miss sleeping on a clean bed and eating your cooking. So, I am ready to leave whenever you are.''

    ''Are you sure you want to leave all of these guys on their own. What will happen once you are gone?''

    Scratching her ear, a telltale sign she was not really interested, Roxene said, ''I really could not care less. They all began following me on their own, and I truthfully have little inmon with them. None of them have intelligence, so it is akin to if you were surrounded by normal monkeys.''

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus gave onest look at the pack of wolves that had assembled under Roxene''s banner, before putting her into hispanion storage and disappearing.

 Chapter 445 - Rebellionâ€™s Big Move

    With Roxene collected from her recent forest home, Marcus took to the air and began flying towards the main rebel base.

    ''Level twenty-one is pretty good. You must have worked pretty hard over thesest couple months.'' Marcus said, while making idle conversation with Roxene.

    He had not had very much opportunity to talk with others in thest few weeks, and he was quite happy to have someone to converse with while flying.

    After doing this for months on end, it had gotten supremely boring to be flying everywhere all the time, and even the beautiful views had begun to lose their luster.

    He had tried calling Mrazivy and talking to her more often, but she was apparently exploring the deepest and most dangerous parts of the swamp and was unable to talk for long periods of time.

    Still, she always made sure to keep their normal schedule of once every three days, and she made sure to get updates about the rebellion and Marcus'' condition.

    ''Yeah, there were a few rough patches where I was on the back foot, but the beasts and monster of that forest underestimated me, and I turned the tables on them all. Though I must admit the level six magic skills you have shared with me were quite helpful.'' Roxene said responding to Marcus.

    The two of them then continued to talk in order to pass the time until they arrived back at the rebel''s main base.

    Once they entered inside the maze of tunnels that used to be the home of gargantuan rats, Marcus immediately noticed that things were livelier than ever.

    Hundreds of people were moving with purpose through therge tunnel system, in droves far greater than Marcus had ever seen.

    ''Something big really must be happening.''

    Seeing that things were quite serious, Marcus quickly made his way to the mithril tower that served as the meeting ce for the rebellion''s leadership.

    On the way he made sure to contact Lyra, and she told him to hurry up since the meeting had already started around fifteen minutes ago.

    "Stop there! The leaders are having a closed meeting right now and we have been instructed not to let anyone inside. If you have some business in the tower or with any of the captains, you will have to wait." One of the guards standing outside the tower said to Marcus as he approached.

    Looking over the guards standing in front of the tower Marcus did not recognize any of them, and he assumed they also did not recognize him.

    While he had gained quite a bit of notoriety at first, now that he had been spending copious amounts of time delivering supplies and the rebellion had grown exponentially, less people recognized his face.

    Still, he simply pulled out he token that identified him as a captain of the rebel army, which had been awarded to him after the sessful prison break.

    Seeing this the four guards went looked a bit shocked, since they thought that all of the leaders were already inside.

    "We are sorry captain Jed. You are free to enter." The lead guards said as he opened up the tower door for Marcus to enter.

    Walking inside, Marcus saw that the normally bustling first floor waspletely empty, not a single soul to be seen.

    But he did hear voicesing from above, and quickly made his way to the top floor where the other rebel leaders had gathered.

    When he entered the room, he noticed that there were twenty-six people gathered around the normal meeting table, which was far more than usual.

    "I am saying that it is too rash for us to make this move right now. We would be risking millions of lives. What good is it to gain a victory if those we were hoping to help just end up dead."

    "No, I agree now is the time to stake our im. We have built ourselves up and are able to challenge the kingdom now. If we dy, it could make things more challenging in the future."

    As he moved to take his seat next to Lyra, a heated argument was already underway about what the rebel army''s next move should be.

    ''Mind giving me a quick update?'' Marcus asked to Lyra over telepathy.

    He had no idea what the current argument was about, though it was obviously quite important.

    ''Sure. Right now, we are discussing whether it is time to stake our im on some of the kingdom''s territory and openly oppose them. Truthfully, I am not sure if it is a bad or a good idea. It has both its merits and its demerits. Also, they are currently trying to figure out which part of the kingdom would be most strategic to take over.'' Lyra said apprising Marcus of the situation.

    And just a few moments after he had arrived, Argus, who was now the second inmand of the rebel army after gathering numerous achievements, starting with his sessful raid of one the kingdom''s adamantine mines, stood up to speak.

    He had taken this position when Tesia stepped down and became more reserved, no longer wishing to be an active leader of the rebellion.

    At least though she was still a member and would do her duty when asked to, but she was much more withdrawn now, far from how she used to be.

    "I understand that some of you have concerns about facing the kingdom head on at this point, but now is the time Our forces are stronger than ever, and our men and women are ready to fight. The people suffer everyday that the king and the nobles that follow behind him like sheep rule. If we wait too long, the king may begin taking drastic action such as culling entire cities where civil unrest is prevalent. We need to make sure his attention is always on us, so this does not happen. That is why I purpose we make our new public base the Duchy of Augustyn."

    Once Argus had finished announcing his n he looked towards Lyra, as did many of the other rebel leaders.

    This was because the region that Argus wanted the rebel army to im was where her parents used to rule.

    So, if Lyra came forward, she could im her birthright and be the Duchess of her parents'' former territory.

    Of course, they would have to usurp the current ruler that had been put in charge by the royal family who was her cousin, but with the full backing of the rebel army this would be an easy feat.

    Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, Lyra stood up and said, "I would very much wish to take back my parent''s legacy, but I do not wish to risk the lives of the citizens. There is no doubt in my mind that the kingdom will send a retaliatory force led by my master the moment we take over. If we were to engage in a full-blown war in the Augustyn Dutchy, it could be razed to the ground."

    However, even after Lyra''s objection, Argus was not willing to give up and said, "Would you rather allow your people to continue to suffer. They have been hit especially hard since your parents'' deaths. It is also quite likely that the king in the not so near future may even use them as an example of what happens to dissenters, since the region is full of people that oppose the current king''s rule. We should make the first move before the king does it for us.. You, Jadzia Augustyn, should take your rightful ce not only the people of your dutchy, but the entire kingdom."

 Chapter 446 - Taking Action

    After giving onest impassioned speech to Lyra, Argus sat down and waited for her decision.

    Ultimately, she would need to agree with his n before any other steps were taken, or other arguments were thrown out.

    If she refused, the n would be a wash no matter how much support the other leaders piled on top of this n, since without Lyra, they would not be able to seamlessly win over the people of her home.

    Taking a moment, Lyra seriously thought about what she wanted to do.

    If she took her ce as a duchess, and imed her parents'' former territory as her own, she would immediately put a target on the entire region.

    However, she could not deny that Argus had made some good points, and her inaction could cause even more suffering to her people.

    ''Marcus what do you think I should do.'' Lyra asked, confiding in him.

    ''I believe that you should do it. The rebellion has made great progress, and it is time for it to strike. If we wait too much longer, the momentum that we have built up might diminish. Ultimately though, it is your call. I will back you on whatever you want.''

    Having received Marcus'' advice, Lyra looked out resolutely at all of the other rebel leaders and said, "Very well. I have taken your words to heart Argus, and after considering our options I am willing to take my ce as the leader of the Augustyn Duchy. We can then dere it the domain of the rebellion and openly fight against the crown''s tyranny."

    After she said this, Lyra sat down and waited for the other leaders to voice their opinions.

    This was a major step for the rebellion, and they needed to make sure that it was the right move.

    Hours of back-and-forth discussion went by as the different leaders said their piece, in favor or against the idea.

    But in the end the majority agreed to the n, and it was decided that in two weeks the rebellion would make a formal deration of war against the crown by upying the Augustyn Duchy.

    "Now that our course of action is decided. All of you prepare your troops for departure. We are going to move in mass towards the duchy''s capital city Valenhart." Marek said at the end of the meeting.

    Things quickly wrapped up and everyone went their separate ways, other than Marcus and Lyra who stayed behind with Marek to discuss the finer details of the n.

    "So how did you want to approach your cousin who is currently in charge?" Marek asked to Lyra.

    Immediately she answered and said, "We should try to meet him diplomatically first. We have not seen each other for around four years, but he is not a bad person. I try to keep tabs on my home and from what I hear he is trying his best to keep things stable and follow in my parent''s legacy best he can without angering the king and his supporters. I believe that he is only following the king in order to keep himself and his family safe. If we offer him our protection, he may give up his position to me without a fight."

    Nodding his head, Marek agreed with Lyra''s n hoping that bloodshed could be kept to a minimum.

    "Very well. Once all of our troops have moved to their assigned positions, I will go with you to meet with your cousin. I do very hope he will give up peacefully."

    Marek then turned to Marcus and said, "And what will you do? We have not assigned any formal role for you, but your abilities make you flexible and able to fill many positions."

    Looking at Lyra, Marcus had already made up his mind and said, "I will be sticking with my friend as a bodyguard. While I certainly support what you are doing here, I would not be putting my life and time on the line if not for her. My only goal is to make sure she survives."

    "I see. I suppose for your goal that would be for the best while we make this transition. It is possible that an assassin may be sent first to get rid of Jadzia and throw our n into turmoil." Marek said, consenting to Marcus'' action.

    Of course, lyra was a bit conflicted, since she wanted to believe that she could take care of herself. But if things really did take a turn for the worse having Marcus who was a bit stronger than her around would be useful.

    Sighing, Lyra agreed to allow Marcus to act as her protector for the time being, since she was about to paint an evenrger target on her back.

    "Good. Now that we have resolved that. I need to make sure everything is well organized. We need to move out fast in order to get to the duchy''s capital before the snows be too heavy." Marek said ending their private meeting.

    After that Marcus followed Lyra back to her base where she managed the men and women in her squad.

    "Knox, we are moving out in two days. Make sure that everyone in our squad is ready to go. Also, I have a special assignment for you and Magda. The two of you will be acting as my servants while I transition into my new role, and until things have be more stable. Also, I know that you dislike him, but Jed is also going to be apanying me as added protection." Lyra said to Knox, her top lieutenant.

    Nodding his head, he naturally was more than willing to follow his captain''s orders, but whenever he nced at Marcus his displeasure was obvious.

    Once she was finished talking to Knox, Lyra, went to her room, and Marcus followed.

    As soon as she entered, she jumped onto her bed and the stoic form she had been showing vanished.

    The fatigue that had been building up in her and the recent nerves that she had been umting were allowed to show.

    ''Roxene, would you mind?''

    ''Sure, it is no problem.''

    Hopping out of Marcus''panion storage, Roxene went over to Lyra''s side andid down next to her and brushed her fur against Lyra''s face.

    The two of them had gotten closer over Marcus'' time with the rebel army, and now Roxene and Lyra were pretty good friends.

    Not long after Roxene moved over to her, Lyra grabbed the young wolf and buried her face into her soft fur.

    "I am going to make something to eat. What would the two of you like?" Marcus said to Roxene and Lyra.

    Immediately Roxene responded asking for puff cow fillets. While Lyra asked for something a bit more unusual, wanting a rabbit risotto with mushrooms.

    "Okay. Just give me a few minutes to go and find some rabbit and will cook that up for the two of you."

    Leaving Lyra and Roxene alone, Marcus went in search of a rabbit, and luckily was able to find one that had been hunted not too long ago.

    He then brought it back to Lyra''s room and began cooking up a special meal for her in order to help her nerves.

    "How is it." Marcus asked Lyra as she took her first bite.

    "It is perfect. It reminds me of home." Lyra said as she began crying.

    Apparently, this was a dish that was often served in her house and was one of her and her mother''s favorites.

    Lyra quickly devoured all of what Marcus made, and by the time she was finished she looked quite refreshed, and it was obvious that she had calmed down quite a bit.

    "Thank you for that Marcus. You have been a better friend than I ever could have hoped for.. I doubt I can ever repay you for all you have done for me."

 Chapter 447 - Scouting Valenhart

    After Marcus spent some time helping Lyra with her worries, he took the next couple of days to rest and maintain his gear.

    Yet, the time seemed to move almost too quickly and the day of the rebellion''s move on Lyra''s home was here.

    During this time Marcus stuck next to Lyra, acting as a member of her squad.

    Luckily, the movement of troops went off well, and other than a few close calls with magical beasts and monster no real problems were encountered.

    Currently the bulk of the rebel army was waiting in the hilly forest nearby Lyra''s home city of Valenhart.

    ''So that is Valenhart.'' Marcus thought as he started at the city from up high.

    He was currently on a reconnaissance mission to scout of the city and make sure that no ambushes were waiting for the rebel army.

    Naturally he was the best choice for this type of mission, since he could go pretty much anywhere and was unnoticeable by almost everyone

    ''Hm it is around the size of Loursend in Borealia I would guess. Though the two cities are definitely much different.''

    Even from where he was, he could see the stunning waterways that webbed through the city, creating the canals that were used instead of roads.

    Looking at the city, Marcus was reminded of ces from Earth like Cape Coral, Venice, and Amsterdam, which were all known for their canals.

    However, Valenhart was a not exactly the same, in that all of its waterways were fresh water, being fed by tworge rivers that met perpendicrly like a cross.

    It actually reminded Marcus a bit of River Landing, though Valenhart was farrger, and had rivers that allowed it to transport and receive goods from pretty much anywhere in the kingdom.

    Once Marcus had finished taking in the sight of thergest hub within Tralenstein, he began his descent into the city.

    The first thing he did was to investigate the kingdom''s forts and garrisons to make sure that no exceptionally strong force was already lying-in wait.

    ''Hm. There do not appear to be any really strongbatants around. There is certainly a great deal of soldiers, but most of them are only around level ten to fifteen and are just more of a suppression force against unrest. Still, I have only checked the normal instations. Now it is time to dig deeper.''

    Having finished checking all of the most obvious ces, Marcus turned his investigation towards the castle that was once Lyra''s home and was the seat of power in the city.

    It was a quite the grand building and Marcus guessed it was about two hundred thousand square feet in total.

    The castle also stood in the middle of the tworge rivers where they both met, on an artificial ind and was connected to the rest of the city by fourrge bridges, each extending from the four cardinal directions.

    Normally this would make it quite difficult to infiltrate, and Marcus certainly found that the security was notcking. But it made little difference to him.

    He simply slipped in and began a thorough search of the castle for any hidden troops.

    ''Bingo.''

    Finding what he was looking for, Marcus came across a high-level regiment of soldiers that were led by a great knight and an elite mage.

    Of course, at this point Marcus had already been given the description of all of the kingdom''s top fighters and mages, but he had actually already met this great knight.

    It was the tenth ranked great knight Edek, and the one that he had blown away with his railgun during Cibor''s ambush.

    ''Looks like they have shored up their defenses here in case of an attack. Unfortunately for them, it does not look like were ready for the entire rebellion to invade.''

    After finding Edek and his troops, Marcus continued searching the castle and soon came across Lyra''s cousin.

    He was currently sitting at a desk in his room and was going over and filling out stacks of documents.

    In fact, the poor guy looked less like a noble and more like an overworked office employee right now.

    Also, unlike Lyra who was a full-blooded fox beastperson, her cousin was only half, his ears and tail being less pronounced.

    Taking a look at the documents Marcus found them to be unnoteworthy and they were just about day-to-day operations of the city.

    Moving along he investigated the nearby rooms and found the current duke''s family all sleeping together.

    His wife and two children were currently snuggled up together and sleeping peacefully.

    For a just a moment Marcus even felt bad that he and the rebel army were going to ruin this peaceful scene, but hopefully after everything was over they would be better off for it.

    Once he was satisfied with this area, he quickly finishing up the rest of the castle, and did not find any other hidden forces.

    Still, he was not satisfied yet, and began doing random sweeps of the city, searching in nestled away buildings and even under the canals.

    Fortunately, he did not find any sort of extra army waiting below the city, though he did discover some seedy areas that were engaged in questionable business at best.

    ''Yeah, this is notsting another night.'' Marcus thought as he looked at one of the most deplorable practices he had found.

    In arge underground warehouse, were hundreds of children that were caged up and being sold as ves.

    Marcus already had a natural distaste for very, and as he watched all of these kids being corralled, his rage began to rise as he remembered what had happened to Lilia.

    ''Iron Golem.''

    Conjuring his iron golem, Marcus gave it themand to kill all of the vers and their goons.

    Quickly a massacre urred as Marcus'' iron golem tten all of the vers that tried to fight back, and Marcus wrapped up the fleeing ones with his tendrils of shadows and used his life drain ability on them until they were only lifeless husks.

    It honestly looked like a scene out of a horror movie, but Marcus made sure that not a single one of these vers that traded in children survived.

    Once he had finished that up and cleaned up the mess so as to not scar the children even further, he took the form of Ludwik and began freeing all of the children from their cages and bindings.

    "I have dealt with all of the bad people that locked you up in cages. Now I need all of you to stay here for a couple of days. My friends and I will be back then, and make sure that those of you that have a home to get back to reach there and those of you without are taken care of."

    After saying that, Marcus did his best tofort the kids, and left them arge store of food to eat until he coulde back.

    He then pulled out arge magic core from a level forty plus monster and cast his iron golem spell again.

    This time the iron golem formed around the core and would allow it tost for quite a bit longer and work automatously.

    Though eventually the golem would still disappear like usual after it burned up the magic core sustaining.

    "Protect the kids until I return. Make sure that if anyonee by you capture them, or if that is impossible kill them" Marcus said, giving his iron golem its orders.

    After taking onest nce and saying a few words of reassurance to the frighten kids, Marcus left the underground warehouse, and began making his way back towards the rebel camp.

    Now that he had finished scouting out the city, they were going to make their move soon, and if all went well, the capital of the duchy would be under the rebel army''s control.

 Chapter 448 - Preparations

    Once Marcus returned to where the rebels had set up their temporary base, he made sure to give every detail possible he had found out about the city''s defenses.

    "Lyra what do you think." Marcus asked her once he had told them everything he had learned.

    "They have definitely increased the presence of the kingdom''s army by a wide margin. Before my parents were executed, there was only one base in the city, and the rest of the security was handled by a local militia and the knights that had sworn fealty to my parents and their subordinates." Lyra said with a concerned expression on her face.

    She then pulled out a very detailed map of her home city and circled all of the barracks that used to house the city''s militia.

    "Yeah, most of these building have been upied by the kingdom''s soldiers and it looks like the local militia has been cut down in size and relegated to just these six barracks."

    Frowning, Lyra was certainly not happy to hear how here city was basically under martialw.

    "Also, they have set up around a dozen more instations that are filled to the brim with soldiers. Luckily most of the are greenhorns of around level ten or so, which should not be much of a problem in the grand scheme of things."

    Circling the areas where the kingdom had set up addition barracks, Lyra now had a map that detailed the locations and rtive strength of the kingdom''s forces within the city.

    "Okay. Let us go around and inform the other captains about what we have found." Lyra said as she rolled up her map.

    Though Marcus was a bit confused, since he wondered why they were not going straight to Marek.

    "What about Marek?"

    Looking around lyra made sure that the two of them were truly alone, before using telepathy to say, ''The chief is currently busy making preparations to use a new unique skill he acquired around three weeks ago. I do not know the details about it, but it is apparently not easy to use, and he needs to take at least a few hours a day to control.''

    Once she had finished telling Marcus this, she beckoned him to follow her so that the two of them could give out the information they had gathered to all of the other rebel leaders.

    Quickly, all of the rebel leaders were given maps simr to the one Lyra had, each with the military targets circled.

    And by the time they had finished that, Marek, hade out of his seclusion.

    "Woah what the hell happened to you!?" Marcus said as soon as they entered Marek''s tent to meet with him.

    Unlike normal, the tough old man who usually exuded an aura of strength and wisdom, looked his age and was breathing heavily while soaked in sweat.

    Breathing heavily, Marek said, "It is nothing. Just some intense training to make sure that I am prepared."

    He then shakily sat up and waited for Lyra and Marcus to exin the situation.

    "I see. This is both disconcerting but also poses an opportunity. Edek is strong and could be a problem, but this is a good opportunity to deal with one of the kingdom''s strongest fighters. Jadzia and Jed. I would like you to gather all of the other captains for a meeting in eight hours. Now if you would not mind, I need to rest." Marek said as heid back down, obviously exhausted.

    Leaving Marek''s tent, Marcus and Lyra went their separate ways and informed all of the other captains about the meeting Marek had called.

    Once that was done the two of them got some rest themselves, as they waited until it was time for the meeting.

    "I am d to see that everyone has arrived safely. Now it is time we assign each squad to a specific area."

    Marek then pulled out one of the maps that had detailed the kingdom''s troop cements, and each of the captains were given an area to cover and targets to takeover.

    "We need to move fast and hit at the same time, to ensure that bloodshed is kept to a minimum. Most of the soldiers in the city are just rank and filers and probably only joined the army to have enough food to eat. If we can avoid it, I would like not to have to kill thousands of people. Now, we do know that Edek is staying in the castle. Argus and Francis, I want the two of you to apprehend him. Take your best men who are at least level forty and take him down. I do want him alive is possible though. Many of us know Edek, and he is a good man, he is just following who he believes in. However, if ites down to it, do not hesitate to kill him if it seems capture is impossible, or would endanger your men."

    Quickly the rebel''s n of attack was ready down to thest detail.

    "So, we will strike just after dawn tomorrow. Now, take the rest of the day to inform your men and women about the n. Make sure that all of your equipment is in working order and get plenty of rest. This may be thest chance we have to sleepfortably until the war is over." Marek said, ending the meeting.

    After that everyone went their sperate ways to get everything in order, and make sure their troops were ready.

    "Here take this." Marcus said to Lyra as they headed back to their camp.

    Looking at the small potion vial in Marcus'' hand, Lyra wondered what it was for a moment before recognizing the contents of the potion.

    "Marcus where did you get this?" Lyra said unable to contain her astonishment.

    "I took it off of Teivel during our battle. I want you to have it since my regeneration abilities are already pretty high. I would feel a lot better if I knew you had it." Marcus said as he pushed the vial into Lyra''s hands.

    A bit hesitantly, she took the true elixir that Marcus had handed her and looked at it in awe for a bit until storing it away into her item box.

    A true elixir could heal almost any wound or dispel any sort of negative effect. It truly was the strongest medicine that could be created and was beyond rare.

    And while the lesser version was more readily avable, the effects could barely bepared as a true elixir was easily twenty time stronger.

    Marcus then proceeded to surprise Lyra even more and pulled out an adamantine band and handed to her.

    "Go ahead and send some man into it." Marcus said to Lyra as he tossed it to her.

    Doing as he asked, Lyra sent her mana into the band and quickly it formed into a sturdy shield.

    Though Lyra frowned a seeing this and said, "As much as I appreciate this, you know I fight with two weapons, so I cannot effectively use a shield while fighting."

    However, Marcus countered her and said, "Naturally I know that. This shield is special. Now use themand word protect."

    Looking at the shield with interest and confusion, Lyra said themand word and the shield detached from her arm and began floating around her.

    "I originally made this for myself using the leftover adamantine I was given, but I want you to have it. It is based off of a shield that my master made, though inparison to his it is not as good. Still, it should help to protect you.. Now I have a fewst-minute tests I need to perform so take some time to familiarize yourself with that shield while I am gone."

 Chapter 449 Homecoming

    ˇ®Yep, they work much better than the originals.ˇŻ

    With a smile on his face Marcus was incredibly happy with his new magic focusing lenses.

    After his first set had broken under the strain of his tier six spells, he had made ns to make a new stronger set.

    This time instead of mithril he had used adamantine for the rings that held the lenses that were made of high-quality elemental crystals.

    It was work that he was very proud of, and he had just finished testing how it handled the fusing of his two tier six spells.

    Luckily his design worked perfectly, and he was now able to unleash a truly merged version of his tier six spells.

    The only problem was the level of destruction this attack had behind it, which devastated everything in around a two-kilometer area, even when he did his best to focus it.

    Ding!

    ˇ®You have leveled up to level forty-eight.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    As Marcus received this level up notification, he certainly could not say he was happy about it, since he had just changed thendscape of an area forever.

    And along with it he killed every living being there which had given him this level up.

    However, his antics had not gone unnoticed, and the strongest beasts and monsters around quickly came to investigate what sort of maniac had decided to start blowing up their home.

    ˇ®Time to leave.ˇŻ Marcus though as a st of electricity from a thunderbird that was a few miles away passed by him.

    Going into his ghost form, he began making the journey back to the rebel camp outside of Valenhart, which he had flown hundreds of miles away from to test out his new weapons.

    Luckily, with his speed he could cover this distance in just a few hours and arrived back at the camp around dusk.

    The first thing he did once he hadnded was to find Lyra, and make sure she was doing alright.

    ˇ°How is it going? Are you ready to go and meet your cousin?ˇ± Marcus asked to Lyra who was currently performing maintenance on her kukriˇŻs.<sub></sub>

    Nodding her head she said, ˇ°Yes, I am. I believe that Volos will go along with us. The king has already shown his willingness to execute people with only the slightest provocation, and I am sure he is afraid that one day it may be him and his family on the chopping block.ˇ±

    Lyra then pulled out the shield Marcus had given her and said, ˇ°This is excellent work that is on the same level as the best forgmasters in our kingdom. Thank you for giving me this. I am sure with it protecting me I will be much safer.ˇ±

    ˇ°I am d to hear that. I always enjoy praise for my creations. Now I suppose it is time we meet up with Marek and take our leave.ˇ± Marcus said, getting down to business.

    Taking a deep breath Lyra calmed down and released her lingering nerves.

    ˇ°Okay I am ready, letˇŻs go.ˇ±

    Leaving LyraˇŻs tent, the two of them went to find Marek who was standing at the top of a hill that overlooked the city.

    He was staring off into the city with a resolute expression on his face, getting ready for the rebellionˇŻs biggest move since it had been formed.

    ˇ°I suppose that the two of you are ready.ˇ± Marek said without taking his eyes off of the city below.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Yes. It is time we go and meet with my cousin. With his assistance our troops will be able to maneuver into position with greater ease.ˇ±

    ˇ°Very well. If you would not mind then.ˇ± Marek said to Lyra asking for her assistance.

    She then cast her tier four illusion magic spell mass invisibility and turned both herself and Marek invisible.

    Marcus on the other hand, simply went into his ghost form, his stealth abilities already being far beyond what LyraˇŻs illusions could create.

    After that the three of them began making their way towards the city under the cover of night.

    Soon they made it to one of the cityˇŻs main gates which was thoroughly protected by dozens of soldiers.

    However, for the three of them, slipping past this gate undetected was childˇŻs y, and they made it into the city proper with ease.

    Yet as soon as they entered, both Marek and Lyra noticed that the city was off.

    Not in that some borate trap had been set, but just that the walkways and canals were almostpletely empty other than patrolling soldiers.

    Normally, in this city, there was a healthy night life, and boats and people moved around at all times of the day.

    ˇ®Looks like a curfew has been instated.ˇŻ Lyra said over telepathy to both Marek and Marcus.

    Hearing this, Marcus felt a bit like an idiot since he had not noticed this when he was investigating the city the day before, having been too focused on the military bases rather than the city streets.

    ˇ®Well, this should make it easier for us anyway. Now we are less likely to idently bump into anyone or have to navigate around any crowds.ˇŻ Marek responded.

    Taking a few minutes to scout around the area, none of them found anything amiss, and all seemed safe.

    ˇ®Okay, I will take us to the secret entrance that goes under the river. I believe it should still be there since only my parents and I knew about it. So, I do not think that even my cousin knows it exists.ˇŻ Lyra said taking the lead.

    Quickly, Lyra navigated the streets of her home while Marek and Marcus followed.

    ˇ®This is the ce.ˇŻ Lyra said as they stopped in the middle of an unremarkable alleyway on the edge of the city center where it met the water.

    She then walked over to one of the walls of the alley and squatted down so that she could reach the very bottom of the wall.

    There she removed a brick that while looking attached, was actually lose and came out with ease.

    Slipping her hand under the space, she hit a series of buttons that were hidden under it, and within just a few seconds a small part of the alley began to open up and reveled a set of stairs.

    After cing the brick back, Lyra said with telepathy,ˇŻ This way. If everything is still in order this passageway should take us all the way to the castleˇŻs interior.

    Following Lyra down the stairs, Marcus and Marek saw that it led into a small room that had some preserved food stores and water in it, as well as a door that led into the secret passageway.

    Once they were all inside Lyra pulled a hidden lever on one of the walls and the opening in the alleyway closed up.

    The three of them next checked the room to make sure it did not have any traps that would alert someone to their position, and when they were satisfied, Lyra opened up the door to the secret passageway.

    ˇ®Make sure to follow behind me closely. There are many different snaking paths down here meant to confuse any pursuers should my family have ever needed to flee the castle from a hostile force.ˇŻ Lyra said before taking the lead and beginning thest leg of their journey back to her home.

 Chapter 450 Homecoming (2)

    Following Lyra through the underground passageway that led to the heart of the castle, their group took many twists and turns that Marcus felt would be impossible to navigate.

    He wondered how Lyra could even remember the way, but after around an hour they made it to a mithril door that Lyra opened up with ease, revealing another hidden room that was under the castle.

    ˇ®Yep, looks like no one has been down here in quite some time.ˇŻ Lyra said over telepathy as she dragged her finger through a thickyer of long undisturbed dust that sat on one of the tables in the room.

    After that Lyra directed Marcus to the stairs that led up to the false wall that would allow them entry into the castle.

    ˇ®Wish me luck,ˇŻ Marcus said right before passing through the wall.

    On the other side, he quickly recognized the room he was in as one of the many cers that were used for storage in the castle.

    ˇ®Guess I did not search hard enough.ˇŻ He thought, since he had missed the hidden passage.

    Still, it was understandable that he would miss it since it was covered by many shelves full of different alcohols and seemedpletely unremarkable.

    Quickly Marcus scouted out the surrounding areas and found that they were empty and devoid of any people.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®The coast is clear, you cane in.ˇŻ Marcus sent back to Lyra via telepathy.

    A few momentster when he reentered the cer, he saw the wall and shelves on it move forward before sliding away to open up the passageway.

    Both Lyra and Marek then walked inside, naturally still invisible, and Lyra swiftly closed up the passageway behind them.

    ˇ®When I was here yesterday your cousin was busy working in his office. I believe there is a good chance he is there or if not, it is likely he is with his family in the nearby bedroom.ˇŻ Marcus said giving his directions.

    ˇ®Okay I will lead the way. Make sure to stick close to me so that none of the detection formations go off.ˇŻ Lyra said.

    However, as she began moving Marcus stopped her and said, ˇ®That is the wrong way. Volos and his family are located on the other side of the castle.ˇŻ

    With a confused tone Lyra said, ˇ®But the dukeˇŻs room is this way. It is thergest and best protected in the castle. I think I know my own house the best.ˇŻ

    Yet as Marcus exined it to her, Lyra soon realized that her parentsˇŻ old room was now empty, and her cousin had taken up his quarters on the other side of the castle where important visitors used to be housed.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®I do not know if he has done it out of respect for your parents or he simply feels unsettled by being in the same room. But he has not taken up residence in their old room.ˇŻ Marcus said to Lyra giving his thoughts on the matter.

    And as she heard this a smile slowly formed onto LyraˇŻs face, as she wanted to believe that her cousin had done this to honor her family, especially if he was still the man she once knew.

    Now knowing where her cousin was staying, Lyra expertly led the way taking them through back areas that were less patrolled by guards, and soon they were standing in the end of the hallway where his room was located.

    Unfortunately, they had now met their first roadblock, as standing right outside the room were four guards who were all at attention.

    Each of them was at least level thirty-five, and the strongest was at level forty-one.

    Certainly, this was no threat to any of them, but they needed to handle this carefully as to not cause a huge uproar in the castle.

    ˇ®Lyra do you recognize them.ˇŻ Marcus asked wondering if maybe diplomacy was an option.

    Sadly, it seemed that she had never seen these guards before, so that option was out.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®If I open the doors for a few moments, do you think the two of you could slip by unnoticed?ˇŻ Marcus asked after havinge up with another idea.

    Both Marek and Lyra told him that they should be able to do that with out any problems.

    Marcus then told them his n, and the two of them readily gave their consent.

    ˇ®Okay be ready. Once I give you the signal, I will open up the doors, but I cannot keep them open for too long without it being suspicious.ˇŻ

    After saying that Marcus slipped into Volos and his familyˇŻs chambers and went straight for VolosˇŻ office.

    Just as Marcus figured, there he was working on a stack of paperwork with heavy bags under his eyes.

    ˇ®Sorry. But I will be taking over for a couple minutes.ˇŻ Marcus thought right before he possessed Volos.

    Immediately VolosˇŻ soul was suppressed as while he was not a low level, MarcusˇŻ soul was just far stronger and crushed any resistance before it could even begin.

    ˇ®Ugh what the hell? How hard has this guy been working?ˇŻ

    As soon as he was in control, Marcus felt the heavy strain Volos had been putting on his body, that was full of aches and pains and had certainly not gotten any good rest in over a month.

    In fact, it was so bad at first Marcus felt the urge to keel over and fall asleep.

    Luckily his regeneration skills kicked in and actually began healing VolosˇŻ body, making it feel much morefortable to inhabit.

    Standing up and cracking VolosˇŻ neck. Marcus loosened up the manˇŻs horribly stiff body before making his way towards the entrance.

    ˇ®Damn it has been so long since I possessed a body, I forgot how ufortable it can be when you are flesh and blood.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he got used to VolosˇŻ body.

    Once he had made it to therge set of double doors, he opened them up slowly and walked out to face the guards.

    ˇ°Could one of you send word to the kitchen and have them make me something to eat.ˇ± Marcus said in his best worn out tone he could.

    And during this moment, both Lyra and Marek slipped by while invisible, managing to get past the four guards whose attention was on Marcus.

    ˇ°Certainly, your grace.ˇ± One of the guards said as he bowed his head.

    ˇ°Stefan, go to the kitchen and have the night chef make something for his grace.ˇ± The highest-level guard said.

    Bowing his head, the lowest ranking guard did as he was ordered and quickly walked off towards the kitchen.

    ˇ°Will that be all your grace?ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus said, ˇ°Yes. And make sure to knock when it is ready. I wille and get it myself.ˇ±

    After that Marcus closed the doors shut and walked back to VolosˇŻ office and sat the man back down where he was before possessing him.

    As he came back into control of himself, Volos shook his head and realized that something was wrong.

    Not because he noticed MarcusˇŻ possession, but because his body felt much better than it did before.

    However, before he had time to really think about it, he was startled by a disembodied voice that came from right behind him.

    ˇ°It is good to see you again, Volos.ˇ±

    Turning around Volos looked for the source of the voice, and suddenly Lyra repapered right in front of him.

 Chapter 451 Homecoming (3)

    As Volos looked at Lyra, his astonishment was evident on his face. But after nearly a minute he rposed himself and said, ˇ°I always knew that you would be back one day Jadzia. When I heard you had joined the rebellion, I was certain that you woulde to reim your home. Though I did not expect you to be here so soon.ˇ±

    Volos then turned his head in the direction of where his wife and kids were asleep and said, ˇ°I understand that you are going to kill me. But I would beg you to spare my wife and kids. They are innocent in this all and have been dragged into this by me.ˇ±

    However, as Volos said this Lyra rolled her eyes and responded saying, ˇ°There is no need to be so dramatic. I have note here to kill you but ask for your help. Though if you make things difficult, I will be forced to take action.ˇ±

    Hearing this VolosˇŻ face brightened up since in al honesty he thought Lyra hade back to execute him as revenge for her parents whose ce he had taken.

    ˇ°No, I do not n to make anything difficult for you. Now tell me what you want?ˇ±

    ˇ°I havee to take my ce as duchess and ruler of this city and the territory that used to be under my parentsˇŻ control. I would like if you would publicly abdicate your position to me and show your support to the rebel army and allow us to upy the city unabated. We will be taking this as our territory to fight back against the king and his tyranny, and to ce the rightful ruler on the throne.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Once she had finished stating her major demands, Volos looked conflicted in what he should do in response.

    ˇ°So, you wish to bring war to your home? You must realize that the king and those that follow him will not back down once you take this city. They will send armies to kill you and the rebels, and the battle could wipe out the city. Surely you can see that this will cost millions of lives.ˇ± Volos said, obviously opposed to this.

    Yet Lyra just said, ˇ°It has already been decided that this will be our course of action. If you do not help us, it will just mean that more lives will likely be lost. Anyway, as the rebel army is now, we are strong enough to fight against the kingdom and defend this city. I to want as few as possible to die. And I believe that if I take over with the backing of the rebel army, that will be what is best. The people here already protest the kingˇŻs policies and what happened to my parents. How long until the kingdomˇŻs soldiers who now march the streets in droves begin killing thousands of people to make an example.ˇ±

    Wincing, Volos knew that Lyra was correct, as the king had already told him to get the poption under control, or he was going to resort to more drastic measures.

    And while it had not been spelled out in specifics, Volos could tell that the king was bing more frantic every day that went by.<sub></sub>

    As the rebel army grew in power andpiled more victories, the civil unrest in the kingdom continued to soar, and the only ce that could truly be considered stable was the royal capital.

    Of course, this had less to do with the capital being better governed, and more that people there were far more afraid.

    Taking a deep breath Volos looked at Lyra with a resolute expression and said, ˇ°Is Princess Dani real, or are you just using her name?ˇ±

    Smiling Lyra said, ˇ°She is the genuine article. She escaped to Borealia when her brother was thinning out hispetition, but hase back to support us now that she has a chance to make a difference. You and I both know that this kingdom has begun to fall into a downward spiral after the king executed my parents and many other popr nobles. It is time that we have new leadership, and I can promise you that Princess Dani will make this kingdom better than it has ever been.ˇ±

    Looking deep into LyraˇŻs eyes, Volos was doing his best to read her, and soon came to the conclusion that she believed everything she had just said.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Very well, if Princess Dani truly is backing your rebellion, then I will join behind you. I have sworn to follow the crown, but that does not mean I approve of the current king. Princess Dani has just as much, if not more right to the throne than her brother. Now where do we begin?

    Having received VolosˇŻ support, Lyra who had been deadly serious this entire time, smiled and hugged her cousin.

    Truthfully, he was the only real family she had left, and she was very grateful that she would not have to kill him.

    ˇ°Thank you. I promise you will not regret this. It may be tough in the beginning, but I promise by the end of it all, this kingdom will be a better and safer ce for our family.ˇ±

    Lyra then pulled back away from Volos and was about to tell him the finer details of their n, when a loud knock was heard at the door to his suite.

    ˇ°Your Grace, the food you asked for has arrived.ˇ±

    Confusion written all over his face, Volos had no recollection of requesting a meal.

    ˇ°Sorry one of mypanions took you over for a minute to distract the guards. If you would not mind quietly retrieving the food ˇ®youˇŻ asked for?ˇ± Lyra said to try and smoothing things along.

    Though when she said that someone had been controlling him, VolosˇŻ face twisted into a ghastly expression, since it was truly terrifying to realize that someone had been controlling you.

    Still with LyraˇŻs promptings, he momentarily shook off his astonishment and went to the door to receive the meal that had been ordered by Marcus while possessing his body.

    ˇ°Here you are your grace. The chef prepared an herb roasted chicken breast along with mashed yams and some saut¨¦ed vegetables for you.ˇ±

    Taking the tray in almost a daze, Volos began walking back to his office, before stopping himself and turning around to properly thank the guard.

    ˇ®Looks like I do not need to get involved.ˇŻ Marcus thought as Volos walked away.

    He had been posed to strike with his scythe should Volos have rated Lyra out and tired to call for help.

    Fortunately, this did not happen, and Volos walked back to where Lyra was, and haphazardly ced the tray of food down onto his deskpletely disregarding it.

    And before Lyra could begin speaking again, Volos said, ˇ°So you have note alone, and you have someone who can control other people among you?ˇ±

    Frankly Volos was stunned to hear this, since magics or skills that controlled people against their wills were some of the most terrifying and deplorable that existed.

    Ripping away someoneˇŻs free will in many cases could be worse than death, and more often than not, it was not the most savory individuals that had such abilities.

    However, before he could say anything else Marcus revealed his presence and said, ˇ°Yes, she is not alone, and I am the one that took control of you. You can consider me her guardian spirit and I would never do anything against her wishes. Now we do not have much time. You can be shockedter, so let us get down to business.ˇ±

 Chapter 452 Volosâ€™ Announcement

    Seeing Marcus appear out of nowhere and start berating him, Volos was stunned for a moment until he heard Marcus tell him to be shockedter.

    Rubbing his face with his hand Volos took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

    ˇ°Okay, what is it exactly that you want me to do?ˇ±

    This time without any interruptions, Lyra told Volos their n and how they wanted him to divert troop movements away from the number of barracks and bases that were situated through the city.

    This would allow for the rebelˇŻs forces to take over these strategic areas, while also having the patrolling troops sent into traps where hopefully they could be apprehended without much bloodshed.

    ˇ°Yes, that could work. But what about announcing your return? It could cause fear and panic if fighting just suddenly broke out in the streets.ˇ± Volos asked with a concerned expression.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°We will be making the announcement at dawn, right before the rebel forces engage with the kingdom. But before that, we need to move quickly and have you divert the troopsˇŻ movements. Say that you are going to be addressing the city and want the added military support around the main square. After that we will take everything from there.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Volos agreed to everything that Lyra suggested, understanding that anything else would likely end badly for him and the city.

    Of course, he also wanted the people he worked hard to govern to no longer have to live under fear of the oppressive military upying the city, but his main motivation was to ensure the safety of his family.

    The king was already not pleased with his performance in his new role, as he had not done enough to control the populous.

    Naturally this was because he had no wish to be a tyrant and had been doing his best to uphold the practices that were originally set by Lyra and his ancestors.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Okay, I will need to make some calls and visit some people if I am to aplish everything that you have requested. Though, I am not sure what great knight Edek will do, as I have little sway over him and his men.ˇ± Volos said after he and Lyra had finished discussing their n.

    ˇ°That is fine. Just remember that my ˇ®guardian spiritˇŻ here will be watching over you to make sure you do not betray us.ˇ± Lyra said while pointing at Marcus.

    Marcus then disappeared again and stuck behind Volos, who definitely had a bit of fear creeping onto his face.

    Still, he did as he agreed to and got to work on setting up LyraˇŻs announcement and funneling the troops into a trap.

    During this time, Marcus watched him like a hawk, and Volos seemed to be keeping his word, not sending out any signals or try to ask for help from anyone.<sub></sub>

    Though he certainly angered plenty of officials who were not happy about having their sleep interrupted so that Volos could make some big announcement at dawn. But they did as they were told, since Volos was currently the duke and in charge of this city and the entire region.

    Quickly everything was set into motion, and while it was tight, the stage for VolosˇŻ announcement was prepared and word had gotten out to the citizens.

    At the same time the pretense of increasing security using armyˇŻs patrols, had for the most part been sessful, as many were redirected into the areaˇŻs that were perfect for the rebelˇŻ ambush.

    This had also allowed the rebels to slip into position more easily, as Volos had guards that were solely loyal to him, and LyraˇŻste parents take over the gates.

    Soon the light of the sun just began to crest over the horizon, and droves of people hade out to witness the surprise announcement that the current leader of the city would be making.

    Of course, thousands of them were actually here as a means of protest, though the soldiers in close proximity kept them quiet. At least for the moment.

    Taking onest deep breath, Volos walked onto the stage that was in the middle of thergest square in the city.

    As he did a decent number of people in the town pped and cheered. Since while the city was certainly not as free and prosperous as it used to be, Volos did have a decent public image for the hard work he did to try and keep the city stable and uphold the legacy of LyraˇŻs parents.

    No, the problem that most of the citizens had, was with the kingdomˇŻs army that felt more like an invasion force than the people that were supposed to keep them safe.

    When he got up to the podium that was set up for him, he looked out at all of the faces of the citizens, before looking to his left and right where he knew Lyra and herpatriots were standing invisible, waiting for their moment.

    ˇ°Good morning to you all. I am d to see that so many of the citizens that I look after have gathered to hear what I have to say today. I am sure that all of you are wondering why I have gathered you all today on such short noticed? It is so that I can address the issue that have been arising in recent months.ˇ±

    Volos then gave the people a few moments to whisper amongst themselves and really take in what he had just said before starting again.

    ˇ°I know that it has been hard on many of you after the incident with the former duke and duchess, and the divide it has caused through our kingdom. I am sure that many of you feel it was unjust for them to executed and for me to be installed in their ce. And while I have done all I can to live up to my aunt and uncleˇŻs legacy, I can see now that is not my ce. I have failed both the kingdom and this city while in my position as duke, as the unrest has grown. Yet I am here to say that today thest day for dissension, turmoil, or rioting against the king.ˇ±

    Hearing this many of those in the pro king faction smiled, as they believed that the soft duke was ready to finally crack down on his tumultuous citizens.

    Yet his next words caused their jaws to drop and their eyes to go wide in fear and shock.

    ˇ°That is because on this day, I abdicate my position as Duke of Augustyn, and hand it over to its rightful heir. My cousin Jadzia Augustyn.ˇ±

 Chapter 453 The Sound of Liberation

    As Volos finished up his speech, he stepped aside away from the podium, and Jadzia who had been standing nearby invisible, appeared for all of the crowd to see.

    Seeing Jadzia appear, there was a stunned silence for a few moments before the crowd of citizens erupted in cheer.

    Immediately they recognized Jadzia who while not having made a public appearance in many years, was still easily recognizable.

    This was due to her golden hair and three shining tails, that made her the spitting image of her mother.

    Some of the people even cried seeing her, as JadziaˇŻs parents had been beloved by most of those who lived within the city, due to their just rule that was in great contrast to some of the areas of the kingdom.<sub>.</sub>

    Of course, there were plenty of people that were not happy to see her, and those that were in the kingˇŻs faction as well as the nearby soldiers who began to take action.

    However, not long after her appearance, both Marek and Dani appeared on stage as well, and Marek exuded and oppressive aura as if daring anyone to try to interfere.

    Naturally seeing his imposing figure, none of the soldiers that were patrolling the area even dared challenge him.

    They new logically that they could never win, but also that their instincts screamed at them not to challenge what would be certain death.<sub></sub>

    In fact in the entire kingdom the number of people that could possibly hope to defeat Marek could be counted on both hands, and the only one currently nearby was Argus who was in league with him.

    After giving the people just a minute to take in her presence, Lyra began her speech.

    ˇ°I can not tell you all how happy I am to have finally returned home. Unfortunately, now that I am back, I can see that things are far different than when my parents were in charge. And this is of no fault of my cousin, but the king who may have once been a decent man, but has now be a tyrant.ˇ±

    Lyra then took a moment to quell her anger as she thought about the king and what he did to her parents, squeezing her hands together tightly enough to cause her blood vessels to burst.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°However, his way is not he only way. I am sure that many if not all of you have heard of the rebel army that fights against the king and does what it can to better the people. For nearly a year now, we have fought in the shadows doing what we can to help. But today is the day that we strike back and make ourselves truly known. And for that cause I am taking up my rightful ce as Duchess Augustyn and dering our freedom from the oppression of a king that killed my parents in cold blood. No, from this day forward we will be following the person that should be the true ruler of this kingdom. Queen Dani Tralenstein.ˇ±

    Once she had finished up her initial speech, Lyra stepped aside and motioned for Dani to step forward. and the woman of royal blood who had just been pronounced queen took center stage.

    Though unlike when Lyra had appeared, Dani was met with far more confusion at first as she had not been seen in the kingdom for over twenty years now. Except some of the older citizens quickly recognized her, and like a wildfire DaniˇŻs notoriety spread.

    ˇ°Good people of Valenhart, it brings me great joy that I can once again speak out in the kingdom of my birth. I assume that many of you have heard about the bloody path my brother took to im the throne, and during that time I was one of just a few of our siblings to escape. However, I originally left so as to not start a civil war, but it appears that my brother is intent on running the kingdom our forefathers worked so hard to build into the ground. I can no longer sit idly by and allow my brother to destroy this kingdom. Luckily when I returned, I found I was not alone, and that thousand of brave men and women like Jadzia Augustyn had formed a rebellion.ˇ±

    However, before Dani could say another word, a loud explosion shook the square as what looked like a blur to most, smashed into a nearby building and turned it into ruble.

    Seeing this the people began to panic, but Lyra quickly took the podium again and said, ˇ°Please remain calm. Our forces are in the middle of subduing the kingˇŻs upying army, and I can guarantee that everyone here is safe. Please look towards the building that was just damaged, and you will see that one of our leaders has apprehend the tenth ranked great knight, Sir Edek.ˇ±

    Listening to Lyra, the masses that had gathered in the square and the surrounding area, watched as out of the rubble Argus dragged an unconscious Edek out for everyone to see.

    This only further increased their support for Lyra and those that stood with her. And as they looked around, they noticed that the soldiers that had been around were all tied up. Having been overpowered and apprehend by the rebel forces.

    For many this was an unbelievable scene as the troops working under the king were rounded up and detained.

    During this time the rebels quickly took control of every military outpost, disabling their capabilities and capturing the soldiers within.

    Of course, the execution of their n did not go offpletely seamlessly, as some of the kingdomsˇŻ soldiers put up better fights than others, and the streets ran red with the blood of men and women on both sides.

    Still, overall, it could only be considered a near total sess, and it would not be long until the entire city was under their control.

    The strength and number of the rebels was just too great, and the kingdomˇŻs forces were woefully unprepared for a full-blown invasion which was far from anything the rebels had attempted up to this point.

    ˇ°As I am sure you notice our operation is already underway and soon this city will be freed from the tyranny of the king, and the city will soon be allowed to experience the freedom it once knew.ˇ± Lyra said, keeping the peopleˇŻs attention on her rather than the battles that were raging in the streets.

    ˇ°There is no need to fear. Our rebellion. No, our Liberation Army, is here to protect all of you and take back this kingdom. We will no longer be ruled by the upassionated few who line their pockets and fatten themselves on the hard work of themon people. We will have leaders that work hard and make sure that those that they rule are taken care of, just as my parents did. This is only the start. Soon the entire kingdom will be under the control of our rightful ruler Queen Dani.ˇ±

    After Lyra finished up her second speech, the people once again gave her resounding cheers and pped their hands together loud enough to create echoes that went through the entire city.

 Chapter 454 Getting Ready for War

    After Lyra, Dani, and even Marek continued to address the people of Valenhart, the entire city soon came under their control

    Thousands of the kingdomˇŻs soldiers were captured overpowered by the might and numbers of the newly named liberation army.

    Of course, this operation did not end perfectly as some of the kingdomˇŻs troops managed to flee the city, and plenty fought to theirst breath bringing the casualties up to a few hundred on both sides.

    Albeit this was an eptable number, since they had taken over an entire city in one fell swoop.

    Though wrestling control of the city away from the king was only the first and easiest step.

    Now the liberation needed to first, get all of the cityˇŻs functions under control and make sure that they delivered on their promises to make the peopleˇŻs lives better.<sub>.</sub>

    Luckily, with the mountains of support Lyra and Dani received, along with VolosˇŻ knowledge, they were quickly able to have the city fully up and functioning again.

    The people no longer needed to worry about the mandatory curfew that had been in ce during the kingdomˇŻs upation and were able to walk the streets without fear of being osted by soldiers.

    Though in the first few days there was certainly confusion, especially as trade goods came in from many different sources, expecting to find things as usual when they were far from it.

    Fortunately for these traders, the liberation did not seize their goods or people, and even paid for the items they had been transporting before letting them go on their way.

    Still these surprised merchants onlysted for a few days as quickly the kingdom set up blockades on the river preventing anyone from approaching Valenhart from three of the four cardinal directions.<sub></sub>

    However, from the north they were unable to control the river which actually began in Borealia and flowed down into Tralenstein.

    This meant that MarcusˇŻ days as a cargo ne had finally ended, as Borealia was now able to send ships and caravans across the part of the border which was now controlled by the liberation army.

    Quickly, huge stores of food, clothing, and other necessities were delivered to Valenhart and the entire region by Borealia, all in agreement to the contract that Marek had signed with the king.

    Yet, this was only the beginning, as soon weapons and armaments began to arrive as well, and the city and surrounding towns were equipped with dozens more mana cannons, and the walls were reinforced by magical formations powered by newly acquired mana furnaces.

    Magic wands containing even tier three spells were disrupted among the troops of the liberation army, and quickly the preparations for war were well underway.<sub></sub>

    ˇ­

    ˇ°Our scouts have just spotted the kingdomˇŻs army leaving from the capital. As we suspected, Cibor is leading them personally, and they have left only the bare minimum of troops necessary to protect the city.ˇ± Kazimir said reading out the report he had just received a few moments ago to the rest of the liberation captains.

    It had been around a week since they had taken over the Augustyn Dutchy, and naturally the kingdom was not going to let them do as they pleased.

    ˇ°How many troops do they have?ˇ± Marek asked with a serious expression on his face.

    Sighing Kazimir said, ˇ°They are sending two hundred thousand, though from the intel we have gathered, around a third of these people were conscripted not long ago, and are mostly just being used as cannon fodder.ˇ±

    The room went silent for a moment since in total the liberation army only had around eighty thousand actual members, and only around half of them were currently in the Augustyn Dutchy.

    ˇ°Hmph, while their numbers are great, if most of their troops are greenhorns they will not be much of a threat. What we need to really worry about are the strongest fighters and we should be able to match them in that regard.ˇ± Francis said with confidence.

    Shaking his head, Marek said, ˇ°No, we cannot disregard any of these troops. We will already just barely be able to take on their strongest fighters, so it wille down to numbers and strategy in the end.ˇ±

    The captains continued to bicker amongst each other on the best course of action, until Marcus raised his hand to get everyoneˇŻs attention.

    ˇ°Why do we not just bombard them while they are on the move. We can just cast high tier spells and unleash powerful mana attacks from afar and wipe out most of their troops.ˇ±

    However, as Marcus said this all of the other captains looked at him as if he was stupid and realized he was not versed in the ways of war.

    And speaking up to correct him before anyone else did so more harshly, Lyra said, ˇ°Jed, that way of fighting would require us to have someone far stronger than our enemies. Large armies are always wary and on the look out for powerful traps of ranged attacks from high levelbatants. They will have their own powerful mages and fighters positioned with their lower-level troops to defend them against such attacks. Not to mention that they will have mobile strongholds with them that create a barrier around most of the troops, preventing ranged attacks from passing through it. And even if someone did sessfully unleash a powerful attack and wipe out a bunch of troops, all of the kingdomˇŻs strongest would flock right towards the source and deal with it.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus lowered his head a bit embarrassed since he had just said something that everyone else knew was obviously wrong.

    To be fair though, Marcus had never fought in a war against other people, and his only real experience with arge battlefield was against the ice ants that were wiped out in the way he suggested.

    Yet, after Marcus, someone else suggested something even more radical, as Argus stood up and said, ˇ°Why do we not just abandon the city and attack the capital instead.ˇ±

 Chapter 455 Getting Ready for War (2)

    As Argus said this, all of the other captains looked stunned, as abandoning the city was never a part of the n.

    Still, some of the less moral ones began thinking that this was a good idea. Sure, the kingdomˇŻs army may ransack or even burn the entirety of Valenhart to the ground, but they could do the same to the capital and kill the king.

    However, before things went any further, Lyra stood up her rage not controlled in anyway, as she yelled, ˇ°Argus you bastard! You would have us abandon my city. I do not take my position as duchess lightly. I will stand with my people to myst breath, even if no one else will.ˇ±

    Seething with anger, Lyra was pissed that Argus would even make this suggestion, since it was her that gave her word that their army would protect this city and free it from unjust rule.

    If they were to abandon it at this point, even if they won, how would they be any better than the kingdom.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Oh, it appears that you even believe in your own righteousness now. Did you not join the rebellion originally just as a means to get revenge on the king for killing your parents? You did not care about the people then, so what is the difference now?ˇ± Argus said, egging Lyra on.

    Yet before things escted, Marek pped his hands together to draw all of the attention towards him.

    He then stood up and said, ˇ°Both of you calm down. Right now, we are just throwing out ideas, and we should not be angry over any of them. Still Argus, I understand that your motivations are simply for retribution for being locked up, but our goal is to stabilize the kingdom. So, letting this city be burned to the ground so that we can take the opportunity to do the same would be counterproductive.ˇ±

    With MarekˇŻs intervening, Argus just held his hands up in defeat and sat down, while Lyra did the same.<sub></sub>

    Though the anger she felt was still evident on her face as she red at Argus from time to time.

    After Lyra and ArgusˇŻ little squabble, the captains continued nning and began picking out locations to defend, where to set up further fortifications, and troop cements and movements.

    ˇ°The only problem left is what to do with the army that is beingmanded by great knight number six Felcia. We are already spread thin dealing with everyone else.ˇ± Kazimir said once they had assigned all of their strongestbatants and their forces into their roles.

    This showed that they were simply outmatched by the troops that the kingdom was sending, and even with the advantage of being able to use the cityˇŻs defenses, it was going to be a tough battle.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I suppose that using both myself and Argus to take on Cibor was too greedy. Argus you and those under yourmand will face off agist the army under FelicaˇŻsmand instead. I will hold out against Cibor the best I can.ˇ± Marek said a grimace on his face.

    He was certain he could not win against the strongest man in the kingdom and even holding him off for a long enough time to matter was going to be difficult.

    However, Marcus who had been quiet since his earlier ignorantment, spoke up and said, ˇ°There is no need for that. I can handle Felcia and her entire army myself.ˇ±

    Hearing this everyone looked towards Marcus stunned, some wondering if he had multiple screws loose in his head.

    Not even Argus who was their strongest fighter would say he could take on Felcia and her entire army alone. She was not ranked as the number six knight for nothing. She was incredibly strong.

    Not to mention she would be apanied by at least one elite mage, and plenty of other high-level adjutants that worked directly under her.

    ˇ°Jed this is not the time for joking. We are need serious ideas for how we are going to deal with this uing battle.ˇ± Francis said trying to admonish Marcus.

    Except Marcus just stared resolutely at the other captains and said, ˇ°I am not joking. I have more tricks up my sleeves than any of you know. I can hold off Felica and her army on my own. Naturally, I do not think I will be able to win, but I can assure you that I can cause enough chaos in their ranks to prevent them from advancing.ˇ±

    Still, even after Marcus said this, most of the captains looked at him like he was crazy, but Marek and Lyra who knew more about Marcus thought that maybe he could pull it off.

    With his abilities he could easily move around undetected, and very few people had any real way to hurt him.

    ˇ°Very well, I will trust in you Jed. You will take on FelicaˇŻs army on your own.ˇ± Marek said agreeing to MarcusˇŻ proposal.

    He knew that this was their best way to have a chance at victory, since if both he and Argus could focus on Cibor, they may even be able to defeat him, and at least drive him back.

    Of course, nearly all of the other rebel leaders protested MarcusˇŻ huge role, saying that it was foolish to entrust something like this to one man.

    ˇ°I have already made my decision. Jed has already proven himself to me, and while most of you may just know him as the liaison to Borealia, his strength is the real deal. Without him we would still be hiding I the woods only being an annoyance to the kingdom. Now I ask all of you to trust my judgment on this matter.ˇ± Marek said taking control of the meeting.

    And with his stalwart support, eventually everyone fell in line and reluctantly agreed to let Marcus take an entire front of the war on his shoulders.

    ˇ°Now we only have around two weeks before the kingdomˇŻs forces reach our borders. We must use this time to prepare. Now go, and good luck to you all.ˇ±

 Chapter 456 Beginning of War

    ˇ®There they are.ˇŻ

    Floating high in the sky above the city of Valenhart, Marcus could see the approaching soldiers of the kingdomˇŻs army in the distance.

    From his current vantage point, they looked like armies of ants marching towards a tiny city.

    Of course, this was only a matter of perspective and Marcus knew what reallyy before him.

    ˇ®Looks like our intel was correct. They have split up into fifteen different armies.ˇŻ

    Looking around Marcus could see that the kingdomˇŻs troops had quite the distance from each other being split up into their own forces.

    Each one of the armies were made up of around ten thousand troops, other than the main force that was led by Cibor which numbered fifty thousand.

    These armies had spread out and were moving towards the city in a half circle in order to keep the pressure on.<sub>.</sub>

    This way they would be able to split up the liberationˇŻs troops, and in order to take the city back they would only need for one of their armies to break through.

    Still, the liberation army had the power of their base, which was a heavily protected city.

    In terms of mana cannons and other weapons. they had the advantage and with the huge stores of magic cores obtained from Borealia, giving them a near infinite supply of power for the cityˇŻs defenses.

    Also, during the time that the kingdomˇŻs army marched on the city, they had used this opportunity to prepare.

    The liberators who had intel on the kingdomˇŻs formation had already set up some fortresses to halt the advance of the kingdom and had ced their own forces there.

    Though they knew that this would only be meant to slow down the kingdomˇŻs advance and that after the initial sh they would need to abandon these forts, before moving back to the city for the final battles.

    Except there was one of these forts that was not maned and that was the one that would be in the path of the army Marcus would be facing alone<sub></sub>

    It was only there for show to prevent the kingdomˇŻs armies from funneling into their least defend area.

    ˇ®Hm maybe around three thousand.ˇŻ

    Looking into the sky Marcus saw that along with the ground troops, there were many soldiers riding on flying mounts in the air or were flying with magic.

    Though he also saw something he had not seen yet in this world, and that was a massive airship that hadrge mana cannons protruding out of its sides.

    In terms of size, Marcus could really onlypare it to an aircraft carrier from Earth, and it certainly was an imposing vehicle of war.

    After scanning thought the kingdomˇŻs forces that were still far on the horizon, Marcus descended back into the city to give his report.

    ˇ°So, our scoutsˇŻ intel was correct. To think that they would even deploy the Aerial Castle.ˇ± Marek said after Marcus gave full confirmation of the kingdomˇŻs armies and the weapons they had.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Then we will stick to our original n. Everyone get into your final positions. It is likely that by dusk that the kingdomˇŻs armies will be upon us.ˇ±

    Quickly everyone followed MarekˇŻsmand, and the agreed upon positions were taken up and the troops were prepared for engagement.

    However, before he took his ce, Marcus had Roxene get out of hispanion storage and bent down to eye level with her.

    ˇ°Roxene, I need you to keep Lyra safe for me. I do not care what you have to do, just make sure she survives. If ites down to it, drag her away from the battle kicking and screaming if you must.ˇ± Marcus said to hispanion with deadly serious eyes.

    Nodding her head, Roxene agreed to MarcusˇŻ request and said, ˇ®But what about you? Are you really going to be okay?ˇŻ

    Giving a reassuring smile Marcus said, ˇ°Worst case scenario, I have to use deny destruction and then run away. It will take more than this to end me. I am not so easy to get rid of.ˇ±

    Marcus then gave Roxene onest pat on her head before going into his ghost form and flying off to his position.

    Soon all of the forces had taken their ces and standing at the top of the lead fortress that would be facing off against CiborˇŻs army was Dani, with Argus and Marek on either side of her.

    Yet she was no longer dressed in her normal royal clothing, but had donned full system recognized adamantine equipment.

    She cut an imposing figure wearing intricate full te armor which had a winged helmet covering her head, and for her weapon was holding a double-sidednce with the form of a dragon engraved on either side of it.

    Truly she now looked less like a well brought up royaldy, and like a war goddess who was ready to strike down all of her enemies.

    Clutching a pendant around her neck, Dani became connected to all of the speaker magic devices that had been set up in the surrounding area, as well as the projector that was positioned above the city.

    Soon a giant holographic version of her was projected above the city of Valenhart and she began speaking to all who could hear her.

    ˇ°People of Tralenstein, today is the day that will go down forever in the annuls of history as we take back our kingdom from a king who does not care for his people. We will not allow a single one of his men inside the city of Valenhart, and we will show that our resolve far outweighs his tyranny and the fear he instills.ˇ±

    Dani then paused for a moment as resounding cheers echoed through the city and surrounding forts, as her presence and speech strengthened their spirits and drive.

    ˇ°And now to those of you who would follow my brother because he was named king only for his ability to kill or drive away those that would oppose him. I offer you a chance. ce down your weapons and surrender. There is no need to follow a king that does not care about any of you. If he were a true king, he would lead his men onto the field of battle and face me. But instead, he cowers away. However, I am no coward and will fight to myst breath alongside those that would follow me.ˇ±

    Unfortunately, as she had thought, the approaching army from the kingdom did not miraculously stop and surrender, or even slow down.

    They were either fueled by some form of warped loyalty or were far too afraid to go against the kingdom.

    Still, this was what was expected, and Dani quickly began her speech once again.

    ˇ°Today we prove to the people that have put their trust in us that we will stand up for them. Now prepare for on this day we strike the first of many blows against my brotherˇŻs reign of terror.ˇ±

    Not long after Dani said this, the kingdomˇŻs armies came into range of the thousands of mana cannons that had been set up along the cityˇŻs walls and the outlying fortresses.

    Quickly the sky was filled with light as both sides began bombarding each other with spells and mana sts, as the first major battle in the civil war for Tralenstein began.

 Chapter 457 Marcus the Ethereal Menace

    As long ranged attacks were flung from both sides, shes of light and massive explosions shook the entire area as the kingdomˇŻs army steadily advanced.

    However, one of the armies was having a much easier time that the others, as the fortress that was in FelicaˇŻs path barely returned any fire with its mana cannons, and its barrier was already beginning to crumble under her troopsˇŻ attacks.

    It was certainly strange, and she was staying on guards for some sort of sneak attack, thinking that theck of power was meant to lull her into a false sense of security.

    Unfortunately, even though her senses were heightened, she did not noticed as Marcus slipped out from under the ground and into the heart of her troops.

    ˇ®You will do.ˇŻ

    Immediately Marcus targeted the officer that wasmanding one of the mobile strongholds that deployed a barrier around the majority of FelicaˇŻs army and was mounted with mana cannons.

    He quickly possessed the man who was level forty-two, and after just a momentary struggle was in control of his body.

    Then once he had done a quick check over what type of gear the man had on him, he pulled out the spell wand on the manˇŻs belt and opened fire.<sub>.</sub>

    The first six or so soldiers had no idea what had happened as lightning javelins pierced through their heads,ing from the wand Marcus was using to cast the spell.

    Though it did not take long until the soldiers that were operating this mobile stronghold noticed that theirmander suddenly turned mutinous and was killing them.

    Unfortunately, none of them stood a chance against Marcus who shoot those who fled and cut down any who approached him with themanderˇŻs mithril sword.

    Soon, an rm was ring through the mobile stronghold alerting the troops inside and out that something was amiss.

    ˇ®Looks like I need to speed up.ˇŻ Marcus thought as the rm gave him away.ˇŻ

    Having caused what he felt was enough chaos within this mobile stronghold, Marcus swiftly made his way towards therge mana furnace that was supplying it power.

    ˇ®That should do.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he ced thest of four mana charges around the furnace.<sub></sub>

    These charges each had the power equivalent to a tier three spell, and would be enough to cripple this mana furnace.

    After that Marcus ran out of this room, though as he did, he was met by one of FeliciaˇŻs direct adjutants.

    Appraising the man Marcus found that he was level fifty-four, and certainly no slouch being decked out in adamantine gear.

    ˇ°Brett what the hell are you doing? Why have you killed your men?ˇ±

    However, Marcus simply ignored the man that hade to stop ˇ°BrettˇŻsˇ± rampage and yelled, ˇ°For the true ruler of Tralenstein, Queen Dani.ˇ±

    Charging towards the man that hade to stop him, Marcus made it seem like Brett was just a manic turncoat.

    Yet right before he was about to sh with FeliciaˇŻs adjutant, Marcus left BrettˇŻs body and watched as the poor man was cut down with one sh.<sub></sub>

    But at that moment, Marcus detonated the charges he had set shaking the mobile stronghold and causing it to grind to a halt.

    ˇ®On to the next one.ˇŻ

    Leaving this one behind, Marcus began heading towards the next one. Though along the way he would momentarily possess some of the soldierˇŻs bodies and begin attacking the people around them, making it seem that a mass mutiny was happing among the soldiers.

    ˇ®Oh, I guess that might be a good idea.ˇŻ

    Taking a slight detour, Marcus took over a gunner of one of thergest mana cannons and turned the cannon around and opened fire within the ranks of the army.

    This caused even more chaos to FelicaˇŻs army that was already beginning to fall into shambles.

    Soon the army was not even advancing as they were running around like headless chickens as Marcus sent out sts from the mana cannon he had taken control of.

    ˇ°What do you think you are doing.ˇ± A cold icy voice said as a sulfurous liquid wrapped around the body Marcus was controlling.

    Looking back, Marcus recognized who had stopped him as they were one of the kingdomˇŻs elite mages.

    He had made sure to memorize all of their faces and the information about them, same as the great knights.

    ˇ®Oops look like I overstayed my wee here.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he felt the manˇŻs body he was possessing start to dissolve.

    ˇ°For Queen Dani.ˇ± Marcus said right before leaving the manˇŻs body, along with an added present for the elite mage.

    As soon as Marcus clear of this body, he detonated another mana charge causing arge explosion that disabled the mana cannon he had been using, as well as creating a distraction so that the elite mage had no chance to notice him.

    Floating out of the smoke and into the mobile stronghold, Marcus found his next victim who was one of the engineers in the mana furnace room and began ughtering everyone else inside, before again sabotaging the room with charges.

    After that he floated back outside to look at the damage he had done.

    Unfortunately, the disorder he had caused was already mostly subdued, but they were still none the wiser as to his presence.

    He had made sure up to this point not to use any of his skills or abilities so that no one would figure out that these soldiers were being controlled.

    To everyone it would just seem that they had gone traitor or maybe that they were always traitors to begin with.

    Still, fighting in this method meant that the damage he could do was limited, but he was just stalling for time not trying to win.

    Continuing his strategy, Marcus moved to the back lines and took over one of the captains back there before he began killing the rank-and-file soldiers, until someone that was strong enough to stop the guy he was possessing appeared.

    He then dropped out of the poor person right before they died and moved onto the next one, causing more and more mayhem within the ranks of the army under FelicaˇŻsmand.

 Chapter 458 Core of the Battle

    While Marcus was causing havoc within great knight number six FelicaˇŻs army, many other battles raged on around the city of Valenhart.

    And the most important battle was between the bulk of the forces being led by Cibor for the kingdom, and Marek and Argus for the liberation.

    Currently, these two armies were at a standstill as neither one had the power to take the other one down.

    Certainly, Cibor was the strongestbatant in this war, but he was still only one man, and whenever heunched an attack Argus and Marek would work in tandem to stop it with their own blows.

    Eventually, the three of them grew tired of this back and forth and flew into the sky to settle their battle away from the rest of the troops. As they knew a true battle to the death between the three of them would lead to thousands of casualties on both sides if they were to fight on the ground.

    Of course, they were not the only ones to do this, and currently the skies were set aze by the strongest fighters that were duking it out away from their troops.

    ˇ°Do you really think it was wise for the two of you to take me on at the same time. I may be the strongest, but I am not the only one here. Are you sure you want to let Armand and Felica do as they please?ˇ± Cibor said trying to get under Marek and ArgusˇŻ skin and make them second guess their n.<sub>.</sub>

    Unfortunately for him, they were already resolute in what they were doing, and Argus said with a smirk on his face, ˇ°DonˇŻt you worry about either of them. Tesia is dealing with Armand, so while he may not lose, he will not be getting past her magic. And as for Felica, I do not know much about them, but Marek picked out someone special to deal with her. Anyway, why are you trying to get one of us to leave. Is the strongest man in the kingdom afraid he cannot beat us together?ˇ±

    After ArgusˇŻ taunting, CiborˇŻs eyes sharpened and it was Argus who had gotten under his skin.

    ˇ°You know while I respect Marek, I always hated you Argus. I am going to enjoy tearing you apart.ˇ±

    ˇ°Path of Asura.ˇ±

    Activating his strongest and favorite unique skill, Cibor grew his two extra set of arms and along with them copies of his amethros daggers.

    Seeing this, both Argus and Marek responded in kind activating their own enhancement unique skills.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Behemoth Aspect.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Unyielding Resolve.ˇŻ

    Under the effects of his behemoth aspect, Argus and all of his gear grew to the size of a giant and he was soon ten timerger than he had been before.

    And while MarekˇŻs had no apparent visible change in his body, his aura had changed, causing him to exude a power that refused to allow him to lose

    Like a sh Cibor shot forward right towards Argus who threw back his hammer and swung forward with all his might.

    BOOM!<sub></sub>

    As the two titans of power shed a huge explosion of their mana resonated in the sky making it look as if cracks were forming in the very reality of the world.

    In the end though, Argus was pushed back, and his gargantuan form began tumbling through the air.

    His equipment just was not up to the same standard as CiborˇŻs, who was using his amethros daggers while Argus only had an adamantine hammer.

    Still as Cibor pushed the attack, Marek dropped down on him and unleashed a flurry of blows with his tonfas forcing Cibor to defend himself.

    Everyone of MarekˇŻs blows felt like a mountain was being dropped on him, and Cibor instantly realized that Marek was stronger than he had been before.

    ˇ®Third eye awakening.ˇŻ

    Using another of his unique skills CiborˇŻs forehead suddenly began glowing and a golden third eye formed.

    With the second of his enhancement unique skills in effect, Cibor began seamlessly blocking MarekˇŻs attack and was able to quickly cause a dozen of shallow wounds to him before Argus returned.

    Yet even as Argus let loose a heavily blow with his hammer two of CiborˇŻs arms twisted around behind him and block it without him taking his attention off of Marek.

    This was the power of his third eye which allowed him to see all around him with nothing hidden from his view.

    With this skill he could even push himself to see a few seconds in the future, though the further he looked the more muddled it got.

    Still using the unique skill in tandem with Path of Asura was straining for Cibor, but it was necessary if he wanted to try to defeat both Argus and Marek at the same time.

    The three of them continued to trade devastating blows, as Marek and Argus fought together and Cibor more than held his own.

    In fact, with Cibor fighting unabated the two of them as strong as they were, ended up being pushed back by the strongest man in the kingdom.

    ˇ°Looks like I am not going to be able to win just tapping into it in little bursts.ˇ± Marek said seeing that they were on the back foot.

    He had so far not been using the full capabilities of his new unique skill, but it was now or never to let it loose.

    ˇ°Unlimited Stockpile, Unleashed.ˇ±

    Unbinding the full power of his Unlimited Stockpile, MarekˇŻs muscles began to bulge, and a terrifying amount of mana began to flow through his body.

    This unique skill allowed him to store away his strength forter use, and while it had no end to its capacity, the more he stored the harder it was on his body.

    But in return, it allowed him to release explosive bursts of power that far exceed what he was normally capable.

    ˇ°Prepare yourself Cibor, I aming at you with everything I have!ˇ± Marek yelled as he charged forward, shimmering with power as he prepared to unleash his strongest attack.

 Chapter 459 Lyra and Roxeneâ€™s Struggles

    As the battle for Valenhart raged on, the ground shook and the sky cracked as the two forces engaged in a fierce battle.

    sts of mana andrge range spells crashed against each other as the liberation army did its best to defend against the kingdomˇŻs army.

    However, while some of the battles were evenly matched and others where slightly in the favor of either side, one of the fronts had already begun to crumble.

    Currently Lyra was doing her best to protect her troops as they fell back to the cityˇŻs walls, their fort already having been all but destroyed.

    ˇ®Now.ˇŻ

    Pressing the detonator in her hand, Lyra used the forts second function which was as a massive bomb.

    Quickly the mana furnace within it became unstable, and fueled by thousands of magic cores a huge explosion engulfed the area.

    This explosion which had power equivalent to a tier eight spell, devastated the area, and killed the few thousands of troops that had been perusing LyraˇŻs retreat closely.<sub>.</sub>

    These troops had gotten overtaken by their zeal and wanted to push the attack on their fleeing enemies, only to walk into a trap.

    s, even as powerful as this explosion was, it came to a stop as it crashed against the barrier created by the mobile strongholds which were capable of taking attacks that were far stronger.

    Still, this bought Lyra and her troops time to fall back to their secondary and more defensible location.

    Yet it was not enough, as the three individuals that were the main cause of LyraˇŻs hasty withdraw, came to finish the job.

    ˇ®Awaken.ˇŻ

    With no other choice but to engage, Lyra used her full power andunched herself and her clones at the three people that were her biggest threats.

    ˇ®Fox Fire Inferno.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Using one of her strongest attacks, Lyra and her clones began zing with her bluish sliver mes and unleashed them into one massive attack.

    ˇ°Tidal Sphere.ˇ±

    However, before her attack could hit the three figures that were hovering in the sky and looking down on her, one of them cast a tier six water magic spell, which smothered LyraˇŻs mes.

    ˇ°Now this is a surprise. I figured you would sacrifice your troops to escape. Are you going to let poor KazimirˇŻs sacrifice be in vain?ˇ± One of the people facing off against Lyra said tauntingly, as he threw the halflingˇŻs head towards Lyra.

    With a grim look on her face Lyra said, ˇ°No I am going to avenge him. Elvind, why donˇŻt you take me on alone, or do you really need two elite mages to help you. In the past you beat me on your own, or is your rank of sixteen just for show and you are afraid to fight me now.ˇ± Lyra said, trying to y on ElvindˇŻs vanity.

    Unfortunately, LyraˇŻs provocation did not have any effect on Elvind who simply said, ˇ°I have no reason to fight you in a one-on-one duel Jadzia. This is a war. At the end of the day all that matters is who wins.ˇ±

    After saying that Elvind charged towards her, knowing which one of her forms was the real one since he had been given a special magic tool that had locked onto her mana signature.<sub></sub>

    At the same time the two elite mages that were apanying Elvind cast tier five spells over arge area to epass JadziaˇŻs clones and Illusions.

    ˇ®Roxene now!ˇŻ

    Receiving LyraˇŻs signal, Roxene who had been hidden high above by LyraˇŻs magic descended towards the three powerfulbatants facing off against Lyra.

    ˇ°Owooooo.ˇ±

    Howling loudly, RoxeneˇŻs form began to erupt with a powerful light, and an oppressive darkness as shebined her howl of day and howl of night.

    A st of power simr to MarcusˇŻ eclipse meteor, descend towards Lyra and the three opponents she was fighting.

    This attack had a massive range, and as it fell, the two elite mages had to hastily drop the spells they were casting and switch to their best defensive spells instead.

    As for Elvind, he got greedy and lunged towards Lyra with his spear, aiming right for her head.

    Yet as he was about to kill her, she disappeared reced by one of her clones.

    A momentter, RoxeneˇŻs attack hit and continued on, sting into the ground and boring a hole through it as the massive beam of light and darkness descend.

    It was an impressive disy of power that was easily equal to a tier seven spell, and was certain to not leave anyone inside it unscathed.

    Luckily, Lyra had moved her clones away from the area of the st, and sacrificing one of them had managed to avoid being caught up in RoxeneˇŻs most destructive attack.

    ˇ®How are you doing.ˇŻ Lyra asked Roxene as shended next to her.

    Of course, after using both of her unique skills in tandem, along with having her supreme skill active, Roxene was feeling a bit worn out.

    At the very least, since it was currently dusk when both the day and night were mixed, the bacsh of her unique skills was not as bad as it could have been.

    ˇ®I will be fine. But I doubt I will be able to unleash another attack of that level without taking myself out of this fight.ˇŻ

    Nodding her head, Lyra could understand that Roxene had used up a great deal of her strength in thatst attack, and that she could not count on her again for a simr level of support.

    Tch!

    Clicking her tongue as the smoke cleared, it was clear that Elvind and the two elite mages with him had survived.

    They had each used their strongest defenses and had even had to use some disposable items, but they had taken RoxeneˇŻs full power attack.

    Still, they did not get out without injury, and both of the elite mages had burns from the light energy all over their bodies, and Elvind was riddled with corrosion as the darkness lingered on him.

 Chapter 460 Lyra and Roxeneâ€™s Struggles (2)

    With Elvind and the two elite mages supporting him still recovering from RoxeneˇŻs full power attack, Lyra burst forward with her high-speed movement technique and began pressuring Elvind.

    She unleashed a barrage of quick swipes from her kukris forcing Elvind on the defensive as he used his spear to parry LyraˇŻs attacks.

    However, it was not just his injuries that were making things more difficult for him, it was that Lyra was much stronger than thest time they had fought.

    When he had volunteered to deal with her, he figured it would be a walk in the park, and while things had been going well at first now, he was being pushed back.

    Unfortunately, LyraˇŻs advantage did notst long as the two elite mages keyed in on her after healing themselves and lent their support to Elvind.

    ˇ°Riptide armor.ˇ±

    ˇ°Gale Soldiers.ˇ±

    With one of the elite mages casting a tier five buff spell on Elvind, and the other conjuring twelve warriors made of wind, LyraˇŻs brief advantage was soon turned on its head.

    At the very least though, Roxene swiftly joined the battle and began tearing through the soldiers made of wind and shooting ofser and darkness drill spells at the elite mages.

    The five of them then continued to exchange blows, until ElvindˇŻs forces soon caught up and began sending attacks at Lyra and Roxene.

    Hundreds of spells and mana sts came flying for them as Elvind and his elite mages backed off and joined the bombardment.

    ˇ°Agh.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Eventually Lyra got caught by a stray attack as she tried to use her illusions to direct the fire away from herself.

    There were just too many attacks and even though most of thebatants could not see her, the mass of attacks till scored a hit against her.

    It was not a terribly strong attack, just a tier three spell, but it was still enough to leave one of her arms mangled.

    And unfortunately, Roxene was not doing much better having to focus on evasion and defense just to stay alive.

    Yet as she saw the deteriorating situation, she activated herst trump card and unleased her full power.

    ˇ®Soul Burst.ˇŻ

    For the first time Roxene used the unique skill that Marcus had shared with her, and all of her stats were doubled for three minutes.

    Now teaming with greater power than she ever had, Roxene felt invincible, and the attacks that were giving her trouble before now seemed insignificant.

    Racing towards Lyra, Roxene epassed her within her mana barrier and the radiance scales spell to protect her.

    She then grabbed ahold of LyraˇŻs armor and shot towards the cityˇŻs walls where the liberation army was regrouping after losing its first position.

    However, as Roxene raced towards safety, her danger sense suddenly went off like crazy, and only thanks to her heightened stats, she just barely avoided a sh from an ax that was ck as night.<sub></sub>

    Yet, as she did six other men covered in ck cloaks descend upon them and a ring of shadows appeared and moved in to crush them.

    ˇ°Owooooo.ˇ±

    Seeing no other way-out, Roxene used her howl of night, and a burst of darkness spread out around her and fought against the ring of shadows that threatened to engulf them.

    Eventually the two powers canceled each other out, and while they were uninjured both Roxene and Lyra were surrounded.

    And to make matters worse Elvind and his elite mages soon caught up to Lyra and Roxene as well.

    Except instead of these two enemies moving to work together, Elvind seemed pissed to see the seven cloaked men.

    ˇ°What the hell are you doing here? I was the assigned to deal with Jadzia.ˇ± Elvind yelled at these men.

    Still all of them just remined quite until the lead one with the ck ax came over and said, ˇ°Great knight Elvind, you have already shown that you are not up to the task as Jadzia Augustyn was about to escape. Now go along andmand your troops. You have an army to lead to victory, and we have a target to dispose of.ˇ±

    Clenching his teeth Elvind looked furious, but he did as he was asked and moved away, heading back towards his troops who where the closest to the city wall and would need his and the elite magesˇŻ assistance to breach them.

    Of course, during this time, Roxene and Lyra had not been just sitting there idly, and had been trying toe up with a n.

    ˇ®Lyra who are these guys, they were not mentioned at all in any of the briefings?ˇŻ Roxene asked wondering where they strongbatants came from.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®I do not know exactly who they are, but those outfits are what the Whispers, the kingˇŻs personal intelligence unit wears. And if I had to guess, these guys are a part of their execution squad.ˇŻ

    Quickly appraising all of them, Lyra unfortunately found that all of their levels were either hidden by some sort of skill or item.

    ˇ®I have no clue how strong they are, but I doubt any of them are below level forty-five, and their leader is probably at least sixty.ˇŻ Lyra said with helplessness in her tone.

    As far as she could tell they were surrounded and at any moment were about to be killed by these executioners.

    ˇ®This is not over yet. We are going to break through. Just unleash your strongest attack on my mark, and I will take care of the rest.ˇŻ Roxene said.

    And right as they finished nning, Elvind who was upying the Whispers attention left, ending their slight reprieve.

    ˇ®Lyra hold your breath!ˇŻ Roxene shouted over their telepathic connection.

    Doing as Roxene told her, even thought she was not sure why at first, it took her only a moment to realize what was going on as she felt her body start to stiffen up a little.

    ˇ®Poison!ˇŻ

    Having breathed in just the slightest bit of it, Lyra felt the poison attacking her system. But luckily it was only a little, and her natural hardiness kept her from being paralyzed.

    ˇ°Hm looks like you noticed.ˇ± The lead executioner said.

    He and his men had not wanted to leave anything to chance, and even thought it seemed that they had ceased their attack while dealing with Elvind. They had actually all opened up canisters of what they thought to be undetectable paralytic gas.

    Unfortunately, for them, RoxeneˇŻs nose was one of the best on the entire, and even just the smallest scent given off by the gas was detected by her.

    Though this did not change the fact that they were surrounded and in a tight spot against these seven executioners.

    The shadows around all of the executioner then began to shift epassing the area and isting them from the outside world.

    ˇ®Do it now!ˇŻ Roxene told Lyra.

    Changing her posture and going into a position on all fours, Lyra began to glow brighter as her bluish sliver mes engulfed her and expanded, until she had taken the form of a giant shimmering nine tailed fox.

    This was the ultimate form of her evolution, and while it boasted incredible power, it had little in the way of defensive capabilities and made her into arge target.

    Using everything they had, Lyra and Roxene charged head on towards the lead executioner who stood in their way.

    Of course, the other executioners did not simply let them do this and the domain of shadows they had created by working in tandem, began wrapping around and slicing into Roxene and Lyra as they ran forward.

    All the while the lead executioner flew forward brandishing his ominous looking a ck ax.

    At the same time the other attack with their respective weapons all of them aiming for Lyra andpletely disregarding Roxene.

    They had been given only one order, and that was to make sure that the Duchess of Augustyn died, even if it cost them their lives.

    Roxene and Lyra bit, shed, and sted their way through the executionersˇŻ encirclement, all the while being stabbed, sliced, and assaulted by shadows.

    Still, their unyielding drive and surprising power allowed them to break through, and they managed to bust out of the domain that had trapped them.

    Yet just as they had escaped, the lead executioner positioned himself right above LyraˇŻs head, and brought down his ax with all his might andplete disregard for his own safety.

    And his ax dug deep into flesh causing blood to spray everywhere, as RoxeneˇŻs right leg flew off and arge gash was cut into her torso as she took this attack for Lyra.

    However, this was thest thing the lead executioner ever saw, as Roxene snapped her jaws closed around his head and ripped it clean off.

    After that, the horrible wound inflicted on her caused her body to shrink back down to its original size, as she could no longer control the power of her supreme skill.

    Roxene quickly began falling out of the air, but Lyra who she had just saved grabbed her in her mouth, and shot off in a jet of mes, leaving the other executioners behind.

    Unfortunately, Lyra herself was horribly wounded, and after thatst burst of speed, she felt her body give out.

    She then crashed into the ground leaving a deep scar in the earth as she and Roxene impacted.

    Quickly LyraˇŻs form reverted as well, and she looked at Roxene who was bleeding like a fountain not far from her.

    She tried inching forward, dragging herself with the one arm that still worked, since the other was damaged horribly.

    s, her efforts were soon proved to be in vain, as the six remaining executioners caught up with them to deliver the final blow.

    Yet before they could, the ground seemed to begin shaking and the yells of hundreds of thousands of people echoed across the battlefield and thousands of spells flew towards the executioners.

 Chapter 461 The Peopleâ€™s Resolve

    Pouring out of the city and onto the battlefield, nearly every able-bodied citizen in the city of Valenhart came to the aid of their duchess.

    Most of them had armed themselves with the surplus spell wands that had been delivered by the kingdom of Borealia, and had taken up position on top of the city walls or were charging towards where Lyra had crashed into the ground.

    They began shooting thousands of spells towards the executioners that were looming over Lyra and Roxene.

    And even thought none of these spells were above tier three, no one could ignore thousands of spellsing at them.

    Seeing that they wereing under fire and being pushed back, the executioners made a final dash towards Lyra, intent on ending her life even if it cost their own.

    Yet before they could reach her, Knox, leading the rest of the strongest fighters from LyraˇŻs unit came back to fight with their leader who had given them the opportunity to retreat.

    With their intervention they were able to drive back the executioners, and picked up both Lyra and Roxene before running back towards the center.

    Gritting their teeth and steeling themselves, the executioners charged through a rain of spells towards Knox who was carrying Lyra.

    Failure meant death, so they had no fear of dying toplete their objective.

    Still, their unshakable will to kill their target did not give them the absolute power to do so, and even they were soon sted down by the unending barrage of spells from the people that wished to protect their ruler.

    Unfortunately, as the thousands of people swarmed out to help Lyra, they painted a target on to themselves, and the kingdomˇŻs forces began opening fire on them.

    Immediately the unprotected citizens were being hit by spells and mana sts that tore them apart by the thousands.

    Moving as fast as they could the highest leveled fighters of the liberation army began shielding the retreating citizens, while also opening fire on the kingdomˇŻs army that was approaching.

    ˇ°Fire the main batteries.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    With a loud humming sound, a dozen mana cannons that were easily ten timerger than the standard model, began glowing with power as it sucked up arge amount of mana before sending out a powerful st.

    Each one of these sts held the destructive force of a tier five spell, and taking this bombardment the kingdomˇŻs army had to back down and focus on defense.

    Of course, using these cannons came at quite the cost as even just one shot from them burned through around a hundred magic cores from level twenty plus beasts and monsters.

    Also, they were prone to overheating, and firing them all at a rapid pace could permanently damage them.

    However, the defenders of Valenhart did not have the luxury to slow down their bombardment, as these powerful sts were the only thing keeping them from being overrun.

    ˇ­

    ˇ°Jadzia wake up!ˇ±

    Hearing her named called loudly by a familiar voice, Lyra who had passed out earlier woke up to see Knox, and a healer standing over her.

    Coughing up a mouth full of blood Lyra felt the second worst she ever had, only trumped by the time when she first died.

    ˇ°Captain are you okay?ˇ± Knox asked with worry on his face.

    Sitting up Lyra looked around and saw that they were in the medical building, and all around her were injured soldiers and evenmon citizens that had picked up arms to defend their home.

    ˇ°I am fine Knox. Now what the hell are you doing here fussing over me? Get the hell back out there, your strength is needed on the battlefield.ˇ±

    Gulping Knox quickly realized he had made a mistake and upset his captain, and hastily left the medical ward and did as he was ordered, returning to the front line.<sub></sub>

    Lyra then looked around for Roxene who had been even more injured than her, but found that she was not here.

    ˇ°There was a half white, half ck young wolf beastpanion with me. Where has she been taken?ˇ± Lyra asked with a raspy voice to the healer that was treating her wounds with magic and potions.

    ˇ°Duchess Augustyn, the beast that was brough in with you was horribly injured and worn out. There was little we could do for it, so it was put aside. But after just a few minutes, it got back up fully healed and began drinking a stash of potions that it pulled out from what I believe to be an item box. It then headed out on its own, and I have no idea where it is now.ˇ±

    Hearing her healerˇŻs ount of what happened to Roxene, Lyra let out a breath of relief to hear that she was alive. Before standing up shakily, much to her healerˇŻs dismay.

    ˇ°Your grace, please do not be hasty. You are badly wounded, and your mana and stamina have practically run out.ˇ± The healer said while trying to get Lyra toy back down.

    Yet Lyra just waved her off, and pulled out three potions from her own item box.

    Quickly she downed all three at once, drinking her strongest healing, mana recovery, and stamina restoring potions.

    As the potionsˇŻ contents entered her system, she felt her strength returning and the terribly injuries outside and inside her body began to mend themselves.

    Still, she could tell this was not yet enough and pulled out the elixir Marcus had taken from Teivel and given to her.

    Drinking this potion, Lyra soon felt revitalized as along with the other three potions she had drank, the elixir brought her back up to full strength.

    Of course, drinking so many potions at once was not with out its downsides, and the more she drank the less effective they would be and eventually it would make her sick.

    Though as long as she did not have much more, she would be fine for now.

    Fully recovered and ready to get back into the action, Lyra left the medical building at a breakneck speed, and quickly made her way up to the top of the wall to join the defenses there.<sub></sub>

    However, when she arrived, she saw something that caused her heart to stop for a moment, as the wall had been breached by Elvind and his army.

    Even as strong as the cityˇŻs walls were with their protective formations, if hit hard enough in a concentrated area, they would crumble.

    Except what truly made LyraˇŻs heart feel cold was not that the city was being invaded, but that tens of thousands of the citizens of Valenhart were throwing themselves at ElvindˇŻs army.

    They were all armed with surplus gear that Lyra had no idea how that got ahold of, but they were doing everything they could to fight back against ElvindˇŻs forces.

    And while they were certainly horribly outmatched, they were at least keeping Elvind at bay for the moment. For even if they had to sacrifice twenty people to take out one of those in ElvindˇŻs army, that was what they were willing to do.

    ˇ®There he is.ˇŻ

    Keying in on Elvind who was currently fighting with a half dozen people who were all over level forty, Lyra shot forwards towards him, as she entered her awakened form again.

    ˇ®shfire p.ˇŻ

    Using her movement technique and going invisible, Lyra moved like a blur and caught Elvind off guard, stabbing her kukris into the gap in his armor under his arm.

    Wincing in pain, Elvind had no idea what had happened until the molecule magic device he was wearing to specifically counter her identified LyraˇŻs mana signature.

    Swinging his spear around rapidly, Elvind sent out multiple wide shes of mana to force everyone away from him, holding no regard for ally and enemy alike as he cut through everyone around him.

    And in doing this he actually killed more of his own soldiers, as they had not been wary off friendly fire from theirmander.

    ˇ°Jadzia you bastard. To think that you would even arm themon citizens and send them against us like fodder. You must be mad to do this.ˇ± Elvind said his rage growing as things continued to spiral out of control for him.

    He figured that once he breached the city, he would be able to set up a strong defensible position and receive the glory of retaking the city.

    Yet, unlike what he expected the citizens to do, they did not hide away meekly in face of their overwhelming power, and beganunching suicide attacks against them fighting with more resolve than most of the kingdomˇŻs army.

    They had already had their home upied by the kingdomˇŻs army before, and being freed from them had allowed them to once again taste the lives they had before when JadziaˇŻs parents ruled, and they refused to lose this again.

    Still, this did not mean that they could win, as Elvind and his troops were still far stronger, better armed, and higher leveled overall.

    Fighting as hard as she could Lyra, shed against Elvind using every trick she had.

    Using her illusions, she may not have been able to hide herself from Elvind who had locked on to her, but that did not mean she could not assist her allies by turning them invisible, or even creating fakes.

    Getting fed up with JadziaˇŻs antics and annoying attacks Elvind became Frustrated an went in for an all-out attack.

    ˇ°Die!ˇ±

    Elvind yelled as he spun his spear like a twister and stabbed towards Lyra using his skill unique skill overwhelming strike.

    It was something he could only use once a week, but it tripled the power of one attack, and was his ultimate trump card.

    He had nned to save it for use against someone stronger, but Lyra was making things difficult for him, so he was going to finish her off here and now.

    Yet before his attack could hit Lyra, it was blown back into himself, and arge hole was bored through his armor and torso.

    His eyes going wide, Elvind looked at the diamond tortoise shell shield that had appeared in front of Lyra with disbelief.

    Unfortunately, he did not know about LyraˇŻs reflector shield unique skill, which she had not obtained until after joining the rebellion.

    It was one of her trump cards and she had been saving it for the right moment, which ElvindˇŻs full power attack was perfect for.

    In fact, his powerful attack did not just blow through himself, as the spiraling st of mana that he had built up into his spear, blew back into his troops and shredded over five hundred of them.

    Copsing onto his knees, his stomachpletely blown apart and torn to pieces, blood poured out of Elvind at an rming rate, but this wound still was not enough to kill him.

    Pushing his spear into the ground like a walking stick and activating the protective amulet he had. Elvind pulled himself up and took out the emergency lesser elixir he kept on him.

    ˇ®Not happening.ˇŻ

    Launching herself forward, Lyra moved in for the kill, and shing with both her kukris broke into the barrier protecting Elvind.

    Pulling her weapons back she aimed to take his head off, but one of the elite mages that were working with Elvin interfered, and cast a defensive spell around Elvind giving him time to heal.

    After drinking the lesser elixir, the horrible wound in his stomach began to seal up and Elvind regained enough strength to stand up and re towards Lyra.

    ˇ°What the hell took you so long?ˇ± Elvind said with fury in his voice towards the elite mage that had juste to his rescue.

    With an aggrieved tone obviously not caring for ElvindˇŻs anger, the elite mage said, ˇ°You are not the only who is dealing with difficult opponents. Now, we need to retreat. Our position will not hold much longer and there are just too many of them.ˇ±

    The elite mage who had surrounded himself and Elvind in a sphere of water, took to the sky, carrying the weakened Elvind with him not waiting for any disagreement.

    However, before he got far, his protective spell was mmed against by a powerful attack, and he and Elvind were sent crashing back into the ground.

    ˇ°Looks like you could use some help cleaning up around here Jadzia.ˇ± Francis said as he floated above the battlefield.

    Soon the roars of the soldiers under FrancisˇŻmand echoed through the area, as they began flooding in through the breach in the wall and pincering the kingdomˇŻs troops.

    Quickly the tide turned even greater in the liberation armyˇŻs favor as with FrancisˇŻ intervention, they began massacring the kingdomˇŻs solders.

    Even Elvind and the elite mage with him, were unable to withstand thebined might of the forces led by Lyra and Francis. And in the end Lyra sliced ElvindˇŻs head clean off as he tried onest desperate time to flee.

 Chapter 462 Alone on the Battlefield

    As the other battles raged on in fierce struggles for dominance, Marcus was going around and disrupting the entire forces being led by great knight number six, Felica.

    So far, he had killed a little over one thousand troops, and disabled half of their mobile strongholds. Nearly taking down the barrier that was protecting the troops.

    This had caused this portion of the kingdomˇŻs army to grind to a practical stop, as everyone looked at their fellow soldiers and even the officers with distrust.

    Of course, why would they not, after Marcus had possessed around eighty people so far and made them seem like crazed traitors that had joined the other side.

    However, at this point, the top brass of this army realized that something horribly wrong must have been going on, and Felica herself was now overlooking her troops and giving them personal orders.

    Still, she had yet to find who or what was causing these issues, while Marcus was busyying low and nning his next move.

    Currently he was possessing one of the rank-and-file soldiers and was unfortunately in FelicaˇŻs line of sight.

    And while normally this would not be a problem, he could see that she was channeling spiritual energy into her eyes in order to search out any abnormalities.

    ˇ®Damn. I already knew she could use it like most of the other top great knights, but I was hoping to cause a bit more disorder before being found out.ˇŻ Marcus thought while toiling around with some ideas.

    Unfortunately, none of them were the greatest, and as the chaos seemed to be over, the troops in FelicaˇŻs army began moving again.

    Slowly and cautiously, they moved forward, as the fort in their way had long since been destroyed by their bombardment.<sub>.</sub>

    Naturally they had also noticed by now that the fort had beenpletely unmanned, and that the few mana cannons within were being fired by an automated mechanism.

    ˇ®Just a little closerˇ­ And now!ˇŻ

    Pulling out the detonator in his item box, Marcus caused the mana furnace that had been within the fort to explode.

    BOOM!

    Overloading the mana furnace within the mostly destroyed fort, Marcus caused it to create a grand explosion that held enough power to devastate the area.

    Unfortunately, he was not the first to use this trick, and as they advanced Felica steered her army as far away from the fort as possible.

    Still, even though the explosion did not cause any damage, it served as the distraction he needed, and with the quick flourish of the de the soldier he was possessing had, Marcus killed five nearby people, before slipping out of the manˇŻs body and underground.

    Luckily, he was able to avoid being spotted by Felica who had turned her head towards the massive explosion.

    Though it did not take her long to look towards the area Marcus had just dispatched five more soldiers.

    Flying down towards the soldier that was looking around with confusion at the five people thaty dead near him, Felcianded right in front of him causing him to fall down onto his butt in surprise and fear.<sub></sub>

    Felcia then picked the man up by his throat and said with an icy voice, ˇ°What the hell are you doing here? Why did you kill your fellow soldiers?ˇ±

    Terror evident on his face, this soldier looked around with uncertainty and said, ˇ°Co-m-mander!? I do not know what happened. Everything seemed normal until suddenly five of my fellows were lying dead around me.ˇ±

    Frustration evident in her expression, Felica threw the foot soldier to the ground, and looked around for the menace that was controlling her men.

    However, as she did this, another of the mobile strongholds began sounding their rm, followed by a loud explosion that caused it toe to a screeching stop.

    ˇ®Not this time.ˇŻ

    Pulling out a wicked looking javelin that was made from the fang of a legendary grade beast, Felicaunched it right towards the mobile stronghold that had just exploded, aiming to kill whatever manner of being was causing havoc in her army.

    BOOM!

    A deafening explosion urred as the javelin hit the mobile stronghold, and the entire area around it was engulfed in the powerful st.

    Of course, Felcia had infused this attack with her spiritual energy, since at this point, she could not think that anything other than a spirit, or maybe someone with a very powerful unique skill was assaulting her army.

    Yet, while she was right that a spirit was the one doing this, her attack had failed to take out Marcus.<sub></sub>

    Still, he did not get out unscathed and the body he had been possessing waspletely destroyed, and he suffered quite the bacsh from being forced out of a body he was possessing.

    ˇ®Damn it has been a long time since this has happened. I forgot how much it hurt to have the body I am possessing get killed.ˇŻ

    With cracks going all through his form, Marcus was only at around twenty percent health, but he had managed to survive, so it was only a matter of time until he recovered.

    Using his spiritual healing specter power, he quickened his natural recovery from his regeneration skills, until after around a minute and a half he was back up to full health.

    The only problem now, was that he had escaped underground and did not know what the situation above him was like.

    If he was not careful, he could float up right in front of Felcia

    ˇ®Fortune favors the bold as they say.ˇŻ Marcus thought before popping up out the ground ready to continue his antics.

    But when he saw what was happening, he grimaced, since the majority of FelicaˇŻs army was retreating, while she was taking her strongest fighters and mages straight for the wall of the city.

    ˇ®Crap.ˇŻ Was the first thing that came to MarcusˇŻ head as he saw this.

    Certainly, by abandoning the bulk of her army, Felica had lost a good amount of the power her forces were packing. But her and the three dozen fighters and mages she was leading were quite the threat on their own.

    Also, this meant Marcus could no longer use his current tactics to dy them any longer.

    ˇ®Guess it is do or die time. Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony FormˇŻ

    Pulling out his new six focusing lenes, Marcus aimed right for FelicaˇŻs group and cast both his tier six spells.

    Fusing them together and sending them through his focusing lenses, Marcus found it difficult to control the raging power he was about to unleash.

    But with razor focus he sessfullybined his two spells and sent out a st or rending light and darkness.

    Immediately, Felica and her elite solders noticed the attacking for them and went wide eyed in surprise.

    The attackinge at them was incredibly powerful and had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

    ˇ°Everyone behind me and use the best defenses you have.ˇ± Felica said as she got in front of MarcusˇŻ attack, that was just an instant away from engulfing her entire squad.

    With a top tier adamantine shield in hand Felcia took the attack head on, while also using every defense skill she had.

    Along with that, the elite mage with her fought back casting one of his own tier six spells and creating a giant first of sulfurous colored acid.

    At the same time the otherˇŻs who were either the elite mageˇŻs or FelicaˇŻs direct adjutants, used all of their best defensive abilities to try and hold out against MarcusˇŻ attack.

    And due to FelicaˇŻs and the elite mageˇŻs actions most of their subordinates survived, but three of the weaker ones could not hold out against MarcusˇŻ full powered attack and were engulfed by the powerfulbination spell.

    ˇ°Hm, more of you survived that than I thought you would.ˇ± Marcus said, as he waited in front of Felica group, floating in between them and the city.

    Currently Marcus had his scythe out in front of him, and was unleashing a menacing aura that unnerved all of FelicaˇŻs seasoned warriors.

    In fact, the only ones not feeling oppressed by Marcus who was weighing down on them, was Felica and the elite mage with her.

    Naturally they could all sense how dangerous he was, and the light and darkness that wrapped around his body and flickered off like whisps held an overwhelming power.

    ˇ°All of you stay back and support me. I will put this thing down quickly.ˇ± Felica said with a murderous tone.

    Of course, now that Marcus had revealed himself, it was obvious that he was the creature that had been controlling her troops and sewing chaos within her ranks.

    Felica then prepared her falchion infusing it with mana and spiritual energy, when Marcus said, ˇ°Unfortunately, I have to keep all of you busy for a bit longer, so I will not be going down quickly.ˇ±

    ˇ®Soul burst.ˇŻ

    Activating his final trump card, MarcusˇŻ power soared as all of his stats became doubled, and the power of his unique skill brought his strength up well above what could be considered possible for his level.

 Chapter 463 Alone on the Battlefield (2)

    Faced off against Felica as well as over two dozen other strong mages and fighters, Marcus knew that no half measures were going to get him through this battle.

    Therefore, in order to stall for time, he was going to give it everything he had, even if he could only keep up for three minutes.

    ˇ®Death Dance.ˇŻ

    Immediately using his strongest attack skill, Marcus began swirling around with fluid movements that were difficult to track and seemed toe from multiple angles.

    At the same time, as he moved like a blur, a massive five-hundred-foot-long iron sword appeared above where he had been and began descending down on top of Felica.

    Bracing herself FelicaˇŻs charged her shield with an impossibly great amount of mana and received MarcusˇŻ cataclysmic iron sword.

    Without even moving an inch, Felica took all of the force behind MarcusˇŻ spell, though it was obvious that it had taken her everything she had, her legs and the mana footholds below her strained to hold herself aloft.

    She then shed out with her falchion, carving through MarcusˇŻ spell with a full powered swinging.

    Still, in the few seconds where Marcus had Felica pinned down, he had gotten to work on shaving off his other opponents.

    Moving like a sh of light Marcus attacked the first of FelicaˇŻs adjutants, who was like his master wielding a falchion.

    Unfortunately, this man could not use spiritual energy, and as he tried to block MarcusˇŻ scythe, he simply had it go ethereal, passing it through the manˇŻs weapon and slicing his head off with one fluid movement.

    Seeing Marcus do this one of the mages in his fright cast a fire storm spell at Marcus, and engulfed him along with a couple of his allies.

    ˇ°You idiot, now I cannot target him.ˇ± The elite mage who was preparing his own spell said.

    ˇ®Rending void.ˇŻ

    From within the mes having gone ethereal, Marcus cast his tier six darkness magic spell, and sent it directly for the elite mage who was one of his biggest problems.<sub>.</sub>

    At the same time, he flew towards the mage that had tried to hit him with the fire storm, and appeared right in front of him while brining down his scythe.

    However, this mage was incredibly lucky and the defensive spell he had cast as well as the automatic protection item he had, created a barrier that blocked MarcusˇŻ first sh.

    Though the single sh from Marcus did break the barrier, and without even an instant of time in between attacks, MarcusˇŻ spectral arm came out and punched the guy in his torso.

    The loud sound of cracking bones followed, and the mage spat up a mouthful of blood as his body went hurtling towards the ground.

    After that Marcus continued his death dance moving onto the next unlucky soul to be his target.

    Quickly he cut through two more people, before Felica who had just finished dealing with his cataclysmic iron sword charged him with rage in her eyes.

    As she approached, she sent out a rapid fire of mana shes towards Marcus, each one infused with spiritual energy.

    ˇ®Looks like I got her attentionˇŻ Marcus thought as he took evasive action.

    He began spinning around and evading the shes from Felica while flying away and using his spells and mana barrier to block the attacks he could not full dodge.

    Of course, he was having to use an explosive amount of mana to keep up with all of the spells and skills he was using with impunity, but with his mana thief skill he was receiving a constant supply from his enemies.

    Still, even as he did his best at trying to keep his distance, Felica was faster than him and caught up.

    Taking powerful attack after powerful attack, Marcus was having a difficult time absorbing FelicaˇŻs onught, even with both the effects of his embodiment of eclipse and soul burst active.

    ˇ®Damn she is strong. But at this rate she should run out of mana. I just need to hold out a bit longer.ˇŻ

    Yet even after doing his all to fight Felica off while also dealing with the attacks form her partner elite mage who had sessfully blocked his tier six spell. Marcus found that Felica was not slowing down on her mana usage, and seemed to have plenty to spare even under the effects of his mana thief.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®What the hell, she is burning through mana even faster than I am with all the powerful attacks she keeps unleashing, and the skills she is using.ˇŻ Marcus thought wondering what was going on.

    Unfortunately, what he did not know was that Felica had two unique skills, one called mana efficiency and the other called bottomless well.

    With these two unique skills, FelicaˇŻs mana was nearly endless, and she could go at full strength for much longer than most, having no need to conserve energy while fighting.

    Also, while Marcus did have FelicaˇŻs and the elite mageˇŻs attention, the other high-level fighters in her group had gone off, realizing that they were only going to be a detriment in this fight.

    ˇ°Gahhh.ˇ±

    Eventually, while evading one of the elite mageˇŻs attacks, Marcus got caught by one of FelicaˇŻs attacks, and even though his armor took the brunt of the attack, FelicaˇŻs falchion cut through it and deep into MarcusˇŻ side.

    In the next instance, Marcus just barely shoved the Falchion out of himself as Felica tried to angle it up wards and split his body vertically.

    However, he did not get off unscathed as his right arm went flying.

    Marcus then felt an overwhelming force crash into his body as Felcia hit him with a shield bash that sent him flying.

    He had even tried going ethereal, but it seemed that Felcia was not going to let him avoid her in that way, all of her attacks were infused with spiritual energy.

    ˇ®Luminous Prison.ˇŻ

    Trying to trap Felcia for a couple seconds, Marcus cast one of his tier five light magic spells, and bars of light began forming around Felcia.

    Unfortunately, she broke through them in and instance with just one sh, and continue perusing Marcus who had just barely stabilized himself after taking her shield bash.

    ˇ®It canˇŻt be helped.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Realizing that even with soul burst and embodiment of eclipse active he was not going to be able to hold out for even the next minute he had before soul burst ended, Marcus resolved himself to dip into the power he did not want to use.

    ˇ®Soul devour.ˇŻ

    Burning his own soul for a sharp increase in power, Marcus felt the euphoric strength that the skill provided for the first time in months, and for a moment he wondered why he had been so reluctant to use this incredible power.

    ˇ®Acid geyser.ˇŻ

    Yet as Marcus used this power the elite mage who was working with Felica used one of his tier six acid magic spells, and a torrent of acid began raining down upon Marcus.

    ˇ®Eclipse meteor.ˇŻ

    Except now that he was under the effects of his soul devour skill, Marcus disregarded the aciding for him and flew straight threw it as his powers coalesced around him.

    Smashing through the flood of acid, Marcus headed straight for the acid magic using elite mage, at a speed that surprised both Felica and the mage.

    So far Marcus had not shown this level of speed, but now all of his albitites were multiplied to an even greater degree by his soul devour skill.

    Impacting into the elite mage who had used his best defensive magics and skills, he found himself total overpowered by MarcusˇŻ full powered eclipse meteor that tore through his defenses like paper.

    With a powerful explosion, MarcusˇŻ eclipse meteor blew apart the level sixty-six elite mage who was one of the kingdomˇŻs strongest.

    After that he turned his sights right for Felica, knowing that his time was running out.

    He only had around a dozen seconds left before soul burst wore off and he needed to finish this before then.

    ˇ®What the hell is that thing.ˇŻ Felica thought seeing Marcus appear out of the explosion he had caused unscathed and fully restored even after the damage she had done to him.

    Right now, he was giving off such an overwhelming and sinister aura, and of course she had appraised him and found that he was only level forty-eight.

    This seemed to be an impossible amount of power for anything at that level, other than maybe the absolute strongest mythic grade magical beasts.

    ˇ®The top forgmaster is going to kill me, but I cannot hold back.ˇŻ

    Charging her falchion with as much mana as she could channel at once, Felica began overloading the top tier adamantine weapon, which even as strong as it was could not take all of FelicaˇŻs power.

    She then flew towards Marcus her weapon glowing brightly, and cracking under the strain of her full power.

    In response, Marcus turned towards her and followed suit, useing all the power he had to wrapped around his body and scythe as he used another eclipse meteor.

    shing head on, Felica swung her Falchion against Marcus, and he swung his scythe against her.

    The two powerful weapons charged up with their wielderˇŻs full power, fought against each other in a deadly struggle, and in the end FelicaˇŻs weapon shattered.

    However, this was exactly what she had excepted, and the enormous power she had had infused her weapon with went wild sting against Marcus.

    In response, MarcusˇŻ explosive power from his eclipse meteor fought against FelicaˇŻs, and the two merged together into one immense st that broke apart the sky and shook the ground.

    As the st cleared. two figures began falling out of the sky, as both Felica and Marcus plummeted.

    Crashing into the ground Marcus was even too out of it to go ethereal to lessen the impact

    ˇ®Ughhhhhh.ˇŻ

    After a few seconds his awareness began to return to him, and all he felt was soul crushing pain.

    Of course, this was to be expected after going all out with not only embodiment of eclipse and soul burst, but soul devour as well.

    Yet what was currently causing him the most pain was the fact that he had a huge hole in his right side.

    From his shoulder to the center of his torso, his entire right side had beenpletely destroyed, and he was currently leaking his essence like a fountain.

    In fact, MarcusˇŻ health was siting at only around five percent and was draining in spite of his regeneration skills, that could not quite keep up with the damage he had received from Felica and his own skills.

    ˇ°So, you really are some type of spirit.ˇ± Felcia said as she stood at the top of the crater MarcusˇŻ falling body had created and looked down upon him.

    Felica then slid down towards Marcus, and when she stood over him, he could see that she had not gotten out of their exchange uninjured.

    Her left side was horribly injured and bleeding profusely, and half of her arm looked like it had been sheared off.

    Still unlike Marcus who waspletely beaten down, having hit and gone over his limits, Felica still had more than enough power to spare.

    ˇ°Looks like you do not even have the strength left to use your spiritual form to try and flee. Felica said as she raised up her spare weapon.

    ˇ°This is the end!ˇ±

    Swinging her spare weapon down, Felica aimed right for MarcusˇŻ head, yet before she could finish her swing her danger sense alerted her to another threating from above.

    Swiftly jumping out of the way, Felica just managed to avoid the beam like attack that impacted where she had been standing an instant before.

    Immediately as the attack hit, the ground began to freeze over, andrge icicles began to form all around the area.

    Except even as this attack expanded, it seemed topletely avoid Marcus, leaving a circle around him that did not be encased in ice.

    ˇ°Damn I missed.ˇ± The person who had just saved Marcus said as theynded next to him.

    And as he looked up, he saw a familiar face he had not been expecting to see here on the battlefield in Tralenstein.

    ˇ°Mrazivy?!ˇ±

 Chapter 464 Mrazivyâ€™s Evolution

    Looking up in shock, Marcus blinked his eyes a couple of times wondering if he was seeing some type of hallucination. But sure enough, standing next to him was Mrazivy.

    However, while he was able to recognize her by her face, she no longer looked exactly like how she had before.

    She now had two white horns jutting out of the top of her head, her teeth had be sharper and longer, a pair of deep blue wings jutted out of her back, her arms and legs were covered in blue scales, and her hands and feet were now wed like a lizard.

    Yet, before Marcus could say anything else, he felt his head start to crack and it seemed that he was about to reach his end.

    That was, until Mrazivy crushed a potion over him

    Immediately Marcus recognized the soothing liquid that had begun dripping over him, and the lesser elixir went to work on repairing the horrible damage he had sustained.

    Of course, even the powerful healing magic contained in a lesser elixir was far from enough to fully restore him, but at the very least, it did just enough to where his regeneration skills were now able to overtake the damage. Albeit very slowly.

    As he felt himselfing into a more stable position, Marcus using his telepathy skill, said to Mrazivy, ˇ®Mraz what the hell are you doing here. I told you to stay away. You could get into massive trouble if you are recognized, and these opponents are too strong for you to handle.ˇŻ

    Marcus then tried to lift himself up, struggling under the strain of the damage he had taken, when Mrazivy put her foot down on top of him and pushed him back down.

    ˇ°You just stay there and rest, I will take care of this. Also, just because you told me to, does not mean I have to listen to what you say. You one-sidedly pushed your help onto me when I had said it was enough, so now I am doing the same to you.ˇ±

    After saying that, Mrazivy flew up into the air where Felica was floating and healing up her injuries.

    She was wary of Mrazivy who she could not appraise, due to either some sort of skill or item, as well as the appearance she had that resembled a dragon.

    ˇ®Is it some sort of unique skill like ArgusˇŻ behemoth aspect, or is she a beast person that achieved a powerful evolution like Jadzia?ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Still, whether it was one or the other, Felica knew that a new enemy had appeared, and she was going to have to take them out along with the troublesome spirit below.

    ˇ®Level seventy-two. That is not good.ˇŻ Mrazivy thought as she finished appraising Felcia with her new dragon eyes.

    Certainly, after reaching level fifty and achieving her evolution she had gotten significantly stronger, but she doubted she could beat someone over twenty levels higher than her.

    ˇ®I will just have to do everything that I can.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Apex of Winter.ˇŻ

    Using the temporary boost ability of her unique skill WinterˇŻs Grace, Mrazivy brought her power up to its peak and prepared to engage with Felica.

    ˇ®Raging Tundra.ˇŻ

    Starting things of with one of her best moves, Mrazivy, cast her recently acquired tier six ice magic spell, and sent a massive wave of cold energy towards Felica who had taken up a defensive position.

    As her spell advanced it began freezing even the air, and Felica grimaced as she braced to take the wide ranged spell that would be impossible to avoid.

    Immediately FelicaˇŻs entire body became encased in ice and her movements were halted.

    However, this onlysted a moment before the ice around her cracked and the glow of a mana barrier could be seen around her.

    Naturally as powerful as MrazivyˇŻs spell had been, it was still unable to do any damaged to Felica and just slowed her down for a few moments.<sub></sub>

    It also allowed her to truly gage MrazivyˇŻs power, and she smirked knowing that this new opponent was not going to be much of a threat.

    ˇ®Her ice magic is annoying, but it is not going to be able to hurt me as long as I keep my defenses up.ˇŻ Felica thought as she charged towards Mrazivy, no longer being as cautious.

    Seeing this, Mrazivy backed off flying away while firing off her tier five spell frigid st.

    In return Felica shed her spare falchion that was just a simple adamantine weapon forward and cut through MrazivyˇŻs spell.

    Soon their little game of cat and mouse ended, as Felica caught up to Mrazivy and brought down her falchion on top of her.

    Parrying this attack with her own sword, Mrazivy had to struggle to hold back this powerful attack from Felica.

    ˇ°Ughhh.ˇ±

    Being pushed back Mrazivy went tumbling through the air, as her wings lost their bnce and she was unable to right herself.

    Felica then shot towards Mrazivy, and with one more swing of her weapon, sliced straight through her.

    At least, that is what it looked like. But the second her de passed through what she thought was her enemy, she could tell the sensation was not right.

    ˇ®Ice mirage.ˇŻ

    As the ice that had taken her ce shattered, Mrazivy became visible again, floating around a hundred feet away from Felica.<sub></sub>

    She then took off again, firing ranged spells at Felica and just making a nuisance of herself.

    Grinding her teeth, Felcia was beginning to get quite frustrated since she was needed on the front lines rather than dealing with Mrazivy.

    ˇ®Hm, I suppose that will do.ˇŻ Felcia thought.

    Turning away from Mrazivy, Felcia went flying towards Marcus who was still lying on the ground recovering from the damage he had taken and the horrible bacsh from his skills.

    In truth he could not move at all, though as he saw Felciaing at him, he went ethereal and let himself slip underground.

    Unfortunately, he doubted he would be able to get far enough down since Felcia could cut through the ground like butter.

    Yet before she could get to Marcus, Mrazivy rushed towards her, with her sword covered in mana and cold energy.

    However, this is what Felica had been expecting, and changed the trajectory of her de towards Mrazivy.

    Except instead of cutting clean through her like she thought, Felcia found her de stuck around sixty percent of the way through both of MrazivyˇŻs forearms arms that she had brought up to defend herself.

    This was due to her new dragon scales, which were incredibly tough and were as strong as adamantine armor.

    Using her opponentˇŻs momentary shock to her advantage, Mrazivy released her mercurial ice from out of her body and coved Felcia with it.

    She then lunged her head forward, and sunk her fangs into FelicaˇŻs wrist, before yanking her head back and ripping her opponentˇŻs hand off and taking the falchion that had been in it as well.

    Quickly regaining herposure even through the searing pain of MrazivyˇŻs mercurial ice and having her hand bitten off, Felcia mmed her shield forward, bashing Mrazivy away with a powerful blow.

    Shooting off towards Mrazivy who was plummeting towards the ground, Felica ced her shield in front of herself, aiming to crush her enemy into the ground.

    Unable to stop her momentum, Mrazivy saw that Felica wasing at her like a meteor, and knew that she had no way to try and avoid this attack.

    Still, she had one trick up her sleeve, and opening her moth that was covered in blood, she fired her breath attack.

    A powerful beam of cold like the one she had used to protect Marcus, shot out from her mouth and straight at Felcia, who could not avoid it alreadymitted to her own attack.

    As the MrazivyˇŻs breath attack hit her shield, Felcia continued to push through even as ice and frost formed around her.

    Soon Mrazivy impacted into the ground leaving a sizable crater, but still she focused on her attack, keeping up the release of her frost breath.

    And as Felcia descended as well, her momentum began to slow. And when she was just a few feet from crashing into Mrazivy, her entire body froze over, enveloped in ice and no longer moving.

    Quickly, Mrazivy jumped away, and using her teeth, ripped the falchion that was still stuck in her forearms out, before storing it away in her item box.

    She knew this fight was not over yet, and just a couple of secondster, Felcia broke free from the ice Mrazivy had sealed her in.

    Naturally, after all the fighting she had done, Felcia was worse for wear, now missing her main hand, as well as being covered in frostbite along her body.

    Still her mana was nowhere near empty, and Mrazivy after doing all she had was running on fumes.

    It was certainly a desperate situation for Mrazivy, until another person arrived to intervene in the battle.

    ˇ°Looks like you got a bit too caught up in your own fight Felcia.ˇ±

    Hearing this voice, Felica shivered recognizing exactly who it was.

    Looking up, there she saw Argus standing in the air above her, with his hammer resting over his shoulder.

    Of course, he was also bleeding profusely and had horrible injures all over his body, but Felcia was in a simr if not worse state.

    ˇ°Had you been paying more attention, you would have noticed that Cibor ran with his tail between his legs, and has already retreated with what forces he could. Unfortunately for you, your side has lost.ˇ± Argus said with a demonic smile

    Fear running through her entire being, Felcia looked off in the direction of the royal capital and began running.

    She knew that she was not going to be beating Argus right now, and decided to give her all to flee.

    However, Argus was not going to let this happen, and began swinging his hammer around before descending down upon Felica.

    ˇ®Eruption Crash.ˇŻ

    Using his attack unique skill, Argus mmed down with all his might on top of Felcia, who tired to resist by holding her shield above her head.

    Yet even the powerful adamantine shield she had crumpled under the pressure of ArgusˇŻ attack.

    Following her shield, FelicaˇŻs arm shattered, and the force of ArgusˇŻ attack impacted her head, and crushed it like a watermelon.

    Immediately the rest of her body followed suit, and all that was left of Felcia, was the huge stain of blood left on ArgusˇŻ body.

 Chapter 465 Battleâ€™s End

    Receiving a telepathicmunication from Mrazivy that the battle was over, Marcus slowly floated up out of the ground and looked towards Argus who had just killed Felica with one big move.

    ˇ®Is it really over?ˇŻ He thought as he looked around.

    And as he stared off into the distance, he could see the faint outline of the remains of the kingdomˇŻs army fleeing.

    Letting out a sigh of relief, Marcus was truly d that the fighting was over.

    He waspletely out of strength and even floating very slowly was about all he was capable of right now.

    Closing his eyes, Marcus focused on his entire being, and tried to figure out if he had done anysting damage to himself by using soul devour again.

    ˇ®Looks like it is fine for now. But I still need to be careful.ˇŻ Marcus thought, seeing that he did not have anysting damage from using his most dangerous skill. At least this time.<sub>.</sub>

    However, he did not get any more time to think about his inner troubles as he was suddenly tackled.

    Having run up to him and giving him quite the hug, Mrazivy embraced Marcus even using her spiritual energy in order to touch him while he was in his ghost form.

    Marcus then saw tears running down her eyes, and he realized that she must have been really worried about him despite the cool fa?ade she put on when she first arrived.

    Though if he arrived and found her in the same state he had been in, he would have definitely been simrly distraught if not even more so.

    Going into his solid form so that they could have a proper conversation, and since she was kind of crushing him with her spiritual energy, Marcus said, ˇ°Mraz, could you loosen up a bit. You are about to crush me.ˇ±

    Releasing her heavy hold on him and moving her head back, Mrazivy looked him in the eyes before kissing him.<sub></sub>

    She was absolutely relived that he had survived, since when she arrived, he waspletely broken and just moments away from being destroyed.

    Of course, Marcus would have been fine since he still had his once a year reset button, but it was still very distressing to see the person you loved in such a horrible state.

    As the two of them savored this moment of their reunion, Argus walked over brazenly and said, ˇ°Jed I see that you are acquainted with this mysterious warrior. Might you mind telling me who they are?ˇ±

    Pulling back from each other, Marcus looked at Argus with a bit of embarrassment and said, ˇ°Ah yes this is my lover, Mra-, I mean you can just call her M. I do not know the exact details, but it looks like she got worried about me and came to help.ˇ±

    ˇ°Hm, what an odd couple. A spirit and some sort of dragon human hybrid being in a rtionship That is certainly not something you see every day.ˇ± Argus said seemingly very interested in both Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Naturally he had noticed MarcusˇŻ ethereal abilities and the way that he let off a gray mist when horribly injured. Which confirmed his suspicions, that Marcus was indeed a spirit and not someone with a unique skill that allowed them to be ethereal.<sub></sub>

    Then there was also Mrazivy, who while still being in a humanoid form, had many characteristics of a dragon, one of which being their immense strength.

    Hearing this, Mrazivy realized that she was still using her transformation, and quickly her form began to revert.

    However, while she went back to looking mostly human with her wings and scales disappearing, her fangs and horns while shrinking, were still noticeable.

    Immediately as she disabled her dragon form, Mrazivy began to stumble her body feeling heavy after the intense battle she had just been in.

    Still, she managed to keep herself up with her willpower, especially since she was partially supporting Marcus who could barely stand.

    Seeing ArgusˇŻ very interested, almost creepily so gaze, Marcus decided to change the subject and said, ˇ°Now what happened with your battle against Cibor? You said that he turned tail and ran?ˇ±

    ˇ°Ah yes, I suppose that you would want to know about that. Well, I do not mean to praise myself too much, but after a few dozen whacks from my hammer, Cibor realized that he was outmatched.ˇ± Argus said whileughing make it seem like he single handedly drove away Cibor without a sweat.

    Of course, this was not really the truth, and Argus actually yed more of a support role, blocking CiborˇŻs attacks, or creating openings, while Marek used all the power he had gather from his unlimited stockpile to push Cibor back.

    Though if it came down to the final attack that caused Cibor to retreat, it was a heavy blow that was dealt by Argus who feinted blocking for Marek and instead smashed Cibor in the face.

    Except when he had done this, Marek himself got cut up pretty bad by CiborˇŻs attack, but at the least it still forced Cibor to retreat due to his face being crushed.

    ˇ°Ah but you can hear more about thister. It would probably be best if we head back to the wall and prepare, in case Cibor decides toe back after recovering and reorganizing his remaining troops.ˇ± Argus said after a couple of minutes.

    Nodding their heads and following along, Marcus and Mrazivy followed Argus back to the cityˇŻs wall, though their progress was a bit slow do to how worn out everyone was.

    ˇ®Roxene how are you and Lyra?ˇŻ Marcus sent out with his telepathy now that the battle was over.

    Then, after around a minute of silence Marcus received back, ˇ®We are both still alive. I was asleep. Very tired. Going back to bed. Find youter.ˇŻ

    After receiving this short and very to the point response from his beastpanion, some of the internal tensions he was feeling released.

    Certainly, Marcus had wished he could have fought right next to Lyra on the battlefield to make sure she was safe, but when they were strategizing, he realized that the best bet was for him to fight alone since he could cause the most damage that way.

    Anyway, it was not like Lyra was not very strong in her own right, and Marcus knew that he could not be there to protect her at all times like a delicate flower. He just wanted to make sure he did what he could, so that his old friend he had watched die once before, did not meet the same fate again.

    With one of his worries now alleviate, Marcus turned his attention towards Mrazivy, and while they were walking used his telepathy to talk to her.

    ˇ®So, Mraz. Would you mind telling me about that new power of yours, which I assume is your evolution, and what led you toe here?ˇŻ

    Nodding her head Mrazivy looked intently at Marcus before saying, ˇ®Yeah, you are right that I achieved my evolution, and it was even stronger than I thought it would be. Now I am not exactly a human, having awakened the dragon blood in me, and bing a sovereign ice dragonoid. Truth be told, now I am a hybrid of human and magical beast, and the magic core I absorbed actually became my own.ˇŻ

 Chapter 466 The Cost of War

    Hearing that Mrazivy was now partly a magic beast, Marcus stopped stunned for a minute, not expecting to hear this.

    Also, the fact that she had absorbed that massive and powerful core and made it her own was all the more surprising.

    Still as he thought about it, Mrazivy bing a sort of human dragon hybrid made sense seeing as how her ancestor was one.

    And it was certainly noticeable that Mrazivy had gotten leagues and bounds stronger, as now her strength was pretty much exactly what would be expected from a mythic grade magical beast.

    ˇ®Oh yeah when I finally unlocked the requirements for my evolution, I found that the hardest one to obtain was the core of a dragon that shared my bloodline. That was when I realized that the core that Gwyneira gave me must have been just that. And when I asked her about it, eventually she relented and told me that the core had belonged to her father.ˇŻ Mrazivy said to Marcus with excitement and reverence in her tone.<sub>.</sub>

    Of course, hearing this shocking revtion, Marcus continued to stand there bbergasted by what Mrazivy had actually needed to do to attain her evolution.

    However, as they stood still, Argus looked back and called for them to keep up as they still had some distance from the wall.

    Continuing on, Marcus waited for Mrazivy to answer his second question about what had led her toe here, and she said, ˇ®The second you told me you were going to be acting as a liaison and fighting in this war. I made up my mind toe and help you. I really do not care what you, my father, or anyone else wanted me to do, I am going to help you regardless of the consequences. If something happened to you here, I know I would not be the same person I am right now. You bring out the best in me, and I love you. So, I did not need anymore reason toe to your aid.ˇŻ

    Smiling Marcus could not help but feel warm through his entire soul hearing how much he meant to Mrazivy, and while he understood that her being here could cause problems, he knew that he would have done exactly the same for her.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Though I knew that if at that moment when you first contacted me, if I came running, I would only be a hinderance to you since I was too weak. So, I pushed as hard as I and my party could, taking on bests and monsters we honestly had no reason to be fighting since they were stronger than us. But I persevered until I finally reached level fifty and was able to unlock my evolution, so I would finally be strong enough to stand together with you.ˇŻ

    After that Mrazivy told Marcus about how she had finally achieved her goal just three days ago, and had flown off to find him, leaving her party behind without a word.

    Naturally as soon as it was discovered she was gone, she began getting dozens of messages from her sending stone, but she simply ignored them all.

    ˇ®Mraz, I think that you are probably going to give Heward an ulcer. We should contact him and your fatherter and tell them what happened. Thest thing we need is for them to send someone like Aria searching for you.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Groaning Mrazivy obviously did not want to do this. Since she knew she would be ordered back home, and she had no intention of leaving MarcusˇŻ side while he was fighting in such dangerous battles.

    ˇ®Fine I will contact them, but you are going to have to back me up on staying with you.ˇŻ Mrazivy said to Marcus with a stern tone.

    Telling that Mrazivy was serious and would not be taking no for an answer, Marcus replied saying, ˇ®Yeah, I will. Now that you have evolved, I cannot deny that you are very strong, especially since you took on someone over twenty levels higher than yourself. Truly it would be great to have you fighting with me. The only problem is that you might be recognized, so we will need toe up with some sort of disguise.ˇŻ

    Spit balling ideas for a disguise for Mrazivy, for now the best they coulde up with was to use the hair clip Marcus had given her to change her hair color, since the deep blue color she had was pretty well known to be a trait often seen in the members of the Borealian royal family.

    Eventually they made it back to the wall, where the members of the liberation army where already hard at work clearing ruble and getting ready to start repairs.

    Luckily, while the wall had been breached in four ces, the overall damage to it was not too significant, and it would likely be able to be repaired within a week or so with all hands on deck.

    Though as Marcus and Mrazivy walked inside the city what awaited them was a horror scene.

    Tens of thousands of bodies were strewn about the area, some being split into multiple parts, while others were just pools of blood and flesh.

    This had been the cost of winning this battle, as many thousands of people had died on both sides.

    However, the demographic that had sustained the most casualties was neither the forces from the kingdomˇŻs army or the liberation army, but the people that lived in the city.

    They had taken up arms to fight for themselves, and with their on average lower levels andbat experience, they had found themselves ughtered in droves.

    Still their upyielding will to fight, had been a key factor in wining this battle, as even ants could take down a giant if there were enough of them.

    ˇ®How many had to die for this victory.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked out at the mass of bodies thaty in the streets or floating in the canals, painting them red.

    Yet, one person as he saw this, could not help but unconsciously have the slightest smile creep onto his face. This was the level of carnage he had been hoping for, and Argus could almost not contain himself, since his goal was getting ever closer.

 Chapter 467 Next Steps

    Looking out at the mounds of corpses around them, both Marcus and Mrazivy felt as if there was a cold pit in their stomachs.

    Mrazivy even began to feel a bit ill, seeing the blood and viscera all over the ce.

    Certainly, they were both no strangers to death, having killed people themselves before.

    But this level of carnage was on an entirely different level.

    Though while Marcus and Mrazivy were far from feeling great about seeing the scene in front of them, Argus had an almost jovial feel about him.

    Still, he did well to hide his tion, and after a few moments said, ˇ°We should hurry up and meet with the other leaders that survived. There is a great deal we need to do now that we have won the first battle against the kingdom.ˇ±

    After saying this, Argus prompted Marcus and Mrazivy to follow him back to theirmand center.

    Procuring a boat, their group quickly began heading through the canals and towards the castle where the liberation headquarters currently was.

    Yet as they continue on, the sights of dead bodies seemed to go on for quite some ways, until they made it around a kilometer away from the cityˇŻs wall.

    Once they reached this far, the damage from the battle dropped off exponentially, and other than the eerie quiet and stillness, the city lookedpletely normal.<sub>.</sub>

    Naturally those that had not participated in the battle had locked themselves in their homes, leaving the city seeming like ghost town.

    However, as they approached the castle, unlike the city itself, there were hundreds of people moving around hard at work to make sure that their recent victory did not go to waste.

    Heading inside to meet up with the remaining leaders, the three of them were quickly led by Knox who Lyra had sent to guide them.

    Soon, they made it to the room where the other leaders were waiting and what they found was a bit disheartening.

    Immediately it was noticeable that nine of the twenty-six leaders were no longer among them, having died in the battle.

    Also, those that were here all looked worn and haggard, and Marek was actually still undergoing healing from Tesia.

    Looking at him, Marcus now knew that the attack that Argus had not blocked for Marek to get the drop on Cibor, was far worse than he had initially let on.

    Currently Tesia was using her healing magic to regenerate Marek who had six noticeable shes across his body.

    The worst of which had taken off about a third of his head.<sub></sub>

    Of course, along with this his chest had been gouged out and, his stomach was shed open in two ces.

    Then to finish up he had also lost his left leg and right arm.

    Truly he looked worse than even Marcus had after his final sh with Felica.

    It seemed a miracle that he was alive, and without Tesia hard at work regenerating him, he probably would not have any chance of living.

    Yet before Marcus could do anything else, Lyra ran up to him and gave him a big hug, grateful that he had survived.

    Of course, Marcus was equally happy to see that Lyra was still alive, especially since he was only fighting to make sure she did not die.

    After that, Lyra noticed Mrazivy who was staring at her curiously, and was about to say something, when Argus interrupted, saying, ˇ°I understand that we are all happy to see each other alive, but we have a lot to discuss right now.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed with Argus, and motioned for Lyra to retake her seat while he took his.

    However, before anything else progressed, Francis who was staring at Mrazivy said, ˇ°Wait, before we get into anything, we cannot have some outsider listening in.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Voicing their agreement, the other leaders naturally had no clue who Mrazivy was, and even though she walked in with both Marcus and Argus, they were not willing to trust her to the extent of discussing their ns in front of her.

    Sighing Marcus turned towards Mrazivy and said, ˇ°M, would you mind waiting outside for now? I promise I will introduce you to everyone and give you an updateter.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, I understand.ˇ± Mrazivy said reading the room.

    Once Mrazivy had gone, Marek who had just finished being patched up for the most part by Tesia, had a grim expression on his face counting the missing leaders.

    ˇ°First, let us take a moment to mourn and honor those we have lost. Today many valiant fighters and even the civilians we promised to protect lost their lives to fight for their ideals.ˇ± Marek said as he lowered his head.

    Quickly everyone else followed suit, and once a few moments had been paid to those that died today for their cause, the true meeting began.

    ˇ°Now we have sessfully repelled the kingdomˇŻs forces and dealt a heavy blow to them. We have confirmed the deaths of twelve elite mages and five great knights, one of which was rank number six Felica, who Argus finished off. We also disabled or destroyed a number of their mobile strongholds, as well as Francis and his sky troops bringing down the Aerial Castle.ˇ±

    Marek then looked over a sheet of paper in front of him and sighed before saying, ˇ°As for casualties, currently we estimate that we lost around a third of the forty thousand that we had stationed in the city, while the kingdomˇŻs forces lost about forty percent of their two hundred thousand. Yet it pains me to say that the highest causalitiese from the citizens of Valenhart. At the very least around one hundred thousand of themon citizens are believed to have fallen in battle.ˇ±

    Clenching his fist Marek was obviously quite furious that so many had died, especially when he had promised to protect them.

    Yet instead, the people rose up to fight, and truly it was their contribution that allowed the liberation army to win this battle without more losses to their forces, and worse damage to the city.

    ˇ°Yeah, but how did they get ess to our surplus weapons. They should have been locked up and only an officer should have been able to take them out in that quantity. Someone must have given out those weapons.ˇ± L one of the great knights freed from the Sky Citadel said.

    The other leaders quicklytched onto this topic as well, since without those weapons, the more than hundred thousand civilians would not have jumped into the fray and gotten themselves killed.

    ˇ°I did it. I took out the thousands of extra stores that Borealia sent us and let the people that wanted to protect themselves have ess to the means to do so.ˇ± Argus said, not a tinge of regret or remorse in his voice.

    Of course, as much as everyone else wanted to admonish him for this, it was hard to do so, since their victory may have been much harder, if not impossible without the aid of so many people joining the fight.

    Certainly, individually none of them made a great impact, but their unyielding resolve and sheer numbers had overwhelmed the kingdomˇŻs army and prevented them from breaching the city in many areas.

    Though Lyra who was the leader of this city and the ruler of its people, could only re at Argus, since his selfish actions had caused the deaths of far too many even if it had helped them to win.

    ˇ°Argus, I understand why you did this, but you should not have acted on your own. You should have at least passed this by me.ˇ± Marek said, doing what he could to admonish Argus.

    Lowering his head towards, Marek, Argus gave a silent nod of submission, though Tesia who had been staring daggers at Argus, could tell he had no remorse for all of the deaths he had caused.

    Still, just by arming the citizens he did not force them to fight, and to fully rebuke ArgusˇŻ actions would also be to disparage the resolve of the people that fought bravely for their home.

    Moving on after discussing the casualties, what they needed to do next was the most pressing topic.

    ˇ°Right now, we have just shown that we can take the kingdom head on. I say we quickly gather all of our forces and strike the capital while they are still reeling from this lose.

    ˇ°No, we need to shore up our base here. We only one because we were the ones on defense. If we target the capital, we will not have any chance of victory.ˇ±

    ˇ°I agree, we do not have a chance at an offensive right now. We were just barely able to win this battle, and the capital has its own forces that never leave, only meant to protect the city and the king. Not to mention that along with Cibor, we would have to face the rank two great knight who is nearly as strong.

    Bickering like this went on for quite a while as the leaders shot out ideas about what their next approach should be.

    Though, most agreed that it would be best to stay on the defensive for now, since even though they had dealt a heavy blow to the kingdom, they had not gotten off unscathed.

    Eventually after nearly half an hour Argus finally spoke up again and said, ˇ°Hm you are all thinking too small. We just showed that we can defend a major city against a full invasion force from the kingdom. Now is the time for us to quickly bring more territories and cites into our fold until all that is left is the capital.

 Chapter 468 Next Steps (2)

    As Argus said his n, many of the other leaders looked at him with dubious expressions.

    Certainly, it would be great if they could bring in more cities to their fold, but it was not like their one victory meant that they could take over the entire kingdom.

    The more they needed to split their forces, the easier it would be for the kingdom to take them out one at a time, which was pretty much what they had been doing themselves.

    ˇ°Argus that n is full of holes and is likely to lead to the most deaths. We barely have enough strength as it is to hold this one territory. If we tired to hold more than we can, everything would slip away from us.ˇ± Francis said obviously not onboard with ArgusˇŻ idea.

    However, with the smile of a professional conman Argus said, ˇ°We have more than enough fighters to take over the entire kingdom other the capital. I already proved it here that the people are willing to take up arms to fight for a better life for themselves. For the cities and territories that still wish to follow the king, all we need to do is arm the citizens and allow them to fight for their homes. That way we can stay here with our concentrated power, and the kingdom with have to fear rtion from us should they try to send forces to retake the ces that join our side.ˇ±

    Hearing this the other leaders began to seriously contemte ArgusˇŻ n. Certainly, what they werecking right now was fighters to join their cause.

    They had already received more than enough weapons from Borealia for everyone that was officially part of their army, and could easily outfit cells of resistance among the people that lived in territories where the rulers were still loyal to the king.<sub>.</sub>

    Then there were the nobles and leader that were already secretly backing the liberation, who coulde out into the open with their support now.

    Though there was certainly a major downside to this n, and Lyra was the first to voice her concerns about it.

    ˇ°Argus while that may give us the greatest number of forces, we would be putting millions of peopleˇŻs lives on the line. We already saw what happens when nobatants get ahold of the weapons necessary to fight. Over a hundred thousand of the citizens in Valenhart sacrificed their lives for our victory. If we went with your n, simr causalities would happen all over the kingdom. That is just too many lives for us to put on the line.ˇ± Lyra said, inplete disagreement to ArgusˇŻ n.

    ˇ°You are too na?ve Jadzia. This war is not going to be won by hit and run tactics anymore. We need to mobilize everyone that we can. We have all of the resources that we could possibly need thanks to the deal that was made with Borealia. Now all we need is more people to utilize them, and if the citizens wish to fight, why should we stop them? Sure some, maybe even many will die, but we will be able to win this war much easier than if we try to stay turtled up here while slowly chipping away at the kingˇŻs influence.ˇ±

    After Argus finished listing the positives of his argument, he sat back down and waited for the everyone else to discuss what was the right move.

    Though he could already tell that he had won, judging by the looks on the majority of the leadersˇŻ faces.<sub></sub>

    Of course, they could see the value in ArgusˇŻ n, that would allow them to increase their numbers by hundreds of thousands without any sort of risk to their core strength.

    Eventually, the leaders came to the decision that ArgusˇŻ n was the best and would allow them to win this war far quicker than any other method.

    Naturally there were dissenters like Lyra, and Marcus who followed her lead, but in the end the decision was made to arm the citizens and let them fight for their freedom as well.

    Certainly, the majority of people were only in the single digits level wise, but even a level seven could kill a level fifteen if they used the right weapon and got lucky.

    With the future of the liberationˇŻs approach decided, the meeting shifted into more precise nning, like rebuilding the city and refortifying in case of another attack.

    Also, the citizens of the city deserved a memorial for their sacrifice, and it was imperative that they honor those that fought with their lives, in order to show that they did not see the people as disposable such as the kingdom does.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Though the first thing we need to do is clean up the dead, since thest thing we need is for them to rise again as zombies or skeletons.ˇ± Marek said remembering the sight of thousands of bodies lying unmoving.

    Quickly the leaders began assigning areas for themselves and their troops to clear within the city and outside of it.

    There were plenty thousands that died outside the city as well, and it was crucial that they dispose of all of the bodies as well as collect the abandoned weapons before they became a problem.

    ˇ°Now then all of you take five hours to rest, before taking charge yourselves. We have all fought hard and definitely need a bit of sleep.ˇ± Marek said ending the meeting.

    With that, everyone went their sperate ways, and as he exited Marcus saw Mrazivy leaning against a wall a few dozen feet away from the meeting room waiting for him.

    ˇ°Sorry that you had to wait around for so long.ˇ± Marcus said to her.

    ˇ°It was no problem, but it looks like someone else wants to talk to you right now.ˇ± Mrazivy said pointing behind Marcus.

    Turning around, Lyra was waiting to talk to Marcus as she was curious about who this person with him might be.

    Seeing the intention in LyraˇŻs expression, Marcus said, ˇ°Let us go somewhere more private.ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Lyra said, ˇ°Sure. We can go to my room. Roxene is already sleeping their so you can meet up with her as well.ˇ±

    Following Lyra, Marcus and Mrazivy headed to her current room, which was once her parents.

    Though when Lyra said room, really it was a massive suite that was pretty much as big as arge house on its own.

    ˇ°Okay we are alone now. So would you mind telling me who this is?ˇ± Lyra said while motioning towards Mrazivy.

    ˇ°Sure. This is Mrazivy Borealia. I believe I told you about her before.ˇ±

    Marcus then turned towards Mrazivy and said, ˇ°And I am sure you already know but this is my friend from my old world, Lyra Bridger. Though her name in this world is Jadzia Augustyn and she is actually the ruler of this city and a duchess.ˇ±

    Hearing this Lyra was a bit confused at first since she had thought that Mrazivy would have blue hair while right now it was blonde.

    However, her confusion soon turned to panic, and she said, ˇ°Wait, Mrazivy Borealia, as in one of the princesses of Borealia. If anyone finds out she is here it could cause a huge incident.ˇ±

 Chapter 469 Lyra and Mrazivy

    As Lyra looked at Mrazivy like she was a ticking timebomb, Mrazivy said with a smug expression, ˇ°I really could not care less about any incident I might cause by being here. As much as Marcus wants to make sure his friend does not die, I want to do the same for him. He is free to do all of the crazy and stupid things that he wants, and I am free to follow right behind him to pull him out whenever he gets caught up in something over his head.ˇ±

    Hearing this, Marcus could only sigh, since Mrazivy could have worded that a bit more diplomatically, but instead she had been entirely brazen.

    As for Lyra, she just stood there bbergasted, not sure what to say in response to MrazivyˇŻs deration.

    ˇ°Anyway, Marcus already said that he would support me staying. All I need is a disguise, and right now just changing my hair color was enough for you not to know who I am. I doubt there are many people in this kingdom that could recognize me just off of my face, and I have an artifact that prevents my status from being read by most. So, I am staying no matter what, so you will just have to get used to me being around. Also, I can carry my weight. I do not mean to boast, but I am pretty strong now.ˇ± Mrazivy said stating her case.

    Looking towards Marcus for his support, since she was still not onboard with the princess from another kingdom join them, Lyra unfortunately found that he would not meet her gaze showing his unwillingness to help her out here.<sub>.</sub>

    He knew that when Mrazivy wanted to be stubborn, there was little he could do to dissuade her.

    Of course, he was pretty simr in this regard, making it even more difficult for him to tell her to go back home because it was not safe, since she was just doing the exact same thing he was.

    Rubbing her face, Lyra could see that this situation was not going to go her way, and said, ˇ°Okay. Princess Mrazivy I will ept your help, just please try to keep a low profile and do not tell anyone else who you are.ˇ±

    Smiling, Mrazivy thanked Lyra for her approval, since she knew that it would make things much easier in the long run.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Now that we have settled that. I am going to get some sleep. I am exhausted after using my full power and I would like to get some rest. I am sure you are tired as well Lyra, so we can all talk againter.ˇ± Marcus said, the crushing fatigue of using all of his strongest skills weighing on him.

    Even he had his limits and he had pushed them as far as he could, and now he needed just a bit of rest to recover.

    Naturally having his stats quartered from using soul burst also did not help in this regard, as it gave him an ever-present sense of weakness.

    However, contrary to his expectations, Lyra said, ˇ°No I am not tired at all. I drank that elixir you gave me, and it brought me back up to full strength and then some. Why do you not go get some sleep while I talk to Mrazivy here.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Panic on his face, Marcus was not sure if he wanted to leave his lover alone with a girl that used to be almost like a second big sister to him when they both still lived on Earth.

    Thest thing he needed was for her to tell embarrassing childhood stories about himself to Mrazivy.

    Sadly, it looked like he was not going to be able to stop these two girls that hade to know him at different times from talking.

    ˇ°Fine, do whatever you want, I am going to sleep.ˇ± Marcus said with resignation in his voice.

    After that, he left to go to the nearest bed where he found Roxene passed out, simrly exhausted.

    Carefully getting into the bed so as to not disturb her, Marcusid his head down, and shut his mind down like aputer before falling asleep.

    Once Marcus had gone off, Lyra and Mrazivy simply stared as each other, until after around a minute Mrazivy sat down on one of the nearby chairs and said, ˇ°So you knew Marcus back when he was still alive on Earth?ˇ±

    Nodding her head and siting down as well, Lyra said, ˇ°Yeah, I did, until he was fifteen. Our families lived close by, and his sister was the same age as I was, so we naturally became friends. We all knew each other for a long time, and I must say that Marcus was kind of like a little brother with how much time we all spent together. Though he has certainly changed since when I knew him before I died. He has gotten a lot more reliable and sure of himself, though I guess that might just be because he grew up.ˇ±

    ˇ°But from what he told me, you two are actually lovers, and judging by out interaction earlier I am sure he ces you higher than me.ˇ±

    Hearing this Mrazivy smiled, obviously pleased, and said, ˇ°You are probably right about that, but he definitely still values you quite highly. Marcus is fiercely loyal to those that he truly cares about. He was willing to sacrifice a bit of his own freedom in order to give me mine back, took down an entire syndicate when they threatened his little sister, and now he is fighting a war that has nothing to do with him just to make sure that you survive.ˇ±

    Letting her ears flop down, at some point Lyra had thought of MarcusˇŻ presence as natural, but now that Mrazivy had tantly pointed it out, Marcus was selflessly risking his life just to make sure she survived.

    Though seeing this, Mrazivy said, ˇ°Hey, there is no need to feel bad about it. Marcus is doing this because he wants to, not because he feels forced. Take it from someone who has been in your ce before, letting him do everything he can, will be better for everyone since he will do it whether you want him to or not. That just means you need to do the same for him whenever he gets himself into trouble.ˇ±

    ˇ°But that is enough about this subject. What I really want to know is what Marcus was like before I met him. He told me a bit about his past, but he really did not get into any personal experiences. I know he had an older sister, but I know next to nothing about her other than that they were close. So would you mind telling me a bit about him, at least what you know?ˇ±

    Contemting what to do here, Lyra was not sure if she should start divulging personal things about Marcus. But in the end, she figured it would probably be fine if she told Mrazivy, who was probably the closest or at least second closest person to Marcus in the entire world.

    ˇ°Sure, I can tell you about him up until her was fifteen, and in return, you can tell me a bit more about the two of you and how you both ended up together.ˇ±

 Chapter 470 Unending Momentum

    Waking up after around four hours Marcus felt quite a bit better, though he still had the horrible sense of weakness from having his stats lowered.

    Getting up and looking around, he found that at some point Roxene had gotten up and left, leaving him alone.

    ˇ®Hm guess I should go find everyone.ˇŻ

    Leaving the room, he had been staying in, Marcus walked out just in time to hear Lyra telling Mrazivy something he never wanted her to hear.

    ˇ°Yeah, one summer my parents got us an intable pool, and Marcus had the bright idea to try and jump into it from the trampoline we had. But he overshot it and hit the edge of the pool, before falling out and skidding through the mud.ˇ± Lyra said whileughing remembering Marcus beingpletely covered in mud.

    Of course, Mrazivy wasughing as well, and when Marcus ran into the room in a fluster, the to girls just looked at him with smirks on their faces.

    ˇ°Ah Marcus it is good to see you up and so energetic. Oh, and if you are hungry, I have this here which might enjoy.ˇ± Mrazivy said while holding up a book.

    Seeing this. Marcus immediately understood what she was referencing. And he red at Lyra who must have told Mrazivy about the time when he was three and tried to eat the fruit out of a picture book.<sub>.</sub>

    A long round of teasing from both sides assaulted Marcus who, after bit began telling embarrassing stories about both girls as payback.

    In the end the three of them were allughing together, though the jovial atmosphere did notst long.

    Naturally they eventually had to get back to reality, and outside the room they were in, was a city that had just survived a tremendous battle.

    Lyra had to attend to her duties as ruler, and Marcus had been assigned to dispose of the bodies outside of the wall, as well as collect the weapons and armor of the fallen.

    Going along with him, Mrazivy helped out, but the dour scene certainly did not help their moods.

    Still, this was part of war, and neither of them had any sort of emotional attachment to those that had died or even this kingdom for that matter.

    ˇ°I think that this is thest one.ˇ± Marcus said as he stored away the remains of a damaged mobile stronghold.<sub></sub>

    He had already collected over a hundred of these weapons of war, all in varying conditions.

    Unfortunately, even just one was all he could store in the entirety of his item box, and this only went for the smaller ones.

    Eventually though, after working for nearly three days without rest, Marcus and Mrazivy, along with the others that had been assigned to the cleanup, managed to clear out all of the bodies and gather up all of the usable weapons and gear that had been left behind.

    It was grueling work both physically and emotionally, but it needed to be done.

    After that, the cityˇŻs walls were fully repaired along with the damaged to the outer ring of the city.

    The people mourned and celebrated those that they had lost fighting for their freedom, and quickly the city became lively again even after so many had died.

    Life continued moving on, and soon the liberation began executing its next phase, by having other territories join under their banner, while also secretly arming the people in areas that were under the kingdomˇŻs rule.<sub></sub>

    Though they did avoid anywhere that was too close the capital, where the kingdomˇŻs forces were congregated.

    And unfortunately for the kingdom, along with those that they had lost in the battle for Valenhart, plenty of strong fighters and mages deserted, heading towards the kingdoms to the south, or even traversing the ocean to another continent, while some even joined up with the liberation.

    The one major loss that the kingdom received was enough for many to lose their faith in the kingdom, and TeivelˇŻs and FelicaˇŻs deaths proved that even the strongest were not safe during this war.

    Now of the original twenty great knights that once served as the pirs of the kingdom, only four remained under the power of the king.

    At the very least, those that remained were some of the strongest, with ranks one, two, five, and seven being those that were still alive and loyal to the king.

    However, as strong as these four were, they were still just four people, and they alone were not enough to hold an entire nation.

    In the next three months as winter raged on, the liberation brought more and more cities and territories into its fold, as leading nobles threw their support behind them, and those that did not were outed in local coups by the people that were being supported by the liberation.

    Of course, the kingdom did its best to take these areas back, and sometimes they seeded, but the difference in resolve and numbers soon became a factor.

    The people that were drafted by the kingdom had no desire to fight in the first ce, and when the fighting started most deserted quickly and ran for their lives.

    On the other hand, the hundreds of thousands of people that fought for the liberation, were doing so because they wanted to and they would fight to thest breath with unending fervor.

    Naturally in theseing conflicts some cities even ended up burned to the ground, with hundreds of thousands of people dying on both sides, and over a million all together.

    Yet after these three months of horribly bloody civil war, it became painfully clear which side was winning, and that was the liberation.

    They simply had the stronger will to fight, the numbers, and the supplies necessary to keep going thanks to their deal with Borealia.

    The only thing that the kingdom had going for it was its nigh imprable bastion of the capital and the strongest fighters.

    Still, with the majority of the kingdom under their control, the liberation mobilized every fighter level ten or over that wished to join them in their siege of the capital.

    Soon, a coordinated effort of over a million men and women began to encircle the capital which at this point only had around seventy thousand troops remaining after losing many in the bloody struggle for dominance of the kingdom.

    Nevertheless, therge capital city that at one time had five million citizens, though this had now dwindled to around a quarter of this, was heavily fortified.

    ˇ®So, this is the capital.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked down upon the city the liberation had surrounded.ˇŻ

    It was certainly thergest city he had seen in Tralenstein, being a bit more than twice the size of Valenhart which was the second.

    Though it was still far from the size of BorealiaˇŻs capital that was somewhere between four to five timesrger and could easily contend with the biggest cities on Earth.

    ˇ®Now time to get to work.ˇŻ

    Floating down towards the city, Marcus saw the ever-present barrier that they had deployed in order to protect the city.

    Of course, this barrier was not meant to keep anyone out, but it instead acted as an rm should anyone over a certain level try to enter secretly.

    Mostrge cities had something simr, though they were only activated in times of war since it did take arge amount of mana to keep operational.

    However, it only checked for level, and since Marcus was both ethereal and able to alter his recognized level with false status, he was easily able to slip in and begin scouting around.

 Chapter 471 They Were Ready

    Staring with the outer wall of the city, Marcus began investigating the least guarded areas or the ones with the weakest magical defenses.

    ˇ®Yep, the northwestern side of the wall from mile sixty to mile sixty-five have the fewest mana cannons. Though I suppose that since that area outside of the wall is a marsnd it makes the most sense. Hm, and the southern side is also just generally better defended in all regards. Maybe because of the hostile nations to the south?ˇŻ

    After searching the entirety of the outer wall over around four days, Marcus had made a veryprehensive list of the troop movements and magical defenses in each area.

    Unfortunately, he did not find any ring weakness in the setup, like a part of the wall that was heavily unguarded. But he did identify about eight areas that had the weakest defenses and would make good attack points.

    Still, this was only the start, as Marcus also needed to search the cityˇŻs inner wall, and other fortifications.

    Floating deeper into the city, Marcus began checking out the small forts that were built inside the city, making note of personnel and armaments.

    Of course, for him to do this for the entire city would have taken a very long time, so he focused more on the areas and paths that directly in the way of the eight attack points he had identified on the outer wall.

    ˇ®Okay now it is time to check out the inner wall.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he finished up investigating the forces within the outer city.

    Moving on to the inner wall, Marcus found that it was simrly protected by another detection barrier, though he knew this would not be a problem for him just like thest one.<sub>.</sub>

    Entering the outer wall, Marcus began searching through it looking for weak points and where the troop cements were the lowest, when suddenly his danger sense went off.

    Abruptly moving to the side, Marcus barely avoided six spikes made out of earth that sprouted from the ceiling and were teaming with spiritual energy.

    ˇ®Shit.ˇŻ

    Understanding that he had been discovered somehow, Marcus boosted his float ability to the maximum speed he could and shot out of the inner wall.

    However, as he exited, he found a woman d in full top tier adamantine armor and wielding an equally impressive top tier adamantine crossbow that doubled as a battle ax.

    ˇ®Damn it.ˇŻ Marcus thought knowing who this was.

    He had long since been given the description of all of the great knights in the kingdom, and he knew that the person in front of him was the rank seven great knight, Ziemia.

    However, as he began looking for an escape route, the being that had attacked him earlier with the earth spikes came out of the top of the wall, and Marcus saw what looked like a giant mole.<sub></sub>

    Yet, he knew immediately that this was not some ordinary mole, or even some type of magical beast or monster.

    ˇ®A spirit!ˇŻ

    Recognizing that this mole was indeed another spirit, Marcus understood now how he had been found, and that he was in a very precarious situation.

    ˇ®This is really bad. No one told me that Ziemia had a contracted spirit with her.ˇŻ Marcus thought while trying to think of the best way out of this situation.

    He had not anticipated being caught here. He figured everything would be fine so long as he did not try to investigate the castle, but instead he had been found out quite easily.

    ˇ°So, you are the spirit that has joined up with those troublesome rebels that make a mockery of their king and kingdom. But it looks like you got overconfident in your abilities and did not think we would be ready for you. The second you passed into the inner wall our spirit detection formation picked you up. Now why donˇŻt you surrender? If you are contracted to someone else, I can find a way to break it and you can be contracted with my family. We could always use another spirit to bolster our rank.ˇ± Ziemia said looking at Marcus greedily.

    Naturally her family had grown in power due to the contact they made with the spirit that was currently contracted to her. And adding another one would only make them stronger and more prestigious.

    Though obviously, Marcus had no intention of bing anyoneˇŻs contracted spirit, and especially not to someone like Ziemia who was looking at him like a future possession, rather than a being with its own free will.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Sr re.ˇŻ

    Knowing that the longer he stayed here the more likely reinforcements might show up, Marcus cast his tier three light magic spell and brightly lit up the area.

    Using this as a distraction he beelined it towards the ground, hoping to escape deep underground where it would be impossible to track him.

    ˇ°Grunt after him!ˇ± Ziemia shouted while trying to shake off the momentary blindness from MarcusˇŻ spell.

    Following his contractorˇŻs orders, Grunt the molelike greater spirit began descending towards Marcus.

    Quickly, Marcus made it into the ground where he traveled down for about a thousand feet, before heading in the direction of the cityˇŻs edge.

    Except as he was passing though the ground, arge hole opened up in front of him, and Grunt, the earth spirit sent a barrage of spiritually charged pebbles at him.

    Though while they were all just pebbles, they were moving as fast as bullets and definitely would hurt anyone they came in contact with.

    ˇ®Iron ramparts.ˇŻ

    Casting his defensive tier five iron magic spell, Marcus created arge wall of iron between himself and GruntˇŻs attack.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    As the earth pebbles impacted MarcusˇŻ iron ramparts, they left huge dents in the sturdy wall, showing the amount of force that they had behind them.

    Unfortunately, these were the least of MarcusˇŻ worries, as the earth around him began shifting like liquid and moved to wrap him up.

    And of course, since it was another spirit manipting the earth, it had imbued it with its energy making it a credible threat to Marcus.

    ˇ®Embodiment of Darkness.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Rending Void.ˇŻ

    Unleashing his tier six spell, Marcus began destroying everything around him including the ground.

    He then directed this powerful attack right for Grunt, aiming to blow him away.

    However, while grunt was two tiers of spirit below Marcus, his level was at sixty-five, and his powers were naturally focused more on defense.

    Controlling the earth around him, Grunt created a powerful shield that took MarcusˇŻ tier six spell on and dispersed the power it had.

    Though as these two spirits fought below ground, the city above began shaking as if an earthquake rating of five on the Richter scale was happening.

    With his attack having been blocked, Marcus prepared to use hisbined tier six spells in order to push through Grunt, who as an earth spirit would make escape pretty much impossible.

    Yet to make matters worse, the ground above Grunt opened up, and Ziemia descend into the cavern that her contracted spirit had created. All the while smiling smugly at Marcus.

    ˇ°Do not think that you are going to escape so easily. This is only going to end one of two ways. Either you submit to me, or I destroy you.ˇ±

 Chapter 472 The Great Escape

    Facing off against both great knight number seven Ziemia and her contracted spirit Grunt, Marcus was in quite the dangerous situation.

    Even using his ghost form he waspletely cut off by Grunt who could just as easily phase through things and follow him wherever he went.

    Also, Ziemia seemed to have an obsession with binding him to her family if she could, and if not destroying him.

    ˇ®I know I cannot win against both of them, but I will just have to try and create an opening for escape.ˇŻ

    Dropping out of his ghost form, Marcus solidified his soul and brought forth his scythe.

    The benefits of being in his ethereal form were pretty much negated by GruntˇŻs presence, so he might as well be solid where he could use his physical strength as well.

    ˇ®Embodiment of eclipse, dark form.ˇŻ

    Knowing that to face a great knight as mighty as Ziemia head on he was going to need be as strong as possible, Marcus used the form of his supreme skill that could output the greatest raw power.

    Still, he doubted this would be enough, since against Felcia who was just one rank above, he had to use everything he had to contend with her, and still came out the loser in the end.

    ˇ®Darkness drill.ˇŻ

    Starting out with his tier four spell, Marcus fired it towards Ziemia, while flying towards Grunt who was honestly the bigger threat.

    WHOOSH!

    Yet as he tried to move forward, Ziemia let loose a bolt form her oversized crossbow that doubled as a battle ax.

    Blowing through Marcus spell, the bolt sped forward going well past the speed of sound, and Marcus barely avoided taking a direct hit by twisting his body to the side.<sub>.</sub>

    However, this was not some ordinary bold that Ziemia had fired, and as it passed next to Marcus, it began shaking violently before unleashing a resounding explosion.

    BOOM!

    Being caught up in the unexpected explosion and with no way to avoid it, all Marcus could do was deploy his defense skills and spells as he was engulfed.

    Quickly he felt himself being smashed into the side of the carven that Grunt had created, with minor damage having been done to his form.

    Unfortunately, the follow up attack had already been initiated while he was disoriented, and the wall he had mmed into turned into mud and began wrapping around him.

    Of course, this was GruntˇŻs doing, and Marcus could tell he was not going to get out of this easily.

    ˇ®Shine Ring.ˇŻ

    Casting one of his tier five light magic spells, Marcus sent out a massive st of light energy all around him, blowing the mud away and freeing himself.

    Still, as he did his danger sense alerted him to another bolt flying his way at an incredible speed.

    Focusing his mana barrier in front of him as well as casting his radiance scales spell, Marcus blocked the iing bolt. But like the previous one, this one began to shake and crackle before exploding.

    Except this time instead of just a fiery explosion, this bolt unleashed a torrent of lightning that began electrocuting Marcus.

    Luckily his ghostly nature and with the lightning element being one of the magics he was proficient in, the electricity did little to him and he was able to shake it off.

    ˇ®Two can y at that game.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Voltaic bombardment.ˇŻ

    Sending out hundreds of bolts of lighting, Marcus covered the entire area with electricity, making sure that no ce in the enclosed space they were fighting in was clear.

    Though it was not like these bolts of lighting were much trouble to either Ziemia or Grunt. With Ziemia simply blocking them with her own mana barrier, and Grunt slipping into the earth around him.

    ˇ®Eclipse meteor.ˇŻ

    Enveloping himself in the full power of his supreme skill, Marcus sted right towards Ziemia with one of his strongest attacks.

    He could tell that in rangedbat he was horribly out matched right now, and needed to get close even if he had to use an explosive attack to do so.

    Naturally Ziemia was not going to just let Marcus approach her and fired off another bolt towards him, which when it impacted unleashed a searing light that scorched even the ground.

    She had noticed that Marcus seemed to be enveloped in a great deal of darkness, and even though he also had the power of light, she figured that a light element based attack might dispel his darkness which seemed stronger.

    Fortunately for Marcus, her assumption was dead wrong, and the light she hit him with did absolutely nothing to him as a ruler of light.

    Smashing through ZiemiaˇŻs attempt to stop him, MarcusˇŻ power actually increased as he integrated some of the light energy from her attack into his own, and was soon just a few dozen feet away from crashing into his opponent.

    Yet before he made contact, Grunt slid out of the earth and incased himself and Ziemia in a thick shell made out of earth.

    Creating a devastating explosion of light and darkness, Marcus rocked the entire underground area, causing cracks to form and debris to fall all around them.

    ˇ®Death dance.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Not waiting even a moment after unleashing his eclipse meteor, Marcus moved seamlessly into using his strongest attack skill, and began assaulting Ziemia at close range.

    He twisted around, struck at odd angles, changing his rhythm as he went, and shed back and forth with a great amount of power.

    However as much as Ziemia was a master at rangedbat with the crossbow portion of her weapon, she was equally good if not better with the ax part.

    Every attack Marcus made was blocked, and as she got more used to the fluid way that Marcus moved, she eventually created an opening that caught Marcus off guard.

    With one big swing of her ax, both of MarcusˇŻ legs were cut off and he lost his bnce.

    Following up on this, the earth around him began shifting again, and wrapped tightly around Marcus like a rope and containing him.

    ˇ°You are caught. This is yourst chance to submit to me, or you can perish.ˇ± Ziemia said while pointing her crossbow straight at MarcusˇŻ head.

    Certainly, he might be able to break free from GruntˇŻs bonds again, but while doing so Ziemia would fire the bolt in her crossbow and destroy his head.

    Also, to make matters worse, another figure soon appeared into the cavern, with Cibor himself having showne to backup Ziemia.

    ˇ°Oh, it looks like you managed to catch that detestable spirit.ˇ± Cibor said while smiling devilishly at Marcus.

    To this point Marcus had been a huge thorn in his side, with him and Relia stopping his first ambush on the rebels. To his fight against Felcia that ultimately led to her being killed by Argus.

    ˇ°Well, it looks like there is no vampire to save you this time.ˇ± Cibor said his smile growing wider and wider seeing MarcusˇŻ distress.

    ˇ°Now go ahead and end this Ziemia.ˇ±

    However, Ziemia turned to look towards Cibor and said, ˇ°No. I am still trying to recruit this spirit. You know that my family has long had Grunt here as our contracted spirit, and I am trying to add this one to our collection. Now just give me a few minutes to work on the negotiations.ˇ±

    Though Cibor only grew furious hearing this since he wanted Marcus dead, and said, ˇ°Fine then I will end this myself.ˇ±

    He did not care about ZiemiaˇŻs interest in forming a contract with Marcus, and just wanted to kill the being that had caused him no end of grief.

    But while the two high ranking great knights had been bickering, Marcus had been quickly forming a n, and soon came to the best option he could think of.

    ˇ®Well, if this does not work, I guess I will be testing out deny destruction for the first time. Here goes nothing.ˇŻ

    Swelling with power Marcus began letting out all of the energy within his supreme skill. Allowing it to fully engulf him, before causing a huge st of light and darkness that seemed to rip him apart in a suicide attack.

    Quickly, Cibor and Ziemia deployed their defensive skills, as MarcusˇŻ final attack rocked the area and filled it with all of the power stored within him.

    The cavern began to fall apart and even the city above shook violently as fissures began spreading throughout it.

    Even Cibor and Ziemia could not simply ignore this attack and had to focus everything they had on defense, while Grunt had to give its all to make sure that the entire cavern did not copse around its contractor.

    Eventually the power behind MarcusˇŻ attack dissipated, and all that seemed to be left was mounds of dirt and rock that had piled up.

    ˇ°Where is he? Where did he go?ˇ± Cibor said as he searched around frantically.

    ˇ°Grunt is that spirit still alive.ˇ± Ziemia asked to her contracted spirit.

    With grunts powers he would be able to not only sense the spiritual energy of another spirit, but also could tell if they were trying to had under ground with its attunement to the element of earth

    Yet Grunt just shook its head, saying that it could not find Marcus anywhere.

    The only things that it sensed nearby were a very small animals that were stuck underground after the violent battle.

    And the closest seemed to be amon rat at level one, something that could be found just about anywhere.

    ˇ°Looks like that spirit really blew itself up. I guess it figured it might as well try to take us both out if it was going to be killed anyway.ˇ± Ziemia said a bit sad that she had not been able to capture Marcus.

    On the other hand, Cibor seemed skeptical that Marcus had truly done himself in. But he could not find any traces of him. And if ZiemiaˇŻs spirit could not find him while they were underground, than it was likely that he truly did meet his end.

    However, while these three made sure Marcus had really met his demise, he was all the while thinking.

    ˇ®I am just an insignificant rat, nothing to see here.ˇŻ

    At this point all he could do was hope that he would not be discovered.

    Still, he did have some precedent to think that his disguise would fool even Grunt, since until he took his ethereal form, even Aerial who is a high tier spirit than Grunt did not realize what Marcus is.

    After around thirty more minutes of extensive searching, when they still turned up nothing, Cibor and Ziemia left, believing that Marcus had blown himself up and was no more.

    ˇ®Whew, I am d that when I was still testing out soul devour that I used it on something like a rat. Who knew it woulde in handy to fool such high-level opponents.ˇŻ

    Digging himself out of the rubble, Marcus scurried back up to the surface, before heading back to the exit of the city. All the while staying in his rat form, not taking any chances of being found again.

 Chapter 473 Planning for the Final Battle

    Once Marcus had cleared the capital city, he went back into his ghost form and floated towards the liberationˇŻs encampment as fast as he could.

    He was still had this nagging feeling of anxiousness that Ziemia or Cibor might catch on to his trick ande after him.

    Thest thing he needed was to end up being destroyed and having to waste his revival skill, or even worse, being caught and forced into some sort of contract.

    Luckily, his fears werepletely unfounded, and he made it back to the base where Lyra and Mrazivy were waiting for his return without issue.

    When he arrived, the first thing he did was to gather up all of the other leaders and tell them about everything he had learned during his scouting mission.

    ˇ°These eight areas are the least defended and I would rmend them for our attack points. Also, there were some hidden fortifications in the city here, here, and here.ˇ± Marcus said while going over the defenses of the outer city

    ˇ°Unfortunately, I was not able to get into the inner city as they had been prepared for me. Great knight number seven Ziemia, found me within just a few minutes, being alerted by some sort of spirit detecting formation. Oh, and she has a level sixty-five contracted earth spirit called Grunt. I assume that you did not know anything about this, since no one ever informed me of her having a spirit.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    After saying this, Marcus looked around and it seemed that everyone was indeed surprised to hear this, none of them having know that ZiemiaˇŻs family had long had a powerful contracted spirit under their control.

    Of course, this was a closely guarded secret only ever known to the higher ups in ZiemiaˇŻs family and the current monarch of the kingdom.

    ˇ°I see. I suppose that would be one of the reasons that her family has always held a high position as guardians of the royal capital. Hm, that means we may also need to watch out for a spirit or maybe some other powerful entity backing the second ranked great knight. Like ZiemiaˇŻs family, theirs has always raised one member to be the protector of the royal castle and the king, which is why they almost never leave the city.ˇ± Marek said with a conflicted expression on his face.

    Certainly, he was happy to have the information about ZiemiaˇŻs contracted spirit, but it also meant that they had another powerful opponent to look out for.

    ˇ°Well on behalf of everyone here I would like to thank you for the intel you have gathered and the danger you put yourself in to get it.ˇ± Marek said praising Marcus for his efforts.

    Nodding his head robotically, Marcus could care less about MarekˇŻs praise, and was only after achieving his goals.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Well, it will all be worth it as long as I can keep Lyra alive. Plus, I was promised quite the reward should we win.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he sat down.

    Quickly, the leaders began nning troop cements, attack patterns, and when would be the best time to strike the capital.

    This was going to be the final battle and probably the deciding factor on which side would win the struggle for power.

    Since while the liberation currently held the majority of the kingdom, if their strongest fighters died, but the kingˇŻs survived, they could once again oppress the people with force.

    ˇ°The problem now is how to handle Cibor and the second ranked great knight. In all of our previous encounters both the chief and Argus fought him together. But this time that is not going to be possible.ˇ± Francis said, pointing out the biggest obstacle to their victory.

    In terms of troops, they outnumbered the kingdom by more than ten times, but the majority of their fighters were in the low or mid-teens in terms of levels, and even thousands of them would not be a match for Cibor.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I am certain that I can take on the rank two myself without any backup. He only received a rank above mine simply because of his familyˇŻs prestige.ˇ± Argus said with a confident expression on his face.

    Nodding their heads, everyone agreed that this would be the best option, if he could pull it off.

    They all then looked towards Marek, who would have to take on the role of facing Cibor, when Lyra stood up and said, ˇ°I will help you fight my master. I know most of his moves and can anticipate his actions. I can leave Knox tomand my troops. He has grown stronger and be a better leader in thesest few months and I am confident in his abilities. Plus, since my master knows about my reflector shield and has seen what it can do firsthand, he will have to be wary of using big attacks while I am around.ˇ±

    Sitting back down, Lyra looked towards Marek with a resolute expression, waiting for his answer.

    Of course, some of the other leaders came out and protested LyraˇŻs involvement in battling Cibor, since she was too weak, and her value as a duchess was too great to lose.

    ˇ°I will also help fight against Cibor, and so will mypanion M.ˇ± Marcus said getting everyoneˇŻs attention.

    However, before anyone else said anything, Marek smiled and said, ˇ°Very well, I will be more than grateful to have both of you watching my back. With the three of you assisting me, I feel I will be able to finally beat Cibor. This time he will not get away.ˇ±

    With MarekˇŻs approval, Marcus, Lyra, and Mrazivy were going to be part of the team that took on the kingdomˇŻs strongest man.

    Yet, Marek still felt that they might not be enough, and scanned the other leaders, before stopping on one of them who normally was quite quiet and reserved.

    ˇ°Verona, would you also be willing to assist us in the battle against Cibor. Your support magic is second to none, and it would be a great help to have you with us.ˇ±

    Startled to be called out Verona, nearly jumped out of her chair and said, ˇ°O- of course, I would be willing to if you need me chief.ˇ±

    ˇ°Thank you Verona, I feel much better now that I know you will be watching our backs.ˇ± Marek said with a smile.

    Nodding her head shyly, Verona was obviously a little awkward being the center of attention.

    She had pretty much just been a bookworm for the majority of her life. Reading and learning about magic simply because she thought it was fun. Though with her talents and luck in acquiring a unique skill, she became an elite mage for the kingdom at the behest of her family who wanted to use her to increase their status.

    After that the finer details of the attack were put in order and the date was chosen.

    ˇ°Very well. In six daysˇŻ time we willmence our offensive on the capital, with our forces broken up into eight armies. Each of you do all you can to prepare in these next few days, since if we fail here, there will likely be no second chance.ˇ±

    With those final words, Marek dismissed the liberation leaders and began the intense preparations for his unique skill.

    He nned to use the next few days to stockpile as much power as possible before the final battle for Tralenstein began.

 Chapter 474 Assault on the Capital

    Quickly six days went by, and liberation army had begun moving into position to begin the final assault on the kingdomˇŻs capital.

    This was thest bastion of the kingdomˇŻs power and once it had fallen, Tralenstein would start a new era of greater equality for the people.

    Of course, this was certainly not a bunch of hot air as the areas already taken over by the liberation, were already able to experience their newfound freedom and increased quality of life.

    Still, all of these efforts could go up in mes should they lose this final battle that was far from a sure win.

    The capital was the most fortified city in the kingdom, and even a force greater than ten times of what the king has might still be insufficient.

    ˇ®Looks like they have been preparing.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked down upon the city from far above.

    Using his enhanced vision, he could see that the walls were now manned by an even greater number of soldiers, with those that were patrolling the city probably dispatched to defend against theing attack.

    However, even as he looked down at this, he thought that their seemed to be a bit too few soldiers. But it was possible that the king who had already shown his cowardice during this war, was hording the majority of his forces in the inner city and castle.

    After taking one final pass at the cityˇŻs walls, Marcus gave out the little intel he was able to gather, and the liberation army began approaching.

    From eight sides armies of between one hundred and ten thousand to one hundred and thirty thousand soldiers marched towards the capital city.<sub>.</sub>

    Naturally each of these armies was protected by mobile strongholds that were either taken from the kingdom or provided by Borealia who had heavily invested this war.

    Soon the two opposing forces came into range and mana cannons and spells began flying as the battle for the capital began.

    Though the leaders of the rebellion who were all at least level fifty-four other than Marcus, did not participate in the opening assault.

    They needed to keep vignt for the kingdomˇŻs strongest and intercept them before they tried to wreak havoc on the weaker soldiers.

    ˇ®I have visual on him. Cibor is protecting the west side of the wall.ˇŻ One of the leaders sent out via telepathy.

    And not but a moment after another one said, ˇ®I have also found Armand. He is protecting the northeastern side of the wall.ˇŻ

    Yet as everyone heard this, something definitely seemed to not be right.

    Both Cibor and Armand were positioned as far away from Argus, Marek, and Tesia as possible.

    Though this could just be a confidence, it seemed awfully convenient that the three people that could content with these two were being avoided.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Looks like we might have a spy within the upper ranks.ˇŻ Marcus thought hearing this.

    So far, they had been able to avoid any major leaks, and while it was certain that there were spies within their forces, like they had spies within the kingdomˇŻs, this was the first time that it seemed that all of their movements had been anticipated.

    ˇ®Just hold out until reinforcements arrive. Focus on defense and keep the mana cannons trained on them. Not even Cibor and Armand can take a full bombardment unscathed.ˇŻ Marek said giving out hismands.

    ˇ®Tesia you are the closest to Cibor. Make your way over to where he is. Argus you head for Armand.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Understood.ˇŻ Tesia responded.

    ˇ®Got it buddy.ˇŻ Argus said back.

    Repositioning to handle the threats that were popping up, the liberation army managed to get ahold of their disadvantageous situation.

    Still, Cibor unleashed a particrly brutal attack while no one could directly face him, and while the barriers created by the mobile strongholds protected most, he managed to kill about two thousand people before Tesia arrived and suppressed him.

    ˇ®Well, since two of the biggest threats are ounted for, I guess I can move into action.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony Form

    Pulling out his focusing lenses, Marcus lined them all up and began casting his tier six light magic and darkness magic spells into them.

    Fusing the powers together, Marcus unleashed a full power st of rending light and darkness at the cityˇŻs wall.

    As it impacted, the powerful attack met the barrier that protected these reinforced walls and began breaking through.

    Certainly, the magical defenses around the capital were impressive, but even they had limits to how much power they could take in one ce.

    Soon the barrier began to crack under MarcusˇŻ full powered attack, but as he expected he was not able to break through with one attack.

    Even hisbined tier six spells that boasted power just inferior to what a tier eight spell might have, was still insufficient to st through the wall of a capital city.

    And as he was about to fire off another shot after drinking a mana potion, someone Marcus recognized appeared and began assaulting him from afar.

    Tch!

    ˇ®Of course, Grunt would be here.ˇŻ

    Seeing the earth spirit, Marcus had to take defense action as it began hurtling spears of earth at him that were infused with spiritual energy.

    Though GruntˇŻs master soon also made her appearance and began firing at Marcus with her crossbow, keeping him surpassed.

    However, this was actually perfectly fine by Marcus, since if these two were focusing on him that meant that they were not able to cause trouble elsewhere.

    ˇ­

    The battle continued to rage on for two days as the liberation army fought had to break into the city, and on the second day one of their armies finally seeded.

    With one portion of the wall breached, the rest soon followed as the kingdomˇŻs defenders practically gave up the moment the wall was broken through.

    Soon the liberation army began to flood into the outer city, and began securing the strategic areas within.

    Naturally they met little resistance here as it seemed that most of the soldiers had already retreated to the inner wall, with those that had been left behind only being meant to slow down the liberation.

    Yet, for some of the liberationˇŻs leaders, things did not seem to add up. They had expected to have the siege of the outer wallst for at least five days before breaking through, and in general the response to their attack had been fairly tepid.

    ˇ®Why is there no one on the inner wall.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he advanced through the city, being the first to arrive at the inner wall to take stalk of the defenses there.

    Except the wall waspletely empty, devoid of even a single person.

    It seemed that the kingdom had forgone even trying to defend this area and must have fled all the way back to the castle.

    ˇ®Still, it does not make any sense to just give up on the inner wall like this. They easily could have worn us down quite a bit more from here, before moving back to their most secure location at the castle for the final fight.ˇŻ

    As Marcus had a sinking feeling inside him, and tried analyzing what the kingˇŻs goal was, when he noticed the inner wall begin buzzing and shaking.

    MarcusˇŻ eyes went wide as he recognized what was happening, since the liberation had used a simr strategy on a smaller scale during the battle for Valenhart.

    ˇ®Everyone prepare your strongest defenses! Do whatever you can to protect yourselfers and those around you! They are going to blow up the entire city!ˇŻ Marcus screamed over his connection to the liberationˇŻs telepathicwork.ˇŻ

    And just a few moments after he did, the inner and outer walls, and many ces in between began to glow, before every mana furnace within the city went haywire and exploded.

 Chapter 475 One Life for One Million

    With blinding light, the entire capital city began to quake, as the mana furnaces that powered it overloaded.

    From the inner wall to the outer, the city grew brighter with overflowing mana, before a resounding series of explosions created a chain reaction.

    BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

    The explosions quickly engulfed all of the city, killing people by the tens of thousands.

    The majority of the citizens had not been evacuated to the castle, which was the only area that was safe from the suicide attack that the king and his advisors had nned.

    In just an instance, the city turned from a sprawling metropolis, into a wastnd of rubble and dead bodies.

    And unable to do anything but watch in horror, was Marcus, who had used his ghost form to escape the explosion.

    Still, seeing this his mind began racing trying to figure out what he should do.

    However, even with all of the skills and abilities he had nothing in his arsenal could stop of fix the damage caused by this series of explosions that devested the city.<sub>.</sub>

    Once everything began to calm down, for a few moments silence was all that could be heard, before the screams began to resound through the city.

    While the explosions had been vast, they did still not cover the entire city, and tens of thousands of people had survived, only to be horribly injured or buried under rubble.

    Children cried for their parents that were crushed under thousands of pounds of stone, and others shouted out for their friends who had been right next to them and were now gone.

    Of course, those in the liberation army were also in disarray having had horriblyrge casualties, especially for those that were of a lower level.

    Even with MarcusˇŻ warning, around two hundred thousand soldiers from the liberation army had been killed by the explosions set off by the king.

    Yet it was the citizens that still lived in the city that had suffered the worst, not having the protection of any high-level allies or magic tools.

    Over nine hundred thousand of the more than a million citizens left in the city who were mostly the old, younger adults, and children, were killed by the explosions that had been set off withplete disregard for their lives.

    In total, it was a death toll that already exceeded the entirety of the rest of the civil war between the kingˇŻs faction and the liberation.<sub></sub>

    Truly it was a scale of death and destruction that was rarely seen in this world, that showed how desperate and morally bankrupt the king was.

    He was willing to kill over a million of his own citizens in order to take out arge chunk of the liberationˇŻs forces.

    All that mattered was victory, and the number of lives lost was a trivial thing him.

    But as screams resounded through the city and blood flooded the ground, one person took to the sky knowing what they needed to do.

    Like a golden angel, Tesia flew up high above the city and looked down at the terrible death and destruction that had just transpired.

    Seeing this she had already begun casting her tier nine spell, and made sure that she had a view of the entire city.

    She had never tried using this spell on such a wide range, or on so many before. But her very core was screaming out for her to save these people.

    Even after falling into a depression due to her brotherˇŻs death, her wish to help people was still rooted deep in her soul, and her mission to make this kingdom a more just ce, fueled her to continue on.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®I will not allow so many to lose their loved ones as I have.ˇŻ Tesia thought not wanting the pain she felt to be experienced by those that survived while so many died.

    ˇ°Nothing is more precious, and all are equal to enjoy it. The end shall not take hold and will be denied. The stars gleam down and give all a second chance to shine. Death is not final, and all those who wish may rise.ˇ±

    ˇ°Miracle of Life.ˇ±

    Finishing her tier nine healing magic spell, Tesia felt all of her mana and stamina being consumed, as the golden glow around her began to intensify.

    However, as she continued building up the spell, it soon became apparent that the mana she needed to cast such a powerful spell on so many, was far out of her reach.

    At best she might be able to forty thousand on her own, but any more than that was simply beyond her ability.

    Yet as if answer her call, the rich ambient mana in the air that was still lingering from the massive explosions, began traveling towards Tesia and empowering her.

    It was as if the very world wanted her to seed, and the power that had just been used to kill so many, was now channeled into a vessel to save those that had died.

    When she reached the peak of the power she could possibly contain within her, the colossal aura that had built up around her burst, and a shower of shinning rain began falling down upon the capital city.

    As this rain fell down on those that were heavily wounded, their injuries began to heal, as broken bones were mended, wounds stopped bleeding and healed over, and even missing limbs were restored.

    But the spell did not stop there, even those that had perished began healing, and when their bodies had full reformed, they took a breath again as they came back to life.

    As quickly as over a million lives had been lost, TesiaˇŻs god like magic healed those that were dying, and brought back those who had recently perished.

    Sadly, not everyone was able to receive the miracle of TesiaˇŻs magic, as when the body waspletely destroyed, there was nothing for the spell to bring back.

    Still with the power of her magic nearly a million people came back to life after having been dead for almost fifty seconds, and many thousands more that were on the brink of death were healed.

    Truly this tier nine spell lived up to its name, creating a miracle beyond what most could ever hope to witness.

    WHOOSH!

    Except right after saving so many, TesiaˇŻs received her reward in the form of a bolt striking her in the head.

    Exhausted and stunned from using her strongest magic, she had no hope of blocking or avoiding this attack, and as her head was pierced the light in TesiaˇŻs eyes began to fade.

    Even after bringing so many back from the dead, she had no way to save herself, as she was sniped from afar by someone sitting atop the kingdomsˇŻ castle.

    ˇ®I got her.ˇŻ Ziemia thought while smiling.

    She had been ordered to snipe anyone of importance that she saw, but she was very surprised to see Tesia expose herself in the air without any protection.

    Ziemia even used a special bolt that could disrupt magic items, which had prevented TesiaˇŻs protection artifacts from activating.

    Now she fell lifeless towards the ground, in a way having sacrificed her life for a million others.

 Chapter 476 Death and Fury

    As Marcus watched Tesia cast her magic and save countless lives, the pit of hopelessness that had been welling up inside him began to vanish.

    He had not been expecting such a vile attack toe from the king and his forces, and it had caught himpletely off guard.

    At the very least he had not had to worry about Mrazivy or Lyra, as they were still positioned outside of the wall waiting for the final push, where they would join forces to take on Cibor with Marek.

    However, his relief did notst long as he saw the bolt pierce through TesiaˇŻs head, and she began falling.

    Immediately Marcus went into action, flying towards Tesia as fast as he could.

    He still had the talisman she had given him, and while it certainly would never have been able to bring so many back like she had, it was more than capable of restoring one person.

    Taking the talisman out, Marcus threw it towards Tesia and unleashed the spell sealed within.

    The golden light that Tesia had just used once again began to shine, but this time instead of originating from her it flew towards her and enveloped her.

    Quickly the golden light went to work and first pushed the bolt out of her head very violently.

    He skull literally ripped apart as this happened since unlike its normal appearance when it had been fired. Once it was lodged inside its target the bolt had converted into a spike ball that had torn TesiaˇŻs brain apart.

    Still, this injury did not matter, for as quick as it appeared, the tier nine healing magic spell fixed it seamlessly.<sub>.</sub>

    Soon, the light in TesiaˇŻs eyes returned, and she took a deep breath as she came back to life.

    Except as soon as she had returned to life, Ziemia fired another bolt towards her, having seen what Marcus had done from her perch.

    Yet to her surprise, Marcus sped in front of the bolt, and reached out to grab it.

    Of course, as he grasped his hand around it he did not have the strength to stop it, and instead used his own body as a shield.

    The bolt with all of the power it had, ripped through his mana barrier and pierced his armor, before lodging itself in his chest.

    This was a powerful bolt that had been created to go through even heavily adamantine armor, and Marcus only managed to stop it after it had embedded itself deep into him.

    The bolt like the other then expanded into a spike ball piercing through MarcusˇŻ chest and into his stomach and even neck.

    ˇ®Damn this hurts.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he expelled the spike ball bolt from his body by going ethereal.

    Of course, for that to be his only reaction was quite impressive, since normally if any person had their chest shredded, there would be no way it could possibly survived.

    Though for Marcus this attack had actually not caused much damage since it was meant to destroy internal organs, of which he had none.<sub></sub>

    After that Marcus sent out his spectral arm and grabbed Tesia who was still falling towards the ground after her revival.

    Naturally she was still not in great shape, since not only had she juste back to life, but the recoil of casting such a powerful spell beforehand was greatly weakening her.

    Luckily, with Marcus protecting her she had managed to survived ZiemiaˇŻs follow up attack, and not far away Marek was already rushing towards her dissuading any rash actions from the enemy.

    Unfortunately, it was likely that Tesia was going to bepletely out of the fight for the foreseeable future, since just casting her tier nine spell normally put her out ofmission for a week, but this time it was likely to be much longer.

    ˇ®Darkness drill,ser.ˇŻ

    Combining his tier four spells through his focusing lenses, Marcus returned fire towards Ziemia, though as he expected the barrier around the castle stopped his attack dead in its tracks.

    ˇ®Roxenee out. We are using that.ˇŻ

    Jumping out of MarcusˇŻpanion storage, Roxene perched herself on his outstretch right arm and said, ˇ®Are you sure. Last time we were only semi-sessful and about thirty percent of its power came back towards us.ˇŻ

    ˇ®I do not really care right now. I just want to unleash all my rage at the bastards that would do such a thing.ˇŻ Marcus responded.

    Shaking her head in resignation. Roxene could tell that Marcus was far beyond angry and trying to reason with him right now was not going to get her anywhere.<sub></sub>

    Activating her supreme skill Roxene grew to far greater size and dropped off MarcusˇŻ arm, before floating next to him using her mana barrier to create tforms for her feat.

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony Form.ˇŻ

    Enveloping himself and in his supreme skill, Marcus began teeming with power.

    He then began casting his rending void and quasar st spells fusing them together towards his focusing lenses.

    Yet at the same time Roxene began building up power herself, before casting the same spells as Marcus.

    This was abination they had worked on a few times but had never gotten perfect.

    Though right now, Marcus simply wanted to use the most explosive attack he had against those that had been merciless enough to kill so many.

    Certainly, Marcus was no hero and could even be quite ruthless at times.

    However, even he had a limit to his morals, and killing so many innocent people had ticked him off to no end, and seeing Tesia get shot was the final straw that set him off.

    ˇ®Hm as if I will let that happen.ˇŻ Ziemia thought as she saw Marcus charging up a big attack.

    Firing another bolt she aimed right for MarcusˇŻ head, and of course infusing it with spiritual energy, Ziemia figured she could take Marcus out or at least disrupt his attack.

    Except the bolt never reached him, as Marek deflected it, sending the exploding bolt high into ethe air where it discharged harmlessly.

    ˇ®Now.ˇŻ

    Casting his spells simultaneously with Roxene, the two of them put all of their focus intobining their four spells, and sending them through MarcusˇŻ focusing lenses.

    Though this was by no means an easy task, sincebining two spells cast from one individual was hard enough, and Marcus could only really due it with the help of his focusing lenses. But trying to do it with four spells from two different sources was beyond challenging.

    Still Marcus channeled his fury into his determination and, with his and RoxeneˇŻs link, the two of them managed to fuse their four spells and send out a st of light and darkness beyond what either of them could achieve on their own.

    Nevertheless, the attack was not perfect, and around ten percent of the energy simply could not go through the lenses that had met their peak capacity, and the power discharged around Marcus and Roxene.

    Luckily the two of them had heavy resistance to their own magics, and the majority of their attack sted forward right for the royal castle.

    Speeding forward, Marcus and RoxeneˇŻsbined attack smashed into the barrier around the royal castle and its surrounding area.

    And to the surprise of many it actually began to crack, as the attack forced its way through even such a powerful barrier.

    ˇ°Grunt!ˇ± Ziemia called out.

    Immediately her contracted spirit appeared before her and began channeling all of its power.

    Then massive walls of earth sprouted up out of the ground in between MarcusˇŻ attack and the castle proper.

    CRACK!

    Breaking through the barrier the fourbined tier six spells continued on, smashing through the walls that Grunt had set up, before impacting the main barrier around the castle.

    This time however, Marcus, and RoxeneˇŻ attack met its match as the barrier around the castle was the strongest one yet.

    Their attack soon began to peter out as it could not force its way through thisst remaining barrier.

    ˇ®Everyone continue the assault. Push on with everything you have. Do not let this opportunity go to waste.ˇŻ Maker shouted over the telepathicwork.

    He knew that right now both sides were disoriented, but with MarcusˇŻ furious attack, he had just pushed through one of the final hurdles in their way of taking the castle.

    Yet they needed to act quickly because all Marcus had done was put a hole in the castleˇŻs outer barrier, and if they waited the kingdom could repair the damage.

    Rallying themselves into a fervor, like Marcus the liberation troops turned their fury into fuel, continuing the charge straight for the heart of the kingdom that had killed far too many people in their desperate attempt to stay in power.

    ˇ°Jed, you can leave Tesia in the care of those below. Right now we need to join the rest of the troops and push on to the castle. I have already called Jadzia, and she and yourpanion are on their way over. Now let us go and take on Cibor and finally finish this war.ˇ±

 Chapter 477 Final Showdown

    With the liberation finding their second wind and rushing full steam ahead to take the castle, Marcus followed Marek right to the front lines. Where they began securing the opening in the first barrier Marcus and Roxene had created with theirbined attack.

    Luckily, as much as the kingdomˇŻs blowing up their own city had been meant to heavily damage and disorganize the liberation, it had also done the same to many of their troops.

    Very few people were actually privy to this n, and the defenders of the castle watching this were stunned themselves.

    This led to a veryckluster response, as the liberation began invading the castleˇŻs grounds through the hole in the outer barrier that Marcus and Roxene had made.

    Eventually though, as the liberation poured in by the thousands, the castleˇŻs defenders got back into their positions and began fighting back.

    Of course, of the around forty thousand fighters left for the kingdom, plenty of them were beginning to question their loyalty. With some even throwing down their weapons and refusing to fight.

    Still, themanders that were loyal to the king would cut down any dissenters and force the other troops into line.

    It was fight or die.<sub>.</sub>

    Though it was not long before the hundreds of thousand of troops of the liberation had surrounded the castle, and even with the best defensible position in the kingdom, the resolve of each party was vastly different.

    Only the most loyal of people still wanted to fight for the king after seeing him blow up the entire capital city other than the castle. While the liberation was channeling all of their rage into fighting with everything they had.

    ˇ®Hm, I do not see Cibor, or Armand.ˇŻ Marek thought as he scanned the area from up above.

    In fact, the only one of the remaining four great knights he could currently see was Ziemia, who seemed to be fighting with everything she had to defend the castle that was currently under bombardment, as the liberationˇŻs forces tired to break through the powerful barrier around it.

    Yet it was not long before one of the men in question was spotted, and Marek saw Armand flying at an incredible speed.

    Except he was not moving to join the battle, but was instead flying away, abandoning his position.

    He was not going to sacrifice his life in what he now realized was a pointless battle and had opted to preserve his own life.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®No one go after him. If Armand wishes to flee let him. Just stay vignt in case this is a trick and he ns to double back around.ˇŻ Marek sent out to the liberation leaders.

    They had very few people that could actually contend with Armand, and if one of their biggest threats wanted to flee, then why should they worry about a powerful piece taking itself out of the battle.

    Soon Lyra, Mrazivy, and Verona joined up with Marek and Marcus who were waiting for Cibor to make his appearance.

    However, the strongest man in the kingdom seemed to have no n toe out during the siege of the castle.

    Eventually after around three days, the near imprable barrier around the castle began to falter as it simply ran out of fuel and slowly began to break apart.

    Cheers of victory began to resound through the liberation as they were now just a final step away from winning over the kingdom.

    All that was left was to capture and execute the king along with his supporters who were left inside castle.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Let us go. Now Cibor will have to face us if he wants to stop us from taking the king.ˇ± Marek said before taking off towards the castle.

    Following behind him, Marcus and the others flew right for the castleˇŻs main entrance that was already being overrun by the liberationˇŻs troops.

    At the same time, the other leaders charged towards the castle, with Francis and five others heading straight for Ziemia who had so far been helming the defense of the castle.

    Once inside the castle, Marcus and his group led by Marek, made a beeline for the throne room, where it was likely the king would be.

    It was the most defensible position and would have the best magics in ce to stop invaders.

    Yet along the way resistance was abysmal from the castleˇŻs defenders, many of which simply threw down their weapons and surrendered, having lost faith in the king when he blew up the city.

    ˇ°Looks like you are on your way to the throne room. Mind if I join you. ˇ°Argus saidnding next to Marek as they were about to enter the castle proper.

    Nodding his head, Marek agreed, since at this point it was likely that they would find both Cibor and the second ranked great knight protecting the king.

    ˇ°Hm, this is not exactly how I expected this to go down.ˇ± Marek said as they advanced through the castle.

    So far, they had not run into any soldiers or defenders, having their path impeded only by magical defenses which with their levels they were able to force their way through.

    In fact, the only people they were able to find were cowering servants, who had holed themselves in whatever room had been closest when the liberation had broken through.

    It was almost eerie theck of resistance that they found, and at some point, Marcus had to ask, ˇ°Do you think that the king fled? Maybe he emptied out whatever he could from the treasury and took Cibor and the second ranked great knight through some sort of secret passage.ˇ±

    Yet Marek shook his head and said, ˇ°I do not believe that the king would flee. He is a proud man and would probably die before giving up his position. Though it is possible that the second ranked great knight may have decided to prioritize his safety over anything else and restrained him before fleeing.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, that is possible, but we do have people on the look out for that possibility. Also, they could not warp out of here now, since TesiaˇŻs tower is disrupting any sort of long-range teleportation.ˇ± Argus said, adding on to MarekˇŻs spection.

    Still even if the king had fled, it would not make too much of a difference, and in some way would be better since it minimized the possible losses that might be incurred in a final fight.

    However, as they passed into arge room that would normally be used to hold grand meetings and had actually been where LyraˇŻs parents were tried and found guilty of treason. A sole figure stood against the doors that would lead towards the king.

    Blocking their path, Cibor stood with a grim expression on his face, no longer having his normal confident expression.

    ˇ°So, you have finally made it this far. Unfortunately, I cannot let you go any further. Rosly is just beyond these doors in front of the throne room, so we can either all fight in here or you can split up however you like. I do not care either way.ˇ± Cibor said in an almost defeated way.

    Smiling and walking forward, Argus continued moving towards the doors that Cibor was guarding, and said, ˇ°I will take on the second rank great knight myself. You can fight everyone else here Cibor.ˇ±

    Nodding his head and walking out of the way, Cibor allowed Marek to pass as he stared intently at everyone else.

    ˇ°Very well. Shall we get started on the battle to decide the fate of the kingdom.ˇ± Cibor said as he took a battle stance. Ready for the final showdown.

 Chapter 478 Fulfilled Duty

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Awaken.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Draconic Form.ˇŻ

    Facing off against Cibor, Marcus, Lyra, and Mrazivy all activated their strongest abilities, with both Lyra and Mrazivy transforming, and Marcus enveloping himself in his supreme skill.

    To even fight on the same field with Cibor this was going to be the bare minimum of power they needed.

    Of course, if they were alone, they would still just be like children before Cibor, but with Marek taking the lead they could do their jobs well as support.

    ˇ°Allies Field.ˇ±

    And along with their own boosts, Verona who specialized in enchantment magic cast one of her tier six spells, that increased the stats of all of her allies within a certain area.

    Yet, this spell actually had two forms, either to strengthen allies or weaken enemies, but with VeronaˇŻs twined spell unique skill she was able to cast the spell twice and use both forms.

    However, once Verona had cast this spell, Cibor no longer waited and sprung forward, moving in to kill Verona who he knew would be a major threat in this battle.

    Though as he expected, Marek intercepted him blocking his two daggers with his tonfas.

    As these two shed, the floor in the room began to crack, and the windows shattered under the pressure that they exerted.

    However, neither of them was truly using their full power, but that soon changed as Cibor used his path of asura unique skill.

    Growing four new arms, Cibor swung them back and was about to sh forward, when both Lyra and Mrazivy appeared at his sides and opened their mouths.

    Firing out of their mouths each of them unleashed their breath attacks, with Lyra firing a st of scotching mes and Mrazivy firing a frigid beam of cold energy.

    Spinning his extra arms around, Cibor had to give up on his offensive against Marek and deal with the powerful breath attacksing for him.

    Even he could not ignore these attacks, since taking them head on would cause a decent amount of damage.<sub>.</sub>

    Still with shing both of his extra arms Cibor was able to blow back Mrazivy and LyraˇŻs breath attacks.

    ˇ®Powerful sh.ˇŻ

    Jumping in from above, Marcus brough down his scythe right on top of CiborˇŻs head, as he opened himself up for an attack while blocking Marek, Lyra, and Mrazivy.

    CLANG!

    Having his scythe stopped right in its tracks, Marcus was surprised to see two of CiborˇŻs extra arms stretched up and met his attack.

    To this point, none of them had seen Cibor do this, but in actuality his extra arms were not limited to the movements of normal human arms, and could extend and twist in unnaturally.

    Normally Cibor never used this ability of his unique skill, since it took a great deal of focus, and the further he extended the arms the less power they had.

    But along with using this aspect of his path of asura, Cibor had also activated his third eye awakening, allowing him to see everything around him, and glimpse a couple seconds into the future.

    ˇ®Roxene.ˇŻ

    With his attack blocked, Marcus seamlessly moved onto his next n, and Roxene jumped out of hispanion storage, her size rapidly growing as she used her supreme skill.

    Yet, as she opened her mouth and went right for CiborˇŻs throat, he brought his foot up and kicked Roxene away.

    Cibor, then spun around pushing everyone away from him, as he unleashed a barrage of mana shes that tore through the area.

    With everyone having been disrupted by his wild attack, Cibor locked onto his nearest foe, and charged straight for Mrazivy.

    He knew he needed to pick off whoever he could quickly, for the longer the fightsted the more he would get worn down fighting against so many people.

    ˇ®Ice DragonˇŻs Egg.ˇŻ

    Seeing Ciboring for her, Mrazivy cast her strongest tier six defensive ice magic spell and was quickly incased in an egg of ice.<sub></sub>

    This was a spell that Gwyneira had personally given to her, and it boasted some of the best defensive abilities of any tier six spell.

    Still, Cibor tore through it with just one sh from two of his daggers, and plugged the other four towards Mrazivy.

    However, before he could finish the attack he abruptly jumped back, as Marek smashed into the ground where he had been standing moments before.

    Now using both of his unique skills, Marek was teeming with power, and Cibor was going to have to really watch out, since he already knew how hard the old man could hit.

    ˇ®Roxene. Looks like we are going all out early. LetˇŻs do it.ˇŻ Marcus said to hispanion.

    Nodding her head, Roxene after her first attack failed tond, already knew that she was far out matched, but now it was time for them to close the gap a bit.

    ˇ®Soul Burst.ˇŻ

    Both of them using their trump cards, Marcus and Roxene doubled their powers for the next three minutes.

    At this point, they knew that Cibor was fighting with all he had right from the start, and that this battle was going to be decided quickly.

    Circling around him, both of them continually firedser spells into his blind spots, using their most precise and quickest spell to keep him on his toes.

    Of course, for Cibor these attacks were just an annoyance, but still they limited his movements and made it difficult for him to go back on the offensive against Marek who was going all out.

    And during this time, Verona had been casting buff and debuff spells continuously, strengthening her allies while simultaneously weakening Cibor.

    ˇ®Freezing Chains.ˇŻ

    Conjuring a set of powerful chains, Mrazivy sent them towards Cibor along with coating them in her mercurial ice to further empower them.

    Jumping around Cibor did his best to avoid MrazivyˇŻs chains while also dealing with Marek, Marcus, and RoxeneˇŻs assault.

    He saw that if he tried to block these chains that the silverish liquid coating them wouldtch onto him, and he was making sure to not allow this to happen.<sub></sub>

    However, Cibor quickly found himself in between a rock and a hard ce as Lyra surrounded him with her eight clones.

    He was already having a hard enough time taking on everything else, and being pressured by Lyra was going to push him over the edge.

    Not to mention that just her presence prevented him from using any sort of concentrated powerful attack, since she could use her reflector shield to send it right back.

    Eventually as the battle continued, Cibor began taking hit after hit, slowly being beaten down, until he was caught between having to take MarcusˇŻ eclipse meteor or MarekˇŻs poweful swing head on.

    Turning around, Marek, faced off against Marcus, and with four of his arms shed out towards, him, to block his attack.

    Yet instead of using his remaining two arms for defense, as the explosive power of MarcusˇŻ attack discharged all around him, Cibor thrust forward and stabbed his daggers into Marcus.

    Feeling his body suddenly pierced, Marcus gritted his teeth and pressed on, pushing as hard as he could against Cibor.

    Then an instant after Marcus had been skewered by two of CiborˇŻs daggers, Marek appeared and mmed him in the back with a devastating blow.

    With a loud cracking sound, Cibor went flying along with Marcus who was still impaled on his daggers.

    Though they did not get far before Cibor mmed into a wall of ice that popped up conveniently, cutting him off from Marcus.

    The ice then began to encase his body, but with the swing of his weapons he shattered it, and saw Marcus who he had just stabbed was already beginning to recover at an exponential rate.

    ˇ°Owoooo.ˇ±

    Using both her howl of day and night, Roxene unleashed an explosive st of darkness and light that fully enveloped both Marcus and Cibor.

    However, unlike Marcus who was immune to this attack, Cibor who was already being worn down, had to use a full powered mana barrier to block RoxeneˇŻs attack that devastated the area.

    And not giving him any time to recover, as soon as RoxeneˇŻ attack began to dissipate Lyra who had assumed her most powerful form came from above.

    ˇ®Fox DeityˇŻs Judgment.ˇŻ

    Firing off a massive pir of her blueish sliver mes from her entire body, Lyra sted her master with everything she had, and even CiborˇŻs skin began to burn under this attack that could melt adamantine.

    Following up, Mrazivy cast her tier six ice magic spell, raging tundra, and the immensely hot area around Cibor began to rapidly cool, as he was subjected to one extreme after the other.

    Still, Cibor was one tough bastard, and even after this chain of powerful attack he was still standing and ready to continue on.

    ˇ®shes of Furry.ˇŻ

    Swinging all six of his arms Cibor for the first time sent out a full powered attack right for Marek, since he was the biggest threat.

    Of course, he had timed this attack now since Lyra had finallymitted herself to a full-on attack, rather than taking positions where she could reflect any big attacks he used.

    ˇ®Twister Blow.ˇŻ

    Rapidly spinning his tonfaˇŻs around, Marek unleashed the full power of his unlimited stockpile and with his own attack skill met CiborˇŻs head on.

    ˇ°Ahhhhh.ˇ±

    Screaming out and pushing his arms to the side, Marek caused CiborˇŻs power attack to change trajectory, as the six shes all went in different direction around Marek.

    Theses shes then continued on tearing the castle apart and copsing a great deal of it.

    ˇ®Eclipse Railgun.ˇŻ

    Having taken the time while everyone else was bombarding Cibor to prepare, Marcus fired off his eclipse railgun which was his fastest and most devastating attack.

    Yet Cibor with his third eye had already seen MarcusˇŻ attacking, and after slowing Marek down he had immediatelyunched towards Marcus.

    Swinging one of his daggers forward, Cibor expertly intercepted MarcusˇŻ eclipse railgun having already seen its trajectory with his third eye.

    Then with the flick of his wrist, he sent the powerful projectile away from him, and closed the distance between him and Marcus.

    Pulling back three of his arms, Cibor shed down on Marcus who was still in a disadvantageous posture after using his railgun.

    Smiling Cibor closed his eyes right before shing Marcus into ribbons, and an instant before he would have hit, arge hole was sted into his side as the eclipse railgun shot right through him and his light armor.

    Looking back Cibor could see Lyra standing behind him, her reflector shield just vanishing as she had used it to redirected MarcusˇŻ missed railgun.

    Swinging his scythe, Marcus cut off CiborˇŻs arms before kicking him away, as he felt his soul pulsing since he had been very close from being torn apart.

    Sliding across the floor, Cibor came to a stop right in front of Marek, who was looking down at him with a conflicted expression.

    Coughing up a mouthful of blood. Cibor was certainly mortally injured, and his life was quickly leaving.

    ˇ°What was that? Is that all you had? I know you are stronger than that Cibor? Why did you take that attack, I know you could have dodged or blocked it?ˇ± Marek said almost angry at how Cibor was dying even though he was their strongest enemy.

    ˇ°You put to much on me old man. I am not as strong as you think I am. I put up a good fight, but I could not win. At the very least, I feel like I satisfied my duty as the first ranked great knight.ˇ± Cibor said with a content expression on his face.

    Yet while it was Cibor who was the one dying, Marek was experiencing anger and frustration.

    ˇ°What do you mean satisfied? Your heart was not in this battle from the start. I know you could have done more damage to us than that. At least one of us should be dead, and the others all heavily injured. You have even turned off your skills. I know you have regeneration, so why are you just letting yourself just bleed out here?ˇ± Marek said entirely not satisfied with this oue.

    However, Lyra came up and ced a hand on his should, before looking down at her master.

    ˇ°Chief I am sure you can understand my masterˇŻs feelings. There is no need to do anymore. Just let him die with dignity.ˇ±

    Letting out an angry sigh, Marek walked away, as Cibory there looking up at Lyra, and said, ˇ°Jadzia, if you would not mind following your masterˇŻs order onest time, please finish it? I would prefer not to suffer and wait to bleed out, so if you could make it quick?ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Lyra held up both of her kukrisˇŻ and ced them on either side of CiborˇŻs neck, as he said hisst words.

    ˇ°Jadzia, I want you to know that I wish now that I had taken your side when your parents were executed, and that I had no idea about the kingˇŻs n to blow up the city. I suppose in the end, I had misced my loyalty.ˇ±

    After saying that Cibor closed his eyes, and with a quick movement from her kukriˇŻs Lyra took off her masterˇŻs head as she cried a flood of tears.

 Chapter 479 Rank Three vs Rank Two

    While Marcus, Marek, Mrazivy, Lyra, and Verona fought against a less than motivated Cibor, Argus confidently walked towards the throne room where it was likely the king was located.

    However, as soon as the door came into sight, Argus saw the second ranked great knight standing stalwartly outside.

    Of course, this was to be expected, as his family had always been the personal protectors of the monarch of Tralenstein, and the strongest of their generation would be their personal protector.

    In fact, it was quite often that their family would hold the first rank of great knight, but Cibor had been considered just ever so stronger than the current second ranked great knight.

    ˇ°Ah Rosly, I see that you still stay next to your master like a well-trained dog.ˇ± Argus said as he approached, not even trying to feign any sort of pleasantries and let his normal personality show.

    Narrowing his eyes, and staring at Argus with a murderous expression, Rosly responded saying, ˇ°Argus you bastard. Do you think that your betrayal will go unpunished? But this good that you havee to me yourself. As the kingˇŻs personal protector, I cannot be far from him, so I could not hunt you down personally, but now you havee to offer your life up to me.ˇ±

    Smiling and cackling, Argus said, ˇ°Ah, your greater than thou personality never ceases to make meugh. You truly believe that you alone are strong enough to protect the king from everything. But you do not even know what true power is in this world. Both of us are antspared to the monsters that sit at the top. Still, I can at least put you in your ce, and then I am going to rip the head off the king you blindly follow.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    As Argus said this, Rosly no longer stood idly by, and charged forward like a bull, throwing his spiked amethros shield in front of himself and aiming it right towards Argus.

    In response, Argus activated his behemoth aspect and grew many timesrger, before swinging forward with his adamantine hammer.

    As Argus smashed his hammer into RoslyˇŻs shield, even though he seemed to be a massive giant of a man under the power of his unique skill, it became painfully clear very quickly that he was outmatched as Rosly pushed him back.

    Jumping back, Argus put some distance between himself and Rosly, and clicked his tongue as he looked at his hammer.

    After just one confrontation with Rosly, his adamantine hammer now had shallow holes in it, as it simply could not match the power of the amethros shield that Rosly had.

    To make matters worse, Rosly also pulled out his amethros mace, which was his weapon of choice.<sub></sub>

    At this point, Argus wished he still had his own amethros weapon, but it had been confiscated when he was arrested. So, he had been having to make do with the adamantine hammer Marcus made for him.

    ˇ®Eruption Crash.ˇŻ

    Swinging his hammer down, Argus smashed it into the ground which shattered under the impact, before a series of sts of mana began shaking the area and expanded all around Argus.

    Holding his shield in front of himself, Rosly stood firm and took on the power of ArgusˇŻ attack unique skill, using his unbreakable defender unique skill to counter it.

    Standing firm, Rosly managed to take the full power of the strongest attack that he knew Argus could unleash, and the area around and in front of him hade out unscathed from the devastating attack,

    Yet, the area of the castle that was not being protected by Rosly, had crumbled and was copsing.<sub></sub>

    What used to be pristine halls had been turned to ruble, as even the roof of the castle copsed and revealed the sky above.

    Argus then grew to his full size, and said, ˇ°Ah now we have some more room to move around. It was too cramped before for me to really show off my full strength.ˇ±

    Frowning, Rosly looked around at the destroyed area of the castle and said, ˇ°You truly have no respect. You not onlye here to defy his majesty, but also destroy the royal castle. I will have you pay in blood.ˇ±

    Rolling his eyes, Argus could not care less about RoslyˇŻs preaching, and swung his now huge hammer down on the man who looked like an insect in front of ArgusˇŻ size.

    Gusts of heavy wind blew, and the already unstable walls that had managed to stand blew over as Argus swung his hammer with full force.

    But, Rosly just held his shield straight up, and stopped the full weight of ArgusˇŻ hammer with one hand.

    Not even the ground shook as Rosly held aloft ArgusˇŻ attack, havingpletely negated the force behind it with his superior power.

    In terms of strength, Rosly was far closer to Cibor that Argus was to him, and while Argus tried to sound big, the truth was that he was currently weaker than the second ranked great knight.

    ˇ°Hmph. You could not beat me even with your superior equipment, yet you think that with the scrapes you are using now you have any chance?ˇ± Rosly said as he swung his mace forward and sent out a dominate st of mana right for Argus.

    Being hit square in the stomach by this st, Argus even in his behemoth form, was sted upwards were Rosly had directed his attack.

    Feeling his armor buckling and his stomach caving in, Argus brought forth all of his might and just barely pushed RoslyˇŻs mana st away.

    However, as soon as he stopped, Rosly began firing st after st into the sky after him, forcing Argus to take evasive action.

    Of course, with his massive form, it was harder to avoid the precise attacks fired off by Rosly, who to this point had not incurred any difficulty dealing with Argus.

    As he understood he was not going to win this way, Argus sighed and thought, ˇ®I knew this was not going to work, but I had to tried anyway. Oh well, I just have to make sure I kill him quickly before anyone else shows up.ˇŻ

    Shrinking back to his normal size and dropping to the ground, Argusnded hard and looked towards Rosly who had a confident smile on his face, looking at Argus like he had already won.

    ˇ°Hm, do you think that shrinking down is going to help you. Even with your behemoth aspect you could not overpower me, but without it your attacks are no threat at all.ˇ± Rosly said mockingly, seeing Argus deactivating his unique skill as a sign that he had given up.

    ˇ°Ha, ha, ha. Yes, you are right even behemoth aspect could not help me against you. In terms of defensive abilities, you are far and away the best in the kingdom. So, I will just have to use the true power of my unique skill.ˇ± Argus said his voice going cold and deadly.

    ˇ°Demonic Aspect.ˇ±

    Unleashing a truly vile aura, ArgusˇŻ body began to twist and change much like when he used his behemoth aspect, but far more violently.

    First his teeth grew into long and sharp fangs, his eyes turned pure red, a crown of horns began to sprouted out of his head, his muscles bulged, ws grew out from his fingers, and his skin began to take on a blue hue.

    Then finally as the transformation ended arge blue gem appeared right in the center of his forehead, as he crackled with demonic energy.

 Chapter 480 A Final Stand

    Having taken on a new form no one in the kingdom of Tralenstein had ever seen, Argus began moving his body around and getting used to a power he had not used in many years.

    ˇ°Ah it feels good to finally feel his blood pumping through me again. It has been too long since Ist used this power.ˇ± Argus said with an almost euphoric expression on his now warped face that looked as demonic as the aura he was emitting was.

    In fact, if Marcus was here, he would definitely notice the resemnce that Argus currently shares with the massive and powerful blue demon that he saw in the Cordillera Depths Dungeon.

    After taking a few moments to reveal in his new power, Argus turned his head back towards Rosly who was now looking at him with disgust.

    ˇ°So, you are even more vile than I thought you were. I do not know how you obtained the power of such a foul creature as a demon, but it only doubles my resolve to end you.ˇ± Rosly said, while positioning his shield in front of himself.

    He then charged right towards Argus, his shield empowered by as much mana as he could send into it.

    Using one of his attack skills, Rosly mmed his shield forward aiming to impale Argus on its many spikes.

    But to his surprise, Argus thrust his left hand into the shield letting its spikes pierce right through his hand.

    Still, with just one arm Argus had stopped RoslyˇŻs charge, and with a wide swing, mmed his hammer towards RoslyˇŻs head.

    CLANG!

    Bringing up his mace, while he had been surprised that Argus could stop him so easily, Rosly was still very strong, and his defenses were top notch, so he quickly responded and blocked ArgusˇŻ attack.

    ˇ®Whorl Impact.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Spinning his mace around, Rosly deflected ArgusˇŻ hammer away, and knocked him off bnce, before jamming his mace straight into his stomach.

    Coughing up a mouthful of blood and being pushed back a few dozen feet, Argus looked down at the dent in his armor and stomach, before looking hatefully at Rosly.

    Even after using his demonic aspect, he found himself not quite strong enough to wholly overpower his opponent.

    Of course, this was simply inrge part due to the difference in their equipment, but there was nothing Argus could do about that right now.

    ˇ°It appears that I took you too lightly.ˇ± Argus said as he held up his hand and let Rosly watch it quickly restore itself.

    After that Argus pulled his arm back, before throwing out a punch that was d in very dark blue lightning.

    This powerful st of lightning came at Rosly faster than he could avoid it, so all he could do was hold his shield out and take the hit.

    As the lighting hit his shield it began coursing all around him, singing his skin, and numbing his muscles.

    Yet this was not like normal electricity as it also drained away his stamina, and like tiny fireflies this energy was transmitted back to Argus.

    Absorbing this power from Rosly, Argus smirked at the second ranked great knight who for the first time during their confirmation had taken some damage.

    Naturally though, this was still far from enough to take him down, and he shot forward closing the distance, not wanting to face Argus at long range now that he knew about his lightning attack.<sub></sub>

    Jumping into action as well, Argus smashed against Rosly swinging his hammer with full force.

    And unlike before, this time Rosly was the one being pushed back and having to grit his teeth, while Argus pummeled him with rapid and powerful attacks, taking little heed for his own safety, as Rosly constantly battered him with his mace.

    ˇ®Eruption Crash.ˇŻ

    As soon as the cool down on his attack unique skill ended, Argus mmed down on Rosly with his full force.

    Holding up his shield, Rosly did his best to hold up against ArgusˇŻ full powered attack, but his knees buckled under the explosive power and was crushed into the ground.

    A massive explosion raged around the two of them as Argus nted Rosly seep into the ground with his strongest attack.

    However, as he pulled his hammer back, he frowned seeing that the adamantine hammer Marcus had made, had reached its limits.

    ˇ®Hm, well it was good work for not even being top tier adamantine I guess.ˇŻ Argus thought as he threw the remains of the hammer away and began walking towards the throne room.

    Yet before he got far, the ground began to shake and Rosly jumped back up to the surface, an aura of rage surrounding him.

    Tch!

    Clicking his tongue Argus, was perturbed that Rosly had survived that, since now he was down his weapon.<sub></sub>

    Still, Rosly was bleeding heavily after taking ArgusˇŻ full powered attack, and his breathing was getting a bit ragged.

    Not giving his opponent any time to recover, Argus crackled with demonic lightning again, and sent out a wide st towards, Rosly.

    Of course, Argus did not want to use this power, since it ate away at his mana and life force at an incredible rate, but it was now his best remaining weapon.

    Bracing himself, and charging forward, Rosly did not falter as he leaped into the st of lightning and withstood its power.

    Running through the torrent of electricity, RoslyˇŻs skin began to char and ke away, along with his muscles seizing up and his stamina being drained away.

    But even under all of this he charged ahead stalwartly, believing wholeheartedly in his duty to protect the king and using it to fuel his resolve.

    Quickly, he had made it right in front of Argus who looked out with wide eyes in surpriser to see Rosly right before him.

    WHAM!

    mming his spiked shield with all his might into Argus, Rosly turned his formerpatriot into a pin cushion as he blew him away with one big push.

    Crashing through debris Argus felt pain throughout his entire body, as he had been deeply impaled all over his torso and arms.

    Luckily, he had been able to protect his head, but even still the damage head taken was immense.

    Struggling, to get up, Argus had blood pouring all over himself, and the stamina he had stolen from Rosly was insignificant to the amount that he was going to need to heal his wounds.

    However, it was not like Rosly had gotten off unscathed, and in many ces, he had horribly burnt skin that had been turned ck.

    ˇ°Looks like you are having some trouble here.ˇ±

    Looking behind him, Rosly saw who had just spoken and a conflicted expression appeared on his face.

    ˇ°Kem, you and your whispers are supposed to be protecting the king.ˇ± Rosly said towards this new figure.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Kem said, ˇ°Yes, and the others are, but the fighting out here sounded fierce, so I came to help. Anyway, things seem to not be going well so it looks like my assistance will be necessary.

    Grunting, Rosly said, ˇ°Things are going fine. I only need one more attack to finish off Argus. But since you are here, back me up, just in case. He has some tricks he has kept hidden, so be careful.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Kem took up position behind Rosly and took out his short sword, waiting for Argus to make his move.

    ˇ°Arghhhh.ˇ±

    Screaming out, Argus charged straight for Rosly, holding his wed hands out in front of himself.

    Waiting for Argus toe to him, as the man who seemed to be acting feralshed out with his first swipe, Rosly intercepted it with his shield piercing through ArgusˇŻ hand and blocking his first attack.

    Then he swung his mace with all his might at ArgusˇŻ head, while turning his body to lessen the damage from ArgusˇŻ second w swipe.

    Yet, as soon as hemitted to his attack, Rosly felt his danger sense going off from behind him, and with lightning-fast movements he turned his neck to the side, just barely avoiding having his neck cut clean off.

    Though as he avoided this surprise attack, Rosly still took quite the gash as his neck began to spurt blood.

    And to make things worse, ArgusˇŻ second w attack mmed against him and sent him flying across the area, until he crashed right into the sturdy doors of the throne room that were protected by the kingdomˇŻs strongest barrier.

    Getting to his feet Rosly stared hateful at Kem and said, ˇ°You bastard, what are you doing? Why are you betraying me and the trust that the king put in you?ˇ±

    Smiling devilishly and holding up his short sword that was dripping with RoslyˇŻs blood, Kem said, ˇ°Oh I am not betraying anyone. This has always been the n. IsnˇŻt that right Argus?ˇ±

    Joining in, Argus had the same smile that Kem had and said, ˇ°Yes, and it has taken quite some time toplete. But before we can finish, we need you to die, Rosly.ˇ±

    Grimacing, Rosly, held up his shield and mace, prepared to fight both Argus and Kem when his arms began shaking.

    ˇ°Looks like it is working. I was afraid that it might take a bit longer, but you are too worn out to resist any longer.ˇ± Kem said towards Rosly.

    Feeling his arms grow heavily, Rosly dropped both his shield and mace, as the poison that had been on KemˇŻs de coursed through his veins.

    Breathing heavily, Rosly looked at the two men that were quietly chuckling at his quickly deteriorating situation, as the deadly poison ravaged his body.

    ˇ®I am sorry your majesty.ˇŻ Rosly thought, before enveloping his body with all of his remaining mana.

    He then began glowing as he overloaded his body with mana, until he began to crack apart.

    Then after one final look back at the throne room, Rosly self-destructed with as much force as he could muster.

 Chapter 481 A Plan Coming to Completion

    With a bright sh, Rosly unleashed all of the power he had left, at the expense of sacrificing his body and life.

    Quickly, a huge st of mana expanded around where he had been and fully engulfed both Argus and Kem, who had beenughing at RoslyˇŻs sorry state just a moment before.

    Yet now their eyes had gone wide, as the second ranked great knight sacrificed his life to try and take out those he viewed as traitors to his king.

    Unfortunately for him, as the dust cleared, both Argus and Kem were leftpletely unharmed, as a powerful barrier of water had been erected around them

    ˇ°What a waste. That bastard made me use a tier eight spell sealing talisman that was ridiculously difficult to get.ˇ± Kem said looking at the spot where Rosly had just been with disdain.

    ˇ°Oh well, once we get our rewards for our sessful jobpleted, even that will seem like just a trinket.ˇ± Argus said as he walked towards the remains of Rosly.

    However, all that was left to show that the man had ever been here was his amethros mace and shield, which were the only things on him that survived his suicide explosion.

    ˇ°Oh, are we going to keep those? Certainly, they are very valuable and would more than make up for the talisman I just used.ˇ± Kem said looking at the amethros equipment greedily.

    ˇ°No, it will be best if I hand them over. I do not need any suspicion being cast on me in case I need to use my connections here again.ˇ± Argus said as he picked up the mace and shield.

    He then stored them away into his time box and said, ˇ°I do not feel CiborˇŻs presence anymore, so Marek and the others must have just finished up. You should hurry and make yourself scarce. Though if you are feeling up to it,st time I saw Francis he was fighting Ziemia, and if you are lucky, you might be able to kill the two of them.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Shaking his head, Kem said, ˇ°No that is too much for me. You know that I am better at gathering information and subterfuge. I am only level sixty-six, so I have no intention of getting caught up in their battle. I will just disappear fairly quietly, maybe picking off any stragglers I find along the way.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Argus said, ˇ°I suppose that is fine. We already passed the quota of one million, and got rid of the most dangerous people, so anything more is just extra.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, but it is too bad about Tesia bringing all those people back to life. It took me quite some time to convince the king to use the entire city and its poption as a trap. And I am sure we would have gotten a huge bonus had we killed more than double the number we were asked to.ˇ± Kem said with a disappointed expression.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Argus responded, ˇ°No need to get too greedy. We aplished what we wanted to, and it was all thanks to that king who is incredibly, vain, insecure, and greedy. We had to wait three generations for him, but I guess it was worth it.ˇ±

    Hearing this, Kem beganughing and said, ˇ°You do not even know the half of it. Even without us, I bet he would have led this kingdom to civil war in twenty years or so. We simply helped speed things along.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes well, it has been good to catch up with you, but if we wait much longer others may show up. Hurry up and get out of here, and I will meet up with you in a few months when I can slip away from here without burning any bridges. Our next mission is going to be just as, if not more important. Our master has gotten wind of a powerful yer we may be able to get on our side, and it will be up to us to get him to join.ˇ± Argus said

    Kem then moved to leave but stopped remembering something.

    ˇ°I nearly forgot. Take this.ˇ± Kem said as he threw a dark badge towards Argus.

    ˇ°That is my badge as leader of the whispers. With that you can get into the throne room without having to go through the trouble of disabling the barrier. Also, about now the men I left in their to watch the king should be sumbing to the poison I spiked their alertness potions with. If you hurry, you can im some more glory for yourself before anyone else shows up.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    After saying that, Kem disappeared in to a whisp of shadows, as he quickly made his way out of the kingdom of Tralenstein.

    Once Kem was gone, Argus looked towards the throne room which was still unscathed even after the devastating battle that had happened around it.

    Still, as powerful as the defenses around this area were, it did not really matter since Argus now had a key.

    Holding out the badge that Kem had given him, Argus watched as the magical locks and defenses around the door receded.

    Then with onerge push, Argus threw the two doors open and brazenly walked into the throne room.

    Looking around, as expected the king was perched high up on his throne, looking down on anyone else who was in the room.

    However, his numerous guards who normally stood at attention, were all keeled over and grasping for breath, as the poison Kem had slipped them was starting to work.

    Of course, there were other people in the room, like the kingˇŻs two dozen most trusted servants, his three wives, and children.

    And as the king saw Argus, his eyes turned fierce, and a furious expression came over his face.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Argus how the hell did you get in here? Where is Rosly, and Kem? I know that the two of them said they would deal with you and your lot.ˇ± The king said not having grasped the reality of the situation yet.

    Smiling Argus said, ˇ°Oh I already dealt with those two. Rosly in particr put up a good fight, but in the end, he was too weak since his master kept him on such a short leash.ˇ±

    Standing up the king looked hatefully at Argus and said, ˇ°Former third ranked great knight Argus Deimos, I King Cyryl Tralenstein, fine you guilty of treason and sentence you to death.ˇ±

    Cyryl then held out the device that allowed for a king to give noble titles towards Argus, and a powerful magic began to seep out of it.

    This was the power that was given to those that wielded these devices and governed territory.

    They could use specific spells, to punish their subjects should they get out of line, and even a lower-leveled lord could kill or injure a higher-leveled opponent.

    Of course, the king of a nation wielded this power to its greatest extent, and now Cyryl was exercising his right to execute a traitor.

    Yet Argus just smirked as he saw this, and continued to walk forward as the ck smoke from the magic device that gave kings their power coiled around him.

    However, as this magic that should have at the very least horribly injured Argus swirled around him, he simply pushed through it as if he had just walked through some fog.

    Seeing this, the king was stunned, since his power should have worked on anyone within his domain, and especially a traitor.

    ˇ°You really are a foolish king are you not. You have no idea about what that thing in your possession really does. You think that your title as king means anything right now. A kingˇŻs power is directly corrted to the faith and belief his people have in him. Now how many people left in this kingdom do you think still see you as their king?ˇ± Argus said mocking Cyryl.

    For the first time fear began to creep onto the proud kingˇŻs face, and in response Argus smiled demonically.

    After that, Argus rushed around the room, and killed every man, woman, and child in the throne room other than the king.

    Seeing Argus begin ughtering his closest retainers and family, the king who to this point had been assured that everything was going to end well and was confident that he would still win, finally thought of fleeing.

    Except as he tried to activate the teleportation artifact he had, Argus just chuckled, soaked in blood from all of those he had just killed.

    ˇ°Did you really think that we would not have prepared for something like that? You are not getting away from here. I need you to finish your role as the tyrant king and be executed in front of the masses.ˇ± Argus said as he approached the king, who was now the only other living person in the room.

    ˇ°DonˇŻte any closer.ˇ± Cyryl said as he pulled out two spell sealing talismans.

    Stopping and looking at these talismans, Argus could immediately tell that sealed within each one was a tier nine spell, and something that could be considered a national treasure.

    ˇ°Oh, to think that you had something like those hidden away. However, those are not going to help you out here. Go ahead and try to use them and see how that ends for you.ˇ± Argus said mocking the kingˇŻs final attempt to keep him at bay.

    Argus then continued walking forward, and Cyryl panicking threw one of the talismans forward.

    But in response Argus threw his own magical device which was shaped like a small ball.

    A field of shimmering white light began to be emitted by this sphere and the talisman that the king threw, failed to unleash the spell sealed within and dropped to the floor harmlessly.

    After that, Argus picked up the talisman, and ced into one of his pockets before saying, ˇ°Even a tier nine spell is worthless if you cannot activate it. Though it is a pity I had to use something as rare as a formation disruption sphere. At the very least, these talismans will make up for it.ˇ±

    Closing the remaining distance to the king in a sh, Argus grabbed both of the kingˇŻs hands, and snapped them to prevent any other type of resistance.

    He had already had his fun tormenting the king, and now he needed to get serious to make sure that the desperate man did not have any other tricks up his sleeves.

    ˇ°I will be taking this.ˇ± Argus said as he pocketed the other talisman the king had.

    He then grabbed the king by the back of his neck and dragged him out of the throne room while saying, ˇ°Now it is time for you to pay for your crimes against your own kingdom and its people.ˇ±

 Chapter 482 Warâ€™s End

    Ding!

    ˇ®You have leveled up to level forty-nine.ˇŻ

    ˇ®You have leveled up to level fifty.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Three blessings detected, level fifty requirement achieved, initializing upgrade.ˇŻ

    As soon as Lyra finished off Cibor, Marcus received two level up notifications, as the experience for defeating Cibor was quite high, and he had already been close to reaching level forty-nine before the start of the battle.

    Also, he got another about his blessings being upgraded for reaching level fifty, though he disregarded this for now, since there were more pressing matters to deal with.

    Of course, Marcus was not the only one who leveled up off of defeating the strongest man in Tralenstein, as everyone else went up at least one level.<sub>.</sub>

    However, there was no rejoicing as Lyra cried, having killed her former master who had shown his regrets in the end.

    During their battle, it had been quite obvious that Cibor was struggling to continue fighting for the king after he had blown up the entire capital other than the castle.

    Still, in the end, none of them could understand exactly what Cibor was thinking as he fought, but it was over now.

    Walking up to Lyra, Marcus put a hand on her shoulder, and his old friend looked up at him with watery eyes full of sadness.

    Certainly, she had wanted revenge against the king for killing her parents, but that did not make it any easier for her to kill the man that had trained her to be strong.

    Lyra then hugged Marcus looking forfort in the person who was now probably the closest she had left in this world.<sub></sub>

    Returning her hug, Marcus patted her on the back of the head and did all he could to make her feel more at ease.

    Unfortunately, their time to rest did notst long as Marek said, ˇ°We need to keep going. It seems that Argus is finished with his battle, but we do not know what state he is in. And more importantly, we still need to secure the king.ˇ±

    Quickly gathering themselves, Marcus, Lyra, Mrazivy, Marek, and Verona, began walking through the rubble that was all that was left of this area of the castle, and approached the only room that had survived their battle with Cibor, and ArgusˇŻ battle with Rosly.

    Yet, as they got closer, they saw Argus,ing out of the room, and in one of his hands he was dragging the king, who was battered and broken.

    Taking the lead, Marek walked up to Argus who had a smile on his face and said, ˇ°I have captured and incapacitated Cyryl. Also, Rosly and Kem are dead, though there is not much left of either of them.ˇ±

    Argus then threw the king at the feet of Marek and said, ˇ°You are the leader, so it makes the most sense if you are the one to parade this sorry tyrant in front of the people. I am sure that everyone will be happy to hear that the war is over.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Nodding his head, Marek picked the king up, and though the manˇŻs arms were broken, and he was in rough shape, he still used some adamantine manacles, just to make sure that the king did not attempt any surprise escape.

    Though before they began moving towards the front of the castle where the rest of the battles were winding down, Lyra, backhanded the king with her closed fist using as much force as she could muster.

    Naturally, the kingˇŻs jaw broke and around a half dozen of his teeth flew out of his mouth from the power behind LyraˇŻs hit, since the king was only level forty-four and not a fighter by any means.

    Of course, with the rage in her eyes, it was quite obvious that she wanted to kill the king right here and now, but she knew that she would have to wait a bit longer before the person who sentenced her parents to death would meet his end.

    After that, Marek looked towards the throne room and said to Argus, ˇ°What of the kingˇŻs family, and retainers? Did they flee or are they still in the throne room?ˇ±

    ˇ°Ah, yes. I already took care of them, so no need to worry about that.ˇ± Argus said

    Understanding what Argus meant, Marek turned his head away, back towards the front of the castle and said, ˇ°Let us get going, it is time to put an end to this war.ˇ±

    The seven of them then quickly made their way through the castle, until they arrived at the entrance, where thest bits of fighting were still going on.

    Currently, Ziemia and her contracted spirit Grunt, were holed up in one of the castleˇŻs towers with around two thousand soldiers, and were providing thest resistance that was left for those loyal to the king.

    However, as soon as Marek came out dragging the king along in chains, thisst little bastion of troops saw that their leader had been captured.

    ˇ°To all those that can hear me, I announce the end of this war. King Cyryl has been captured, and both the former rank one and rank two great knights are dead. The tyranny of an unjust king who has led us to dethrones him is over, and now it is time to end the fighting and rebuild our kingdom to be better than it ever has been before.ˇ± Marek said, into a magic item that amplified his voice, throughout the entire castle.

    Then after giving a few moments for everything he had said to sink in, he continued his speech.

    ˇ°To all those that fought for the king, I ask that youy down your arms and surrender. We do not wish for any more bloodshed, and you have my word that those that give up peacefully will not be harmed or treated unfairly. We are all citizensˇŻ of Tralenstein and there is no need for any more to die todayˇ±

    Hearing this many of the soldiers that were still supporting the king and had already all but been defeated dropped their weapons and surrendered.

    They knew that this was the end and losing their lives over pointlessly fighting was not going to aplish anything.

    However, there was one person who was not willing to take this lying down, and Ziemia shot towards Marek in a rage.

    Her family had long been protectors of the capital and the royal family, and she felt it was her duty to fight to the end for the king she pledged allegiance to.

    Unfortunately, for her, as she left the defensible position of the tower she was in, a barrage of spells and attacks came her way. And even as strong as she was, it did not take long before she was taken down, as Francis delivered the finishing blow with his de.

    After that, no more resistance came, as anyone loyal to the king knew that it would just be suicide to try and fight back. Especially with what they had just seen happened to Ziemia who was the strongest fighter they had left.

    Finally, the war was now truly over, and the liberation that had started out as just a handful of people, had won over the king and a system that oppressed and took advantage of themon people.

 Chapter 483 A New Order

    After the Liberation had won the war for the royal capital and defeated the kingˇŻs forces and captured the former ruler, it was time to rebuild the nation.

    First, almost every one of the citizens in the capital were left without a home after the king had desperately blown it up in an attempt to stop the liberation.

    Therefore, it was paramount that the liberation offered their assistance to the people they had fought so hard for and had been abandoned by those that were originally meant to protect them.

    Luckily, with the support of Borealia who had already highly ingrained itself with the liberation which were now the true rulers of Tralenstein, everyoneˇŻs basic needs were able to be met.

    Of course, the support that Borealia had provided had not been cheap, and the king had emptied out around seventy percent of the royal familyˇŻs coffers to fund the liberation.

    Still that investment was soon going to pay off, as now that Tralenstein was going to be ruled by one of the king of BorealiaˇŻs wives, the kingdoms would be very close nit, and within around two decades would begin to merge into an even greater nation.<sub>.</sub>

    However, before Dani could be Queen of Tralenstein, Cyryl would have to lose his position as king, one way or another.

    And naturally, the way that he was going to be dethroned was by execution, since he had already refused to pass on the title willingly.

    It was one week after the liberationˇŻs victory, and the capital city was beginning to show just a bit more semnce of normalcy, as ruble and bodies had been cleared away by the tireless efforts of the soldiers that had been a part of the liberation and the citizens themselves.

    Being dragged up onto a newly made stage in the center of the city, Cyryl looked down bitterly at all of the people that had gathered to watch his execution.

    Yet, there was nothing he could do now. He was surrounded on all sides by powerful fighters, such as Argus, and Marek, with no hope of escaping or some type of rescue.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Today, we bring an end to the rule of Cyryl Tralenstein who has been convicted of treason, tyranny, and murder. Even being the king of a nation does not give one the right to treat it and its people as if it were their property to do with as they wish. King CyrylˇŻs rule started bloody with the systematic murder of his family, and it had progressed in the same manner to the very end. However, the final straw was when he unjustly murdered the former Duchess and Duke Augustyn, along with a number of other popr nobles who ruled justly under a system that promoted injustice. And as we have looked deeper into this matter, we have found that the Whispers, the kingˇŻs former intelligence organization, had falsified the evidence that had been used to kill these noble men and women.ˇ±

    Marek then paused for a moment as the people began getting riled up and were booing at the king. Some of them even throwing things in his direction. Though nothing hit him due to the barrier that had been erected around the stage to prevent any of the kingˇŻs supporterˇŻs from trying to rescue him.

    Of course, the people were rightfully angry with the man who had been the ruler of their kingdom, as he had used the capital city as a bomb, and for almost a minute most of those gathered had actually been dead.

    Raising his hand to calm the people down, Marek quickly brought the area back to silence, before saying, ˇ°Now it is time for Cyryl to meet the same fate as those that he so easily disregarded and killed without hesitation.ˇ±

    He then motioned to Lyra, who was standing off to the side, and she walked up to the chopping block where Cyryl was being held down.<sub></sub>

    She had demanded that she be the one to perform the execution in order to get justice for her parents. And after all she had done everyone eventually agreed to grant her this wish.

    ˇ°Do you have anyst words.ˇ± Marek asked to Cyryl as Lyra held aloft a ceremonial sword that had been crafted just for his execution.

    Nevertheless, even in the face of his impending death, the king said nothing, holding his head down and waiting for his inevitable fate.

    A part of him wanted to yell and scream at the people who had denounced him.

    Truly he felt that he had been a good ruler in his own mind.

    However, as much as the anger and rage was building up inside him, Cyryl did not want to give anyone the satisfaction of watching him rave like a mad dog.

    And even in hisst few seconds of life, he never once had any thoughts of regret as he believed that he had done what was right and expected of him as king.

    After giving the king a few more moments to speak, Marek nodded his head towards Lyra, who brought her de down on the kingˇŻs head.

    With one clean chop, the kingˇŻs head flew off, and marked the end of king Cyryl Tralenstein.

    Quickly, arge cloth was ced over CyrylˇŻs now headless body, and what was left of him was swiftly dragged away.

    Then without missing a beat, Dani moved to center stage and said, ˇ°People of Tralenstein, my brotherˇŻs rule is over and now it is time to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. I know that things have been and will be difficult for some more time. But I promise to do my best to raise this kingdom from the shambles my brother has left it in. Now if you should wish me to be your new ruler, give me your support and I shall return it to you two-fold. This kingdomˇŻs leaders shall no longer exploit the people, but work to protect them. I promise you this as the new ruler of Tralensteinˇ±

    Once Dani had finished her speech, she held aloft the device that would recognize the ruler of a nation, and a golden light began to wrap around her.

    Rapidly this golden light formed into a crown over DaniˇŻs head, as she was recognized as being the next monarch, as she overwhelmingly had the support of the people that lived within Tralenstein.

    This was the second method for crowning a new ruler instead of the title being passed down.

    If a single individual was able to be recognized as by the majority of the people living within an area, they could take the title of king or queen.

    In fact, this was exactly what had happened with Boreas many centuries ago, when he had liberated the territory of Borealia and became its first king.

    As Dani ascended to be the new queen of Tralenstein, the people cheered and rejoiced for their new ruler.

    At the same time Dani was hit with a huge amount of new information as she became to monarch of the territory that was within the kingdom of Tralenstein.

    However, before she had time to unpack anything else, she heard a voice in her head that said, ˇ°So you are the new ruler. Come to my home in three weeksˇŻ time after you have stabilized things. We have much to discuss.ˇ±

 Chapter 484 Marcusâ€™ Rewards

    Once the execution for Cyryl had beenpleted and Dani had be the official ruler of Tralenstein recognized by the system, the crowd of people began to disperse, going back to their daily lives.

    There was still a great deal of work to be done to rebuild this city from ruins it had been left in, but with everyoneˇŻs efforts progress was being made.

    However, now that she had be queen there was an important matter that needed to be addressed quickly, and Dani walked over to where, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Marek were waiting and said, ˇ°It is time that we all keep up our end of the bargain with my husband. Now that I am the queen, I should be able to ess the vault within the castle.ˇ±

    Hearing this, both Marcus and Mrazivy perked up, and looked at each other with greedy expressions.

    For their hard work during this civil war on behalf of BorealiaˇŻs interests, they had been promised certain items out of the castleˇŻs vault.

    Of course, it had actually been Gwyneira who had pushed for this and not the king who had actually ordered Mrazivy home at first. But in the end, it was decided that they deserved rewards for the efforts that they had put in.

    Yet what Marek said next lowered their spirits.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Hm, it might be possible that before he was captured the king had the items within the vault taken away. When we get there, all we may find is empty space.ˇ±

    Both Mrazivy and Marcus looked at Marek with devastated expressions, since if the vaults were empty, they were going to end up with a whole lot of nothing.

    Luckily Dani came in and said, ˇ°I think it is unlikely that he took everything out. From what you and Argus told me, I do not believe my brother thought he was going to lose until the very end. So, I believe that the vault will still have at least some of its contents remaining, since we already confirmed that its defenses are still functioning.ˇ±

    Nodding their heads, Marcus and Mrazivy, wanted to believe in Dani, since what they were to be getting for their rewards were quite valuable.

    ˇ°Hey Jadzia, we are going to go and look at the vault, did you want toe with us.ˇ± Marcus asked to his friend, hoping to offer his support since he could tell she was in aplicated state emotionally.

    Of course, this was to be expected due to the fact that she had just killed the man she attributed to her mother and fatherˇŻs deaths.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°No, you all go on head. I just want to be alone for a little while.ˇ± Lyra said before walking aimlessly away, going to fine a quiet spot where she could think.

    Looking back at his friend as she walked away, Marcus had a conflicted expression on his face, but Mrazivy whispered to him, ˇ°Just let her go for now. She needs some time to be on her own. When she is ready, she wille an open up to you.ˇ±

    After that, Marcus and Mrazivy followed along with Marek and Dani towards the castleˇŻs vault.

    It was one of the few ces left standing after the battles that had been waged inside, but its powerful protections that had been second only to the throne room kept it intact.

    ˇ°Well, here goes nothing.ˇ± Dani said once they arrived.

    She then used the magic device that gave her power as the monarch of Tralenstein, and deactivated the magical formations around the vault.<sub></sub>

    Quickly the secure instation began to open up, responding to DaniˇŻsmands.

    Walking inside, the four of them all let out sighs of relief, as they noticed that the vault had not been ransacked and most everything was still inside.

    Though it did appear that a number of things had been taken out by the king, likely in order to strengthen his forces or protect himself.

    ˇ°What the two of you are looking for should be in the back from what I know. Though this is my first time in here, so I only know what my father told me.ˇ± Dani said as she led the way into the vault.

    Heading deeper in, both Marcus and Mrazivy could see that this vault was simr to BorealiaˇŻs, except that it was quite a bit smaller, and the entire thing had not been made out of adamantine.

    Still as interesting as everything around them was, both of them were here for some of the most exceptionally rare items which were stored within another even more secure location.

    Soon they made it to the inner vault, which was really just a small locker, and Dani after fiddling with it for a few minutes got it open.

    ˇ°As per mine and MarekˇŻs agreement with my husband, all of the unique skill orbs, mythic grade magical beast parts, and amethros ingots will be handed over to the kingdom of Borealia.ˇ± Dani said as she took out a few of the magic bags within the vault and handed them over to Marcus.

    Taking these bags, Marcus could almost feel the weight of the value inside each, imagining that he was holding millions of gold coins.

    Of course, in a way he was, since each of the items within these bags were worth over one hundred thousand gold coins just by themselves.

    However, there was one that held MarcusˇŻ interest the most, and he handed the others over to Mrazivy as he opened up one specific bag and pulled out its contents.

    In his hands, Marcus now stared almost mesmerized at the shining purple metal he was holding.

    ˇ®It was all worth it.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he caressed the three ingots of amethros he had just pulled out.

    These three ingots were one of and the main reward he had been promised for all he had done in advancing BorealiaˇŻs goal in obtaining Tralenstein.

    And while just three ingots may not have seemed like much, each one of them would be considered priceless, and in many cases more valuable than even a unique skill orb.

    That was just how powerful the items made from Amethros were.

    Tapping on, staring intently at, and even biting on these ingots, Marcus began examining the amethros with his entire focus, as this was the first time he had gotten his hands on the material in its raw form.

    To this point he had only ever been able to examine just two weapons made out of this exceedingly rare metal, one, being JamesˇŻnce, and more recently MarekˇŻs tonfas.

    ˇ®Yes, just as I thought, its ability to absorb and circte mana is about three times higher than adamantine just in their base forms. However, once enchantments are added, depending on materials and skill level, even a top tier adamantine weapon might only be a fourth as strong as an average amethros weapon.ˇŻ Marcus thought, having gone into full forgemaster mode.

    Yet, it was not long until he was snapped out of his engrossment, as Mrazivy said, ˇ°Marcus take back the rest of these bags. I want to get what I was promised as well. Anyway, you also need to pick out a some of the materials from the mythic grade beasts.

 Chapter 485 Mrazivyâ€™s Reward

    Taking the numerous magic bags he had shoved into MrazivyˇŻs arms back, Marcus waited for her to pick out her own reward for the efforts she had put in.

    ˇ°Hm there are only four?ˇ± Mrazivy said with a puzzled expression on her face as she looked at Dani.

    Though Dani just shrugged her shoulders and said, ˇ°Those are all the ones that were in the locker. I do not know if there were more before, but it is likely that my brother gave some out to try and strengthen his forces. Anyway, just having four in itself is already incredibly rare.ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy understood that she had been getting a bit greedy thinking that she would be spoiled for choice in the unique skills orbs she could choose from.

    She had thought that there would be a simr amount as what was stored within the castleˇŻs vault in Borealia, which she knew was around two dozen. But truthfully there was quite a bit of difference in the power between the two kingdoms.

    Still, having the option to pick one of four unique skill orbs was still am exceedingly rare chance for almost anyone, as obtaining even one unique skill orb was already well beyond the norm.

    Looking over each one using her dragon eyes, Mrazivy was able to determine the effects of each of the skill orbs, which under normal circumstances would be unknown until they were learned.

    However, very few things could hide their true nature from a dragon, an especially if they happened to be treasures.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Hm this one is not bad, but after my evolution it is not really necessary.ˇŻ Mrazivy thought as she put aside one of the unique skill orbs.

    Though if most saw her disregard this unique skill, they would have thought she had a screw loose, since it was something called five senses amplification and would truly be useful for most.

    However, after her evolution, her sense of smell, sight, taste, and hearing had already increased by a wide margin, and having senses that were too sensitive could actually be a detriment in certain situations.

    Moving on to the next one, Mrazivy who was still in high spirits to have a chance to get another unique skill, froze up and the look on her face went pale for a moment.

    She then threw the second unique skill back into the bag at a blinding speed wanting nothing to do with it.

    Seeing this, Marcus tilted his head to the side in confusion, and asked, ˇ°Mraz, what was that skill? Was there something wrong with it?ˇ±

    With a disgusted expression, Mrazivy shook her head and said, ˇ°I do not even want to think about that thing again. It could be the strongest unique skill in the world, but I would rather die than learn it.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    His curiosity piqued, Marcus swiftly grabbed the bag the unique skill was in and pulled it out.

    Certainly, he could not look at all of its properties like Mrazivy had, but he could still at least find out its name.

    Yet, as he did, he immediately understood why Mrazivy wanted nothing to do with this unique skill just from its name alone.

    ˇ®Unable to learn unique skill, Body of Sludge.ˇŻ

    Putting away the orb containing Body of Sludge, Marcus felt grateful that he could not even learn this unique skill due to his spiritual nature, which prevented him from learning skills of this sort, and was the same reason he was unable to learn Peerless Physique.

    ˇ°Would you two please refrain from ying around with national treasures. You are notparing toys in a store, but unique skills. I would ask that you show a little restraint.ˇ± Marek said, obviously displeased by the way Marcus and Mrazivy were treating such valuable and precious items.

    Both of them then apologized for their conduct, having forgotten for a moment where they were and who they were with.<sub></sub>

    After that Mrazivy checked the next unique skill and let out a sigh of relief when she found that it was something normal.

    Unlike thest one, this skill, which was called Sound Constitution, was quite useful, and Mrazivy would be more than happy to acquire it.

    Though while it did not have any massively powerful effect like her WinterˇŻs Grace, its passive abilities were good. Making the wielder of the skill unable to be affected by diseases and poisons, and giving a twenty percent bonus to the vitality stat.

    In fact, this unique skill was of the same nature to MarcusˇŻ Sound Mind, and the two were actually a part of a set of skills that negated dangerous effects while also boosting a single stat.

    Though before Mrazivymitted to this skill, she looked at the next one and seeing what it had to offer she was conflicted between the two.

    ˇ®Hm this one is also good but can only be used once before a long cool down. Of course, its power is far greater, but the short duration is not as appealing.ˇŻ

    But in the end as good as Sound Constitution was, it did not really increase her offensive capabilities, but the other skill certainly would.

    ˇ®Would you like to learn the unique skill, Rapid sh.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Yes.ˇŻ Mrazivy responded to the promote given by the system.

    Losing its luster, the golden orb that had once been an incredibly valuable item, slowly began to turn to dust as the unique skill sealed within was learned by Mrazivy.

    Smiling brightly, she was quite happy to obtain this new power that would definitely help her in the future.

    ˇ°So, what did you get?ˇ± Marcus asked now that Mrazivy had made her decision.

    Looking towards Marcus and holding her left index finger up to her cheek and putting on an expression like she was thinking, Mrazivy said, ˇ°Oh, I am not sure if I should tell you. Maybe next time we have a practice match, you will find out what it can do.ˇ±

    Mrazivy then smirked at Marcus mischievously, and he just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

    He knew that Mrazivy wanted to really show off what she could do now that she had evolved, since before she had not been much of a match for Marcus.

    ˇ®Guess I should pick out some of the material from the mythic beasts.ˇŻ Marcus though now that Mrazivy had finished taking the unique skill that was her reward.

    Digging through the four bags that contained parts from mythic grade beasts, Marcus unfortunately did not find anything that seemed to possess an affinity for the light or darkness elements like he had been hoping for.

    Still, there were some good pieces, and in the end, he took the scales of a massive fish that lived deep in the ocean and boasted an almost imprable defense.

    He figured he could make a shield for himself that would surpass even the one Thabon had made using these materials.

    After that, the two of them ced the remaining magic bags that would be taken to Borealia into an adamantine safe that not even they could open.

    ˇ°Well, now that the two of you have finished up what you have to do here, I suppose that you both will be heading back to Borealia soon?ˇ± Marek said to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    However, before they could answer, Dani said, ˇ°Actually I would ask the two of you to stay for a few more weeks. Just a few hours ago I received amunication from the mythic grade magical beast who is the guardian of our kingdom, and he wishes to meet with the both of you.ˇ±

 Chapter 486 Scheduling a Meeting and Helping out Around the City

    With surprise on both of their faces, neither Marcus nor Mrazivy had been expecting to suddenly be requested to visit the mythic grade magic beast that had made its home in Tralenstein.

    Of course, they had already known that this entity had existed, but so far that was all they knew about it.

    Not once had the creature named Motis shown itself, even as the nation it protected tore itself apart during a very bloody civil war.

    Though its very presence did act as a deterrent for the other kingdoms to the south which were on less than friendly terms with Tralenstein, and even during the civil was these nations had not invaded.

    ˇ°Sure, I am fine with meeting with TralensteinˇŻs guardian beast.ˇ± Marcus said nonchntly.

    He really doubted that this Motis was nning to kill or harm them, seeing as how if it wanted to do that, it probably already would have.<sub>.</sub>

    However, Mrazivy was definitely a bit more hesitant, since Gwyneira had told her to stay away from Motis at all costs, and to make sure not to antagonize him.

    Unfortunately, now that she had been personally requested to meet with him, Mrazivy would likely offend him if she did not show up as requested.

    ˇ°Very well, I will go as well.ˇ± Mrazivy eventually agreed.

    Nodding her head, thankful that the two of them had epted to attend the meeting, Dani said, ˇ°That is good. I know that Lord Motis can have a temper, so if either of you refused, I am not sure what he would do. Now he requested that I meet with him in three weeks, and that I bring the two of you with me. So until then, feel free to do as you wish.ˇ±

    After finishing up their conversation, the four of them left the castleˇŻs vault and sealed the area back up.<sub></sub>

    Even though Marcus and Mrazivy had taken the most valuable materials and were going to deliver what they were not keeping for themselves back to Borealia, there were still plenty of other rare and valuable items sealed within that they would not want to fall into the wrong hands.

    Marek and Dani then went their separate ways from Marcus and Mrazivy, as with their positions they had mountains of work to do in running the kingdom.

    As for Marcus and Mrazivy, they could do whatever they wanted, but ultimately the two of them decided to help with the cityˇŻs restoration. Since they would feel bad just lounging around while everyone else was hard at work.

    For their parts, Mrazivy went to work clearing out the snow that had recently fallen on the city, which after the kingˇŻs blowing it up, no longer had any magic formations to create heating which normally kept the snow out of the city.

    As for Marcus, hisrge item box was a major asset and using it he was able to moverge amounts of materials around swiftly.<sub></sub>

    He could transport tons of lumber or stone to their destinations in just a few minutes, when normally would have taken dozens of people pulling and pushing carts hours.

    ˇ®Guess that should do it for today.ˇŻ Marcus thought as the workers began to go back to their temporary shelters, as the sun started to go down and it would be impossible to keep working.

    Heading back towards the castle, along the way Marcus received an almost unending wave of thanks, as thousands of people had been very grateful for the help he had provided, which would speed things up by many weeks.

    ˇ°Ah Mraz, how did your day go?ˇ± Marcus said as he bumped into Mrazivy who was also on her way back to the castle.

    Letting out a sigh, Mrazivy responded saying, ˇ°It was exhausting. I must have absorbed the cold from a mountainˇŻs worth of snow, and I still only managed to clear about a tenth of the city. I just hope it does not snow again.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well, it is getting close to the end of winter now, so hopefully we will get lucky and the one three days ago will be thest for the year.ˇ± Marcus said to Mrazivy.

    The two of them then headed into the area of the castle, which was mostly ruble, but still had some standing structures that had survived the battles.

    Though neither Marcus nor Mrazivy, were using any of the remaining rooms as they did not want to take up space that could be used for people that really needed it.

    Anyway, they were currently staying in MrazivyˇŻs tent which they had set up in one of the castleˇŻs courtyards and was morefortable than most of the ces left in the city.

    Yet as the two of them approached their temporary home, they both saw that someone was sitting outside waiting.

    ˇ°Lyra did you need something?ˇ± Marcus asked in a concerned voice.

    When she had gone off on her own, she had certainly looked worse for wear mentally. And it looked like her time alone to think had not helped her much if at all, judging by the look on her face.

    However, Lyra did not immediately say anything, but Mrazivy quickly did.

    ˇ°I will leave the two of you alone so that you can talk.ˇ±

    After saying that Mrazivy ducked into her tent, leaving Marcus and Lyra standing outside alone.

    ˇ°Heree with me. We can go somewhere more secluded to talk.ˇ± Marcus said, beckoning Lyra to follow him.

    Soon the two of them came to an area that was far from where anyone was, inside the shell of a half-copsed tower that was surrounded by rubble and destroyed ground.

    ˇ°So, what is troubling you?ˇ± Marcus asked to Lyra as soon as they had stopped.

    Looking down at the ground, Lyra was hesitant to open up, but after taking a deep breath she looked Marcus right in the eyes, and said, ˇ°I feel lost. My drive, my reason to live for a year now has been to get justice for my parents, and now that I have, I feel empty. I feel like I no longer have any reason to live.ˇ±

 Chapter 487 Heart to Heart with Lyra

    Seeing the lost, almost hopeless look in LyraˇŻs eyes, Marcus could tell that she was grasping at what to do with her life now.

    Certainly, she had lost pretty much everything she had cared about to this war.

    Her parents were dead, the path she had been on was nowpletely uprooted, and in the end, she had even had to kill her mentor who had stood on opposing sides.

    Now all she had was the position of duchess, which she took more as a means to an end in order to aplish her goal of revenge than for anything else

    Of course, she cared about the people within her parentsˇŻ former and now her territory, but it was simply her duty, not something she ever wished to have.

    Originally Lyra never would have even taken the position of duchess, since she had be a great knight and would not have been able to hold another title.<sub>.</sub>

    Still, as the circumstances pushed her towards this path, she had done what was necessary to advance her goal at the time.

    ˇ°Lyra, I understand very well what you are going through. And while I cannot say I went through exactly what you are, I have been in a simr ce.ˇ± Marcus said, using the kindest and most soothing tone he could.

    He knew that Lyra was feeling troubled, but just because she had lost everything twice already, did not mean she could not rebuild again.

    ˇ°I believe that I told you about how when I first arrived, I fell deep underground and floated all the way through the. Well, I definitely glossed over how traumatizing that was. To be stuck, unable to do anything other than exist in my own mind was maddening. Many times, I wished I could die again, to start over once more. But I had no way to even do that. Eventually with a little hope and honestly some luck, I managed to figure out how my powers worked, but for a long time I felt like I had no reason to live.ˇ±

    After saying this, Marcus clenched his fists and remembered a very painful memory, knowing that it would help him better understand LyraˇŻs current circumstances.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I also lost my parents unjustly, though not as Marcus. You know that I inherited the memories and emotions of another person, and really that changed me quite a bit. I still feel mostly like I am Marcus, but I cannot say I am entirely the same as I was before merging with Irene. But that is not what really matters here. What I want to say is that I have felt the same pain of loss that you have, and I know it is hard.ˇ±

    Marcus then moved closer to Lyra and pated her on the head while smiling, and she began crying loudly.

    He knew already why she hade to him for help, and while Lyra was feeling lost right now, she really did want someone to point her in a new direction.

    If she truly felt like this life was no longer worth living, she would not have been waiting for him back at MrazivyˇŻs tent, and could have just run away, or even gone off somewhere to die.

    No, she was looking for Marcus who was the closest person she had left, to give her a new reason to keep on living and enjoying life.<sub></sub>

    Though, she was also feeling some guilt for her actions now that she had achieved her revenge, since in her quest, many people died in what she viewed as part of her own selfish desire

    Of course, all of these people that had died did so to fight for what they themselves had wanted, so truthfully it had not been LyraˇŻs fault, she just wanted to punish herself.

    ˇ°Listen Lyra, I came to this world with nothing, but even though I was not looking for it, I found a family, and made plenty of friends through my adventures in this world. There is so much to live for here, and I am sure that you would regret closing yourself off to those around you. Anyway, if you want a reason to live, how about doing it for me. You were already almost like an older sister to me back on Earth, and we have reconnected here. I know it is not exactly the same now, but I still think of you as family Lyra.ˇ±

    Once Marcus had finished speaking, he waited for her response, already knowing he had broken through to her.

    Nodding her head, Lyra, moved in and hugged Marcus and said, ˇ°Thank you. I was not sure if you were just going to leave me on my own now that I was not in danger anymore. As you said, things are a lot different now. You have a little sister, and Mrazivy, so I was not sure if you would want to be around me now that you had aplished your goal. Also, I almost did not want to ever get close to anyone ever again, to avoid the pain of losing someone I care about.ˇ±

    ˇ°You do not need to worry about me ever abandoning you. As I said we are practically family, and in this world, it is veryforting to have someone around that I knew before. And I understand that it hurst to lose those you care about, and locking yourself away and never making any meaningful connections may seem easier. but eventually that kind of life weighs down on you. This world is a vast ce, and full of many amazing things as I am sure you know. Even now the two of us have barely scratched the surface in this one little corner that we have called home. So how about at some point, you, me, and whoever else we want, go and see what this world has to offer. You know as they say, it is the journey not the destination.ˇ±

    Laughing, Lyra could not believe that Marcus just said such a clich¨¦ line, but after their talk she was feeling much better.

    She was d that Marcus did still see her like a sister, and was willing to stay by her side and be her friend.

    With almost no one left, he helped her see the light that she had lost when her parents died.

    Certainly, she would never be able to get back what she had already lost, but that did not mean she could not build new rtionships.

    ˇ°Now how about we head back to mine and MrazivyˇŻs tent. I know that the two of you have talked a bit, and I believe that Mrazivy already thinks of you as a friend. Oh, but I guess if we are like brother and sister, Mrazivy would also be like your sister, since I am going to marry her. And there is also Lilia who I am sure is going to love you once the two of you meet. So see, your family is already growing bigger than you thought.ˇ± Marcus said, wanting to make sure that Lyra understood that she had more than just him, and that she could in the future make many more connections.

    Smiling, Lyra said, ˇ°Yeah, I guess it is a bit like that. Maybe one day I will even be able to find someone like how you found Mrazivy.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well, if you do, they will need to at least be as strong as me.ˇ± Marcus said doing his best impersonation of a overprotective brother.

    Lyra then punched him in the side of the arm and said, ˇ°Like that is for you to decide. If they are at least as strong as me that will be fine.ˇ±

    The two of them beganughing loudly, before heading back, to where Mrazivy was in order to n what they might do in the future.

 Chapter 488 Motisâ€™ Domain

    Quickly, the next three weeks went by, and for the kingdom of Tralenstein it was a time spent rebuilding and reorganizing.

    The kingdom was now under new leadership, and spreading a new order took time and manpower.

    Naturally, some of the nobles that had stayed, pushed back against the newws that restricted their previous near absolute power.

    Still, it was either the new queenˇŻs way or the highway, and though some nobles decided to pack up and leave, most stayed, since it was not like they were losing all of their power.

    Now they would just have to work a bit harder and could not take as much as they used to from the people or treat them as disposable.

    Of course, most of the worst nobles had already been killed or imprisoned before the wars end, so the kingdom had already gone through a cleansing of the bad leadership that had grown throughout it.

    Though along with the spreading of the kingdomˇŻs changed political structure, the royal capital was also undergoing its reconstruction.

    Even after these three weeks there was still many months or longer left to bring the city back up to its former glory, but many of the most important buildings and infrastructures had been restored.

    However, now that three weeks had passed, it was time for Marcus and Mrazivy to go with Dani and Marek to meet the mythic grade magic beast that had made its home in Tralenstein and protected it.

    ˇ°Go ahead andnd here. I do want to anger Lord Motis by flying directly into his domain.ˇ± Dani said, as they reached the outskirts of a great forest thaty around eighty miles south of the capital city.<sub>.</sub>

    Doing as he was told, Marcus descended towards the ground andnded around fifty feet from the forestˇŻs edge.

    Then, once everyone had gotten off his back, Marcus dropped his form as a cdrius and changed back into his normal appearance.

    ˇ°Okay, now we should move with care and head towards the center of the forest, where Lord Motis calls home.ˇ± Dani said, before moving towards the forest.

    Following behind her, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Marek, entered the forest, and almost immediately they felt a sense of foreboding.

    They could tell they had just entered the territory of a very powerful entity, and it was not the only threat within this domain.

    From what they had found out, this forest was full of powerful beasts and monsters, and anyone who entered unprepared was bound to never leave again.

    Luckily, Marek was quite powerful, and while Marcus and Mrazivy could not contented with him quite yet, for their levels they were some of the strongest.

    Walking deeper and deeper into the woods, they began to hear the sounds ofrge creatures fighting off in the distance, and the signs of their battlesy all around in the form of upturned earth and fallen trees.

    ˇ°Stop!ˇ± Marcus yelled to the group having noticed a threat up ahead.<sub></sub>

    Following his directions, everyone froze and looked around for the danger that Marcus had noticed.

    Yet even Mrazivy who had heightened senses did not find the threat that Marcus had noticed.

    ˇ°Mraz, it is that tree around a hundred and fifty feet ahead of us. The one with the slightly darker coloration. Would you mind using your dragon eyes ability to appraise it.ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy did as Marcus had asked and was stunned to see that what appeared to be a tree was actually a powerful monster.

    ˇ°You were right, that is definitely not a tree. It is a level fifty-eight faux tree scorpion lord.ˇ± Mrazivy said, confirming what Marcus had already figured out for the most part.

    Still, while it was simr to the faux tree scorpions he had encounter in the Cordillera Depths Dungeon, this one was farrger and had much better camouge.

    In fact, if not for his life sense skill begin active, Marcus never would have noticed it and the massive scorpion would have gotten the drop on them.

    Nevertheless, they had located the crafty ambush predatory, and at level fifty-eight, so long as they were prepared for it, most creatures would not be much of a threat.

    ˇ®Laser.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Casting a heightenedser spell, Marcus sliced right through the scorpionˇŻs tail that had taken the appearance of a tree, and therge monster screeched out in pain. Before it rapidly dug itself out of the ground as it thrashed around.

    But the faux tree scorpionˇŻs pain did notst long, for as soon as it dug itself out of the ground, Mrazivy shot forward and stabbed her sword into its head.

    An instantter, she cast her tier five spell fridge st inside the scorpion, and quickly the huge monster was turned into an icicle.

    In only three seconds, Marcus and Mrazivy had dispatched a monster that would normally be considered a major threat to even small cities, showing off just how powerful they had be.

    ˇ°Okay let us continue quickly, before anything else decides toe by.ˇ± Marek said, wanting to get through here with as little trouble as possible.

    However, both Marcus and Mrazivy who were adventurers could not bear to leave behind such valuable materials, and the two of them quickly went to work on dismantling the faux tree scorpion lord. Much to MarekˇŻs dismay.

    Luckily, during this time, no other powerful creatures came by, and after just around forty minutes, the two of them had removed all of the scorpions most valuable materials and ced them into MarcusˇŻ item box.

    Once that was done, they continued on through the forest, doing their best to avoid any confirmations.

    Though at one point two beasts that were in the mid-fifties and were battling it out, rolled in front of their group and it quickly became a free for all.

    Still, it only took them a few seconds to deal with these beasts, and soon, they made it to the heart of the forest.

    ˇ°So, this is the home of the mythic grade magic beast that truly reigns over Tralenstein.ˇ± Marcus said as he looked out in front of them.

    Yet, he could not see far, as around the center of the forest, a dense fog was perpetually swirling around, making visibility very low.

    Not even MarcusˇŻ enhanced vision, or MrazivyˇŻs dragon eyes could seem to see through this fog, and life sense became muddled and was only effective for about thirty feet which was far shorter than its usual range.

    ˇ°Yes, this is indeed Lord MotisˇŻ home. Though this is my first timeing here myself, and all I have heard are stories. Still, as long as we walk through and head straight, we shoulde to where Lord Motis resides.ˇ± Dani said trying to sound confident but with a little trepidation creeping into her voice.

    Eventually though they had to move in, and after tying each other together with some rope, they plunged into the fog.

    Now inside, they had a better understanding of just how oppressive the fog was, with anything further than around twenty feet away bing heavily obscured, and things beyond around two hundred feet being impossible to see.

    Nevertheless, they stayed on target and walked straight towards the center of the fog, and luckily they did not encounter any sort of beast or monster, until after around thirty minutes of walking when they came out into an open field.

    Looking around, all of them could see that the field around them was very beautiful, being full of natural tressures that were very high quality, and in the middle was a crystal spring with arge tree growing out of it that gave off a mesmerizing aroma.

    However, what quickly drew everyoneˇŻs attention was within the tree, and as they looked up, they were able to see the massive form of ruler of this forest.

    And staring back down at them was a beast that had a body like a snow leopard, but on its back, it had a number ofrge quills sprouting out, that continued all the way down to its spiked tail.

    Looking at it, Marcus estimated that it was around sixty-feet long down to the tail, and twenty-feet tall, holding an imposing form, and aura.

    ˇ°A level eighty-three Bandersnatch!ˇ± Mrazivy said, with surprise as she used her dragon eyes to appraise the mythic grade beast.

    Yet an instantter, the beast had dropped down out of the tree, itsrge form not even making a sound, or even disturbing the slightest amount of dust.

    ˇ°Hm, I figured that a beast like you would know better than to appraise someone stronger than you, and in their own home.ˇ± Motis said towards Mrazivy, with a menacing tone.

    Immediately, Mrazivy felt like running away, as she could tell she was no match for the creature in front of her that was sending out some hostility towards her.

    Though Marcus just put his hand on MrazivyˇŻs shoulder and took a step forward and said, ˇ°I understand that it was rude for Mrazivy to appraise you, but I would ask that you not bully her.ˇ±

    Smiling with an almost eerie expression, Motis said, ˇ°Very well. Since a great spirit is asking me, I suppose I can overlook a little rudeness this time. It is not like her ancestors did not do the same when we first met a long time ago.ˇ±

    Motis then retracted the bit of hostility he had been sending towards Mrazivy, before waving one of his paws in front of him.

    A secondter the grass began to grow rapidly, bing very tall and quickly shaped itself into arge table with two chairs on each side and one at the head.

    ˇ°Please sit down and rx. You are my guest so there is no need to be so nervous. As long as you show me the respect I deserve, I will let all of you leave unharmed.ˇ±

 Chapter 489 Conversation with Motis

    Moving over to the table that Motis had created, Dani, Marek, Marcus, and Mrazivy did as he had asked and sat down.

    And to their surprise as they did, Motis began to shrift, until he took the form of a humanoid Though he still had some cat like characteristics, his shift not being as seamless as GwyneriaˇŻs had been.

    He then sat down at the head of the table and took out of his item box a full tea set, that the grass the table was made up of began disrupting to everyone, before filling up their sses with a flora smelling tea.

    ˇ°Please enjoy some tea before we begin our discussion. It was brewed using the water from my spring and some of the natural tressure that grow around here. I am sure that it will be to all of your liking.ˇ± Motis said, before taking a sip himself.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus was the first to follow, since he had no need to hesitate about consuming anything.

    ˇ°Oh, that is good!ˇ± Marcus eximed after taking his first sip.

    Taking another sip, Marcus savored the delicious tea that was by far the best he had ever had.<sub>.</sub>

    Seeing Marcus thoroughly enjoying the tea, the others soon began drinking as well and having simr experiences.

    Even for royals like Dani and Mrazivy, they had never had tea this good, and it was no wonder with it having been brewed by a high-level mythic grade magic beast using some of the highest quality ingredients on the continent.

    ˇ°Now that we have all rxed a little, I believe it is time that I get down to business.ˇ± Motis said as he ced his teacup down.

    After that he turned his gaze towards Dani and said, ˇ°For every new monarch of Tralenstein I always have theme visit me after they ascend the throne, so that I can reaffirm the deal I made with the first human king who ruled thesends I call home.ˇ±

    Motis then took out a sheet off paper from his item box, and just from the sight of it everyone could tell that this was high quality paper not made from any ordinary tree.

    ˇ°First, you shall make sure that no permeant structure is made within seventy miles of my woods, and no temporary settlement shall stay for more than thirty-six days.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Second any people that enters my woods without permission will not be granted my protection and shall be at the mercy of any beasts or monster within it, including myself. Also, if any group of people over twenty enter my domain, I will cull them until they are down to twenty.ˇ±

    ˇ°Third, once every ten years you shall provide to me one hundred beasts or monster over the level of forty, with at least twenty being level fifty or higher, and three being at least an epic grade beast or a monster of equal standing.ˇ±

    ˇ°Fourth, I Motis, shall not attack the people or settlements of Tralenstein, as long as the above rules are followed

    ˇ°Fifth, I Motis, shall protect the Kingdom of Tralenstein from any invaders moving into the kingdom, so long as they threaten to overwhelm your own forces, or if I wish to.ˇ±

    Once he had finished reading off the conditions in the contract he had signed with the numerous other kings of Tralenstein, Motis passed it down towards Dani, waiting for her to sign it.

    Though to his surprise she did not sign it right away as most of the other monarchs had, and Motis raised an eyebrow and said, ˇ°Oh do you do not wish to continue the agreement I have had with generations of your ancestors?ˇ±<sub></sub>

    However, while Motis had not overtly showed his displeasure, the underlying meaning in his words were definitely a threat.

    Shaking her head, Dani said, ˇ°No it is not that, it is only that in a couple of decades this contract will no longer be valid, as the kingdom of Tralenstein will cease to exist.ˇ±

    Hearing this, Motis looked confused for a second, before looking at Marcus and Mrazivy with a sharp glint in his eyes.

    ˇ°I see, so that is a part of the deal that you made with the kingdom to the north where Gwyneira lives.ˇ±

    Yet, before anything else was said, Marek spoke up and said, ˇ°Lord Motis if it is not too impertinent for me to speak, when we were discussing the original details of the deal that we made with Borealia, this Gwyneira had told me, to tell you, that she wishes to speak with you now that we have won.ˇ±

    Growling lowly, Motis was releasing a bit of frustration, apparently not happy to have to be speaking to Gwyneira.

    It was pretty obvious that the two were not on good terms. Though it did not appear that they were mortal enemies either, since Motis was not releasing any amount of fury.

    ˇ°Fine. I suppose that if your two kingdoms are going to be merging again, I will have to speak with her. But tell her she had better not try to move in on my territory. She does not have that monstrous husband with her now, so if we fought again, it would not turn out the same way asst time.ˇ± Motis said begrudgingly.

    He then took back the contract he had sent over to Dani, understanding that he would have to make some revisions aftering to some sort of agreement with Gwyneira.

    ˇ°Now why do you not tell me all of the details of this deal that was made.ˇ± Motis said towards Dani.

    Nodding her head, Dani told Motis everything about the former rebellionˇŻs deal with Borealia for near infinite supplies. And in return, Tralenstein would eventually be a part of Borealia as a duchy and Dani and the kingˇŻs daughter Eis would be its new ruler at that time.

    Sighing, Motisid his arm against the table and leaned forward before saying, ˇ°Well, this certainly makes my deal obsolete. If Borealia starts protecting your kingdom, I will have far less standing. Still, I doubt Gwyneira wants to make trouble with me, so as long as people are kept away and I get my supply of beasts and monster, it will not make a difference to me.ˇ±

    Turning his head now towards Mrazivy and Marcus, Motis started at them intently and said, ˇ°Now what about you two? I have never seen a great spirit like you, and I could smell one of GwyneriaˇŻs ilk from hundreds of miles away. Why did the two of you get involved in all of this?ˇ±

    Looking at each other for a brief moment, the two of them shrugged, and silently decided that they should just tell the truth.

    ˇ°It actually was just a big coincidence. I am sure that if you saw that I am a great spirit you have the ability to see through my false status, and already know I am a transmigration. Well, I was on my way to see Forlorieous and ran into an old friend from my old world who was a part of the rebellion. I just wanted to make sure she did not die again, sincest time I watched her die a horrible death.ˇ±

    Immediately after Marcus said this, Mrazivy chimed in and said, ˇ°As for me, we are romantically involved, and I could not let him do something so stupid as fight in a war alone, so I came to help. In fact, I was ordered to stay away by my father the king of Borealia so none of them knew or had anything to do with it and I actedpletely on my own.ˇ±

    After hearing this, confusion was written all over MotisˇŻ face as he processed what he had just heard.

    Naturally a beast as old and powerful as him was very good at telling when someone was lying, and he was nearly certain that the two of them had just told the truth.

    Yet that brought up a question for Motis and he said, ˇ°Jed, if that is what you are actually called? Truthfully, I cannot see through this false status skill you say you have. No, I only could tell you are a great spirit because I witnessed you in battle and you have a power that I only know to be held by great spirits. So, you are actually a transfer from that other world, like that monster Boreas. That exins why you are able to act with such freedom and are so low level for a great spirit.ˇ± Motis said connecting some of the dots.

    Hearing this, Marcus realized that he had just given away one of his secrets for no reason, but in the end, he figured it probably did not matter since Motis did not seem hostile, and so far had been quite reasonable.

    Abruptly getting up from the table Motis said, ˇ°Okay you all can leave now. I have to sort things out with Gwyneira before anything else. No matter how frustrating it may be.

 Chapter 490 Saying Goodbye to Tralenstein

    With Motis waving them off, the four of them promptly left, not wanting to get on the bad side of one of the strongest beings on the continent.

    Of course, Marcus especially had more that he wanted to talk to Motis about. And to take a better look at the mythic beastˇŻs home. But Motis did not seem to be in any mood to host them any longer. Having his stable deal with Tralenstein being turned upside down after over eight hundred years.

    Exiting through the fog that perpetually surrounded MotisˇŻ home, their group soon came out into the woods that made up MotisˇŻ domain.

    Quickly, the four of them made their way back out, avoiding any trouble this time.

    Then once they had exited the woods, Marcus took the form of the huge cdrius and began flying back towards TralensteinˇŻs capital.

    Once they had arrived back in the city, Marcus and Mrazivy said their farewells to Dani and Marek, before heading towards the northern end of the city where Lyra was waiting for them.

    ˇ°There is her carriage.ˇ± Mrazivy said, spotting the crest of LyraˇŻs family on the side of it.

    Heading on over, the guards that were surrounding the carriage let the two of them through, and one of them opened up the carriage doors to reveal Lyra.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°You are back quicker than I expected.ˇ± Lyra said with a smile, as she put down the book she had been reading.

    Shuffling into therge carriage, Marcus and Mrazivy sat across from Lyra and began telling her about their meeting with Motis.

    ˇ°I see. So, it was pretty short, and everything is really going to be left up to MotisˇŻ negotiation with Gwyneira. I just hope that it does not turn into a fight.ˇ± Lyra said with a bit of concern in her voice.

    Certainly, if Motis became hostile and decided to go on a rampage, it was likely that a fight between him and Gwyneira could cause major damage to both kingdoms.

    ˇ°I do not think that is going to happen. The impression I got from Motis is that he prefers to be left alone for the most part but is still pretty civil. I think as long as he continues to get the same benefits he got from the original deal he made long ago with the first monarch of Tralenstein, he will not cause any problems.ˇ± Marcus said giving his opinion on the matter.

    After that, the three of them talked about the future ns they had made.

    ˇ°So, on the third week of summer we are still set to all meet up in the capital of Boreas?ˇ± Lyra asked wanting to confirm their ns.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Yep, then we can show you around the city, and introduce you to some people, before we head off to the main event.ˇ± Mrazivy said, already feeling restless for their uing adventure.

    Nodding his head, Marcus too was looking forward to it, and said, ˇ°Yes, I anticipate it is going to be fun, and full of surprises. I am just d that James was able to move his schedule around so that we could all go and more thoroughly explore the crystal caverns together.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well, you did say that being calling itself the administrator of this world told you to check it out, so all of us going together will make for an even better time.ˇ± Mrazivy said, more than happy to go with everyone even if originally it was just supposed to be her and her brother.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Lightly knocking on the door, one of LyraˇŻs attendants waited for LyraˇŻs acknowledgment, and once he had it, opened the door.

    ˇ°Your grace, all the preparations are ready and everyone who will be traveling with us has arrived. We are ready to return to Valenhart whenever you wish.ˇ± The young half elf attendant said to Lyra.

    ˇ°Thank you for the update, Osmorn. Give me just a couple of minutes to finish talking to my friends and we can be on our way.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Bowing his head, Osmorn, closed the door to LyraˇŻs carriage, and went to inform the others that they would be leaving soon.

    ˇ°Looks like our time is up.ˇ± Lyra said looking a bit forlorn.

    Smiling, Marcus said, ˇ°Yeah, for now we are going to have to part ways, but it will only be for a few months. You need to return to run your city and territory, and I need to get back to my original mission and go and see Forlorieous. Then after that I have to go and visit the ice elf city as BorealiaˇŻs representative for a couple of months.ˇ±

    Sighing, Lyra knew that they needed to go their separate ways for now to attend to their duties, but she was still a bit sad to be having to be away from Marcus, and Mrazivy who had be her friend as well.

    ˇ°Well, I suppose that this is goodbye for now. But when Ie to Borealia you two had better show me all of the best parts.ˇ± Lyra said, while giving a hug to both Marcus and Mrazivy.

    After that, the three of them parted ways, as Lyra gave themand for her entourage to begin the journey back to Valenhart.

    Waving goodbye, Marcus and Mrazivy waited to speak until Lyra had gone out of view.

    ˇ°So, are you sure that you will be fine transporting all of the items from the castleˇŻs vault to Borealia?ˇ± Marcus asked Mrazivy.

    ˇ°Yeah, it should not be a problem. It will only take me a couple of days if I fly, and it is not like anyone knows what I am carrying anyway.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a face full of confidence.

    ˇ°Okay, but if you run into any trouble do not hesitate to call me. I wille running as fast as I can.ˇ± Marcus said.

    ˇ°Same goes for you. If you get into another mess, make sure to tell me, and I wille and bail you out again.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a smirk on her face.

    She then moved close to Marcus and gave him a long kiss on the lips, before moving away and saying, ˇ°When you get back make sure toe see me before you leave again. I have something special nned for the two of us.ˇ±

    Following that she winked at Marcus, before going into her full dragonoid form and flying high into the sky.

    ˇ®I guess I should try and finish this up quickly.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched Mrazivy fly away.

    Exiting the city himself, Marcus turned towards the west and began flying towards therge tree that was faintly visible off in the distance.

    However, along the way he needed to stop by and pick up Roxene. Since, instead of leaving her to do nothing inside the city, had left her a few miles outside to y around and hunt.

    And this had actually served a two-fold purpose, as Roxene not only kept herself entertained, but also protected the capital city from invading beasts and monsters while it was in the rebuilding process.

    ˇ®There she is.ˇŻ

    Flying back towards the ground Marcus saw that Roxene was currently engaged with a horde of hog like beasts and was ughtering them by the dozens.

    ˇ®Voltaic bombardment.ˇŻ

    Firing off hundreds of bolts of lightning, Marcus fried the remaining beasts. Ending RoxeneˇŻs fight with them.

    ˇ®Who said that you could interfere?ˇŻ Roxene said to Marcus with telepathy, obviously not pleased to have her fun interrupted.

    ˇ°Sorry but we have already been put way behind schedule by this civil war, so time is of the essence. It is time that we finally go and see Forlorieous.ˇ±

 Chapter 491 The City Around the World Tree

    With Roxene back in hispanion storage, Marcus went into his ghost form and shot into the air.

    Flying at an incredible speed, he made beeline it right for the colossal tree where the Great Spirit of Nature Forlorieous resided.

    Now that the civil war in Tralenstein was over and Lyra was no longer in danger. It was time for Marcus to get back to his original goal and meet with Forlorieous.

    Currently things with Salvia were mostly stable, as the king had arranged for a high-ranking member of the church that worshiped the Great Spirit of Light Ragyog toe and supply her with the necessary energy she needed.

    Of course, this member had his own contracted spirit, but apparently while they were around level forty, this spirit was only an average ranking one.

    The poor spirit could barely keep up with Salvia for now, and it would not be long before this stop gap was no longer able to help her from slipping back into dormancy.

    Still, this had bought Marcus the time he needed, and now he was on his way to meet with Forlorieous, who should be able to help.

    Moving at top speed in a straight line, it did not take Marcus even a day to reach his destination, as he was finally able to see the full breadth of the tree that housed the great spirit of nature.<sub>.</sub>

    In terms of just the area the tree took up, it was alreadyrger than the entire area that BorealiaˇŻs capital epassed. Along with the tree reaching all the way up to the top of the worldˇŻs atmosphere, which was over seven thousand miles high.

    ˇ®That is a very big tree.ˇŻ Was all Marcus could think the second he was able to truly appreciate the size of this monstrous organism.

    Continuing forward, Marcus got closer and closer, until all he could see was the titanic tree in front of him and the ground below.

    Soon, he spotted the first massive root of the tree that was easily the size of a small city.

    However, before he could get any closer, he noticed a light shimmering around the area. Indicating that some type of barrier had been set up.

    Stopping in front of the barrier, Marcus examined it for a moment, but he truly had no idea what it actually did.

    Yet, as he looked around closely, he saw that normal wildlife was able to move in and out without any sort of trouble.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Must have some conditions set to it. So, it probably keeps anything of a certain type or level out, while allowing other things within. The only question is whether I will be allowed in, or will have to try knocking and hope I get ForlorieousˇŻ attention.ˇŻ

    Taking a few minutes to n out his next course of action, Marcus soon remembered that he had indeed had a simr experience to this barrier once before.

    ˇ®That is right. Around the Church of the Great Spirit of Water, Aigean, there was a barrier like this. Though that onepletely repulsed me, and I only got in thanks to VodaˇŻs help after I tired to force my way in.ˇŻ

    Remembering his first experience with a barrier around a ce that was under the protection of a great spirit, Marcus decided to err on the side of caution this time knowing that he had been far too brash before.

    Also, if he upset Forlorieous, it was possible that he might crush him without so much as a nce, as Voda had almost done.

    Extending his spiritual energy out to the barrier, Marcus connected to it and sent out a sort of knock.

    He then waited for a minute, then two, then three, and so on, until over ten minutes had passed.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Guess that was not enough to get anyoneˇŻs attention. I was trying to be very respectful, but let me try to be a bit louder.ˇŻ

    This time taking his own arm and infusing it with spiritual energy, Marcus moved to knock against the barrier but found himself passing right through it.

    ˇ®That was unexpected. I must not meet the requirements for being barred entry.ˇŻ

    Waiting around for a few more minutes, Marcus wondered if anyone was going to show up to investigate his arrival, but nothing seemed to happen.

    He was still all alone, and the forest around him was undisturbed.

    ˇ®I suppose I can just head in and see if I can find him myself. Apparently, he is a heavy sleeper, so maybe my presence was not enough to wake him up?ˇŻ

    With nothing else to do Marcus continued flying towards thergest tree on the.

    Watching thendscape move by Marcus closed the distance to the trunk of the tree, and when he was just a few dozen miles away, he noticed that there were buildings that had been built into the trees around the world tree.

    ˇ®That is right, Gwyneira told me that amunity of wood gnomes lived around Forlorieous. Maybe I can talk to one of them and figure out how to get in contact with my fellow great spirit.ˇŻ

    Descending towards the treetops, Marcus stopped right above arge square where the woods gnomes were ying some sort of game with a ball woven from vines.

    This was the nearestrge congregation of these people around, and Marcus hoped that one of them would know what he wanted or at least could point him in the direction of someone who did.

    Looking at the gnomes Marcus could see that they had slightly pointed ears, and the adults were only around three to three and a half feet tall.

    Along with those characteristics, all of them had a slight green tinge to their skin, and hair colors that were either some shade of red, brown, or green.

    After examining the forest gnomes for a couple minutes, Marcusnded in an obscured area that was covered by branches. He then resolidified before heading out, not wanting to appear right in front of the gnomes and scare them.

    Unfortunately, just walking out into the open Marcus received curious stares for about eight seconds, before mass hysteria broke out.

    The youngest gnomes were cared away by the older ones as they screamed in panic, and quickly every gnome in the area had been alerted to MarcusˇŻ presence from the screams of their fellows.

    Of course, as Marcus watched this, he was unsure of why they had reacted this way, but then remembered that he looked human.

    ˇ®Crap, this is not good.ˇŻ Marcus thought as the gnomes frantically ran all over the ce.

    To them it was as if a horrible monster had descended upon them and was going to kill or kidnap all of them.

    Quickly, all of the gnomes in the vicinity had vacated the area, leaving Marcuspletely alone in the square.

    ˇ®Well, this is just great. I am not sure why they are so afraid, but something must have happened in the past to make them fear others so much.ˇŻ

    Sitting down on the ground Marcus waited. Figuring that at some point, a braver gnome or maybe some other entity he could speak with might show up.

    And as he expected. Just around seven minutes after he showed himself, a stronger looking gnome who was wearing heavily enchanted wooden armor appeared.

 Chapter 492 Forlorieous

    Having caused a small panic within the wood gnomeˇŻs home. Marcus sat around and waited for someone to approach him, so that he could hopefully have a dialogue with them.

    Luckily, it had not taken long before a stronger looking gnome, who was wearing enchanted wooden armor appeared.

    ˇ®Level sixty-one. I guess that my presence really got their attention.ˇŻ

    As the higher-leveled wood gnome cautiously approached him, Marcus stood up and bowed his head, hoping to convey his sincerity.

    ˇ°Greetings. I am Marcus Ferrous, a great spirit of light and darkness, and I havee to see the Great Spirit of Nature Forlorieous.ˇ±

    However, as Marcus said this, the wood gnomeˇŻs eyes grew sharp and he said, ˇ°I will not fall for your deception human known as Jed. I do not know how you got in here but leave this forest now and nevere back. Or you will forfeit your life.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus realized that this gnome must have also appraised him, and saw the current status he had visible.

    Currently MarcusˇŻs status had him as a level forty-six human with the name of Jed. Keeping in line with the persona he had adopted while fighting in Tralenstein.

    ˇ®Okay that should do it.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Canceling his false status, Marcus revealed his true status, and allowed anyone to see who and what he actually was.

    ˇ°Sorry I have skill that can alter the information in my status. I have turned it off so now you can see that I am not human but am actually a great spirit.ˇ± Marcus said, hoping to smooth things over.

    Unfortunately, his initial impression had not been good, and telling people that you have a skill that can alter your status does not help them to believe whatever they appraise.

    ˇ°I already said I will not be fooled by your trickery. Leave now or I will take your life.ˇ± The wood gnome said while teaming with mana.

    Sighing, Marcus really was not in the mood for a fight and was about to simply disappear and try elsewhere. When a powerful presence descended upon the area.

    Arge flower then began to sprout up out of the ground not far from where Marcus was, until it bloomed to reveal the figure of man hidden within.

    The figure who was sitting down, stood up and stretched while letting out a very long yawn.

    Looking at this figure, there was no doubt in MarcusˇŻ mind that this was Forlorieous.<sub></sub>

    He could feel the same unfathomable power that Recha had exuded, and the spiritual energying off of this man could only be from a great spirit.

    Along with his presence, Forlorieous also seemed to embody nature just in his outwards appearance as well. Having long green hair that looked almost like vines, and dark brown skin the same color as tree bark.

    Of course, ForlorieousˇŻ appearance here had beenpletely unanticipated by the gnome enforcer that hade to force Marcus out of the forest. With the man now having gotten down on his hands and knees and was bowing towards the master of these woods.

    It was unheard of for Forlorieous toe out of his long rests and appear among the people.

    In fact, this gnome whose name was Dorser, had never once seen Forlorieouse out like this during his one hundred eighty years of life.

    Normally he only made an appearance during the founding celebration held once every twenty years, and other than that he was sleeping, or off elsewhere.

    ˇ°I believe that you are the Great Spirit of Nature Forlorieous?ˇ± Marcus asked the figure after it seemed that they had nearly finished stretching out and waking up.

    ˇ°Yeah, I am Forlorieous.ˇ± The man said as he took onest yawn.<sub></sub>

    He then blinked his eyes furiously before taking a good look at Marcus.

    Yet, as the man finally came to full consciousness, he stared at Marcus for just a moment before practically warping over to him.

    Forlorieous then grasped Marcus by the hands and said, ˇ°Would you be mine?ˇ±

    Stunned, Marcus had no idea what was happening here, or why Forlorieous had just asked him to be his.

    Pulling away from the other great spirit, Marcus said in a daze, ˇ°Um sorry, I am not into guys.ˇ±

    However, Forlorieous just smiled and said, ˇ°That is no problem.ˇ±

    The great spirit of natureˇŻs body then changed until he had taken the form of a beautiful woman.

    ˇ°There is that more to you likening.ˇ± Forlorieous said as if she had just solved the problem.

    Yet now that Marcus wasing out of his stun a bit. He shook his head and said, ˇ°Wait, no. I am not going to be yours no matter what you look like. I already have someone.ˇ±

    Frowning, Forlorieous moved right up to Marcus and grasped him by the arm. Before putting on her best puppy dog eyes and saying, ˇ°Please. I promise that I am a greatpanion. You are a great spirit of light and darkness, so you are perfect for a great spirit of nature like myself.ˇ±

    Trying to pull away again, this time Marcus found himself grasped like he was stuck in a vice.

    ˇ°Um could you please let go of me. I did note here to talk about joining in some type of partnership with you. Anyway, I thought nature spirits hated darkness spirits.ˇ± Marcus said trying to do whatever he could to break away from Forlorieous.

    Seeing that she was making Marcus ufortable, Forlorieous eventually pulled away. And then said, ˇ°Yes you are right that most nature spirits do not like darkness. But I embody all of nature, and plenty of organisms thrive in the darkness as well as light. So, you are perfect for me.ˇ±

    With Forlorieous still pushing the issue of them bing some sort of pair, Marcus wondered if he was going to be able to aplish his goal.

    If the price for ForlorieousˇŻ help was to end up as their partner, Marcus was going to have to decline.

    He had no intention of being with anyone else other than Mrazivy, and he definitely did not have the best impression of the great spirit of nature so far.

    ˇ°Oh, where are my manners. You havee all this way to see me, but I have not even weed you into my home.ˇ±

    Forlorieous then waved her hands and area where they were standing began to grow rapidly with numerous nts that shaped themselves into furniture.

    Then once the furniture had been made, arge number of bushes and trees sprouted up, and on each of them were natural treasures.

    Finally in the middle of the area, arge flower opened up and angled downward. Before a stream of blue liquid began to flow out of it into a bramble fountain.

    ˇ°Please make yourselffortable and rx. You said that you hade here to discuss something with me.ˇ± Forlorieous said, trying to get on MarcusˇŻ good side.

    Moving forward cautiously, Marcus took a seat across from Forlorieous. And as he did vines began grabbing the natural tressures that had popped up out of the ground and brought them over to Marcus.

    ˇ°Feel free to have as many as you want. I assure you that they are all delicious.ˇ±

 Chapter 493 That Was Easy

    Marcus, having over a dozen different natural tressures being held in front of him. Took a couple of them and began eating so as to not seem rude.

    Certainly, Forlorieous had been a bit weird when they first met. But he still needed their help. So, for now he would try to be friendly.

    ˇ°If it is alright, may I ask you to help me with a certain problem that some acquaintances of mine are having?ˇ± Marcus said, in between bites of the delicious ck fruit he was eating.

    Smiling Forlorieous said, ˇ°Sure, but I have something I want to ask you first. How did you get in here without my noticing? My barrier should have alerted me to another great spirit entering my domain immediately, but it did not do so until you were already with the wood gnomeˇŻs vige.ˇ±

    ˇ°Ah, that must have been due to my false status unique skill. I had it set to show me as human, until I tired to prove to that gnome over there-ˇ°

    Stopping mid-sentence. Marcus looked over and realized that the gnome that had first approached him was still bowing nearby. Not having gotten up or made any move since Forlorieous had arrived.

    Of course, poor Dorser had been too overwhelmed by ForlorieousˇŻ presence, and could only stay their prostrating himself.

    That was just the kind of idol that Forlorieous who had saved and protected them from oppression was to the wood gnomes.

    ˇ°Oh, I had not even seen Dorser over there. I must have been too distracted to notice him.ˇ± Forlorieous said with a surprised expression.

    She then turned to the gnome and said, ˇ°You can stop bowing like that Dorser.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    With ForlorieousˇŻ permission Dorser stood back up. Though he did not raise his head, still keeping it bowed.

    ˇ°Now go and tell the others that nothing is wrong, and that the intruder is my honored guest.ˇ± Forlorieous said, waving Dorser off.

    Doing as he had beenmanded, Dorser slowly walked away while still bowing until he was out of sight.

    ˇ°Okay, now that we are alone. Why do you not continue telling me about this false status skill you have.ˇ± Forlorieous said while cing her elbows on the table and holding her head up while looking at Marcus with interest.

    Answering ForlorieousˇŻ question. Marcus told her all about his unique skill, and how he just slipped through the barrier while being ethereal.

    ˇ°I see, it must be some sort of gap in the parameters. The barrier I set up would indeed keep any human out of here, but it is not meant to bar spirits. I suppose this is what I get for having taken a shortcut and linking it to the information generated by the system.ˇ±

    Forlorieous then sighed, thinking of all the trouble it would take to rearrange the barrier to make sure that something like this did not happen again.

    Still, they had learned what they wanted to from Marcus and said, ˇ°Okay, now that I know how you slipped in here without my noticing. Feel free to ask what you want of me.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus said, ˇ°A friend of my loverˇŻs family, is currently having some trouble, and I volunteered toe and ask for your help. I do not know the exact details, but a spirit of nature named via is currently struggling. She apparently is having trouble dealing with the build up of waste from growing natural treasures within an atrium.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Taking a moment to think. Forlorieous certainly had a number of ideas as to what the problem likely was, being an expert in growing natural treasures herself.

    ˇ°Hm, if I were to help you, would you be my partner. I promise that I can get you a lot stronger really quickly. For a great spirit to only be level fifty is unheard of.ˇ± Forlorieous said trying to entice Marcus to her side.

    Shaking his head, Marcus said, ˇ°I am afraid that is an absolute no. If there is one thing I cannot agree to, it is that. I already told you that I have someone, and I have no interest in being with you.ˇ±

    Grumbling, Forlorieous was displeased that hertest attempt to rope Marcus in had failed.

    Still, if he was this vehement in his refusal there was nothing she could do.

    ˇ°Very well. Tell me where this Salvia is, and I will go and help.ˇ± Forlorieous said, the dejection clear in her voice.

    However, Marcus was surprised by the immediate agreement. Especially after he had just rejected her advances.

    ˇ°Wait, so there is nothing else you want of me? You are just going to help me like that?ˇ± Marcus asked, with disbelief.

    ˇ°Yes. I mean there really is nothing else I need you to do. And I am not one to hold a grudge just because you refused me.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Getting up from her seat. Forlorieous moved over to Marcus and waited for him to tell her where Salvia was located.

    ˇ°She is in the castle in the capital city of Borealia.ˇ± Marcus said, not exactly sure what Forlorieous was going to do.

    Yet the second he told her where to go, the foliage in the area began to wrap around them, and glow brightly.

    An instantter Marcus felt the familiar sensation of warping.

    ˇ®DonˇŻt tell me.ˇŻ Marcus thought feeling that they had just been transported a great distance.

    As the nts that had epassed him and Forlorieous began to pull away, just as he thought, they were now in the middle of the Borealian royal castleˇŻs atrium.

    Normally this would have been impossible, as the castle was protected against spatial infiltration. But in the face of a fully realized great spirit, theses magic formations might as well have not been there.

    Just an instant after they had arrived, another tear in space opened up, and Gwyneira in her full dragon form rushed in. Her mouth open and already charging up with a frost breath to attack whoever was intruding.

    ForlorieousˇŻ sudden arrival had triggered an rm all throughout the castle, that an overwhelmingly powerful entity had broken in.

    Of course, Gwyneira had gone to confront this entity, but was surprised to see that it was Marcus along with someone she had not seen before.

    Still, it only took Gwyneira a moment to understand who was with Marcus, and she ceased her attack.

    ˇ°Oh, now this is a surprise. I never expected to see a true dragon pop up in here.ˇ± Forlorieous said, as if she had seen a cute puppy and not a massive beast.

    Shrinking back down and taking her humanoid form. Gwyneira looked towards Marcus and said, ˇ°Marcus, I assume that this is Great Spirit of Nature Forlorieous with you?ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus affirmed GwyneriaˇŻs assumption.

    ˇ°Great Spirit Forlorieous. It is an honor to meet you. My name is Gwyneira, and I am the protector of this kingdom. I believe that you havee to help out my friend Salvia.ˇ± Gwyneira said, trying to be as respectful as possible.

    ˇ°Yes, that is why I am here. Now would you tell Salvia toe out. I am not going to hurt her so there is no need to hide in that tree.ˇ± Forlorieous said, looking directly at the amethyst blossom tree where Salvia was hiding.

    Exiting out of her tree. via was understandably overwhelmed by ForlorieousˇŻ presence, as they were the strongest spirit that embodied nature.

    Looking Salvia over, Forlorieous said, ˇ°I thought I at least knew of all of the humanoid superior spirits of nature? Where did youe from?ˇ±

    With genuine interest, Forlorieous stared at Salvia, waiting for her answer.

    Except Salvia just shook her head and said, ˇ°I do not know. One day I just remembering being in a small pool before being picked up by Juniper and her friends.ˇ±

    Not getting the answer she wanted and having no context as to who Juniper was. Forlorieous reached out and connected with Salvia.

    ˇ°Ah, now I see. A dungeon born spirit. That is quite rare.ˇ± Forlorieous said after looking though Salvia at her past.

    After that, Forlorieous having found out what she wanted to know about Salvia looked around at the atrium.

    ˇ°Hm, a simple matter to fix. Truly for a human they made a decent formation that promotes the growth of nts. Unfortunately, they must not have known about the mana that natural treasures release that degrades formations.ˇ±

    Walking over to the amethyst tree which was actually the center of the formations that ran the atrium. Forlorieous phased her hand deep into the ground and fixed the issue like she was simply screwing in a loose bolt.

    ˇ°There that should do it. I have added a new formation to the exiting ones, that will absorb the corroding mana that used to build up. This way Salvia can simply disperse it when it has reach capacity and not have to manage it at all times.ˇ±

    With astonished faces. No one else had thought that this issue would be so easy to solve.

    However, this was just the power that great spirits had. Well except for Marcus, who was still a runt.

 Chapter 494 Beginning of a New Future

    Once Forlorieous had finished fixing the problem with the formations in the Borealia royal castleˇŻs atrium, she walked over to Marcus and said, ˇ°Well I have finished fixing things here. So, I will be going back to my home to continue my nap. Of course, if you ever change your mind about my offer, you are more than wee to stop by.ˇ±

    Forlorieous then gave Marcus a seductive wink before being wrapped up in vines and warping away.

    ˇ°Would you care to exin exactly what happened here?ˇ± Gwyneira said, trying to catch up on the order of events that led to a great spirit suddenly teleporting into the royal castle.

    Nodding his head, Marcus caught Gwyneira up on everything that had happened after he had met up with Forlorieous.

    ˇ°Hm, well we got their help, so that is all that matters.ˇ± Gwyneira said after hearing the details of MarcusˇŻ encounter with the great spirit of nature.

    She then turned to Salvia who had been examining how the new formation that Forlorieous had added interacted with the old ones.

    ˇ°It is incredible. This formation brings all of the waste released from the natural treasures to one central location and prevents them from leeching out into the surrounding area. I would say now I only need to purify it once every month or so now, instead of having to constantly manage it.ˇ± Salvia said, very impressed by the new magic that would make her life much easier.

    Still, even though she knew how to use this new magic formation, she had no idea how it was made or exactly how it worked.

    ˇ°Well, now that we have wrapped this up. Could I ask you for a favor Gwyneira?ˇ± Marcus said.<sub>.</sub>

    Turning her head back towards him, Gwyneira said, ˇ°Sure. So long as it is within my power, and reasonable.ˇ±

    ˇ°Okay, but first I need to ask if Mraz hase back yet?ˇ±

    Shaking her head, Gwyneira said, ˇ°No she has not. I believe thatst I heard she was still a bit away from the border.ˇ±

    ˇ°Good. That gives me some time to prepare.ˇ±

    ˇ°So, for my request. In three daysˇŻ time, I would like the castleˇŻs kitchen and dining room all to myself. In fact, just keep everyone out of that area. I want to do something special for Mraz.ˇ± Marcus said, with a bright smile on his face that he could not contain.

    Shrugging her shoulders, Gwyneira had no problems allowing MarcusˇŻ request.

    It was really a simple matter to vacate a part of the castle for only a single day, so long as she had Aaren use his authority as king.

    ˇ°Is that really all you want? For this and everything else you have done, I should be able to get you a rare skill orb of something simr form the castleˇŻs vault.ˇ± Gwyneira said, thinking Marcus was deserving a bit morepensation for the good work he had done.<sub></sub>

    However, what he asked for caused Gwyneira to be taken aback.

    ˇ°Well, if you are offering. Could I have some of your scales?ˇ± Marcus said brazenly.

    Her eyes going sharp and staring almost angrily at Marcus, she said, ˇ°And what would you want my scales for.ˇ±

    Naturally asking for the body parts of any beast was enough to set them of into a rage, as it was instinctually ingrained in them to not let go of a piece of themselves.

    They would normally allow this only to those that they truly trusted and shared a deep connection with.

    Still, Gwyneira did have a favorable impression of Marcus, and he had proved to be an invaluable ally. So she was at least willing to hear him out.

    ˇ°What would n on using my scales for.ˇ± Gwyneira said, doing her best to hide how upset she was.

    Walking over to her, Marcus whispered into GwyneiraˇŻs ear, and told her exactly what he nned to do with her scales.<sub></sub>

    After hearing this, Gwyneira sighed, and looked over at Salvia. Who, seemed really happy to no longer be perpetually having to deal with the mana waste emitted by the natural treasures in the atrium.

    ˇ°Fine I will give you three of my scales, but only this once.ˇ± Gwyneira said sternly.

    She then turned back into her true form showing off her powerful and majestic form as a frost lindwurm.

    Pulling out three of herrge scales, Gwyneira let out a pained grunt, as blood began to trickle down her side where she had removed the scales.

    Holding out the scales towards Marcus she said, ˇ°Here take them. And I expect to see the finished product when you are done.ˇ±

    Bowing his head, Marcus took ahold of the three scales, and ced them into his item box.

    He had been nning on making something very special, and GwyneiraˇŻs scales were what he needed to bring it up to the next level.

    Turning back into her human form, Gwyneira held her side which stung a bit and said, ˇ°I will make sure that what you have requested is done. Now I am going to rest, so do as you please.ˇ±

    After saying that, Gwyneira disappeared in a cloud of cold mist. Leaving Marcus alone with Salvia, who was ying with the nts in the garden.

    ˇ®Time to get to work. I need to finish things up quickly or I might bete.ˇŻ

    Walking out of the atrium and then the castle, Marcus headed straight for his home, after switching his appearance back to that of Irene.

    He needed to tell everyone that he had returned and to pick up some of his equipment.

    Upon his arrival after being gone for many months his employees were all surprised and happy to see his return.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I am d that your business has finished up sessfully.ˇ± ra said while bowing to Marcus.

    ˇ°I will have everyone gather and we shall prepare a small banquet for you return.ˇ±

    However, before ra could go off to gather the others, Marcus stopped her and said, ˇ°Actually I am only stopping in for a moment. I have somethings I need to attend to right now. Anyway, a wee banquet just for me would be a bit boring. Lilia is still in school, and I doubt any of my friends could be here on such short notice. How about we hold a wee back party in about a week when we can get everyone together.ˇ±

    ˇ°Very well, I shall do as you have requested Lady Geist.ˇ± ra said.

    Marcus then quickly wrote down a list of people to contact, before heading over to his workshop.

    Opening it up, he found it to be spotless, his maids having cleaned it in his absences.

    ˇ®I think that should do it.ˇŻ Marcus thought after gathering most of the equipment he kept inside his personal forge.

    In fact, pretty much the only things he had not gathered were bolted into the floor or walls.

    ˇ®Roxene if you do not want to be cooped up in mypanion storage for the next few days, I rmend getting out now.ˇŻ

    Jumping out, Roxene let out a long yawn and said, ˇ®Okay, just make sure not to be gone for too much time. I can only entertain myself for so long.ˇŻ

    Roxene then bounded off towards the house so that she could have the maids spoil her after such a long time.

    ˇ®Now it is time to spend my hard-earned skill points.ˇŻ

    Opening up his status, Marcus scrolled right down to his forge skill, and dropped one hundred sixty-four of his hard-earned skill points into it to bring it up to level seven.

    Certainly, this was a bit of a waste as he eventually could have trained the skill up to this level. But in order for him to work with Amethros he had to have at least a skill level of seven.

    ˇ®There. now I should be able to make it. But it will still be best if I go and get ThabonˇŻs help.ˇŻ

 Chapter 495 Thabonâ€™s Greatest Work

    With everything he needed gathered in his item box. Marcus made sure that no one was around before reverting to his ghost form.

    He then shot forward, flying towards the zegram Forge at full speed.

    ˇ®That one should do.ˇŻ He though as he found a nearby alley that was currently empty.

    Landing down in this alley, Marcus did onest check to make sure he was alone, before bing solid once again.

    After that he finished walking the rest of the way to the forge feeling the anticipation growing inside him.

    He not only was feeling very excited to work with amethros for the first time, but to see ThabonˇŻs reaction to his forge skill reaching level seven.

    This was the level that was normally attributed to someone that had truly reached the heights of the world of forging, as it allowed them to work with amethros.

    Of course, one could always continue to improve their skills, but very few made it to this level and even fewer exceeded it.

    Entering into the forge for the first time in many months, Marcus was happy to see that things seemed the same.<sub>.</sub>

    He received a warm wee from the apprentice who was stationed at the reception, and many others greeted him with smiles.

    Once he had finished saying hello to the fellow members of the forge, he made his way back to ThabonˇŻs private room.

    However, when he did a familiar face was waiting outside. Also, apparently here to see Thabon.

    ˇ°Gurrom your back!ˇ± Marcus said, happy to see his fellow apprentice and first teacher.

    Looking at Marcus, Gurrom had aplicated expression on his face.

    But he eventually raised his head, and looked Marcus in the eyes, and said, ˇ°Irene I am sorry. I felt jealous of your talent and acted selfishly. I forced master Thabon to tell me what powers you have and prepare me to defeat you in the tournament. Then when I lost, I left without giving any consideration to the master or you. Please could you forgive me?ˇ±

    ˇ°Sure, it was not that big of a deal anyway. You just gave yourself the best chance for victory. And it seems that you found your answer on your journey. So, there is no need to apologize to me.ˇ± Marcus said, as he pped his friend on the shoulder.

    Smiling, Gurrom was happy that Marcus did not hold any resentment towards him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Thank you. Your words mean a lot to me Irene.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well, you are a good friend and mentor, so you would have to do a lot worse to gain my ire. But enough about that.ˇ±

    ˇ°Why are you waiting outside our masterˇŻs door?ˇ± Marcus asked a bit confused as to what was going on.

    ˇ°ThatˇŻs right you just got back. He has beenmissioned by the royal family to make a new weapon out of amethros. This is the first time he has been asked to make an entirely new weapon out of the strongest metal in the world, and is taking his due diligence to make it the best he can.ˇ± Gurrom said, a look of longing on his face, showing that he wished he could be the one working with amethros.

    Of course, seeing this, Marcus decided not go ahead and tell Gurrom about the amethros he had recently obtained.

    Gurrom had just gotten over his jealousy of MarcusˇŻ explosive progress. and there was no reason to reason reopen that wound.

    Sitting outside of ThabonˇŻs room, Marcus and Gurrom began talking and telling each other about what they had been up to.

    Unfortunately, Marcus had to lie about what he had been doing for the most part, since it was a secret.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I see, dungeon delving for materials. I guess we must have passed by each other at some point since I also did that for a bit. Though mostly I just wandered around aimlessly.ˇ± Gurrom said.

    After waiting around for six hours, the door to ThabonˇŻs personal workshop opened up, and he said, ˇ°Come on in. I have just finished.ˇ±

    Seeing Thabon, both Marcus and Gurrom could tell he was exhausted, certainly having given everything he had in the production of his greatest work.

    Heading inside ThabonˇŻs room, Marcus began frantically looking around for the new weapon Thabon had just made.

    And when he spotted it, he saw the fine gleaming purple saber that was faintly glowing.

    It was currently being held up on a special rack made only for it.

    ˇ°Why donˇŻt the two of you go ahead and have a look. It is not every day you get to see a weapon like that up close.ˇ± Thabon said, the pride in his voice creeping out.

    Rushing over to the sword, naturally both Marcus and Gurrom wanted to look at their masterˇŻs greatest work.

    Yet, as Marcus got closer and really looked at it, he understood who this sword was for.

    ˇ®This is the same type of weapon that Mrazivy uses!ˇŻ

    Realizing this, Marcus felt a bit saddened. Since he always figured that he would one day make Mrazivy her first amethros weapon.

    However, it appeared that her family had beaten him to the punch andmissioned his master to do it before he could.

    Still, there was no doubt that this weapon was well beyond what Marcus could make now, and MrazivyˇŻs strength was more important than sentimentality.

    Of course, for a few moments Marcus thought maybe it was not meant for his lover, but after looking it over, there was little doubt left in his mind.

    The swordˇŻs enchantments that he could understand, were predominately meant to strengthen the power of ice and cold.

    And in the middle of the swordˇŻs guard was a magic core that obviously had belonged to a powerful beast or monster that had an affinity for the element of ice.

    After looking over this sword, Marcus could not contain his curiosity and had to know for sure.

    Pulling out his sending stone, he called up Aria and asked her if this sword was really meant for Mrazivy.

    ˇ°Yes, it is. Now that she has be much stronger it is only fitting that she have a weapon that can keep up with her power. But you must keep it a secret. It is meant to be a present that will be given to her on her birthday.ˇ± Aria said, exasperated by MarcusˇŻ sudden call and discovery of the kingdomˇŻs newest amethros weapon.

    She had not yet been informed of MarcusˇŻ return and did not know that he would be heading to see Thabon.

    If she had, she would have informed the old dwarf to keep the sword hidden from Marcus to prevent any early leaks.

    ˇ°Got it. I am pretty good at keeping a secret as you know. Anyway, I do not need what I am about to give her being overshadowed.ˇ± Marcus said.

    With his suspicion confirmed, Marcus put away his sending stone, and walked back towards Gurrom and Thabon. Who had been looking at Marcus curiously while he was whispering into his sending stone.

    ˇ°Hm, have you finished up your business there.ˇ± Thabon asked to Marcus.

    Nodding his head, Marcus said, ˇ°Yes, I have. I just wanted to confirm that this sword was indeed made for my friend.ˇ±

 Chapter 496 Final Lesson

    Once the moring over ThabonˇŻstest and greatest creation began to wind down. The master of Marcus and Gurrom asked both of them, ˇ°So what is it that the two of you need from me?ˇ±

    Motioning to Gurrom, Marcus intended to let him go first, since his fellow apprentice had already been waiting when he arrived.

    Clearing his throat and working up his courage, Gurrom said, ˇ°Actually master, I am out of celestial tinum, and was hoping I could borrow some?ˇ±

    Hearing this, Thabon smiled devilishly and said, ˇ°Truthfully, I am running pretty low myself. However, if you promise to go to the mine and procure some more within the next month. I would be willing to let you have some of what is left in my stores.ˇ±

    Fear quickly taking over his face, Gurrom still remembered his first traumatizing experience in ThabonˇŻs celestial tinum mine.

    As for Marcus he winced right along with Gurrom his time in the mines having been quite hectic and dangerous as well.

    Yet even though he had sworn to himself that he would never set foot in that hell hole again. Gurrom agreed saying. ˇ°I suppose that it is time that I put this fear behind me. I will go master.ˇ±

    Surprise was evident on ThabonˇŻs face hearing this, but quickly a proud smile reced his devilish one.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°That is great Gurrom. I can see that you really have grown.ˇ±

    ˇ°Here go ahead and take these.ˇ± Thabon said as he took out a half dozen ingots of celestial tinum and handed them to Gurrom.

    Bowing his head, Gurrom thanked Thabon for his support. Before excusing himself to get back to his own work.

    With Gurrom now gone. It was just Marcus and Thabon left alone in the quite workshop.

    Not knowing exactly where to start, Marcus simply opened his item box and pulled out one of the amethros ingots he had recently obtained.

    Seeing this ThabonˇŻs eyes went wide like saucers. As he never expected to see Marcus pull out something so valuable.

    Normally something like an amethros ingot could only be found in the vaults of royal families, or very powerful organizations that spanned continents.<sub></sub>

    Even Thabon had never gotten one of this size for his own personal use, with any he had obtained belonging to the royal family who weremissioning him.

    ˇ°Irene where on Mirrion did you get that?ˇ± Thabon said, the disbelief in his tone evident.

    Scratching the side of his cheek nervously. Marcus knew he could not tell his master the truth, but he knew a lie would not work either.

    ˇ°I did some very hard and dangerous work recently for the royal family, and this was part of my reward.ˇ± Marcus said, not going into any more detail.

    ˇ°I see. It must have been truly harrowing if that was the reward you were given.ˇ± Thabon said, understanding that Marcus was not going to borate.

    Still, while he felt a little jealous. He was also very proud that his apprentice had gotten ahold of the rarest and most powerful metal in the world.

    ˇ°So, have youe to ask me to make that into something for you? Though I honestly think it would be best if you waited to be able to work with it yourself.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Shaking his head, Marcus understood ThabonˇŻs misunderstanding here, and said, ˇ°Actually I came to ask if you would help me with my first time working with amethros. Truthfully, I have just recently gotten my forge skill up to level seven.ˇ±

    Receiving another wave of shock. Thabon was truly bbergasted by MarcusˇŻ uncanny ability to achieve milestones that were supposed to be difficult with such ease.

    For someone to have a level seven skill, they would normally need to be in the mid-sixties level wise, even if they had a talent for it.

    Heck even a supreme talent would normally only be able to achieve a level seven skill at the earliest around level fifty-eight.

    Rushing over to his safe, Thabon quickly opened it up and looked for the contract he had Marcus originally sign when he was epted as an apprentice.

    Yet when he found it, the piece of paper that used to have writing scrawled from top to bottom was empty. Indicating that the contract had either been fulfilled or was voided somehow.

    ˇ°You really have attained a level seven forge skill!ˇ± Thabon said, his eyes going wide with disbelief.

    However, the proof was right in front of him, and he had no choice but to believe that once again, Marcus had thrown logic on its head.

    ˇ°Ha, ha, ha. To think that you have been forging for less than two years. You never cease to amaze me, Irene.ˇ±

    ˇ°Very, well. I will give you yourst lesson as your master.ˇ±

    Rushing around his workshop, Thabon grabbed a number of items, from tomes to misceneous materials.

    ˇ°Please go ahead and ce that ingot here.ˇ± Thabon said pointing to his prized top tier adamantine anvil.

    Doing as his master said, Marcus ced the ingot down. And as soon as he did, Thabon struck down with all his might with a top tier mithril hammer that would normally be used to forge with adamantine.

    Except, the sturdy hammer broke as soon as it hit the amethros and did not even leave a single scratch.

    ˇ°Hm, as you can see, even the best mithril hammer cannot hope to mold amethros. Even if this ingot had been heated up, the result would have been the same. No this is the very least you need.ˇ±

    Thabon then pulled out a system recognized adamantine hammer, that was his greatest tool for forging.

    This just went to show the difference in amethros to even the second-best metal, that it required the absolute pinnacle of what was below it to be worked with.

    ˇ°Now for the next part of the difficulties in dealing with amethros. No ordinary mes are going to be enough to heat this metal up to be mable enough to work with. You are going to need something special.ˇ± Thabon said, as he went over to his work bench and pulled a certain leveler.

    The loud sounds of something shifting in the room began to echo about, as arge never before seen furnace popped out in the center of the room.

    It was made entirely out of scarlet ore and had what appeared to multiple nozzles protruding towards its center.

    ˇ°With this furnace it will be possible to superheat the amethros by hitting it with dozens of dense and high energy mes. that would normally be hot enough to vaporize unprotected adamantine. However, it eats through magic cores like no tomorrow, and to fuel it takes several dozen cores of creatures that were over level fifty. Not to mention that you will need to use your own magic to enhance and control the mes if you are to have any chance of sess.ˇ± Thabon said exining the process.

    After that he pulled out a special mana etcher that unlike the normal ones which were deless and had the de be made of pure mana. This one had a de made of amethros attached to it.

    ˇ°Finally, the only thing that can effectively cut into amethros is the metal itself. So, our first order of business with be making you a new mana etcher.ˇ±

 Chapter 497 Final Lesson (2)

    ˇ°That is not hot enough! Pour in more power!ˇ±

    Gritting his teeth and sharpening his focus, Marcus pushed with all his might to control the raging mes within the furnace.

    The amethros ingot within was still resisting bing hot enough, even as it was sted with heat over ten thousand degrees.

    This had already caused the room to grow boiling hot, and if not for the magic formations in the room, the entire building would have begun melting.

    Still the amethros was resistant, and even using his full power with the furnace raging as hot as it could go. Marcus could not pass the hurtle necessary to heat up the amethros.

    ˇ®Fine if I need more, I will give it more!ˇŻ

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form!ˇŻ

    Bursting with light and darkness, MarcusˇŻ strength skyrocketed as he used his supreme skill.

    His normal power simply just was not enough to cut it when it came to heating the amethros, so he was going to have to dig deep and give it all he had.

    Yet even with his greatly increased stats, he could not make thest jump necessary by simply controlling the mes being emitted by the furnace. He was going to need something more.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°DonˇŻt me me if I blow up this room!ˇ± Marcus yelled to Thabon before stepping forward right up to the furnace.

    At this point even his form that was impossibly resilient began to burn. As the temperature had long gone past what the surface of the sun in EarthˇŻs sr system had.

    ˇ®zegramˇŻs Furnace.ˇŻ

    Casting his strongest tier five fire magic spell, Marcus molded the shape of the spell, shrinking it down to fit within the physical furnace.

    It was harrowing to do while also focusing on his control mes spell. But soon Marcus had packed all of the power that was normally contained in the spell into the smaller area.

    The furnace made of pure fire then opened up and unleashed a powerful jet of mes that merged with the others.

    Controlling these new mes proved difficult, and at any moment they threatened to break free and run wild through the room.

    Normally Marcus would simply let his spells run wild in the direction he was aiming, but this waspletely different.

    Though after many minutes that felt like an eternity Marcus could not keep track of, he felt his strength begin to wane.<sub></sub>

    Keeping up his supreme skill as well as his focus on the mes was too much for an extended period of time.

    However, right before he felt like he was going to reach his limit, Thabon yelled, ˇ°That is enough! Stop the mes and remove the ingot.ˇ±

    Releasing his magic, Marcus stopped the mes, and once they had dissipated, he could see the now glowing ingot of amethros.

    The resilient and strongest metal in the world had finally been heated up enough to be worked with.

    Clenching his fists and working through the fatigue of his extended use of his supreme skill, Marcus sent out his spectral arm and grabbed the zing hot ingot.

    He needed to work fast before it cooled, and he did not have time to rest.

    Taking it over to the system recognized adamantine anvil Thabon had, Marcus ced the ingot down and got to work.

    He only truly needed two small parts, and with precision, chiseled off what he needed.

    ˇ®First the de.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Taking one of the pieces, Marcus used ThabonˇŻs best hammer and began the process of molding the metal into the form of a de.

    Moving expertly with motions he had practiced thousands of times. Marcus let his instincts and training guide him, and soon the de for his new mana etcher had beenpleted.

    For working with amethros this was always the first step, yet it had still been terribly difficult for Marcus to take.

    ˇ®Whew, it is done.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he instinctively wiped off his forehead even though he did not have any sweat.

    Picking up the tiny de, Marcus brought it over to Thabon for his approval.

    ˇ°Yep, it is well shaped and sturdy. This will do. Now we need to assemble the rest of the new etcher, but this should be much easier.ˇ±

    With the de made, Marcus began building his first mana etcher under ThabonˇŻs guidance.

    Luckily, it really was not all that difficult, since all of the parts were pretty much the same as a normal one other than the addition of the amethros de.

    ˇ°So, now that we have finished up making your new mana etcher. What is it you are wanting to make with that small piece of amethros you took off?ˇ± Thabon asked. Noticing how Marcus had taking off another small piece form the ingot.

    ˇ®I suppose now is the time.ˇŻ

    Steeling himself, Marcus looked Thabon straight in the eyes with a serious expression, and said, ˇ°Master. I believe that now it is time that I should tell you the truth. I am not human but a type of spirit. I know that I approached you under false pretense, but I wanted to tell you the truth now.ˇ±

    Looking at ThabonˇŻs expression, Marcus waited for what felt like an eternity for his masterˇŻs response.

    ˇ°Yes, I have known you were not human since I first began teaching you. It is pretty easy to figure out if you watch closely.ˇ±

    Letting out a breath of relief, Marcus was d to hear this from his master.

    He had thought that Thabon would have already known but telling him really helped to get a weight off his chest.

    However, Marcus was a bit disappointed by his masterˇŻs calm response to his reveal. So, he figured he should get a good shock out of him.

    ˇ°Actually, there is more that I need to tell you than just being a spirit.ˇ±

    Shifting his form, Marcus quickly lost his shape and began reforming.

    In just an instant he had gone from his guise as Irene Geist and taken his normal form as Marcus.

    This time he certainly astonished Thabon, who was at a loss for words.

    ˇ°Irene is actually just one of my identities. I also go by Marcus Ferrous and truthfully this is who I originally was. I can understand that this is hard to process, but since this will be myst time being your disciple. I wanted toe clean and tell you about who I truly am.ˇ±

    Putting all his cards out on the table, Marcus did not stop there, and began telling Thabon all about himself. That he was a transmigration, that he was also a ghost, and that he was in a rtionship with Princess Mrazivy.

    Listening to all of this, Thabon, became more and more overwhelmed until he finally sat down in a chair. A stunned expression on his face.

    ˇ°I knew you had your secrets, but this is far from anything I had ever expected. But this does exin a lot.ˇ±

    With Marcus having revealed nearly everything about himself to Thabon, his master had now gone deep into thought.

    Still, who or what Marcus was did not make much of a difference. Thabon had taught him because of the promise and strength of character he saw.

    It was needless to say that Marcus had been a great student and was now just one step away from being considered a true master himself.

    ˇ°Why tell all of this to me now?ˇ± Thabon asked. Wondering why Marcus had decided to disclose his secrets after keeping them hidden for so long.

    ˇ°Because I wanted you to trust me. For what I am going to do next will take your cooperation, and it would have revealed my nature anyway.ˇ±

    ˇ°I n to bind a part of my soul to the item I am about to make.ˇ±

 Chapter 498 First Blessing

    ˇ°Are you insane?! Did I not already tell you about the dangers of doing such a thing! I let it slide the first time because it was an ident, and the results were not disastrous. But I will not allow you to attempt a taboo again!ˇ±

    Bing raging mad, Thabon went off on Marcus.

    Binding a part of his soul to something on ident was one thing. But tantly saying to do it again and requesting aid in the endeavor. This was not something Thabon could take.

    He had seen one apprentice a long time ago fall down a simr path, and it had ended disastrously.

    These practices were called taboos for a reason, and Thabon would not have Marcus doing even the least dangerous of the three.

    ˇ°I will not allow it! If you want to attempt this crazy method, then do it on your own and never show yourself in front of me again! But know that I will also be reporting you, if you choose to do so. It cannot be allowed for those practices to go unpunished.ˇ±

    With every moment that passed by, Thabon became more and more seething. Beyond pissed that Marcus would even ask such a thing.

    However, as vtile as Thabon was. Marcus remained calm, having expected his master to get angry.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Master, please calm down and let me exin. I understand that binding a part of a personˇŻs soul to a weapon is taboo. But that is only because it has a chance of turning into a monstrous weapon. However, I am not a human or any type of living flesh and blood being. I am a spirit and a great one at that. The form you see before you is just my soul taking solid shape. I can imnt a piece of my soul into objects and even people much easier than a person can.

    I even have a race ability to do so, the same as all great spirits. Surely you have heard that you can receive a blessing from a great spirit. And if you want, I would even be willing to demonstrated by giving you one as proof?ˇ±

    Waiting to hear Marcus out, Thabon at the end of it was still steaming, but he had at least calmed down a bit.

    He did not even want to entertain the idea of one of his apprentices doing a taboo and even helping them do so.

    Still Marcus had made some good points in his favor, and already had a sess under his belt.

    Certainly, if any being could one hundred percent sessfully imnt a portion of their soul into an object it would be a great spirit.

    ˇ°Fine give me a blessing and I will decide after that whether I will allow you to continue or not.ˇ± Thabon said. A stern gazeing from his eyes.<sub></sub>

    Smiling Marcus walked over to his master and said, ˇ°Which will it be? Light or Darkness?ˇ±

    ˇ°Either. It does not matter.ˇ± Thabon responded.

    Nodding his head, Marcus held out his right hand which began glowing brightly.

    He then focused on his race ability as a great spirit and pulled out a piece of his soul. Before sending it over to Thabon as a glowing orb.

    As soon as the piece of MarcusˇŻ soul entered Thabon, the old dwarf began shining brightly.

    ˇ°There I have bestowed upon you the blessing of light.ˇ±

    Patting his body, Thabon could immediately tell that he was stronger.<sub></sub>

    He felt his body be a bit more lithe, and he also felt an even greater affinity for some of his skills.

    ˇ®I really did just receive a blessing!ˇŻ Thabon thought with astonishment.

    Until just now, he was actually still doubting MarcusˇŻ ability to give a blessing.

    Yet seeing it with his own eyes and experiencing it himself, there was no longer any room for doubt.

    ˇ®Ding!ˇŻ

    ˇ®You have acquired a new blessing holder.ˇŻ

    Hearing this sudden notification in his head, Marcus took a quick look at it and found that he could now view ThabonˇŻs status.

    ˇ®Oh, I did not know it allowed me to do this.ˇŻ Marcus thought, as he opened up a new window and viewed ThabonˇŻs full status.

    Taking a quick look, he confirmed that his masterˇŻs level was indeed seventy-four, and that his name was truly Thabon zegram.

    Of course, with his masterˇŻs full status on disy, Marcus did not stop there and looked over his stats as well.

    ˇ®Hm they are lower than I thought they would be. In total, they are only about eighty percent higher than what he would get just from leveling up.ˇŻ

    After looking at ThabonˇŻs stats, Marcus began scrolling down, when Thabon interrupted him.

    ˇ°Irene, you really gave me a blessing!ˇ± Thabon said,ing to realize that he had truly been given another blessing after so many years.

    Smiling smugly, Marcus said, ˇ°Yep. I told you that I can do it like all other great spirits, and I can even do the same for items. So, there is no need to worry about anything going awry.ˇ±

    Stroking his beard and thinking heavily. Thabon was having a difficult time deciding what to do now.

    Certainly, with MarcusˇŻ race ability, he could easily put a portion of his soul into an object, and it woulde out fine.

    But it was still a taboo to do so, and it was ingrained in Thabon to never try to attempt any of them.

    ˇ°I am afraid that I cannot help you if you are going to try and bind a fragment of your soul to an item. It is a taboo, and I will have nothing to do with it.ˇ±

    ˇ°Now since we have sorted that out. I have been hard at work for a while now and am in need of something to eat. There is a very good restaurant on the other side of town I have not been to in quite some time. So I think I will stop by there. After that I even think that I could use a good long rest.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh, Irene. During that time could you clean up in here. As you can see the ce is a mess and it would be great if you could do your master onest favor before going off on your own. Just be sure to be careful with my book of advanced formations that only amethros can take. I needed to use it as a reference, since this was the first time in so long, I had the opportunity to work with it.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well, I will be going off. I expect this ce to be clean when Ie back, but make sure you do not rush. It is imperative that you do a good job.ˇ±

    After saying all of this, Thabon gave Marcus a slightly nod. Before leaving him alone inside his private workshop.

    ˇ®Well, I guess I will take that as his approval. Still, I was hoping to have his help, but I will just have to make do. Now where is that book?ˇŻ

    With Thabon having left and giving his silent consent. Marcus began getting to work on making the item that he would be binding his soul to and giving to Mrazivy.

 Chapter 499 Worth Way More Than Three Months

    After being left in ThabonˇŻs workshop alone. Marcus went straight to work and began looking through the book of the strongest formations that Thabon knew.

    Of course, each of these formations wereplicated and could only be etched into amethros since other materials simply could not take their power.

    ˇ®Hm I am not going to have much room, but these two ought to do along with the more standard ones.ˇŻ

    Having quickly read through the dozen and a half formations. Marcus picked out the two that would be bested suited for what he had in mind.

    ˇ®Now, I hope this works.ˇŻ He thought once he was ready to begin.

    Walking over to ThabonˇŻs special furnace, Marcus once again lit it up, and began feeding it cores from high level monsters and beasts.

    Then while that was happening, he added the piece of amethros he had chiseled off earlier along with part of one of GwyneriaˇŻs scales into a crucible.

    With the starting materials now in ce, Marcus looked towards the raging furnace and ced the crucible inside.

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form.ˇŻ

    ˇ®zegramˇŻs Furnace.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Having already experienced heating up amethros once before. This time Marcus knew how much it was going to take and sted it with his full fire power right from the start.

    Yet, as the piece of amethros and GwyneiraˇŻs scale began to melt and merge together, Marcus knew it was time.

    Gritting his teeth Marcus prepared for the next part knowing that it was going to hurt like hell.

    ˇ®I think that twenty percent should be enough.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he gathered a piece of his soul together.

    When he had finished his preparations, he took out his scythe and sliced of his right arm. Where he had concentrated his confer blessing ability and sealed in arge portion of his soul.

    As soon as he did, he felt a searing pain throughout his entire being as he cut away a fifth of his soul.

    However, even through the pain, Marcus endured it and sent his arm into the crucible.

    Covering the top, he allowed his essence and soul to be absorbed into the amethros, guiding the process.

    Of course, it was quite distressful to do this, but as a spiritual being of the highest-ss, he managed got through this with sheer will power.<sub></sub>

    Once it was done, he removed the crucible and poured the molten amethros mixture out into an ingot mold to useter. After he had recovered form the removal of such arge portion of his soul.

    ˇ®Okay time for a break.ˇŻ

    Sitting down, Marcus looked at his arm that was beginning to reform, and sped up the process with his healing magic.

    ˇ®There we go. Good as new.ˇŻ He thought once the arm had regrown.

    Still even though his form had recovered, the strength of his soul was now twenty percent weaker than it had been just a minute ago.

    Though while his soul was now fragmented, he could still feel its strength within the amethros. He had simply transferred it to another medium.

    ˇ®It definitely feels weird. It is a bit different than just giving out the blessings. But as long as it works like I want, it will all be worth it.ˇŻ

    After waiting for about an hour to get used to is new state, Marcus finally felt ready to continue again.

    He needed to heat the metal up onst time and then shape it into the form of the item he nned to make.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Damn it is a lot harder this time. Losing out on twenty percent of my power is making a huge difference.ˇŻ

    Activating the furnace once again, Marcus found his new weaker state simply did not have enough strength to properly heat the amethros.

    He had already been giving it his all before, and now he was just shy on the ability necessary to reach the correct temperature.

    For a few moments he even contemted using his soul devour skill for the extra boost, but quickly dismissed this idea.

    Using that skill was a double-edged sword, and he had already cut himself very deeply once with it. Leaving him with no desire to do so again.

    Luckily, another idea came to mind, and he focused on the part of his soul in the amethros.

    Even if it was away from his core form. He could still control it just like he was able to do with his scythe.

    Taping into the power he had sealed within the ingot, he was once again able to use his full strength and the metal began to heat up.

    And this time he did not even need to estimate if he was right based on instinct and skill. He could feel the very essence of the metal that he had bonded to and knew when it was at the perfect temperature.

    With the amethros ready to be worked, he quickly took it out of the furnace and began hammering away.

    He had already imagined making this item dozens of times. And having literal put his soul into it, Marcus molded his first creation out of amethros.

    ˇ®There the base is done.ˇŻ

    Once the item had taken shape, Marcus held it aloft and examined the ring he had just forged.

    ˇ®Well, it is a bit bigger than a normal ring, but I need the space for the enchantments.ˇŻ

    Once he was certain that the ring was exactly the shape he wanted and did not have any ws. He ced it down on the work bench and began getting ready to make the formations.

    First, he had to imnt a magic core, but for an item of this size that was easier said than done.

    Still there was a method to shrink cores down.

    So, after cutting away anpressing the strongest core in his possession, Marcus had the core ready to be imnted into the ring.

    ˇ®That was more difficult than I thought it would be, but I managed to do it. Now time for the hardest part.ˇŻ

    The magic core now in ce, Marcus began etching in the formations he had chosen. Being ever so careful not to mess up.

    He had very little surface area to work with and no room for errors.

    ˇ®Damn this one really is tough.ˇŻ He thought as he slowly made process on etching in just the first formation.

    However, once that was done, he had to begin the second in an even more contained area.

    With razor focus, Marcus continued making progress,pelling the two main formations he wanted to enchant the ring with. Before adding the more basic ones such as strengthening and size adjustment.

    ˇ®There we go. It is done.ˇŻ

    Marcus having finished his first item made of amethros, held the ring aloft and looked at it with pride.

    It was truly an item to be praised. and was now easily the most valuable one in his possession.

    ˇ®I wonder how much this would have gone for at that high end auction? Two hundred thousand gold? Maybe four hundred?ˇŻ

    ˇ®Well at the very least it is worth way more than three months of my sry.ˇŻ Marcus thought while chuckling.

    Yet as great as it was, this ring would not be staying in MarcusˇŻ possession for long as he had already nned to give it away.

    ˇ®I wonder what MrazˇŻs face will look like when I give this to her.ˇŻ

 Chapter 500 For Eternity

    Havingpleted his engagement ring for Mrazivy, Marcus began cleaning up ThabonˇŻs workshop as he had been asked.

    He knew that his master had given him a pass this time, so it was only right that he did what he had been asked.

    ˇ®There that should do it.ˇŻ

    Wiping his hands together Marcus looked at the now spotless room that he had spent around three hours cleaning.

    With all he needed to aplish at the zegram forgepleted. It was now time for him to head back home and prepare for the big day.

    ˇ­

    ˇ°ra here is a list of items I need you to procure within the next day. Money is not an issue, so do not worry about the spending.ˇ± Marcus said while handing ra a sheet of paper and a magic bag that was filled to the brim with money.

    Looking over the list, ra immediately saw that it was filled with the most expensive cooking ingredients one could purchase.

    In fact, some of the ingredients were things she did not even recognize, showing how rare they were.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, are you nning on serving this at the party? I am not sure that any of us maids would be qualified to work with such ingredients.ˇ± She said, concern evident in her voice.

    ˇ°Oh no. Those are for a special engagement I have nned in a couple days that you need not worry about. For the party, the standard fare that Ste makes will be find.ˇ±

    Bowing her head, ra said, ˇ°Very well, I shall make sure that everything is ready by the end of tomorrow.ˇ±

    After that, ra went on her way hurrying around and enlisting the majority of the other maids help to procure the items on MarcusˇŻ list.

    ˇ­

    Soon the time that Marcus had reserved a wing of the castle for himself and Mrazivy had arrived.

    ˇ°Well, I am off everyone. I will be back in three days for my wee back party.ˇ± Marcus said as he waved goodbye to his servants that had gathered to see him off.<sub>.</sub>

    Getting into his carriage he told Elianna to drive towards the castle.

    ˇ®Still as impressive as always.ˇŻ He thought as he looked upon BorealiaˇŻs royal castle.

    In fact, now that he had something topare it to from the castle in Tralenstein it only made this castle that much grander.

    Not only was it quite a bitrger but the architecture was more pleasing to look at.

    It was a castle that very much looked the part of an epic fantasy. Unlike the one in Tralenstein that was more function over style and had the appearance of a massive fort.

    ˇ°Okay Elianna you can go ahead and return to my estate.ˇ± Marcus said as he got out of his carriage in front of the castleˇŻs entrance.

    ˇ°Are you sure that you will not need me to act as your attendant, Lady Geist?ˇ± Elianna said.

    ˇ°No, it is fine. The servants in the castle will be more than enough.ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Elianna epted MarcusˇŻmand and began driving the carriage back out of the royal castle.

    Now alone, Marcus headed into the castle being let in easily and made his way to MrazivyˇŻs room.

    ˇ®I am d that while I was here, she taught me how to navigate this ce.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he walked down corridor after corridor.

    Quickly, he entered the wing of the castle that was reserved for the royal familyˇŻs residences and had to stop in front of a magical barrier.

    ˇ®Hm, no one is around. Time to switch.ˇŻ

    Going back into his original form, he slipped through the barrier with ease, now that he bore the title of prince.

    ˇ®That reminds me. I should have a room around here somewhere myself now. Not that I will probably ever use it.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he walked thest little bit to MrazivyˇŻs room.<sub></sub>

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Gently knocking on the door, Marcus waited for only a moment until the set of double doors was opened up by MrazivyˇŻs personal servant.

    ˇ°Aisha it is good to see you again.ˇ±

    ˇ°Likewise, Prince Ferrous.ˇ± Aisha said while bowing.

    ˇ°Pleasee inside. I am sure her highness will be happy to see you.ˇ± Aisha said somewhat mischievously.

    Following Aisha into MrazivyˇŻs room, Marcus saw her sitting on her couch and reading a book.

    However, he could see that her face was a bit flush, and when he entered, she abruptly stored the book into her item box.

    ˇ°Marcus when did you get here?ˇ± Mrazivy said with a higher pitched voice than normal.

    She had known that he would be arriving soon but had ended up engrossed in her book not hearing hime in with the help of Aisha.

    Of course, this had been somewhat nned in advance, so that Marcus could catch Mrazivy off guard.

    ˇ°Well, if you will excuse me your highnesses. I will be taking my break.ˇ± Aisha said, while giving her master a wink.

    Once Aisha had left, Mrazivy looked at Marcus a bit expectantly and was about to say something. When he pulled her up off the couch and into a princess carry.

    ˇ°Marcus!ˇ±

    ˇ°Wait I am not ready yet! At least let me take a bath first!ˇ± Mrazivy said flustered by Marcus suddenly picking her up.

    Yet she only became more flustered as he started walking towards the door instead of further into the suite.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Marcus where are we going?!ˇ± Mrazivy said a bit of panic in her voice as Marcus kicked open her doors.

    ˇ°I have a surprise that I have set up for you, so we can worry about other activities afterwards.ˇ± Marcus said with a smirk on his face.

    ˇ°But I was the one who was supposed to have a surprise ready for you.ˇ± Mrazivy grumbled.

    Carrying Mrazivy through the castle, Marcus made his way over to the kitchen which to MrazivyˇŻs surprise was empty.

    In fact, as she thought about it, even on their entire way over here, they had not seen a single person.

    ˇ°How did you have the entire kitchen cleared out?ˇ± Mrazivy asked confusion all over her face.

    ˇ°Oh, I just asked for a favor from the top dragon, and she worked it out for me. Anyway, now that we are here it is time to get started.ˇ±

    After putting Mrazivy down, Marcus pulled his massive industrial fridge out of his item box and opened it up.

    ˇ°I have prepared the best ingredients that can be bought on the market, so pick out whatever you want. Today we are cooking the best meal of our lives.ˇ± Marcus said as he beckoned Mrazivy inside the fridge.

    Walking into the fridge she saw that it truly was filled with any high-end ingredient imaginable.

    ˇ°So, choose whatever you would like and then you can help me with the prep work. After that I will teach you how to really cook.ˇ±

    Smiling and nodding her head Mrazivy said, ˇ°This is going to be a lot of fun. Thank you, Marcus.ˇ±

    She then stood up on the tips of her toes and gave Marcus a kiss on the cheek. Before heading into the fridge and picking out ingredients.

    ˇ°A little bit of this. Two of these. Oh, I have not seen this kind before, I wonder what it tastes like. Aw these smells good.ˇ±

    Going through the fridge Mrazivy was grabbing things left and right, a number of which she had no idea about.

    Still, Marcus just stood there smiling. Figuring he could probably make something good no matter what Mrazivy picked out.

    ˇ°You certainly grabbed a lot.ˇ±

    Looking in front of him, the counters were piled high with the food that Mrazivy had picked out. And it appeared she had taken a bit of almost everything Marcus had bought.

    ˇ°Yeah. Now that I have evolved, I can eat quite a bit more.ˇ± Mrazivy said a bit embarrassed.

    ˇ°Well, that is fine. I can eat infinitely for all I know.ˇ±

    After saying that, Marcus began sectioning out the ingredients and told Mrazivy which ones to cut up first.

    He wanted everything toe out ready close to the same time. So, starting with what would take the longest to cook made the most since.

    Soon the two of them were engrossed with making a feast for themselves.

    Of course, Marcus had to give Mrazivy directions for the most part, since her cooking ability was basically nonexistent.

    But her diligence and want to learn helped a lot, and quickly they had prepared most of the ingredients and already started cooking some of them.

    ˇ°Mraz could you get me two cups of flour.ˇ± Marcus said as he was beating some eggs.

    However, as Mrazivy was pouring out the flower, a mischievous look came over her face.

    ˇ°I got your flower.ˇ± She said as she dumped it all over Marcus. ˇ°There now you look more like a ghost.ˇ±

    While Mrazivy snickered at her joke. Marcus just stood their stunned for a moment as he processed what had happened.

    Going ethereal Marcus let all of the flower fall off of him and sent it back towards Mrazivy with the flick of his spectral arm.

    ˇ°There now you look more like a frost dragon.ˇ±

    The to of them had a goodugh for a minute, before cleaning up the flower and getting back to work.

    ˇ°That is thest of it.ˇ± Marcus said as he put the finishing touches on the cake he and Mrazivy had made.

    ˇ°Now you can go wait in the dining room and I will bring everything out for us.ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy did just that and waited for Marcus to serve them both the massive feast the two of them had prepared.

    ˇ°Ah that was really good. You were right about it being the best meal of our lives.ˇ± Mrazivy said, with a satisfied expression after they finished off desert.

    However, unbeknownst to her, the biggest surprise was yet toe.

    ˇ°Actually, I have made one more thing for you that I have kept hidden.ˇ± Marcus said as he stood up from his seat.

    Looking at him with a bit of confusion, Mrazivy could not remember him having the time to make something else while they were cooking.

    Yet as Marcus bowed his head down and grabbed MrazivyˇŻs left hand she realized what he was doing.

    Marcus then kissed the top of her hand and said, ˇ°Princess Mrazivy Borealia. Would you marry me.ˇ±

    Blinking furiously, Mrazivy was stunned by Marcus asking her to marry him, in the traditional way of the Borealian nobility.

    Of course, this was normally just a formality that nobles did, as the marriages had been arranged beforehand. But for Mrazivy she truly had not been expecting this right now.

    ˇ°Yes. I will marry you.ˇ± she said as tears began to flow down her face.

    Smiling and let out a breath of relief, Marcus pulled out the ring he had made for Mrazivy and slipped it onto her finger.

    ˇ°Let this be a symbol of our eternity together.ˇ±

 Chapter 501 New Techniques (R-18)

    (Disimer: There will be sexual content. Skip if you are not interested.)

    As soon as Marcus slipped the engagement ring onto MrazivyˇŻs finger, she immediately felt a surge of power throughout her body.

    ˇ°Marcus what is this?ˇ± She said as she felt a warmth washing over her.

    Smiling, Marcus responded saying, ˇ°I did not have a heart to give you, so I ced a part of my soul into that ring instead. Now its, or well my power is yours. This way even when we are apart, I can support you.ˇ±

    Bing even more teary eyed, Mrazivy looked at Marcus in disbelief and said, ˇ°You would go that far for me? WonˇŻt you be weaking yourself by doing this?ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, ˇ°Yes, I am a bit weaker now that I am missing a piece of my soul, but it is not a big deal. I wanted to give you a part of me, so I did. Anyway, if I am ever really in trouble, I can call it back to myself.ˇ±

    Looking down at the ring and fidgeting with it on her finger, Mrazivy noticed for the first time that it was also made of amethros.

    Truly this was probably the most value engagement ring in the entire kingdom if not the continent.

    However, Mrazivy did not think about that, but off how much the ring represented MarcusˇŻ love for her.

    In the world of nobles, there would be very few people that ever experienced love like this, and Mrazivy felt truly blessed.

    She was d from the bottom of her heart that she had met Marcus, and that he had ended up falling for her.

    ˇ°I promise to cherish it always and keep it as a symbol that we will be together forever.ˇ± Mrazivy said while crying and blushing.

    She was going through a storm of emotions right now, but the strongest one was definitely her love for Marcus.

    So, she grabbed him by the face and pulled him in for a long kiss.

    A bit surprised by this, Marcus nearly flinched back. But as he felt MrazivyˇŻs lips caressing against his own, he leaned in and savored the passionate kiss with his now fianc¨¦.<sub>.</sub>

    After nearly a minute of kissing, Mrazivy pulled back, her breathing a bit ragged as she stared at Marcus longingly.

    Yet before he could do anything else, she smiled and swept him off his feet as he had done to her earlier.

    Now holding him in a princess carry, Mrazivy said, ˇ°You have been taking the lead this whole time. So, now it is my turn.ˇ±

    Rolling his eyes, Marcus decided to let Mrazivy do as she wanted, and soon she had carried him back to her room.

    Once inside she headed straight for her bedroom and threw Marcus onto the bed.

    ˇ°Oh, what about taking a bath?ˇ± Marcus said with a smirk.

    Jumping onto the bed and cing herself right above him, Mrazivy said, ˇ°Forget the bath. I do not want to hold back any longer.ˇ±

    cing her right hand on MarcusˇŻ chest she began caressing him, as she lowered her head into another kiss.

    Feeling Mrazivy slide her tongue into his mouth, Marcus returned the favor and wrapped his tongue around hers while fondling her left breast.

    He then began sending his other hand lower, when Mrazivy grabbed him and said, ˇ°DidnˇŻt I say I would be taking the lead first. You always do everything you can to make me feel good, so it is my turn.ˇ±

    Holding his hands up in defeat Marcus allowed Mrazivy to do as she pleased.

    After the first round of kissing and light caressing, she began taking MarcusˇŻ clothes off and revealing his entire bare body.

    ˇ°Oh, looks like you are already ready to go.ˇ± She said with a wry smile as she ced her finger on the tip and began swaying it back and forth.

    ˇ°Well with how forceful you have been how could I not be.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I am happy to hear that. So how about I give you a treat.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she pulled off her shirt.

    With her chest now exposed, Mrazivyid her body down on top of MarcusˇŻ and slid his penis in between her breasts.

    Moving up and down she began stroking Marcus doing her best to pleasure him.

    ˇ°Where did you learn this from? Was it maybe from that book you were reading earlier?ˇ± Marcus said, as Mrazivy amateurishly rubbed him up and down with her boobs.

    Her face going flush and picking up the pace she said, ˇ°Yes, I did. You already had some experience in your old world and were always taking charge, and there was nothing I could do. You got too good a pushing all of my sweet spots really quickly, so I wanted to do the same. I read that book and learned some new techniques to try and make you feel good too.ˇ±

    Continuing to stroke Marcus up and down, Mrazivy started to get frustrated after a few minutes when nothing happened.

    In the book it had said that most guys would go wild for this, but Marcus was still calm and collected.

    Still, she had another trick up her sleeve and positioned her mouth right above his member and allowed her salvia to fall down.

    Then lowered her mouth and swallowed him.

    ˇ®Ow.ˇŻ

    However, Mrazivy certainly was not the best at this, being her first time trying it. And her exceptionally sharp teeth cut into MarcusˇŻ form.

    Seeing the look of distress on his face ,Mrazivy pulled back and saw the gray misting off of him where she had cut him.

    With an embarrassed and dejected look on her face Mrazivy began sitting back up in defeat.

    She had wanted to give Marcus a good time, but instead had hurt him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Hey Mraz, there is no need to fret. This is your first time trying something like that, so it is fine if you make a couple mistakes. Trust me I made more than my fair share before. Anyway, I have already fully healed. So, if you want to, just take it slowly and try again.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to encourage her.

    Smiling towards him, Mrazivy was happy for his kind words and tried again.

    This time she was less forceful and took things slowly as he had told her. Making sure to be extra careful of her teeth that could even shred adamantine armor.

    Soon, feeling how hard Mrazivy was trying. Marcus allowed himself to reach the peak and released his essence into her mouth as she wanted.

    As he did, she pulled her head back a bit surprised even though she knew it wasing.

    She then swallowed it just as the book had instructed and said, ˇ°Did that feel good?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, it did. But now it is my turn.ˇ±

    After saying this, Marcus sat up quickly and pushed Mrazivy down.

    He had let her have her way with him. So now he was going to do the same.

    Pulling off her pants and underwear, Marcus revealed MrazivyˇŻs slender and porcin legs.

    He began kissing her thighs, and slowly made his way to her pussy.

    Kissing her a dozen times there, he made sure that she was really craving for it when he finally began licking her

    ˇ°Ahhh.ˇ±

    Letting a soft moan escape from her lips, Mrazivy could not help but feel good from MarcusˇŻ relentless attack.

    Soon, she was very wet, and Marcus took two of his fingers and slowly slid them inside her.

    He then began moving back and forth while pressing upwards every so often to hit her sweet spot.

    This caused her to gasp and groan as waves of pleasure washed over her.

    However, Marcus was not done yet, and when she had started to get used to his fingers, he ced his mouth right above her clitoris and began licking her there.

    Not having been ready for this, Mrazivy began moaning very loudly as Marcus brought her to the height of her pleasure.

    Then after she hade once, he started again, not given her time to rest, vigorously attacking her weak spots until she had soaked the sheets below her.

    ˇ°Huff, huff.ˇ±

    Breathing heavily, Mrazivy was taking a minute to recover from MarcusˇŻ relentless licking and fingering that had made her climax a half dozen times.

    Still, she recovered much faster than she had before, and abruptly got up and pushed him onto his back.

    ˇ°DonˇŻt think I am going down as easy as before. Now that I have evolved, I have the same stamina as a dragon. I hope you are ready because I canst much longer now.ˇ±

    Maneuvering her hips above him, when she was in position, she mmed down hard on top of Marcus.

    Yet in her haste, she idently used way too much force and the bed frame under them cracked and fell through.

    Looking around frantically, Mrazivy was starting to be upset that she had made another mistake. When Marcus thrust upwards and got her attention.

    ˇ°No time to stop now. I thought you were taking the lead?ˇ± Marcus said.

    Feeling a fire burning inside her, Mrazivy disregarded her now broken bed and began moving her hips on her own.

    She swayed back and forth, up and down, doing what she had read to make them both feel good.

    Eventually after a few minutes. Marcus decided to match her rhythm and the two began humping each other incredibly hard and fast.

    Unfortunately, much like the bed, the floor below them simply could not take the amount of strength that the two of them could generate, and soon began creaking dangerously.

    ˇ°Looks like we are going to have to continue this elsewhere.ˇ± Marcus said as he felt the floor cracking under him.

    After that the two of them got up and Mrazivy had the bright idea to reinforce the room by covering it in ice.

    ˇ°You know Mraz, for any other guy this would definitely not be good.ˇ± Marcus said remembering the cold winters on Earth when he was still a human.

    ˇ°Yeah, well I do not care about any other guys. Now are you going to keep me waiting or are we going to continue where we left off?ˇ± Mrazivy said as she leaned against the now frozen wall and spread her legs.

    Taking her up on her invitation Marcus once again inserted himself into her and began rocking back in forth.

    Quickly the two of them were going at it like beasts, as they both fully enjoyed themselves pping their bodies together with all their might.

    Until this point Marcus had always held back a bit not wanting to hurt Mrazivy. But now she was actually the one who was physically stronger.

    They kept at this for days. With Marcus needing no time to rest and Mrazivy only taking a few minutes every six or so hours to rehydrate before going at it again.

    The two of them unleashed all of their lust and love for each other. And only finally stopped when it was the day that Marcus was supposed to return back to his own home.

 Chapter 502 Gathering of Friends and Family

    ˇ°I think that it is about time that we get out.ˇ± Marcus said to Mrazivy who was resting against his chest.

    Sighing she nodded her head and stood up from the water.

    She and Marcus had been enjoying a long rxing bath together, but they had to get going soon or Marcus would bete for his own party.

    ˇ°Just give me thirty minutes to get ready and then we can go.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she dried herself off.

    Once she had left, Marcus got out of the bath himself, and went ethereal letting all of the water fall off him before reappearing in his form as Irene.

    He then put on a dress that he kept in his item box. Before sitting out in MrazivyˇŻs living room and waiting for his fianc¨¦ to finish getting ready.

    After thirty minutes just as she said, she came back out and was now wearing a stunning blue dress that matched her hair.

    ˇ°Wow that looks really good on you.ˇ± Marcus said feeling that she wanted him topliment him.

    ˇ°Yeah, normally I would save a dress like this for more ostentatious events, but I just felt like wearing it today. But what about you? Your dress is pretty ordinary. If you want, I could let you borrow one of mine that is more ttering?ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Shaking his head Marcus said, ˇ°No that is fine. I prefer less shy clothing in general since my appearance is already eye catching enough.ˇ±

    Shrugging her shoulders, Mrazivy had really just been hoping to use Marcus as a dress up doll again. But they were short on time so she figured she could do thatter.

    Once they had finished up their little chat and received word that the carriage was ready. The two of them headed out of the castle and made their way back to MarcusˇŻ estate.

    ˇ°Wee back Lady Geist, and it is good to see you again Princess Mrazivy. Also, Lady Lilia has already arrived not long ago and is very eager to see you againˇ± Amy, who was manning the front gate said upon their arrival.

    Nodding his head, Marcus thanked his loyal servant for the update, before beckoning the carriage to continue on to the main residence.

    When they arrived, ra was already there waiting there for them and began greeting them.

    However, her greeting was cut short. as barreling out of the front door came Lilia.

    Wham!<sub></sub>

    Smacking right into Marcus with a tackle hug, Lilia grabbed ahold of him like a vice and squeezed hard.

    Luckily Marcus was able to take LiliaˇŻs monstrous strength, but any normal person would have been snaped in two like a toothpick.

    ˇ°I am happy to see you as well Lilia.ˇ± Marcus said as he returned the hug with one arm and patted his sisterˇŻs head with the other.

    It had been many months since they had seen each otherst, so both of them were very happy for their reunion right now.

    Once the two of them had finished with their initial embrace, everyone entered back into the estate. Where ra showed Marcus the preparations for the gathering that would be happening soon.

    ˇ°Everything looks great. You and the other maids have outdone yourselves as always ra.ˇ±

    Bowing her head, ra thanked Marcus for his praise with a slight smile creeping onto her face.

    She had very much enjoyed her time as MarcusˇŻ head maid. Especially since her career was close to falling apart until he hired her.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Um big sister Irene. Since we have some time before everyone else arrives there is something I would like to talk to you about.ˇ± Lilia said a bit bashfully.

    Turning towards his sister, Marcus leaned over and said, ˇ°Sure what is on you mind Lilia.ˇ±

    However, contrary to what he was expecting, Lilia pulled out a sheet of parchment and said, ˇ°Would you please sign this form?ˇ±

    Taking the form curiously, Marcus looked it over.

    ˇ°How did you get the opportunity to get this Lilia. I was pretty sure that this trip was only for those in theirst year?ˇ± Marcus said with a bit of confusion.

    Every year the royal academy would take its students into a wild area. So, that the young adults would get some experience handling dangerous situations away from the safetyforts of the city.

    Of course, it was monitored by the teachers, but they only intervened if the situation were to get deadly.

    ˇ°Actually, mybat professor rmend that I go since he said that I was already as strong as the top students in their final year. He got special permission from the headmaster for me to attend, but I need my guardianˇŻs permission.ˇ± Lilia said, an expectant look in her eyes.

    Seeing this, Marcus could tell that she really wanted to go, maybe missing the bit of adventure he had given her a taste of.

    ˇ®Hm, I brought her into a dungeon and let her roam around without me, so it should be fine. As far as I know Lilia is probably the strongest student at the academy anyway.ˇŻ

    ˇ°Sure Lilia. If you want to go that is fine.ˇ± Marcus said as he signed the form.

    Yet before he handed it back to her, he said, ˇ°But just make sure to not let those older students push you around. You have a lot of valuable skills, and you are strong. So, make sure to stand up for yourself.ˇ±

    Nodding her head with a fierce look in her eyes, Lilia agreed that she would not be a pushover.

    After that, Marcus brought Lilia and Mrazivy to the library so that he could get the two of them better acquainted

    Truthfully, they had only had a few conversations together and he wanted his top two people to get closer together as well.

    Fortunately, the two of them hit it off pretty quickly. Being a quite a bit simr to each other.

    Unfortunately for Marcus, the main topic that they were talking about was him.

    ˇ°That must have been terrifying. But at least he gantly came into rescue you from those vers. Though he tends to do that a lot as he braved an entire dungeon toe save me.ˇ± Mrazivy said as the two of them talked about MarcusˇŻ habit of jumping headfirst into dangerous situations.

    Eventually their conversation moved on from the past and to the future, when Mrazivy said, ˇ°Oh yeah! We have made ns to go and explore this remote area that is really beautiful over the summer. Would you like toe with us Lilia?ˇ±

    With bright eyes she began nodding her head and looked towards Marcus for approval.

    ˇ°Yes, if you want, you cane with us Lilia. But make sure to keep your grades up if you want to go.ˇ±

    Smiling and jumping up and down, Lilia agreed to do her best in school as long as she got to apany them on the trip to the crystal caverns.

    Not long after that, ra came back in and said, ˇ°Lady Geist, your first guests have just arrived at the gate.ˇ±

    ˇ°Okay thank you for the update, ra. Make sure that some one is ready at the entrance to receive them, and we will go into the lounge to wait for their arrival.ˇ±

 Chapter 503 Gathering of Friends and Family (2)

    ˇ®Oh, so they are the first to arrive.ˇŻ

    Seeing his first guests enter, Marcus was not surprised since he figured that they would want to get here early.

    ˇ°ric.ˇ± Lilia said as she ran up to the half elf boy.

    The two of them then hugged. Though ric seemed a bit embarrassed to be embracing Lilia in front of everyone.

    ˇ°Viscount Skalbeck and Viscountess Valore it is good to see you again, and I am d that you were able toe to this party.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, well we hardly could not ept your invitation, Lady Irene.ˇ± Viscount Skalbeck said a bit of irritation in his voice.

    However, while Marcus was willing to brush this off. His wife Bianca elbowed him in the side and said, ˇ°Dear, I know work has been very hard recently, but there is no need to take it out on Lady Irene. She just got back from an extended trip and wanted to see her friends before we make the journey to Gleann Reota in two weeks.ˇ±

    Sighing and lowering his head, the viscount said, ˇ°Please forgive me for my rudeness Lady Geist. As my wife said, things have been very busy for me. With the current events surrounding our kingdom and Tralenstein I am up to my nose in paperwork.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus pursed his lips together a bit, since he was heavily responsible for the viscountˇŻs sudden increased workload.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®I guess being the foreign trade councilor is not an easy job.ˇŻ Marcus thought silently giving his apologies to Viscount Skalbeck.ˇŻ

    ˇ°Well Viscount Skalbeck, feel free to take this time to rx from your stress at work. In fact, if you are really in need of a break, I can have a room readied for you?ˇ± Marcus said, hoping to help out with the problems he had sort of caused for the viscount.

    Shaking his head, he responded saying, ˇ°No it would be rude of me to be absent. Anyway it appears that we are not the first to arrive and we should go and introduce ourselves to your other gue-ˇ°

    Yet as the viscount truly looked at the other person that was in the lounge, he noticed the royal familyˇŻs signature blue hair and his eyes went wide.

    He had not been expecting to see anyone from the royal family here, and soon recognized Princess Mrazivy.

    Going up to her and dragging his son and wife along the viscount said, ˇ°Your highness, I apologize that we did not see you there and are bted on our greeting you.ˇ±

    Following along, both ric and Bianca bowed their heads as well and greeted Mrazivy who held a status above theirs.

    ˇ°No need to be so formal, I am here as a friend just like all of you. Me and Irene are pretty close so I really would prefer if we did not make things stuffy with too much formality.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she waved her hand back and forth.<sub></sub>

    Though as she did, BiancaˇŻs sharp eyes caught sight of something unbelievable on MrazivyˇŻs finger.

    ˇ°Princess Mrazivy, is that what I think it is?!ˇ± Viscountess Valorre said as she pointed at the ring on MrazivyˇŻs finger.

    For a moment Mrazivy had a confused look on her face, before looking down at the ring Marcus had given her.

    She had actually forgotten she was still wearing it, as over thest few days it had felt incredibly natural for her to have it on.

    ˇ°Ah yes this is. I suppose that I probably should not be wearing it in public until it gets officially announced.ˇ± She said as she looked towards Marcus.

    Both of them had disregarded the fact that the ring was a beacon for anyone who saw her that she was now engaged.

    Of course, that was not all as well, since while not everyone would recognize that the ring was made of amethros. Those that did would understand the value of the ring.

    ˇ°I thought that your engagement had been called off? Marquis Krenston made quite the fuss about it during the kingdomˇŻs meeting.ˇ± Viscount Skalbeck said.<sub></sub>

    Coming to MrazivyˇŻs rescue Marcus said, ˇ°Yes, her highness has recently gotten engaged to a new suitor, but it is very recent and has not been announced yet. If you would, I ask that you keep this a secret for us, so as to not cause any sort of scandal.ˇ±

    Nodding their heads, while they were intrigued by what was going on, they decided to do as Marcus wished and not cause any problems.

    ˇ®I suppose I should take it off.ˇŻ Mrazivy said to Marcus telepathically.

    But hearing the sadness in her voice as she looked at the ring, Marcus was certain that she did not want to.

    ˇ®No there is no need for that. Just reinforce your finger with spiritual energy and pretend to put it in your item box. I will take care of the rest.ˇŻ

    Titling her head to the side, Mrazivy was not sure what MarcusˇŻ n was, but still followed his directions.

    And as she opened up her item box and ced her hand inside, she felt her ring be weightless and disappear.

    However, it was not really gone, Marcus had simply turned it invisible and ethereal using the piece of his soul inside it.

    ˇ°Now that we have all greeted each other letˇŻs rx and get ready for the others to arrive.ˇ± Marcus said trying to move the topic away from MrazivyˇŻs engagement ring.

    After that, people beganing by one after another.

    The next person to arrive was Adrianna Harthen.

    Unfortunately, this time risa was not with her as she had long since gone to her post up north in Trostenwald.

    The next people to arrive were Baron Kental and his family, followed by Baress Brentano and her daughter.

    Yet the biggest surprise was when Sir Hinsen showed up with not only his own wife and child, but princess Eis as well.

    It was quite rare for the youngest princess to make any public appearances. And it was especially so since she was closely entwined with the current politics around Borealia and Tralenstein

    ˇ°Eis I am very d you could make it.ˇ± Marcus said to the young princess.

    Putting on a smile, Eis said, ˇ°Yes, I am d to be here as well. I was actually surprised when my father allowed me toe. But I suppose that he wanted to let me have some fun before I go and reunite with my mother in Tralenstein next month.ˇ±

    Once Eis had finished greeting everyone, Marcus telepathically told Lilia to invite the young princess over to y with the other children. In hopes that maybe Eis could try and make some new friends.

    Soon the majority of the people that Marcus had invited had arrived and the party began getting underway.

    People ate, talked, drank, and yed games.

    It was a fairlyx social gathering as far as nobles went. With no deals trying to be made or any sort of pretense being upheld.

    Everyone was just here to have some fun and enjoy thepany of their friends and acquaintances.

    However, after the party had been going on for a couple of hours. Two more people showed up and silence permeated the hall for a few moments.

    ˇ®Oh, they actually showed up.ˇŻ Marcus thought with surprise.

 Chapter 504 Partyâ€™s End and to the Ice Elf City

    ˇ°Master, Gurrom, I am d that the two of you could make it. I know that I have already met up with the two of you since my return, but I am happy to finally show you around my home and introduce you to some of my friends and family.ˇ±

    Enthusiastic that Gurrom and Thabon had showed, he walked right up to the two of them and tried to beckon them into the heart of the party.

    However, Thabon stopped Marcus and said, ˇ°I am not your master anymore remember. You have learned what I have to teach you already and reached the level of a true master yourself. We are peers now. So just call me Thabon like you did before.ˇ±

    Nodding his head and smiling, Marcus said, ˇ°Sorry I have been calling you master for so long now I just did so reflexively. Please let me introduce you to my friends Thabon and Gurrom.ˇ±

    After that, Marcus brought Thabon and Gurrom around and introduced them to the others at the party.

    Of course, there was not a single one of them that had not heard of Thabon, and a majority of them knew of Gurrom as well.

    Certainly, they were famous in the kingdom since Thabon was the best forgemaster, and Gurrom was his best-known apprentice.

    Though everyone was surprised to here that Marcus was no longer his apprentice having graduated to being a master himself.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Wow Lady Geist you are even more aplished than I thought. I did not know that your skills were even up to the point of working with adamantine.ˇ± Baron Kental said with an impressed tone.

    Naturally everyone was very surprised to hear about MarcusˇŻ skills, and the few in the know understood what it really meant.

    Not only was Marcus now able to work with adamantine but even amethros.

    In fact, that now made him one of three people known in the entire kingdom that could do so.

    ˇ°Lady Geist, what ns do you have now? Are you going to open up your own forge as your master has? Or maybe even be the next head royal forgemaster?ˇ± Viscount Skalbeck said now thinking that Marcus could be a great asset to the kingdom.

    ˇ°Oh, I actually do not have any ns right now in regard to my forging skill. I very much enjoy it but unlike my mast-, I mean Thabon. I am not ready to settle down yet. Anyway, I have my duties as the representative of the kingdom to Glenna Reota to attend to.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to get away from this line of questioning. EveryoneˇŻs interests were already piqued, and soon his graduation from ThabonˇŻs apprentice became the hot topic of the party.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°So, it was you who made that ring the princess was wearing.ˇ± Viscountess Valorre whispered into MarcusˇŻ ear once the conversation had winded down a bit and had switched over to Thabon.

    ˇ°Yes, I did. But if you really want to talk about it we canter on our way to your city.ˇ± Marcus said, wanting to end this line of conversation.

    Nodding her head. Bianca understood his intentions and moved off towards her husband who was doing his best to stay awake.

    Quickly the party began to reach its end after dinner was served and everyone slowly left to head back to their own residences.

    Eventually the only ones left were Viscount Skalbeck and his family, along with Mrazivy.

    ˇ°So, I wille to pick you up in two weeks at dawn so that we can begin the journey to Glenna Reota. And as I said before, please make sure that your item box is empty. Some of the more stubborn members on our council wish to not have any interactions with the kingdom, and I do not want to give them any reasons to try and bar your entry.ˇ± Bianca said, before leaving MarcusˇŻ estate.

    Nodding his head, he promised toe with nothing but the clothes on his back as requested and let the ice elves take care of everything else.<sub></sub>

    Once Viscount Skalbeck, Bianca, and their son ric had left, it was now back down to just Marcus, Lilia and Mrazivy.

    ˇ°So how did it go with Princess Eis.ˇ± Marcus said to Lilia.

    Smiling, she responded and said, ˇ°She was great. At first, she was pretty shy. But once me and ric talked to her some, she got into it, and I think she was the one who had the most fun ying.ˇ±

    Patting his sister on the head, Marcus was happy that she was able to be quick friends with the lonely young princess who had a hard road ahead of her.

    ˇ®Actually, now that I think about it. Soon they will be sisters once I marry Mrazivy.ˇŻ

    ˇ°Well, please continue to be her friend even in the future.ˇ± Marcus said.

    He then turned towards Mrazivy and said, ˇ°So what are you going to do? It is prettyte, so do you want to stay the night or are you going back to the castle?ˇ±

    ˇ°Hm, I think I would like to stay here tonight. My bed is broken anyway.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she smirked at Marcus.

    With the party now over, and the day having already ge into the night. Marcus wished his sister goodnight before heading up to his room where Mrazivy was already waiting Mrazivy.

    ˇ°I see you have already made yourself at home with my wardrobe.ˇ± Marcus said, seeing that Mrazivy had changed into a set of night clothing he had bought as Irene.

    Of course, now that he was in his room, Marcus switched his form back before changing into his own night wear.

    ˇ°Ah your bed is reallyfortable.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she jumped onto it.

    She then patted the area next to her and beckoned Marcus toy down beside her.

    ˇ°You know for a ghost you are pretty warm.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she used Marcus like a hug pillow.

    ˇ°Well, if you want, I can cool it down, though still probably not anywhere close to what you can.ˇ±

    ˇ°No, it is fine, sometimes I like to feel warm as well. So, if you would not mind letting me fall asleep like this. Since you have kept me up for thest three days.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus wrapped one of his arms around Mrazivy, and held her to his chest as she lulled off into a deep sleep.

    Soon he decided to follow, shutting off his mind and falling asleep in his lovers embrace.

    ˇ­

    Quickly the time went by, and it was the day of MarcusˇŻ departure to Glenna Reota. During the past two weeks he had simply spent as much time as he could with his friends and family since he was not going to be seeing them again for some time.

    Still, he would be back by the beginning of summer in time to meet up with Lyra who would be making the trip from her home to Borealia.

    ˇ®Looks like my ride is here.ˇŻ

    Staring at his front gate from his window, Marcus enhanced his vision and saw the pure white carriage that hade to pick him up and take him to the ice elf city of Glenna Reota.

 Chapter 505 Into the Verkoudhied Mountains

    With his ride here to get him, Marcus got up and headed downstairs to his houseˇŻs front entrance.

    Normally right now he would be doing ast-minute check on his storage and making sure he had everything he needed. But currently all he had on him was a single pair of clothing as requested, and his scythe that was hidden within his form.

    ˇ°Lady Geist, I have brought you some tea and a muffin as you requested.ˇ± Ste said as she handed Marcus his quick breakfast.

    ˇ°Thank you, Ste. I am d that I get to have your cooking onest time before heading out.ˇ±

    Taking the small breakfast that had been prepared for him. He quickly consumed the sweet and delicious muffin and washed it down with the soothing tea.

    Then once he had finished, he heard the carriage stop at his front entrance, and a few momentster ra opened the door to let Bianca in.

    ˇ°Irene, I see that you are ready to go.ˇ± Bianca said, a bit surprised to see Marcus waiting right by the front entrance.

    ˇ°Yes, well truthfully, I am quite exited to see your city. I do very much enjoy seeing different cultures and exploring different areas. Actually, that is one of the main reasons I agreed to take this position.ˇ± Marcus said, as he handed off his empty te and cup to Ste and stood up ready to leave.

    Smiling Bianca said, ˇ°Then let us not dy any longer. The carriage is ready to go, and we have quite the journey ahead of us.ˇ±

    Exiting his estate with Bianca. Marcus for the first time got a very good look at the carriage that he would be riding in, and more importantly the beasts that were pulling it.

    ˇ®Those are some big goats!ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Seeing the beasts of burden that were attached to the carriage, he was surprised that they wererge goats that stood around ten feet tall and had pure white fur.

    ˇ®Level twenty-nine and level thirty-one, Echor Goats. These are not just your average beasts.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he did a quick appraisal before getting into the carriage.

    Of course, he had not disregarded their coachman either who was also an ice elf and was likely BiancaˇŻs attendant who was level twenty-one.

    Once inside the carriage, he found that its interior was heavily insted, and that the seats were quitefortable.

    Yet they were not alone in the carriage, as a woman that was covered head to toe in a thick enchanted cloth armor that had a veil hiding her face sat in one corner.

    ˇ°Irene this is my protector Trisra. She will be apanying us on the journey to make sure that nothing bad happens to us.ˇ± Bianca said, noticing MarcusˇŻ gaze.

    Nodding his head, Marcus said, ˇ°I see. Well then Trisra I will be in your care.ˇ±

    However, even as Marcus acknowledge her, Trisra just sat their unmoving as if she was asleep.

    ˇ®I guess she is one of those stalwart silent types. Oh well not that it matters. At level forty-one certainly she is stronger than your normal guard, but even my iron golem is most likely stronger than her.ˇŻ

    Soon the carriage began moving as the two goats pulling it went into a quick trot.<sub></sub>

    As they made their way through the city, Marcus quickly noticed how well the shock absorption on the carriage was and began looking around.

    ˇ®Oh, a number of formations have been ced into his carriage. Wow, they even used celestial tinum in its construction. I wonder if this was made here in the kingdom or in the ice elf city?ˇŻ

    With nothing better to do he examined the carriage trying to understand what made it tick.

    ˇ°Irene, we have just exited the city and are going to speed up quite a bit. I rmend that you take your seat as it may get a bit rougher.ˇ± Bianca said to Marcus, who currently was standing up and looking at the ceiling of the carriage.

    Nodding his head, Marcus did as he had been asked and sat down, and not a moment toote, as the carriage began elerating.

    ˇ®Woah those are some fast goats.ˇŻ He thought as they elerated to a speed of around seventy miles an hour.

    Certainly, Blitz could go faster, but he could not sustain this speed for an extended amount of time with a carriage attached to him.

    ˇ°Those goats that are pulling the carriage are quite exceptional. I am not sure if I have ever seen any like them before. Would you mind telling me more about them?ˇ± Marcus asked Bianca his curiosity piqued.

    ˇ°Ah, I guess that you would be interested in them Irene. These goats called echor goats are found only in the Verkoudhied Mountains near where my home is. They are quite docile magical beasts and have been living alongside us ice elves for quite some time. They are certainly not as fast as other beasts, but you find no better creature suited to traverse the mountains.ˇ± Bianca said a bit of pride in her voice.

    After saying that, the two of them continued conversing about a number of topics. From the beasts and monsters in the area, to the ice elvesˇŻ customs. Passings the time as they made the long journey to the Verkoudhied Mountains.<sub></sub>

    ˇ­

    ˇ°Lady Bianca, we have arrived at the foot of the mountains and the entrance to the path leading to the city. We only have around an hour left of sunlight, so would prefer we set up camp here or begin the trip up the mountain.ˇ± The coachman said through the window in the carriage.

    ˇ°I believe that we should continue on. The foot of the mountain is not always the safest ce as many beasts and monsters traverse this area. If I remember correctly, there is an area that has been cleared out around ten miles up the trail. We should stay there tonight.ˇ± Bianca said.

    Nodding his head, the coachman whose names is Kellen closed the window and cracked his reigns beckoning the echor goats to continue.

    ˇ®Finally, we are in thest leg of our journey. I know that they said it was going to take us sixteen days to reach the city, but thesest twelve just to reach the mountains has been pretty boring.ˇŻ Marcus thought as they began their assent.

    He had gotten very used to simply flying around at high speeds, and traveling by carriage certainly took much longer.

    Still there was a certain novelty in taking the journey slower, but after a few days it had be a bit monotonous.

    In fact, they had only been attacked twice since they started this journey, once by a pack of weak monsters that the goats killed before they really did anything. And another by a small group of ouws that BiancaˇŻs protector Trisra dealt with in a sh.

    This had left Marcus absolutely no excitement other than looking at the scenery outside or conversing with Bianca.

    ˇ®Well, it will all be worth it once I get to see the city.ˇŻ

    Soon they made it thest leg of their journey for the day and stooped at the cleared on the side of the mountain that was rtively t.

    It was a fairly beautiful area, with a stream flowing down the mountain and filling a small pool with cold water. Before heading further down to the base of the mountains.

    Of course, the water was nearly ice cold, and even thought it was spring there was still some patches of snow on the ground.

    ˇ®Though the goats seem to be happier.ˇŻ Marcus thought, as he looked at the goats who had been suffering in the heat so far.

    Even though the temperatures had only been in the mid fifties during the hottest parts of the day, the goats with their thick coats had seemed like they had been traversing a dessert.

    Still, they were tough creatures and had soldiered on, plus they had a treat that they looked forward to every evening when they stopped.

    Bleating loudly the two goats ran right up to Marcus who they had taken quite the liking to.

    ˇ°I see you two are still a bit hot even thought we have now made it into the mountains. Here I will cool it down for you a bit.ˇ±

    Activating his chill zone specter power, he rapidly dropped the temperature around him and the goats. With frost soon beginning to form.

    Naturally the goats absolutely loved this. And while they had been indifferent towards Marcus at first, he was now their favorite person.

    ˇ°Aeceran and Oribe certain have taken a liking to you Lady Geist. It is quite rare for an echor goat to show such friendliness to someone who is not an ice elf.ˇ± Ken said as he began feeding the two goats.

    After the two goats finished eating, Marcus helped Ken brush them. Mostly just because he did not have anything else to do, and he liked touching their soft fur.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I hope that you do not find this rude, but you are not like most of those Borealian nobles. Most of them would never talk to me like an equal or even think of the notion to help out with the chores like brushing the goats as you do. They would have beenining the entire time that they were not able to bring their servants, and that we were forcing a noble to experience inhuman conditions. I am really d that Bianca chose you to be the kingdomˇŻs representative.ˇ± Ken said with a smile.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, ˇ°Well I was not born a noble but amoner, so I really do not think about talking down to anyone based on their status. Anyway, what else would I do if I did not help out. I would be terribly bored to just sit around all day doing nothing.ˇ±

    Once the two of them had finished grooming the goats and Marcus had made the area sufficiently chilly and built of with frost and snow. They went back over to where Bianca and Trisra were preparing dinner.

    However, when Marcus arrived, they passed the duty onto him, since they had already gotten hooked on his cooking that was leagues better than anyone else in their small group.

    ˇ°There it is ready. Since we have made it into the mountains, I have prepared a nice warm soup for all of us. Though it is not like any of us really get cold anyway.ˇ±

    Quickly the four of them finished off the food Marcus had prepared and got ready for bed, leaving Trisra out for watch as always.

    Yet unbeknownst to her, someone else was up and about as well.

    Marcus having no need to sleep, had floated out of his tent and was thoroughly exploring the area while keeping an eye out for trouble.

 Chapter 506 Glacier Exploration

    Floating high above their camp, Marcus looked around the mountains trying to spot anything of interest.

    ˇ®Oh, that looks like it might be worth checking out.ˇŻ

    Spotting the very edge of arge cier that ran up been two mountains and had created arge valley in its wake. Marcus floated over towards the massive form of ice wanting to get a closer look.

    As he got closer, he noticed that there was something else interesting about this cier, as it appeared to have a series of holes running through it.

    ˇ®Hm, there might be some sort of creature, or maybe even a whole pack of creatures living in this cier. Time to check it out.ˇŻ

    Feeling the call of adventure, Marcus floated up to one of these nearby holes and poked his head in.

    Looking inside he saw that the tunnel in the ice went on for about a hundred feet before curving to the left.

    ˇ®Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.ˇŻ

    Floating right up to the entrance, Marcus resolidified and let gravity carry him.

    This tunnel was angled downward, and he soon began sliding down like he was at an attraction at a theme park.

    Zipping down the ice, Marcus was having a st as he built up more and more speed.<sub>.</sub>

    However, as much as he was enjoying the ride, it soon came to an end, as the tunnel he had started in intersected perpendicrly with another.

    CRASH!

    Smashing into the ice, Marcus left a number of webbing cracks through the area as his entire body impacted

    Naturally, he did not suffer any actual damage, and had taken the hit on purpose simply to see what would happen.

    ˇ®Damn I really am sturdy now.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked over his form that was uninjured.

    Unfortunately, while he hade out unharmed. The loud noise he had made attracted one of the beings that had made these tunnels.

    ˇ®What the hell is that thing.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he stared at the creature that had just appeared.

    From its appearance it looked a bit like a centipede with a blueish white exterior, other than the numerous glowing red spikes on its back and the mes licking out of its mouth.

    ˇ®Level twenty-seven Remorhaz. Well even though it looks pretty imposing being over twelve feet long, its level is still pretty low.ˇŻ

    Of course, this thought was mostly MarcusˇŻ own skewed viewpoint. For the world atrge this would have been a terrifying monster capable of destroying a vige and causing major damage even to a small town.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Woah there.ˇŻ

    Jumping back Marcus dodged as this Remorhazshed forward and smashed into the ice where he had been a moment ago.

    And as it pulled back, the ice had melted form the extreme temperatures being generated within this monsterˇŻs body.

    Turning back towards Marcus, the Remorhaz opened its mouth, and a st of mes was released forward. Covering the entire tunnel and leaving Marcus nowhere to escape.

    Nevertheless, it was not like he needed to run, and casually walked through the mes encasing his form with his mana barrier.

    ˇ®I think that I have gotten too used to fighting life and death battles with higher level opponents. This is almost too easy.ˇŻ Marcus thought as the novelty of this encounter was beginning to wear off.

    ˇ®Shiningnce.ˇŻ

    Casting his tier two light magic spell, Marcus impaled the Remorhaz in an instant piercing it into the side of the tunnel.

    Still, this one blow did not kill the monster and it began crying out in distress.

    ˇ®Oh, there must be more of them if it is calling for help.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    After making this observation, Marcus grabbed ahold of his shinningnce and split this Remorhaz in half. Ending its life.

    Yet as it fell in two pieces, mes and heat sted out of its dead body and covered the area.

    ˇ®Wow, talk about a nasty death ability. Even once you think you have won it covers the area in fire.ˇŻ

    Luckily, the level and quality difference between Marcus and this monster was immense, and even begin caught off guard he had not taken any damage from the fires that were rtively coolpared to the ones he usually worked with.

    Taking its core and some of its outer armor, Marcus looked at them with a conflicted expression.

    He was supposed toepletely empty handed, so storing these in his item box couldplicate things if someone made an issue out of it.

    ˇ®Well, maybe I put them somewhere else and retrieve themter.ˇŻ He thought as he ced them into his item box.

    ˇ®Looks like the next one ising.ˇŻ

    Turning around Marcus felt another creature approaching, but when it appeared, he was surprised to see what it was.

    Instead of being another Remorhaz like he thought. It was a pure white caterpir looking monster.

    ˇ®Level twenty-five frost worm. Do both of these different monsters inhabit these tunnels?ˇŻ

    bbergasted that two very different monsters were living in such close proximity, and using the same tunnel system, he wondered what was going on.

    Were these two species indifferent to each other, or maybe they were currently in some type of turf war and this worm hade to finish off a distressed enemy.

    However, its actions went against either of MarcusˇŻ hypotheses, as the frost worm let out what sounded like an angry roar when it saw the dead Remorhaz.

    ˇ®Darkness bullet.ˇŻ

    Firing off a single darkness bullet, Marcus sted a hole through the open mouth of the frost worm. Killing it instantly.

    ˇ®To think there was a time when creatures like these were a real threat to me. Now it only takes one low level spell apiece.ˇŻ

    Having dispatched his most recent opponent, he walked up to this frost worm and removed its core.

    ˇ®Sounds like more areing.ˇŻ

    Waiting for just another minute Marcus soon saw that a half dozen Remorhazes and frost worms had appeared around him.

    Seeing this there was no longer any doubt that these two different creatures were indeed working together and were the rulers of this cier.

    Still even a hundred monsters in the low to upper twenties were not a threat to him, and he quickly dispatched his new adversaries.

    ˇ®It could take forever to simply take out those thate after me. Might as well make my way deeper inside stealthilyˇŻ

    Switching back into his ghost form, Marcus began floating thought the tunnels heading down and deeper into the cier towards the core area.

    His curiosity was beckoning him to go on and find out why these two very different types of monsters were working together.

    Though as he continued on, he found that the density of these monster increased by quite a bit.

    ˇ®So, the Remorhazes make new tunnels and the frost worms make sure that the structures are stable so that the inside of the cier does not copse. Certainly, this is a good symbiosis that they have figured out. But I still wonder what brought them together.ˇŻ

    After witnessing what appeared to be the main reason for these creatures working together. Marcus floated deeper in and soon started passing by higher level specimens. Eventually finding a massive frost worm over forty feet long that was level fifty-one.

    Except as he made it into the next chamber, this monster seemed insignificant to what he found at the core of these monstersˇŻ nest.

 Chapter 507 Havoc Under the Ice

    Having entered into the core of the cier, Marcus found what looked like an unbelievable sight.

    There was a pool ofva that was bubbling out from the ground that had caused a massive opening in the cier.

    Yet this was the least impressive part of whaty before MarcusˇŻ eyes. For in this area there were numerous ice and fire elemental crystals, and in the center there were two incredibly pure ones that were beyond anything that Marcus had ever seen.

    However, along with these two crystals that shot out from theva and hung from the top of the cier. There was the boss of the Remorhaz and the frost worms.

    It was a titanic creature that seemed to be some sort of mutation between the two species, and it had wrapped itself around both of these elemental crystals and was absorbing the massive amounts of power that each of them had.

    ˇ®Damn level sixty-eight. Whatever that thing is I do not think I can take it right now in a straight fight. Maybe if I use soul burst, but I would prefer not to have my stats quartered right now.ˇŻ

    Floating above the colossal monster that was over two hundred feet long. Marcus contemted what to do.

    He certainly wanted those elemental crystals since they woulde in handy, and he already had ns for the ice one for an item he was going to be making.

    Also, if he could get the core and body parts of the boss of the cier, they would be very useful as well.

    ˇ®Hm maybe I can distract it and get it away from those crystals. Then I can hit it with my biggest attack and hopefully kill it.ˇŻ

    With a n forming in his head, Marcus slowly scouted out the rest of the chamber to make sure he had not missed any other valuables that might have ended up here.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Okay everything is ounted for now, but there is onest thing I need to check before I start.ˇŻ

    Bring his scythe out from his soul, Marcus sent it down towards the mutated frost worm Remorhazbo monster.

    He needed to make sure that this deadly creature that was probably one of the strongest monsters in the kingdom, could not since ethereal beings.

    Luckily his test worked. And even when he waved the scythe right in its face, it did not have any reaction at all.

    Still, the second he made a hostile action it was likely the creature would sense it as it was pretty much impossible for a being of this level to not be able to detect danger.

    Floating out of this chamber and into the surrounding one he had passed through. Marcus stared at the level fifty-one frost worm with a look of pity.

    ˇ®Sorry, but I am going to need you to serve as my distraction.ˇŻ

    As Marcus possessed the level fifty-one frost worm. The unsuspecting creature fought back with all its might.

    Its instincts told it that whatever happened, it could not let this intruder take over.

    It began thrashing about wildly, causing massive cracks to go up and down the area of the cier it resided in, and even unleashed a st of frost from its mouth.<sub></sub>

    Still its struggle was in vain, and soon Marcus was the one in control of the frost wormˇŻs body.

    ˇ®Wow this feels weird. This is the first time I have possessed such a creature and it ispletely different from anything else.ˇŻ

    Slowly he began moving around in his new puppetˇŻs body, getting used to how it moved.

    Certainly, it was far from what he was used to, as this creature had hundreds of tiny legs that it used to propel itself against the ice.

    Never before had Marcus had to consciously use so many limbs, and all the while the frost worm was fighting back against him its soul being just strong enough to not bepletely suppressed.

    ˇ®Better make this quick, before it bes too difficult to keep possessing.ˇŻ Marcus thought once he figured out how to use the wormˇŻs breath attack.

    Wriggling his way down, he stuck the head of the ice worm into the bossˇŻ chamber, and the monster keyed in on him immediately.

    It then let out a disgruntled sounding, as if telling the frost worm to back off.

    ˇ®Well, it is now or never.ˇŻ

    Opening up the frost wormˇŻs mouth, Marcus unleashed its winter st right for the muchrger and more imposing Remorhaz worm fusion.<sub></sub>

    Seeing this, the boss of the cier waspletely caught off guard. Never expecting one of its subordinates to attack it.

    It was far and away the strongest monster here, and easily could have taken on all of the others on its own.

    Of course, it had no idea that right now Marcus had taken control of one of its loyal lieutenants, and was using its body for his own ends.

    When the st of cold energy hit the mutated monster, steam immediately began to erupt in the chamber.

    ˇ®Time to run.ˇŻ

    Backing up as fast as he could Marcuspelled the frost worm to move through the cier at incredible speeds.

    Yet he had made it only about two thirds of the distance he wanted, when he felt a very sharp pain from the frost wormˇŻs back end.

    The boss of this area was apparently much faster than Marcus had anticipated, and its reaction was very swift.

    However, with their currentbined stats, Marcus dug into the ice and pulled with all of his and the frost wormˇŻs might.

    ˇ®This is my stop.ˇŻ

    Unpossessing therge frost worm, Marcus left its body just in time as the Remorhaz frost worm fusion. unleashed a massive st of mes that incarnated the poor level fifty-one frost worm in an instant.

    Unfortunately, its death happened much quicker than he had nned and now his distraction was already running out of time.

    ˇ®n B it is.ˇŻ

    With his initial distraction meeting its end early, Marcus knew he needed something else to keep the mutated monsterˇŻs attention.

    ˇ®Iron golem.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Ravenous abyss.ˇŻ

    Casting his tier four iron magic spell and tier five darkness magic spell. Marcus conjured up his two autonomous creatures.

    ˇ®Attack that monster. Keep it busy for as long as you can.ˇŻ Marcus ordered to his two spell created monsters.

    Immediately they both followed his orders and began attacking the Remorhaz frost worm.

    With the biggest threat distracted for the moment. Marcus floated back down towards the main chamber as fast as he could, since time was of the essence.

    Unfortunately, when he arrived he found that three other monsters had entered the area and were protecting the elemental crystals in their masterˇŻs stead.

    There were now two Remorhazes that were both level fifty-two, and a level fifty frost worm.

    ˇ®Well, they are strong, but I can deal with them quickly.ˇŻ

    Taking aim at the two Remorhazes fist, Marcus cast both of his tier six light and dark magic spells.

    In an instant these two monsters werepletely blown apart by overwhelming power that they had no chance of surviving.

    Following that, as the frost worm began screaming out a distress call. Marcus cast his voltaic bombardment spell and shot it full of hundreds of bolts of lightning.

    Then while it was paralyzed he cast a heightened darkness and spell bore right through the frost worms head. killing it instantly.

    Within just a few seconds Marcus had neutralized the three threat and floated towards the two highest quality elemental crystals. Intent on iming his prize.

    ˇ°And these are now my property.ˇ±

 Chapter 508 Very Unlucky

    Once Marcus had detached the elemental crystals form the earth and cier respectively, he felt quite the sense of joy.

    When he had first decided to explore this cier, he had never thought he would find such valuable items.

    Of course, it was not like they were not heavily protected. But at this point very few things could stop him from getting his hands on something if he really wanted it.

    ˇ®Oh, they have both been destroyed. Time to get into position.ˇŻ

    Feeling that both his iron golem and ravenous abyss had met their end. Marcus floated up to the roof of the area and waited.

    He still had onest prize he wanted to obtain, and even though he was not certain he could seed. He figured it was worth a try.

    Soon the mutated Remorhaz frost worm entered the chamber again, and it was clear it had not gotten out of its battle unscathed.

    There were a couple ces on its armor that were lightly cracked and other patches that showed signs of corrosion from dark magic.

    However, its slight injuriespletely disappeared from its mind when it saw the carnage left in its chamber, and the now missing elemental crystals it had been absorbing energy from.

    Letting out a roar of unbridled rage. The monster began thrashing its head back and forth looking for signs of the intruder that dared steal from it.<sub>.</sub>

    Yet it was this moment of distraction that Marcus had been waiting for. When the boss of the cier was consumed by its emotions.

    ˇ®Eclipse Railgun.ˇŻ

    Having already prepared, Marcus reappeared and within just a second fired off a full powered railgun directly towards the Remorhaz frost wormˇŻs head.

    Therge iron sphere traveled incredibly quickly at close to Mach eight. And therge monster even sensing the danger was not able to full dodge the attack.

    Still, it had moved its head to the side and the railgun missed hitting it square in the head and instead hit it in the side.

    Nevertheless, a projectile with this much force behind it packed quite the punch, and the monsterˇŻs head began to crack as the iron sphere tten around the point of impact.

    The Remorhaz frost worm then crashed down into the pool ofva at the bottom of the chamber. As it had suffered a devastating blow that had left it stunned for a few moments.

    ˇ®Time to finish this.ˇŻ

    With his quarry having survived his first attack, Marcus dropped down at a rapid pace while coalescing all of his power toward his scythe.<sub></sub>

    But a monster this old and powerful was not going to go down easily, and while it was still suffering the shock of the heavy blow to its head. The Remorhaz frost worm began unleashing a bombardment of ice and fire missiles from its body.

    Its numerous spikes began glowing, before firing off a barrage of sts of both fire and ice all though the area. Havingplete disregard for everything else.

    In its very long life, it had never been this threatened, and it was going to do everything it could to ensure its own survival.

    Spinning around and dodging the bombardment. Marcus continued his descent, building up speed and momentum as he activated his death dance attack skill.

    His movements became faster and more fluid, and soon he was in striking range of the massive monster that ruled here.

    ˇ®Eclipse Reaper.ˇŻ

    With all of his power channeled into his scythe, he struck down with all his might towards the monsterˇŻs head.

    He aimed right for where his railgun had already done massive damage and jammed the erged de in.

    Digging in, Marcus pushed hard, and his scythe slowly slid deeper into his opponentˇŻs head.<sub></sub>

    However, as he was very close to slicing into its brain, the Remorhaz frost wormˇŻs entire body became engulfed in a twister of fire and snow that sted Marcus away.

    It was a incredibly powerful attack, that was quickly overwhelming him, until he went ethereal.

    Now back in his ghost form, the destructive attack that had just been unleashed towards him passed right by. Unable to cause him any further damage.

    ˇ®Unfortunately, you still lose.ˇŻ

    Connecting with his scythe that was still embedded in the monsterˇŻs head. He forced it to move forward, and the de pierced into the Remorhaz frost wormˇŻs brain.

    The creature began thrashing around as this happened, but this did not help its cause, as the thrashing only caused MarcusˇŻ scythe to shred its brain even more.

    ˇ®Return.ˇŻ

    Bring his scythe back to prevent the damage it was slowly taking, Marcus watched as his oppo began crashing round trying to escape its own chamber.

    Yet all of the opening were actually now gone as its earlier bombardment had sted and copsed part of the cier around them.

    ˇ®It certainly is tough, but it is time to end this.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Cataclysmic Iron Sword.ˇŻ

    Casting his tier six iron magic spell, Marcus created his titanic weapon of destruction.

    Spinning it around he increased the amount of centrifugal force it had. Beforeunching it right towards the boss of the cier who was trying to escape.

    Sadly, it was just a bit too slow trying to melt out another tunnel and with a resounding crash, MarcusˇŻ cataclysmic iron sword cut the monster in two.

    Immediately as it split apart, frost and fire began pouring out of the creature and engulfing the area in a massive explosion.

    Still even its final death attack, failed to do anything to Marcus who was in his ghost form.

    ˇ®And now to collect my spoils.ˇŻ

    Floating up to the now dead Remorhaz frost worm. Marcus brought out his spectral arm and erged it with his spiritual power, before pulling the upper part of monster out from the ice.

    ˇ®Head or heart. LetˇŻs see if I get lucky.ˇŻ

    Cutting into its tough armor with his scythe, Marcus first checked the creatureˇŻs chest hoping that its core was there.

    ˇ®Jackpot.ˇŻ

    Luckily, he managed to get it on the first try as it was about fifty-fifty on weather a monsterˇŻs core was in its head or chest. Most of the time.

    With this very powerful core that held both fire and ice elemental powers secured. Marcus began sectioning off parts of the monsterˇŻs armor nning to use it to enhance some future creations.

    Once he had done that. He went around what remained of the chamber and collected some more elemental crystals.

    Certainly, he had already grabbed the two of the highest quality, but there were still plenty more that were better than what could normally be found on the market.

    ˇ®That should just about do it.ˇŻ Marcus thought once he collected thest high quality crystal he could find.

    With his explorationplete and some very valuable rewards gained. Marcus began floating back out of the cier.

    He had managed to have a good time exploring the interesting ecosystem within. And while he may have now heavily damaged it. He had no regrets.

    This was a world where might often made right. And against monsters, he had no reason to hold back.

    ˇ®The area is still a hotspot for elemental energies and the other creatures still inhabit this area. Eventually things will once again go back to the way they were. They were all just very unlucky that I found their home interesting to explore.ˇŻ

 Chapter 509 Glenna Reota

    With his spoils retrieved and his exploration nowplete. Marcus floated up and out of the cier.

    ˇ®Hm judging by the moons I think that I still have a few hours before the sun rises. Now I need to find a ce where I can leave my new treasures.ˇŻ

    Floating down and into the ground, he delved about four hundred feet beneath the surface, before creating a st of mana that opened up a space underground.

    He then unloaded everything he had just ced into his item box, filling this space with the items he had obtained within the cier.

    ˇ®I should probably not need it.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he left his scythe behind.

    This way he would be able to easily find his new cache and protect it from afar should anything find it.

    Of course, should he run into trouble, he could always call his soul bound weapon back to him, even if it meant finding this ce would be more difficultter.

    Once that was done, he made his way back to the surface and headed towards his camp.

    ˇ®Looks like everything is still peaceful.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Seeing that the tents were undisturbed and that Trisra was still sitting out and keeping watch, Marcus descended into his tent and simply waited for the sun to rise.

    The next day soon came and their small group of four continued their journey through the Verkoudhied Mountains and to the ice elf city.

    ˇ®Can they even call this a road!?ˇŻ Marcus thought as they ascended the mountains.

    The higher they got, the less maintained the area they were traveling through became.

    At a certain point he was sure this could not be considered a road or even a path anymore, and it was simply the least steep area of the mountain.

    It was horribly rocky, and now Marcus understood why the carriage had such good shock absorption. Because otherwise they would all be flying around wildly.

    Still, neither Bianca nor her attendants seemed perturbed by this, and the echor goats were happily bounding along while pulling the carriage behind them.

    Eventually, they made it deep into the mountains where there was perpetually snow, and storms weremon.<sub></sub>

    This was the natural barrier that had kept the ice elves safe and rtively hidden for centuries.

    ˇ°We are almost there now. We simply need to make it to the pass between those two peaks ahead of us and we will be able to see the city. Though first we will need to stop at the checkpoint their to make sure that you are cleared to enter.ˇ± Bianca said, pointing up towards their destination while they had stopped for lunch.

    Staring intently at this area, he tried to find any sign of an outpost, but all he saw was snow.

    He figured that it was either well camouged or that it was simply built on the other side so as to not be visible from here.

    When they had finished eating lunch, the journey upwards began again, as they soon passed the twenty-five-thousand-foot elevation range and aimed even higher.

    Continuing on, when the sun had fallen behind the mountains they finally made to the top of the pass and the ice elf outpost came into view.

    Though it was less of an outpost and more of a huge fort that blocked the entire pass and the view of the city behind it.

    As soon as they came up onto the pass, an ice elf who was keeping watch sounded a horn, alerting everyone to BiancaˇŻs carriage.<sub></sub>

    Naturally though, it was clear that this carriage was of ice elvish make, and the coachman was one of their own.

    Pocking his head out of the carriage, Marcus watched as an ice elf mounted on the back of arge pure white moth began flying towards them.

    And when they got closer and saw MarcusˇŻ face, their expression hardened and it was obvious that they were not pleased to see someone who was not an ice elf.

    ˇ°Ambassador Valorre, I see that you have brought a human with you.ˇ± This ice elf said with a tinge of hostility in his voice.

    ˇ°Yes Commander Lyklor. This here is Lady Irene Geist from Borealia, and she is going to be their representative here in Glenna Reota. I believe that I made sure that everything was preapproved before our arrival.ˇ± Bianca said with a smile on her face.

    In contract, Commander Lyklor grunted and frown, certainly not pleased to see Marcus and even less so to let him into their city.

    ˇ°You are correct, but first we need to thoroughly search her. We cannot be too careful with humans.ˇ± Lyklor said while ring at Marcus.

    Themander then led them into the fort and brought them to an isted area.

    Getting out of the carriage, Marcus opened up his arms and said, ˇ°Search away. I have nothing to hide.ˇ±

    After that Lyklor performed a very thorough search of Marcus, having him remove most of his clothing other than his underwear, and patting him down.

    Of course, Lyklor did this more as a means to make Marcus ufortable and angry, hoping that he might object and give him grounds to bar his entry.

    However, Marcus simply stood there and let Lyklor finish his search, even using a magic item to detect that his item box was empty.

    ˇ°Fine it looks like you are clear.ˇ± Lyklor said with disdain.

    He had been hoping and ordered to do what he could to try and keep Marcus out.

    There were still plenty of ice elves that wished to bepletely isted and hated having any rtionship with outsiders, especially humans.

    Though it was not like Marcus was human, but he really did not care to clear up this confusion to Lyklor who already very much disliked him.

    ˇ°Well, if my guest and BorealiaˇŻs knew representative is now permitted to enter, we shall be taking our leave to the main city.ˇ± Bianca said with a smirk.

    ˇ°Yes, she is free to go into the city now, but make sure that she is never left on her own to roam. She must always be apanied by an ice elf when not in your residence Ambassador Valorre, or she will be thrown out of the city immediately.ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Bianca said, ˇ°Yes of course. At least until the council has approved of her and she has been given her own residence and is considered an honorary member of ourmunity.ˇ±

    Bianca then beckoned Marcus back into their carriage and exited the fort while leaving Commander Lyklor fuming.

    Once they had left the fort and appeared on the other side. For the first Time Marcusid his eyes on the ice elf city of Glenna Reota.

    Surrounded on all sides was a bowl like indent in the mountains where the city was located.

    Yet it was far from what Marcus had imagined looking almost like a futuristic city.

    Large spires made of blue and white stone jutted up high into the air, and attached to them was an intricate and far reaching rail system.

    Along with that there were what looked like cable cars that were all over the city, giving it a transportation system unlike anything that Marcus had ever seen.

    Seeing this surprised and stunned look on MarcusˇŻ face, Bianca lightly chuckled and said, ˇ°Yes that is the same expression everyone makes when they first see our city.ˇ±

 Chapter 510 Glenna Reota (2)

    Staring down at the ice elf city Marcus was stunned in awe even as Bianca spoke to him.

    The city was just so far from what he had expected and that he had ever seen before that it was difficult for him to look away.

    It was truly gorgeous, and from afar it almost looked like a bunch of icicles bursting out of the ground and all of them being connected by web made of frost.

    Of course, this was just somewhat of an optical illusion as theses were not icicles but in fact spires that reached as high as skyscrapers back on Earth, and the webs were the transportation system that connected the entire city.

    ˇ°How is this possible? It must take an enormous amount of mana to power all of those suspension trains and cable cars.ˇ± Marcus said to Bianca once he had gotten over his initial shock.

    Now he wanted answers, since this city was so far removed from anything he had seen so far in this world.

    In fact, the closest things he could think of were the Borealian royal castle and the Guldur Spire which bore some resemnce to the ice elvesˇŻ architecture.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Oh, I am surprised you know about our suspension trains and cable cars. Very few outsiders have seen them, and I do not believe there are many records of them outside our city. You certainly must have done your research before you came here Irene.ˇ± Bianca said with a bit of excitement in her eyes.

    ˇ°Yes, you are right that they take a good amount of mana to keep running, but it is done without the use of burning magic cores. Both the trains and cable cars are run solely by us ice elves. We have a number of conductors that supply their mana on a daily basis to keep the system working from dusk till dawn. It is a very prestigious job that many ice elves work hard to obtain.ˇ±

    Once Bianca had finished exining a bit about the ice elves public transit system, Marcus turned his head back towards the city in contemtion.

    ˇ®So, did theye to this system on their own, or was it originally made by someone from my world? Certainly, this is the first time I have seen anything resembling a train even if these are not exactly the normal ones you would see on Earth.ˇŻ

    ˇ°Bianca where did this ideae from? I have not seen anything like it before in Borealia.ˇ± Marcus said wondering if he could find out if another transmigration was responsible.

    ˇ°Hm, you know I am not certain. They have always been here since I was born, and I have lived a decent part of my life away from the city. I am sure if you really want to know you can find it in our grand library or can ask one of our elders.ˇ± Bianca said with an apologetic smile.<sub></sub>

    Nodding his head, Marcus dropped the issue for now, but he nned to pursue itter when he could.

    He had seen bits and pieces of influence from people from Earth, but this was the first time he had seen an entire city that was closer to what was on his original world.

    Soon, they had descended into the outskirts of the city, and their carriage and echor goats were left at a stable that was used by those leaving and entering the city.

    In fact, the echor goats were strictly used for transportation outside of the city, with most people using the intricate public transport system to get around, with the only beast that could fly beign used within the city.

    ˇ°Irene we will get on the cable car here and make our way to the main spire here in district three, before taking one of the trains to district seven where my familyˇŻs home is.ˇ± Bianca said as she pressed a button at the station they were waiting at.

    Soon the cable car that was waiting high above in one of the spires began descending towards them.<sub></sub>

    When it touched down on the ground, the doors slid open and the conductor looked out from his small room and was surprised.

    It was very rare to see an outsider in Glenna Reota and Marcus stood out like a sore thumb.

    Opening his window the ice elf conductor said, ˇ°Bianca you have returned. And I see that you have broughtpany with you.ˇ±

    ˇ°Aeric it is good to see you again. How lucky is it that you are posted at this cable car? Oh, and as you have surmised, I have brought a friend and colleague with me. This is Lady Irene Geist of Borealia, and she is going to be their representative here in Glenna Reota.ˇ± Bianca said introducing Marcus.

    ˇ°It is nice to meet you, Lady Irene. As Bianca just said my name is Aeric and I will be the one to take you into the city proper today.ˇ±

    After saying that Aeric beckoned them inside the cable car and closed the doors when they were inside.

    He then ced his hand on a panel at the front of the car and it began draining his mana before moving back up the cable.

    Once the car had gotten going, Aeric turned around to face Marcus and Bianca, and said,ˇ± So Bianca tell me what you and your colleague are doing back here? I am guessing you are not just showing her around.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yep, we are here on business. I finally got enough of those on the council to consider strengthen our rtionship with Borealia, and Irene here is the representative I suggested. So, first thing tomorrow we are going to have our first meeting with them and try and get her confirmed.ˇ±

    ˇ°I see so that is what is going on. Well, I would not mind it if we had more peopleing through. Part of what I like about my job is talking to my passengers and hearing their stories. And on that note, Irene do you have anything interesting to talk about that happened beyond these mountains?ˇ± Aeric said with an expression of intrigue.

    Smiling, Marcus was happy to see that not all of the ice elves hated outsiders, and that Aeric was genuinely interested in the outside world.

    ˇ°Yeah, I have been around a bit though not much out of Borealia. Still, I have a good story or two I can tell you about.ˇ± Marcus said.

    He then told Aeric about his time in the Cordillera Depths Dungeon and the interesting beasts and monster he fought. As well as the amazing scenery.

    ˇ°Wow an entire area of waterfalls. That must have been amazing. Truthfully, I have never even seen a waterfall since all we have around here is ice and snow, but I have seen illustrations.ˇ±

    Soon the cable car made it to its destination a top one of the cityˇŻsrgest spires and at the station where the suspension trains would allow them to head deeper in.

    ˇ°Well, I am d I got to see you again Bianca and it was nice to speak with you Lady Irene. Hopefully I can be your conductor again at another time and we can talk some more.ˇ± Aeric said, as Marcus, Bianca, and her attendants got off.

    ˇ°Yes, but next time would you not set the car to its slowest setting just because you want to talk longer. You know if you really want to, you cane over to my residence since our families live in the same spire.ˇ± Bianca said.

    ˇ°Your right, and I think I will take you up on that offer. Oh, and I will put in a good word with my old man. I am sure that he would be happy to approve of your friend as a representative.ˇ±

 Chapter 511 Glenna Reota (3)

    With their conversation wrapped up, both Marcus and Bianca waved goodbye to Aeric before walking towards the train tform and waiting for the next one to arrive.

    ˇ°What was that about?ˇ± Marcus asked wondering exactly how Bianca knew Aeric, and what he meant about his father giving his support.

    ˇ°Ah yes, I guess I should tell you a bit more about Aeric.ˇ±

    ˇ°The two of us lived in the same spire when we were little and were the only children around, so we became fast friends. Also, his family has held a seat on Glenna ReotaˇŻs ruling council for centuries now, just as mine has. So, he will try and get his fatherˇŻs support for you to be BorealiaˇŻs representative here in the city.ˇ± Bianca said.

    After she said that the train soon arrived and following BiancaˇŻs lead Marcus got on board.

    Looking around the interior was incredibly nice, with a central walkway going up and down along with rows ofrge individual chairs.

    However, as Marcus examined the inside of this train the three other ice elves that had already boarded started at him curiously.

    It was a rare asion to see an outsider in the city, and they were naturally wondering who Marcus was.

    Still, none of them had the courage to approach when they saw Trisra, who was wearing the garb of a personal guard for members of the ruling families.<sub>.</sub>

    Once the train began moving, Marcus quickly sat down beside Bianca, and said, ˇ°It certainly is luxurious in here. How do you deal with busier times when more people want to board?ˇ±

    Looking at Marcus with a bit of confusion, Bianca was not sure what he meant, until she remembered that he was used to human cities.

    ˇ°Ah I understand what you mean. Certainly, if we were in the Borealian capital this train would never be able to transport enough people. But Glenna Reota only has around seventy thousand ice elves living here so overcrowding is never a problem.ˇ± Bianca said, answering MarcusˇŻ question.

    ˇ°I see, so there are not that many people that live here. Still for the area you have, isnˇŻt that just too few?ˇ±

    ˇ°No that is about what the cityˇŻs poption always is. Us ice elves live a very long time and do not have children at the same rate as humans. So, there are simply less of us. But in return you will find that on average we have a higher level and quality of life than most humans.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus was definitely interested in the ice elvesˇŻ culture that was far different than the one in Borealia where the majority of the poption were humans.

    ˇ°Ah this is our stop.ˇ± Bianca said when the train stopped after having been moving for around ten minutes.

    Getting off the train, Marcus now had another question on his mind.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Bianca, so far, we have just gotten on a cable car and train without paying. Is the transportation here free?ˇ±

    Hearing this question Bianca opened her mouth wide as if she had forgot to tell Marcus something important, and said, ˇ°Oh Ipletely forgot to tell you. No, the transportation is not free, but we do not use gold silver and cooper coins like Borealia. Here we have credits that are earned by the work and contributions that are made to ourmunity. I just have a magic item that gets charged whenever I enter a train or cable car and have set it to pay for all four of us.ˇ±

    Blinking his eyes rapidly, Marcus tried to get his head around this far more advanced set up than he had seen in the rest of the world.

    ˇ®This is almost too much like some cites were back on Earth for it to be a coincidence. Hm, but I guess it really would not be possible to implement a system like this anywhere in Borealia. The ice elves are only able to do it because their small poption is packed densely together, their long lives, and that they have higher than average levels.ˇŻ

    As he walked an analyzed the structure of the ice elvesˇŻ city, he lost track of his surrounding and mmed into the closed doors of the cable car they were about to enter.

    ˇ®Ow.ˇŻ Marcus thought reflexively, even though he was not hurt at all.

    ˇ°Miss are you okay.ˇ± The operator said.

    However, when she noticed that Marcus was not an ice elf, her demeanor changed and became cold as she almost red at Marcus.<sub></sub>

    She then looked towards Bianca, and said, ˇ°Please hurry up and board. We will be departing soon.ˇ±

    The four of them then got on board, and unlike Aeric who had been incredibly friendly and chatty, this ice elf waspletely silent and did not even look at them.

    ˇ°Are you hurt Irene?ˇ± Bianca asked having seen MarcusˇŻ crash into the cable car.

    ˇ°No, I am fine. Even if I fell from the top of the tallest spire here onto solid ice, I doubt I would take any damage.ˇ± Marcus said to alleviate BiancaˇŻs worries.

    At this Biancaughed, thinking that Marcus was joking.

    Of course, he was truly serious, and he doubted that any sort of normal impact was going to be able to harm him now.

    Soon the cable car made it to its destination, this time the operator having moved at max speed.

    Unlike Aeric, she had no desire to talk to Marcus and wanted him gone as quickly as possible.

    When they arrived at the next spire, the operator quickly opened the doors and waited for them to leave.

    ˇ°Okay this is our final stop. Within this spire is my familyˇŻs home where you will be staying until we can get you your own ce.ˇ± Bianca said.

    Exiting the cable car, for the first time instead of walking along the outside, they headed in.

    Once inside, Marcus was able to look around the spire, which had a shaft on the outer edge that went up and down like an elevator.

    And sure enough, when they walked up to a set of doors, Marcus saw the familiar sight of an elevator that allowed for quick transport from one floor to the other.

    ˇ°Floor twenty.ˇ± Bianca said once they were inside.

    A momentter the elevator closed and quickly began descending down a dozen floors before stopping.

    The elevator then opened up to show the twentieth floor where Marcus assumed Bianca lived.

    Yet as he looked down both directions, he only saw the singr door that was right in front of them as soon as they exited the elevator.

    ˇ°Wait do not tell me that your family has this entire floor to themselves?ˇ± Marcus said with disbelief.

    Bianca shook her head, confirming that they did not own this entire floor.

    ˇ°No, we live on the floor above and below as well. In total we have three of the floors in this spire.ˇ± Bianca said as if that were normal.

    Yet when Marcus heard this, he was astonished.

    All of these spires were quite wide, and he imaged that each of the floors that BiancaˇŻs family owned, would have about as much space as his mansion in Borealia.

    ˇ°Nowe on in. I am sure that you are tired from our journey and would like to rest.ˇ± Bianca said as she opened the door to her familyˇŻs home.

 Chapter 512 Meeting Preparations

    Entering inside BiancaˇŻs home, Marcus looked around at the grand entryway thaty before him.

    Yet as he took in the whole area, he noticed that like the outside, the inside was very different from what he had seen in Borealia and Tralenstein.

    ˇ®This pretty much clenches it. No way that this style developed on its own.ˇŻ

    Seeing the inside of what the ice elvesˇŻ homes looked like, there was now no doubt in MarcusˇŻ mind that someone from Earth had heavily influenced them.

    In all of the ces he had been in so far, the homes had been sectioned off with every room being its own area.

    However, here it was what would have been called open concept on Earth and appeared to have a more modern style in contrast to everything he had seen before.

    ˇ°Irene, if you would follow me, I will give you a quick tour of themon areas of my home, and then take you to your guest room.ˇ± Bianca said, after letting Marcus look around for minute.

    Nodding his head, he followed Bianca around as she showed him the houseˇŻsmon areas.

    ˇ°And this will be your room during your stay here.ˇ± Bianca said as she opened up the door to MarcusˇŻ guest room.

    Though as much as it was just a guest room, it was massive, with a bigger bed than Marcus had ever seen, and a full bathroom that was almost as big as the one he had custom made in his own home.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Oh, and I have already made arrangements to have the closets filled with any clothing you might need, but if you want something else made, we can get that process started before our meeting with the council tomorrow.ˇ±

    After saying that, Bianca left Marcus to himself, heading to her own room to get some sleep after their long day of traveling.

    Once Bianca had left, Marcus searched around his room familiarizing himself with everything that was here.

    Then once he was done, he made his way over to therge bath and filled it up with hot water.

    ˇ®Ah after over two weeks of traveling, a nice rxing bath hits the spot.ˇŻ

    Soaking in the hot tub, Marcus let himself go, enjoying the sensation of the soothing warm water washing over his form.

    In fact, it felt so nice that he closed his eyes and shut off his mind before going to sleep.

    Waking up Marcus found himselfpletely submerged in water that was now cold.

    ˇ®Woops I got a bit toofortable.ˇŻ He thought as he pulled himself out of the water.<sub></sub>

    Luckily, he did not need to breath, because he was pretty sure that he had been asleep for around eight hours, and if he was still human this would have certainly spelled his end.

    Of course, he had not needed to sleep this long or at all, but he simply wanted to pass the time.

    With the new day having arrived, Marcus got ready and exited his room, before heading down to the main kitchen and dining area.

    When he arrived, he found that Bianca along with eight other people were already eating.

    ˇ°Ah Irene, I see that you are awake. Please let me introduce you to my family.ˇ±

    Quickly getting up, Bianca dragged Marcus over to the dining table and introducing him to her family.

    First, she started with her brother and his wife. Then her aunt and uncle along with their two kids. And finally, her grandmother and grandfather on her fatherˇŻs side.

    ˇ°Oh, and my grandmother is actually one of the seventy-seven members of the ruling council of Glenna Reota and is going to be vouching for you on my behalf.ˇ± Bianca said.

    Getting up from her seat, Arryn, BiancaˇŻs grandmother, bowed towards Marcus and said, ˇ°As my granddaughter said, I will be advocating for you during your appearance before the council today. It has been far too much of a hassle for me to see my adorable great-grandson, so it is time that we fix our stubborn ways. Oh, and it will be good for us to start forgiving Borealia again.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Smiling Marcus thanked BiancaˇŻs grandmother for her support, even if her reasons were more biased towards having easier ess to her family.

    Now that the introductions were finished, Marcus sat down next to Bianca and across from her grandmother in order to talk strategy.

    ˇ°Hm so are you really a spirit? Bianca told me over a sending stone that you are, but you seem human to me.ˇ± Arryn said as she stared intently at Marcus.

    Truthfully, she had even used her appraisal skill, and had just gotten back that Marcus was a level thirty-three human.

    ˇ°Yes, I am a spirit as you daughter told you. It is just that I have a skill that allows me to alter my status to those that appraise me.ˇ±

    Marcus then turned off his false status skill, and allowed Arryn to appraise him again, though this time she only got back that he was level fifty due to how the appraisal skill worked.

    Still, Marcus had another way to prove that he was a spirit and disappear before reappearing again.

    ˇ°I see so you really are a spirit. That will certainly help your case with the council, since they are not thrilled with humans.ˇ± Arryn said

    The three of them then talked strategy and told Marcus about some of the questions he was likely to be asked and how to respond to them.

    Quickly as Marcus was coached on how to not offend the members of the council, the time for the meeting was fast approaching.

    ˇ°Very well it is time that we get ready before heading to the central spire where the councilˇŻs chambers are.ˇ± Arryn said when they had about three hours before meeting was to begin.

    After that, Marcus, Bianca, and Arryn headed back to their own rooms and prepared for the uing meeting.

    Then when around an hour and half had passed, it was time for them to leave and they took the cable cars and rail system to the central spire.

    This spire which as its name suggests sat right in the middle of the ice elf city and was by far the tallest and a true marvel of architecture and engineering.

    ˇ°Well, I will see the two of you inside once the meeting has begun. Make sure to not get in any trouble or offend anyone while you wait. It is possible that one of the less approving members might try to get you angry before the meeting.ˇ± Arryn said, giving Marcus and Bianca a warning.

    After that they split up as Arryn entered through the council memberˇŻs entrance and Marcus and Bianca entered through the public one.

    They then went and checked in at the reception desk before being led to a waiting room until it was their time to address the council.

    And during that time, just as Arryn had warned them, three ice elves dide by and try to enrage Marcus and Bianca.

    They threw whatever insults they coulde up with at the two of them, many calling Bianca a traitorous whore and saying that her half breed child would never be wee.

    ˇ®Yeah, that is enough.ˇŻ

    Not willing to hearing these three people insult him and especially Bianca any longer, Marcus lightly released his phantom pressure having reached his tolerance threshold for assholes.

    It was not enough to cause any sort of damage or even paralyze the ice elves, but they certainly felt a sense of dread as if a mountain was hanging over them by a thread.

    The three of them feeling this looked around trying to pinpoint the source, but Marcus had done a good job of concealing that he was the one attacking them.

    Soon they left, not able to take this oppressive feeling any longer.

    ˇ°I am sorry you had to see that, Irene. There are still many of ice elves that are xenophobic, but I can tell you that most of us are not like that. Plenty of us want to meet people form other races and have visitorse and go, as well as be able to more readily leave themselves. Which is one of the reasons that I want to change our ways and open us back up to Borealia to start with.ˇ± Bianca said, trying to alleviate any worries that Marcus might have.

    To this point he had met quite a number of ice elves that hated him on sight, and she was afraid that it might be getting to him.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, ˇ°There are always people like that wherever you go, and I try not to use them as a base for an entire race. Anyway, Aeric and your family have been very nice to me. Also, it was more of their insulting towards you and your son that got to me than anything else.ˇ±

    After that they sat there patiently, waiting for their time to be called into the council chambers.

    ˇ°Bianca Valorre and Irene Geist. The council is ready to receive you now.ˇ± A young ice elf girl said to them.

    ˇ°Well, let us go and take the first step in strengthening the rtions of our people.ˇ± Marcus said, while giving Bianca a confident smile.

 Chapter 513 Before the Ice Elvesâ€™ Council

    Being led into the ice elvesˇŻ council chambers, Marcus immediately felt all of the memberˇŻs gaze being directed towards him.

    He could feel that many of these gazes held a strong resentment, with some even being outright hostile.

    However, this did not mean that there was not a fair share of hopeful and curious council members as well.

    ˇ®Hm a pretty mixed bag. This could be difficult.ˇŻ

    Looking around, Marcus saw that it was pretty close to an even split on those that seemed to already hate him and those that did not.

    And after giving a quick scan he realized that those that were radiating hostility, were on average those of an older persuasion.

    ˇ°Standing before the council now is Lady Irene Geist of the Kingdom of Borealia and Ambassador Bianca Valorre who has rmended her. These two havee here today to approve of the appointment of Lady Geist to be the representative of Borealia in Glenna Reota.ˇ± The ice elf who had escorted Marcus and Bianca said as she addressed the council.<sub>.</sub>

    Yet within just an instant after she finished speaking, one of the council members stood up and mmed his hands down on his desk, and said, ˇ°I will not sit here and even think that we are going to approve this. It is preposterous that we have even agreed to allow a Borealian representative, but I absolutely refuse to even consider a human. If they want to send someone, they should appoint another elf, or at least someone that is not human.ˇ±

    After this councilorˇŻs abrupt outburst, silence permeated the chambers for a few moments. Before another councilor who was seated in the middle separate from the rest stood up, and said, ˇ°Councilor Yinra, you certainly know better than to speak out just as the meeting is getting underway. We have a proper order that must be followed, or our council simply turns into a madhouse. Now sit down now or I will have you thrown out of the chambers until it is time to vote.ˇ±

    Grumbling but ultimately following the directions of this other ice elf, councilor Yinra sat back down and behaved himself.

    ˇ®So that is the current chairwoman.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at the ice elf that had silenced Yinra.

    ˇ°Now it is time that we get this meeting formally underway. To start, does anyone on the council wish to advocate for Lady Geist and Ambassador Valorre?ˇ± The ice elf chairwoman said.

    A few momentster fourteen of the councilors raised their hands, wishing to be able to advocate on MarcusˇŻ and BiancaˇŻs behalf.<sub></sub>

    Though as Marcus looked at those who had volunteered. He recognized that five of them were ones that had been giving him less than friendly looks when he walked in, and likely wanted to sabotage him.

    Still, it was not like it mattered since they had already decided to go with BiancaˇŻs grandmother.

    ˇ°I would like to choose Councilor Valorre to be my advocate.ˇ± Marcus said without any hesitation.

    Nodding her head, the chairwoman agreed and then waved her hand towards Arryn. Beckoning her to head down to the center of the chamber.

    Once she had taken her ce down next to Marcus and her granddaughter, Arryn waited patiently until the chairwoman gave her go ahead.

    Then once she had permission to speak, she began listing MarcusˇŻ exceptional qualities and why he would make a good representative for Borealia.<sub></sub>

    Of course, she stared with that Marcus was actually a spirit first and foremost, and the mood of the room almost instantly changed.

    Spirits were rare beings and naturally held in high regard among the ice elves due to their connection with the snow spirits that inhabited theses mountains.

    In fact, even some of the most disdainful elves had to begrudgingly give their respect for Marcus as a spirit.

    Naturally some of them were also skeptical, wondering if this might be some type of gambit, but it seemed unlikely that Councilor Valorre would openly lie like this before the entire council.

    It was an easy enough matter to check someoneˇŻs status, and anything revealing the contrary would automatically sink MarcusˇŻ chances, as well as heavily damage the Valorre familyˇŻs reputation.

    Quickly, Arryn had finished the speech that the three of them had prepared beforehand, and lightly bowed her head towards the chairwoman to tell her that she was done.

    ˇ°Well, that certainly was a rousing speech and painted Lady Geist in a very favorable light. Now, I am opening up the floor for questions. Any who wish to speak may now do so.ˇ±

    As soon as the chairwoman finished speaking a number of the councilors stood up, and on their desk a number was assigned.

    Then when all those who wished to speak had stood up, a shimmering light surrounded the first to go and allowed them to ask their questions.

    ˇ°Lady Geist, I am sure that all of us are wondering if you really are a spirit. So, if you would not mind, could you prove it to us?ˇ±

    Smiling Marcus said, ˇ°Yes that is easy enough.ˇ±

    After saying this, Marcus disappeared for a few moments before reappearing again, demonstrating an ability that wasmonly associated with spirits.

    Yet that was not all, as when nning with Bianca and Arryn they had said this might not be enough for some of the more skeptical councilors.

    Therefore, they had a status reading tablet prepared in advance, and Marcus disyed his basic status for all to see.

    However, he had made some changes, no longer having it disy his race as a great spirit or an unbound ghost.

    Instead, it now had him listed a superior spirit of light and darkness, which was not far off, but still vastly different.

    Seeing this, there was little doubt that anyone could have left in the validity of Marcus being a spirit.

    ˇ°Hm, well it appears that you were telling the truth. Thank you for humoring me Lady Geist.ˇ± The councilor who had asked Marcus his first question said before sitting back down.

    With the first question out of the way, the next elf in line took his turn to speak, and asked Marcus another question that was on everyoneˇŻs mind.

    ˇ°If I may, Lady Geist, why is a spirit acting as a noble in the human kingdom of Borealia. I have never once heard of a spirit pretending to be human and taking a title in any nation.ˇ±

    ˇ°It is actually quite simple. I am a whimsical spirit and I helped out when one of the kingdomˇŻs towns was in trouble from a monster outbreak. In return for my assistance, they gave me a title thinking that I was human. Of course, I could have simply ignored it and gone about my business as usual, but I decided to see how it yed out. Anyway, being holed up in these mountains away from the rest of the world, how much could you really know about other nations?

    After Marcus said this the councilor that had asked this question went red faced in embarrassment. Since truthfully, he did know little about ces beyond Glenna Reota, and had no way to try and argue against Marcus.

 Chapter 514 Those that Still Remember

    After getting through the first two councilors that had questions for him, Marcus counited to give favorable responses, or shut down those that were trying to entrap him into saying something contradictory.

    However, while Marcus was certainly winning logically, people rarely made decisions purely on logic.

    And soon a very old ice elf, who had been waiting patiently for his turn stood up and looked at Marcus with contempt.

    ˇ°Councilors, certainly we have been doing a thorough job of establishing that Lady Irene here would make a good representative for Borealia here in our esteemed city. She is a spirit and not a human. That her character is undisputable and that she is not an agent sent to steal our secrets or cause us harm. However, are these what we should really be asking? I say that we have no need of a representative in the first ce. There are those of us that still remember the invasion sent by Borealia all those years ago. And I for one can never forgive them. Over a thousand of our brothers and sisters died that day before our guardian intervened. I lost many good friends and family members that day, as did everyone. No, we should not even entertain the idea of allying ourselves with those humans again.ˇ±

    Once this irate councilor finished his speech. Arryn wasted no time and said, ˇ°Councilor Valyra, you know that this meeting is just to confirm Lady Irene to the position of representative that was already voted on. Now is not your time to voice your grievances about an issue that has already passed.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Oh, but isnˇŻt it. It was quite convenient that the meeting to decide on the matter of creating the position of representative happened while I and another member of the council were not able to attend. So now is the time that I have to voice my grievances.ˇ± Councilor Valyra said.

    Arryn was about to respond, when the chairwoman stood up and loudly pped her hands together.

    This quickly gathered everyoneˇŻs attention and silence permeated the chamber until she said, ˇ°Councilor Valyra, as Councilor Valorre said todayˇŻs meeting is about confirming Lady Irene as BorealiaˇŻs representative. I understand your position, but we must stick to the matter at hand.ˇ±

    However, as soon as the chairwoman stopped speaking Marcus contacted Arryn using telepathy.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Arryn go ahead and let Councilor Valyra speak his mind. This is just a tactic he is employing to try and make some of the councilors feel like he has been wronged. I can already tell that around sixty-eight of the councilors are set in their decision, and it is split slightly in favor against me. So, it wille down to convincing the others that are still making up their minds.ˇŻ

    Turning her head towards Marcus, Arryn looked at him skeptically.

    But when she saw the resolute look in his eyes, she nodded her head and looked back towards the chairwoman.

    ˇ°Chairwoman Naeris, I have decided to allow Councilor Valyra to speak as he pleases.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Hearing this the entire council looked down at Arryn with confusion, not understanding what she was after.

    In the worst-case scenario, it could lead to another vote where the position of a Borealian representative was revoked.

    Still, even though he was surprised, Councilor Valyra was willing to continue and began speaking out against allying any further with Borealia.

    ˇ°What is it that we have to gain from establishing rtions with Borealia? Currently we trade some of our snow melons for their magic cores, but what of it. They have no other way to obtain theses natural tressures that grow only in these mountains, while we have plenty of hunters that can gather magic cores. We have long been self-sustaining on our own, even before Borealia came into existence. And even though their first king came with open hands, it was not long afterwards that the humans came to stab us in the backs. Think about what would have happened if they won. We would have ended up as ves and they would have stolen everything that belongs to us.ˇ±

    After Councilor Valyra said this, he crossed his arms and looked down at Marcus waiting for his response.

    ˇ°Certainly, you are right that the people of the past did wrong the ice elves, but that was centuries ago. While some of you may still remember that time, none of the humans that were involved are still alive. Also, the royal family and half of the kingdom were not involved in it to begin with. It was simply a plot of a faction that really does not exist anymore after being wiped out for their idiocy. Now it has been a long time, and Borealia wishes to take another step forward towards the rtionship that was once had with Glenna Reota. They have already been making amends for many decades.

    So if not now, how long must they wait? Five hundred more years, a thousand? Must they wait until every ice elf that remembers that terrible and misguided invasion has died?

    Also, you said that there is nothing that Borealia has to offer you, but is that true? Do you have any ess to rare metals such as adamantine? Is there any among you that has a forge skill above six and can work with amethros? And this is just one example. Sure, you are advanced, and your society is strong, but do you truly have every skill that you need? In the end no one can do everything alone and this goes for nations as well. Eventually you will find yourselfcking in something that you might need, or at least could make your lives easier.ˇ±

    Having now said his point, Marcus looked back towards Councilor Valyra waiting to see if he had any rebuttal.

    Luckily it seemed that the councilor had already said his piece and sat back down. Seeing that any further arguing would likely lead him nowhere.

    Quickly the rest of the councilors that wanted to speak said their parts and asked their questions of Marcus. Until it was finally time for the vote.

    Then once all of the votes were cast, the chairwoman activated a magical device at her desk and the results were disyed for all to see.

    ˇ°Thirty-eight for, thirty-eight against, and one abstained.ˇ± Chairwoman Naeris said, reading the results out loud.

    With the results now revealed everyone just stared in silence at the first tie that had just happened in over a century.

 Chapter 515 To the Guardian of the Ice Elves

    As the results of the vote sunk in, the council members that had voted against Marcus rejoiced.

    Certainly, they had not won, but in some ways, this was better for their cause since it would put this decision in limbo for quite some time.

    ˇ°Well, this certainly was unexpected.ˇ± Chairwoman Naeris said with a mystified look on her face.

    ˇ°Now seeing these results does the one councilor that has abstained wish to recast their vote?ˇ±

    With the vote beingpletely split, Naeris was looking towards the one ice elf that had refused to vote.

    Of course, it was their prerogative to do so, and this did happen on asion, but not normally when the vote mattered immensely.

    Yet the one councilor who had not voted still refused to do so even after being given a second chance.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Very well, then the vote will stand at thirty-eight to thirty-eight, and the tie will be broken when next our guardian, Lord Retharin graces us with his presence. Until then Lady Irene will not be confirmed as the representative of Borealia here in Glenna Reota.ˇ±

    After saying this, Naeris mmed down a small rock that made a resounding sound through the chamber putting and end to this meeting.

    However, while Bianca and her grandmother looked defeated, Marcus was not sure what the problem was.

    ˇ°Bianca, what is the matter? All we need to do is wait for your cityˇŻs guardian toe and then convince them that I would make a good representative.ˇ± Marcus said with a confused expression.

    Shaking her head, Bianca responded and said, ˇ°It is not that easy. Lord Retharin does note down to see us very often and his visits are unpredictable. It could be tomorrow or fifty years from now when he next arrives, and I would bet on thetter. Hest appeared six years ago, and he rarely shows up any more frequently than every three decades. And if you are not here when he arrives it is very likely that you will not be approved.ˇ±

    Lowering her head, Bianca felt that they had been defeated even when she had worked her hardest to try and push for a more open Glenna Reota, so that her family would be able toe and be more readily epted.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Hm, so if your guardian is not going toe here anytime soon, then I simply need to go to him.ˇ± Marcus said with a smile on his face.

    Looking at him like he was crazy Arryn said, ˇ°If it were that easy, I would have already suggested it. Lord Retharin lives at the peak of the tallest mountain in the Verkoudhied range. It stands over forty-thousand feet and is inhospitable even for us ice elves. Not to mention that area is home to very powerful monsters and beasts that could all be considered catastrophes in their own rights. Only the bravest ice elves have ever ascended to that peak and very few returned from their audience with our guardian. It is practically suicide to attempt.ˇ±

    Still, Marcus had a confident expression on his face, and said, ˇ°Yes, I am sure that it is dangerous for most, but I am a spirit. I can just fly up to the highest peak without issue and meet with your guardian.ˇ±

    Sighing Arryn could see that she was not properly exining the dangers of this trip even for someone like Marcus.

    ˇ°Yes, maybe you can circumvent most of the danger, but Lord Retharin is who you should be worried about the most.ˇ± Arryn said with a grave tone.

    She then exined to Marcus that those ice elves that had ascended to meet their guardian, many of them had lost their lives at his hands.<sub></sub>

    He was a being that enjoyed battles and many times he would challenge those that hade to meet him, and if they were not good or lucky enough, they would die.

    ˇ°So, please just drop it. We tried but failed. I know you only agreed to this to make your little sister happier in the future, but really there is no need for you to risk your life over this.ˇ± Bianca said to Marcus.

    She then patted Marcus on the shoulder and began walking out of the room, when Marcus said, ˇ°You are right that there is no need for me to risk my life here, but I am going to anyway. I enjoy exploring new areas and meeting new people even if it is dangerous. If I wanted to be safe and live forever, I would simply stay home. But that would be terribly boring.

    ˇ°Therefore, I will go and meet with Retharin and convince him to ept me. Anyway, I am a lot harder to kill than you might think.ˇ±

    With that Marcus put an end to Bianca and ArrynˇŻs attempt to prevent him from going on what seemed like a suicide mission in their eyes.

    Nevertheless, they could not deny the confident expression MarcusˇŻ face that made it seem like he could aplish anything.

    ˇ°Fine if that is what you wish to do at least allow me and my family to give you what aid we can.ˇ± Bianca said.

    Smiling Marcus thanked her for her help in advance, before they made their return to BiancaˇŻs home.

    Once there they began nning immediately, telling Marcus what to avoid saying and helping him to prepare an appropriate offering.

    Then after a couple of days when the weather was favorable, Marcus set off towards the tallest mountain that was a bit more than a hundred miles away from here.

    Yet as soon as he exited Glenna Reota, he pulled out his sending stone and contacted someone who was likely to know more about this Retharin than even the ice elves.

    ˇ°Ahhhh-hhaaaaaaa.ˇ±

    ˇ°This had better be important Marcus. I was in the middle of my first long nap in quite a while.ˇ± Gwyneira said after letting out a loud yawn.

    ˇ°Yes, it is. What can you tell me about the ice elves guardian Retharin?ˇ±

    The tiredness leaving her immediately, Gwyneira said with a grave tone, ˇ°Marcus whatever you do not go and see that unhinged gryphon. He enjoys challenging anyone and everyone to a fight, and while he may not be malicious, he often kills people simply because he is too strong.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus responded saying, ˇ°Yeah, I already know that, and I kind of already agreed to go and meet him, so I just wondered if you had any advice for me? Anyway, is he really that strong?ˇ±

    Letting out a silent scream, Gwyneira could not believe how stupid Marcus was being, and said, ˇ°Yes, he is that strong. I have fought him five times in the past and only won once. He is level eighty-seven and one of the strongest beasts on the continent.ˇ±

    Gwyneira then took a moment and sighed before saying, ˇ°Listen if you are certain that you must go and meet with him, do not act meekly. He likes those that are confident in themselves especially when they are much weaker than he is. If you show your tenacity against him, he is much more likely to hold back against you if he wants to fight, which I find likely.ˇ±

    After Gwyneira finished giving her advice on how best to deal with Retharin, Marcus thanked her for her time and help, before floating up and shooting straight towards the highest peak in the Verkoudhied Mountain Range.

 Chapter 516 Battle of Epic Proportions

    Floating high into the air, Marcus soon passed over the tops of the mountains that surrounded Glenna Reota and could see the entire Verkoudhied range.

    ˇ®That must be my destination.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked towards the tallest mountain in his view.

    With his target now in sight he began flying towards it at an incredible speed, quickly closing the distance of over a hundred mile in just a few minutes

    Normally this journey would have taken an ice elf many days on foot through perilous terrain, but Marcus simply flew over it all.

    Of course, for anyone that could not be ethereal doing this would have garnered the attention of the powerful beasts and monsters that lived in the mountain. Spelling their doom.

    Luckily Marcus slipped by with ease, and soon he was just a few miles away from his target.

    Yet as he got closer, he noticed a shimmering light blue barrier that had sectioned off arge portion of the range on the opposite side of the mountain Marcus was approaching.

    Looking at this barrier he wondered what it was, especially since he could not see through it.

    ˇ®Hm, no one told me anything about a barrier like this. Is it new or is something happening that Retharin does not want anyone interfering with?ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Still specting was not going to get him anywhere, so Marcus simply approached the barrier and tried to touch it.

    However, it seemed that it was not a barrier that was meant to keep him out as his hand passed through with ease.

    ˇ®I wonder.ˇŻ

    Bing tangible again, Marcus once again tried to pass through the barrier but found that this time it stopped him dead in his tracks.

    ˇ®So, it is only meant to keep out anything with a physical form. But do I intrude or wait?ˇŻ Marcus thought seriously.

    After weighing his options, he eventually decided to go ahead and proceed. He may have been immortal, but he did not have forever to wait around to see if this barrier disappeared, and it was not like it was really stopping him anyway.

    Floating past the barrier he came out into what looked like another world, with a devastatedndscape around him, and what appeared to be blizzards blowing through the entire area.

    BOOM!<sub></sub>

    With a deafening sound, Marcus heard a loud crash, and looking towards its source he watched an entire mounting begin to crumble as arge form crashed into it.

    Floating closer while enhancing his vision, he watched as the creature that had just struck the mountain shake off the tons of rubble that had covered it.

    Seeing this creature for the first time he knew from the descriptions that he had heard that this was Retharin.

    Just as he had been told, the guardian of Glenna Reota and ruler of the Verkoudhied Mountains was a massive gryphon.

    Of course, he was not anywhere close to the average gryphon that was considered a rare grade magical beast but had evolved and entered the realm of mythic.

    Except while Marcus had now found who he was looking for, he wondered why Retharin had just crashed into a mountain.

    He highly doubted that the mythic grade beast was doing that for fun and began scanning the area for whatever had done this.

    And within just an instant he watched as a small form was moving impossibly fast sted through the sky towards Retharin.<sub></sub>

    In fact, they were moving so fast that Marcus honestly could not grasp what they looked like.

    But before this figure could reach Retharin, he pped his wings and whipped up a powerful storm that blew forward.

    It was a st of wind that easily had the power of a hurricane and along with it the snow in the area was picked up making the attack even stronger.

    The figure then plunged right through the storm and appeared right in front of Retharin who was crackling with blue lightning.

    Releasing a barrage of lightning bolts that melted the ground around him and destabilized the bonds that held the air together, Retharin aimed right for his opponent.

    Yet the person fighting Retharin stopped immediately and surrounded themselves with a dome of stone.

    Surprisingly while even the mountains melted under the immense power of RetharinˇŻs lighting, this thin stone barrier seemed to protect whoever was inside it.

    Once the lightning had exhausted its power, RetharinˇŻs opponent broke apart their stone dome, and the remains of it began to erge until they were three dozen massive pir of stone that were bigger than even MarcusˇŻ cataclysmic iron sword spell.

    Watching all of this intently for the first time Marcus was able to get a good look at whoever was fighting Retharin.

    Staring at them he took in all of their details and was surprised to see that they were some type of humanoid.

    However, they were not any race he had ever seen as they had having grayish skin, very dark silver hair, and ever so slightly pointed ears.

    Though soon Marcus moved away from her physical characteristics and saw that she were wearing a set of dark purple and ck gauntlets that were obviously made of amethros.

    Along with those she also had a pair of greaves, and sollerets that were wed and also part of the set matching her gauntlets.

    (A/N: Sollerets are armored shoes.)

    As his opponent fired the massive pirs of stone at him, Retharin took to the sky to avoid them.

    But as he flew up the pirs of stone arced upwards and followed.

    Abruptly stopping Retharin turned around and went into a nosedive towards the pirs and opened his mouth.

    A massive st of lighting then released from RetharinˇŻs mouth that vaporized the stone pirs and engulfed the woman that was he was fighting with.

    The st then hit the ground and cut through it like a hot knife through butter, and the earth and mountains began shaking as the lightning exploded like a hydrogen bomb had just been set off.

    Seeing this Marcus could only watch in disbelief as he watched miles upon miles of mountains be reduced to dust as Retharin unleashed an attack far stronger than anything he had ever seen.

    ˇ®So, this is what a upper level eighty mythic grade magic beast is capable of.ˇŻ Marcus thought while staring with wide eyes.

    He had known that mythic grade magic beasts were strong since he had strengthparable to them, but the difference between him and Retharin was staggering.

    Of course, Retharin was thirty-seven levels higher than him, but the power he had truly could be considered enough to destroy and entire nation on its own.

    Yet as he continued to watch, what was even more astonishing was that RetharinˇŻs opponent appeared from the explosion that was as strong as EarthˇŻs strongest weapons unscathed and delivered an uppercut.

    With an ear-splitting crack, Retharin went flying upwards in what looked hriously impossible, as a normal human sized person sent an over three-hundred-foot magical beast flying with a punch.

    Retharin then crashed into the barrier and his body was tten against it as the force of his opponentˇŻs punch showed no sign of dissipating.

    Still, he was a mythic grade magical beast, and flexing his muscles he pushed off against the barrier and charged forward to continue the battle.

 Chapter 517 Battle of Epic Proportions (2)

    Rushing back into battle, Retharin pped his wings and unleashed of a hundred twisters that rended through the air.

    In response his opponent began rapidly punching into the air and with each blow unleashed sts of mana that met the twisters and destroyed them.

    Then after closing the distance, Retharin swiped with one of his legs, ripping through the air with his sharp ws.

    Crossing her arms, the silver haired woman guarded against the attack and was sent flying at absurd speeds, before smashing into what was left of the ground.

    Left in the wake of her crashing body, was a five-mile-long trench that looked like it had been made by a meteor crashing through the ground.

    Yet even after taking an attack as strong as the one Retharin had unleashed. His opponent stood back up, and only had some shallow scratches on her arms that quickly healed over.

    Throwing her hands in front of her, the silver haired woman coalesced an incredible amount of mana in front of her as she built up a st bigger than Marcus had ever seen.

    As she fired the st forward towards Retharin, the ground and atmosphere around her vaporized under the sheer power behind this attack.<sub>.</sub>

    Still, Retharin only smiled and began rapidly pping his wings building up an immense amount of wind before unleashing it in one powerful sh that left gales in its wake.

    The two attacks collided and with an earth-shaking explosion. With both of them canceling each other out and leaving another colossal crater in the already devastatedndscape.

    With hertest attack blocked, the silver haired woman jumped forward. Moving well past the sound barrier and seemingly slipping through it, as she appearing in front of Retharin in an instant.

    Except even as fast as his opponent had moved, Retharin kept up and the two of them began moving around with blistering speed. Trading heavy blows that created shockwaves that shook the earth and sky.

    Nevertheless, even though they had traded over two hundred blows, only three seconds had gone by when the silver haired woman got under RetharinˇŻs guard and delivered a double palm strike to his chest.

    With a bone cracking sound, Retharin was knocked back and crashed through the couple of still standing mountains.

    In his wake these mountains crumbled down like they were made of sand, leaving only rubble in their once proud ce.<sub></sub>

    RetharinˇŻs opponent following up her attack, unleased a st of mana that split apart into hundreds of smaller sts and carpet bombed the area.

    It was a destructive attack that destroyed everything in its path and caused even greater damage to the already injured Retharin.

    Eventually the dust began to settle after thest powerful attack, and Retharin pulled himself from the debris.

    However, he was far from in peak condition with his chest partially caved in, one of his wings being bend at an unnatural angle,cerations all over his body, and blood flowing from his mouth.

    These were definitely not light wounds, and it was quite obvious that he was in rough shape having taken heavy damage.

    Still, Retharin was not going to go down that easily and his body began shimmering with sparks of electricity that quickly fixed up his body and continued to linger giving him and even more dangerous appearance.

    A condensed st of lighting then fired off from his body towards the sky, and right before hitting the barrier, split apart into thousands of bolts that began raining down upon the entire area. Leaving nowhere to hide.<sub></sub>

    Of course, his opponent was not the least bit fazed by this and created a stone wall above her head that absorbed the bolts falling all around.

    Yet, this was exactly what Retharin wanted .as her shot forward like a sh of lightning his body itself be an unstoppable force.

    With his opponentˇŻs movements sealed by the lightning storm falling around them, Retharin was able to force her to take one of his strongest attacks head on.

    Pulling back one of her fists and beginning to glow, the silver haired woman prepared one of her own finished moves.

    It was like a zone of absolute calm surrounded her, and when Retharin was just a few dozen feet away she punched forward.

    BOOOOOOM!

    As the two of them impacted it seemed as if the world had ended as a blinding light filled the entire area making everything too bright to see.

    Then following this blinding light was a noise so loud that it waspletely indescribable and would have shatter the eardrums of any physical being before they could process what it was.

    When the light receded and the sound dissipated, the surrounding that had used to be mountains and snow were now reduced to sand. Making it seem as if this battle had been happening in a desert.

    Outstandingly, even after those catastrophic attacks, neither of them was dead or even mortally injured.

    Certainly, they had not escaped unscathed with Retharin having half of his head crushed and bleeding profusely, while his opponents had second and third degree burns all over her body.

    Except for two begins at their levels, these wounds could be considered just minor inconveniences that quickly healed away leaving them practically at peak condition.

    For one of them to truly go down it would take a blow that left them at deathˇŻs door, or when they finally ran out of their near limitless energy.

    ˇ°Retharin how about we finish this with onest attack. We have already made a mess of the ce so we might as well go all out now.ˇ± The silver haired woman shouted.

    Nodding his head Retharin said, ˇ°Sure it has been a while since I unleashed everything I have. Just do not start crying in the afterlife if you die from this.ˇ±

    ˇ°Ha, as if I am going to kick the bucker while fighting you. Now letˇŻs see what you have got.ˇ±

    After the two of them finished up their conversation, both of them began building up even greater power than they had already been throwing around.

    What looked like a massive storm began forming around Retharin as powerful winds and blots of lighting merged into an impossible strong attack.

    On the other side, the sliver haired woman had an orange glow around her body, and above her an entire mountain bigger than any within the entire Verkoudhied range formed above her.

    It was a mountain sorge it could easily tten the entire royal capital of Borealia, and then some.

    Once both of them had finished amassing power for their finishing attacks, Retharin fired off his powerful storm of wind and lighting, while his opponent threw the mountain she had conjured.

    Colliding in the air the two attacks fought for dominance, as the mountain tried to push through the storm, and the storm began tearing the mountain apart.

    In the end, the mountain simply has too much mass and power behind in. And even though it had been whittled down far from its original size, it still broke through the storm and continued on towards its target.

    Having nowhere to dodge Retharin took the remains of the mountain head on, beingplete crushed by it and buried under thousands of tons of rock.

 Chapter 518 Meeting Retharin

    After watching the end of a battle well beyond anything he had ever seen, Marcus could only float in shock.

    He had never expected to see something so brutally powerful, and it gave him an example of what those that truly stood at the top of the world could do.

    Even CiborˇŻs strength paled inparison to the two he had just watched, and he was considered the strongest man of an entire kingdom.

    Still, what was more surprising was that the mythic grade magical beast Retharin had lost.

    Gwyneira had said that he was even stronger than her, and during the battle he had disyed power that was already enough to be considered a cmity.

    Yet his opponent had simply been a bit stronger, and Marcus truly could not believe it when he saw a mountain the size of a city being thrown like amon stone.

    However, now that the battle between these two titans was over, Marcus wondered if Retharin was alright.

    He hade here specifically to get his approval so that he could be confirmed as the representative of Borealia in Glenna Reota.

    Except if Retharin was now dead, that was not going to be possible.<sub>.</sub>

    Though as he shook his head and tried to focus on the task at hand instead of the unbelievable battle he just watched. He remembered the short conversation that the two of them had, and it seemed that they knew each other.

    ˇ®I think that they are probably friends. From what I know, Retharin loves to battle, so maybe that silver haired woman is his asional sparring partner?ˇŻ

    As Marcus came to this realization, the remains of the mountain that had crushed Retharin began to disappear as the mana that had been used to cast the spell dissipated.

    Once it was gone Retharin became visible, though he looked worse for wear.

    His wings were practically gone having been pulverized, and that was only one of the terrible injuries he had.

    All of his limbs were crushed and twisted at odd angles, his head was cracked open, and he had broken bones piecing through all over his body.

    In fact, seeing this Marcus truly wondered if Retharin was alive, and that if the fight that had just urred was maybe not a friendly match.

    The damage that Retharin had taken would have certainly been fatal for most creatures many times over.<sub></sub>

    Nevertheless, Retharin sat near the highest realm of the world, and slowly even these wounds began to heal over.

    ˇ°Hello there. What are you doing here?ˇ± The silver haired woman asked Marcus.

    But while she had been approaching him, he had been so absorbed in what was happening to Retharin, he had forgotten to keep an eye on his opponent.

    He had gotten toofortable being ethereal and not easily noticed.

    Of course, both Retharin and this silver haired woman had felt MarcusˇŻ intense gaze on them and had realized that some ethereal creature was watching their battle.

    And now that they were done fighting, the silver haired woman hade to investigate.

    Yet as she appeared right in front of Marcus, he felt an overwhelming sense of danger.

    He had seen what she could do, and so he instinctively shot back away from her.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Hey, it is rude to run away when someone is talking to you.ˇ± The silver haired woman said from behind Marcus.

    Hearing this his eyes went wide, since he had just moved at his top speed, and she had causally overtaken and gotten behind him.

    ˇ®Calm down Marcus. If she was hostile, she would have attacked without starting a dialogue.ˇŻ

    Getting control of himself, Marcus pped both of his hands against his face, before turning around to face this silver haired woman.

    He then became physically again and said, ˇ°Sorry, you startled me for a second there. I was busy looking at Retharin and wondering if he might need help, when you were suddenly in front of me. Oh, and for what I am doing here I havee to speak with Retharin.ˇ±

    Trying to act confident, Marcus erased the momentary fear he was feeling and promptly answered the question of this silver haired woman.

    Thest thing he needed was to antagonize her and end up being destroyed by a single punch from her.

    ˇ°I see.ˇ± She said almost losing interest in Marcus.

    She then turned towards Retharin and yelled, ˇ°Hey Reth, do you know this spirit? They said they came to see you.ˇ±

    Getting up and shaking his body that was still recovering, Retharin looked towards Marcus intently.

    ˇ°No, I have never met them. What business do you have with me?ˇ± Retharin said as he began flying towards them.

    Once Retharin was right in front of Marcus he stared at him almost menacingly.

    Of course, Marcus figured that he was trying to see if he was afraid, but luckily Gwyneira had given him advice so, he stayed confident even in the presence of a being that could destroy him with one move.

    ˇ°It is nice to meet you Retharin, guardian of the ice elves of Glenna Reota. My name is Irene Geist, and currently there is a tie in the Glenna Reota council on a vote that would make me the representative from Borealia. So, I came up here to find you and hope that you would give your approval and break the tie.ˇ±

    After saying this, Marcus stood there looking Retharin right in the eyes.

    ˇ°Hm, this is certainly unusual. I do not think I have ever had anyonee to me for such a reason. They normally just wait for me to show up if there is a tie, though it does not happen often.ˇ± Retharin said a bit underwhelmed as for MarcusˇŻ reason to seek him out.

    Yet before the conversation advanced further, the silver haired woman said, ˇ°What is a superior spirit like you doing getting involved with human and elven politics?ˇ±

    She seemed truly baffled as to what MarcusˇŻ reasons were, since spirits really did not often get involved in worldly affairs.

    ˇ°I am mainly doing it as a favor to a friend, but I also wanted to see and explore the ice elf city, and this was the easiest way.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Shrugging her shoulders, the silver haired woman really did not understand Marcus but decided to leave it at that.

    ˇ°Ardea, would you mind not interrupting anymore.ˇ± Retharin said as he really examined Marcus.

    ˇ°Yeah, whatever. I was losing interest anyway.ˇ± Ardea said before flying away.

    ˇ°Now, what are you really? Your status says you are a superior spirit of light and darkness which should be impossible, and you give off a more powerful feel than just a superior spirit.ˇ± Retharin said, as his he stared sharply at Marcus.

    ˇ°I guess you saw through me. You are right that I am not a superior spirit. Here let me turn off my false status and show you what I actually am.ˇ±

    Marcus then deactivated his unique skill and revealed his true status for Retharin to see.

    Using his appraisal skill once more, Retharin read through MarcusˇŻ status and was very surprised what he found.

    Not only was Marcus some type of ghost, but also a great spirit.

    Seeing this Retharin was extremely confused until he saw MarcusˇŻ personal status unique skill, which was only ever held by those from another world.

 Chapter 519 Hit Me with Everything You Have

    After Retharin had finished checking over MarcusˇŻ status, he looked at him with a sharp glint in his eyes.

    ˇ°You certainly are a rare being, even more so than me or Ardea. I had head that it was possible for those brought over from another world to be any intelligent race, but you are very lucky to have ended up what you are. To think that I would ever meet a great spirit weaker than myself.ˇ± Retharin said while shaking his head.

    He then began scratching his chin with one of his very long ws dragging them threw his glistening feathers.

    ˇ°Well, I have justpleted a very exhrating fight and am in a pretty good mood, so I suppose that could honor your request and break the tie in the Glenna Reota council. However, you must do something for me first. I want to see just how strong you are. Hit me with everything you have.ˇ± Retharin said with a fierce expression.

    Hearing this Marcus nodded his head immediately, having expected that Retharin would want to do something like this.

    In fact, he was pretty lucky that Retharin had just finished an all-out battle, since otherwise it might have ended up being a fight instead of just a test of power.

    The only problem was that MarcusˇŻ full power required the activation of skills that put a huge strain on him, and pieces of him were scattered between his scythe and the ring he had given to Mrazivy.

    Smiling at Retharin and keep up his confident fa?ade, Marcus said, ˇ°If you would just give me a moment, I need to make a call so that my fianc¨¦ does not freak out.ˇ±

    Not waiting for a response Marcus pulled out his sending stone and called Mrazivy, since he was about to bring her engagement ring back so that he could use his full power.<sub>.</sub>

    Yet when Mrazivy picked up, she was out of breath and Marcus heard what sounded like explosions going on around her.

    ˇ°Ah Marcus what did you need?ˇ±

    BOOM!

    Hearing another loud explosion on the other side of the sending stone, Marcus began to get worried and said, ˇ°Mrazivy are you alright? If you need to hang up you can.ˇ±

    Nevertheless, even though it sounded like she was in a warzone, Mrazivy responded and said, ˇ°Ah no everything is fine, just in the middle of some training. So, what is it you need? Are you in any trouble?ˇ±

    Letting out a sigh of relief, Marcus was d to hear that Mrazivy was not in any danger, and said, ˇ°Yeah, I am fine, I am just having a conversation with the guardian of Glenna Reota, and he wanted to see what I could do, so I am going to be calling the ring back to me for a bit. I promise I will give it back as soon as I can.ˇ±

    After Marcus said this there was a long pause on MrazivyˇŻs end for around a minute, until she said, ˇ°Okay I understand. I guess it will be good for my training to use only my own power. Just make sure to not hold onto it for too long.ˇ±

    ˇ°Thank you Mraz and I promise I will not make a habit of this. Just this time I really need everything I have.ˇ± Marcus said.<sub></sub>

    With his conversation with Mrazivy now wrapped up, he ended the call and focused on the fragment of his soul that was fused into the ring he had made for her.

    Feeling the connection even over this long distance, he willed this piece of his soul back to him, and the ring appeared on his finger.

    Immediately MarcusˇŻ aura red up as he now had most of his soul back.

    While Retharin who had been waiting quietly, looked intently at the ring that had just appeared on MarcusˇŻ finger.

    ˇ°I have never seen something like that before. You put a part of your own soul into a ring made of amethros. I cannot tell if you are a genius or just crazy.ˇ± Retharin said astounded by Marcus.

    Still, as he looked at the ring, he could not deny that it was a very powerful item even if he could not tell what all of its properties were.

    However, he did pick something up with his acute sense of smell, and said, ˇ°Gwyneira! You have used materials from her in that ring.ˇ±

    Realizing this Retharin moved right up to Marcus and yanked his hand right up to his face.<sub></sub>

    Examining the ring closely he was able to tell that a scale from the dragon that looked over Borealia was indeed incorporated into this ring.

    ˇ°Fascinating, I did not think she would let go of any piece of herself to anyone other than Boreas. But there is no doubt that you used a scale from her in the making of this ring.ˇ±

    Yet as Retharin examined the ring with interest, Marcus made his hand ethereal and pulled it back away from him.

    Then he absorbed the ring back into himself so it was no longer visible, and said, ˇ°This is a personal item of mine so I would prefer that you not gawk over it. Yes, I did receive a scale from Gwyneira but that does not matter right now. You wanted to see what I can do so let me hit you with all I have got.ˇ±

    Surprise on his face for a moment seeing the way Marcus talked to him. Retharin soon began to smile, enjoying the tenacity of this half-baked great spirit.

    ˇ°Yes, you are right. Go ahead and show me what you can do. But if I am not impressed, I will rip that ring out from your form and take it as my own.ˇ± Retharin said, wanting to make Marcus angry and motivated.

    And as he wanted this certainly ticked Marcus off, since this ring not only contain a fragment of his soul but was also a representation of his devotion to Mrazivy.

    ˇ°Fine if you want to see what I can do. I will show you.ˇ± Marcus said with fury in his voice.

    Jumping back, he brought his scythe back to him as well, disregarding using it a beacon to locate his stash of materialster.

    He knew the location pretty well anyway, and he needed hiss scythe to use most of his strongest attacks.

    Still, he needed to decided which one to use.

    ˇ®Yeah, it is going to have to be railgun. It has the most precise power and may be the only thing I have that can hurt him.ˇŻ Marcus thought after going over which of his finishing moves would be the best.

    Pointing his scythe forward and turning it on its side, he activated its formations and it took the form of a crossbow.

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony formˇŻ

    Next, he used his supreme skill which caused his power to spike.

    Continuing the process Marcus cast his iron sphere spell and began sending all of the power his supreme skill offered him into it.

    ˇ®This wonˇŻt be enough.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Soul Burst.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Soul Devour.ˇŻ

    Truly going all out for the first time in quite some time, Marcus unleashed all of his strength even going so far as to use soul devour.

    ˇ®Eclipse Railgun.ˇŻ

    Firing of his strongest attack, the iron sphere enhanced to the maximum power flew forward at an astounding speed even surprising Retharin.

    Before he could react as he had not been on his guard, the iron sphere traveling at Mach Ten pieced into his shoulder and sted through his body.

 Chapter 520 A Good Impression

    As MarcusˇŻ eclipse railgun hit him, Retharin felt the sharp pain of flesh and muscle being pieced through, as the iron sphere the size of a grapefruit shot through him.

    Eventually though it came to a stop within his body when it finally hit bone after traveling around fifty feet through his body.

    Blood then began to flow out of the wound that Marcus had inflicted against a mythic grade magical beast over thirty levels higher than him.

    Still, in order to do this, he had pushed himself to the max and now his body felt sluggish. Almost like he had a fever.

    Using his soul devour skill especially in conjunction with his supreme skill and soul burst had taken a toll on him.

    ˇ®Damn even just for the second I was using it I feel bad. Now that I am more in tune with the damage it does, I can tell just how bad for me soul devour is.ˇŻ Marcus thought while examining his soul.

    Luckily his soul regeneration skill was already putting him back together, but he needed to be very careful, or he could have another crisis within his soul where he begins to lose his sense of self.<sub>.</sub>

    Once Retharin had finished processing what had happen, he began roaring withughter.

    ˇ°Ah ha ha ha. That was great. I never expected you to be able to hurt me, but you havepletely surprised me. I guess that even at your level, you are a great spirit.ˇ±

    Ecstatic from MarcusˇŻ attack, Retharin flew over towards him and began pping him on the back.

    Of course, Marcus in his currently weaken state went flying towards the ground after one hit and had to go ethereal to avoid crashing into the ground.

    Floating back up, he had an aggrieved expression on his face, and said, ˇ°I would appreciate if you did not hit me right now. I used everything I had as you asked, and it has left me in a weakened state for a bit.ˇ±

    Hearing Marcus say this, Retharin appraised Marcus again, and saw that his stats were all much lower now as his soul burst had worn off.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I see. you really went all out. I am surprised you were willing to use skills like that just for this, but you have impressed me. If I was very careless you may have even been able to kill me with that attack. So, I will do as you have asked and go break that tie in the Glenna Reota council.ˇ± Retharin said while holding his head up high.

    He then got closer to Marcus and started heaping more praise on him really happy to have met someone like him.

    ˇ°Oh yeah, since you are this strong now, I bet you will be really strong in the future. So how about it, when you get into the mid seventies or so how abouting back and having a real battle with me? I always look forward to a good fight.ˇ± Retharin said to Marcus with an expectant gaze.

    Currently Marcus might have been much weaker than him, but there was no doubt in RetharinˇŻs mind that this great spirit would one day be incredibly powerful and make another good sparring partner for him.

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed mostly not to get on RetharinˇŻs bad side, rather than actually caring about fighting with this battle hungry mythic grade magical beast.

    However, as the two of them talked, the other person who was here and waiting for Retharin began to get impatient.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Hey Reth, how long are you going to keep me waiting here. We need to put this ce back together and I cannot do it all by myself.ˇ± Ardea said, while looking annoyed.

    Sighing, Retharin seemed a bit annoyed himself that he was having to abandon his attempt to recruit Marcus as his future sparring partner and flew over to Ardea.

    The two of them then began restoring the deste area that had been reduced to dust by their powerful attacks.

    It was truly amazing for Marcus to watch as Ardea began restoring the mountains that had been destroyed, while Retharin covered them with heaps of snow and ice.

    The two of them used magic so much more fluidly than Marcus had ever seen, and what they created did not disappear when mana was no longer supplied to them.

    Watching this intently, Marcus wondered how they were able to do this, and was curious about how many different spells they must have developed in order to use so many unique applications of magic.

    Within just a few hours the area that Retharin and Ardea had destroyed was restored to its former glory, and the snowy mountains once again stood tall.

    That was when Marcus realized that this was probably not the first time they had done this, and it was likely that these mountains had been remade by them multiple times.

    ˇ°Well now that we are done, let us take the barrier down and I will be heading on my way.ˇ± Ardea said to Retharin.

    Yet before they could do this, Marcus approached them having thought of something else important.

    ˇ°Ardea I can see that you fight with gauntlets, so I assume that you have the skill for them and have plenty of techniques you have developed for your fighting style?ˇ± Marcus said to her.

    Nodding her head Ardea said, ˇ°Yeah, I have the superior gauntlet fighter skill, but what does it matter to you?ˇ±

    Smiling Marcus said, ˇ°So would you be willing to take on an apprentice and teach them how to fight at a higher level?ˇ±

    Tilting her head, Ardea looked at Marcus intently thinking he was talking about himself.

    ˇ°I mean, I certainly am not opposed to it since I will eventually need to pass on my title, but it looks like you already fight with a scythe. For my apprentice she will need to fight with gauntlets like me and my predecessors, or she will not be able to inherit my title.ˇ±

    Hearing Ardea suddenly going on about something he did not understand, Marcus held up his hand to stop her and said, ˇ°I think you have misunderstood. I am not looking for you to teach me, but my little sister who also fights with gauntlets.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh, so that is what you meant. Wait how does a great spirit have a little sister?ˇ± Ardea said with confusion.

    Shaking his head, Marcus exined that Lilia was his adopted sister, and very advanced for her age.

    ˇ°Hm, I suppose she does sound promising.ˇ± Ardea said while stroking her chin.

    However, at this point Retharin jumped back in and said, ˇ°Hey wait Ardea, I thought you were not even looking for an apprentice right now. You said you nned to take it easy for another couple centuries and would keep mepany. I have to wait around another three hundred years before my pact with my master is over, and I can finally leave my post here protecting the ice elves.ˇ±

    Waving her hand and dismissing Retharin, Ardea said, ˇ°Yeah, I know what I said, and while I am not looking for an apprentice. When one drops into myp all of a sudden, I am not going to dismiss itpletely.ˇ±

 Chapter 521 The Grand Witches

    Almost entirely confused, Marcus had no idea what Ardea and Retharin were arguing about.

    He had simply seen a chance to maybe get Lilia a master to learn from and took a shot in the dark.

    Though now it seemed he had caused a rift between Ardea and Retharin for some reason.

    ˇ°Yeah, can the two of you have a lovers quarrelter? I just asked a simple question if Ardea would be willing to teach my little sister a few things.ˇ± Marcus said, getting in the middle of Ardea and RetharinˇŻs argument.

    However, as he said this, Retharin turned his frustrating on Marcus and said, ˇ°Why did you have to go and mention an apprentice for Ardea? Once she has one, she is not going to have anytime to fight with me anymore.ˇ±

    After Retharin said this Ardea said, ˇ°Oh shut it you bird brain. I onlye by once a year or so to keep my skills polished and to patrol these mountains. It is not like I am fighting with you every week.ˇ±

    The two of them then began getting back into, with MarcusˇŻ disturbance having only redirected their attention for a moment.<sub>.</sub>

    Getting fed up with this, Marcus pointed his hands at the two of them, and fired aser spell at Ardea and a darkness drill at Retharin.

    Naturally this got their attention, as Ardea swiftly moved her arm and deflected theser spell with one of her gauntlets, and Retharin brushed away the darkness drill the swipe of one of his legs.

    The two of them then looked at Marcus angrily and said, ˇ°Hey, what was that for!? Are you looking for a fight!?

    Holding up his hands, Marcus showed that he did not have any hostility, and said, ˇ°No I was just trying to get your attention. Now could you exin what is going on and stop arguing with each other?ˇ±

    Calming down, the two of them gave each other a nce, before Ardea sighed and said, ˇ°What do you know of the grand witches?ˇ±

    Shaking his head, Marcus told Ardea that he did not know anything about any grand witches, though he had heard of the tile of grand archmage that Aria had.<sub></sub>

    Waving her hand and dismissing MarcusˇŻ connection, Ardea said, ˇ°No, grand archmage is just a title within a kingdom. Us grand witches get our title directly from the system just like you great spirits. Though I am surprised that there is a great spirit that does not know of the other powers in this world.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well, sorry I am ignorant. Remember I am not originally from this world, so I am still learning things. So, what are these grand witches?ˇ± Marcus said

    Shrugging her shoulders Ardea said, ˇ°I suppose you could say we are the wardens of different areas around the world. I for one am the grand witch of the peaks, and I look over the highest reaches of this world. And of course, along with this we are granted superior powers.ˇ±

    Listening to Ardea talk about what being a grand witch was, he became a bit more confused, as he thought that it was the great spirits who were the ones that were making sure the world did not get thrown out of bnce.

    Yet when Marcus said, this Ardeaughed and said, ˇ°Ha that is funny. The great spirits barely ever move into action.ˇ±

    ˇ°No, they only get involved if someone does something really stupid, like when this guy decided to trash an entire continent.ˇ± She said while pointing at Retharin.<sub></sub>

    Grumbling, Retharin said under his breath, ˇ°I only messed up a couple of kingdoms because they picked a fight with me. The great spirit of water just gave me a slight warning since I blew up one of his temples.ˇ±

    Hearing this, Marcus remembered the unbelievably powerful attack that Retharin had unleashed that had enough power to easily destroy even arge city.

    ˇ®If he wanted to, I am pretty sure he could fly around a kingdom like a bomber and blow up every major settlement. Leaving the ce in ruins.ˇŻ Marcus thought, understanding what someone of RetharinˇŻs level could really do.

    After that, Ardea continued on, and told Marcus why at some point she was going to need an apprentice.

    ˇ°I see. So, when you get strong enough to move on from this world you will have to leave the tittle of grand witch with someone else.ˇ± Marcus said

    ˇ°Yeah, and while I am still quite aways from being strong enough to leave, eventually I am going to have to find someone. So, if your sister is a good candidate, I do not mind making her my apprentice.ˇ± Ardea said with a bit of interest.

    ˇ°Yeah right. You are justzy Ardea. Willing to take the first person you hear about as your apprentice. ˇ± Retharin said, obviously displeased about ArdeaˇŻs interest in taking on an apprentice now.

    ˇ°Hey, I am not agreeing to take her as an apprentice. only to see if she would be a good candidate. Obviously, I am not going to make check out her skills and aptitude before officially making her my apprentice.ˇ± Ardea said, snapping back at Retharin.

    The two of them then counited their quarrel like an old married couple.

    Dropping to the ground, Marcus sat down and propped his head up in one of his hands while he waited for the two of them to work out their problems.

    He still needed Retharin toe back with him, and he doubted that any more interventions from him was going to speed this up.

    So, he simply waited for nearly three hours, until the two of them had finished arguing about stupid things that really did not matter.

    In fact, Marcus was pretty sure that the two of them just liked fighting each other, either on the battlefield or with words.

    Still, when they were finally done, Ardea walked up to Marcus and said, ˇ°So when can I meet this little sister of yours?ˇ±

    ˇ°Hm I would say that once summer starts if you would be able toe to the royal capital of Borealia you would be able to meet her. Once you are in the city, just ask around for the Geist estate and you should fine me.ˇ± Marcus said to Ardea.

    Nodding her head, she wrote down the date she would be arriving and the direction on how to find Marcus again.

    ˇ°Well, it has certainly been interesting to meet you Irene, the great spirit of light and darkness whoes from another world, but I will need to be on my way. I have other mountain ranges to look after and have already finished up this continent and need to move onto the next one. So, see you around.ˇ±

    After saying this Ardea shot up into the sky and flew away at an impressive speed that Marcus could not hope to keep up with right now.

    Once Ardea was gone Retharin turned to Marcus, and said, ˇ°I suppose I should keep to my word and go down to Glenna Reota with you.ˇ±

    ˇ°Now climb on my back, and I will have us there in just a minute.ˇ±

 Chapter 522 Retharinâ€™s Confirmation

    As soon as Marcus hopped onto RetharinˇŻs back, the massive gryphon turned his head back towards him and said, ˇ°Make sure to hold on tight and enjoy. I very rarely give anyone the opportunity to ride one my back.ˇ±

    After he said this, MarcusˇŻ vision went blurry, as they suddenly catapulted into the sky and began moving at a tremendous speed.

    Quickly Marcus heard the pop of a sonic boom, as Retharin broke the sound barrier and continued to speed up.

    Once he had gained his bearings, he looked from side to side and watched as thendscape quickly slipped by.

    Then only a minuteter, Retharin began to slow down, and the ice elf city of Glenna Reota was back in view.

    ˇ®Wow, it really did only take him a minute to travel from his home to here.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked down at the city below them.

    Circling down into the city, Retharin slowly descended, allowing every ice elf in the city to know that he had arrived.

    Naturally, for all those that witnessed their guardianˇŻs arrival they were quite surprised.

    It had not been but six years since hisst appearance, and it was very rare for him to show up again within such a short amount of time.<sub>.</sub>

    Yet what truly stunned them was when they saw that a figure was perched upon their guardianˇŻs back, like their legendary cityˇŻs founder who was once the master of Retharin.

    By the time Retharin touched down after circling around for far longer than it took him to get here. A crowd of ice elves had alreadye to greet him.

    Though as members of the council gathered as well as those that recognized Marcus, they could not believe their eyes.

    When he had said that he would go and meet with their guardian to have him break the tie in the council, most of them wrote him off as dead.

    However, in only a single day he had gone into the mountains and returned on the back of the mythic beast that was almost like a deity to the people of Glenna Reota.

    Seeing this there was no doubt that Retharin would vote in favor of Marcus and letting him ride on his back actually raised MarcusˇŻ status very high in the eyes of the people.

    Smiling and waving, Marcus made sure to do his best to ingrain the image of him riding on RetharinˇŻs back in the minds of the people.

    Now even those that absolutely hated other races and were totally xenophobic, would have to give him some degree of respect as one who had ridden on the back of their guardian.<sub></sub>

    Jumping down, Marcus walked over to Bianca and her family who were standing their stunned.

    ˇ°Well, I have brought Retharin back as I said I would, and now we can have that tie broken.ˇ± Marcus said with a confident smile.

    Though as he said this, the old ice elf councilor who had tried to question why there even needed to be a representative form Borealia yelled, ˇ°Who gave you the right to call our great guardian by his name so casually!?ˇ±

    Turning his head towards Councilor Valyra, Marcus rolled his eyes.

    Seeing this, the old ice elfˇŻs paleplexion turned red with anger, but he soon froze in fear when Retharin said loudly, ˇ°I gave her permission.ˇ±

    As Retharin said this, every ice elf in the vicinity froze up, and looked towards their guardian who was radiating a menacing aura.

    He had reallye to like Marcus and his fearless attitude, and truthfully, he disliked most of these meek ice elves that hid under his metaphorical skirt.

    Still, he had promised his master who was the founder of this city that he would watch over them for a thousand years and had kept up with his duty.<sub></sub>

    Retharin then transformed taking the form of a hansom ice elf male. Before walking up to Marcus and putting a hand on his shoulder like the two of them were buddies.

    ˇ°Now call one of your council meetings so that I may quickly break the tie that you currently have. It is high time that Irene here bes the new representative from Borealia.ˇ±

    Puffing out his chest and smiling smugly, Marcus looked out at all of the ice elves and held his head up high.

    He had just overwhelmingly won against those that disliked him or Borealia and was feeling really good about it.

    Quickly the council of Glenna Reota was called together, and an emergency meeting was held.

    This time there was no questioning and not a single person spoke out against Marcus as Retharin broke the tie in his favor.

    Now he was officially a representative and held an even stronger position that had he simply won through a majority of votes.

    With RetharinˇŻs approval and public disy, Marcus now was cemented in the minds of the entire city as someone recognized by their guardian.

    This would make his position in any negations that much stronger.

    Once Retharin had finished up his business with helping Marcus out with the council, he moved to a reception hall where arge feast was prepared whenever he visited.

    Except while he normally ate alone, this time he invited Marcus, who to everyoneˇŻs surprise kept up with their guardian who ate literal tons of food.

    ˇ°Mmmm this pretty good. And you say that it was some type of mammoth?ˇ± Marcus said as he ate a piece from a veryrge cutlet.

    ˇ°Yeah, that is right, and it is one of my favorites.ˇ± Retharin said in between bites.

    The two of them continued to eat like gluttons with bottomless stomachs until all of the food was gone.

    Yet there was onest course left, and to finish things off, an ice cream that was made from goatˇŻs milk and the winter melon natural treasure that was grew around the city was brough in.

    Eating it MarcusˇŻ eyes went wide since it was really delicious.

    It had a sweet but mellow vor and was something he wanted to try and recreate at ater time.

    When they had finally finished thest of the food that had been prepared, Retharin got up and said, ˇ°Well it was really good meeting you Irene, but I am going to head back home now. Just remember that once you get stronger toe and pay me a visit. I am looking forward to the day we can spare together.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus gave his confirmation, as this battle hungry gryphon had grown on him.

    Of course, he did not n on showing up until he was much stronger, but he figured one day he would keep his promise.

    Not long after he and Retharin finished their meal, the mythic grade magical beast and guardian of Glenna Reota took off, heading back to his home deeper in the mountains.

    ˇ°Irene how did you win over our normally cold and uncaring guardian.ˇ± Bianca said once Marcus had returned to her home.

    Smiling Marcus said, ˇ°He was actually a pretty reasonable guy. All I had to do was hit him as hard as I could to win him over.ˇ±

 Chapter 523 Marcusâ€™ New Job

    After Retharin had left and Marcus was officially appointed to the position of representative, the attitude of many of the ice elves changed.

    Now no one gave him weird or hostile looks, and more often than not looked at him with a sort of reverence.

    Also, he was now considered an honorary citizen of the city and was able to move about it on his own without any trouble.

    Along with this he also received his own ce, which was quite arge apartment of around five thousand square feet.

    However, along with all of the perks his new job brought him within Glenna Reota, he was certainly having to work hard for them.

    Many of the highest-ranking members of the ice elf society wanted to get to know him, and hopefully win him over.

    This meant that a majority of his time was taken up by dinner and tea parties, as well as private meetings.

    Still, Marcus made sure to attend all of the ones that he could to build up better rtions himself. Especially with the families who had members on the council.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Ugh being a politician is hard work.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he slid into a hot bath after a long day of work.

    It had already been a couple of weeks since he had officially be the representative of Borealia, and he had been doing his best to get through certain items the king wanted him to.

    The first was to increase trade rtions, since as of right now the only goods that passed between the two nations was the ice elvesˇŻ winter melons and magic cores from Borealia.

    Luckily, he had just gotten enough votes on the council to push forward a morepressive trade agreement that would further strengthen rtions between Glenna Reota and Borealia.

    Still there were other things that were taking more time and that had some push back.

    One of which was an exchange of artisan techniques which the ice elves were very careful to keep to themselves.

    Their methods of building structures was definitely more advanced than Borealia, and they had what Marcus had to say was a far better infrastructure.<sub></sub>

    Of course, Borealia as a whole has a much greater poption than Glenna Reota. Being between four thousand to five thousand times greater than the around seventy thousand ice elves that lived in the city.

    ˇ®Well maybe I can help convince them when I demonstrate my forging skills in a couple of weeks.ˇŻ He thought while nning out his next move.

    As he hade to learn more about the city, he found that the number of forgemasters they had were incredibly small, with even their best only having a skill level of four.

    This was due to the fact that they simply did not have any raw adamantine to work with at all, with only a few very old weapons in their city being the entire stockpile they had.

    In terms of actually military might the ice elves were sorelycking in the weapon department, mainly focusing on magic rather than their weapon skills.

    Though in a way they were also stagnated by RetharinˇŻs protection, as they had not had to face any major threat alone since the inception of their city.

    But Marcus now knew that there was a time limit to this, as Retharin was only going to be sticking around for another three hundred years.<sub></sub>

    And while this may seem like a long time, for the ice elves that on average lived for five hundred years it was less than it would seem.

    So, while none of them knew it, strengthening ties with Borealia was going to be in their best interest for the long-term stability and safety of their city.

    After his long soak, Marcus got out and sighed, before putting on another dress and heading to his next meeting. Keeping up the appearances he had agreed to.

    ˇ­

    Quickly the months of spring passed by and MarcusˇŻ time in the ice elf city wasing to its end.

    During this time, he had worked really hard during thesest few months to increase the rtionship between Glenna Reota and Borealia, and his efforts had certain not gone to waste.

    He had managed to aplish a lot in a short amount of time by integrating himself with the higher ups in Glenna Reota, and by practically not resting.

    It had been tireless work, but he had managed to get four very important policies passed.

    First any ice elves or their family that had left the city to visit or live in Borealia, coulde back to the city without having to get the councilˇŻs permission every time on a case-by-case basis.

    Second, was for a sharing of artisan techniques where each culture would be able to learn from the other.

    Third that one hundred citizens from Borealia chosen by the kingdom and reviewed by the council, would be able to visit Glenna Reota for two months during the summer to learn about the ice elvesˇŻ culture

    Finally, and probably the most important, was an exchange event of students from BorealiaˇŻs Royal Academy, and Glenna ReotaˇŻs Institute of Education.

    For a ce as closed off as Glenna Reota these were some very big steps, but they were still only the beginning until the two nations became closer and more intertwined.

    ˇ°Irene, I still cannot believe that you managed to get so much done within just a few months. Normally the council takes at least a year to make a single decision.ˇ± An ice elf councilor said, praising Marcus in between sips of his ss of wine.

    Currently they were at a party, where all of MarcusˇŻ greatest supporters and the more progressive and on average younger ice elves were celebrating.

    It was quite thevish event and many people had been heaping tons of praise onto MarcusˇŻ shoulders.

    Unfortunately, Marcus could care less about their praise and was beginning to feel the mental fatigue of having to act interested in everything everyone said all the time.

    At this point he was just going through the motions waiting for his time here to be over so he could go home and rx.

    ˇ®Well, I at least earned a good amount of money from this job from the kingdom. Four hundred tinum coins per week is pretty good, not to mention all of the gifts I received from these rich ice elves.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he robotically nodded his head through a conversation he did not care about.

    Eventually the evening started to wrap up, and when it was socially eptable for him to leave without ruffling any feather, he went back to his own home and passed out for the first time in three months.

    Waking up the next day he felt like a new person a great weight taken off of his mind.

    Even with no need to rest, the constant use of his mental energy to keep up with the bustle of his life as a representative had taken its toll on him.

    ˇ®Ah, today is finally the day. I can go home and no longer care about any politics and just enjoy some rxing time with my friends and family.ˇŻ

 Chapter 524 Gathering in Borealia

    ˇ°Are you sure that you do not want to ride back with us? It is a long journey back to the Borealian capital, and navigating these mountains is not easy.ˇ±

    Shaking his head, Marcus looked at Bianca with a confident expression and said, ˇ°Yeah, I am sure. I want to look around the mountains some more on my own before heading back. Anyway, I already made the journey to see Retharin on my own so anything else should be childˇŻs y.ˇ±

    ˇ°Okay I understand. Just try not to get yourself lost or hurt.ˇ± Bianca said with a concerned expression.

    After that the carriage that Bianca was in began moving as she headed back to Borealia leaving Marcus on his own on the outskirts of the city.

    ˇ®Whew dodged a bullet there. I do not think I could take another two weeklong carriage ride.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched BiancaˇŻs carriage fade into the distance.

    Once Bianca was out of eye shot, Marcus ascended into the air and looked down upon the massive mountain range below him.

    However, contrary to what he said about exploring it, he simply began flying in the direction of his home.

    He had already gotten plenty of exiting experiences on his trip, and just wanted to get home and rx with his friends and family.<sub>.</sub>

    So, he flew as fast as he could through the mountains until he came to the area, he had left the spoils from his cier exploration.

    Luckily, he was able to find the spot he buried everything, and it was all still ounted for.

    Then with nothing left to do in the area he continued his flight home.

    ˇ®There it is. To think that it only took me a few hours to get back.ˇŻ He thought as the outline of the massive royal capital of Borealia came into view.

    Feeling ted to be back home Marcus picked up the pace truly pushing himself to limit.

    Soon he could see the northern main gate that he ad gone through dozens of times.

    ˇ®I suppose I shouldnd and enter normally.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Dropping down from the sky, Marcus found a ce that was out of dight and became physical again.

    He then walked onto the road and made his way towards the gateˇŻs entrance.

    Of course, he certainly turned a bunch of heads as he walked by the line of people trying to enter the city.

    It was practically unheard of for a noble to walk into the city but here Marcus was doing just that.

    Even the guards were caught off guard by this and at first were wondering if Marcus was someone trying to pretend to be a noble.

    Yet he had the credentials and was easily let into the city, as dozens of people looked at him strangely.

    Back inside the city Marcus found a quiet corner and went back into his ghost form before flying across the city.<sub></sub>

    Quickly he passed through the inner wall and into the noble district where his estate was located.

    ˇ°I am back.ˇ± Marcus said to the guards that were standing outside his gate.

    Seeing him arrive they were both very surprised and flustered to see Marcus just walk down the street.

    ˇ°Lady Irene it is good to see that you are back from your trip.ˇ± Amy the maid on duty said greeting Marcus.

    Smiling, he responded saying, ˇ°It is good to see you as well Amy. I have missed my home.ˇ±

    The two of them then headed up to his manor where the other maids came out to greet Marcus after his long trip away.

    ˇ°ra did anything important happen while I was away.ˇ± Marcus said to his head maid after the fanfare of his return had died down.

    ˇ°Yes Lady Irene, you have received a number ofmissions by way of the zegram Forge, one of which is from her highness the Crown Princess Frostine.ˇ±

    ˇ°Okay if you would not mind going to get them for me, I will look them over and tell you which ones I am going to ept.ˇ±

    Bowing her head ra did as Marcus asked and soon came back with a veryrge stack of letters.

    Seeing this Marcus groaned but this was something he needed to do since he had been busy with other matters for a while.

    ˇ°Okay ra send confirmation letters to these forty people and rejections to the rest.ˇ± Marcus said once he had finished sorting through the requests.

    ˇ°It shall be done.ˇ± ra said with a bow.

    Though before she left Marcus said, ˇ°Oh yes that is right. Within a few weeks many guests are going to be gathering here, so please make sure that all of the guest rooms are prepared.ˇ±

    After saying that Marcus had finished al of the business that he needed to attend to upon his return and headed up to his library and began reading.

    He simply wanted to rx for now and did not intent do any work for at least the next week.

    ˇ­

    Quickly the weeks went by after MarcusˇŻ return, and it was finally the day when everyone was to meet up.

    Though to MarcusˇŻ surprise when Mrazivy showed up at his gate she had brought someone else with her.

    ˇ®So that is where she has been and who she was training with.ˇŻ

    Walking up to Mrazivy Marcus said, ˇ°I am d you are back Mraz, and it is good to see you again Quillon.ˇ±

    Nodding his head towards Marcus, Quillon said, ˇ°Yes, it is good to see you again, but I hope you do not mind my intruding. When Mrazivy told me about your ns I felt the urge to apany you, since it is not often, I meet those around the same age and level as me that I can call peers.ˇ±

    ˇ°Sure, the more the merrier. It will beforting to know that we have someone like you around when we are delving into a dangerous ce.ˇ±

    ˇ°Now follow me inside and I can show you to your rooms. You two are the first to arrive so you can have your pick.ˇ±

 Chapter 525 Gathering in Borealia (2)

    With Mrazivy and surprisingly Quillon arriving at his estate, Marcus began showing his guests around, and letting them pick what rooms they wanted to use during their stay.

    Of course, Mrazivy was actually going to be staying in the same room as Marcus, but they still needed to keep up appearances for now.

    ˇ°Are you sure you want this room. It is the smallest one in the main building.ˇ± Marcus asked to Quillon.

    However, he just nodded his head and said, ˇ°Yeah, I am used to sleeping in a small tent while apanying my master. So, it feels a bit weird if I sleep in a veryrge room.ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulder Marcus was fine with whatever Quillon wanted, and now that he had picked out his room, he showed him around the rest of the manor.

    ˇ°And this is the kitchen. Feel free toe and get anything whenever you want. Though if you want something prepared for you, make sure to do it between dawn and dusk when one of the maids is on duty.ˇ± Marcus said to Quillon.

    After that he took the two of them around the grounds of the estate and showed them everything that was around.

    ˇ°Hm this area would be a good ce to train. The pond and trees are quite tranquil.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Yeah, you are right. This would be a good ce to practice our forms.ˇ± Mrazivy said, agreeing with Quillon.

    ˇ°Oh yeah I guess it is a bitte, but how has your training with the sword savant been going.ˇ± Marcus asked to Mrazivy.

    When she had showed up with Quillon in toe, he remembered that Mrazivy had nned to be the apprentice of the famed swordsman who was also QuillonˇŻs master.

    ˇ°Oh, it has been great. He is a very wise master, and I have learned a lot in just a short time. Though I suppose he is a bit entric and pushes me pretty hard sometimes, even beyond my limits.ˇ± Mrazivy said with an enthusiastic smile.

    She then went on to tell Marcus about what she had learned and how she wanted to test it out against him soon.

    ˇ°Yeah, I am sure that we can find time to spareter on.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Yet as he did, Quillon who had been silent for most of the tour chimed in and said, ˇ°If you are going to be having matches I want in as well. I want to fight you again Irene and show you how much stronger I have gotten.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Okay I guess we can make a day of it, but if we are going to go all out, we will need to reserve a high-level training ground. Since I would prefer that we not tear up my estate, or make the authorities think that some sort of attack is happening.ˇ±

    Nodding their heads, both Mrazivy and Quillon looked like they had fires burning in their eyes with anticipation.

    Seeing this Marcus was pretty sure they were willing to go at it right here and now if he agreed to it.

    Still, today was not the time for that, and it was going to take at least a couple of days to make the necessary preparation to allow for people as strong as them to fight within the city.

    Luckily, Marcus soon got a call on his sending stone and was able to change the flow of the conversation.

    ˇ°My little sister has just arrived at the front gate, so I am going to go and greet her. If you want, you can follow me or do as you please.ˇ± Marcus said to the two of them.

    ˇ°Of course, we are going to greet Lilia with you. IsnˇŻt that right Quillon?ˇ± Mrazivy said as she put an arm around MarcusˇŻ shoulder.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Sure, I am curious about you adopted sister since I am sure she is to be strong too.ˇ± Quillon said, his mind on strength as always.

    ˇ°Okay let us go then.ˇ± Marcus said as he beckoned Mrazivy and Quillon to follow him.

    Quickly the three of them made it to the front gate in time to see a carriage that had recently entered.

    However, Lilia was not inside, but greeting the maids and guards on duty, and thanking them for their hard work.

    ˇ°Lilia!ˇ± Marcus called out as he waved his hand.

    Hearing her name being called, Lilia turned around and saw Marcus along with Mrazivy and a young man she did not recognize.

    Naturally Lilia ran up to Marcus and gave him her customary bear hug that would have crushed a normal person.

    She then did the same for Mrazivy, who luckily could take it and dish out her own iprehensibly strong hug in return.

    Though as Lilia looked at Quillon, her face went red with embarrassment as she had not been acting with proper manners in front of a guest.

    Bowing her head, Lilia apologized for her behavior, but Quillon just said, ˇ°Nah it is fine. I am not anyone important, so no need to act stuffy around me. Just treat me like a normal person.ˇ±

    Smiling, Lilia nodded her head and properly introduced herself.

    ˇ°Nice to meet you, Lilia. My name is Quillon, and I guess I am an acquaintance of your sister.ˇ± He said while holding his hand out.

    sping it with her own, Lilia shook Quillons hand as the two greeted each other.

    ˇ°Impressive you are very strong for you age.ˇ± Quillon said as he tested Lilia by squeezing her hand.

    ˇ°Yeah, I can tell you are strong too. Much stronger than me.ˇ± Lilia said in return.

    After that the four of them returned to the manor and had ate lunch that Marcus personally prepared.

    ˇ°Wow your cooking is really good Irene. Way better than me or my masterˇŻs.ˇ± Quillon said as he scarfed down the grilled pork Marcus had prepared.

    ˇ°Yes, I can attest to that. How can you have the cooking skill and yet still be so subpar.ˇ± Mrazivy said, remembered the food she had been eating for thest few months.

    The four of them continued to converse with each other and eat, until ra came in and said, ˇ°Lady Irene your other guest has just arrived.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus told ra that he would go and greet them personally, since they were an important noble with a high station.

    Of course, Mrazivy knew who this was and smiled as well, while Lilia and Quillon were left confused.

    Still, as Marcus and Mrazivy headed towards the entrance they followed, wondering who this other person that would be joining them was.

    ˇ°Lyra I am d to see you again and that you are in good health.ˇ± Marcus said as his old friend got out of her carriage.

    Except instead of a normal greeting like Marcus expected, Lyra jumped up and gave him a hug, and said, ˇ°Ah it is really good to see you again. It has been lonely in Tralenstein, and there is so much work to do. But the thought of this vacation has kept me going.ˇ±

    Returning LyraˇŻs hug, Marcus said, ˇ°Well, you do not have to worry about work or being alone anymore. We are going to have a fun and rxing time while you are here. Now let me introduce you to everyone else.ˇ±

 Chapter 526 Gathering in Borealia (3)

    ˇ°Everyone this is Lyra Bridger, and an old friend of mine if you catch my drift.ˇ±

    Hearing this Quillon looked confused for a moment until Aerial who was hidden away in his body reminded him that Marcus was a transmigration.

    Once Lyra had been introduced to everyone, they in turn did the same.

    Though Quillon paused a bit too long while shaking her hand, as he tried to analyze her in depth.

    ˇ°It really was worth my while toe along.ˇ± Quillon said absentmindedly.

    For him meeting other strong fighters was something he longed for, since for the longest time he had no one he could really call a peer.

    However, now he had three people of around the same age, level, and quality of power that he could interact with now that Lyra had arrived.<sub>.</sub>

    Of course, Lyra who did not know of QuillonˇŻs tendencies thought that he had said this for other reasons.

    Pulling back from him, LyraˇŻs cheeks had gone red, and she looked towards Marcus in a fluster.

    ˇ®It is not what you think. Quillon just likes meeting strong people, especially ones that he feels he can rte to. I do not think that he was making any sort of move on you.ˇŻ Marcus said to Lyra with telepathy.

    Hearing this, she sighed and said, ˇ°Yes, I believe that it was worth my while as well. I cannot wait to hang out with and get to know all of you better.ˇ±

    Soon, the five of them made their way into the manors lounge and began nning out what they were going to be doing in the capital up until the time they would leave for the crystal caverns.

    ˇ°Okay so tomorrow will be a tour around the city, the day after that we will show those of you who have never been around the castle, and on the third day we will be holding some mock battles.ˇ± Marcus said, going over the ns that they had made.<sub></sub>

    Nodding their heads everyone was in agreement, and with this they had confirmed their ns for the next few days.

    After that they spent the next eight or so hours talking and getting to know each other better, with even Roxene and QuillonˇŻs contracted spirit Aerial joining in.

    ˇ°Well, it has gotten prettyte so I think we should all head to bed since we are going to have a few long days ahead of us.ˇ± Marcus said once it was already reallyte into the night.

    However, everyone just looked at each other showing no signs of fatigue.

    At their levels they could all easily stay up for multiple days and not suffer any problems.

    Still, they could see that Marcus was trying to urge them to all go their separate ways, so everyone headed to their own rooms.<sub></sub>

    Except after a couple of hours, Mrazivy snuck out of the room she was in and slipped into MarcusˇŻ.

    There she saw him already having changed his appearance and reading a book in the corner of the room.

    Immediately she ran over and jumped in hisp before draping her arms around his neck.

    ˇ°I have really missed you thesest few months.ˇ± She said as she gave Marcus a kiss.

    Returning the kiss, Marcus enjoyed the long embrace with his fianc¨¦.

    Then when they had finished up their reunion kiss, he took out the engagement ring he had made and slipped it back onto MrazivyˇŻs hand.

    ˇ°Sorry that I had to call it back so soon after giving it to you. I promise I will not make a habit of it.ˇ± Marcus said with an apologetic expression.

    Caressing the side of his face, Mrazivy said, ˇ°It is fine. I would much rather you take back the power you have given me rather than get hurt.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus nodded his head before switching the topic of conversation.

    ˇ°So, when will you brother James be joining us?ˇ±

    ˇ°Hm, I think that the time he took off with be starting in two days, but he will need to fly back here from where he is currently posted, so probably in three days.ˇ± Mrazivy said, answering MarcusˇŻ question.

    Nodding his head, Marcus then said, ˇ°Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, but your sister hasmissioned me to make her a new crown for when she bes the next monarch in a few years.ˇ±

    Hearing this, Mrazivy had a look of surprise on her face, and said, ˇ°That is unusual. Normally the head royal forgmaster handles such jobs. I wonder what she is trying to aplish by having you do it?ˇ±

    ˇ°Who knows? Maybe she wants to see what I am capable of. Anyway, I already epted, but it is not something that needs to be hurried along since she still has a few more years until she ascends to the throne.ˇ±

    After saying this, Marcus and Mrazivy simply talked about little things that had happened since they had been apart. Until eventually they decided to get a bit of rest themselves and sleep for a few hours.

    When the new day arrived, it was finally time for their group to head out onto the town.

    ˇ°So first we are going to the best restaurant in the city for breakfast, and then will head around to some of the nicest parks in the inner city.ˇ± Marcus said, going over what they were doing first thing today.

    Giving their agreement, everyone was fine with this, and they all quickly piled into the carriage Lyra hade in since it was the only one big enough to fit them all.

    Though as they got in, Marcus looked at Mrazivy and pointed to her hair.

    Seeing this, for a second she was confused, but then remembered that she was supposed to change her hair color so not as to attract heaps of attention while they were out.

    Pulling out the magic hair clip Marcus had given her more than a year ago now, she ced it into her hair and quickly it changed to a dark brown instead of her normal royal blue.

    Lyra then said excitedly, ˇ°Now let us go see what your city has to offer.ˇ±

 Chapter 527 Breakfast at the Sublime Fantasia

    Heading out of MarcusˇŻ estate, their group began heading straight for the best restaurant in the city.

    It was a ce called the Sublime Fantasia, and apparently had food that was incredibly good while also being paired with exceptional live music.

    Many nobles and wealthy business owners made it their restaurant of choice, and it took a certain amount of status or money to even eat at the ce.

    Luckily Mrazivy had personally arranged their reservation at the restaurant, and they more than happy to have one of the kingdomˇŻs princesses being a patron at their establishment

    When they arrived, their carriage was led to arge lot behind the establishment, where cliental where able to safely store their vehicles and beasts.

    Once they had parked and gotten out, a very well-dressed young man who was a cat beast person bowed his head, and said, ˇ°Greetings esteemed guests. My name is Maxton, and I shall be your lead server today. Should you need anything during your time at our restaurant, please tell me and I will do my up most to cater to whatever it is you need.ˇ±

    After saying this Maxton raised his head, and truly looked at the people he was to be serving.

    However, contrary to his normal professionalism, he stood there and stared.

    He had seen his number of attractive people in the past, but as he looked at, Mrazivy, Lyra, and Marcus who was in his guise as Irene, he could not help but stare.<sub>.</sub>

    All three of them were beyond beautiful, each in different ways that made them look even more appealing as a set.

    Though what really held his attention was Lyra, since as Borealia was a human kingdom and was predominately popted by them, there were very few nobles of other races.

    ˇ°Um do we have something on our faces.ˇ± Mrazivy said, trying to get MaxtonˇŻs attention.

    Hearing this, he realized that he had been staring for far too long, and said, ˇ°Oh no, I am sorry that was rude of me. Please forgive me for my transgression.ˇ±

    Lowering his head, Maxton realized that he had likely upset the guests he was supposed to be severing and was hoping they would forgive him.

    He knew that a very important person was among this group which was why he was sent personally, due to the fact that he was one of the best servers employed at the Sublime Fantasia.

    Still, he had been caught off guard for a moment and made what would be a rookie mistake.

    Fortunately for him, none of them were uptight people and were not going to try and have his head served up on a tter for something so insignificant.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Go ahead and raise your head, it is not a big deal. Anyway, we have other ns after this so if you would not mind leading us inside and showing us to our table.ˇ± Marcus said, wanting to move things along.

    Letting out a breath of relief, Maxton raised his head with a renewed smile and led them inside the restaurant.

    He quickly brought them up to the second floor where they had set up one of their best tables that was by arge, beautiful window that overlooked the courtyard where they had outdoor eating and held special events.

    Maxton and another server who was acting as his assistant, soon brought around sses of water for everyone, along with fresh bread that had been prepared specially for this table.

    ˇ°Now all of the items on the menu are avable, but we also have a number of specials that you can choose from.ˇ± Maxton said, after making sure everyone was situated.

    He then listed off the four specials they had for this day and waited patiently nearby for everyone toplete their order.

    When they had all chosen what they wanted, Marcus waved Maxton back over to them and he waited for them to say what they all wanted.

    Yet while everyone else ordered just two to four items for their breakfast, Marcus ordered what could only be considered a small feast.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I will have all four of the specials for today, the berry medley crepe, a te of pancakes topped with powder sugar along with syrup, an order of bacon, oh and one of this, this, and this. Ah and why not one of these as well.ˇ±

    Gulping, Maxton at first thought that Marcus was joking with him, since this was far more food than he could imagine anyone ever eating by themselves.

    Heck he was doubtful that even if all five of them were to partake in what Marcus had ordered along with their own food, they would be able to finish it all.

    Nevertheless, as he looked at Marcus intently, he saw just how serious he was in ordering all of this.

    ˇ°My Lady, if it is not too impertinent of me, please allow me to advise you against ordering so much. Our portions are fairly generous, and this much food would be far too much for one person to finish. Also, while I am sure that you are all of high statuses, our food is made from the highest quality ingredients avable and are not cheap. Your order alone is going to cost over seven hundred gold coins.ˇ± Maxton said, trying to stop Marcus from ordering so much.

    ˇ°Oh no need to worry, I can eat all of that and then some. I am a bit of a cook myself and want to try a lot so that I might get some ideas. And if it is money that you are worried about, I do not mind paying upfront.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus held out his hand and opened his item box, and a pouch full of tinum coins he had gotten recently as his pay for his work in Glenna Reota appeared.

    Seeing this Maxton looked at the bag full of money in surprise, since it was filled with more than he had ever seen in one ce before.

    Still, he needed to be professional after his earlier slip up, and said, ˇ°That is not necessary mydy. We here at the Sublime Fantasia would never expect a guest to pay beforehand. Now since you are certain that you will be able to finish what you have ordered, I will go ahead and ry your orders to our chefs.ˇ±

    Bowing his head, Maxton left Marcus and his group on their own, going off to inform the kitchen staff of therge and important order that had juste in.

    ˇ°Wow, Irene you really are not holding back.ˇ± Lyra said, surprised by how much he had ordered.

    Certainly she knew that he seemingly had an infinite amount of room in whatever his stomach was, but this was still a bit excessive.

    ˇ°Hey when you have the option to eat good food, you might as well get what you want. Anyway, I held back some, since at first, I thought I might order one of everything.ˇ± Marcus said with no shame.

    Shaking their heads, everyone could not believe Marcus even thought about doing something like that.

    With their orders now in, their group waited patiently while drinking water and eating some of the bread and butter that had been provided.

    Though after around twenty minutes, Maxton came back and lowered his head very low, before saying, ˇ°I would like to apologize in advance, but your order is going to be dyed for a few minutes longer than expected. One of our chefs had an emergency and had to take his leave, so we are short-staffed right now. But I promise that you will still get what you have ordered, and that the Sublime Fantasia will be giving you a discount for the inconvenience.ˇ±

    Smiling, everyone in MarcusˇŻ group told Maxton that it was fine, and that it was no problem for them to wait a little longer.

    However, while Marcus and most of the customers in the esteemed restaurant understood, there was one group of people that were less than amodating.

    ˇ°What do you mean that our order is being dyed. That table over there got here only a few minutes earlier than us and they are being served. Is this not supposed to be the best restaurant in the royal capital. Do you not know who I am? If I want, I can have my father have this restaurant torn down and make sure that none of you ipetent employees work in a reputable restaurant again. Now, get back in the kitchen and tell them to hurry up and get our orderpleted.ˇ±

    Unfortunately, the poor flustered server could only bow her head while saying that the orders were being worked on, and that they would take sometime especially since many time consuming and difficult to make items had been ordered for their table.

    ˇ°Huh, what are you still doing here making excuses for? I am ordering you to go and have our orders made and brought to us within the next five minutes.ˇ± The extra privileged young man said with a domineering tone

    Seeing this, Quillon who could not stand people pushing around their authority, especially when they were weak. Stood up, ready to intervene.

    ˇ°No, you just wait here. I will do it myself.ˇ± Marcus said, recognizing who was the assholeining about such a simple thing as waiting a bit longer.

    ˇ®It has been a while since I dealt with a pretentious noble brat.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    Getting up he walked over to this nearby table, and said, ˇ°Would you mind not causing such a racket? We are trying to enjoy our time here, but that is impossible when a talking donkey is pping his gums.ˇ±

 Chapter 528 Wager in the Restaurant

    ˇ°We are trying to enjoy our time here, but that is impossible when a talking donkey is pping his gums.ˇ±

    Hearing Marcus say this, the very rude young man who thought of himself as oh so important looked up in disbelief.

    He never thought anyone would be brazen or stupid enough toe and talk to him like this.

    In fact, before he could even say anything back, his knight and personal guard who was standing behind him, pulled out his weapon and said, ˇ°You wench, do you not know who you are talking to? I demand you apologize to Lord Algernon Scriven.ˇ±

    However, seeing the system recognized halberd in this knightˇŻs hands, Marcus scoffed and said, ˇ°Do you really think that you are going to be able to hurt me with one of my own weapons? Go ahead and try and see what happens.ˇ±

    Pulling back his arm, this knight was ready to strike at Marcus, when his master Algernon Scriven, Duke ScrivenˇŻs heir, said, ˇ°Sir Randolph hold your de for now.ˇ±

    He then looked at Marcus angrily and said, ˇ°I thought I recognized you, Lady Irene Geist. Now, I do not know what possessed you, a simple baress to interrupt me and my friends so rudely. But I demand an apology right this instance for your behavior.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Smiling deviously, Marcus said, ˇ°Yeah, that is not happening. I do not make a habit of apologizing to spoiled rich kids that think they can treat other people like garbage just because they were mildly inconvenienced. Now, why do you not apologize to the staff members here and the other customers for your earlier outburst.ˇ±

    Frowning, Algernon could see that no resolution was going to be made here, so instead of losing face by letting it go, he motioned for his knight to punish Marcus.

    Of course, he had made sure that it was clear he did not want anysting or serious damage, so the knight simply struck out with the blunted back end of the halberd.

    Yet, even as the knight attack with what would be blinding speed for most. Marcus casually raised his left hand and grabbed the halberd in between his index and middle fingers.

    Truly it seemed like an impossible sight to witness, as Marcus easily held at bay a strike from a level thirty-eight knight using both hands, with just two fingers.

    Though what happened next was even more unbelievable as he activated the enchantments on the halberd and sent a wave of cold out of it.<sub></sub>

    Quickly, Sir Randolph began to frost over and was unable to properly move as his body became hypothermic.

    Normally this would have been impossible for someone to activate the enchantments on someone elseˇŻs weapon and seen the power back. But for Marcus who had made this halberd. He knew it better than anyone and could take control over it from anyone weaker than himself.

    After having thoroughly trounced AlgernonˇŻs knight, Marcus looked at him smugly, and said, ˇ°Do you want to try forcing an apology out of me yourself next? Or maybe some of yourckeys and their protectors want to have a go at it?ˇ±

    Grinding his teeth in frustration, Algernon could clearly see now that he had no chance in a physical confutation with Marcus. He even remembered now that he had heard that Marcus had put on an impressive showing in the kingdomˇŻs tournamentst year and was definitely stronger than him or any of his followers here.

    Still, there were other ways to push his weight around.

    ˇ°Hm, fine, it appears you want to be rude, then so be it. You think just because you are personally strong that you are invincible. You are starting a war with an entire dukeˇŻs house, and I can promise you it will not end well for you. Now, I will give you onest chance to apologize sincerely and beg for forgiveness.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Rolling his eyes, Marcus really did not care about this dumbassˇŻ threats.

    But before he could say anything else, another person arrived and intervened.

    ˇ°It appears that some sort of incident has urred here. Would someone care to fill me in?ˇ±

    Seeing this person arrive, Algernon smiled and said, ˇ°Ah you must be Viscount Lahodn¨¦. I see that you havee here personally to apologize to me. Not only has my meal been dyed because of your staffˇŻs ipetence, but Lady Irene here has very rudely insulted me and attacked my knight. Frankly I believe that you ought to do something about this, and properlypensate me for my troubles and damages to my honor.ˇ±

    Of course, even though Algernon said it like he was some very tragic victim, it was quite clear to Viscount Lahodn¨¦ what had really happened.

    Unfortunately, he still had to pay his respect to Algernon whose father held a higher station than him. He had no intention of getting into a war with a duke, and would rather kick out Marcus who he did not even know of.

    However, Maxton who had seen his master and the owner of this establishe down. Went over and whispered into his ear

    He told him about how princess Mrazivy was here as well, and that Marcus was her friend.

    Naturally, this made things much more difficult for Viscount Lahodn¨¦, as picking a fight with the royal family was just as bad if not worse than a dukeˇŻs house.

    It was simr to having to choose to be torn apart by a lion or a tiger.

    Luckily for him, Marcus recognized his plight and decided to try and make a path to victory.

    ˇ°How about a little wager Lord Algernon Scriven? You are upset about your meal being dyed, so I will personally head into the kitchen and have it out to you twice as fast as it would normally take. If I can do this, you will apologize to me wholeheartedly down on your hands and knees. Along with that you will pay for the meals of everyone else here, and give me back that halberd that you are not worthy to have.ˇ± Marcus said with a confident expression.

    Looking at Marcus sharply, Algernon said, ˇ°And what if you fail? What will I get that is equal to the ridiculous demands you have made?ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, ˇ°On the very so slim off chance that I fail. I shall get down on my hands and knees and apologize to you, and pay for the meals of everyone else here. Also, as furtherpensation I shall make you a weapon of your choice out of adamantine with no charge, using my own materials.

    Hearing this Algernon lit up, since while the first two items Marcus were offering did not mean much, an adamantine weapon was an incredibly rare item to get ahold of.

    Even his family did not have many of them, and his father would certainly look favorably on him for getting one for free.

    Nevertheless, after the insult he had received at the hands of Marcus, he felt that he needed just a bit more.

    ˇ°Very well I will agree to your terms, if I can make one addition. Should you fail, you will be my mistress and pledge your loyalty to my house.ˇ±

 Chapter 529 Magic in the Kitchen

    Smirking as he gave an additional condition that was truly preposterous, Algernon waited for Marcus to refuse.

    He had no desire to engage in a bet to begin with and would rather deal with this situation with political power.

    His family was one of the leading powers in the kingdom, and honestly it would not be difficult for them to crush a baress no matter how strong they were individually.

    Still, with all of the onlookers around and his ownckeys seated next to him, he had to make it seem like he was at least willing to take this bet, or he would lose some face.

    Of course, the prospect of getting an adamantine weapon made was tempting but he figured that once his family was done, they would have taken all of MarcusˇŻ wealth aspensation.

    Unfortunately, for this arrogant noble that was far too used to everything going his way, he had no idea who he was really dealing with.

    ˇ°Sure, you can add that on. I agree to your condition so let us get started.ˇ± Marcus said with absolute confidence.

    He then turned towards AlgernonˇŻs server and said, ˇ°How much longer would it take to have Lord ScrivenˇŻs and his entourageˇŻs meal ready?ˇ±

    Squeaking the young server who was still feeling the tension of the situation, looked terrified when Marcus addressed her suddenly.<sub>.</sub>

    Luckily her boss Viscount Lahodn¨¦ approached behind her and said, ˇ°Ainsley go ahead and answer Lady Geist truthfully.ˇ±

    Steeling herself the poor young server looked towards Marcus and said, ˇ°When Ist left the kitchen they said it was going to take another twenty-six minutes to finish preparing everything. But that was about four minutes ago now.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus nodded his head and said, ˇ°Then I shall be back within eleven minutes with all of your meals. Just wait patiently until then.ˇ±

    After saying that Marcus quickly turned towards Viscount Lahodn¨¦ and said, ˇ°If you would not minding with me and exining what is going on to the kitchen staff.ˇ±

    He then headed towards the kitchen with the viscount and Ainsley on his heels.

    On the way there he had Ainsley tell him everything Algernon and hispany had ordered so that he could mentally prepare.

    ˇ®Damn they really did order someplicated items. Not like I am any better though. Oh well, if I actually do fail I can just have Algernon have manic episode and kill all of his credibility.ˇŻ

    When they entered the kitchen the chefs and other workers were rushing around toplete the orders of the customers.<sub></sub>

    However, they were down a very important figure and that was the kitchenˇŻs lead chef who had to leave on an emergency.

    And along with this the other top chefs who would normally take over were not on shift today leaving the leadership a bitcking.

    Of course everyone here was a professional, but none of them had an overwhelming amount of experience leading a brigade.

    Luckily Marcus did, having been in charge a number of times in running patched together groups of cooks during his time in Tralenstein.

    Quickly the viscount got everyoneˇŻs attention and told them that Marcus would be takingmand of the kitchen.

    At this point now that this bet was on, his reputation was also on the line and if Marcus seeded it would look good on him and his prized restaurant.

    Once the Viscount had finished the short introduction and gave out his order, Marcus wasted no time and established a telepathic link with the dozen kitchen workers.

    ˇ®Okay I have no time for dissent or back talking, so anyone who will not follow what I have to say to the letter can get out. I have a cooking skill of six and I know that is higher than all of you. Now whoever is currently in charge give me a rundown of all of the orders currently in progress and what station they are at.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Taking charge of the kitchen, Marcus got aplete grasp of everything that was currently going on, and began giving orders while flying around the kitchen.

    At first the staff thought Marcus was crazy to tell them to finish up certain items twice as fast as what they thought possible.

    Yet, he proved to not just be full of bravado and quickly ascertained what needed to happen to move as efficiently as possible.

    Like a whirlwind he moved from station to station, doing everything from cracking eggs, to putting the finishing frosting on items.

    At one point when they needed to use a torch to caramelize the sugar on top of one of the items, he did not even wait for the tool to arrive and created a small me on the tip of his finger.

    He even summoned his iron golem of course much smaller than normal, and had it help out as well, along with using his spectral arm to give himself a third limb to work with.

    Unfortunately, as hard as Marcus worked their was one item that was going to hold them back.

    ˇ®Chef I am afraid that the egg souffle simply needs more time to rise. It will not be ready until a few minutes after your time limit is up.ˇŻ One of the kitchen staff said to Marcus over the telepathic link.

    Still, Marcus was not wiling to give up and practically warped over to the oven where the egg souffle was.

    Looking into the oven he could tell that it would indeed take longer than he had left before his time was up.

    Though that was only if he continued to let the oven do the cooking.

    Grabbing the souffle out of the oven, Marcus cast his floatingntern spell and surrounded the souffle.

    He also made sure to use his control mes spell to regte the heat and prevent it from burning the souffle.

    ˇ®To think all my time controlling heat in the forge would be paying off here.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he worked on the souffle.

    Controlling the heat Marcus cooked the souffle with near microscopic precision so that it would be evenly done and rise up quicker.

    In fact when it was done far quicker than the oven could aplish without causing damage to the souffle.

    Looking at it, this souffle almost seemed a bit unnatural in how perfect it looked being nearly symmetrical.

    Of course this was due to MarcusˇŻ incredible precise cooking that made sure that the entity of the souffle was cooked exactly the same.

    ˇ®Well this would not have been possible without magic and my high level skills, but I managed to get it done.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he examined his work.

    He only had a little under a minute left but everything was nowpleted and ready to be served.

    But as the first server who was on standby began taking out the trays, the door to the dinning room would not budge.

    Seeing this Marcus figured that there was some foul y involved. With Algernon not wanting to leave anything to chance.

    ˇ®Whatever, not like a door is going to stop me anyway.ˇŻ Marcus thought his determination zing.

    Swiftly he sent out his iron threads to all of the items that had been ordered by Algernon and those at his table.

    Then once he had them wrapped up he went ethereal not caring about those around.

    Passing through the door he floated all the way to the end of the hall before be tangible again, and walking out into the dinning room with a smug expression on his face.

    With five seconds to spare he set down thest te at AlgernonˇŻs table and said, ˇ°Your food is served. I hope you enjoy it.ˇ±

 Chapter 530 Victory at the Sublime Fantasia

    With his end of the bet fulfilled, Marcus smiled down at the shocked Algernon and his entourage.

    They had never thought Marcus would be able to get their food out to them this quickly which should have been impossible.

    Algernon had even had one of his goons seal the door with earth magic as a precaution.

    Yet somehow Marcus had simply bypassed the doors and came out carrying all of the food they had ordered being suspended by dozens of iron threads.

    Still even though he felt his heart beating hard in his chest he had onest card to y.

    ˇ°Well, I must admit that I am impressed that you managed to get all of our food prepared and served within just half the time it should have required. But that really does not mean anything. For such rushed products they are undoubtably horribly wed and undercooked. Did you think that serving us failed creations even if they are on time would be enough to win the bet? What good is it to have the food out on time if it is not ready and tasted disgusting.ˇ±

    Algernon then turned his nose up at the food being ever so dramatic.<sub>.</sub>

    However, Marcus still looking confident said, ˇ°Okay go ahead and try the food that I and the staff of the Sublime Fantasia made. If you can truthfully say that it tastes disgusting, then you win the bet.ˇ±

    Sneering at Marcus Algernon was about to say that he would not even allow such filth into his mouth when he heard one of hispanions say, ˇ°It is delicious.ˇ±

    This young man had smelled the delicious senting off of his food and just had to take a bite even though he knew he should have yed along.

    But after just that one bite he was certain that his was the best food he had ever eaten, and began digging in with abandon.

    ˇ°It seems that you friend enjoys it. Go ahead, give it a try and look me in the eyes and say it is disgusting.ˇ± Marcus said with absolute confidence.

    Scowling Algernon hated the look Marcus was giving him, but he decided to y along.<sub></sub>

    All he needed to do was say the food was disgusting even if it was not and he would win.

    Picking up his spoon he took out a scoop of his egg souffle and raised it towards his mouth.

    Yet before he took a bite he looked towards Marcus with a vulgar expression and said, ˇ°You know I think that after I win this bet I will have you serve me something in bed to make up for this.ˇ±

    After saying this Algernon took a bite and was ready to put on a show of theatrics to make it seem as if this egg souffle was downright dreadful.

    Except as the took a bite his eyes went wide in surprise.

    The fluffy texture and smooth delicious taste overtook all of his senses and he momentarily forgot himself.<sub></sub>

    Reflexively he put his spoon back into the souffle and took another bit, and then another as he lost himself in eating the item Marcus had specially prepared with his magic and cooking skill.

    Quickly Algernon and his cronies had finished all of the food Marcus and the staff of the Sublime Fantasia had painstakingly and expertly prepared.

    ˇ°You must really not like wasting food if you ate all of what you thought to be a disgusting meal. Now go on. Tell me just how bad it was?ˇ± Marcus said with a shit-eating grin.

    Grasping his spoon so tightly he began to bend the metal, Algernon looked hatefully at Marcus wanting to say that the food was awful, but he just could not do it.

    It had easily been the best thing he had ever eaten, surpassing even what his fatherˇŻs private chef could make.

    ˇ°Oh, maybe it was actually good then? I see that everyone at your table finished their food so is it possible that what you have been served was better than you expected? If that is the case, I suppose I have won our wager?ˇ± Marcus said goading Algernon on.

    Grinding his teeth, he hated to admit it, but it was so obvious he had lost any more fight back would just harm his reputation further.

    As an heir to a ducal house, he needed his image to be as wless as possible, and sometimes that meant gracefully epting defeat when you had lost.

    If he tried blowing this even more out of proportion, it was possible he might be disinherited so his best course of action now was to quickly leave and begin damage control.

    Grinding his teeth Algernon stood up from his chair before getting down on his hands and knees and saying, ˇ°The food was delicious. I would like to apologize to the Sublime FantasiaˇŻs staff and the other guests here. My outburst was rude and uncalled for, and I will better think about my actions in the future. To make this up to everyone here, I shall make sure to pay for the meals of everyone that my behavior has inconvenienced.ˇ±

    ˇ®Well, if he actually takes this experience to heart maybe he will actually end up a better person.ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing how Algernon after everything was at least able ept defeat gracefully.

    Of course, he still did not trust the guy in any regard and nned to follow up on himter to make sure he did not plot any sort of revenge.

    Having now sessfully won the wager Marcus walked up to Sir Randolph and held out his hand while saying, ˇ°Now if you would not mind? Hand over my halberd.ˇ±

    A solemn look on his face Sir Randolph looked over towards his master hoping he might fight to keep this prized weapon.

    Unfortunately, there was simply nothing he could do, and nodded his head towards Sir Randolph telling him to relinquish the weapon.

    With downcast eyes, Sir Randolph did as he had to in ordance tot eh wager his lord had made and handed over the system recognized mithril halberd to Marcus.

    Taking the halberd back Marcus stored it away into his item box, and as he walked away said, ˇ°At least now I know that Thabon was right that I should not sell weapons like this on the open market. You never know what sort of person might get ahold of them.

 Chapter 531 Tour Around the Capital and Castle

    Having one in his bet against Algernon Scriven, Marcus returned back to his table with a triumphant expression on his face.

    It had been a long time since he had put a spoiled noble child in their ce, and he did enjoy the feeling of doing so.

    Of course, Mrazivy noticed the look on his face, and said, ˇ°Was that really necessary? If you had just called me over, I probably could have resolved it without it escting that far. Now it is likely that he will try to seek some sort of vengeance against you.ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, ˇ°He was being a jerk to the staff, so I put him in his ce. Anyway, he would not have learned his lesson if you were the one ho admonished him. And if he wants to try and get even, he will find that he is not dealing with someone that rolls over easily.ˇ±

    Shaking her head, Mrazivy thought Marcus was being a bit foolish to pick a fight like this just for the fun of it.

    Still, she could not deny that she found AlgernonˇŻs behavior abhorrent and an example of nobles swinging around their authority improperly.

    Soon, the food that they had ordered was brought to their table, and they began eating the breakfast that they had been waiting for.

    Naturally the food was delicious, and all of them very much enjoyed what they had to eat.<sub>.</sub>

    Though for the other guests, it was an incredibly shocking sight to watch Marcus who currently looked like a dainty young woman, devour enough food to fill up a bear.

    He methodically ate each and every dish he had ordered and even took notes as he went.

    ˇ°Yes, this one is really good, and I think I have some ideas for variations. Maybe a different fruit to add another vor? Or I could try zing them with honey?ˇ± Marcus thought, analyzing one of the dishes he was eating.

    After they had finished the staff came and took their tes, and the viscount who owned the restaurant came up to Marcus.

    ˇ°I would like to personally thank you Lady Irene for defending my restaurant. This ce is my pride and joy, and it would have been difficult if Lord AlgernonˇŻs father really took any action. Also, you are wee anytime you want. I will make sure that if you evere by a table will be prepared for you.ˇ±

    Once the viscount had finished praising Marcus and thanking him, he moved over to Mrazivy and began kissing up to her, saying that he would be happy to have her as a regr customer.

    Eventually though, the viscount had to get back to his work and bid them all ado.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Well, that was a pretty good meal. So how about we move onto our next stop, which are some of the vibrant parks around the city.ˇ± Marcus said once they were done having breakfast.

    Exiting the Sublime Fantasia, their group got back into LyraˇŻs carriage and made their way to explore the areas of natural beauty that had been left within therge city.

    Going through them they all enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere and the lushndscapes that were full of flowers in bloom now that it was summer.

    Truly while the winters were brutal in Borealia, the summers were fully of beauty and right now the park they were going through was the epitome of that beauty.

    ˇ°Oh, we do not have these types of roses in Tralenstein. Do you know what they are called?ˇ±

    Being the one who was most into the fields of flowers that dotted the park, whenever Lyra spotted them, she would ask questions about the ones she did not know.

    Of course, neither Marcus, Mrazivy, or Quillon had any idea about these flowers, not being much for learning about things like the names of nts.<sub></sub>

    Surprisingly though, Lilia knew most of them having read an encyclopedia about the flora that grew in Borealia.

    So, as they spent therest hours of the morning in the park, Lilia and Lyra became fast friends over their interest in nts.

    Soon, the sun had risen high into the sky, marking the time of midday and their group moved on.

    Now that they had explored some of the natural areas of the city, it was time to go around the center of the inner city where high end shops were plentiful.

    Going around they went into dozens of different stores, looking at things from clothing and jewelry to weapons and armor.

    ˇ°Now I have saved the best forst. Wee to the zegram Forge.ˇ± Marcus said, as he opened up the doors to his ce of work.

    Heading inside everyone greeted Marcus happily, and he quickly showed them around the floor of the forge where people were hard at work, before taking them over to the shop where the fruits of theirbor was sold.

    Heading inside everyone looked around with interest at the weapons, armor, and other magical items on disy.

    They had already been to a number of simr stores, but there was no doubt that this ce had the greatest quantity of high-quality goods.

    Though along with that quality came higher prices. Still, when you were buying something that would help keep you alive, you wanted to buy the best you could.

    ˇ°Oh, I found one of your pieces, Irene. But what exactly is it?ˇ± Mrazivy said, looking at one of the weapons Marcus had made.

    It was a pair of mithril ws that were attached to each other by a chain, and she had never seen anything like it before.

    ˇ°Yeah, I remember this one now. It is based on a weapon from my original world, called grabbing ws. I think? I was just messing around when I made them and some other very exotic weapons. I am kind of surprised that they are on disy.ˇ±

    Continuing on, Marcus introduced everyone to Gurrom and Thabon, before they headed out of the forge.

    At this point the day was beginning to wind down, so they hopped back into their carriage and made their way to the castle.

    Mrazivy had made arrangements so that they would all be staying there tonight, before being allowed to explore the ce the next day.

    Quickly they made it into the castlesˇŻ area, and even though he had seen it before the Borelian castle was still jaw dropping to see.

    Even Quillon who was normally stone faced, looked at it with an impressed expression.

    The five of them were then led into the castle and to the rooms that had been prepared for them to stay in.

    As the day turned to night, they all found refuge in their own rooms, and went to sleep until the next day when they would be able to look around the castle.

    And when that time came Marcus and Mrazivy took them around to the hotspots of the castle such as the kitchen, main hall, and atrium.

    In fact, they when they were finished with the days exploration, they sat down in the flower garden and had their dinner in the peaceful and magnificent ce that was even more dazzling than it had been before.

 Chapter 532 Marcus and Lyra vs Quillon and Mrazivy

    Having finished up their first two days going around the city and castle, it had nowe to third day of MarcusˇŻ and his friendsˇŻ vacation.

    Though now that it was the third day, the event that Mrazivy and Quilon had been looking forward to the most had arrived.

    Both of them really wanted to fight against Marcus again, each for their own reasons.

    Mrazivy wanted to show off just how much stronger she had be, and to prove, mostly to herself, that she was worthy to stand at the same level as Marcus.

    While Quillon wanted more to see how much stronger Marcus had be since their climatic battle in the kingdomˇŻs tournament. and once again have the thrill of facing off against an equal opponent.<sub>.</sub>

    However, they had not anticipated that there would be another person joining them, and the one-on-one match they had been expecting had turned into a two on two.

    Lyra had decided that she wanted in on this as well, and Marcus not wanting to have to fight against three people in session, suggested that they start with a doubles battle so that they could all test out their powers at once.

    Luckily everyone agreed, and after that they drew lots to decide on who would be paired with who, and it ended up with Marcus and Lyra on one team, and Quillon and Mrazivy on the other.

    Now they were in the middle of a strategy meeting discussing ns and trying to coordinate their abilities.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°So, we both know pretty well what Mraz can do, but you need to know that Quillon is no less of a threat. He has a bunch of attack skills that his master developed, and each one is very powerful.ˇ± Marcus said to Lyra, making sure she did not take Quillon lightly.

    He then filled her in on the attacks he had experienced firsthand during their match, and even about QuillonˇŻs supreme skill that allowed him to unleash stupid strong attacks, some of which had unusual effects.

    ˇ°Sounds like he is going to be a lot of trouble to deal with. But how do you want to approach this? Do we try and separate them and fight one on one, or do you want to work together and focus on taking one of them down?ˇ± Lyra said, wondering what Marcus wanted to do.

    She was trusting him with the n since he had an infinite amount more experience fighting both of them over her. Mainly because she had never fought either of them.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°No, we should avoid fighting them in two one on one fights. That would kind of defeat the purpose of this exchange, but I also think that we would probably lose. However, if we work together, I think that our powers mesh a lot better than theirs. Quillon has practically no support abilities as far as I saw during our fight, so all he has is his incredible strength and skill. As for Mraz, her ice magic and other powers can easily affect those around her including her allies. On the other hand, your illusion magic and my iron and light magic especially can work well in tandem. So, here is what our strategy is going to be.ˇ±

    Both Marcus and Lyra continued to make borate strategies for how to deal with their opponents. While on the other side both Quillon and Mrazivy were arguing.

    ˇ°No, I will take Irene on first while you keep Lyra busy. After you beat her, I will let you take on Irene. If I have not already won.ˇ± Mrazivy said, being obstinate in her desire to fight Marcus.

    However, Quillon was no different, and said, ˇ°No I should be the one to fight Irene while you take on Lyra. I already agreed that I would not use Aerial since Irene is not going to use her soul burst, and without her I do not have much of a way to deal with illusions. Anyway, you said that you could see through most illusions with your dragon eyes, so it makes more sense for you to fight her.ˇ±

    Groaning, Mrazivy said, ˇ°Yeah, I did say that, but that is only in case of illusions she creates that everyone can see. She has some that target only one person and make them see things inside their head. Even I cannot deal with those if they hit. You already told me you have a resistance skill to mental attacks so you should fight her. I promise I will nce over every now and then and tell you what is real and what is fake. Also, you just like fighting strong people, therefore Lyra should be fine. She is really powerful herself and nearly equal to me when she goes all outˇ±

    Shaking his head, Quillon said, ˇ°This is a matter of pride for me. I barely wonst time, and that was only because my weapon was vastly superior. Now that Irene has a weapon that is a closer match to mine, we can really tell which one of us is stronger.ˇ±

    As time went on, Marcus and Lyra came up with n after n and a half dozen strategies, while Mrazivy and Quillon bickered until the end on which one of them would fight Marcus first.

    In the end, they never came to a decision, and as they entered the castleˇŻs high level training ground that they had reserved, they looked more like they getting ready to fight each other rather than Marcus and Lyra.

    ˇ°I wonder what that is all about?ˇ± Lyra said, seeing the way they were ring at each other.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus responded saying, ˇ°Hell if I know. Quillon is not much of a team yer so maybe Mraz got fed up with trying to incorporate him into a strategy he would not follow?ˇ±

    Though while he was sort of right, the real reason was that the two of them were just too strong willed to give into the otherˇŻs ideas, especially when they were so skewed in their objectives.

 Chapter 533 Marcus and Lyra vs Quillon and Mrazivy (2)

    Taking their starting ces within the training grounds, Marcus took a coin from out of his item box and said, ˇ°I am going to flip this coin into the air and when it hits the ground, we will start the battle.ˇ±

    Hearing this both Mrazivy and Quillon nodded their heads agreeing to this condition.

    They were both raring to go, even if they had not settled on any n or really intended to work together at all.

    On the other hand, Marcus and Lyra had strategized thoroughly, and had already establish a telepathic link ready to coordinate with each other.

    Flipping the coin into the air, Marcus it sent up pretty high, well over a hundred feet, and then looked towards his opponents.

    Yet as he looked forward, he noticed that they had both adopted the same posture, ready to unleash the same opening attack that Quillon used in every round of the tournament.

    ˇ®Hm, I guess Mrazivy has learned it as well. Still, do they really think it is a good idea to start off with such an attack so openly. I mean they are not making any attempt to hide their intentions. In fact, now that I look at it, they are definitely both targeting me.ˇŻ

    Analyzing how both Mrazivy and Quillon were setting up, Marcus was pretty confused.

    Sure, that attack boasted incredible speed and power, but if he knew it wasing, he could easily deal with it as he had already nned counter measures with Lyra.

    ˇ®No, it must be a bluff. Surely, they are not just going to charge in headlong.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    But as the coin finally hit the ground and the match started. That is exactly what happened.

    ˇ®Sword Savant Style Second Form, Light Speed sh.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Launching forward with an incredible burst of speed, both Mrazivy and Quillonunched themselves right at Marcus while drawing their swords with blindingly quick movements.

    ˇ®sh Fire p.ˇŻ

    Except as soon as they had moved so had someone else, already having been aware that this opening attack would be likely from Quillon.

    However, she had never expected both of them to charge in so blindly, especially when she was here.

    With her high-speed movement technique Lyra was able to move just as fast as Quillon and Mrazivy had, and appeared right in front of Marcus who had taken up a defensive posture.

    ˇ®Reflector shield.ˇŻ

    Creating a tortoise shell that looked like it was made of diamond in front of her, Lyra intercepted both MrazivyˇŻs and QuillonˇŻs attacks.

    With as much speed and power as their attacks had, it came with the downside of being a fullymitted attack.

    Once it was initiated it was pretty much impossible to stop or change course, and Lyra had purposefully left them no room to do so.

    The instant their two des that were filled to the brim with speed and power hit one of LyraˇŻs strongest trump cards they were bounced right back.

    Two streams of blood sprayed high the air as Quillon and Mrazivy were sliced deeply from the right side of their chests up to their shoulders by their own attacks.<sub></sub>

    It was a devastating wound even for two people as strong as them, and the burning sting of immense pain quickly washed over them.

    Yet their troubles were not even close to over, as Marcus reached his hand forward past LyraˇŻs unique skill that was already fading.

    An immense amount of mana was coalescing around his arm and a massive amount of light was collecting in his hand.

    ˇ®Quasar st.ˇŻ

    Casting his tier six light magic spell, Marcus unleashed a staggeringly powerful st of light thatpletely engulfed both Quillon and Mrazivy.

    It was brutal attack that showed no mercy and fully punished their blind and reckless charge.

    Quickly the powerful spell that could easily destroy and entire small town on its own, impacted the barrier around the training ground and tried to force its way through.

    All the while Mrazivy and Quillon were caught up in this devastating attack.

    Eventually the blind light faded as the mana used to cast the spell waned, and the forms of Mrazivy and Quillon became visible again.

    Both of them were now heavily injured from taking their own attacks and being sted by MarcusˇŻ spell.

    Still, they had managed to use their skills to deflect most of the power of MarcusˇŻ quasar st away from them, otherwise they would have already been out ofmission.<sub></sub>

    After their impressive opening, Lyra pped her hands together and two dozen illusions of herself and Marcus formed before they began charging forward.

    They knew it would be best to push their advantage while their opponents were still recovering and nned to not give them any chance to regain their bnce.

    ˇ®Go after Quillon first. MrazˇŻs dragon eyes will be able to tell her which of us are the real ones, but Quillon will still have to be wary. If we can take him down first, we can then take on Mraz together afterword.ˇŻ Marcus said telepathically to Lyra.

    Sending back her response she agreed to MarcusˇŻ proposal and the two of them rushed towards Quillon.

    With her kukris in hand Lyra began shing at Quillon in tandem with her illusions, forcing him on aplete defensive as he had to determine which attacks were real and which were fake.

    And to make matters worse for him, Marcus and his two dozen illusory clones were floating in the air and firing lighting javelins down at him.

    ˇ®What the hell, my danger sense does not seem to work on her and her illusions, and even though Irene is justunching a tier two spell at me, it has insane power and speed!ˇŻ Quillon thought as he felt the pressure on.

    It was taking him everything he had just to defend for these couple of seconds, and he had already taken around thirty ncing blows from Lyra and was bleeding all over.

    Of course, Quillon was not alone on the battlefield and Mrazivy quickly jumped into the fray, aiming for Marcus who was floating in the air.

    Naturally she had been able to spot his real form among the illusions, and no longer holding back activated her dragon form.

    This not only gave her far greater power, but also a set of wings that allowed her to fly through the air with greater ease and more maneuverability.

    However, as she flew towards Marcus, a massive form appeared in front of him as an iron golem manifested in between them.

    But there was something different about this iron golem that Mrazivy had never seen before from this spell.

    The golem which was normally only a few levels higher than Marcus but still much weaker, now stood over eighty feet tall, and as she looked at it with her dragon eyes she saw that it was level sixty-seven.

    ˇ®What the hell, how could it be that many levels higher than him!?ˇŻ Mrazivy thought as she saw MarcusˇŻ iron golem.

    Nevertheless, whether she understood how MarcusˇŻ iron golem had suddenly became so much stronger or not, it did not change the fact that it was now a threat.

    Bring down its arm it swiped at Mrazivy, and as she dodged it, she felt the wind force pass by her and could not believe that this was a tier four spell.

    Its attack power felt just as strong as any of MarcusˇŻ tier six spells which were the strongest that he currently had.

    ˇ®Fine then. Raging Tundra.ˇŻ

    Casting her tier six spell in response, Mrazivy sent out a huge wave of cold energy that quickly froze MarcusˇŻ iron golem and continued to swallow the area in its icy embrace.

    ˇ®Fox Fire Inferno.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Fire Storm.ˇŻ

    Countering MrazivyˇŻs wide area attack, both Marcus and Lyra unleashed fire around themselves and kept the raging tundra spell from enveloping them.

    Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Quillon, who was already badly injured from Lyra and MarcusˇŻ concentrated attacks.

    Quickly he froze over, having no recourse to block this spell in his current state.

    This simply went to show the difference in the teamwork between Marcus and Lyra vs Mrazivy and Quillon.

    ˇ°Mrazivy you really need to be more careful about where you are aiming such a huge spell.ˇ± Lyra said mockingly.

    In response to this Mrazivy who was feeling frustrated by how poorly the battle was going for her side, opened her mouth and prepared to use her breath weapon.

    CRACK!

    Yet as she did, the ice around MarcusˇŻ iron golem began to crack, and the massive colossus of iron broke free and mmed its hands together around Mrazivy.

    A loud resounding p shook the area as the iron golem brought its hands together, and the ice that had filled the area began to shatter.

    ˇ®Apex of Winter.ˇŻ

    Activating herst trump card Mrazivy boosted her power to her max, and with pure strength ripped opened the iron golemˇŻs hands that had just crushed her. Before turning her sights on the creature Marcus had conjured.

    ˇ®First Form, Typhoon Fang.ˇŻ

    Holding her sword over her head with both hands. She struck down with all her might and cleaved through MarcusˇŻ iron golem splitting it right in half.

    At the same time Quillon broke free of his icy imprisonment, but his breathing was ragged, and it was apparent that his skin was damaged by the frostbite all over him.

    Nevertheless, he and Mrazivy were still standing, but at this point it hardly seemed that they were working together. Since so far, the only damage they had done was to themselves and each other.

 Chapter 534 Marcus and Lyra vs Quillon and Mrazivy (3)

    With the battle heavily in MarcusˇŻ and LyraˇŻs favor, both Mrazivy and Quillon had grim expressions on their faces.

    The two of them had so far been thoroughly trounced, not making any headway during the battle.

    They had focused their attention entirely on Marcus both wanting to fight him, but this just left Lyra to her on device to use her illusions and absolutely broken reflector shield unique skill to her advantage.

    Also, Marcus was acting as support and using his magic to constantly apply pressure, preventing either of them from regaining their bearings.

    Now they were in a precarious position, with Quillon being heavily inured, partly from being hit by MrazivyˇŻs indiscriminate magic attack. While Mrazivy had already activated all of her strongest abilities and put a time limit on how much longer she could fight at her best.

    Still, Mrazivy had just dispatched MarcusˇŻ iron golem that had been keeping her locked out of the main fight and set her sights back on him.

    She then opened her mouth and was about to unleash her breath attack, when she nced down at Quillon who was also in the area.

    Currently he was being once again attacked by Marcus and Lyra, as they disregarded Mrazivy and tried to finish off him first.

    Sighing, she shot down towards Quillon like a rocket and smashed into the ground next to him, before parrying LyraˇŻs kukriˇŻs that were about to slice into him.

    ˇ®Ice DragonˇŻs Egg.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Casting her strongest defensive spell, Mrazivy encased both her and Quillon in a thickyer of sturdy ice.

    This gave them a momentary reprieve from Lyra and Marcus fierce and strategical assault that had absolutely overwhelmed them up to this point.

    ˇ°Okay first let me say I am sorry for hitting you with my spell. But now I think it is time we work together. At this rate we are going to beaten without putting up any fight.ˇ±

    Sighing Quillon nodded his head in agreement and waited for Mrazivy to tell him her idea.

    While this was happening, Marcus and Lyra waited around a hundred feet from the defensive barrier Mrazivy had created and talked amongst each other.

    ˇ°Are you sure that we should give them time to recover and n. With a few powerful attacks we could crack that egg and keep up our offense?ˇ± Lyra said, wondering why Marcus had decided to step back and wait.

    ˇ°Well, first off it give me some more time to cast my buff spells so there is that, but also this fight has been a bit boring. I think we already knocked them around enough. LetˇŻs just give them a minute to collect themselves, and then if they have note out on their own, we can force them out.ˇ±

    Being perfectly fine waiting, Marcus began casting some of his signature enchantment spells and testing out the effects of his recent epiphany.

    Quickly a minute went by, and Marcus was fully prepared to begin the fight again having cast his arms of darkness and legs of light spell on himself, while giving lighting warrior to Lyra.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Hm guess we should force them out.ˇ± Marcus said when there was still no movement within he ice egg Mrazivy had created after a minute had passed.

    Thrusting his hand forward he began preparing to cast a spell, while Lyra opened her mouth and coalesced her mes ready to fire her own breath attack.

    Yet before the two of them were able to unleash either of their attacks, MrazivyˇŻs spell shattered and the two of them began charging towards Marcus once again.

    They both used the same attack they had at the opening, seemingly disregarding what had happened before.

    Jumping in front of him again, Lyra used her reflector shield for the second time and prepared to push back their attacks again.

    Except as they both saw this, they only smirked, and Quillon began exploding with power.

    ˇ®Ten Greatest Techniques, Shattering Strike.ˇŻ

    Striking before Mrazivy, QuillonˇŻs de was the first to hit LyraˇŻs reflector shield, and for just an instant it seemed that it would send the attack back, before shattering into a thousand pieces.

    Absolute shock appeared on Lyra and MarcusˇŻ faces as this happened, since never before had LyraˇŻs unique skill failed her.<sub></sub>

    However, no ability was absolute and there were always ways to counter even the strongest powers.

    QuillonˇŻs supreme skill simply had an ability that perfectly beat LyraˇŻs reflector shield, as he was able to shatter just about anything other than the strongest magical items with this strike.

    Continuing on, Quillon struck Lyra in the shoulder with the t of his de, and a loud cracking sound could be heard as her bones shattered.

    At the same time MrazivyˇŻs own attack went towards Lyra, who just barely brought up one of her kukris to block.

    Lyra then went flying from taking on thebined attacks from Quillon and Mrazivy, who had just lured her into a trap.

    Now they both had Marcus in their sights as he looked in astonishment as Lyra was sted away.

    Still Marcus quickly collected himself and no longer held anything back.

    ˇ®Embodiment of eclipse, Dark form.ˇŻ

    Exploding with power MarcusˇŻ body becamepletely covered by a denseyer of light and darkness with thetter being far more pronounced.

    ˇ®Darkness drill.ˇŻ

    As soon as his supreme skill had begun empowering him, he let loose a very powerful darkness drill spell that tore through the area and headed right towards Mrazivy and Quillon.

    But to his surprise Quillon jumped right towards it and shed out with his sword, sending his darkness drill back at him.

    ˇ®Rebound.ˇŻ

    Using his supreme skill again, Quillon just like Lyra reflector shield, sent his opponentˇŻs attack right back where it hade from.

    At the same time Mrazivy shot past Marcus and perused the injured Lyra who had been flung off towards the edge of the training grounds.

    Ultimately, she and Quillon had decided to separate Marcus and Lyra who were working too well together, since they knew that their teamwork was not going to be able topare, due to the fact they had no way to support each other.

    Therefore, Mrazivy conceded that she would be a better opponent for Lyra and decided to leave Marcus to Quillon.

    Clicking his tongue, Marcus went ethereal and let his own darkness drill pass through him,

    Normally he would have just crushed any darkness magic spell sent at him, but unfortunately his own attacks could still affect him if they were ever deflected.

    ˇ®Fourth Form, Whirlpool Strikes.ˇŻ

    Unleashing a flurry of rapid shes Quillon did not give Marcus and breathing room, and continued to push him.

    ˇ®Death Dance.

    Nevertheless, Marcus had seen this attack before, and he had acquired plenty of new tricks since thest time her fought Quillon.

    Moving with grace, Marcus spun around on his toes, deflecting or avoid all of QuillonˇŻs attacks, while also unleashing his own from hard to follow trajectories that began slicing up Quillon who had to go on the defensive.

    ˇ®Seventh Form, Warding sh.ˇŻ

    Switching his form, Quillon began swinging his sword around his body, and protecting himself from MarcusˇŻ attacks.

    Still, he had no room open to counter as he had to put his all into blocking MarcusˇŻ death dance skill that made him unpredictable and hard to follow.

 Chapter 535 Marcus and Lyra vs Quillon and Mrazivy (4)

    As Marcus pressured Quillon with his death dance attack skill, Mrazivy flew towards Lyra in order to finish her off quickly.

    She had already used her apex of winter ability that was part of her unique skill WinterˇŻs Grace and was on a time limit before her full power wore off.

    Still, she figured she had long enough to finish Lyra off now that she was injured, and then help Quillon take down Marcus.

    ˇ®cial Lance.ˇŻ

    Casting one of her tier five spells Mrazivyunched and over a hundred-foot-longnce of ice right towards Lyra, nning to pin her against the training groundˇŻs barrier.

    ˇ°Awaken.ˇ±

    Yet as the cialnce shot towards Lyra, she activated one of her race abilities and her strongest trump card.

    Her three tails multiplied to nine, and the mes that surrounded her body became far more intense as she exercised her full might as a nine tailed golden fox.

    mes then burst around her nine tails andrge balls of her blueish silver mes sted against MrazivyˇŻs cialnce and melted it.<sub>.</sub>

    A huge plume of mist formed as fire fought ice and the two attacks canceled each other out.

    Nevertheless, Mrazivy continued to charge forward and struck out towards LyraˇŻs left side since her shoulder had been shattered by Quillon.

    But before Mrazivy could reach her, Lyra conjured nine her clones along with her illusions, and swapped ces right as Mrazivy attacked her.

    The clone who she switched with was immediately cleaved in half by MrazivyˇŻs attack, but at the same time the others had surrounded her along with the real Lyra.

    However, instead of attacking with what Mrazivy though was an advantageous position, Lyra turned around and made a beeline for Marcus and Quillon.

    She had no reason to stick around and fight on MrazivyˇŻs terms. Especially since her and Marcus had already nned to fight as a team, since they knew they would be at a bit of a disadvantage if they fought individually.

    Giving chase, Mrazivy targeted in on the real Lyra since her dragon eyes were able to see through the differences between Lyra, her clones, and illusions.

    ˇ®Light speed sh.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Creating a foot hold with her mana barrier Mrazivyunched herself forward even from the air right towards the real Lyra.

    Of course, she knew that it was possible that Lyra might try and use her reflector shield again, but she was willing to take that risk since she could only use it once more for the day.

    But instead of going with that strategy, Lyra just switched ces with another of her clones, letting it take MrazivyˇŻs attack for her, while she sped towards Quillon with her movement technique.

    Then when Lyra was in range, she activated the next strategy in her and MarcusˇŻ n to keep this battle focused on a two versus two instead of separate battles.

    ˇ®Fight to the Finish.ˇŻ

    Thrusting her hand out three golden chains burst forth from her and attached themselves to Quillon, Marcus, and Mrazivy.

    Now none of them could get more than a hundred feet away from her, and it truly made it so that they were stuck to fight it out in close proximity.

    ˇ®Sorry Marcus, I know you wanted to try and keep them at a distance, but it seems that their goal was to separate us. So, I figured we would go with n B.ˇŻ Lyra telepathicallymunicated to her battle partner.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®It is fine. Also, switch now.ˇŻ Marcus responded.

    Doing as he asked, Lyra switched ces with one of her clones, but not just anyone of them.

    This clone had grabbed ahold of Mrazivy during the instant she was distracted by the golden chain that hade out of Lyra and attached to her.

    During the war she had never seen Lyra use this particr unique skill, due to the fact that the situation never really came up. But now it was being used to perfect effect in order turn the tide of this fight again.

    Being warped along with the clone that Lyra switched with, Mrazivy appeared where she had been and quickly stabbed her sword into the clone.

    However, as she did this Marcus let loose the spell he had prepared as he pushed Quillon back and twisted one of his hands back towards where Mrazivy was now.

    A blindingly quick beam of light fired off from his hand and Mrazivy who had just been taken along with LyraˇŻs clone was in no position to block or dodge this attack.

    Getting hit square in the forehead, she was blown back by the powerfulser spell, and only stopped when she hit the end of the chain that connected her to Lyra.

    When she came to after having her head rattled, she felt a stinging pain where she had been hit as her skin was baldly burned by MarcusˇŻ light magic spell.

    ˇ®I cannot believe he just hit me in the head!ˇŻ She thought, surprised that her fianc¨¦ would strike her with what would have been a killing blow for most.

    Luckily her dragon scales had absorbed most of the damage, but she still felt a bit peeved that he would scar her in such a noticeable ce even if it was only temporary.

    Unfortunately, the little bit of damage Marcus had done to her quickly became the least of her worries, as she looked towards Lyra who had taken on her full ming fox form.

    ˇ®Fox DeityˇŻs Judgement.ˇŻ

    Unleashing her strongest attack, LyraˇŻs entire form swelled into a giant fox made of mes and from her body a massive and powerful pir of fire shot towards Mrazivy.

    With no way to dodge and no spell or skill strong enough to protect her, she was left with no choice but to attack.

    Opening her mouth Mrazivy finally used her breath attack, pouring all of her power into a dragonˇŻs signature attack.

    MrazivyˇŻs beam of cold, and LyraˇŻs pir of fire then met each other in an explosive match.

    Each one of them was fighting for dominance as they unleashed all of their power, and at first there two attacks seemed to be on an even ying field with neither able to overpower the other.

    That was until Mrazivy reached the limit of her apex of winter ability.

    As soon as the power boost from her unique skill wore off, her breath attack waspletely overwhelmed, and LyraˇŻs mes engulfed her.

    Once the fames receded, Mrazivy was copsed on the floor and left unmoving, too badly burned and overheated to go on.

    With one opponent down, Lyra turned towards Marcus and Quillon just in time to see one of MarcusˇŻ arms go flying.

    ˇ®Guided Strike.ˇŻ

    After being pushed around for the entire battle Quillon was finally able to make his move when Marcus became momentarily distracted as Mrazivy went down.

    The part of his soul that was with her beckoned him to go to her and help her out, even though he knew this was just a practice match and she was not in any real danger.

    During that moment, Quillon struck out with his supreme skill using his attack that was always guaranteed to hit its mark.

    His de then sunk right into MarcusˇŻ arm and cleaved it right off, sending it flying along with his scythe.

 Chapter 536 End of the Practice Match

    Literally being disarmed, Marcus watched as his arm and scythe went flying away from as Quillonnded an attack he could not block.

    ˇ®Radiance Scales.ˇŻ

    Seeing Quillon switch his stance and prepare for another attack, Marcus used one of his best defensive spells in preparation for the iing strike.

    ˇ®Sword Savant Style Sixth Form, Unstoppable Thrust.ˇŻ

    Stabbing his sword forward with immense force Quillon began shredding through MarcusˇŻ defenses.

    Yet right before he was going to pierce through him, Lyra appeared from behind and grabbed ahold of Marcus, before switching ces with another one of her clones.

    Being pierced right through this clone evaporated into a blue mist, but it had served its purpose by allowing Lyra to bring Marcus to safety.

    Now the two of them stood eighty feet away from Quillon who was pretty beat up and exhausted already.

    Of course, neither Marcus nor Lyra were in perfect condition, but they were still far better off than Quillon who had been taking heavily blow after heavy blow since the battle started.

    ˇ®Luminous PrisonˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Aiming to keep Quillon in ce for a moment, Marcus created a massive cell made of light around Quillon and expanded its area so that he had nowhere to escape too.

    Even if he wanted to, he could not try to run away as Lyra was keeping him on a short leash with her Fight to the Finish unique skill.

    With his spell taking full effect, Quillon was sectioned off. Being trapped inside the luminous prison, while Marcus and Lyra who were just outside of the spellˇŻs area.

    Naturally Quillon was not going to take this sitting down and began attacking the cell made of light that had trapped him.

    Still, this gave Marcus enough time to cast his persistent healing spell on Lyra to boost her recover, and at the same time used his spirit healing along with his high-speed regeneration to bring his severed arm back in a matter of seconds.

    Now the two of them were practically back in peak condition other than the stamina and mana they had used during this battle.

    ˇ®Ten Greatest Techniques, Tranquility.ˇŻ

    Slowly stabbing his sword into the ground Quillon once again used his supreme skill and the area around him became eerily calm.

    A momentter a wave of energy flowed out from around Quillon, and MarcusˇŻ Luminous prison began to fade. Except not only that, but the other spells he had cast on himself and Lyra began to break apart as well.<sub></sub>

    But the most surprising effect of this ability was that it forced Lyra to revert back to her normal state canceling her transformation and ended her unique skill that was tethering them all together.

    In fact, every skill or magic that was in effect within eh entire area began to break down and fade away other MarcusˇŻ Embodiment of Eclipse.

    His supreme skill was the only thing strong enough to resist QuillonˇŻs own.

    Walking forward, Marcus smiled at Quillon and said, ˇ°That was impressive. You never used that one in our previous match.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, well by the time I thought about it, I had already merged with Aerial, and it would have knocked me out of my spirit assimtion. Still, it looks like it was pretty effective this time.ˇ± Quillon said with a smirk.

    He was enjoying this battle that had been incredibly uphill which he was not ustomed to.

    ˇ°Now how about we finish this. Last time we shed with everything each of had, so how about we see how it ends this time?ˇ± Marcus said as he brought his scythe back to his hand.

    Nodding his head, Quillon agreed to MarcusˇŻ proposal and raised his sword above his head.

    ˇ®Lyra if you would not mind keeping Mrazivy safe. And if I lose make sure to finish Quillon off for me.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    After telling this to Lyra, Marcus gripped his scythe with both hands and held it to his side as he collected all of his power around him.

    At the same time Quillon began shimmering with mana as he prepared to use his strongest attack.

    The ground began to tremble and crack as these two brought their power up to its peak and reached their limits.

    ˇ®Eclipse meteor.ˇŻ

    ˇ®First Form Typhoon Fang. Ten Greatest Techniques, Final sh.ˇŻ

    Launching at each other, Marcus and Quillon used the same finishing attacks they had during the tournament wanting to see who woulde out on top this time.

    As they impacted against each other, Marcus and Quillon pushed back against each other as they used their full might to try ande out victorious.

    BOOM!

    Reaching a critical point where there two ultimate attacks became unstable as they fought, a massive explosion of mana, light, and darkness epassed the entire area.

    Even the powerful barrier that had been set up in advance for them to have their match began to crack under the strain, and Lyra had to exit to protect herself and Mrazivy.

    When the smoke and dust cleared the entire training ground that was once pristine was now just arge crater, and on either side was Marcus and Quillon t on their backs after being caught up in the explosion of their own powers.

    ˇ®Crap are they okay.ˇŻ

    Rushing back into the training ground, Lyra went right up to Marcus who was now missing both of his legs, and about twenty percent of his right side.

    He was currently leaking a huge amount of gray mist which was the essence of his soul.

    However, as Lyra approach he just said, ˇ°I won. Now go help Quillon before he kicks the bucket.ˇ±

    Hesitating for a bit, Lyra was not sure what Marcus meant when he said he had won, or why he was trying to get her to help Quillon first when he was in terrible rough shape.

    Nevertheless when she nced over at Quillon, she noticed that he was indeed in worse condition than Marcus with a huge hole in his torso, and his left side practically being sheared off.

    Taking off towards Quillon, Lyra pulled out a lesser elixir that she kept on her for emergencies and prepared to administer it to him.

    But before she got there, Aerial who had been watching from the sidelines appeared next to Quillon and began enveloping him a soft glowing wind that started healing him.

    When Lyra arrived, Aerial held out her small hands, and said, ˇ°Hand that to me. It will be more effective if I use it.ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Lyra handed over the powerful potion to Aerial, and watched as the contents began to lift up out of the vial and fly towards Quillon.

    A mist created from AerialˇŻs wind and the lesser elixir soon engulfed Quillon and began fixing his worst injuries and making sure that he would not die.

    While this was going on Mrazivy limped her way slowly over to Marcus, having recovered just enough to make her way over to him.

    ˇ°You two really are idiots. This was just a practice match, and you still went so far that you nearly killed each other.ˇ± Mrazivy said to Marcus as she sat down in front of him.

    She then pulled his head up andid it in herp, while putting her left hand over his chest.

    Immediately the engagement ring he had given her began glowing. Then using the fragment of MarcusˇŻ soul Mrazivy activated his spirit healing specter power and began restoring his broken form.

 Chapter 537 Healing and Reflection on the Battle

    After the hard-fought battle between of Marcus and Lyra versus Quillon and Mrazivy, the ultimate victors had been decided.

    In a devastating sh of their strongest attacks, Marcus eked a victory. As he had knocked Quillon unconscious and given him multiple life-threatening injuries most would have no shot at surviving.

    Of course, it would be hard to call it a total victory seeing as how Marcus as in just about as bad a shape as Quillon.

    If he was still a humanoid instead of a spirit, he currently would be bleeding out all over the ce with a number of destroyed organ simr to Quillon.

    Still, his durable form was a part of his strengthen and even being torn apart he was still able to stay conscious and smile.

    Currently he and Quillon were receiving treatment, with Aerial healing her partner with the help of Lyra, and Mrazivy healing Marcus using his own powers that he had given to her in the form of an engagement ring.

    ˇ°Thank you, Mraz. I feel better now that you have fixed me up.ˇ± Marcus said with a smile after Mrazivy had fixed all of his injuries.

    Luckily it had only taken a couple of minutes thanks to MrazivyˇŻs help and MarcusˇŻ regeneration skill.

    However, as soon as he had recovered, Mrazivy positioned her hand over his head and flicked him as hard as she could.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Ow!ˇ± Marcus yelped as Mrazivy hit him.

    Reaching up with his hands, he covered his forehead which now had a dent in it from where Mrazivy flicked him.

    ˇ°That was for shooting me in the head with yourser spell. I know we were having a practice match, but you should never hit a girl in the face, especially your fianc¨¦. I will forgive you this time with just that, but next time I will get really angry.ˇ± Mrazivy said, while pouting cutely.

    ˇ°Okay I understand. I got carried away. I promise never to hit you in the head again.ˇ± He said with a remorseful expression.

    Seeing MarcusˇŻ genuine repentance, Mrazivy stopped pouting and smiled, before saying, ˇ°Okay now that you have healed and we have resolved that little issue, I think we should go check on Quillon.ˇ±

    Sighing Marcus nodded his head and forced himself up, even thought he was still feeling heavily and sluggish from pushing his supreme skill to its limits.

    The two of them then put each other on their shoulders and slowly walked over towards Quillon who was still undergoing healing.

    He had taken some pretty nasty wounds during their battle and honestly, he hade pretty close to death.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°How is he doing?ˇ± Marcus asked as the got closer to Quillon.

    Turning her head, Aerial frowned at Marcus since he was the one who had put her contracted partner into this condition.

    Still, she just let it go since Quillon had been fighting of his own ord, and said, ˇ°With the lesser elixir that Lyra here gave me. I was able to stabilize him with my healing wind, but it is going to take at least a few hours for him to recover even with his regeneration skill.ˇ±

    ˇ°It is a lot harder for a flesh and blood beings to heal themselves than us spirits as you know.ˇ±

    Getting back to work Aerial continued using her magic to restore Quillon. ho while no longer in danger of dying, was still in rough shape.

    ˇ°Mraz if you would not mind helping me. let us speed up his healing.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy walked with Marcus over to Quillon, and the two of them sat down on their knees and held out their hands towards him.

    Quickly the soft white glow of MarcusˇŻ spirit healing came out of his hands and the ring on MrazivyˇŻs finger and enveloped Quillon.<sub></sub>

    Witnessing this, Aerial waspletely surprised, and she shouted out, ˇ°Wait you can use your spiritual energy to heal others!ˇ±

    Looking up at her Marcus just titled his head, not understanding why she was so shocked.

    ˇ°Is it really that impressive? Were you not doing the same thing with your wind just now?ˇ± Marcus said, genuinely confused.

    Groaning, Aerial looked at him like hecked allmon sense, and said, ˇ°No what I was doing waspletely different and far less grand. I was just enhancing my healing magic a bit with spiritual energy to stimte his own regeneration. What you are doing is using spiritual energy to actual restore the damaged areas rather than just enhancing his natural healing abilities. It is a very rare ability that few spirits have.ˇ±

    Thinking about it, Marcus had believed that while it was a useful and maybe rare power, he did not think it would be so outstanding as to warrant this level of attention.

    ˇ°Well now you know that I can do this. Anyway, I am a great spirit, so of course I have some umon powers.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to get Aerial to stop freaking out.

    Shaking her head, she could not believe howckadaisical Marcus was about an ability that back in the spirit world was the most coveted.

    Still, Quillon took priority right now, so she refocused on healing him, contributing her power along with MarcusˇŻ.

    Soon, Quillon opened his eyes once the majority of his injures were fixed up and his body was no longer in crisis mode trying to keep him alive.

    Looking up he saw everyone huddled around him with their hands outstretched.

    ˇ°Thanks.ˇ± He said, understanding that everyone was chipping in to help him recover.

    He then turned to Mrazivy and said, ˇ°I guess we lost?ˇ±

    Nodding her head with a defeated expression, Mrazivy confirmed QuillonˇŻs suspicion.

    Thought it was pretty obvious since he had cked out that they had lost, since even if he had taken out Marcus, Lyra would have still been standing.

    However, Quillon just smiled, and thought, ˇ®My first lost in a fight where I was able to use my full power.ˇŻ

    With Everyone now awake and at least recovered enough to move around slowly. They all headed over to a nearby pavilion, and sat down to discuss the battle they had just had.

    ˇ°Okay first things first. Quillon, what was that skill you used to destroy my reflector shield? I have never had that happen once before.ˇ±

    Coming right out the gate, Lyra asked the question that had been on her mind since her unique skill was overpowered.

    Answering her, Quillon told her that it was simply the difference inpatibility and that his supreme skill was simply stronger.

    Of course, this just had Lyra asking questions about what a supreme skill was since she had never heard of it before.

    ˇ°Hm, you havenˇŻt? Irene as one as well so I figured you would know.ˇ± Quillon said, while pointing at Marcus.

    Lyra began ring at him and asking him why he had never told her.

    ˇ®Oops, guess it slipped my mind.ˇŻ Marcus thought as Lyra grilled him.

    After that the six of them with Lilia and Aerial now joining in continued discussing the battle.

    They specifically hammered home Mrazivy and QuillonˇŻs rough start, since neither of them were working together, and they did not turn around until they had already been thoroughly pped around.

    Eventually though, someone else showed up at the training grounds, and a familiar face to Marcus and Mrazivy said, ˇ°Oh, what are you all talking about? It sounds like you are having a good time?ˇ±

 Chapter 538 Jamesâ€™ Appearance

    Smiling, Mrazivy looked over her shoulders towards the person who had just announced himself, and said, ˇ°James you are finally here. Come over and join us, we were just talking about the match we just had.ˇ±

    Walking up to them MrazivyˇŻs older brother James nodded his head towards Quillon and Lyra and introduced himself.

    ˇ°It is nice to meet some more friends of Mrazivy. My name is James Borealia first prince of the kingdom. I look forward to getting to know all of you better.ˇ±

    Hearing this, Quillon introduced himself normally as well, and held out his hand waiting for James to shake it.

    However, before James could return his handshake Lyra stood up and bowed saying, ˇ°Forgive me for not greeting you properly upon your arrival. My name is Duchess Jadzia Augustyn of Tralenstein. It is an honor to meet the first prince of Borealia. My people are in dept to the invaluable help your kingdom has provided for us. Please let me know if there is anything you wish of me.ˇ±

    After LyraˇŻs sudden formal shift, James began scratching the back of his head, not sure what to do.<sub>.</sub>

    He had note here in any capacity as a prince of Borealia just as a brother and friend of Mrazivy.

    ˇ°Lyra there is no need to be stiff or formal. James is going to be apanying us around on his time off, so it will start to get stuffy if you act that this the whole time.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to get Lyra to calm down.

    Yet as he said this, she just shook her head, and said, ˇ°That is impossible. This is the crown prince of Borealia, and it would look badly on my people who owe so much to this kingdom if I acted too familiar with someone of his station.ˇ±

    Getting up and putting her hand on LyraˇŻs shoulder, Mrazivy said, ˇ°Seriously it is fine to just rx. I already told you that my brother James would be apanying us, and it did not seem to be much of a problem for you at that time. Anyway, I am a princess, but you had no problem treating me as a friend?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, but this is different. His Highness James here is your kingdomˇŻs first prince and will be the future king. As a high ranking noble in Tralenstein there is no way I can act so familiar and friendly towards him. It will not be long until our two nations have merged, and he will be my ruler as well.ˇ± Lyra said, not able to ept being informal around James.<sub></sub>

    Except she was actually working under a false assumption not knowing about the situation around the Borealia royal family.

    ˇ°Wait so the only reason that you refuse to act normally is because James is the going to be the future king?ˇ± Mrazivy said to Lyra.

    Nodding her head, Lyra was ready to keep this stance in order to uphold her duty as a duchess and to her people.

    But when Mrazivy beganughing she looked at her in confusion, wondering why she suddenly attitude.

    ˇ°Well in that case you have no need to worry. James is never going to be the king and has already ceded his right to the throne.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Mrazivy then went to exin JamesˇŻ situation, and LyraˇŻs mouth went wide in realization and her face became red from embarrassment.

    ˇ°I see so you are not going to be the next ruler of this kingdom and you engage in almost no politics. I suppose in that case it should not cause any trouble.ˇ± Lyra said. still a bit hesitant about the situation.

    She had figured that MrazivyˇŻs brother James was going to be somewhere around the tenth prince like how Mrazivy was the thirteenth princess.

    In that situation her status as a duchess would have been higher, and it was unlikely they would ever have many political interactions.

    ˇ°Okay now that we have settled that, it is time that we consolidate our ns for what we are going to be doing during this summer.ˇ± Mrazivy said. once everything had settled down.

    The seven of them quickly began going over their schedules and everyone was free for the next few weeks except Marcus and Lilia.

    ˇ°I actually have someone dropping by sometime soon who might be a good master for Lilia. Her name is Ardea, and she said she was the grand witch of the peaks.ˇ± Marcus said, recalling that he had asked her to stop by around the beginning of summer.

    Of course, he had already told Lilia about this to make sure that she would be alright with learning how to fight from someone else, and she had given her consent.

    She still had quite the drive to get stronger, remembering the horrible things that happened to her almost two years ago now.

    Never again did she want to be powerless, so when Marcus told her about an opportunity to train with someone that was of the highest level of skill and power she wholeheartedly agreed.

    ˇ°Okay so the two of you are going to wait around your estate until she shows up, and at the same time do most of the preparations for our trip.ˇ± James said, confirming Marcus and LiliaˇŻs ns.

    Nodding their heads, they confirmed this, and Mrazivy said, ˇ°I suppose that means it will just be the five of us. Actually, this might be good so that we can all get to know each other better since Quillon and Lyra have just met my brother.

    After they had finished up making their ns in detail, their group went their separate ways as Marcus and Lilia headed back to their home to wait for the appearance of Ardea.

    ˇ°All right we will see youter. Just make sure to give us a heads up once you are done with this appointment of yours.ˇ± Mrazivy said to Marcus as he and Lilia boarded their carriage to return home.

    ˇ°I will, donˇŻt worry. Hopefully Ardea wille by soon so that we can all go explore the crystal caverns together. Until then, see all or you allter.ˇ±

 Chapter 539 Trip Preparations and New Adamantine Equipment

    Once they had returned home, both Marcus and Lilia began getting ready for their uing trip to the crystal caverns.

    ˇ°ra here is a list of items I need prepared. If you could have all of them brought here within the next three days.ˇ± Marcus said, handing over a small notebook full of things he needed for his uing trip.

    ˇ°Very well Lady Irene, I shall see that it is done.ˇ± ra said, always incredibly reliable.

    After that Marcus told Lilia that he needed her help in the forge and the two of them made their way over to MarcusˇŻ personal workshop.

    ˇ°Okay Lilia, I think it is time that we upgrade your gauntlets and armor. I happened to get some good materials and I believe you are ready for some adamantine equipment.ˇ±

    Astonished by this, Lilia began waving her hands and said, ˇ°Wait but you spent so much time and money getting that adamantine. I could not ask that you use it on me.ˇ±

    Smiling at Lilia, Marcus was happy to see her as she always was.

    ˇ°No, it is fine. I managed to get my hands on some more in Tralenstein as a bit of surplus when I was making weapons for them. So, I have sixteen ingots on me now.ˇ± Marcus said as he began pulling out all of his adamantine so that Lilia could see he had plenty.

    Seeing that he was serious and that he did have more than before, LiliaˇŻs demeanor changed and now she was excited to see what Marcus would make for her.<sub>.</sub>

    As long as he was not pushing himself at his own detriment for her, she had already learned to ept his generosity as an older sibling.

    ˇ°Now what do you want first? New armor, or a new set of gauntlets?ˇ±

    Answering immediately, Lilia wanted her new gauntlets first.

    ˇ°Understood. Then let us get started.ˇ± Marcus said, as he twirled his hammer around in his hands.

    To begin with he pulled out a bunch of materials he had gotten from the creatures that lived in the cier.

    He nned to use the cores from the strongest frost worm and the strongest remorhaz as the focal points of LiliaˇŻs new gauntlets.

    Each of these monsters had been over level fifty and were some of the best he currently had on him.

    However, what was really going to add some power to LiliaˇŻs new gauntlets was the fangs from the former boss of the cier.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I have everything ready now Lilia, so let us get started.ˇ±

    Nodding her head and having a fire burning in her eyes she was pumped to assist Marcus in the creation of her new weapons.

    Quickly they got to work as Marcus melted down the adamantine along with the materials from the mutated monster that had once ruled the cier.

    However, he decided partway through to add something even greater and took out two different scales.

    One belonged to the mythic grade beast parts that he had gotten in Tralenstein and the other belonged to Gwyneira.

    Taking both of these, Marcus added them to one of each of the crucibles that had the materials that were going to make up both of LiliaˇŻs gauntlets.

    However, it took more time than he anticipated to get these materials that were of the highest grade to melt into the adamantine. But after a few hours it was finally done.

    ˇ®Hm I am always amazed by how different it looks when merged with high level materials.ˇŻ Marcus though as he looked at the cooled adamantine<sub></sub>

    It no longer had its normal dark green luster, but instead had adopted some of the colors of the materials used to enhance it as well.

    With this step now done, Marcus once again heated up the metal and went to work on shaping it into gauntlets for Lilia.

    Then when it was done, he added the formations that would enchant LiliaˇŻs gauntlets.

    But instead of using his own mana, he allowed Lilia to use her own so that the gauntlets would be even more personal to her.

    This was pretty abnormal, but Marcus always liked to let Lilia have a little bit of an influence in the creation of her own weapons and armor.

    ˇ°They are done.ˇ± Marcus said with a smile, once he had finished adding thest enchantment.

    Lilia for her part was breathing heavily after exhausting her mana many times over, but she still had a satisfied expression on her face.

    Yet, soon her fatigue disappeared as both of them watched the gauntlets shimmer, before a pattern appeared on them marking that they had been recognized by the system.

    ˇ°Here you go Lilia. Why donˇŻt you go test them out while I get things prepared to make your armor next?ˇ±

    Grabbing the two gauntlets, Lilia basically had stars in her eyes, and after giving Marcus a quick hug, she rushed outside to test out her new weapons. Her tiredness having all but vanished.

    While Lilia was out testing her new weapons, Marcus began the process of getting LiliaˇŻs new armor ready, when he thought, ˇ®Might as well make a new set for myself as well.ˇŻ

    His current set of armor was nothing very special, but now that he had impable materials and a higher skill level, he was confident in making some top tier armor as well.

    Getting to work, Marcus went about making two sets of practically identical armor. Using plenty of materials from the exoskeleton of the cierˇŻs boss, as well as a bit of the scales from the two mythic grade magic beasts he had.

    Hours quickly passed by as Marcus worked like a man possessed, until he had produced two sets of practically identical armor.

    ˇ®Liliae back in, it is your turn again.ˇŻ Marcus said using his telepathy.

    At this point Lilia had already finished testing her new weapons, slept, and eaten two meals since Marcus had gotten started on make their new sets of armor.

    Still, she appeared very quickly, and poured her own mana into the suit of armor that was going to be hers as Marcus etched in the formations.

    Soon, her armor waspleted, and as he had expected, it was recognized as a masterpiece. Inrge part simply because of the mythic grade magic beast materials.

    After LiliaˇŻs was done, Marcus got to work on his own, and soon he had created a nearly identical set of armor to the other one.

    Except this one as it gained the systemˇŻs recognition, had just a slightly different pattern.

    While LiliaˇŻs had what looked like little silver fireworks on it along with mountains of ice, MarcusˇŻ had little swirls of light and darkness throughout it.

    ˇ®Hm, I guess that using your own mana really does make a difference.ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing this.

    He had not had any real basis to believe this until now, but after this he did. The slight differences in his and LiliaˇŻs new armor acting as proof.

    However, even though he hadpleted his and LiliaˇŻs new armors, there was still one more thing he wanted to make.

    He had already promised it to himself that he would make a better shield than the one Thabon had loaned him during the tournament, and now was the time.

 Chapter 540 Ardeaâ€™s Request and Liliaâ€™s Evaluation.

    ˇ®It came out better than I expected.ˇŻ

    Holding his knew adamantine shield aloft, Marcus could not be prouder of his work.

    He had just made four masterpieces back-to-back, and truthfully this was the best one he had created.

    He had used thest of GwyneriaˇŻs and the mythic grade monster parts he had gotten from Tralenstein in its creation.

    This had made the shield incredibly sturdy, and for even further reinforcement he had used the core of the boss of the cier as its focal point, as well as incorporating the tes of its carapace on the outside.

    ˇ®I wonder how much a shield like this would go for. If ThabonˇŻs had been worth almost eighty thousand, this one would have to be worth at least two hundred thousand, but probably more.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he examined his shield.

    It was now probably tied for the best piece of equipment he had, along with his scythe.

    Feeling giddy he exited his workshop to test out his new armor and shield, when he heard a voice call out to him.

    ˇ°Oh, looks like you are finally done.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Looking up towards the source of the voice, he saw Ardea sitting high up in one of the trees on his property, eating some kind of fruit.

    For a moment he wondered how she got in here, but then remembered that she was one of the strongest beings on the continent, and his guards that were in the twenties level wise had no chance of spotting her if she wanted to not be found.

    Jumping down from the tree she casually walked over to Marcus and looked at the shield in his hands.

    ˇ°That is pretty fine work you have done there. It is rare for a forgmaster to be able to make quality items like this and work with such high-level materials. Guess you are not a great spirit for nothing.ˇ±

    However, as she was looking at the shield she suddenly brightened up, and said, ˇ°Hey what is your forge skill level?ˇ±

    Tilting his head, Marcus wondered exactly why she wanted to know, but told her that it was at level seven.

    Sighing she looked a bit disappointed, but still looked at Marcus expectantly, before saying, ˇ°Well I was hoping it would at least be eight, but I suppose seven meets the bare minimum.ˇ±

    After saying this, Ardea pulled out one of her gauntlets and immediately Marcus could see that it was damaged.<sub></sub>

    The pinky and ring finger broken off and there were cracks all the way up to the end of the gauntlet.

    Seeing this Marcus could not fathom what could have done this level of damage to an amethros weapon.

    Taking the gauntlet, he said, ˇ°How did this happen? You fought an intense battle with Retharin, but your gauntlets did not take so much as a scratch then.ˇ±

    ˇ°Ah that is because he was being careful not to damage my equipment, but I see what you mean. I just ran into an old enemy in the mountains on the continent to the west of here. It is not that big of a deal.ˇ±

    ˇ°Now do you think you could fix it for me. The person who made them for me died around half a decade ago, and I do not know any other suitable forgemasters. It is pretty hard to find anyone that is able to work with amethros unless you get involved with some annoying people.ˇ± Ardea said, getting down to business.

    Looking over the gauntlet Marcus could tell that it had been made by someone far more skill than he currently was.

    Still if he was just going to fix it, he should be able to manage since it had an auto repair enchantment which would just need to be mended and the missing materials supplemented.

    ˇ°Yeah, I could fix it, but I would need some more amethros to rece what was lost. I am sure you understand that it is not a material that onees by easily, and I only have a very limited supply myself.ˇ± Marcus said, hoping that Ardea would understand.<sub></sub>

    Certainly, he did want to get on her good side, but he had less than three ingots of amethros now and was saving it to make a new upgraded weapon once he had some high quality secondary material.

    ˇ°Oh, you actually have some amethros on you! That is a surprise. Hm, well I have a number of other rare items on me, so if you would be willing to take them as payment, I am sure we cane to an agreement.ˇ±

    Taking a moment to think about it Marcus did have a few things in mind that he wanted, and said, ˇ°You would not happen to have any materials from some high-level monsters or beasts that have an affinity with light, darkness, or lightning.ˇ±

    Unfortunately, Ardea shook her head, and said, ˇ°No sorry, I do not have anything like that. But I could get some if that is what you really want.ˇ±

    ˇ°If it is possible that would be great. Here let me write down what I would like and then if you find it agreeable, I can fix your gauntlet tomorrow.ˇ± Marcus said, as his enthusiasm began to rise.

    He then took out a notebook and wrote down the specifics of what he was looking for.

    ˇ°This should not be a problem; I can get all of this if you are willing to wait around three or maybe four months. I have other things to attend to after this, but once I am done, I can search out these materials.ˇ± Ardea said, a smile on her face since she was going to be able to get her precious gauntlet fixed.

    ˇ°Okay then tomorrow I will take it over to the forge I work at and fix it. Now if you do not mind, I would like to introduce you to Lilia.ˇ± Marcus said, as he beckoned Ardea to follow him.

    However, she did not move immediately, and said with a confused expression, ˇ°Wait are you just going to take my word for it that I will get these materials for you? You do not want to have a contract drawn up?ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh no it is fine. I have already left that life behind. Anyway, I trust that you are not the kind of person that goes back on their word. Otherwise, you could have just threatened me to fix your gauntlet and I would not have been able to refuse. So yeah, I do trust you to hold up your end of our deal.ˇ±

    Sighing she could not believe how trusting Marcus was being, but she still smiled since she was happy to hear that he thought highly of her.

    After that, Marcus led her to where Lilia was waiting.

    ˇ°Lilia this is Ardea the person I told you about who might take you as her apprentice.ˇ± Marcus said, introducing Lilia.

    ˇ°Nice to meet you, Lilia. As your sister said, I am Ardea, the Grand Witch of the Peaks. Now enough formalities. Go ahead and punch me with everything you have.ˇ±

    Shock on her face, this is not how Lilia expected this to go, and she was reluctant to attack, since she did not want to hurt anyone if she did not have to.

    ˇ°I can see that you are hesitating. But there is no need to worry. You could not put a scratch on me even if you hit me a thousand times. Now hit me as hard as you can.ˇ± Ardea said sternly to Lilia.

    Hearing this and seeing Marcus give a nod of approval, Lilia took a deep breath before equipping her gauntlets and getting into a ready stance.

    She began building up mana in her right hand and gauntlet, while also casting her strongest force magic spell.

    Then when she was ready, she used her strongest attack skill mighty blow and punched forward with all her might.

    As she connected right in ArdeaˇŻs stomach there was a loud popping sound, followed by a bright sh of light.

    Steam even came off of the area where Lilia had struck due to the power and speed behind the attack, but Ardea had not even moved a millimeter from where she stood even after taking attack that would have demolished a building.

    ˇ°Hm, you definitely are impressive for your age and level I will give you that. However, you are not qualified to be my apprentice.ˇ± Ardea said to Lilia with an expressionless face.

    Slumping her shoulders Lilia felt defeated, and Marcus was a bit disappointed that she had not passed whatever criteria Ardea had.

    Yet it appeared that all hope was not lost, as right after she said, ˇ°But that is only true for right now. The main problem is that you are simply too young and not high enough level. Otherwise, I can see that you have the potential to be my apprentice. Live your life and grow a bit more, and if you still want to learn from me in four years, I will seriously evaluate you then.ˇ±

    Nodding her head furiously Lilia agreed, feeling that she really did want to learn from Ardea now that she had met her.

    ˇ°Now before I go, I think I should at least show you what I can do, so that you know for certain that I would be able to be your master.ˇ± Ardea said as she smiled at Lilia.

    Getting into her own stance, the air around Ardea began to shift into a deadly calm, and the world seemed to grow still as her focus sharpened.

    Just seeing her stance even Marcus could tell that she was a master of her style, and as she sent a single punch forward, the world seemed to ripple from her power and technique.

 Chapter 541 Gauntlet Repair

    Watching intently both Marcus and Lilia stared with astonishment at ArdeaˇŻs punch, but not because of is power.

    In fact, she had not enhanced her ability in any way with magic or skills, and simply demonstrated the profound mastery over her technique.

    Even for Marcus who was not someone that fought with his fists, it was a sight to behold.

    Yet, for Lilia it was like an amateur who witnessed a peak expert performing the same craft as them.

    She could tell just how much higher Ardea was in the realm of fighting than she was with how refined her technique was.

    ˇ°I suppose that my demonstration was insightful.ˇ± Ardea said with a smile, as she saw LiliaˇŻs gaping mouth and stunned expression.

    After a few moments once she hade back to herself, Lilia nodded her head vigorously at Ardea, and said, ˇ°I promise that I will work hard to be worthy of being your apprentice. When youe back in four years, I promise I will be so much stronger you will not recognize me.ˇ±

    ˇ°Good that is what I wanted to hear. Just make sure not to lose yourself in the pursuit of power. There is more to living than just being strong.ˇ± Ardea said as she patted Lilia on the shoulder.

    She then turned to Marcus, and said, ˇ°I wille back tomorrow two hours after dawn. If it is not a problem for me to apany you to your forge?ˇ±

    ˇ°No, I do not think it will be a problem. Ah, but you are actually more than wee to stay here if you want until then.ˇ± Marcus said, offering his generosity.

    However, she just shook her head and said, ˇ°No I should not stay here any longer than necessary. My presence is making a certain someone very nervous.ˇ±

    Casting her gaze in the direction of the castle, Ardea nudged her head and Marcus understood what she meant.<sub>.</sub>

    This city, and kingdom for that matter, was GwyneriaˇŻs domain, and if someone who was as strong as Ardea just waltzed in it would make anyone nervous.

    ˇ°Very well, then I shall see you tomorrow.ˇ±

    Nodding her head Ardea gave her confirmation, before she slipped into the ground and vanished.

    With Ardea now gone, Marcus finally had time to test out his new top tier adamantine equipment and enlisted Lilia and Roxene to attack him to assess his new defensive capabilities.

    ˇ°That should be enough.ˇ± Marcus said as the sun began to set.

    He had gotten to test out his armor and shieldˇŻs powers quite well and was very happy by the performance.

    At the same time, Lilia had been able to test out her own, but there was a slight problem.

    She simply did not have enough mana to properly use her equipment for very long and would have to use her mithril gauntlets and armor if she was going to be fighting for any extended amount of time.

    Still, if she needed a sharp increase in power, she could always equip her adamantine gauntlets and armor.

    Now that they had finished up their activities for the day the three of them headed back inside and ate avish meal prepared by the house maids.

    ˇ°Ah that was good as always. Make sure to tell Ste that I thoroughly enjoyed it.ˇ± Marcus said to Violet as once he had finished eating.<sub></sub>

    With dinner now over, he went up to his room and hopped into a hot bath.

    ˇ®Time to call Mrazivy.ˇŻ

    Taking out one of his sending stones, he contacted his fianc¨¦ and updated her on his schedule and that Ardea hade by.

    ˇ°Got it, so we will be leaving the day after tomorrow. I will make sure that everyone else knows and that we are ready.ˇ± Mrazivy said, before hanging up.

    Getting out of the bath, Marcus dried off before changing and going to sleep, a bit tired from the intense work he had been doing over thest two days, and knowing he needed to be at his peak to fix ArdeaˇŻs gauntlet.

    When the next day came, just as she said, Ardea showed up at MarcusˇŻ estate again, and the two of them headed over to the zegram Forge.

    ˇ°So, this is where you work. I can feel that there is a lot of mana gathered here, and that there is one decently strong person inside.ˇ± Ardea said, examining the forge.

    Of course, Marcus had no idea how she was able to pick up on this information, but at her level she must have certainly had any number of tricks up her sleeves.

    Entering into the forge, he greeted everyone as normal before heading over to ThabonˇŻs personal workshop.

    ˇ°Ah Irene it has been a while since youst showed up.ˇ± Thabon said with a smile on his face.

    That was, until his gaze drifted over to Ardea, and immediately his eyes went wide while he visibly shuddered.<sub></sub>

    Gulping loudly, the fear that Thabon was feeling was nearly palpable, as he was able to realize that Ardea had what seemed to be a fathomless amount of power.

    ˇ°No need to get worked up. I just hired Irene here for a simple repair job and we are here to fix a piece of my equipment.ˇ± Ardea said, trying to defuse ThabonˇŻs tension.

    And while this did take the edge off him, his apprehension was still quite apparent.

    ˇ°I will vouch for her Thabon. She is a pretty decent person from what I can tell. Now how about we head inside and discuss the job she hired me for.ˇ±

    Sighing, Thabon opened his door wide letting Marcus and Ardea inside, before mming it shut tightly.

    Once they were inside ThabonˇŻs workshop, Marcus fully exined the situation to him.

    ˇ°Very well, feel free to use my equipment, but this time it is not going to be for free. You are no longer my apprentice, so we are working together as peers now. Therefore, using my personal facilities will cost you three thousand gold, and you will need to use all of your own materials.ˇ± Thabon said, no longer giving out any freebies to Marcus.

    Nodding his head, he understood that he could not just expect toe by whenever he wanted and use ThabonˇŻs best equipment for free.

    He then handed over the money, and Thabon happily got the workshop set up to work with amethros.

    When everything was ready, he headed out and left Marcus to work on his own.

    ˇ°Okay I am going to get started now. It is going to get hot in here so I rmend you step out now if you cannot take it.ˇ±

    Smiling, Ardea waved her hand and said, ˇ°I will be fine. I am more than tough enough to take a little heat.

    Shrugging his shoulders now that he had her confirmation, Marcus lit up the furnace and got to work.

    Carefully he melted down the ingot he had already taken a bit off of and separated around twenty percent of it into two separate crucibles.

    Next, he poured them into some smaller molds and waited for them to cool before heating them again.

    After that, he shaped them into fingers to rece the ones that were missing from ArdeaˇŻs gauntlet using her other undamaged one as a guide.

    ˇ°There, that is the hard part done. I just need to fix the damaged self-repair enchantment and connect these recements, and it should be pretty much as good as new.ˇ± Marcus said. updating Ardea on his progress.

    ˇ®Now where is the worst damage.ˇŻ He thought as he examined the gauntlet in detail.

    Pushing a bit of his own mana in, he focused on its flow and found where it was unable to move properly.

    ˇ®Whew it is only slightly damaged. I should be able to fix it easily enough.ˇŻ

    Having identified the area where the formation had been disfigured, Marcus took out his amethros mana etcher and reconnected the formation while adding a bit more celestial tinum to stabilize it.

    Once that was done, the cracks in the gauntlet began to mend themselves, and he attached the recement finger which began to connect to the gauntlet.

    At the same time, he poured more celestial tinum into the formations that were reforming around the new fingers, so that they would be as strong as the rest of the gauntlet.

    Soon the once damaged weapon was back in peak condition, almost as if it had never been damaged.

    ˇ°I believe that I am finished. But I would like it if you would test it out and make sure that it feels right.ˇ± Marcus said holding out he repaired gauntlet to Ardea.

    A smile creeping onto her face, it was obvious that she was pleased to have one of the set of her prized weapon fixed.

    Putting it on she began testing the motion of the new fingers and flexed her arm and hand around.

    ˇ°Wow it feels as good as new. Thanks Irene, I really owe you for doing this for.ˇ± Adread said, a full and bright smile on her face now.

    ˇ°It was no problem; it gave me a new challenge to ovee. I rarely get to work with amethros, and this is actually the first time I have fixed anything made out of it, so it was a good learning experience.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well, you did a really good job, and I am very grateful. I will make sure to keep up my end of our deal and gather these items that you want.ˇ± Ardea said, as she stored her gauntlets into her item box.

    With what they hade her to aplished nowpleted, Marcus quickly cleaned up ThabonˇŻs workshop, before exiting the forge with Ardea.

    ˇ°I suppose this is goodbye for now. I wille and find you again as soon as I have the items that you wanted.ˇ±

    Waving goodbye, Ardea took off down the street leaving Marcus alone, as she headed to the far reaches of the world.

 Chapter 542 To the Crystal Caverns Once More

    ˇ°Are you sure that this is all you will require for your trip Lady Irene?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, you have procured everything I asked for, and I have all the other personal items I will need. Thank you again for your wless work ra.ˇ± Marcus said to his head maid.

    He then packed away thest of the things he would be needing for his trip into his item box and headed to the front door with ra in tow.

    When he arrived, waiting there for him was Roxene, Lilia, and her beastpanions, Aurelia and Zareen who were raring to go.

    ˇ°Do you have everything ready, Lilia?ˇ±

    Nodding her head and the anticipation clear on her face, Lilia said, ˇ°Yes, I already triple checked my supplies and equipment. Now let us hurry up and go.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus was happy to see his little sisterˇŻs enthusiasm, and turned towards ra and told her to get the carriage ready.

    ˇ°I will see all of you againter. It may be up to a month, but I should be back by then.ˇ± Marcus said, as he waved goodbye to those who hade to see him off.<sub>.</sub>

    After that, ra who was driving the carriage, cracked the reigns and Blitz began trotting down the path and out of the estate.

    Soon they made it to the castle where their group was going to be meeting up.

    ˇ®Looks like everyone is here.ˇŻ He thought as he looked out at everyone that had gathered in one of the castleˇŻs courtyards.

    Getting out of the carriage, Marcus and Lilia along with their beastpanions went over to everyone else.

    Except as they approached there was an unfamiliar woman with them who had long white and red hair.

    ˇ°It is good to see everyone again. Oh, and who might this be?ˇ± Marcus said, while holding out his arm in the direction of this mysterious woman.

    Moving in front of everyone, surprisingly it was James who walked up to answer MarcusˇŻ question.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Ah that is right, this is the first time you have seen her in this form. You have actually met once before. This is mypanion, Fallon. She recently evolved into a legendary grade beast and learned how to take human form.ˇ±

    Looking at the beautiful woman who was standing just behind James and waving, Marcus remembered Fallon, but not like this.

    Last time he had seen her she was a huge bird that was over fifteen feet tall, and in no way resembled a person.

    Still, this was not the first time he had seen a beast take human form, but they had all been mythic grade and at an incredibly high level, so he was a bit surprised to see FallonˇŻs transformation.

    ˇ°Well, I suppose that it is a good thing since otherwise she would have had a very hard time fitting through some of the tight spaces where we are going. Even Eirwen and Blitz are going to have a tough time at their size.ˇ±

    With that little confusion wrapped, up all of them did onest check on all of their supplies to make sure they had every that they would need.

    ˇ°Okay, so I have about three weeks of food stored within my item box, while everyone else has at least two weeks of personal rations on them?ˇ± Marcus asked, wanting to make sure they had enough for everyone to eat.<sub></sub>

    He was the only one that could function perfectly fine without eating and making sure they had enough while being stuck far underground was very important.

    Of course, they had also packed away a massive amount of water between all of them and their storages were filled to the brim with necessities.

    Once all of theirst checks were done, it was finally time to head out.

    In rare fashion they had gotten permission to fly out of the city from the castle. even though the skies were normally off limits to prevent confusion and panic in the city.

    Nevertheless, having two royal children going on this trip, it was easy enough to get permission for them to take to the air even within the capital.

    ˇ°Is everyone ready?ˇ± James said once everyone had mounted their rides.

    For James he was naturally riding on the back of Fallon who had reverted to her beast form, and along with him was Quillon.

    Then Mrazivy had Lyra and Lilia on the back of her beastpanion Eirwen.

    Finally, Marcus who had taken his form as a cdrius, had Blitz, Roxene, Aurelia, and Zareen on his back.

    pping his wings and getting a running start, Marcus quickly began to gain altitude and headed up into the sky.

    Following after him, Mrazivy on Eirwen, and James on Fallon, flew up as well and got on either side of Marcus.

    As they flew over the city, thousands of people saw the rare sight of beasts flying.

    Many looked up and gawked as they had never seen suchrge flying beasts.

    However, what was even more shocking was that there were a number of people and even other beasts on their backs.

    ˇ°Wait I see blue hair. Do you think they are part of the royal family?ˇ±

    ˇ°I think that is Prince James. He is famous for his flying beast and being the leader of the sky knights.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, but there is another person with the royal familyˇŻs vibrant blue hair. Also, who are the other people riding by the royals?ˇ±

    The entire city went abuzz from the flight of their group over the city, and spection of who was with and why two members of the royal family were suddenly leaving from the capital spread like wildfire.

    Eventually though, the excitement they wiped up as they flew over the massive capital city began to die down, as they flew out of its air space and into the distance.

    Quickly hours went by as they made there way to their destination, and when the sun was beginning to dip into evening, Marcus spotted the long ravine that stretched on for miles.

 Chapter 543 Advanced Understanding of Magic

    Landing not far from the ravine, everyone dismounted off of the backs of those they were flying on, and Marcus and Fallon returned to their humanoid forms.

    However, now that they were out of the city Marcus no longer stayed in his guise as Irene and took his original form.

    Except he had forgotten that two people here did not currently know his secret, and Quillon and Aerial came up to him and asked him why he was taking this form.

    Naturally they had already seen him transforming so they knew he could do it, but the reason as to why he was using this form eluded them.

    ˇ°Oh, that is right, I never told you. Irene is actually kind of my secondary identity. This is how I originally looked before gaining the ability to take other forms.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to gloss over the details of how he got IreneˇŻs form and memories.

    Luckily, they seemed not too bothered by it, and let it go at that. Not caring much about his outward appearance.

    The thirteen of them then moved over to the ravine and looked down it warily.<sub>.</sub>

    Just asst time Marcus and Mrazivy were here it went down incredibly far, and it was impossible to see or really even fathom the bottom.

    ˇ°Is this really the widest point? It is only about a dozen feet across.ˇ± Lyra said as she looked at Blitz and Eirwen.

    The two of them were by far thergest members of their group now that Fallon had taken human form.

    ˇ°It is the widest point I have seen. The area me and Marcus entered was only around eight feet wide, and this is where James and his sky knights originally entered after searching for hours for the best area. We could spend days trying to look for a better ess point.ˇ± Mrazivy said to Lyra.

    ˇ°Yes, but how are we going to get them down. It is too narrow for Eirwen to fly down, and Blitz cannot even fly at all.ˇ± Lyra said, continuing to voice her worries.

    Yet as they all stared at the ravine and trying to rack their brains, Marcus pped his hands to get everyoneˇŻs attention.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Actually, I have alreadye up with a method to take us all down there myself. So, if you would not mind standing back, I will show you what I have in mind.ˇ±

    Backing away, everyone looked at Marcus intently and waited for him to do whatever it was that he was going to do.

    Holding out his hands he began overflowing with mana, and soon hundreds of iron threads poured out of his hands.

    Quickly they began weaving themselves into arge tform, and within thirty minutes Marcus had created a long and narrow tform that they could all stand on.

    ˇ°That was certainly impressive. I have never seen someone use a spell in this manner.ˇ± James said, intrigued by MarcusˇŻ utilization of a low-level spell.

    Yet seeing this just resparked a question that had been forming on Mrazivy, Quillon, and LyraˇŻs minds.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Marcus, you did something simr during our match. Your low tier spells seemed just as strong as your higher tier ones. How are you doing this?ˇ± Mrazivy asked, keenly interested.

    pping his face, he realized now that in the wake of everything else happening, he had not mentioned the discovery he had made.

    ˇ°That is right, I forgot to mention it. A few months ago, when I was out in the Verkoudhied Mountains I witnessed a battle between two beings that were far stronger than any of us. I watched the two of thempletely decimate thendscape with attacks that were nearly iprehensible. But one of them when they used magic sometimes used lower tier spells that were still able to block attacks that destroyed mountains. After watching this I came to an understanding about magic. Lower tier spells can be just as strong as higher ones as long as you give them the same amount of mana.ˇ±

    After saying this, everyone looked at Marcus with confused expressions. They did not really understand what he was talking about, since when you used a spell, it always used the same amount of mana.

    Certainly, you had some control over its range and size if you wanted for some spells, but for the most part, you just cast the spell and ites into existence.

    ˇ°Here let me put it another way. Each spell is a formation that is set to create a phenomenon. And part of that formation is the amount of mana used to create it. But when the spell is forming, instead of letting the formation automatically use the set amount of mana to cast the spell, you can manually send as much mana as you want into. Now I will not say it is an easy technique to use, but it is simr to sending mana into a weapon or other object. There is no set skill for it, just the amount of control you have over it yourself.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to exin it to everyone else.

    Of course, just hearing an exnation without fully understanding the concept, everyone was still notpletely following what Marcus meant.

    Seeing the bewilderment on all of their faces, he decided to give a demonstration of what he had learned.

    Holding out his right hand he conjured the tier three fire ball spell and sent it out into the open around two hundred feet away, before it exploded into a twenty-foot diameter sphere of mes as always.

    He then did it again, but this time instead of allowing the spell to take what its normal parameters where, he imbued it with as much mana as he could.

    This time even though the spell still created the same twenty-foot diameter explosion of fire, it was noticeably much stronger and hotter.

    When it receded, it could even be seen that the ground had be molten from the extreme heat of the spell.

    ˇ°See the first one was just a normal fire ball, while the second was one that I used all of the mana I could pour into it. Naturally there is still a limit to how much I can put into a spell before it bes impossible to control, but this way even lower tier spells are still very useful.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Still even after his exnation and demonstration, no one else fully understood what he had done.

    It was easy enough to say and show how something happened, but another for someone to grasp it in its entirety.

    Nevertheless, this just brought up another question for Mrazivy in particr.

    ˇ°What about the heightened spell skill. Is it not supposed to do what you just did, though on a smaller scale?ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus was d that she brought this up since it might help her to learn how to imbue more mana into her spells.

    ˇ°Yes, it is simr, but heightened spell just increases a spellsˇŻ power by a set percentage. In fact, you could think of it as a training handicap. It strengthens your spell without any extra focus on your part, but only to a certain amount. However, if you do it all on your own, you can make it as strong or as weak as you want.ˇ±

 Chapter 544 Back into the Crystal Caverns

    After hearing MarcusˇŻ full exnation on how he makes lower tiered magic spells stronger, everyone else still did not quite understand how he did it.

    Of course, both James and Quillon who were pure warriors and did not use magic were the least invested and did not particrly try to grasp the intricacies of what Marcus had revealed.

    On the other hand, those that did use magic were naturally interested and wanted to learn more.

    Still, they had a current objective to advance, and they could always try and practice the method Marcus had learned by watching Ardea and Retharin do battle at ater time.

    ˇ°Okay, is everyone secured and ready to go.ˇ± Marcus said once they had all climbed onto the tform he had woven with his iron threads.

    Nodding their heads, everyone confirmed that they were good to go, and Marcus began moving the tform.

    His iron threads coiled into two thick cables, shot out from the tform, and into the wall of the far side of the ravine.

    Once they were properly affixed and sturdy, Marcus began reeling them in and as they began to cross over into the ravine, he sent out more cables from the other side of the tform to stabilize them.

    Now they were daggling above the ravine that dropped into what appeared to be an endless abyss, suspended only by for cables made of MarcusˇŻ iron threads.<sub>.</sub>

    It was honestly a terrifying sight to see as the stared down from the tform that barely had enough room for all of them to stand on.

    One wrong move and any of them could go falling into the depths.

    ˇ°AHHH!ˇ±

    In fact, as the tform began to lurch downwards, Lyra actually let out a yelp, the fear rising up inside of her.

    ˇ°You should warn us when you are going to suddenly move like that!ˇ± She shouted at Marcus, her apprehension visible in her ears that were shot fully upright and her tails that had gone stiff.

    ˇ°Sorry, I did not think it would be that big of a deal. I mean you can fly, so even if you did fall you would be fine.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to exin the logic of why Lyra should not be afraid.

    ˇ°Yeah, well even still, steep drops into the ground are still scary even if you would be fine. You know I am afraid of heights and being strong does not mean that frightening things are not frightening anymore.ˇ± Lyra said to Marcus.

    ˇ°Okay I will warn you now then. I am about to start moving and will probably not stop until we reach the bottom, so prepare yourself.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    After saying that and giving everyone a few seconds to prepare, Marcus began lowering the tform as he extended the cables that were attached to the walls of the ravine.

    Quickly they descended into the lightless expanse of the ravine, and when they reached about four hundred feet. Marcus created four more cables and bored them into the walls, before ceasing the mana flow to the others and letting them disappear.

    Continuing on this way, they dropped further and further into the ravine that would eventually bottom out at the entrance to the crystal caverns they were going to explore.

    Hours went by and Marcus was starting to feel the strain of controlling his spell.

    It used just slightly more mana than he regenerated to sustain its existence and keeping the iron threads from unraveling was taking a toll on his mind.

    He had never used a spell like this for so long, and he was beginning to be afraid that he might lose control and drop everyone.

    Luckily when he was feeling that he was at is limits, the ground suddenly came into view and a sense of relief came over him.

    Hastily he picked up their pace, not lowering the tform as gently and it jerked back and forth, much to LyraˇŻs difort especially.<sub></sub>

    She let out another yelp and grabbed onto Quillon who was standing in front of her for stabilization.

    Soon they touched down on the ground, and the second they did Marcus dropped his spell and feel down onto his back needing a moment to rest.

    He had pushed his control and mana reserves to their limit to carry them all down here, and now he was exhausted from overusing his magic.

    ˇ®Ugh it has been a while since I felt what it was like to really be tired.ˇŻ He thought as heid on the ground.

    Setting foot on the bottom of the ravine which had a slight stream of water flowing through it, everyone began looking around.

    ˇ°So where are these crystal caverns that you have been talking about.ˇ± Quillon said, since all he saw were small bits of protruding crystals here and there.

    ˇ°They are at bit further in, maybe around a mile or so.ˇ± James said, pointing in the direction that he had originally explored a few years ago.

    ˇ°Okay I am good to go now.ˇ± Marcus said once he had recovered a bit.

    Smiling, everyone thanked Marcus for getting them down there, before heading off towards the direction James had pointed.

    ˇ°Ah there it is.ˇ± Lyra said spotting the first bits of crystal slightly illuminating the area.

    Rushing forward she ran right up to it and squatted down, before looking at the small crack in the ravineˇŻs wall that exposed the crystal caverns that went even deeper into the ground.

    Unfortunately, this first opening was far too small for any of them to fit through expect for Marcus who could just go through the wall.

    Nevertheless, they all crowded around and stared inside, including the beatpanions who all had intelligence and could appreciate the glowing crystals.

    Sniffing the air inside, Roxene began to growl, having picked something up.

    ˇ®There is some kind of monster down here. The smell is faint so I do not think any are nearby, but they might pose a problemtter.ˇŻ She said telepathically to everyone.

    Hearing this Marcus and Mrazivy remembered themia that had attacked them and wondered if any more were down here.

    That monster had been a formidable enemy that nearly killed Mrazivy and was strong enough to toss Marcus around even with the boost of his supreme skill.

    Certainly, they were stronger now and they were in arger more powerful group, but especially Lilia and her beastpanions could be in trouble if a fight broke out.

    ˇ°I suppose I should keep my life sense skill on at all times then.ˇ± Marcus said, letting everyone know that he would be keeping an eye out for all of them.

    After that and when they had their fill of looking around this first area, they continued further down the valley of the ravine. Until they finally made it to an entrancerge enough for them to fit through.

    ˇ°IˇŻll lead the way from here and take you all through the areas I already explored. You all said you want to see the musical crystal room, right?ˇ± James said as he moved the front of the group.

    Of course, everyone nodded their head in agreement wanting, to see this magical phenomenon.

    Though for Marcus and Mrazivy it served another purpose that they nned to surprise everyone with.

 Chapter 545 Into the Depths of the World

    As they headed deeper into the crystal caverns, all of them stopped and stared at the amazing sights before them.

    Crystals of all shapes, sizes, and colors jutted out from the walls, and the light they had with them reflected and refracted off of them creating a light show.

    Even for Marcus, Mrazivy, and James who had seen this before, it was still breathtaking to witness.

    Tully this ce could be considered a natural wonder even on a world as beautiful and diverse as Mirrion.

    Nevertheless, this was only the beginning, and as they headed further in the sights became even more amazing, until they eventually made it to the room where musical crystals jutted out of the floor and walls.

    However, this was not the same one that Marcus and Mrazivy had found, but instead was the one that James had originally located.

    Still, the room was practically identical with all of the crystals lined up in the same order and pattern.

    Ding!

    Hitting one of the crystals, Marcus created a resounding musical note through the cavern and everyoneˇŻs eyes lit up.

    Quickly they all began testing out the notes that could be yed by each crystal, and for a while it wasplete pandemonium as they all just hit the crystals at random.

    Eventually though they settled down, and each of them took turns ying different songs that they wanted to hear.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Ah now that is nostalgic.ˇŻ Marcus thought as Lyra took her turn.

    She had decided to y the opening song from a show they used to watch as kids. and tears actually began falling down her face.

    It brought back a swath of memories, and she was d to share it with everyone here who had be her friends in this new world.

    ˇ°That was beautiful Lyra. It made me remember the times that me and my sister spent together at your home when we were all still young.ˇ±

    Wiping her tears, Lyra gave Marcus a bright smile before holding her arms out and allowing him to take his turn.

    Moving up to the first crystal he began hitting it rapidly as he started the intro to the song he wanted to y.

    When he finished everyone pped as Marcus had put on quite the performance, rushing all of the ce to hit each of the notes he needed.

    Time counited to pass by as they enjoyed ying around in the musical crystal room, until a certain sound signaled that it was time to move on.

    Looking over at the origin of this sound, everyone stared at Mrazivy whose stomach had just let out a loud growling noise.

    As this happened her face flushed red, and she said, ˇ°I cannot help it. We have not eaten anything since breakfast.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Seeing Mrazivy so flustered, Marcus began chuckling and walked up to her.

    He then patted her on top of the head, and said, ˇ°Would you like me to make you something delicious for lunch?ˇ±

    Puffing up her cheeks she began yfully hitting him in the chest as he continued to pat her head.

    ˇ°Um could you two save that forter. You know that all of us are still here.ˇ± Lyra said, feeling a bit awkward to see the two of them acting like this.

    Of course, James shared her sentiment, since that was his little sister that Marcus was flirting with right in front of his eyes.

    Holding his hands up in defeat, Marcus stopped showing his affection for Mrazivy and walked over to the center of the room.

    ˇ°Okay, but seriously, I think it is time that we settle down for lunch. However, this is not the right ce. So, before we go, would everyone get ready to hit all of the musical crystals at once.ˇ±

    Look at him curiously, everyone did as Marcus asked and got into position, while Mrazivy who knew exactly what was going on smiled.

    Snapping his fingers, Marcus signaled everyone to go, and they hit all of the musical crystals at the same time.

    As soon as the crystals were all hit, a cacophony of sounds sted through the room, before everything went dead silent for a moment.<sub></sub>

    Then the crystals that had not lit up this time, burst into a far more vibrant light than before, and one of the crystals that was glowing bright green emitted the sound of a tolling below.

    Just like when they did thisst time in the other room, the crystals began y a wondrously beautiful song that brought a sort of peace to everyoneˇŻs hearts.

    It was like the lingering fear, regrets, and anger they had within them began to wash away and all that was left was a beautiful calm.

    Closing their eyes everyone listened to the song as it yed, enjoying the vibrant and peaceful melody.

    Unfortunately, as awe inspiring as the song was, it soon came to an end, leaving everyone wishing to hear it for just a bit longer.

    Nevertheless, their attention was soon drawn to the center of the room where the ground began to shake, and a hidden passageway was revealed to them.

    Heading over to it, Marcus stood on the edge of the hole, before saying, ˇ°Follow me and I will show you all where we will be eating our meal.

    After saying that he jumped into the hole and began sliding downwards towards the entrance to RechaˇŻs shrine.

    Following after him with no hesitation, Mrazivy jumped down as well, and quickly everyone else followed the two veterans that seemed to know where they we going.

    Soon their group of beasts, people, and spirits made it down the slide and into the long tunnel that led to the tranquil shrine.

    Leading the way, Marcus took them all to their destination, and when they arrived, he opened up his arms and directed their attention out to theke where the small musical shrine of the great spirit of sound stood.

    Heading farther in, everyone who had not been here previously looked around curiously as Marcus brazenly walked up to the shrine.

    Once he was close enough a loud mechanical sound hummed through the area, before music began y from the shrine and giving the already breathtaking ce and even greater ambiance.

    ˇ°Recha are you here? It is your fellow great spirit, Marcus.ˇ±

    Calling out into the shrine, he wanted to see if Recha was here or if he could get her attention.

    However, all stayed quite except for the music the shrine yed, and Recha made no appearance.

    Shrugging his shoulder, Marcus figured this was likely, since she did not show upst time until they idently wrecked her shrine.

    Of course, if he really wanted to talk to her, he could have done that again, but he had no wish to gain the ire of a fully realized great spirit when he was still basically an infant.

    ˇ°Well, this is as good a ce as any to enjoy our meal. Lilia and Lyra. if you would not mind helping me, I would be most appreciative.ˇ± Marcus said, as he pulled out his massive walk-in fridge.

    The three of them swiftly got to work pulling out a number of ingredients and preparing their space for cooking.

    While that was going on, the others were ying around in the water and swimming with the glowing rainbow fishes that hade to investigate the neers to their home.

    ˇ°It is ready everyonee and dig in.ˇ± Marcus shouted out, once he and his assistants had finished cooking their meal.

    It was a beautiful spread of dozens of items for everyone to enjoy, and it did not take long for everyone to dive in and eat their fill.

    Naturally the beasts and Mrazivy who was now part dragon ate the most, and what had once been over a ton of food was reduced to scrapes.

    ˇ°Are you sure you did not want to eat any Marcus? You worked really hard to make it.ˇ± James said, feeling a bit bad that Marcus had not eaten anything, especially when it was so delicious.

    Waving his hand, he said, ˇ°Nah it is fine. I do not need to eat, and we only have so much food. Anyway, it is my cooking so I can enjoy it whenever I want when we get back.ˇ±

    Unable to argue with MarcusˇŻ logic, James relented but still felt bad to see Marcus watching them all stuff their faces.

    When everyone had finished eating, James and Fallon volunteered to clean up which really surprised Marcus and Lyra.

    They had not expected James to do so since he was a prince. But as they thought about it, they realized he really was nothing like some of the high and mighty royalty they had met.

    ˇ®Now that I think about it, about half of MrazivyˇŻs siblings are what you would expect from royalty, and the other half are rough and tumble like her and her brother.ˇŻ Marcus thought remembering all of MrazivyˇŻs siblings that he had met.

    ˇ°So where to now? You said this is as far as you have gone before.ˇ± Quillon said as he looked in the other directions leading away from the shrine.

    ˇ°Well, we came from that direction, andst time Marcus and I were here we entered from over there. Therefore, I suppose we should try one of the other two directions.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she pointed around at the four entrances and exits to the tranquil shrine.

    Picking one of the two direction none in their group had ever been, they all filed down the path and headed out of the area. Until they had made their way into another cave with musical crystals.

    From here they turned towards a corridor in the cavern and made their way into it. Heading deeper into the depths of the world.

 Chapter 546 Swarmed

    ˇ°Damn it, where did all of these thingse from!ˇ± James shouted as they were besieged by hundreds of floating sting rays that were covered in ayer of crystalline skin.

    Each one of these monsters was surprisingly durable and swift. Swoping down andshing out with their unsuspectingly long barbed tails that were excreting a powerful venom.

    Luckily no one had gotten hurt to this point due to their tight nit defense, but every second more and more of these rays surrounded them in therge cavern they had found themselves in.

    Originally when they walked in, they all thought that the ceiling was just covered by thin sheet of crystals. That was until it began moving.

    Now they were stuck in the cavern, as these rays flew around using therge crystals jutting up out of the floor as cover to attack in mass.

    ˇ®Fire Ball.ˇŻ

    Trying to cast his spell into the swarm of them, Marcus was met with a loud piecing screech that all of the rays emitted, and his spell quickly fizzled out as the mana making it up was disrupted.

    ˇ°Damn it, we are not making any progress due to their ability to disrupt magic. Does anyone have a way to deal with all of them at once?ˇ± Marcus said as he blocked a ray that hadshed out at Lilia.

    Unfortunately, with so many of these rays around them, it was proving difficult to do more than defend. As even when they killed a dozen, twice as many took their ce from farther within the caverns.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°I have a method to take them down, but I will need you to keep them off me for at least a few minute while I focus.ˇ± Quilon said in between strikes with his sword.

    Rushing Quillon into the middle of their encirclement, the others tightened up their defenses around him and gave him time and room to work.

    Sheathing his sword and holding it out in front of him, he took a deep breath and began concentrating.

    He extended his senses around the room picking up everyone single one of the rays and focusing on them.

    Quickly he felt a huge mental strain on his mind as he targeted down thousands of these monsters who ranged from level one all the way up to the upper fifties.

    There were so many of them that it almost seemed unfathomable, but he kept going, pushing himself to his limit to cover the entire room and beyond

    During this time everyone else kept the rays away, shing out with their weapons or unleashing attacks of pure mana.

    Certainly, they were cutting them down many times over, but it was like a never-ending supply of these monster existed in this area.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Zareen!ˇ±

    Screaming out in distress, Lilia who had been fighting near her beastpanions watched as Zareen got one of her legs wrapped up by the long tail of one of the rays.

    Fortunately, as a golden lion her fur was near imprable and the barb had failed to stab into her, but she was still being dragged away into the swarm where her death would be certain.

    Running to the rescue Roxene tore through the rayˇŻs tail and freed Zareen, though in the process more of the raysshed out at her.

    ˇ°Awooooo.ˇ±

    Using her howl of day unique skill, Roxene created a massive st of light that engulfed the area in front of her, and hundreds of the rays burned away to ash.

    However, therge hole in their swarm that she had caused was quickly filled in as more came to take their ce.

    ˇ®Damn it, they are never ending. If only they did not have that weird magic disrupting ability that they can use as a group, this would be much easier. Me and Mraz could then kill them by the thousands.ˇŻ Marcus thought, as he twisted his scythe around and cleaved through multiple of these rays.<sub></sub>

    Even as Fallon, Mrazivy, and Lyra used their breath attack and cleared out a huge area, it seemed that there was no end to the thousands of these rays.

    To make matters worse, some farrger ones soon appeared, and in the middle of them was a massive sting ray with five tails that seemed to be propagating the smaller rays.

    Seeing this Marcus could only be reminded of the ice ant colony he had seen, and liken these rays to an even nastier version.

    Of course, they all wanted to go and kill the big boss, but they still needed to protect Quillon and there was no guarantee that would help them out of their current situation.

    ˇ°Ow!ˇ± Lilia scream, as one of the rays finally connected against a bit of the flesh that her armor did not protect.

    Immediately the area around her right elbow where she had been hit began to swell up, and for a moment her arm went numb.

    Luckily here unique skill peerless physique gave her a heavy resistance to poisons and toxins, and the swelled area began to tense and excrete the venom that had been injected.

    In only a dozen or so seconds, Lilia was able to move her arm again, when a normal person even at her level would have been incapacitated for a day just from that one sting.

    ˇ®Shit, the bigger ones are getting into the fight now.ˇŻ

    Seeing that therger ones surrounding the ray matriarch were making their move, Marcus began to grimace.

    Six of them were charging forward, with one heading towards each of their strongest fighters.

    This would keep all of them busy for at least a few seconds and in that time the smaller ones would have free reign to jump in and attack.

    Making use of their strength in numbers, the rays no longer waited tentatively around and fully swarmed towards Marcus and his group now that their leaders had engaged as well.

    They threaten to overrun all of them until right before they attack, Quillon opened his eyes.

    ˇ®Ten Great Techniques, Absolute Field.ˇŻ

    Using one of the powers of his supreme skill, a glowing orange sphere extended around Quillon that epassed the entire cavern, and those that were beyond for a thousand meters in every direction.

    Then he quickly pulled out his sword and shed downwards.

    With that one quick motion a ripple was sent out through the entirety of his supreme skill, and every single one of the rays in the area that he had meticulously targeted were hit by his sh.

    In an instant, thousands of the weaker rays below level thirty-five were cut in half, and all of the others were horribly injured or even killed by QuillonˇŻs attack.

    The sound of falling corpses resounded throughout the area, and quickly a flood of purple blood soaked the floor of the cavern.

    In fact, so many corpses piled up around them that it was impossible to see past them. As all that was in front of them were dead rays piled high like a mountain.

    Dropping to one knee Quillon breathed heavily while clutching his head.

    It had taken an enormous amount of mental capacity, mana, and stamina to unleash an attack on thisrge of a scale which was something he had never done before.

    Nevertheless, it was impossible to argue the results, as he had just gotten them out of a heavy bind with that one attack.

    Still, some of the rays had survived, but there was one in particr Marcus had no intention of letting live.

 Chapter 547 The Hidden Treasure Within the Crystal Caverns

    ˇ°All of you wait here, I am going after the leader to make sure it does not regroup ande back again.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus went into his ghost form and phased through the piles of corpses and barely clinging to life rays. Flying in the direction he hadst seen the flying ray matriarch.

    Catching up the fleeing rays, he found his target flying along with some of the other stronger of its kin who had managed to survive QuillonˇŻs attack.

    Looking at them he could see that they had all taken a bit of damage, as blood trickled down wounds on their backs from the sh Quillon had delivered.

    ˇ®Level sixty-one. It certainly is strong, but monsters like these that propagate quickly tend to be weaker individually.ˇŻ

    Floating overhead, Marcus reappeared right above the ray matriarch and shed down with his scythe as he imbued it with the power of his supreme skill.

    Naturally the ray noticed his attack as soon as it had begun due to its own danger sense skill, but it was just too slow andrge to dodge MarcusˇŻ surprise attack.

    Cutting into its thick skin, Marcus pushed down with all his might and then yanked back with everything he had. Slicing one of the matriarch rayˇŻs wings off.

    With one wing now gone the huge flying ray dipped towards the ground and crashed, skidding across the surface for dozens of feet before smashing into arge pir of crystal.<sub>.</sub>

    Immediately the remaining rayˇŻs that were acting as their leaderˇŻs guard swarmed towards Marcus to kill him.

    ˇ®Death Dance.ˇŻ

    Disappearing in a blur Marcus began spinning around the area and dispatched one ray after the other with his quick and fluid shes.

    They simply stood no chance against him under the effect of his supreme skill and strongest attack skill, especially since they were injured from QuillonˇŻs earlier attack.

    Soon, all of the remaining rayˇŻsy dead except for the matriarch that was clinging on to life.

    ˇ®Let me see if you can block this one your own.ˇŻ

    Whipping his hand forward Marcus unleashed a darkness drill that shot towards the huge matriarch rayˇŻs head.

    As soon as he did this, she began emitting that high pitched buzzing sound all of the other rays had and MarcusˇŻ spell began to be unstable.<sub></sub>

    Still, on its own she was unable topletely disrupt MarcusˇŻs magic, and even though it lost around a third of its power it still bored right into her head and ended her life.

    Seeing the enemy that had given them so much trouble dead, Marcus smirked and floated over to her.

    Quickly he began cutting up the matriarch rayˇŻs corpse and pulled out a vibrant dark green magic core.

    Next her removed the tails and cut away a portion of its hide which could be used to make some strong armor in the future.

    Once he had finished up here, he returned to hispanions and found them all sitting on a raised tform of ice Mrazivy had made in order to avoid being soaked in blood.

    Landing back down he looked at all of them and gave a smile, before saying, ˇ°I got the rest of the big ones.ˇ±

    Nodding their heads and thanking him, all of them were happy that they were not going to get another surprise visit from a swarm of flying crystal rays in the future.

    ˇ°But seriously what were those things? They came out of nowhere and there were so many of them.ˇ± Lyra said exasperated by what had just happened.<sub></sub>

    Of course, none of them really knew what to tell her other than what they had gleamed from their appraisal skills.

    ˇ°We just got unlucky and ran into a swarm of monsters. I mean we have been traveling for days, so I suppose it was inevitable that we were going to run into something at some point.ˇ± James said being the most experienced one here.

    He had encountered his fair share of monster nests while out on patrolling with his sky knights, and this was not the first time he had been surrounded by and endless swarm.

    ˇ°Though we do need to give it up to you Quillon. You really saved us back there with that attack of yours.ˇ± Fallon said, giving credit to Quillon who was still panting heavily.

    After FallonˇŻs acknowledgement everyone else thanked Quilon as well, since they would have been in quite the dangerous situation without him.

    ˇ°Well maybe we are getting close to whatever I was told was down here. It might be that these monsters were guarding an invaluable tressure.ˇ± Marcus said, having a sinking feeling that something was nearby.

    Normally really powerful monsters made their homes around natural treasures or areas that had elemental crystals growing in them.

    These areas were typically full of ambient mana and allowed for a higher rate of growth that monsters and beast were naturally drawn towards.

    Sitting around everyone discussed what they should do next, and the answer was unanimous for them to continue exploring deeper into the caverns.

    They had been down here for five days now and seen plenty of amazing sights.

    If they all decided to leave at the first sign of trouble this would not have been much of an adventure.

    After giving themselves a few hours to recuperate, everyone was once again ready to go.

    To start things off Mrazivy froze all of the corpses around them using her tier six raging tundra spell a half dozen times.

    To follow up, Marcus used his cataclysmic iron sword as a drilled and sted his way through the frozen remains of the flying rays.

    Quickly they dug their ways out of the mounds of corpses and back into open space where Marcus had dispatched the fleeing rays.

    ˇ°I already gather the best materials off of the higher-level ones, so no need to check on that. Let us keep continuing down this way, and maybe we will find their home.ˇ± Marcus said as he saw Lilia approached the rays to carve out their materials.

    Of course, they could have collected what was left of the small fires they had killed, but that could have taken weeks for only subpar materials that held little value to any of them.

    Moving onward, the walked down heading deeper as the caverns sloped downwards.

    They walked continuing down for around thirty minutes, when finally, they saw a bright light ahead that was uncharacteristic for how deep below the surface they were.

    At first some of them thought maybe it was a pool of magma, but the quickly realized that was unlikely because the glow was incredibly soft and there was no heat.

    Heading towards it, they soon found themselves in an open area that was breathtaking.

    All across the ceiling were crystals that gave off light like the sun, and in the middle was a hugeke that was being filled up from above, as a dozen or so waterfalls drained down from the ceiling.

    Yet while the natural beauty of this area was impable. something else quickly grabbed everyoneˇŻs attention as they looked into the middle of theke where a massive structure stood.

    Immediately everyone recognized what it was and stared at the gates that led into a dungeon no one had probably ever entered.

 Chapter 548 Realization of Self Perfection

    Looking at the gates to the dungeon before them everyone was a bit surprised.

    Certainly, it was possible that something like this might reside down here, but discovering a new dungeon was a pretty big deal.

    However, before they could head over and investigate, more of the flying crystal rays came down to attack them.

    It appeared that his was indeed their home. Though they had already killed most of them in the other caverns, so they cleaned up the remained that attacked them with rtive ease.

    Once that was done, they all decided to scout out the rest of the area, before going to check on what they assumed to be a dungeon, in order make sure they did not get blindsided by some other powerful beasts or monsters.

    Luckily it appeared that the rays were the only thing that had inhabited the area.

    ˇ°I suppose that it would take a pretty formidable beast or monster to be able to survive having to fight against those ray monsters all time.ˇ± Mrazivy said off handedly when they were finished searching around thergeke that had the dungeon sitting in the middle of it.

    With everything seeming safe, they began walking over to the dungeon as Mrazivy froze a path for them to walk on.

    They had already checked theke, or more specially Marcus in his ghost form had, and found that nothing lived in it.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°It is pretty impressive up close.ˇ± Lilia said in awe of the giant ornate doors

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed with her as he examined the intricate carvings on the doors.

    They depicted what looked like the fiercest warriors and beasts, but also in ces there were schrs writing in tomes, and craftsmen creating masterpieces.

    Truly it was a weird mashup, but eventually Marcus realized that the theme was probably those that were experts in their field, be it physical prowess or the arts.

    Except as they all looked at this dungeon entrance, they realized that something was different.

    ˇ®Wait! why are the doors closed? At the Ocean Bluff Temple, and Cordillera Depths, it was just an open archway that led into the dungeon.ˇŻ

    Of course, Marcus was not the only one who thought this, as none of them had ever seen a dungeon that was sealed before.

    ˇ°Are we sure this is a dungeon. I know it gives off the same feel due to its design and size, but maybe it was built a long time ago by some people that used to live down here.ˇ± Lyra suggested.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®If that were the case, why were their no other buildings around? And why would this one doorway that honestly seems to lead to nowhere be here? Marcus thought.

    ˇ°No, I believe it is a dungeon. Maybe it is just closed because we are the first ones here?ˇ± Mrazivy said giving her spection.

    Shaking his head, James said, ˇ°I am not sure about that. I have read records of when the Ocean Bluff Temple appeared, and it did not have any sort of doors like this.ˇ±

    As they all pondered about this dungeon entrance, Roxene just rolled her eyes and sighed, before walking up to the doors.

    She actually knew what this was since she had been apprised of certain entities and ces within the world before being sent here.

    cing her paw on the door, a bright light lit up and a shimmering glow began illuminating their group.

    Then the light disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, and the doors began opening.

    Looking inside once they had fully opened, all that was visible was a set of stairs leading downwards.<sub></sub>

    Yet as Roxene tried to walk inside, Marcus picked her up and said, ˇ°Woah not so fast. Where are you going before we check this out to make sure it is safe?ˇ±

    Going Lax in his arms, Roxene said, ˇ®While I cannot tell you what I know about this ce, I can at least say that it will be safe for us to enter, and it would be best if you and I go first just in case.ˇŻ

    After saying this to Marcus, Roxene nodded her head towards the entrance beckoning him to go in.

    ˇ°Roxene and I are going to take a look first. I will contact all of you once we make sure it is safe.ˇ± Marcus said as he looked back at everyone else.

    Though Mrazivy and Lyra were hesitant to send him in alone with just Roxene, but ultimately, they relented when Marcus said that he could make a quicker escape with just Roxene if necessary

    Turning back towards the doorway, he entered inside and headed down the stairs, still holding Roxene in his arms.

    Soon they made it to the bottom of the stairs, and he entered into arge room with nothing in it except arge circle in the middle.

    However, before he could investigate further, the circle lit up and a person appeared out of it.

    Walking out form the circle, this middle-aged woman with ck hair approached Marcus and Roxene, yet Marcus immediately understood that something was not right here.

    ˇ®My life sense is not picking anything up.ˇŻ

    He then tried to appraise her, but nothing came back. It was as if his skill had simply not found an entity to lock onto and failed.

    ˇ°Hello and wee to special dungeon number eleven, ˇ®Realization of Self PerfectionˇŻ. I am the guardian that watches over this ce. Would the two of you wish to be registered as users?ˇ±

    ˇ®Yes, we would.ˇŻ Roxene said before Marcus could respond.

    And even though she had used her telepathy, the figure that Marcus was uncertain about said, ˇ°Understood, you have been registered as users one and two out of twenty-one.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus looked confused, not understanding what was going on, while Roxene looked enthused.

    ˇ®Okay you can call the others in. I just had to make sure that we got registered, which is why I had us go in first. But since there are enough spots for everyone, it is all good.ˇŻ Roxene said to Marcus with quite the content look on her face.

    Still, Marcus did not know what she was on about, and asked Roxene what was going on

    ˇ®I already told you I cannot say. I made a promise to the administrator. Anyway, it does not matter anyway. The guardian will exin everything to you if you want. So, ask your questions to her.ˇŻ

    Sighing, Marcus looked down at his mischievouspanion before turning his head back towards the guardian of this special dungeon.

    ˇ°Could you tell me what this ce is and its purpose?ˇ±

    ˇ°Understood. This is a special dungeon designed for limited entry. Its purpose is to test the skills and knowledge of those who enter, and to help advance their qualities to their peak.ˇ± The guardian said in a monotone voice void of expression.

    At this point Marcus realized that this guardian was probably more like some type of AI, which was why he had not gotten anything back from his life sense or appraisal skill.

    ˇ°Well, at least that answers the question of why you wanted to go first so bad. I am guessing that only twenty-one people in total can use this ce.ˇ±

    Nodding her head Roxene gave confirmation that Marcus was on point.

    Shaking his head he could only brush off RoxeneˇŻs obvious selfishness, and called the others inside so that they could properly explore what this special dungeon had to offer.

 Chapter 549 Entering the Special Dungeon

    Once everyone else had joined them down in the entrance to the special dungeon, Marcus exined what he knew of the situation to them.

    ˇ°I see, a dungeon that only a certain number of people can enter. Cannot say I have ever heard of anything like that.ˇ± Quillon said as they all looked at him expectantly.

    They had been hoping that his, and more recently MrazivyˇŻs master the sword savant, might have told him something about dungeons like these.

    Unfortunately, it was a bust, and none of them knew anything about these so-called special dungeons other than Roxene who could not divulge her information.

    ˇ°Well, you said that this one was number eleven so there are probably at least that many. But if only so many can enter these types of dungeons, I doubt that anyone would want to publicize their existence or locations.ˇ± James said, throwing in his opinion.

    ˇ°Also, it was difficult for even us to get down here. Obviously, I do not mean to act arrogant, but we are not weakpared to the majority of people. Only so many individuals or groups would have what it takes to push there way into a ce like this that was home to a huge monster swarm.ˇ± Lyra said.

    Nodding their heads, everyone was in agreement with both JamesˇŻ and LyraˇŻs spection.

    If these special dungeons were this far out of the way and guarded by powerful monsters, it would be difficult to juste across one.

    In fact, if it had not been for the tip the administrator had given Marcus, they probably never would have even found this ce.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Still, what do we do now? I think that we should head back to the castle and get reinforcements and more information.ˇ± James said.

    Of course, the practical option would have been to head back and enlist the aid of people like Aria or even Gwyneira.

    It was likely that one of them might know something more about this dungeon, and at the very least having their help would be a huge boon.

    However, Marcus, Mrazivy, Quillon, and even Lilia disagreed.

    ˇ°This is an adventure for all of us. Facing the unknown is part of the experience.ˇ± Mrazivy said, her adventurerˇŻs spirit zing.

    ˇ°I agree we came down all this way to explore and face harrowing situations. I say we stay and see it through.ˇ± Quillon said, always up for a challenge.

    ˇ°I want to stay as well. I want to get stronger so that I do not hold any of you back anymore.ˇ± Lilia said, a fire burning in her eyes.

    ˇ°Well, you heard them, James. We came for an adventure and found one. No need to head back now.ˇ± Marcus said with a big grin on his face.<sub></sub>

    Sighing, James could see that he was not going to convince them to wait.

    As amanding officer he was always used to making the best decision to keep his knights from taking casualties, so in situations like these he would not risk their lives over something this unknown.

    Nevertheless, he was not here as the leader of a unit but a member of a party.

    With all of them now on board, they began preparing to enter the special dungeon which was certainly different from a normal one.

    To start, the entrance here was actually just a teleportation gate that would take them to a different area that was separated from the rest of the world. Or at least this is what the guardian had told them.

    As for what they might expect to encounter, it was apparentlypletely up to chance ording to the guardian.

    Though while they had not gleamed too much information from the guardian, they at least learned that this dungeon had one hundred floors, and that they could only leave after clearing ten.

    Therefore, there was a decent amount of risk by entering, but that was not stopping any of them from wanting to try it out and see what sort of treasures could be found in a special dungeon.<sub></sub>

    In the best-case scenario, they might obtain some unique skill orbs and high-level crafting materials.

    Still just because they were going in without consulting anyone, did not mean that they were not making sure to be prepared.

    ˇ°Okay, everyone has at least one lesser elixir and five greater healing potions, right?ˇ± Marcus said while taking supplies out of his item box.

    He had been carrying most of their equipment in hisrge dimensional storage, but dungeons could get hectic and its was important that everyone have their own methods of healing themselves.

    Naturally this included the beastpanions who each had a magic bag tied around their necks to carry anything they might need.

    When everyone gave their acknowledgment, Marcus began pulling out some other random potions and handed them out to those who wanted them.

    Soon, they had finished preparing their supplies and worked on formation strategies.

    They had no idea what they might face so it was better to be cautious.

    ˇ°Okay, Blitz, Lilia, Roxene, Aurelia, and Zareen will take the middle where it is safest, while James, Fallon, Eirwen, and I will take point. Mrazivy, Lyra, Aerial, and Quillon, you guys will handle the rear.ˇ±

    Nodding their heads, everyone was fine with their rolls and ready to get going.

    They had traveled down here in search of something spectacr, and while just the caverns themselves were impresses. Compared to this special dungeon they were just the icing on the cake.

    Though before they went over to the teleportation circle, James turned towards the guardian, and asked, ˇ°Are you sure that there is nothing else you can tell us about this ce?ˇ±

    Unfortunately, the projection of the woman just shook her head, and said, ˇ°I have already exined everything as my parameters dictate. You will need to find out what lies within the ˇ®Realization of Self PerfectionˇŻ on your own.ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulders, James thought it was worth a try, even though it seemed they had gotten all of the information they were going to.

    After that their group of thirteen moved over to the teleportation circle and waited to be sent into the special dungeon that only allowed a limited number of people to enter.

    Luckily, they were the first ones to have found the ce, and there were enough slots for all of them to be registered as users. Though they did take the majority, only having left eight slots for anyone in the future.

    ˇ°Commence entrance to the Realization of Self Perfection.ˇ±

    As soon as Marcus said this, the teleportation circle under them began glowing and in an instant all of them were warped away.

    Feeling this familiar sensation of being teleported, Marcus braced himself for whatever might appear on the other side when they all reached their destination.

    A momentter he felt himself on solid ground again, and he quickly looked around to gain his bearings.

    Yet, as he did, he realized that something very wrong had happened.

    They had all entered the teleportation circle at the same time, but now he was all alone in a stone room that had torches lining the walls.

    ˇ°What the hell happened!? Where is everyone else!?ˇ±

 Chapter 550 Separated

    Seeing that he was all alone and that everyone from his party was gone, Marcus fanatically tried contacting them with a sending stone.

    Unfortunately, he was unable to connect with anyone, either because he was too far away or there was some type of interference.

    Next, he tired reaching out to Blitz or Roxene. But to his surprise, his connection with them through his seals did not go through.

    ˇ®What the hell is going on? This has never happened before.ˇŻ

    Bing more and more frantic Marcus was feeling a sense of dread, since all connection to his friends and family were got off.

    ˇ®Screw this, I am going to find them.ˇŻ

    Throwing any care for the special dungeon to the side, Marcus turned towards the wall and went to phase through it and try physically searching for any of hispanions.

    However, to his surprise for the first time in a very long while, he hit some sort of energy field he could not pass through.

    ˇ®Rending Void.ˇŻ

    Panic setting in, if he could not slip out in his ghost form, he would force his way out.

    mming his tier six darkness magic spell into the wall as hard as he could, he expected to smash right through what appeared to be ordinary stone.<sub>.</sub>

    Yet even his rending void spell, just crashed against it and dispersed without a scratch.

    ˇ®FUCK!ˇŻ

    Reaching the height of his frustration, Marcus felt so helpless being trapped in this room.

    ˇ®Fine, all or nothing. Let me see if this wall can take everything I have.ˇŻ

    Activating his supreme skill and pulling out his focusing lenses and scythe. Marcus prepared to unleash all of his power against what appeared to be a simple stone wall, when his danger sense went off like crazy.

    Going ethereal, he expected whatever wasing at him to pass right through, but instead he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder where somethingtched on to him.

    Immediately he felt a draining sensation, as this creature chewed on him and absorbed his spiritual energy.

    ˇ®Get off me!ˇŻ

    Still infuriated from being separated from everyone, Marcus conjured his iron sphere and crashed it against the beast that was taking a bite out of him.

    As this happened, he heard a high-pitched screech and the creature that was munching on his shoulder was knocked off.<sub></sub>

    Turning around and facing it, he saw that it looked like a pure white eel with red eyes, and four small ws at the front of its body.

    Except along with the one that had first attacked him while he was distracted trying to break out, there were seven more for eight in total.

    ˇ®Damn it! I do not have time for this. I need to find the others somehow.ˇŻ Marcus thought, as he stared down these beasts that were circling around and eyeing him warily.

    ˇ®Tch.ˇŻ

    Clicking his tongue as he appraised these beasts. Marcus found that all eight of them were the same level as him at level fifty.

    But that was the least of his problems, as his appraisal also revealed their race, and they were something called spirit eaters.

    ˇ®This is just great. Special dungeon, more like death trap.ˇŻ

    Seeing that he was up against a group of foes that specifically hunted his race, Marcus was feeling a bit of pressure.

    He already knew that they could hurt him, and pretty badly at that.

    Just the one small bite from earlier had drain about three percent of his HP, and a small portion of his spiritual energy.<sub></sub>

    If he was not careful, he could actually wind up losing to these beasts that were his natural enemy.

    ˇ®Laser.ˇŻ

    Using his fastest spell, Marcus aimed to cleave one of them in half in one move but found that was harder than he anticipated.

    For some reason these spirit eaters were able to go ethereal themselves, and his magic had passed right through without any resistance.

    After seeing this though, he just imbued his spell with spiritual energy to hit them.

    However, as the spell came at them, the spirit eaters opened their mouths and sucked the spiritual energy right out of his spell.

    Staring in disbelief Marcus could not believe how stupidly busted these things were.

    It seemed that they truly were his worst enemy, and that he had no way to deal with them.

    ˇ®But why are they not attacking me?ˇŻ

    Looking around at the spirit eaters, he waited for them to attack again, but they seemed wary of him and were waiting to for him to initiate.

    ˇ®Fine, let me let me see how you handle this.ˇŻ

    Exerting his phantom pressure, he pressed down on the closest one, and luckily this time his ability had an effect.

    Immediately the spirit eater he had targeted began to slow down and crashed towards the floor.

    Smirking, Marcus was happy to find something that worked, and was about to move in to finish this one off when the others surrounded it.

    They then opened their mouths and sucked in the spiritual energy that was being used to created his phantom pressure.

    Shutting the specter power off, Marcus felt that it was only draining his spiritual energy, as they ate it up like an all you can eat buffet.

    ˇ®If there were just one of them that would have worked fine, but with this many any attack I send out at any individual just gets eaten by the others. How the hell am I supposed to deal with them?ˇŻ

    Stuck between eight spirit eaters, Marcus could not think off much to do.

    He thought maybe he could just charge in and try to swiftly chop them up before they could respond, but he doubted this would work.

    They had been able to react to hisser spell, which was his fastest attack, so he was pretty sure they could respond to him jumping at them.

    ˇ®Well, I have to try something. Time to get reckless.ˇŻ

    Seeing that caution was getting him nowhere, he began increasing the output of his supreme skill, and coalesced all of its power around him in preparation for one of his biggest attacks.

    ˇ®Let me see if you can dodge or eat this.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Eclipse Meteor.ˇŻ

    Using one of his strongest attacks, he collided straight into the floor of the room he was in and caused a huge explosion of light and darkness that he had imbued with his spiritual energy.

    He figured if precise attacks were not going to work, he might as well used everything he had in one big move.

    Quickly the fairly small room waspletely engulfed in MarcusˇŻs attack.

    Yet while it was an attack that normally would have decimated any area it was used in, the floor, ceiling, and walls of this room did not even obtain a scratch on them.

    Though the spirit eaters could not say the same, as they were hit by the darkness and light that was imbued with spiritual energy and took a sizable amount of damage.

    Sadly, not a single one of them died, as they drained the spiritual energy from MarcusˇŻ attack, lessening its effectiveness while also using the energy to heal themselves.

    When his attack cleared, naturally Marcus saw this, and he grimaced since his big all or nothing attack had failed to finish off a single one of his enemies.

 Chapter 551 Marcus vs Spirit Eaters

    With his eclipse meteor failing to finish off the spirit eaters that he found himself fighting against, Marcus was at a loss as to what to do.

    He had tried a number of his spells, skills, and abilities and found that they were all barely effective at best.

    Even one of his strongest moves the eclipse meteor had failed to kill them, and the damage they had taken was quickly vanishing.

    Seeing this, Marcus knew that he was in for a world of trouble, especially due to the fact that using his full powered attack had worn him out quite a bit.

    ˇ®I could use it three, no probably only two more times before exhausting myself. I doubt that would be enough to kill them. Hm maybe if I used soul burst it might be strong enough?ˇŻ

    Trying to think off a way to get out of this, Marcus ran some simtions in his head, but none of them seemed favorable.

    Even if he used soul burst, if he was not able to kill all of them within three minutes he would be screwed.

    Also, there was the possibility that he might be thrown into another battle immediately after he defeated these spirit eaters, and if his stats were quartered, he would stand no chance against just about anything.

    ˇ®Voltaic bombardment.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Fire Storm.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Quasar st.ˇŻ

    Firing off a barrage of wide range spells, he tried to catch the spirit eaters off guard, but he met the same results as before. With his spiritual energy being eaten and his spells passing harmlessly though the spirit eaters.<sub>.</sub>

    At this rate he was just wasting energy and with histest attempt failing, he decided to calm down a bit and think carefully about his next move.

    The spirit eaters seemed content to just siphon off his power slowly from afar and let him wear himself out.

    But he wondered why they were doing this when earlier one of them had attacked him.

    Certainly, he had not been paying attention to them at that time, but it did not make sense that they had refrained from attacking again when they seemed to have the upper hand.

    However, as he thought about it, he realized that he had managed to get in a solid hit when the first one had bitten him.

    His iron sphere had connected cleanly and caused a good deal of damage.

    ˇ®I guess my only option is to be a deadly chew toy.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he deactivated his supreme skill.

    For his strategy he was not going to need its power boost, and right now all it was doing was draining him and bringing him closer to defeat.

    Then once he was ready, he sighed and walked forward towards the spirit eaters.

    At first, they backed off, wary of whatever tricks Marcus might have.

    But as he just stood there his arms open as if he was inviting them in, the first few of themtched onto him.<sub></sub>

    As they bit down, he felt a sharp pain in his form, and his spiritual energy began being drained at an exponential rate.

    Still, he waited.

    He needed at least all but one or two of them to be attacking him at the same time.

    Luckily the others could not resist the veritable feast that seemed to be offering itself up to them, and quickly Marcus had all eight of the spirit eater had attached to him.

    It was a horrible feeling as he was chewed on and had his essence sucked out from him, but this was all a part of his strategy.

    ˇ®Two can y at this game.ˇŻ

    With all of the spirit eaters in ce for him to initiate the next part of his n, Marcus actived his life drain specter power.

    He rarely used this ability due to it needing to be activated by touch, but right now it was the perfect counter to these spirit eaters.

    It was a race to see who could drain who first.

    Would their lives give out before MarcusˇŻ, or would they be able to eat him before losing their lives?

    ˇ®Oh, you are not getting away.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    When they felt their own lives beginning to be taken away, the spirit eaters tried to detach from Marcus, but he used his tendrils of shadows to wrap them up and keep them affixed to himself.

    This also helped to increase the power of his life drain, and the fight for who couldst the longest continued.

    Unfortunately, it seemed that Marcus was going to be the loser in the end at this rate.

    It was eight on one, and these spirit eaters specialized in eating his kind and were long lived begins that had a lot of life to give.

    ˇ®I did not want it toe to this, but I do not have much of a choice.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Soul Devour.ˇŻ

    Realizing that life drain was not going to be enough, Marcus used the unique skill he tried to keep sealed away due to its heavy negative bacsh.

    But it was do or die time, and the spirit eaters were not the only ones that could eat souls.

    Quickly Marcus began draining both the life and souls away from the spirit eaters, who began iling around in his tendrils of shadows.

    They had even stopped trying to eat him, feeling their impending dooming.

    Of course, had they continued eating instead of trying to flee they might have had a chance of winning, but MarcusˇŻ strength only rose as he took in the life force and souls of the spirit eaters.

    In fact, he was pretty much taking back his own soul that the spirit eaters had been feasting on, and soon he was back up to his peak.

    ˇ®I need to stop now.ˇŻ Shutting off his soul devour before he actually ate the souls of the spirit eaters, he instead allowed his life drain to finish them off.

    This way he would not have to deal with the heavier bacsh of consuming and integrating a soul into him, which had led to a number of issues in the past.

    When thest spirit eater was a dried-up husk having its life drained away, Marcus copsed onto his knees.

    He hadpletely exhausted himself during this battle and the use of soul devour had not helped him in anyway.

    At least he had mitigated its effects by not going all in, but he still felt like he had a fevering on from having his soul torn apart and put back together multiple times.

    ˇ®I hope I never have to fight those things again.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he rolled over onto his side.

    ˇ°Congrattions, you have passed the trial of the first floor. Your rewards shall arrive shortly and afterwards you may advance to the second floor.ˇ±

    Hearing the voice of the guardian, Marcus looked around for her to give her a piece of his mind, but found that I was just some sort of automated announcement.

    Around five minutester a small treasure chest appeared in the room, like one that might be obtained after a boss fight in a normal dungeon.

    ˇ®Ugh this had better be good for how hard I struggled here.ˇŻ

    Moving up to the chest he opened it up and was unimpressed by the contents.

    Inside were simply two ingots of adamantine.

    And while normally he would have been pretty happy to receive this. After the fight he had just had, he was hoping for something a bit more impressive.

    ˇ®Great this is all that I got. I was hoping that I might at least get some rare skill orb, or maybe some really high tier elemental crystals.ˇŻ

    Sighing, Marcus picked up the two adamantine bars and stored them away into his item box.

    They were still worth a lot and his supply was pretty low after he had made new equipment for himself and Lilia.

    ˇ®It looks like I really am stuck here though. Even after everything I unleashed the walls are still pristine. I just hope everyone else is okay, but if they are facing simr battles, it could be bad.ˇŻ

    Feeling his fearing back up now that his life was no longer in danger, Marcus could only worry about his friends and family.

    He was especially worried about Lilia since she was the weakest one of them, and if she was fighting beasts or monster that were at level fifty there was no way she could get out of it alive.

    ˇ®I can only hope that this special dungeon is not that cruel. Yes, it is more likely that it just pits you up against same level enemies that are difficult for you to personally deal with.ˇŻ

    Coming up with a rational exnation for how this dungeon worked, Marcus tried to force his trepidation down.

    He had nearly died in his battle against the spirit eaters, and he was afraid that everyone else was having simr problems, and that someone might actually die.

    ˇ®No, I need to stop thinking like that. They will all be fine. Now I need to continue so I can meet back up with them after clearing ten floors.ˇŻ

 Chapter 552 Liliaâ€™s Challenge

    As soon as her sight returned to her, Lilia looked in front of her to where Marcus should have been.

    Yet as she looked around, she found that everyone one was gone and that she was all alone.

    Panic setting in, she was worried about what had happened, and just as Marcus had when he first found himself alone, she tried to contact the others.

    Unfortunately, the results were exactly the same for her as it had been for Marcus, and everyone else that had tired to contact each other.

    ˇ®It should be fine. All of them are incredibly strong and wille to find me.ˇŻ Lilia thought as she slumped up against the walls.

    Unlike Marcus who went into a panic, she just leaned back and waited for help to arrive. Havingpletely faith in her big brother and friends.

    However, this was her challenge and hers alone, and the special dungeon had prepared a suitable enemy for her as well.

    Dropping down on top of her from the ceiling, was a massive slime that had blended in and aimed to engulf her in one go.

    Luckily LiliaˇŻs danger sense allowed her to detect the iing monster and dash away right as itnded where she had been moments ago.

    Seeing the enemy jump down and try to grab her, Lilia went right into action

    She was no stranger to battle, and this was not her first time fighting inside a dungeon.

    ˇ°Force Cannon.ˇ±

    Quickly chanting her tier two spell, Lilia unleashed a st of pure force that smashed right into the slime.

    Arge explosion then rippled through it, and the slimeˇŻs form was burst apart by LiliaˇŻs magic.

    Smiling, she was happy that she was able to easily deal with her opponent and turned around to make sure there were not any other enemies around.<sub>.</sub>

    Except as she did, the slime began putting itself back together and lunged its body towards her.

    Being caught off guard because she thought she had already won, Lilia even with her danger sense was a bit slow in dodging, and her left arm got caught by the slime.

    ˇ°Ahhhh!ˇ±

    Feeling a sharp stinging pain in her arm, Lilia let out a loud anguished scream.

    The instant the slime had touched her, the skin on her arm began to burn away and a sickly steam came off her as it dissolved her flesh.

    Activating her mithril gauntlets and armor, Lilia, punched at the slime with her other arm trying to knock it off.

    Of course, her fist did no damage to this slime that was immune to physical attacks, and instead she now had both of her arms trapped and dissolving.

    This was not all either, as the slime slowly began pulling her into itself so that it couldpletely devour her.

    Pulling back with all her might Lilia tried to wrench herself free, but the slime just continued wrapping around her, and her body began steaming as it pushed into her armor.

    ˇ°Force Wave!ˇ±

    Casting her tier four spell, Lilia knocked back the slime with magic, which smashed into it and sted it apart once again.

    Copsing onto her knees, she had tears falling down her face as she felt the unbearable pain of the acid burns all over her body and especially her left arm.

    In fact, as she looked towards her left arm, she saw that all of the flesh and muscle in a few areas were gone, and she could see her exposed bone.

    ˇ®That did not take it out!ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Seeing the slime beginning to reform even after taking her force wave, Lilia gritted her teeth and got up.

    She then ran to the other end of the room to put as much distance away from this slime as she could, before taking out one of the greater healing potions Marcus had given her.

    Quickly she drank the entire potion, and the injuries on her body began to rapidly recover and even the destroyed muscle began to mend itself.

    Still the process was painful, probably the most painful thing Lilia had ever experienced, and she screamed out before copsing on the ground as it happened.

    At the very least it was over quickly, and thanks to her peerless physique unique skill she was able to repair most of the damage even with just one potion.

    Standing back up she saw that the slime after putting itself together was relentlesslying right for her.

    Swiftly she began chanting another spell, seeing that her physical attacks did not have any effect.

    ˇ°Force Barrier.ˇ±

    Creating a dome of pure force around her, Lilia kept the slime form getting to her as it threw itself against the barrier.

    It then tired wrapping itself around the magic spell, but its acidic body could not find much purchase on the force barrier that could not be melted.

    Nevertheless, this was only a temporary solution for Lilia, since eventually she would run out of mana if she kept this up for too much longer.

    ˇ®Think Lilia, Think! If I cannot hit it, and my force attacks only disrupt it, what else do I have?ˇŻ

    With her core skillset not having much of any effect on her opponent, she had to start thinking about what else she had one her.

    Marcus had given her a number of items, a majority of which were potions to either boost or heal herself.<sub></sub>

    Sadly, none of those were going to be much help, but soon she remembered that he had given him another set of items that might be useful.

    Opening her item box, she pulled out an ornate looking wand that had a fire elemental crystal at the tip of it.

    This was one of a set of elemental wands that Marcus had given her in case she ever needed them.

    Opening up a hole in her force barrier, Lilia allowed the slime to wriggle its way in and pointed the wand at it.

    Pouring her mana into it, the wand began glowing before it unleashed the tier two fire magic spell methrower.

    As soon as the mes hit the acid slime that had been trying to eat Lilia, it began bubbling and a green steam beganing off of its body.

    However, the slime just continued to push through the mes and towards Lilia.

    The spell cast from the wand was simply not strong enough to take down an opponent at this level on its own even if it weak to it.

    Grimacing, Lilia could see that her attack from the wand was only semi-effective, and not going to be enough.

    Jumping back away from the slime as it approached her, she had no intention of letting it catch her again.

    Pulling out another wand she aimed it forward and fired off a lighting javelin spell.

    Unfortunately, this one was even less effective than the methrower spell and simply discharged within the slime.

    Trying another wand Lilia pulled out he one with ice magic sealed within it and touched it to the ground.

    Quickly the floor began to freeze as the tier two spell was released.

    This time the slime met some trouble as it was frozen to the ground and unable to yank its body forward.

    Though this was only a temporary solution, and Lilia knew it would notst long as the slime would eventually break out and she would be back to square one.

    ˇ®Maybe that will work.ˇŻ

    Thinking up a new n, Lilia unequipped her mithril gauntlets and put on the new adamantine ones Marcus had made for her.

    Certainly, she could not sue them effectively yet since she was just not strong enough to handle them, but they had the powers she needed.

    Unlike her mithril set that was practically identical, her new gauntlets were both unique and had different abilities.

    The left one had been crafted with the core and materials of a remorhaz and thus was endowed with the power of fire.

    While the right one had a frost wormˇŻs core and parts crafted into it, not to mention part of one of GwyneiraˇŻs scales giving it ice powers.

    Still, if she used their abilities, it was going to drain her mana exponentially faster and leave her defenseless once she was out of steam.

    ˇ®When Marcus needs to, he always goes all out for the win even if it might leave him vulnerable. I cannot hold back because I am afraid of losing.ˇŻ

    Steeling her resolve, Lilia got ready to enact her final attack.

    Taking out the tier two fire magic wand, she began charging it with her mana and threw it towards the slime.

    Sliding into its body, the wand began dissolving, but not before casting another methrower spell from within the slime.

    At the same time Lilia leapt into the air above it and charged up her left gauntlet with all of the mana she could.

    Bursting with mes this gauntlet let out a terrifying ze and unleashing her mighty blow skill along with the powerful enchantments of her gauntlet, Lilia smashed into the slime.

    A fiery explosion burst out around her where she impacted, and her ming punch and the methrower spell from the wandbined.

    Being blown apart and vaporized, the majority of the slime was destroyed instantly by LiliaˇŻs powerful and desperate attack.

    Yet not all of it had been taken out, and the small pieces that had survived began trying to pull themselves back together.

    Pulling her right first back, Lilia began to the second move in her attack.

    She figured that her opening would not be enough to finish off this relentless slime and prepared for a follow up.

    mming her right gauntlet into the ground she created a burst of ice all around her and the remnants of the slime were frozen solid.

    It was an impressive disy of a fiery and icy offense, and the slime that had threatened to eat her was now all butpletely destroyed.

    Still, Lilia was not finished yet, and she swiftly downed a mana restoration potion in order to use onest attack to finish this battle.

    ˇ°Force Wave.ˇ±

    Throwing her hands out, Lilia unleashed another of her tier four spell, and the frozen remains of the slime shattered into even more pieces that were spread out over the room.

    At this point even with its immense regenerative capabilities, the slime was unable to form itself together again.

    It had lost too much of its mass, and now the few remaining parts of it were broken to pieces and scattered to the ends of the room.

    There simply was no part of it strong enough to retain its life force, and soon the slimepletely died.

    ˇ°Congrattions, you have passed the trial of the first floor. Your rewards shall arrive shortly and afterwards you may advance to the second floor.ˇ±

 Chapter 553 Mrazivyâ€™s, Jamesâ€™, and Quillonâ€™s Challenges

    ˇ®Damn these things are annoying.ˇŻ

    Dodging an attack from one of her many enemies, Mrazivy was beginning to get fed up with her opponents.

    She was currently fighting against a set of five statues, each one that used a different weapon.

    Though this was only part of their characteristics, as each of them had some sort of zing aura around them that made them incredibly resistant to ice and cold.

    Along with that they were very sturdy, and her sword strikes seemed to bounce off of them even when she used her full force.

    Truly they were enemies that perfectly countered her, which was exactly what everyone was met with on their own first floors.

    ˇ®Dragon Form.ˇŻ

    Transforming herself, Mrazivy could tell that she needed to go all out in order to deal with these statues she had hardly put a scratch on.

    Taking to the air she flew above them and set her sights on the most annoying one.

    This one was equipped with a bow and had been firing a barrage of arrows at her from the start.

    Swooping over it she dodged its arrows, then opened her mouth and sent out a beam of cold energy.

    Her dragonsˇŻ breath quickly froze the statue and covered the entire area in ice.

    Nevertheless, just like before, the statues began to melt all of her ice and they came out unscathed from her attack.

    ˇ®These are mine now.ˇŻ

    Still, Mrazivy figured this was going to happen, and using the few moments where the archer statue was immobilized, she took out all of the stone arrows from its quiver.

    Of course, more arrows quickly began to form in its quiver, but Mrazivy could care less about that.<sub>.</sub>

    What she wanted was the arrows to use as a weapon since she had a hypothesis.

    Flying back into the air where most of the statues could not reach her, she took aim at the one that was wielding a spear and threw one of the arrows she had confiscated at its shoulder.

    When the arrow hit, unlike her own weapon, it sunk in, and cracks began to form around its shoulder.

    And while it had not been enough to do much damage or incapacitate this statue, it had proven her theory right.

    She then smiled devilishly as she turned her gaze towards the one wielding a sword.

    Pulling back her arm while flying around to avoid being hit, she let loose all of her arrows at the sword wielding statue.

    It tried dodging and avoiding her volley of thrown arrows, but none of these statues were that fast, as they relied mostly on their high defensive abilities and devesting attack power to win.

    Soon, the statue she had been targeting was beginning to crumble, and Mrazivy took this chance to dash down towards it.

    When she arrived at it, the statue tried swinging its sword, but she spun out of the way andunched her head forward.

    Opening her mouth, she bit down on the already cracked wrist of the statue and her dragonˇŻs teeth broke through as she ripped the arm off.

    ˇ°Pttt.ˇ±

    Spitting the stone hand out of her mouth, Mrazivy held her arms out and grabbed the sword that was still within its grasp.

    ˇ°Now it is my turn.ˇ± She said with a fiery gleam in her eyes.

    Taking the new sword she had obtained, Mrazivy made quick work of all of the statues by crushing through them with their own weapons.

    Soon all that was left of her enemies was rubble, and she let out a victory roar.<sub></sub>

    ˇ­

    While Mrazivy was finishing up her own first floor, James was still in the middle of dealing with his adversaries that were meant to challenge him.

    ˇ®Ugh this is just insulting.ˇŻ

    Holding out his shield in front of him he blocked an electrical st that came off from one of the two dozen monsters he was fighting.

    The others soon joined in, and electricity sted at him from multiple directions.

    He was currently fighting a bunch of super-sized rhino beetles that instead of normal horns had what looked like coils on their heads.

    However, as annoying as these beetles where, what was really irking him was that they were flying around above a barrier that seemed to block all of his attacks while allowing the beetlesˇŻ through.

    ˇ®This would be so much easier if I had Fallon with me.ˇŻ James thought as he rolled out of the way from the electrical sts all around him.

    If he had his partner with him, he could use his full strength and simply fly up to where the bugs were.

    Jumping upwards, he tried to get past the barrier but the room he was in was stupidly tall, and even with his stats he could not leap high enough to hit these sted bugs that were content to rain lightning down on him.

    ˇ®Damn it.ˇŻ

    Getting a bit angry James tossed hisnce towards the beetles, but even his amethros weapon was stopped by the barrier that would not allow his attacks to pass from below.

    Bringing hisnce back to him, James swung it around and blew away the next batch of lightning stsing towards him.

    They were pretty much unable to hurt him as long as he stayed on his guard, but they were still irritating as they continuously shot down bolts of electricity.

    This went on for some time as James jumped around and used his shield andnce to block the attacksing at him.<sub></sub>

    He had even tied climbing the walls, but he could not get any purchase on them as they were sturdy enough to not even be scratched by hisnce.

    ˇ®What the hell is this? At this rate I am just going to end up exhausted and die. I thought this was supposed to be a dungeon. Why did it separate all of us and but me into this impossible death match?ˇŻ

    Bing increasingly frustrated James had never been in this much of a bind.

    Even when things had gotten tough, he always had Fallon to rely on, but now he was all alone and unable to do anything without her.

    Eventually he came to the realization that what he was doing was not going to get him anywhere.

    ˇ®Damn I suck at mana control, but this is all I can do.ˇŻ

    Clicking his tongue James created his mana barrier and tired to use it as foot holds to ascend into the air.

    He had always been a prodigy when it came to fighting, but his control over mana was prettyck luster.

    It had taken him forever to even learn how to enhance his weapons with mana, and even longer to send it flying.

    Still, he learned how to do both of these, though he still was not great at regting his output.

    Failing over and over again, James was unable to ascend more than ten feet using his mana barrier as a foot hold.

    It also certainly did not help that he was constantly being bombarded by lighting sts which made it that much harder for him.

    He had always had Fallon to be his wings, so he had never really tried to learn to fly with his own power, since it had been difficult and seemed unnecessary to him.

    Yet now an ability he had deemed worthless for himself, wasing to bite him as now he was alone and had no one to rely on.

    ˇ®How pathetic am I? Thinking that if only Fallon was here this would be easy. Get a grip James. You are the leader of the sky knights and cannot go down here. Everyone willugh at you if you die here in such a stupid battle.ˇŻ

    Amping himself up, James kept trying and failing again and again, but he never gave up. He had plenty of times given up on things he deemed too difficult or not worth doing, but he did not have that luxury now.

    Hours went by as he attempted to get the hang of using his mana barrier as a foot hold in the air, but eventually he got the hang of it.

    It was shaky and pathetic, but he was able to create one barrier under him and another above and jump up.

    By no means was it impressive, and it could hardly be considered the advanced application of the skill.

    Nevertheless, it was all he needed right now, and slowly he climbed his way up towards the beetles that had been protected by their imprable barrier.

    When he arrived at the barrier, the beetles unleash an even more furious barrage, but he simply erged his shield and pushed through.

    Passings through the barrier, James was relived to find that it did not keep him out.

    Its purpose was only to prevent him from attacking from below.

    But now that he was past it, all of these beetles were no longer protected from his attacks.

    ˇ®Eat this. Storm Buster.ˇŻ

    Launching hisnce as he filled it with as much mana as he could, James created a huge pir of energy that cut through all of the beetles and vaporized them.

    ˇ­

    ˇ®It is impossible, how can I beat myself?ˇŻ

    Staring at his enemy and breathing heavily, Quillon was having the toughest time of anyone.

    His opponent unlike anyone elseˇŻs, was a shadow copy of himself.

    However, it made no attacks at him, and always waited to counter using the perfect move to block any of QuillonˇŻs

    It even had his unique and supreme skills and had expertly crushed and counted everything he could do.

    Truly it was the ultimate opponent for him. A better version of himself.

    He had tired feints, unusualbinations of his skills and attacks, but it seemed that the shadow version of him could read his mind and always was ready for whatever he used.

    His supreme skill had even proved useless, as when he used his strongest attack it was just bounced back at him, and nearly killed him.

    At this point he had already consumed his lesser elixir and three of his greater healing potions just to stay in the fight.

    All the while he had not even but one scratch on the clone of himself.

    Still, he realized that this must be a test of some kind.

    If this dungeon was just intent on killing him, it would have just dropped him into some unescapable trap.

    This was a dungeon after all, and even being a special one, he knew that the purpose was to make them stronger.

    ˇ®Unlike a normal dungeon this one must be targeting me specially. But what is it that it wants me to do?ˇŻ

    Pondering this question, Quillon eyed his shadow clone warily. Wondering if it might finally attack, when he realized something.

    Sitting down and sheathing his sword, he simply refused to continue fighting.

    When he had first appeared here, he thought he needed to defeat his opponent, but what was the point in fighting something you could not beat and was not attacking you.

    ˇ°I give up. There is no way I can win.ˇ±

    After he said this the shadow version of him bowed, before taking its sword and impaling itself.

    Quickly it began to disappear into a ck mist, and Quillon received the announcement that he had seed on his first trial.

 Chapter 554 Choose

    Counting to push through the floors of the special dungeon called the Realization of Self Perfection, Marcus had finally made it to the tenth floor of his own personal challenges.

    To this point he had beenpletely isted, and while he had no way of telling exactly how long had passed, he was certain it had been multiple days.

    During this time he had made his way through a number of trials, each that was a bit different.

    After the first floor he had found himself in a massive library and was given as much time as he needed to study for a test on information about skills, beasts, and monster.

    However, he could only take it twice before passing, or as he had been told, face grave consequences.

    Luckily, he took it pretty seriously and made sure to memorize as much information as he could, since he had already seen that this dungeon was no joke.

    His next challenge after that had been to learn a new advanced attack skill in battle with a monster that he could not defeat other than with this specific skill.

    It had been a tough and brutal fight, but he eventually learned the skill called vorpal fang and got through the third floor.

    The next few floors followed a simr pattern. Giving him difficult challenges he could not just brute force his way through, and either had to think on his toes or learn a new ability to get past.

    Of course, at the end he received a chest which held a specific reward that was tailor made for him.

    And as annoying as it had been, there was no doubt that he had gotten a lot stronger and more knowledgeable during his time fighting through these first nine floors.

    The looming threat of destruction or eternal istion had been quite the motivator to keep going, since there seemed to be no way to escape this dungeon other than to proceed.

    ˇ®I just need to pass one more and then I can get out of this ce. Hopefully everyone else had been able to get through whatever challenges they have had to face.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Stepping onto the tenth floor and thest one he needed to clear before he could exit the dungeon, he found that it was simply an empty room like the first floor had been when he had arrived.

    Still, he had seen this before, and normally on a floor like this he would have to fight some sort of enemy he was at a disadvantage against.

    Yet as he waited for an enemy to fight to arrive, none ever came.

    Coming out from the doorway that would lead him out of this floor, the guardian of the dungeon appeared before Marcus.

    Seeing this he wondered if maybe he was going to get some sort of stupid riddle this time, but instead something far worse was presented to him.

    The ceiling above him opened up and falling down from it was Lilia and Mrazivy both bound in a stockade with their mouths gaged.

    Looking out in horror at the two most important people to him, Marcus rushed forward to free them.

    But before he got far, the form of the guardian appeared in front of him and said, ˇ°Stop! If you take another step forward the two of them will suffer the consequences.ˇ±

    Then to show that it was serious, the stockade closed down around LiliaˇŻs left wrist and her hand went flying.

    Watching this happen Marcus abruptly stopped, as he looked at LiliaˇŻs hand hit the ground and leave a ssh of blood.

    There was pained expression on her face and MarcusˇŻ soul felt incredibly cold.

    ˇ°Let them go or I am going to destroy you.ˇ± Marcus said, threatening the guardian.<sub></sub>

    Though as he said this, she justughed and responded, ˇ°Certainly if you can, go ahead. Hit me with your best shot.ˇ±

    Taking her up on the offer, Marcus active his supreme skill and pulled out his focusing lenses, before firing off thebined might of his tier six darkness and light magic spells.

    The entire area lit up from the st and a loud explosion resounded through the area.

    Nevertheless, one of his strongest attacks had done absolutely nothing to the guardian who just stood there unharmed.

    In fact, the dungeon like always had not even been chipped by MarcusˇŻ attack that could have decimated an entire town.

    ˇ°Satisfied? Now I will tell you what your challenge is on this tenth floor. Pick one of these two. It is your choice which one lives, and which one dies.ˇ±

    Hearing this, Marcus stood there stunned.

    Never had he thought that this would be part of the challenge presented to him.

    He had heard about this kind of sick and twisted scenario before, but to actually be put in front of it was crushing.

    With one choice he had to choose between the most important people to him.

    ˇ®Hell no. I am not giving into his sick game.ˇŻ Marcus thought as his head cleared a bit.

    Activating his life sense, he sent it out over towards Lilia and Mrazivy.<sub></sub>

    He thought that this might just be some kind of illusion meant to trick him and that they were not actually here.

    Yet his life sense picked up that both of them were real living beings, and as far as he could tell they were just as strong as they had been.

    Still, he was not convinced, and said, ˇ°This is just a stupid test, neither of them is real. Just let me out or bring me some other sort of challenge. I refuse to y your twisted game.ˇ±

    Smirking, the guardian snapped her fingers for effect, and LiliaˇŻs other hand was cut off and she let out a scream that shook Marcus to his core.

    It was probably the hardest thing he had ever had to deal with seeing his little sister in so much pain, even if he was trying to convince himself this was an illusion of some kind.

    ˇ°You are free to believe that these two are not real and save neither of them. But can you really take that risk? They entered the dungeon with you and have been at my mercy the entire time. These could very easily be the real Lilia and Mrazivy. Your sister or your fianc¨¦, which one do you want to save?ˇ±

    Shaking his head, Marcus refused to make this choice, and instead held his hand behind his back and turned it ethereal.

    Thening out of his hand he cast his iron threads which were also ethereal and sent them towards Mrazivy and Lilia.

    He figured that if he could break both of them out and rescue them, this stupid scenario might end.

    However, as he tired this, the guardian snapped her finger again and MrazivyˇŻs remaining hand was sliced off.

    Feeling cold through his entire being, Marcus could not bear to see the pained look on her face as she stared out towards him to rescue her.

    ˇ°I think that is enough. Make any other moves or say anything other than which one you want to save, and I take both of their heads off. Oh, and to make things more interesting, you have three minutes to decide, or I will simply kill them both.ˇ± The guardian said with a fiendish smile on her face.

    To Marcus it seemed that she was enjoying this situation as he struggled with what to do.

    So far all of his attempts to circumvent this trial had gotten him nowhere, and only had all of LiliaˇŻs and MrazivyˇŻs hands chopped off.

    Truly he wanted to believe that this was all fake, but in the back of his mind he was afraid that it was not.

    He had no idea what had happened to Lilia and Mrazivy since they had been separated.

    Even the engagement ring that held twenty percent of his soul had been cut off from him.

    Quickly a minute passed by, and Marcus still had note up with an answer.

    Both of them were so important to him that he could not imagine living without one of them at this point.

    ˇ°I havee to my answer. Take me instead. Just let them go and I will give my life in their ce.ˇ±

    Saying this Marcus hoped it was the correct answer that would get him out of this situation.

    And even if it was not, he was more than willing to sacrifice himself for the two of them if that is what it took.

    ˇ°Ha, ha, ha. Did you really think that was the correct answer? No, I want you to live through suffering. Taking your life would not aplish that. You have to learn the pain of loss that you have no chance of stopping. So, which one will it be? Who are you sending to their death?ˇ±

    Raving like lunatic the guardian beganughing loudly, seeming to reveal in Marcus misfortunate

    Also, a timer had appeared above their head at the one-minute mark. Taunting Marcus with how much longer he had before his choice would no longer matter and both of them would die.

    Sending his brain into overdrive Marcus tried to find the correct answer, but nothing came to him.

    It seemed that the dungeon really was intent on forcing him to choose one of his loved ones or bet that they are not real.

    Soon he was left with only twenty seconds, and he had been going over in his mind which one was the logical choice to save.

    Naturally he came to Lilia since she was younger, and he was certain Mrazivy would not forgive him for saving her over his little sister.

    Except even though logic dictated that he save Lilia, his soul just could not pick between them.

    ˇ®I would rather die than live without either of them.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he failed to choose between them.

    ˇ°Oh, looks like your time is up. What is your answer? This is yourst chance before you lose both of them.ˇ± The guardian said while holding up both of her hands.

    However, Marcus just looked at her and said, ˇ°I will not choose. Go ahead and do what you are going to, but I will not pick which of my family dies. But know this. Afterwards I will destroy myself trying to bring down this dungeon and follow after them. I have already died once and will do so again.ˇ±

    ˇ°Hm so that is your answer. Well then so be it.ˇ±

    Throwing both of her arms down the guardian signaled for Lilia and Mrazivy to die. and Marcus watched as their heads rolled off.

    Feeling his soul burning with fury, he prepared to unleash all of the power he had, even if he had topletely devour his soul.

    But before that happened, the forms of Mrazivy and Lilia turned to mist, and the familiar message sounded through the area.

    ˇ°Congrattions, you have passed the trial of the tenth floor. Your rewards shall arrive shortly and afterwards you may advance to the checkpoint.ˇ±

 Chapter 555 Back Together

    Hearing the announcement that he had cleared this floorˇŻs trial and seeing the bodies of Lilia and Mrazivy disappearing. All of the unbridled rage Marcus was feeling began to vanish.

    He was truly willing to destroy himself in an attempt to destroy this dungeon if it was actually going to take away the people he cared about most.

    Of course, a part of him had always been expecting this to just be a test, and that neither Lilia nor Mrazivy were in any danger here.

    Still the dungeon had done a good job making it seem like both of them were really here.

    Marcus closed his eyes and calmed down a bit now that the terrible situation was no longer in front of him.

    Then once he had calmed down, he walked up to the form of the guardian, and said, ˇ°Was my answer really correct?ˇ±

    However, the AI that ran this special dungeon just shrugged its shoulders, and said, ˇ°This challenge had no right or wrong answer. It was simply designed to make you see yourself for what you really are when pushed into a no-win situation. Whether you think what you did is right or wrong is what really matters.

    ˇ°Now your reward for clearing this tenth floor with arrive shortly. Until then please wait here, and then you can move to the checkpoint where you can either continue your challenge or exit the dungeon.ˇ±

    After saying this the guardian disappeared and Marcus was left alone in the now empty room.

    Looking around he could still picture the ces where the images of Mrazivy and Lilia had been bound and their heads had been separated off of their body.

    Certainly, he knew now that it was all fake, but seeing something like that would leave a scar on anyoneˇŻs mind.

    Nevertheless, as he sat and thought about it, he understood that this was a learning experience.<sub>.</sub>

    He now knew more about himself than he had before and had strengthened his resolve.

    ˇ®I just need to get strong enough to make sure that never happens. I need to raise my level and reach my special evolution. Then I will have even more power and can protect them better.ˇŻ

    Sitting on the floor he continued to think about his ns for the immediate future while he waited for the chest that had his reward to appear.

    When it finally did, he got up and opened the chest expecting something impressive for how much he had gone through.

    Yet as he opened the chest, all that was inside it was a few sheets of paper that were bound together.

    Picking them up and skimming through them, he found that each page had an iplete formation for creating magical items.

    ˇ®What the hell is this!? Each one of them is only fifty to thirty percentplete.ˇŻ

    Looking it over Marcus felt robbed that his reward after clearing ten trials, especially thest one that had nearly broken him, was only this.

    As they were now, they were all useless even if he could tell that these formations were all very powerful. At least on the same level as the best ones he had learned from Thabon if not better.

    Except it really did not matter since they were iplete.

    However, quickly Marcus realized what this stupid dungeon was trying to do.<sub></sub>

    It wanted him toplete these formations on his own and learn more about how to make his own powerful magical items.

    ˇ®Fine, I will see what I can do with theseter. For now, I want to see how everyone else is doing.ˇŻ

    Taking his spoils, he headed over to the exit that would lead him out of the floor he was currently on.

    As soon as he entered, unlike the other times where he just walked down a set of statis to the next floor, this time he felt the familiar sensation of being warped away.

    When his vision came back to himself, he found that he was in arge room that was filled with refreshment and furniture.

    Along with these items it also had two teleportation circles on either end. One that would lead to the next floors of the special dungeon and another that would take him back to the entrance.

    But what really grabbed his attention was the others that were waiting in the room.

    ˇ°Mraz!ˇ±

    Spotting his fianc¨¦ sitting on one of the couches in this room, Marcus zipped over to her as fast as he could and picked her up in his embrace.

    Seeing her again after what had just happened took a toll off of his mind, as he thought it possible that she was in trouble within the dungeon.

    Holding her tightly the sound of her heartbeat and the warmth of her body were an immensefort.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Marcus!ˇ±

    Surprise in her voice, Mrazivy was caught off guard by MarcusˇŻ sudden embrace.

    Though as he held her there, she quickly returned the embrace and started crying.

    Feeling her tears falling on him and hearing her sobs, Marcus could only imagine that one of her trials had been simr to his own.

    The two of them just stood there holding each other for a few minutes while Mrazivy cried, and Marcus patted her head.

    ˇ°I am so d you are alright.ˇ± Mrazivy said once she had finished sobbing.

    Pulling back away from her so that he could see her face, Marcus smiled and said, ˇ°I am d that you are fine as well. I am guessing that we were both put through simr trials.ˇ±

    Telling Mrazivy what he had to experience, Marcus watched as her face went deathly pale thinking about what would have happened if that situation would have been real.

    She was a bit hurt at first that Marcus said he had let her die, but she also felt touched that he was willing to die to avenge her.

    ˇ°So, you would rather die than have to live without me. It seems that we both made the same choice.ˇ± Mrazivy said with misty eyes.

    She then told Marcus about her own challenge, where she had to fight him to the death to survive.

    Naturally she thought that this might not be real, but the dungeon had made it seem convincing enough to leave some doubt just as it had in MarcusˇŻ challenge.

    In the end Mrazivy had decided to let Marcus kill her, since she felt that her life was already his.

    ˇ°I see, that must have been terribly hard on you. But it is over now, and I promise something like that would never happen. I would destroy myself before I ever truly harmed you.ˇ±

    After saying this, Marcus moved in to kiss Mrazivy, when he heard the sound of coughinging from behind him.

    He had been so caught up in finding Mrazivy again, that he had failed to register the other presences in the room.

    Of course, he had noticed that they were there, but his mind had pretty much written them off and sent them out of the way as his full focus went to his fianc¨¦.

    Turning around her saw James sitting not to far away with Fallon next to him.

    Along with James and Fallon, in the back of the room Quillon and Aerial were sitting around staring at Marcus and MrazivyˇŻs public disy.

    MrazivyˇŻs face went red as she remembered that so many people were around and had just witnessed that moment she had with Marcus.

    Shaking his head and pushing the difort out of his mind, Marcus took stock of who all was here.

    Certainly, Lilia was not one of them since he would have picked up her presence just the same as MrazivyˇŻs.

    ˇ®So, Lilia, Roxene, Lyra, Blitz, and Aurelia are the only ones that have not made it here.ˇŻ

    Once he had finished taking stock of who all was still missing, he went up to the others and greeted them.

    They all then got together and shared their experiences with each other.

    It seemed that they all had simr trials, thought tailor made for all of them.

    ˇ°So, all of our first floors were challenging foes that we could not beat normally. Really this dungeon is just a bit too hard.ˇ± James said,menting what he had to go through.

    A majority of his challenges had been centered around forcing him to get better mana control, with one being an infinite race into the sky that he could not stop until he won.

    ˇ°Though, the one changed the most is definitely Zareen.ˇ± Marcus said as he looked at the golden lioness.

    She had gotten quite a bit bigger than when they had entered the dungeon, not to mention her level was now at thirty-eight and she had evolved.

    She was no longer just a regr golden lion but had advanced to an epic grade beast called a zing golden lion.

    This gave he a number of fire-based powers as the name suggested, but not only could her mes burn they had a limited healing ability as well.

    ˇ®Well, she still hates me judging by the res I get whenever I talk to her.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    Still, he doubted that either of LiliaˇŻs beastpanions were going to ever like him after what he had done.

    But it really did not matter since they adored Lilia, and his primary goal was for them to help keep her safe.

    ˇ°So have any of you tired leaving yet?ˇ± Marcus asked once they had finished discussing their trials.

    Nodding his head, Quillon said, ˇ°Yes, I tired. And we can leave ande back if we want. But we cannot advance until everyone is done. The next set of floors have to be challenged in groups.ˇ±

 Chapter 556 Back Together (2)

    Looking at Quillon in confusion, Marcus wondered how he knew that the next set of floors had to be challenged in groups.

    And when he asked as much, Quillon said, ˇ°I was the first one to make it here, and that guardian as it calls itself told me that for the next ten floors, we would have to enter in groups of two or three and that it could not be challenged until all of the upper floor challenges were done other bypletion or failure.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcusid back in his seat on the couch next to Mrazivy and began contemting how to group themselves.

    There was a pretty big disparity in some of their levels, and he had no idea how it would affect the challenges if one of them was much weaker than the other.

    Naturally he was not the only one who had been pondering this dilemma, as all of them had thought about it a decent amount.

    Still, they would need to wait until the remining members of their group finished their own challenges before they could really decide.

    Therefore, all they could do was continue to wait and see what happened.

    Luckily, the others slowly trickled in, with Aureliaing in only a couple hours after Marcus.

    Though just like her sister, Aurelia had now evolved into an epic grade beast. Bing a gleaming golden lion.

    She now had a light elemental affinity and was actually the same race that her father had been when Marcus killed him.

    Along with her new race she had gotten a bit bigger, and her fur was shinier than it had been before.<sub>.</sub>

    Not long after she arrived, she ran up to Zareen and the two of them began sniffing each other before rubbing their face together.

    Once the two lioness sisters were finished greeting each other, Fallon approached them and began asking Aurelia what she had expected.

    Luckily Aurelia had gotten a telepathy skill orb as one of her rewards, so she was able tomunicate her experiences to everyone without having to have Fallon interpret like with what had been needed for Zareen who did not get the telepathy skill.

    Soon all of them had been told what the young lioness had experienced and it had apparently been a pretty brutal experience.

    Her first opponent was a diamond maw wolf who could cut through her near imprable fur and had nearly killed her.

    She only won thanks to her intelligence and using the potions in her possession to her advantage.

    After that she had to learn a certain skill within a time limit, and so on and so on.

    With Aurelia now here, that only left four remaining still taking their challenges, and the next to arrive a dayter was Lyra.

    When she appeared, she looked wore torn and battered, and there was a cold almost dead look in her eyes.

    No doubt she had faced something the tested her heart and mind like all of them had.<sub></sub>

    At the very least when she saw everyone else that was waiting, the mistiness in her eyes began to clear a bit, and she walked over and exined what she had been through.

    Hearing thest challenge that Lyra had been forced to endure everyone could only feel sympathy.

    For her, the dungeon had presented her with all of them in a simr position to what Marcus had to deal with.

    Except instead of the dungeon making her choose who to let live, it told her to kill all of them, and in return it would bring her parents back to life.

    It had even conjured their forms and made them call out to Lyra and divulge information to her that only they should have known.

    However, she could not bring herself to kill all of them for her own selfish wish, especially when there was still doubt that her parents could be brought back.

    ˇ°It is okay Lyra. We were all put through simr hardships. This dungeon likes to y with our minds and hurt us, but it is best that we take what we learned about ourselves and grow from it.ˇ± Marcus said tofort his old friend.

    Eventually they were able to get Lyra to calm down after they told her about their own experiences on the tenth floor.

    Following Lyra, Roxene emerged her fur disheveled,

    Yet unlike everyone else, she had a proud expression on her face as if she had not just been through some sort of emotionally demanding scenario<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Hm, what did I experience on my tenth floor? It was a huge battle between a massive swarm of monsters. But I easily came out victorious.ˇŻ Roxene said while holding her head high.

    Apparently, she did not have an emotional chink in her heart, and the dungeon had no way to test her the way it had everyone else.

    Truly if they all died, she would not care on any emotional level, as the only ones she really cared about that way were her parents. Naturally the dungeon already knew there was no logical way that it could try and make a believable mimic of RoxeneˇŻs parents. Since after reading her mind, it found them to be beings above this world.

    Therefore, instead Roxene just received another battle to push her beyond her limits.

    Next after Roxene was Blitz though when he arrived it was clear he had evolved.

    Now his body had actually shrunk down a couple of feet and the bolt patten on his fur was more pronounced.

    ˇ®A sky stag, huh.ˇŻ

    Looking at BlitzˇŻs status Marcus found that he had evolved into an epic grade beast called a sky stag and had reached level forty-two.

    He was now quite a bit stronger, and instead of just running on the ground, now he could run on the wind as well.

    It was quite the remarkable power up, but Marcus was notining since hispanion was getting stronger.

    ˇ®I wonder if by the end of this if he will have evolved into a mythic grade beast. And if that is the case, how strong is this ce going to make all of us.ˇŻ

    Thinking about it now, Marcus could understand why the administrator had directed him to find this ce, since there was no doubt that it was probably one of the best training grounds in the world.

    Of course, to obtain this greater power they had to suffer through brutal and harsh challenges, but there was no denying the results that all of them had gotten stronger.

    Still now that Blitz had arrived, that left only Lilia who was taking her challenges.

    Unfortunately, they had no way to know where she was or how she was doing.

    All they knew was that she was still taking her trials on the first ten floors.

    Another two days went by for them as they waited for Lilia, but she did eventually appear.

    But when she did, Marcus felt himself shudder seeing her condition.

    Her left arm was now missing.

    Though while her physical condition was bad, the look in her eyes was far worse.

    It almost looked like she wanted to die, and Marcus could not take seeing her like this again.

    She looked almost like how she had when he first found her in the verˇŻs base.

    Running up to her, he tried to begin mending her arm with his spirit healing, but she just pushed him back with her right arm to his surprise.

    She then said with a cold tone, ˇ°Please stop. I do not deserve to be healed.ˇ±

    As she said this, she refused to look Marcus in the eyes and shuffled off into the corner of the room and slumped down.

    Turning towards her, Marcus wanted to rush over, when the guardian appeared in the room once again and said, ˇ°Congrattions, all current users of the dungeon havepleted the first ten floors and the next ten are open for entry. To proceed you will need to form groups of two or three. You may pick and choose your groups however you wish but do know that the trials may be more difficult for some of you than others depending on how you arrange yourselves. Also, you are free to leave ande back whenever you want to continue your challenges. But do understand that to continue all of you must be present.ˇ±

    After saying this the guardian once again disappeared, leaving them to themselves.

    With the momentarily distraction now gone, Marcus headed back over to Lilia whose emotional state was obviously in turmoil.

    However, even as Marcus stood over her, she refused to look at him and under her breath said, ˇ°Please just go away. I do not want to be around you.ˇ±

    Nevertheless, Marcus disregarded what Lilia said, and squatted down to be at eye level with her.

    As he did this, she turned her head and made herself smaller so that he could not look into her eyes.

    ˇ°Lilia please tell me what is wrong. It is obvious that something happened. Not only are you missing an arm, but you are not being your usual cheerful self. I understand that you went through a difficult challenge that hurt you emotionally. We all went through the same thing. So, I know that it must be difficult, but if you talk about it you will feel better.ˇ±

    Unfortunately, MarcusˇŻ attempt to break through to Lilia seemed to fail, and she kicked him away, before saying, ˇ°Leave me alone! I do not want to see you ever again!ˇ±

 Chapter 557 Liliaâ€™s Pain

    After being kicked away by Lilia and being told she never wanted to see him again, Marcus was absolutely astonished.

    Lilia had never acted this way before, and it was making him very worried.

    He could not fathom what sort of test she had been put through to suddenly hate him like this, especially when the two of them had always been very close since he adopted her.

    The two of them had shared adventures together, faced down numerous hardships,ughed together, cried in each otherˇŻs arms, and shared their dreams with each other.

    ˇ°Lilia I am your guardian. I cannot just leave you alone like this. Please at least let me heal your arm?ˇ± Marcus said, trying to break past whatever trauma Lilia was experiencing.

    Nevertheless, she would not face him and kept her left side hidden against the wall so that he could not reach it.

    Sighing, Marcus did not know what was wrong with her, but there was simply no way he could leave her like this.

    Holding his hands out, he started using his spirit healing regardless of what she wanted and engulfed her entire body with it.<sub>.</sub>

    Quickly LiliaˇŻs arm began to regrow despite her wishes, and for the first time she turned towards Marcus and met him in the eyes.

    She then lunged at him to try and force him to stop, but she was not strong enough and her heart was not really in it.

    Soon her arm was fully restored, and she began crying as she looked down at it.

    However, during this time when he was able to face Lilia, Marcus saw the look in her eyes and realized that they held no hate or disgust for him.

    No, Lilia had the eyes of someone who hated themselves.

    Wrapping her up in a hug, Marcus refused to let Lilia go even as she cried and said, ˇ°Please just let go. I do not deserve your kindness.ˇ±

    Hugging her tighter, Marcus said to her, ˇ°It does not matter if you deserve it or not. You are my sister, and I will love you no matter what. You do not have to do anything for my kindness.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Hearing this Lilia began sobbing even more, obviously having been through something very difficult.

    There was no doubt in MarcusˇŻ mind that her scenario had been very tough on her emotional state, and right now she regrated it deeply enough to believe she was not worthy to be around him.

    ˇ®She must have been forced to make a choice where she forsook me, and now she thinks that makes her a monster. ˇ®

    Petting the back of LiliaˇŻs head, Marcus told her that everything would be fine and that he did not care what happened in her no-win scenario.

    ˇ°Listen Lilia, as I already said we all had to go through a scenario that forced us to choose between those we care about. I was forced to pick either you or Mrazivy to save, but in the end I could not and both of you died. So, I also let you down Lilia, but it was not real. We are still all alive and can grow stronger from this experience if we do not let it eat us up from the inside. Forcing yourself to suffer some kind of self-inflicted penance is not going to help and will only make all of us more worried.ˇ±

    After opening up about what had happened to him and reassuring her, Marcus slowly coaxed Lilia out of her self-destructive mindset, and got her to open up about what happened to her during her trial on the tenth floor.

    ˇ°I am so sorry Marcus! I should not have done it! But I just could not help it!ˇ± Lilia said while sobbing and yelling loudly.<sub></sub>

    Still, he just held herfortingly and let her know that he was here for her.

    ˇ°It is fine. You do not have to push yourself. Just take it slowly and tell me when you are ready.ˇ±

    Gulping and trying to stifle her tears, Lilia began telling Marcus about what her scenario had been on the tenth floor.

    She had been faced with the guardian just as all of them had been, well except for Roxene, and been shown Marcus bound in chains.

    Seeing this, naturally Lilia was distressed, but there was nothing she could do to free him, and the guardian just waited until she tired herself out trying to do so.

    Then she was given with a horrible choice. The guardian told her that it could separate the piece of IreneˇŻs soul from Marcus and bring her back to life as she had been before.

    But in order to do so it would need to destroy Marcus.

    Hearing this Lilia was torn.

    Marcus had taken care of her and bing her now sibling in ce of her original sister.

    He even had most of her memories, and Lilia saw plenty of her sister in Marcus, but they were also very different.

    In the end she gave into her desire and asked for her sister back. The longing for her original family being too high to throw away.

    She also had some amount of hope that Marcus would still be fine afterwards thanks to the unique skill he had told her about, so she took a chance that she could have both of them.

    Of course, the dungeon did not have the power to actually bring Irene back, and the Marcus in front of Lilia had never been the real one.

    After she heard this, she felt like a spike had been driven into her heart, and she realized how awful she had been to prioritize her original sister over Marcus.

    He had saved her from a life of very, be her new family, and given her a home to live in.

    Truly she felt like the worst scum in the world for having forsaken him like that just for the chance to bring Irene back.

    Once Lilia had finished rying all of this to Marcus, he could not say that he did not feel hurt to hear this.

    To hear that the little sister he cared enough about to die for had scarified him for her original sister, was a heavy blow to him.

    Still, he could understand LiliaˇŻs feelings. He was just an incarnation of Irene, a recement.

    Truly he was very different from how her sister used to be, since the majority of his personality still came from his originally self.

    Of course, he could not say to truly be either Marcus or Irene at this point.

    ˇ°Lilia it is okay. It certainly does hurt a little to hear that, but I understand. You have only known me for a couple of years now, while Irene was your sister your whole life. I am simply a stand in, just a fragment of what your sister used to be. So, I do understand that you still love her more than me. But that does not mean that I do not care about you still. I choose to take you in as my sister in IreneˇŻs ce and will never stop caring about you no matter what. So please, you do not need to feel guilty because you love your sister more than me.ˇ±

 Chapter 558 Return Home

    Once Marcus had managed to get Lilia to open up about what had happened and got down to the reason that she was feeling down, he was able to slowly help her.

    She had felt disgusted with herself for having chosen to sacrifice Marcus to bring Irene back, even if it had only been a simtion.

    It made her feel ugly and like a monster that was ungrateful for everything he had done, and that she was no longer worthy of his kindness.

    Still, he had managed to help her get through this at least to a certain degree.

    Naturally this level of trauma was going to take some time heal, especially for Lilia who is only twelve years old.

    After Marcus finished reassuring Lilia onest time, he approached the rest of their group and said, ˇ°I do not know how the rest of you feel, but I think I am done here for now. This dungeon has taken a toll on all of us, and personally I think I want a break before wee back.ˇ±

    Giving their agreement, everyone was willing to wait ande backter.

    Seeing the way that Lilia was right now, it would have been supremely cruel to push her to head deeper into this dungeon that forced you not only to fight incredibly difficult life and death battles, but also face the deepest and darkest parts of yourself.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Yeah, I need to head back soon anyway. My extended break is going to being to its end soon, and I need to get back to my post as the leader of the sky knights. I really cannot afford to be going deeper in and not know when I will be able to return.ˇ± James said.

    Everyone else then gave arbitrary reasons as to why they could not continue exploring the special dungeon, and unanimously they agreed to leave for now ande back at ater time.

    With that decision made, they all gathered up and moved to the teleportation circle that would lead them out of this ce.

    Warping back into the starting room of the special dungeon, they found it looking exactly the same as it had, and the thirteen of them quickly exited and began the journey out of the crystal caverns.

    It took them another four days to exit the expansive crystal cave following the way they hade.

    During their return trip they did not look around very much or venture off of the path they knew would lead them back to the surface.

    All of them had already had their fun, and now it was time to return home and rest.<sub></sub>

    Though on their way, Marcus made sure to look after LiliaˇŻs emotional state by having the others talk to her and reassure her.

    He did not want her to fall into a depression over something like this and wanted her to be her normal cheerful self.

    Luckily by the time that they made it back to the entrance oft the ravine, she was doing quite a bit better. Thanks inrge part to Zareen and Aurelia who Marcus never thought woulde to his aid.

    Still, it seemed they cared more for Lilia than they despised him, so they had done all they could tofort her as herpanions.

    Eventually though their journey came to an end, as Marcus once again created a tform from his iron threads and pulled everyone up out of the deep ravine.

    At least this time it was a bit easier on him since from his time in the dungeon he had gained two levels and was now level fifty-two.

    As for the others, everyone gained a number of levels themselves, with James being the highest now at sixty-five, Fallon right behind at sixty-three, then Lyra who made it to fifty-eight. Followed by Mrazivy and Quillon who were both level fifty-five, then Eirwen who had reached level fifty, Lilia had made it level forty-three, Blitz who was at level forty-two, Aurelia and Zareen both at level thirty-eight, and Roxene still the lowest at thirty-one.<sub></sub>

    Of course, even with the lowest level Roxene still had the highest quality out of any of them and stood above all of the beastpanions expect Fallon.

    All of them had made a great deal of progress in the dungeon in increasing their levels and the strength of their skills.

    Nevertheless, the quick progress had been fraught with life threatening situations, and emotionally draining scenarios that had left them all weathered.

    So, it really was for the best that they left for now to recuperate before challenging the special dungeon again.

    ˇ°Okay so the same flying arrangements asst time?ˇ± Mrazivy said as she hopped onto EirwenˇŻs back.

    ˇ°Actually, now that Blitz can fly, he does not need to get on my back. So, anyone who wants to ride him instead can.ˇ± Marcus said

    After that they decided on who was going to flying with who, and soon Quillon had taken his seat behind James on Fallon, while Lilia got on Eirwen with Mrazivy, and Lyra mounted Blitz.

    For Marcus he still needed to carry the two golden lionesses who were not the happiest to be relying on him, along with Roxene.

    Soon they were all situated and began making the flight back to the royal capital that the majority of them called home.

    With impressive speed they soared across the sky and thendscape pass below them like a blur, until they spotted the walls of the royal capital.

    ˇ®Okay we have permission to enter. Though this time a squadron of gryphon riders is going to escort us since apparentlyst time we spooked a few people.ˇŻ James said to everyone over telepathy.

    Continuing on their way, they flew over to the city and around eight miles out a group of two dozen knights mounted on gryphons apanied them.

    Naturally this sight was quite rare in the royal capital, and while their exit had garnered arge amount of attention, their return obtained even more.

    Quickly they flew across the city and back to the castle, and once they had said goodbye to their escorts, they touched back down within an enclosed courtyard that James and Mrazivy had prepared for them ahead of time.

    ˇ°Okay the coast is certainly clear. You can change back now.ˇ± James said to Marcus after doing a quick check to make sure no one was around.

    His body shifting and changing, Marcus rapidly shrunk back down. and soon had taken up his form as Irene once again.

    ˇ°Well, I will say that this has been fun, and I enjoyed getting to know all of you. But it is time that I return to master. Mrazivy what about you, will you being with me, or are you going to stay a bit longer?ˇ± Quillon said.

    Smiling and moving up next to Lilia who she had been chatting with on during their return trip, Mrazivy said, ˇ°I will meet back up with you and our master in a couple of months. I want to get to know my future sister a bit better before leaving again.

    Shrugging his shoulders Quillon was fine with whatever Mrazivy wanted to do and began making his way out of the castle grounds, so that he could head back and continue his training now that he was even stronger.

    Once Quillon had left, they all slowly trickled apart. Going back to their own respective residences to rest and recuperate from their harrowing adventure.

 Chapter 559 Winterâ€™s Work

    After MarcusˇŻ and his groups return to the royal capital of Borealia, time quickly went by.

    James and Fallon soon went back to their respective roles leading the kingdomˇŻs elite sky knights, while Quillon and along with him Aerial headed back to the sword savant.

    Lyra stuck around through the rest of the summer to enjoy her break away from her duty in Tralenstein. Though a good amount of her time ended up being spentworking in Borealia, until she ultimately had to return to her home.

    As for Lilia, Marcus and Mrazivy, made sure to stay close and help her get through her inner crisis.

    Of course, once Lilia headed back to school and they were sure she had recovered for the most part they had their own duties to attend to.

    During the end of the summer and all through the fall, Marcus in his role as the honorary prince. Had to make arge number of public appearances along with Mrazivy and the other members of the royal family.

    That way when their engagement was going to be announced it would notepletely out of nowhere.

    For now though, the kingdom was making sure to take it slow and establish Marcus beforeing out and saying her and Mrazivy was engaged.<sub>.</sub>

    This was mostly to minimize bacsh from Marquis Krenston and his faction. Since MrazivyˇŻs former engagement to the marquisˇŻ son was still fresh on their minds, and it would be best to wait a bit longer so that it was not so obvious that the engagement was broken off because of Marcus.

    And when Marcus was not out increasing his connections and making his presence known, he was at the zegram forge helping Thabon out as Irene.

    It had been quite some time since he just taken arge amount of time and worked as a forgmaster.

    It was a wee change of pace from his hectic life that had been pretty much going full steam ahead since he had gotten involved in the civil war in Tralenstein.

    While there, hepleted a number of high-profilemissions. One of which was making a new crown for Frostine for when she would ascend to the throne in a few years.

    Naturally it had not been a normal crown. It had been made from amethros that was provided by the kingdom, and given a number of powerful enchantments to protect the future monarch of Borealia.

    Along with that he had received a few requests for adamantine armor and weaponry from some of the most prominent and wealthy families in the kingdom, as well as a few mithril rank adventures.<sub></sub>

    Still, once autumn had wrapped up and winter began. It was time for Marcus to hold up his end of the contract he signed with the king in order to break off MrazivyˇŻs original engagement.

    Last year he had gotten a pass since he was acting as the kingdomˇŻs agent in the civil war in Tralenstein, but this year he was going to be working in whatever capacity they needed him in for the next three months.

    Currently he was being led through the corridors of the castle to meet with whoever was going to be handling him.

    However, when he was brought to the room where they were waiting, he was surprised to see who it was.

    ˇ°Deputy King Kalt, it is good to see you again.ˇ± Marcus said with a slight bow.

    Smiling and waving, Kalt beckoned Marcus to join him inside the room.

    Following his direction, Marcus walked into the room and the knight that had been escorting him closed the door behind him.<sub></sub>

    Now the two of them werepletely alone as far as Marcus could tell which surprised him.

    Normally someone as high ranking as the deputy king would have a guardian with him at all times.

    Though Marcus was also quite surprised that his handler was going to be Kalt who held one of the highest stations in the kingdom.

    ˇ°Would you like some tea.ˇ± Kalt asked to Marcus as he got up and began making a pot of tea.

    Yet Marcus just shook his head and moved over to the cart where Kalt was preparing the tea, and said, ˇ°Wait your highness. I could not ask you to make the tea. Please allow me to do it for you.ˇ±

    Hearing Marcus say this, Kalt justughed and said, ˇ°No it is fine. I enjoy making tea when I so rarely have the chance, so just sit down and rx. Also, there is no need to call me your highness or act formal right now. I already know about your engagement to Mrazivy, so you are practically part of the family.ˇ±

    Seeing that Kalt was not nning to act within the normal etiquette for nobles and royals, Marcus rxed his demeanor and sat back down. If the other party had no intention of being formal, he was more than willing to stop acting.

    ˇ®Whew, I have been moving in these circles for too long. I practically reflexively said what I just did.ˇŻ

    Soon the deputy king had finished brewing a pot of tea, and he served some to Marcus, who took a sip and was pleasantly surprised.

    ˇ®It is pretty good. Not quite at SteˇŻs level, but for a member of the royal family I am surprised he is thispetent in making tea.ˇŻ

    Once the two of them had sipped their tea for a few moments, Kalt pulled a sheet of paper out of his item box and slid it over to Marcus.

    Picking it up, he read over it and found that it was a report from soldiers up in the northern part of the kingdom.

    It detailed an uptick in monster and beast activity, much of which were species that normally lived farther north.

    Luckily so far none of the settlements up there had been destroyed, but some of the viges and small towns had incurred casualties in some skirmishes with these monsters and beasts.

    But there were also sighting of powerful creatures that were likely in the level forties or higher that were amassing in the Great Gome Woods.

    ˇ°I see this is quite disconcerting. But if it is just a matter of needing extra fighting power, why not just send up a few high-level mages and knights to deal with the problem.ˇ± Marcus said, wondering why he was being shown this.

    Anyone with a higher level could just exterminate some beasts and monsters, but he had a skillset that was unique and had plenty more uses.

    He had figured he would be sent on a covert mission, or maybe be used to transportrge amount of goods since the snow and ice made it difficult to move supplies during the winter.

    Sighing, Kalt said, ˇ°Yes that is a possibility, but the majority of our highest-level fighters are currently in Tralenstein securing it from the countries to the south. They are trying to make advances now that they know it is only a matter of time until we integrated Tralenstein into our kingdom. They want to take off whatever chunk of Tralenstein they can. Forcing us to send in our best personally to rebuff them.

    ˇ°Anyway, while we do want you to help protect our northern frontier and thin out the beasts and monsters a bit, it is also your investigative talents that we want to make use of. It is imperative that you find out the cause of this mass migration. We do not know why these creatures have begun venturing south, but there is certainly an underlying cause that could spell disaster for the kingdom if we do not address it.ˇ±

 Chapter 560 Preparations for the mission

    Having received his mission for the winter, Marcus was now looking over the few reports from the kingdomˇŻs army and the locals about monster and beast sightings.

    Unfortunately, most of them were not very descriptive and they were few and far between.

    Still, Marcus was able to recognize some of the beasts and monsters sighted since he had encountered them before.

    ˇ®Looks like the worst thing has to be this seven headed hydra that was spotted near a ce called Norr Vige. Hm, that name sounds a bit familiar.ˇŻ

    Racking his memories, Marcus, or more precisely Irene definitely knew this name.

    ˇ®Ah yes, it is a vige a few miles to the east of the first vige I came across, and the two are pretty simr. I can only remember going there twice within IreneˇŻs memories, but at least I know a bit about it.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Once Marcus had finished looking over the intelligence that Kalt had given him, the deputy king asked, ˇ°Do you require anything else before you head out?ˇ±

    Thinking about it, Marcus was pretty well stocked up on most items. But there was something he was certain would be useful that he was a bit low on right now, since he had not been traveling around and had no need to keep arge store on him.

    ˇ°Food. I need a lot of food. Preferable those that are high in nutrients like lean meats and hardy vegetables. Though a variety of fish might be useful as well. I could also use arge supply of dried meats and fruits. At least a few tons of each if possible.ˇ±

    Perplexed, Kalt could not fathom what Marcus needed that much food for, when he did not even need to eat.

    ˇ°I know it may seem like an odd request, but I assume you have never spent a winter that far north. Food is pretty scarce, and it is not umon for a couple people to starve during winter. Unlike the cities which have magical formations to keep the ce warm enough to prevent snow buildup. In those small viges, the snow can get several feet deep, and most people stay inside their homes the entire time. Only if it is absolutely necessary does anyone venture out, as even just moving from one building to another is a life-threatening struggle. Their lives up there are generally pretty peaceful so even the strongest among them are only in the mid-teens level wise and none of them know magic. They are just not equipped to take on even the snow, let alone an incursion of powerful monsters and beasts.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Stroking his chin, Kalt intently listened to MarcusˇŻ description of life up in the farthest reaches of the kingdom which for the most part he was ignorant of.

    ˇ°I see. Well in that case just food is probably not enough. I know that these people normally like to solve their problems on their own, but it would be preferable that they are not wiped out by this influx of monsters and beasts. Along with the food I will make sure that a number of thermal enchanted clothing and tier two fire magic wands are sent with you. Please distribute the clothing as you deem fit. and deliver the wands to the captain of the emergency troops we have stationed in the area. He will know what to do with them.ˇ±

    Kalt then stood up and walked over to Marcus with a serious expression and took something out of his item box.

    Looking at the item, Marcus could see that it was a ck and red glove, and in the center of it on the back was an incredibly pure and powerful fire elemental crystal.

    In fact, it was even stronger than the one that he had obtained from under the cier where magma was spilling up from out of the ground.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°This here is known as the ze glove. A treasure that has been passed down through the royal family since the first king. It is apparently an item that one of the BoreasˇŻpanions wore in the past. It is imbued with a number of enchantments and greatly increased the power of fire magic. Along with that, it can cast every system given fire magic spell up to tier seven, though it has a limited number of charges and uses a certain amount for each spell.ˇ±

    Kalt then handed it to Marcus, and said, ˇ°We will be lending this to you in order to aid you in your mission, but please take care with it as it is imperative that you return it when you are done.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus said, ˇ°Understood. I will make sure that it gets back to you, and thank you for letting me use it. I am sure it wille in handy.ˇ±

    Taking the glove, Marcus slid it on to his left hand and it immediately changed shape to fit him.

    As soon as he put it on, he could feel the power behind this item that was in no way inferior to the very best he had.

    ˇ®Yeah, this will do nicely.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he examined the glove.

    ˇ°Now I have given you all of the information I have, so if there is anything else you need to do at your residence or within the city, I rmend you do so quickly. I will have the food and other items prepared over the next few hours, and when they are ready, I will contact you.ˇ±

    However, while Marcus appreciated the offer, he had already said his goodbyes to everyone.

    ˇ°No, it is fine I will just wait here until everything is ready.ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulders, Kalt was fine with whatever Marcus wanted to do, and quickly left to ry orders to have his supplies acquired.

    A few hourster and Kalt brought Marcus to one of the castleˇŻs store houses, where everything had been prepared.

    ˇ°That container holds one hundred fifty tier two fire magic wands, the ten over there are filled with cured meats, the seven next to it have dried fruits, and your fresh meats and produce are stored over here.ˇ± Kalt said, directing Marcus to his supplies.

    After thanking the deputy king for his assistance, he first moved over to the wands and dried items and ced them all inside his item box.

    Next, he pulled out hisrge walk-in fridge that was nearly empty and refilled it with the supply that had been provided.

    ˇ®Well, none of it is fancy, but it will definitely do the job.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he put away therge supply of fresh vegetables and meats.

    With this he could now provide a bit of food relief to the people that lived up north who probably were not able to as effectively prepare due to the outbreak of beasts and monsters.

    ˇ°Here, in each of these six magic bags are fifty sets of thermal enchanted clothing. Feel free to hand them out to the leaders and strongest of the viges and towns up on the northern edge of the kingdom.ˇ±

    Grabbing the six bags, Marcus threw them into hisrge backpack that was filled with other magic bags, since even hisrge item box was nearing capacity.

    Having everything he needed, he turned to leave the castle and make his way to the destination of his mission, when Kalt stopped him and said, ˇ°Oh and make sure to stop by the base in River Landing and check in with General Erastalven. He will be able to give you more information about the troops you will likely be working alongside and provide you a letter of introduction to prove yourself to the captain in charge up there.ˇ±

 Chapter 561 Back to The North

    After leaving the castle, Marcus quickly went into his ghost form and began flying north at full speed.

    There was a lot of ground for him to cover, and truthfully, he was a bit worried about the people in the vige he had originallye across.

    They had helped him a great deal when he first came to this world, and without them it is likely things would have gone vastly differently for him.

    ˇ®If I push it, I should be able to arrive by the end of the day.ˇŻ

    Quickly as he passed over the streets of the royal capital, and within a matter of minutes had exited the area of thergest city in the kingdom and continued out over the countryside.

    Hours went by as he made his way up to River Landing, and just as he expected, therge town came into view just as the sun began to set.

    Flying into the city he found a quite alley not far from the armyˇŻs headquarters and reappeared in his form as Irene.

    ˇ®This ce is still as grand as ever. The pristine nearly glistening white stone really is impressive. It truly stands out from the rest of the buildings here.ˇŻ

    Once he had taken in the sight of the kingdomˇŻs northern army headquarters, he began walking up to the front entrance where a couple of soldiers were stationed.

    Looking at both of them Marcus could tell that they were on edge, probably expecting some sort of mass monster and beast attack toe to the town any day now.

    Likely the ice antsˇŻ incursion was still fresh in their minds, as it had only happened around two and a half years ago.<sub>.</sub>

    When they saw Marcus approaching, both of them were stunned for a moment.

    They then began whispering to each other for a couple of seconds before approaching him with reverence in their eyes.

    ˇ°It is you, isnˇŻt it? YouˇŻre the Darkligth Princess, Lady Irene Geist, right?ˇ±

    Hearing the nickname he was not fond of, Marcus shuddered since he had not been expecting to be addressed this way again.

    It had been quite a long time since he hadst heard anyone call him this, but it quickly all came rushing back to him.

    He got that nickname here when he joined the defense against the ice ants, so almost every soldier and guard in River Landing knew who he was.

    ˇ°Yes, I am Lady Irene Geist.ˇ± Marcus said, not acknowledging his nickname. ˇ°I havee here to speak with General Erastalven, on behalf of the crown.ˇ±

    Marcus then handed over the emblem the king had given him that proved he was an agent of the royal family as well as a letter prepared by Kalt.

    However, just seeing the emblem was enough to make these two soldiersˇŻ eyes go wide, and they began scrambling around.

    ˇ°I will go and inform the general immediately.ˇ± They both said as they turned around to go into the building.<sub></sub>

    Yet in their frantic rush they mmed into each other and fell over.

    Now the two of them were sprawled out on the ground, looking far from the professional soldiers they were supposed to be.

    Stifling a chuckled, Marcus had not expected to see such aedic scene.

    ˇ°How about one of you lead me to the general, and I will inform him that I have arrived.ˇ± Marcus said as he pulled the two soldiers up.

    Turning back to face him, the two of them had gone red with embarrassment from what had just happened.

    Still, they bounced back quickly, and said at the same time, ˇ°I will lead you to the general.ˇ±

    After they said this, instead of turning around abruptly again. They both red at each other, obviously both wanting to lead Marcus around.

    ˇ°Maybe I can just go find him myself.ˇ± Marcus said under his breath.

    Hearing this, both of the soldiersˇŻ faces paled, and they said, ˇ°There is no need for that Lady Geist. Give us just a moment to decide who is most worthy of escorting you.ˇ±

    The two guards then began ying some game with their hands that Marcus did not recognize, in order to see which one of them would have the honor of leading him to the general.<sub></sub>

    Sadly for them, Marcus was pretty fed up with this, as amusing as it might be. And simply went over to another passing solider and exined who he was and why he was here.

    The new soldier Marcus had talked to quickly led him inside through a side entrance, while the two at the front entrance looked out in despair as he walked away.

    Soon Marcus was waiting outside the generalˇŻs office as the soldier who escorted him here exined the situation.

    ˇ°General Erastalven will see you now Lady Geist.ˇ± The soldier said as they exited the room.

    Heading inside, Marcus saw the general reading over a stack of reports that littered the entirety of his desk.

    Also standing next to him was another soldier who was obviously the generalˇŻs aid, and had the rank of lieutenant from what Marcus could see from his uniform.

    Putting down the report he was reading, general Erastalven rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking up towards Marcus.

    ˇ®Damn when was thest time he slept?ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing the dark bags under the generalˇŻs eyes.

    ˇ°It is good to see you again Lady Geist. Pleasee up here and take a seat.ˇ±

    Sitting down in front of the general, Marcus pulled out his emblem and letter, and handed them over to Erastalven who quickly looked them over.

    ˇ°You certainly move fast donˇŻt you. These orders were only written today, and yet here you are already.ˇ± Erastalven said with surprise on his face.

    ˇ°Yeah, I can fly, so it is no problem for me to zip on over here.ˇ±

    Chuckling lightly, Erastalven could not believe how absurd Marcus was.

    Even most people that could fly could not cover that level of distance in a single day, but he said it like it was no big deal.

    ˇ°Well anyway, I will write you a letter to inform the captain in charge of our emergency troops who you are. As for what is happening, it is getting worse. More monsters and beasts are amassing in the Great Gome Woods, and we fear it is only a matter of time until they burst out. For now at least, the strongest ones have not made any move but a number of the lower leveled ones have been attacking the settlements up on the edge of the woods, and a few have even made it here and attacked the town. Unfortunately, our troops are spread thin, and I really do not know what is happening up there right now.ˇ±

    With a harrowed look on his face the general rubbed the back of his neck, and it was quite obvious that he was very stressed out by the current situation.

    Of course, why would he not be.

    Currently they were dealing with an unprecedented situation that threatened the entire northern region of the kingdom. Which simply did not have the manpower to deal with an outbreak of this size and magnitude.

    Erastalven himself was the strongest warrior at the kingdomˇŻs disposal within a hundred miles, and he was only level forty-three and quite old.

    Normally the kingdom simply did not need many personnel to handle their northern frontier, since there were no nations bordering them here, and the strongest creatures in the Great Gome Woods normally stayed there.

    But now that something was happening, the usually peaceful region was in danger of being overrun by threats they honestly had no chance against.

    Unfortunately, the kingdom was in a bind defending Tralenstein to the south as well as their other areas, spreading their forces thin. Not to mention that it being winter made it nearly impossible to move arge number of troops at once.

    ˇ°So where is the captain stationed right now?ˇ± Marcus asked.

    ˇ°He should be within the vicinity of Norr Vige which has been taking the most attacks from beasts and monsters. Though he may have moved since then, as thest time he checked in with his sending stone was this morning.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus made sure to remember where the captain was since he was likely to have the most information on how the situation was up there.

    ˇ°Well thank you for your help General, and I am d I got to see you again. Hopefully I can resolve what is happening up here quickly and take a weight off your shoulders.ˇ± Marcus said as he stood up to leave.

    Standing up himself, the general reached his hand out to shake MarcusˇŻ hand. and said, ˇ°I want to thank you for what you are doing here. I know you received orders to do so, but it means a lot to have someone as capable as you helping us out here. I heard about your impressive disy in the kingdomˇŻs tournament, and it appears that you have grown much stronger than you were when we met during the ice ant incident. It brings me a bit of ease to know that someone at level fifty-two is here.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus thanked the general for his kind words, before leaving the building and heading towards the northern gate of the city.

    Passing over the walls in his ghost form, he made a beeline for the vige that was the closest thing left to Irene and LiliaˇŻs original home.

    He wanted to check in on them before going to visit the captain in Norr vige, since he was afraid that they might be in danger. Since while Norr was where the most activity was, the two viges were not far from each other.

 Chapter 562 Back to the North (2)

    Zooming across the sky Marcus flew towards the first human settlement he ever entered after arriving on Mirrion.

    It was a ce that held a special meaning to him, and he wanted to make sure that it was not in peril before moving onto the rest of his mission.

    Certainly, he should have met with the captain in charge of the emergency troops first, but he figured that he could do that tomorrow after he checked in with this vige.

    ˇ®Well, it looks like it is still standing.ˇŻ

    Seeing the silhouette of the vige from afar, Marcus could see that it appeared to be intact, and there were plumbs of smokeing up from their chimneyˇŻs indicating that the people were still alive.

    However, as Marcus got closer, he could see that the vige looked quite a bit different than it had been before.

    It now had a very sturdy looking fence that was around twelve feet tall made around it, and there were also a number of what looked like yurts had been put up all over.

    ˇ®What the hell are those? Did a bunch of people migrate to the vige, and they set up temporary shelters? No, those yurts look way too nice for something made on short notice, and there is no way the vigers could afford to have them built.ˇŻ

    Wondering what the hell had happened to the vige, Marcus picked up his pace and closed the remaining distance in just a couple of minutes.

    Now he could clearly see that the fortifications of the entire vige had been strengthened significantly, and the pathways had been cleared of snow which was unusual.

    Even though winter had only truly started recently, this far north it had been snowing for a couple of months already, and there was around two and a half feet of snow built up on the ground.<sub>.</sub>

    Landing a few hundred yards outside of the new fence that surrounded the vige Marcus reappeared and then ran up to the gate.

    However, while he looked around, he did not see anyone monitoring this area, and even as he looked into the cracks of the fence, his viewpoint was not enough to see if there was any movement.

    Of course, he could easily jump over the fence without any problems, but he did not want to cause any trouble if he could avoid it.

    Knocking on the gate Marcus made quite the racket, and shouted out, ˇ°Hello if someone could open this gate please, I am trying to enter the vige!ˇ±

    A minuteter he saw some movementing towards the gate, and a person soon appeared on a tform that allowed them to look out over the gate.

    Staring up at this person Marcus was surprised to see that they had furry ears simr to Lyra.

    There was no doubt that this young man was a fox beast person like she was, though they had auburn hair unlike LyraˇŻs golden color.

    When they saw Marcus, it was quite obvious that he had confusion written all over his face, not expecting to see a random person out here in the deep north.

    Though what really surprised them was MarcusˇŻ attire.

    In his haste he had not put on any winter clothing and was just wearing a set of ck clothing that was what he normally wore when adventuring.<sub></sub>

    It was truly perplexing to see and Marcus out here like this, and his ethereal presence with his snow-white skin and tinum hair made him look not quite human. Which of course he actually was not.

    Marcus then watched as the fox beast person jumped down, a bit of fear on their face, and say to hisrades, ˇ°I cannot appraise her, whatever that thing is. I think it might be the fabled monster called a yuki-onna.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus groaned since he was being mistaken for a monster. Well, he was sort of a monster, but not the one this fox beast person was mistaking him for.

    ˇ®Where the hell did, they even hear about yuki-onna from. I have not seen any mention of them anywhere.ˇŻ

    Seeing that things were not going his way, Marcus decided that the direct approach was the best way since he was now beginning to worry that the vige had been taken over by whoever these people were.

    Jumping over the fence andnding on the other side he saw a group of six beast people talking amongst themselves.

    But as they saw him jump over the fence, they immediately became guarded and pulled out their weapons.

    ˇ®Hm those are pretty good.ˇŻ Marcus thought looking at their weapons.

    All of them had mithril weaponry, and as he appraised them, none of them were below level twenty-two and the strongest was level thirty-four surprisingly.

    In most ces this would be considered quite the fighting force on its own, and Marcus wondered who they were.<sub></sub>

    It would not make much sense for a band of brigands to try and take over a vige on the frontier, especially since it was patrolled by the kingdomˇŻs soldiers at least once a year.

    Really there was nothing here for them other than the people, and illegal ve traders would not set up camp and fortify a vige they were going to ransack.

    ˇ°Hello there. It seemed like you were not going to let me in, but since this is sort of my home vige, I cannot simply stand by if it is danger. So, if you would not mind exining to me who you are, I would be appreciative?ˇ±

    Trying to act cordial, Marcus was hoping that things would go over smoothly.

    Unfortunately, they went the exact opposite, as the beast people surrounded him while ring at him warily.

    As much as he was suspicious of them, they were even more suspicious of him, as he had just appeared here all of a sudden in an area people did not usual venture to. Especial during the winter.

    After they had a standoff for a couple of seconds, one of the beast people lunged forward with her spear.

    Following the trajectory of the weapon Marcus could see that it was aimed at his leg and that it seemed they were trying to disable rather than kill him.

    Still, he was not going to let this rabbit beastwoman just stab him, and simply reached out and grabbed the spear.

    Then with a hard yank he ripped it from her grasp, and she fell face first into the snow.

    ˇ°Okay how about we try this again. I would like you to exin what you all are doing in this vige. I do not recognize any of you, and while it has been a bit over a year since I was back here, I doubt that you all just decide to make your home here in the vige.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh, and if you do not want to answer, I can simply pummel all of you instead.ˇ±

    Shivering, all of these beast peopleˇŻs heightened instincts told them that Marcus was not someone that they should be fighting.

    Jumping back, they put a good amount of distance away from him, and the highest level one who appeared to be a snow leopard beast person let out a very high-pitched screeching sound.

    Sighing, Marcus was about to just give one of them a slight beating for some answers when he heard something approaching fast.

    Looking over to his left he saw a literal bear of a woman running right for him with a massive mithril club in her hands.

    An instantter this bear beast woman jumped into the air and began mming down with her club.

    Feeling his danger sense going off, Marcus quickly jumped back a dozen meters as this woman mmed into the ground.

    As she impacted, a huge spray of snow and dirt sted up from the ground, and the area she impacted now had a ten-foot deep and thirty-foot-wide crater in it.

    Seeing this, Marcus was pretty impressed by this personˇŻs power.

    ˇ®That is not something just anyone can do. Ah level fifty-three. She is very strong. But what the hell is she and the rest of these beast people doing here?ˇŻ

    Watching intently, he stared at the bear beastwoman as she exited the crater she had made.

    Yet now her hood had fallen back, and Marcus quickly recognized who she was.

    They had never met before, but her remembered her for her brutality when she fought in the tournament.

    She had killed her first opponent who was a knight and had beaten her other opponents pretty badly until she ultimately lost to Natasha in the quarter finals.

    ˇ°Your Andrea, right? I saw you fight in the kingdomˇŻs tournament. We never crossed paths, but perhaps you recognize me? I was anotherpetitor, and I lost in my fourth round to a man named Quillon.ˇ±

    Hoping that if Andrea recognized him, he might be able to resolve things peacefully, Marcus took a shot in trying to jog her memory.

    Hearing him say this, Andrea looked intently at Marcus and a look of realization came over her face.

    She did remember seeing Marcus, and while she had honestly forgotten most of thepetitors, his battle with Quillon was very memorable.

    Many said that it was actually the best fight in the entire tournament, and Ardea agreed.

    Shouldering her club, she kept her eyes on Marcus, still cautious of him.

    ˇ°Yeah, I remember you, or more precisely your fight with that swordsman. Though I cannot remember your name, so why do you not introduce yourself and tell me why you are here?ˇ±

 Chapter 563 The Villageâ€™s New Security

    Being faced with Andrea and having the option to end things peacefully, Marcus readily answered her questions.

    ˇ°My name is Irene Geist, but you can just call me Irene. As for why I am here, it is because I was sent by the kingdom to help defend viges like this one. Though truthfully this is also close to my original home, and I have a number of friends here I came to check on.ˇ±

    Unfortunately, when Marcus mentioned his name and who had sent him, AndreaˇŻs demeanor which was closer to neutral, once again became hostile.

    Of course, Marcus could easily figure out the reason since it was clear in her fights that she did not like the nobility of the kingdom.

    ˇ°I see. So, the oh so mighty crown finally sent one of their nobility up here to help fight. Yet all they send is a single person to defend almost three dozen small towns and viges. I can see how much they care for the people up here.ˇ± Andrea said in a condescending tone.

    Obviously, she was not impressed by Marcus who was a noble, and the kingdomˇŻsck luster response in her opinion.

    ˇ°Well, you do not need to worry about this vige. We are protecting it in return for a nice ce to set up camp and some food. Our tribe is not like the kingdom. When we promise to protect someone, we follow through in full.ˇ±

    ˇ°Now go ahead and shove off. We do not want the kingdom here, and already sent the meager six soldiers that had been stationed here packing.ˇ±

    Sighing, Marcus could see that Andrea wanted to get rid of him as she wanted nothing to do with the kingdom.<sub>.</sub>

    Her tribe did not really answer to their authority and was normally nomadic, traversing the lower and mid areas of the Great Gome Woods.

    However, with the recent outbreak of monsters and beasts, they had been forced out of the woods and had set up camp here in the vige, mostly to take advantage of their food stores.

    At the very least from what Marcus could see they were sincere in their promise to protect the vige. He imagined they were likely the ones who put in the majority of the work to build the fence around this ce, and they had responded to him with a decent amount of force that would have repulsed most beasts or monsters.

    Still, he worried that the vigers might run out of food, and he at least wanted to check on everyone to make sure they did not need his aid in anyway.

    ˇ°Sorry, I am afraid that I cannot just leave without first at least visiting the vige chief.ˇ± Marcus said with a stern expression. ˇ°Honestly if this was any other vige, I would be more than willing to leave without meddling, but as I said this ce is close to where I used to live and I have a lot of friends here. Maybe you know about the smallmunity that lived a few miles north of here. That is where I am from.ˇ±

    Standing firm, Marcus was not going to back down even if Andrea tried to force him to leave.

    Naturally she could see that from his expression and posture, and said, ˇ°Fine you can see the vige chief. But I do not want to deal with the kingdom if I do not have to, so I would like it if you did not stick around too long.ˇ±

    She then turned to the other beast people who were her followers and said, ˇ°Go back to your stations and keep a watch out for beasts and monsters. I will go inform the others that we have a visitor who will be leaving soon, but not to mess with her while she is here.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    As Andrea turned around and walked away. There was visible confusion on their faces since they had never seen their leader act like this.

    Normally she would chase off anyone connected to the kingdom, and she was known to give any nobles a good beating before sending them packing.

    When they had first gotten here, she ran the soldiers out of the vige, and they pretty much took over like they owned the ce.

    But now she was letting this noble, and one sent by the kingdom no less, to go about as they pleased.

    This was very far from her character, and they could not understand why she was doing this.

    Though the reason was actually very simple. She did not want to fight with Marcus.

    She had seen how strong he was during the kingdomˇŻs tournament, and honestly even though she had gotten a bit stronger since then. She was unsure if she could even win against how he was back then, and especially did not like her chances now that he had gotten stronger as well.

    ˇ®It will be better to not fight. Just let her go about her business and wait for her to leave.ˇŻ Andrea thought as she headed off to tell the others of her tribe about MarcusˇŻ appearance.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Well now that everything is cleared up. I should go check in with the vige chief and leave some supplies here, before heading over to see that captain in Norr Vige.ˇŻ

    Walking through the paths that had been cleared through the snow, Marcus headed right for the vige chiefˇŻs house.

    He not only wanted to make sure that the nomadic tribe led by Andrea was not mistreating them, but to also to make sure they had enough to eat.

    From the number of yurts he had seen set up around the vige, he could guess that there were anywhere from thirty to fifty people in AndreaˇŻs tribe, and that meant a number of more mouths to feed when food was already scarce.

    As he walked through the vige, he noticed that a lot of the houses had been upgraded with thicker doors, and the windows also had new shutters that closed tight and looked pretty sturdy.

    Though what was the most surprising was the main hall where the vigers gathered for celebrations.

    It was now outfitted with its own fence that was even taller and stronger than the one around the vige and was likely meant to be a shelter in case a beast or monster broke in.

    Still, Marcus was a bit suspicious about all of this since honestly the vige did not have enough to pay for all of these defenses.

    ˇ®I will just need to ask the chief and find out exactly what is going on.ˇŻ

    When he arrived at the vige chiefˇŻs house, it was clear it had also been upgraded in its sturdiness.

    Knocking on the door, Marcus waited for an answer, and within just a few seconds Amos the chiefˇŻs son opened the door.

    Looking at him, Marcus was surprised by the change in his appearance.

    He had bulked up quite a bit and had a number of scars on his body. Not to mention when Marcus appraised him, he found that Amos had reached level eighteen which was quite a bit higher than he had been before.

    Though as much as Marcus was surprised to see AmosˇŻ new appearance, he was just as surprised to see Marcus here.

    ˇ°Would it be alright if I came in, Amos?ˇ± Marcus said after Amos just stood there for a few seconds.

    Shacking off his daze, he said, ˇ°Ah yes, pleasee in.ˇ±

    Getting out of the doorway, Amos let Marcus in and quickly closed the door behind him to keep the heat in.

    Once inside Marcus could see that arge fire was crackling in the firece and was providing warmth for the house.

    ˇ°Sorry about dropping by all of a sudden, but I heard about what was going on here and had toe and make sure that all of you are safe. Though it seems that you have a new security force from what I have seen.ˇ±

    ˇ°Now I have a lot I need to discuss with your father, do could you get the chief for me?ˇ± Marcus asked.

    However, Amos shook his head, and said, ˇ°My father is currently asleep, so it will be best if you speak with me. Anyway, he has retired now from the position of chief and passed it on to me.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus was a bit shocked, since he figured the old chief was going to stick it out until he died.

    ˇ°Well congrattions are in order then. I am sure that you have been and are going to continue to be a good chief.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus sat down on the couch in the living area and Amos took the chair to the right of it.

    ˇ°So first I need to ask about your arrangement with Andrea and her tribe. Are they forcing you into it, and are they taking advantage of the vige? They said what they get out of the deal is food and a ce to stay, but is that really all?ˇ± Marcus said with a concerned expression.

    Sighing, Amos leaned back and thought long and hard about what to say.

    ˇ°Yes, I suppose that they have forced us into this arrangement. They kicked out the soldiers that had been posted here by the kingdom and set up camp after coercing me to give my permission. However, I cannot say that the arrangement has been bad. They have stayed true to their word in protecting us, and even helped fortify the entire vige. Since they havee here, we have not had anymore deaths from beasts or monster attacks, and the people feel safe.ˇ±

 Chapter 564 Cost of Safety

    Sighing, Marcus was not sure what to think about what Amos had just told him.

    He was conflicted with how to handle Andrea and her tribe. Since while they had forced the vige into epting them as their security. They had also been doing a good job to keep their word.

    Certainly, he could easily toss them all out, as he was confident that he was stronger than Andrea or anyone else in her tribe, but to what end.

    If he did that, he would just be making enemies of them, and while it would save the vige on their food stores. It would also make them wholly unprotected unless he stayed here.

    Unfortunately, he had his own mission, and while he might be able to do some clean up in the woods around the area. It would be impossible for him to nt himself here though the entire winter.

    ˇ°Okay I seem to understand the gist of things, but how is the vige doing on food? I know these winters are tough to get through, and pretty much the entire year everyone makes preparations to store food. Still, I cannot imagine that you have enough to feed what, thirty to fifty more mouths?ˇ±

    Aplicated expression came over AmosˇŻ face as Marcus asked this, and it was pretty obvious that the food situation was not at its best.

    ˇ°Truthfully, we normally would not have nearly enough to feed all of AndreaˇŻs tribemates and our own people. Also, they all eat quite a bit, so we have sent a majority of our food to them. Like you guessed there are forty-three of them including their children, and at first it was a challenge, but we dide to a solution. We ughtered all of our goats other than the one that were producing milk and the new batch of children. With that we were able to produce enough meat to feed Andrea and her tribemates for quite some time.ˇ±

    Laughing disparagingly, Amos was trying to y this off, but Marcus knew how big of a deal those goats were.<sub>.</sub>

    They were the main livelihood of this vige as they received most of their money from selling the fur from these goats to River Landing.

    Even if it were to help them get through the winter, ughtering almost all of their goats was going to take a huge hit on this vige. As next year they were going to be missing out on the majority of their ie.

    Not to mention that all of this meat from their precious goats was not even eaten by the vigers, and was instead given to Andrea and her tribe as tribute.

    Of course, normally getting security from such high level and experienced warriors would cost a lot more than a few hundred goats, but it was still pretty much all this vige had.

    Bowing his head Marcus felt a sense of shame and rage.

    Shame because he had not gotten here to help out sooner, and rage because of what Andrea and her tribe had done here.

    He knew that truthfully she had been protecting the vige, but it still made him angry to think about her and her tribe eating like kings, while the vigers survived on roasted nuts and dried vegetables.

    With IreneˇŻs memories he knew how harsh it was up here and how much the people of this vige loved their goats. They were treated almost like part of the family by many of the vigers.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®It was a bad situation all around. It was either sacrifice their livelihood to Andrea, or potentially lose all of their lives to beasts and monsters. However, now that I am here, things are going to be different.ˇŻ

    Raising his head, Marcus looked at Amos with fierce eyes, and said, ˇ°I am sorry Amos that I did not get here sooner to help. If I had, you would have been able to save all of the goats you and everyone have cared for through all these years. But I will make sure that you can replenish theme spring. I will not let all of you be forced to live in destitution. Now, I need to go and work out some new detail with the deal Andrea has made with you.ˇ±

    Getting up, Marcus turned towards the door with a determined expression on his face.

    Yet before he could go, Amos stood up and said, ˇ°Please Irene, do not antagonize them. I understand that you are angry that we were forced to give up so much, but honestly the six soldiers that were here could not keep up with the frequency of beast and monster attacks. They were just too weak and too few, but Andrea and her tribe have not let a single person die since they arrived. Certainly we paid a high price for their services, but nothing is more important than the lives of everyone here.ˇ±

    Having seen the look in MarcusˇŻ eyes, Amos naturally thought that he was going to go and cause trouble with Andrea.

    He thought that he might start a fight with them, and either make them angry enough to leave or get himself killed.

    Smiling, Marcus looked back towards Amos, and said, ˇ°There is no need to worry. I am not looking for a fight. I really am just going to renegotiate their terms as I have something I want them to do. I have no intention of running them out of the vige or stirring up trouble over the goats. WhatˇŻs done is done, and as much as I may not like it, the vige is safe because of them. So, I know this may be presumptuous of me to butt into the vigeˇŻs business, but let me go take care of everything.ˇ±

    Slumping his shoulders, Amos said, ˇ°Very well, if you want to help us out again, I do not think it would be right of me as chief to prevent you for something stupid like pride. We will humbly ept any assistance you want to offer.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Thank you, Amos. This vige is the closest thing Lilia and I have to a home, and while we may not live here anymore, it holds a special ce in both of our heats. It would sadden both of us if something were to ever happen here.ˇ±

    After saying that Marcus exited AmosˇŻ and his familyˇŻs home and headed straight for Andrea.

    ˇ®I am going to assume as the leader her yurt is the biggest and nicest one.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he headed over towards the area where AndreaˇŻs tribe had set up.

    However, as he entered the area, three beast people approached him with scowls on their faces.

    ˇ°Are you the intruder that everyone else is talking about? You do not look tough to me, so why is the leader saying not to mess with ya? You walked onto our turf, and you think you can push us around? ˇ°

    Internally groaning, Marcus could not believe how stupid these three were.

    Just from one look he could tell they were pretty young and inexperienced, otherwise they would have been able to tell that he was way stronger than them

    ˇ®Honestly never thought I would get harassed by some kids pretending to be thugs in this world. I mean, they are all just teenagers and the weaker two are level fifteen and the strongest one is only level sixteen.ˇŻ

    Shaking his head, Marcus could see that things were hopeless already, and these three nned to pick a fight with him.

    ˇ°Why donˇŻt you all just take a nap and cool off.ˇ± Marcus said as he exerted his phantom pressure.

    Immediately the three young members of AndreaˇŻs tribe fell unconscious, as the power of MarcusˇŻ soul overwhelmed them.

    At the very least he held back tremendously in order to not kill them, but it was likely they would not be waking up anytime soon. And when they did, it would be with a raging headache.

    Picking the three of them up, Marcus dragged them along with him towards AndreaˇŻs yurt.

    Normally he would have just left them down on the ground, but there was a good chance they would freeze to death if he did that, and he did not want to end up killing some kids.

    As he made his way over to Andrea, a few other beast people spotted him and saw who he was dragging behind him.

    Still, none of them made a move to help, as Marcus was now radiating enough hostility to make all of them with their heightened senses know to stay away.

    To them Marcus looked like the walking embodiment of death right now.

    When he arrived at AndreaˇŻs yurt, he threw open the door and tossed the three young members of her tribe in.

    Then he closed the door quickly and looked over to Andrea, who along with four other beast people were stunned to see Marcuse in so brazenly.

    ˇ°These three here just tried to make trouble with me so I put them to sleep for a little while. I do not care what you do with them, I just did not want to let them freeze out in the cold.ˇ±

    ˇ°Now I have some business to discuss with you about this vige and the outbreak of beasts and monsters.ˇ± Marcus said as he walked right up to Andrea.

    Her tribe members however, were not happy to see Marcus, and were irate at hisck of respect and for what he had done to some of the younger members.

    Nevertheless, Andrea said, ˇ°Sorry about that. I will have those three punishedter. It is high time they learned to be stronger anyway instead of letting their parents baby them. Now the rest of you leave and take those three with you. I will talk to Irene alone.ˇ±

 Chapter 565 Striking a deal

    Once everyone else had left and Marcus and Andrea were alone, she slumped down onto the floor and sighed.

    ˇ°You know you are not making this easy for me. At this rate I am going to be forced to fight you for the honor of my tribe.ˇ± Andrea said while rubbing her forehead.

    While she looked like a rough and tumble kind of person, she was actually pretty intelligent, and she knew that a real conflict with Marcus would not bring her or her tribe anything but defeat.

    Still if he kept disrespecting them, it was likely that she would be forced to fight in order to appease her tribe members, or those aiming for her position might call into question her ability to continue leading.

    Sitting down on the floor and facing Andrea, Marcus said, ˇ°I would not rmend fighting me. I admit that you are strong, but you have no chance of winning, and that is a fact. Anyway, I am not trying to stir up trouble, but those three came after me even though they knew you had already said not to mess with me. I could have done a lot worse to them if I had wanted to, but that would not get me any closer to my goals.

    Now let us get down to business. I want to hire you and your tribe for a job.ˇ±

    Surprise on her face, Andrea had not been expecting this, though her surprise soon turned to suspicion.<sub>.</sub>

    She did not trust nobles of the kingdom one bit, and it only took one experience working under them for her to know that they were rotten to the core.

    Of course, this was just her viewpoint from one bad noble family, but she was right to be wary.

    ˇ°I am afraid I will have to decline. I do not work for nobles, and I do not care for your money. Also, we already have a job protecting this vige which they paid for already.ˇ± Andrea said with a stern look.

    However, Marcus was not going to give up after just one attempt, and said, ˇ°I never had any intention paying you in money. I have seen the weapons your tribe has, and they are good quality mithril, but still far from the best. You especially are probably starting to feel the constraints of your weapon with as strong as you are. There is simply no way that mithril club can keep up with your power at level fifty-three. I am sure if you went all out with it you would probably break it within a few swings. But if you help me out with something, I will upgrade the weapons of all of your tribe members who are over level twenty-five.ˇ±

    Her interest peaked, Andrea said, ˇ°And how exactly are you nning on getting us so many high quality mithril weapons? We have already obtained the best that are offered in Loursend.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus took off the band on his left wrist and transformed it into his top tier adamantine shield.<sub></sub>

    Seeing this AndreaˇŻs eyes went wide, and her mouth gapped open.

    She had never actually seen such a high-level piece of equipment, since adamantine in itself was pretty rare. But an adamantine item recognized by the system was pretty much the peak most could ever hope for.

    Still, even though this shield was impressive, it did not prove very much other than MarcusˇŻ own gear was superior.

    In fact, if she could get away with it, Andrea would probably have tried to kill Marcus for it, since the chance for her to obtain something like this again probably would never present itself.

    ˇ°So, you have a fancy piece of equipment. How does that prove you can supply stronger mithril weapons to me and my tribe? Do you have an in with one of the best forgmasters in the capital?ˇ±

    Nodding his head while smirking, Marcus said, ˇ°You could say that. I am as close to one of the best as possible, since I am the one who made this shield. I will personally make you and the members of your tribe new weapons. I will even personalize them, and for you I can promise that it will be system recognized.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Hearing that Marcus himself was the one who made this shield, and that he would make her a top tier mithril weapon, was almost enough to have Andrea jump to agree with whatever his request was.

    But she caught herself from doing so, since she had no intention of leading her tribe on a suicide mission if that is what Marcus nned for them.

    ˇ°Fine, you do have my interest. What is it that you want from my tribe?ˇ± Andrea said with a cautious expression.

    ˇ°What I want is your expertise and fighting prowess. You and your people probably know these woods better than anyone else, and it would be helpful to me to have your knowledge. Then there is your strength. Other than myself, you are definitely stronger than any other fighter I could find up here. Not to mention that a number of your tribe have decent levels as well. I have been sent to thin out the number of beasts and monsters that have been amassing in the Great Gome Woods, but I am just one person. I would like for you to help me out with getting rid of them so that the woods be a bit safer again.ˇ±

    However, after hearing MarcusˇŻ request, AndreaˇŻs face darkened, and she said, ˇ°I am sorry, but I will not lead my tribe to death. We left because we simply could not deal with the beasts and monsters that areing from the north. Some of them are just too powerful to contend with, and before we found our way here, we lost about twenty percent of our members. I cannot force everyone to go back into those woods and risk their lives like that when we have a decent sanctuary here.ˇ±

    Understanding AndreaˇŻs situation, Marcus could see why she did not want to venture back into he woods, but honestly what they were doing now was only a temporary solution.

    Eventually the stronger beasts and monsters were going to flood out of the woods like the lower leveled one were, and at that point even though they had fortified it, this vige would not stay safe.

    ˇ°I am not asking you to fight the strongest beasts and monsters, just to clear out the weaker ones. I will personally handle the more powerful ones myself. And if they are too strong for me, I will have to see if I cannot get reinforcements down here. Anyway, are these woods not your home? Do you not want to take them back? Are you content to live in this vige or some other part for the kingdom forever?ˇ±

    Trying once again to get Andrea on his side, Marcus was hoping to appeal to her pride, and it seemed to be working.

    He could tell she was seriously considering his offer now, and that he was just one push away from getting her to agree.

    ˇ°How about this. Along with the weapons I will also give you enough food tost through the rest of the winter without any need to conserve your reserves.ˇ±

    Marcus then took out arge crate that barely fit in AndreaˇŻs yurt and was filled to the brim with cured meats.

    Opening the crate Marcus allowed the smell to permeate through the area, and Andrea quickly picked up on it with her heightened sense of smell.

    Her mouth nearly watering, she could not say that she did not want this food. As while her tribe had a good amount of goat meat, it would probably notst all winter, and frankly she was getting tired of eating mostly goat.

    Seeing that he was close to winning her over, Marcus yed another card one that would not really cost him anything.

    ˇ°Oh, and I am also a master of healing magic, and as long as some is not dead, I can heal them back to their peak. So, if you have anyone that is missing a limb or has some other debilitating injury of any kind, I can heal them.ˇ±

    Hearing this AndreaˇŻs face lit up, and now it seemed she was very close to agreeing to help Marcus.

    ˇ°Very well. If you can do all you say you can, I will lend you mind and my tribeˇŻs power. But first we do have some members that are injured, and if you heal them, I will agree to the rest of your terms.ˇ± Andrea said with an almost desperate expression.

    ˇ®It looks like the offer of healing was more important to her than I thought. Someone close to her probably got badly injured.ˇŻ

    pping his hands together, Marcus said, ˇ°Okay, then we have a deal.ˇ±

    After that he stood up and held his hand out to shake AndreaˇŻs, and she got up and sped her hand in his to seal the agreement.

 Chapter 566 A Show of Strength, and Healing

    With Marcus having struck a deal with Andrea to receive her and her tribeˇŻs help in clearing out the Great Gome Woods of beasts and monster. It was now time for him to keep up one of the parts of the bargain.

    Andrea quickly led him out of her yurt, and to her and MarcusˇŻ surprise, a half dozen members of her tribe were outside waiting.

    When they saw Marcus they red, and a couple gave Andrea looks of disappointment.

    They had been hoping for her to drag Marcus out bruised and bloody, and then toss him out into the snow.

    ˇ°You must be starting to go soft Andrea. Why are you letting this noble walk all over you? It is not befitting of our leader to bow to another.ˇ±

    Looking at the ringleader of this group, Marcus was not impressed.

    It was pretty obvious that this guy who was a wolf beastman was making a grab for power by trying to discredit Andrea.

    ˇ®Level forty-six. I suppose he is fairly strong, but I doubt he could beat Andrea in a fight.ˇŻ

    While Marcus just rolled his eyes at this guy, Andrea stepped right up to him and said, ˇ°Be quiet and fall in line Davion. I already came to an agreement with Irene that will benefit us all. Now we are on our way to fulfill the first part of our deal, and it would do you good to remember your position. Unless you want me to put you in your ce again?ˇ±

    As Andrea said this Davion shuddered slightly, but he stayed strong and said, ˇ°If you are too afraid to punish this outsider for what he did to Aiden, Kye, and Itzel, then we will.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus realized that this group were probably the parents of the three kids he had knocked unconscious after they tried to mess with him.<sub>.</sub>

    Still while they were all strong by normal standards, with all of them being at least level thirty-three. To Marcus they were honestly pretty weak.

    Before Andrea could respond again, Marcus walked up to them and said, ˇ°Sure, I have no problem if you want to try and punish me. Go ahead and attack all at once. I will not move from this spot or even use my arms or legs to defend myself.ˇ±

    Staring at Marcus in confusion, the six beast people being led by Davion could not understand what he was getting at.

    However, Andrea just smiled, seeing this as a chance to let her tribe members witness how strong Marcus really was, and why she did not want to pick a fight with him.

    ˇ°Go ahead Davion, attack Irene here with your full might, and if you can even make her move, I will step down as leader of the tribe, and another election can be held.ˇ±

    Dumbfounded, Davion and his group could not fathom why Andrea was willing to go this far, but Davion quickly decided to take her up on this.

    ˇ°Fine but I am going to hold you to that after I turn this little girl to shreds.ˇ± Davion said to Andrea with greed in his eyes.

    He thenshed out at Marcus without warning, nning to take him by surprised, only to find a shimmering barrier of light in his way.

    Smirking, Marcus said mockingly, ˇ°Oh, was that all you have. You did not even put a scratch on my radiance scales spell. You will have to try harder than that if you want to tear me to shreds.ˇ±

    Falling for MarcusˇŻ provocations, this time Davion took out his weapon which was a mithril sword that had a de like a saw and began shing wildly at Marcus.<sub></sub>

    Still, he found that his sword did not do much better than his ws and it took him about two dozen strikes to break through just one of MarcusˇŻ radiance scales.

    ˇ°Good job, now you just need to get through around thirty more and you will finally be able to hit me.ˇ± Marcus said, disparaging DavionˇŻs efforts.

    Turning around the wolf beastman looked at hispatriots, and said, ˇ°The rest of you attack as well. You heard what she said, she wants all of us to attack at once.ˇ±

    Going into action the other beast people that had apanied Davion began attacking Marcus as well, though even with all six of them they were barely whittling down MarcusˇŻ defenses that were far from serious to begin with.

    It took them nearly five minutes of all out attacking, but finally with onest big move Davion broke through the final bit of MarcusˇŻ spell.

    ˇ°Ripsaw Strike.ˇ±

    Calling out the name of his strongest attack skill, Davion shed down towards Marcus. Aiming to deliver a finishing blow.

    Yet as he did, Marcus simply cast his radiance scales spell again, and seamlessly blocked the attack without moving an inch.

    Yawing, he made sure to look totally disinterested, and said, ˇ°I think that is enough. It is my turn to attack.ˇ±

    He then conjured his iron spere imbuing it with arge amount of mana to make it more powerful, and swiftly smashed it right into DavionˇŻs torso.<sub></sub>

    With a loud yelp and the sound of bone breaking, Davion was sent flying as MarcusˇŻ iron sphere impacted.

    When he crashed back down into the ground, the proud man did not get back up, and a dribble of blood poured out of his mouth as he wheezed for breath.

    Moving the iron sphere back over to him, Marcus looked at the five remining members of AndreaˇŻs tribe and said, ˇ°Who is next?ˇ±

    Luckily, they realized that they were no match for Marcus and put their weapons away before surrendering.

    Andrea then stepped forward, and said, ˇ°Now I hope you understand why I did not wish to wage war with Irene here. Our rule is to respect strength, and she is certainly strong. It is not in our best interest to fight, and that is why I have made a deal with Irene. Now go tell everyone else to gather in the vigeˇŻs main hall, and I mean everyone. Even those that have been injured are expected to gather. And I will personally go and get my brother.ˇ±

    Being so obviously beaten, the five people that had joined with Davion lowered their heads and did as Andrea said.

    Still, Marcus wondered why she said she would get her brother personally, though he did have an idea.

    When he said he would heal any permeant injuries the people of her tribe had she lit up, and now he could at least guess there was something wrong with her brother.

    ˇ°Follow me.ˇ± Andrea said to Marcus as she started walking over to one of the yurts.

    As she opened up the door, Marcus saw that there was a fire burning in the small room and sitting on a chair and looking down at a bed was an old and graying bear beastwoman.

    Seeing her, Marcus could tell that this was probably AndreaˇŻs mother as the resemnce was undeniable.

    Though it was the person in the bed that quickly got MarcusˇŻ attention as he was pretty sure it was AndreaˇŻs brother.

    ˇ°How is he doing?ˇ± Andrea said to her mother with concern in her voice.

    Sighing, her mother said in a raspy and haggard voice, ˇ°He is still alive but shows no sign of waking. No number of potions has had any effect. He seems to be healed, but he simply will not awaken.ˇ±

    ˇ°Do you think that you can help him?ˇ± Andrea said to Marcus.

    ˇ°If he is still alive then I should be able to. Let me see what is wrong.ˇ± Marcus said as he walked up to the young man who was AndreaˇŻs brother.

    Seeing him for the first time, AndreaˇŻs mother said to Andrea, ˇ°And who might this be?ˇ±

    ˇ°This is Irene. She said she is an expert in healing magic, and if she can heal Kellen, I have agreed to lend mine and the tribeˇŻs strength to her.ˇ±

    Looking at Marcus skeptically, AndreaˇŻs mother was naturally hesitant to let him do whatever to her son, but she stood aside. Trusting in AndreaˇŻs judgment.

    Checking over Kellen, Marcus made sure he still had a pulse and was breathing. And while both were weak, he was still alive.

    Next, he cast his tier three healing magic spell, but to no effect.

    ˇ°How did this happen?ˇ± Marcus asked Andrea.

    ˇ°A few weeks ago, Kellen got injured fighting against a group of ice trolls that attacked us as we were fleeing the forest. He was hit on the head pretty hard and was crushed under foot. We have given him numerous healing potions, but while the injuries disappeared, he has not woken up. If not for my intervention, he probably already would have been left for dead.ˇ± Andrea said with a dark cloud over her face.

    Nodding his head, Marcus got the gist of what happened, and was pretty sure he knew what was wrong with Kellen.

    ˇ®I guess he likely has pretty bad brain damage. A simple healing spell or potion is just not going to cut it with this. Guess I will need to use spirit healing.ˇŻ

    Holding out both of his hands over KellenˇŻs head, Marcus began emitting a soft white glow that enveloped the young manˇŻs head.

    This went on for nearly a half a minute with nothing happening, but abruptly when Marcus had finally finished healing the damage. KellenˇŻs eyes shot open, and he leapt up from his bed in a defensive position.

    Thest thing he remembered was being in the middle of a battle, and he thought he was still in danger.

    That was until Andrea and his mother both teary eyed ran up to him and gave him a literal bear hug.

    ˇ°Mom, Andrea, would one of you care to exin what is going on!?ˇ± Kellen said, visibly confused.

    Once his mother and Andrea got off of him, they quickly exined the situation, and caught him up to speed on what was going on.

    ˇ°I see. Then I must thank you Irene for helping me out. Without your healing I would have certainly shriveled up and died a slow death. Thank you for what you have done.ˇ± Kellen said as he bowed his head to Marcus.

    ˇ°Oh, it was nothing really. I just happen to be a good healer and came along by chance. Anyway, I was just holding up my part of the deal, so I am expecting your sister to hold up her end.ˇ± Marcus said as he turned his gaze to Andrea.

    Wiping away thest remaining tears in her eyes, she nodded her head and said, ˇ°Yes, I will adhere to our bargain and give you my tribeˇŻs support. Now there are others to heal, and we must spread the good news of KellenˇŻs recovery.ˇ±

 Chapter 567 Winning Over the Tribe

    Now that he had healed Kellen and gained AndreaˇŻs assistance, Marcus went to meet with the rest of her tribe who had gathered in the vigeˇŻs main hall.

    Naturally when they saw Kellen up and moving, they were incredibly shocked as everyone thought that he was as good as dead.

    In fact, if he was not the tribe leaderˇŻs little brother, he probably would have already been given a funeral pyre as was customary for the dead of their tribe.

    Still, it was a joyous asion as if someone hade back from the dead, and the irritation from MarcusˇŻ presence practically vanished as they threw him to the back of their minds and surrounded Andrea and Kellen.

    They wanted to know how this miracle happened and how he was doing,

    Yet while MarcusˇŻ presence had be disregarded in the wake of KellenˇŻs recovery, it did not stay that way for long.

    As soon as all of them were told that he was the one who had healed Kellen, all of their attention was fixed on him.

    Some of them had curious looks in their eyes wondering how this happened, a good number had conflicted expressions as they did not really like Marcus, but he had just healed a member of their tribe, and another group was looking at him hopefully as they too had permanent injuries.

    Once the fanfare of KellenˇŻs recovery began to wind down, Andrea pped her hands together loudly and got everyoneˇŻs attention.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Now that we have calmed down and I have everyoneˇŻs attention, I have an important order to ry. I have promised mine and the tribeˇŻs aid to Irene. We havee to a mutually beneficial agreement, and she has already upheld part of it by healing Kellen. Now for our part we are going to help her clear out the beasts and monsters in the woods-ˇ°

    However, before Andrea could finish her statement and exin everything that was going on, Davion shouted out, ˇ°You are going to sacrifice us simply because that bitch healed your brother. Do you have no shame ordering us to our deaths for the sake of your family?ˇ±

    mming her foot into the ground Andrea looked at Davion with eyes full of fury, and said, ˇ°That is enough. It appears that even after you were humbled by Irene you have not learned respect. I am you leader and will not tolerate you insubordination anymore. Come, we are going to settle this right now. Prepare to defend your life.ˇ±

    Seeing that Andrea was serious, Davion shirked back and started shaking.

    He had already tried to fight Andrea for control of the tribe when thest leader stepped down five years ago, and he had been royally beaten.

    She was simply a lot stronger than him, and with a seven level difference DavionˇŻs chances were slim to none in a battle to the death.

    Getting down on the ground, he lowered his head and said, ˇ°Please forgive me Andrea. I will not speak out again. Just spare my life.ˇ±

    Scoffing, Marcus could not believe how shameless Davion was, but he guessed that most people acted like this in the face of certain death.<sub></sub>

    Unfortunately for him, Andrea was done, and said, ˇ°You can die on your feet fighting like a man, or I can end you on your knees like an animal waiting for ughter.ˇ±

    Gulping, Davion could tell he was done for.

    But a shining star arrived to save his life.

    ˇ°Andrea, would you mind sparing his life. I want all of the power I can get when dealing with the beasts and monsters in the forest, and while he may be a coward, his strength is not useless.ˇ± Marcus said, stepping between the two of them.

    Looking back at him, Andrea was surprised to see Marcus defending Davion after all that had happened, and said, ˇ°Are you sure Irene? He had already proven to only be a cause of problems.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus turned back towards Davion, and said with a devilish smile, ˇ°Oh it should not be a problem. He will still be fighting for his life, just not against you. I have a special job he can do that will help immensely. I could use some bait to lure out the strongest beasts and monsters.ˇ±

    Feeling his heart skip a beat, Davion did not like the look in MarcusˇŻ eyes that were staring at him like he was already a dead man.

    ˇ°Very well, if you think you can have a use for him, his life is in your hands. Unless you do want to fight me right now instead Davion?ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Shaking his head, Davion knew he would die in a serious fight with Andrea, but if he yed along, he would at least live a bit longer and have a chance of getting through this.

    With Davion shut down, the other members of the tribe fell into line and Andrea continued her exnation.

    ˇ°Now as I was going to say before I was interrupted, we are going to help Irene to eliminate the growing number of beasts and monster amassing in the forest, but we will not take on anything we cannot handle. Irene has already told me that she will take on the strongest creatures in the forest, and if you doubt her ability feel free to test her. She already beat Davion and his followers without moving a single inch, so just understand that she is stronger than even I am.ˇ± Andrea said as she crossed her arms and looked out sternly at her tribe members.

    Of course, plenty of them looked hesitant, not wanting to risk their lives to fight.

    At least that was until Andrea told them what Marcus was offering as a reward.

    When they heard that they would be getting new mithril weapons that were better than what they already had and would be personalized for them, their blood began pumping and they were ready for a fight.

    While they did not want to fight for nothing, weapons were something very important to them, and the chance to upgrade was something worth putting their lives on the line for.

    Not to mention that Marcus was going to heal their injured and had already done so for Kellen.

    ˇ°It is just these seven?ˇ± Marcus said to Andrea as the injured members of her tribe were brought forward to him.

    ˇ°Yes, just them now that Kellen is fixed. Go ahead and heal them up and show everyone else why I decided to make a deal with you.ˇ±

    Turning towards, the first injured person Marcus looked over had wounds that were pretty bad.

    They were missing their left foot and eye, and both of their ears had been ripped off.

    Nevertheless, these wounds were still well within what he could heal, and in less than a minute he had restored their body back to its peak.

    When they opened their lost eye for the first time, and moved their fluffy ears around again, tears began pouring down their face.

    Naturally it was pretty emotional to suddenly be able to see and hear as they had before being crippled.

    Moving on Marcus quickly healed the rest of the members of the tribe who vehemently thanked him.

    After everyone was healed the mood in the main hall had changed drastically, and the majority of the tribe now saw Marcus in a positive light.

    He had fixed their members who had been crippled, and in return all he wanted was their strength.

    And now they also knew that they could fight with their all without worry of being injured, as Marcus could just fix them up. As long as they did not die, there was no injury he could not heal.

    ˇ°So, when did you want to start?ˇ± Andrea asked Marcus.

    Thinking about it for a few moments, he said, ˇ°In two days should probably be enough. I need to head over to Norr Vige and talk to the captain in charge of the soldiers that have been sent as an emergency force and coordinate with themˇ±

    However, as Marcus said this, Andrea scowled and said, ˇ°I hope you are not nning on trying to get us to work with them. You have won my respect with your strength and by healing my tribe mates, but I have no intention of working with those weak and spinless soldiers of the kingdom.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh no I never intended for that. Anyway, as you said, they are not as strong as you or your tribe. The kingdomˇŻs forces up here are typically on the weaker side as they do not need to defend against any hostile nations. No, I just need to check in with the captain and tell him to hold his men back to protect the settlements other than this one. I will have them y defense, while we are on offense.ˇ±

    Nodding her head Andrea found this agreeable, and said, ˇ°Actually, if you are going to Norr vige there is someone else there that you may wish to recruit. His name is Dagwood, and he is pretty strong. Other than me he is probably the strongest person that lives this far north, and he has made it his goal to go around protecting the settlements on the northeastern frontier. Last I heard he was in Norr shoring up the defenses there. He is not a part of the kingdomˇŻs hierarchy, and he has traded with our tribe in the past, so we have a good rtionship with him. If you want to add some more power to our group, I rmend getting him on your side.ˇ±

 Chapter 568 Gifts and Going to Norr Village

    Receiving advice from Andrea to try and get the aid of a man named Dagwood who was in Norr vige, Marcus had a feeling he had heard this name before.

    However, he could not ce exactly where, and as much as he thought about it, he just could not bring up a face to the name or where he had heard it before.

    ˇ®Maybe someone mentioned him to me before. Well, I guess I will figure it out when I meet with him.ˇŻ

    Shrugging it off, Marcus stopped trying to remember who this guy was and responded to Andrea.

    ˇ°Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. If he is still in Norr Vige I will see if he is willing to help. Now I am going to go and talk to the chief a bit more, before settling down for the night. Tomorrow I will make my way to Norr Vige and get what I need to done there. Oh, and after we have dealt with the beasts and monster, I will treat everyone in the vige including your tribe to a feast.ˇ±

    Her ears perking up when Marcus said the word feast, Andrea said, ˇ°I am looking forward to it. I will make sure to tell the others to raise their motivation.ˇ±

    After that Marcus left the main hall where AndreaˇŻs tribe had gathered and headed back to the vige chiefˇŻs house.

    It was alreadyte into the night, and he figured he could stay there and discuss some other things tomorrow.

    Luckily when he arrived, Amos was still awake and was more than amodating.

    ˇ°You can take MariannaˇŻs room. She is currently in River Landing attending school, so she is not here anyway.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus was a bit surprised but did not pry since Amos looked pretty tired.<sub>.</sub>

    Heading into MariannaˇŻs room, he found that it was pretty bare as she must have taken most of her possessions with her. Still the bed was there and that was pretty much all he needed.

    ˇ®Guess I should get some rest since I probably will not have a chance for a while after this.ˇŻ

    Shutting down his brain like a piece of equipment, Marcus quickly fell asleep in order to pass the time and make sure that he was in absolutely peak condition.

    When he woke up the next day, he came out to find Amos and the old chief preparing some oatmeal and roasted nuts for breakfast.

    Though Marcus also caught sight of them adding a bit of sugar to the oatmeal, probably for him since they knew he was technically a noble even if he asked them not to treat him like one.

    ˇ°Amos if you would not mind getting the eggs we stored away. It would be poor manners of us to not give Irene our best.ˇ± The former vige chief said to his son.

    But as Amos left the kitchen to go and get their precious store of eggs, he saw Marcusing out of the hallway where the bedrooms were located.

    ˇ°Ah Irene you are awake. We are preparing breakfast right now and if you would just wait ten minutes it will be ready.ˇ± Amos said with a slightly flustered expression.

    He then rushed off to the back of the house and put on his thick winter clothing, before heading outside to the ce where they kept the eggs.

    ˇ°Good morning chei-ˇ°<sub></sub>

    Moving up to the former vige chief, Marcus was going to greet him and nearly reflexively called him chief.

    ˇ°Good morning to you as well Lady Irene. And as I am no longer the chief, you can just call me Raymond now.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus said, ˇ°Well then good morning Raymond, and thank you in advance for breakfast.ˇ±

    After that interaction he moved over to the couch and waited for them to finish preparing breakfast.

    Once they had all finished eating, Marcus looked towards the two of them intently, and said, ˇ°I actually have a few things that I was given by the kingdom to distribute to the viges and towns up here.ˇ±

    He opened his item box and took out a crate that was full of cured meat which he opened up to let Amos and Raymond see.

    Both of them went wide eyed seeing so much food, and all of being meat which was pretty scarce for them especially during the winter.

    ˇ°I also have another crate filled with dried fruits and vegetables that you can distribute to everyone in the vige. Oh, and no need to worry about sharing it with Andrea and her tribe. I already gave them some.ˇ±

    With therge supply of extra food that Marcus had brought, both Amos and Raymond brighten up immediately and asked if they could begin disrupting the food right away.

    ˇ°Yeah, that should not be a problem. Let me take everything to the main hall and I will leave it all there.ˇ± Marcus said as he put the crate of cured meat back into his item box.<sub></sub>

    The three of them headed over to the main hall, and Marcus dropped off the two crates that were filled with preserved food that would allow the vige to have enough to eat to get through the winter.

    Yet this was not all Marcus left here, as he pulled out two magic bags from his backpack that was full of them.

    ˇ°Here, the deputy king sent me with these as well and told me to give them out.ˇ± Marcus said as he handed one of the bags to Amos. ˇ°Inside you will find fifty sets of winter clothing that have been enchanted with a heating formation.ˇ±

    Taking this bag, Amos was in utter shock. Something like this was worth more than their entire vige.

    But that was not all that Marcus handed over, as he passed over another magic bag.

    ˇ°This one Is a gift from me. In it you will find one thousand gold coins that you can use to replenish the goats you lost, and to cover any expenses the vige has for a while.ˇ±

    Amos blinked furiously as Marcus ced this magic bag into his hand, wondering if he ahd heard him correctly.

    A thousand gold coins was probably what the entire vige would earn in forty years, yet Marcus just handed it over along with a magic bag like it nothing.

    ˇ°Lady Irene there is simply no way that we can ept this. That is arge sum of money that you must have worked very hard for. After all you have already done for us, it would be impossible for us to take something like this.ˇ± Raymond said while Amos was still in a daze.

    Naturally while this was not that great a sum to Marcus. To this remote vige, it was a massive amount that was more than they could ever expect to have.

    Even a single gold coin could get them far here as they lived simple lives away from the hustle and bustle of the kingdom.

    ˇ°Sorry but I have already given it away, and it would be rude to take back a gift. I am just paying back the kindness you gave me two and a half years ago with some interest. Anyway, I am a noble now. A thousand gold is not difficult for me to earn in the royal capital.ˇ±

    Not allowing them to return the thousand gold, Marcus swiftly left the building before they could offer any more resistance to his generous gift.

    ˇ°Well, I am going to stop by Norr Vige and will be back tomorrow. If you really do not want that gold, you are free to give it to Andrea or throw it out into the snow for all I care. It is yours to do with as you wish now.ˇ±

    After saying this he disappeared from view as heunched into the sky with his iron wings, and began flying in the direction of Norr Vige.

    Moving at an incredible pace Marcus covered the thirteen miles between the two vigeˇŻs in just a little under a half hour.

    Normally at this time of year it would have been a harrowing trek through dense snow and would have been a multiple day journey to get here, but for Marcus it was just a quick flight.

    Looking down on the vige he could see that it was about twice the size of the one he had just left, though its condition was not doing the greatest.

    A dozen buildings that were closest to the woods had been heavily damaged or demolished, and the merger fence around the ce had been broken through multiple times and shoddily patched.

    However, Marcus did not have long to examine the state of the vige as he saw a horde of beasts attacking.

    Except these were not your average beasts, and Marcus had never seen these before, though their did bare a resemnce to something he had seen recreations of back on Earth.

    ˇ®Dinosaurs!ˇŻ

    Seeing the reptiles covered in thick white feathers, there was no doubt in MarcusˇŻ mind that these things looked like the creatures he had seen in movies or video games.

    ˇ®There are a lot of them.ˇŻ

    Scanning the ground from above he identified around fifty of these dinosaur-like beasts.

    ˇ®They look like velociraptors, though five of them are quite a bit bigger and higher level. Probably they evolved and are the leaders.ˇŻ

    Once Marcus had finished analyzing the battle from above and had identified the area that was in the most trouble, he dropped into a nosedive.

    Speeding towards the ground he did not pull up and mmed into the ground at full speed. Right into one of therger raptors that was about to tear a soldier to shreds.

    The beast even at level thirty-six stood no chance against MarcusˇŻ impact and was crushed into the ground.

    Walking out of the crater he had just created, he looked back at the terrified solder that he just saved, and said, ˇ°Reinforcements have arrived.ˇ±

 Chapter 569 Taking Charge

    As Marcus crashed into the ground and crushed one of therge raptors underfoot, the soldier that was about to be killed by it looked at him awe.

    To them it looked like an angel had just descended from the sky and saved them since Marcus currently had his iron wings out.

    In fact, even as Marcus turned to this soldier, and said, ˇ°Reinforcements have arrivedˇ± They just sat there stunned.

    They honestly could not fathom what had had just happened since it seem too unreal.

    Looking at the soldier curiously, Marcus wondered why he just continued to sit there in the snow and stare.

    But he quickly disregarded it as the rest of the battle was still raging on around them.

    If he did not act soon, it was likely that the raptors would break through the soldiers and enter the vige to ughter everyone.

    pping his wings, he let dozens of his iron feathers fall off and then sent them flying like homing missiles towards the quick moving smaller raptors that were tearing up the kingdomˇŻs soldiers.

    In a matter of seconds, he had decimated them as his iron feathers pierced through their heads and put all of them down.

    It was an overwhelming disy of power, and all of the soldiers were astonished to watch their opponents drop dead all of a sudden and begin bleeding out in the snow.

    None of them had even seen MarcusˇŻ iron feathers other than as a quick sh of light as they had been moving too fast.<sub>.</sub>

    To all of the soldiers it was just as if a streak of silver went by, and then their deadly opponents that were close to killing them all, ended up dead instead.

    Still even though the slightly more than forty of the smaller raptors that were around two feet tall and nearly seven feet long had died, four of the alphas still remained.

    These four remaining leaders of these raptors were themselves muchrger than the smaller ones, being nearly six feet tall, and twenty feet long.

    Three of them were currently fighting a veryrge man who was swinging around two mithril great swords and keeping them on the defensive.

    Seeing this Marcus figured that this was the man named Dagwood as he was by far the strongest person here and was far stronger than any of the soldiers at level forty-eight.

    The other of the remaining alpha raptors was fighting who Marcus figured was the captain of the soldiers here, and unlike Dagwood who was definitely winning his fight, the captain was having trouble.

    He was only level thirty-two which while pretty strong, put him at a disadvantage against his opponent who was level thirty-four and much more powerful physically.

    ˇ®Time to put on a show.ˇŻ

    Dashing forward Marcus made sure to get everyoneˇŻs attention and not move too fast that he could not be seen.

    He wanted to earn these soldiersˇŻ respect by showing off. Since if they felt indebted to him, it would make having them follow his orders much easier.<sub></sub>

    Taking out his scythe and jumping right next to the captain that was about to take a w strike with his shield, Marcus instead got in the way and with one quick sh took the raptorˇŻs arm off.

    Then with a high kick he smashed his foot right into the underside of its jaw and sent therge beast flying into the air for all to see.

    ˇ®Shinning Lance.ˇŻ

    Casting his tier two light magic spell, he conjured a nine-foot-longnce made of light and made sure to swing it around shily beforeunching it into the air right after the raptor.

    In just a second the shinningnce pierced through therge raptorˇŻs stomach and embedded itself there.

    Letting out a loud roar of distress, it was obvious that the level thirty-four beast was in incredible pain, but by the time it impacted back into the ground with a loud thud, all but thest traces of life had already left its body.

    Soon thest drop of light in its eyes faded away as it dyed the white snow crimson.

    ˇ®I think that was a pretty good performance.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked back at the solders and even the captain who were gawking at him.

    Nevertheless, he was not done yet. While Dagwood had finished off one of the raptors he was fighting, the other two were in a full retreat and Marcus had no intention of letting them go.

    shing his scythe forward into the air he cast his des of darkness spell and sent out tworge des that flew right for the fleeing raptors.<sub></sub>

    Theses inky ck des sliced right through the forest, and quickly caught up to the only remining beasts that had attacked Norr Vige.

    Being hit in the side both raptors were instantly sliced in two, as the des of darkness cut into them like a warm knife through butter.

    It was all over in seconds and even Dagwood turned towards Marcus with surprise on his face, not expecting such a powerful attack toe flying from behind him.

    With all of the enemies now dead, Marcus took the initiative and approached the captain who was in a daze, and said, ˇ°I believe you are the one in charge, correct? I am Irene Geist. General Erastalven should have informed you that I would being.ˇ±

    Nodding his head robotically the captain acknowledged that he was indeed in charge. Though he was still not all there yet after seeing MarcusˇŻ impressive disy, that had probably saved him and most of his menˇŻs lives.

    ˇ°This is no time to be standing around doing nothing. Get you men together and gather the injured. I can use healing magic and will help out those that I can.ˇ± Marcus said,manding the captain.

    Hearing this he finally snapped out of his daze and looked around at his soldiers some who were in pretty rough shape.

    ˇ°Yes, maˇŻam I will get right to it.ˇ± The captain said, falling into his role as a soldier taking orders.

    Smiling, Marcus was happy to see that his disy had worked, and that the captain seemed more than willing not to fight for authority.

    He had been afraid that the captain would have a big ego, since his level and status made him superior to most. But it looked like that would not be a problem.

    ˇ®I should get to work myself. No point in letting anyone die if I can help them.ˇŻ

    Rushing around the area that had but moments ago been a battlefield, Marcus homed in on the soldiers that had the worst injuries and were in danger of dying if they did not receive immediate aid.

    ˇ®Presentient Healing.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Presentient Healing.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Presentient Healing.ˇŻ

    Going around to the soldier that were bleeding out in the snow, he quicklyid his hands on them and cast his tier four healing magic spell before moving on.

    Certainly, some of them had worse wounds than this spell could heal. A number of them were missing fingers or even whole limbs, but for now he just wanted to keep them from dying.

    Once he had applied emergency healing to everyone that was on the verge of death, he began helping to bring the soldiers back into the vige and to the building that had been set up as a temporary barracks.

    ˇ®Thirty soldiers excluding the captain. That is all they have left here. I counted ten that were already dead before I was able to intervene. Just how many have they lost since this all started?ˇŻ

    Looking around Marcus could see the hopeless expression on many of the soldierˇŻs faces, and it was quite obvious that they had been through a lot.

    Norr Vige was the settlement that was the highest north in the kingdom right now and bordered the woods at an area where arge majority of beasts and monsters had gathered.

    They were getting hammered nearly everyday by the creatures of the woods looking for food, or just running out of the woods and attacking them as they were an obstacle in their way.

    ˇ°Lady Geist, this is everyone other than those who are out on watch making sure we are not attacked again.ˇ± The captain said.

    Looking them over, Marcus could see that about half of them had wounds that could not be healed by ordinary magic since they were missing pieces of themselves.

    Going over to a man who was missing three of his fingers on his left-hand, Marcus said, ˇ°Hold your hand out to me.ˇ±

    Being hesitant, this soldier looked towards the captain for his confirmation, and the captain nodded to him.

    Taking the soldierˇŻs hand in his own, Marcus began using his spirit healing, and the soft wile glow enveloped this manˇŻs hand.

    Quickly his three missing fingers that he thought would be gone forever grew back.

    Staring at his hand in shock, the soldier could not believe that his fingers were restored.

    It was an absolute miracle that people normally only heard about in stories.

    For amon solider having any missing appendage healed was impossible, as it required a potion that cost a massive amount or to pay one of the few healers capable of such magic more than their life was worth.

    Only nobles or very wealthy merchants could ever hope to afford the healing necessary to regenerate a missing part of their body.

    ˇ°Now I am going to heal all of you. So, anyone with an injury they want me to fix, line up and I will have all of you back at you full strength in a few minutes.ˇ±

 Chapter 570 Taking Charge (2)

    Once Marcus had finished healing all of the injured solders, they all saluted him and thanked him for his generosity.

    Of course, for him it had really only cost him a little bit of time and energy to do so, and in return he now had their loyalty and respect.

    ˇ°Captain, I would like to speak with you in private now.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, the captain followed behind Marcus.

    However, as they exited the building, Dagwood was leaning against a nearby wall waiting for them. Much to the captainˇŻs surprise.

    To this point Dagwood had pretty much refused to interact with them unless necessary, and while he fought enemies when they showed up, it was not like he was a part of their unit.

    He was just a rouge man fighting for what he believed in, and like Andrea he was not much of a fan of the kingdomˇŻs soldiers.

    ˇ°I thought I recognized you. You are Lady Irene Geist, right?ˇ± Dagwood asked addressing Marcus.<sub>.</sub>

    Looking at Dagwood up close for the first time since arriving, Marcus definitely recognized the guy from somewhere. He was certain of that.

    Still no matter how hard he tired, he just could not ce where he had seen this man before.

    Yet to MarcusˇŻ surprise, Dagwood bowed deeply, and said, ˇ°I would like to thank you for avenging me. The way you put that rotten and stuck-up noble Wyatt Mudak in his ce allowed me to sleep better at night.ˇ±

    Eyes wide with realization, Marcus now remembered who he was.

    He was the one who had fought Wyatt in the first round of the tournament before he went up against and beat and humiliated Mrazivy.

    During their match Marcus had not really been paying much attention to Dagwood. Since he had been at the time, more interested in WyattˇŻs magic.

    Also, during the tournament Dagwood had been referred to more as the wilderness knight. A wild man that fought on the frontier to protect the viges and towns up in the far north.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Ah yes, I remember you now. Well, I am d that I was able to avenge you against Wyatt. I mostly fought him the way I did for my friend that he hurt in the round after yours, but frankly I am d that it helped you out as well.

    ˇ°Now I need to discuss somethings with the captain here, but after I am done with that, I have some business to attend to with you. If you do not mind?ˇ±

    Raising his head and smiling, Dagwood said, ˇ°I would be more than happy to speak with you since I feel indebted. I will be waiting in the center of the vige keeping watch. Whenever you wish to speak to me, simplye find me there.ˇ±

    After saying that Dagwood went on his way, and so did Marcus and the captain.

    Soon they made it to the small building that the captain was using as his residence while staying in the vige, so that they could talk in private.

    ˇ°Okay captain, I would like a full update on what has been happening up here. I want causality reports and the locations of all of your soldiers. Oh, and also if you could tell me your name.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes MaˇŻam. First my name is Gatlin. As for causalities here in Norr vige, we have lost twenty-seven soldiers since our cement here. For the other viges and small towns, I have not heard from most of them since I sent out squads to them before winter started. Unfortunately, with the conditions, it is nearly impossible to send out a messenger, and I am the only one with a sending stone which I can use to contact headquarters.ˇ± The captain said to Marcus with a serious expression on his face.<sub></sub>

    Sadly, he simply was cut off from the majority of his men that were scattered to the nearly thirty settlements that bordered the Great Gome Woods.

    At the start he had been inmand of three hundred fifty soldiers, but they had been split up into groups of eight to twelve and sent out to shore up the defenses of these frontier viges while the captain led sixty of his troops to Norr where the majority of the activity was.

    ˇ°What about the six soldiers from the vige just east of here. Did they make it to Norr after being run out?ˇ±

    Hearing this Gatlin was surprised and confused, since he wondered how Marcus knew about that.

    ˇ°Yes, they did, and reported that a nomadic tribe of beast people forced them out. Before that point though they had already lost four people to attacks from beasts and monsters. But if I might ask, how did you know about that?ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, ˇ°It is simple, that is where I went first. That vige is close to my original home that no longer exists, and I had to make sure they were okay. When I arrived, I had a little trouble form AndreaˇŻs tribe, but we came to an understanding. Anyway, that is why I came to talk to you today. I made a deal with her, and her people, and they are going to help me clean up the lower area of the woods of beasts and monsters. While we do that, I want you to keep on defense and protect these settlements from any fleeing creatures that might attack.ˇ±

    Shaking his head, the captain said, ˇ°Lady Irene, there is no way you can trust them. If they were strong enough to fight the beasts and monsters amassing in the woods, then they would not have taken over that vige. I believe that it would be better to slowly organize our troops and wait for reinforcements before initiating any sort of assault. In the meantime, we can use your power to protect Norr Vige and I can divert my soldiers to some of the others.ˇ±

    ˇ°Sorry, that is not the n. I already struck a deal and am nning to follow through with it. Bringing in more troops during the winter would be practically impossible, and in another five or maybe six months it could already be toote. I managed to get here quickly because I can fly and the cold is no issue to me, but the kingdom does not have many like me at their disposal, and the majority of their strongest forces are already far down south in Tralenstein. I am the only reinforcements that will being up here for some time, so I am going to make use of what strength I can. This is not up for debate, and I am giving the orders here. I want you to prepare to depart in an hour. We will be stopping by the other viges and towns you sent soldiers to so that we can assess their situations. Then tomorrow, I will begin cleaning out the woods that are close to bursting.ˇ±

    When he had finished talking Marcus stood up and looked sternly at the captain, making sure he knew who was in charge here before heading out towards the center of town.

    When he arrived, he saw Dagwood sitting up in a tall watchtower the stood above all of the buildings in the vige and gave him a view of the surrounding area.

    Climbing up thedder to the top, he sat across from Dagwood in the small space.

    ˇ°So, what did you need from me?ˇ± Dagwood asked, while gazing out over the forest.

    ˇ°I was hoping to get your help with something. I have made a deal with Andrea and her tribe, and tomorrow they are going to help me clear out woods. But before I came over here, she rmended that I get you onboard as well. You are pretty strong, and it would be useful to have your assistance. I believe that it would also align with your goal of protecting the settlements up here.ˇ±

    Sitting in silence for around a minute, Dagwood thought carefully about what to do.

    ˇ°Very well, I shall agree to help as a means to repay you for avenging me in the tournament. I know that was not your intention, but I still feel grateful to you. Therefore, I shall lend you my strength.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus thanked Dagwood for his cooperation, and then said, ˇ°We will be beginning tomorrow when the sun reaches its highest point. If it would not be too much trouble, do you think that you could head over to the vige to west of here where Andrea and her tribe are?ˇŻ

    Nodding his head Dagwood agreed to do so, and quickly dropped out of the tower.

    Following behind him Marcus told him that he would meet back up early tomorrow morning in the vige and that he still had a few things to take care of here first.

    Once he and Dagwood separated, Marcus headed back to the barracks where the soldiers were and waited for the captain to be ready to leave.

    ˇ°Are you ready to go Gatlin?ˇ± Marcus asked to the captain when he arrived.

    ˇ°Yes, I am Lady Geist. But how exactly are we going to get to the other viges in such a short amount of time?ˇ±

    ˇ°Let us go outside and I will show you.ˇ± Marcus said with mischievous grin.

    Luckily Gatlin did not pick up on this and did not expect what Marcus was going to do.

    Grabbing the straps of his armor, Marcus made sure he had a good grip on the captain before casting his tier five iron magic spell and shooting into the air.

 Chapter 571 Final Preparations

    Having grabbed onto Captain Gatlin by the straps of his armor, Marcus carried him high into the air and shot off in the direction of the next settlement.

    As this happened Gatlin was understandably surprised and began screaming loudly, as he was suddenly hoisted hundreds of feet into the air and elerated to a speed over three hundred miles an hour.

    ˇ°There is no need to be afraid. I will not drop you unless you give me a reason to.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to calm Gatlin down.

    Unfortunately, his choice of words were not much for building GatlinˇŻs confidence, especially when he was talking about dropping him.

    Eventually though he calmed down and asked Marcus if this was really necessary.

    ˇ°Whether it is necessary or not, I do not know. But it should save me plenty of time to have you along to convince your soldiers without me having to.ˇ± Marcus said as he continued to speed along through the sky.

    At the very least he had created a mana barrier that was protecting Gatlin from most of the windchill. Otherwise, the army captain was likely to have ended up a popsicle in a short amount of time.<sub>.</sub>

    With MarcusˇŻ speed they soon saw the first vige on their route, and he quickly swooped down into the center of it.

    Looking around he could see that the ce had incurred a bit of damage from attacks, but nothingpared to what Norr vige had endured.

    Once they had located the soldiers, Gatlin got an update on what had happened here and ryed the order to stay on the defensive and be extra vignt tomorrow.

    ˇ°So how casualties have they had?ˇ± Marcus asked to the captain when he was finished speaking to his soldiers.

    ˇ°None. They have been lucky and all eleven of them are still alive. Though two of them have taken debilitating injuries. If you would not mind, could you heal them?ˇ± Gatlin asked with a pleading expression.

    Smiling, Marcus said, ˇ°Yeah, no problem. I am more than happy to heal up any of the soldiers so that they can fight at their best.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Quickly he healed the two soldiers. One that was missing his right arm, and the other who actually had one of his lungs destroyed.

    The two of them like everyone else he had ever healed, thanked him profusely for performing a miracle for them.

    Then after that was done, Marcus dropped off a few of the thermal enchanted sets of clothing and an extra supply of food.

    ˇ°Okay let us move onto the next one.ˇ± Marcus said when they had finished up at this vige.

    Bracing himself, Gatlin knew what was about to happen and got ready for Marcus to whisk him away back into the sky.

    The day went by much the same as Marcus flew over to one settlement after the other, got a status report, ryed orders, healed up those who were injured, and delivered some extra supplies.<sub></sub>

    By the time they had finished visiting thest vige the sun had already gone down and the three moons of Mirrion hade out.

    Surprisingly all three of them were nearly full and it was the first time sinceing here that Marcus had seen this.

    ˇ®Well that certainly is pretty. They are a lot brighter than the one on Earth was.ˇŻ

    Gazing up into the sky Marcus sat around waiting for the captain to recover so that they could head back to Norr Vige.

    Currently the poor guy was huddled next to MarcusˇŻ floatingntern spell and warming back up after being flown around all day in the freezing cold.

    Around half an hourter Gatlin had finally managed to get himself warmed up again and to push off some of the fatigue of the long day of being flown around.

    ˇ°Okay, I will get us back to Norr as quickly as I can. It should only be about forty or so minutes.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Groaning, Gatlin was already tired off being treated like luggage, but there was no way he could travel the around two hundred miles to Norr from where they were on his own.

    Picking him up for thest time, Marcus shot into the air and made his way back to Norr.

    When they finally arrived back at the vige Gatlin was thankful to see that it was still standing, since he feared it might be attacked while he was gone.

    Of course, Marcus was not going to leave something like that up to chance and had left a watcher to keep vigil over the ce.

    ˇ®Did you have any trouble while I was gone Roxene?ˇŻ Marcus said over their telepathic connection.

    ˇ®A few weak beasts and monsters came by, but I drove them off easily enough. But I can tell you already that something really bad is going on. I got the whiff of some very strong monsters and beasts a bit deeper in. I think one of the beasts might even be at the legendary grade. Normally these types of creatures would be the kings of their domain, but they have all gathered down this far in the woods. Whatever is causing them to migrate like this must be very dangerous.ˇŻ

    Hearing thising from Roxene, Marcus could tell that there was probably some serious trouble brewing further north.

    Still, he needed to bring down the growing presences of powerful creatures that were getting ever closer to trampling the frontier settlements, and then making their way deeper into the kingdom.

    Even a single level fifty beast or monster could run rampant through the entire area, causing major damage wherever it went.

    Not even River Landing could hope to repel more than one of two beasts at level fifty or higher.

    ˇ®Well good work while I was away. If you want to go back to sleep, you are wee toe back and rest in mypanion storage? For the next few days neither of us are probably going to be getting much of any rest.ˇŻ

    Agreeing to MarcusˇŻ proposal Roxene stealthy ran out of the woods, avoiding any attention of the soldier out on watch and made her way back to Marcus.

    ˇ®Now I guess I should keep an eye out here through the night, and then tomorrow it will finally be time to begin the culling of beasts and monsters.ˇŻ

 Chapter 572 Cleaning Out the Woods

    ˇ®Looks like it is time to get going.ˇŻ

    Standing up Marcus looked out over the horizon as the sun began to rise.

    He had been watching over Norr vige from the top of the tower that Dagwood had been using through the entire night.

    Luckily everything had remained quiet, and no other beasts or monsters attacked the vige.

    Jumping out of the tower he cast his iron wings of the archangel spell and began flying to the west.

    Speeding over thend that waspletely white from snow, it was not long until he saw the outline of his home vige.

    As he got closer, he could see people rushing around and getting prepared, as today was going to be busy and harrowing.<sub>.</sub>

    Stopping right above the center of the vige Marcus dropped down out of the sky andnded.

    Many of AndreaˇŻs tribe were surprised by his sudden appearance and jumped into a defensive posture until they noticed that it was Marcus.

    When they saw it was him, they all rxed and happily went to greet him.

    After what he had done for them by healing their injured, other than Davion and those closest to him, everyone else in AndreaˇŻs tribe really appreciated Marcus.

    Once he had finished talking to those that were in the center of the vige, he began making his way to the vigeˇŻs main hall, where he had been told Andrea and Dagwood were waiting.

    When he arrived, he saw the two of them were talking to each other with serious expressions.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Is something the matter?ˇ± Marcus asked.

    Looking over to him, the two of them had definitely been talking about some conundrum they were having.

    ˇ°Yes, there could be. From what Dagwood just told me there is a level fifty-six seven-headed cryohydra that has made its new home in thergestke in the lower Great Gome Woods. That is an unfathomably strong monster. Do you honestly think you can take it?ˇ± Andrea said with a look of worry in her eyes.

    Even if her entire tribe were to attack a monster like that, they would lose without being able to do much of anything.

    Hydras were very strong creatures with numerous heads that could unleash breath attacks. Not to mention they have incredible regenerative abilities that could normally only be stopped by fire or acid.

    Though a strong enough darkness magic could also work as long as the corroding properties were stronger than the hydraˇŻs regeneration.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Yeah, I should be able to win. I was given a special item to use that packs a punch, and it should be the perfect creature to try it out on.ˇ±

    Holding up his left-hand Marcus allowed Andre and Dagwood to see the ze glove that the deputy king had lent him.

    Looking at it in awe they could tell it was a powerful magical item from the amount of mana that was stored inside it.

    ˇ°Well, if you are confident, then we will not stop you. But until you deal with that thing we will be staying out of the area.ˇ± Andrea said, letting Marcus know she would not risk her tribe.

    Pulling out his map of the area he asked Andrea and Dawood to circle the areas they knew had the most powerful beasts and monsters.

    ˇ®That is a bit more than I thought.ˇŻ

    Looking at his map he now had seventeen circles, each indicating a beast or monster that was level forty-seven or higher.

    Of course, these were just the ones these two knew about from their exploration of the woods, and really there was no way to know if it was still urate.

    ˇ°Okay there are still a couple of hours left before we begin so let me go over the n with you both.ˇ± Marcus said.

    He then told them that he had broken the lower area of the woods that bordered the kingdomˇŻs settlements into a grid.

    There were a number of these grids and they needed to clear out at least a few miles deep into the woods, while also covering the hundreds of miles that stretched out between each vige.

    ˇ°So, Andrea, I want you to break your tribe up into five groups. You know them best and I will leave who you want in each group to you. As for you Dagwood, do you think that you can work on your own?ˇ±

    Nodding his head Dagwood said, ˇ°Yes, I can fight on my own. Just assign me and area and I will try to clear it out.ˇ±

    ˇ°Okay then you will start here, and I will need you to handle these five areas.ˇ± Marcus said to him.

    He then assigned the areas to each of the squads that AndreaˇŻs tribe would be broken into, giving the most dangerous area to the elite squad that Andrea was going to be leading herself.

    Once that was wrapped up and Marcus was sure that Andrea and Dagwood knew the n, he said, ˇ°I will be heading out now and get a head start. IˇŻll make sure that anything too tough for you all to handle is dealt with in your starting areas. Oh, and Andrea make sure to tell everyone to prioritize their lives. There is no need to try and fight something they cannot beat.ˇ±

    Taking his leave after that, Marcus exited the building leaving Andrea tomand her tribe, while he went to exterminate the strongest creature that had been amassing in the lower woods.

    ˇ®Roxene, do you have a scent?ˇŻ

    ˇ®Yeah, there is a strong beast around four miles from here. That is the closest one. But I smell at least another six within the range of my nose.ˇŻ Roxene told Marcus.

    ˇ®Got it. I guess let us get started. Lead me to the nearest one.ˇŻ

    Rushing through the woods Roxene tracked the scent of one of the strongest beasts in the forest and led Marcus right to it.

    Quickly they arrived in the vicinity of this beastˇŻs territory, and there they saw arge twelve-foot-tall, thirty-foot long armadillo curled up and asleep.

 Chapter 573 Clearing out the Woods (2)

    Looking out at the massive armadillo beast that he had found; Marcus was certainly impressed by its size and appearance.

    Unlike a normal armadillo like he had seen back on earth. in addition to its huge size, it had spikes all over its outer armor, and its tail ended in a thick club.

    ˇ®Level forty-seven. Definitely a pretty tough beast, but still not much of a problem for me.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Laser.ˇŻ

    Firing off his tier four light magic spell, he expected to pierce right through this armadillo beastˇŻs head, but it reacted faster than he thought it could.

    The second it felt his hostility, it curled up into a ball in the blink of an eye, and surprisingly its armor deflected hisser spell.

    ˇ®Oh, it looks to have some pretty high magic resistance. Been awhile since I fought something like this.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Looking at where hisser spell had impacted, he could see that while it had been deflected, the armor around the area it hit did have noticeable cracks in it.

    The armadillo then turned its body towards Marcus and began spinning rapidly, beforeunching at him like a spiked wreaking ball.

    However, before he made any move to evade or counter, Roxene engaged instead. Activating her Paragon of the Divine Wolf Supreme skill and growing muchrger.

    She was now a match for this armadillo in size, and with ws outstretched and an aura of darkness around her, she crashed into the charging beast.

    For a few moments she was pushed back, but even sixteen levels lower her power was greater and she soon stopped her opponentˇŻs charge.

    At her level she was unrivaled, and when she used her supreme skill, she could easily content with creatures twenty to thirty levels higher than herself depending on their quality.<sub></sub>

    And unfortunately, as just a rare grade beast this armadillo stood no chance against Roxene, who stood at the pinnacle of the mythic grade.

    Opening her mouth wide she bit down hard into the thick armor ting of the huge armadillo and crushed right through it.

    Her teeth were as sharp as they came and her jaw strong enough to crush even the strongest substances.

    Blood began pouring out of its body as Roxene dug in deeper, and the creature let out a pained screech that was hard on the ears.

    Still, it was not dead yet, and unfurled itself in order to swing its club like tail around to try and bash Roxene away.

    Yet before it could connect, she leapt into the air while still holding onto the armadillo in her mouth.<sub></sub>

    Then with a big swing of her neck sheunched therge beast high into the air as it iled around looking for anything it could grab ahold of.

    Soon it crashed back down with a loud thud as its body imbedded itself deep into the ground.

    Of course, that had not killed it, and in fact barely injured it at all. But it had immobilized and stunned it for a moment which was all Roxene needed.

    Bounding towards it like a blur, she appeared right in front of the beast as ity on its back stuck deep in the ground and helpless.

    Aiming for its neck she bit down with all her strength ripped the armadilloˇŻs throat out.

    It began spasming as it started to lose blood quickly, and within just a matter of moments it went still as its life left it.

    ˇ®Do you feel better now?ˇŻ Marcus asked to Roxene.

    ˇ®Yes, I do. It has been too long since I have been able to fight anything with any substance. Though this one really only served as a warmup. I expect that you will let me take on some of the others which will hopefully pose more of a challenge.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Yeah, that will not be a problem, but let me take out the next few a bit quicker. We need to at least hurry up and make sure the starting areas are safe so that Dagwood, as well as Andrea and her tribe can begin their parts. Now take me to the next closest one so we can wrap this up as soon as possible.ˇŻ

    Taking off deeper into the forest Marcus followed Roxene as she led him to the next powerhouse of a beast or monster, and he quickly began systematically annihting them.

    ˇ®Looks like we finished right on time.ˇŻ

    Looking up into the sky Marcus could see that the sun was at its highest point, marking that it was time for the culling of the woods to really begin.

    He had just taken care of thest high-level monster that had made its home in the starting areas, and now the others would be able to take on the weaker beasts without any worry about being ambushed by something they could not deal with.

    ˇ®Roxene, get back in mypanion storage and I will take us back to the vige to report our sess. Then I can pick up our bait and we can move onto the other areas.ˇŻ

    Walking back over to him, Roxene jumped into hispanion storage.

    Now ready to go, Marcusunched back into the air and began flying swiftly towards the vige.

    When he arrived, her told Andrea that their starting areas had been cleared out and showed pieces of each corpse he had brought back as proof.

    ˇ°Well, you heard her. It is time for us to do our jobs. Anything that could prove a threat is our target, so spread out and take care of these beasts and monster that think they can push us out of our woods.ˇ±

    After Andrea gave her quick but rousing speech. The members of her tribe began cheering and ran into the woods to begin getting rid of the amassing beasts and monsters.

    ˇ°Now then Davion. I will be requiring your services. I hope you can run fast. because I am going to need you to lure out plenty of beasts and monsters for me.ˇ± Marcus said with a devilish smile.

    ˇ°Oh, and do not try to run away.ˇ± He said as he shot aser spell right past DavionˇŻs head.

    ˇ°If you attempt to flee, I will end you in a second. So, prepare to fight with your life on the line, because it certainly will be.ˇ±

 Chapter 574 Clearing Out the Woods (3)

    ˇ®Come on, if you do not run faster it is going to catch up to you.ˇŻ Marcus said over his telepathy to Davion.

    Currently the unfortunate wolf beastman was running for his life, as arge, scaled bear chased him after Marcus sent him into its cave to lure it out.

    Unfortunately for Davion, he had little choice int the matter. It was either take his chances against the beasts and monsters of the forest as bait or end up being killed by MarcusˇŻ hands.

    This had led him to having to antagonize a level fifty-one scaled bear that was bigger than a tank, and then run for his life as it pursued him out of the cave.

    By some miracle he managed to keep ahead of it and exited the cave still alive and in one piece, but the scaled bear was hot on his heels.

    And as soon as it exited the cave, it leapt towards Davion, giving him little room to avoid its massive frame that was bearing down on him.

    BOOM!

    However, before the bear could tear him to shreds, Marcus who had positioned himself above the caveˇŻs entrance mmed his cataclysmic iron sword down with all his might.<sub>.</sub>

    This titanic weapon that weighted several hundred tons, crashed into the massive bear, and its hard scales that were tougher than mithril began to crack and break under the pressure.

    In an instant the powerful beast was buried deep underground as the sword crushed it into a blood pulp.

    The forest began to shake as MarcusˇŻ spell pierced through the ground, and cracks began to swallow up the area as it became unstable.

    It was like a localized earthquake had just happened, and the forest now had a scar running through it.

    ˇ®Oh, looks like he survived.ˇŻ

    Looking down at the ground Marcus watched as Davion pulled himself out from the ground, after being swallowed up by the earthquake he had caused.

    Truthfully, he had attacked without any regard to DavionˇŻs safety, but it was good that he had survived, since he was excellent bait.<sub></sub>

    Dropping down in front of the man who was spitting out dirt and coughing fiercely, Marcus said, ˇ°Good work there. You lured it out and distracted it quite well so that I was able to attack without facing any resistance. Now we have around a dozen more to deal with before the day is over, so letˇŻs get going.ˇ±

    Picking Davion up, Marcus kicked him in the backside to get him going again, and the two of them followed Roxene who was waiting nearby to lead them to the next high-level creature.

    Naturally Marcus had introduced Davion to his beastpanion and told him that she would lead them to their quarry.

    When the wolf beast man had met Roxene, he could immediately tell that she was something special and well beyond him.

    Just her very presence felt like it was weighing down on him and forcing him to submit.

    This just added onto the fear he had of Marcus and his beastpanion, breaking his spirit and leaving him no will to resist.

    He had nowe to except his role as bait and knew that his only chance for survival was to fight with all his might and hope not to be killed.<sub></sub>

    Continuing on, Marcus and Davion followed Roxene around the woods on a search and destroy mission to get rid of the strongest creatures in the lower areas of the Great Gome Woods.

    They had quickly gotten into a routine, where Davion was forced to antagonize the monster or beast they were targeting and lead it to where Marcus was lying in wait to deliver a devastating blow.

    At the very least he did get the asional break from being used as bait. As about one out of every five beasts or monsters, Roxene would take her turn having an epic battle against the lords of the forest.

    ˇ°Davion, since it looks like you might actually survive this, I figured I might as well warn you now. If you live through acting as my bait, I will keep my word and let you live, but I expect you not to mention Roxene to anyone. I am sure by now you realize that she is an extraordinary beast at the mythic grade. So, you are going to forget she exists after this, and if I ever hear that you told someone about her. I will do something to you that is far worse than any death. Do I make myself clear?ˇ±

    Nodding his head furiously, Davion made sure to let Marcus know that he would not say a thing.

    The look in MarcusˇŻ eyes told him that he was not kidding, and that he could cause him a fate far worse than death.

    ˇ°Ah looks like she is just about to finish up. Get ready to move out again.ˇ± Marcus said as he stood up off the ground where he had been watching RoxeneˇŻs fight from.

    By the time he and Davion walked over to her, she had finished off the bipedal boar monster she had been fighting.

    Quickly Marcus removed its core and stored it into his item box, before following Roxene onto the next creature they needed to get rid of.

    ˇ°Looks like it is finally time to take on the one strongest one.ˇ± Marcus said as he peered out over the huge frozenke in the middle of the woods.

    This was the ce where the seven headed cryohydra that was level fifty-six had made its home, and it was undoubtably the strongest monster in the vicinity.

    ˇ°Okay Davion, if you would not mind going and getting it out from the bottom of theke for me.ˇŻ

    Turning around and looking at Marcus with an unbelieving expression, he could not fathom how Marcus expected him to aplish this.

    Theke was easily several hundred feet deep, if not maybe over a thousand.

    Not to mention that it was freezing cold and there was a thickyer of ice on top of theke.

    ˇ°Your right I cannot expect you to go in there like this.ˇ± Marcus said noticing the look on DavionˇŻs face.

    Letting out a sigh of relief, Davion honestly thought that Marcus was about to send him to his unavoidable death.

    However, only seconds after he thought he was safe, Marcus cast his tier two fire magic spell and began melting a hole in the ice.

    Quickly his zing hot methrower spell had created arge opening in the ice that allowed ess to the water below.

    ˇ°There now you have ess into theke. And here, I will even give you a bit of a boost and some resistance to the cold.ˇ±

    Moving over to Davion, he cast his lightning warrior and heart of the forge spells onto the wolf beastman. Giving him a buff to his physical stats and the ability to not freeze to death within a couple of minutes.

    Immediately Davion felt power coursing through him like never before, as the two tier five spells empowered him.

    But before he could truly fathom the boost in power he had just received, Marcus pped him on the back, and said, ˇ°No time to stand around gawking. Get in there and bring that hydra back up to me.ˇ±

 Chapter 575 Dealing with the Cryohydra

    SPLASH!

    After being pushed by Marcus, Davion suddenly felt his body beingpletely submerged in ice cold water.

    However, while he expected his body to suddenly be ovee with an incredible cold, he found that he was still pretty warm.

    This was to the heart of the forge spell Marcus had cast on him, which gave him a perpetual zing aura.

    ˇ®Hey, we do not have all day and I doubt you can hold your breath forever. Get going and find that hydra for me.ˇŻ Marcus said over his telepathy.

    Except he received a quick response he was not expecting.

    ˇ®Please be merciful. I do not know how to swim.ˇŻ

    Groaning, he could not believe he had forgotten that most people in this world did not know how to swim.

    In this world most bodies of water had powerful beasts and monsters lurking under the depths, so why would anyone willingly get in them and swim around.

    Not to mention this was a kingdom in the far north and probably only for a couple of months out of the year would the water even barely be warm enough for the average person to get into.

    As for swimming pools, Marcus had actually not seen a single one yet in this world. Which made sense, as only really wealthy nobles could probably afford something like that. And again, this kingdom was pretty cold.

    ˇ®Okay, I will give you something to help you move around underwater.ˇŻ Marcus transmitted to Davion.

    He then pulled off his own boots and wrapped them up with his iron threads, before lowering them into the water.

    ˇ®Go ahead and take these boots and put them on. They are enchanted and will allow you to move underwater as if you were still onnd. Also, with them on you will still be able to breath and ignore the changes in pressure. Just make sure you bring them back as these are my personal boots, and I am quite attached to them.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Grabbing ahold of the boots, Davion inspected them and could tell they were pretty powerful magical items.

    And as he slipped them on her felt a noticeable change, as if the water was no longer smothering him and that he could stand up normally.

    Though that was not all as he was now able to filter the water into his mouth and somehow breath the oxygen within it.

    ˇ®I think I also feel more limber and faster. These boots really are impressive.ˇŻ Davion thought, and at the same time transmitted to Marcus who he was still connected to telepathically.

    ˇ®Yes, you are right that they are impressive. Those are the first really powerful magical item that I ever obtained. Now get going already. You should be able to move without any problems just by running as normal.ˇŻ

    After Marcus said this to him, Davion tested it out and her found that he really could run through the water like it was solid.

    The boots reacted to his will and every step he took they seemed to push the water so that he moved around.

    In fact, it was more like flying than normal walking as he could now move in three dimensions.

    Still while he enjoyed his new ability to move about, Davion was quickly reminded by Marcus that he had a job to do, and that at any moment he could take those boots away.

    Davion feeling that his life was teetering on MarcusˇŻ mood, began delving deeper into theke in search of the seven-headed cryohydra that was their quarry.

    Luckily as deep as thiske went, it was not hard to spot where this powerful monster had made its home. Since it had created a massive ice dome at the bottom of theke.

    Clenching his teeth Davion could feel his instincts telling him not to get any closer. But he knew that it was either probably die in between the hydraˇŻs jaws, or definitely die to MarcusˇŻ magic.

    Diving deeper he soon made it to the top of the ice dome, pulled out hie weapon, and prepared to attack.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Ripsaw Strike.ˇŻ

    shing down with his most powerful attack skill, Davion began sawing through the ice and making as much noise as he could.

    Quickly he broke through the dome and howled loudly into the water. Issuing a challenge to the seven-headed cryohydra.

    Then he immediately turned around and began running away, knowing that he wouldst all of maybe five seconds if he fought against a monster at this level.

    And no sooner than he had begun fleeing did he hear a roar from below, and where he had been sawing through the ice just moments ago was suddenly hit with a st of cold energy from the hydraˇŻs breath attack.

    Picking up his pace Davion moved as swiftly as he could back towards the hole in the ice Marcus had made.

    Unfortunately, when he was about halfway there, he turned around and saw the monster that was chasing after him and his heart sank.

    Even from a glimpse he could see that this monster was colossal.

    Its torso to tail was easily sixty to seventy feet long, and with its heads it passed well over a hundred feet long.

    Truly it was a massive monster that was the stuff of nightmares and was a creature that could cause havoc through the kingdom.

    Other than major cities with impable magical defenses and high-level fighters, this hydra could turn any other settlement into rubble.

    Even Rivernding which was thergest town for over a hundred miles would be unable to deal with something like this.

    ˇ®Shit, shit, shit, shit.ˇŻ Davion thought as he sped towards the surface.<sub></sub>

    Yet when he was around a hundred feet away and could see the opening in the ice, he suddenly felt a chill as the cryohydra unleash its breath attack from three of its heads.

    He turned around and watched as the water right behind him quickly turned to ice and was approaching him rapidly with no hope of evading.

    Bracing himself Davion prepared to be frozen in ice at any moment and reach the end of his life.

    But the ice never made it to him, and as he opened his eyes, he saw a massive beam of light shoot down from above and st through the cryohydraˇŻs breath attack before hitting it square in the chest.

    BOOM!

    A huge explosion of light rocked theke as MarcusˇŻ quasar st spell hit the seven-headed cryohydra.

    Being caught up in this st Davion was thrown from the water and into the air where he saw Marcus hovering right above where that huge beam of light originated from.

    Having seen this he now understood how far away he was from Marcus who boasted an unfathomable amount of power.

    He now wished he never made an enemy out of him, and that he had not let his ambition to be leader of the tribe cause him to anger Andrea.

    ˇ®I suppose I should catch the idiot.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched Davion fall.

    Flying over to Davion, Marcus plucked him out of the sky so that he would not just fall back into theke.

    ˇ°You are lucky that I still need you to act as baittter on. I almost decided not to save you there, but it was a decent opening, so I took it. Now go run and hide in the woods until this is over.ˇ±

    Confusion on his face Davion did not understand what he meant.

    He thought there was no way anything could have survived an attack like that, but in just a few seconds the cryohydra burst out of theke seething in anger.

    Its rage was nearly palpable as three of its heads had been blown off and its chest had arge blood hole in it.

    Seeing this Davion took MarcusˇŻ advice and ran deeper into the woods to avoid getting caught up in their fight.

    ˇ°You certainly are big I will give you that.ˇ± Marcus said as the hydra pulled itself out of the water.

    At this point its heads and chest had already regenerated, and all seven pairs of its eyes were staring at Marcus like he was a dead man.

    Of course, he was still keeping his cool, as while this hydra was impably strong, it still did not pose much of a threat to him.

    ˇ®Darkness drill.ˇŻ

    Flicking his hand forward Marcus sent a standard darkness drill at the hydra to gage its defenses.

    However, he was surprised to see that it activated a very powerful barrier around itself thatpletely nullified the spell.

    After that the hydraˇŻs heads moved around and surrounded him and beganshing out to tear him to shreds.

    However, before it could hit him, he just went ethereal and flew up into the sky as it looked around for him.

    ˇ®Looks like it cannot use spiritual energy. It has no way to really beat me.ˇŻ

    Seeing as how the cryohydra could not deal with his ghost form, Marcus was absolutely confident that he could win. All he needed to do was hit it hard enough so that it could not regenerate.

    ˇ®Time to test out how powerful this glove really is.ˇŻ

    Pointing his hand downwards he began channeling his mana into the ze glove and preparing to cast a spell out of it.

    Naturally the cryohydra felt this. though not because it could tell where Marcus was, but because it could feel the hostility and danger he was emitting.

    Turning in his direction it aimed all of its mouths towards him while also deploying its barrier around itself.

    Then right before Marcus was ready to unleash his spell, he became tangible again and fired.

    ˇ®Sun shot.ˇŻ

    Casting the tier six fire magic spell from the ze glove, he sent out apressed st of heat and fire right for the cryohydra.

    At the same time, it sent out seven sts of cold, one from each of its heads to meet the fire magic spell head on.

    Yet the hydraˇŻs st of powerful cold energy was easily ripped through by the tier six spell and as it hit caused a huge fiery explosion that engulfed the monsterˇŻs body.

    ˇ®Crap.ˇŻ

    As the explosion rapidly expanded it quickly came right back at Marcus, who had to go back into his ghost form to avoid being caught by his own attack.

    ˇ®Damn it looked so small when I shot it out, but it certainly backs a punch.ˇŻ

    Looking down from above at the devastation he had caused, Marcus was astounded by how much power this tier six spell cast form the ze glove had.

    It had caused what was close to a small nuclear st, and the side of theke he had shot it off at had been blown away and was on fire.

    Luckily the snowyndscape was slowing the fireˇŻs advance, but Marcus knew he was going to have to deal with it soon before it turned into a massive forest fire.

    ˇ®Well at least it did the job.ˇŻ

    Staring down at therge crater that was being filled in with water from theke, he caught a glimpse of the now charred and headless corpse of the cryohydra.

 Chapter 576 A Powerful Opponent

    Floating down into the water Marcus found what remained of the cryohydraˇŻs body and stored it away into his item box.

    This served two purposes. One to make sure the thing was really dead, and two so that he could harvest its materialster.

    ˇ®Well, I am d now that I did not test out the tier seven spell this glove can use.ˇŻ

    Looking around at the destruction he had caused, he felt a bit bad for the forest.

    He had been trying to do minimum damage, but after thatst attack he had certainly killed a few hundred trees and created a new part of the alreadyrgeke.

    Turning towards the still smoldering forest, Marcus lifted his foot and was about to m it down into the ground, when he remembered that he was not currently wearing his boots.

    ˇ®Damn, where to did Davion go? Did he take this chance to try and escape?ˇŻ

    Launching back into the air he scanned the forest looking for the man he had been using as bait, mostly as revenge for Davion calling him a bitch.

    ˇ®Oh, I guess he is more afraid of me than I thought.ˇŻ

    Looking down Marcus saw the wolf beast man hiding nearby behind a rock that had protected him from the majority of the sun shot spellˇŻs power.

    Landing on the ground right in front of the shacking beast man who was wondering how he had ended up where he was, Marcus said, ˇ°I need those boots back.ˇ±

    He then grabbed Davion by the feet without waiting for his response and pulled the boots off.

    Though before he put them back on, he flew over to theke and washed them out a bit before drying them with his fire magic.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®That is better. Back where they belong.ˇŻ

    With his boots now back on his feet, Marcus moved over to the forest that was a bit on fire from his attack.

    ˇ®Tidal Stomp.ˇŻ

    mming his foot into the ground he created a huge tidal wave that was nearly a hundred feet tall and three hundred feet wide and sent it out over the forest.

    Quickly the trees that were on fire werepletely submerged in water which snuffed out the lingering damage he had caused.

    Once that was taken care of her went back over to Davion, and said, ˇ°We are done for today so go ahead and set up your tent and get some rest. I will keep watch so need to worry about it. Just make sure you are ready for tomorrow, because I will be requiring your services again.ˇ±

    Jumping up into a nearby tree Marcus left Davion on his own and watched out over the woods that had be restless.

    Many beasts and monsters had been disturbed by his and AndreaˇŻs tribeˇŻs movements within the woods.

    Naturally the creatures that lived here were in tune with their surroundings, and they could feel the threats closing in on them.

    Not to mention that rulers of many parts of the forest had suddenly vanished, leaving a power vacuum through the forest.

    ˇ®Tomorrow we are going to have to double our efforts. If we move too slowly beasts that are still a bit deeper in will just move in on the now unupied territory. At the end of the day, I need to find and deal with whatever is causing all these beasts and monsters to flee further south.ˇŻ

    Sitting up in a tree Marcus looked out over the forest and kept an eye on things through the night.<sub></sub>

    The temperature quickly plummeted as the warmth of the sun had long since vanished, but the forest only became more active.

    Certain creatures like that cryohydra thrived in the cold and were at their strongest during the night with its biting chill.

    Luckily nothing very dangerous came anywhere near them, and the few beasts and monsters that wandered close where swiftly dealt with by a darkness bullet from Marcus.

    The long night continued on for hours, but eventually the sun rose back over the horizon signaling that it was time to move out again.

    ˇ°Get up Davion. We have another long day ahead of us and I want to get rid of more beasts and monster today than we did yesterday.ˇ±

    Coming out of his tent while yawning widely, Davion rubbed his face a few times before breaking down his camp and getting ready to leave.

    Soon, the three of them led by Roxene were on their way to the next beast or monster that posed a major threat to the area.

    Hours went by as they cleared out beasts after beasts and monster after monster, until they made it to a certain area where Marcus became more cautious.

    ˇ®Are you sure this is where it is? I do not see anything or the signs that somethingrge is living here.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Yes, this is the ce. I definitely smell a legendary grade beast around here. It has spread its scent and presence out so I cannot pinpoint its exact location though. But this is definitely where a legendary grade beast lives.ˇŻ Roxene said to Marcus.

    Spreading out his life sense skill he tired searching for something that gave off a big signal, but all he found was Roxene and Davion who were close to what he was looking for.

    ˇ®It must be outside my skillˇŻs range. But how is it hiding itself so well? Normally as they get stronger, beasts get bigger. Yet I cannot see it anywhere.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Unable to find the location of his current target Marcus was forced to take another approach.

    ˇ®Davion you are up. Go stand out in the middle of that clearing and wait for whatever is here toe and attack you.ˇŻ Marcus said to Davion with his telepathy.

    Sighing, Davion did as he had been told and stood out in the open like the good bait he was.

    Unfortunately, whatever was here had no intention of taking the bait, and Davion just stood there for fifteen minutes as nothing happened.

    ˇ®I did not want it toe to this, but I guess scorched earth it is.ˇŻ

    Seeing as how he could not find the beast they were looking for, Marcus decided to just turn the entire area to ashes and be done with it.

    He certainly did not want to cause unnecessary damage to the forest, but in the end, he had a job to do and that took precedence.

    ˇ®Anyway, this is a massive forest. Taking out one little area is not going to make too much of a difference.ˇŻ

    However, before Marcus could make his move to turn this part of the forest into a burning hellscape, a new voice resounded in everyoneˇŻs minds.

    ˇ®You have trespassed into the great IntenˇŻs territory. As I am of the generous sorts, I was going to let you go free, but you seem set on attacking me, so I shall personally warn you. Leave now or die.ˇŻ

    Surprised to hear a sudden voice in his head, Marcus really did not expect to run into an intelligent beast here.

    Though he soon figured that it was likely that all beasts that reached the legendary grade would be intelligent, and that meant it was time for a different approach.

    ˇ®Forgive us for trespassing oh great Inten, but we havee to seek an audience with you. If you would not mind showing yourself, we can have an open dialogue together and discuss a mutually beneficial partnership.ˇŻ

    For a few moments after Marcus ryed his telepathic message there was a pause of silence. Before he heard back, ˇ®Foolish human, I would never fall for such an obvious deceit. It is clear that you just wish to kill me, and I cannot allow that. Now so be it. I shall force you to leave or lose your lives.ˇŻ

    An instant after thisst telepathicmunication, Marcus felt the forest begin to rumble and watched as a giant clear pir shot out of the ground towards him.

    Quickly jumping out of the way, Marcus avoided this attack as it smashed the tree he was hiding into bits.

    Looking around towards the source of the attack he tried to find the beast that was their opponent but saw nothing nearby the pr.

    Still as he looked at the pir some more, he realized what exactly it was made out of.

    ˇ®That entire thing is made up of diamond!ˇŻ

    Seeing that whatever this creature was could somehow manipte one of the hardest substances in the world, Marcus was incredibly surprised.

    This was not some average type of power, and its uses inbat were definitely top notch.

    ˇ®Davion get out of here quickly. I cannot guarantee you will survive if you stay anywhere near here.ˇŻ

    After giving his bait a quick warning, Marcus once again took evasive action jumping around the forest as pirs of diamond sprung up and chased him around.

    Of course, he could have just gone ethereal to avoid these pirs, but he did not want to reveal himself not to be human quite yet.

    The more this beast attacked him the more likely he was to find its location, and he did not want it running off if it figured out it could not harm him.

    Except he had forgotten there was someone else around who was also under attack. At least, until they let out a pained yelp.

    Hearing this he looked over to where the noise had originated and saw Roxene bleeding as one of the diamond pirs had grazed her side and given her a nasty gash.

    This just went to show how powerful the beast they were fighting was, as no normal attack could cut through RoxeneˇŻs fur.

    ˇ®Damn it where is it?ˇŻ

    Searching around Marcus was trying to pinpoint the beast that was attacking them so that he could go on the offensive.

    Yet whatever it was could hide its presence very well, and he could not find it at all.

    ˇ®Roxene, no need to hold back anymore. We are just going to st through the forest and flush it out.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Fire Strom.ˇŻ

    ˇ°Awoooo.ˇ±

    Inbination Marcus cast a max power fire storm enhanced even further by the ze glove, while Roxene used her unique skill Howl of Day and sent out a massive st of light that engulfed the forest around her.

    In an instant the area was blown apart as they decimated the forest in their vicinity in order to find their adversary.

    When their attacks finally settled all that was left of this part of the forest was upturned dirt and ashes.

    However, in the middle of the area was a huge wall of diamond that had protected the legendary grade beast from their attacks.

    Then the wall began to recede back into the earth, and for the first time Marcus and Roxene were able to see the beast they were after. And both went wide eyed in shock seeing what it really was.

 Chapter 577 Mouse Hunt

    As the massive diamond wall came down and the legendary grade beast Marcus and Roxene were fighting was revealed, they both stared out in disbelief.

    ˇ®ItˇŻs a mouse.ˇŻ

    Looking down at this beast that had been giving them a decent amount of trouble, Marcus had never expected it to be a mouse.

    And it was some supersized mouse the size of a house, it was maybe just barely bigger than your average mouse.

    Of course, it had plenty of distinct features like glistening fur that appeared to be made out of diamond, and eyes that were a deep blood red and looked like cut gems.

    Along with that it did give off a powerful aura as expected of a legendary grade beast.

    ˇ®Level fifty-two. The same as me. At least now this exins why we could not find it. We were looking for something that was at least as big as a bolder, while this thing is tiny. As long as it was actively hiding there was no way we were going to find it in the forest.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Still this mouseˇŻs hiding spots had been blown away by MarcusˇŻ and RoxeneˇŻs dual attack, and now it was out in the open for them to see.

    ˇ®Roxene circle around it and cut off its escape route. I will attack from the front, and we can pincer it.ˇŻ

    Nodding her head, Roxene shot off making a wide arc to get around the mouse that was now in the middle of a wide-open area.

    At the same time Marcus cast his voltaic bombardment spell and rained bolts of lightning down around the diamond mouse to prevent it from moving around.

    Unfortunately, the crafty little beast created a ceiling of diamond above its head and shot past the rain of lighting as it scurried back towards the woods.

    ˇ®You are not getting away. Luminous prison.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Casting one of his tier five light magic spell, Marcus shot out multiple beams of light that began to form around the fleeing mouse and captured it in a tight cage.

    Yet it barely even slowed down the mouse, and it manipted multiple prisms of diamond which flew towards the light magic spell and reflected its energy which created an opening in the bars.

    Seeing this Marcus could not believe how stupidly powerful this thingˇŻs ability to manipte diamonds was, as it had counted some of his strongest spells.

    Nevertheless, he had slowed it down just enough, and Roxene managed to cut it off and get in front of it.

    She was now at her full size having activated her supreme skill in order to massively boost all of her stats.

    Catching up from behind Marcus and Roxene had the diamond mouse caught in between them and left it no opportunity to escape any longer.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Okay I will give you onest chance as you are an intelligent beast. Surrender and we will not kill you.ˇ± Marcus said, wanting to talk to this mouse.

    He was hoping that it might be able to exin why all of the monsters and beasts that normally lived further north were fleeing down south.

    But the mouse responded, ˇ®I will not yield. I know what your kind does to mine. Anyway, it is the two of you who are trapped. Not me.ˇŻ

    After it said this, twelverge pirs of diamond shot up two hundred feet into air as they rose up out of the ground and quickly began closing in around them.

    The mouse nned to crush the two of them in between these pirs of diamond.

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Dark Form.ˇŻ

    With no other option but to resort to force, Marcus active his own supreme skill and channeled all of his power into his scythe, causing its de to grow muchrger.

    ˇ®Eclipse Reaper.ˇŻ

    shing out with his empowered scythe, he sliced through all of the pirs of diamond and blew them back in an overwhelming show of force.

    In this instant the diamond mouse stared out in bewilderment, as it watched one of its strongest attacks getpletely overwhelmed.

    However, in this moment of shock it let its guard down, and Roxene moved in swiftly and snapped her jaws around this mouse.

    Quickly her fangs pierced into its flesh, shredding through even its diamond fur that gave it impable defense.

    Screeching out in pain, this mouse had not been injured once since it evolved into a legendary grade beast, and it had almost forgotten what pain felt like.

    At the very least it was lucky to not lose its life, as Roxene knew Marcus wanted to interrogate this beast and ask it some questions about what was going on.

    ˇ®Go ahead and kill me. I do not wish to end up a ve as you are.ˇŻ The diamond mouse said to Roxene.

    Chuckling as she heard this, she found it funny that this mouse thought that she could ever be anyoneˇŻs ve.

    ˇ®That is funny. Me a ve. There is no one that could ever bind me to them. Anyone who tries would end up dead.ˇŻ

    Confusion on its face, this diamond mouse figured that Roxene was a beastpanion that had been forced to work for Marcus.

    ˇ®Exin. You follow that humanˇŻs orders. Are you not his vepanion?ˇŻ

    Though before Roxene answered this diamond mouse, Marcus approached and looked the legendary grade beast in the eyes, and said, ˇ°So are you willing to cooperate with me or are we going to have to get rough.ˇ±

    Hearing this, the mouse even while trapped in RoxeneˇŻs mouth turned its head up at Marcus, and said, ˇ®I will not submit to you human. I would rather die than be your ve.ˇŻ

    Sighing, he could see that this mouse misunderstood him, and said, ˇ°That is fine. I am not trying to force you to be mypanion anyways. I just want some information from you about what is causing the mass migration of beasts and monsters from the north. As a legendary grade beast, I assume you know what is going on.ˇ±

 Chapter 578 Answers and Questions

    Looking at Marcus with suspicion, the diamond mouse Inten was wondering what sort of game he was ying.

    Many times he had seen it happen, where humans would enter the woods and cart beasts off to be sold as ves to other humans.

    He figured that was what was happening here, but it could tell that Marcus showed no real interest in him.

    ˇ®Why do you ask? What concern is it to you?ˇŻ Inten said to Marcus.

    Seeing that things were moving forward, he held out his hand, signaling Roxene to hand him the diamond mouse.

    Once the legendary grade beast was in his hand, he gripped around it tightly enough so that it could not escape and cast a healing spell on it.

    The puncture wounds caused by RoxeneˇŻs teeth quickly began to seal up, and the damage that Inten had taken was now gone.<sub>.</sub>

    For a second, the diamond mouse though about trying to escape.

    He could manipte the fur on his body and turn it into spikes that would pierce through MarcusˇŻ hand, and then run away.

    However, even if he did get loose from MarcusˇŻ grip, Roxene was standing right there, and he was certain he could not escape this mythic grade wolf and her human owner.

    ˇ°I am asking because I have been sent to put a stop to it, as the mass migration of monsters and beasts is threatening the kingdom I am from. Many people have already died, and if beasts and monsters as powerful as you rampage through the kingdom it could be devastating.ˇ± Marcus said to the mouse that had gonex in his hand.

    Letting out a cute squeak that kind of sounded like a scoff, Intent said, ˇ®It does not matter to me what happens to your human kingdom. Anyway, what any fleeing beast of monsters do to it will be inconsequential. If you really want to help them, tell them to run away as fast as they can.ˇŻ

    Arching one of his eyebrows, Inten had gotten his curiosity, but it had gone quiet after saying this.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®What do you mean? Do you know what is causing all of this, and is it a threat to Borealia?ˇŻ

    ˇ®Yes, it certainly is a threat, far more than me. If you go up a few hundred miles north, you will feel its presence. Every beast and monster can feel the danger it exudes. I do not know exactly what it is, but something at the edge of thisndmass is radiating an aura of destruction so strong that even the most powerful beast and monsters that ruled the area left. Those that could not fly away, or swim, moved south instinctually to get away. In fact, once I had finished eating my stash of natural treasures, which you destroyed by the way. I was nning to catch one of you ships and take it to another continent.ˇŻ

    Hearing IntenˇŻs exnation, Marcus still had plenty of questions, but at least he now knew that there was something very dangerous far to the north.

    Yet as he thought about it, he remembered something that the ice ant queen had said to him when he invaded her nest.

    She had told him that she had to get south as quickly as possible, even though a species like ice ants were naturally inclined for colder weather.

    ˇ®Was her nest possibly originally located near wherever this thing that all the other creatures are fleeing from was. Damn, if its aura expands for hundreds of miles what kind of entity is it.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Wondering what it could be, MarcusˇŻ mind wandered to the blue demon whose arm he had seen in the Cordillera Depths Dungeon.

    ˇ®Is it possible that some powerful demon like that is trying to pass over into our world from wherever theye from?ˇŻ

    Thinking that to be a possibility he began to worry.

    He had felt how strong Gwyneira was, and there was no doubt she was the strongest entity that Borealia had on its side. But she still fell short of the power Marcus had felt from that blue demon.

    ˇ®Hopefully it is not something like that. It could just as easily be some powerful beast or monster that came up from the sea and is just scaring the others. Either way, I just need to go up and see what it is once I have finished up here.ˇŻ

    Now knowing that what was causing the beasts and monsters to flee from the north was a powerful entity Marcus was beginning to feel a bit nervous.

    He had been hoping that maybe it was just a natural disaster, but it looks like he was not going to be that lucky.

    ˇ°Well thanks for the information, Inten. I will let you go now if you promise me that you will not cause any trouble for the people of the Kingdom of Borealia.ˇ± Marcus said, much to IntenˇŻs surprise.

    He had thought for sure that this human would still try to capture him, in which case he would fight for his life.

    But the small chance he thought he might be let go was actually happening.

    ˇ®Are you really just going to release me?ˇŻ He said while looking at Marcus like something that should not have existed.

    ˇ°Yeah, I see no problem with it. You seem like a decent enough beast that will not cause any problems, and I am not a mad man that likes killing cognizant creatures if they do not give me a reason to. Anyway, you were more than willing to let us go and only attacked when we antagonized you. That tells me you have a good character and are not likely to go on some kind of rampage.ˇ±

    Hearing this, tears began welling up in IntenˇŻs eyes. While he had been putting on a brave front, he was actually really scared to die.

    ˇ®To think that I would escape death twice in my life due to the kindness of the one who had captured me.ˇŻ Intent thought.

    Except Marcus was still connected with the diamond mouse telepathically and heard this which jogged his memory of something that had happened years ago now.

    It had been a simr situation to this where he had caught a small mouse while possessing the body of a sliver furred ferret.

    ˇ®No, it could not be. That was just a regr mouse just a bit more than two and a half years ago. No way it could have be a legendary grade beast in that amount of time.ˇŻ

    But then Marcus thought about his own growth, and if someone or something was lucky and fought hard, it could make rapid advancement.

    ˇ®When you say you were spared once before, was it a sliver furred ferret that let you go.ˇŻ

    Looking up at Marcus in confusion, Inten did not know how he knew this.

    ˇ®Did you just read my mind? You know it is rude to intrude on the thoughts of another.ˇŻ Intent said to Marcus with an angry tone.ˇŻ

    Shaking his head, Marcus said, ˇ®I did not read your mind, and the only way I could do that would kill you. No, I know that because I was that silver furred ferret that let you go.ˇŻ

 Chapter 579 A New Companion?

    Staring at Marcus incredulously, Inten could not believe that he was the silver furred ferret that had once captured and subsequently let him go free.

    That was the defining moment in his life where he strove to get stronger so that something like that never happened again.

    Of course, it had just happened again and with the exact same yers. Well and Roxene.

    Still, it was uncanny for the two of them to meet again after all this time, especially when one of them had just been a normal mouse before, and the other was a ghost that barely knew anything about their new world.

    ˇ®How could you have been that ferret? You are definitely human, I appraised you.ˇŻ Inten said, not able to ept MarcusˇŻ im.

    In that moment Marcus said nothing, but then suddenly shot towards the nearest tree and pinned Inten to the bottom of it, which surprised the diamond mouse greatly.

    ˇ°It happened exactly like this. I had you pinned to the base of a tree and stared at you for a few moments trying to work up the courage to strike. But then I saw the fear in your eyes and how your heart started moving like it was going to exploded. I looked into your eyes and saw the terror in them and just could not make the kill. Back then I was still not used to killing much of anything, and I simply could not bring myself to end your life for just a middling amount exp.ˇ±

    As Marcus said this Inten relived the moment that had defined his life.

    He waspletely brought back to that time, and it was exactly as Marcus had described it.<sub>.</sub>

    Only from IntenˇŻs point of view it had seen a blood thirsty predatory that it thought was out to kill him.

    However, now that he had gained intelligence, he could look back and remember the eyes of beast that had him pinned and saw the hesitation and conflict in its eyes.

    ˇ®How? How are you here as a human now?ˇŻ Inten said, slowly starting to believe MarcusˇŻ im.

    ˇ°Truthfully, I am not human. I have a skill that allows me to change my status and falsify the information that is given out from the appraisal skill.ˇ±

    After saying this he switched up his status like crazy and changed his level to twenty-one, his race to ice troll, and his name to Fliberstanlen.

    Appraising him again, Inten saw this massive change and realized that what he was saying about his status must have been true.

    Yet this was not the end of MarcusˇŻ exnation, as he suddenly disappeared, and in just a few seconds came back possessing the body of a small beetle that had been nearby.

    ˇ®This is how I was that silver furred ferret. I am actually a ghost, and at the time I was possessing its body since I had no physical form of my own at the time.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Once he had finished telling Inten how he had truly been the beast that had once cornered and let him go, everything now made sense to the diamond mouse.

    He had always wondered why that ferret had let him go, when normally no predatory would let its prey go like that.

    ˇ®I see so it was you who set me down the path to gain strength. I suppose that I now owe you my life twice over.ˇŻ Inten said while thinking deeply.

    Quickly unpossessing the beetle he had used for a demonstration, Marcus returned to his form as Irene, and said, ˇ°Well now that we have wrapped that up, I have more work to do so I will be taking my leave. Thank you for your help and maybe we will see each other around againter.ˇ±

    Turning around and walking back towards Roxene, he left the pensive Inten to himself.

    But before he got far the diamond mouse jumped up onto his shoulder, and said, ˇ®I cannot let you go like this. I have a dept to pay and will not feel satisfied until I have returned the favor you gave to me.ˇŻ

    Confusion on his face, Marcus was not sure what Inten was getting at. From his point of view the little beast did not owe him anything.

    ˇ°That is not necessary. Just because I spared your life does not mean you owe it to me or something.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Still Inten just shook his head and said, ˇ®That is not the reason. I gained the power I have today because of the drive you gave me when you first let me go while I was still a normal mouse. Now I can fully appreciate what I have thanks to you. Therefore, I shall stick with you to repay what I owe you.ˇŻ

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus could see the determined look in the little diamond mouseˇŻs eyes and figured that it might be useful.

    It may have been a mouse, but it was still a legendary grade beast at a high level that had some impressive powers.

    ˇ°Sure, if you want toe along, I will not stop you. Just make sure not to get in our way, and know that if you get into danger, you will be on your own as I will likely not be able to protect you.ˇ±

    ˇ®That is fine. I am trying to repay what I owe you, so I have no aim to need your help. I have made it this far on my own, and will continue to protect myself while also aiding you.ˇŻ

    With it settled that Inten would being with him for now, Marcus headed over to Roxene and told her what was going on.

    ˇ®So, this diamond mouse will being with us. I believe it is a bit too weak to be of much use though.ˇŻ Roxene said with no regards for tact.

    ˇ®Hey, I am not useless. I certainly put up a good fight against the two of you, and if it had only been one of you, I am sure I could have at least escaped. You may be a mythic grade beast, but I am warning you not to look down on me.ˇŻ Inten said defensively.

    ˇ°It is fine Roxene. He may not be as strong as we are when going all out, but he has a versatile ability that is quite powerful. I am sure we will find his powers useful.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to mitigate the situation.

    Unfortunately, it seemed to only make things worse, as Inten who was still on MarcusˇŻ shoulder raised his head up high and looked down on Roxene.

    Growling, she was getting ready to rip this mouse to shreds, but Inten hid behind MarcusˇŻ neck and poked his head out while snickering at her.

    Sighing, Marcus could tell that these two were going to be a bit of trouble together.

    Roxene had always been queen of the beasts, but Inten was not showing her any respect.

    Before things escted further, he said, ˇ°Okay, we have a job to get back to, and we need to find our bait before it gets spooked and runs away. Roxene, would you mind locating him?ˇ±

    Nodding her head and looking haughtily at Inten since Marcus was relying on her, she began sniffing the air and quickly picked up DavionˇŻs scent.

    Running off in his direction she led them all to Davion who had fled around five miles away and was hiding under a tree that had grown a hollow under its massive roots.

    ˇ°Davion, we have finished up. Come on out, there is someone I want to introduce you to.ˇ± Marcus said to the cowering wolf beastman.

    Crawling out of the hole he was hiding in, Davion looked around since Marcus had said there was someone, he wanted him to meet. But there was no one else around from what he could see, and the puzzlement was clear on his face.

    That was until the small gleaming diamond mouse that was hiding in MarcusˇŻ tinum hair pooped out on his shoulder.

    Seeing this DavionˇŻs instincts told him it was strong, and he jumped back just as he had the first time he saw Roxene.

    As a beast person he was more in tune with beasts than most other humanoids, and could tell what was before him may have looked small, but felt like an overwhelming mountain.

    ˇ°No need to be afraid. This is Inten the diamond mouse. He is the legendary grade magic beast me and Roxene were just fighting. But we havee to an understanding and now he is going to stick with us for a while.ˇ± Marcus said, as if this was perfectly normal.

    However, just causally getting a legendary grade beast on your side was not normal at all and was practically unheard of.

    The stronger the beast was, the less likely it would be willing to submit to a person. And in most cases if they lost, they would kill themselves rather than yield.

    ˇ®So, you are my friendˇŻs servant. It is nice to meet you, I am the Great Inten ruler of the lower woods. However, as you are IreneˇŻs servant, I shall allow you to just call me the Great Inten.ˇŻ

    Wanting to snap back at this, Davion almost said that he was no oneˇŻs servant, but he quickly realized that servant would actually be an upgrade from his current position of bait.

    ˇ°It is a pleasure to meet you Great Inten. I am Davion.ˇ± The defeated wolf beastman said.

    pping his hands together, Marcus said, ˇ°Well now that introductions are over, we have more work to do. There are about nine more beasts and monsters to clear out, and then it will be time to head north.ˇ±

 Chapter 580 An Unfathomable Threat

    Three more days quickly went by as Marcus and his group diminished the threats within the lower part of the Great Gome Woods.

    On the first of these three days they finished off thest of the powerful beasts and monsters that were a major threat only he and hispanions could handle. With Davion somehow surviving his job as bait.

    After that he joined in with Andrea and her tribe going around and taking care of weaker threats.

    Then on the third day when they had finished, he held a feast for the vige and AndreaˇŻs tribe.

    For this he pulled out all of his best ingredients and a very healthy supply of meat which was unusual for the vige folk.

    In fact, a number of people cried when they ate MarcusˇŻ cooking which was easily on par with the best chefs in the kingdom with his high-level cooking skill.

    ˇ°Irene, I do not think I have ever had anything this good.ˇ± Andrea said as she tore apart arge piece of steak and began chomping down on it.

    ˇ°I am d that you like it. I worked pretty hard on this, so it makes me happy that everyone is enjoying it. Now there is plenty so feel free to eat your fill.ˇ± Marcus said as he threw more food onto arge grill he was using.

    Marcus continued to receivepliments from pretty much everyone just as he had from Andrea, and they all continued to eat until they werepletely full.

    Soon tiredness caught up with everyone and they all returned to their homes to get some much-needed sleep. Especially Andrea and her tribe who had been fighting nonstop with only a minimum amount of rest.

    However, Marcus had only aplished part of his job and still needed to find out what exactly was causing this mess and put an end to it if he could.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Inten we are leaving soon. Move to the edge of the woods and I wille and pick you up there.ˇŻ Marcus telepathically said to the diamond mouse that insisted on apanying him.

    Naturally he had elected to not bring the legendary grade beast into the vige as he would likely cause quite the scare, especially among AndreaˇŻs tribe.

    To that end he also had Roxene put away in hispanion storage as she might have caused and even bigger uproar.

    As he was leaving in the dead of night, someone was out in the middle of the vige sitting on top of the tallest building and looking out towards the woods.

    ˇ°Hey Dagwood, what has you up thiste?ˇ± Marcus asked.

    Turning his head towards him, Dagwood said, ˇ°In the merriment no one remembered to set up a watch for tonight and everyone else has gone to sleep. I know that we eliminated a number of the more dangerous beasts and monsters, but that does not mean that everything is safe, and rxing now could prove to be our undoing. So, I am making sure nothing happens tonight.ˇ±

    ˇ°I see, you certainly are diligent. Though I must thank you for looking after this vige as it is special to me.ˇ± Marcus said while considering what to do next.

    He had been hoping to sneak out unseen and not cause any sort of fanfare, but now Dagwood had already spotted him.

    ˇ°You are leaving are you not? I do not know where you are going or what you are doing but good luck.ˇ± Dagwood said, already having guessed MarcusˇŻ intention.

    Smiling, Marcus looked up towards him and said, ˇ°Yeah I have another assignment that I need toplete further north.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Well good luck with whatever it is you are doing. Though with your strength I am sure it will not be difficult. It is difficult to believe that you are only four levels higher than me. Since if I had to guess off of just your strength, I would expect you to be over level seventy.ˇ± Dagwood said.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, ˇ°Some people are just stronger. I am sure if you work hard and get lucky, you can be just as strong as I am. Now I do need to get going, so see you around.ˇ±

    With his conversation with Dagwood over Marcus headed to the edge of the vige and jumped over the fence, before heading into the woods where he picked up Inten.

    Though as he left, Dagwood mumbled under his breath, ˇ°I highly doubt that I could ever be as strong as you are.ˇ±

    Once he had collected Inten and the diamond mouse had taken its ce on his shoulder, Marcus shot into the air with his iron wings and began flying straight north.

    For the time being he had ensured the rtive safety of the settlements that bordered the Great Gome Woods, and now it was time for him to deal with the real issue.

    Something was causing the beasts and monsters that normally lived further north to flee south, and he needed to deal with whatever it was.

    He had already learned from Inten that it was some sort of entity that released an aura of destruction so powerful that it extended for hundreds of miles.

    And as he flew over the woods and moved further north, he soon felt it himself.

    ˇ®What the hell is this!?ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Stopping in the middle of the air and shivering Marcus had never felt this level of fear.

    It made him want to turn around and run as far away as he could.

    Yet while it gave off a deadly feeling, he could still not gage if whatever was emitting this aura was actually powerful.

    Only an unshakable fear permeated the area and below him the forest was eerily quiet.

    Everything that used to live this far north had already left other than low level insects that could not process the danger in the air.

    Still even as overwhelming as this presence was, Marcus knew he needed to move forward and figure out what was the cause so he could report back to the kingdom.

    ˇ®If it is something I cannot deal with, I can just pass it off to the kingdom. My main job is just to be a scout.ˇŻ

    Steeling himself, he continued flying forward much to IntenˇŻs distress, as he could also feel this aura.

    For Roxene though being in MarcusˇŻpanion storage she did not notice it. But if she had, she would have told Marcus to run back to the capital, collect those he cares about, and leave the continent.

    Nevertheless, she was not able to inform him of this, and he continued going further north despite the increasing sense of doom.

    Eventually he made it past the tree line of the Great Gome Woods, as he entered a sprawling tundra that went on for around a hundred miles before entering the area of a huge cier.

    The thing was massive, and Marcus could see that it was very slowly crushing against the continent as the earth in front of it was cracked.

    But that was not of much concern now, as it would probably take this cier thousands of years to be any sort of real natural disaster for the kingdom.

    No what was currently the main issue was the oppressive aura that permeated from within this cier.

    Whatever it was now had be almost unbearable, and Inten had actually passed out from getting this close. Showing just how strong it really was.

    Even a legendary grade beast at level fifty-two could not handle being in this thingˇŻs presence, and Marcus himself was having a difficult time himself.

    His very being told him to run the other way, which was quite odd as he had only ever felt like this before in front of the blue demon.

    ˇ®I just need to see what it is quickly and then report back. Maybe it is not even an entity at all, but just some sort of magical device that is just meant to induce terror.ˇŻ Marcus thought, trying toe up with some sort of other logical exnation.

    The closer he had gotten, the more and more he felt that whatever was here was beyond anything the kingdom could deal with, and he was hoping that it really was nothing.

    After around an hour of working up his nerves he flew over the cier and began scanning around.

    Quickly he spotted where the epicenter of the aura wasing from which was around fifty miles away.

    Speeding over there he had to really fight to get any closer, and when he finally got a view of what was the cause of all of this, he froze.

    Looking down he could see that under the ice was a creature that was beyond colossal.

    He had seen plenty of huge beasts and monsters in his time, but this thing dwarfed all of them many times over.

    Retharin had been massive, over three hundred feet long, with GwyneriaˇŻs full dragon form being nearly the same size.

    Yet this thing he was looking down on made them look like a baby chick and a tiny gecko inparison.

    However, as Marcus looked at it, he could see that it was covered in some sort of thin white light that appeared to be breaking down in ces, and he realized that his monster had been sealed here.

    For how long he had no clue, but its aura had begun to begun to break through its binding and was releasing out into the world.

    ˇ®I have to contact the kingdom fast and get Aria or someone else well versed in magic out here now. Maybe it is possible that we can keep this thing sealed.ˇŻ

 Chapter 581 Calling in the Big Guns

    Pulling out his sending stone Marcus immediately tried to contact the deputy king but was unable to make a connection.

    Even the high-end sending stone they had prepared for him simply could not cross this far, and he was going to have to fly back a good distance in order to get the stone to activate.

    ˇ®Damn it. This is really important. That thing is just as dangerous, if not even more than that blue demon.ˇŻ

    Looking back down at it again he honestly could believe that such a being existed.

    To start it was easily thergest creature he had ever seen.

    It had a circr body like that of a worm, but from what Marcus could estimate, it was about two miles wide and thirty miles long.

    Truly a monster with enough size that just its movement could be considered a natural disaster.

    Yet it also gave off a bone chilling aura like it was the embodiment of destruction, and this made even Marcus want to turn tail and run.

    Along with that its dark read body was pulsating ominously and it had a number of small circr marks all over its form.

    ˇ®Marcus we are leaving now. I did not know that this thing was here, but we have to go now! It is likely that this continent is finished.ˇŻ Roxene said now that she could view the entity from thepanion storage.

    Hearing this he became confused, as Roxene very rarely talked like this, and in fact the only other time was when they saw the blue demon.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®So, you know what that thing is. Would you be able to tell me?ˇŻ

    Unfortunately, Marcus got the answer he was expecting, as she responded saying, ˇ®You already know that I cannot. I made a deal not to divulge that kind of information. But take my world for it, that thing is dangerous enough to destroy this entire continent. We need to get out of here as fast as we can while that seal is still holding it in ce.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Sorry Roxene but I cannot just abandon Borealia and leave everyone I care about behind. Anyway, if it is that big of a threat wonˇŻt one of the other great spirits just take care of it?ˇŻ

    Grumbling, Roxene could not deal with Marcus not taking her advice, and practically yelled into his mind, ˇ®None of the other great spirits will take action! I again cannot say why, but they will not! As for those you care about, fly back and get them and then get the hell out of here. Feel free to warn the kingdom as well and tell them to prepare to evacuate. Maybe if they are lucky a few million people can be saved. But at the end of the day, I cannot have you dying here and dragging me down with you. Maybe if we had a couple more decades, I could get strong enough to stop that thing, but not right now. Just hurry up and get going.ˇŻ

    With Roxene vehemently telling him to get out of here, Marcus turned around and began flying south.

    However, he had no ns to abandon this ce that had be his home in this new world and was where a number of people he had grown to care about lived.

    What he was doing now was getting closer so that he could contact the higher ups of the kingdom and try toe up with a strategy.

    A couple hours went by as he flew as fast as he could, and finally reach the edge of the Great Gome Woods again. There he hovered above Norr Vige which was in a direct line to that beyond massive worm.

    Pulling out his sending stone, he was now in range again and skipped contacting the deputy king and went straight for Gwyneira.

    If this thing was as dangerous as Roxene said, then he needed to go straight to the top and get the strongest help he could.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Gwyneira, please pick up, there is an emergency!ˇ± Marcus practically shouted into his sending stone.

    A few moments passed by, and he soon heard a loud yawn, followed by Gwyneira saying, ˇ°Marcus this had better be important, I nearly did not pick up. I know that I have shown you some favoritism since you are a good asset to this kingdom and you are marrying Mrazivy who I am fond of, but I am not here to give you advice whenever you need it. I have been trying to get some rest since I have not had a good few years long sleep in a while.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, this is important, more than you know. I suppose if you have been asleep no one has told you about the beasts and monster migrating from the north to south. I was assigned to thin out the beasts and monsters and to figure out the cause. I have done both and the entity that scared all of the beasts residing in the upper Great Gome Woods, as well as the tundra and cier above it is beyond dangerous. Not just the kingdom, but the entire continent.ˇ±

    Hearing this Gwyneira shot awake, and said, ˇ°Are you saying that no beasts or monster reside in the tundra at the top of this continent anymore?ˇ±

    Acknowledging this Marcus wondered why it mattered, and Gwyneira began mumbling to herself as she got lost in thought.

    ˇ°Gwyneira if you would not mind telling me what you are talking about? You are speaking away from the stone, and I cannot hear you.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to get her attention.

    ˇ°Sorry I was thinking about something. A beast called an ice king should have been living in that tundra. It is a massive bear not dissimr to DariusˇŻ Popsco. Though it is a bitrger than his cial bear and it has a crown made of ice on its head. He is the ruler of the northern part of the continent, and while not quite a strong as me, is a force to be reckoned with. Are you saying that he was gone and has abandoned his territory?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, there was pretty much no living creature left, and I certainly did not see any bear the size of a town walking around, or even any sign of one.ˇ± Marcus said, confirming that the ruler of the north was now gone.

    ˇ°I will be there shortly to assess the situation with my own eyes. Tell me exactly where you are, and I will pick you up on the way so you can give me more detail.ˇ± Gwyneira said with urgency in her voice.

    Marcus then heard her moving around furiously in her room, while he told her that he was floating right above Norr Vige.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Okay I will be there in an hour.ˇ± Gwyneira said before putting the sending stone away.

    After that Marcus just waited there patiently, while Roxene told him to get moving.

    ˇ®You have already informed this kingdomˇŻs strongest protector. We do not have time to be dawdling here. Head back to the capital and grab your sister and what friends you want and get the hell out of here.ˇŻ

    Still, he just shook his head, and said, ˇ®Not yet. I will stick around until the timees when it seems hopeless. I am not yet willing to abandon everything here after working so hard to obtain it. Anyway, I doubt Mrazivy would be willing to abandon her kingdom and I will not leave without her.ˇŻ

    Grumbling, Roxene began calling him things he dared not repeat, and he wondered where she even learned some of these words.

    Eventually though she calmed down, understanding that Marcus was not going to take her advice.

    ˇ®Fine. but if we both die, I am going to kill you.ˇŻ Roxene said to him before going silent.

    At this Marcus chuckled. As whether he was technically alive right now or not was pretty unclear, and since he had already died once.

    Soon an hour had gone by and as she said Gwyneira was nearly here.

    He could see her figure on the horizon and approaching at a tremendous speed he could not hope to match.

    Stopping over the vige Gwyneira showed little regard that she was spooking the people below that suddenly were looking up at a long slender dragon floating over them.

    Looking at her out in the open like this Marcus saw GwyneriaˇŻs full form for the first time.

    Before they had always been in closed off spaces and he could only really see part of her head and the upper part of her body.

    She was very impressive and regal looking with her imposing head and face that held an immense fierceness and intelligence.

    Glittering blue scales went down her entire body, and she had tworge arms that ended in sharp glistening white ws around a fifth of the way down her long serpentine body.

    Then right above those arms were tworge wings and the rest of her body continued in a long serpentine figure.

    ˇ°You can gawktter. Now Brace yourself. I am going to grab ahold of you and take us to the edge of the continent.ˇ± Gwyneira said as she held out one of her arms and opened up her ws.

    Gulping, Marcus dropped down into her hand, and she soon squeezed around him.

    At the same time, he grabbed ahold of Inten who had gonepletely quiet in the face of Gwyneira.

    ˇ°Are you sure this is necessary, could I not just ride on your back?ˇ± Marcus asked

    ˇ°No. the only one I have ever allowed on my back is my husband. As you are not him, I would never allow you to ride me.ˇ±

    The instant after she said this, she took off, creating a massive gust of wind in her wake which actually began to shake Norr vige and caused a bit of damage to less stable structures.

    Within just around fifteen minutes Gwyneira had cleared the entirety of the Great Gome Woods and made it to the tundra beyond it.

    She slowed down at this point and let Marcus off, while she scanned around the area looking for something.

    ˇ°He really is gone. There are almost no traces he was ever here, so he must have left at least months ago.ˇ± She said with astonishment.

    As she said this, Marcus figured she was talking about the ice king that had been here before.

    Of course, by this point Gwyneira had also felt the presenceing from the beyond colossal worm, and even she felt overwhelmed.

    Her instincts told her that it was dangerous, which was not something she often felt.

    Nevertheless, she was the guardian of Borealia, and was not going to abandon the kingdom she had made with Boreas.

    ˇ°Take me to this worm. I need to see it myself.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus took off towards the cier and right for the monster that was a threat to the entire continent.

    Yet when they arrived and Gwyneira looked down at it, her reaction was the same as MarcusˇŻ had been. With her freezing in terror.

 Chapter 582 Day before the End

    As Gwyneira looked down the colossal worm with a look of dread in her eyes, Marcus began to get much more worried.

    He had been hoping that she would be able to deal with this thing, but she looked as lost as he was.

    ˇ°The Dread Burrower, Doomsday Worm.ˇ± She said in daze.

    Hearing this Marcus did not understand what she was getting at exactly, but figured it had something to do with the monster below them.

    ˇ°Gwyneira what is it. Can you tell me what this thing is?ˇ± Marcus said, desperation in his voice.

    However, she actually ignored him, and instead opened her item box in order to pull out a short rod that was made of a golden wood.

    Looking at it, Marcus could see a veryplex formation on it, as well as an immense amount of mana sealed within.

    He thought that maybe this was some sort of item that she was going to use to seal away the giant worm, or maybe unleash a devastating attack that would kill it.

    Yet instead she broke it in half, and the beautiful wood began to disintegrate before turning into golden motes of light which flew away.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Gwyneira please talk to me. I could use some more information here if I am going to help.ˇ± Marcus said while waving his hands around and trying to get her attention.

    This time she did turn to him with a grave look on her face.

    ˇ°First, we need to leave. There is nothing we can do here and if that thing breaks free it would not be good for us to be here.ˇ±

    After saying this she held out her w beckoning for Marcus to get back into her grasp so that she could carry him again.

    Doing as she wanted, he ced himself into her grasp and she closed her hand around him. Quite a bit tighter this time than before as her nerves were getting to her.

    Quickly she raced across the sky moving even faster than she had before with her sense of dread at its max.

    When they had finally cleared the woods, she dropped Marcus out of her grasp and pulled out a red sending stone which Marcus had never seen before.

    Then she activated it and it began shing red and making an rming sound.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°There now I have done what needs to be done before anything else. I can take a few moments to exin to you what I know.ˇ± She said as she looked intently at Marcus.

    ˇ°I was only able to look at part of that things status as it has a shielding over it that blocks even my eyes from seeing all of its powers and skills, as well as its stats. But I was able to learn its name, race, and level. That thingˇŻs name is the Dread Burrower, and its race is something called a Doomsday Worm. As for its level, it is ny-three.ˇ± Gwyneira said while grimacing.

    Hearing this, MarcusˇŻ metaphorical heart sank, as level ny-three was the highest he had ever heard confirmed.

    He knew even Gwyneira was not this strong at level eighty-six.

    Still, she was a mythic grade beast so her powers were normally near the peak of any being, so Marcus thought maybe she would have a chance, but her demeanor said otherwise.

    ˇ°It was some four hundred years ago when this kingdom was rtively new that both Boreas and I heard about something that happened on a continent far from where we are. Normally news does not travel over this great of a distance, but this was something that noteworthy that it made it to us through the adventurers guild that had only recently been established in our kingdom. An entire continent bigger than this one was nearly razed by a monster that also bore the name Doomsday. If I recall correctly that one was called the Dread me, Doomsday Centipede.ˇ±

    Taking a moment after saying this, she let it all sink in for Marcus while doing her best to rack her mind and bring forth the four-hundred-year-old information.

    ˇ°Yes, that is right. I believe that it just suddenly rose up from a volcano on the southern edge of that continent and began killing everything in its path. It was at level ny-four if I remember correctly, and nothing could stop it. The great spirits also would not intervene for some reason when normally they would. The monster rampaged for almost a year if I am recalling what I heard correctly, and it had nearly killed every beast, monster, and person on the continent. Only when two dozen very powerful entities came together were they able to eventually put the monster down. Though I heard that seventeen of them died in the battle.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    When she had finished saying this out loud it only helped to bring the reality of the situation greater weight, and she knew that their situation seemed hopeless.

    Still while Gwyneira thought back to this story of another monster bearing the title of Doomsday as an example of what was toe. It only brought a glimmer of hope to Marcus.

    If these monsters could be beaten, then all they had to do was amass the necessary forces to take it down.

    ˇ°Gwyneira, I know it may seem hopeless, but it is not over yet. If we act quickly, we can get enough power together and take that thing down before it can destroy the kingdom. Also, you did something with that golden wooden rod, and that red sending stone. I assume those were a means of preparation, right?ˇ±

    Nodding her head, she said, ˇ°Yes, the red sending stone has sent a priority alert to the king that a threat to the entire kingdom is eminent, and that he should make what preparations he can. I assume that he will call back Aria and Darius who are currently in Tralenstein. A border spat is nothingpared to what we have going on here. Still, they will be far from enough. And as for that golden rod, you need not concern yourself with it. I doubt that it will have its intended effect anyway, and there is no need to hope on something that will not happen.ˇ±

    As she said thisst part there was clear despair in GwyneriaˇŻs expression, and Marcus wondered exactly what the rod was supposed to do.

    ˇ°Now what you said was correct that maybe we could amass enough powerful beings to fight with us, but it is already toote. I do not know what that barrier holding that thing down is, but it will onlyst another day at most. That thing will be able to destroy the entire kingdom in only a couple of days, and by then we will still be far from having enough strength to stop it. I know I will not be able to win on my own, or even with all of the highest-level people in this kingdom. That thing is just too strong.ˇ±

    Not wanting to give up hope just yet, Marcus had an idea.

    ˇ°I believe I know where I can get some more high-level people on our side quickly. It is a long shot, but it might work. Also, I can call Mrazivy, she should be able to help.ˇ± Marcus said as he pulled out his own sending stone.

    Naturally Gwyneira wondered how Mrazivy was going to make much of an impact. As while she was strong, it was far from being anywhere near enough to fight against a monster like this.

    ˇ°Mraz, pick up its an emergency!ˇ±

    Quickly he got a response, as Mrazivy said frantically, ˇ°Marcus are you oaky? What is it? You have never called me with an emergency. Wait just tell me where you are, and I will be on my way.ˇ±

    If not for the situation he definitely would have found her reaction cute and teased her a bit for it, but now was not the time for that.

    ˇ°Mraz, I need you to listen carefully. There is a major threat to the entire continent about to be released. Now we may be able to stop it if we act quickly. But I need to talk to your master the Sword Savant, so please hand the stone over to him.ˇ±

    Hearing the sense of urgency in his voice, she swiftly moved over to her master who had been demonstrating some of his form and told him what was going on.

    ˇ°Hello there, I am the Sword Savant, though since you are apparently one of my discipleˇŻs fianc¨¦ and the other oneˇŻs friend, you can call me Asher. So, what is it that you need from me?ˇ±

    ˇ°What I need is your help. The Kingdom of Borealia, no the entire continent is in danger. A powerful monster is about to awaken in the far northern reaches of the continent, and I have the kingdomˇŻs guardian beast with me, and she says she cannot stop it alone. That is why we want you help.ˇ± Marcus said.

    For nearly a minute all that followed was silence, until Asher said, ˇ°Let me talk to this guardian beast before I make any decision. I have long heard about her, and if I do offer my help, there is something want in return.ˇ±

    Handing over the sending stone to Gwyneira, Marcus allowed the Sword Savant to talk to her as he wished.

    ˇ°This is Gwyneira Borealia. I am the guardian of this kingdom. You said that you wish to speak with me?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, I do. I have heard that you are very powerful. If I help you out now, will you be willing to have a match with me. I have not had a good fight in a while and want to test my sword against a mythic grade beast.ˇ± Asher said with no hesitation.

    And to his surprise Gwyneira said, ˇ°Sure that is fine. I will fight with you as many times as you want if you offer your assistance in this matter. But do know that this will be a fight where either of us could lose our lives.ˇ±

    ˇ°All the better then. My skills have been getting rusty and I need a good battle to get back into my peak condition. So where is it that you need me to be to help?ˇ±

    Swiftly Gwyneira told Asher the details of what was going on, and while she was afraid he might back out, he just seemed more excited for the fight of his life.

    ˇ°I will head there immediately. But what do you want me to do about my disciples? Should I bring them to the fight as well?ˇ± The Sword Savant asked.

    Nearly immediately, Gwyneira responded saying, ˇ°Absolutely not. Send Mrazivy back to the capital. Tell her to go to the adventurers guild and tell them the situation. If we are lucky, we will be able to get some aid from them as well.ˇ±

    Soon GwyneriaˇŻs conversation with the Sword Savant was over, and she handed the sending stone back to Marcus.

    ˇ°Gwyneira, would you mind staying here and keeping an eye on the situation. I am going to go and see if Retharin will fight with us.ˇ±

 Chapter 583 Released

    Speeding through the mountains Marcus made a beeline for RetharinˇŻs home, hoping to be able to get the mythic grade beast on their side.

    He already knew that the huge gryphon liked to fight, so he was hoping that a fight with a monster that could destroy the entire continent would entice him.

    Though this was only one of the reasons he was heading for Retharin as there was something else he was hoping he could do.

    Soon the domain of the lord of the Verkoudhied Mountains came into view, and Marcus could see the massive cave at the top of the tallest peak where Retharin lived.

    Naturally the mythic grade beast had long sensed MarcusˇŻ approach and was waiting to receive him.

    ˇ°Irene you are back sooner than I thought you would be. Would you care for something to eat of drink?ˇ± Retharin said, while having already seated himself at a very nice wooden table.

    The mythic grade beast had taken his humanoid form that resembled an ice elf and was currently drinking some type of amber liquid that smelled strong of alcohol.<sub>.</sub>

    Of course, this was not his usual greeting for visitors, as normally he would appear in his true for and try and intimidate anyone they came here.

    However, Marcus was already RetharinˇŻs friend in his mind, and a future sparring partner once he had gotten stronger.

    Sitting down across from the mythic grade beast acting as a host, Marcus poured himself a drink and took in a full ss of whiskey in one gulp.

    ˇ®It really is too bad that alcohol has no effect on me. Right now, I wish I could take the edge off my nerves.ˇŻ

    cing the ss back down, he looked seriously at Retharin and said, ˇ°Something hase up. The entire continent is in danger of being destroyed and that includes the ice elf city. It is going to be an impossibly hard battle, but I was hoping that we could rely on your help.ˇ±

    Seeing how grave MarcusˇŻ expression was, Retharin realized that this was certainly not a pleasure visit and asked Marcus to exin the entire situation to him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I see, that certainly is troubling.ˇ± Retharin said. ˇ°But I am always up for a good challenge. Gwyneira and I have had our disagreements in the past, but I suppose that I can put those aside as my home is going to be threatened as well. I also still owe it to myte master to protect the city she created so I cannot sit around and do nothing.ˇ± Retharin said with a confident smile on his face.

    Letting out a sigh of relief Marcus was d he was able to get Retharin on their side, since he was honestly the most powerful being within the northern part of the continent. Well other than the cmity that was about to be released upon them.

    Nevertheless, while Retharin was starting to get excited for a thrilling battle, there was still one more thing Marcus wanted from the mythic grade magical beast.

    ˇ°Retharin, do you have a way to get in contact with Ardea. She was supposed to havee and seen me by now to give me some items, but she has not shown. Though what I really want is her help in this situation.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Retharin took out a sending stolen from his item box, and said, ˇ°I should be able to reach her as long as she is within range of this. If not, well, then we will be out of luck.ˇ±

    Activating the sending stone, he sent a message to Ardea, and the two of them waited a few minutes for a response.<sub></sub>

    When five minutes slowly passed by, both of them were ready to give up hope, when suddenly the sending stone came back to life and out of it came ArdeaˇŻs voice.

    ˇ°Reth what is it? I am kind of in the middle of something.ˇ± Ardea said with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

    This was quickly followed by the sound of an explosion and the horrid cry of some sort of creature.

    Retharin waited for the sounds of battle to quiet, before saying, ˇ°Actually it is not me who wants to speak with you. I am sure you remember Irene. She is the one that wants to talk.ˇ±

    Now having introduced him, Retharin handed his sending stone over to Marcus so that he could talk to Ardea.

    Though before he could say anything, she said with a frustrated tone, ˇ°Yes, I know I have not delivered the payment for fixing my gauntlet yet, when I said it would only take a few months. Something important came up that required my attention for a bit, but I am actually in the middle of getting the materials you wanted. So, if you would just wait another couple weeks, I will have it to you.ˇ±

    Ardea was then about to hang up and get back to fighting, when Marcus shouted out to stop her.

    ˇ°Wait Andrea! I am not contacting you about that. In fact, I could care less about that right now. The entire continent is in trouble of being wiped out and we could use your help.ˇ±

    Hearing the urgency in MarcusˇŻ voice, Ardea stopped putting her sending stone away and asked Marcus to borate.

    As he told her what was happening, she felt a chill run through her body and began shaking in fear.

    She had heard about the previous incident with the Doomsday Centipede from her master who had been present during the final battle.

    Back then she was still only the Apprentice of the Grand Witch of the Peaks at that time, and along with her master three other grand witches joined the other heroes that took down the Dread me which nearly destroyed an entire continent.

    However, while four grand witches fought against it, her master was the only one of them came out as one of the seven survivors of the original group of twenty-four.

    ˇ°I will try to be there to help. My master would look down at me if I did not rise up to this challenge as she did all those years ago.ˇ± Ardea said as she steeled herself.

    But Marcus was not done yet, and said, ˇ°Wait, you said that there were other grand witches. Would it be possible for you to get them to assist us as well?ˇ±

    Pausing and thinking about it for a moment, Ardea went through all of the other grand witches, trying to figure out which if any might be willing to help.

    All of them were fairly entric, but some of them were more so than others, and she knew that it was unlikely for most of them toe and help out here.

    ˇ°I can put out a call for help, but I am not sure who or how many will respond. A decent amount of the current generation is rtively new to their position and are not as strong as I am. Still, I will see who is willing to help beforeing over myself. Some of my favorite mountains exist on this continent and I do not want them being toppled over.ˇ±

    With AndreaˇŻs help secured Marcus ended the call with her so that she could get to work and handed the stone back to Retharin.

    Yet only a moment after he did, he received a message on his own sending stone from Gwyneira.

    ˇ°Marcus it looks like our time is up. The Dread Burrower has been released and has begun its rampage.ˇ±

 Chapter 584 Stalling for Time

    Standing there stunned it took Marcus a few moments to process what Gwyneira had said, and when he did an unimaginable sense of fear came over him.

    ˇ°Marcus are you still there? Did you already get RetharinˇŻs assistance?ˇ± Gwyneira said with terror in her own voice.

    Even she was very afraid of what wasing, and she could not keep her cool as a bit of her worry came out in her voice.

    Getting ahold of himself, Marcus put his sending stone up to his mouth and said, ˇ°I am here Gwyneira, and I have secured RetharinˇŻs help. I have also got at least one other person who is a mutual friend of ours toe and will hopefully bring more high-level people. Until we can get everyone to gather, we need to hold that thing off. I will head over quickly with Retharin, and we cane up with a n while it is still in the northern reaches.ˇ±

    Turning towards Retharin, the mythic grade gryphon nodded his head and took his true form.

    Looking at him again Marcus was still impressed by the imposing form that Retharin struck and felt very d to have him on their side.

    Yet before he could move to get on his back, Gwyneira said something else through the sending stone.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Marcus, you should note back. I know you are strong, but your power will not be enough against this thing. I want you to head back to the capital and meet up with Mrazivy at the adventurers guild. In the worst-case scenario, you can take shelter with them and use the teleportation circle they maintain to go to another continent to escape.ˇ±

    Pausing for a moment, he almost felt relieved that he was not going to have to fight that thing. He already knew it was well beyond him, and that it was quite possible he would end up destroyed if he tired to get in its way.

    Still, he just could not bring himself to run away. This ce had be his home, and he did not want to sit back and do nothing while it was destroyed.

    ˇ®What have I gained all this power for if I cannot even help when everything I care about is in danger. I have already asked both Retharin and Ardea to fight, so how could I not myself.ˇŻ

    ˇ°Gwyneira I will have to disregard that request. I will be joining you and Retharin to help slow that thing down as all of our forces gather. At the very least my healing powers will be useful, and I can support the two of you.ˇ±

    Hearing the resolve in his voice, she just shook her head, realizing that she was not going to dissuade him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Fine, just get here quickly. It has already made it to the edge of the woods, and I do not want to fight it on my own for long.ˇ±

    After saying that Gwyneira put away her sending stone and flew towards the monster that threatened her kingdom.

    Running over to Retharin, Marcus jumped onto his back and the massive gryphon bounded out of his home andunched into the sky.

    Quickly he gained speed going well past the sound barrier as he flew north to meet the threat head on.

    When they arrived what they saw was truly like something out of a horror movie, as the Doomsday worm had already made it through about a fourth of the Great Gome Woods, and everything in its path was dead.

    Even the trees and nts had not been spared, having the life drained away from them.<sub></sub>

    For dozens of miles around the Doomsday Worm was dried up husks of the once tall and proud trees, and buses and shrubs that had turned to dust.

    The ground around it was all broken and cracked and the snow within a few miles of it was drained of all of its beauty, as this creatureˇŻs vile existences tainted it and turned it a dark sickly red.

    BOOM!

    Suddenly its colossal form was pelted by a hundred huge spears made of ice, and looking above it both Marcus and Retharin saw Gwyneira raining down attacks from above.

    However, they seemed to be of little consequence to the Dread Burrow, as the ice spears that hit it and pierced it to the ground quickly broke away and the damage was healed almost instantly.

    ˇ°Irene this is where I let you off.ˇ± Retharin said.

    Though before Marcus left, he decided to give Retharin a parting gift to help him out.

    ˇ®Heart of the Forge.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Lighting Warrior.ˇŻ

    Casting two tier five buff spells, Marcus gave Retharin what little power he could before jumping off.

    ˇ°Good luck out there. I will do what I can, but I will be counting on the two of you for the most part.ˇ±

    Looking back at Marcus onest time before heading out. Retharin gave him a confident grin and thenunched towards the Dread Burrower.

    Bolts of lightning began running along his body as he charged up his power and starting things off with a bang Retharin unleashed one of his strongest attacks.

    Opening his mouth, he shot out a huge beam of electricity towards the colossal worm, and when it hit there was a huge explosion like a nuclear bomb had just been set off.

    The dried-up husks of the trees that were in the area were immediately vaporized and a powerful gust of wind blew over those that had escaped the sts range.

    This one attack had done nearly as much damage tondscape as the Doomsday Worm had already, and arge plumb of dust shot into the air.

    Unfortunately, there was no way that this battle was going to be that easy, and soon the form of the Dread Burrower emerged from the dust.

    It had certainly taken a lot of damage form this attack. Its head had been blown off, and its body was riddled with deep wounds.

    But itsck of defense was more than made up for, as it quickly regenerated all of the damage that Retharin had done and was back to its full power.

 Chapter 585 The Dread Burrowerâ€™s Power

    With RetharinˇŻs full power attack having done next to nothing other than slowing the Doomsday Worm down for a few seconds. It just showed how powerful and outmatched they were.

    This monsterˇŻs regenerative abilities made MarcusˇŻ look like the average healing a normal person would have.

    Its entire head had been blown off and the rest of its body severely damaged, yet it bounced back to its full form in just a matter of seconds.

    Once it was full recovered it continued its charge through the Great Gome Woods and sucked up all the life within several dozen miles of it.

    ˇ°Retharin, I would rmend that you conserve your energy. If we were strong enough to kill it with one attack this would be easy. For now, we should focus on just stalling it from advancing while waiting for more people to arrive.ˇ± Gwyneira said as she flew up beside the mythic grade gryphon.

    Of course, she had actually tried the same thing earlier and had about the same results that Retharin did, but she was not going to admit this to him.

    ˇ°Yeah fine. I just had to see if I could take it down though.ˇ± Retharin said with a disgruntled tone.

    ˇ°So, what is the n.ˇ±

    Quickly the two powerful beasts that sat near the pinnacle of power in the is world began discussing what to do, and soon came up with a decent strategy to slow this monster down.

    Going into action, Gwyneira opened her mouth and a beam of cold energy shot out as she used her breath attack.

    Aiming just in front of the Dread Burrower she created a massive wall of ice in its path to prevent it from continuing forward.<sub>.</sub>

    Still the ice wall did little to dissuade its single-minded advance south as it lifted its head up and it unfurled into a giant circr mouth.

    Inside this mouth were rows and rows of spiky teeth, and in the middle deep inside was a glowing red and yellow eye.

    The teeth inside its mouth began spinning around like a drill and it plunged its head through the ice and continued on like nothing was in its way.

    It had not gained the name the Dread Burrow for nothing, and pretty much no sort of physical barrier could stop its advance.

    Nevertheless, this was only the first part of Gwyneira and RetharinˇŻs strategy as therge gryphon went into action himself.

    Creating a two-thousand-foot-long de made of wind, he carved down the right side of the colossal worm. Aiming for the muscles in its body that allowed it to move in order to prevent it from continuing forward.

    Its body temporally not being able to expand and contract, the Doomsday Worm began to slow down as Retharin continuously hacked through its muscles.

    Unfortunately, it regenerated so fast that he could not prevent it from moving entirely, but he did prevent it from continuing at full speed.

    Flying down from the sky Gwyneiranded on top of therge wall of ice she had created and pushed down.

    She had a skill that allowed her to control ice and snow freely, and she used it topress the ice around the Dread Burrower.<sub></sub>

    This added another level of restriction to its movements, and as she strained herself to keep it in ce.

    Then for the first time, they were able to get the monster toe to aplete stop.

    However, any joy this brought did notst long, as it soon became clear that their enemy did not stop because it could no longer move, but because it was finally preparing to attack.

    Up to this point it had honesty seen Retharin and Gwyneira as just annoyances. But as they worked together, they moved up from annoying to insufferable.

    It had only a single instinctual drive, and that was to consume until nothing was left. Therefore, anything that got in its way became the top of its priority to eat.

    A red glow began to envelope its body, and the pattern of circles that ran up and down the length of its body began to shimmer.

    Then after a few moments the flesh around these areas peeled back away like a shutter being opened, and thousands of tendrils made out of a green viscous liquid began to sprout out of its body.

    Spreading out in every direction these tendrils locked onto any life sign within around a hundred miles and began attacking them.

    Small insects, the few beasts that lived in this part of the woods, and the nt life itself were attacked.

    The tendrils would wrap around anything living and encase it in their viscous liquid, before dragging it back towards its main body.<sub></sub>

    Though while it was targeting all life around it, its main targets quickly became Gwyneira and Retharin.

    The two of them both began flying around rapidly as thousands of tendrils that could stretch on for miles exploded towards them.

    Encasing her body in ice, Gwyneira used one of her unique skills called subzero armor. This lowered the temperature around her to nearly below absolute zero and boosted her defense dramatically.

    This made it so that any of the tendrilsing after her were frozen solid before they could make contact.

    At the same time Retharin was crackling with lighting that sted through and evaporated the tendrils that were chasing him.

    Still, this prevented them from being able to focus on stopping the Doomsday Worm, which had continued moving at full speed and was now causing far more damage than it had before.

    Until it had been pushed by the two mythic grade beasts it was still in a state of almost hibernation. But thebination of RetharinˇŻs st and then the tag team of the two of them had caused it to fully wake up a bit earlier than it wanted to.

    It was still collecting the energy from the surrounding life and for it had not even really eaten an appetizer yet.

    But there were two morsels full of energy flying around it, and now they had the majority of its attention as it tried to ensnare and devour them.

    Within only a few seconds it managed to stop GwyneriaˇŻs movements by simply overwhelming her and surrounding her with thousands of its tendrils.

    While each of them froze beforeing in contact with her, they were still a relentless force that continued to pile up around her and prevent her from moving.

    Spinning her body around rapidly she shot through the mass of frozen tendrils breaking through them as she left a sonic boom in her wake.

    Yet as she broke out having followed the path of least resistance. right in front of her was the wide-open mouth of the dread Burrower.

    Its two-mile-wide maw was spread out and it lurched its head forward to swallow Gwyneira whole.

    Changing her momentum and moving to the side, she tried to avoid being eaten, but even as fast as she was, there was no way she was going to make it.

    She could tell that she would be caught right on the edge of its mouth and shredded by its innumerable razor-sharp teeth.

    ˇ®Quasar st, and Rending Void.ˇŻ

    Channeling his tier six light magic and darkness magic spells through his focusing lenses, Marcus created a huge spiraling st of the two energies and shot them right into the side of the Dread BurrowˇŻs head.

    When the powerful st of light and darkness hit, it knocked the colossal monsterˇŻs head to the side ever so slightly and gave Gwyneira just enough room to avoid being caught in its mouth.

    Just barely having escaped death, Gwyneira flew fast and high, moving outside the Doomsday WormˇŻs range in order to recover for a few moments.

    However, as Gwyneira strategically retreated for the moment, this led the Dread Burrower to lock onto a new target.

    With a huge hole in the side of its head where MarcusˇŻ attack had hit it, the enormous worm turned towards Marcus.

    In just a few instances the damage he had caused healed over, and he just floated their frozen in terror, as he now had a level ny-four monsterˇŻs attention.

    Its glowing red and yellow eye stared at him, and suddenly he felt some sort of pulse hit his body and try to take over his mind.

    Feelings of destruction started to creep into his thoughts, and he suddenly wanted to begin doing as the worm was and devour all life.

    But the powerful mental coercion quickly began to fade, as his sound mind unique skill freed him from the monsterˇŻs maddening eye.

    Unfortunately, as soon as it realized that its domination attack had failed, its near endless tendrils began surrounding Marcus and left him no room for escape.

    He waspletely surrounded by and endless sea of the viscous liquid that made up the Dread BurrowerˇŻs tendrils, and they quickly began to shirking around him.

    Normally this would have been the end for any creature, but for Marcus it was barely and inconvenience.

    Going into his ghost form he became intangible and passed right through the tendrils that had surrounded him and flew out the other side.

    As soon as it realized that its prey had escaped it began scanning around for it, but Marcus was nowhere to be found.

    This upset the Doomsday Worm, as to it, Marcus looked like a most tantalizing meal, and it wanted to eat him above all else.

    The gigantic monster began trashing about, causing the equivalent of a magnitude eight earthquake with itself at the epicenter.

 Chapter 586 Unwinnable Battle

    As the Doomsday worm thrashed about, its hulking form caused the ground to crack and shake all around it.

    Large pieces of earth shot up around it andunched in every direction, and the forest even outside of the vile monsterˇŻs range began to be upturned by the seismic waves it was creating just by throwing a tantrum.

    It had the ability to infect the minds of others and it had tried to get Marcus under its control in order send him out to destroy as well.

    This by far its must horrid ability as it would tear an area apart, and anything like was lucky enough to survive was driven to madness to continue destroying.

    Then once its thralls had done their job it would eventually circle back around and eat them as well.

    Its only goal was to devour everything, and it would stop at nothing to do so.

    Unfortunately for it, Marcus was not easily swayed by mind control and could disappear from it, causing it to fail to ensnare him or get him as meal.

    ˇ°ROOOOORRRRRˇ±

    Letting out a bellowing cry it was obvious that the Dread Burrower was furious, and with the prey it wanted gone it turned its attention back towards Gwyneira and Retharin.

    It continued its assault of thousands of tendrils on the two mythic grade beasts, keeping them from mounting any sort of effective offensive while having to fly around just to avoid being caught.

    However, as Retharin was unleashing hundreds of bolts of lightning around himself to keep the tendrils off, the Doomsday Worm locked onto him and contracted its body.

    With a sh of speed it had not shown before, it suddenly shot out like a spring andunched its entire body into the air.<sub>.</sub>

    As it did this the already destroyed earth around it broke and splinted even more, and a massive crater like a huge asteroid had hit was left in its ce.

    Suddenly finding himself the target of the gigantic worm, Retharin surrounded himself with wind and lightning and shot forward straight into its mouth.

    He could tell there was no escape so he met the attack head one.

    The instant he entered the area of the monsterˇŻs mouth it closed around him and made a resounding sonic boom.

    Yet only a second after he had been eaten, Retharin burst out from inside the Doomsday Worm.

    He had used his own momentum and power to carve through its body and sliced and sted it from the inside.

    BOOM!

    As the limp form of the Dread Burrower hit the ground, its weight that was nearly a hundred million tons caused it to sink deep into the curst of the world and it created another powerful earthquake through the area.

    However, the gigantic worm was not the only one injured as Retharin did not escape his trip into its mouth in one piece.

    Both of his wings had been torn off, and his front to limbs were dissolved into nothing the second they touched the potent acid within the Doomsday WormˇŻs body.

    Along with that he had deepcerations all along his body and was covered all over in blood and bile.<sub></sub>

    Quickly his momentum began to wane, and he crashed into the ground where he carved a deep trench in it, as his terribly injured form was unable to create any resistance.

    When Retharin finally came to a stop, all he could feel was pain an blood and organs gushed out of his open wounds and mouth.

    Even a mythic grade magical beast like him could not take this kind of damage lightly, as he had taken the full might of a monster that was truly beyond him.

    ˇ°DonˇŻt Worry Retharin, I will have you fixed up soon.ˇ± Marcus said as he reappeared next to the broken gryphon.

    Of course, RetharinˇŻs regeneration was already kicking in, but the damage was great, and with MarcusˇŻ spirit healing his wounds began closing faster as well as a calming and numbing effecting over him.

    MarcusˇŻ spirit healing felt quite gentle andforting, and for just a moment Retharin forgot where he was.

    Unfortunately, that blissful moment did notst long as he saw thousands of the Doomsday WormˇŻs tendrilsing right for them.

    It had healed incredibly quickly and in only a matter of seconds after Retharin had torn and sted apart its insides, it was back up to full health.

    Naturally as soon as it was in peak condition again, it sent its tendrils to finish the job and capture the meal that had just escaped it.

    ˇ°Irene, behind you!ˇ± Retharin said with urgency in his voice while coughing up gallons of blood.

    Turning around Marcus saw the viscous green tendrilsing right for him and the injured Retharin.<sub></sub>

    Gritting his teeth, he prepared to take them on and began collecting all over the power he had.

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Harmony Form.ˇŻ

    Activating his supreme skill, his body was surrounded by a powerful aura of light and darkness that swirled around him.

    ˇ®Ravenous Abyss, Radiance Scales.ˇŻ

    Casting two tier five spells, he aimed to resist the oing onught of tendrils while he finished healing Retharin.

    Still, his magics while very powerful for his level, were wholly outmatched in this battle, and his ravenous abysssted all of a quarter of a second before being snuffed out an crushed.

    Its dozens of hands of darkness barely were able to hold off the Dread BurrowˇŻs tendrils for an instance, and it met its demise without putting up much resistance.

    MarcusˇŻ radiance scales spell on the other hand fared a bit better, as it blocked the first few tendrils without giving an inch.

    These tendrils did not have much force behind them, and their lethality came from their numbers and viscosity that could adhere to and wrap around anything.

    Nevertheless, MarcusˇŻ tier five defensive magic spell began to crack once around two hundred tendrils had wrapped around it and began contracting.

    Quickly the spell began to break apart, and after just six seconds it had beenpletely destroyed and the tendrils made their way towards Marcus and Retharin.

    ˇ®LetˇŻs see what this thing can really do.ˇŻ

    Holding up his left hand while he kept his right on Retharin and counited healing him, Marcus began heating up rapidly.

    He was letting loose all of the power within the ze glove that had been lent to him, along with his own.

    ˇ°Phoenix Fire.ˇ±

    As he cast the tier seven spell within the ze glove a burning aura surrounded him and formed into the form of a gargantuan ming bird.

    Instantly the tendrils around them vaporized from the heat of this powerful spell.

    Then Marcus shot the spell forwards and the fire that had taken the form of a phenix flew through the thousands of tendrils surrounding them and right for the Doomsday Worm.

    But as powerful as this tier seven spell fired off with everything Marcus had was, it still came far short of ever reaching its target.

    After burning through thousands of tendrils for around two miles, all of its energy was exhausted and Marcus and Retharin were once again left open.

    ˇ®Damn it. How much longer am I going to need to finish healing all of the damage done to him.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he poured out his spiritual energy around Retharin to speed up his healing.

    Continuously casting spells while focusing on healing Retharin, Marcus was just barely able to keep the two of them from being hit.

    Of course, he was not alone in his actions to protect Retharin, as Gwyneira was also focusing her attacks on the tendril surrounding them in order to keep some of the pressure off.

    Sadly, she had her own problems to deal with as well. Thousands of tendrils chased her around the sky, so she was only able to fire off the asional attack on a fly by to give Marcus a slight bit more breathing room.

    ˇ°Irene, go ethereal now!ˇ± Retharin yelled as the tendrils were about to overwhelm him.

    Closing his eyes and feeling a pit of despair in his stomach, he did as Retharin said and disappeared.

    The dozens of tendrils that were about to wrap around him passed through nothing and began coiling around in search of the being that was there just a second ago.

    However, Marcus was now out of their reach and could not be ensnared, so they moved onto the next target.

    Looking back Marcus watched Retharin lift his still injured form off the ground and began crackling with wind and lighting.

    His wings were still not fully restored so he was unable to fly very well. That meant all he could do was stand and fight with what energy he had left.

    He blew apart thousands of tendrils that came for him, but eventually he was overwhelmed and even his power began to reach its limits.

    As soon as the first tendriltched onto him more followed, and while he ripped them apart and sted them off his body it took only a matter of seconds for him to be entangled.

    This was the power of the Doomsday Worm, an unrelenting force that kept after its targets until it had eaten them with no hope of beating it.

    Thrashing around Retharin tried to break free, but he waspletely surrounded and restrained with his mana and stamina already running on empty.

    In fact, he could not even recover as usual, as the tendrils sucked his mana and life force out of him.

    Marcus and Gwyneira tried to help set hm free, but the Dread Burrow was intent on iming its prize and did everything it could to keep the two of them from helping Retharin.

    It seemed that the end hade for the long lived and powerful mythic grade beast, as he was going to be eaten by a monster much stronger than he was.

 Chapter 587 New Arrival

    ˇ®Eclipse Meteor.ˇŻ

    With Retharin captured by the Doomsday Worm and begin dragged back to its main body, Marcus took drastic action.

    He had tried firing off spells to sever the mass of tendril that had grabbed ahold of his ally, but the Doomsday Worm was intent of capturing its prey.

    It was sending thousands of its tendrils towards Marcus to prevent him from interfering, and to try and capture him as well.

    Unfortunately, it could not get a grip on Marcus as he could go ethereal before being caught, but it still did prevent him using any attacks to save Retharin.

    That was until he used his eclipse meteor while going into his ghost form.

    This was the first time he had ever done anything like this, and he was not sure if it would work, but he had to try.

    He easily slipped through the mass of tendrils as he was intangible, and when he was just a few feet away from Retharin he reappeared.

    BOOM!

    With a resounding explosion of light and darkness he hit he tendrils that hadpletely engulfed the mythic grade gryphon and blew them away.

    Then he turned towards Retharin and moved to grab hisrge form and try and drag him away.

    Yet right before he made contact with him, hundreds of tendrils burst up from the ground and surrounded both of them.<sub>.</sub>

    For an instance Marcus was grabbed by them, and he immediately felt himself being drained.

    Quickly he went back into his ghost form, but he felt terrible after having been grabbed for just a moment.

    As for Retharin, he had long since gone unconscious and his life was steadily being drained away.

    Just an instanttter Gwyneira began flying around and her body formed into a ring, as she began spinning around in the air rapidly.

    ˇ°Aurora Force.ˇ±

    Using her strongest ability, she activated her attack supreme skill that she could only use once every three days.

    This was by far her most powerful attack, and a st of bluish green light shot out form her and hit the Dread Burrower.

    Ice quickly began to form over its entire thirty-mile-long body and all of its tendril froze solid in a massive cier.

    When she had stopped spinning around Gwyneira was breathing heavily, and her normally lustrous scales seemed to have gotten duller.

    This supreme attack of hers took quite a bit out of her, and truthfully, she had been saving it in hopes of using it as a finishing move once more of their forces were here.

    However, there was simply no way that she could just let Retharin die, as his power was absolutely necessary if they wanted to win.<sub></sub>

    They simply could not afford to lose anyone this early in the battle, and certainly not one of their heaviest hitters.

    ˇ®When was thest time I actually felt this tired and was pushed this hard.ˇŻ Gwyneira thought

    For over a century now she had pretty much not engaged in any battles and had just been lounging around the castle waiting for Boreas to return.

    She had been too content with the power she had, and made little progress in advancing herself for quite some time.

    Still her strongest attack seemed to have done the job, and it appeared to have brought them at least a few moments of peace as the gigantic worm was frozen solid.

    Yet as she flew down towards Retharin and Marcus, her danger sense suddenly went off like wild, and she looked toward the Doomsday Worm and saw that its mouth was glowing.

    After that she veered up as quickly as she could, when a powerful beam was shot out of the glowing red and yellow eye that sat in the middle of the monster.

    Unable to get out of the way in time one of GwyneriaˇŻs wings was blown off as the st of energy flew past her and then off into the horizon.

    Spiraling out of the air. she lost control of herself and smashed hard into the ground. Leaving a scar through the earth as she skidded to a stop.

    The ice around the Dread Burrower began to crack as it flexed its body around in order to escape.

    At the very least this gave Marcus enough time to free Retharin from the frozen tendrils around him. And using his cataclysmic iron sword as a floating stretcher he picked the huge gryphon up and began flying away.<sub></sub>

    It was pretty obvious at this point that if they tried to stall any longer on their own, someone going to die. So, it was time to get out of here and regroup.

    They had other allies that would be arriving soon, and while it may make things more precarious to retreat now, losing either Gwyneira or Retharin would lower their power by a great deal.

    Sadly, Marcus was only able to evacuate one of them, and while GwyneriaˇŻs injuries were far from as bad as RetharinˇŻs, she still needed around a dozen seconds to regenerate her wing so that she could properly take off into the sky.

    Unfortunately, the Doomsday Worm was not going to give her this time, and hundreds of its tendrils flowed out of therge hole in the ice its beam attack had caused.

    Luckily it was still mostly restrained by the ice GwyneriaˇŻs strongest attack had created, but it was only a matter of time until it broke free.

    With more tendrilsing her way, Gwyneira lifted herself up and took a defensive position.

    Still, she was exhausted after using her strongest skill and all of the other powers she had during this fight.

    Just to stay alive so far, she had been going at full power, and even for a dragon, this fight was draining.

    Fighting hard she tore through the tendrils and froze them with her magic and skills, but like always they were relentless and came at her from every direction. Even from under the ground.

    Quickly it seemed like she was going to be overwhelmed and there was nothing anyone could do for her.

    Retharin himself was unconscious and badly injured, while Marcus was having to prioritize getting him to safety.

    He could have turned back and tried to help her, but that would have meant putting Retharin in harms way when he had no means to protect himself.

    For now, all he could do was hope that Gwyneira might pull out a miracle and break away.

    s, this is not what happened, as she eventually was overtaken, and the tendrils began wrapping around her.

    Naturally she froze the ones that touched her, but they just kepting, and soon she waspletely surrounded by tendrils that were constantly piling on top of her.

    It seemed that the end was closing in on her, as more and more tendril surrounded her as the Dread Burrower made her its only target.

    Yet as she was being dragged towards it, trapped in a frozen sphere of her own making, a bright sh streaked across the area.

    In just an instant this sh sliced through the tendrils that were dragging Gwyneira away and freed her from their clutches.

    Then the person who had just saved Gwyneiranded on the ground and prepared to unleash another attack.

    Looking back at this new arrival Marcus did not recognize them, but they struck quite the imposing figure.

    They had long dark ck hair that was tied into a ponytail, and they were wearing very well-made clothing that was obviously heavily enchanted.

    Along with that they had piercing brown eyes that looked like they had seen a thousand battles.

    Finally in their grasp lifted above their head was a system recognized amethros longsword.

    Staring at this sword, even though he was in the middle of a fight with a monster that could be the end of the entire continent, his attention was drawn to this sword for a few moments.

    He had only seen a few amethros items and created one himself, but this was the first time he had seen one that had the systemˇŻs recognition.

    Of course, he wondered who this person was, but that question was soon answered as they unleashed their next attack which Marcus had seen a number of times.

    ˇ°First Form, Tempest Fang.ˇ±

    Striking down their sword, this figure created a huge sh of mana which flew forward with an immense amount of speed and power.

    It sliced through all of the Dread BurrowerˇŻs tendrils with ease, flew through the hole in the ice that still restrained it, and sliced right into its head.

    This sh traveled for nearly four miles through the dread worm and carved its body into two parts along this length.

    Blood and acid gushed out of its body for a few moments, until it quickly began putting itself together from an attack that would have killed most anything else.

    ˇ°Damn, that thing really is tough.ˇ± The man said as he looked at the Doomsday Worm that was regenerating quickly.

    Just a momentter the frozen tendrils that had surrounded Gwyneira shattered as she busted her way out.

    However, she looked far from great, with her breathing heavy, and looking horribly pale from exhaustion.

    ˇ°Looks like I am a bitte to the battle. You must have had it rough so far.ˇ± The man said to her.

    Staring down at the man who had saved her, Gwyneira responded and said, ˇ°Yes it has been tough. But who are you?ˇ±

    Turning towards her, he smiled and said, ˇ°I am the Sword Savant. We talked just a few hours ago, and as agreed upon, I am here to help.ˇ±

 Chapter 588 Regrouping

    With the Sword SavantˇŻs arrival, the tide of the battle shifted and Gwyneira was no longer being dragged off towards the Doomsday WormˇŻs mouth.

    He had also dealt a devesting blow to the monster cutting its body in half up to a little more than tenth of the monsterˇŻs thirty-mile length.

    Of course, while this was a pretty impressive attack, the damage he had caused was already nearly healed after only a few seconds.

    ˇ°Allow me to thank you for your assistance, Sword Savant. I was in quite a bind, and you helped me out there. However, while you may have just arrived, and I can see you want to fight, it is time for us to retreat. That thing is too dangerous for us to take on right now, and we need to recover and assemble our forces before taking it on again.ˇ± Gwyneira said with exhaustion written all over her face.

    Frowning, the Sword Savant really did want to test his de against the Dread Devourer, but he knew that he could not win on his own even as strong as he was.

    ˇ°Very well. I will cover our escape then.ˇ± He said as he swung his sword again.

    Firing off another flying sh, he sliced through the renewed tendrils that had already begun making their way towards him and Gwyneira.

    After that the two of themunched into the sky and flew towards Marcus who had already retreated quite aways with the badly injured and unconscious Retharin.

    Luckily GwyneiraˇŻs ice that had encased the Doomsday Worm kept it in ce for around another minute, and it was only able to send a limited number of tendrils after them which the Sword Savant cut down.

    Unfortunately, it did not take long for the cmity of a monster to break free from its icy imprisonment, and once gain begin its destruction of the Great Gome Woods unabated.<sub>.</sub>

    Flying quickly over the forest, their group eventually made it to the edge of the woods and to Norr Vige which had undergone a drastic change since thest time they had been there.

    Not a soul was left here, as all of the people had already evacuated and started making their way to River Landing.

    When Gwyneira had sent out he emergency alert to the kingdom, they had gone right into action and began evacuating the northern reaches of the kingdom and preparing every defensive measure they could.

    Still with it being winter they were slower than they would have liked, and movements were not proceeding quickly.

    Not to mention that River Landing itself was likely to not be safe by any means, and all nonmilitary personnel were being evacuated from there as well.

    If the Dread Worm continued on its straight path as it had been, River Landing would be the first major settlement in its way, and there was no way they could defend against it.

    The town simply did not have anywhere near the level of magical defenses necessary to even slow down a monster of this power and size. With the only ce in the kingdom that could probably hold out for more than a minute being the royal capital.

    ˇ°So, what are we going to do now?ˇ± Marcus said to Gwyneira while applying his spirit healing to Retharin.

    The mythic grade gryphon had still not woken up, and while his physical injuries had already healed. The amount of energy he had drained away by the Doomsday WormˇŻs tendrils had left him in aa.<sub></sub>

    Transforming back into her human form Gwyneira slumped onto the ground and took a few heavy breaths before responding.

    ˇ°What we do now is rest and wait for reinforcements to arrive. It should not be long until Aria and Darius get here along with the rest of the kingdomˇŻs elite warriors and mages. Hopefully the adventurers guild will also send some support and then we may have enough power to make an actual attempt at beating that thing.ˇ±

    Gwyneira then took out a potion that Marcus had seen before and knew was a true elixir.

    Downing it in one gulp her body which had been pale began to regain some of its color, and the beaten down look in her eyes began to lessen.

    Once she had recovered herself, she got up and took out another elixir which she dropped into RetharinˇŻs mouth.

    MomentˇŻstter he opened his eyes as the strongest medicine in the world went to work on fixing the damage he had taken.

    ˇ°Uh, where are we?ˇ± hw said as he moved his head side to side and looked around.

    His mind was still in a bit of a haze, as thest thing he remembered was being swallowed up by the viscous liquid that formed the tendrils that the Dread Burrower used.

    ˇ°We have moved away for now. It was apparent that we had done all we could, and that staying any longer was only going to end up with one of us dead.ˇ± Gwyneira said to him.<sub></sub>

    Lowering his head, Retharin was quite upset about what had happened.

    He could not remember thest time he had been so thoroughly defeated by an enemy thatpletely overpowered him.

    It had taken the Doomsday Worm only one attack to bring him down, and the thing had shrugged off all of his strongest attacks like they were nothing.

    ˇ°I understand your frustration.ˇ± Gwyneira said. ˇ°We have been at the top for so long it has been decades since either of us met a challenge we could not beat without giving it some effort.ˇ±

    With downcast looks in their eyes it was obvious that both Retharin and Gwyneira had taken more than physical damage during their battle.

    They were supposed to be strong, being mythic grade magical beasts with high levels.

    Yet when it came down to it, their power was still far from enough to take on the threat they were currently facing.

    Nevertheless, Retharin quickly got over his despair and finally noticed that someone new was with them.

    ˇ°Wait, who is this, and when did they get here?ˇ±

    Following RetharinˇŻs gaze both Marcus and Gwyneira saw that he was looking at Asher, the Sword Savant, who was sitting on the ground and meditating not too far away.

    ˇ°He is another ally that is going to help us in this battle. His name is Asher, and he is called the Sword Savant. It was thanks to his help that all of us managed to get away.ˇ± Marcus said

    After hearing this Retharin looked towards Gwyneira, and she understood what he wanted from her by the look in his eyes.

    ˇ°He is plenty strong enough to be of use in this battle. I already checked his status, and he is one of the strongest humans I have ever seen. At level eighty-four his stats are very impressive, nearly as high as mine were when I was that level.ˇ±

    ˇ°Good, we are going to need every ally we can get.ˇ± Retharin said as she struggled to his feet.

    Even with all of the healing and the elixir he had received, his body was far from its best right now.

    His very life force had been drained while he was captured by the Doomsday Worm, and he had probably lost around eight hundred yearsˇŻ worth of his life span. Which was no small amount even for him.

    As a high-level mythic grade magical beast, he could easily live for a few millennia, but now he felt much older than he had, and her wondered if he would ever make it back up to his full strength.

    Still, he had a job to do and would fight with his all to protect the ice elf city which was his masterˇŻsst wish.

    ˇ°So, what is he doing. It looks kind of like he is asleep.ˇ± Retharin said as he looked at Asher who had not moved at all since he woke up.

    ˇ°He said he was going to prepare his mind for theing battle. Something about sharpening his entire being in order to wield his sword better. Though I really did not understand what he meant.ˇ± Marcus said as he shrugged his shoulders.

    All three of them then nced over at Asher who really did appear to just be taking a nap from what they could tell.

    ˇ°Now we have other matters to discuss. How are we going to stop that thing? At this rate it will arrive at River Landing in about a day and a half once it is done destroying the Great Gome Woods. If we engage it even within even a hundred miles of here the entire town will be destroyed.ˇ±

    Unfortunately, MarcusˇŻ question was just met with lowered gazes, as neither Gwyneira nor Retharin thought that they could stop this thing before it destroyed River Landing.

    In fact, Gwyneira already figured they would lose half at least half of the kingdom in this battle. If they won at all.

    Seeing the grimaces on their faces, Marcus understood that things really were pretty hopeless right now.

    ˇ°Well, we can at least find out how much longer until Aria and Darius arrive at least.ˇ± Marcus said as he looked towards Gwyneira.

    Nodding her head, she pulled out her sending stone and contacted both of them.

    Unfortunately, the news was not good. When they were trying to pull out of the battlefield in Tralenstein. one of the kingdoms to the southunched an attack that has held them up.

    ˇ°They say that it will probably be at least four days until they can get here along with their elite troops. Until then, we have no guarantee on receiving any useful reinforcements.ˇ±

 Chapter 589 Change of Direction

    Hearing that their only certain reinforcements were going to be dyed made their situation even more dourer.

    They had just had their assess handed to them, and both Gwyneira and Retharin only just barely escaped with their lives thanks to MarcusˇŻ help and AsherˇŻs intervention.

    Currently the best they could do was slow the Doomsday Worm down for a bit, and even that put their lives on the line.

    Of course, they did have the Sword Savant here now, but his strength alone would not be enough.

    Certainly, at level eighty-four and with an impressive status even for his level, he could be considered in the same league as Retharin and Gwyneira. But that was still far from what they would need to win.

    Their enemy was unrelenting and seemed unkible with regeneration that was greater than anything any of them had ever seen.<sub>.</sub>

    It wasparable to if someone had a pump constantly pushing elixirs into their body.

    Blowing off its head and slicing through its body were the equivalent to a small scratch for it, and at this point they were not sure if it could even be killed.

    ˇ°All we can do now is slow it down the best we can and hope that the adventurers guild sends in some of their top personnel. They should at least have a few dozen level eighties among their ranks and if we are lucky someone level ny or higher wille to help us.ˇ± Gwyneira said.

    She understood that winning this battle was out of her hands now.

    Even her best shot had held the Dread Burrower down for only around a minute and a half.<sub></sub>

    Normally that attack would have frozen its target solid and left them nothing more than an ice statue.

    But it had barely bought them any time and did not even fully restrain that monster that threatened the entire continent. And maybe even more.

    Who was to say that it would stop after killing everything here and not move into the ocean next? Make its way across the world, going from onendmass to another.

    ˇ°Well, I am not just going to sit around here and do nothing. If we cannot slow it down, we can at least speed up the evacuation of the area. We need to save as many people as we can.ˇ± Marcus said with a resolute expression in his eyes.

    He knew the best out of all of them how powerless he was, since he had barely been of any use in that fight.<sub></sub>

    There was pretty much no room for him to help, and even his strongest attacks had little effect on the Doomsday Worm.

    If Gwyneira and Retharin might beparable to a couple of bees that could cause a little damage with their stings. He had been a gnat that posed no threat and was only mildly annoying.

    Still, he refused to do nothing as the home he had made on this new world was decoyed and was going to do what he could to help out.

    ˇ®When is it that I started thinking like this? Before this had just been another ce I had ended up. I figured I would explore it a bit, and once I had seen its sights and had some fun, I would move on. Yet as I moved from ce to ce, I slowly found more people I cared about, and this kingdom became more than just a stop on my journey.ˇŻ

    Smiling and looking off into the horizon. Marcus remembered the moments that had defined who he had be sinceing to this world.

    ˇ°Yes, you are right. Now is not the time for subtlety. We need to at least make sure that River Landing and the surrounding viges have made it at least a minimum safe distance away.ˇ± Gwyneira said as MarcusˇŻ determination spread like a virus.

    Joining in Retharin also offered his support in carrying people around as well.

    Mobility was the one thing they had over the Dread Burrower, and with their abilities they could fly numerous people to safety.

    ˇ°We can take the next day to get people away and rest ourselves up. Then we can make another stand when it reaches the edge of the woods and try and slow it down some more. We just need to hold out until our reinforcements arrive.ˇ± Marcus said with zeal.

    Joining in with him, Retharin and Gwyneira had undergone a change now that they had a new goal.

    Marcus while the weakest one here still had a huge impact on morale. And maybe it was just the fact that he was a great spirit, but his words seemed to lift up everyone else.

    ˇ°What about you Asher? What is it you n to do?ˇ± Marcus said to the man who had stayed still and quiet the whole time.

    ˇ°I will stay here and prepare myself mentally, physically, and spiritually. When that behemoth of a worm shows itself again. I will be ready to hit it with everything I have.ˇ±

    With everyone having figured out what to do for now, they quickly went into action.

    Marcus took the form of the great knight whose soul he had devoured back in Tralenstein. Before flying off towards the vige that was as close to a hometown as he had.

    He was nning on using his form as a cdrius to transport a huge number of people all at once, so he needed a disposable human appearance to use.

    While he was there, he could also talk to Roxene and Inten who he had left there on his way to get RetharinˇŻs help.

    On the other hand, Retharin and Gwyneira flew straight to River Landing to evacuate the people there, as they could easily carry a few hundred people at a time.

    They only had a little time to get everyone they could out of harmˇŻs way, and they were going to do all they could to save people, since they had been ineffective in slowing down theing threat.

 Chapter 590 Getting People to Safety

    Landing down in the center of the vige. Marcus could see that unlike Norr it was not devoid of life.

    However, this was actually quite disconcerting, as it seemed that they had not started evacuating at all.

    ˇ®They should have received a messenger by now. I heard that they sent out high level people on fast moving beasts to inform all of the viges to prepare to leave in the wake of a dangerous monster.ˇŻ

    Though as he looked around, he quickly realized why the people of this vige had not begun to get out of here.

    With Andrea and her tribe in charge, they probably sent the messenger packing and did not believe what he had to say.

    ˇ®Well looks like I caught their attention.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he saw the members of AndreaˇŻs tribe surrounding him.

    Currently he was in the form of the now deceased great knight named Ludwik whose soul he had devoured. Though it was also this soul that nearly pushed him over the edge and destroyed his sense of self.

    Still, it was the perfect disposable appearance he could use here along with turning into a cdrius in order to transport everyone away from here.

    They were definitely in the danger zone, as the Doomsday Worm could easily absorb everything within a hundred miles of it, and the people here would be an effortless snack for it to im.

    Being surrounded by ten beast people who were all primed and ready for a fight, Marcus could tell that diplomacy was not going to be an option this time.

    As Irene he had plenty of clout he could use, and the people of the vige trusted him.

    Right now, he was just a stranger who hade to force them out of their homes, even if he just wanted them to survive.

    ˇ°I need all of you to go to sleep for a bit.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Activating his phantom pressure Marcus knocked out of the beast people within a second.

    With the first obstacle taken care of swiftly, he ran over to where Andrea was, using his life sense skill to pinpoint the strongest life force.

    When he found her she was jamming some jerky into her mouth while having a conversation with Amos.

    ˇ°I am telling you that messenger was sprouting nonsense. We already cleared out the woods of the most dangerous monsters and beasts. I bet it was just some ploy to get us to leave since the kingdom does not like that we do not bow to their authority.ˇ±

    Andrea then took another bite of the meat in her hand, the frustration obvious on her face.

    From her perspective she had just worked really hard to clean up a mess the kingdom should have, and the thanks she was getting was deception.

    Of course, that could not be further from the truth, but that was how she saw it.

    Nevertheless, Marcus was here to set things straight and brazenly walked in.

    Immediately Andrea got up, brandished her weapon, and said, ˇ°Who are you? And how did you get in here?ˇ±

    But Marcus was not here to chat or make nice. He was here to aplish a goal and do it quickly.

    So, he simply exerted his phantom pressure again to show his dominance and get his point across swiftly.

    As soon as the weight of his soul hit her, Andrea felt her body begin to shake and nearly caved in.<sub></sub>

    Yet she somehow managed to stay up and began rushing towards Marcus at her full speed.

    Or at least that is what it felt like to her, but for Marcus she kind of looked like she was moving in slow motion with how difficult each step was for her.

    ˇ®I guess she can take full power.ˇŻ

    Turning up the juice on his specter power to max, he dropped Andrea in an instant.

    She copsed right onto the floor. Her body unable to take the full weight of MarcusˇŻ soul on her own.

    At the very least she did remain conscious, but she could do little more than grind her teeth in frustration as he was nearly fully immobilized.

    Walking up to her Marcus squatted down really low and put his face right up next to hers, before saying, ˇ°Now I do not have time to deal with any of your grandstanding or conspiracy theories. There is a very real dangering, and everyone here is going to die if they do not leave as soon as possible. I want you to gather up your tribe and prepare to leave. If not, I do not mind hauling everyone out of here unconscious.ˇ±

    Marcus then stood up and looked at Amos who was stunned by his sudden appearance and effortless take down of Andrea.

    ˇ°You are the vige chief, right? I want you to gather up your people as well and prepare to evacuate. Gather them all into the center of town. You both have thirty minutes to do this before I just start knocking people out and dragging them away.

    After saying this Marcus released his phantom pressure on Andrea so that she could get to work.

    Though he did give her a good re so that she knew he meant business and to show that he was far stronger than her.

    Growling at him, she really wanted to tear this man who she did not know was Marcus apart.<sub></sub>

    Yet it was obvious after what had just happened, she would stand no chance against him.

    ˇ°What are you waiting for? Get a move on. Your time has already started, and I really will do as I said and make everyone here unconscious if that is what it takes.ˇ± Marcus yelled.

    With a fire lit under them. Amos and Andrea went to do as Marcus had said. Bowing to his overwhelming strength that they could not fight against.

    Quickly they gathered up everyone in the vige and met in the center where Marcus was waiting.

    When he was certain everyone was ounted for, he jumped down from the roof he had been sitting on, and said, ˇ°Okay I am going to fly everyone of you out of here. In order to do this, I am going to take another form. Try to stay calm and do not panic. I have no intention of hurting anyone.ˇ±

    Once he had finished giving a basic exnation of what was going on, he transformed into the form of a cdrius.

    Naturally this caused quite a few vigers and members of AndreaˇŻs tribe to be surprised, with a few falling over onto their assess.

    ˇ®Get over your shock quickly. Time is limited and I need to get all of you to safety as soon as possible. Pack as many as you can on my back, and I will fly you to River Landing. Then I will be back and repeat the process until everyone is out of here.ˇŻ Marcus said over his telepathy.

    Tentatively a group of vigers were the first to cram onto his back, and when he had thirty-six people on him, he took off.

    Most of the vigers screamed as he flew high into the air as the fear of the situation got to them.

    At the very least after around ten minutes everyone had calmed down a bit, with some even being mesmerized by the view.

    Not a single one of them had flown before, and once the initial scare was over, it was quite the awe-inspiring experience.

    Soon he made it to the outskirts of River Landing which had taken quite the turn sincest time he was there.

    Currently there were no guards at the gate and the streets were pretty much empty.

    However, there was one area that was quite lively, and that was the most central park.

    Groups of the remaining people in the town were gathered there and getting onto makeshift vehicles that Gwyneira and Retharin were lifting up to transport people.

    This was certainly the fastest way to get people away from the area that was in the very near future going to be the sight of a battle of earthshaking proportions.

    They had all seen what kind of destruction was caused in a fight against the Dread Burrower, and most people within two hundred miles of it were certain to lose their life.

    Flying over to this park Marcusnded and shocked the already astonished people.

    None of them had ever seen such powerful beasts, but suddenly so many had shown up and had begun working with the kingdomˇŻs army.

    Luckily this lessened the panic, as General Erastalven hadmanded his troops to keep the people calm and inform them that the dragon and massive gryphon were here to help.

    Once Marcus had dropped off the first group of vigers, he flew right back at full speed and grabbed the next batch.

    He did this nine times throughout the day and brought everyone who had been in the vige over to River Landing. Where Gwyneira and Retharin transported them even further away.

    Though there were two beings still there that he needed to talk to.

    ˇ®Roxene I am here. Bring Inten over so that we can talk.ˇŻ Marcus said to hispanion.

    Within just a few seconds Roxene and Inten arrived in front of him the apprehension clear on their faces.

    ˇ°Okay things are only going to get worse form here on out, so I want the two of you to run away.ˇ±

    But one of them spoke up against this n and said, ˇ®No I wish to stay and fight with you this time. I promised to repay you.ˇŻ

    Sighing Marcus shook his head at Inten and said, ˇ°You would only slow me down. The only thing that even allows me to help out in this battle is my ability to turn ethereal. With you around I would have difficulty doing so. You would only die if you fought.ˇ±

    Lowering his head and frowning Inten hated that he was so useless after he had resolved himself to help out.

    Roxene on the other hand, was more than happy to get away.

    For her living was the most important thing, and she valued her live above all else.

    ˇ®I will take this stupid mouse with me and hide out in a ce that is safe. Even that thing will not be able to get into the special dungeon deep below the ground. You can take my word for it.ˇŻ She said with confidence.

    ˇ°Okay that sounds like a good idea. When everything is done, I wille get you.ˇ±

    Yet Roxene had not yet given up on Marcusing with her and said, ˇ®You shoulde with us. We can grab the rest of the gang and just wait out our time getting strong in that dungeon. Then in a few years we cane out and see how things have progressedˇŻ

    Giving Roxene a smile, Marcus said, ˇ°Yeah that might be the smart move, but there are ways that I can contribute here. In just this recent fight without my help both Gwyneira and Retharin would have died. I may not be able to do much, but I can offer my support where it is needed.ˇ±

 Chapter 591 Plans Going Awry

    Roxene having failed in hertest attempt to persuade Marcus to leave this fight against the Dread Burrower began to frown.

    He was her chosen caretaker and really, she was not sure what would happen if he were to end up perishing.

    ˇ®Just stay alive no matter what. Now I am taking Inten and getting out of here. Send me a message when it is all over, or you finally decided to make the move to escape.ˇŻ

    After saying this Roxene turned around and shot straight south, running at full speed towards the crystal caverns while carrying Inten on her back.

    With the two of them now on their way to safety, Marcus turned his gaze towards the west and flew over towards the next nearest vige.

    There were still more people to help, and now that those closest to him were on their way to safety he would focus on everyone else.

    ˇ­

    Quickly another day went by as he lifted people around in his form as a cdrius, and Gwyneira and Retharin did the same.

    They had managed to bring most of the people to a safer location leaving them, in the capital city of the nearby Scriven Duchy.

    It was by far thergest city in the area and was over two hundred miles away from River Landing which was soon to turn into a battlefield.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®There it is.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked out on the horizon from far above.

    The Dread BurrowerˇŻs main body had juste into view though the destruction it had wrought was visible from an even greater distance.

    The Great Gome Woods for hundreds of miles had been destroyed, and all that was left was a dusty barennd devoid of life.

    Pulling out his sending stone he contacted Gwyneira and told her that their enemy was now on the horizon, and that it would only be a matter of time until it reached the edge of the woods.

    Though its tendrils had alreadye this far and had begun destroying the abandoned Norr Vige that Marcus was floating above.

    Luckily no one was left, and while it did demolish the ce, at least no lives were lost.

    ˇ®Time to get started.ˇŻ

    Gritting his teeth Marcus prepared himself for his roll in their current n that was quite drastic.

    Still, they needed to do what they could to slow this thing down while reinforcements arrived to help.<sub></sub>

    Currently it was still just the four of them, as anyone else close enough to offer assistance was honestly too weak and would just end up getting killed.

    ˇ®Eat this.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Phenix Fire.ˇŻ

    Recodifying and starting off with one of his biggest moves, Marcus cast the tier seven spell from the ze glove.

    Immediately the form of a giant fiery bird formed around Marcus, beforeunching off towards the Doomsday Worm.

    Naturally this sudden explosion of energy from within its range of perception got its attention, and it began sending its thousands of tendrils right towards Marcus.

    He was easily the best meal within a hundred miles, and it was intent of eating what looked like a glowing morsel to it.

    However, before it could get to Marcus it had to deal with the spell that he had justunched which flew quickly and soon hit its main body.

    A huge explosion of mes engulfed the gigantic wormˇŻs head, and it began thrashing around for a few moments, before the mes went out and the burns they had caused quickly healed away.<sub></sub>

    Nevertheless, Marcus never intended to do any meaningful damage as he simply could not. No what he wanted was the horrid incarnation of destructionˇŻs attention.

    ˇ®Well, time for a game of tag I cannot lose, or win.ˇŻ

    Turning around Marcus began flying away as the Doomsday Worm single mindedly chased after him.

    Its two-mile wide and thirty-mile-long body left a scare through the ground as it hastily moved after the prey that was getting away from it.

    Of course, it sent out an unending amount of its tendrils to ensnare Marcus, but they had no chance of getting him.

    He would st them away for a bit until he was overwhelmed and then disappear into his ghost form.

    Even at level ny-three the Dread Devourer had no means of using spiritual energy or a way to interact with Marcus once he had gone ethereal.

    It was a practically mindless monster that ran on instinct alone and did not have the understanding necessary to deal with MarcusˇŻ ability to shift from tangible to intangible.

    However, what itcked in brains it made up for in its unmatched regeneration and unfathomable power.

    The stupid thing was pretty much unkible, as any damage done to it was healed and gone in a couple of seconds.

    Along with that they had found no weak points to exploit as even if its head was blown off as Retharin had done, it bounced back all the same.

    However, there current n was not to kill it, but just to stall it and wait for reinforcements.

    But they had learned that a forward assault was a bad idea, as the Doomsday Worm could perform acts of unexpected agility andunch its body incredibly fast.

    Along with that it had unleashed a massive beam that had taken GwyneriaˇŻs wing off and vaporized it just by being grazed.

    Its mouth was truly dangerous, and they needed to keep away from it if at all possible.

    ˇ®That is right. Keep following me.ˇŻ Marcus though as he led the Dread Burrower into their trap.

    Quickly he flew across the opennd beyond the woods and as soon as the gigantic monster reached the area, the snow began to turn a sickly reddish-brown color as it had everywhere the Doomsday Worm went.

    This was just the vile destion it left in its wake showing that it had drained the life out of the area.

    Still even though it was pretty awful to watch, Marcus had no way to stop this thing and could only keep up his role in leading this thing around.

    Soon, he had led it to the edge of River Landing which was now devoid of human life.

    Every single person had been evacuated away and now the town was still and quiet.

    Floating inside the town, Marcus waited for the Dread Burrower to follow him in so that they could spring their trap. Yet as the monster reached the road, it suddenly stopped which was very uncharacteristic of it.

    Then it turned its head to the west and its glowing eyes stared off into the distance.

    ˇ®What the hell is it doing? Why is it not following me in?ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing this uncharacteristic behavior.

    Even the tendrilsing after him had lessened a bit, though they were certainly still trying to get ahold of him.

    Yet the Dread Burrower who may have been very interested in Marcus, turned away and began heading west.

    This was far from what Marcus as well as Retharin and Gwyneira had nned, since they were trying to lure the thing into River Landing.

    ˇ®Damn it. The thing is heading for Loursend all of a sudden. Why has it now decided to no longer head directly south?ˇŻ

 Chapter 592 The Sword Savantâ€™s Waning Patience

    With the Doomsday Worm suddenly changing direction towards Loursend, this left the n Marcus hade up with Gwyneira and Retharinpletely useless.

    They had been expecting the enormous monster to follow Marcus into the center of the town, where they had congregated every mana furnace in the ce and some from the surrounding areas along with tens of thousands of magic cores.

    This would allow them to cause a massive mana explosion that would catch the monster off guard by blowing off its head and allow them tounch a heavy assault while it was injured and distracted.

    The n was for Retharin and Asher to slice the thing up as fast as they could, while Gwyneira froze its pieces, and Marcus fling them away to slow down its regeneration.

    Of course, they knew this n would not be enough to kill the thing, but it at least should have bought them a few hours, and all they had to do was sacrifice River Landing.

    Yet the stupid monster that had been making a beeline south following the strongest signal of life had suddenly turned towards Loursend.

    None of them could fathom why it had suddenly done this as it had shown no interest in heading that way before.

    Unfortunately, it was actually due to how thorough their evacuation efforts were that the Dread Burrower decided to change direction towards Loursend.

    Now that so many people had been moved away from its path, therge city on the coast was its closest prime target.<sub>.</sub>

    Also, it did not help that to this thing was actually very attracted to the sent of spirits even though it could not actually catch them, and in Loursend Voda and the lingering presence in the church from the great spirit of water who had visited recently were quite alluring.

    Seeing the stupid worm change directions, Marcus pulled out his sending stone and contacted Gwyneira.

    ˇ°Things are not going as nned. It has abruptly changed direction and is heading for Loursend. I do not know why it decided to head that way, but we are going to be in big trouble. We only evacuated the viges in its path and absurd range, but there are a few settlements in between here and Loursend that have not all been cleared out. At this rate that thing is going to be in range of Trostenwald in a couple of hours.ˇ±

    In response to his detailed report all Marcus received was groaning, before a huge st of cold energy shot down from the sky and hit the Doomsday Worm.

    Half of its huge body was quickly frozen and dropping down from the sky were both Retharin and Gwyneira.

    The two them began crackling with power and both unleashed devastating attacks that caused huge sts.

    Then following behind them Asher descended out of the sky and he suddenly shot forward in a sh.

    ˇ°Second Form, Light Speed sh.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    In an instant he carved a deep cut through the center of the Dread Devourer and nearly cleaved it in half.

    Seeing this Marcus realized that they were trying to move forward with the n even though their trap had been ruined.

    However, as they had feared the monster was not just going to sit back and take this, and deep inside its mouth began glowing as it prepared to fire off its beam.

    Yet before it could do this Retharin began pulsing with electricity and wind which he formed into a massive sphere of energy in his two front limbs.

    When all of his power had collected heunched this projectile into the open mouth of the Doomsday Worm and its entire body rippled and was blown apart as the lighting and wind exploded inside it.

    But while they thought this would stop its devastating beam attack, all they did was make it redirect all of this energy.

    Instead of firing one massive beam out of its mouth it sent it into a number of its tendrils, and they began firing off thousands of smaller beams all over the ce.

    Suddenly it looked like a bullet hell game as Retharin and Gwyneira began flying around rapidly to dodge these beams that threatened to pierce through them.<sub></sub>

    On the other hand, Asher was using his seventh form, warding sh to knock away the attacks being sent at him.

    Eventually the Doomsday Worm stopped its rapid-fire attack once it had fully recovered itself.

    Still its rapid sting had not been fruitless as it had hit Gwyneira and Retharin a number of time and forced them to retreat for now with pretty bad injuries.

    As for Asher he had used his amazing techniques to defend himself. but it had taken a good deal of his strength to do so.

    And now that he was pretty much the only one here to fight on the front lines he began the sole target of the never-ending tendrils.

    ˇ®Fine let me see how you like this.ˇŻ Asher thought.

    He was not used to battles like this and normally fought with his all. Now he had gotten sick and tired of waiting around and trying to enact some sneaky n.

    ˇ°Supreme Skill, Beyond the Horizon.ˇ±

    Holding his sword above his head, Asher began releasing a pure white aura that climbed up his sword and shot far into the sky.

    As he amassed all of his power and prepared to unleash his strongest attack, the Doomsday Worm continuously sent its tendrils after him.

    Except they could not get any where close to him as the white aura surrounding him protected him, and any of the tendrils that came near were cut down before they could touch him.

    Unable to reach its prey and beginning to get annoyed by theck of food it had found since its awakening, the Dread Burrower began contracting its body and prepared tounch itself into the air right towards Asher.

    BOOM!

    Jumping off the ground and creating an earthquake in its wake, the giant worm shot upwards at a blinding speed towards the Sword Savant.

    ˇ°Sixth Form, HeavenˇŻs Rending.ˇ±

    Bringing his sword down in a wide sh the Sword Savant sliced right through the Doomsday worm cleaving it in half.

    However, his attack was not done yet, as he changed the grip on his sword and swung it back up, slicing through the worm again.

    He unleashed a number of swift and precise strikes until he had sliced and diced the monster into dozens of pieces.

    His attacks as his supreme skillˇŻs name suggested had literally gone beyond the horizon, and he had left scares in the earth where his extended attacks had cut through.

    Also, the clouds in the sky had been split by his upward shes, and the sea of clouds had been blown away and the sun shone through.

    Truly it had been an impressive attack of the highest degreed and had done the most significant damage to the unstoppable monster so far.

    It quickly fell to the ground in multiple pieces and a flood of blood and bile spread out over the area.

    Yet even after being cut into numerous parts and having its body scattered around, the Doomsday Worm was far from dead.

    Its tendrils began shooting out of its numerous pieces and it quickly started pulling itself together.

 Chapter 593 Plan to Save as Many as Possible

    Marcus grimaced as he looked down at the slice- up body of the Doomsday Worm.

    The unbelievable monster had already started putting itself back together, and it was only going to be a matter of seconds until it had fully reformed itself as its body fluidly reconnected.

    ˇ®Great and now he looks exhausted.ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing the Sword Savant breathing heavily.

    He had just unleashed his strongest attack, and while it had been devastating and left the Dread Burrower in pieces, it had really aplished nothing.

    Gwyneira and Retharin were not even here right now to follow up, as they had been injured by the barrage of beams that the monster had unleashed around a minute ago.

    ˇ®What is with all of them and using their biggest moves when they will not have the best effect.ˇŻ

    Had the Sword Savant used this attack right from the start maybe they could have tried to salvage their n to freeze and separate its body, but that was not going to be possible as Gwyneira was in no shape to fight right now.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Was that really necessary?ˇ± Marcus said as he reappeared next to Asher.

    Holding his head down and looking at the Doomsday Worm that had already half reformed, the frustration was clear on his face.

    ˇ°I just had to see if I could take it down if I went all out. But it looks like you were right. That thing will not die easily.ˇ±

    Naturally he was upset that he had not been able to kill it, and that he had wasted his best shot when it really did not matter.

    Now he would have to wait five days before he could use that skill again and had effectively lowered hisbat ability for when they would attempt to deliver the finishing blow.

    ˇ°I get it. If I thought that my best attacks could take that thing down, I would try as well. But if I did that, I would put myself out of this fight and be unable to do the little I can. Nowe on. We need to meet back up with the others and work on a new strategy.ˇ± Marcus said as he took off towards Retharin and Gwyneira.<sub></sub>

    Following behind Asher had a disheartened looks he stared down at the enormous worm that had already fixed itself.

    When they arrived high in the sky where Gwyneira and Retharin had retreated, they could see that the two mythic grade beasts had nearly finished healing themselves.

    Both of them had taken some bad hits, with Retharin especially having been pierced through in over a dozen ces, one of which was his liver.

    Luckily neither of them had been hit in the brain or the heart which could have proved fatal even for them.

    ˇ°Things are not going as nned. It has suddenly started going towards Loursend, and if we do not hurry a lot of people are going to die.ˇ± Marcus said.

    However, Gwyneira only could look down with a downcast expression hearing this.<sub></sub>

    They had not predicted that Loursend would be attacked first since the Dread Burrower never showed any interest in heading that way.

    But now that it had, things were far more troublesome.

    They had not evacuated that area and had actually sent a number of people running that way thinking it would be safe.

    Unfortunately, now it seemed that it was going to be far from safe and there was little they could do about it.

    ˇ°I know that you want to help as many people as you can, but there is simply no way we can move that many people in such a short amount of time. We were barely able to get out the nearly fourteen thousand people left in River Landing and the surrounding area in time. Even with me and Retharin moving at full speed, we would be unable to put a dent in the over a million people poption that Loursend has.ˇ± Gwyneira said with a sad glint in her eyes.

    Up to this point they had kept this cmity of a monster from killing a single person as far as they knew. But now they were running out of leeway and its death count was soon to exceed a million if it made it to Loursend.

    Not to mention that there were a couple of small towns like Trostenwald along the way that it would make quick work of.

    It seemed quite hopeless that everyone in the city was likely to be killed other than the very few that might be able to fly away on their mounts, and those that could be crammed onto the six icebreaker ships that were docked in port.

    Yet while everyone else had seemed to give up and had resigned themselves to let these people die as there was nothing they could really do, the gears in MarcusˇŻ mind were spinning.

    If the Dread Devourer was looking for the strongest and most plentiful life signs around, then it did not make sense that it had avoided a certain area in the woods.

    In terms of high-level beings, it was definitely the ce with the greatest quantity in the kingdom, and that was the Great Gome Woods Dungeon.

    Within that ce there should have been tens of thousands of monsters and beast all at least level fifty and it would have been a variable buffet for the Doomsday Worm.

    Except it had not gone anywhere near the dungeon which would have only been a few dozen miles away from its path.

    ˇ®Roxene also told me that she was going to hide in the special dungeon and said it would be safe there.ˇŻ Marcus thought pensively.

    Certainly, it was just a hypothesis, but if he was right, he could save a lot of peopleˇŻs lives.

    ˇ°I think that there is a ce that we can send the people of Loursend where they will be safeˇ­ Well safer.ˇ± Marcus said to the rest of the Group.

    All of them turned their heads towards him wondering what sort of n he had concocted, and he said, ˇ°I think that the Doomsday Worm cannot get into dungeons. If we start evacuating the people of Loursend into the Ocean Bluff Temple, they might be safe there.ˇ±

 Chapter 594 Rescuing a Friend

    As Marcus suggested that they evacuate the people of Loursend into the Ocean Bluff Temple, everyone looked at him like he was crazy.

    Dungeons and safety were far from synonymous with each other, and no sane person would ever think about trying to cram over a million people into one.

    Monsters and beast spawned throughout the dungeon, and even just on the firstyer most people would be putting their lives on the line to enter the ce.

    ˇ°Marcus you cannot be serious about trying something like that. It would be impossible to protect everyone if we sent them into such a dangerous ce, and you are basing it on a wild assumption you are not sure of.ˇ± Gwyneira said, definitely not onboard with this n.

    Still, Marcus exined his points about why he thought the dungeon might be safe, doing his best to point out that it was their only option.

    ˇ°If we do nothing, they will all die. I know that maybe even thousands of people will die in the dungeon at the hands of the beasts and monsters in there, but that is a far cry from over a million. If it does not work, well then, they were damned from the start anyway and there was nothing we could do. As we speak that monster has already put itself back together and is heading towards Loursend. At best if we continue to slow it down, we might have three days until it reaches the city. But before then there are also the settlements in between here and there. If we act quickly, we can save as many people as possible until our reinforcements arrive.ˇ±

    With determination in his eyes Marcus pushed his n.

    He knew it sounded absurd, but if stuffing people into a dungeon would keep them safe from a cmity they had no chance against, why would they not at least try.

    Quickly the others got on board, since they had no better ideas and it beat doing nothing.

    ˇ°Very well, we will try your n, but I will have to be the one to go to Loursend. I am the only one with the authority to order the people to evacuate into the dungeon, and even then, I am sure to get arge amount push back.ˇ± Gwyneira said, feeling that she was about to have quite the headache.

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed with her and then looked towards Retharin and Asher, before saying, ˇ°Could I ask the two of you to keep it slowed down as much as you can. Just try not to do anything rash. Stay out of its way and just pepper it with attack where you can.ˇ±

    As he said this though, the Sword Savantughed and everyone looked at him oddly for doing so.

    ˇ°Ah it just dawned on me that all of us have been taking orders from someone who is level fifty-two. It is odd for the weakest among us to be rying the orders.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Thinking about this, it certainly was unusual for these level eighty entries to be taking orders from someone much weaker than them.

    Still, they could not deny that while Marcus was the weakest, in a way he had the highest status of all of them as a great spirit, and maybe because of this and his perseverance even in the wake of overwhelming odds they had been following what he said.

    Of course, at certain points all of them had taken charge for a bit, but Marcus was certainly dominating most of their strategy meetings.

    In fact, maybe it was his weakness and need to think cleverly to win, which neither Gwyneira, Retharin, or the Sword Savant had to do in a long time that made him the better strategist out of all of them.

    ˇ°Hey if any of you all want to take charge, feel free to. I am just doing my best to keep as many people alive as possible and keep my home from falling apart.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Luckily none of the others cared to dispute his n any longer, and Retharin asked, ˇ°What is it you will be doing in the meantime then?ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus said, ˇ°I will continue doing what I can to help all of you.ˇ±

    ˇ­

    ˇ®Why am I always given these assignments?ˇŻ

    Sighing risa looked at therge group of people that were moving slowly down the road.

    This was thest group of people to have left the town, and she had been tasked with guarding them.

    As the youngest knight in Trostenwald, she was always given the worst and least desirable assignments, especially because the other knights were envious of her.<sub></sub>

    Even though she had started out as the lowest leveled one, she was still the strongest due to her exemry training and mithril weapons and armor.

    The other had all still just had their standard equipment which was enchanted bronze, and had never had the ability to save up the money to buy mithril.

    This led to her current situation of begin left behind with thest group and being put in the most danger.

    Just a couple of days ago the bar who was the viceroy of the town had received an emergencymunication that everyone in Trostenwald who did not wish to die a violent death should escape towards Loursend as fast as possible.

    Normally this would have been an impossible journey to make quickly during the winter, but a huge dragon had shown up and cleared the road of all the ice and snow that had piled up on it.

    Along with that this dragon began ferrying the sick and old to the city while everyone else was loaded up into carts and began racing towards the Loursend.

    It was certainly all very confusing and astounding, but the bar had told everyone that this dragon was the guardian of the kingdom. Though he had only just been informed of this himself.

    Naturally some people were skeptical and nervous as it was a big and scary dragon, but their actions showed that they really wanted to help the people here. Though they were still not sure what they were running from.

    At least until she saw two slimy looking tendrilsing out of the forest and heading straight for her group.

    She had no idea what they were, but they were quickly making their way towards the people who were sluggishly moving down the road.

    Jumping into action she quickly chanted a tier three lighting magic spell and unleashed her magic.

    ˇ°Lightning Bind.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Sending out three spinning rings of lightning, she aimed them around one of the tendrils and halted its movements.

    Then she drew her two swords,unched forward, and began slicing through it.

    The tendril began to bubble and sizzle from the electricity, and it released a foul smell as it burned.

    Yet as she sliced through it, she found the thing started to grow back and tried to wrap around her.

    She swiftly jumped back, but the other one had moved behind her andshed at her.

    In an instant it connected with her armor andtched onto her scale mail.

    It began spreading out and was soon to get inside her armor, but she charged up her two swords and sliced through the tendril.

    This managed to sever the thing and the lingering residue was destroyed by her electrical discharges.

    However, the two tendrils had now surrounded her, and it seemed that the damage she had done to them had already recovered.

    That was when she saw that two more had appeared out of the woods and were heading towards the people who had begun to panic.

    Clicking her tongue, risa activated the enchantments on her sword while chanting another spell.

    ˇ°Lightning Strider.ˇ±

    Shooting forward with a burst of speed sheunched herself in between these tendrils and the people and began a bling offensive of lightning.

    Unfortunately, she did not stand much of a chance, and after six seconds of defending against these four tendrils one of them grabbed ahold of her arm.

    She tried blowing it back again with her magic, but the second it touched her she feltpletely drained.

    It was like her entire being was being sucked away, and in just a second, she felt on the verge of copse.

    The other tendrils then began attacking people and three more people were grabbed.

    Sadly, for them, unlike risa who had a generally high level at level thirty-one, they were all still in the single digits and died instantly.

    And it seemed that she would be soon to follow, as the tendril pulled her in without her being able to offer up any resistance.

    But right before she was to be consumed, a bolt of lighting rained down from the sky and destroyed the tendril that had her in its grasp.

    The other tendrils were soon hit as well, though the people that were released from them were now only dried up corpses.

    Then dropping down from the sky was a figure that looked oddly familiar to risa, and she watched themmand what looked like impossibly strong magic.

    A massive beam of light shot out of this figure and mowed down these tendrils and the woods around them.

    It was truly something to see and was an overwhelming power that would normally only be heard about in story books.

    Turning around after seeing that the coast was clear for now this, figured faced risa whose eyes went wide in astonishment as she recognized who it was.

    ˇ°risa, are you oaky?ˇ± Marcus said as he dropped down and used his spirit healing on her.

    He had been keeping ahead of the farthest-reaching tendrils of the Doomsday Worm and trying to slow them down. However, four had managed to slip by him and had attacked the remaining people in Trostenwald.

    Now there were three people that had died, and his friend had gotten injured.

    ˇ®Damn it. I should have fought harder, and this would not have happened.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    risa was a pretty close friend for him, and while he had not seen her in a while, he counted her among those that were important to him.

    ˇ°Irene, what are you doing here?ˇ± risa said with heavy breaths.

    She had all of her mana and stamina drained out of her and had probably even lost a couple years off her life.

    Smiling, he looked down at his weakened friend, and said, ˇ°I came to help when I heard there was trouble. Now let me take you somewhere safe.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus looked back at the approaching tendrils that had increased in numbers and were hurrying towards them.

    Grimacing, he could tell that they was no way he could protect all of these people here that were still a good distance from Loursend until they made it to the city.

    ˇ®I suppose it is time for one of those hard decisions that sometime have to be made. Now who am I going to save and who will I have to let die.ˇŻ

 Chapter 595 Hard Choices

    Looking at the hundreds of terrified people who were the current target of the far-reaching tendrils of the Doomsday Worm, Marcus was left with the tough choice of picking who to save.

    At most he might be able to cram forty of them on his back in his form as a cdrius, and maybe pick up a few dozen more with his iron threads.

    But there was simply no way he could carry all of them out of here fast enough with his abilities.

    He would need to move pretty fast to get away from the tendrils and make it Loursend. And if he tried pilling all these people up on his cataclysmic iron sword there was no doubt they would fall off.

    And even if they could hold on, they would probably all freeze to death in the blistering cold as they were buffeted by high-speed winds without any protection but the clothes they were wearing.

    He simply could not erge his mana barrier far enough to epass that much area, and without it the wind chill would kill anyone without a decently high level.

    ˇ®Fire Storm.ˇŻ

    Turning around Marcus used his widest ranged spell to send a huge st of mes towards the ever-encroaching tendrils to keep them at bay for a little bit longer while he finished figuring out how to save as many people as he could.

    Normally he would have refrained from using such a devastating fire magic spell here, but since the Doomsday Worm was eating the forest anyway, and there was snow everywhere, he figured the chance of starting a forest fire were minimal and pretty inconsequential.

    ˇ®I will take those that are the youngest and tell the others to move as fast as they can. Maybe with a lightened load and with the fear of death put in them they will move fast enough for some of them to survive.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    With his n made Marcus began appraising the group of people, picking out those who were the youngest and the least likely to survive on their own.

    ˇ°Those of you who want to live should listen to me and not ask any questions while following my orders. The monster controlling those tendrils is going to send more now that it has found you and I need to get all of you that I can out of here.ˇ± Marcus shouted, getting control over the panicking people. Some of whom had already run off.

    He then quickly made a tform out of his iron threads that could hold around eighty people if they squeezed together tightly.

    ˇ°I will take the youngest among you first. Any who want to live should get onto this tform and I will fly you to Loursend.ˇ±

    Quickly getting over their shock of seeing MarcusˇŻ magic since their lives were in immediate danger, the towns folk urged their kids onto the tform and soon it was filled with eighty-six children ranging from age zero to fourteen.

    However, one unruly man stepped forward, and said, ˇ°Hey, why is it that you are just saving them? Those kids are not even technically citizens of the kingdom yet. You should prioritize us working and tax paying adults.ˇ±

    As this man who had a unkept appearance and looked like he spent the majority of his time at a tavern and not working said this, others began murmuring among themselves.

    Those without children were definitely feeling slighted and wondered why it was that they were being left to run for their lives.

    But before any more dissent arose, Marcus held up his hand and a darkness bullet flew out which bored a hole in the unruly manˇŻs head.<sub></sub>

    In an instant he dropped to the ground dead, and his body quickly dissolved under the corroding properties of the darkness magic.

    Many of the people gasped and some even screamed as they saw this, but Marcus yelled out and said, ˇ°I do not have time to make this a discussion. I am going to save those that I have chosen to right now ande back for everyone elseter. If you wish to try and force me to save you as that man did. Then you are free to meet his same fate.ˇ±

    Absolute quite permeated the people of Trostenwald after Marcus said this.

    Truly he felt bad to have done so, but he did not have time to deal with a riot, and people who were fearing for their lives often acted out against those trying to help them when there were limited resources.

    But now that Marcus had made it clear that any bad actors would be killed mercilessly, they all shut up and allowed him to do what he could.

    ˇ°Now I can take forty more people as I have a skill that allows me to transform my body into a flying beast. I am going to transform now and the rest of you that I have chosen will get on my back.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Though before he was able to transform the tendrils of the Dread Burrower caught up with them again and this time in greater numbers.

    Marcus knew he needed to use a lot more power to keep them at bay this time, and activated his supreme skill and pulled out his focusing lenses.

    ˇ®Rending Void, Quasar st.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Combining his two tier six light and darkness magic spells, Marcus created a massive spiraling st of magic that tore through everything in its wake for miles.

    It was by far his most destructive attack, and it left all of the onlookers absolutely bbergasted.

    Still, that was only going to by time a little bit of time until the tendrils had reformed and came right back for them.

    ˇ®Now those of you that can hear me, get onto my back and bring the female knight with you.ˇŻ Marcus said with his telepathy to the forty people he had singled out.

    Quickly they did as he told the fear of death giving them motivation to do something so terrifying as get onto the back of a giant beast that was actually a person.

    Once these people had gotten on top of him, Marcus created his mana barrier around them and the people that were on his iron thread tform.

    Slowly he rose into the air, and right before he took off towards Loursend he used his telepathy to address the remaining people.

    ˇ®All of you leave everything you do not need behind and make haste towards Loursend. I wille back to get more of you once I have dropped off those I have with me now. Go as fast as you can and do what you can to survive.ˇŻ

    After saying this Marcus took off into the sky and did not look back as the tendrils approached the group of people he had left behind.

    Quickly he soared through the sky at a bit over a hundred miles an hour

    Normally he would have gone faster, but any more speed and he would not have been able to keep the tform made of iron threads from unraveling.

    It was already taking all of his focus just to keep the spell going and to erge his mana barrier to thergest he could.

    In a couple of hours, the outskirts of the city came into view and even from here Marcus could see that the ce had erupted into chaos.

    Parts of the city were on fire, and he could see thatrge groups of wagons were moving all around.

    Some people were even fleeing the city in all directions.

    Looking at this he was pretty sure that most, if not all of those leaving the city were doomed to die.

    Of course, there were a huge number of people that had refused to follow the directions that Gwyneira had ryed.

    It was crazy and sounded suicidal to most to enter into a dungeon for their own safety and they would rather try to escape out of the city.

    Still, as he looked farter beyond the city in the northwest corner there were equallyrge groups of people entering the Ocean Bluff Temple.

    Flying towards the western part of the city, Marcus let the children and young adults he had taken down and directed them to head along the wall until they made it to the people lining up to enter the dungeon.

    He of course hated the idea of directing all of these people, some of which were too young to speak to enter a dungeon, but there was no other option.

    ˇ°Now I will try and go to retrieve your parents and be back with them in a few hours. And make sure to keep the knight there safe until she wakes up. She is a friend of mineˇ± Marcus said as he left the still unconscious risa in the hands of one of the young adults.

    He thenunched himself back into the air staying in his human form this time and flying much faster now that he was unburdened.

    Within just half an hour he made it back to the area he had left the rest of the people fleeing Tralenstein and saw the carnage that was left.

    When he had left, he already knew this would happen, but not a single person had escaped the tendrils of the Dread Burrower

    All that was left were empty wagons and strewn about items that had been scattered in the snow amidst the chaos.

    ˇ®I did what I could. Now I just have to do my best to prevent as much death as possible.ˇŻ

    Turning towards the direction the Doomsday Worm was Marcus flew forward with renewed determination to stop it.

 Chapter 596 Grand Reinforcements

    Another day passed as Marcus, Asher, and Retharin did their best to slow the Dread BurrowerˇŻs advance on Loursend.

    Unfortunately, while their efforts had not been for naught, ultimately, they had only bought the people of the city a couple more days at best.

    And when Gwyneira returned to the battlefield she had bad new to tell them all.

    ˇ®Things did not go great in Loursend. Even under my orders the marquis in charge was slow to act. The city has also fallen into chaos as many started rioting and looting after being ordered to enter the dungeon. Others began fleeing in all direction while some just locked themselves in their homes. Only around thirty percent of the poption are following the directives to enter the dungeon for their safety.ˇŻ Gwyneira ryed over telepathy while they all fought against the Doomsday Worm.

    Still, while it did bring them all down a bit that their n had not gone off seamlessly, they did what they could.

    ˇ®What about Aria and Darius? They should be arriving sometime today with the other elites of the kingdom, right?ˇŻ Marcus said back to her as he cast a wide range spell to destroy numerous tendrils that were attacking Retharin.

    ˇ®Yes, they should be here within a couple hours. Along with them I have heard that the adventurers guild is preparing a strike force, but that it is going to take them some more time to gather their strongest members.ˇŻ

    Hearing this everyone felt a bit of relief as they had been fighting this unstoppable force for multiple days now and it was starting to wear them down.

    At the very least they had gotten good at staying out of its range for the most part and not provoking its biggest attacks while still being able to do some damage.<sub>.</sub>

    Marcus was doing especially well on ying defense and keeping as many tendrils as he could off of the Sword Savant or Retharin.

    He could not do much damage to the main body, but the tendrils were easily destroyed individually, and their power came from their numbers and relentlessness.

    However, while their strategy had kept them out of the worst danger, it was not going to matter much longer what they did.

    They were getting very close to Loursend now and it was only going to be a matter of minutes until the thingˇŻs far-reaching tendril that extended for a hundred miles could attack the city.

    ˇ®I guess it is time we really pick up our efforts now that Gwyneira is back.ˇŻ Retharin said as he began crackling with lighting.

    For awhile now they had been taking it easy, well as easy as you could when fighting a thirty-mile-long worm that wanted to eat you and ever living thing in a hundred miles.

    Giving their acknowledgments, Marcus, Gwyneira, and Asher nodded their heads and began powering up as well.

    Quickly they began a devastating assault on the Doomsday Worm, with both Retharin and Asher unleashing very powerful attacks in conjunction.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Fourth Form, Whirlpool Strikes.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Electron Storm.ˇŻ

    A rain of powerful lightning descended from Retharin, and numerous powerful shes of mana flew off from the Sword SavantˇŻs sword.

    These attacks carved through the rtively defenseless body of the Dread Burrower and cut deeply into it.

    Of course, it began regenerating practically the instant the damage was done, but they were focusing on a full-on offense that was doing a wide range of damage.

    While they did this Marcus focused on defending them from the ever-increasing number of tendrilsing for them.

    Though while they had avoided gaining the Doomsday WormˇŻs full attention for thest few days now. They had it now, and the enormous monster beganpressing its body like a spring in order to fire itself like a projectile at the Sword Savant and Retharin.

    Yet as soon as it started doing this Gwyneira went into action.<sub></sub>

    She flew by at an impable speed and fired her breath weapon as she went, quickly freezing one side of the worm, and prevented it from fullypressing part of its body.

    This made it so that it could notplete its move, and when it attempted tounch itself, it instead went spinning away from Retharin and the Sword Savant.

    In fact, it almost would have been a funny sight if not for how grotesque the monster was and the amount of damage it did to the surroundingndscape as it bounced around.

    Needless to say, this caused it quite a bit of anger and its tendrils began glowing red and orange as it prepared to fire a volley of beams in every direction.

    Moving as far away as they could, Asher, Gwyneira, and Retharin flew high into the sky, while Marcus simply went into his ghost form.

    But right before the beams were fired off in every direction and would devastate the area, a loud voice resounded all around.

    ˇ°My, My. What an unsightly and horrendous monster.ˇ±

    An instant after these words were said the loud ringing of a bell resounded through the area, and hundreds ofrge tree branches shot out from the sky and pierced through the Doomsday Worm

    As this happened the monster began thrashing around and unleashed its rapid-fire beam attack.

    Therge branches that had pierced its body were quickly sted away, and the remains left in its body began to disintegrate as it drained them of life.

    However, much like the Dread Burrower, these branches did not stay down for long. and once again flew down from above the clouds and pierced into it.

    Then as whatever these branches wereing from lowered down, Marcus and his group saw an enormous tree descending.

    As it broke through the clouds, it left everyone who saw it in awe as the ten-mile-tall tree became fully visible.

    Though while the tree was very impressive being the secondrgest Marcus had ever seen, only inferior to the world tree inhabited by the great spirit of nature, something else quickly garnered his attention.

    Riding on one of the roots of this flying tree was what looked like a young woman.

    She had long light green hair that was tied into two braids that went down to her thighs and had two distinctly pointed ears.

    Along with those characteristics she was wearing a dark green dress, had a cloak that was made of numerous leaves on her back, and had on a wide brimmed hat that had a long-pointed top.

    In her hands was a weapon Marcus was very familiar with as she had a scythe that looked to be entirely made of wood expect for its amethros de, and with a curved branch on top of it there sat a tinum bell.

    ˇ°Oh, it really is a tough one. Let me see how you handle this you abomination.ˇ± She said.

    And while not having tried to be loud her melodious voice carried for miles.

    After she said this, the tree she was riding on began shaking, and millions of leaves shot down like flying razor des tat sliced into the Dread Burrower.

    It was an incredibly powerful attack that did equal if not greater than thebined assault of Asher and Retharin.

    Yet while those who had been fighting the Doomsday Worm until now were grateful for the assistance, they all wondered who this might be.

    At least until another person that Marcus and Retharin recognized came flying down from the clouds with an exasperated expression.

    There was Ardea, the Grand Witch of the Peaks, and she flew right up to this mystery woman, and said, ˇ°Ja, I told you not to fly off without me. We need to mount a concentrated assault on that thing, and you are going to scare everyone else with your huge tree.ˇ±

 Chapter 597 Jaelaâ€™s Recklessness

    Staring up at Ardea who had just appeared, it was clear to Marcus and Retharin that this neer riding on the huge tree was also a grand witch.

    Just looking at her and what she had already done it was obvious that she was very strong, but Gwyneira was the only one that could see her status and was astounded by what she saw.

    ˇ®Level ny-three!ˇŻ

    Naturally this left her stunned for a moment as this new arrival was the exact same level as the Doomsday Worm that they were currently dealing with.

    There was no doubt that she was one of the strongest people in the world.

    Yet, it was not just this girl whose name was apparently Ja, Ardea had appeared as well and Gwyneira recognized her presence as the strong entity that had not long ago visited BorealiaˇŻs royal capital.

    ˇ®Level eighty-eight.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    While not quite as impressive as Ja, Ardea was at a high level as well, being two level higher than Gwyneira was.

    ˇ°Looks like reinforcements have finally arrived. I wonder if they would let me fight them once this is all done.ˇ± Asher said as he looked up at the two grand witches who were having a little spat right now.

    ˇ°Ja, I told you a hundred times not to rush ahead without me. This is a doomsday monster we are fighting. I am sure you heard the stories about what happened thest time something of the same ss went on a rampage.ˇ± Ardea said with an aggrieved expression.

    Though Ja just waved her hand and said, ˇ°Yes, but that thing is destroying such a lovely forest. Just look what it has done to the Great Gome Woods. This was one of my top fifty forests on the, and now it is practically ruined because of that abomination. I could not just sit back and watch it cause any more damage. It is going to take even me years to restore this ce.ˇ±

    The two of them then argued for a bit longer with each other,pletely disregarding the situation they were in, until Ja said, ˇ°Anyway, it does not seem all that strong to me. Deku, has it pinned down right now with its branches and it has been torn to shreds by his leaf storm.ˇ±

    However, not long after she said this, the Dread Burrower began shaking and pulsing with an eerie light that started traveling up the tree that had it pieced with hundreds of branches.<sub></sub>

    As this happened the tree began shaking and Ja looked up at it in concern.

    ˇ°Wait, it is draining your life away faster than you can recover. How is that possible?ˇ± Ja said with concern in her voice.

    Waving her scythe forward she sent out arge mana sh that cut through the branches connecting her tree named Deku from the Doomsday Worm.

    The enormous monster then began thrashing around a bit and prepared tounched itself at Ja and Deku.

    Yet as it did, Ardea did not stay still and conjured a huge mountain over her head which she dropped down on the Dread Burrower as it shot towards them.

    ˇ°Eat on this.ˇ± She said as the mountain crashed into it.<sub></sub>

    There was a huge explosion of rock as the Dread Burrower hit the mountain, but it was not knocked down as Ardea had expected.

    Instead, as its name suggested, it began burrowing through the mountain and shot out the other side.

    This caught both of the grand witches by surprise, and they might have been in a bit of trouble if Retharin had not already moved to intercept.

    With a storm raging around him he unleashed a massive twister that was crackling with lightning down up Doomsday Worm.

    Another resounding explosion shook the area as this attack hit the gigantic monster, and with its momentum already lessened from burrowing through ArdeaˇŻs mountain, it was struck back to the ground.

    Of course, the damage it had taken was quickly healing before it even hit the ground, and it would not be long until it was back up to full health.

    ˇ°Ardea I am d to see you here and with your friend as well. Now we should back off a bit and discuss a new strategy now that you are here.ˇ± Retharin said.

    Nodding her head, she looked down at the Dread Burrower that had already finished fixing itself and was sending its thousands of tendrils their way.

    But while Ardea nodded her head and turned to fly away, Ja shook her head, and said, ˇ°There is no way I am retreating now. If I leave that horrendous creature alone it will continue to wreak what is left of this forest. I am going to stop it now.ˇ±

    After saying this she dropped from her giant floating tree and her scythe began glowing brightly as she filled it with mana.

    She then began spinning round like a top and the mana around her rapidly grew, until she looked like a massive spinning saw falling down from the sky.

    In just a few seconds she sliced through all of the tendriling towards them and cut into the Dread BurrowerˇŻs head.

    She then sliced all the way down its body until it had been cut cleanly in half.

    Once this was done, she turned around with a triumphant look on her face thinking that she had just won.

    Of course, she had never met any creature that could survive being cleavedpletely in half, but this monster was an exception.

    Its two halves began putting itself back together almost the second after it had been cut in two.

    And to make matters worse thousands of its tendrils were still moving and surround Ja on all sides, with some even bursting out of the ground.

    Every one of these tendrils began glowing orange and thousands of powerful beams were about to be unleashed around Ja.

    Though before she was bombarded on all sides, Marcus, Gwyneira, and Asher who had been waiting to react to the current situation, jumped in and began unleashing wide ranged attack to destroy the tendrils around Ja.

 Chapter 598 Gathering of Heroes

    ˇ®Phoenix Fire.ˇŻ

    Casting the tier seven spell out of the ze glove Marcus wrapped up hundreds of the Dread BurrowerˇŻs tendrils in extremely hot mes that caused them to burst as the liquid quickly boiled.

    Along with his attack, Asher the Sword Savant fired off a barrage of mana shes, and Gwyneira cast a wide ranged ice magic spell.

    This helped to take a lot of pressure of Ja who had rushed in ignorant of their current adversaryˇŻs impossibly powerful regeneration.

    She had honestly thought she had killed the gigantic worm and ended this whole debacle, only to be surrounded by numerous tendrils that were about to st her with a barrage of beams

    Still with everyone elseˇŻs aid she easily blocked the remaining attacks with a flurry of giant leaves that appeared out of nowhere.

    Though once they had finished weathering this attack, the Dread Burrower had put itself back together after being cleaved in half.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°As you can see this thing does not die easily. Now I think it would be best if we moved out of its range and discussed our strategy.ˇ± Marcus said to Ja.

    A conflicted expression on her face, she signed and said, ˇ°Very well.ˇ±

    After that they all flew back up to Retharin and Ardea, and Ja said, ˇ°All of you get on Deku, and I will take us out of here.ˇ±

    Doing as she said, everyonended on one of the colossal flying treeˇŻs roots, and right before the Doomsday WormˇŻs tendrils reached them, the tree began glowing before vanishing.

    In an instant they were warped away and appeared over the ocean not far from Loursend and floating in front of them was some sort of floating sprout that was being used a way point.

    Once everyone had regained their sense from the teleportation, Ja let out another sigh, obviously displeased by making such a hasty retreat.<sub></sub>

    However, while she did want to minimize the damage to the forest, she also saw that her attacks had been ineffective, and that she needed more information from those who had been fighting for days already.

    Shrinking down into his ice elf form so that he could look everyone in the eye, Retharin began introducing Ardea.

    ˇ°This here is my friend Ardea, the Grand Witch of the Peaks. Along with Irene here who is a mutual friend, we asked her for help in this battle since she is very strong and had connections to others of equal power.ˇ±

    When the Sword Savant heard this, he whistled loudly and looked at Ardea with a fierce gaze that gave away his intentions.

    Feeling his battle thirst directed at her, Ardea gave him a wink and said, ˇ°If we all get through this alive then I would love to.ˇ±

    Naturally she could tell that Asher was very strong as well, even if he was four levels lower than her.<sub></sub>

    Still, they did not have much time, so Ardea quickly became serious again, and said, ˇ°This here is my friend Ja, the Grand Witch of the Forest. She is the only one who answered my call to help. Well answered it within a timely manner that is. Some of the others said they would be here in a few weeks, but I can imagine that there would not be much left of this kingdom by then, so we both rushed over here.ˇ±

    With Ardea having given her an introduction, Ja introduced herself again and then got right down to business.

    ˇ°Now what can you all tell me about that thing. It is quite different from the Doomsday Centipede that I have heard about that is supposed to be a simr monster.ˇ±

    Quickly Marcus and Retharin exined the powers and abilities of the Doomsday Worm to Ardea and Ja. Telling them everything they knew about it, including its battle tactics.

    ˇ°I see, so it is very different than thest doomsday monster that I have heard about from tales of the past.ˇ± Ja said.

    Their curiosity piqued, Marcus, Gwyneira, Retharin, and Asher asked for more details about the previous monster of the same ss as the one they were dealing with now.

    Giving a very abbreviated version of the events they had heard about, Ja and Ardea told what they knew, and it turned out these two monsters were very different.

    The Dread me was apparently quite a bit smaller than the Dread Burrower, only having been around five miles long.

    However, it was much quicker, and its very presence set thend around it aze for many miles.

    It was a far more proactive monster in terms of the destruction it wrought, but it did have one clear difference.

    Its regeneration was not much different than any other being at that level, and when its head and a good amount of its body were destroyed it died.

    ˇ°That thing is abnormal in that it seems unkible. I cut it in half lengthwise and its was back up in a matter seconds.ˇ± Ja said with frustration written all over her face.

    Hearing this, Asher just nodded, and said, ˇ°I did a lot worse than just cut it in half. I sliced it into over a dozen pieces and it still pulled itself together. I honestly am beginning to wonder if it can even die.ˇ±

    Once all of the pertinent information had been shared among them, they began talking strategy for how they were going to take the Dread Burrower down.

    ˇ°I suppose that really is the only option then.ˇ± Ardea said

    Looking sullen they all hade up with a way to win, but it was not going to be easy.

    All of them concluded that the only way to kill the Doomsday Worm was to destroy its entire body in a very short amount of time before it could regenerate.

    Of course, this was far easier said than done even with the addition of Ardea and Ja.

    ˇ°But for just a bit longer we need to simply keep it at bay. More reinforcements form the kingdom should be arriving in a couple of hours, and with their help our man and fire power will increase by a bit.ˇ± Gwyneira said.

    ˇ°Okay Ja, now that we are ready to go again if you would not mind taking us back.ˇ± Ardea said to her fellow grand witch and friend.

    But before she warped them all away, she looked towards Marcus and said, ˇ°Okay, so who is going to exin why there is a level fifty-two here?ˇ±

 Chapter 599 Renewed Vigor

    With Ja looking at Marcus in confusion and asking why someone asparatively weak was among them all, everyone else just shrugged.

    ˇ°Ja, Irene is actually a great spirit and has been quite helpful in the fight so far even if she is not the strongest. In fact, with her ability to go ethereal she is the only one here that can fully avoid that monsterˇŻs attacks.ˇ± Retharin said.

    Though his answer just brought up more questions for Ja as she simply could not fathom how a great spirit could level fifty-two.

    It was also known that the great spirits did not involve themselves in thest appearance of a doomsday ss monster and had so far done the same here.

    Seeing the visible confusion on her face, Marcus realized it would be best if he just cleared everything up right now.

    ˇ°Yes, I am a great spirit and I assume your confusion partiallyes from my status saying human right now. But I am not like the other great spirits, I gained my powers through a different way than they did, and I am actually a transmigration from another world. Oh, and this is not actually my original form.ˇ±

    After Marcus said this, he switched out from his guise as Irene, and turned off his false status skill.<sub>.</sub>

    As this happened JaˇŻs eyes went wide as she saw that everything he said was true.

    Except Marcus had actually forgotten that there were two other people here that did not know about him being Marcus and Irene.

    Both Retharin and Ardea were surprised by this revtion and were now looking over Marcus as they appraised him as well.

    However, another surprise that Marcus was not expecting came from Ja.

    ˇ°Wait you are from Earth as well!? It has been ages since Ist met another person that was transferred here. What decade are you from?ˇ± She said with enthusiasm.

    Though while she seemed ecstatic to have met another person from Earth, Marcus was left stunned for a moment from learning this information.<sub></sub>

    He had not expected that he was going to encounter another person from his original world here, and certainly not one that was this strong and was a grand witch.

    Unfortunately, as much as Ja seemed interested in further conversation about their shared origin, now was not really the best time for a lengthy discussion.

    ˇ°Ja, I think we should hold off on asking more questions for now. Every second we wait here gives that monster time where it is unabated to destroy the Great Gome Woods.ˇ± Ardea said to her fellow grand witch and friend.

    Hearing this, she snapped out of her fervor to learn more about Marcus and went wide eyed.

    ˇ°Then what are were doing here? We need to get back out there and stop that abomination.ˇ±

    A second after she said this, she waved her scythe around and the tinum bell affixed to it rang out and the giant tree named Deku began glowing.<sub></sub>

    An instant afterward they all felt the sensation of being warped away and appeared back over the area they had been fighting the Doomsday Worm in.

    Yet the gigantic monster had moved off since they had been here, and as they looked out in the direction of Loursend they could see it off in the distance.

    And while they had only been gone for a few minutes to have their discussion, it had already left another scar through the world that was now barren and devoid of life.

    It truly was an entity that only exited to destroy and left nothing but death and destruction in its wake.

    ˇ°Okay we just need to hold it off for a few hours until my kingdomˇŻs reinforcements arrive. Then we will be able to mount an all-out assault.ˇ± Gwyneira said to all of them.

    Everyone then nodded their heads and flew towards the Dread Burrower.

    Once they had made it into range, they all began unleashing a wide range of attacks to slow it down.

    Ardea conjured hundreds of pirs made of earth the size of skyscrapers andunched them into the foul monsterˇŻs body and pinned it to the ground.

    At the same time the Swords Savant unleashed a powerful sh using his first form and cut deep into the Doomsday WormˇŻs right side, severing the muscles it used for movement.

    On the other side Retharin did the same with a massive wind de.

    When it had finally stopped moving Gwyneira went into action and began freezing its body as she flew down its length and unleashed her breath weapon.

    At this point the enormous monster began to get angry, and started rumbling.

    It unleashed a powerful magnitude eight earthquake all around itself as it had done before, and the pirs of stone and the ice covering its body shattered.

    Its aura began to spike as it charged up the energy within it, and its thousands of tendrils began to glow as it prepared to fire its beam attacks as it always did when being heavily pressured.

    But this time they were ready for it, and Ja sent down and equally impassive number of vines down from her massive floating tree and wrapped up the Dread BurrowerˇŻs tendrils.

    Then she pulled them all up, and instead of firing thousands of deadly beams in all directions. they were directed straight upwards and flew harmlessly into the sky.

    Of course, once the tendrils had fired off these beams, they began wrapping around the vines that had grabbed them and stated heading up towards their source.

    Though before they got far Ja severed the connection, already knowing that the Doomsday Worm could drain the life out of anything it got ahold of.

    They continued to fight against the cmity of a monster for hours, keeping it pinned down with quite a bit more ease now that they had Ardea and especially Ja on their side.

    Her power was by far the greatest out of all of them and she was ablet to go toe to toe with the Dread Burrower far better than any of them could.

 Chapter 600 All Out Assault

    While the others were fighting their hardest to keep the Doomsday Worm locked down an unable to cause anymore destruction than it already had, Marcus simply watched from above.

    His powers were just not on par with the rest of them, and any damage he could do even with his strongest attacks were negligible.

    Still, he was not just sitting around doing nothing.

    He had applied multiple buff spells to Retharin who was fighting on the front lines and needed every boost he could get as he had taken the most dangerous of jobs.

    Along with that Marcus was keeping an eye out for any unexpected developments, or if there was a ce where he could intervene to block an unseen attack.

    Luckily everything seemed to be going well, and they had been able to practically halt the advance of the Dread Burrower.

    Even with its practically godly regeneration, its body was being constantly assaulted, and whenever it tried to make any big moves, Ja would keep it pinned down.

    But as they kept fighting something just did not sit right with Marcus, like they had all been missing something.

    Honestly, he was not sure why he felt this way, but it was like in the back of his mind a single question kept popping up.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Why is it so easy?ˇŻ

    This nagging question had taken root in his mind and while he tried not to think about it, for some reason it was always there.

    ˇ®There is no reason I should feel this way, so why do I? We were certainly having a difficult time before, so I must just be thinking it has gotten too easy. Ardea and Ja are just that superior in strength that just them alone turned the tide.ˇŻ

    Convincing himself that he was just being paranoid, Marcus refocused on the battle.

    Things continued smoothly despite his internal worry, and soon he spotted a group of peopleing over the horizon.

    Looking out toward these people, Marcus was able to see that they were being led by Aria and Darius.

    These were the elite mages and knights of the kingdom, and other than Gwyneira, they were BorealiaˇŻs greatest force.

    Among them were eleven mages including Aria, and twelve knights including Darius.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Finally, we should have enough power to win.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    Soon the strongest forces of the kingdom arrived over the battlefield and Gwyneira approached them to ry her orders.

    She knew what all of them could do and updated them on their opponentsˇŻ abilities and where they would all be most effective.

    Then once these newbatants had been brought up to speed, Gwyneira connected everyone over telepathy and said, ˇ®Our reinforcements have arrived. It is time that were put this thing down.ˇŻ

    With enough powerful fighter having gathered it was finally time for them all to attack in earnest.

    For the most part they had just been using regr attacks they could repeat hundreds of even thousands of times without being exhausted, but now was the time to go all out and destroy every inch of this thirty-mile-long worm.

    Beginning the bombardment, Ja started glowing brightly as she umted a tremendous amount of mana around herself.

    The air around her even began to turn hazy and it was as if space was being warped as her power grew and grew.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Wrath of the Forest.ˇ±

    As Ja cast her most powerful tenth tier spell, the sky spit open and a luminous green ring that was many miles in diameter opened up.

    Out of this ring thousands upon thousands of roots, vines, branches, flowers and all manner of other nts began spawning.

    Some were even giant Venus flytraps that fit an entire city block in their mouths.

    In an instant all of this power descended from the sky and began attacking the Doomsday Worm.

    First, millions of flower petals that were each like their own little des cut into it constantly slicing through its flesh and weaking it to prepare for the next wake.

    After the flower petals, a swarm of vines and roots flew down and began wrapping up the damaged monster and then millions of branches shaped like spears pieced into its body.

    Next thousands of carnivorous nts came down and began taking bites out of the gigantic monster and dousing it in powerful acids that burned away its flesh.

    Finally, a massive tree of nearly equal size to the one that Ja was always next to descend down from her spell and stuck itself into the Dread Burrower, before spread its roots out through its body.

    The giant ring that had conjured this godlike phenomenon then began to disappear, and Ja was left breathing heavily.

    Unfortunately, while this spell would have normally killed any target as the massive tree would drain the energy from whatever it had been imnted in. The Doomsday Worm was able to drain it right back.

    Currently they were in a struggle of dominance that the tree was slowly losing as the Dread Burrower drained it fast than it could do the same.

    Still, the enormous monster had taken a great deal of damage from this spell and was nowpletely pinned down. Unable to do much of anything other than drain the life out of its surroundings.

    With their enemy pinned and already sliced up and pierced all over. everyone else went to work.

    To start, Retharin opened his mouth and unleashed a huge st of electricity down the enormous wormˇŻs throat, causing its insides to be blown apart and preventing it from trying to attack with its mouth.

    Following that Asher began slicingrge chucks out of the worm along with knightmander Darius and his subordinates

    Their job was to dismantle the worm faster than it could regenerate new parts.

    At the same time, the mages led by Aria bombarded the separated pasts and turned them into dust with powerful spells, which Marcus joined along with.

    Quickly they began taking the thing apart and destroying it until it was just an unmoving and unrecognizable mound of flesh.

    It seemed that they were on the verge of winning as Gwyneira froze thest wriggling part of its body, and caused its cells to burst as they were exposed to temperatures that were near absolute zero.

    Yet as they were all just working on clean up and burning away thest remains of the Doomsday Worm, it began glowing a sickly red and orange color.

    The eye that they had already destroyed then reappeared in the center of its devastated body and all of the remaining flesh and muscle flew towards it before coalescing into a ball.

    As this happened everyone tried firing off attacks hoping to destroy this resurgence, but nothing connected.

    A powerful barrier had been erected around it that even JaˇŻs attacks could not pierce, and it slowly began expanding outward until the Dread Burrower had fully reformed.

    However, the barrier did not disappear around it, and it soon began moving forward with an invincible shield that protected it from any outside attack.

    Its path of destion no longer being stopped, it continued heading onwards towards Loursend, while sending a renewed attack of tendrils towards everyone that had been fighting it.

 Chapter 601 Only Hope

    With a new imprable barrier surrounding it, the Doomsday Worm continued its path of destruction and began attacking in earnest.

    Up until now it had been conserving its power as it drained the life from thend, and it was still quite slothful up to this point, since it had not gotten any sizeable meals due to Marcus and GwyneriaˇŻs discovery and quick intervention.

    However, with some many powerful people attacking it and especially after the magic cast by Ja, it was finally pressured to use its full power and erect a barrier that none of them could break.

    Unfortunately, that was not even the worst of what it was doing, as now its horrid eye had pooped out of its mouth and on top of its head and was emitting constant waves of madness.

    And while for Marcus with his still mind unique skill, and many of the other with their high stats were able to resist the effect, three of DariusˇŻ elite knights and two of AriaˇŻs archmages fell victim.

    Immediately they began attacking those around them in a mindless rampage as they tried to tear away at the flesh of those that were their allies.

    At the very least the ones that had sumb had been the weakest of those that were the elite troops of Borrelia, all of them being in the mid-seventies level wise.

    This allowed the other mages and knights to deal with them quickly and restrain them as they iled around rapidly trying to sink their teeth into everyone around them.

    But while they were being restrained the tendrils of the Dread Burrower shot out faster than they ever had before and grabbed ten of the knights and mages. Including the ones effected by its madness.

    Then before anyone else was able to react they were dragged back through the barrier and inside the Doomsday Worm where they were eaten.<sub>.</sub>

    It was a terrifying sight to watch, as in just an instant, ten people all over level seventy had been killed without so much as being able to offer any resistance.

    Watching this unable to do anything, Marcus now remembered why he had that sinking feeling earlier, like things had been too easy.

    Ardea had told them that when the previous doomsday monster went on a rampage it was only stopped by the collective efforts of twenty-four high level heroes, four of which were grand witches.

    Yet even after the battle was over seventeen of these heroes were dead, giving even greater weight to how dangerous a doomsday ss monster was.

    ˇ®We were na?ve. I cannot believe I did not ount for something like this. We figured that it had been fighting us with its all from the start, but I had barely been paying us any mind. Even being sliced to ribbons by the Sword Savant had only been an annoyance to it. But now that we are an actual threat it is showing its true power.ˇŻ

    Realizing that they had been far to brazen and not cautious enough, Marcus started berating himself.

    He had not been embroiled in the battle and had even thought something was wrong but did not linger on it because he had hoped for a seamless victory.

    Now do to the fact he did not voice his concerns, ten people had just died, and they were beingpletely repulsed.

    ˇ°Vorpal Fang.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Falling down from the sky her scythe radiating an enormous amount of mana, Ja used her strongest piercing attack skill that she hoped would be enough to at least damage the Dread BurrowˇŻs barrier.

    s, even as she crashed down with enough power to cut a city in half, she failed to put a scratch on the indestructible barrier.

    Seeing this Marcus was a bit surprised, as he recognized this skill as it was his most recent acquisition from the special dungeon, and he knew how powerful it was.

    It was the highest ss of attack skill like his death dance, and in terms of power behind one attack it was exceptional.

    ˇ®Is there really nothing we can do to stop it.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he stared down from above.

    None of their attacks had any effect, and to make matters worse the Doomsday WormˇŻs tendrils were moving faster now and their power and durability had increased.

    Not to mention that it was constantly releasing a wave of madness around it that while not able to take any of the remaining people over, was still causing them headaches and slowing their movements.

    Even with MarcusˇŻ unique skill it felt like someone was constantly banging on the metaphorical door to his mind.

    ˇ®Our current efforts are not getting us anywhere. I rmend that we retreat and reassess our approach before anymore of us die.ˇŻ Gwyneira said over telepathy.<sub></sub>

    She had taken impromptumand over all of them when the new troops from Borealia arrived since they made up the bulk of their forces number wise, and it would easier for them to takemands from Gwyneira than anyone else.

    However, as all the others were flying away Marcus had an idea.

    ˇ®Gwyneira there is something I want to try. I will catch up with all of you when I am done.ˇŻ He said over telepathy to her.

    Of course, she started yelling at him not to do anything reckless, and even tried to go back to grab him, but was overwhelmed by a wide scale attack of tendrils that forced her to retreat.

    Heading down towards the Dread Burrower, he moved right up to its barrier and braced himself.

    Then with the push of his hand he tested if he could pass through the barrier.

    ˇ®As I thought, it does not have any way to deal with my ghostly nature.ˇŻ

    Floating through the barrier Marcus was able to get ess to the monsterˇŻs body and looked towards the glowing eye that was resting on top of it.

    Now that he was under the barrier her could see that it was originating from the eye.

    ˇ®If I can destroy it the barrier might drop. But before I try that, it would be best to regroup and tell the others about what I have found.ˇŻ

    Heading out from the barrier and the vicinity of the Doomsday Worm, Marcus shot off towards the horizon where he could just barely make out JaˇŻs tree named Deku.

    When he arrived, he was chastised for being reckless and stupid.

    ˇ°I guarantee you that I was perfectly fine. It may be powerful, but it has no intelligence and no method to interact with me while I am ethereal.ˇ± Marcus said in his defense. ˇ°Also, it was best that I get this information before we talk strategy since it will change how we approach what to do next.ˇ±

    He then told them that he could pass through the barrier as long as he was ethereal, and that he had found that the barrier was being created by its giant glowing red and orange eye.

    ˇ°If I can destroy it the barrier should go down and we can attack it again.ˇ± Marcus said with confidence.

    Unfortunately, not everyone had as much faith in him as others did since he was the weakest one here.

    Still, he was the only one that could get through the barrier and thus the only one capable of destroying it.

    ˇ°Very well, I will support MarcusˇŻ decision to try and bring down the barrier. We have pretty much no other idea other than trying to slow it down or hit it harder, so I see no reason to not attempt our best shot.ˇ± Ja said with a smile as she looked at Marcus.

    She felt a certain kinship with him because they were both originally from Earth and that they used the same weapon.

    ˇ°And to that end, I would be grateful if you would use this to help you.ˇ±

    Holding out her scythe to Marcus, everyone was left aghast, since pretty much no one would ever hand over their main weapon to someone else, and certainly one not as valuable as the top tier amethros scythe she had.

    Taking her weapon, Marcus shed her a bright smile, and said, ˇ°Thank you for your support. I am sure that this will help me.ˇ±

    After that they quickly made a couple ns depending on the results of MarcusˇŻ attempt to break the barrier.

    If it worked then they would try again what they already had, but if he failed, they would have to do what they could to stall it and then try and created an impossibly strong mana bomb for Marcus to take past the barrier.

    Though their second n was certainly unfavorable, as it was unclear how long it would take them to make a sufficiently powerful enough bomb, and by then Loursend and more were likely to have been destroyed.

    ˇ°Okay we have already spent too long here. That thing is likely in range of Loursend already and we need to give it something else to think about.ˇ± Knight Commander Darius said to try and pump them all up.

    The neen of them with their ns decided, set back off to face down the Doomsday Worm. Hopefully for thest time.

 Chapter 602 Attacking the Eye

    Marcus felt a chill through his soul as he looked down at the doomsday worm and prepared to assault it with everything he had

    Up to this point he had only been contributing a small amount of support where he could, but now his actions were going to be necessary to turn the tide of the battle.

    ˇ®As long as it keeps that barrier up, none of our attacks are going to have an effect. It will just be able to go around wherever it wants and kill everything in its wake. I expect that it could probably turn the entire continent into a wastnd within a year if we cannot stop it.ˇŻ

    Clenching his fists, Marcus was feeling quite nervous about what he had to do next.

    He had volunteered to do it and felt confident when he did so, but now that the weight of the entire continent was on his back, he was feeling a bit of pressure.

    ˇ®I just have to do everything I can and hope it is enough.ˇŻ

    With his resolve focused, he descended from high up in the sky where the others were waiting and praying for his sess so that they could finally put down this threat.

    Floating past its barrier as it was not able to keep him out, Marcus made his way right up to the eye and prepared to unleash his all against it.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Sorry Mraz. I am going to need my full power here.ˇŻ

    Reaching out to the part of his soul he had left with Mrazivy, Marcus felt the ring that was adorned on her finger and willed it back to himself.

    He truly did not want to do this since this was her engagement ring and a symbol that he had entrusted his literal soul to her.

    Unfortunately, right now he needed to prioritize power over everything else. Millions of lives were on the line here, and he was the only one who could do this job right now, so he was going to go all out.

    ˇ®Let me see how tough it is.ˇŻ

    Holding out his own scythe and the one that Ja had lent him, Marcus began channeling an immense amount of mana into both of them.

    Then once he had reached his normal limits, he activated his supreme skill and pushed even further beyond, coating both scythes with his power.<sub></sub>

    Yet, JaˇŻs scythe actually rejected the darknessing off of him, as her weapon had been imbued with the power of nature. Though in contrast it was more than happy to take in theplementary element of light.

    ˇ®I guess I should have expected this from someone elseˇŻs weapon. Still, it is incredibly powerful and stronger than my own scythe even without being able to take my full power.ˇŻ

    With both weapons now ready Marcus prepared to unleash a full powered attack, that was further brought up by a number of buff spells that had been cast on him.

    Both Aria and Ja had cast spells to increase his power and he was now brimming with more strength than he ever had before even though he had not activated some of his other unique skills yet.

    However, these two high tier spells were putting a bit of strain on him as they were increasing his power well beyond what he could do on his own.

    ˇ®Eclipse Reaper, Vorpal Fang.ˇŻ

    Using his recently acquired attack skill with JaˇŻs scythe, and his eclipse reaper attack on his own, Marcus charged forward while still ethereal.<sub></sub>

    Then right before he reached the eye, he became tangible again andshed out with everything he had.

    He had hoped to easily slice the trough the eye as it seemed unprotected, but as his attacks were about to hit, another barrier formed around the eye.

    In an instant his two powerful attacks were brought to a halt as they scrapped across this barrier.

    However, unlike the one that was making it in order topletely protected from outside attacks, this one was much weaker.

    MarcusˇŻ attacks soon began to crack the barrier around the eye as it could not put up as strong of a barrier withoutpromising the one it was generating around its main body.

    s, even though Marcus did a bit of damage, his attacks ultimately ran out of power before they were able to do more than put the smallest cracks on the surface of this barrier. And to make matters worse it only took a couple of seconds before thousands of tendrils came out from all around him.

    Clicking his tongue in anger at his failed attack, Marcus went back into his ghost form right before the tendrils ripped him to shreds and absorbed him.

    His first attack not having been sessful he was left in a bit of a bind.

    Certainly, the had dealt a bit of damage to the barrier around the eye but it as not close enough to breaking through.

    And to make matters worse a contingent of tendrils had now surrounded the eye, making it so that if he reappeared to attack it again, they would be in his way.

    ˇ®If I stay in my ghost form, I will only be able to use magic and none of my spells are strong enough on their own. Maybe if I could use my eclipse railgun at full power it might break through, but I would be attacked before I could pull it off.ˇŻ

    Racking his brain on what to do next Marcus felt that he was close, but he would need to be moving fast and hitting very hard to break through the barrier around the eye.

    He wasnˇŻt sure he could get through even if he used his soul burst unique skill coupled with soul devour, and before hemitted to using either of those skills he needed to have a thorough attack n thought out.

    Once he had activated soul burst, he would be putting himself on a timer, and once it was over he would be practically useless for at least a week.

    Before making any other moves he returned to the others and told them about his failure.

    ˇ°Wait I thought you could pass through the barrier. Why not just push yourself inside it and then blow it up?ˇ± Ardea said

    A number of the others looked at Marcus and nodded their heads wondering why he had not tried something so obvious.

    But he just shook his head and said, ˇ°I can not just stick my hand into another living being if it is a lot stronger than me. Even if it is not aware of me, once I do that I am also interacting with its soul, and with a being as strong as this I would lose in an instant. Certainly, it would not kill me and maybe I would take a bit of damage, but I would be repulsed before being able to do anything. Also, if I tried it with a weapon, I can tell you all that it is not a pretty sight. I tried it before, but suddenly solidifying matter inside of something else causes a weird reaction where the foreign object is shunted from the space and normallyes out in pieces.ˇ±

    Hearing MarcusˇŻ exnation on reactions that urred between ethereal and tangible entities interacting, they gave up on trying to exploit something they did not fully understand.

    Of course, if MarcusˇŻ soul was stronger than the Dread Burrowers, he would be fine passing through it, but since there was definitely and insurmountable difference, he would simply be repulsed. Just as what happened to him long ago when he first tried to possess the scaled bear in the Great Gome Woods.

 Chapter 603 Ultimate Sacrifice

    ˇ°I suppose if you cannot do it then we will need to move to n B.ˇ± Gwyneira said with downcast eyes.

    She had no idea how long it would take them to make a suitable device strong enough to halt the Dread Burrower, but it was likely much of Borealia would be destroyed before then.

    ˇ°No, I can still do it. I just need a bit more power. I was thinking of a new attack strategy, and I think I havee up with a good one. But I need more enchantment spells. I took what I was able tost time, but now I need to go beyond my limits. I ask that all of you lend me your power until I cannot take anymore.ˇ± Marcus said with a resolute look in his eyes.

    Everyone seeing his determination agreed to his request, though those that were close to him did so tentatively.

    A person could only take so many enchantment spells before they were overwhelmed, and Marcus was far lower level than any of them.

    If not for him being a great spirit even just one of JaˇŻs full power spells would kill him with how much power they possessed.

    Still, they did as Marcus asked and piled over a dozen enchantments on him before his form literal started breaking apart.

    Topensate for this, he activated his spirit healing and was repairing his body as it was constantly being crushed by the mana of all the spells making him stronger.

    It was honesty an excruciating experience as his body was constantly being repaired and destroyed, and he wondered how the Doomsday Worm had shrugged this off so casually.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Okay wish me luck.ˇ± Marcus said as he shot into the sky.

    Quickly he rose higher and higher, as he headed straight up.

    He traveled thousands of miles up into theˇŻs atmosphere.

    To guarantee his attack would be strong enough he needed as much force as he could get, and so he nned to exit the atmosphere ande down like an actual meteor.

    Yet as he was reaching the edge of the atmosphere, he suddenly hit something.

    It was like an invisible barrier had been erected, and no matter how hard her tried he could not leave the confines of the world.

    ˇ®I guess that the administrator made a boundary zone to prevent anyone from leaving. Well, I can think about thatter. I have reached my limit, so it is time to fall back down.ˇŻ

    Looking down at Mirrion below him, Marcus was now able to see something close to the sight he had witnessed when he was first brought here.<sub></sub>

    Before him was the world looking much smaller, and he could see otherndmasses beside Borealia.

    ˇ®I do not see that purple continent. Must be on the other side of the. I suppose I have ended up on the other side of the world from where I originallynded. To think if I had not been ignorant of how to control my powers, I never would have been pushed down to the core of the world and then made it back up to appear in Borealia. If that had not happened, I would never have been fighting in this battle against a cmity of a monster I have no business taking on. But I would not have changed any of it for the world.ˇŻ

    With a nostalgic smile on his face Marcus prepared for his descent back down to the world.

    First, he activated his supreme skill followed by conjuring his cataclysmic iron sword.

    However, instead of making it asrge as usual, hepressed it as small as he could until it was only around thirty feet long.

    He then held out both his scythe and JaˇŻs in one hand. Wrapping them up with iron threads to prevent losing his grip.

    ˇ®Well, I needed to test this skill out sometime anyway.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he gripped ahold of his cataclysmic iron sword, and mentally prepared himself to truly use everything he had.

    Having all of his weapons now ready, he stopped his control over his iron swordˇŻs ability to hover and released his float ability.<sub></sub>

    With nothing holding him up any longer, he began plummeting back towards the ground as gravity pushed him downwards.

    Quickly he began building up speed as he went, pushing himself faster and faster downward with his magic.

    He was currently using his me jets spell like rocket boosters and he cut through the air as he sped towards the ground.

    ˇ®This should be about right.ˇŻ He thought as the ground was getting every closer.

    He could no longer see anything but ground in front of him, meaning he was getting closer to his target.

    ˇ®Soul Burst, Soul Devour.ˇŻ

    Activating his two powerful enhancing unique skills, Marcus felt an immeasurable surge of power as all of his stats were doubled, and then boosted even more as he burned through his own soul.

    He held absolutely nothing back, truly giving it his all as he descended in a fiery ze.

    ˇ®Phoenix Fire.ˇŻ

    When he finally caught sight of his target, the Dread Burrower, he cast the tier seven spell form the ze glove and surrendered himself with its power.

    Faster and faster he sped up, and he became very grateful that he had a huge and slow target to aim for or he would have certainly missed it.

    ˇ®Final Eclipse Meteor!ˇŻ

    Just a mile before he impacted, he coalesced all of his remaining power around himself and the two scythe he had tied to him.

    At this point he was descending so fast that he traveled thest mile quicker than a blink of the eye, going at a speed that the Doomsday Worm simply could not react to.

    Then right before he hit its barrier, he disappeared for less than an instant before a massive explosion shook the inside of the Dread BurrowerˇŻs barrier.

    Marcus had sessfully slipped past its barrier and impacted it with his full force in an explosion that easily broke though the barrier around its eye and then proceeded to ripple across its body.

    It was an attack with so much force and heat behind it that the Doomsday WormˇŻs head was vaporized, and the entire length of its body was ripping apart under the pressure.

    Soon all that was left of it was a heaping mound of flesh and the barrier that had been protecting it disappeared with its source having been destroyed.

    Seeing this everyone rejoiced internally, since MarcusˇŻ attack had not only left the Doomsday Worm without its imprable barrier, but he had done enough damage to where it was practically helpless right now.

    Yet their tion quickly died down as they got closer to finish the job, and it became very clear that there was not a single sign of Marcus left.

    His entire presence had vanished and not even Gwyneira with her dragon eyes could spot him.

    She even tired calling out to him over telepathy, but no response was had.

    In fact, it was not that she did not receive a response, but that no connection was made in the first ce, meaning he was out of range which should have been impossible.

    That left only one undeniable fact. Marcus had beenpletely destroyed by his own attack and was no longer of this world.

 Chapter 604 We Meet Again

    As Marcus impacted against the Doomsday Worm, he felt his already barely holding together form break apart, and he waspletely obliterated in wake of the massive explosion he had created.

    Luckily it happened all so fast that he did not have time to feel any pain and for just a moment his vision wentpletely ck.

    Then in contrast to darkness, in just an instant he found himself in apletely white space that seemed to stretch on infinitely.

    For a moment he wondered if he had truly died again, but as he looked over himself, he appeared to bepletely fine.

    Even the negative effects of his soul devour unique skill seemed to have not popped up and he felt as normal as he always did.

    Along with his form being the same, he was also happy to see that his scythe and the engagement ring were still with him. Though the scythe Ja had lent him was nowhere to eb seen.

    ˇ®Hopefully I did not destroy it. I mean I doubt it since it was such a fine weapon, but if I did, I wonder how long it would take me to make it up to her.ˇŻ

    Shaking his head and pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he focused on much more pressing matters, like where he was and what he needed to do next.

    Opening his status window, he was hoping to find some information from there, and fortunately his assumption was right.

    At the very top of his status was a clock that was winding down from twenty-four hours and next to it was a button that said, ˇ°Return Nowˇ±.<sub>.</sub>

    After seeing that he checked his message log and found that his unique skill deny destruction had indeed activated and saved his life.

    He then went back to looking at the timer and return button next to and thought about what to do.

    However, while he was contemting on hitting it, he heard a voice from behind him which caught himpletely by surprise.

    ˇ°How long are you going to fiddle with your status? I have been waiting here patiently for you to notice me, but you are more unobservant than I thought.ˇ±

    Closing his status with great haste, he looked out towards were the voice was and saw a figure that was sitting in a recliner and looking back at him.

    Seeing this Marcus immediately became apprehensive since he could not make out their features as they were wearing a hood and cloak.

    ˇ°No need to be on guard. Who else do you think could be here other than your favorite administrator?ˇ±

    Immediately the tension Marcus was feeling left him, as he was certain this was the administrator by the way she had just spoken.

    Walking up to her, he figured that she had something to say to him or otherwise she never would have appeared before him.<sub></sub>

    Also, he had a number of questions himself and this was probably his only chance to ask them.

    ˇ°So, what is it you want from me?ˇ± Marcus said.

    But before the administrator responded, she waved her hand and another recliner appeared next to her, and she said, ˇ°Go ahead and sit. We can talk once you arefortable.

    ˇ°You certainly seemed to be able to do pretty much anything.ˇ± Marcus said as he sat in the suddenly conjured chair.

    Though at hearing this, the administrator beganughing, and said, ˇ°If only.ˇ±

    The two of them then sat in silence for a few moments, before she said, ˇ°As for what I want from you, it is just to have a little chat. I am sure that you have some questions for me about you current predicament with a certain nasty monster.

    His eyes going sharp Marcus certainly did have things he wanted to ask about, especially in regard to the Dread Burrower.

    ˇ°Yeah, there are a few things that I want to know. First of all, why are none of the other great spirits helping out here? From what I know is that you left them in charge to preserve world order and prevent entire continents from being destroyed by high level entities on a rampage.ˇ± Marcus said to the administrator with a fierce gaze.

    She sat there for a few moments, letting him stew, before saying, ˇ°I specifically instructed them not to interfere in case of a doomsday monster going on a rampage.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Hearing this Marcus clenched his fists, understanding that it was likely that the administrator had set this up from the start, and had released menace on the world for her on amusement.

    ˇ°You must really get your kicks out watching people suffer? Do you know how much death that thing has caused in the short time it has been freed?ˇ±

    The anger was very clear in his voice, and if not for knowing it would do no good, he wanted to punch the administrator with all his might.

    ˇ°Ha, what do you know about suffering. Your life has been rtively peaceful for the most part. You have not even endured a single percentage of the pain I have throughout my life.ˇ± The administrator said with the first outburst of actual emotion Marcus had ever heard from her

    ˇ°So, no I do not enjoy watching people suffer, and for the most part none have. Those that have been killed have mostly died within an instant without feeling any pain. Not to mention that you and that dragonˇŻs quick intervention have prevented quite a number of deaths.ˇ± The administrator said her tone having returned to normal.

    ˇ°Then why did you allow this thing to cause such destruction? This is your world is it not?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, this is my world, which is exactly why I have done what I want with it. I believe you already know this, but I made this world to raise future allies for myself. I do not need the weak and am only looking for those that have risen to the top. In that respect their must be challenges to ovee. In a utopia progress is seldom made, and few would strive to get stronger when there is no merit to it. That is why I created these doomsday type monsters. They push even the strongest of people to fight to their limits and beyond. And to encourage them to continue getting stronger. Anyway, it is not as if I have popted the world with hundreds of such monsters. In truth there are only four.ˇ±

    Once the administrator stopped talking it sunk into Marcus that she had just confirmed that there were two more monsters like the one that was currently destroying Borealia.

    That meant that at any point another untold danger could pop up somewhere and it was possible he might end up having to deal with it as well.

    ˇ°Why are you telling me this?ˇ± Marcus asked suspiciously.

    The administrator then turned towards him and her could see just her mouth under the shadow of her hood which curved up into an eerie smile.

    ˇ°That is because you are going to be my messenger. The world has gotten prettyx and peaceful, and while that is fine, growth has been on the decline. Just for an example, that dragon friend of yours has been sitting at level eight-six for nearly a century now. Such a promising talent going to waste. I want you to let the world know that some huge waves will being soon. The next time a monster of this caliberes out it will not take another four hundred years. Oh, and I think it is time that I added a few new patches to world, it could use an update.ˇ±

    Clenching his teeth, Marcus could now tell that the administrator really did not see things the same way he did.

    To her this world was like some sort of game, and he could tell that was exactly how she had set it up.

    But he knew that this world had real people with real lives, and that some of them were going to die because of the whims of an uncaring god.

    Still, there was nothing he could honestly do about it.

    He highly doubted that a lecture on human morality was going to work against a being that had created a world where living creatures got stronger by killing each other.

    Also, who was he to be the one doing the lecturing.

    In all honesty he had abandoned a good deal of his human morality himself.

    Beforeing here, he had never thought about killing people, and it had truthfully made him sick.

    Yet on this world he had already killed more people than he could count, most of which happened during the civil war in Tralenstein.

    Nevertheless, he still did not want to treat people like pieces in a game as he could see the administrator was doing.

    ˇ°Oh, that is a scary look you are giving me. But I suppose that is just a difference in our perspectives. I have and currently do see a lot more than you do.ˇ± The administrator said. ˇ°Now let us move away from such topics. I believe you might want to see how your friends are faring against the monster you scarified your live to give them a chance against.ˇ±

    Snapping her fingers the administrator created a number of floating screens in front of them, each showing a different perspective of the battle.

    Currently everyone was unleashing their best attacks on the Dread Burrower that was desperately trying to regenerate itself after taking MarcusˇŻ suicide attack.

    Unfortunately, it was not going as well as he would have liked as the enormous worm was still somehow hanging on and fighting back.

 Chapter 605 (Spoiler, Title at the Bottom of the Chapter)

    Watching the intense battle that was taking ce, Marcus felt the urge to go back and help.

    He could not simply give up on the fight simply because he had blown himself up in ast-ditch suicide attack.

    Yet as the went to open his status and click the return button, he found that it would not open.

    ring at the administrator, he said, ˇ°What did you do? Why canˇŻt I go back?ˇ±

    However, instead of answering him, she summoned a bucket of popcorn and began eating as if she was watching a movie instead of a battle with millions of real lives on the line.

    With his frustration going Marcus wanted tosh out at the administrator, but he knew in the rational part of his mind that was not going to get him anywhere.

    ˇ°Oh, I thought for sure that time you would try and attack me this time. Still, I am surprised that you treat me with so little respect. I could erase you with a single thought.ˇ± The administrator said with a cold voice

    But in return Marcus just scoffed, and said, ˇ°You are not going to do that. You have put a lot of work into keeping me going and have left Roxene in my care. I can tell that at least you care for her.ˇ±

    Smiling, the administer was happy that Marcus had seen through her bluff, and said, ˇ°To answer your question, I am not letting you go back to prevent you from doing something reckless again. If you destroyed yourself again that would be it. There would be nothing could do to help you then. Anyway, the battle is about to get really interesting, so just sit back and rx.ˇ±

    After saying this the administrator leaned far back in her chair and watched the battle continued to unfold.

    With nothing else to do Marcus did the same, at least wanting to watch as his friends and allies did battle against the Doomsday Worm.

    ˇ­

    With the imminent threat still at hand the shock of Marcus having died would have to wait.<sub>.</sub>

    All those that were fighting the Dread Burrower knew that this was their chance to take it down, and if they missed it MarcusˇŻ sacrifice would be in vain.

    If it somehow managed to get that barrier up again they would be unable to stop it until they were able to recruit another spirit or ethereal being, and that would not be an easy task.

    However, as they all went about destroying the enormous monster and were close to seeding something unforeseen happened.

    The ground began to shake, and thousands of beams were fired out from under it surprising all of those who were fighting.

    They had not expected such a high-powered attack from the Doomsday Worm after it had been blown apart from Marcus and damaged further by their own attacks.

    Even Ja was caught off guard and had to go on the defensive as these beams shot up from below.

    Then as if to mock all of their efforts, rising up from the ground was the Dread Burrower, having regenerated most of its body underground.

    As it rose up out of the ground nearly back in its peak condition it finally became apparent as to why it was called the Dread Burrower.

    It had sent thousands of its tendrils underground and they had been draining the life from below the earth.

    Not only that but even as it was being destroyed above it could regenerate itself anew underground.

    At the very least it seemed that it was not able or was not going to once again put up its imprable barrier.

    Once the barrage of beams began to end the Dread Burrower let out a viscous roar and its body started pulsing.<sub></sub>

    Its flesh began topress around it and its massive form began to get smaller.

    Soon it was only around seventy percent of the size it had once had, but it seemed far more dangerous now.

    Then with a quick sh its mouth shot out like chameleonˇŻs tongue, and it swallowed one of the knights under DariusˇŻmand.

    ˇ°Vorpal Fang.ˇ±

    ˇ°Light Speed sh.ˇ±

    Just a second after the knight was eaten Ja and the Sword Savant went in for the attack using some of their best skills.

    Yet the previously sluggish Dread Burrower was now moving with speed unnatural for its size.

    It wiped the back part of its body around with enough speed and force to create a high-speed windstorm and smacked into Ja.

    At the same time thousands of its tendrils merged together and intercepted Asher who plunged into the viscous liquid and was caught.

    A huge explosion then shocked through the ground over a hundred miles away as Ja wasunched by the Doomsday Worms attack. And following that, multiple huge plumes of water shot up high into the air as she skipped across the surface of the ocean.

    Still her attack had not been for nothing, and arge portion of the Dread burrowerˇŻs body was sliced clean through and mmed into the ground with a devastating crash.

    The Sword Savant however was most certainly not in the best situation having been engulfed by the colossal tendril made from thousands of smaller ones.<sub></sub>

    His ability to fight back was quickly drained away, and all he could do was sit motionless in the liquid as it sapped his life and dragged him back towards the Doomsday WormˇŻs body.

    Of course, his allies were not just going to let him be dragged away to his doom, an Gwyneira flew in fast with ice already forming around her as she began freezing the giant tendril.

    While she did this, to take some pressure off of her, both Retharin and Ardea prepared their biggest attacks.

    A huge mountain as big as the enormous monster appeared over ArdeaˇŻs head, and a raging storm of lighting and wind formed around Retharin.

    The two of them quicklyunched their powerful attacks, but the second they did, the Dread Burrower released a massive st of energy from its mouth as it fired off a single concentrated beam.

    This st smashed right through ArdeaˇŻs mountain, and it moved too fast for her to evade before she waspletely engulfed by it.

    RetharinˇŻs attack at least did connect, but for the first time the Doomsday Worm actually tried to dodge and leapt its huge body to the side in order to not be hit by the powerful storm directly.

    It was like they had suddenly started fighting an entirely new monster, as the Dread Burrower moved far fast and with more ferocity than it had before.

    This was due to them pushing it so far that it could no longer brush them off and had to finally get serious.

    It was a slothful creature by nature, but now that its life was in danger after having its barrier broken, it was using all of its power to fight back.

    Nevertheless, Retharin and ArdeaˇŻs distraction had been sessful in garnering the gigantic monsterˇŻs attention, and Gwyneira managed to free Asher who had been trapped in its tendrils.

    Unfortunately, he was now unconscious after having all of his energy and some of his life force drained.

    Along with him, Ardea had note out unscathed from the attack she had taken, and there were numerous parts of her body that had been heavily damaged, including arge hole in her left lung.

    With them having been suddenly overwhelmed they tried to retreat and regroup with Aria and her mages providing cover fire, but Gwyneira who had gotten close to rescue the Sword Savant was in danger.

    The Dread Burrower had begununching its mouth out at her and she was doing all she could to avoid it.

    But that along with its tendrils surrounding her and cutting off her escapes at every turn, were slowly backing her into a corner.

    Even with Darius and Aria using all of their powers, they simply were not strong enough to get the Doomsday Worms attention away from trying to eat Gwyneira.

    Within just a few seconds the worst happened and Gwyneira was just barely caught on the edge of the Dread BurrowerˇŻs mouth, as a dozen of its sharp teeth pierced into her,

    She tried flying away but the teeth themselves closed down on her and began draining her energy.

    In onest ditch effort she tried freezing the monster with her supreme skill but found that already her power had been drained to the point that she could not use it.

    With her final attempts to struggle being unsessful, Gwyneira was reeled back in at a blistering speed with no hope of escape.

    Before she was ultimately swallowed and shredded though, she tossed the Sword Savant away, hoping that by some miracle he might survive.

    Then she braced herself to be eaten, since help just could not get to her in time, as the Doomsday Worm held off her allies with its innumerous tendrils.

    Yet right before its mouth was pulled back into its body along with Gwyneira, a huge de of wind shot down from the sky and cut her free.

    She suddenly felt her body be weightless right before she began falling, still trapped on the teeth of the severed part of the Doomsday WormˇŻs mouth.

    Looking up towards Retharin she was certain that it must have been him that had saved her, but when she looked in his direction, she could see that he was currently caught up in trying to protect Ardea as they were being mercilessly attacked by thousands of tendrils and had certainly not been the one to save her.

    However, before she could recover, the Dread Burrower lurched forward and aimed to swallow her again with its already regenerating mouth.

    ˇ°GET AWAY FROM MY WIFE!ˇ±

    With a resounding voice booming across the battlefield everyoneˇŻs attention was drawn to it, and from the direction it hade from a colossal twister began falling down from the sky.

    This twister that easily the same size of the Doomsday smashed right into it before it could eat Gwyneira.

    And while an attack of this size should have caught her up in it as well, it instead of sucking her, it harmlessly blew her away.

    A figure then descended out of the sky and caught her, and a gentle green light enveloped her body to begin healing her.

    ˇ°Sorry I am sote. It was difficult to get out from where I was, but I came over as fast as I could once I received your emergency message. I hope you can forgive me for being gone so long and leaving you to deal with this kind of threat alone.ˇ±

    Tears began to fall down GwyneriaˇŻs face as she craned her head up and looked at the man who caught her, and with a voice filled with more emotions than she could process, she said, ˇ°Boreas!ˇ±

    Chapter 605 The North Wind Returns

 Chapter 606 Jaelaâ€™s Fury and Boreasâ€™ Might

    Tears flooding down her face, Gwyneira seeing Boreas for the first time in many decades shrunk back down into her human form and embraced him with they were floating in the air.

    ˇ°You said you would only be gone for fifty years, but it has been nearly a century. I have waited so long for you toe back. Every day I wanted to use the magic item you left me that would call you back. Why did you leave me behind for so long?ˇ± Gwyneira said with a hurt look.

    Coupled with the fact that she had just almost died, and that Boreas had suddenly shown up, her emotions were in turmoil, and she was not sure to whether to be scared, happy, angry, or relived.

    With a downcast expression he was not sure what to say.

    Still he brough Gwyneira closer into his embrace, and eventually said, ˇ°I am sorry, it will not happen again. I should have turned down the offer to enter that special dungeon. But I dide as soon as you called.ˇ±

    He then held up the twin golden rod that he had in his possession which had broken in half.

    After doing this, he looked around him as he could feel that everyoneˇŻs eyes were on him.

    Quickly he locked eyes with Aria who gave him a warm smile since she was his great granddaughter.<sub>.</sub>

    Though by their looks it would have been hard to discern this since while Aria even being almost two hundred years old looked around sixty, Boreas who was much older still looked like he was in his mid-thirties.

    His olive skin and ck hair were as vibrant as ever, and he still exuded an aura of strength such that he seemed invincible.

    ˇ®Aria, would you mind telling me what is going on here.ˇŻ Boreas said over telepathy to her.

    However, before she could, an incredibly powerful presence could be felting from the west at a rapid pace.

    Immediately the gentle look in BoreasˇŻ eyes as he held his wife vanished, and he looked out towards this approaching being with a fiercens in his eyes.

    Yet while he felt apprehension everyone else looked on with relief as they saw Ja flying back over towards them.

    Unfortunately, while one of their strongest allies had returned, their enemy was far from defeated.<sub></sub>

    Rising up from the ground after being blown away and shredded to pieces, the Doomsday Worm was furious and let out a horrid sound that resounded for hundreds of miles.

    ˇ°YOU THINK YOUR ANGRY!ˇ± Ja yelled back as she looked down at the Dread Burrower.

    She had been flung nearly halfway around the would when she was hit with its backside, and now she was furious.

    It was the first time in a very long time that she had actually been injured, having suffered multiple broken bones from the hit.

    Her mana began rapidly exploding off of her and forming into hundreds of circles in the air which quickly turned into giant sunflowers.

    Thening down from the sky was her giant tree named Deku, and its leaves were pulsating with light.

    The flowers soon started doing the same, and the hundreds of them began growing brighter and brighter until they started firing off beams of light.<sub></sub>

    These beams streaked through the air and crashed down all around the Doomsday Worm, boring holes into its body and blowing it apart.

    It was a devastating attack that would have been simr to if Marcus was able to release thousands of his quasar st spell at one time.

    Though Ja was not quite done yet as a massive flower had formed on her giant floating tree, and it unleashed a beam farrger than the rest and easilyparable to the one the Dread Burrower could produce.

    In fact, it opened its mouth and returned fire and the two beams hit each other and caused an earth-shattering explosion equivalent to multiple hydrogen bombs being set off.

    Her fury beginning to wane now that she had unleash a massive attack, she looked around at the others to assess any damages that they might have sustained.

    But instead of seeing anyone else missing, she now noticed a new man on the battlefield who was embracing Gwyneira who had taken humanoid form.

    Still, the brief calm did notst long as the Doomsday Worm sent out its tendrils to attack the insufferable people that were attacking it.

    ˇ°Why donˇŻt you just die.ˇ± Boreas said as her flicked his arm forward.

    He sent out a barrage of huge wind des that were each over a mile long and they ripped through the monsterˇŻs tendrils and tore apart its body.

    It was an impressive disy of power that had even Ja surprised. She quickly appraised Boreas and looked at him with a stunned expression.

    ˇ°Level ny-five.ˇ± She said in a daze.

    It was very rare for her to find people higher level than she was, but here one was and seemingly to help them out in this fight.

    ˇ°That thing is stupidly tough isnˇŻt it.ˇ± Boreas mumbled seeing the Dread Burrower already putting itself together.

    ˇ°Yes, it certainly is.ˇ± Gwyneira said as she pushed away from him and looked up with a smile.

    Flying over to the two of them, the remaining archmages and knights kneeled in the sky to both Boreas and Gwyneira.

    As the elites of the kingdom, they naturally knew that these two were the first king and queen of Borealia, the kingdom that they served.

    ˇ°What orders of do you have for us?ˇ± Darius said directly to Boreas.

    Though the cool moment of the knights and mages kneeling was swiftly interrupted, as Retharin, Ardea, Ja, and Asher who had managed to recover himself with an elixir came flying over as well.

    ˇ°And who might you be?ˇ± Ja said with a bit of apprehension in her voice.

    She was still not sure whether Boreas was on their side even though all the signs pointed to him being so.

    Luckily with him having just dealt a devastating blow to the Doomsday Worm they were all able to have a few moments of reprieve, and Boreas said, ˇ°I do not mind answering that question, but I have some of my own. How about we move away for a bit, and we can talk.ˇ±

 Chapter 607 Marcusâ€™ Return

    Marcus sat with bated breaths as he watched the battle unfold in front of him.

    When it looked like Gwyneira was about to be killed, he tried once again to return to the battlefield but to no avail.

    It seemed that the administrator was going to keep him here in this sectioned off space until she deemed it okay for him to leave.

    In contrast to Marcus, she had been watching the battle in a very rxed manner. Makingments such as ˇ°Oh that was a pretty good moveˇ±, to ˇ°Looks like that one is going to die.ˇ±

    However, when Boreas arrived, Marcus felt a sudden sense of relief seeing such a capable fighter join the battlefield and save Gwyneira.

    ˇ°Oh, looks like it will not be as interesting from here on out. That man is just too strong, along with everyone else there they will probably win eventually.ˇ± The administrator said as she slumped over in her chair.<sub>.</sub>

    Obviously, she had been enjoying watching the battle, but with Boreas there now it seemed likely that they were going to win.

    Of course, Marcus had already realized by now that the administrator was trying to rile him up with herments. She honestly did not care what was happening and was more interested in how he would react to her tantments about his friends and allies dying.

    ˇ°Well, I think I have kept you long enough. It should be safe for you to return now and give your friends and allies a bit of peace of mindˇ± The administrator said.

    Marcus quickly opened his status window and saw that the ˇ°Return Nowˇ± button was usable again.

    Though before he could press it, the administrator spoke up and said onest thing, ˇ°Oh and since I kept you here against your will, I will give you a bit of advice. You and your allies will have an incredibly hard time winning unless you cut off its power supply.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Marcus looked over at the administrator in confusion upon hearing this.

    He was not sure what she was trying to tell him, since it was pretty obvious that something was giving the Dread Burrower power. But if any of them knew what exactly it was, naturally they would have already targeted it.

    ˇ°Well, if you want to think about it, you are wee to stay tell the end of your countdown. I imagine that is the minimum amount of time it will take them to win now.ˇ± The administrator said before going back to watching the show.

    ˇ°Yeah, I do not want to stay here a moment longer.ˇ± Marcus said as he hit the return now button.

    His vision then went dark for a moment before he appeared right above arge crater in what was a barren wastnd.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Looks like it really does bring me back to the exact spot where I died.ˇŻ Marcus observed.

    Except while he may have been where he had blown himself up in order to deal a devastating blow against Doomsday Worm, the battle had already moved away from this ce.

    ˇ®Hm looks like I am not suffering any negative effects from my use of soul burst or soul devour even though I am back. Still looks like soul burst is on cooldown and deny destruction will not be able to activate for another year.ˇŻ

    Marcus, once he had finished looking over his status headed in the direction of the Doomsday Worm.

    With its enormous size even after shrinking a bit, it was certainly not difficult to find.

    Along the way he thought about what the administrator had told him and tried to figure out what was giving the Dread Burrower its seemingly endless power.

    Even a normal regeneration skill took a great deal of stamina and mana to use, and it had been shredded and blown apart more time than he could count and had bounced back every time without fail.

    Yet as he thought about it more, he vividly remembered one of the instances where it recovered right after he had blown himself up.

    ˇ®Yes, that must be it! But how are we even going to stop it from continuing to do that?ˇŻ

    Having found some sort of conclusion to the Dread BurrowerˇŻs seemingly endless life, Marcus made haste to catch up to everyone else.

    When he was finally in sight of them, he saw that they were having a heated discussion on what to do.

    But once everyone saw him approaching, they were all stunned silent, since they were certain that Marcus had destroyed himself in a sacrificial attack to give them a chance for victory.

    When he finally made it into a reasonable speaking distance, Gwyneira was the first one to speak up and said, ˇ°Marcus, how are you alive?! There was not any trace of you left.ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulders like his dying had not been a big deal, he said, ˇ°Oh I have a skill that lets me survive being destroyed, though it only works once before having a decently long cooldown. I mean no way I would have blown myself up otherwise.ˇ±

    Marcus then beganughing trying to pass his death off like a joke, but for everyone else there had really believe he was gone.

    ˇ°You know you could have told us something like that before you did something so stupid.ˇ± Ardea said as she punched Marcus in the arm.

    Now that he was back and apparently all of their grief and worry were for nothing, a lot of the people that knew Marcus were angry with him.

    This was mostly Gwyneira, Aria, Retharin, and Ardea, who were certainly giving him a hard time.

    ˇ°Okay I should have told at least one of you about the skill, but I have at least told Mraz so I am sure you would have found out even if I had waited toe back.ˇ± Marcus said in his defense. ˇ°Anyway, we have more pressing matters to attend to. The Doomsday Worm is getting closer to Loursend as we speak, and I am sure just even the shockwaves of this battle have damaged the city. While I was recovering, I had some time to think, and I finally figured out a way for us to beat this thing. But it is going to take all of us working together.ˇ±

 Chapter 608 Final Battle with the Doomsday Worm

    With everyoneˇŻs undivided attention, Marcus exined what he had figured out about the Dread Burrower and the best way to stop it.

    When he was finished all of the others had pensive looks on their faces, and Boreas said, ˇ°You are correct that I might be able to do as you asked, but might I ask you introduce yourself briefly to me, since I appear to be the only who does not know you?ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus briefly introduced himself very hastily, telling Boreas that he was likewise from Earth, and that through some rather unique circumstance, he had ended up a great spirit and was currently working with Borealia that he saw as his new home.

    ˇ°Of course, I am sure you have many more questions for me as do I for you, but for now we have more pressing matters to deal with.ˇ±

    With a very curious expression Boreas looked at Marcus intently, obviously wanting to learn more about him. But in the end, he did know to prioritize their current predicament, and said, ˇ°Very well then, we should all get started.ˇ±

    Now that they had a solid n worked out and enough power to get the job done, everyone headed out for the final battle with Dread Burrower.

    Quickly they raced through the sky towards it, as the enormous monster continued its path of destruction towards Loursend.

    Unfortunately, as they all knew it was probably toote to save the majority of the city, since it was already in range of the monsterˇŻs far-reaching tendrils, and the shockwaves from their battle had likely caused numerous earthquakes that had damaged the city.

    Still, it was their job to stop this monster from causing any more damage than it already had.

    When they arrived in its way, everyone took their positions as had been discussed in theirtest strategy meeting.

    Tensions were rising in the air, as they had nned and attack time and time again only to be rebuffed each time while slowly losing more people.

    However, this time things were hopefully going to be different, and they would finally be able to end this menace.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Aurora Force.ˇ±

    Starting the attack off with her strongest move, Gwyneira began spinning round and unleashed numerous streaks of glowing bluish green light that fell down upon the Doomsday Worm and began freezing it in brutally cold ice.

    Immediately the powerful monster began thrashing about and trying to break the ice away, while firing off numerous beams from its body to attack those that were once again in its way.

    But it was still restrained for a number of seconds, and in this time Ardea dropped down from the sky as she began pulsing with a colossal amount of mana.

    As she fell the glow around her body began to turn a shade of orange, and when she hit the earth, she unleashed her powerful magic attack.

    ˇ°Tectonic Fury.ˇ±

    As Ardea crashed into the ground the world around started to shake violently and hundreds of fissures spread through the earth.

    This helped to further destabilize the Dread Burrower, and as the ground became unstable and cracked away, it revealed the source of the gigantic wormˇŻs unlimited power.

    Deep under the ground it had thousands of its tendrils buried, and they were draining the life from below the surface of the world.

    So long as it was connected to the ground it was practically unkible, as it had a limitless supply of power to continue fueling its godlike regeneration.

    With its weakness now exposed, Marcus along with the kingdomˇŻs strongest knights and archmages went into action and started severing the tendrils that were embedded deeply into the earth.<sub></sub>

    Of course, the Dread Burrower tried to dislodge its body from the ice Gwyneira had engulfed it in, but even a monster as strong as it was struggling to break free from a powerful supreme skill all in one go.

    Though, after around thirty seconds it had managed to mostly free itself and was getting ready to counterattack.

    Before it could, however, a massive glowing magic circle appeared above it and innumerous vines descend from the wide ranged nature spell that Ja had cast.

    These vines began grabbing ahold of the monster and restrained it once again while also pulling it up off of the ground.

    To aid in her efforts Ardea mmed her hands into the ground, and hundreds of pirs of earth the size of skyscrapers began sting up form under the Dread Burrower and forcing it higher.

    Everyone then backed off a bit as it thrashed around and tried tosh out at them while firing beams in all directions.

    JaˇŻs vines began rapidly being cut away and ArdeaˇŻs pirs started to copse under the Doomsday WormˇŻs power.

    Except before the Dread Burrower could fall all the way back to the ground, the final stage of their n started.

    Retharin and Boreas began flying around in a wide circle, and a beyond massive twister began to form under theirbined power. Causing the colossal form of the Doomsday Worm to begin being lifted into the air.

    The center of its body went first as the funnel of wind pull it up with enough force to dislodge the from the verynd around it.

    Debris flew all around the area and tore through Dread Burrower asrge chunks of rock and ice whirled around in the twister.<sub></sub>

    Still, even in this situation the monster that was known for its destructive power and durability was not just going to let itself die so easily.

    It could still not use its barrier ability again after Marcus had destroyed it, but there was one ce it could escape to, and almost nothing in the world could stop it once there.

    As its body was slowly lifting higher into the air, it turned its mouth towards the shattered ground and lodged into it.

    Quickly it began trying to burrower into the ground in order to escape.

    It had been drawn to the vast resources of life above the surface of the world, but now that it was close to being beaten, its instincts told it to retreat into its true domain.

    There it could slowly regain its strength by devouring the life beneath the surface of Mirrion, and when it was at full power again it could resurface to devour the lives it had been unable to.

    Slowly but surely as it got its mouth into the ground it was able to pull itself under the surface.

    It seemed that it would be able to escape form the defenders of BorealiaˇŻs final assault. That was, until one man descended from above.

    ˇ°First Form, Tempest Fang.ˇ±

    Flying down from above the tornado that Boreas and Retharin had created, was Asher.

    He was shimmering with an impressive amount of mana and began rapidly spinning around the tornado as he descended, going with the air flow that Boreas and Retharin created for him.

    When he reached the body of the Doomsday Worm her sliced through its flesh with his powerful attack skill and nearly severed its head.

    All of its momentum was immediately stopped as this happened, and its enormous form slowly began to rise once again.

    And before it could attempt any other escape attempts, Ja who had positioned her tree Deku high in the sky, rung the bell atop her scythe and the gargantuan tree sent its roots down towards the Dread Burrower.

    They pierced and wrapped around it, and even while having its life force drained, it pulled up on the monster further wrenching it from the ground,

    Then with one final powerful tug, the Doomsday Worm was pulled away from the surface of Mirrion and began spiraling up into the sky. No longer able to resist to the pull of the tornado that Boreas and Retharin had made.

    When it had beenunched several miles into the sky, the two masters of wind magic stopped their efforts and looked up the unreal sight of a several miles long worm floundering in the sky.

    ˇ°Now hit it with all you have!ˇ± Marcus yelled, signaling the final bombardment.

    sts of mana, spells, and unique skills went flying from everyone as they unleashed their full might on the monster than had given them so much trouble.

    There was no reason to hold back here, for if they failed now, it seemed that there would surely be nothing they could do.

    Swiftly the titanic body of the Doomsday Worm was shred and blown apart as in its current predicament it had not recourse to block their attacks.

    It tried assaulting them with its barrage of beams while also sending down its tendrils, but it could not get a single attack to connect.

    Boreas had created a near imprable dome of wind around them that blocked all outside attack while speeding up any allyˇŻs attacks from within.

    Within just a few the Dread Burrower had been torn asunder in many ces, and while its regeneration held up at first, its unlimited supply of energy was cut off and it quickly burned through its stores.

    Half an hour after their bombardment its regeneration began to slow, and it let out what could only be described as a screech of fear and anger.

    It could feel that it was close to dying and there was seemingly nothing it could do about it.

    ˇ°Miss Ja let us do it now!ˇ± Bores yelled out.

    The n had always been for the two of them to deliver the final blow as the strongestbatants among them.

    ˇ°Dragon Twister!ˇ±

    ˇ°Raging Storm!ˇ±

    Coalescing all of his wind around him, Boreaspressed his power until it fit in the palm of his hand and punched up towards the sky. Creating a dragon made of rapidly spinning wind that shot towards the Doomsday Worm.

    At the same time Ja began pulsing with mana and sent out hundreds of rapid mana shes with her scythe.

    The two attacks began to merge together, and soon a dragon made of wind with numerous spiraling des of mana around it impacted the Doomsday Worm and began tearing its already tattered body into tiny pieces.

    As its body was shredded beyond repair, the monster that was an embodiment of destruction let out a pained cry, right before all semnce of its life vanished and it was ripped entirely apart.

    Only the smallest shreds of its body were left, and as they floated down Marcus and the mages sent up whatever fire magic they could muster into the sky to burn away everything that remained to ash.

    Soon all that was left of the once gigantic monster where now tiny specks, and they floated down towards the earth where its now ashen remains would eventually help to revitalize thend that it had destroyed on its path of death.

 Chapter 610 Devastation After the Battle

    (This chapter was released in the wrong order. The one after it is supposed toe before it. I am sincerely sorry for this mistake and am trying to have it fixed.)

    With Marcus having been given the right to take the Doomsday WormˇŻs magic core, the most immediate problem had been dealt with.

    However, while the few minutes after the initial victory against the cmity of a monster had been joyous as they all celebrated their win, it soon became somber.

    While they had sessfully dealt with what could be considered a near world ending threat, a great deal of damage had been dealt.

    ˇ°As much as I would like for us to hold some sort of celebration after this arduous battle, there is still much for us to do.ˇ± Gwyneira said with a sorrowful look.

    She then turned towards Ardea and Ja, and said, ˇ°Is there any further assistance we can expect from the two of you, or now that the battle has concluded will the two of you be off?ˇ±

    Naturally both of them were not really connected to Borealia in anyway like the rest of them that lived here, so it would have been perfectly reasonable for them to simply leave.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°I will stick around for a bit to revitalize the forest. I simply cannot let such devastation be left unattended in a ce that is mine to protect.ˇ± Ja said with a smile.

    ˇ°I will also help. That things destion extended deep underground as well, and I will do what I can to restore some semnce of life to it.ˇ± Ardea said.

    Thankful for the two grand witches help, Gwyneira bowed her head and thanked them for assisting in helping Borealia out, and that at ater time she would gather appropriate rewards for their cooperation.

    After that she turned to Aria and Darius along with their subordinates and ryed her orders to them.

    ˇ°I very much wish that I could allow all of you sometime off to rest after what has happened here, but there are other matters you must attend to. Head back to the southern border of Tralenstein and defend it from the invadersing from the south. We invested too many resources there to have parts of it sliced away and stolen from us.ˇ±

    Nodding their heads, both Darius and Aria agreed to follow GwyneriaˇŻs orders, and set off towards Tralenstein where they had been fighting beforeing here on an emergency summons.<sub></sub>

    Though as they flew away Aria did look back towards Boreas, a bit of sadness in her eyes as she wished to speak with him after he had been away for a very long time.

    Still, right now there were other priorities than a lengthy chat with family, so Aria continued on with her mages, returning to yet another battlefield.

    ˇ°Marcus could I ask that you head directly for Loursend with me and Boreas. Your healing abilities in all honesty may be the best in the kingdom, and I imagine that there will be numerous people that need your help.ˇ± Gwyneira said with pleading eyes.

    Nodding his head, Marcus of course agreed, saying that as it was still winter, he was more than willing to follow any orders.

    ˇ°As for you Asher and Retharin. There is nothing I require of the two of you, but if you wish to help out in any way, I would be more than happy to have your assistance.ˇ±

    Shaking his head, Retharin said, ˇ°I am afraid I need to go and check on Glenna Reota before doing anything else. It may be a bit of a distance from here, but it is possible that the city took some damage from the far-reaching shockwaves. I also need to make sure that the other beasts and monsters in the mountains have not gotten riled up and have attacked the city. That monsterˇŻs aura was far reaching and could have caused a simr oue as to what happened in the Great Gome Woods before its release.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Having said his piece Retharin turned towards the Verkoudhied Mountains in the distance and flew off towards them.

    ˇ°He does have a good point. If it is fine with you, I can head south and clean up any powerful beasts and monster that might have been fleeing south and could be a threat to this kingdomˇŻs cities.ˇ±

    ˇ°If you do not mind doing that it would be a great help. Again, I would like to thank you for going out of you way to help us when you had little reason.ˇ± Gwyneira said while lowering her head.

    Waving his hand in front of his face, Asher said, ˇ°No I had plenty motivating me. While I may not truly be a resident of your kingdom, it is where I am currently staying. Not to mention that Mrazivy is my disciple, and I would hate for her to lose her home. Oh and of course I am looking forward to the fight you promised me. I know right now is not a good time for that, so once everything has settled down, we can discuss a time and ce.ˇ±

    With what he wanted to say done and having been given an important role to fill, Asher, the sword savant went flying off to the south to take care of any threats that might have popped up in the wake of the Doomsday WormˇŻs presence.

    Finally, Gwyneira turned towards Boreas and said, ˇ°As for you, I assume that you wille with me and help with the situation in Loursend?ˇ±

    Marcus shuddered when Gwyneira said this, as while she was smiling on her face, it certainly did not reach her eyes.

    He had seen this look from his own mother back on Earth a few times and it was always when she was warning his father to get in line or there was going to be trouble.

    Lowering his head, aware that Gwyneira was now upset with him, likely for having been gone for so long, Boreas said, ˇ°Yes I will obviously help out in any way I can.ˇ±

    ˇ°Good than let us go quickly. Time is of the essence.ˇ± Gwyneira said as she locked one arm with Marcus and the other with Boreas.

    She then looked up at him and nodded, and he snapped his fingers in response.

    In and instant they were swept up in a gust of wind and went flying at an impable pace.

    It only took them a couple of seconds to then arrive above Loursend and see what remained of the city.

    Looking around Marcus could almost not believe how bad it was, as therge and imposing city that used to be fully of life had beenrgely reduced to rubble.

    Its walls had copsed, and many buildings were nothing but rubble and splinters of wood.

    The streets were cracked and upturned in many ces, and numerous fires burned all over the city.

    It truly looked like a hellscape and reminded Marcus of how the royal capital of Tralenstein appeared after the king blew it up in ast desperate attempt to destroy the liberation army.

    ˇ°Boreas please deal with the fires first and then beganbing through the rubble and looking for survivors. Marcus, I want you toe with me. We are going to check if any of the cityˇŻs official are alive and get relief efforts going. I will be assigning you to head up a triage center and heal any of those that are brought to you. While you both do that, I will begin getting the people out of the dungeon. Now let us go and clean up the devastation wrought by that monster.ˇ±

 Chapter 609 Rewards After the Battle

    As the remains of the Dread Burrower fell from the sky proving that the threat had been destroyed, everyone received at least one notification from the system.

    For Boreas and Ja each one of them leveled up once for gaining the achievement of defeating a doomsday ss monster, while others of lowers levels gained multiple levels.

    ˇ®You have leveled up to level 53.ˇŻ

    ˇ®You have leveled up to level 54.ˇŻ

    ˇ®You have leveled up to level 55.ˇŻ

    Marcus received a continuous stream of level up messages, far more than he ever had.

    Before the most he had leveled up at once was three levels, but he continued to level up nine times before eventually stopping.

    He now sat at level sixty-one and had just experienced and unprecedented amount of growth in power.<sub>.</sub>

    Still, he had kind of hoped her would get more since he had just helped beat a monster over forty-levels higher than himself, but he received experience equal to his contributions.

    However, while he was thinking that everything was done, and he was about to go over and talk to the others, he received two other notifications.

    ˇ®You have acquired the title, Savior. Unique skill, Shield of the Just, acquired.ˇŻ

    ˇ®You have received a new message from the administrator.ˇŻ

    Hearing thesest two notifications Marcus was baffled by the first and grimaced at the second.

    Unfortunately, he did not really have the time to look at them right now as everyone else was gathering around a specific spot.

    Looking towards them all he could see that they were looking up, and as he turned his gaze that way, he could see a glimmering object falling from the sky.<sub></sub>

    For a moment he thought that maybe they had not seeded and that this might be some sort of revival skill that the Dread Burrower had, but he quickly shook that thought off.

    If it had truly not died than he would not have gotten all of the level ups and other notifications.

    Heading on over to join the others, Marcus looked straight up as well, and saw that what was falling was actually a huge magic core.

    It easily had a diameter of around three hundred feet and was by far the biggest core he had ever seen.

    Though inparison to the monster it had been a part of, in all actuality it was quite small, but it was still a massive core.

    Eventually when it had finally made it into range of their group, Ardea went up and grabbed it out of the sky and brought it back down.

    Everyone then looked around at each other as they all internally thought about what to do with this core.<sub></sub>

    There was no doubt it was very high quality, and not something that could be acquired normally.

    ˇ°So, who is going to take it?ˇ± Asher said, not seeming interested himself.

    Naturally he did not believe that his contributions to the fight were enough to warrant him taking something this valuable.

    He looked towards both Boreas and Ja who had delivered the finishing blow and were no doubt the reasons for their sess.

    They were both the only ones here that had been over level ny, and it only seemed naturally that one of them should receive the Dread BurrowerˇŻs core.

    Yet, Gwyneira instead looked towards someone else, and said, ˇ°I believe that we should give it to Marcus. While he is the lowest level of all of us here, there is no doubt he has done the most to secure us this victory. He is the one that brought us all together, and I can say that many of us would be dead if not for his interventions. And let us not forget his sacrifice. He destroyed himself to give us a chance to fight back when the Doomsday Worm had erected its unbreakable barrier. Without him, we may have been unable to win, and it is certain that many more people would have died.ˇ±

    After Gwyneira brought this up, everyone began thinking back to what Marcus had done during this battle.

    Truthfully, he had brought them all together as the first one to discover the Dread Burrower.

    He used all of his connections that he had built up to reach out to those powerful enough to actuallybat this threat.

    Along with that his sacrificial attack had been one of the most impactful throughout the entire multiple day battle.

    ˇ°I am willing to agree with Gwyneira on this matter. What about you miss Ja?ˇ± Boreas said, ceding his right to the Dread BurrowerˇŻs magic core and falling in line with his wife.

    Nodding her head and smiling at Marcus, she said, ˇ°I concur. We have done a great deal, but I do not think anyone did more than Marcus here.ˇ±

    With the two strongest people in agreement, everyone else gave their support toward Marcus, believing he was deserving of this impably high-grade magic core.

    Marcus for his part was stunned by this, not expecting to have been given something so valuable.

    This core could be used to make an incredibly powerful item, and he figured that those at the higher levels would really want it.

    Still, he was not going to refuse it, as his chances to receive a core even near as powerful as this one might note for a very long time.

    ˇ°Very well, if you think that I am deserving of this core I will happily take it.ˇ± Marcus said unable to contain a big smile appearing on his face.

    He was already imagining using this to create something that was beyond powerful and could not wait to get back to his workshop and begin preparations.

    ˇ°Here you go.ˇ± Ardea said as she handed over the core.

    Of course, there was no way Marcus could just lug this thing around, so after emptying a few misceneous things out of his item box, he stored the huge magic core inside it.

    ˇ®Well, I am pretty much out of room in my item box now, but I can easily rece everything I had to remove.ˇŻ

 Chapter 611 Triage

    ˇ°Your highness we have another one.ˇ±

    Turning his head towards the entrance of the emergency shelter her was posted in Marcus looked at the person in the arms of one of the cityˇŻs gauds.

    ˇ°Bring over to me. I will fix them up.ˇ±

    Leaving the patient he had already stabilized, Marcus moved over to the person that had just been brought in and grimaced.

    They were a young girl of around maybe twelve or thirteen, and she had burns and broken bones all over her body.

    Her face was not even recognizable with how badly it had been damaged.

    Truly it was a horrible sight to see, and it was not the first or thest that he was going to have to be dealing with in the after math of the Dread BurrowerˇŻs rampage.<sub>.</sub>

    Holding his hands out her activated his spirit healing and began restoring this young girl back to health.

    It took him around twenty seconds, but he managed to heal all of her life threating wounds, and then passed her off to the other relief workers, before moving onto the next person that needed his help or was going to die.

    ˇ®Now I almost wish I had not agreed to this.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    After he and Gwyneira had gone towards the viceroyˇŻs castle, they organized the people that had been sheltered there and got to work on preparing relief efforts.

    Marcus with his healing abilities had been put in charge of a triage tent where the people with the worst injuries that were still alive were brought to him.

    It had already been nearly a day since he had taken up this post, and while it had started out slow, once the knights and soldiers who were left in the city got to work on bringing people here, he was met with a flood of dying people that needed his help.<sub></sub>

    At best the small group of other healers he had working alongside him could fixcerations and minor broken bones, but anything like a destroyed organ or bones that had shattered into hundreds of pieces were left up to him.

    Still, he did what he could running around like a whirlwind and applying healing to those that needed it.

    So far, he had prevented around six hundred people who were on the verge of death from dying, and more were constantly being brought in.

    ˇ°Please someone help my child!ˇ± A woman screamed as she ran into the tent.

    In her hand was a bloody bundle of cloth, and wrapped up inside was a young boy who could not have been older than six.

    Marcus seeing this practically warped over to her and reached out to heal the boy.<sub></sub>

    Yet before he did could anything he stopped and gritted his teeth as he tried to keep his face from contorting into a grimace.

    ˇ°I am sorry, your son is already dead. There is nothing I can do.ˇ±

    Marcus then moved away, heading to a living patient who needed his help while feeling a heavy burden on his soul.

    This was not the first child that had been brought to him already dead, and even from a distance he could hear the heart shattering screams of the desperate mother.

    Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do in this situation but trudge on.

    He did not have the power to bring back the dead no matter how much he wanted to.

    He had even at one point seen if he could level up his healing magic to see if he could get the spell that could bring people back to the dead within a minute of passing. But even after all the leveling up he had done; he did not have enough skill points.

    At best he could have raised it to level eight and that would not have been able to help him with his predicament.

    ˇ®I just have to do what I can.ˇŻ Marcus told himself over and over again.

    Days went by as he tirelessly healed people.

    At this point he had nearly exhausted all of his spiritual energy that he needed to use his spirit healing specter power.

    Still, he did could not slow down as an endless stream of people were brought to him for healing.

    Of course, he used his healing magic as well, and after performing triage for three days straight it had leveled up to level six.

    This gave him ess to stronger healing magic at the very least, which he was able to use to supplement his ever-lowering spiritual energy that could not keep up.

    ˇ®Greater Recover.ˇŻ

    Using his recently acquired tier six spell, Marcus knitted a soldierˇŻs shattered ribs back together, and then moved onto the next person.

    ˇ®Everyone right now is out of danger of dying at least. So, I should start healing those with the worst injures like the ones who are missing limbs or other parts like their eyes.ˇŻ

    Heading over towards the area where those that had been horribly mutted were, Marcus wanted to finish their healing and get them back to full health.

    But before he could Gwyneira who had juste by after having been gone for many days, saw him and put a hand on his shoulder.

    ˇ°Marcus you do not look good which I imagine is pretty difficult for you to do. I can tell from here that you have exhausted your mana and spiritual energy many times over. It is time that you take a break. Everyone here who was on the verge of dying has been healed to the point of being able to survive. If you do not get some rest now, when the next wave of peoplee in, you will not be able to help them.ˇ±

    Sighing Marcus looked around at all the people he had already kept from dying and nodded his head.

    ˇ°Yeah, I guess I could use a little break. Even if my physical stamina pretty much cannot wear out, I could use a few moments to let my mana and spiritual energy recover.ˇ±

 Chapter 612 The Days After Doomsday

    Taking GwyneriaˇŻs advice to rest, Marcus headed to a room that had been set up for him and promptlyid down atop the bed.

    A couple of attendants that had been assigned to him tried to help him change his clothes and take a bath, but he refused and sent them out, as he was really not in the mood to deal with something so annoying right now.

    ˇ®I wish Gwyneira had not told everyone that I was the honorary prince recently given my title by the king. I know she did it so that I could go over any other noblesˇŻ head while doing my job here, but I really do not care to be treated so cautiously and courteously by everyone.ˇŻ

    Letting out a sigh while rubbing his face Marcus was feeling the emotional exhaustion of thest week catch up with him.

    Not only had he practically been fighting nonstop for multiple days, but when the battle eventually ended, he had immediately gone into healing the survivors in Loursend which had all but fallen into ruin.

    When he closed his eyes, he could see countless people that were maimed beyond recognition, as well as those that had already long been dead when brought to him.

    There was simply no way he was going to be able to sleep like that, though luckily, he really did not need to sleep in order to recovery.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Hopefully hearing her voice will calm me down.ˇŻ

    Taking out his sending stone, Marcus contacted Mrazivy for the first time in many days, now that he had a moment to do so.

    He was certain that she had already been apprised of the situation, but he just wanted to speak with her personally.

    It did not take long after he initiated the call that it was picked up, and a panicked voice came out from the other end.

    ˇ°Marcus are you doing alright? I heard that you had survived the battle, but I have not heard from you in days.ˇ±

    Upon hearing his fianc¨¦ˇŻs voice, Marcus felt an almost immediate sense of relief was over him, and he said, ˇ°I am doing fine now Mraz. It has been rough, but everything is progressing, and it could have been a lot worse.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    After giving her some initial reassuring words, he moved on to telling her the details of the battle.

    He made sure to tell her everything he could, not wanting her to find outter that he had tired to hide how terribly hard the battle was and what dangers had urred.

    Though when he got to the point where he told her about his sacrificial attack, he could hear her crying on the other end.

    ˇ°I am sorry that I had to do something like that, but it was the only way to guarantee we could have a shot at winning. And anyway, it was a good opportunity for me to test out my revival unique skillˇ± Marcus said, trying to convey his reasoning.

    Of course, that did not really help Mrazivy out in the slightest, and after a few minutes of crying, she said, ˇ°Never do anything like that again. I do not think I could handle being told that you blew yourself up another time.ˇ±

    However, as much as Marcus wanted to tell her he would not do something like that again, he could not.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Mraz, I wish I could promise you that, but I canˇŻt. If it every came down to it that I had to do the same thing to save you or Lilia, I already know I would be more than willing to sacrifice myself.ˇ±

    For nearly a minute all that came from the sending stone was silence, before Mrazivy said, ˇ°Then I just to need to make sure that I am strong enough to make sure you never have to do something like that.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus could hear the love in her voice, and thanked her forforting him.

    The two of them contoured to talk for around three hours, until one of the attendants assigned to Marcus came in and said that he was needed again in the triage ward.

    ˇ°I have to go now Mraz, but I will call you again when I have the chance. Hopefully, once everything is wrapped up here, we can just rx for a bit together.ˇ±

    After giving her agreement to MarcusˇŻ proposal, the two of them said ast quick goodbye and he went back to healing the numerous injured people whose lives had been upturned in the wake of the Doomsday Worm.

    ˇ­

    Weeks went by as Loursend was put back in order. The rubble of copsed buildings and the bodies of the dead were cleared away in order for the reconstruction process to begin.

    Unfortunately, the cityˇŻs poption was now down to only around thirty-five percent of what it had been before, with the majority of the survivors having been those that hid away in the Ocean Bluff Temple as Marcus had rmended.

    Those that had fled or stayed hold up in the city experienced an unimaginable death toll. Either by being caught up in the shockwaves of the battle or being absorbed by the Doomsday WormˇŻs tendrils.

    Right now, only a few dozen buildings still remined standing in the once prosperous city, with the temple to the great spirit of water, and the viceroys castle begin the only two to have escaped undamaged.

    The atmosphere was very somber, and many people walked around what was now a tent city in search of their missing rtives. Hoping to somehow find their families after the dislocation caused by this catastrophe.

    As for Marcus, once the first two weeks had ended, he had healed everyone that needed his help to recover and was now back to his previous job as a cargo ne.

    With his now recently upgraded extrarge item box he had eight hundred thousand cubic feet of extra dimensional storage to work with and it was all being put to use.

    And while it had certainly cost him a decent amount of skill points, he now pretty much never had to worry about running out of storage space again.

    ˇ®Okay that is thest of it.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he emptied out onestrge crate filled with food.

    He had been flying all around the kingdom picking up emergency supplies form dozens of nearby cities that were offering surplus food and clothing to be taken to Loursend.

    Yet once he had finished thisst drop off, he received a call from Gwyneira.

    ˇ°Marcus we have done the work that we need to here. I thank you for all you have done, and I am sure you want to rest for a while, but there are a few more things that we need to take care of. The officials from the adventurers guild want to speak with all those involved in the battle. but more importantly Boreas wants to speak with both you and Ja as people originally from Earth, now that the worst of the damages have been taken care of. So, hurry up and head back to the royal capital, and in three days we will be discus everything that needs to be said at the castle. Until then you are free to as you like.ˇ±

 Chapter 613 Retuning Back Home

    With GwyneriaˇŻs permission to leave, Marcus immediately took off into the sky and began flying back towards the royal capital.

    He had not seen Lilia or Mrazivy for quite some time now, and he really just wanted to get back to his rxing normal daily life.

    ˇ®If I never have to go through anything like this again for the rest of eternity, I will be more than happy.ˇŻ He thought as he left what remained of Loursend behind without a second nces.

    While he had gone through a simr reconstruction phase after the destruction of the capital city in Tralenstein, there were many differences.

    For one, in Tralenstein he had not had to deal with anyrge groups of injured people, or many dead people for that matter.

    Most of the cityˇŻs poption had been healed or brought back to life by TesiaˇŻs miracle of life spell, and so while the city itself was destroyed, the majority of its people were able to bounce back much easier.

    In Loursend no such miracle happened, leaving so many people with hollow eyes in the wake of the death and destruction of their city, and Marcus had been at the center of the worst of it.

    Still, he had saved a lot of people and done good work that he could be proud of and knowing this gave him at least a bit offort.

    ˇ®I cannot wait to get back home. I do not care if it exhausts my spiritual energy, I am going full throttle.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Using all of his power he flew at faster speeds than he ever had before, using his recently heavily buffed stats to travel faster than six hundred miles an hour, and flying directly towards the royal capital.

    In only a few hours he had finished the journey back to the royal capital which would have taken the average person at least three weeks by carriage if they were rushing.

    Quickly he flew into the city and went directly for his home in the inner city.

    When he was nearby, he dropped into a quiet alley and reappeared in his form as Irene.

    Naturally he could not just appear inside his estate less he cause a panic for his guards and maids.

    Walking up to the front gate Marcus saw two of his hired guards standing outside and keeping a sharp eye out for trouble.

    ˇ°I have returned, please open the gate.ˇ± Marcus said abruptly.

    The two guards looked towards him, and their eyes went wide as they realized that their employer had just returned.<sub></sub>

    Normally it would be unthinkable for a noble to just be roaming around on foot and show up after being gone for over a month, but Marcus had already done this a number of times so the guards were at least prepared for it.

    ˇ°Certainly Lady Geist. Just a moment.ˇ±

    Quickly the gates were opened and the maid on duty at the guard station came to meet him.

    ˇ°I am d to see that you have returned and are in good health Lady Geist.ˇ± Violet said as she bowed deeply.

    Violet then guided Marcus to down the road to his mansion, knowing full well already that he did not care to wait for a carriage to be brought like most nobles would.

    When he arrived, ra was there waiting for him, having already been notified of his return.

    ˇ°Wee back Lady Irene.ˇ± She said with a bow.

    Smiling Marcus told her to raise her head and asked, ˇ°Is Lilia here?ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Unfortunately, ra shook her head and said, ˇ°She is not here at the moment. I believe she is currently visiting the estate of her friend Lord ric.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, he thanked ra for the information, told her that he did not need anything else for now, and that he woulde back down after dinner.

    Once he was alone in his room, he called up Lilia with their paired sending stones and told her that he had returned.

    Lilia hearing this told him that she would be right over and cut off the connection before Marcus could tell her to just continue having fun with her friends.

    ˇ®Well, I would like to see her anyway.ˇŻ he thought with a smile.

    Next, he contacted Mrazivy who likewise said that she would be over posthaste, and in the background, he could hear her running around to get ready.

    Now that he had contacted both Lilia and Mrazivy, Marcus sat around and looked over his status which had recently changed dramatically while he waited for them to arrive.

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 32/21

    Race: Unbound Ghost, Great Spirit of Light and Darkness

    Titles: Baress, Great Spirit, Prince, Savior

    Level: 61

    HP: 112610/112610

    MP: 65060/65060

    STR: 4558 (+1140)

    AGL: 4399 (+1320)

    VIT: 3274 (+819)

    INT: 5205 (+1301)

    SPR: 5734 (+1434)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 726

    Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse, Greatest Potential

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, Soul Devour, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness, False Status, Deny Destruction, Sound Mind, Shield of the Just

    Skills: Extra Large Item Box, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 7, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 7, Magic Cirction Lvl 7, Iron Magic Lvl 7, Disassembly Lvl 6, Stealth Lvl 5, Lightning Magic Lvl 6, Creature Appraisal Lvl 6, Fire Magic Lvl 6, Danger Sense Lvl 6, Darkvision Lvl 5, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 7, Healing Magic Lvl 6, Mana Regeneration Lvl 7, Speed Burst Lvl 6, Mana Body Lvl 7, Powerful sh Lvl 5, Physical Resistance Lvl 6, Forge Lvl 7, Trap Sensing Lvl 3, Dark Magic Lvl 7, Light Magic Lvl 7, Driving Lvl 4, Cooking Lvl 6, Cleaning Lvl 3, Soul Regeneration Lvl 6, Life Sense Lvl 5, Enhanced Vision Lvl 5, Dancing Lvl 5, Mana Barrier Lvl 7, Perforation Strike Lvl 4, Grand Swing Lvl 3, Magic Resistance Lvl 7 (Maxed), Telepathy Lvl 7 (Maxed), Death Dance Lvl 7 (Maxed), Mana Thief Lvl 6, Vorpal Fang Lvl 6

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying, Spirit Portal, Summon Spirits, Ruler of Light, Ruler of Darkness, Confer Blessing

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows, Spirit Healing, Spiritual Reinforcement

 Chapter 614 Status Check Over, and Lilia Predicament

    Finally having time to look over his status in depth for the first time since the defeat of the Dread Burrower, Marcus looked at the details of the new abilities he had obtained and the skills that ha developed up.

    The first thing he came to was the new title that he had obtained, which was called savior.

    From what he read he immediately realized just how powerful of a title that it was.

    It not only gave him a seven percent boost to his stats, but also gave him the unique skill Shield of the Just.

    Quickly scrolling down past his now much higher stats, he went right for his new unique skill and read what it did.

    ˇ®Wow, now that is impressive.ˇŻ

    After looking over tis details Marcus was blown away by the power this unique skill had.

    Unlike what he thought it would do, it did not actually create some type of shield he could use like LyraˇŻs Reflector Shield unique skill.

    It created a sort of barrier around him that gave him heavy resistance to all types of attacks and even reflected a certain amount of energy from blows that would connect with him.

    This could turn an attack that would have taken his head off into just a scratch, so its power was undoubtably useful.

    Along with its defensive abilities it also increased his regeneration and mana recovery rate by four times, allowing him to fight harder in every aspect.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®It is too bad about its conditions though.ˇŻ

    The only problem Marcus could find with his new unique skill was that it was not the easiest to use.

    In order to activate the skill, he either had to be defending himself or someone else, and it could not be used if he was the aggressor in a fight.

    Also, it would be unable to be activated in a fight where the opposing personcked any malice, so it was useless in practice matches or tournament battles, unless the person he was fighting truly wanted to cause him harm.

    ˇ®Still when it counts its powers are very useful, and it can be used one a day for forty minutes, so if I need it, I know it can be counted on.ˇŻ

    Once he had finished familiarizing himself with his new unique skill, he scrolled down to his normal skills.

    Looking through them he found that there were not any new additions, but arge majority of them had leveled up right after the fight with the Doomsday Worm.

    All of his magic skills were now at lest level six, and light, darkness, and iron had already reach level seven.

    This gave him a number of new spells at his disposal, and while he knew their names and generally what they did already just from the systemˇŻs information, he had not tested them out yet.

    ˇ®Best to hold off on that for a while though. Tier six and seven spells typically have huge ranges of effect and I do not want to blow up part of the city.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    After he looked over his magic skills, he skimmed through his recover skills and found that they had all gone up a level or two as well, as did the skills granted to him by the mythic spirit gem.

    ˇ®Well, this is definitely going to take some getting used to. I have not had explosive growth like this before, and I have already broken several water sses since increasing my stats as my strength score is much higher now.ˇŻ

    Sighing, Marcus thought about how much trouble it was going to be to get used to his new far greater power and figure out how much he needed to restrain himself in order to not crumble the world around him.

    Having finished looking through his new title, unique skill, and the advancements of all of his normal skills, Marcus moved onto thest change that came from his mass level up.

    He had received a new specter power after quite some time, and when he read what it did, he was quite surprised to see its effects.

    His new specter power called spiritual enchantment increased his spiritual energy by two times and allowed him to use it to further enhance himself.

    Finishing up looking over the details of his new status after leveling up nine times all at once, Marcus was certainly very enthusiastic to try everything out.

    Not only had a great number of his skills leveled up, but he also got a new unique skill and specter power that were both very strong.

    ˇ®Hm, though testing out Shield of the Just is not going to be the easiest, since I cannot use it freely. I guess I will just have to wait until the next time I am attacked by someone or something.ˇŻ

    With nothing better to Marcus opened the skill page in his status and began scrolling through what skills he could purchase.<sub></sub>

    He now had more skill points than he ever had at one time before and wanted to see what he might be able to get.

    ˇ®Maybe it is time to go with the stat buffing skills. I mean, you can never go wrong with just having higher stats.ˇŻ

    Marcus quickly found each of the five skills that boosted an individual stat and contemted which ones he should get based on their usefulness and cost.

    Yet before he could purchase any of the new skills he had his eyes on, there was a knock on the door, followed by ra saying, ˇ°Lady Irene. Lady Lilia has just returned and will be arriving at the front entrance in just a couple of minutes.ˇ±

    Hearing that his sister had just arrive, Marcus closed his status window, practically forgetting that he was about to purchase a couple new skills.

    Swiftly he opened the door he saw ra standing there waiting, and he told her to go and get the pallor ready with tea and snacks and that he would go and meet Lilia personally.

    Rushing down the stairs he waited by the front door until he saw LiliaˇŻs carriage arrive.

    Naturally he was feeling quite excited to see her again after so long, especially after how difficult thest month had been.

    In fact, he could not even wait for her toe inside and left the mansion to go and greet her as she was getting out.

    ˇ°Lilia I am d to see you again. Let us head inside and we can discuss what has happened and what will be happening in the immediate future.ˇ± Marcus said with arge smile on his face.

    Just seeing his little sister again brought a good deal of ease to his heart, especially after all of the death and destruction he had witnessed.

    However, Lilia was definitely not acting exactly how she normally would.

    After the two of them had not seen each other for so long she normally would have tackle hugged him and squeezed with enough force to break a tigerˇŻs spine.

    But right now, she was just looking down and had not even responded other than nodding her head a bit.

    Marcus seeing this immediately started to be concerned, and said, ˇ°Did something happen with ric? I know you were just with him, so if he did something to you just tell me and I will pay him back tenfold.ˇ±

    Hearing this Lilia snapped out of her stupor and began waving her hands in front of her, while saying, ˇ°Wait no, ric did not do anything bad to me. He had been trying tofort me for what happened.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus said, ˇ°Good. Oh, and I hope you know I was joking about paying him back tenfold. Now let us go inside and talk about what is troubling you. I cannot help if I do not know what is going on. And I promise I will help you.ˇ±

    Leading Lilia into their estateˇŻs parlor, Marcus sat down in one chair in between a table while Lilia sat in the one across form him.

    She truly seemed deeply troubled about something, so after ra had served them tea and cookies, Marcus asked her exactly what the problem was.

    Except before she answered, she looked around awkwardly as if trying to find someway as to not answer this question.

    Eventually though when she saw MarcusˇŻ piercing gaze, she sighed and said, ˇ°I got suspended from the royal academy.ˇ±

    For a moment Marcus was not sure he had heard her correctly, as it seemed sphemous that Lilia would get suspended.

    She was pretty much an honor student that excelled at both academic and practical lessons thanks to her diligent nature, and high level inparison to all of the other students.

    In fact, her physical abilities were likely higher than any of the teachers at the academy, which apparently turned out to be the problem.

    Her ssˇŻsbat instructor had begun to notice that Lilia was not taking their lessons very seriously, and of course why would she.

    She had honed her fighting ability through real battles, while everything they were learning in the ss were hypothetical training scenarios, and the basics to learn skills she already knew.

    Unfortunately, her professor saw Lilia doing her best to hold back from showing off or injuring her ssmates as cking off and began personally pushing her.

    In the end after weeks of frustration he challenged her to a mock battle and came at her with everything he had, which was horrible conduct for a instructor of children.

    In the end Lilia had gotten fed up with this, and finally showcased her really power. Punching the guyˇŻs lights out along with breaking his jaw.

 Chapter 615 Time With Lilia

    After hearing LiliaˇŻs series of events for how she got suspended, Marcus felt a wave of anger and frustration wash over him.

    He was honestly not in the mood to deal with something like this since he had juste back home and was looking to rx peacefully.

    Unfortunately, this was important, as going to school for Lilia was not just for her education, but also so that she could form deeper bonds with her friends.

    ˇ°Okay you do not need to worry Lilia. I am not upset, and I am sure that I can have this fixed and find the root of the problem. I am not sure why yourbat instructor went so hard on you, but from what you told me he seemed a bit too intent on making you angry. Luckily, I will be talking to the kingdomˇŻs top brass soon so I can ask them to help me smooth this over. After what I just did to help out, I am sure that getting your suspension voided will not be much of a problem.ˇ±

    With Marcus confidently saying he would deal with the problem and that he was not angry at her, Lilia let out a deep sigh of relief and tears began welling up in her eyes.<sub>.</sub>

    This was the first time she had gotten in trouble at school, and Marcus had put an emphasis on how important it was for her to be properly educated, so she was certain he was going to be at least a little mad at her, even if it was not entirely her fault.

    ˇ°Now that is enough about that topic. What I want to know about is what you have been up to with your friends, and ric in particr.ˇ± Marcus said with a smirk on his face.

    Feeling his eyes boring into her Lilia, suddenly became flush with embarrassment.

    Seeing this it became apparent to Marcus that something had been happening, and he quickly pressed her for more details, mostly in an attempt to get her mind off her worries about school.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Well, um, ric actually wrote and yed me a song.ˇ± Lilia said her face practically as red as a tomato.

    As Marcus asked more about this song, he found out that it was actually pretty customary in noble society to y a song expressing your feelings to the person that you were courting, and the highest form was topose your own song.

    ˇ®So that is why I kept getting asked questions about what instruments I was good at and if I had yed orposed anything for Mrazivy when I was doing all that socializing as the new honorary prince.ˇŻ

    At this point Lilia honestly understood more about noble society than Marcus did, as he pretty much just had the bare minimum down to get by.<sub></sub>

    Of course, it was not like Mrazivy really adhered to noble etiquette other than in public, so really it was not a necessity to know every little detail.

    ˇ®I am not very good at music so hopefully she will be fine with me notposing a whole song for her.ˇŻ

    Going into detail Marcus asked Lilia what the song was about, but no matter how much he poked and prodded she said that it was private.

    ˇ®Oh well I kind of want to know, but it is fine for her to keep it to herself. I am just d that she does not seem as down now.ˇŻ

    The two of them continued to talk about various things and soon transitioned over to ying a few games that were in the parlor.

    This was the rxing time that Marcus had been looking forward to with his sister, and for at least a few hours they were able to just rx and ignore what was going on in their lives.

    Eventually though, around two hours before dinner, ra came rushing in with an exasperated expression on her face, and said, ˇ°Lady Irene, her highness Mrazivy Borealia is here, and says that you are expecting her.ˇ±

    ˇ®Oops.ˇŻ

    Marcus had meant to tell his staff that Mrazivy wasing over, but he got so caught up with his conversations with Lilia that itpletely slipped his mind.

    ˇ°Ah yes, I am sorry ra, I forgot to mention she would being over. It was an impromptu visit that we only discussed over long-rangemunication a few hours ago. I know this will be a bit of a burden on you, but could you prepare a room for her and have the others get ready to receive her and her attendants.ˇ± Marcus said with an apologetic smile.

    Bowing her head, ra said, ˇ°I can have a room prepared for her, but as you only just arrived today, we have not had time to restock the pantries and fridges. I do not think that we have enough food of quality that would be suitable to serve a member of royalty.ˇ±

    Tapping on his head contemtively, Marcus thought about what to do about this situation.

    ˇ®I am sure that Mraz would be fine with whatever as long as it tasted good, but I suppose it would leave a bad impression on her attendants if we did not serve food fitting of royalty. Thest thing I need is for her guardian knight to hate me even more and give me another lecture.ˇŻ

    Thinking quickly, Marcus came up with an idea for how to fix theirck of quality food due to his abrupt return along with MrazivyˇŻs visit.

    ˇ°ra please tell Mrazivy and her attendants that I am in the bath and will be out shortly to greet them. I know it is a little rude, but it is not like we had a time nned so it should be fine if I am only gone for a few minutes. In that time Lilia, if I could ask you to act as the hostess, that would be very helpful. And while you do that I will go out and grab somethings to cook for our meals.ˇ±

 Chapter 616 Mrazivys Arrival

    After having given his quickly thought up n to ra and Lilia, they both looked at him with different expressions.

    ra just hung her head down, already used to MarcusˇŻ unusualness, as no other noble would suggest sneaking out while royalty wasing over so that he could go buy food.

    As for Lilia, she had a look of fear on her face since Marcus had asked her to act as hostess when she never had before.

    Still, Marcus figured this was the best n in order to not have to either wait an especially long time to serve dinner or serve something that would not be considered appropriate for someone of MrazivyˇŻs status.

    Of course, had she juste alone then it would not have been a problem, but Marcus figured she was probably caught trying to rush over here and forced to act within her station and bring along her guardian knight and attendants.

    ˇ°Very well Lady Irene, I can tell that I will not be able to stop you and I have no better suggestion other than sending Amy and Ste to the market which would take a good deal more time.ˇ± ra said with a look of resignation.<sub>.</sub>

    She then turned to Lilia and said, ˇ°As for you Lady Lilia, I will be sure to support you as you entertain our guests. Just remember to rx a bit. You already know her highness fairly well so she will not judge you if you make any mistakes.ˇ±

    Once their game n was set in motion, Marcus quickly snuck out the back door and began running towards the edge of his estate until he was certain he was out of eyeshot.

    He then went into his ghost form and contacted Mrazivy telepathically to update her on what was happening.

    ˇ®So, I will be gone for a few minutes to get some high-quality food. Is there anything you want in particrˇŻ?

    Mrazivy going with the odd situation began listing off a number of things that she would like to eat over the next few days, as she would be staying with Marcus until it was time for him to head back to the castle for his debriefing after all that had happened in thest month.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Is there anything else?ˇŻ Marcus transmitted to her with a bit of annoyance in his tone.

    She had just asked for quite a number of things and wanted him to personally cook them for her, since she said that the food in the castle was just not the same as when her made it for her.

    ˇ®No that should be everything. And please hurry back soon. I really want to see you, and we have a lot to talk about.ˇŻ

    With hismunication with Mrazivy over, Marcus shot off as fast as he could and flew directly towards the cityˇŻs most prestigious and expensive market.

    At extremely high speeds it only took him around three minutes to cover the distance that would have taken much longer by carriage.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®That should do.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he spotted a ce tond.

    Swiftly he reappeared behind a number of crates that had been piled up in an alley and walked out into the market where specialty stores lined the street.

    With great haste he went to all the ces he needed to in order to get the correct ingredients and paid some very generous sums of money to have his orders processed with expedience.

    Within just around twenty minutes he had collected everything he needed to by using the power of determination, and money.

    ˇ®Well, it certainly was not cheap, but I managed to get everything on her wish list. Ah, but I really missed this. I would much rather deal with little problems like this than have to fight world ending monsters.ˇŻ

    Finding another ce to get out of sight, Marcus transformed into his ghost form again and quickly flew back to his estate where everyone was waiting for him.

    He then flew into his room and reappeared before exiting like he had just finished getting prepared and went down to the parlor.

    There he found Mrazivy and Lilia talking to each other, with ra and Amy standing behind Lilia, while Mrazivy had two attendants and her guardian knight standing behind her.

    ˇ°I am sorry to have kept you waiting Princess Mrazivy.ˇ± Marcus said as he entered the room.

    ˇ°No, it is perfectly fine. I understand that you just got back from a long trip and that my visit was not nned ahead, so there is no reason to worryˇ± Mrazivy said as a big smile crept onto her face.

    She then abruptly got up and gave Marcus a hug despite the aghast reactions from her attendants and guardian knight.

    ˇ°I am so d that you made it back alive. I do not ever want to just have to sit around uncertain if you are still alive ever again.ˇ±

    Hearing her say this Marcus felt a sense of guilt in his stomach, as he understood just how nerve racking it must have been for her to know that he was fighting in a life-or-death battle, and there was nothing she could do to help.

    Returning the hug, Marcus allowed himself to be lost in her embrace, and whispered into her ear, ˇ°I feel the same way. Next time we can fight together or run away if it is to much for either of us to handle.ˇ±

    After they had finished up their quick, but emotion filled reunion hug, the two of them separated and got back into their royal and noble facades.

    ˇ°Well, I need to go and update the kitchen staff and make sure that they know to prepare their best since you are here Mrazivy. Allow me just a few minutes and I shall be back to attend to my job as the host.ˇ± Marcus said before heading to the kitchen.

    Once there he updated Ste and Violet on what they would be having tonight while emptying out all of the food he had just bought.

    ˇ°Now you will probably need some extra help so go and get Leah, Grace, and Elianna. Now I have to return to the parlor, so I leave the kitchen in your capable hands for tonight.ˇ±

 Chapter 617 A Relaxing Time

    After having dropped off the hastily bought food he had just acquired, Marcus made his way back to the parlor where Mrazivy and Lilia had be engaged in a game of chess.

    Seeing the two of them going at it so intently put a smile on MarcusˇŻ face as he was happy to see the two of them getting along.

    Though just few minutes into the game, Lilia had Mrazivy on the ropes and soon said, ˇ°Checkmate!ˇ±

    There was some obvious glee in her voice as she managed to beat Mrazivy who had a look of utter shock on her face.

    Of course, she never thought she was going to lose to Lilia who was only thirteen years old, but it was just the difference in their current experience.

    Lilia yed games with her friends quite often and had been practicing so that she could beat Marcus. So for Mrazivy, who had not yed much for quite some time, it was obvious that she was a bit rusty.

    ˇ°Let us go again. I am just getting warmed up and was not taking it seriously since I did not know how good you are.ˇ± Mrazivy said, not wanting to stay defeated.<sub>.</sub>

    Naturally Lilia agreed, and the two of them yed three more games before Mrazivy gave up on trying to win.

    ˇ°Do you mind if I take a turn?ˇ± Marcus asked.

    ˇ°Sure, go ahead. Your little sister is too good for me to beat right now.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a slight pout on her face.

    Seeing this Marcus internally chuckled a bit, before sitting down across from Lilia and making his first move.

    The three of them continued to y games and talk amongst each other while enjoying some tea, until it was time for dinner which Ste announced.

    ˇ°Oh my, you certainly had your staff go all out.ˇ± Mrazivy said as the first course was brought out.<sub></sub>

    Marcus however, just rolled his eyes, since she already knew exactly what they were having as she was the one who had requested it.

    Course after course was served to the three of them as they ate and continued their idle discussions from earlier.

    Eventually they finished everything up, and Mrazivy said that she was feeling tired and wanted to retire early to bed.

    But before she left, she looked at Marcus intently and said to him using telepathy, ˇ®Come see me in my room after around an hour. We can then talk about certain matters we cannot discuss in front of everyone else.ˇŻ

    Nodding his head slightly, Marcus made sure to let her know that he acknowledged her n, and soon after she was gone said that he would also be retiring early as he was tired from his journey.

    Once the next hour had gone by, Marcus slipped out of his room in his ghost form and made his way over to where Mrazivy was staying.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Mraz I am at the door. Is it okay for me toe in?ˇŻ He asked with telepathy.

    He needed to make sure that she was alone, since if anyone else was there, it would be quite rming for him to suddenly just appear out of nowhere.

    Luckily, she sent back the all clear signal, and he entered and saw her sitting in one of the chairs in the room that were facing the door.

    As soon as he entered, he reappeared and did so in his original form, not needing or wanting to appear as Irene.

    The instant he was tangible again, Mrazivy rushed over and hugged him with all her might, while burying her face into his chest.

    It had been far too long for her since she was able to just let go and the build up of stress while Marcus had been fighting for his life had been weighing down on her.

    ˇ°Next time I aming with you no matter what. I will get stronger, so please do not leave me behind again.ˇ±

    Petting her head and smiling down at her, Marcus said, ˇ°Okay, I promise I will take you with me next time.ˇ±

    After the two of them had hugged for a good ten minutes, Mrazivy finally separated from him .and said with a pout on her face, ˇ°You have gotten much stronger again, and right after I had finally caught up.ˇ±

    Scratching the back of his head, Marcus was not sure what to say here.

    He had certainly passed her by again and was now several levels higher than her.

    ˇ°Well, I did help defeat a monster over level ny, so while I did not deliver the final blow or really do too much damage inparison to the others i still sent me up nine levels. But I n to rx for a bit, and I already know how hard that you work, so I am sure that you can surpass my level again.ˇ± Marcus said to try andfort Mrazivy.

    Luckily it seemed to work, and she said with a confident smile, ˇ°I n to do just that.ˇ±

    The two of them then chuckled for a bit before Mrazivy looked at Marcus seriously, and said, ˇ°Now there are a few important things we need to talk about.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus looked towards her and waited for her to tell him what she needed to.

    ˇ°First off, you have garnered a lot of attention from the adventures guild. From what I have figured out they are calling you in to not just speak with you about what happened, but to try and recruit you deeper into their organization.ˇ±

    Raising an eyebrow, Marcus was a bit confused by this since he was certain he already refused to ept the rank up to mithril that would have made him beholden to the guild.

    However, when he asked Mrazivy about this, she shook her head and said, ˇ°You refused as Irene, but they are interested in you as Marcus this time. To the public you participated in the battle and recovery as Marcus Ferrous, the recently ascended honorary prince, who performs one miracle after the other.ˇ±

 Chapter 618 The Future with Mrazivy

    Marcus sighed since he was going to have to deal with adventures guild again.

    As much as he liked the opportunities it had once given him in the past, at this point he was not really in need of their services.

    He could make far more money now with his forge skill and the connections he had made through the zegram forge than he ever could as just a tinum ranked adventurer.

    Also, he was pretty intertwined with the kingdom of Borealia, so he was not wanting to be beholden to any other organizations.

    ˇ°Well, I will just turn down any promotions that they offer me. It is not like I have actually done any work as an adventurer in well over a year.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Shrugging her shoulders, Mrazivy said, ˇ°You are free to do as you want Marcus. If you go deeper into the guildˇŻs hierarchy, I will follow you. And if you do not, I am fine staying here in the kingdom. But they seem really persistent so I am not sure what they might offer you to get you onboard. Of course, part of their reason to bring you in is because of Roxene. They heard you have a mythic grade beast as yourpanion which is obviously extraordinary and makes you quite valuable from their perspective.ˇ±

    Going into it the two of them further discussed what the adventurers guild might do, and nned ordingly for certain situations that might arise.

    ˇ°Still, what are they even doing getting involved here? They did not actually help at all.ˇ± Marcus said with an exasperated expression.

    ˇ°Ah, that is right, you have not been informed yet about what was happening here. You know while you were fighting, I was organizing the reinforcements from the guild here in the capital, and I can tell you that they were gathering quite the force to offer their assistance. If the fighting hadsted another week, you could have expected around a hundred people over level seventy-five toe to your assistance, with them being led by one of the top brasses of the guild who is level ny from what I have heard.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Hearing this MarcusˇŻ eyes went wide with surprise, since he had not expected that such a force would have been gathered.

    With that many high-levelbatants at their disposal, it really sunk in to just how powerful an organization the adventurers guild really was.

    ˇ°It is only natural that they are invested in the situation after amassing that much power to fight a doomsday monster, especially when thest one that appeared around four hundred years ago nearly destroyed an entire continent. They are nning to do their own investigations into the matter and see if they cannot figure out some sort of pattern for their appearances.ˇ±

    Frowning, Marcus thought back to the what the administrator had told him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I do not think they are going to find out any sort of pattern. I have not told anyone this yet, but after I activated my revival skill it took me to this endless white space and the administrator was there waiting for me.ˇ±

    Marcus then told Mrazivy all about his conversation with the being that ruled over this world, and how the doomsday monsters were set up in advance to push the world to its knees in order to promote advancement.

    ˇ°I am not exactly sure what she is going to do, but I can guess that it will shake the foundations of the world and force everyone to get stronger or die.ˇ± Marcus said with a downcast expression.

    He could only imagine what sort of horrors the uncaring administrator might throw upon the world.

    However, for Mrazivy, she just clenched her fists and with a confident expression said, ˇ°Then we just have to get stronger right. That has been what we have been working towards from the start so that we could see what this world has to offer and go on a real adventure.ˇ±

    Seeing Mrazivy so filled with determination, Marcus smiled, and said, ˇ°I suppose we will need to try our hand at the special dungeon again sometime then. If we want to get stronger, I can think of no better ce.ˇ±

    Agreeing with Marcus, Mrazivy said that it would be a good idea for them to get everyone together again, likely during the next summer and enter the special dungeon once again.

    ˇ°Now there is something else that we need to talk about that is pretty important. While you were busy helping out in Loursend, it was decided that we would finally be able to go public with our engagement towards the end of spring, so we are going to be have our engagement party then.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus blinked rapidly a few times as he tried to process what Mrazivy had just said.

    And when he finally did, he said, ˇ°Wait, what? I have not heard anything about this!ˇ±

    Panic began to set in as he thought about all of the work he was going to have to do, and how little time they had to get a party of that scale set up.

    ˇ°Oh, and now that I am thinking about it. Do you not have something of mine that you need to give back?ˇ± Mrazivy said as she held out her left hand.

    This brought Marcus back to his senses, and he quickly took the amethros ring off and slipped it back onto MrazivyˇŻs finger where it belonged.

    ˇ°Sorry about that. I know I said I would try my best not to take it back again so soon, but this time it really was necessary.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Giggling a bit, Mrazivy said in response, ˇ°There is no need to worry. I know how desperate the situation was. In fact, I was a little worried that you had not called it back sooner since you were fighting something many levels higher than you. Oh, and you do not need to worry much about the engagement party. Other than us picking out a few things, everything will be handled for us. So really, we just have to show up to make the public announcement.ˇ±

 Chapter 619 Back to the Castle

    With MrazivyˇŻs affirmation that he was not going to have to do loads of work to get an engagement party nned on top of everything else he needed to do, Marcus let out a sigh of relief.

    ˇ°So, is there anything else important that you need to tell me?ˇ± Marcus asked.

    Mrazivy turned her head to the side and ced a finger on her chin as she thought about if there was anything else she needed to tell him.

    Though in the end she just shook her head, and said, ˇ°No those are the two things that I really needed to tell you. When we go back to the castle, I am sure there will be plenty of discussions to be had, but for now I say that we just rx.ˇ±

    After she said that Mrazivy grabbed ahold of Marcus and jumped onto the bed in the room with him in her embrace.

    Just a moment after theynded, she pulled the covers over them and said, ˇ°Would you mind if I fell asleep like this? It would bring me a lot offort to be with you after all that has happened.<sub>.</sub>

    Smiling, Marcus nodded his head and said, ˇ°Sure that sounds fine. I think I could use somefort as well.

    The two of them shared a passionate kiss for a few seconds, before both of them said goodnight and quickly drifted off to sleep.

    When morning came Marcus felt incredibly refreshed, and only just now realized how much the events of the past month had been weighing down on him.

    This was the first time since he began clearing out the Great Gome Woods that he had actually fully shut his mind off and slept, and he felt great to have finally gotten some quality rest.

    Also, being in MrazivyˇŻs embrace had helped ease his weary soul considerably, and the warmth that she exuded had swept away the cold hollow feeling he had been enduring after seeing the tragedies left in the wake of the Doomsday Worm.<sub></sub>

    Once Mrazivy had woken up, he wished her good morning before going into his ghost form and heading back to his own room, so as to not have any problems arise by them being discovered in the same room.

    The days quickly went by as Marcus enjoyed his time with Mrazivy and Lilia.

    Unfortunately, the enjoyable and leisure days where he just spent time with those he was closest to came to a quick end, and it was time for him to return to the castle to deal with more of the aftermath of the Dread BurrowerˇŻs rampage.

    ˇ°I will be gone for a bit, but I will send word before I return. If you could get these items for me before then, I would grateful.ˇ± Marcus said as he handed a list to ra who hade to see him off.

    ˇ°It shall be done Lady Irene.ˇ± She said as she bowed her head.<sub></sub>

    He then moved over to Lilia, gave her a hug, and told her that he would make sure to have her suspension voided and herbat instructor dealt with.

    Once he had finished saying goodbye, he got into the carriage that Mrazivy hade in, and they began making their way back to the castle.

    When they arrived at the castle the sun was already beginning to drop down as it only stayed light for around half the day during winter in Borealia.

    ˇ°Boreas and a woman named Ja are apparently waiting for you in a hidden chamber towards the center of the castle.ˇ± Mrazivy said right as their carriage stopped at the entrance to the castle.

    ˇ°Gwyneira told me that she woulde and personally get you from your room so just stay there until she arrives. I have some other engagements I need to attend to, but I should see youter tonight in my room.ˇ±

    After saying this Mrazivy exited the carriage with Marcus and the two of them went their separate ways for now.

    Soon he was led by one of the castleˇŻs staff to a guest room where he would be staying as Irene, though he doubted he would actually use this room much since everyone really wanted to talk with him as Marcus.

    Not long after he was brought there, Gwyneira appeared in a cold mist as she had done multiple times in the castle where she could free warp around.

    ˇ°I am d to see that your time resting has made you feel better.ˇ± Gwyneira said with a smile on her face.

    She remembered how worn-down Marcus looked after healing thousands of horribly injured people in Loursend, and all the death he had to witness.

    Even for her it had been a difficult sight to see, so she could only imagine how rough it was on Marcus, who was much younger than she was an had not seen nearly as many atrocities.

    ˇ°Yeah, some time with my loved ones really did me some good. Though I am sure you are not here to ask me about how much fun I had over thest three days. I imagine that Boreas and Ja are anticipating the meeting just as much as I am.ˇ±

    Nodding her head, Gwyneira said, ˇ°You would be right. Boreas has been cooped up dealing with things here in the castle for thest two weeks, and Ja arrived just yesterday now that she has finished healing the great Gome Woods to the point where the lingering corruption will no longer prevent the forest from regrowing. I know that the two of them wanted to begin talking about your shared previous world immediately, but they have held off until you arrived. Now if you are ready, I can take you to where they are waiting.

    Getting up and moving over next to Gwyneira, Marcus acknowledged that he was ready, and she swung her arm and created a portal made out of mist for him to go through.

    As he passed through it, he found himself in a veryrge and ornate room that had four couches facing arge table.

    On one of them Boreas was sitting and having a drink that looked like bourbon, while Ja was elegantly drinking some tea while sitting on another.

    Moving over to one of the empty couches Marcus sat down and said, ˇ°Shall we get started?ˇ±

 Chapter 620 Discussion Among Those from Another World

    ˇ°Shall we get started?ˇ±

    As Marcus asked this question both Boreas and Ja put down their drinks and looked towards him.

    ˇ°Yes, let us get started. Who wants to go first?ˇ± Boreas said as he looked between the two of them.

    Ja with a big smile on her face looked towards Marcus and said, ˇ°As I asked you before, what year did you die?ˇ±

    Sighing, Marcus was not sure why this was that important, but he just went ahead and told her.

    ˇ°I died in the year two thousand neen. I assumed the two of you probably died well before then seeing as how you both are much higher level. And I know for a fact that Boreas is over five hundred years old, so you must have been alive around the fifteenth century.ˇ± Marcus said.<sub>.</sub>

    However, both Ja and Boreas looked at him in confusion, before simultaneously opening their mouths with an expression realization.

    ˇ°Are we the first ones that you have met who also came from Earth?ˇ± Boreas asked Marcus.

    Shaking his head, he responded saying, ˇ°No I have met to others. One was a fourteen-year-old boy named Miguel who I have not seen since thest kingdomˇŻs tournament, and the other is actually a friend of mine from Earth who had died before me. It was through her that I was able to figure out that this world and Earth seem to be working on the same time scale, so if you are as old as I have heard, you should be from the around the fifteenth century, right?ˇ±

    Yet Boreas just shook his head, and said, ˇ°No you seem to have fallen into a misconception. I actually died in neen sixty-seven.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh, and while I have been here for around two hundred years, I actually died in neen ny-nine.ˇ± Ja said.<sub></sub>

    Unfortunately, this only made Marcus more confused, since he thought for certain that the time of Mirrion and Earth were synced up.

    Of course, both Boreas and Ja noticed his visible confusion, and began telling him what they knew about the situation.

    ˇ°I can understand why you are confused if you have only met people that came here within the same timeframe as you. See while it may seem that Earth and this worldˇŻs time are in sync, they actually are not.ˇ± Ja said.

    Boreas then chimed in right after to borate, and said, ˇ°As far as I have found it seems that twenty years out of every two hundred, people from Earth enter this world in corrtion to a twenty-year time span on our original world. So, while I died on Earth only a little more than fifty years before you, I have actually been on Mirrion for around six hundred now.ˇ±

    Rubbing his face, Marcus found all this talk about the intricacies of time between the two worlds to be hurting his head. Especially when he thought before that they had been moving in along the same linear path.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°So let me get this straight. Because Ja died twenty-years before me, she actually ended up here two hundred years ago. And since you died over fifty years ago, you ended up in a time around six hundred years ago.ˇ± Marcus said as he looked between the two of them.

    ˇ°Yes.ˇ± They both said at the same time.

    Groaning, Marcus was having a hard time following what was going on, but it did make something that was in the back of his mind make more sense.

    ˇ°Ja, so that massive tree you were fighting with, is it named after a character from a popr video game?ˇ± Marcus asked.

    Though the response he received was a bit more intense than he expected, as Ja was practically beaming as she said, ˇ°Yes, it is! It was my favorite game and one of thest ones I got to y before I died. So, tell me, what happened afterwards with the franchise? Did they make more games? And what the story like in them if they did?ˇ±

    Seeing the fervent look in JaˇŻs eyes, Marcus could tell she really enjoyed the popr game that hade out right before the turn of the millennia.

    Answering her questions, Marcus told her what he knew about the franchise she seemed so invested in. Though it was not like he had yed all the games and only had general knowledge about some of them.

    Though while at first Ja seemed happy to learn about the continued sess of the game franchise she had enjoyed. Eventually her expression became sad as she knew she would never be able to y any of the games that Marcus had just told her about.

    ˇ°Um, I really do not understand what the two of you are getting at, but I believe we have more important topics to discuss other than these video games you both are talking about.ˇ± Boreas said, with confusion written all over his face now.

    Naturally he died before the rise of video games that were in their infancy when he was still alive and had no attachment to them in anyway.

    ˇ°Yes, I suppose this is something we can talk about when it is just between the two of us at ater time.ˇ± Marcus said, steering the conversation away from JaˇŻs favorite video game.

    Ja for her part looked a bit sad to no longer be talking about her beloved series that she was getting more information about. But relented knowing they had other things to discuss.

    ˇ°Now Marcus, you said that you have met two other people from Earth, one of which you have not seen for a while, and the other that is your friend. Might I ask if you happen to know where your friend is right now?ˇ± Boreas said with a raised eyebrow.

    ˇ°Yeah, she is a duchess in Tralenstein, and ruling over Valenhart. I do not know how much you know about the situation, but I am sure that Gwyneira has at least informed you about the civil war and how it will not be long until Borealia and Tralenstein be one kingdom again.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, I have heard about it, though not much detail. Still, I think if we are going to having a discussion among those from another world, we should go and pick up you friend and add her to the group.ˇ±

 Chapter 621 Picking up Lyra

    Marcus looked at Boreas with a dumbfounded expression written visibly all over his face.

    He had not even imagined that it would be suggested that they bring Lyra into their discussion, since she was thousands of miles away, and busy in her role as duchess of arge territory.

    ˇ°Wait, we cannot just go and grab her. She is not even in the kingdom. It is not like it would be a quick jaunt to just go pick her up. And with her station, there is no way we could do it unannounced.ˇ± Marcus said frantically trying to stop Boreas from continuing with his ridiculous idea.

    However, he just smiled, and said, ˇ°It should be fine. I can have us there in just a couple of minutes, and it is a rare opportunity for four people from Earth to get together here on Mirrion, so I am sure she can make a bit of time. Especially if her good friends asks her, right?ˇ±

    Seeing that Boreas was not going to let this go, Marcus turned towards Ja to find an ally to help him out.

    Unfortunately, she had a sparkle in her eyes, and it became apparent very quickly that she was also interested in speaking to Lyra.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°I believe it would be best to add her to the group. Think about how she would feel when she finds out she was left out of our discussions. As Boreas said, it is rare for us reincarnates and transmigrators to meet up. Other than you two, even in all my time here I have only encountered five others, and four of them are gone now. So, I would like to meet your friend.ˇ±

    With the two of them wanting to bring Lyra onboard, Marcus could tell he had no real choice in the matter.

    He was afraid that if he refused to help, Boreas might even act on his own, since he already knew where Lyra was.

    ˇ°Okay, we can go and see her. But if she really is too busy for a long chat, we will need to leave her alone.ˇ± Marcus said.

    After that Boreas got up and told both Marcus and Ja to stand next to him, and just an instant after they did, they were all suddenly outside of the castle floating in the air above it.<sub></sub>

    As Marcus looked around stunned, Boreas said with a smirk, ˇ°Being the first kinges with its privileges. I can move around freely anywhere on the castle grounds. Now brace yourself, the start up might be a little rough.ˇ±

    Just a momenttter the three them were wrapped up in a high-speed whirlwind and suddenly elerated at an rming rate that was followed by a loud sonic boom within less than a second.

    For a few seconds Marcus felt an incredible force bearing down on him, and he was certain that if he was still human the breath would have been forced out of him and he would have started suffocating.

    Of course, Boreas and Ja were perfectly fine, as at their levels they were ustomed to moving at such high speeds, and their bodies were more than strong enough to take the sudden strain without any issue.

    Within just a few minutes just as Boreas had said, they arrived over the city of Valenhart which looked quite simr to how it had thest time Marcus had been here.<sub></sub>

    But for Boreas, he let out an impressed whistle, and said, ˇ°This ce certainly has gotten bigger, and more impressive. It is evenrger than Venice now.ˇ±

    As Boreas looked down with nostalgia, Marcus could tell that he had some memories of this ce, though when he said Venice, he also looked quite nostalgic and homesick.

    ˇ°Now if your friend is the duchess, she must be in the castle, correct?ˇ± Boreas asked after looking down upon the city for a dozen seconds.

    ˇ°Yeah, she probably is, but I am sure I do not need to tell you that it would be a bad idea for us to just barge in. Allow me to go down alone and exin the situation to her.ˇ±

    Both Ja and Boreas told Marcus they were fine with him going in alone, but to try and hurry back soon.

    Letting out a sigh of exasperation, he went into his ghost form and shot down towards the castle.

    When he entered inside, he reached out to make a telepathic connection with Lyra and found that she was indeed inside the castle.

    ˇ®Lyra, sorry to bother you all of a sudden, but do you have some time to talk right now?ˇŻ

    Suddenly receiving MarcusˇŻmunication, Lyra began making unintelligible noises in surprise, before calming down a bit, and saying, ˇ®Marcus what are you doing here? Is there some sort of emergency you need my help with?ˇŻ

    ˇ®No there is no sort of emergency, it is just that I was having a meeting with a couple other people originally from Earth, and when I mentioned you, they asked that we add you to the discussion. So, we came here to get you. If you have the time?ˇŻ

    Lyra thought about the situation for a few seconds as Marcus waited patiently in silence.

    ˇ®Sorry, I would like to, but I am very busy with work right now. I am sure as you know but the southern nations are trying to muscle in on whatever territory they can get now that they know Tralenstein is going to be incorporated as part of Borealia and our defenses are stillcking from the civil war. I am busy coordinating supplies and troops from here in Valenhart and there is no way I can get away right now.ˇŻ

    ˇ®I see that is too bad, but I understand. I will tell the others.ˇŻ Marcus responded.

    He then contacted Boreas and Ja and told them that Lyra was too busy dealing with the conflicts happening between the southern nations and Tralenstein.

    Yet while Marcus thought that would be the end of it, Boreas said, ˇ®Well if that is what is holding her up, then there should be no problem if I go and end the fighting right here and now.

 Chapter 622 Boreasâ€™ Authority

    Hearing Boreas deration to go and ˇ®end the fighting right here and nowˇŻ, Marcus started to panic a bit.

    He could imagine Boreas waving his hand and sending out a massive st of wind that ttened the southern kingdomsˇŻ forces and leaving not even a corpse behind.

    There really was no doubt that if Bores got serious, he could be a threat nearly on the same level of the Dread Burrower.

    He could topple an entire nation in just a couple of days by bring down massive tornadoes on all of the major cities.

    ˇ®Actually, maybe he is even more dangerous.ˇŻ Marcus realized as he thought about it.

    With what could be an impending crise on his hands, Marcus tried to think of someway to stop Boreas from going ballistic on the southern kingdoms.

    He certainly was not thrilled about them attacking Tralenstein, but he also was not really in the mood to watch Boreasmit a genocide.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Boreas are you sure that is a good idea. If someone as high-level as you gets involved, wonˇŻt the strongest in these southern kingdomse out to challenge you.ˇŻ Marcus said.

    In the worst-case scenario, someone just as strong as Boreas coulde around and the two of them could engage in a grudge match that might wreck the continent.

    However, Boreas responded, and said, ˇ®As far as I know there is no one in any of the kingdoms that border Tralenstein is anywhere close to as strong as I am. Though if I get too heavy handed, I could attract the ire of the great spirits, so I will just try to intimidate them a little. I normally do not get involved in matters like these, but just this once since I just came back, I do want to assist the nation I made which is bing whole again.ˇŻ

    Hearing the noble way Boreas had said it, Marcus could hardly disagree since he was just protecting his nation.

    Of course, he knew Boreas was just more interested in getting Lyra to join their talk as former inhabitants of Earth.

    ˇ®Fine, I will tell Lyra.ˇŻ Marcus said with a tired tone.<sub></sub>

    He then contacted her, and said, ˇ®Lyra would you minding to meet us. Boreas has said that he is going to resolve the invasions from the southern nations himself.ˇŻ

    For nearly a minute Lyra remained silent, before contacting Marcus back while practically shouting in his mind.

    ˇ®BOREAS! You mean the Boreas, first king of Borealia?!ˇŻ

    Marcus then heard a number of expletivesing from Lyra, as she frantically moved around not even worrying about Marcus answering herst question.

    It seemed that BoreasˇŻ reputation really preceded himself, as Lyra quickly came running down the hall, leaving her attendants and guards in the dust without caring.

    ˇ®Wow that was fast.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he floated alongside Lyra and told her that he was there through telepathy.<sub></sub>

    Quickly she exited the castle not keeping up any appearances as a duchess and shot into the sky, following Marcus who she was keeping an eye on by channeling her spiritual energy.

    Once they had gotten high enough into the air, Marcus became physical again and led her the rest of the way to where Boreas and Ja were waiting.

    When they arrived, she gulped loudly, since while she could not gage exactly how strong Boreas and Ja were, she knew they were well beyond her, or even Motis for that matter.

    ˇ°So, this must be your friend. It is nice to meet you, I am Boreas.ˇ±

    ˇ°It is also a pleasure, and my name is Ja.ˇ±

    After the two of them introduced themselves, Lyra did the same. Telling them both the name she was given in this world and the one she originally had from Earth.

    ˇ°Now I heard from Marcus that you were having some trouble with invaders from the south. As someone who remembers when both Tralenstein and Borealia were one in the same, it does make me happy to hear that they will be reuniting under the same banner. Though to that end I am going to assist you in dealing with those that are invading. Therefore, would you mind telling me exactly where they areing from.ˇ± Boreas said with a smile.

    However, Lyra could see that there was no warmth in his smile, and for a moment she feared for her enemies.

    Swiftly she told Boreas which nations were attacking and where, along with how strong their forces were.

    Naturally as the ruler of arge territory she was privy to many details and her knowledge was fairly up to date.

    ˇ°Hm, well that should not be a problem. I think I can probably have this dealt with in an hour or so and we can get to having a discussion among the four of us andpile our knowledge together.ˇ±

    Boreas then beckoned them all to get closer to him as he would be taking them to their first destination.

    But before they left, Marcus turned towards Lyra, and said, ˇ°Take a deep breath and reinforce your body with whatever skills you have.ˇ±

    Turning her head to the side and looking confused, she was not sure why Marcus was telling her to do this, but she trusted him and did so anyways.

    An instantter she found out exactly why he had, as Boreas whipped up another whirlwind and they began traveling well past the speed of sound towards the southern border of Tralenstein.

    Within just a couple of minutes they arrived over a mountainous region that had arge fort blocking the only pass.

    Currently sts of mana and spells were lighting up the area and flying fighters were doing battle in the sky above.

    Yet from where they were, they all looked like ants, and Boreas just red down as he identified his enemies.

    ˇ°ALL OF YOU WHO ARE NOT FROM TRALENSTIEN OR BORELIA, YOU HAVE TWENTY MINTUES TO VACATE THE AREA BEFORE I BLOW YOU AWAY.ˇ± Boreas shouted so loudly that he was heard clearly for dozens of miles.

    Then to prove that he was not joking, flicked his wrist and a giant twister formed in front of him, before flying over the battlefield andnding on the other side of the border. Where it carved arge scar through a nearby forest, before hitting ake in the center of it and shooting up a massive waterspout.

 Chapter 623 Ending the Conflicts

    After BoreasˇŻ disy of overwhelming power, the battlefield that had once been full of activity and was lit up by powerful attacks shing against each other had gone silent.

    It was practically iprehensible what had just happened, but everyone had seen the half mile wide twister carve through the ground and forest before causing a massive waterspout and a shower of rain.

    A few momentster the invaders from the south began running or flying in terror as theirmand structure disintegrated.

    No one in their right minds would stick around to be blown away by BoreasˇŻ power, and once the people defending the border had a couple of minutes to regain their bearings, they began cheering at their apparent victory.

    Not long after, a mage and a knight came flying up towards Boreas who had just ended their hard-fought battle in a single moment.

    ˇ®Ah those two are part of the knights and mages that work directly under Aria and Darius.ˇŻ Marcus thought recognizing the two of them.

    When they arrived high up in the air, they knelt down in front of Boreas and thanked him for aiding them in battle.

    ˇ°Think nothing of it. I have been away for quite some time, so I am just giving my help this one time in order to make sure that Tralenstein and Borealia are able to merge seamlessly.ˇ± Boreas said with all the charisma and authority of the first king.

    Watching him now Marcus could see that he exuded the natural qualities of a good leader when he wanted to.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Again, we would like to thank you for helping us, but what of the other fronts. Vilkerous is the kingdom that was putting the least effort into their offensive. The other two have mobilized far more of their military might to try and take what parts of Tralenstein they can.ˇ± The high-level mage said.

    Nodding his head, Boreas said, ˇ°I was just on my way to deal with them as well. Now do you know which one Darius is at, I shall go and assist him first.ˇ±

    Quickly the knight and mage told Boreas where Darius was fighting, and he thanked them for their time and service.

    ˇ°Take this just in case theye back. If they do, contact me and I wille back and show them that I am not bluffing.ˇ± Boreas said as he handed the mage a sending stone.

    With their business here wrapped up, Boreas told everyone that they would be moving onto the next location and whipped up another whirlwind to take them there.

    When they arrived, this time it was over arge valley that had a massive river flowing through it that marked the border of Tralenstein and the kingdom of Bikan.

    Unlike the previous battle that was of a considerably smaller scale, this one looked like a full-on war simr to what Marcus had experienced while fighting in Tralenstein before.

    Huge explosions rocked the sky and ground with barriers being created all over the ce to keeprge scale attacks from wiping out the weakerbatants.<sub></sub>

    Hundreds of mobile fortresses were deployed as well, and sts from mana cannons lit up the area.

    Looking around Marcus quickly spotted Darius who was currently engaged with two other warriors and a mage.

    It was an impressive battle and now that he was seeing him really do battle for the first time, Marcus could tell just how strong the knightmander of Borealia really was.

    ˇ®Yep, he is definitely stronger than TralensteinˇŻs former first ranked great knight.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he assessed the power Darius had.

    Fighting nearby was also Darius beastpanion cial bear named Popsco that was even bigger than thest time he had seen it, and it unleashed massive sts of cold and tanked powerful wide scale attacks while using its size to force enemy artillery back.

    Overall, it was a very chaotic battle, and while for now thebined forces of Borealia and Tralenstein were holding off the invaders, it could possibly turn at any moment against them if they were not careful.

    Luckily there was no need to worry about them losing anymore. Not with Boreas here.

    Just as he did before he let out a defending yell that all could hear even over the noise of the battlefield.<sub></sub>

    Yet unlikest time where he just showed his power by devastating the surrounding area. This time he specifically targeted the enemyˇŻs strongestbatants, and with a couple flicks of his hands, sted them across the border where they impacted the ground and left heavy trenches through it.

    Then he sent out anotherrge twister that carved a scar through BikanˇŻs territory and created a whole new canyon just for them.

    Not long after he did so, the enemy forces began to retreat as all of theirmanders had been swatted away, and they had just seen an insurmountable disy of power.

    Soon Darius ascended up to meet Boreas and bowed his head just as the others had earlier.

    ˇ°Lord Boreas, I am surprised to see you here. I had not been informed that you would personally being to assist us.ˇ±

    Naturally Darius was quite confused, as he never expected Boreas, who was pretty much retired from getting involved with kingdom affairs,ing down here to help.

    ˇ°Yes well, I have my reasons. Anyway, I cannot stand idly by while territory that Borealia swore to protect is under attack. Also, this ce is my originally home, so I would prefer it not being chopped up when it is finally alling together again.ˇ± Boreas said.

    He then told Darius to rise and handed him a sending stone as well. Telling the knightmander to contact him if the forces from Bikan tried attacking again.

    ˇ°Now we need to head to where Aria is leading the fight against Halenstalf. I imagine that even she might be having some trouble against them.ˇ±

    After saying that Boreas created another whirlwind and their group traveled at blinding speeds towards their next destination.

    Within just a couple of minutes Marcus, Lyra, Ja, and of course Boreas appeared high in the sky above an open in where once again battles were raging on.

    This time it was apparent that the attackers had been pushing the forces from Tralenstein and Borealia back, as the forts that had once been along the border were destroyed.

    Looking at the battlefield it was clear to Marcus that their side was on the retreat, as Aria and the other high-level fighters and mages covered them.

    Quickly Marcus spotted a number of familiar faces from his days fighting in Tralenstein. Seeing Marek, Francis, and Tesia holding off a number of other high-level fighters.

    Aria herself was engaged in a wicked battle of spells against whom Marcus could only imagine was the strongest mage in the kingdom of Halenstalf.

    Still as bad as the battle was looking right now from the perspective of Borealia and Tralenstein, that was all about to quickly change.

    Once Boreas had shouted out his loudmand again for the enemy to stop attacking, he created a blinging light show in the sky, as he began glowing and sent out sts ofpressed wind at anyone over level seventy on the opposing side.

    They were all quickly swept away by BoreasˇŻ attack, that not even the strongest mage that Halenstalf had could resist.

    Boreas was simply just far too strong for any of them to do anything about, and even people in the low eighties level-wise were blown away like ragdolls before the power he had.

    Though not long after he had finished blowing back HalenstalfˇŻs strongestbatants, did they all notice three silhouettesing towards them at high speed.

    Soon, these three beings became clearer, and Marcus could see that they were all powerful looking beasts. Likely the guardians of the kingdoms Boreas had just single handedly halted.

    When they arrived in front of him, they held themselves up high, trying to make themselves look intimidating. But it was pretty clear that they were actually afraid.

    One of them was arge sphinx that was thirty feet tall and one hundred feet long at its tail with the face of an intelligent man.

    The next one was a creature of massive size easily dwarfing even how big Retharin was, and being over two hundred feet tall and seven hundred feet long. It sort of resembled an ankylosaur with its ck spikey armor ting and a long tail that ended in a sharp mace. Though its face was sunken in and had a crown of horns the protruding above and below its face.

    The final of the beasts was a green dragon, though this one was of a stalker build than GwyneriaˇŻs slender form and resembled more closely what a western dragon would look like in most media that Marcus had seen.

    ˇ°The three of us ask that you stop what you are doing. We have already spoken to Motis and havee to an agreement that as the mythic grade beasts that protect these kingdoms, we would not give aid to the humans that wish to wage war. If beings as strong as us got involved in this conflict, the verynd that they are trying to take would be destroyed, and nothing would have been gained but destruction. It was for MotisˇŻ benefit that we agreed to this since he would undoubtably lose in a battle against all three of us.ˇ± The Sphinx said, acting as the mythic grade beastsˇŻ liaisons.

    However, while most people would be cowering in fear if three high level mythic grade magical beasts were towering over them, Boreas just yawned, and said, ˇ°Well I am not Motis nor a magical beast to begin with. I am just protecting my kingdomˇŻsnd, and if you want to get in my way, I can blow you back as well.ˇ±

 Chapter 624 Overwhelming Display

    A moment after Boreas told off the mythic grade beasts, thergest one that was covered in ck armor ting said, ˇ°Do not get so full of yourself human! You may be of a higher level but do not think that makes you above us! We are the ones that sit at the pinnacle, not you!ˇ±

    However, for all of its grandstanding, Boreas could care less.

    It did not matter to him whether they thought he was stronger or not, because the simple fact of the matter was, that he is far stronger than they are.

    And seeing that Boreas was not taking them seriously in the slightest, the massive beast that had just yelled at him lost its temper and swung its mace like tail down on Boreas, along with Marcus Lyra, and Ja who were floating next to him.

    Yet while this attack had and immense amount of force behind it, Boreas stopped it without even moving a muscle.

    A shield of wind appeared in front of the attack and the giant beastˇŻs tail was flung back so violently that the entirety of its body was pulled along with it as it flew back a mile before stopping.

    Boreas then looked at the other two mythic grade beasts, and said, ˇ°If you want to fight, I am more than willing, but I would prefer for this to end amicably. Though I am not going to just stand by and let the kingdoms you protect carve out a part of my territory.ˇ±

    The green dragon and sphinx shudder as they saw the dangerous glint in BoreasˇŻ eyes, and they knew they were no match for him.

    They were both in the mid-eighties level wise, and while they were somewhere between Motis and Gwyneira in terms of strength, they did not stand a chance against Boreas as he was now.

    Unfortunately, one of the beasts that was more brawn than brains and had not learned its lesson already charged towards Boreas again, this time not holding anything back.<sub>.</sub>

    When it was within around four hundred feet it opened its mouth and unleash a devastating sonic st that made the air around it ripple.

    Still, an attack like this was no problem for Boreas to deal with, and he simply snapped his fingers and created a vacuum around himself as well as Ja, Marcus, and Lyra who would have been caught up in the attack.

    This made it so the sonic st went around them, as no matter how strong the st of sound was, it still had to travel through the air, which was BoreasˇŻ domain.

    ˇ°I see that the name thunder behemoth is not just for show. However, you will find that your powers are useless against me. I will give you onest chance to turn around and go back to you own domain.ˇ± Boreas said with a look of disinterest.

    Of course, this only made the thunder behemoth even angrier as it was not used to be dismissed like this, and especially not by a human.

    It was one of the strongest beings on the continent, and it was not going to be taken lightly.

    ˇ°I will crush your body until there is nothing left but dust!ˇ± The Thunder Behemoth yelled as it charged Boreas.

    Its body began crackling with sonic booms as it bounded forward through the sky and charged right towards Boreas.

    Normally its huge size would be its greatest weapon as it could smash through just about anything unabated, but it was dealing with someone many levels higher than it and at the peak of his power.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Pierce through all, Tempest.ˇ±

    Suddenly appearing in BoreasˇŻ right hand was a top tier amethrosnce simr in design to the one that MrazivyˇŻs brother Jason wielded.

    And with one powerful throw, Boreas let loose his weapon which did asmanded and pierced straight through the rampaging mythic grade magical beast.

    It was all over in less than a second as thence right through its densely armored head and punched a hole through to the other side with its magic core embedded on the tip of thence.

    The light in the massive thunder behemothˇŻs eyes went out almost instantly, and it began plummeting towards the ground.

    BOOM!

    An earth-shattering sound echoed across the area as the titanic beast smashed into the ground and left a massive crater where it hadnded.

    Looking down at this it was almost an unbelievable sight for Marcus to see, as a beast near the pinnacle of the world had been in in one move.

    That was simply the power that Boreas possessed as a man who had developed his strength diligently over centuries and was practically unrivaled in the world.<sub></sub>

    At this point the other guardian beast had run off, not wanting to be on the receiving end of BoreasˇŻnce that could just as easily strike them down.

    Looking down at the beast he had just killed Boreas let out a long sigh, and said to himself, ˇ°I am probably going to get an earful for this, but he did attack me first and I was just defending my territory so they cannot really fault me too much.ˇ±

    At this point though Lyra crouched down and held her head, having witnessed so many unbelievable things that she was starting to get a headache.

    She had been dragged all across her nation and watched a single man pull of unbleivable feats and it was starting to overwhelm her.

    Marcus for his part was exasperated as well, and had it not been for him being part of the fight against the Doomsday Worm and having already seen the absurd powers Boreas had, he would have been in a simr state to Lyra right now.

    Nevertheless, something else quickly garnered his attention, as he stared at the gleaming amethrosnce that had just reaped in BoreasˇŻ hands with the Thunder BehemothˇŻs magic core still on it.

    The only other system recognized amethros weapon he had seen was JaˇŻs, and while he had gotten the chance to use it briefly, he had not really fully examined it as he was caught up in the middle of quite the battle.

    ˇ°Boreas thatnce looks quite simr to the one that Prince James used called Storm Breaker. Is your weapon perhaps based on that one?ˇ± Marcus said as he slowly inched closer to BoreasˇŻnce.

    Naturally as a forgemaster he wanted nothing more than to get his hands on it and examine what properties it might have in order to get some future inspiration from it.

    Sadly, Boreas put it away before Marcus could get close enough to touch it, and said with a smirk, ˇ°Yes, it is based on Storm Breaker, which actually used to be my weapon before I upgraded to my current one. Though more importantly, now that we have dealt with LyraˇŻs problem, we can all talk at our leisure.ˇ±

    With a devested expression Marcus looked at the now empty space where BoreasˇŻnce had been moments before.

    He had really wanted to see it, but before despair kicked in, he looked towards Ja and the greedy expression on his face actually made her flinch for a second.

    ˇ°Ja, would you mind me looking at your scythe a bit while we talk. As a forgemaster and a wielder of the same weapon, it would be invaluable for me to see it.ˇ±

    Marcus slowly approached Ja having his forgemaster instincts sparked by seeing BoreasˇŻnce.

    It had been a while since he had the time to further his profession and now that the opportunity was in front of him, he wanted nothing more than to thoroughly examine the two top tier weapons that were within his grasp.

    ˇ°I am sure you can discuss something like thatter. For now, we need to deal with that.ˇ± Lyra said as she hit Marcus on top of the head and pointed down at the now lifeless body of the thunder behemoth.

    If its body was just left there, hordes of beasts and monsters from all over would swarm around it and could cause a mass outbreak in the area.

    Looking towards Boreas, they all waited for him to do something with it, as since he was the one who killed it, the body belonged to him now.

    ˇ°I already took its core which is the only thing I really wanted. Marcus how about you take it. You can consider it the rest of the reward for your help in defeating the Doomsday Worm.ˇ± Boreas said his disinterest in the thunder behemothˇŻs body quite obvious.

    With his attention redirected, Marcus looked down at the hulking form and figured he could make some pretty impressive items with it.

    Not often was it possible to get ahold of the entire body of a mythic grade beast, and he was not going to be humble and let this opportunity slip by.

    ˇ°Sure, that seems more than fair.ˇ±

    After that he flew down to the ground where the giant beast had left a massive hole in the earth and stored it away into his item box.

    He was now more d than ever that he had upgraded its space, as before it definitely would not have fit, but now he had just enough to store the entirety of the thunder behemoth into his item box.

    Once he was done with that, he flew back up to the others.

    Lyra for her part still looked not entirely well, as she wasing to grips with that, she had been dragged into something well beyond her.

    Still, she was a part of their group now, and Boreas after having finished quelling the fighting, was ready for a long discussion between those from Earth.

 Chapter 625 The Discussion Continues

    With the invading southern kingdoms now put in their ces and blown away by Boreas, it was finally time for the gathering of those form another world to continue.

    Though right before Boreas was about to whip up another whirlwind for their group to travel on, a number of figures began flying up towards them.

    In the lead was a familiar figure to all of them, as Aria ascended upwards with great haste.

    Following right behind her were Marek and Tesia who wereing to represent Tralenstein.

    Once Aria arrived, she stopped in front of Boreas and had a conflicted smile on her face.

    ˇ°It is good to see you again, Boreas, and I wish to thank you for your help here.ˇ± Aria said as she bowed her head a bit.

    ˇ°Ah no need to be so tense, Aria, I am your great grandfather.ˇ± Boreas said as he gave her a hug.

    As he hugged her for a moment Aria was taken back to when she was a little girl, and Boreas would hug her whenever he came back to the castle after his extended trips away.

    ˇ°You have done a good job keeping things together here and holding down the kingdom. I will be sticking around for at least a little while this time so I can pick up some of the ck of protecting the kingdom.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    After Aria and Boreas had a quick family reunion, they separated from each other, and Aria put on her professional expression as the grand archmage once again.

    ˇ°Ahem, Lady Aria it appears that you know who this strange man is.ˇ± Marek said as he looked between the strange group that had suddenly appeared.

    Naturally he recognized Marcus and Lyra, who he knew well. But both Boreas, and Ja were people he had never seen and gave off intimidating auras that made even TralensteinˇŻs guardian beast look like a kitten.

    ˇ°Ah yes, this here is Boreas, the founder of Borealia. I am sure that you have at least heard about him.ˇ± Aria said with a proud grin.

    Hearing that this man here was Boreas, both Marek and Tesia went mouth agape in shock, as they looked at the man that their nation was raised to hate as a traitor.

    Of course, at this point rtions between the two kingdoms were mended and they were already scheduled to be one again, but it was still very surprising to see Boreas in the flesh.

    He was famous around five hundred years ago, yet he still looked like a man in the prime of his life.

    ˇ°I see, so you are the legendary Boreas. I suppose it would take a man of your reputation and power to y a high-level mythic grade magical beast in one blow.ˇ± Marek said, trying to contain his astonishment.<sub></sub>

    Tesia on the other hand seemed quite guarded and shrunk away not wanting to get close, as she felt a sense of fear being around someone so strong.

    ˇ°Oh, so you have heard of me. Though I suppose that is not a surprise if you are a warrior from Tralenstein. I am d that our two kingdoms will be whole again, and in no small part to your efforts.ˇ± Boreas said.

    He then quickly wrapped up the conversation by saying he had other ces to be, and quickly wrapped up Marcus, Lyra, Ja, and himself in a whirlwind and flew back towards Borealia.

    When they arrived near the castle Boreas suddenly warped them all back into the hidden room they had been in before, and said, ˇ°Well now that we have our final member ready to join us, we can begin in earnest.ˇ±

    Lyra at this point just slumped down on one of the couches, already having given up on trying to make sense of how her normal day had beenpletely turned upside down.

    Now that the four people originally from Earth had gathered, it was time for them to truly begin their discussion.

    ˇ°I suppose we should catch Lyra up on what we were talking about before we went to get her.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Nodding their heads both Boreas and Ja agreed. Except as Ja took the lead, shetched onto the topic she had been so fervent about before, which was her favorite video game.<sub></sub>

    She began asking Lyra if she had yed it and what other games in the series came after it.

    Though Lyra was very taken aback by this and looked towards Marcus in confusion. Wondering why this was so important that she had to be basically abducted with no warning.

    Luckily Boreas who was the one that felt the most left out in a conversation about things he did not understand, said, ˇ°No Ja, we are not talking about you fixation with this thing you call a video game. I believe Marcus was talking about the differences in time between Earth and Mirrion.ˇ±

    With the conversation being steered away from JaˇŻs obsession with a certain video game, Lyra looked at Boreas with confusion and interest in what he meant.

    Quickly it was exined to her that people from Earth were only brought to Mirrion every two hundred years and in twenty-year intervals based on certain times on Earth.

    ˇ°I see so that is why it seemed that with just me and Marcus that Earth and MirrionˇŻs time were synced up, since we died in the same twenty-year span.ˇ± Lyra said once she came to an understanding.

    After that the four of them began telling each other how they died, starting with Marcus since he was the most recent one toe from Earth.

    Next came Lyra who told how she died in a tragic ident that garnered her both JaˇŻs and BoreasˇŻ sympathy.

    ˇ°I suppose I should go next.ˇ± Ja said with a frown on her face.

    Even though she had lived in this world for two hundred years, it was still not easy for her to recall how she previously died.

    ˇ°I just got unlucky, I guess. When I was neen, I got an especially bad case of the flu and it led to a lower respiratory tract infection that the hospital I was in just could not seem to treat. I pretty much slowly coughed myself to death, and after a few weeks of treatment, one day I simply did not wake up.ˇ± Ja said with a sad expression.

    While Marcus and Lyra had died fairly quickly, she had suffered for many weeks in a hospital as she slowly died.

    Their group gave another round of condolences to Ja, and she smiled brightly as she said she was happy to have some more people to share her experience with that would understand what she went through.

    It was at this point that they noticed a trend that none of them had lived a full long life, with Marcus having been the oldest one when he died at twenty-eight.

    They then looked toward Boreas who was the final one to tell his story and wondered if he managed to live out to an old age.

    Unfortunately, the trend of dying fairly young did not stop with him, as he said, ˇ°I died when I was thirty-four while on an archaeological expedition in Greece.ˇ±

    Boreas went on to exin that he was a historian and archaeologist focusing on ancient Greece and Rome.

    ˇ°My team and I were investigating a recently discovered temple that was mostly buried underground due to the passage of time, and while we were excavating it, one of the tunnels copsed and I got separated from everyone else. I spent days trying to find a way out but, in the end, no one found me, and I did not find an exit. So, I ended up dying of dehydration.ˇ± Boreas said with a shrug.

    He had longe to ept his previous death that had happened many centuries ago for him now, and in all honesty was not even close to as scary as many of the things he had encountered on Mirrion.

    ˇ°I see, so all of us died in some sort of unforeseeable way that we could not have been prepared for.ˇ± Marcus said.

    He also knew that Miguel, the kid he had met during the kingdomˇŻs tournament had died from bleeding to death after being stabbed, so no one that he knew about that came from Earth died after a long happy life.

    ˇ°What about the two of you, have any of the other reincarnates or transmigrations you have met made itte into their lives before dying.ˇ± Marcus asked Ja and Boreas who had met a few more people originally from Earth in their long time on Mirrion.

    Unfortunately, none of the people they had already met lived very long lives either, and all died in some way before reaching their twilight years.

    ˇ°I did meet a man a long time ago who said he died in a car ident when he was fifty-seven, but that has to be the oldest anyone I have met made it back on Earth.ˇ± Boreas said as he racked his brain.

    Sadly, the man he had mention was had already died again during his time on Mirrion, as had many that both Ja and Boreas had met up to this point.

    ˇ°I have met plenty of cocky people that originally came from Earth that were believing their powers to be stronger than they really were and underestimating how dangerous this world is. Certainly, at level forty if you do not go looking for trouble, it is unlikely that you will die. But it only takes one mistake to anger someone or something that can tear even a normally high-level person apart.ˇ± Bores said with a downcast expression, no doubt having some personal experience in that regard.

 Chapter 626 Talks of Earth and Mirrion

    Now that all of them had spoken on how they had died, the conversation moved onto less dour topics.

    ˇ°So how about each of us now say where we were all born.ˇ± Ja suggested.

    This time they all looked towards Boreas, sincest time they started with Marcus who was the most recent to arrive on Mirrion, this time they would be going in the opposite order.

    ˇ°Well, I was born and raised in Italy, though I did spend a fair amount of time in Greece as well, which sparked my passion for history and archelogy.ˇ± Boreas said.

    Though as Marcus heard this, he started thinking about how Boreas got his name.

    He had originally thought that the man was born many centuries ago on Earth when the name might have been more popr, but that was not actually the case.

    Not to mention that he was Italian and not Greek which made it even a bit stranger.

    ˇ°Boreas, how exactly did you get your name? Was it the one you were given on Earth, or perhaps another name on this world?ˇ± Marcus asked curiously.<sub>.</sub>

    Boreas, however, began to look a bit nervous, like he did not want to answer the question.

    Nevertheless, he eventually sighed, and said, ˇ°Truthfully, I gave myself that name since I always like the myths and history around the original Boreas, and I had an affinity for wind magic anyway so I thought it would be fitting.ˇ±

    But this just sparked more questions, and Marcus asked him next what his original name was, and how he had changed it. Since it was not like just announcing a new name would change it within the system.

    ˇ°Originally my name was Alessandro, but it is not like I have been called that by anyone in this world for a very long time, as I changed it pretty quickly. As for how I changed it, I simply used the terminal that I found and gave me the right to be king. With that I could easily change my name or anyone else under my rule for that matter.ˇ± Boreas said as he took arge sip of whiskey from his ss.

    Hearing this Marcus remembered back to when he originally got his title as Irene, and how that strange device that looked a bit like a tablet was used to give him ast name.

    ˇ®If it could do that much, then I suppose it is equally likely that it can change a personˇŻs first name as well.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    ˇ°Wow you really changed your name to that of a Greek god, how much were you into those myths.ˇ± Ja said whileughing a bit at Boreas.<sub></sub>

    Of course, he countered saying that she had some weird obsession with a game, and that he was actually just heavily invested in history.

    Eventually Ja teasing Boreas about changing his name came to an end, and she went on to talk about herself and where she was from.

    ˇ°I am originally from Canada. Unlike Boreas though, as I died young it, is not like I had a profession I was heavily into, but I was attending a university to studyputer science. Of course, I died before really getting to learn anything.ˇ±

    After Ja came Lyra who was the youngest amongst all of them when she had died, and was only now a bit older in this world than she had been back on Earth.

    She quickly told everyone where she was from as well, which swiftly moved onto Marcus since they lived in the same area

    ˇ°Of course, I am from the same ce as her as we were neighbors. Oh, and since everyone else mentioned what they had been doing, I suppose I can say that I was awyer. Though I had only been practicing for about two years.ˇ± Marcus said.

    When Boreas and Ja heard he was awyer they gave him sharp stares, obvious having heard how plenty ofwyers had bad reputations.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Hey, I was not one of the blood suckers that kept trials going forever in order to drain peopleˇŻs bank ounts okay. I was a prosecutor and did my best to put criminals away. Anyway, it is not like I have been doing anything remotely close to being awyer in this world and have found a new passion that I enjoy sinking my time into.ˇ± Marcus said in his defense.

    He then seamlessly transitioned over to something else he wanted to talk about, and said, ˇ°I already told you all this, but now I am a forgemaster. I quite enjoy making different items and working out what materials work well with each other. To that end, I would love it is I could thoroughly examine your scythe Ja, and yournce Boreas.

    Marcus had a sparkle in his eyes as he requested to look at the two strongest weapons, he had seen on Mirrion, and hoped to gleam some inspiration from them.

    Unfortunately, he was quickly rebuffed, and Ja said that he could look at her scytheter, while Boreas dodged around the issue and made nomitment to allow Marcus to see hisnce.

    ˇ°Now we have all talked about what happened to us back on Earth, but now I think it is time we discuss what happened when we originally got to Mirrion.ˇ± Boreas said, changing the subject once again.

    With his efforts to get his hands on BoreasˇŻ and JaˇŻs weapons halted once again, Marcus sat back and sighed. Giving up for now and going first since he had been here for the least amount of time.

    ˇ°When I first found myself on this world, I ended up the butt of the administratorˇŻs joke. I had asked to be untouchable, so she ended up bringing me here as a ghost and at level one. She took away the forty levels I was supposed to have, and in turn I ended up practically useless at level one. I even ended up floating down to the center of the world since I did not know how my powers worked at that time.ˇ± Marcus said with an angry expression, finally having some people he couldin to with.

    Yet while he had taken being in contact with the administer as par for the course, the others looked at him with surprised eyes, and Boreas caught onto something that Marcus had said.

    ˇ°Wait, did you just call the administrator she? How do you know what gender they are?ˇ±

    Looking at everyone else, Marcus could see that they had probing expressions on their faces as he had just revealed something that was known to very few on Mirrion.

    ˇ°Oh, I guess it probably is umon, but the administrator has met with me in person on two asions, and she sends me messages everyone now and then as well.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Hearing this Ja and Boreas were especially surprised, as they had in all of their years on Mirrion barely had any interaction with the mysterious being known as the administrator.

    They knew of her existence and both of them had received a couple of messages in the past, but nothing like the correspondences that Marcs had.

    ˇ°Just how many times has she contacted you?ˇ± Boreas said with a stern gaze in his eyes.

    He had not thought that he was going to get such important information from Marcus who was the one that had been here for the shortest amount of time.

    Thinking back on it, Marcus slowly counted the number of times he had received a message form the administrator and promptly told everyone how many it had been.

    ˇ°The most recent was during and right after the fight with the Dread Burrower. When I was in a sort of limbo like space after activating my revival skill, she appeared and spoke to me in person once again.ˇ±

    Marcus then went on to detail his recent talk with the administrator and told them about how the doomsday monsters were created for the express purpose of pushing the people of this world to their limits which was why the great spirits would not intervene.

    ˇ°She also told me that the next time a monster like that appears will not be in another four hundred years, but much sooner. However, what really worried me more than that was that she said she would be updating the worldˇŻs system and putting in new things. Though she was vague in that regard.ˇ±

    With pensive looks on their faces, both Ja and Boreas began contemting this information that Marcus had given them.

    But he was not done yet and told them about his first meeting with the administrator and the book that he had given her that could summon eldritch horrors which she said did not belong on this world.

    ˇ°I see so not even the administrator is omnipotent and has enemies that have sent forging objects to this world. This only just goes to show how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.ˇ± Boreas said with a hard expression on his face.

    Lyra on the other hand was having a hard time following what they were saying, as she had far less information than any of them did.

    ˇ°What are all of you talking about? I thought that the administrator was just some automated messaging system. I only ever received one message form them congratting me on my evolution.ˇ±

    Naturally Lyra had heard less from and about the administrator and only when she achieved her special and high tier evolution had she heard from them in what she thought was an automated message.

 Chapter 627 Talks of Earth and Mirrion (2)

    Seeing that Lyra did not know much about the administrator, Marcus caught her up on what he knew as he had the most interactions with her out of all of them.

    Though after he had caught her up with what he had already told Boreas, and Ja. He went on to tell them something else that was highly pertinent and the main reason he was in such great contact with the administrator.

    ˇ°To tell you the truth, Roxene was actually given to me by the administrator so that I could look after her here and raise her to be stronger. I am not sure what is going on in whatever world the administrator truly resides in, but it was too dangerous for Roxene to stay with her parents there, so she was sent here to grow stronger.ˇ± Marcus exined.

    Though this time instead of Lyra, it was Boreas and Ja who were confused, as they did not know who Roxene was.

    Quickly picking up on this confusion, Marcus borated and said, ˇ°Roxene is my beastpanion that I received form an egg in the Ocean Bluff temple. I was told she was nned to be given to the care of a person originally from Earth and that I just got lucky, but honestly that could have easily been a lie and she was put into my care on purpose. Oh, and I should mention that her parents are apparently on the same level as the administrator, and there is no doubt in my mind that she is the begin with the highest potential on Mirrion. Her powers are well beyond her level, and she contends with creatures that are even thirty levels higher than her.ˇ±

    Once Marcus had finished exining about Roxene, and his and the administratorˇŻs connection to her, he waited to hear what the others had to say.

    Of course, they all just sat there with contemtive expression while they digested everything they had just learned.<sub>.</sub>

    They all now knew more about the administrator just from these few minutes of Marcus talking about her than any of them had learned since arriving on Mirrion.

    Even Boreas after having been here around six hundred years did not know all that Marcus knew, as for the most part the administrator was pretty much hands off other than sending the asional message to those she favored.

    Unfortunately, even with all of the knowledge that Marcus had, it did not change much as just because they knew what the administrator was like and that she had big ns to shake up the world, they had no clue what they might be or when they might happen.

    ˇ°Well, all we can do it keep going I suppose, and prepare as best as we can for whatever might being.ˇ± Boreas said.

    In response all everyone else could do was sigh and nod. Hoping that their entire lives would not be thrown upside down.

    ˇ°Now what about the adventurers guild? Should I tell them this as well?ˇ± Marcus asked Boreas.<sub></sub>

    He knew that in a couple of days he was going to be having a meeting with them so that they could ask him about the Doomsday Worm and also try to recruit him deeper into their fold.

    After hearing MarcusˇŻ question, Boreas sat there with a contemtive expression for a few minutes, before shaking his head, and saying, ˇ°No I believe you should keep quiet about how much contact you have had with the administrator. The guild may be good for the most part, but I cannot guarantee how they might act if they knew how much contact you have with the administrator or the connection your beastpanion has.ˇ±

    Taking BoreasˇŻ advice Marcus nodded his head in agreement. He could think of plenty of drastic measures that might be taken against him and Roxene if the guild got scared enough and thought that they could use them both as bargaining chips against the administrator.

    However, Ja was opposed, and said, ˇ°I think we should tell them. They may be a bit forceful sometimes, and I do not personally like them all that much, but they do offer their protection to around a third of the world. There is no doubt they are the single strongest organization currently in power. If they make the proper preparations, it could prevent any number of tragedies.ˇ±

    At this Boreas frowned, but he could see that Ja was serious about her position and he did understand her point of view.

    He had originally thrown his hat in with the guild because of their strength and the protection they offered. As well as the opportunities for growth that they presented.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Very well, but I will tell them that I got this information from a message the administrator sent me after killing the Dread Burrower. I believe it will just cause more problems if we mention MarcusˇŻ and RoxeneˇŻs connection to the administrator.ˇ± Boreas said with a stern gaze that offered no contention.

    Shrugging her shoulders, Ja epted his methods and rxed her posture as she leaned back against the couch she was sitting on.

    ˇ°So, what now?ˇ± Lyra asked seeing that the serious conversation they were having had ended.

    ˇ°I suppose we go back to what we were talking about before we got off topic. I believe Marcus told us about how he had fallen to the center of the world. I am actually a bit interested, what is it like down there?ˇ± Ja said with a slight glint in her eyes.

    Going back to their original topic about their start on Mirrion, Marcus told them about his time sitting at the center of the world, how he fell into despair, and nearly went crazy.

    ˇ°Luckily I eventually realized how to utilize my float ability and made my way back to the surface where I appeared at the very northern edge of Borealia.ˇ±

    ˇ°But what about the core, is it really just a molten mass?ˇ± Ja said having hoped for something more fantastical.

    Unfortunately, Marcus just shook his head and said, ˇ°Yeah, it was just a molten core, nothing special like a hidden area or something like that. Though I suppose there could be something hidden down there, but I could not see it. I mean it all just looked like a bright light for the most part.ˇ±

    Once Marcus had finished up telling his immediate arrival on Mirrion, he moved about how he found IreneˇŻs body, and inherited her form and will.

    He continued on telling the highlights of his time on this new world until he caught up to where he was now, over two and a half yearster.

    ˇ°Wow, you certainly have lived quite the hectic life here. Even I did not get into as much trouble as you have in my fist few years here. It took me nearly four years to reach the level you are at when I first arrived, and I started off at level forty.ˇ± Boreas said with an impressed expression.

    Marcus had fought harder and skirted death far more than most people on this world, and he had experienced unparalleled growth because if it.

    The four of them then discussed MarcusˇŻ life up till now for a bit more, going back to the topic of the blue demon he had seen, which not even Boreas or Ja were certain about.

    ˇ°I know only a bit about the demon world, but I have heard it is a far more savage ce than ours. Strength is the absolute rule there and the strongest demons send their minions to this world to cause havoc and tempt people into making pacts for power that normally ultimately consumes them. I have fought back a number of demons in my time as some of them enjoy defiling forests, but I have not heard of a demon like the one you mentioned.ˇ± Jeal said, having the most knowledge on the topic of demons.

    She went on to list all the different types she had faced in the past, but the only one that Marcus recognized was the shadow demon that he had encountered in his current mansion.

    ˇ°Great now I have to worry about demons as well.ˇ± Boreas said with a frown on his face.

    He had been gone for quite some time and it appeared that while for the most part Borealia had not changed, certain things had been going on in the shadows.

    ˇ°Well, we can worry about demonster. They are typically slow to act as it takes them a lot of prep time to enter our world. Now it is LyraˇŻs turn to tell us about her life here.ˇ± Ja said turning her gaze to Lyra who had been mostly quiet.

    With the attention focused back on her, Lyra went on to tell them the highlights and major events of her life just as Marcus had done.

    Though inparison, her life had been pretty tame as she was not getting into life-or-death battle ever few months.

    ˇ°And Marcus already told you about the war. Our experiences were not all that different since we were fighting together most of the time during the major battles, so I will not bore you with details you already know. After that I have just been doing my job and running my duchy, and I do not think you all care about the paperwork I have been doing or the meeting I have been going to.ˇ± Lyra said not wanting to go into her the specifics of her day-to-day life as a duchess.

    Luckily everyone agreed, and next they turned towards Ja, who unlike Marcus and Lyra, had centuries of experiences to talk about.

 Chapter 628 Jaelaâ€™s life

    Sitting upright from her rxed positioned, Ja prepared to tell her fellow transfers from Earth about her life on Mirrion.

    Though unlike Marcus who had spent far less time, and Lyra who had only spent a slightly more time on Mirrion than Earth, Ja had already lived nearly three average human lifetimes here on Mirrion.

    ˇ°To start I can assume that you realized that like Lyra I chose to reincarnate as a new person rather than be brought here with my original form from Earth.ˇ± Ja said to start.

    She then looked at Lyra who had experienced something simr to her, and said, ˇ°Just like you did, I woke up suddenly feeling a sort of pressure on me and then pop, I got my first sight of light as I was born. It was quite the surreal experience that I imagine only those that went through a simr thing can understand.ˇ±

    At this Lyra nodded her head in agreement, while Marcus and Boreas just looked at each other awkwardly not really wanting to think about remembering the experience of being born.

    Going on Ja told about how she was given over to her mother after the birth and that was when she was shocked to see that those around her were not human.

    ˇ°As I am sure you can gather, I did note back in my second life as a human but a wood elf. At first it was certainly very difficult to deal with my long and sensitive ears that did not work exactly like the ones I had as a human, but eventually I got used to them.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Her story then went on much like LyraˇŻs had with her slowly learning about the world and building up her levels and skills.

    Though unlike Lyra her family did not meet some horrible end and her parents were still very muc alive.

    ˇ°Along with them I still have all four of my grand parents as well as two siblings. It has been a while since Ist saw them, but I do get the asional message every couple of years.ˇ± She said with a far-off look.

    Naturally she was thinking about her family who she had left in the home of her tribe of forest elves that lived far away from here on another continent.

    ˇ°Being a long-lived race, I am actually considered barely an adult even at two hundred years of age, but I snuck out of the vige when I was forty-two so that I could go an explore the world. Back then I was still pretty much a child, and I did encounter plenty of hardships, but I grew because of them.ˇ±

    After telling them about her early life in the forest elf vige she began telling of her first trip outside the forest and into the wide-open world.<sub></sub>

    The first city she came across was a vibrant ce full of many races, a bit like the capital of Borealia, but with far more diversity and no dominate poption like humans.

    Unfortunately, even though it was such a diverse city, forest elves were not really seen there often, and certainly not any young girls like her, as even at forty-two she looked like a ten-year-old human at best.

    This led to her being targeted by ve traders who wanted to make big money off of her, but as someone with experience form a past life as well as plenty from her current life, she turned the tables on them and ended up taking them for all they were worth.

    ˇ°I mean even though I physically matured a lot slower as an elf, I had still been diligently leveling up and spent my skill points on powerful skills. By that point I was already level thirty-six even with having lived a fairly leisurely life in my vige.ˇ± Ja said with a proud expression as she regaled them with the tale of her first adventurer.

    She continued on about how she was constantly targeted by kidnappers since a lone young forest elf was an incredible rarity, but no one actually strong came after her, and since what these people were technically doing was illegal, she took all their stuff and offered up those with bounties to the authorities.

    ˇ°I really started to make a name for myself after a few months, and people started assuming that I was actually a bounty hunter using some skill to disguise myself as a young defenseless child in order to entice my targets toe after me.ˇ± She said while giggling as she recalled her time taking down criminals.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°During that time, I also worked on learning more about the world and that is when I came across the discover of dungeons.ˇ± She said with a sparkle in her eyes.

    ˇ°It felt like I could live out my favorite game in real life, so I set out to the nearest known dungeon in the part of the world I found myself in. Unfortunately, they did not just let anyone into this dungeon, as in most ces they are considered like government owned mines that resources can be collected from, and a great training ground for knights and the like. But while the nation I found myself in was not connected with the adventurers guild, there were mercenarypanies throughout it, and I joined one that often went into a dungeon called the Unending Mire.ˇ±

    Ja went on and talked about her struggles starting out in the mercenarypany. They basically treated her like a goffer, and some of them members tried to get her to quit by giving her heavily physically demanding jobs.

    Though even though she was still a child by her raceˇŻs standard, she was simr to how Lilia is right now, being young but having a high level that put most people to shame.

    This allowed her to do more heavy lifting then some of the seasoned warriors in the group, and her abnormal strength quickly got the attention of the higher ups.

    Eventually the leader of the group himself called her in and asked her why she had joined.

    Naturally she told him she wanted to enter a dungeon and heughed incredibly hard. Though not because he was disparaging her, but because of how simple and unusual the reason was.

    ˇ°He then told me word for word, ˇ®Fine if you want to enter a dungeon, I will be taking you on our next expedition and you can show everyone what you are really made of. Just do not hold us back or we will leave you behind.ˇŻ And that is how I got permission to enter my first and far fromst dungeon.ˇ±

    After that she talked about how she was led into the dungeon that resided within a bog and went deep underground.

    Once they had actually entered just like its name suggested the dungeon was just and endless swamp that seemed to go on forever.

    ˇ°It was certainly something to see, as even when I rose up above the trees on a thick vine to look out all I could see before me was swamnd extending for miles and miles. Though doing so got me berated by the leader as he told me not to raise myself into the air or I would make myself an easy target.ˇ± Ja said with a nostalgic smile.

    ˇ°At first I wondered what mighte after me, but then I saw two giant mosquitoesing right for me, having spotted me in the air.ˇ±

    ˇ°Luckily they were not really high level and I managed to take them down with a tier three spell, but it did teach me that I needed to take heed of what the leaders said before acting and getting myself into danger.ˇ±

    Ja then went on to tell the highlights of her first time exploring a dungeon and working within a mercenary group.

    Naturally it had actually turned out pretty difficult for her since the terrain was difficult to traverse and it was her first time participating as a member of arge group.

    Nevertheless, she kept at it and enjoyed her first delve into a dungeon.

    And with her impressive magical skills she gained more ground in the mercenarypany and quickly rose her way up within it. They cared less about her age and appearance and more about her talent that was bringing them greater fortune.

    ˇ°I only stuck around with them for around five years though, after we had pretty much conquered the dungeon and I had seen all I wanted to in the area. Though at this point even if I wanted to go back, all the guys I know have long since died. Either from battle or just old age. I even attended my former leaderˇŻs funeral, and some of the remaining members who knew me asked me to join back up and take over, but I obviously refused since at that point I was already much higher level than they were and had my own goals.ˇ±

    She then went back to right after she left the mercenarypany, where she spent the next few decades just wandering around while gaining experience in multiple cultures and trades that interested her.

    ˇ°At one point I even became a schr for a small kingdom, trying my hand at teaching in their highest-ranking academy. It was kind of fun to have been a professor for around two decades and I learned a lot while there. When I went to leave, they even offered to make me the headmaster of the academy since I was pretty high level and had be quite knowledgeable in the subject of alchemy. Though like pretty much everything I had been doing up to this point, I just kept moving on, going to new ces and learning more about the world.ˇ±

 Chapter 629 Jaelaâ€™s Life (2)

    Ja quickly expunged more tales of her life after arriving on Mirrion.

    The older she got the farther she traveled, around and at one point when she was exploring the depths of a vast forest in search of a particrly rare naturally treasure, she came across the previous grand witch of the forest.

    ˇ°I still remember it like it was yesterday, my master was sitting on arge moss-covered rock surrounded by gleaming diamond like mushrooms and ying a beautiful song on an instrument that somewhat resembled a guitar. She had dark pink hair and slightly green skin as if she had chlorophyll running through her veins rather than blood.ˇ± Ja said with a wistful expression.

    ˇ°Her ying entranced me, and I just stood there in a daze, until I was brought back to reality when she addressed me.ˇ±

    She continued on with her story of how her master had begun asking her questions about why she had ventured in those woods and where she hade from.

    Naturally as the grand witch of the woods her former master she knew that the ce they were currently in was not JaˇŻs home and that she was certainly not just the average traveler.

    ˇ°I answered her questions as truthfully as I could, since I could feel just how strong she was. Luckily, she was not radiating any hostility as I had no intention of harming the forest, and I am d that I did not because her wrath was something else.ˇ±

    Eventually their discussion moved onto the previous grand witch of the forest leading Ja to what she was seeking and allowing her to take a bit of the natural treasures form the forest.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°She truly was amazing, and it was the first time I ever felt the desire to learn from someone. I told her this, and she told me to go and gather a number of items for her, as well as spend a decade protecting a certain forest as its warden.ˇ± Ja said.

    It was then that her life as she currently was began, and she dedicated herself to the requests she had received.

    She already had a natural affinity for nature due to her race as well as two of her blessings, so it was easy enough for her to live within a forest just as she had done until she left her home to explore the world.

    ˇ°When I had finally finished what she asked of me I began wondering how to find her, but she appeared before me almost instantly and said that I passed and would be her apprentice.ˇ±

    Ja then went on to talk at length about how amazing her master was, and how she was still trying to live up to her to this day.

    ˇ°Unfortunately, our days spent together we not long. It was only three decades after I became her apprentice that she left this world and went beyond its confines.ˇ± She said with a sorrowful look.

    Though while Marcus thought for a second this was in a roundabout way saying her master died, that did not actually seem to be the case.<sub></sub>

    It was then that he remembered that this world was like a training ground set up by the administrator to raise people up to a higher level so that they could take them on a subordinate.

    ˇ°Wait, are you saying that your master exceeded the peak of this world and has gone up to a higher realm?ˇ± Marcus said with a surprised expression.

    This was the first time he was getting any confirmation of anyone moving beyond the peak of this world even if he had heard that it was possible form both Roxene and the administrator herself.

    ˇ°Yes, my master reached the highest level and exceeded it, which allowed her to leave the world. I am not certain of the exact process, but apparently once you reach the max level you are given some sort of test and if you pass you leave the world for good. I have never heard of anyone returning once they leave in this fashion.ˇ± Ja said while nodding her head.

    Both Lyra and Marcus were stunned to hear this as it was their first-time hearing anything about what happened when one reached the maximum level of the world, which they did not even know the exact detail of.

    Though this led into the next question that Marcus had through Lyra actually beat him to the punch and asked it first.

    ˇ°Does that mean that you know what the highest level on Mirrion is? When I asked what it was during the soul cement process, I was denied and answer.ˇ± Lyra said with a fierce look in her eyes.<sub></sub>

    Marcus nodded along with her and just as intently stared towards Ja, wanting to know the answer as well.

    ˇ°Oh, I suppose that it is naturally that the two of you would not know, as neither of you are anywhere near level ny.ˇ± Ja said with a bemused smile.

    She then tilted her head and adopted a thinking pose as if she was pondering whether or not to tell them.

    But while she was messing around and teasing Marcus and Lyra, Boreas just sighed, and said, ˇ°The highest level one can get on Mirrion is ny-nine. When anyone reaches level one hundred, I am told they are forced to leave as they have be too powerful for this world.ˇ±

    After Boreas just went ahead and answered the question, Ja looked over at him an pouted a bit ,but ultimately just sighed and brushed it off.

    ˇ°As he said once some exceeds level ny-nine, they can no longer stay on this world which is exactly what happened to my master. I knew the second that she was gone as my title changed immediately and I be the new grand which of the forest.ˇ±

    Once she had be the grand witch of the forest, she gained an immense amount of power that the title gave her along with the duty to be the warden of the worldˇŻs forests and prevent them from beingpletely destroyed.

    ˇ°It certainly can be a lot of work, but the benefits definitely out way the negatives. It has allowed me to advance faster than I would have before, and I can always find a peaceful ce to rx within any forest. Though what just happened to the Great Gome Woods is by far the worst damage I have ever seen to one of this worldˇŻs great forests and it is likely going to take me many years to restore it.ˇ± She said with a sigh.

    Right now, she along with the help of Ardea had stabilized the areas that had been corrupted by the Dread Burrower and drained of all of its life. But it would take her quite a lot of energy and time to regrow the forest to how it had been before, now that massive chucks of it nowy as a barren wastnd.

    ˇ°I wonder if Forlorieous might be willing to help.ˇ± Marcus said absentmindedly, remembering the impressive feats the great spirit of nature had pulled off.

    While JaˇŻs powers were strong, what he could do still far surpassed her, and really cemented how the great spirits truly were pretty much the strongest beings on the.

    However, as he brought up Forlorieous, Ja just grimaced, and said, ˇ°I would rather not have anything to do with him. He is insufferable and pushy, and even my master hated dealing with him. Which is why I try to avoid him at all costs.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, I can understand that.ˇ± Marcus said while nodding.

    He remembered how strong Forlorieous hade onto him, and he imagined that anyone else that caught the great spirit of natureˇŻs fancy would get the same treatment.

    The conversation then bounced around a bit more until Lyra said, ˇ°So what happened after your master left? You told us that you inherited her job but are there any specific things you want to tell us.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh yes, I did have quite the frantic time filling my now gone masterˇŻs shoes. The first major thing that happened not long after was an assembly of all the other grand witches so that I could get to know them and they me.ˇ±

    Ja then went onto describe how stressful her first meeting with all the other grand witches, as she was the most junior member of their group at the time.

    Luckily, she did know some of the others from her time as an apprentice, and none of the other grand witches were openly hostile towards her. With them having either been friendly or for the most part disinterested.

    ˇ°Though the original group I joined has changed since then by quite a lot. During that time many of the grand witches were close to ascending just as my master has, so currently of the original ones that I met only two still remain with all the others being my juniors. Oh, and Ardea is one that joined not long after I did, recing her former master some fifty years ago.ˇ±

    Quickly, Ja went over the remaining highlights of her life that she wished to discuss with them just as how Marcus and Lyra had done previously.

    Of course, with her whole two hundred years of life on Mirrion she took up considerably more time than Marcus or Lyra had. But it was an enjoyable discussion for them all, as it was a rare opportunity for them to be unguarded around those that also came from Earth and fully understood each otherˇŻs situation that had evolved from their previous lives.

 Chapter 630 Boreasâ€™ Life

    With Ja having finished telling the abbreviated version of her lifeˇŻs story, everyone turned their gaze to thest one here to reveal what they had done sinceing to Mirrion.

    Seeing everyoneˇŻs intense gazes, Boreas sat forward and sighed. What he had to say was going to take up quite an amount of time since he was three times older than any of them and had way more life experience.

    ˇ°Well, I suppose I should start with my appearing in Tralenstein.ˇ± Boreas said as he rubbed the back of his head. ˇ°Just like Marcus, I appeared on the side of a road, though mine was in a hilly area with very few trees in it. And luckily, I was not hit with any tricks and was a normal human, so I did not slip through the ground.ˇ±

    When he arrived, he went through simr steps as Marcus did, opening up his status and looking around to see what he had.

    ˇ°To start, my stat points had already been assigned which was a bit unfortunate, but I suppose that is done so that if I was attacked immediately on my arrival, I would not have been a level forty with level one stats. Still, what was more important were that I still had ess to all my skill points which I could put where I wanted. I also had been given the blessing of zephyr which gave quite the boost to my agility and spirit stats, as well as giving me a unique skill called aerial boost. All in all, I had a pretty good start.ˇ± Boreas said.

    However, Marcus hearing this pursed his lips together in with a bit of anger and frustration. Not only did Boreas start out with the forty levels as advertised, but he also received a blessing that was perfectly suited to him and incredibly powerful.<sub>.</sub>

    And after some further inquiry Marcus found out that his blessing was quite simr to his exalted ones. Only being slightly weaker.

    ˇ°Wow you really lucked out there.ˇ± Marcus said with an envious tone. ˇ°I ended up with a blessing that was absolutely useless to me at the start and all my levels were shed away.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, but you havee quite far and you are now a great spirit which is something no one else could have ever hoped to achieve. My starting lucky truthfully may have been better, but I think that overall, you have obtained far more than I had at where you are. I mean you are level sixty-one after only a little more than two and a half years and were able to participate and provide meaningful assistance in a battle against a monster over forty levels higher than you were at the time.ˇ±

    After boreas pointed this out, Marcus realized really just how fortunate he had been past his starting experience.

    Though for all he had gained he had to suffer through some sort of trial or harsh battle, but he had gained a lot by doing so.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°You are right, sorry for bemoaning your good luck when I have had my own.ˇ± Marcus said.

    ˇ°No, it is fine, I understand that it was a difficult experience for you when you first arrived. But naturally we have all had our tough times.ˇ± Boreas said with a clouded over expression.

    Everyone else nodded along with this sentiment as none of them had what could be considered and exceptionally easy life, with Ja honestly probably having had the least amount of strife inparison to Marcus and the others who have had to fight in wars before.

    Continuing on Boreas exined how he decided to head northward on the road for pretty much no apparent reason other than that the wind was blowing that way.

    At the same time, he had looked through the skills he could purchase and bought wind magic along with magic cirction much as Marcus had originally done. That way he would have at least some level of protection in case he got attacked.<sub></sub>

    Eventually he made it to arge town and lined up to enter along with everyone else.

    Naturally he could not understand what they were saying, and used hisngue token to learn thengue in an instant.

    Though just like Marcus he did experience a head splitting headache as the information of anotherngue was transmitted directly into his brain.

    Still, he kept himself together and eventually got to the front of the line where they asked for his identification.

    ˇ°Unfortunately, as I am sure you can figure out, I had no sort of identification and no money either. So, they kicked me out of the line and told me toe back when I had a means of paying the entry fee and for the identification papers.ˇ± Boreas said with a sigh. ˇ°Luckily a kind gentleman moved out of the line and told me that there was arge vige around six miles to the west where I could probably pick up some manualbor jobs for a bit of money.ˇ±

    With a new direction to go, Boreas heeded the manˇŻs advice and head to this vige that fortunately did not have any sort of entrance fee or identification check since they rarely received travelers.

    ˇ°It was certainly surprising when I arrived how friendly the people were, and I was quickly allowed to assist their hunters on their job, even though I had no experience hunting. They simply told me that they wished for me to carry supplies and whatever they caught for them.ˇ±

    Though Boreas then smirked, and said, ˇ°But at level forty, I did have some surprises for them, and wanting to show off used my wind magic that I had brought up to level three to take out arge elk from a distance.ˇ±

    Apparently, this left everyone who was with himpletely baffled. They wondered why a high-level magic user was wondering around alone and in simple clothes, while doing such menial work for money.

    ˇ°I mean at the time I did not know how impressive it was at the time for a random person to just shoot off magic, especially in Tralenstein where resources to learn magic were pretty much only essible to the nobility and their close retainers.ˇ±

    He then had toe up with a story on the spot about how he came from another kingdom and his family had been destroyed by a rival and he fled far away to Tralenstein to avoid being killed himself.

    This while farfetched, was at least usible enough that the people believed him to a degree, and since he was useful allowed him to continue hunting with them.

    ˇ°After that I spent a good month in that vige getting to learn about the world around me while also making a bit of coin by using my magic to hunt beasts and monsters. It was pretty fun as I enjoyed learning about another worldˇŻs culture and getting to test out the skills I was leaning.ˇ± Boreas said with a nostalgic expression.

    His start had been pretty rxed where he was able to leisurely take his time learning about the world while slowly building himself up.

 Chapter 631 Boreasâ€™ Life (2)

    Once Boreas had umted enough coinage and experience in the vige he had found himself in. He eventually said his goodbyes to the people there and headed back to therge town he had been barred from entering a bit more than a month before.

    At the very least he now had a lot more information about where he was and knew that he was in one of the southern provinces of a kingdom called Tralenstein, which had a very strict system of nobility.

    ˇ°I was quite d I was a historian since it gave me some insights to what I might expect from nobility in the new strangend I found myself in, and I must say that my knowledge hase in handy on numerous asions.ˇ±

    He then went on to tell them all about his second visit to the town where this time he had the necessary money to pay the entrance fee and purchase identification papers.

    ˇ°But that is where some problems arose for me. When they used the status reading te, they found that I was level forty, had a number of powerful skills, and ast name which only nobles had.ˇ± Boreas said with a half-cocked smile.

    Marcus nodded towards Boreas, understanding as a simr thing happened to him when he first tried to have an ID made as himself and hisst name showed up.<sub>.</sub>

    Those working the gate had thought he was a noble who had lost his previous ID and treated himpletely different just on that wrong assumption.

    Unfortunately for Boreas, while MarcusˇŻ misunderstand was not as big of a deal since the nobility do not hold quite as much power in Borealia, in Tralenstein they were absolute.

    The guards had practically begun floundering and offering up numerous excuses about how they did not know that he was a noble, and that had he told them they would have treated him with far more respect.

    Boreas for his part had not expected such a turn of events. He simply wanted to enter the town to look around and collect more information and did not know that having ast name was so important.

    Also, his rtively high level of forty was already enough for him to be treated as an important person, since even people over level twenty were considered quite strong in rtion to the majority of the poption.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°To this day that incident is still one of the biggest headaches I have ever experienced as the lord of the town eventually sent someone to get me. I was then brought before lordˇ­ uh what was his nameˇ­ Ah I cannot remember, and it really does not matter.ˇ± Boreas said, giving up on trying to remember such a minute detail from so long ago.

    ˇ°When I was brought before the lord of that town, he began grilling me on who I was and where my family hailed from, since he had not heard of myst name before. I then went on to tell my already crafted story with a bit more embellishment than before to make it sound like I hade from a really powerful family even if they no longer existed.ˇ±

    Fortunately for Boreas his story was bought once again, and the lord offered him a position as a mage to serve under him.

    ˇ°Naturally, there was no way I was going to take him up on that offer. I had seen how the afraid of the nobles the people were, and I really did not want to scare them with just my presence or be ordered at any point to kill a bunch of people. Though the lord was not happy about my refusal to his generous offer.ˇ±

    Of course, it was pretty obvious even to Boreas at this point that his level and strength were above the norm and this small-time lord just wanted to exploit him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°After I refused him, he ordered his men to seize me for further questioning, saying that I was a suspicious noble from outside the kingdom that could be a spy. It was all too obvious that is actual reason was just to cover up his embarrassment for being turned down.ˇ± Boreas said as she scoffed at the memory of the first noble he ever interacted with.

    He then narrated how he blew away the guardsing after him with wind magic and made a hasty escape since none of that lordˇŻs men were close to strong enough to keep up with him.

    ˇ°And that was how I established a longsting antagonistic rtionship with the authorities of Tralenstein.ˇ± Boreas said with a proud expression on his face.

    Except everyone else was not sure that he should have been proud to have managed to get on the bad side of the nobility in the kingdom he found himself in only a little more than a month into his new life on Mirrion.

    His next few years were spent wandering around the kingdom fighting monster, beasts, and injustice where he went as he traveled north, moving away from where he continuously rubbed the nobility in the south the wrong way.

    ˇ°That was when I made it to Valenhart which at the time was the northern most city in Tralenstein and wasparatively small to what it is now. Still, the canals there were already quite established, and it reminded me a bit of home since I had vested Venice a number of times as it was not but a couple hours from the town I had lived in when I was younger.ˇ± Boreas said with a sentimental expression in his eyes.

    Quickly he ran all around Valenhart and saw what was to see and found that as it was far removed from the kingdom itself. The lord there was far morex and allowed the people more freedom than other territories.

    ˇ°I see so that specific trait hails all the way back to my ancestors even then.ˇ± Lyra said, enjoying hearing about how her home was simr even around six hundred years ago.

    ˇ°Yeah, Valenhart was always a bit of a strange ce inparison to most of the kingdom, with how free its people where and how much more integrated the nobles were with their people. It was a lot more friendly of an environment and I enjoyed it there. It was also likely that because of thexer structure there that I was able to create Borealia in the first ce.ˇ± Boreas said.

    Though this statement of his piqued everyoneˇŻs interests and he had to hold in a chuckle as they all popped up from theirid-back positions and he imagined question marks over their heads.

    ˇ°What do you mean by that? What did Valenhart have to do with you eventually founding Borealia?ˇ± Marcus said, asking the question that was also on Lyra and JaˇŻs minds.

    ˇ°I am sure that you two have at least heard about how what is currently Borealia was once the frontier for Tralenstein that they were trying to develop. ˇ± Boreas said as he looked between Marcus and lyra.

    They both nodded in acknowledgement having heard that before.

    ˇ°Well, the majority of the people that went up to settle the area came from the same province that was ruled by Valenhart and shared their ideals. Which is why they eventually wanted to break away from TralensteinˇŻs tyranny.ˇ±

 Chapter 632 Boreasâ€™ Life (3)

    With an understanding expression Lyra nodded her head knowing well the tyranny that Tralenstein had perpetrated for centuries until the recent civil warpletely uprooted the previously established status quo.

    Now nobles could not treatmoner like they were their property, and they had to properly manage their territory in order to keep their status and wealth.

    Of course, this had no negative impact on Lyra as her family had already been the closest to doing what BorealiaˇŻs new grasp on Tralenstein was enforcing on their politics.

    ˇ°Now obviously I have quite bit to tell before we get to the actual rebellion and subsequent spitting from Tralenstein.ˇ± Boreas said going back to where he had been at before.

    ˇ°Tralenstein had only been trying to expand its northern borders into the wild area above it for around twelve years and I was requested by an associate of mine to lead a group of people up to the frontier as trailzers.ˇ±

    Of course, Boreas agreed to this as was pretty obvious since it was where he eventually founded Borealia, and along with that a number of the people he led on this mission ended up as his long-time party members.

    Hearing this Marcus remembered something and took the ze glove out of his item box before handing it over to Boreas.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°I forgot that I still had this in my possession. Even after the battle there was much for all of us to do so I imagine that a magic tool even as great as this was forgotten for a time.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Seeing the ze glove BoreasˇŻ eyes welled up with nostalgia as it was once an item that belonged to a friend of his who was long dead now.

    ˇ°I see so you were using HaganˇŻs old, treasured magic glove.ˇ± Boreas said as he took it and held it in his hands while he looked down at it for a few moments.

    Though even though he was overwhelmed with emotions for a little bit, he quickly rposed himself and put the ze glove away into his own item box.

    ˇ°Thank you for returning this to me Marcus. I will make sure it gets back t its proper location at ater time.ˇ± Boreas said before continuing the tale of his life.

    He went on to talk about all of the little adventurers he had with his group as they cleared out groups of monster and beasts, and allowed for other people toe in and develop settlements in the ever-expanding territory that would one day be Borealia<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Ah then around two years into our expedition we were heading back towards thergest town in the area and found it being attacked by a group of monsters called Xorn which are especially reviling.ˇ±

    Boreas then described them and even just hearing their appearance from him was enough to unsettle everyone here who had never encountered this type of monster before.

    ˇ°It really sounds like quite the abomination I must say. I mean they have three eyes and arms surround a huge mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and they walk on three legs as well. Talk about unnatural.ˇ± Ja said, quite appalled to hear about this monster.

    Both Marcus and lyra agreed with her and nodded their heads. The images that their minds had made up for them were not appealing in the least.

    In fact, other than the eldritch horrors Marcus had seen that Teivel summoned, he could not think of anything else he had seen in this world that was more disturbing than these creatures sounded.

    ˇ°Yeah, it was certainly the dangerous situations since the town pretty much had no magical defenses and some of the Xorn were even around level forty, so they easily pushed into the town proper and began killing people.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    He went onto describe the terrible state the town was in and how the guards and really anyone who could fight had banded together to try and repulse the monsters.

    Still, they were outmatched and were barely holding on with the help of a nature magic specialist.

    ˇ®Ah I thought this sounded familiar.ˇŻ Marcus said as a memory from around a year and a half ago popped up.

    He had already read about this from a different point of view in the diary he found in the kingdomˇŻs archive, so he sat back and listened to how the turn of events differed based on perspective.

    ˇ°Naturally I could not just let this town go down, since it was thergest settlement for dozens of miles and the ce where my group and I were using as a base at the time. So, we went to work and quickly exterminated the Xorn.ˇ± Boreas said.

    Though the way he went through how the battle went was different than what Marcus had read in JuniperˇŻs diary, which definitely had been written through rose tinted sses.

    ˇ°After we defeated the threat the mayor of the town invited us to his estate and put us up and thanked us profusely with a feast. Though his daughter was certainly a bit annoying and pushy at the time.ˇ± Boreas said with as a soft smile appeared on his face.

    Marcus picked up on this and was probably the only one who understood that even though Boreas had just said his former party member was annoying, he was looking back on their first meeting fondly.

    ˇ°I see so this is when Juniper joined you.ˇ± Marcus said with a wry smile.

    Boreas for his part looked stunned to hear this and was unable to hide how surprised he was that Marcus knew this.

    ˇ°Did Gwyn tell you all of this already?ˇ± Boreas said with a cocked eyebrow.

    ˇ°No, JuniperˇŻs diary is in the archive, and when I was looking through it for certain information with Mrazivy we came across JuniperˇŻs diary and read it. Therefore, I at least know some of what happens from this point on from JuniperˇŻs perspective.ˇ± Marcus said with a smirk.

    Boreas for his part seemed baffled. He had not known that his old party memberˇŻs diary had ended up in the castleˇŻs archive.

    ˇ°I see, did Gwyn put it there? ˇ­ No, it was probably more likely done by Alexandra.ˇ± Boreas began mumbling to himself as he thought about who of his old part members might have put the diary there.

    Eventually after this revtion he came back to himself since everyoneˇŻs eyes were still on him, and he coughed loudly, before saying, ˇ°Yes where was I. Ah that is right, as Marcus so kindly pointed out this is where Juniper joined us, or should I say forced her way onto the team.ˇ±

    Apparently while Juniper thought she had been allowed to join right from the start, Boreas and the others wanted nothing to do with her. Still, she just kept running after them and they could not seem to get rid of her as she was just high enough level to keep up with them and could track them with her nature magic.

    ˇ°Though once we settled on letting her in, she proved useful once we got her leveled up. Her nature magic was definitely impressive and having her out in the middle of the wilds was immensely helpful.ˇ±

 Chapter 633 Boreasâ€™ Life (4)

    ˇ°After Juniper officially joined us, we continued going around tearing through the northern regions and making it a habitable ce for the new settlers to venture out to. This went on for around five years as my group and I got stronger and cleared away morend. But one day we received a request to y a dragon.ˇ±

    Hearing this everyone leaned forward with anticipation, since they knew that this must have been when Boreas met Gwyneira.

    ˇ°Some prospectors found a mountain that was filled with ice elemental crystals and mithril, which was likely to start a huge boon of business for the area. The only problem, a powerful dragon had made their home there and had chased away the people trying to start the mine. Naturally my group was called in since we were undoubtably the strongest group in the northern reaches. And while my party members told me to not agree, as dragons were supposed to be some of the most fearsome and intelligent magical beast. I really could not pass up the chance to fight a dragon.ˇ± Boreas said with a glint in his eyes remembering how he felt at the time.

    Of course, at this point they all knew that he did not kill this dragon, seeing as how she ended up as his wife. Though they were all dying to know how a quest to kill a dragon ended up with her joining him.

    ˇ°To start we had to make a number of preparations if we were going to be taking on such a fearsome foe. At this point my group and I had collected a number of valuable materials, and we went to work preparing potions andmissioning new weapons and magical items to be made in Tralenstein. It honestly took us over a year just to get ready. Mypanions simply would not allow me to run off and fight without being thoroughly prepared.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Once they were ready to go, their group headed off to the mountain and climbed to its peak where the entrance to the dragonˇŻsir was supposed to be.

    They tried to enter stealthily, but Gwyneira had blocked off all the possible entrances into the mountain with magical traps and means of detection. This meant that Boreas quickly throughout subtly and sted his way through the front door.

    ˇ°I believe that just trying to enter the mountain was the hardest thing I had ever had to do up to that point since arriving on Mirrion. I mean, there were so many traps and magical defenses to get through, and even though all of us were at least level sixty-three at that point, it was terribly dangerous for us.ˇ± Boreas said with a grimace as he remembered the traps that had been set up.

    He had nearly lost and arm at one point that was ripped through by a trap that had conjured a giant maw of icicles and had mped down on him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°It took us a while and numerous injuries, but we eventually made it to the heart of the mountain where we found the dragon waiting for us with dozens of magically created ice soldiers.ˇ±

    Boreas then went onto describe the epic battle he and his party had with Gwyneira, as she defended her home that as Boreas described look like a pce made out of ice, which was far from what he had excepted.

    ˇ°At that time, she was still only level fifty-nine, but there is no doubt she was the strongest being I had ever fought. It was the first time I had to go all out and truthfully; she nearly beat us all with all the magical formations she had set up in advance. But in the end, we won a war of attrition, and she simply ran out of mana and stamina after we fought a back-and-forth battle for around three hours.ˇ±

    With their enemy beaten down and restrained, Boreas had moved to finish Gwyneira off when she started talking to them for the first time.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I still remember what she said to me to this day. ˇ®You humans really are as my father told me. You will invade otherˇŻs homes and kill them if it to your benefit. Even men from another world are exactly the same.ˇŻ This really struck me as it was the first time a beastmunicated with me, and I was taken aback that she knew I was from another world. At this point I had not even told any of my party members.ˇ±

    This coupled with what she said about having her home invaded was enough to make Boreas rethink what they were doing. His group had just entered her sanctuary where she was minding her own business and were basically going to murder her in order steal all of her stuff.

    ˇ°It was then that I realized how wrong what we had just done was, and the thrill of trying to kill a dragon left me entirely. This was not like going out into the woods to kill some mindless beast, she was just as if not more intelligent than I was, and I was suddenly met with a wave of guilt for what we had done.ˇ±

    Realizing what they had just done, Boreas was no longer able to go through with killing Gwyneira, and instead told his party that they were leaving.

    Of course, none of them understood what Boreas was getting at ,but he said he did not feel right about doing this and that he would not be epting any dissent.

    After that he freed Gwyneira from the mana draining binding they had caught her in, and Boreas stuck around for a bit to ask her some questions.

    ˇ°I really wanted to know how she knew I was from another world, and even though my friends thought I was crazy, I dismissed them, and they followed my directions. Anyway, I could tell that Gwyneira as not going to hurt me, not with the look of befuddlement in her eyes.ˇ±

    Certainly, for Gwyneira at the time it must have seemed impossible that the group of humans that hade to kill her decided to let her go free and then start a discussion.

    ˇ°She was guarded at first, but eventually she answered my question and told me that she could see my entire status and knew that only those that came from another world had the personal status unique skill. I then thanked her for her answer and went on my way after saying we would not bother her again.ˇ±

    Yet that was apparently not the end of it.

    While Boreas reported that he had been unable to defeat the dragon, the very wealthy group that was trying to establish the mine did not give up. They exerted all of their connection in Tralenstein and had a group of high-level knights and mages sent up to kill Gwyneira.

    However, Boreas at this point still felt bad for what he had done and intervened by stopping the people that were sent to kill Gwyneira before they could invade her home.

    ˇ°I just felt that I owed her something after what we had done, and from that point onward, I was more careful to make sure that we were not attacking any intelligent entity in their homes.ˇ±

 Chapter 634 Boreasâ€™ Life (5)

    As Boreas continued to send any invaders that tried to kill Gwyneira packing, she naturally noticed his efforts.

    One day she grew curious and invited him into her home to talk which surprisingly Boreas epted.

    ˇ°She seemedpletely baffled that I would willing enter her home with out any backup, since with all of the defensive formations set up, she could probably have killed me is she wanted. But I did not peg her for that type and the curious looks she gave me told me she had no hostile intention.ˇ±

    When Boreas met with her, she asked him why he had been helping her, and he told her that he felt bad about what he and his party had done which he felt was no different than an armed robbery.

    ˇ°She then said to me ˇ®I see I must take back what I said. Maybe men from another world are different.''ˇ± Boreas said with a smile on his face as he recounted his first friendly conversation with his wife.<sub>.</sub>

    For Gwyneira who was a mythic grade beast losing a fight normally meant death, but when she had snapped at Boreas right before she thought she would die, her words had actually reached him.

    ˇ°After that I continued to protect her home from those that we sent to kill her, and she periodically invited me into her home to talk and have tea with snacks. But eventually the people stoppeding for her. Thepany trying to establish the mine in the mountain that was GwyneriaˇŻs home simply ran too low on money and clout to continue what appeared to be a hopeless venture.ˇ± Boreas said with augh.

    Of course, while he was fighting to protect Gwyneira he made sure to keep his identity a secret by wearing a costume to disguise himself.

    ˇ°I also had to put a lot of points into the hide status skill that prevents people from appraising me as long as their skill is the same or lower level. Though it is not even close to as impressive as your unique skill.ˇ± Boreas said as he looked at Marcus.<sub></sub>

    Shrugging his shoulder Marcus took theplement, since his unique skill certainly was useful as he could set his status to pretty much whatever he wanted as long as he did not make himself try to look stronger than he really was.

    ˇ°Once there were no more threats to Gwyneira, I considered my repentance done and went on my way to rejoin my party who had continued clearing out northern wilds while I took a break.ˇ±

    They went on like this for a few more months, though this time Boreas made sure to carefully appraise any beast that they were fighting to make sure they were not intelligent like Gwyneira was.

    ˇ°That was when something wholly unexpected happened.ˇ± Boreas said. ˇ°We were just enjoying a rxing time at one of the taverns that had been set up in a town we had help establish, when a beyond beautiful girl with royal blue hair walked in. I was practically enraptured by first sight and was incredibly surprised when she walked right up to me, and said, ˇ®I finally found you Boreas.''ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Caughtpletely off-guard Boreas actually had spit out his drink as the beautiful girl came up to him and acted like they knew each other.

    ˇ°Of course, I knew there was no way I would not remember someone like her. So, I was leftpletely baffled by the situation, just as my party was. Not to mention she lookedpletely out of ce among all of the rough and tumble people in the tavern, with her fair skin and ornate dress. Even Juniper who was a properdy looked more natural since at least she was wearing adventuring clothes.ˇ±

    What happened next naturally shocked Boreas and hispanions as Gwyneira introduced herself to them and sat down next to Boreas.

    ˇ°I have to say my party was not quite happy about this and stood up and took their weapons out on instinct when they realized that she was actually the dragon we had attacked. Though Gwyneira did not pay them any mind and instead looked towards me.ˇ±

    It turned out that once Boreas had left, Gwyneira started to get lonely and miss him. Since while they may have started out as enemies, she considered him a friend at this point seeing as how he had protected her for over a year.

    ˇ°Later did she tell me that after her parents had died in a turf struggle, she had been left all on her own, and it is actually quite tough for a young mythic grade magical beast, as others or the same grade or at the legendary grade will kill unprotected beasts that could be a threat in the future. Now that is not to say that she was not strong, but I am sure all of you can understand the difference between a level fifty-nine and say a level seventy mythic grade beast.ˇ±

    For Gwyneira when she lost her parents who had died killing a group of intruding beasts, her home was no longer safe. She had to abandon it and fly to an entirely different continent to find a new home that was far enough away from any other powerful beast so that she would not be targeted.

    ˇ°But now that her new home had gained the attention of humans, she decided to abandon it. And as I had been kind to her, she wanted to stick with me for protection since I was pretty strong as far as humans went.ˇ±

    Though at first his party was very much against letting a dragon join, but once Boreas extolled how useful it would be to have her, they relented and allowed her to join.

    ˇ°Once Gwyneira joined us things in the party took a drastic turn. A couple of our members decided to leave, and Juniper became, well a lot angrier all the time. But my party soon picked up its final member when Alexandra joined us. I believe you know her right Marcus. She is currently the head royal investigator of the kingdom.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Marcus acknowledged that he knew her, and said, ˇ°Yes, I have met her a couple of times, but she is certainly hard to read. How in the world did she end up in your party?ˇ±

    ˇ°Ah that is because she hade looking for us since she had recently found a very dangerous dungeon to the far north that she wanted to enter.ˇ± Boreas said with a half-coked smile.

    Hearing this Marcus understood where this was going as it had been written in JuniperˇŻs diary.

    ˇ°So, this is when you entered the Great Gome Woods Dungeon. Juniper did not really write down that many details about how you found it or why you entered. At that point she was mostly writing insults about Gwyneira and feeling jealous that she had gotten so close to you very quickly.ˇ± Marcus said with a smirk.

    Boreas groaned a bit when Marcus brought this up, but he was well aware of the crush that Juniper had on him, but they had resolved that issue centuries ago.

 Chapter 635 Boreasâ€™ Life (6)

    With the allure of a new dungeon put in front of them, Boreas and his party quickly decided to join up with Alexandra who had discovered the ce and go and investigate it for themselves.

    ˇ°It was certain to be a huge discovery, and dungeons are some of the only ces where unique skill orbs can be obtained. So, for our party that had gotten pretty high level at that point it was a no-brainer that we would venture out to this dungeon even though it was hundreds of miles away from any civilization.ˇ±

    And while Boreas glossed over the next part of their journey, Marcus knew that it must have been around then that he and Gwyneira got together, because he remembered the words that Juniper started using in her diary became far more hostile towards Gwyneira.

    ˇ®Ah yes that is right. She had started calling her ˇ°that dragon bitchˇ± if I remember correctly.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he remembered reading through her diary.

    ˇ°Once we finally made it to the dungeon, we all went in cautiously. Only to find that once we were inside, we were all given random quests to clear within the area we found ourselves in before we could leave or move on.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Marcus began chuckling at this point because he recalled the absolutely ridiculous conditions that Boreas had to clear at one point.

    ˇ®I wonder if he will tell us about how he had to headbutt a bunch of earth elementals.ˇŻ

    However, Boreas did not go into detail about the wackier of the achievements he and his party had to clear, so Marcus decided to let him save some face and not tell everyone about them.

    Though he did mention when they found Salvia, JuniperˇŻspanion spirit who was still looking over the castleˇŻs atrium to this day.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°It was around that time that our party became really seamless and together. Juniper stopped glowering at Gwyneira, and Alexandra became a full-fledged member since we went through a lot together in that ce that can only be described as a hellhole.ˇ±

    Boreas continued on talking about the horrors they faced within the Great Gome Woods Dungeon, but also the impable rewards that they reaped as well.

    ˇ°For all the trouble we had to go through, whenever we managed to beat a boss, the treasure chest was packed with some outstanding rewards.ˇ± Boreas said with a gleam in his eyes.

    There was no doubt that a number of the items in the castleˇŻs vaults to this day actually came from Boreas and his partyˇŻs expedition into the Great Gome Woods Dungeon.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°After around two years of exploring the dungeon though, we were all done, and Alexandra managed to aplish what she wanted by gathering enough materials to help out her home nation that is on the edge of the continent to the west of here. She had traveled quite far in search of a ce to earn a lot of money to help them out, and for as dangerous and horrible that dungeon is, it certainly is packed full of valuable items.ˇ±

    Once they were fed up with the dungeon, Boreas told them all about how just trying to exit the ce was an arduous task. Even while backtracking they had to clear new trials to exit any given area, so it took them around another year and a half just to exit the dungeon.

    ˇ°When we got out and made out way back to the nearest town, we found that things were quite different.ˇ± Boreas said with a grave tone.

    While the town and surrounding settlements had gotten quite a bitrger, they were now being patrolled by Tralenstein soldiers, and the people were being heavily taxed to the point of being left almost nothing.

    ˇ°During our time in the dungeon Tralenstein fought a bloody and costly war with two of its neighbors to the south causing them to decide it was time to levy some heavy taxes on their growing frontier, when up until recently the people had actually been pretty far-removed from TralensteinˇŻs politics.ˇ±

    Naturally the people were not happy to suddenly have all of their hard-earned goods and money being taken away, but there was little that many of them could do to stop a superpower like Tralenstein from doing what they wanted. At least, not until Boreas got involved.

    ˇ°As I told you earlier, in the dungeon I found one of the devices that would allow me to im being a king if I got the support of enough people living within a territory I designated as mine. To my group and I Tralenstein really was not our home, but the northern frontier was. As I was a historian form Earth, I knew of plenty of examples where colonies would rise up in revolt for independence due to heavy taxation, so I used my knowledge to whip people up into a frenzy and started a war.ˇ±

    Though while Boreas said ˇ°warˇ±, what he really meant was a ughter. His party was incredibly powerful at this point, with them all being over level seventy and each of them having more than one unique skill from their time in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon.

    Tralenstein for its part was also fairly depleted from just having fought and won a war, so they were unable to properly respond with everything they had, and Boreas managed to force them out of the northern territories within a few weeks and im it as his own with the support of the people.

    ˇ°And that is how this kingdom was founded. There was a lot of work to be done after that and I definitely did not know what I as getting into, but it was a worthwhile experience.ˇ± Boreas said with a wistful look as he remembered his time as king.

    He only held the position for a short time before deciding to run off on more adventures and leave everything to his and GwyneriaˇŻs first son, but he never abandoned the kingdom and made sure that any interested powers knew that he and Gwyneira were protecting the ce.

    ˇ°On our trips abroad Gwyneira and I did at some point find out about the adventures guild and I invited them to check out our blossoming nation in order to get it some more protection and promote the growth of the people.ˇ±

    Luckily, he did manage to negotiate having Borealia epted, but it came with some conditions.

    ˇ°First any nation affiliated with the guild is unable to start a war and are not allowed to expand their territory via conquering other nations. You could even say what you did with Tralenstein was a bit of a grey area, and Gwyneira told me that the current king did receive someints about it.ˇ± Boreas said.

    ˇ°Second, we needed to send a quota of magic cores back to the guildˇŻs headquarters. And third, promise to send support to other member nations in case of crisis that was deemed too great to handle alone. Much like how Borealia requested their aid for battling against the Doomsday Worm even though it was unnecessary in the end.ˇ±

    There were a few other smaller stiptions that Boreas then listed off, but those three were the main ones that the guild enforced on all those who joined under it.

 Chapter 636 End of the Meeting Between Those from Another World

    Now that Boreas had finished retelling his early life to all of them, he quickly zed through the highlights of what he had been doing for the centuries afterwards.

    He had honestly spent a lot of time just wandering around and training up his skills while improving his overall base powers rather than worrying about leveling up quickly.

    At time he would take his party members or just Gwyneira with him, but around a century ago he received an offer from a high-level friend he had made to enter a special dungeon that would allow him to steadily raise his level.

    ˇ°Unfortunately, they only offer me a slot so I could not bring anyone else. And in my overconfidence, I thought I could clear the special dungeon that was called Endless Turmoil in just a few decades. But it was much more difficult than I expected, and while it definitely gained me some levels, I do somewhat regret the immense amount of time I spent in there.ˇ± Boreas said with a frown on his face.

    He felt pretty bad about abandoning Gwyneira for so long, even if the both of them could easily live thousands of years.

    ˇ°And to make matters worse I was not even able to make it to the end of the dungeon since I received GwyneriaˇŻs distress call. Nevertheless, I had told her I woulde no matter what and sped my way to an exit point so I could get out. Even though I can never return now, I do not regret my decision.ˇ± Boreas said with a stalwart expression.<sub>.</sub>

    Apparently unlike the Realization of Self Perfection, once someone left the special dungeon Endless Turmoil, they could never return again.

    ˇ®Do I tell him about the special dungeon we found?ˇŻ

    Marcus toiled around with letting Boreas in on the special dungeon he had found with his friends and family, but ultimately decided not to mention it.

    He figured that Gwyneira probably wanted some time with her husband after so long, and he imagined he might obtain her ire if he sent Boreas off on another long dungeon delve.

    ˇ°Sounds like we have all lived some hectic lives here on Mirrion, but I am d that we all have been able to meet like this.ˇ± Ja said now that they had all told each other about their lives.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Yeah, but it does kind of feel bad since both you and Boreas are not going to be around that much longer. Both of you are already over level ny and probably some of the strongest people on the.ˇ± Lyra said as her ears drooped a bit.

    Marcus nodded along with her, sharing this sentiment. Sure, it was great to have met up with some more people from Earth, but their levels were vastly different. Meaning they existed practically in different world. Not to mention that it would not be long until both of them exceed the confines of Mirrion.

    Or at least that was what Marcus and Lyra thought, but both Ja and Boreas shook their heads.

    ˇ°No, I imagine I will be here for at least another century even if I continue leveling up at full steam like I have been.ˇ± Ja said.

    ˇ°Yeah, I think I will be around for quite some time still as well. I n on taking a good long break with Gwyneira and lounging around here for around a decade or so.ˇ± Boreas said with aid-back expression.<sub></sub>

    While Marcus and Lyra had thought that it would only take maybe a couple decades at most for the two of them to level up to the peak of the world, apparently it was not going to be that easy.

    ˇ°Yeah, once you reach around level eighty the level up curve gets way steeper and it can take years of fighting just to get a single level. Where we are at right now, it is going to take a couple decades just to get a single level unless we are lucky and hit an achievement of some kind. I mean, killing the Doomsday Worm got me my first level up in eleven years, and quite a bit earlier than I expected.ˇ± Boreas said.

    ˇ°Yes, it had been quite a while for me as well. I believe myst time leveling up was eight years ago, though I have been focusing very heavily on leveling up and not much else, so my overall progress has been pretty fast.ˇ± Ja said, admitting she did not do much of anything other than grinding her level.

    ˇ°Hm well if you are going to be sticking around, Boreas, that takes a load off my shoulders. I will not have to worry about Borealia being in any danger so long as you are here, meaning I can rx.ˇ± Marcus said with a sigh of relief.

    However, in return, Boras gave Marcus a devious smile that made him shudder.

    ˇ°Oh, I am just biding my time a bit until the next generation is ready to take up the mantle. I have heard from Gwyneira that she and the current king are backing you and my descendant named Mrazivy to be the next protectors of this kingdom. Once I have finished up my long vacation, I will be taking Gwyneira with me and leaving this ce in both of your capable hands.ˇ±

    Stunned silent, Marcus had not been expecting that response from Boreas, but now he knew just how much responsibility was nning to be hoisted on his and MrazivyˇŻs backs.

    ˇ®Wait, are we not basically their direct recements in a way. I am a man that came from Earth while she is a dragon human hybrid. I am just taking BoreasˇŻ ce and she is taking GwyneriaˇŻs.ˇŻ

    Realizing that this had likely been GwyneriaˇŻsˇŻ n for some time, Marcus cradled his head and thought about when his life had gotten so connected to Borealia.

    ˇ®I suppose it is fine. I have a lot of friends here and my only family, and it is not like I cannot explore the world and use this ce as my base. Anyway, Boreas and GwyneriaˇŻs are not disappearing tomorrow, so I still have more time to run around without worry.ˇŻ Marcus thought while calming himself down.

    He knew he was already in too deep to really back out now, at least, not without losing a number of things that he did not want to.

    ˇ°Well, I believe we have talked most of the day and night away, so it is time that I return to my duties. I need to continue restoring the Great Gome Woods. I will make sure to stop by again in a couple of months and we can chat again.ˇ± Ja said as she stood up to leave.

    Yet before she could go, Marcus stood up as well and moved over to her to prevent her from leaving.

    ˇ°Just a minute, Ja. I believe you said that you would allow me to look at your scythe at ater time, but if you are leaving now who knows when that will be. I only wish to look at it for a few, no just a single hour if that if not too much of a problem.ˇ± Marcus said with a fervent look in his eyes.

    ˇ°Fine, go ahead.ˇ± Ja said with a resigned voice as she handed Marcus her scythe.

 Chapter 637 Going Their Separate Ways

    ˇ®Oh, now this is interesting.ˇŻ

    Scrawling his finger along JaˇŻs scythe Marcus was busily taking in everything he could about it.

    It was an expertly forged weapon, and he was gaining insights into its making and powers every minute he looked over it.

    ˇ®Wow, whoever made this was a genius. I never even thought tobine formations like this.ˇŻ

    With his eyes glued onto JaˇŻs scythe Marcus intently examined the de and then handle all the way down, noticing all of the intricately etched formations.

    Unfortunately, time was not on his side, and after the hour had passed, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He then looked up to see Ja holding her other hand out to take her weapon back.

    Marcus nearly recoiled at this and wanted to yank back and hold onto her scythe, but he knew that he could not keep it any longer.

    ˇ®I should have tried asking for more time to look it over. But I did not want her to reject my request.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he begrudgingly handed the scythe back over to its rightful owner.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Thank you for allowing me to look at your prized weapon. It was very enlightening, and I believe that it will help me in creating my next new scythe in the future.ˇ± Marcus said, trying to keep up a cordial fa?ade as he stared intently at JaˇŻs scythe.

    ˇ°Oh, and if you ever need any maintenance or repairs on it feel free to bring it to me. I would be more than happy to fix it for a very discounted rate for a friend.ˇ± He added.

    Sighing Ja agreed to bring her scythe to Marcus should she ever need it repaired, though she doubted that would ever happen with how well-crafted her weapon was.

    ˇ°Now since I indulged you this time, next time you are going to tell me everything I want to know about that game I enjoy.ˇ± Ja said with a smirk.

    After that she had Boreas warp her out of the castle so that she could get back to repairing the Great Gome Woods.

    ˇ°I should be getting back as well. I imagine that I will have a lot of exining and work to do when I return to Tralenstein.ˇ± Lyra said as she gestured towards Boreas when he reappeared.

    ˇ°Yes, I suppose that since I brought you here, I should take you back. If that is not a problem.ˇ± He said understanding what Lyra wanted.<sub></sub>

    Naturally she epted his help as it would have taken her significantly longer to return on her own, since she could not fly at anywhere near the speed that Boreas could.

    In an instant the two of them were gone leaving Marcus all on his own in apletely enclosed room that could only be essed by those that could freely warp around the castle.

    ˇ®Now what?ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked around at the empty room. ˇ®Do I just stay put until someonees to get me, or do I try to find my way by phasing through the walls?

    Pondering this for a few minutes, he eventually decided to not do anything rash and just wait.

    Thest thing he needed to do was idently pass into someone like the kingˇŻs room and set off some sort of rm.

    Luckily it was not long until Boreas returned from taking Lyra back to Tralenstein.

    ˇ°Now I guess you will want to return to your room, but I am not exactly sure where that is since Gwyn brought you here.ˇ± Boreas said with a pondering expression.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°If you would just drop me off within the wing of the castle where the rooms for royalty are, that would be fine. I am sure you heard that I was given the status of an honorary prince, so I have a room there.

    Of course, Marcus actually had no intention of heading to his own room and instead was going to stop in and meet with Mrazivy as he said he would.

    And while he was trying to hide his true intentions, Boreas seemed to pick up on it and gave Marcus a wry smile.

    ˇ°Sure, I will drop you off right in front of MrazivyˇŻs door.ˇ± He said as he moved over to Marcus.

    Another secondter he found himself standing in front of his fianc¨¦ˇŻs door with Boreas next to him with a big grin on his face.

    ˇ°Now I would love to be introduced to my descendant, but I suppose now is not a good time.ˇ± Boreas said as he moved his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive motion.

    Marcus just scoffed at this since he knew Boreas was messing with him.

    ˇ°After that I may never let you meet her.ˇ± Marcus said with a re.

    ˇ°Okay I get it. I will leave you alone now.ˇ± Boreas said as he put his hands up in surrender.

    He then disappeared in a puff of mist likely going to wherever Gwyneira currently was.

    Sighing Marcus reached out to Mrazivy with telepathy and contacted her in order to tell her he had arrived outside her door.

    A few momentster her personal attendant opened the door with a grin just as wide as BoreasˇŻ and let Marcus inside since she already knew about his rtionship with her mistress.

    ˇ°Thank you, Aisha, I hope that I did not wake Mrazivy up with my sudden arrival.ˇ± Marcus said.

    ˇ°Oh no, her highness did not even attempt to go to sleepst night as she waited for your arrival. And while I normally would not have approved of her staying up like so, I know that she can stay awake for over a weak since she evolved.ˇ± Aisha said with a giggle.

    Once she had finished greeting Marcus, she led him inside MrazivyˇŻ suit, and she was sitting on the couch in her living area reading through a number of documents.

    Though when she saw him arrive, she looked up and smile at him before putting the documents down.

    ˇ°That certainly took a while. You four were talking for nearly twenty hours.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she got up and walked over towards Marcus.

    ˇ°I will go and prepare some tea and snacks.ˇ± Aisha said, before hurriedly left the room.

    As soon as she was gone MrazivyˇŻs wrapped her arms around Marcus and moved in to give him a kiss which he naturally epted.

    When Mrazivy was satisfied she pulled back from Marcus who was looking down at her in a bit of a daze not having expected her toe at him so passionately.

    ˇ°I am truly d that you are back.ˇ± Mrazivy said.

    While they had already met with each other after the battle with the Doomsday Worm, Marcus had been in his guise as Irene for most of the time, so for Mrazivy it was not like she was able to truly be with him.

    ˇ°Now since we have some time, I have beenpiling a few things together for our engagement party that ising up that we need to decide on.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she led Marcus over to the documents she had been reading.

    ˇ°Now what kind of flowers do you think we should have present?ˇ±

 Chapter 638 Engagement Party Planning

    At the start when Mrazivy brought him over to discuss ns for their uing engagement party, Marcus was far from thrilled. But as they continued onward, he slowly began to enjoy himself a bit. Though not because he really cared, but because he was enjoying his time with Mrazivy.

    ˇ°So, this is the list of people that we have to invite, but are their any others that you wish to be there?ˇ± Mrazivy said as she showed him a list of names.

    Scrolling through it, MarcusˇŻ eyes nearly bulged at the number of people that would be in attendance. However, while they were not massively influential, both of them were considered royalty.

    ˇ®I only recognize maybe ten percent of the names on this list, though Mrazivy assures me I have met most of them at least once. But how the hell was I supposed to memorize all of their names when there were so many of them.ˇŻ Marcus thought while internally sighing.

    Still, he knew that he needed to get though this if he wanted to be with Mrazivy. She was a princess after all.

    ˇ®Once all the fanfare is over, we can slide back into the shadows and just support her siblings from the shadows and enjoy our lives as we like for the most part.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°There are just two people not on this list I would like to invite if possible.ˇ± Marcus said as he looked up from the list and towards Mrazivy.

    She raised an eyebrow wondering who he could mean, when she thought that the list was alreadyprehensive.

    ˇ°Oh, and who might these two people be?ˇ± She said with a bemused smile.

    ˇ°First, I would like Lilia to attend as she is not on the list. I know that neither of us really have a public rtionship with her since our connectione from my alter ego who we can not invite for obvious reasons.ˇ± Marcus said with a hopeful expression on his face.

    He really wanted Lilia to attend even if she could not realistically participate since she was from the publicˇŻs perspective IreneˇŻs little sister and not his.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°That might be difficult. As you said she has no real connection to either of us as far as the kingdom is concerned. I also asked that she be invited, but it would be difficult to do as you cannote as Irene and since you are known as my close friend in that form.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a conflicted expression. ˇ°If we invite Lilia and you as her sister do not show up as well, it will start all manner of rumors, from my no longer seeing you as a friend, or that you have decided to no longer associate with me, and your little sister is acting in defiance.ˇ±

    Mrazivy went on to exin all manner of other problems that could ur if just Lilia showed up while Marcus could not also be there as Irene.

    However, he was not willing to give up so easy, and began racking for his mind for ways in which he could allow for Lilia to attend without causing the rumor mill to work against them.

    ˇ°Ah!ˇ± He eximed after he had a good Idea.

    ˇ°What if we have Liliae as my representative because I was otherwise indisposed with some matter that I simply could not get away from?ˇ± Marcus said.<sub></sub>

    Mrazivy sat there with a contemtive look on her face as she thought about it, but ultimately shook her head.

    ˇ°It would be difficult to make whatever it is public, and did you have any ideas in the first ceˇ±

    For a moment Marcus started to feel a bit of despair that he would not be able to have Lilia attend. But he quickly came up with a more thought-out idea that would work if they enlisted the help of a few certain powerful figures.

    ˇ°I have already been given an order from Frostine and the king to make the next monarch a new crown, though it was of no priority to do as it will still be some time before your sister ascends to the throne. However, not many know of this, and if the king were to say order me to have it done posthaste, and it prevented me froming to the party, there would be nothing for me to do but send Lilia in my ce.ˇ± Marcus said confidently.

    Naturally following the kingˇŻs orders was something that no one currently in the kingdomˇŻs limelight could question, other than maybe Aria.

    This time Mrazivy thought about MarcusˇŻ n much more thoroughly and eventually nodded her head.

    ˇ°Yes, that should work if my father agrees to it and mobilizes his retainers to skillfully spread the information in a natural way. But this does mean you will need to work on my sisterˇŻs crown and have it ready not long after our party.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a look of worry.

    She wondered if Marcus was going to have time to do something like this. It was likely to take a while to properly set up and for him toplete the work.

    ˇ°No, it should not be any problem. Remember, I have little need to rest unless I expend all of my mana or spiritual energy very rapidly. I should be able to finish it within a few days at most once I have been given the materials.ˇ±

    Seeing that Marcus seemed assured of his abilities, Mrazivy consented to his n, and they had now managed to find a way for Lilia to attend without drawing unwanted attention.

    ˇ°Now what about the second person that you want to attend?ˇ± Mrazivy said with an exasperated expression.

    Yet after Marcus mentioned who the other person he wanted toe was, Mrazivy shook her head.

    ˇ°That is just not going to be possible. This Dame Harthen who is your friend that you met when you first arrived in the city is only a knight and neither of us have a connection to her. If she was maybe at least a viscountess I could see sending her and invitation, but there is no way we can do it when her rank is just that of a knight. Not to mention her brother serves my fourth brother who is leading the opposite faction to the one we are in.ˇ± Mrazivy said, listing all the reasons that Marcus could not invite Adrianna.

    At this Marcus could only sigh, understanding that she was right.

    He was not a big fan of dealing with politics, especially in an unfamiliar world, but he knew he needed to at least mind them to a degree.

    Nevertheless, he still wanted his friend to be there even if she did not actually know him as Marcus.

    ˇ°How about we have her assigned as a guard knight for the venue. We can just have like two dozen knights brought in to help as security.ˇ±

    Sighing loudly, Mrazivy could see that he really did wish for his friend to attend.

    ˇ°I suppose that will not be too difficult since she is a knight stationed in the royal capital. It is not like having to many knights assigned will be a bad thing either.ˇ±

 Chapter 639 Summons from the Adventurers Guild

    Marcus and Mrazivy spent the better part of the day going through and nning out what they needed to for their engagement party.

    Though while they were deciding on thest few minor details, MrazivyˇŻs personal attendant came back and told them that the king had called for them.

    ˇ°Looks like it is time.ˇ± Marcus said as he put down the documents that were in his hand.

    He and Mrazivy both knew what was going on. It was time for them to go and be questioned by the adventurers guild.

    The guild naturally wanted to know all it could about a level ny-three monster suddenly appearing, and as Marcus was the first one to discover it, his insights were at the top of their list.

    At the same time Mrazivy was the one who contacted them as a not only a member of BorealiaˇŻs royal family, but also a high-ranking adventurer who was acting as the go between for the kingdom and the guild.

    However, both of them had also been warned of the guildˇŻs secondary goal of bringing either or both of them deeper into their fold.<sub>.</sub>

    When they arrived before the king, they both went to kneel and bow their heads as was customary, but he simply waved his hand and told them to remain standing.

    ˇ°No need for formalities when there is no one else around.ˇ± The king said.

    After that he beckoned them to sit across form them and made sure that their stories were straight before they attended the meeting with the guild.

    Once that preliminary meeting was finished, they were soon brought to where the guildˇŻs officials were waiting for the both of them.

    When they arrived, they saw that there were five people sitting at the table waiting for them.

    Of them Marcus only recognized one which was the guild master of the guildˇŻs headquarters in BorealiaˇŻs royal capital.<sub></sub>

    Mrazivy on the other handed recognized one more of them and knew quite well the woman sitting immediately to the left of the guild master who was his second inmand and the vice-guild master.

    Yet neither of these two important figures were sitting in the middle, which was upied by arge and gruff looking man with light reddish-brown hair that was slightly graying.

    The guy was absolutely titanic in size being over seven feet tall and he gave off a very intimidating aura.

    To his right were two other people unfamiliar to either Mrazivy or Marcus, one of whom was a young-looking girl with blonde hair that Marcus could tell was a halfling, while the other was another battle-hardened man at an advanced age with a fully bald head.

    ˇ®Marcus, the woman sitting next to the guild master is the vice-guild master. Her name is Astrid and I know she is an experienced mithril rank adventurer over level sixty-five. The other three I assume are the leaders of the force that gathered to help subjugate the Doomsday Worm, though I have not met them myself since the guild master and vice guild master were always my go between.ˇŻ Mrazivy said to Marcus with telepathy to tell him what she knew.

    Yet before he could respond a sudden interruption from a third party was heard inside their minds.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Oh, there is no need for you to have any private conversations like that. We will dly exin who everyone here is for the two of you.ˇŻ

    Eyes wide both Marcus and Mrazivy stopped and looked towards the source of the intruder and stared warily at the halfling girl.

    Of all of them she seemed to be the least dangerous looking based on her appearance, but appearances were deceiving and there was no doubt she was just as strong as those around her.

    ˇ®Telepathy Jack!ˇŻ Marcus thought with surprise.

    It was a rare skill that allowed someone to infiltrate on telepathic conversations that they were not a part of.

    Though it was not something most people would ever have or really care to want since its uses were limited, but when it dide into y it was highly effective.

    ˇ®At least she warned us here. There was no need to do that. She could have just kept listening and we would have been none the wiser.ˇŻ

    Naturally if the halfling woman was giving them a warning that any secret conversations were not going to get by and that he and Mrazivy would not be able tomunicate to each other without it being heard.

    The two of them after recovering from their shock moved to sit down and waited for the guildˇŻs inquires to begin.

    ˇ°Now as I know everyone here before, allow me to introduce everyone that has gathered here today for this inquiry into the appearance of another doomsday monster.ˇ± The guild master of BorealiaˇŻs royal capital said.

    ˇ°First the one leading this inquiry, Grand Master of the Northern Quadrant of the Adventurers Guild, Valerius Leistung.ˇ± The guild master said introducing the massive man in the middle of their group.

    ˇ°Immediately on his right are his direct subordinates, Xivira Dreamwhistle, and Petrus Stone.ˇ± The guild master said as he motioned first to the halfling woman and then the strong old man at the end.

    ˇ°Finally, beside me is my vice guild master Astrid.ˇ±

    When the guild master had finished introducing everyone from the adventurers guild, he in turn introduced Marcus and Mrazivy to his associates and boss.

    Of course, everyone from the adventurers guild side already knew who Marcus and Mrazivy were, so this was merely a formality.

    ˇ°Now that we have all been introduced, I have a number of questions for you Marcus Ferrous and you Mrazivy Borealia.ˇ± Valerius Leistung said with a low almost growl like voice.

    He gave off such an intimidating air that the slight arc in MarcusˇŻ back went straight up when he was addressed.

    ˇ®This man most be the level ny that was supposes to lead the guildˇŻs reinforcements.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked towards Valerius and waited for whatever questions he would be asking.

 Chapter 640 The Guildâ€™s Inquiry

    Once the formalities where out of the way, the halfling woman named Xivira who had intercepted MarcusˇŻ and MrazivyˇŻs telepathicmunication began asking them questions about the incident.

    ˇ°From what we were told and gathered on our own, you were sent to the northern reaches of the kingdomˇŻs territory that is called the Great Gome Woods to investigate an outbreak of monsters and beasts that had traveled further south without warning, correct?ˇ±

    Nodding his head Marcus confirmed that he had received those orders from the kingdom.

    ˇ°Hm, but why would they send an honorary prince like you? That seems above someone of your station.ˇ± Xivira said with a raised eyebrow.

    ˇ°I am sure you know that Borealia and the kingdom to the south have entered into a new agreement recently when a new power took over Tralenstein. Currently a number of our strongest mages and knights were down assisting in protecting our neighbor. Thus, I was sent for my ability to fly and withstand the cold with ease, as well as my high level.ˇ± Marcus said with apletely neutral expression that betrayed nothing.

    This was one of the questions that he and Mrazivy had rehearsed answering and would fit with the story that anyone else would tell.<sub>.</sub>

    However, their next question caught both Marcus and Mrazivy off guard as they had not been expecting it.

    ˇ°Now I understand that you were sent there, but what about a baress Irene Geist? From our investigation of the people and soldiers that had been in the farthest north settlements they all said that she had been sent with the same job. But she was not mentioned in any of our reports from the kingdom.ˇ± Xivira said with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

    Doing his best to retain his poker face Marcus thought of what to say to get around this.

    ˇ°As far as Lady Geist is concerned, I have never met her personally, but I do know of her from mutual acquaintances. I was informed that she had been sent as well, but as far as I know she spent the majority of her time dealing with the monster and beast outbreak while my task was more emphasized to investigate the source of the problem.ˇ±

    ˇ°I see, but I find it hard to believe that you have not met Irene Geist seeing as how your fianc¨¦e is such good friends with her?ˇ± Xivira said as she suddenly jerked her head towards Mrazivy.<sub></sub>

    It was at this point both of them realized that this inquiry had taken a turn away from what they were expecting and that they were searching for something else.

    Luckily for Marcus who was starting to internally panic, Mrazivy just put on her best business smile, and said, ˇ°I am sorry, it seems that we havee to the wrong meeting. I was told this was to be about the recent incident with the Doomsday Worm, not about our personal rtionships. I am afraid we are done here then.ˇ±

    Mrazivy then moved to stand up, but Valerius raised his hand, and a sudden pressure was felt by everyone in the room. This caused Mrazivy to be unable to move, and a cold sweat began falling down her forehead.

    ˇ°I apologize for my subordinateˇŻs line of questioning. We will make an inquiry with Irene Gestter, so let us return to the matter at hand.ˇ±

    With that the meeting continued. Though this time Xivira did not asking anymore probing questions about MarcusˇŻ other identity.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Now you were the first one to discover the monster, and one of only two to see it before it went on its rampage. Would you mind telling us what state it was in when you first found it?ˇ±

    Going into detail Marcus told them everything he could remember about his first time seeing the Doomsday Worm and the absolute feeling of dread that he experienced.

    ˇ°Seeing that the cause of the outbreak was something far greater than I could deal with, I skipped contacting the deputy king and went straight to the kingdomˇŻs protector.ˇ±

    Marcus began detailing how he got Gwyneira to join him and how they began rounding up fighters that were high enough level to be of use.

    ˇ°So that is when you came into y Princess Mrazivy. You are the disciple of this man called the Sword Savant, correct?ˇ± Xivira said towards Mrazivy.

    ˇ°Yes, I am. My master happily agreed to join the battle in order to test his skills and help protect my home. While I was ordered to head to the capital and request assistance form the guild as I am sure that you know.ˇ±

    Nodding her head Xivira was well aware of what Mrazivy did in rtion with the guild. Having acted as a liaison for the kingdom.

    Though after the Sword Savant was brought up, the old man named Petrus who was sitting at one end of the table spoke up for the first time.

    ˇ°Asher is here and still alive is he. Mrazivy why do you not tell me where your master is.ˇ± Petrus said with an underlying fury in his tone.

    It was enough to startle both Marcus and Mrazivy who felt a wave of maliceing from Petrus who abruptly stood up and looked at Mrazivy with a re.

    ˇ°That is enough Stone. You can deal with your squabbling from the past at ater time. And can you not see that you are unsettling them.ˇ± Valerius said as he gave Petrus a cold look.

    Relenting the man sat back down with an angry grunt and retracted the intimidation he was sending MrazivyˇŻs way.

    ˇ°Now that we have resolved that, let us get back to the matter at hand.ˇ± Xivira said getting back to questioning Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Soon, Marcus and Mrazivy had pretty much retold everything that they knew about the incident from their own point of view and answered every question that the adventurers guild had asked them with regards to the inquiry about the Dread Burrowers and the havoc it had caused.

 Chapter 641 The Guildâ€™s Pitch

    After Xivira had finished leading the inquiry about the Dread Burrower, she rxed her posture and looked towards the guild master in charge of Borealia.

    ˇ°Very well that concludes the questions we have for the two of you in regard to the doomsday monster that recently appeared. Now if you two would not mind giving us a bit more of your time we have some other matters we wish to discuss with you.ˇ± The guild master said with a glint in his eyes.

    He had seemed to not have much of an investment in the topic they had been discussing before, but now he seemed to be quite interested.

    ˇ°To start, the two of you are both tinum rank adventurers, but neither of you have done any work for the guild in quite some time. Do the two of you no longer wish to be affiliated with the guild?ˇ± He asked before waiting for Marcus or Mrazivy to respond to his previous statement.

    It was quite obvious that he was hoping to force them into this conversation by making it sound like their membership was on the line.

    However, both of them had already been expecting this.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°No, we do not mind talking for a bit about our status as adventures, but as far as I know at the tinum rank there is no time requirement forpleting any quests. We are free to be on hiatus for as long as we like, no?ˇ± Mrazivy said as she put a hand on her cheek and gave a practiced worried expression.

    ˇ°Yes, you are correct, your highness, the guild master was merely wanting to know if either of both of you nned to resume activities with the guild soon. It has been a while since yourst activity and the two of you are very promising adventurers that are stronger than your rank would suggest.ˇ± Astrid said, answering MrazivyˇŻs question in the guild masterˇŻs stead.

    ˇ®I see, good cop and bad cop, huh.ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing the guild master and vice guild masterˇŻs act.

    It was quite clear that the guild master was going to try and push them with heavy handed or ufortable questions, while the vice guild master was prepared to answer any questions Marcus or Mrazivy had in a way to make it seem that they were just misunderstand the guild masterˇŻs harshness.

    ˇ°I for one do not have any ns to take on any requests for the time being. I have other duties to deal with now with my increased status, and therefore am indisposed until I have things have settled down. Perhaps in a couple of years I may begin doing guild work again when I have the time.ˇ± Marcus said giving a nomittal answer.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I too am afraid that I have other matters to attend to. As I am sure you know we are to be engaged and then wed, so our time will be taken up with preparations for that. Also, as much as it saddens me, my party has already unofficially disbanded for a manner of personal reasons.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she grabbed MarcusˇŻ arm to show their closeness and hammer home the point about their engagement.

    They both wanted to make it clear that neither of them was currently looking to continue acting as adventurers, but that in the future they may use the guild again in order to not cut off the connection.

    Now anyone with any amount of tact would have picked up on this, but the guild master either did not have any or chose to forgo it in this situation.

    ˇ°So, you do n on continuing to serve the guild after the two of you are wed. In that case would you both whish to be advanced to the mithril rank. There is no doubt that your levels are more than high enough for this honor.ˇ± The guild master said not giving up so easy.

    Naturally with two promising talents in front of him he would be remiss to not take his shot and try to recruit them.<sub></sub>

    Normally most people would jump at the chance to be mithril rank adventurers since it was a status that came with a lot of perks and very few downsides.

    Yet while the drawbacks were few and far between, the main one of having to be at the guildˇŻs beck and call should there be an emergency was enough to dissuade Marcus and Mrazivy right now.

    They had enough to deal with at home, and Marcus in particr had already made a deal with the kingdom and was beholden to them for a few more years.

    ˇ°I am sorry but while it would be an honor to be counted among the rank of mithril adventurers, we are both devoted to Borealia at the moment. If a time in the future presents itself where we are no longer needed here, we may take you up on your offer.ˇ± Marcus said with a fake smile.

    Really, he just wanted to get out of here now that they had finished the inquiry.

    Yet it was not over yet, and the next person to speak was not the guild master, but the grand master in charge of the entire northern region of the guild.

    ˇ°I believe from what I have heard is that Borealia only has a low level and mid-level dungeon within its borders which the two of you are most certainly beyond now. However, there are dozens of dungeons suitable for the two of you within the other nations that are in coboration with the guild. If you both became mithril rank adventurers you could use the guildˇŻs teleportation system and visit all manner of ces with amazing training spots. I could even put in a good word for wherever you go first and instruct them to allow you into a group aiming to fight a boss monster.ˇ±

    Hearing this both of them were quite astonished. Valerius who was one of the strongest men within the guild had just said he would put in a good word for them. That was pretty much like having his endorsement which would go a long way in the guild.

    ˇ®And I might have been tempted to take him up on that offer if not for the special dungeon we found.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    Still, while it was an impressive offer it was not like it gave them anything absolutely necessary. They could easily visit any other nation afflicted with the guild on their own with their current rank, and while teleporting might be faster, both of them could fly at impable speeds anyway so it was not really necessary.

    ˇ®Not to mention that while it may not be in a developed area The Great Gome Woods Dungeon is a high level one.ˇŻ Marcus thought realizing that it had been omitted as one of BorealiaˇŻs dungeons.

    ˇ°As generous as that is, again we must decline. We are both royalty of Borealia, and as much as we appreciate our current positions in the guild we are wholly devoted to our kingdom. At this present time as we said we have much to do here before thinking of venturing to other ces.ˇ± Mrazivy said, hoping to put an end to this.

    Valerius seeing that he was not making any progress sat back and began stroking his beard in contemtion.

    ˇ°Very well, I am willing to offer the two of you each a unique skill orb if youe join under me at the guild. We have had a drought of new talents here in the northern quadrant and it would be foolish of me not to try my all to recruit the two of you.ˇ±

 Chapter 642 Boreasâ€™ Warning

    Having suddenly been offer a unique skill orb each, both Marcus and Mrazivy were left astonished.

    They knew that the guild wanted them closer involved with their organization, but not to that degree.

    Even for as powerful and expansive as the adventurers guild is, it certainly could not hand out unique skills like they were candy.

    ˇ®I know that we are both strong especially for our levels, but to offer us unique skill orbs.ˇŻ Marcus thought in bewilderment.

    For a few moments the two of them just sat there baffled by the grand masterˇŻs proposition.

    Both of them wanted to contact the other with telepathy, but any conversation they might have would be intercepted by Xivira.

    ˇ®I suppose I will just let Mraz answer and go along with whatever she wants.ˇŻ Marcus thought.<sub>.</sub>

    He was on the fence about what to do here since they had already collectively decided to turn the guild down, but they had not expected such appealing bait to be dangled in front of them.

    After thinking about it for three minutes Mrazivy eventually looked towards Marcus, hoping for some input, and he simply nodded his head at her.

    He wanted her to know he would go along with whatever it was that she chose to do.

    Eventually she took a deep breath and steeled her resolve to respond.

    ˇ°Very well, there is no way we can pass up on such favorable terms. However, I would like for our promotion to be postponed until after we are wed. Is that eptable?ˇ± Mrazivy said.

    ˇ°Yes, that is fine.ˇ± Valerius said with a satisfied grin on his face.<sub></sub>

    He was quite happy to have gotten their confirmation. There was no doubt they were some of the best talents in the northern reaches of the world that the guild had sorely beencking.

    ˇ®Now I will be able to shut up Karth and Angelica. They have been spouting off about their recent recruits just because they got a few tough youngsters, but these two are a cut above the rest.ˇŻ Valerius thought.

    ˇ°So, is that all you wanted from us?ˇ± Marcus eventually asked after they had been sitting there silently for about a minute.

    ˇ°Yes, the two of you are free to go. I look forward to the day that you both be mithril rank adventures. But for now, congrattions on your engagement.ˇ± Valerius said as he dismissed them.

    Soon after that Marcus and Mrazivy said their farewells to the guild master and vice guild master of BorealiaˇŻs guild and left the room to go about their business.

    ˇ°Are you sure that was the right move grand master. Even you do not have many unique skill orbs to just hand out. Certainly, they are strong for their levels, but it is not like either of them have even reached level seventy. I think it is too risky to invest in them when we have an even more promising youth that recently fell into out hands.ˇ± Xivira said with a disapproving expression.<sub></sub>

    It was obvious that Valerius had not consulted her before he made the offer of giving out two unique skill orbs and she was feeling a bit peeved about it as his right-hand woman.

    ˇ°I think that you underestimated the two of them Xivira. The records we have on the both of them are definitely wrong, I can feel it. The girl has some magical item that blocked my appraisal, and MarcusˇŻ stats did not seem right for how strong he felt. I am certain that they are far stronger than what we truly know.ˇ± Valerius said.

    ˇ°Well, your instincts are rarely wrong, but I honestly could not tell since their levels are so much lower than mine.ˇ± Petrus said with a shrug.

    Xivira seeing that her point was not going to get across slumped back in her chair and sighed, before moving on to their next topic

    ˇ°Who ising in next? You said we had a surprise visitoring in who we would need to be more respectful of.ˇ±

    Changing his posture and putting on a grave expression, the aura around Valerius changed in an instant.

    Everyone else in the room picked up on this in an instant, and they themselves sat up straighter as they felt the tension in the air.

    ˇ°We are going to be meeting with the man who delivered the final blow against the doomsday monster and the only one in this kingdom I can say without a shadow of a doubt is stronger than me. I am sure that all of you have heard of Boreas. He is going toe in person to speak with us about something he said would rock the foundations of this world.ˇ±

    ˇ°Wait Boreas is alive! I thought that he had gone missing over ny years ago!ˇ± The guild master said as he stood up abruptly.

    Naturally as the leading figure for the guild in the kingdom of Borealia he had heard of Boreas, but the man had not been seen or heard from at all for many decades, and the guild had presumed him to have died.

    ˇ°If you knew someone like that wasing, why did you not tell us earlier so that we could prepare?ˇ± Xivira said in a fluster.

    ˇ°This is exactly why. If you had known, all of you would have been to fixated on Boreas toplete our other inquiries to the best of your abilities. And I know you like to prepare information beforehand to have the upper hand, but that would not work against this man. All we can do this time is sit back and listen.ˇ± Valerius said with a stern look on his face.

    He had met Boreas before a long time ago and knew how strong and crafty the man could be and was certain that none of them were a match for him in any regard.

    The tension in the room was practically palpable in the air as they waited for Boreas to arrive, until it was suddenly broken when a gate made of mist appeared in the room.

    ˇ°Did someone die? You all look horrible.ˇ± Boreas said in jest.

    He then sat down across form the higher ups in the guild who felt that their roles had been reversed from any of the other meetings they had in thest few days.

    ˇ°It is good to see that you are alive, Boreas. Everyone thought that you had died since you had not surfaced anywhere in nearly thest century.ˇ± Valerius said.

    ˇ°Ah I was preupied in a separate space where no one else could reach, and I dide close to dying a few times, but I managed to wriggle my way out. But enough about me, we have more important matters to discuss.ˇ±

    BoreasˇŻ yful demeanor disappeared in an instant as he sat forward with a deadly serious look in his eyes.

    Everyone else in the room felt like they were hanging on by a thread as the atmosphere in the room became even heavier, and the guild master and Astrid who were the weakest ones in attendance began to sweat profusely.

    ˇ°After the battle with the doomsday monster I received a message from the administrator. They congratted me on my victory and told me that the next time a monster at that level would not take another four hundred years to arrive, and that they nned to shake up the world. A storm ising, and we need to prepare for whatever the god of this world has in store for us.ˇ±

 Chapter 643 Debrief and Early Present

    Having finished their meeting with the adventurers guildˇŻs higher up, Marcus and Mrazivy made their way through the halls of the castle back towards the section for royalty.

    ˇ°What do you think your father is going to say?ˇ± Marcus asked Mrazivy.

    She had a pensive look on her face, and it was obvious she was thinking about how to break the news to her father the king.

    Before the meeting they had decided to notmit to further involvement with the guild, but the offer of a free unique skill orb a piece was too tantalizing for Mrazivy to pass up when they honestly only had to deal with so few stiptions.

    Certainly, the guild would be able to call them in on emergencies, but it was not like those happened all that often.

    The only problem now was how the king was going to take it. During their preliminary meeting with him they had told him they would not agree to a rank up.

    ˇ°I mean you agree with me right Marcus. He offered us both unique skill orbs for practically nothing other than bing mithril rank adventures. Most people would be beyond ecstatic for that kind of deal. Normally you have to prove yourself to even to be a mithril rank adventurer, but we were personally asked by the head of the northern quadrant of the guild. It would have been foolish for us to refuse, right?ˇ± Mrazivy said as the dam around her thoughts and emotions burst.<sub>.</sub>

    She was having a bit of buyerˇŻs remorse so to say, and she was looking for confirmation from Marcus to help ease her worries that she might have made the wrong choice.

    ˇ°I think that you made the correct call Mraz. We were not going to stick around Borealia forever anyway and getting a unique skill orb each out of it more than makes up for any inconvenience we might have in the future responding to the guildˇŻs summons.ˇ± Marcus said to encourage Mrazivy and ease her worries.

    After he said this the tension in her body practically vanished and she gave him a bright smile that pulled at his heart strings.

    ˇ°Thank you, Marcus. I know that you gave me your consent, but I was afraid I was dragging you into something that you did not really want.ˇ± Mrazivy said right before kissing him on the cheek.

    Soon they arrived in front of the doors to the kingˇŻs office where they were going to inform him of how their meeting with the guild had gone.

    ˇ°I just hope that your father does not take it too badly since it looked like he wanted to keep us close to home.ˇ± Marcus said before opening the door.<sub></sub>

    Inside was the king and standing on his left was his guard knight who was a level seventy-six spearman who was one of the top fighters in the kingdom.

    Of course, normally it would have been knightmander Darius acting as the kingˇŻs guard, but he was still busy in Tralenstein making sure that no more attacks from the southern kingdoms came.

    The king beckoned them inside, and they swiftly came in and sat down in the ornate chairs that had been prepared across from the kingˇŻs desk.

    ˇ°So, how did it go?ˇ± The king asked with an inquisitive look.

    A bit hesitantly both Marcus and Mrazivy told him about how the meeting had gone. They focused mostly on how they had probed about Marcus being Irene and how they epted to be mithril rank adventurers after their wedding.

    ˇ°I suppose it was inevitable that the two of you would advance through the guild at some point.ˇ± The king said as if he had already expected this oue.<sub></sub>

    He then stared directly at Mrazivy, with the look of father on his face rather than that of a king.

    ˇ°When you first said you wanted to be an adventurer, I thought you were misguided. It is dangerous to go out and hunt monsters and beast and it is not something a princess would normally do. But when I tested your determination, you worked hard to learn magic and how to wield a sword and I could not deny the sparkle that came to your eyes when you got closer to your goal.ˇ± MrazivyˇŻs father said with nostalgia in his eyes as he remembered his daughter when she was younger.

    ˇ°It filled me with fear to send you out into the harshness of the world, but I felt at least a bit at ease as long as you were with your guard knight and those that I assigned to be your party. But after the incident in the Ocean Bluff Temple and when you joined the battle in the dungeon against a powerful demon, I feared that you were going to get yourself killed and called you back in order to settle down. I wanted to do what I could as a father to keep you safe but also as a king to strengthen the nation.ˇ±

    There was a hint of regret in MrazivyˇŻs fatherˇŻs eyes as he mentioned her previous arranged marriage and it was clear he knew how much she had not wanted it.

    Still, he had thought it the best move for the kingdom and to keep her safe at the time, and while he did want his daughter to be happy, his first priority was always the kingdom.

    The king then turned his head towards Marcus and bowed towards him.

    Normally this would be unthinkable for a ruler of a nation to do, but here he was not acting as the monarch, but as a father.

    ˇ°I know it came at a personal cost to you, but I want to thank you for giving my daughter a happier life. I have never seen her as joyful as when she is with you.ˇ±

    Hearing this MrazivyˇŻs porcin white skin became bright red with embarrassment.

    ˇ°Dad is there a point to all of this.ˇ± She said in a fluster.

    Smiling, the king nodded his head before motioning towards his guard knight who had been standing like a statue to hand him something.

    Swiftly and with no wasted movement the man handed the king a magic bag.

    Opening the magic bag, the king reached in and what he pulled out left Mrazivy wide eyed and stunned.

    In his hands was a beautiful amethros saber that closely resembled the adamantine one that Mrazivy currently had.

    It was a stunning weapon that was near the highest quality and was no doubt one of the strongest weapons in the kingdom.

    After she had gotten over her initial astonishment, she turned towards Marcus, and said, ˇ°Did you make this?ˇ±

    Of course, she was curious to know if Marcus had not only made her the amethros engagement ring but also this saber.

    ˇ°No, I did not make this, it is still beyond my skill to make a weapon quite as good. Though I have known about its creation for a while since it was made by Thabon.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Mrazivy pursed her lips at this since Marcus did not tell her, but she understood why and turned her head back towards the sword unable to contain her excitement.

    ˇ°I had originally meant to give this to you as a present during your engagement party, but I was advised that it would be best not to show it off in public less it create jealously and spark some to plot against you. Therefore, I am giving you this sword now as an early gift to not only avoid an outburst at your engagement party, but in order for you to better be able to protect yourself.ˇ±

 Chapter 644 Dealing with Liliaâ€™s Problem

    Mrazivy as she took the amethros saber from her fatherˇŻs hands looked at it with almost reverence in her eyes.

    For a fighter an amethros weapon was the pinnacle of equipment one could obtain, and it was incredibly rare to obtain such a weapon.

    Even the kingdom of Borealia only had four such weapons before the creation of this sword which was now the fifth.

    Though as Mrazivy held the sword she wanted to start testing it out immediately but held back seeing as they were in the kingˇŻs office.

    ˇ°Thank you, father, I could not ask for anything better than this. I promise to make you proud and make sure to keep Borealia and myself safe with this weapon.ˇ± Mrazivy said as gave her father a bright and genuine smile.

    The king himself wore a proud satisfied grin and he lookedpletely like a doting father in contrast to his normal aloof and regal appearance.

    After that the three of them talked about how they would try and get the guild off the track of Marcus being Irene as well, but it was difficult for them to figure anything out.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°We will just have to do our best to keep things under wraps and prevent anymore situations where it can seem like you are the same person. Next time you are in arge-scale incident, it would be best if you did not switch forms partway through.ˇ± The king said to Marcus.

    All he could do hang his head, since he had made the blunder of switching his form around in the middle of the battle against the Dread Burrower.

    ˇ°Now I have other things that I must attend to soon. So, if there is nothing else that either of you need, it is time for this meeting toe to a close.ˇ±

    However, while the king expected the two of them to depart without any further issues, Marcus had something else that he needed to be address.

    ˇ°Actually, your majesty, there is something else that I would like to speak with you about.ˇ± Marcus said with a serious expression.

    The king, a little surprised raised an eyebrow and nodded his head towards Marcus to continue.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I doubt you have heard this, but my little sister got suspended from the royal academy for roughing up one of the professors. However, she did it during a match with herbat instructor professor, Rathin Finderne and it was him who imed she assaulted him without prompting. It has been very stressful for her, especially since she had been doing her best in ss to not show off her high level and stats.ˇ± Marcus said exining the situation.

    The king taking an interest in this asked Marcus for more information, and when he told the king what LiliaˇŻs level and stats where he was left bbergasted.

    ˇ°You got your thirteen-year-old sister to over level forty and even gave her a unique skill!ˇ± The king shortly loudly upon learning this

    It was practically unheard of for someone to put that much investment into a child. They normally did not have the maturity or stomach to fight hard enough to get anywhere near that level.

    Of course, it was possible to power level them by just having them throw a rock at a high-level beast or monster before killing it, but then they would have only a high level and no skills which were honestly more important.

    Except that was not what Marcus had done. He had put his little sister though some intense training, and even thrown her into a dungeon where he allowed monsters and beasts to nearly kill her in order for her to get experience.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°You do know that the average graduate of the academy is around level fifteen, and that even noble prodigies normally only reach just around level twenty-five. Even among the personnel at the academy I could count the number at or above level forty on one hand. Your sister is probably already stronger than anyone else at the academy. What possessed you to force such a young girl to get that strong?ˇ± The king said with an exasperated tone in his voice.

    But as Marcus exined the situation around Lilia, the king could not hold it against him for pushing Lilia to get stronger.

    ˇ°So can you help us out and get LiliaˇŻs suspension voided and reprimand that professor for me?ˇ± Marcus asked once he could see that the king was no longer enraged.

    ˇ°Yes, I can do that, but it will not solve the underlying problem.ˇ± The king said with a sigh.

    Hearing this Marcus was taken aback wondering what this problem was.

    At first, he thought that the king was hinting at Lilia being too high level to fit in at the academy, but that was not it.

    ˇ°Professor RathinˇŻs family is a subordinate to Duke Scriven. I received a report about what happened between you and his first son at the Sublime Fantasia. I imagine that this is likely some form of payback since they had no real way to target you personally.ˇ±

    The king then went onto borate that Algernon; Duke ScrivenˇŻs son had been looking for ways to strike back against Marcus after his humiliation.

    Unfortunately for him, Marcus was not so easy to deal with in either of his personas.

    As Irene it was known he was a high level and quite powerful, so a direct attack was unlikely to work.

    Normally this would mean that Algernon would try targeting MarcusˇŻ ce of business, but there was no way he could do anything against the zegram Forge since they were the best in the kingdom.

    Other people were not going to stop buying the best weapons and armor they could just because one noble, even a high ranking one, was throwing a tantrum.

    This left Algernon with only to option to cause Marcus indirect pain through Lilia at the academy with his connections.

    ˇ°I see. I thought that maybe he had learned his lesson and decided to grow since he did not try anything against me, but I appear to have been wrong.ˇ± Marcus said as the air around him became heavy and full of malice.

    He could take people directing their hate at him much better than at those he cared about, and now he was feeling a great amount of fury towards the one that had harmed Lilia.

    ˇ°Your majesty if you could deal with the professor at the academy and get LiliaˇŻs suspension voided, I will make sure that something like this does not happen again.ˇ± Marcus said with a venomous smile.

    Even the king momentarily shuddered at this, and his guard inched a bit closer and tensed up on his weapon in the face of MarcusˇŻ rage.

    ˇ°Very well I can do this seeing as you have done much for this kingdom, but I ask that you not kill or leave any permanent scars on Duke ScrivenˇŻs son. Also, if you leak any evidence back to yourself, even I will not be able to do anything to help you. And it will be your sister that suffers the most.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Marcus understood what the king meant.

    If anything solid linked back to his identity as Irene, it would be easy enough for Marcus just to abandon the persona, but Lilia did not have such a convenient ability.

    ˇ°Do not worry, I am quite good at leaving no traces.ˇ±

 Chapter 645 Good News and Good Materials

    With the meeting with the adventurers guild and the subsequent debrief with the king finished, it was time for Marcus to head back home so that he could tell Lilia the good news.

    ˇ°I really wish that you could stay for longer.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a sigh.

    She wanted to spend more time with Marcus, but he had some things that he needed to take care of, and the sooner the better.

    ˇ°I promise toe back to see you once I finished up making sure Algernon never tries messing with Lilia again.ˇ±

    ˇ°I understand, just do not do anything too rash.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a stern tone.

    The two of them then parted ways as Marcus got into a carriage, already having taken his form as Irene since he was heading back home.

    When he arrived, he was promptly let inside and made his way to find Lilia who had holed up in the bookroom and was reading an old looking book Marcus had never seen before.

    ˇ°What do you have there, Lilia?ˇ± Marcus asked wondering what the unfamiliar book was.<sub>.</sub>

    A bit startled by his appearance Lilia fumbled with the book, but once she regained herposure, she smiled towards him.

    ˇ°Oh this, it is a book that ric lent me that is by the author we both like. It is one of his earlier works and few were ever made so it is a real treasure.ˇ± Lilia said with a bright smile.

    She began telling the tale to Marcus and he listened intently to his little sisterˇŻs impassioned speech.

    Though eventually she seemed to remember something and abruptly put the book down.

    ˇ°I nearly forgot. Ardea came by yesterday and was looking for you, she said that she had finally gotten together the payment for the repairs you did on her gauntlet.ˇ±

    ˇ®Oh, she went out of her way to do that even after what recently happened.ˇŻ Marcus thought as excitement had started to well up inside him.

    He had asked for materials he would not normally be able to gather on his own, and with them he would be able to make a very impressive weapon.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Here they are, she said that they are all in this bag.ˇ± Lilia said as she handed Marcus a high-capacity magic bag.

    As soon as it was in his hands, he had to resist the urge to open it up and empty its contents all over the floor of the bookroom and begin examining them.

    ˇ®These materials are not going anywhere. First, I need to tell Lilia about what I discussed with the king.ˇŻ

    Holding back on opening the bag of goodies he had just received; Marcus turned his head back towards Lilia with a serious glint in his eyes.

    Naturally Lilia picked up on this and her back straightened and her expressions stiffened to match the change in the atmosphere.

    ˇ°Lilia, I talked to the king about the problem you had at the academy, and he said that he would take care of it. Your suspension will be voided, and Professor Rathin will be terminated. It will probably take about a week from what the king said, but after that everything will be back to normal.ˇ±

    Tears began to flow down LiliaˇŻs face as she heard this. While she had been trying to hide it, she had been really worried that she might not be able to go back to school.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Thank you, I knew I could count on you.ˇ± Lilia said as she hugged Marcus with back breaking power.

    ˇ°No, I am the one who should be apologizing, you only ended up in this mess because of me.ˇ± Marcus said with a regretful expression.

    He then exined why Professor Rathin had been so hard on her and eventually challenged her to a fight that he lost.

    ˇ°Though I doubt that he had actually nned to lose that fight and just wanted to hurt you in order to hut me. But I will be putting a stop to that soon so you should not have to worry about anything else.ˇ±

    With that Marcus told her that he was going to go and give Algernon a good scare and make sure that he never thought aboutshing out again.

    ˇ°Okay, just do not get yourself hurt.ˇ± Lilia said with concern.

    ˇ°Do not worry, I will be careful.ˇ± Marcus said as he lovingly patted Lilia on the head.

    After that he left her to her reading and moved to his workshop to look at the items that Ardea had left for him.

    As soon as he opened the bag, he held it upside down and allowed everything to fall out.

    A big smile appeared on his face as he watched everything fall out and saw the high-end materials from powerful creatures with the elements he had requested.

    ˇ®Yes, these will do nicely.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he picked up the two cores that had been left in the bag.

    One of the cores was from a beast with a light elemental affinity, while the other came from a monster with a darkness elemental affinity.

    They were both very high quality as Marcus had asked for them to be from creatures at least level seventy-five. However, Ardea went above and beyond and actually acquired them from a level eighty-one beast and eighty-two monster respectively as she detailed the letter she had left in the bag.

    ˇ®So, the beast with the light element was called an archon shedu, and the monster with the darkness element was called a nightskitter which was a giant spider wreathed in darkness.ˇŻ

    Reading this Marcus shuddered as he thought about the giant spider and looking at the materials from its body made him feel a chill through his soul.

    He still had an aversion to spiders, and even just thinking about running into the monster that Ardea described in the letter made him want to curl up somewhere and never go out again.

    ˇ®I mean its fangs are longer than my body.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he picked up one of the nightskitterˇŻs sharp pitch-ck fangs.

    Still good materials like these did note by easily or often, and even if he did not like spiders, he was not going to let the high tier materials go to waste.

    The Shedu on the other hand was actually a virtuous beast, and Marcus kind of felt bad that Andrea had killed it. Unfortunately, not many creatures wielding the light element were totally bad, so she did what was necessary toplete MarcusˇŻ request.

    It was a noble creature with the body of a bull and the wings of an eagle, and its tworge and powerful horns could pierce through just about anything weaker than enchanted adamantine.

    ˇ®At the legendary grade it certainly must have been powerful, but I guess for Ardea it probably did not put up much of a fight.ˇŻ

    Once he was finished going over the items he had gotten from Ardea as payment for fixing her gauntlets, Marcus pulled out the other materials he would need to make a new scythe.

    Though one of the items in particr he was still on the fence about using.

    ˇ®Do I use it or not? I already have the two cores that Ardea got for me, but there is no doubt that the Dread Burrowers is the strongest one I have.ˇŻ

 Chapter 646 A Good Fright

    Looking between all of the materials he had Marcus contemted exactly what he was going to use in the creation of his future amethros scythe.

    ˇ®Hm, I suppose if I want it to be the best, I should use all my strongest materials.ˇŻ

    Eventually he decided to use the Doomsday WormˇŻs core as the focal point of his future creation and use the other cores he got from Ardea to reinforce it.

    However, while he had the ns and materials sorted out, hecked both the time and facilities toplete it now.

    ˇ®I really want to get my skill level up to at least eight as well. That way I can really make something spectacr. I should make FrostineˇŻs crown first as practice since I do not have many chances to work with amethros.ˇŻ

    With that decided Marcus put away all of the materials he had taken out into his item box, and a satisfied grin formed on his face as he continued thinking about the scythe he was going to make.

    Though once he exited his workshop, he turned his gaze towards the southeast where Duke ScrivenˇŻs estate in the royal capital was and where he could find Algernon.

    ˇ®Time to make sure that he never bothers me or Lilia again.ˇŻ

    Disappearing, into the air, Marcus went into his ghost form and rapidly shot across the capital.<sub>.</sub>

    He already knew where his destination was, and it only took him around half an hour to be floating over the massive estate that was pretty much only smaller inparison to the royal castle.

    ˇ®It is just as impressive as the other ducal estates I have visited.ˇŻ Marcus thought looking down at the massive mansion that was nearly three timesrger than his.

    Swiftly he descended into the mansion and slipped in without any problems.

    While the ce was certain to have all manner of magical defenses and sensors, as a spirit Marcus could slip by them easily.

    Or so he thought, until he felt his danger sense go off as he was about to enter one section of the estate.

    ˇ®Wow they actually have a spirit sensing barrier set up. I suppose that is one of the strongest families in the kingdom for you. They are prepared for everything.ˇŻ

    Still while this certainly made things more difficult for him, it hardly would stop Marcus.

    His target could not stay in the estate indefinitely and he only needed to find him outside this small barrier once.<sub></sub>

    Luckily it did not take him long, as in fact when he initially arrived, Algernon was not even home, and he found the guy returning in a luxury carriage.

    ˇ®Talk about good timing.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he descended into the carriage.

    Inside he saw that Algernon was apanied by two high level knights that were both almost level forty, and that he had a stunning woman sitting next to him who was his wife.

    ˇ®Oof, I imagine this is going to make her think much less of him.ˇŻ

    Marcus nned on thoroughly scarring the noble prick for going after his little sister, and he was pretty sure once the guy was screaming like a little girl his wife would be disillusioned.

    To get things started Marcus slowly lowered the temperature of the air around the carriage until frost had built up around it and forced it to stop in its tracks.

    Of course, this caused distress for the driver and the upants of the carriage, but Marcus quickly knocked out everyone except his target and his wife with his phantom pressure.

    ˇ®Oh, he is staying prettyposed considering what is going on.ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing Algernon hastily try to activate a distress signal magic tool.<sub></sub>

    Unfortunately for him, Marcus simply knocked it away before he could activate it by creating his spectral arm for a moment.

    At this point Algernon and his wife began to panic since their guards were unresponsive and they were being besieged by some invisible foe.

    Marcus simply let them stew in their fear for a few moments before continuing his n to frighten his target.

    He slowly made just his right hand reappear and ced it on AlgernonˇŻs shoulder.

    Frost lowly built up around him and Marcus activated his life drain ability and sapped away just the slightest amount of AlgernonˇŻs life force.

    The proud noble screamed his lungs out as this happened, and his wife seeing a disembodied hand on her husbandˇŻs shoulder actually passed out from the fear.

    ˇ®Hello there Algernon, you have done something unforgivable, and I havee to judge you.ˇŻ Marcus said directly into his targetˇŻs head with telepathy.

    Hearing this the scared son of a duke froze up and looked back at the hand that was stilltched onto his shoulders and prevented him from moving.

    Tears were welling up in his eyes from fright, and Marcus really could not me the man in this situation. Though it did make him smile a bit since he remembered the tears Lilia had shed in distress.

    ˇ°I have not done anything wrong; you have the wrong person!ˇ± Algernon eventually shouted with his fearden voice.

    ˇ®Oh, but you have. You plotted to harm some girl simply because her sister rightfully humiliated you.ˇŻ Marcus said getting to the point.

    He knew just scaring Algernon was not going to be enough if he did not know the reason why.

    Though as his target heard this the pitiful man seemed to regain some of his confidence back.

    ˇ°So, Irene Geist must have sent you. Does she think she will get away with sending a spirit after me?ˇ± Algernon said, trying to sway the being that was terrorizing him.

    Of course, he did not recognize Marcus since he had taken on one of his many forms and was in the form of one of the criminalˇŻs souls he had devoured long ago.

    This way even if some sort of magic was used to look through AlgernonˇŻs memory or something to a simr effect to rey what happened there would be no actually evidence Marcus had been here.

    ˇ®Hm, you seem to be under some misunderstanding. No one sent me here, I seek out those that do wrong and set them right, or I end them.ˇŻ Marcus said to Algernon.

    He then floated so that his body was hanging upside down and made his face appear for just a moment in front of Algernon.

    With the dim lighting and the sudden sh of a humanoid face in front of his own, the bravado Algernon was feeling went away in an instant, and he mmed back against the carriage as he jerked back, startled by Marcus.

    ˇ®Now if you wish to live, I rmend you repent and change your ways. Bring harm to others for such petty reasons will only bring about your end.ˇŻ Marcus said as he began incasing Algernon in more front stating from his feet.

    Finally, he drained a bit more of his life away until gray hairs started to appear from the sudden life drain.

    It was not enough to make much of an actually impact, but there was no doubt Marcus had just siphoned a few years of life away from Algernon.

    ˇ®Now this will be your only warning. If you continue to harm people, I wille back for you and take vengeance for those you have wronged, and next time you will not get away with just a little scare.ˇŻ

 Chapter 647 Crown Details

    Now that he had made his point Marcus was just about ready to leave but he wanted to issue onest warning just for good measure.

    ˇ®Now remember that I can find you wherever you are and reach you no matter what. There is nothing you can do to be safe from me and if I evere for you again you will not even know it.ˇŻ

    After saying this with his telepathy, Marcus moved his still intangible hand towards AlgernonˇŻs neck and made his pinky appear for just a second.

    He then created a small cut on the manˇŻs neck and a few drops of blood began dribbling out of the wound.

    This was MarcusˇŻ way of telling him that at any point, his head could roll, and he would not even see iting.

    With that Marcus felt that his work was done and if Algernon continued harassing Lilia, that would be the end.

    ˇ®You are lucky the king did not want me to kill you, or I would have.ˇŻ Marcus thought. ˇ®Hopefully this experience allows him to grow and be a better person, so I do not have to deal with him again.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Taking his leave Marcus made his way back home and settled in for a little over a week until a letter arrived saying that LiliaˇŻs suspension was revoked, and that Professor Rathin was found to be in vition of academy policy and fired.

    While this was horrible news for the professor, it was great for Marcus and Lilia, and he was more than happy to tell her that she could go back to school and resume her studies.

    ˇ°I know that you are fine inbat, but there are still plenty of other of things for you to learn. Like math.ˇ± Marcus said with a proud expression.

    Though as he mentioned math Lilia grimaced since it was the one subject that she was really bad at no matter how dedicated she was to trying to learn.

    Soon Lilia was on her way back to school since she had missed quite a bit due to her suspension.

    ˇ®I hope that she can bounce back quickly, but I am sure with her friends she will be fine.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he saw her off.<sub></sub>

    Now that Lilia had left it was time for him to return to the castle not only to see Mrazivy and hammer out a few more things for their uing engagement party, but to also get to work on a new crown for Frostine.

    The current crown for the monarch was apparently an impressive magical tool, but it did not really suit Frostine as she would be the first ruling queen of the kingdom, and the king wanted something stronger made for his daughter.

    When he arrived, he was actually first brought before Kalt the deputy king and Frostine the crown princess.

    ˇ°It is good to see you again, Irene, I was quite afraid for your safety when I heard about what had happened up north.ˇ± Kalt said with a look of genuine worry in his eyes.

    He had initially been MarcusˇŻ handler for the mission, until it became out of hand with the discover of the Doomsday Worm.

    ˇ°Thank you for your concern. It certainly was unexpected to run into such a monster, but everything ended as well as it probably could have in the wake of such a threat.ˇ± Marcus said to ease the regretful expression Kalt was wearing.<sub></sub>

    Both Frostine and the deputy king then asked her for an ount of the battle since so far all they had heard were from secondhand reports and they wanted MarcusˇŻ personal experience from the front lines.

    Quickly he told them everything he knew in detail, and the two of them were stone faced by the end since the reports certainly did not mention exactly how dangerous the situation was and how many times so many of them almost died.

    ˇ°It truly was a fearsome foe and I hope not to have to fight something like it again for a long time.ˇ±

    But as Marcus said this both Frostine and Kalt went wide eyed and looked at him like he was crazy.

    Seeing their reactions Marcus was taken aback, but quickly found out why they had reacted this way.

    ˇ°Are you crazy, you want to fight something like that again. You just told us that you had to blow yourself up and only got out thanks to a revival unique skill.ˇ± Frostine said with an almost frantic tone.

    She could not imagine why Marcus would ever want to fight a monster that powerful again.

    However, his long-term goal was to reach the pinnacle of the world, so at some point he was going to have to fight such monsters and beasts in earnest once he had obtained a higher level.

    Naturally he exined this to both Frostine and Kalt, but they still did not seem to think he was in his right mind for wanting to put himself in such danger.

    ˇ°Anyway, I think we should get down to business. I am here to work on your crown.ˇ± Marcus said as he looked towards Frostine.

    At the mention of her crown FrostineˇŻs expression flipped in an instant to one of excitement.

    Se had been thinking about it quite a bit and wanted something that would be quite intricate.

    ˇ°That might be difficult, but I can do my best to make it.ˇ± Marcus said as he blinked in disbelief at what Frostine described.

    She wanted the base design to actually be a circlet that she could always where for defensive purposes, but it needed a feature that allowed it to transform into a more conventional crown whenever she was in public.

    It was certainly going to be a challenge as Marcus would have to figure out a formation on his own that allowed for this effect. While also cramming in everything that would be required of the crown which would be one of the treasures of the royal family.

    ˇ®This is going to take my skills to their limit, but I will definitely get some good experience out of it, and the kingdom will be supplying me the materials so I will not need to worry about my own stores.ˇŻ

    Continuing on Marcus wrote down all the details that Frostine described to him, which became greater and greater until he had to stop her and tell her that somethings just were not going to be practical.

    Eventually they did settle on a design and the types and number of enchantments that would be etched into the crown that would be the most powerful item Frostine would have.

    Once that was done, he turned to Kalt to go over the next order of business.

    ˇ°Okay I will need some time to write up a list of items that I am going to need in order toplete this, and I will need to see the forging facilities on the castleˇŻs grounds. I assume that you have a set up for working with amethros?ˇ±

    Kalt nodded his head at this and acknowledged that they did have a forge capable of working with amethros.

    ˇ°Normally it is only usable by the kingdomˇŻs top royal forgmaster, but the old man who has held the title for thest eighty years has gotten quite old, and honestly cannot handle the intensity of working with amethros anymore. That is why we had Thabon make MrazivyˇŻs sword and you are going to make FrostineˇŻs crown.ˇ±

 Chapter 648 Borealiaâ€™s Amethros Forge

    With the initial exnationpleted, Kalt began personally leading Marcus towards the castleˇŻs secret forge.

    ˇ°Only a few people actually know how to reach this area which wasmissioned long ago in order for the kingdomˇŻs best to work on amethros. I am sure that as you have worked at the zegram Forge you know how much equipment it takes and how intense it is to work with amethros.ˇ± Kalt said as they walked through the castle.

    Eventually they made it to a hidden door within a room that had restricted ess only to certain people and it led them deep underground into a separate space.

    Here there was arge furnace set up simr to the one that Thabon had along with all manner of the best forging equipment.

    ˇ®Wow, they might even have a better setup than Thabon does.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked around.

    ˇ°It is impressive right. This equipment is the best in the kingdom, and it was made by a number of talented forgemasters from the adventurers guild when the kingdommissioned them centuries ago.ˇ± Kalt said as he showed Marcus the room he would be working in.<sub>.</sub>

    Natrually Marcus was stary eyed as he looked through the ce, as he did not have even close to this quality of equipment.

    ˇ®I am going to have to upgrade my own forge at some point, but I hate to think about how much time and money it is going to take to get a setup like this ready.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he examined the amethros anvil.

    It was much better than even the top tier adamantine one that Thabon had in his forge.

    Still seeing how impressive all of this was, Marcus had to wonder something.

    ˇ°If you have such an impable forge why does the kingdom only have five amethros weapons? It seems kind of a waste not to make more in order to increase the strength of the kingdom.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    For Marcus it seemed baffling that Borealia did not have more weapons even if amethros was rare.

    It was not like they did not have a forgemaster with the necessary skills up until recently now that he had gotten too old.

    ˇ°Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Even we have a limited amount of amethros and there are other things than just weapons, remember.ˇ±

    Kalt went onto exin the reasons why Borealia only had five weapons at its disposal to Marcus.

    ˇ°To start it is not like the kingdom has only had five weapons throughout its history, but some who owned them have left the hierarchy of the kingdom, like the first king Boreas who I have heard you have met. And as much as it pains me to say it, some have been destroyed in the past. If I counted the total that I know that were created for the kingdom, the number would actually be thirteen.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    borating Kalt told Marcus about the weapons he knew once exited in the kingdom of Borealia but were no longer under themand of the kingdom for one reason or another.

    ˇ°Along with weapons there are also pieces of armor and other magical items like the crown you will be creating for Frostine. We have a number of sets of armor and shields as well, but weapons are always considered more impressive, so they are what people look at.ˇ± Kalt said.

    He certainly gave Marcus a lot of information about the amethros items the kingdom had, and even went on to give an exact amount of the ingots currently in the kingdomˇŻs possession.

    ˇ°You sure you should be telling me all of this?ˇ± Marcus asked wondering why Kalt was being so loose lipped.

    ˇ°Hah, it is of no consequence.ˇ± Kalt said with augh. ˇ°Without you the kingdom may have fallen, and there is no doubt that much of it would have been destroyed if not for your quick action in gathering the forces necessary to defeat that doomsday monster. Not to mention that you are engaged to Mrazivy making you practically part of the family. You already have the kingdom of BorealiaˇŻs trust, and by extension, mine.ˇ±

    Hearing KaltˇŻs reasoning Marcus could not really question their trust, but he still thought that as the deputy king Kalt should have been a little less forting about all of that information.

    ˇ°So, I imagine that this will suit your needs?ˇ± Kalt asked once Marcus had finished examining the forge.

    ˇ°Yes, this is the best setup I have seen. There is no doubt that I can make something exceptional here.ˇ± Marcus said.

    However, as he thought about it, he figured out something that he wanted in return for making FrostineˇŻs crown.

    ˇ°I do not believe that we have really discussed a payment for my services. If possible, I would like to be allowed to use this forge to create an item of my own. Of course, I will supply any materials I might need.ˇ± Marcus said with a glint in his eyes.

    He really was hoping to use this ce for the creation of the new scythe he was nning to make soon enough.

    ˇ°That is fine. But are you sure that is all that you want in exchange for creating FrostineˇŻs crown?ˇ± Kalt asked.

    He thought just be allowed ess to this facility was not much of a reward for Marcus, especially in light of all he had done for the kingdom.

    ˇ°Hm, well then, if you would supply the cores to power the furnace that would be enough.ˇ± Marcus said, seeing that he could ask for more.

    ˇ°It shall be done. When you need ess just feel free to contact me and I will set everything up.ˇ±

    With that done Marcus went to work on writing down everything he would need to craft FrontierˇŻs crown and handed it over to Kalt when he was finished.

    ˇ°This certainly is a lot, but I believe that it can all be procured within a day or two. Until then feel free to do as you please. I am sure that Mrazivy wants to see you again.ˇ±

 Chapter 649 Crafting Frostineâ€™s Crown

    With a couple days until the materials, he needed to make FrostineˇŻs crown would be procured Marcus went to stay with Mrazivy.

    The two of them still had some details to work out and it had been a while since they were able to have some quality time together with no looming crisis on the horizon.

    ˇ°I think that just about covers everything we need to decide on. Now all that we have to worry about is being ready and showing up at the venue in a few months.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she put down thest of the documents they needed to go over for their engagement party.

    ˇ°Whew, I am d that is done. As much as enjoy spending time with you, going over all these items was starting to get monotonous.ˇ± Marcus said with a sigh of relief.

    ˇ°But now that we are free what do you want to do? Thest message we got said that thest item for your sisterˇŻs crown would be here in six hours, so we have until then.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Mrazivy sat there contemtively for a few moments before smiling at Marcus, having decided what to do.

    ˇ°How about we go another round. I am still getting used to it.ˇ± She said with an enthusiastic smile.

    Marcus on the other hand was not as excited as her, but relented since it was what she wanted to do.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Sure, but I think we should try and be a bit restrained this time. Yesterday we really recked the ce.ˇ±

    However, Mrazivy just shook her head, pushing her way through.

    ˇ°No, it will be fine. It will not mean as much if we are holding ourselves back. Things like this need to be done the best that we can.ˇ±

    Seeing Mrazivy so excited, Marcus could only shrug his shoulder and send out a silent apology to those that were going to have to clean up after them.

    BOOM!

    The ground shock and cracked as Mrazivy mmed into it as Marcus narrowly avoided the sh of her sword.

    ˇ°You cannot run away forever!ˇ± Mrazivy shouted out towards Marcus as he took evasive action.<sub></sub>

    She pursued him with all the speed and ferocity of a dragon, and her new amethros saber gleamed with mana as she swung it.

    A huge burst of her mana went flying towards Marcus and he had to stop and take it head on with his scythe.

    ˇ®Heavy!ˇŻ He thought as he blocked it.

    He had already been on the receiving end of MrazivyˇŻs attacks, but there was no doubt that with her knew weapon she hit much harder.

    Still, Marcus had higher stats and level right now and was able to push the attack aside with a bit of effort.

    The two of them continued to sh for hours as Mrazivy got used to her new sword and Marcus practiced with his heavily increased stats from his recent mass level up.

    Eventually there sparing match came to an end when it was time for Marcus to get to work on FrostineˇŻs crown, but they would not have been able to go much longer anyway with Mrazivy being nearlypletely worn out.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Damn, your leveling up has put you far ahead of me.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she bent over while breathing heavily from the exertion.

    She hade at Marcus with pretty much everything she had, and while she pushed him to use one of his embodiment unique skills, once that was active, he managed to overpower her.

    ˇ°It is only temporary. I know you will catch back up to me in no time. You always put in a lot of effort when you have a goal to reach.ˇ± Marcus aid to encourage Mrazivy.

    Luckily her days of feeling down about her weakness were long gone, and she gave Marcus a bright smile, and said, ˇ°You bet I will. Soon I will have you sweating during our matches.ˇ±

    After that the two of them went back to MrazivyˇŻs room where they cleaned up and Marcus prepared to head out.

    ˇ°I will be gone for probably a couple of days at least, but when I am done, I will tell you.ˇ± Marcus said while standing in the doorway of MrazivyˇŻs suit.

    ˇ°Yeah, try to make it as quick as you can. Who knows when we will get a peaceful time like this for just the two of us again.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she pushed up on her toes and kissed Marcus before he left.

    The two of them then parted and Marcus made his way back to the castleˇŻs amethros forge where Kalt was waiting for him.

    In contrast tost time, now there were a number of crates in the room, and they were filled with the supplies that Marcus was going to use.

    However, there was one item that was not among them, and Kalt personally took it out of his item box andid it down on a table for Marcus to see.

    ˇ°This is the ingot of amethros you will be using. I am sure you know how valuable it is, so please make sure that you do not use any more than necessary to make FrostineˇŻs crown.ˇ±

    ˇ°No problem. You can count on me. I will be doing my best. I rarely get the chance to work with amethros, so I am more than ready to give this my all.ˇ± Marcus said as he picked up the ingot and began examining it.

    ˇ®Yep, just like the ones I have, it certainly can suck up mana and the flow is exceptional. Not to mention it is incredibly resilient as expected from the hardest and strongest metal in the world.

    Marcus quickly gave it a few taps with a hammer and listened to the melodious ringing from the metal.

    ˇ°This will do perfectly. I promise to make a crown worthy of the future monarch of Borealia with this.ˇ± Marcus said with a stalwart expression.

    ˇ°That is good to hear. Now I will leave you to it. If I stayed while you were working, I do not doubt that I would be burned to a crisp from the heat.ˇ±

    With his jobpleted Kalt hastily left the room and sealed the door behind him in order to let Marcus get started.

    ˇ®I guess the first thing I need to do is scale the ingot down. It is a bit too big right now for just a crown.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    Quickly he headed over to the furnace and began fueling it with his own mana and arge number of magic cores from high level beast and monsters.

    Within around fifteen minutes Marcus had the furnace lit up like the surface of the sun, and the magical formations that kept the heat from escaping and metaling the interior of the room had activated.

    ˇ®It has been a while since Ist did this, and I almost forgot how hot the mes have to be. And this is still not even close to the level that it will be at once I actually get started.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked around the red-hot room.

    He then took a moment to steel himself, before cing the ingot of amethros into a crimson ore crucible and sticking it into the furnace to begin melting it down.

 Chapter 650 Crafting Frostineâ€™s Crown (2)

    ˇ®Whew, that was much easier thanst time.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he removed the crucible from the furnace and let the heat settle down.

    Quickly he poured the molten amethros into a couple smaller ingot molds one of which was picked out to be the right size for the material necessary to craft FrostineˇŻs crown.

    ˇ®Now I just need it to cool and then I can begin work.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he sat down and focused.

    The room was still incredibly hot, and this would keep the amethros from cooling as quickly as he would like. So, he used his chill zone ability and slowly cooled down the room that was nearly as hot as the surface of the sun.

    ˇ®It really is miraculous that anyone can work in these conditions. I can only do it because I am a ghost and have a natural resistance to extreme temperatures, but anyone that is flesh and blood probably needs all manner of skills, spells, and other magical gear to work in this kind of heat.

    From what Marcus knew, Thabon was only able to work with the stuff because of a unique skill he had that practically made him immune to fire and heat, though also making him more vulnerable to the cold.

    The room was soon at a more manageable temperature and the amethros with its absurdly high melting point which was several times greater than that of any metal on Earth had soon be solid again.

    However, while things had cooled down, Marcus was now going to have to heat it up again in order to make the amethros moldable.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®At least this time it will not have to be quite as hot.ˇŻ He thought as he started up the furnace again.

    The thing ate through an exorbitant amount of mana from both him and the magic cores being used as fuel, and just running it for a few minutes cost thousands of gold coins in magic cores.

    Time seemed to stand still for Marcus as he expanded all of his senses towards the amethros and waited for it to be at the proper temperature to be worked with.

    When it finally reached that point, he swiftly took it out of the zing furnace and ced the ingot on top of the amethros anvil.

    Next, he took the amethros hammer that had been loaned to him by the kingdom and began hammering away as he molded the brightly glowing metal.

    Crating a crown was far more intricate work than he normally did, but Marcus but his all in hammering away at the ingot as its shape slowly changed into the one he wanted.

    ˇ®Damn, I am running low on mana.ˇŻ Marcus thought after he had been at it for two hours straight.<sub></sub>

    Even his mana regeneration could not keep up with the intense expenditure that came with crafting amethros, and he had to momentarily leave the area to drink a couple of potions before continuing less the bottles break from the extreme heat.

    Once he had recovered his mana, he went right back to work on forming the shape of FrostineˇŻs crown.

    ˇ®This is harder than I thought it would be.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he rubbed his face.

    He was used to making armor and weapons for the most part, and what other essories he had made were normally bracelets of pendants that were much easier than the intricate design of this crown.

    Still, he persevered not allowing this to stop him, and taking it as a learning experience to further his skills.

    ˇ®At the very least all of the equipment is top notch. If I was working at the zegram Forge this would have been even harder.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he was carefully cutting through the amethros to make it the shape that Frostine wanted.

    A couple of days went by as he continued his work on the crown, and it took him nearly sixty hours to finally have created the base of the crown.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®It is finally right.ˇŻ Marcus thought with a sigh of relief.

    He had found making the crown to the exact details difficult, especially with how ornate it was going to be.

    Unfortunately, the hardest part had yet toe, as he had to imnt the magic core, along with elemental crystals, and then pack in arge number of powerful formations on the crown, before it was mostlypleted.

    ˇ®I need a break.ˇŻ

    Moving to one corner of the room, Marcus took out a table and chair before sitting down.

    Along with them he took out some wine and a few snacks he had in his item box for whenever he might need them.

    ˇ®Ah that is good.ˇŻ He thought while drinking some of the high-quality wine that Mrazivy had snuck out of the castleˇŻs wine cer.

    Certainly, he had no need to consume anything, but he still got some enjoyment out of the taste, so it helped him to rx a bit after having been fully focused on his work for so long.

    ˇ®I underestimated how long this was going to take. The ring I made Mrazivy was way easier since it was basically just a cylinder, but this crown is so intricate to make that it is hurting my head.ˇŻ

    Lamenting the heavy task in front of him Marcus took anotherrge drink of wine and then stuffed some snacks into his mouth and savored the taste.

    Of course, other than the taste, the food and drink did nothing to or for him, and he still wondered where everything he might consumed ended up.

    ˇ®Well, if I meet with the administrator on more friendly terms again, I might be able to ask that.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he stored the table and chair away and went back to crafting FrostineˇŻs crown.

    The first thing he needed to do was imnt the magic core that would serve as the foundation for all of the formations that would be etched into the crown.

    Once that was done, he embedded a number of elemental crystals and precious gems into the crown in order to make it stronger and show off the wealth and power of the royal family.

    After that he finally got started on etching in all of the formations, starting with the one that would allow for part of the crown to retract into itself and be a circlet instead.

    It had taken him quite a bit to actuallye up with this formation, using the one that allowed for pieces of armor to fold into a pendant as a base.

    Along with that he had to make sure that this did not lessen the powers of the crown while it was in its form as a circlet which had been a whole other challenge.

    Nevertheless, he had managed to create a suitable formation in the time in which the materials were being gathered by the kingdom.

    ˇ®That should do it.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he finished thest of the formations and connected the crownˇŻs core to it.

    Now all that was left to do was test it out and hope that everything worked, less he have to take it apart and start over again from scratch should it be less than perfect.

 Chapter 651 Testing the Crownâ€™s Powers

    With FrostineˇŻs finished crown in his hands, Marcus first tested the most problematic enchantment that easily could have ended up damaged during the etching process.

    ˇ®Hopefully it works.ˇŻ He though as he sent a bit of mana into the crown.

    Luckily it shrunk down, and therge crown became a much smaller circlet that would be easier to wear.

    It was exactly as Frostine had asked and it looked fit for royalty even in its shrunk down form.

    Seeing this Marcus let out a sigh of relief since it was the formation he was most afraid would not work as he had not tested it on amethros before.

    ˇ®Now I just need to make sure everything else is in order and then I can be certain it will be done.ˇŻ

    This time he put the crown on to his head and tested out another of the magical formations etched into it.

    Immediately the crown which was in its circlet form expanded to fit his head perfectly and sat there quitefortably.

    Next he tired reverting it back to a crown and the process happened seamlessly.<sub>.</sub>

    Once that was done, he created his iron golem and ordered it to attack.

    BOOM!

    The titian made of iron mmed down both of its arms towards Marcus but was stopped short when it hit a barrier.

    The iron golem continued swinging for a good two minutes without putting a scratch on the barrier, before Marcus dismissed.

    ˇ®Looks like the automated barrier works. I was afraid that it would be unable to properly distinguish between threats or not, but everything seems to work fine.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he tested the best defensive formation on the crown.

    Now even if Frostine was attacked by an attack she nor her guards could seeing, the crown would act automatically to protect her.

    Of course, it was not perfect, but it would probably take someone that was very strong to break through the barrier in one hit. Even Marcus knew he would be unable to unless he used one of his strongest attacks which had a long build up time and would be intercepted before Frostine would be in danger.

    After that he moved onto the other defensive formations that could be activated onmand.<sub></sub>

    The first one replicated MrazivyˇŻs ice magic spell Frost DragonˇŻs egg and encased the wearer in a thickyer of ice that was difficult to break through and would freeze anyone that got too close.

    Along with that it also could strengthen the userˇŻs body and make them quite a bit tougher so that even most mithril weapons would bounce off.

    Next was the regeneration formation which worked impably well and was even above MarcusˇŻ current high speed regeneration skill.

    ˇ®With this anything other than her head begin taken off at once likely will not kill her since she has a high level as well.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched how quickly the cut across his hand he had made healed.

    Soon he had tested all of the crownˇŻs defensive capabilities and found them all to work exceptionally well.

    ˇ®Now for offense.ˇŻ

    Focusing arge amount of mana into the crown he activated one of its best offense powers and the temperature in the area around him began to plummet.

    Soon twelve warriors made of ice had appeared before him, with three wielding shields and spears, another three with bows and arrows, three with swords, and three that were dressed like mages and wielded staffs.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Hm that is a tier eight spell for you, it is certainly strong.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at the ice warriors he had created.

    Kalt had given him ess to this spell which was one of GwyneriaˇŻs creation and allowed for powerful knights made of ice to be created.

    Depending on the amount of mana used the warriors had different levels of strength and Marcus had used all he could to bring them out as strong as possible.

    ˇ®Hm they are all level fifty-four, and quite strong even for their levels.ˇŻ

    As their summoner Marcus was able to see all of their stats and found that they all had relevant skills for the types of fighters that they were, and that they would be able to go toe to toe with an average person at the same level.

    The ice wizards even had level five ice magic making them as strong as the kingdomˇŻs archmages and the other warriors were already as strong as some of the kingdomˇŻs strongest knights.

    Though this was the spell as strong as Marcus could make it. And while Frostine was strong being over level fifty, she was not likely going to be able to create these ice warriors at the same level as Marcus.

    Still, the spell was versatile and could conjure less warriors at higher levels depending on the situation.

    ˇ®It is too bad I had to trim it down to fit onto the crown though. Its original power allowed it to create any number of warriors and could make an army of ice warriors and assign them different levels.ˇŻ

    Nevertheless, since this crown was mostly meant to be used in a defensive capacity in case Frostine was ever in danger, it really did not have the need to create an army.

    Going on, Marcus finished testing the other offensive powers of the crown and found that all of them worked even better than he expected.

    ˇ®I suppose this is what a magical item created with some of the best materials in an impable facility can do.ˇŻ Marcus thought in awe of the crownˇŻs powers.

    It was very impressive though it did have one problem in that it could guzzle through its wearerˇŻs mana very quickly if they were not careful.

    ˇ®Luckily Frostine is strong and has quite a high level of mana, so she should be fine.ˇŻ

    With this crown there was no doubt that she would be well protected and be able to respond to most threats with ease.

    Havingpleted his checks and made sure that the crown looked exquisite enough for the ruler of a kingdom to wear, Marcus exited the forge and sent a telepathic message to Kalt and Frostine.

    ˇ®Oh, you certainly finished it quite quickly. I am impressed. I will begin preparations for a space for us to meet and contact Frostine so that you can give it to her.ˇŻ Kalt responded.

    ˇ®That is great. I cannot wait to see it. Thank you so much Marcus. I am d that I will have you as a brother-inw.ˇŻ Frostine responded with obvious tion.

    Then he reached out his mind and located Mrazivy and contacted her personally.

    ˇ®Mraz, I have finish it. If you want to try it out before I hand it over to your sistere down to the castleˇŻs amethros forge and I will let you have a try with it.ˇŻ Marcus said to her with a tone of excitement.

    Within just a couple of seconds he received a positive response, and Mrazivy arrived in just a few minutes. Making it quite clear she had rushed without informing any of her personal as she should have.

    ˇ°Wow it is beautiful. Mrazivy said as she picked up and examined the crown.

    It was currently in its full form and showing off all of its glory.

    Tentatively Mrazivy put it one and said, ˇ°How does it look?ˇ±

    Seeing this Marcus smiled widely since the crown really suited her.

    ˇ°It looks like it fits perfectly on you. I dare say that you look exactly like a queen.ˇ±

 Chapter 652 Crown Delivery

    MrazivyˇŻs face quickly turned red as a tomato in embarrassment as Marcus told her she looked like a queen.

    ˇ°Hm, did you perhaps not like beingpared to a queen?ˇ± Marcus said with a teasing tone.

    He could see how flustered Mrazivy was, and he want to see more of her like this since it was far from how she usually acted.

    ˇ°No, it is just, I am not good enough to bepared to my sister.ˇ± Mrazivy said while shaking her head.

    However, Marcus just moved up right next to her and brought his face right up to hers and began whispering in her ear.

    ˇ°That is not true. I believe you have already surpassed your sister. Gwyneira chose you after all to inherit her fatherˇŻs core and make you just as strong as a dragon. You easily have the qualifications to be queen.ˇ± Marcus said softly.

    Though as he pushed her Mrazivy shoved the crown back into his hands and said, ˇ°No!ˇ± while shaking her head furiously.

    It seemed that she really did not think that she could have been the queen and seeing her now Marcus understood he had pushed her enough here.

    ˇ°Well, that is fine, I really would not want to be the, king? No, it is something else like queenˇŻs consort, right?ˇ± Marcus said in an attempt to change MrazivyˇŻs mood.<sub>.</sub>

    Fortunately, his n worked and Mrazivy snapped out of her fluster in order to correct him.

    ˇ°You were close, it would be prince consort. But that is beside the point, I have no intention of beign queen.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Marcus wholly agreed, and said, ˇ°Yeah it would be pretty difficult to go off and explore the world if you were chained to a desk like your father is most of the time.

    Mrazivy wholeheartedly agreed with this. She never wanted to be the ruler even if she had the chance.

    ˇ°Now here.ˇ± Marcus said as he held the crown back towards Mrazivy. ˇ°You came down to test it out, right? I will not make any morements and you can test it to your heartˇŻs content.ˇ±

    Taking the crown back Mrazivy sent her mana into it before putting it back on her head and she focused in on the formation that shrunk it down.

    Soon it was back to its form as a circlet, and she tentatively put it back on her head.

    It was clear she was morefortable with it now that it was not in its full royal form.<sub></sub>

    Quickly she began gleefully activating the powers of the crown and giving it a try, as this was likely the only time that she would be able to.

    Around forty minutes passed by as Mrazivy tested out the crown having already forgotten her earlier embarrassment.

    ˇ®Marcus, Frostine and I are ready.ˇŻ

    Receiving a telepathicmunication from Kalt, Marcus now knew it was time to deliver the crown to its rightful owner.

    ˇ°Mraz your sister and uncle are ready to receive the crown. I am afraid that our time to use it is over.ˇ±

    Sighing and nodding her head Mrazivy took the crown off and handed it to Marcus. Though as she let go of it, she frowned. And while she did not want to be queen, she did want that crown.

    ˇ°Do you think you could make me something simr in the future?ˇ± Mrazivy said while putting on her best puppy dog eyes.

    ˇ°Sure, I can do that. But it is likely to be quite far into the future. We will need to gather the materials ourselves next time.ˇ± Marcus said with a smile.<sub></sub>

    Naturally Mrazivy agreed, and while it was not solid in any way, they now had ns to go out and hunt for materials to make her a crown of her own.

    ˇ°Did you want toe with me to deliver the crown? I am sure that it will be fine, and I think you will do a better job of exining its powers to your sister since you tested it out even more than I did.ˇ±

    Taking Marcus up on his offer Mrazivy headed with him to meet Frostine and the deputy king, and soon they had arrived at the meeting room.

    The knights posted outside the door opened it up, and inside was Kalt and Frostine, already sitting down and drinking some tea while they waited.

    When Kalt and Frostine saw that Mrazivy was with Marcus, they were both surprised for a moment. Though they took it in stride and invited both of them in.

    ˇ°Here it is. The crown for the future ruler of Borealia.ˇ± Marcus said as he took out the box the crown was stored in and handed it to Kalt.

    He opened it up and his eyes went wide in surprise as he saw how stunning it looked.

    There was not doubt it was fit for a monarch and Frostine nearly squealed in delight as she saw it.

    ˇ°Truly impable work. I have examined my brotherˇŻs crown at length before, but it honestly is not as powerful as this one. You have done a great service again for Borealia.ˇ± Kalt said as he bowed his head slightly towards Marcus.

    At the same time Frostine took the crown and ced it on her head while also thanking him.

    Quickly she had it shirk down into its circlet form, and she noticed howfortably it sat on her head.

    ˇ°Mrazivy, would you mind exining everything the crown can do to your sister.ˇ± Marcus said as he watched Frostine begin sending her mana into the crown.

    Though as she heard this, Frostine looked over at them with a wry smile on her face.

    ˇ°Oh, did you let my sister wear my crown before me?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, I needed someone else to test it since some of the formations work best with someone that has ice magic. And as she is my fianc¨¦e and your full blood rted sister, I figured she was the best for the job. I did not want to give the future queen a defective item.ˇ± Marcus exined.

    Of course, everyone knew this was just lip service, but it really did not matter much in the fist ce as Frostine was just messing with them.

    After that the two sisters gleefully began discussing the crown, while Marcus and Kalt conversed.

    ˇ°Now is there anything else that the kingdom needs me to do. It is still winter, so the contract is in effect.ˇ±

    ˇ°No, you have already done enough. Certainly, there are things with which we could have you do, but nothing pressing. Just enjoy your time off and prepare for your engagement party.ˇ± Kalt said.

    Now knowing that he would be free for the rest of the winter, Marcus began making some mental ns for what he could do.

    ˇ®I suppose that practicing my skills and making some money are what I really need to do. I am a little low on funds since I have not had time to work for a while.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he made his ns.

    Soon, Frostine and Mrazivy had finished discussing the crown, and Marcus and Kalt had said all they needed to.

    ˇ°I believe it is time that I head back out. The king is busy with important paperwork, and I am the only one that can help.ˇ± Kalt said as he excused himself.

    Shortly after Frostine did the same, and Marcus and Mrazivy were left alone in one of the castleˇŻs meeting rooms.

    ˇ°Now how about we go and have some fun.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she grabbed Marcus by the handed and dragged him away.

 Chapter 653 Roxene and Intenâ€™s Return

    A few days passed as Marcus and Mrazivy enjoyed some more leisure time in the castle. Until it was time for Marcus to return back to his own estate, and for Mrazivy to head out on her next adventure.

    ˇ°I hope you enjoy yourself in Tralenstein. I know you will be with Lyra and running their high-level dungeon along with Quillon but try to be careful.ˇ± Marcus said as they were about to separate.

    Mrazivy had wanted to get stronger, and she inquired with Lyra if there were any good training spots in Tralenstein and somehow ended up forming a party with her and Quillon who caught wind of this when Mrazivy asked their master for advice.

    ˇ°No need to worry. Lyra and Quillon will have my back and I will have thereˇŻs. Just you wait, I am going to catch up and pass you by again.ˇ± Mrazivy said with confident expression.

    She really did n to push herself to level up and get much stronger now that Marcus had shot in front of her.

    ˇ°I look forward to it. Then after our engagement party our group can get together again and take on the special dungeon during the summer.ˇ± Marcus said.

    The two of them then gave each other a long hug and kiss before saying goodbye and going their separate ways.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Time to get back into character.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he switched his form back over to that of Irene.

    Soon ra came by in the carriage beign pulled by Blitz and Marcus made sure to thank her, and give his long-time beastpanion arge number of natural treasures as a snack.

    ˇ°Are you ready to go Lady Irene?ˇ± risa asked once he had sat down in the carriage.

    Nodding his head Marcus gave his agreement and the carriage took off back towards his estate.

    When he arrived, he was immediately met with a surprise as Roxene and Intent came running up to him.

    ˇ°You are finally back Roxene. You sure took your time. But why is Inten still with you? It should have been safe for him to return home.ˇ± Marcus asked.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Hmph, I told you that I was going to be cleaning up the beasts and monsters that were going on a rampage in wake of that Doomsday Worm. And Inten is now my loyal retainer.ˇŻ Roxene said with her head held high as usual.

    She was noticeably bigger now than when Marcus hadst seen her, and she was close to the size of an actual wolf now, though she was still an adolescent for her species.

    Inten was also acting differently.

    Before he did not pay much heed to Roxene, but during their journey together it appeared that she had put him in his ce and taken him as a follower.

    ˇ®It is as Lady Roxene says. I have been shown what true power looks like and was outssed. I have no choice but to follow the strong and my savior. Oh, but I n to repay you as well. I still have not done enough to erase the dept I have to you for sparing my life all those years ago.ˇŻ The diamond mouse said to Marcus.

    Roxene then borated that an incredibly strong monster nearly killed Intent in a fight, and she had taken the monster down by using her supreme and unique skills. Causing Inten to now be following her to repay her as well.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®He is useful and just strong enough to warrant keeping him under me, and by extension you. I believe it will be in our benefit to keep him around.ˇŻ Roxene said.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus really did not care if Inten wanted to stick around. It was true that the diamond mouse was a legendary grade beast and had a rtively high level, so he was certainly useful.

    ˇ°Sure, that is fine. I will inform the staff about him. Though I wonder how they will take it? A level fifty plus legendary grade beast does not just show up every day.ˇ±

    As it turned out, when Marcus informed them about Inten some of them went wide eyed in shock and even fainted since they figured he was just an ordinary mouse that Roxene had been ying around with, and not an intelligent legendary grade beast that could raze an average city to the ground.

    ˇ°That did not go as well as I nned.ˇ± Marcus said as he saw the nervousness around his maids.

    He had also informed them that Blitz was an intelligent beast and at the epic grade now, which caused them to be more fearful of him even though everything had been fine up to this point.

    ˇ®I guess when you know that the beast you are caring for is that strong it is bound to bring about at least a bit of hesitation.ˇŻ

    At the very least Marcus still kept the truth about Roxene a secret, so they all thought she was still just an epic grade beast. Though they had always treated her well, as they had known her since she was just a newborn pup.

    ˇ®I am sure in a little bit of time everything will go back to normal.ˇŻ

    Heading back out after informing everyone Marcus caught up with Inten and Roxene who were ying around.

    Though while it was ying for them it was actually more like a sparring match.

    ˇ°I have something I want to discuss with the both of you.ˇ± Marcus said.

    The two beasts quickly came over and Roxene looked a bit annoyed to have been interrupted.

    ˇ°Inten how would you feel about entering into a contract with me, and obtaining a mutual seal?ˇ± He asked the diamond mouse. ˇ°And Roxene, do you think this is a good idea?ˇ±

    Before answering Inten turned towards Roxene and she just lookedpletely disinterested while saying that it should be fine.

    ˇ®If mydy says it is fine, I would be more than happy to form a mutual seal with you just as she has. It will allow me to finally be of some use to you.ˇŻ Intent said with a pleased gleam in his eyes.

    With that Marcus now had the agreement of a legendary grade beast to be mutual partners.

    ˇ°That is great. We will need to set up the process carefully though. I doubt that we can just walk into a store and just have the seals created done. Last time I did that I caused quite the stir.ˇ± Marcus said remembering what happened with Roxene.

    He had ended up causing a panic in Loursend and getting himself put on the wanted list. And while he did not figure that would happen this time, he would definitely cause quite the stir if it became public knowledge that he had contracted with a legendary grade beast.

    ˇ®I know that there are other people that have formed seals with legendary grade beasts like James even if they are few and far between. I am sure that if I contact Kalt he can help me out here and have something set up. It is in the kingdomˇŻs interest to prevent any sort of uproar as well.ˇŻ

    Having figured out what to do, Marcus sent a letter to the castle and waited to hear back before doing anything else in this regard.

    ˇ°Now how about I make you something special for your return Roxene. You worked hard so I think that is the least I can do.ˇ±

 Chapter 654 Roxene and Intenâ€™s Feast

    Having promised Roxene a special meal for how hard she had worked at dealing with rampaging monsters and beasts after the Dread Burrowers defeat Marcus personally made his way to the kitchen and began cooking up her favorite.

    ˇ®Hm, I suppose I will just use our entire stock of puff cow.ˇŻ He thought as he looked through his stores.

    There was not an immense amount of the high-quality meat that cost several hundred gold to keep in stock, but there would be enough for Roxene.

    ˇ®For Inten I can probably just give him some natural treasures. I doubt he has maxed out his stats like Roxene and I have due to the Greatest Potential skill.ˇŻ

    With that settled Marcus began taking out what he needed and got to start on preparing the meal he was going to make.

    Naturally Ste and Violet offer to help, and really actually did not want Marcus cooking in the first ce due to his status, but he simply dismissed them and took over the kitchen.

    He was honestly able to move much faster without their help since he could move around faster and use certain skills and magics that would be best left unseen.

    ˇ®It has been some time since I wasst able to cook. I almost forgot how enjoyable it is.ˇŻ He thought as he listened to the sizzle of the puff cow meat cooking.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Soon enough he had made what was a veritable feast that could have easily fed dozens of people.

    However, RoxeneˇŻs appetite could be insatiable, especially in wake of her favorite food. And as she grew, she was bing able to eat more and more to the point that it was astounding.

    ˇ®Roxene, I have finished cooking. Bring Inten with you to the dinning room and the two of you can enjoy a well-deserved meal.ˇŻ

    After getting his telepathic message Roxene sent back a very ted response and only a minuteter came rushing through the door with Inten following right behind her.

    As soon as she saw therge spread of food Marcus hadid out on the table, her eyes dted as she took it all in and she began unconsciously licking her lips.

    Inten for his part was less focused on the meat and instead turned his gaze to the number of natural treasures that Marcus hadid out.

    There were arge number of them and of numerous different types. Many which Inten had never even seen.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Both of you go ahead this is your reward for doing your part in helping with the cleanup of ourtest disaster.ˇ±

    Having MarcusˇŻ permission, the two beasts dove right into the foodid before them and began eating wildly like something out of a cartoon.

    Roxene went right for the puff cow fillets as Marcus anticipated, while Inten for his part followed his instincts and found the highest quality natural treasures and began eating them.

    For such as small mouse he seemed able to back them away and Marcus was surprised that within around five minutes he had already eaten twenty times his body weight.

    ˇ®I guess that he converts it all to energy so fast he does not even get full. This must be part of the power of a legendary grade beast.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched the Inten devour the natural treasures.

    Within about an hour all of the food he made was gone, not a single morsel left, and the two beasts actually had visibly bloated stomachs

    ˇ®I am going to take a nap. DonˇŻt wake me unless it is an emergency.ˇŻ Roxene said as she started to drift into a fooda.<sub></sub>

    Inten was quick to follow her, but Marcus had to stop them and carried them both to RoxeneˇŻs room since he could not have them sleeping in the dining room.

    ˇ®I am sorry to whoever has to clean this up, but I suppose that is what I am paying them for.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at the mess his cooking and Roxene and IntenˇŻs eating had made.

    After that he spent the rest of the day in taking stock of all the supplies he had for forging and righting down a list of what he needed to get.

    Eventually the day hade to an end and Marcus with nothing better to do decided to sleep and let time pass until the next day.

    The next day he was surprised to have already received a response from Kalt about his inquiry about making Inten his beastpanion.

    ˇ®Looks like I my timing may not have been the best.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he read the letter.

    The tone of the letter conveyed how tired Kalt really was with all the work he was having to do. And while he agreed to help, he did ask that Marcus stop suddenly doing things that were beyond the worldˇŻsmon sense.

    ˇ®Sorry but I have already epted that I am unusual and unusual things follow me. I will not be stopping anytime soon, so please forgive me.ˇŻ

    Once he had finished reading the letter, Marcus called Inten to him, and told the diamond mouse what was going on.

    ˇ°I have received a positive response from the castle, and they are going to set up the ritual for us at the castle tomorrow. However, Kalt wants us to head on over today so we will need to make preparations for that.ˇ± Marcus said to Inten.

    The diamond mouse agreed and soon enough they were on a carriage heading to the royal castle.

    ˇ®It seems like these days I am going back and forth from the castle at least once a week. I only just left yesterday, and I am going back again already.ˇŻ

    Unfortunately, with how intertwined he was with the royal family due to his rtionship with Mrazivy, there was little he could do to avoid this.

    And while they definitely wanted his power and skills at their disposal, it was not like they had not gone out of their way to help him. Marcus had gained just as much from joining with the Kingdom of Borealia as he has given.

    When he arrived at the castle, he was immediately brough before Kalt who honesty looked exhausted.

    ˇ°So, is that the legendary grade beast that you n on forming a mutual seal with?ˇ± Kalt asked as he looked at Inten who was perched on MarcusˇŻ left shoulder.

    ˇ°Yes, this is the Diamond Mouse, Inten. I met him in the Great Gome Woods during the time I was clearing it out of dangerous beasts and monsters.ˇ±

    Marcus then went on to tell of the battle he and Roxene had with Inten and how he found out the beast was the mouse he had failed to have the stomach to kill when he first arrived.

    ˇ°It is hard to imagine that at some point you were so meek as to not be able to kill a mouse.ˇ± Kalt said with a surprised expression.

    ˇ°I have changed a lot sinceing to this world. I am sure that if those that knew me from before saw me now, they would not even recognize me.ˇ± Marcus said while shrugging his shoulders.

 Chapter 655 A New Beast Companion

    Once Marcus and Kalt had finished with a few pleasantries they got right down to business.

    ˇ°I have set it up so that the foremost expert on beasts and creating seals in the capital will arrive tomorrow. He will keep your binding with a legendary grade beast a secret for us as he has in the past.ˇ± Kalt said.

    Apparently, this guy had done the binding for Mrazivy and her beastpanion as well as James with Fallon, so he was already used to keeping the royal familyˇŻs secrets.

    ˇ°Of course, this means that you will need to be in your original form. It would be better that way since your already an honorary prince.ˇ± Kalt exined.

    However, Marcus frowned at this and exined how his maids had already seen and knew about Inten.

    ˇ°That is a slight problem. But if they were trained at Lady DelhˇŻs Academy of Service then they should be able to keep a secret. Just in case make sure to have them sign new contracts that prevent them from revealing information about your beastpanions. You have too many secrets that could cause waves and it would be best to keep them from getting out.ˇ± Kalt said with a stern look.

    Though Marcus was not thrilled with forcing his maids who had been loyal to him to sign a new contract that forced their silence.

    ˇ°What if they refuse and simply quit? I have no way to prevent them from leaving my service if this stiption is too much for them.ˇ±

    Yet Marcus did not receive the answer he wanted and KaltˇŻs eyes grew intense.

    ˇ°I would hope that it does note to that. I can imagine you know what happens to those who know too much and can not be trusted to stay quite.ˇ± Kalt said with a cold tone that showed nopassion.

    This was what was necessary to rule a kingdom, and Marcus was sure that Kalt could have any of his maids simply disappear if they did not sign a contract that gagged them from speaking about Inten or Roxene.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Very well, I will see to it that they sign new contracts. There is no need for any rash actions.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Kalt was satisfied with MarcusˇŻ answers, and after informing him the time the expert who would create the mutual seal for him and Inten would arrive allowed him to go on his way.

    ˇ°That is all we need to discuss for today. You are free to go around the castle as usual, but please try to stay out of trouble.ˇ±

    With his meeting finished and nothing better to do, Marcus headed down into the amethros forge and got to work on making some weapons.

    Of course, he was not actually going to be working with amethros and was just using the forge to make some mithril weapons to keep his skills up and to make a profit.

    ˇ®I can just use basic materials and formations. No need to go all out on these. Otherwise, it will be more difficult to sell them.ˇŻ

    Getting to work it had been a while since Marcus created more basic weaponry, but as he got into he lost track of time and by the next day he hadpleted nine mithril weapons that were all of good quality that anyone under level forty would love to have.

    ˇ®That was a good warm up, but now I should get started on the weapons I promised Andrea and her tribe.ˇŻ

    However, before Marcus could get started, he received a call on his sending stone and a slightly peeved Kalt remined him of his appointment to have the mutual seal made with Inten.

    ˇ®Oops. Guess I got lost in my work.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Luckily, he did not have to do to much and cleaned up by storing everything into his item box and worrying about itter.

    ˇ°Inten. It is time. Come on and wake up!ˇ± Marcus shouted.

    A few momentster the small diamond mouse came scurrying out of an adjacent room where he had been napping the day away and jumped up onto MarcusˇŻ left shoulder which had be his designated spot.

    Hastily Marcus made his way through the castle until he arrived at the room that had been reserved for the binding between him and Inten.

    Inside the room was only Kalt, his personal knight, and the man that would be making the seal.

    ˇ°Good you are finally here.ˇ± Kalt said with an exasperated tone.

    It was clear that he was a bit upset that Marcus had forgotten the appointment that he had asked for.

    Luckily the other man in the room was oblivious to the situation and rushed up towards Marcus peered intently at Inten.

    ˇ°My what a fine specimen. I do not believe I have ever seen this species before. That does lend credit to the fact that it is a legendary grade beast.ˇ±

    The man soon began writing down notes in a notebook, as he examined Inten who became increasingly ufortable.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Um, could we get on with making the seal. If you keep this up, I believe that Inten may decide to skewer you.ˇ± Marcus said.

    He could feel Inten getting agitated and was afraid that the diamond mouse might go off on this guy.

    ˇ°Oh yes, I do have a job to do. I suppose that I can leave any inquiry until after that.ˇ±

    The man then backed off and began taking the supplies he needed to form the seal between Marcus and Inten.

    The process went quite smoothly and unlike when he made a seal with Roxene no light sted down upon him and there was no pain to speak of.

    ˇ°Now I have some questions for the two of you. It is quite rare that I have the chance to create seal for a legendary grade beast, and this is the first time I have made a mutual seal for one. What brought the two of you together? You must have gained each otherˇŻs trust or maybe have some goal you are both working towards?ˇ± The beast expert asked.

    However, Marcus and Inten cared not to stay for his questioning and quickly left the room.

    ˇ°Sorry we have much to do. I will be excusing myself now.ˇ± Marcus said as he took Inten and rushed out of the room faster than the man could keep up with.

    ˇ°Whew, d that is over. Now we can get to the good part.ˇ± Marcus said as he smiled at Inten who smiled back

    Forming a mutual seal meant that they could share skills and Marcus had a bunch of good ones and Inten was bound to as well.

    Though before Marcus did anything else he finally sunk some of his skill points into upgrading hispanion subsystem and added Inten as one of his registeredpanions.

    ˇ°There now I can see your status and you can go in and out of mypanion storage. Go ahead and give it a try.ˇ±

    Seamlessly Inten entered and exited MarcusˇŻpanion storage and they were both satisfied by the function.

    ˇ°Now what skills should we each take.ˇ± Marcus said as he looked at his and IntenˇŻs statuses.

    He tired to give Inten Greatest Potential, but that was a bust since it was a skill he was sharing with Roxene and not actually his own.

    The same went with false status and high-speed regeneration which were all skills that had been at the top of the list for Marcus to share with Inten.

    As for what skills Marcus wanted from Inten it was moreckluster than he thought they would be.

    Most of the diamond mouseˇŻs best abilities came from its race, so its actual skills were not as powerful as Marcus had been hoping.

    Still there were enough good ones to pick from even if there was nothing impable.

    ˇ®I guess I will give him, Soul Burst, Sound Mind, and mana barrier. While I will take from him, unbreakable Lvl 6, dull pain Lvl 5, and impact wave Lvl 5.ˇŻ

    Each of the skills that Marcus got from Inten were certainly not as powerful as the ones he gave, but they were useful and all ones that he could not normally acquire due to his race.

    Unbreakable was a very powerful skill that made the body much stronger and harder to damage and something a spirit could not acquire through normal means.

    Dull pain did as its name suggested and made the sense of pain lessened but did not make it to the point of not noticing damage and acting as an inhibitor to sensing danger and damage.

    Marcus was especially happy to get this skill as it would allow him to shrug off heavy injuries a lot easier since he could have his body cleaved in half and still fight.

    Impact wave was an attack skill that was normally only essible to beasts that used their bodies as blunt weapons, and it could send a shockwave into things and cause massive internal damage.

    All in all, each of the skills were good acquisitions, and both Inten and Marcus ended up much stronger now that they had shared three of their skills each.

    ˇ°Everything looks good. Now did you want to apany me somewhere and we can test out our new powers and I can pick up some resources that I need?ˇ±

    Inten who was raring to go agreed immediately. Though he did say that they should bring Roxene along so that she would not feel left out.

    ˇ®Oh, and what is it that you n on gathering?ˇŻ Inten asked via telepathy.

    ˇ°I am running low on celestial tinum which I need to make weapons and armor. Luckily, I know of a mine invested with monsters where we can get in some good fights and fill up my lessening stock.ˇ±

 Chapter 656 Day Before the Engagement Party

    ˇ°Mrazivy are you ready yet?ˇ± Marcus said as he called out to her behind a partitioning screen.

    They were supposed to head over to the venue of their engagement party and do a final check to make sure everything was in order.

    However, it had also some how turned into a mock rehearsal where the two of them were going to have to go over the specific parts of the party that required their attention.

    To this end they had for some reason been forced to wear their clothes that they would be for the party tomorrow in the name of authenticity, but Marcus was just pretty sure that Frostine who had suggested this was just trying to mess with them.

    ˇ®She outright refused me when I said we could just wear more casual clothes to this.ˇŻ Marcus thought, still a bit annoyed about everything that was being blown out of proportions.ˇŻ

    Though as soon as Mrazivy walked out from behind the screen in her dress, and with her hair and makeup done, Marcus forgot all about this.

    Naturally she was already quite the stunning beauty to begin with, and her dress, essories, and the slight bit of makeup brought out her absolute best.

    The golden dress she was wearing hugged her figure perfectly, and the earrings and tiara she was wearing brought out the sparkle in her eyes and the luster of her hair.

    ˇ°So, how do I look?ˇ± Mrazivy said a bit bashfully, in contrast to her usual brash behavior.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°I am sorry, I honestly cannote up with words that can express how beautiful you look.ˇ± Marcus said in a very clich¨¦ manner.

    Luckily this had the intended effect and Mrazivyughed at his answer, and the little bit of tension in her face disappeared.

    ˇ°Thank you Marcus, you look good as well.ˇ± Mrazivy said,pleting the robes that Marcus was wearing.

    Now that they were both ready, they were quickly led to a carriage that bore the seal of the royal family and began heading towards the venue where their engagement party would be held.

    Thankfully it was not far away and was within the area around the castle in between the first and second walls where ministers, generals, and non-immediate members of the royal family lived.

    The ce was sort of like a massive ball room, though it had a huge crystal ceiling that allowed natural light in and at night could light up to make a dazzling disy.

    It was a truly impressive ce and was the standard venue forrge parties held by the royal family.

    Inside the main hall it could seat over two thousand people and it was expected to be full during this asion.<sub></sub>

    Many people were interested in fostering rtions with Marcus, the mysterious man who appeared out of nowhere and took down a criminal syndicate to be awarded the title of prince. And Mrazivy herself was also just as if not more appealing for these nobles. As while she may have only been the thirteenth princess, she was the full-blooded sister of the future monarch.

    ˇ®Damn I have never seen this many tables set up before. Just the silverware and tableware alone most be worth thousands of gold coins. Not to mention all the flowers and other assortment of decorations. Mraz told me that the royal family would be paying for everything, but I hope I do not to get arge bill that drains all the money I earned forging for thest few months.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at the expensive setup for his and MrazivyˇŻs engagement party.

    He had spent thest months up before this party going around with Inten and Roxene collecting materials to forge with, and once that was done, he had spent all of his time making weapons and armor.

    ˇ®I managed to get all of Andrea and her tribeˇŻs weapons finished, and quite a few more, but I am not overflowing with cash right now.ˇŻ Marcus thought, still fixated on how much all of this must have cost.

    ˇ°Are you oaky Marcus? You seem a bit tense.ˇ± Mrazivy said, seeing that Marcus had not moved since they entered therge ornate hall.

    ˇ°Mrazivy you are sure that the royal family is going to pay for all of this? I am not going to have to foot the billter on, am I?ˇ± Marcus asked with concern.

    Even for him this would not be a cheap party to pay for, and he imagined it would take him a while to make it all up.

    ˇ°Oh, no need to worry. The royal family has funds set aside for parties like this and everything is taken care of. Though I must admit that they went all out for this. I have only heard of parties being held like this for the marriage of the king and queen.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Hearing this did not make Marcus feel any better, and it only made him wish that he could avoid the spectacle toe.

    ˇ®Honestly, I would much rather fight a bunch of monsters than deal with all of the people that I will have to during this party. At least I can kill the monsters that are hostile to me.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he struggled to keep the fake smile stered on his face.

    As he and Mrazivy were going to be the center of attention there were going to be numerous people wanting to speak with them, and they had to act interested in everyone when neither of them really cared.

    ˇ°And to make matters worse the king will not even be here to divert some of their attention.ˇ± Marcus mumbled under his breath.

    The king had been called away by the adventurers guild that was having a sort of emergency summit with all of the nations that were members of their organization.

    Along with the king, Boreas was also apparently going along with Gwyneira, so none of them would be attending the engagement party.

    At the very least Frostine would be there, and as the future monarch she would demand arge amount of attention herself.

    ˇ°Now is everything here eptable to your highnesses?ˇ± The noble woman who was in charge of setting everything up asked.

    She was one of the vassals of the royal family and was in charge of all major events involving them.

    ˇ°Yes, everything looks exactly if not more impressive than excepted. You have outdone yourself Lady Elvira.ˇ± Mrazivy said even though she really did not care how things looked.

    ˇ°And what of you Prince Marcus?ˇ± Elvira asked wanting his opinion as well.

    ˇ°It is exceptional. I see absolutely no problem.ˇ± Marcus said trying to make it sound like he was interested.

    Unfortunately, Elvira saw through his fa?ade and frowned as she could tell that her was not taking this seriously.

    ˇ°Well now we need to practice to make sure that you both are absolute perfect in your roles. First, let us head to the doors you will be entering from.ˇ±

    Soon the two of them were going over the necessary procedures for everything they would have to do for theing party as the center of attention. Starting with their walk to therge stage where they would formally announce their engagement even if everyone already knew about it.

    ˇ°Prince Marcus, you need to hold yourself up with more dignity. You are a member of the royal family now, and while you may have been amoner at one point, you need to work hard to rise to your new station.ˇ± Elvira said with a stern tone.

    She was now acting like a drill sergeant towards Marcus and pointing out every little w in the way he moved and held himself.

    He had to make sure that he acted befitting of royalty at all times.

    Of course, he was certain that she was beign this hard on him for hisck of enthusiasm earlier when going through the decorations, but he felt that this was a little harsh.

    ˇ®I just have to get through this and then Mrazivy and I can fade into the background again until the wedding. Then after that we will not have to worry about much in the way of business like this.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he was forced to practice walking into the hall for the nh time.

    Hours went by as they practiced the speeches they were to say, where to sit, and what order the food would be brought in along with what cutlery to use on each dish.

    At one-point Marcus even got a skill called royal etiquette which he was tempted to blow skill points into just help get this process over with.

    ˇ®No, I need to save them. I only get so many points and I cannot waste them on something like this.ˇŻ Marcus thought,menting his situation.

    At every turn Mrazivy gotplemented while he was criticized. And while it was true that she was better at etiquette having been brought up as royalty, it was not to a degree that Marcus felt he needed to be corrected so much.

    ˇ®Please just forgive me already.ˇŻ He thought at one point while having the cement of his feet while sitting down adjusted.

    Eventually the day did have toe to an end and Marcus was freed from the etiquette instruction that had been beaten into him that were ten times harsher than anything he had been forced to do up to this point.

    ˇ°What happened to thexer environment that is normal for Borealia.ˇ± Marcus said as soon as he was alone in the carriage with Mrazivy.

    ˇ°Sorry about that. Elvira is a real stickler for things being perfect and keeping up the grace of the royal family. But after tomorrow we will not have to worry about going through this again until the wedding.ˇ±

 Chapter 657 Start of the Engagement Party

    With the final checks finished for Marcus and MrazivyˇŻs engagement party, the two of them took a load off and rxed for the remaining hours before their rtionship was announced to the world.

    ˇ°What are you reading there?ˇ± Mrazivy asked Marcus as he engrossed himself in a book.

    ˇ°It is a story from an author that Lilia likes. Have you heard of it before?ˇ±

    Marcus flipped up the book so that Mrazivy could read the title and who the author was.

    Immediately a look of realization appeared on her face, and it was clear that she did indeed know of this book.

    ˇ°Oh, I am surprised that you have a copy of Delve in the Depths of Darkness, by us Nilsen. It was not widely publicized, and I believe there are only a few dozen copies out there. We have one in the castleˇŻs library, so I have read it before. It is pretty good, but it seems a bit too fictious in its detailing of an entire world under the surface.ˇ± Mrazivy said.

    However, Marcus tilted his head to the side a little confused.

    He thought that while some of the stories in the book seemed to be embellished like most writing was it did not mean that any of it was totally untrue.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°No, I think he was writing from experience as this author always did. I have seen an entire city nearly asrge as BorealiaˇŻs capital miles under the surface of the world.ˇ±

    Blinking her eyes rapidly in surprise Mrazivy had not been expecting to hear this and asked Marcus for more details.

    ˇ°Sorry I do not have anything else to tell you. I only got to observe it from a distance for a couple of minutes at most as I slipped through the. I honestly could not find it again if I tried.ˇ± Marcus said while shrugging his shoulders.

    Yet Mrazivy was not going to just let this go and told Marcus that one day they were going to have to go and explore this subterranean world thaty below theirs.

    After that the two of them soon went to sleep as they both wanted to be at their best for tomorrow and Marcus especially wanted to get rid of the mental fatigue of the spartan etiquette training he had received.

    Upon their awakening the next day they were immediately rushed into getting dressed up and prepared for their big day.

    ˇ®I really wish they would just let me dress myself.ˇŻ Marcus thought as attendants began taking his clothes off.<sub></sub>

    He normally got away with not having any sort of personnel since he was just an honorary prince, and the king knew he did not need nor care for any assistance.

    But sometimes for the sake of appearances he had to deal with beign treated like a member of the royal family and today was one of those days.

    Luckily it only took him around an hour and a half to finally be ready, and he knew it would have been much worse had he been a girl.

    ˇ®I know it takes them at least three hours for Mraz. I cannot even imagine how exhausting that would be for me.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he sat in a waiting room.

    A couple hours went by as he simply sat around waiting for Mrazivy to arrive, and finally she did.

    When she walked in this time, she was somehow more stunning, and Marcus could not help but stare at his beautiful fianc¨¦e with his mouth hanging open for a few moments.

    Even some of the well-trained attendants he had with him today did a double take towards Mrazivy, and it was quite rare for them to lose theirposure for even a moment.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®I almost wish that we could skip this party and I could just whisk you away right now.ˇŻ Marcus said to Mrazivy through telepathy.

    As she and she alone heard this, her face went bright red suddenly and she pouted a bit as she saw Marcus quietly snickering at her fluster.

    ˇ°Your highnesses, it is time for the two of you to depart. The carriage is ready, and it would not do for the two of you to bete.ˇ± Aisha, MrazivyˇŻs head attendant said.

    Both of them were then led to arge garage inside the castle where they got in the same carriage as yesterday and headed back to the venue they had been to yesterday.

    ˇ°Just a few more hours and I can rx again.ˇ± Marcus said absentmindedly.

    As he did Mrazivy seamlessly moved from sitting across from him to next to him and hugged his arm against her body.

    ˇ°I know this is a bit stressful, but it is something we have to bear with. I know you have put up with a lot for me, and I just want to say I could never imagine beign with anyone better.ˇ± Mrazivy said before nting a kiss on MarcusˇŻ cheek.

    This did help him ease the tension he was feeling, and he thanked Mrazivy for being there for him as well.

    Within forty minutes they were once again within the massive building where their engagement party would be held.

    Elvira was there waiting for them and had them go through onest quick check to make sure that everything was in order and how they desired it.

    This time Marcus made sure to seem as interested as possible and remembered all of the things that were beaten into him yesterday.

    Luckily his new attitude change seemed to help improve ElviraˇŻs opinion of him, and when they were finished, she gave Marcus and approving smile andplemented his efforts.

    ˇ°Whew, I think that may have been the most difficult part of the day in all honesty.ˇ± Marcus said as he drank a ss of fruit juice that had been prepared.

    He and Mrazivy were now in another waiting room which had some light refreshments in it, as they awaited the time for their grand entrance.

    There were thousands of nobles, wealthy merchants, and even some forging dignitaries that would be gathering for their engagement party for today.

    ˇ°I am d that Lyra was able to make her way here as TralensteinˇŻs representative. I was afraid she was not going to make it.ˇ± Marcus said.

    ˇ°Yeah, but it is too bad about Quillon. I can understand why he would want to avoid an event like this, but I was hoping he would show up for us.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a slight frown on her face.

    Of course, Marcus understood why he would want to be absent. He had made quite the showing during the kingdomˇŻs most recent fighting tournament and would have nobles breathing down his neck for a chance to recruit him.

    The two of them spent the next couple hours just waiting around as all of their guests arrived, and when all of the most important people were ounted for they were eld to therge hall where the party would predominately take ce.

    ˇ°This is the big moment. After today we can officially announce our rtionship.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a happy though nervous smile.

    ˇ°And to that end I think it is time that we reveal the ring I made you so everyone else can see how strong our bond is.ˇ± Marcus said.

    With the wave of his hand, he made the ring on MrazivyˇŻs finger that had been kept ethereal be visible again, and the vibrant amethros stood out impressively against her skin.

 Chapter 658 The Engagement Party

    As Marcus made the ring he had poured his soul into making reappear on MrazivyˇŻs finger she nearly began crying seeing it again after so long.

    It had pretty much always been with her other than when Marcus absolutely needed his full power, but she had to keep it hidden until this moment when they would publicly announce their rtionship.

    Now however, she could wear it proudly and she was very happy to finally be able to.

    Still, she held back her tears as it would be unbing over her to mess up her makeup and have puffy eyes when appearing in front of so many people.

    ˇ°Shall we go out and make everyone else jealous with how great of a couple we are?ˇ± Marcus said with a mischievous grin to give Mrazivy somefort.

    She nodded her head with arge smile on her face, and a few momentster they walked out into the hall where everyone was waiting.

    The second they were in sight thousands of eyes were turned towards them from the people that were in attendance.

    Naturally they were the center of attention as the stars of tonightˇŻs festivities, and everyone was staring right at them.

    Some of the looks were friendly from those that knew them well, while others were curious as this was their first time seeing either Marcus or Mrazivy.

    Many looked at them with greed in their eyes wanting to foster closer rtions with the two of them who could be powerful allies in promoting business or for their martial prowess.<sub>.</sub>

    Of course, there were also a few radiating hostility. Either form jealousy, or simply for their dislike of one of the two.

    Nevertheless, neither of them let this bother them, and they gave a few waves to those that they passed as they made their way towards therge stage at the front of the room where a few others were already waiting.

    Sitting up on the stage towards the front and to the left of the seat meant for Marcus was Kalt.

    As the king could not be here today, he was taking up that role himself as the deputy king and as MrazivyˇŻs uncle.

    On the other side was Frostine whose seat was right next to Mrazivy. As her full-blooded sister and the future ruler of the kingdom, it was important that she be here to show her approval and bless MarcusˇŻ and MrazivyˇŻs engagement.

    Also sitting on the stage a bit further away were some of MrazivyˇŻs siblings who were also in FrostineˇŻs camp. Here to show their support not only for Marcus and Mrazivy, but also the future monarch.

    Among them was James and he gave them both quite therge smile as they approached.

    Unfortunately, while the stage was filled with MrazivyˇŻs family, Marcus unfortunately had no one that could be up there to support him.

    Nevertheless, the one member of his family in this world was in attendance. And even though she was seated fairly far in the back, Marcus was able to make eye contact with Lilia who was sitting with ric and his family.<sub></sub>

    The two of them were able to exchange brief smiles from across the hall, and just seeing Lilia sitting there helped to wash away any lingering sorrow Marcus felt for his original family beign unbale to be here.

    Once they had finished their walk to the stage they were promptly brought to their seats of honor and sat down right in the middle.

    Immediately after Kalt got up and addressed the crown of people, before he began giving a rehearsed speech about how the royal family was happy with the MarcusˇŻs and MrazivyˇŻs union.

    Speeches of simr manner were then said by Frostine, James, and a couple of MrazivyˇŻs other siblings, until it was finally their turns to move to the front of the stage.

    They both announced that they were officially engaged and extremely happy to be so and looked forward to everyoneˇŻs blessings and support.

    Many people were actually surprised by the genuine looks of happiness that both of them were unable to hide.

    It was quite often that marriages with royalty were purely political, and it was rare to see a couple that seemed to truly love each other.

    Yet this shock was quickly overtaken by another, as some gasped seeing the ring on MrazivyˇŻs finger.

    For those in the know they immediately recognized it as amethros, which was not something that was ever used liberally enough to be made into an engagement ring.<sub></sub>

    But there it was on MrazivyˇŻs finger, and the buzz in the room soon became incredibly loud even though everyone was speaking in a whisper.

    ˇ°I cannot believe that the royal family had something like thatmissioned. It seems preposterous to use such a rare metal for just an engagement ring.ˇ±

    ˇ°Who do you think made it? I have heard that the head royal forgmaster has gotten too old to do his job anymore, so it must have been Thabon.ˇ±

    ˇ°No, it could have been ThabonˇŻs apprentice Irene. I have heard that she is a prodigy and is a friend of Princess Mrazivy. That could have been her work.ˇ±

    ˇ°I doubt it was Irene Geist. I heard she is too busy with making Princess FrostineˇŻs crown under the kingˇŻs orders to evene to this engagement party. That is why her little siter came instead.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh, but maybe she made the ring sometime ago and that was a test the crown put before her before giving her the honor of making her highness FrostineˇŻs crown.ˇ±

    ˇ°It also could have been an outside forgemaster for all we know. Thabon only makes items for those he likes, and we do not know if his apprentice Irene is even capable of such craftmanship, prodigy or not.ˇ±

    Conversations of this type echoed throughout the venue as hundreds of hushed voiced spected about the origins of the amethros ring on MrazivyˇŻs finger.

    Though before these conversations turned into an uproar, Kalt moved to the front of the stage again and used a magic tool on his person to create a loud ringing noise that sounded throughout the room.

    In just an instant everyone got quiet and looked towards the deputy king, knowing what this sound meant.

    ˇ°Now that the new couple has been introduced it is time for the days meal to begin, please stay in your assigned seats during this time and enjoy the royal familyˇŻs hospitality.ˇ± Kalt said.

    Not long after Marcus, Mrazivy, and the other members of the royal family got down from the stage and took their seats at thergest and most opulent table at the head of the hall.

    They were the first to receive their food which started with an amber soup that Marcus recognized but had not set seen in this world.

    ˇ®Oh, it is consomm¨¦! I did not think I would see it here. I have tired making it before, but I honestly do not know the recipe. I wonder if I can get the recipe from the castleˇŻs chefs.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he at the soup with interest.

    After eating the soup, the next course of a sd was brough out, and then following that was a dish that focused on fish, before the main course was brought out.

    It was an especially borate dish using puff cow, one of the staple high end ingredients as its focus and was apanied by natural treasures that all tasted very rich.

    Finally, was dessert which had many options to choose from.

    For Marcus he chose a robust cake that had a red fruit that was slightly sour that had been soaked in wine. While Mrazivy had a piece that had a number of brighter colored fruits on top and ayer of powdered sugar sprinkled around it.

    ˇ®This is certainly delicious. But it makes me feel as if I have been letting my cooking slip by. I may have a high skill level, but my knowledge is stillcking. Maybe for a couple of months I need toe to the castleˇŻs kitchen and learn from Koki.ˇŻ

    Once the meal was finished up, the severs of the party began taking the items off of the table as they prepared to clear out the room.

    It was now to the party of the party where everyone would mingle around with each other, and when those that wished to would be able to dance.

    There were also a number of private meeting rooms set up outside the main hall for those that wanted to do business away from prying eyes.

    However, before anything else were to start the two stars of todays party had to start off with a dance.

    ˇ°This certainly takes me back. I believe thest time that we danced in front of arge crown was in the viceroyˇŻs castle in Latin.ˇ± Marcus said as he took Mrazivy out to the center of the dance floor.

    ˇ°Yes, that would have been. You certainly took me by surprise when you suddenly showed up like that, and it caused me quite the headache afterwards. I also do believe that the elusive Cheshire is still a wanted man. Perhaps I should say something and collect the reward.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a smirk.

    The two of them were soon in the center of the hall and beautiful music began to y as they prepared to dance.

    They had practiced a number of times for this and both of their dancing skills had actually made it to level six, making them some of the best in the kingdom.

    Yet before they could begin a loud crash could be heard in the room as a man threw over one of the tables set along the walls.

    ˇ°That is enough of this farce! I will not have my bride stolen and unted around in front of me by thismoner! All of you will pay for your disrespect of the house of Krenston!

 Chapter 659 Party Crashers

    Looking towards the disturbance Marcus saw a young man with light brown hair and a strong looking build.

    He was practically frothing at the mouth and ring at Marcus and Mrazivy while surrounded by a number of snacks and now broken sses from the table he had flipped over.

    ˇ®I guess that must be Marquis KrenstonˇŻs son.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at the guy who was casing an uproar.

    This was the first time he was actually seeing MrazivyˇŻs former betrothed, but from his loud announcement it was clear who he was.

    He also knew for a fact hat he had not been invited, and it was apparent that he had snuck in by dressing up as a server.

    A quick scan of the room and Marcus was certain that the Marquis was not here along with his son who was likely acting on his own.

    ˇ®What they hell is this dumbass doing here. All this is going to get him is disinherited and ostracized at the best. And at the worst he will be disowned and be a criminal. Not to mention that with what has happened to Loursend recently, he should be in his city helping to get it back on its feet.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he let out an exasperated sigh.

    Nevertheless, there was nothing he needed to do here.

    A knight who was stationed in the hall as security was already making their way to Marquis KrenstonˇŻs son, ready to put an end to his outburst.<sub>.</sub>

    Yet as the knight approached and tried to escort the nuisance out, he suddenly pulled out a mithril sword from a small magic bag he had concealed and shed at the knight.

    Caught off guard by this sudden attack the knight was unable to fully dodge, and the de sliced into his side and a stter of crimson stained the floor of the hall.

    It was not a fatal wound, but the knight had to back off and gain some distance while the entire crowd of people gasped and looked out in horror.

    ˇ°Marcus Ferrous, I will have you head for the dishonor you have shown me by stealing my bride from me! And Mrazivy you will bow at my feet and beg me for forgiveness and to take you back or you will meet the same fate!ˇ± Marquis KrenstonˇŻs son shouted.

    ˇ®What the hell is with him. Is he crazy or just that stupid? After a deration like that all that awaits him is an execution.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he shook his head.

    Though as he looked back at the man who was staring at him with murderous eyes, he saw that they were bloodshot, and it honestly it looked like the guy was unhinged.

    Still Marcus nor Mrazivy even acknowledged the fool, and it was not long before more knights came rushing in and had him surrounded.

    ˇ®I am surprised that he is level thirty-three. That is a bit higher than I thought it would be. Oh, and his name is Syver. Wait! His status reads enraged and enthralled.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    With his current level of creature appraisal Marcus was able to see the full status barring any unique or supreme skills of anyone twelve levels under him. And as he looked over SyverˇŻs, he saw that he was under the effects of two status conditions.

    First was enraged which made him violently angry and unable to form logical thoughts. But the second was far more disconcerting as he was enthralled and being manipted by an outside source.

    ˇ®What the hell is going on? Someone must be controlling his mental state with magic or some sort of skill.ˇŻ

    Looking around Marcus tried to see if there were any bad actors using this as a distraction, but what he saw was far worse than he imagined.

    Dozens of men in ck cloaks came running into the hall, with some even crashing through windows.

    This was no longer just a disruption from a single disgruntled person, but a full-on attack from numerous high-levelbatants.

    Immediately Marcus and Mrazivy went into battle mode.

    They had fought numerous battles and even been through a war. There was no way that they would be slow to react to a sudden threat like this.<sub></sub>

    Unfortunately, a majority of the nobles and wealthy merchants that were around were not as used to battle as Marcus and Mrazivy, and the venue descend into a panic.

    Of course, there were some that had plenty of battle experience and high levels, but with so many running around and panicking it became difficult for a counter offensive to be mounted.

    On the other hand, the assants cared not who they killed, and those that were close by and were notbatants themselves or nearby a knight were quickly cut down and left in a pool of blood.

    ˇ®Damn they even have some over level fifty among them. Wait I recognize that name.ˇŻ

    Going around and sending out rapid fire appraisals Marcus wanted to get as much information as he could when he came across a name he knew.

    He had never met this person, but he recognized the name since they were a high-ranking member of the criminal syndicate known as Permafrost that he had taken down.

    This man was one of those that had managed to escape capture, and now knowing about his involvement in this attack, it was clear that the majority of these attackers were remnants from Permafrost.

    Knowing this it was clear why they were here. The kingdom had credited Marcus with gathering most of the evidence that was used to bring the criminal organization down and now they were here to kill him.

    A number of the attackers went right for him, but they were not of any consequence.

    ˇ®Vorpal Fang.ˇŻ

    With one wide sh from his scythe Marcus cleaved the three attackers in half at the waist, cutting through their armor with ease.

    They copsed on the ground nearly dead as their torsoˇŻs were separated at their wastes and blood flooded out of their bodies.

    After taking out the first attackers, Marcus scanned the area as he looked for where he would be most impactful.

    ˇ®James is already engaged with the strongest one so no need to worry there. Frostine and Kalt are surrounded by royal knights and are beign led away. Ah, that guy is fairly strong and the three knights fighting him could use some help.ˇŻ

    Having quickly analyzed the situation Marcus was about to make his move when he felt his danger sense going off from behind him.

    However, before he could react, he saw Mrazivy leap forward and swing down her adamantine saber.

    A pained scream followed, and Marcus heard the ng of metal hitting the floor.

    Behind him Syver was now missing his right arm and the mithril sword he had been wielding was cut clean through by MrazivyˇŻs superior skills and weapon.

    In the confusion he had managed to break out of the encirclement of knights that had him surrounded and made an attempt on MarcusˇŻ life.

    Now though he was disarmed literally and figuratively, and no longer any threat at all.

    Or at least he wasnˇŻt until he pulled out a syringe of viscous and dark grey liquid that Marcus recognized.

    It was the same drug that Jared had used when Marcus blew of his leg and gave him a huge boost in power as well as the ability to regenerate.

    ˇ°I will not be denied! I will kill you! I will kill all of you!ˇ± Syver screamed like a madman as he emptied the contents of the syringe into his veins.

 Chapter 660 Party Crashers (2)

    Watching Syver inject himself with the vile looking liquid Marcus had shbacks to his encounter with Jared that had happened quite a while ago.

    He had lost some of his friends in the fight, and to this day it was definitely the worst oue he had for any battle he had been a part of.

    This caused him to freeze for just a moment, and in that time SyverˇŻs arm grew back. Albeit in a tumorous fashion exactly the same as what had happened to Jared.

    Shaking his head Marcus came back to himself and gave Syver another appraisal.

    ˇ®Gah, his physical stats are up by nearly forty percent, and his spirit and intelligent stats have risen by around thirty percent. That drug is just as strong as a unique skill. What!? Demonic Essence overdose!ˇŻ

    Reading through SyverˇŻs status again Marcus was surprised by how much his status had raised, but even more so by the new status condition he had.

    He now knew what the terrifying drug was called and that it was connected to demons in some way.

    Just an instance after he obtained this information, Marcus prepared himself to finish off Syver who was cackling, now obviously out of his mind. But found there was nothing more for him to do.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Die.ˇ±

    In the single second after Syver had taken the drug and while Marcus was appraising him, Mrazivy made her move and with one swipe of her sword cut him clean in half.

    Yet not a single drop of blood fell out of his body as he was soon frozen like as statue by a thickyer of ice created from MrazivyˇŻs magic.

    ˇ°Whoa.ˇ±

    Unfortunately, Marcus had no time to be impressed by his fianc¨¦e as the three assants he had cut down got back up after taking the dangerous drug themselves.

    They now had lower halves that looked more monstrous than human, and any amount of intelligence in their eyes was gone.

    ˇ®Darkness bullet.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Holding up his left-hand Marcus chained darkness bullet spells that he had empowered to be stronger than normal and put a hole in each of the attackerˇŻs heads.

    With the demonic essence drug in y, he had no need for mercy and made sure to put them down.

    ˇ®Damn they are tough bastards arenˇŻt they.ˇŻ He thought as he saw the try to recover from the holes in their heads.

    Luckily the corroding properties of MarcusˇŻ darkness magic outpaced the demonic regeneration, but the three men took a bit longer to die than excepted considering their brains had been blown out.

    ˇ°Mraz these attackers are using something called Demonic Essence to enhance their abilities and regeneration. When dealing with them you need to make sure to cause enough damage to make sure they cannote back. In fact, just make sure that you freeze any enemy you cut down.ˇ± Marcus said swiftly to inform her what he had found out.

    However, while Marcus thought she would spring right back into action after hearing this, she froze and looked at him with a look of astonishment.

    ˇ°Marcus, are you certain that they are using Demonic Essence?ˇ± Mrazivy said with a grave expression.<sub></sub>

    She hadpletely stopped moving now and was wholly focused on Marcus, telling him that this drug was probably worse than he had first thought.

    ˇ°Yes, I got back from my appraisal that they were in a state of Demonic Essence overdose. There is no doubt about it.ˇ±

    Grinding her teeth Mrazivy looked absolutely furious. She then grabbed Marcus and began running towards Frostine and her retinue of knights.

    ˇ°Marcus, Demonic Essence is an illegal substance that can only be synthesized by the blood of a high-level demon. In low quantities it makes people a bit stronger and gives them a feeling of euphoria, but also makes them susceptible to control from demons. Worst case scenario, we may be dealing with a very powerful demon. So, we are getting out of here along with my sister.ˇ± Mrazivy said while pulling Marcus along.

    With how chaotic the battlefield was they would not be able to fight effectively, and Mrazivy decided to take their safety into ount over trying to fight back.

    On the way she cut down and froze any of the cloaked attackers that came near them, putting an end to their drug fueled rampage.

    But Marcus stopped in his tracts not long after Mrazivy had started pulling him away.

    ˇ°What are you doing? We need to prioritize our own safety right now. Let the knights handle this, that is their job.ˇ± Mrazivy said, a tinge of fear in her eyes.

    ˇ°That is fine, but I cannot leave Lilia here alone if it could be that dangerous. We need to get her first.ˇ± Marcus said as he scanned around the chaotic room.

    As he looked around, he could see that most of the attackers had used demonic essence to boost their fighting power before they were overrun by the numerous knights in the venue.

    Eventually Marcus spotted Lilia among those fighting.

    She had already transformed the pedant around her neck into her adamantine armor, and the bracelets that adorned her wrists were now powerful gauntlets.

    Currently she was battling with four of the attackers, and unfortunately her attacks and magic were ill suited to dealing with their abnormal regeneration.

    Even when she cracked their skulls open with force magic or punches from her gauntlets, they came back from what should have been lethal blows.

    In order to keep them down she needed to focus her powers and blow their chests clean open or take their heads off, but with so many on her she was having difficulty delivering a decisive blow.

    Marcus wanted to help her from where he was, but with some many people running around, if he attempted to use a spell, he was likely to just hit some rando and kill them instead.

    ˇ°Mraz I will go get Lilia. Head over to your sister and get out of here. I will be right behind you.ˇ± Marcus said as he shot towards Lilia.

    But Mrazivy not going to leave him alone was only a step behind him and followed behind.

    The two of them reached where Lilia was fighting in just a couple of seconds, and Marcus using his scythe d in darkness cut three of the attackers in half both vertically and horizontally for good measure.

    At the same time Mrazivy sliced the head off the other and froze the remains as a fountain of blood shot out looking like an avantgarde sculpture.

    ˇ°Lilia,e on we are getting out of here.ˇ± Marcus said as he reached out for his little sister.

    Yet like he was hesitant to leave her she looked towards where ric and his family were hiding.

    ˇ°Fine we will take them as well.ˇ± Mrazivy said understanding that an argument would only slow them down.

    Agreeing easily Aric and his family took MarcusˇŻs and MrazivyˇŻs protection, and they began making their way towards the nearest exit, no longer trying to meet up with Frostine.

    Yet before they got far another loud crash resounded through the area as the crystal ceiling shattered into thousands of pieces and the demonic cavalry for the assants arrived.

 Chapter 661 Royals and Demons

    Looking up towards the ceiling Marcus could see that three new attackers were joining the fray.

    However, these three were far more unsettling because they were flying on the backs of what looked like giant humanoid vultures with long reptilian tails and ws the size of longswords.

    There was no doubt upon seeing them that they were demons. Marcus felt the same type of visceral revolution he always did whening in contact with the inhuman creature that was neither, beast, monster, nor spirit.

    Yet as unsettling as these three demons were, it was the figures on their backs that caught his attention the most as they all had the royal familyˇŻs signature blue hair.

    Of them Marcus recognized two, one of which he had quite the bad experience with.

    ˇ®Soith.ˇŻ Marcus thought as anger started to well up inside him.

    He had all but forgotten about the former first prince who had been disowned and banished after bringing in assassins to kill James, Mrazivy, and of course Irene. But now here the bastard was again on the back of a demon.

    ˇ®Laser.ˇŻ

    Not waiting for the new arrivals to get any closer or give them time to try anything, Marcus fired off aser spell at full power. Aiming to cleave the demons and traitors in half all in one go.

    Unfortunately, the vulture like demons put up a powerful red barrier that blocked theser spell and sent it splintering off in multiple directions.

    Tch!

    With his first attack blocked Marcus prepared to fire out another and this time he nned to make sure it broke through.<sub>.</sub>

    But before he could more of the Demonic Essence enhanced assants charged at him and he had to divert his attention towards them.

    ˇ°Oh, that certainly gave me a fright. For a second there I though that spell would reach us.ˇ± Braylen Borealia, the seventh prince and one of the siblings that Mrazivy thought was her ally said to his fellow royal family members who were on the backs of demons.

    ˇ°Certainly, that was an impressive attack. But surely you knew it would never reach us with the protection our leader has provided us.ˇ± The man Marcus did not recognize said.

    ˇ°Whatever, it does not matter. Let us go and kill the bitch who thinks she can steal my crown.ˇ± Soith said, rage pulsing in his bloodshot eyes.

    He and hispatriots turned towards FrostineˇŻs group that had been held up by the disposable pawns and the demons and their riders made their way towards their targets.

    ˇ®Damn it! DonˇŻt think you can get away from me!ˇŻ Marcus thought as he cut down another attacker who wasing after his group.

    He was about to turn to Mrazivy and tell her to keep Lilia and ricˇŻs family safe, but she had already shot off into the air leaving him to deal with all the attackers around them.

    No longer was she in her normal from, she had used her draconic transformation and now had sharp ws, thick horns, and wings of a dragonˇŻs poking out of her back.

    Along with her transformation she had stored away her adamantine saber and taken out the amethros one that she had recently gotten.

    She was flying off in a fury to strike down the members of her family that had clearly thrown themselves in with demons.

    ˇ°Sword Savant Style, Fist Form, Typhoon Fang!ˇ±<sub></sub>

    Yelling out the name of her attack skill, Mrazivy sliced through the air so fast it made a sonic boom and she shed down with all her might.

    The demonic vulture sensing this attacking put up another barrier, but this time it broke in an instant.

    MrazivyˇŻs attack had far too much force for it to block, and she cleaved through one of its wings sending it plummeting to the ground.

    Charging towards the plummeting demon to the ground Mrazivy was caught off guard as it unleashed a wave of unsettling ck mist at her and she was forced to move into a defensive stance.

    However, as she set up a mana barrier, she found it had no effect and the pestilence wave sent out by the demon hit her and ck spots began growing around her body.

    Quickly she began to feel faint as the disease worked its way through her system. And even with the power of a dragon she found herself unable to resist.

    ˇ°My you certainly have changed sister. To think that you would be able to awaken the blood of dragons that flows through our veins.ˇ± Braelyn Borealia said mockingly as he looked down upon Mrazivy.

    Still, he was actually surprised to see that she was still conscious and not already at deathˇŻs doors after having been hit with the pestilence of the demon world.

    ˇ°MRAZIVY!ˇ± Soith screamed as he picked himself up off the ground.

    He waspletely livid to have been interrupted by her, especially when he felt she was part of the reason he had been disowned.

    ˇ°Now, now. No need to lose control.ˇ± The other man who bore the signature hair color of the royal family said.<sub></sub>

    He had descended towards Mrazivy who was now coughing violently, but she still had her guard up and was ready to defend herself.

    ˇ°Uncle Vaughn. Why would you do this? Surely a man of your knowledge must know that working with demons will get you nothing but losing you life and soul.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she red at the man who was a renowned researcher and part of the royal family.

    ˇ°Hmph, maybe to the uninformed yes, but if you know how to make the right deal then there is much power to be gained. Now we have no more time to deal with you. I will allow you to y with some of my other minions.ˇ±

    After saying this Vaughn Borealia took out from under his robe two ghastly shrunk heads that each had a shriveled-up heart in their mouths and tossed them towards Mrazivy.

    As they fell these two horrifying idols tore apart, and a ck hole in space opened up which two more demons came out of.

    These demons were different from the flying vulture like ones. They had blood red skin that was tightly fit against their skin like that of a person that had not eaten for months, and they had a sickly smelling resin like substance flowing over their bodies.

    They immediately flew towards Mrazivy who was only bing sicker and began attacking with their razor-sharp ws.

    With Mrazivy now being dealt with Soith sneered at her, before turning his attention towards Frostine.

    He then mounted back onto the demonic vulture that had already regenerated its wing and took off towards the crowned princess.

    ˇ°No, get back here!ˇ± Mrazivy yelled as the traitors of her family flew away towards her sister.

    Sadly, she was currently dealing with two very veracious and difficult to deal with demons. Not to mention she was barely able to keep herself from coughing up a lung from the disease that was ravaging her body.

    ˇ°Railgun.ˇ±

    In an instant a bright sh of light shot by and one of the demons was blownpletely apart without having any chance to react.

    ˇ°Get away from her!ˇ±

    Flying up towards Mrazivy after shooting off his railgun attack, Marcus blocked the remaining demon with his scythe swung wildly to force it back.

    ˇ®Level fifty-six. Fuck, how did they summon something like this here?ˇŻ

    He knew that demons could not juste into his world on their own and the stronger they were the harder it was to summon them.

    The first one he had encountered had been summoned by a budding necromancer in Loursend, and the second by a group of nobles that seemed to be demon worshipping cultists in the very manor that he now called his home.

    ˇ®I knew that there were people like this, but I never imagined they would be able to bring forth such powerful demons or that they would be part of the royal family.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he squared off against the remaining of the demons that was left to kill Mrazivy.

    He flourished his scythe around and tried to slice through the thing, but the resin it was producing made his scythe slide right off and it lunged at him wildly with ws and fangs.

    ˇ®Fine, try this. Lighting bind.ˇŻ

    Seeing that his physical attacks were having little effect Marcus switched over to magic and sent out three powerful rings of electricity that wrapped around the demonˇŻs body.

    This seemed to have some effect as it howled in pain as it was electrocuted, but even the powerful spell seemed far from enough to fully immobilize this demon.

    ˇ°Frigid st.ˇ±

    But while she may have been suffering from being infected by a deadly disease, Mrazivy was far from close to being down, and followed up MarcusˇŻ spell with her own.

    The temperature of the entire venue seemed to drop multiple degrees as she fired off a tier five spell, and the once savage demon was sted against one of the roomˇŻs walls and frozen solid in a huge block of ice.

    Still, this took all Mrazivy had left in her, and she began falling to the ground as the disease overtook her body.

    ˇ°I got you.ˇ±

    Stopping her from plummeting into the ground Marcus grabbed his fianc¨¦e whose body was now covering in ck spots of necrosis.

    ˇ®Greater Restoration.ˇŻ

    Casting the tier six healing magic spell Marcus began flushing the disease out of MrazivyˇŻs system and at the same time he used his spirit healing to double his efforts.

    The soft white glow enveloped Mrazivy and by the time Marcus touched back down on the floor all of the ck spots around her body were long gone.

    ˇ°Are you oaky?ˇ± Marcus asked with a look of concern.

    ˇ°Yeah, I am fine now. But enough about me. We need to stop those traitors before they kill Frostine.ˇ±

 Chapter 662 Demonic Forces

    With Mrazivy cured of her disease and the two demons that had been fighting with her dealt with. Marcus turned his attention back towards the members of the royal family who were working with demons.

    They were currently attacking Frostine and her retinue, and by the looks of it, things were not going well even though it had been less than a minute.

    In that time MrazivyˇŻs uncle, Vaughn had been busy summoning more demons, which were fighting hard against FrostineˇŻs and KaltˇŻs knights.

    Most of these demons were humanoid in shape, though they had the heads and cloven feet of goats and ashen skin that was horribly mutated all over.

    In their hands they held des made of mes and their hooves were glowing red from extreme heat.

    As Marcus sent out a quick round of appraisals, he found them to all be between level twenty-seven and thirty-two.

    They had skills like me breath and me control, which seemed to be their signature abilities, but along with that they had other demonic traits like demonic body that made them tougher to kill.

    Unfortunately, those demons were the least of FrostineˇŻs and KaltˇŻs worries as there were three other demons that were far stronger.<sub>.</sub>

    Two of them seemed to be the same species and were as big as horses.

    They both seemed to have the body of locusts buzzing wings included, but at the end of their body was arge scorpion tail and stinger. And where their heads would be was a humanoid torso sticking out which had to sharp ws for hands and a sickly green colored face that was warped and had jaws like the mandibles of a bug.

    After an appraisal Marcus found one of them to be level fifty-eight, and the other to be level fifty-seven. Both formidable foes that were able to go head-to-head with the strongest knights protecting Frostine and Kalt.

    However, it was the final one that was the most threating.

    It was a hulking creature over twenty feet tall and had huge ws like that of a crab for itsrger set of limbs. Its other set of limbs in contrast looked like malformed humanoid arms which it could use to grab ahold of people while it bit them in half with its mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

    Along with all that it had yellow eyes that seemed to be able to cause paralyzing fear to any who saw it, and itsrge, wed feet like a t-rexˇŻs were red with the blood of people it had squashed.

    ˇ®Level sixty-three.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Seeing its level Marcus knew they were in trouble as demons were often outssing those at the same level as them. Being at least as strong as epic grade beasts around the same level.

    Then there was the other problem.

    Vaughn and Braylen were still hovering above the battlefield looking down on it from above on top of their demon mounts who were themselves level fifty-nine.

    Soith on the other hand was raging on the front lines with an adamantine ax in his hands that looked to be cursed.

    On his left arm was also a device that was pumping small quantities of demon essence into his body in order to make him stronger but prevent him from going into an overdose state.

    Seeing all this it was clear to Marcus that they were in for an incredibly difficult battle.

    This was a threat that could easily destroy the entire city if left unchecked, and right now the time was practically perfect as most of the kingdomˇŻs strongestbatants were gone.<sub></sub>

    Either they had gone to the emergency summit called by the adventurers guild, or they were in Tralenstein shoring up the borders and making sure that the southern kingdoms did not try anything else after Boreas had tossed them out.

    ˇ®I thought this was an attack against me and Mrazivy from those who hated us, but they seem to have just been disposable pawns.ˇŻ Marcus thought the instant after he finished analyzing the battlefield.

    He had picked up all this information in just three seconds by firing his mind on all cylinders and Mrazivy had pretty much done the same.

    ˇ®Roxene, Inten, Blitz! Come to my location at full speed right now. We have an emergency and holding anything back is not an option.ˇŻ Marcus said as he called out to his beastpanions.

    An instantter Marcus received positive responses from all of his beastpanions who were already running at full speed to arrive at the venue.

    ˇ°Mraz you go protect you sister. I will deal with your uncle and brother who seem to be the masterminds behind this.ˇ± Marcus said with a harsh tone.

    They were in a dangerous situation and running was no longer an option now that things had escted this far. If they did not do all they could, the people they cared about were going to get killed and their home was going to be destroyed.

    For a moment Mrazivy hesitated and looked back towards Lilia, but when she saw that Marcus had left an iron golem behind to protect her she no longer worried.

    ˇ°Fine. I wish I could deal with those traitors myself, but I do not want to be hit by that disease wave again. I know you will be fine but be careful.ˇ± Mrazivy said before she flew off towards her sister who was in a tight spot.

    Of course, Marcus wanted to go with her, but he knew that if he left Braylen and Vaughn to do as they liked it would likely lead to a worse oue.

    ˇ®No need to hold back. I need to be quick.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form.ˇŻ

    Shooting of towards his opponents Marcus charged up his scythe and attack ferociously to make sure he broke through their defenses.

    ˇ®Powerful sh.ˇŻ

    Using the first attack skill he learned, he brought down his scythe on top of the currently unattended vulture like demon that was SoithˇŻs mount.

    Naturally the high-level demon sensed Marcusing and created a barrier around itself and raised its wed hands up to block.

    Yet it did not matter.

    With the enhanced power of his supreme skill Marcus sliced through the barrier and the demonˇŻs ws like butter and cleaved the demon in half vertically.

    But he did not stop there as it was falling apart, he hit it with a full powered methrower spell that emitted mes over four thousand degrees Fahrenheit.

    The cooling effect that all of the ice magic that had been thrown out in the hall was turned around all in one go, as the ce heated up multiple degrees from Marcus intense use of fire magic.

    To his surprise though the demonsˇŻ corpse was not turned toplete ash and seemed to have just been charred heavily showing that they were quite resistant to fire.

    Still, it was not getting back up after that and its tow halves fell to the floor and only the slightest bit of blood that avoided being vaporized oozed out of it as it began to disintegrate into grey dust.

    ˇ®One down, four to go.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he turned his gaze towards the other two vulture demons and their riders.

 Chapter 663 The Traitorsâ€™ Plot

    Vaughn and Braylen both grimaced as they watched Marcus kill one of their high-level demons in only a matter of instances.

    ˇ°My, My. I had heard you were strong, but I see that you are even more powerful than I anticipated.ˇ± Vaughn said as he put on a fake smile. ˇ°I suppose this is just what I should have excepted from a great spirit. Even if you are half baked.ˇ±

    Grimacing Marcus was not at all happy to hear that Vaugh knew about him. But with Braylen next to him, who along with MrazivyˇŻs other siblings that were in the same faction had been informed about his true race and origins, it made sense.

    Vaughn then opened his mouth again to speak more, but Marcus was not going to stop and have a friendly conversation while his friends and family were fighting demons and drugged up thugs.

    ˇ®Darkness drill.ˇŻ

    With the wave of his hand he sent out the tier four darkness magic spell, but with his greater understand and mastery of magic it was far more intense than most could produce.

    Unfortunately, Vaughn noticed this and realizing that his demonˇŻs barrier might not be enough and cast a spell of his own.

    Arge iron rampart that was very familiar to Marcus intercepted his spell. And while his darkness drill ripped through it, Vaughn who was on the back of his demon managed to move out of the way.

    The remaining power of the darkness drill then smashed straight through the walls of the hall and went flying off into the sky.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®He can use iron magic as well.ˇŻ Marcus observed.

    In the next instant he tried to chase after Vaughn, but the demon that Braylen was riding on got in between him and unleashed its wave of pestilence.

    The ck cloud filled with a disease that would kill an average person in under twelve seconds washed over Marcus, and for a moment his vision was clouded.

    However, as the wave dissipated, Marcus just stood their perfectly fine.

    As a ghost he waspletely immune to diseases or poisons unless on the very off chance they specially targeted the soul.

    ˇ°You must be pretty stupid if you thought that was going to work.ˇ± Marcus said towards Braylen who was wide eyed to see that Marcus was perfectly fine.

    ˇ®Thunder bird strike.ˇŻ

    Releasing the spell he charged up in rtion, Marcus sent out the tier four spell in the form of a massive thunderbirdposedpletely of lightning.<sub></sub>

    Braylen and the demon were swiftly engulfed by the powerful spell, and while it did not kill either of them, it broke through the demonˇŻs barrier and left them paralyzed.

    They began to fall towards the ground and Marcus rushed forward to kill the demon and grab Braylen.

    He wanted to ring whatever answers he could out of MrazivyˇŻs brother about the demon cultists in the kingdom before he was executed.

    Unfortunately, Vaughn got in his way and another familiar spell came crashing down towards Marcus.

    A four-hundred-foot-long sword made of iron and weighing several hundred tons shed through the area creating hurricane force winds in its wake.

    Marcus wanted to counter with his own spell, but he knew that doing so would create a bacsh that would likely leave many dead.

    Instead, he flew up to change the swordˇŻs direction towards the sky and went into his ghost form to let it pass by.

    ˇ®Fuck.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    But even as he turned ethereal, he felt his danger sense going off and realized that the magic spell had been imbued with spiritual energy making it able to hit him.

    In response to this threat he could no longer avoid, Marcus cast his radiance scales spell and took the heavy hit head on.

    Dozens of the luminous scales cracked as the cataclysmic iron sword hit, and Marcus barely held on as he was flung high into the air like a baseball that had just been hit out of the park.

    ˇ°That certainly was more difficult than I thought it would be.ˇ± Vaughn muttered as he watched Marcus beunched into that sky.

    ˇ°Braylen we can no longer watch leisurely. We need to capture Kalt and Frostine quickly so that we can make Soith the king and have him use his new authority to summon our master.ˇ±

    Nodding his head Braylen steadied his breath and they turned toward Frostine and Kalt who were currently in a desperate battle against the summoned demons.

    They needed both of them alive to confer the title of king to Soith, and then they could use his authority to offer up the people of the royal capital to the powerful demon they had thrown themselves in with.

    Yet as they were about to make their move VaughnˇŻs cataclysmic iron sword lurched upwards and was pulled against his will.

    In a sh it was shot upwards and shooting down in its ce was Marcus who rapidly descended back into the venue.

    ˇ°BUT HOW!?ˇ± Vaughn shouted seeing this happen.

    It was inconceivable for his spell to be ripped away from him andunched out of his range.

    What he did not know was that Marcus had not actually done anything spectacr. He had just cast his extreme maism spell as he was hit by the sword and pulled it toward him with all his might.

    This allowed him to anchor himself and bring the sword towards him even through VaughnˇŻs control. Before he bounced himself back as he was maically connected to the sword.

    Then he released his spell as the sword shot towards him and allowed it to go flying into the air instead of him.

    ˇ°Braylen, I need some time. Abandon your demon and allow it to distract him.ˇ± Vaughn said as he quickly formed a new strategy to deal with Marcus.

    Braylen did just this and the vulture like demon charged Marcus with no regard for its life.

    ˇ°I donˇŻt have time for you.ˇ± Marcus said as he shed his scythe forward.

    In the next moment a huge de of darkness went flying and crashed into the demon.

    Its powerful barrier held up for all of a second before it was shed to pieces by the de of darkness, and its body quickly began dissolving under the darknessˇŻ corroding properties.

    Nevertheless, even just this short amount of time was enough for Vaughn topete the ritual he needed to do.

    On his left hand he had carved a very vile looking magic formation.

    Blood was flowing out of his hand where he had mutted himself, but it was not falling to the floor but instead looked like it was beingpped up by some unseen force.

    ˇ°In ordance with the contract I offer up my flesh, bones, and blood to bring thy servant to this world. Feed on me so that you may gain power in the mortal world.ˇ±

    After saying this sickening chant, VaughnˇŻs left arm began to disappear up to the shoulder as it broke down one part at a time.

    In its ce arge ck portal began to open up and out of it a demonrger and stronger than the other ones already here began to force its way out.

 Chapter 664 Mrazivyâ€™s and Frostineâ€™s Battle

    Going back in time while Marcus was fighting with Vaughn, Braylen, and their demon mounts. Mrazivy headed into the thick of the battle against the demons attacking Frostine, her uncle Kalt, and their knights.

    It was a pretty desperate situation with each of KaltˇŻs and FrostineˇŻs top knights who were both around level seventy engaged with the locust scorpion hybrid demons. While the rest were having to deal with the foot solider goat head demons with ming swords.

    This left the strongest demon pretty much uncontested, and it had already killed a half a dozen of the weaker knights that were protecting Frostine and Kalt. Leaving the two of them to fight it off themselves.

    At the very least Frostine was not ipetent in battle, but on the other hand Kalt was, and had used a defensive magic item to protect himself.

    Frostine was a master at ice magic even surpassing Mrazivy currents skills, and while she was not supposed to be using it in public right now, she had no choice but to bust out the crown Marcus had made her.

    Currently she was surrounded by twelve ice warriors all at level forty-two, and they were doing their best to slow the huge demon with crablike arms down.

    ˇ°Frozen Coffin.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ°Ice Sword Field.ˇ±

    Chaining off two tier five spells in session, Frostine encased the demon in a block of ice with her frozen coffin spell, and then created over two hundred des of ice around it that all sunk into the box.

    It looked quite a bit like a trick that might be seen at a professional magic show, but there were not trick swords or a hidden exit in the box for the demon to escape from.

    Unfortunately, as powerful as abination this attack was, the demon simply burst out of the solid ice a momentter with only a few scratches on its tough spiny body which quickly healed over due to its regeneration.

    Frostine seeing this clicked her tongue in frustration. That was one of her best finishers and it had barely slowed the thing down.

    She tiredmanding her ice warriors who where mostly the shield and spear kind to attack, but the first one was crushed in between the demonˇŻs giant ws and ripped in half without being able to put up any resistance.<sub></sub>

    The others tried stabbing and cutting it, but even though their attacks could smash through small buildings in one blow they just nced off this demon.

    It tore another four apart in quick session without much of any trouble, when Frostine cast another spell.

    ˇ°Sub Zero Ray.ˇ±

    Pointing her finger forward and unleashing her magic Frostine sent out a thin ray only the width of a needle.

    This thin ray of ice magic hit directly into the demon and for the first time it hollowed in pain.

    However, its howls soon ceased as its entire body froze over and the temperature plummeted to an incredibly dangerous level of cold.<sub></sub>

    It was so much so that even those fighting nearby began to shiver and the mes of the demons with goat heads began to waver.

    ˇ®How do you like my tier seven spell that I made myself.ˇŻ Frostine thought while breathing heavily.

    With all the magic she had been using, even though she had a huge amount of mana she was down to only around ten percent now and was feeling a bit worn out.

    Yet as she was beginning to think that she had managed to defeat her opponent, its frozen form began vibrating and the ice around it cracked until it had broken free.

    At the very least, this time it was far worse for wear. Both of its smaller arms having been frozen solid and broken apart, whilerge batches of its spiny skin had been ripped off and where still frozen to the ice it had just broken out of.

    But even with all that damage it was still alive, and Frostine knew she did not have enough power left to deal a finishing blow to such a powerful entity.

    However, as she was starting to despair, someone she was very familiar with jumped into action and shed out towards the demon. Promoting it to jump to the side and hold up one of its crab w like hands in defense.

    ˇ°Second Form, Light Speed sh.ˇ±

    Moving in to protect her sister Mrazivy sliced through the upper part of the demonˇŻs w hand and sent it flying as the creature leapt back to avoid begin cut through.

    ˇ®Damn, it is nimbler than it looks.ˇŻ Mrazivy thought with a bit of frustration as the demon avoided her sneak attack.

    She had been hoping to slice through its shoulder and all the way through its torse in one move, but the hulking figure that had pretty much just been tanking attacks was actually able of deft movements as well.

    Naturally its danger sense went off like haywire when Mrazivy came up from behind it, and while it normally did not bother dodging, it could feel how dangerous her attack was.

    ˇ°Thanks Mraz, you really saved me there.ˇ± Frostine said with a smile.

    She was incredibly relived to see Mrazivye to her aid. And while she felt a little hit in her pride for needing the protection of her little sister, she was not going to tell her to back off and run away while she handled this.

    ˇ°I assume that uncle Kalt is the one in that ice shell.ˇ± Mrazivy said pointing at a barrier of ice not far away.

    Their uncle, the deputy king, was pretty much just a pure socialite and politician.

    His level may have been forty-three, but his offensive skills were abysmal. and he had gotten where he was from power leveling and all of his skills were focused on areas of administration.

    ˇ°Yeah, he knew that the knights and I would not be able to focus on the battle if we had to protect him, so he used his defensive artifact. Now let us deal with this demon together.ˇ±

    Nodding her head Mrazivy took the front lines while Frostine stood behind her and moved her remining ice warriors around for support.

 Chapter 665 Mrazivyâ€™s and Frostineâ€™s Battle (2)

    Now that they were working together, they both felt more confident, and the demon narrowed its eyes and looked at them warily.

    It was no idiot and had already seen how dangerous both Mrazivy and Frostine could be.

    Nevertheless, it could not run and opened up by unleashing a st of green fire from its mouth.

    These mes burned through the flooring as they raced towards Mrazivy, and the surrounding area went from ufortably cold to ufortably hot.

    ˇ°Rahhh.ˇ±

    In response to the demonˇŻs me breath Mrazivy unleashed her cold breath, and the two devastating attacks met and fought for dominance.

    In the end they both were nearly equal in power and created a huge field of mist that obscured the area.

    ˇ°Snow Serpent.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Taking quick action Frostine took control of the ambient moisture now in the area and brought it together into the form of a giant snake made of snow.

    This prevented the mist from bing too thick and obscuring the knightsˇŻ vision when they sorely needed their sight more than the demons.

    She thenmanded her new creation to attack the demon by wrapping itself around it and sinking its hardened ice fangs in.

    Unfortunately, its fangs were unable to pierce the demonˇŻs skin, but it did manage to restrict its movements enough for Mrazivy toe down on top of it.

    ˇ®Fourth Form, Whirlpool Strikes.ˇŻ

    Fluidly shing her sword around Mrazivy delivered dozens of precise wounds on the demon, and its yellow blood began flowing out quickly from the deep cuts her amethros saber made.

    BOOM!<sub></sub>

    As Mrazivy was raining down blows on it, the demon pped its w hands together and created a shockwave that resounded through the area and shattered the floor under its feet.

    It had been aiming for Mrazivy like trying to squash a fly, but she had jumped back away from it as it tried to crush her and was only blown back away a few dozen feet by the shockwave.

    The snow serpent that Frostine had created on the other hand waspletely shatter by just being near the attack, and it was now just a pile that was quickly melting.

    ˇ°Looks like I am going to have to go all out here.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a frown.

    She had wanted to conserve some of her power, but a prolonged battle was not in their favor. The demons were beginning to overwhelm the knights, and when they fell the tide of the battle would change against them.

    ˇ®Apex of winter. Rapid sh.ˇŻ

    Activating the powerful buff of her unique skill WinterˇŻs Grace Mrazivy felt all of her stats increase along with the power of her ice magic.<sub></sub>

    At the same time, she used the unique skill she obtained from the vaults in Tralenstein as her reward for fighting in the war.

    It made her much faster in every regard, allowing her to move, think, and perceive three times faster than normal.

    Unfortunately, it was a skill like MarcusˇŻ soul burst that left her wiped after its time limit ran out, and it had a fairly long cool down time of a week.

    ˇ®I have only tested out thisbination once before, but I need to end this before both of my buffs wear off.ˇŻ Mrazivy thought as she moved into a stance to deliver a finishing blow.

    ˇ°Frostine I am going to hack it into pieces. After I do, freeze it solid to make sure it has no way toe back.ˇ±

    ˇ°Got it. I have just enough for one more of my biggest spells.ˇ± Frostine said as she finished gulping down the best mana recovery potion in her possession.

    With their attacks prepared, they looked towards the strongest demon here and prepared to finish it off.

    It had already regenerated quite a bit while they were recovering and preparing, but they nned to end it in one move so that did not matter.

    ˇ®I never quite mastered this one during training. But the Sword Savant told me it was in the heat of battle when one had the best chance to grow.ˇŻ

    Focusing her all on her technique MrazivyˇŻs mind which was already processing faster than normal began to go even faster to perfect her attack.

    ˇ®Sword Savant Style, Six Form. HEVANS RENDING!ˇŻ

    Launching herself forward Mrazivy shot off like a blur her sword moving much faster than the speed of sound as she executed the strongest attack skill she learned from her master.

    The demon tried to dodged, but it was now unable to keep up with MrazivyˇŻs enhanced speed.

    By the time it had moved just two inches from its position she had already started shing her sword down and cut deep into its body, slicing off its left side.

    In a fluid motion her sword sprung back up and she cut it from its waits to its shoulder before catching her sword and slicing its head off.

    With the motionsplete she jumped back away from the demon as it fell apart and Frostine unleash her strongest spell once again.

    ˇ°Sub Zero Ray.ˇ±

    Firing another thin ray of ice, Frostine sted into the cut to pieces demon, and before it could try anything else its body waspletely frozen, inside and out.

    ˇ®You have leveled up to level fifty-nine.ˇŻ

    As soon as she received the level up notification Mrazivy knew that she and her sister had killed the demon. Which now only remined as a grotesque ice sculpture.

    ˇ®It looks like Marcus is doing fine. He is about to finish off the demon Braylen was riding. What I need to do then is clear out the other demons.ˇŻ

    Moving like a blur Mrazivy began bringing down the goat headed demons with one sh a piece before they even knew what hit them, and in just a couple of seconds most of them were lying on the floor dead.

    But before she could move onto the locust and scorpion hybrid demons, she felt a chill run down her spin. And she looked up to see as massive ck portal opening up in front of Marcus.

 Chapter 666 Demonic Calamity

    As Vaughn sacrificed his right hand and opened up a massive portal, an ominous presence descended upon the entire venue.

    Even the other demons that were still alive stopped and shuddered, while some people simply passed out as they were unable to withstand the pressure.

    Whatever wasing out of this portal was a truly powerful and sinister demon, and Marcus grimaced as he saw its giant wed hand reach out and grab the edge of the portal.

    ˇ®Not happening. Quasar st.ˇŻ

    Aiming his scythe forward he focused his tier six light magic spell through it and unleashed therge st of light right into the portal.

    Yet as the attack was about to enter the portal the demon inside roared and the quasar st spell fizzled out.

    Marcus could only look on in wide eyed horror as he watched one of his strongest spells get neutralized in an instant.

    ˇ®It dissipated my spell! But how?ˇŻ

    It was truly unbelievable to see what had just happened.

    If the attack had been blocked or countered, he would have understood it. But the magic itself had just been canceled by the thingˇŻs roar.

    Soon its other wed hand grabbed ahold of the side of the portal, and it pulled its entire gargantuan body out of the demon world.

    Feeling its power Marcus flew backwards to give himself some space, and he examined the thing while it was still getting its bearings.

    ˇ®Shit! Level seventy-six!ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Seeing its level Marcus clenched his teeth and prepared himself for a truly tough battle.

    This was easily the strongest opponent he was going to be fighting without backup that was stronger than he was.

    In fact, the only thing stronger than it that he had fought at all was probably the Doomsday Worm. But other than his suicide attack, he practically did no damage during that entire battle.

    ˇ®I am sure I could kill it if I did that again, but then I would end up dead myself and probably kill thousands of people as well.ˇŻ

    Staring the demon down Marcus examined its features that seemed to be an amalgamation of a number of animals.

    It had what looked like a wolfˇŻs head though it had six eyes, and under its chin it was sprouting two pincers like an insect.

    Its body was equally mismatched looking like a bear for most of its torso, but its arms up to its shoulder and its knees down to its feet looked a bit like that of a lizardˇŻs.

    It had green scales with pulsing red lines flowing through them and its limbs all ended in ck ws that seemed to be dribbling with venom.

    On its back it had two addition limbs jutting out of it which were like those of a praying mantis, though they had spikesing out of them like a saw.

    Finally, it had a reptilian like tailing out of its lower back with was ended in a barded spear head that looked like it could easily impale through a person armor and all.

    Its size was also quiterge, as it stood over sixty feet tall, and it was thick with muscles.

    Truly this was a demon that could raze the entire capital city to the ground if given enough time. And without its strongest protectors Borealia was sorely outmatched to deal with something like this.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®I am going to have to give it everything I have if I want to even attempt to beat this thing.ˇŻ

    Steeling himself Marcus prepared to go all out and st the thing away when three people appeared next to him.

    Seeing the demon and that Marcus was about to face it down, Lyra and James who had been fighting the drugged-up intruders abandoned their opponents to help with thergest threat. While Mrazivy left the fighting of the other demons to her sister and her knights.

    With his allies by his side Marcus felt a sense of relief, but he could tell that Mrazivy had already activated her unique skills and was on a time limit.

    ˇ°How much longer do you have?ˇ±

    ˇ°I think about five more minutes. After that I will be worthless.ˇ± Mrazivy responded knowing what Marcus was getting at.

    Now knowing when Mrazivy would reach her limit, everyone else prepared themselves for a fast all-out battle.

    ˇ°Kill them all. You are free to torture whoever you like once those four are dead.ˇ± Vaughn said as he gave an order to the demon.

    However, it just looked at him in contempt, and in a swift movement grabbed the demon he was riding on and yanked it out from under him.

    It was a surprising enough development to startled even Marcus and his friends who had been preparing to engage in battle.

    Vaughn soon hit the ground hard, unable to bnce himself properly after losing and arm.

    He had a bbergasted look on his face as the demon he had summoned would not listen to him. But it looked like this thing was not going to be obeying orders or even working with the other demons.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I only agreed to work under your master because he said I could have some fun. I have no intention of following anymands.ˇ± The demon said as it began squeezing the demon vulture in its hands.

    The demon smiled as it watched the other demon struggle and scream as it was slowly crushed, until it finally went limp.

    After that it threw the thingˇŻs corpse haphazardly and began looking around for its next target.

    It seemed to not even notice or care about MarcusˇŻ group that had gathered to square off against it.

    Quickly it spotted what it wanted. A young girl fighting valiantly against a number of attackers to protect those she cared about.

    This demon loved bring people into despair, and it moved over to grab the girl who was in fact Lilia.

    It moved with speed that itsrge size would have made seem impossible, and it reached out for Lilia as she was battling her hardest.

    But before its arm could reach her, something stopped it right in its tracks.

    Its entire body had been immobilized, and now it was the demonˇŻs turn to be stunned.

    In its way was a single man who was now glowing brightly blue and had pulled a top tier adamantine shield out and stopped the demonˇŻs advance.

    ˇ®Shield of the Just.ˇŻ

    Taking out his underused adamantine shield and using his new unique skill he obtained along with the savior title, Marcus forced the demon back and away from his little sister.

    This made the demon quite angry to have its y time interrupted, and it was about to attack Marcus with its other arm when it felt its danger sense go off.

    ˇ°Pierce through all, Storm Breaker.ˇ±

    Launching his amethrosnce right at the demonˇŻs head, James fired off his fastest attack which was the same as the one Boreas used to kill the thunder behemoth.

    Unfortunately, while the attacks were the same, their weapons quality and levels were vastly different, and the demon side stepped and took thence in its shoulder instead.

    Even its thick and hard scales were unable to block the amethrosnce which dug all the away through and pierced halfway out the other side of the demonˇŻs shoulder.

    But while this was certainly impressive damage, James was a bit shocked by the development. He did not expect hisnce to be dodged, or that it would lose its power before flying out the other side of the demon.

    ˇ°Light Speed sh.ˇ±

    ˇ°Fox Fire Fangs.ˇ±

    ?[0)??? Jumping into the fray as well, Lyra came at the demon from above while Mrazivy came at it from below.

    But before they could hit the demonˇŻs body pulsed red and a powerful barrier erected around it and blocked the two attacks.

    The barrier as strong as it was still shattered under the force of Mrazivy and LyraˇŻs strikes, but this left them open to a counterattack.

    The demon expertly controlled its tail and shot it towards Mrazivy like a spear while kicking towards Lyra with its wed foot.

    ˇ®Eclipse Meteor.ˇŻ

    Yet before it could get in its strikes, now that it was distracted and its defenses were down, Marcus rammed into with his full body using one of his strongest attacks.

    His momentum lifted the hulking demon into the air, and they shot high up into the sky as Marcus sted them out of the crowded venue.

    ˇ®Were taking his outside. If we fight this thing in earnest in there, we will kill almost everyone.ˇŻ Marcus said over telepathy to his friends.

    Quickly they followed him out and a huge explosion rocked the air as Marcus detonated his attack.

    This sted him and the demon in opposite directions, but he took far less damage than it did.

    It crashed down hard into the ground and ripped across thendscape as it skidded to a stop.

    Luckily it hadnded in arge crop field meant to feed the people that lived within the area between the first and second castle walls.

    Standing up from the ground the demon let out an enraged below, and it looked hatefully at Marcus and hispanions who were floating in the sky above it.

    ˇ°Let us finish this quickly. No need to hold back anything now.ˇ± Marcus said, and his friends nodded their heads.

    They then broke off and attacked the demon from multiple angles to keep its attention divided.

    ˇ°Rarrrrr.ˇ±

    Letting out another loud roar this time the demon began pulsing with a dark purple light and arge aura expanded around its body.

 Chapter 667 All Out Battle

    As the expanding purple aura reached Marcus the blue glow from the power of his unique skill Shield of the Just got even brighter and fought back the demonˇŻs power.

    Still, it was not quite enough to fully negate the effects of the demonˇŻs own unique skill and Marcus felt his physical stats dropping.

    In the wake of this they all stopped their charge and retreated a bit to assess what was going on

    Quickly Marcus opened up his status and saw that his agility and strength had dropped by around five percent.

    The others without the same protection that he had were definitely worse off.

    ˇ®Lyra how bad did it hit you?ˇŻ Marcus asked over telepathy seeing that she had also opened up her status.

    ˇ®My agility and strength are down by thirty percent.ˇŻ She responded with a grimace.

    It seemed that everyone else was in the same boat as her and their fighting power had just been drastically reduced.

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy was running low on time before she hit the limit of her unique skills and if they wanted her help, they needed to finish this quickly.

    Now understanding the negative effects of the demonˇŻs unique skill, Marcus led the charge since he was the least effected.

    ˇ®Fire Storm.ˇŻ

    Leading up with a wide ranged magic attack, he unleashed a huge st of fire from his hand which spread out to engulf the gargantuan demon.

    Of course, he doubted the spell would do much damage, but mostly he just wanted to use it to block the demonˇŻs sense so his allies could move into better positions to attack.

    Unfortunately, the demon simply let out another roar and MarcusˇŻ spell vanished just as it had before.

    ˇ®Mraz can you tell me what it has that is allowing it to block my magic.ˇŻ Marcus asked as he jumped back as the demon swiped at him with one of its ws.

    Focusing her dragon eyes on the demon Mrazivy quickly looked through its status and gulped as she saw just how powerful it was.

    ˇ®Yeah, it has a race ability called bellow of disruption which dissipates any spell tier seven or lower. None of our magic is going to work on it as long as it can get that ability off.ˇŻ Mrazivy said to the group.

    She also told them that it had three unique skills.<sub>.</sub>

    One was its Aura of Weakening which was obviously what it was currently using. The next was called Greater Battle Prowess which simply raised all of its attack skills by one level and increased its physical stats by six percent. And the final one was called unnatural resistance which made it able to shrug off and lower the negative effects of status conditions.

    It was not only strong but tough with no real weakness.

    ˇ®Fine if we cannot use magic we will just have to go into melee.ˇŻ

    Getting back into the fight all of them charged around the demon getting in blows where they could while avoiding its counter attacks.

    It was certainly difficult for them especially with the negative effects caused by its unique skill, but they were getting by.

    ?[0)??? Marcus was ying mostly defense for everyone else since he was the only one barely effected by the loss of strength and agility.

    ˇ°Tempest Fang.ˇ±

    ˇ°Whirlpool Strikes.ˇ±

    ˇ°HeavenˇŻs Rending.ˇ±

    While Marcus was focused on defense, Mrazivy was going wild with powerful attacks.

    She held nothing back since she knew she would be reaching her limit soon and pelted the demon with heavy hit after heavy hit.

    Still the thing was tough and even her attacks with he amethros saber were not able to dig into its flesh deep enough to deliver a fatal wound.

    ˇ°I got you.ˇ±

    Jumping in front of one of the mantis limbs on the creatures back, Marcus held it off with his shield and unique skill and protected Mrazivy as she carved into the arm of the demon.

    ˇ°Four-fold spiral thrust.ˇ±

    Attacking at the feet of the demon James unleashed his attack skill which bored fourrge holes into the left foot of the demon.

    Lyra at the same time along with her eight clones unleashed sts of fire from their mouths which exploded all over the demonˇŻs body.<sub></sub>

    She was focused on ranged attacks since her fire came from a race ability and could not be negated by the demonˇŻs bellow of disruption.

    ˇ®What the?ˇŻ

    Suddenly as they seemed to making good progress the demonˇŻs eyes began to light up and it fired beams out of all of them that went in different directions.

    Four of LyraˇŻs clones were carved through and destroyed by this attack, and while James was not hit directly the explosion in its wake sted him away and sent him flying.

    For Mrazivy she was nearly hit as the demon focused three of its beams on her since she was the one doing the most damage.

    To defend herself she tried to use a spell, but the demon just cancelled it out with its bellow.

    At thest moment Marcus managed to get his shield in front of her, but he had to reach his arm out to do so and instead got sted by one of the beams.

    Luckily just as it was impacting him, he made the area where the beam was ethereal and it passed right through harmlessly.

    ˇ®Whew, that was close. Hopefully the demon did not notice that.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    He had been concealing the fact that he was a ghost so that he could try and get one over on the demon but now that might not be possible.

    ˇ®Yep, it noticed.ˇŻ

    The demon had of course been paying close attention and seen its attack pass through Marcus, not to mention that in that moment it could smell the stench of a spirit.

    Now it had infused all of its limbs with spiritual energy to make sure Marcus could not pull off that stunt again.

    ˇ°Thanks Marcus, you really saved me there.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a relived smile. ˇ°I only have a little bit longer left before I am out of strength. I will hit it with one more big attack and then I will have to retreat. Would you make and opening for me?ˇ±

    Nodding his head Marcus agreed to do what he could to allow for MrazivyˇŻs final attack to do major damage.

    ˇ®Might as well use it now.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Soul Burst.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    With his power rising with the activation of his unique skill, Marcus felt that he could do almost anything now.

    Flying into action he sted right down towards the demon his scythe growing in power as he funneled his energy into it.

    He made sure to get right up in the demonˇŻs face and began unleashing attacks at it and making himself the center of attention.

    Lyra at the same time moved in and began harassing it from behind to split its focus further.

    ˇ®LetˇŻs go.ˇŻ

    Deciding from above Mrazivy shot down in a sh using her light speed sh attack.

    She cut right into the demonˇŻs head as it was unable to react and carved all the way down its body.

    Its dark green blood burst out from the long wound, and it screamed in pain as its face and torso were split open.

    After that Mrazivy began flying away as she was about to hit her time limit, but she had done a considerable amount of damage and now it was up to the others to finish the battle.

    ˇ®Death Dance.ˇŻ

    While the demon was distracted by its horrible wound Marcus began spinning around and shing it all over to cause more damage.

    Even with the demonˇŻs high-level regeneration it could keep up with the damage it was taking as Marcus and Lyra continued to bombard it with attacks.

    BOOM!

    Anger welling up the demon mmed its body into the ground and unleashed a massive st of mana all around it that forced Marcus and Lyra away.

    Sadly, in the st LyraˇŻs remaining clones were caught and destroyed. Leaving her without one of her best powers.

    ˇ°It certainly is tough.ˇ± Lyra said as she regrouped with Marcus.

    They were both beginning to get a bit worried since even all they had done had not taken it down yet. But all they could keep doing was trying their best.

    When the dust settled the demon had healed up quite a bit but there was still a huge gash running down its body from where Mrazivy hit it.

    ˇ°Lyra I am going to hit it with everything I have got, and if that does not do it use your ming fox form to blow us both up together. I will just use my ghost form to avoid the damage.ˇ±

    ˇ°Got it. Just donˇŻt kill yourself.ˇ±

    With their new n of attack ready Marcus began coalescing all his power around him to attack with one final strike when something else shot past him.

    ˇ°Dragoon Buster.ˇ±

    Moving incredibly quickly and like a missile, James and Fallon who had just made her way her and joined him shot forward with their dual attack skill.

    The demon put up both its arms to block and where they hit its scales bent in and a loud cracking sound could be heard.

    As it was blocking the attack the demon bent its head over to swallow James and Fallon, but thetter angled her head up and fired her mes breath.

    A huge st of fire consumed the demon and blew it back, and to finished off theirbo James threw hisnce as hard as he could right into the demon.

    Its hulking form went flying through the air and it crashed into the ground and left a trench as it skidded to a stop.

    Yet right when the demon thought it had a reprieve a huge st of light and darkness fell down upon it.

    ˇ°Awoooo!ˇ±

    Looking towards the sound of the loud howl and the source of the st Marcus saw a huge wolf that was half white and half ck descending from the sky.

    And on her back there was what looked like a tiny gleaming dot, but upon closer inspection it was actually Inten.

    Four giant pirs of diamond then fell from the sky and mmed into four main limbs of the demon to hold it in ce.

    Currently it was restrained and its body heavily damaged by all of the attacks it had taken, preventing it from getting back up.

    ˇ°Now is our chance Lyra.ˇ±

    Flying off Marcus brought all his power around himself and Lyra turned into the huge form of a giant ming fox.

    Together they raced across the sky and Marcus hurtled himself down right towards the demonˇŻs head.

    ˇ®Eclipse Meteor.ˇŻ

    Before he impacted, however, the demon opened its mouth and unleashed a st of all of its mana right towards Marcus.

    As he impacted, he felt himself slowing and his power beginning to be shaved off.

    ˇ°Fox DeityˇŻs Judgment.ˇ±

    But as he was in his struggle with the demon a huge pir of blue fire fell down from Lyra and hit the demon in its already heavily damaged torso.

    It began burning to a crisp and its study body started to cken, and its fur burst into mes.

    The pain of its body being burned eventually proved too much for it and it was unable to focus on its final attack.

    Cutting through the wavering st of mana Marcus shot right into the demonˇŻs head and a massive explosion of light and darkness expanded all around him.

    The ground began to rip apart and quake and the nearby buildings crumbled and copsed.

    When the attack finally settled there was now a colossal crater in the earth that was over five hundred feet deep.

    Inside was the body of the demon which was blown apart andpletely missing its head.

    ˇ°Marcus!ˇ± Lyra cried out to her fiend in distress.

    She was afraid that he may have blown himself up in his own attack, but her fears were soon cleared way.

    ˇ°What? Did you need something else from me?ˇ± He said as he reappeared right next to her.

    Seeing him there Lyra let out a sigh of relief and then hit him in the arm.

    ˇ°Next time just send me a telepathic message you are alright.ˇ±

    ˇ°Okay. But enough about that. We still need to head back to the venue and deal with the rest of the demons and their coborators.ˇ±

 Chapter 668 End of the Demon Attack

    ˇ®Roxene, where is Blitz?ˇŻ Marcus transmitted with telepathy.

    ˇ®He has already made his way over to the building where your engagement party was being held at. He recognized that he would bepletely ineffective against the enemy you just killed.ˇŻ Roxene responded.

    With that information Marcus felt a little better since it meant that Lilia would have received some more backup.

    He felt wrought with worry leaving her there in the middle of a battlefield, but if they had duked it out with the strongest demon in the same area she would have been in far greater danger.

    ˇ®I know we are all tired from this battle, but we need to get back in there and support everyone else.ˇŻ Marcus said via telepathy to all his allies.

    After that he quickly shot towards the venue as fast as he could. He was down to only around fifty seconds before he hit the limit of his Soul Burst unique skill, and when that happened he would be practically useless.

    Flying back in Marcus knew he needed to act fast and located the biggest threat.

    The two locus, scorpion, and humanoid hybrid demons were still around even if they were heavily injured.

    ˇ®Shining Lance. Darkness drill.ˇŻ

    Firing out two spells back-to-back Marcus aimed his shiningnce at one and his darkness drill at the other.

    The one hit by the shiningnce never had time to even react as it was fighting numerous knights.

    Thence pieced right through the center of its body and pinned it to the ground while also causing heavily damage.<sub>.</sub>

    It was soon finished off by the high-level knight who was FrostineˇŻs personal guard and one of the kingdomˇŻs top warriors.

    However, the other one managed to put up a bit more resistance and conjured a barrier that blocked the darkness drill.

    Still the powerful spell that Marcus had used at maximum power cut through the barrier and tore apart the left half of the demon.

    Surprisingly it managed to somehow survive this even as its vile green blood gushed out from the terrible wound.

    ˇ®Lase-ˇ®

    To finish it off Marcus was going to shot out aser spell but that was when his unique skill reached its end.

    He felt himself get much heavier and was forced out of his supreme skill as well.

    ˇ®Damn, I just needed one more moment.ˇŻ

    With his stats quartered and his mana and spiritual energy running low, Marcus could tell he had nothing left to fight with.

    Luckily it seemed that his assistance would no longer be needed as James flew in on Fallon and finished off the half dead demon for Marcus.

    ˇ®You have leveled up to level 62.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    As soon as the demon died Marcus received a level up notification.

    After delivering the killing blow to the strongest demon in the fight he had been very near the next level up and his assists in the killing of these two other demons brought him over the edge.

    Not long after James arrived Marcus saw Lyraing and close behind her were Roxene and Inten.

    With all of them on the scene he felt much better and simply slipped into his ghost form to recover.

    ˇ®Mrazivy where are you and are you okay?ˇŻ Marcus sent out to his fianc¨¦e.

    He had not seen her since she flew away when her own unique skills reached their limits, and he needed to know how she was doing.

    ˇ®I am fine and safe. I made my way back to the castle and have helped organize a force to provide backup. They should be there shortly.ˇŻ

    Letting out a sigh of relief Marcus was beyond happy to hear that she was safe.

    As for the reinforcement, he did not believe they would be necessary. With all of the strongest enemies defeated and Roxene and Inten now here, things were going heavily in their favor.

    ˇ®Good, looks like Blitz is making sure to protect Lilia as I wanted.ˇŻ

    Seeing that his little sister was doing well with his iron golem and beastpanion looking out for her Marcus turned his attention towards those still in the venue.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®Where are they? Ah there is one of them!ˇŻ

    Looking for the masterminds of this operation Marcus found that Vaughn and Braylen had fled, but Soith was still fighting.

    He was now in the overdosed state of the demonic essence, and it seemed that the device that was regting the administration of the drug to prevent this had malfunctioned and pumped him full to the brim.

    ˇ®Or maybe this was done on purpose? I could see him being used as a disposable pawn and the magic device filling him up with that drug in case he needed to be abandoned.ˇŻ

    With his target in sight Marcus directed Roxene to him and in just a minute she had him incapacitated and trapped in the tier five light magic spell luminous prison.

    Having locked down Soith with RoxeneˇŻs help Marcus looked for those that were injured.

    There had been thousands of people attending his and MrazivyˇŻs engagement party today, but now other than those that were fighting everyone else had either fled or had fallen. Plenty of them were long dead, having been killed in the first wave of assants.

    Nevertheless, among those that looked to be corpses some were clinging onto life, and Marcus administered what healing he could to stop their deaths.

    He had recovered enough mana thanks to his regeneration skill to use a few healing spells, and for those that needed a bit more than a low tier spell to stabilize he would take out a potion and pour it over their wounds.

    Thanks to his efforts Marcus saved over a hundred people from meeting their demise.

    Soon the battle came to an end with most of the assants dead and a few captured for questioning.

    Unfortunately, the true perpetrators who were members of the royal family had gotten away.

    ˇ®This is certainly going to be one hell of a headache.ˇŻ

    Once things had quieted down Marcus reappeared and became the center of attention.

    This was technically his and MrazivyˇŻs party, so they were the first ones people starteding to for answers andints.

    Of course, neither of them had any real involvement with the security and such, but they were the faces to be med.

    Frostine, James, and Kalt were also receiving plenty of heat as hundreds of nobles had died in this attack during a party thrown by the royal family.

    Not only that but it was members of the royal family that had instigated the attack and been in league with demons.

    Luckily James managed to bring things under martial order thanks to his position in the kingdomˇŻs army, and due to the fact that anything involving demons was an issue of national security.

    Eventually Marcus was allowed to go back to the castle where he was brought to a room where Mrazivy was resting.

    And while he did want to see her, he was also worried about Lilia.

    Sadly, he could not go and make sure she was oaky since as Marcus he had no rtionship with her.

    At the very least she was with ric and Bianca who would take care of her until he could go and get her.

    ˇ°Mraz how are you feeling?ˇ± Marcus asked as she sat down in a chair next to her.

    ˇ°I am a bit worn down thanks to my unique skills. But I think you are honestly worse off than me.ˇ± She said, noticing how haggard Marcus looked.

    Of course, he was down to only twenty-five percent of his usually stats and had used his supreme skill for a fair amount of time which had wiped him.

    ˇ°Yeah, I will need about a week to recover. What about you?ˇ±

    ˇ°I will be back to full strength in just three days. Nothing to worry about.ˇ±

    The two of them continued to talk about this and thatmenting over how their party and debut had been ruined.

    ?[0)??? Eventually though Marcus got around to asking about a question that had been weighing heavily on his mind.

    ˇ°Your Uncle Vaughn, who is he?ˇ±

    Sighing Mrazivy looked down and it was clear she did not want to talk about this now but knew that it was going to have to be done.

    ˇ°He is my fatherˇŻs youngest brother. During the battle for session he was too young to get involved, only being six years old, and so he was sent away some ce safe by his mother. When my father was victorious, he found out that his youngest brother was still alive and gave his material family who was hiding two main choices. He and his mother could either leave the kingdom striped of their status, or he could be a vassal of my fatherˇŻs. Of course, there was also the option to execute them. but after all the bloodshed already my father and Uncle Kalt wanted to avoid that.ˇ±

    After exining the background on who Vaughn was Mrazivy told him about what his position had been within the kingdom.

    ˇ°From what I know he had a knack for magic at a young age and after graduating from the royal academy went on to be a member of the Guldur Spire. He is, I mean was a prolific researcher there and I know he developed a number of new spells while also improving on plenty of old ones. He was an archmage of the kingdom and I believe that he was nned to be Aria sessor as the next grand archmage. As for how he got wrapped up in demons. I do not know.ˇ±

 Chapter 669 Aftermath

    Once Mrazivy was finished telling Marcus about her uncle who had caused the incident with the demons, he let out a long sigh.

    ˇ®This is just great. First it was that stupid giant worm. And now it is demon worshipers trying to bring about some sort of demon invasion.ˇŻ

    Still, bemoaning his situation was not going to get him anywhere, and with how mentally exhausted he was Marcus just wanted to turn his mind off and rest.

    Luckily his ever-attentive fianc¨¦e caught onto this, and as she was tired herself, she was more than willing to go along with him.

    ˇ°I know we are waiting here to until someonees to take our statements, but I am sure that after what we went through, they can wait another day.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she stood up and walked to the door.

    When she opened it they were greeted by a squadron of knights that were there to protect them.

    One of them was MrazivyˇŻs guardian knight and he was relieved to see her since during the confusion of the battle he had lost track of her.

    Mrazivy then convinced the knights to let them head to their rooms and rest, even though the leader knight put up some protest.<sub>.</sub>

    Still in perfect princess fashion Mrazivy used her authority and the fact that they had fought and beaten a number of demons as a reason for their need to rest.

    ˇ°Thanks for handling that. I doubt I could have navigated that situation as well as you.ˇ± Marcus said once they had shut the door to her room.

    Now that they were able to let themselves rx, both of them headed straight to bed and copsed pretty much as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

    The next day when they woke up, they went to the main dining room and had a quick breakfast, before they were led to a meeting with a number of the higher ups of the kingdom.

    Surprisingly the king as well as Aria and Knight Commander Darius were among them.

    They had left the summit of nations aligned with the adventurers guild ande back to address the situation here.

    Staying as the representatives were Boreas and Gwyneira along with a few ministers, so Borealia was not represented.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I already had one headache from the meeting at the guildˇŻs headquarters, but this is far worse.ˇ± The king mumbled while reading reports of the incident.

    The situation was impably bad for the kingdom, as his brother and sons were the instigators of the attack and summoning demons.

    Not to mention that other nobles were found to be involved like Syver Krenston.

    Eventually everyone that would be attending the meeting had gathered and it began.

    To start the king gave his condolences to Marcus and Mrazivy for their engagement party being ruined and thanked them for fighting bravely to deal with the demons that appeared.

    After that the king read off a list of who died, and it was quite the blow for the kingdom since a number of nobles that were well trusted had died.

    ˇ°Now as for what they were after, we were able to get their ns out of Soith once we cured him of his insanity caused by the demonic essence.ˇ±<sub></sub>

    The king went onto say that the n which was spearheaded by Vaughn had been to capture Frostine and Kalt and use their emergency permission to make Soith the king so that they could sacrifice the people of the capital to bring forth even more demons.

    They had chosen the engagement party as the time to strike since they knew that Gwyneira, Aria, and Darius would be absent, and that Frostine and Kalt would be out of the castle.

    ˇ°Would you mind exining what this entails? I did not think it would be so easy to just give someone else the tittle of king.ˇ± Marcus asked.

    It was not like in his old world where anyone could just be pronounced a king for whatever reasons.

    On Mirrion it was a tangible title that came with a number of powers and was not something that should have been easily taken.

    ˇ°Yes, I suppose that I will need to do that. However, those of you who do not wish to be sworn to secrecy via magic contract should leave now.ˇ± The king said.

    Yet even under this stiption not one of the forty people in attendance left.

    ˇ°Very well, I will tell all of you the process by which the title of king can be transferred without my authority.ˇ± The king said with a despondent expression.

    ˇ°This is an emergency measure that has been in ce for centuries where the deputy king, along with the crown prince or princess and with three other members of the royal family can transfer the title. It is only supposed to be used in case a monarch of Borealia is ever captured by an enemy. In that situation it would be better to abandon the current ruler then to lose the integrity of the kingdom.ˇ±

    When the king had finished exining the process everyone sat there with grim expressions.

    ˇ°And before any of you point out that Soith is was no longer a member of the royal family nor the crown price, I will say that with the authority given to Kalt and Vaughn as my brothers they could have reinstated his status and Frostine could have been forced to give over her title as my sessor.ˇ±

    With their n and process for it exined, it now became clear that the kingdom of Borealia was very near falling once again.

    A swarm of powerful demons could easily have killed or enved everyone in the kingdom, and if Vaughn was confident in getting away with it, he must have believed that the demon he was working for was strong enough to beat Gwyneira since he knew of her existence.

    ˇ°This truly does not bode well. There have been others in the past that have dabbed in summoning demons, but nothing like this. I will have all of the royal investigators looking into others that might have been coborating with Vaughn and Braylen. And I will search for those two myself.ˇŻ Alexandra the head of the royal investigators and one of BoreasˇŻ originalpanions said.

    ˇ°Good. your help will be invaluable in this. I will also ask Gwyneira when she returns to help as well. This is a grave threat to our kingdom that has been growing like a parasite unbeknownst to us.ˇ± The king said in response to Alexandra.

    The meeting continued on as everyone who had been present gave their ounts of what happened, and others began speaking about the bacsh of the events.

    ˇ°Some have been calling for you majestyˇŻs abdication, and even the removal of the titles from Princess Mrazivy and Prince Marcus. Many died in the tragedy, and they want someone to take responsibility.ˇ± One of the ministers said.

    Plenty of nobles who had been caught up in the event or who had members of their families die wanted to me the king as well as Marcus and Mrazivy for not having enough security for the party.

    Of course, there was no way that anyone could have excepted such an attack to take ce and for demons to be involved.

    The party had hundreds of knights acting as security, and honestly it was a miracle that many more people did not die.

    A demon over level seventy had appeared and it could have easily decimated the capital all on its own if it had not been stopped.

    ˇ°Depending on the situation it may be necessary for me to abdicate. However, under no circumstances shall I be stripping Mrazivy or Marcus of their titles.ˇ± The king said sternly. ˇ°Now let us prepare for theing storm this tragedy has created.ˇ±

 Chapter 670 Going to Lilia and Alaricâ€™s Request

    As the meeting continued the higher ups of the kingdom discussed countermeasures to the growing demon threat and the political bacsh that this attack was likely to cause.

    This was the second major threat the kingdom had faced this year, and with the damage that was incurred it was likely that the current administrationˇŻspetence would be called into question.

    ˇ®When is this going to be over.ˇŻ Marcus thought while trying to hide his disinterest.

    Now that he had found out what he wanted to know and ryed his ount of the battle, there was nothing more for him to do.

    Mrazivy was also pretty much in the same boat, and she looked bored as well.

    Still in case something else of importance came up they needed to be paying at least the minimum amount of attention.

    ˇ°That is all for today. All of you are dismissed.ˇ± The king said when the meeting had finished.

    Thankful for it to be over Marcus swiftly left with Mrazivy and saw her back to her room.

    ˇ°Now I need to go to Lilia, but I will be backter. If you could schedule a time where we can talk to James and Lyra as well, that would be great.ˇ± Marcus said right before he left.<sub>.</sub>

    With his ghostly powers he easily slipped out of the castle and made it back to his estate.

    When he arrived, he found his staff a bit distraught from the little bits of news that they had heard.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, you are back and safe! Thank goodness.ˇ±

    ra was incredibly relived to see that her employer and master was alright.

    When Marcus asked her what she knew, she told him that all she had heard was that there was an attack by demons at the engagement party.

    Naturally she wanted more details from Marcus, and he obliged to tell her exactly what happened.

    ˇ°Now judging by the fact that you know so little. I can assume that Lilia is not here?ˇ±

    Nodding her head ra acknowledged that Lilia had not returned.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®She must be at ricˇŻs estate. I can imagine that they took her in after everything that happened.ˇŻ

    Knowing that Lilia had not returned home and was with friends instead, Marcus had ra prepare his carriage as quickly as possible.

    When it was finally ready Marcus hastily got into the carriage being pulled by Blitz who along with Roxene and Inten had returned after the battle the day before.

    Soon they had arrived at the Skalbeck estate, and while it was considered bad manners and very rude to arrive unannounced. In this case, Marcus did not care.

    Unsurprisingly the guards at the gate were caught off guard by MarcusˇŻ sudden arrival, but after a quick call to the main estate he received permission to enter.

    When he arrived at the front entrance even before he could get out of the carriage, he saw Lilia running up.

    Stepping out without waiting for ra to stop the carriage, Marcus ran up to Lilia as well and caught her in his embrace.

    ˇ°I truly am d that you are okay.ˇ± Marcus said as he hugged her.<sub></sub>

    Lilia for her part began crying saying how scared she was that he was going to get killed while fighting that massive demon that seemed like an unstoppable force.

    Hearing this Marcus cracked a smile, since it turned out that both of them had been worrying about each other more than themselves.

    Not long after Lilia arrived, Bianca, ric and Viscount Skalbeck came to greet Marcus.

    ˇ°I want to tank you all now for taking care of Lilia for me while I was unable to. I truly am d to count you among my friends.ˇ± Marcus said as he bowed his head.

    However, this seemed to only distress them.

    ˇ°No need for that Irene. It is us that should be thanking you and your sister. Lilia was the one that was protecting us during the attack. She showed off truly unbelievable power for one her age, and her equipment was at the same level as the top knights of the kingdom. I dare say that we all might be dead without her.ˇ± Viscount Skalbeck said before getting down onto his knees and bowing till his head almost hit the ground.

    Bianca and ric quickly followed suit and Marcus was bbergasted by this disy.

    What they were doing now was considered the greatest show of gratitude by lowering yourselfpletely to someone.

    It was not something that was normally done, and certainly not to someone of a lower rank.

    When they got back up, they invited Marcus inside for some tea and other refreshments and he happily agreed.

    ˇ°Though I must say that it seems unbelievable how strong Lilia is. To think that she is only thirteen and already over level forty.ˇ± Bianca said as they made small talk.

    Of course, Lilia was definitely an odd case. Marcus had put her through the ringer in a dungeon, while also supplying her with skill orbs, natural treasures, and top tier armor.

    This had made Lilia much stronger for her age than what would be anywhere close to normal, as she was already as strong as a veteran knight of the kingdom.

    Yet as they discussed Lilia astonishing power, ric got up and bowed his head to Marcus.

    ˇ°I want to be strong as well. If I stay as weak as I am I will not be able to stay by LiliaˇŻs side. Please help me?ˇ±

    In the wake of ricˇŻs sudden outburst his parents moved to reprimand him and told him to apologize for his rudeness.

    But Marcus just waved his hand andughed, not minding and actually enjoying seeing ricˇŻs determination.

    ˇ®If he wants to be strong for Lilia than that is great. And I can use this as a test to see if he really is worthy of my little sister.ˇŻ Marcus thought as a wide smile crept onto his face.

    ˇ°Sure, I do not mind training you up just as I did Lilia. But I must warn you it will not be easy, and you will certainly get injured or maybe even die along the way.ˇ± Marcus said, making sure to emphasize the gravity of what ric was asking.

    ˇ°I promise I can do it. I want to be strong enough to protect Lilia instead of the other way around.ˇ±

    With ricˇŻs positive response, Marcus, before agreeing looked towards his parents.

    Certainly, he could not teach ric anything without their approval since he was still a minor.

    ˇ°No there is absolutely no need for ric to-ˇ°

    ˇ°We would be delighted if you helped our son to grow stronger. You have our full support, Lady Irene.ˇ±

    As Viscount Skalbeck was about to refuse MarcusˇŻ offer, Bianca jumped in and agreed while giving her husband an icy smile that left no room for debate.

    After what had just happened and seeing ricˇŻs own desire, she was perfectly fine with him going through some hellish training if it meant he would be able to protect himself.

    ˇ°We very much trust your abilities Lady Irene, and I am certain you will be able to help our son get stronger. IsnˇŻt that right dear?ˇ± Bianca said while continuing to give her husband an icy smile.

    Nodding his head he gave no further resistance, and it was decided that Marcus would help ric be stronger so that he could stand beside Lilia.

 Chapter 671 Plans for the Future

    Once everything had been squared away with ric and the arduous training he would receive from Marcus, it was time for them to part ways.

    ˇ°Again, I thank you very much for looking after Lilia while I was busy and during such a tumultuous incident.ˇ± Marcus said outside the front entrance of the Skalbeck estate.

    In turn the viscount and Bianca told Marcus that it was no problem and again that Lilia had helped protect them far more.

    ˇ°Now we must be off. I have duties to attend to and in the wake of what happened, and I imagine that the kingdom will be in a uncertain state for some time.ˇ±

    With that Marcus and Lilia left in the carriage that had been waiting for them.

    However, as they were leaving, Marcus gave risa an order she had not been expecting.

    ˇ°risa, we are not heading back home. Take us to the royal castle. There is something that I have to do there.ˇ±<sub>.</sub>

    Upon hearing this risa turned around taking her eyes off the road uncharacteristically and with a look of confusion on her face.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I understand that you were working at the castle before the incident that happened yesterday, but I believe it would be best and understandable if you took a few days to recuperate. Certainly, at the very least we would need to take Lady Lilia home first. I believe it would not be best to drag her through whatever is happening, which would be too much for a child.ˇ±

    Seeing the adamant way that risa was trying to avoid them going to the castle, Marcus was quite caught off guard.

    Normally she just followed any orders he gave or may slight critiques, but never had she tried to change his directionpletely.

    Nevertheless, he had to return to the castle, and he needed Lilia with him since it pertained to her as well.

    ˇ°I am afraid that will not be possible risa. I am sure that you know that Lilia and I have our secrets, and this pertains to one of the upmost importance. We need to go to the castle posthaste and there is no room for debate.ˇ± Marcus said with a stern expression that offered no dissent.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Understood Lady Irene. I will change course to the castle.ˇ± risa said with a nk expression and a bit of harshness in her voice.

    It was clear that she thought this was the wrong move, and that it would only put undue pressure on them. But after what happened there was something that he absolutely had to speak about with his closest friends and family.

    ˇ°Lilia before we arrive there are a few things that I need to discuss with you first.ˇ± Marcus said once they had traveled a fair distance from the Skalbeck estate.

    Nodding her head, Lilia turned her head towards Marcus and listened attentively.

    ˇ°To start, what happened is likely only the beginning of more problems of a simr manner. I am certain that there are more of those in the kingdom that cling to demonˇŻs honeyed words of power.ˇ± Marcus said with a grim expression.

    He then told Lilia about his experience cleansing their current estate and the memories he saw of nobles sacrificing children to try and summon demons.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°When I witnessed all of those nobles dying in the memories of that poor boy, I had figured that all those trying to make deals with demons had perished. I was certainly wrong, and it appears that those that are actually sessful in making some deal stilly hidden in the kingdom. After this failed attempt, I suspect that they will remain dormant for some time to regroup and make knew ns, but I find it likely we may have to face a simr situation again.ˇ±

    Hearing this Lilia became downcast as she never wanted to be caught up in such a scary fight where things were so chaotic, and many people were being killed by inhuman beings.

    ˇ°That is why we have to prepare. I have gotten toox with my currently level of power, which while well above the average, is still far from the top. To remedy that we are going to have to increase our efforts to get stronger. To that end, we needed to challenge that special dungeon in earnest and im what rewards we can from it.ˇ±

    Lowering her head even more and holding in her fear, Lilia honestly never wanted to go to that ce again.

    It forced anyone who wanted to go through it to face their greatest weaknesses, whether they be physical, mental, or emotional. And only those that could grow from the experiences and be stronger while not breaking would truly reap the rewards from the harsh dungeon.

    Still, Lilia knew just how fast one could grow from fighting through the challenges on each floor of that dungeon.

    ˇ°I see. Is that why you were so adamant about training ric this spring? Do you n on taking him into that dungeon as well?ˇ± Lilia asked with concern in her eyes.

    ˇ°Yes, that is what I am going to do. If ric wants to be strong and stand by your side, he will need to brave the special dungeon as well. Though before I continue with this, I should ask you if this is what you want?ˇ±

    Sighing Lilia was not sure what exactly to do here.

    She did want to get stronger, and she wanted ric to get stronger too if he wanted to. But she really did not want to head back to that ce and expose ric to its cruelties.

    Still, he had shown much determination when asking Marcus for help, and if he was doing all of it to catch up to her, Lilia felt it would be disrespectful for her to refuse him.

    ˇ°I am ready to go back. It has been nearly a year since we took our first steps into the ce, and I know that there is much for us to gain from it.ˇ± Lilia said with a look of resolve.

    Seeing this Marcus smiled, happy to see that she was doing her best to get past the traumatizing experience she had faced.

    ˇ°I am d to see that you are up for it. I imagine that it will be a difficult situation for all of us, but we need to be ready for another attack like the one that happened yesterday. We cannot just hope to rely on those from generations before us who are currently the strength of the kingdom. If we getcent, next time a monster, beast, or demon we cannot handle will get the best of us.ˇ±

    After saying that the two of them sat in silence as they made their way to the castle. Both of them embroiled in their own thoughts on the matters at hand.

    When they arrived, Marcus was promptly brought to a meeting room. And as he had asked, Mrazivy had gathered both James and Lyra despite how hectic things were right now.

    ˇ°So, what is it you wanted to talk about?ˇ± Lyra asked, starting off the meeting.

    ˇ°It is time that we all focus on preparing for the future. And to that end I believe it is time we head back into the special dungeon.ˇ±

 Chapter 672 Plans for the Future (2)

    With MarcusˇŻ mention of the special dungeon, everyone else in the room wore serious expressions.

    They understood what kind of ce it was having all gone through the hellish trails that pushed one to their limits and beyond.

    ˇ°During yesterdays demon attack it was clear that we were just barely strong enough to repulse them. I imagine that this was only due to the fact that our enemies did not know exactly how strong Mrazivy and I are, or about Lyra in general. Now they do, and the next time that Vaughn and Braylen make a move I am sure they will have us in mind since we foiled their n to turn Borealia into a demon hellscape.ˇ±

    Marcus made sure to get across how grave the situation was, and James who had also had this on his mind nodded.

    ˇ°It was an unprecedented attack that came from those we thought to be our allies. While I did not know Vaughn well, I was utterly surprised to see Braylen working with him. I do not know what sort of vile promises were made to him, but I still find it hard to believe that he would do something like this.ˇ± James said as he clenched his fists in anger.<sub>.</sub>

    Of course, Braylen had been one of the ones to support JamesˇŻ candidacy to be the next king. And when James refused, he had joined along with everyone to support Frostine.

    Truly he had been close to James, and Mrazivy to a lesser extent. Making his betrayal hit them both hard.

    With dangerous enemies lurking in the shadows, their only choice was to get stronger and prepare the best they could for any future confrontations.

    ˇ°I agree that we should venture into that special dungeon again, but I am not sure how we will be able to align our schedules.ˇ± Lyra said, bringing up a valid concern.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°I for one will be returning to Tralenstein soon, and I doubt it will be easy for me toe back to Borealia for any extended amount of time. Especially in wake of what just happened. And I imagine that James will be busy in his role and will fine it hard to get away for an undefined amount of time. Once we enter the special dungeon again, we will not be able to leave until weplete ten floors.ˇ± Lyra said.

    James grumbled at her assessment, but she was correct that as the leader of the Sky Knights, one of BorealiaˇŻs elite units, he would be busier than ever now thanks to this sudden attack.

    Still, Marcus just shook his head, and said, ˇ°No, we have to do whatever we can to make sure we have time for this. I am sure that if James exins it to the king, he can get time off. As for you Lyra, no one truly has the authority to stop you if you insist. The queen of Tralenstein will allow you leeway if we ask. As for your retainer and people, they will likely protest, but I am sure you understand how important this is. In this world might often does make right. So, if we do not want other powers from taking over our homes, we need to be strong enough to rebuff them.ˇ±

    After saying his piece, Marcus waited for LyraˇŻs response.<sub></sub>

    Eventually when she had finished thinking it over, she nodded though there was an ufortable look on her face.

    ˇ°I am sure there will be many who are not pleased by my continuing absences. Some other nobles have beenining about my interactions with Borealia. Believing that I am making moves to ingrain myself and make a better deal for Valenhart before our two kingdoms be one. Nevertheless, I get what you are saying and will put aside whatever other inconveniences might ur. I will need to be stronger to make sure that I am never in the position of not being able to help my people again.ˇ±

    With everyone in agreement, they began making solid preparation to enter the dungeon.

    ˇ°Are you sure that you want to involve this kid, Marcus?ˇ± James asked after hearing about ric.

    Naturally he would need everyone elseˇŻs eptance into bringing him in on their numerous secrets.

    ˇ°Yes, I believe him to be trustworthy and stalwart. His devotion to Lilia is clear, and I will use this as a chance to test his mettle.ˇ± Marcus said, vouching for ric.

    ˇ°So, we will begin going into the dungeon towards the end of summer. In between that time, I will train ric up to be closer to LiliaˇŻs level. And at the same time Lyra, Mrazivy, and Quillon will continue fighting in the dungeon in Tralenstein. Lilia will continue her studies in school, and as for you James, good luck with your job as the leader of the Sky Knightsˇ±

    With their ns hammered out the group started to go their separate ways. And while they would have liked to just leisurely talk, there was simply too much for all of them to do.

    ˇ°Good luck with your level grinding Mraz. I hope that you can progress well.ˇ± Marcus said as he was about to part with her.

    ˇ°Thanks, I am certain I can surpass your level again in no time. When we next fight a powerful opponent like that demon from yesterday, I will definitely get in the final hit.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well, I look forward to it. Oh, and if you somehow fine a boss room and get ahold of some amethros, I will certainly make you a crown even better than FrostineˇŻs.ˇ± Marcus said with a bright smile.

    ˇ°Then I will have to thoroughly search that dungeon in Tralenstein for a few bosses to crush. It may be quite rare for amethros to be given out as a reward, but with that incentive I will absolutely do my best.ˇ± Mrazivy said, practically beaming.

    After that they said their goodbyes for now and Marcus and Lilia made their way back to ra who had been waiting patiently for them toe back.

    ˇ°I have finished my business here for today. We can head back home now.ˇ±

 Chapter 673 Rise to the Greatest Forgemaster

    Once Marcus returned home, he spent a couple of days simply rxing with Lilia before getting nose deep into work.

    The number of requests for powerful weapons and armor had increased by over four hundred percent, and when he showed up to help Thabon out the old dwarf practically cried in relief.

    ˇ®I guess what just happened really gave people a scare. Old families and even some merchants have busted out their hordes of adamantine and are asking for new weapons.ˇŻ

    Hammering away Marcus was currently making an adamantine ive and a full set of te armor for the strongest knight in service of one of the kingdomˇŻs counts.

    When he finished that order he started on a massmission from the royal family in which they wanted armor made from adamantine and extra ting from the thunder behemoth Boreas had given to him.

    ˇ®I can still remember ThabonˇŻs stunned expression when I pulled the beast out of my item box.ˇŻ Marcus thought whileughing just a bit.

    His old masterˇŻs mouth nearly hit the floor, and when he recovered, he was so ecstatic to be able to work with such quantity of high-quality materials for the first time.

    Over two weeks went by in this manner where Marcus worked nonstop, only taking fairly short breaks to let his mana recover.

    He was pressed for time as he was going to be training ric soon, but there was something that he absolutely had to get done before then.

    Then after a long day of work it finally happened.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®My forge skill has hit level eight.ˇŻ

    Clenching his first and jumping up in joy Marcus felt ted for hitting his goal of getting his forge skill up to level eight which was just as high as ThabonˇŻs.

    However, he did not stop there.

    ˇ®And there goes a good chunk of my skill points, but now I have level nine.ˇŻ

    Seeing the number in his status Marcus could not help but having the biggest grin on his face.

    He now had the highest forge skill level in the kingdom and maybe even the entire continent, when he himself was only level sixty-two.

    Of course, this would have beenpletely impossible for most people. Marcus had a blessing which boosted his proficiency greatly, and his ability to work practically indefinitely allowed him to get more experience in a short amount of time than most. Though his biggest advantage was definitely his ability to assign his skill points and boost the skill beyond what would be normally obtainable.

    ˇ®Now let me see what the difference is.ˇŻ

    With the first stroke of his hammer Marcus could already feel the profound difference in his skill level which had rapidly jumped up.<sub></sub>

    He had made sure to create a few things while his skill level was still eight, and the difference between eight and seven was immense, but from eight to nine was like apletely different world.

    Now it was as if he was nearly perfectly Intune with his hammer and the metal he was working on.

    ˇ®I should finish the rest of the order I was assigned before moving on. I need more practice at my new level before making what I want.ˇŻ

    Spending the next three days working in the forge without break, Marcuspleted a half dozen adamantine weapons and three more sets of armor whichpleted the order by the royal family.

    ˇ®Whew that was some hard work. But it was well worth the while.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he stretched out and wiped the soot of his forehead.

    ˇ®Still the kingdom must be running pretty low on adamantine after all this. I just hope the prices do not go up too much.ˇŻ

    Having finished up all he wanted and needed to do at the zegram Forge, Marcus quickly went into his ghost form to let all the grime on him fall off and changed into a new set of clothes.

    Then when he walked out of the private room he had holed himself up in for weeks, everyone was shocked to see that he looked clean and refreshed.

    ˇ°Finally taking a break Irene. I have to admit that some of us were starting to get worried.ˇ± Gurrom said when he saw Marcus.<sub></sub>

    He and a number of the other forgmasters had been working in the main andrgest forge on a new mobile fortress that was many times stronger than the normal model.

    ˇ®Wow they really used a load of mithril, and the most important areas are reinforced with adamantine of the armor from that thunder behemoth. I cannot imagine the amount of money this thing must have cost the kingdom tomission.ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing the impressive weapon of war.

    However, he knew that this was a necessary expense that the king was practically force to take in order to quell the nobles.

    They wanted assurances that Borealia would be strong enough to defend against future attacks of simr natures, so the royal family spent pretty much all of their surplus gold into having new weapons and defenses created.

    Every forge in the kingdom capable of working with mithril and adamantine were going at full steam to keep up with the demand.

    ˇ®Well, it has certainly stimted the economy with the flood of gold. Not to mention that a good amount of it hase my way.ˇŻ

    While thinking about the literal mountain of gold he had earned, Marcus got distracted until Gurrom called him back to reality.

    ˇ°Irene you there? I wanted to know how much more of that massive order you had left to do, and if you needed any help?ˇ±

    ˇ°Thanks for the offer but I have already finished the order. I am actually on my way to show Thabon and store everything in the secure warehouse.ˇ± Marcus said with a shrug.

    He then moved to go to where Thabon was, but Gurrom stopped him.

    ˇ°Wait, you mean to tell me you finished all of those weapons and sets of armor already!?ˇ±

    Nodding his head Marcus told Gurrom that he had been working without sleep or rest for weeks and even showed him a few of thepleted pieces.

    ˇ°Your talent and skills never cease to amaze me. I suppose I should not have even thought thatmon sense applied to you.ˇ± Gurrom said in utter shock.

    At this point it was not just that Marcus was talented, he was pretty much abnormal in his abilities.

    After his brief encounter with Gurrom, Marcus went to find Thabon and dropped off all of the new adamantine weapons and armor ordered by the kingdom.

    ˇ°You certainly work fast as ever Irene. But that is no surprise to me now. You made forty new sets of armor and eighty new weapons in such a short amount of time. And this is only what you did for the kingdom.ˇ± Thabon said as he looked at everything Marcus had made.

    He went through and examined each piece and soon made quite the discovery that perplexed him.

    ˇ°Irene the quality of work seems to go up towards the end. Thest dozen or so are better than the ones that came before them, and thest few are even a notch above that.ˇ± Thabon said, noticing the slight differences in MarcusˇŻ work from when his skill levels went up.

    ˇ°Oh, I managed to get my forge skill to go up from level seven to eight around here, and at the end I pushed it up to nine. I guess it made more of a difference than I thought it would.ˇ±

    Thabon hearing this slowly turned his head and looked at Marcus with an overwhelmed expression.

    ˇ°How is this possible? A level eight skill should be at the very cusp of your abilities, but level nine should be out of the bounds of possibility!ˇ±

    Naturally Thabon was having a difficult time believing Marcus since it was generally epted that even someone with a talent for a skill could only have it get to certain level depending on what their total level was.

    For someone at around level fifty-five this meant that the best they could have was a level seven skill, and only if they had a real talent for it and had put in an extreme amount of effort.

    Marcus maybe could have somehow gotten to level eight, but nine certainly should have been beyond him.

    ˇ°Remember how I told you a while back about my being from another world. Well, I used my unique skill Personal Status to pump the saved skill points I have into my forge skill so that I could make the best amethros weapon possible.ˇ± Marcus said while rubbing the back of his head.

    Now that he was getting grilled by Thabon he felt that he may have cheated a bit since he boosted his level in a way that few others could.

    Luckily Thabon did not show any jealousy towards Marcus or try to put down his achievements, and instead wore the happiest smile Marcus had ever seen.

    ˇ°That is great Irene. You have truly surpassed me now. It should always be a masterˇŻs dream to watch those he trained get better than them. I know I have not taught you anything new for some time now, but I am proud to have been the one to help you on your path.ˇ±

    Thabon then opened his item box and pulled out arge cask of what was obviously very fine alcohol.

    ˇ°No let us celebrate your achievement. I have been saving this liquor for a special asion and I believe that now is the time.ˇ±

 Chapter 674 Creation of the Strongest Scythe

    ˇ°That certainly was something.ˇ± Marcus said to himself as the left the zegram Forge.

    ThabonˇŻs celebratory drink had turned into a full-blown party for the forge, and they had spent thest nine hours drinking and eating food.

    The amount of alcohol alone that was consumed was staggering. and in all honesty, Marcus probably had around twenty percent of the total amount or more.

    All of the dwarfs seeing him able to keep up with Thabon started challenging him to drinkingpetitions, which they had no chance of winning.

    As much as dwarfs could hold their alcohol, they were still flesh and blood and had their limits. Marcus on the other hand did not and could drink endlessly with no negative effects.

    ˇ®I mean when they busted out stuff that was over ny percent alcohol what did they expect to happen.ˇŻ

    Pretty much everyone other than Marcus was passed out right now from excessive eating and drinking. And while it had been fun, Marcus had other ns to attend to.

    It was time for him to finally make what he had been working towards for quite some time now, and that was an amethros weapon for himself.

    ˇ®I have an open invitation to use the castleˇŻs forge whenever I like. Now all I need to do is send word that I am ready.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Once he returned home, he promptly had a letter delivered to the castle, and two dayster he received a response that they were ready for him.

    When he arrived, he was brought to the impressive forge he had used to create FrostineˇŻs crown.

    ˇ®That certainly is a lot of cores.ˇŻ

    Inside the room where crates filled with the magic cores necessary to power the furnace and there were easily enough for him to havepleted multiple projects.

    Along with that there was a letter left from Kalt saying that if Marcus needed any materials that the kingdom could provide that they would be happy to do so.

    ˇ®Well thanks for the offer, but I already have everything I need other than more amethros. Which I am pretty certain is outside the confines of the kingdomˇŻs goodwill.ˇŻ

    Quickly going around Marcus got everything ready and stored away anything that might burst into mes or melt once the furnace was going.

    Now that his preparations werepleted, he took out all of the amethros he had and ced it on an adamantine bench along with the materials form the creatures that that Ardea had acquired for him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®The fangs from the nightskitter and the horns from the Archon Shedu will definitely be the best.ˇŻ

    Picking through the material Marcus grabbed the ones that would do best to enhance his weapon to greater heights.

    If hebined these materials with the amethros it would make the metal stronger and have a better affinity for light and darkness.

    Still, from hisst experience Marcus remembered that when he tired to mix materials from creatures with opposing affinities it nearly failed and ended up as a waste.

    He had to use part of his own soul as a stabilizing agent, and he figured that he would have to do that again.

    However, he did not want to split his soul up any further, which left him only one option.

    ˇ®You served me well, but I will need this part of my soul back.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he melted down his current scythe.

    As the weapon broke down the part of his soul that was in it was released and he absorbed it back into himself.<sub></sub>

    Of course, this would normally not be possible, and the fragment of a personˇŻs soul sealed within a weapon would be lost if it was broken. But since MarcusˇŻ form was just his soul to begin with and he was a great spirit, it was easy enough for him to just reim the separated piece.

    ˇ®I suppose I can find a use for this adamanter.ˇŻ He thought as he poured the metaled material into arge mold.

    Now that he was ready to begin Marcus pulled out arge crucible and ced the fangs of the nightskitter, the horns of the Archon Shedu, and the amethros inside.

    With that done he lit up the furnace to as hot as it could go normally and further increased the temperature with his fire magic.

    Then when it was hotter than the surface of the sun, he stuck the scarlet ore crucible in and waited for everything to melt together.

    ˇ®Now.ˇŻ

    Sensing that the light and darkness energies of the materials he was using were fighting against each other, Marcus broke off a piece of his soul and sent it into the crucible.

    This time he did not do something stupid like cutting his arm off, as now he knew he could simply split the piece of his soul off and send it into the mixture.

    ˇ®Damn that was not enough.ˇŻ

    Unfortunately, just giving the amount he had before for his adamantine scythe was not enough, and he needed about double the amount to finally stabilize the conflicting elements.

    When the process waspleted, he poured the mixture of amethros, monster and beast materials, and his own soul into a mold and waited for it to cool.

    ˇ®Oh, it turned out better than I thought.ˇŻ

    Picking up the now solid ingot that was quite sizable now, Marcus tapped around and inspected the amethros.

    It was noticeably darker in some areas and lighter in others with bright white and dark lines running throughout it.

    There was no doubt that it had taken to the light and darkness elements imbued within it making it even stronger than normal.

    Still, as happy as Marcus was, he knew that this was only the first step and that the hardest parts were yet toe.

    ˇ®Now I need to shape the amethros into a de for my scythe.ˇŻ

    Sticking the metal back into the furnace Marcus heated it up until it was glowing so brightly that a normal personˇŻs retinas would have been fried, and then ced it onto the enchanted amethros anvil.

    Going to work he hammered away at the metal. Shaping it and imbuingrge amounts of his mana into it.

    It was tedious and difficult work as the metal was in a thick ingot and practically refused to be worked with. But MarcusˇŻ level nine forge skill and the use of his supreme skill every now and then he managed to get the main form of the depleted after around sixteen hours of nonstop hammering.

    With that done he ground it down and made it sharp enough to cut anything that so much as grazed the de.

    ˇ®Wow if I push a little mana through the de it can slice through even unenchanted adamantine.ˇŻ

    Testing the de out on an ingot of adamantine Marcus found that it cut it right in half with only around half of his strength.

    ˇ®Now to make the polearm.ˇŻ

    With all of his amethros tied up in the creation of the de Marcus had to use something else to make the scytheˇŻs handle.

    He needed to make sure that it was as close to as strong as the amethros as possible. And luckily, he had just the right material.

    ˇ®The bones from the thunder behemoth along with some adamantine and the other materials from the nightskitter and Archon Shedu should do nicely.ˇŻ

 Chapter 675 Creation of the Strongest Scythe (2)

    Going through the bones of the thunder behemoth, Marcus picked out the sturdiest one and cut it down to the size he wanted the scytheˇŻs pole to be.

    ˇ®Whew for a bit I thought I would not be able to get through it.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at the bone he had prepared.

    He had found that any implement he tired using to cut through it could not so much a make a scratch. At least until he used the amethros scythe de he had just made. This had just been able to cut through the bone when he gave it all he had, and now he had the perfect pole to use for his scythe.

    Still the bone alone was not going to be quite good enough, so he used some of the adamantine that had made up his previous scythe, and with the addition of some more materials from the Archon Shedu and nightskitter he made the adamantine even stronger than before.

    Then he went ahead and gave the bone a coating of the adamantine and filled in the hollow area where the bone marrow was before.

    Though while he was working on this he also went ahead and gave the handle a spear head made from bone coated in adamantine as well. Figuring that it could give him some more attack options.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®Hm just on its own this would make an impressive spear.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he gave it a few test thrusts and twirled it around.

    When he had finished ying around with the polearm section of his scythe he began the processing ofbing the two parts together.

    Soon enough he had affixed the scythe de to the pole and had the base of his new weapon.

    ˇ®I would say without any enchantments etched into it this scythe is already a bit stronger than myst one. I guess the materials being such a higher quality makes a huge difference.ˇŻ

    After putting the scythe down Marcus pulled out the three cores he was nning to use in its creation and thought about where to put each of them.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®The core from the Doomsday Worm definitely needs to go in the center of the de. But what of the others.ˇŻ

    Eventually Marcus deiced to put one of the cores that he had received from Ardea in the top of the pole and the other in the bottom.

    This would make it harder for him to link them, but it would help with the flow of power throughout the scythe and prevent anyone ce from being less powerful than the other.

    The next dozen hours were spent entirely on cing the cores within their respective areas, and when that was done Marcus felt exhausted from his expenditure of mana and spiritual energy.

    ˇ®I do not think that anyone else could have done that.ˇŻ Marcus thought when he had finished.<sub></sub>

    He had used his ability to go ethereal to ce the cores within the metal which had been very difficult and nearly ended up with either the cores or scythe breaking.

    Luckily the materials were just too sturdy to be broken easily, and since his soul was imbued within them he was able to manipte the metal in a way that would have been impossible otherwise.

    However, this had also given him an impable idea which if it worked would allow him to add more formations to his scythe.

    ˇ®Now I should start with the basics like shape sing, increased mana flow, and enhanced durability. Luckily, I managed to take the partially finished formations I got in the special dungeon andpleted them and found that they were far stronger versions than even the ones Thabon showed me.ˇŻ

    Pulling out his mana etcher and filling it with celestial tinum, Marcus got right to work on etching in all of the formations that he wanted his scythe to have.

    Yet before he started on the outside where it would normally be done, he actually phased the etcher inside the metal and began there.

    He had of course quickly tested this out on a swiftly made mithril spear and found that it worked perfectly fine.

    This allowed him to add even more formations to the weapon. Though he needed to be especially careful not to mess up, as the formations could easily interact with each other in a negative way.

    ˇ®Okay that is all of the basics hidden within the scythe. Now for the moreplicated stuff on the outside.ˇŻ

    Taking his etcher Marcus began adding enhancements such as auto attack and auto defend first which were some of the easier one to what he had nned.

    Next came a formation that allowed him to increased the weight of the scythe so that it could either be swung quicker or hit harder. Then another that allowed it to oscite at a high speed and frequency that would help the de cut through dense objects or break apart barriers easier.

    After that came formation that could steal the mana, life, and even spiritual energy from those hits by the de.

    Marcus continued to add more and more formations until he finally added the ones that one boost the power of light and darkness.

    With thepletion of those two formations Marcus finished off his new amethros scythe that was easily the greatest masterpiece he had ever made.

    And when it was done the scythe began glowing showing that it had the systemˇŻs approval as a top tier weapon.

    Yet something different happened from all the other times he had made system recognized item.

    His scythe began emitting a palpable aura, and he watched as the core of the Doomsday Worm began to pulsate.

    Green lines like those of the monsterˇŻs tendrils began to push out among the de and in the middle of the dark emerald colored core arge glowing red eye appeared.

    Seeing this Marcus panicked that he had somehow revied the monster through its core. That maybe it had some skill unknown to them and now it was taking over the scythe that he had just made.

 Chapter 676 The Dread Devourer

    Marcus recoiled and jumped back as his newly created scythe started pulsating and tendrils began sprouting out of it.

    Suddenly it felt as if it was almost alive, and he was afraid that he might have somehow resurrected the Doomsday Worm into a new form.

    In a sh the scytheˇŻs glowing eye turned towards the crates of unused magic cores and began sending its tendrils toward them.

    ˇ®Not happening.ˇŻ

    Fearing what might ur should it eat these cores; Marcus got in the way and produced his mana barrier along with several defensive spells to block the tendrils.

    Luckily, they were far weaker than what the monsterˇŻs original power, and he was easily able to block them.

    His scythe though was not all too please by this and began floating up and tried to push past him.

    However, it was at this point that Marcus remembered that a piece of his soul was fused with the scythe, and he held out his hand and focused.

    ˇ°Stop!ˇ±

    Obeying hismand, the scythepletely froze, and when he willed it into his hand it came flying without any issue.

    Now in his hand Marcus could better feel out the scythe he had created and found that it was not really alive, but just acting on some sort of instinct leftover form the Doomsday Worm to absorb the magic cores and grow stronger.<sub>.</sub>

    ˇ®You have received a new message!ˇŻ

    Hearing a sudden announcement in his head, Marcus was caught off guard.

    The only time that notifications like this were announced was when they were sent directly by the administrator.

    Opening up his status and going to his mail, he found the new message and promptly read it.

    ˇ®Looks like you managed to make one crazy weapon there. I never thought that anyone would use one of the cores from my doomsday monsters to make an item, but you seem to always defy expectations. Luckily you imnted a fragment of your soul along with it so that weapon will still obey you, but I rmend you not let anyone else use it unless you are around. Oh, and I went ahead and improved it a little for you when it received the systemˇŻs blessing. It now has all the powers that the Dread Burrower had, though not as strong, for now. These mixed pretty well with your own powers that your soul imbued within it. So, in light of that I even named it for you and have dubbed your new weapon the Dread Devourer. Good luck with it and try not to let it eat the entire world.

    Sincerely, Your Favorite Administrator.ˇŻ

    After reading the initial letter that the administrator sent him, Marcus found that there was a detailed list of all of the powers his new scythe had that came about as an unexpected effect of mixing his soul with the core of the Doomsday Worm.

    ˇ®I created a real monster here.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at his new weapon.

    Like the Dread Burrower had been able to absorb the life out of living being to make itself stronger, so could his scythe. However, with the melding of his soul along with it, now it could also absorb souls thanks to his soul devour unique skill.

    It was truly a weapon that was the stuff of nightmares, being able topletely consume the entirety of a living being.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®As long as I keep ahold of it though it is not like it will go on a rampage. It is still a weapon, not a living being. If I wield it well it will not be any problem.ˇŻ Marcus thought to encourage himself.

    Letting out a sigh of relief since while his weapon had what might be kind of evil abilities, it would nevertheless be very powerful for him to wield.

    Taking it over to the leftover cores this time he allowed it to absorb them, and he felt their energy being stored in the scythe and making it stronger.

    It was now a weapon that could grow infinitely so long as it was given materials to eat.

    ˇ®I suppose I should not show it to Thabon.ˇŻ Marcus thought while frowning.

    He knew that his master would not approve of the weapon as he had ced a part of his soul in it. Along with the other nasty abilities it had.

    Still, he did not n on letting it eat anyoneˇŻs soul just as he refrained from using his soul devour unique skill after finding out how damaging it was.

    So long as he fed it magic cores instead, it would still be able to increase in power without having to deal with the corruption that came with consuming souls.

    ˇ®Now instead of worrying about little things. It is time to test out how powerful this weapon is.ˇŻ

    Heading out to the castleˇŻs training grounds Marcus found that in the past four days when he was making his scythe that the adamantine armor and weapons he had made were delivered to the castle.<sub></sub>

    Dozens of high-level knights all in the upper forties to mid-sixties who were some of the best in the kingdom were out training in their new gear.

    When they saw Marcus running up to the training area, they abruptly stopped their drills and many of them stared in disbelief.

    ˇ®What is going on? I know that I am a bit famous, but they are looking at me like some sort of cryptid.ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing their expressions.

    However, he quickly realized that it was not him specifically that they were all staring mesmerized at, but his scythe.

    It was clearly not just made of amethros, but was a top tier weapon, and just the aura it exuded was overwhelmingly powerful.

    For many of them this was there first time seeing an amethros weapon, and for those that had seen one in the past this was their first time seeing one recognized by the system.

    Eventually the knight in charge of the training walked forward and addressed Marcus.

    ˇ°You are Lady Irene Geist are you not?ˇ± He said wanting to confirm MarcusˇŻ identity.

    ˇ°Yeah, I am. I see that a lot of you are using the weapons and armor I made.ˇ± Marcus responded.

    The knight then looked down at the scythe that Marcus was holding and asked the question that was on everyoneˇŻs mind.

    ˇ°What might that in your hands be Lady Irene? I have never seen a weapon like it before.ˇ±

    Holding up his scythe while smiling, Marcus answered the manˇŻs question.

    ˇ°This is my new weapon. I just finished making it and came out here to test it out. And seeing as how all of you are here testing your new weapons and armor, would you mind allowing me to join in on your training?ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus ced his scythe on his shoulder and began looking at the knights as if he was picking out his prey.

    Everyone around could sense the tension in the air, as not only Marcus, but his scythe was giving off a very dangerous feeling that every veteran knight here could feel.

    Still, they had no reason to refuse and having the creator of a number of the weapons and armor they were using be present could allow them insight they normally would not get.

    ˇ°That would be perfectly fine Lady Irene. I just ask that you please hold back with that weapon of yours. We would not want to have our new weapons and armor ruined so soon after getting them.ˇ± The lead knight said.

    ˇ°Oh no need to worry about that. If I damage anything, I will repair it free of charge.ˇ±

    Hearing this the knights gulped, because this was Marcus pretty much nicely refusing to go easy on them.

    Just staring at his wicked looking scythe that seemed to be oozing an aura of oblivion of was enough to make even hardened knights wanted to run away and for good reason.

    ˇ°Very well. I will be your partner first Lady Irene.ˇ± The lead knight said.

    He knew that most of those training here today would stand no chance against Marcus and offered himself up first to at least allow the others to see how powerful Marcus really was.

    Yet things did not go as he nned, and Marcus pointed to another half dozen knights.

    ˇ°Actually, I would like to try fighting a group, so how about along with you, those six join in and you can alle at me at once.ˇ±

    Looking back behind him at the other knights Marcus had pointed out, the leader could see that they were among some of the strongest here. All of them being at least level sixty.

    And normally any opponent suddenly saying that they would take on seven knights level sixty or over would get on their nerves and cause them to say things like, ˇ°donˇŻt look down on usˇ±, or ˇ°underestimating us is going to get you hurtˇ±, but not in this situation.

    MarcusˇŻ scythe alone was like a badge showing just how strong he was, and all the knights here knew what a powerful fighter he must be.

    ˇ°Fine the seven of us will take you on at once.ˇ± The lead knight said agreeing to MarcusˇŻ proposal.

    ˇ°Zane, Dickory, Hardwin, Mauger, Raollin, and Samson! Come over here and get ready.ˇ±

    Following their leaderˇŻs order, the six knights lines up on the training field and looked intently at Marcus.

    Some of them were excited to be sparring against a powerful opponent, a couple were actually hoping to impress Marcus since as Irene he was certainly easy on the eyes and with his skills would be quite the catch. And one of them was shaking in fear not wanting to fight against Marcus, and especially his scythe.

 Chapter 677 Testing out the Strongest Scythe

    ˇ°Captain Launce, are you sure that this many of us should fight at once? If needed I can sit this out to make sure that Lady Irene is not overburdened.ˇ± Samson, the lowest level and most afraid knight said.

    He was level sixty, and while that was strong by most standards, his instincts told him that no good was going toe from this battle.

    This is how he had lived so long and made it to such a high level. By trusting his gut and never getting into terribly dangerous situations.

    ˇ°No, it will be fine. Lady Irene asked for all of us to fight and I am certain with her skills she will be fine. I watched her battle in thest kingdom tournament, and back then she was already quite strong. I imagine now she is even stronger.ˇ± Launce replied.

    A few momentster after putting on his armor and activating his shield, Marcus called out that he was ready to begin whenever the knights were.

    To start they got into one of their practiced formations with two tower shield users in the front, followed by Launce right behind them with hisrge broadsword.

    To the left and right where two knights that each wielded polearms, one with a ive and the other with a halberd.

    Finally in the back was Samson with his rapier and buckler, and another knight whose name was Dickory who wielded a bow thatˇŻs limbs also doubled as des.

    Overall, it was a pretty good set up they had, and it would be difficult for most people to break.

    ˇ®This should do for an opener.ˇŻ

    Swinging his scythe down from above Marcus released an intense st of mana from his scythe that cut straight through the earth and towards the knights.

    In response Launce jumped forward and unleashed his own attack to try and counter, employing one of his strongest attack skills.

    To his surprise, when the attacks met his was overpowered in just a couple of seconds, and he made a hasty retreated behind the shield users.<sub>.</sub>

    The other knights sent out their own attacks as well, to slow MarcusˇŻ down, and then the two shield users braced themselves.

    As the sh of mana hit them, they used numerous skills to block the attack, and after being pushed back a few feet they finally dissipated it.

    Still, this had just been MarcusˇŻ opening move, and he quickly appeared to the left side of the knights.

    With his scytheˇŻs pole he swung it into the shield of the nearest knight and pushed him aside and off bnce.

    Then using the centrifugal force, he spun around and aimed a powerful sh at the knight he had just caught off guard.

    In response Launce jumped in front with isrge broadsword and received the attack instead.

    ˇ®Heavy.ˇŻ

    However, even with all his skills active and impable timing he was thrown back by the power behind MarcusˇŻ attack, and now there was a notable nick about an inch deep in his thick adamantine sword.

    Pushing the attack Marcus jabbed towards Launce with the butt of his scytheˇŻs pole and aimed right for his head.

    Yet before he made contact the other shield wielding knight jumped in and protected his leader while the one with the ive took a wide swing at Marcus.

    Spinning his scythe back around Marcus caught the ive and batted it away with his scythe while also jumping back to avoid the charge of the shield user.

    BANG!<sub></sub>

    At the same time as his parry against the ive, from his blind spot the archer Dickory fired a high-speed arrow at Marcus. But his adamantine shield automatically flew into guard him.

    Marcus then twisted his scythe around and it began glowing with light before he shot off arge shining ball of energy like a cannon st.

    The attack moved so fast that Dickory was unable to avoid it and waspletely engulfed by a huge explosion that rocked the area.

    ˇ°Falling star!ˇ±

    ˇ°Three-fold spiral thrust!ˇ±

    Staying calm and continuing to attack Launce and the knight wielding the halberd attack Marcus with some of their best attack skills.

    Each one had a lot of power behind them and would be able to fell most monsters even higher level than fifty in one move.

    Still, they were only average looking attacks to MarcusˇŻ eyes.

    ˇ®Death Dance.ˇŻ

    Suddenly elerating and spinning on his toes Marcus whipped around and caught LaunceˇŻs falling star attack.

    He hooked the de of his scythe around LaunceˇŻs broadsword and twisted him away, so his attack hit into the ground instead. And with his continuing momentum he came around and met the other knightˇŻs three-fold spiral thrust and smacked the halberd away with the tip of his scythe de.

    The ground rumbled and fractured where LaunceˇŻs falling star attack skill hit, and arge spray of dirt and rocks sted up around the area.<sub></sub>

    Jumping back Marcus avoided the explosion but found that the two knights with shields wereing at him quickly, and the one with the ive had repositioned above him to cut off his escape.

    Of course, Marcus could have easily muscled his way through their formation with magic or a few other shy moves, but he was testing out his scythe, so he wanted to see how he could go with his martial skills and its abilities alone.

    Swiftly analyzing the situation, he ran towards the nearest of the shield wielding knights and began lowering his body.

    This made the knight think that Marcus was going to try and slide past him, so he repositioned and lowered his shield to catch him.

    But this was just a feint by Marcus, and instead he jumped towards the knightˇŻs shield and as they unleashed a shield bash towards him, he leapt off and used the momentum to propel himself.

    He shot right towards the other shield wielding knight who as caught off guard momentarily.

    ˇ®Perforation strike.ˇŻ

    Using his armor piercing attack skill, Marcus jammed the de of his scythe right through the thick adamantine shield and nearly into the knightˇŻs torso.

    Though before he was pieced, the knight realizing his shield waspromised tossed it aside along with MarcusˇŻ scythe and swiftly pulled out his longsword and used an attack skill.

    Repositioning his scythe Marcus caught the de in the center of his pole but was blown back as he currently had no solid footing.

    He went flying right towards Samson who so far had not done anything in the fight and was still trying to get over his nerves.

    Nevertheless, he was a long-time knight and his training and skills kicked in and he lunged towards Marcus.

    ˇ°Sonic Thrust!ˇ±

    Using his fastest attack he jabbed his rapier right toward MarcusˇŻ torso as he was flying through the air.

    CLANG!

    However, his attack was met by MarcusˇŻ shield that was automatically moving around to defend him, and at the same time Marcus spun his scythe around with the other knightˇŻs shield still attached to it.

    With a loud cracking sound Samson was hit in the side by the heavy adamantine shield, and along with it he was flung far away from Marcus.

    PWHEEEE!

    Hearing a loud whistling noiseing from above him just after he hit Samson, Marcus nced up just in time to watch three glowing arrowsing down right on top of him.

    Quickly he repositioned his shield above him to block them, but as the first one hit it began expanding into a powerful explosion.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The three arrows exploded around Marcus like high yield missiles, and a huge plumb of dust and dirt shot up around him in their wake.

    ˇ®ThatˇŻs a high-level knight for you.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he waved his hand in front of his face to push the dust away.

    The archer Sir Dickory even after taking the light attack from Marcus was still able to get up after a few seconds of time to recover. And while he was bleeding all over. He had still managed to counter attacked with a power barrage of explosive arrows.

    ˇ®If I had not noticed them, I could have been in trouble.ˇŻ Marcus thought

    In response to the explosions he had deployed his mana barrier. But even as strong as it was, it had a number of cracks running through it from the powerful explosion caused by the three arrows.

    Still, while Marcus was praising them for their efforts in his head. When he walked out from the cloud of dust they all were dumbfounded to see not a scratch on him.

    He had taken a direct hit from an attack that definitely would have left their weaker members heavily injured, and even Launce would have taken enough damage to slow him down.

    ˇ°Back into formation. We can still push our advantage in numbers.ˇ± Launce shouted out.

    Swiftly all the knights even Samson who had been sent flying got back into a new formation and they charged Marcus to prevent him from going on the offensive again.

    ˇ®This will be a good test.ˇŻ

    Running in with his scythe firmly held in both hands Marcus met their charge and began blocking their attacks and countering.

    Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that Marcus was not going to be able to win on only his martial prowess and scytheˇŻs abilities, as the seven knights were quickly overpowering him.

    He had already taken a number of ncing blows that if not for his armor and mana barrier would have caused him a fair amount of damage.

    And now that he did not have the element of surprise and the knights were getting more used to his speed and strength. They were countering him far better and with their impable teamwork they were beginning to overpower him with their numbers.

 Chapter 678 Testing Out the Strongest Scythe (2)

    ˇ®This is not working.ˇŻ

    Currently embroiled against all seven of the level sixty or higher knights, Marcus was having a much harder time of dealing with their assault now that he did not have the element of surprise and they were getting used to his movements.

    No longer were they justunching powerful attack at him, they were making little moves to throw him off and wear him down.

    Their coordination had also gone up a notch as they switched from a defensive formation to an offensive one in order to prevent Marcus from defining the battle anymore.

    ˇ®Crap! That one almost got me.ˇŻ

    Right now, Marcus was doing his best to block the attacks from all seven knights and trying to make an opening for attack, but that was easier said than done.

    In fact, he was having a hard enough time just staying on the defensive and had only managed to go unscathed so far by blocking attacks with is armor or mana barrier.

    And whenever he tired to attack at least three of the knights would move in to stifle his efforts and the other four would press the attack to force him back on the defensive.

    Of course, if he wanted to, he could use any number of spells or simply his powers as a ghost to escape or turn the tidepletely. But that would defeat his purpose of testing out his new scythe.

    ˇ®Guess I will have to start using some of its nastier abilities.ˇŻ

    After being pushed around for a good thirty seconds, Marcus finally decided to let loose on his scytheˇŻs power and really test it out.

    ˇ®LetˇŻs start with this one.ˇŻ<sub>.</sub>

    Swinging his scythe forward Marcus activated its weight increasing formation and made it several times heavier.

    This time when his attack was blocked the three knights that moved to intercept him were flung much farther back, and the halberd user who was leading the defense found his weapon now bent in the middle where it had received the attack.

    ˇ®And next.ˇŻ

    Turning back around he connected with SamsonˇŻs rapier as he was swinging down. And for a moment speaks flew before the thin adamantine de of SamsonˇŻs rapier was cut clean through.

    Blood then sprayed across the training ground as MarcusˇŻ scythe grazed his side where his light armor did not cover.

    ˇ®Wow the oscition formation works better than I thought.ˇŻ

    Marcus was amazed by how easily he had just cut right through an enchanted adamantine de, even if it was on the thin side.

    However, he did not have long to reveal in this achievement as the other three knights were still around him and had already regained their cool and were on the attack.

    Yet suddenly MarcusˇŻ scythe made a move that was wholly unexpected, and like his shield began defending him on its own.

    ˇ®Impact.ˇŻ

    Turning around after catching the attacking knights off guard with his scytheˇŻs auto defend feature, Marcusnded a punch enhanced by the skill he obtained from Inten on the heavily armored tank knight whose shield he had damaged earlier.<sub></sub>

    And while his armor did take the brunt of the hit, his insides were still rattled and he coughed up a mouthful of blood as he was sted back.

    ˇ°Unstoppable sh.ˇ±

    Aiming to force his way through MarcusˇŻ auto defending shield and scythe, Launce brought hisrge broadsword at Marcus from his blind spot and put in as much power as he could into his weapon.

    MarcusˇŻ scythe quickly moved to intercept and the two weapons shed for a bit before the scythe was pushed back.

    Without a wielder behind it the amount of power it could exert was only so much, but it still did manage to greatly reduce the power of the attack.

    Turning on his toes and keeping up his fluid motion, Marcus grabbed ahold of the scythe and spun around with it while jumping out of the way of LaunceˇŻs remaining attack.

    ˇ®Nice try.ˇŻ

    Immediately as he got away Dickory sted him with a barrage of arrows, but he had been prepared for this from the start.

    His scythe quickly flew out of his hands again and towards the archer as he used its auto attack function.

    Then he jumped high into the air and ced his shield in between him in the arrows in order escaped the massive explosions they created where he had been before.

    ˇ®He is doing a pretty good job, but it is only a matter of time.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    ncing down Marcus could see that Dickory was trying to run away from his scythe which was attacking him relentlessly.

    Still, as good as he was, he already had a number of shallow cuts all over his body, and his bow was begin chipped apart whenever he used it to block.

    Unfortunately, while Marcus would have liked to let his scythe take down who he considered to be the most troublesome opponent. He needed it toe back to him so he could properly defend against the other knights who had regrouped and were about tounch their next offensive.

    As soon as they were together again, the six of them all fired consecutive sts of mana out of their weapons and sent a massive attack towards Marcus who was still in the air.

    But right before their attack hit, his scythe made it back to his hands and he shed down with his own mana attack.

    The two powerful sts met and fought against each other before Marcus was pushed back slightly and the two attacks exploded as they reached their limits.

    The entire sky lit up brightly as the massive culmination of mana burst and shook the area.

    Gale force winds began blowing about whipping up the nearby foliage and even dislodging the trees from the edge of the royal woods.

    ˇ®Whoops that caused a bit more destruction than I expected.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked around from way up in the sky where he had retreated.

    Looking around in a panic all the knights realized that they had gone a bit overboard with that attack when they saw the coteral damage they had created.

    However, Marcus did not give them much time to consider the reprimand they were likely to get, as he mmed back onto the ground and continued his assault.

    ˇ®What the!?ˇŻ Launce thought as he received MarcusˇŻ next attack.

    He could feel that a bit of his mana had just been siphoned off and looked at Marcus in surprise.

    In response to LaunceˇŻs shock, Marcus smirked, and continued his assault while using his scytheˇŻs mana draining feature.

    Now whenever his weapon made contact with anyoneˇŻs weapon or body it would siphon off a bit of their mana, and quickly wear them down while also give Marcus a new stockpile of power to draw from.

    Quickly the knights realized that a prolonged battle was not in their favor as they strength was steadily sapped away by MarcusˇŻ scythe now that he was no longer holding back on its powers.

    ˇ®Give it everything you have. We are going in for one final attack.ˇŻ Launce said over the knightˇŻs telepathic connection.

    Encircling Marcus, all seven of the knights unleashed the best attacks they still could, and hoped to finish the battle in one big, coordinated attack.

    ˇ®Let me see how well this works.ˇŻ

    Holding his scythe forward Marcus charged it up with an excessive amount of his own mana along with every bit he had stolen from the knights.

    Then an instant before he was hit the glowing orange eye reappeared from the Doomsday WormˇŻs core and created a powerful barrier around Marcus.

    Huge explosions of power went off around him and he watched as waves of mana tried to break through his barrier.

    But as the powerful attacks from all the knights began to dissipate there was not a single crack on the immensely durable barrier Marcus had created that was reminiscent of the Dread BurrowerˇŻs.

    With Marcus having not taken any damage from their final assault, all of the knights looked out in despair to find that their best efforts had been thwarted.

    At this point most of them were out of mana or only running on dregs. And with Launce being the only one with the mana regeneration skill, none of the others would be in peak fighting shape again anytime soon.

    ˇ°We surrender Lady Geist. We are no longer fit to fight.ˇ± Launce said, knowing that he and his team were beat.

    Hearing this Marcus looked a little disappoint. He still wanted to use his scythe a bit more. But overall, he was satisfied, and knew that Launce was making the best judgment to prevent any serious injuries.

    ˇ°That was a good fight. You all really had me sweating there at one point.ˇ± Marcus said,plementing the knights.

    ˇ°No, we do not deserve such praise, Lady Geist. I know you were holding back and incrementally testing out the powers of your scythe. Had you been serious we would not have evensted a minute.ˇ± Launce said as he shook his head.

    He had watched MarcusˇŻ fight Quillon during the kingdomˇŻs tournament and knew that along with his skills with the scythe, he was also a master of many magics which he did not use once during their battle.

    ˇ°Well anyway, thank you for indulging me. Anyone I normally would have sparred with is busy right now, so without all of your help I would not have been able to truly test out my new weapon.ˇ±

    ˇ°You are more than wee Lady Irene. And I would like to thank you as well. Your help here allowed us to train in a way we rarely get to. Only when the true elites of our kingdom are fee do we ever get to run drills where we can fight against one far stronger opponent.ˇ± Launce said while bowing his head.

    The other knights who had fought Marcus soon followed suit. Showing their gratitude for him giving them such a memorable match.

 Chapter 679 Meeting with the Skalbeck Family

    A few days after MarcusˇŻ training match with some of the top knights of the kingdom it was finally time for him to whip ric into shape.

    The young half elf boy wanted to get strong so that he could keep up with Lilia after witnessing her unexpected strength.

    Of course, it was not going to be easy to get him near LiliaˇŻs level which had already exceeded forty at age thirteen.

    ˇ®He is going to be in for a rough time, but I will just consider this a test of his determination.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he was on his way to pick ric up.

    For his own rtionship with Mrazivy he had to do some crazy things, so if ric really wanted to be with his little sister, he was going to have to prove himself here and now.

    When Marcus arrived, he was quickly brought into a parlor where Bianca and her husband Viscount Skalbeck were waiting with ric.

    ˇ®Looks like his father is pretty tense.ˇŻ Marcus observed.

    It had been obviousst time that the viscount did not want to allow his oldest son to be left in the hands of Marcus to do whatever training he had in mind with no supervision from the Skalbeck family.

    However, Bianca had overruled him and since it was what ric wanted in the first ce, he was powerless to do anything but be racked with nerves.

    ˇ°It is good to see all of you again. Have you been well?ˇ± Marcus asked as he sat down.<sub>.</sub>

    A round of customary replies about how all of them had been fine went around before they got to the matter at hand.

    ˇ°Now we are going to be entrusting ric to you to help him train up to be stronger. He has taken time off from school like you did with Lilia years ago so I hope that you can get him to make progress just like she did.ˇ± Bianca said in between sipping her tea.

    ˇ°That is the n. Though ultimately, I cannot guarantee anything. A lot of his progress will be determined by his efforts.ˇ± Marcus said and looked towards ric.

    Immediately the young boy who was only thirteen hopped out of his seat with a confident expression.

    ˇ°I can do it Lady Irene. I am ready for anything as long as you can make me stronger. Next time something happens. I want to be the one to protect Lilia and my family instead of cowering under a table.ˇ± ric said with determination burning in his eyes.

    ˇ®Good, he seems motivated. As long as he can keep up his spirit, he should be able to be strong.ˇŻ

    After ricˇŻs deration, his father quickly berated him about how his conduct was improper, and he was being rude to their guest.

    Of course, Marcus said it was fine and that he was happy to see how determined ric was for his training.

    ˇ°Speaking of this training you are nning to do. Would you mind enlightening us as to your n?ˇ± Viscount Skalbeck said with an intense gaze.<sub></sub>

    Naturally he wanted to know what manner of things that Marcus was going to be putting his son through.

    ˇ°Hm nothing too abnormal I believe. First, I will need to assess his abilities in some training matches beforeing up with aprehensive n, but I already have a good idea of what we are going to do.ˇ±

    Marcus then began exining what he nned on doing, but it was not long before the viscount mmed his fist against the table, and shouted, ˇ°ABSOULTY NOT! Are you nning to get our son killed!ˇ±

    Upon hearing that Marcus nned on taking ric into a dungeon, his father became furious, believing that Marcus had lost his mind.

    It was practically unthinkable to take a child into a dungeon. A ce where monsters and beast roamed abound in high numbers and power, and where there were no settlements to use as shelter. One truly took their own lives into their hands inside such a ce, which was something most nobles never did.

    ˇ°ric said he wanted to be strong, so this is what is going to be necessary. Anyway, this is what I did with Lilia, and I think the results speak for themselves.ˇ±

    But even after Marcus told them that this is exactly what he had done with his little sister, ricˇŻsˇŻ father was still steaming and now refusing to let ric go.

    Unfortunately, the person in question was begging his father to allow him to go into the dungeon and train as Lilia had.

    ˇ°Dear, I believe we already agreed to allow Lady Irene to do as she pleases when training ric. He wants this and there is no doubt it will benefit him all through his life.ˇ± Bianca said trying to calm down her husband.<sub></sub>

    Luckily this did do the trick, and he sat down grumbling and with a frown, but no longer shouting in protest.

    ˇ°I promise that there is no need to worry. At the very least I will make sure that he does not die.ˇ± Marcus said with a smile.

    ˇ®Though if he happens to lose a limb or two in a fight, I cannot help that. Though if that does happen, I can just regrow them back for him.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    He had no intention of babying ric, and other than intervening if he was about to die, he had no intention of putting into any of his battles.

    ˇ°Lady Irene is an aplished adventurer, there is no need for us to worry about ricˇŻs safety. Anyway, you saw how strong Lilia was and she is undoubtedly weaker than Lady Irene is.ˇ± Bianca said to reassure her husband.

    At this he sighed; and seeing that any resistance he put up would be futile, went halfheartedly along with the rest of the conversation.

    ˇ°Now to get ric into the dungeon though first he is going to need to be a silver rank adventurer. To that end I will need at least one of you to apany me to give permission as his parent to sign him up.ˇ±

    Nodding her head Bianca agreed to go to the guild with them and allow ric to sign up.

    Next she began trying to discuss the matter of payment for MarcusˇŻ services, but he waved his hand and denied her.

    ˇ°No need for that. I am doing this as a personal favor to your family and for Lilia.ˇ±

    ˇ°But did you not say that you would make equipment for ric. Surely, we cannot just allow you to do so for free. Especially since you are skilled and talented enough to be hired by the royal family to make the future rulerˇŻs crown.ˇ± Bianca said, not wanting to allow Marcus to do all this work for free.

    However, Marcus really had no want or need to be paid in this situation. Especially because they might refuse to ept certain things he nned to give to ric on ount of how expensive they would be.

    ˇ®I doubt they want to bust out thousands upon thousands of gold coins for all the natural treasures and high tier equipment I n on giving him. I just need to keep refusing until they relent.ˇŻ

    Continuing on with his stance that this was a favor, Marcus fought back and forth with Bianca for good thirty minutes about whether he would ept any money, before she finally relented and allowed Marcus to do as he pleased.

    ˇ°Fine, but if you are always this kind others will start taking advantage of you.ˇ± Bianca said trying to advise Marcus.

    ˇ°Oh, there is no need to worry about that. I only am like this with those that I consider close friends. For anyone else, I would be sure to charge full price.ˇ±

    With that done they simply had a bit of small talk for nearly an hour before Marcus suggested that they should go to the adventurers guild and get ric registered now.

    ˇ°Yes, I suppose that would be for the best. It will dy his training if we do not do it today while we have the time.ˇ±

    Hearing this ric practically bounced out of his chair and looked like an engine revving up with how excited he was.

    ˇ®I wonder if he will be able to stay this way once he learns how harsh it can be to be an adventurer.ˇŻ Marcus thought, seeing the childlike reaction.

    Quickly Bianca had a carriage prepared for ric and herself, and Marcus followed along in his own as they made their way to the main branch of the adventurers guild in the royal capital.

    When they arrived both Bianca and ric stopped and started at therge building for a few moments, impressed by its grandeur.

    ˇ°It certainly is something. There are a lot of adventurers in the capital, so they need a headquarters thisrge as well as dozens of branches just in this city to amodate everyone.ˇ± Marcus exined.

    Once they were finished gawking at the building, they went inside and lined up to get ric registered.

    Of course, they attracted a lot of attention since it was clear that Bianca and ric were out of ce here.

    Their noble demeanor not to mention the guards they had made it quite obvious who they were. But what really caught everyoneˇŻs attention was Marcus standing with them.

    While he had not taken any request for a long time there were still plenty of veterans that recognized him, and others that knew about him from his time fighting in the kingdomˇŻs tournament.

    Luckily no one came and bothered their group due to these two reasons, and the professional member of the guildˇŻs staff registered ric without any fuss.

 Chapter 680 Alaricâ€™s Days of Hellish Training Begin

    ˇ°Here is your guild card. As you can see your current rank is cooper, which is the lowest. But as I exined earlier you need only sessfullyplete five jobs to reach the next rank. Now good luck and we here at the guild are looking forward to great things for you.ˇ±

    After taking the guild card form the receptionist ric stared at it with gleaming eyes for a moment, before practically running on over to the request board.

    However, before he got far, Marcus rushed to catch up with him and stopped him from continuing on.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, what is the matter? I just wanted to go and look at the requests now that I am an adventurer.ˇ±

    Sighing Marcus shook his head and told ric that now was not the time for that.

    ˇ°We are not taking any jobs yet; I need to assess your abilities before then. And right now, what is most important is saying farewell to your mother. Just like for your school you are going to be away from her for a while, and I am sure it would help alleviate some of her worry if you had a proper goodbye.ˇ±

    Turning back around ric could see his mother slowly approaching them. And while she had a smile on her face, it was more forced than normal. It was clear that she was actually very worried no matter how much support she had shown.

    Taking ric with him Marcus headed back over to Bianca and their group exited the guild hall and returned to the parking lot where their carriages were parked.

    Once there, mother and son had a lengthy goodbye before Bianca came up to Marcus onest time.

    ˇ°From this point on I will be trusting you with my son. I know you will probably not be able to prevent him from getting hurt, but all I ask is that you bring him back alive and in one piece.ˇ± Bianca said with a few tears falling down her face.<sub>.</sub>

    Seeing how her worries were showing, Marcus made sure to assure her that he would do everything he could to make sure ric did not meet his end.

    ˇ°You can trust me, Bianca. I will take good care of him, and when hees back, he will undoubtedly be stronger.ˇ±

    With MarcusˇŻ assurance, Bianca took her leave and waved goodbye from the carriage window as she drove away.

    ˇ°Now ric, the first thing we are going to do is go to my mansion and assess your abilities. Once I am done with that, we can gear you up with some proper equipment for an adventure before going to grab some requests.ˇ±

    ricˇŻs eyes lit up as he heard this, and the lingering sadness from saying farewell to his mother disappeared in an instant from his growing excitement.

    One more carriage rideter and ric was at MarcusˇŻ estate which he had visited a few times before when meeting with or picking up Lilia.

    ˇ®Okay, now what is his status.ˇŻ

    Having received ricˇŻs permission, Marcus for the first time since originally spying on the boy and Lilia years ago read his status.

    ˇ®Well, he has leveled up a bit, but still not all that high. His skills are more expansive than I thought they would be, but all are at level one currently.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    Now knowing ricˇŻs status, Marcus understood that he definitely had his work cut out for him.

    The boy was currently level eleven, which for a thirteen-year-old was good. Though not umon for a student at the royal academy at ricˇŻs grade.

    He also had some useful skills like wind magic, ice magic, and the rare smoke magic. Along with the swordsmanship weapon skill.

    However, each of these skills were still level one, and the swordsmanship was not a superior skill, so it was not the weapon he would be most talented with.

    Other than those four skills though, his others were more academic and had to do with his schoolwork, like arithmetic and etiquette.

    ˇ®Well, he does have three magic skills which is pretty good, not to mention his blessing of smog that gives him a boost to his smoke magic and also stealth rted skills.ˇŻ

    Having assessed ricˇŻs status Marcus next told him to show off his magic.

    ˇ®Wow that was mediocre.ˇŻ Was all Marcus could think as he watched ric use his spells.

    He knew four tier one ice magic spell, three wind magic spells, and only the singr system given tier one smoke magic spell. His chanting was pretty average and was by no means fast. And to Marcus who was able to cast spells without any verbalponents it seemed unbearably slow.<sub></sub>

    ˇ®The power behind the spells is also not that great, but I guess it has been a while since I have seen someone low level using magic. I suppose that it is pretty rare to be able to throw out city block leveling spells with ease.ˇŻ

    ˇ°ric give me a moment to make a few things. In the meant time feel free to head into the mansion and rest for a bit. I will be back in a short while.ˇ± Marcus said when he was finished observing ricˇŻs magic.

    Leaving ric in the care of his maids, Marcus headed to his workshop and quickly pulled out a bit of bronze he kept there.

    ˇ®It has been a while since I used any of this.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he did a few test swings with a hammer to get used to the feel of the metal.

    Once he felt he was ready, he quickly forged a generic bronze sword that was the right size for ric, and for himself a bronze scythe.

    ˇ®They turned out pretty well for a couple of rush jobs.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he inspected both weapons.

    Neither of them was enchanted in anyway, but his high skill level had allowed him to make the weapons to their peak, and there was no doubt they were impable weapons for lower leveled individuals.

    With the bronze weapons stored in his item box, Marcus headed back to his manor and found that ric was currently drinking tea and eating cookies being served to him by Ste.

    Yet his peaceful teatime soon came to an end as Marcus took out the bronze sword he made and handed it to ric.

    ˇ°Now let me see how good with a sword you are.ˇ±

    Taking the bronze sword ric looked ecstatic and gave Marcus a big smile.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, did you just make this? Is it an enchanted de?ˇ± ric said with an exhrated tone.

    ˇ°Yes, I just made it, but no it is not enchanted. For now, it is just a test sword for me to see your skills. Now follow me back into the yard so I can see what level you are at.ˇ±

    Enthusiastically ric exited the manor behind Marcus, and as soon as they were outside, he began showing off the training forms he had been taught at the academy.

    ˇ®Well, he ispetent enough, but I would say he does not really have much talent for using a sword. It really will be best to figure out what weapon he has the most innate skill for.ˇŻ

    After viewing what ric had been taught at the royal academy for a half hour, he told ric to stop and rest a bit.

    ˇ°Okay I think that is long enough. Pick up your sword and get ready. We are going to spar a bit.ˇ± Marcus said as he took out the bronze scythe he had just made.

    Seeing MarcusˇŻ weapon ric took a step back again and went paled face.

    ˇ°Um Lady Irene, there is no way we can spar with these weapons. They are ded and sharpened. In the academy we use practice weapons that do not have any sharp edges and are padded to prevent major injury.ˇ± ric said with a look of unease on his face.

    ˇ°No need to be worried. I will make sure to not hit you with the de and will hold back on any strikes to not do any real damage. As for me, you need not worry. Even if you hit me that sword cannot cut me.ˇ±

    With MarcusˇŻ assurances ric tentatively got in position, but he still looked a bit nervous about attacking with a real weapon.

    ˇ°Hurry up and make your move. I can tell you now that no enemy would wait for you to finally get the nerve to strike. I have experienced the pain of hesitation a number of times in my earlier days. Now hurry up and attack or I will.ˇ± Marcus said to ric in a cold voice.

    Gripping his sword tighter and clenching his teeth, ric after being egged on by Marcus finally ran forward and began swinging his sword.

    For the first few attacks Marcus simply dodged, before sighing and causally swiping the end of his scytheˇŻs pole forward.

    Wham!

    In one fluid motion Marcus had pped ricˇŻs hands with the butt of his scythe, and the young boy let out a yelp of pain and dropped his sword.

    ˇ°What are you doing? That should not have been nearly enough to knock your weapon from your hands. Now pick it up and try again.ˇ±

    However, in response to MarcusˇŻ order ric just red at him, and said, ˇ°Lady Irene that was a foul. You are not allowed to hit your training partnerˇŻs hands.ˇ±

    Sighing once again at the indignant look in ricˇŻs face, Marcus now knew that while the academy taught proper form, they were toox in other areas.

    ˇ°I am training you for real battles. I can tell you that beasts, monsters, and especially humans will not abide to any code of conduct while fighting for their lives. Now grab your sword, and the next time youe at me halfheartedly, I will hit you harder.ˇ±

 Chapter 681 Alaricâ€™s New Weapon

    ˇ°That is better. But you still need more ferocity and to think of your moves quicker.ˇ±

    ˇ°Your feints are not going to work if you keep your eyes glued to the spot you are aiming for.ˇ±

    ˇ°DonˇŻt ovemit to an all or nothing attack unless you are certain it will connect or have no other option. Otherwise, you are just asking to be countered.ˇ±

    Whack!

    ˇ°Pughh!ˇ±

    After ric put his all into a single thrust from his sword, Marcus easily side-stepped the attack. He then brought the pole of his scythe up and hit the boy square in the stomach, which caused him to make a pained noise as the wind was knocked out of him.

    Instantly ric crumbled to the ground and held his stomach in pain while tears streamed down his face.

    ˇ°Minor cure.ˇ±

    Crouching down Marcus ced his hand on the boyˇŻs back and cast his tier one healing magic spell to help him recover.

    In just a few moments the pian that ric was experiencing was gone. But it was swiftly reced by anger which he directed at the one who had hurt him.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Lady Irene, what was that for?! I was doing everything you said but you still hit me really hard.ˇ± ric said with an indignant look in his eyes.

    ˇ°Yes, I did. You made a fatal mistake, and I am making sure you never do again. It is better to deal with a little pain in training than get killed in battle. You wanted to be strong, so I am doing what is needed. I imagine that if you were to train under a knight after your graduation, they would give you simr training. What you have experienced so far at school is only a foundation to be stronger. Normally you would have been taught at a slower pace, but you said you wanted to be strong, and that means elerating your growth by intensifying your education.ˇ±

    Hearing what Marcus said and seeing the look in his eyes that was asking if he wanted to quit, ric gritted his teeth and dragged himself.

    ˇ°I do want to be strong Lady Irene. And if this is what is necessary, please continue teaching me.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus was d to see that the little bit of pain he had put the boy through was not enough to make him quit.

    ˇ°That is good. You will need to keep up that drive. This is not thest time nor the worse pain you will feel on this path.ˇ± Marcus said with a grave expression.

    For a moment ric winced and rubbed his stomach, but he stayed strong and asked that they continue.

    ˇ°Sorry but we are done for today. I simply wanted to assess your skills. You have promise with magic, but your sword ability is only average. We will not be pursuing it any further. Instead, tomorrow we will go to the zegram Forge and find what weapon you are most suited for.ˇ±

    Hearing that he had potential with his magic ric grew a bright smile, but it quickly faded when Marcus told him he was only average with the sword.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°But Lady Irene, I head that all the coolest knights and fighters use swords. It is the weapon most of the boys at the academy use along with spears, but I am no good at all with those.ˇ±

    ric looked very attached to using a sword, but Marcus could only shake his head.

    ˇ°Sorry, but you are not cut out for wielding a sword. You could work hard at it and get pretty good, but for those that work just as hard and have talent you will see an enormous difference. Trust me, at first I wanted to use a sword as well, but I found my best weapon and have never gone back.ˇ± Marcus said as he brandished the bronze scythe in his hands,

    Seeing Marcus do a few quick moves with his scythe, ricˇŻs eyes began to widen, and he was easily captivated by it.

    ˇ°See, any weapon can look cool in the hands of one proficient in using it. Tomorrow we will find your best weapon.ˇ± Marcus said before heading back towards his manor.

    ric quickly followed behind and asked Marcus a question he did not really want to answer.

    ˇ°So how did you figure out that Lilia is best with gauntlets? I have seen her fighting and she is pretty amazing.ˇ±

    At this question Marcus smiled awkwardly as he thought about how to exin this to ric.

    ˇ®Do I just tell him a lie? No if he asks Liliater, he will figure out the truth. I just do not want him to lose some drive if I tell him that Lilia got a lot of her best skills from skill orbs I gave her.ˇŻ<sub></sub>

    For Lilia, he had given her any number of rare and valuable skill orbs, but he had no n to do the same for ric and did not want the kid expecting them if he told him that was what Lilia had done.

    ˇ°Well Lilia was a bit of a special case, but for me I figured it out by testing out a bunch of weapons and getting a feel for them until I found the one I liked best. That is what we will do tomorrow and then I will personally make you a new weapon.ˇ±

    Luckily ric got distracted when Marcus told him he would make him a new weapon, and the kid started going off about what kind of unrealistic powers he would want it to have.

    After that they spent the rest of their day in leisure, but at night while everyone else was asleep Marcus came up with aprehensive n for ricˇŻs training.

    ˇ°That should do it. Now the only problem is if I can have him ready on time to enter the special dungeon towards the end of summer.ˇ±

    With a n written up, all that was left was for Marcus to enact it and hope it would be enough to get the kid from level elven to around level forty in a few months.

    When the next day came as soon as breakfast was finished Marcus loaded ric onto his carriage and they headed over to the zegram Forge.

    Once there, Marcus made his way to the store front where weapons were sold and got permission to let ric test them out.

    ˇ°Wow there are even more weapons here than in the academyˇŻs storehouse. And all of them are enchanted. Oh, those over there are made of mithril.ˇ±

    Like a kid in a candy store ric began running around looking at all of the weapons that we for sale.

    ˇ°ric we are not here to y games. Now I have set up all the mostmon weapons over here. Try each one out and get a feel for it.ˇ±

    Going down the line ric tried weapons from clubs to scimitars, but he did not have much better talent for any of them.

    That was until he picked up the long staff that was often a favored weapon for magic casters.

    It was clear that ric had an innate talent for the weapon when he swung it around.

    His feel for its bnce was above what he had shown with any other weapon.

    ˇ°I believe that is the one for you ric. I am sure you can tell how much more natural it feels to use.ˇ±

    Holding the staff in his hands ric gave it a few more swings and there was no doubt he could feel that it was the one that felt the best to him.

    Now having found the weapon that most suited ric, Marcus told the kid toe with him to the forge where he would make him a new weapon.

    ˇ°Just go ahead and sit over there and make sure not to get too close. I am practically immune to heat, but you could easily get burned.ˇ±

    After giving this warning Marcus lit up the furnace in his private room at the forge and began pulling out supplies to use for making his staff.

    Unfortunately, while bronze was easy to get, the elemental crystals he wanted to use were all far too high quality to use in a beginnerˇŻs weapon.

    ˇ®Guess I will ask Gurrom if he has any.ˇŻ Marcus thought before leaving momentarily.

    ˇ°Yeah, I have some low grad elemental crystals you can have. No need to pay me for them, just consider it a favor.ˇ± Gurrom said before heading into his private room and digging around for a bit.

    Soon enough he came back with three low grade elemental crystals of the elements that Marcus wanted.

    ˇ°Thanks for this Gurrom. If you ever need a favor, feel free to ask. But I am surprised that you have a smoke elemental crystal, they are notmon. Where might you have gotten it?ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh, I picked that up on my most recent trip where I went around to rediscover myself. It was around the area of a volcano, which is pretty much the only ce you can find them. Only other ce I could think of might be an area that often experiences wildfires often or something like that.ˇ± Gurrom said before telling Marcus exactly where the volcano was.

    Having what he needed now, Marcus headed back to his own workshop and got started on making ric a new weapon.

    It was easy enough for him to quickly turn a bronze ingot into a staff, which he embedded with the three elemental crystals and the core of a level twentyish monster.

    Once that was done, he added a few basic formations. Though he did not use celestial tinum, since ric was in the room, and he felt it would be a waste for this weapon that he would rece when ric was a little higher than level twenty.

 Chapter 682 Taking Alaric Out into the Wilds

    Now that ric had a new weapon Marcus handed the enchanted staff over to him and let him try it out a bit.

    ˇ°Wow it feelspletely different from the other one. Is this what a masterpiece feels like.ˇ± ric said as he swung the staff around.

    Of course, it was not actually a masterpiece as he surmised, but it was more than sufficient for a person at a lower level.

    ˇ°Well, I am d you like it but to go along with it you need some armor. So, for the meantime keep practicing and I will make you something that is light and easy to move in.ˇ±

    Going back into work mode Marcus pulled out some more bronze and began the far lengthier process of making some light armor for ric.

    ˇ®Yeah, a thin chain shirt and pants ought to do it.ˇŻ

    Within an hour after using all of his skills to speed the process up, Marcus had made the base of the armor for ric.

    ˇ®Yep, chain mail is always tedious. But at least with bronze I can just bend it into shape with my bare hands.ˇŻ Marcus thought while adding a few basic enchantments to the armor.

    Once it was done, he had ric put it on under his clothes to allow the boy to get a good feel for his new equipment.

    ˇ°I feel way stronger now. I can already tell how amazing this stuff is Lady Irene.ˇ± ric said while jumping around andughing.

    He truly looked like a kid having fun here, and Marcus cracked a smile seeing him so happy of the items he had just made.<sub></sub>

    Still, there were many other things that they needed to get done, so the amount of carefree time that Marcus was going to give ric was limited.

    ˇ°Now that you have some new gear it is time that you test it out. I had Lilia fight some beasts and monsters once I gave her some gear, and you are going to do the same. It will be a good learning experience for you to get your first taste of real battle.ˇ±

    Leading the way out of the forge Marcus took ric into a back lot and made sure no one was around.

    ˇ°This should do.ˇ± He said and allowed Roxene, Inten, and Blitz out of hispanion storage.

    Startled by seeing the three beasts suddenly appear ric feel t onto his butt and stared at Blitz who looked the most menacing of the three even if he was actually the weakest.

    ˇ°ric I would like to introduce you to my three beastpanions. You will eb getting to know them fairly well during your training since they are going to be helping out.ˇ±

    Marcus then introduced the three of them to ric who was slowly gaining back hisposure.

    ˇ°Oh, and do not touch Roxene unless she allows it. She has no problem biting peopleˇŻs arms off if they try to touch her without permission.ˇ± Marcus said as he saw ricˇŻs hand wavering back and forth towards Roxene.

    Though as soon as he heard this, he yanked his hand back and held it close to himself.

    Of course, Marcus was overexaggerating a bit. Roxene would normally warn someone at least once before doing anything drastic, but he did not want ric getting on RoxeneˇŻs bad side.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°Okay, I think that we are ready to go now. Go ahead and mount Blitz, he is used to people riding him and should not be much different from a horse.ˇ±

    Slowly ric approached Blitz who lowered his body and nodded his head towards the boy beckoning him to get on.

    Tentatively, ric ced his right leg over Blitz and sat down on his back.

    An instantter Blitz stood back up and ric gripped ahold his neck tightly in order to not fall off.

    ˇ°Roxene, do you mind?ˇ±

    Rolling her eyes, she understood what Marcus wanted and increased her size a bit with her supreme skill to berge enough to be ridden on.

    Jumping on her back Marcus made sure to grip her fur and lower his body so that he would not slow her down as much.

    Naturally he was the only one who was allowed to do this as her partner, and anyone else that wanted to ride Roxene would find themselves turned into dust by corroding darkness or searing light.

    ˇ°Now to the northern exit of the city.ˇ± Marcus said, and Blitz and Roxene shoot off towards the edge of the city while Inten rested on MarcusˇŻ shoulder.

    As soon as Blitz began running at a fast pace, ric began screaming in terror as he had never gone so fast outside of a carriage before.<sub></sub>

    Within just a half hour they made it to the northern gate of the royal capital, and while they garnered some stares for ridding on such unique beasts, they nheless exited the capital without issue.

    ˇ°Well now that we are out of the city Roxene and Blitz can really let loose and get some speed Marcus said back to ric.

    Though as he looked at the boy, he saw his disheveled appearance that looked simr to scared cat clinging to something for dear life.

    ˇ°I suppose that we could take it a bit slower instead.ˇ± Marcus said as he stifled a few chuckles.

    Getting back onto the road they traveled away from the royal capital for around three hours before turning off the road and heading out into the unpatrolled or maintained wilds.

    ˇ°This should be a good ce for a base camp.ˇ± Marcus said when he found a t area at the base of multiple hills.

    It was well out of view from all sides and would be protected against the wind, making it a good ce to set up.

    However, as Marcus got down off Roxene and easily kept going ric copsed to the ground, evidently exhausted from the long travel that was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

    Seeing that ric was down for the count, Marcus began setting up camp on his own and figured he could teach the tired half elf tomorrow.

    ˇ°This is delicious!ˇ± ric said as soon as he ate the stew that Marcus had prepared for dinner.

    He could not believe how good it tasted for something that was made out in the middle of nowhere without a proper cooking facility.

    ˇ°Lilia always told me you were a good cook, but this is even better than our own chef,dy Irene. You must have some sort of gift for cooking.ˇ± ric said before digging in and eating ravenously.

    Once they had finished eating. Marcus allowed ric and his beastpanions who needed rest to get some.

    ˇ®It has been a while since Ist stayed up on my own keeping watch.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he took a book out and started reading.

    With his skills he was fairly confident that he would detect any threat before it became a problem. Also, any beast with half a braincell would stay as far away from Roxene as they could.

    Luckily the night went uneventfully, and as soon as ric was awake, Marcus showed him how to break down their camp and set it back up again.

    ˇ°Hm, it took around a half dozen tries, but you have gotten good enough to pass.ˇ± Marcus said once ric sessfully pitched a tent.

    Letting out a sigh of relief, ric was ecstatic to not have to practice anymore with setting up camp.

    pa??? ?<0>??? ˇ°I am sure you have been waiting for this. It is time to go out ins each of some monsters or beasts for you to fight.ˇ±

    Perking up and regaining his energy, ric expressed his enthusiasm for their main purpose of being out here.

    However, as they trudged through the wilds for over an hour without finding anything his spirits began to fall again, and his body that was not used to being exerted this much began to ache.

    ˇ°Oh, looks like we found the jackpot for you.ˇ± Marcus said as he extended his finger and pointed towards the creatures he had spotted.

    Around a thousand feet away was a shoddily constructed camp and sitting around roasting something over a fire were a dozen goblins.

    They were a far cry from the well-armed and organized goblins Marcus had once ughtered in the Great Gome Woods, and it was clear that this was just a stray group with no real leadership.

    ˇ®Their levels range from three to ten. They should make for excellent training for ric.ˇŻ

    For a few minutes Marcus made sure to have ric observe the goblins and quiz him on what they were doing and how to tell what their hierarchy was.

    ˇ°So, the one with the beat-up iron spear is the leader, right?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, that would be correct. You can tell since he has the best weapon out of all of them, and when they started eating, he took the best piece for himself. And if you watched carefully, you could see that the weakest two goblins were actually made to fight over the remaining scraps.ˇ±

    Nodding his head ric made sure to remember this, though he was beginning to wonder why all this was so important.

    But as if he could read the boyˇŻs mind, Marcus quickly answered his question.

    ˇ°It is crucial to be able to gage your opponentsˇŻ strengths even without an appraisal skill. There are plenty of methods to block or fool the skill, so being able to judge the rtive power of others on your own is a critical ability.ˇ±

 Chapter 683 Alaricâ€™s First Real Fight

    ˇ°I believe we have done enough observation. Go out here and take on the goblins. If you fight smart you should be able to handle all of them. Oh, and I suggest you try to do your best, because I will not being to help you unless you are about to die. If you get badly injured, you are just going to have to deal with it.ˇ±

    ric gulped as he received MarcusˇŻ warning, and luckily this helped to make him even more serious as he knew help would not being if he just messed up a little bit.

    ˇ®If I coddle him too much he will never grow. I did the same with Lilia and it helped her to be more cautious and get stronger overall.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched ric head off towards the goblins.

    He had gotten himself lower to the ground and was slowly inching along so that he could catch the goblins by surprise.

    Slowly but surely, he made his way over and hide in a bush that was not too far away from their camp.

    Now in position he began quietly chanting a spell and when he was done he let it loose.

    ˇ°Ice Spike.ˇ±

    An around half foot long sharp pointed spike of ice went flying off of ricˇŻs staff and flew right towards the lead goblin.

    Without any awareness of the iing attack the level ten goblin was caught off guard and soon the spike of ice pierced right into its head.

    One moment the goblin had been dancing randomly around a fire and the next it copsed onto the ground dead.

    A soupy red substance flowed out of its head and the merriment the goblins had been having immediately stopped as they watched their leader die.<sub></sub>

    Quickly they began looking for the source but by the time they spotted ric he had fired off another spell.

    This time though the goblins did see the attacking and the one it was aimed at jumped to the side to avoid having its head skewered.

    Nevertheless, it was not able to fully avoid the ice spike and the side of its bulbous head was pierced. Causing it to let out a shrill shriek of pain.

    At this point the other goblins in a fury began charging towards ric who had been momentarily distracted by the howl of the second one he hit.

    Luckily, he did not freeze up in the face of seven goblins charging him and began running away while chanting another spell.

    ˇ°Haze Field.ˇ±

    While running away ric cast his only tier one smoke magic spell and out of the tip of his staff a thin plumb of smoke began spreading out over a fifteen-foot area.

    It was certainly not all that impressive of a spell, but it was useful for suddenly cutting off a sightline.

    This caused the goblins to momentarily lose sight of ric, and when they ran into the field of smoke right behind him, they got disoriented. Once inside they could only see around ten feet around them, which was not quite enough to see the entirety of the field.

    Then one of the goblins was caught from behind by a heavily thwack on the head and fell to the ground.<sub></sub>

    In a bit of a frenzy ric began bringing his staff down over and over again on this goblin until the others noticed and starteding after him again.

    This left ric still with six goblins chasing after him and he knew that a frontal confrontation would not be best for him.

    Unfortunately, he did not take into ount the goblin he had previously failed to kill with his second ice spike spell. Which he now found in front of him as he tired to run away from the other six.

    Its head was bleeding quite profusely from where the ice spike had been, but it was not a fatal wound and this goblinˇŻs eyes were bloodshot in anger.

    In its hands was also the beat-up iron spear that the lead goblin had previously had, and it was pointed in ricˇŻs direction.

    With his path ahead and behind blocked, ric found himself quickly surround by goblins on all sides and hopelessly outnumbered.

    His breathing started to be unsteady as panic overcame him, and he charged towards the nearest goblin and began swinging wildly to try and break through their formation.

    This goblin that had nothing but a wooden stick as a weapon brought it up to defend itself but was quickly overpowered and knocked down by only two swings from ric.

    However, in that time the other goblins had pounced towards him and the one with a spear jabbed it right towards his torso.

    Unbale to block in time ric felt the spear tip hit him in the stomach<sub></sub>

    It certainly hurt a bit as he felt the force behind it, but thanks to the armor Marcus had given him he managed to not have his flesh and muscle pierced.

    But as he tried to regain his footing, another goblin came at him from behind and stuck him on his back with a club, while a third grabbed onto his left leg and tried to bite into him.

    Luckily these areas were all where he had armor on, and he managed to not take too much damage.

    Swinging wildly with his staff he knocked the goblins off him, but an instantter he felt a sharp pain in his right arm just above his wrist.

    Looking over he watched as the goblin with the iron spear pulled back its de which was now covered in crimson blood.

    Seeing and feeling this, ric screamed out and nearly let go of his staff to grab his wounded arm.

    Yet he managed to hold on as he remembered MarcusˇŻ earlier instruction, and even as tears fell down his face, he gritted his teeth and tried to fight back.

    Luckily, he had a few moments of reprieve as the goblins in their cruelness and stupidity startedughing at him for crying and screaming.

    They figured that they had already won now that they had their sudden attacker surrounded and injured.

    But during this time what sounded like muttering to the goblins was ric chanting his quickest to cast spell.

    ˇ°Freezing touch.ˇ±

    When he finished the chant, he used the spell and jabbed his staff forward toward the goblin with the spear.

    This goblin seeing this attack swiped its spear forward and brushed what it thought to be a desperate attack away.

    The moment that the spear and staff connected ricˇŻs spell was released, and ice began forming over the sphere and soon enough the goblins arms up to its shoulders were covered in a thinyer of ice.

    The sudden increase in weight from the ice caused the goblin to topple over, and it screamed and iled about as it tried to pull its arms away from the frozen spear to no avail.

    After taking out he biggest threat from the goblins, ric turned his attention to the nearest one that was caught off guard by watching another of its ranks go down.

    Wham!

    The goblin was hit hard in the side of the head by ricˇŻs staff and went flying a few feet before skidding across the ground to a stop.

    Quickly seeing another one of their members attacked, the remaining goblins shook off their surprise and attacked ric.

    They started jumping at him and trying to attack his arms, neck, and head. They had already seen that he had armor they could not hope to get through protecting his legs and torso.

    Eventually the battle came to an end with ric being the only one still standing. With all the goblins either dead or incapacitated at his feet.

    Even so, ric was covered in his own and the goblinsˇŻ blood, as they had fought ferociously and used their sharp ws and teeth to tear at the parts of his body that were unarmored.

    His arms had bite marks all over them, and there was an especially nasty scratch from one of the goblinˇŻs ws all the way down his face and neck.

    The adrenaline slowing down now that the battle was over, ric felt faint from pain and blood loss, and he began to stumble. Nearly falling over onto the ground. But before he did, he felt someone catch him.

    ˇ°That was a pretty good fight for your first time. You definitely made plenty of mistakes, but I am proud that you did not give up when it started to get tough. Had you, I can assure you that your injuries would have been even worse.ˇ± Marcus said as he bathed ric in a bright white light.

    pˇ˘and a-nˇ˘oˇ˘vel Within just a few seconds the young half elf boy who was horribly injured and likely to die was healed back up to full health.

    As he felt the pain and fatigue leave him, he blinked rapidly to refocus his vison, and then looked up at Marcus who was smiling down at him.

    No longer feeling like he was about to die, ric pulled away from Marcus and took a proper look at the goblins around him.

    Some of them were still alive, though they were either knocked out or restrained by ice.

    ˇ°You should go ahead and finished them off quickly. No need to make them suffer, and you get more exp if you deal the finishing blow.ˇ± Marcus said to ric.

    Quickly the young boy did as instructed and killed all the still living goblins with a single ice spike spell to the head.

 Chapter 684 Alaricâ€™s Progress

    A little over three weeks went by after ricˇŻs first battle with the group of goblins.

    During this time he had gotten a lot more experience fighting out in the wilds, and at two weeks in Marcus stopped watching over the boy and sent him out on his own.

    Of course, he did instruct Inten to follow him stealthy just in case, and only a few times did the diamond mouse have to covertly interfere with one of ricˇŻs battles.

    Then one day when ric returned with quills all over his body and the now dead giant porcupine dragging behind him, Marcus decided that their training trip had been sessful enough.

    ˇ®Yep, he had finally reached a decent level for us to get started on his real training.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he appraised ric.

    The young half elf was now level twenty-one and considerably stronger than he had been when they got started.

    In just a bit more than three weeks he had gained ten levels which was pretty good growth and not easily replicated.

    Most people leveled up a lot slower and took their time, since getting seriously injured could leave them crippled or dead.<sub></sub>

    But in ricˇŻs case, one of the major advantages with having Marcus watching over him was the full healing he received at the end of each day. Even the one time he lost his hand when it was bit off by arge snow leopard.

    This allowed him to throw himself into battles everyday and not worry about whatever injuries he might incur.

    Of course, he did his best to get out of his fights as unscathed as possible, since he still felt just as much pain as anyone else.

    ˇ°You have done very well over these past few weeks, ric. Your progress has been good and your perseverance to keep going exceptional. But now it is time for us to head back to Borealia.ˇ± Marcus said while healing ric.

    Though as he said this there was a panicked look in the young boyˇŻs eyes, and he shook his head in disagreement.

    ˇ°No, I need much more time out here. I know I am not even close to as strong as Lilia yet. I still need to stay out here and train more.ˇ± ric said with a frantic expression.

    It was clear that he thought that Marcus saying it was time to return home meant the end of their training. But in actually they had only gotten started.<sub></sub>

    ˇ°You misunderstand ric. I am not finished getting your stronger yet, but just staying out here and grinding more levels will stifle your potential. Your level is now high enough for you to receive more thorough instructions and start to pick up other useful skills. Along with that we need to get your rank up as an adventurer, so it is time for you to start epting requests.ˇ±

    Hearing this ric swiftly perked up and went to start breaking down camp immediately so that they could return to the city.

    ˇ®I was going to let him rest for the night, but if wants to go now it is not a big deal.ˇŻ

    Aiding ric, Marcus began putting things away into his practically absurdly huge item box and within just a half dozen minutes they were ready to go.

    Just as when they came out ric got on BlitzˇŻs back while Marcus got on RoxeneˇŻs.

    Soon enough they were back in the vicinity of the royal capital and unlikest time ric was steady and confident even with Blitz going nearly two hundred miles an hour.

    Once they were back inside the gate the day was already long over and it was the dead of night.<sub></sub>

    Though in the royal capital of Borealia even the nighttime was still packed with people, and it was only around fifty percent less traffic than during the day.

    Luckily with Roxene and Blitz it was easy enough to get around most other people and within just a couple more hours they had arrived at MarcusˇŻ mansion.

    ˇ°ra if you would not mind helping ric to bed. It appears that he has reached his limit.ˇ± Marcus said as he pushed the young boy who was half asleep towards his head maid.

    ˇ°You can count on me Lady Irene. I am sure you are tired as well so if you wish you may head up to you room and get some rest.ˇ± ra said before taking ric away to a guest room.

    Yet instead of going to his room, Marcus slipped out to his forge where he began making a new weapon and set of armor for ric.

    ˇ®Now that he is over level twenty it is about time for him to use mithril equipment. I will probably wait a bit longer, but I might as well make it now while I have the chance.ˇŻ

    All through the night Marcus hammered away and made a new set of armor and a weapon for ric out of mithril and ended up making it a masterpiece.

    ˇ®I was trying to just make it pretty good, but I guess my level nine skill level has a more profound difference than I thought. I should have just not used any celestial tinum if I wanted it to not be recognized by the system.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at the chainmail and staff he had just made.

    Nevertheless, he figured it would be fine and stored them away into his item box to give to ricter.

    ˇ°So, are we going to adventurers guild to pick up some requests today?ˇ± ric asked enthusiastically while they were eating breakfast.

    It was clear that he wanted to get out there and put to use all he had learned out in the wilds.

    ˇ°No today we are going to a ce where you can learn more about magic and hopefully find someone to teach you more about wielding a staff. With my knowledge alone there is only so much I can teach you. None of the attack skills I have arepatible with your weapon, so it makes since to find someone else who can teach you some.ˇ± Marcus said before stuffing a muffin into his mouth.

    A bit sullen ric had been hoping to go to the adventurers guild, but when Marcus mention where he was taking them the young half elfˇŻs eyes lit up.

    ˇ°Are we realign going to the Guldur Spire!? I have heard that even graduates from the royal academy are not guaranteed to be admitted there.ˇ±

    Naturally ric was excited about going to such a prestigious ce that was where the greatest mages in the kingdom gathered.

    p??(?)? ?o??? It was one of a few main paths that graduates from the royal academy tried to pursue.

    Most graduates that did not return to their familyˇŻs territory either tried to be knights, civil servants within the capital, or go to the Guldur Spire to be full-fledged mages.

    Of course, ric had thought about going there himself before. Especially since he had three magic skills at such a young age.

    ˇ°But will I really be allowed in? I have not even graduated from the royal academy yet, so I am not qualified to take lessons there since I am still not an adult.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh no need to worry about that. I am friends with Aria the grand archmage. I am sure that if I pull a string or two, I can get you in.ˇ±

 685 Chapter 685

    ˇ°Thanks for meeting us on such short notice.ˇ± Marcus said while bowing his head to Aria.

    He had sent out a letter the day before requesting permission to enter the Guldur Spire and to find a teacher for ric.

    And while this might have seemed an impertinent request Aria had been more than happy to amodate Marcus in light of all he had done for the kingdom.

    ˇ°So, you must be ric. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Grand Archmage Aria Borealia, but you may simply call me Aria.ˇ± She said to ric with a kindly grandmother smile on her face.

    However, in return ric stiffly introduced himself and did not call her simply by her name but made sure to add her title as well.

    Of course, for a noble child like ric it had been ingrained in him to be respectful to those of a higher status and Aria was not only the strongest mage in the kingdom but the queen from two generations ago.

    Luckily Aria took his stiffness in stride and began leading them towards therge silver spire that shot high up into eh sky.

    ˇ°Oh, this time we are going by carriage.ˇ± Marcus said as he noticed the ornate vehicle waiting for them.

    Last time Aria had just whisked him away with her magic, but now it seemed that she would be using a normal method of transport.

    ˇ°Yes, while this is much slower, I doubt that the boy would be able to handle being swept up past the speed of sound. Anyway, today I am also going to give you a proper tour around the ce sincest time you only stayed in my office to learn new spells.ˇ±

    With their greetings over Aria led them over to her carriage which waspletely magical and operated without the need of any servants.

    ˇ°This is the first time I have seen an automated carriage before!ˇ± Marcus said in amazement as he was getting inside.

    He suddenly felt the urge to pull the thing apart and find out what made it tick so that he might be able to reproduce one for himself.

    ˇ°It is quite rare to see. It is actually a type of permanent golem in the shape of a carriage. Unfortunately, it will only follows the orders of its creator and it requires plenty of rare materials to make so it is impossible to be mass produced.ˇ±

    His interest piqued, Marcus began asking Aria more about her carriage and the creation of permanent golems.

    ˇ°I can give you that informationter. For now, you are here for the boy, correct?ˇ± Aria asked, steering the conversation back towards MarcusˇŻ original goal.

    ˇ°Yes, you are right. I was hoping that you could find someone to help teach ric some skills with the staff and ways to obtain useful skills like chant shortening and mana regeneration. Oh, and also if possible, he could use some more spells in his arsenal.ˇ±

    Turning to ric, Aria smiled and began asking him about what types of magic he could use.

    ˇ°I see, wind and ice are not umon, but smoke is pretty rare. I do not think we have anyone else here who has all three of those magic skills, but there are plenty of professors with ice and wind as well as one that knows smoke.ˇ±

    Aria then pulled out a sending stone and sent off a few messages before looking back towards ric and Marcus.

    ˇ°I have called for a couple of instructors that should be able to help ric out with his magic and staff skills. They will need some time to get ready, so how about in the meantime we go around the spire and I can show you what it has to offer.ˇ± Aria said with a big smile.

    After that she took them around the buildings and fields surrounding the spire an extolled its virtues.

    They had a giant practice field with numerous targets set up along with magically created buildings to test out stronger spells on.

    There was also an arena where a type of mass team sport was yed, and a massive stable full ofmon and umon grade magical beasts used for sses.

    When they had finished the areas on the outside Aria brought them into the spire and began exining that it was filled with lecture halls, and research rooms where the boundaries of magic were advanced.

    ˇ°Of course, there are other things within the spire but neither of you are privy to them.ˇ±

    A couple of hours went by as Aria showed the around the spire which was full of magic in every corner.

    Eventually their tours dide to an end as Aria brought them to arge empty room except for a single table with six chairs around it.

    Sitting at this table were two people, one who was an old man that looked around seventy but was undoubtably older. And the other was a young looking woman with purple skin and silver hair which were tell tale signs she was not human.

    ˇ°Allow me to introduce you to your two teachers ric. This man on my left is an esteemed member of the spire who has been around nearly as long as I have, Akalis Chiren. He is a master of wind and ice magic and is a quite adept with wielding a staff. To my right is our only professor who can use smoke magic, Oxea. She is one of our very best and should have much to teach you as well.ˇ±

    Once Aria had introduced the two professors they got up and greeted ric who quickly introduced himself as well.

    During this time Marcus had a feeling like he had met the old man before and kept trying to rack his mind to remember when.

    ˇ®Ah, that is right! He was one of the ones that came to back us up when we fought the Doomsday Worm.ˇ±

    Remembering when Aria and Darius showed up with support Marcus was certain that this old man was among those that had arrived with Aria.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, are you there? I said that it would be best for us to leave them to it.ˇ± Aria said as she ced a hand on MarcusˇŻ shoulder to get his attention.

    It was at this moment that he realized he had been so absorbed in remembering where he had seen Akalis before that he hadpletely zoned out.

    ˇ°Yes, let us get going.ˇ± Marcus said with an embarrassed expression.

    ˇ°ric make sure to do your best to learn from these two. It is not every day you have the opportunity to be taught by such masters.ˇ± Marcus said right before leaving.

    Now he was alone with Aria and figured that he would go home and leave ric at the Guldur spire for a few days when Aria stopped him.

    ˇ°Where are you going? You have lessons to attend to as well.ˇ±

    Caught off guard Marcus looked back with apletely bewildered look on his face.

    He was not sure what sort of magic lessons he could be receiving at this point.

    ˇ°You wanted to learn to make your own spells did you not? The boy you are teaching is busy right now, so it should be a good time, right?ˇ±

    His eyes going wide Marcus did remember that he wished he could have learned this particr skill when he wasst here but had been busy and had to leave immediately after learning a bunch of new spells.

    ˇ°Yes, that would be amazing. I would be very grateful if you taught me how to craft my own spells.ˇ±

 686 Chapter 686

    ˇ°Thanks again for your help Aria. I really appreciate you finding instructors for ric and teaching me how to create my own spells.ˇ±

    ˇ°It was no problem, Irene. You have done more than enough for Borealia that this is the least I can do for you. Still, I am surprised that you were able to learn the intricacies of crafting new spells within just a month.ˇ±

    ˇ°You were just that good of a teacher. Plus, I already had a good amount of experience crafting formations for forging weapons.ˇ± Marcus replied.

    Aria then turned her gaze to ric who was standing next to Marcus and smiled at him.

    ˇ°I also heard from Akalis and Oxea that you are quite exceptional ric. They said that you were very talented and hardworking, and that we should extend you a personal invitation to be a member the Guldur Spire when you graduate from the Royal academy.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, my teachers did tell me that they wish to continue instructing me in the future and suggested that I join upon my graduation. But for now, I want to focus on Lady IreneˇŻs training and my studies at the royal academy before deciding on what to do afterwards.ˇ± ric said, the stiffness he had when they first arrived long gone now.

    From the progress reports Marcus had received and the observations he had made he knew that ric had done a lot of growing under his two teachers. Not only in magic and staff wielding, but in how to carry himself better.

    ˇ°I suppose this is goodbye for now, but when you have time again, please let me know and I will invite you for tea. I very much did enjoy discussing magical theory with you.ˇ± Aria said as she saw Marcus and ric off at the exit of the Guldur Spire.

    Marcus and ric then said their own goodbyes and left the grounds of the Guldur Spire which they had spent the majority of thest month at.

    ˇ°So, what is next Lady Irene?ˇ± ric asked once they were in a carriage bound for MarcusˇŻ estate.

    ˇ°Now we finally get to hardest part of your training. I believe that you are ready to enter a dungeon, so tomorrow we will be making our way to Lethan.ˇ±

    Hearing this ric smiled, since he knew that this was thest part of his training to follow in LiliaˇŻs footsteps and catch up to her.

    He could still remember when Marcus took her out of school for training and she came back with a different air to her and was much stronger.

    ˇ°But donˇŻt I have to reach the silver rank at the adventurers guild to enter the dungeon in Lethan? During my training thisst month I only managed to rank up to iron when going out to test the new magic and skills I learned.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, you will need to reach silver rank first. And you could certainly do that here in the royal capital, but it would be a waste of time. While you are doing the necessary missions to rank up, I will collect information in Lethan. It has been quite some time since I was therest, and I am sure that things have changed a bit. It is always best to gather information before simply jumping into something.ˇ± Marcus said giving ric another piece of wisdom.

    Soon enough they returned to MarcusˇŻs estate and had a celebratory diner for ricˇŻs achievements in learning two attack skills as well as getting all of his magic skills up to level three.

    ,c-o-m Along with that he had reached level twenty-four from his training and the missions hepleted for the guild and was working on obtaining skills like chant shortening and mana regeneration.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, are your certain that it is necessary to leave again tomorrow? It might be best if you take some time to rest before setting off on the long journey to Lethan.ˇ± ra said when she found out MarcusˇŻ n.

    He had from her perspective been working himself ragged and was rarely home. Only showing up once every now and then for a day or two before setting off on some other crazy adventurer or working for weeks straight in the forge.

    It seemed like an impossible amount of activity for anyone to keep up with.

    However, Marcus had practically no need to rest other than from mental exhaustion or the rare instances when he drains all his mana or spiritual energy during a difficult fight.

    ˇ°ra, it will eb find. I understand that you are worried, but I could honestly get away with working myself much harder. And right now, I am on a bit of a time crunch to get ric stronger. As he is now, he is far from ready to match Lilia.ˇ±

    Sighing ra could tell she would eb unable to change MarcusˇŻ mind and tried insisting that he at least take her and three other maids on this trip.

    ˇ°Again, I will have to refuse that request ra. We will not be traveling by carriage and there would not be enough room for anyone else toe along.ˇ± Marcus said shutting down ra once more.

    At this point she was pretty frustrated and tried to tell Marcus that it was improper for her as a noble to go on such a trip unapanied by personnel. Especially when in thepany of a young boy that was not family.

    ˇ°Very well ra. I will bring you, and only you along for this. Is that eptable?ˇ± Marcus asked, hoping she would stop making such a big deal out of things.

    Huffing in displeasure ra nheless agreed, knowing that Marcus would not ept any other personneling with him.

    ˇ°Now Lady Irene you mentioned that we would not be going by carriage. Just how exactly did you n to get to Lethan? It is quite the journey and I do not imagine it would be pleasant to travel that many days on horseback.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus held up his right hand and extend his index finger upwards before answering ra.

    ˇ°We are going through the sky. Blitz can run through the air just as easily as on the ground, and with his speed we can reach even Lethan in a day.ˇ±

    Mouth agape, ra could not even imagine the kind of travel that Marcus was envisioning.

    Of course, she was a fairly normal person, and unlike Marcus, had never flown through the sky before.

    ˇ°Oh, but if that is a problem for you, ra, you are free to stay here?ˇ±

    ˇ°No, I shall apany you, Lady Irene. You allowed me to work for you when my reputation was in tatters, and it is my job to go with you and take care of your needs.ˇ± ra said with a stalwart expression.

    With that it was decided that ra would be joining ric and Marcus on their journey to Lethan.

    Though the next day when it came time to leave and she was mounted on Blitz in front of ric, her confident expression from yesterday was long gone.

    ˇ°Now that we have left the confines of the royal capital we can finally take to the air. Blitz will have a hard time carrying all three of us so I will use magic to fly myself.ˇ± Marcus said as he grew sixrge iron wings.

    A momentter he shot up into the sky and Blitz ran after him, each of his hooves able to gain footing on the air just as easily as on the ground.

 687 Chapter 687

    Rushing through the sky, Blitz ran across the open air at extremely high speeds.

    On his back ra was screaming wildly as clutched onto the sky stagˇŻs neck for dear life.

    Normally she was the definition ofposed, but right now she was far from her normal demeanor.

    ric on the other hand was doing pretty well, and only a had a stiff expression on his face while staying mostly calm.

    Of course, this was partially due to the fact that he now knew a wind magic spell that allowed him to fly, so even if he fell off he would be okay.

    After a couple of hours of flying high in the sky and at speeds of over two hundred miles an hour ra finally seemed to calm down a bit, or more likely was just too tired and had her nerves fried.

    ˇ°The ground! I never thought I would miss something so normal. I will never take it for granted again.ˇ± ra said when they touched down for a break.

    While Marcus and Blitz could have easily flown all the way in one shot, ric and ra needed time to eat and rest their bodies.

    ˇ°As an amends to forcing you into such a nerve-racking situation, I have made you both a special meal Marcus said when he had finished cooking.

    He had used the meat from a type of umon grade beast called a frenzied quail along with some rainbow mushrooms that were a low-grade natural treasure.

    Along with it he had created a sauce from some of the birdˇŻs fat and the mushrooms as the base which made for a rich and creamy taste.

    Normally ra would have lightly chastised Marcus for doing the cooking. But in this situation, she happily ate it up without mentioning it being improper for a servant to eat their masterˇŻs cooking.

    Once they had finished their rest, they took to the sky again and flew the rest of the way to Lethan. Completing what would normally be a several days journey in just one.

    ˇ®Blitze in for anding. We will likely cause a bit of a panic if we just fly into the city.ˇŻ

    Following MarcusˇŻ orders Blitz descended to the ground, and theynded right on the road leading into the city just a few miles away from the gate.

    Being back on solid ground again both ric and ra were grateful and d to not have to be flying anymore.

    ˇ°Blitz, are you up for a light run now, or do you a little break before we go on?ˇ± Marcus asked before deciding what to do.

    In response Blitz held his head proudly and stomped his front legs down to show that he was still raring to go.

    ric and ra on the other hand where pale and looked like they were movements away from passing out.

    Unfortunately for them, Marcus wanted to get into Lethan fast, and figured that once there all of them could find an inn to rest at.

    Climbing onto BlitzˇŻs back as well Marcus took the lead, and soon they were running down the road.

    Going at around sixty miles and hour Blitz was going slowpared to his top speed but stillparatively fast for normal travel.

    Luckily both ric and ra were used to him going much faster in the sky and it actually came as a relief to be going so slow right now.

    Within a few minutes they reached the city gates and the guards on duty looked baffled and wary of the three people riding on arge stag with horns shaped like lightning jutting out of his head.

    ˇ°You three there! Stop and state your purpose!ˇ± One of the guards called out.

    Naturally they were a bit on edge as they could tell that Blitz was not a normal beast, and it was rare for people toe out to the city that was fairly far from anything else without some sort of carriage or cart.

    Along with that the sun was beginning to set and it was around time for the city gate to be closed, which put them more on edge.

    ˇ°We are adventures from the royal capital and havee to enter the dungeon here in Lethan!ˇ± Marcus called out to them.

    Nearly a minute went by after that as the guards bickered about who would go and check their identities, before one began walking over slowly and with an on-edge expression.

    ˇ°Here are our identifications and guild cards. Oh, ra is my maid and not an adventurer, just to rify.ˇ±

    Taking the IDˇŻs and guild cards the guardˇŻs eyes went wide as he saw that Marcus and ric were both nobles.

    But while this was shocking by itself, when coupled with MarcusˇŻ tinum guild card the card could only ponder why such important people had arrived on the back of a single beast.

    ˇ°Everything seems to be in order. We are sorry for any disturbance we may have caused you Lady Geist. You and youpanions are free to enter the city.ˇ± The highest-ranking guard said once they knew MarcusˇŻ identity.

    Urging Blitz to move forward they soon found themselves on the city streets which looked exactly the same as thest time Marcus was here.

    ˇ°I already know a fairly good inn that is near the dungeon and guild hall so we can stay there like I did on myst trip. When we arrive the two of you can take a long rest.ˇ± Marcus said as he directed Blitz down the streets.

    Soon enough they arrived in front of the familiar tall four-story building that had a sign on it that read ˇ®The Towering BearˇŻ.

    Marcus felt a wave of nostalgia as he viewed the ce that he and Lilia ad stayed at during their trip nearly two years ago now.

    Going inside he found that the bar was still filled with rough and tumble looking guys for the most part, but in contrast tost time there were a few normal looking people around as well.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I am not sure this is a ce someone of your status should be staying.ˇ± ra whispered to Marcus as he made his way to the front desk.

    Naturally this was not an inn that catered to nobles, but adventurers. So, it did not have fancy decorations or the bells and whistles that nobles would usually expect.

    ˇ°It is fine ra. We are here as adventures, so it makes sese for us to stay at a ce like this. Anyway, the more prim and proper inns are located closer to the city center and would make our trips to the guild and dungeon that much longer.ˇ±

    Unable to argue further ra stepped back and looked warily at the number of prying eyes on them.

    When Marcus reached the front desk, he rang the bell to indicate that someone was here to speak with the owner.

    ˇ°Just a moment, I aming!ˇ±

    Within just a few seconds arge bear of a man who was over seven feet tall appeared.

    ˇ°What can I do you all-ˇ°

    Stopping midsentence, the owner of the Towering Bear looked down at Marcus with shock in his eyes. He then beganughing, and said, ˇ°To think that I would see you here again, Irene. It has been quite some time, but you have finallye to stay at my humble establishment again.ˇ±

 688 Chapter 688

    After Marcus spent a couple of minutes getting caught up with the owner of the Towering Bear, he asked to rent two rooms. One with two beds and another with one.

    ˇ°Sure, that will be no problem. Along with the stabling cost for your beast ites out to three gold a night.ˇ±

    Pulling out a pouch full of money, Marcus dropped it on the counter and said, ˇ°This should be more than enough for a month. If there is any extra feel free to keep it as a tip.ˇ±

    Opening the bag, the owner of the inn went wide eyed as the small pouch was filled with not gold coins but tinum coins.

    Whistling loudly, he quickly pocketed the pouch and grabbed the keys to two of the best rooms in the inn.

    ˇ°Normally we only serve breakfast for free along with the renting of a room, but for you the kitchen is open anytime at no cost.ˇ±

    Thanking the owner for his hospitality, Marcus happily took the keys and beckoned his tiredpanions to follow him.

    Soon enough they were in their respective rooms and ric who had his own passed out immediately.

    Naturally ra was also exhausted from the long and honestly terrifying flight to the city, but resisted her fatigue to take care of Marcus, as was her duty.

    ˇ°Just go ahead and get some rest ra. I will be fine by myself for tonight.ˇ± Marcus said, seeing his head maid stifle a yawn.

    Taking him up on the offer ra prepared herself for bed and took the one closest to the door in order to make sure she could interpose if an attacker came through.

    ˇ®She sure is diligent even when she is exhausted.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched ra drift off to sleep.

    Soon enough he deiced to follow her example and sleep himself since he had nothing else to do and it would pass the time.

    When morning came everyone was refreshed and they went down to the bar that doubled as a restaurant for breakfast.

    ˇ°Wow this is pretty good!ˇ± ric said in surprise when he started eating his food.

    Naturally he nor ra had been expecting the food to be as tasty as it was in a normal inn.

    ˇ°Yeah, the good food is what this ce is known for. I am pretty sure their chef has their cooking skill up to level four.ˇ± Marcus said as he shoved a fired egg into his mouth.

    The three of them continued to enjoy their meal, and when they had finished breakfast headed over to the adventurers guild building within the city.

    ˇ°It is not as big as I thought it would be.ˇ± ric said offhandedly when they arrived in front of the building.

    Of course, he only thought this way since the only other guild hall he had been in was the one in the royal capital. Which as thergest in the kingdom.

    Going inside Marcus looked all around the area and feeling a wave of nostalgia.

    ˇ®It is almost exactly as I remember it. Other than the new faces.ˇŻ

    Once he had taken in the area, Marcus told ric to go an pick out enough request for him to rank up to steel and then headed over to one of the receptionists.

    ˇ°Wee to the adventurers guild. Is there something we can help you with today?ˇ± The guild receptionist said in as polite a tone as possible.

    She could tell that Marcus was a noble by the very fine clothes he was currently wearing and the fact that ra who was dressed as a maid was trailing behind him.

    ˇ°Yes, if you would not mind giving this letter to the guild master?ˇ± Marcus said as he took out a thick envelope and his guild card.

    Seeing the tinum card, the receptionist looked a bit surprised, but as a practiced professional she recovered quickly.

    ˇ°It will be no problem, Lady Irene. I will have the letter delivered posthaste.ˇ± The guild receptionist said as she ced the letter on a steel tray and nodded her head to another employee.

    Quickly his letter was taken away and Marcus was quite pleased with the guildˇŻs expediency.

    ˇ°Is there anything else that you need while here?ˇ± The receptionist asked.

    Thinking about it for a minute, Marcus did have a few things on his mind. And since it was slow right now decided to ask away.

    ˇ°It has been a nearly two years since asst here. I was wondering if the dungeonˇŻs configuration had changed since then?ˇ±

    ˇ°Ah it is good that you brought that up. The dungeon here in Lethan has indeed shifted since thest time you were here. Just three months ago to be exact. Most of what you remember form before will be outdated now.ˇ±

    Clicking his tongue Marcus was not all too pleased to hear this.

    It threw a wrench in his ns and meant that all of his ideas for training locations for ric would be worthless.

    ˇ°Then could I buy the most extensive and up to date map the guild has?ˇ± Marcus asked as he held in a groan.

    The receptionist happily pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment the was nearby and set it on the counter.

    ˇ°This is the best map we currently have of the dungeonˇŻs configuration. It was made by the experienced mithril rank adventurer Talschi and the guild guarantees its quality. That being said, it will cost you twenty-five gold coins to purchase.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus took the money out of his bag and handed it over without any moaning or grumbling like most would when purchasing such an expensive map.

    Though for Marcus it might as well have been spare change. Especially after the massive amount of money he had earned creating mithril and adamantine items in the royal capital.

    ˇ®Hm, only eight areas have been mapped so far huh. I suppose that with the current configuration being only a few months old this is the best that can be expected.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he unfurled the map and gave it a once over.

    Satisfied with the product, Marcus rolled it back up and stuck it into his magic bag.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I have picked out the requests I want to do.ˇ± ric said as he came over with a bunch of tags.

    Smiling, Marcus stepped aside and asked the guild receptionist to register ric for the requests he had picked.

    And while normally she might have admonished him for taking so many at once, with Marcus obviously being his guardian and a high-ranking adventurer, the guild employee registered him with no problem.

    ˇ°Now let us head up to the guildˇŻs library and do some research.ˇ± Marcus suggested to ric.

    He had already extolled the virtues of gathering information before setting off on a request when possible.

    The two of them quickly headed up to the second floor of the guild where its information resources were stored and began pouring over relevant information.

    ˇ®I see, the first area like always is just a big empty room where the army has set up in case of a rampage. But the three connecting areas arepletely different fromst time. Sadly, one of them is already out of the question since there is no way I am bringing ric into a poison bog.ˇŻ

    While looking over the map he had just bought as well as detailed information about certain areas from the guildˇŻs resources, MarcusˇŻs attention was soon drawn to man that had run in with a frantic expression on his face.

    ˇ°Irene, you really are here!ˇ±

 689 Chapter 689

    Hearing his name being called out Marcus turned around towards the source of the voice with a smile already on his face.

    He had recognized the voice the moment they began speaking and was happy to see Jarek, the husband of the guild master and the man he had fought the boss monster with.

    ˇ°It is good to see you as well Jarek, and in good health.ˇ± Marcus said as he beckoned his friend over.

    ric for his part who was sitting next to Marcus looked up from his book curiously at the well-toned fairly hansom man approaching them.

    Taking a seat across from Marcus, Jarek was practically beaming, and it was clear he was also quite ecstatic about their reunion.

    ˇ°So, I assume that Dahlia got my letter and then sent you to get me?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, she did, just a few minutes ago, and I came out immediately to find you. It has been nearly two years since you werest here, and we both want to greet you. And to that end would you minding with me to the guild masterˇŻs office?ˇ±

    Nodding his head happily, Marcus agreed to JarekˇŻs proposal and closed the book he was reading before turning to ric.

    ˇ°Go ahead and put up your reading materials for now. I am going to introduce you to a few friends I made herest time I was in town.ˇ±

    Doing as Marcus said ric got up from his chair gave Jarek a slight bow and then went to put away what he had been reading.

    ˇ°That kid is new; I believest time you brought your little sister. Though judging by his appearance, I would say he is a half elf. A cousin or other extended family member then?ˇ± Jarek asked, wanting to know MarcusˇŻ rtion to ric.

    ˇ°Oh no, we are not rted. He is the son of a friend and quite close to Lilia if you catch my drift. He recently saw just how strong my little sister is and wanted me to help him get strong enough to stand next to her. So, I am helping to train him up.ˇ± Marcus exined.

    ˇ°I see, that is a bit unusual, but that is just how you are I suppose. Oh, but I also have someone that I really want to introduce you to.ˇ± Jarek said with the widest grin Marcus had ever seen him wear.

    Now he was curious about who Jarek was going to present to him.

    But before he could really think about it, ric came back, and Marcus deiced to get his introduction underway first.

    ˇ°Jarek this here is as I said earlier the son of a friend of mien and a close friend of my little sister Lilia, ric Skalbeck.ˇ± Marcus said as he motioned towards the young half elf boy.

    ric then bowed and also introduced himself, after which Jarek quickly did the same.

    ˇ°Now let us go head and head on up. My wife- I mean the guild master is looking forward to seeing you again.ˇ±

    ˇ°Understood I just need to inform my maid who is gathering materials for me that I am leaving.ˇ± Marcus said before quickly going to tell ra what was going on and to keep gathering information while he was gone.

    Jarek then led them out of the guildˇŻs library and up to the guild masterˇŻs office where Dahlia was waiting.

    When they arrived at her door, they heard what sounded like a loud crash and then a scream.

    For Marcus and ric, they immediately began to tense up and prepared for some sort of situation, but Jarek just sighed, and under his breath said, ˇ°Looks like she is throwing another tantrum.ˇ±

    As he opened the door Marcus and ric looked inside and saw that the office was in disarray. With papers scattered about and on one wall there was a sttering of some sort of mushy food on the wall.

    Standing in front of her desk, Dahlia had her back to them and was rocking herself back and forth.

    Also, the sound of wailing wasing from somewhere in front of her, and Marcus immediately caught on to what was going on.

    Turning around when she sensed that Jarek had returned, Marcus and ric saw that there was a baby girl currently nestled in DahliaˇŻs arms and crying loudly.

    ˇ°Oh, thank the great spirits you are here Jarek. When I tired feeding her, she started throwing a fit andunched her food against the wall. Would you please take her for a few minutes? She always calms down faster with you.ˇ± Dahlia said with a pleading look in her eyes.

    Swiftly moving over to his wife, Jarek took his daughter up in his arms and began rocking her back in forth while talking to her in a soothing voice. And quickly her loud wailing began to settle down a bit.

    Once her husband had taken their daughter away to another room, Dahlia turned towards Marcus and ric and smiled, even though she looked thoroughly exhausted.

    ˇ°It is good to see you again Dahlia, and I am d that your child was born quite healthy by the looks of things.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, well sometimes she is a little too healthy if you get what I mean.ˇ± Dahlia said as she motioned her head towards the food sttered on the wall. ˇ°Oh, and it is great to see you as well. Ah, and who might this be with you?ˇ±

    Marcus then went through another round of introductions with ric and Dahlia, and by the time they were done Jarek came in with his daughter who had calmed down.

    ˇ°You are a life saver dear. I do not know what I would do without you.ˇ± Dahlia said seeing their daughter no longer screaming.

    Jarek then set her down in her seat where a te that was once filled with food was.

    ˇ°Irene, I would like you to meet our daughter Ange.ˇ± Jarek said as he turned her towards Marcus.

    Getting a good look at her, Marcus could see that she had the same eyes as Jarek and that her hair was a light chestnut color that seemed to be a mix between her parents.

    When she caught a look at Marcus she began giggling and reached her hands out towards him.

    Frankly this was not the reaction he had been expecting, since he figured that she would somehow have an awareness about him begin a ghost. But she seemed very pleased to see him.

    ˇ°Well, this is a surprise. She typically does not warm up to people that quickly.ˇ± Dahlia said with a look of exasperation.

    After that they the two parents began telling Marcus all about their daughter, and he nodded along while smiling and acting impressed.

    ˇ°Ah, look at the time. We have already taken up more than an hour. Your letter said that you had some things you wanted to discuss with me, right?ˇ± Dahlia asked when she realized how long she and Jarek had been talking about their daughter.

    ˇ°Yes, I do. Mostly I just wanted to introduce you to ric and let you know he was under my care and to look out for him. But I was also hoping that you might be able to tell me about anything notable I should look out for that has changed since thest time I was here. I already found out that the dungeonˇŻs configuration is different and wondered if there was anything else I show know about?ˇ±

 690 Chapter 690

    After Marcus asked his question about any new things happening in Lethan he should be aware of, both Jarek and Dahlia gave each other knowing looks and nodded their heads.

    ˇ°If you would not mind going with Jarek he will exin a few things that have happened since you werest here. He knows more about what is going on than I do, since I spend most of my time in this office.ˇ± Dahlia said with aplicated expression on her face.

    Judging from their demeanors Marcus figured that there was both good and bad news that they wanted to tell him.

    ˇ®Well, if whatever is wrong is something I can help with, I will see what I can do.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    Jarek then got up and beckoned for them to follow them to another room. Though as soon as they left and the door was shut they could hear Ange start to cry again.

    ˇ°Is Dahlia going to be okay alone?ˇ± Marcus asked as they began walking away.

    He certainly did not have much experience with children himself, but he did have IreneˇŻs memories of taking care of Lilia when she was around the same age as Ange.

    ˇ°Yeah, she can manage on her own. It will probably just take her a few minutes to calm Ange down. Anyway, as much as I would love to just keep speaking about my daughter, there are other things that I need to inform you about.ˇ± Jarek said as he led Marcus and ric into another room.

    It was a small meeting room that only had a few pieces of furniture in it, but it was more than sufficient for their purposes.

    Once they had sat down and Jarek had served both Marcus and ric a ss of water to drink, he got started one exining some new developments that had happened in Lethan.

    ˇ°First, I should mention that Tesia is not here anymore. She did not die or anything, but she left Borealia around nine months ago. I am not sure exactly where she went, but I do know she used the teleportation circle in the capital to go to somewhere on the continent to the west of here.ˇ± Jarek said with a slight frown on his face.

    Likewise, when he heard this Marcus felt a bit of sadness, as he had been hoping to greet another one of his old friends.

    Still, Tesia was an adventurer and was fairly high leveled. She was probably to the point where she wanted to go out and explore new areas and find other challenges to ovee.

    ˇ°Now I am sure you heard about what happened to Loursend a few months ago, correct?ˇ± Jarek asked.

    Nodding his head Marcus knew exactly what he was talking about.

    ˇ°Yes, I was actually in the vicinity when it happened, doing some work for the royal family. I am not sure what you heard about the monster that practically destroyed the Great Gome Woods and Loursend, but I can tell you that it was likely far worse than you can imagine.ˇ±

    Eyes going wide, Jarek had never expected that Marcus had firsthand experience with the doomsday ss monster that had appeared and caused havoc in Borealia before being defeated.

    Wanting to know more Jarek pressed Marcus for details, but he avoided most of the questions since he already knew that he guildˇŻs higher ups were suspicious that his two identities were one and the same person.

    ˇ°So, what does this have to do with Lethan? This city is fairly far away from where the Doomsday Worm appeared, and I did not see any sort of damage to the walls of buildings.ˇ±

    ˇ°No, the city did not experience any sort of problems in that regards other than having a few fleeing monsters and beasts attack the walls, but they were easily dispatched. However, around a month or two afterwards the city received quite a bit of migration from Loursend, mostly adventuresing here now that their previous base is wrecked.ˇ± Jarek exined.

    He began telling Marcus of the new tinum and mithril rank adventures that had popped up and about how the dynamics within the guild had changed a bit.

    ˇ°And along with the influx of adventurers the city lost a lot of its soldiers and skilled guards who were sent to Loursend to help rebuild and keep order. As a consequence, the city itself has got a bit more dangerous and unruly and a lot of lower rank adventurers are honestly begin hired out as guards instead of doing what is more typical of our profession.ˇ± Jarek exined.

    Though after this his expression became more intense and the air around him heavier.

    It was clear he was about to give Marcus the bad news he had been expecting.

    ˇ°Along with the influx of adventurers also came a group of unsavory individuals. They call themselves Dungeon Marauders, and right after the dungeonˇŻs configuration changed and it was at its least guarded, they charged in and entered illegally. Now they have set up multiple bases deep in the dungeon in dangerous areas that are hard to get to, but easy enough to flee from. They also are not averse to causing monster or beast outbreaks which can cause quite the trouble. They go around targeting adventurers and even units of soldiers that are training in the dungeon to steal their equipment and spoils. We tried gathering up our forces to wipe them out, but some of their members are level fifty and above, plus they have set up in a difficult to attack location as I said. We lost quite a number of people when we tired assaulting them.ˇ± Jarek said with a grim look.

    He continued to exin that the soldiers in Lethan who were already short staffed also could not deal with them as they did not have even close to the necessary level of power.

    Both the guild and viceroy had already requested reinforcements from the capital, but with the recent demon attack, the tensions still around the borders in Tralenstein, and the recent emergence of the Dread Burrower, referments strong enough to make a difference had not arrived yet.

    ˇ°They have been making the dungeon an even more dangerous ce than it used to be, and anyone you do not already know could be an enemy. And while I am sure you will be fine with how strong you are Irene, the boy ric here who you are training could easily be put in danger.ˇ± Jarek warned.

    Hearing that there were criminals now inhabiting the dungeon Marcus asked Jarek for every detail that he could give him.

    ˇ°That is certainly very disconcerting, but I will see what I can do about it.ˇ± Marcus said with a determined expression.

    ˇ°DonˇŻt be rash Irene. I know you are strong, but these people are not to be trifled with. Even with a group of veteran mithril and tinum adventurers we were not able to get rid of them. On your own you will not be able to deal with them.ˇ±

    ˇ°No need to be so worried, I do not n on doing anything that is beyond me. I was just going to call in a favor or two from my connections in the royal capital. If I really stress it, I should be able to get Aria the Grand Archmage toe and blow them away.ˇ±

 691 Chapter 691

    Shock was apparent on JarekˇŻs face as Marcus said that he could if necessary, bring Aria, the Grand Archmage of Borealia to help deal with the criminals that have currently invested the dungeon in Lethan.

    Naturally not just anyone could simply call up one for the most powerful people in the kingdom and ask them for a favor. But Marcus seemedpletely confident that her could.

    ˇ°I knew you had made connections with the royals through the rumors I heard of your abilities as a forge master and your friendship with a princess, but you must be far more ingrained with them if you believe you can simply call over someone so important.ˇ± Jarek said with disbelief written all over his face.

    Even though Marcus said it so assuredly, he was not as easily convinced.

    Of course, he was right that as Irene, MarcusˇŻ connection to the royal family was not to the point of calling in such a favor. However, as his other identity he was.

    ˇ°Well, no need to worry about it. I will get this problem resolved no matter the amount of favors I have to call in or promises I need to make. I cannot very well let ric who has been put in my care to be exposed to that kind of danger.ˇ±

    Thanking Marcus for his help in advance, Jarek said that he was willing to help out if necessary and do what he could to help rid his home of the scum that had taken root in the dungeon.

    ˇ®I think that was enough to convince him that I will not do anything rash. But sorry Jarek. I am confident enough in my abilities to take out a group no matter how many there are. As long as none of them are stronger than me I should not have any trouble.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he nned to take care of these Dungeon Marauders.

    At the very least even if they proved more dangerous than what Jarek had told him, he was confident he could get away and then call-in help.

    For around another three hours Jarek and Marcus talked about what had happened with each other since they parted ways.

    ˇ°So, you finally joined a stable party. That is good, I know that Dahlia was worried about you always going solo.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, I did not have much of a choice since I need to make sure that I stay safe for my daughter. Luckily, I was able to join up with the Depth Delvers. I do not know if you remember them, but we introduced you them at our celebration party after we beat the boss.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, Marcus remembered them, but not with the highest regard.

    They were the ones that had gotten Lilia involved in a drinkingpetition, and while she miraculously won thanks to her unique skill that nearly prevents her from getting drunk, he was still not happy that they had been giving alcohol to Lilia who at the time was only eleven.

    ˇ®I suppose they were friendly enough and did apologize afterwards. For JarekˇŻs sake I will not hold it against them and try to be friendly as long as they do not do the same things with ric.ˇŻ

    After that Marcus said farewell to Jarek for now and took ric who was looking extremely bored back to the guildˇŻs library.

    Once there Marcus told ra who had collected a number of resources for them to go over, that he was going to head into the dungeon for a few days to scope it out.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I know you are strong, but should you really go into a ce as dangerous as a dungeon alone? I think it would be best if you waited and formed a party with some of your numerous acquaintances.ˇ±

    ra knew she could not go into the dungeon alongside Marcus, but she hoped that he would at least take along some help.

    ˇ°No, it will be fine. I am just doing some scouting around for the best ces to train ric in. I will be moving around stealthy and do not n on even engaging in any battles.ˇ± Marcus said with a reassuring smile.

    Though what he actually nned to do was quickly take care of the criminals infesting the dungeon and also search for an entrance to the intelligent beastˇŻs domain.

    ˇ°While I am gone, ric you should focus on ranking up first and foremost.ˇ± Marcus said addressing the half elf boy.

    He wanted to make sure that he was ready to enter the dungeon as soon as possible so that he could level up quicker. There was only a limited amount of time they had before Marcus was supposed to meet up with everyone else to challenge the special dungeon again, and if he wanted ric to join them then he needed to get stronger.

    When he was finished giving his directions, Marcus headed out and made his way over to the dungeonˇŻs entrance.

    It was simr to thest time he was there, being surrounded by a fortress, but there were noticeably more adventurers entering and less soldiers and guards manning the facility.

    ˇ®Looks like what Jarek said was right. There are a ton more adventurers but less soldiers and guards.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he observed his surroundings.

    Soon enough he made it to the front of the inspection line, showed off his guild card, and entered the dungeon without any problems.

    Walking down the first corridor, he found it remarkably barren just asst time, and he would not even think that the dungeonˇŻs configuration had changed.

    The same could be said for the first area which was just an empty room that was filled with soldiers who stood guard to prevent any beast or monster outbreaks from reaching the city.

    ˇ®I think that there are even more soldiers here than before. I guess that those that they do have are stationed here where they are needed the most. With the new threat of those Marauders, I suppose that makes sense.ˇŻ

    Passing through the armyˇŻs encampment, Marcus headed down the right path which would taking him to a winter hills area.

    As he approached, he could feel the temperature rapidly decreasing and a thinyer of frost had formed around the tunnel.

    When he came out into the area, he looked out into a massive expanse of while.

    There were dozens of hills as far as the eye could see covered by snow and a fairly thick forest of evergreen trees growing in the area.

    ˇ®Yep, I think this area will be perfect to start ricˇŻs training in.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked around.

    As a half ice elf ric naturally had a high resistance to the cold, but this would also serve as a good ce for him to get used to dealing with creatures that were resistance to the cold.

    For the most part he used ice magic as his main source of damage, but Marcus wanted to make sure he remained flexible and learned to deal with disadvantageous situations.

    ˇ®There are quite a few other groups here. But that makes sense with this being one of the starting areas.ˇŻ

    Looking around he saw that around a half dozen parties that had entered the area and were getting their bearings were looking at him warily.

    Now that the Dungeon Marauders were around everyone was a possible threat, and all the other adventures were on edge around strangers.

 692 Chapter 692

    Once he was satisfied with his initial examination of the area Marcus set off and ran straight through the snowy forest.

    His goal was much deeper in the dungeon, and he wanted to get there quickly.

    Yet while he wanted to go into his ghost form the second he was out of view from anyone else, he currently had a problem.

    ˇ®They sure are persistent.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he continuously felt three presences tailing him with his life sense skill.

    Not long after he entered the forest from the beginning of the area, a group of people had started following him and they showed no signs of giving up even as he entered into more dangerous areas.

    Of course, Marcus had figured out that these adventurers were likely in league with the Marauders which is why he did not simply move at his full speed and lose them.

    ˇ®Now I just need to wait for them to make their move. If I am wrong, I do not want to attack them just in case they are normal adventurers that are suspicious of me being a Marauder.

    Marcus continued on for nearly an hour, avoiding any sort of fight with beasts or monsters with his stealth skill, but making sure to never get too far ahead of the group that was tailing him.

    He had noticed that they had increased the size of their number and were now at seven strong, which was quite a sizable amount.

    ˇ®Come on out. I ampletely defenseless as I enjoy this meal.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he took out some rations and pretended to eat them.

    Luckily, they did take the bait and target Marcus while his guard seemed to be down.

    Two daggers and a bolt from a crossbow came rapidly flying towards him with all of them aimed to at nonvital areas.

    The crossbow bolt was aimed at his left shoulder while one of the daggers wasing for his torso and the other his right leg.

    Jumping out of the way Marcus made it seem like he had only just sensed the attacks when they were already closing in and made sure to make it look like he got hit by one of them.

    The one that had beening for his right leg sunk into his upper thigh as he purposefully let it hit him there.

    Though while it was a sharp mithril dagger, it never could have even hoped to injure him from such a weak throw. So, to make it seem like he had actually been injured Marcus made that part of his leg intangible and caught the dagger inside his form.

    Then came the theatrics.

    He fell over onto the ground and began rolling around as if he was in immense pain.

    This just as hoped lured in his assants, and they came out from their hiding spots and approached him.

    ˇ°See I told you she would be able to dodge if only one of us attacked. It was right to take the risk of seriously injuring her.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, you are right. But it still would have been a huge waste if you were wrong, and we ended up idently killing a beauty like her.ˇ±

    The group of seven attackers began talking leisurely amongst themselves as they slowly approached Marcus. Confident that they had already won.

    ˇ®The lowest is level twenty-three while the highest is thirty-one. They average around twenty-six. A strong group overall. I am sure they stay in this area and prey on weaker parties or soloists like me.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he appraised the grouping towards him.

    They were made up of five men and two women, with all of them appearing to be pretty lithe and mobile.

    No doubt they were geared towards stealth and surprise attacks than actually taking their opponents head on.

    Continuing his act of being injured, Marcus wobbled to his feet and looked indignantly at those that were attacking him. Then he swiftly took out a mithril knife he often used for cooking to use as a weapon.

    Yet as he did this, he received a far more serious reaction from his attackers than he expected, as the second he got up they became on edge and brought their guards up.

    ˇ°I thought you said that paralyzing agent would be enough to prevent her from moving after just a few secondsˇ± One of the attackers asked the one who had thrown the daggers.

    ˇ°She must possess the poison or paralysis resistance skill. But she is still staggering and injured. The poison is definitely affecting her.ˇ±

    As he listened to this conversation Marcus looked down at the dagger he was still making a show of sticking out of his leg, and saw that it had a slightly shiny coating on it.

    ˇ®Great, if I had known that it was poisoned, I would have acted more out of it and not gotten up as easily. But whatever, I will try to roll with it and see what answers I can get out of them.ˇŻ

    Tightening his guard and looking around wildly, Marcus tried to make it seem that he was trying to find a way to run away from a perilous situation.

    ˇ°I do not rmend you try to escape. Just give up and you will not experience anymore pain. You have pretty good looks, and we would not want to mess up our merchandise.ˇ± The apparent leader of this group said as he took a step forward with his sword drawn.

    Yet even as Marcus had a standoff with them, they made no move to attack him immediately and their group got into advantageous positions to surround him.

    They were acting very carefully and were far more disciplined for criminals than Marcus had figured they would be.

    Even though he was seemingly injured and acting weakened, they did not recklessly attack him and were making through preparations to make sure they won without and difficulties.

    ˇ°What are you nning to do to me? Are you the Marauders I have heard about?ˇ± Marcus said with a frantic tone.

    ˇ°Yes, we are part of the Marauders as you surmised, and we have plenty of associates that would like a ve like you. Now drop your weapon, get on your knees, and hold out both of your hands. If you do this and offer no resistance, I will make sure you are not harmed any more and end up with a nice master.ˇ± The leader said while trying to put on a kind smile.

    Not getting the answer he wanted, Marcus tried asking a few more questions, but only got more orders to surrender or he was going to suffer.

    ˇ®Seems they are not the talkative type. I was hoping they would be the ssic loose lipped criminals that spill all of their ns when they think they have the upper hand, but I guess not. n B it is.ˇŻ

    Sighing Marcus stood upright and the fake tension in his posture disappeared.

    No longer was he acted like a cornered individual but instead like a confident hunter.

    Then to the astonishment of all of the Marauders he pulled the dagger out of his leg and there was not a mark on him.

    Not even MarcusˇŻ clothes had taken any damage as he had also made them ethereal.

    ˇ°Roxene, capture the two on the right, Inten, capture the two on the left. I will take the three in the middle.ˇ±

 693 Chapter 693

    Jumping out from MarcusˇŻpanion storage Roxene and Inten dashed towards their targets while Marcus did the same.

    His sudden surge of speed and the appearance of two beasts from out of nowhere caught the group of Dungeon Marauderspletely off guard.

    They tried to move into a more defensible position but found themselves begin taken down before they could even move.

    The only one that even managed to initiate a counterattack was the leader who was level thirty-one and that was only after Marcus had incapacitated the two people near to him.

    ˇ°Yeah, that is not going to work.ˇ± Marcus said as he simply caught the manˇŻs mithril short sword.

    With the unbreakable skill he had recently received from Inten, someone this much weaker than him could not hope to put a scratch on him even if their weapon connected directly.

    Before the leader of this group of Marauders was able to process what had happened, Marcus delivered a punch square to his gut, and the light leather armor the man was wearing caved in easily and he coughed up mouthful of blood and bile.

    ˇ°Good job you two.ˇ± Marcus saidplementing his two beastpanions as they dragged their targets over.

    In fact, Marcus had to stifle augh with howical it was for Inten who was only slightlyrger than an average mouse dragging two full grown adults.

    Quickly he cast his iron thread spell and tied up all seven men and women and cast a mass healing spell on all of them.

    Then he moved up to the leader and pped him hard enough to knock out a couple of teeth before he began asking his questions.

    ˇ°Now I will give you the same curtesy you were giving me. Answer my questions truthfully and without any resistance, and I will not cause you anymore pain.ˇ±

    However, as expected, the man just spit out a mouthful of blood at Marcus. Which he easily deflected with a mana barrier.

    ˇ°We have nothing to say to you. Go ahead and torture me, but I will not answer no matter what you do.ˇ±

    Sighing Marcus had figured this would happen, which was why he had been hoping they would spill the information he wanted while they thought they had him on the ropes.

    ˇ®I really do not enjoy torturing people.ˇŻ He thought before getting to work.

    ˇ°ARGHHHHHHHHH!ˇ±

    As Marcus ripped the arm of the leader of these Marauders, he screamed out so loudly that the snow built up on the trees behind Marcus fell off.

    ˇ°Major Cure.ˇ±

    Casting a healing spell Marcus closed up the wound so that the man would not bleed out. And when he became lucid again, he grabbed his other arm and asked him if he would like to answer some questions now.

    ˇ°I already said you can do your worst. Go ahead and take my other arm. I will not say anything to you.ˇ±

    With the leaderˇŻs answer staying the same, Marcus shrugged his shoulders and ripped his other arm off. Causing another round of pained screaming from the groupˇŻs leader.

    Another spell after around a half minute of letting the man stew and Marcus stopped the bleeding to prevent the man from dying.

    But he did not try to question him again, and instead turned towards the other six members he had tied up against a nearby tree.

    ˇ°Do any of you want to speak before I get serious? I really am not a fan of doing this, but I have dozens of methods far worse than just ripping off an arm.ˇ±

    Yet while one of the Marauders did speak up, they did not give Marcus any information he wanted.

    ˇ°How is this possible? I checked your level, and it said you are twenty-seven. There is no way you should be this strong!ˇ± One of the women shouted out.

    Apparently, she had the creature appraisal skill just like Marcus, and his attempt to not stand out by setting his level lower had actually made him seem to be an easy target.

    Going up to her, Marcus squatted down in front of her and told her not to trust everything that she sees with her appraisal skill.

    ˇ°Now would you mind telling me what I want to know? How about we start with the number of members you have?ˇ±

    Unfortunately, this caused her to m up just like the leader who was currently unconscious from having both his arms ripped off.

    ˇ°Fine donˇŻt say I did not warn you.ˇ± Marcus said as he ced his hand over the womenˇŻs face.

    A few secondter she let out a muffled scream and the otherˇŻs watched as her hair started to turn white and wrinkles formed on her previously youthful skin.

    A very slow and agonizing three minutes then went on for her as Marcus gradually drained her life away.

    When he was done, he let out a satisfied sigh from having absorbed all of her life force.

    Now all that was left of her was a shriveled-up corpse like a mummy with a tortured expression permanently frozen on her face.

    Pulling her away from the binding of his magic, Marcus took her body andid it out in front of the remaining five conscious Marauders and let them see exactly what had happened to theirrade.

    ˇ°You monster!ˇ± One of the men called out as he struggled to break free in a fit of rage.

    Of course, he had no chance of escaping MarcusˇŻ iron thread and did nothing but slice up his cloths and skin.

    ˇ°Yes, you are right, I am a bit of a monster. You all just got very unlucky to attack a monster disguised as a human.ˇ± Marcus said with the most menacing smile he could.

    All the remaining Marauders shrunk back as they saw this, and their hearts which had been rtively calm began beating rapidly in fear.

    ˇ°I will give all of you onest chance to give me answers before going down the line and doing the same to all of you. And I would rmend that you just do as I ask. It is very painful to die as your life force is sucked out of you.ˇ±

    Luckily this seemed to get the message across, and the youngest and lowest level member of their group offered to spill everything he knew.

    The others all gave him betrayed looks, but he did not even notice them as he stared at the dried-up corpse of his former ally.

    ˇ°So, to summarize, your group is not actually a bunch of criminals. You have been given orders from your empire, the one that has taken control of most of the continent to the east to weaken Borealia and send the people you capture back as ves.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, the man who had spilled everything acknowledged that it was exactly as Marcus had said.

    ˇ°Please, I told you all I know. Just let me live. Please!ˇ± The young man pleaded.

    ˇ°Sorry but I have already revealed too much to all of you about myself. But I will make your deaths painless.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus held up his hand and cast a darkness magic spell which engulf all of them. Turning them to dust before they could even feel pain.

 694 Chapter 694

    With his newly gained information that the Marauders were not actually a band of criminals but soldiers from another continent, Marcus needed some time to carefully contemte his next move.

    ˇ®This is bigger than I was expecting. To think they would be doing covert sabotage in the kingdom, lured in by are already weakened state from the recent demon attack and the appearance of the Doomsday worm. I really do not want to fight in another war if I can help it.ˇŻ

    Wanting to nip this problem in the bud Marcus pulled out his sending stone and directly contacted Deputy King Kalt

    He knew that Borealia was already having plenty of trouble from what had happened recently and was sure they would want to know about this plot as soon as possible.

    ˇ°Marcus, what is it this time?ˇ± Kalt said with a sigh.

    It seemed that Marcus had only ever called with bad news enough times that at this point the leadership of the kingdom was dreading to hear from him.

    ˇ°Sorry, but it as you except. I have uncovered something detrimental to the kingdom.ˇ±

    Quickly Marcus exined to Kalt what he knew about the situation and for how long it had been going on.

    ˇ°This is just great. We did not need this right now.ˇ± Kalt said with an exhausted tone.

    For around a minute Marcus did not hear anything else from the other side, but when he did it was not the voice he had been expecting.

    ˇ°Marcus, Kalt told me there was an emergency that I need to here about. Would you mind catching me up quickly?ˇ± The king said.

    Apparently, he had called Kalt int eh middle of his daily meeting together with the king, and now he was going to be exining to both of them what was going on.

    ˇ°So that is the gist of it I got out of one of their soldiers. Is there anything you want me to do about this situation?ˇ±

    A few moments of silence passed after Marcus asked this, before Kalt and the king gave him their instructions.

    ˇ°Marcus, we would once again be very grateful if you could deal with this issue. I am sure you know that after all that has happened that the kingdom is very shaken up and anotherrge incident could cause uncontroble turmoil. If you can deal with this as quietly as possible, that would be for the best.ˇ± The king said.

    ˇ°Sure, I was already nning on wiping them out when I thought they were justmon criminals, so it does not change what I was going to do. Though I guess I should ask first if you want me to try capturing some of them instead of just killing them all?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, if you can do it safely that could be an immense help. But do not go out of your way to do so. If you have to kill them all that is perfectly fine. And once again, on the behalf of all of Borealia, I thank you.ˇ±

    With his correspondence with the king and the deputy king now over, Marcus put away his sending stone and called back Roxene and Inten who he was letting hunt around the area.

    ˇ®Time to get to work.ˇŻ Marcus thought once his two beastpanions were back in his storage.

    Now that he did not have to worry about any onlookers watching, he quickly went into his ghost form an easily flew through the area of the dungeon he was in.

    Within just around thirty minutes he sted through four areas to arrive at the one where the Marauders had set up their main base.

    It was an extreme biome ofrge pirs of stone that jutted up towards the ceiling with shriveled grasnd running in between them.

    All in all, this was definitely what would be considered a dangerous area for any normal person toe through, as sightlines on the ground were not great with all of the pirs being fairly close together.

    ˇ®There are quite a few beasts and monsters that are adept at stealth in this area with plenty that can climb and fly using the pirs to ambush anything moving on the ground below.ˇŻ Marcus observed.

    Though there was one species of beast he found that showed no signs of caring about staying hidden.

    It was a massive warthog with thick shining silver armor ting all over its tank sized body.

    From the air Marcus had seen a couple of them roaming the area, with one being level thirty-six and the other being level thirty-nine.

    Certainly, they were no threat to him, but the average person could easily be skewered by theirrge tusks or trampled underfoot.

    ˇ®I can see why they had trouble getting rid of them if they set up in this area. Even the shortest route has you going through two other areas. And once here and exhausted you would have to navigate this unforgiving terrain and assault a ce that gives them theplete advantage.ˇŻ

    Going through the area Marcus searched from above for the MarauderˇŻs base and found it soon enough.

    It was actually carved into six pirs grouped very closely together and were connected by bridges made from earth magic.

    The way they had set it up was also more like a military fortress than what a normal banditˇŻs base would be like, making it even more difficult to assault.

    ˇ®I doubt that anyone who cannot fly would even have a chance of sessfully attacking this ce. It is up over three hundred feet in the air with the only way up to climb a sheer cliff or try and use one of the lifts they have installed. Though it would be a miracle to make it up before they simply cut the line.ˇŻ

    Going around Marcus analyzed the defenses of the MarauderˇŻs base and found that they had regr sentries patrolling the area and a lookout atop each of the pirs giving them a pretty good view of the entire area.

    Along with that he even found that they had some military grade mana cannons that were positioned near openings in the base and were ready to be used at any moment.

    Still, even with all this security they had one w, and that was anyone who could fly and turn invisible.

    Of course, the number of individuals that could do that were quite limited, but unfortunately for them, Marcus excelled at both of these aspects and went even further by being intangible as well.

    ˇ®Now where do I start? I have already scouted the outer area of the base, but if I am unlucky their higher ups or leaders might notice me. I could also just try to raze the area to the ground, but I would like to capture a few of them, and it is possible some of the stronger ones could survive and indiscriminate bombardment.ˇŻ

    Going over his options for a bit Marcus decided that his safest course of action would be to possess one of the patrolling guards and use their body to scout out the entire base.

    This way on the very slight chance one of them could detect him even in his ghost form, he would still be fine.

 695 Chapter 695

    ˇ®That one will do.ˇŻ

    Finding his target Marcus floated down towards one of the guards that was just in the middle of being relived.

    From what Marcus had observed this guy seemed to be the highest-ranking member that was keeping watch, and his level was fairly high at thirty-six.

    Unfortunately, while he was strong from an average personˇŻs perspective Marcus was over twenty levels higher and possessed the man without any resistance.

    ˇ®Been a while since Ist did this.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he got used to moving a flesh and blood body.

    It feltpletely different than his normal form that did not have anything like blood or organs, or even the need to breath.

    Luckily, since MarcusˇŻ mind was human to begin with, the instinctual feel for a human body came back fairly quickly.

    After doing some stretches and test movements with the manˇŻs body, he was confident in his ability to manipte his current puppet.

    ˇ®They really carved this ce out.ˇŻ He thought seeing the intricate hallways and rooms that had been made in this stone pir.

    Currently he was on the top level where the man had been patrolling, and other than the outer wall being thick enough to repel most attacks, the inside was cleared away, leaving only the minimum amount of stone necessary for supporting the structure.

    ˇ®Some people areing from those stairs.ˇŻ

    With his life sense skill going, Marcus detected three presencesing up to the floor that he was currently on.

    At first, he almost had the instinct to try and hide since he was an infiltrator, but he quickly remembered he was possessing the body of one of the soldiers.

    Staying confident he walked by them and politely nodded his head towards the two women and one young guying up the stairs.

    He also discreetly appraised them. Finding that the young manˇŻs level was just twenty, while the younger girl with brown hair tied up in a bun was level twenty-five, and the woman that seemed to be in her earlier thirties with long blonde hair was surprisingly at level forty.

    ˇ°Oh, where is your normal greeting Enzo? It is a bit rude to simply walk by your superior with simply a nod.ˇ± The blond-haired woman said.

    Mentally kicking himself, Marcus thought he should have more closely watched how these people interacted. They were military unit, so of course they had structure and customs he was not aware of. But well, at least he did learn the name of the man he was possessing.

    Still, he stayed adaptable and turned around with a fake smile on his face.

    ˇ°Sorry, I just got off and am a bit tired. Please excuse my rudeness.ˇ± Marcus said.

    The blonde woman gave him quite the smile when he turned around to face her, and she did not actually seem that bothered.

    ˇ°I see, yes, you did just finish watch, so it makes sense. How about you go and get some food in the mess and rest for a bit in your quarters. Just donˇŻt forget the meeting we have scheduled in two hours.ˇ±

    Once he had given an assurance that he would be at this meeting, Marcus headed down the stairs and continued scouting around the interior of the base.

    Before he started taking them down, he wanted to thoroughly investigate what he could.

    From what he had gotten out of the other soldiers he had integrated; he knew that there were quite a few high-ranking officers here that they did not know the level of.

    Looking around, Marcus decided to try and find the mess as suggested, since he figured that it might be a good ce to pick up some information.

    ˇ®Not here.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Nope.ˇŻ

    ˇ®This is a bathroom.ˇŻ

    ˇ®Oh! Not what I was looking for, but this is still a good find.ˇŻ

    Going though a bunch of rooms he finally found something that was not just a useless room.

    Inside were dozens of crates and stored in each of them were plenty of magic cores.

    With everything in this room, they could keep a fort going for a couple weeks at least.

    ˇ®None of them seem to be from beasts or monsters above level forty or off especially high grade, and most are definitely from creatures below level thirty.ˇŻ Marcus found after going through a few crates.

    Then when he had finished looking them over, he opened his item box and began emptying out as many as he could.

    There was no point in these cores being destroyed in the likely battle that was going to ensue once he had finished gathering information and nning his method of attack

    Plus, it would weaken any response they could make if they suddenly found themselves unable to power their magic devices.

    ˇ®That is probably the most I can take without rousing immediate suspicion.ˇŻ Marcus thought when he was done.

    He had left just enough crates to block off the ones he had empties so that if someone came to grab any they would not find itpletely empty.

    Next, he made his way around and discreetly sabotaged all of the mana cannons in the pir he was currently in.

    Using his skills as a forge master, he added a new formation on the cannon so that it would create a barrier around the exit and explode when fired.

    Truly it was quite the diabolic idea, as unless they inspected the inside of the cannons very carefully, they would never find the traps he hadid.

    ˇ®Now that was quite the detour from my original goal. Where is that mess hall?ˇŻ Marcus thought as he wiped the sweat off the brow of the man he was possessing.

    With his scouting out of the first pir finished and not having found his current target, he crossed over one of the bridges and began his search anew.

    As he left the first pir, he found that the next had quite a few more people in it which made it hard for him to stealthily go around into every room.

    However, it did give him another opportunity to learn the customs of the soldiers, and he watched how they reacted when they passed by each other.

    ˇ®I see, they typically give a quick salute and address anyone of a higher rank. For the same rank a curt nod or no acknowledgment seems to be the norm.ˇŻ

    When he was done observing how these soldiers interacted, he made sure toe around corner towards two people he assumed were lower ranking than the guy he was possessing since their levels were only in the mid-twenties.

    Fortunately, his assumption was on point, and they gave him the normal salute and said, ˇ°Lieutenantˇ± as he passed by.

    ˇ®Good, now I know this guyˇŻs rank. I suppose that it must be denoted by this badge he has on his clothes.ˇŻ Marcus surmised.

    Quickly enough by passing a few more people he found out all the ranks of the soldiers here up to captain which was one above the man he was possessing.

    ˇ®The captains all seem to be around level forty. Higher than the ones I normally see in BorealiaˇŻs army which were in the thirties. Still, I have note across any of their top dogs yet. Hopefully I can find out some more in the mess. Now where it is?ˇŻ

 696 Chapter 696

    ˇ®Damn, which pir is this stupid mess hall in?ˇŻ Marcus thought while being quite frustrated.

    He had already searched four of the six pirs that the soldiers from another continent had set up their base in and still not found the ce he had been looking for.

    At the very least he had located a meeting room and quarters area that were only essible to the highest-ranking soldiers here.

    The meeting room had been guarded by two level forty plus captains, while the quarters were guarded by one. These areas were by far the biggest he hade by and took up the majority of the third pir he searched which was also the most central one.

    With it already having been nearly two hours since his search began, Marcus was starting to get fed up trying to find this mess hall where he figured he could gather some more information in the rxed atmosphere.

    He was even beginning to contemte devouring the soul of the man he was possessing so that he could take the information he wanted from his memories.

    ˇ®No, I am not that desperate, yet. I do not need a repeat of thest time I casually used my soul devour skill.ˇŻ Marcus thought while shaking the idea out of his head.

    Thankfully he managed to find the mess hall he was looking for which was filled with a good thirty soldiers.

    From the investigation he had done so far, he figured there were anywhere from four to five hundred soldiers here with any number out acting as adventurers while killing and kidnapping people.

    ˇ°Lieutenant Enzo, you areter than we were expecting. You normallying in right after your shift, but you are nearly two hourste. Did something happen to keep you up?ˇ± One of the men serving food asked Marcus.

    ˇ°No, I was just feeling tired and decided to take a nap beforeing in. I am feeling better now so go ahead and fill up my tray.ˇ±

    Pouring some sort of stew into one of the sections of MarcusˇŻ standard meal tray, the server smiled and told him that he coulde back for more if he was still hungry.

    Along with the stew he also picked up a sd with some sort of fruit topping and a number of roasted vegetables.

    Then with his food in hand, he turned around towards the seating and looked around for a good group to integrate into.

    Luckily the other soldiers at the same rank as the guy Marcus was possessing called him over.

    ˇ°Enzo, it is rare to see you here around his time. Come over and join us. It has been too long since west spoke.ˇ± One of the other lieutenants said.

    With a fortunate invitation extended to him, Marcus took it up and sat down across from a grizzled man who had scars all over his body from countless battles.

    Along with the grizzled man was the one who called him over. He was a youngish looking man with well-groomed brown hair and gave off a y boyish demeanor.

    Across from him was a very sharp-eyed girl with raven hair who Marcus felt was probably a pretty straiced soldier.

    ˇ°So, Enzo, howˇŻs the watch been going? See anything interestingtely?ˇ± The yboy seeming man asked.

    ˇ°No, it has been pretty much just routine. A few flying monsters or beasts mighte by but nothing really dangerous. All has been pretty peaceful.ˇ± Marcus said giving a generic answer.

    ˇ°Really, I thought that the pir that you were stationed at got attacked a couple of days ago by one of the silver hide boars that roam this area?ˇ± the straiced girl said.

    ˇ®Of course, something like that happened.ˇŻ Marcus thought while internally sighing.

    So far his luck blending in had been hit or miss, and this could blow his cover if he was not careful.

    ˇ°Yeah, that did happen, but I was not on shift then, so I did not see it personally. Anyway, what about you guys, anything new happening?ˇ± Marcus said hoping to push past talking about the guy he was possessing.

    Thankfully this seemed to work, and the man with scars all over him began tedly talking about what they had been doing.

    ˇ°Things have been going great for our squad. Just three days ago we ambushed a group of Borealian knights that were training in the dark tunnels area two away from here. We managed to get a lot of good equipment off of them, and they will make good ves to be put on the front lines in our war against Nienaina kingdom who are the only ones still holding out on the home front.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus now had a better grasp of what they were doing here, as the previous soldiers he had interrogated did not say anything about what was actually happening on the continent to the east of Borealia. Though that was because he had not asked.

    ˇ°Sounds like you did pretty good. So, are those knights still on base?ˇ± Marcus asked, wanting to know if he also needed to perform a rescue mission.

    ˇ°Hah, of course not. You know that the general uses her space magic at the end of every other day to teleport the prisoners back home. We got back three days ago, so they are long gone.ˇ± The man said whileughing.

    Continuing this thread of the conversation Marcus asked more about the prisoners. Wanting to know how many there currently were and when this general that could use space magic would be sending them away.

    ˇ°Hell if I know. I donˇŻt keep track of boring stuff like that.ˇ± The man with scars said as he took a huge spoonful of food and jammed it in his mouth.

    ˇ°Not sure why you are so interested, but right now we have twenty-three prisoners, and the general will be teleporting them out today.ˇ± The straighced woman with raven hair said.

    She seemed to be looking at Marcus with some suspicion now. Probably wondering why he was asking all of this.

    ˇ®Great, now I need to worry about rescuing the people they have kidnapped. I may not want to go out of my way to go around saving people, but I would definitely feel bad if I ended up killing some unrted parties because of my own negligence.ˇŻ

    Having gathered some worthwhile intelligence, Marcus was thinking up ways to get a full run down on the skills that these guys knew about the higher-ranking members stationed here.

    Unfortunately, before he could. he was interrupted as the blonde captain he had passed not long after possessing Enzo came rushing into the mess hall.

    She looked quite upset, and when she set her sights on Marcus, she walked over towards him in obvious anger.

    ˇ°Lieutenant Enzo, we had a meeting scheduled for thirty minutes ago. What are you doing here lounging around and eating without even sending word of your dy.ˇ± The blonde captain said while tapping her finger on her arm.

    Quickly standing up, Marcus said an apology and made up an excuse about having slept in and then getting caught up in conversation with the other lieutenants.

    ˇ°Fine, we still have some time soe with me and we can start the meeting a bitte.ˇ± She said as she began walking away and beckoning Marcus to follow.

    The lieutenants he had been eating gave him pitying looks as he left. They figured he was about to royally get chewed out.

 697 Chapter 697

    Marcus felt a sense of unease as he followed behind the blonde-haired captain whose name he found out was Emilia by thoroughly looking over her status.

    ˇ®Hopefully she can make this quick.ˇŻ Marcus thought as they entered a private meeting room.

    He just wanted to get yelled at and finish up whatever meeting the guy he was possessing was supposed to be at.

    Soon enough they came to a door which Emilia opened and walked into.

    Looking around, Marcus saw that the room was fairly bare bones. With only a small wooden table with six chairs around it, and a couch pressed against one wall.

    On the table the only thing was a metal pitcher of water with a few cups bedside it.

    ˇ®No one else is here? That does not bode well.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    He had figured there would be more people at this meeting, but since no one else was here he figured his absence had done more than just dy them.

    Then to make matters worse, Emilia brought out a magic device shaped like and egg and activated it. Causing an area of silence to form around the room.

    ˇ®Damn, how loudly does she n on yelling at this guy for missing one meeting that she needs to silence the room?!ˇŻ Marcus thought in astonishment.

    Turning towards her he saw that she was frowning and tapping her finger in annoyance as she had before.

    ˇ°You know you cannot keep beingte to our meeting. Last time it was five minutes, but this time it seems youpletely forgot.ˇ± She said with a raised eyebrow.

    It was clear that she wanted an apology, so Marcus lowered his head a bit. and said, ˇ°I am sorry Captain. It will not happen again.ˇ±

    Yet at this her angry demeanor shifted, and she startedughing.

    At first Marcus thought that he had done something wrong in his apology, but it turned out that was not the case.

    ˇ°Okay, I am not that mad. No need to be so formal when we are alone. Just donˇŻt bete againˇ± She said with a wry smile. ˇ°Now since you were sote, we only have about forty more minutes before my break is over. It has been ten days since our schedulesst aligned, so let us not waste any more time.ˇ±

    bbergasted, Marcus was not sure what was happening as he thought he was going to get chewed out for missing the meeting the guy he was possessing was supposed to be at.

    Though when he looked up in confusion, the blonde captain just went over to the couch andid down on it.

    Still, Marcus was not sure what was going on, and at first wondered if she was just gettingfortable to start whatever sort of meeting these two were supposed to have.

    ˇ°Oh, are you that tired today? Well, if you are, then I do not mind taking the lead for once.ˇ± She said as she got up off the couch.

    Suddenly Marcus had a premonition of what might actually be happening here but shook his head thinking he must have been mistaken.

    That was until Emilia started undoing the buttons on her uniform and looking at him with a sultry gaze.

    ˇ®No, this is not happening.ˇŻ Marcus thought, not wanting to believe the situation he found himself in.

    But as Emelia exposed far more than a publicly eptable amount of cleavage and ced her hands on the chest of the man Marcus was possessing, it was clear no amount of denial was going to change the situation.

    Grabbing the blonde captainˇŻs hands, Marcus stopped her from feeling up the body he was possessing, and quickly picked her up and threw her on the couch.

    She looked incredibly surprised by this at first, but her smile quickly returned, and she said, ˇ°That is more like it. Are you getting into it now?ˇ±

    However, her smile quickly faded into a look of worry as Enzo, the man Marcus was possessing copsed onto the floor like a puppet whose strings had just been cut. Which was actually fairly urate as Marcus had just unpossessed him.

    And as she was about to get up to check on the unconscious body of her lover, she suddenly felt an immense weight pushing down on her soul that forced her to stop.

    It was like a mountain had just been ced on her back and there was a string that could snap at any moment holding it up just enough to prevent her from being crushed.

    Of course, this was what she felt like after Marcus exerted his phantom pressure on her to prevent her from moving.

    ˇ®Looks like I am going to have a change of ns.ˇŻ Marcus thought while sighing.

    He figured that he would just ride out whatever sort of chewing out he was going to get, but there was no way he was going to go along with this.

    It waspletely wrong in multiple different ways, and there was no way he was going to do anything to betray his rtionship with Mraziv??.

    With his current target held in ce by his phantom pressure, Marcus moved over to the silencing magic tool and checked to make sure that it was working well and had no chance of stopping.

    ˇ®Good, looks like she gave it enough mana tost for a little over an hour. That should do.ˇŻ Marcus thought after inspecting it.

    Then he canceled his phantom pressure, but before the blonde captain could move, he made his spectral arm appear and grabbed her by the throat.

    He pressed down hard enough to keep her from breathing so that she could not even attempt to cast a spell, and then began speaking to her with telepathy.

    ˇ®Hello there Emilia. I was hoping to keep using that puppet for a bit longer, but I frankly have some lines I will not cross. Now I have some questions for you. If you answer them all honestly, I will make sure you and your lover Enzo, get out of here alive. Jerk me around, and I will kill him. Do I make myself clear.ˇŻ Marcus said while trying to sound as evil as he could.

    ˇ®I donˇŻt know what sort of foul monster you are, but both Enzo and I would die for our empire. Go ahead and do you worst.ˇŻ She said back over telepathy.

    Sighing, Marcus had figured this would happen, which is why he did not try it from the start.

    The soldiers of the empire seemed well trained against integration, and the only one that broke downst time was the youngest member who was obviously a greenhorn.

    ˇ®I am certain with her rank that she will know more about the leaders here. I need to find some way to make her talk.ˇŻ

    For a few moments Marcus pondered what to do, and eventually he repossessed EnzoˇŻs body and shakily got up.

    ˇ°Are you sure that you want that to be your answer. I am quite the nasty ghost you see. I have a skill that allows me to eat even the souls of those weaker than me. Right now, I have only put this man to sleep. But with just a few moments I can turn his very existence to oblivion. Then I can do the same to you. There will be no afterlife for you. Which as an apparition, I can assure you exists. I will simply make you both a part of me and get the information I want anyway.ˇ±

 698 Chapter 698

    With the soldiers of the empire on the eastern continent being quite resistant to torture and Marcus not really wanting to go through grueling hours of it just to break someoneˇŻs mind. He decided to try a new strategy.

    If they did not care about dying or their physical wellbeing, perhaps they would want to preserve their souls.

    Of course, he was pretty much bluffing since at this point in time he had no intention of using his soul devour skill. But the blonde-haired captain did not know that.

    ˇ°What will it be Emilia? Some information or oblivion?ˇ± Marcus said just like an evil monster while possessing EnzoˇŻs body.

    She appeared to be sweating now, though Marcus was not sure if it was from fear or because he was still choking her with his spectral arm.

    Quickly he let up and allowed her to get a breath but kept the hand firmly around her neck to prevent her from trying anything.

    When she had stopped gasping, she looked at Marcus with a murderous gaze, and said with a raspy voice, ˇ°If you could eat our souls and take our memories you already would have. Go ahead, you will get nothing out of me.ˇ±

    With his bluff being called out, Marcus decided to up his intimidation, and moved right up in front of Emilia who had closed her eyes and seemed to eb waiting for death.

    Once again, he left the body of Enzo and this time appeared right in front of her in the form of one of the leaders of Permafrost whose soul he had devoured long ago.

    Then he ced his hand over her mouth and activated his soul devour unique skill.

    For just a moment he allowed Emilia to feel a tug on her soul, and right before he ripped it out of her body, he stopped the skill.

    ˇ®Damn just using it like that for an instant was close. I nearly gave into temptation and ate her soul.ˇŻ Marcus thought, having his wariness of this skill reaffirmed.

    Breathing heavily and with a look of absolute terror in her eyes, Emilia could certainly feel that she was just a moment away from having her soul ripped from her body.

    ˇ°You see, I can do as I have threatened. But I do not want to waste it to the two of you. I can only eat so many souls each year, and both of yours are not the ones I want. It is your leaders I am after, but I need to know their skills and whatever weakness they have first. You can never be too careful.ˇ± Marcus said, making up a lie about a limited use to his unique skill

    Of course, he could devour as many souls as he wanted without limit, but he already knew that would cause him to lose his sense of self since just eating a few souls in the past had nearly caused him to fall apart.

    Now knowing that MarcusˇŻ threat was very real, Emilia started ncing her eyes around the room, hoping to find some way out. If she could somehow shut the silencing device off she could call for help, but she knew she would never be able to chant a spell before Marcus tightened the spectral hand still around her neck.

    ˇ°I think I have been pretty patient. Go ahead and make your decision. Do you want to be another helpless soul eaten by me, like the form of the man I am taking right now, or do you want to tell me what I want and live?ˇ±

    After experiencing the immense fear of having her soul nearly sucked out, EmiliaˇŻs she was beginning to lose her nerve.

    What good would the secrets she was trying to keep matter if she ended up absorbed by a monster that could steal peopleˇŻs memories and forms.

    ˇ°What assurance do I have that you will keep your word?ˇ± She asked.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, ˇ°You have none, but there is no reason for me to kill you if you tell me what I want to know. I swear that you and Enzo here can keep on living with your soulˇŻs intact.ˇ±

    Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth, Emilia wanted to spit in MarcusˇŻ face and scream out that she would never give up her other soldiers. But she just could not.

    The creeping fear and the slimy feeling she had experienced as her soul was begin torn out of her body was a sensation she never wanted to feel again. It outssed any physical pain she had ever experienced by many times.

    ˇ°Fine, I will tell you what you want to know.ˇ± She eventually said.

    She had chosen to save her own soul and betray the empire she was loyal to. Death she could ept but being absorbed was too scary a concept for her.

    Quickly she began giving Marcus the information that he wanted and told him everything she knew about the top brass here and the details of their mission.

    When she was finished, Marcus smiled and thanked her for her cooperation, before knocking her out with his phantom pressure.

    ˇ®Now let me go over what I have found out. There are a bit more than five hundred soldiers here, with twenty captain ss soldiers from forty to forty-eight just like Emilia here. But they are no real threat. The ones that are truly in charge are the four lieutenant colonels, the two full colonels, and the singr general. Though I need not worry much about the lieutenant colonels much as they range from level fifty to fifty-five. The full colonels on the other hand she did not know the level exact levels of, but they have to be at least fifty-eight so they might be a bit threatening. Then there is the general. He is the one I really need to be wary of. She did not know his exact level either, but knows it is at least level seventy which all generals must have to achieve the rank. I also now know that he uses a rapier and staff as his weapons, and is a master of not just space magic, but also destruction, war which I have never heard of, and water magic. And above all, he definitely has at least one unique skill. Truly I am d I did not get overconfident. If I got caught off guard against them without knowing what they are capable of I could have been in trouble.ˇŻ

    Now fairly satisfied with the information he had obtained, Marcus possessed EmiliaˇŻs body, since as a higher-ranking officer she would be more useful.

    Quickly he buttoned back up her shirt which had been undone the entire interrogation and used healing magic to clear up the hand shaped bruise on her neck.

    ˇ®Well, I did make a promise.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he picked up EnzoˇŻs body.

    Carefully making sure that the coast was clear outside, he left the meeting room he had been in while carrying EnzoˇŻs body.

    Finding the nearest lookout window Marcus knocked out the man keeping watch with his phantom pressure and pushed him aside.

    ˇ®Inten, I need you to cause amotion for me. Make it big and shy.ˇŻ Marcus said as he let the diamond mouse out of hispanion storage.

    Happy to finally have something to do, Inten scurried down the side of the pir and moved into to position. On Marcus signal he created arge sphere of diamond and fired it at the nearest pir, before going down the lien and hitting the others.

    Not long after an rm went off, and the base of the eastern empire went into high alert as they were besieged by a legendary grade beast.

 699 Chapter 699

    As rms red throughout the base and the soldiers within moved to their battle stations, and began searching for the creature attacking them, Marcus jumped out of the window he was waiting at.

    He was using IntenˇŻs assault as a distraction so that he could take Enzo out of the base and stash him away somewhere safe.

    Marcus was a man of his word and nned to keep him alive, but also was making sure that even if he ended up killing every other soldier, he would at least have one to bring back as a prisoner.

    ˇ®This should do.ˇŻ He thought, cing the man in a deep indent in one of the nearby pirs.

    He also created and iron golem and left it there to protect his prisoner so that he would not be killed by beasts or monsters while unconscious.

    With what he needed to do done, he rushed back to the base that was busy dealing with Inten, who had already done heavy damage to the despite their defenses.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    In quick session multiple explosions rocked the base as the soldiers had brought out the magic cannons and tried to fire them.

    Only instead off unleashing powerful attacks on Inten who was making his presence quite clear as per MarcusˇŻ request, they were engulfed by huge explosions.

    ˇ®Looks like that worked out pretty well.ˇŻ Marcus thought, seeing the bright sts of mana exploding across all of the pirs.

    No doubt they were incredibly shaken at this point and would have suffered quite a few casualties from the explosions.

    In fact, one of the pirs that Inten had pummeled a bit harder than the others was not able to keep standing and copsed after the mana cannons exploded.

    Quickly making his way back to the base Marcus aimed right for the central pir and jumped into one of the now blown out windows where a mana cannon used to be.

    When he got in, he found that there were half a dozen corpses strewn about the ce that had been caught up in the explosion.

    ˇ®Wait that one is actually still alive.ˇŻ

    Seeing one of the people breathing, Marcus checked their rank and found that they were a lieutenant. Their higher level having allowed them to not end up dead.

    And fortunately for them, Marcus wanted to capture as many people alive as feasible. So, he gave them a quick healing spell before knocking them fully out with his phantom pressure.

    ˇ®Now, I need to make my way to the general and deal with him. If I am not careful, he could use his space magic to bring in help or escape.ˇŻ

    Heading through the base Marcus saw that people were running around frantically to deal with the multitude of issues they were currently facing.

    Then another round of explosions went off as more mana cannons were attempted to be fired.

    ˇ°Captain Emilia, what are you doing here? There is an attack happening outside. You should be at your battle station and taking charge of your troops?ˇ± The captain guarding the office of the general said.

    Unfortunately for him, he was quickly knocked out as Marcus hit him with his phantom pressure.

    With no more obstructions in his way, he opened the office door and found the general and one of the colonels frantically giving out orders through a number of sending stone.

    ˇ°sted it all, what is happening!? Colonel Ives, lead some troops out and deal with that beast. I do not know where something like that hase from, but kill it quickly and get back. This must be a trap of some kindˇ± The general said into one of his sending stones.

    At the same time the other Colonel who was sitting next to him was give outmands as well.

    ˇ°To all troops, stop attempting to use the mana cannons. They have been sabotaged. We have an infiltrator or traitor. Head to your emergency stations and do not move alone.ˇ±

    Seeing the two leaders of this base frantically giving out orders, Marcus had to stifle a smile since his n was working quite well.

    ˇ°Captain Emilia, what are you doing here? Head to your emergency station and takemand of your troops.ˇ± The Colonel said, trying to brush off Marcus.

    ˇ°Wait sir, I have important information that I need to deliver to you. I have found the traitors.ˇ± Marcus said with a frantic and worried expression.

    This immediately got their attention, and they listened to Marcus as he told them that he hade across some of the soldiers sabotaging the mana cannons but that they had caused a distraction and gotten away.

    Naturally he had also given some random names of the soldiers he had appraised earlier, and this seemed to be enough for the general and colonel to believe him.

    ˇ°Damn those traitors. It will be quickest if I deal with them myself. Colonel Malik, I will leave you inmand here for a few minutes. Captain Emilia, assist him while I go deal with these traitors.ˇ± The general said.

    He then pulled out a magic device Marcus had heard about from Emilia that allowed the general to lock onto the soldiers under hismand and teleport to them.

    But as he tried to use his space magic, it fizzled out and instead of teleporting to his destination he was shunted into his desk.

    This was due to the spatial disruptor that Marcus had made with Thabon years ago for the kingdom tournament in order to deal with WyattˇŻs robe that allowed him to teleport.

    He had left it outside the office beforeing in, and they were still well within its effective range.

    Taking his chance, Marcus jumped out of EmiliaˇŻs body and brought forth his scythe. Which looked to be connected only to a dismembered hand and shed forward. Aiming to cut the general in half at the waist.

    Yet as his surprise attack was about to hit, the general began to shift around and an automatic spatial defense that was supposed to teleport him away from an attack activated.

    But due to the disruptor it only sent him back just slightly instead of teleporting him away, and MarcusˇŻ scythe sliced into his stomach and a wide crimson arc sprayed out over the room.

    ˇ®Damn! I missed.ˇŻ He thought watching the general jump back after receiving what Marcus considered a shallow wound, even if he cut the manˇŻs stomach open.

    Pressing the attack he flew forward, still only keeping his right hand and scythe tangible to attack with.

    Though this time as he swung his scythe, Colonel Malik who was also in the room jumped forward with an adamantine shield and mace now in his hands.

    ˇ®Roxene deal with him.ˇŻ Marcus ordered.

    More than happy to obey, the divine wolf jumped out of hispanion storage. Already erging herself as she used her supreme skill.

    In a moment ofplete surprise Malik was caught total off guard, and RoxeneˇŻs massive jaw of shining white teeth closed down around him. Before she quickly ran off and smashed him through the walls of the base as she got away from Marcus and the general so that they could fight alone.

 700 Chapter 700

    Pushing the attack, Marcus struck out with his scythe towards the general in charge of the forces from the eastern continent that had made their base inside the Cordillera Depths Dungeon.

    Yet while the man was pretty badly injured by MarcusˇŻ opening sneak attack, he did not attain a level of seventy-one and risen to his prestigious rank by being a pushover.

    He had already pulled out an ornate system recognized adamantine rapier and a staff that was iid with all manner of magic crystals and was made out of a very powerful magic wood.

    Though as he crossed his weapons in front of him to block MarcusˇŻs scythe that looked to be being swung by a disembodied hand, it suddenly disappeared and slipped past his weapons.

    However, while Marcus was sure he was about to deliver the finishing blow, the manˇŻs space magic defense kicked in again and his body looked like a video game glitch and suddenly shifted to the side.

    Still thanks to the spatial disrupter Marcus as already set out, the effect was not as it should have been and once again, he failed to fully avoid the attack.

    With a sickening thud the generalˇŻs arm that was holding the staff fell off and hit the ground. Leaving in its wake a pool of blood.

    At this point he realized that what he was facing was an ethereal begin, and as he had been trained began channeling his spiritual energy to protect himself and see his assant.

    An instantter a massive serpent made of water that was infused with spiritual energy appeared behind him and struck forth towards Marcus.

    Jump out of the way, Marcus avoided the powerful tier four spell he had seen cast once before, and at the same time picked up the generals severed arm and weapon before cing it in his time box.

    ˇ°Come out fell spirit. You can hide form me no more.ˇ± The general said with his gaze fixed squarely on Marcus.

    ˇ°So, you can use spiritual energy as I suspected. But it really does not matter since I already got some hits in.ˇ± Marcus said as he fully appeared.

    The second Marcus appeared, the general finished casting a spell and red energy swirled around him and dozens of semitransparent soldiers formed around him.

    ˇ®Oh, is this his war magic!ˇŻ Marcus thought, being impressed to see a type of magic he never had.

    ˇ°Go my soldiers, destroy that specter.ˇ± He said as he pulled out a potion from his item box.

    Just a nce told Marcus that it was a lesser elixir, and he had no intention of letting his main target fully heal himself.

    ˇ®Umbral fissure.ˇŻ

    Having amassed a truly massive amount of mana, Marcus mmed his foot into the ground and the entire area began to shake as dark cracks form out from him.

    Quickly the entire pir they were end spit in half, and for over three miles arge fissure around twenty feet wide cracked through the earth and caused massive tremors in the entire area.

    Most of the generalˇŻs war magic soldiers were immediately swallowed up by MarcusˇŻ spell, and the general himself barely avoided being caught up in it as well by quickly jumping to the side of the room.

    ˇ®Wow, so this is the power of a tier seven spell. And its main power has not even activated yet.ˇŻ Marcus thought, impressed by his own spell.

    This was the first time he was using them in battle, and while it looked impressive being cast out in the middle of a wastnd, seeing what it could do to an enemy base was just that much more astounding.

    The general for his part was stunned by the sudden tier seven spell, as he had apprised Marcus and thought his level was only forty-four.

    ˇ°Fine, I was trying to keep damage to a minimum, but you leave me no choice.ˇ± He said as he held his remaining hand forward.

    Arge mass of dark red energy began to form around him, and everything nearby began to disintegrate.

    Watching this happen Marcus recognized that what the corner general was trying to do was cast destruction magic which he had not seen since his battle with the demon in Loursend.

    ˇ°Wraghhhh!ˇ±

    But before he got his spell off a cacophony of terrifying wails echoed out of the fissure Marcus had created, and appendages as dark as night began pulling up creatures made of darkness.

    Quickly hundreds of amorphous begins made of darkness began running towards the general and to protect himself he had to switch the target of his spell from Marcus to the beings of darkness spilling out of the fissure.

    A massive fist of destruction formed around him and collided with the monstersing out of MarcusˇŻ umbral fissure, and they were destroyed by the overwhelming power.

    Then as the first hit the fissure, the two magics began fighting for dominance and in the end the tier seven destruction magic won out and MarcusˇŻ spell began to rapidly deteriorate.

    Truly it was an impressive show of power, but it had only dealt with Marcus spell and not him.

    Before the general who was still severely wounded could do anything else, Marcus had shot towards him wreathed in his embodiment of eclipse which he used to increase his speed to a point past what the general could currently handle.

    With a swift thrust he jammed the spearhead at the tip of his scythe into the manˇŻs already cut open stomach and began draining his mana.

    The general tried to counterattack with his rapier, but MarcusˇŻ shield appeared next to him and guarded. Then with his left hand he punched across the generalˇŻs face incredibly hard and knocked him senseless.

    Before he realized it though his scythe began acting on its own and dark green tendril beganing out of therge core imbedded in it and wrapping around the man

    They quickly aided in the draining of his mana, but also were trying to steal his life force which Marcus had to prevent by exerting his will over his slightly unruly scythe.

    ˇ®And the most important person is captured.ˇŻ Marcus thought once he was certain he had drained all of the generalˇŻs mana.

    He also had pretty brutal taken of his remaining three limbs and removed his tongue before healing him so that he would not die.

    Along with that he had him tied up with his iron threads and had brought over his spatial disruptor which he tied up with him.

    ˇ®That should do. As long as I keep mana thief active, he will not be able to regain any mana which will prevent him from escaping.ˇŻ

    With his main target captured Marcus moved over to where Emilia was and still alive.

    Normally it would be a miracle for her to have survived such a sh between two far higher-level entities, but Marcus had cast a few defensive spells on her to make sure she did not die.

    ˇ®Inten, how are you doing?ˇŻ Marcus asked.

    ˇ®Busy. One guy is pretty strong. I think I can win though. I just need more time.ˇŻ Inten sent back.

    Next, he called up Roxene, but as she only had one person to deal with and had caught him byplete surprise, she had already finished up and had him incapacitated.

 701 Chapter 701

    Now having captured the enemy general along with the blonde-haired captain Emilia, Marcus made his way out of the spit in half pir and flew around looking for other survivors.

    He wanted to make sure he grabbed a few more prisoners for Borealia. since while the king did not tell him to prioritize it, there was a good chance it woulde in handy.

    ˇ®I may not be that well versed on running a kingdom, but I am sure that having more cards to y in whatever political mayhem that is going to happen next will be useful.ˇŻ

    Going around he found that there were still dozens of soldiers that had taken up their posts, but it was clear that the absolute structure and order that they had was long gone.

    MarcusˇŻ umbral fissure spell was on par with a natural disaster, and his brief sh with the general had been more than enough to shake even these hardened soldiers.

    Quickly he rounded up a group of themon soldiers that were being led by two lieutenants and a captain and added them to his group of captives.

    It was quite easy for him to do so. He simply crushed any resistance with his phantom pressure and wrapped them up with his iron threads.

    ˇ®I think that will do. I have thirty of them now including the general, and once I collect the colonel Roxene captured that should be enough.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    With all of the captives he felt he needed, Marcus took to the air and dragged the people tied up with his iron treads along with him.

    Next, he went to find the prison cells, where those that were captured in the dungeon were being held.

    Unfortunately, it was earlier today that the general had teleported their captives away, so only a small group of four people that had been brought in not long before Marcus found the base were there.

    Naturally he did not want them bombarding him with questions. So, he simply knocked them out as well and used his iron magic to carry them out.

    Then he went up to where he could already see Roxene standing on top of one of the pirs nearby with the body of a limp man in her jaws.

    ˇ°Good work Roxene, how is Inten doing?ˇ± Marcus asked when he arrived.

    Currently she was looking down upon the battle of a group of remaining soldiers led by their second strongest warrior who was engaging the diamond mouse.

    ˇ®Seems like a stalemate from what I have seen. They cannot catch Inten, but he canˇŻt seem to deal a decisive blow to their leader. His defense and offense are just a bit too strong for Inten to break through.ˇŻ Roxene said, giving her opinion.

    And after watching Inten runaround for nearly a minute trying to avoid the heavy blows being delivered by Colonel Ives, and having all of his attacks blocked, it was clear Inten was not going to win anytime soon, if ever.

    ˇ®Well, he is fighting a man who is level fifty-nine and definitely not a pushover. Plus, there are other soldiers using magic and other attacks as well. They are well organized and have a powerful leader who can protect them. I am pretty sure Inten will run out of steam before they do.ˇŻ Marcus thought while observing the battle.

    He could tell from IntenˇŻs earlier tone that he was frustrated, and while he did want to give the diamond mouse a chance to show off, now was not the time to let him stroke his ego.

    ˇ®Voltaic bombardment.ˇŻ

    Casting his tier five lightning magic spell Marcus rained down hundreds of bolts of electricity down on the unsuspecting soldiers who already had their hands full dealing with Inten.

    Certainly, those with danger sense picked up on the oing magic attack, but most of them failed to have any way to avoid or block the barrage of lightning that wasing down on them.

    In just a few moments the two dozen soldiers had been whittled down to six, with only the three strongest captains, the two lieutenant colonels, and their strongest fighter Colonel Ives having managed to not either die or be knocked out.

    But with their formation broken and a new threat garnering their attention, Inten came sting through them and mmed hard into the colonelˇŻs shield along with a battering ram made of diamond.

    ˇ®Laser.ˇŻ

    Swiping his right index finger along a line, Marcus severed the leges of the other soldiers that remained standing while allowing Inten to deal with Ives.

    Soon enough thest remaining resistance the solders had been putting up was stamped out, and Marcus added those that had survived his and IntenˇŻs attacks to his group of prisoners.

    ˇ®This should be more than enough. I captured the most important ones in the generals and the two full colonels, along with around three dozen more. Now I just need go and pick up Enzo before cleaning up any of the soldiers that managed to survive.ˇŻ

    With everything wrapped up fairly well Marcus had Roxene and Inten get back into hispanion storage and began flying over to where he had left his first captive.

    When he arrived, he found that the man named Enzo was still alive, and that his iron golem was perfectly intact.

    However, there were plenty of signs of battle here as well, but not with any soldiers.

    There were two corpses of the armored boars that patrolled this area and imed it as their domain.

    Each one was easily the size of a tank and likely had been in the upper thirties level wise.

    Still, they never stood a chance against MarcusˇŻ iron golem. Which at this point reached level sixty-seven when he charged it with as much mana as he could.

    ˇ®Okay, that is thest captive secured. Now to take care of any possible survivors.ˇŻ

    Activating his supreme skill and holding his hand up, Marcus umted a truly terrifying amount of mana. Which soon even exceed what he had used to cast his umbral fissure spell.

    ˇ®Starlight Rain.ˇŻ

    A massive ball of light left MarcusˇŻ hand, and when it reached the ceiling of the area it exploded like a firework.

    Thousands upon thousands of thin beams of light much like MarcusˇŻser spell began descending down on the stone pir area and destroying everything within.

    Even the sturdy pirs that gave the area its name quickly began to be blown apart, and every living thing not within a hundred-foot radius of Marcus was assaulted by the beams of light.

    Thousands of monsters and beasts died without being able to put up any resistance, and the soldiers that had managed to survive the initial cmity of MarcusˇŻ power were soon pierced by the falling light.

    Truly this was a devastating spell on a level very few could wield and was the power toy waste to an entire small city in one go.

    ˇ®Tier seven spells really are terrifying in their range of destruction.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked out at the damage he had caused.

    What used to be a fairly breathtaking natural environment had been pretty much reduced to a wastnd.

    All that was left were half crumbled stone pirs and the corpses of the thousands of beings that had died.

    Still, as impressive as the spellˇŻs destructive power was, in a one-on-one fight against anything around the same level or stronger it was not really that usable.

    Its specialty was in taking out huge numbers of weaker enemies.

    ˇ®It kind of reminds me of AriaˇŻs magic when I was fighting the ice ants. With one p of her hands, she wiped out thousands of them and turned the tide of the entire battle.ˇŻ Marcus thought, almost nostalgically.

 702 Chapter 702

    Once he was done reminiscing about AriaˇŻs magic, Marcus turned to look at his prisoners one time to make sure they were all fully secured and incapacitated before taking off.

    Now that his goal of getting rid of the Dungeon Marauders, who in actuality turned out to be soldiers from the empire on the continent to the east of Borealia, Marcus needed to transport them back to the capital and hand them over to the rtive authorities.

    There was no doubt this was going to cause another mess for the kingdom, but at least whatever had been happening here had been nipped in the bud by MarcusˇŻ fortunate arrival.

    If he had not shown up in Lethan when he did, it was likely that the activities of the empireˇŻs soldiers would have gone on for much longer without being discovered, and the people here would have bene whittled down and shipped over to be used as ves.

    And unfortunately, Marcus had not been able to rescue very many people with only their fourtest captives having been within his reach.

    ˇ®Now how am I going to transport this many people out of here without causing amotion?ˇŻ Marcus thought while racking his brain.

    If he just went to the entrance, there would be no way that the army would simply let him go by with over forty people wrapped up in Iron threads.

    Certainly, he could try and blow by them, but he would prefer not to cause and uproar if at all possible.

    ˇ®Guess I should contact Kalt and the king again. Maybe they can do something to help out here.ˇŻ

    Pulling out his sending stone while flying through the dungeon, he connected with the deputy king once again.

    Once they had gotten their initial greeting out of the way he told him that he had captured a number of the empire soldiers and destroyed their base.

    ˇ°What!? You managed all that in just a few hours! And you even captured their general!ˇ± Kalt said with astonishment.

    It had not been all that long since Marcus hadst contacted them to inform them of the threat within the Cordillera Depth Dungeon, but he had already resolved it and with exceptional results.

    ˇ°Yeah, I did. My powers are pretty good at stealth and subterfuge, so if an enemy does not know I aming or has truly exceptional senses, I can get the drop on most people.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus detailed what he had done to take out a well-fortified base, and to incapacitate their general without incurring any injury to himself.

    ˇ°I truly am d you are on our side.ˇ± Kalt said absentmindedly once Marcus had finished rying what had happened.

    Though quickly he caught himself and asked that Marcus wait a few moments while he gathered the king and some other trustworthy personnel.

    ˇ°Now we can all hear you. What is it that you need from us?ˇ± Kalt eventually said after around forty minutes.

    ˇ°I want to know if there is some way I can get out of the dungeon and delver the prisoners I have captured to the royal capital without causing a huge incident? I am sure that if I fly towards the entrance and try to leave that way it will cause quite the uproar.ˇ±

    For a few moments there was only silence before the king himself answered.

    ˇ°Yes, that would not be ideal. We asked that you deal with this not only because we trust your skills, power, and character, but because we do not want this turning into another public incident. Luckily there is another exit that you can use.ˇ± The king said.

    He then told Marcus that their deal with the intelligent beast within the dungeon still stood, and that they had their own secret entrance and exit that allowed them to transport and retrieve natural treasures.

    ˇ°I will need a little time to get things in order but seeing as how you are one of their saviors along with my daughter, I imagine they will have no problem helping you out.ˇ±

    Nealy another hourter Marcus received word that the intelligent beasts living in the dungeon had been contacted and one of them wasing to guide him.

    ˇ®Oh, so they did send him.ˇŻ Marcus thought with a smile.

    Not too long after the king told him that the intelligent beasts were contacted, a little glowing orb began flying towards.

    ˇ°It is good to see you again Findlyier. It looks like you have grown up a bit.ˇ± Marcus said with a smile on his face.

    Before him was the little pixie dragon that had originally asked for his help when the dungeonˇŻs core that the intelligent beasts lived in was under attack by a powerful demon.

    ˇ°Yes, it is good to see you as well Marcus. And as you noticed, I have evolved from a pixie dragon to a sylph dragon.ˇ± Findlyier said while spinning his body around a bit.

    Along with his evolution he had also reached a much higher level and was currently at forty-five. Eleven levels higher than he had been before and ranking him amongst the strongest intelligent beasts in the dungeon.

    ˇ°Now I know it has been a while, but would you mind taking me to the exit you use to transport out natural treasures. As you can see, I have quite the amount of luggage that needs to be transported out of here.ˇ±

    Looking a bit sad, it as clear that Findlyier wanted to talk more with Marcus and probably bring him back to their domain, but it was clear he was in a hurry.

    ˇ°Yeah, you are right. Follow me and I will show you the way out of here.ˇ±

    With that the little sylph dragon took off and began leading Marcus towards the secret entrance and exit to the dungeon.

    Soon they passed through one of the illusory walls that the dungeon had created and began making their way through the branching tunnels that only the intelligent beasts knew how to navigate.

    Of course, they were not heading back to the domain of the intelligent beasts, and within around another two hours they came to a light ahead of them

    During this time though they did have a few problems with soldiers waking up, but Marcus just ran a shock through his iron threads or used his phantom pressure to put them out again.

    ˇ°Thanks for leading me all the way here Findlyier. I will be back soon enough so we can have a more proper reunion.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, we will be looking forward to it. I will tell all the others you will being back.ˇ± Findlyier said excitedly.

    After that Marcus took off from the dungeon with his captives in threads and began flying towards the capital of Borealia.

    Along the way however, he got tired of how the people he was carrying were getting buffeted by the wind, and instead brought out his cataclysmic iron sword and set them down on it like a tform and rode it all the way to his destination.

    ˇ®That should be the fort that has a secret tunnel into the capital.ˇŻ Marcus thought when he found his destination.

    The king and his trusted advisors had set things up so that no one outside their inner circle would know what was going on yet and had designated this as the ce when Marcus would hand off the empire soldiers he had captured.

    Landing in the middle of the fort he was surprised by the two people that came to greet him.

    ˇ°I did not expect you to be here Gwyneira.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, I did not want to be, but little Aria here begged me toe and help out since this was such an important matter. She did not want to leave anything to chance.ˇ± Gwyneira said while shrugging her shoulders.

    ˇ°Gwyneira, I believe I asked you not to call me little Aria when we are in an official capacity.ˇ± Aria said with a slight pout that did not quite fit on her older appearance.

    Though really while Gwyneira looked to be the younger one, she was in fact AriaˇŻs great grandmother.

    ˇ°Um I know you are close family and all, but would you mind taking these guys off my hands? And where are all the soldiers that should be stationed here?ˇ± Marcus said, noticing the fort was a ghost town.

    ˇ°Oh, we created a bit of a fake incident that made them believe they needed to abandon the fort. No big deal.ˇ± Aria said.

    While she exined that to Marcus, Gwyneira had locked in on the general who was thoroughly unconscious and in pretty rough shape with no limbs or tongue.

    ˇ°Wow I am surprised you caught this guy. He can use high level space magic and is pretty strong overall.ˇ± She said with an impressed tone after looking at the manˇŻs stats.

    ˇ°Yeah, he easily could have gotten away if I did not learn about his powers beforehand and prepared a well-timed sneak attack.ˇ± Marcus said before retelling it to Gwyneira.

    ˇ°I see your abilities are quite scary in situation like that. But allow me to thank you for helping out this kingdom again. Now if you would release your bindings, I will take it from here.ˇ±

    Doing as he was asked Marcus dispelled this iron threads and Gwyneira quickly reced them shackles of ice.

    Once she had them all secured, she said her goodbye and began heading towards the secret tunnel that would take her back into the royal capital.

    ˇ°I know that you are busy with training that young boy ric right now, but when you have the time you cane back to the castle and we have prepared a reward fitting of your contributions in resolving this issue.ˇ± Aria said before following behind Gwyneira and leaving Marcus alone.

 703 Chapter 703

    After he had handed off the captives to Aria and Gwyneira, Marcus made the return trip to Lethan with the four people he rescued in tow.

    When he arrived, he simply dropped them off still unconscious at a guard station in the city and left without anyone noticing him.

    Then he flew back into the dungeon and spent a few days scoping out the best ces for ric to train before returning to the entrance to leave a record of his exit.

    ˇ®Now I wonder how ric is doing. If he was diligent, he might have ranked up to steel by this point.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he headed over to the guild hall.

    ˇ®Oh, this ce looks livelier than before.ˇŻ Marcus observed when he walked in.

    There were many more adventures around and while they seemed frantic there was also an air of ease. People seemed far less on edge than before.

    Reaching out with his telepathy Marcus tired to find if ric was currently in range and was lucky to get a hit.

    ˇ®Irene, you are back!ˇŻ

    Sounding excited ric was quite ecstatic about MarcusˇŻ return and told him where his location currently was.

    Heading through the guild hall he was a bit surprised to hear where ric was, but when he arrived, he had a better understanding of what was going on.

    In the training hall along with ric, was Jarek and the party he had joined called the Depths Delvers.

    ˇ®Looks like they have been helping ric train while I was gone. I guess it really was the right move to introduce him.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he approached their group.

    ric for his part looked sweaty and exhausted while the members of the Depths Delvers were all smiles.

    The first to approach Marcus as their leader Neal, who was arge man who had long short blond hair in a buzz cut.

    ˇ°It has been a while, Irene. We heard you were in town with a new pupil, and with JarekˇŻs rmendation decided to give him a bit of training. Hope we did not overstep our bounds?ˇ±

    ˇ°No, it is fine. So long as you did not give him any alcohol likest time.ˇ± Marcus said with an icy gaze.

    ˇ°We learned our lessonst time. I promise we have not done anything but help train the kid and give him some our knowledge as veterans.ˇ± Neal said while waving his hands rapidly in front of his face.

    After this opening exchange the rest of his party came up to Marcus, and the one named Lia who was a fairly young woman with navy hair came up to him with sparkling eyes.

    ˇ°Irene, you have found quite the talented boy. Would you mine giving him to me so I can make him my pupil?ˇ±

    Taken aback by this, Marcus did not expect such a request.

    ˇ°Sorry, that is not happening. To start he is a noble and I am just training him because he is a friend of my little sister, and his mother is my friend. If you want him to be your pupil, you will need to work it out with his family.ˇ± Marcus said, shutting her down.

    At this she sighed and slinked away. Obviously quite despondent.

    ˇ°Irene, look.ˇ±

    Coming up once Marcus had finished greeting the members of the Depths Delvers, ric held out a shining new guild card.

    However, while at first nce Marcus thought it was his steel rank card. Upon closer examination it was most definitely silver.

    ˇ°Wow you moved faster than I thought you would. But what about the rank up test? They are normally not held but once every two weeks, and I do not think that the next one wasing up for another five days.ˇ± Marcus said, sending his gaze towards Jarek who had been pretty quiet so far.

    ˇ°Oh, yeah, my wif- I mean the guild master made a special exception for him and used her authority to give him silver rank once he hadpleted the requisite number of requests. He was already strong enough to be a silver rank when he arrived, so there was no reason to make him wait any longer. Anyway, with you training him, he is likely to end up a monster just like your little sister.ˇ± Jarek said.

    Once that was cleared up Marcus turned to ric and told him that they could enter the dungeon tomorrow, and that for now he would like to see what he had been working on with the Depths Delvers.

    ˇ°Sure, I will show you the new skills that each of them taught me.ˇ± ric said with a big childish smile on his face.

    With that decided, Marcus and Jarek moved over to the side and watched as ric demonstrated what he had learned in the few days Marcus was gone.

    ˇ°Irene, there is something important I need to speak to you about.ˇ± Jarek eventually said while they were watching ric.

    ˇ°Yeah, I figured. It is about the Dungeon Marauders, right?ˇ± Marcus said, guessing what Jarek wanted to talk about.

    ˇ°A few days ago, you went into the dungeon saying you were going to scout them out, and now it has been found out that not only base, but the entire area they were in has been destroyed. I did not see it myself, but the adventures that went to investigate sent back a report and said that the sturdy stone pirs were all demolished and even the dungeon was having a difficult time restoring the area. Would you mind telling me what happened?ˇ±

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus saw no reason why not to at least tell Jarek a bit of the truth. As long as he was willing to keep it a secret.

    ˇ°Jarek, if you promise to just keep this between you and me, I am willing to tell you. But I honestly would rather the guild not know exactly how strong I am. so I do not n on giving any official report. Is that fine with you?ˇ±

    ˇ°You really did wipe them all out then?!ˇ± Jarek said in astonishment.

    In response though, Marcus just smiled as he waited for Jarek to promise secrecy.

    ˇ°Fine I will not tell anyone. I swear this to you on my life which you once saved.ˇ±

    Satisfied with JarekˇŻs answer, Marcus began telling him a bit of what happened. Though leaving out his ghostly activities and that the Marauders were actually not criminals but soldiers from another continent.

    ˇ°I see. You are far stronger than I thought you would be. To think you could use a tier seven spell that cany waste to such arge area.ˇ±

    Now that Jarek knew that Marcus had used overwhelming power to destroy the Dungeon Marauder that had repelled a group of high-ranking adventures, it really sunk in howrge the difference between them was.

    When they had fought the dungeon boss around wo years ago, they were much closer in power, but now Marcus had skyrocketed past him.

    ˇ°Well, I know you do not want there to be an official record so I will do what I can to make sure you are not suspected. And since no one else will know at least allow me to thank you for getting rid of those criminals.ˇ±

 704 Chapter 704

    Once Marcus had finished up speaking with Jarek and watching ric demonstrate what he had learned the two of them headed back to the Towering Bear Inn.

    When they arrived, ra came to greet Marcus and told him that she was d he had returned safely from the dungeon.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, while you were gone you received a letter from the viceroy of the city. He was hoping to request a meeting with you within the next three days.ˇ± ra said as she passed over the letter in question.

    Taking it from herm Marcus read it over before shrugging and storing it away into his time box.

    ˇ°I will write a letter to the viceroy telling him I am indisposed and cannot make his meeting. If you would please deliver it tomorrow, ra, I would be much appreciated.ˇ± Marcus said without a hint of care.

    ra on the other hand stiffened up, and said, ˇ°Lady Irene, I think it would be best to ept. The viceroy is the highest ranking noble in the city and I believe it would not be a good idea to upset him. You just got back, so surely you were already nning on taking some time to recuperate. Extending your rest for a bit longer and going to see the viceroy would not be too much trouble I believe.ˇ±

    ˇ°Sorry ra, I already told ric I would take him into the dungeon tomorrow since he worked so hard to rank up. Anyway, I do not need any rest, and you know I am not one for noble socializing. Especially when it is likely to be annoying. Normally it is no problem for you to simply reject any invitations.ˇ± Marcus said to ra hoping to bring this to an end.

    However, she had a worried look on her face and continued to try and talk Marcus into epting the invitation.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I know I might be out of ce, but I just want to look out for you. In the royal capital it is fine for you to reject most invitations since I simply write in response that you have an engagement already scheduled with your friend Princess Mrazivy or one of your other high-ranking acquaintances, but here you have no one to support you.ˇ± ra said, hoping to guide Marcus.

    She already knew that her employer was different from most nobles, but she also knew about how high ranking nobles could do things to make those they did not like miserable.

    ˇ°Fine, I will go. Send a letter acknowledging my eptance of the meeting.ˇ± Marcus said begrudgingly.

    He could tell that ra was just looking out for him, and it was not like this meeting would cause that much trouble.

    ˇ°Irene does that mean we will not be going into the dungeon tomorrow.ˇ± ric came up and said with a disappointed look in his eyes.

    ˇ°No, we are still going into the dungeon. I will just pop out quickly to go to this meeting and thene back right away once it is over.ˇ± Marcus said.

    A look of relief appeared on ricˇŻs face when he said this. And while ra did have some misgivings about it, she did not say anything else.

    After that Marcus wrote the letter and gave it to ra to deliver tomorrow.

    The three of them then ate an enjoyable dinner in the Towering BearˇŻs restaurant with Marcus taking full advantage of the unlimited free food and having one of everything on the menu.

    Naturally he received plenty of stares as he ate a mountain of food, and ric looked stunned while raˇŻs normal public smile actually faltered from watching Marcus eat so much.

    ˇ®That was pretty good. And I was able to get some new ideas for my cooking.ˇŻ Marcus thought when they returned to their rooms.

    Upon theing of the next day, he and ric, along with Blitz headed off to the dungeon.

    On the way there ric seemed like an engine revving up with how excited he was to be going into a dungeon for the first time.

    ˇ°Sorry maˇŻam you canˇŻt bring kids into the dungeon.ˇ± The guard said when he saw ric.

    Yet his tune quickly changed when Marcus showed off his guild card along with ricˇŻs.

    ˇ°Sorry, I see he is a silver rank. It is very rare for children to be such high-ranking adventures. You may go on ahead but be careful.ˇ± The guard said with a look of concern for ric.

    Now that they had made it through the gate of the dungeon ric whose anticipation was at its peak began running full speed down the first tunnel. Even using wind magic to help elerate himself.

    Soon they were standing in the first area that was aplete empty room where the kingdomˇŻs army had set up.

    For a few moments ric stood around and stared, taking everything in.

    ˇ°Okay ric I know you are thrilled to finally be in the dungeon but now it is time to calm down a bit. This is not some sort of attraction. This is a dungeon. A very dangerous ce where anyone who enters it can lose their lives.ˇ± Marcus said with a grave tone.

    Luckily this brought ric back to his senses and his gaze went sharp and he started taking things more seriously.

    He even went so far as to cast his enemy detection wind magic spell and hold it up as he was trained.

    ˇ°Good, seems you are ready. Our destination is that tunnel. Now you take the lead, and I will follow behind.ˇ± Marcus said as he pointed towards the tunnel that would take them to the winter hills area.

    Nodding his head, ric steadily began walking towards the tunnel no longer needlessly exerting himself and keeping his guard up.

    ˇ°Wow it is beautiful.ˇ± ric said once they made it into the area.

    Of course, while he took in the sights, he did not let his guard down.

    Once ric was done looking around, he decided to head to the right following along the wall of the area.

    He had read and been told by the members of the Depths Delvers that the deeper you went into an area the more likely you were to encounter a high-level beast or monster, so to start it was best to stick around the outskirts.

    It as not too long after that they came across their first dungeon creature.

    Standing before them and snarling was a pure white wolf with red eyes.

    Both Marcus and ric recognized it from their readings, and it was amon grade magic beast called a snow wolf.

    ˇ®Level fourteen. About as weak as theye in this dungeon. Also, it is already injured. Looks like it had a territorial dispute with some other beast.ˇŻ

    Having appraised it, Marcus was certain ric could handle this beast, and figured it would be a good warm up for him.

    ˇ°Go ahead. It is already hurt, so as long as you are carful you should win without issue.ˇ± Marcus said to ric who had been staring down the wolf.

    With MarcusˇŻ approval, he began casting a spell and running towards the wolf. Ready to take on his first battle within the dungeon.

 Chapter 705 Alaricâ€™s First Day in the Dungeon

    Charging in, ric wielded his staff in front of him and cast a spell out of it

    ˇ°Hail Buckshot.ˇ±

    With the spellpleted, the end of his staff began glowing and hundreds of pebbles of ice fired off at high speeds.

    This was a tier three ice magic spell he had learned from one of his magic instructors at the Guldur spire and had arge area of effect.

    This made it impossible for the snow wolf that was his target to avoid the onught, and it was quickly pelted by the fast-moving bullets of ice.

    However, while they did prate its thick fur and piece into its flesh, the overall damage was far less than ric had anticipated.

    He was certainly not conceited to think that the spell would finish off the already injured beast, yet it was still alive and only bleeding slightly. Albeit from dozens of wounds.

    Of course, he knew that this beast had a resistance to ice magic but reading about it and seeing how effective it was in practice were two different things.

    ric had thought that even with its resistance it would still take a decent amount of damage and be incapacitated if it was not killed.

    Instead, it shrugged off the attack rather well and charged towards its attacker.

    It fangs were glowing slightly and a frosty aura appeared around them.

    This was its signature attack that allowed it to imbue its bite attack with cold energy and freeze its target.

    But while ric was surprised that it had survived and was caught off guard for a bit, he quickly regained hisposure and spun his staff around to hit the wolf hard in the side of the head while jumping to the side.

    The difference in their level was quite great, and with that one solid hit the snow wolf let out a loud yelp before crumpling to the ground.

    Those two attacks from ric were all this wolf could take, and now it teetered on the verge of death with its jaw broken along with wounds all over tis body from ricˇŻs magic and the fight it had been in before.

    ˇ°Ice Spikes.ˇ±

    Casting another spell from afar, ric made sure to y it safe and not approach on the off chance the wolf could still move and might attack if he got close.

    Quickly the snow around the wolf began to shift and formed a dozen solid spikes of ice and pierced through its body.

    Even with its resistance to ice magic, it could not take this spell and its body was pierced and raised into the air.

    This spelled the end for it, and its red blood flowed down the ice spikes and onto the pure white snow.

    ˇ°I won. My first fight in the dungeon, I won!ˇ± ric said in almost a daze.

    He could feel the blood rushing in his body and his breathing that was heavy.

    Then it sunk into him that the battle was over, and he smiled happily while running up to the wolfˇŻs body.

    When he arrived, he erased his magic and got to work on dismantling the wolfˇŻs body.

    Its pelt damaged as it was had a decent amount of value, plus there was its core.

    But above all else it was important for adventurers to not be wasteful if they did not have to be. He had learned this especially from the veteran Depths Delvers.

    ˇ°Good work on beating your first enemy in a dungeon. I will give it passing marks, but you did make a couple of mistakes that we can unpack at the end of the day. I want you to continue fighting for a bit longer and think about any mistakes you might have made.ˇ± Marcus said once ric had finished taking apart the wolfˇŻs body.

    After that they continued going around the area and getting into battles with beasts and monsters that made these snowy hills their homes.

    Eventually ric called it a day. He had been fighting hard and all alone for hours, while Marcus watched over him and healed the wounds he incurred.

    ˇ°You are starting to get a better feel for fighting I can see. And I believe you have grasped what to do against most of the creatures in this area. Now tell me what you did wrong in your first couple of fights.ˇ± Marcus said while pouring a bowl of warm soup for ric.

    Taking the bowl, he looked into it for a few moments before fixing his gaze on Marcus with a resolute expression.

    ˇ°I was over relying on my ice magic. It is my strongest offense, so I have been using it far more than my wind or smoke magic. But here most monsters and beast resist or are even immune to ice magic. Like that frost elemental we came across. I need to be flexible and understand which of my magics work best in a given situation. Not just what does the most damage. That is what you wanted me to learn right?ˇ± ric said, with a tinge of hope in his eyes.

    He as pretty sure that his answer was correct and was waiting with bated breaths for Marcus to tell him.

    ˇ°Yes, you are mostly correct. That is the main thing I wanted to teach you when bringing you to this area. But you also got surprised and lost your focus a bit when your spells did not work as well as you thought. I know it is hard to shake that feeling of disbelief when you see and attack you expected hit big do little to nothing. But when that happens you need to make sure not to get caught up on it and think about what you need to do next. You were fine this time thanks to the difference in your level and strength, but against an opponent that is around your level or stronger it can be fatal to let yourself be caught off guard for even a moment.ˇ±

    Once Marcus was finished extoling his wisdom to ric. he bothplemented the parts he excelled at and critiqued each of the mistakes he made.

    ric for his part took it in strides, and even when Marcus tore him apart, he listened intently.

    His wish to get stronger was genuine and he was wholly willing to listen to Marcus and do what he needed to in order to catch up with Lilia.

    ˇ°Now I think that is enough review for tonight. Go ahead and get some sleep and I will keep watch thought he night.ˇ±

    At the mention of sleep ric let out a long yawn and finally realized exactly how exhausted he was.

    Not long after he entered his tent and fell unconscious pretty much the instant his head hit his mat.

    ˇ®Roxene, Inten you both cane out now.ˇŻ Marcus said with his telepathy.

    An instantter the two beasts appeared out of hispanion storage and looked at him expectantly.

    ˇ°Go ahead and feel free to explore as you whish and fight the beasts and monsters here for some experience. Blitz and I shall keep watch over ric. When I need you both back, I will call.ˇ±

    With MarcusˇŻ permission, his two beastpanions shoot off into the area and soon made havoc over the hierarchy of the strongest entities in the area.

 Chapter 706 Quick Exit from the Dungeon

    Chapter 706 Quick Exit from the Dungeon

    Days went by as Marcus supervised ric''s training within the Cordillera Depths Dungeon.

    The young half elf boy had made good progress on refining his fighting style and leveling up.

    During this time, he had managed to reach level twenty-seven which now put him as strong as a knight.

    However, his power had received another boost, as Marcus had paid a visit to the intelligent beasts'' domain and stockpiled a huge number of natural treasures.

    Naturally they had been more than happy to share with him what they had in thanks for him saving them from the demon attack around two years ago.

    With these he had raised all of ric''s stats as high as they could go for how he currently was.

    This brought him up to pretty much the peak of power any level twenty-seven could have and gave him the ability to content with entities even a few levels higher than him.

    "Thatst fight was pretty impressive. I was actually a bit surprised you were able to beat a level thirty-two yeti on your own." Marcus said as he gazed at the hulking form behind ric.

    He had just finished quite the epic battle against the twenty-foot-tall monster that boasted incredibly high physical stats.

    "Thank you for your praise, Irene. And to be honest, I was afraid I was going to get killed a few times. But I managed to get through it thanks to everything you and those you introduced me to taught me." ric said with a proud smile.

    He had done a lot of growing in thest couple months, and not just in leveling up.

    He had matured a lot as well and was far less childish than he used to be.

    He had always admired the sort of mature atmosphere that Lilia gave off, and he now realized that a fair amount of it probably came from the training that Marcus had given her.

    Both Marcus and ric then went over the details of the fight like they always did and at the same time Marcus healed ric.

    "Now I believe that you are ready to fight without me looking over you. I also have to go and meet with the viceroy of Lethan, so this is the perfect time for you to rack up some experience without me watching your back. I will leave Blitz with you so you should be fine, but make sure not to becent. I will not be here to heal you should you get injured. You will have to manage any injure you get on your own." Marcus said, giving ric one final piece of advice before leaving.

    After that he bid the young boy farewell for now and began running off towards the exit.

    ''This should be far enough.'' Marcus thought once he was out of view.

    Immediately he went into his ghost form and flew the rest of the way back to the entrance. Covering a distance that would normally take several hours by foot in a few minutes.

    When he arrived, he found an out of sight area and reappeared in order to leave the dungeon normally.

    He did not want to raise any eyebrows should it be found out that he left the dungeon without going through the proper exit.

    This was why he always made sure that his exits and entries were done in his tangible form to prevent any suspicion being cast on himself.

    Once he was back out, he made his way back to the Towering Bear Inn where he met up with ra.

    "It is good to see you again Lady Irene. For a bit I was afraid you might forget your meeting with the viceroy." ra said with a look of relief on her face.

    She had already known that Marcus did not really care for this meeting and was afraid that he would get engrossed in training ric and not show up.

    "No, I always had it at least in the back of my mind. I know that your advice is sound, and you are right that it would be inconvenient to ruffle feathers when there is no need to. Anyway, it was time for me to leave ric to fight on his own. Now that he has gotten a bit stronger, I do not want him getting reckless since I can heal his injuries. Now that I am gone, he will have to be more careful." Marcus said as he pulled a couple dresses out of his item box.

    These were the formal wear he kept with him at all times just in case he had to attend meeting like the one today.

    "Which one do you think I should wear." Marcus said as he presented the four dresses to ra.

    She looked them over intently for a few moments before picking out a dazzling sliver dress.

    "I believe that this one would be the best. There is a fair amount of silver in the viceroy''s family crest, and this dress is not too revealing but not conservative either. It will also go well with your tinum hair." ra said, listening out the reason she thought this dress would be best.

    Not really caring about what he wore, Marcus took her opinion, and she helped him to change.

    When he was ready, they walked out of their room and downstairs to the ground floor of the inn.

    As Marcus stepped out, he garnered the attention of everyone in the bar, and most of the men stared in disbelief.

    With is form as Irene Marcus looked stunning as usual, and when dressed up it was not far off to say that his ethereal beauty was quite captivating.

    Luckily, he had long since gotten used to be stared at. He had already spent plenty of time as Irene. Also, his mind was still mostly that of a man, so he understood how the form of an attractive woman was hard to look away from.

    "It looks like the carriage I rented is here Lady Irene. We can leave whenever you are ready." ra said after taking a peak outside.

    Hearing this, Marcus was a bit surprised for a few moments since he had not even thought about this.

    Currently Blitz was with ric so he could not pull his carriage, and it certainly would have been inappropriate for him to show up on foot, or more likely fly in.

    "You are always on top of things ra. Thank you for always covering for my shortsightedness in noble matters." Marcus said to his head maid.

    In response she bowed her head and told him to think nothing of it. That she was just doing her job.

    Still there was a proud smile hidden under her bow that showed she was pealed to be praised.

    Swiftly the two of them got into the carriage and ra instructed the driver to take them to the viceroy''s castle.

    With the crack of his reins he set off, and they began heading down the city streets towards thergest building in the city thaty in the middle of an artificialke that had been made as a defensive measure.

 Chapter 707 Meeting with the Viceroy of Lethallan

    Chapter 707 Meeting with the Viceroy of Lethan

    Crossing over arge stone bridge Marcus turned his gaze outside the carriage window and looked down at the manmadeke they were going over.

    Last time he was here had been for the party that he had attend with Mrazivy. During that time, he had made quite the show by crashing the party in his form as Marcus and dancing with her.

    It was a pretty special memory for him since it was around then that he had started to realize his feelings for her.

    ''There are beasts in the water.'' Marcus thought feeling the presence of a few rtively powerful entities swimming around.

    From the feeling he was getting from his life sense he could feel that the ones in his range were probably from level fifteen to twenty-three.

    Certainly not any threat to him, but for the majority of people this would be more than enough of a counter measure to prevent them from reaching the shore of the ind where the viceroy''s castle was.

    Soon enough though the water was out of range of his life sense skill, and they arrived in front of the viceroy''s castle.

    Waiting for them was a retinue of servants that all bowed towards Marcus as he stepped out.

    Then the one in the lead who was a fairly old man walked up and addressed Marcus.

    "Lady Irene, I am my lord''s head attendant Bastian, and will be showing you to the parlor where his is waiting for you. Should you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask me or any of the other staff. You are our lord''s esteemed guest, and we will do whatever is necessary to make your visit herefortable." The butler named Bastion said.

    ''Damn! His name is close. He almost has the stereotypical butler''s name you see in tons of media on Earth.'' Marcus thought as he heard the butler''s name which was close to Sebastian.

    Though he quickly pushed this pretty much meaningless thought aside and followed the many servants into the castle.

    Swiftly Marcus and ra who was his only attendant were taken to a beautiful parlor with an entire wall made out of crystal ss that allowed a lot of natural light in and looked out onto a stunning garden.

    In the room already waiting was the viceroy of Lethan, Count Vendrick.

    Along with him were two guardian knights and a few more servants.

    When Marcus entered, the man in question got up from his seat and hastily moved over to greet him

    ''This is unusual.'' He thought seeing this.

    Normally as the one of a higher station Count Vendrick should have waited for Marcus to greet him, but he instead made the first move.

    "Lady Irene, it is a pleasure to meet you again after all this time. I was very surprised to learn that you were in my humble city. Please have a seat and enjoy the refreshments my servants have prepared." The count said as he personally brought Marcus to his seat.

    After that ra acted as a poison tester for the cakes, cookies, and tea in front of Marcus.

    Of course, he had no need of this, as no continental poison could affect him since he was not a body of flesh and blood but simply a solidified soul. Still appearances had to be kept up.

    ''Hm pretty good stuff. Though I wonder what he could be buttering me up for.'' Marcus thought while enjoying the refreshments.

    For a few minutes the viceroy just talked about idle things and asked Marcus about what he had been doing in Lethan, before getting to the reason that he had asked him here today.

    "I am sure by now you know how famous you have gotten Lady Irene. It is said that you are now as good if not even better than you master Thabon at forging and have even recently had multiple contracts from the royal family." The viceroy said with a serious look while he met Marcus'' eyes.

    "Yes, I have gotten fairly good at my profession and can say that my skill level in forging has reached eight. Though whether I am better than my master might be a stretch. He still has many more years than I do under his belt as a forgmaster." Marcus said in response.

    However, hearing that Marcus'' skill level was at level eight took the viceroy''s breath away.

    Anyone having a skill at level seven was already considered pretty legendary, but for most they would never even meet someone with a level eight skill.

    "Truly you are more talented than I had imagined. And to that end I was hoping that you would fulfill a request of mine." The viceroy said as he motioned over to Bastion.

    Quickly the old servant did as his mastermanded and brought him a small pouch that was clearly a magic bag.

    "Recently my second son who is an exemry knight came back with hispany that had entered the Great Gome Woods Dungeon. It was a six-year long campaign and dunging that time they managed to take down five boss monsters. Among their spoils was this."

    Opening up the bag the viceroy took out a gleaming purple ingot that immediately garnered Marcus'' attention. Before him was the unmistakable strongest metal in the world, amethros.

    It was so rare that he had only gotten three ingots from Tralenstein''s royal vault and Borealia only had around two dozen.

    Holding out his hand, Marcus asked if he could examine the ingot and the viceroy happily handed it over to him.

    ''Yep, it is definitely amethros.'' Marcus thought as he channeled some mana into it.

    There was no other metal that conducted the energy that all beings had which could be used to strengthen one''s body, cast magic spells, and all manner of other things.

    Once he was satisfied, Marcus put the ingot back down and handed it back over to the viceroy.

    "So, what is it that you want me to do? I doubt that you n on just giving me this ingot."

 705 Chapter 705

    Charging in, ric wielded his staff in front of him and cast a spell out of it

    ˇ°Hail Buckshot.ˇ±

    With the spellpleted, the end of his staff began glowing and hundreds of pebbles of ice fired off at high speeds.

    This was a tier three ice magic spell he had learned from one of his magic instructors at the Guldur spire and had arge area of effect.

    This made it impossible for the snow wolf that was his target to avoid the onught, and it was quickly pelted by the fast-moving bullets of ice.

    However, while they did prate its thick fur and piece into its flesh, the overall damage was far less than ric had anticipated.

    He was certainly not conceited to think that the spell would finish off the already injured beast, yet it was still alive and only bleeding slightly. Albeit from dozens of wounds.

    Of course, he knew that this beast had a resistance to ice magic but reading about it and seeing how effective it was in practice were two different things.

    ric had thought that even with its resistance it would still take a decent amount of damage and be incapacitated if it was not killed.

    Instead, it shrugged off the attack rather well and charged towards its attacker.

    It fangs were glowing slightly and a frosty aura appeared around them.

    This was its signature attack that allowed it to imbue its bite attack with cold energy and freeze its target.

    But while ric was surprised that it had survived and was caught off guard for a bit, he quickly regained hisposure and spun his staff around to hit the wolf hard in the side of the head while jumping to the side.

    The difference in their level was quite great, and with that one solid hit the snow wolf let out a loud yelp before crumpling to the ground.

    Those two attacks from ric were all this wolf could take, and now it teetered on the verge of death with its jaw broken along with wounds all over tis body from ricˇŻs magic and the fight it had been in before.

    ˇ°Ice Spikes.ˇ±

    Casting another spell from afar, ric made sure to y it safe and not approach on the off chance the wolf could still move and might attack if he got close.

    Quickly the snow around the wolf began to shift and formed a dozen solid spikes of ice and pierced through its body.

    Even with its resistance to ice magic, it could not take this spell and its body was pierced and raised into the air.

    This spelled the end for it, and its red blood flowed down the ice spikes and onto the pure white snow.

    ˇ°I won. My first fight in the dungeon, I won!ˇ± ric said in almost a daze.

    He could feel the blood rushing in his body and his breathing that was heavy.

    Then it sunk into him that the battle was over, and he smiled happily while running up to the wolfˇŻs body.

    When he arrived, he erased his magic and got to work on dismantling the wolfˇŻs body.

    Its pelt damaged as it was had a decent amount of value, plus there was its core.

    But above all else it was important for adventurers to not be wasteful if they did not have to be. He had learned this especially from the veteran Depths Delvers.

    ˇ°Good work on beating your first enemy in a dungeon. I will give it passing marks, but you did make a couple of mistakes that we can unpack at the end of the day. I want you to continue fighting for a bit longer and think about any mistakes you might have made.ˇ± Marcus said once ric had finished taking apart the wolfˇŻs body.

    After that they continued going around the area and getting into battles with beasts and monsters that made these snowy hills their homes.

    Eventually ric called it a day. He had been fighting hard and all alone for hours, while Marcus watched over him and healed the wounds he incurred.

    ˇ°You are starting to get a better feel for fighting I can see. And I believe you have grasped what to do against most of the creatures in this area. Now tell me what you did wrong in your first couple of fights.ˇ± Marcus said while pouring a bowl of warm soup for ric.

    Taking the bowl, he looked into it for a few moments before fixing his gaze on Marcus with a resolute expression.

    ˇ°I was over relying on my ice magic. It is my strongest offense, so I have been using it far more than my wind or smoke magic. But here most monsters and beast resist or are even immune to ice magic. Like that frost elemental we came across. I need to be flexible and understand which of my magics work best in a given situation. Not just what does the most damage. That is what you wanted me to learn right?ˇ± ric said, with a tinge of hope in his eyes.

    He as pretty sure that his answer was correct and was waiting with bated breaths for Marcus to tell him.

    ˇ°Yes, you are mostly correct. That is the main thing I wanted to teach you when bringing you to this area. But you also got surprised and lost your focus a bit when your spells did not work as well as you thought. I know it is hard to shake that feeling of disbelief when you see and attack you expected hit big do little to nothing. But when that happens you need to make sure not to get caught up on it and think about what you need to do next. You were fine this time thanks to the difference in your level and strength, but against an opponent that is around your level or stronger it can be fatal to let yourself be caught off guard for even a moment.ˇ±

    Once Marcus was finished extoling his wisdom to ric. he bothplemented the parts he excelled at and critiqued each of the mistakes he made.

    ric for his part took it in strides, and even when Marcus tore him apart, he listened intently.

    His wish to get stronger was genuine and he was wholly willing to listen to Marcus and do what he needed to in order to catch up with Lilia.

    ˇ°Now I think that is enough review for tonight. Go ahead and get some sleep and I will keep watch thought he night.ˇ±

    At the mention of sleep ric let out a long yawn and finally realized exactly how exhausted he was.

    Not long after he entered his tent and fell unconscious pretty much the instant his head hit his mat.

    ˇ®Roxene, Inten you both cane out now.ˇŻ Marcus said with his telepathy.

    An instantter the two beasts appeared out of hispanion storage and looked at him expectantly.

    ˇ°Go ahead and feel free to explore as you whish and fight the beasts and monsters here for some experience. Blitz and I shall keep watch over ric. When I need you both back, I will call.ˇ±

    With MarcusˇŻ permission, his two beastpanions shoot off into the area and soon made havoc over the hierarchy of the strongest entities in the area.

 706 Chapter 706

    Days went by as Marcus supervised ricˇŻs training within the Cordillera Depths Dungeon.

    The young half elf boy had made good progress on refining his fighting style and leveling up.

    During this time, he had managed to reach level twenty-seven which now put him as strong as a knight.

    However, his power had received another boost, as Marcus had paid a visit to the intelligent beastsˇŻ domain and stockpiled a huge number of natural treasures.

    Naturally they had been more than happy to share with him what they had in thanks for him saving them from the demon attack around two years ago.

    With these he had raised all of ricˇŻs stats as high as they could go for how he currently was.

    This brought him up to pretty much the peak of power any level twenty-seven could have and gave him the ability to content with entities even a few levels higher than him.

    ˇ°Thatst fight was pretty impressive. I was actually a bit surprised you were able to beat a level thirty-two yeti on your own.ˇ± Marcus said as he gazed at the hulking form behind ric.

    He had just finished quite the epic battle against the twenty-foot-tall monster that boasted incredibly high physical stats.

    ˇ°Thank you for your praise, Irene. And to be honest, I was afraid I was going to get killed a few times. But I managed to get through it thanks to everything you and those you introduced me to taught me.ˇ± ric said with a proud smile.

    He had done a lot of growing in thest couple months, and not just in leveling up.

    He had matured a lot as well and was far less childish than he used to be.

    He had always admired the sort of mature atmosphere that Lilia gave off, and he now realized that a fair amount of it probably came from the training that Marcus had given her.

    Both Marcus and ric then went over the details of the fight like they always did and at the same time Marcus healed ric.

    ˇ°Now I believe that you are ready to fight without me looking over you. I also have to go and meet with the viceroy of Lethan, so this is the perfect time for you to rack up some experience without me watching your back. I will leave Blitz with you so you should be fine, but make sure not to becent. I will not be here to heal you should you get injured. You will have to manage any injure you get on your own.ˇ± Marcus said, giving ric one final piece of advice before leaving.

    After that he bid the young boy farewell for now and began running off towards the exit.

    ˇ®This should be far enough.ˇŻ Marcus thought once he was out of view.

    Immediately he went into his ghost form and flew the rest of the way back to the entrance. Covering a distance that would normally take several hours by foot in a few minutes.

    When he arrived, he found an out of sight area and reappeared in order to leave the dungeon normally.

    He did not want to raise any eyebrows should it be found out that he left the dungeon without going through the proper exit.

    This was why he always made sure that his exits and entries were done in his tangible form to prevent any suspicion being cast on himself.

    Once he was back out, he made his way back to the Towering Bear Inn where he met up with ra.

    ˇ°It is good to see you again Lady Irene. For a bit I was afraid you might forget your meeting with the viceroy.ˇ± ra said with a look of relief on her face.

    She had already known that Marcus did not really care for this meeting and was afraid that he would get engrossed in training ric and not show up.

    ˇ°No, I always had it at least in the back of my mind. I know that your advice is sound, and you are right that it would be inconvenient to ruffle feathers when there is no need to. Anyway, it was time for me to leave ric to fight on his own. Now that he has gotten a bit stronger, I do not want him getting reckless since I can heal his injuries. Now that I am gone, he will have to be more careful.ˇ± Marcus said as he pulled a couple dresses out of his item box.

    These were the formal wear he kept with him at all times just in case he had to attend meeting like the one today.

    ˇ°Which one do you think I should wear.ˇ± Marcus said as he presented the four dresses to ra.

    She looked them over intently for a few moments before picking out a dazzling sliver dress.

    ˇ°I believe that this one would be the best. There is a fair amount of silver in the viceroyˇŻs family crest, and this dress is not too revealing but not conservative either. It will also go well with your tinum hair.ˇ± ra said, listening out the reason she thought this dress would be best.

    Not really caring about what he wore, Marcus took her opinion, and she helped him to change.

    When he was ready, they walked out of their room and downstairs to the ground floor of the inn.

    As Marcus stepped out, he garnered the attention of everyone in the bar, and most of the men stared in disbelief.

    With is form as Irene Marcus looked stunning as usual, and when dressed up it was not far off to say that his ethereal beauty was quite captivating.

    Luckily, he had long since gotten used to be stared at. He had already spent plenty of time as Irene. Also, his mind was still mostly that of a man, so he understood how the form of an attractive woman was hard to look away from.

    ˇ°It looks like the carriage I rented is here Lady Irene. We can leave whenever you are ready.ˇ± ra said after taking a peak outside.

    Hearing this, Marcus was a bit surprised for a few moments since he had not even thought about this.

    Currently Blitz was with ric so he could not pull his carriage, and it certainly would have been inappropriate for him to show up on foot, or more likely fly in.

    ˇ°You are always on top of things ra. Thank you for always covering for my shortsightedness in noble matters.ˇ± Marcus said to his head maid.

    In response she bowed her head and told him to think nothing of it. That she was just doing her job.

    Still there was a proud smile hidden under her bow that showed she was pealed to be praised.

    Swiftly the two of them got into the carriage and ra instructed the driver to take them to the viceroyˇŻs castle.

    With the crack of his reins he set off, and they began heading down the city streets towards thergest building in the city thaty in the middle of an artificialke that had been made as a defensive measure.

 707 Chapter 707

    Crossing over arge stone bridge Marcus turned his gaze outside the carriage window and looked down at the manmadeke they were going over.

    Last time he was here had been for the party that he had attend with Mrazivy. During that time, he had made quite the show by crashing the party in his form as Marcus and dancing with her.

    It was a pretty special memory for him since it was around then that he had started to realize his feelings for her.

    ˇ®There are beasts in the water.ˇŻ Marcus thought feeling the presence of a few rtively powerful entities swimming around.

    From the feeling he was getting from his life sense he could feel that the ones in his range were probably from level fifteen to twenty-three.

    Certainly not any threat to him, but for the majority of people this would be more than enough of a counter measure to prevent them from reaching the shore of the ind where the viceroyˇŻs castle was.

    Soon enough though the water was out of range of his life sense skill, and they arrived in front of the viceroyˇŻs castle.

    Waiting for them was a retinue of servants that all bowed towards Marcus as he stepped out.

    Then the one in the lead who was a fairly old man walked up and addressed Marcus.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I am my lordˇŻs head attendant Bastian, and will be showing you to the parlor where his is waiting for you. Should you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask me or any of the other staff. You are our lordˇŻs esteemed guest, and we will do whatever is necessary to make your visit herefortable.ˇ± The butler named Bastion said.

    ˇ®Damn! His name is close. He almost has the stereotypical butlerˇŻs name you see in tons of media on Earth.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he heard the butlerˇŻs name which was close to Sebastian.

    Though he quickly pushed this pretty much meaningless thought aside and followed the many servants into the castle.

    Swiftly Marcus and ra who was his only attendant were taken to a beautiful parlor with an entire wall made out of crystal ss that allowed a lot of natural light in and looked out onto a stunning garden.

    In the room already waiting was the viceroy of Lethan, Count Vendrick.

    Along with him were two guardian knights and a few more servants.

    When Marcus entered, the man in question got up from his seat and hastily moved over to greet him

    ˇ®This is unusual.ˇŻ He thought seeing this.

    Normally as the one of a higher station Count Vendrick should have waited for Marcus to greet him, but he instead made the first move.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, it is a pleasure to meet you again after all this time. I was very surprised to learn that you were in my humble city. Please have a seat and enjoy the refreshments my servants have prepared.ˇ± The count said as he personally brought Marcus to his seat.

    After that ra acted as a poison tester for the cakes, cookies, and tea in front of Marcus.

    Of course, he had no need of this, as no continental poison could affect him since he was not a body of flesh and blood but simply a solidified soul. Still appearances had to be kept up.

    ˇ®Hm pretty good stuff. Though I wonder what he could be buttering me up for.ˇŻ Marcus thought while enjoying the refreshments.

    For a few minutes the viceroy just talked about idle things and asked Marcus about what he had been doing in Lethan, before getting to the reason that he had asked him here today.

    ˇ°I am sure by now you know how famous you have gotten Lady Irene. It is said that you are now as good if not even better than you master Thabon at forging and have even recently had multiple contracts from the royal family.ˇ± The viceroy said with a serious look while he met MarcusˇŻ eyes.

    ˇ°Yes, I have gotten fairly good at my profession and can say that my skill level in forging has reached eight. Though whether I am better than my master might be a stretch. He still has many more years than I do under his belt as a forgmaster.ˇ± Marcus said in response.

    However, hearing that MarcusˇŻ skill level was at level eight took the viceroyˇŻs breath away.

    Anyone having a skill at level seven was already considered pretty legendary, but for most they would never even meet someone with a level eight skill.

    ˇ°Truly you are more talented than I had imagined. And to that end I was hoping that you would fulfill a request of mine.ˇ± The viceroy said as he motioned over to Bastion.

    Quickly the old servant did as his mastermanded and brought him a small pouch that was clearly a magic bag.

    ˇ°Recently my second son who is an exemry knight came back with hispany that had entered the Great Gome Woods Dungeon. It was a six-year long campaign and dunging that time they managed to take down five boss monsters. Among their spoils was this.ˇ±

    Opening up the bag the viceroy took out a gleaming purple ingot that immediately garnered MarcusˇŻ attention. Before him was the unmistakable strongest metal in the world, amethros.

    It was so rare that he had only gotten three ingots from TralensteinˇŻs royal vault and Borealia only had around two dozen.

    Holding out his hand, Marcus asked if he could examine the ingot and the viceroy happily handed it over to him.

    ˇ®Yep, it is definitely amethros.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he channeled some mana into it.

    There was no other metal that conducted the energy that all beings had which could be used to strengthen oneˇŻs body, cast magic spells, and all manner of other things.

    Once he was satisfied, Marcus put the ingot back down and handed it back over to the viceroy.

    ˇ°So, what is it that you want me to do? I doubt that you n on just giving me this ingot.ˇ±

 708 Chapter 708

    ˇ°No, I do not n on giving you this precious ingot that would normally not ever be in my hands. What I would ask of you is to turn it into a weapon that my second son who obtained it can use. He has proven himself worthy of a weapon belonging only to the elite of the elite. And more importantly, he wishes to have greater power in order to win the heart of the woman he has fallen for.ˇ±

    Looking confused, Marcus had no idea how a powerful weapon was going to help Count VendrickˇŻs second son win over the woman he had fallen for.

    Though as he asked for the man to borate, he was shocked to find out who the second son was pining for.

    ˇ°Some years ago, at the royal academy my son had considered himself the rival of then third princess Frostine. In the end he was not able to score higher than her, and when he asked for her hand in marriage, she told him that he would have to be stronger than her before she even considered it. As I am sure you know. being close to her full blood sister Mrazivy, that now Crown Princess Frostine is yet to be wed. As the soon to be monarch she will naturally have to have at least one partner to leave progeny behind with. My son now that he has returned from his harrowing journey wishes to try courting her once more. But now that she is no longer just a princess but the future queen, the odds are stacked somewhat against him.ˇ± Count Vendrick said with a sad smile.

    It seemed that he figured his second sonˇŻs love was never going to blossom but was still doing what he could to help out his son who was obviously a hard worker.

    ˇ°Ah, but we have gotten a bit off topic. If you would forge a legendary de for my son, I would be more than happy to pay you handsomely for your work.ˇ±

    Sitting back in his seat, Marcus thought about what to do and decided to see what this was worth to the viceroy before he agreed.

    ˇ°To start, let me tell you I have no interest in money. I have plenty of that after all themissions I have done and can make more with ease thanks to my skills. No, what I really want are skill orbs. You said that your son recently got back from fighting in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon, so surely, he brought back some fairly rare and valuable skill orbs along with this ingot of Amethros.ˇ±

    Taken aback, the viceroy had not expected Marcus topletely disregard money and instead ask only for very rare items such as skill orbs.

    ˇ°Yes, my son and his party did say they secured some skills orbs from what I have heard. I believe they nned on disrupting them amongst themselves after picking out a few to give to me as thanks for funding the mission.ˇ± The viceroy said with a slightly worried expression.

    He then had his butler Bastion go to fetch his son and bring him here for the discussion.

    Of course, Count Vendrick was a prudent man, so his son had actually been waiting nearby and came walking in with a hopefully look on his face.

    ˇ®Level seventy-four. He is pretty strong. I can tell that he has worked hard for the power he has obtained.ˇŻ Marcus thought while appraising the man.

    He had a strong build, crimson red hair, and a sharp glint in his eyes owing to his stalwart nature.

    It was quite clear he had no markings of a politician just from one look, but as his father had said he seemed to be an exemry knight.

    ˇ°It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Irene. I am rd Vendrick. In the few weeks I have been back in the civilized world I have heard many great things about your skill and that you are likely to be the next head royal forgemaster, and the best since the time of the first king.ˇ± The viceroyˇŻs second son said as he approached Marcus.

    He was about to turn around and move over to his father, but Marcus stopped him to clear up a certain misunderstanding he had.

    ˇ°Wait, I must inform you now that I am not a royal forgemaster, nor do I intend to be one. I have a somewhatplicated rtionship with the royal family, but I am not their subordinate.ˇ± Marcus said, rifying this misconception.

    Certainly, he did jobs for them, and was in a way sort of under them due to the contract he signed, but honestly, he was at this point just helping out his new family since he was now set to marry Mrazivy.

    Soon enough he nned on leaving Borealia behind for quite a while to explore the world. So, in no way could he be considered subservient to them.

    ˇ°I see, forgive me for jumping to conclusions.ˇ± rd said before going to sit next to his father.

    For a few minutes the three of them exchanged a few pleasantries and rd asked Marcus about certain things that had happened while he was gone. Showing great interest in the ice ant attack on River Landing, the recent demon attack, and of course the appearance of a doomsday monster.

    In contrast Marcus asked rd about the Great Gome Woods Dungeon. Which he was naturally interested in since it was the highest rated dungeon and the kingdom.

    rd frowned most of the time he talked about it, and the ounts Marcus had heard or read about before definitely seemed to be true.

    ˇ°The ce is truly as close to hell as one can get. The monsters and beasts are overly aggressive, and in every area, one mustplete either a ludicrous or nearly impossible task to proceed or leave. To be honest in six years we only made it through five areas before heading back. That is just how brutal of a ce it is. If you are simply looking for a high-level dungeon to train in, I would not rmend it.ˇ±

    It was clear that in some regards rd regretted going into the Great Gome Woods Dungeon, but it was also clear he had gotten stronger because of it.

    Eventually their conversation of such matters wrapped up, and Count Vendrick got them back on topic.

    ˇ°Now rd, Lady Irene here has not rejected making a legendary sword for you, but for payment she wishes only for skill orbs. Would you please present her with the ones that you obtained in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, rd did just this and brought out a dozen and a half skill orbs.

    Looking at them, Marcus saw that none of them were golden, indicating that they were unique skills. Though he never expected any to be offered up to begin with.

    ˇ°May I pick them up and check what skills are within? I promise not to learn any while doing so.ˇ± Marcus said, wanting permission to examine the skill orbs.

    ˇ°Sure, go ahead. I can tell by your eyes that you are a trustworthy person.ˇ± rd said with a smile on his face.

 709 Chapter 709

    Picking up each of the skill orbs presented to him, Marcus allowed the prompt from the system to read out the skill and ask whether he wished to learn it or not, before denying the option and moving on to the next one.

    This allowed him to check each and every one, and as he went down the line, he became more and more surprised.

    Most of these skills were powerful and staples of any high-level entity.

    There were some that were a bitckluster like heightened smell, but the ones that were the strongest or rarest were among the best out there.

    ˇ°I have checked through all of them, and I have identified six with which I would consider as means of payment.ˇ± Marcus said as he passed the twelve skill orbs he was less interested in back.

    A look of relief came over both rd and his fatherˇŻs face when they heard this.

    Had Marcus simply refused, their chances of having the amethros ingot turned into a weapon would have been quite low. Since if Marcus rejected the job, it was likely Thabon would as well.

    ˇ°I see, so which one would you like as payment?ˇ± Count Vendrick soon asked.

    However, Marcus raised an eyebrow, and said, ˇ°Just one? I want them all.ˇ±

    Mouths agape, neither rd nor Count Vendrick could believe what Marcus had just said.

    He did not want just one skill orb but all six. Each of which contained skills that at an auction would cost several tens of thousands of gold coins to buy.

    And while themission of having an amethros weapon made would cost quite a bit, as just running a furnace capable of heating the metal used thousands of cold coins worth of magic cores. MarcusˇŻ price was definitely over inted.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I understand that your skills are impable, but please be reasonable. While I am not sure which of the six skill orbs you have taken a liking to, each one is an incredibly valuable treasure. At best for taking thismission andpleting an exemry work we could offer you two of these skill orbs. Depending on which skills reside within.ˇ± The Viceroy of Lethan said.

    Naturally he did not get to his position by rolling over and epting whatever deal was presented to him. Especially one that was so one sided.

    If perhaps they were paying for the amethros ingot as well as the creation of a sword it would have been a fairer trade. But since they already owned the ingot, it was quite the ludicrous price to pay.

    ˇ°Hm, I am really hoping to obtain all six of these.ˇ± Marcus said while contemting how to take the negotiations.

    He then came up with an idea and turned his attention towards rd who he figured to be easier to push in the direction he wanted.

    ˇ°Could I see your current gear? I would like to see what you use so that I have a better idea of what I am going to make.ˇ± Marcus said, sidestepping the current negotiations.

    Looking a bit confused, rd turned towards his father, but the man shrugged his shoulders and gave his permission.

    ˇ®I figured he would have an item box.ˇŻ

    Keeping a close eye on rd, Marcus watched him open up the spatial rift created from the item box skill and pull out an ornate adamantine falchion. Followed by a set of heavy adamantine armor and an adamantine kite shield shaped like an upside-down tear drop.

    Seeing this, it was clear that rd was a straightforward shield and sword fighting knight. Which made sense with his personality.

    ˇ®All of it is pretty good. But it was not made with the absolute best materials and likely by someone with only a level five forge skill. For a fighter of rdˇŻs level, this gear is probably only just barely able to keep up.ˇŻ Marcus thought while examining rdˇŻs current gear.

    Once he was satisfied, he ced it down and handed it back over.

    ˇ°I can see that your weapon and armor is well used. No doubt seeing plenty ofbat in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon. But it seems that you not only could use a new weapon, but also a new shield and set of armor.ˇ±

    This seemed to get rdˇŻs attention and he looked quite excited at the prospect.

    However, before Marcus could make a decisive blow, Count Vendrick got involved. Seeing what Marcus was trying to get at.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, while I am sure it would be great for my son to receive upgraded armor, we only have the one ingot of Amethros to use. It would be impossible to make him a full set of armor and a new shield. I believe that we should only stick to the matter at hand which is the creation of a weapon.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus turned his gaze towards the viceroy and prepared to give his next argument.

    ˇ°Yes, you are right that this is all the amethros that you have. But that does not mean that your son has the highest quality armor he could. I imagine that what he currently uses was made many years ago by Edzard, the best forgmaster in your city. I have seen his skills, and while he is very impressive and a man that I respect, the materials used in your sonˇŻs current armor are not the best. It is simply old and will not be good enough for him to continue using. But I can promise that I can create for him a system recognized adamantine shield and a set of armor to match.ˇ± Marcus said with a confident grin.

    Then to hammer home that he could do it, he took off the bracer on his left arm and the pendant around his neck.

    cing them both on the table, he garnered both rd and his fatherˇŻs attention.

    ˇ°These here are my own personal armor and shield. Allow them to serve as examples of what I can create.ˇ± Marcus said as he activated his equipment and had it take its true form.

    In an instant the pendant unfolded out into a set of full scale mail armor, and the bracer became a circr adamantine shield.

    Of course, both were system recognized top tier pieces of equipment that were pretty much stuff of legends.

    ˇ°You really made these Lady Irene!?ˇ± rd said in disbelief.

    Being a high-level fighter, he could instantly see the vast difference between his current gear and what Marcus had presented here.

    ˇ°Yes, these are some of my finest creations. I originally learned to be a forgemasters so that I could make gear for myself. At my heart I am an adventurer and making sure that I have the best weapons and armor was paramount for me. I am sure being a warrior yourself you understand how difficult it is to get quality equipment.ˇ± Marcus said in response to rd.

    Except while his adamantine equipment that had been epted by the system as top tier was impressive. Marcus decided to finish things off by showing what he was really capable of.

    ˇ°Now I am proud of these, but my true masterpiece happens to be my very own weapon.ˇ±

 710 Chapter 710

    Opening his item box Marcus pretended to take his scythe out form it.

    Of course, he was actually unable to put his scythe within the skill that created an extradimensional storage space, as any sort of creature could not be ced inside. So, with his scythe possessing a portion of his soul, it was voided from being able to enter the item box.

    Nevertheless, he had long since figured out how to blend it back into his own soul and take it out at will.

    This allowed him to y this little trick that only the most attentive might notice.

    ˇ°This here is my own personal weapon. As you can see it is an amethros item that has been recognized by the system.ˇ± Marcus said as heid out his scythe on the table in front of him.

    However, rd and his father, the viceroy of Lethan, gave him reactions that he did not expect.

    For Count Vendrick, he stared down at the weapon in utter disbelief and the oppression he felt from it made it so he could not even breathe.

    On the other hand, rdˇŻs instincts told him that this weapon was dangerous. Maybe as dangerous as the boss monsters he had faced in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon. Causing him to jump back away from it and take abat ready stance.

    ˇ®Oops. Looks like it might be a bit much to show this to people without keeping it more contained.ˇŻ

    Seeing that the very presence of his scythe was unsettling the two men he was negotiating with, Marcus picked it back up andpletely suppressed its aura.

    Once he had done this the tension in the room vanished, and Count Vendrick took a deep gasping breath while rd dropped out of his stance.

    Though it did not take long for Marcus to realize that it was not just the two men in front of him that were affected by the very presence of his scythe. All of the servants were affected as well, with a number of them actually having passed out from the stress of being in its presence.

    Even ra who was normally quite serious and professional, had copsed onto her knees and was breathing heavily while sweat poured down her face.

    ˇ®That was far more potent than I thought it would be. I suppose even the lingering instinct from the Dread Burrower is still enough to cause panic.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    He could remember the overwhelming aura of dread the monster created that made almost anything that could feel it run away in terror.

    ˇ°It seems that I have made a bit of an error there. Please forgive me for not properly reining in the aura of my weapon.ˇ± Marcus said while bowing his head a bit.

    A few moments after everyone in the room seemed to recover, and the only one that had not been oppressed by it came up to Marcus and asked him about his obviously unique weapon.

    ˇ°What is that? I have never heard of a weapon that can cause such a reaction. It was as if I was in the presence of a terrifying beast or monster.ˇ± rd said with an inquisitive expression.

    ˇ°Yes, I imagine that is exactly what it is like. The core that is the focal point of this weapon came from a very special monster that could cause widespread terror with its aura, and the core has retained some of its properties. But there is no need to worry. As you can see, so long as I am wielding it I can surpass itpletely.ˇ± Marcus said, offering up the most basic exnation he could.

    Naturally he was not going to borate on the finer details of his weapon. Which was made with the core of the Doomsday Worm, and that he was able to control it because his soul was also melded within the weapon.

    After a couple of minutes while everyone in the room regained theirposure, the negotiations began again.

    ˇ°Now I have shown you that my skills are capable of producing top tier weapons and armor which far exceed what rd is currently using. To that end, I would like these six skill orbs, and in return I will forge an amethros falchion for rd. Along with a top tier adamantine shield and set of armor. Oh, and I would even be willing to use my own personal adamantine to make the shield. How about it? I believe that this is a good deal for all of us.ˇ±

    Having finished his pitch, Marcus sat back and waited for the viceroy and his son to think it over.

    Overall, it really was not a bad deal for them. They would get three treasures that could be used throughout their family for generations. While skill orbs were one use items that only helped out a single person who would eventually die in most cases.

    For Marcus though, with where he was right now, items like skill orbs that focused on personal power were the most valuable to him.

    ˇ°I would like to rify something Lady Irene. You said that you could guarantee that the adamantine equipment will be recognized by the system. However, this does not extend to the amethros de we wish you to forge, does it?ˇ±

    ˇ°You are correct. I cannot guarantee that I can make you a top tier weapon made from amethros. I used very special materials I did not gather on my own and are certainly beyond your means to obtain in order to make my scythe. Still, it will be a weapon of a far higher quality than most have, and I will make sure that the adamantine equipment receives system recognition.ˇ± Marcus said, answering honestly.

    ˇ°In that case, should you be willing to sign a magically binding contract, then I believe that we have a deal.ˇ± Count Vendrick said begrudgingly, after speaking it over with rd.

    It was clear that he really did not want to part with six skill orbs, each containing rare and valuable skills. But in the end his sonˇŻs persistence and the knowledge that he would never receive such a chance again pushed him to make this deal.

    Incredibly happy, Marcus pulled out a bottle of wine from his item box that came straight from the royal cer.

    It was one of the bottles that Mrazivy had swiped for them to share that they never got around to having.

    ˇ°Allow me to offer this bottle of wine up for a quick celebration in light of our deal.ˇ± Marcus said with a smile he could not suppress.

    Except, before they proceed with any sort of celebration, Count Vendrick held up and hand to stop Marcus.

    ˇ°Wait just a moment Lady Irene. While I am fine with a short celebration. There is one more thing that I wish to speak with you about that has been unrted to our previous discussion.ˇ±

    A bit surprised, Marcus titled his head and waited for the viceroy to borate further on what else he wanted to talk about.

    ˇ°Ahem. This may be a bit out of nowhere, but my first son and heir has expressed interest in opening marriage talks with you. Would you have any interest with meeting him?ˇ± The viceroy said with a slightly awkward air about him.

    Quickly MarcusˇŻ vibrant smile frompleting their deal faded away, and he said, ˇ°No. I have no interest in any talks of marriage between myself or for my sister. If you wish to continue down this line of questioning, we are done here, and I am leaving.ˇ±

 711 Chapter 711

    Count Vendrick seeing how upset Marcus had be over the marriage proposal he had put forth, backed down immediately.

    ˇ°Excuse me, it seems that was out of line. I had heard that you refused any such talks of marriage, but it seems that you dislike the idea more than I could have guessed. Please feel free to disregard what I said. It is of no consequence.ˇ±

    His smile returning, Marcus was happy that the viceroy did not push the issue any further, as he had no intention of ever getting married as Irene.

    ˇ®I already have a fianc¨¦e I am in love with. I certainly would not want to have to juggle two partners. Especially if one was a guy.ˇŻ

    With any talks of marriage now thrown out, some of the viceroyˇŻs servants began preparing some light refreshments for a quick celebration while the magical contract was being written up.

    ˇ°My how in the world did you get this wine? I believe it is something that can only be found in the cer of the royal castle, or perhaps a dukeˇŻs main estate.ˇ± Count Vendrick said when he saw thebel on the bottle.

    It was clear that it hade from the royal familyˇŻs personal vineyard that grew in the magical atrium attached to the castle.

    ˇ°Yes, my friend princess Mrazivy gifted it to me. Oh, and I would like to make sure this stays a secret between us.ˇ± Marcus said with a forceful smile.

    Nodding his head, the viceroy agreed that he would not tell anyone else and assured that the information that Marcus had this wine would not leave this room.

    After that they enjoyed some cheeses and cured meats that went well with the rich and fragrant wine that came from the cer of the royal castle.

    Then as they were winding down, Bastian who had left earlier returned with a few sheets of thick parchment in his hands.

    ˇ®That must be the contract.ˇŻ

    Quickly the Count Vendrick read over the contents and nodded his head before passing it over to his son.

    When they were done and were both satisfied, they handed it over for Marcus to look at.

    ˇ®They are pretty thorough.ˇŻ Marcus thought once he was finished going through it.

    There were quite a few uses that worked out greatly in the viceroyˇŻs favor should anything unfortunate happen.

    One example was that they would only supply enough adamantine for one set of armor, and if he was unable to create as system recognized set, he would be forced to procure more on his own.

    There was also a time limit of three months in which he had to fulfill the order or be penalized for each moth he waste.

    In that case he would either have to return one of the skill orbs or pay a sum of forty thousand gold coins.

    Truly pretty harsh conditions, but only in the case he was not able toplete the contract within the parameters he had already agreed to.

    ˇ®Well, I should have no trouble getting everything made on time, but I should fight back a bit on some of these uses out of principle. I still have a bit of my pride from my past life.ˇŻ

    Nearly three hours went by as Marcus obstinately had the contract reworked to be far more in his favor.

    He got pretty much ever penalty reduced and extended the deadline of his delver to five months.

    Did he honestly need to do any of this. No. But once he started getting into it his instincts took over and he fought for the best possible deal for himself like a tyrant.

    And while he was all smiles and refreshed by the end of it. Having thoroughly enjoyed arguing with the count and his servants. The opposing party looked exhausted, and part of the reason they had agreed to most of what Marcus asked for was simply because they did not want to deal with him anymore.

    ˇ°There you go, I have signed it now that all the revisions have been added.ˇ± Marcus said with a bright smile.

    The words on the contract then glowed gold for a moment to show that the magic had taken effect.

    With his business now taken care of, Marcus collected the six skill orbs that were his payment which he made sure he would get in advance.

    Along with that he took with him a few magic bags that contained the materials Count Vendrick was going to be supplying. Which of course included the amethros ingot.

    ˇ°It has been quite the pleasure Lord Vendrick and Lord rd, but I believe it is time for me to get going. I have much to do in the dungeon and must get back posthaste.ˇ± Marcus said as he turned around to take his leave.

    Though before he got out of the room, the count stopped him.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, I believe it would be prudent for you to spend the night here. It has already gottente now, and I must say that there have been a few more ruffians in town due to the recent incidents. Without any guards I could not let you leave without offering you an invitation.ˇ± The viceroy said with a look of genuine concern.

    However, it was clear that his concern was less for Marcus and more for the very valuable goods that were currently in his possession.

    ˇ°Thank you for the offer, but I do have things that need to be done. Anyway, if there were any ruffians in this city that could threaten me, I daresay that there would be anarchy in the streets.ˇ±

    With that Marcus took his leave despite the viceroyˇŻs instance that he stay the night.

    Along the way they did actually get attack by a group of thieves that thought the unguarded carriage on otherwise empty roads would be an easy mark.

    Sadly, for these thieves, they were easily crushed by Marcus in a show of overwhelming power and swiftly taken over to the city guard who arrested them.

    Not long after that Marcus returned to the Towering Bear Inn with ra, and he left his head maid there while he went back into the dungeon immediately.

    ˇ®I need to see how ric did today, and I managed to score quite the impressive upgrades for him.ˇŻ

 712 Chapter 712

    Marcus headed back to the dungeon with quite the pep in his step.

    He had just obtained six rare skill orbs and all it was really going to cost him was a little bit of time and some adamantine which he still had a decent store of.

    ˇ°You are free to go.ˇ± One of the night guards in front of the dungeons aid after checking MarcusˇŻ guild card.

    Quickly he headed into the dungeon and once he was in far enough to be out of sight disappeared.

    He could move much faster in his ghost form by phasing through any barrier and headed in a straight line for the area he had left ric in.

    ˇ®I have not received any sort of distress signal from Blitz, so they should still be fine.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he came out of a wall and into the snowy hills area.

    Now that he was here, he followed his connection to Blitz through their seal and soon came across ric fighting a pack of mandragora.

    They were small and stout nt monsters that were around the height of a three-year-old human children, with leaves, bark, vines, and pallid tumorsing out of their bodies.

    Looking at them would give just about anyone an unsettling feeling due to their grotesque appearance, but in fact it was actually the noise that they made that was the worst part about them.

    They could let out ear piercing shrieks that would nauseate most people, and for those lower leveled or with exceptional hearing they could cause unconsciousness.

    For lower leveled parties they were probably some of the most dangerous creatures toe across, as they often gathered together inrge groups like the one ric was facing groups.

    And to make matters worse, they had poisonous leaves that befuddled anyone hit with them enough times and couldtch on with their mouths and drain the blood out of people.

    ˇ®Level sixteen, level thirteen, level seventeen, level twenty-oneˇ­ˇŻ

    Appraising each of them, Marcus found that the lowest level of the group of thirteen mandragoras was twelve, while the highest was twenty-three. Arge range between them with none of them being incredibly high level.

    Still, as a group they were a dangerous threat for most silver and even gold rank adventurers.

    ric for his part though, was doing quite well in fighting them off.

    He had already stuffed pieces of damp cloth into his ears to lessen the effects of the screeches and was keeping his cool.

    Whenever one of the mandragora got too close he would bat them away with his staff and at the same time was chanting away at a spell.

    ˇ®He really has improved.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched ricplete his spell.

    He had cast a tier two ice magic spell called ice pir and was using it as a raised tform to get out of range of the mandragoras.

    While the little nt monsters had some dangerous attacks, the only thing they could hit someone with at range was their screech. Which ric was mitigating thanks to the cloth in his ears.

    From the high ground he had created he began systematically eliminating the weakest mandragoras and working his way up.

    He had hit them all with arge area magic called entangling fumes which created a thinyer of gas around a foot off the ground.

    This gas would then continuously wrap around whatever entity was within it and slow them down.

    It was not strong enough to fully hold down the strongest of the mandragoras, but it still slowed them tremendously and every couple of seconds they had to break out of the new bindings that were taking ahold.

    For the weaker ones, they were sitting ducks, and ric began firing off the tier two wind magic spell breeze de which sliced clean through and finished off all of the bound monsters.

    Within a few minutes he had killed all thirteen of them without incurring a single injury.

    Once he was finished, Blitz ran back over from where he was waiting close by and keeping watch.

    ˇ®I suppose now is as good a time as any.ˇŻ

    Dropping down to the ground Marcus repapered and immediately started pping.

    ˇ°Excellent work. I can see that you are really taking into consideration your own safety and how best to win your fights. Also, your use of all three types of you magic inbination has gotten quite good.ˇ±

    With a bright smile ric ran over to Marcus who had been gone the whole day and began happily telling him of the battles he had fought.

    ˇ°You have certainly been quite busy despite not having me backing you up. And it seems that you managed to avoid any major injuries which is good. Oh, and congrattions on reaching level twenty-eight.ˇ± Marcus said while patting ric on the shoulder.

    After that he told ric that it was time they had a celebratory dinner in light of his aplishments.

    ˇ°I have some rare ingredients that I do not normally bust out on ount of how expensive they are, but since you have seeded in the next step of your training, I think now is a good time.ˇ± Marcus said as he began taking out an entire kitchen from his item box.

    Hearing this ric jumped up in the air and started cheering. Truly looking forward to MarcusˇŻ cooking.

    A couple hourster and Marcus had created an impressive spread of food fit for a castle, and something that practically no one else would ever think of making in the middle of a dungeon.

    Of course, all of the tantalizing smells had attracted numerous beasts and monsters, but Blitz was patrolling the area and getting rid of any that got too close.

    ˇ°ItˇŻs delicious! Your food is always the best Irene!ˇ± ric eximed as he took the first bite of the food Marcus had prepared.

    For nearly the next hour ric spent his time eating the food Marcus had prepared. Until his stomach waspletely bloated and he could not physically eat any more.

 713 Chapter 713

    Now that ric had finished eating, he turned his attention towards Marcus who was cleaning up.

    ˇ°Irene, we talked a lot about what I did today. But what about you? Did your meeting with the viceroy go well?ˇ± ric asked with a clear look of concern in his eyes.

    Being a noble of Borealia as well, he understood the gravity of a personal meeting with the ruler of a territory.

    Within the city of Lethan, Count Vendrick was the most powerful man and pretty much whatever he said went.

    If Marcus had somehow displeased him, it could give him a powerful political enemy.

    ˇ°It actually went extremely well. The viceroy wanted to hire me for a job, and I managed to receive quite the payment. Speaking of which I have a few things to show you.ˇ±

    Opening up his item box, Marcus took out four of the six skill orbs he had received as payment and passed them over to ric.

    For a moment he stood them dumbfound, not knowing what they were.

    But when he picked one of the orbs up and received the prompt to learn the skill within, his eyes went wide with disbelief.

    He had heard and read about skill orbs in school, but this was his first time ever seeing one in person.

    And not only that, but the skill within the orb he had picked up was legendary and something that anyone who could cast magic sought.

    ˇ°Irene, this skill orb has the silent cast skill sealed within it!ˇ± ric shouted in shock.

    In his surprise he also stood up abruptly and knocked over the four skill orbs that Marcus hadid out.

    Frantically he began rushing around to try and pick them up, but before he could Marcus grabbed them with his iron threads and reeled them in.

    Seeing that Marcus had retrieved the skill orbs, ric let out a sigh of relief and then bowed his head in order to apologized for being reckless with such valuable items.

    ˇ°Oh, it is fine. I understand your astonishment. These are all fairly rare skill orbs. I just got them today as my payment.ˇ± Marcus said proudly.

    Looking stupefied, ric could not really understand why Marcus was paid in skill orbs instead of gold.

    Marcus seeing the expression ricˇŻs face, understood why he was confused and exined that he had personally asked for them.

    ˇ°I see, you really are incredible Irene. You are skilled enough to negotiate with a viceroy of a major city and have them hand over such rare skill orbs for your services.ˇ± ric said in awe.

    He then cast his gaze towards the skill orbs currently being held in MarcusˇŻ hand and looked at them longingly.

    It was a perfectly natural reaction, and an unconscious one. But he could not help wanting for the high-level skill that all mages yearned for.

    ˇ°Why are you looking at these skill orbs as if they are far off treasures you could never obtain. I specifically chose these four in order to make you stronger.ˇ± Marcus said with a wry smile.

    A dumfounded look quickly overtook the one of longing ric had previous had.

    It took him nearly a full dozen seconds to process what Marcus had just said, before making an iprehensible sound of disbelief.

    ˇ°Irene! What are you saying?! Those are the skill orbs you got as payment for your contract with the viceroy. There is no way I can take them.ˇ± ric said while shaking his head rapidly.

    He had also done the same when Marcus offered him loads of natural treasures from the intelligent beastˇŻs domain. Though in that situation Marcus got him to take them by saying he had plenty more and that his stats were already maxed out.

    ˇ°Well, this is a bit of a problem. I picked these up to make you stronger. If you do not ept them, they are probably going to go to waste.ˇ± Marcus said in an over exaggerated tone.

    ˇ°What do you mean Irene? If the others are rare skills just like that silent cast, I am sure they are incredibly useful. At the very least you could sell them for tens of thousands of gold coins.ˇ± ric said, still not wanting to take something so valuable.

    ˇ°Yes, there certainly are all powerful skills, but I already have most of them, and the one I do not, is not something I feel I need. And if I wanted money, that is what I would have asked for in the first ce. Now stop being obstinate and take them.ˇ±

    Thrusting out the skill orbs, Marcus looked sternly at ric and with his gazemanded him to take them.

    Tentatively he did begin reaching out, and ever so slowly took ahold of each of the skill orbs.

    ˇ°Now go ahead and learn them, I will not be satisfied until you do.ˇ±

    ric looked down at all of the skill orbs in his hands and hesitated for a moment before activating the first one and learning it.

    As the skill within was learned the orb shed brightly for a few moments before going dark.

    A few momentster it began to degrade, and small specks of crystal flew into the air until they became too small to see.

    ˇ®Looks like it worked.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he appraised ric.

    On his skill list was now silent cast at level one. Giving him a skill that should have normally been impossible to obtain.

    Marcus had learned from Aria that to get silent cast one had to have chant shortening up to at least level six, and normally practice many years to get the skill. However, using a skill orb circumvented this process and gave ric the high tier skill before he ever obtained chant shortening.

    ric then went through each of the skills learning them one by one. And each time he had an absolutely stunned expression on his face when he found out what skills were inside.

    ˇ°Seems that everything worked out well. Congrattions on learning silent cast, magic resistance, mana regeneration, and death magic.ˇ±

 714 Chapter 714

    With ric now knowing four new powerful skills it was time for him to put them to the test.

    ˇ°If you are up for it go ahead and try out the skills you just obtained.ˇ± Marcus suggested.

    Still a bit bbergasted by the fact that he had just learned four powerful skills in a few moments, it took ric nearly a dozen seconds toe back to himself. Though when he did, he smiled and nodded his head gleefully.

    The first one he was going to try out was obvious. There was simply no way he would not begin with silent cast.

    Focusing on the new skill and picturing a spell he had cast dozens of times, ric held out his hand and manifested his magic.

    In an instant a bullet of ice went flying off from his hand and impacted a nearby tree with a heavy thud.

    ˇ°It worked!ˇ± ric said in excitement.

    The tier one spell he had just cast went off without a hitch and he had not even said a single word.

    However, with his silent cast skill at only level one, it could only be used on tier one spells currently.

    He would need to work with it and get the skill up higher before it would work on higher tier spells.

    Nevertheless, being able to cast even tier one spells with no timeg or need to focus on chanting was a huge boon and would make him far stronger inbat.

    ˇ®Wow my mana has already fully recovered.ˇŻ ric thought with a surprised expression

    Along with his test of silent cast he was also able to see the effects of his mana regeneration skill.

    Normally it would have taken him a little over a minute to recover the mana expended from casting a tier one spell, but now it only took a few second.

    Truly this was astounding and would allow him to fight for much longer and harder without exhausting all of his mana.

    Reveling in the excitement of his new powers, ric went on a casting spree. He tested out each of his tier one spells using silent cast.

    ˇ°Are you not going to use the new death magic spell you obtained?ˇ± Marcus asked once ric had been casting his other magic spells for around ten minutes.

    His eyes going wide in realization, ric had practically forgotten about his new magic skill because he was so caught up in using silent cast and mana regeneration.

    Looking around for a moment, he searched for a suitable target and saw a fairlyrge branch that he had knocked down earlier with his tier one spell barrage.

    Picking it up, he held it in his hands for a few moments before casting his newly learned death magic spell.

    ˇ®Necrotic grasp.ˇŻ

    As he pictured the spell activating a translucent ck glow formed in his right hand and began spreading out over the branch he was holding.

    Quickly the green leaves on the branched shriveled up and turned to dust. Followed by the branch going ck and cracking all over.

    Any life left in the recently broken branch was sapped away in an instant and all that was left was what looked to be a long dead piece of wood.

    Looking at what he had just done, for a few seconds ric was utterly terrified.

    He had watched the living branch of a tree shrivel up and loss all semnce of life.

    This was a power he had. One that could turn something from living to dead with just a touch.

    ˇ°It is frightening, isnˇŻt it?ˇ± Marcus said when he noticed how shaken ric was.

    His life drain specter power was quite simr. Though instead of just destroying the targetˇŻs life he actually absorbed it as energy.

    Turning around ric shook his head, and he looked even paler than normal.

    ˇ°I can understand. Your other magic may be able to cause death, but it is not inherently meant to. And watching the life be drained out of something from your own hands is quite terrifying. But still, a weapon, or in this case magic, is not something to fear just for its existence. Every ability has its uses, and it is how you apply it that matters. If you wish to walk the path to gaining power, you will inevitablye into more and more conflict. Neglecting any tool simply because you are afraid of it could lead you to have regretster. One day you may need the power of death magic to protect someone you care about. But if you really do not wish to use it, I will understand. Even I have a certain skill that I keep locked away unless the situation is beyond dire.ˇ± Marcus said with an incredibly serious face.

    Looking down at his hands where the dead branch stilly, ric pondered what he wanted to do. And when he came to a decision, he looked up resolutely at Marcus.

    ˇ°I will keep practicing this new magic. It might be a bit scary, but it is as you say. It is how I use the power not what it inherently is. I know if the day came, and Lilia got hurt when I might have been able to stop it with this magic, I would never forgive myself.ˇ±

    Smiling, Marcus was happy to see that this was the answer that ric hade to and encouraged him to try out his new spell a few more times.

    ˇ°Good I believe you are getting the hang of it. From tomorrow onward we will practice your new skills to get their levels raised up so that they are more in line with the others you have.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus urged ric to get some sleep while he finished cleaning up the kitchen area.

    Yet before he left, ric had one more thing to say.

    ˇ°Irene, what about the magic resistance skill I got? I do not really have anyway to test that out or training it up.ˇ± ric said with a confused look on his face.

    At this, Marcus turned around and held up his hand.

    ˇ°That is easy. We simply do this.ˇ±

    In the next instance a fire shot spell appeared in the palm of MarcusˇŻ hand andunched towards ric.

    The attack was so surprising that itpletely caught him off guard.

    In the next instance the fire shot spell smashed against his body and he was covered in mes.

    He held his hands up in front of him and prepared for the searing pain of being burned. But nothing happened.

    He certainly felt and ufortable warmth of the fire bursting on his skin. but there was barely any damage to him other than very light burns on his hands that he used to protect his face.

    ˇ°Looks like you managed to get through that pretty well. Though that fire shot only had about the power you would expect from the average level twelve or so.ˇ± Marcus said with a contemtive look.

    ric for his part was still stunned that the person training him, who he had put his trust in had just attacked him out of nowhere.

    ˇ°Oh, I guess I should heal you. That did do a bit of damage.ˇ±

 715 Chapter 715

    After Marcus had healed ric and exined to him exactly why he had attacked him, he calmed down.

    Certainly, he was used to taking hits from MarcusˇŻ during their brutal training session. But this was the first time Marcus had ever attacked him with no warning and fire magic no less.

    ˇ°I see, so my magic resistance will go up if I keep getting hit by magic attacks.ˇ± ric said with a pensive expression anding to understand what Marcus had just told him.

    This was his first time getting a resistance skill, so he had little knowledge about them or the method of training them.

    ˇ°How long will it take me to get the resistance skill up?ˇ± ric asked wanting to know how many magic attacks he was going to have to take.

    Pursing his lips and looking contemtive, Marcus thought about it for a bit before shrugging his shoulders.

    ˇ°I donˇŻt really know. They just go up when you have gotten enough experience with them. But as long as you keep fighting and training it will go up. My own magic resistance skill is at six right now and it has taken a couple years to get there.ˇ± Marcus said, telling ric of his own experience.

    Of course, his was a bit different than the half elf boy could expect since on asion he had funneled skill points into the skill.

    ˇ°Oh, but let me tell you now this skill does not fully protect you from magic unless you are way stronger than the one attacking you. It just helps mitigate some of the effects. Whether it be damage, debuff, or anything else.ˇ± Marcus said with a serious expression.

    He did not want ric thinking he could just sit there and tank magic attack simply because he had a resistance skill.

    Magic was typically very powerful, especially with high tier spells. Therefore, he wanted to make sure to hammer the point now that ric should always try to block or dodge any magic attacks no matter how weak they seemed.

    ˇ°Now go ahead and hit me with your strongest spell. That way I can show you what it looks like when magic resistancepletely negates a spell.ˇ±

    Looking a bit hesitant ric did not want to use such a powerful attack, but quickly remembered how he had never seen Marcus get hurt once in all their time training together.

    Stepping back, ric readied his staff and began the chant for the strongest spell he currently knew.

    Listening to it, Marcus had a somewhat nostalgic smile on his face as he remembered the first time he saw this spell.

    ˇ°Rime flower.ˇ±

    In an instance arge flower made of beautiful blue ice opened up around Marcus and then mmed shut.

    There was a loud crashing sound of the ice smashing against itself and the tier four ice magic spellpletely engulfed Marcus.

    For a moment he was fully hidden inside the ice that would not only crush its target but freeze them to cease any possible resistance.

    Yet in the next instance it cracked apart and shattered.

    ric looked at Marcus in awe as small ice crystals fell all around him from the spell that hadpletely failed to break through his resistance.

    ˇ°That was pretty good. I think if you were about twenty levels higher that would have hurt me just a little bit if I offered no resistance.ˇ± Marcus said to ric.

    Hearing this the young boy was only reaffirmed of how much stronger Marcus waspared to him.

    ˇ°Will I ever be able to catch up with you?ˇ± ric said with a look that was getting close to despair.

    He had already worked really hard to get stronger and he had gotten good results, but Marcus was still so far away that ric could not even gage the distance between them.

    ˇ°Yeah, if you keep at it you will catch up to me. I may be a higher level right now, but it gets much harder to level up as you go. Not only are there less beasts and monsters to fight that are around my level but also the exp I need is a whole lot more now. Unless I am in a truly deadly fight against a powerful opponent many levels higher than me it takes quite a while to reach the next level. Anyway, my power is honestly not that impressive.ˇ±

    With a look of befuddlement ric could not believe that there were people out there that much stronger than Marcus was. He just seemed so insurmountable.

    Naturally ric asked him about this, and Marcus decided to tell him about the crazy powers he had seen people use that were in the upper eighties and even above level ny.

    ˇ°They have attacks and powers that allow them to spilt the sky and earth for dozens of miles. I imagine that all of Borealia would be destroyed in a day if the two strongest people I have ever seen decided to attack it.ˇ± Marcus said while looking off into the distance.

    He remembered the truly devastating power that both Boreas and Ja had used during the fight against the Doomsday Worm.

    Even his most powerful attack that he had used by falling from the top of the atmosphere, using dozens of buff spells, and activating all of his strongest skills had only amounted to the same power as normal attacks from those two.

    ˇ°Irene, is Borealia in danger!?ˇ± ric said with a look of fear in his eyes.

    Of course, it was natural that he was a bit afraid when Marcus told him there were people out there that could destroy his home in just a single day.

    ˇ°Oh, there is no need to worry about that. They are on our side; I was just using destroying the kingdom as an example of their power. I suppose I should havepared them to something else.ˇ± Marcus said with a introspective expression as he thought of a less terrifying way to evaluate Boreas and JaˇŻs power.

    Though after saying this, he noticed that they had been talking and experimenting for quite a while and that ric seemed to be forcing himself to stay awake.

    ˇ°Go ahead and get some rest. It is important to be in your best condition so that you do not make mistakes. We can always talk about this stuff moreter.ˇ± Marcus said to ric and urging him to go to bed.

    Nodding his head, ric headed back to his tent as he felt fatigueing over him now that they were no long discussing a topic that had his full attention.

    Upon waking up ric felt refreshed and continued his exploration and hunting in the snowy hill area of the dungeon.

    Hearing everything that Marcus had told him, he had decided he wanted to get strong enough so that he could protect his home from even people like those Marcus had told him about yesterday.

    This coupled with his new skill had ric moving at a breakneck pace and easily dealing with any of the monsters and beasts that showed up on the fringes of the area they were in.

    ˇ®I think it might be time to move further in. Out here we are not going toe in contact with anything higher than thirty expect on very rare asions. And with where he is now that is just not going to cut it anymore.ˇŻ

 716 Chapter 716

    ˇ®He is a bit lower level than I would have liked, but we are running out of time. He will just have to catch up in the special dungeon.ˇŻ Marcus thought while he oversaw ric fighting.

    It had now been a bit more than five weeks since Marcus had given the four skill orbs to ric, and the young half elf boy had managed to reach level thirty-seven.

    Truly this was impressive growth, since only a few months had passed since they started his training in earnest.

    Normally it would have taken someone several years to reach where ric was at even if they were diligent.

    But by pushing him to his limits and making sure he did not die along the way; Marcus had been able to elerate his growth by a tremendous amount.

    Still, it was difficult to level up past thirty, and no longer could ric earn a level in a day but instead needed several. Even when fighting opponents around the same level he was.

    ˇ®Ah, he won.ˇŻ Marcus thought as the rock troll leader ric was fighting died.

    They were no longer in the snowy hills area and had moved deeper into the dungeon to allow ric to fight other enemies in different environments.

    Currently they were in an area that was filled with small mountains and boulders that was very difficult terrain to travel on foot. With everything living her was either very fast or extremely bulky.

    ˇ°That was a pretty good fight. You managed to use your death magic very well against an opponent you had no other way to beat.ˇ± Marcus said with a proud smile.

    ˇ°Yeah, I never knew how difficult it was to fight monsters with regeneration.ˇ± ric said as he looked at the six felled rock trolls before him.

    ˇ°It certainly is, but you will need to get used to it. The higher your level goes the more often your opponents are going to have ways to heal themselves. Now go ahead and take their cores out and then set up camp. We are calling it a day a bit early.ˇ±

    Looking a bit frantic ric obviously did not want to stop hunting today and told Marcus as such.

    ˇ°Wait Irene, I can still keep going. You already told me this is ourst day, so I want to make the most of it. I still have not caught up to Lilia yet. You told me she is over level forty. I want to at least get one more level.ˇ±

    ˇ°No, we are finished. You have made it high enough for now and should be proud. There will be plenty of time for you to catch up to the slight distance between you and Lilia. Anyway, you are already strong enough to stand beside her even if you are not the same level. And right now, I have something very important to talk to you about which will take a while.ˇ± Marcus said with a serious look in his eyes.

    Having seen this same expression on MarcusˇŻ face plenty of times ric understood that there was nothing else he could do to argue his point and got to work.

    When he had finished taking out the cores of the rock troll and they had moved around a half mile away, he began setting up camp.

    ˇ°That is good enough for now. Come over and sit down so you can listen to what I have to tell you.ˇ±

    Doing as directed ric sat down across from Marcus in a chair set up facing him with a table with snacks and tea on it.

    The two of them rested for a little while. Enjoying the tea and a few cookies until Marcus decided it was time to begin a very important discussion.

    ˇ°ric, I have to say that over thesest few months you have impressed me with your determination and tenacity. I honestly thought that you would give up before we got here. I did not pull any punches and put you through what most noble children would consider hell. Lilia only got through such training because she was motivated to never be weak and powerless again after experiencing tragedy. You on the other hand could have just continued living afortable life as noble and not worked this hard to get strong. So, as a reward for getting this far, I have two things to tell you. The first is that I will agree to your engagement to Lilia when you bothe of age so long as both of your feeling hold. The second is to tell you my biggest secret.ˇ±

    Hearing this ric was stupefied for a moment. Before he jumped out of his chair, threw his hands up in the air, and cheered loudly.

    Up to this point Marcus had not fully confirmed his support for them, but now it was clear he would definitely allow their rtionship.

    In fact, ric was so happy to hear this that he did not really pick up on the second thing that Marcus had said.

    ˇ°Okay calm down. I know you are happy. I was simrly exhrated when my own engagement got epted, but I have other things to tell you.ˇ±

    Suddenly freezing up from his cheering, something that Marcus had said caught his attention.

    ˇ°Wait, you are engaged Irene?ˇ± ric said with a quizzical look while tilting his head.

    Up to this point he had never heard about this and was pretty sure that Marcus was actually known for vehemently rejecting any proposals.

    ˇ°No, Irene Geist is not engaged. But that is because Irene Geist is not all of who I am. Now go ahead and sit down. What I am about to tell you mighte as quite the shock.ˇ±

    An expression of extreme befuddlement on his face, ric did not understand what Marcus was getting at. But still sat down and prepared to listen attentively.

    ˇ°To start, I suppose that this might be the fastest way.ˇ±

    For an instance Marcus disappearedpletely from ricˇŻs sight and in the next reappeared looking like an entirely different person.

    Going wide eyed ric could not believe what he was seeing.

    ˇ°Prince Marcus!?ˇ±

    Seeing the person sitting across from him suddenly change forms so drastically, ric could not keep any level ofposure and fell back in his chair and tumbled onto the ground.

    This revtion was just too overwhelming for him to take all at once.

    ˇ°Yes, I am Honorary Prince Marcus Ferrous of the kingdom of Borealia. But really, I just prefer to go by Marcus since I did not even start out as a noble.ˇ±

    Blinking his eyes rapidly and rubbing them profusely, ric thought at first he was hallucinating. Yet the form of Marcus never returned to Irene and just continued smiling.

    ˇ°I understand that this is probably difficult to find out, but please get back up and allow me to fully exin how I came to be both Irene and Marcus.ˇ±

    Gulping and realizing that he was being told something incredibly important, ric slowly got back up and took his seat.

    However, now he was no long sitting there calmly but was shaking all over as he was suddenly forced to ept something that seemed impossible.

 717 Chapter 717

    ˇ°To begin with, I suppose I should ask if you have heard about peopleing from another world?ˇ±

    ˇ°Um no I have never heard anything like that.ˇ± ric said with a bewildered expression.

    Things had already taken a very weird turn that ric was still not fully able to process, and now Marcus was bringing up people from another world.

    ˇ°I see, that is going to make this a bit more difficult. Other than Lilia, everyone else I exined this too at least knew about transmigrations and reincarnates.ˇ± Marcus said while contemting the best route to go.

    Quickly he decided to simply tell ric about his previous life on a world that was far different than the one they were currently on.

    Attentively, ric listened to what Marcus had to say no matter how farfetched it might sound.

    Marcus soon enough figured that he had given enough background on both himself and the world he came from and moved onto his death and what came after.

    ˇ°I was given a choice to eithere here or be sent off with my memories purged from my soul. In the end I did not feel like I wanted my life as Marcus to be over, so I decided toe here. Oh, I guess that this is a good time for me to tell you about the administrator. The entity that runs this entire world.ˇ±

    Suddenly being told that there was an impossibly powerful person that ran this world and was the one that had implemented its system. ric froze up and practically shut down.

    He was being told so many bizarre things that were outside of the knowledge that he had.

    Seeing the change in the young boyˇŻs demeanor, Marcus stopped giving his exnation and waited for him to gather his thoughts

    Certainly, when he found out such things in the past, it had been difficult to swallow as well.

    ˇ°Irene- I mean Marcus. You have met this administrator before?ˇ± ric eventually said.

    ˇ°Yes, twice to be precise. I learned a few things from conversing with them at the time, and while I would not say they are especially evil, they are not good either. They are simply working towards their own goals as far as I can tell. But I only told you about them as a bit of background so that you could understand what happened to me when I first got sent to this world. Once we have gotten though that, if you still want to know more about the administrator, I will tell you.ˇ±

    Getting back on track to exining about himself, Marcus told ric about how he got sent to this world as a ghost since he had wanted to be untouchable.

    He then quickly glossed over how when he first arrived, he sunk to the core of the world.

    ˇ°Finally getting back to the surface I found myself in what I did not know at the time was the Great Gome Woods. It was not long after this that I found Irene.ˇ±

    As he told the next part about how he found IreneˇŻs freshly dead body and possessed it, MarcusˇŻ smilepletely faded.

    While it had happened in the past, it was still a very difficult memory to recall. Having caused him an immense amount of physical and emotional pain.

    ˇ°When I finally came to, I was assaulted with some of the memories of Irene and felt her lingering desire to save Lilia and kill the people that had taken everything from her. Truthfully, had I not ended up having that lingering fragment of her soul attach to me, it is likely she would have be a vengeful ghost.ˇ±

    Going into detail Marcus told ric about his struggle to rescue Lilia. Which the young boy had only heard an abbreviated version before.

    After that Marcus mostly sped through his time in Lethan. Only taking a bit to really talk about his fight with the boss and saving Mrazivy.

    ˇ°But why did you abandon Lilia then?ˇ± ric said with a bit of disdain in his eyes.

    He could not understand why Marcus would leave her to live alone after he worked so hard to rescue her.

    ˇ°At the time I did not want themitment of looking after another person. But I am sure that you can understand that this was not myst meeting with Lilia since I have fully epted her as my little sister.ˇ± Marcus told to ric to get him to calm down.

    Quickly he told him of their reunion in River Landing while it was under siege from the ice ants.

    When he had seen how bad LiliaˇŻs situation was and that she had slipped into despair and sickness. He felt that he could not just leave her alone to die.

    ˇ°I may have physically rescued her at that point, but her spirit was still broken. She had lost her entire family and was more of just a moving shell at that time. Far from the bright and cheerful girl she is now.ˇ± Marcus said with a pained look in his eyes.

    It was clear that he regretted not looking after Lilia right after he saved her, but there was nothing he could do about that.

    ˇ°In the end as I am sure you realize I did decide to be LiliaˇŻs older sibling and take care of her. And not long after my soul and IreneˇŻs fully merged. Giving me ess to more of her memories and emotions which helped bring me and Lilia closer together. Hence, I am not just Marcus or Irene anymore, but a mixture of both.ˇ±

    Once he had finished talking about how he came to inherit IreneˇŻs memories and will, along with taking Lilia as his sister. Marcus quickly caught up to when they moved to BorealiaˇŻs capital and ric came to meet Lilia.

    ˇ°When I found out that your grandmother was the one that originally approached me to try and have Lilia engaged to you, I thought that some nefarious scheme was happening. Luckily you turned out to genuinely care for Lilia, and since the two of you have already worked out how your original meeting was a setup, I will not say anything more about it. Now if you have any questions you want to ask me, go ahead.ˇ± Marcus said as he leaned back in his chair now that he was finished telling ric most of what he wanted to.

    Gulping, ric after hearing that Marcus investigated him for a few days could imagine what might have happened to him had he truly been just after Lilia for her blessing like Marcus first thought.

    ˇ°Ho- how many other people know all this about you?ˇ± ric eventually asked.

    Taking a minute to think about this Marcus counted off everyone he knew that had been told or figured out the truth about him.

    ˇ°Hm I am not sure of the exact number since there are probably a few people in the hierarchy of the kingdom that know about me that I am not aware of, but I doubt many more than three dozen in total. For some notable people there is Mrazivy who I am engaged to as you know and a number of her family members. Though I am closest to her siblings Frostine and James, with Grand Archmage Aria begin my friend as well which you already know. Ah, and probably the most famous one that you have heard of is Boreas, the first king of Borealia.ˇ±

 718 Chapter 718

    Suddenly hearing that Marcus knew Boreas, ricˇŻs already overwhelmed mind seemed topletely shut down at this point.

    Certainly, everything that he had heard so far was beyond anything he could imagine, but it was still so out there he could not really understand it all.

    However, as a citizen of Borealia, he natural knew of its legendary first king who had ruled centuries ago.

    Learning that Marcus not only knew such a figure, but that he was actually still alive after all this time was beyond astonishing.

    ˇ®Looks like that really did a number on him. Maybe I should have eased him into the fact that Boreas is alive and that we have met. Well, it is possible ric might meet him one day since he is currently in the castle. So, better now than then.ˇŻ

    Once ric began shaking his head and it was clear he had enough time to process what Marcus had just said. He figured it would be a good time to exin more about Boreas.

    ˇ°So, the person you were talking about that could destroy the entire kingdom in a day is actually Boreas?!ˇ± ric said when Marcus had finished telling him about his meeting with the first king of Borealia.

    ˇ°Yeah, he is. Of everyone I have met on this world, he is the strongest that is not a great spirit or the administrator.ˇ±

    With a pensive expression, ric bent his back over and lowered his head.

    It was clear he was now trying to work through everything Marcus had just revealed to him.

    ˇ°How about we call it there for today. I have told you everything that is most pressing, and anything else can wait until you have gathered your thoughts. I know this is probably difficult to ept all of a sudden, so take your time. I would understand if afterwards you no longer want to associate with me.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus got up and prepared to leave but ric stopped him.

    ˇ°Wait, Marcus. I want to hear everything.ˇ±

    Turning back around and smiling, Marcus retook his seat and began rying all the information that ric wanted to know.

    For nearly the next twenty hours the two of them discussed numerous topics until ric could not keep himself awake any longer.

    When the next day came, and ric woke back up there was a certain awkward atmosphere that had not been there before.

    It was clear that ric was still mulling things over and was not totally sure on what to do.

    ˇ°So, have you given it some thought? Do you want to follow along with us and go to the special dungeon to get stronger? Lilia is definitelying. Therefore, if you do not want to, I can tell you now the power gap you have closed with grow far greater again. But if you are fine with that, I will not force you. Whatever rtionship you want to have with my sister is up to the two of you.ˇ± Marcus said right before they were going to leave.

    With his teeth grit and a downcast look, ric grappled with something in his mind for a few moments before looking up resolutely at Marcus.

    ˇ°I already decided I want to be with Lilia and have the strength to stand beside her. Nothing else matters.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus smiled widely and told ric that they needed to get going.

    ˇ®Whew. For a minute there I thought he was going to say he wanted to cut all ties with me.ˇŻ

    With the time to train ric over, the two of them got onto BlitzˇŻs back and began heading towards the exit of the dungeon.

    At the same time Marcus called back Roxene and Inten who he had let go wild in the dungeon while he was training ric.

    When they met back up in the snowy hills area Marcus properly introduced his two other beastparison to ric before they moved to exit the dungeon.

    ˇ°Ah the fresh air and sunlight. It can be a bit unnerving to be in a dungeon so long, always a bit on edge.ˇ± Marcus said as they came back out onto the streets of Lethan.

    ric nodded his head and agreed with the sentiment, as he felt a certain weight off of him now that they were out of the dungeon.

    ˇ°So where did you want to go first? Back to the inn, or straight to the adventurers guild to turn in the requests you took?ˇ± Marcus asked to ric.

    ˇ°Let us go to the guild first. I want to see everyone else off and thank them for helping me train.ˇ±

    ric having made his decision Marcus steered Blitz towards the guildhall.

    Once inside he left ric to turn in his requests and headed right for DahliaˇŻs office to inform her that they were back and going to be leaving tomorrow.

    ˇ°Oh Irene, you are back!ˇ± Jarek said when he got the door.

    As soon as Marcus entered her heard a loud crash and looked on to see Jarek and DahliaˇŻs daughter throwing her food around again.

    ˇ°Looks like you have your hands full right now. I will not take long. Just came to inform you both that ric and I have returned from the dungeon and will be leaving tomorrowˇ±

    Hearing this Jarek just stood their stunned for a moment, before saying, ˇ°Wait! You are leaving already.ˇ±

    After that Jarek asked Marcus why they were going so soon and told him that he should stay longer so that they could have a farewell party.

    ˇ°Sorry, I would love to, but we are on a bit of a time crunch. I stayed a whole half week longer than I scheduled for already. We have an important engagement we have to be back for in three days.ˇ± Marcus exined.

    However, Jarek became more frantic at this, and asked how Marcus expected to make the journey from Lethan back to the capital in such a short amount of time.

    ˇ°Oh, no need to worry about that. My beastpanion can fly so we will ride him all the way back pretty quickly.ˇ±

    Understanding that Marcus was serious and nned on leaving tomorrow, Jarek at least asked him to wait for a bit while he gathered up some of the other adventures they were close to and could have at least a proper send off.

    ˇ°That sounds good. ric is iming his rewards for the requests he took and selling any other excess materials he picked up. I will go inform him while you gather everyone.ˇ±

    Jarek with a panicked expression began running the trough the building in search of the other members of the Depth Delvers who had helped to train up ric.

    During that time Marcus found ric stunning the guild staff as he unloaded numerous valuable materials from his magic bags.

    Once they he had wrapped that up, Marcus told him about the quick sendoff party that was being prepared and led him up to DahliaˇŻs office where it was going to be held.

    When they arrived, in a miraculous turn of events it seemed that Jarek had gotten everything setup.

    ˇ°ric, make sure not to drink anything alcoholic.ˇ± Marcus said as he eyed the Depths Delvers warily.

    Swiftly everyone that had gathered started having a bit of fun ying some games, easting food, and drinking what Jarek had managed to pick up from eh bar on the first floor. And of course, ric only had fruit juice.

    Eventually though, the merriment came to an end. With Marcus along with ric saying their farewells and heading back to the Towering Bear to get some rest during theirst night in Lethan.

 719 Chapter 719

    ˇ°Are you both ready to go?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, I am good, Lady Irene.ˇ±

    ˇ°I am set as well, Irene. Let us return to the capital.ˇ±

    Marcus having confirmation from ra and ric, turned his head back around from his position on the front of BlitzˇŻs back.

    Then with themand to get going Blitz quickly began trotting down the streets of Lethan towards the exit.

    When they arrived at the gate of the city, they were easily able to leave and began picking up speed on the road leading back to the royal capital.

    ˇ®This ought to be far enough.ˇŻ Marcus thought once the city was barely visible.

    At this point he took Blitz off the side of the road and hopped off while allowing ra to take the front and ric stay behind her.

    ˇ°We are about to take off. Make sure to properly brace yourselves.ˇ± Marcus said to ra and ric.

    Nodding her head ra gripped tightly to Blitz as she remembered her previous experience flying on his back around two months ago.

    ric for his part after leveling up a lot in the dungeon as far more confident now and had no problems with flying now.

    In an instant Marcus with Blitz right behind him shot off into the sky and they began flying swiftly towards the royal capital of Borealia.

    By pushing themselves they managed to arrive at the gates of the royal capital by sunset of the same day, and with MarcusˇŻ status as a noble were able to easily enter the city.

    ˇ°So, ric. You never did decide did you. Do you want me to take you home right away or would you like to spend the night at my estate?ˇ± Marcus asked as Blitz sped towards the noble inner wall of the city.

    ˇ°It iste. I do not want to distribute my parents right now. I think it would be best if I spend the night at your estate and sent them a letter telling of my return tomorrow before showing up.ˇ± ric eventually said after giving it some thought.

    Perfectly fine with his decision Marcus took them back to his estate.

    Upon their arrival Marcus and ric headed into his estate for a ratherte and unexpected dinner.

    ˇ°Thanks, you for getting back up to make this Ste. Your work here is always appreciated.ˇ± Marcus said once they had finished.

    ˇ°It was no problem, Lady Irene. I am happy that you enjoyed it even though I put it together in a hurry.ˇ±

    After their meal both ric and Marcus headed off to their respective rooms in order to get some rest.

    ˇ®Ah. Nothing beats lying in your own bed after a nice long bath.ˇŻ

    Sprawled out on his bed Marcus simply rxed for a few minutes before deciding what to do next.

    ˇ®I believe that Mrazivy, Quillon, and Lyra should have already gotten back from their own dungeon delving by now. I should give them a call and tell them I am back.ˇŻ

    Pulling out his sending stone Marcus contacted Mrazivy and got an immediate response.

    ˇ°Marcus do you know what time it is?ˇ± Mrazivy said while stifling a yawn.

    Hearing this Marcus looked over at the clock in his room and saw that it was a bit past midnight.

    ˇ®I guess I took a longer bath than I thought.ˇŻ

    Immediately Marcus apologized for calling sote, before quickly shifting the topic over to why he had called.

    ˇ°I just arrived back in the city and wanted to inform you about it.ˇ± Marcus said.

    ˇ°Really!? I thought that you were going to stick it out until the need to get that boy ric you are training as strong as possible?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, but I decided to call it a bit early. I did not think he was going to get another level in the time we had left and figured it would be better to have a few more days to rest and prepare here. I have a number of things I need to get done before we go into the special dungeon.ˇ±

    ˇ°I see, but if you are back that means I cane over tomorrow. It has been quite a while and I want to show off how strong I have gotten. Oh, and there is something else that I have to tell you about.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a mischievous giggle.

    Feeling a bit of trepidation, Marcus tried to press her for details. But she would not spill anything and told him he would find out tomorrow.

    ˇ°Now I will be over around lunch time with Quillon and Lyra in tow as well. Make sure to prepare your best for us.ˇ± Mrazivy said before disconnecting her sending stone.

    ˇ®Looks like I will be busy in the morning.ˇŻ Marcus thought with a sigh. Though he did have arge grin on his face as well.

    It had now been several months since he had seen Mrazivy, and he was very much looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.

    He also made sure that once he had finished talking to her, that he contacted Lilia. And a little surprisingly found that she was actually currently awake.

    ˇ°Oh, you are both back! That is great! School is winding down right now since I finished my exams four days ago, so I can take off tomorrow ande back over. Ah, something just came up. I will need a minute.ˇ±

    While talking to Marcus, Lilia abruptly put down the sending stone and in the next instance Marcus heard what sounded like numerous loud grunts on the other side.

    ˇ°Sorry, everything is taken care of now. What time should I try to be over by?ˇ± Lilia said nonchntly.

    Marcus for his part was quite confused and asked his little sister where she was and what she was doing in the dead of night.

    ˇ°Huh, I figured that would be obvious. I already told you that since I do not need as much sleep thanks to my unique skill, I often take night jobs at the adventurers guild. Right now, I am helping a merchant transport some goods through the city, and we are going through some lesser used roads where some thugs attacked. You would be surprised howmon an urrence this is. But it means more work for me, so I am notining.ˇ± Lilia said happily.

    It seemed that she was pretty happy doing her job. And Marcus had already approved, so he left it at that.

    ˇ°Okay, and as for your earlier question, before lunch time would be ideal. Mrazivy, Quillon, and Lyra will being as well and that is when they will be here. Also, I am pretty sure ric would like to see you.ˇ±

    Perking up at the mention of ric, Lilia began asking Marcus for details about his training.

    ˇ°It sounds like he really put in a lot of effort. I cannot wait to see him again now. I think I will be over early. Probably just an hour after sunrise if that is fine?ˇ±

    ˇ°Sure. This is your home. If you said that you wanted toe over right now, I would not have any problems.

    With their ns settled, Lilia and Marcus who did not have anything better to do conversed through the night for nearly another two hours. Until Lilia arrived at her destination and needed to hang up to finish her mission.

 720 Chapter 720

    ˇ°Wee back Lilia.ˇ±

    Marcus having waited at the gate was there when his little sister arrived early in the morning.

    For LiliaˇŻs part she was a bit surprised to see Marcus just sitting at the guard station but was also incredibly happy.

    ˇ°I am home.ˇ± She said as she gave Marcus her normal back breaking bear hug.

    It had been a long time since thest time they had seen each other and for a good couple minutes they just stood there in each otherˇŻs embrace.

    ˇ°Now we should get going. I already had ric woken up and he is currently getting ready to see you again. And in that regard, is there anything you want to do before seeing him again, like taking a bath?ˇ± Marcus asked.

    Shaking her head, Lilia just smiled, and said, ˇ°No I took one at school beforeing over. I am ready to see him again and gauge his progress.ˇ±

    With that the two of them walked up the road that led to the main estate and made their way to the parlor where the caught up while waiting for ric to arrive.

    Around thirty minutester, the half elf boy came downstairs with an ecstatic expression on his face.

    When he saw Lilia, he seemed happier than Marcus had seen him in the entire time they had been training.

    Looking towards Marcus, Lilia asked with her eyes for permission to get up, and he nodded with a slight smile on his face.

    In the next instance Lilia got hurried over to ric and gave him quite the hug that was almost as strong as the ones she gave Marcus.

    Luckily, she did hold back a bit. Otherwise, it is likely that ricˇŻs spine would have cracked even though he had leveled up quite a lot.

    ˇ°Wow, you really are strong Lilia.ˇ± ric said as he rubbed his back.

    Still, the slight amount of pain he felt did not dampen his mood, and after the two of them asked for permission, they went off on their own to talk about what they had both been up to for the past months.

    ˇ®I guess I should help get things prepared for lunch.ˇŻ

    Keeping himself busy, Marcus went to the kitchen and helped out Ste and Violet who were working there.

    Of course, they did try to stop him as usual, since it was not technically proper for the master of the house to be doing work. But he managed to convince them by saying that with his cooking skill he would be able to prepare the best food for their guests who included royalty and a foreign duchess.

    Another three hours quickly passed by as Marcus prepared an impressive feast alongside his maids in preparation for everyoneˇŻs arrival.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, a carriage bearing the royal familyˇŻs crest is heading our way. I believe that Princess Mrazivy will soon arrive.ˇ± ra said, informing Marcus.

    ˇ°Thanks ra. I will clean myself up swiftly and go to greet them.ˇ±

    Putting down the frosting that he was using to decorate a cake, Marcus asked that Ste take over and moved to the nearest bathroom to clean up.

    Except instead of using any water, he simply went into his ghost form to allow everything to fall off of him and changed into a new set of clothes.

    Then he headed out to the front entrance and waited for his fianc¨¦e and friends to arrive in order to act as a host.

    ˇ°I am d that all of you have been able to make it. My maids have been working tirelessly to prepare an amazing lunch for all of us since this is our reunion after many months apart.ˇ± Marcus said as he began leading the way into his mansion like a proper host.

    Though as they started walking towards the parlor, he leaned back, and said, ˇ°I actually worked on lunch myself as well, so expect something special.ˇ±

    Hearing this the three of them perked up, as they knew how good MarcusˇŻ cooking was thanks to the effort he had put in to level the skill up.

    Once they arrived at the parlor and tea and snacks were served, Marcus, Lyra, and Mrazivy all dismissed their servants so that the four of them could be alone.

    ˇ°Whew, now that we do not have to adhere to any etiquette, we can finally have a proper reunion.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she stood up and walked right over to Marcus.

    Understanding what she wanted, Marcus swiftly changed over to his original form and properly greeted his fianc¨¦e.

    When they separated from each other, it was clear that Quillon and Lyra were a bit embarrassed by their passionate disy.

    ˇ°There, I would say we are pretty even for what I saw while we were in the dungeon.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a smirk while looking towards Lyra and Quillon.

    This made their already red faces even more flushed, and Quillon closed his eyes and Lyra looked down.

    ˇ®What is going on here?ˇŻ Marcus thought seeing this odd disy.

    ˇ°Mraz, would you care to exin?ˇ± Marcus asked with confusion written all over his face.

    ˇ°Yeah. One day when I came back from patrolling the area, I found these two kissing in the middle of the camp while we were in the dungeon. It was quite the shock to suddenlye across.ˇ±

    ˇ°Mraz! Did you have to say it so bluntly!ˇ± Lyra said as she stood up in a fluster.

    Quillon for his part just continued to sit there in silence and was just trying to ride things out.

    ˇ®Wait. Huh?ˇŻ

    His mind being suddenly assaulted with something so unexpected out of the blue, Marcus temporarily shut down.

    However, this moment of bewilderment did notst long, and his eyes went wide as he looked between Lyra and Quillon.

    Neither of them had denied that they had indeed been caught by Mrazivy kissing in the middle of a dungeon.

    ˇ°How? Why? When did this happen?ˇ± Marcus eventually said once he had recovered a bit.

    Still extremely red in the face, Lyra began answering MarcusˇŻ questions.

    ˇ°It all really started around a month and a half ago when we were fighting in the dungeon. We just began to get closer together, and I donˇŻt know, but it is hard to exin. There are just not many guys in my life that treat me like an equal, and he is really reliable. And kind of handsome.ˇ± Lyra said in a poor attempt to exin her feelings.

    Seeing that he was not really going to get much out of Lyra, who was pretty muchpletely flustered. Marcus turned towards Quillon who was sitting silently and hoping to get by without saying anything.

    However, he could feel MarcusˇŻ gaze boring a though him, and eventually sighed, before exining his side of the story.

    ˇ°It is not thatplicated. We spent a lot of time together and got closer. Anyone who ispatible will start to develop feelings for each other when alone together so often like we were. Also, she is strong. I do not think I could ever be with anyone if they were not close to my strength, and I doubt I would ever meet anyone else like her again. Plus, she is cute, and her tails are soft.ˇ± Quillon said, though he mumbled thest part.

    Nevertheless, everyone heard him clearly enough, and LyraˇŻs ears twitched, and she covered her face in embarrassment.

 721 Chapter 721

    Looking between Quillon and Lyra, Marcus was still having some trouble grasping their rtionship.

    Eventually though, he managed toe to terms with it and calmed down a bit.

    ˇ°Quillon, would you minding with me for a few moments.ˇ± Marcus said with a serious tone.

    Sighing, Quillon did not particrly want to discuss this any further. But got up anyway, since he could tell Marcus was not taking no for an answer.

    The two of them then exited the parlor into a side room. Where Marcus pulled out a magic device that dampened the sound in the area to prevent it from escaping.

    ˇ°So, what did you want to talk about?ˇ± Quillon said while eyeing the sound dampening magic tool.

    ˇ°I just have a few things that I want to say.ˇ± Marcus said as he fixed his gaze onto Quillon. ˇ°First, as you know, Lyra is like an older sister to me from my old world. She experienced a horrible and tragic end there and I do not want the same happening to her here. Second, she has lost her family here already, and our group is the closest thing she has to one now. I want her to be safe and live as happy a life as possible from now on. To that end, I will ept your rtionship with her since you are strong and a good person. It would be hard to find a better man for her than you. Just make sure that you are serious about it. I do not think I could forgive you if you hurt her.ˇ±

    In response to MarcusˇŻ warning, Quillon just looked him dead in the eyes resolutely, and said, ˇ°I have no intention of ever hurting her. I am not such a frivolously man to simply give her and my feelings up. Other than my rtionship with my master, I consider her the most important. And by extension, this group we have formed. For the longest time I believed I would never findrades around my age and level to grow and fight alongside with. I would never trade this for anything.ˇ±

    Marcus satisfied with QuillonˇŻs response and already knowing what kind of man he was, gave his approval of QuillonˇŻs rtionship with Lyra.

    The two of them then exited the room with smiles on their faces, and both Mrazivy and Lyra who had been waiting nervously looked relieved to see that all the tension was gone.

    ˇ°What you to talk about in there? Neither of us could hear it?ˇ± Mrazivy whispered to Marcus as he walked back over to her.

    ˇ°Oh, just a quick conversation between guys. I will tell you more about itter.ˇ±

    After that the four of them got caught up with each other and talked about their respective trips into different dungeons.

    ˇ°I see. that is pretty impressive. The three of you managed to beat two bosses in such a short amount of time. But I guess to gain as many levels as you all did, you would have to push yourselves pretty hard.ˇ± Marcus said.

    After all of their hard work, each of them had gained a number of levels. With Quillon now sitting at level sixty-three, and Lyra and Mrazivy being sixty-four.

    ˇ°Just for the record, it was not just the three of us fought in the boss fights. We are not reckless enough to enter into one lightly. I made sure we had Tesia supporting us with her healing and sacred magic, while Marek acted as our front-line tank.ˇ± Lyra exined.

    The three of them then detailed the battles they had with the powerful dungeon bosses.

    ˇ°When we were fighting the level sixty-eight storm giant boss, I honestly thought we were going to lose. But Lyra managed to get off a lucky illusion magic spell that finally effected the thing and create a huge opening for us to exploit.ˇ± Mrazivy said, detailing what she considered their hardest battle.

    ˇ°Hey, do not discount your own contributions in our other boss fight. I think in some ways that level sixty-six blood lion boss was tougher with its high-speed regeneration. If you had not frozen it solid in the end, we may never have been able to beat it.ˇ± Lyra said, heaping some praise onto Mrazivy.

    Soon enough they had finished rying the battles they had experienced in the high-level dungeon within Tralenstein.

    ˇ°So, what did you all get from beating the dungeon bosses? I imagine the rewards must have been quite valuable from a higher-level dungeon.ˇ± Marcus said, his curiosity at its piqued.

    Smiling, Mrazivy opened up her item box and pulled out a couple very valuable items.

    ˇ°An amethros ingot, and a unique skill orb!ˇ±

    Astonished, Marcus had been hoping for one or the other, but had not been expecting both.

    ˇ°Yep, we got the unique skill orb from the blood lion fight, and the amethros ingot from the storm giant.ˇ± Quillon said with a satisfied look on his face.

    Even in a high-level dungeon where rewards were typically better, it was not guaranteed to get something like a unique skill orb or an amethros ingot.

    Mrazivy then handed the ingot over to Marcus since he was their groups designated forgemaster.

    ˇ°I see, you all want me to make you some essories to boost your powers. Sure, I can do that, but what about Lyra? Her weapons are still just adamantine and are not even system recognized.ˇ±

    ˇ°Oh, that is fine. That would not be enough to make two kukris for me anyway. Though if you wanted to give me an upgraded set of adamantine, I would not say no.ˇ± Lyra responded.

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed to make Lyra a new set of kukris and to use the amethros to give everyone some upgraded essories.

    Though while they were going into these details, there was a knock on the door, and ra informed them all that lunch was ready to be served.

    ˇ°I guess we can finish this up afterwards. Let us go taste what Marcus has prepared for us.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a gleeful expression on her face.

    She was very much looking forward to the cooking that Marcus had personally taken part in, which was bound to be good.

    ˇ°Just a moment, I need to slip back into character.ˇ± Marcus said to stop Mrazivy from hastily leaving while he was still in his original form.

    Quickly he switched back over to being Irene, and the four of them exited the parlor and made their way to the dining room.

    When they arrived Lilia and ric were already sitting at the table waiting for them.

    ˇ®I wonder what happened.ˇŻ

    Looking them over, Marcus could see that while Lilia seemed perfectly calm, there was a look of tension on ricˇŻs face.

    Still, since his sister seemed fine, Marcus did not pry for now and decided to get lunch started.

    ˇ°Ah that was really good. It waspletely worth it to drop everything ande over here.ˇ± Mrazivy said once she had finish eating.

    Everyone agreed with this sentiment, and Marcus along with his staff receivedpliments from everyone for how delicious the food was.

    ˇ°Now how about we retire to the parlor again and have a more thorough discussion of our future ns.ˇ± Marcus suggested.

    However, before they all got up to leave Lilia raised her hand to stop them.

    ˇ°Actually, before that, could ric and I have use of the yard?ˇ± She asked.

    A bewildered expression on his face, Marcus told her it was fine, and asked her what she was nning to do out there.

    ˇ°Oh, ric and I are going to have a battle.ˇ±

 722 Chapter 722

    Marcus at first thought he was hearing things when Lilia said that she and ric were going to have a fight.

    Yet as she stared at him waiting for his answer, he realized that his mind had not been ying tricks on him.

    ˇ°Wait! Why are the two of you going to fight?ˇ±

    Naturally he was befuddled by this sudden deration and wanted to know the reasoning behind it.

    ˇ°ric said he was going to get strong enough to fight beside and protect me. I want to see how far he hase. Just like the matches you and Mrazivy have.ˇ±

    Turning her head back around, Lilia shed ric a dazzling smile. But the young half elf boy did not seem as enthusiastic at battling it out.

    Seeing this, Marcus connected to ric with telepathy and asked him what he wanted to do.

    ˇ®ric, you know that if you do not want to you donˇŻt have to fight my little sister. I can tell her that we have more pressing things to do right now.ˇŻ

    Marcus was prepared to give the young boy an out for the battle he did not look thrilled to be a part of.

    However, it turned out that while Marcus thought ric did not want to fight against Lilia at all, that was not the case.

    ˇ®Irene, what if I am not strong enough? I put in all that effort, but I am still a lower level than her. She might not ept me to watch her back right now.ˇŻ

    Hearing this it was clear that ricˇŻs worries were not about the fight itself, but that he might disappoint Lilia.

    ˇ®Do you think so little of me? I trained you up as well as I could the same way I did Lilia. True you might be a few levels lower than her, but I can guarantee you can put up a good fight. Now go show her how far your unyielding determination has brought you.ˇŻ

    With MarcusˇŻ words of encouragement ricˇŻs expression changed from one of anxiety to one of resolution.

    ˇ°Okay if you both want to, I have no reason to stop you from sparring. This will be a good chance for all of us to see how far the both of you havee.ˇ±

    Changing up their ns, everyone headed outside to watch the fight between ric and Lilia.

    ˇ°Before the two of you get started though, I have not made ric any adamantine equipment. So Lilia, you should use your old mithril gear instead.ˇ± Marcus said once they had all stepped out into the wide-openwn on the property.

    Nodding her head, Lilia agreed to this rule since it would be an unfair advantage for her to use far superior equipment.

    Soon the two of them had activated their mithril armor and weapons and were posed for a battle.

    Standing thirty meters apart, they both waited for the start signal from Marcus who was acting as a referee.

    ˇ°When this coin hits the ground it will be your signal to begin.ˇ±

    In the next instance he flipped a gold coin high into the air and watched as it began falling down.

    ric and Lilia though never took their eyes off each other. As they waited for the coin to drop.

    The second it hit the ground they both started their first moves. With Lilia rushing towards ric, and ric jumping away to create some more distance.

    ˇ®Ice Floor.ˇŻ

    Casting a tier three spell ric froze over the area in between him and Lilia in order to slow her down.

    He knew that in close quarterˇŻsbat he would be wholly outmatched and wanted to keep some distance to bombard Lilia with spells.

    Lilia, however, did not even slow down. Easily stepping over the ice using a force magic spell that could control friction to keep herself stable over the slick ice.

    ˇ®Frozen bulwark.ˇŻ

    Seeing Lilia rapidly approaching him, ric used one of his defensive spells and created a long and tall spiked wall of ice by casting a tier four spell.

    This managed to slow Lilia down a bit, as she had to stop or be impaled by the spikes of iceing out of the wall.

    ˇ°Force wave.ˇ±

    Sending a palm thrust forward, Lilia unleashed her own tier four spell, and the powerful force magic spell impacted the wall of ice in front of her and shattered it.

    ˇ®What the?!ˇŻ

    Once she had demolished the wall, Lilia was expecting to catch sight of ric again, but instead all she could see was a huge cloud of smoke.

    In the time she had stopped to destroy his frozen bulwark spell ric had set up arge smokescreen to hide his location.

    ˇ®He may have surprised me with this. But I have some tricks of my own up my sleeves.ˇŻ

    Throwing her left hand onto the ground, Lilia charged arge amount of magical energy into her palm and prepared to cast another spell.

    ˇ°Kic Search.ˇ±

    Waves of force working simr to sonar began expanding outward from her, and in just a manner of moments she had the information on the area three hundred meters around her.

    With this new knowledge, she turned her head to the left away from therge smokescreen and found that a part of the air around a hundred feet away was shimmering.

    Using his wind and smoke magic in conjunction, ric had managed to discretely obscure his presence andunched an attack towards Lilia from her blind spot.

    ˇ®Gale wyvern.ˇŻ

    A torrent of wind began swirling around ricˇŻs staff as he cast this spell and soon took the shape of a massive, winged beast.

    Then, when the tier four wind magic spell was ready, ricunched it towards Lilia who he figured he had caught off guard.

    But right as he was firing it, she turned around and looked towards him. Already having found him with her previous spell.

    ˇ°Impact control.ˇ±

    ˇ®Adrenaline rush, and mighty blow.ˇŻ

    Casting her first ever spell along with activating two of her skills, Lilia punched forward with a first full of mana.

    When her attack connected with ricˇŻs spell the two fought for supremacy for a moment. Before LiliaˇŻs powerful strike broke through and dissipated the spell.

    Then with the way open and her target reaffirmed, Lilia kicked off the ground with all the power she could muster and shot toward ric.

    In her wake the earth caved in from how heavy her steps were, and in only a second she appeared in front of ric.

    ˇ®Deadly rush.ˇŻ

    Using another attack skill, she began rapidly swinging both her arms and pummeling what was in front of her. Which was currently ric.

    Yet right before she connected, he unnaturally jerked to the left.

    Going wide eyed Lilia never expected ric to be able to avoid her from the position he was in.

    However, as she looked more closely, she could see that there was a chain made of smoke connected to his back, with the other end affixed to a nearby tree.

    ˇ®I got her.ˇŻ

    Jabbing his staff forward ric sent his freezing touch spell through it as he struck towards Lilia.

    ˇ°Force bar-ˇ°

    Trying to cast a spell, Lilia who only had chant shortening came up slightly behind ric who could cast his spells with saying anything.

    His staff impacted against her crossed arms that she had put in front of her to defend, and a thick sheet of ice quickly formed around Lilia. Turning her into a frozen statue.

 723 Chapter 723

    With Lilia being frozen solid, ric rxed his guard and let out a sigh of relief.

    However, this was a huge mistake on his part, as an instantter the ice around Lilia began to crack.

    With one big move Lilia forced the ice around her to shatter, and chunks of it went flying off at high speed.

    ˇ°You will need to do better than that if you want to restrain me.ˇ± Lilia said with a smirk.

    ric for his part was stunned to see her break out of his spell so easily.

    Certainly, it was only a tier one, but in terms of power it was really high due to needing toe in contact with the target.

    He had been able topletely restrain plenty of strong monsters and beasts that were around level thirty-five with this very spell.

    Yet Lilia, a thirteen-year-old girl, boasted more physical prowess than even the strongest monsters that ric had fought thanks to her unique skill peerless physique.

    ˇ°I guess I should start taking this a bit more seriously.ˇ±

    Suddenly erupting with power all around her, Lilia activated her mana body skill and increased all of her physical capabilities to an even higher degree.

    So far, she had not been using this stable skill that was a mainstay for all powerful warriors.

    Like a blur she appeared in front of ric before he could even attempt to move out of the way and punched forward with all her might.

    By some miracle he at least managed to move his staff in the way, and with the rounding sound of metal hitting metal the two of them shed.

    The oue was obvious though, as Lilia had far greater physical stats and abilities.

    With practically no resistance ric went flying from a single punch and felt the wind get knocked out of him.

    Skidding across the ground he left a shallow trench along the way, until he impacted into a tree with a heavy thud.

    Lilia had truly held nothing back in this strike. Leaving ric feeling sore all over and coughing profusely as he tried to breathe.

    ˇ°ric are you okay!?ˇ± Lilia shouted in concern.

    Seeing him lying there and wheezing knocked her out of battle mode, and she became increasingly worried.

    ˇ°I am fine. LetˇŻs keep going.ˇ± ric said as he forced himself to his feet.

    Of course, it was clear that he was far from in the best shape. With scrapes and bruises visible over his body and one of his hands hanging limply at his side.

    Lilia wanted to stop here and now and looked towards Marcus to have him call the match.

    ˇ®Lilia, keep going. If you stop now when ric still wants to fight, you would be trampling on his pride and determination. He has not finished showing you what he has learned.ˇŻ

    Hearing MarcusˇŻ telepathic message, Lilia turned her gaze back towards ric and could see the fire still in his eyes.

    He had not given up yet, so it would be inconsiderate for her to stop the battle now an dere her victory.

    ˇ°Very well, we can continue.ˇ± Lilia said as she once again adopted a fighting stance.

    Smiling, ric was happy to not have the battle called after only taking one hit and decided that he would need to go all out.

    ˇ®Rime flower.ˇŻ

    For the first time in the battle, he cast his strongest offensive tier four spell and directed right towards Lilia.

    He had consciously been holding back because he did not want to really hurt her but determined he would be unable to get anywhere with that mindset.

    Therge flower made of ice quickly bloomed around Lilia and immediately mmed closed around her.

    It was an impressive disy of power that had an immense amount of crushing and freezing force.

    But no matter how strong it was, it did not matter if it failed to hit its target.

    With her extremely heightened reflexes Lilia jumped to the side of the spell as it closed around where she had been moments before.

    ˇ°Force cannon.ˇ±

    Retaliating with her own magic, Lilia fired off her tier two spell which sent flying arge sphere of pure force.

    ˇ®Wind wall, Snow shield.ˇŻ

    Chaining two defensive spells together ric managed to slow LiliaˇŻs attack down with the first one, and the second took the remaining power behind the attack.

    Lilia was not going to just sit around waiting to attack whenever ric was ready and had already started caring back in to close the distance.

    ˇ®Wings of air.ˇŻ

    Expect before she made it to ric, he began flying and took to the sky.

    Watching this happen Lilia could only look on in surprise as her opponent ascend out of her reach.

    ˇ°I had not been wanting to do this since it makes the battle far more one sided. But I have realized I have no chance of beating you on the ground.ˇ±

    With his aerial superiority, ric now did not have to worry about LiliaˇŻs physical attacks and only had to deal with her ranged spells. Which he was confident in doing so.

    ˇ®Hail Buckshot. Whirlwind des. Smoldering swords.ˇŻ

    Chaining spell after spell, ric bombarded Lilia from above. Not giving her any chance to attack with her own magic.

    The output that ric could generate was around three to four times faster than Lilia, who had to at least say the names of the spells she was casting.

    Tch! ˇ®He must have mana regeneration. So, a war of attrition is out.ˇŻ Lilia thought while clicking her tongue.

    She realizing that she was not going to have any chance of winning this way, so decided to switch up her approach and try something she was still working on.

    ˇ®Huh?! Where did she go?ˇŻ

    While sting down spell after spell, ric lost sight of Lilia in the wake of a wind magic spell that blew up a bit of dust.

    Looking around he tried to fine her on the ground but could not find her there.

    This was because Lilia was no longer staying put and was running up into the air.

    Small tforms of mana constantly appeared and disappeared under her feet, as she used the advanced application of the mana barrier skill to ascend into the air.

    Currently she was not very skillful at doing so, but it was her only option, so she chased ric into the air.

    ˇ®Smoke manacles.ˇŻ

    With Liliaing for him ric knew he needed to slow her down and cast the best binding spell in his arsenal.

    The tier four smoke magic spell created two dozen chained manacles that flew at hismand.

    For a moment Lilia flinched when she saw this. Though not because she was afraid of the spell, but due to her past experience.

    She remembered when she had been bound in chains before and seeing theme at her right now made her freeze up for a moment.

    This proved to be a grave mistake as the smoke manacles caught up to her and began locking her down.

    ˇ°EXPANDING FORCE!ˇ±

    Not allowing herself to be bound again, Lilia threw out her arms and sent out an omni directional st of force which blew the smoke manacles away from her.

    Then she turned towards ric andunched herself towards him as fast as she could.

    This time it was his turn to get caught off guard, and while he did evade her initial punch, a follow up kick from the side connected directly in his gut.

    Even with his armor he felt the power behind LiliaˇŻs strike and lost consciousness for a moment.

    Lilia took full advantage of this opening and grabbed ahold of ric, beforeunching towards the ground.

    With a heavy impact she smashed both of them into the earth and created a deep indent with ricˇŻs body.

    After taking this heavy blow, ricˇŻs entire body was rattled, and he could not focus his mind enough to try and reverse the situation.

    ˇ°Control Impact.ˇ±

    Casting her staple tier one spell, Lilia coated her left hand in with the force magic and held her palm right in front of ricˇŻs face while keeping him pinned with her legs and right arm.

    When he finally managed toe to, he saw LiliaˇŻs shimmering palm positioned right in front of his face.

    ric seeing this, understood that he hadpletely lost, and that if Lilia wanted to, she could crush his head like a watermelon.

    ˇ°I give up.ˇ± He said with a disheartened smile.

    ˇ°ric has dered his inability to continue. Lilia is the winner.ˇ± Marcus said, dering and end to the match.

    The second she was announced to be the winner Lilia opened her item box and pulled a healing potion out.

    Then before ric could say or do anything else, she jammed it into his mouth and made him drink it.

    For a second he struggled as the bottle was pushed past his lips, but when he tasted the familiar soothing liquid, he stopped any resistance.

    A faint glow enveloped his body and the wounds all over him quickly started to disappear like a timepse recording.

    Once ric was fully healed, Lilia got off of him and helped pull him back to his feet.

    ˇ°Are you okay? Do you have any other injuries?ˇ± she asked while inspecting his body.

    ˇ°No, that potion fixed everything. Well except for my pride.ˇ± ric said as he scratched the back of his head.

    It was quite clear that he was disappointed in his lose since he had wanted to impress Lilia.

    ˇ°But you should be proud. That was a great battle. You proved that you are more than strong enough to fight alongside me now.ˇ± Lilia said as she leaned over an ced a kiss on ricˇŻs cheek.

 724 Chapter 724

    ric standing their utterly astonished, could not believe that Lilia had just kissed him on the cheek.

    He unconsciously raised his hand to where her lips had been and then his face and ears turned read as a tomato.

    Lilia herself despite being do bold as to make the first move was blushing quite a bit herself. Surprised how bold she had been in the moment.

    ˇ°How about we leave them alone for a bit.ˇ± Marcus suggested to Mrazivy, Quillon, and Lyra who had been watching the match.

    Quickly they all headed back inside and allowed Lilia and ric a bit of time to cool down.

    Within around ten minutes the two of them came back inside. And while they still seemed a bit embarrassed, they both had happy grins on their faces.

    ˇ®I suppose it really was worth all the effort to train him.ˇŻ Marcus thought, seeing his little sister so happy.

    After a bit of rest and rxation with some light tea and confections, the six of them moved into a private room to discuss theiring ns.

    ˇ°So, it is decided. In a week and a half, we will make our way back to the special dungeon.ˇ± Marcus said confirming their schedule.

    In response everyone nodded their heads, more than happy on the date.

    In fact, Quillon and Mrazivy were especially raring to go and were hoping to move the date up even more.

    However, this was the absolute earliest that they could get out there, because James was currently out leading the sky knights and would not go on leave until then.

    Also, Marcus needed some time to make a few things before they delved into the impably dangerous ce.

    ˇ®I need to fill the order I got from the Viceroy of Lethan, create an updated weapon and set of armor for ric, new kukris for Lyra, and make some essories for all of us out of the amethros ingot Mrazivy gave me.ˇŻ Marcus thought, going over the list of what he needed to aplish.

    There were other things that needed to be done as well, like stocking up on food, potions, and other magical items.

    They already knew that the special dungeon would split them up, and each of them needed to make sure they had the necessary amount of supplies to stay alive for at least two weeks.

    ˇ°Now when we get there we will need to wait until our two newest members finish the first ten floors. Both Inten and ric will have to go in alone.ˇ±

    Looking curious, ric asked Marcus more about what he could expect from the special dungeon, and everyone here who had already been through it told him about their own experiences.

    ˇ°That sounds quite rough. If I was forced to choose between Lilia or my parents, I am not sure what I would do.ˇ± ric said with a distressed expression.

    ˇ°I would not worry about that. The dungeon seems to be able to read peopleˇŻs minds and hearts. Since you already know what it put us through, there is a good chance you will receive a different challenge.ˇ± Quillon said, analyzing the situation.

    All of them had simr tests, though catered to each of them. Except one of their members who had not weakness in their heart, being Roxene, received a wholly different kind of trial.

    Once they had fineish giving ric the details they knew and made the ns for their preparations, they started talking about frivolous things for a few hours and just enjoying each otherˇŻspany.

    Eventually though the day started toe to an end, and Mrazivy had to return to the castle since she had a prior engagement with Frostine tomorrow.

    ˇ°I will be dropping by the castle soon anyway to use the forge there. So, I will make sure to pay all of you a visit then.ˇ± Marcus said to Mrazivy who was reluctant to leave.

    ˇ°Got it. Make sure you do not get caught up in your work and forget.ˇ±

    After saying this Mrazivy turned around to leave, but Marcus did not immediately let go of her hand and slipped something to her.

    Immediately Mrazivy could tell what the spherical object in her hand was.

    ˇ°This is a gift from me. It contains the sharp reflexes skill. Which will boost your agility stat even higher.ˇ±

    Hearing this, Mrazivy nced down at the orb in amazement.

    Stat boosting skills were quite powerful, and very rare. They were some of the few normal skills that could only be obtained from skill orbs.

    This meant that only the extremely lucky or those brought over from another world who could purchase them with skill points normally were able to get them.

    ˇ°Thanks, I will make sure to pay you back with the spoils we got. We may not have anything as special as this, but we did get a few choice skill orbs.ˇ± Mrazivy said before heading off to her waiting carriage.

    Once the carriages holding Mrazivy, Lyra, and Quillon had left, Marcus went back inside with Lilia and ric and brought his little siter aside.

    ˇ°I got something for you as well.ˇ± Marcus said as he handed over a skill orb to Lilia.

    This was thest one he had gotten as payment for agreeing to make the second son of the Viceroy of Lethan new armor and an amethros weapon.

    Taking it, Lilia activated it and was surprised to find what skill was inside.

    ˇ°Herculean strength. But this is the skill that raises the strength stat!ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, it is. Since you are already incredibly strong, I figured we might as well pile it on and give you the highest possible strength stat.ˇ±

    Rolling the orb around in her hand, Lilia contemted for a moment whether she should actually ept something so valuable, but ultimately used it since she knew Marcus would not let her give it back.

    For a moment after she learned the skill, her muscles tensed up and seemed to get bulkier. Before slimming back down and looking the same as before.

    ˇ°How do you feel?ˇ± Marcus asked, having seen the momentary change in LiliaˇŻs body.

    ˇ°Stronger.ˇ± She said in almost a daze as she flexed her hands.

    With her strength stat suddenly receiving such a boost, the change was practically immediate, and she could feel difference.

    ˇ°I think it would be a good idea to keep anything breakable out of my hands for a while. I should probably use metal tableware until I adapt to this.ˇ± Lilia suggested.

    She remembered the time immediately after she got her unique skill, and the ss, tes, and even doors that did not survive her getting used to her new power.

    ˇ°Good idea. Also, you should probably make sure to hold back on your hugs with ric. He may be higher level now, but his stats are geared more towards magic and agility. Strength is actually his lowest.ˇ±

    Nodding her head Lilia agreed with Marcus.

    ˇ°Well enjoy reading with ric, but make sure not to keep him up too long. He does not have a unique skill like yours that allows him to sleep less.ˇ± Marcus said as he saw Lilia off in front of the library.

    ˇ®Now I have a bit of time. I might as well get a head start on my work.ˇŻ

 725 Chapter 725

    Over the next couple of days Marcus used his time to go to the zegram forge and work on the adamantine items he needed to create.

    He had sent off a letter requesting the use of the forge within the castle, but he only needed that to work with amethros, so did everything else at his usual ce of business.

    However, during this time his work was a bit more than he expected it to be as one of the former beginners he had taught caught him when he entered the building and had him give out more lessons.

    ˇ®Whew. It has been a while since Ist taught anyone, but that certainly was a bit more than I was expecting.ˇŻ Marcus thought.

    Practically all of the members of the forge other than those who already had a forge skill of five or higher attended the lesson and asked Marcus a multitude of questions over several hours.

    Still, it had been enjoyable enough to help them out and Marcus promised to give another lesson when he had the time.

    After that he got back to work and managed toplete a new staff for ric, and LyraˇŻs kukris before a letter from the castle arrived for him.

    ˇ®They are as fast as always. But I guess that is to be expected considering all I have done for them and my position.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he read through the letter.

    Once he had finished up, he said farewell to Thabon and immediately headed to the castle to begin work on the numerous amethros essories he had promised to make.

    When he arrived in the forge though, there were three people there he was surprised to see.

    Before him was the king, Gwyneira, and Boreas.

    Sensing that this was not just a pleasure visit, Marcus straightened himself up and looked sharp while waiting for them to speak.

    The first to go was the king, and to MarcusˇŻ surprise he bowed his head to him.

    ˇ°Marcus you have my eternal gratitude for all you have done for my kingdom, as your recent actions have saved us from a possible war.ˇ±

    Dumbfounded, Marcus was not sure what war the king was speaking about, until he remembered the soldiers he had captured from the empire that lie on the continent to the east.

    ˇ°I see, things were really that serious. Would you mind exining exactly what happened after I brought in those prisoners?ˇ±

    Nodding his head, the king obliged Marcus and told him of the ensuing problems and boons that came in the wake of the captured soldiers.

    ˇ°While they were immune to normal interrogation techniques, one of our archmages wore specializes in psychic magic was able to hypnotize the enemy general you captured and have him give up the details of his empireˇŻs n.ˇ±

    The king then ryed to Marcus everything they had learned which was quite grave.

    The empire, which was only a single kingdom away from conquering the entire continent it was currently on, was beginning to look elsewhere for their next campaign.

    Unfortunately, they had set their sights on Borealia. and by extension Tralenstein.

    Both kingdoms that were poised to be one soon enough, would have made quite the prize and a great foothold on this continent.

    It also made strategic sense, as whenbining the two kingdoms, Borealia and Tralenstein could be counted as the current strongest or at least second strongest nation on the continent.

    By conquering them early it would show the other nations that empire could not be opposed and that they might roll over without even a fight.

    To that end, they had sent over their advance agents to weaken Borealia slowly, while also sending anyone they captured over to be used as ves on the front lines of their final war on their home continent.

    ˇ°Thanks to you though, their efforts were caught and halted. And in our interrogation, we also discovered other soldiers and spies that working to slowly buildup to the downfall of the kingdom. Thankfully, Boreas intervened and has brought an end to all of this.ˇ± The king said with a look of admiration and relief.

    ˇ°Yeah, well, I could not just let them do as they please in the kingdom I made while I am here. It was mostly just a bit of light exercise for me. I rounded them all up before they even realized what happened.ˇ± Boreas said with a smirk on his face.

    He then told Marcus about how they used all the people they had captured as bargaining chips, and along with a strong arm from the adventurers guild came to favorable terms with the empire to the east.

    ˇ°They were certainly not happy about it, and their current empress actually trieding here along with some elite forces to cause some trouble. But luckily the guildˇŻs leader and I were expecting something and sent her packing. Before forcing her into negotiations.ˇ±

    Hearing this Marcus was certainly taken aback. He had never expected the leader of this militaristic empire he had heard about to personally lead a force over to Borealia in retaliation.

    Another thing also caught his attention, since Boreas mentioned the leader of the entire adventurers guild. but Marcus decided to leave inquiries about them forter and stay on topic.

    ˇ°So how did these negotiations go? I imagine that it was favorable since you have such a big grin on your face.ˇ± Marcus said to boreas.

    ˇ°Of course, they did. We routed their strongest force and sent that headstrong empress packing. Sure, she is strong at level ny-five, but against me and that monster leading the guild she never stood a chance. And with our victory these are the terms we got sealed with the strongest magical binding contract that is backed by the adventurers guild.ˇ±

    Boreas quickly listed off everything that he and the guild had forced on the empire, and MarcusˇŻs jaw practically hit the ground with how one sided it was.

    ˇ°So, they can never attack any nation that is not attached to the continent that they currently have conquered and had to pay reparations to Borealia and the adventurers guild in the way of ten unique skill orbs, one hundred cores and materials from monsters or beasts level eighty or higher, one thousand adamantine ingots, and ten amethros ingots. Do they even have all of that?ˇ± Marcus asked, astounded by how high that price was.

    When they had gotten ess to the vault in Tralenstein he knew that they had only around a third of what was being pretty much extorted from the empire to the east.

    ˇ°Yeah, they have even more than that much, but it is a small price to pay. If the adventurers guild was not so virtuous when it came to conquering, they could havepletely taken over. In return they also got back everyone that we captured so it was not all that bad for them. Oh, and here is your reward for helping us out.ˇ±

    Boreas casually tossed a magic bag towards Marcus and beckoned him to open it up.

    When he did, he saw the shining contents within and went wide eyed with utter disbelief.

    ˇ®Twenty magic cores, and one, two, three, four, five. Five amethros ingots!ˇŻ

 726 Chapter 726

    Marcus took a good minute to simply look through the bag and take in what he had just been given.

    ˇ®I cannot believe they are giving me this much.ˇŻ

    Still, he was not about toin and graciously epted.

    ˇ°Now I believe we have taken up enough of your time. Mrazivy has told me that you are going to be going on an extended trip with your group soon and that you are here to prepare for it. We have said what we needed to and given you your reward for your invaluable help. Though if you need anything else, feel free to ask.ˇ± Gwyneira said as she began ushering Boreas and the king out.

    Boreas for his part actually looked like he wanted to speak with Marcus more but relented as his wife pushed him out of the room.

    Of course, the main reason hey all left so quickly and readily was the look in MarcusˇŻ eyes.

    He kept ncing towards the furnace in the room and it was clear that he wanted to get it going and start swinging his hammer.

    Practically the second the room was sealed and he was alone, Marcus moved to start up the furnace and get started on his work.

    He had not been expecting to get five more amethros ingots to work with, but now that he had, there was something that he had been nning to make for himself when he got the chance.

    ˇ®I figured it would take several years before I would be able to get enough to make myself a set of amethros armor, but this has been an unexpected boon. It is moments like these that I am d I decided to work with the kingdom. I never would have gotten this far on my own.ˇŻ

    When the furnace was finally hot enough to work with amethros Marcus got started.

    The first thing he wanted to create was the amethros sword that the viceroy of Lethan hadmissioned him to make for his second son.

    Honestly this was the piece that he least cared about making, since it was not going to be helping him or hispanions in anyway.

    This did not mean he did sloppy work, just that he did not put his entire heart and soul into it. When the de was finished it would still be considered one of the best weapons in the kingdom.

    ˇ®Hm, it has a good bnce, mana conductivity is top notice, and I imagine it can cut through just about anything in the hands of a strong warrior. This should do perfectly for what was ordered.ˇŻ

    Once he had finished up on testing out the sword he had justpleted, Marcus moved onto what was likely to be the most tedious part.

    He needed to make a number of essories for the members of his party.

    ˇ®I guess I will start with the ear protectors Lyra wanted, then the two pins and ring that Quillon requested, and a circlet simr to the one I made for Frostine for Mrazivy.ˇŻ

    Pulling out the ingot that his friends had given him that they got from their foray into TralensteinˇŻs dungeon, Marcus ced it into a crucible and melted it down.

    After that he sectioned off what he needed into different ingot molds before letting them cool.

    Days then went by as hepleted the meticulous work of crafting each and every item that had been requested by his group.

    When he finally finished the circlet for Mrazivy he wiped the top of his brow pretty much instinctively and looked down with pride.

    ˇ®This might be some of the best work I have done. I do feel a little bad though since I definitely made MrazˇŻs circlet stronger than FrostineˇŻs, but well she is going to be my wife.ˇŻ

    Picking up the circlet he just finished Marcus went through numerous tests with it to make sure it functioned properly. Thankfully all the magical formations hade together, and it did all that it was expected to.

    Finally, with thest of the items he needed to make for others finished, he pulled out the five amethros ingots he had received for capturing the empire soldiers and got to work on his new set of armor.

    He spent the next few hours in aplete trance as he continually heated up the amethros hammered away at it and repeated the process.

    This was likely to be his armor for a very long time toe, and he needed it to be the best it could.

    Even as strong as he had gotten there were still plenty of threats out there that could harm him, and he wanted to be as well prepared as possible.

    Eventually, after an amount of time Marcus had wholly lost track of, his new set of amethros armory before himpleted.

    It had not received the systemˇŻs recognition like his scythe, but this was simply forck of supplementary materials from beasts or monsters that were above level ny.

    ˇ®Time for a test.ˇŻ

    Quickly he took off the pendant that contained his current armor and reced it with the new one and activated it.

    Seamlessly it spread out around him and fit exactly like the previous set.

    Still, he could feel just how much more powerful the amethros armor was over even the system recognized adamantine set.

    The power of the strongest metal on the nt truly was far an away greater than anything below it.

    Marcus began pouring his mana into the armor and soon found that he would run out before he even reached the peak of what his new armor could hold.

    It was simply that strong that he could not even bring out its full capabilities just yet.

    Nevertheless, it was clear how impactful this armor would be and Marcus was certain that it would keep him protected against anything but the most devastating attacks.

    Then to finish up on his testing he pulled out his scythe and held it so that the de was facing him.

    ˇ®Embodiment of eclipse, dark form.ˇŻ

    Activating his supreme skill Marcus brought his power up as high as he could normally and struck down against his shoulder.

    ˇ®Perforation strike.ˇŻ

    He even went so far as to activate his armor piercing skill and jammed the tip of the scythe full force against his armor.

    The room shook and sparks flew as Marcus made this attack against himself, but he received barely any damage from his own full powered attack.

    ˇ®Hm my shoulder got a little messed up from the force of the attack, but the damage only took a second to heal thanks to high-speed regeneration. Even my best hits cannot really harm me through this armor.ˇŻ

    With his experimentplete, Marcus took the amethros scale mail off and inspected the area he had hit.

    On a close inspection he could see that his scythe did do a bit of damage to the armor and there was now a hole in the outer ting.

    However, the damage was not too bad considering that Marcus had hit himself just about as hard as he could without using any of his limited skills.

    ˇ®Looks like the auto repair function is working well. In just a minute the damage should be gone.ˇŻ

 727 Chapter 727

    Now having finished making everything that he needed to Marcus made his way out of the forge for the first time in many days.

    He had only slipped out one time before once he had finished making the amethros sword to go and see Mrazivy for a couple of hours.

    ˇ®I wonder how long I was in there. I do not think I went past the time I had before we are supposed to leave since no one contacted me.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he walked through the corridors of the castle.

    Eventually he made his way back to MrazivyˇŻs room and knocked on the door. Hoping to surprise her with the circlet he had made.

    Unfortunately, she was not there, and her personal attendant Aisha told Marcus that she was at the training field sparring with Quillon and Lyra.

    After thanking her for the directions, he quickly made his way to where everyone currently was.

    When he arrived, he saw that the three of them were embroiled in quite the intense free for all fight.

    ˇ®They really have gotten a lot stronger.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he watched them go at it.

    It had been a few months since they battled against the demon at his and MrazivyˇŻs engagement party and it was clear that they had all made good progress in that time.

    The three of them continued to fight for only around another minute before Mrazivy picked up on MarcusˇŻ presence and stopped their match.

    ˇ°So did you finish or did just need a break and came to see me to recharge?ˇ± Mrazivy asked with a smirk as shended in front of Marcus.

    ˇ°Obviously I finished my work.ˇ± Marcus replied.

    He then pulled out the amethros circlet he made for her and ced it atop her head.

    Feeling the item which was simr to the one her sister had, Mrazivy burst out into a big smile and kissed Marcus without any restraint.

    Though their embrace did notst long before Quillon coughed loudly to get their attention.

    ˇ°I understand that you are both excited, but I believe that Marcus has some things for us as well.ˇ±

    Breaking away from his fianc¨¦e, Marcus nodded his head and pulled out what he had made for Quillon and Lyra.

    ˇ°Go ahead and test them out. Oh, but Lyra I have the other things for you so if you would stay back for a bit.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Doing as she was asked, Lyra stayed back with Marcus while Mrazivy and Quillon rushed off to test out the new amethros items Marcus had made for them.

    ˇ°Here are your new kukris.ˇ±

    With anticipation clear in her eyes Lyra epted the two des and gave them a few swings.

    ˇ°Wow they feel incredible. Honestly, they make my old ones seem prettyckluster inparison.ˇ±

    Once she had gotten used to swinging her new weapons around a bit, she asked Marcus if he would act as a training partner for her.

    ˇ°Sure,e at me as hard as you like. I will only defend.ˇ±

    However, he quickly came to regret those words as Lyra truly came at him with everything she had.

    ˇ°Did you really need to use your awakened state to test them out just now.ˇ± Marcus said in an exacerbated tone.

    ˇ°Of course, otherwise how could I truly get a feel for them. Anyway, you were fine once you used your supreme skill. Oh, and these ear protectors work great. I feel much better now that I do not have to worry about my ears getting cut off.ˇ±

    ˇ°Well d you like them, but I do have one other thing that I wanted to talk to you about. I have not finished making a new set of armor for you, but I might have something else that would work.ˇ±

    Marcus then pulled out and adamantine pendant and handed it over to Lyra.

    Immediately she went wide eyed with recognition and looked at Marcus in disbelief.

    ˇ°Wait this is your own armor! What are you going to do if you just give it away to me?ˇ±

    Marcus smiled and pulled out a simr looking pendant from under his clothing. Though this one had a dark purple coloration instead of the dark green of the other one.

    ˇ°I got some good rewards for my continued service to the kingdom. With them I was able to make this to rece my old set. I understand if you do not want my hand me downs, but I think that armor will do you well until our group has enough amethros for everyone.ˇ±

    Taking the pendant, Lyra looked it over for a bit before cing it around her neck.

    ˇ°Thanks Marcus, I will make sure to use it well. I really am d that I was able to meet you again and have chance at a third family.ˇ±

    Tears began falling down LyraˇŻs face and she jumped into MarcusˇŻs arms and began crying profusely as she was overwhelmed by emotions.

    It was certainly true that Marcus had not only saved her physically but emotionally as well.

    Without him it is likely that her life would have amounted to nothing other than revenge after her parents were killed. But he had brought her into a new family and been looking after her like they really were brother and sister.

    Soon enough their training with new gear came to and end, and Marcus was able to ask something that he had been wondering about since leaving the forge.

    ˇ°So, what is the date? How much longer before we head out?ˇ±

    Following this question, his threepanions looked at him with bbergasted expressions. Before Mrazivy just shook her head and told him.

    ˇ°Wait, we are leaving tomorrow! Crap I need to get to Lethan and deliver the goods I promised.ˇ± Marcus said in a fluster.

    He then quickly waved goodbye to everyone before running off to an area he would not be seen going into his ghost from.

    Now ethereal he shot off into the sky and flew full speed towards the dungeon city.

    Luckily with how fast he was now it did not take him very long to reach the city, and within an hour he was back after having left only a couple of weeks ago.

    ˇ®Great, I do not have time to schedule a meeting. Ah whatever with the valuable items I have to deliver they are bound to let me in.ˇŻ

    Finding a ce near the bridge leading to the castle, Marcusnded and resolidified himself in his form as Irene. Before walking right up to the guard station that kept unauthorized people from crossing.

    ˇ°Excuse me maˇŻam. You cannote through here. This bridge leads only to the viceroyˇŻs estate. If you are lost, I can give you some directions.ˇ± One of the guards said stopping Marcus.

    ˇ°I am Lady Irene Geist. I have a delivery for the viceroy. He is expecting me, and I believe it would be in your best interest to contact him as quickly as possible.ˇ± Marcus said in the bestmanding tone he could.

    Luckily this did get the guards going in high gear, and it was not but ten minutester that a carriage came down the bridge to pick him up.

    Inside was the old butler who was the head servant of the castle, Bastion.

    ˇ°Lady Irene it is good to see you again. His lordship is waiting for you.ˇ±

    Marcus smiled and got into the carriage, which swiftly began its return to the viceroyˇŻs castle.

    Once there, Marcus was brought directly to a room where Count Vendrick and his second son were already waiting.

    ˇ°Lady Irene, this is most unexpected. I had thought you were still in the royal capital?ˇ± The viceroy said upon MarcusˇŻ entrance.

    ˇ°Yes, I was there until earlier today. But I finished yourmission and am here to deliver it. Sorry about the short notice, but I am going on a trip tomorrow and may not be back on time toplete our contact if I did note today.ˇ±

    Looking utterly stunned, the viceroy could not exactlyprehend what Marcus had just said.

    ˇ°Lady Irene what do you mean you were in the capital city earlier today? It is at least a week trip by carriage, and even riding on the back of an expectantly fast magical beast it should take at least two days.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, that is correct by normal standards, but I simply flew here myself. I am quite good with magic as you know.ˇ± Marcus said brushing off how he got to the city so quickly.

    And before anything else came up, he opened up his time box and took out the adamantine shield and armor, along with the amethros sword he had made.

    ˇ°So anyway, here are the items that youmissioned from me. I am in a bit of a rush so if you could confirm that these meet the conditions of the contract we signed, I would be quite grateful.ˇ±

    Coming out of his stupor, the viceroy nodded his head and beckoned his son over in order to examine the items that Marcus had brough them.

    ˇ°I never thought I would be able to have such impable equipment. You truly kept your word Lady Irene.ˇ± rd, the viceroyˇŻs second son said.

    ˇ°Well, if you are satisfied them can we consider the contractpleted?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yes, we have been presented with the items of ourmission and the contact isplete.ˇ± The viceroy said.

    After that a bundle of papers located within a safe in the viceroyˇŻs private office glowed and the words on it disappeared as the contractˇŻs magic vanished.

    ˇ°I have finished my business here, and while it may be rude to leave so soon afterpleting my business, I do need to return to the capital. Should you ever need me to make you anything of simr quality again and have more valuable skills orbs to use as payment, please feel free to send a letter to my estate.ˇ±

    After saying this Marcus quickly left the castle despite some light protesting from the viceroy asking him to stay the night at least.

    ˇ®Now I need to return and gather a few things before we set off tomorrow to the special dungeon.ˇŻ

 728 Chapter 728

    After returning to the royal capital of Borealia, Marcus quickly made his way back to his estate and picked up Lilia, ric, and all of their beastpanions.

    Tomorrow was the day that they would be setting out for the special dungeon and their group was going to be meeting up at the castle before setting out just likest time.

    When they arrived, they found that Mrazivy had already taken care of everything, and they were setup in a guest house that their team would be using.

    Waiting for them there was everyone else. Surprisingly even including James who had arrived back from his duty as leader of the sky knights just a little after Marcus and left for Lethan.

    ˇ°It is good to see you again James. d you could make it back on such short notice.ˇ± Marcus said as he shook the manˇŻs hand.

    ˇ°It was not much of a problem. I would not miss this for anything. It has been around a year since west braved this special dungeon and Fallon really wanted to go back in hopes that she can evolve into a mythic grade magical beast.ˇ±

    As James said this, the beast in question who had taken her form as a beautiful woman with silver and gold hair flinched slightly and the teacup in her hand shook.

    ˇ°James why are you making it sound like you are here mostly because of me. Until yesterday you were raving about having a chance to explore again with your little sister.ˇ± Fallon said as she fixed a sharp gaze at herpanion.

    Hearing this, everyone beganughing, and James rubbed his head awkwardly before quickly changing the subject.

    ˇ°Ah, Marcus I see that you have a new face with you. Would you mind introducing him?ˇ±

    Turning around to see ric ufortably standing behind him, Marcus realized he got caught up and forgotten to present him to the rest of the group.

    ˇ°Sorry for that. This is ric. He is a good friend to Lilia and wanted to be strong, so I trained him up and saw that he had the tenacity to reach greater heights. So, I figured we could bring him with us to the special dungeon where he will undoubtedly get stronger.ˇ±

    Marcus then beckoned the half elf boy forward and he gave a proper introduction like a noble.

    ˇ®Oh yeah, I almost forgot that James and Mrazivy are royalty. I treat them normally, so I forget sometimes that there is proper etiquette to follow in their presence. Especially for nobles of the Borealia.ˇŻ

    Seeing how tense ric was, Marcus asked Lilia to help him unwind and get morefortable interacting with everyone.

    Once things began to settle down all of them sat down to discuss their n for the special dungeon and make sure that everyone was on the same page.

    ˇ°Okay since we have made our ns and done all we can I think some sleep is in order. I am beat and want to be in top condition for tomorrow.ˇ± Mrazivy said to bring their meeting to a close.

    All of them then began heading to their rooms and slept through the night to be at their best physically and mentally.

    ˇ°Are we already to go?ˇ± James said from FallonˇŻs back.

    Each of them had mounted onto a flying magical beast and just likest time were going to be flying directly out of the city.

    They had gotten the rare permission to do so, and it was going to save them a lot of time instead of slowly getting their entire group through the city streets.

    ˇ°We are good to go here.ˇ± Marcus said from the back of Blitz.

    ˇ°Lyra and I are ready as well.ˇ± Mrazivy said from the back of her own beastpanion, the frigid owl Eirwen.

    Quickly the others also sounded off and James gave the signal to take off.

    As a famous member of the royal family and the sky knights it was not umon for him to be seen flying over the royal capital so him taking the lead would show that their procession was legitimate.

    Along with James they were also nked by other members of the sky knights who would be acting as escorts to make sure that the citizens knew this was all above board.

    ˇ®The city is always impressive to see from this high up.ˇŻ Marcus thought as they flew along.

    The ce was truly huge like one of the grand cities from back on earth like New York or Tokyo.

    And along with itsrge size came an equallyrge poption. Some of which had set up a sort of parade.

    Unlikest time, the kingdom had announced ahead of time that a group of flying beasts would be going over the city and that James would be leading them.

    ˇ®I can see now that he is really quite popr. No wonder he was considered the best choice to be the next ruler even if he turned it down so that he could continue to be a sky knight.ˇŻ

    Soon their group had flown from the royal castle to edge of the imposing wall that protected the city and were out into the open countryside.

    It was here that their sky knight escorts left them after wishing their leader good luck.

    A few hours went by as they flew and everyone with telepathy connected to each other so that they could still converse along the way and not just ride in silence.

    ˇ®Oh, there it is.ˇŻ

    Spotting the long ravine that cut through the ground for hundreds of miles, Marcus informed his group since he was the first to see it and they began traveling along its length to find the widest point of entry.

    ˇ°So do we want to head in now or rest and wait till tomorrow?ˇ± Marcus asked as he peered into the deep ravine.

    ˇ°I believe it would be prudent to camp out here tonight. The ce isbyrinthine, andst time we encountered those flying sting rays that swarmed us and nearly did some of us in. While we killed all the ones we saw, it is possible that they have started to repopte in thest year, or that some other monster or beast might have taken over the area. I think caution is in our best interest.ˇ± Quillon said, giving his opinion.

    Nodding their heads, everyone remembered what had happenedst time and even though none of them were all that tired from the flight over a day of rest would allow them to get back up to their peak.

    With everyone in agreement they set up camp for the night and first thing in the morning headed down into the deep ravine that went miles down into the worldˇŻs crust.

    ˇ°Everyone make sure to keep ahold of the railing and try not to get scared. I am going to begin lowering us down.ˇ± Marcus said.

    Just likest time he had created a scaffolding out of his iron threads for everyone to use in order to lower themselves down into the ravine.

    Luckily this time he had quite a bit more mana and better control of his magic which made it not nearly as straining on him as it had been preciously.

    When they finally touched down ric and Inten who were the new members of their group that had not been here before looked out in awe at their surroundings.

    ˇ°Pretty impressive right ric? And we are just getting started. There are even more amazing sights further in.ˇ± Lilia said, happy to be able to show this off to ric.

    After taking a few minutes to look around, James and Fallon took the lead while Marcus and Mrazivy stayed in the back to cover their rear.

    ˇ°Ah there it is.ˇ± Lyra said when she spotted the opening they had usedst time.

    They were doing their best to retrace their steps, but in the massive ravine things could easily start to look the same and they had gotten a little lost at the start.

    Thankfully they got back on tract easily enough and began their decent into the crystal caverns.

    Going through it the sights were still as striking asst time, and they spent a good amount of time simply enjoying the beautiful natural structures. Until they came to one specific chamber.

    ˇ°How about we have a bit of fun here before heading on. It is a couple of our members first time, and it would not be fair if they did not get to enjoy themselves in this ce.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a big smile on her face.

    However, while it seemed that she was trying to be considerate, Marcus could tell that she just wanted to y around in the musical crystal room herself.

    Taking a fairly long break all of them took their turns ying some music or sometimes just randomly making sounds with the crystals.

    Eventually some of them did start to get tired, and once nearly four hours had gone by, they decided to head on.

    ˇ°Everyone get ready. This is the best part.ˇ± Marcus said as he signaled them to hit each of the crystals at the same time.

    As they did the vibrant light show and soothing melody of the greatest song any of them had ever heard yed through the room.

    Then when it was done, just as expected a passageway opened up for them to make their way to the tranquil shire that was a ce of worship for the great spirit of sound.

 729 Chapter 729

    ˇ°I am pretty sure that we need to go this way.ˇ± Quillon said assuredly

    ˇ°No, I remember, it was down this tunnel.ˇ± James said, certain of his own memory.

    ˇ°But I recall there distinctly being arge quality of green crystals protruding around the area of the passage that leads towards the entrance.ˇ± Lyra said, trying to add more detail to her reasoning than the others.

    Currently, Marcus andpany were lost int ehbyrinthine tunnels of the crystal caverns.

    They had managed to make it back to the tranquil shrine that was a ce dedicated to the great spirit of sound and had a nice break there. But had now found themselves a bit lost.

    ˇ®Something must have changed down here. I know we left markers so that we could find it when we returned.ˇŻ Marcus thought deciding not to get involved in the arguing match of directions.

    ˇ®Hey, Roxene, can you pick up our scent from thest time we were here?ˇŻ Marcus asked to his beastpanion over telepathy.

    In response, she gave him and incredulously look and sighed while shaking her head.

    ˇ®I may be good, but there is not a trace of our previous trek left after this long. I can smell a few other things that have moved around more recently, but following their trails is likely just to get us more lost. Though I suppose if we wanted revenge for whatever removed the markers we left, we could hunt everything in this ce down until we get the right one or everything else is dead.ˇŻ

    Marcus rolled his eyes at RoxeneˇŻs response that was obviously made in jest and started thinking of something better than just wandering around aimlessly.

    They were trying to find a ce they had only reachst time by exploring for weeks. But now they wanted to get there in only a few days by going the most direct route that they had scouted outst time they left.

    The only problem they had nevere this way from this direction, and with no markers all of their memories were hazy enough to not recall perfectly how to get there.

    ˇ®I suppose that is the best way to go about it.ˇŻ Marcus thought with a resigned expression.

    What he was about to do was going to suck, but he figured it was the best way.

    ˇ°I think that is enough arguing about which way to continue. It is clear that we are all lost and just picking a random direction is not going to help. Why donˇŻt the rest of you set up camp here for today and I will go out and scout the way with my ghost form?ˇ±

    Toiling around with MarcusˇŻ suggestion it eventually was agreed to by everyone and he went on his own toplete the tedious task before him.

    Now able to pass through any physical object he began rapidly flying around all over the ce in search of their destination.

    ˇ®No, no, no, ah, here.ˇŻ

    With fortunate on his side, it took him only around two hours to eventually find an area he recognized.

    It was where he had finished off the queen of the flying sting rays that had assaulted them on their first foray down here.

    While the markers they had left were gone, nothing had covered up therge gashes in the ground indicating that a fierce battle had happened here.

    ˇ®I should check on the dungeonˇŻs entrance and make sure something else is not waiting for us now that it has not been upied for a year.ˇŻ

    When he arrived at the area that housed the entrance to the special dungeon Marcus was once again blown away by how beautiful it was.

    Therge doorway still sat in the middles of a beautifulke and there were vibrant crystals all around.

    Unfortunately, his gaze soon rested on something that had not been there before, as he locked onto the new master of the area.

    ˇ®That is quite the sizable basilisk.ˇŻ

    Peering into therge area, Marcus could clearly see that easily two-hundred-foot-long lizard with a fairly serpentine body.

    It was quite elongated like a snake, but it still did have short and stout limbs. Twelve sets to be exact that were situated at equal intervals along its body.

    ˇ®The ones I read about are only supposed to reach around thirty feet. This must be some evolved version and pretty strong from what I can tell at a nce. Ugh, yep, level sixty-seven. Not something the average person could deal with. But I think I should be able to handle it, and there is something I want to test out.ˇŻ

    Dropping down around a kilometer away Marcus rematerialized and immediately caught the attention of the giant monster.

    Its three sets of eyes quickly narrowed in on him and it slowly began unwrapping itself.

    It was clear it did not see Marcus as much f a threat. Likely due to his tiny size inparison and the fact that he was suppressing his aura.

    When it had reached around four hundred meters from him it reared its head up high and looked directly into his eyes.

    shing a fearless smile Marcus met its look and stared right back.

    In its eyes he could see a dark gray glow being emitted and a line of mana was being connected to him.

    ˇ®Oh shit!ˇŻ

    To his surprise, what he wanted to test out was not going the way he had expected.

    Being a ghost gave him immunity to a number of status conditions, such as poison. But it seemed that this BasiliskˇŻs petrifying gaze could still affect him.

    His legs had started turning to stone and panic began to set in.

    Other than the sudden appearance of MrazivyˇŻs crazy demon summing uncle at their engagement party, this was the most rmed he had been in a very long time.

    However, as the gigantic basilisk grinned while watching its prey turn to stone, it was suddenly surprised to watch it disappear.

    In the wake of where Marcus had once been, was just a thinyer of hollow stone in the shape of legs.

    ˇ®Whew, looks like that worked.ˇŻ

    Having reverted to his ghost form, Marcus found that the petrification had worn off.

    Of course, this had only been a hypothesis, but while being turned to stone he only felt the surface of his form being affected and figured it would only work on the parts of him that were begin solidified by the unique skill Master of Soul and Body.

    ˇ®I guess I got my answer. Petrification works on me when in physical form but not ghost. I almost want to try and see how spirit healing, or my restoration magic works, but I really do not want to be experimenting with being turned to stone anymore.ˇŻ

    Satisfied with the results he had already acquired; Marcus turned his attention back towards the monster that was frantically looking around for him.

    ˇ®Laser.ˇŻ

    Staying ethereal Marcus swept his hand in and arc and unleashed his fastest attack spell.

    He was hoping to kill the gigantic basilisk in one hit.

    Unfortunately, while it could not detect him perse, it did feel the danger to itself from his spell.

    This little bit of precognition allowed it to react to the attack that came out of nowhere and it moved itsrge body with impressive speed.

    Theser spells did still manage to hit it, though only with a graze and a powerful red film like barrier appeared and protected it from any damage.

    ˇ®This is not going to be as easy as I hoped.ˇŻ

 730 Chapter 730

    Marcus looked down at the gigantic basilisk that had taken over the chamber that housed the entrance to the special dungeon and thought of the best way to dispatch it.

    He knew for certain this was not a battle he could lose since his opponent had no way of dealing with him so long as he remained in his ghost form. Since it was currently searching around fruitlessly for him.

    However, after his first attack it was quite clear that the basilisk despite itsrge size was quite lithe and its danger sense skill as high level.

    ˇ®I may not be able to bring out any of my physical power so long as I remain intangible, but this should suffice.ˇŻ

    Taking out his scythe, Marcus allowed it to fall from his grasp and ordered it to attack the basilisk.

    This immediately got the monsterˇŻs attention and it red at the scythe.

    Fortunately, the scythe waspletely unaffected by its petrification and flew unabated by the creatureˇŻs signature ability.

    ˇ®Cataclysmic iron sword. Iron wings of the archangel. Iron Golem.ˇŻ

    Chaining his tier six to tier four iron magic spells back-to-back, Marcus along with the assault of his scythe began attacking with his iron magic.

    The sudden appearance of the massive sword bigger than it as well as a eighty foot tall iron golem certainly caught the gigantic basiliskˇŻs recognition, and it became far more warry of what was going on.

    In the end though even when the monster got serious it stood little chance against Marcus, who like a master puppet master controlled his magic and scythe to bring the basilisk down.

    With one final strike he sliced its head clean off with the cataclysmic iron sword while the iron golem held it down and his scythe sliced off its limbs.

    ˇ®It certainly was resilient, but still only about as strong as I would expect an upper quality epic grade magical beast to be. I just wish it had not thrashed around so much. The chamberˇŻs beauty has been scarred a bit.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked around at the destruction caused by their battle.

    Still, he had managed to win without too much effort once he got a bit serious, and once he had ced the monsterˇŻs corpse into his item box he contacted the rest of his party and informed them that he had found the entrance to the special dungeon.

    After that he returned to them by following the connection he had to his beastpanions. Making sure to follow the paths and memorize the way to go rather than just passing through the walls in a straight line.

    When he got back, he informed them all of what had happened, and after receiving some praise for dealing with such a dangerous monster they began the journey back to the special dungeon.

    ˇ°Wow! This is amazing!ˇ±

    ric seeing the chamber and therge doors that served as the entrance to the special dungeon for the first time stared out in awe.

    Their group then spent a few minutes enjoying the view before moving onto the ind in the middle of the undergroundke and approaching the special dungeon.

    The doors will still wide open from theirst visit as they would remain until its entrance capacity was met.

    ˇ°Wee again registered users of special dungeon number elven, ˇ®Realization of Self PerfectionˇŻ. I notice that you have brought in two unregistered individuals. Do wish to allow them two of the remaining slots?ˇ±

    As soon as they entered the dungeonˇŻs main chamber the automated guardian of the ce appeared before them and asked this question.

    ˇ°Yes, please register ric Skalbeck and Inten.ˇ± Marcus said.

    ˇ°Very well, these two individuals have been registered. Though as they have notpleted floors one through ten yet, they will be unable to apany the rest of you to floors eleven through twenty until they have. Of course, you may also proceed without waiting for them.ˇ± The guardian said before the teleportation circle in the back of the room began glowing.

    For all those that hadpleted the first ten floors this circle would take them to the waiting room that one got to after thepletion, but for ric and Inten, it would send them right to the first floor where they would likely have to fight a disadvantageous battle that pushed them to really think about how to use their abilities.

    ˇ°Everyone has double checked that our supplies are properly distributed, so I believe it is time we get going.ˇ± James said when they had finished a final check.

    To start both ric and Inten headed to the teleportation circle and would be going first

    Inten for his part walked forward fearlessly, while ric seemed to have lead in his boats and nervously moved forward.

    ˇ°Go on, I believe in you. Go ahead and catch up the rest of the way to me.ˇ± Lilia said to ric as she gave him a push on his back.

    In response he turned around and gave her a bright smile, and it was clear she had helped ease a bit of his nerves.

    ˇ°We will all be waiting for you both to make it through the first ten floors. Hurry up, but also do not do anything too reckless.ˇ± Marcus said right as the two stepped on the teleportation circle.

    In an instant they both disappeared, and the rest of the group took their turn on the teleportation circle.

    For a bit Marcus felt like they were about to get tricked again and sent directly into the dungeon in random groups, but they found themselves safely within the waiting room between the tenth and eleventh floors.

    ˇ°I guess now we wait.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she moved over to one of the couches and plopped down on it.

    She then pulled out a chess broad that affixed itself in the air and beckoned Marcus over.

    With a smile on his face, he shrugged his shoulders and indulged his fianc¨¦e in a few games while everyone else went about their own business as they waited for ric and Inten.

 731 Chapter 731

    Nearly a week and a half went by before both of them emerged from their respective trials.

    The first toe out was Inten to no oneˇŻs surprise. He had only needed a week to clear all ten floor and had returned to them quite a bit stronger than before.

    ˇ°I see, that is quite the impressive skill you learned, and you managed to level up once which is good.ˇ± Marcus said, praising his beastpanion for his hard work.

    The entire party then sat around to listen to IntenˇŻs retelling of his trials.

    A few days after Inten had made it back ric who everyone was starting to get a bit worried about appeared on the teleportation circle and began shambling off of it.

    With his arrival everyone went wide eyed became he was in pretty rough shape.

    One of his ears was missing, his left foot appeared to be crushed, and there was arge puncture in his right shoulder like he had been pierced with a spear.

    Lilia practically flew towards him in a panic, but Marcus held her back and approached himself.

    ˇ°Looks like you had a pretty rough go of it. Allow me to fix you up.ˇ±

    Holding out his hands Marcus enveloped ric in a soft white glow and soon the young boyˇŻs wounds began to rapidly heal.

    In only a minute his ear had been restored to its former pointy glory, his left foot was no longer crushed, and the hole in his shoulder was sealed up.

    There had also been a number of scars over his body and some of his internal organs were roughed up a bit. But thanks to MarcusˇŻ healing he looked the same as before entering the special dungeon.

    Luckily unlike Lilia who looked broken both physically and mentally after she finished the first ten floors, ric still had a fire in his eyes and Marcus smiled to see that his determination had not waned.

    Once he was certain that ric was fully healed, he stepped out of the way and allowed Lilia toe over.

    As soon as she was able to, she ran up and hugged ric with practically all her might. Which caused him to start gasping for air and his recently healed body creaked.

    ˇ°Lilia I am happy to see you too, but I did not get strong enough to take you full force hug.ˇ± He said with a strained voice.

    Seeing that she was hurting him, Lilia pulled back and began profusely apologizing.

    ˇ°So, mind telling us all what happened? You were pretty beat up when you got here.ˇ±

    Nodding his head, ric prepared to answer MarcusˇŻ question, but before he could his feet feel out from under him, and he fell to the floor.

    Watching this happened Lilia was stunned for a moment, before being taken over by rm.

    But when they crowed around to check on him, it became clear what had happened fairly quickly, and they all rxed.

    ˇ°Looks like he was quite worn out. Let us give him a morefortable ce to sleep.ˇ± James said, having seen this happened a few times to his men that had pushed themselves too hard.

    Nearly a whole day went by as they waited for ric to wake up, and when he did, after a veryrge meal prepared by Marcus, he began regaling them with what he had been through on the first ten floors.

    ˇ°Damn, to think that you would have to fight an inferno wyvern for your first challenge. I can imagine that must have been very difficult.ˇ± Mrazivy said, remembering when she had fought one herself along with Eirwen.

    It was dunging this battle that ric had obtained most of the injuries he hade back down with. Having used up all of his high-grade healing items dunging the fight and not having any left to fix his worst injures when it was over.

    After that he began quickly going through everything that had happened on each floor, including the new skills he had been forced to learn before advancing.

    ˇ°Well, it is good you managed to obtain mana barrier and heightened spell. Those are both very useful skills to have.ˇ± Marcus said.

    ric soon had finished telling all of them about what had happened and how hisst floor challenge had indeed been different.

    ˇ°I am d you did not have to go through anything as bad as us. Though having to takemand of a losing army and navigate the best way through a bloody war sounds pretty tough.ˇ± Lilia said tofort him.

    Eventually things began to wind down and everyone looked towards ric with the same question on their minds.

    ˇ°So how long do you want to recuperate before we head to the next floor?ˇ± Quillon said, taking the initiative.

    It was fair to say that all of them were feeling a bit antsy to get going after being cooped up in the same room for a week and a half.

    And with how they were all pretty much wearing their desire on their sleeves, ric said that just one more day would be fine. Even though he would have liked a little longer.

    ˇ°In celebration of ric and Intenpleting the first ten floor I think a feast is in order. Mrazivy, Lyra, Quillon, and Lilia. Would you mind helping me out?ˇ± Marcus said to break the somewhat tense atmosphere.

    At the prospect of a feast, everyone perked up and soon the preparations were underway.

    A few hourster they had quite the party going that was filled with good food and drink. Obviously, no alcohol for Lilia and ric though as they were still young, and Marcus put his foot down about it.

    The next day quickly arrived and after having their spirits raised by the feats and party, they were all ready to move out.

    ˇ°Okay, Mrazivy, Roxene, and I are going to be the first going out. Wish us luck.ˇ± Marcus said as he stepped onto the teleportation circle and promptly disappeared.

 732 Chapter 732

    A shimmering light filled MarcusˇŻ vision as the teleportation circle whisked him away.

    An instantter he appeared in an empty room much like the others that had appeared on the earlier floors.

    However, this time instead of it just being apletely sealed off room there were three doors on the far wall that each had names above them.

    But before he even read what each of them said, he was immediately rmed by the fact that he found himself alone.

    These next ten floors were supposed to bepleted in groups of three or four, and he had gotten on the teleportation circle expecting to appear with both Roxene and Mrazivy.

    ˇ®This fucking dungeon tricked us. It never had any intention of letting us work together. Or perhaps it is not letting us choose our teams and when the others try to teleport, I will get some of the others at random joining me?ˇŻ

    Turning his head back around Marcus began impatiently tapping his foot waiting to see if someone else would arrive, when he noticed something.

    Whenever he had been on the first ten floors his connection to his beastpanions had been cut off. But right now, he could still feel Roxene. Though she was a bit of a ways from him.

    ˇ®Roxene, can you hear me?ˇŻ

    Waiting for a moment Marcus had his hopes up, and thankfully he received a response.

    ˇ®Loud and clear. Do you know why we ended up in different ces?ˇŻ Roxene asked.

    Of course, he was just as much in the dark as she was, and before they continued, he asked her to wait while he tried to contact Mrazivy.

    Unfortunately, while he was able to contact Roxene through their connection with the mutual seal, Mrazivy was out of range of his telepathy.

    Still, knowing that Roxene was at least within the same area made him suspect that Mrazivy was as well.

    ˇ®Are there three doors in your room as well?ˇŻ Marcus asked Roxene.

    ˇ®Yeah, there are. One of them says strength, another speed, and the final one skill.ˇŻ Roxene said, rying what she was observing.

    It was the exact same as where Marcus was and confirming this he was able to get a much better grasp of what was going on.

    ˇ®I will try approaching one of the doors and see what happens. Just wait for me to get back to you.ˇŻ

    Putting Roxene on hold, Marcus moved up to the door that was titled strength and grabbed ahold of it.

    When he tried to pull on it the door refused to budge, but something else happened instead.

    Just a moment after he touched the door three different projections appeared.

    One that had Mrazivy in it, another that had Roxene, and a final one that was asking if he wanted to confirm choosing the path of strength.

    ˇ°Marcus!?ˇ± Mrazivy said when the projection appeared.

    Apparently, it could transmit sound and touching one of the doors had connected them all together.

    ˇ°Mraz, I am d to see you are alright. Looks like this dungeon pulled a fast one on us.ˇ±

    Now that they were all connected the three of them began rying what information they had figured out and discussing the best course of action for them to take.

    ˇ°So, are we all in agreement that Roxene will take the path of strength, Mraz will take the path of speed, and I will take skill.ˇ± Marcus said.

    In response Mrazivy and Roxene nodded their heads, and everyone prepared to go through their respective doors.

    ˇ°We may not be able tomunicate after we take our respective paths but let us all do our best to pass and meet back up.ˇ±

    With thatst message all of them steeled themselves and confirmed the paths they would go down.

    Both Mrazivy and Roxene were able to easily open their doors and began heading out.

    However, MarcusˇŻ door leading to the path of skill refused to open.

    ˇ®You have got to be shitting me.ˇŻ

    As he watched hispanions disappear, Marcus remained stuck at the start line.

    In a bout of frustration when the door still refused to open after trying for nearly two minutes, he pulled out his scythe and struck it. But the result he was expecting urred.

    Even the top tier amethros weapon bounced off without so much as leaving a scratch on the seemingly normal wooden door. Once again confirming that this dungeon did not follow the logic of the world and could not be forced through.

    ˇ®Nope. Cannot phase through either. This dungeon really will not let me use any of my usual tricks.ˇŻ

    Sighing, Marcus tried to see if he could open either of the other two doors, but they remined fixed in ce as well. Simply giving him a prompt that these paths had already been chosen.

    ˇ®Okay, this is supposed to be the path of skill. I must need to use some sort of skill to get through it. But which one? There are literally thousands of skills and I do not even know all of them.ˇŻ

    Looking at the door more closely Marcus began examining it and soon found what it was he needed to do.

    ˇ®Talk about dirty. Who makes a hidden lock on a door in a dungeon.ˇŻ

    Having located the reason he could not open the door, he pulled out some tools and began testing if anything was going to help him unlock this door.

    Unfortunately, it was not like he had any dedicated lockpicks nor any skill for dealing with such.

    Normally he could just phase through any door in his way, and if it had a barrier that could actually keep him out a simple lock would be the least of his problems.

    Still, he did have a solution, albeit one that was a bit extreme.

    Within his item box he kept some forging equipment on him, and if there was a lock that he could not pick all he needed to do was make a key.

    A few hourster and on his fortieth attempt he finally made the correct key to fit in the lock after much trial and error.

    Click!

    ˇ®Finally! I made it past this stupid door.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he slowly swung it open.

    Laying out before him now was a short hallway that curved around and out of sight.

    ˇ®This skill challenge is not just going to be me having to make keys for a bunch of doors, is it? I have no aspirations to be a locksmith and can train my forge skill on my own time.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he took his first step into the hall.

    Yet right before he set his foot down, multiple warnings went off in his head and he stepped back.

    A skill he had not gotten much use out of for quite sometime had just alerted him that there was something wrong with the floor in front of him.

    ˇ®Traps. Of course, it had to be traps.ˇŻ

    Feeling the distinct feeling of his trap sense, Marcus looked down at the ground and found that there were a number of tripwires set up in the hall.

    And they were not just on the ground. They ascended all the way to the ceiling making it impossible for him to move forward without disarming them.

 733 Chapter 733

    733 Chapter 733 Marcus, Mrazivy, and RoxeneˇŻs Eleventh Floor (2)

    ˇ®I could try and just fly through while in my ghost form, but I have a feeling that will not end well for me. If the stupid door was able to prevent me from using that trick, I highly doubt the traps here will be any different.ˇŻ

    Rubbing the back of his head Marcus looked at where to start but had little idea.

    Certainly, he already had the skill to sense traps which he obtained in the Ocean Bluff Temple Dungeon, but he had no way to disarm them.

    ˇ®It only takes one skill point for me to learn at this point and twenty-eight to bring it up to level four. But do I want to use so many skill points?ˇŻ

    In the need Marcus decided to simply buy the skill at level one for a single skill point and hope to be able to level it up naturally while going through this pathway.

    ˇ®Damn it!ˇŻ

    On the first trap he immediately messed up and seemingly nonexistent arrows pierced into his side. Completely ignoring his armor and natural defenses.

    To make matters worse when he removed them the wounds were slow to heal even with high-speed regeneration.

    ˇ®Great even with healing magic and spirit healing it took me nearly a half minute to fix up three holes in my side. This is really going to be a bitch.ˇŻ

    Continuing on, Marcus had himself pierced, shed, shocked, and even doused in acid as he tried and failed many times to disarm the many traps in his way.

    At one point he became incredibly fed up with it and decided to simply tank his way through the traps. Only to make it to the end of the tripwires and run into an invisible wall he could not go through.

    Then he suddenly found himself back at the start with all of the traps reset.

    Copsing to his knees Marcus felt hisst shred of hope fading away.

    Everything he had tried had been for naught.

    When he attempted going ethereal to avoid the traps, they hit him anyway.

    He tried sending an iron golem ahead of him to trigger the traps, but they did not even react and it was all for nothing.

    Even his best defenses could not seem to block the horrible effects that came after any of the traps were triggered, as they seemed to simply appeared out of nowhere and already hit him.

    ˇ®I wish now more than ever that I convinced either of them to take this path.ˇŻ

    Unfortunately, Marcus had been selected to take the skills path simply because Mrazivy took speed thanks to her unique skill, and Roxene had been obstante in taking the path of strength.

    And now Marcus had no choice but to continue or stay locked up in the dungeon for all eternity.

    ˇ®I wonder what Roxene and Mrazivy are having to go through? I just hope it is not even half as hard as this.ˇŻ Marcus thought. Trying to not dwell on his miserable failure.

    ˇ®Hey Roxene, how is your path going?ˇŻ Marcus asked over their connection that was still working.

    ˇ®Not now Marcus. I am fighting some tough opponents. I will get back to you when I am done.ˇŻ

    With RoxeneˇŻs blunt response, Marcus hung his head and wished he was in her ce.

    He felt he would rather fight a hundred powerful monsters than try and get through this trap hall.

    ˇ­

    ˇ®Not now Marcus. I am fighting some tough opponents. I will get back to you when I am done.ˇŻ

    After receiving a message from her caretaker Roxene continued staring down the enemies in front of her.

    So far, she had to fight through multiple battles. Each one pushing her harder.

    Right now, her enemies were three ogres that had skin like adamantine and moved quite quickly for their size.

    Along with that their physical power was nothing to scoff at, and they were immune to magic.

    Still Roxene had never back down from a fight she could win, and this was no different.

    In a sh she bounded towards one of the ogres her ws and teeth out front.

    Naturally the other two moved to intercept like before to keep her from singling out oen of them and whittling them down.

    At thest moment though she cast the ravenous abyss spell and sent it towards the one she had been feigning going towards andunched herself at the one that was furthers from the others.

    Certainly, the spell would not be able to harm these ogres thanks to their magic immunity, but it still slowed it down enough for her to pounce onto her target.

    She bit hard into the arm it brought up to defend itself, and at the same time racked her ws against its torso.

    A heavy blow then hit her in the side as the ogre brought back its other arm and punched her in the side. But she simply tightened her jaw and sunk her teeth in deeper.

    Soon thought she was smacked away by another ogre that had caught back up and she went flying across the room.

    However, she did not go alone as she managed to tear off the arm of the ogre she was attacking.

    Spitting it out of her mouth Roxene trained her attention back towards her opponents, and even as her body was sore and injured, she smiled.

    ˇ®I will slowly rip them to shreds until they are all in shameless.ˇŻ She thought as she jumped back in.

    ˇ­

    In contrast to Roxene, Mrazivy was closer to Marcus in that she was not very much enjoying her challenge.

    Certainly, it was not as bad as her fianc¨¦ˇŻs who had been constantly being hit by traps, but her progress was quite minimal.

    Her trial was to run as fast as she could to try and clear a track before time ran out.

    But even when she tried to move at her best, she still fell short by a few seconds.

    When she saw how close she was she had tired to use her unique skill, only to find that it would not activate. Much to her distress.

    In the end she figured that this challenge was meant to push her to either advance the current speed boosting skills she had or possibly learn a new one.

    So, all she could keep doing was throwing herself at it until she was too exhausted to continue.

    ˇ®I just need to get faster. I may not be able to raise my stats any higher right now, but they are not everything. I just need to keep at it until I break through.ˇŻ Mrazivy thought whileying on her back and breathing heavily.

    When she was ready to go again, she got up and continued running.

    Soon she was able to see the finish mark but just as before she did not reach it in time and was warped back to the beginning.

    Nevertheless, she smiled even though she had just failed once again.

    ˇ®That was the closest I have gotten so far. That proves I am getting a little faster each time. I just have to keep going until I reach a breakthrough.ˇŻ

 734 Chapter 734

    734 Chapter 734 Completing Their Individual Trails

    ˇ®Finally!ˇŻ

    With carefully precision Marcus disable thest trip wire blocking his path and slipped by the others onto the floor beyond.

    After much trial and error, he had gotten his trap disarming skill up to level five and the trip wires had be much easier to deal with.

    It was like he had an instinctual feel for how to disable them and on his six hundredth thirty fourth attempt he had made it to the end of the hall without activating a single trap.

    This was the condition for clearing this area. As even when he made one mistake, at the end of the hall he would find an invisible and impassible wall before being warped back to the start.

    It was an unforgiving trail, but the results could not be denied.

    Marcus had gotten the skill up from level one to five in a short amount of time, and now had a far keener understanding of traps.

    Now in the future should he ever need to disarm any he would have far greater sess.

    However, when he walked around the bend in the hallway, he found waiting for him more traps of different design.

    ˇ®I hate this ce. I understand it wants to force me to learn more skills, but I really hate it.ˇŻ

    Unfortunately, there was nothing else for him to do but get started. And so, he began the lengthy process of disarming even more traps. Many that now had magicalponents as well.

    ˇ­

    ˇ®To think there was even a skill for this.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he shook his head

    The majority of his obstacles now had been magical traps, and in his many attempts to somehow deactivate them he had acquired a new skill called glyph tuning.

    This skill allowed him to change up the parameters of a set magical trap so long as certain conditions were met. With the main one being that the level of trap was at or below his skill level.

    It was around this time that Marcus received a message from Roxene stating that she had reached the end of her path and was now waiting in another central chamber where they would allplete one final challenge together.

    ˇ®Guess I need to pick up the pace.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he looked at the trap hall in front of him.

    Moving with greater haste he activated more and more traps at first, but his skill level also started going up and he began blowing through the area.

    Finally, around a day after he had received RoxeneˇŻs first message, he heard from her again that Mrazivy had joined her and that he was thest to clear his path.

    ˇ®I am almost there. I can see the end, I just have a few dozen more traps to disarm. I should be there by the end of the day if all goes well.ˇŻ Marcus responded to RoxeneˇŻs prodding.

    With great care Marcus made sure to disarm every trap before him. Not wanting to make a mistake that would have him sent back to the beginning to start all over again.

    ˇ®That should be thest one.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he disabled a particrly difficult magical trap that would have hit him with a death magic spell. Which would have spelled the end for anyone not immune to such a thing like he was.

    Yet as he was about to take thest step to clear the area, his trap sense skill went off in his head and he abruptly stopped.

    At first he wondered if he had failed somehow, but he was certain he had made it so that the magic trap would not detect him.

    But as he looked closely, he found that there was a devious trick left right here at the end.

    Within the magic trap only faintly visible after the first trap was disabled, was a tripwire.

    ˇ®This dungeon really does have poor taste.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he went to disable this true final trap.

    Luckily it was not overly difficult to disarm, and its danger came only from the fact that it had beenpletely unnoticeable until the magic trap that had beenid over it was also disarmed.

    Having eliminated thest obstacle in his way Marcus checked around once more just to make sure that there was nothing else that would impede him, and when he was satisfied, he stepped over onto the edge of the hallway and in front of the exit door.

    ˇ®Whew, no extra special trap at the end to screw me over. And I have to say while it was brutal and tedious, I dide out with some rewards.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he checked the skills on his status page.

    His trap sensing skill had now reached level seven, while trap disarming and glyph tuning had reached level six.

    Certainly, none of these skills may have been necessary in day-to-day life, but when they were needed, they would be incredibly impactful.

    ˇ®Now I just need to face whatever this final challenge is with Mrazivy and Roxene.ˇŻ Marcus thought as he pulled the door open.

    He had already made sure that it was unlocked and not trapped, and as expected it opened with ease.

    On the other side he saw Roxene and Mrazivy ying some sort of card game with intense focus.

    When Marcus arrived though, they both shot their heads up and disregarded what they had been doing.

    Mrazivy was the quickest of the two and appeared in front of Marcus with speed he had never seen before.

    In a sh she had wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him an impassioned kiss in light of their reunion.

    ˇ°I was starting to get worried when Roxene informed me that you were having to deal with all manner of traps, but I am d to see you made it back in one piece.ˇ± She said with a bright smile.

    At this Marcus grimaced, as he had certainly not gotten through in one piece.

    In fact, he had learned in quite the unsettling manner that even if his head was severed that he could still survive so long as he bombarded himself with his spirit healing specter power. This did also leave him with the disturbing spectacle of watching his then headless body disintegrate as he formed an entirely new one.

    ˇ°Well while I may look fine now, it was certainly not an easy experience. In hindsight, I am very grateful that neither of you went down that path.ˇ±

    Marcus then exined how dangerous and difficult it was to go down the skill path that was littered with traps that would have been fatal to most.

    Of course, he made sure to omit the most rming injures he incurred, like him losing his head, or more aptly his body for a few minutes.

    ˇ°What about the two of you? What did you have to go through?ˇ± Marcus asked once he was finished rying what he had gone through.

    To start off Roxene enthusiastically retold of her great battles against powerful foes that had brought her to new heights.

    ˇ°Good job, you have leveled up two times which is pretty difficult for you. I guess this dungeon really does try to cater to each of us specifically.ˇ± Marcus said before turning to Mrazivy who was beaming to tell of her own experience.

    ˇ°For me I had to run across a track in a certain amount of time and if I failed, I would be sent back to the start line. I was also not allowed to use my unique skill for some reason, but that became apparent as I kept going and slowly got faster. In the end I finally achieved a new skill I have never even heard of.ˇ± Mrazivy said with a proud smile.

    Hearing this Marcus imagine that it was this skill that had allowed Mrazivy to move so quickly over to him even without using her unique skill.

    ˇ°It is called warp step and it essentially allows me to almost teleport myself with how fast I move. I am not exactly sure how its properties work, but there is no wind resistance, so it works differently than speed burst. Though it does take an obscene amount of mana to use.ˇ±

    After Mrazivy had finished exining about her new skill and how she got it after endlessly trying to reach the goal, Marcus opened up his status and went to the skill purchase page.

    ˇ®Ah there it is. How much-ˇ®

    Looking at the skill Marcus went to check how much it would cost to buy and his mind practically stopped working when he saw it.

    This was undoubtedly one of the most expensive skills he had ever seen to purchase for just a level one skill.

    ˇ®Two hundred sixteen skill points. That is nearly as much as silent cast was when I checked on it out of curiosity. Plus, your speed burst skill needs to be at least at level six to obtain it. Just how powerful is this skill?ˇŻ

    Looking between his status screen and Mrazivy, Marcus had started to wish he had chosen the speed path.

    While Roxene had gained a couple of levels those were not important to him as such a powerful skill. And even though he had made out with some good skills of his own, they did not actually help with hisbat prowess.

    ˇ°I suppose we have spent enough time reminiscing about each of our challenges. I believe it is time that we move on and deal with whatever this final challenge for all of us is.ˇ± Marcus said as he cast his gaze to therge double doors on the other side of the room

 735 Chapter 735

    735 Chapter 735 Together for One Big Battle

    With Marcus'' promoting, both Roxene and Mrazivy turned towards therge set of foreboding doors that would bring them to the final challenge of this floor which they would all need to face together.

    "So, what do you think we will be in for?" Mrazivy asked.

    "Who knows. This dungeon has a sick sense of humor from what I can tell. For all we know it might force us to fight a monster while we have to be stacked on top of each other." Marcus said with a shrug.

    At first Mrazivy want to tell him to be a little more serious, but she did remember them reading about the crazy challenges that could ur in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon and what they had already been through in this one.

    ''I highly doubt that it will be something that convoluted. This is not some random dungeon but a special one. Its purpose is to make us stronger even if we are pushed to the brink. It is not going to force us do anything unreasonable just for the sake of it.'' Roxene said, having a better understanding of this ce than anyone else.

    "Yeah, I guess you are right. Then I would say it is likely whatever we have to do will correspond to what we learned on each of our paths to see how well we can work together." Marcus said, giving his best conjecture.

    Still, they could theorize all they wanted but at the end of the day they would not know what was going to happen until they got started. And to that end they pushed open the doors and entered.

    As soon as all three of them had stepped into the new room which was arge pentagon shaped room a glowing circle appeared in the middle.

    ''I figured it would be something like this.'' Marcus thought with a grimace.

    Appearing from the circle was a giant adamantine statue with six arms.

    In each of its sets of arms it wielded a different set of weapons. With the top two holding spears, the middle two holdingrge war hammers, and the bottom holding staffs like a mage would use.

    The creature gave off an incredibly formidable presence and a thick ck aura was emanating from it.

    In the center of its chest and head were two separate pulsating dark purple cores that each seemed to contain a great deal of power in them.

    "Mraz, can you get a read on it?" Marcus asked when his appraisal skill was blocked.

    However, despite her dragon eyes being able to pierce through and appraise most things, she only shook her head.

    Even her power could not tell them anything about the enemy in front of them and they would have to rely on their senses to gage its power and learn its abilities while fighting.

    ''Since we cannot get anything on it, we need to be cautious. I will take the vanguard as I can recover from hits easier and am immune to more status effects than either of you. Just try to skirt around it and do what you can from afar while we figure out what it can do.'' Marcus ryed to Mrazivy and Roxene with telepathy.

    Nodding their heads, they both epted Marcus'' orders, already being more than used to him takingmand.

    Jumping into battle Marcus pulled out his scythe and shield and charged towards their enemy.

    As he did it finally seemed to react to their presence like it was waiting for them to make the first move.

    Both of its top arms holding the spears lunged out at him unbelievable quickly, and if his held had not moved in front of him to guard on its own he surely would have been hit.

    ''Oof!''

    Taking the swiftly blow, Marcus was surprised by how heavy it was and was pushed back.

    He had thought about going ethereal at first, but he already knew this dungeon was ready for all his tricks, and when he received this attack, he was certain it would have run him through ghost or not.

    Marcus though did not have practically any time to analyze this opening move, as the statue initiated its next attack, or more precisely had already sent out its second one at the same time as the first.

    Its arms holding the hammers had seemed to elongate and were closing in on him from both sides. Like the statue had calcted in advance how far he would be pushed back.

    Thankfully before it hit him and squashed him like a bug, an egg made of ice formed around him.

    Mrazivy in her support role had used her tier six ice magic spell frost dragon''s egg to protect him.

    Yet even this powerful defensive spell onlysted a second before cracking under the power behind this adamantine statue''s hammers which continued on their way to crushing Marcus.

    ''Gah!''

    In response Marcus using the time Mrazivy had bought him readjusted his scythe and positioned it to catch both hammers.

    For any normal pole arm, they would have snapped immediately under this strain, but Marcus'' scythe was a top tier amethros adamantine hybrid that was reinforced with the bones of a high-level mythic grade magic beast. It was not going to break easily even under the pressure of a power dungeon monster.

    A bright light then burst past Marcus, as Roxene fired off a quasar st spell to take advantage of the statue''s attention being on Marcus.

    Unfortunately, this attack while fast and powerful did not catch the statue off guard.

    To counter it raised one of its staffs and a barrier formed in front of it and not only blocked the tier six spell but reflected it towards Marcus.

    His eyes went wide as the familiar spell he used himself came barreling towards him and he had little recourse to do anything about it as he was struggling to not be crushed.

    In a sh he waspletely engulfed by the spell that had been deflected, and the statue pulled back as a huge explosion rocked the area.

    Normally watching this happen one''s allies would have been panicking at theirrade that had just been blown up by their own attack. But Roxene and Mrazivy remained calm and eyed their enemy without worry for Marcus.

    ''Whew, good thing we learned it could do that with a light magic spell. Had it been Mrazivy''s ice magic instead I might have been in a little trouble.'' Marcus thought as he appeared unscathed.

    To his fortune his race ability ruler of light made him immune to any light-based attack other than those from another ruler. Which included Roxene no matter how powerful she was.

    And his time fighting up front had not been for naught as he had learned a few things.

    ''I would say that its power of its hammers is about the same as that demon we all fought together, and its spears are as fast, if not a bit faster than your light speed sh Mraz. Also, what it used to deflect magic was not just normal magic but a trap it had already set up in advance. I can tell that it has been littering them all around it and is constantly making more.''

 736 Chapter 736

    Going over what he learned from the quick opening fight with the adamantine statue, Marcus informed Mrazivy and Roxene about his thoughts on their opponent.

    ˇ®So, I want to try a few more things to test out some of my theories. If the both of you would not mind backing me up a bit, that would be appreciated.ˇŻ

    Sending back their response, both Mrazivy and Roxene agreed to MarcusˇŻ n, and they got to work on testing out the capabilities of the statue.

    Nearly twenty minutes went by as they all skirted around with Marcus taking the lead thanks to his absurd durability.

    Of course, he had not gotten away unscathed during the battle and was currently healing two holes in each of his arms from when he had botched a parry.

    Nevertheless, a crippling wound for most was simply a minor inconvenience for Marcus, and he along with his partners had pretty much figured out their opponent.

    ˇ®Okay, time to swap.ˇŻ He said over their telepathic connection.

    Jumping back, he avoided a heavy hammer blow that was aimed to squash him and Roxene came up to the front and activated her supreme skill.

    At the same time Marcus used his own which he had been saving for when they wanted to bring a decisive end to the fight.

    In turn Mrazivy frowned, not having a supreme skill of her own. But instead used her draconic transformation race ability which packed about as much power.

    They were all now going pretty much all out, and only leaving their limited use skills back since this was still only the first of ten floors they would need to clear before being able to exit the special dungeon.

    ˇ®Here, here, and here.ˇŻ

    Rushing around the battlefield Marcus instead of taking the statue head on, turned his attention to the traps it hadid.

    It was clear now that this fight was like a final test for all of them to see how they could use their new skills, or in RoxeneˇŻs case greater power in a fight.

    Mrazivy needed to use her speed to deal with its spears, Roxene is hammers with her power, and Marcus its traps with his skills.

    ˇ®Got you.ˇŻ

    As the statue tried to use one of the traps it had previously set, it found that it was caught up instead. Falling into a bed of quicksand.

    This was thanks to MarcusˇŻ glyph tuning skill which could not only disable magical traps but turn them to work in his favor.

    Of course, he had no skill to set his own traps, but with an enemyying them out all over for him, he had no need to.

    Mrazivy for her part was also doing well. Practically teleporting around and blocking the spears in order to let Roxene use her strength to fight from the front.

    Slowly but surely, they began to chip away at the statue. And finally, after they had been fighting earnestly for nearly seven minutes, Roxene ripped off one of its legs.

    This caused it to copse and lose any ability to initiate any attacks against them.

    ˇ®I have dealt with all the traps it has set so they wonˇŻt affect us. I will start helping by attacking in earnest.ˇŻ Marcus transmitted.

    Jumping into the fight he helped out Roxene in the front, and soon enough the had dismantled all of their opponentˇŻs arms.

    But when they thought they were about to win a ck smoke rose up from its body and pushed them all back.

    Its dismembered arms and legs were then picked up by the back smoke and it put itself back together.

    Watching this happen was certainly disheartening. They had put their all into beating it, and all of them were getting close to their limits.

    ˇ®We just need to take it down hard and fast this time. When we have taken out all of its limbs, we should aim for the cores on its head and chest.ˇŻ Marcus said in order to get them all back into the fight.

    This time they went in with far greater ferocity.

    They had already learned the patterns of their opponent, and with its earlier traps already turned against it they were able to overpower it again before they were fully tired out.

    ˇ®Now.ˇŻ

    The instant Marcus and Roxene finished taking out the statueˇŻsst two limbs which it was using to defend itself, Mrazivy shot in like a sh and with two quick thrusts pierced into the head and chest of the adamantine stature before it could push them back with its ck smoke again.

    Like a broken machine, as soon as its cores where pierced the statue stopped moving, before head slumped over.

    Yet as the three of them rxed now that their enemy was defeated, its body began to expand before a cloud of ck smoke filled the room.

    ˇ°DonˇŻt breathe it in, it could be poisonous!ˇ± Marcus shouted.

    He then did something that would seem foolish and in contrast to his earlier statement, and opened his mouth and began sucking all the smoke in.

    Without a need to breath or an actual circtory system though, Marcus was confident that he would be fine and figured that his seemingly infinite stomach could hold all this smoke with ease.

    Fortunately, his guess was right, and while it took him some time, the smoke soon began to dissipate. In no small part thanks to his efforts.

    ˇ°That certainly was a nasty death throe. Thanks for handling that, Marcus.ˇ± Mrazivy said as she began moving towards him.

    Expect, before she could take a step, Marcus held up a hand and told her not to move.

    ˇ°This dungeon really is diabolical. To think even while it was dying it would set these up right at the end.ˇ±

    Squatting down, Marcus carefully gripped what seemed to only be air. But as Mrazivy and Roxene looked closer, they saw that it was an incredibly thin and difficult to perceive wire.

    It was at this point they all realized that the cloud of smoke was likely not poisonous, but simply a smoke screen to prevent them from noticing these final traps that had been left to end them when they rxed thinking they had won.

    Luckily MarcusˇŻ trap sensing had found them, and none of them had made a move while the smoke was around.

    Getting to work, he disabled all of the wire traps while also keeping an eye out for any other nefarious workings left by the dungeon.

    When he finally eliminated thest one, a loud ding sound resounded throughout the room and three treasure chests appeared in the center.

    Watching this happened they all let out sighs of relief.

    All of them had seen this a number of times on the first ten floors they conquered alone, and when the chest appeared it meant that the trail was over.

    ˇ°This dungeon certainly is not going easy on us. But I guess I did get my trap disarming and glyph tuning skills up to seven, so it was not totally worthless.ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, my warp steps also level up and is at five now.ˇ± Mrazivy said happily.

    ˇ®I leveled up once again, making it three levels just from this floor. It seems this dungeon knows that I am already perfect and simply need to level up to get better.ˇŻ Roxene said with her head raised proudly.

    At this Marcus chuckled, before saying, ˇ°Well, how about we see what we got for getting through this.ˇ±

 737 Chapter 737

    Now having beaten the trials on the eleventh floor of the special dungeon, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Roxene looked towards the three treasure chests that had appeared.

    This was a familiar sight to them all, as on thepletion of each floor of this dungeon a reward would be given.

    The items within the chests were varied and could fall under many different categories, but they had always been quite valuable.

    However, this was the first time that three had appeared at once, and it was clear why as the three of them looked at the chests closer.

    Each one had one of their names on it, signaling who it was for.

    ˇ°So do we want to go all together, or all at the same time?ˇ± Mrazivy asked as they each stood in front of their respective chests.

    But before anything else, Marcus moved over to RoxeneˇŻs chest, and said, ˇ°Actually I want to try something first. Would you both mind waiting a second?ˇ±

    Although they were unsure what he wanted to do, both Mrazivy and Roxene nodded their heads and waited for Marcus to do as he wanted.

    Then he bent over and tried to open RoxeneˇŻs treasure chest instead.

    Yet even when he put his all into it the chest remained closed and would not budge.

    ˇ°I figured as much. Seems like we can only open the chests that we have each been assigned.ˇ± Marcus said as he moved back over to his own and kicked the lid open without any trouble.

    Following suit, Mrazivy and Roxene opened their own and at the same time all of them peered inside to find what awaited them.

    From RoxeneˇŻs chest she pulled out a single golden skill orb which was actually the first time any of them had gotten such a thing from this dungeon.

    Mrazivy instead had a beautiful blue gem that they were all able to recognize as an elemental crystal with the ice element.

    With only a nce Mrazivy was able to tell it was of a very high quality that was on par with the best she had seen within the royal vault and only brought out to make exquisite items.

    For Marcus what he had was also different, and instead of anything concrete like RoxeneˇŻs or MrazivyˇŻs rewards, he instead pulled out a dozen sheets of paper that had been bound together.

    ˇ°What do you have there Mrazivy?ˇ± said as she looked over MarcusˇŻ shoulder.

    She had already put her reward away into her item box since it was definitely the most mundane of anything the three of them got and would only be usefulter when she could have Marcus make something for her.

    ˇ°Oh this. Looks like it is a few iplete fire magic spells from tier one to six. From a nce I can already tell they all push the confines of their tiers and will be quite powerful. But I will need some time to work on it before it isplete. You know this ce only likes giving partial knowledge and making you figure out the rest.ˇ± Marcus said with a shrug.

    Sighing, Mrazivy knew what he meant. She simrly had a couple half-finished spells sitting in her item box from theirst time here. Unfortunately, she was not all that well versed in crafting her own magic and they were just sitting around until she got around to them.

    After they had finished discussing MarcusˇŻ reward, they turned towards Roxene who had definitely gotten the best reward out of the three of them.

    Though this was actually what Roxene was waiting for, and she dropped it in front of Mrazivy who was the only one that could get a full read on what the unique skill within would do before being used thanks to her dragon eyes.

    ˇ°It is called invulnerable fur. For thirty minutes each day you can use it to make it so that any hair on your body cannot be cut or prated. Still, it will not protect you against internal damage or anywhere not covered by your fur.ˇ±

    Once Mrazivy had finished reading the description, Marcus and Roxene nearly immediately had the same thinge to mind. The golden lions.

    They had a simr race ability that made their fur nearly imprable, but if hit with enough force they could still be pierced. So, while this was a time limited skill, it was still stronger when in use.

    Plus, Roxene already had pretty tough fur to begin with, so it would be a useful trump card to use when fighting strong opponents.

    And while it was a fairly mundane unique thatcked much impact, it was not worthless by any means and could be used everyday with only a fairly long time limit as its only downside.

    ˇ°Seems like you made out like a bandit.ˇ± Marcus said as he eyed the golden skill orb.

    ˇ®Yes, I just happen to be luckier. Anyway, I felt that I could use some more unique skills and this defensive one will be an excellent addition to all the offensive ones I already have.ˇŻ Roxene said using her telepathy. All while having a proud look on her face, as usual.

    Quickly she activated the unique skill, and, in a sh, the golden orb had turnedpletely clear, before it started to disintegrate into dust.

    Roxene then held up her head even prouder than before and activated her new unique skill to test it out.

    In what looked like the absolute height of idiocy she held up her left paw and bit down with all her force.

    Except even as her sharp teeth that could rip through most things came in contact with her own fur, she failed to pierce herself.

    Normally this would not have happened, and her teeth would have been able to inflict quite the wound on her defenseless paw. But her new unique skill was showing out in full force and preventing her from being pierced.

    ˇ®Hm, it works pretty well. But I am certain that if I bit for long enough, I might be able to still break my bones.ˇŻ Roxene said, once she had finished testing out her unique skill.

    As the description Mrazivy had found said, it only protected her from being pierced or shed, enough force could still do damage to her bones and internals.

    ˇ°How about we see just how powerful this unique skill is?ˇ± Marcus said as he brandished his scythe.

    ˇ®Sure, that sounds good.ˇŻ Roxene responded fearlessly.

    She wanted to know as well how far this skill would go. If it could protect her from an attack from a top tier amethros weapon, then it would work on just about everything.

    With RoxeneˇŻs agreement, Marcus held his scythe out and began funneling mana into at an rming rate.

    He was still not up to one hundred percent after their final battle on this floor. But he could still deliver a powerful blow or two without any problem.

    ˇ®Perforation strike.ˇŻ

    When he was ready, he unleashed his swing and used his armor piercing unique skill.

    The tip of his scythe hit Roxene and she braced her body for the blow.

    And as expected, the scythe failed to even damage a single hair on her body.

 738 Chapter 738

    At the same time that Marcus, Mrazivy, and Roxene were taking on the challenges on their own eleventh floor, so were the other groups.

    Unlike them though, the team that James was leading did not end up separated from the start and were instead brought into arge circr room with multiple doors in it that each contained a serious of different trials for them to ovee.

    In order to clear the floor, they would have toplete each of the trails which forced them to work together.

    Some were simr to MarcusˇŻ trail where they needed to learn a new skill or skills to get through. While others focused more on leveling up skills or increasing their application of one.

    It was certainly difficult but working together they managed toplete most of the trials, and only had one left before therge door at the front of the room would open and allow them to proceed.

    ˇ°So, what do you think this one is? Another test of skills we already have, or maybe we will have to fight off another group of endless zombies while one of us figures out how to obtain the skill to disable the magical device that was spawning them?ˇ± Lyra said as they stood in front of thest trail they needed toplete.

    ˇ°I highly doubt we have to do something so simr to anything we already have. Everything has been at least a bit unique.ˇ± Quillon pointed out.

    ˇ°Well, it does not really matter what it is. All we have to do is get through it.ˇ± James said before opening up the door.

    Once he had, the trail started, and all of them let out a sigh of relief when they saw what it was.

    Before them was six different monsters, and all they had to do was defeat them within the allotted time of five minutes.

    Certainly not easy, but it at least would not be as tedious as some of the other challenges they had been put through.

    ˇ°Lyra, can you tell us anything about them?ˇ± James asked.

    During one of the other challenges, they had needed her to appraise a creature that had a peculiar ability they did not understand. And since Lyra could just purchase skills using her skills points begin a reincarnation, it had been left up to obtain annoying skills to learn in a short amount of time.

    ˇ°I can tell you that they are all level sixty-five but that is it. Unfortunately, at my current level of six, I cannot see detailed information about creatures higher level than me.ˇ± Lyra said while shaking her head.

    Tch!

    Everyone else clicked their tongues when they heard this. This meant they would have to figure out their opponentsˇŻ abilities while fighting and under a time constraint.

    ˇ°Something tells me this is not going to be easy.ˇ± Quillon said as he readied his sword.

    The four of them then jumped into action and started the fight, since thankfully the six monsters did not begin the battle until they initiated it.

    sts of mana and bursts of fire soon littered the room as the four of them bombarded their enemies from afar.

    They were hoping to simply blow them away in one quick fell swoop, but things were not so easy.

    Once of the monsters which was thergest of all of them stood in front and had created some sort of ink ck barrier that absorbed all of their attacks.

    It was a horrifying creature that stood on four legs and had arge bulbous torso that did not end in a head but a single giant red eye

    Surrounding this eye were fourrge tentacles that were spread out and somehow creating this barrier.

    ˇ°Guess we will need to move in. Everyone proceed with caution.ˇ± James said.

    With that the four of them jumped into the fray and began engaging their enemies.

    ˇ­

    ˇ°Damn it. What they hell are those things!ˇ± Lyra shouted as she mmed her hand into the ground.

    Sadly, their first attempt had not ended very well.

    Each of the monsters they were up against had unique and powerful abilities that made them difficult to deal with.

    They were very well bnced and made it hard for them to kill them within the five-minute time limit.

    In the end, they had only managed to kill one of them before time ran out and they forcefully shunted from the room.

    This was not the first time they had experienced this as some of the other trails they had were time based, and if they failed, they would have to start all over.

    Nevertheless, while it was frustrating, but now that they had a better grasp of their opponentsˇŻ abilities, they put together a new strategy and got back to it.

    ˇ°Finally. We managed to win.ˇ± James said as he fell over onto his rear.

    It had taken them two dozen tries to finally figure out the best attack pattern for dealing with their enemies and wipe them out in the five minutes they had.

    They had to get forceful to do so and use a majority of the powerful abilities of QuillonˇŻs supreme skill, but they got through and eked out a win when they put their all into it.

    ˇ°Now we just need to open up thatst door and see what is behind it?ˇ± Fallon said as she rubbed JamesˇŻs back.

    As the one with the most experience, he had been leading their team, and it was starting to take a toll with how frustrating things got at time.

    ˇ°Yeah, hopefully it is not too difficult.ˇ± He said.

    The four of them took the next day to simply recover, and honestly, they would have taken longer if not for the fact they only had limited supplies and did not know how long they would be stuck fighting their way through the dungeon.

    When they finally moved to open the final door, they all had hardened expressions on their faces and prepared for the most difficult challenge yet.

    Except, what they saw in thisst roompletely baffled them. There was no challenge to be had, simply five chests waiting in the room with a teleportation circle in the back.

    It seemed that there was no final challenge and that they had alreadypleted everything and simply needed to collect their rewards.

    All of them startedughing when they saw this, as they had steeled themselves for some other brutal trail.

    ˇ°I guess we should see what we all have earned as our rewards.ˇ± Quillon said before moving over to his chest.

    Each of them had their names on it and soon they were lined up and open them simultaneously.

    Inside they each found three different natural treasures that would raise one of their stats by fifty points.

    This was a fairly mundane reward, but unlike Marcus and Roxene who had the supreme skill Greatest Potential, everyone else needed stat boosting items to reach their peak.

    In this regard, these natural treasures were pretty good rewards. At their current levels, James, Fallon, Lyra, and Quillon were hard pressed to findpatible items.

    Once anyone reached a certain level, lower grade natural treasures stopped giving stat boosts, and past level sixty it became much harder to procurepatible natural treasures.

    ˇ°Damn, I guess we should have tried hard.ˇ± James said as he kicked his chest.

    When they had opened them all of them received a message detailing how the rewards for this floor were calcted, and if they had done better, they would have gotten more valuable items.

    ˇ°No, I think we made the right decision. No point in rushing ourselves and someone ending up dead or crippled.ˇ± Quillon said.

    In the future they could always continue to strive for strength, but if they died that was the end.

    After receiving plenty of encouragement form everyone else, James who felt like he had failed as a leader, calmed down and realized he was overreacting.

    ˇ°Okay, I get it. YouˇŻre all right. We still have nine more floors to get through before we finish this set, and there will be plenty more rewards. Now since we are rested already, we might as well keep going.ˇ±

    Turning their gazes towards the now active teleportation circle. They all nodded their heads and walked onto it. Ready to take on the next floor.

 739 Chapter 739

    While Marcus and his team, and James and his were stuck dealing with a multitude of challenges, the only groupposedpletely of beastpanions was having a different type of trial.

    Currently Inten, Blitz, and Eirwen were stuck in a room with arge bookshelf in one corner and having to learn and practice new skills.

    For them there was no time limit and they all simply needed to learn knew staple skills that most people would have had by their levels but as beasts they had never picked up.

    These included staples like mana body, mana barrier, speed burst, and other such skills.

    Normally beasts just typically had heightened physical abilities and were not intelligent enough to pick up skills like these that required training.

    The only one of them that even had any magic-based skills was Eirwen who had lived in an intelligent beastmunity before bing MrazivyˇŻspanion. There he had picked up ice magic and was nearly as good at it as Mrazivy.

    ˇ°Squeeee!ˇ±

    Being blown away Inten failed to keep up his recently learned mana barrier skill and let out a distressed noise.

    In order for the special dungeon to determine if a skill was up to snuff depending on what the skill was it was tested by different automated suits of armor.

    For the mana barrier skill that Inten was currently working on he was being attacked by a suit of armor that was wielding a huge mace.

    He had been blown away time and time again as he became more proficient with the skill, but he had still failed to block a single attack.

    At the very least his other natural defenses were incredibly high, so he had not taken any damage.

    ˇ®Looks like you still need more work on that one.ˇŻ Blitz said with telepathy as he trotted up to Inten who was sprawled out on the floor.

    In response Inten fixed a frustrated re at Blitz, and said, ˇ®What about you? Have you learned lightning magic yet?ˇŻ

    At this Blitz frown and shook his head. He had been working on it for thest couple days but had not yet figured out he intricacies of learning magic.

    He already had the ability to manipte electricity thanks to his race abilities, but using magic was a different story.

    ˇ®No, I have not. But I n to keep at it.ˇŻ Blitz said before walking off.

    Once he was gone Inten went back to practicing the mana barrier skill which he had no way to know was still only at level one. Since unlike Marcus, he could not check his status.

    Days went by as the three beasts continued to train up new skills and test out what they had learned.

    Blitz had learned lighting magic within just four days which for most would be an impossible speed.

    Now he had already reached level three and thanks to the spell book that the dungeon had given them ess to he had learned a bunch of spells that even Marcus did not know.

    ˇ®Electro spheres.ˇŻ

    Casting the strongest spell he had learned, Blitz attacked one of the suits of armor that they could use for training and slowly broke through its defenses.

    With his lightning maniption race ability, he was able to seamlessly control the lighting magic he conjured which normally would just fly off towards its target once cast.

    Instead, this allowed him to form a nimbler assault and quickly maneuver the balls of lightning around the suit of armor to bypass its defenses.

    Soon enough blitznded a clean hit on its cack and the suit shook violently before copsing and disappearing.

    As this happened, he held his head up high since this meant that he had passed the trail set before him.

    ˇ®Hm that was somewhat immersive, but I would say that your natural ability is far stronger still.ˇŻ Eirwen said.

    He had already finished learning the skills he had chosen and passed his own trial and was simply observing now.

    ˇ®Yes, I can definitely output more power with my race abilities, but they are less versatile. I can really only shoot off bolts of lightning of engulf myself in electricity. Magic allows me more ways to attack and defend.ˇŻ Blitz responded.

    Nodding his head, Eirwen could understand this as a practitioner of magic himself.

    ˇ®Still, Inten is having some difficulties.ˇŻ Eirwen said as he turned his head.

    As the strongest among them it would have normally been expected that Inten, a legendary grade magical beast would have had the advantage. But that was not the case.

    Inten got by more on instinct and natural talent than anything else. So, sitting down and learning new skills that were more difficult to pick up was not his forte.

    Right now, he was still working on his mana barrier and sense he could take hits without any damage he was just throwing himself at the suit of armor and getting pummeled.

    It certainly was not an elegant or extremely practical way to go about it, but it was all Inten really knew how to go about it and kept at it.

    More day went by this way as Inten slowly got more ustomed to the skill, and finally after facing off against the suit of armor over two hundred times he final created a barrier strong enough to take the hit.

    With that he held a triumphant expression on his face.

    Eirwen and Blitz, however, just looked exasperated.

    ˇ®You know you still need to learn at least two more skills and get their proficiency up to whatever this dungeon deems necessary right? We have been waiting on you for quite some time.ˇŻ Eirwen said to Inten who was far behind.

    This was the first skill he had gotten to pass and needed to learn two more before they could move on.

    ˇ®Come on, I will help you with speed burst. I think that you will pick that one up easier.ˇŻ Blitz said.

    After that nearly another week went by as Inten precited two more skills, but he finally managed to get the dungeonˇŻs approval and passed.

    When he did three chests appeared in the room and the previously dark teleportation circle came to life.

    This was proof that they had cleared this room, and the three of them exited approached the treasure chest before them.

    ˇ®Hm, a few natural treasures.ˇŻ Inten thought when he opened his chest.

    Inside were simply three different natural treasures with all of them being fairly good quality but nothing really special.

    On the other hand, Blitz had eight natural treasures in his chest that were all the of the same if not better quality than IntenˇŻs.

    ˇ®You took too long, so you got less.ˇŻ Blitz said with a smirk on his face.

    At this Inten grumbled and looked toward Eirwen who had along with a dozen natural treasures also pulled out a skill orb.

    ˇ®Looks like I got the most since I finished first. And for my efforts I can now learn wind magic.

    With quite the smile, Eirwen activated the skill orb and added a new magic skill to his repertoire.

    ˇ®Come on we have more floors to go through. I swear next time I will be the first to finish.ˇŻ Inten said as he moved towards the teleportation circle while grumbling.

    With wry smiles on their faces, Eirwen and Blitz followed behind Inten and made their ways to the next floor.

 740 Chapter 740

    "Another one ising from the left. Aurelia intercept it and take it down." Liliamanded.

    Bounding of in a sh of light, Aurelia moved towards the enemy that was closing in on them.

    They were currently fighting an ever-growing number of enemies that kepting at them in waves that were slowly increasing in size.

    All of the monsters were of the same few types, with the main ones begin unsightly creatures with more thick legs that ended in des and a thin elongated head that sat upon a very small torso.

    These creatures were fairly slow, but their bites backed a lot of power, and they could alsosh out with their front legs. And due to their teeth being their main weapons, Lilia had started calling them biters.

    Along with these types there was also a creature that was like a cross between a cat and a lizard with green scales all over its body that moved quite swiftly and would pounce when any of them were distracted. Which Lilia had dubbed a jumper.

    The third and final type they were dealing with was arge slug monster that was constantly lobbing blobs of acid their way, and just making a general nuisance of itself. For these Lilia had named them shooters.

    "Force Wave."

    Needing some room to maneuver, Lilia blew away arge amount of the biters as she had started being surrounded by.

    It normally only took her a punch of two to kill one, but they were numerous anding from four different sides with the north and south having more spawning than the east and west.

    "Lilia behind you!" ric called out.

    One of the jumpers had leapt over her force wave and managed to nk her.

    Luckily, she did not have to worry about it, as after giving his warning ric hit it was an ice spear which nearly killed it in one shot.

    Then without even taking her eyes off the enemies in front of her, she kicked back with all her strength and battered the already injured monster far away. Where it quickly died and vanished into nothing.

    "Thanks for watching my back, ric." Lilia shouted out while unleashing a few jabs at the biters that had picked themselves back up and wereing for her.

    Right now, their formation had Lilia standing in the northern direction where the most monsters wereing from, Zareen taking the south where the second most were appearing, while Aurelia who was the fastest of them all was bounding between east and west as necessary, and ric sitting in the middle using his magic to support whoever needed his assistance most.

    ''How much longer are we going to have to keep at this.'' Lilia though as she jammed her hand into one of the monsters tying to attack her.

    They had been at this battle for two hours now without much rest and were starting to slowly lose steam.

    Physically Lilia was fine, but she was having to conserve her mana since she did not have a skill that restore it quickly. ric on the other hand was able to use his mana more liberally but did not have the near unending amount of stamina that Lilia had.

    ''You have leveled up to level forty-four.''

    After killing her three hundredth monster Lilia leveled up. Much to her surprise.

    She had honestly forgotten about all of the experience points she must have been getting in the heat of battle.

    When there was next a slight lull in between the waves, she asked the others and found that they had all leveled up twice already. Which made since. They were all lower level than Lilia.

    ''I guess this is the point of this trial. It is trying to level us up.'' Lilia thought as she watched the next group of monsters start to appear two minutes after they beat thest.

    Time seemed to blur together for the four of them as they continued battling monsters for what seemed like several hours, with only the asional break of one to five minutes in between each wave.

    Eventually though as they had finished off around eighty percent of the monsters of the current wave, something unexpected happened.

    At the far end of the northern area where monsters spawned, a bright sh shined brightly for a moment before being reced by a massive monster they had not seen before.

    While all the others had only been slightlyrger than the average adult and not all that strong individually, this one was farrger.

    It was the around same size as a mammoth beast Lilia had once fought in the Cordillera Depths Dungeon.

    However, it was stouter and longer, and instead of thick fur it had armor ting.

    Along with that is had three menacing horns protruding out of its head. With two longer ones positioned right above its eyes and one smaller oneing off its nose.

    In fact, if Marcus had been there, he would have likely eximed that it looked a lot like a triceratops.

    With a loud roar, the creature fixed its gaze right on Lilia and began scarping its legs on the ground as it prepared to charge.

    Recognizing this motion, Lilia''s eyes went wide, and she shouted out to get her teammates'' attention.

    "We have arge oneing in, and it is about to charge. I will try to slow it down, so clean up the rest quickly."

    After giving out this warning, Lilia shot forward. Wanting to intercept this new enemy before it could make the first move.

    Unfortunately, the remaining rabble of monsters that included a half dozen shooters got in her way, as she had to avoid globs of acid, as well as snapping teeth and racking ws.

    This slowed her down quite a bit, since she had to take a few moments to knock them away or put them down.

    ''Damn it.''

    Barely having gotten thrifty feet down the path Lilia felt a heavy rumbling and saw the triceratops-like monster barreling towards her.

    In only the hundred feet between them it had increased its momentum tremendously and she braced herself to receive the hit that she could not dodge.

    "Control Impact!"

    Before facing down the raging creature, she cast her reliable first magic spell, and focused it in her feet and hands to lessen the blow she was about to take.

    Yet right before it made contact with her, a wall of ice sprung up in between them.

    A loud crash followed, and the ice shattered within an instant.<sub> </sub>

    Still, it had slowed the monster''s charge, and with a yell to bring up her spirits Lilia thrust her hands out and grabbed ahold of the two longer horns protruding form the face of the triceratops.

    Using all her might she tried to stop the creature''s charge, but with her smaller frame she was being pushed back.

    Sparks flew as her greaves scraped across the ground as she held on.

    The monster showed no signs of stopping, likely nning to crush her against the wall once they made it to the intersection where all four paths converged, and where Lilia''s group had been making their stand.

    ''I won''t let you.''

    Flexing her muscles until they practically exploded and sending all her remaining mana into her gauntlets and armor, Lilia made one final burst to stop this monster from getting past her.

    Her grip strength increased tremendously and the horns she was gripping began to crack.

    The creature let out a surprised and pained sound, and for a moment it began to falter and slow down.

    In that moment Evelyn summoned up all of her strength and twisted her body to the left.

    With her full power she wrenched the triceratops to the side and off its feet, before mming it into the ground on its side.

    A heavy thud resounded through the area as the several thousand kilos monster smashed into the ground.

    But before Lilia could regain her posture the creature reacted andshed out with its hidden weapon.

    A barbed tongue like a harpoon shot out towards her, aiming right towards her unprotected head.

    Lilia tried to bring her arms up to defend and let her amor take the blow, but she was not fast enough, and it seemed she would pierced through.

    In the end though, she never felt the searing pain of having her head impaled.

    Chained manacles of smoke began wrapping around the triceratops monster and its tongue got caught up in them as well.

    Soon its entire body was restrained, and it began thrashing around to try and break free.

    As it did spikes made of ice began sprouting up all around it and pricing through the softest parts of its body.

    This helped to restrain it a bit more, but the armored monster was far from being badly injured.

    "Lilia hurry up and finish it off. I do not know how long I can keep it restrained." ric said while battling a number of his own enemies with his staff.

    Seeing how pressured her was right now but that he still found the time to help her, Lilia felt her strength return for a moment and turned her gaze back towards the thrashing triceratops.

    With quick motions she pulled out a mana restoration potion and downed it.

    As she felt her manaing back, she channeled what she had into her right gauntlet and switched her posture in order to deliver a single punch with the greatest possible power.

    "Control impact, and mighty blow."

    Using her tier one spell in conjunction with her strongest attack skill, Liliaunched herself forward and stuck out with a full powered attack.

    She aimed right for the creature''s exposed stomach and mmed her first into as hard as she could.

    The light armor ting it had there shattered on impact, and Evelyn watched as its flesh and muscle began to violently ripple.

    Its body could not take the tremendous power of Lilia''s attack and blood began pouring out of its mouth, ears, and eyes.

    In a manner of second the once imposing monster stopped iling about and quickly passed away. Dying from massive internal bleeding and pulverized organs.

    Like all other monsters they had faced here it began to fade away and soon there was nothing left of it.

    ''You have leveled up to level forty-five.''

    Receiving another level up notification Lilia snapped back to reality from the stupor she had fallen into after unleashing the finishing blow.

    ''I cannot rest on myurels yet. The others are still fighting.'' She thought as she pulled herself together and turned around.

    She was pretty exhausted from mana exhaustion, which even her peerless physique could not mitigate. But she knew she had to fight on.

    Except, as she looked towards the others, they had already finished off the rest of their enemies.

    With a victorious smile on her face, she started to drag herself over towards them. Fighting through the tiredness assaulting her.

    "Looks like we managed to get through that. Thanks for having my back ric. I might have met my end there without your help."

    "No, I should be thanking you. That thing would have run right through us if you had not stepped up to take it on. It was only natural I helped you." ric said as he pulled Lilia into a hug.

    Seeing this, both Aurelia and Zareen rolled their eyes, before moving away and licking their fur which had gotten dirty during the battle.

    "I wonder where the chests are? If we beat this floor they should have appeared, right? I do not see any doors around either." ric said after they had been resting for nearly ten minutes.

    Thinking about it, Lilia also thought it strange, but then realized that there was a simple answer.

    "That means we are not done with his floor yet." She said as she forced herself up and looked out towards where the monsters normally spawned.

    It was only a few momentster that another bright light filled the room, but instead of conjuring more monsters, Lilia, ric, Aurelia, and Zareen found themselves somewhere else entirely. Facing down a new and far more imposing threat.

 741 Chapter 741

    Lilia, ric, Aurelia, and Zareen had suddenly been whisked away from the first area they had been battling in after they had believed they''d already won.

    It had been a difficult and brutal fight, and as far as they believed, more than enough to warrant the clearing of a floor.

    However, when the special dungeon decided to bare its fangs, it always did so to the upmost effectiveness.

    After only a ten-minute break they had been brought to a new area that looked like a giant circr arena that was easily three hundred meters in diameter.

    A veryrge field to do battle in, but with howrge their opponent was this huge area would be necessary.

    ''What is that thing!?''

    Looking out in surprise and horror, Lilia could hardly believe what was before them.

    In the middle of the arena surrounded by a shimmering blue field was a colossal mantis that stood easily a hundred and fifty feet tall.

    Along with its massive size it also had four arms instead of only two, each with giant des on them that looked like they could easily cut the triceratops monster Lilia had just killed after much struggle in two.

    Above its head was currently arge disy of numbers that were counting down. And it did not take them long to realize that this was a timer with less than thirty seconds left on it.

    Watching the timer start to go down, Lilia looked around frantically to assess where everyone else was and found that each of the had been ced around halfway between the center and the walls of the arena in each of the four cardinal directions.

    This put them all fairly far away from each other, and if they tried to form up now, they would be caught before the huge monster mantis would be freed.

    "Prepare your strongest ranged attack! We need to hit it as hard as we can when the barrier freezing it fades!" Lilia shouted out to herpanions.

    Then without waiting for a response, she held both of her hands forward and began amassing her mana.

    She could tell even while it was still frozen that this monster was in a league above anything they had ever fought and that they would need to hold nothing back.

    "Kic Explosion."

    The instant the timer ran out the shimmering field around the mantis monster disappeared and, in that moment, Lilia and her team unleashed their strongest ranged attacks all at once.

    For Zareen she had burst into mes and sent arge spiral of raging fire forward.

    The attackcked elegance, but it did have a good deal of power behind it.

    In contrast, Aurelia''s attack was far more focused and came out as apressed beam of light simr to Marcus''ser spell.

    ric for his part had used his recently acquired tier five ice magic spell and sent out a hundred-foot-longnce of ice which Lilia had seen Mrazivy use before.

    Her attack though was undoubtedly the strongest. A powerful spell she had originally gotten from this very dungeon, and that she had painting finished the missing parts of.

    It was tier five, the strongest she could currently use, and its destructive power was enough toy waste to a small vige all at once.

    The first of the attacks to hit was Aurelia''s beam of light, which carved into the Mantis'' unguarded head.

    The next was ric''s cialnce spell which the mantis tried to respond to and grab with its two left arms, but was unable to fully stop it.

    The hugence of ice pierced deeply into is torso and sttering of green blood began pouring out of the wound.

    Next Zareen''s wave of me swallowed the mantis'' legs, and its body began burning.<sub> </sub>

    Finally, Lilia''s attack connected, and a huge expanding force shook the area, and everything was blown away.

    Even standing over a hundred meters away from the st, all of them were shaken by the immense amount of power behind it, and ric was even thrown off his feet.

    ''Did that do it?'' Lilia thought as she looked towards where the mantis was.

    Her own attack had created arge cloud of smoke and mist when it blew away Zareen''s and ric''s attacks. Obscuring the mantis.

    Still, she was hoping that their four-pronged attack would have been enough to bring it down.

    But as the dust settled, they all saw clearly that the colossal monster that was their enemy was still standing despite their best efforts.

    That is not to say it got off unscathed.

    There were two holes in its body now. One in its head and one in its torso that were bleeding profusely. Its legs were also burned a bit from being engulfed in fire, but the greatest damage it had taken were to its right arms.

    Both were barely attached and looked like they had been crushed by a hydraulic press.

    It was clear that it had sacrificed these arms in order to take Lilia''s attack and prevent too much damage to its main body.

    ''I just need to fire another one off.'' Lilia thought as she prepared to use her kic explosion spell again.

    Except as she did, she faltered. Her mana had still been low from the earlier battle and using that single tier five spell had brought her pretty much to her limit.

    She did not even have enough power left to cast a tier one spell, let alone a tier five. And when she tired to force out the dregs of mana she had left, it caused her to copse to her knees.

    That proved to be the decisive moment, as the mantis'' back opened and its wings spread out.

    In a movement that seemed impossible for its size, it swiftly moved right towards Lilia who had stumbled over andshed out with its two remaining ded arms.

    A loud whistling sound resounded through the arena as it cut through the air, and Lilia could only watch as the attack came for her.

    Her reflexes kicking in, by some miracle she raised her arms up and pulled herself into a ball to take the hit.

    An instantter she felt the terrifying power behind the blow that had connected with her, and she was sted towards the wall of the arena.

    With a heavy thud she smacked right into the arena''s wall and bounced off it like a ball.

    Blood flew out of her mouth when shended, and her arms were both twisted at unnatural angles and horribly discolored from bruising.

    Nevertheless, she had survived, and it was thanks to the armor Marcus had made her that she was not cleaved in two or turned to pulp by that attack.

    Unfortunately, she could not muster any strength to get up after taking a hit like that, and all she could do was raise her head slightly.

    Blood filled her vision, and she could feel that her skull was cracked. But none of that mattered.

    The colossal mantis monster was moving towards her to finish the job and there was nothing she could do about it.

    ''Move, damn it. Move!''

    Trying to summon up her strength, Lilia did all she could to force her body to get away. But barely any of her muscles would respond, and all she aplished was raising her torso so she could look the deadly monster looming over her in the eyes.

 742 Chapter 742

    Her body broken and battered Lilia could hardly lift her head, let alone offer any resistance as the colossal mantis monster loomed over her.

    One attack from it had been all it took to bring her down. Even if she had not been in the best condition.

    Now all she could do was stare as the creature brought down its remaining ded arms to finish the job.

    "Lilia!"

    Before the fatal attack hit her though, the bit of hope she had been holding out for arrived.

    She knew that ric and her beastpanions would not simply let her die.

    With swift movements Aurelia and Zareen began attacking the mantis to disrupt its attack, and in the moment where it was caught off guard ric swooped down from above using his flying magic and picked Lilia up.

    An instantter there was a loud bang as the mantis brought its ded arms down on where Lilia had been but a second ago.

    Quickly ric ascended to the top of the arena''s roof, which stood several hundred meters tall.

    There he created a tform out of smoke with his magic andid Lilia down on it.

    At first, she trembled when he let go of her, not wanting to leave hisforting embrace. But settled down when she did not simply fall through the smoke.

    "You stay up here and recover Lilia. We will handle that thing for a while until you are ready to join us again." ric said with a confident smile to cover up how afraid he was.

    He then pulled a potion out of his magic bad and jammed it into her mouth.

    The liquid within began flooding down her throat and the pain that was assaulting her body began to dissipate.

    Sounds of bone cracking and setting back into ce resounded from Lilia''s body, and she realized that ric had given her his lesser elixir.

    "I need to get back down there and hold that thing off. Or maybe we can even beat it before you are fully recovered."

    After saying this ric jumped down from the solid cloud of smoke he had made in the air and rushed back towards the colossal mantis that was fighting Aurelia and Zareen.

    ric when he made it back down to the battlefield grimaced at what he saw.

    Aurelia and Zareen were battered pretty bad, and while they did not have any visible wounds it was clear they had taken quite a bit of damage.

    ''It cannot pierce their golden fur, but its attacks still have enough force to cause internal damage. At this rate we are going to lose if I do not do something.'' ric thought as he raised his staff up higher.

    A great torrent of wind began forming above him and soon smoke gathered around as he prepared to cast abination spell.

    He had seen Marcus do this once before bybining his light and dark magic spells together and figured that the same could be done with his wind and smoke magic.

    ''Heavy wind hammer, and smoke spires.''

    With the spell formed ric brought down his staff and a huge thirty-foot-long hammer of wind with spikes made of smoke sticking out of it came crashing down.

    The mantis who was swinging wildly at Aurelia and Zareen did not notice the impending attack until it was toote. It attempted to dodge to the side but only made it so that it was hit hard in the shoulder instead of the torso.

    Its body began to lean in the direction of the hammer''s impact and the giant mantis that was already injured lost its bnce and tumbled over. Its already badly damaged right side was now even more battered.

    As tough as this monster was, they had given it quite the beating. And while ity down on the ground ric continuedunching spells at it.

    He felt now was his chance to finish it off and unloaded everything he had despite his mana rapidly depleting.

    But it was not long before it became apparent that his volley of spells was just wasting his energy.

    Arge spherical barrier had formed around the mantis and blocked all of ric''s follow up attacks.

    Seeing this he began grinding his teeth in frustration.

    ''cialnce.''

    In a desperate attempt he tired his tier five ice magic spell again andunched it forward. Hoping to break through the barrier.

    Yet as it hit the spell began to crumble, and a cloud of snowy mist covered the mantis.

    In that moment the monster seemed to disappear, using the same quick movement it had to get the drop on Lilia even if it had to dissipate its barrier.

    When he caught sight of again ric saw that its mouth had opened, and a stream of liquid shoot out of its mouth like a beam.

    Quickly he moved to the side to avoid it, but some of the stray drops hit him and he watched where theynded start to sizzle and burn.

    Pain assaulted his senses as the acid tore through dozens of spots on his body, and he lost concentration for a moment.

    Two des of mana came flying his way to follow up on the spray of acid, and he looked out in surprised to see them

    So far, the colossal mantis had only done physical attack, but now that ric was assaulting it from the air it had suddenly busted out two surprising ranged attacks.

    And unfortunately, ric had not been prepared for the sudden assault, and while he managed to avoid the first flying de of mana the second hit him.

    To defend himself he quickly cast a wind wall spell, but the sh of mana cut through it easily and he had to meet it with his staff.

    He did his up most to block the attack, but its power was too great for him to physically take, and he was blown back and mmed against the wall of the arena.

    Gravity soon caught up with him as his flying magic dispelled when he fell unconscious, and he slid down the wall until he crumpled onto the floor of the arena with a heavy thud.

    The mantis seeing its prey now immobilized began skittering towards ric''s fallen body to deliver the final blow.

    Aurelia and Zareen injured and exhausted as they were tried to stop the colossal monster, but it simply batted them away with its legs or de arms whenever they got within range.

    It showed no signed of caring to chase them down right now, wanting to finish off ric who could not move right now.

    From up above Lilia watched all of this unfold while she was recovering.

    Thanks to the lesser elixir ric had given her plus he unique skill giving her greater than normal healing abilities, she had almost fully recovered physically.<sub> </sub>

    Still, even with her injures mostly fixed her stamin was scarping the bottom of the barrel, as was her mana.

    She had taken potions to restore those as well, but her body had already reached the limit it could take with potions and her recovery was painfully slow.

    ''I have to get back in there. Or ric is going to die. Then Aurelia and Zareen will die. And I will die.''

    Picking herself up, Lilia stared down at the Mantis closing in on ric and jumped.

    Right now she did not have enough mana to slow her fall, but still she dove right back down into the action despite only just having fixed her serious injuries.

    Like a meteor she smashed into the back of the mantis, causing it to lurch forward and let out a howl of pain as Lilia caused an indent in its armored carapace

    Then before it knew what was going on she had climbed up to where its neck was and wrapped her arms around it.

    Her teeth grit and her muscles aching she squeezed with all her might.

    The softer armor around the mantis'' neck began to give in as she crushed it, and the monster let out a stifled cry.

    Lilia''s iron grasp was cutting off the blood flow to the mantis'' brain and the more she pressed down the worse it got.

    Soon the built-up pressure caused the blood vessels to burst, and a spray of green blood began pouring over Lilia.

    Even as she became slick with the viscous liquid that was burning her skin due to its slight acidic properties Lilia hung on and kept squeezing tighter.

    The colossal mantis monster began iling around as it felt its life in danger. Trying whatever it could to shake Lilia off.

    Soon it had been its two remaining arms around and began swatting at her. Not even caring for the injuries it was inflicting on itself in the process.

    Luckily it could not exert its full power from this angle and Lilia took the ncing blows without ever letting up.

    Exerting more and more force Lilia pushed herself further and further, bring out all the strength she could muster as she constricted the mantis'' neck. Until finally, with one great yell and using the scant amount of mana she had recovered, she pulled up and yanked the mantis'' head from its body.

    It was a stunning disy of pure force of will and body as she lifted above her the head of monster hundreds of times her size.

    With its head now gone the body of the mantis iled about in a few final death throes. Which shook Lilia off now that she was no longer anchored to it.

    Then it what seemed like a final act against her its body began to fall over where she had crashed into the ground.

    It seemed that she would be buried under its hulking form, but right before it fell Aurelia and Zareen who had not let up on their own attacks and had been assisting Lilia jumped in and pulled her away.

    The each grabbed one of her shoulders in their mouths and ran as fast as possible to get away from the body of their gargantuan foe that had finally fallen.

    A ringing sound soon echoed throughout the arena, and the mantis'' body faded away like all the other monsters they had fought. Then once it was gone, in its ce were four treasure chests. Signaling that the floor had been cleared. And along with it a notification that they had all leveled up once again.

    However, Lilia who was barely conscious at this pointpletely disregarded everything. looking towards ric who was still unmoving.

    "Aurelia, Zareen, take me over to ric. He needs our help." Lilia said with a hoarse and exhausted voice.

    She really just wanted to copse right away, but with the shape ric was in, she knew if she did not go to help now like he had done for her earlier that he would die.

    Quickly the two golden lionesses dragged Lilia over with their equally wanning strength and dropped her off in front of ric''s broken body, before copsing themselves. Panting from extreme tiredness and injury.

    Pulling herself up Lilia checked to make sure her was still alive. And while they werebored, he was still breathing.

    Without hesitation she did the same for him as he had done for her earlier and forced her emergency lesser elixir into his mouth.

    A soft glow quickly enveloped his body as the powerful magical medicine began fixing the worst damage he had sustained.

    As soon as she was certain his life was no longer in danger, Lilia fell over and was passed out before her head even hit the ground.

    When she awoke again, she noticed that she was not sprawled out on the ground like expected but had been ced properly onto her bed roll.

    ''Ugh, my head still hurts.'' Lilia thought as she rubbed the ce where her skull had been cracked.

    "Ah, you are finally awake!" ric said with an ted tone.

    Looking up towards him, Lilia saw that he was stirring a pot that was sitting over the magic burner they had to cook with.

    "How long was I out for?" Lilia asked as she slowly propped herself up.

    "Two days. I only actually woke up a couple hours ago myself, but Zareen and Aurelia told me how long it has been. Though I think that maybe you woke up with perfect timing, since I am nearly finished with this."

    After a few more minutes the four of them were eating the stew that ric had made for their first meal in the dungeon.

    It was filled with more ingredients than they would normally use and especially hardy, but after all they had been through it was quite wee.

    "I cannot believe we ate all that." ric said as she looked into therge empty pot.

    "Yeah, I guess we were all pretty hungry." Lilia said as she cleaned up.

    She then turned her gaze towards the four chests still sitting in the middle of the arena. Waiting for those that earned them toe forward.

    "I guess that you have not opened your chest yet."

    "No, I wanted to wait until you woke up so we could all do it together." ric responded.

    "How about we go see what the hardest life and death battle we have ever been through earned us then."

    Getting up the four of them made their way over to the chests and stood in front of the ones that had their names on it.

    "Three, two, one, go!"

    At the end of Lilia''s countdown, they all threw off the lids of their chests and peered inside to see what reward they had gotten for winning the hellish battle the special dungeon had put them through.

    And what was inside did not disappoint. Surrounded by a dozen high quality natural treasures in each chest was a gleaming golden orb.

 743 Chapter 743

    As everyonepleted their eleventh-floor trials, they slowly began making progress through the special dungeon.

    Some of the floors were tedious, some harrowing, some even asionally not being all that difficult.

    And now Marcus, Mrazivy, and Roxene were finally stepping onto their twentieth floor.

    "What do you suppose that thing is?" Mrazivy asked when they appeared from the teleportation circle leading from the neenth floor.

    In front of them was a huge ck sphere that was decorated with some sort of pattern and floating just above the ground.

    It was not like anything they had seen up to this point and it did not give off any sort of presence.

    "I do not think it is a monster or enemy of some kind. We did just go through quite the battle on thest floor, so I doubt we will have another one. This dungeon does like to keep its challenges varied. But I suppose we should be cautious until we figure out what we are supposed to do." Marcus responded.

    After finishing their initial discussion, they carefully moved forward while on the lookout for any sort of trap or ambush.

    Plenty of times they had gotten just a bitx, and the special dungeon had thrown for a loop. So, they knew not to let their guard down until they were certain it was safe.

    A thorough searchter and all of them were certain that currently there were no traps or hidden area where enemies could be hiding.

    "Looks like we will have to inspect that ominous ck sphere in the middle. Your up Marcus." Mrazivy said while pushing him on the back towards the object.

    In response he sighed but trudged forward.

    Whenever they had to investigate something new and potentially dangerous it was his job since he was the most resilient of them.

    ''I know I can bounce back from just about anything and that is great, but sometimes I wish I was frail so that I would not have to take this position.'' Marcus thought as he walked up to the sphere.

    For nearly thirty minutes he closely inspected it, but other than a pattern on it that he figured was some type of unknown magical formation, he could not gleam anything from it.

    Eventually he deiced to poke it with the tip of his scythe in order to see how it reacted and was caught off guard by what happened.

    The instant his scythe touched it a ck ring made of some type of magic enveloped him faster than he could react and disappeared within him.

    In a panic he began patting himself down and trying to assess if there was any damage, but at first nothing seemed wrong.

    Yet it was not long before the effects of the magic that hit him took hold. Like a light being turned off, everything suddenly went dark in Marcus'' eyes.

    ''I can''t see!''

    Waving his hand in front of his face, he could certainly feel the motion, but any from of vision was gone.

    ''Did all the lights go out. No that is not possible, I have darkvision. Even in pitch ck I can see. This must be something else.''

    Calming himself down Marcus began thinking about what was going on rationally, when Mrazivy called out to him.

    "Marcus are you oaky? You started iling about after touching that sphere."

    There was definitely concern in her voice, and Marcus turned towards her but could still not see.

    "Sorry Mraz, I freak out there a bit. Did you not see the pulse of magic that came off this thing?"

    Unfortunately, in response she just shook her head, and while Marcus could hear her hair going back and forth, he could not understand exactly what she was trying to convey.

    "Sorry could you give me your answer in words. I seem to be blinded right now."

    Hearing this Mrazivy and Roxene began to panic and bombard Marcus with questions.

    "Both of you calm down. I do not know exactly what this sphere did to me, but it only took away my sight. I do not seem to be in anymore danger. Give me a few more moments to assess the situation before we do anything else." Marcus said while raising his hands and getting them to rx a bit.

    After they settled down, he decided to try something and see if it worked.

    ''Status.''

    For the first time since he was hit with whatever the sphere had done to him, Marcus was once again able to see something.

    Even while being blinded the status screen still appeared in front of him. More of a transmission directly into his mind than something seen with the eyes.

    ''Well, this still works at least. Now what might be the problem.''

    Scrolling down he found what he was looking for, and it was as he suspected.

    ''Status Condition: Cursed (Blinded)''

    Reading this from his status Marcus pursed his lips and looked angrily towards the ck sphere even if he could not see it.

    If they were anywhere else, he would have likely started bombarding it with spells, but he already knew they could not damage anything here unless the dungeon permitted it.<sub> </sub>

    Now knowing the cause of his blindness problem, Marcus ryed this information back to Mrazivy and Roxene. Making sure to warn them that this thing likely would curse them if they touched it.

    "Now I am going to see if any of my healing magic spells can get rid of this. I believe that they should, but I have no prior experience with curses."

    Starting with the tier five healing magic spell Marcus casted restoration on himself, since it should have been able to dispel low level curses.

    Thankfully it worked like a charm and quickly his vison came back to him. The world was no longer just an endless void of ck.

    Letting out a sigh of relief, he told Mrazivy and Roxene that he could see again.

    "Thank goodness. I do not know what I would have done if I had to take care of a blind husband." Mrazivy said jokingly as she gave him a hug.

    "Yeah, that would have been a disaster. In that case Roxene would have had to be my seeing eye dog."

    Rolling her eyes, Roxene was not thrilled to be pulled into the joke, and instead directed their attention to the matter at hand.

    ''I think we should not be so jovial about this. That thing still curses us if we touch it, and we are no closer to fining out what it is we need to do to advance.'' Roxene said with her telepathy.

    Nodding their heads, both Marcus and Mrazivy agreed, and unembraced.

    "So, what do you think we should do?" Marcus asked to Roxene.

    ''Let me try touching it next. See what kind of curse I get hit with.''

    Taking the plunge Roxene touched the stone as well, and while only she could see it, she was also hit with a ring of ck energy.

    A momentter she fell over and began shaking violently.

    It was apletely unexpected development and Marcus moved immediately to cast a restoration spell on her.

    Luckily this did the trick and the convulsing of her body stopped along with the pained expression on her face.

    "What kind of curse was that?" Mrazivy said in a panic.

    However, when Roxene got up, she shook her head and said, ''That was not a curse. The thing poisoned me.''

    She then growled at it and moved back, not wanting anything more to do with it.

    "Here let me touch it again. Perhaps it just hits us with a random attack each time." Marcus said.

    He once again poked it with his scythe, and momentster he realized her could not smell anymore.

    Surely far less debilitating than before, but still annoying.

    A quick use of restoration and the curse was lifted, but it did not get them closer to any answers.

    "I got hit with another curse. If it just uses a random attack, then I must be very lucky. Well, if you can call getting hit with two curses lucky."

    With the mystery still looming over them, Mrazivy who was thest to not touch the dangerous ck.

    "Mraz you do not have to do this. I am sure we can figure this out without you taking any risks."

    "No, I need to do this. You and Roxene already put yourself in danger to learn what you have. We may finally get some answers if I activate it as well."

    With her decision made Marcus offered no more resistance but had his restoration magic ready to go when something happened.

    Except what urred when Mrazivy touched the ck sphere was not what either Marcus or Roxene were expecting.

    She was neither cursed nor poisoned. Instead, she waspletely engulfed in mes.

    For a moment Marcus froze up seeing this. He had not anticipated something like this that was so overtly violentpared to what had happened to him and Roxene.

    But before either of them could do anything, ice formed around Mrazivy and consumed the mes. And when the ice receded, she appeared fine other than a few burns on her body.

    "Damn that hurt! What the hell is this thing!?" She said while ring at the ck sphere.

    While she gave it angry looks Marcus moved in and began casting healing magic on her to fix the burns.

    "So, is it just random and I just got hit with curses twice in a row?" Marcus asked to no one in particr.

    Roxene though after watching what had happened to Mrazivy had an inkling as to what was going on.

    "This thing does not hit us with anything random. I believe it is attacking us with things we are weak to."

 744 Chapter 744

    Listening to Roxene''s exnation, Marcus could understand where she wasing from.

    Certainly, Mrazivy as a being closely intertwined with the ice element had a natural weakness to fire. While Roxene being an immortal wolf could still be harmed fairly well by poison which regeneration would do little to help with.

    "And as for why you are getting hit by curses is because they are likely the only thing that are truly effective against you. For an entity with a light or darkness affinity normally the opposite would be a weakness, but you are immune to both. Your ghostly nature also makes you immune to poison and death magic, plus any elemental magic not any more effective then simply the power behind the attack. Sure, you can be hurt by fire or lightning from a potent source, but not in the same way as a flesh and blood creature. Even destruction magic which would be as effective against you as anything else can be mitigated if the user does not have the ability to use spiritual energy. Really, the only effective way to attack you without spiritual energy is with curses which can target you even if you go into your ghost form." Roxene said, giving her spection.

    Hearing this Marcus was quite surprised. He normally pegged Roxene as more of a meathead, but it seemed that she could really use her brain if she had to. Normally only leaving the thinking to Marcus because she does not want to get involved.

    "But what reason could it have for doing this?" Marcus asked, hoping she had an answer.

    At this she frowned, and said, "I am not sure. This ce is sometimes quite sadistic, but there is always a purpose to it. Ultimately this trial is to make us stronger. We need only figure out what that is."

    With Roxene having no good spection for why the dungeon was subjecting them to attacks from their weaknesses, all they could do was keep moving forward.

    "I will let it curse me a few more times to see what happens. The effects against me seem to be the least damaging so it would be better if I act as our guinea pig."

    Unable to refute this, Mrazivy and Roxene stepped away and allowed Marcus to throw himself against the sphere that seemed intent on attacking them with their weaknesses.

    ''What sense am I going to lose this time.'' Marcus thought as he touched the sphere.

    However, instead of losing one of his five senses, Marcus was hit with a far worse curse.

    "What the hell! I cannot move my mana!" He shouted out when the curse took effect.

    Swiftly he opened his status and found that the name of the curse that was affecting him now was called mana stagnation.

    This curse made it impossible for him to wiled his mana in any way. Whether it be to cast spells or enhance himself.

    Having heard him shouting out both Mrazivy and Roxene were incredibly worried and asked him to exin what was going on.

    "But if you cannot use your mana that means you cannot cast the healing magic spell that would dispel it. What are we going to do?" Mrazivy said as she began panicking a bit.

    Marcus himself was in quite the bad shape. This was the first time he had felt so powerless other than the first time he arrived on this world and slipped into the ground uncontrobly.

    ''Get ahold of yourselves. We have other ways to deal with this. Marcus, try using your spirit healing. It does not use mana and should still work.''

    Roxene''s voice resounding in their heads, both Marcus and Mrazivy calm down and stop freak out.

    Focusing on his spiritual energy Marcus could feel that it was not affected and began enveloping himself in the soft glow of his specter power.

    Unfortunately, just using it on himself was unable to break the curse. Though he did feel some sort of resistance in the core of his body where his mana resided.

    ''It is like someone has closed the gates and chained them up. I can feel where my mana is, but its flow is being blocked. In that case I need to break the chains and release it.''

    Trying once again this time instead of just using his spirit healing on himself and letting the ability act on its own, he channeled it towards his magic core which was being locked up.

    He then imagined the healing spiritual energy taking the shape of saws and rapidly cutting through the chains around his magic core.

    Time seemed to flow slowly for him as he concentrated harder than he ever had with manipting spiritual energy and tried to break the curse.

    One chain snapped, then another. Followed by more and more breaking apart until the metaphorical gates to his mana were unleashed and the curse was lifted.

    With a sigh of relief Marcus let go of his razor focus and copsed to ground as the tension left him.

    ''Wow that was more difficult than I thought it would be. Spirit healing may be able to fix anything but using it to deal with curses is defiantly not easy.''

    "Are you alright?" Mrazivy asked as she ces a hand on his should in concern.<sub> </sub>

    Reaching up with his own hand, he ced it on top of hers and slowly stood up with a smile on his face.

    "Yeah, I am fine now. I managed to dispel the curse with my spirit healing. Though it was harder than I imagined it would be."

    With the news that Marcus was no longer affected by the mana stagnation curse Mrazivy and Roxene both rejoiced.

    "For a bit there we were questioning whether to snap you out of the trance you seemed to be in. But you were concentrating so hard we let you keep at it for over an hour and are d we did not interrupt you." Mrazivy said.

    "Wait it took me more than an hour?!" Marcus said a bit astonished.

    He had thought the time seeming to go on forever had just been some trick of the mind since he was embroiled in a difficult task, but it had actually taken quite a while.

    "I see. I can only hope I do not get hit with that same curse again. But I suppose all I can do is keep at it." Marcus said with a sigh.

    Resignation on his face he touched the ck sphere again and was hit with another curse.

    Luckily this time it was not as bad, and he was afflicted with something called enfeeblement which lowered his strength stat.

    A quick casting of his healing magic and the new curse was gone just like the others.

    Over and over again Marcus got hit by more curses, attempting to figure out what the special dungeon was trying to aplish. When he finally came across the answer while checking his status.

    ''Curse resistance Lvl 1.''

    Reading off the newest addition to his skill list, Marcus now understood what this floor was about. It was forcing them to take hits from their greatest weaknesses and gain resistance to them.

    ''I still have not cleared the test, but I think this is likely the answer. I probably need to get it to a higher level first. If by the time I have not reached level five it does not seemed to be working, I can think of something else.''

    With a new usible theory to work with Marcus ryed his thoughts to Mrazivy and Roxene.

    Both of them agreed with his logic and figured it was worth a shot to test out. Though they both grimaced as they thought about having to suffer through being constantly assaulted by mes and poisoned.

    Over the next twenty hours Marcus continued to let himself get hit with numerous different curses, and at this point he had gone through so many he rarely got hit with one he did not already know of.

    Then finally after taking hundreds of curses he got the skill up to level four and the sphere stopped hitting him with curses and the dungeon announced that he had seed.

    His curse torture now finished, Marcus jumped up into the air in joy and began celebrating his achievement.

    He had gotten through one of the worst trials yet, and no longer had to subject himself to what was essentially hell.

    Unfortunately, this meant it was Roxene and Mrazivy''s turn. Now that Marcus was finished, he could stay on standby to heal them whenever their own ''training'', if it could even be called that, became too much.

    Days went by as Mrazivy was constantly engulfed by mes and Roxene had to endure many different poisons.

    In both their cases they were never hit lethally, but it was certainly painful. And after losing about an inch of her hair Mrazivy had learned to create an especially strong ice barrier around her head to prevent herself from going bald by the end of this trail.

    "Finally, level four fire resistance." Mrazivy said as she copsed onto the floor.

    The stronger her resistance to fire got the more intense the mes to continue pushing her, but now she had finally reached the level the dungeon was looking for.

    Not long after Roxene seed as well and the ck sphere of nightmares disappeared, and in its ce appeared three chests.

    "These had better be good after all we went through to get them." Mrazivy said with a frustrated tone.

    Marcus and Roxene nodded in agreement. Expecting the torture they had to put up with to have amazing rewards topensate.

 745 Chapter 745

    Standing before the treasures chests they had earned from the twentieth floor, Marcus, Mrazivy and Roxene unceremoniously kicked them open.

    They were still a bit peeved at how painful this floor''s trial was and the normal anticipation for what might be inside these chests was reced by lingering anger.

    Still when they saw what was inside tion soon took over as the dominant emotion they were feeling.

    ''I suppose this being the twentieth floor the dungeon is finally going all out.'' Marcus thought as he looked at what he had received.

    Within his chest were only three items but they were all definitely quite useful.

    The first item was a familiar purple metal and Marcus happily took out the ingot of amethros.

    Alongside to though were two skill orbs which he assumed would hold some powerful abilities.

    ''Would you like to learn the skill zing spirit.''

    ''Would you like to learn the skill share spell.''

    After activating both orbs and figuring out which skills were inside Marcus could not help but let a smile appear on his face.

    He had read about both of these skills in the royal archive in Borealia and they were on the list of skills that Boreas found valuable.

    zing spirit in particr was a skill Marcus had been wanting and even thinking about purchasing with his skill points, since it is part of the set of stat raising skills and the one that would boost his spirit stat.

    ''He had also written down share spell. Normally you can only have one of the same buff spell in affect at a time, but this allows anyone who has it to use it on another person when the spell is cast. Though the tier of spell has to be at the same level as the skill or lower.''

    Ecstatic to receive both of these skills, Marcus quickly learned them both and looked at his status which had once again gotten stronger.

    Name: Marcus Ferrous/Irene Geist

    Age: 33/22

    Race: Unbound Ghost, Great Spirit of Light and Darkness

    Titles: Baress, Great Spirit, Prince, Savior

    Level: 64

    HP: 141160/141160

    MP: 80060/80060

    STR: 5458 (+1365)

    AGL: 5299 (+1590)

    VIT: 4158 (+1040)

    INT: 6405 (+1601)

    SPR: 7134 (+1784)

    Stat Points: 0

    Skill Points: 1072

    Supreme Skills: Embodiment of Eclipse, Greatest Potential

    Unique Skills: Personal Status, Soul Devour, Master of Soul and Body, Soul Burst, Embodiment of Light, Embodiment of Darkness, False Status, Deny Destruction, Sound Mind, Shield of the Just

    Skills: Extra Large Item Box, High Speed Regeneration Lvl 7, Digging Lvl 3, Fighting Lvl 7, Magic Cirction Lvl 7, Iron Magic Lvl 7, Disassembly Lvl 6, Stealth Lvl 6, Lightning Magic Lvl 6, Creature Appraisal Lvl 6, Fire Magic Lvl 6, Danger Sense Lvl 6, Darkvision Lvl 5, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 7, Healing Magic Lvl 7, Mana Regeneration Lvl 7, Speed Burst Lvl 6, Mana Body Lvl 7, Powerful sh Lvl 5, Physical Resistance Lvl 6, Forge Lvl 7, Trap Sensing Lvl 6, Dark Magic Lvl 7, Light Magic Lvl 7, Driving Lvl 5, Cooking Lvl 6, Cleaning Lvl 3, Soul Regeneration Lvl 6, Life Sense Lvl 6, Enhanced Vision Lvl 6, Dancing Lvl 5, Mana Barrier Lvl 7, Perforation Strike Lvl 6, Grand Swing Lvl 6, Magic Resistance Lvl 7 (Maxed), Telepathy Lvl 7 (Maxed), Death Dance Lvl 7 (Maxed), Mana Thief Lvl 6, Vorpal Fang Lvl 6, Royal Etiquette Lvl 5, Trap Disarming Lvl 6, Glyph Tuning Lvl 6, Curse Resistance Lvl 4, zing Spirit Lvl 1, Spell Sharing Lvl 1

    Blessing of Iron, Exalted Blessing of Light, Exalted Blessing of Darkness

    Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying, Spirit Portal, Summon Spirits, Ruler of Light, Ruler of Darkness, Confer Blessing

    Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm, Phantom Pressure, Life Drain, Tendrils of Shadows, Spirit Healing, Spiritual Reinforcement

    When he was done looking through his stats and skills Marcus looked back at when they entered the special done for the second time nearly two months ago and examined his progress.

    ''This ce really does make you a lot stronger if you are willing to put up with it. I have gained two levels and gotten some useful skills. Not to mention all the valuable materials and unfished but powerful spells and enchantment formations. And there are still plenty more floors to go.''

    Satisfied with how his status wasing along, Marcus swiped it away and turned his attention towards hispanions.

    "So, what did the two of you get. It is time topare who got the best rewards."

    At Marcus'' promoting both Roxene and Mrazivy confidently brought out their spoils from the twentieth floor.<sub> </sub>

    In Mrazivy''s hands was a single rainbow-colored fruit that glistened vibrantly.

    Its shape was a bit odd, looking a bit like a dragon fruit as the closest example Marcus could remember from Earth.

    Roxene on the other hand had nothing, as like Marcus she received two skill orbs which she had already learned.

    ''I got the skills adrenaline rush and unshakable vigor. Both pretty powerful and useful skills.'' Roxene said with her head held high.

    However, Marcus quickly brought her down by pulling out his amethros ingot and divulging the skills he had obtained.

    Both of them had obtained stat boosting skills in zing spirit and unshakable vigor so those equaled out. But share spell was a rarer skill than adrenaline rush and the amethros ingot put Marcus way ahead.

    ''Fine you win this time.'' Roxene said begrudgingly.

    "Ahem!

    "I believe you are forgetting someone." Mrazivy said as she held out the rainbow fruit.

    Though despite it looking like a rare natural treasure, neither Roxene nor Marcus would consider it a premier item.

    Just boosting up stats would not really be considered as valuable as skill orbs or Marcus'' amethros ingot which had equivalent value to some unique skills.

    Still, Mrazivy seemed assured that what she held in her hands was better than the two skill orbs and amethros ingot Marcus had gotten.

    "Okay what does it do? Give you plus one thousand to each stat." Marcus said.

    Of course, if it did that would be quite the natural treasure. Yet when he heard what it actually did, he could not believe such a powerful item actually existed.

    "Nope, nothing so mundane as that. This natural treasure is known as the Fruit of Amelioration and will raise my level by three up to seventy. Along with bring all my stats to their peak and in a perfect bnce for my skills and abilities. And since I am currently at level sixty-seven it will bring me up to my absolute peak of power."

    For a few moments after hearing this Marcus and Roxene just stood there in a daze. Staring nkly at the fruit in Mrazivy''s hands.

    Then once their minds had fully processed just how incredible it was they practically lost it.

    "What in the hell?! How did you get something so powerful. It is basically a one off of our supreme skill greatest potential, but with the bonus of leveling you up three times. How is that even something that is allowed to exist!"

    With a smug smile Mrazivy held up the rainbow fruit that was certainly above even what Marcus had obtained.

    "And now to use it." Mrazivy said as she brought the natural treasure up to her mouth.

    She took a single bite into it and her eyes went wide.

    ? As aplete reflexive reaction, she brought her hand up to her cheek and practically squealed in delight, before quickly eating the rest of the fruit.

    A momentter she started glowing and Marcus who was ready with his creature appraisal skill watched as her level rapidly went up to seventy.

    "Ah, I have never tasted something that delicious." Mrazivy said with one of the brightest smiles Marcus had ever seen her give.

    In fact, he rated it at around the same level as when he proposed to her.

    "I am sure it tasted great, but what about the effects? I can see you level has gone up, but how about your stats?"

    Like she had suddenly remembered that the fruit she had just eaten was not only a tasty treat, Mrazivy held out her hand and began flexing her muscles to gage the difference in her stats.

    "I certainly feel quite a bit stronger now." She said while slowly moving her body and feeling out the differences.

    After doing that for around minute she swiftly pulled out her sword and began filling it with mana.

    A few hundred rapid test swingster and she had a pretty good feel for how much stronger she had gotten.

    "I would say that was quite the profound increase." Mrazivy said with another smile forming on her face.

    "Yeah, I would say profound is an apt term for how much stronger you got in just one go."

    Having watched Mrazivy practice Marcus could tell that she was a league above her previous level of power.

    That fruit had truly brought her to the peak of her strength as a level seventy, and now Marcus figured that beating her even with using all of his powers would be an uphill battle.

    "I suppose that we will have to call this your win. That natural treasure was simply too powerful topete with. "Marcus said while shrugging his shoulders in defeat.

    The three of them then spent a few hours to rx and test out the new skills and abilities they had gotten. Before turning towards the teleportation circle that would take them to the waiting area between the twentieth and twenty first floor.

    When they stepped on it a sh of light filled their vision and they felt the familiar sensation of being whisked away.

 746 Chapter 746

    Appearing in a sh of light Marcus, Mrazivy, and Roxene found themselves standing on a teleportation circle in a familiar looking room.

    In it were a number of couches and fresh sets of tea and snacks that constantly replenished themselves.

    ''I guess all of the waiting rooms are the same. And it looks like we are the first ones here.'' Marcus thought after examining their surroundings.

    "Well, we might as well make ourselves at home until the others arrive." Mrazivy said before moving over to the tea and cookies.

    However, the automated dungeon moderator appeared in front of them before they could move off the teleportation circle.

    "Congrattions users Marcus, Mrazivy, and Roxene. You have nowpleted floors elven through twenty of special dungeon number eleven, Realization of Self Perfection. You may now rest yourselves here or if you so choose head deep in to challenge floors twenty-one through thirty. As these are individual challenges like floors one through ten you need not wait for any others to finish. I hope that you continue to find use in this special dungeon going forward. If you have any questions at ater time feel free to call upon me."

    After saying this the avatar of the dungeon''s moderator disappeared as quickly as she had shown up.

    "I see. Looks like we will have to be going it alone again at least for the next ten floors." Marcus said with a frown on his face.

    There was no doubt in his mind that it had been easier to get through thest ten floors than the first ten.

    Just having other people to share the burden with and help when he got knocked down had made quite the difference in getting through the special dungeon.

    "I suspect this is the trend we will see. For ten floors we will fight alone and then for ten floors we will fight together." Mrazivy said while shrugging her shoulders.

    She then moved over to her initial aim and began pouring tea for al of them to enjoy.

    With nothing else to do as they had already decided to wait for the others, the three of them simply lounged around.

    Nearly two days went by before the next group arrived.

    In a sh of light Lilia and her team appeared in the room, and Marcus rushed up to his little sister before she could even regain her bearing.

    "Lilia are you okay? I do not see any injuries, but do you need healing? Everything is fine right?"

    Marcus threw out a barrage of rapid-fire questions about Lilia''s health as he examined her for any sort of injuries.

    Last time she had made it through the first ten floors she had arrived with horrible injuries of both the body and heart. And now Marcus was making sure nothing simr happened.

    "I am fine Marcus. Any injuries I had incurred are already gone. I did manage to get the high-speed regeneration skill just like you and Roxene so even a missing limb is only an inconvenience now." She said with her face getting redder and reader by the moment.

    She was obviously embarrassed by how overtly Marcus was showing concern for her, but a slight smile was creeping onto her face showing she was not actually all that perturbed by it.

    On the other hand, ric who had beenpletely ignored held out his hand left hand which was miss its pinky and ring finger.

    "Um, Marcus I actually have an injury that could use your attention. Would you mind helping me out?"

    Marcus seeing that he had totally disregarded the others apologized and quickly healed ric''s wounds.

    "Sorry about that. I am sure you understand though that I was simply worried for Lilia first and foremost." Marcus said as he rubbed the back of his head.

    Once they had all gotten settled, Marcus and Mrazivy sat down across from ric and Lilia to begin retelling each other about their respective challenges.

    To start Marcus and Mrazivy spoke of their eleventh floor and how the three of them each had individual trails, before one final battle where they need to put into practice what they had learned.

    "It was pretty tough, but we managed to get through just fine by working together at the end. I did take a few hits getting through all the traps, but it was nothing I could not bounce back from." Marcus said.

    Soon enough he had ryed everything he and his team had gone through, and it was Lilia''s turn.

    "And as we thought the wave of monsters was over and we hadpleted the battle, the dungeon warped us into a true boss fight."

    With a dramatic ir Lilia retold the battle she, ric, Aurelia, and Zareen had with the colossal mantis boss monster.

    In it she made ric out to be about fifty percent more heroic than he had actually been, but even with her making it sound less dangerous, Marcus tell by the expression on all their faces that it had actually been a life or death battle they had barely walked away from.

    "I am d you managed to get out of that. I can certainly say we had some tough battles but none I ever felt like we might have died during. I am proud of you for getting through that."

    Lilia hearing this from Marcus began welling up with tears in her eyes and reached over and hugged him.<sub> </sub>

    In only an instant the tough faced she had been wearing faded away, and instead of the heroic battle she had described, she instead began crying while talking about how scared she was.

    During the fight she nearly ended up dead herself and watching ricy limp in a pile of his own blood had truly frightened her.

    "I understand, it must have been rough. Feel free to tell me your worries and get everything off your chest." Marcus said while rubbing her back.

    With tears flowing down her face Lilia continued telling about the experiences her team had faced through the eleventh to twentieth floor.

    Apparently, they had to go through six difficult battles in contrast to Marcus and his group which really only had two.

    "So many times, I thought one of us were going to die. This ce really is cruel. Pushing us to our limits and then forcing us to go beyond or break. Time and time again."

    Marcus sat there andforted Lilia for nearly a half hour. And ric seemed pretty shaken up as well, so he offered him support as well.

    "Now I think that is enough about the hardships you all faced. What rewards did you get? With how hard you were pushed they must have been pretty good." Marcus said, changing the topic.

    At this Lilia and ric became noticeably less distraught now that their minds were not focused on the negatives but the positives of the dungeon.

    While it would try to break those that entered it, those that managed to temper themselves would receive powerful rewards for their efforts.

    "Yeah, we got some pretty rare and value items. All of us received unique skills after our victory on the eleventh floor. In fact, I got the Peerless Soul unique skill to go along with Peerless Body." Lilia said proudly.

    She then told Marcus what it did, and he could only be envious of how powerful the unique skill was.

    ''To think it increased her spirit stat by seventy percent. Talk about busted. Not only that, it gives her a quasi-soul regeneration, and she has a heavy resistance to soul-based attacks. Even my phantom pressure at full power does not immobilize her anymore.''

    Lilia having this unique skill was much stronger and had apparently even figured out how to use her spiritual energy now thanks to how her unique skill made her more Intune with her own soul.

    "And you ric, what unique skill did you get?" Marcus said when he wanted to move on from Lilia.

    However, ric''s unique skill was just as powerful and also made Marcus envious.

    He had gotten a unique skill called Spell Storage, which allowed him to save spells away forter and cast without having to expend mana and with almost no dy.

    For every three hundred points of his intelligence stat he could store a single tier of a spell.

    Meaning with nine hundred points he could store one tier three spell or three tier one spells.

    ''Damn if I had something like that, I could keep three tier seven spells and a few other lower ones in reserve to be cast at basically no cost whenever I wanted. Talk about a really powerful unique skill that will only get better the higher level you get.''

    Marcus after hearing about the two unique skills Lilia and ric had received wished he could have gotten them.

    During his entire time in this special dungeon he had not yet received a unique skill orb. Though he had just gotten an amethros ingot and some powerful skills, so he could not reallyin.

    Once Lilia and ric had finished talking about their own unique skills, they exined the ones that Aurelia and Zareen had gotten.

    "Zareen got something called Agonizing Strikes which make all of her physical attacks do more damage than normal and heightens the pain the target is feeling. We did not get an exactly urate measure of how powerful her attacks are now, but it is enough to be easily noticeable. Aurelia on the other hand received something called Searing Resurrection."

    Hearing the details of this skill Marcus found it simr to his own revival unique skill Deny Destruction, but with a few differences.

    Unlike his skill that basically transported him to a separate dimension upon his destruction and allowed him to choose toe back within a twenty-four-hour period, Aurelia would immediately revive if she were to die from anything other than old age.

    But along with reviving she would also be able tounch a powerful light-based attack against all of her enemies within a hundred meters, while excluding her allies.

    "I see. She does not get the flexibility ofing back when she wants, but instead gets to make a strong counterattack. They both have their uses, though with hers having only a half a year cool down vs my whole year Aurelia''s might be better."

    When they had wrapped up talking about each of the unique skills that Lilia''s team had received, they moved onto other rewards they had received along with skills they had learned.

    Yet while they were in the middle of their discussion the teleportation circle shed bright once again and another group appeared.

    Now standing there was the beastpanion team led by Inten, and among them Eirwen and Blitz were noticeably different than they had been when they had entered.

 747 Chapter 747

    Marcus and Mrazivy both looked towards their beastpanions in surprise.

    While Inten was still looking the same, it was clear that Blitz and Eirwen had undergone profound changes.

    To start, Blitz had a far longer, bushier tail than before and his legs now had what looked like dragon scales going up them until the first joint.

    His aura had alsopletely changed, and it was clear he had be a legendary grade beast.

    Eirwen simr seemed to have evolved and had gotten muchrger. His plumage was now no longer a pure white but had a pattern of dark blue feathers around his chest and extending to his wings.

    It only took just a single look to know that the two of them had increased their powers greatly by evolving to the next grade.

    ''I wonder what he is now.'' Marcus thought as he opened up his status and went to the page detailing his beastpanions.

    There he found that Blitz was now level fifty-nine and had evolved into a being called a Kirin.

    Racking his brain Marcus felt he had heard of this creature before, and quickly recalled reading about it before on Earth.

    ? However, the depictions he remembered of a Kirin were normally more horse-like, but he supposed that sometimes they were also depicted as stags.

    ''Still these stats are quite different from when we started. It seems that his evolution has put him at the peak of what a legendary grade beast is and more like a quasi-mythic grade beast.''

    After quickly looking over Blitz''s status, he turned his attention to the three beastpanions that had approached.

    "You certainly have gotten big Eirwen, and I can tell how much stronger you are now. When we get back, we will have to test out your new powers." Mrazivy said to her beastpanion with a glint in her eyes.

    Up to this point since they had joined together aspanions Eirwen had not been able to really apany Mrazivy since her exponential growth after evolving, but now he had closed the gap somewhat thanks to reaching the legendary grade.

    As Mrazivy greeted her beastpanion, Marcus went up to both Inten and Blitz and congratted them on getting through the trails of the special dungeon anding back stronger.

    "You in particr, Blitz, have made quite the progress. I can tell that you have be much more powerful now." Marcus said as he pet Blitz on the neck.

    ''You know I have gotten much stronger as well. I finally obtained one of those unique skills.'' Inten said with his telepathy as he jumped onto Marcus'' shoulder.

    It was obvious that he wanted some attention as well and was feeling a bit jealous since Blitz was standing out for his evolution to a Kirin.

    "Oh, pray tell, what kind of unique skill did you get?" Marcus asked.

    Proudly Inten told him what it was, and like most unique skills it was quite powerful.

    Marcus was stunned once again by how absurd the unique skills everyone had received from the special dungeon were.

    The one Inten had gotten was called Magic Eater and allowed him to absorb any mana-based attack and use the energy for himself.

    It was simr in a way to the mana thief skill, but in many regards far better.

    Instead of simply draining away at the mana of people within a certain area, Inten could basically nullify any attack sent at him that used mana.

    Hit by a high tier spell, he could just eat the mana used to cast it and destroy the attackpletely.

    The only limitation to this unique skill was the capacity of mana Inten could absorb in this way which was three times his own mana pool.

    With this extra power he could unleash powerful mana attacks or simply keep it in reserve to fuel for his own abilities.

    And to add to the versatility of the unique skill, it could even dispel spells cast on allies by eating the mana fueling them.

    Things like the psychic magic that had once been used on Mrazivy to control her during the kingdom''s tournament, or even Lyra''s spell that imnted horrifying illusions into a person''s mind could be broken by Inten''s unique skill.

    ''His defense against magic is now practically imprable. And with his already high physical defense from his race abilities and normal skills, only soul-based attacks really are going to have any effect on him now.'' Marcus thought as he analyzed Inten''s unique skill.

    Once they had finish up with their initial greeting and discussion of Inten, Blitz, and Eirwen''s greatest gains, they began sharing their experiences of the trails the special dungeon had put them all through.

    "Seems like we all had some difficult times, but I am d we have all gotten through it. Now all we have to do is wait till James'' group arrives." Marcus said, leaning back in his seat and rxing.<sub> </sub>

    More days went by while those that had already finished floors eleven through twenty waited for thest groupposed of James, Fallon, Quillon, and Lyra to arrive.

    During this time many of them had actually left the dungeon to go outside and test out their new powers together.

    Finally, nearly a week after Inten''s group had arrived, James and his team appeared on the teleportation circle.

    "Took you long enough. What kept all of you up?" Mrazivy asked her brother.

    As Mrazivy brought this up everyone in James'' group grimaced as they remembered the trial that had taken them a very long time toplete.

    "Not right now. We will exin itter, but for now I do not think any of us want to talk about it." Lyra said.

    Swiftly the four of them shuffled into the waiting room that was now at peak capacity and they all sat down to share their stories and get up to date on what skills and other advances they had made.

    "Looks like across the board our levels have gotten higher. This ce really does know how to hammer out our weak points and force us to get over them." Marcus said when they had finished up discussing the most important gains they had all gotten.

    Before they had entered James was the highest level among them at level seventy, but now he had made it to level seventy-three. Fallon was the next highest at seventy-one, followed by Mrazivy who was at level seventy thanks to the powerful natural treasure she had gotten.

    Following her was Lyra at level sixty-seven, then Quillon immediately behind her at sixty-six.

    After that was Marcus who had gotten to level sixty-four, and Inten thest in the sixties at level sixty-one.

    Everyone else had made it up to at least fifty with Blitz being at fifty-nine, and Eirwen having reached level fifty-seven.

    Among Lilia''s group she had the highest level at fifty-four, followed by Aurelia and Zareen with fifty-three, and ric trailing just behind at fifty-two.

    Finally, as usual Roxene had the lowest level due to her needing an exorbitant amount of experience points to level up due to the fact she was the highest ss of mythic grade beast.

    Still, she had managed to reach level fifty and her power still was greater than all the other beastpanions bar Fallon who was more than twenty levels higher.

    "Overall, this has been very productive but now we need to decide whether we are going to continue or head back. I know that some of us have duties they need to attend to." Quillon said as he nced between James and Lyra.

    Both of the woreplicated expression at this.

    James had his obligations as the leader of the sky knights, and Lyra had an entire domain that she was in charge of.

    Even leaving things alone for as long as they had would put strain on their subordinates to keep things going. Especially in the wake of all that had happened recently.

    With the royal family members crashing Marcus and Mrazivy''s engagement party and summoning a horde of demons James was on high alert patrolling for any signs of his brother and uncle who had escaped after failing in their objective.

    Lyra on the other hand was still in the middle of reconstructing her kingdom and getting it prepared to join Borealia in the years toe.

    Both of them had highly demanding positions and would need to get back to them.

    However, surprisingly they both voiced their opinion that they wished to continue on and go through the next ten floors during this small window of opportunity when they had the time.

    "The demon attack and the recent failed invasion from the empire to the east has shown me that I need more power to protect my kingdom and family. There is no better ce than here for me to do that." James said.

    "I also need to be stronger. Tralenstein may be mostly at peace right now, but tensions are still high along the borders to the south. Boreas'' disy of power has kept them at bay, but it is clear they have not fully given up on taking a piece of my kingdom. Anyway, having more power is pretty much always useful. I do not want to be too weak to not be able to protect those I care about again."

    With Lyra and James staying resolute in their goal to continue onm it was decided that after a quick rest of a few days they would head into the next set of floors.

    During this time, they worked together to practice their new capabilities, and Marcus who was the only one that could easily leave ande back headed to the nearest city and procured arge number of supplies for everyone.

    Soon enough the day came for them to all go their separate ways and take on floors twenty-one to thirty by themselves.

    "I will be going in first. Make sure that you all stay sharp and fight your hardest to get through these next trials. I expect to see everyone on the other side and hope not to have to regenerate any missing appendages this time." Marcus said with a smile on his face.

    "Same to you. You may be the toughest one of all of us, but sometimes I think you forget you are not invincible. Make sure you do not get yourselves killed. I could not stand it to be a widow before we even get married" Mrazivy said to Marcus right before he stepped on the teleportation circle.

    A familiar glow quickly enveloped his body, and he was warped away to the next floor. Where he would learn, fight, and struggle to gain more power to better be prepared for the chaotic future his life on Mirrion entailed.

 748 Chapter 748

    Nearly two years had passed since Marcus and his group hadpleted the eleventh through twentieth floors of the special dungeon, Realization of Self Perfection.

    Immediately after they had braved the next set of ten floors with all of them getting through anding out stronger than before.

    Yet the second they were done they all needed to rush back to the real world to attend to the duties that they had.

    For Lilia and ric this meant going back to school. They had already taken time off and missed plenty of sses and had a lot to catch up on if they did not wish to be expelled.

    Marcus for his part needed to check in to do his work for the kingdom during winter. Which turned out to be the very ''thrilling'' experience of being treated as cargo ne once again. And when that came to an end the spring was filled with politics as he continued his job as representative to Glena Reota, the ice elf city.

    James and Lyra had their own respective leadership positions that demanded their attention, and Mrazivy had things to deal with as a princess and to prepare for her and Marcus'' wedding.

    Still even with all that they needed to aplish during the year all of them made time during the summer and sometimes into the fall to head back into the special dungeon.

    Now they had alle back together to once again take on the challenges of the special dungeon once again and were currently deep into clearing floors forty-one through fifty.

    ˇ­

    ''Vorpal Fang.''

    Shockwaves shook the area as Marcus shed with his powerful opponent.

    Both of them unleashed rapid shes with their weapons that for any normal person would have been moving too fast to see.

    ''Damn this thing is strong. I suppose I should have known that floor fifty was not going to be easy.''

    Taking a step back Marcus carefully examined his opponent again and tried to think up some other strategy to deal with it.

    ''I even used skill points to level up creature appraisal to eight, but all I can get is that it is a level eighty monster called a Shinigami.''

    Staring at the creature before him Marcus tried to find any weakness it might have.

    However, the humanoid figure d in a dark robe that hid all but its skeletal hands, wings made of bones, and glowing red eyes seemed to have no vulnerabilities to speak of.

    Marcus had already tired to attack it with magic, but the thing seemed to be immune to anything he threw at it.

    He had buffed himself up with his spells and used his supreme skill but found that the creature before him was still able to match him.

    Certainly, with his level being sixty-eight it was twelve levels higher than him, but that did not exin how powerful it really was.

    ''And of course, it is also wielding a scythe.'' Marcus thought as he looked up and down the pitch-ck de the Shinigami wielded.

    Up to this point it had not attacked him, but any assault her tried was deftly countered by its impable strength and skill.

    With nothing to pressure him Marcus gave up on the meaningless shes he had thrown himself into so far and thought deeply about what the purpose of this floor was.

    Fortunately, with all the experience he had in the dungeon he was fairly well versed in figuring out what it wanted him to aplish, and luckily this floor was quite easy to decipher.

    ''It is immune to any magic or soul-based attacks. But it makes sure to block my scythe and is using the same weapon as me. Clearly it is meant to be teach me how to better wield my weapon, or possibly learn some impable attack of defensive skill focusing on the scythe.''

    Marcus believing this to be the point of the trial shut off his supreme skill and magic that was buffing him.

    If this was a challenge that would be based purely on skill, then trying to brute force his way through with overwhelming power would just needlessly exhaust him.

    "I have never had a true master before to teach me the way of the scythe. Everything I know is from my own personal training, battle experience, and the assistance of skills. I humbly thank you for your teachings." Marcus said while bowing before the Shinigami in front of him.

    As he did so the monster created by the dungeon that should have had no will ever so slightly shifted its demeanor as if epting Marcus'' sincerity to learn.

    After that he brought his head back up and wielded his scythe in both hands. Ready to begin training.

    Strike after strike Marcus tried to break through the Shinigami''s defense but was rebuffed each time.

    Yet each blocked attack only made him more exited as he ingrained the techniques his opponent was using into his mind.

    Six days went by as they continued to do battle. Neither of them having any physically limits and continuing on endlessly.

    During this time Marcus had gotten noticeably better at wielding his scythe and had nearly ingrained every move his opponent had into his mind.

    Then finally after much struggle and ceaseless battling he finally broke through andnded an attack on his scythe master.

    His de rung out as it struck something hard which felt like bone.

    ''I managed tond a hit!''

    Absolutely thrilled to have achieved his goal Marcus threw his hands into the air and shouted out in joy.

    Except thispse in concentration found him wholly unprepared for what came next.

    The Shinigami had been holding back on attacking until Marcusnded the first blow, but now it no longer held any such restriction.

    Marcus'' danger sense went off like ring rm bells and he barely managed to maneuver his scythe and body to prevent his head from being taken off.

    Arge spray of grey mist shot out of his neck and a slight pain was transmitted to him.

    Halfway through his neck had been sliced into by the Shinigami''s scythe. Leaving what would have been a fatal wound to any normal flesh and blood human.

    "I see the lesson is not over yet." Marcus said as he tightly gripped his scythe and gave his master and adversary his attention once again.

    By what would have seemed to be some sort of miracle the Shinigami had not made any follow up attacks and waited until Marcus was healed and ready to go again.

    It was as if its first attack had simply been a warning for Marcus to not get conceited simply because he managed tond one hit.

    Now on the defensive Marcus was besieged by an unending stream of attacks which he had to do everything in his power to block.<sub> </sub>

    He did not even have any room to try andunch a counterattack and had to focus solely on defense.

    Every sh had him getting injured and it was taking all of his healing abilities to stay in proper shape to continue battling.

    It was painfully slow how long it took him to adapt to the Shinigami''s attacks, and instead of just analyzing its defensive style for weaknesses now he needed to fully incorporate it in order to block its ferocious attack.

    Time seemed to blur for Marcus as he continued to fight.

    While before when he was on the attack, he had not needed to exert more mana than he recovered. Now that he was incurring numerous wounds it was draining for him to fix them swiftly enough to not be in.

    ''Shit!''

    Barely ducking his head out of the way on time he received a nasty gash that sliced through his face and nearly took off a chunk of his head.

    More and more attacks kepting, and he had lost count of how many times he had needed to grow new appendages to rece one that had been cut off.

    Even with all the power he had gained his spiritual energy and mana were not infinite and after days of fighting he was beginning to be worn down.

    ''None of my defenses work other than blocking with my scythe. It rips through my mana barrier and spells like nothing. I am going to go down at this rate.''

    Failing at a parry while his thoughts were in turmoil Marcus felt his hands go flying.

    This was the first time he hadpletely lost his grip on his scythe, and his regeneration did not move fast enough for him to grip it again before the follow attack came.

    In a final act of desperation Marcus used the only hand he had left and brough of his spectral arm.

    With it he gripped ahold of his falling scythe and braced it to block the iing attack.

    He had already found that the auto defense function could not properly block the Shinigami''s attacks and knew he needed something more solid.

    Thankfully his gamble paid off and he managed to block that attack that would have cleaved his head in half.

    The next instance he regripped his scythe with his newly regenerated hands and prepared to continue the battle.

    Slowly but surely, he grew ustomed to the attacks of his deadly master and began to fully incorporate the defense techniques it had previous employed until he finally learned a new skill.

    All of a sudden it just clicked, and he finally was able to perfectly block a series of attacks.

    ''Stalwart Full Moon.''

    Using the new skill he had obtained, Marcus felt a sphere around himself which epassed the range of his scythe. Within it he could instinctually feel attacksing for him and move to intercept them.

    Of course, he had just learned the skill, so it was not perfect, but it helped to alleviate some of the pressure he had been feeling.

    More and more days went by as Marcus started to counterattack now that his defense was capable of keeping up better.

    Every time he got a bit better the Shinigami would match him, until finally he managed to get the Stalwart Moon skill up to level six and he gained a slight edge.

    That was when the Shinigami revealed itsst and card.

    Marcus had learned its defensive technique and how it wielded its scythe to fight normally, but it still had a powerful attack skill at its disposal.

    Its scythe seemed to distort as it waved it back and forth and suddenly Marcus felt like eight attacks wereing at him from multiple different angles.

    Each one was fast and packed with power and it took the fully extent of his defensive technique to block six of them.

    The joint areas of his armor around his knees were sliced through like butter where he was unable to guard, and he suddenly felt weightless as he stumbled back after losing his legs.

    Nerveless as a ghost he simply gained his bnce back by floating and his severed legs began growing back in the blink of an eye.

    Yet this same attack came at him before he could fully recover, and once again, he incurred another set of injuries he was unable to fully block.

    A third time, a four time, a fifth time. Marcus took more and more attacks from this skill he did not fully understand, until on the six time he saw it he managed to deflect each of the strikes.

    Then when he wasfortable blocking the attack, he began trying to imitate it.

    His first thousand tries were sloppy at best. The skill was not an easy one to pick up. But with every attempt he got a bit better, and eventually used the powerful attack skill.

    ''Crescent Moon Strikes.''

    His de seemed to multiple as he unleashed this, attack and he struck out with everything he had towards the monster that had been his scythe instructor.

    Except this time, it did not move to block. It simply allowed each of the strikes to hit its body, and its once solid form was no where to be seen as Marcus cut through it like butter.

    In less than a second the being that had taught him how to further his scythe skills was destroyed and began fading away into nothing.

    For the first time Marcus felt bad about destroying an enemy. He had recognized this Shinigami as his master and now that it was over he did not want them to simply fade away.

    Instinctually he held out his hand to heal the fading monster, but it was already toote for that.

    It was a creature created by the special dungeon, and now that its job was over all it could do was fade away.

    Yet before it was fully gone, for the first time Marcus was able to see its face.

    It was practically just a skull with only a very thinyer of transparent flesh hugging the bone.

    Still in its eyes it seemed proud, and it had a content smile on its face as it faded away.

    Once it was gone Marcus heard two different chimes.

    One signaling that he had beaten the floor''s challenge and another signaling his level up.

 749 Chapter 749

    ''You have leveled up to level sixty-nine.''

    Hearing the familiar ring of a level up in his head Marcus felt a slight sense of mncholy.

    He normally would feel exhrated to have reached even greater heights, but since this level came at the cost of killing the entity he had been training with, he felt a bit conflicted.

    ''In the end it was just a manifestation of the dungeon. Still that Shinigami seemed to have more personality than anything else I have faced here, so I at least n to honor its memory.''

    Coming to peace with what had just happened Marcus instead turned his attention to the chest that had appeared.

    It was the final one he would be getting on this set of floors, and it would likely be pretty powerful.

    ''I wonder what it might be. Perhaps some more amethros ingots. I have nearly gotten enough to outfit everyone with full sets of armor, weapons, and equipment. But I need at least three more. Or maybe it will be another unique skill. I have only gotten two so far in this ce while everyone else has already gotten at least three.''

    During his short walk over to the chest Marcus raced to think about what he might have obtained from the fiftieth-floor chest, but when he opened it he was bbergasted by what he had found.

    All that was in the chest was a single book.

    Certainly, this was not the first time he had gotten something like this, but he figured for such a difficult floor, and it begin thest one in the set that it would contain something better.

    ''Is it just going to be more iplete magic spells, or perhaps enchanting formations I will have to practically create from scratch.'' Marcus thought as he disheartenly picked up the book.

    Yet when he opened it, his eyes went wide since it was neither of the things he thought it would be.

    Instead, it was a guide on something call the moon style. An advanced form of techniques for wielding the scythe.

    ''There are eight main techniques, though I already learned two from battling the Shinigami. I suppose that was my introduction and this is my continued learning.''

    Leafing through the book Marcus examined all of the forms and steps to learning them, and a smile slowly formed on his face.

    All together the knowledge was actually likely greater than most unique skills.

    Each of the techniques in the book were incredibly powerful in their own right. Which Marcus had already discovered in the two he knew.

    Allbined he knew that they would make a formidable addition to his skills.

    ''Now that I look at them more closely it seems they are simr in potency to the skills the sword savant has and that he taught Quillon and Mrazivy.'' Marcus thought.

    To this day those were still some of the best attack and defensive skills he had seen, and it was clear that the moon style was in a simr vein.

    It would take time, but eventually once he learned all of the forms it would make for the most formidable scythe arts the world had ever seen.

    nning to practiceter Marcus stored the book away and turned towards the glowing teleportation circle.

    When he stepped on it, he was taken straight to the familiar waiting room he had visited multiple times before.

    The moment he appeared a crowd of people and beast turned their heads towards him.

    ''Looks like I am thest one this time.''<sub> </sub>

    Scanning the room Marcus found that everyone else was already there.

    Swiftly he found Mrazivy and Lilia havee up to him, both seeming to have simply teleported over to him with how fast they moved.

    "We were beginning to get worried. You took way long than anyone else." Lilia said as she gave Marcus her customary bearhug.

    However, now that she had evolved and was level sixty-two her strength was no joke and Marcus actually had to brace himself with mana to prevent his form from cracking under the pressure.

    ''Damn, she is even stronger now. This stupid dungeon is too effective.''

    Feeling himself starting to buckle under Lilia''s might Marcus strained himself to return her hug.

    Once Lilia had released him, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her.

    Now that he was able to get a good look, he found that she had gotten taller again and was looking more and more like a radiant young woman. Having grown considerably in thest two months that they had been apart whilepleting the forty-first to fiftieth floor. She only had the slightest remaining childish visage now that she was close to turning sixteen.

    In fact, she had grown up to be just as attractive if not more so than Marcus'' form as Irene, and apparently ric had his fair share of troubles dealing with jealous guys challenging him to take his ce as Lilia''s betrothed. Though naturally he was able to easily deal with any of them.

    "It seems that Lilia has your undivided attention. Are you not going to greet your soon to be wife? For a bit I was even afraid that you would not make it back in time since the wedding is in a little under three months." Mrazivy said with a yful smile.

    Turning her way Marcus scooped her up and despite there being so many people nted a quick kiss on her lips.

    "I would never think to ignore you Mraz. I was just reeling a bit from Lilia strength. It seems in terms of physical power I pale inparison to her now."

    "Yeah, well I think that unless I use my draconic transformation, she is stronger than me as well." Mrazivy said.

    After he had been greeted by the two that were closest to him Marcus went over to the others and greeted them as well.

    "Looks like everyone has managed to get through without anysting wounds again. Though I suppose since all of us have regeneration skills now that is to be expected." Marcus said once he had finished initial talks with everyone.

    With the pleasantries out of the way they now, they all sat down and began discussing more important topics.

    "Really there is only one more challenge!?" Marcus said when everyone told him what they had heard from the dungeon''s guardian.

    Apparently the next ten floors were all bundled into one mega trial that would bepleted all at once, with each of them participating together.

    Initially they had nned to head back afterpleting the fiftieth floor ande again next year to do the nest set, but this changed things.

    "We will need to finish within two and a half months at thetest to make sure we can get back in time for your and Mrazivy''s wedding, so we have been waiting for you input before making any decision." James said to Marcus.

    Looking towards Mrazivy, Marcus asked her what she wanted to do, and he got the answer he was expecting.

    "I think we should go ahead and finish up this ce. Who knows what next year might bring. We barely managed to all get together this year. I feel it would be best if we simply push on through. I am certain we can finish up in time for the wedding. And if not my sister and father will find a way to postpone it until we return."

    Mrazivy giving her opinion, Marcus saw no reason not to agree with her and decided to throw his vote towards continuing.

    "So, it is unanimous. We will finish the special dungeon in this setting." James said now that Marcus had given his approval.

 750 Chapter 750

    750 Chapter 750 Floor of Hell

    Now that their group had decided to move forward, they spent a single day after MarcusˇŻ arrival resting and preparing for the final challenge.

    It would be the biggest battle they had all experienced with their entire team going in together.

    ˇ°So, we have our formation down. Inten, Roxene, Quillon, Lilia, and Lyra will take point. While James, Fallon, Eirwen, Blitz and Zareen will be our mid guard. Finally, I, along with Mrazivy, ric, and Aurelia with be the rearguard.ˇ± Marcus said to make sure everyone knew their roles.

    In response they all nodded their heads.

    It had been decided that Marcus and Mrazivy would be acting as leaders for their group, since they were the best at obtaining information about enemies and could take over any position with their powers.

    Mrazivy in particr was going to be important with her dragon eyes which could perceive the value of most things.

    Of course, this dungeon never seemed to y fair and plenty of times Mrazivy had her race ability blocked. Though it still had the highest track record of working over and other power the group possessed.

    ˇ°I suppose we are ready then. Let us all step onto the teleportation circle and hope we do not get separated this time.ˇ± Mrazivy said.

    At this everyone grimaced. Remembering the time they first entered the dungeon and found themselves all suddenly alone and facing enemies that countered them.

    Still the dungeon guardian had never lied to them even if it held back information. Therefore, they believed it when it had told them that all of them would be participating together against the final floors together.

    Once they were prepared, weapons at the ready. Their group of fourteen shuffled onto the teleportation circle and for thest time were warped away to a trial that would make them stronger.

    When they arrived, they found themselves facing a type of floor that none of them had ever been on up to this point.

    Before them was a seemingly endless grassy in with a dark red sky above their heads.

    It was an incredibly dour atmosphere in a ce that gave off a foreboding aura.

    All across the field was a sea of monsters of all types.

    Just at a nce Marcus saw goblins, trolls, all manner of undead, and many more he did not recognize.

    To make matters worse, there were numerous battlements set up that the monsters were manning and would be impossible to simply get by from the ground.

    ˇ°This is certainly not what I thought we would be in for. I have never seen this many monsters in one ce before.ˇ± Quillon said with a tense expression.

    They had been expecting more along the lines of a battle against a few powerful enemies if there was going to be a fight.

    But whaty before them was an army tens of thousands strong.

    The numbers even made the mass battles Lyra and Marcus had seen while fighting the civil war in Tralenstein seem small byparison.

    Yet instead of their own army, between them was just slightly more than a dozen individuals.

    ˇ°Mraz, can you see any of their levels from here?ˇ±

    ˇ°Yeah, but there are too many for me to urately figure out what the range is. So far, the lowest I have seen is forty-five, while the highest is fifty-seven.ˇ±

    When Mrazivy ryed this information to everyone, they were absolutely astonished.

    Certainly, a level forty-five or even fifty-seven would be no threat to any of them at this point, but and entire armyposed of monsters this strong was a major threat.

    To a medium sized town, a level forty-five monster was a major threat in most cases, with only the strongest defenders begin capable of taking it on.

    Naturally their group consisted of powerful fighters, but what stood before them was a kingdom ending threat if it were to exist out in the world and not confined to this dungeon.

    ˇ°Well sitting around here and shaking in our boots at the absurd number is not going to get us anywhere. They appear to be waiting for us, so let us make the first move.ˇ± Fallon said as she transformed from her humanoid from.

    In an instant she turned into a giant bird with bright orange and red plumage and scales around her feet and neck.

    After going through the special dungeon everyone of the beastpanions had made it to the mythic grade, and Fallon was now a Zenith Minokawa.

    Just by spreading her wings she unleashed a wave of power that shook the earth, and with a single p she rose up into the sky.

    And immediately her spectacr disy was put to an end, as she unceremoniously crashed back into the ground.

    Everyone stared around stunned at this. None of them had ever seen Fallon simply fail to take off.

    It was not even that she had taken an enemy attack or suddenly needed to dive to avoid anything. She simply lifted off into the air and made it a dozen feet before falling back down.

    However, while everyone else was bbergasted by what just happened, it was Fallon herself who was the most stunned.

    She could not understand what had just urred.

    Not once in her life had she ever had any trouble flying expect when she was freshly hatched thirty-seven years ago.

    ˇ°Fallon are you alright? What just happened?ˇ± James said in concern for his partner. Being the first toe out of their collective stupor.

    ˇ°Uh yeah, I am not injured, but when I pped my wings, it was like I could not feel the air under me like normal. It was as if I simply slipped through.ˇ± Fallon said, describing what she had felt.

    Hearing this was highly disconcerting, and Marcus looked towards Blitz and told him to try and fly up as well.

    He had evolved into an Emperor Kirin, an entity that was known as the ruler of the skies.

    Yet even Blitz who should have been able to walk on air even easier than the ground found himself unable to find any purchase.

    Watching this happen Quillon did not wait another moment and tried creating mana barriers under his feet to climb up into the air with. But the second he stepped on one it shattered, and he dropped back to the ground.

    It was clear now to everyone that this floor not only had an impossiblyrge army for them to face, but that they could not gain a height advantage by going into the sky.

    ˇ°This does not bode well.ˇ± Lyra said while turning her gaze towards the endless sea of monsters.

    The creatures which still stood around a kilometer away at the closest were jeering at them for all of their failed flight attempts. Showing no signs of charging in but more than happy to make fun of them.

    With the ability to fly taken away from them, they no longer had any means of escape should they be surrounded on the ground. No safe area they could flee to in order to rest.

    All they could do was face off against an army made up of more monsters than they could count head on.

 751 Chapter 751

    Staring down a hoard of numerous and varied monsters, Marcus began giving out orders.

    "They do not seem keen to charge us yet, so let us prepare tounch asrge of an attack as we can."

    With swift movements all fourteen of them moved into a wide formation that would allow them tounchrge range attacks without hitting each other.

    As they did the monsters that had beenughing at them for their failed attempts to fly staggered back, and a momentter numerous horns began blowing from throughout the area.

    It seemed that they were not just a mindless horde, and now that Marcus and his group were getting ready to attack, they had be serious as well.

    ''Embodiment of Light,''

    ''Starlight Rain.''

    To start the battle Marcusunched his tier seven light magic spell into the air and thousands of beams of light began falling down over the monsters.

    An instant after everyone else unleashed powerful attacks that could level small towns with ease.

    A storm of lighting, a flood of mes, an avnche of ice, and numerous sts of mana followed Marcus'' attack, and the battlefield became chaotic in the wake of powers on the scale of natural disasters.

    The monsters did their best to defend, collectively using skills like mana barriers to protect themselves and the bulkiest among them acting as shields for those that were smaller and more lithe.

    Everything shook and rumbled under the pressure of the attacks unleashed by everyone.

    In one fell swoop thousands of monsters had died yet the damage was far less than any of them had expected.

    ''Looks like they have fairly good defense against wide area attacks.'' Marcus thought.

    The number of monsters that had powerful defensive skills was staggering, and they moved swiftly and effectively to reduce the damage from all the attacks that had just hit them.

    It was clear that individually they would never be able to take these attacks, but there was strength in numbers. It was clear that this challenge was going to push them not by pitting them against a few powerful enemies but multiple weaker ones that would fight together to try and ovee them.

    After the first volley of attacks from Marcus'' team the monsters reorganized themselves and began the attack.

    They were not simply going to wait and be bombarded and rushed forward in an unending tide.

    A cacophony of feet mming against the ground echoed through out the in and blocked out any other sound.

    ''Keep firing at them as they approach and when they make it to us, we will cut through and try to charge on ahead. Since we cannot fly the goal may not be to simply wipe them all out but to make it to the other end.'' Marcus said switch to telepathy to avoid his orders being drowned out by the sound of stomping feet and explosions.

    Like limitless artillery they continued tounch powerful spells, breath attacks, and mana sts at the oing monsters.

    However as many as they turned to ash, froze solid, or rended into unidentifiable piles of meat and bones, more kepting and eventually they were surrounded on by all sides.

    And to make matters worse, while none of them could fly their opponents certainly could, and numerous flying monsters from gargoyles to winged centipedes attacked from above.

    In only a minute they were boxed in with attacksing at them from all sides.

    ''Roxene right before my radiance scales spell breaks use yours.''

    ''Everyone else use defensive abilities when you feel threatened, but leave the overall defense to Roxene and I.''

    A couple seconds after he ryed this order his spell that had been protecting the group began to falter and Roxene cast her own to rece it.

    Normally this spell was meant to be used for personal protection, but if the caster was skilled enough, they could spread it out over a wider area and take full control of it to protect arger group.

    Constantly cycling between Marcus and Roxene''s spells they were able to keep up a perpetual barrier that blocked most attacks and allowed everyone else to focus more on mowing down the army in front of them.<sub> </sub>

    They had to wade through a flood of monsters and if they all had to worry about attacking and defending then their progress would slow greatly.

    ''Crap!''

    While they had been making good progress fighting their way through the army of monsters an unexpected development soon came to stop them.

    The earth below their feet began to break apart and popping out of it and circumventing the radiance scales spell protecting them was dozens ofrge bronze snakes with a horn on their heads like a shovel.

    All at once as they got the drop on Marcus and his team, they opened their mouths and unleashed clouds of position gas.

    ''Dark Portal.''

    Acting quickly Marcus used one of the new unique skills he had acquired in the dungeon.

    It had the power to create gates of darkness that warped space and connected multiple points together.

    Unfortunately, only those with a very strong darkness affinity could use it as a means of transport so Marcus would only be able to use it to warp himself and Roxene. But it still had plenty of other uses beside being a method to travel quickly from one point to another.

    In only an instant dozens of swirling gates made of darkness appeared in front of the bronze serpents'' mouths and sucked all of the poisonous gas up.

    Then a muchrger portal appeared off in distance above a group of monsters and rained the gas down on them.

    It did not take long for these monsters to begin heaving and coughing up blood. Showing just how potent the poison these bronze snakes could release was.

    After the poison gas was dealt with, James, Lyra, and Mrazivy zipped around and sliced the snakes'' heads off without any problem.

    Mrazivy then ryed the information she had gotten from using her dragon eyes and told everyone that these bronze shovel snakes as they were called, were all at level fifty-five.

    ''ric, use your ice magic to keep the ground frozen around us. We need to make sure to prevent any sort of attacks from underground.'' Marcus ordered.

    Swiftly ric raised his amethros staff up and mmed it into the ground.

    Everything within a hundred-meter diameter began to freeze, and the ground was no longer usable by the bronze snakes who would find themselves be icicles before they breached the surface.

    This slowed their progress down even further due to the fact that ric would need to constantly cast a new spell as they moved. Nevertheless, they did manage to abate any more attacks from the grounding their way.

    Over an hour passed as they battled their way through the horde of monsters.

    "If only this was a human army, we might have been able to win by crushing their morale, but these monsters have no regard for their lives and throw themselves at us without any care." James shouted while piercing through and killing five agile monsters that had slipped by the others magic bombardment.

    At this point the fighting had gotten monotonous, and so long as they kept a decent focus, they were able to dispatch their opponents easily enough.

    This had led to them making some idle conversation while things werexer and the monsters were regrouping.

    "Hm, they really have backed off this time. Maybe we really did finally break their spirits." Lyra said in response to James''ment.

    Yet for Marcus who had been keeping an eye on the whole of the battlefield, he found this suspicious.

    From what he had observed all put a couple thousand of the monsters that had been constantly assaulting them had moved back behind the nearest battlement that they were finallying upon after fighting their way through five kilometers of monster invested fields.

    That was when he got the sinking feeling in his stomach that something was wrong.

    But before he could voice his concern, the attack against them had already been initiated. A massive cannon barrel extended from the battlement andunched a concentrated beam of mana right for them.

 752 Chapter 752

    Watching the st of mana that was by far the strongest attack any of them had seen since entering the final challenge of the special dungeon, everyone froze up for a moment.

    Seeing such a powerful attacking their way, all of them began running through ways to defend against it, but none leapt forward rashly. There were still stragglers from the monster army attacking them, and if they all moved to intercept the st it would leave these enemies free to do as they liked

    They were waiting for orders from Marcus who everyone agreed was going to lead them with Mrazivy as his submander.

    Thankfully he managed to snap out of his surprise quickly enough to issue and order and picked who he thought was the right one for dealing with his iing attack.

    ''Inten, take their power and send it right back at them.'' Marcus ordered over telepathy.

    Receiving themand loud and clear, the smallest member of their group, the great diamond mouse Intenunched himself into the path of the mana st and opened his mouth wide.

    When the attack finally reached them, it easily plowed right through Marcus'' radiance scales spell that he was using to protect everyone.

    There was simply no way the spell that was so spread out had any chance of blocking this attack.

    Inten on the other hand in what seemed quiteical had his mouth open and began sucking the mana into himself.

    This was the utilization of his unique skill Magic Eater, and while the st was easily several thousands of times bigger than him, he had no trouble swallowing up the mass of mana.

    Still, he had his limits, and the attack was incredibly dense, with more than he could take.

    Around halfway through eating the st Inten reached his capacity and had to expel all the energy he had absorbed.

    A new st of powerful mana erupted out of his body and began pushing back the remains of the one that had been fired at their group.

    ? Then when the two opposing sts met their limits, a massive explosion rocked the area around a kilometer away from Marcus and his team.

    It was an amount of power that Marcus could only describe as simr to a nuclear st, and he was honestly surprised by the sheer magnitude of the attackpared to everything else they had seen so far.

    The tremors caused in the wake of the explosion caused cracks to form throughout the field and Marcus and his team had to brace themselves not to be knocked over.

    The monsters that had been surrounding them were blown away. With many of them being severely injured or outright killed by the mere aftermath of the powerful st.

    ''How the hell did they unleash such power?!''

    Looking at the battlement that had therge and long annon barrel sticking out of it, Marcus tried to gleam how a mana cannon was able to amass that much energy.

    He had seen plenty of these magical weapons before, but even the highest yield military grade mana cannons could not fire off attacks of this level.

    Then to make matters worse he saw the cannon begin to glow again as it built up more mana tounch another st.

    That was when all of them saw the monsters within and immediately around the battlement start to drop.

    The power of this cannon was not something that could be used easily, and the monsters were sacrificing all of the mana at the cost of their lives to fuel it.

    Yet despite hundreds of them dying to fuel its attacks, it barely put a dent in their numbers and gave them the ability tounch enough mana to actually threaten Marcus and his group.

    "Inten, can you block another one?" Marcus asked to his beastpanion.<sub> </sub>

    Unfortunately, Inten shook his head. After having absorbed so much mana and firing it off in a st, he was pretty worn out and certain he could not handle another attack of the same level so soon after the first.

    At this Marcus clicked his tongue and turned towards Lyra instead.

    "I hate to have to do this, but your unique skill is our best bet."

    Nodding her head, she felt the same way and positioned herself at the front of the group right before another st came their way.

    "Reflector Shield."

    When the st was close to swallowing them all, Lyra used her unique skill and created a gleaming crystal tortoise shell in front of her.

    In what seemed impossible the second the front of the st touched Lyra''s shield it coalesced and bounced right back where it came from with just as much power.

    A barrier erected around the battlement to try and block the attack, but its defenses were unable to take its own attack redirected at it.

    Once again, the entire battlefield shook from the explosion of mana, and when everything cleared all that was left of where the battlement had been was a huge crater and a mangled cannon barrel.

    For a few moments time seemed to have stopped, but soon enough they all cheered at having taken out the first major threat.

    Still, it was only one of several battlements that were set up for the monsters, and it was unclear if they posed the same or simrly powerful weapons.

    "Everyone keep the monsters off me for a few minutes. I want to see if I can take out those other battlements from here." Marcus said.

    He then held his scythe in front of him and the smaller de on the backside of it seemed to extend, and a string of mana pulled taught from the front of the scythe to the back.

    His scythe had now taken a form that looked like a crossbow, and Marcus began shimmering with an immense amount of power as he activated his supreme skill.

    ''Eclipse Railgun.''

    Firing off one of his strongest attacks, he aimed for the next battlement that was around seven kilometers away from them.

    At Mach Fifteen the projectile he had fired reached its target in only slightly longer than a second, and the battlement was hit by an unstoppable force.

    Arge explosion followed in the attack''s wake and the second battlement came crashing down without Marcus or his team ever getting into its range.

    After that he proceeded tounch neen more railgun attacks. One for each of the battlements.

    All of them tried to activate a barrier to protect themselves, but not a single one could withstand Marcus'' attack.

    Soon enough the twenty-one battlements that had originally stood proudly over the battlefield and were the heart of the monster''s strength were left in ruin. With only the first one even being able to fire an attack.

    ''Whew, that took a lot out of me.'' Marcus thought as he chugged three high grade mana restoration potions.

    Nevertheless, while he was pretty worn out by using his full power multiple times over, he had effectively dealt with the greatest threats.

    Now all they needed to do was continue fighting through the tide of monsters, that while powerful in their own rights, wereparatively weak to any of them.

 753 Chapter 753

    With all the battlements taken care of Marcus and his group were able to proceeded with their battle against the army of monsters that outnumbered them by thousands of times.

    It would seem to be an insurmountable challenge to get through but even the highest-level monsters were lower than most of them and their quality was only at a base level.

    There was arge difference between a level sixty that had never had its stats raised and the members of Marcus'' group who all had absolutely peak stats and numerous rare and powerful skills at their disposal.

    Whenever one of them made a move they would tear through dozens of the monsters, and with well-coordinated teamwork they managed to keep the swarm at bay while making steady progress.

    ''Iron spike field.''

    Casting a tier seven iron magic spell, Marcus conjured thousands of iron spears that shot up out of the ground over a wide area and pierced into the monsters in front of them.

    Following it up, Mrazivy opened her mouth and unleashed her breath attack.

    <o>,m All the monsters that had survived Marcus'' spell were quickly frozen and the few that survived were stuck to the now frosty iron and stuck there as they slowly sumbed to the cold.</o>

    It wasbinations like these that their group had been working on while they fought through the horde of monsters.

    At first their coordination was mostly just with timing their attacks to not interfere with each other, but now they were figuring outbos they could pull off together.

    Time went on in pretty much a blur for all of them. The strange domain they found themselves in had no sort of sun or moon. Just a constant red lighting down from the sky, so there was no way to tell the passage of time.

    They had figured that it had at least been two or maybe three days at this point, but the tide of monsters never seemed to end.

    Even when they killed thousands of them more kepting and they were unable to really take a break.

    Their strongest defensive magic spells and abilities could at best give them twenty minutes or so of peace without any further action, but that was the most rest they could get. And at the cost of an immense amount of mana.

    ''Damn, do they never end. I can keep this up pretty much indefinitely but everyone else is going to tire. I can already see that the mental and physical fatigue is catching up to ric.''

    It had be quite clear that everyone was starting to slip a bit. Their attacks were less polished and asionally a stray attack or two would get by their initial defenses and would require more direct attention.

    Unfortunately, all they could do was continue to push on, as the only other alternative was to be destroyed.

    ''You have leveled up to level seventy.''

    ''Hidden evolution requirements unlocked.''

    After killing arge group of monsters with a spell, Marcus finally received a level up. Being thest of their group to do so.

    However, this was not just any level up. He had now reached level seventy, which would finally allow him to evolve to a stage even beyond where he already was.

    Yet despite his wish to open his status and pour over it, he could not divert his attention to something that would not help them out right now.

    He had only achieved two of the requirements he needed to meet and knew that it was likely not to be an easy feat to reach his evolution.

    ''Once we get out of this hellhole, I can find out what I need to get or do. For now though, I still need to keep up the magic that is protecting us.''

    With a long sigh Marcus cast his radiance scales spell for the umpteenth time and continued firing off attacks just as fast as his mana recovered.

    Eventually after five days of practically nonstop fighting, Marcus and his team arrived at the mouth of arge cave that had been hidden from view.<sub> </sub>

    Monsters were continuously pouring out of it, and it was clear that this was where the root of all their problems had beening from.

    "Light em up." Marcusmanded to everyone.

    With gleeful expression to have finally found something new, they all happily unleashed their widest range attacks into the cave and blew all the monsters trying to exit away.

    Then with the path cleared they rushed through. No longer conserving their energy like they had been.

    All of them hoped that this was near the end, and that with one final push they would be able to escape from this hellscape that was filled with monsters trying to kill them.

    As they went deeper into eh cave more monsters beganing in their direction, but they plowed through them with extreme prejudice.

    ''What the hell is this ce?!''

    Coming out of the cave into a massive room, Marcus stared stunned at what stood before them.

    For as far as the eye could see were vats of a dark green bubbling liquid that monsters were crawling out of.

    Practically every second, hundreds of monsters were appearing out of this liquid, and it only took them all a moment to realize that this was where all their enemies had beening from.

    ''Ultimate ze.''

    With the root cause of their monster problem before them, Marcus did not hesitate to use his most destructive tier seven spell.

    It was one of the magics that he had obtained from the special dungeon and boasted an immense amount of fire power.

    Of course, it equally ate through Marcus'' mana at an astronomical rate, but he felt a sense of tion at destroying the cause of their five days of grief and stress.

    That one spell was enough to nearly eliminated all the vats, and the rest were soon cleaned up by the others.

    "We finally managed to stop the endless army of monsters. Now I just want to sleep for three days straight." Lyra said while letting her shoulders slump over.

    None of them had gotten any proper rest sinceing to this floor, and it had really worn them all down.

    "Sorry Lyra, but it does not look like any of us are going to be resting quite yet." Quillon said as he pointed towards the cave they had just exited.

    The army of monsters they had pushed through without fully eliminating had caught back up with them and were rushing through the cave to attack them once again.

    "If no one has any objections I will push them back and then all of you can plug up the hole." James said as he readied to throw hisnce.

    Marcus nodded his head towards him to indicate that he was fine with James'' suggestion.

    A smile on his face James let loose hisnce which flew fast and with arge amount of mana poured into it.

    Moving far faster than the speed of sound it plowed through the iing wave of monsters and left many dead and the rest scattered.

    He then called hisnce back to him and everyone who could use any sort of ability, whether it be spells or creating pirs of diamond, blocked off the cave.

    "That should hold them back for at least a half hour. It is time to see if there is a way out beyond where those vats used to be." Marcus said.

 754 Chapter 754

    For the first time in five days Marcus and his team were able to breathe a bit easy.

    They had finally made it to the heart of the monster army and destroyed the vats of mysterious green liquid that had been spawning them.

    Now all the monsters in the area were gone and the ones that they had blown past outside therge room they found themselves in were held up by the spells they had used to seal the entrance.

    "It might not be much, but I hope you can all enjoy your first hot meal in a while."

    Marcus had whipped a quick pot of stew by adding some stock he had prepared along with numerous dry rations.

    He did not have the time to make many preparations but considering all they had been eating for thest five days were jerky and preserved fruits, it was very wee.

    "Are you not going to have any?" Mrazivy asked as she sat down next to Marcus with a full bowl in her hands.

    "No, I do not need to eat so it is best if I leave it all to the rest of you. Anyway, we do not have all that long. Hurry up and get your fill and rest while you can." Marcus replied.

    However, instead of eating the spoonful she had scooped up herself, Mrazivy shoved it into Marcus'' mouth.

    "Sure, you do not need to eat, and you have practically unlimited physical stamina, but your mental fatigue builds up just like the rest of us. I know you enjoy eating for the taste, so how about you stop being on edge for just a bit and enjoy this slight respite we have earned." Mrazivy said with a grin on her face.

    Relenting to her forceful feeding, Marcus allowed himself to rx, and the two do them shared a couple of bowls of stew together. Forgetting for a few moments that they were in a dungeon with monsters trying to kill them at every turn.

    Sadly, the peaceful break they were all enjoying soon came to an end and they had to get back to exploring before the monster army broke through.

    Still the slight breather they had been able to take had a marked improvement on their team and wiped away some of the weariness that had been building up.

    "I guess we go straight ahead at a reasonable pace. Let us go see what lies at the end of this ce."

    All of them quickly broke off into a run that even ric the member with the least amount of stamina could keep up for hours.

    To most people they would have seemed to be traveling quite fast at over thirty miles an hour, but for all of them it was actually a fairly leisure pace.

    ''That looks promising.''

    Within just fifteen minutes they came across arge metal door that was ced into eh wall of the facility they found themselves in.

    If they were lucky, they would find a teleportation circle that would lead them out of this ce and back into the real world.

    "It is not tapped or locked as far as I can tell. Maybe we already got through enough and we just need to open this door and that will be the end." Marcus said hopefully.

    Of course, it was not going to be that easy.

    On the other side of the door was arge man who easily stood twelve feet tall sitting at arge desk with two tanks filled with the dark green liquid they had seen in the vats outside.<sub> </sub>

    But that was not all. He also had long leather wings like a bat''sing out of his back. and two long horns that hot out of his head and curved slightly beforeing to a point.

    His hair was a dark red and he gave off a chilling aura.

    At first Marcus thought that the man was some type of demon, since the aura was somewhat simr to what he had felt from them.

    All demons gave off a sort of oppressive aura that made every other type of living being wary of them.

    This man was emitting something simr, but it was sharper and less wild than that of a demon.

    "Ah, it seems that my guests have finally arrived. I was beginning to think that I would need toe out an greet you myself." The man said as he turned around to face Marcus and his group.

    ''He talked!''

    Surprise was written all over Marcus'' face as he heard this tall redhaired man speak.

    So far none of the entities within the dungeon had said anything, or really possessed any mott of intelligence.

    In fact, the only creature any of them hade across that seemed to have any will of its own was the Shinigami that Marcus had fought, and it had only exhibited the subtlest of gestures.

    However, before them now was apletely intelligent man, or perhaps monster.

    ''Mraz can you get a read on him?'' Marcus asked.

    ''Yes. But I have never even heard about what he is. His race is listed as an Archdevil. His level is eight-four, all of his stats are incredibly high and overall better than any of ours. And he had six unique skills and plenty of powerful and high-level normal skills.''

    With this information ryed from Mrazivy, their entire group became far more wary, and Lyra and Marcus exchanged knowing looks.

    While the others who had originated from this world had not heard of devils before, Marcus and Lyra had.

    "Now that was certainly rude. Here I am trying to be a good host, and that little girl there uses some strange power to peak at my status, and all of you start radiating hostility. I have done nothing to any of you." The Archdevil said while feigning a hurt expression.

    "You say that, but was it not this ce that was producing the monsters that have been attacking us for five days straight. You seem to be in charge here from what I can see. Not to mention that you are a dungeon monster. Surely you are just a construct meant to challenge us." Marcus said usatorily while holding his scythe out.

    At this the Archdevil beganughing and turned his gaze right towards Marcus with an evil smile on his face.

    "Yes, I do run this facility as per the contract I have signed. But I did not order the monsters to attack you. They were simply following their programming so to say. Though it would have been much easier for me if all of you had just perished out there. Still, I have not been maliciously attacking you in anyway, and there are other ways to get what I want than simply killing all of you. And allow me to correct a misunderstand you seem to have; I am not a monster made by this dungeon. I was forced here by a less than favorable contract. Unfortunately, that bully of an administrator gave me little choice in the matter."

    Taken aback by this Archdevil''s words Marcus could not tell whether it was telling the truth or not.

    However, the fact remained that it did not act like anything else they had encountered in this dungeon, and that it had mentioned the administrator.

 755 Chapter 755

    With uncertainty hanging in the air, Marcus contemted what do.

    Certainly, they could just try attacking the Archdevil before them, but he was not like anything else they had faced so far in the special dungeon.

    Not only was he higher level than any of them, but from what Mrazivy had told them, he had the stats and skills of an entity at the peak of its level. Just like all of them.

    This would not be like the battles they had just fought with the army of monsters that were all far weaker than them and could be taken out by the thousands. This guy meant serious business.

    ''Perhaps we can get out of this without a fight. I do not think he would be able to beat all of us if we came at him together, but he seems quite confident and might have something up his sleeves.''

    After weighing his options, Marcus told everyone to standdown but not to let their guard slip.

    "Oh, this is a bit of a surprise. I honestly thought you would recklesslye at me with the hostility you have all been sending my way. Can I take this to mean you wish to talk?" The Archdevil said with a pleased grin on his face that made Marcus want to punch him.

    "Yes. You are not a mindless drone like everything else we have been fighting. You are correct that you have not really done anything to us personally. And since you are intelligent, we are willing to hear out whatever it is you want to say."

    "Certainly! Let us speak of a few matters. But first you must all be a bit tired. At least allow me to show you some hospitality."

    With the wave of his hand the Archdevil unleashed a wave of magic, and on a few seconds after a number of chairs, a couch, and some cushions came walking into the room on their own.

    Everyone tensed up as this happened, but as the magic seemed mundane enough none of them reacted violently.

    "Please have a seat and we can hammer out a deal that benefits all of us." The Archdevil said with a sly smile on his face.

    However, neither Marcus nor anyone of the members of his team epted the devil''s hospitality.

    They did not trust him in the slightest, and for all they knew the pieces of furniture were mimics that would try to eat them the second they rxed.

    "Very well, you may stand if you want. I suppose we will be closer to eye level that way."

    ? After that the Archdevil pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it over to Marcus. Since he had identified him as the leader.

    "And what might this be?" Marcus asked before taking the outstretched paper.

    "This is a copy of the contract I was coerc- I mean incentivized to sign with the administrator that runs the world this dimeson is linked to. If you read it over, you will understand exactly why I am here and what I want from all of you."

    With his eyes narrowed and being extremely cautious, Marcus took ahold of the contract and began reading through it.

    ''Wow, the administrator really made him sign this!''<sub> </sub>

    Once he had read through just the first couple paragraphs of the contract, Marcus looked up with a bit of pity for the devil that was forced to sign a fairly unfavorable binding document.

    To sum it up the devil was to man this separate dimeson linked to the special dungeon where he would maintain the facility that produced monsters.

    Apparently, these monsters at specified intervals would be transported away and were actually some of the ones that would appear in regr dungeons all across the world.

    Of course, the devil was not doing all this for free, and would apparently be raised to beyond the max level of this world and given immense power when his term was over.

    "Though if you manage to kill at least ten individuals that enter this floor you can immediately be set free. That seems to be the easiest way for you to get out of here, so I understand why you said it would be better for you if we had been killed by the monster army. But that begs the question. Why are you not just trying to kill us?"

    Marcus after saying this put on some pressure towards the Archdevil that seemed to have all the motive in the world to kill them all.

    "Yes, that certainly would be the easiest way. If ten of you would be willing to offer no resistance and let me kill you, I would notin."

    The Archdevil then shed another wicked smile and looked down the line as if try to find any volunteers.

    "Do you want to try it?" Marcus said with fury rising in his voice.

    At this the devil held up his hands and sat back in his chair. Then erased the slight bit of bloodlust he had been emitting.

    "No, if I though that was a good idea, I would have attacked you all the moment you entered this ce. I realize that in a fight against all of you on my own, I would stand little change. One on one I would probably beat any of you, likely even against three of you seeing as you are all exhausted. But if all fourteen of you were my opponents, I would surely lose before killing ten of you. Anyway, before you start questioning my motives, continue reading and you will understand what it is that I want with you."

    Before going on, Marcus sent the Archdevil a re.

    Naturally he was wary since this being had plenty of reason to want them all dead, but he was also frustrated for making what he considered a rookie mistake and not finishing the contract before leaping to conclusions.

    Quickly he read through the rest of it and finally came to understand what this devil wanted from them.

    "I see. If you make a deal with us, you can get out of here much quicker. The details of this contract state that you have to serve here for three thousand years, but it seems to be missing the condition for which we can help you be released earlier. So, if you would not mind answering two questions mine before we continue. First, how long have you already been here, and second, what is it you need from us?"

    "Yes, I suppose I can answer both of those questions of yours. For how long I have been here, it has been one thousand twenty-eight years already. For the first half millennium I was able to get by okay, but even an immortal like me can get tired of the monotony of this ce. Frankly nearly two thousand more years of boredom is not appealing."

    The Archdevil then let out a long sigh and motioned to the miserable state he had been living in for over a thousand years.

    "Now as for the second of your questions. You would need to sign a contract with me. I have already long since figured out the details of it and for individuals such as yourself it should be easy enough. All you need to do is collect a hundred thousand souls and offer them up to me to me within five years. Do this and I will allow you to leave without any resistance."

 756 Chapter 756

    Marcus upon hearing the Archdevil''s terms was left stunned and his mouth agape.

    He had expected it to be a difficult task, whatever this devil needed them to aplish. But collecting a hundred thousand souls was not anywhere within his predictions.

    "And what would you need these hundred thousand souls for?" Marcus asked with a perplexed expression.

    "Marcus you cannot be seriously considering this! There is no way we could kill that many people just for this monster!" Mrazivy shouted, not wanting him to even entertain making such a deal.

    Seeing their discord, the Archdevil let out a few chuckles and wore a pleased grin while looking directly at Marcus. He felt that he had them in the palm of his hand and was enjoying their struggle.

    "To answer your question, I need them to escape this dimension. With that amount I would be able to force my way out of here by absorbing the souls'' energy. Nowhere in the contract does it state that I am not allowed to leave this ce, if I have the means to. I simply do not wish to stay here any longer than I have to, but I am willing to wait five years for you to collect the necessary number of souls."

    "And what of the reward the contract promised you? If you leave you will not get yourpensation. Thest thousand years you spent here will go to waste."

    "Read the contract again. I will receive what I am owed after three thousand years no matter what so long as I am alive. If you ept my deal, it would be worth nearly two thousand years of my time. Of course, you can disregard my offer if you wish. But then your only way out of this ce will be through me, and I promise to not make it easy." The devil said as he widened his smile and showed his teeth that were all canines.

    Between making a deal with a devil or risking his friends'' and family''s life, Marcus had a difficult decision to make.

    He could feel Mrazivy''s re on his back and the other members of his team certainly were not giving off favorable impressions.

    He could understand why they did not want to got through with this. The Archdevil did not seem all that trustworthy and having to kill a hundred thousand people was not something any of them wanted to do.

    There was also the problem that allowing this devil to escape the special dungeon would bring him to Mirrion where he could cause all manner of problems.

    Still, Marcus did not want to fight if they did not have to.

    This Archdevil was oozing a level of confidence that did not fit his current situation.

    He waspletely surrounded by them, and while he would certainly put up a strong fight, it would be the end of him.

    ''He must be hiding something. He either thinks he can beat us somehow or believes he can escape. I need to know one more thing before I make my decision.''

    After contemting what to do for nearly a minute, Marcus turned his gaze back towards the devil and asked him another question.

    "When you say you need a hundred thousand souls to leave this ce, do you mean that they need to be humanoid? Or will monsters or beasts do?"<sub> </sub>

    As Marcus asked this surprise was evident on everyone else''s faces.

    They had beenpletely caught up in how vile the Archdevil seemed and never even considered that he would not need the souls of people.

    In response the Archdevil signed and leaned back in his chair. Like the fun he had been having had just been spoiled.

    "I would like to say that the souls of beasts and monsters will not do, but they will. I would prefer humans, elves, dwarfs, or any intelligent race though. Using their souls feels better. They have so much richer emotions than the mindless beasts and monsters. Surely you must have enemies of whatever nation youe from. You could use your powers in a war with the kingdoms bordering your own, or even simply hire yourselves out as mercenaries. Together all of you killed tens of thousands of monsters just in thest five days, so I am certain that in five years you could easily take out a hundred thousand of your enemies."

    The Archdevil almost practically seemed to be begging at this point, his cool facade gone.

    It seemed that he desperately wanted them to take the souls of people rather than beasts or monsters.

    "Sorry, there is no way we are going to go around simply ughtering people for you. If you cannot ept beasts or monsters than this discussion is over, and we can resolve this another way." Marcus said as he held out his scythe.

    Grumbling, the Archdevil began mumbling to himself. Questioning whether to ept Marcus'' terms or simply try to kill them.

    ? "Fine, but in case you fail to get me the souls I need in five years I get to keep all of yours. A fair deal for all of you to get out of this ce without any more trouble." The Archdevil eventually said with a slightly disappointed tone.

    However, Marcus narrowed his eyes and looked intently at the Archdevil, and said, "I will not risk any of mypanions'' souls. I will offer mine up on the contract as coteral in case we fail, but not theirs."

    Before the devil could answer though, Mrazivy yanked Marcus back and looked him directly in the eyes with fury having overtaken her expression.

    "There is no way I am letting you do that. We may have chosen you to be our leader but stop making stupid decisions on your own. We cannot trust this Archdevil and there is simply no way we can make any deal with him. Even if we got out of here and collected the souls it would release him out into our world. Who knows what kind of damage he could do."

    Looking at Marcus'' face, Marcus could tell how much she really did not want to continue making a deal with this devil. And a quick scan of everyone else showed that they seemed to disapprove as well.

    "Mraz trust me. I will do what is best for all of us." Marcus said as he tenderly put his hand on her face.

    This calmed her down a bit, and she reached up and squeezed his hand once before letting him go.

    "Well now that was touching, but I believe we should get back to business. The Archdevil said with an almost disgusted look on his face. "I am afraid that just having you sign would not be enough. Only those that sign can collect souls for me. And while I think that you might be able to collect all I need on your own, if you fail, the reparations I get will not be adequate. I require at least ten of you to sign so that I may escape this ce even if you fail to deliver me the hundred thousand souls I require to escape this ce. Surely as long as you hold up the end of your deal there will not be any problems."

    Immediately after saying this the demon conjured up a prepared sheet of paper and a pen and held it out to Marcus and his group. Beckoning them to sign.

 757 Chapter 757

    Marcus eyed the piece of paper the Archdevil had presented him with warily.

    While he was fine offering his own soul up as coteral, he did not want to do the same with hispanions.

    ''Mraz, you are certain he does not have telepathy jack?'' Marcus asked over telepathy.

    ''Yeah, I am. It is not on his skill list. Of course, it is possible he has a supreme skill simr to your false status that can change up his information and fool even my dragon eyes even if your unique skill cannot. But I find this unlikely.'' Mrazivy responded.

    With this confirmation Marcus felt a bit at ease and began discussing a n with the rest of them.

    ''I believe we should turn him down. I was leaning towards takings the deal if only my soul was at risk, but I do not think it is worth it to put anyone else in danger.''

    Unfortunately, while Marcus had been trying to be considerate by shouldering the burden of making a deal with the Archdevil, it only made everyone else angry.

    They were all pretty close at this point and none of them were going to let Marcus take such a risk by himself.

    ''Just because you are our leader for this floor do not make all the decisions for us. It is our choice if we are going to sign the deal with this devil.'' Lyra said with a very angry tone in her voice.

    ''Yes, how could you even think about doing something like that. I would never allow you to offer up your own soul and especially not stand with you if it was our only choice.'' Mrazivy said while practically ring at Marcus.

    ''Yeah, you cannot offer up your soul. You are my caretaker, and we are linked together. If I lost, you who would give continue to give me delicious food.'' Roxene said with definitively different concerns than everyone else.

    One by one the entire group chastised Marcus for his reckless decision to solely offer up his own soul as coteral without asking anyone else''s opinion.

    ''Okay, I will rein myself in. I should have talked it over with everyone first, but I did just want to protect all of you. Let us reject the deal and kill this Archdevil.''

    Yet before Marcus could do anything else, James spoke up.

    ''I would be willing to sign my name so long as the contract truly is what this devil has said it is. If we can avoid a fight with such a powerful opponent, we should. So far none of us have died, and I would rather not take any chances if we do not have to.''

    Standing next to him in human form Fallon followed his lead and nodded her head. Agreeing to offer her soul up as coteral as well.

    It was shocking to see, and Mrazivy and Lyra who had been opposed entirely could not believe that they were still discussing making a deal.

    ''I will also sign. If my liege is willing to barter with their soul I will as well.'' Blitz said, being the next to offer his support.

    ''Hm, I kind of want to fight, but I do understand that it is more important we all get out alive. I will sign as well. If it is just monsters and beasts, I can kill a hundred thousand on my own without any problem within five years.'' Quillon said

    ''If Marcus is going to sign I will as well. It is times like these where I need to do my duty as a little sister.'' Lilia said with her head held proudly.

    Following her both Aurelia and Zareen gave their consent as well. If their master was willing to sign a contract with her soul at risk, so were they.<sub> </sub>

    Inten came next, saying that this was the perfect opportunity to pay Marcus back for sparing his life in the past.

    ''If Lilia is willing than so am I. I already promised to support her, and I trust everyone here that we can defeat the required number of beasts and monsters together.'' ric said.

    With his approval there were now ten of them that were willing to sign the contract with the Archdevil.

    Mrazivy, Lyra, Roxene, and Eirwen though vehemently refused.

    ''We should think about this more rationally. That thing is obviously evil. Any deal we make with it is going to be unfair, and even if it is fair, we should not allow it into our world. I feel it would be even worse than letting in an equivalently strong demon. There is no telling what sort of damage it could do.'' Mrazivy said. Trying her best to argue the negative points of any deal they could make and try to convince everyone against it.

    And it was true that this Archdevil could be quite the danger to Mirrion when he made it there.

    Still, when weighing the weight of what might happen to strangers in the future versus risking their lives right now in a fight with a powerful entity the answer was obvious to most of them.

    ''I understand where you areing from Mraz. But we have to think about ourselves right now. After the battle we have been through none of us are at our best and we do not know what kind of tricks this Archdevil has. If even one of us dies here it will be a hollow victory. If the timees when we need to fight this Archdevil, let it be in the future when we are back to our full strength.''

    Sighing she could see that everyone''s mind was made up and relented.

    ''Fine, but I will sign as well. It will be easier to collect all the souls for it if we work together, and I am not going to let any of us end up bound to this monster if I can help it.''

    Mrazivy finally agreed with the n to sign the contract, and Eirwen who was only holding back since he was her beastpanion joined as well.

    Quickly Lyra also agreed. Not wanting to be left out.

    In the end the only one that did not consent to signing was Roxene.

    ''As touching as this moment ofradery is, I will not be risking my own soul. Even if it is just a one in a million chance, I would never make a deal with a devil.''

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus never expected Roxene to offer up her soul.

    Now that they hade to a consensus, he turned his attention back to the Archdevil who had been waiting patiently.

    "I see that you have finished with your discussion. Have youe to a decision?"

    The Archdevil once again held the paper out to Marcus. A wide smile on his face as if he already knew what conclusion they hade to.

    "Yes, we will be making a deal with you. All of us are tired, and if we can avoid a fight that would be best for us. But before we sign this, I will look it over carefully. I am sure you understand I need to make sure everything you said is the truth before we possibly sign with our souls at risk."

 758 Chapter 758

    Finally, taking the contract from the Archdevil, Marcus began going over it and scrutinizing every detail.

    Going through it he found that it was full of confusing and superfluousngue and even more absurd than most of the contracts he had ever read in his past life.

    However, as long as he was careful and put his knowledge and experience to use, he was able to understand what was written. Though it did take him quite a few rereads of many sentences to grasp the meaning.

    Ultimately the contract did detail what the devil had already described, but Marcus found some uses that had not been mentioned.

    One of them that especially caught his attention. It was the one that described the amount of time they had toplete the contract.

    Yes, they had five years before all their souls would be taken by the demon if they failed, but every year they dyed one of their souls at random would be rewarded to the demon even if they did deliver the necessary hundred thousand souls.

    It was also a bit unclear if beast or monster souls would work from thengue of contract which stated that the beings must be intelligent.

    ''If this is what I think it means we would only be able to offer up cognizant souls. His discontent earlier was likely an act then. He almost certainly wants us to fail.''

    Continuing on, Marcus found more and more details that while the Archdevil had never lied about were not exactly as he wanted them to believe. Everything about the contract was written to be in favor of the demon, and one misstep would have one or more of their souls forfeit.

    Then at the very end Marcus found that there was a hidden section that he could not make out as it was hidden with magic of some kind. For all he knew anything could be there.

    ''He never even considered making a fair deal with us. I made a mistake even entertaining the idea. This devil is a grand actor. I truly thought he was desperate to get out of here and was willing to make a reasonable deal. No, in the end he always wanted to trick us into losing our souls one way or another, without having to lift a finger.''

    Internally Marcus was raging at how he had been toyed with. Of course, any normal person that was not used to reading contracts likely would have been dupped by at least a few of the uses written. Yet, Marcus was not going to let anything get by him when not only his soul, but the souls of his friends and family were on the line.

    However, as much as he was angry, he did not let it show on his face.

    It was clear now that no deal he could ept was going to be made. The Archdevil did not just leave in a few disadvantageous conditions, the entire contract was riddled with them.

    Practically nothing about it benefited them other than that the devil would lead them to the exit of the special dungeon.

    Still, Marcus was wary of showing his true displeasure in this situation. As far as the Archdevil knew he was just reading over the contract and would not know that Marcus actually had plenty of experience from his former life dealing with this sort of thing. Anyone who did not could easily have signed this contract without knowing exactly what they were getting into.

    ''I wish I could contact the others and tell them what I have learned, but I cannot allow any of them to show hostility. I need to turn this around into an advantageous situation for us.''

    Marcus knew that he was going to shock everyone and that they might be a bit slow to back him up if he did not inform them, but there was simply no way he was not going to use this chance to try and strike back against the devil that thought it could fool him.

    ''I will point out one of the uses I have a problem with and pretend to negotiate new terms. Then when he is distracted still thinking he had us in the palm of his hands, I will strike.''

    Putting on a worried frown Marcus stared at one point on the contract, before looking up at the Archdevil.<sub> </sub>

    "I believe I have found one area that is not exactly as we discussed. The part about the time limit seems to have extra details. It seems we will be penalized every year we do not deliver. I would like to make sure that is changed so we have the full five years as we talked about." Marcus said while holding out the contract to the devil.

    He had chosen this particr use since it was the easiest to spot and he did not want the Archdevil to catch onto the fact that he knew just how one sided the contract really was.

    "Ah, so you spotted that. Well, I suppose it was expected, but you cannot me me for trying. It is in my nature. Allow me to change it since you caught me." The devil said while feigning disappointment.

    However, while he thought Marcus had just found the one easy to spot advantage he had left in the contract. It was actually Marcus who wasying a trap.

    The second the Archdevil took the contract back from him, Marcus did not pull his hand back and summoned his scythe.

    With a swift motion he plunged it right towards the Archdevil''s chest with as much force as he could in the moment.

    At the same time, he also threw his other arm back and opened up a darkness portal that''s other end appeared right behind the devil.

    ''des of darkness.''

    With the swipe of his hand, he cast his tier three darkness magic spell with as much power as he could muster and threw it into the darkness portal he had created.

    The devil was actually caught off guard by Marcus'' attack. As were all of hispanions.

    As far as they knew the deal was still on, when Marcus had suddenly attacked.

    Of course, a powerful entity like this Archdevil was not wholly unable to react to Marcus'' sneak attack and managed to move at thest moment to have the scythe pierce his stomach instead of his chest.

    Nevertheless, Marcus'' second attack which came from behind and was even more unexpected hit home, and three powerful des of darkness sliced deep into the Archdevil.

    ck blood began pouring out of his body where he had been hit and the corroding properties of Marcus'' darkness magic began eating away at his body.

    It seemed that the sneak attack Marcus had gotten off would be enough to do in the powerful devil despite how tough he was.

    "Actually, I can me you for trying to trick us even if it is in your nature. Did you really think you would get away with it?" Marcus said as he pushed his scythe in deeper.

    Yet right when it seemed the Archdevil would take hisst breath, his body distorted, and in its ce a different person appeared.

    It was clearly another devil by the wings on its back and the horns on its head, but he was only eight feet tall and had a bald head.

    Chapter 758 No Deal

 759 Chapter 759

    "My, you really did catch me off guard there with that one. I would have been in trouble if not for my subordinate''s unique skill Death Substitute. To think you would pull one over on your friends as well as me. I honestly did not think you would attack me there."

    The Archdevil appeared from above and floating down slowly pped his hands towards Marcus.

    However, now he was not alone, and eight more devils descend with him.

    All this time they had been waiting outside the range of any of Marcus and his team''s perception skills. Waiting in case they were needed.

    ''This exins why he was so confident. He was never alone to begin with.'' Marcus thought as he pulled his scythe out of the minion that had died in the Archdevil''s ce.

    It was also clear now why he required ten of their souls. It was one for him and each of his subordinates.

    "Looks like we are fighting." James said with a grimace on his face.

    "Yeah, the contract was one sided, and there were hidden bits I could not even read. All this devil wanted to do was steal our souls. Fighting was always our only real way out from the beginning." Marcus said to everyone.

    Swiftly they all got into a battle stance and kept their attention on the nine devils that were hovering above them and picking out which of them would be their prey.

    ''Mraz, how are their levels looking? Are they all close to as strong as the Archdevil?'' Marcus asked switching over to telepathy.

    However, the response he received from Mrazivy was verbal, which surprised him. Until he heard what she had to say.

    "One of them has telepathy jack. They have been able to hear everything we have been discussing from the beginning. And as for their levels, the weakest is level sixty-five and the second strongest after their leader is eighty-one. None of them are nearly as strong as he is, but they are not pushovers. This is going to be tough."

    Marcus grimaced when he heard this, but at least knew he made the correct decision to not tell any of them that he was going to attack. Had he, they would be fighting ten devils right now instead of nine, since one of themy dead from Marcus'' surprise attack.

    ? "Now I am sure a mass free for all would be interesting, but how about we try to keep things a bit more orderly. I would prefer for this entire faciality to not be destroyed, so if all of you wish, you can take us on as you want in individual battles." The Archdevil said.

    Immediately after nine paths opened up, and each of the devils took ce in front of one of them.

    For a moment Marcus contemted not following what the devil was trying to go for and simply have an all-out fight as a group, but understood this method was best for both their teams.

    There was a power difference between each of their weaker and stronger members, and just the shockwaves from their full power attacks could kill their allies in a chaotic battle.

    However, this meant that they would not be able to protect each other as well.

    "Fine, we can do it the way you want. Of course, we have more members, so some of you devils will have to fight two of us."

    Bowing his head, the Archdevil showed his approval for this. He had confidence in the devils that served him, and in his own powers.

    Without much dy everyone from Marcus'' group found their opponent with Mrazivy''s help pairing up their levels.

    "Roxene and I will take on the Archdevil. The rest of you, good luck with your own fights." Marcus said when they were ready to begin.

    Soon they were all standing in front of the devil they had chosen to take on and began following them into the separate areas.

    Though before they did, Marcus stealthily left a small Dark Portal with everyone. That way he and Roxene coulde to their aid if need be.

    Then right before he followed behind the Archdevil, Marcus steeled himself and shouted out, "Lilia, you have my permission to go wild if necessary. I will leave it up to your discretion when to use it."

    After that he passed through the same doorway as the Archdevil and appeared in the area they hade from that previously contained the vats spawning monsters.

    Yet it was no longer devoid of activity. The monsters had broken through and stood at the back of the Archdevil as his loyal army.

    "You must be truly foolish to separate like you did. You had a better chance of winning if you fought together. At least then you would have taken out some of my subordinates before we killed you all. Now it will be a sweep for us." The Archdevil said confidently.

    He believed that every single one of his devils woulde out on top in their battles now that they were fighting enemies of a simr level, instead of having to fight in a cluster.

    "I think you are looking down on us too much. I have faith in mypanions'' abilities. They are more than a match for your subordinates, and I am more than a match for you." Marcus said as he brandished his scythe.

    He then nodded towards Roxene, and she bound off towards the army of monsters at the back of the Archdevil. She would hold them off while he did battle with the ruler of this floor, and their greatest challenge.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright Form.''

    Starting off strong, Marcus activated his supreme skill andunched a quasar st spell with the sh of his scythe.

    The massive beam of light flew fast and true towards the demon, who was a bit surprised to see the light magic attack.

    He had naturally had one of his subordinates use a unique skill that could see a targets skills without any constraint to level, and nowhere on Marcus'' skill list had it listed light magic.

    Of course, this was due to his own unique skill False Status, and it allowed him to get one over on the Archdevil.

    Before the st hit though, the Archdevil deployed a powerful mana barrier around himself and used his unique skill Enhanced Protection to buff all his defenses.

    ''Dark Portal.''

    With his first attack blocked Marcus led up with his next by using his newest unique skill to create a gate in between him and the Archdevil.

    He was able to ce it within his enemy''s mana barrier and shed his scythe right towards his side.

    Unfortunately, while the attack slipped by the Archdevil''s barrier, his danger sense picked up on the attack the instant the portal had appeared, and he moved to intercept it.<sub> </sub>

    Marcus'' scythe then shed against the devils ws, which he had extended out from the tips of his fingers.

    Sparks flew as they vied for supremacy, but in the end Marcus was overpowered and his scythe pushed back through the portal.

    "You certainly are full of tricks aren''t you. Not only was the status reading I got wrong, but you have powers that match up better against me than I expected. Still, I have ways of dealing with these pesky portals. Dimensional Lock."

    A wave of energy flew out from the Archdevil''s body as he used the powerful skill that was meant only to deal with space magic and simr abilities.

    It had a simr affect as Marcus'' spatial disrupter in that it made it difficult for space magic to be used but worked on a different principle.

    With the spatial disruptor made it difficult for space magic to input correct coordinates and would cause it to malfunction rather than simply fail, the skill dimensional lock instead strengthens the stability of the area around the user to prevent space magic from warping dimensions which was the way the powerful magic skill worked.

    However, Marcus only smiled and created five more darkness portals around the Archdevils and unleashed his next attack.

    His unique skill did not warp space but simply corded a hole and punched through it. Allowing him to use it even through the Archdevil''s dimensional lock skill.

    ''Crescent Moon Strikes.''

    Using the technique he had learned on the fiftieth floor, Marcus let loose a series of attacks through each of the portals in rapid session.

    Surprise was written all over the Archdevil''s face once again, as these attacks came at it through Marcus'' darkness portals that should not have been able to work.

    He frantically had to move his body around and swing his ws to avoid being sliced by Marcus'' attacks but could not evade them all.

    Two of the shes stuck home, and carved deeply into the Archdevil''s right side and left shoulder.

    "Gah!"

    The Archdevil screamed out in pain from the attacks that drew his blood, and even drained away his mana and life force due to the abilities within the scythe it had inherited from Dread Devourer.

    ''Lightning Gatling.''

    To follow up Marcus held out his left hand and cast a tier seven lighting magic spell he had gotten from the dungeon.

    Five rings of electricity formed around his left arm and began spinning quickly. Before firing off a constant stream of intense lightning bolts.

    In merely a second Marcus had unleashed over a thousand bolts, which all mmed into the demon''s mana barrier.

    It was not long before it was overwhelmed, and the lightning began hitting the Archdevil''s body.

    Smiling, Marcus kept the attacks going and did not let up for a moment.

    While most spells simplyunched one attack, or created a persistent effect that could be used or controlled, this spell worked differently.

    So long as he kept pouring in his mana, he could keep firing off a barrage of bolts without rest or need to cast the spell again.

    But his supremacy did not keep up for much longer.

    The Archdevil having been more pressured than he thought used his strongest powers to push back against Marcus.

    A dark red mist began permitting from his body that ate away at Marcus'' lightning, and his form shifted and changed.

    He now had another set of wings and arms giving him four of each, and on his head were three more eyes that moved around unnaturally and without any coordination with his main eyes.

    "To think I would be made to show my true form and deploy my Hellish Miasma unique skill. I admit I underestimated your power far more than I thought possible. It seems that there is some danger to me after all, and I will need to take this more seriously."

    Without any warning the red miasma around the Archdevil began expanding out towards Marcus and he felt his danger sense go off like crazy.

    "Where are you looking. I am right behind you."

    Suddenly before he could react, Marcus heard the Archdevil from behind him, and in the next moment felt his ws sh against him.

    In the nick of time, he managed to defend his head and take the hits where his armor was and prevent himself from being sliced to ribbons.

    Nevertheless, the attacks hurt just by how much force was behind them, and they also flung Marcus in the direction of the miasma that had been shot towards him.

    ''Dark Portal.''

    Before he waspletely consumed, Marcus enveloped himself with his unique skill and opened up another one far away from danger.

    Yet the second he appeared, the Archdevil was waiting for him and swiped at him again.

    ''Stalwart full moon.''

    Immediately he deployed his defensive skill and moved his scythe around fluidly to block the iing attacks, but the difference in their physical strength was too high now that the Archdevil was in his true form, and Marcus was knocked around like a cat ying with a toy.

    ''This does not look good. He is way stronger in physicalbat than me, and the miasma surrounding him is chipping away at me. I cannot afford to hold anything back.''

    ''Soul burst! Shield of the Just!''

 760 Chapter 760

    At the same time as Marcus everyone else followed behind their own opponents and began fights of their own.

    ric once he appeared on the other end of the path her had gone down found himself surround by magma.

    There were tforms of earth that dotted the moltenke, but other than that there was nowhere to stand.

    ''This really is a disadvantage battlefield for me.'' ric thought as he looked towards at his enemy who was confidently standing on thergest tform in the center of the magmake.

    The devil he was facing was level sixty-eight and five levels higher than he was.

    Still, she was one of them weaker subordinates of the archdevil and the one that ric had said he would take on.

    ''Freeze Zone.''

    ric cast a tier five ice magic spell around him which dropped the temperature in the area to well below zero degrees and the magma in his way rapidly cooled off and turned solid.

    He then walked across his new path and made his way to the central tform by creating his own road across theke of magma.

    When he arrived, the devil waiting for him pped her hands enthusiastically like she had just finished watching a good show.

    "That was impressive. I did not think you would be able to cool off the magma so easily. You are not one of the weak human rabbles, but a special one. My name is Yarissa. What might yours be?"

    Warry of what this devil was trying to do by making seemingly cordial conversation, ric narrowed his gaze and tried to figure out her intent.

    "There is no need to give me such a nasty re. I just asked you for your name and even gave mine first. I think I am being quite nice, seeing as how you are a lesser species."

    Hearing this, ric figured out what this devil was doing. She was simply ying with him. She was not taking this seriously and did not think of him as a threat.

    "Fine, my name is ric Skalbeck. Now are we going to fight, or did you simply bring me to this arena to talk?"

    ric then leveled his staff towards Yarissa and began umting mana at the tip of it.

    However, while he figured his tantly hostile action would begin the battle, his enemy did not attack.

    Instead, she just pouted, and said, "Yes, I was nning on talking the whole time. I am not much for fighting. I find it boring. There is not nearly as much fun in bending someone to your will by overpowering them. I will let the others have their battles, and instead we can talk. I think I am starting to like you, so how about you be mine. We only need nine of your friends'' souls now, so if you give up and submit to me, I can make sure to take you with us as my ve."

    After saying that Yarissa pushed out her fairlyrge chest as if to tempt ric and gave him a sultry gaze.

    She was quite confident in her looks, and she had gotten plenty of men to bow before her long ago prior to being trapped in the special dungeon along with the Archdevil she served.

    In response though, ric just scoffed and gave her a pitying smile.

    "Perhaps if I had not met my goddess that would have been alluring, but inpassion to her, you are pretty much trash. You are not even close to as beautiful outwardly and your personally is rotten to the core."

    Hearing this from ric, Yarissa''s face twisted into one of absolute fury, and her pretty face became quite warped.

    "What did you say you little shit? There is no one more beautiful than me! I have brought a thousand men to ruin with my beauty, and a little boy like you will not insult me. Since you are the first person I have had a chance at in over a thousand years, I thought I might be nice and even offer to turn you into a devil as well if you epted my generous proposition. But now I think even being a ve is too good for you. I will make you my mindless pet, but not before carving up this so-called goddess of yours andying her mangled corpse at your feet while I eat her soul." Yarissa raved.

    She was absolutely livid after ric''s insult, and she began pulsating with a dark power.

    While she did not like to fight, that did not mean she was not powerful and able to crush most opponents that were around the same level as her.

    Yet as she was building up power, she suddenly noticed that the smoke around her that she thought wasing from the magma had coiled around her legs.

    ''Smoke Serpent.''<sub> </sub>

    ric''s tier six spell that he had gotten from the special dungeon began crushing his enemy, and it opened its mouth and dug its sharp fangs into her shoulder.

    It quickly began injecting toxic smoke into her body and her body began to swell.

    She let out a bloodcurdling scream as this happened and tried struggling against the spell ric had been preparing since he entered.

    "You never should have underestimated me and let your perception slip. This battle ended before it even began because of yourck of awareness."

    But before ric''s spell could finish the job, Yarissa let out a loud shout and she ripped away ric''s smoke serpent with her ws.

    "Don''t think I will go down to such a weak sneak attack! I am a devil that has lived for nearly thirteen hundred years! I am not going to be killed by a child like you!"

    Once she had fished screaming out in anger towards ric, she held her hands forward and began amassing more mana as she prepared to use her strongest attack from one of her unique skills.

    "Did you think that I had only cast one spell while you were talking. I said this battle was already over."

    With the tap of his staff ric activated the other two spells that he had cast already, and manacles of smoke appeared around Yarissa''s arms and legs and pulled taught against the walls the area they were in.

    Then her body began to freeze solid from the ice coffin spell ric had prepared.

    Of course, neither of these spells could finish off a devil as powerful as Yarissa, and the ice covering her was slowly cracking and the manacles bending under the pressure of her strength.

    Nevertheless, ric only used these to bind her for a moment and held out his staff to deliver the finishing blow.

    ''ess Spell Storage. Deploy tier six hurricane fury, tier five cialnce, tier five smoke missiles, and tier six necrotic coating.''

    Using one of his unique skill, ric brought out four spells he had cast ahead of time and used them almost instantaneously.

    Though he then even went one step further and fused all for spells together into one powerful magic attack with his second unique skill Mold Magic.

    It allowed him to seamlessly blend his spells together even if normally it would be impossible. Albeit at the cost of an extreme amount of mana.

    But luckily his evolution gave him plenty thanks to his strongest race ability boundless mana which gave him four times the amount of mana he would normally have

    ric had be a rare entity called a Magi Lord, and with it he gained a number of abilities that strengthened his already powerful magic.

    In terms of magical strength and flexibility, he stood at the top of every member of their group.

    "Now die." ric said as he swung his staff and fired off his fusion spell.

    The torrent of wind surrounding ice and smoke and enhanced with death magic flew out from ric''s staff and the ground in front of it was turned to dust.

    The devil Yarissa tried her hardest to break free from ric''s binding spells, but all her struggles were in vain.

    She was only able to break her upper body and left arm free before the attack hit her and she waspletely engulfed by it.

    When the power behind ric''s attack finally dissipated there was absolutely nothing left of Yarissa.

    She had been torn and shredded apart by the wind, ice, and smoke magic. And the death magic had turned what little remained after that into dust.

    "Well, that was not the test I had hoped it would be. I did not even need to use my third unique skill. Though I suppose it is best if I save it in case I need itter. For now, I should resupply my spell storage and try to find my way out of here. I know Lilia will be fine since Marcus gave her the go ahead to use her strongest power, but some of the others might need my help. Now where is the way out of here?"

 761 Chapter 761

    With Inten sitting on his back Blitz trotted down the corridor following behind the devil that would be their enemy.

    Of all the devils this one was thergest and the least humanoid in appearance.

    He was a hulking man while ck spiked skin up to his torso, and in his arms was arge double-sided ax.

    His lower body was that of a lizard with a long t tail and four legs. Each of which had sharp ws on them and dark green scales.

    Overall, he stood nearly thirty feet high and made Blitz look small byparison, and Inten could not even bepared with the difference in size.

    Soon they made it to the end of the corridor and found themselves in arge and deep swamp that they could not see the bottom of.

    A loud ssh resounded through the area as the devil jumped in and even his huge form was swallowed up by the swamp.

    ''I did not expect such arge creature to rely on stealth, but he haspletely vanished under there.'' Inten said with his telepathy in surprise.

    A momentter though the pathway they had been standing on the edge of disappeared and Blitz who could still not fly due to the dungeon''s limitation fell into the water.

    ''Inten hurry up and make a tform for us. I have no desire to fight that thing in the water. Need I remind you that it is seven levels higher than either of us at level seventy-nine, or that we were picked to fight together due to how powerful it is.'' Blitz said to Inten.

    Inten let out a disgruntled scoff at having been given an order from Blitz, but still created a tform made of diamond that they could stand on.

    ''Now what? Do we just wait for it toe up and attack us?'' Inten asked.

    ''Unless you have any better idea. If it was above the surface, I could find its location by feeling its movement through the air currents, but under such murky water none of my abilities are going to pick it up. I suppose I could try sting it out of the swamp with lighting but depending on where it is I could just end up wasting my energy.'' Blitz said with a frown on his face.

    If the swamp had been smaller, he or Inten could have destroyed it and flushed out the devil. But it was over a hundred feet deep and went on for as far as they could see. Even their strongest attacks would not cover the entire area and would only exhaust them.

    ''Fine I will see if I can find it, but as you say it could be pretty much anywhere.'' Inten said as he hopped off Blitz''s back.

    He then focused on the diamond tform he had made and began weaving thin threads out of it.

    Slowly he began spreading them out in the murky water to try and locate their enemy that had disappeared the moment they got to the battlefield.

    ''Ah, I got a hit!''

    ''Blitz, around a thousand feet at about eight degrees. It moved away when I found it but should be at least around that area. Light it up.''

    A smile on his face Blitz began cracking with electricity and unleashed his strongest attack upon the area that Inten had directed him to.

    ''Cmity Bolt.''

    A single shot ofpressed lighting flew off from Blitz''s body as he cast his tier eight spell and ascended into the sky.

    It then raced through the air until it hovered over the point Inten had pointed out.

    For a second there was absolute stillness and quiet, before the bolt fell down upon the swamp.

    It seemed to only be a normal bolt of lightning at first, but when it hit the bottom of the swamp it exploded into a st of electricity that exploded out for a bit over three miles in ever direction.

    Blitz even needed to use his magic to create a barrier around him and Inten to prevent them from being consumed as well.

    ''You magic never fails to impress. And that Electro Master unique skill of yours that increased the power of your attacks by fifty percent is no joke.'' Inten said with a bit of awe leaking out into his voice.

    In terms of raw destructive power Blitz had him and just about every other member of their group beat.

    Hot steam erupted all around them from the swamp water being evaporated, and a putrid smell filled the air along with it.

    Large waves also began to crash about from all the disced water and Inten had to raise their tform to prevent them from being swept away.

    ''So do you think that got him?'' Inten asked to Blitz

    ''No, he got away. Only the edge of my attack even connected with that devil, and he swam out of range only a moment after. I don not think that was enough to finish the battle.''

    Inten frowned hearing this. He had been hoping that Blitz''s tier eight spell would end the battle in one blow.

    Unfortunately, their battle was going to continue for much longer, and now the enemy knew just how devastating their power could be.<sub> </sub>

    ''How many more of those do you think you can fire off?''

    ''Maybe two. It takes quite a lot out of me both mana wise and mentally to use that spell. If I was in peak condition, I could easily let loose nine. But we have been fighting with practically no rest and I am sure you realize just how tiring that is as well.'' Blitz said in response.

    Inten nodded his head at this. He was feeling the mental and physical fatigue of fighting for five days straight as well and knew he could not perform at his best for long.

    With nothing else to do the two of them waited for the devil that was their opponent to show itself. Except it seemed content to just hide within the swamp and not get close to them.

    It really had no reason to fight them. So long as Blitz and Inten were stuck here, they could not do anything else, and the devil need only wait for itsrades to finish their fights ande assist it.

    ''Looks like he it does not have any intention of fighting us. I suppose using your best attack as an opener was a bad idea. If it thought we were weaker, we might have been able to lure it in and strike.'' Inten eventually said.

    The two of them realizing that the battle was not going to be straightforward sat down and rested whileing up with a n.

    They did not need to exhaust themselves further by being fully on guard since Inten had left out a number of diamond threads to act as feelers that would detect the devil if he got within three hundred meters of them.

    Eventually after around fifteen minutes they came up with a n. Though Inten was not happy about it.

    ''I suppose that is our most likely way to lure it out, but it is risky. We could just wait for the others.'' Inten said.

    ''No, we need to beat this thing quickly. While I do not think any of ourpanions will lose, the devils might manage to trap them or shake them off somehow and we could end up fighting more than one of them. Our best bet is to kill it quickly and go help the others if they need it.'' Blitz said stoically.

    Signing, Inten could only agree.

    The two of them then turned in different directions and jumped into the swamp.

    Soon they were both out of view from each other as they went further away to try and find the devil that was content hiding from them.

    Yet, while it would not show up to face them both, their n was to lure it out by offering themselves up as bait.

    Surely when it realized that they have split up it would go after one of them to finish them off before taking on the other.

    And just like they nned, it was not long before the aquatic devil moved in on Inten.

    ''I figured this would happen.'' He thought as he created a new tform to stand on.

    After Blitz''s disy of raw destructive force Inten was certain the devil woulde after him first.

    Of course, while Blitz focused more on power, Inten was the best at defense.

    The devil started off the battle by swiping its hand through the water and sending out arge wave towards Inten.

    It almost certainly meant to knock him off is tform but, all he needed to do was anchor himself in and let the water pass over.

    Once the wave was gone the devil instead tried a more direct attack and sent out a barrage of fast-moving bullets of water.

    ''Diamond wall.''

    Yet Inten simply remained calm and created a thick defensive barrier in front of him with his ability to manifest diamond.

    The high-speed water bullets barely even left dents in the wall and the devil had to maneuver around and try and attack Inten from another angle.

    ''For as much of as it looks like a brute, it sure does fight with caution and finesse.'' Inten thought as he blocked another barrage of attacks.

    However, it was not long before Inten''s defensive battle ended.

    The n all along had been for them to meet back up when the devil attacked one of them and Blitz appeared not long after.

    He stood proudly atop the surface of the water, being able to easily run over it just the same as the ground. Up to this point he had feigned his ability to do so to prevent the devil from being cautious of his fast movement speed.

    Immediately the devil tried to retreat, having no desire to take on both of them. But it was already toote.

    Pirs of diamond rose up from the bottom of the swamp and created a dome around them.

    During his time defending Inten had spread out his diamond all around them and now created an enclosed arena that the devil could not hope to easily escape from.

 762 Chapter 762

    Now having the devil confined within a battlefield they could control Blitz and Inten took over the initiative to attack.

    Spears of diamond and spheres of electricity danced through the area and relentlessly chased down the devil as it attempted to evade and unleash counter attacks.

    It used its double-sided ax for the first time and unleash a powerful st of mana at Blitz who it felt was the greatest threat.

    But the attack never reached him. Inten jumped in front of the attack and swallowed it whole.

    Then he returned it back to the devil even stronger by adding his own mana.

    Arge explosion rocked the area and waves began crashing against the walls of diamond Inten had used to iste the area.

    ''He certainly is tough.'' Blitz said when things settled down and the devil came back into view.

    The devil did not have so much as a scratch on it. Its skin was now pure obsidian and was giving off a slight glow.

    It was quite obvious the devil was using some sort of unique skill that boosted its defense to a very high degree.

    ''Looks like this is going to take longer than we hoped.'' Inten thought while manifesting more diamond spears around him.

    Once he was ready, he fired off a number of high-speed projectiles towards the devil, but everything just bounced off of its enhanced skin.

    The devil smirked as this happened and charged towards Inten and Blitz for the first time.

    Up till now the devil had not tried to close the distance between them, but now that it was confident that its defense could block their attacks it was moving into closebat.

    ''I suppose that I should meet it head on. Blitz keep backing me up with your lighting magic. Just make sure not to hit me as well.'' Inten said before rushing forward.

    Quickly the tiny mouse that was not evenparable in size to the devil seemed to growrger.

    However, upon closer examination, he was not getting any bigger and was instead wrapping himself in diamond.

    By the time he shed with the devil he had created a fifty-foot-tall mouse out of diamond that he was controlling from inside.

    He was able to control this manifestation just as easily as his own body so long as he was inside of it, and Intenshed out with his massive ws and met the devil''s ax.

    The world seemed to shake as their attacks impacted and vied for supremacy.

    In the end Inten''s attack faltered despite his colossal diamond form.

    The wed paw he had stuck with began to shatter and the ax cleaved deep into the giant mouse made of diamond that Inten was controlling.

    Yet the ax still stopped far short of reaching Inten at the center of the diamond mouse colossus, and its function could continue easily through the amount of damage it had taken.

    Without any dy Intenshed out with his long diamond tail like a whip and smacked right into the devil''s chest.

    A loud sonic boom followed, and the devil was blown back and hit against the diamond arena keeping it locked in.

    Following up not giving their opponent any time to recover Blitz fired off multiple sts of lightning that fried the devil.

    For the first time it let out a pained howl and red towards Blitz.

    Despite the amount of electricity coursing through it the devil seemed mostly annoyed by the damage it was taking and began pulsating with mana in retaliation.

    A few momentster it unleashed an omni direction attack that engulfed everything in its way.

    Nevertheless, no matter how powerful the attack, since it was made of mana Inten could eat it. He jumped out of the giant diamond mouse he was controlling and open his mouth to consume the mana.

    Except this was exactly what the devil had been waiting for.

    Even though it looked to be nothing but a brute, it was quite intelligent and had realized already that Inten could somehow absorb mana.

    The attack it had used was simply juicy bait to lure Inten out.

    With astounding speed it appeared in front of Inten and swung its ax with all its might.

    It seemed that Inten could do nothing to avoid the attack as he was preupied absorbing the st of mana.

    ''Physical Nullification.''

    The second before the ax hit him Inten simply smirked and used another one of the unique skills he had obtained.

    It was his ultimate trump card in taking attacks which nullified any non-magical force against him.

    The skill drained an immense amount of mana with each hit he blocked, making it not very useful for long battles. But coupled with Magic Eater, Inten could take just about any attack ande out unscathed.

    When the ax hit him all of its power and momentum suddenly disappeared, and Inten just stood there as if nothing had happened.

    This astonished the devil that was certain it had gotten a clean hit that should have easily turned Inten who was a tiny mouse into a bloody pulp.

    ''Volt Crash.''

    While the devil was stunned by Inten, Blitz rushed in with a tier six spell cast on himself and jammed his herons d in electricity into the devil.

    For an instant he was repelled by the devil''s unique skill that increased its defenses, but his horns soon pierced through.

    Now that he was an Emperor Kirin his horns had the power to break through almost anything and deal massive damage. Simr to a dragon''s fangs.<sub> </sub>

    This time when the electricity ran through it, the devil really felt it and its body started smoking from being electrocuted.

    Nevertheless, it was still a high-level devil, and after a second to recover it kicked Blitz back and swung its ax to follow up.

    Inten interposed himself between this follow up attack and used his Physical Nullification to stop it.

    This ate through nearly half of his mana even after he had used Magic Eater. Showing just how powerful the devil''s attacks were.

    ''Don''t just charge in recklessly like that Blitz. This thing is strong and can take a hit. We need to remain on guard and wear it down before delivering a finishing blow. Allow me to keep its attention and you just focus on ranged attacks. I will make an opening for you eventually to use a big move.'' Inten said as he jumped back onto the diamond mouse colossus.

    Blitz nodded his head and thanked Inten before backing off further away from the devil.

    Now back in control of his giant diamond puppet Inten charged towards the devil once gain and got into a melee with it.

    Earth shattering blows followed as Inten shed once more with the devil.

    His diamond mouse colossus was constantly being shattered in ces which he would rapidly fix, and when it seemed he would be overwhelmed Blitz unleashed a lightning attack to stun the devil while Inten recovered.

    They fought like this for nearly ten minutes until the devil finally created the opening it wanted by pinning Inten down.

    In an instant the spikes on tis body began to glow and they extend in every direction.

    Even the diamond around Inten making up his ability was no match and the spikes pierced through it like needles through fabric.

    One of them went right for Inten and he failed to use his Physical Nullification in time.

    The spike pierced right into Inten, and he was sttered in his own blood for the first time since he had evolved to a mythic grade beast.

    However, he pushed through the pain and focused on the diamond around him and continued manipting it.

    All the spikes that had pierced into his puppet found themselves begin pressed down on and the devil could not pull himself free.

    After all this time Inten had finally managed to lock down the devil and taking advantage of this Blitz cast another spell.

    ''Lightning crucifixion''

    As Blitz released the tier seven spell Arge pir of electricity in the shape of a cross formed around the demon and lighting spikes pieced into its arms and legs in order to pin it down.

    This was the strongest binding spell Blitz had, and with it even a being as powerful as the devil they were fighting could not break free easily.

    And to further incapacitate it Inten dropped the from he had been controlling and spread the diamond around the devil. Wrapping it up tightly.

    Then with a pained grunt he pulled himself from the spike that had pierced him and began crushing the devil.

    Loud popping sounds could be heard as its joints cracked and soon even its bones creaked under the strain of Inten''s diamond vice.

    ''Inten, I understand you want to crush it, but hurry back to me. We cannot risk it escaping and need to finish it off right now.'' Blitz said with a frantic tone.

    In response Inten let out a loud scoff. Thoughing from him it was actually a rather adorable sounding squeak.

    He was seeing red after being stabbed and wanted to thoroughly destroy the devil himself.

    But when he saw that his diamond was beginning to crack, and the devil might break free, he jumped back towards Blitz and created a small tform next to him.

    Now that Inten was no longer near the devil, Blitz began charging up with an immense amount of electricity. And when he was ready, unleashed his final attack.

    ''Cmity Bolt.''

    For the second time thepressed electricity flew into the sky and came down in a single strike.

    It seemed incredibly normal at first just as before. But when the bolt hit the devil, it exploded in a st of power that covered everything within a three-mile diameter.

    A barrier of lighting covered Blitz and Inten as it passed and the two of them stood inside the only safe area within the st.

    When it finally settled down everything around them was barren, and even the diamond arena Inten had created was gone. Vaporized into nothing.

    All that remained of the devil was charred corpse that was slowly falling apart into ash.

    ''You have leveled up to level seventy-three.''

    At the same time after the devil was dead, both Inten and Blitz received a level up notification.

    The devil they had just killed together had given each of them enough experience points to level up thanks to its higher level.

    Having received the notification it was certain that the devil was dead, and both of them copsed onto the diamond tform they were on in exhaustion.

    The fight had been harrowing and now that it was over, they werepletely wiped.

    ''You doing okay Inten? You took a pretty nasty wound.''

    ''I will be fine in a little while. My regeneration has already fixed most of the damage, but my mana is practically empty, and my body feels like lead.''

    Unfortunately, as much as they both just wanted to fall asleep and disregard the world, they knew that the others might need them.

    After a short break they forced themselves up and headed towards a glowing portal that had appeared. Figuring that was probably the exit and would take them to one of their otherpanions.

 763 Chapter 763

    ''Twin Fire Fang.''

    Her two Kukris d in her bluish silver mes Lyra struck against the weapon of the devil she was fighting.

    Yet her attack was easily deflected, and she had to jump back to avoid the follow up attack from its tail.

    When shended far away, she created numerous images of herself with her illusion magic and began directing them around the area to distract her enemy while she continued to observe what he could do.

    Her opponent was arge devil standing around twelve feet tall and wielded a long ck ive as its main weapon.

    It also had a long-spiked tail that it could swing around deftly, which made it difficult for Lyra to get in close.

    Following that its lower half was like that of a dragon''s and its kicks with its wed feet were quite powerful. As Lyra had found out during the beginning of the battle when she was hit squarely in the stomach.

    Its upper half though was mostly human looking other than the characteristic bat-like wings, horns, and pitch-ck eyes that had glowing red pupils.

    For its armor it was ck and spikes and covered most of its toros leaving it few weak points for Lyra to attack.

    ''Guess I am not going to be able to do anything without giving it my all.''

    "Awaken!"

    Bursting with power Lyra grew six more tails took the form of a nine tailed fox.

    She had been wanting to avoid using this power since it wore her out and could only be used once a day under normal circumstances. But she had determined that this opponent was not one she could beat while holding back.

    ''sh Fire p.''

    Using the extreme movement technique she could only active while awakened, Lyra disappeared in a burst of mes and appeared right behind the devil. Both of her amethros kukris moved swiftly and she attempted to carve up the devil''s back.

    ng!

    Except despite her sudden increase in speed and attack from its blind spot, the devil parried Lyra''s attack just as easily as before.

    Its battle awareness and technique were impable, and in terms of pure skill it was actually the best of any of the devils on the final floor of the special dungeon.

    With her increased power and speed this time Lyra did not takeoff and traded numerous swift blows with the devil while trying to break down its guard.

    The arena they were in shook with each blow as the two of them shed over and over again.

    Eventually Lyra felt she was being overpowered and jumped back, but this time the devil did not allow her to escape and pursed even when she used her movement technique.

    Opening her mouth, she triedunching a point-nk breath attack with a stream of her bluish silver mes.

    The devil however, simply countered with its own hellfire breath and a powerful explosion engulfed both of them.

    ''Damn it!''

    Running out of the explosion Lyra found herself riddled with burns all over her body despite the immunity she was supposed to have to fire.

    It seemed that the power the devil had was somehow able to pierce her abilities and she had been burned for the first time in her second life.

    Luckily her high-speed regeneration which she had obtained from the forty-seventh floor of the special dungeon kicked in and her wounds were quickly healing.<sub> </sub>

    ''That did not even scratch it though.'' Lyra thought as she turned her gaze over to the devil after the explosion cleared.

    It was standing with its head held high and not even a scorch mark on it despite begin just as close to the st as Lyra.

    Being outmatched in both firepower and closebat, Lyra really only had one other means to attack and cast a spell she really did not enjoy using.

    ''Killer Phantasm.''

    This was the spell that forced the target to see their greatest fears within their mind until it drove them crazy, and they killed themselves.

    Lyra really hated it since it was horrifying just to watch the effects, but it was all she felt she could rely on without taking any chances.

    Except just like when she tried using it on Marcus, the devil was able to repelled the spell and it did not take.

    ''How did it do that? Mrazivy did not tell me it had any skills that would block my magic, or for that matter make it immune to fire. Then it must be its armor.'' Lyra thought as she stared at the ck spiked breast te the devil was wearing.

    In a surprise to her, the devil rxed its posture for a moment and stood up fully straight while chuckling.

    Lyra waspletely taken aback by this. Up to this point it had done nothing but fight.

    "You will not be beating me with little tricks. Your illusions are good, but they cannot affect my mind directly. Only your skill with the de will work on me. Nowe at me again. It has been over a millennium since I have had a new opponent, and I n to thoroughly enjoy our battle."

    The devil then retook hisbat stance and gave Lyra a fierce smile.

    It was at this point she understood what type he was. He was just like Quillon, a blood knight that enjoyed fighting strong adversaries simply for the fun of it.

    ''I really chose the wrong one to fight. I should have left this guy to Quillon and taken on the devil he picked instead. He would have enjoyed this more than me.''

    With a loud sigh Lyra steeled herself for a difficult fight and activated two of the three unique skills she had obtained from the special dungeon.

    ''Path of Asura. Third Eye Awakening.''

    In a sh Lyra grew four more arms made of mana and replicas of her amethros kukris. Along with that the other unique skill created a golden eye on her forehead which locked onto the devil.

    These were the same unique skills that herte master Cibor had once had, and now the special dungeon had returned them to her.

    ''I always feel strange using the powers that once belonged to him, but I cannot afford to hold back here.''

    Now powered up by her unique skills Lyra jumped back into the battle and faced down the devil that was smiling at her transformation.

    Wielding six weapons she shed out with many more attacks, and her new arms were not bound by the anatomical limits of regr limbs and could strike out in unexpected ways and bend to intercept attacks that they should not have been able to.

    Lyra''s golden third eye also gave her a slight amount of precognition and allowed her a fully view of the battle as if she had a top-down view added to her own.

    In this way she could anticipate any crafty attacks from the devil who often threw in kicks or tail swipes when she was least expecting them.

    Still, despite her massive increase in power and her ability to see around a second into the future, the devil''s overall battle prowess was greater than hers.

    Even when she perfectly stuck against the devil it managed to block her attacks in unexpected ways she could not keep up with, and then counterattack.

 764 Chapter 764

    It was safe to say at this point that it had been holding back immensely at the beginning of their battle and when going all out Lyra would not be able to keep up without using her unique skills and awakened state.

    When she finally thought she had created and opening the devil actually brough its head down and cked the de she had slipped bast its guard with its horns.

    Her amethros kukri sliced around two thirds of the way in. But it did stop.

    The devil then tried to jammed its other horn into her and gore her to death.

    Luckily her precognition picked up on this follow up attack and she was able to move away. Though even with all her powers it was frightening how well the devil was able to keep up with her.

    ''I am not sure how well they will work, but I might as well try.''

    Seeing as how even using her fully strength she was unable to get through, Lyra activated her cloning ability and soon eight more of her appeared.

    Unfortunately, this power could not copy her unique skills, so the clones did not have the extra set of arms and golden third eye.

    This meant that she could not even try to feign that these copies were her, but she would be at even more of a disadvantage without her unique skills.

    With the added bodies she againunched into battle using her clones to strike the devil while she took most of its attention.

    ''This is what I was afraid of.'' Lyra thought as the battle raged on.

    Her clones were all only around a third as powerful as she was, and the devil barely had to pay them any mind. Their attacks could only just graze its skin and its regeneration quickly fixed the minimal damage her clones could inflict.

    For the most past the devil simply ignored them and kept its focus on Lyra.

    What seemed like an endless sh of weapons proceeded after Lyra created her clones.

    She unleashed attack after attack without ever letting up in her attempt tond a fatal blow.

    Using her clones to teleport around and switch ces she had managed tond a few good attacks, but nothing with enough power behind it to be decisive.

    And while it may have seemed that she was pressuring the devil and dealing decent damage, she was actually the one whose situation was deteriorating rapidly.

    Using all her unique skills, her awaken state, and clones was taking a massive burden on her mind that was not able to keep up with the continued strain of all of her powers.

    This was the first time she was truly going all out and having kept it up for nearly fifteen minutes was proving to be close to her limit. Especially after having been fighting for five days straight beforehand

    ''I need to finish this quickly or I will run out of steam. It already feels like a hammer is pounding against my head.''

    Feeling the pressure Lyra started using more reckless attacks and allowing attacks to hit her and healing off the damage while gritting through the pain.

    ''Now!''

    After allowing multiple attacks to hit her, Lyra created an open to her head and the devil took it.

    However, this was what she wanted and created her Reflector Shield to intercept it.

    So far, she had held off on using this unique skill as it was fairly well telegraphed, and the devil had an absurd battle awareness that she figured would allow it to avoid the shield if it was used tantly.

    But even when she thought she had used her best timing, she watched with her precondition that the devil would change up his attack and uppercut her with the end of its ive instead.

    To avoid this, she used one of her clones to teleport and switched ced with it.<sub> </sub>

    She then watched what would have happened to her if she had not made the swift decision, as the clones head was blown off and it disappeared into motes of light.

    With her first attempt ending in failure Lyra could only jump back in and try again.

    She knew that the only way she was going to win at this point was to create an opening with her reflector shield which she had two more uses.

    ''There, that is how I will get this devil.''

    Once she had finished attempting a few more things, Lyra figured out a way to redirect the devil''s attack.

    She had used her second use of her Reflector Shield to see what would happen and the devil redirected its attack to the clones she had left open.

    Now that it knew it could cut them down, it would take any opening she gave in order to destroy them and limit her options.

    She now only had three left, but that would be enough.

    When she was ready to attempt to deliver her finishing blow, she dropped her guard in an obviously fatal opening, and when the devil attacked activated herst use of her Reflector Shield.

    The devil having expected this took a swing at one of her clones that were nearby instead.

    Yet when the attack was too close to pull back or change the direction of, Lyra switched ces with this clone and her Reflector Shield went with her.

    Finally, she was able to surprise the devil and he found his own attacking back at him.

    He tried to use his muscles to stop the force, but the reflector shield''s power was not so easily blocked, and he only slowed it down a little.

    At thest moment he moved his head out of the way and took the attack in the shoulder.

    His own ive cleaved deep into his flesh and a spray of dark red blood shot out of his body.

    In that moment Lyra pulled back all six of her arms and exploded with mana.

    ''Wrath of Asura.''

    Swinging all six of her arms she shed into the devils'' torso right under its armor and her powered up des sliced it clean in half.

    Its torso went flying and the devil went wide eyed as he looked at his bottom half copsing onto the ground now that it was separated from him.

    Lyra''s attack was not over yet though. She jumped up to follow the devil''s upper body and extend her extra arms created by Path of Asura and wrapped them around the devil''s.

    With all her will and might she wrenched its weakened arms apart and exposed its head which it had been guarding.

    ''Now die!!'' Lyra screamed within her head as she stabbed forward with her true arms.

    The devil again attempted to block her attack with its horns, but she aimed right for the part she had hit before and sliced through with one Kukris while the other was blocked.

    Her de went deeply into the devil''s neck, and in a swift movement she pulled back with her other arm and jammed her other kukri into the devil''s head.

    She then pushed both her des in deeper until they met and she caved a L into the devil''s head and neck.

    The light in its eyes quickly vanished as its life came to an end. A smile still on its face from the battle it had thoroughly enjoyed.

 765 Chapter 765

    sts of fire and light illuminated the frozen cave that Aurelia and Zareen found as the sight of their battle.

    Their opponent was a devil that looked the most human out of any of the ones that were their enemy.

    Other than having light blue skin, the characteristic horns and wings, along with golden eyes, she looked remarkably like a regr person in stature and appearance.

    In fact, in some ways she looked simr to Mrazivy when she used her draconic transformation.

    For her weapons she wielded a double ended silver spear that was constantly emitting a chilling mist around it.

    She was also the devil at the lowest level begin only level sixty-five. But this did not mean she was weakest, as she was a superior devil only lower in rank than the archdevil she served.

    Her ice powers and skill with a spear were impable, and as Aurelia and Zareen had already found out she possessed the ability to pierce even their golden fur that boasted absurd resistance to being damaged.

    This was why they were keeping moving and firing off ranged attack with their race abilities that gave them control over light for Aurelia and fire for Zareen.

    However, the ice devil woman was able to seamlessly use her unique skill to create an area around her that could even freeze light and fire. Effectively stopping any attack that Zareen and Aurelia threw at her.

    They were at a bit of a stalemate as she was undoubtably slower than the two mythic grade golden lions, but her defense was not easily prated and in closebat she was superior.

    Attacks continued to fly from the three of them without any real progress begin made, until Zareen got fed up and used one of the unique skills she had acquired.

    Her mana began to spike rapidly, and she stopped moving and opened her mouth.

    Aurelia seeing this tried to get her to stop, but it was already toote, and she began running away to get out of range of the attack.

    "You must be a real idiot to expose your weak point like that." The ice devil said as sheunched a fast-moving ice spike right towards Zareen''s open mouth.

    Except before the attack hit Zareen unleashed her unique skill attack and let loose an impossibly loud roar.

    The ice magicing for her immediately lost all its momentum and shattered into a fine dust and the sonic st of Zareen''s Roar of Majesty continued forward towards the ice devil.

    Along the way the ice that made up the cave they were in began to crack and shatter and the entirendscape was warped.

    When the attack hit the ice devil, she tried to encase herself in a pir of snow, but it could not withstand the shockwaves and she was blown away in an avnche worth of ice.

    "You really should pay better attention to your surroundings and notmit to an attack that leaves you so open afterwards when you do not know what you enemy can do." The ice devils said when she suddenly appeared from behind Zareen.

    She had not been truly fighting them since they started their ranged bombardment and had left an ice mirage in her ce. Then she hid under the ice and moved over to Zareen the instant she stopped and prepared to unleash a powerful attack.

    A momentter she jammed her silver spear into Zareen''s side and even the golden fur protecting her only blocked the weapon for a second before she was run-through.

    The ice-cold spear sunk seep into her body, and she felt her left lung get pierced

    Immense pain assaulted her, and blood began pouring out of her mouth.

    Yet the worst had only begun as the chilling aura around the spear began invading her body and freezing her from the inside out.

    In an attempt to push back the ice devil and melt her freezing body, Zareen burst into mes with as much power as she could.

    Fire and ice fought each other, and steam erupted around Zareen and the ice devil. But in the end, Zareen''s mes started to dimmish.

    She tried to physically push the ice devil off next, but her movements were sluggish from her dropping temperature and the ice that was building up around her. Though this did not exin why she was moving as slowly as she was, and it soon became clear that the ice devil''s spear had a slowing effect on it.

    "You certainly are tough, as expected from a mythic grade beast. Yet even you will die when I pierce through your head." The ice devil said as she yanked her spear out and positioned it to strike again.

    Zareen no longer pinned down by the spear in her side tried to get away, but her body was moving too slowly now to outmaneuver the ice devil.

    It seemed she would be peppered with attacks from the spear until she died and could only put up a resistance that slowed her demise.

    Thankfully before she received another blow, Aurelia jumped back in with fury in her eyes for the injuries her sister had taken.

    Large rings of light began flying off her body that targeted down the ice devil and kept going at her until they were destroyed.<sub> </sub>

    The ice devil under this assault had to back away from Zareen, and when she was pushed far enough away Aurelia jumped in front of her injured sister.

    Multiple balls of light then flew off her body, surrounded Zareen, and began healing her.

    This was one of Aurelia''s unique skills called Versatile Luminescence.

    It was a power that crated six balls of light that could each contain the same or different powers depending on the users will.

    They could attack, defend, support, and heal in numerous ways.

    Overall, it was not the most powerful unique skill, but its ability to adapt to the situation made it incredibly useful.

    With it and turning all six balls to healing, Aurelia was able to rapidly fix the massive damage her sister had taken.

    "Don''t think I will just let you recover." The ice devil said once she had recovered from Aurelia''s vicious assault.

    Swiftly she jumped back towards the two golden lionesses and began teaming with mana as she prepared to attack with a powerful thrust.

    To intercept theing attack Aurelia moved four of her balls of light created by her unique skill and switched them to defense. Creating a fouryered barrier of light in in front of her and her sister.

    In one thrust from the ice devil broke through three of the four barriers. which shattered into ss like pierces of light.

    Still, this was enough, and with the healing she had received from Aurelia and her own natural regeneration Zareen was able to jump away and Aurelia covered their retreat by switching one of her other balls of light from healing to attack and sending out a ray of scorching light.

    Narrowly they both created some distance from the ice devil and kept themselves moving to prevent taking any more attacks while they came up with a new n.

    Eventually they decided that their best bet was to simply try to exhausted the ice devil until she ran out of mana.

    They were fighting together, so collectively they should have had more mana and figured that a war of attrition would end in their favor.

    Naturally the ice devil noticed that they were no longer really trying to kill her, and were just taking ranged shots at her to force her to waste her energy.

    "I see. Not a bad n." The ice devils aid in between blocking and dodging attacks. "But this just means that I cannot afford to hold anything back."

    "Frozen Hell!"

    The moment the ice devil activated this unique skill waves of mana began firing out from her body and began sucking all of the heat into them.

    This ability stole the energy from the surrounding area and created an area that was so cold that most things could barely move.

    Aurelia and Zareen felt the effects pretty much immediately, and Zareen recognized that it was simr to the power of the devil''s spear.

    Trapped within the world of immense cold, both Zareen and Aurelia felt their bodies slowing down despite all of their skills and race abilities that should have been making them faster.

    The ice devil, however, was not burdened by the dropping temperature, and while she was not moving any faster than before, it seemed like she had suddenly gotten an extreme boost in her speed.

    Both the golden lionesses tried to use their defensive powers to block the ice devil''s assault, but their slowed reactions made them unable to properly avoid all of her attacks.

    "Die."

    After beating them both down and leaving them with horrid wounds, the ice devil finally delivered a killing blow to Aurelia who had been using her unique skill to heal her and her sister to prolong the battle.

    It was a calcted move to end their resistance, but the ice devil did not realize that it was a mistake.

    As her chest was pierced and her heart destroyed, Aurelia met her end for a few moments before a halo of silver light appeared above her.

    It then shed out and sent an unavoidable st of light at the ice devil and sent her sprawling across the ice.

    The halo engulfed Aurelia immediately after, and the fatal wounder she had just incurred closed up and she was restored to full health with the activation of her unique skill Searing Resurrection.

 766 Chapter 766

    After Aurelia''s unique skill had revied her andnded a good hit against the ice devil the chilling and slowing effects that had been engulfing the entire area lifted.

    With it gone both Zareen and Aurelia felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off them.

    Their aching joints and ragged breathing began to easy, and they were able to dash around mostly unburdened again.

    "You fucking beasts! What the hell was that!?" The ice devil shouted when she got back to her feet.

    However, she had to pull herself up with her spear and her once pristine body was marred by numerous burns from taking the bacsh of Aurelia''s unique skill.

    It was clear that the skill''s attack was in no way inferior to its ability to bring the user back from a fatal blow.

    Now that their opponent was injured the two golden lionesses bounded back into action and kept the pressure on.

    The sound of metal and ws resounded throughout the ice cavern and sts of cold shed with light and fire.

    Despite her injures the ice devil put up an impable fight and kept both Aurelia and Zareen at bay while her regeneration fixed the damage she had taken.

    Nevertheless, while the physical damage she might have taken was restored, her oppressive unique skill had been shut down and could not be used again. Along with arge amount of her mana begin depleted.

    "Don''t think this is going to be enough to beat me. I still have ways to deal with the two of you." The ice devil said while breathing heavily and bleeding from multiple w wounds.

    She then opened up an item box which she had not used so far and reached into to grab something.

    rmed by this, both Aurelia and Zareen rushed forward to try and prevent the ice devil from using whatever she was aiming for.

    Except, this move on their part was a mistake.

    The ice devil smirked when they recklessly rushed towards her, and she switched the grip on her spear and tossed it at Zareen.

    Like a bullet the spear came flying towards her head, and while she did her best to dodge her full speed charge made it impossible to fully evade and she took it in the shoulder instead.

    With a sickening sound it pierced through her golden fur and dug its way deeply into her body.

    Aurelia seeing her sister get injured paused for just a moment and the ice devil took this chance to jump back and create some distance.

    She had not actually been trying to pull something out of her item box in that moment and simply wanted her two opponents to make a rash attack against her.

    Now Aurelia had to make a tough decision. Whether to help her sister, or chase after the currently unarmed ice devil.

    In the end, she prioritized going to help her sister who had suffered a terrible wound.

    Using her teeth, she ripped the appear out and applied all of her balls of light created by her unique skill to healing.

    "Hehe. You made a big mistake there. You should have kepting after me." The ice devil said with a snicker.

    In her hands she had a tiara made of ice that was as ck as the night sky.

    It was the item she had pulled out of her item box when Aurelia gave up on pursuing her.

    "I did not want to use this since it only has one use. But without my unique skill, I do not think I can beat the two of you unless I use this."

    cing the dark crown on her head the ice devil became filled with greater power than before.

    Dark ice began forming around her body and took the shape of an armored dress.

    "Ice Devil Queen Armor. It is only a replica, but its power is still close to that of the original at the cost of only being usable once."

    With her final trump card in effect, the ice devil who was nearly beaten had recovered stronger than ever and was ready to begin the next round of battle.

    d in mes Zareen jumped forward to attack while Aurelia sent the balls of light created by her unique skill to support.

    Without her weapon the ice devil even with her new armor was unable to deal much damage and had to fend off Zareen and Auria''s vicious assault with her lower martial arts skill.

    w swipes and bites shed with punches and kicks as Zareen fought in close quarters with the unarmed ice devil.

    She now had much higher defense and strength thanks to her new armor, but her offense was lessened due to the loss of her weapon.

    This allowed Zareen to go toe to toe with her without needing to worry about taking any serious damage.

    And while her sister was in closebat, Aurelia was firing of attacks from afar and making sure the ice devil never got in a good hit.

    It seemed they had once again reached a stalemate of sorts with neither side begin able to deal a decisive blow.

    That was until the ice devil retrieved her spear.

    Slowly and carefully while the battle was going on she had extended a thin stand of ice to her fallen weapon and when an opening presented itself, she yanked it back.

    Her spear suddenly back in her hands the ice devil caught Zareen off guard and with lighting fast movements.

    "Fivefold sonic thrusts."

    One, two, three strikes form the ice devils'' spear pierced into Zareen before Aurelia could switch over her unique skill to defense and create a barrier to protect her from the next two strikes.

    Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and Zareen copsed onto the ground with the muscles in her front two legs severed and a deep wound in her chest.

    She was not dead yet, but it was only going to take one more good attack to finish her off.<sub> </sub>

    Aurelia did all she could to protect her sister from the distance she was at, but the ice devil broke through the barriers she had erected and lifted her spear high to deliver the final blow.

    Her feet were bounding into the ice and snow and time seemed to slow down for Aurelia as she tired to reach her sister. But she knew that she would not make it in time.

    All she could do was watch in horror as the ice devil jammed her spear into Zareen.

    Yet by some miracle this never came to happen.

    "Boreas'' Shield."

    Right before the spear tip sunk into Zareen''s head, a hemispherical shield of golden wind formed around her and a loud metallic nging sound echoed through the area as the ice devil''s spear was knocked back.

    "Looks like the two of you are having a bit of trouble. Mind if I help out?"

    Dropping down from a white portal was ric.

    After easily defeating his opponent, he searched for the exit to the area he had found himself in and made his way to Aurelia and Zareen''s battlefield.

    This ce was still the special dungeon even if it was the devils''yer, and when one fight ended the victor was able to join another.

    "So, Yarissa lost. Figures. She was certainly the weakest of all of us despite her level being higher than mine."

    The ice devil being wary of ric''s intrusion jumped back away from Zareen who he had protected with his tier seven spell her had learned from the first king of Borealia.

    "Aurelia heal you sister while I keep her busy." ric said as he stepped up to take the lead in the fight.

    "Ha don''t think a feeble magician like you is going to defeat me." The ice devils aid as she shot off towards ric.

    ''Dense Smoke Cloud.''

    Casting a tier three spell, he created a burst of smoke all around him that swallowed him up before the ice devil could reach him.

    When she arrived where he had been andunched multiple attacks, all she found was an afterimage of smoke.

    Her danger sense then went off from behind her and she found wave of death magicing for her.

    ric had cast the tier six spell horrid withering which decayed all life that it came in contact with.

    The ice devil found her skin beginning to shrivel up and rot when she was engulfed by the spell.

    "This weak spell won''t work on me!" She shouted as she created thick mana barrier.

    With ayer of defense around her and her immortality giving her resistance to death magic she was able to mitigate the effects of ric''s spell.

    ''ess spell storage. Tier seven tornado fist.'' Quickly conjuring another spell, ric sent a colossal spinning hand made of wind crashing down on the ice devil.

    To block it she began twirling her spear in front of her while increasing the power of her mana barrier and activating the full power of her armor.

    The tier seven spell that boasted the strongest power of any of ric''s magics crashed into the ice devil and crushed down on her.

    The ice around her began to shatter and be whipped away, but she held strong until the very end.

    Her mana barrier cracked and shattered, and she was clearly out of breath from using so much power all at once, but she had managed to block ric''s strongest spell.

    ''Smoke Serpent.''

    Her mana barrier now gone, ric activated the spell he had cast and left in waiting, and wrapped up the ice devil.

    With impable reflexes she shed away the smoke serpent with her spear before it could bite into her, and if she had only been battling ric, she would have been fine.

    However, Zareen now recovered enough to rejoin the battle leapt into the fray with her mouth wide open and her gleaming teeth aimed to pierce into the ice devil''s neck.

    "This is the second time you have foolishly exposed your weak point." She said while thrusting her spear directly towards Zareen''s mouth.

    It seemed she would score a clean hit and pierce the golden lioness right through with a solid thrust. If only it were not for her sister that had been lying in wait.

    With all six of her balls of light focused on attack she fired off two concentrated rays of light and each one hit the ice devil''s exposed hands. sting them right off.

    Her hands no longer attached to her body went along with the spears momentum and flew off into the distance.

    Zareen, her path cleared and enemy stunned, pushed her jaw in close and mped tightly around the ice devil''s neck.

    Cold blue blood began pouring out of her body, and with a powerful jerk Zareen ripped out the ice devil''s throat.

    She tried gasping for air and reached her stump hands up to her profusely bleeding throat in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

    Even this terrible injury was something she could survive thanks to being a high-ranking devil and having a high regeneration skill level.

    Of course, that was if her opponent would give her time to recover.

    ''Annihtion ray.''

    With his staff outstretched ric fired off his only tier seven death magic spell and hit the injured ice devil square in the chest.

    Her barely hanging on body was bathed in a dark aura after being hit by the spell, and she quickly withered away into dust. Leaving behind only her amor that shattered into ck ice and her silver spear.

 767 Chapter 767

    As the battles between Marcus'' party and the devils raged on James and Fallon took on the second strongest of the devils, that was only under the archdevil Marcus was fighting.

    It was level eighty-one, which was higher than any of them. With James being three levels lower at seventy-eight and Fallon trailing right behind him at level seventy-seven.

    This devil had dark red skin covering its entire body and horns that formed into the shape of a crown on the top of its head.

    He seemed to have a perpetual confident smirk on his face and was twirling around a pitch-ck spiked chain that gave off a menacing aura.

    "I am Mavxire the strongest of my lord''s servants. I have now introduced myself, so, tell me your names so that we can engage in honorablebat." The devil said with his best act of chivalry.

    Of course, both James and Fallon knew he was just trying to get them to fall into his trap and had no intention of engaging in a fair fight.

    Mrazivy had warned them specifically of one the unique skills this devil had called Name Cursing.

    Anyone that willing gave their name to Mavxire would be hit with his curse that would drain their stats by twenty percent and temporarily give him their power.

    A truly nasty unique skill that while not the easiest to use, would under most circumstances guarantee a win if it worked.

    "Oh, the beast I can understand not giving her name, but what kind of knight refuses to give his name when challenged." Mavxire said in a goading tone in response to James and Fallon''s silence.

    "We already know your tricks and are not going to fall for them."

    No longer waiting and wanting to shut the devil up, James pulled back hisnce and threw it with all his might right towards Mavxire.

    Unable to get either of them to give him their names Mavxire clicked his tongue in annoyance and jumped out of the way of James'' attack and into the air.

    Yet as thence flew past the devil it suddenly turned around and continued after him like a heatseeking missile.

    This was thanks to James'' unique skill called Targeted Foe, which allowed him to pick out three enemies every day who his attacks would pursue and deal more damage to.

    It was not the shiest unique skill, but it was certainly powerful when facing just a single enemy.

    With James''snce chasing after him and gaining no matter where he went, Mavxire was forced to stop and take the attack.

    He began whirling his spiked chain around incredibly fast, until he had created a windstorm around him.

    Then with the flick of his wrists he entangled his chain around James''nce.

    Pulling the chain taught he slowed thence down until it came to a stop and lost all the energy it had.

    "You must be quite foolish to toss away your weapon like this. But now that I have it, thisnce will make a fine addition to my arsenal."

    Mavxire reached out toward James''nce now that it was no longer chasing him around and with greedy eyes took ahold of it.

    He spun it around a few times before pointing it right back towards James and charging at him.

    "As if you would be worthy to wield that weapon." James said with a smirk on his face.

    His hand outstretched, he focused on his amethrosnce that was an heirloom of the Borelian royal family and pulled it back to him.

    In an instant it warped out of Mavxire''s hand and back into his own.

    This caught the powerful devil off guard, and he was ill prepared to deal with the follow-up attack.

    Fallon, who had been preparing the entire time, opened up her mouth and unleashed a torrent of mes.

    The devil activated multiple defensive skills as he was engulfed by the mes that were hotter than the surface of the sun.

    "Pierce through all Storm Breaker!"

    Hisnce filled with mana James once againunched it, but this time used the incantation that activated the powerful weapon''s greatest ability.

    With far greater speed than before it flew straight towards Mavxire despite him having vanished from view while consumed by Fallon''s mes.

    A loud shattering sound could be heard throughout the area the moment after James unleashed his attack.

    Hisnce had easily broken through all of Mavxire''s defensive abilities and shattered the multiple barrier surrounding him.

    A smoldering body with James''nce striking out of its chest fell to the ground and therey Mavxire.

    He was struggling to get to his feet and was hanging on only thanks to his extreme durability and multiple hearts.

    "How are you both this strong!? Arrakas said nothing about you having power like this!" Mavxire screamed as he pulled himself up.

    He then yanked James''nce out of his chest and tossed it aside.

    Out of the hole in his chest dark ck blood flowed out of Mavxire''s body and onto the floor.

    "Storm Breaker return." James said and brought his weapon back into his hands.

    Once more he leveled hisnce at his enemy and prepared tounch it again.

    Seeing this Mavxire realized he had made a mistake to keep his distance and fight from the air where he thought he would have the advantage.<sub> </sub>

    James, and Fallon especially since she could not fly due to the special dungeon''s restriction were actually in many ways stronger at range than up close right now.

    Mavxire rushed in with his spiked chaining spinning around his body rapidly and firing off sts of mana at random.

    He had activated his Absolute Frenzy unique skill and was attacking recklessly at James and Fallon.

    Meeting his charge James jumped in withnce while Fallon moved back in order to get out of the range of the mana sts Mavxire was fringing off.

    "Volution Barrage."

    Spinning hisnce around James unleashed a fast series of thrusts to meet Mavxire''s whirling chain.

    Sparks flew as their two weapons shed against each other.

    Multiple deep gashes began appearing on James''s body where the spikes tore into him, but he kept on going with his attacks and worrying only about defending vital areas.

    This dangerous fighting style allowed him to score his own hits and soon he had punched a half dozen holes into Mavxire''s body.

    Still the tough devil did not go down even after all these injuries, and madly swung at James with all his might as they fought to see which of them would fall first.

    Except James wore a confident grin even as he took more and more serious injuries. And that was because he was never worried about being hurt in the first ce.

    In an instant his body that was covered in his own blood returnedpletely to normal without injury.

    Watching this happen Mavxire went wide eyed and could not believe it even with the clouded judgment from his unique skill.

    Certainly, they both had regeneration skills, but not even the highest level of the skill could immediately restore someone so injured to full health.

    No, what just happened could only be the work of a unique skill. But not one of James''.

    From her position standing behind the devil Fallon''s body exploded in a fountain of blood with wounds all over her in the same ces as James.

    This was the effect of her unique skill Share Pain which allowed her to take on any injury of those she had linked up with.

    And while on its own this power only had limited use in conjunction with one of her other unique skills it was incredibly powerful.

    "Retribution."

    In a sh all of the injuries that Fallon had absorbed from James disappeared and were transferred to Mavxire who had originally inflicted them.

    His body was suddenly cut open in multiple ces by an attack he could not block.

    This created a moment where he lost his ability to move as blood flooded out of him and James took hisnce and pierced it right through Mavxire''s head.

    The once powerful devil copsed onto the floor dead. His headpletely blown off and his body that was riddled with horrible wounds.

    "Whew that got a bit rough when he came at us with wild abandon, but we managed to get through without anysting damage." James said to Fallon who was fully healed after sending all the damage she had taken from James back to Mavxire.

    However, as they were celebrating their victory over their enemy, Mavxire''s body burst into smoke and began flowing across the ground towards the center of the battlefield

    There what looked like a seed began sprouting and quickly a massive ck flower bloomed and in the middle was a fully restored Mavxire.

    Yet now his body, which had beenpletely red before, was now orange.

    And it was not just his skin color that was different. His entire demeanor seemed to have changed and the weapon in his hands was now a long bident that''s tip was glowing from extreme heat.

    "Ah, I cannot remember thest time that one of me was beaten." The new Mavxire said as he cracked his neck.

    Taken aback, neither James nor Fallon understood how this devil was able to bring himself back to life.

    Mrazivy had told all of them about the most dangerous skills and race abilities that their opponents had, and she did not mention that Mavxire could revive.

    "Now shall we begin anew. I wish to fish this fight quickly and take both of your souls So I along with my master andpatriots can escape this ce." Mavxire said as he readied his weapon.

    Feeling his current presence, James gulped and felt a shudder of fear.

    The devil they had been fighting before waspletely different and gave off a far more dangerous aura than before.

    It was more focused and sharper than the raw untamed power he seemed to have in his previous form.

    The tension in the air was rising and it felt like it could break at any moment when one of them made the first move.

    However, right before Jamesunched his attack to restart the battle, arge portal appeared at one end of the battlefield he had been taken to.

    At first, he thought it might have been one of his allies, but what stepped out was thest thing he expected.

    The entity that had arrived was the third strongest of the devils and was level eighty.

    But what caused the most shock for James was that this was the opponent that Mrazivy and Eirene had been taking on.

    If it had arrived here though, that meant that it must have won its fight against his sister and her beastpanion.

 768 Chapter 768

    A torrent of emotions came over James when he saw the devil that his siter and her beastpanion had chosen to fight against.

    At first, he was hit with denial, believing that it must have simply run away from her or possibly bound her and Eirwen up.

    Yet he could not keep out the thoughts that perhaps Mrazivy had been killed and that was why the devil that was her opponent was here now.

    "Potential Transfer!"

    Rage clouding his mind James activated another of his unique skills which brought his abilities to another level.

    It allowed him to increase two of his stats by up to a hundred percent though the other three stats would lose up to twenty percent depending on how high he raised the other two.

    The only limits on the skill were that it could only be used five times a day andsted for seven minutes per activation.

    Still unlike Marcus'' soul bust that had a nasty bacsh that left him in a weakened state afterwards.

    This time he went with the skill''s full capabilities and raised both his strength and agility by a hundred percent while lowering his vitality, intelligence and spirt stats.

    He wanted all the speed power he could get even if it came at the cost of his toughness and the amount of mana he had.

    "You should not take your eyes off any of your opponents." Mavxire said as he appeared right next to James who had lost his cool and turned his full attention to the new devil.

    Having to make full use of his newly powered up agility James twisted his body and brought hisnce in front of him to block the blowing from Mavxire.

    The bident hit against hisnce with an immense amount of force and he felt heat transfer into this weapon and began burning his hands.

    The pain was intense, and he wanted to let go but he knew that if he lost grip on his weapon, he would be practically defenseless.

    James gritted his teeth and used his strength to push through and knocked Mavxire away with his full force.

    The proud devil looked a bit shocked and also impressed by James'' power and was forced to jump back or be overpowered.

    "I am surprised. You were not that fast or strong before. That unique skill you used really is something. But it will not be enough for you to beat me." Mavxire said to James with a prideful grin wit lowering his eyes towards James'' burnt hands.

    "You should take your own advice and keep your eyes on your enemies." Fallon said as she appeared behind Mavxire.

    With a swift motion she brought down her wed foot on top of him, intent on crushing him.

    "Oh, I never disregarded your position." Mavxire said as he seamlessly jumped away and towards the other devil that had just arrived.

    A loud crash then resounded as Fallon''s heavy blow connected with the ground and caused a localized earthquake from the sheer power behind it.

    The two devils took to the air to avoid the aftermath of the attack and James had to brace himself with a mana barrier.

    "Arrakas I am pleased to see that you have finished your battle, but your information was not quite as urate as usual. These two are far stronger than you informed me. Of course, it is still within the realm of which I can certainly handle but what went wrong with your unique skill?" Mavxire asked to his fellow devil while floating in the air.

    In repose Arrakas shrugged his shoulder and said, "I am not exactly sure, but it is possible they all have a skill working on them that is stronger than mine and sends out false information, or perhaps a very powerful item that can even fool my unique skill. My opponents were simr more powerful than anticipated but I managed to kill them."

    While the two devils were having a conversation James struggled to keep his footing in the wake of Fallon''s full powered stomp.

    But when he heard from the devil called Arrakas'' mouth that he had killed Mrazivy and Eirwen, James lost it.

    Without any restraint he jumped towards the devils despite the fact he had no way to maneuver in the air at the moment. All that was on his mind was destroying the begin that had killed his little sister.

    He immediately applied his Targeted Foe unique skill to Arrakas and prepared to use his strongest attack.

    It was a power he had not been nning on unleashing since it had devastating consequences, but in his fury, he was not thinking about what would happen afterwards.

    "Sacrificial Strike!"

    When James used this skill his left arm and eye began to break apart into motes of red light.

    This energy that came at the sacrifice of his body gathered into hisnce and made it undeniably stronger.

    Never before had he used such arge amount of his body to fuel his unique skill''s power and had only at most used a finger before when testing it out.<sub> </sub>

    Still, the more he gave up, the stronger the attack became. And even though the parts of himself taken aspensation by the skill could not be healed for twenty days through any means, he was willing to give up his left arm and eye for an immense boost in power.

    With his remaining arm he thrust towards the surprised devils his spear glowing a dark red and overflowing with more power than it ever had before.

    Yet James'' attack never reached his target.

    The moment before he hit Arrakas, Mavxire jumped in front of him and swung down with his bident.

    He had used his own unique skill, Unwavering Pride, to give him arge increase in power and met James'' head on.

    For a few seconds James and Mavxire fought for supremacy, until James unequivocally overwhelmed his enemy.

    Hisnce shattered the bident that Mavxire was wielding and pierced right through him with all the rage and energy James had put into the attack.

    The terribly powerful devil popped like a balloon from the amount of force behind James'' strike.

    However, despite the fact he had destroyed one devil, it was not the one he had been aiming for.

    Arrakas had been his target, but now that the energy from his attack had been expended, he would not be able tounched and equally powerful attack without sacrificing more of his body as fuel.

    And to make matters worse, Mavxire''s exploded body turned into smoke once again and coalesced into a seed which sprouted into another ck flower.

    This time when he was restored his skin had a purple hue to it and his body was less toned and had be more bulbous.

    Not waiting for the devil to recover after reviving for the second time, Fallon opened her mouth and fired off her breath weapon.

    After James used his full power to deliver hisst attack, he was not in any position to keep fighting and Fallon wanted to take out Mavxire permanently before they had to fight against Arrakas.

    Except as the me breath was about to hit, Mavxire opened his mouth as wide as his entire torso and Fallon''s mes got sucked into it.

    Once the entire breath attack had been eaten, Mavxire let out a loud burp and a puff of smoke came out of his mouth.

    "Ah, that was quite the delicious meal to have immediately after awakening for the first time in so long. I cannot remember thest time both pride and wrath were taken out and I had to show myself."

    Having watched Mavxire undergo another major transformation and easily eat one of Fallon''s strongest attacks, both her and James werepletely stunned.

    This battle was nothing like they had ever experienced, and they were beginning to believe that their enemy could not be killed.

    Unfortunately, while they seemed to have little chance of victory against Mavxire, who kept revieing himself, and Arracks who so far had not done anything. They had no choice but to continue fighting for their lives.

    At the very least, James was able tond back on the ground after his reckless attack.

    Despite his situation not being the best due to the loss of his left arm and eye, Arrakas had not pursued him and flown far away from James who was emitting an immeasurable amount of malicious towards him.

    While it may not have been possible for him tounch another attack of the same caliber, Arrakas was not going to take that chance and kept his distance from James.

    "Arrakas, get down here and help me out. Pride is already gone and blocked that attack that was meant for you, so you owe me. I am hungry and want to finish this up fast and find something else to eat." Mavxire said.

    His entire demeanor and personality seemed to have taken another shift. Now he no longer cared about the fight and simply wanted it over.

    "Very well, I will help end this battle quickly." Arracks said as he dropped down right behind Mavxire.

    With the two devils now faced towards them James and Fallon prepared for the fight of their lives.

    James was still fuming about Arracks saying he killed Mrazivy and wanted to rashly charge in again. But Fallon held him back.

    The two of them then took up defensive positions after Fallon convinced James that their best bet at victory would be to wait for one of their allies to show up like Arracks had.

    But as they prepared to wage a defensive battle, something wholly unforeseen happened.

    Arrakas stabbed arge dagger into the back of Mavxire''s head and killed him for the third time.

 769 Chapter 769

    James and Fallon were astonished to see the devil Arrakas suddenly attack and kill Mavxire who should have been his ally.

    It had all happened incredibly fast and with one swift movement Mavxire''s head had been pierced through by arge dagger.

    His body then burst into smoke as it had before and formed into another seed which bloomed into another ck flower.

    Coming out of it once again was Mavxire, though his look and demeanor had changed once again.

    His skin was now yellow, and he red at Arrakas with a murderous stare.

    Neither James nor Fallon could understand the sudden falling out but quickly decided to wait and see how things yed out.

    If the two powerful devils wanted to fight amongst each other they were not going to get involved and could finish off whoever was the victor.

    "Arrakas what is the meaning of this? You will not get away with killing me like that. I will take everything you have and have Rolthor demote your soul and turn you into the lowest form of devil and make you my ve for eternity." Mavxire said with palpable anger.

    With an outstretched hand Mavxire prepared some type of attack against Arrakas, but the moment he had turned his attention to his fellow devil two more forms appeared from the portal that Arrakas hade from and never closed.

    Mrazivy and Eirwen burst out, already poised to attack.

    With the p of his wings Eirwen cast a wind and ice magic spell around Mrazivy''s readied sword, which she held in both hands above her.

    Along with this enchantment magic, Mrazivy used her own powers and in a sh truck down on top of Mavxire who was unprepared for her sudden appearance and attack.

    "First From, Tempest Fang."

    In one powerful swing Mrazivy brought her sword down on Mavxire''s head and cleaved him right in half.

    He had attempted to put up what defenses he could before the attack hit, but ultimately his mana barrier along with his other powers failed to stop Mrazivy''s full power attack that was further enhanced by Eirwen''s support magic.

    His new form already destroyed Mavxire once again turned into smoke and formed into a seed and flower in quick session.

    This time when he popped back out of the flower, he had blue skin and was slimmer than he had been before.

    His features also had a sort of allure to them that had not been there before.

    Nevertheless, while he was now putting out a sort of beguiling aura no one was weak enough to be truly charmed by it.

    And for James there was something else that had garnered his attention far more than Mavxire''s new form.

    "Mrazivy!" He called out with a relived smile on his that he could not contain.

    While he had been hoping that she was actually still alive the arrival of her opponent and his affirmation that she was dead had been enough to make him believe she was gone.

    But seeing her here now brought him immeasurable sce since he had not lost his closest sister.

    Though the same relief that James had from seeing Mrazivy well could not be further from what she felt seeing James.

    He was currently missing his left arm and eye and overall looked to be in terrible shape.

    Immediately she rushed over to him while Mavxire was busy warily observing the situation.

    She quickly pulled out a lesser elixir she had in her possession and handed it to James, but he just pushed it away.

    "That will not help right now. These injuries are from my unique skill."

    "I see. I figured as much since your regeneration had not healed them, but I figured I would offer just in case." Mrazivy said as she put the potion back away.

    It was in this moment that Mavxire tried to attack.

    He could feel he was in dire straights now and rushed to hopefully take out James and Mrazivy while they were distracted speaking to each other.

    However, before he could get far Arrakas interceded and cut his fellow devil off and pushed him back.

    "It is touching how much you siblings care for each other, but right now we have other problems to worry about. I will need your assistance to defeat Mavxire." Arrakas said to Mrazivy and James.

    Naturally James was quite confused by the situation, but Mrazivy told him that once they had finished off his enemy, she would exin the situation.

    After that James, Mrazivy, Fallon, and the traitor Arrakas continued the battle against Mavxire four on one.<sub> </sub>

    Within just three more minutes the four of them easily overpowered the second strongest devil on the final floor of the special dungeon, and the seventh time they killed him he stayed down for good.

    This time when he burst into smoke after dying, his body did not turn into a seed and reappear in a flower.

    "It is finally over." James said while wiping sweat from his forehead with his remaining arm.

    Once they hadbined forces things went pretty well, and Mavxire had been mostly unable to do anything to them despite how powerful he was.

    Being so outnumbered by opponents that were within at least the same range of power made it impossible for him to really fight back.

    Still, for James and Fallon there was a looming question that they needed answered, and that was why the devil that Mrazivy should have been fighting had helped them.

    "I suppose I should start at the beginning." Mrazivy said when James and Fallon pushed her for answers.

    ˇ­

    Going back in time to when Mrazivy had followed Arrakas to their own separate battle arena, she had been prepared for a fierce fight.

    Yet the moment that they were alone, Arrakas held up his hands and surrendered to Mrazivy and Eirwen.

    Of course, they had both believed this to be some sort of trap and attacked anyway, but Arrakas did not fully evade and allowed their attacks to hit him and take off both his arms.

    He then stifled his own regeneration to prevent his arms from regrowing and got on his knees and lowered his head to the ground to show the sincerity of his surrender.

    If this had been a trap, it was a very bad one, as it left Arrakas wide open for arge-scale attack that certainly would have killed him.

    And Mrazivy knew all of his abilities thanks to her dragon eyes, and she had chosen to fight against him since he was the devil that possessed an appraisal unique skill, and it would keep them bnced in knowing each other''s abilities.

    Eventually she agreed to at least listen to what he had to say, and Arrakas told her why he was not going to fight.

    In short after seeing her and everyone else in her group''s skills and stats, Arrakas knew that the caches that the group of devils he was apart of had very little chance ofing out as the true victors of a full-scale confrontation.

    Even in the isted battle scenarios, he believed that in the end even if Mrazivy''s group suffered some causalities the devils would ultimately lose.

    Against Mrazivy alone he figured he had a thirty percent chance of victory if he was being generous, and with Eirwen added to the mix maybe around five percent if he managed to catch them off guard somehow.

    This had led him to the conclusion that his best chance at survival was to betray the other devils, and his first act of doing so was divulging false information.

    He left out key skills from each of the members of Mrazivy''s group when detailing them to his fellow devils and also gave out lower figures for their stats to make it seem that the other devils would not be in for difficult fights.

    There was another reason for his betrayal as well of course.

    He was not truly a subordinate of the Archdevil Rolthor.

    Long ago he had been subservient to one of Rolthor''s distant rtives, and when his former master was killed his services were inherited by Rolthor.

    But his contract was different than the rest of the devils here and he had ways in which he could get around following orders from the Archdevil if he needed to. Especially ones he viewed as suicidal

    This led him to brokering a deal with Mrazivy.

    He offered to help her take out the other devils in exchange for her not attacking him and doing her best to make sure that her allies did not kill him.

    And unlike the Archdevil who tried to trick Marcus, he allowed Mrazivy to write up the contract on her own making sure there were not any deceiving uses or loopholes.

    ˇ­

    "I see, so he just did not want to die." James said after looking at the magically binding contract Mrazivy had signed with Arrakas.

    It was pretty simple, but it effectively made it so that if Arrakas tried to attack them that he would end up dead.

    "Oh no, I get more out of this than simply getting to live. Once all of you are gone, I will be able to take over the contract Rolthor has with the administrator that originally brought us here and serve out the remainder of the three thousand years. I have no qualms about waiting a long time for a reward of greater power." Arrakas said with a greedy look in his eyes.

    Now better understand the situation, James realized that Arrakas was simply using them to supnt his boss.

    In this way he would gain far more power and had already prepared himself for the long wait managing this floor of the special dungeon.

    "Okay, now let us hurry. You said that Mavxire and the Archdevil were the most dangerous and would not be easily beaten without your help. We have taken out the first one, so take us to where Marcus is fighting." Mrazivy said to Arrakas once she had finished exining everything to James and Fallon.

 770 Chapter 770

    Once he stepped out of the portal, he had been following his opponent down Quillon found himself in an overgrown jungle.

    This was the arena that his fight would take ce in against the devil that he had been instructed to fight.

    Of course, he had wanted to fight the Archdevil, but Marcus had taken what he considered to be the best fight for himself.

    In the end he got pushed all the way down to the fourth highest level devil since he would be fighting on his own. Though this was not technically true since his contracted spirit was with him. Though he had no intention of using her powers.

    ''Great. They have hidden themselves within the foliage.'' Quillon thought when he looked for his opponent.

    The devil he was fighting had legs like a grasshopper and was the only one that did not have leather wings like a bat and instead had wings that resembled a dragonfly.

    They were also the smallest of the devils and were only around four feet tall.

    ''This is a pain I wish they would juste out and fight me.''

    His sword at the ready Quillon waited for nearly a minute for something to happen but the devil did not show itself.

    He was starting to get impatient and was about to use one of the powers of his supreme skill to cut down the entire area when the devil finally made its appearance.

    "Hehe, you really do not let your guard down no matter what. I was waiting for you to either rx or for your nerves to have you too on edge to react properly." The devil said from above in the trees in a taunting manner.

    However, the second it spoke Quillon cut down the tree it was in with one swift motion of his de.

    The devil though while a bit surprised by how fast Quillon could move easily moved to another tree while the first one fell.

    "You are stronger than I expected. No wonder you are so confident. But you are still only an insignificant human even if you are strong. It is only a matter of time before you fall to me."

    After saying this the devil disappeared again and Quillon was left standing alone in a small clearing he had made with his sword.

    He was hoping that the devil might actually try to attack him but it just jept its distance.

    It was after another few dozen seconds that he realized what it was doing.

    "Poison huh." He said when he felt a slight tingling in his body.

    "That is right. You have been sitting there unaware, already caught in my trap. Now that the poison is in your system you will bepletely unable to stand against me." The devil he was fighting said while snicking.

    In a sh it jumped out of the tree it had been hiding in and began bouncing off multiple trees that surrounded Quilon and building up an impressive amount of speed.

    Every time itunched itself off another tree it left a deep indent in its bark from the immense amount of power in its legs.

    It was moving so fast that Quillon was not a hundred percent certain that he could deliver a killing blow if he attacked it head on. So instead, he simply held up his sword and sheathed it. Waiting for the attack toe at him.

    He had his right hand ced on his hilt and his left on his sheath ready to deliver a counterattack.

    Seeing this the devil mocked him, saying that he would never have any chance against its speed when he was poisoned.

    Finally, once the devil had built up its maximum speed itunched itself right towards Quillon and the tree it had used as a spring broad cracked and shattered.

    Its entire body was propelled far faster than sound, and in the blink of an eye it seemed it would hit Quillon and tear through him.

    Yet instead, in a movement the devil could barely even follow as Quillon unsheathed his de, turned around, and with one clean motion cut the devil in half from the right side of its waste to its left shoulder.

    "Ten Greatest Techniques, Guided Strike."

    With a loud crash the two halves smashed into the ground and left deep craters in the dirt.

    The lower half twitched as blood and organ sprayed out and the upper half coughed up a fountain of green blood while it tried to desperately keep from dying through sheer force of mana.

    It just barely was staying alive by using its mana to keep its remaining organs from falling out and to quicken its regeneration.

    Nevertheless, Quillon was not going to just let it recover and slowly walked his way over to where its upper half was.

    He sighed when he saw the devil and a look of absolute disappointment was on his face.<sub> </sub>

    "I knew I should have fought harder to fight a stronger opponent. This was incredibly boring. Even the one that Lyra and Inten and Blitz got looked stronger even if they were lower levels." Quillon grumbled.

    "How?! How are you able to move like that while being affected by my poison? The devil said unable toprehend what had just happened.

    Even if normally if Quillon was able to move like that, there was no way he should have had the strength while being ravaged by deadly poison.

    "Hm, oh. I have poison resistance, and your poison is pretty weak. It made me feel just the slightest bit sluggish, but nothing more."

    After he said this the devil truly understood what kind of monster it had been up against, and before it even knew what was going on its head rolled limply off its body.

    ˇ­

    AS Quillon was dealing with his enemy easily enough Lilia was having a simr experience.

    Marcus being as overprotective as he was, put her up against one of the weaker devils, and she was easily overpowering them

    The devils she was fighting was fairlyrge, standing nine feet tall and had four heavily muscled arms that each wiled a thick ck club.

    Yet instead of Lilia begin the one batter and bruised, it was the devil.

    She had been easily pummeling him since the start of the fight, and his clubs could not even leave a scratch on her when they hit.

    In fact, they were so low of a threat that many times she did not even bother dodging even when hit in ces where she did not have armor.

    "I think I almost felt that one." She said as she delivered another punch which caused another dent in the devil''s heavily banged up armor.

    He let out a loud wheeze of pain and flew backwards into the wall of the enclosed arena they had been brought to.

    Blood was dribbling down his body from numerous wounds and two of its our armsy limply at its side. His bones shattered into dozens of pieces.

    Lilia was taking this fight a bit slower than she could have, but that was because she really wanted to test out how strong she was after her recent evolution.

    This was the first battle against what could be considered a powerful opponent since she had evolved, but it was moreckluster than she had been hoping for.

    ''I guess I should end this soon.'' She thought as she walked over to the battered devil.

    There was fear in his eyes as he watched the young woman less than half his size approach.

    He had used all of his strongest attacks on her and only his strongest unique skill attack even forced her to block.

    "Stay back! I do not know what you are but there is no way you are human!" The devil screamed out, waving his clubs as Lilia approached.

    It was almost funny to see arge devil shouting in terror at a young girl, but for this devil, Lilia was more akin to a monster.

    From the start he had felt something off about her. In a simr way that people felt an aversion to devils and demons as a sort of natural instinct, this devil felt something simr towards Lilia.

    "In a way you are right. I am not really a human anymore even if I used to be one." Lilia said as she pointed her right hand at the devil.

    So far, she had only sued physical attack, but she figured she would finish it off with magic since it would be less messy.

    "Disintegrate."

    A thin light green beam fired out from Lilia''s extended index finger as she cast the strongest tier seven force magic spell she had received from the special dungeon.

    The devil, who was her enemy tired to cross his clubs in front of him to block the attack, but when the thin green beam hit, the devil''s clubs turned to dust and his body soon followed as the force spell broke him down at the molecr level.

    "Looks like Marcus was worried for nothing. I did not have to use any of my trump cards, and certainly did not need my strongest." Lilia said while looking down at the pile of ash that had been her opponent

    A momentter a white portal opened up that would lead her to one of herpanions who were embroiled in their own battles.

    "I hope that Aurelia and Zareen are okay. Their enemy looked fairly tough even if they were the lowest level." Lilia said as she entered the portal and raced to help whoever was at the end of it.

 771 Chapter 771

    ''Soul Burst! Shield of the Just!''

    After being batted around fairly easily by the Archdevil Rolthor, Marcus determined that his only way to win was to use his full power.

    He would be putting himself on a time limit but for three minutes he would be far stronger both offensively and defensively thanks to his two-trump card unique skills.

    In a single instant with the activation of his unique skills Marcus turned the fight around.

    Before whenever he blocked the Archdevil''s attacks he would get pushed back and blown away, but now he stopped the next attack with his scythe.

    "What!?" Rolthor screamed out when Marcus pushed him back.

    With a sh Marcus used his stalwart full moon technique to simultaneously block all four of Rolthor''s arms and then counterattacked.

    ''Powerful sh.''

    Using his first attack skill Marcus swung his scythe from overhead and down onto the Archdevil.

    The air trembled and the ground shattered as his attack hit, and Rolthor found two of his arms cleaved off and Marcus'' scythe embedded deeply into his shoulder.

    At thest moment the Archdevil had managed to divert the path Marcus'' scythe was traveling by sacrificing two of his arms.

    Still Marcus'' attack had caused quite a bit of damage and dark blood began pouring out of Rolthor.

    "I wonder if you will be able to take this at close range." Marcus said as he took his left hand off his scythe and pointed it at Rolthor.

    His hand quickly became enveloped in a bright light and filled with an unimaginable amount of mana.

    "Last Light."

    As Marcus cast his tier eight light magic spell a small orb of light so bright that everything became unseeable appeared.

    The Archdevil felt his retina burn out even as he closed his eyes and a blistering pain shot through his body as the light scorched him.

    It was so intense that Rolthor could not bear to be near it any longer and he ripped off his left shoulder that Marcus'' scythe was lodged deeply into in order to make an escape.

    "You''re not getting away."

    With the flick of his wrist Marcus tossed the extreme ball of light and it chased after the fleeing Archdevil until it caught up and consumed him.

    The small ball of light rapidly expanded around Rolthor andpletely cut off any escape.

    He tried flying away at full speed, but the light kept up with him and constantly enveloped him with its intensity that was burning him to nothing.

    "Wow, he really is tough. Even when not using Soul Burst, I have never seen anything take that spell for so long." Marcus said with a genuinely impressed expression.

    In terms of single target damage that spell was undoubtably his strongest.

    Eventually the mana within the spell wore out and what was left of the devil''s body was pretty much just a cken torso and head.

    At first Marcus was not even sure if Rolthor was alive but a faint signal of mana proved that he was hanging on somehow.

    "Guess it is harder to kill an Archdevil than I thought. But I should only need one more attack."

    Holding up his scythe Marcus nned to fire of a st of mana and be done with it, but right before he did a dark ink light appeared above the remains of the Archdevil.

    Seeing it Marcus swung his scythe and unleased his attack, but the light was absorbed into the Archdevil before it hit, and he erupted with power again.

    Another and then another simr inky ck light flew towards him, and Marcus being a spiritual being realized what they were.

    Three powerful souls had just appeared around the Archdevil, were absorbed into his body, and revitalized his power.

    Marcus triedunching a few more attacks, but in his haste, they were not all that powerful and failed to break the barrier that had formed around Rolthor.

    His tier eight spell used a truly absurd amount of mana and he had really pushed himself to make it as strong as possible. Bringing him down to only about twenty percent of his capacity.

    Taking a moment, he pulled out the strongest mana restoration potion he had and drank its contents.

    His time was running out and he needed more mana if he was tounch another decisive blow.

    By the time the potion had taken full effect and his mana was around seventy percent filled the Archdevil was back on his feet and as powerful as before.

    And to make matters worse, Marcuse was now sitting with only around eighty seconds left until he ran out of time on his Soul Burst unique skill.

    "It seems that you friends have managed to kill some of my subordinates. Normally that would have been quite the loss for me, but this time it really saved me. Their soulsing back to me was what I needed to revive myself." Rolthor said confidently.

    However, Marcus had not been simply waiting for his speech to finish, he had been preparing his next attack.

    ''Eclipse Meteor!''

    Wrapped in brightest light and ckest darkness Marcus shot forward at stunning speeds andunched himself right towards the Archdevil.

    He nned to finish it with one of his biggest attacks but despite his speed, the Archdevil managed to slip away.

    BOOM!

    Marcus'' attack hit hard against the ground where Rolthor had been but a moment ago and a st of darkness and light swallowed the entire area.

    But despite the attack having arge range the Archdevil managed to avoid the majority of its power by warping away at thest moment. And while he was singed and had ck spots that were slowly cording all over his body, he had made his escape.

    Using his full speed and not looking back he flew away from Marcus.

    There was no doubt in his mind that he could not beat Marcus as he was now, but that meant he only needed to run away until the situation changed.

    If Marcus could have used that level of power without any restriction, he would have done so from the start rather than waiting until he was backed into a corner.

    ''All I need to do is stay away until he runs out of power or the skill hits its time limit. Then I can-''

    Yet as the Archdevil was making ns in his head, thinking he had gotten away. Marcus appeared right above him and shed down with his scythe.<sub> </sub>

    It was as if he had appeared out of nowhere, except the Archdevil never even saw him use one of his Dark Portals to move.

    Of course, there was no way Marcus could have used his Dark Portal unique skill to catch up.

    The Archdevil had already left the range limit he had for setting one up, and it would have taken too long to try and catch up by creating the portals and jumping through them one at a time.

    Instead, Marcus had a much more efficient power for traveling in a straight line towards a fleeing foe.

    ''Lightspeed Movement.''

    This was the second unique skill that Marcus had obtained from the special dungeon.

    It allowed him to transform his body into pure light and travel at well, lightspeed.

    He could only use it to move in a straight line, and while transformed into pure light he could not meaningfully interact with the world.

    Still, it allowed him to move around from one point to another in practically an instant. Which this time gave him the ability to catch up on the fleeing Archdevil.

    After dealing a heavy blow when he surprised Rolthor by suddenly catching up to him, Marcus prepared to deliver a fishing blow as he held his scythe up high.

    ''Eclipse Reaper.''

    Channeling all his power into his scythe Marcus elongated its de and swung down on the Archdevil he had mmed back into the ground.

    His attack was poised to cleave his enemy in half, but at thest moment the Archdevil fired off a fast moving, though fairly weak st of mana.

    The attack hit Marcus before his ownnded, but it simply bounced off him thanks to the impable defense from his unique skill Shield of the Just, and his amethros armor.

    Except something he had not foreseen happened.

    In any normal environment it would have had no effect, but here in the special dungeon the seemingly desperate attack worked well against Marcus.

    Currently he was in the air after having used his unique skill to move there. But the special dungeon was still preventing him from flying and he had no way to stabilize his body in midair.

    So, despite the attack doing no damage to him, Marcus had no way to anchor himself and was blown back.

    His attack hit nothing but air, and he flew uncontrobly towards the ceiling of the area. Unable to stop his momentum until he hit it.

    Nevertheless, he had a way to reposition himself and quickly moved back onto the offensive.

    He simply created a Dark Portal behind him and made the other opening appear right behind the Archdevil.

    In an instant he was right back into attack range and swung his still powered up scythe with all his might.

    The attack cleaved right through the Archdevil, cutting him in half at the waist.

    Marcus then held out his right hand and out of his item box flew out his newest focusing rings.

    They were now made out of amethros he had obtained from the special dungeon and had the highest quality elemental crystals that he had also gotten as rewards.

    ''Quasar st. Rending Void.''

    Using his tried-and-truebination attack that fused two tier six spells, Marcus fired off the powerful attack and watched it consume the Archdevil.

    Except the moment before the attack hit, the Archdevil ripped his own head off and tossed it away from his body.

    His torso and legs were then fully engulfed and turned to dust along with arge part of the area they were fighting in.

    The Archdevil''s head though managed to avoid being destroyed, and Marcus watched another two souls from the devils hispanions were fighting appear and give their energy to their master.

    For every enemy his friends and family killed, they only helped to power up the Archdevil. And in this moment, it gave Rolthor just what he needed.

    His severed head exploded with power and his body quickly started regenerating.

    Naturally Marcus was not going to simply let this happen and prepared another attack. Until he reached his limit.

    All at once when his Soul Burst timed out, he felt himself be extremely heavy and he copsed onto the ground.

    He was even so depleted of energy that he lost his solid form and went into full ghost mode. But the special dungeon was set up so that he could not phase through anything. Meaning he could only lie on the ground. Unable to move after expending all of his power.

    ''Damn it! I only needed another few seconds.''

    In an instant where there had been confidence, hopelessness sunk in for Marcus.

    He had been winning overwhelmingly once he used his time limited unique skills. Yet now that Soul Burst was over, he was a sitting duck.

    He knew that he could do nothing more and that it was only a matter of time until he was destroyed.

    Nevertheless, he also knew this was not the end.

    His revival skill was long off cooldown since he used it against the Dread Burrower, and he would be able toe back after being defeated.

    Unfortunately, that would have been the case only if the Archdevil nned on destroying him.

    Instead Marcus watched him grin down at him and pulled out a dark red metal pot.

    Seeing it Marcus felt a chill run down his entire soul and he realized that item was extremely bad.

    "To think that you were actually some type of spirit. I did not see thating. You gave off the feeling of a human the entire time. But now it seems your transformation has run out. But don''t worry, a soul as strong as yours has plenty of uses. And now that you are defenseless, I should be able to imprison you easily enough."

    The Archdevil, confident in his victory, slowly began opening the pot as if to prolong Marcus'' suffering. But before he could sue the soul trapping jar someone else intervened.

    Arge st of mana came flying right for the Archdevil and he had to jump out of the way to evade.

    Then in a sh the one who had fired it off moved in front of Marcus protectively and stood in between him and the Archdevil.

 772 Chapter 772

    Craning his neck upwards Marcus was able to see exactly who had saved him.

    He had honestly been expecting Mrazivy, James, or Quillon since they were among the strongest of their group. But instead, it was his little sister, Lilia.

    ''Lilia don''t try to fight him! You are not strong enough! Run away and wait for some of the others!'' Marcus shouted to his little sister using telepathy.

    In terms of level Lilia was more than twenty lower than the Archdevil.

    Currently she was only at level sixty-two and after her evolution she had been leveling up very slowly.

    The quality of the evolution she had achieved was simply that powerful and was actually above Marcus even with him being a great spirit. In fact, she was on par with Roxene.

    Still as strong as she was for her level, the Archdevil was leaps and bounds higher and a very powerful entity in his own right.

    However, while Marcus wanted Lilia to prioritize her own safety there was no way she was going to abandon him.

    "I am not the same scared little girl trapped in a box, Marcus. I have gotten stronger not only to be able to protect myself but you as well. Now justy there and rest while I pummel this devil to death for hurting you." Lilia said with a confident smile.

    She then turned towards the Archdevil and prepared to do battle with him.

    Luckily after ripping his own head off and having his body destroyed by Marcus, even if he had recovered it thanks to the energy he received from his subordinates'' souls, he was still far from in peak condition.

    Yet there was something else that was far more disconcerting for the Archdevil than his condition. And that was the feeling that Lilia was giving off.

    Her aura made him feel like something was prickling at his skin and that she was especially dangerous to him.

    "What are you? You feel like some sort of angel, but you do not have wings and lookpletely human." The Archdevil said practically hissing at Lilia.

    He was being extremely wary of her from the sinking feeling that he had.

    "You are right that I am not an angel. Though I am not exactly sure what that is. Anyway, it does not matter. Once I am done with you there will be nothing left."

    Lilia then pressed down against the ground with her left foot andunched herself towards the Archdevil.

    As she closed the distance her form shimmered multiple times as she cast a few force magic buff spells on herself.

    When she got into range with the Archdevil, she pulled back her right arm and jabbed at him with her full power.

    Yet, her attack failed to hit the Archdevil despite how fast she had been going as he fled up into the air.

    Just from that one exchange he could tell that Lilia was far better versed in close quartersbat and that staying on the ground and fighting her head-to-head would be foolhardy.

    Instead, the Archdevil figured that he could simply lord above her int eh air and attack from out of her range.

    To start he unleashed a thick cloud of his miasma down towards her like he had done earlier to Marcus.

    The dark red mist swirled around and consumed Lilia without her even trying to move out of the way.

    The Archdevil took this as a sign that she could not move fast enough to react, but it was because she simply had no need to.

    One of the unique skills that she had received was called Abnormal Status Reduction.

    This made anything like poison, paralyze, charms, stat drain, or the like fifty percent less effective on her.

    That coupled with the powers from her Peerless Body, Peerless Soul, and Peerless Mind unique she was pretty much immune to most things other than being physically damaged.

    ''This hurts a little, but nothing my regeneration cannot easily offset.'' Lilia thought while being engulfed in the Archdevil''s miasma.

    ''Expanding force.''

    Throwing open both of her hands Lilia sent out a st of pure energy all around her and forced the miasma away.

    While it was not doing effectively any damage it was still blocking her view and making it harder to see her target.

    Once the miasma had moved away from her Lilia pointed her right index finger at the surprised Archdevil and fired off her disintegrate spell.

    Rolthor for his part had not been expecting Lilia toe out from his cloud of miasmapletely unheard and was caught off guard when she fired off a powerful spell at him.

    He could sense the immense danger that the spell posed to him and made sure to evade rather than try to block it.

    In retaliation he then created numerous sts of mana from his four hands and started raining a barrage of attacks down on Lilia.

    Crossing her arms Lilia put up a mana barrier in front of her and weathered the attacks.

    Each one of the sts had a great deal of power behind it and Lilia felt her mana barrier giving out quickly.

    When her barrier gave out, she was hit by numerous sts of mana.

    Several dozens of attacks continued to relentlessly hit her and the Archdevil did not let up until he was satisfied that Lilia had been reduced to nothing but dust.

    Except when everything cleared Lilia was still standing with far less damage than the Archdevil had expected.

    Certainly, she had numerous wounds all over her blood and her blood was flowing out all over to the point that she looked like she had been drenched in crimson paint. Yet she was still alive and had arge grin on her face.<sub> </sub>

    "Looks like I finally figured out how much I can take." Lilia said absentmindedly.

    Up to this point she had rarely been injured since evolving thanks to the powerful defenses that she had acquired.

    Most attacks from anything even close to her level just bounced off her skin and did nothing.

    "It seems that all of you are far stronger than I was led to believe. But this is the end for you."

    With all four of his hands above his head the Archdevil umted a far more powerful mana attack and prepared to finish Lilia off.

    Before he couldunch the attack though, the air around Lilia''s body began to tremble and a shimmering light beganing out of her body.

    "Here you can have this back. Force Payback."

    Casting another tier seven spell Lilia felt her mana begin rapidly depleted as her spell created an attack that equaled the amount of power she had just been hit with.

    A massive st of pure kic energy flew out from Lillia''s hands and flew directly for the Archdevil to return the power he had sent her way.

    In a desperate bid to block the attack the Archdevilunched the umted mana sphere above his head and had his attack sh with Lilia''s

    The entire area shook as these two powerful forces crashed into each other.

    For a few moments it seemed that the two attacks might be equal but in the end, Lilia''s broke through and impacted the Archdevil.

    A blinding explosion expanded around his body when Lilia''s attack hit and for a dozen seconds everything was bathed in an intense light.

    When things finally settled down Lilia looked up to find the Archdevil with arge hole in his right side along with missing all his right limbs.

    However, while this was a great deal of damage Lilia could only feel disappointed.

    That attack had drained pretty much all of her mania and she had taken a great deal of damage which would take even her at least a couple of minutes to fully heal.

    She was no longer had any hope to continue fighting. Though the Archdevil was in a simr position.

    "To think that I would be pushed this far by your group. I do not know where I went wrong but Arrakas'' information must have been wrong. All of you are far stronger than what should be realistically possible. And you leave me no choice but to offer up my own soul."

    Surprise on her face, Lilia could not understander what the Archdevil was getting at but she knew something bad was going to happen when he pulled out a pure ck sheet of paper from his chest.

    Looking at it she could see that the text was written in anguage she did not recognize and was red like it was written in blood.

    Quickly the Archdevil signed his name on the contract, and it burst into ck mes.

    A momentter the Archdevil''s body began pulsating and the image of an immense figure in a suit of cked diabolical armor that had constantly screaming faces twisted in agony covering it.

    Seeing this figure Lilia trembled and felt a more oppressive presence than she ever had before.

    Even Boreas, who she had met a couple of times, felt like a harmless kitten inparison to what had just appeared.

    With an outstretched hand it dropped an ink ck ichor on top of Rolthor and the Archdevil began to twist and change.

    His body quickly recovered from all the damage Lilia had inflicted and another set of leather wings sprouted out of his body.

    He then erged to twice the size he had been before, and his two sets of arms fused into one, and on each side of his body he now had two hulking appendages.

    The remains of the ck ichor surrounding his body flowed into his right hand and formed into arge mace.

    Once Rolthor''s transformation wasplete the entity that had appeared when he signed the ck contract disappeared.

    However, even with it gone Lilia was still faced with an incredibly powerful begin staring down at her in contempt.

    The Archdevil had now undergone some sort of transformation and was now even stronger than he had been before.

    "So, this is the power that my subordination is worth." Rolthor said in awe.

    Nevertheless, there was also a despondence to his tone as well. He knew what he had given up to gain this power. Even if it was the only way he could have saved himself in the moment.

    "Now I think I will take my time tearing you and that spirit apart until I am satisfied. Then I can add you to my collection of souls."

    Holding his mace above him, the Archdevil prepared to smash Lilia into the ground and put an end to what little resistance she could still put up.

    "I suppose I will get to test this out as well." Lilia said while giving the archdevil a defiant look.

    Gold bands of light began flowing out of her body and wrapping around her.

    In an instant the grievous wounds she had incurred were fixed and her depleted mana was restored.

    This was the strongest power Lilia currently had and one of the race abilities she had received upon evolving into an Empyrean.

    "DIVINE MIGHT!"

 773 Chapter 773

    Lilia, d in golden light, felt an immense amount of energy coursing through her.

    This was the greatest ability she had obtained and allowed her to borrow power that was well beyond her.

    Then while the Archdevil, who had just undergone a fiendish transformation, was watching her in bewilderment, Lilia disappeared from his view.

    In a sh she jumped up towards Rolthor and delivered a punch straight to his face.

    Feeling the dangering his way, the Archdevil snapped out of his daze and swung his newly acquired mace to intercept Lilia. But was stunned again by what happened.

    Lilia easily evaded the attack in midair and flew right up to the Archdevil and delivered a blow square to his face.

    As the impact hit him and he felt his bones shatter and his teeth get knocked out, the Archdevil could not understand what had happened.

    The restriction of this floor should have made it so that no one without his permission could fly or maneuver in the air in any way.

    Yet Lilia had just changed her momentum while airborne as easily as she breathed.

    It should have beenpletely impossible for her to go against a function of the system that governed this floor, but the absolute power seemed to have stopped working.

    This was simply how absurd Lilia''s Divine Might race ability was.

    Even the restriction of the special dungeon no longer had any hold on her.

    Blow after blow Lilia smashed her fists into the huge body of the Archdevil, and each time she connected she shattered bones and ruptured organs.

    Her attacks were relentless and unstoppable no matter what the Archdevil tried.

    When he attacked, she simply moved too fast to be hit, when he tried blocking, she would move to an unguarded area instead. If he attempted to put up a mana barrier around himself it broke in one blow, and even omni directional attacks were brushed aside and easily dealt with.

    Nothing the Archdevil did even after receiving greater power by signing his soul away to a higher entity was able to stop Lilia.

    While her Divine Might ability was active, she was all but invincible.

    Each one of her attacks scored big and by the time ten seconds had passed the Archdevil had been turned into a bloody pulp.

    However, with every second that went by, Lilia became more frantic.

    She continued hitting with all her power to try and finish off the Archdevil, but he was incredibly tough in his own right, and by solely guarding his head he managed to withstand Lilia assault.

    Feeling her body giving out under the strain of her own power, Lilia knocked the Archdevil out of the air and to the ground and followed up with her strongest attack skill.

    ''Hammer blow.''

    With both her hands interlocked Lilia brought them down together and mmed down against the Archdevil''s torso.

    The ground under him shattered and turned to dust and his body rippled like ake that just had arge rock thrown into it.

    Blood burst out from his body like a tomato that had just been crushed and his bones shattered into thousands of pieces

    Still, with his brain not destroyed the Archdevil clung to life and his abundance of mana and high speed regeneration went to work on fixing the immeasurable amount of damage he had taken.

    All of his strength though was now gone, and his arms which he had been using to protect his head fell limply to his side

    Lilia only needed to now deliver the final blow. But she could no longer move.

    The instant after the eleventh second she had used Divine Might, her body stopped responding and she felt her blood vessels burst and her bones that had barely been holding up cracked in multiple ces.

    A waterfall of her own blood began pouring out of her body, and in an instant, she was in a simr shape as the Archdevil was after taking all of her attacks.

    Her Divine Might ability was simply too much for her to handle for an extended period of time and the strain it caused was even greater than all the damage she had taken earlier.

    Her normal limit, which she had tested a couple of times, was around seven seconds. Any longer had proved to leave her with injures and horrible fatigue that took days to go away, no matter what type of medicine she was given.

    Except this time, she had pushed well beyond what she could safely handle and held onto the power for eleven seconds in a bid to finish the Archdevil.

    Now she was having to suffer the consequences of using the power she borrowed that was greater than the confines of the system that governed Mirrion.

    Like a puppet whose strings were cut Lilia''s broken body fell over, and shey unmoving on top of the simrly broken Archdevil.<sub> </sub>

    Yet while neither were dead and in simr conditions, the Archdevil was overall in the better position.

    His wounds were quickly being fixed by his regeneration, but Lilia was barely recovering at all. The aftereffects of her Divine Might ability slowing down her naturally recover greatly.

    Her life was not in danger, but she would not be getting up anytime soon.

    The Archdevil on the other hand likely only needed a couple dozen minutes to recover despite the immense amount of damage he had taken.

    In fact, he focused his energy solely on his right arm to get it to be able to move faster.

    This meant that his heavily damaged body would need more time, but his only goal right now was to finish off Lilia.

    When he finally gained the use of his arm again, he slowly pulled it up and creeped his way towards Lilia.

    His n was to crush her to death the moment he got her in his grasp. But his hand never reached her.

    Once he was only a few feet away an amethros scythe jammed into the top of his hand and into his torso. Pinning his one moving limb down.

    "Looks like I made it in time." Marcus said as he cradled Lilia in one arm and pressed his scythe down with the other.

    A soft white glow quickly escaped from his body and enveloped Lilia, and while it was not much, it helped to slowly increase the rate at which Lilia''s wounds healed.

    "How!? You were down and weakened to the point of being unable to move. There is no way you could have recovered your strength in such a short amount of time!" The Archdevil roared with blood still spilling out of his mouth.

    By all counts Marcus should not have been able to move, and certainly not be able to swing around his scythe at full force.

    However, he seemed to no longer be out of strength or even weakened by the bacsh of using Soul Burst.

    Of course, the answer was simple, Marcus had destroyed himself.

    When he saw the Archdevil receive power from an outside source ande back even stronger, Marcus made the decision to activate his revival unique skill even if it meant essentially killing himself.

    From his past experience against the Doomsday Worm, he knew that the negative effects of using Soul Burst were reset when he came back. So, by activating Deny Destruction and immediately reappearing in perfect condition, he was able to fight again.

    The process had taken him a while though, since it had been difficult for him to amass the power he needed to end himself. But once he had, he was able to enact his n ande to Lilia''s rescue at thest moment.

    "Though it seems that I had no need to." Marcus said as she cast his gaze over to where a certain pair were waiting.

    A couple seconds after Lilia had activated her Divine Might ability, Quillon and Lyra had arrived after meeting up themselves.

    Even without Marcus recklessly destroying himself to restore his form, they would have been able to help Lilia and finish off the Archdevil.

    Light seemed to leave the Archdevil''s eyes as he realized he was beaten and surrounded by enemies. But a momentter hope seemed to arrive.

    Another soul from one of his subordinates came flying towards him.

    "Ha, this is not the end, my minions'' powers shall revitalize me."

    "Like hell I am going to let that happened again." Marcus said with an unimpressed expression.

    Right before the soul reached the Archdevil, Marcus used his spectral arm to pluck it out of the air and drag it away.

    A look of absolute disbelief came over the Archdevil''s face as his emotions took another rapid turn.

    In fact, when he caught sight of Marcus'' spectral arm, he saw that another of his subordinate''s soul was already in its grasp.

    There was absolutely nothing the Archdevil could do other than pray for some of the other devils to appear and save him.

    No other miracle happened for the Archdevil though, and all he could do was watch as Marcus walled up his broken body and ce his scythe at his throat.

    Without saying anything else Marcus removed the Archdevil''s head from his body. Then to make sure no other recovery was possible, incinerated it with fire magic.

    Rolthor''s head destroyed, and his life ended, the rest of the hulking form of the Archdevil turned to ck mist and disappeared.

    All that was left was his soul which promptly vanished away. imed by whatever entity he had signed it away to in ast desperate attempt to survive.

 774 Chapter 774

    The moment that the Archdevil perished Marcus received an expected notification.

    ''You have leveled up to level seventy-one.''

    Defeating such a powerful entity had naturally given him a massive amount of exp, and Lilia, who had contributed greatly, also got a level up for herself.

    With the confirmation that the greatest threat was dead Marcus slumped over on the ground as all the tension in him vanished.

    The battle had been a bit touch and go there for a minute and he hade close to being captured by the Archdevil, and Lilia had almost died.

    "Thanks for protecting me this time Lilia." Marcus said as she lovingly stoked her hair and continued using his spirit healing and healing magic on her.

    And while she was unconscious her previously pained expression quickly began to change until she was smiling peacefully.

    "Looks like you both had a far more intense battle than I did." Quillon said as he approached Marcus.

    He looked a bit jealous as he said this, and it was clear to Marcus that his opponent was not a challenge for him.

    On the other hand, Lyra, despite putting on a strong fa?ade, was clearly wiped after her battle and actually envied Quillon having such an easy time.

    "Well, I am d to see that both of you made it through fine. But what of the others? Do they still need our help.?" Marcus asked.

    In repose Quillon just shrugged his shoulders.

    Neither he nor Lyra knew what the others were doing or where they were.

    Quillon, after beating his opponent found himself traveling down another path and when he arrived at the end saw Lyra finishing her opponent.

    The two of them then discussed their own battles swiftly before going down the portal that had opened up in the arena Lyra had been fighting in.

    "When we reached the end, we found ourselves watching Lilia going to town on the Archdevil and you were nowhere to be seen. For a bit we thought you might have been killed or captured, but it seems that was not the case." Quillon said to Marcus. The expression on his face clearly wanting more details.

    "I will tell everyone what happened once we have confirmed all the battles are over. For now, let us head back to where we originally encountered the Archdevil and see if the original portals are still there."

    "What about Roxene? It seems that she is still fighting the remains of the monster horde." Lyra said, pointing out the loud explosions in the distance.

    "She can hold her own against a bunch of weaklings for at least a while longer, if not just ughtering all of them outright. Instead, those fighting the far stronger devils should be our concern."

    Prioritizing the safety of their otherpanions, Marcus, with Lilia in his arms, along with Lyra and Quillon ran back to the Archdevil''s office.

    However, their concern was for naught. By the time they arrived everyone had trickled back in after winning their own battles.

    Except there was one presence that caught everyone that was not privy to the details off guard.

    Having appeared with James, Fallon, Mrazivy, and Eirwen was one of the devils. And the third strongest at that.

    "Wait! He is not our enemy, and I already made a deal for his help and to not attack us." Mrazivy shouted to prevent everyone else from attacking Arrakas.

    She then exined what had happened with her opponent, and how he had helped defeat the devil James and Fallon were fighting as well as giving all the other devils false information on their statuses.

    "I see. I am surprised that he signed such a one-sided deal when the Archdevil tried to take us for everything we are worth." Marcus said as he cast a suspicious look towards Arrakas.<sub> </sub>

    The contract he had signed only gave him the benefit of not being killed and nothing else.

    At first Marcus though there might be hiddenyers, but Mrazivy appeased him by saying she wrote the contract and not the devil.

    "I am not as greedy as Rolthor was. I am perfectly content waiting out the three thousand years for my reward and have no intention of risking getting myself killed by going to the world this dimeson is connected to." Arrakas said while bowing his head.

    With a scrutinizing gaze Marcus tried to read Arrakas'' intentions, but from what he could tell the devil was telling the truth.

    "Fine, then you can at least prove your sincerity to the rest of us and help us clean up the rest of the monsters." Marcus said.

    Without any resistance Arrakas agreed and those that were still rtively fresh went out to help Roxene, while the others waited with Lilia and rested.

    Nealy three hourster all the monsters on the final floor of the special dungeon were dead.

    Now that they were no longer infinitely spawning it was fairly easily to deal with them by simply spammingrge scale attacks.

    In fact, Arrakas to show his good will worked the hardest out of any of them and brought himself to near exhaustion in order to kill several thousands of the monsters.

    But now that they had killed all of the monsters there was still one big question on everyone''s mind.

    "So where is the exit?" Mrazivy asked to Arrakas.

    "Ah yes, I can show you to where it is. The location is quite well hidden, but I made sure to find out where in case it ever became information I needed."

    After saying that Arrakas led them all back to where Lilia and those that were simrly exhausted from their own battles were waiting and took them to the final floor''s teleportation circle.

    It was at the end of a long maze hidden behind a dozen secret passageways.

    Truly it could have taken days to find it without being guided by someone that knew its location.

    "Looks like it is already active. All we need to do is step on and we can get out of this ce." James said with a look of relief on his face.

    In the back of all of their minds they had been wondering if they would need to beat all of the devils in order to leave the dungeon and the deal Mrazivy had made might have kept them trapped.

    Luckily the teleportation circle was glowing as it always did when it was primed and ready.

    Nevertheless, this begged the question why none of the devils sued it to leave if it was always active.

    "Obviously there are restrictions to keep us here. If any of us could have left, we would have centuries ago." Arrakas said, understanding what all the looks he was getting meant.

    "Well, I am pretty sick of this ce and want to get a hot bath and some real food. Let us not dy any longer." Lyra said eager to leave.

    This was a sentiment shared by everyone, and without saying anything else to Arrakas they got onto the teleportation circle and were whisked away.

    When their vision returned after the teleportation waspleted, they found themselves in arge room with ornate chests waiting for each of them.

    It was clear that they had arrived in the final reward room and what was inside these chests would be their prize for beating the special dungeon.

 775 Chapter 775

    Seeing the row of chests, everyone felt a great sense of aplishment welling up inside them.

    It had taken them multiple years of pushing their minds and bodies past their limits to reach this point, but they had finally beaten the special dungeon, Realization of Self Perfection.

    Yet their attention on each of the chests was soon drawn elsewhere by a cloaked figure that was sitting at the back of the room and drinking tea at arge table with fifteen seats around it.

    Immediately all of them tensed up and prepared for battle against this entity that had appeared at the end of the special dungeon.

    Roxene was the first to rx and Marcus soon followed after her. Both of them recognizing who was leisurely waiting at the table.

    In a sh Roxene ran over to this person with a look of affection that none of them had seen other than Marcus.

    "It is good to see you again as well Roxene. Go ahead and take a seat next to me and we can talk for a little while. I have made sure to clear away a good chunk of time for all of you." The person who was clearly a young woman by her voice and stature said.

    Immediately Roxene''s form shifted, and she took on a humanoid form that she rarely used.

    Quickly she had taken the appearance of a young woman that looked to be in herte teens with long ck hair going down the left side of her head and white hair going down the right.

    However, Roxene''s transformation was not perfect. She had yet to master lookingpletely human and still had trouble transforming her ears and tail. Making her look like a beast person rather than a human.

    She was also wearing a set of magic clothes that changed whenever she transformed. But it was simply a rather in looking pair of pants optimized for moving around in and a fairly standard blue shirt.

    "No, that simply will not do for this asion. I normally am fine with practicality, but since this is our first tea party, you should be dressed up."

    With the snap of her fingers the administrator caused Roxene''s clothes to warp, and in an instant she was now wearing a dress with a white top and ck bottom.

    "Hm, the rest of you could use some better cloths as well. You all look ready to go to war." The administrator said with a slight chuckle.

    Waving her hand she sent out a pulse of magic that was iprehensible and Marcus along with everyone else felt themselves wrapped up in it.

    Their armor transformed back into its sealed state as pendants, their weapons were forcefully pushed into their item boxes, and their clothes were transformed into formal wear.

    Even the beastpanions found themselves affected, with their human transformations forced and their clothing changed. And Lilia who was till unconscious found her wounds healed and shot awake

    Naturally this show of tant disregard for what should have been possible put everyone on edge. Except for Marcus who already knew that the administrator could do pretty much whatever she wanted in this world.

    Then for thest touch the dark cloak she was wearing ripped apart and formed itself into a red orange dress.

    Now before them was the appearance the administrator took while on Mirrion. Looking like a normal human girl of around the age of fifteen with medium length brte hair.

    Of course, despite her appearing to be normal, everyone knew that was far from the case, and fear of the almighty entity that could seemingly warp reality was beginning to well up inside everyone that did not know who they were dealing with.

    "Calm down! If she wanted to kill us, we would already be long dead. That is the administrator, the entity that created this world. Do not let her appearance fool you, she is no young girl." Marcus said to ease his friend''s nerves

    Thankfully this did the trick as they all at least knew of the administrator from what Marcus had told them.

    Still, having the most powerful being on the right in front of you was enough to keep anyone on edge.<sub> </sub>

    "You know it is rude to disparage a youngdy''s appearance Marcus. And I will have you know that while this is not my true form now, I did at one time look exactly like this." The administrator said with puffed up cheeks. Feigning that she was hurt by hisment.

    Sighing, Marcus knew that this was just how the administrator liked to act and was not her actual personality, which she kept well hidden.

    "Now why don''t all of you join me. It will be quite the nd celebration if only Roxene partakes."

    With clear anxiety on their faces, everyone slowly moved towards the administrator, while Marcus, despite his own worries, did his best to calm them down.

    In the end they all got seated around the table the administrator had prepared, with Marcus having to sit next to her like Roxene since no one else would.

    "Let us begin. This is just my little way of congratting all of you for clearing this special dungeon which is no small task and one of the harder challenges I set up."

    After the administrator said this arge tear in space opened up around the table and numerous confectionaries and drinks began flying around the table.

    Soon everyone had their favorite beverages and sweetsid out in front of them and the administrator encouraged them to enjoy themselves.

    Slowly things began to calm down, as the alluring smells dropped everyone''s guards, and within a few minutes the tension that had been hanging in the air had lessened greatly.

    "So, what is it that you want? I doubt that you show up to praise everyone that clears one of your special dungeons." Marcus said to the administrator in between sips of his favorite brand of coffee that he used to drink regrly back on Earth.

    "Well, it is true that I would not show myself to anyone else like this. But I was already here and wanted to see Roxene." The administrator said with genuine care in her eyes that almost made Marcus forget how heartless she could be. "Though the other reason is so that I could apologize to you and your sister personally."

    Marcus was taken aback when he heard this. He had no idea what the administrator wanted to apologize for, but also was shocked to see that she seemed truly remorseful.

    "I did not do a thorough enough job looking into Rolthor, the Archdevil you fought. That ck contract he had was not something I knew about, and if I had, I never would have allowed it toe here with him. Unfortunately, it was hidden deep within his body by an entity much like myself in terms of power. This caused you both to have to deal with a greater challenge than I originally intended that easily could have gotten all of you killed. Allow me now to give you my sincere apology for my negligence." The administrator said with a bowed head.

    Everyone went wide eyed seeing this gesture. The creator of Mirrion and an entity akin to a god had just bowed her head towards them and admitted her mistake.

    "Aunt E, I mean administrator. There is no need to go that far. You should not be lowering your head to anyone." Roxene said in a fluster.

    "No, I truly do owe all of you, and especially Marcus and Lilia, an apology for missing something so critical. If not for all of you truly having reached the peak of your power my oversight could have gotten all of you killed. I do my best to keep any outside interference from reaching this world, but even I cannot catch everything."

    Once she had finished her apology the administrator pulled out glowing orb that had six distinct colors in it.

    One look was enough to tell everyone that it contained an immense amount of power.

    "Take this as a token of my apology." The administrator said as she handed the orb to Marcus.

    The moment he took ahold of it he felt the orb get absorbed into him and a searing heat built up in him.

    For a second he thought that the administrator meant to kill him, but the heat quickly dissipated, and all the energy seemed to disappear within him.

    "What was that?" Marcus asked, clearly still rmed by what had just happened.

    "I do not believe that you have looked at your evolution requirements yet, but that would have been the most difficult object for you to obtain. Within that orb was the essence of six great spirits which I gathered as a gift to show truly how sorry I am for what happened with the Archdevil. Now you need onlyplete the other far easier requirements and you can reach the apex of being a spirit and ghost."

 776 Chapter 776

    Marcus, after hearing exactly what the administrator had given him, could no longer hold back on looking at his status and the requirements for his evolution.

    ''Hm, it does not seem that the essence of the other great spirits did anything to raise my stats or give me new skill like the mythic spirit gem, but what about the other requirements for me to evolve.''

    Quickly Marcus navigated his status to the window titled ''Evolution'' and clicked on it for the first time since he originally gained ess to it.

    Hidden Evolution: Transcendent Ghost, Supreme Spirit of Light and Darkness.

    1. Obtain Level Seventy-(Completed)

    2. Possess a Spirit Stat Over Ten Thousand-(Completed)

    3. Bathe in a Font of Death for a Hundred Days

    4. Consume the Core of a Ghost King

    5. Absorb a Spirit Gem (Mythic)-(Complete)

    6.Absorb the Essence of Six Great Spirits-(Completed)

    After looking through the now clearly shown requirements, Marcus was surprised to see that he only had two more conditions to clear.

    ''The only problem is that I have no idea what a Font of Death is or where to find a Ghost King, or if I am strong enough to beat one.'' Marcus thought once he had finished going over his evolution requirements.

    Thanks to the administrator collecting the essence of six great spirits for him, Marcus now only had two things left to aplish in order reach his evolution.

    He was already quite powerful as just an unbound ghost and great spirit of light and darkness, but once he achieved his hidden evolution there was no telling what kind of power he might have.

    "Now I have paid you back for my mistake by giving you an item that you needed and healing the damage Lilia incurred during the fight. It has been fun and I enjoyed this time with all of you, but there are other things that require my attention." The administrator said.

    She then turned directly to Roxene and pulled out a thick letter.

    "This is from your parents. They told me to give it to you whenever I saw you next."

    Taking hold of the letter, Roxene''s hands were trembling, and a look of anticipation came over her face.

    This was the firstmunication she had received from her parents since she had been sent to Mirrion several years ago.

    With all she needed to do aplished the administrator stood up and opened up a portal behind her.

    "I am expecting great things from all of you. Keep striving to reach the height of this world. Oh, and feel free to enjoy any of the refreshments for as long as you want. The table will not disappear until all of you have left." The administrator said before vanishing.

    Everyone other than Roxene let out a sigh of relief with the administrator now gone.

    She was the strongest being on Mirrion, and all of them knew she could kill any of them with but a thought.

    "So that is the person that made this world." Quillon said as he wiped some sweat off his forehead.

    It was very rare for him to feel fear, and while he normally enjoyed meeting powerful people, he could tell that the administrator was far above him and not someone he should try to fight.

    For the next forty minutes the group simply sat around the table and unpacked what had just happened.

    For everyone but Marcus and Roxene this was their first time meeting the fabled creator of Mirrion.

    "She was certainly more friendly than I expected." ric said.

    "No, I can tell you now that if Roxene was not here, she probably would not have been quite that cordial. When I met her alone, she was not nearly as nice." Marcus said, recalling the time she had forced him to watch the battle with the Doomsday Worm, and prevented him from going back to help until Boreas arrived.

    He imagined that she cared very little for any of them other than Roxene, whose parents she was apparently close friends with.

    "Yes, it is true that aun- I mean the administrator is fairly cold to those she does not consider close. However, I am certain that she at least thinks of you favorably Marcus. Otherwise, she would not have gone out of her way to help you so many times. As for everyone else, I am sure in the future you will have a chance to get closer to her. I already know that she is fiercely loyal to those she considers friends or family." Roxene said to defend the administrator.

    "Okay, I think we have talked about the god of this world enough. Frankly I cannot wait any longer to see what our final rewards are for beating this special dungeon." Lyra said, her excitement for what was lying in the nearby chests reaching its peak.

    Immediately everyone who had put this into the back of their mind remembered what was waiting for them and cast their gazes towards the neatly lined up chests.

    Each one certainly held some valuable item or another, and now that the administrator was gone it became the center of focus once again.

    With great haste all of them got up and began searching for the chest that was theirs.

    "Inten, yours is next to mine." Fallon called out.

    "Lilia, yours is at the very end here." ric shouted.

    "James, I found yours." Mrazivy said to her brother.

    Soon all of them had located where their chest was and stood in front of it.

    Naturally they had agreed to open their chests at the same time. And after a countdown from Marcus, they all threw the lids off.

    Yet instead of ecstatic expressions, everyone was bewildered by what they saw.

    Inside each of their chests was the exact same thing. A single ck orb.

    Never before had any of them seen an orb like this and it left them baffled.

    ''Wait. Could it be what I think it is?'' Marcus thought, hypothesizing what this orb could be.

    He knew that whatever their final rewards were would be powerful and had been excepting a unique skill orb along with some regr skill orbs.

    However, there was a type of skill even greater than a unique skill, and if ever an orb containing one were to appear, it would be at the end of a special dungeon.

    Swiftly Marcus grabbed the ck orb out of the chest, and he immediately received a prompt to learn what was sealed inside.

    ''Would you like to learn the Supreme Skill, Ultimate Refresh.''

    Chapter 776 Supreme Skills for All

 777 Chapter 777

    Many emotions began stirring inside Marcus as he heard the prompt from the system to learn the Supreme Skill sealed within the ck orb he was holding.

    For the most part he was excited and gleeful, having received what was almost certainly a very powerful ability.

    ''I can surmise what it might do from its name, but I will not know until I learn it or have Mrazivy use her ability to appraise it.'' Marcus thought while rolling the orb around in his hands.

    Everyone was waiting with baited breathes for him to tell them what they had all received, as none of them had grabbed theirs yet. Just in case there was some danger it was best to let Marcus go first.

    Seeing that all hispanions were expectantly looking at him, Marcus decided to go ahead and learn the skill and find out what it did from his status.

    Quickly the ck orb lost all of its luster and turned clear before beginning to turn into particles of sand and disappearing.

    "They are safe. These are skill orbs as we all thought, and each holds within it a Supreme Skill."

    Having Marcus'' approval and hearing what exactly their final rewards for beating the special dungeon, everyone hastily reached in to take the ck orb and learn the skill sealed inside.

    Among them only Marcus, Roxene, and Quillon had Supreme Skills, and for most of them this would be their first time gaining ess to the strongest type of skill on Mirrion.

    In only a few minutes all the ck orbs had turned to dust and the members of Marcus'' party began analyzing what their new Supreme Skills could do.

    Some of them, however, were not easily discernable, and other than Marcus and Lyra who could look at their statuses, they needed Mrazivy''s help to figure out what their new powers did.

    This created a line of beasts and people waiting for Mrazivy''s attention before she could even figure out what her own new skill did.

    "James, would youe here for a moment. I want to try out my new Supreme Skill on you" Marcus called out.

    Surprise came over James'' face for a moment, and he became a bit guarded.

    He had seen what Marcus'' and Quillon''s Supreme Skills were capable of and he really did not want to be a test subject for one. Especially in his current state with a missing arm and eye.

    Still, after some prompting and Marcus promising that his new skill was not an offensive one but a support type, James came over. Albeit a bit reluctantly and still dubious of what Marcus was going to do.

    "Now just stay still and do not try to move out of the way. This ability only works within twenty meters of me." Marcus cautioned before activating his new Supreme Skill.

    "Ultimate Refresh."

    The moment Marcus used the new skill a glowing silver orb appeared in his hand and flew directly for James.

    It moved incredibly fast, and despite Marcus'' warning, from his current distance James would not have been able to dodge it anyway.

    When it hit him, at first, he thought that something bad might happen, since while he trusted Marcus, the prospect of being hit by a new Supreme Skill was still daunting.

    Yet once its effects began, he could only stare down at himself in awe.

    His missing arm and eye swiftly grew back as if they had never been gone.

    Feeling and seeing this happened James let out a yelp of surprise and excitement that garnered everyone else''s attention.

    Of course, having his arm and eye returned to him was something that was both amazing and unexpected.

    He did not lose them to any injury but as a price to fuel one of his unique skills, and they should not have been restorable for another twenty days.

    Except despite Marcus'' healing magic nor Spirit healing specter power, and even true elixirs being unable to heal the damage incurred from Sacrificial Strike, Marcus'' new Supreme skill had.

    "How is this possible!? It should take twenty days before the restriction is lifted!" James shouted.

    "That is simply the power of my Supreme Skill, Ultimate Refresh. With it I can restore anyone''s status back to its peak five times a day. Whether they be injured, out of mana, or under some sort of status effect or debuff." Marcus said with a proud expression.

    He was very satisfied to see that it worked to restore James'' missing body parts, which nothing they had attempted in the past could.

    Nevertheless, he was fairly certain that his new Supreme Skill would work even through the restriction of James'' unique skill.

    He had seen a simr interaction once before between Quillon''s Supreme Skill and Lyra''s Reflector Shield.

    Despite Lyra''s ability being able to send back any attack that came in contact with it, Quillon''s Supreme Skill shattered it.

    This just went to show that if a Supreme Skill had a conflicting power with a unique skill, it would be the victor.

    ''Now will it work on this?'' Marcus thought as he used the skill on himself.

    Unfortunately, when he checked the results, he could not help but frown.

    He had been hoping that the skill would reset the timer on his Soul Burst and Deny Destruction unique skills, but it had not.

    ''I see. I suppose it might be too powerful if it did. Likely it would get rid of the lowered status I receive after using Soul Burst, but it does not reset the skill so I can use it again. In James'' case it got past his time limit since it was not on whether he could use the skill again but that he could heal the price for using it. At the very least it creates quite thebo between the two of us.'' Marcus thought, analyzing his new power.

    As he continued thinking about this new skill, Marcus realized that it was really what he needed.

    He was already quite powerful, and when he went all out, he was able to take on opponents several levels higher than him.

    But what he currentlycked was staying power.

    All of his strongest skills put an extreme amount of pressure on him and wore him out quickly. Especially when he used soul burst.

    In his recent battle against the Archdevil he lost not because he was outssed, but simply because he ran out of time to use his full power.

    If at the time had this new Supreme Skill, he would have been able to immediately recovery and easily finish off the Archdevil who was already beatdown to the point of barely being alive.

    ''With this new power I can really let loose without worrying about conserving my energy. Also, for my allies, I can recharge them as well.''

    After finishing up his initial assessment of his new skill Marcus was very satisfied with it.

    Certainly, it did not give him an explosive burst of power, but he already had plenty of skills that did that.

    Now he had the strongest recover ability that would be useful in many different situations.

    "Looks like you managed to finish telling everyone who needed your help what their Supreme Skills are. So, what did you get?" Marcus asked Mrazivy once she had finished telling ric what his Supreme Skill did.

    "Oh, it is nothing all that special." Mrazivy said with a dazzling smile that obviously told a different story than her words.

    It took Marcus a bit more prodding to finally get her to actually tell him about it, and as she did, she was beaming.

    "My Supreme Skill is called Strongest Dragon. And I have to say it is as good, if not better than your Embodiment of Eclipse."

    Going into details about her skill Marcus could easily see why she wasparing it to one of his own Supreme Skills.

    ? Strongest Dragon was primally a stat raising skill, though it was a bit different than his own.

    To start with it gave her a thirty percent increase to all of her stats at just a baseline and could be further boosted depending on how much mana she funneled into the skill.

    There was also no limit to the number of times she could use the skill and the only constraint was the amount of mana she had.

    "That certainly is strong. And it will pair quite well with my new Supreme Skill." Marcus said while thinking up more strategies they could incorporate.

    Quite interested, Mrazivy joined Marcus with brainstorming ways that they could use their new Supreme Skills together as she had heard the basics of what it could do when he exined it to James.

    Time seemed to go by impably quickly as all of them discussed their new Supreme Skills that were easily the strongest for most of them.

    "Now all we need to do is actually testing of what our new skills are capable of. And to that end, we are wasting time here. I think it is time for us to leave." Quillon said, itching to get out of the special dungeon and use his new skill that would be too dangerous to try in an enclosed space.

    Pretty much everyone agreed with this sentiment, as unlike Marcus, they had gotten skills that would allow them to unleash greater power that could not be used safely in the presence of others.

    Just like that their time in the special dungeon hade to an end, and for thest time they all gathered on a teleportation circle and were whisked away.

 778 Chapter 778

    ''And we are back in the real world.'' Marcus thought as the light from the teleportation circle faded.

    They had now returned to the entrance of the special dungeon that they had spent several years clearing.

    A quick look around and they found that nothing had changed, and while some of them expected the dungeon''s guardian toe out everything stayed quiet.

    "I suppose that the administrator gave us her personal congrattions so there was no need for the dungeon''s system to as well." Marcus said absent mindedly.

    Once they had made sure that everything was the same within the entrance room to the special dungeon, they all shuffled out and checked on the surrounding area.

    "Looks like another creature has taken up residence here as the overlord while we were gone. So, who is going to take it out this time?" Lyra said with little interest upon their exit.

    In the distance they could all clearly see arge form of crystal drake that had been sleeping on the bank of thergeke the special dungeon''s entrance was sitting in the middle of.

    It had naturally noticed their presence as they were not trying to conceal themselves and waszily getting up to confront those that were intruding on its territory.

    "It is only level fifty-six and a rare grade beast. Hardly a challenge. I will leave it up to whoever wanted to take it." Quillon said with a disappointed sigh.

    A couple of times the new boss that took over the area around the special dungeon''s entrance was actually fairly powerful and Quillon always jumped at the chance to be the one to fight against them

    This time though it was a weaker beastpared to what they had encountered before, and it was not much of a threat to any of them.

    "Here, I will do it quickly." ric said, stepping up with his staff raised and filling up with mana.

    Noticing the hostile action and feeling that its life was in danger, the crystal drake stopped moving leisurely and let out a loud intimidating roar towards their party.

    Any normal person would have been left paralyzed with fright from this, but the crystal drake, while a major threat to the majority of people, wasparable to a kitten to all of them.

    With the flick of staff ricunched a small ck ball towards the crystal drake that was preparing tounch a breath attack.

    The moment the ball hit a dark light engulfed the crystal drakes'' body and life left its eyes.

    Its hulking body then copsed onto the ground with a loud thud and small waves began to ripple out across theke.

    "Well now that we have cleared that up, I will head up to the surface first and prepare feast for when the rest of you join me." Marcus said as he opened up a dark portal.

    He had left an opening at the entrance of the ravine before they came down and was now using it to instantly travel out.

    Of course, it took arge amount of mana for him to create a longsting portal and when he used all he had he could have onest for around two months.

    "Roxene, Inten, Blitz, did any of you want toe with me or make the trip with everyone else?." Marcus asked his beastpanions.

    Only those that had an affinity for the darkness element could travel through the dark portals, but so long as his beastpanions were within his storage, they could go with him. Though Roxene could also use the portals normally being an entity with the power of darkness.

    "I will go with you. Someone needs to taste test the food you will be making to make sure it is good enough." Roxene said, her gluttonous intentions clear.

    "I think I will travel with everyone else. I enjoy looking at the crystals and this will likely be outst time here." Inten said.

    "If Roxene is going to be helping you prepare the food you will need someone to protect you in case any monsters or beasts are attracted by the smell, my liege. I too will go with you." Blitz said, stoic as always and not only wanting food like Roxene.

    With that decided, Marcus bid a short farewell to his friends and family and slipped through the dark portal with Roxene and Blitz in hispanion storage.

    When the portal opened up Marcus found himself standing not far from the widest part of a long winding ravine that went on for hundreds of kilometers like a scar in the earth.

    Only a couple moments after Marcus left the portal Roxene and Blitz jumped out of hispanion storage.

    "My liege, I shall patrol the air and make sure than none interrupt you." Blitz said before taking off into the air and circling around a wide area.

    "So, what are you going to make?" Roxene said, a glisten in her eyes in anticipation of the food.

    "I have some ideas, but I do not have all the ingredients I might need. As you know most of what I have stored away in my item box right now are items thatst a long time. I do not have many fresh fruits or vegetables. So, I figured I would stop by the nearest city and buy a few things. And while I am gone, I do have a job for you."

    Roxene grimaced hearing that Marcus was going to put her to work, but her mood vastly improved when he told her what he wanted from her.

    "Got it! I will find the tastiest beasts nearby and bring them back for you to cook!" Roxene said enthusiastically.

    She then nced up at Blitz, who Marcus remembered she wanted to eat upon their first meeting.

    Of course, he knew that Roxene meant this as a joke, but chided her nheless and made sure she would not go after Blitz. Though at this point it would be much harder for her to catch him than in the past even if she did try to eat him now.

    Launching up into the air Marcus looked out onto the horizon in the direction of the nearest city.

    Then when he was ready, he used his unique skill to turn into light and race off into the horizon.

    In only a couple seconds he arrived in the vicinity of the nearest city and entered without going through the gate.

    He had no intention of eliciting any attention as he most certainly would if he entered normally thanks to his status as a prince and Mrazivy''s fianc¨¦.

    He even went so far as to change his form just in case anyone might recognize him.

    ''The market is a bit sparse since this is not a city on a usual trade, route but they have most of what I want even if it is a bit expensive.'' Marcus thought as he perused the market.

    Luckily money was of little object to him at this point, with his high-level forge skill allowing him to make plenty of gold whenever he needed it.

    Within around an hour he had bought hundreds of gold coins worth of groceries and surprised many store owners with his item box that seemed to never run out of room.

    Naturally this had garnered him a fair bit of attention and he could sense a number of people following him around.

    ''Most of them seem to be personnel of merchants. Likely wanting to offer to hire me simply for my item box skill. Though the two best at hiding their presences are obviously up to no good.'' Marcus thought as hepleted hisst purchase.

    Still, people following him was inconsequential, since he was currently using a throwaway form from one of the people whose soul he had devoured a long time ago.

    Now that he was finished Marcus swiftly slipped into an alleyway and went into his ghost form to give his followers the slip.

    He even got a goodugh out of it watching them all frantically try to search for him as he seemed to disappear into thin air.

    ''Okay, that is enough watching their confusion. It is time I get back and really get started on preparing our celebratory meal.''

    Heading back into the sky Marcus once again turned into pure light and raced across the world at lightspeed.

    When he arrived back at the designated spot, he found that Roxene had already returned with her prey and was in the process of bleeding it.

    "Looks like you caught something quite outrageous." Marcus said as hended.

    Before him was a gigantic boar the likes of which he had never seen before.

    It was easily eighty feet long and a bit more than forty feet tall.

    "Where in the world did you find this thing?"

    "Oh, it was the strongest beast in the nearby forest. I used my nose to sniff it out. It actually put up a descent fight before I brough it down. I believe itsted about nine seconds. If only because it focused its all on running away." Roxene said proudly.

    Marcus could only sigh in exasperation since Roxene had gone above and beyond what he had asked her to do.

    ''Whatever. I need to start carving it up quickly before everyone arrives.''

    Using all of his skills and abilities Marcus got hard at work preparing the meal he had promised. Starting with chopping up the gigantic boar that Roxene had brought him.

    Thankfully he managed to get everything done in time thanks to his absurd powers, and when the rest of hispanions made it to the surface, they found an entire feast waiting for them.

    "Go ahead and dig in. This our greatest meal to celebrate finally beating the special dungeon."

 779 Chapter 779

    With a grimace on his face Marcus looked out at the now upturned and barrennd before him.

    ''It is a good thing we are out in the middle of nowhere at the very least.'' Marcus thought, seeing the destruction hispanions had caused.

    After they finished the celebratory feast he had made, everyone decided to test out their Supreme Skills, and thendscape paid the price.

    All around them now looked like a warzone that had been thoroughly destroyed.

    "Well, are you all satisfied yet? We do have a few pressing matters to attend to now that we are back out in the real world." Marcus asked his exhrated friends and family.

    "Yes, I am content with my tests, and it would be best if we headed back to the capital soon so that I can make a quick trip back to Tralenstein." Lyra said.

    Most of the others also agreed that it was a good time to head back, though Quillon and Mrazivy were still wanting to try out their skills a bit more.

    "Mraz, I can understand Quillon as he does not have anything pressing to attend to, but you do remember that you have your own wedding in less than two months. We got held up here a bit longer than anticipated and I know that there are still many finishing touches that need you and Marcus." James said, being the voice of reason for his sister.

    In response she sighed but nodded her head.

    She had truly been enjoying practicing her new Supreme Skill, especially along with Quillon who could match and even exceed her sword skills.

    "Very well. I suppose we will have time in the future for all of us train with each other again." Mrazivy said as she put her sword away.

    Quillon looked a bit despondent to see his only ally give up.

    Nevertheless, he bounced back quickly when Lyra mentioned that he could spar with his master the Sword Savant and show him how much stronger he had gotten.

    Once they had quickly packed everything up everyone got onto the back of one of the flying beasts and they took off.

    Moving at extreme speeds, it did not take them long to reach the capital and as James had sent word ahead with a sending stone a squad of sky knights came to meet them and escort them back into the city.

    Soon enough they touched down in arge courtyard that had been prepared for their takeoffs andndings.

    "To think this is thest time we will bending here as one big group." Lyra said with a wistful expression.

    It had be a sort of yearly tradition for them to take off and return to the capital all together but now that they had beaten the special dungeon, they no longer had any reason to.

    "It is true we will not be doing anymore yearly flights over the city, but it is not like we are all just going our separate ways indefinitely. You will be seeing us when youe back for our wedding." Mrazivy said to Lyra.

    Of course, they were all experiencing simr feelings.

    Something that had been a constant part of their lives for thest few years was now over.

    Still, they had other things to look forward to and soon moved on to discussing their next meeting rather than the soon to be parting.

    "Oh, now this is a surprise." James said when a misty portal opened up in front of all of them.

    They had not been expecting such a prompt greeting, but Boreas and Gwyneira appeared before them only a few minutes after their arrival.

    "It is good to see that all of you made it back in good health. You have still not told us exactly what it is you all do every year, only that it is dangerous and time consuming." Boreas said in a probing manner.

    Seeing that he was trying to get them to divulge where they had been going as he had numerous times before, they all wore stiff smiles.

    Boreas had been gone for nearly a century thest time he gained ess to a special dungeon, and they were afraid he might simply abandon everything if he knew about a new one.

    And while before it would have simply been disheartening for Gwyneira to have her partner go off on another adventure without her, right now it would be far worse if Boreas disappeared again.

    "How have you been Gwyneira? I know that you were having a bit of trouble when we left." Mrazivy said with a concerned look as she turned her attention to Gwyneira''s stomach.

    "Things have gotten a bit better recently. The nausea has subsided for now and I have been able to get some more sleep. Though it is still difficult getting used to this again after so many centuries since having myst child. Especially since this little one is quite the kicker."

    "Yeah, I honestly did not think that we would have another child with how old we are, and how difficult it is for us to conceive with our races being different. But I guess I still have it in me." Boreas said with a proud expression on his face.

    After saying this, Boreas gave Marcus and Mrazivy a mischievous grin and decided to trigger some chaos with his next question.

    "So, when will the two of you be adding to the family?"

    All attention swiftly gathered on Marcus and Mrazivy. Both of them looking like a deer caught in headlights.

    They had not really discussed this topic before, and it suddenly being thrust on them among their closestpanions was a bit ufortable.

    ''I think I would rather fight the Archdevil again than have to answer this.'' Marcus thought.

    Naturally, he had actually considered the possibility of having children before, but ultimately gave up on the idea.

    He may have been able to imitate a human body to a certain degree. but in the end, he was a unique entity that was a type of undead and spirit.

    While it was strange enough that a dragon and a human could have a child like Boreas and Gwyneira, it was likely impossible for a spiritual being like Marcus to actually have children with Mrazivy who was flesh and blood.

    "We have not really talked about that even among each other. I think that is something better discussed after we are married. It is not like the royal family iscking in progeny with most of my siblings already being married with children. Anyway, I doubt that this was what prompted you both toe meet us out here not long after we arrived. You have something more important to speak to us about, don''t you?" Mrazivy said, navigating around the question of her and Marcus having kids.

    A serious look came over Boreas'' face after Mrazivy said this, and he nodded his head in confirmation.

    "Yes, there are two things that we needed to tell you about that happened while you were gone. The news is not extremely pressing now, which is why we did not lead with it. But you are right that we did not juste out here to greet you."

 780 Chapter 780

    "To begin with these events are not wholly unrted but they are separate." Boreas said before exining what had happened.

    To start, Valerius Leistung, the Grand Master of the Northern Quadrant of the adventurers guild hade inquiring about Marcus and Mrazivy.

    They had both agreed to be promoted to mithril rank adventures after their marriage and news had spread that they would soon be joined.

    This had caused Valerius toe personally to confirm their intentions and that they still wished for the unique skill orbs he had promised them.

    "He also hinted that there was an important mission he wanted to petition to the two of you. Though it did not seem extremely urgent as he said he was willing to wait a while. However, while that was harmless enough, what happened next was anything but."

    Boreas'' took on a grave expression and exined what else urred during the Valerius'' visit.

    "I do not know if the two of you remember his subordinate Petrus Stone?" Boreas asked Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Yeah, I remember him. He did not say much, but he did have quite the presence and he tried to intimate Mrazivy into telling him about the Sword Savant." Marcus said, recalling the man who had sat in on their inquiry after the battle with the Doomsday Worm.

    "I asked my master about himter and he just told me that they fought a long time ago and that he was surprised Petrus was still alive. Apparently, they both were grievously injured in the battle and my master even said that he only just barely pulled through by using an elixir he had luckily gotten from a dungeon. Though he did not seem to have any animosity like Petrus does. Did something happen between the two of them? Mrazivy asked, a look of concern on her face.

    "Yes, well this time, when Petrus apanied Valerius, he took time off to track down Asher and the two of them fought."

    It had apparently happened two weeks ago. Asher the Sword Savant on his quest to constantly hone his sword skills and gain greater power was training in the Verkoudhied Mountains and acting as a sparring partner for Retharin.

    Petrus, after finding him immediately attacked and the two of them had made quite the mess of the Verkoudhied Mountains and caused terrible damage to some of the settlements in the area by causing a number of avnches.

    "In the end Asher killed Petrus. But Valerius did not take kindly to his right-hand man getting killed and asked that we help to have Asher be brought in. He even went so far as to use his authority to issue an emergency quest through the guild, and there was little I could do to stop him without physically forcing his hand and souring rtions with the guild." Boreas said with a grimace.

    Immediately after he said this, Quillon, who had been quite so far, said with a tone filled with fury, "So, did you help apprehend my master and hand him over to this Valerius?"

    As he said this, small animals within the area feared for their lives as they felt his murderous intent.

    These animals, which included mice and birds, began fleeing the area and created a noticeable stir all around them.

    "Of course, we did not hand him over! He aided Borealia in our time of need and fought against the Dread Devour with us. Now calm yourself and allow Boreas to finish exining." Gwyneira said sharply in response to Quillon letting off such hostility.

    This helped him calm down a bit, and he nodded towards Boreas and urged him to continue.

    "As Gwyneira said, we did not hand him over, and did all we could to slow down the search for him that did not seem as if we were interfering. Last I heard he left the continent and crossed over to the continent west of here. And he told Retharin that if you wanted to find him to follow him there. The guild is still looking for him, but I doubt they will find him easily. If you want, I can send you over to the continent right now and you can begin searching for him?"

    For a moment Quillon almost jumped at Boreas'' offer but sat back down and shook his head.

    "No, master will be fine on his own. I have had to find him plenty of times before and can do it againter. He said he was nning on leaving Borealia sooner orter anyway. And If I went now, I would not be here for my friends'' wedding." Quillon said as he looked over at Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Naturally Mrazivy was almost as concerned about the Sword Savant as Quillon since he was her master as well.

    ? Nevertheless, she knew he was still stronger than she was now and that he could take care of himself.

    "I am sure that we can ascertain his location and exactly what happenedter. For now, we have other things to worry about." Mrazivy said resolutely.

    "Good to see that all of you can keep your cool. Allow me to also warn you that Valerius is likely to ask the both of you if you know where or how to find Asher next time you see him." Boreas said to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "I do not know how to get into contact with him or locate him anyway. So, it will be for naught." Marcus said with a shrug.

    Mrazivy likewise did not have any way to directly locate her master now that he had left Borealia, and it was likely that Quillon was the only one that could readily find him.

    Now that Boreas had said what he wanted to, he bid them all goodbye for now and took Gwyneira back to the castle through a portal so that she could rest.

    "Sounds like we have something else to think about now. And Quillon, when you find your master make sure to tell him that I am willing to hide him in Tralenstein if he needs help." Lyra said as she rubbed Quillon''s back.

    After that their group that had just gotten back from the special dungeon headed to the castle proper and went their separate ways.

    Lyra needed to go back to her home for a brief period beforeing back for the wedding and Quillon was going with her.

    Lilia and ric had their graduation ceremony to attend at the royal academy in a few weeks.

    James along with Fallon needed to get back to their position leading the Sky Knights.

    Finally, Marcus and Mrazivy had to finish up their preparation for their wedding that was happening in less than two months.

    "I will be staying at the castle for a while until we have finished with the preparations we need to make, but I will make sure to make time for your graduation." Marcus said to Lilia who was about to board a carriage with ric.

    "I''m going to hold you to that. If you are not back at least two days before I wille to the castle and drag you out." Lilia said with a yful smile.

    She then gave Marcus her characteristic hug using her herculean strength that was enough to cause him damage, before heading on her way.

 781 Chapter 781

    Time quickly passed as Marcus and Mrazivy finished off preparations for their wedding.

    Their days were spent confirming things such as flower arrangements, the main dishes that would be served, what types of tapestries would be hung, and other such minor details that they both found fairly tedious.

    Thankfully after around two and a half weeks they were nearly done, and just in time for Lilia and ric''s graduation ceremony.

    It was an overall standard event, but Marcus still felt extremely proud when Lilia graduated within the top one percent of her ss despite all the time off she had taken for dungeon delving.

    Apparently, she even received numerous requests to join knight orders from the royal capital to the farthest-reaching baronies.

    And while she was not nearly as adept at magic as she was in closebat, she received an invitation to join the Guldur Spire since her force magic was incredibly rare and she already had the level and skills to be considered an archmage.

    However, despite plenty of impressive propositions, Lilia turned them all down.

    She already had a n for what she was going to do now that she had graduated from school.

    On the other hand, ric did ept the offer he received to join the Guldur Spire ande the next month would be an apprentice mage. Though Aria nned on promoting him to archmage as quickly as possible since he was already far above what any normal mage was capable of.

    Naturally, after the ceremony Marcus and Lilia, along with ric and his family went out to celebrate.

    For this they went to dinner at the Sublime Fantasia, which Marcus had been to a couple of times and was considered the finest restaurant int eh royal capital.

    Overall, it was an enjoyable meal, but there was one topic that Marcus did not wish to talk about that was brought up.

    "Now that they have both graduated from the royal academy, I believe it is time that we went public with their engagement and n on a date for the wedding." Bianca said in between sips of her wine.

    It had already been several years since Marcus had agreed to allow Lilia and ric to be engaged and it was clear that they were in it for the long haul after all they had been through together.

    Still, Marcus had already had enough talk about weddings with his own and could feel a headacheing on from the discussion of his little sister''s

    In the end it was decided that Lilia and ric would have their engagement party where they formally announced their rtionship the next year and that two years after that they would get married.

    "Are you doing well Marcus? You are rubbing your face a lot and you seem to be distressed." Lilia asked with a look of concern on her face.

    "I am doing fine, just a bit of mental fatigue. I have been tirelessly getting ready for my own wedding and talks of yours in the future has just given me one more thing to think about." Marcus said while putting on a smile for his little sister to make her not worry.

    Soon enough their carriage returned to Marcus'' estate and to their surprise amotion was going on outside the gate.

    Far more guards than normal were stationed around, and Marcus could see that six of the maids including ra his head maid.

    Along with them Marcus spotted that a patrol of the city watch led by a knight had set up around the two people that were at the center of what was going on.

    Yet they were simply standing around and making a permitter. Not trying to arrest the two people that were leaning against the wall around Marcus'' estate.

    "What are they doing here? And why are they just loitering outside my estate?" Marcus said with an exasperated sigh when he stuck his head out eh window to see what was going on.

    Quickly he ordered Violet, who was acting as their driver, to pull up and got out with Lilia to address the situation.

    "There you are Irene. We have been waiting for you to get back. We told your guards that we knew you, but they did not let us in, which is understandable. Even if we do have a letter with your seal on it. But when we decided to wait around, they brought the police to try and get rid of us. Would you mind clearing this up?"

    Looking at who had just spoken to him Marcus could feel his mental fatigue turning into a full-blown migraine.

    Surrounded by numerous city guardsmen and a knight whose armor had a noticeable dent in it was Ja and Ardea.

    Marcus had not been expecting to see either of them today and was unsure why they were here.

    Tensions were running high among his guards and maids, and the knight leading the city guard seemed ready to scream and run away.

    ''I can already guess that he tried to apprehend them, and it seems that one of them knocked him away. Of course, the only one in the entire kingdom that could even hope to restrain them is Boreas.'' Marcus thought as he analyzed the situation.

    A part of him just wanted to ignore what was going on since he was already a bit tired, but he knew that was not going to fly.

    "ra, would you mind preparing the house for guests. I do indeed know both of them and consider them friends." Marcus said, surprising his head maid who figured that Ja and Ardea were scam artists.

    He then turned to the knight leading the city watch patrol and apologized for the disturbance and told them that their help was not needed.

    The knight did not want to let it go though since Ardea had apparently assaulted him when he tried to arrest them and said that they would need to at least pay a fine.

    "Here, take this and leave it at that. If you try to push it, I am not sure the city will stay standing." Marcus said as she handed over a dozen gold coins to the knight.

    He made sure to add ayer of intimation as well to make sure the message got across and the knight quickly left with his men.

    "You know that you two could have sent word that you wereing and none of this would have happened." Marcus said as he turned to Ardea and Ja.

    "Hey, this is not our fault. We have the crest you gave me, but your guards and maids refused to believe it was real." Ja said.

    "This is why we should have done as I suggested and just snuck in and waited without alerting anyone to our presence. It would have saved us a whole lot of trouble." Ardea said, causing Marcus'' guards and maids to frown deeply and re at her.

    Still, despite them having shown up unannounced Marcus told his staff to treat them well, as they were his friends.

    "Now would you tell me what you both are doing here?" Marcus asked once they were situated in his parlor.

    "Sure, we are here for your wedding. Boreas contacted me a couple days ago out of the blue and told me about it and I figured we should drop by." Ja said with a exited look on her face.

    It seemed that she was really looking forward to attending Marcus'' wedding.

    "As for me I already nned oning by some time in the next couple months to see Lilia and assess her progress and confirm she still wants to be my apprentice. So, I figured I coulde by a bit early to attend your wedding as well." Ardea said.

    Hearing this, Marcus could imagine the smirk on Boreas'' face when he invited both of them and did not mention anything to him or Mrazivy.

    "Fine, I understand. I will make sure that you both can attend the wedding. Though the officials nning the thing are not going to be happy aboutst minute additions after all the work we went through hammering out the guest list."

    After what had happened at his and Mrazivy''s engagement party, security for the wedding was several times more intense, and everyone who would be attending had to be carefully vetted.

    Nevertheless, there was no way he could turn away either Ardea or Ja. And while it might be a bit of a pain having them added to the list, their presences would beforting security wise.

    If anything happened at their wedding like what urred during the engagement party the two of them would make for impable allies.

    "Now I am d to see both of you again, but please at least contact me personally the next time you want to visit my estate. I have had attempted break-ins in the past and even some of my maids were kidnapped at one point, so people they do not know showing up and trying to get inside can put them on edge."

    Both of them agreed to do so should theye to Borealia in the future and apologized for the trouble they had caused.

    "Anyway, since we have some time, I believe you promised to discuss a certain topic with me the next time we met." Ja said to Marcus expectantly.

    At this he grimaced, since thest thing he wanted to do was spending his free time talking about a video game from his past life.

    However, he had made that promise, and told Ja that they could talk about it all day tomorrow.

    Ardea on the other hand became quite serious and looked towards Lilia, who had been quietly sitting next to Marcus.

    "While they are doing that, I believe tomorrow will be as good a time as any for me to give you your final assessment. That is, if you still wish to be my apprentice?"

 782 Chapter 782

    Being posed the question of whether or not she still wished to be Ardea''s apprentice, Lilia nodded her head in confirmation.

    She wanted to be strong enough to protect those close to her and receiving instruction from someone as powerful as Ardea would allow her to make great strides in that regard.

    Going through the special dungeon had already made her several times more powerful, giving her more skills and allowing her to achieve the highest ss of evolution. Still, she had a way to go to reach the realm of the truly powerful where Ardea was.

    "Good, I am d to see you are still interested. I know that it has not been quite three years yet, but I can already see that you have gotten much stronger. I doubt you will have any trouble reaching the standards I set when first thinking about taking you as an apprentice." Ardea said with a smile on her face.

    After that the four of them talked for a few more minutes about what they had all been up to, until it was time for bed.

    "Ah, it has been too long. There is somethingforting about one''s own bed that cannot be experienced anywhere else." Marcus said as he threw himself onto hisrge fluffy mattress.

    It had been a long time since he used his own bed, and while he found Mrazivy''s plentyfortable, there was just something special about his own.

    Swiftly Marcus shut his mind off and went to sleep. Wanting to recharge mentally from all the stress of nning a wedding.

    The next day when he woke up, he felt much better since he did not have to worry about any wedding details. At least for the rest of the day.

    Breakfast was soon served, and he ate along with Lilia, Ja, and Ardea.

    "You certainly like sweet things." Marcus said as he watched Ja add arge serving of jam to her bread.

    "Yeah, I mostly just eat fruits from the forest and even make my own preserves with them. It has caused me to develop quite the sweet tooth.'' Ja said proudly as she took a bite out of her bread thered in jam. Or as Marcus figured, her jam that was sitting atop a piece of bread.

    The leisure time of breakfast went on for nearly an hour, before Ardea suddenly fixed Lilia with a serious gaze.

    "I think now is as good of a time as any to test out just how far you havee in these three years."

    Her eyes bing sharp, Lilia was ready to show off the power and skills she had obtained.

    Leading the way Marcus brought the four of them to a secluded area on the estate that was far away from the mansion as a precaution. He did not want it getting damaged in any way.

    He also made sure that all of the servants and guards knew to stay far away, since if Lilia used a serious attack just the shockwaves could seriously hurt them.

    "Now start with a normal punch. No enchantments with any skills. Just a blow with all the force you can naturally put behind it."

    Taking her stance Lilia prepared to do as Ardea asked. Bring her focus up to its peak.

    Seeing how serious Lilia was and how much her form had improved, Ardea without thinking said, "Oh!" in genuine surprise.

    Lilia had been far from weak thest time Ardea had tested her, but that was three years ago, and Lilia today was like apletely different person.

    With a loud p Lilia disappeared from where she had been standing and punched out towards Ardea.

    Her speed was something else, her physical abilities well beyond what anyone else at her level would have without using any skills or magic.

    This was thanks to her new Supreme Skill, Unmatched Entity, which gave her the same buff as all of her unique skills from the Peerless seriesbined.

    Ardea''sx posture quickly changed as she realized Lilia''s attack was far greater than she had anticipated, and instead of simply taking it in the stomach as she nned, she reached out with her palm to meet the strike.

    When Lilia''s fist connected with Ardea''s palm, a burst of light shot out from the intense heat generated from her strike.

    The force behind her attack was incredibly great, and even as Ardea reinforced the ground around them it still quaked and cracked apart.

    Eventually the power and momentum behind Lilia''s attack waned and a puff of steamed escaped as she separated from Ardea.

    "To think you could have gotten this strong in only three years. You are already far more powerful than I was when I became an apprentice. I had nned on giving you some other tests as well, but I see there is no need. You most certainly pass."

    Hearing this Lilia''sposure broke, and she began jumping up into the air and cheering. Looking far closer to her age than she had before when disying such a serious expression.

    "What a monster." Ardea mumbled as she looked at her hand.

    She had met Lilia''s attack head on without using any magic or skills to match Lilia. Yet, despite her level being nearly thirty higher than Lilia''s, she felt a little sore for a moment before her regeneration kicked in.

    This just went to show how absurdly high Lilia''s base strength was.

    Once Lilia had finished celebrating and calmed down, Ardea told her to stand in front of her with a serious expression.

    "Ja, would you act as my witness?" Ardea asked.

    A bit caught off guard by being asked this, Ja''s stood still in a daze for a moment before standing up straight and nodding her head.

    "Sure, that is no problem. It is not really necessary, but I do not mind." Ja said as she moved over and stood next to Ardea.

    At this point both Marcus and Lilia were wondering what was going on but kept quiet since Ardea and Ja seemed to be doing something important.

    "Now let us begin." Ardea said.

    A few secondster arge amount of mana began to pour out of her and formed a magic circle around her, Lilia, and Ja.

    For an instant Marcus was worried and nearly jumped in but held himself back.

    "I Ardea Masgrel, the Grand Witch of the Peaks, hereby recognize Lilia Geist as my apprentice and sessor."

    "I Ja Berdicesh, the Grand Witch of the Forests, stand witness to this binding. Should it be necessary, I shall assist Lilia in her duties to be the next Grand Witch of the Peaks should Ardea fall before passing on all of her knowledge and stand behind her should her im be challenged."

    After the two of them said this the magic circle closed in around Lilia and began spinning around her.

    "Lilia, do you ept the position of Apprentice of the Grand Witch of the Peaks?" Ardea asked.

    With a resolute expression Lilia nodded her head, and said, "Yes I ept."

    Once her confirmation was given the magic circle around her shrunk further, until it reached her feet and began climbing her body.

    A soft brown colored glow released from Lillia''s body for nearly a dozen seconds before fading away.

    "Good, the ritual worked. You are now formally my appreciate and have received the title, Grand Witch of the Peaks Apprentice." Ardea said as she happily patted Lilia on the back.

    Opening and closing her hands multiple times and challenging her mana, Lilia could already feel a profound difference.

    The title she had just received was actually her first, and the stats boost it gave was not insignificant.

    "For a full grand witch, it is twelve percent and for an apprentice it is six percent. You will also find that it is easier to learn and wield earth magic since you are my apprentice. Though we will need to work on teaching you that since it is a requirement you will need to meet." Ardea said to Lilia as she exined what being her apprentice meant.

    While they were doing that Marcus walked over to Ja and asked her about her part in the ritual.

    "Oh, as another Grand Witch I am basically assuring Lilia''s position. I know it is a bit dour to talk about, but death cane at any moment. If Ardea suddenly died before Lilia was ready to take her ce as the next grand Witch of the Peaks, she could lose her title and someone else entirely could take it over. In the case a Grand Witch dies without their apprentice having the necessary qualification to take their ce then all the Grand Witches get together to choose someone. There have been cases in the past where apprentices lost their masters early on and did not seed them because we picked someone else we thought was better suited. But with my oath to assist Lilia should she need it, her position is secure so long as both of us don''t die. Of course, this is only a precaution and likely will note into y." Ja exined.

    "Thanks for doing that. I know that Lilia has been looking forward to this."

    "No problem. I like you and your little sister and am willing to help out." Ja said while shrugging her shoulder to show that it was not a big deal.

    After a few minutes Lilia and Ardea finished talking and came back over.

    "We have decided thate fall Lilia will join me to train as my apprentice. Until then she will stick around and finish any business she has here. Of course, you can feel free to visit her anytime Marcus." Ardea said.

    She then turned to Ja with a mischievous grin, and said, "Now you are the only one of us that does not have an apprentice. You are already getting close to being strong enough to leave this world, so you need to work quick to find someone."

    Frowning, Ja clearly was not thrilled with raising an apprentice.

    She was a free spirit and did not like having to look after other people if she did not have to.

    Yet as she was grumbling, she suddenly perked up and looked towards Marcus.

    "You use a scythe and are already pretty high level. How about you be my apprentice? All you would need to do is learn to use nature magic. Heck, you could even just blow a load of skill points on it." Ja said enthusiastically.

    Obviously, she figured it would be easier to take Marcus as her apprentice since she would not really have to teach him much. The two main requirements to be a Grand Witch were to have proficiency in a particr weapon and magic. Which for the Grand Witch of the Forests was the scythe and nature magic. And Marcus'' skill with the scythe was already eptable and all he would need to do was use skill points to purchase and level up nature magic.

    "I think I will have to pass. I am already a great spirit."

    "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. It would not work then. A grand witch cannot be a great spirit at least." Ja said, remembering something she had heard long ago.

    Apparently, a few centuries ago there had been a spirit that was also a grand witch, but when they tried to be a great spirit as well, they were unable to since the titles conflicted with each other.

    "Ja, you are just going to have to find one by searching hard like I did." Ardea said with a smug expression.

    "Searched for my ass! You had Lilia handed to you on a silver tter!" Ja yelled before chasing after Ardea angrily.

    "They certainly are good friends." Marcus said as he and Lilia watched their disy.

    "Yeah, they are. And I know it is a bitte, but are you okay with this?"

    "Yes, you are old enough to make your own choices now, and I trust Ardea. I am sure that she will teach you a lot and you will grow under her. Just make sure toe home every now and then."

    "Thank you, Marcus." Lilia said and gave him a hug that left a noticeable dent in his form.

 783 Chapter 783

    Several days had passed since Ja and Ardea''s abrupt appearance at Marcus'' estate and now it was the day of his wedding to Mrazivy.

    He had received several veiledints from the officials nning the wedding when he suddenly added two unknowns to the guest list, but frankly if Ja and Ardea wanted to attend, no one could physically stop them except Boreas. And if they dide to blows the royal capital would not be left standing.

    Of course, it did note to that and with the king''s approval Marcus'' two unexpected guests were added to the list of attendees.

    It was currently only around an hour before the wedding began, and Marcus was being dressed up by a number of attendants.

    He was still not quitefortable being dressed by other people, but as it was something that was expected for the status he had attained. So, he just gritted his teeth and got through it.

    Once his suit was finished being put on, he stood in front of a mirror and examined it at the behest of his attendants to make sure everything was to his liking.

    "Yes, everything is good." Marcus said as he looking over the suit.

    It was a dark blue, like the color of the royal family''s crest, and was nearly the same color as Mrazivy''s hair.

    There were also a number of ornaments that ordained the suit to show his status.

    One was actually a medal situated proudly on his chest that was proof of his outstanding service to the kingdom, which he had been awarded for being instrumental in taking down the criminal syndicate known as Permafrost.

    ''To think the day woulde when I would be getting married. In another world and to a princess at that.'' Marcus thought as a sad smile formed on his face.

    In this moment he could not help but think about his family back on Earth and how they would not be able to be here for him.

    He had always envisioned them congratting and sharing in the revelry with him should he have ever gotten married, but that was not going to be possible.

    A barrier greater than anything he could breach separated them, and it was almost certain that he would never see any of them again.

    ''Still, I have the family that I have found here in my second life.'' Marcus thought as he fought back tears.

    During the time he had spent on Mirrion he had made many close friends, and even found an old one from Earth, who he counted among his new family. And all of them were going to be at the wedding to celebrate with him.

    "Your highness, are you ready? It is nearly time." The head attendant said to Marcus.

    With a nod of acknowledgement, Marcus turned around and followed his attendants to the grand hall where the ceremony was going to be happening.

    ''I still can''t believe it would be nearly identical to what I knew from Earth. I suppose I have Boreas and many other people from Earth to thank for that.'' Marcus thought as he stood on top a raised tform with an alter on it and waited for his bride to enter.

    Soon the massive doors to the grand hall opened up, and Mrazivy escorted by her father the king came in. With guard knights at their sides of course.

    Staring at Mrazivy, Marcus was stunned by how beautiful she looked.

    Her borate white dress was clearly made specifically for her and brought out the best of her features without being so gaudy that it drew attention away from the one wearing it.

    Sitting atop her head was an amethros circlet that Marcus had made for her after the interest she expressed in Frostine''s crown.

    Naturally Marcus had made it look less ornate than Frostine''s to prevent any discontent, though the enchantments packed into it were actually quite a bit stronger.

    The music that had been being yed abruptly changed and the traditional song yed at royal weddings that Marcus had never heard before the rehearsal resounded through the area.

    When the king and Mrazivy reached the tform, he gave her a few words of encouragement and congrattions, and left her to ascend to the top of the tform where Marcus and a priest from the church of the great spirit of light were waiting.

    After that, the king went to sit next to Frostine at the head of the those in attendance.

    The ceremony then continued on with the priest introducing Marcus and Mrazivy and retelling a brief and mostly made-up story about how their love had blossomed. For obvious reasons the true story could not be made public.

    Following that, a number of speeches from people that knew both Marcus and Mrazivy were given.

    ''This certainly is taking a while. I really wish we could just get on with it. But I suppose that no one is going to tell one of my siblings to stop talking.'' Mrazivy said to Marcus with telepathy while her fourth brother, who was not actually on very friendly terms with her, gave a long-winded speech.

    Hearing this, Marcus had to rein in a chuckle and agreed with the sentiment.

    In fact, those that actually were close to them kept their words brief, and only those that were trying to make a political show were giving drawn-on speeches.

    While neither Marcus nor Mrazivy held any real political positions, it was clear by how extravagant their engagement party and wedding were that the kingdom highly valued them.

    And everyone in attendance knew that it was because of the military power the two brought with them.

    Hundreds of people had witnessed their battle and victory against the demons at their engagement party. This went to show that both Marcus and Mrazivy were well above the average knights in the kingdom and were at the same level as even the elites. Except that was more than two years ago and both of them were now easily within the top ten most powerfulbatants under the kingdom''s influence.

    Eventually the politically motivated speeches ended, and it was finally time for the ceremony proper.

    The priest began with the ssic address to the couple, where he spoke of the responsibilities of marriage and the sanctity of the vows they were about to take.

    Most of it was what Marcus had heard from Earth during the couple of weddings he had attended. Though a bit of it was different. Either because those simrly originally from Earth that certainly brought this ceremony over did not remember exactly how it went, or from cultural changes over time.

    Once the priest was finished with his part, Marcus and Mrazivy recited the words that they had been forced to memorize that were said at all noble and royal weddings.

    It was mostly about upholding their duty to the kingdom rather than their love for each other due to the nature of many weddings being for political reasons.

    ? However, they both had already agreed to add to the end their true feelings and say what they wanted.

    "Marcus, in my time of greatest danger and greatest despair you were there as a shining light for me. Without you I would have either died or be a hollow husk of myself. You gave me a chance to experience what love is really like, and for that it will be eternally grateful. Every day I am truly d that I was able to meet you and look forward to the many days we have toe."

    "Mrazivy, when I was aimless and still trying to find myself, you acted as my guide. You taught me much about this world, and without you I am unsure where I would be today. The bond I forged with you in the pits of hell is one I will treasure for eternity, and the time I spend with you is some of the most enjoyable. You stand as a pir that holds me up and keeps me grounded at the same time. We have already promised to go on a grand adventure together and see all that this world has to offer, and today I wish to reaffirm that promise."

    The two of them having finished their vows gave each other exquisite smiles and the priest began thest part of the ceremony.

    Yet while he was saying hisst lines, Marcus reached out to Mrazivy with his telepathy.

    ''I could not say this out loud with so many listening, but I wanted to make sure to thank you Mraz. There was a very real future in which I could have turned into a vicious and cruel monster, but my connection to you and Lilia especially kept me grounded. I have been able to keep some part of my humanity inrge part thanks to you.''

    After Marcus said this to Mrazivy the priest finished up thest of his speech and announced that it was time for them to seal their marriage with a kiss.

    Apuse and cheers echoed through the hall as they kissed, and finally the two of them after much time and many hurtles to ovee were joined together for all eternity.

 784 Chapter 784

    After the wedding proper came a reception in another area of the building where the wedding was.

    There were several dozens of tables set up around the room with seating assigned by status.

    In the middle of the room was arge cleared-out space meant for dancing, and at the back of therge ballroom was a massive orchestra ready to y all manner of music.

    To start, all the guests of the lowest status filtered in and found their seats with the head table being where Marcus and Mrazivy sat with the other members of the royal family.

    Each table was outfitted with borate tablecloths and tableware of the finest quality.

    Once everyone was seated, the king gave an opening toast and when he was finished the first course of the meal was brought out by an army of servants.

    It was a light soup that used plentiful natural treasures as ingredients.

    The taste was quite exquisite, and Marcus carefully analyzed it to figure out how to recreate it.

    At a steady pace the next two courses came out with the second being a fish dish, and the third and main course starring a generous cut of meat from a rare grade beast called a cinder goat which inhabited areas around volcanoes.

    Both dishes were exceptionally well done and despite the head royal chef having a cooking skill level lower than Marcus'', his experience as a chef shone through, and Marcus was certain he could not currently make something as amazing as the main course.

    ''Just having a higher skill level does not always mean that you are better. I can tell that Koki has a better understanding of what spices and sauces to use to bring out the best vors. His experience really is leagues ahead of mine. I wonder if now that we have finished up the special dungeon if I should really throw myself into learning everything I can about cooking?'' Marcus thought while savoring the dish before him.

    Soon the main course had been finished by everyone and only those few that simply had very small appetites had not cleared everything off their tes.

    Finally, it was time for dessert and a towering wedding cake that was even taller than Marcus was brought out.

    For a few minutes the cake had everyone''s eyes on it as it was incredibly borate and ornately decorated.

    If not for its perishable nature many even believed that it would be a work of art worth having as a center piece in their homes.

    ''I had been able to push it to the back of mine up to this point. But how much must this wedding cost?''

    As this thought passed through Marcus'' mind, his smile stiffened, and he imagined the piles of gold coins that must have been spent to make this wedding a reality.

    It was to the point that Marcus was actually worried that Borealia might be heading towards financial ruin with all it had been spending on high quality arms after the Dread Burrower and demon attacks, as well as the revitalization of Tralenstein.

    Carefully the cake was cut into several hundreds of even slices and passed out to each of the guests.

    And when everyone had one, it was time for Marcus and Mrazivy to give a short thank you speech to everyone that had attended.

    Then, as was customary, they took a piece from their slice of cake and fed it to each other.

    This signaled the start of dessert, and along with the cake guests could order all manner of other confections such as ice cream, and even sweet alcoholic drinks.

    Time seemed to go by quickly and the rather tame atmosphere began to be far louder as the sugar and increased amounts of alcohol entered everyone''s systems.

    It was around this time after the majority of people had finished their desserts that the dancing was to begin.

    Therge orchestra that had been ying subdued music throughout the meal prepared to y the kingdom''s national song and Marcus and Mrazivy took center stage to begin the dance.

    Many more guards seemed to appear around the entrances and exits at this point, and those that were paying attention understood why.

    Thest time Marcus and Mrazivy took center stage to dance, a number of insurgents attacked and even summoned multiple demons.

    It was a huge blow to the royal family to allow something like that to happened at an event they were hosting, and this time security was at its maximum.

    "Looks like many people are quite on edge. Do you think that some of our enemies are going to try and attack us again here and make a trend of it?" Mrazivy said as she faced Marcus and waited for the music to start.

    "I highly doubt it. Last time the attack was orchestrated as a distraction to abduct Kalt and Frostine while the king, Gwyneira, and Boreas were gone. If anyone attacked right now, I imagine they would notst five seconds." Marcus said as he nodded his head towards Boreas, Ja, and Ardea who were standing off in a corner and trying to look inconspicuous.

    "Well, if that is the case you will have to do your best to entertain me with the dance. If it gets dull, I might have to make it more entertaining by having a practice match with you right here. I still have not had the chance to try out my new supreme skill against you." Mrazivy said with a yful smile.

    With an exaggerated exasperated expression, Marcus responded, saying, "I suppose that I will really need to give this my all then. I do not think it would do well for our image if you came swinging at me with a sword just a few hours after we were married. Allow me to level up my dancing skill in preparation."

    With a few quick thoughts Marcus opened up his status and pumped his dancing skill up to level seven by expending one hundred eighty-nine skill points.

    Was it a waste. Most certainly. Did he care in the moment. No.

    He already had a huge stockpile of skill points he had been saving up and felt that he could afford to use a few in order to amuse his wife.

    Just a couple secondster the music began to y, and as the sole couple on the dance floor began to dance.

    For a few moments everyone watched with baited breathes wondering if something might happen, just likest time.

    But soon it became clear that no idiots were going to attack the wedding.

    Marcus and Mrazivy, with impable skills that had been honed in many sses, danced to the song that yed and enraptured those that watched them.

    There was no doubt that with their high skill levels they were some of the best dancers in the kingdom.

    "Looks like all those lessons with the royal instructors paid off. I am just d that all the scolding and getting hit with a stick weren''t for nothing." Marcus said once the first song had ended.

    With itsption and the customary solo dance between the newlywedsplete, many others joined them on the dance floor.

    For the next half hour customary songs yed during noble and royal weddings resounded through the hall, and numerous people danced the formal dances taught in the kingdom.

    It was at this point that Marcus could see that Mrazivy was starting to get bored.

    ''Boreas, I think it is time. Would you go ahead and start the special arrangements we all worked on.'' Marcus said with telepathy

    A smile on his face Boras retrieved a certain person from a circle of politicking nobles and took them to the front of the orchestra to lead it.

    Many people gasped and looked on in bewilderment as this unknown person led the Grand Archmage of the kingdom, Aria Borealia to join the orchestra.

    "Are you really insisting we do this? I am not sure how some of the guests will react to this music." Aria said to Boreas with a bit of hesitation.

    "Well, there are always some who push back against new things, but I image plenty of people will get into once they see Marcus and Mrazivy''s disy. Anyway, I worked pretty hard on this along with Ja, Lyra, and Marcus to make this. You received the blessing of music, so you should want to bring some new sounds into the world."

    Sighing, Aria could not fight back against Boreas and prepared to y a new type of music not heard in Borealia before.

    "Marcus what is going on?" Mrazivy asked, noticing the mischievous look on his face and the movement around the orchestra.

    "Just trying to keep things interesting. A song you have never heard is about to be yed, so make sure to follow my lead." Marcus said as he tightened his grip on Mrazivy and pulled her closer to him.

    Not but a few secondster did the new music begin to echo across the dance floor, and all of those that were residents of Mirrion looked confused.

    It was not the usual ssical style and was more upbeat and had a swing to it.

    What was being yed now was jazz music that those originally from Earth had painstakinglyposed after putting their minds together and using all their memories to recreate what they could.

    At the start no one danced to the music, unsure of what was going on. But soon enough, Marcus began leading Mrazivy with much faster movements than any of their dances from before.

    Luckily with her high stats and dancing skill she was able to follow Marcus without making many mistakes and soon Lyra leading Quillon joined in as well.

    Boreas swiftly took Ja''s hands and danced with her since Gwyneira was not present.

    The more people that participated the better to show everyone who was unfamiliar with what was going on.

    Younger couples seeing the dance began to join in, spurred on by Lilia and ric joining despite not knowing exactly what was going on.

    Other nobles with high dancing skills studied the movements of those that seemed to know what they were doing and after a few songs joined in as well.

    Marcus and Mrazivy had started the dance, so it was obviously some new trend they must have been setting, and plenty of the attendees wanted to get in on it even if they were not positive about how to follow the movements of the dance.

    What happened next was a bit of a mess, but it was clear that many people were having fun, and those that did not wish to participate stood on the side and simply watched.

    "It seems you certainly prepared something interesting without my knowing." Mrazivy said in between a break in the songs.

    "Well, you always told me that you thought most of the formal dances we learned were a bit too slow for you to get into, so I brought some music and dancing from my world to life here. Though I would not have been able to do it without the others that also came from Earth. Each one of us had just a bit of different knowledge that webined together. Thankfully it at least came out passable inparison to what was on Earth.''

    With a huge smile on her face, Mrazivy thanked Marcus for his consideration, and they danced together to a few more songs before going off to the side when the more ssical pieces began ying again.

    They were expected to do at least a bit of socializing and could not spend all their time dancing. Even if it would have been preferable to being propositioned by numerous nobles trying to get into their good graces.

    Still, they understood how the politics of the kingdom went and made sure to evade any and all possible invitations that they could. Having no intention of getting involved with the inner workings of the kingdom.

    Hours went by as they went around greeting everyone in attendance, until finally the reception began to wrap up.

    The sun had long since left the sky once thest person had left, and Marcus and Mrazivy after a long time returned to their new chambers within the castle. That had been prepared especially for them now that they were formally married.

 785 Chapter 785

    It had now nearly been a month since Marcus and Mrazivy''s wedding.

    During that time the two of them had gotten used to their new life as a married couple though few things had actually changed for them.

    Their rtionship before was already plenty intimate and the biggest change had been the new suit in the castle that they had received in lieu of their old rooms.

    "Are you ready to go. If we are not quick our guardian knights or attendants might find us out." Mrazivy said, trying to hurry Marcus up.

    "I just need a bit longer. We need to make sure we will have everything we need, and I can only put so many things into my item box in one go." Marcus said back with a slightly frustrated tone.

    The two of them were getting ready for their honeymoon, but instead of going along with the designated itinerary that had been set up for them, they were going rogue.

    For people of their status, it was expected that they would travel with some number of personnel, such as guards and servants. But neither of them was very keen on having an entourage with them.

    That was why they nned to sneak out of the castle unbeknownst to those assigned to them and head out on a honeymoon of their own design instead of what had been nned out.

    Of course, they had not been able to do all of this on their own and had a number of coconspirators. One being the future monarch and Mrazivy''s sister Frostine.

    Her job had been to divert the king''s attention away from them and correspond with other members of the royal family who were helping Marcus and Mrazivy with their escape.

    Along with that, Ja and Ardea were doing them the favor of setting things up per their instruction since the kingdom had no real way to monitor them.

    It was the perfect n except for Boreas catching on, but he had justughed it off and asked if they needed any help.

    During his time as king, he had snuck out on asion with Gwyneira and was more than willing to offer his assistance to Marcus and Mrazivy. Saying that he was proud they were following in his path.

    Though if they were not as strong as they were, he certainly would not have been so eager to let them go off on their own, However, unless they sent Aria and Knightmander Darius to protect them, pretty much none of the kingdom''s forces would be able to keep up if they actually were in danger.

    Naturally they epted his offer since he was the most powerful person in the kingdom and with his aid everything went off without a hitch.

    "Okay, I have everything we agreed to take stored in my item box. Are you ready to go?" Marcus asked.

    With a swift nod of her head Mrazivy pulled the hood of the ck cloak she was wearing over her head and activated its enchantments.

    In an instant she waspletely obscured from view and quieter than a mouse.

    Her breathing and the sound of her steps werepletely muffled, and without his life sense skill Marcus would not know that Mrazivy was there.

    "I really am d that we were able to ckmail- I mean persuade Wade to let us borrow this cloak that his mother won at that auction. It really is a powerful stealth type magic tool and will make this much easier." Mrazivy said with an impressed tone.

    After saying this Mrazivy did not make another sound, and along with Marcus, who was in his ghost form, they slipped out of their room.

    Currently there was no one around since it was the middle of the night, but it would be all but impossible for them to have snuck out without being seen unless they took some heavy precautions.

    There were plenty of knights that patrolled all through the night and servants that moved around toplete their duties.

    And while Marcus could easily leave no problem through multiple methods, Mrazivy had to physically get out of the castle. Hence borrowing the stealth cloak from Wade.

    ''Slowly but surely. Just a little bit more, and I got it!'' Marcus thought with a wave of tion.

    After dark all of the doors exiting or entering the castle were warded with enchantments that alerted a guard room if they had been opened and it was quite likely that the urrence would be investigated.

    Not just anyone could go in an out of the castle after dark, and while Marcus and Mrazivy had the authority to do so, they would certainly be quickly found out.

    That was where Marcus'' glyph tuning skill came into y.

    He simply messed with the enchantment a little and made it so that the next alert for opening of the door they were sneaking out of would be skipped.

    It had been slightly difficult to do butpared to most of the traps he dealt with in the special dungeon it had been child''s y.

    Once they were out of the castle, they were home free.

    Being invisible they both took to the sky and flew over the capital and towards there destination.

    They had a long way to go, so once they had passed over the airspace of the royal capital, they upped their speed and rocketed northwards.

    ''There it is. Loursend is in sight now.'' Marcus said to Mrazivy with telepathy.

    Both of them could not help but smile as the city came into view as it was the first ce they met and where their honeymoon was going to begin.

    Examining the city, both Marcus and Mrazivy could tell that it had drastically changed since thest time either of them was there.

    A bit over two years ago the city had been heavily damaged during the Dread Burrower incident and had looked like a hellscape afterwards.

    Now, however, the city had been nearly fully rebuilt, and while its poption was not up to its height again, it was still a thriving city.

    ''Let us hurry up to the rendezvous spot. The others should already be waiting for us, and we do not want to bete.'' Mrazivy said as she picked up the pace.

    Soon they were flying directly over the city and located arge green space within the urban area.

    This was thergest park in the city and where they had nned to meet with their friends and family that hade to see them off.

    Thankfully it was easy enough to find them as the sun was justing up and very few people were in the park.

    "And we have arrived." Marcus said as he and Mrazivy reappeared on the ground in the center of the group.

    Waiting for them ahead of time was James, Fallon, Lilia, ric, Ardea, and Ja.

    All of them had assisted Marcus and Mrazivy''s with their escape and made sure to be here to see them off before they left on their honeymoon.

    "I am d to see that you managed to escape the castle without any problems. But was there no better way that you could have given your guards and attendants the slip?" James said.

    "Of course, there were easier ways, but they would not buy us as much time. We already informed everyone we would not be leaving our room for five days and did not want to be disturbed. Anywhere else they would not have let us get away with that." Mrazivy said with an unabashed smile.

    ric and Lilia who were still young and in the height of puberty blushed deeply at what Mrazivy had just insinuated, and began staring at the ground,

    ? "Okay, I think that was more than any of us needed to know." James said, no longer questioning their n.

    After that Marcus and Mrazivy turned to Ja and Ardea and thanked them for arranging everything for them.

    "No problem, we had some fun doing it. Oh, and we called in a favor from one of our associates and she will be giving both of you quite the surprise." Ja said with a mischievous snicker.

    Hearing this, a suspicious expression appeared on Marcus'' face, though Mrazivy took it in strides and thanked the two grand witches again for their consideration.

    "James, make sure to give this back to Wade for me. He said he would get into trouble if it was out of his possession for too long." Mrazivy said as she handed the ck as night cloak to her brother.

    Letting out a sigh, he epted it and agreed to return it to their cousin.

    "Lilia, you make sure to follow Ardea''s directions. I know you have gotten much stronger, but do not get full of yourself." Marcus said as he ruffled her hair.

    "You know I am not a child anymore. I can take care of myself now." Lilia said in protest. Though she did have a slight smile she could not hide forming on her face.

    For several more minutes they all said their goodbyes and gavest-minute warnings and bits of advice to each other.

    Marcus and Mrazivy were going on a long trip, and this would be thest time any of them saw each other for at least a year.

    "Ah, and whenever you are in the Verkoudhied Mountains make sure to check up on Roxene, Blitz, and Inten. I am not sure what kind of training Retharin is putting them through, but I do expect to find them in one piece when we get back." Marcus said to Lilia right before they all parted ways.

    With all they had to say said, Marcus and Mrazivy waved farewell to those that hade to see them off and began making their way to the docks. Where they would find the vessels that would be taking them to their first destination on their first adventure outside of Borealia.

 786 Chapter 786

    Once Marcus and Mrazivy had separated from Lilia, ric, James, Fallon, Ardea, and Ja, they activated their disguises.

    In an instant both of their very noticeable and rare hair colors changed to being moremon shades with Marcus'' turning ck, and Mrazivy''s turning brown.

    Along with changing their hair color Marcus ced some colored contacts to hide his purple eyes and Mrazivy put on a pair of sses that were enchanted to make her face less rememberable.

    They were traveling as a pair of rich adventures rather than as royalty and wanted to make sure that no one recognized them.

    "Still, to think that you could scam the adventurers guild so easily to get us these new cards." Mrazivy said as she held up a gold rank card.

    Using his False Status unique skill and his ability to transform into multiple different forms Marcus had simply gone into the guild and applied as two new people.

    He even got fake identification papers made for them in the same way and set both of their levels in the low fifties.

    This plus a disy to the guild master of one of the branches in Borealia was enough to immediately get them gold rank and the fake credentials they needed.

    "Yeah well, I doubt many others could do the same. Without a skill that can fool appraisal items it would be impossible to get multiple different IDs."

    "But why did you keep your name the same and have me listed as Mraz which is my nickname. What if people figure us out because of it?" Mrazivy said as she scrutinized the details of the fact Id Marcus had made for her.

    "Frankly I did it because I did not want us to have to worry about memorizing fake names. We are going to be using these identities for a while and it is pretty likely we would slip up at some point. So, I figured it would be best if we just stuck to what we are used to being called. Anyway, it is not like I am the only Marcus in the world and only those that are close to you call you Mraz." Marcus said, giving his reasoning.

    Shrugging her shoulders, Mrazivy epted it, but still believed that they could have gotten away with fake names.

    Nearly an hourter, after leisurely walking to their destination, they arrived at the impressive docks that Loursend was known for.

    It was easily thergest port in Borealia and the only one deep enough to amodate massive trading vessels.

    Among those that were currently docked were many different types from all manner of nations.

    Some of the ships looked like galleons Marcus had seen in movies or historical depictions back on Earth.

    Each one looking impressive with their billowing sails and stunning wood that seemed to shine.

    Many of them were actually far bigger than Marcus would have expected, and the mana cannons on them were quite menacing.

    It was clear from just a few nces that these ships were built sturdily and had far more protections than the trading vessels back on Earth did. And this was certainly because the oceans on Mirrion were filled with monsters and magical beasts that could easily destroy an unprotected vessel.

    "Oh, look Marcus, it is the bronze trading fleet of Triveneian Kingdom!" Mrazivy said excitedly.

    Following where her finger was pointing Marcus saw a dozenrge vessels that all had gleaming bronze hulls.

    At first Marcus thought that this was quite odd. He certainly expected there to be metal vessels but figured that they would be made of steel like how it was on earth.

    In fact, he could not recall every hearing or reading about a ship that used bronze as its hull. Which he figured had to do for a number of reasons with one being how heavy bronze was.

    However, when he asked Mrazivy about it, the answer was actually pretty obvious, and he should have figured it out without her help.

    "Hm, why would you use steel? It barely conducts mana at all and can fracture pretty easily if you run too much through it. Most metal ships are made out of bronze for its high mana conductivity."

    Hearing something he already knew well, Marcus wanted to p himself in the face.

    While on Earth a bronze ship may have been impractical, on Mirrion where there was magic, it made far more since to use a metal that could be easily enchanted for better protection and many other added effects like anti corrosion. A steel ship without any magic protections would likely be destroyed easily out on the open ocean.

    "Okay, I understand. It seems that mymon sense from my old world was at odds with this world''s." Marcus said.

    He then exined how modern ships were made in his world and Mrazivy listened with sparkling eyes.

    "Yes, without magic and no monsters or magic beasts in the ocean it makes since that you would use steel instead." Mrazivy said once she understood the differences between their two worlds.

    "Moving on from our discussion about ships, you mentioned a Triveneian Kingdom. Would you mind telling me who they are?" Marcus asked, not knowing much about the world atrge.

    "Sure, they are our biggest trading partner on the continent to the west of here. I am sure you have noticed that we import a lot of our food, especially fruits and vegetables. Triveneian is where we get a majority of those goods since they are a tropical nation that is warm most of the year. Unlike here in Borealia." Mrazivy exined.

    She then went on to talk about how their bronze trading fleet was famous for having several hundreds of ships in it and that the tradingpany that owned them was backed by the royal family of Triveneian.

    "It sounds like an interesting ce. We will have to stop by some day."

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy was certainly onboard with the idea, and even suggested that they could slip from the ship they were about to get on for a couple of days and check it out.

    "Sure, if we get bored and have the time. Though I feel like just a couple of days might not be enough for us to really experience what an entire kingdom has."

    While they were making impromptu ns to visit a destination they had not even thought about before, they continued walking down the dock towards the ship they would be boarding.

    Yet when they saw what it was, they both stopped and stared out in amazement.

    "I know we already got a description of it, but it is far grander than I was expecting." Mrazivy said with an awed expression on her face.

    And Marcus was right with her, as he looked at the massive mithril ship in front of them.

    Of all the vessels that were currently docked, it was thergest and only one that was made of mithril.

    The light blue metal was incredibly striking, and it even made the bronze ships they saw earlier look like dinghies.

    For apassion, Marcus liked it to the cruise ships that were fairly popr back on Earth, and that was a fairly apt description.

    It was a vessel that only catered to wealthy clientele and the cost of the passage Marcus and Mrazivy booked cost them twenty thousand cold coins a piece. And they had not gotten even close to the most expensive amodations.

    "I cannot imagine how much it must have taken to build this thing. In terms of both cost and manpower." Marcus said in almost a daze.

    He was trying to calcte about how much mithril it would take to make a ship thisrge and the number of people that would be necessary to make it.

    "Do you think that you could create something like this?" Mrazivy asked Marcus.

    While his skills as a forgemaster were primarily used to make weapons, armor, and other essories, it would not be impossible for him to learn how to make a ship so long as its hull was metal.

    "Maybe if I had the help of the entire zegram Forge and a well-equipped shipyard I could figure it out. But that of course would only be for the hull and adding certain magical enchantments. For things like the interior and such, I would have to have other craftsmen and artisans help me. Also, just obtaining the amount of mithril would be a struggle in of itself. I can imagine it would take several years just get the necessary materials to build a ship like that."

    "Oh, so you could do it though. Maybe in the future I might want a mithril ship of my own." Mrazivy said jokingly.

    However, Marcus grimaced at this. While she might have been joking now, he could see a future years from now where she decided she really did want him to build one.

    Once they had finished admiring the ship, they headed on over to the building where people were waiting for boarding.

    Normally there would not be an entire structure just for the boarding process, but as only those that were rich could afford to book passage on this ship, all manner of extraforts were added to every aspect.

    "Identification and tickets." A guard standing outside the building said to Marcus and Mrazivy as they approached.

    The security was pretty tight, and they were making sure that no unauthorized individuals got onboard.

    Thankfully, once they handed over what the guard wanted, and he did a few checks, they were free to enter the building and wait to board.

    "And just a friendly piece of advice. There are a number of nobles waiting and already onboard that we picked up at previous stops. Just make sure to stay out of their way the best you can. Most of them are fine and have good manners, but there are always a few that look down onmoners." The guard said to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Naturally, their fake identities had them listed asmoners so that their royal status would not cause them any unwanted attention.

    "Thanks. We already nned to steer clear of them." Mrazivy said before leading Marcus into the waiting area.

    When they got inside they found that there were already several dozen people waiting to board.

    "Looks like the disguises were a good idea. I recognize a few of the nobles here." Mrazivy said as they scanned the area.

    Luckily no one that they could even consider acquaintances were among those boarding, and no one gave them so much as a second nce thanks to their disguises.

    "Wow, everyone certainly does have an entourage with them." Marcus said as he examined the other passengers.

    "Yeah, it is normal for wealthy merchants or nobles to have servants with them on trips. I am sure we look like oddballs for not having anyone with us."

    The two of them continued to wait for nearly a half hour, before a number of well dress men and women came out from the entrance that would lead to the ship.

    "Hello and good day to you all. I am captain Desmond Jissen, themanding officer of the Ascension. One of the Chelmer Resort''s three luxury mithril ships. Please allow me to apologize for the wait and wee you all of you abord my esteemed vessel."

    After giving this brief greeting, the captain began exining the rules of his ship and the order in which they would be boarding

    To start the nobles with the highest status, along with those apanying them got on first, and so on down the line.

    In the end Marcus and Mrazivy were thest to get on. Yet, as they moved to board, the captain stopped them.

    "I had heard we had two high level adventures joining us as guests this time around and I can tell by the way that you hold yourself that you are both very strong. However, as you are guests, please do not decide to take anything into your own hands should anything happen. We already have our own guards and hired adventures to act as security and I can assure you that this ship is well defended." The captain said, wanting to make it clear that Marcus and Mrazivy should not get involved if the shipes under attack.

    "That will be no problem. We came here to have a rxing time and get away from fighting. We will make sure to leave the protection of this ship in your capable hands." Marcus said.

    With his message having gotten across, the captain stood aside and weed them onboard the Ascension.

    Soon they were led to the top of the deck with a magic elevator and could finally see what the interior of the ship looked like.

    ''Wow it really is quite impressive. Albeit a bit gaudy.'' Marcus thought as he scanned the area.

    The ship was certainly not made practically and was definitely of a luxurious design.

    There was arge pool on the deck where people lounged around and the first structure that they could see was a casino.

    This only went to further Marcus''parison of this vessel being like a cruise ship. To the point that he believed someone from Earth may have actually designed it.

 787 Chapter 787

    As Marcus and Mrazivy were taking in the sights that were prominent on the ship''s deck, a man in the attire of the ship''s servants approached them.

    He was rtively short at around five foot three, had dark ck hair that was slicked back, and he had sharp blue eyes.

    From the way he walked it was clear he was a well-trained servant that was used to attending to high ss clientele.

    "It is a pleasure to meet you Marcus and Mrazivy. My name is Dustin, and I will be your personal guide for the day to show you around. If you would like I can take to you to your room, or if there were perhaps somewhere else you wanted to see first, I can guide you there as well so long as it is not a restricted area." Dustin said with a bow.

    "The room first would be good. We will think about where we want to go next on the way." Mrazivy responded.

    With a smile on his face Dustin told them to follow him and he began leading them toward the room that would be theirs for the next couple of weeks.

    "This is the elevator formoner guests to use. It uses mana to move up and down and can allow you ess to any of the floors you see numbers for." Dustin exined as he showed them a panel with numbers on it.

    Seeing this Marcus became even more certain that this ship was originally designed by someone from Earth and decided to inquire about it at ater time.

    Soon they arrived on the seventh level of the ship which was where their cabin was located.

    It was the lowest deck in which guest amodations were, with the only lower floor being where the majority of the crew slept.

    "This is your cabin, number seven hundred thirteen." Dustin said as he opened the door.

    Peering inside Marcus and Mrazivy saw arge king-sized bed with high quality bedding neatly ced atop it.

    There was also arge couch and a set of chairs around a small, round ornate table sitting in what could be considered a lounge area.

    Arge wardrobe was ced in front of the bed and to the sides of it were a pair of nightstands.

    There was also a single door in the room which led to a bathroom that came equipped with a sink that had running water and a tub and shower with warm water.

    Overall, the room was only a bit more than four hundred and fifty square feet, which was an infinitesimally small roompared to what Marcus and Mrazivy were used to. Yet it was quiterge for a room on a ship.

    This just went to show how luxurious this vessel truly was that these were the amodations for the cheapest type of room abord it.

    Along with all this there was also a pleasant slightly sweet scent wafting through the air in the room that was unexpected considering they were out on the ocean.

    ''Oh, there is even a porthole!'' Marcus thought excitedly.

    Rushing over to it he looked out it and could see the gently rolling waves of the ocean that slightly rocked the ship that was still docked.

    Except Marcus suddenly realized that there was something missing. While they may have been docked the ship itself seemed to not be moving at all on the inside.

    And when Marcus asked Dustin about this he said, "You are most astute sir. The ship has a magical enchantment on it that lessens the shaking of the vessel. However, do be aware that it does not negate it so you may still feel it if we encounter rougher water."

    After Marcus and Mrazivy were satisfied looking over their cabin they turned back to Dustin and asked him to show them the ship''s attractions.

    They had already read a guide on what the ship offered, but they were not exactly sure where everything was and having a guide would beat wandering around aimlessly.

    "As you wish." Dustin said with a bow.

    He then thought things over for a second, before saying, "This is not our most popr activity, but it is the closest being on this same level. Please follow me to the back of the vessel."

    Following Dustin once again they made their way down the corridor of the ship and to arge open room at the back of the deck.

    The moment they entered Mrazivy with her enhanced dragon senses picked up the lingering scent of blood.

    She could tell with one whiff that this area was constantly being exposed to decent amounts of blood even if the crew had done their best to clean the ce.

    For a moment she wondered if there was some diabolic nature to this ship.

    "What might all the drains be for?" Marcus asked, noticing a different oddity of the room.

    "Oh, they are for draining the blood of any of the beasts or monsters that get fished up. Some of them can be quite big so this is the room in which they are prepared since we catch them just of the stern through those doors." Dustin exined and pointed to the massive door that was akin to a warehouse''s.

    Hearing this the wild thoughts running through Mrazivy''s head disappeared, and she took a moment to better identify the smell of the blood and could certainly tell it was not from any humanoid.

    "You have fishing! I did not read about that anywhere." Marcus said with clear exhration.

    He enjoyed fishing to a certain degree but rarely had an opportunity to indulge in it.

    "Yes, it is not our most popr activity as most of our clientele are nobles or rich merchants, and normally it is done mostly by the adventures we have hired to pass the time while on watch. However, as you both are high level adventures yourself, I figured you might enjoy it and would have the necessary strength to test yourself against the creatures that live in the ocean."

    A smile on his face Marcus nodded along, saying that he would enjoy getting to go fishing off the back of the ship. And while Mrazivy was not as enthused, she figured it would be fun and agreed to give it a try.

    "Now as we are still docked therge bay door is closed, but we can check out the area where the fishing is held by going through here." Dustin said as she opened up a smaller door off to the side.

    As he opened it the salty breeze of the ocean blew in and hit Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Wow!" Was all they could say as they walked out onto the open area.

    It was arge tform about a fifth of the ship''s length that had a coated wooden floor simr to the top deck. Except that the wood was a dark red.

    ''I see the seventh and sixth deck are shorter to amodate this space.''

    It looked as if someone had taken a part of the ship out and left it hollow.

    Still, Marcus understood that there was more to the ce than just a convent area to fish from the moment he looked around.

    There were already eight high level adventurers who had been hired as guards standing at the edge of the deck and keeping watch off the side.

    Even in port it was not guaranteed that things would remain safe, and they were always ready.

    ''Looks like the lowest level one is fifty and the highest is fifty-nine. These guys really are strong, as expected. I do believe I read that they only hire mithril and adamantine rank adventurers though, so this makes sense.'' Marcus thought as he examined the guards.

    Of course, the ship had its own security force among its crew, but they were mainly for dealing with onboard disturbances. They were perfectly fine with allowing the professional adventurers to deal with monsters and magical beasts for the most part.

    For a few moments the adventurers cast their gazes towards the group of people that had just entered, wondering who it was. But they went wide eyed when they locked eyes with Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Naturally, as high-ranking adventures they could gage a person''s general strength by the way they walked, the sharpness in their eyes, and the aura they exuded. And to them, it was clear that Marcus and Mrazivy were monsters.

    "I thought that we were only getting one more guard here in Loursend. But it seems that you have brought us two very powerful assets" The highest level and obvious lead adventurer said to Dustin as he approached.

    Giving him a quick once over Marcus was certainly intrigued. it was the first time he had ever seen a person of his particr race.

    The man before him was easily over two meters tall, had a light green tinge to his skin, slightly pointed ears, and tusks protruding out of his mouth. The ssic appearance of an orc. Which while sometimes considered monsters in the fantasy stories and games on Earth, were actually a normal humanoid race on Mirrion

    "Huh, uh no mister Zaragar. These two may be adventurers like yourself, but they are guests aboard the Ascension, not the new guard we hired. I believe they will be here shortly." Dustin said to clear up the confusion.

    "My apologies. I seemed to have jumped to conclusions there. But to think I would end up guarding guests that a far stronger than I am." Zaragar said as he rubbed the back of his head.

    "It is no problem. We can understand the confusion." Mrazivy said with an easygoing smile.

    Seeing this, Zaragar visibly rxed, as did the other adventurers, who were paying close attention.

    "Wait! Mister Zaragar, are you to tell me that they are stronger than you?!" Dustin said, forgetting his polite way of speaking in his shock.

    "Yes, I am not sure exactly how powerful they are, but there is no doubt they outss me. I doubt that even if all of us here fought them at the same time that we could beat either of them."

    Hearing this Dustin''s mouth slowly gaped opened in disbelief, and he turned his head slowly towards Marcus and Mrazivy like a rusty tinman.

    He knew Zaragar and the others well since they were a regr adventurers they hired, and he could hardly fathom that Marcus and Mrazivy were stronger than all of thembined.

    Luckily, what could only be considered fairly rude behavior by their guide was soon overshadowed by the door opening again.

    Another crew member was leading the actual newly hired guard, and when Marcus saw who it was, he had to hide the surprise from showing on his face.

    Standing there was a familiar figure he had not seen for several years. But they were someone he would never forget as they he had fought a life and death battle together in the Cordelia Depths against the magma elemental boss.

    ''Treasa!''

 788 Chapter 788

    With the arrival of the new guard all attention was momentarily drawn towards them.

    Standing just past the doorway and following one of the crew members was arge tiger beastwoman.

    Once nce was all it took to know that she was strong and spiked chain ball made out of adamantine she had resting on her back stuck an imposing form.

    ''It really is Treasa. Last I heard from Jarek a couple years ago was that she had made her way to the continent west of here. But I guess she must havee back at some point.'' Marcus thought as he looked over his friend he had not seen for many years.

    Immediately he could tell that she had gotten quite a bit stronger, but also that she was missing a few things.

    On her left hand she was down three fingers. No longer having her pinky, ring, and middle fingers.

    Instead, she now had wooden protects that were obviously enchanted as they were able to move with the flow of her mana.

    Seeing that she had a crippling injury Marcus nearly forgot himself and went up to offer to heal her.

    However, he stopped himself after taking a single step forward.

    In his current form he had never had any interaction with Tesia. He had only ever interacted with her while in his guise as Irene and never as Marcus.

    ''It would be suspicious to just go up and offer free healing to someone you do not know. I will wait and do itter.'' Marcus thought as he stepped back.

    "Looks like we have another strong one joining us." Zaragar mumbled under his breath.

    And Marcus could only concur with his statement. With a quick appraisal he found that Tesia was now level sixty-five.

    This was nine levels higher than she had beenst Marcus saw her and proved she had been putting in steady effort.

    Sure, Marcus was now at a higher level than her and had earned around thirty levels since thest time they had met, but most people were not throwing themselves into the wildly dangerous situations he was often apart of.

    For a few moments nobody made a move as the veteran guards aboard the Ascension gauged Treasa, and she did the same.

    Naturally her gaze lingered on Marcus and Mrazivy for the longest amount of time and she could tell that they were even stronger than she was.

    "You two must be the leaders around here. It is nice to meet you. I am Treasa and will be joining you for a while. I hope we can get along."

    She then held her hand out to Zaragar, or not.

    In actuality she had pegged Marcus and Mrazivy as the ones in charge since they were obviously the strongest.

    "Ah, sorry, we are not guards. We are just guests being showed around." Mrazivy said and then pointed towards Zaragar. "He is actually the leader of the guards here."

    Turning her head, Treasa looked at Zaragar, who was wearing an awkward smile on his face.

    For a few moments an ufortable tension hung in the air from the multiple misconceptions about Marcus and Mrazivy being guards.

    Luckily, Zaragar recovered fairly quickly, and moved over to Treasa and took her still outstretched hand.

    "Don''t let it get you down, we all just made the same mistake. But who wouldn''t think that they were new guards with how strong they are." Zaragar said while chuckling to try and break the rigid atmosphere.

    Smiling, Treasa understood what he was trying to do and put on a neutral expression and returned his handshake.

    "It is good to meet Zaragar. As I said I am Treasa and I look forward to working with and deferring to your experience."

    Hearing this, Zaragar let out a sigh of relief. On assignments like these, the strongest would normally lead, and it was clear that Treasa was stronger than he was.

    Still, as this was her first time taking a job aboard the Ascension, she was not going to push her weight around and take charge.

    Once she had finished her introduction with Zaragar, she turned towards Marcus and Mrazivy and bowed her head.

    "Allow me to apologize for my misunderstand and please do not hold it against the ship."

    "It''s fine no need to worry yourself about it. Now raise your head. We are adventurers like you, except, instead of working here, we are taking a break." Marcus said in a bit of a fluster, not feelingfortable having his friend bow and act so polite towards him even if she did not know it was him.

    "Oh, is that so. I''ll still treat you with respect as guests but I''m d to know you won''t be offended over every little thing." Tesia said, losing the formal attitude she had been adopting.

    With everything now cleared up Treasa and Zaragar went on their own way and introducing Treasa to the other adventurers in his party.

    "There is no need to apologize. We are adventurers so being treated like one is of no offense." Mrazivy said quickly when it looked like Dustin was about to start apologizing.

    "Understood. I need to remember that you are not our usual guests."

    After that he brought them over to a locker and opened it up.

    Inside were a dozen fishing rods of impable quality.

    ''Wow they even have enchanted adamantine lines and hooks.'' Marcus thought as he examined the massive pole that was bigger than he had ever seen before.

    Naturally it was incredibly bulky and made out of sturdy material so that it could withstand the beasts and monsters in the ocean.

    ''Seems to be pretty strong.'' Marcus thought as he pulled on the line with all his might to try and rip it.

    Yet it held steady, which was quite a feat even if Marcus was not using any skills to enhance his power.

    "Yeah, these are really good. When will we be able to try fishing?" Marcus asked Dustin with an excited glint in his eyes.

 789 Chapter 789

    "I see not until the second day after departure. Got it." Marcus said after Dustin answered his question.

    During the first day the waters off the shores of Borealia were pretty deep and some veryrge creatures lurked down there.

    The ship had enchantments that camouged it to make it seem like part of the ocean and those beasts and monsters in the depth would not notice them most of the time.

    However, in the past a truly frightening creature once came up on the lines and it was now forbidden to fish until they reached shallower waters.

    "Now please allow me to show you around the rest of the ship." Dustin said.

    With expert knowledge cultivated by being a member of the crew for several years Dustin led Marcus and Mrazivy around and showed them everything that they had ess to aboard the ship.

    "Thank you for showing us around. I think for now we are going to go settle into our room until the ship departs." Mrazivy said at the end of their tour.

    "It was my pleasure. And feel free to ask me or any of the other crew for anything you might need during your stay." Dustin said before heading off.

    Once he was gone Marcus and Mrazivy returned to their room, and the moment the door was closed Mrazivy fixed Marcus with a serious look.

    "That tiger beast woman, you know her, don''t you?"

    Taken aback, Marcus had not expected to be suddenly asked this.

    Nevertheless, he had no reason to hide it and told Mrazivy about Treasa.

    "I see. A temporary party member when you were in Lethan. So, she is one of the ones you fought the boss monster with."

    "Yeah, she was a real help. Without her contributions it would have been impossible for us to win. She even got the finishing blow on the thing." Marcus said with a nostalgic smile.

    It was at this moment that for the first time they felt the ship move and it lurched forwards ever so slightly.

    "I suppose that we are finally beginning to move. Did you want to head back up to the top deck and watch?" Mrazivy asked.

    Nodding his head, Marcus was more than happy to, and the both of them made their way on up.

    Yet when they arrived, they found the ce was quite crowded and all of the railing space where one could look out was being taken up.

    ''Do they really need all that room.'' Marcus thought as he turned an annoyed gaze towards numerous noble guests.

    Many of them hadrge sofas that were set up for them to watch theunch of the ship and their servants were blocking off huge areas to make sure no one else got near.

    "We can get a better view from up there anyway." Mrazivy said, pointing to the top of the sails that were still tied up.

    The ship they were on had a mana engine to use as propulsion, but it also had sails since it would be too costly to only use the engine.

    "Sure. Sounds like a good idea."

    Moving stealthily, the two of them made it to an area where there were no people and flew up to the top of the sails.

    From there they had a better view than anyone and gazed out at Loursend as it started to get smaller.

    Then when the massive port city was only a small sliver on the horizon, they turned towards the ocean and marveled at the sparkling water that went on for as far as the eye could see.

    ''Even after all I have witnessed on this world. This is still a sight to behold.''

    For nearly forty minutes the two of them simply stood up on the highest point of the ship and looked out at the ocean

    asionally they would see flocks of birds flying since they were still near the shore, and at one point a pod of some sort of whale breeched the surface before disappearing back down into the water.

    "Hey! What the hell are you two doing up there!"

    Suddenly being yelled at, Marcus and Mrazivy looked down to find members of the crew ring at them.

    They had apparentlye to unfurl the sails and noticed that they were standing at the top of them.

    "Guess it is time that we head back." Mrazivy said with the best innocent smile she could.

    Of course, they did not climb down and apologize for going somewhere they should not have, and instead jumped off and flew down to the deck before making their escape.

    Back inside their room they had a goodugh at their escape and discussed whether or not they should change their disguises a bit.

    "I doubt they got a good enough look to recognize us with certainty. I think it would be more conspicuous if we changed out hair colors again." Mrazivy said.

    "Fine, it probably won''t be a problem anyway."

    With that settled the two of them pulled out a pamphlet that listed the events that were going on and picked out the ones they wanted to go to.

    "I think that the concert tonight is something we need to go to. I read that ship recently picked up one of the best musicians on the continent." Marcus said.

    "That sounds good. I wonder if they might have some songs I have never heard. Since this is a ship that travels up the entire coast of the continent Borealia is on to pick up passengers."

    Having decided on their first choice the both of them got ready.

    They naturally could not attend the concert in just whatever clothing they liked and got dressed up a bit for it.

    When they were ready the two of them left their room and ascended to the second deck.

    Therge concert hall was located on that level and towards the back.

    "They really went all out for this ce didn''t they." Marcus said in awe of the hall.

    "Nothing new there. This entire ship is about as high ss as possible. Now our seats are up high and far in the back. I guess that is what we can expect from buying the cheapest tickets."

    "We did not want to stand out by dropping too much money. And anyway, it is not like either of us have problems hearing."

    Once they had found their seats, they gotfortable and looked down at the stage.

    There was a lone piano off to the side and a microphone-like magic tool sitting at the front.

    Time passed by slowly as they waited for the concert to start, and they passed their boredom by watching the types of people that wereing in and making a game of finding certain characteristics.

    "Got one. That guy over there is over level fifty. I guess we are not the only guests that are stronger than average." Mrazivy said, pointing out arge man sitting near the center of the stage.

    "Huh but I got a rejected reading from him because of some magic item. It is not fair that your dragon eyes can see through almost anything."

    "Just one of my many advantageous." Mrazivy said with a proud grin.

    The two of them continued to mess around until finally the lights began to dim and the pianist walked out onto stage.

    Then following shortly after him was the singer who caused both Mrazivy and Marcus a bit of shock.

 Chapter 790 790 A Great Performance

    Marcus and Mrazivy stared down at the stage with wide eyes and stunned expressions when they saw who the singer was.

    They had only met them once years ago, but there was no way that they would never forget them.

    ''Recha, the Great Spirit of Sound! But what is she doing performing on a random ship!?'' Marcus thought.

    Looking down he blinked his eyes a few times to make sure that he was not just seeing things, but the woman down on the stage was a dead wringer for how he remembered Recha looking.

    She had the light green hair and youthful appearance that the Great Spirt of Sound hadst time, and he could not believe that there was anyone else that looked exactly the same.

    However, doubt did start to well up in him as he could not feel the normal majesty that should have beening off of another great spirit.

    If it was really her there should have been no way that he could not tell she was another great spirit. They could also tell when they were in each other''s presence.

    ''Mraz, I am not crazy to think that she looks like the great spirit of sound, am I?'' Marcus asked.

    ''No, that is definitely her, I think. She looks exactly the same, but I cannot feel the overwhelming power that she should be emitting. She does not feel especially weak, but not especially strong either. It is like she is hollow in a way.'' Mrazivy said, giving her assessment.

    For a few moments they went back and forth on whether this was actually Recha and not just some look alike. But as soon as she started singing their doubts were washed away instantly.

    They had only heard music of a simr level of intricacy and vibrancy when they were around the tranquil shrine, and it was clear that the singer was indeed Recha.

    ''Looks like I lost myself for a bit there.'' Marcus thought ofing out of a sort of stupor once the first song ended.

    Both he and Mrazivy had been enraptured by its beauty that they momentarily forgot about their current dilemma.

    Wanting to get to the bottom of what was going on, Marcus appraised the singer on the stage in between songs.

    What he got back was a bit unexpected though, as his appraisal revealed that she was level thirty-seven and had the name Melody.

    This only added to his bafflement, but luckily Mrazivy was able to clear things up.

    ''That is Recha, or at least a part of her. My dragon eyes revealed that she is not actually human but a puppet that is being controlled remotely. As you saw its level is thirty-seven and its name set to Melody, but I can also see that her status says possessed by the Great Spirit of Sound Recha. I do not know why she is here in this manner, but that is definitely her.'' Mrazivy said to Marcus with telepathy.

    Yet while their appraising of the doll on stage had gotten them the answers they wanted; it had also gotten them noticed

    They had felt Recha''s attention drawn towards them, and very briefly she gave them a knowing smile.

    Thankfully she did not seem angry about them peeking at her status and continued her concert without any troubles.

    Once the second song began the slight bit of anxiety they had been feeling faded away and they simply sat back and enjoyed the music.

    During Recha''s entire performance the entire concert hall was quiet except for her voice and the pianist apanying her.

    In fact, Marcus thought that the pianist must have had an incredible will to be able to y alongside Recha and not get absorbed in her singing.

    Amazing song after song was yed by Recha with no signs of her getting tired or faltering.

    Then after a short break between her songs she began ying something that Marcus and Mrazivy had definitely not been expecting.

    She began ying the jazz songs they had debuted at their wedding apanied by more than just a piano now and with vocals that had not been present before.

    For a few seconds Marcus and Mrazivy were caughtpletely off-guard, until they remembered that Recha had blessed Aria.

    Using that connection, she easily could have discovered the type of music brought over from Earth Aria had been working on, and as the Great Spirit of Sound she had no problems learning how to y it.

    "I think we will need to make sure toe to any other performances she will be holding on the ship." Mrazivy said while pping loudly once the concert had ended.

    Naturally Recha''s performance received a resounding ovation, and many calls for an encore.

    Whether on Earth or Mirrion people appreciated good music.

    "Should we go greet her, or just mind ourselves?" Mrazivy asked as they prepared to leave.

    Before Marcus could answer, however, they received amunication from Recha.

    "Come see me in my dressing room. I already told the staff to let you through." They both heard suddenly.

    But while they had heard her voice clearly it seemed that no one else had been able to.

    Not even considering ignoring Recha''s summons, Marcus and Mrazivy made their way around the hall and to the back of the stage.

    As Recha had said, they met no resistance, but that was not because the staff just let them through. It was because they seemed to be in a daze.

    "Come on in." They heard from behind the door they had stopped in front of.

    Opening it up they saw Recha sitting there with a smile on her face and a table already prepared with tea and sweets.

    "Sit down and rx. I just want to talk since it has been a while."

    Doing as she asked, they sat down and sipped the tea before looking expectingly at the great spirit that had asked for their presence.

    "My I was quite surprised when I felt someone push past the identification protections I installed on this puppet, but I was relieved when I saw it was you two. I knew neither of you were going to cause an uproar about a great spirt being here."

 Chapter 791 791 A Conversation With Recha

    "Certainly, we would not make a big deal about you being here. We were just a bit shocked and confused. You look exactly the same but are not giving off the aura of a great spirit. Which is why we wanted to make sure. Allow me to apologize now for appraising you." Mrazivy said politely.

    "It is fine no need to worry about it. I am not going to hold it against either of you."

    Receiving Recha''s assurance that she was not upset both Marcus and Mrazivy visibly rxed.

    As a fully realized great spirit she could easily destroy them should they dour her mood.

    "But I see that the two of you have really grown since thest time I saw the two of you. You are far less of a runt than you used to be Marcus. I daresay that you may within a few decades reach the level of all the other great spirits with the rate you are going." Recha said with a yful smile.

    Yet as she further looked Marcus over her eyes suddenly became sharp, and despite her current puppet form not having all that much power behind it, the weight of her gaze felt immense.

    Marcus wentpletely still as Recha seemed to scrutinize every fiber of his being and Mrazivy actually stopped breathing.

    "So that is what the administrator wanted a bit of my essence for. I can feel that you have a small part of me anchored within your form."

    No longerx, Recha waspletely serious and was contemting her next move.

    "I truly would like to know why she collected my essence and gave it to you. But I know better than to put my nose where it does not belong."

    Recha giving up on finding out why Marcus had a part of her essence inside him leaned back and allowed her more rxed atmosphere to return.

    Immediately Mrazivy let out a deep breath and the tension she was feeling lessened.

    "Now, let us put that behind us and celebrate your union. I heard from Aria that you have been married." Recha said with her teacup lifted up and clearly asking for a toast.

    Following her lead, Marcus and Mrazivy brought their cups up and they clinked them together, before each taking a drink.

    "Thank you for your kind words. We have indeed been married. But when have you been speaking to great grandmother?" Mrazivy asked curiously.

    ? "Oh, every now and then. I gave her one of my blessings and she is very promising, so I check in on her from time to time. She even told me about the music that was yed at your wedding that was unlike anything she had ever heard. It was a new style even for me and I was d to be able to add it to my repertoire. I naturally adore music."

    She then turned to Marcus and told him that she had heard he was one of the ones that had brought over jazz music from Earth.

    "Do you happen to have any other styles of music or songs you might know? I would love it if you could share some more new things with me."

    Under Recha''s pleading stare Marcus nodded her head and said that he did know a few things. Though it had been several years since he wasst on Earth, so he had forgotten quite a bit.

    "I see. Maybe I should start searching out for more musically inclined transfers." Recha mumbled under her breath.

    "Anyway, what might you be doing here? It seems a bit odd for a great spirit to be performing on a ship." Marcus said switching the subject.

    "But then by that logic would it not be odd for you as a great spirit to be here as well."

    Frozen in ce with no counter, Marcus could not seem to find fault in her logic.

    "I do not mean to be rude, but do you not have duties to attend to as a great spirit?" Mrazivy said as Marcus floundered.

    "Yes, I certainly do, but they hardly take all of my focus. I mean this is not the entirety of me speaking to you right now. I have simply ced a fragment of my soul into this puppet. It is a bit like I currently have multiple active consciousnesses. And it is not like Marcus has not done the same. His soul is split up as well." Recha pointed out.

    And it was true, Marcus did have his soul embedded in his scythe and the wedding ring he had given to Mrazivy

    Of course, he did not haveplete control over them like Recha did with her puppet, but that could be down to many different factors. From him not being at the same level as her, to the difference in the objects they were possessing.

    "Your right, I am doing the same thing, but not to the same degree as you." Marcus responded.

    "One of these days you will have no problem with this as well. You may be less of a runt now, but you still are a runt."

    After saying that, she put the topic of separating their souls behind them and Recha answered Marcus'' earlier question.

    "As for what I am doing here, I am simply having some fun. I have multiple puppets out in the world acting as performers so that I can get as many new experiences as possible. I may have been alive for a long time, but there are always new things to learn. There is still music out there I have never heard and ces that remain unknown even to me. Us great spirits may be powerful, but it is not like we are omnipotent, and we still like to enjoy ourselves."

    When she had finished exining her reasons for being on the ship, she asked Marcus and Mrazivy about what they had been up to.

    "I see, so that is why you visited my shrine every year. You were clearing the special dungeon down there."

    "Yes, it was certainly a challenge, but we got through it and it has helped us to grow as strong as we are." Mrazivy said.

    The three of them continued to talk for around another half hour before Recha suddenly seemed to remember something.

    "It seems that the beguiling music spell I cast on the area is beginning to wane. This puppet only has limited powers so I cannot keep them under my spell indefinitely. If the two of you do not want to run into any problems, I would rmend you head out now. We can always talk again another time."

    With that their impromptu conversation with Recha the Great Spirit of Sound came to a close.

    Swiftly they left the area that was filled with even more people that seemed to havee under Recha''s spell. Though it was clear that they were starting to wake up.

    Luckily, they made it back to a public area without any troubles and were unable to unpack what had just happened.

    "I wonder if we are going to run into anyone else that we know on this ship." Marcus said with a tone of exacerbation.

    "No, surely we won-"

    Stopping midsentence, Mrazivy looked off into the distance with an astonished expression.

    Following her gaze, Marcus expected to see someone that they knew, but it was just a crowd of random people.

    Mrazivy, seeing the look of confusion on his face, began chuckling, since Marcus had fallen for her trick.

    "Yeah, that was very funny. Just know this mean I will need to get you backter."

    "Sure, I am looking forward to it."

    After that exchange the two of them descend back down the decks to where their cabin was and settled in for the night. Having had quite the eventful first day.

 Chapter 792 792 Reunion With Treasa

    Around three hours before daybreak Marcus woke up from his slumber.

    He had decided to sleep for only a little while since there was something that he wanted to do when the fewest number of people would be out and about.

    ''She looks as peaceful as ever.'' Marcus thought as he gazed down at his wife.

    She had a fairly big grin on her slipping face and had quite the grip around her pillow.

    Carefully Marcus got out of the bed to make sure he did not disturb her. Luckily Mrazivy stayed dead asleep.

    ''Time to get into character.''

    In an instant Marcus'' form changed and shifted, and he had once again taken on his guise as Irene.

    He wanted to restore the missing fingers on Treasa'' left hand but knew that doing so as Marcus would cause someplications or need a lengthy exnation he was not willing to give.

    Yet as he exited his cabin by phasing through the hull of the ship anding out on the other side, he abruptly stopped.

    An amazing sight was sitting before him right now and one that he had not been expecting to see.

    ''I had heard that when the ocean is especially still it looks like ss, but this really is something.'' Marcus thought.

    Other than the wake of the ship the ocean around them waspletely still with nary a ripple through it.

    The wind was practically nonexistent, and it seemed that the tides had abandoned the area they were in.

    This created the illusion that Marcus was staring out at an endless field of ss, and it was only even more impressive with the numerous stars that were being reflected off of it.

    Nevertheless, after he had gotten his fill of looking at the beautiful sight, he continued on his way towards his goal.

    He wanted to hurt up and heal Treasa and went about finding her.

    ''Luckily she has one of the strongest presences on board, so all I have to do is run through the area until my life sense gets a hit.''

    Flying through the corridors in his ghost form Marcus systematically searched the ship until he found Treasa.

    To his luck, she was currently alone and was keeping watch at the stern of the ship.

    "Whoever is there,e on out. I do not much like being sneaked up on." Treasa said when she noticed Marcus'' presence.

    Of course, this was not because she felt him while he was in his ghost form, but because he had be tangible from outside her range of perception and approached her naturally.

    "It has been a long time Treasa; I just wanted toe and say hello to an old friend."

    Walking out of the shadows Marcus made himself known, and Treasa went wide eyed when she saw him.

    Naturally he did not look any different than when they hadst met, and she was easily able to recall one of the people she had fought a boss monster with.

    "Irene! What are you doing here!?" Treasa said in an excited and confused tone.

    She was happy to be seeing some she knew and was close to, but also unsure how she had missed Marcus'' presence.

    Her sense of smell was impable, and even on such arge ship if they had crossed paths even from afar, she should have picked up on his scent.

    However, while in different forms he left apletely unique scent, and she would never recognize who he was simply by smell.

    "Oh, I am just one of the passengers here to enjoy the ride till we reach the resort. I noticed you onboard as well and decided toe and see you once you were alone. Do you have a little time to talk and catch up?"

    With a reluctant look, Treasa looked back out into the ocean.

    Technically she was on watch right now and fulling her duties as a hired guard.

    Even if no one found out that she had shirked her duties to speak with a friend, she would feel bad about it.

    "Here, allow me to watch with you. We can speak while keeping a look out. If anything happens, I will help out. So, there is no need to worry." Marcus said reassuringly.

    With a slight smile Treasa agreed and beckoned Marcus to stand beside her. She knew he was reliable and more than strong enough to pick up any ck on watching out for enemies.

    "So, I heard that you left Lethan around three years ago now. What have you been up to since then?"

    Starting the conversation off naturally, Marcus decided to close the gap between them and get reacquainted by speaking of their experiences.

    Treasa, showing great enthusiasm, began rying the adventures she had been on since their parting in Lethan.

    To start, it was mostly just her continuing to run the dungeon as usual, but when she reached level sixty, she began to feel listless and wanted some new experiences.

    This led her to head to the capital and use the teleportation circle there to head over to the continent to the west of Borealia.

    Thus began her adventures in a new and unfamiliar ce.

    "There was much to see and do. So many new things, good and bad. In a kingdom ruled by other beast people I ended up attracting the attention of a warrior noble who wanted to take me as a bride and had to fight my way through him and his soldiers. In another, the guild called me in on an emergency quest to deal with a band of brigands that had overthrown the rule and order of a city. And of course, I made my way into plenty of new dungeons and explored them."

    During the entire time Treasa was incredibly happy to divulge everything she had been through, but never once touched on how she lost her fingers.

    Naturally Marcus wanted to know but held off asking right away.

    Instead, he decided to tell of some of his won adventurers first. Though he did make sure to leave out anything that was too sensitive.

    "Sounds like you have had quite the wild time yourself. But to think that you are able to work with amethros now. You certainly havee a long way since Ist saw you. At that time, you were still scrambling to get your hands on just adamantine."

    "Yeah, that seems like quite a long time ago. Now I have a pretty good stock of adamantine. Though amethros is still a bit hard toe by."

    For until the sun began to rise up, the two of them simply talked and caught up with each other.

    They had objectively not spent all that long together in Lethan but in the confines of the dungeon and pushing through many fights together tended to bring people together quickly.

    Eventually as the sunrise began to reflect off the water, Marcus decided to ask about Treasa''s missing fingers.

    "So, what happened with your hand? I know you have been trying to steer clear of the topic, but it is not something I can just ignore."

    Pursing her lips together, Treasa had a conflicted look on her face, but soon let out a sigh and began telling Marcus what had happened.

    "I got this injury when I was betrayed. I had teamed up with some other adventures and was on a mission when they tried to capture me." Treasa said with an angry and sorrowful expression.

    "Apparently as I found outter, they made a lot of money illegally selling high ranking adventurers they had detained as ves. They liked to target loners like me who were just looking to join a temporary party. However, I was more than they bargained for and the poison that tried to use did not get through my resistance. It was a brutal fight and one of them managed to cut off my fingers. Still, in the end, I came out alive and they are all dead, so I suppose it is a small price to pay. It at least taught me to be more careful about who I partied up with."

    Treasa was putting on a brave and handed expression, but Marcus could tell that she was quite shaken by the experience.

    Though who wouldn''t be. Suddenly having people you trusted to watch you back turn on you and try to sell you would be a frightening experience even for someone as strong as Treasa.

    For a few minutes Marcus gave her words offort and eased her away from the dark mood telling the story had brought her to.

    Then, when he felt the moment was right, he asked her about her prosthetics.

    "I see you have had some recements made, but what about having your fingers restored? Have you tried to find a healer or purchase a lesser elixir." Marcus asked.

    Unlike him most people did not have a regeneration skill or the healing powers necessary to grow lost body parts back. Truly, if he did not, his journey would have already ended many times over.

    "No, it would be stupidly expensive either way. Healers that are at the level capable of restoring lost appendages are few and far between and cost way too much to simply heal this. Same with getting a lesser elixir. It could take a while to find one that is up for auction somewhere, and then I might not even have enough to buy it. Getting a prosthetic that only cost a few thousand gold was a better alternative."

    "Okay, then if money was the issue, would you like me to heal your fingers for free?"

 Chapter 793 793 Healing Treasa

    "Okay, then if money was the issue, would you like me to heal your fingers for free?"

    After hearing Marcus'' question Treasa blinked a few times in confusion before she finally registered exactly what he meant.

    She had already known that he could use healing magic, but when they had partied up, he had not had the ability to cast such a high tier spell.

    "Wait! Are you saying that your healing magic skill is up to level seven!?" Treasa asked in a fluster.

    Very few individuals ever got a magic skill that high and even fewer of those that did have healing magic.

    Even in Borealia and Tralensteinbined the number of people that had such magic could be counted on one hand.

    Yet sitting before Treasa was one such individual.

    "Yes, my healing magic has reached level seven and I can cast the tier seven spell regenerate if you want me to." Marcus said, though he was lying, and his healing magic was actually at level eight. But clearing that up would have just caused moreplications, so he did not

    For a few moments Treasa nced between her prosthetic fingers and Marcus wondering if she should take him up on the offer.

    Very few would ever receive the chance to get healing of this level for free and she wondered if she deserved it.

    "I am being serious. If it were not for your injury, I may not have even shown myself to you. My disguise is a bit unique and no one else knows that I am here. Still, I could not just sit by when a friend had a crippling injury that I could fix. So, would you please let me heal you."

    Feeling his sincerity, Treasa gritted her teeth and nodded her head.

    Naturally anyone who had lost a part of themselves would want it recovered if they could and she saw no reason to reject her friend''s goodwill.

    "If you would not mind taking the prosthetic off? I am not sure what will happen if it is in ce when I cast the spell."

    Nodding her head, Treasa swiftly removed the three protect fingers and for the first time Marcus was able to she the stumps that remined.

    With only a single look her could tell that the cuts had been clean and must have been done by an incredibly sharp de wield by an expert to break through Treasa'' natural defenses.

    "Regenerate."

    Saying the spell''s name Marcus cast what could be considered the most revered healing spell and a soft yellow light flew from his hand that was resting just above Treasa''s.

    In only a matter of seconds the high tier spell seeped into Treasa and her fingers began to grow back.

    While this happened, she winced in pain as her nerves were reconstructed and connected to the rest of her body.

    "There it is done. Your fingers are back to normal." Marcus said with a proud expression.

    It had taken only a half dozen seconds but he had restored Treasa''s lost fingers.

    Tears began to fall down Treasa''s face as she flexed her new fingers and moved her hand around.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    She had been able to get by with the prosthetics but truly there was nothing better than one''s own appendages.

    "Irene, would you mind moving a few dozen feet away from me for a bit." Treasa said, while standing up abruptly.

    "Sure. That is no problem." Marcus said understanding what she wanted to do.

    Quickly he gave her the room she needed and when he was in the clear she took her weapon off her back.

    With a tight grip she held the chain in her restored hand and with a smile began swinging it around.

    Her chosen weapon took a great amount of dexterity and skill, and the prosthetics simply could not allow her the same level of maniption she once had.

    Swing after swing she sent her spiked chain ball around and practiced her form. Getting used to having her missing fingers again.

    Immediately she could tell how much more natural it felt to wield now and broke out into a great big grin.

    "Ha, I am back!" Treasa said tedly.

    "I am d to see that you are able to adapt back to having your fingers again so quickly. So how does it feel?"

    "Better than ever. I think that these new fingers might be superior to my old ones. Though that might be just because I am higher level than thest time I had my original fingers." Treasa said, the smile never leaving her face.

    She then turned to Marcus and bowed her head deeply to express her gratitude.

    "If you ever need anything from me Irene, I am there. You have helped me to regain my fingers and I will be eternally grateful."

    "Sure, if I need your help, I wille get you." Marcus said, even if he figured he would nevere to collect on this dept.

    However, not long after the ted expression that Treasa had been wearing since her fingers were regenerated turned into one of panic.

    "What am I going to tell the other people on the ship? Plenty of the crew and other adventurers saw me with my prosthetic fingers. Normally people do not just suddenly grow back lost appendages." Treasa said in a rare show of worry.

    Seeing her so flustered Marcus could not help butugh a little bit.

    "You need only say the truth. A random passenger on the ship healed you and you are not able to find them again. I can promise you that no matter how hard you search for me after I leave you will note across me again."

    Sighing. Treasa decided to go with the exnation Marcus gave her. Though she looked pretty sad about it.

    "So, I will not be seeing you again while we are on this ship?"

    "Oh, no, I wille see you from time to time. It is just that you will not be able to find me. I will stop by every now and then when you are alone on watch, and we can get caught up some more. We have only spoken of the broad things we have experienced in the years since we saw each other. I still want to hear more details of your adventures abroad."

 Chapter 794 794 Enjoying Their Honeymoon

    Having concluded his business with Treasa Marcus headed back to his cabin.

    He did not want to stick around for too long now that the sun wasing up and be discovered by other people.

    "So did you manage to heal your friend." Mrazivy asked the moment Marcus phased back into the room.

    "Yeah. She was pretty grateful, and I am d I was able to help her." Marcus said as he reaped in his original form.

    "Good, then if you no longer have that on your mind lets go have some fun."

    Being practically dragged out of the room Marcus followed Mrazivy to the first of many attractions she wanted to see on the ship.

    For the entire day they hopped around from one part of the ship to the other untilte into the night.

    At this point they had sampled most of what the ship had to offer and were now in a certain ce.

    "I really did not think that this was going to be a problem for her." Marcus said with an exacerbated sigh.

    "Damn it. Just one more hand. I am sure to win eventually." Mrazivy grumbled under her breath.

    Currently they were in the casino to y some of the games.

    However, before they entered Marcus had made sure to press the point that they had fifty gold each to gamble with and not to use any more than that.

    When one gambled, they should expect to lose everything they came in with, which was why setting a limit was important.

    Marcus thought of it more as a fee he was paying for the entertainment rather than actually trying to win anything.

    And he had figured that it would be fine to leave Mrazivy to herself, but she was currently at a ckjack table and was pulling more money out of her item box whenever she needed it.

    Naturally herpetitive nature made her not want to lose and she was trying to recoup her losses by throwing more money at the problem.

    Certainly, as a princess she had plenty of funds and could afford to lose a bit, but Marcus did not need her developing a gambling addiction. Especially since she seemed really bad at it.

    "Come on Mraz. You have had enough. How about we go back to the pool and cool off with some drinks instead?" Marcus said to her.

    "Okay, that sounds good. We can celebrate after I win the next round." Mrazivy said, preparing to ce her next bet.

    Shaking his head, Marcus was not taking no for an answer and began physically dragging her away.

    "No Marcus! I could feel it. I was definitely going to win next time." She said as she struggled against him.

    Thankfully she was not really forceful about it and knew that what he was doing was for her own good.

    If she had really tried to break his grasp there would be little he could do to stop her without destroying the entire ship.

    "Is there a problem sir?" One of the casino''s guards said,ing up to check on the situation.

    "Nothing major. My wife just got a bit too into the game and spent too much of our money. Please excuse the disturbance." Marcus said while continuing to drag Mrazivy out.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    The guard seemed like he wanted to say more, but one re from Marcus was enough to make him fear for his life and drop the issue.

    Once he had gotten her settled down, she became a bit gloomy about not having had the chance to win.

    "Listen Mraz, it is not about the money, since honestly, we can get plenty of that. It is about getting too absorbed in it. If you stick to your limits, it can be a bit of fun. but being that absorbed is bad for you." Marcus said after ordering them some drinks.

    "I know, it is just. I really wanted to win. I could feel that I was getting closer."

    "If you really wanted to win, I could turn into a ghost and look at the dealer''s cards?" Marcus suggested.

    "No, that would be cheating! It would defeat the whole point of it being my win!" Mrazivy said with an appalled expression.

    "See, then there is no reason to keep going. In the end, nothing you can do gives you a better chance of winning, so it is not even apetition. It all justes down to luck for the most part and it will always be in the dealer''s favor. Instead, you can try to beat me tomorrow."

    Hearing this, Mrazivy''s interest was piqued, and she looked expectantly at Marcus.

    "We will finally be able to go fishing tomorrow. We can see who can get the biggest fish. Sure, ites down to a bit of luck, but there is also skilled involved with fishing, and it is not meant to be addictive like gambling."

    "Sure, that sounds good. But what kind of reward might I get should I win?" Mrazivy said with a devious smile.

    Shuddering, Marcus was not sure what she had in mind, but decided to y along.

    "I will go along with anything you want to do as long as it does not involve the casino."

    "Perfect. Then I will offer you the same. Now what are we going to do when I win?" Mrazivy said, as if her victory was already a forgone conclusion.

    Fortunately, this managed to get her mindpletely off of the casino, and she began nning what to have Marcus do.

    It was not long after that the drinks Marcus and ordered arrived and the two of them sat by the pool and rxed.

    "When you let loose you really go all out." Marcus said as he princess carried Mrazivy back to their cabin.

    Normally she was pretty well in control of herself, but today it seemed she had thrown all caution to the wind.

    She had ordered every drink on the menu and consumed all of them.

    As someone that was above level seventy, she had a high tolerance for alcohol, but after all she drank even Mrazivy had be inebriated.

    "Oh, don''t be that way. We are on our honeymoon. This is the time for us to let go and have a little fun. Anyway, I am not as drunk as you think. I just wanted you to dote on me a little." Mrazivy said right before Marcus opened up the door to their cabin.

    Then as soon as the door was closed, as if to prove what she had just said, she swiftly got out of Marcus'' grasp and threw him onto the bed.

    He was entirely caught off guard by this and did not realize what was going on until he saw Mrazivy get on top of him.

    "You know we have already been married for a couple months, but we have not done it for over three weeks. Now that we are finally alone, I am not going to hold back anymore." Mrazivy said with a very seductive voice in Marcus'' ear.

    She then activated a sound blocking magic tool and began taking her clothes off. Ready to indulge in a night of passion with her husband.

 Chapter 795 795 Fishing Time

    "Mraz, the sun is starting toe up. We should get cleaned off and get ready for the day." Marcus said to his wife who was breathing heavily next to him.

    She had gotten quite exhausted from their nighttime activities and was currently recovering.

    With shaky movements Mrazivy picked herself up and headed to the bathroom where she started a shower.

    After a few minutes Marcus joined her and the two of them helped each other to get clean.

    "Ah, I feel refreshed." Mrazivy said once she had gotten out of the shower.

    Despite her earlier exhaustion and the fact that she had not gotten any sleep she still bounced back easily enough thanks to her high stats.

    Now that the two of them were clean they put on their sturdy clothes that they wore when fighting as well as their armor.

    "Okay I have adjusted the surface color so that they will just look like mithril."

    Activating a magic item he had made, Marcus caused their amethros armor to suddenly take on a light blue sheen like mithril.

    Under strict scrutiny anyone familiar with the metal would be able to tell the difference, but from even a close difference it would be impossible to tell.

    Thest thing that they wanted was for others to see the amethros armor they both had since it would be the same as them wearing national treasures.

    The metal was so rare that only those of the highest station were normally able to get any and Marcus had only gotten as much as he had mostly from the special dungeon.

    Still today they were going fishing and since they might pull up dangerous creatures, they were required to wear armor, or they would not be allow to participate.

    "I think we are ready. The ship will be providing all of the necessary gear we need for fishing." Marcus said.

    With that the two of them left their room and headed to the back of the deck where the fishing would take ce.

    When they arrived therge aby door that had previously been closed was opened and allowed them a view out onto the rest of the deck and to the ocean

    However, things were not exactly as they expected.

    Very rarely did guests participate in this activity so the area was as luxurious as most of the ship, but when they arrived, they found that it had been outfitted quite ornately for some reason.

    For a moment they wondered if this was for them but found quickly that there was another guest that hade for the first day of fishing.

    ''Oh! It is the guy that Mrazivy identified as over level fifty in the concert hall. I believe she said his name is Domovoi Clegane and he is level sixty-seven.''

    Seeing that there was another group here for fishing both Marcus and Mrazivy were quite caught off guard.

    They had figured it would just be them, a couple members of the crew, and the adventures that were currently posted in the area.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Yet before them was an entire entourage of eight people including Domovoi Glegane.

    For a few moments the two groups just looked at each other before one of the crew members helping Domovoi''s party approached Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Hey Dustin. It seems that someone else has shown up to fish as well." Marcus said to their first day guide.

    "Yes, Lord Clegane showed up this morning after hearing from one of the adventurer guards that that we had the gear and facilities for fishing. I know that the two of you were looking forward to fishing today, but would you minding back another time. Lord Clegane is a high ranking noble and general and has requested ess to the fishing tform."

    Naturally both Marcus and Mrazivy understood why Dustin wanted them to leave. Their presence could cause friction with a high-ranking lord, and it was best to simply avoid such a situation.

    Still, neither of them really wanted to leave after being as excited as they were. Especially Marcus who really wanted to fish.

    For Mrazivy this was going to be her first-time fishing, but Marcus already enjoyed the activity and knew what he was going to be missing out on.

    "Very well. We wille tomorrow if that is fine. And please inform us if Lord Clegane will be here so that we do not make the same mistake." Mrazivy said with a disappointed expression.

    The two of them then made to leave but were stopped by an unexpected source.

    "Oh, are you two not going to be joining me for fishing this morning? I thought for sure that I might be having some interestingpany." Domovoi said, approaching them.

    Despite the distressed looks his entourage was giving him he walked right up to Marcus and Mrazivy with a friendly smile on his face.

    It was quite the surprise to see him approach them, but they quickly caught themselves, and since they were acting asmoners began to bow.

    "No need for that. It does not sit right with me to have those stronger than me bow." Domovoi said with the wave of his hand.

    With but a single nce he had understood that Marcus and Mrazivy were stronger than him.

    "My lord!" One of Domovoi''s men said shock.

    After telling Marcus and Mrazivy not to bow he held out his hand and was offering to shake their hands as equals.

    Understanding that refusing would be rude, Marcus and Mrazivy shook his hand in turn.

    ''He is fairly strong. I would say his strength stat is close to ric''s. But I suppose it is not fair topare him to someone that has maxed out stats, even if they are focused on magic.'' Marcus thought as the shook hands.

    While they did, Domovoi squeezed down with all his might, but neither Marcus nor Mrazivy faltered.

    Though had they just been average citizens they would have found their hands crushed.

    "You two really are strong. You did not even flinch under my full power. Pleasee and join me. You are here for the rare chance at fishing this far into the ocean as well, yes? Do not let my presence deter you."

 Chapter 796 796 Fishing Time (2)

    After being surprised to find another individual preparing for the usually vacant fishing area, both Marcus and Mrazivy were left momentarily stunned and disappointed when they were asked to leave by Dustin.

    Yet the man who had taken over the tform had extended an invitation for him to join him.

    "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Domovoi Clegane. Count and General of the Vazanoa Kingdom."

    "Marcus, gold rank adventurer."

    "Mraz, also a gold rank adventurer."

    Once they had finished their introductions Domovoi went wide eyed when they both said they were gold rank adventurers.

    "You are both only gold rank! I thought for sure that you must be either high ranking members of some army or adamantine adventurers. What is the guild thinking having the two of you only being at gold rank."

    Naturally he could not contain his shock since Marcus and Mrazivy were stronger than him and should have been far higher ranked than gold.

    "So, you two are not even nobles or particrly high-ranking adventurers. How dare you treat Lord Clegane as if he were your equal!" The member of Domovoi''s entourage who had made the earlier outburst said.

    It was clear that he was not happy about his lord being taken lightly and treated without the proper respect.

    "Be quiet Gunther! I respect strength more than status and these two are among some of the finest warriors I have ever seen. They far outss me, and it is you who are being rude to them." Domovoi said, shutting down his uppity subordinate.

    After being reprimanded, Gunther took a step back and lowered his head. A grimace on his face.

    Thankfully that was all it took to stop any discord between Domovoi''s entourage and none of the others spoke out against Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "I am sorry about that. Some think too highly of their status. Now please,e and join me. I am sure that more chairs can be arranged for both of you. I truly wish to speak with such powerful individuals such as yourselves."

    With that the Domovoi led them closer to the edge of the deck where arge chair had been set up for him and one of the ship''s fishing poles was prepared.

    Swiftly the crew members that had been here to attend to Domovoi got to work on setting up a ce for Marcus and Mrazivy and the adventurers who were on guard duty gave them curios nces.

    For some of them this was their first time seeing them, but a Zaragar and one of his men who were present began filling them in.

    "Here you are." The crew members said, presenting both Marcus and Mrazivy with a fishing pole.

    Each one required two crew members to carry since they were incredibly heavy from all reinforcements on them.

    At the end was a shy lure that was made of mithril and enchanted to attract fish.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Immersive pieces of equipment are they not? I have never seen a fishing pole of quite this quality and was thinking of having something simrmissioned for myself when I return home." Domovoi said with a heartyugh.

    He certainly seemed to be enjoying himself and made sure to chat with Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Though while he was Marcus connected to his wife with telepathy and asked her what she knew about this guy.

    ''Do you know about the Vazanoa Kingdom, and have you heard of this guy before?''

    ''I have never heard of him, but I do know about the Vazanoa kingdom. It is located closer tot eh southern end of the continent with several nations in between it and Borealia. It is midsized and does have a rtionship with the adventurers guild. Other than that, I know pretty much nothing about it other than that we do some trade with them and the name of their king. As for this guy, I have never heard of him.'' Mrazivy said, telling Marcus what she knew.

    Naturally she had a hard enough time remembering the names of the nobles in her own kingdom and did not go out of her way to memorize the names of people she would likely never meet from faraway kingdoms.

    Once they had finished a few pleasantries with Domovoi, all three of them finally began fishing, and cast their lines out into the ocean.

    "Now slowly real it in and flick it around every now and then to make it seem the lure is a fish in distress." Marcus said giving Mrazivy some basic instructions.

    Nodding her head, she did just that and looked intently down at the water. Using her enhanced sight to actually stare down at lure despite how deep it was.

    For a bit the area was mostly silent except for the sound of the fishing rods being cast and reeling in. Until one of them finally got a bite.

    "Finally, I got one!" Mrazivy said loudly with tion.

    She had seen that arge fish was interested in er lure and had done her all to make it look as appetizing as possible.

    As soon as the fish had swallowed her lure it began swimming back down to the depths and the reel began to spin rapidly as the line was taken.

    Tightening her grip, Mrazivy stopped the fish in its tracks, and it jerked violently from underwater.

    In fact, its stop was so rapid that any normal lure would have been ripped out of its mouth, but the enchanted one on the end of Mrazivy''s fishing pole was locked in and not going anywhere so long as the fish''s head was attached.

    With overwhelming power Mrazivy reeled the fish in which was unable to fight back against her no matter how much it thrashed about.

    ''Wow if she did that with a pole back on earth the line certainly would have snapped.'' Marcus thought, seeing her drag the fish in.

    Soon she had pulled it clean out of the water and the twelve-foot-long barracuda she had pulled out iled around and smashed into the side of the ship. Struggling in vain with all its might.

 Chapter 797 797 Hooking A Big One

    With heavily thus therge barracuda that Mrazivy has reeled up mmed against the hull of the Ascension.

    It was trying its darndest to get loose or at least cause damage to its surroundings, but to no avail.

    A normal wooden ship without any magical enchantments probably would have taken quite a bit of damage from its thrashing about, but the mithril hull of the Ascension did not even budge.

    Soon enough Mrazivy had lifted the thing up onto the deck where it continued to il around rapidly for a moment, until she put one foot on it and stopped all of its resistance with her overwhelming strength. It was only level ten after all.

    "So, what do we do with it now? Is this something that we can eat, or do I just toss it back in?" Mrazivy asked, not certain what to do."

    Luckily Zaragar, who spent most of his time on ships and in port cities and had an expert level knowledge on fish and informed Mrazivy about what she had just caught.

    "What you have there is a fairlymon fish in these parts called a jumbo barracuda. They are rather tasty and can be used in a number of dishes. I am sure that the crew would be more than happy to prepare it for you."

    "Sure, that sounds good. Is there any sort of fee for the service?"

    "No there is no fee you need to pay. The crew will simply take a portion of the fish as payment. Oh, but I assure you that there will be plenty for you and whoever you might wish to share some with. It is arge fish, and I am sure that just you and Marcus would be unable to eat it all." Zaragar exined.

    Of course, Mrazivy as a dragonoid actually could probably eat the entire fish by herself, and Marcus seemed to have an infinite void of a stomach. But neither of them was going to mention that.

    After Zaragar had exined that he helped the crew carry therge fish to the preparation station that was not far away.

    Yet before they left, Marcus stopped them and gave them an extra instruction.

    "If you would not mind, I would appreciate it if you could save around a dozen pounds of the meat for me. I have a freezing magic tool in my item box and want to try cooking with this fish myselfter." Marcus said.

    This caught both the crew and Zaragar off guard and they went wide eyed in surprise.

    Freezing magic tools were expensive and bulky, and those with item boxes would not normally waste space on such a thing.

    However, Marcus'' item box gave him the equivalent extradimensional storage space of a small warehouse. He had plenty of room for things that most would consider excessive.

    "Very well. That should not be a problem." Dustin who was standing nearby as the crew''s representative said.

    With that the fish Mrazivy had brought in was taken away and several people began prepare it.

    "It seems that the two of you are full of surprises." Domovoi said once things had calmed down.

    He had been observing them since they arrived and was certainly interested in them.

    Just hearing that Marcus had a freezing magic tool and an item box was enough for him to deduce that they were far from normal adventures.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    In response, Marcus and Mrazivy simply smiled and denied that they were all that special and continued fishing.

    Time went by fairly quickly for them and throughout the day they each pulled in a few more catches.

    "It seems that I am the winning now." Domovoi, who at some point had decided to join in on Marcus'' and Mrazivypetition said as he pulled out histest catch.

    On the end of his line was a double headed yellow eel that was over thirty feet long.

    At first the creature had caused quite the panic since it was a level thirty-two monster, but the adventures acting as guards quickly went into action and disabled the eel.

    Now it was sitting on the deck dead and unable to cause any more trouble.

    "We are certainly going to be eating well tonight." One of the crew members whispered to another.

    So far, between Marcus, Mrazivy, and Domovoi, they had brought in ten beasts and monsters. All of which had been fairlyrge and were edible.

    ''Damn, I am really far behind.'' Marcus thought as he watched the two headed eel get dragged away.

    He had caught the fewest number of creatures at only two.

    Along with that his had been the smallest, with hisrgest catch being a type of grouper that was only around six feet long.

    Certainly a big fish by Earth standards, but rtively average on Mirrion were creatures could grow to stupidly big sizes.

    Yet as the day was winding down and Marcus thought he was going to be inst ce, they passed over a certain area where arge crevice on the ocean floor had formed and a certain creature lived.

    It noticed the shining lure and being caught by the magical enchantment on it was feelingpelled to take a strike at it.

    As soon as it swallowed the lure, which was actually very small inparison to its body, it realized it had not gotten any food, but instead a number of sharp hooks that hadtched into its mouth.

    "Whoa! What the hell!?" Marcus said as he suddenly felt a powerful jerk on the end of his line.

    He had not been paying especially close attention and did not notice that he must have hooked some sort of behemoth until the line began being dragged away fast enough to create sparks and smoke.

    Thankfully the adamantine line was quite strong and had not broken, but there was a chance that it would if Marcus did not do anything.

    Sending in an immense amount of mana he reinforced the line and rod, and braced himself to bring in whatever he had just hooked.

 Chapter 798 798 This Is Not Really Fishing Anymore

    "Gah, this thing is strong!" Marcus said, feeling the full weight of whatever creature he had on the end of his line.

    He was no longer sittingfortably in his chair and instead had his right leg braced against the railing that kept people from going overboard.

    With his arms braced and the drag on his reel at its highest setting he had just managed to stop whatever had swallowed his lure.

    It was currently deep down and out of view, but he knew whatever it was that it had to be ginormous.

    "Whoa!"

    Being pulled forward, Marcus suddenly felt a powerful yank on the other side of the line.

    The force was quite abrupt and did not feel quite like the creature just shaking its head. More like it had grabbed ahold of the line with hands or something.

    Then he felt the same thing again and more of the line was pulled out despite the drag being as tight as it could be.

    cing his hand back on the reel, Marcus made sure that the next pull was unable to take any more line and he slowly began reeling his catch in.

    Yet he was about to run into another problem as he heard the railing creak.

    It was made of mithril and had enchantments on it to make it tougher, but the focre it was currently bearing was too much for it.

    "That is not good." Marcus said as the railing was about to be ripped from the ship.

    Before that happened though he removed his foot and instead created a mana barrier for to anchor himself to.

    This proved to be quite effective, and Marcus no longer had to worry about the ship taking the weight of whatever he had caught.

    Unfortunately, this meant that the next weakest link was going to give, and that was the adamantine line.

    As strong as it was, the creature on the other end was powerful and heavy. Even as study as adamantine was, it was only as thick as a wire and was not meant to take this much pressure.

    However, Marcus was not going to give up easily and poured in as much mana as the rod and line could take to reinforce them.

    "Sir. I believe that it would be best if we released the line. Whatever you have on the other end could be a danger to the ship." Dustin said, noticing the struggle Marcus was having and the fact that the ship''s railing was already damaged.

    Certainly, it would be quite the expensive loss to let the line go, but it was far preferable to the ship being attacked by something that could put the guests in danger.

    Sadly, by the time Dustin made this suggestion, it was already toote.

    The creature that Marcus had hooked realized that it was not able to get free with ease, and instead began swimming up to the surface in order to deal with the problem at its source.

    This was when Marcus finally caught sight of what it was that he had on the other end, and he pursed his lips together and made an almost guilty expression.

    "It looks like it is toote to let it go. My catch ising up to us." Marcus said.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Immediately after that the sonar enchantment on the ship detected the iing creature and rms began ring.

    Anything over a certain size triggered the automatic safety protocols onboard and the Ascension quickly prepared for battle.

    The crew visibly looked panicked hearing this, and the adventures as well as Domovoi got ready for what wasing.

    Mana cannons that were normally hidden began whirling out all over the ship, and what normally looked like a luxury cruise liner suddenly had the appearance of a floating fortress.

    A momentter some loud explosion could be hearding from underwater as the turrets that sat at the bottom of the ship opened fire.

    Except, they did not deter the creature from counting its approach.

    With arge ssh that sent up a small tidal wave, the entity that Marcus had hooked half surfaced and red down at those that were on the fishing tform.

    ''That is certainly one big lobster.'' Marcus thought, seeing the creature up close.

    It was easily over a hundred twenty feet tall and looked like a creature that might appear in a monster movie.

    ''Oh, it is called titan lobster.'' Marcus thought as he appraised the beast.

    It was truly one of thergest creatures he had ever seen. Though would still look like a dotpared tot eh Doomsday Worm that was several miles long.

    "Marcus, you want me to deal with it?" Mrazivy said nonchntly.

    While everyone else was panicking or at the very least tense, the two of them were fairly calm.

    Marcus of course felt bad for bringing such a creature up to the ship, but he was not feeling threatened in any way.

    "No, I will take care of it. Though this is not really fishing anymore." Marcus said as he handed his fishing rod to Mrazivy.

    Multiple shes of light then flew off of the ship and sted into the titan lobster. The mana cannons all around the ship had opened fired and the adventurers on the top deck had cast some spells.

    It was an immersive attack to be sure, but not enough to bring down the creature that hade from out of the depths.

    The titan lobster had armor ting that was especially resistant to magic and mana-based attacks and would not be seriously injured by the ship''s defenses easily.

    There was also the fact that it was level sixty-three. A true horror that would be able to sink most vessels without them being able to put up a fight.

    Pulling its left w back the massive lobster was about to m into the side of the ship and begin its attack.

    But right before it swung, undeterred by the attacksing at it. Marcus jumped off the fishing tform andnded a flying kick right to its chest. Sending it reeling backwards.

 Chapter 799 799 A Rare Ingredient

    After hitting the titan lobster with a flying kick Marcus stood in the air in between it and the Ascension.

    He was the one that had brought this powerful beast up from the ocean floor even if it was unintentional and felt that it was his duty to deal with it.

    Though that was not his real reason for jumping into battle it.

    He was confident that the ship''s defenses could handle this beast thanks to all of the powerful adventurers onboard, but if he did nothing, his catch would either be blown to pieces or more likely driven away.

    ''I bet it will taste good with a lemon butter sauce.'' Marcus thought as he looked up and down the massive crustacean.

    One of his main goals of participating in fishing was to bring in rare and delicious ingredients, and there was no doubt that this titian lobster fit the bill.

    There was no way he was going to let it get away, which was the main reason he had jumped out to fight it.

    Certainly, what he was doing now pretty much defeated the sport of fishing, but it was notmon for a lobster toe up on a fishing line anyway. So, he was making an exception.

    "Now how do I go about killing it without causing too much damage to its meat. Also, it is a bit too big to bring onto the ship whole. I will probably need to make a few cuts beforehand and store it into my item box in pieces." Marcus mumbled to himself, as he nned how to prepare the lobster as an ingredient rather than seeing it as a threat.

    However, as he was lost in thought, his danger sense went off from behind him, and with a nce he noticed that the ship''s mana cannons, and the adventurers onboard had released another volley.

    Unlike Marcus who was taking this encounter fairly leisurely, for the ship and those meant to protect it, this titan lobster was a threat of the highest order and needed to be driven away or killed with extreme prejudice.

    "I know that they can see me here, but they are still firing such wide scale attacks."

    Without making any motion Marcus created arge sturdy mana barrier behind him to absorb the attacksing toward him and the titan lobster.

    He did not want to be knocked around or have his prey damaged in any way.

    ''Oops. That might have been a bit too showy.'' Marcus thought, seeing all the stunned faces on the deck of the ascension.

    He had just blocked over eight dozen mana cannon sts along with a barrage of tier four and five spells. No normal person could do that. Especially since his barrier epassed such arge area and was barely damaged.

    Marcus for his part had gotten a little absorbed in how delicious the titan lobster looked and had forgotten to hold himself back a bit.

    "Ah whatever. We are here in disguise anyway. If I stand out a bit, it should not really matter much." Marcus said to convince himself.

    It was at this point that titan lobster made its own attacks andunched two high-pressured water cannons out of its ws.

    Nevertheless, while these attacks might have been pretty impressive, they were not going to cause Marcus any damage even if he took a direct hit.

    Still, he properly blocked the attack to make sure that it did not cause any damage to the ship.

    "Whoa! You are faster than yourrge size would suggest." Marcus said as he dodged a series of attacks.

    The titan lobster had more than just itsrge ws to fight with. The antenna on its head were actually able to move on their own and strike out like spears.

    They were quite precise and each one packed a decent amount of power.

    "Well, I think that is enough analyzing its moves. It pretty much just fights simply and uses itsrge size and immense strength to crush its opponents." Marcus observed.

    From all the fighting in the special dungeon he was used to opponents that had tons of tricks up their sleeves and did not always fight in conventional ways.

    But this titan lobster was very straightforward and justunched powerful attack after powerful attack.

    "I suppose that this will be the best way to finish it off and dismantle it."

    Once he had figured out the best way to end the battle without causing too much damage, Marcus held up his right hand and cast a spell.

    "Cataclysmic Iron Sword."

    Casting one of his tier six iron magic spells Marcus created a sword of iron evenrger than the titan lobster.

    It was over three hundred feet long and a truly imposing weapon that brought devastation with every swing.

    Yet its size was a bit toorge currently to cleanly kill the titan lobster, and it soon was shrunk down to only around a tenth of its size.

    ''Around thirty feet long ought to do well.'' Marcus thought, satisfied with the size adjustment.

    The titan lobster for its part now had its instincts screaming at it to flee.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    It was high level and had good defenses, but it could tell now that it had no chance against Marcus.

    Even if it was not an intelligent beast, it could figure out when it was horribly outmatched.

    Except when it tried to dive back into the ocean it was unable to get far.

    The moment it turned around to flee Marcusunched his spell and pierced right through the titan lobster''s head.

    Its tough armor was unable to slow down the dense iron sword that weighed several hundred tons and was moving at an incredible speed.

    "Wow, it is still alive after that! I suppose that lobsters do not have brains, so even a sword to the head might not kill it immediately."

    Still, the attack had done a great deal of damage and the lobster was heavily injured by that one attack.

    "Iron threads."

    With his prey''s struggle diminished now that it had a hole in its head, Marcus was able to wrap it up easily enough and lifted its entire body out of the water.

    He then removed his cataclysmic iron sword from the titan lobster''s head and blood began pouring out over its body.

    "Let''s get this done quickly."

    Exerting his phantom pressure Marcus crushed the titan lobster''s weakened soul and killed it instantly.

    What he was about to do next would have been especially painful if it was still alive and he had no intention of putting it through any unnecessary cruelty.

    Taking his cataclysmic iron sword, he sliced the lobster up into pieces. Starting with its ws, followed by the rest of its legs, and finishing off with its tail.

    ''I know it is customary to boil the lobster whole, but I am certain I am not going to find a potrge enough for it.'' Marcus thought once the dismantling was finished.

    A satisfied smile on his face he stored away the pieces he had cut off that were filled with meat and let the rest of the lobster''s body sink into the ocean.

    He was sure that the other creatures living in the area would make a meal out of it and it would just be a waste of space in his item box.

    After that he flew back to the ship which had been moving away at top speed while he did battle with the titan lobster. Prioritizing the safety of everyone onboard over getting involved in the battle.

    When hended back on the fishing tform everyone was looking at him withpletely overwhelmed expressions.

    Naturally the feats he had just demonstrated were far beyond the norm and were at the level of what only the strongest warriors of a kingdom would be able to aplish.

    The only one who was not stupefied by Marcus'' performance was Mrazivy. Who instead looked exacerbated.

    "Don''t you think that was a little over the top. We were supposed to not be attracting that much attention to ourselves." She said to Marcus who had a proud expression on his face.

    Only now did he realize that he might have caused a bit of a bigger scene than intended.

    ''Well, it is the lobster''s fault for looking so delicious.'' Marcus thought, remembering how he had gotten lost in thought about how to cut it up andter prepare it.

    "You two really are not normal adventurers. To think that you could stand before such a monstrous creature and easily defeat it. Treating it not as the cmity most would, but as nothing more than an ingredient. Truly spectacr. Even I would not have been able to so casually defeat such an entity. It is clear now that I simply must invite you both to join my kingdom. You two are far too exceptional to simply to stay as just adventurers. Come back with me to the Vazanoa Kingdom, and I can promise you will receive positions worthy of your power."

    Not long after Marcus returned Domovoi came up to the two of them with this offer, an intense fervor in his eyes.

    It was clear that he had been interested in them from the moment they met, but after seeing Marcus''s disy of power, he could not help but try to recruit them.

    "Sorry, we like the freedom thates with being adventurers. We have no intention of being locked down by any kingdom." Mrazivy said, lying as easily as she breaths.

    The two of them were in fact high-ranking figures in Borealia. But they were not going to blow their cover here.

    "I see. That is a shame." Domovoi said, epting their refusal quite easily.

    There was nothing he could do to force them to join his nation, and making a big deal of the issue and getting angry would not help him in any regard.

    "What the hell is going on here?! Would someone exin what just happened!"

    Within just a couple minutes of his return the ship''s captain came running down looking for an exnation. And it was clear from his expression that he was boiling mad

 Chapter 800 800 Appeasing The Captain

    ''Maybe I should have just fired aser spell and cut the titian lobster in half the moment I saw it.'' Marcus thought, seeing how angry the captain was.

    Naturally it was pretty clear why he was so upset.

    A very dangerous high level rare grade magic beast had just surfaced and attacked the ship under hismand.

    It was not only disruptive but very dangerous.

    Every guest had to be evacuated to the designated shelter areas onboard and it would make plenty of high-ranking individuals quite upset to have their day interrupted.

    The captain of course was going to have to deal with this and was looking for someone to me.

    ''Looks like that crew member just informed him that it was sort of my fault.''

    Seeing the captain turn his anger his way Marcus could easily guess that he had just found out the details of what had happened.

    "You! Why did you bring something like that up to the surface? You should have released the line!"

    Walking up to Marcus and practically shouting at him in anger, the captain had lost most of his sensibility.

    In terms of threat the titan lobster was likely the second most dangerous creature that he had ever had to deal with during his time asmanding officer of the Ascension.

    "By the time I was told to release the line it was alreadying up to the surface. I did make sure to deal with it though and it never even touched the ship." Marcus said in his defense.

    He had no intention of allowing the captain to push the me on him when something like this could have happened even without hooking it acting as a catalyst.

    "So, it was you who beat that thing. Why would you protect it from our attacks? You put up a massive barrier that kept our volleys from hitting it." The captain said usatorially.

    "Well, it dide up on my line. It was my catch and since I could not bring it onboard in one piece I went out and prepared it." Marcus said, giving his reasoning.

    However, this just made the captain furious, and it was clear that he wanted to throw Marcus overboard as he was one-sidedly attributing the incident to him.

    "Captain Desmond, I think you are being too harsh to one of your guests. Had I been the one to bring in such a beast would you be directing this much anger at me?"

    Stepping in and helping Marcus out was Domovoi.

    He had also been fishing alongside Marcus and Mrazivy and just as easily could have brought up the titan lobster.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "No I would never think to-"

    Being confronted by Domovoi, Captain Desmond became flustered and could not get his words out.

    Certainly, he was considered the highest authority onboard the Ascension, but that was not exactly true.

    A high ranking noble and general like Domovoi could have him demoted or even lose his position on the Ascension entirely if he made a big enough fuss.

    "It was just an unlucky encounter. Only those here know that the beast was brought up by being caught on a line, so you need only announce that the attack was random chance. Which happens from time to time no matter how careful one is on the open ocean. And to smooth things over, I am sure that Marcus would be willing to provide arge portion of the titan lobster which you could serve to all of the guests for free as a means to calm them down." Domovoi said, showing his experience as a leader.

    "Sure, I do not mind. I am sure that between the ws, legs, and tail there is more than enough meat to give everyone onboard a generous portion." Marcus said.

    A beast like the titan lobster naturally had several tons of edible meat, and Marcus figured that the pieces of its shell could also be used to make a delicious stock.

    "I see you are right. It was just an unfortunate ident. A creature like that is not even supposed to be in these waters. It must have recently migrated, and we just got unlucky to run into it." The captain said after calming down.

    He then apologized to Marcus for losing his cool and asked that he share the meat he had taken off of the titan lobster.

    With that settled he left to give an announcement to the entire ship, while mumbling things like, "If I spin this right, I can use it to boost the Ascensions prestige. Even the strongest beasts are easily repulsed by our defenses. Yeah that sounds good."

    "Thanks for your help with that." Marcus said to Domovoi.

    He was actually pretty grateful since the captain seemed intensely heated and was unlikely to listen to reason from him.

    "Don''t mention it. We may not know each other well, but I have grown to like you. You may have rebuffed my invitation to join my kingdom, but that does not mean I should not be friendly. And if you want to make it up to me, you can at leaste and visit my kingdom at ater time. I will make sure to wee you and your wife with open arms. No strings attached."

    After receiving Domovoi''s second pitch, Marcus looked towards Mrazivy for her opinion on the matter.

    ''Go ahead and agree. There was a good chance we would go there eventually on our tour around the world and having a high-ranking individual to amodate and show us around could not hurt. He does not seem the type to do anything underhanded.'' Mrazivy said to Marcus with telepathy.

    "Very well, it sounds like a n. We will stop by sometime. Though how would we get in contact with you?"

    "Oh, you can just send a message through the adventurers guild. That will probably be easiest for the both of us." Domovoi said with an ecstatic expression.

    Things soon began to settle down, and after the captain made his announcement, Marcus went over to the preparation station not far from the fishing tform and unloaded all of the pieces of the titan lobster for the crew to begin disassembling.

 Chapter 801 801 Seafood Feast

    Once Marcus had emptied the titan lobster parts out of his time box, much to the astonishment of everyone present. It became clear that there was another problem.

    The titan lobster''s shell was difficult for the crew to cut through, and even with the assistance of some of the high-ranking adventurers progress was slow.

    "Mraz, I think we should probably help out. The meat will spoil at this rate before they get through everything." Marcus said, unable to sit by and watch any longer.

    "I suppose that will be for the best. Did you want me to use ice magic to cool things down as well?"

    "No leave it to me. I have already attracted plenty of attention a little more will not hurt."

    Moving over to the person in charge Marcus and Mrazivy offered their help.

    At first the crew members tried to refuse since they were guests but eventually gave in after looking at the state of things.

    "Do you need a knife a well?" Marcus asked Mrazivy.

    He had made an adamantine knife for himself that he used to butcher tough beasts and to cook with.

    It would certainly be considered excessive by most, but he had extra adamantine now and figured that he could use it for things like this.

    "No, I have my own de that I can use." Mrazivy said, opening up her item box.

    For a moment Marcus thought that she was going to take out her amethros saber and cause another uproar, but she had the sense not to do so and just took out her old adamantine weapon.

    Naturally it garnered a bit of attention itself, but some of the other high-level adventurers onboard had their own adamantine weapons, so it did not have even close to the impact that her amethros saber would have.

    After that the two of them got to work, and for the first time in a while Marcus used his chill zone ability.

    With it he lowered the temperature in the room to the low forties and was able to help preserve the quality of the lobster meat. Albeit, at the cost of causing everyone else to have to deal with the cold.

    "They really are something."

    "How can they cut through such a touch shell with ease?"

    "Wow, it is almost like a performance!"

    Comments like these were circting around the room as people watched Marcus and Mrazivy expertly dismantle the pieces of the titan lobsters.

    Using his knife Marcus broke into its touch w that had been difficult to even scratch for anyone else and created a deep straight cut on it.

    Then with his immense strength he peeled it back and allowed the crew to get at the meat sealed within.

    Mrazivy at the same time was using her sword to slice off the armored shell around the tail one piece at a time. Until it waspletely exposed and all that remained was the soft pink flesh.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    In only around forty minutes the two of them had broken down around eighty percent of the lobster while the rest of the crew and assisting adventurers did the remaining twenty percent.

    "Hehehe. We are going to make the most extravagant meal this ship has ever seen." Marcus said looking at all of the prepared lobster meat.

    With just a single look he could tell that it was going to taste good and could not wait to try some.

    Of course, he was not content to let the ship have it all and took a portion of the meat to cook for himself and Mrazivy.

    Unlike the fish, he knew that freezing it would seriously ruin the taste and that it needed to be cooked not long after being prepared.

    A huge mobilization of the crew then came to collect the lobster meat and bring it to the kitchen.

    Therge meal to help ease all of the guests'' nerves was already underway and the numerous chefs were ready to begin making the main course.

    "I suppose we should join in. But first let me prepare our own main course." Marcus said to Mrazivy.

    The two of them in the reveal that was going on slipped away and using his own equipment and ingredients Marcus cooked up a portion of the lobster.

    "This really is delicious. It almost makes me want to go into the ocean and search more out so we can have some every day." Mrazivy said after the first bite.

    It was clear that she was enamored by the titan lobster meat that very few people had ever had the chance to try.

    "I think that might be difficult even for the two of us. They may be big, but the ocean is massive and expansive. We could spend months looking for another one and note across it. Anyway, there will be other enjoyable foods for us to try. No point getting caught up on one type." Marcus said as he cut off a piece of lobster and ate it.

    Once they had finished their first main course, they moved to arge hall on the ship where a banquet was being held.

    Along with the lobster that was the main course, there were other dishes made of tropical fruits, staple vegetables, and some of the other fish that Marcus, Mrazivy, and Domovoi had brought in.

    "You would think that the panic from earlier was all a delusion." Mrazivy said, pointing out the revelry that was currently going on.

    All of the guests seemed to have forgotten that the ship had been attacked by a dangerous beast just a few hours ago and were enthralled by the exquisite free food.

    The ship had really gone all out and what was being served was better than most ate on a regr basis.

    "Looks like the captain is also pleased." Marcus said, spotting the ship''s highest authority speaking to many of the esteemed guests.

    It seemed that he was really selling how impressive his ship was and that it could defend even against such powerful entities that most ships would be lucky to get away from.

    "As long as he is happy and leaves us alone, that is fine by me." Mrazivy said, not at all impressed by how he acted earlier.

    The two of them then carried on and enjoyed the banquet through the night. Putting an end to the second full day of their honeymoon.

 Chapter 802 802 (Spoiler, Title At The Bottom)

    After the incident with the titan lobster, Marcus and Mrazivy''s voyage on the Ascension was rtively peaceful.

    They spent their days enjoying the activities the ship had and conversing with a few aquatics they had made like Domovoi.

    Overall, it was a rxing time for them, and things were going rather uneventfully until one evening right at sunset, something unexpected happened.

    A soft but all-epassing melody enveloped the ship.

    It was a truly beautiful song, and at first Mrazivy and Marcus believed that it wasing from Recha, but when they felt that it was trying to put them under a status effect, they realized this was likely not the case.

    All around them the people that had been eating dinner alongside them began to fall into a daze.

    It was simr to the power that Recha had demonstrated when they first met her on the ship, but over a much grander scale.

    In fact, the only ones that seemed to have been able to resist the effect were Marcus and Mrazivy. Even Domovoi was struggling to keep conscious and eventually fell into a stupor like everyone else.

    ''What in the world is this?!'' Marcus thought as he quickly checked his status log.

    There he found something that immediately caused him to go wide eyed in shock and understanding.

    Written in his log was the message, ''You have resisted a Queen Siren''s song.''

    "Mraz, we have a problem. Everyone here is under the spell of a siren. To put this many people to sleep and even affect Domovoi, it must be pretty powerful. We are likely the only ones onboard other than Recha that are not in a daze." Marcus said with a grim expression on his face.

    However, while he expected Mrazivy to know what a siren was, she had never heard of them.

    "I will give you a quick exnation on our way to the deck. It said it was a queen, so we may be facing more than one. I do not know why they just stunned everyone since in the stories I have read people affected by the song threw themselves into the water. But it is likely not good either way."

    Swiftly they made their way to the top of the deck and Marcus exined the legends regarding sirens he had read back on Earth.

    He also tried to reach out to Recha with telepathy but was unable to get through.

    "It sounds like they were truly despicable creatures. But why do you think one or maybe more are attacking now? This ship takes the same route every year, but I have never even heard of sirens before, and it does not seem that they have any defenses against them."

    "This is just a hypothesis, but it is possible that no one has ever escaped to report them, or they are really rare. We may have just gotten unlucky to cross their path here. Or maybe they specifically target this ship for some reason. All I know is that we should be prepared for a tough battle. We are the only ones that can protect the ship now."

    A few moments after they wrapped up their conversation they burst onto the top deck and found that everyone there was simrly stunned.

    Luckily it did not seem that anyone was throwing themselves off the deck and no entities had crawled up the side of the ship.

    "Marcus, could you wake up some of the adventurers with your healing magic. You can cancel status effects, right?" Mrazivy suggested.

    Yet Marcus could only shake his head at this suggestion.

    "I could, but it would notst. The Queen Siren is still singing. Anyone I wake up will just be immediately put back under her spell. We are the only ones strong enough to resist it. My log is even telling me that every couple seconds the song is trying to put us under as well. If we did not have our resistances to such attacks, I imagine we would have already been affected." Marcus exined.

    Once they had finished surveying the top deck for enemies or passengers in danger, they ran to bow of the ship and looked out into the water to try and locate any enemies.

    Thankfully the sun was currently setting behind them and painted the surface of the water a bright orange and made the Queen Siren stand out.

    She was not doing anything to hide herself and had created a tform of floating water which she was sitting on.

    With one look Marcus felt a charm try to activate on him, but his still mind unique skillpletely blocked it.

    The same charm did not work on Mrazivy though and seemed geared only towards working on men.

    "Well, she is not using any illusions like you theorized. That is what she actually looks like." Mrazivy said.

    Her dragon eyes could see through any sort of illusions, and she was giving Marcus confirmation that Queen Siren was not what he expected.

    He had honestly been imagining the type that had vicious fangs and a warped face that only looked beautiful when someone was under her spell.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    However, the Queen Siren instead looked like a beautiful young girl in her early twenties.

    Of course, she did not look exactly human and had a tail just like Marcus would expect from a mermaid.

    Her skin was also tinged a slight blue and her hair was the same color as the scales on her tail, being an aquamarine green.

    The upper part of her body was also surprisingly covered by a shirt that seemed to not get wet even when covered in water.

    Overall, she did not look like a vicious monster that drowned the people of unsuspecting ships, and instead an innocent young woman.

    Nevertheless, appearances could be deceiving, and Marcus held up his arm and prepared tounch a salvo of spells.

    "Mraz, what is her status like? Do you think we can take her?" Marcus asked with a deadly serious glint in his eyes.

    Except after appraising the Queen Siren, Mrazivy put her hand on his raised arm and lowered it.

    Seeing this, Marcus assumed that Mrazivy thought that they could not win, but instead she began chuckling.

    "Are we truly that screwed?" Marcus asked, wondering if seeing the Queen Siren''s status had brought Mrazivy to despair.

    "No, it is not that. We just got worked up for no reason. She is not our enemy. I mean just look. She is smiling and waving right at us. Plus, she stopped her song the moment she saw us." Mrazivy pointed out.

    And as Marcus truly looked at the Queen Siren, he could see that she was giving them quite a friendly smile.

    Still, he did not think this was enough to allow Mrazivy to know that she was not their enemy.

    "What makes you so certain she is not dangerous?" Marcus asked, a bit confused.

    He trusted Mrazivy, but currently did not have enough information to simply believe that the entity that had put the rest of the ship into a stupor was not an enemy.

    "I cannot be one hundred percent sure, but I am pretty close to it. She is the surprise that Ja and Ardea told us to look out for. The Queen Siren over there, is the Grand Witch of the Deep."

    Hearing this, the tension left Marcus'' body almost immediately, and he let out a long sigh.

    He had thought they were under attack by a truly powerful enemy, but it was all just a misunderstanding.

    Then, once it was clear that they no longer had any hostility, the Grand Witch of the Deep flew over andnded directly onto the deck.

    Her lower half, which was a tail like a fish, began to transform, and when shended, she had two legs and her shirt had extend into a long flowing dress.

    "Hello. It is nice to meet the both of you. My name is Rosina, and as I am sure you already figured out, I am the Grand Witch of the Deep. Ja and Ardea have told me a lot about the two of you and I am excited to meet you both." Rosina said with a bright smile

    Marcus and Mrazivy then introduced themselves as well.

    "Was it really necessary to blindside us like this? We could haveunched an attack at you thinking you were hostile." Mrazivy eventually asked.

    "Oh, I was sure it would be fine. I was told that you would be the only two onboard that could resist my song, and that you woulde running to find out what was wrong. Ja also mentioned that one of you would be able to see my status and I figured you would check before you attacked me. Which you did." Rosina said with a mischievous grin, like she had just sessfully pulled a prank.

    "Fine we get that you made an impactful entrance, I will not deny that. But was that the surprise that Ja and Ardea told us about?" Marcus asked.

    "Hehehe. That was only the opening. I have prepared a very special show for both of you. I have only ever done this for the other Grand Witches, so consider yourself lucky."

    Rosina then raised her hands and looked out towards the ocean and prepared to do something else, when the third person that had managed to resist her song showed up.

    "Now this looks interesting. I was wondering what might be going on when I heard such an interesting song."

    Shocked that someone else was still awake, Rosina turned around and saw Recha standing behind her, with an amused expression on her face.

    Chapter 802 A Grand Surprise

 Chapter 803 803 The Grand Ocean Performance

    Turning around abruptly, Rosina had never expected that there was anyone else onboard that could resist her song.

    Yet the moment she saw who it was the tension in her visibly faded.

    "It has been a while. It is good to see you again Rosina." Recha said with the same amused smile stered on her face.

    "Recha, what are you doing here? I never expected to find the Great Spirit of Sound aboard a random ship." Rosina said, titling her head in confusion.

    "Oh, this is not my true form just a puppet I am remotely controlling I do on asion like to go out and give some performances across the world while learning new songs and checking around for musical instruments I have never seen before." Recha exined.

    "I see that you both know each other as well. Would you mind telling us how you met?" Mrazivy asked, curious about their connection.

    As the story went, Rosina had actually received a blessing when she found one of Recha''s hidden shrines.

    Back then she had not been the Grand Witch of the Deep, but even for a siren she had a great singing voice and had impressed Recha.

    "She gave me the blessing of song at the time, and it has helped me many times in the past. I am truly grateful to Recha." Rosina said, a twinkle in her eyes as she looked at Recha.

    It was clear that they had a sort of mentor mentee rtionship.

    "Since you are here Recha, would you mind helping me out. I normally do this on my own but if you simply boost my voice, I can make my show even better.

    "Sure, I do not mind. I do not have all that much power in this puppet, but I can do what I can to help. Oh, and what might you be doing though? I have only ever heard you sing, but it seems you have something bigger nned."

    Rosina then looked towards Marcus and Mrazivy and gave them a bright smile.

    "A couple of my fellow grand witches asked me to put on a performance for their friends that recently got married. This is their wedding gift to the two of them."

    Nodding in understanding, Recha smiled towards Marcus and Mrazivy and said she would be happy to participate.

    "Now sit back and enjoy. You are about to witness something that is beyond amazing." Rosina said as she held out her arms.

    She then began singing once again but her song this time was different than the one she used to put everyone else on the ship into a daze.

    Slowly she got louder and louder, and with Recha amplifying her voice it spread out for dozens of miles across the ocean.

    Truly it was a beautiful song, and as she continued singing the ocean itself seemed to be dancing along with it.

    Except as they strained their eyes the movement of the ocean was being caused by a wave of different aquatic animals that were all approaching the ship.

    The magic rms onboard started to sound but were quickly silenced with a wave of Recha''s hand.

    "Okay, I have summoned our cast. It is time to begin the show that only the Grand Witch of the Deep can perform." Rosina said as she cracked her knuckles.

    Holding her hands out she managed to calm all of the beasts that had answered her call.

    Each and every one of them looked towards her expectantly, waiting for her to begin.

    With the wave of her right hand all of the creatures moved into groups and began taking positions around the ship.

    After that Rosina opened her mouth and began singing again.

    In response to her voice the beasts that were waiting began swimming around in formation, and all before them a performance like none other began.

    ''Wow she is like a fictional princess that can control animals with her singing.'' Marcus thought, enraptured by the show going on in front of him.

    He immediately thought of simr things he had seen on Earth, but honestly,paring them was not even close.

    On Mirrion there were many more types of creatures, and they had skills that allowed them to do tricks that could not even be attempted on Earth.

    Some of them could fly in the air, others manipted the water into different features and moved in synchronized patterns.

    A type of fish that could change the color of its scales like a chameleon created a light show in conjunction with a dolphin the release light from its mouth instead of echolocation.

    One by one the different species that had shown up to answer Rosina took center stage an showed off what they were capable of while the others performed in the backgrounds.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Ah, he came just like I asked. He does not always show up." Rosina said, as arge figure created a giant wave.

    As this creature approached a number of whales that were truly massive, bigger than anything that ever existed on Earth, formed up into a circle and began swimming around.

    Then the entry that had been approached at a terribly fast speed dove deeper underwater and disappeared for a moment

    An instantter they surfaced and showed off their entire form. Jumping through the ring of whales and causing a massive spray of water that created a vibrant rainbow in the light of the sunset.

    "A Dragon!" Mrazivy exined seeing and sensing the beast.

    Yes, the entity that had just appeared was a sea dragon with lustrous dark blue scales and a strong body.

    Instead of wings and ws they had flippered and arge horn like a narwhal extending out of their head.

    Yet even without wings it was able to fly through the sky, and using its water magic created a number of spinning balls around it which it shot off into the sky and exploded like fireworks.

    It was a truly dazzling disy by a powerful and majestic beast.

    "Wow, to think that she could even call in a dragon. That is a Grand Witch for you." Marcus said in awe.

    Never had they expected to see something like this, and it was an experience that they would certainly treasure for all of their lives.

    As the sun began to set, a new set of creatures that all had a form of bioluminescence filled in for the beasts that had just finished their performance.

    The sea dragon at that time jumped out of the water once again and began to shrink down.

    Soon he had taken humanoid form andnded on the deck of the ship next to Rosina.

    "I have shown up just as you asked. But I was not expecting there to be a dragonoid here." The sea dragons said, ncing towards Mrazivy.

    Naturally he could sense that she had a draconic presence and simrly had the ability to look through statuses.

    He then looked towards Marcus and Recha and went wide eyed in shock.

    He was able to see that Marcus and Recha were great spirits. Even if Recha was currently possessing a puppet.

    "Forgive my bted introduction. My name is Vimmarn, the ruler of this sea." He said bowing his head to Marcus and Recha.

    As a dragon he understood the position of the great spirits and made sure to be polite even though he was not used to acting subservient.

    "Yes, it is nice to meet you. I am the great Spirit of Sound Recha. Any friend of Rosina''s is a friend of mine. I am just here to enjoy the show as well, so no need to be so stiff." Recha said.

    Marcus simrly introduced himself, and along with Vimmarn they continued to watch the show.

    For several more hours Rosina continued to sing and the creatures of the ocean responded to her voice and danced, jumped, and used all manner of skills to put on a marvelous performance of epic portions.

    The longer it went on, the more profoundly grateful Marcus and Mrazivy were feeling.

    Their friends had set all of this up for them, and it was a sight that was truly spectacr.

    Eventually though, like all good things, the show had to corm to an end.

    By the time midnight had passed thest group of creatures left the vicinity of the ship and Rosina stopped her song.

    "Thank all of you for this. I will make sire to continue protecting the ocean and making sure it is a ce where all of you can live happily." Rosina called out to the creatures of the ocean.

    With that, the show was over, and she turned towards Recha, Marcus, and Mrazivy who were giving her a resounding apuse.

    "That was absolutely spectacr. There are no words that we can say to express our gratitude for showing us that." Mrazivy said with a broad grin she had been wearing for the majority of the show.

    "Well, I am d you enjoyed it. That was probably the best one I have ever put on thanks to Recha''s help. Now, my spell will keep everyone under until sunset tomorrow. Until then would you mind talking with me. I would like to get to know the two people that were able to so easily obtain Ja and Ardea''s favor.

 Chapter 804 804 Speaking With Rosina

    "I suppose we do not have anything better to do. Sure, we would be happy to talk with you for a bit." Mrazivy said in response to Rosina''s request.

    "Perfect. You two are certainly interesting, I would love to get to know your stories." Rosina said with an ecstatic smile on her face.

    She then turned to Vimmarn and asked him to make sure that the ship stayed on course.

    "I suppose I do not mind just this once. But you will have to procure some more of those Granvena Fruits for meter." Vimmarn sad before jumping back into the water.

    The currents around the ship began to shift almost immediately and no longer was the vessel at rest as it had been throughout Rosina''s performance.

    "That should keep this vessel on schedule now. When everyone wakes from the stupor I put them in, they should not realize immediately that they have lost an entire day, and I am sure by the time they do it will not stick very long in their minds" Rosina said, obviously having had some experience doing this before.

    After that the four of them headed to a scheduled area of the ship where there were not stupefied people simply standing or sitting around.

    "Now to start, how did the both of you meet Ardea and Ja? They only told me a little bit, but I want to hear the full story." Rosina said the moment they sat down.

    "Hm, I suppose I should start when I met Ardea the first time when she was fighting Retharin." Marcus said.

    Quickly he retold the story of how he first met the Grand Witch of the Peaks, and the ruler of the Verkoudhied Mountains.

    "That surely must have been something. I have never personally seen Ardea fight as fiercely as you just described. But I suppose that is to be expected of one of the current strongest grand witches." Rosina said with a sparkle in her eyes.

    Unlike Ja and Ardea she was a rtively new Grand Witch and quite a bit weaker than either Ardea or Ja at level eighty-one.

    Of course, she was not weak, just that Ja and Ardea were close to the top of the world in terms of power.

    It became clear that the more Marcus spoke about the grand witches that he had formed a rtionship with that Rosina really looked up to them.

    Apparently, they were great seniors that had helped her out when the title of Grand Witch of the Deep was thrust upon her.

    "So, you did not start out as the apprentice of thest Grand Witch of the Deep?" Marcus asked when he found out she had suddenly received the position.

    "Nope, the former apprentice to thest Grand Witch of the Deep was too weak to take up the title at the time of my predecessor''s death, and the other grand witches sought me out since I was the best candidate. I did take the former apprentice on as my own afterwards, so she manged to retain her position. That was around thirty years ago now though." Rosina said recalling the experience.

    Hearing this Marcus thought back to the conversation he had had with Ja and Ardea about the apprentice not always taking over.

    "I am sure that Lilia will probably be fine. Ja gave her assurances as well." Marcus mumbled.

    However, everyone had imcable hearing and easily picked up on what he had just said absentmindedly to himself.

    "Oh, who is this Lilia? And what rtionship does she have to Ja?" Rosina asked, naturally interested in the topic pertaining to another grand witch.

    "Did neither Ardea nor Ja tell you?" Mrazivy answered in surprise.

    She knew of Lilia being taken as an apprentice as well and was astonished that another grand witch did not know about it.

    "No, I have not heard anything about someone named Lilia." Rosina said shaking her head.

    Mrazivy then turned towards Marcus to make sure that he was fine sharing this information, since it had to do with his little sister.

    "I suppose that telling you is not a problem. Lilia is my little sister and Ardea''s new apprentice. You could say that is another reason we became friends."

    At this Rosina''s eyes went wide with shock.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Wait, Ardea who only ever thinks about fighting finally found an apprentice! I honestly never thought she would get around to it until she absolutely had to. Your little siter must be incredibly impressive to have won Ardea over. Please tell me the details of how it happened?" Rosina said beaming with delight.

    Going over how they first met, to Ardea''s recent evaluation and eptance of Lilia, Marcus told everything he knew to Rosina.

    "Still, I am surprised that you did not already know all this." Marcus said at the end.

    "Oh, that is because taking on a new apprentice is not something that is announced to the other Grand Witches until our gatherings every five years. The next one will be happening in around eighteen months, so I imagine that Ardea with introduce Lilia to all of us then. This is also done to give us time to properly evaluate a new apprentice. No point in introducing them to everyone else if they do not measure up." Rosina exined.

    Rosina then asked more questions about Lilia, wanting to learn about Ardea''s new apprentice.

    Naturally Marcus was more than happy to extol how amazing his little sister was and began raving about how impressive she was.

    "Well, if what you say is not an exaggeration, I cannot wait to meet her. In fact, I will promise to give her my support as well." Rosina said resolutely.

    After that they moved away from the topic and began talking about other things.

    "So you are from the other world, just as Ja. No wonder she took to you so easily. She has a soft spot for those that came from the same world as her. That also sort of exins how you can be a great spirit at such a low level. But how exactly did that happen?" Rosina asked.

    "I am not sure that I should be sharing that information casually. I trust you since youe with Ardea and Ja''s assurance, but my transformation to a great spirit is closely rted to the administrator." Marcus said.

    Hearing this Rosina''s smile broke, and it was clear that she was shocked and afraid.

    "Yes, there is no need for me to know about something like that. Instead allow me to tell you a bit more about myself." Rosina said, swiftly changing the subject.

    Time went by quickly as Marcus, Mrazivy, and Rosina continued talking, while Recha just sat back and listened.

    "So, there are several kingdoms of aquatic humanoids that live at the bottom of the ocean. That sounds really interesting. Do you think it would be possible for us to visit some of them?" Mrazivy asked after hearing about the civilizations that lived in the depths.

    Yet Rosina frowned, and thought a good bit about what to do.

    "If it is just the two of you and I act as your guide it should be fine. It is quite rare for visitors from the surface toe down all the way to bottom of the ocean, and in some ces, it ismon to try and kidnap those that live in the depths whenever they appear near the surface. Especially mermaids like myself." Rosina said with a dark shadow over her face.

    When she was younger and curious about the surface, she had gone up with some of her friends only for one of them to be captured by a fishing vessel they had approached in their naivete.

    "Once I had gotten stronger, I went back to find my friend and those that took her. Truly it was horrible. Some wealthy merchant had locked her up in a small aquarium and was showing her off like a trophy. And it was not just her. That vile woman had hundreds of people of different races chained up and stuffed in enclosures like some sort of zoo." Rosina said, lingering fury clear to see on her face.

    She then told them about how she had killed everyone in a fury and set free all of the ves, including her friend.

    "It took years to help her restore some semnce of normalcy butst I saw her she was fairly happy. Still, those from that live in the depths of the ocean do not often take kindly to those from the surface." Rosina warned.

    Nevertheless, Marcus and Mrazivy wanted to see all the world had and would be remiss to pass up the chance to see an underwater city or two.

    "Very well. I can take you to my home city of Nonalier. I am well respected there and if youe as my guests, you will not be mistreated." Rosina said, agreeing to take them to her home.

    Marcus and Mrazivy then began discussing when they might be able to go and made ns to meet up with Rosina again in the future.

    "Well, this has been enjoyable, and I really am d I got to meet the both of you. I can see now why Ja and Ardea were so quick to form close bonds. I look forward to meeting you both againter, but for now I have duties that I must attend to."

    With the sun close to setting and her spell on the entire ship soon toe to an end, Rosina gave her farewell to Marcus and Mrazivy, before jumping back into the ocean and disappear into the depths.

 Chapter 805 805 Arrival At The Resort

    After Rosina''s departure, it was not long before everyone that had been put into a daze by her song began to wake up.

    To try and hide the fact that everyone had lost an entire day Marcus and Mrazivy had taken up the same position they had been in before Rosina''s song.

    Luckily while a few people seemed mildly confused, they quickly shook off their bafflement and continued on with their lives.

    Many could tell that something was wrong, but it was not possible to pinpoint what, and their worries gradually faded from their minds.

    While the ship had moved out on the open ocean it was difficult to tell that fact and as the time of day was about the same the sky, which was clear as the day before, looked almost exactly the same. Save for the slightly different cement of the stars and the cycles of the moons.

    No one was able to immediately realize that they had lost a day of their lives and it would not be for some time until any of them realized that fact.

    "It appears that no one has figured out that they have lost an entire day." Mrazivy said once they returned to their cabin.

    "Yes, it seems so. No one was panicking and while there was a bit of confusion among the higher-level people, they could not pinpoint what is wrong and are shaking it of easily enough." Marcus said in response.

    They had done a quick sweep of the ship after everyone regained consciousness to gauge everyone''s responses, but no one seemed to understand exactly what had happened and believed it was still the same day.

    As far as they could tell everything was exactly the same as yesterday and they had no idea that an entire day had gone by. Even though the ship had moved and was maintaining its course.

    Nevertheless, the open ocean looked practically exactly the same and like the day before the sky was clear giving almost no indication that a day had passed.

    The only thing that had noticeably changed was the slightly different cement of the stars in the sky, and the phases of the moons.

    These were barely noticeable though and not a single person onboard spotted them.

    It would not be until they arrived at their destination that anyone would even realize that something was amiss. And there would be enough doubt for anyone that did realize that they might simply think they were just misremembering things.

    "Still, that was one terrifying power that Rosina has. She put everyone onboard to sleep with ease and made them lose an entire day and be known the wiser." Mrazivy said, shuddering slightly.

    "Yes, it was quite the show of power. But you could do something simr Mraz. With your ice magic you could sh freeze everyone onboard and then thaw themter." Marcus pointed out.

    Thinking about it Mrazivy realized that she could certainly do this. Though in that case everyone would likely remembering at least suddenly being frozen solid.

    "What about you? Your phantom pressure could put everyone to sleep in practically an instant as well" Mrazivy said, making sure to bring him into this.

    Nodding his head, Marcus acknowledged that he could easily force everyone onboard other than her and Recha to go unconscious with his phantom pressure. Though it would actually be easier to just kill them all then regte the power to only knock them unconscious.

    "I suppose that we are quite terrifying in our own rights." Marcus said, chuckling at the prospect.

    Going along with him Mrazivy beganughing as well.

    Once they had finished a long bath together, Marcus and Mrazivy settled into bed and decided to get some sleep.

    They may have had plenty of stamina still, but they were a bit worn out mentally from Rosina''s appearance and the performance she had put on.

    ˇ­

    Several days passed by after Rosina had left, and all of them were fairly uneventful.

    During that time Marcus and Mrazivy had simply enjoyed what the ship had to offer.

    There were plenty of events and activities to keep them entertained and while things were peaceful, they were never dull.

    But finally, it was thest day of their voyage, and a bit after noon, the sight of their destination came into view.

    Where they were heading was a famous resort location made up of a chain of four inds.

    They were all rtively small, with thergest only being the size of Molokai, which is the fifthrgest ind in the Hawaiian Archipgo.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Still, despite not being a particrlyrge nation it was still recognized as an independentnd by the adventurers guild and had a guild hall located on the main ind.

    There were apparently only a few thousand people that lived on the inds full-time, but all of them worked for the resort in some way or another. Whether they were part of the resort staff or hired adventurers.

    "They certainly do have some impressive structures and naturally formations." Mrazivy said as she enhanced her eyesight.

    Naturally they had read about the inds already but actually seeing them was still quite awe inspiring.

    These inds were practically the embodiment of nature''s beauty and offered many things that could not be done normally.

    One of which was that it had a number of beaches that werepletely safe.

    The waters around the ind were carefully monitored and arge wall was erected around it that kept out any creatures of a certain size.

    Many guards and adventurers also monitored the area for dangerous beasts and monsters and made sure the waters around the resort were safe to swim in, which was quite a rarity.

    In most ces it was pretty much impossible to swim as bodies of waters that were of any substantial size were often filled with dangerous creatures that would easily be able to kill the average persona and drag their bodies into the murky depths.

    "I cannot wait. I have not sum in the ocean since the day I died on Earth." Marcus said excitedly as he stared out at the white sand beaches and crystal-clear waters.

    He felt that in a way he was finally going to get to finish the vacation that ended abruptly when he met an untimely end on Earth.

    "I wonder if we might be able to find a shark to attack you while in the middle of a lightning storm?" Mrazivy said with a mischievous grin on her face.

    Marcus had long ago told her about hisst day on his former world, and she decided now was a good time to take a jab at him about it.

    "Sure, I would be fine with having the chance to be in that situation again. This time I think I can take the shark and lighting cannot hurt me anyway." Marcus said, imagining how it would go down now.

    He doubted that there were many sharks even in the oceans of Mirrion that were any threat to him as he was now. And natural lighting was not something for him to fear since he was a ghost now.

    The two of them continued to joke around with each other for a while until the ship arrived at the wall that protected the inds.

    It rose about twenty feet above the surface of the ocean and had a number of small hales in it that allowed for the water to still move in and out, but prevented any dangerous species of beast or monster froming in.

    The wall even apparently was even enchanted with the ability to detect if an entity higher than a certain level passed through and had it running at all times.

    Hearing about this had made Marcus wonder how much mana the ind must have been going through each day as this was an emergency enchantment that most cities had that they only activated when under siege since it was too costly to keep up all the time over such arge area.

    "I suppose with exorbitant prices they charge for the ride here and the stay they can afford to purchase enough magic cores to run everything." Mrazivy said as Marcus posed his question to her.

    Soon therge gate in the glistening white stone wall began to open up and the Ascension began making its way to dock where two other mithril ships that looked identical were docked.

    Each one of these ships travels up and down a different coastline each year and collected those that had made a reservation with the resort.

    Once the Ascension was docked, those of the highest status onboard prepared to disembark.

    "I suppose we have probably a couple hours until it is our turn. Want to explore the area around the wall for a bit." Mrazivy suggested.

    As they could fly there was no need for them to wait on the ship and do nothing, and instead, they could get an early start on their exploration of the area.

    "That sounds good, but we need to make sure to get back in time for our own departure. If we everyone thinks we suddenly went missing, we are going to cause all manner of problems." Marcus said in response.

    With that decision the two of them found a deserted area on the side of the ship facing the ocean and dropped down towards the water.

    "Okay the coast is clear. Let''s go." Marcus said once the guards he was watching were out of sight.

    Swiftly the two of them flew low to the water and began making their way towards the ocean wall. nning to explore the area for a bit before it was their formal time for them to disembark.

 Chapter 806 806 A Quick Dip In The Ocean

    Racing over the surface of the water, Marcus and Mrazivy sped towards the wall that surrounded the Chelmer Resort.

    If they had simply stayed on the ship, they would have just been sitting around doing nothing and had decided instead to get in some early exploration for a couple hours before it was their time to disembark.

    "Wow, the water here really is clear, and devoid of many dangerous creatures. I have not seen anything over level eight in these waters and everything seems mostly harmless." Mrazivy said, having been scanning the area as they flew.

    The water where they currently were was around two hundred feet deep, but crystal clear and easy enough for even a normal person to see the bottom. And with their enhanced vision the water did not even act as an obstruction at all.

    Along the way they had passed several small coral deposits which were home to all manner of small colorful fish and the most dangerous thing they had seen were some sea urchins that were grouped together. Yet so long as no one attempted to grab them or identally stepped on them they were no threat at all.

    It actually reminded Marcus a fair bit of the oceans on Earth which while having their own dangers were normally safe enough to swim in.

    However, while a fair few species of fish that Marcus saw were actually the same as from earth, he did spot plenty that he had never even heard of before.

    ''Wait, a decapus!?''

    Having spotted a well camouged creature Marcus apprised it and found that its species was called a decapus.

    It looked remarkably like an octopus but had ten limbs instead of eight.

    ''Wow it has a slew of race abilities, and even at only level six it might be a bit dangerous with its neuro toxin. If this thing was a higher level and after evolving a couple of times, it could be pretty deadly.'' Marcus thought, imagining one that was several hundred feet long and could drag ships down into the ocean depths with ease.

    Soon they had made it all the way to the impressive white stone wall that stretched around the inds that made up the resort.

    Along it at intervals of around three hundred meters were guard stations that were keeping a lookout for any dangerous creatures trying to break through.

    On asion powerful beasts or monsters had been known to try and bust down a section of the wall, but apparently even though the resort was over a century old it had never once been breached. Likely because any entity strong enough to do so was smart enough not to attack such a well protected ce.

    "Oh, looks like we have garnered some befuddled gazes." Mrazivy said, pointing up at the guards that had caught sight of them.

    Nevertheless, they were not really worried about being spotted here.

    While it was not exactly prompted, guests were allowed toe all the way up to the wall and these guards had no way of knowing that Marcus and Mrazivy had not formally checked in yet.

    So, while it was rare to see two people flying about over the surface of the water, the guards correctly figured that they were just some of the rare high-level guests that could fly.

    "Oh, it looks like there is an old recked ship down there. Want to go check it out?" Mrazivy said spotting an old wooden vessel that had long ago sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

    However, while it may have appeared to be a vessel that just randomly went down in this area Marcus could tell that was not the case.

    It was clear from a nce that the wood had not been enchanted and that this ship had been purposefully ced here.

    ''I suppose that this is just one more attraction that the resort has created. It is a bit far out though, so I doubt many actuallye out and explore it. There are probably other staged sunken ships throughout the area.'' Marcus thought, urately guessing the ship''s origin.

    Still, while it had been nted there, it would be interesting to swim through the wreckage of a sunken ship and for the first time, they dropped into the water.

    Luckily, with Marcus'' Boots of the Deep he was not slowed down at all and could move through the water, freely, and Mrazivy had prepared a magic bracelet that allowed her to breathe underwater and lessen the pressure she would feel as they descended deeper.

    Going straight down which normally would have caused a normal person extreme distress they quickly reached the sunken ship that was resting on the floor of the ocean around forty-five feet below the surface.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    ''It looks like we can get in through here.'' Marcus said to Mrazivy with telepathy as he opened a hatch on top of the ship.

    There were a number of holes in its hull but none of them wererge enough for them to enter and they had needed to locate a normal entrance.

    Though they could have of course simply punched a holerge enough for them to enter. But they did not want to damage the structural integrity of the ship so they refrained from doing so.

    Once inside they found that everything was pretty dark with only the faintest bit of light reaching in through the holes pepper throughout the ship

    Thankfully they both had darkvision and did not have any problem navigating in the dark.

    Going through the ship they found that it looked infected by all of the growth that was going on inside it.

    All manner of stationary creatures had attached to the ship, including sea sponges, sea anemones, and seaweed just to name a few.

    It was a dazzling sight to see, and Marcus was surprised by the wide range of colors that he was able to see which were a far cry from anything eh had ever seen on Earth.

    ''Everything is so vibrant. Even the reefs I went to in Australia did not have this many different colors.'' Marcus thought as he excitedly looked around.

    And among the seaweed, sea sponges, and sea anemones were all manner of fish.

    Most of them were pretty small as there were not manyrge openings into the ship, but a few sizable fish that were definitely the apex predators of the area patrolled around. Though they became quite frantic when they saw Marcus and Mrazivy who were bigger than them.

    ''Look Marcus! Oysters!'' Mrazivy said excitedly.

    Following her finger Marcus did indeed find that there was a cluster of five oysters in the same area hidden in apartment that was slightly open.

    They were bigger than the ones he was used to seeing on Earth by about fifty percent and they were a much brighter color.

    Except, despite it seeming to make them more noticeable, this was actually a part of a race ability they had that confused anything that would look at them and make it hard to focus.

    Of course, this power did not do anything to Marcus and Mrazivy since their levels were many times higher than any of these oysters that were all in the single digits.

    ''I wonder if we might be able to find some pearls in them. Want to crack them open and check?'' Mrazivy asked, her enthusiasm clear on her smiling face.

    ''No, we should leave them for now. As they are living creatures, we cannot store in our item boxes while they are alive and while searching for pearls would be fun, I do not just want to waste them and leave their bodies scattered about. I think it would be more fruitful if we gathered arge amount after we have our room and them prepare them as a meal while checking for pearls.'' Marcus suggested.

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy looked a little sad not to be popping the oysters open immediately but refrained in the face of Marcus'' sound logic.

    After that the two of them contoured to explore the sunken ship and take in the natural beauty of all the wildlife that had made the ce their homes.

    ''I suppose that we should head back soon. We got to get a sneak peak at what awaits us once we have settled in and can truly explore this ce.'' Marcus said once they had finished exploring the ship.

    They had been at it for about an hour and a half to look through every nook and cranny and it would soon be their time to disembark.

    ''Sure, let us head back. The sooner we get checked in, the sooner we can get back to exploring the ocean.'' Mrazivy said, already enamored by the charms of the water.

    ''Don''t get too absorbed in just the ocean. The inds themselves are supposed to be beautiful as well. We need to make sure to properly explore them as well.'' Marcus said as Mrazivy rushed to the surface.

 Chapter 807 807 At The Resort And Future Plans

    Once Marcus and Mrazivy had returned to the Ascension, they stealthily climbed back onboard and waited for their turn to leave the vessel.

    Luckily, they still had plenty of time to spare as they were part of thest group to disembark due to their perceived status and theck of luggage they brough since everything was stored in their item boxes.

    "It seems that the wealthiest merchants are getting off right now. There are still two groups we have to wait on before we can get off." Mrazivy said, practically grumbling.

    She was thinking that they could have spent more time having fun in the ocean, but Marcus felt better that they had yed it safe rather than pushing their time to its limit.

    "We have our room on the resort booked for a month. In that time, I am sure we can explore every nook and cranny of the inds and surrounding waters. We are only going to be waiting for a half hour more at most. Let us just rx a little before we begin our adventure here." Marcus said as he pulled a beautiful chess set out of his item box.

    Sighing, Mrazivy agreed to settle down and the two of them began ying a quick game to pass the time.

    Soon enough only thest group of passengers was left onboard the ship.

    These were those that had purchased the cheapest amodations and had no real status.

    Naturally they were all considered exorbitantly wealthy but were not as acimed as the others on the ship.

    Of course, Marcus and Mrazivy did not really belong among this group, but they were hiding their true identities to avoid any constraints or trouble that would have followed with the crew and everyone onboard knowing who they actually were.

    After they had gotten on the magic elevator taking them from the top deck of the ship to the dock, Marcus and Mrazivy were met with a member of the resort''s staff and led to the building they would be staying in.

    It was arge white building that reached high into the air with twenty-five stories. Truly a massive building Especially for Mirrion were most structures did not exceed four stories at the tallest.

    ''They must be using some sort of magic to support it I imagine. Normal building techniques and materials are not up to the level necessary to make such tall structures. The only thing I have seen in this world that is taller are the Guldur Spire and the royal castle in Borealia. And both of those are packed full of magical materials and enchantments to make them sturdier and structurally sound.'' Marcus thought analyzing the building they would be staying in.

    However, while it was impressive it was actually not thergest building on the ind.

    The one that was meant for nobles was even taller and grander than the one they would be staying at.

    Seeing all of this Marcus wondered who had built this ce and was almost certain they must have been from Earth.

    ''Perhaps they are still alive, and I can meet them if they are here. Though that is something to worry aboutter. For now, I think it best that we simply rx.''

    After Marcus had finished analyzing the buildings that were dotted around the ind, he and Mrazivy entered into therge hotel where they would be staying, and their guide led them to their room.

    "Here you are, Room three hundred and two."

    Using a bracelet on their arm that was obviously a magic tool the guide opened up the room and led Marcus and Mrazivy inside.

    "Off to the right here is where the servants'' quarters are, but as you two are alone I suppose that you will not have any need of these facilities. Of course, if you wish to hire some of the resort''s staff to be your personal servants during your stay, such amodations can be arranged." Their guide said with a smile that seemed to be permanently stered on their face.

    "No thanks we are fine with taking care of our own needs. Oh, but is the kitchen within the servants'' area?" Marcus asked.

    Nodding her head their guide said, "Yes, the kitchen is located within the servants'' area. But you need not feel any need to cook for yourselves We have plenty of restaurants on the ind and you can receive all manner of high-quality meals from them."

    While this was certainly a nice offer Marcus and Mrazivy had no intention of eating all of their meals at the resort''s restaurants.

    Of course, they did not say this to their guide who was likely trying to steer them towards spending more money at the restaurants than if they were to cook for themselves.

    "Now here is the living room for your suite." The guide said after leading them out of the front entrance.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Looking around Marcus found the room to be quitevish, especially since this was one of the cheaper rooms that could be acquired.

    ''This whole ce really is set up like a luxury resort from Earth. Stupid expensive price tag included. At the very least, with our high levels earning money is not too much of an issue.'' Marcus thought, remembering just how much this trip had cost.

    Still, it was overall less than what he would sell a piece of high-quality adamantine equipment for, and he was honestly sitting on a mountain of money he had gotten from the recent boom of requests he received for powerful items after the Doomsday Worm incident.

    Swiftly and efficiently their guide showed them around their suite and exined all of the features that it had.

    "They really went all out here. There are nearly as many enchantments as our room in the castle here." Mrazivy whispered to Marcus.

    With just the first look around they had found that this suite had magical enchantments to control the temperature of the room, hot and cold water, and luminous crystals that were being used as lights and could be turned off and on by switches on the wall.

    It was almost exactly like a room that Marcus would find back on Earth ept that magic was being used in ce of electricity and it had enough defensive enchantments to keep out even fairly high-level individuals.

    Marcus doubted that anyone under level forty could hope to break into one of these rooms without a very power magic item at their disposable or the ability to turn ethereal like he could.

    "That concludes the tour of your room. Do you have any questions or anywhere else that you would like me to take you to?" their guide asked.

    "Yes actually. I was wondering if it was possible for us to go beyond the ocean wall that protects the resort?" Mrazivy asked, full of enthusiasm.

    After hearing this question, for the first time their guide''s smile faltered for a moment and she looked aghast.

    "I am afraid that it is quite dangerous to leave the resort''s walls. I would not rmend doing so." Their guide said with a stiff smile.

    "But it is possible right? We are quite confident in our strength and would like to explore the ocean beyond the resort."

    "Yes, it is not prohibited for guests to leave the safety of our wall. But once you are beyond it your safety cannot be guaranteed. You will also need to schedule your departure as if you are confident in your powers, I assume you are over level forty-five?"

    Nodding their heads, Marcus and Mrazivy acknowledged that they were over level forty-five.

    "Why is that important? Is that the minimal level we need to be allowed to leave?" Marcus asked.

    "No, we do not prevent anyone from going beyond the wall if they so wish, but if you are over level forty-five you will activate the resort''s defenses if youe and go without going through the proper procedures. I hope you understand that this is for the safety andfort of all of our guests." The guide said, bing more and more tense as the conversation went on.

    It was apparently very rare for any guests to want to leave the resort''s safety, and those that think about it normally back down when they find out just how dangerous it is in the open ocean.

    Marcus and Mrazivy, however, wanted to check out the depths of the ocean a bit and were far from normal guests.

    "If you do truly wish to leave the resort you can make the arrangements in the lobby of this building." The guide said, letting out a sigh despite themselves.

    After that Marcus and Mrazivy said that they would be fine on their own and allowed the exhausted-looking guide to go on her way.

    "I guess that leaving the resort is a bigger deal than we thought. Do you still want to go?" Marcus asked Mrazivy.

    "Yeah. I have been looking forward to what the ocean looks like and I do not think that just this resort can keep us upied for a whole month. Once we have seen everything there is to see here, we need to go and search for amazing sights and treasures at the bottom of the ocean. We might even find an undiscovered dungeon if we are lucky." Mrazivy said, her adventurers spirt on full disy.

    "Okay, I got it. But let us rx a bit first before we delve all the way down into the depths. There is plenty for us to see here before going off on a wild adventure."

 Chapter 808 808 Exploring The Jungle

    After Marcus and Mrazivy had gotten settled in their room, they immediately headed back out and made their way deeper into the jungle on the ind.

    Marcus had convinced Mrazivy to first go out and look at the ind before jumping back into the water.

    He really wanted the run of the area and tonight it was likely to be at its least busy as a weing ceremony was being held for all those that had arrived today.

    "Are you sure we should just be skipping the ceremony?" Mrazivy asked as they followed a nearby trail into the jungle.

    She was worried that they might miss something exciting, but Marcus waved her off.

    "No, it is optional anyway, and from the information I gathered beforehand it is mostly just the upper brass of the resort trying to get cozy with the high-ranking guests. There are shows to be seen for sure, but nothing even close to what we got on the ship. I think it will be more fun to go into the jungle while pretty much everyone is preupied. We might see some animals that are normally hidden when more people are out on the scheduled jungle tours." Marcus said, an enthusiastic tone in his voice.

    He was certain that the jungle would be more alive right now as the sunset and the majority of people were far away.

    And it was not long before he was rewarded by spotting a group of strange lemurs that were ying in the trees.

    ''See I told you that we would get to see something interesting. All we need to do is keep our stealth skills active and enjoy what the jungle has to offer.'' Marcus said to Mrazivy with telepathy as he pointed out the lemurs.

    They were a bit different from the ones he had seen before on Earth, having striped, green fur and being about half the size while having over erged heads. But their general shape and the way they moved looked like lemurs and when Marcus appraised them, he found that they were called Orman Lemurs.

    Once they were content watching the lemurs, they traveled deeper into the jungle, following the carved-out trail that was designed for the resort''s vehicles that gave tours of the jungle.

    "Oh, I''ve never seen a bird like that. It is beautiful!" Mrazivy exined quietly to Marcus.

    She had quickly gotten into their nature watching and was having a fun time finding all of the new beasts she had never seen before.

    However, along the way something that Mrazivy found to be amazing made Marcus shudder.

    "Isn''t the pattern beautiful. I have never seen webbing worried like that before. And it is such a vibrant shade of purple." Mrazivy said happily.

    Marcus on the other hand was clenching his fist and doing his best to stay calm.

    They had walked off the trial a bit ande across what could only be called a colony of spiders.

    There were dozens of them all around the area and while their webs had been created in a beautiful pattern and they were colored a alluring shade of purple.

    Nevertheless, despite having be a ghost and great spirit, Marcus'' irrational fear of spiders had not left him.

    ''They are all harmless. They are level one and do not even have fangs that are long enough to pierce human skin. Heck I am not human anymore anyway. Plus, even a steel sword could not put a scratch on me at this point.'' Marcus thought as he frantically tried to stay calm.

    Yet with his nerves so worked up being surrounded by so many spiders, he did not notice until it was toote that one was curiously descending towards him.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Only once it had touched down on his shoulder did he register the spider.

    For an instant he just stood there still as a board.

    Then as his mind processed exactly what had happened, and without making a single sound Marcus simply disappeared.

    He had gone into his ghost form and the spider that hadnded on him was suddenly suspended in the air again by the strand of web connected to it.

    Quickly it began climbing back up into the tree and disappeared from view.

    "Wow you will face down demons fearlessly, but the moment a tiny spider touches you it is the end of the world." Mrazivy said in betweenughing profusely at Marcus.

    Immediately after he disappeared, he had flown back to the path and was not going to go back to where those spiders were.

    "Just be lucky is did not burn down the entire area. I just really hate spiders okay. I would rather face a hundred demons then deal with spiders." Marcus said, difort still clear on his face.

    "That reminds me, I first found out that you are a ghost when you freaked out at the spider dropping down from the ceiling in the Ocean Bluff Temple. You fired off your strongest spell without any regard for anything else and forgot to feign chanting." Mrazivy said, having another goodugh at Marcus'' expense.

    At this he grimaced since he was certain that she would use it against him plenty more times in the future.

    And unfortunately, he did not know what she was afraid of to try and get her back.

    "Listen Mraz, I do not expect to find a spider right next to me whenever I wake up." Marcus said firmly. Though there was a hint of fear in his voice as well

    "No, I am not nning to do something like that. Well, at least not any time soon." Mrazivy said before skipping off along the trail.

    Sighing, Marcus rushed after her and they continued sightseeing through the jungle.

    Quickly thest rays of light began to fade, and the warm air slowly began to cool ever so slightly.

    "Marcus, look! What are those?" Mrazivy said, pointing out a bunch of lights appearing in the forest.

    "Those are fireflies. We had them on Earth, but I have never seen them with so many different colors." Marcus said in awe.

    A multitude of different colors from dark blue to bright pink were shing through the jungle.

    It was quite the show and Marcus and Mrazivy watched it go on for nearly an hour before counting on their nighttime stroll through the jungle.

 Chapter 809 809 Gathering Ingredients In The Jungle

    Following the path deeper into the jungle Marcus and Mrazivy continued to see plenty of amazing and unusual sights.

    Everything was quite different than Borealia, which was a northern nation, and from the nt life to animals, the tropical jungle had many things that neither of them had ever seen. Especially Mrazivy who had never been this far from her home before.

    "Marcus do you know what that is?" Mrazivy said, pointing up at a tall tree that stood above the others in the jungle.

    There were more of its species dotted around and on each one was a certain type of seed that was well known back on Earth.

    "I believe those are a type of coconut. Inside they have a sweet milky liquid, and their flesh is soft and good to eat. Well, only if those are coconuts. They look simr but are definitely not like the ones I have seen before." Marcus said, squinting at the coconuts.

    Unlike the ones he knew from Earth these were all the size ofrge bowling balls, and instead of a rough brown exterior they were slick and had a dark silver coloring.

    "From your description they sound pretty good. Want to crack one open and try it out?" Mrazivy said with a glint in her eyes.

    She always did like trying new food.

    "Sure, give me a second." Marcus said with a smile on his face.

    He then sent out his spectral arm and plucked one of the coconuts of the nearby tree and brought it back.

    ''What the hell. It must way like twenty kilos.'' Marcus thought as he dropped it into his hands.

    He had been expecting it to be a bit heavy, but it was way denser than he thought it would be.

    "It is tough too." Mrazivy said as she gave it a heavy tap.

    With the amount of force she had put behind her simple tap a normal coconut would have been spit in two, but this one did not have a mark on it.

    "The shell is almost like metal. I think that you could properly make decent armor out of this. Not as good as mithril but possibly a little better than bronze." Marcus said, going into forging mode for a minute.

    "How long are you going to analyze it. It may be tough, but it is not something we cannot bust open with ease." Mrazivy said, getting a bit impatient.

    Naturally after Marcus had described how it tasted to her, she was dying to try it.

    "Sure, just give me a moment."

    Pulling out his adamantine knife Marcus carved arge hole in the top of the titanium shell coconut. Its toughness, not being able to withstand such a high-quality de and Marcus'' strength stat.

    Immediately as it was opened up, a sweet intoxicating smell began wafting out of the coconut.

    "Hm, it seems to have be some type of alcohol." Marcus said as he took a quick taste.

    It was only a slight amount, maybe about two percent alcohol, but there was no doubt that this coconut did not contain the normal liquid that Marcus had been expecting.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Here. It is pretty good." Marcus said, handing it off to Mrazivy.

    Swiftly she took it in both hands and took a big swig of it, and thoroughly tested the tase before swallowing.

    "It is quite good. Sweet and smooth. I think I might actually really like them." Mrazivy said as she sent a greedy look towards the rest that were on the nearby tree.

    "Okay, before we take anymore though, we need to try the inner flesh and see how it tastes."

    Taking the coconut back, Marcus finished off the rest of the liquid inside before fully slicing the top off.

    Now that the inner flesh was exposed Marcus found that it had a creamer color than the ones on earth and was almost faintly pink.

    "Pretty good. It has a nice sweetness to it. I could see it going well with quite a few confections." Mrazivy said after trying a bit.

    "Yeah, I could make a coconut cheesecake or maybe some maybe chocte coconut truffles."

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy said that she wanted to try whatever it was Marcus was talking about and he promised to make some for herter.

    "Now let us grab them all." Mrazivy said enthusiastically as she began flying towards the tree.

    However, before she got far Marcus grabbed her and kept her under control.

    "We cannot just take them all. The resort probably uses them as well and it will be suspicious if they all just suddenly go missing. There quite a few trees so I think we can take three dozen without causing any problems but let''s hold back from grabbing anymore."

    Agreeing with him Mrazivy raced off to the nearest tree and took two more of the coconuts on it before flying off tot eh next one and doing the same.

    Soon they had acquired the thirty-six agreed upon coconuts, but Mrazivy was not done yet.

    "Marcus I spotted a fruit I have never seen before growing on one of the bushes deeper in the jungle. We should go gather some of those as well."

    "Sure, let us go and see what bounty this jungle has." Marcus said, interested himself.

    Hours went by as they scoured the jungle for ingredients they had never seen before, while also asionally taking time to watch the diverse animal life that they could not see in Borealia.

    "Still, everything sure is peaceful here. Normally we would have run into some sort of dangerous beast or monster by now, but everything on this ind is pretty docile and low leveled." Mrazivy said on their way back to their room.

    "I image that they do constant sweeps to get rid of any beast that gets too strong and the monsters that were originally here were probably wiped out by whoever made this ce." Marcus surmised.

    "Now we have collected a cache of ingredients neither of us have ever had before. We should hurry back so that we can start experimenting and finding new dishes to make."

 Chapter 810 810 Dinner And Breakfast

    Upon their return to their room Marcus immediately got to work on preparing the new ingredients that he had obtained from the jungle.

    "I believe that this one might do well for an appetizer. I could use this one to vor some of the fish we caught while on the Ascension. Oh, and this one should be good as the topper for a cake." Marcus mumbled to himself excitedly as he sectioned out the new ingredients.

    Swiftly, once he had decided on what to make her pulled out the freezer magic tool and took out a few filets.

    ''elerated defrosting.'' Marcus thought, casting a tier one fire magic spell he had created.

    It was something he had developed through much trial and error when attempting to find a way to warm up frozen foods faster without sacrificing any of their quality.

    Thankfully magic was able to aplish things that we normally not possible and the spell could defrost a fish in a couple of minutes without causing any damage to its vor.

    "Now I can use some of these wild mushrooms we found as the main ingredient in a risotto that will serve as an appetizer." Marcus said as he prepared arge pan.

    He then took out some rice and broth from his item box and got to work.

    Soon the smell of cooking permeated the entire suite, and Mrazivy who had just gotten out of a bath popped her head in with a curious expression on her face

    "It smells good. What are you making?" She asked as she peered over Marcus'' shoulder.

    Quickly he told her what he had nned and once he was fairly certain it was ready took a small spoonful and held it out for Mrazivy to taste test.

    "Hm, it is really good, but I think it could use just a little more cheese."

    "Okay. I held back a little with the cheese to make sure the mushrooms were not overpowered, but they have a pretty distinct taste themselves, so I think more cheese would be fine." Marcus said after trying a bit himself and agreeing with Mrazivy.

    Her own cooking skill had gone up since she liked to help Marcus out and her tongue was far more sensitive than his that only mimicked a normal human''s.

    Working together with Mrazivy, who was mostly acting as the taste tester, Marcus continued to cook a meal that used the ingredients they had gotten from the jungle and fished up from the ocean as the primary ingredients.

    "And it is all ready except for the cake that needs to bake for a bit longer. But by the time we finish eating it should be ready." Marcus said once he was satisfied with the meal he had prepared.

    Using his iron threads, he picked up all the dishes and brough them over to the table.

    Then he and Mrazivy sat down and immediately started eating.

    "You know the food on the ship was pretty good. But what you make always seems to turn out the best." Mrazivy said in between bites.

    Other than a fewments such as the one Mrazivy had just made, they ate in rtive silence and thoroughly examined the vors and textures of the new ingredients they had picked up in the jungle.

    Before long all of the food that Marcus had made was gone and all that was left were several empty tes.

    "Here since you cooked allow me to clean up." Mrazivy said, collecting all of the dishes.

    Of course, it was not like she was really going to have to wash the dishes herself and instead pulled out a magic tool that did the cleaning for her. Still, this was something most princes would never do themselves and showed how little Mrazivy actually cared for her status.

    "Looks like the cake is almost finished cooking." Marcus said to himself while sticking his ethereal head into the oven to gauge where the cake was at.

    Around five minutester he was confident it was cooked to perfection and took it out to cool.

    "Mraz would you do the honors."

    "Yeah. No problem." She said as she held her and out.

    Immediately the heating off of the cake began to dissipate as she cooled it down using her ice magic.

    Once it was at around room temperature Marcus began dressing the cake with a coconut frosting he had made and then topped it with a number of different fruit they had found in the jungle.

    "And it isplete. I believe we can call these the jungle''s bounty cake." Marcus said with a proud smile on his face.

    He then cut out a piece for Mrazivy who was practically jumping up and down in excitement and handed it to her.

    "How is it?" Marcus asked after Mrazivy took the first bite.

    "Truly delicious. I think I might want some every day." She said with a look that showed how taken she was with the cake.

    The coconuts themselves had already proved to be to her liking and the cake that had a frosting that used them as an ingredient apparently was very suited to her tastes<novelnext></novelnext>

    Cutting out his own piece Marcus took a taste as well and was actually surprised how good it was.

    He had naturally tried everything individually already to make sure that all of the ingredients were up to his standards, but all together they blended better than he had imagined.

    "I can see what you mean. It really is good. Perhaps I will need to collect enough from the jungle to be able to make it frequently."

    After they had finished their first slice, they both went back for a second, and then a third, until the entire cake was gone.

    Luckily neither of them had any problems with consumingrge qualities of food as Mrazivy''s metabolism as a dragonoid was far higher than a human''s and Marcus was still not exactly sure what happened to the food he ate.

    Having sighed their dessert, Mrazivy used the cleaning magic tool to make the kitchen spottles again, before turning to Marcus.

    "Since you went out of your way to make such a fine dinner, I will make breakfast tomorrow. Would you mind leaving a few ingredients out for me?" She said before listing off everything she needed.

    Marcus was happy to oblige and emptied out everything Mrazivy had asked for from his item box.

    For the rest of the night the two of them sat around reading to pass the time until they finally felt that it waste enough to go to sleep.

    "Good night, Mraz. Tomorrow we can go around and check out the facilities on the ind."

    "Yeah, I cannot wait." She said before giving Marcus a quick kiss and shutting off the lights in their room.

    ˇ­

    ''Something smells good.'' Marcus thought as he regained consciousness.

    He could see that the sun was just rising up over the horizon signaling it was morning.

    And when he looked to his left, he found that Mrazivy had already gotten up as expected.

    ''I suppose I should go see what she is making.''

    Getting out of bed Marcus swiftly changed the shape of his magical clothing and entered into the servants'' area where the kitchen was and where Mrazivy was cooking.

    Yet the second he stepped in and saw her he froze in utter shock.

    She was currently standing over several pans and cooking while wearing an apron. Only and apron

    It was such a surreal sight that Marcus could only stand there and stare at her until she turned around and smiled at him.

    "Breakfast is not quite ready yet, but if you wait at the table, I will have it done shortly."

    Still, Marcus made no attempt to move and just continued to stare at Mrazivy in disbelief, until his brain was finally able to process what was going on.

    "Mraz, what are you- why are you wearing that?!" Marcus asked in a fluster.

    She then, not caring about how shocked Marcus was spun around and showed off the entire apron. Among other things.

    "It seems that Ja was right. She told me that this was part of the culture back on your original world and that all newly married women should wear this for their husbands on asion." Mrazivy said, a mischievous smile on her face. Happy that Marcus seemed so worked up.

    In response, he let out a low groan and rubbed his face, while thinking, ''What are you teaching her about Earth, Ja. She is going to end up with a bunch of misconceptions at this rate.''

    However, judging by the pleased look on her face Marcus doubted that Mrazivy was not going to pull this trick out again in the future just to rile him up.

    Doing his best to calm down Marcus sat down at the table and waited for Mrazivy to finished cooking.

    Then after they had eaten Marcus exined exactly what she was doing meant.

    "I see, I figured it must have been something like that since she was very Inst that I only wear the apron. Still, I am surprised that you did not pounce on me if this is considered an invitation." Mrazivy said as she gave Marcus a sultry gaze.

    "I simply did not want to ruin any of the food that you worked so hard to make. Now that we are done eating."

    With swift movements Marcus appeared right next to Mrazivy and lifted her out of her chair into a princess carry.

    "I think I have been on the receiving end for a bit too long now. It is time I go back on the offensive." He said as he carried his wife into the bedroom.

 Chapter 811 811 Fun On The Resort

    "It looks like we will have to explore the resort tomorrow." Marcus said as he looked out the window and saw that the sky was already ck outside.

    Mrazivy, however, did not respond.

    She was currently breathing heavily and was still recovering from what Marcus had done to her.

    He had been feeling like he had been on the receiving end of her teasing for a little too long and decided to use this chance to get back at her.

    Eventually she managed to recover enough sit up, and she fixed Marcus with a re.

    "I am going to make sure to get you back for this. You did not let up even when I begged you to." Mrazivy said with a pout on her face.

    "Well, I hope this teaches you the danger of that technique that Ja showed you." Marcus said, giving her a mischievous smile.

    Soon enough, Mrazivy just let out a sigh and went to take a bath. And when she returned any ill feelings she had about how far Marcus had pushed her had been washed away. Admittedly she was not really all that mad to begin with.

    "Here, I hope this helps you to forgive me." Marcus said as heid out a te of food for Mrazivy.

    While he had no need to eat, she certainly did, and it had been since breakfast since shest had anything.

    Within just a couple of minutes she had inhaled the food Marcus had made for her and held out her te for more. Obviously quite famished after all the exercise.

    For the next few hours Marcus continued to make food for his gluttonous wife until she was satisfied.

    "Do you feel better now?" Marcus asked while Mrazivy sipped on some tea.

    "Yes, I do. Your food was as good as ever. I think I have managed to recover quite a bit now. Also, I think it is time for bed." Mrazivy said, letting out a long yawn.

    After that they both returned to bed and slept the night away. Intent on actually exploring the resort the next day.

    Upon waking up they had a quick breakfast and exited their room for the first time in two days.

    "I believe that the facility you wanted to see is this way." Marcus said, leading the way.

    Eventually after getting a little lost and having to fly up into the sky to get their bearings, they found what they were looking for.

    "Wow they really did make a magic tool just to create waves to surf on!"

    As the resort was surrounded by tall walls the waves inside it were quite tame, but in order to simte the types of waves that could be found normally the resort had sectioned off a part of one of the beaches and installed a magic tool that causedrge waves to appear which people could surf on.

    "Yeah, I would say that clinches. I doubt anyone expect someone originally from Earth woulde up with this. No way is anyone going to try surfing in the waters on this world with how many dangerous creatures live in it." Marcus said, now absolutely sure that a reincarnation or transmigration was involved with this resort.

    "For how much effort they put into it, this attraction does not seem all that popr." Mrazivy said, looking at the very few people that were actually trying the ce out.

    "I imagine that is because most of the people that visit here are not the most physically inclined. The majority of nobles and wealthy merchants are likely not high enough level to be confident in their ability to stay on the board and do not want to end up looking foolish." Marcus surmised.

    "That makes sense I suppose. Still, I want to give it a try." Mrazivy said with an excited sparkle in her eyes.

    Quickly they lined up to try surfing out, and one of the staff members gave them instructions on how to surf.

    "To start we will keep the waves pretty small, but if you feel confident you can ask that we make them bigger." The staff members said to Mrazivy as she prepared to go out onto the waves.

    A few other surfers were in the area, and it seemed that most of them were well practiced.

    Watching them Mrazivy felt herpetitive spirit rising and she decided that she would surf the biggest waves that the resort could produce.

    ''Looks like this is not going to be any problem for her.'' Marcus thought, watching from the beach.

    Mrazivy was currently level seventy-five, and her stats were incredibly high.<novelnext></novelnext>

    This gave her coordination that was well above a normal person''s and the small waves they started out with did not even cause her body to rock. It was like she was glued to the surfboard.

    Quickly she asked for the speed and size of the waves to be increased and was soon racign aroudn the waves like an expert.

    ''I suppose it helps that whenever she is about to fall, she can just use a small mana barrier to brace herself.'' Marcus thought while continuing to watch Mrazivy surf.

    Within about half an hour she was surfing along thergest waves that the resort could safely produce and having a st.

    "I think I will join her now." Marcus said as he picked up his own board.

    "Sir, I would not rmend it. Those waves are too much for any beginner to handle right off the bat. Your wife is amazing, and I have never seen someone get the hang of it so quickly, but you should start with the smaller waves as she did."

    Naturally the member of the resort staff was worried. If Marcus got injured while on his watch it would mean trouble for him.

    "No need to worry. This is not my first time surfing." Marcus said before running out into the water, faster than the staff member could stop him.

    Then when the first wave was coign upon him, he swiftly got on top of his board and began riding the wave.

    He had surfed a few times back in his previous life and now that he had what could only be considered superhuman levels of agility he had no problems getting started even on the thirty-foot-tall waves.

    ''I bet I could pull off some pretty crazy tricks as I am now.'' Marcus thought with a smile.

    Moving up the wave he reached the top of it andunched himself high into the air.

    There he did a few spins and flips in midair, before angling himself towards the next iing wave.

    Except, he could tell pretty much immediately he was not going tond properly without some course correction and used his spectral arm to carry himself back on course andnd on the wave.

    Mrazivy, after watching him for a minute, moved up next to him and began trying to outdo the wild tricks he was pulling off that no normal person would attempt.

    "Hey, freezing the board to your feet is cheating." Marcus yelled up to her.

    Mrazivy had seen how he lowered his body and gripped the board with one of his hands so as not to lose connection with it while in the air and had decided that it would be easier and look cooler if she only applies a slightyer of ice to her feet where the board was connected.

    Eventually they two of them started doing incredibly wild things that involved using their skills, and only when they finally returned to shore did they realize that they had gathered a crowd.

    It was not every day, or any day for that matter, that people got to see two high-level individualspeting on what the grandest surfing trick they could aplish was.

    "That was most impressive. I have never seen magic and skills used like that before while surfing." The staff member that had been helping them said upon their return.

    A number of people that made up the audience watching them also gave their praise, and they were even offered jobs by the resort to put on surfing shows.

    "Sorry, we are not interested at this time. We will let you know if we change our minds." Mrazivy said to the manager that was trying to recruit them.

    HE had found out easily enough that they were high level adventurers and wanted to hire them as security for the ind and performers, as some of the other adventurers were.

    "Seems like it is a bit afternoon now. How about we try one of the resort''s restaurants for lunch." Marcus suggested.

    Nodding her head Mrazivy agreed, and they headed to the nearest one and quickly made their orders.

    "Here are your drinks and appetizers." The waiter said.

    "It smells really good." Mrazivy said once the waiter was gone.

    They had ordered a basket of fired cmari and some drinks that used the coconut milk from the titanium shelled coconuts they had found a couple days before.

    Yet while the food was good and there was nothing wrong with it, the second Marcus took a sip of his drink he felt something forging trying to attach itself to his soul.

 Chapter 812 812 Sinister Developments

    Marcus, upon feeling something trying to attach itself to his soul, went wide eyed in shock.

    Never had he thought that this type of attack woulde at him while he was in the middle of enjoying a rxing time at a resort.

    Nevertheless, while he braced for the worst, the forging object did not cause him any damage or distress and just attached itself to him.

    ''What in the world is it doing?''

    Focusing on the thing that had attached himself to his soul he tried to find out what it was affecting and found that it had managed to link up with him and was able to record whatever he saw or heard.

    Frankly Marcus was baffled by whatever this thing was.

    It felt sort of like a fragment of a soul but waspletely hollow.

    All it did was link up with him to save whatever he saw or heard.

    ''Hm, it seems that it should be able to transmit this information somewhere as well. I do not know who or how they made this thing, but they are going to regret using it on me.'' Marcus thought with a furious expression on his face.

    He then activated his Soul Devour unique skill for the first time in a long while and consumed what he had dubbed the pseudo soul fragment.

    In an instant it was absorbedpletely into him, and its function waspletely destroyed.

    Fortunately, it was hollow and had no sort of emotions or memories that could affect Marcus and he simply just gained a slight boost in his spiritual energy for a moment.

    ''Looks like I cannot use it to find the source once I have devoured it. Still, this begs the question. Was I targeted specifically by someone or is everyone on the ind being indiscriminately infected with what is essentially a surveince device that attaches itself directly to the soul.'' Marcus thought as he looked towards Mrazivy.

    When he did, he could see that she had fixed a concerned look at him. Obviously having noticed the sudden change in his demeanor.

    "Marcus are you alright?" Mrazivy asked him in concern.

    However, hearing that she was not in any distress like he was, Marcus could gather that either she had not been infected, or that she had not noticed it.

    "Yes, I am fine. I just remembered something unpleasant for a moment." Marcus said putting on a fake bright smile.

    He then immediately connected Mrazivy with telepathy and told her what was going on.

    ''Mraz, there was something in the drink I just had. It managed totch itself onto my soul and was able to gather auditory and visual information from me. You do not need to worry about me as I have already destroyed it. But it is possible that you have been infected as well. We need to head to our room, and I can examine your soul in private there.''

    For a moment Mrazivy''s face twitched, showing her distress. But as a princess she had been trained to be able to mask her emotions and quickly she had a stered-on smile on her face as well.

    Swiftly but not so fast that they might garner attention they headed back to their room.

    The second the door was closed behind them Marcus rushed Mrazivy over to the room and had her sit down on the bed.

    ''Okay I am going to possess you for a bit. I need to be able to interact with your soul without resistance if I am to find and remove this ting from you should you also have been infected with it.'' Marcus said to Mrazivy with his telepathy.

    ''I understand. It has been a long time since we have done this, but it seems all that practice that went to waste during the tournament will finally have a use.'' Mrazivy said, doing her best to hide her worry.

    Going into his ghost form Marcus entered Mrazivy''s body and took her over without any resistance.

    In fact, this was the easiest that he had ever taken anyone over.

    The bond between them allowed Mrazivy to trust Marcuspletely with her body and soul and she did not fight him at all.

    Slowly Marcus spread his senses out and delicately examined Mrazivy''s soul.<novelnext></novelnext>

    He had never really done this with anyone else and it was an experience that was quite difficult.

    Normally when interacting with another''s soul he had been in the middle of battle or about to destroy his opponent and was not used to needing a soft touch. He would simply start crushing them or rip their soul straight out.

    ''It is hidden fairly well. I only found the one that infected me because my entire form is my soul. For anyone that is flesh and blood the soul is a more unconscious thing inside of them. Truly someone has made what could almost be considered the perfect undetectable surveince device.'' Marcus thought as he searched for the pseudo soul.

    At first, he was not sure if one had entered Mrazivy and he was ready to believe it was a specific attack against him, but eventually he did manage to find the same anomaly.

    It was hidden deep within her soul and difficult to get at without harming her.

    Still Marcus was not just going to leave such a thing inside his wife and grabbed ahold of it.

    At the same time, he used his spirit healing specter power and ripped off the pseudo soul fragment.

    This caused what could be considered an abrasion to Mrazivy''s soul which would not have fixed itself on its own, but Marcus'' spirit healing soon had her recovered.

    With the pseudo soul fragment captured Marcus exited Mrazivy''s body.

    "You know that really hurt." She said the moment Marcus reappeared.

    Yet despite her protests she gave him a very thankful smile.

    "Now that it is no longer attached to your soul you should be able to see it." Marcus said, holding up his right hand that was still ethereal so as to grip the pseudo soul fragment.

    To Mrazivy it honestly looked like he was missing his hand, but when she channeled some spiritual energy into her eyes his hand along with the pseudo soul fragment became visible again.

    "Yeah, I can see it now. So that thing had attached itself to my soul. And you said that it was some sort of surveince device?"

    Nodding his head Marcus exined everything that he had figured out by examining the thing when one was still attached to his soul.

    "I am pretty sure that only a spiritual being or someone that is really sensitive to outside influence would notice it. I mean the thing is hollow and not trying to cause any harm so it would be difficult to notice. Its only function as far as I can tell is to store information and then transmit it at constant intervals. I suppose it is simr to someone installing spyware on aputer." Marcus said.

    However, Mrazivy did not understand what thest thing he said meant and he had to give her a quick exnation ofputers and viruses.

    "I see that does seem to be fairly simr. So, can you track it. If it is like thoseputer viruses you told me about, you should be able to follow the signal back to its source, right?" Mrazivy asked.

    Naturally she wanted to pay back whoever had infected them.

    "I might be able to, but I think that it would be a bad idea. Whatever made this is likely very powerful. They are likely beyond us right now." Marcus said trying to get Mrazivy to understand the gravity of the situation.

    "That might be true, but we cannot just leave this alone. Presumably every guest that has ever coem here has been infected by that thing. This could be leading up into a plot that could put the entire world in danger. I think we should investigate at least a little and once we have more information, we can call Boreas and get his help." Mrazivy suggested, not willing to give up.

    "Fine. But you should get far away from here before I try to follow the signal. If I get attacked immediately afterwards, I might be able to use a dark portal to escape, or at the very least I have my revival skill to bail me out."

    Grumbling, Mrazivy tried to argue why she should stay as well, but Marcus insisted that she be somewhere else in case a threat they could not handle appeared.

    "Okay, but I will not go too far. I want to be close enough to help." Mrazivy said firmly.

    Giving in, Marcus allowed her to wait in themon area within the building ande to his aid if it seemed like they could take the opponent on together.

    ''Now can I even activate this thing to make it start transmitting.'' Marcus thought as he sent some of his spiritual energy into the pseudo soul fragment

 Chapter 813 813 Investigation

    Sending some of his spiritual energy into the pseudo soul fragment, Marcus attempted to activated it and make it transmit a signal back to tis source.

    Admittedly he had never done something like this and did not know if it was even possible for him to follow the signal to its source, but he figured he might as well try.

    ''Come on, there has to be some sort of trigger to make the thing transmit.'' He thought as he sent his spiritual energy into the thing.

    Unfortunately, no matter what he tried it did not seem he could get it to work, and instead as ast resort tried flooding it with energy until it popped.

    The pseudo soul fragment already had the ability to slowly siphon off spiritual energy from whoever it infected, so all he had to do was overload it and see if that triggered any sort of response.

    By some miracle Marcus'' reckless n actually worked and right before the pseudo soul fragment burst, it sent out a signal.

    Marcus could only surmise that it did this when it realized it was about to be destroyed so that whatever entity was collecting the data would not lose anything and that this had not happened with the one that infected him because he destroyed it too quickly for it to notice when he used his Soul Devour unique skill.

    Still, it was not like he had aputer to do any processing for him and while some sort of signal using spiritual energy was sent out, all he was able to get was a vague direction of where it was headed.

    ''It seems to be headed towards the southeast from what I could tell. But I have no idea how far it went. For all I know it could be a thousand kilometers from here. I suppose all I can do for the moment is wait and see if the perpetrator wille to me if they noticed what I just did.'' Marcus thought after the pseudo soul fragment exploded.

    He had managed to get the surveince device to send out a signal, but it was not something continuous and was only a single burst. He had no way to really follow it to its source.

    For the next twenty minutes Marcus simply stood in his room waiting for something to happen, yet all remained quiet.

    Having received no response he could only gather that either the entity behind these pseudo soul fragments had either not noticed what he had done or decided it was not worth intervening in.

    It was always possible that they were some type of evil spirit and could tell that Marcus was very dangerous to them.

    With a sigh he epted that he was not going to get any other clues and connected to Mrazivy with his telepathy.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''Mraz, it sort of worked, but it does not seem we are going to find the mastermind behind this plot easily. Come back up and I will tell you what little I was able to find out.''

    In just a minute Mrazivy had rushed back to the room, and after making sure Marcus was fine, she listened to his exnation.

    "That is really all you got? They are somewhere southeast of here. That barely narrows it down at all." Mrazivy said with a less than ecstatic expression.

    She had been hoping that Marcus would be able to pinpoint the location of the one spreading these soul attaching surveince devices and then they could go and bust down their door.

    "I mean we still have other clues we can follow. We got infected while staying here so I bet that plenty of other people have been as well. You can rip out these things from other people and we can keep following the signals until we find the ce." Mrazivy said excitedly, thinking she hade up with a good idea.

    Sadly, Marcus could only shake his head at this n.

    "It might work, but I would likely leave anyone else with a badly damaged soul or even just outright kill them. I was able to remove the one attached to your soul with barely causing any damage because you fully trust me and have an incredibly powerful soul that is close in power to mine. I might identally rip someone''s soul in half if they are significantly weaker than me and trying to fight back. It is far more delicate a procedure to remove a foreign object attached to a soul than simply taking their body over. I am also not receiving any assistance from the system since what I am doing is not any sort of power it recognizes. We should save this method as a truest resort."

    After hearing Marcus'' exnation Mrazivy could only shrug her shoulders and give up on her suggestion.

    Even if it worked, there would be little point if they had to leave a mountain of dead or crippled people in their wake.

    The two of them continued to rack their minds, until Mrazivy came up with another n. One that she was more confident in.

    "What if we just found the source? These pseudo soul fragments are not being put into people''s drinks from out of nowhere. They need to intentionally be put there. We do not know whether there is someone or many people are consciously adding them or if perhaps they are doing it unknowingly, but there should still be arge supply somewhere on the resort. We may even be able to find more if we simply order some more drinks."

    "That sounds like a good ce to start. This whole ce might be a little fishy as well. I am certain that an otherwolrder was at least somewhat involved in the creation of this ce. It is possible that the entire resort was created in the first ce just to infect as many rich and powerful people as possible. Plenty of high-ranking nobles and wealthy merchants visit this resort every year. With so many people infected, the entity that created these pseudo soul fragments likely has the best informationwork on the. Without anyone even knowing they are being spied on."

 Chapter 814 814 Investigation (2)

    With their n set, Marcus and Mrazivy exited their room and headed to another restaurant.

    They wanted to see if they would be served drinks that had been contaminated with the pseudo soul fragments once again.

    If they did then they could likely find the source and link it back to whoever or whatever had created these borate surveince devices.

    Unfortunately, even when they ordered the same drink at a different location, they did not get served ones that had the pseudo soul fragments added to them.

    ''Not in this one either.'' Marcus thought as he checked a drink at the sixth restaurant they had been to.

    At this point the sun was already starting to set and they were running out of time to investigate this specific thread for the day.

    Once the restaurants closed, they would be unable to order any more drinks and would have to wait until the next day.

    "I suppose that it is possible that only that one restaurant is where they are distributing them. We should go back and try again." Mrazivy suggested.

    And with nothing better to do, Marcus agreed.

    Soon enough, just as the sun was setting, they entered the same restaurant they had first visited and sat down.

    Within just a few minutes their drinks that were identical to the ones that had been hiding the pseudo soul fragments arrived.

    Holding his hand up to the ss, Marcus phased his hand through it and began searching for any spiritual anomalies.

    ''Nope, they are clear. There is nothing in either of our sses.'' Marcus said to Mrazivy with telepathy while shaking his head.

    A deep frown fell over Mrazivy''s face and Marcus recognized this look as the expression she wore when deep in thought.

    While she racked her brain Marcus figured that he might as well enjoy the food and drinks they had ordered and despite having been infected earlier the same day showed no hesitation.

    ''I might as well let her do most of the thinking. I am actually okay with leaving this alone for now. For all we know this could be some sort of set up by the adventurers guild. They have a pretty sizable presence on the resort having an entire guildhall, and hundred of adventurers acting as guards. If they really are involved, stepping on their toes could lead us into a lot of trouble that we do not need.''

    Naturally Marcus understood what was going on here could possibly be a looming danger, but it was more than likely not something they really needed to worry about.

    Presumably the surveince had been going on for several years, and so far, the world had note to an end. It would be one thing if it was affecting them personally, but they had already cleansed themselves of the pseudo soul fragments and did not have to worry about being spied on.<novelnext></novelnext>

    They were not in any immediate danger and Marcus was not one to go looking for this kind of trouble with little reason.

    Nevertheless, he realized why Mrazivy was so fervent, and was more than willing to help her out for as long as she wanted to keep pursuing what was going on.

    ''I think I know why we have not been infected again.'' Mrazivy eventually said to Marcus with telepathy.

    She then went on to theorize that the staff on the ind did know what was going on and were actively imnting the pseudo soul fragments into all of the guests via their drinks.

    ''That is why we have not received anymore. They already believe that they got us and there is no need to infect us again. This also means that they probably cannot tell who is infect or not only that we already revied the pseudo soul fragments.''

    ''It makes some sense, but it seems odd that no one has spilled the beans on this. We thoroughly researched the ce before choosing it as our first destination on our honeymoon and there was not even a rumor about this. How would they be able to keep the entire staff from saying something? Or even just one of the guests overhearing something? Hiding something thisrge when so many people know about it is not easy.'' Marcus responded.

    This caused Mrazivy to form another contemtive frown and Marcus could almost picture the gears turning in her head.

    Eventually she seemed to have another idea and she looked intently at one of the servers and Marcus saw her pupils be vertical slits like those of a dragon and her irises turned golden.

    These were the tell-tale signs that she had activated her dragon eyes and was appraising the staff.

    With quick motions she looked over every single resort staff member she could find, and her face twisted into more of a grimace after everyone.

    His curiosity piqued; Marcus used his own appraisal skill on one of them but did not get anything back that was out of the ordinary.

    All of them were within normal level ranges with those on the lower end being at least level nine and the highest level being fourteen.

    None of their skills were anything special either and all of them came back as human.

    If anything was strange, it was their names that were all just variation on the same general base names of John for the male staff and Jane for the female.

    ''Mraz, I am guessing that you got more than I did from the expression on your face. Mind sharing it with me.'' Marcus asked once she was done using her dragon eyes on everyone in the vicinity.

    ''Yeah, it is just a bit shocking. Not a single one of the staff members working directly for the ind are humans, or any naturally urring race. Each and every one of them is a homunculus. They seem to have an item on them that makes them show up as human simr to how your False Status unique skill works. But there is no doubt that all of the employees that work directly for the resort are artificial lifeforms that were made by someone.''

 Chapter 815 815 Securing Some Backup

    For a few seconds after Mrazivy told him that all of the direct staff members of the resort were homunculi, Marcus could not hide the astonished expression on his face.

    They all looked and seemed to be normal humans, but they were all actually artificially created beings.

    Asking for more details Marcus wanted topare what he had gotten with his appraisal skill vs what Mrazivy''s dragon eyes could see.

    For all he knew they were surrounded by powerful entities that could start attacking them the moment that they realized he and Mrazivy had caught on to the resort''s secrets.

    However, it seemed that his momentary worry was for nothing. Other than hiding their race andbeling them as human, the magic item on each of the homunculi had no other effect.

    Their skills and stats were the exact same under Mrazivy''s dragon eyes as when he got with his appraisal skill, and it proved that none of the resort staff members were any threat to them.

    ''Now that we know this, it is clear that somethingrger is at y. This is not just an isted incident, but a plot that is being carried out over the entire resort. We really do need to get to the bottom of this.'' Mrazivy said with a very serious glint in her eyes.

    Marcus on the other hand felt that they might have been getting closer to poking a bear that they would be better off avoiding.

    Whoever had set up this plot had done so meticulously and was almost certainly stronger than either of them.

    They had not been caught up to this point, which showed that they had either been able to keep all information about what was going on sealed, or anyone that had found out in the past had already been dealt with.

    ''I think that if we are going to keep pursuing this, we need to have some backup. We should at least inform Boreas of what is going on and see if he would be willing to give us some help if we run into trouble that we cannot deal with on our own.'' Marcus said sternly.

    Seeing that he was not going to budge otherwise, Mrazivy nodded her head and suggested that eh head back to Borealia really quick and speak to Boreas.

    ''While you do that I go back to our room, consolidate the information we have found out already, ande up with our next step in this investigation.'' Mrazivy said before cutting off their telepathic conversation.

    The two of them then causally ate their meal so as not to arouse any suspicion, and once they were finished hastily returned to their room.

    "Okay I will head back to Borealia for a few hours at most. If you run into any trouble, make sure to contact me and I wille back immediately." Marcus said while looking down at the engagement ring he had given Mrazivy.

    He had forged a piece of his soul into it, and by sending in some of her own spiritual energy into it Mrazivy could send him a distress signal that he could feel from pretty much anywhere on the.

    "Don''t worry. I will be fine. Now go ahead and get going."

    After settling everything, Marcus focused an immense amount of magical energy into his palm, and a swirling dark hole began to appear in their room.

    When it reached around a meter in diameter, Marcus felt that it was secure and connected to one of the portals he had left in Borealia.

    "I promise to be back soon. Please do not get into any trouble while I am gone." Marcus said before disappearing into the portal.

    An instantter, he found himself in the wilds around a hundred miles from the royal capital of Borealia.

    ''It is a good thing that I set up a couple portals before we left just in case. It would have taken me a bit longer to get here the traditional way.'' Marcus thought before turning his body towards his destination.

    In the blink of an eye, he turned into pure light and raced across the sky at the speed of light.

    A little more than half a secondter he stopped above the royal capital of Borealia and began flying towards the castle at a more manageable speed.

    Naturally he was in his ghost form to do so, as otherwise his flying through the sky would have him swarmed with knights.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Easily enough he entered the vicinity of the castle, and hended in one of the forested areas.

    Quickly he solidified only his left hand and head while taking out a sending stone that connected only to Boreas.

    "Boreas, it is Marcus. An emergency came up that I need to consult you on." Marcus said into the stone.

    He then waited for what seemed like an eternity for a response when it was only a few minutes in reality.

    "Okay. I will be waiting in your room. Come there and we can talk in private." Boreas said over the sending stone.

    Letting out a sigh of relief that he got in contact, Marcus put the sending stone away and flew towards the castle in his ghost form and made his way to his room.

    Once inside eh saw Boreas sitting on the couch with a tense expression that was quite uncharacteristic of him.

    Before Marcus even reappeared Boreas looked right towards him and said, "Good you are here. From the tone in your voice and I can tell that whatever is going on is serious. Sit down and tell me about it."

    Solidifying his soul and bing visible again, Marcus did as Boreas said and sat down across from him.

    "You know it is a bit unsettling that you can so easily appear in another''s sealed room." Marcus said, seeing that Boreas had without issue teleported inside his and Mrazivy''s room.

    It was likely that he could go anywhere in the castle wherever he wanted without any restriction.

    "Says the guy that can phase though walls and is almost undetectable. I can only move about like this here since I set this ce up that way." Boreas countered

    "Fair enough. Anyway, that is not why I am here. Mrazivy and I have discovered something quite dangerous." Marcus said with a grave expression on his face.

    He then exined all they had found out at the resort and how Mrazivy wanted to keep investigating.

    "That is certainly not what I was expecting when you said you discovered something dangerous, but I can see how something like that could rock the entire world. Even in all my time on this world, I have never heard of someone infecting someone''s soul with a surveince device. Though I hardly know of all of the unique and supreme skills on this world, so pretty much anything is possible." Boreas said as he went deep into thought.

    Even he rarely dealt with powers that could affect souls. It was a fairly umon type of ability and Marcus was actually quite an anomaly for having so many different abilities that could interact with souls.

    "I admit that this is intriguing and that it could be dangerous, but you are right that it might be best to just leave it alone. Sometimes you do not want to get involved in plots like these and just ignore them if they are not affecting you. I have made simr mistakes in the past and have lost friends because of it. Still, I will leave the decision up to you. If you really do wish to continue pursuing this, I will give you some help, but I cannot simply leave Borealia for a long time while Gwyneira is at the end of her pregnancy."

    "I can tell that Mrazivy is set on pursuing this to the end, and I want to support her despite my own misgivings. Any assistance you can give us is reassuring." Marcus said with a resolute smile.

    "Got it, I will do what I can. I will contact a few people I know and have them gather what information they can on this. And here take this."

    Opening his item box Boreas took out a familiar looking golden stick that Marcus had seen Gwyneira use once before.

    "This is a branch that came from a Gemini Tree. It has a twin that is in my possession and when one is destroyed the other will be as well no matter what and give at least a general idea of where the other was broken. If you end up in an emergency where you absolutely need my help, break it and I wille running as fast as I can."

    "Thank you for this. It is very reassuring to know that we can call for you if we end up facing something we cannot handle on our own." Marcus said as he took the golden stick.

    After that he said goodbye to Boreas and opened up a dark portal in order to return to Mrazivy.

 Chapter 816 816 Planning Their Next Move

    The moment Marcus returned to his room on the resort, he found that Mrazivy was no longer in the room.

    Almost immediately panic gripped him and he thought that the worst might have happened.

    ''Mraz, are you there?!'' Marcus shouted in his mind sending her a telepathic signal.

    For a moment all was quiet and he was getting ready to tear the entire resort apart to find her when she responded.

    ''Yes, I am here. Why are you so panicked? I am just in the bath. If you had calmed down and focused, I am sure you would have noticed that I am here.'' She said with her telepathy and having an exacerbated tone.

    Hearing this, the tension left Marcus immediately and as he listened, he could distinctly hear that Mrazivy was not far away and in the bath.

    With a sigh of relief, he sat down on the bed and calmed down.

    A few minutester Mrazivy came out of the bathroom with a bath robe on and using a towel to dry her hair.

    "Sorry, I did not think that taking a bath would be such a cause for concern. I suppose you were afraid that I might burn myself with the hot water or possibly even drown in the deep tub." Mrazivy said with a teasing smile.

    "Okay, I should not have panicked so quickly when I did not immediately see you. I was just afraid that while I was gone whatever entity we are investigating might have attacked you." Marcus said.

    At this Mrazivy justughed a bit before saying, "No all was quiet. I imagine that with this being such arge operation as it is, the tiny waves we have made have gone unnoticed so far. But enough about that, how did your meeting with Boreas go?"

    Seeing that Mrazivy was curious Marcus told her that he had secured Boreas'' aid and that he was going to ask some friends of his to collect information and had given them an emergency way to summon him should they be faced with something they could not handle.

    "Sounds like pretty good insurance to me. Now we can really get to the bottom of this without and restraint." Mrazivy said as he mmed her right first into her left hand.

    It was obvious that she was still angry about getting infected with the pseudo soul fragment surveince device without even knowing about it.

    "Yeah, well that can wait till tomorrow. Even if we have not garnered any suspicion yet, if we go out at night and start poking our noses around, we very well could find more trouble than we want. I think we should take it slow and investigate a few more things before we start really delving deep into what is going on. We are going to want as much information as we can get to avoid ending up in a situation we cannot handle. Boreas'' backup will note immediately even if we do call him. We need to make sure not to walk into any traps." Marcus said, urging them to be cautious.

    Mrazivy on the other hand had been nning to get a bit more reckless now that they had secured Boreas'' aid but relented to Marcus who wanted to go slow and steady.

    "What is our next step then?" Mrazivy asked him.

    She had figured that capturing one of the resort''s staff and integrating them would be a good n, but Marcus rejected that idea.

    "No, I think that they might actually be some kind of hive mind or at least have some way to transmit information to each other. It is also possible that they simply cannot tell us anything no matter how hard we push. They were made by someone so we do not know what kind of programming they might have. We should leave directly involving ourselves with the homunculi staff as ast resort."

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy could understand Marcus'' valid worries, and instead asked him what he nned to do.

    "First there are a few things that we are only able to specte on right now. For one we do not know if every other guest is infected. The criteria could be specific or perhaps they just infect a certain number of people at random. We need to find out the exact scale before anything else."

    "Yeah, I suppose that is important. If they are only infecting certain people, it would be best for us to find out the criteria they are using to choose people. Still, I think that it is more likely they are infecting everyone." Mrazivy said, shrugging her shoulders.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "I do to, but we only have a small sample size right now. Currently we can only confirm that the two of us were infected. We are only assuming that everyone on the resort is getting infected."

    It was possible that only select people were being targeted and that there were more eyes on them than they thought. If they managed to confirm that only they or a select few individuals were infected, they would need to change their approach and be even more cautious.

    "Okay, I understand, but how are we going to check everyone else? You already said it is difficult for you to deal with other people." Mrazivy said, wanting to know the specifics of Marcus'' n.

    "You are right that no one else is going to let me interact with their soul without resistance and that I would be hard pressed to remove the pseudo soul fragment, but I should be able to confirm if anyone is infected. All I need to do is possess them and search for the abnormality attached to their soul. Removing it might be difficult without causing permanent damage, but I should be able to confirm its existence easily enough. Some people might feel sick for a while afterwards or maybe go into a short day or twoas if they are especially weak, but I should not cause anysting damage." Marcus exined.

    "Sure, that sounds like a good first step, but we also need to find out how they are adding these things to the drinks and where they are stored."

    "I agree, that is important as well. Once we have confirmed whether or not everyone or only select people are infected, we can decide how we are going to pursue that thread. Now it is already prettyte so why don''t you get some sleep. I will keep watch through the night just in case." Marcus said, with a reassuring smile.

    However, Mrazivy just shook her head.

    "No, there is no way I am going to be able to get any sleep tonight with all that is going on. If you were going to stay up anyway, let us brainstorm some more things to investigate and what we are going to approach tomorrow."

    Seeing the enthusiastic expression on his wife''s face, Marcus realized that they were going to be having a busy night.

    Until dawn, the two of them created theories and went back and forth on how they were going to investigate.

    At one-point Mrazivy had suggested that they split up to cover more ground, but Marcus was heavily against this.

    They needed to stick together to be able to respond to any trouble that might show up.

    Luckily Mrazivy gave in and agreed that they should not split up.

    "Okay, but let me just make sure that what we are going to do first is check out the adventurers guild on the resort?" Mrazivy said, wanting to confirm they were on the same page.

    They had made dozens of revisions to their n, and it was possible they were not on the same page.

    "Yeah, that is what we agreed on. We need to find out if they have been infected and if the guild is in any way involved. If we find that they are, we will need to stop immediately. We are not equipped to take on the entire guild and if this is how they want to gather their information then we are best letting them do as they please."

    They had already decided topletely back off if they found that what was going on was being backed by the adventurers guild. As an organization it was one of the strongest in the world and even if they were infecting people will surveince devices, there was little they could do about it.

    To that end they were going to head to the adventurers guild first.

    Mrazivy would enter the guild hall and ask the adventurers there some questions, pretending to be interested in signing on with the resort, while Marcus would use his ghostly abilities to stealthily infiltrate the ce and do some investigation of his own.

    "Now I suppose we should go and have breakfast like normal and go about our day for a bit as we make our way over to the adventurers guild to begin our investigation."

 Chapter 817 817 Infiltrating The Resortâ€™s Adventurers Guild

    Once they had finished breakfast, Marcus and Mrazivy began making their way towards the guild hall that was on the ind.

    The resort hired plenty of high-level adventurers to patrol the surrounding areas and thus there was arge presence of adventurers on the ind.

    With only a little digging they had found out that it was considered quite a cushy job since it paid well and there were rarely any incidents to deal with.

    Their main jobs were to patrol the edge of the wall to make sure no dangerous creatures slipped in and eliminate any beasts on the inds or in the surrounding waters that grew strong enough to be an active threat to the resort''s guests.

    The only time there was any danger was on the very rare instance that a truly powerful beast or monster from the depths of the ocean came up and attacked the wall around the resort. But this happened so infrequently that many of the adventurers currently working on the resort had never experienced such an attack.

    ''It certainly is quite a sizable guild hall. Only slightly smaller than the main one in the capital of Borrelia. But I suppose that since all of the adventurers have personal quarters within the hall it needs to berge.'' Marcus thought as he examined the building from afar as they approached.

    Soon they had walked up to the building and opened the doors to reveal its interior.

    Once inside they noticed that the ce was far quieter than the average guild hall and that it was made of bright colored locale wood rather than stone as a usual guild hall would be.

    It gave off a very rxed and beachy vibe which was characteristic of where it was located.

    There was also hardly anyone in the ce and while it did have a dining and bar area, there was currently no one there.

    Only around a dozen people were in the hall including the two receptionists.

    Yet just a few moments after Marcus and Mrazivy entered thex atmosphere in the building disappeared and the ten adventurers that had been lounging around and ying a card game looked at them warily.

    Only those that were at the mithril rank or higher were hired to work on the ind which meant that every adventurers here was over level fifty.

    All of them had enough experience to gauge rtive the strength of others even without the use of appraisal skills and could tell that Marcus and Mrazivy were stronger than any other adventurers on the resort

    As the ce was pretty cushy only those that were happy with where they had gotten or were taking a break from fighting life and death battles actually took the job and so those that were truly strong rarely worked on the resort for long or at all.

    One could even say that this was where many adventurers that were pretty much retired came to work. Where they did not have to do much and could live out the remainder of their lives in peace.

    ? ''What do their levels look like?'' Marcus asked, letting Mrazivy handle the appraising.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Certainly, he could have used his own skill, but her dragon eyes were simply more urate than his normal skill was, and he did not feel like sifting through the information only for it to be wrong.

    ''The strongest is at level sixty-one. He is also the oldest pushing a hundred seventy. The others all range from fifty-two at the lowest, to fifty-eight being the next highest. They are not any real threat to us.'' Mrazivy told Marcus.

    This was good news to hear since it meant they did not need to worry about being attacked and would be able to exude their strength if necessary.

    After looking over the guild hall curiously for a few minutes Marcus and Mrazivy headed to the receptionists and introduced themselves.

    They were not looking to ruffle any feathers just yet and did not want those present to stay cautious for too long.

    "Hello there. We are Marcus and Mrazivy. We are currently staying on the resort as guests, but we are adventurers and were interested in possibly being employed by the resort in the future. In fact, we were actually propositioned by some of the resort staff yesterday when they saw us performing some tricks while surfing and found out that we were high level adventurers." Mrazivy said with her most polite smile.

    When they then pulled out their gold adventurers cards the receptionist visibly rxed since they now knew for certain that they were adventurers and not as high ranked as the others on the ind.

    Still their levels, or well the fake ones Marcus had set which were in the low fifties, were visible and shocked the receptionists.

    "I see you both do have the necessary levels to work on the resort, and if the resort makes a special exception, it should not be a problem even if you are still gold ranked." The receptionist said with a smile.

    Marcus and Mrazivy then asked them a few more mundane questions before saying goodbye and going over to the other adventurers who had been keeping watch over them the entire time.

    They had heard the entire conversation and could not hide their astonishment when they found out Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s rank and level.

    Naturally they had assumed that they were higher level and ranked than what they actually were which did not seem to make sense to them.

    "Hello, we are currently guests on the resort but are professional adventurers like all of you. Do you mind if we join you and pick your brains about the ce?" Mrazivy said with her sweetest most innocent smile.

    She was really trying her best to seem as harmless and friendly as possible.

    "Sure, we do not mind. We were afraid you might have been here to cause some trouble at first, but you both seem to be pretty decent." The old man who was the strongest and oldest of the group said.

    With his eptance the others gave their permission and Marcus and Mrazivy pulled up a couple chairs and joined them in their game.

 Chapter 818 818 Infiltrating The Resortâ€™s Adventurers Guild (2)

    While ying cards with the ten adventurers Marcus and Mrazivy did their best to act friendly and ask some questions about the resort while also answering any questions that came towards them.

    Naturally these adventurers were quite curious about them, since such powerful individuals rarely just appeared at the guild here.

    All of the adventurers that worked here had to go through a long process to be approved and it was one of the few guild halls that was not essible to all members of the guild.

    "I see. I figured that the two of you had a high-ss upbringing. So, you used to be nobles but eloped and became adventurers when you were unable to get married due to political reasons. I am sure that gave your families quite the shock." Darian, one of the adventurers they were ying with said.

    When the questioning had gotten around to Marcus and Mrazivy''s origins they decided to use this cover story.

    It was clear no matter how hard they tried that they had not been brought up as the average citizens. Especially Mrazivy who was a princess. As rough as she was for royalty, having be an adventurer in the first ce, she would still be hard pressed to actpletely like a normal person.

    Marcus could definitely get away with it a lot better but figured it would look more suspicious if he acted in a contrasting way to Mrazivy.

    "Yeah, I am sure it was. But being a noble is not all it is cracked up to be. You lose a lot of freedom for your status, and I much enjoy being an adventurer instead." Mrazivy said, knowing full well about being forced into unpleasant situations for political reasons.

    Before Marcus came along, she was poised to be married off to a man she hated in order to help stabilize the kingdom.

    But her father saw more value in her rtionship with Marcus and broke off her previous engagement.

    He certainly may not have been the best father, but his first duty was to the kingdom not his family.

    Still, he was happy that his daughter had been able to end up with someone she loved rather than end up in a forced political marriage as he had been.

    For nearly an hour Marcus and Mrazivy simply yed a causal game of cards with the adventurers to get them to rx and gain a bit of their trust.

    They knew simply asking the questions that they wanted to would get them to m up and start being suspicious.

    ''I think now is about the right time.'' Marcus thought when he saw Brivasvir, the oldest and highest-level adventurers among the group, start to rx.

    Excusing himself, Marcus headed to the guild hall''s restroom and left Mrazivy to gather information from the other adventurers.

    It was clear that they were more likely to open up to her, and she had already been putting on an act as an innocent and friendly person.

    ''She even managed to fool me a couple of times with those innocent smiles of hers. She almost ys this role a little too well.'' Marcus thought as he entered the restroom.

    Once inside he checked around to make sure he was alone and left a miniature iron golem and a dark portal in one of the stalls.<novelnext></novelnext>

    He wanted to be careful just in case some came to check on him and was leaving the iron golem so that it would inform him if anyone came in and the dark portal so that he could return immediately.

    When he felt that his preparations were good enough, he reverted to his ghost form and slipped out of the restroom and headed towards his first target.

    ''Now to see if the people here are getting infected as well.''

    Having found a member of the guild staff all alone Marcus possessed the man that was doing paperwork at his desk.

    Now in control of the man''s body, Marcus focused inwards and began examining his soul for any abnormalities.

    ''Found it. Looks like we were not the only ones that they used these pseudo soul fragments on. And judging by how well integrated it is, I can guess that this person has been infected for some time.''

    After finding what he was looking for Marcus left the body of the guild employee and he immediately copsed onto his desk unconscious.

    He was only level eleven and just a simple administrative worker. He never had any chance of staying conscious after Marcus possessed him.

    ''Now this lends some weight to our theory that everyone on the resort is being infected, but I should aim to get arger sample size before jumping to any conclusions.'' Marcus thought as he located the next unfortunate person he possessed.

    Six peopleter, Marcus had found that every single one of them had the pseudo soul fragment surveince device attached to them.

    Seeing this it was bing more and more unlikely that the adventurers guild was involved and were unwitting victims like everyone else.

    Along the way Marcus also checked numerous documents and eavesdropped on a few conversations, but nothing pertinent came up.

    ''I suppose to be absolutely sure I will need to check on the guild master. If there is any hidden evidence to be found here, it will most likely be in their office.''

    Floating up to the top floor, Marcus began searching around for the guild master''s office, and eventually passed through a wall into a muchrger room than the rest.

    It was undoubtably the guild master''s office and sitting at arge well crafted desk was the person Marcus had been looking for.

    He was actually surprised to see that they were a young-looking woman, but upon noticing her long ears pointed ears Marcus could tell that she was an elf and likely older than she looked.

    "I cannot remember thest time I got an impromptu visit from a spirit, and especially not one as powerful as you." She said, putting down the paperwork she had been looking at and staring directly at Marcus.

 Chapter 819 819 The Resortâ€™s Guild Master

    Freezing up, Marcus did not expect to be noticed the moment he entered the guild master''s office.

    However, the elven woman was looking directly at him and had addressed him clearly.

    Marcus'' first instinct was to flee. He could use a dark portal to travel back to his room in the hotel''s resort, and if that was not far enough, he could go all the way back to Boreal.

    Yet he stopped himself before doing so.

    If he abruptly warped away, Mrazivy would be left all alone and it was possible that she might be found out as his aplice.

    Steeling himself, Marcus solidified his form and decided to face the guild master head on.

    "Oh, so that is what you look like! I have heard of humanoid spirits before, but you are the first I have seen!" The guild master said, excitement and reverence in her voice.

    Except this only baffled Marcus as she had been looking directly at him while he was in his spirit form and while he was intangible and invisible, he still looked the same to anyone that could see him.

    Standing up quickly, the guild master walked over to Marcus and dropped to one knee and bowed her head in a show of subservience.

    This only further added to Marcus'' befuddlement as he really had no clue what was going on.

    "It is a pleasure to meet you oh superior spirit. My name is Lorana Veth, a high elf and member of the royal family of Yeszorwyn. Please, tell me what task you have need for me toplete?"

    Blinking his eyes rapidly Marcus had no idea what the resort''s guild master was talking about.

    He had been sneaking around to collect information on the abnormalities surrounding the resort, he was certainly not a messenger that had sought out the guild master.

    Also, she seemed to be under the impression that he was a superior spirit, the rank right below great spirits.

    ''How am I supposed to spin this?''

    When he had been caught, he figured that he might have to do some exining or even take the guild master out, but her misunderstanding opened up some more options for him.

    ''I believe that the ice elves that live in Glena Reota have close ties to the spirits that asionally appear in the Verkoudhied Mountains. Perhaps this Yeszorwyn ce has a simr connection with spirits.'' Marcus mused.

    An ufortable silence lingered on between him and the guild master as Marcus tried toe up with a n.

    "Yes, I have a mission of upmost importance that I require your help with." Marcus said with the most self-important tone he could muster. "I have discovered a mdy that has infected many people and tracked its source to this resort. An artificial soul fragment that can be used to spy on people has been attached to many people''s souls."

    After spilling the beans on what he had found out, Marcus very intently watched Lorana''s reaction.<novelnext></novelnext>

    If she was involved, it would be almost impossible for her topletely hide her reaction to Marcus'' assertion.

    Nevertheless, while Marcus had been expecting to find that she was involved her reaction was one ofplete surprise.

    "Something so grave is happening!?" Lorana said with an aghast expression.

    "Yes, it is, and I am going to need your assistance to uncovering what is truly going on." Marcus said, continuing the narrative that he had started.

    Of course, he really wanted to ask Lorana several questions about where she was from and what connection it had to spirits but doing so would out him, so he refrained.

    "I have already found that a number of people on the ind are infected, and it is likely that everyone that has ever visited this ind has been as well. You included."

    After Marcus said this fear washed over Lorana. Clearly, she was quite unsettled to hear that she was infected by a pseudo soul fragment.

    In fact, she began breathing heavily and seemed on the verge of a panic attack as she thought more about it.

    Naturally she did not know that it was mostly harmless and only recorded and transmitted audio and visual information. For all she knew it could be activated at any time and destroy or even corrupt her soul.

    "There is no need for panic. The pseudo soul fragment as I call it cannot cause any harm to those infected by it. Though it is because of how benign it is that it has gone undetected for so long. Its only function is to send what those who are infected see and hear back to the source." Marcus said to ease Lorana''s worries.

    Immediately she calmed down and took a deep breath, but soon stiffened up.

    "Does that not mean that whoever infected so many people is already aware of what you have just said to me? My presence is a detriment to you already."

    "No that should not be the case. It is not always sending back a signal to the source, or I would already be able to track it. It only activates at certain intervals for a short time."

    This calmed Lorana down some more and shemended Marcus for having already collected so much information.

    "Now I can remove the infection from you, but I will need to enter my spirit form and interact directly with your soul. I will need you to do your best to not reject me when I do so." Marcus said.

    He wanted to leave no doubt that Lorana was not involved and the only way to do that was to prove she was infected.

    If she was an aplice or even the mastermind, then she would certainly find some way to refuse.

    Yet once again she easily epted what Marcus had said and opened herself up with full faith.

    ''I do not know what kind of revered position spirits have in her kingdom, but she is definitely too trusting. She has left herselfpletely open to me simply because I am a spirit.''

 Chapter 820 820 Making Strides Towards The Mastermind

    With Lorana leaving herself open and defenseless towards him, Marcus took the time to finally use his appraisal skill.

    Before he tried to possess her and see if she too was infected by a pseudo soul fragment, he wanted to check her status out to make sure that he was not about to run into a trap.

    Unfortunately, as she was royalty, she had a powerful magic tool on her that blocked the appraisal skill just like Mrazivy did.

    Yet while Marcus grimaced momentarily and expected her to be wary after noticing his failed appraisal attempt, she instead apologized and took the magic ne protecting her off.

    "I am sorry that I failed to realize that this item might impede your ability to help me. Please feel free to appraise my status now."

    Mentally sighing, Marcus could not believe how trusting she was simply because he was a spirit but went ahead and appraised her.

    ''Looks like she is level sixty-eight and a high elf as she said she is. Her stats and skills are pretty good, but she is not even close to as strong as ric even though he is at a lower level. Though, I suppose it is not fair topare her to someone thatpleted a special dungeon. Oh, and that is how she found me. Looks like high elves receive a race ability called spirit sense.'' Marcus thought as he looked over her status.

    Now that his creature appraisal skill had reached level eight, he could receive detailed information so long as the individual was not a higher level than him.

    Once he had finished checking her status and was sure that she did not have an ability that could potentially harm him, he returned to his ghost form and activated his possession.

    At first her soul offered a reflexive resistance despite Lorana''s assertion that she would not fight back, but she eventually allowed herself to be taken over.

    Searching through her soul Marcus found the pseudo soul fragment attached to her and confirmed that she was indeed infected.

    ''I promised her I would try to remove it and while her trust in me is not as great as Mrazivy''s I should be able to remove it without any lingering damage. Thankfully she is a pretty high level, otherwise my forceful removal could kill her.'' Marcus thought as he gripped the pseudo soul fragment.

    Then with a forceful tug he ripped it free from her soul.

    Immediately she began fighting him again as her very being felt that it was under attack, but she was unable to push Marcus out and simply gave him a bit of trouble.

    Luckily with the pseudo soul fragment in hand he left her body and started using his spirit heal to repair the damage to her soul.

    "I really did a number on her soul." Marcus mumbled as he healed her.

    Not only was her soul significantly weaker than Mrazivy''s but the pseudo soul fragment attached to her was far more integrated into her soul, having presumably been there for some time.

    Nevertheless, while the damage was not insignificant it was not beyond what Marcus could heal.

    In just around five minutes she had regained consciousness, though her entire body hurt from the shock her soul had taken.

    "I am sorry that removing the mdy caused you so much distress, but I have not yet found a way to remove it other than tearing it from the soul it has attached itself to." Marcus said as he helped Lorana up and into a chair.

    It took her a few more minutes of receiving his healing before she was back up to full strength.

    "Can you use spiritual energy to see ethereal beings?" Marcus asked once the color had returned to Lorana''s face.

    "Yes, I can. All members of the Yeszorwyn royal family are taught how to wield their spiritual energy."

    Swiftly she channeled her spiritual energy into her eyes and looked at the pseudo soul fragment he still had grasped in between his index finger and thumb.

    Immediately she recoiled seeing it since she knew that it had been attached to her soul for a fairly long time.

    "If I might ask, when were you assigned to this post?" Marcus said, wanting to get an approximation on how long ago the pseudo soul fragment attached to her.

    "It will be four years in three months. Yeszorwyn has a strong connection to the adventurers guild and I have been chosen to act as a representative while also being a guild master. I was assigned here because it is considered among the safest guilds. Except I was in more danger than I could have anticipated." Lorana said while grimacing at the pseudo soul fragment Marcus was holding.

    "Got it, so you were likely infected some time not long after taking up the position. It certainly integrates itself well into someone''s soul." Marcus said, recalling how well the pseudo soul fragment had attached itself.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Having acquired a bit more knowledge Marcus flooded the surveince device with spiritual energy until it was about to burst.

    Just before it was destroyed it let out a signal that he could tell was still heading in the same rtive direction.

    Yet the angle was certainly quite a bit different and now that his position on the ind was different, he found that the orientation of the signal had changed.

    This told him that wherever it was going was fairly close. If it was far away, then there would not have been such a drastic change in the direction the signal was heading simply by moving to another side of the ind.

    ''There is no doubt now. Wherever the mastermind is collecting this information is within the boundary of the resort.'' Marcus thought, looking towards where he felt the signal heading.

    He still only got a general direction but knowing that it was not traveling hundreds of miles away was certainly helpful.

    Still, this left him with a terrible sense of foreboding as they were much closer to danger than he had originally anticipated.

    ''At least I determined that the adventurers guild is likely not involved. It is still possible though that certain members might be so it will be best if I do not involve them as a whole. Lorana should be fine to coborate with though. She was infected so it is very unlikely she is involved. Plus, her devotion to spirits makes her easy to exploit.'' Marcus thought as he nned his next move.

    He had now aplished what he set out to in the first ce and had all but confirmed that the adventurers guild was not involved.

    If they had been, no matter how much Mrazivy wanted to continue the investigation, they would have had to stop.

    ''Now what should I do with Lorana?''

    Having gotten what he wanted Marcus was at a bit of a loss as what to do with the resort''s guild master.

    He had followed along with the narrative that had presented itself, but he really was not sure how she could help.

    In the end Marcus decided to give her work that he imagined would end up being fruitless and then never show up in front of her again.

    "Lorana, now that I have extracted the pseudo soul fragment from you, there is a very important job I need you to do. Please look through the guild''s records as far back as they exist and find out all you can about the formation of this resort. It is possible that whoever created it to begin with is involved."

    "Understood, I can do that easily enough. But what will you do in the meantime?"

    "There are other threads that I will follow. I wille back in two days, and you can deliver your findings to me then." Marcus said before moving to leave.

    But before he could, Lorana stopped him.

    "Would you mind telling me your name before you go?" she said with a pleading look in her eyes.

    "Sure, that is no problem, my name is Bryvim." Marcus said, lying like it was second nature.

    Smiling, Lorana thanked him before he reverted to his ghost form and phased through the door.

    Once he was out of the room Marcus let out a sigh of relief and floated out of the building before using the dark portal he had set up to return to the bathroom.

    Immediately he dismissed his iron golem and left to find that one of the adventurers that he had left with Mrazivy was just entering.

    "We were starting to get worried, so I came to check on you. Sorry, it must have been rough, but it is good to see you made it through." The man said as he nced towards the stall Marcus had just left with a pitying look.

    "Yeah, it happens to the best of us. Still, it is behind me now." Marcus said while clenching his fists tightly.

    He was certain that Mrazivy was likely to use this as fuel to tease him for several years toe.

 Chapter 821 821

    Returning from the bathroom with the adventurer that hade to check on him, Marcus received several concerned and pitying looks.

    They clearly all thought he had been experiencing some terrible indigestion or something else along those lines.

    Among them one person though was doing her best to contain herughter and an amused smile had crept onto her face.

    ''I knew it. The moment she has a chance she is going to use this against me.'' Marcus thought, seeing the expression on Mrazivy''s face.

    "That took you a bit longer than I expected. Did you run into any difficulties?" Mrazivy said once he sat back down next to her.

    She was doing her best to hold in a snicker and while she was in a roundabout way asking Marcus how his mission had been, it was clear she was enjoying putting him in such an awkward position.

    "Yes, I encountered an unexpected situation, but I managed to resolve everything. But I am sure we can talk about this alter some other time." Marcus said, nodding his head towards the other adventurers at the table.

    "Okay, I will leave it at there for now, but while you were dealing with your own problems, I have had quite the sessful time." Mrazivy said, eyeing the huge stack of coins sitting in front of her.

    The other adventurers had been ying a card game before Marcus and Mrazivy joined, and it was clear that it involved gambling.

    Naturally this made Marcus worried since he already knew that his wife was weak to gambling, but at least she seemed to be winning.

    However, while this is what it seemed like she wanted to convey, Marcus understood the hidden message.

    She was not only doing well at the game but had also uncovered some useful information.

    Of course, they both could have conveyed this information with telepathy, but they were being careful in case someone within range was using the telepathy jack skill.

    For around another hour they yed cards with the other adventurers while asking questions about the ind to not seem suspicious.

    If they had left immediately after Marcus had returned it certainly could have made the adventurers they were ying with distrustful towards them.

    "Come on Mraz. You lost. It was a good run, but you cannot be lucky forever." Marcus said while pulling Mrazivy away.

    Up until thest few hands she had been winning, but a string of bad luck and ys had left her without any money left in front of her.

    At this point she had resolved to simply pull out more and try again, but Marcus already knew where this would lead and dragged her away.

    "No Marcus, just a bit more. We are not even gambling with that much money. I am sure I can win if I just have a few more rounds." Mrazivy said, herpetitive spirit zing.

    She did not like losing, and when it came to games of chance, she was pretty bad at knowing when to stop.

    Thankfully, she stopped resisting when Marcus promised to fix her a special lunch using rare ingredients.

    "This ce should do."

    After they had left the adventures'' guild Marcus and Mrazivy had entered deep into the jungle and were now well off the beaten path.

    They both needed to share the information they had uncovered and wanted to make absolutely sure they were not overheard by anyone.

    To this end they used a number of magic tools to obscure themselves and silence the area.

    Now unless someone used a unique skill or Supreme Skill specializing in surveince, they could not be observed without alerting them.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "You go first." Marcus said to Mrazivy.

    "Sure, to start all of the adventures say that this ce is prettyx and clean, but that there is one thing that is pretty suspicious. Apparently every three nights a shipmentes in that is not guarded by any adventurers and none of them are allowed anywhere near it. The insignia on the vessel is also that of the resort, but the ship is never docked at the resort''s port. In fact, it is never seen except when ites in to make a delivery. I was told that a few adventurers in the past tried to follow the ship but that they did not get far before being found by one of the resort''s higher ups and heavily reprimanded. They were apparently resigned the very next day and removed from the resort. It seems that anyone that tries to investigate this ship ends up in enough trouble to be forced off the Resort." Mrazivy said, telling Marcus the most pertinent information she had gathered.

    She had found out other interesting things, like how the staff seemed to be changed out almost every ten years or so, but they figured that this was due to them all being homunculi.

    "So, what did you uncover?" Mrazivy asked, once she was finished rying her information.

    "First, I can say without reasonable doubt that everyone that visits this ind gets infected. The guild staff I checked all had a pseudo soul fragment attached to their souls." Marcus said, a grave expression on his face.

    He then told Mrazivy about his encounter with the guild master and all he had learned from it.

    "Also, I was wondering if you knew anything about the kingdom she is from?" Marcus asked.

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy just shook her head.

    "Sorry I have never heard of the Kingdom of Yeszorwyn. I at least memorized all of the nations on the same continent as Borealia, so it must be located somewhere else and has no rtionship with us. I am sure thought that we can find out more thought the adventurers guild since they are connected to the organization as well."

    Now that they both knew all of the information the other had gathered, they began making their next n.

    "It is good that we know that the guild is not involved, but this is still a dangerous thread for us to be following. We need to be very careful with our next move." Marcus said.

    He did not want Mrazivy to start sting her way towards the mastermind. Certainly, they might be able to get concrete information if they integrated one of the resort''s staff members, but then they would also be found out.

    Right now, their greatest asset was that they had not been discovered yet, but the moment they were it would make things far more difficult for them.

    "Okay, then I think we should investigate this ship. It is very likely that the pseudo soul fragments are being transported on it." Mrazivy suggested.

    Marcus, however, was not so sure.

    "It honestly might just be something else that they do not want people to find out about. I am pretty certain that whoever is orchestrating this has their base located within eh Resort. Surely, they have a better means of moving things from their base to the Resort proper. I think it is more likely that something from outside the area is being brought in." Marcus said.

    "Yes, but even if it is not the pseudo soul fragments themselves, it could be the emissary items to make them, or maybe something else that is sinister in nature. I think looking into this ship is a good idea if we want to gather as much information as possible." Mrazivy said, vehemently wanting to follow the lead she had uncovered.

    "Fine, I admit that there is likely some merit to it." Marcus said, giving in.

    It was the best lead they had other than him simply floating around the general area where the base was likely located until he found it. Which was not something he really wanted to do at this point, since it could easily alert the mastermind to his presence. They were obviously already adept at using spiritual energy since they had been making artificial souls and likely had means to detect snooping spirits that were trying to break into their base.

    Caution was the most important thing to Marcus right now, and he was fine with taking things slowly until they knew exactly what they were dealing with.

    "Now that we have decided on what our next move is going to be, do you know when the next shipment ising in?" Marcus asked Mrazivy.

    "Yeah, I heard that it is supposed to be arriving tomorrow night, once pretty much everyone other than the night watch is asleep."

    "Got it, then we can spend the rest today and tomorrow rxing until then. Even if this ce is a sinister plot to infect people with a surveince device, it still is a top-of-the-line resort." Marcus said, still wanting to enjoy a bit of a normal honeymoon with Mrazivy.

    Luckily, she agreed, and the two of them decided that for the rest of the day and tomorrow they would have fun on the beach before beginning their investigation of the mysterious ship the next evening.

 Chapter 822 822 Ship Investigation

    After two days of rxing fun on the beach and swimming through the walled parts of the ocean, it was finally the night that the mysterious ship was to arrive.

    ''Mraz, are you in position?'' Marcus asked.

    ''Yeah, I should be high up enough to where no one can easily see me, and I have a full visual on the resort.'' Mrazivy responded.

    ''Got it. Keep an eye out for the ship for me. I am ready to go whenever it arrives.''

    Floating just beyond the gate of the resort, Marcus waited for their target to arrive.

    While he did that, Mrazivy was positioned several miles up in the air and looking down at a wide range to keep an eye out for the ship''s approach. Her vision was good enough that she could see clearly over vast areas that far exceeded what Marcus could.

    This made her perfect to act as a lookout, and for Marcus to be the infiltrator.

    As much as Mrazivy wanted to sneak onboard as well, there was simply too much disparity between their stealth skills. Under most circumstances Marcus waspletely undetectable.

    ''Anything yet?'' Marcus asked after nearly two hours had passed.

    ''No, as far as I can see there are no ships on the horizon. But it is supposed toe in like clockwork from what I was able to gather so it should honestly be within the range of my sight by now if it is going to be on schedule.'' Mrazivy said with a frustrated tone.

    However, all they could do was continue to wait for the ship to arrive.

    Time seemed to move by incredibly slowly as they kept and eye out for their target, until finally, Mrazivy spotted something from her position high in the sky.

    ''Marcus it just appeared!'' Mrazivy shouted over their telepathic connection.

    Coming out of his stupor Marcus became immediately alert and looked out towards where he expected it to being from.

    Yet it was still not in his range of sight, so he asked Mrazivy where exactly it was going from.

    ''The ship is in front and slightly to the right of you. But when I said it appeared, I meant that it suddenly just warped out of nowhere! Even though it is not arge ship, for it to be equipped with the ability to teleport is preposterous. It must take an immense amount of mana to move it from ce to ce that way.''

    Marcus could hear the shock and awe in Mrazivy''s voice, and hepletely understood.

    He had a unique skill that essentially allowed him to warp from one ce to another and it took quite a bit of mana for him to create a portal just for himself. Plus, his unique skill had stiptions to it that prevented most individuals from using it. He could not imagine ho many resources it took to teleport an entire ship around.

    Nevertheless, Marcus could not just keep floating around stunned by this information and quickly began flying towards the ship.

    He wanted to finish his investigation of the vessel before it reached the resort and would likely have far more security around it.

    But now he had far less time than anticipated since it had simply appeared only thirty miles away from the resort''s wall. Far enough away to not be spotted warping in by the guards on the walls, but close enough to where the remaining journey would not take very long.<novelnext></novelnext>

    At the very least this meant that the ship did not have any extra escorts and Marcus only needed to worry about whatever defenses were already there.

    Soon enough the sleek ck vessel came into view and Marcus could immediately see that it was well guarded.

    ''Yep, those are homunculi as well. Though they are far stronger than the ones that serve as staff on the resort.'' Marcus thought while examining the people he could see on the deck of the ship.

    It was not veryrge inparison to the cruise ships, being only around a hundred feet long and only having two decks.

    ''The cargo hold must be pretty small, but whatever it is carrying should be important. If we are lucky, it will be bringing in the pseudo soul fragments.''

    Steeling himself, Marcus floated down towards the deck and carefully examined the area.

    He had rarely run into magic enchantments that could detect him while ethereal, but they did exist, and he needed to watch out for them.

    Thankfully, while the vessel did have plenty of magical formations to keep it protected and undetected, there was nothing that was a threat to Marcus so long as he stayed in his ghost form.

    Still, he proceeded with caution, nheless. He had walked into plenty of situations where he was detected unexpectedly. The most recent one being his encounter with the resort''s guild master that was still fresh in his mind.

    ''Crew quarter, crew quarterˇ­ ah the cargo hold!''

    After searching for around a minute Marcus found what he was looking for.

    Inside the cargo hold were a number of sealed crates and a dozen guards that were all geared up in adamantine armor.

    Frankly it could be considered excessive protection, but it showed just how much the mastermind behind the resort valued these shipments.

    Unfortunately, their defenses were ill equipped to deal with Marcus and he simply pashed his head into one of the crates and looked inside.

    The first thing he saw was a white powder that brought up an illicit substance he remembered from Earth.

    Except on closer examination, he found that it was not any sort of drug but finely ground bone dust.

    ''What the hell?!'' Was all Marcus could think seeing this.

    Unsure why simple bone dust was being so carefully guarded he slipped out of the first crate and into the next.

    What he found there was more of the same, and it was not until he searched the sixth crate that he found something else.

 Chapter 823 823 Ship Investigation (2)

    With wide eyes Marcus nearly lurched back out of the crate he had just entered when he saw what was inside it.

    Folded up andyered on top of each other were the skins of numerous different creatures.

    Some were beasts, others were monsters, but most disturbingly were the ones that had obviously belonged to people.

    Pulling his head out Marcus was beginning to have an inkling as to what the contents of this ship were meant for.

    But before he came to any conclusions, he looked through a few more crates and came across another fairly disturbing set of items.

    Bags of blood like those one might see when receiving a transfusion were stored in a crate that had been magically enchanted to stay cold.

    The next unique item Marcus found was a crate filled with phosphorus, followed by one that contained carbon.

    There was now little doubt in Marcus'' mind that what was onboard this ship was supplies to make the homunculi that were working as staff at the resort.

    Of course, another possibility floated in Marcus'' head, and he imagined that all of this stuff could just as easily be used for necromancy as well.

    ''Perhaps it is even both.'' Marcus thought, a grimace on his face.

    He then checked on the rest of the ship and found a secondary cargo hold.

    Inside this one, instead of things like blood and bone dust, there were all manner of highly valuable items.

    Marcus found crates with high quality elemental crystals, a few bars of adamantine, and even a crate filled with processed celestial tinum ingots.

    It was honestly a veritable treasure trove of items, some of which Marcus did not even recognize.

    ''I can guess that this is where arge portion of the revenue generated by the resort goes. No wonder the prices are all so absurdly high. Whoever is running this ce needs an immense amount of funds to buy all this stuff.''

    Once he had finished searching the vessel''s two cargo holds, Marcus began searching for the magic device that allowed it to teleport.

    Magic that warped space was rare, and he honestly did not have much knowledge on formations that allowed for teleportation.

    When he found the device thought, he balked at how absurd it was.

    Sitting at the heart of the ship was an amethros mana furnace that had all manner of formations etched into it.

    It was fairlyrge considering it used such a rare and precious resource and Marcus imagined that it probably was made out of around the same amount of amethros as all of the gear he and Mrazivy had.

    For a few moments Marcus honestly thought about simply stealing the device and abandoning the mission to find the resort''s mastermind.

    ''No, the moment I take it we will be found out. Maybe I can grab itter, but for now I should try and study the formations on it.'' Marcus thought.

    Yet despite all he knew about magic enchantments he could barely make heads or tails of this device.

    He simply did not have that much experience with space magic formations. The only thing he had in his possession that was even rted was the spatial disrupter which impeded space magic, but that did not help him to understand what was going on with this amethros mana furnace.

    ''I will just have to worry about this another time.'' Marcus thought before looking over the rest of the vessel.

    He was just about finished when Mrazivy informed him that the ship was about to reach the resort, and he decided to leave without checking thest couple rooms.

    ''Better safe than sorry. I already checked the most pertinent areas. And for all we know the person in charge could be waiting to receive this stuff personally, and I do not want to meet them just yet.''

    Phasing through the hull of the ship, Marcus found himself only a couple hundred feet from the resort''s wall.

    This was closer than he had been hoping to get and he swiftly flew farther away, before heading up into the sky.

    Several miles above the resort he met back up with Mrazivy who had been keeping an eye on things from above.

    "So, what did you find?" She asked him the moment he reappeared.

    "There were a lot of interesting and even a few unsettling things on that ship. But I could not locate the pseudo soul fragments." Marcus said.

    He then gave her a list of everything he had discovered being transported and at the end told her about the amethros mana force that was used to teleport the ship around.

    Marcus also made sure to tell her about his hypothesis for what most of the items were likely being used for.

    "I do not know anything about making homunculi, but if you think that is what all that stuff is for, then I will believe you. Still, what makes you think that?" Mrazivy said, a curious expression on her face.

    In all her time knowing Marcus he had never once dabbled in a simr subject, and she wondered where his knowledge on the matter came from.

    "It is mostly just a hunch, but back on Earth we had some old myths and a number of fantasy stories detailing how a homunculus is made. A lot of the things on that ship are simr or even exactly the same as what I remember hearing about. Of course, to my knowledge no one ever sessfully made an artificially human back on my old world, and it was all just fiction."

    Once Marcus had finished rying everything he had found abord the ship, Mrazivy told Marcus that she had found something herself.

    "One of the warehouses on the resort is currently teeming with activity. I imagine that is where all of these items are going to be stored. I believe that once things have cooled down a bit we should investigate and see where everything is being taken after it is stored away.

 Chapter 824 824 Into The Mastermindâ€™s Layer

    "Okay, that sounds like a good n." Marcus said agreeing with Mrazivy.

    Surely if they followed the goods that were being transported on the teleporting ship, they would eventually find where the mastermind was.

    Nevertheless, Marcus still had some trepidation about going further.

    They could be about to poke their noses into something they could not handle.

    Certainly, they were considered very strong inparison to most entities on Mirrion where they were currently at, but there were still plenty of people, monsters, and beasts more powerful than them.

    Among their associates Marcus could count seven that neither of them stood a chance against even now.

    ''I suppose if things get really bad, we can call Boreas for help.'' Marcus thought, gripping the golden piece of wood he had been given.

    His resolve steeled; Marcus decided to continue going for as long as Mrazivy wanted despite the unsettling feeling he had.

    For nearly an hour they watched from high up in the sky as everything was unloaded from the ship.

    The homunculi that were doing the work moved quickly and without wasted movement and all of the cargo was seamlessly stored into the warehouse.

    After that the teleporting ship left the confines of the resort, and when it was out of sight it warped away to wherever it hade from.

    ''I really did want that amethros mana furnace, but we have a worldwide conspiracy to uncover that is more important.'' Marcus thought, a disappointed expression on his face.

    Another three hours went by while Marcus and Mrazivy made sure that there was no more movement in and out of the warehouse.

    "Seems like the coast should be clear. Marcus, would you mind going to check inside? There are no windows so I cannot tell if the ce is empty." Mrazivy said, after she confirmed that thest person to go in hade out.

    Nodding his head, Marcus reverted to his ghost form and began floating down towards the warehouse.

    Once he had made it to the ceiling he checked for any traps that might detect him, but there was nothing there to stop an ethereal being.

    Easily enough he slipped through the thick wall into the warehouse, only to be stunned by what he saw.

    Despite the ce having just received a sizable shipment and having dozens of crates brought into it, the ce waspletely bare.

    ''Where is everything?!''

    Naturally Marcus was confused by what he was seeing.

    All of the cargo had been brough into his ce but now it was all gone.

    At first, he wondered if it had been stored into several dozen high-capacity magic bags, but if they had the capacity to do that, they would have done so already instead of having all the items in crates.

    Quickly enough, Marcus realized that the most likely scenario was that there was a hidden door or area within the warehouse that led somewhere else.

    ''I suppose I can just keep passing through things until I find it. Still, this is going to be a pain.'' Marcus thought while internally sighing.

    He could not see anything when he phased throughpletely solid objects, and he did not like just wandering around looking for an opening he was uncertain existed.

    With no better idea that would not get him noticed, Marcus flipped upside down and dunked his head into the floor.

    He was going to look for some sort of hidden underground hatch and to do so he started in one corner.

    Systematical he went from one edge of the building to another, searching the entire area with his head being underground.

    Unfortunately, even after thoroughly searching through the floor, Marcus failed to find anything.<novelnext></novelnext>

    He admittedly had not gone too deep for fear of disorienting himself and identally getting lost, but still he figured that some sort of hatch would have to be near the surface to be essed.

    ''Perhaps there is something in the walls then. Though since the ship can teleport, it might be that the connection is through a teleportation circle which would bepletely useless to us.'' Marcus thought, imagining the worst-case scenario.

    There was simply no way he was going to get onto a telportaion circle he did not know the destination of and if that was how the goods had been moved out of the warehouse then all of this would end up being a dead end.

    Thankfully that was not the case and after searching through the abnormally thick walls Marcus found what he was looking for.

    ''So, this is how they moved all of those crates out of here.''

    In one of the walls Marcus had found a fairlyrge cargo elevator. It could easily hold ten of the crates at once if no people were in it as well, and with how efficient the homunculi were at moving things he could imagine they seamlessly transferred all of the goods into this elevator and sent them underground.

    Having found what, he was looking for Marcus left the warehouse and went to inform Mrazivy.

    "Looks like we finally found a way inside to the base of whoever set this ce up. Now we can sneak in and see what else we can find." Mrazivy said enthusiastically.

    "Mraz do you really want to keep going? Things are surely about to get more dangerous" Marcus said.

    He knew that his wife was not stupid, but he wanted to make sure she knew what they were really getting into here.

    "Yes, I have already considered that we could be in over our heads, but this is our discovery and our path to follow. We have already gone into dangerous situations without knowing what was waiting for us before. What is going on here is not just a threat to Borealia, but the entire world. We do not know what the information being collected from several thousands of people is being used for. Certainly, we could turn a blind eye to this, but what if in the future our decision came back to bite us. I know I would never forgive myself if we could have stopped a catastrophe but did not because we were afraid." Mrazivy said, a determined look in her eyes.

    "Okay, you have won me over. This could be the biggest mistake of our lives no matter what we pick so we might as well go all in."

    A bright smile on her face Mrazivy thanked Marcus before asking him what approach he thought they should take.

    "The warehouse and elevator have plenty of defenses to keep outsiders from sneaking in, but the enchantments are a degree under what is in the castle. I should be able to disable them without being detected so long as you help me." Marcus said

    Immediately agreeing, Mrazivy followed Marcus back down to the warehouse and they began their operation to break in.

    "I see them. There is a detection enchantment here, one that activates a lightning magic attack if the door is not properly opened here with a key, and over here is one that sets of an rm." Mrazivy said, pointing out the location of the traps on the side door they were using.

    While Marcus could detect the traps with his skill, understanding their intricacies could take a bit of time, but with Mrazivy''s dragon eyes she could receive information on what they did immediately.

    This was an immense help and allowed Marcus to work faster while also not having to worry about hitting a trap that somehow evaded his detection.

    As long as Mrazivy focused on something while using her dragon eyes she would almost always know exactly what it was and did.

    The moment the door was open though, she groaned loudly since the warehouse was packed with enchantments.

    "This is going to take a while. She said before telling Marcus everything that was in their way.

    Eventually they did manage to reach the elevator thanks to their coborative effort. Mrazivy would identify all of the traps and Marcus would use his glyph tuning skill to disable them temporarily.

    Now they were at the elevator door and with a bit of tinkering Marcus managed to get it open without activating any traps that would alert the enemy to their presence.

    "How are you doing, Mraz? You look pretty tired." Marcus said, a tinge of concern in his voice.

    "I will be fine. Just the first time I have used my dragon eyes so many times in session. It takes a good deal of mana and focus depending on what I am trying to appraise." Mrazivy said, rubbing her head to try and ease the bit of difort she was feeling.

    "Here, drink this. We both need to be at our best before going any further."

    Taking the potion from Marcus, Mrazivy downed its contents and began to feel better right away.

    "Now let us go see what awaits us here." Mrazivy said, striding into the elevator with Marcus right behind her.

 Chapter 825 825 What Lies Below The Resort

    Once inside the elevator alongside Mrazivy, Marcus essed the panel to activate it and closed the door without moving the elevator.

    "This should do." Marcus mumbled after examining the floor of the elevator.

    He then used his glyph tuning skill to disable all of the enchantments within the elevator for a short time and got to work.

    No matter how stealthy he and Mrazivy were, if they used the elevator as it was intended, they were likely to make some sort ofmotion that could be noticed.

    To avoid this, instead of actually using the elevator, Marcus was going to use his iron magic to open up a hatch in the floor.

    "It certainly goes down for a long way. I cannot see the bottom." Mrazivy whispered to Marcus.

    In terms of seeing in pitch darkness she could see farther than him, but still the bottom was beyond her sight.

    "I suppose all we can do is drop down and see what is down there. From here on out stay behind me and keep your eyes out for any traps. Also, we should not speak from this point onward. Try to use gestures or if we really need tomunicate use telepathy." Marcus said, wanting to be extra cautious.

    He was wary of an enemy having the telepathy jack skill and picking up on their conversations, or there possibly being some enchantment that might even be able to detect suchmunications.

    With this preparation ready, Marcus took the lead, reverting to his ghost form so as to not trip any sort of security.

    Mrazivy followed behind him by about a hundred feet and kept her eyes moving around in search of any enchantments that might have been etched into eh walls.

    However, their vignce proved to be unnecessary.

    The walls of the elevator shaft did not have any sort of security measures added into them and they reached the bottom without any issue.

    ''They certainly put tis ce deep underground. I would say we are about fifteen hundred feet below the surface now.'' Marcus thought.

    It was certainly pretty deep, but he imagined that this was done to prevent anyone from finding the ce and so that it was well below the ocean to prevent possible flooding.

    Swiftly the two of them checked around the bottom of the shaft to make sure all was safe, and when they were certain that it was Marcus pashed through the doors that would normally open for the elevator when it descended.

    On the other side he was surprised to find a long and wide tunnel that had what looked like rail tracks.

    ''I guess we are still far from the main base. I imagine that they must use some sort of vehicle to transport all those supplies since everything is already long gone.''

    At the very least Marcus discovered that there were no guards or people of any kind, and after disabling the few security enhancements in the area he opened the door for Mrazivy.

    Yet as she passed through the doors Marcus noticed a sullen look on her face.

    It was clear that she was a bit upset about not having anything to really do and that she was holding Marcus back.

    If he was on his own, he would not have to worry about disabling so many enchantments and could scout the ce much easier.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Still, he just smiled at her and made a fist with one hand and smacked it into the other.

    He was telling her that if it came down to a fight he would feel much better to have her with him and that going slower was a small price to pay.

    Thankfully this brightened Mrazivy''s mood quite a bit and she returned his smile.

    Taking flight the two of them sped down the tunnel with Marcus remaining in the lead in his ghost form.

    This way he could already Mrazivy if there were any homunculi or other entities ahead.

    Eventually the long tunnel came out into a massive room that gave Marcus and Mrazivy pause.

    All around them were very unusual things that neither of them had ever seen before.

    ''Sometimes I really wonder if this world is really a normal fantasy world and not one that is a hidden science fantasy.'' Marcus thought as he looked around.

    Along the walls of the room they had entered were numerous ss capsules filled with liquid where homunculi were being grown.

    Some of them were nearly fully grown adults while other capsules simply contained all manner of ingredients that had not formed into a recognizable body yet.

    In the center of the room there was arge mana furnace that had what looked like a monitor attached to it.

    Moving out from the furnace where a number of pathways carved into eh ground that were made purely of an alloy of celestial tinum and mithril that was feeding mana into the pods.

    Truly it looked more like something Marcus expected to see from a show that''s title began with star, than a world of magic like Mirrion.

    There was also another unsettling development in the massive capsule room and that was the workers.

    Instead of more homunculi, everything moving in the room was a manner of undead.

    None of them were practically high level orplicated, and all of them were moving with fairly robotic movements.

    Nevertheless, is was a bit of an unsettling sight to watch dozens of humanoid skeletons moving around the ce.

    ''This makes it clear though, the entity that created this ce is not only adept at creating new life through homunculi, but also manipting the dead.''

    Seeing all the undead moving about, Marcus began remembering hisst experience dealing with a necromancer and grimaced.

    At that time, he had only been on Mirrion for a couple of months and barely knew much of anything.

    It was the first time he had also fought a demon and the undead, and was certainly not something he looked back on fondly.

 Chapter 826 826 Mastermind Behind The Resort

    With a deep frown on his face Marcus turned towards Mrazivy and beckoned her forward.

    When she arrived, he made sure that she stayed out of sight while observing the surroundings as well.

    Soon she was wearing a simr frown to Marcus and an air of tension had built up around her.

    Using both of her hands she pointed one behind her signaling that she wanted to head back the way they came and the other she tapped her head with to inform Marcus she wanted to use telepathy to converse.

    Nodding his head, he agreed and the tow of them flew back deeper into the long tunnel where it was far less likely that anyone would pick up on their conversation.

    ''I was really hoping that your hunch that necromancy might be involved was wrong, but it seems you were right.'' Mrazivy said using her telepathy, a deep grimace on her face.

    ''Yeah, I wish I had not been right as well. Just all the bone dust and the skins gave me a feeling. I found simr things when I fought a necromancer in the past.''

    ''I don''t think you have ever mentioned that to me before. When did this happen?'' Mrazivy asked.

    Swiftly Marcus gave her an abridged version of what had happened and told her that it was not a fond memory that he liked to ry which is why he had not told her before.

    ''I suppose so long as you dealt with the problem it is fine. Necromancy is ouwed by the adventurers guild, so a practitioner within Borealia could have caused some problems.''

    A confused expression, Marcus had never heard this before. He figured it was likely frowned on in most civilized cultures, but it was another that it was banned across the entire adventurers guild.

    Catching onto this Mrazivy exined that while necromancy was not inherently evil and there were records of a few necromancer that used their powers to protect their homes and were considered champions, plenty more were regarded as horrid viins that caused unimaginable tragedies.

    It was apparentlymon for necromancers that wanted more and more power to eventually create an undead creature they could not control, which would then be a blight on thend it inhabited after it killed its creator.

    Hearing this remined Marcus of one of the taboos of forging which was the creation of undead weapons. Thabon had mentioned that whenever one of these were sessfully created, they would turn everything around into a wastnd devoid of life.

    ''Well at the very least the necromancy here does not seem to have lost control of his creations. Otherwise, I would doubt they would continue to move so orderly.'' Marcus said, offering up a small bit of positive news.

    ''Yes, but that means that whoever made them is still around and likely the one in charge who made this resort, or at least a confidant. Whatever is going on here could be incredible dangerous to the entire world. An informationwork that can see and hear every action of some of the most powerful people in numerous nations is under the control of a necromancer. They could have been building up their strength for centuries and preparing tounch an attack on life itself.'' Mrazivy said, expressing what the worst-case scenario could be.

    And while Marcus hoped that was not what was going on, it was certainly possible.

    ''Still, I doubt that a single individual even with an undead army could take over the world. The other great spirts are around to prevent something like that from happening.'' Marcus thought to himself.

    He then asked Mrazivy whether they should simply contact the adventurers guild to assemble a raid force, but she shook her head.

    ''No, we do not know if any higher up within the guild is connected. We have ruled out the guild members on the ind since they are infected as well, but that does not exonerate then entire guild. And even if none of them are involved the being running this ce has likely the best surveince system in the world. We are probably already working on dwindling time before they catch on. We found this ce and it is our job to follow it to the end. If we are out of our depth, we need only call in Boreas for backup.''

    Sighing Marcus could not disagree with Mrazivy''s logic, and finding out exactly what was going on and what they were up against was imperative. It was possible they had stumbled upon something bigger than they ever imagined.

    Going back to the room they had found, Marcus scouted out a path for Mrazivy to take so they could head deeper in without being noticed.

    They wanted to find the control center where the information that was being gathered by the pseudo soul fragments was being transmitted to and destroy it if at all possible.

    Of course another goal was to take out the entity behind everything happening here, but only if they were something they could handle.

    As of right now they had not idea if they were up against a person, monster, or beast, but it was clear that whatever had created this ce was high level and very intelligent.

    ''We are defiantly getting closer.'' Marcus thought as he held up a hand to stop Mrazivy.

    He had found a passageway that was far more heavily guarded than anywhere else, and it clearly led to somewhere important.

    The number of detection and defenses enchantments as well as their quality had vastly increased.

    Thankfully, none of them were beyond what Marcus was capable of disabling. It would simply take him time.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Naturally he could have always left Mrazivy and headed on alone without bothering to disarm anything, but he knew she was liable to do something dangerous if he left her back, and having her around wasforting if they could into a battle.

    ''At least there are no undead watching the area. Whoever set this ce up probably thought it unlikely anyone could get this far undetected.'' Marcus thought as he called Mrazivy over.

    With her using her dragons eyes to help, he began work on disabling the enchantments, until they finally came to arge sliding door that was sealed tight.

    Behind it Marcus and Mrazivy felt that it was likely that they would find what they were looking for.

    So far, the two of them hade across all manner of facilities, but not the one that rted to the pseudo soul fragments.

    The entity behind this ce also remined elusive and was possibly behind this door.

    essing the enchantments on the door using his glyph tuning skill Marcus changed the parameters on the rm to not go off when he and Mrazivy went through and made it so the defenses were turned off for the next five minutes.

    With that done Marcus opened up the door ever so slightly and allowed Mrazivy to slip through before he closed it again.

    Yet on the other side of the door, they were met with a foul and sinister aura that permeated the area.

    It was oppressive and Mrazivy was visibly sickened by it to a slight degree.

    This was an aura of powerful undeath and something Marcus would have exhibited as well had he been a normal ghost.

    In this presence it was clear that nothing weak willed could live, and Marcus guessed that anyone under level forty would die just by being in the vicinity of whatever was creating this aura.

    Looking into the room, neither of them could see any sort of entity where they currently were, but farther in voices could be heard muttering.

    Along with walls were shelves filled with all manner of books and ingredients, and with a quick nce Marcus could tell that they were horribly unorganized.

    ''I suppose that this might be where things that are not sued regrly are stored.'' Marcus thought after a cursory nce.

    Some of what was on the shelves actually looked rather interesting, but since he had more pressing things to deal with Marcus pushed down his curiosity and carefully continued forward.

    Soon they found a set of stairs that led up to room above which moved away from where the voices wereing from.

    Using her eyes Mrazivy motioned towards stairs, indicating that they should go up first.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus did as Mrazivy wanted and ascend the stairs.

    At the top they came into a well decorated room that looked like arge and opulent studio apartment.

    Yet despite how nice it looked; it was clear that the room had not been used in a while.

    Unfortunately, nothing of major importance was found here, other than the discover that whoever had designed the ce was likely a man judging by the clothing they had found.

    ''I suppose it is time we bite the bullet and see what we are really up against.'' Marcus thought, looking over at a balcony that would overlook where the voices wereing from.

    Carefully opening the door, Marcus and Mrazivy peered down and finally got a look at the entity that had created the resort and was using it to infect people with a nearly undetectable surveince device.

    Looking down below they saw five individuals, four of which were clearly a manner of undead.

    The fifth, who they could easily tell was the strongest, looked mostly like a normal human at first nce, but on closer inspection, it was clear they were undead as well.

    His skin was even paler than Marcus'' despite the fact that he was a ghost, and when it caught any form of light it was partially see through.

    ''He''s a lich.''

 Chapter 827 827 Discovered

    After taking a minute to examine the leader of the group of undead, Marcus was almost certain that they were a powerful undead known as a lich.

    He hade across a few entries about such beings within his reading at the adventurers guild and Borealia''s royal archive when searching for information on ghost kings and fonts of death which he needed in order to achieve his evolution.

    ''Thin pale skin that is translucent, hair that is bone white, eyes that are red like blood, and an aura of oppressive death. Four characteristics that a lich is said to possess.'' Marcus thought while looking down upon the mastermind behind the resort and his undead minions.

    Of course, these were characteristics of a few other undead creatures, with Marcus himself having a couple of them as well, so he could not be one hundred percent certain in his ascertain. Still, he got the feeling that such a powerful being was likely to be a lich, since it was one of the highest ss of undead in the same vein as a ghost king.

    ''If only Mraz could use her dragon eyes to appraise him. But if she did that, there is no doubt he would notice.''

    Without knowing exactly what the lich was capable of, both Marcus and Mrazivy were unsure how to proceed.

    They could judge a decent amount without any skills simply thanks to experience and they both could tell that this lich was stronger than them. Albeit, not by such a degree that they would be instantly crushed.

    He was not giving off the same level of pressure as Boreas, Ja, or Ardea did, and was closer in line with the Archdevil that Marcus and Lilia had fought.

    Unfortunately, it was not just the lich, but also four powerful undead minions as well.

    None of them were even close to as powerful as their creator and Marcus and Mrazivy felt they could take on all four without too much trouble, but with the lich being in the equation as well, their chances were not the best.

    ''It is best we retreat. We managed to at least gather a decent amount of information. Now we have an approximation of the power for the lich who likely created this resort to infect people. All we need to do is gather our forces and strike as one. With our beastpanions along with James and Fallon, we can likely overrun this ce without any trouble.'' Marcus thought, forming their next ns in his head.

    Yet when he was about to gesture to Mrazivy that they should retreat a most unfortunate situation urred.

    A panel on the back wall within the room near the bed opened, and a skeleton dressed in the clothing of a butler that had previously been hidden came to life.

    With shock on their faces, Marcus and Mrazivy stared at the skeleton with dumbfounded expression.

    So far, they had managed to avoid any encounter with the undead creatures roaming around through the facilities under the resort, but now a stroke of bad luck had them face to face with one of them while in their of a lich.

    In a sh Mrazivy moved to destroy the skeleton, but it was already toote.

    The moment before she crushed its skull, the skeleton let out a loud shirk that alerted every denizen within the undergroundplex that there were intruders.

    A cloud of white dust exploded from Mrazivy''s hand, but there was no satisfaction on her face.

    She had failed to dispatch the enemy before a warning signal was let out and now she and Marcus were in grave danger.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Mraz, head back the way we came as fast as you can and fly back towards Borealia one you are out. I will hold them off for as long as I can before retreating." Marcus said while turning towards the direction of the lich and his subordinates.

    However, Mrazivy shook her head and stayed where she was.

    "No, I will fight with you. We at least have a chance together. We need only activate the emergency signal Boreas gave you and hold out until he arrives." Mrazivy said, a resolved expression on her face.

    Marcus wanted to retort that it would take too long for Boreas to arrive and that he could escape on his own easily after she had gotten away, but he never got the chance to.

    One of the lich''s minions had jumped up onto the balcony and was exuding a hostile aura towards them.

    With a quick appraisal Marcus found out that the entity before them was called a phantom armor and was at level seventy-four.

    Its entire body was made of adamantine and it wielded an adamantine sword and round shield.

    In a sh it unleashed a sh towards Marcus who was the closest to it.

    Except its de passed right through Marcus as he turned the targeted area of his body ethereal.

    Then to counterattack, he pointed his right hand forward and unleashed aser spell directly at the phantom armor''s chest.

    The spell hit with an incredible amount of force and knocked the phantom armor off of the balcony but failed to do much actual damage.

    ''Its magic resistance is really high.'' Marcus noted from this one exchange.

    "Marcus, two more havee up the stairs!" Mrazivy shouted.

    She had already taken out her amethros saber as was staring down a woman where exquisite clothing and jewelry whose race was listed as zombie empress, and a skeleton champion wearing adamantine armor and wielding arge tower shield and a halberd that were also made from adamantine.

    The zombie empress was level seventy, and the skeleton champion was level sixty eight.

    Neither of them was as strong as the phantom armor Marcus had just repelled, but they were honestly the least of Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s worries.

    The lich along with his final minion had ascended into the air and were staring down at Marcus and Mrazivy who found themselves surrounded and outnumbered.

 Chapter 828 828 Confrontation With The Lich

    With enemies covering both the stairwell and balcony, Marcus and Mrazivy were left with no path to escape.

    To one side was the zombie empress and skeleton champion, and on the other was the lich and an ethereal looking entity that was vaguely humanoid in shape but wrapped in shadows and having two piercing golden glowing eyes.

    The tension in the air was palpable as both sides stared each other down.

    "To think that intruders could make it this far without my noticing." The Lich said, his tone conveying how genuinely surprised he was.

    He then turned to the shadowy figure next to him and said, "Alyna, take over the girl while I restrain the man."

    An instantter the being cloaked in shadows floating beside the lich disappeared, having turned fully ethereal.

    It was immediately clear from the lich''s words that he intended for his subordinate to possess Mrazivy, but Marcus was not going to let that happen.

    In a disy that surprised the lich and his subordinates, Marcus disappeared as well, and intercepted the dread wraith known as Alyna.

    The two shed in their ethereal forms, and quickly Marcus overpowered his enemy who could not stand to be in the presence of the intense lighting off of him.

    Mrazivy made her own move during the confusion Marcus'' disy had created.

    Swiftly she activated her draconic transformation and unleashed her powerful ice breath attack at the zombie empress and skeleton champion.

    The area that was already extremely cold from several powerful undead presences, suddenly dropped in temperature even further and Mrazivy''s targets werepletely engulfed in ice.

    Without any hesitation the skeleton champion had moved in front of the zombie empress, but Mrazivy wide ranged attack had easily immobilized both of the powerful undead.

    With those blocking her way now frozen she ran towards the stairs, while Marcus reappeared and brought his scythe down on top of the stunned lich.

    Unfortunately, his attack did not reach his target, as a powerful barrier erupted around the lich and forced Marcus back.

    ''Try this on for size. Phoenix Fire!''

    As he was blown back Marcus held his right hand forward and cast a tier seven fire magic spell.

    A huge amount of his mana coalesced into his hand and took on the shape of a colossal ming bird.

    Its mouth open the beast of fire Marcus had conjuredunched forward and swallowed the lich in a ming inferno.

    Yet before the attack went any further, the mes that made up Marcus'' spell began to shake rapidly and disperse.

    When the mes had beenpletely snuffed out, Marcus could see that the lich was unharmed and that a dark glowing sphere had appeared above the lich''s head.

    At the same time the entire area shook, and Marcus looked down to see Mrazivy shing with the phantom armor he had blown away earlier.

    This proved to be a mistake as the lich used this momentarilypse in attention to start his counterattack.

    "Why don''t you stay still for a while." The Lich said, reaching out his hand and making a grasping motion towards Marcus.

    An instantter arge transparent hand formed around him and grasped ahold of him.

    The hand then promptly disappeared, but Marcus till felt as if he were being gripped tightly and could not move.

    Sensing that he had been hit with some type of immobilization spell of skill, Marcus used his recently acquired Supreme Skill Ultimate Refresh to eliminate the status condition.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Now freed from his binding, much to the lich''s astonishment, Marcus turned towards Mrazivy and sued his Light Speed Movement unique skill to move next to her.

    He had moved so fast that it seemed that he simply appeared next to her and the Phantom armor barely had time to brace its shield and block Marcus'' attack.

    His amethros scythe sliced deep into the phantom armor''s adamantine shield and nearly cleaved it in two thanks to its immense power and vastly superior quality.

    Mrazivy followed up with an attack of her own and with a blindingly quick sh sent the phantom armor flying once again.

    ''Sr re.''

    Their immediate obstacle out of the way, Marcus raised his left hand and fired his tier three light spell into the air.

    A sh of blinding light illuminated the room and taking Mrazivy''s hand Marcus rushed towards the exit while their enemies were blinded.

    However, they did not make it far before a cage made of wind surrounded them.

    ''Guess the lich can use wind magic.'' Marcus thought seeing this.

    Still despite the obvious barrier in their way, neither Marcus nor Mrazivy stopped their charge forward.

    In fact, Mrazivy took the lead and activated her Rapid sh unique skill and her Strongest Dragon Supreme Skill.

    ''Heaven''s Rending.''

    Her sword in hand Mrazivy made multiple high-speed shes all at once and sliced through the powerful tier eight wind magic spell that was meant to restrain them.

    It seemed that this would allow them to finally escape, but the door they were heading for abruptly closed and the defense systems within the lich''sir began to activate.

    Mrazivy struck the door with all her might, but a dense barrier protected it. And while she shattered the barrier, the door remained unharmed by her first attack.

    This dy was enough time for the lich and his forces to reorganize and with their back against the wall Marcus and Mrazivy were face to face with the five powerful undead once again. Albeit not having the ability to catch them off-guard so easily again now that their enemies knew what they were capable of.

    "You have no where to run. Simply cease resisting and I promise no harm wille to either of you." The lich said, believing that he had them well and trapped now.

    Of course neither Marcus nor Mrazivy believed for an instant that they would be unharmed if they simply surrendered and instead prepared to make a stand.

    Her eyes shing gold and taking on a reptilian appearance Mrazivy looked at the lich''s status and fed the information to Marcus.

    ''It is as you suspected, he is from Earth just as you are Marcus. He has the Personal Status unique skill which only those from another world have. Along with that he is level eighty-five and has five unique skills. His physical stats are far lower than his intelligence and spirit stats, and he is clearly a master of magic. We need to hit fast and hard with physicalbat and try to take him out first since he is the real threat.'' Mrazivy quickly transmitted to Marcus with telepathy.

    Nodding his head, he prepared to activate his Soul Burst unique skill andunch and all-out attack alongside Mrazivy.

    Except before they came to blows again the dread wraith who had been hiding behind the lich in her ethereal from jumped out in front and held her hands up to stop the battle.

    It was a surprising gesture for both sides to see since it left herpletely open, and Marcus and Mrazivy faltered for a moment.

    "Is what you just said true? Are you really from Earth like us?" Came a sweet and innocent sounding voice from the dread wraith named Alyna.

    Confusion was clear to see on Marcus'', Mrazivy''s, the lich''s, and his other subordinates'' faces.

    A secondter, Mrazivy whispered to Marcus, "She has telepathy jack. She heard our conversation. And she does have the Personal Status unique skill."

 Chapter 829 829 The Undead From Earth

    Receiving the information from Mrazivy that not only the lich was originally from Earth but also the dread wraith Alyna, Marcus asked her to appraise the other undead using her dragon eyes while the battle was halted.

    Swiftly checked all of their statuses'' quickly and located the unique skill that marked them as all havinge from Earth.

    ''It is as you suspected, each of them has the Personal Status unique skill.'' Mrazivy quickly ryed to Marcus.

    Of course while learning this did make him feel a sort of kinship towards all of them since they were from the same and also undead, it did not change the precarious situation Marcus and Mrazivy were in.

    "Alyna, what are you talking about. I already checked both of their statuses'', neither of them is from Earth. Now stand aside so we can apprehend them. I am sure you know that we cannot simply let them go free." The lich said, clearly still hostile.

    Seeing this Marcus snapped out of his contemtion, and began running through his head the best way for them to escape.

    Frankly they were in a fairly tight spot, but the dread wraith Alyna interposing herself in between them and the other undead gave Marcus and Mrazivy a perfect opportunity.

    They could easilyunch their strongest attacks right at her, and catch all of the undead off-guard.

    After that Marcus could stay behind and distract them long enough for Mrazivy to get away.

    It was a fairly sound n, and one that was likely to seed, but they needed to act fast since Mrazivy had already activated her Rapid sh unique skill and was running out of time before she was hit with its bacsh.

    Giving Marcus a look Mrazivy was telling him she would follow his lead and had her sword poised tounch an attack.

    Yet, while this would be their best chance to strike back, Marcus could not bring himself to do so.

    Currently tensions were running high between their two groups, but a nagging voice in the back of his head was telling him not to attack.

    "It is as you said I am from Earth like the five of you. I have a unique skill that can change hat information my status shows which is why you did not find it when you appraised me."

    Then before he was questioned, started spouting off random words fromnguages back on Earth.

    He was certainly only fluent in his native tongue, but he knew a few phases in most of the more widespreadnguages.

    This clearly worked to garner the attention of the five powerful undead, who recognized that the words Marcus had just said surely came from Earth.

    "Seeing that he now had their attention and that hostilities were starting to wane Marcus said, "As we all share the same home and simr circumstances with my being an undead as well, I believe that we cane to an understanding. Please allow mypanion to leave unharmed and I will stay and we can have a serious discussion."

    Unfortunately, Marcus had not obtained enough goodwill yet to make such a demand and the lich outright refused.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "No, I am open to speaking with you, but I cannot allow either of you to leave. I have worked too hard and for too long to keep this ce hidden to leave anything to chance."

    Tensions began to rise again, but Marcus was not willing to back down.

    "I can tell that you all care for each other which is why I believe we can negotiate, but just like you I am willing to fight to the end to protect what I care about. You can let my wife leave or we will fight with all we have to get out of here and likely destroy each other in the process." Marcus said, his voice sharp and offering no room for negotiation.

    For a few moments the lich who was obviously in charge hesitated on what to do, but when it was clear that Marcus was about to strike out, Alyna brough an end to the hostilities once again.

    "Fine se can leave if you stay." Alyna said.

    An instantter the sealed door opened, and Marcus nodded to Mrazivy to go.

    Naturally she did not want to leave Marcus down there alone, but understood that if they were not going to be fighting that her presence put him at a disadvantage.

    Her form shimmered for a second and using all her speed enhancing skills, she began making her way back up to the surface faster than any of the undead could keep up with.

    "Alyna, why would you do that?!"

    "Now those on the outside are going to learn about us!"

    After the dread wraith Alyna allowed Mrazivy to escape, the lich and zombie empress began chastising her.

    "Cassius, Soren, go after her and bring her back if possible. Kill her if you must." The lich said to the phantom armor and skeleton champion, panic seeping into his tone.

    Before they could take a step though, Marcus willed his scythe over to them and had it stab into the ground in front of the two undead that were about to pursue Mrazivy.

    "I said I would stay and talk if you let her go. Of course, if you want to fight, I do not mind." Marcus said, radiating confidence.

    He did not think he could actually win a fight against all five of them, but he was certain he could hold them off long enough for Mrazivy to get far away and then slip away himself. In terms of running away, he was very confident in his skills.

    "I think we should hear him out. He might be able to help us." Alyna said, a tinge of desperation in her voice.

    At this point the lich had a frustrated look on his face, but eventually let out a sigh and agreed. Knowing that Mrazivy had already escaped their grasp and that fighting would get them nowhere.

 Chapter 830 830 Tense Discussion

    "You said you wished to talk, but why were you sneaking around down here in the first ce. We did not make it ease for this location to be discovered, but you managed to make your way down here without being discovered until you were right on top of us. Surely you are not just some looters looking for valuable items?" The lich said, his suspicion of Marcus still obvious.

    Naturally he was not in the best of mood since his secret base had been discovered and Mrazivy had slipped away with information that could bury him and his friends.

    "No, we were not here to steal from all of you. We are here because we discovered those pseudo soul fragments that you have been infecting people with." Marcus said a bit harshly.

    He was feeling a bit less hostile towards all of them now that he knew that they were from Earth like he was, but that did not change the fact that they were surely behind what was going on here.

    Surprise was the first reaction from the five undead, as they surely did not expect that someone had caught on to their greatest operation.

    "Listen, it is not what you think." Alyna said to Marcus.

    It looked like she wanted to borate further but the others gave her harsh looks and she shirked back.

    Seeing this Marcus had to stifle augh since he never thought he would witness a shadowy humanoid undead monster acting this way.

    ''I suppose that they are all like me in a way though. They may have ended up as undead, but they still retained their humanity.''

    Thinking about it this way helped Marcus to understand them a bit better and he was certain that they could likely have a productive discussion based on their simrities.

    For a few moments everything stayed silent, and Marcus looked at each of the undead and from their subtle expressions realized what was going on.

    "You know if you keep having a telepathic conversation like that I am just going to have to spend some of my skill points to get the telepathy jack skill so I can listen in." Marcus said.

    This caused the lich and the other four undead to momentarily wince as they had been using telepathy to speak with each other so that Marcus could not here them.

    The phantom armor who had certainly taken the brunt of Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s attacks turned towards Marcus and gave of a hostile aura.

    "I think we should just kill him now and worry about the girl that escaped afterwards. We have already been discovered, so we might as well get rid of this guy before any of his other allies show up. Just because he is from Earth as well, which I am still not wholly convinced of, that does not mean we should trust him."<novelnext></novelnext>

    In response to this, Marcus just shrugged and looked towards each of the undead and waited to see their reactions.

    Among them only the phantom armor and zombie empress gave him clearly violent reactions. While the lich and skeleton champion seemed conflicted, and Alyna the dread wraith looked like she did not want to fight at all.

    Things may have calmed down momentarily but it was still a fact that Marcus and Mrazivy had snuck in and the group of undead from Earth that had made this ce their base were extremely wary now that they had been discovered.

    "No, I already said that we could talk. Let us at least hear him out for now. If ites down to it, we can just kill himter." The lich said, having made up his mind.

    The others seemed to fall in lien with him since he was the highest level one among them by far and held the greatest authority.

    "Now, how did you discover what we were doing here? It should be almost impossible to detect the pseudo soul fragments as you called them. And we make sure to vet anyone strong enough to possibly notice and exclude them." The lich asked.

    Raising an eyebrow Marcus shook his head and said, "I already answered one of your questions, I think it only fair that you answer one of mine."

    Unfortunately, the lich just red at him as did the other undead other than Alyna.

    "You broke into our home and destroyed one of my servants and did who knows what else while you were here. We are only having a civil conversation right now because of Alyna and the fact that you are likely from Earth as well. I doubt that many inhabitants from this world would know all those random phrases you spouted out, but we have no real way to confirm you are really from Earth since you can hide your skills. Now answer our questions or I will use my mind magic to control you." The lich said, frustration and a hint of fear in his voice.

    Marcus just scoffed at this though. He knew that the lich had actually already tried to use his mind magic on him and failed thanks to Marcus Still Mind unique skill that made him immune to mental tampering.

    "Enough bluffing. If you could control my mind you already would have done so." Marcus said, a fierce look in his eyes. "Now I will make you a deal. I will answer three more of your questions and then you will answer one of mine. Frankly, it is in your best interest to tell me what I want to know since I am actually giving all of you the benefit of the doubt since we all came from the same ce. At first our only goal was to scout the ce out and determine what was going on before destroying this ce as a threat to the world."

    After hearing this the phantom armor who was named Cassius looked ready to charge Marcus and run him through, but Alyna moved in front of him in order to calm him down.

    Tensions had spiked again now that Marcus had voiced his original intentions and the lich along with hispanions all looked visibly shaken.

    Naturally they knew what would happen to them if the world atrge knew exactly what they were using the Resort they had created for.

 Chapter 831 831 Tense Discussion (2)

    The atmosphere had be quite heavy after Marcus voiced his original purpose for venturing down into the hiddenplex below the resort.

    It seemed that the undead from Earth running the ce were one push away from breaking now and simply attacking him again in a fit of panic.

    Luckily, the lich calmed down since Marcus was giving them a chance to exin rather than just going ahead and moving to have them destroyed thanks to all of them having simr origins begin from Earth.

    "Let us continue this discussion somewhere else. This is not the ideal location to hold a lengthy discussion." The lich said, beckoning everyone to follow him.

    Some of his undead allies looked to not be fully onboard with this, and still wanted to silence Marcus here and now, but they followed their leader''smands.

    For a moment Marcus hesitated to follow since there was a chance this was a trap, but he did not sense any such intentions from the lich and was confident that worst case scenario he would have to use his revival unique skill to escape.

    Swiftly the lich brought Marcus to a room that had arge table in it and sat down at the head.

    The other undead followed and took seats by the lich''s side, and left several seats open for Marcus to choose from. Naturally he picked the one farthest away.

    When he did all the undead had forlorn expressions appear on their faces for a moment, before returning to the stoney visages they had been wearing.

    This piqued Marcus'' interest but he held back on asking anything. Now was not the time to delve into whatever emotions had marily stirred among these undead.

    "You said you would answer three of our questions before assign one of your own, so to start, answer what I asked you earlier." The lich said, fixing a stern look towards Marcus.

    "That is simple enough to answer. It is because I am a ghost and noticed when the thing you created attached itself to me. I then promptly destroyed it, and my wife and I began looking into the source. We were very surprised to have stumbled upon something like this when on our honeymoon."

    After he said this Marcus received a bunch of bewildered stares from most of the undead, but the skeleton champion despite only having a skull to make expression with fixed him with what looked like a jealous gaze.

    "So, you really are a ghost, an undead like us." Alyna said.

    She had shed with Marcus in spiritual form and been defeated by him, but she was still unsure if he was really an undead or had just used some sort of unique skill to transform.

    The other undead except for Cassius the phantom armor had all seen Marcus disappear as well and nodded their heads now that their suspicions were confirmed.

    "Still, if you are a ghost why do you not give off any aura of undeath and how do you move around so freely? As strong as you are, your aura should be nearly as dense as mine, and ghost should be bound to something. Be it revenge or a location. But no matter how I look at it, right now your presence feels like that of a human." The lich said, a perplexed look in his eyes.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The other undead all had simr expression, and Marcus found this to be understandable.

    He was far from a normal ghost, having been transferred to Mirrion as apletely unique existence in the form of an unbound ghost.

    Then he had further moved away from the norm by bing a great spirit along with being a ghost. Making him an even more usual entity that was both an undead and a spirit.

    Thanks to this he actually had a presence that was closer to that of a spirit than a ghost.

    "Let me just say that the administrator had some fun at my expense and turned me into a ghost from the moment I arrived on this world. Iter became a spirit as well, so that is why I do not give off the presence of a normal ghost or am bound to anything." Marcus said, not going into any more detail.

    Nevertheless, this garnered all of the other undead that originally came from earth''s attention.

    "I see, at first I thought that you might have been like us, but it seems I was wrong." The lich said.

    Marcus wanted to further inquire about what he had just said, but instead told the lich that he had one more question before it was his turn to start answering.

    "Very well. Who are you affiliated with, and what have you already told them about us?" The lich asked.

    From the tone in his voice and the expression on his and hisrades'' faces, Marcus could tell that they were pretty nervous about his answer.

    ''I am sure that depending on what I say here will determine whether they start trying to destroy me again or not.'' Marcus thought.

    He could tell that if he told them that he had already spilled what was going on here to a powerful organization that the undead would likely resort to killing him and then attempting to flee.

    Though the question of why they had not already abandoned the ce after Mrazivy escaped was something that was bugging Marcus.

    If they were really afraid about being found out their best course of action would not be to converse with him, but to simply flee.

    "I have only told two other individual about this ce and what is going on here. So, including my wife that is only four of us. One is the guild master of the adventurers guild branch on this ind, and the other is a man named Boreas who is likewise from Earth and an ally of mine. As of right now though I do not believe that the adventurers guild as a whole have been informed."

 Chapter 832 832 Tense Discussion (3)

    Sitting back in his chair Marcus patiently waited to see how the lich and hispanions would react.

    It was quite possible that they could begin attacking him if they believed that a threat was already imminent.

    "Vira, where are you going?" Alyna asked when the zombie empress stood up.

    "We may not be able to touch the girl that escaped or the man named Boreas, but the guild master is within our reach. I will go and bring her back here so that we can wipe her memories."

    However, before she took a single step the lich held up his hand and motioned for her to stop.

    "There is no need to go after the guild master right now. If what he said is true, then we have already been soundly defeated."

    The lich then turned towards Alyna and she nodded her head.

    "I see, so one of you can detect lies." Marcus said seeing this interaction.

    He had wondered why they were taking everything he said at face value and not questioning him at all, and this was the most likely exnation he coulde up with.

    Of course, he was not absolutely sure, and he was making a confident assertion on the matter in order to fish for information.

    "Yes, Alyna has a unique skill that can detect lies." The lich said his voice having be a low growl.

    He then mmed his hand into the table and created arge dent in its metal surface.

    The others seeing this were confused and concerned, but Marcus had an idea as to why.

    "You know who Boreas is, don''t you?"

    His fist clenched and a clear look of distress on his face the lich nodded his head.

    "Yes, I have observed him before through my surveincework that you discovered." The lich said, fear in his eyes.

    He knew how powerful Boreas was, and that he and the other undead here would stand no chance against him if he intervened.

    "I should have seen it earlier even if you have changed your hair colors. You are Marcus Ferrous and the woman who was with you is Mrazivy Borealia."

    This time it was Marcus'' turn to be shocked by the informationwork the lich had.

    Frankly he did not expect him to connect the dots so easily and figure out who he was.

    "That is correct. Though I am a bit surprised that you have heard of me."

    "Spare me. You must know that I can obtain information from almost anywhere. There are plenty of high-ranking officials in Borealia that are my eyes and ears. Your wedding was not long ago and was talked about all throughout an entire kingdom. Even if not extensively, I know who you are."<novelnext></novelnext>

    His identity discovered Marcus felt his advantage slip away ever so slightly. Now if he made an enemy of these undead, they knew who he was and he would need to be careful of retaliation against those he cared about.

    "I think that is enough about me. I have answered your questions, so now it is my turn to ask one." Marcus said, a serious glint in his eyes.

    "Very well, you have answered everything I asked truthfully. Go ahead and ask you question."

    "I do have many things I want to ask all of you, but there is really only one that matters. What is your goal? What is it you n to aplish by infecting so many people with a nearly undetectable surveince device? Depending on your answer, I may have to deal with you all as threats to the entire world."

    With his gaze fixed on the lich Marcus waited for a response.

    His body was incredibly tense as he awaited an answer, and he could image being attack again as the lich and hispassion moved to silence him.

    Luckily none of the undead present directed anymore hostility towards him and instead all had somber expression on their faces.

    "Our objective is simple. We only want two things. To free ourselves from these inds and to return to being human again."

    After hearing this, Marcus'' serious look turned to one of bewilderment.

    ''They want to be human again. So, did they not turn themselves into undead to begin with? And what about being freed from these inds. Are they somehow stuck here?''

    Numerous questions began flooding into Marcus'' mind as he tried to figure out exactly what the lich''s answer meant.

    But when he went to voice his questions, the lich did not answer.

    "You said I would only need to answer one of your questions. Now it is time for another of mine. Would you be willing to help us?"

    There was obvious desperation in the lich''s eyes as he asked this, and Marcus could easily tell that the other undead felt the same.

    "I cannot promise anything until I hear the full story. You say that you want to be human again and escape from these inds, but I have no clue what is going on here. Exin yourselves and then I wille to a decision."

    Nodding his head, the lich agreed. He could tell that he had been backed into a corner already and that his only real hope was to win Marcus over.

    "All of us have been alive on this world for over four hundred years now. Well I am not sure that we can really call what we have life, but we exist. It happened simrly to each of us and many more. We were abducted and brought here to be experimented on."

    A visible grimace came over the lich''s face, and it was in to see that remembering what had happened brought him an immense amount of pain.

    "Daniel, if it is too much for you, I can exin instead." Alyna said, a look of concern in her glowing yellow eyes.

    "No, I will do it." The lich affirmed. "I just need a minute to gather my memoires and steel myself."

 Chapter 833 833 The Lichâ€™s Past

    Once the lich had finished preparing himself, he began to retell the painful memories of how he ended up on this small chain of inds and became an undead.

    "It was several centuries ago now since all of us arrived on this world from Earth. One minute I was going about my day as usual, having gotten on the train that would take me to work, and the next thing I knew I was dead. Apparently, the train derailed and killed several people, and I was one of them." The lich said, recounting how he first died.

    His story was then simr to Marcus'' in how he was given the choice toe to Mirrion on descried to keep his original body.

    However, unlike Marcus he did not start off as an undead but as a normal human.

    "Things went well for the first few months. I am sure you know this, but level forty is fairly high level for the most part, and I was able to use the skill points I had to purchase plenty of useful skills. I was making a name for myself as a healer having picked up healing magic and other skills that helped me to be a doctor. But I should have known better than to stand out so much all of a sudden. That is how I got discovered by the ones that brought me here."

    The lich clenched his hands hard enough to see his thin skin start to tear against his bones as he remembered being taken.

    It took him a good two minutes to get his emotions back under control, but he eventually resumed telling his story.

    "I was simply minding my business, closing down the clinic I set up in the city I had found by following the road I originally appeared on. It had seemed like a usual day, until three people came in after hours. They told me that the represented one of the lords of the city and that they needed my services. They were well dressed and showed me arge pouch of money, and foolishly I epted. I was captured without even being able to put up a fight, and when I awoke, I found myself in a cell with manacles that sealed my manatched to my hands and feet. Later I found out that I was on a boat, and when I finally saw the sun again, I had been brough to a remote ind where a grand facility had been built. For a few days they simply left me in another cell and wore me down by leaving me isted and giving me only the bare minimum of food and water to survive. I tried everything I could. Buying whatever skill I thought might help me escape, but nothing worked. Normal skills that I could purchase at the time were simply not enough."

    The lich then took another pause before continuing, and Marcus looked at each of the lich''spanions and found that they had simr expressions of pain on their faces.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''I imagine that they all went through pretty much the same thing. Now that I think about it, I am really lucky that I ended up in Borealia. Even when they found me out, they still treated me well. Going so far as to make several amodations for me. I do not even want to think about ending up as someone''sb experiment.'' Marcus thought. Shuddering at what his fate could have looked like if just a few things had been different.

    "After they had left me alone for about five days, I was brough before the man who was the head researcher and he examined all of my skills. Noting that I had obtained some more since being captured. He then told me that if I cooperated that he would let me leave the ind, and in my desperation, I did whatever was asked of me. Some days I would be forced to kill people they called criminals, others I was thrown in a room of crippled monsters and beasts and made to power level myself. Of course, when I leveled up the person in charge of me would tell me what skills to spend my points on and any failure to do so was met with harsh punishments. One time just to test what would happen I purchased a random skill and was put into an istion chamber for three weeks. And that was a light punishmentpared to what others received as Iter found out."

    The lich then turned to each of hispanions and asked if they had anything they wanted to add.

    None of them did though and simply shook their heads with grimaces on their faces.

    "Nearly a year went by like that and when they figured that they had broken me I was subjected to the true purpose of this ce. They wanted to create loyal immortal soldiers by turning people originally from Earth into all manner of powerful undead. We could pick whatever skills we wanted without having to do anything but use skill points, so when directed what to do, they could make anyone with the skillset the required. The organization these people belonged to spanned an entire continent and they controlled things from the shadows. They had abducted dozens of people like us from Earth and turned us into undead. I still remember when the necromancer they employed ripped my soul in half and tried to anchor it into a binding magic tool that would give themplete control over me after I became a lich. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how I look at it, their attempt failed. Instead, my spilt soul became bound to the area instead and now I cannot leave."

    Suddenly, Marcus felt the lich''s presence all around him and could see that the lich was glowing.

    ''I see, a part of his soul really is bound to the area. It is simr to when I was bound to Irene, but on a far grander scale. Even from just feeling this I can tell that he would die if he tried to undue this forcefully.'' Marcus thought, contemting if there was anything he could do.

    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 834 834 The Lichâ€™s Past (2)

    Now that Marcus knew that the lich was bound to the area Marcus understood why he and hispanions had been so desperate to keep him and Mrazivy from escaping.

    As strong as the lich and the others were, if a truly powerful organizations like the adventurer''s guild set their sights on wiping them out, they would be able to put up little resistance.

    "What about the rest of you though, are all of you bound to this ce?" Marcus asked.

    "No, only Alyna and I are bound here. As a dread wraith Alyna is a type of ghost like you, but she is not able to freely move about. The others can leave the area if they want." The lich responded.

    Nodding his head Marcus, looked at the phantom armor, skeleton champion, and zombie empress.

    Of the three of them only the zombie empress Vira could pass as human. Since other than gray skin and red eyes she looked fairly normal. With the right magic items or even makeup and a set of contacts she could easily pass for human.

    The others though would certainly not be weed in the outside world. Powerful undead were considered monsters of the most dangerous order, and Cassius the phantom armor and Soren the skeleton champion would be hunted if they left the safety of their hidden base.

    Marcus only managed to get by himself since he was able to nearly perfectly disguise himself as a human. If the world atrge knew he was a ghost, he would not be weed.

    "Now we can talk about that alter. There is still much I need to tell you about what happened after I became a lich and a failed experiment." Daniel said.

    "Yeah, I can gather that you managed to turn the tables on them at some point, since you are running the ce now. Did you suddenly gain enough power to defeat them after bing a lich?"

    Marcus had assumed that the failure to bind Daniel properly to the magic item that was meant to control him had allowed him to finally take action with his new powers as a lich. But he was actually far from right.

    "No at the time I was weakened terribly by having my soul spilt, and the transformation knocked me unconscious for several weeks. By the time I awoke again, precautions against my new form had been made. And even if that had not been, I was far from in the right mental state to fight back. Everything was still hopeless in my eyes."

    After bing a lich and deemed a failed experiment Daniel was all but forget about. The researchers on the ind would still do experiments on him from time to time to try and figure out what went wrong, but they hardly needed a specialized undead operative that could only be used within the vicinity of their base.

    "In those times I slipped further and further into madness, but eventually an opportunity came to me that helped me focus my mind to a new goal." Daniel said, looking towards Alyna.

    She then exined that she ended up a failed experiment just like Daniel had.

    Instead of trying to turn her into a lich, the goal had been to kill her with an ornate dagger that was popr with nobles at the time and have her posses it as a vengeful spirit. They could then tactically have the dagger end up in the possession of affluent individuals they wanted killed and Alyna who had be a powerful dread wraith would do the rest.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Of course in this situation they would have pretty much no control over her, but most ghosts with enough resentment to kill did not have any reason left in them to follow orders. Instead they would eild her power as more of a time bomb that they could sneak into their enemies homes.

    "However, when they were in the middle of torturing me in order to break my mind and turn me into a wraith I frantically did all I could to prevent myself from going insane." Alyna said.

    In ast desperate attempt she had sunk all of her skill points into a skill called madness resistance, and even when she was turned into a dread wraith she retained her sanity.

    Nevertheless she had be a vengeful ghost but instead of being attached to the weapon that killed her as intended she became site bound instead.

    "I was able to get away though since they simply thought they failed to turn me into a ghost. My new ethereal form allowed me to phase through walls and escape. But of course, I could not go far, and the sunlight now burned me." Alyna said with a downcast expression.

    Unable to flee she instead looked for allies to fight back against those that had kidnapped and experimented on her.

    "Even with the madness resistance I still felt a deep desire to get revenge on those that had killed and tortured me." Alyna said, bitterness in her voice.

    Hearing his Marcus understood a bit more of the story and turned back towards the lich.

    "So Alyna found you and you teamed up to take the ce that had imprisoned and experimented on you down. I imagine you both rounded up the other people and managed to sessfully fight back." Marcus said.

    He could imagine that it would be practically impossible to contain a bunch of high level, pissed off undead if they worked together.

    Yet his assumption was once again wrong.

    Alyna and Daniel were never able to fully put their n into motion.

    They had been preparing for years to take out those that held them captive, making alliances among the other captives that were still sane, and preparing the best they could to strike back.

    "In the end though, the organization''s copse had very little to do with us and we only managed to kill a few of the stragglers at the end."

 Chapter 835 835 The Lichâ€™s Past (3)

    Once the lich had finished exining that his and hispanions'' sess in escaping the clutches of the people that had abducted and experimented on them, Marcus could see a look of clear dissatisfaction on the lich''s face.

    Even after all this time he was disappointed that he had not been able to achieve the full revenge that he wanted.

    "So, what happened? I imagine that this organization became destabilized for some reason or another and allowed all of you to easily escape." Marcus said, wanting to know exactly what had happened.

    He was finished making guess on the way he thought events would have gone down, and instead just wanted to hear what urred.

    "The event that crushed the organization that held us here is considered one of the greatest cmities that ever urred on this world but for us it was a great boon in many ways. In fact, a monster of a simr danger recently appeared, but was stopped without causing nearly as much damage. I am sure that you know of what I am talking about, seeing as how you live in Borealia." Daniel said.

    Realization swiftly hit Marcus and he recalled an event that happened around four hundred years ago and shook the world.

    "I see, so it was the first doomsday monster that nearly destroyed an entire continent around four hundred years ago that allowed you all to escape."

    "Yes, a terrible monster that killed millions is what we have to thank for our freedoming swiftly and unexpectedly." Daniel said, an almost nostalgic smile on his face.

    He then exined that after the Dread me, the first Doomsday Monster appeared, the organization that had been experimenting on him and the other transfers from Earth was forced to shift all of its attention tobating a new overwhelming threat.

    "Most of the personnel here that possessed anybat skills were called back to fight and this ce was only manned by a skeleton crew. Some of the other people that had been turned into undead that were more under their control were taken to fight the Doomsday Centipede, but none of them survived. Within just two months tis facility no longer had the personnel and resources to contain us and we easily broke out. We then ughtered those that had remined and took this ce over for ourselves."

    "At that time, we rejoiced, but there was honestly little for us to celebrate. Some of us were stuck here and the majority of us had already been turned into undead. A few of the newer people that had only been recently brought to the ind as new guinea pigs were able to return back to society since they were still human, but of the nearly three dozen of us that had escaped at the time, that only ounted for four of us." Daniel said, his expression turning sorrowful.

    An with but a quick nce at hispanions Marcus understood.

    There were only five individuals left here now and he imagined that the other people that had been turned into undead an escaped did not meet happy ends.

    "You do not need to go into detail about what happened next. I think I have heard enough of your story to understand what is going on."

    Marcus could see that telling this story was painful for all those present and he did not believe there was any reason for them to continue to force themselves any longer.

    "Thank you for your consideration, but I want you to hear the rest. It will not take much longer. Not much has honestly changed in all these centuries."

    "After we got free it became clear within just a few days that we could be separated into four different categories. Those that we still human that I told you about earlier, those like us here that wanted to return to being human, others that were fine living as undead, and sadly thergest group at the time, the ones that had been driven mad and retained practically nothing of their humanity."

    Even with their captors killed new problems sprouted up quickly among them and the first was putting down the people that were no longer sane. They had been reduced to being practically mindless undead and Daniel and the others that retained their sense of self had to kill the ones that were no longer able to be considered cognizant entities.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Hearing this, Marcus could not help but grimace, as he remembered the time when he nearly lost himself. It was easy for him to imagine a scenario where he would have to be put down like a sick dog if he let his Soul Devour unique skill get the better of him.

    "Once we had finished what we considered mercy kills at the time, we were stuck in arguments for several months. In the end we spilt off into a group that stayed here to try and return to being human and a group that was fine with being undead and just wanted to leave. The rest is as you already know. Those of us that stayed here set up this resort in order to lure powerful people here and infect them with the soul infused surveince devices I created when trying to figure out how to untangle my soul from this ce. Our goal is to hopefully locate a unique skill orb or anything else that has the ability to restore us. And we have found a couple in the past, but we were unable to obtain them in time before they were snatched away." Daniel said, his entire demeanor showing the regret he felt.

    At times they had seemed so close to finding the solution that they yearned for, but in the end, they had made no real progress in bing human again.

    ''I cannot image the amount of resolve that they have. Within just a few months being stuck at the center of the world I was close to going crazy. But they have held out for centuries, never giving up hope. Even with all they have lost.'' Marcus thought, after having heard the lich''s full story.

    A quick nce around an he was able to see that there nine chairs around the table they were currently sitting at, and he was certain that there used to be other people that would have upied them.

    Naturally Marcus was curious, but he knew that this question would only open old wounds, and he could specte on what happened easily enough.

    "Now I have told you about us. You know our reason for making this ce and I hope that we have convinced that we do not mean the world any harm. We only want to return to being human." Daniel said, a pleading look in his sunken eyes.

    Marcus nodded his head; he could tell that they were not lying.

    "Still before I agree to anything there are a couple of other things I want to know. First, I discovered the ship that you have transporting rare and unusual supplies. Among them were human remains, some of which were quite ghastly."

    For the first time the lich winced when he heard what Marcus had found.

    It was certainly not something that would help endear them to Marcus.

    "I can exin. I will not lie; we use those for our necromancy experiments and to create servants for us. The undead predominantly work down here while the homunculi work above. I am sure you noticed but any weak living being that got near us would almost certainly die immediately. Our auras are like poison to the living. And I promise that we do not indiscriminately ughter people. We only collect the remains of those who have already perished. Normally from executed criminals." Daniel said, frantically trying to exin.

    "Very well, I am not personally okay with desecrating other people''s bodies after they are dead, but I understand why you did it and believe what you said. Now what of the homunculi? I want to hear more about them as well."

    Thankful that Marcus was still willing to hear them out Daniel exined that the facilities to create homunculi already existed within the area of the resort when it was still just a research facility and that they had reposed them for their own needs.

    "We need individuals that could act as humans in our stead and so creating homunculi was the best we could do rather than trying to rely on someone from the outside. They are the ones that run the resort and gather items for us on the outside world. Of course, we do not just keep them in servitude for their entire levels. Typically after ten years we send them off with ample resources to live a good life and wipe their minds of the ce if they choose to leave. Some do leave while others stay for their entire lives and help us."

    "Okay, I get that you are not inhumane, but what I was really asking was how they are created, not questioning your morality. I have already decided that you are not malicious and that helping you should not cause any problems." Marcus said.

 Chapter 836 836 Freed

    When the lich and hispanions heard that Marcus had already decided to help them, the tension on all of their faces instantly vanished.

    Each of them had been fearing that he would consider them too dangerous to be kept alive and decided to bring in the cavalry to destroy them.

    "Of course, there is a condition for my help. You must destroy the surveince system that you set up. That thing is far too dangerous. I know that you all are just using it to search for ways to be human again, but if at any point some one with more dangerous ambitions got ess to it, the entire world could be thrown on its head." Marcus said, his tone grave.

    In the wrong hands the ability to watch and hear thousands of high ranking officials and wealthy merchants could be used to incite unimaginable chaos. He could easily imagine what a powerful demon could do with it all, and it was not pretty.

    Naturally the lich was hesitant to agree to this. He had set up the surveince system that was practically undetectable over several centuries of work, and it was pretty much their only way to get information on the outside world.

    "Are you sure? If you are helping us out, then I do not mind giving you ess to our intelligencework. As a spirit you would be able to easily tap into it and receive the information faster than even I can. We have gathered more knowledge here than likely anywhere else on the, I am certain you would find it very valuable." Daniel said, trying to appeal to Marcus.

    And while it was tempting Marcus could only shake his head.

    "I understand what you are getting at, but what you have made is just a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. I am sure right now if you wanted to you could destabilize several nations by simply leaking the secrets you have learned about the nobles and officials that have visited this resort, right?" Marcus asked his left eyebrow raised.

    Nodding his head, Daniel acknowledged that he could easily do what Marcus had said. He knew the dirtyundry of each individual that he had infected with his soul spyware.

    Certainly, this was information that neither he nor hispanions cared about since they were after only a single goal, but in someone else''s hands the information they had collected could be weaponized to spark many wars all at once.

    "Still, as dangerous as it could be we need it to search all over the world for a way to free us from this ce and return to being human. Frankly simply relying on you alone is not enough. I would ask that you allow us to continue using the system. In fact we are willing to not infect anyone else if you just allow us to keep what we already have. Surely that is a decent enoughpromise. In a century most of the people we currently are watching will be dead and the system will have lost the majority of tis value even if it does fall into someone else''s hands." Daniel said, not wanting to have all of their hard work destroyed.

    Marcus though was not willing to budge on this. He and Mrazivy had riskeding down here in the first ce to find out what was going on because of how dangerous the system that Daniel and hispanions had created was.

    "How about this, if I can at least free you and Alyna from being bound to this ce you will destroy the surfacework and if not then you can keep it up but not infect anyone else." Marcus said not wanting to push them all too far.

    While they seemed to have reached an understanding, he did not want to push them into a corner and force them to believe that their only option was to try and fight back.

    "I am sure that if the five of you went out on your own to search for a way to be human again then you would have more sess than just observing a bunch of people and waiting for them to stumble along what you need." Marcus said, seeing that Daniel was wavering and needed one more push.

    "Very well, if you can free Alyna and me from being bound here, I will shutdown the soul surveince system. But is it something you can really do?" Daniel asked, a look of doubt in his eyes.

    He had devoted centuries to studying how to interact with souls to try and unravel his own, but had not gotten any closer to fixing the problem.

    "I can probably help you both out in that regard. I am pretty adept at manipting souls." Marcus said confidently.

    In fact he was certain that he could help Daniel at the very least since Mrazivy had told him what his problem was when she looked at his status.

    "Daniel, before I begin can you confirm for me that you have a status condition called soul entanglement?"

    After a brief pause and a look of shock appearing on his face, Daniel confirmed this to be the case.

    "Good then I should be able to help you easily enough."

    However, before Marcus moved to unbind Daniel, he raised his hand and looked towards Alyna.

    "Please do not worry about me right now, I want you to help Alyna first. She suffers far more from her current condition than I do."

    Turning towards Alyna himself Marcus frowned. Unlike Daniel who was suffering from a status condition, Alyna had simply be a dread wraith. Helping her was going to be a much more difficult endeavor and likely a time consuming one.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "As much as I would like to do as you want, fixing your problem should take me far less time. I would prefer to do it now instead ofter. Alyna is going to need me to do more and I am not a hundred percent sure I can actually help her unlike you." Marcus said.

    "Daniel, go ahead. I can wait a bit longer without any issue. If Marcus says he can help you, then you should ept it." Alyna said, not wanting her longtime friend to suffer any longer for her sake.

    "Okay." Daniel said, giving in.

    Yet before he epted Marcus'' help, he turned towards him with suspicion clear on his face.

    "Before we begin, I have to ask. This is not some borate n to get our guard down and destroy us, is it?"

    "No." Marcus answered curtly while looking at Alyna.

    She was the one with a lie detector unique skill and Marcus understood that Daniel wanted absolute confirmation that Marcus was not going to betray them here.

    For all they knew he could have just been speaking sweet words in order to get their guard down before attacking them. They had not exactly met on the best terms, so it was best to be cautious.

    Thankfully Alyna nodded her head, confirming that Marcus was not lying.

    "Good, now that we have settled that, you will need something to act as your new phctery since I will be unbinding your soul from the area. I assume you have made one and tried this in the best, correct?"

    "Yes I have tried doing that before, but to no avail. I could not get my soul unentangled no matter what I attempted. What makes you so confident that you can?" Daniel asked, a bit skeptical that Marcus could so easily fix a problem he had been unable to for nearly four centuries now.

    "Simple, it is considered a status condition so I can fix it. Now go grab whatever you want to use as your new phctery. I am not sure what will happen if you do not have something ready to contain the split part of your soul once I have freed it."

    Doing as Marcus asked despite still being a little unsure, Daniel headed into the depths of the base where his room was and came back with an amulet he had made several decades ago.

    It was the item he had used in his most recent attempt to unbind his soul from the resort, but hadpletely failed like every other attempt.

    "Get ready, this is probably going to be a bit tough on you." Marcus said, warning Daniel.

    He then created a small silver ball of light in his hand andunched it at Daniel.

    The moment it hit, Marcus'' Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill eliminated Daniel''s entangled soul status condition and freed it for the first time in four centuries.

    In an instant the split part of his soul returned to his body, but was unable to actually be whole.

    Even though it had not been aplete process Daniel was considered a lich and not something Marcus'' Supreme Skill could revert on its own. His soul was still spilt from the process.

    Nevertheless, with his soul now unentangled Daniel was able to send the split part into a phctery of his choosing and no longer bound to the resort.

    Within just a couple of minutes the amulet he had prepared now housed his soul and acted as his new phctery instead of the area.

    "Congrattions, you are now no longer stuck here. Please feel free to apud." Marcus said, bowing his head like a showman.

    Of course, no one even acknowledged his disy, since they were all too stunned by what had just happened.

    After centuries of making almost no progress, Marcus had finally helped them take the first step towards their goals.

 Chapter 837 837

    For several seconds Daniel and hispanions simply stood around in a daze, not sure if what had just happened was real.

    Without any difficulties Marcus had freed Daniel from being bound to thend where he had been turned into a lich.

    "How? How is this possible? We have tried every conceivable type of magic andbination of normal skills, but nothing worked. What kind of power do you have that can after all this time set me free so easily?" Daniel said, a mix of several emotions in his voice.

    He was ted, frustrated, and confused all at once by hat had just happened.

    "Oh, it was no big deal, you were suffering from a status condition, so my Supreme Skill could cure it." Marcus said nonchntly.

    This caused all of the undead to freeze once more and stare at Marcus in disbelief.

    "You are telling me that Supreme Skills are real and that you have one? We had thought that they were just legends." Daniel said, unable to fully believe that the highest tier of skill existed.

    Naturally with his intelligencework Daniel had heard whispers of a type of skill that was stronger than even unique skills but he had never been able to confirm it.

    For the most part unique skills were already incredibly rare, and Supreme Skill could only be considered myths.

    "Yeah, I actually have three Supreme Skills. But only the one I just used can affect other people so do not except any other miracles." Marcus said, revealing what was pretty much unfathomable information.

    Hearing this all of the undead that had originally been humans from Earth felt their minds start to overload.

    Never had they expected for Marcus to casually reveal that he had multiple Supreme Skill which they were not even sure existed up to this point.

    Still, they could hardly deny what he said since they had just witnessed his power, and Alyna could tell that he was not lying.

    "To think you have three Supreme Skills. How is that even possible? What kind of entity are you to be able to contain so much power?" Daniel asked unable to ept that Marcus could manage to survive with so many powerful skills.

    "What do you mean? I just obtained the skills and can use them like normal. Sure, if I use them too much, I can damage myself, but I just need to be careful not to exceed my limit." Marcus said, a confused expression on his face.

    In response, Daniel just shook his head in exasperation.

    "So, you do not even know that every individual has a limit to the number and power of the skills that their vessel can contain. For an average person, two or three unique skills would be the most they can take. Afterwards they would have reached their limit and not be able to learn anymore. Yet you have three Supreme Skills, and I am sure at least a few unique skills. You said you were some type of ghost and spiritbination, but you must be something incredibly special to withstand so much power. What are you really?"

    Naturally Daniel was now incredibly curious about Marcus'' race that he had only glossed over. No normal being could have as many unique and Supreme Skills as him.

    "I suppose lying will not work, and holding back will not get us anywhere. I have already told you all quite a bit so i guess this will not matter. Along with being an unbound ghost I am also the great spirit of light and darkness."

    After Marcus revealed what his race really was, Daniel, and hispanions who had all stood up earlier in surprise when Marcus freed him, sat back down and took in what they had just heard.

    Each of them knew about the great spirits to a degree and hearing that Marcus was one put things into perspective.

    "I see, so you could have wiped us all out in an instant if you wanted. You were just feigning being weaker for some reason." Daniel said, having a misunderstanding.

    From what he knew great spirits were considered the strongest beings in the world and were always max level.

    However, Marcus was the one exception.

    "No, you have it wrong. I may be a great spirit, but I am a bit of an anomaly. I am not at the highest level and am actually only in the low seventies right now. I became a great spirit through something of a fluke thanks to the administrator."<novelnext></novelnext>

    Wanting to know more each of the undead asked Marcus more but he shut them down with a raised hand.

    "I think I have sad enough. We may all be from Earth and I trust you now to a certain degree but I still have secrets I am not going to spill." Marcus said sternly, putting an end to this discussion.

    "Now I think I have earned enough goodwill to leave for a bit and contact my wife. If I do not speak with her soon, she is likely to gather up our allies and storm this ce."

    His face going paler than usual, Daniel remembered about Mrazivy and how she had fled when they were still enemies.

    Marcus had stayed behind to talk and knew their full circumstances, but as far as Mrazivy knew, he was trapped down in an enemy base.

    "Yes, go ahead and go to her to prevent that from happening. At this point we have no choice but to trust you." Daniel said, urging Marcus to go to Mrazivy.

    "Got it. This should not take too long. I will be back in a little while." Marcus said, opening up a Dark Portal and slipping through it.

    In his wake he left Daniel and hispanions stunned and they realized that they had never had Marcus cornered. If things had gone sour, he would have been able to easily escape ande back with the forces to destroy them.

    Once Marcus came out of the portal he had left in his hotel room on the resort, he pulled out his long range sending stone and called Mrazivy.

    He had not been able to while underground since their were enchantments that prevented outsidemunication, but now their was nothing obstructing him

    "Marcus is that you?! Are you okay?!" Mrazivy said the moment the two sending stones had connected.

    "Yeah, I am fine. It turns out that those guys are not really all that bad."

    Marcus then exined their circumstances to Mrazivy and told her everything else that eh thought was pertinent.

    "I see, they are just a bunch of unfortunate people looking for a way to get out of the situation fate has dealt them. I can understand that, but still, no matter what we cannot let that surveince system stay. It is way too dangerous. No matter what it has to be destroyed." Mrazivy said, offering no room for argument.

    "I know, but I got them to promise to destroy it if I could unbind the two of them that are stuck here. I already helped out the lich who is named Daniel by the way. All I need to do is free Alyna and everything will have worked out for the best." Marcus said optimistically.

    On the other hand Mrazivy was thinking practically and could tell that Marcus was not certain he could actually help Alyna. Unlike Daniel she was not suffering from a status condition.

    "You know if you fail that I cannot keep that same promise you made. Thatwork must be destroyed no matter what. By force if necessary." Mrazivy stressed.

    Having ess to that much information was simply too dangerous to be left in the world and Mrazivy felt that it was only a matter of time before a catastrophe came about because of it.

    "Fine, but I will not have a part in using force against them. I am sure you can understand that I sympathize with their plight. If things had gone a bit differently for me, I could have ended up in a simr situation. I just want a chance to help them before you strongarm them." Marcus said pleadingly.

    "Very well, if you want to keep helping them that is fine. But let me meet back up with you so I can help. You never know how my eyes mighte in handy. Plus, I need to make sure you do not do anything reckless."

    With that settled Marcus returned through the Dark Portal he had created and informed Daniel that Mrazivy wasing back to offer her assistance as well.

    "So if you would make it easier for her to get in this time around that would be great. She is not as adept at sneaking in as me and would be more likely to plow her way through if she meets any resistance."

    Imagining their base being destroyed, Daniel hastily prepared to let Mrazivy in and informed the top brass of the resort staff to lead her to the main entrance when she arrived.

 Chapter 838 838 Attempting To Help Alyna

    "Allow me to start by thanking you for not immediately moving to destroy us and hearing us out. Most people would have destroyed us first and asked questions alter." Daniel said to Mrazivy when she arrived.

    Naturally he knew that as a princess of Borealia that she could have mobilized a force strong enough to destroy them all if she wanted to.

    "Well, you should thank Marcus more than me. It is mostly because of him feeling sympathetic to your plight that we are helping you." Mrazivy said, feeling a bit ufortable receiving thanks from a lich.

    Unlike Marcus who was also a type of undead, she had to endure the unnerving aura that wasing off of each of the undead here. This made her instinctively fear and revile them.

    Still, she knew that they were not really bad and had ended up this way by no will of their own.

    "So, you have already assisted Daniel here with unbinding himself from the area, but what about Alyna. Do you know how you are going to help her, Marcus?"

    "I have some ideas, but I wanted you to thoroughly look at her status for me and see if there is anything your first cursory nce did not find."

    Nodding her head Mrazivy did just that and her eyes turned golden and her pupils went vertical like those of a reptile.

    This elicited a couple gasps from the Daniel and hispanions who had not noticed Mrazivy using her dragon eyes while they were fighting.

    "After a closer inspection, I found the problem, but I am not sure it will be easily to solve. She has a race ability called site bound. It says she is forced to haunt the ce of her violent demise until her resentment is cleared away. I am not sure what that means though." Mrazivy said, giving out the information she had learned.

    Of course, Alyna already knew this being able to look at her status.

    "We have tried finding a way to nullify it, but nothing we tried worked. At one time we located a unique skill that could randomly disable skills and race abilities for a certain duration, but we did not get our hands on it to see if it would work." Daniel said, telling Marcus and Mrazivy about their past attempts.

    "Hm, I might be able to see if healing your soul works." Marcus said.

    He then beckoned Alyna toe over to him and she floated within arm''s reach.

    "Um could you move your hand somewhere else?" Alyna asked when Marcus touched her.

    Her voice had clearly conveyed her embarrassment, and Marcus quickly realized that he had ced his hand on her chest.

    Right now as a dread wraith she had a shadowy appearance in the vague form of a woman and did not have any distinctive features, but she was still a girl and felt embarrassed to have someone put their hand on her chest.

    "Sorry, about that." Marcus said before moving his hand.

    ''Now let me see what I can do.''

    Activating his spirit healing specter power, he tired to repair any damage to Alyna''s soul, but there was nothing wrong as far as he could tell.

    As a dread wraith being bound to the area where she had been violently killed was only natural for Alyna, and it was not considered damaged.

    On the other hand, Marcus actually felt his soul being attacked by the powerful violent emotions that Alyna had.

    Thanks to her madness resistance she had managed to keep sane, but a normal dread wraith would have be a monster that''s only purpose was to drain the life out of those unfortunate enough to cross paths with it.

    ''I suppose that I should not have gotten my hopes up. Seems like I am going to have to do this the hard way.'' Marcus thought.

    What he figured he was going to have to attempt now was interacting with Alyna''s soul directly and trying to forcibly unbind her in a sample fashion to how he had ripped the pseudo soul fragment from Mrazivy.

    "Alyna, I am going to need to meld my soul with yours to see if I can remove the shackles keeping you here. It will be fairly invasive, but I need you to not resist, or I will not be able to help you." Marcus said, his expression deadly serious.

    Alyna for her part looked afraid and unsure.

    "Have you even done something like that before? It sounds incredibly dangerous." Daniel said, his concern for Alyna clear in his tone.

    "I have a couple of times. Very recently in fact. It was necessary to do so in order to remove the soul surveince device you had imnted into my wife." Marcus said, a bit of anger in his voice.

    "It is fine, Daniel. I am pretty much willing to try anything at this point." Alyna said, her desperation obvious.

    With Alyna''s consent Marcus prepared to directly interact with her soul.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Please be gentle." She said in a way that sounded a bit suggestive.

    A chill then passed over him and he saw Mrazivy ring at Alyna.

    "Was thatment really necessary?" Marcus asked.

    "Yes, I feel a bit more at ease now." Alyna said, amusement covering up some of the fear in her voice.

    Sighing, Marcus let it go, since he understood she was just trying to use humor to cover up how afraid she was.

    "Mraz, make sure you keep an eye on both of our statuses. I am not sure exactly what might happen, since our natures as ghost arepletely different."

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy kept her eyes locked on them.

    ''Here goes nothing. I just hope that my being a spirit of light does not immediately begin to hurt her.'' Marcus thought remembering their earlier ethereal sh.

    Alyna had been repulsed by his aura of light and taken sever damage, but at the time he had been using his supreme skill, so he hoped that a simar reaction would not ur this time.

    Going into his full ghost form, Marcus attempted to possess Alyna.

    It was a bit different than when he used the ability on a flesh and blood being, since instead of stealing control of a body he was temporarily merging his soul with hers.

    Thankfully just his presence did not begin to do her damage, but it was very stressful to be entangled with another soul.

    Still, Alyna felt almostpletely limp, and Marcus could tell she intended to allow him to work without offering any resistance.

    ''So, this is how she is bound here. It is simr to the ghost of that boy who was possessed by a demon that haunted my estate.''

    Realizing this Marcus moved to undue the binding that was keeping Alyna stuck in this location.

    He was able to visualize it like several long chains that had her locked down and taking ahold of one he snapped it off.

    When he did, he felt Alyna''s soul shake and a wave of pain go through her.

    "Alyna, do I need to stop?!" Marcus asked her.

    "No, keep going. It hurts but I sort of feel better now. Like a weight has been taken off me." She said, urging him to continue.

    Going onto the next chain Marcus ripped it off and once again, felt a tremor through Alyna''s soul and heard a cry of pain.

    He hesitated for a moment before destroying the next one, but before he did, he received a telepathicmunication from Mrazivy.

    "Marcus you need to get stop whatever you are doing and get out of their now. Alyna has suffered major damage to her soul and you now have a status condition called spiritual corruption (slight)." Mrazivy said, frantic.

    Realizing that what he was doing was putting them both in danger Marcus left Alyna''s soul and solidified himself.

    When eh did there were what looked like shadow bruises on his body.

    In order to interact with Alyna''s soul, she had to let down her defenses but so did he. And it made him susceptible to the negative emotions that were inherent to her race.

    Luckily it was easy enough for him to fix the damage he had taken now that they were no longer connected, and a quick use of his spirit healing cleared up the corruption.

    Alyna though looked far worse and seemed more wispy and less stable than before.

    "Why did you stop? I felt we were so close." Alyna said weakly.

    To her Marcus was destroying the chains that bound her and all of the negative emotions that came along with being a dread wraith, but what he had been doing was not going to result in the oue everyone wanted.

    What Marcus had been doing was akin to a cleansing, and if he had finished, Alyna would have no longer been able to stay on Mirrion. All that was keeping her here was her resentment, and once it was gone, she would go back to the normal cycle for those that had already died.

 Chapter 839 839 (Spoiler, Title At The Bottom)

    Having abruptly stopped what he had been attempting, Marcus was met with confused stares from Daniel and the other undead.

    They could see that something had urred since Alyna''s form was now lighter than it had been before, but they were still not sure of what had really just happened.

    None of them knew that Marcus had nearly purified Alyna and sent her on to her next life.

    ''I suppose that approaching this like I did with the shadow demon and Tyler. When I destroyed the bonds keeping Tyler''s soul bound he stopped being a ghost and ascended. I will need to try something else for Alyna.'' Marcus thought pondering what to do next.

    However, not long after she regained her some of her strength, Alyna fixed Marcus with cold eyes and began shouting at him.

    "Why!? Why did you stop?! For the first time I finally felt the ever-crushing weight on me being lifted. I was so close to be released from the pain I feel every day. Please finish what you were doing. I can take the temporary sharp pain if it finally ends my suffering."

    Shocked by this outburst, Marcus had not been expecting Alyna to beg him to continue what he had been doing.

    If hepleted breaking her bonds, she would no longer remain on Mirrion and would have to leave her friends alone.

    Of course Marcus had felt just a small portion of the intense and violent emotions that permeated Alyna''s soul and could understand why she wanted relief from it.

    While her madness resistance skill kept her from losing her mind, it did not stop her from feeling all of the intense negative emotions that normally drove a dread wraith to be a mindless killing machine.

    "Marcus what is Alyna talking about? Were you close to unbinding her?" Daniel asked, concerned for his longtime friend.

    "Yes, I was close to unbinding her, but doing so would have been the equivalent of cleansing her. For a ghost that is stuck here only because of their resentment, it would be pretty much the same as death. Which is why I stopped." Marcus exined.

    Yet while Daniel and the others were willing to ept this, Alyna was not.

    "I do not care anymore; all I want is for the suffering to stop. I would rather be sent on my way at this point without all these negative emotions rather than stay and continue to suffer. Please finish cleaning me." Alyna begged.

    "Alyna, what are you saying, we have worked for so long to free ourselves of this ce and cure our undeath. We have finally made some progress and you want to give up now?" Daniel said, his voice frantic andced with anger.

    "Yes, I just want it to be over! I have held on all this time since all of you are so determined, but I am worn out. Every day I think about simply turning off my madness resistance and allowing myself to be consumed so that I no longer have to exist in this undying hell. I finally got a taste of peace when Marcus was freeing me, and I cannot stand being like this anymore. Sometimes I think that Hina made the right call to simply end her existence. We have fought so hard for centuries and what has it gotten us. Nothing but pain! I cannot keep holding out for hope that anything will change." Alyna said, ck shadowy tears falling down her face.

    After her outburst, Daniel went silent and cast a sorrowful look towards the chair that Marcus had been sitting in before.

    Seeing this Marcus could infer that this girl named Hina had been among their ranks, before she ended herself. No longer able to take being undead.

    "I can understand your position Alyna, but it is too soon to give up hope yet. If you really want to go that is fine, I can send you on peacefully enough. But there is a chance I might still be able to help you. I still have a few more tricks to try. Are you really ready to give up on your friends now?"

    Pausing for several moments Alyna carefully thought about what to do next, before eventually answering Marcus.

    "I do not want to leave my friends, but I also do not want to exist as I am any longer. Try what you can, but if you still fail, please purify me instead." Alyna said, resignation in her voice.

    Her friends moved to interjected and try to sway her, but Marcus held up his hand to stop them.

    "I know that you have all been together for centuries now, but none of you truly understand what it is like for Alyna. I understand that it must be difficult for you to have been turned into undead, but none of you have to endure the same paint hat Alyna does. Knowing that she is constantly suffering, can you really ask her to stay?"

    Feeling outraged and searching for an outlet to vent his frustrations, Cassius began yelling at Marcus.

    "What do you know about us!? Alyna is one of us and there is no way we would let you kill her! Just because you helped free Daniel does not give you the right to make such a decision. If you try to harm Alyna, I will kill you!"

    Feeling hostilities rising again, Marcus took a step back towards Mrazivy and prepared to deal with any attacks that came his way.

    He could feel that along with Cassius the others were close to bursting.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Thankfully, Daniel stood between them and put an end to the growing tensions.

    "That is enough! Marcus has already proven that he is capable of helping us, and we would be fools to give him reason to abandon us. I understand, I cannot bear to lose Alyna either. But if she wanted to go on that is her decision. I am sure that all of us have had simr thoughts."

    With Daniel''s interjection, the dangerous fervor that had been building up died back down, and Cassius, Soren, and Vira hung their heads.

    Naturally with the situation that they were in, all of them had thought about ending their existences before. And if they had been alone, all of them likely would have.

    But as a group they were able to stive tighter and have a sense ofradery that kept them going. They were not just looking for a way to be human again for themselves, but for their friends as well.

    "Now that we have all cooled down a bit, I would like to get back to work. Only if I fail to help Alyna will I be cleansing her and sending her on to the next life. And I am actually pretty confident I have a way to help her." Marcus said.

    His assertion received confused stares, as none of them thought that Marcus would be able to unbind Alyna and allow her to remain on Mirrion after his first failure.

    "Are you sure you can do this Marcus? There is no need to get their hopes up for no reason if you do not have a n." Mrazivy whispered to Marcus.

    She was afraid that if he truly did fail that they might have to fight their way out of here.

    "Don''t worry, I think that it will work. Though it will be up to Alyna if she wants to ept."

    Once he had finished assuaging Mrazivy''s worries, Marcus approached Alyna again.

    "I have a single method that I think is likely to free you from the curse of being a dread wraith, but if I do this it will likely be impossible for you to be human again. Do you still want me to try?"

    A confused look on her face Alyna was unsure what Marcus meant, but still nodded her head.

    "I care more about stopping the negative emotions that torment at every waking moment than bing human again. Please attempt whatever it is you have in mind. I will ept any oue." Alyna said.

    Cassius and Vira wanted to interject again and tell Alyna not to give up on returning to being human, but Daniel stopped them. He was willing to respect Alyna''s choice.

    With Alyna''s permission, Marcus let out a deep sigh and began focusing.

    ''Remember what it was like. All I need to do is recrate what happened to me.'' Marcus thought going back to one of his most vivid memories.

    When he felt ready, he held out his hands towards Alyna and two orbs appeared.

    On the left was an orb of pure darkness and on the right was one of pure light.

    After a moment of hesitation, he released each one towards Alyna and gave her the blessing of light and the blessing of darkness.

    The two orbs passed into her and immediately her entire from was wrapped up in light and darkness and she let out an ear-piercing shriek.

    "Do not interrupt. If you try to stop it, your friends is certain to perish." Mrazivy said, stepping in front of the other undead and preventing them from reflexively intervening.

    Several minutes then passed by and Alyna at some point became wrapped up in a cocoon of light and darkness.

    Eventually it began to fade away, and once it waspletely gone, the shadowy figure of a dread wraith was gone. Reced with a figure that looked like a young human girl.

    "Congrattions, you are no longer a dread wraith. Now you are a superior spirit of light and darkness."

    Chapter 839 A New Spirit of Light and Darkness

 Chapter 840 840 Marcusâ€™ First Spirit Subordinate

    After having undergone a staggering transformation, Alyna looked down at her hands and body, utterly astonished.

    She had actually forgotten what she used to look like since she had been a shadowy wraith with only glowing eyes as distinct features.

    Now however, her form was no longer wreathed in shadows, but instead appeared human.

    Her skin was certainly paler than it had been when she was alive, and while she could not see it herself, her hair and eyes were different colors. But she now appeared mostly as she had been before.

    She had a short slender body that made her look to be in herte teens or earlier twenties.

    Like Marcus she had purple eyes, but her hair that was mostly the same color as his ended in ck and white tips that extend all the way down to her waist.

    Of course, she had not be human, but instead was transformed into a spirit of light and darkness. Still a substantial upgrade to how she had been before.

    Along with Alyna, Daniel, Cassius, Soren, and Vira, were shocked as well.

    For as long as they had known her none of them had seen what Alyna looked like before she had be a dread wraith.

    However, despite how surprised they were to see her transformation, Daniel, Cassius, and Soren swiftly turned away, since Alyna form was unclothed.

    While she was a dread wraith, she had no need for clothing since her form had only a vaguely humanoid shape, now though her spirit form looked almostpletely human.

    "You might want to put this on." Marcus said, handing over one of his spare outfits that he kept in his item box for when he needed to use his from as Irene.

    Seeing the clothes in his hands and her pale skin that was no longer shadowy, Alyna finally realized that she was naked and the modesty she had long since lost after bing a dread wraith came back in an instant.

    Hastily she took the clothes that Marcus was offering her, but her hands simply passed through them.

    Even though she was visible, her form was still ethereal, and the cloths were not.

    At the very least this made Alyna realize that there was a quicker way to hide herself and she made her formpletely invisible.

    "Here this should make it easier for you to put on." Marcus said, making the clothing he was holding intangible as well.

    For everyone else it seemed that the clothing had simply disappeared, but Alyna could still see them and now that she could touch them quickly put them on.

    Once she was dressed, she reappeared and began thoroughly looking at her new form. Tears soon began falling down her face, as several emotions burst out of the dam she had been holding up for centuries.

    For the first time in so long she no longer felt the pain of the negative emotions that had gued her for nearly as long as she could remember.

    "How is this possible? What exactly did you do?" Daniel asked, looking at Marcus with a conflicted expression. He was not sure if Marcus was a miracle worker or some kind of monstrous freak.

    "Remember that I told you that I was once only a ghost. I became a spirit as well from receiving power from an outside source, so I figured that I might be able to do the same for Alyna. The problem was that her race kept her bound her from the negative emotions she felt and the violent death she had experienced. That meant if I could change her race she would be freed. Hence I used my powers as a great spirit to give her my blessings and then transform her into a spirit just as I had been. I am sure that you have heard that in some rare instances people that have be ghost have managed to transform into spirits." Marcus said casually.

    Though while he was trying to keep his cool, he was internally freaking out.

    He had seed in what he was attempting, but things had gone better or worse from a certain perspective than what he had been nning.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Marcus intended to only give Alyna the standard blessing, but when he began using his spiritual energy to turn Alyna into a true spirit, he had inadvertently given her a superior blessing and made her his subordinate.

    ''What the hell just happened?! The results are what I wanted, but I never nned to make her my subordinate or give her such a powerful blessing. Heck, I did not know I could even give higher tier blessings than the standard ones!'' Marcus thought as he looked at his and Alyna''s statuses.

    Giving the blessings allowed Marcus to look at the recipient''s status and he was able to see that along with bing a superior spirit of light and darkness, Alyna now had the title ''Great Spirit''s Adjutant.''

    His own status had changed a bit with his spirit stat having gone down by two thousand points in order to give Alyna the powerful blessing she had received. He also now had a target to use his summon spirits race ability and could bring his new subordinate to his side at any time.

    ''Alyna''s stats have changed dramatically as well, all of them having gone up a fair amount. Plus, her race abilities are mostly different now that she is a spirit. A lot of them being lower tier versions of my own.'' Marcus thought, engrossed in looking over what had changed in Alyna and his statuses.

    "Marcus are you oaky? You have just been standing their looking ahead of you in a daze for a while now." Mrazivy said, shaking him on the shoulder.

    Raising his head and looking around, he noticed that everyone was now staring at him. Evidently the initial shock of Alyna''s transformation had somewhat worn off and everyone was now looking towards him for answers.

    "You said that in rare instances that people that have be ghost can be spirits, and we have naturally heard this rumor as well, but we thought it impossible for Alyna. She was no normal ghost but a dread wraith. It should not have been possible for her to be a spirit as far as we knew." Daniel said, a confounded expression on his face.

    "Yes, I imagine that any other dread wraith likely would not have been able to survive the process. Alyna was not a mindless killing machine that had given into her dark emotions and violent unjust death. She retained her sanity and wished to be freed. While I was changing her into a spirit, she did not fight back at all. Although, things did go a bit differently than I expected." Marcus said.

    Everyone then asked him to borate and he exined that Alyna had actually be his subordinate.

    "So that is why I now feel an unconscious connection to you." Alyna said, staring intently at Marcus.

    A momentter she appeared right by his side. As easily as Marcus could summon her, she could warp to his side whenever she wanted. So long as he did not block the connection.

    "Does this mean you could turn other ghost into spirits as well and name them your subordinates?" Mrazivy asked.

    "Probably, as long as they are willing. I suppose that this is just one of the ways in which to use the power of a great spirit. Though, I do have to give up some of the points from my spirit stat to confer the blessings." Marcus exined.

    He was still not wholly sure about the process and had just been following his instincts and trying to recreate the event that had originally turned him into a great spirit.

    Naturally he was unable to bestow nearly as much power as he had received, but he was able to imitate it on a smaller scale.

    "well we can just chalk it up to a sess even if we are not exactly sure what happened." Marcus said,ughing it off.

    "Still, are you oaky with this Alyna? You can probably never go back to being human now."

    "Yes, I am more than happy with the oue. I no longer feel like there is a cacophony of voices in my head anymore calling for me to inflict the same pain I endured on others. Even though I am not human, I at least I no longer look or feel like a monster." Alyna said, a bright smile on her face.

    She then turned towards Marcus and moved to embrace him.

    However, on her first attempt, she passed right through him since he was currently in his solid form, and Alyna while visible did not know how to be tangible.

    Seeing that she was upset that she could not touch him Marcus made himself ethereal as well and allowed her to receive somefort by being able to touch another individual.

    Yet as Alyna cried into Marcus''s shoulder, relived that she was no longer a dread wraith, he could feel the envious and hopeful staresing from the other undead.

 Chapter 841 841 Discontent And Jealousy

    Once Marcus had finishedforting his new adjutant, he turned his attention toward Daniel, Cassius, Soren, and Vira.

    Each of them was certainly happy for Alyna, who while not having returned to being a human, was at the very least no longer undead. But they each could not help having a slight bit of jealously. None of the were any closer to shedding off the undeath forced upon them by cruel means.

    Daniel had been freed from his imprisonment to the area, but he was still a lich, and the others had not received any boon that brought them closer to their goal of bing human again.

    Of course, Marcus never promised that he would be able to return them to being human right no and that all he would do was help free Alyna and Daniel.

    Now that he had aplished his goal it was time for them to uphold their end of the deal they had made.

    "I have finished unbinding you and Alyna from the area, and as an added bonus turned Alyna into a spirit. Now I would like you to destroy the soul surveince system you created." Marcus said, sternly to Daniel.

    His and Mrazivy''s original objective had been to investigate the anomalies happening on the resort, and destroy the system that controlled the informationing in from the people infected with the pseudo soul fragments if possible. Things had taken more turns than they anticipated since Daniel and hispassion were not actually malicious and using theirwork to amass power and sew chaos. Still, this did not change the fact that what they had create was incredibly dangerous.

    It was easy for Marcus to imagine many different situations where the surveincework could be used to bring the entire world to its knees. The fact hat it had not already was a testament to the control Daniel and hispanions had and how well they hid their actions.

    "I suppose that a deal is a deal." Daniel eventually said after a long contemtive pause.

    "We spent centuries perfecting it and spreading it out, but I suppose that since it brought you both to us it sort of served its purpose. Though it does feel sad to destroy something we worked so hard on." Daniel said with a sad smile.

    He then began leading Marcus and Mrazivy to where the core of the system was and all the information that they received several thousands of high ranking and rich individuals was stored.

    Before they could leave the room though, Cassius and Vira stood in front of them and fixed their gazes on Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Are you sure we have to destroy it. We are still far from our goal of returning to human and the soul surveincework is still our best shot at finding what we are looking for. In the past it has located unique skill orbs that could have helped us, but we were just too slow to obtain them. Without thework our chances of finding a way to return to being human will plumet. If you just allow us to keep thework up, we will allow you unlimited ess to it. Surely there are many things that you want to know or possibly might need to learn about in the future. Surely you can see the merits in the system we have made. Please, I beg you to not force us to destroy it."<novelnext></novelnext>

    After giving her impassioned speech Vira looked pleadingly from Marcus to Mrazivy, hoping to convince them.

    Before either of them could respond though, Alyna snapped back at her.

    "Vira, have you no shame! They have both helped us immensely already, and only asked for one thing from us. We should be grateful that they are not instead wanting to use us and the knowledge we have gathered for some nefarious n. We have seen how other want to use us in the past and the greed that people can harbor. Destroying the soul surveincework is a small price to pay for all Marcus and Mrazivy have already done for us."

    "You are wrong Alyna! They only helped you and Daniel. So far, they have done nothing for Cassius, Soren, and me!" Vira shouted back, letting her jealousy take hold.

    Naturally she could not help but feel that things were unfair, especially inparison to Alyna.

    Not only was she now freed from the torment being a dread wraith had caused her, but she had also be a power spirit and was no longer a monster.

    Vira thought was still a zombie empress and no closer to returning to human than she had been before Marcus arrived. And was soon to lose what she figured was her best chance at returning to how she had been before when the soul surveince system as destroyed.

    Naturally Cassius felt the same way and was backing her up, and thought Soren always obediently followed Daniel, his own feelings were definitely closer in line with Vira and Cassius.

    "That is enough you two. I made a deal and as the one who runs the system and is responsible for its creation, it is within my right to destroy it. Now that me and Alyna are free, we can do as Marcus said and search for a way to return to being human ourselves." Daniel said, trying to end the discussion.

    Unfortunately, Vira and Cassius were not willing to back down so easily.

    "Sure that sounds good on paper, but we still emit an aura of death and are not going to be wee out in the world. Part of the reason we stay hidden is because we would be hunted if we tried living above. Even if we are all able to leave now, we still will not be able to effectively gather any intelligence on our own and it is likely that some nation will discover us and send people to destroy us. Are best means of gathering intel is still that system we painstakingly created" Cassius said, emitting a presence of unyielding determination from the suit of adamantine armor he was possessing.

 Chapter 842 842 Making Another Deal

    With Cassius and Vira standing in their way, a deadlock had been momentarily created.

    Daniel and Alyna were willing to keep up their end of the bargain since Marcus had specifically helped them, but Cassius and Vira were still hoping to cling onto the surveince system they had created.

    Soren was clearly torn between his own interests and following Daniel, but it was obvious that his feelings aligned more with Cassius and Vira. Weather he would actually support them or not was up in the air however.

    ''I can also see that Daniel is wavering just a bit. He is the one who made the soul surveince system for the most part, and there is no doubt that it holds a great strategic advantage.'' Marcus thought, preparing for things to take a turn for the worst.

    If it came down to fight against just Cassius and Vira, that would not be an issue.

    Against just Marcus or Mrazivy alone, their chances of winning were low. And against them both, they had practically zero hope ofing out victorious.

    Being a lich and level eighty-five made Daniel the greatest threat and easily more than half of their strength. If he was not fighting, then Marcus and Mrazivy had nothing to worry about.

    But even if he did decide to fight against them, the odds were not as in his favor as before.

    Alyna was now Marcus'' adjutant and could not go against him. If a battle broke out, she would now be fighting on his side.

    Luckily it did note to a fight, as Daniel shook his head and stood aside.

    "I will let you two do as you please, but I am going to uphold my word. Marcus has helped me personally and I will not fight against him."

    Taking the path of neutrality, Daniel did not have it in him to force his friends into submission or betray his promise to Marcus.

    Without their strongestbatant willing to join them and Soren standing next to Daniel as well, Cassius and Vira were the only ones left opposing Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Clearly, they knew they had no chance, and Mrazivy decided to put thest nail in the proverbial coffin.

    "I have already contacted my great, great,, great, more greats than I wish to count Grandfather, Boreas. If I do not get back to him within three hours, he is going toe here and destroy this ce himself. Naturally he realizes how dangerous they system you created is, and if we cannot deal with it, he will." Mrazivy said, her tone heavy with intensity.

    She was making it known that under no circumstances was this surveince system going to be left intact. Even if it meant the entire resort got wiped off the map.

    With an overwhelming force bearing down on them, Cassius and Vira stopped their vain struggle and stood aside.

    Neither of them was happy about losing their intelligencework, but there was nothing else to be done about it.

    "Good, now lead the way." Mrazivy said, turning her gaze towards Daniel.

    "Follow me, I will show you to where the device is."

    Going through the corridors of the underground base, Marcus and Mrazivy followed Daniel into the depths of the ce.

    It was easily the most secured area and the hardest to get to, and inside was thousands of crystals screens.

    "This looks like something you might see in a movie." Marcus said, gawking at the unreal sight.

    Some of the screens were currently on and showing what a number of people were currently seeing.

    Marcus even recognized that one of them was within Borealia''s Royal Castle.

    "We keep tab on all of the most important individuals without rest. For others we can just bring up the recordings that get sent our way." Daniel exined.

    He then told Marcus and Mrazivy about the intricacies of the system and how exactly it worked.

    "So, this is the formation that will copse the system?" Marcus asked for confirmation.

    Naturally Daniel knew how dangerous thiswork was and had installed a failsafe that allowed him to destroy the system and erase all of the information it had stored.

    "Yes, if you inset this key in that slot and send in arge wave of magical and spiritual energy, you will overload it and destroy it. In this scenario all of the pseudo soul fragments will shut down and naturally fade away, so there is no need to worry about destroying them individually."

    Nodding his head Marcus epted Daniel''s statement.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''If I focus, I can feel the spiritual energy that is being transmitted. After it is destroyed I just need to make sure that the transmissions cease and I can be certain that we are done.'' Marcus thought, taking the key from Daniel.

    But before he destroyed the system, Marcus had a couple of questions that he wanted answered.

    "I know this may be a bit hypocritical of me, but before we shut this system down, there are two things I want to ask you." Marcus said, turning towards Daniel.

    "Go ahead, whether I will be able to answer depends on multiple factors though." Daniel responded.

    "I am looking for two things, one is called a font of death, and the other is a ghost king, would you happen to know where I can find either or both of these?" Marcus asked.

    Putting on a contemtive expression, Daniel was clearly looking back into his memories and eventually nodded his head in acknowledgement.

    "I cannot remember the exact details, but I am sure that information rted to both of those topics are saved within thework. It might take me a bit of time to find what I am looking for, and as you said it is hypocritical of you. In my opinion you should just go ahead and destroy it as we have agreed or you can leave it and as the favor we owe you I can look up the information you want." Daniel said, negotiating with Marcus.

    Frankly he did not want to destroy the system he had put a painstaking amount of time into creating, would rather give Marcus all the information eh wanted rather than have it destroyed.

    "No that is not an option. We came down here to eliminate thiswork and it is happening one way or another. I am quite sure that I would hear about it for eternity if I let this go." Marcus said, ncing towards Mrazivy.

    "I see, happy wife happy life as they say." Daniel said, nodding his head.

    Mrazivy looked a little offended by this statement that was unfamiliar to her, but in this situation Marcus agreed.

    Of course, he felt strongly about ending this surveince system as well, even if not as much as her.

    Still, Marcus wanted this information about the items he needed to achieve his evolution. To that end he figured that he could barter with some information of his own.

    "So, for helping you and Alyna I get one favor. Either ess to the surveince system or its destruction. But what if I offered you information on something that you do not already know and has a real possibility of helping you return to being human or at least no longer being undead?"

    Dangling bit for bait in front of Daniel, Marcus waited for his response.

    "Fine, but at least tell me a bit first. If it is not actually of interest, then my answer is no." Daniels said firmly.

    Alyna who was with them tried to interject and say that Daniel was being rude, but he stopped her by raising his hand.

    "No, I need to stay firm here. You may have escaped from your curse but the rest of us haven''t. I said that I would destroy the soul surveincework and nothing more. If Marcus wants information from us, he will have to offer up more." Daniel said, not backing down.

    "It is fine Alyna. I may have helped you both, but Mrazivy and I did barge down here and force our own wills on all of you. I am fine making a deal for an exchange of information." Marcus said.

    But before he did, he made sure to get confirmation from Mrazivy, and mouthed two words to her in a way that neither Daniel nor Alyna could see.

    Frowning Mrazivy understood Marcus'' intentions but was unsure whether to go along with them.

    "Go ahead, I think it will be better to tell them than not. You were probably nning on doing it anyway, since you have such a soft spot for them." Mrazivy said, allowing Marcus to proceed as he liked.

    Having obtained his partner''s approval Marcus told Daniel what eh had to bargain with.

    "I am sure you have heard of special dungeons. We happen to know where one is and you may be able to obtain an item there that can restore your humanity. Does that sound good enough to exchange information?"

    Going wide eyed, Daniel and Alyna were once again astonished by Marcus.

    Certainly, they had heard of special dungeons, but these miraculous ces were closely guarded secrets.

    Even with their surveincework they had note across the location of one. Simply having heard about them.

    "Yes, that is sufficient. I will find out what you want to know." Daniel said, changing his tune incredibly fast.

    His expression actually seemed almost giddy, and he pulled up a number of knew screens and began searching for the information her only vaguely remembered about a font of death and a ghost king that Marcus desperately wanted to know.

 Chapter 843 843 Where To Find A Font Of Death

    It took Daniel nearly twenty hours to locate the information that Marcus wanted, and during that time Mrazivy had needed to leave and inform Boreas not toe in guns zing.

    "So, you are certain you have finished collecting what you need?" Marcus asked Daniel.

    "Yeah, I got it all. Go ahead and bring thework down." Daniel responded.

    Taking the key he had been given to activate the failsafe formation, Marcus jammed it in and flooded the system with mana and spiritual energy.

    In just a couple of minutes the thousands of crystal screens began to crack, and the entire area started glowing brightly from the immense amount of energy Marcus was emitting.

    "And for the finishing touch."

    With his hand outstretched Marcus unleashed a rending void spell on the area and reduced what had been the epicenter of the soul surveince system into dust.

    Afterwards he focused intently to make sure no more signals wereing in.

    Thankfully even once several minutes had passed, nothing happened and Marcus was certain that the greatest surveincework in the world had been destroyed.

    "Now I think it is time to trade our information." Marcus said, his eyes brimming with expectation.

    "First let me tell you that I have no confirmation on where a ghost king might be. Only a solid lead. As for a font of death, I know for certain of two and have decent evidence for three more."

    Frowning, Marcus was unsatisfied hearing that even Daniel could not with all certainty point him in the direction of a ghost king.

    ''At least he knows where I can find a font of death.'' Marcus thought, trying to stay positive.

    For a few moments the two of them stood staring at each other waiting for the first one to divulge the details of their information.

    "I suppose I will start." Daniele eventually said, begrudgingly.

    "For the nearest font of death, I am certain exists, you will find it on the same continent as Borealia. However, it is about as far away from your home as you can get, being located close to the southern tip of the continent within the nation of Aezam."<novelnext></novelnext>

    Racking his brain, Marcus vaguely remembered hearing about this country thaty at the other end of the continent Borealia was on.

    He knew that it was considered at the top of the strongest nations on the continent right next to Borealia. It was uncertain since they were so far apart which one was truly the strongest, but there was no doubt they were one and two.

    ''I also know that it is mostly made up of vast deserts. Theplete opposite of Borealia which is icy and cold for at least half the year. It is the only country on the continentrger than Borealia, for now at least. Once Borealia merges with Tralenstein again it should be bigger. Other than that, I really do not know anything about the ce.'' Marcus thought, attempting to remember any other tidbits he might have heard or read about.

    Unfortunately, he normally left knowing this kind of information to Mrazivy, as her education as royalty had epassed a bit of information about the other nations on the continent.

    He already had enough trouble learning the intricacies of Borrelia, he did not care to back his head full of knowledge he did not necessarily need.

    "So, where exactly is it in Aezam?" Marcus asked.

    It was a vast nation and simply searching around for it randomly would take far too long.

    "Ah it has been so long since I had a conversation with someone that did not know theyout of the entire world that I forgot most people know very little about geography." Daniel said, as if he had just had an epiphany.

    He then opened up his item box and pulled out a very detailed map of the continent that Borealia and Aezam were a part of, along with several maps of only Aezam.

    Seeing this Marcus remembered the stupidly expensive As of the continent he had bought several years ago in Lethan and pulled it out.

    ''I never really looked this thing over all that much considering I spent several thousand gold coins on it.'' Marcus thought as he flipped it open to where the information on Aezam was.

    Still despite the as having been the best one he was able to acquire through the adventurer''s guild, Daniel''s maps were far more detailed. Showing how truly exceptional his informationwork was.

    "As you can see here on this map Aezam is made up of sixrge deserts with the center being a massiveke oasis where the capital is. Each of these deserts is ruled by one of the six major ns while the central area is jointly ruled by an elder from each of the major ns." Daniel exined.

    He then pointed to the southern most desert and to an area that on the map had no settlements of any kind.

    "This is where you will find the font of death. It appeared a very long time ago to the point that details are unknown. During some type disaster over a hundred thousand people from what I could gather. So much concentrated death in one area over a short time period caused the font of death to form, and now the ce can support no life and is teaming with undead. In the past Aezam tried to clear the ce out and make it habitable again, but the discovery of the font of death that has blighted thend and given rise to numerous powerful undead that lurk in what is now called the Deste Desert forced them to stop. I imagine that the resource expenditure to reim the already devestednd was not worth it. Instead, the area has been walled off to keep the undead from getting out. That is all I know about the font of death in Aezam. If you want to learn more, you will have to investigate further at the source."

 Chapter 844 844 Information Exchange

    Having learned from Daniel where he might find a font of death, Marcus attempted to get him to tell him about where he might possibly fine a ghost king.

    But instead of getting the answer he wanted, Marcus was told that it was his turn to offer up some information.

    "Very well, the special dungeon known as Realization of Self Perfection is located within Borealia. There is a very long ravine that at the bottom opens up into a series of crystal caverns. Deep inside you will find that entrance to the special dungeon."

    Nodding his head, Daniel seemed to at least be familiar with the ce that Marcus had described and pulled out a map of Borealia, before asking Marcus for a more specific location of where the entrance was.

    "I believe that right around here is where the ravine''s widest part is. We would always enter through there. But I will save more detailed direction for after you tell me about the possible ghost king you know about."

    Sighing, Daniel had been hoping to hear more details about the special dungeon, but knowing its general location was enough for now and thanks to Alyna confirming it, he knew that Marcus was speaking the truth.

    "Again, I would like to state that I am not sure you will find a ghost king here, but it is the most likely ce that I know of." Daniel said before telling Marcus more.

    "The ce you may find a ghost king is not on the continent that you hail from and is located within the Kingdom of Houten which is located on the continent to the west of Borealia. Though it is on the far side, and I do not believe that your home has any rtionship with them." Daniel said while pulling out another map.

    This one was of the continent to the west of Borealia and it was Marcus'' first time seeing any map of the continent he had heard about a number of times.

    It was in overall size around thirty percentrger than the one that Borealia was a part of and had many more nations. Some of which were actually pretty small.

    ''There, a bit above the middle on the far western side of the continent.'' Marcus thought, spotting where Houten was on the map.

    Overall, it was not thergest nation, but it was a respectable size. Being maybe a quarter asrge as Borealia.

    Most of the area was thickly forested from Marcus could see on the map, but to the north of it arge area that appeared to be a city was excluded from the countries borders and wasbeled ''Old Houten Capital''.

    However, even as he examined the map closely Marcus found that the area had not been taken by some other nation, but was rather uninhabited now. Leading Marcus to believe that this might be where the ghost king Daniel thought might exist was.

    "Looks like you keyed in on it pretty quickly. Yes, where the Houten capital used to be is now a nest of undead creatures. This happened around three hundred years ago when the kingdom to the north invaded. In ast desperate attempt to prevent the capital city from falling the king at the time used some powerful necromantic magic to turn himself and his closest follower into undead creatures. This allowed him to sessfully repulse the invaders, but everyone who was unable to flee the city quickly was turned into an undead creature. None of the detail are really clear and my informationwork was not nearly as widespread at the time so I have no clue what actually happened to trigger this though. All I know now is that the city is swarming with undead and it is the mostly likely ce I can think of that you might find a ghost king. Now I have held up my end of the deal." Daniels aid, looking at Marcus expectantly.

    "Sure, I can give you more detailed directions, but it honestly might be better for me to just show Alyna how to get there." Marcus suggested.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Puzzled, Daniel was not sure exactly what Marcus was getting at until he exined it.

    "You remember how I slipped in and out of here with my Dark Portal unique skill. I have one set up at the entrance to the ravine. I can only take Alyna with me, but I can personally show her the way. It should not take me too long."

    "That should be fine. If you are up for it Alyna?" Daniel responded.

    "That would be fine by me!" Alyna answered immediately. Excitement in her tone.

    Of course before Marcus left he turned towards Mrazivy for her opinion.

    "Go ahead. I will hold things down here."

    With Mrazivy''s agreement, Marcus opened up a Dark Portal and warped along with Alyna back to Borealia.

    In an instant they were no longer inside the undergroundplex but standing in front of a long ravine that went on for miles.

    Looking around, Alyna blinked her eyes rapidly several times as she got used to the light of the sun.

    Tears began streaming down her eyes as she looked around at thendscape around her.

    For the first time in nearly four hundred years she was finally able to see the outside not through a screen but in person with her own eyes.

    "I had forgotten how beautiful the world was. What the warmth of the sun felt like." Alyna said, basking in her surroundings.

    Seeing her reaction to being out in the open world again Marcus could not help but smile. While it had not even been close to as long as Alyna had endured, he knew what ti was like to be trapped in one ce and feel hopelessness.

    "I understand how you must feel, but we are not on a sight seeing trip. I will being going pretty fast, so try to keep up and remember the way. You will need to be the one to lead all of yourpanions next time." Marcus said, before jumping into the ravine.

 Chapter 845 845 Back To Their Honeymoon

    Flying through the ravine then into the crystal caverns, Marcus showed Alyna the way to the special dungeon.

    Along the way she stopped numerous times and stared in awe at the beaty around her, and Marcus did not have the heart to pull her away too quickly. Afterall, she had been trapped in an underground facility on an isted ind for centuries. It was only natural that she would be enraptured by the sights around her.

    ? This made their progress actually quite slow, and it took Marcus two days to show Alyna the entire route despite the fact that they were flying at a good speed and did not have to worry about any obstacles.

    "There it is. That gate is the entrance to the special dungeon." Marcus said, pointing at therge set of doors sitting in the middle of the undergroundke.

    As usual a powerful creature had set up its home in the location once again, but it was none the wiser to Alyna and Marcus who were currently ethereal.

    ''They can deal with itter. It is not like a monster of that level is any real threat to them.'' Marcus thought before warping away with Alyna.

    When they reappeared inside the underground facility below the resort, rms began ring immediately, and it was not long before all of Alyna''spanions arrived.

    "You are back. How did it go." Daniel asked almost immediately.

    "It went well. I showed her the way. Alyna should be able to guide you whenever you want to go." Marcus replied.

    After that he discussed a number of matters with Daniel, Alyna, Cassius, Vira, and Soren, before heading back up to the resort.

    What he needed to aplish was nowplete and he was ready to take a break and rx.

    When he arrived back at his hotel room, he found Mrazivy lounging around drinking some sort of fruity cocktail while reading a book.

    "That took longer than I thought it would. I was starting to get afraid you would note back before it was time for us to leave." Mrazivy said with a teasing smile.

    "Yeah, it was not as easy as just showing Alyna the way. She would take long pauses every now and then to take in the sights." Marcus said as he sat down next to Mrazivy.

    "I can understand. It really is a sight to behold down there."

    Mrazivy then closed her book, and quickly finished off the drink she had been enjoying.

    "Now, despite the fact that we havee to this resort, we have not had the chance to do much swimming. We still have a few hours of sunlight, so it is time that we hit the beach." Mrazivy said enthusiastically.

    Marcus however, really just wanted to sit around and do nothing for the rest of the day. Physically he was fine, but mentally he was exhausted after all he had been through.

    Unlike Mrazivy who had been able to rest for thest two days he had been constantly busy since they began investigating the anomalies with this resort.

    Nevertheless, there was no way he could bring things down and be a stick in the mud when his wife was raring to go.

    ''Anyway, just seeing her smile has given me a bit more energy. I am sure swimming in the ocean a bit will be rxing in its own way.''

    Pulling himself together, Marcus quickly shifting his clothing into swimwear and he and Mrazivy hurried over to the beach.

    The water was crystal clear and with his enhanced vison Marcus could see a number of different types fish swimming around the reefs that had been cultivated in the area.

    It really was an idyllic environment and exuded a sense of peacefulness.<novelnext></novelnext>

    At least it did, until Mrazivy jumped into the air and cannonballed into the water.

    She even used her mana barrier to increase the surface area of the impact and send arge ssh of water towards Marcus. Luckily they were the only ones around.

    By the time the torrent of water had settled down, Marcus waspletely soaked despite not having gotten in the water yet.

    "Come on, see if you can make a bigger ssh." Mrazivy said, obviously trying to entice Marcus to join in.

    "You know if I really tired, I could disce all of the water within sight."

    "Yeah, I could to. Just jump in already. Our goal is to cover this entire beach all the way to the wall. We have already wasted enough time, and I want to see everything there is to see here." Mrazivy said, before mming her hand into eh water and sending another violent spray towards Marcus.

    This time instead of letting it hit him, he turned ethereal and let the water pass through him.

    "Fine but you asked for it." Marcus said before jumping into he water.

    Above his head he created arge iron sphere and when he hit a small tidal wavepletely engulfed Mrazivy and swept her away.

    Of course, while any normal person would have been at risk of drowning, for Mrazivy it was like ax roller coaster ride.

    "Looks like you are finally getting into it. Nowe on. We scared all the fish in the area so we are going to have to go a bit before we can find some more." Mrazivy said, taking off towards arge reef that was about two kilometers away.

    After that the two of them spent all day and a good part of the night swimming around the enclosed area behind the wall and taking in the beautiful sights.

    At one point they actually attracted the attention of one of the few dangerous predators that had managed to escape detection.

    It was a level eleven saltwater crocodile that was around eight feet long and had a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

    It had likely been a miracle that it survived to reach the size it had since adventurers hunted any dangerous creatures within the resort''s walls.

    Unfortunately. it had targeted Mrazivy for its meal and found it had bitten off more than it could chew.

    The moment it tried to bite her, Mrazivy had simply swatted its head with her hand and shook its head so hard that its neck was broken.

    "I suppose that we will be having crocodile for dinner." Marcus said as he stored the now dead beast into his item box.

    Not long afterwards they decided to call it a night and headed back to their room.

    There they both worked together to make a vibrant dinner from the ingredients they had gathered on the ind and from the ocean.

    "I know it has only been a few days, but I really have missed you cooking." Mrazivy said while gorging herself on the food before her.

    Going at a much slower pace Marcus tired a bit of each thing he made and took mental notes on what to try with each ingredient next time he cooked with them.

    Overall, the day had been quite enjoyable, and now that they no longer had to worry about any possible threats from the resort''s true rulers, they could simply enjoy their honeymoon again.

 Chapter 846 846 To The Land Of Endless Deserts

    As the days passed by Marcus and Mrazivy continued to enjoy their stay at the Chelmer Resort.

    The to of them spent plenty of time exploring the inds that made up the resort and the waters around it.

    They had even gone out and swam to the bottom of the ocean in search of anything hidden like a dungeon, but other than territorial beasts and monsters they did not find anything of note.

    Now it was time for them to leave the resort, but not in the manner that they had been expecting when they first arrived.

    "Are you really sure it is okay to let us use this ship just for us?" Marcus asked.

    Behind him was an impressive mithril vessel, but not one of the cruise ships that they hade in on.

    This one was one of the trade vessels that Daniel and hispanions had made.

    It moved far faster than the much bulkier cruise ships and would be taking Marcus and Mrazivy directly to their next destination.

    "Yes, it is fine. We have already made all of the arrangements you will need to enter Aezam. Also one of the homunculi onboard is an expert at thengue spoken there and will tutor you and Mrazivy on the way." Alyna responded.

    "You already helped us quite a bit so consider this just a little extra thanks from us. It really is no problem. We trade with Aezam anyway on asion to purchase certain spices, so all we are doing is elerating our ns and allowing you onboard. Anyway, you would encounter multiple difficulties if you just flew there." Daniel said.

    Nodding his head, Marcus thanked Daniel and Alyna for their assistance.

    To enter Aezam legally would not have been an easy endeavor without using the resort''s connections with the kingdom. Aezam was not a part of the adventures guild and was actually openly hostile to the organization as it was preventing them from expanding northward since the nations sitting above it were all members of the guild.

    Also, there was the problem that theirnguage was very different from Borealian which Marcus had been getting by with since it was simr to many of thenguages spoken within the northern and central regions of the continent.

    However, Aezam was located in the far south, theirnguage was not simr in the least. This meant that Marcus and Mrazivy were going to have to learn at least a bit before they arrived.

    It was going to be a nearly three-week journey from the resort to Aezam by ship and during that time one of the homunculi onboard was going to teach them thenguage and other useful information about Aezam.

    And while it certainly would have been impossible on Earth to reach much of aponent level in a newnguage in such a short amount of time, with Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s intelligence stats being extraordinarily high, their capacity to remember, recall, and process information was impable.

    This did not make them geniuses by any means though, just allowed them to learn and think faster.

    "Well, I cannot say that our meeting was on the best of terms, but I am d that we managed to work things out in the end. I truly hope that the special dungeon will give you what you all are seeking."

    "That is our wish also, but it will take us some time before we can go on such a long journey. We have much to prepare here before we can leave." Daniel said looking back at the resort.

    "Oh, and please make sure to keep in touch, Marcus. If you need anything feel free to contact me or even bring me to your side." Alyna said.

    Now that she was his adjutant, they couldmunicate across pretty much any distance so long as they were in the same world.

    "Got it. I do not think anything shoulde up that requires me to need your help, but I will remember that." Marcus said.

    After that they said a few more farewells, and Marcus and Mrazivy boarded the ship that would be taking them to their next destination.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Once onboard the lead homunculus who was also the captain began showing them around. Acting very courteous since they were guests of her master.

    "And this will be your room during your stay. I know it is not much, but it is the best one that the ship has. I apologize in advance that we not having better amodations." The captain who was named Desirae said with her head bowed.

    "No, it is fine. This is more than sufficient for us." Marcus replied.

    Certainly the room was notvish like the one they had on the cruise ship, but it had all the necessities they would need. Including its own private bathroom.

    Having finished showing them to their room, Desirae gave them a tour of the rest of the ship.

    Naturally there was not much in the way of entertainment on this ship since it was a trading vessel, but its array of weapons and defenses even made the cruise ship seem to be tame.

    ''I suppose since they are not hiring any high ranking adventures as guards they need more weapons in case they get attacked.'' Marcus thought.

    The entire crew were homunculi created by Daniel and hispanions, and while some of them were above level forty none of them were exceptionally powerful.

    This ship would also be traveling alone, which was pretty rare for mercantile vessels. Normally they would need to travel inrge groups to stay secure. Only powerful mithril ships could feel safe on their own on the open water.

    Soon their tour of the ship came to and end and Desirae asked Marcus and Mrazivy if there was anything that they currently needed.

    "Yes, if you could send in ournguage tutor we would be most appreciative. We need to get to the point where we can at least have basic conversations before we arrive." Mrazivy said.

    "Understood, I will have Jede to your quarters immediately." Desirae said, her expression as serious as ever.

    Within just a couple of minutes the homunculus named Jed came in, arge box in his hands.

    When Jed opened the box the smell of ink and paper immediately wafted out of it and Marcus could tell what was inside.

    Swiftly and carefully, Jed took out fiverge books and several smaller documents from the box and ced them down on the table within Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s room.

    "It is a pleasure to meet you both. The most esteemed friends of my masters." Jed said bowing his head.

    "Yes, it is nice to meet you as well. Jed. You can raise your head." Mrazivy said.

    At this point hat had gotten used to this type of treatment from the homunculi.

    While all of them had their own individuality and quicks, one thing they shared inmon was their fierce loyalty to Daniel and hispanions who had created them. This in turn made them highly respectful towards Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Where would you like to begin? With history, current politics, or thenguage?" Jed asked.

    As Marcus and Mrazivy thought about where to begin, they both felt the ship begin to take off, and the next leg of their journey began.

 Chapter 847 847 Arrival In Aezam

    "So that is Aezam."

    Standing at the bow of the ship, Marcus had his right hand over his eyes and was gazing at the shoreline that had just appeared in the distance.

    After their three-week journey across the ocean, today was the day that they were going to be docking in Aezam.

    Nothing major of note urred during their trip which had beenpletely peaceful and Marcus and Mrazivy were anxiously waiting for their arrival.

    Other than studying, the two of them had little to do on the voyage since the crew took care of everything else.

    Both of them had gotten a bit stir crazy and were ready to get off the ship where the scenery had been unchanging since they left the resort. Just a vast expanse of blue in all direction for as far as the eye could see.

    "Ugh, if only Aezam was afflicted with the Adventurers Guild we could just fly over and not have to worry about normal procedures." Marcus grumbled.

    "Normally I would say you are overreacting, but this time I agree with you. I am ready for something else to happen. I would not even mind if we were attacked by a swarm of monsters, or raided by pirates." Mrazivy said, slumping over the guardrail and looking longingly at the shoreline.

    They were still around three hours away from the destination which was a major trading hub on Aezam''s coast named Tijara City.

    And Unfortunately, Mrazivy''s wishes for the ship to be attacked did note to fruition, and they spent the next three hours sailing calmly towards their destination.

    At the very least once they were closer to Tijara, Marcus and Mrazivy were able to look at the sprawling city that had several hundreds of ships docked at its ports.

    "Wow, I think that this city might be even bigger than Loursend." Mrazivy said in amazement.

    "You might be right. But it is still not nearly as big as the royal capital. What is really interesting is the architecture though. The buildings are very different from those in Borealia." Marcus said, enhancing his vison to look at some of the more impressive buildings.

    In the center of the city there was arge white stone building that had a domed roof and reminded Marcus of middle eastern architecture from Earth.

    Unlike in Borealia where the majority of buildings were wooden, all of the buildings here were made out of some type of stone and only very few used wood in any of their construction

    Another major difference was the number of windows. In Borealia most buildings would have very few windows to keep the heat in and cold out.

    Here in Aezam though, every building had plenty of buildings to increase the air flow.

    "I know we have been to Tralenstein, but it was actually pretty simr to Borealia. In away this is our first time going to a truly forging nation." Mrazivy said an excited smile on her face.

    Just a few years ago she never would have imagined being able to travel to the other end of the continent.

    As the two of them continued to observe the city, their ship pulled closer to the port.

    Soon a small government vessel came out to meet them and several officials boarded to check the cargo and make sure all of the paperwork was in order.

    Thankfully, things went smoothly, and their ship docked without any issue.

    "Jed, make sure to get them into the city and settled. Remember that it is our masters'' orders that you help guide them while we are here." Desirae said to her fellow homunculus just before Marcus and Mrazivy disembarked.

    With a bow Jed assured his captain that he would do his upmost to help them, before guiding them to the dock''s checkpoint.

    "Stop! Beyond this point is the city proper. Only citizens of Aezam and those that have already gone through the proper procedures can enter. If you wish to enter you will need to head to the harbormaster''s office and petition for one of the ns to vouch for you." A guard at the checkpoint said.

    "Yes, we know. Our papers should already be in order." Jed said, taking out a couple of documents and handing them over.

    With a quick nce the guard looked them over and went wide eyed at what was detailed.

    "Sorry, forgive my rudeness. It is rare for those with proper credentials toe on foot, and I normally need to prevent curious sailor from going where they are not supposed to. I did not know that you were guests of the Eazim n. Please allow me to have a carriage called for you all." The guard said respectfully.

    "Thank you for the offer, but my masters wish to go on foot. It is there first time here and they are curious to see the city." Jed responded.

    Nodding his head, the guard understood, and gave them a few quick warning about parts of the city to avoid.

    After clearing the checkpoint, Marcus and Mrazivy followed Jed into the city proper.

    "Things really are different around here than in Borealia. Anyone who docks in Loursend can enter the city without going through all of these procedures." Mrazivy said.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Yes, Aezam is fairly strict about allowing outsiders in. Luckily my masters have made numerous business rtions with many of the nations on this continent and the one to the west, so receiving permission to enter was rtively easy." Jed responded.

    "That reminds me, the guard said that Eazim n is the one vouching for us. That is the great n that holds power in this city, right?" Marcus asked.

    He was almost certain that he had learned this in his crash course on Aezam during their journey here but wanted to make sure with Jed.

    "That is correct. As the resort has done trade with their n for centuries at this point it was easy enough to receive their permission to enter the nation. Once we reach the hotel you will be staying at, a guide from their n wille to show you around and take you to your destination as nned. It saddens me that I will not be able to assist you for much longer, but I will make sure to do my best until you are in the Eazim n''s care." Jed said.

    Soon the three of them reached one of the city''s main streets and were met with arge bazar where several hundreds of people were hawking their wares.

    Now that they were out in the open Marcus and Mrazivy were receiving a number of curious looks.

    All of the people that lived in Aezam were quite tan from living in a harsh climate that had bright sunlight for most of the year and it was rare to see individuals with such fare skin. With Marcus and Mrazivy being especially pale.

    Nevertheless, while they were garnering a bit of attention as they walked, their presences did not cause any sort ofmotion.

    Tijara was a major trade city, and while their were procedures to follow for foreigners to enter, it was not like there were none here.

    At the very least Marcus and Mrazivy appeared human. It was individuals from others races that were on the receiving end of more interested stares.

    "Beautiful foreign princess. Do you not think that these rare jewels would look lovely with your outfit. I can promise that no other vendor in this bazar has higher quality gems. For a beauty such as you I would be willing to let it go for only five gold coins." One of the merchants said, walking right in front of Mrazivy and stopping her.

    In his hands was what looked like a gold chained ne with arge yellow gem in the center.

    However, the words that the merchant used to tter pretty much any female foreign customer he approached had been a poor choice in this instance.

    Immediately Mrazivy raised her guard, believing that this man had some how seen through her identity.

    Luckily before she could make any rash moves, Marcus put a hand on her shoulder and spoke to her with telepathy.

    ''He is just trying to butter you up. He does not know you are actually a princess. It is just a line guys like him say to try and sell their goods.''

    Thanks to Marcus'' exnation Mrazivy calmed down and inspected the item.

    Normally she would not frivolously buy whatever was pushed into her face, but they were in a new country and she figured it would be fine to pick up a few souvenirs.

    Except with a quick use of her dragon eyes, she found that the ne was not nearly as imprecise as the merchant was trying to make it out to be.

    Certainly, it looked pretty but the materials weremon and cheap. Not the high-end item it was being made out to be.

    "Your ne is not made out of gold, and the stones are all justmon quartz. It is worth only a couple of silver at best. No one in their right mind would pay a single gold coin, let alone five for it." Mrazivy said, coldly shooting the merchant down.

    Having been utterly rejected the man huffed and stormed away. Realizing that Mrazivy was not going to be an easy mark to sell a cheap peace to.

    Along the way a few more individuals like him tried to approach them, but after the first time Marcus and Mrazivy had Jed jump in and swiftly deal with the situations.

    Most of the merchants in the bazar though were not trying to scam foreigners and had their goods marked at fair prices.

    Over three dozen times Marcus stopped at some of the stalls selling food items he had never seen, and using the currency they had exchanged with Daniel bought a handful of items to test out.

    "Seems like their coins arerger." Marcus absentmindedly said while walking.

    He had not noticed it at first but after using the currency of Aezam several times now he had noticed plenty of differences from what they had in Borealia.

    "That would be because Borealia uses the standardized currency sizes set forth by the adventurers guild to make exchanges easier. Aezam is not a part of the guild and openly hostile towards them, so it makes since that their money is not the same size." Mrazivy exined.

    She then carefully examined the two different gold coins with her dragon eyes and found that while the one from Borealia was about ten percent small, the actually content of gold in the coin was higher.

    Several more hours passed as they traveled the streets of the city and toured around the numerous markets in search of interesting items.

    Eventually thought it was time for them to move on and Jed led them to the hotel that they would be staying at.

 Chapter 848 848 Experiencing Some Of Aezamâ€™s Culture

    "These rooms are certainly different from what we are used to in Borealia. But I do really like the tile work." Mrazivy said while sitting on the bed and looking around.

    With Jed''s assistance they had easily checked into their room at the Bahr Hotel which catered to wealthy merchants visiting the city.

    Unlike in Borealia, where the sheets and nkets were heavy to keep people warm, things were very light due to the heat. And as the hotel was not cheap there was actually a magical device simr to air conditioning keeping it cooled. Though there was no way for it to be adjusted and it was simply left at a set temperature of around twenty five degrees Celsius.

    "It is too bad it does not have a kitchen. I was hoping to be able to experiment with the ingredients I just brought." Marcus said with a sigh.

    "I am sure we will have plenty of chances for you to try cookingter. Plus, this is only the first city we are visiting. We have a long journey ahead of us until we reach the southern end of the country. I am sure you will pick up plenty more ingredients along the way." Mrazivy said tofort Marcus.

    "Now we can worry about foodter. Jed is out getting some for us. Instead, let us try out this new board game I picked up. We certainly exhausted what we already had on us during our trip here, but neither of us have yed this before."

    With an exited sparkle in her eyes Mrazivy pulled out the ornate stone box she had purchased which had the traditional broad game yed in Aezam within.

    "Looks like I win again. That makes three for me and one for you." Mrazivy said, tallying their scores on a sheet of paper.

    "You just keep getting lucky. I think that these shells just hate me or something." Marcus said picking up the polished shells that were used to determine how the pieces in the game moved.

    He tired rolling them experimentally a few times and each time the shellsnded in ways that would be poor for an opening start.

    Thankfully for Marcus he did not have to y another match against Mrazivy who was surprisingly lucky at this game since Jed had returned.

    "I did as you both asked and gathered some of the popr traditional dishes served in the city." Jed said, pulling out several tes and bowls from his magic bag.

    Immediately Mrazivy and Marcus were hit with the smell of very fragrant spices.

    "Oh, they have cumin and sumac here." Marcus said with a delighted tone. Recognizing the spices from his time on Earth.

    He had been able to fine a number of spices he knew about from Earth in Borealia, but this was his first time finding these two.

    Mrazivy on the other hand was a bit more pensive about some of the food that smelled very strongly of unfamiliar scents.<novelnext></novelnext>

    In Borealia their cooking techniques were certainly different, and most dishes did not smell heavily of spices.

    Still, seeing Marcus jump in and start eating the dishes she did as well, and found that everything was quite good.

    "This is one of the best parts about traveling. Getting to try all of the new food." Marcus said before tossing a deep fired ball that had ground beans, vegetables, and a number of spices in it.

    "I agree. This fish on top of a bed of this yellow grain is quite good." Mrazivy said.

    Naturally the fish in a port city were exceptionally fresh, and thanks to the ocean proving a great variety of different types the fish they were having tonight was not something they had eaten before.

    "Oh, I was not sure at first, but this is definitely rice. I believe that they managed to make it yellow thanks to the spice blend it was cooked with." Marcus said when he carefully examined what Mrazivy was eating.

    "You know what this grain is Marcus?" Mrazivy asked.

    This was actually her first time having it and had never heard of it before.

    "Yeah, it was widespread back on Earth, and most people at least ate it asionally. It keeps well and is not difficult to cook. I actually bought a little in Borealia before, but it was really expensive and not very popr. Bread or potatoes are what people use as a starch since they are far more widely avable. It would simply be impossible to grow rice in Borealia without a specialized magic facility, so it has to be imported likely from a fair distance away. The climate in the north is just unfavorable for the nt." Marcus exined.

    "I see. That means we should buy as much as we can here. I actually quite like it and want to see what else you can do with it." Mrazivy said, scooping another spoonful into her mouth.

    The two of them continued to enjoy the vast feast of foodmon in Aezam untilte into the night.

    Eventually Jed did tell them that it would be best to get some rest, as they were going to be meeting with representatives from the Eazim n tomorrow.

    Taking him up on his advice Marcus and Mrazivy headed to their room and got ready for bed.

    "Hopefully things go well tomorrow. Daniel was not able to get permission for us to enter the Deste Desert before we arrived and if they refuse it is going to make things more difficult for us." Mrazivy said to Marcus while they changed their clothes for bed.

    "I think that it will be fine, probably. Daniel said that the negotiations were going favorably and that those he wasmunicating with wanted to meet us before making any decisions. Worst case scenario, we can just sneak in, but it would be best if we stick to official channels. I want to get as much support and information about this ce as we can before we enter. There is no telling what could be in that desert. Now let us get to sleep. Tomorrow is probably going to be a long day" Marcus responded.

 Chapter 849 849 Meeting With Eazim Clanâ€™s Representative

    Upon waking up, Marcus and Mrazivy found that Jed had brought up arge selection of formal clothingmon in Aezam and left it in the living area of their room.

    "I suppose that since we are meeting with some of the higher ups in this nation that we should wear clothing that fits their culture." Marcus mumbled.

    Originally, they had figured that they could just wear what they had brought from Borealia, but Jed had apparently thought ahead.

    If they actually had worn clothing from their home it would have likely given away where they were from, which both Marcus and Mrazivy we trying to keep under wraps.

    "This dress is very light. Nothing like the ones in Borealia." Mrazivy said.

    Nodding his head Marcus found that his choice of clothing was alsocking in fabricpared to what wasmon in Borealia.

    Along with that the colors were mostly light, being white, cream, tan, or yellow. Likely due to how hot the climate was.

    Eventually the two of them picked out which outfits they liked the most and put them on.

    For Marcus he had picked a robe and pair of pants that were light blue while Mrazivy picked out a yellow dress that had a floral pattern on it.

    Not long after they had finished getting ready, Jed arrived and told them that it was almost time for their meeting.

    "The building that the Eazim n wishes for us toe to is about fifteen minutes away from here. And for this asion I already booked a carriage since it would be improper for you to arrive on foot." Jed said, acting the model servant.

    "I know you said that we should leave making all of the arrangements to you, but are you sure that you do not need us to do anything ourselves?" Marcus asked. Feeling a bit bad about all the work Jed was doing while they rxed.

    "It is no problem. My masters and the captain have instructed me to attend to your every need while I am here. Once you leave this city for your true destination, I will not be able to help you anymore. Thus I must do my best during this time when I am here to assist you both."

    "We understand. Your loyalty to you masters ismendable. We thank you for all you have done for us." Mrazivy said.

    After that exchange the three of them exited the hotel and boarded the carriage waiting for them.

    "I am surprised they are not using horses." Marcus said leaning out the window and looking at the beasts moving their carriage.

    Instead, the creature was something that looked like a smaller and stouter rhinoceros with two horns instead of just one.

    When he appraised it, he found that its name was dualhorn and that it was level elven with high strength and vitality stats. Albeit,cking a bit in agility.

    However, in the cramped city bustling with people, speed was not much of an issue and this beast was likely used for its stamina and ability to endure the harsh heat.

    In just under fifteen minutes their carriage had arrived in front of an impressive building near the middle of the city.

    With just one look it was clear that this was a government office of some kind and standing outside were four imposing guards.

    "Please wait a moment. I will hand over the letter my masters gave me to one of the guards." Jed said, as he was leaving the carriage.

    He then walked over to one of the guards and spoke to him for a few seconds before handing over the letter.

    The guard after checking things over nodded his head and Jed came back to get Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "The guard said that we are expected and that the Eazim n''s representative is waiting for us."

    Things having gone smoothly, Marcus and Mrazivy left the carriage and followed Jed inside the building.

    Once inside an employ along with three guards that were between level twenty-five and thirty escorted Marcus and Mrazivy to the room where their meeting would be urring.

    ''Oh, she is pretty young.'' Marcus thought seeing the representative.

    He had been expecting some wizened elder, but instead they were greeted with a young woman who looked like she was barely an adult.

    Standing behind her was a guard that easily stood two meters tall and had an ornate top tier mithril ive resting against him. Clearly this man was her personal guard and a fairly strong one at that.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Without using his appraisal skill just in case Marcus gauged the man to be somewhere between level forty to forty-five.

    Though while Marcus and Mrazivy were trying not to be rude by using their appraisal abilities the young woman''s personal guard showed no such hesitation.

    ''Well, he does not look happy.'' Marcus thought, seeing the guard''s shirt in demeanor from calm to tense.

    Marcus currently had his level set at its actual value, only having his race and skills changed up by his False Status unique skill, and Mrazivy still had on an item that prevented her from being read by the appraisal skill. Even if it was max level.

    Only those with a unique skill or more powerful magical item could see her status.

    "The Eazim n wees both of you. My name is Amira Eazim, forth daughter of the current head of the n. Any friend of the Chelmer Resort is a friend of ours. My father has instructed me to help you in any way that I can."

    "It is a pleasure to meet you Amira. My name is Marcus, and this is my wife Mraz." Marcus said giving a slight bow to Amira.

    Now that they had finished their greetings the three of them sat down and got down to business.

    "To start I want to confirm that the two of you truly wish to enter the Deste Desert. I am sure you at least know a bit about the ce. It is swarming with undead and not a ce for the faint of heart to go. In our nation, only the foolhardy or truly desperate ever try to enter the ce. It is and of death and nothing else."

    "Yes we are intent on entering the Deste Desert, and we have heard at least that much about it. I am sure that you received a detailed report about our reason for entering." Marcus replied.

    Frowning Amira did not look all to pleased that they were not backing down. She had been hoping that her words of warning would get them to understand how dangerous of a ce they were hoping to enter was.

    "Yes, we I did. You two have been hired by a crafter associated with resort to obtain the core of a powerful undead creature known as a mummy lord. And while I am not sure how you heard of it, there is such a creature to be known to reside in the Deste Desert."

    Nodding their heads Marcus and Mrazivy confirmed this as their reasoning. Of course this was just a fabricated story that Daniel hade up with when he uncovered a bit more information about the Deste Desert.

    Among the undead within the ce one was more famous than any other and it was a mummy lord that would between one to three years amass an army of undead and try to break through the defenses Aezam had set up around the desert.

    To this point the mummy lord had never broken free but it must have been an incredible pain to deal with.

    That is why it made for a far more realistic cover story that they wanted this rare monster''s core rather than the truth, which was to let Marcus bathe in the font of death within the desert. Had they requested their true goal there was now a they would be let inside and would have had to sneak in without getting any additional support of information.

    Now thought by offering to get rid of this mummy lord Marcus and Mrazivy were going to be performing a service for the kingdom. Getting rid of a nuisance that cost the nation numerous resources on a regr basis.

    Nevertheless, allowing two foreign individuals into such a dangerous ce was not something that could be done lightly.

    For a few moments Amira looked at Marcus and Mrazivy contemtively, before beckoning for her guard.

    He then whispered a few words into hisdy''s ear, and she went wide eyed in shock.

    Of course while the her guard had tired to be quite, Marcus and Mrazivy with their hearing being incredibly keen head what he had said.

    He had just told his mistress that he could not appraise either of them but that he was certain that both Marcus and Mrazivy were far stronger than he was.

    "I see that you are both serious. Unfortunately, the Eazim n cannot give you permission to enter the Deste Desert on our own. The area is under management of the Sulb n who rule the southern desert. We have tried to mediate with them to further the request of the Chelmer Resort, but they are not willing to give you permission to enter without first evaluating your abilities. In order to see what you are capable of; they have asked that your both participate in the Muharib Festival." Amira said, an apologetic expression on her face.

    She wanted to give them both permission to enter the Deste Desert since her father highly valued their connection with the Chelmer resort which was an invaluable trade partner that brought their n a great deal of wealth.

    Unfortunately, the Eazim n had not been able to convince the Sulb n as they had hoped. And as the Sulb n was renowned for their warriors they wanted to see how Marcus and Mrazivy would do in the Muharib Festival which was basically just a fighting tournament to show off which n had the greatest fighters.

    And while Amira was afraid that this would offend Marcus and Mrazivy, neither of them seemed perturbed by it.

    "That sounds fine. Did they tell you what conditions we would need to meet in order to gain their approval? Do we need to win the tournament,e in second ce? How far do we need to go to prove ourselves to them?" Mrazivy asked.

    "I am afraid I do not know that. The Sulb n values strength above all else. All they told us is that you need to show them that you are worthy of the recognition and prove you have the power to do as you im. In all this time none have ever been able to kill the mummy lord that you are after. Though it has been repulsed every time by the Sulb n''s famed warriors."

    "We understand, it would not be in your or the Sulb n''s interest to let us go off to our deaths in a dangerous ce. We are more than fine with showing what we can do if it gets us closer to our goal." Marcus said. "Now, can you tell us more about his Muharib Festival?"

 Chapter 850 850 Off To Aezamâ€™s Capital

    At Marcus'' request Amira gave a more in-depth rundown of the Muharib Festival.

    Unlike Borealia''s kingdom tournament there was no age limit on participates and there were many more vents that went on at the same time other than just the multiple fighting tournaments.

    There were other events such as de dancing, weapon technique demonstrations, tests of agility with one''s weapon, tests of pure strength, and all manner of other weapon and fighting rted events. This is why it was called a festival instead of just a tournament. Though the various tournaments were considered the most prestigious parts of the festival.

    "We are not really in a rush, so it sounds like a fun time. I imagine that there is no problem with foreign guest participating, otherwise the Sulb n would not be asking to see us demonstrate our skills during the festival?" Marcus said.

    "Yes, that is correct. While not many from abroad participate in our festival, there are at least a few each year. With the Eazim n endorsing you there will be no problem with entering any of thepetitions." Amira said, assuring them of their ability to enter the various events of the festival.

    "I suppose all we need to know now is when this festival is poised to begin?" Marcus asked.

    "The Muharib Festival is scheduled to start in around six weeks in the capital city Anrab. And I know this is not a great deal of time, especially since the journey from here will take nearly a month by boat along the Lafa River." Amira said apologetically.

    While her n had a close rtionship with the Chelmer Resort that Daniel and hispanions had created, the Sulb n could care less since they did not have any trade rtionship with the resort.

    ''I really do not want to travel on water anymore.'' Marcus thought with a grimace.

    He could imagine that the boat ride along the Lafa River to Anrab would be another long and uninteresting journey.

    Certainly, they would have more stops along the way since the river would be dotted with towns and other cities, but for the most part he just imagined that none of them would be nearly as interesting as the capital.

    ''Looks like Mrazivy feels the same way.''

    When he looked up at his wife''s face to see her expression, Marcus found that she was likewise not looking forward to another long journey over water.

    Of course, Amira seeing how they were reacting thought that forcing them into such a rush had displeased them.

    "Please forgive us of the Eazim n for being unable to fulfill your request. We simply could not get the Sulb n to budge. Unfortunately, they are obsessed with strength and fighting, and have no problems dragging outsiders along into their selfish desire for new opponents to test themselves against. If this is all truly an inconvenience for you both, my father is willing to bring this to our grand elder and have the council of elders rule on the situation rather than going along with Sulb n. I cannot tell you how things would go in that scenario, but it is possible you could receive permission to enter the Deste Desert." Amira said, bowing her head to both of them.

    ''Seriously Daniel, how much pressure did you put on these guys to have them acting this way?'' Marcus thought while watching Amira''s frantic reaction.

    And while this alternative method of entering the Deste Desert had some appeal to it, neither Marcus nor Mrazivy wanted to bring their case to the highest authority in the nation.

    It would certainly be less of a hassle for them to simply impressive the Sulb n rather than go above their head.

    They wanted as much assistance and information as they could get before entering such a dangerous ce and souring rtions with the n that oversaw the area would not be in their best interest.

    If they were going to do that, they might as well simply fly over to the Deste Desert and sneak in.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Please raise your head. We are not displeased about having to hurry to the capital, but the means of transportation. We both just finished a long boat ride and would rather not go through another one so soon. Is there perhaps and or air route we could take that would be faster?" Mrazivy asked.

    Raising her head, Amira looked at Mrazivy with a confused expression for a moment.

    Though Aezam was a desert country, the majority of its transport was actually done by using the numerousrge rivers and canals that snaked through the nation.

    Almost eighty percent of Aezam''s poption lived along the waterways throughout the country that connected to the capital city were a great artificialke had been made.

    There were very few settlements that were established within the barren deserts where water was scarce.

    Naturally there were some small towns and viges that had popped up around the few oases in the vast deserts and ces rich in valuable minerals, but not much in the way ofrge settlements.

    "Yes there is technically a faster route directly to the capital across the desert, but it is far more dangerous than taking a ferry up the Lafa River. As for an air route, I am afraid that the Eazim n would not be able to send anyone with you that could possibly fly over the entire desert to reach the capital. There are many different types of beasts and monsters that patrol eh skies over the desert with probably the worst being the winged basilisks. Flying over the desert is simply not something that can be done by just anyone." Amira exined.

    Marcus and Mrazivy tried to assure her that they would be fine by themselves, but she insisted that they not go off on their own. If they were going to travel outside of Tijara where they currently were, they would need a guide from the Eazim n in order to avoid any trouble.

    In fact, Amira exined that it was her job to apany them to the capital if they epted the Sulb n''s terms.

    ''If I just transformed into a cdrius I could carry Amira and her entourage over the desert on my back, but I doubt turning into a beast is going to go over well. At this point I do not think it is in our best interest to skip over proper negotiations and to go on our own. Plus, this is an extension of our honeymoon. It would certainly be boring not to see the sights of Aezam while we are here. I just do not want to be stuck traveling for a long period of time.'' Marcus thought, trying toe up with some way to avoid going on another long boat ride.

    "I understand that flying is not an option, but you said that there is a fasternd route that is a straight shot to the capital rather than going by the Lafa River. How much quicker is it to go bynd?" Mrazivy asked.

    "It would only take perhaps a week and a half. But as I said, it is dangerous. There are powerful creatures that inhabit the desert, as well as a number of roaming rogues that rob and kidnap those that travel out into, the desert. Aezam is mostly a safe ce but out on the open desert it is awless ce where you can only rely on yourself. I strongly rmend against taking the shorter route and going by ferry. I have traveled across the desert before to visit one of the towns under our n''s protection and it was nerve racking."

    Amira then told them about the other difficulties of traveling overnd, such as needing to prepare arge amount of water, and the unbearable heat and sunlight.

    Frankly it was clear that she really did not want to go over thend route despite it being more than twice as fast.

    However, Marcus and Mrazivy did not find any of the negatives of traveling overnd to be any problem. To them it actually sounded like it might be a bit exciting.

    ''I know it will be inconvenient for Amira and might bring her a bit of distress, but I think it would be best if we go bynd. Not only does it sound like more fun, but we can arrive in the capital much earlier and have more time to explore it.'' Marcus thought.

    Marcus then nced over at Mrazivy, and she nodded her head. Clearly, they were thinking exactly the same thing.

    "We thank you for the warning, but we would rather reach the capital sooner rather thanter. Thend route should be fine. We are nning to head into the Deste Desert which is full of even greater dangers. If we cannot make it across the desert in between here and the capital from, then we would never be able to make it in the Deste Desert."

 Chapter 851 851 Off To Aezamâ€™s Capital (2)

    "Amira certainly did not look too pleased when we told her we wanted to take thend route." Mrazivy said once they had exited the government building.

    "Yeah, but she still told us she would see to the preparations. Plus, when we told her we had item boxes and would make sure to bring several thousand liters of water, her face visibly rxed a bit. I imagine that with us going along, this trip will not be nearly as harsh as what she is expecting." Marcus responded.

    Getting back into their carriage, Marcus asked the driver to head toward the nearest market where they could buyrge quantities of water.

    While between him and Mrazivy they had about seven hundred liters of water on them currently, that was far from the amount hat they had promised to procure.

    "Water certainly is expensive here." Marcus grumbled when he returned to Mrazivy after paying for twelve thousand liters of water.

    It has cost him nearly five times what it would have in Borealia.

    "We are in a desert. Even if there is a river that flows through the city, water is bound to be expensive. It is not like we are hurting for money anyway. You earn far more off a single piece of equipment you make than what you just paid." Mrazivy said, chuckling a little.

    She found it funny that at times Marcus was fine with blowing huge amounts of money on rare items, but the second something mundane cost more than he wanted to pay, he would get upset about it.

    After making their purchase for arge quantity of water, Marcus and Mrazivy, along with Jed headed to look around the city while their water was being prepared. They had just ordered a massive amount and it would take time to procure it along with the containers necessary told hold such arge volume.

    For several hours the three of them explored the city and bought a few items that interested them.

    Just before sunset they returned to thepany that dealt in water where they had made their purchase and were led to a warehouse where they water was being held.

    A thousandrge ceramic container were neatly arranged in the warehouse, each one holding around twelve liters of water.

    "Here is your order. Feel free to check that everything is correct." The merchant leading them around said.

    Opening a few of the container at random, Marcus and Mrazivy found that they were filled with clean potable water.

    "Yes, this will do. Thank you for procuring all of this water so quickly." Marcus said.

    The merchant bowed his head in appreciation, before looking around in confusion.

    "If I may ask, when are your carriages going to arrive to pick up all of your water."

    "Hm, we do not have any other carriages other than the one outside. We can take all of this ourselves." Marcus said.

    He and Mrazivy then opened up there item boxes, and began putting the ceramic contains inside.

    The merchant went wide eyed with shock when he saw this. Especially when Marcus and Mrazivy quickly surpassed what the capacity for what small item boxes could hold.

    Naturally this merchant tried to recruit Marcus and Mrazivy on the spot. Item boxes were not the mostmon skill to have and those with item boxes that were above small were very rare.

    "Sorry, we have no interest in bing merchants." Mrazivy said, a cold look in her eyes that put an end to the discussion.

    Soon the two of them had put five hundred containers into each of their items boxes and made their way back to their hotel.

    ˇ­

    Two dayster during the evening they received a letter from Amira that the preparations for their journey had beenpleted and that they would be leaving early the next day.

    "Looks like it is finally time for us to head to the capital city." Mrazivy said with a smile on her face.

    Certainly they had been enjoying exploring Tijara, but it was mostly just a mercantile center and in two days they had seen a fair bit of the city. Now they were ready to move on and explore the heart of the nation.<novelnext></novelnext>

    From what they knew of the capital it was even bigger than Borealia''s and there was going to be plenty of interesting sights to see and events to participate in.

    Frankly neither of them could help being excited about their uing journey and destination.

    In fact, both Marcus and Mrazivy were too antsy to go to sleep. Instead staying up through the night and pouring over the information they already had and making ns for what they would do during the trip and when they arrived at the capital.

    "Looks like it is time for us to go." Marcus said when the very first beam of light came over the horizon."

    Swiftly he and Mrazivy put on the gear that they would wear while heading out to unknown and possibly dangerous locations. Decking themselves out in several magical items.

    "Your circlet is still visible." Marcus said before they left their room.

    With a look of realization, Marcus activated the cloaking enchantment within the circlet Marcus had made for her, and the powerful magic item disappeared from sight.

    The two of them already knew that walking around with amethros and adamantine items in to see on their persons only attracted unwanted attention.

    When the two of them headed down to the lobby, they found Jed already waiting for them.

    "The carriage is waiting for you outside. It pains me to say his, but it is time that I head back now. From this point on you will be on your own, but if you need my master''s help, know that they are willing to do all that they can." Jed said, bowing his head.

    "We are going to miss you as well Jed. You have been a big help, but we will manage to get by. You already seamlessly intruded us to Amira, and she will be acting as our guide from here on out. When you arrive back at your ship, please tell the captain and everyone else that we wish them luck." Mrazivy said, before Jed left.

    Once he was gone, Marcus and Mrazivy got into the carriage Jed had arranged for them and began the short trip to the government building they had first met Amira in.

    As they got closer, both of them could see that several carriages had already been prepared and Amira, her head guard, along with a half dozen other guards that would be considered knight level in Borealia were standing out front. Waiting for Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "It is good to see you again Amira. We Thank you for making all the necessary preparation for our selfish request." Marcus said after exiting the carriage.

    "Think nothing of it. The Eazim n ismitted to assisting the two of you in anyway that we can. The Chelmer resort is a valued trade partner, and we are happy to help the two of you in your endeavor." Amira said, putting on a cordial smile.

    "I see that neither of you have any luggage with you." Amira said, looking around curiously.

    Of course she already knew that Marcus and Mrazivy possessed item boxes, and it was clear from her expression that she was more interested to find out if they had really brought all fo the water they said they would.

    "There is nothing to worry about. Everything we might need is stored in our item boxes and our magic bags. As for the water, we made sure to obtain plenty." Mrazivy responded.

    This brightened up Amira''s mood quite a bit, and she said, "I thank both of you for the consideration. Having to worry about conserving a limited amount of water can be quite nerve racking, and I am sure you can both understand how it can wear down on you to be covered in sand and not able to clean yourself off for fear of running out of water."

    Nodding their heads Marcus and Mrazivy agreed with Amira''s sentiment, though they did not have any experience running out of water themselves.

    Back on earth Marcus had never been somewhere without running water nearby, and aftering to Mirrion as a ghost, he had no need for water any longer. Mrazivy on the other hand, being a princess, always had ample ess to water. Even while adventuring.

    "Now let us be on our way. We need to head to the outskirts of the city where we will be able to board the vehicles that will take us to the capital." Amira said, beckoning Marcus and Mrazivy to get into the same carriage as her.

    However, the two of them in response gave Amira puzzled looks. They figured that they would be traveling to the capital by carriage, but apparently that was not the case.

    "What means of transportation are we using if not carriages?" Mrazivy asked.

    "Oh, I must have forgotten to mention. There are no paved roads from here to the capital and the sand is far too loose in many ces for a carriage. We will be going by a vehicle unique to Aezam called a sand boat."

 Chapter 852 852 Sand Boats

    Blinking their eyes rapidly, and with looks of bafflement on their faces, Marcus and Mrazivy were caught off guard to learn that their mode of transportation would be via some sort of boat that moved over the sand.

    ''I thought that we were going over thend route to avoid being stuck on a ship again.'' Was Marcus'' first thought.

    However, his mind quickly cleared and he realized that while the vehicle that they would be taking was called a sand boat, it was likely to be nothing like a trip on the water.

    In fact, once the initial shock started to wear off, he realized that this was going to be something he could not experience anywhere else.

    He had heard of concepts on Earth about ships moving over sand, and seen it depicted in forms of media, but in this world of magic it seemed that the fantastical idea had be a reality.

    ''Now I am really looking forward to this.'' Marcus thought as he eagerly boarded the carriage.

    Mrazivy quickly followed after him and their caravan set off to what was called the sand docks where the sand boats were waiting for them.

    ''You seem pretty excited Marcus. Do you know what these sand boats are?'' Mrazivy asked with telepathy, having noticed that his confusion had vanished quite quickly.

    ''I have several ideas. It was not something that really existed on my former world, but there were plenty of concepts for them.'' Marcus responded.

    He then told her about the different types of sand boats he had seen in fiction on earth and how they might possibly move.

    Of course, his enthusiastic telepathic conversation with Mrazivy made the carriage ride a bit ufortable for Amira, since it seemed that he to quests were just sitting in silence andpletely ignoring her.

    When they finally arrived at the sand boat dock she muttered words of relief and exited the carriage.

    Seeing that they had arrived, Marcus and Mrazivy followed behind her and after having discussed what the sand boats might look like for the entire trip, eagerly looked around for the unusual vessel that neither of them had seen before.

    "I figured it was going to just have one hull. Never expected it to be a trimaran." Marcus said when he saw the three sand boats waiting for them.

    Each one was uniform in size and had one main hull in the middle and two supporting hulls extending out from each side that were smaller.

    In the front of the boat was tworge folded up sails, each one being connected to the middle hull and then having another connection to one of the side hulls.

    "I figured that they would be made out of some type of wood, but that is definitely mithril." Marcus said having a keen eye for the metal.

    But as he thought about it, that fact that the sand boats were made out of mithril made sense. It was a very light weight metal for how durable it was.

    Still, each of these ships must have been worth a small fortune.

    "I see that were going to be using some very impressive vessels for our journey. Are all sand boats made using mithril for their hulls?" Marcus asked curiously.

    "No, these are the ones that belong specifically to the Eazim n for high-speed travel across the desert. Most merchantpanies and lower ranked ns have sand boats made out of less expensive substances." Amira replied.

    While Marcus and Mrazivy continued to bombard Amira with more questions about the sand boats, the crew of four that manned each ship began helping Amira''s servants load the luggage from the carriages onto the boats.

    During that time the captain in charge of the lead boat came and greeted Amira.

    "Lady Amira, it is good to see you again." He said bowing respectfully.

    Naturally he was a member of the Eazim n as well, though a rank lower than Amira who was a member of the n''s head family.

    "Yes, it is a pleasure to see you again Captain Haidar. I just hope that our journey this time does not have the same hups as myst one." Amira said with a forceful smile.

    Gulping, Captain Haidar felt the pressureing from her. He knew that she was still displeased with what urred during their previous journey together.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "I assure you that we have taken every precaution this time. The crew is not filled with greenhorns, I have made sure to bring only my best. Along with your guards, there should be no problem like what happened before."

    Captain Haidar then looked towards Marcus and Mrazivy and introduced himself to them as well in order to change the subject.

    "It is nice to meet you, Captain Haidar. We will be in your care on this journey." Mrazivy said in response to his greeting.

    Not long after the captain finished greeting them, a member of his crew came up to him and informed him that the sand boats were ready to depart.

    "Let us go then." Amira said with a resigned expression. Clearly, she was not fond of traveling via sand boat.

    Once on board the sand boat that would be carrying them, Amira led Marcus and Mrazivy to back of the boat where three small couches had been set up with arge ornate tent that kept the area shaded.

    "I am sorry that this is the best we can do for amodation on during this journey. There is only storage space below the deck and no ce for people. I understand it may be a bit inconvenient for you to have to stay out here in the heat, but I am afraid that there is nothing else we can do." Amira said.

    "Oh, it is no problem. This is more than enough for us. We have dealt with far more ufortable situations." Marcus said, before looking out towards the middle and front of the deck.

    He was actually more interested in how this sand boat functioned and what work the crew was doing than sitting around leisurely.

    Mrazivy was also curious about what was going on, and the two of them feeling the spark of adventure, headed over to observe what the crew was doing.

    "Is there anything I can do for our two esteemed guests?" Haidar asked them.

    "Yes, we were wondering how this vessel functions?" Marcus said, his interest obvious to see.

    Chuckling, Captain Haidar was more than happy to tell them about his sand boat which he had a great deal of pride in.

    "The winds in the desert are a bit to unpredictable to use so we have a magical engine that produces wind for us. It uses a high-quality wind elemental crystal as its core and can create powerful gusts. At its full output we can exceed a hundred kilometers per hour. Though the ride bes quite bumpy at that point."

    The captain continued to exin the features of the boat for several minutes, informing Marcus and Mrazivy about its wind shield that kept out most of the sand, as well as the magical defenses it had for use against beasts, monsters, and hostile sand boats.

    "So what happenedst time you had Amira with you?" Marcus eventually asked one the captain was in a really good mood.

    Naturally this ruined his jovial attitude immediately and he nervously nced over to where Amira and her contingent of guards were.

    She did not seem to be paying attention, though so the captain descried to tell them what happened. It was not like it was a major secret and he figured Amira would tell them eventually but with her own perspective that was less favorable towards him.

    "It was just supposed to be an easy trip to one of the oasis towns around two hundred kilometers into the desert. Only a short four-day trip, but we got unlucky. A colossal desert centipede locked onto us and chased us around for several hours and forced us way off course. During that time, we had to abandon most of Lady Amira''s personal items, such as those couches, she has prepared this time as well. Supplies were also scarce since we did not n to be in the desert for so long, and it was a rough experience for all of us, but especially Lady Amira who is used to having a certain level offort." Haidar exined.

    Hearing his story, Marcus and Mrazivy could understand what had urred and see it both ways.

    For Amira she had been forced into an unexpected distressful situation and had her possession thrown away. But for the crew this was necessary for them to survive as they had note equipped to deal with a beast asrge and powerful as a colossal desert centipede which was apparently twenty meters long and could shoot beams ofpressed heat from its mouth.

    "Captain the sails are hoisted, and the wind engine is fully charged. We are ready to leave." One of the crew shouted not long after Haidar finished telling Marcus and Mrazivy about his previous journey with Amira.

    "Looks like it is time for us to set sail. I would rmend that you both go take your seats next to Amira. Things can be a bit turbulent when we take off." Haidar said.

    "No, we will be fine. We want to see what the take off of a sand boat looks like." Marcus responded.

    "Suit yourselves. Just don''t fall overboard. I can tell you it is not asfortable falling into rough and hot sand as it is water."

 Chapter 853 853 Sailing Across The Desert

    Standing on the bow of the sand boat, Marcus and Mrazivy looked out with excitement at the sprawling desert before them, waiting for the sand boat to set off.

    The magical wind engine situated at the front began to hum and they watched as the sails pushed forward from the sudden gust of wind.

    A burst of sand shot up from the grown in the wake of the wind and nearly covered both Marcus and Mrazivy, but the wind shield around the vessel kept most of the sand from reaching the deck, with only a few grains making it through.

    There was then a sudden jerk as the sand boat lifted up and lurched forward.

    For nearly half a minute the sand boat bumped up and down against the slightly uneven sand until it built up enough speed to slice through just as if it was on water.

    "That was more exciting than it thought it would be. I now understand what Haidar meant by the start being bumpy." Mrazivy said, an excited smile on her face.

    Unlike everyone else onboard, this was her and Marcus'' first time riding on such a vessel and they very much enjoyed the novelty of it.

    For nearly fifteen minutes they simply enjoyed watching how the boat cut through the sand and watching the dust thrown up in its wake.

    Eventually though, simply looking out at the endless desert was not all that exciting, and the two of them headed back towards the stern of the boat where Amira was sitting on one of the couches.

    "We have already made it pretty far." Marcus said, looking at Tijara City growing smaller behind them.

    From his best estimate he figured that they were now going at about seventy kilometers per hour. Which while not very fast inparison to his flight speed, was still better than what most vehicles on Mirrion could achieve.

    When they took a seat on one of the couches Amira greeted them and looked visibly relieved. She had been afraid that one of them might fall of when the boat took off.

    "We are going to have a long an hopefully uneventful trip in front of us. So, is there anything you might want to discuss with me? I am afraid that there is not much else to do." Amira said to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    From the expression on her face, it was easy to tell that she was bored already and looking for some interesting conversation to pass the time.

    And with nothing else going on, Marcus and Mrazivy were more than happy to speak with her. This would be there best chance to pick the brain of a high-ranking member within Aezam and find out things that they had not been able to learn from studying.

    "Hm, there are actually quite number of things that we are interested in. I suppose to start would you mind telling us what kind of ce the capital is. We learned a bit in preparation beforeing here, but I am sure there is a lot we can learn from a local." Mrazivy said.

    Nodding her head Amira was more than happy to speak about just anything. Normally her status would mean that she could not talk on equal footing with anyone on a trip like this, but Marcus and Mrazivy were not part of the Eazim n and were foreign guests in her care.

    For hours Amira spoke about what she knew of the capital and told them about how it was filled with many amazing sights.

    "The greatke that sits in the middle of the city is marvelous to see. There is no water in the entire nation more beautiful, and since it was created by our countries founder with magic there are no dangerous beasts or monsters in it. The capital is considered the greatest paradise in our proud country. Despite us living in a desert the greatke brings life to the capital and there is more green there than anywhere else. I have only been there once, but the pce my n''s grand elder lives in has a wonderous garden filled with rare nts that do not grow anywhere else in Aezam. Four generations ago our n''s grand elder at the time had a fondness for flowers and had hundreds of different species imported to Tijara and brought to the capital. To this day, it remains a tradition for our n''s grand elder." Amira said, extoling the virtues of the capital.

    "It sounds like the capital of Aezam is more impressive than we had heard. I cannot wait to see it for myself." Mrazivy said.

    "Yes, it is quite something. I enjoy living in Tijara, but the capital is something else. I just wish it was not so far away so that I could visit more often. Unfortunately, my position as a representative of the Eazim n keeps me in Tijara most of the time. It is my duty to assist high ranking foreign guest such as yourselves. Oh, and that reminds me. I do not know where you both hail from. I know that you are upper members of the Chelmer Resort, but from your ents I can tell youe from somewhere farther up north. Would you mind telling me about your home?"

    Pausing Marcus and Mrazivy thought about how they should answer.

    While Borealia did not have a hostile rtionship to Aezam, they were not friends.

    Between the two nations they had no diplomatic or trade rtions. Being on separate ends of the continent and with Aezam being hostile to the adventurers guild meant that neither country had ever sought out any sort of connection. Both were aware of the other and that was about it.

    "I am sorry, but we wish to keep our country of origin a secret." Mrazivy said.<novelnext></novelnext>

    It may have been a bit rude, but she could see that things would only be troubling if it was revealed that they hade from Borealia.

    "I understand." Amira said with a deted expression.

    "Well we cannot tell you where are from, but I suppose a few stories about what we have seen will not hurt. I am sure that you have never been in a dungeon before. There is more to them than just fighting beasts and monsters. Some have quite the amazing scenery." Marcus said, not wanting to leave Amira feeling down.

    She had just told them plenty about her nation''s capital, so he felt it was only right if they told her a bit about what they had experienced, even if he had to omit anything that could tie them back to Borealia.

    "You two have really lived a hectic life. But it sounds like you have been to some amazing ces." Amira said with a twinkle in her eyes.

    "Yeah, we have seen some things. But it is a big world out there, we still have barely scratched the surface." Marcus said, recalling the maps he had seen and all the ces they had left to visit.

    After having spoken with Amira for several hours the sun had reached its apex and was beating down heavily on the desert.

    In the early morning the heat had not been bad, but now it was sweltering and even aboard the sand boat which had some amount of climate control using wind magic, it was still quite hot.

    "Marcus, do something about this." Mrazivy said,zily flopping down into hisp. As an ice dragonoid she did not handle the heat very well.

    She could have done something about it herself using her ice magic, but did not feel like focusing on keeping the temperature stable. Rather, she would leave that task up to Marcus.

    "You do not mind if I use a power of mine to cool things down. do you?" Marcus asked to Amira.

    "As long as it does not impede the sand boat''s ability to move it should be fine. Though frankly, it really is not all that hot right now." Amira replied.

    For her, it being around thirty degrees Celsius was rather coolpared to how hot it could get in the desert. It was certainly ten degrees hotter outside the sand boat.

    Nevertheless, Mrazivy never experienced temperatures like this in Borealia and had little tolerance for the heat.

    ''It has been a while since is used this power.'' Marcus thought as he activated his chill zone race ability.

    An unnatural cold then took over the deck of there sand boat and Marcus brought it down to about twenty two degrees Celsius. To the point where it was not too cold to make anyone ufortable, but enough so that Mrazivy would not be feeling hot.

    "That is quite impressive. What sort of skill did you use to do this? It is not like anything I have ever experienced before." Amira said looking at Marcus curiously.

    She had noticed that no mana had been used when Marcus lowered the temperature so she knew that it could not be magic.

    "This is an ability granted to me by my blessing of ice." Marcus said, easily lying with a prepared excuse.

    He had no intention of telling them that this was something he could do because he was a ghost.

    Luckily Amira epted Marcus'' exnation. She did not know much about blessings to begin with, and Marcus'' exnation sounded believable.

    "I feel alive again. Thanks Marcus." Mrazivy said, stretching out her arms and making herself morefortable on hisp.

    For the rest of the day Marcus kept up being an air conditioner for the sand boat until the sun began to set and they stopped for the day to camp out during the night at their first day of travel.

 Chapter 854 854

    "Marcus, are you sure about this?" Amira asked, a look of extreme concern on her face.

    Currently Marcus had a high-quality silk rope tied around him and connected to the railing at the stern of the sand boat.

    What he was about to do seemed incredibly foolish and most people would believe that he had a screw loose in his head for seriously nning to go ahead with this n.

    "Yeah, I really want to try this out. Whenever will I get another chance to go sand skiing." Marcus said with an enthusiastic smile.

    As crazy as it sounded, he was about to jump off the moving sand boat and using his mana barrier skill create two tforms under his feet in the shape of skis and ride behind the sand boat.

    Amira had tried several times to get him to reconsider, but he was not going to miss out on this once in a lifetime chance to do this.

    Certainly, for a normal person this would be reckless, bordering on insane, but Marcus had no fear.

    Even if he did wipe out, which he figured would be unlikely with his high stats, his form would not take and damage from something like skidding across the sand. Plus, he could simply fly back to the sand boat if he failed.

    To make matters worse for Amira, Mrazivy had also shown interest in doing the same thing.

    Luckily, she had managed to get Mrazivy to reconsider. Mostly because Mrazivy was worried that Amira would have a mental breakdown if she forced the issue.

    It was her job as a representative of the Eazim n to safely guide Marcus and Mrazivy, and if both of them got seriously injured as she feared was going to happen, she would end up in serious trouble.

    In the end though, Marcus was not willing to budge and happily jumped off the moving sand boat.

    When he hit the sand his body jerked around wildly for a few moments and he nearly fell over despite his strength and agility stats.

    Nevertheless, by using his spectral arm to help brace and right himself he got into a position where he was able to bnce properly and began cutting through the sand behind the sand boat.

    Slightly turning his body, Marcus got the hang of how to maneuver and moving back and forth from one side of the boat to the other.

    Then when he had gotten the hang of moving around, he started heading for every sand dune that the sand boat passed by and using the bumps as jumps.

    Watching this, Amira''s face that normally looked healthy became incredibly pale.

    Never before had someone under her care done something she considered so stupid.

    ''This is more fun than I expected it to be. If only they would go a bit faster I could get some more air time.'' Marcus thought as he jumped over another sand dune.

    While Amira, her guards, and the boat''s crew were all afraid for Marcus, he was having a st.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "It actually looks like a lot of fun. Perhaps I will give it a shot once Marcus is done." Mrazivy mumbled to herself.

    However, Amira heard her and looked ready to pass out.

    For the next thirty minutes Marcus continued to sand ski behind the sand baot and do more and more dangerous maneuvers to build up his exhration.

    Eventually he made a mistake and hit arge rock that was peaking out of the sand and went tumbling. Causing everyone on the sand boat other than Mrazivy to let out fearful gasps.

    For a second Marcus was dragged behind the sand boat that was going around seventy kilometers per hour.

    Naturally, Haidar moved to stop the sand boat, but before he could, Marcus shot up out of the sand and flew back to the deck of the boat using the tier three fire magic spell me jets.

    "Whew, I really messed up at the end there. Should have been paying more attention to where I wasnding." Marcus said nonchntly, like he had not just been dragged through the sand.

    Everyone except for Mrazivy were staring at him with stunned expressions. What he had just aplished was a feat well beyond any of them. Even Amira''s head guard who was level forty-four would not have been able to do something like that.

    "Are you sure you are alright? You just were dragged through the sand. At the very least we need to exine you for wounds and clean the sand off-"

    Stopping midsentence, Amira realized that Marcus, despite having just been engulfed by sand, did not have a single grain on him. Along with how clean he looked, there was not a visible injury anywhere.

    "Yeah, I am perfectly fine. My clothing have self-cleaning enchantments and it would take more than that to cause me any injuries. I told you earlier that I would not get hurt even if fell." Marcus said.

    "I see. Both of them are far beyond normal. I have heard that the greatest warriors in Aezam do not even seem human. So, this is what my father meant." Amira said to herself with a vacant look in her eyes.

    Her head guard had informed her that Marcus and Mrazivy were stronger than him, but seeing Marcus easily deal with being dragged through the desert made her realize that they were far beyond the realm of normal people.

    "Okay, it is my turn next." Mrazivy said, taking the rope from Marcus and beginning to tie it around herself.

    At this point Amira did not try to stop them and informed the crew and her guards to ignore their antics.

    However, before Mrazivy could get her turn at sand skiing, a movement of the sand in the distance caught the attention of Amira''s guard who was on lookout duty.

    It was still a fair distance away, but what looked like a moving hill of sand wasing there way at a rapid pace.

 Chapter 855 855 Causing A Commotion In The Desert

    With a vast moving hill of sand approaching their vessels, the mostly calm atmosphere abord the sand boats became tense.

    Amira''s head guard climbed on top of the sand boat''s highest tform and took the spyss from the lookout in order to get a better look at what wasing their way.

    At the same time Marcus and Mraziv?? used their enhanced vision skills to zoom their eyes in and see what was going on for themselves.

    "Something big is certainly moving under the sand anding our way. Gaining on us despite our speed" Marcus observed.

    "It is fast andrge whatever it is." Mraziv?? respond.

    While everyone else onboard was feeling a sense of danger from the approaching creature, Marcus and Mraziv?? were perfectly rxed.

    They simply kept there eyes on it as Amira''s guards and the boat''s crew began getting the boat ready to elerate faster and attempt to outrun whatever wasing for them.

    "Oh!"

    Eventually the top of the beast that was swimming through the sand towards them became visible for just a moment and Marcus recognized its familiar shape.

    "You recognized it, Marcus?" Mraziv?? asked him.

    Amira who as nearby turned her gaze towards Marcus and looked at him expectantly.

    "Yeah, I encountered one of these beasts in a dungeon before. I am pretty certain that what ising our way is a sand shark. I only got a glimpse of its dorsal fin though, so I cannot be one hundred percent sure." Marcus said.

    Amira and the guard standing behind her paled when they heard Marcus identify their pursuer as a sand shark.

    "We must inform everyone of this immediately. Even at our top speed we will not be able to outrun arge sand shark. Other actions will have to be taken." Amira said with a resolute expression.

    The one guard that had stayed by her side went to inform everyone else about the sand shark.

    "Our best bet is to toss arge supply of our meat soaked in water overboard. In most cased the sand shark will stop chasing us in order to eat the easy meal" Captain Haidar said.

    Still in order to attach the attention of the sand shark they would need to abandon most of their meat and arge quantity of water which would put a strain on their supplies.

    "Could we just not fight it?" Marcus proposed.

    Amira had several strong guards aboard, and the sand boat itself had a number of magical defenses. Even if he and Mraziv?? did not participate, he figured they should have been able to easily drive away the sand shark.

    However, while Marcus thought his suggestion was reasonable, everyone else looked at him like he was crazy.

    "Sand sharks are one of the most dangerous beasts that live in this desert. Depending on its size and level, it could easily turn over our boats and knock us all into the sand where will be defenseless. Fighting it is out of the question unless we want to risk casualties." Haidar said in response.

    Yet, it was clear that he was not including Marcus and Mraziv?? among their possible forces.

    "You seem to be forgetting something. It is not just your crew and Amira''s guards here; you have us as well." Marcus said pointing to him and Mraziv??.

    "But you are our guests. We cannot ask you to fight." Amira said, wearing a distressed expression.

    Marcus and Mraziv?? were foreign guests that had been left in her care, and it was supposed to be her job to protect them. Not the other way around.

    "Mydy, I think in this situation we should ept their help." Amira''s head guard said.

    He could not tell exactly how strong Marcus and Mraziv?? were, but he was certain that they were far above him.

    "Just leave this to us. I did mention I fought a sand shark before. And that was a long time ago. I should not have to struggle to win this time." Marcus said confidently.

    He and Mraziv?? then turned their attention to the ever-approaching sand shark that wasing right for them.

    "Looks like it is about two kilometers away from us now. Do you want to do it, or should I?" Marcus asked Mraziv??.

    "I''ll take a shot first." Mraziv?? said, walking up the edge of the stern.

    The air around them began to drop in temperature and frost formed around Mraziv?? as she cast an ice magic spell.

    In a matter of seconds, a giant icicle around fifteen meters long and four meters thick was created in front of her.

    With the flick of her wrist Mraziv??unched her tier five cialnce spell directly towards the sand shark.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The magic spell moved fast across the desert leaving a trail of snow in its wake.

    It seemed that the sand shark was going to be skewered by Mraziv??''s spell, but just a few moments before it was hit, the huge beast leapt out of the sand to avoid being killed.

    Its danger sense had alerted it to the iing threat and it jumped into the air to desperately avoid the powerful spell.

    Now, the sand shark''s entire twenty-five-meter-long body was exposed and clear for everyone to see.

    Yet while Amira, her guards, and the crew looked at the gigantic beast with awe and fear, Marcus was underwhelmed.

    ''It is smaller than thest one. Its level is lower too at only forty-one. I was hoping for something more impressive.'' Marcus thought, considering one of the terrors of the desert to be as threatening as a guppy.

    After Mraziv?? missed her first shot, she adjusted her aim and fired another cialnce spell. This time she made it even smaller and shot it out at max speed.

    Up in the air the sand shark was unable to avoid the attack and its head was pierced through by Mraziv??''s spell.

    The cialnce even had enough power behind it to go all the way through and keep flying into the horizon until it disappeared from sight.

    With a great thud the sand shark''s unmoving body mmed into the desert and its blood began dying the sand red.

    "I think I have gotten a bit rusty. It has been too long since we trained or fought." Mraziv?? said, unhappy with her performance. She felt that her control over her spells had slipped slightly from her peak when they were fighting every day in the special dungeon.

    "You might be right. Things have been pretty peaceful for thest several months. But we can use the Muharib Festival to get in some practice." Marcus said.

    Yet as he and Mraziv?? were having a leisurely conversation, everyone else was staring at them, mouths agape.

    Mraziv?? had just casually demonstrated a level of magic that was in the same league as their counties best, and killed a very dangerous beast with ease.

    "I can see now why they are so confident about going into the Deste Desert on their own." Amira said to herself, still unsure if what she had just watched was reality.

    But another event soon garnered everyone''s attention when it felt like the entire desert around them began to shake.

    The tremor from earlier when the sand sharknded was nothing inparison to what was now going on.

    Amira let out a loud shriek and clung to her head guard and the others wore ghastly expression.

    "Stop the boats!" Haidar shouted in the wake of this shaking. He had heard about this phenomena from his grandfather and knew that there only hope was to stop and pray.

    Following his orders, the three sand boats stopped and the rumbling became more and more pronounced.

    It was clear that whatever was causing the desert to shake was getting closer, and this time Marcus and Mraziv?? were not rxed.

    Both of them had their senses on edge as they tried to pinpoint where the creature that was causing this wasing from.

    Eventually, at the very edge of his life sense, Marcus got a hit and looked out to his right where the sand was bing more disturbed.

    "Mraz, get ready, this thing is strong." Marcus said, having gotten a powerful signal from his life sense skill.

    Except the creature did not approach their sand boats and moved right by them. Moving swiftly towards the corpse of the sand shark.

    It was a few secondster that they were finally able to see the colossal form of the creature that shook the entire desert.

    Its head shot out of the sand with its mouth open and it swallowed the entire sand shark whole in one bite.

    What has just surfaced from beneath the desert was an eel that was easily four hundred meters long and forty meters wide. In terms of size, it was even bigger than Gwyneira when she took her draconic form.

    When Mraziv?? used her dragon eyes on it she found that this beast was called a boundless desert eel and was level seventy-nine.

    "Do you want to try taking it on?" Mraziv?? asked Marcus.

    Now that she had gotten a good look at its stats and abilities, she was certain they could beat it if they fought together.

    It was only an epic grade beast and was surely weaker than most of the devils that they had fought in the special dungeon.

    "No, I imagine we will only cause more problems if we go out and beat something like that. So long as it does not threaten us, we should just let it go."

 Chapter 856 856

    With awed expression, Marcus and Mrazivy watched the boundless sand eel sink back into the desert.

    As colossal of a beast as it was, the vast desert was still able to hide it.

    For nearly thirty minutes the sand boats stayed still, and everyone kept silent and on-guard.

    But when it became clear that the boundless sand eel was noting for them the tension in the air began to settle.

    "To think that we would run into the king of the desert. I cannot tell if we are supremely lucky or unlucky." Haidar said, staring out into the distance where the colossal beast had disappeared to.

    Hearing this Marcus turned towards the man, surprised that he had heard of the beast that had just appeared before them.

    "You know about that boundless sand eel?" Marcus said, not hiding his interest.

    However, it was Haidar''s turn to be shocked by Marcus.

    "Yes, I have heard about it from my grandfather and other old sand sailors. But are you telling me you know what that creature truly is? It has many names among those that sail the deserts of Aezam, but I have never heard it called a boundless sand eel."

    "This is our first time encountering such a beast, but Mraz was able to appraise it and said that is the name she got back. We also found out that it is level seventy-nine." Marcus said.

    Taken aback Haidar could not believe that they had been able to sessfully appraise what was known as the king of the desert.

    Not once in the history of Aezam had anyone who survived witnessing the appearance of this beast that roamed the entire nation ever have the ability to sessfully appraise it.

    "I know this may be rude of me to ask since you are our esteemed guests, but could you record what information you? It will prove invaluable to our entire nation." Haidar said, shamelessly making his request.

    Amira moved to rebuke him, but Haidar was not going to back down.

    "Lady Amira, you should understand after witnessing it just how powerful and dangerous that beast is. There are tales about it among those that travel through the desert going back hundreds of years. Any information we can get on it would be a great boon to Aezam. I am sure even the grand elders would be grateful."

    Understanding Haidar''s point, Amira pursed her lips and bowed towards Marcus and Mrazivy, asking that they record whatever they had learned from appraising the boundless sand eel.

    "I don''t mind, but it is up to you Mraz. You are the one that learned all the information." Marcus said.

    Shrugging her shoulders, Mrazivy was fine with writing down the status of the boundless sand eel. It even sounded likepleting this small task would help foster good rtions with the higher ups of Aezam. It made sense that they would want to know about a beast that was basically the equivalent of a roaming natural disaster.

    When a piece of paper and a pen were brought to her, Mrazivy wrote down the entire status of the beast known as the king of the desert and handed it over to Amira.

    Though as she read through it, she began to shake and looked ill.

    "Are you certain this is correct? How can such a beast even exist?" Amira said, obviously stunned by the status of a level seventy-nine epic grade beast.

    Naturally at only the age of neen and having lived a fairly sheltered life Amira had nevere across a creature like this and seeing its status put onto a sheet gave her a perspective into how powerful it really was.

    Certainly, everyone would hear about powerful beasts and monsters that could easily level cities, but it was something else to see what the numbers behind such an entity were inparison to the average person.

    "Its level is certainly high sure, but it is only an epic grade beast, and an unintelligent one at that. A mythic grade beast in the mid sixties is probably more dangerous." Marcus said.

    He was pretty certain that in terms of overall power that any of his beastpanions woulde out on top of the boundless sand eel.

    Its physical stats were greater than any of theirs, but that was about all the king of the desert had going for it. The skills it had were not all that impressive.

    "Have you encountered many creatures stronger than that?" Amira asked, a looked of utter terror in her eyes.

    At first Marcus almost responded saying "Yeah loads.", but Mrazivy elbowed him the side to keep him silent and spoke instead.

    "No. it is very rare toe across anything that strong. If it wasmon, I doubt the world would be able to properly function.<novelnext></novelnext>

    This seemed to calm Amira down, even if it had been a lie.

    "Captain, we are ready to get moving again." One of the crew members said, noticing the lull in conversation.

    "Good. We have already lost a bit of time. If we want to make it to the next town before sunset, we need to hurry." Haidar said, wanting to escape the current conversation. He knew that continuing to talk about the dangerous creatures that lived in the world would only cause everyone to be racked with fear. Well, everyone except Marcus and Mrazivy who could be ranked among the beasts and monsters capable of leveling entire cities.

    Quickly the three sand boats that had made abrupt stops started up again and they continued their journey through the desert towards Aezam''s capital.

    Tonight, they nned to stop in one of the oasis towns that were dotted through the desert as ces where travelers could stop.

    The one they were going to tonight was called Ladhidh and was known for the fruit trees and tasty fish that popted its fairlyrge oasis.

    "Looks like we are not the only ones stopping here tonight." Marcus said, using his enhanced vison to gaze at the town''s entrance.

    Sitting out front he could see what looked like a dozen and a half sand boats that were docked just outside the town.

    None of these sand boats were close to as well made as the one they were currently on, being made out of a light wood instead of mithril.

    Hearing what Marcus had said, one of Amira''s guards took out a spyss and took a look for himself.

    However, it was already starting to get dark and despite his best efforts he could not find any markings determining the allegiance of these sand boats from their current distance.

    It was not until they had gotten closer and were already spotted that it became clear who these sand boats belonged to.

    "Damn it. Those boats belong to the Nubah. They are a rogue n of thieves. What the hell are they doing here in Ladhidh!?" Amira''s head guard shouted when he recognized the gs the sand boats were flying.

    Unfortunately, now that they were only about a kilometer away from the town that had apparently been overtaken by brigands, it was toote for them to change course unnoticed.

    A few of the docked sand boats belonging to the Nubah n started up and began making their way out to meet them.

    If they were to turn around their far superior sand boats could certainly outrun their pursuers, but not for long.

    It was nearing the end of the say and the magical wind engines were low on the mana that had been supplied at the start of the day.

    In order for them to refuel they would need to stop, and that was not an option right now.

    "Captain Haidar, what do you rmend that we do?" Amira sked, wanting his expertise in this matter.

    "If we were just a trading vessel ten our best bet would be to stop and willing hand over thirty percent of our cargo. The Nubah normally let people go if they do that and do not put up a fight. However, seeing as how they have been brazen enough to attack a town under the Eazim n''s protection, I doubt that we will be let off so easily. Our best option it to wait and fight. Our sand boats have superior defenses, plus your skilled guards aboard. We may be outnumbered, but the threat the seven boatsing for us poses is less than the sand shark we encountered earlier." Haidar said, a confident grin on his face.

    He was sure that the rogue ning for them would not be a match for his sand boat.

    There was also the fact that Marcus and Mrazivy were aboard that gave him a high level of assurance. From their earlier disys of power, it was obvious that they could clear up some rabble without breaking a sweat.

    "Looks like things are getting interesting. It has been a while since Ist cracked down on any bandits." Mrazivy said, cracking her neck and picking out which sand boat she wanted to attack first.

    "Please wait. This is not like the earlier incident. There is no need for either of you to get in involved. I am sure that the crews of our sand boats and my guards can clean up this rabble. It is my duty as a leading member of the Eazim n to punish ouws like these that think they can get away with terrorizing the people." Amira said, fixing a re at the fast-approaching sand boats.

    "Are you sure? We can probably help you clean this up much faster." Marcus said.

    "Yes. We cannot be relying on foreign guests to clean up our internal problems." Amira said resolutely.

    Sighing, Mrazivy decided to stand down despite the fact that she was a bit excited. She did not want to trample over the pride and determination that Amira had disyed.

    Following suit, Marcus sat down next to Mrazivy, and instead of joining in just watched. If things went beyond the capabilities of the crew and Amira''s guards, he was ready to step in.

 Chapter 857 857 Battle For Ladhidh

    Leaving dust clouds in their wake the seven sand boats that belonged to the Nubah, a rogue n that survived by piging from the other inhabitants of the desert approached the sand boats that belonged to the Eazim Caln.

    Soon the seven boats were in range of the mana cannons attached to the three mithril sand boats owned by the Eazim n.

    With resounding booms a half dozen cannon balls of pure mana wereunched and sted towards the Nubah n''s sand boats.

    Large plumes of sand shoot into the air where these mana stsnded, but not a single one managed to hit their targets.

    The Nubah n were experts at desertbat and were able to maneuver out of the way of the far-off mana attacks.

    ''Sixteen, neen, thirteen, oh, and twenty-two.''

    Once the enemy sand boats had gotten closer, Marcus began appraising the people onboard to get an understand of their levels.

    He found that most of them were in the mid-teens level wise, with the leaders of each of the boats being in the low twenties. Not any threat to him or Mrazivy, but he could see how they could cause problems for normal people that were not fighters.

    Still, Amira''s guards were all level twenty-five or above, and the mithril boots they had were far stronger than what the Nubah n was used to dealing with.

    They managed to get close enough to let loose some arrows, but must of them were blocked by the wind barriered around the mithril and boats and the few that got through were intercepted by Amira''s guards.

    Eventually the battle turned when one of the mana cannons finally hit its mark and sted a hole int eh side of one of the Nubah n''s sand boats.

    Immediately all three of the mithril sand boats focused on this one that had stopped moving and sted it to smithereens. Killing everyone that had been onboard.

    Realizing that they were not going to win a shootout, the remaining enemy sand boats recklessly closed in to ram the Eazim n''s mithril sand boats.

    Before they could make it three more of the Nubah''s sand boats were hit and unable to keep moving. This left one enemy sand boat each that mmed into the mithril sand boats.

    The members of the Nubah n began jumping from their own sand boats and boarded the mithril ones owned by the Eazim n. They figured that their only chance was to kill everyone onboard and size the boats for themselves.

    However, this did not prove easy for them.

    Amira''s guards and the crews of each sand boat were well armed and trained, being individually stronger than any of the brigands trying to raid them.

    There was also a huge disparity in their weapons and armor.

    Each of Amira''s guards were outfitted with mithril equipment, while the Nubah n members only had a mix of iron, steel, and bronze weapons.

    Even outnumbered, Amira''s guards and the crew were able to push back the raiders.

    ''He is pretty impressive.'' Marcus thought watching Amira''s head guard cutting down half a dozen men in just a few seconds.

    At level forty-four and with a top tier mithril weapon there was nothing that any of the members of the Nubah n could do to stop him.

    It was not long before the attacker realized that they werepletely outmatched and began jumping into the desert to escape.

    They began shuffling through the sand, running back towards the town that they had upied. But Haidar was not going to show any mercy to thieves and murders.

    He gave the order to aim the mana cannons at the fleeing men and keep them from returning to Ladhidh.

    Several of the running Nubah n members were hit by the sts from the mana cannons, being blown to pieces and having their bodies swallowed by the desert.

    After only around fifteen minutes from the start of the attack the attackers had been all but wiped out, with only a few managing to scurry back into town.

    Nevertheless, they could not rest on theirurels just yet.

    There were certainly several dozen more enemies within the town itself, and it would be more difficult to fight in a popted area where they could not use their sand boats.

    "Let us go and rid Ladhidh of thesewless rogues. We must show that the Eazim n will not allow such actions to go unpunished in ournds." Amiramanded.

    Starting back up again, the three mithril sand boats sped towards the town which was beginning to wake up in an uproar.

    "Take out their remaining sand ships. We are not going to allow them any escape." Haider ordered.

    Aiming their mana cannons, each of the mithril sand boats opened fire on the stationary sand boats owned by the Nubah n and turned them all into nothing more than scrap wood.

    Now the rogues that had taken over Ladhidh could not leave the town, unless they wanted to traverse the harsh and hostile desert on foot. Their only option was to kill the members of the Eazim n and steal their sand boats.

    "Lady Amira, I cannot leave your side to lead the attack. My main duty is to protect you. I understand that we cannot allow these marauders to terrorize our citizens, but your safety is my top priority." Amira''s head guard said.<novelnext></novelnext>

    She had ordered him to take all but one of her guards to wipe out the Nubah n members that had upied Ladhidh. Of course as her sworn protecter there was no way he was going to leave her in such a dangerous ce.

    It was easy to imagine that the Nubah n would send a detached force to try and seize their sand boats during the heat of battle.

    Amira though, feeling it was her duty as the daughter of the n''s head, wanted to muster all of her forces to reim the town.

    "You might want to have this argumentter. It looks like our enemies have had time to regroup." Mrazivy said, pointing to the top of the three meter tall sandstone walls around Ladhidh.

    With bows and arrows in hand, several dozen men now stood on top of the walls and were aiming down at them.

    Without any warning a rain of arrows came down on them, and the crew along with Amira''s guards had to move into action.

    "Marcus!" Amira screamed, seeing one of the arrows break through ande right for him.

    Except while Marcus made no move to block or dodge the arrow, he had no need to.

    When the arrow hit his head, it snaped in two and bounced off like it had hit a sturdy metal wall instead of someone''s head.

    "There is no need to worry about us Amira. steel tipped arrows can''t even put a scratch on us at our level." Marcus said, actingpletely calm.

    For everyone else this may have been a dangerous life and death battle, but for him and Mrazivy it was more of a show.

    Even if they just stood and allowed the members of the Nubah Caln to attack them one sidedly, there was no way that they would take any damage. Their opponents would die of exhaustion before being able to hurt them at all.

    Realizing once again just how far beyond normal Marcus and Mrazivy were, Amira shook off her worry for them and focused on the battle.

    Her guards and the crew of the boats had begun returning fire, and using the mana cannons sted the men off the top of the walls.

    It was certainly causing a good deal of destruction to the town''s wall, but it was really their only option to attack at range.

    "Men, take out the gate! We are breaking in." Haider said, ordering the gunners on his boat to blow open the gate keeping them out of the town.

    The two mana cannons swiveled around towards the metal gate and began bombarding it.

    Being made of sturdy steel the gate did not falter easily against even the mana cannons, with each one only putting in a decent sized dent.

    At this rate it would take a few minutes for them to break in and would allow the Nubah n more time to prepare.

    ''This is taking too long.'' Marcus thought, thinking of a way to stealthy help.

    Quickly he came up with a decent method and timed his own attack with one of the sts from the boat''s mana cannons.

    Summoning his spectral arm Marcus had it hit at the same moment the st from the mana cannon did.

    The punch from his spectral arm was hidden by the sh of the exploding mana and he was able to make it seem that the mana cannons had finally busted through when it was actually his spectral arm punching through.

    In fact, the gate waspletely knocked off its hinges by Marcus'' attack and flew down the main street. Crushing some of the Nubah n members who had been waiting on the other side.

    "We have managed to breach the town. Go and clear out these thieves that think they can steal from our people." Amira ordered.

    Most of her guards and the crews of the sand boats jumped off the sand boats and began invading the town.

    With only a few people remaining to protect the sand boats. Amira and her head guard among those staying.

    "Well, I think I will go for a walk. Mraz stay here and make sure nothing goes wrong just in case." Marcus said standing up and heading towards the edge of the boat.

    "Wait! Please allow my guards and the crews to handle this. As I said, we cannot entrust this to an outsider." Amira said, being that Marcus was going to join the battle.

    "Hm, I have no intention of fighting. As I said. I am just going for a walk. If someone happens to attack me I will defend myself, but I am not going to actively participate. I just want to see what this town looks like." Marcus said with a reassuring smile before jumping of the sand boat.

    Of course, he did not actually n to go on a simple walk and was going in as insurance. He was not going to get involved if he did not have to, but their was not point in letting people die due to inaction. If one of Amira''s guards or the members of the crew were in danger of dying he would step in and help.

    Thankfully, when he arrived there did not seem to be any need for him to help.

    Outnumbered as they were, Amira''s guards and the crews of their sand boats were putting up a good fight.

    ''Now where should I start my stroll.'' Marcus thought, nonchntly looking around at the streets of the town like there was not a battle raging on around him.

 Chapter 858 858 Battle For Ladhidh (2)

    Walking into the town of Ladhidh, Marcus could see fighting going around all over the ce.

    Amira''s guards and the crew of their three sand boats, were fighting the rogue Nubah n that had been in the middle of ransacking the town.

    However, their arrival had caught these thieves off-guard and now a fierce battle was going on.

    ''Hm, things are not going badly, but the numbers really are not in their favor." Marcus thought.

    Amira''s guards only numbered seven, and with her head guard having to stay behind there were only six of them here to do battle. With the added members of the sand boats crew that brough their total force up to sixteen, while their enemy had about fiftybatants.

    Still, it was a matter of quality over quantity. Most of the members of the Nubah n were not even level twenty and their equipment wascking.

    It was taking at least five of them to keep each of Amira''s guards at bay, and even then it was only a matter of time before one of their members slipped up and end up dead.

    ''Oh, one of them ising for me.'' Marcus thought.

    A member of the Nubah n had snuck around to try and nk Amira''s guards and the sand boats crews. And when he noticed Marcus leisurely walking around, he charged towards him.

    In his hands he was holding a bronze scimitar that had some basic enchantments on it to increase its durability and sharpness.

    Among the weapons that the Nubah n had, this was one of the better ones and the man who was wielding it was level twenty-three. Definitely one of the more powerfulbatants among the rogue n.

    Nevertheless, he was about as threatening to Marcus as a kitten, and he paid the man no mind even when he swung the scimitar at his neck.

    "You are going to need something a bit stronger than that if you want to hurt me." Marcus said, to the man who was now stunned from the shock of seeing his weapon bounce off of Marcus'' neck.

    In another show of power, Marcus reached out with his bare hand and folded the enchanted bronze scimitar like it was made of foil.

    He then gave his attacker a slight shove, that sent him hurtling into the town''s wall.

    The man smashed into the sandstone with enough force to crack it and slumped over with blood dribbling out of his mouth.

    After that disy, none of the Nubah n members tried to approach Marcus and did their best to flee.

    Unfortunately, for them, Amira''s guards were not going to just let them go, and using their superior stats, chased the men down and killed them while they ran.

    However, one of thest few men had retreated inside of one of the buildings and when he came back out, he had a young girl no older than twelve in his grasp with a knife to her throat.

    "If you don''t want me to gut this little girl, you are going to let the rest of us go. Get out of the way and prepare one of your sand boats for us to leave."

    With a hostage in hand, this man and his few remainingpatriots seemed to regain their confidence and started shouting demands and threats at a rapid pace.

    For a few moments Amira''s guards and the sand boats crew stopped their attacks, clearly hesitant about risking the life of a young girl.

    Nevertheless, Marcus could tell that they would soone to the conclusion to sacrifice her. They were not going to simply let these men take one of their prized sand boats and escape unpunished simply to try and save one young girl''s life.

    Realizing this, Marcus decided to intervene. He was not so heartless as to let an innocent person die in front of him when he had the power to help.

    ncing at the man holding the dagger to the girl, Marcus used his phantom pressure on the guy and killed him instantly.

    Like a puppet that had its strings cut, the man crumpled to the ground. Unmoving and without any sign of life.

    Several people gasped when this happened, and stared nkly at the man who was now a corpse.

    It was truly terrifying to witness what had just happened. There was not light, no sound, and no movement. From all appearances, the man just dropped dead for no discernable reason.

    Even Amira''s guards looked shaken by what had happened and stood frozen for several seconds.

    Thankfully they recovered from their shock quicker than the members of the Nubah n, and swiftly moved into kill most of the remaining rogues. Leaving only three alive to interrogate.

    ''Something is not right here.'' Marcus thought, gazing across the streets now filed with the body of Nubah n.

    Among all those that had stayed behind to fight them, none of them really seemed like a leader. The strongest guy that had been there was level twenty-four, the oen Marcus had killed with a shove.

    There was also the matter of their numbers.

    When they had initially been attacked by the enemy sand boats, each one had between six and ten people on board, but they certainly had not killed or captured over sixty people in the town which Marcus estimated to be the low end of the attackers'' reaming numbers.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Soon he realized that the higher ups of the Nubah Caln had likely decided to abandon theirrades and try and steal their sand boats during the ensuring battle.

    ''Sadly, for them, Mrazivy is still with the boats.'' Marcus thought, showing know signs of worry.

    ˇ­

    "Marcus really beat me to the punch. I should have made up some excuse to go and join the battle myself." Mrazivy mumbled to herself.

    While Marcus was in the thick of things, she was waiting on the boat with Amira and her head guard.

    The three of them were the only ones left on the sand boat and the other two had only one crew members a piece to watch them.

    While she was rxed not feeling any pressure from what was going on, everyone else was tense and she could not even make idle conversation with them to pass the time.

    Eventually she decided to pull out a book and read, when her senses picked up a group of people approaching.

    "Looks like we havepany." Mrazivy said, pointing out the group of men trying to sneak up on them.

    Turning his gaze in the direction of her finger, Amira''s head guard caught sight of the fifteen men and grimaced.

    With a quick use of his creature appraisal skill he found that each of these men were over level twenty and that their leader was level thirty-six.

    None of them were a match for him, but it would be difficult for him to keep them all at bay by himself. Especially in a defensive battle.

    "Lady Amira, I must go and confront them to make sure you stay safe. I promise to y all of them." Her head guard said, before bounding off the boat and charging towards the men that thought they were still hidden.

    The crew members abord the other two boats noticed this and took control of one of their boat''s mana cannons in order to offer support.

    "He certainly is a bold one." Mrazivy said, watching Amira''s head guard charge into a swarm of enemies.

    He was heavily outnumbered, but his ferocious initial attack had caught the Nubah n members off guard and he had killed three of them before they even knew what was happening.

    His top tier mithril ive gleamed in the moonlight and each time it moved a scream resounded from the man he carved into.

    However, the surprise attack did not keep the Nubah n members stunned for long, and they moved into defensive formation, with their strongest members engaging Amira''s head guard to keep him in check.

    "Hehe, it looks like I am really lucky today."

    Looking over towards the voice, Amira saw that one of the attackers had managed to sneak onboard.

    He was wearing dark tan clothing that blended in well with the desert and his movements showed he was well trained in stealth.

    Of course, Mrazivy had noticed his arrival long before he got on the boat, but she did not see any reason to stop him at this point, since she had been told not to get involved.

    The man began lumbering towards Mrazivy and Amira, looking them both over with his eyes and licking his lips.

    "I can''t remember thest time I saw two girls as delectable as the two of you. And one of you is a foreigner. I''ve never been with a foreign girl before." The man said, letting out a creepyugh.

    Understanding the man''s intentions and seeing the lustful look in his eyes, Amira could not help but shake in fear.

    Her head guard was in the middle of an intense battle to protect her and she had none of her usual protectors around.

    "Amira, I know you asked me to not get involved, but it sounds like this man intends to assault me as well. You do not mind if I deal with him, right?" Mrazivy said,pletely calm in contrast to Amira.

    Nodding her head vigorously, in this moment Amira cared little for her pride as a member of the Eazim ns head family.

    "Okay." Mrazivy said with a reassuring smile.

    She then flicked her wrist at the man who had been slowly approaching them and turned him into an ice sculpture.

    "Definitely not one of my better pieces of art." Mrazivy with frown.

    She then got up and tossed the frozen man far into the desert. Where he was swallowed up by the sand, still encased in his frozen coffin.

    After that, Amira''s head guard and the two remaining crew members managed to clean up thest members of the Nubah n. Not leaving a single one of them alive.

 Chapter 859 859

    With all of the members of the Nubah n either dead or captured, the battle hade to an end.

    It had been a quick and ferocious fight, but not a single on of Amira''s guards or the crew of their sand boats had suffered any casualties.

    Some of them were injured, but none were serious, and overall, they had achieved a total victory.

    ''Now, I have to wonder how bad the town is. We do not know how long they had been here and what damage they might have done.'' Marcus thought surveying the area.

    Other than the young girl that had been dragged out of one of the buildings there was no sign of the residents that should have bene living in Ladhidh.

    It was possible that most of them had been killed, but Marcus was hoping this was not the case.

    Using his life sense skill Marcus expanded it as far as he could and was able to feel several signalsing from inside the nearby buildings. It seemed that the majority of the townsfolk were tied up inside the buildings around this area.

    Unfortunately, while he knew where they were, it was best that Marcus did not go running around to free the people.

    He was a foreign guest and an unfamiliar man running around was likely to cause some amount of panic.

    It was best to leave the rescuing to Amira''s guards since they were an authority associated with Eazim n that ruled over this town.

    At the very least Marcus was able to point to the building the people were being held within and tell Amira''s guards how many people were in each one.

    After that he headed back to the sand boats along with the crew members who were going to report what had happened.

    When Marcus returned to the entrance of the town he noticed the slightly more than a dozen bodies that were slowly sinking into the desert not far from the town''s wall.

    It was clear that some of the Nubah n members had tried to sneak around and steal their sand boats, only to find themselves in for a fight they could not win.

    ''Well, everyone looks to be safe. Mraz does not even seem to be frazzled in the least. Though I suppose that she was never in any danger to begin with.''

    Once Marcus and the boat''s crew members had climbed back aboard, Captain Haidar reported what had happened in the town to Amira and her head guard.

    "That is good. I am d that you were able to wipe out the thieves that thought they could get away with attacking a town under the Eazim n''s protection." Amira said after receiving the report.

    She then turned towards Marcus and Mrazivy, an apologetic look on her face.

    "I am truly sorry that both of you had to go through this experience. You are our guest, but we brought you both to a dangerous battlefield, even if it was unintentional." Amira said bowing her head.

    "Raise your head, Amira." Mrazivy said, a kind smile on her face. "You have nothing to apologize for. There is no way you could have known the town was under attack and if you had abandoned your people for our convince, we would have thought less of you. Both Marcus and I are perfectly fine with the decision you made."

    Looking up at Mrazivy, Amira had to hold back her tears. She was truly relieved that Mrazivy had not rebuked her, and was still realign with her fear from earlier.

    Frankly, Amira just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry but knew that she could not do so because of her station.

    She was technically in charge of their group and had to act like a leader as the highest-ranking member of the Eazim n in the vicinity.

    "I know that it is rude of me, but I must personally go into the town and assess the situation myself. I would ask that both of you remain here while I straighten everything out. Of course, I will leave two of my guards here to protect you and the boats" Amira said, a determined look masking her fears and insecurities.

    "It is fine. We understand that these are extenuating circumstances. Neither of us are the type to get fussy about minor inconveniences like this. And frankly, you should keep all of your guards with you until you are absolutely sure the town is safe. We will be staying with the boats. You can rest assured that they will be here when you get back." Marcus said.

    Amira looked ready to protest not leaving any guards with them, but her head guard thanked Marcus and Mrazivy for their consideration before Amira could say anything and beckoned for her to head into town.

    Swiftly the two of them left the sand boat and went to deal with the situation of the now freed town.

    "Well, what did you do on your walk?" Mrazivy asked once she and Marcus were left on the boat alone.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Leaning back in his seat, Marcus began telling her about the battle he had witnessed and the small contributions he had made.

    "Sounds like you did a bit more than I did. I only froze one guy without even needing to leave my seat." Mrazivy said, slumping over.

    Despite the battle that had gone on, she had not gotten to participate at all. Granted. if she had, the fighting would have been over in three seconds tops.

    "It is as Amira said, we would not guest in Borealia cleaning up our messes for us. We were able to make sure no one on our side got killed or seriously injured, so we can leave the rest to them." Marcus said.

    After they had retold to each other what they did during the battle, both of them decided to pass the time by ying games and reading until a tired Amira, along with her guards came back.

    "We have managed to free everyone and learn what happened from the town''s people. There is still much that will need to be done, but that will be for tomorrow. For now, we have been granted ess tot eh town''s inn and rooms have bene prepared for all of us to rest." Amira said, her expression showing just how exhausted she was.

    It was already well past midnight and they had been traveling all day only to have to have to engage in a fierce battle at the town they were hoping to rest at. There was no doubt that this was the longest and most stressful day Amira had ever experienced.

    While walking to the inn, Marcus and Mrazivy could see that the no longer bound townsfolk were hustling through the town despite thete hour. Trying to restore some semnce of normalcy to their home.

    "Well, the room is not bad." Mrazivy said, intently examining where they were going to be spend the night.

    Amira had insisted that they take the inn''s best room which normally should have gone to her.

    It was not nearly as nice as what they had stayed in back at Tijara, but that made sense since this town was about a thousandth the size of the major trade city.

    "Are you not going toe to bed?" Mrazivy asked Marcus, noticing him staring out into the town.

    "No, I want to make sure that nothing happens though the night. I do not need to sleep anyway." Marcus responded.

    With her cheeks puffed up in anger Mrazivy hopped out of bed and trudged over to Marcus.

    "I can easily go a night without sleep. I will watch with you."

    Letting out a soft chuckle Marcus moved over slightly and allowed Mrazivy to lean on the window with him.

    The two of them kept watch over the town though the night as insurance. Just in case anymore rogues popped up in the town and needed to be dealt with.

    "Looks like we managed to clean up a half dozen of them." Marcus said, a satisfied look on his face.

    While watching over the town, he and Mrazivy had spotted suspicious individuals sneaking around and knocked them out, before tying them up and leaving them somewhere they would be easily found by Amira''s guards.

    Luckily no reinforcements hade from the desert and it was only the handful of rogues that had tried hiding among the empty buildings that they had to deal with.

    Now morning hade and the two of them had been asked to stay in their room, while Amira sorted the situation out.

    Food was brough up for them for breakfast and lunch, but at dinner Amira fianlyl showed herself.

    "I once again want to apologize for the wait. I know that the two of you wish to make it to the capital as soon as possible." Amira said upon entering.

    She then exined that they would be leaving tomorrow and heading to the next town and have aid sent to Ladhidh.

    "Well, we only added on a single day of travel, it is nothing to beat yourself up over. You never know what you might encounter on a journey. In some ways this actually beats apletely peaceful trip." Marcus said.

    He and Mrazivy were enjoying their trip to the capital across the desert. So far they had already managed to get more excitement out of it than their boat ride from the Chelmer resort to Aezam.

    "I thank you for how understand you both are." Amira said, bowing her head once more before partaking in dinner alongside Marcus and Mrazivy.

 Chapter 860 860 Aezamâ€™s Capital

    After they had left Ladhidh, captain Haidar set course for the nearest town and pushed the sand boats to nearly their full speed.

    Amira had worked out the details with the remaining administration in Ladhidh and they were going to have supplies and personnel sent over from the next town over.

    Most of the guards in Ladhidh had been killed when the Nubah n attacked, and the scoundrels had stolen a good portion of the town''s food which had been stored onto their sand boats.

    Unfortunately, during the battle, Captain Haidar had made the decision to eliminate all of the enemy sand boats so that the members of the Nubah n could not escape. This inadvertently led to all those supplies being blown up and now the town was running low on food, and if nothing was done they would likely have citizens start to starve in a couple of weeks.

    Thankfully the next town which was nearly double the size of Ladhidh was more than happy to ept Amira''s request since she promised that the Eazim n''s head family would make sure to lower the town''s taxes for a few years.

    Once that had bene sorted out they continued on their journey through the desert towards Aezam''s capital.

    It took them another eight days traveling through the endless sands of Aezam''s deserts, but finally the sight of thergest city on the entire continent came into view.

    From afar it looked like there was an endless wall sticking up out of the desert that went across the entire horizon for as far as the eye could see.

    Most of the buildings within the city could not be seen over the walls, but a few stood proudly above the twenty-five-meter-tall walls and made for an impressive sight.

    ''It really does remind me a bit of Borealia''s capital. Both of them are cities so big that they seem to stretch on forever.'' Marcus thought seeing the city that was their destination.

    Just like when he had first approached the royal capital in Borealia, it seemed like no matter how long they traveled that the wall was not getting any closer. That was just how grand of a scale it was.

    Another detail also caught Marcus and Mrazivy''s eyes, and that was how the area just outside the walls for a couple of kilometers was much lusher than the rest of the desert.

    Of course, this made sense, as thergest source of fresh water in the entire countryy at the center of the mega city.

    ''Oh, there are some structures outside of the wall.'' Marcus observed once they got closer.

    It looked several small fortresses had been set up at varying intervals around the wall.

    Some were just a couple kilometers away from the wall while others extended several dozen kilometers away.

    When Marcus asked what these were Amira informed him that they were all manner of facilities.

    Some were protective fortresses to fight against beasts and monsters, while others were rest areas that travelers could stop at before entering the city or if they wanted to circumvent it.

    For those going through the desert, if they had a destination to reach and no business in the capital it was easier to just go around than head in and try to travel through the city even if it was technically a shorter distance.

    "Also, the ground around and inside the capital is solid. There is no way to continue by sand boat. We will actually be stopping at one of the facilities outside the wall to dock our sand boats and switch over to carriages. It is likely we will be staying outside the city tonight judging by the time." Amira exined.

    Nodding his head, Marcus thanked Amira for the exnation.

    By the time the sky was beginning to turn many vibrant shades of orange and red and sun set was beginning they reached the sand boat dock owned by the Eazim n.

    The facity had a dozen buildings built within a ten meter walled off area and was fairlyrge inpassion to the other outposts within view.

    When their carvan apprched the gates of the wall opened up and allowed them to enter.

    Once inside several people came rushing over to greet Amira.

    "Lady Amira, it is a great pleasure that I can once again wee you to our humble outpost. I am d to see that you are in good health." The man in charge of the sand bost dock said while bowing his ehad.

    "Yes I am d to be back as well, Salman. I assume that you have already been informed of our vist and have made the enssercry prepaeration." Amira said, her head held high.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Yes, we have prepared our best rooms for you and your guests. The carrgies are also ready and waiting to take you into the city proper." Salmna said.

    However, as he was rasing his head and going to show Amira, AMrcus, and Mrazivy to their room, a slight buzzing could be heard from his pocket and a look of shock appeared on his face.

    Hastily Salman pulled out magic tool that Marcus and Mrazivy recognized as a sending stone and answered the call.

    The man''s eyes went wide eyed and he began to shake when he heard who was on the other end and he intently listened with a look of fear on his face.

    "Understood sir. I will inform her." Salman said with a tone filled with respect and fear.

    Looking inquisitively at the man Amira was wondering what was going on. She could only assume that whoever had just called Salman was of an exceptional status otherwise he would have immediately hung up since it was ride of him to ignore Amira and her guest for so long.

    "My apologies Lady Amira, but there has been a change of ns. You will not be staying at the here tonight. Your great grandfather has prepared amodation for you at his estate and is sending his personal carriage to pick you and your guest up tonight." Salman informed them.

    This news stunned Amirapletely silent, and her mouth gaped open for a few moments.

    Her great grand father was the current grand elder of her n and one of the most powerful men in the nation.

    Their original n had been to stay at one of the manors the Eazim n owned within the city, but that was certainly not an option now.

    While it may have been phrased in a way that made it sound like her great grand father was being amodating, it was actually an order for her to bring her guests to him.

    Her rtionship with her great grandfather was practically nonexistent and she had only briefly met him once before. And frankly never wanted to again. He had a sort of pressure to him that made her feel like gravity was bearing down on her.

    Nevertheless, she had not option but to go to his estate with Marcus and Mrazivy in tow. It was at this point that she wished her father had given this job to one of her other siblings.

    "So, I guess we will be meeting you n''s grand elder. I am surprised that such an important figure wants to see us." Marcus said trying to probe Amira for information.

    "The grand elder must certainly have his reasons. He is the one that originally started the trade agreement with the Chelmer resort back when he was the head of Tijara, so perhaps he wants to speak with you both about the resort." Amira said, making some spection.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was not able to get anything out of her since Amira was just a surprised as they were.

    To add onto their shock, the carriage that arrived for them was far from ordinary.

    ''Now that is not something you see every day.'' Marcus thought, looking up at the flying carriage.

    It was being pulled by two gryphons that were farrger than the normal and with a quick appraisal Marcus found that these gryphons were not the usual type that were at the rare grade but were both evolved epic grade beasts.

    The carriage itself was also beautiful on the outside with expert painting and the highest quality materials used in its construction. Most notable being therge wings shooting out the side of it to help it bnce while flying through the air.

    When the carriage touched down it sent up a plume of sand around it and the two gryphons that had been pulling it began shaking their heads to knock the sand away from them.

    When the door opened, everyone in the vicinity did not simply bow but got on their knees and kneeled.

    ''He is way younger than I was expecting.'' Marcus thought, seeing the man who exited the carriage.

    He had been expecting an old man, but the person that came out looked to be in his earlier thirties at the oldest.

    "Is that the grand elder?" Marcus whished to Amira who he was kneeling beside.

    "No, that is my cousin and our great grand father''s head aide. Other than my father who is the head of the n and the grand elder who sits on the ruling council, he has the highest status in our n."

 Chapter 861 861

    Hearing that the man before them was not actually the Eazim n''s Grand Elder, Marcus rxed a bit and raised his head to better look at the young man who had just gotten out of the carriage.

    Marcus almost reflexively appraised him, but held back since high ranking individuals normally had magic items on them to block and detect whenever they were appraised. Just like Mrazivy did.

    ''He is definitely has some fighting experienced fighter, but not particrly strong. If I had to guess, maybe he is around level thirty.'' Marcus thought watching the way the man moved and feeling the air about him.

    Of course, such a high-ranking individual was not going around alone and two guards each as strong if not stronger than Amira''s head guard stepped out of the carriage behind the man.

    After looking around for just a moment he spotted Amira and began walking towards her.

    "It is an honor to be greeted by you in person Jamal. I havee on my father''s direction to guide our guests to and around the capital." Amira said, her head bowing just a bit lower when Jamal approached.

    "Yes, I heard about the situation and so has the grand elder. That is why he sent me toe pick you and our n''s guests up. They are far to important to be forced to wait out here until tomorrow." Jamal said, a look of disgust on his face as he nced around thepound.

    It was clear that he had little respect for the lower ranking members of his n that were running the area and thought that it was not a ce fit for someone of a higher status.

    ''I can already tell, that I am not going to be able to get along with that guy.'' Mrazivy said to Marcus with her telepathy.

    He wholeheartedly agreed with her assessment. This guy was the type that both of them both disliked. He thought too highly of himself simply because of his position.

    "You two must be our honored guests from the Chelmer Resort. Please, there is no need for you to continue kneeling." Jamal said, beckoning Marcus and Mrazivy to rise.

    When they both stood up, Jamal''s attention immediately turned to Mrazivy in shock, and he could not help staring at her face.

    This was a reaction that plenty of people, men and women alike had when they first saw her. But unlike most people who would look away after a few moments, Jamal just kept looking at Mrazivy like he was assessing an exquisite gem and wondering how to acquire it.

    Normally no one would be so brazen, especially with Marcus standing next to her, but apparently Jamal was not one for tact.

    "It is a pleasure to meet you Sir Jamal. My name is Marcus, and this is my wife Mraz." Marcus said, introducing himself and Mrazivy. Making sure to add extra emphasis when saying the word wife.

    This seemed to snap Jamal out of his infatuated stupor, and he turned towards Marcus with a business smile on his face.

    "I am d to meet to two of you as well. I am Jamal Eazim head aide to our n''s grand elder. The grand elder started our n''s rtionship with the Chelmer Resort and wishes for us to both continue prospering together for a long time into the future. Which is why he sent me to personally wee you and bring you both to his estate. You will be far morefortable there than anywhere else in the city." Jamal said, putting on a friendly atmosphere.

    As much as he was a haughty individual, Jamal was still a major political figure within Aezam and knew how to act properly when necessary.

    Once he finished greeting Mrazivy he turned to Amira and told her that she could stop kneeling now and to bring only her head guard with her ande with him.

    Swiftly, Marcus and Mrazivy were ushered into the flying carriage, with Amira and her head guard followed by Jamal and his guards.

    Thankfully the interior of the carriage was veryrge and there was enough room even for the seven people inside it.

    "Would either of you care for any refreshments? I can assure you that we have some of the best drinks and food avable in Aezam currently aboard." Jamal said, having one of his guards open apartment with the carriage where several bottles of alcohol were stored.

    "No thank you. We have already had enough to eat and do not want any alcohol before meeting with the grand elder." Mrazivy said.

    Frankly she was a bit interested in what they had to offer but decided it best not to interact with Jamal anymore than they had to.

    He looked a bit dissatisfied to have been refused, but had his guard pour a ss for himself which he sipped on until the carriage took back off into the sky.

    ''Seems that flying is allowed here unlike in Borealia''s capital.'' Marcus thought.

    Wen they had reached higher into eh aria and passed over the walls of the city eh was able to see that there were other flying carriages and people riding on beastpassion in the sky.

    In Borealia this was not allowed in the capital for security reasons, but here in Aezam they were obviously not as concerned or were confident that they could handle whatever problems might pop up from allowing open airways.

    Yet, despite the speed they were traveling at, Marcus and Mrazivy did feel a bit disappointed that they could not properly see the city.

    By traveling above it they could only glimpse down out the windows and were unable to catch the details that they wanted.

    ''I suppose that we can explore the cityter. For now, we can get the formalities out of the way early.''

    For the next couple of hours, Jamal continually tried to start up a conversation with Marcus and Mrazivy, though mostly Mrazivy.

    However, neither of them really wanted to speak with him and would give brief replies or simply state that they were tired and did not want to talk.

    Eventually their carriage began to descend and when Marcus and Mrazivy looked out the window they found that they were above a massive estate that wasparable to what a duke in Borealia would have.

    ''It is not as big as the castle Borealia, but this ce is still stupid big.'' Marcus thought while looking around.

    Just as Amira had described it, there was lush greenery all around with channels of water andrge fountains all over the ce. In a city located in the middle of a desert, it showed just how affluent the grand elder was by how much water he was using throughout his estate.

    Soon the carriage touched down on arge path asrge as an airstrip and came to a stop in front of the massive mansion on the estate ground that was among thergest buildings Marcus or Mrazivy had ever seen.

    ''I would say I could fit my home in there about four maybe five times.'' Marcus thought gauging how many timesrger this mansion was than his own.

    The majority of the ce was made out of gleaming white stone and had several patterns of colored stone trimmed with precious metals and iid with precious jewels, creating borate patterns all over it.

    Truly this was an estate for someone at that wanted to show off their wealth and influence.

    Thankfully Marcus as already used to stuff like this in Borealia and did not stare around in awe for too long.

    "Impressive, is it not." Jamal said with a pleased smile on his face.

    "Now, the grand elder is waiting to meet the two of you. Allow me to guide you to the parlor where he is waiting to receive you. I know it iste so this meeting will not be long. Just a simple greeting." Jamal said.

    He then began leading the way but stopped and turned around to face Amira before they had gone too far.

    "Oh, you do not need toe with us, your work here is done. One of the servants will show you to your room and you can get some rest. I will make sure that our guest are taken care of from this point on. It is far too important of a job to be left to you." Jamal said, waving Amira off.

    For a few moments she faltered, looking like she wanted to protest, but in the end she just hung her head and began backing off.

    Jamal''s status was simply higher than her and she could not fight back against him without getting heavily reprimanded. All she could do was yield to him.

    Except, this was where Marcus and Mrazivy decided to draw the line. They had spent nearly thest two weeks with Amira and had grown a bit fond of her. They would both much rather have her as their guide than Jamal.

    "No, Amira is going toe with us. She is our guide, and we will not be epting anyone else." Marcus said, a stern look in his eyes that would offer nopromise.

 Chapter 862 862 Meeting With The Eazim Clanâ€™s Grand Elder

    Stopping in a daze, Jamal had not been expecting such a fervent refusal from Marcus. It was clear he had no intention of backing down.

    He tried turning his attention to Mrazivy, to see if she would reign Marcus in and do the sensible thing from his point of view by letting Amira go. But she only took a step closer to Amira and affirmed that she was the only one they wanted to act as their guide.

    Jamal was at a loss seeing this. It was a practically heavy insult to his pride to be sopletely refused.

    It took him a great deal of willpower to now ir up, but his great grandfather, the grand elder, had told him not to do anything that might upset Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Very well, if you wish to continue having my inexperienced cousin continue guide you, I will back down." Jamal said, a forced smile on his face.

    He then turned around and began leading the way to where the grand elder was waiting. Intentionally walking much faster than normal in an attempt to make it difficult for Amira to keep up.

    Naturally Marcus and Mrazivy noticed this and made sure to match their pace to Amira. If Jamal wanted to leave them behind that was fine by them. It would just show that he was an ipetent host.

    In the end, Jamal had to give up on hisst ditch n to spite Amira and slowed his walking pace< he would only get chastised if he left Marcus and Mrazivy who were his n''s esteemed guests behind.

    For the next several minutes they walked down winding corridors, passing by several rooms and servants.

    Each time the servants would kneel when Jamal passed by and his bad mood would dissipate slightly seeing these acts of subservience.

    Eventually they stopped in front of a set of ornate doors that were mostly made out a translucent red crystal.

    Yet despite the fact that it should have been possible to see what was beyond the doors through the crystal, some sort of enchantment blocked everyone''s sight.

    ''Not only is the door itself heavily enchanted, but so is the room itself. It would not be beyond me to disable everything, but it would take a great deal of time.'' Marcus thought, examining the doors and walls.

    Clearly this room that belong to the head of the estate was well protected and reminded Marcus of how heavily enchanted some parts of the castle in Borealia''s Royal Castle were.

    Pulling out a celestial tinum key, Jamal inserted it into the door''s lock and the defensive enchantments began to shut down and allow people to enter.

    Now that that its defensive had temporarily been disabled, the two crystal doors began to open up and revealed arge office.

    Along the walls were all manner of tapestries and exquisite painting, and the floors were covered with rugs made from the fur of epic grade beasts.

    At the back of the room was a desk that sat on a raised tform with three steps leading up to it. Sitting behind the desk was a man that looked to be in histe fifties. He had been in the middle of doing paperwork, but had looked up when he saw his guests arrive.

    ''So that is the grand elder of the Eazim n. He has a decently strong aura, probably somewhere in the upper forties level wise. His true age is also likely a lot older than his appearance.'' Marcus thought, evaluating the grand elder.

    Of course, the grand elder was not the only one in the room. Two guards that were both over level sixty were standing in front of him, and sitting behind him was a man who was clearly much stronger. Likely in the upper seventies or low eighties in terms of level.

    Along with the visible guards, Marcus could sense that there were two dozen additional guards hidden within secret areas around the room. All of them being at least level forty.

    The entire room screamed that the person who owned it and sat at the head of the tform was important and would not allow anyone to look down on him. This was certainly the type of ce that would be owned by one of the most powerful people in arge nation such as Aezam.

    "Ah, Jamal, I see you brought our guest with you. Please bring them here. I wish to have a quick chat." The grand elder said, beckoning their group forward.

    He did for a moment look at Amira curiously, having been told beforehand that Jamal nned to dismiss her, but quickly figured out that Marcus and Mrazivy must have protested.

    Swiftly Jamal lead Marcus and Mrazivy with Amira trailing behind them up to the Grand Elder and bowed his head.

    Marcus and Mrazivy were about to follow suit, but the grand elder held out his hand to stop them.

    "No need for that. We are not in a formal setting, and you are my guests. You may rise as well Amira."

    The grand elder then gave a quick nce to one of his two standing guards and the tall armored man pulled out chairs for Marcus, Mrazivy, Jamal, and Amira to sit at across from his desk.

    "Now, I suppose that we should start with introductions. My name is Akeem, and I am the grand elder of the Eazim n. It is a pleasure for me to wee you both into my home."

    "I am Marcus. It is an honor to be received by you."

    "I am Mrazivy. Thank you for going out of the way to greet us."

    Having finished their introduction Akeem looked ready to get down to business, but his head guard who had been sitting behind him the entire time got up and moved right next to his master.

    This shocked everyone present from Eazim n, including Akeem.

    Bashir, Akeem''s head guard and the Eazim n''s strongest warrior, normally would not move from his position behind the grand elder.

    This was a show of confidence that he could protect his charge even from a rxed position, and he rarely ever stood right beside Akeem, since his presence was too intimidating for most to handle.

    Yet, the second Marcus and Mrazivy entered he could feel their strength and knew that if he was not right beside his master, he would be unable to defend against an attack if theyunched one.

    "You two must really be something to have Bashir on edge. I feel morefortable offering you some of our spots in the Muharib Festival now." Akeem said with a wide grin on his face.

    Though while the grand elder of the Eazim n seemed to bepletely rxed still, the tension in the room was palpable.

    Jamal had only ever seen Bashir stand beside his great grandfather when meeting with other grand elders and their guards, and it put into perspective for him just how powerful Marcus and Mrazivy were.

    "I am d to hear that we have your confidence." Marcus said, ignoring all of the eyes that were on him.

    "Oh, yes, I am getting excited for it now, but we can discuss it in more detailter. For now I want to talk about the Chelmer resort. It has been a long time since I was therest and want to know how things are going. If you would not mind indulging this old man." Akeem said with a light chuckle.

    Unlike Jamal who acted extremely uptight and self-important, the grand elder of the Eazim n was able to give off a more rxed and weing atmosphere. Though the shrewdness behind his eyes showed that he was a skilled politician not to be trifled with.

    To start, he asked mundane questions about the Chelmer Resort, and Marcus and Mrazivy answered him.

    He wanted to know thing about the old attractions he remembered and if there was anything new in areas that had not been developed before.

    "Ah, just hearing about it makes me want to go back. It is one of the most rxing ces I have ever been. Unfortunately, my work keeps me busy here and I certainly will not have any opportunities any time soon." Akeem said with a sigh.

    "Well, whenever you are free, the resort would be more than willing to wee you, I am sure." Mrazivy said, making sure to y the part of a representative of the resort as was their cover.

    At this the grand elder coked an eyebrow and said, "Oh, really. And here I thought our rtionship was getting a bit strained."

    Having finished with the pleasantries Akeem decided now was the time to fish for information.

    All of a sudden, the Chelmer resort had put pressure on their trade agreements in order to force them to hep Marcus and Mrazivy, and he wanted to get whatever information he could out of them.

    "No, I do not think that there is any tension forming between the Chelmer resort and the Eazim n. My, you have been so helpful to us already. I believe that once we finish our quest in your lovely nation that there are ns to expand trade." Mrazivy said.

    She was using her own skills at dealing with situations like this to inform the grand elder with veiledngue that so long as they got what they wanted, there would be no problems and a substantial benefit for the Eazim n.

    But on the other hand, if Marcus and Mrazivy did not receive the support that they needed she was insinuating that trade might slow down.

    "That is good to here. Our n wishes for our mutual and prosperous rtionship to continue long into the future. And of course, we are more than happy to help you in any way we can."

 Chapter 863 863

    Soon the initial meeting with the Eazim n''s grand elder began to wrap up.

    "I have certainly enjoyed our conversation together, but it is getting fairlyte. After your long journey I imagine you, all must be tired. We can continue speaking tomorrow at breakfast." Akeem said, bring their discussion to a close.

    After that Marcus and Mrazivy left the room with Amira, and a pair of servants that had been waiting outside led them to their rooms.

    Now alone with his great grand father and his many guards, Jamal turned and asked the question that had been on his mind.

    "Why are you allowing them to act as if they are your equal grand elder? Clearly, they are just hired mercenaries of some kind."

    Jamal had been surprised when his great grand father had waved his hand and disregarded formalities for Marcus and Mrazivy. Sure, they were apparently here as representatives of the Chelmer Resort, but he did not believe that they should be treating them as equals. When he had arrived to pick them up, they had kneeled before him like everyone else, but now that Akeem had allowed them to act without adhering to formalities, they had no reason to respect Jamal''s'' status anymore.

    "I see that you still have much to learn in the art of reading people." Akeem said with a disappointed sigh. "Those two clearly do not truly respect our authority. They know how to act in front of those that hold status, but that is all it is, an act. If they actually cared about our authority, they would have backed down when you tried to relive Amira of her duties as their guide. Clearly, the moment we be more of an inconvenience to them than an asset, they will simply cut us off. I could tell that with one look. That is why I figured it better to not engage in any pomp and circumstances. We both want something from each other, so it is easier if neither side tries to push the other."

    Unfortunately, while Akeem tried to exin his wisdom to Jamal, his great grand son could not help but feel that his status was being looked down on. He was too proud of his title as the third highest ranking member of his n and enjoyed having others act subservient to him too much.

    "Now, I do not have all day to lecture you. I imagine that the next few days are going to be tiring so I am going to get some rest, and you should do the same." Akeem said, motioning for Jamal to leave.

    ''As if we can allow them walk all over us like this.'' Jamal thought as he left. Thinking of ways to try and get back at Marcus and Mrazivy despite his great grandfather''s warnings.

    ˇ­

    ''These halls really do feel endless.'' Marcus thought as they were led to where the guest chambers were.

    It was a fairly long walk from where the gran elder''s office was, but that was to be expected.

    "Here is the room that has been prepared for you Lady Mraz." One of the servants said, opening up the doors to reveal arge room with a king-sized bed in it and arge bathroom that could have easily been considered the master bedroom for even arge house back on Earth.

    However, what the servant had said gave Marcus and Mrazivy pause.

    "What do you mean my room? Does that mean that Marcus had his own room as well?" Mrazivy asked, her head tilted slightly in confusion.

    "Yes, Sir Marcus has a room for himself in the male wing of the guest quarters. It would be improper for a youngdy and man to share a room together." The servant responded.

    "Um, you do know that we are married, right? We have already shared a bed together several times." Mrazivy said bluntly.

    This caused the young servant woman to go ghastly pale and she bowed her head deeply.

    "Please forgive me for my ignorance. I should have been more though in my preparation and found out that you two are married."

    Of course it was not actually her fault that separate chambers had been prepared for them, but simply that she had not been informed and done as instructed.

    "Allow me to apologize for this mistake. As your guide, I should have made sure that the servants here had been informed." Amira said, a slight blush visible on her cheeks from hearing Mrazivy candidly acknowledge having slept with Marcus.

    "It is fine. We can simply share this room. It is more thanrge enough for the both of us." Mrazivy said, not concerned, or believing that it was actually Amira''s fault.

    Marcus chimed in with his agreement, but Amira and the young servant frowned.

    "Unfortunately, men are not allowed to stay in the women''s guest wing or vise versa. We will need to have a couple''s room prepared for you." Amira said, an embarrassed expression on her face.

    "We are more than willing to wait. Neither of us is all that tired." Mrazivy said not willing to budge.

    Normally she would not want to be this pushy and just epted that she and Marcus would be in different rooms for the night, but she had the nagging feeling that this had been done on purpose to separate them.

    "Of course, we will have a new room prepared for you immediately. We can wait in one of the estates parlors until then." Amira said, masking her own exhaustion and taking charge as was her duty.

    For the next hour she entertaining Marcus and Mrazivy, until their new room was ready.

    "Again, I must say I am sorry for the inconvenience that my negligence has caused you both." Amira said, lowering her head to Marcus and Mrazivy who were standing in the doorway of their new room.

    "It is fine Amira; you were just as surprised by all this as we were. It is not like we were originally meant to stay here in the first ce. There is no way you could have made sure that it was known that we are married and checked on our amodations." Mrazivy said, offering a friendly smile to Amira.

    "You have been doing your best and neither of us is dissatisfied. Now go and get some rest yourself, I am sure you must be tired." Marcus said.

    Nodding her head, Amira left Marcus and Mrazivy on their own and headed to her own room.

    "I can already tell that Jamal is going to be annoying to deal with." Mrazivy said, slumping down onto one of the chairs in the room.

    "Yeah, I get that feeling as well." Marcus said, agreeing with Mrazivy.

    He really did not like the way that Jamal had been looking over Mrazivy when they met and while he seemed to be able to restrain himself in the moment, Marcus figured he was the type of person to hold a grudge.

    Regrettably, there was little that they could do to be proactive and could likely only respond to whatever Jamal might be nning to do.

    "The grand elder seems to have a good head on his shoulders though, hopefully he will keep Jamal reigned in." Mrazivy said.

    "I suppose it is possible. The grand elder seems to highly value the rtionship between his n and the Chelmer Resort." Marcus responded.

    "It only makes sense that he does. Daniel showed us the rough figures on how much wealth the trade between the two of them generates for the Eazim n. There is no way they would want to jeopardize losing out on that much profit. Even if the Chelmer resort stopped doing business with the Eazim n, they could move over to one of the other great ns and get what they want even if it is a bit less convenient."

    For the rest of the night Marcus and Mrazivy continued to discuss how they were going to handle unexpectedly being called to the grand elder''s estate and what to do in case Jamal tried anything.

    In fact, they lost track of time and did not realize that they had talked through the entire night until they heard a knock at their door and were informed that breakfast would begin in an hour.

    "I suppose that we should get ready. It would not do for us to show up in the same clothes we wore yesterday." Marcus said.

    Swiftly the two of them cleaned themselves and put on some of the clothing traditional to Aezam that they had bought in Tijara.

    As they opened the door, they found a male and female servant waiting to take them to dining room where breakfast was being held.

    When they arrived at the dining room, both of them were hit with the strong smells of the traditional food eaten in Aezam that utilized many fragrant spices.

    Yet, after a quick nce around, they found that the annoyance known as Jamal who they had expected to be present, was missing. Sitting at the table was only Akeem and a very tense looking Amira.

 Chapter 864 864 Discussing The Muharib Festival

    While it was a pleasant surprise to see that Jamal was not present, both Marcus and Mrazivy could only find it odd. Normally it would be expected for one''s close aide and someone of Jamal''s status to eat with his direct superior, who in this case was the grand elder.

    ''I wonder what could have happened.'' Marcus thought as he warily sat down.

    Thankfully Akeem addressed their confusion almost immediately after they had sat down and greeted each other.

    "I am sure you noticed that Jamal is currently missing. Normally I would have him with me during meetings such as this one, but I decided to pass on some of my more tedious tasks to him so that I could personally discuss a few matters with the both of you. Whenever I am meeting with you I will be having Amira here act as my aide instead." The grand elder said, nodding towards his great granddaughter.

    Hearing this Marcus and Mrazivy now understood why she seemed so tense. This was not just a breakfast with her great grandfather and guests but also a test of her skills. If she managed to impressive her n''s grand elder it could mean her status rising higher than it already was, but disappointing him would be disastrous for her.

    "If it is not overstepping our bounds, would you mind telling us exactly what Jamal is doing for you?" Mrazivy asked, wanting to keep track of him since he seemed troublesome.

    "It is not as if I have him on some secret mission and in a way it does pertain to the two of you. I simply assigned him to take my ce in the grand elder council for matters regarding the Muharib Festival. There are many long meetings before the festival to decide on certain matters from big to small. He may get pushed around a bit and our n may end up shouldering a bit more burden than usual, but I figured this would be a good experience for him to interact more closely with those above him in status." Akeem said, wearing a mischievous expression.

    In truth he had noticed that Jamal was holding some sort of resentment towards Marcus and Mrazivy and sent him away to avoid anything troublesome happening. This would also serve as a means to humble him as he would have to learn how to get what he wanted not through lording over others with his status but actually negotiating with the other n''s grand elders. He needed to learn when to be authoritative and when to be diplomatic.

    "And since we are on the topic of the Muharib Festival, my head guard and the top warrior in our n told me in detail after you leftst night how strong he believes you both to be. I was certainly very surprised, as you exceeded my expectations. What I want to know now is, what your intentions are? I am sure that you know that the festival is not simply one event but many. Some anyone can participate in as they are held and others you need to be registered for head of time. The Sulb n''s only direction was that you properly show off your prowess and impressive them, but how have you decided to go about doing so?" Akeem said, a friendly smile on his face, but a scheming glint in his eyes.

    "Our n is to participate in a number of the events that are free for all to enter without needing to register, though we are aware that this is not really what the Sulb n wants. We have been informed that there are fighting tournaments for single participants, pairs, and groups of six which hold the real prestige of the festival. We intend to participate together in the duo tournament." "Mrazivy said, exining to the grand elder and Amira what she and Marcus had already discussed together.

    It had taken them a bit of back and forth to decide between entering as a pair or going into the singles tournament, but ultimately decided to enter together.

    If they both entered in the tournament where they needed to fight one on one, it was likely they would have to fight each other at some point and they were afraid that a serious bout between each other would get out of hand.

    There was also the fact that their abilitiesplemented each other pretty well, and both of them had been drawn to fighting together rather than separately.

    "I see, I was expecting you both to want to enter the tournament focusing on one-on-one matches since it typically garners more attention, but the duo tournament should be fine. Especially since I hearpetition for it is going to be particrly fierce this time." The grand elder said, his eyes moving around as if he was calcting something.

    He then turned to Amira and told her to make sure to have them entered in the tournament they had chosen before officially starting breakfast now that he had wrapped up their premeal meeting.

    Once they had all finished eating, some tea was brought out and everyone was able to choose their favorites amongst the options.

    ''Oh, they have cinnamon tea. I have never seen it used in Borealia, and it is not widely avable. I wonder where they got it from.'' Marcus thought expanding each of the teas.

    For the next few minutes the four of them simply enjoyed a bit of rxing tea and harmless conversation before Mrazivy finally brought up the topic she and Marcus were most interested in.

    "Now, our goal to impress the Sulb n is rather vague. It is not like there is any cement within the tournament they asked us to reach only that we need to impress them. However, we wanted your opinion on the matter. At what point do you think it would be wise for us to bow out of the tournament." Mrazivy said.

    Naturally she figured it would not be in their or the Eazim n''s best interest for them to go too far in the tournament since they were only foreign guests. It could create a lot of tension and lead to the Eazim n being ostracized by the others.

    Except the response that Mrazivy received was far from her expectations.

    "If the two of you wanted to go ahead and win the whole thing, that would not bother me. In fact, it would be quite beneficial since you will technically be acting as representatives of my n." Akeem said, an ambitious look on his face.

    He went on to exin that while some of the ns might get a bit upset, the Sulb n most certainly would not.

    Every year they brought in the majority of the outsiders that participated in the Muharib festival simply because they enjoyed having powerful opponents to fight against. If Marcus and Mrazivy surely wanted to impressive them winning the duo tournament would certainly do it.

    "Of course, since you will be entered under the Eazim n''s name, we will get the prestige and mary rewards thate along with having one of our representatives win. The benefits for all of us will far outweigh any negatives. Though, this is only if you can win." The grand elder said.

    "We will need to talk about it ourselves. Until now, we honestly figured we would be asked to drop out at thetest during the quarter finals." Mrazivy said, wanted to speak with Marcus about it in private before making any concrete decisions.

    "Sure, feel free to take your time. There are still a couple of weeks before the participants for the main tournaments must be decided. I will want to know your answer before then so that I can arrange my n''s warriors ordingly. It is allowed for them to enter in more than one of the tournaments, but it often proves difficult for even the strongest warriors to fight multiple difficult matches in such a short time frame. There have been many years where powerful warriors were eliminated in matches they should have won because they were already exhausted."

    Akeem was telling them that if they nned to win he would be able to send his n''s best warriors to the other tournaments. But if their goal was only to impressive the Sulb n and dropout halfway through, then he would have to arrange for stronger fighters to participate in the duo tournament.

    "If you will excuse us." Mrazivy said once she and Marcus had finished their tea.

    After that they swiftly returned to their room in order to discuss how they were going to approach the Muharib Festival.

    "I think we should go for the win." Marcus said practically the second the door closed behind them and they were alone.

    Mrazivy just looked at him with an exasperated expression, since it seemed he was not even considering the consequences.

    "I can already see it being a hassle if wee out as the victors. We will garner a lot more attention if we do and it is likely we will receive requests for meetings from all of the major ns. It is possible we will even be asked to return next year and defend our title. The whole thing could turn into a huge headache." Mrazivy said, pointing out some of the negative aspects that coulde from them winning.

    "Sure, everything you said coulde to pass, but we can just ignore it all. Plus, I think both of us would enjoy the festival more if we are putting our all into it, rather than waiting for the right opportunity to throw a match. We are not just here to aplish my goal of getting ess to the Font of Death, but also to have fun. Last time we entered a tournament neither of us made it very far. This is our chance to go all the way to the top and win."

 Chapter 865 865 Around The Grand Elderâ€™s Estate

    Feeling Marcus'' enthusiasm, Mrazivy let out as sigh, before a faint smile formed on her lips.

    Frankly she had wanted them to try their best and win as well, but when Marcus had immediately stated his opinion in favor of fighting to win, she felt it was her job to at least point out some of the negative aspects of this n.

    "Okay, we can give it our all. Truthfully I want to us to be victorious and take first ce." Mrazivy said, apetitive grin on her face.

    She hated to lose, and throwing a match when winning was not going to impede their goals anyway would leave a bad taste in her mouth.

    "Oh, that was a bit easier than I thought it would be. Here I figured you would be willing to defend your position to the end even though you did not agree with it in the first ce." Marcus said, wearing a mischievous expression.

    Naturally he had seen through Mrazivy''s act and knew she would rather fight in the tournament without having tow worry about whether their winning would cause any problems since they were foreign guests.

    Puffing up her cheeks, Mrazivy turned her head to the side and put on a feigned show of anger.

    "Looks like I am going to be in the doghouse for a while." Marcus said, slumping over in an exaggerated manner with despondent tone in his voice.

    Seeing this Mrazivy could not hold back any longer and beganughing.

    Soon Marcus joined in and the two of them had a jovial moment together where they simply forget everything and just enjoyed themselves.

    Of course, the two of them could not simplyugh the entire day away without a care in the world and eventually had to get back to business.

    "I suppose that we will need to inform Akeem of our decision so that he can put things in motion." Marcus said, once they had calmed down.

    "Yeah, and there is also the matter of what we are going to do for next few days. We obviously cannot just wander around on our own. We will need to meet with Amira and discuss what to do, since she is our guide." Mrazivy said.

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed, and taking a pen and several pieces of paper out of his item box began writing two letters. One for Akeem expressing their desire to aim for first ce in the duo tournament, and another to Amira requesting a meeting to talk about their ns for the next few days.

    Once he had finished the two letters, he handed them off to one of the three servants that always seemed to be waiting nearby their room.

    "That was quick." Marcus said, when he heard a knock at their door.

    It had only been twenty minutes since he had sent of his two letters and Amira had already arrived to meet with them.

    "Thanks foring so quickly. But weren''t your busy acting as the grand elder''s aide while Jamal is away?" Mrazivy said, a slight bit of concern in her eyes.

    "No, it is no trouble. My first and most important duty is to act as your guide. The grand elder has plenty of aides to help him." Amira said.

    She then took a seat across from Marcus and Mrazivy with her head guard standing behind her in the same defensive position he always did.

    "Before we begin, the grand leader told me to give you his reply to your letter." Amira said, taking out a sheet of paper and handing it to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Reading it over, it was mostly just detailing that the grand elder understood their intention, but the way he wrote it showed just how pleased he was. Now that he was certain that Marcus and Mrazivy would be acting as the top contenders for the Eazim n, he could devote fighters to the other major tournaments without having to worry about losing face.

    "The grand elder is quite excited about this year''s Muharib Festival. Our n is not one specializing in fighting like the Sulb n is, so our showing in the festival is not always the greatest. But this year, the grand elder believes that we will do quite well thanks to the addition of the two of you." Amira said.

    Unlike in the past, the Eazim n would not have to enter two of their strongest warriors into the duo tournament and could instead ce them into the singles or team tournament. Of course, they could not have Marcus and Mrazivy be their only participants in the duo tournament, but they certainly would not be entering any of their best, as it would be counterproductive if they got matched up with Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "The Eazim n has already been very amodating to us, so it only makes sense we try our best in the tournament for your sake. Plus, it aligns with our goals. As long as we can impress the Sulb n and get their permission to enter the Deste Desert, we will have noints." Marcus said.

    After that he moved the topic from the Muharib Festival to their ns for the uing days. They still had around a month before the festival began and there were many things that Marcus and Mrazivy wanted to do in that time.

    "For today, I could show you around the estate''s grounds. Tomorrow, I can show you around the city after the proper preparations have been made." Amira said.

    "Sure, that sounds like fun. You already told us about the ce, but we were hoping to look around the estate ourselves. Especially the gardens." Mrazivy replied.

    With a relived look on her face, Amira was grateful that they had agreed. A small part of her was afraid that they would insist on seeing the city today, which would have bene difficult to n and arrange.

    With heir ns for the day settled, Amira got up and led the way to the nearest exit and brought Marcus and Mrazivy out into one of therge gardens that were spread throughout the estate.

    "Since the ground are quiterge, a carriage has been prepared to carry us." Amira said, beckoning Marcus and Mrazivy over to the ornate vehicle.

    "I think we would rather wal- Ugh!"

    Before Marcus could finish his sentence, Mrazivy had jammed her elbow into his side hard enough to get him to stop talking.

    Certainly, it would have been more convenient for them to go at their own pace and they could see more by walking. However, doing so would force Amira to go along with them, and she did not have even close to as much stamina as they did since her level was still only in the single digits.

    "We are most appreciative that your prepared a vehicle for us. Let us get in and begin our tour of the grounds." Mrazivy said, dragging Marcus towards the carriage while exining with telepathy why walking would be an inconvenience for Amira and the other members of their entourage.

    Swiftly they all got settled in and the carriage began slowly moving, first heading to an area where some of the native nts to Aezam where being grown and tended to.

    In this section there were many different types of cacti, most of which had flowers blooming on them or were bright colors and had usual shapes.

    There were also short trees with thin wispy leaves that looked like flowing water in the wind.

    The majority of these nts were things neither Marcus nor Mrazivy had seen even when traversing the desert. Apparently, they were not found in the middle of the desert where they had been traveling, but closer to the rivers that snaked their way through the nation where their was at least some water.

    "I suppose that it would be hard for any nts to grow in the middle of such an area where there is pretty much no water." Marcus said, remembering the endless sea of loose sand they had crossed.

    Just like on Earth there were different types of deserts. Some where there was life all around and it was just an arid area, and others where it was so dry that there was pretty much no life other than around the few oases.

    Among the cacti and trees a few of them had fruit on them and a couple of the servants that had been apanying them prepared a few for them to try upon request.

    "These are pretty good." Marcus said, enjoying the vor.

    They were not as sweet as most of the fruit he had eaten before having more mellow tastes and being filled with more liquid, but they still were quite refreshing, and he felt he could use them asplementary ingredients with certain foods.

    For the next several hours Marcus and Mrazivy toured the garden that was filled with nts native to Aezam before stopping for lunch.

    "The cuisine here really is quite exquisite. The chefs must be very talented to make such a wide array of dishes." Marcus said, having indulged in ever dish that had been served.

    "Yes, the grand elder of our n likely has the best chef in the country. He hired her from abroad, so she is a foreigner like both of you. I have not had too many asions in the past to eat her food, but all of it is really good, and her repertoire is far greater than most in the nation since she has traveled all over the world." Amira said, happily discussing food with Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "To tell you the truth, I have a passion for cook as well. It may only be a hobby of mind, but I have put a fair bit of effort into it. If it would be possible, do you think I could join her in the kitchen." Marcus asked, an enthusiastic expression on his face.

    He had been doing his best to analyze the dishes that had been served to them, but having a professional teach him some recipes and their expertise would be invaluable.

    "I can certainly pass your request along, but it will be up to her whether to ept or not. Other than the grand elder, she does not take orders from anyone." Amira said timidly.

    She did not want to upset Marcus, but the head chef of the estate was a bit entric and rarely did anything she did not want to. It was more likely she would refuse to meet with him than it was that she would agree.

    "Well, if she does not want to meet with me that is fine. I do have a number of rare ingredients from around the Chelmer Resort, so perhaps you can use that information to entice her." Marcus said, more than willing to bribe the estate''s head chef if it got him a meeting.

 Chapter 866 866 Discussion With The Head Chef Of The Eazim Clan

    Once they had finished lunch, Marcus and Mrazivy continued their tour of the estate''s grounds.

    There were several gardens featuring rare nts that normally did not grow in Aezam, or even on the continent, and it was the first time that Marcus and Mrazivy were seeing many of them.

    Eventually they reached one garden that was heavily guarded and inside had several nts that produce natural treasures growing in it.

    Looking around it reminded them of the atrium attached to Borealia''s royal castle, though the cultivation was on a much smaller scale.

    "I am surprised that you are able to grow natural treasures here. It is not an easy process." Mrazivy said, impressed.

    In Borealia''s castle, the enchantments necessary for the cultivation had been created by one of Boreas''panions who was a nature magic specialist and the superior nature spirit Salvia who still watched over the area and helped the natural treasures grow.

    However, here their enchantments were not nearly as good and there was no nature spirit tending to the area.

    "Oh, you have seen somewhere else where they grow natural treasures? This is the only ce in all of Aezam where we have had any sess by pouring in a great deal of resources and consulting the foremost experts. It is a great achievement that our n takes pride in." Amira said, her interest clear to see.

    "Yes, on our travels we have seen other ces that grow natural treasures." Mrazivy answered vaguely.

    Naturally she was not going to say where they had seen this before since it would give away that they came from Borealia.

    "So, what type of natural treasures are gown here?" Marcus asked, changing the topic of conversation so that Amira did not ask for any more details.

    Luckily this did the trick and Amira began listing off the natural treasures that were grown within the grand elder''s estate.

    ''It seems like a lot of effort for only these low-level natural treasures. None of them are even of a high enough quality to have and effect on anyone over level thirty.'' Marcus thought once Amira had finished her exnation.

    Still, being able to have ess to natural treasures of any quality was a huge feat and while none of the ones grown here would be able to help those that had already reached a certain level they were invaluable in raising the stats of high ranking members of the Eazim n.

    Time continued to pass as Amira showed them around the estate, until the sky began to take on and orange and red hue indicating that they day wasing to an end.

    Heading back inside, Marcus and Mrazivy were brought to the main dining hall where they would be having dinner.

    Akeem was noticeably not present this time, apparently busy with work and eating in his office.

    Except there was someone else waiting for them, and their appearance was quite the shock.

    ''An angel!?'' Marcus thought seeing the young woman who was standing by the table with a proud smile on her face.

    She had dark ck hair and golden eyes which were not all that unusual, but sprouting out of her back were pure white wings that looked a bit too small to actually provide enough lift to allow the woman to fly.

    Gob smacked, Marcus could not hold back on reflexively appraising the woman and was shocked to find that she was level sixty-two.

    Along with finding this out, he was able to determine her race which wasbeled as Half-Guruda and her name was La Adel.

    "You two must be the guests that I have been hearing so much about." La said with a bright smile. "I received a letter stating that one of you also has a passion for cooking and wanted to meet with me, so I made all of my specialties for you to try tonight."

    With her arms outstretched, La, brought everyone''s attention back to the rows of food that lined therge dining room table.

    Frankly there was easily enough there tofortably feed twenty people, yet it would only be Marcus, Mrazivy, and Amira who would be eating it.

    Among the dishes were some Marcus had already seen in Aezam, but others were things he recognized form elsewhere, while a fewpletely new to him.

    "I suppose that you must be the estate''s head she then?" Marcus said.

    "Yep, that would be me. Names La, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

    After her introduction Marcus and Mrazivy introduced themselves before sitting down at the table filled with food.

    "Which one of you is the one interested in cooking?" La said, looking between Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Raising his hand Marcus brought La''s attention to him, and she moved to sit right next to him.

    Normally this would have not been something that would be allowed and could be seen as rude since La was technically counted among the servants of the estate, but as Amira had said, she was rather entric and did what she wanted.

    Of course, neither Marcus nor Mrazivy cared all that much for formalities and were not offended in anyway by La joining them. Though Amira was stiff as a a board since she had no idea that La had been nning this. Especially since she had only received a letter about Marcus'' interest in meeting her just a few hours ago.

    "What do you think of this?" Layal said, serving up one of her dishes to Marcus.

    Taking a bite of the roasted vegetables before him, Marcus carefully tasted the food and gauged what ingredients were used.

    He then gave his honest opinion to La the best he could and she began vigorously nodding her head.

    "I see, you actually do have some skill with cooking. You are not someone who just dabbles in it frivolously." Layal said, a sparkle in her eyes.

    It was at this point Marcus realized La had been testing him to see if he was actually good enough at cooking to warrant her attention.

    p¦Á§ád¦Á-¨ľ?¦Í¨ş|ˇ¤§ă¨®§® After eating a few more dishes and giving his opinion and doing his best to exin the ingredients and how the vors worked together La seemed quite satisfied.

    On the other hand, Amira had barely touched her food, since she had not prepared herself for La''s ambush and was unsure if she should intervene.

    Mrazivy was simply enjoying the food while Marcus talked about cooking with La. She was notpletely inept when it came to such matter and she was interested to a degree, but her passions were more with eating good food rather than cooking.

    "Seems like you are the real deal. It has been a while since I was able to have such an interesting discussion. The other chefs here are good, but the only know about he food native to Aezam for the most part." La said.

    Marcus knew about plenty of other dishes from his time on Earth and Borealia and had made for an interesting conversation partner.

    Yet their was a dish that had been served here today that he had not once seening to Mirrion, but was very prevalent on earth.

    "Where exactly did you learn how to make pizza?" Marcus asked, picking up one of the slices.

    "Oh, you know about pizza!" La said, obviously excited. "My father taught it to me years ago. He knew several strange but delicious dishes I have not found anywhere else. He is the one who initially taught me how to cook."

    Hearing this Marcus felt that his suspicion had been all but confirmed.

    At first, he thought that La hade from Earth like him, but Mrazivy had not mentioned her having the Personal Status unique skill that all reincarnations and transmigration had when she used her dragon eyes on La.

    But if her father was the one who taught her these dishes that originated from Earth, then it was likely he was either a reincarnation or a transmigration.

    "It sounds like your father is an incredible chef. Does he happen to still be alive?" Marcus asked his curiosity overflowing.

    "Yeah, my dad is still around and off on his own journey around the world. I can''t imagine him ever kicking the bucket with how strong he is." La said, admiration in her eyes. She clearly looked up to her father.

    Unfortunately, when Marcus probed more about him, he only learned that La had no idea where he currently was.

    Apparently every few years he would send her a letter telling her about where he had been and what he was up to, but it had been two years since hisst one so he could be anywhere.

    ''At least I was able to get his name.'' Marcus thought.

    He figured he could ask boreas about La''s father and see if he knew about him. The man was several centuries old and had been around, so it was possible.

    "Now, enough about my father. In the letter it said you have some rare ingredients from the Chelmer Resort. If you do not mind letting me work with them, I will be more than happy to teach you traditional cuisine from Aezam."

 Chapter 867 867 Exploring Aezamâ€™s Capital

    "This has been a st. Thank you for letting me use all these ingredients I have never seen. Feel free toe back to my kitchen any time you want. We can bounce more ideas of each other" La said excitedly before seeing Marcus off.

    They had spent several hours until well past midnight in the kitchen exchanging ingredients, and teaching each other unique cooking methods that the other did not know. Though, Marcus had far less to offer in this regard.

    Their cooking levels might have been the same, but La was a professional chef while for Marcus it was only a hobby. She knew far more about cooking than he did.

    "You looked like you were having fun there." Mrazivy said, a wry grin on her face.

    She had spent the entire time with them in the kitchen acting as a "taste tester". Whenever he and La finished something, she was the first to plop it into her mouth.

    "I could say the same for you. Despite my having learned quite a bit and enjoyed cooking with La quite a bit, you seem to even more ted than I am." Marcus said, feeling wary.

    "Naturally I am extremely happy. Now that you know how to make even more dishes, I can expect different types of delicious food." Mrazivy said, showing her true intentions.

    Other than her passion for the sword and adventuring, eating exquisite and rare food was one of the luxuries that Mrazivy enjoyed the most.

    "Sure, but I will need an assistant. Those who do not work don''t get to eat after all."

    Shrugging her shoulders Mrazivy agreed to help Marcus cook whenever he wanted, since it meant she got to eat more.

    As they continued to converse, the two of them soon made it back to their room within the grand elder''s estate.

    Once inside they cleaned themselves up before going to bed.

    "Marcus wake up." Mrazivy said, shoving him.

    "I''m up!" Marcus said,pletely alert and looking around for any signs of danger.

    He had shut his mind off and timed it to be six hours before he woke up, but Mrazivy had woken him up around thirty minutes before then. At first, he thought this meant that there was some type of trouble, but in actuality Mrazivy was just excited to go see the city today and gotten up early.

    Luckily Marcus was more like aputer and could wake up and fall asleep like pressing a power button, so he was not groggy despite being woken up abruptly and early. He had no real need to sleep in the first ce and did as more of a way to pass time.

    "You know we cannot leave until everything is ready anyway. What was the point of getting up?" Marcus asked a bit exasperated.

    Mrazivy was acting simar to how he had when he was a kid and it was his birthday.

    "Come on, where is your sense of excitement. Other than Tralenstein''s capital, which we were not visiting under pleasant circumstances, this will be our first time seeing another nations capital city. One even bigger than Borealia''s royal capital. How can you not find this exhrating?" Mrazivy said.

    "Don''t get me wrong I am looking forward to it as well, but we cannot go until after breakfast anyway." Marcus said, trying to be logical.

    Nevertheless, Mrazivy was showing little of the restraint that she normally had while acting as a princess in Borealia and spent the entire morning going over their ns with Marcus.

    Eventually time for breakfast came around and they met up with Amira and the grand elder.

    "Are you sure that you do not want any guards assigned to you? The city is for the most part orderly, but at this time of year when things are more hectic in the wake of the uing festival. incidents such as brawls in the streets and pickpockets are moremon." Akeem said, trying to convince Marcus and Mrazivy to take some guards with them.

    However, increasing the number of people in their retinue would only make it more difficult for them to move about. Frankly they did not need anyone to protect them and Amira already had her own set of guards that would be apanying her.

    p¦Á§ád¦Á-¨ľ?¦Í¨ş|ˇ¤§ă¨®§® "Again, we thank you for the offer but it is unnecessary. We can handle ourselves and Amira and her guards can handle any situation we find ourselves in where authority is an issue." Mrazivy responded.

    "I understand. If you do get into any trouble feel free to use my name." Akeem said.

    After that they finished up breakfast and headed to the estate''s amin entrance.

    Waiting there was two carriages that would be taking them around the city.

    Today they were going to head to the massiveke that sat in the middle of the city and tour some artisan workshops in the area.

    "I see that we are taking normal carriages this time. And they do not appear to have any emblems on them denoting that they belong to the Eazim n." Marcus said.

    He found it a bit weird that the carriages werepletely nk and ordinary looking.

    "Both of you requested to be able to look around the city without drawing too much attention to yourselves. If we used carriages that had the Eazim n''s crest on it we would naturally draw people''s notice. That is why we will be taking nk carriages." Amira exined.

    Nodding his head Marcus did remember requesting not to stand out too much be he never expected that they would be taking carriages without the Eazim n''s emblem on them.

    Quickly they all got onboard the carriages and set off.

    Within around ten minutes they had left the grand elder''s estate and made it to the private streets that only members of the Eazim n could use.

    Of course the area they were in was an affluent one and their was no foot traffic around except for patrolling guards keeping the order.

    "Oh, looks like we are finally entering amercial district." Mrazivy said, pulling Marcus closer towards her so that both of them could look out the window.

    It had taken them nearly an hour by carriage to leave the residential area where high ranking members of the Eazim n had their estates.

    All around them now were several different types of shops, each one targeted towards a wealthier demographic.

    "I see that what we learned on the way here was true. The areas closer to Antim Lake are wealthier." Marcus said.

    With the city being located in a desert it made sense that the those with the most money would live near thergest water source in the nation.

    Still, Antim Lake itself was about seventy-five percent the size of the Caspian Sea back on Earth, making it farrger than any fresh water source that had existed on Earth.

    The capital city circled around theke and took a shape resembling a doughnut. There were also several rivers going out from theke that snaked their way through the city and all across the nation. Without Antim Lake, Aezam would be a wastnd with almost no water in it, and not be suitable to support the thriving people that lived there.

    "Wow. It looks more like the ocean than ake." Marcus said when Antim Lake finally came into blue.

    For as far as they could see across the horizon the crystal blue water of theke stretched out.

    All around it right up to the banks were buildings and docks that use theke as their livelihood.

    "It truly is something. Antim Lake is the pride and joy of our country. From the grand elders, to themon people, it supplies life to nearly everyone in Aezam." Amira said, a look of pride in her eyes.

    "How strong do you think Aezam''s founder had to be to make this?" Mrazivy said.

    They had heard that thiske was manmade over a thousand years ago, but it was hard to imagine one person having the kind of power necessary to do something like this.

    Even if Marcus and Mrazivy attempted to do something simr, it would likely take them several decades, at least.

    "I imagine they must have been around as strong as Boreas. If he used his full power, I think it would only take him a day." Marcus said, remembering the immense magical abilities Boreas had disyed while fighting the Doomsday Worm.

    Marcus also figured that a max level great spirit could probably aplish a greater feat without any issue. He had seen the sprawling forest created by the Great Spirit of Nature and it was far vaster than even Antim Lake.

    "There is our first shop. It is the best sculpting workshop within this district and among the top ten in the city. At least, ording to the information, I gathered beforehand." Amira said, looking every bit as excited as Marcus and Mrazivy.

    She had only been in the capital once before and during that time she spent most of it in the area owned by the Eazim n. This was her first time truly exploring the city as well.

    Soon their carriages had pulled into the workshop and Marcus, Mrazivy, and Amira got out.

    When they did a man in exceptionally well-tailored clothing was waiting to meet them with his head slightly bowed.

    "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances. My name is Faaiz, the owner of this workshop. It is an honor to be receiving members and guests of the Eazim n."

 Chapter 868 868 Exploring Aezamâ€™s Capital (2)

    Once Marcus, Mrazivy and Amira had finished their introductions, Faaiz led them into his workshop.

    Inside the sound of chisels could be heard and looking around Marcus could see that a number of artisans were hard at work. Clearly Faaiz had instructed his best sculptors toe in today and show off what they could do.

    ''They certainly are going all out.'' Marcus thought.

    Naturally, with Amira being a part of the Eazim n''s main family it made sense that Faaiz would try to show off and hopefully gain her patronage.

    "Now as you can see these are the works that are currently in progress by some of our most talented sculptors. Surely you can see the majesty with which they are able to create even from their unfished works." Faaiz said, directing their eyes to one of the nearby cultures.

    For a moment the woman who looked to be in herte sixties turned around and nodded their way before continuing with her work.

    What she was making depicted a half dozen people aboard a boat that was clearly meant to be sailing across the Antim Lake.

    While the work was not finished, it was quite clear to see already that the woman was very skilled. What she was doing would have been very difficult to replicate on Earth by hand, but with the use of magic tools and skills the sculptors were able to work with farrger pieces than what would be normal back on Earth.

    Of course not all of the sculptures were as grand as this one, with one of the artisans not far away working on a sculpture of a young girl who was standing nearby as his model.

    Going down the line Faaiz showed off and gave a brief background about each sculptor and what they were currently working on. Doing his best to extol the greatness of his workshop.

    Finally at the end were three small bs of polished stone that were unblemished.

    "If any of you wish to give it a try, I have prepared a few practice bs that you can use." Faaiz said.

    "Sure, that sounds like fun." Mrazivy said, enthusiastically moving in front of one of the bs.

    Shrugging his shoulders Marcus followed behind her, though Amira abstained.

    ''Now what should I make?'' Marcus thought a pensive look on his face.

    He certainly had experience working with metal and other items that went into forging, but he had never made anything like a sculpture.

    ''I suppose having a reference that I can see would be useful for my first time trying this.'' Marcus thought turning his gaze towards Mrazivy.

    He figured eh might as well try to make a sculpture of his wife who was engrossed in her own work at the moment.

    Taking the provided tools and receiving a bit of guidance from Faaiz, Marcus got to work.

    Using his high stats and enhanced hand eye coordination, Marcus moved at a blistering speed that no normal person could keep up with.

    It was quite obvious that Faaiz had proposed that they test out sculpting on their own since he figured they would never be able to finish in a single day and have toe back to continue.

    Of course, if what they were making was life size that would certainly be the case, but the stone that they were working with was only around fourteen centimeters tall. For Marcus and Mrazivy who were both over level seventy, it was easy enough to move at super human speeds without making many mistakes.

    Within around four hours both of them had finished the main structures of what they wanted and needed only add details.

    ''Well, it is not a masterpiece, but for my first time I would say it is pretty good.'' Marcus thought once he had finished.

    He had sculpted Mrazivy and it was the point to where it could easily be recognized as here.

    The work itself looked like something an amateur would make, but thanks to Marcus'' forging experience it did not look like a disaster as most first time sculptors would have created.

    Mrazivy for her part actually had experience with all manner of arts being a princess and was doing a decent job herself.

    What she had made was actually a small sculpture of Gwyneira in her dragon form.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    This had attracted Faaiz''s attention since it was not like most people had seen a dragon before and could urately depict one the way Mrazivy had.

    "Where did you happen to see this manner of beast? I have never heard of anything like ti before." Faaiz said, his interest clear to see.

    Certainly Mrazivy could not tell him that what she had made was a sculpture of her ancestor who was still very much alive and instead made up a quick story about seeing a dragon in the mountains of the far north.

    "Ah, a beast of this majesty reminds me of the one that is said to have been thepanion of our nation''s founder. If youe with me, I have a sculpture depicting them. It was recentlymissioned by Sulb n." Faaiz said.

    Finding this offer to be attractive, Mrazivy agreed, and Marcus along with Amira followed Faaiz to an area where several statues were being stored.

    Sitting at the center was a truly beautiful statue that was painted vibrant colors.

    The statue depicted a powerful man holding a long trident while riding on the back of arge bird that had mostly red feathers.

    With just a single look Marcus could figure out that the beast the founder of Aezam was meant to be riding was a phoenix, a mythic grade beast in the same league as a dragon.

    ''I can see why now the tiny sculpture of Gwyneira made him think of this. They might not look simr, but the depiction of a mythic grade beast still invokes a sense of awe no matter what species it is.'' Marcus thought.

    For several minutes they examined the statue of the founder of Aezam riding a phoenix.

    When they had gotten their fill Marcus and Mrazivy motioned for Faaiz to take them back and he quickly led the way to the main work area.

    "It is clear to see that your workshop is of a truly high quality. We have other ns today, but I think we will be backter to have somethingmissioned." Mrazivy said before they left.

    This made Faaiz quite happy, and he told them that any guests of the Eazim n were wee back any time.

    "Now where are we off to next?" Mrazivy asked once they had left the sculpture workshop.

    "Our next stop is a jeweler who the Eazim n frequently calls upon for their work." Amira said, before stepping into their carriage.

    "So Amira, does the founder''s champion still watch over this country?" Marcus asked while their carriage took them to their next destination.

    This seem to catch Amira off-guard momentarily since the question seemed out of nowhere, but she quickly remembered the statue they had just seen.

    "No, from what I heard our founder''s beastpanion traveled with him when he left long ago. However, I do believe that it is said that its descendants watch over us. But this is just a tale I heard when I was young. Personally, I do not believe that such a beast still lives in Aezam." Amira replied.

    Still, despite Amira denying it, Marcus felt that there was probably more truth to what she had heard as only a story.

    ''Perhaps Boreas or Gwyneira will know more. I can take a quick trip back to Borealia and ask them. If a mythic grade beast really is here, it would be best to know what we can about them just in case.'' Marcs thought.

    After that they continued on their way and stopped by the jeweler.

    There Marcus brought Mrazivy a few essories that were in styles native to Aezam. The magical effects they had were mundanepared to what Marcus could make himself, but they certainly had a better aesthetic, since the items he made were normally more practical rather than meant to look good.

    As soon as they finished with the jewelry they continued on their trip through the artisans'' district until they made it to their final stop.

    It was starting to gette in the day and the sun was starting to set on the horizon, but Marcus was feeling more excited than he had all day.

    For theirst workshop they were stopping at a forge that was among the best in Aezam and was said to be the workce of several masters.

    Unfortunately, when Marcus asked if any of them could work with Amethros, Amira had not known, so he figured he would just have toe and see for himself.

    ''This will be my first time visiting a forge outside of Borealia. I wonder how things are done here. Will they be incredibly simr, or do they have techniques unique to the region?'' Marcus thought, his eyes filled with anticipation.

 Chapter 869 869 Aezamâ€™s Foremost Forge

    Stepping off the carriage, Marcus looked up at the top of the building in front of them and saw several plumes of steaming out.

    Despite it already beingte the forge was still going at full force.

    Closing his eyes and honing his hearing Marcus could make out the nging of metaling from the inside and a nostalgic smile came over his face.

    ''It has been too long since Ist paid Thabon a visit. When we get back I need to make sure to go and see him and tell him about what I have seen.'' Marcus thought.

    Once he opened his eyes he saw that a young looking woman was waiting for them.

    However, it only took Marcus a single nce to realize that her appearance was not telling the full story.

    After appraising the woman Marcus found that she was actually level sixty-five, and her age was eighty-seven.

    Still, despite being closing in on a century old, she still looked to be in her twenties. A byproduct of having achieved a high level and being an evolved human.

    "So, you are the ones that wanted to see my family''s workshop." The woman said curtly.

    Unlike the other people that hade to greet them on their tour around many of the shops in Aezam''s capital, she was not acting polite by any stretch of the imagination.

    While the other shops had weed them and actedpletely subservient since they were guests of the Eazim n, it appeared that the owners of this forge did not care about kissing up to one of the six great ns.

    Amira stopped dead in her tracks at such a remake and her head guard grimaced and likely would have retorted if not for the fact that the woman was stronger than him.

    "Yeah, we are. Sorry that it is sote. This is ourst stop for the day. We cane back tomorrow if it is too much of an inconvenience for us toe in now." Marcus said, not hesitating at all under the woman''s glower.

    "Hmph! If you cared about not inconveniencing us at all you would not have scheduled a sudden visit at this time of year. We got a lot of orders to fill before the festival." The woman said, agitation in her tone.

    Hearing this Marcus realized now that it was likely that Akeem had twisted their arm to force this showing. The other ces may have been happy to be making a connection with the Eazim n but clearly this forge was not.

    However, before Marcus could say anything else the woman spoke up again.

    "My uncle told me to turn you lot away if you were a bunch of spineless weaklings just looking around for the hell of it, even if you got the backing of that geezer from the Eazim n. But I can see that the two of you are strong. I bet you can appreciate fine craftsmanship when you see it. Name''s Qadria, I will be the one showing you around. Now follow me and don''t make any trouble."

    After that Qadria turned around and began walking back into the building without waiting for Marcus and Mrazivy to introduce themselves.

    "I suppose we should get going before she turns around and yells at us." Mrazivy said with a slight snicker, not perturbed by the situation at all.

    This knocked Amira and her guards out of their stupor and they began moving as a group following behind Qadria.

    "I am truly sorry for her behavior. I did not except that any shop in Aezam would be so rude to guest of the Eazim n." Amira whispered to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    She was obviously afraid that they were going to be offended.

    "No, it is fine. I should have realized that we would be bothering them by showing up all of a sudden. I got a bit ahead of myself, getting too excited to see a forge here in Aezam. I should have waited until after the Muharib Festival and had you give them more time in advance. We are the ones who have been rude." Marcus said, giving his opinion.

    This calmed Amira down a bit as she had been afraid that Marcus would be mad, but apprehension still remained on her face.

    "Now this is where we keep our finished items that are for sale. Feel free to look around but don''t touch anything without permission." Qadria said.

    Going over to the nearest weapon rack Marcus found that it had several types of polearms on it.

    All of the des were made of steel but all of the poles were made out of bones from some type of beast or monster.

    ''I would say it is an umon grade beast of a monster of an equivalent power.'' Marcus thought, tapping on the poles.

    The materials themselves were not of a high quality since they were pretty mundane, but the craftmanship was quite good. Marcus figured that these would be about the best weapons anyone could have before they learned how to channel mana.

    Looking around Marcus saw that the front of the building mostly had steel weapons in it and he figured that the higher end pieces were probably further in the back.

    ''Yep, just as I thought.''

    Going up a row Marcus found weapons that were made out of steel alloys that were better at conducting mana and bronze weapons that only had one or two simple enchantments on them.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    However, as Marcus continued looking around, he found a type of metal he had never seen before being used in numerous pieces.

    Frankly when he had passed the section of enchanted bronze, he expected to fine mithril next but was instead met with something else.

    ''Hm, what kind of alloy is this.'' Marcus thought, tapping on the de.

    He could tell it was quite sturdy and looked a bit like bronze but was a slightly lighter color and felt stronger.

    Marcus was about to absentmindedly pick up the scimitar that''s de was made of the unfamiliar metal when Qadria saw him.

    "Hey what did I say! Do not go touching anything without permission!"

    She then rushed up to Marcus with a scowl on her face and startedying it into him.

    "Sorry, I forgot myself for a bit. I have never seen this type of metal used before and it drew my interest. I happen to be a bit of a crafter myself." Marcus said.

    "If you a forgemaster, how have you never even heard of titanium cooper? This alloy is more conductive than bronze and a hell of a lot sturdier. It doesn''t quite match up to mithril, but it is a lot easier to get ahold of." Qadria said, an incredulous look on her face.

    Yet, while it may have beenmon to work with an alloy of titanium and copper in Aezam, Marcus had never even heard Thabon mention it.

    ''I don''t think there was very much titanium in Borealia to begin with. They must have more ess to it here in Aezam.'' Marcus thought.

    Thanks to trade, dungeons, and miens in Borealia there was a steady supply of mithril which was likely another reason why this alloy was not used up north.

    But when Marcus looked further down to where the mithril weapons were he could see that there were only a few and all of them were very securely locked behind arge case. Of course, there was no adamantine or amethros to be seen, but that was the same for the zegram Forge as well. Those weren''t the kinds of items that got sold to the general public.

    "Where I learned how to forge there is not much titanium in the area. I suppose that is why I never worked with this alloy. After bronze, it was straight to mithril." Marcus replied.

    "I see, I never left Aezam before, so I do not know how it is done in other ces." Qadria said.

    With a curious expression she looked Marcus up and down and seemed to be thoroughly examining him.

    She had realized earlier that he was strong just by his presence but now she was really appraising him.

    "Here take this." Qadria said, tossing a hammer to Marcus.

    With sharp reflexes he caught it and took the grip he normally would right before getting to work.

    "Looks like you aren''t no amateur after all." Qadria said, able to tell simply by the way Marcus held a hammer. "Follow me. You wanted to see the forge itself, right?"

    Nodding his head, Marcus followed behind her.

    Seeing this Mrazivy and Amira headed over as well and got in line behind Qadria.

    "You are going to have to stay behind. Your guards are going to be too disruptive." Qadria said, whipping around and scowling at Amira.

    Amira looked like she wanted to protest, but Marcus held up his hand, and said, "Amira, would you mind waiting for us here. We would not want to have you part with your guards."

    "Very well." Amira said with a frown on her face.

    After that was settled Marcus and Mrazivy continued following behind Qadria into the forge.

    Immediately as the doors were opened a wave of heat sted them into them and Mrazivy''s face twisted into a grimace.

    Quickly Marcus used his chill zone to lower the temperature around her and she let out a sigh of relief.

    As they entered several workers looked over with curiosity and confusion on their faces. They had been told that visitors would being but it was not nned that they would being into the work area.

    "Here, this is my station. I want to see what you can do." Qadria said, giving Marcus a forceful look.

 Chapter 870 870 Aezamâ€™s Foremost Forge

    Marcus, hearing Qadria tell him to show off his skills was taken aback for a moment.

    ''I really did not think she was going to request I make something.'' Marcus thought.

    However, Qadria was exerting a sizable amount of pressure on him and waiting for him to get started.

    At first Marcus figured he would just make something simple out of some bronze ingots he noticed in a nearby box, but quickly decided that this was a good chance to do something else.

    ''I already nned on doing this at some point when I had the time, so I might as well do it now.'' Marcus thought.

    Looking around Marcus took note of the equipment that Qadria had and nodded his head satisfied.

    Most of it was the same as he was used to and while a few things looked a bit different he was able to figure out what they were without much issue.

    A couple implements were things he had never seen but he figured he could just ignore them. He had been taught by the best forgemaster in Borelian and figured that it would be best to not try and introduce new tools into his already well refined process.

    "Do you mind if I use my own materials?" Marcus asked.

    "Sure. I don''t mind as long as you aren''t using anything shoddy." Qadria replied, her attitude gruff as always.

    Yet when Marcus pulled out the material, he nned on working with herposure crumbled and she looked at him with wide eyed surprise.

    "What the hell! Where did you get all that adamantine!?" Qadria shouted.

    Naturally she was shocked to see Marcus pull out such a rare metal, and not just a little bit of it. He had pulled out several ingots and an amount equal to what the entire forge might see every four years.

    "Oh, I picked these up in a dungeon. I don''t have much left so this is pretty much my remaining stock." Marcus said.

    He then pulled out his own hammer which was likewise made of adamantine and a top tier piece of equipment.

    Seeing this Qadria instinctively walked up to him and began looking over the hammer with a sparkle in her eyes.

    "This is incredible. It rivals that hammer my uncle has." Quadria said, a sparkle in her eyes.

    Her excitement that caused her to forget herself did notst long though, And Qadria looked up at Marcus with extreme respect.

    "My uncle once told me that the number of forgemasters on the continent that have a hammer like this could probably be counted on both hands. You must be a true master if you made something like this."

    There was now a look of almost reverence in Qadria''s eyes and the prickly atmosphere she had been exuding waspletely gone.

    "Normally I would be humbler and say my skills are not that great, but the man who taught me would give me a hell of a beating if I tried to downy myself too much. Yeah, I would definitely rank as an expert forgemaster. My skill is over level six after all." Marcus said, indirectly telling Qadria that he could work with amethros.

    Immediately after Marcus said this, Qadria lowered her head and bowed deeply to show her respect.

    "Allow me to apologize, I did not realize that you were a forgemaster of such a high caliber. I was incredibly rude to you earlier. I understand now that your interest here was not like most others that try to force their way in."

    For several seconds Qadria continued to keep her head lowered, tot eh point that Marcus began to smile ufortably.

    "No need for that. We arranged this visit suddenly and you had no clue why I wanted to visit your forge. I should have probably informed you about my intentions beforehand. So, please raise your head. I cannot work with you like that." Marcus said.

    Thankfully Qadria did not insist on apologizing further and brought her head back up. Her eyes immediately glued on Marcus'' hammer.

    "I suppose I will get started now." Marcus said, going over to Qadria''s forge and lighting it with fire magic.

    He did so without saying anything which surprised Qadria and his control over the mes was greater than she had ever seen before.

    Quickly Marcus heated up the adamantine he nned to work with and when it was ready he brought it over to the anvil and began hammering away at it.

    During the entire process Qadria looked on, enraptured by Marcus'' ability.

    While he had only told her that his skill was above level six, in actuality it was at level nine. One away from the peak.

    Qadria herself only had a skill level of six, but this allowed her to understand how much better Marcus was by the way he swing his hammer.

    Soon Marcus had gotten lost in his work and several hours had already gone by.

    At this point the sun had already gone down, and he felt a bit bad for Amira who was having to wait up, but he had decided to prioritize what he was making.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    ''That should do it.'' Marcus thought once he had finished sharpening the de.

    Before him was a new adamantine scythe that he only needed to add enchantments to.

    Of course, this new weapon was going to be far inferior to his current scythe, but it would be a far more eptable weapon to use in public.

    His top tier amethros scythe was something at the level of a national treasure and using it in the Muharib Festival was likely to cause him all manner of problems.

    Mrazivy''s sword was another concern, but she still had her old adamantine sword on her unlike Marcus who had taken apart his old scythe and used part of it in the creation of his current main weapon.

    ''Now what should I use as the core of the enchantments.'' Marcus thought as he moved his new creation over to a workbench.

    Except as he raised his head slightly he for the first time noticed that he had attracted a crowd.

    He had been so wholly absorbed in his work that he had not noticed that pretty much everyone in the forge hade over to watch him work.

    Unfortunately, the next step of the process was going to have him use celestial tinum to create enchantments and only those that already knew the secret could be allowed to watch.

    Marcus having already attained a skill level of over seven was no long under the restriction he signed with Thabon and he could technically teach anyone he wanted, but he had no desire to reveal such a secret to so many.

    "Qadria, I am about to enchant this scythe. Would you mind clearing everyone out?"

    Nodding her head, Qadria, being an exceptional forgemaster herself understood Marcus'' intentions.

    Using her authority as one of the top dogs in the forge she shooed most of the people away, but a couple of individuals stayed behind.

    One of them caught Marcus'' attention since he was clearly a level above everyone else here and Marcus figured he was the one in charge of the forge.

    "Didn''t want to bother you while you were working. Nice to meet you. Names Yusef, I am the current head of this forge and Qadria''s uncle. When Akeem said he had guests that wanted to see my forge, I never imagined one of them one be a forging forgemaster of your caliber." Yusef said, a friendly smile on his face.

    He then held out his hand towards Marcus, and with a jovial grin Marcus took his hand and shook.

    "You are pretty strong. Must have a regeneration skill as well. If I did not just watch you work I never would have believed you were this skilled with how soft your hands are." Yusef said.

    When he had gripped Marcus'' hand, he had applied quite a bit of force that would have crushed any normal person''s hand.

    Marcus for his part was able to return the grip with ease and felt how rough Yusef''s hands were. Showing his many years working in a forge.

    Rough hands were normally a sign of someone that had worked hard over a long time, but Marcus did not have this trait. He was a spirit taking solid form so there was no way for his body to show any wear and tear.

    "If I might ask, where are you from? I have never heard about you, so you must not be from any of the surrounding nations near Aezam."

    "Sorry, I want to keep where I am from a secret. I can tell you that I am currently associated with the Chelmer Resort." Marcus responded.

    "That so, I didn''t know they had anyone as good as you working for them." Yusef said, a hint of amazement in his voice. "Well, if you ever are looking for new employment, you are wee here. I''ll even let you marry Qadria and take over as my sessor."

    "Uncle, what are you saying!?" Qadria yelled, her face tinged red in embarrassment.

    Yusef beganughing seeing his niece getting so fluster, and while he may have seemed to have been saying this jokingly Marcus could tell he was actually serious.

    "Sorry, I will have to turn down that offer. I already have a wife and a ce to call home." Marcus said once things had calmed down a bit.

    "That so. You could always take a second wife though. A man of your skill should have no problem taking care of a couple of wives" Yusef said, before feeling a cold chill down his spine

    He hastily turned towards Mrazivy whose smile did not reach her eyes, and for a moment he shuddered feeling the animosity that she was radiating.

    "You know what, forget what I just said. I think your hands are already full. It is a good idea to be loyal to the woman you love." Yusef said, backtracking quickly since he felt his life in danger.

    "Now, I think I have taken up enough of your time. I will let you get back to work, but if you ever want to drop by feel free to. It has been a long time since I have been able to bounce ideas around with another true expert." Yusef said, before making his retreat.

    Once he was gone Qadria apologized for her uncle''s behavior.

    "Don''t worry about it, I have dealt with worse." Marcus said, scowling as he remembered the marriage proposals that hade in droves for Lilia. Luckily her engagement to ric was already known to most and that was a thing of the past

    "Okay, time to finish this." Marcus said, pulling out his mana etcher and getting to work on enchanting his new adamantine scythe.

 Chapter 871 871

    "Pretty fine work I would say."

    Holding up his new adamantine scythe he had just finished Marcus traced his finger along the enchantments he had just applied to the weapon and sent a little magical energy into each one.

    One by one the enchantments activated slightly and Marcus got a feel for how they had set into the scythe.

    Each one reacted well and Marcus was satisfied that the scythe would function as a powerful weapon.

    Sure it was nowhere near as strong as his amethros scythe that used the magic core of the Doomsday Worm and had some of his own soul put into it, but this scythe would make the perfect weapon for when he was in public and did not want to show off too much.

    He had purposefully made the scythe slightly below the requirements to be system recognized, and while an adamantine weapon was something rare, it would not draw attention even close to the same degree as an amethros weapon.

    "Wow, to think you could make such an impressive weapon. I have not seen such refined technique before." Qadria said, looking at the scythe dreamily.

    She could work with adamantine as well, but her skills were not to the point where she could make a weapon of the same quality as Marcus could.

    "Thanks, I worked fairly hard on it. And I am sure that over time you will get better. All it takes is more practice and the right materials." Marcus said.

    At this Qadria beamed since she was getting encouragement from Marcus who she could tell was among the very best at forging.

    "Now, it iste, and our guide Amira is still waiting for us. I do wish to look around more and talk to some of the forgemasters here, but for today I think we will need to call it a day." Marcus said, putting away his tools and new scythe.

    Suddenly realizing what time it was, Qadria went wide eyed and remembered that she had left Amira and her guards in the storefront of the forge.

    "Yes, it seems I got caught up in watching your work. Let us go." Qadria said, hurrying towards the shop.

    Soon they had exited the forge and entered the storefront to find Amira sitting at a table surrounded by her guards.

    She looked incredibly tired and a bit peeved after having to wait several hours for Marcus to finish forging.

    When she saw Marcus and Mrazivy returning with Qadria her face lit up for a moment with a rxed look before curling back into a scowl. It seemed that despite Amira having a great deal of patience, especially for her young age, waiting for many hours without any updates about what was going on had left her a bit angry.

    "I am d to see that you are finally done. What is it that you could have been doing all this time?" Amira asked, her irritation clear to hear in her voice.

    "Sorry about that. I got caught up in making something." Marcus said lowering his head.

    "Yes, Marcus here has to be among the best forgemasters on the continent! He is at least as skilled as my uncle." Qadria eximed. She was particrly starstruck by having witnessed Marcus'' work.

    On the other hand Amira looked stunned to hear just how skilled Marcus was as a forgemaster. Amira''s uncle ranked among the very best in Aezam with only two others that could possibly make a case for the best. For Marcus to be ranked among them showed just how skilled he was.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I see. So, it is not just some exert that wants the core of a mummy lord, but you personally Marcus. We did not know you were such a skilled forgemaster." Amira said, a look of realization on her face.

    As far as the Eazim n had been told Marcus and Mrazivy were here on the behalf of the Chelmer Resort to retrieve the core of the powerful mummy lord that resided within the Deste Desert in order to make a powerful magical item, but now Amira had made the assumption that Marcus was the one that was supposed to making this item.

    Of course, she waspletely wrong, since acquiring the mummy lord''s core was only a reasonable excuse to enter the Deste Dessert. Marcus'' true objective was the Font of Death.

    "Yes, I am the one that will be using the core to make a magic item. However, it is not for myself but the Chelmer Resort." Marcus said, before Mrazivy changed the subject.

    "Now you already know about our objective here. I am tired and I imagine that you are as well. I would like to return to the estate and get to sleep" Mrazivy said.

    At the mention of sleep the burst of energy Amira had received when Marcus and Mrazivy showed up vanished and she could not help but yawn deeply.

    It was already well past midnight and Amira unlike guards was a low level and did not have the stamina to easily stay up for long periods of time.

    "Yes, we should head back. If we are gone to long the grand elder will begin to worry." Amira said, standing up and heading for the exit.

    Swiftly they got on their carriages and returned down the dark streets towards Akeem''s estate.

    At night traffic was not nearly as heavy as during the day, but magic lights lined the streets in the capital and a few people were still milling around despite the time.

    Thankfully nothing impeded their journey back to the estate of the Eazim n''s grand elder and after a few words Marcus and Mrazivy parted ways with Amira and returned to their room for the night.

    "Was it really necessary to show off like that? Now the higher ups here are going to know that you are an exceptional forgemaster. It is possible that you might receive some more forceful recruitment offers." Mrazivy said, wearing a concerned expression.

    Already the two of them were going to have to show off theirbat skills, but now Marcus had demonstrated that he had another valuable skill outside of battle that made him even more valuable.

    "I admit I may have been caught up in the moment, but now I have made a connection with one of the best forges in Aezam. I was going to need to make another scythe that is less eye-catching anyway, so I figured I might as well do it there. It is not like I made the scythe top tier. I do not think that it will cause any real problems." Marcus said.

    Sighing, Mrazivy sat down on the bed and shook her head.

    "Next time at least tell me what you are going to do first. While I did enjoy watching you work, I also had to wait there for several hours."

    "Sorry. Next time I will get your input before I do anything like that." Marcus said his head hung.

    He realized that he had been a bit rude by suddenly taking up several hours while others had to wait for him.

    "Well, since you did leave me standing there for so long, you can make it up to me now." Mrazivy said with a seductive smile.

 Chapter 872 872 An Unsettling Development?

    The next week passed by rtively uneventfully for Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Each day they would go out for several hours and explore the capital city of Aezam until the sun began to set.

    So far they had seen arge majority of the northern section surrounding Antim Lake, but the entire city was exceptionallyrge and there was still much for them to explore.

    However, on the day they were supposed to take a ferry across theke to the western shore to visit thergest menagerie in the city featuring several species of beasts native to Aezam, Akeem called them into an emergency meeting.

    When they arrived, they found that he had an uneasy expression on his face when normally he was very good at hiding his emotions.

    "Please sit down. I have some news that I must tell you. It regards the Muharib Festival." Akeem said, distress creeping into his tone.

    "Is there something wrong with our participation in the festival? Is another n trying to block our entry or something?" Marcus asked as he sat down.

    "No, it is nothing that grave, but the situation has taken an unexpected turn. The Sulb n has entered an unprecedented number of their best warriors into the same tournament that you both are going to be entrants in. Among them even being their n''s grand elder and his brother." Akeem exined.

    Of the one hundred twenty-eight pairs that would be entered into thepetition each of the six major ns received eleven spots while the rest were allocated to other ns or those that managed to secure the few open spots through preliminary matches.

    The Sulb n had apparently entered in most of their top fighters into the duo tournament and were leaving the other two tournaments to less seasonedbatants.

    "I did not foresee that they would take such an interest in the two of you. Apparently rumors of you both being incredibly powerful have gotten out, and the top fighters of the Sulb n are all chomping at the bit to fight the two of you. That old monster that is their grand elder ahs not participated in one of the tournaments in twenty years, but he suddenly hase out to fight again. If only their heads were not only filled with muscles." Akeem said, his voice filled with exasperation and annoyance.

    His initial goal by having Marcus and Mrazivy enter as representatives of his n was to have them win. But now from his perspective that seemed impossible, and it was likely the other members of his n would be knocked out of the duopetition early on since he had diverted most of the Eazim n''s best fighters to the other two tournaments.

    Yet while, Akeem seemed perturbed by this turn of events, Marcus and Mrazivy were instead excited. From their point of view this was an absolute win.

    "I am guessing that since you put an emphasis on the grand elder of the Sulb n and his brother that they are both exceptionally strong?" Mrazivy asked, a sharp gleam in her eyes.

    "Yes, as a n focused on battle prowess their grand elder is always among the strongest fighters in all of Aezam. Their current grand elder is the oldest among us and has held his position for a hundred years. Twenty years ago, when hest participated in the Muharib Festival, he was certainly the strongest fighter in the nation. Whether that is true today, I do not know. I have not seen him fight since then."

    Akeem then sighed and slumped forward. Still not having noticed that Marcus and Mrazivy were invested in the conversation out of interest rather than wariness as he thought.

    "What about his brother? I imagine he is strong as well, right." Marcus asked.

    "Yes, he is also powerful. He is actually significantly younger than his brother, the grand elder. being more than fifty years apart. And in thest Muharib Festival he took second ce in the singles tournament. Only barely losing to the strongest fight from another one of the major ns. He is surely among the top twenty strongest fighters in the nation. In fact, he beat Bashir here in the quarter finals in thest tournament." Akeem said, motioning to his head guard who was standing right behind him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    At this Bashir grimaced and he nodded his head in confirmation when Marcus and Mrazivy looked at him.

    ''Mraz, what do you think? How does Bashirpare to Knight Commander Darius?'' Marcus asked over telepathy.

    For a few moments Mrazivy intently stared at Bashir before subtly shaking her head.

    ''I think he is weaker. I feel like he is probably closer to how strong Lyra''s master Cibor was. That is my best guess at least without using my dragon eyes on him.'' Mrazivy responded.

    After hearing this, Marcus wore a pensive expression and thought back to when they had fought Lyra''s master.

    He had been a very tough opponent for them at the time and they had fought him in a six on one fight with a far strongerbatant taking the lead in the battle.

    At the point they were at now though, Marcus was confident that both he and Mrazivy were stronger than Cibor was.

    Certainly, at the time of his death he was still a higher level than they were now, but their stats are currently higher than his were and they now have more unique skills. Not to mention their supreme skills.

    ''It seems we are in for some tough fights but nothing unwinnable.'' Marcus thought gauging about how powerful he could expect their strongest opponents to be based off of Bashir.

    "It does not seem that either of you is too worried about this. You should not underestimate the gravity of this development" Akeem said, seeing the calm looks on Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s faces.

    "Oh, we are not underestimating anything. It is just that we are perfectly fine with the battles being tougher. If we beat the strongest members of the Sulb n then they will have to recognize us and let us into the Deste Desert." Mrazivy said.

    Akeem looked perturbed by theirck of apprehension. He had just informed them that they would bepeting against possibly the strongest fighters in the entire nation.

    "You two do realize that if you are matched up against the wrong opponent early on that you may lose and not be able to prove yourselves?"

    "Yes, that is possible, but unlikely. We are still aiming to take first ce. It does not matter who our opponents are, we''ll fight with our best." Marcus said, oozing with confidence.

    Afterpleting the special dungeon both of them had reached just about the absolute peak that could be achieved for their level. Even those that were more than ten levels higher than them would not be guaranteed to be stronger. As was the general notion.

    "Very well. I suppose that there is nothing to be done about it then if you two are this unfazed." Akeem said.

    Originally, he had been nning to offer to use his connection to make sure that the bracket was set up in their favor. But, seeing that neither of them looked unnerved, he decided not to do anything and let the events yout however they would.

 Chapter 873 873 The Muharib Festival Begins

    "Looks like we have arrived." Mrazivy said, looking out the carriage window and down the street.

    The main area of the Muharib Festival was held near the southern shore of Antim Lake and spread out for several dozens of kilometers.

    Over the festival course, thatsted for several weeks, it was expected that around ny percent of the city''s poption woulde to watch or participate in the festival.

    This would constitute several million unique individuals and the amount of space being dedicated to the festival showed just how popr it was.

    Along the streets all manner of facilities, shops, and attractions were set up.

    Even still in their carriage Marcus could smell the fragrance of the strong spices typically used in the cooking of Aezam.

    "Unfortunately, we will have to go on foot from here. The roads are simply too packed to continue by carriage." Amira said.

    Of course, Marcus and Mrazivy already knew this and were in fact looking forward to it. There was simply no way that they would be able to enjoy the festivities from inside a carriage.

    Amira on the other hand looked tense. This was going to be her first time seeing the festival and walking through such crowded and hectic streets.

    Beforehand her guards had been very insistent that they stay close to them at all times. The festival was often apanied by random fights breaking out and pickpockets attempting to take the possessions off of unsuspecting victims.

    There was also the fact that the Eazim n had its fair share of enemies and that some of them might even try to make a move to kidnap Amira if they knew she was walking the streets.

    "We stay by what we aid earlier, Amira. If you want to stay behind, you can. Just assign one of your guards to go with us and I am sure we will be fine." Marcus said, seeing the fearful expression Amira was wearing.

    "No, this is my job. I am your guide. The two of you stood up for me against Jamal and it would be disgraceful for me not topete my duty simply because I am nervous." Amira said, erasing as much emotion as she could from her face.

    For how anxious she was, she managed to do a good job, but Marcus could still see the unease in her eyes.

    "Well, let''s get going then. It may only be the first day, but there is still plenty for us to do." Mrazivy said, opening the carriage door and getting out.

    Marcus quickly followed after her, and Amira along with her head guard came out just a couple momentster.

    Within a few seconds their group attracted a fair amount of attention for the numerous other people getting out of their carriages and heading to the streets where the festivities were begin held.

    Marcus and Mrazivy naturally drew people''s gazes, as the number of foreigners in the capital city was quite low. In Tijara, which was a trade city, there were quite a few and it was not rare to find those of many different races walking the streets, but in the capital their were far fewer nonnatives. In the vicinity, Marcus and Mrazivy were the only ones.

    Still, after the time they had spent going around the city, both of them were used to being stared at and headed down the street without being bothered.

    Immediately they were greeted by the bustling festival grounds.

    Even where they were on the outskirts was filled with people.

    Tents serving food and drinks were in the majority in this area and numerous individuals were stopping to pick up snacks that they ate while moving towards the heart of the festival.

    Marcus being interested in the cuisine being offered stopped at every stall that was serving unique fare he had not already tried.

    By the time they made it to an area that was not filled only with businesses offering food, Marcus had already eaten enough to make Amira worried for his health.

    Soon a tent on therger side caught Mrazivy''s interest, and when Marcus read the sign outside, he saw that it said, ''Dragon Races.''

    Heading into the tent with Mrazivy, Marcus saw that there were certainly no dragons within the tent.

    In the middle there was a miniature circr race track with eight small lizards the inhabited the desert locked within.

    These were the so called ''dragons'' and Marcus quickly caught on to what as going on here.

    "Step right up and ce your bets on which of these ''dragons'' is the fastest. There is only two minutes before the first race." The owner of the tent said.

    A small crowd had already gathered attracted by the novelty, and a box filled with coins was jangling in the man''s arms.

    "Five silvers on number seven." Mrazivy said, handing over the money to the man.

    He happily took her money with a smile before giving her a small piece of stone in the shape of a rectangle that had the number one to denote the race and the number seven to denote which lizard Mrazivy had bet on carved into it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Mraz, you remember what happenedst time you tried gambling." Marcus said, his tone harsh.

    "Yeah, I remember. I promise I will not let it get out of hand. We are at a festival. It is just a little fun."

    Nevertheless, Marcus did not rx simply because Mrazivy was trying to assuage his worries. If it came down to it, he was prepared to drag her away again.

    "And let the race, begin!" The owner of the tent said, opening the gates on the lizards'' cages.

    Immediately all eight of the lizards began rushing out. Presumably trained in some way in order to make them run as fast as they could.

    "Wahoo! I won!" Mrazivy shouted at the end of the race.

    By some miracle the seventh lizard managed to eek out a victory ande in first ce.

    For most fo the race it had been sticking in the middle, but at the very end it shot out with a huge burst of energy to barely overtake the leader.

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy''s luck did not hold out. By the fourth race she had lost three times in a row and was now intently staring at the cages, her bet for the fifth race in hand.

    At this point Marcus was going to let her have one more before insisting that they leave, but when the man running the gate opened the cages, only one of the lizards ran out this time.

    This was because of the pressure Mrazivy was unconsciously exuding on all of the lizards except the one she had bet on.

    Yet once the lizard had finished the race, no one was cheering, and instead wore baffled expressions.

    "What the hell!?" The owner of the tent said.

    He had never seen the lizards act this way before. All but the one that had been excluded from Mrazivy''s pressure were curled up in their cages trying to look as small as possible.

    "Okay, I think that is enough. No more games of chance for you. Let us go find something that takes skill instead." Marcus said, pulling on Mrazivy''s arm.

    "Yeah. I aming." Mrazivy said, her head hung low. She now realized what exactly had happened and understood that she could not continue ying this game.

    When they exited the tent, they moved away from the area in search of other attractions.

    Not long after they made their way to a street that emptied out into arge square that was filled to the brim with people.

    In the center of the square was a sizable stage that several people were standing on top of.

    "All those who wish to prove their skill with a de step right up. Only the most aplished fighters will be able to cut through our pirs of y fast enough to win our amazing prizes." A man on stage said.

    Looking up on the stage Marcus saw that their were several two meter tall a quarter of a meter thick pirs of unhardened y lined up on the stage.

    "The rules are simple. All one needs to do is cut through the pirs of y as many times as they can in five seconds. Those that can cut through twenty times int his time will receive ess to choose from our third tier prize pool, those that can achieve forty cuts can choose from our second tier prize pool, and sixty cuts and you get the honor of choosing for our first tier prizes." The announcer promoting the game said.

    He then described what could be won in each prize tier.

    For the third tier the prizes were worth around the same amount as the entry fee, for the second they were around three times more valuable, and the tier one prizes were ten times the value of the entry fee.

    "Of course, there is one more item that can be won, but only by someone that is truly exceptional. If anyone of you is capable of cutting the pir into two hundred pieces before the five seconds are up, you would win our grand prize." The man said, having two of his security guards hold up a talon that was farrger than their bodies.

    The crowd broke out into cheer seeing it, since the item gave off a golden sheen and clearly looked incredibly valuable.

    "This talon was found deep in the desert and was identified by an expert on the beasts to be the talon from a roc. I am sure that all of you have heard tales about this epic grade beast that is said to fly over the desert and cast shadows that block out the sun due to its enormous body. This is not the type of material that just anyone can get ahold of. Many great warriors have the talons of rocs used in the creation of their weapons and the person that can win this talon would certainly be worthy of having such a weapon created for themselves. Or perhaps you simply wish to disy it in your home. A trophy of your victory here today. Or, you may simply want it for its value. I can assure you that this roc talon is worth far more than our measly entry fee of five gold coins."

    After the man finished showing off the talon, he beckoned those confident in their skills to try and win.

    Immediately several strong looking individuals lined up and began paying the five gold coin entry fee.

    "Marcus, we are entering. That talon he just showed off, does not belong to a roc. That is the talon of a phoenix."

 Chapter 874 874 Mrazivyâ€™s Indomitable Sword Skills

    "Are you sure?" Marcus asked, looking at the golden talon with far more interest now.

    "Yeah, my dragon eyes tell me that it belongs to a phoenix, and not a young one. The bird that talon came from should be at least around as strong as we are. That is not the type of material that even we cane across easily." Mrazivy said, emphasizing how impressive the talon was.

    "Okay. Let''s line up then. If we can win it by simply paying five gold coins, that will be the biggest steal of our lives."

    With their course of action set, both of them headed over to the long line and waited their turns.

    While they waited, they watched the first person give the challenge a try.

    This man had arge build and looked pretty strong, but when Marcus appraised him, he found that the man was only level fifteen. This was slightly above average, but it was not really impressive in anyway.

    The man''s preferred weapon was an ax, though his skill level for the weapon was only at one.

    "Rarghhh!" The man screamed as he swung his ax.

    His de easily sunk into the pir of soft y and cut through, but when the man pulled back for another swing his ax was now covered with y and the added resistance slowed him down.

    By the time his five seconds were up he had only managed to cut through the pir seven times. Aplete failure that prevented him from winning any prize.

    Holding his head low, the man returned the steel ax that was being supplied by the ones running the event and stepped off the stage.

    A few people jeered at him for his less than spectacr showing, while some of his friends tried tofort him.

    ''I see, that is how this works. Only those that are of a certain level and are skilled with ded weapons even have a chance. The average citizen is not even going to get close to winning any of the prizes. The people running this event are certainly going to make plenty of money.'' Marcus thought seeing ow difficult this event was for most people.

    He figured that a trained fighter around level twenty-five or higher might be able to get the lowest level prize, while the higher tiered prizes would only be obtainable by those over level thirty.

    Going down the line Marcus identified around ten people he figured might be able to win the lowest tier prize and three that might get the next tier up.

    Of the over a hundred people already lined up to participate the event was clearly going to be in the ck. If he did not include himself and Mrazivy.

    There was no doubt that the two of them were anomalies. Normally people of their caliber would never even wander into the area where this game was being hosted. Let alone decide to participate. Among those that Marcus had appraised the next strongest after them was a middle-aged woman who was level thirty-seven.

    "So, how do you think they got ahold of something as rare as a phoenix''s talon?" Marcus asked Mrazivy quietly while they waited in line.

    "If we are to believe them, they found it in the desert. I suppose that it is possible Though it must be a bit old. When we asked her, Gwyneira told us that thest time a phoenix was watching over this nation was twenty year ago, before disappearing." Mrazivy responded.

    She also said it was possible that they bought it from someone who believed it to a roc''s talon, or that it had been stolen. Of course, all they could do was specte.

    "Perhaps, I should spy on themter to find out." Marcus suggested.

    "That might actually be a good idea. After we win it, they are likely to talk about it among themselves. If it originally belonged to someone important, it would be best for us to know." Mrazivy agreed.

    After that they continued to make small talk while waiting andmenting on the performances of the other contestants.

    Most of the people that tried their hands at cutting the soft y pirs failed without getting close, and only a few managed to even make it to twenty cuts in five seconds.

    Once over fifty people had tired only four had won, and only one of those winners had reached the second tier prize.

    "Payment for entry please." A young, quite attractive woman said to Marcus and Mrazivy as they moved up the line.

    Standing behind this woman were four scary looking bodyguards that were there to protect her and therge sum of money that had been collected.

    "Here." Marcus said, handing over ten Aezam gold coins.

    "Thank you for participating in our event. Now what weapons might you two be proficient with." The girl asked with a bright smile.

    "I use a sword." Mrazivy said.

    "I use a scythe." Marcus said.

    Hearing the weapon that Marcus was proficient with, the girl frowned and informed him that they did not have any scythes.

    "I will take a ive then." Marcus said with a sigh.

    For thispetition everyone was being provided with a steel weapon in order to promote fairness. Though, really it was just to add a constrain to people that were powerful. If someone could use a mithril weapon than they would have a much easier time reaching the higher tier prizes than with a steel weapon. The people holding the event could care less about fairness and simply wanted to make money.

    "You going to be oaky with that? It may also be a polearm, but it is pretty different from your usual weapon." Mrazivy said, wearing a concerned expression.

    "I probably will not be able to take the top prize with this thing. If I move fast enough to cut through the pir two hundred times in only five seconds I will likely break this weapon before finishing. I will have to leave wining the talon to you." Marcus said with a stiff expression.

    If he was using a scythe he was confident that his high skill level would allow him topete the necessary forty cuts per second even if it was made out a steel, but the ive was simply just not a weapon he was used to wielding. If it was of a higher quality, he felt he could get away with swinging it around at extreme speeds recklessly, but the weapons being provided were actually pretty shoddy pieces of work. They remined Marcus of what he was making when he just got started creating weapons.

    Thankfully Mrazivy had managed to get a sword which was the type of weapon she was most proficient with, and she had enough confidence for the both of them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Soon it was Marcus'' turn, and with the steel ive in hand he walked up onto the stage where the two meter tall, quarter meter thick soft y pir was waiting for him.

    "Oh, it looks like our next contestant is not a native of our great nation, but our first foreigner to participate." The man running the event said to the crowd that was watching.

    He then asked Marcus a few questions about himself, but he answered them curtly and gave off a prickly aura to get things moving quickly.

    ''Here goes.'' Marcus thought just before his five seconds started.

    A loud slicing sound then resounded through the area and drowned out the loud crowd as Marcus made his first cut. His speed was unlike any of those that went before him previously.

    His arms moved faster than anyone around other than Mrazivy could keep up with and he continued to slice through the pir at a breathtaking speed.

    When the magic tool timer finished counting down, Marcus abruptly stopped his movements and red at the pir.

    ''I knew I would not be able to do it, but it is still frustrating.'' Marcus thought.

    He had managed to get in one hundred eighty-seven near equal sized cuts on the pir before the time had ended.

    Unfortunately, as he expected, the weapon as the biggest constraint.

    The ive he had been using was now warped and he had left noticeable handprints in its handle. Had he tired to go any faster the weapon would not have held up to his power.

    Yet while Marcus was not satisfied with his results everyone else watching was stunned and staring in disbelief.

    "Aren''t you going to count how many cuts I made." Marcus said to the staff on stage who staring at him in a daze.

    "Ah yes. Let me get to that." The man running the event said.

    Quickly he counted the cuts Marcus had inflicted on the pir and had an incredibly fearful look the entire time.

    When he finally reached the end, he let out a sigh of relief, since Marcus just fell short of taking the grand prize.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new record by far. This gentleman her managed to get one hundred eighty-seven cuts clean through the pir in only five seconds. An astounding number that gives him the privilege to be the first to choose from our tier one prizes. Sadly, he was thirteen cuts short from iming the roc talon." The announcer said.

    "Now which of these valuable items would you like."

    Looking over the prizes he could choose from, Marcus was not all that impressed.

    Most of them were simply valuable pieces of gold jewelry and not something he cared about at all.

    "I''ll take this." Marcus said, picking up a brass bracer that had an earth elemental crystal embedded in it.

    It was one of the few magical items being offered and had a simple enhancement in it that allowed it to conjure a shield of sand in front of the wearer.

    The reason Marcus had chosen it was simply for the fact that the enchantment was something he had not seen before, even if it was fairly simple.

    His prize in hand Marcus returned to the audience where Amira was waiting.

    Several people tried toe up to him to talk, but he was far more interested in watching Mrazivy take her attempt and sent out a small wave of intimation that sent the crowd panicking away from him.

    Now there was a about a three-meter radius around him, Amira, and her guards. She and her guards had been excluded from Marcus'' intimidation and could only look in awe at the level of crowd control he could exert.

    Within just a couple of minutes of Marcus finishing Mrazivy had taken her ce at the center of the stage and was preparing to take her turn.

    The announcer tried to get her to talk about herself, but unlike Marcus, who at least answered a few questions with brief answers Mrazivy stayedpletely silent. Her entire focus was on the y pir in front of her.

    Then, the moment that the countdown began her sword moved sharply and expertly.

    Unlike Marcus'' disy she did not waste a single motion as she was using a weapon, she was proficient in.

    In fact, before the timer reached five seconds she had already stopped. Having cut the pir into four hundred equal pieces in four seconds.

    ''I figured she would not have any trouble. It really makes a big difference wielding a weapon you are familiar with.'' Marcus thought, looking at Mrazivy''s sword which was still in perfect condition.

    Unlike the ive he had used she did not warp her de at all, showing just how immensely skilled she was.

    For several seconds there was silence before the crowdunched into a loud uproar.

    They could not urately count how many cuts Mrazivy had dealt to the pir but it was clear she had just performed an exceptional feat.

    The people running the event were staring at her pir with their mouths agape. Never did they think that anyone would be able to deliver two hundred cuts entirely through the y pir in only five seconds with the cheap weapons they had provided.

 Chapter 875 875

    "That''s impossible." The man running the y pir cutting event said after he finished counting the number of clean cuts Mrazivy had inflicted.

    Each one was half a centimeter apart and she had urately cut through the two-meter-tall pir four hundred times.

    Frankly it was a feat that could be described as above even superhuman. She had even finished a whole second before her time was up.

    "So, I won the grand prize, right? I mean I clearly through the pir more than two hundred times." Mrazivy said, with a boastful smile on her face.

    Of course, the staff running the event did not want to simply give away the item that was meant to draw attention to their contest.

    "I am sorry, but these cuts are so perfect it is hard to believe that they came from a sword! You must have cheated in some manner!" The man shouted so that everyone around could hear. "I for one did not even see what it was you were doing! I find it highly likely that you used some sort of magic spell or tool to inflict these cuts and try to swindle us! It is strange that a foreigner like you would even be here in the first ce!"

    After the man yelled out his usations, many among the crowd began to whisper amongst themselves and were agreeing that something seemed fishy.

    To them what Mrazivy had aplished was impossible. Well beyond the level of skill of even powerful individuals. This was simply how iprehensible Mrazivy''s abilities were.

    Unfortunately, for the event operates, Mrazivy was not here alone and had someone with a great deal of sway to vouch for her.

    "Excuse me, but are you saying that a guest of my n is a cheater? You must have an awful lot of evidence to back your usation up. If you don''t, I will find it to be a personal insult to my n." Amira said, stepping up and defending Mrazivy.

    ring down at her, the man running the event scoffed at Amira when he saw how young she was.

    "Before you continue, I might inform you that I am Tb Guhbaa and this event has the backing of the head of the Guhbaa n, Yazan." The man said haughtily.

    The Guhbaa n was among the more influential ns and typically considered only under the six major ns. Making those running the event and trying to have Mrazivy disqualified hoping to use their authority to get Amira to back down.

    Sadly, they picked a fight with the wrong person, and should have figured that someone as strong as Mrazivy was likely to be associated with one of the six major ns.

    "Allow me to return your warning, before you make even bigger of a fool of yourself, Tb Guhbaa. I am Amira Eazim, daughter of Malik Eazim the head of the Eazim n, and great granddaughter of Akeem Eazim, our grand elder. The woman you have used of cheating is a personal guest of my n and my great grandfather. I can assure you that her skills are more than capable of the feat she just disyed." Amira said, amanding air about her.

    Everyone around hearing that Amira was of the main family of the Eazim n lowered their heads and backed away, while Tb stood stunned as he looked down at her.

    ''It looks like that killed all of his bravado. I wonder what his next move will be. I kind of hope he tries digging deeper.'' Marcus thought, enjoying watching the man who used his wife of cheating squirm.

    However, Tb was not an idiot and realized that he was outmatched in terms of rank. In a ss-based society those lower on the pecking order had to submit to those above them unless they had a good justification not to.

    "Please allow me to apologize to you Lady Amira, for my ignorance. I did not know that this woman was a guest of your n. It must be as you said, her skills are so transcendent that I could not see them properly. I ask for your forgiveness for my hasty usation." Tb said, getting down onto his knees and bowing down.

    Those around him running the event followed suit and could only pray that Amira would not bring down the weight of the Eazim n on them.

    "Very well. I will overlook this. But you must apologize to Mraz as well. It is she that you insulted the most." Amira said.

    Turning his body Tb bowed his head to Mrazivy and apologized. Though it was clear he did not mean a word of what he said.

    "I ept your apology." Mrazivy said nonchntly, not really caring so long as she got what she had won. "Now, I will ept my prize."

    Standing up, Tb put on his best business smile, and said, "Of course. Allow us to properly wrap it and we will have it promptly shipped to the Eazim n for you."

    "Oh, there is no need for that." Mrazivy said, walking up to the phoenix talon and cing it directly into her item box.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Tb went wide eyed when he saw this, and any hope he had of keeping ahold of the talon was dashed.

    He had rapidly beening up with a n to have the carriage transporting the talon attacked in order to retrieve the item, but that would be impossible now.

    "Welp, we got what we came for. Shall we get going." Mrazivy said, rejoining Marcus and Amira.

    "Yes, I Think it would be best if we were on our way. It is time for lunch anyway. I made sure that we have a reservation at a high-quality restaurant in the area." Amira said, leading the way.

    It took them around half an hour to arrive at the restaurant, and just from the entrance it was clearly a high-ss establishment that only served the best food.

    Sadly, Marcus knew he had more pressing matter to deal with and promptly excused himself to the restroom.

    ''Time to go see what I can dig up.'' He thought, before disappearing.

    Now back in his ghost form, Marcus phased out of the building and quickly flew back to where the pir cutting event was being held.

    Immediately he noticed that there were almost no people around and the event had closed down early. Clearly, they were too rattled by losing their top prize that was their headliner to continue.

    Floating around, Marcus passed through a few buildings, before he found the one the members of the Guhbaa n were congregated in.

    With a single looked Marcus could see that they were distressed.

    "Damn it!" Tb yelled before mming his hand against the table he was sitting at.

    The marble b that topped the table cracked when he hit it, showing that he was not particrly low level.

    "Yazan is going to have our heads when he finds out we lost the talon. No one was supposed to be able to win it. Not even the strongest fighter we have could do that with those crappy weapons." Tb said, his face warped into a fearful expression.

    Apparently, the talon was just meant to attract attention and they never nned on giving it away. Hence why Tb had resorted to calling Mrazivy a cheater in order to keep it.

    Marcus also learned that the talon had actually been found by the Guhbaa n around twelve years ago near a roc''s nest, hence why they thought it belong to that type of beast. It was one of their elder''s favorite show pieces and only after much convincing from Tb did he loan it to them to attract more attention to the y pir cutting event in order to bring in more money. In a way, it was the perfect scam. As long as no one extraordinary like Mrazivy showed up.

    "It is not toote yet. We can still get it back." One of Tb''s men said.

    "What do you have in mind? We cannot publicly oppose the Eazim n. If we push them it, will be more than just our lives on the line."

    "Yes, it would be bad if we made an enemy out of the Eazim n, but that girl Amira is wandering around the festival with only a small contingent of guards. It happens quite often that ruffians cause a stir during the festival and start brawls in the streets. We simply need to orchestrate one, kill everyone around, and kidnap that foreign woman. It might take a while, but eventually we can ''convince'' her to open up her item box and give us back the roc talon. Then we need only dispose of her." One of Tb''s men said.

    The others quickly jumped onboard this n since it seemed like their only option. Their n''s elder was a ruthless man and had no problem with getting rid of those who failed him. Those assisting Tb could at best hope for being exiled, while Tb was certain he would not be keeping his head.

    "Okay, gather up the best fighters you can. Assign some men to follow their group. Hire assassins as well. If we get the talon back, we can use it to make whatever money we spend back. Even if we do not make as much as projected, so long as we get the talon back everything should be fine." Tb said, a look of anticipation on his face. He was desperate to do anything to cover up his mistake.

    Yet, unbeknownst to any of them, an ethereal individual had heard their entire conversation and now knew of their n.

    ''Hm, how do I want to y this? Should I just wipe them all out now and avoid the hassle, or try to catch them in the act?'' Marcus thought, floating above Tb who had no idea how screwed he was.

 Chapter 876 876 Beast Pushing

    After contemting what to do for a few minutes, Marcus eventually descried to let these guys go ahead with their n If je killed them now, that would be all there was to it. But if he waited until they attacked them in public, he could make sure to capture the leaders and have them turned in.

    That would likely prevent the Guhbaa n from trying to attack them again since the Eazim n would put a huge amount of pressure on them. If he just finished these guys off now, it was possible that their leader might try and pull off some scheme against themter that Marcus would not know about.

    Frankly he felt a bit bad for Amira and her guards, but he highly doubted that these guys could gather up a force strong enough to be a threat to him or Mrazivy. It would be easy enough to clean up whatever goons they tried to throw at them and then catch them in the act.

    Having figured out what he wanted to do, Marcus left the building and returned to the restaurant that the others were eating ate.

    However, when he returned from the bathroom, Amira was giving him a concerned and pitying look, while Mrazivy was holding in a snicker.

    ''I really need to think of a better excuse to sneak away than going to the restroom.'' Marcus thought as he sat down.

    He had been gone long enough that their table''s appetizers had already been brought and eaten, and it was not long until their main courses were brought out.

    "Marcus are you sure you should be eating that? It is pretty spicy." Amira asked, worry in her eyes.

    Naturally she was assuming that Marcus was having stomach problems and that eating such food would only make things worse.

    "Its fine." Marcus said curtly.

    He then red at Mrazivy who was barely keeping herughter in. She quite enjoyed watching him struggle despite knowing what he had actually been up to.

    Thankfully, as time went by, Amira forgot about Marcus'' long absence from the table after he ate everything on his te without any issue.

    "That was very good Amira. Thank you for finding such a choice ce for us to eat ate." Mrazivy said once they were finished.

    "Oh, it is no problem. This is part of my job as your guide. Though it was the grand elder that rmended this ce to me, so I really did not do much." Amira said, her head lowered slightly.

    "Hey, no need to feel down about it. You do not live in the capital, so it makes sense you would ask someone more knowledgeable about things like restaurants. Anyway, you did a great job as our guide earlier, defending Mrazivy against those guys trying to say she cheated." Marcus said.

    "Yeah, the way you stood up to that guy was great. He looked like he was scared out of his wits when he found out you were a member of the Eazim n." Mrazivy said, a joyous smile on her face.

    At this Marcus remembered that he had not told Mrazivy about the n to attack them yet. He had been overwhelmed by the embarrassment of Amira''s misunderstanding.

    ''Mrazivy, there is something I need to tell you.'' Marcus said with his telepathy.

    Swiftly he summarized what he had heard and told Mrazivy to stay on guard.

    ''Got it. I will keep my eyes and ears open.'' Mrazivy responded.

    Once they paid for their meal, their group exited the restaurant and Amira led them closer towards the center of the festival where the more prominent and famous events were urring.

    "Now that sure is something you don''t see every day." Mrazivy remarked.

    In the middle of arge arena a man was wrestling with dual horn. The beast that looked a bit like a rhinoceros, but was a bit small and stouter, and had two horns instead of one.

    Right now, they were standing in front of a famous event called beast pushing, where people tried to push back against beast that liked to charge their opponents.

    Several tens of thousands of people stood around watching and cheering. Some with tickets in their hands showing that the had bet on the event.

    Currently the man wrestling with the dull horn was red in the face and looked like he was having a hard time keeping his footing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He had one hand each gripped on the beasts'' horns to prevent himself from being skewed, but it looked like he was going to lose the contest of strength.

    ''Hm, the guy is level twenty-nine. Certainly not low by normal standers, while the dual horn is only level twenty. I suppose that this is simply the difference between a strength-based beast and a person.'' Marcus thought, watching the man falter and get trampled.

    The dual horn turned back around to finish the guy off, but several members of the n hosting the event enter the arena and using ropes tied the dual horn down and pulled it away, while a healer attended to the man who now had several broken bones and was bleeding all over.

    "Seems that this is a pretty rough event. Though I guess it is quite popr." Marcus said, looking around at the crowd.

    "Yes, it is one of the most attended challenges. It is conserved a great honor to be able to sessfully push back arge beast. The tournaments are the highlight of the festival, but this is where many people that are not quite strong enough to participatee to show off their prowess." Amira exined.

    "So, can anyone enter?" Mrazivy asked, looking interested.

    "Yes, but it is dangerous. Most of the beasts were recently captured out in the wild and are not tamed. I know that my father ordered the capture of a rare grade beast called a gigantic ram beetle. I did not here exactly what level it was, but apparently it gave the men that went to subdue it a great deal of trouble, so I imagine that it must be over level thirty-five. Other ns also captured beasts of simr or even greater power. Many people die every year after taking on a beast they could not handle." Amira said, a frown on her face. She was evidently not a fan of violence.

    Still, Mrazivy said that she wanted to participate, and Marcus figured he might as well. This was their chance to experience another culture, and though he figured that there were likely no beasts that would posse a challenge to either of them, it would still be fun to participate.

    Swiftly they found the registration counter and waited in the rtively short line.

    "Are you wanting to register?" the receptionist asked, a baffled look on her face.

    Neither Marcus nor Mrazivy looked overly impressive physically like most of the participants did. But with stats and levels even someone that looked like a beanpole could rip a house off its foundation if they were high enough level, so the receptionist did not turn them away immediately.

    "Yes, what is the strongest beast you have. I would like to try my hand it against it." Mrazivy said, a confident smile on her face.

    Of course, the receptionist was stunned by this, and it took her about six seconds to recover before she began vehemently trying to convince Mrazivy against doing so.

    Eventually Mrazivy convinced the receptionist that she was strong enough to go toe to toe with the beast by pulling out a mithril dagger she had and crumpling it like foil with her bare hands.

    It was hard to argue with this show of strength and the receptionist registered Mrazivy to wrestle against a rare grade beast called a lead ox that was apparently over level fifty.

    Marcus asked for the second strongest beast to be his opponent and the receptionist seeing that he was with Mrazivy figured he was a monster as well.

    His opponent was going to be a rare grade beast called a diamond head, and from its description Marcus realized that it was actually simrly to a dinosaur he had heard about on Earth called a Pachycephalosaurus.

    He was surprised to hear that such a beast lived in the desert, but he remembered the furry dinosaur-like beasts he had fought in the Great Gome woods and chopped it up to just how this world was.

    "Looks like we are going to be highlights." Mrazivy said, seeing their time slots.

    Both of them were going to be participating at peak hours. Marcus was going to have his match just after sunset, while Mrazivy was scheduled to gost. For the event having anyone want to go against their strongest beasts was going to be a focus of the event.

    So far, they were the only ones crazy enough to challenge these powerful beasts barehanded in a match of pure strength.

    "Let''s go look around at some other interesting things before our matches. There are bound to be other cool events we can try out." Marcus suggested.

    With that they went around the heart of the area, watching a y that was being put on about a campaign held long ago to subdue a powerful horde of monsters in the desert, participating in a ssic arm-wrestling event and handily winning. As well as trying loads of the food being offered.

    Eventually the sun began to lower, and it was nearly time for Marcus'' turn to participate in the beast pushing event.

    "I''ll make sure to bet on you. I already know you are going to win." Mrazivy said, as she and Amira separated with Marcus as he headed towards the participant''s entrance.

 Chapter 877 877 Beast Pushing (2)

    ''There certainly are a lot of people here.'' Marcus thought looking around the arena.

    When they had arrived in the afternoon to watch and register for the beast pushing event, the arena had already been crowded, but now it seemed to have pushed past its normal capacity.

    People were standing shoulder to shoulder and even the walkways were crowded with people, making it difficult for anyone to move about.

    Seeing this, Marcus realized just how rare it was for someone to try and challenge one of the strongest beasts in thepetition.

    Apparently most just went with the weaker beasts like the dual horn he had seen earlier, and even the most hot-blooded challenges would not try their might against a beast like the diamond head he had chosen.

    ''Looks like they are finally bringing out my opponent.'' Marcus thought watching herge gate at the other end of the areas opening.

    On the other side he could see several dozen high level men with thick mithril chains wrapped around the beast and struggling to keep it under control.

    It was actually quite a bit bigger than Marcus had been expecting. The diamond head was easily ten meters tall and fifteen meters long.

    The beast had two thick and sturdy legs with hard gleaming scales all over its body, and its head wasrge and rounded with spikesing out of the side.

    From Marcus'' point of view, it really did look quite simr to the images of a Pachycephalosaur he had seen back on earth. Though it was several timesrger, and its heard head gleamed like a diamond.

    ''Level forty-nine. Its stats aren''t bad for a rare grade beast, and it has some powerful race abilities. I would say it is close to the top of what a rare grade beast can reach, close to a quasi-epic grade. Still, not any threat to me.''

    While this beast could easilyy waste to arge town all on its own and most people would be quaking in their boots if they had to face it, Marcus just stood by nonchntly while those wrangling it moved it into the arena.

    A great deal of the people watching could only wonder how Marcus had any chance. The beast he was going to be up against in a battle of pure strength was farrge than him and it seemed incredible that any person could try and stop such a beast with their bare hands.

    Soon an announcer using a magic tool to project their voice over the arena began exining what kind of beast Marcus was up against and really driving home how dangerous it was.

    This increased the crowd''s excitement and Marcus was sure that many of them were hoping to watch him be mercilessly trampled from the bloodthirsty looks on their faces.

    ''I am sure plenty of them think I must be the epitome of stupid. Or maybe even suicidal.'' Marcus thought.

    Certainly, no normal person in their right mind would go up against such a thing, but Marcus was far from normal.

    He had faced down beasts, monster, and people that were far stronger than the enemy before him.

    ''Oh, looks like they are ready.'' Marcus thought, seeing those that dragged the beast in start to quickly run away while it was temporarily stunned by an enchantment.

    The diamond head, no longer restrained, shook off the chains that had been loosened and stared towards Marcus. The sole entity in the arena with it.

    Looking into its eyes Marcus could tell it was pissed, and for good reason. It had just been minding its business out in the wild when a group of people captured it and carted it off to an unknown ce where it was always confined.

    The powerful beast began stamping its feet into the ground and carving up the dirt floor, before it lowered its head and prepared to charge at Marcus.

    Its entire body began to glow brightly, and Marcus understood this as it activated its perilous charge race ability.

    ''How do I want to do this?''

    Watching the beast preparing to hit him with its all, Marcus pondered what he wanted to do.

    He could allow himself to be pushed back for a bit and make it look like he had to struggle to in, or he could show off and easily deal with the beast.

    ''I suppose since this is for entertainment, I might as well make it a good show.'' Marcus thought, deciding to make it look like a struggle of epic proportions.

    mming both of his feet into the ground he got into a stable position and prepared to catch the diamond head that was only moments away from charging him.

    The second it began running at him, he felt like he was going to be trying to catch a freight train that barreling towards him.

    When he outstated both of his hands to catch the charge, he felt a powerful impact against his body, and his legs began carving through the dirt as he was pushed back.

    ''Oof, this thing hits harder than I thought.''

    Having relied solely on his pure strength without the enhancement of any skills, Marcus found receiving the all-out charge from the diamond head a bit tougher than he anticipated.

    Quickly he activated the mana body skill and created a mana barrier tform under his feet, since the ground simply could not hold up to the force of the diamond head''s charge and he was being pushed through it like it was water.

    After activating these two skills, Marcus was now inplete control, and he slowed down his and the diamond head''s momentum until he was braced right up against the side of the arena.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Several people gasped when they saw him actually stop the charge of a beast that was several timesrge than him. No ordinary person would be able to do something like that.

    The diamond head tried to rear back and m its head against Marcus again, but he was not going to let it go.

    Putting more power into his fingers he dug them into the beast''s crystalline head and held its head down.

    "Sorry, but you are not going anywhere." Marcus said, beginning to slowly push back the diamond head.

    He easily could have simply run it back in just a few seconds, but he made it seem like a struggle. Allowing himself to get pushed back every now and then to help rile up the crowd.

    Of course, the diamond head quickly realized that it was being manhandled with ease and it gave up on struggling at all. Marcus actually felt a bit bad when it realized the futility of fighting back against him.

    ''I guess that is enough.'' He thought, pushing back with a bit more force and shoving the beast beyond therge gate it hade in from.

    But before he let go, he did cast the persistent healing spell on the creature so that it would recover from the injures he had given it.

    Once Marcus had won the crowd went absolutely wild with glee. It was very rare that they got to see such a show of prowess against such a powerful beast.

    However, while most of the crowd looked happy, those that had thought it was a guaranteed win for the beast and bet against Marcus looked like they were devastated.

    "Here are your winnings for you victory." A staff member said to Marcus once he left the floor of the arena.

    Those that participated and won received one percent of the bets. It was not all that muchpared to what the event was brining in, but just the sheer number of people watching meant that the sum was not small.

    Marcus had received nearly four thousand gold coins, showing just how popr it was to bet on this event.

    When he returned to where Mrazivy was, Marcus saw that she was simrly holding a bag of money. Having just retrieved her own winnings from betting on him.

    "That was pretty impressive. You make quite the showman." Mrazivy said, understanding that Marcus had never been struggling.

    Amiraplemented him as well and looked relived that he hade out unharmed.

    "Now, it will be my turn soon. I will have to make sure to top your performance." Mrazivy said, apetitive smile on her face. Marcus had no clue what she was nning, but he imagined that it was certainly going to draw everyone''s attention.

    Soon enough Mrazivy was standing center stage waiting for the beast she was going to go up against to be brought out.

    Since she was taking on the most powerful creature that the event had she had been saved for the end of the day and despite it begin close to midnight, even more people had crammed into the arena than when Marcus had participated.

    ''That thing certainly looked menacing.'' Marcus thought watching Mrazivy''s opponent being brought out.

    The beast known as a lead ox stood six meters tall which was much shorter than the beast Marcus had fought, but its body was thick and built like a tank.

    Its horns were made out a dark gray material that looked like lead, and its body had what thick armor ting all over it.

    ''Yep, that thing is a bit stronger than the diamond head.'' Marcus thought after appraising it.

    Not only was its level at fifty-two, but it had more abilities and skills that would make its charge stronger.

    In overallbat ability Marcus figured the two beast were close enough to the same that either could beat the other, but in terms of just straight on charging with pure force, the lead ox had the diamond head beat.

    Nevertheless, Marcus knew that Mrazivy would be stronger. In terms of pure strength, she handily beat him.

    The crowd roared when they saw the lead ox begin to stamp on the ground and stare furiously at Mrazivy. This was going to be the most exciting match for the beast pushing event and everyone was looking on with excitement.

    There were plenty of years where not even a single one of the top five beasts that had been caught were challenged, but this year on the first day the top two were making an appearance.

    In some ways this could be the considered the best start to the Muharib Festival in a long time.

    Yet the cheering stopped, and everything went silent the moment the lead ox''s charge met Mrazivy.

    With just a single hand she had stopped the giant beast and without moving back even a centimeter.

    The lead ox''s body suddenlying to a stop looked like an ordion as the back of its body pushed in on it as its front that had abruptly stopped.

    Mrazivy then pushed back the stunned beast in an instant and threw it back through the gates it hade out of. Showing off an overwhelming level of power that was beyond absurd.

 Chapter 878 878 Getting Ambushed?

    ''What was she thinking?''

    Looking down at Mrazivy, Marcus could not believe what she had just done.

    She had pushed back the giant lead ox with one hand and tossed it aside like it was a piece of trash.

    While Marcus'' disy had been impressive and he showed off prowess that was far beyond the norm, even while holding back. What Mrazivy had just done must have been practically impossible for most of the audience to process.

    All around was just stunned silence. For the first time since the start of the festival their was barely any sound in the arena and everything had gone still.

    Eventually the announcer got his wits about him and loudly shouted that Mrazivy had won, before rapidly talking about what an impressive feat she had just performed.

    Several people in the audience began pping, but it was quite subduedpared to the apuse that Marcus had gotten after his performance. All of the normal people in the arena were simply befuddled by what they had just witnessed.

    Some even began shouting that the match had been rigged somehow and that the lead ox must have been some type of illusion. Marcus noticed that among these people, most were holding tickets used for betting on the match and he imagined that they had lost.

    Of course, what they had seen was reality, just one so preposterous that it seemed unbelievable.

    As the crowd became more discounted and seemed like it might riot, a single man jumped down to the floor of the arena where Mrazivy was.

    This naturally drew everyone''s attention, and those that recognized the man went wide eyed and their mouths gaped open.

    ''He''s strong. Very strong.'' Marcus thought narrowing his eyes as he looked at the man.

    Mrazivy also took a defensive posture after noticing that this man was not the average persona and strong enough to be a threat to her.

    Thankfully, the man held his hands up and adopted a posture showing that he had no intention of fighting, before turning back to look at the crowd of people who were now watching him.

    "I am Aziz Sulb, and I am sure that many of you have already recognized me having watched my matches in the previous festivals! I can assure you that what you just witnessed was not some form of illusion or trickery! This woman is simply powerful enough to push back a lead ox with one hand! A feat that I could simrly aplish!" The man shouted loud enough for everyone in the arena to hear.

    Hearing the name, Marcus recognized it immediately since it was one that he had been warned about by the Eazim n''s grand elder.

    ''So, that is the brother of Sulb n''s current grand elder and one of the strongest fighters in the nation.'' Marcus thought, looking down at the man who looked like he was in histe twenties.

    He was quite a bit smaller than Marcus expected, not being the hulking type of man that he envisioned.

    His body was toned, but not overly muscr, and his height was only sitting at around one hundred sixty-five centimeters tall.

    Still, despite his form not looking overly imposing, he was certainly very strong. Easily the strongest person Marcus had seen sinceing to Aezam.

    With a man of such repute having vouched for Mrazivy''s strength the crowd began to settle down.

    "Thank you for that. It seems that I may have shown off a bit too much." Mrazivy said.

    "No, you did nothing wrong. In fact, you disyed abilities far greater than I was expecting. I am very much looking forward to the tournament now." Aziz said, a wide grin on his face.

    He then jumped high into eh air and disappeared from view, flying through the sky and heading off somewhere else.

    ''Looks like we are going to have some challenges in the tournament.'' Marcus thought, watching Aziz fade into the distance.

    After things settled down a bit, Marcus and Amira met back up with Mrazivy and began making their way to their lodgings. For the duration of the festival, they would be staying in a hotel within the area of the festival since it would be too much trouble to return to the grand elder''s estate every day.

    It was already well best midnight now and while there were still some people moving about, most of the festival had shut down for the day and things were rtively quiet.

    ''Marcus they are converging on us.'' Mrazivy said over telepathy.

    Throughout the entire day they had noticed people following them, but now it seemed that the ones that had been running the pir cutting event were making their move.

    With her superior hearing Mrazivy had been listening around to the moment of people and noticed arge group slowly encircling them just a bit before Marcus did.

    Soon enough he was able to get an urate count of the assantsing for them using his life sense skill.

    ''I''m impressed that they got this many people together so quickly. There are over a hundred of them.'' Marcus thought, focusing on the people around them.

    For the most part none of the ambushers were all that strong, just being your average thugs, but a few among them were not weak. One of the signals that Marcus felt was likely above level fifty and he was very surprised to fine someone that strong among their ranks.

    Nevertheless, if they wanted to really threaten them, then they would have needed to bring someone as strong as Aziz.

    "Lady Amira, something is amiss here. We are being surrounded." Amira''s head guard said.

    He had noticed theck of regr citizens around them as they continued down the streets and the shifty movements of those that remained.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    His senses were pretty good, but while he did notice that there were about to be ambushed, he was a littlete to prevent it.

    Immediately Amira''s guards took up a defensive position around her and stopped moving while trying to assess the situation and find the best escape point.

    One guard also came over to Marcus and Mrazivy, but they sent him away to protect Amira since they did not need any help.

    Noticing that their targets had taken up defensive postures, the people surrounding Marcus'' group stopped trying to blend in as normal citizens and began to show their true colors.

    "Whoever you are, I must inform you that I am Amira Eazim, and taking such actions against me will only lead to your deaths. If you are to withdraw now, I will not have my n take actions against you." Amira shouted out, trying to keep an air of authority despite the fact that she was scared.

    Of course, the people attacking them were already aware of her status, and none of them faltered.

    "Mraz, do you mind if I leave things here to you. I am going to round up the ones that we absolutely need to catch alive." Marcus said.

    "Sure. This should be easy enough. A little light exercise before bed." Mrazivy said, as she took out her system recognized adamantine saber.

    Seeing this powerful weapon caused the thugs that had surround them to falter a bit and almost all of the archers that were waiting on top of the nearby buildings trained their weapons on Mrazivy.

    However, in the next instant their rm was heightened further when Marcus simply vanished.

    He had reverted to his ghost form and began flying off towards where Tb was to make sure he caught the ringleader of this ambush.

    It took Marcus only a couple of seconds before he arrived above the building that Tb along with a contingent of his closest followers were waiting on top of.

    "Where the hell did that guy go?! He just vanished!" Tb said, frustration in his voice.

    He had been watching through a spyss and noticed Marcus disappear.

    "Hello. Were you looking for me." Marcus said reappearing right behind Tb.

    The man turned around and found Marcus within arm''s reach of him and went wide eyed in shock.

    In the next instance, Marcus'' fist had collided with Tb''s face and broke the man''s nose and knocked out several of his teeth. Marcus had not taken kindly to the man who talked about torturing his wife in order to force her to open her item box. Even if he was no threat to them.

    The other people standing around on the roof were stuck in a daze but what had happened and did not have any time to react before Marcus knocked them all out. The force of which he applied being propertied to how much they had participated in nning this assault.

    "That should do it here." Marcus said, tying up the dozen people with his iron threads to make sure they did not escape. "Now time to deal with the ones hiding and waiting."

    Vanishing again Marcus flew into some of the nearby building and incapacitated several assassins that had been hiding in these rooms.

    ''Oh, she noticed me'' Marcus thought as he struck towards one of the assassins and was dodged.

    This was the single attacker that was over level fifty and was clearly a true professional.

    The second she saw Marcus; she threw down a ball which exploded and created smoke screen of poisonous gas.

    Marcus though was not impeded at all by this and followed behind the fleeing assassin and caught up to her with ease.

    She tried a few more desperate maneuvers to escape, but Marcus was pretty much just toying with her to see what she was capable of. He was enjoying seeing what tricks a high-level professional assassin had.

    Eventually the assassin realize that she was being toyed with and pulled out a spell sealing talisman form her item box.

    With but a nce Marcus realized that this talisman had a space magic spell sealed within it and that the assassin was going to try and teleport away.

    Yet before the spell could activate, he upped his speed and appeared right next to the woman before gripping ahold of her arm hard enough to shatter the bone.

    She dropped the talisman without being able to activate it and let out a grunt of pain.

    But despite being caught and now seriously injured, she did not stop fighting and spit a needle out of her mouth at Marcus.

    Sadly, it wascking in the force necessary to injure him and bounced right off his neck.

    "Sorry, that is not going to work, and I cannot let you get away." Marcus said, before hitting the woman on the back of the neck and knocking her out.

    Hefting her over his shoulder, Marcus went around collecting the other assassins he had incapacitated before retrieving Tb and his retinue.

    When he returned, he found that the road was littered with bodies and broken weapons, each with a single sh wound through them from Mrazivy''s sword.

 Chapter 879 879 Dealing With The Aftermath

    "It looks like you cleaned things up here quite nicely." Marcus said, looking at the nearly a hundred people that had been felled by Mrazivy.

    "Yeah, none of them were really a challenge. It only took a single swing for each of them. But it looks like you were even more sessful" Mrazivy responded, turning her gaze towards the group of people Marcus was dragging behind him with his iron threads.

    Amira for her part looked aghast after what had just happened. She was a fairly sheltered rich girl that rarely witnessed violence. Especially not to this degree.

    "Sorry about what just happened. It seems that it was our fault." Marcus said, presenting Tb to Amira and her guards.

    Naturally they all recognized him and quickly came to understand what was going on.

    "Wake up. You have some exin to do." Marcus said, using his lightning magic to send a jolt through Tb''s neck and forcing him to wake up.

    For several moments the man just writhed around in pain and confusion before his mind was able to focus.

    Calming herself and bringing out her best authoritative demeanor, Amira red down at the man who had orchestrated the attack against them.

    "To think that you were so foolish as to attack a member of the Eazim n''s main family and our guests. I will make sure that the Guhbaa n takes responsibility for this. You wille out lucky if only you and yourpatriots have your assets seized and are executed. Now, why exactly did you attack us?" Amira said, disdain in her tone.

    Tb kept his mouth shut at first, but Marcus subtly applied a bit of his phantom pressure on the man to loosen his tongue.

    While shuddering from immense fear he exined why he had attacked them and tried his best to im that his actions were not of his n but his own. Of course, that was not going to make much of a difference. The Guhbaa n was going to have to take some sort of responsibility for one of their upper ranking members attempting to assassinate Amira and her n''s guests.

    Eventually one of Amira''s guards managed to pin down a nearby patrol of soldiers and soon the entire area was filled with the peacekeepers of the city and the Guhbaa n members and assassins Marcus had rounded up were taken into custody.

    "I kind of feel bad for Amira." Mrazivy said, looking at her with a pitying stare.

    After giving their statements about the events just once, they were allowed to simply wait at a table were refreshments such a tea had been brought to them, since they were guests of one of the major ns. However, Amira was having to direct things as the highest-ranking person around and was very busy.

    She had to send out several letters and the authorities running the city had several questions for her.

    Luckily no one was being rude to her or anything since her status was far higher than the captain of the city guard who was currentlymanding the response to the attack.

    It was not until dawn that their group was able to leave and head to the hotel where they had rooms waiting for them.

    "I am incredibly sorry about what just happened. It shows poorly on our n that we allowed such an attack. I would understand if you wish to have another guide assigned to you." Amira said, bowing her head to Marcus and Mrazivy once they were in a private room inside the hotel.

    While it may have been impossible for her to have known about or stopped the attack, she still felt it was her duty to take responsibility. A part of her duty was to protect her n''s guests, but the two of them had been the ones to protect her. Dealing with all of the assants on their own.

    "There is no need for that. You were not responsible for what happened. There are idiots everywhere that do iprehensible things like that. You have been a great guide and we have no intention of recing you. Go ahead and stand up and be proud. Despite how scarred and exhausted you are, you kept yourposure the entire time." Mrazivy said, a smile on her face.

    In some ways she felt quite bad since it would have been easily enough for them to quash the attack before it even began and save Amira a great deal of grief. However, if they did not catch the attackers in the act then it could have led to more problems down the line.

    "Before we deal with anything else, I think some rest is in order. Let us all get some sleep and deal with whatever else requires our attention when we wake up." Marcus suggested.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Feeling too tired to argue, Amira thanked Marcus for his consideration and headed to her own room along with her guards.

    "It is unfortunate that we will not be able to explore the festival today." Mrazivy said, whistfully staring out the window.

    Thanks to the attack against them, they needed to wait in their hotel until things had settled down. It would likely be a day or two before they could do as they pleased again.

    "At the very least the tournaments do not start until next week, so we are not going to have to worry about missing the main event." Marcus said.

    After that they spent the rest of the day cooped up inside the hotel. Neither of them really needed any sleep so they passed their time by using the facilities and eating just about everything they could from the hotel''s restaurant.

    Eventually a very ornate carriage that both Marcus and Mrazivy recognized pulled up, and Akeem along with a contingent of a dozen powerful guards entered the building.

    When Akeem spotted them in the restaurant, he made his way over to them asked them where Amira and her guards were.

    "Amira is sleeping in her room right now. We were not tired and descried to explore the hotel since we could not leave the premises. Please do not be hard on her. She had been doing an excellent job as our guide." Mrazivy said.

    At once the grim expression on Akeem''s face softened slightly, as he had been afraid that Marcus and Mrazivy might have been more upset at what had happened and strain the rtionship between the Eazim n and Chelmer resort.

    Swiftly, Akeem had a meeting room within the hotel prepared for them and sent one of his guards to fetch Amira.

    Soon all of them were sitting at arge table and Akeem exined more of what was going on.

    "The Guhbaa n is certainly not happy with what has happened. My intelligence has told me that they have called in every favor they have with the other major ns to try and get them on their side. Currently the head of their n is taking the stance that this Tb who instigated the attack is a thief that stole several precious items from his collection and held an unauthorized event in his n''s name. He is doing all he can to cut off the man and try to not take any responsibility. However, the worst part is that he is trying to reim the talon that Mrazivy won. Saying it was stolen property." Akeem said.

    Naturally this was all just the Guhbaa n''s head trying to cover his ass in the aftermath.

    "We have no intention of retuning our prize. The talon is ours." Mrazivy said forcefully.

    If it was actually just a simple roc''s talon then they would have had no qualms about handing it over, but since it belonged to a phoenix it was far to valuable to relinquish easily.

    "Yes, I understand. It is a preposterous request. I will make sure that they know that the talon will not be returned under any circumstances." Akeem said, assuring them.

    After that he discussed several more details with them and informed them a formal inquire into eh matter would be held in five days.

    "All of you will be expected to be present. I understand that this is a great inconvenience but there are several things that need to be address and if you as the victims are not there to state your case our standing will not be as strong." Akeem informed them.

    Of course, both Marcus and Mrazivy agreed without any resistance. They were already prepared to deal with a bit of a hassle.

    "Thank you for cooperating with us. Until the inquiry you are both free to continue enjoying the festival again starting tomorrow. I have sent for more guards to apany you. I know that neither of you need any protection, but it should serve as a deterrent. The only reason that imbecile from the Guhbaa n attacked is because he thought he could get away with it." Akeem said.

    He then took his leave and headed out to continue dealing with the headache inducing situation. Leaving Marcus and Mrazivy to their own devices.

 Chapter 880 880 Start Of The Tournament

    Swiftly the days went by as Marcus and Mrazivy continued to enjoy the Muharib Festival.

    Suring the days leading up to the tournaments which were the main events, the two of them being guided by Amira explored the festival grounds, but even after several days had only seen around forty percent of what there was to see.

    And unfortunately, two of their days were taken up with the inquiry about the attack on them by Tb who was a upper ranking member of the Guhbaa n.

    In the end everything had gone in their favor, but Yazan the leader of the Guhbaa n had put up a fight to try and reim the talon that Mrazivy had won. Even going so far as to offer them an amount of money around twenty percent above the value of a roc''s talon.

    Of course, neither Marcus nor Mrazivy were willing to give the talon back since they knew it actually belonged to a phoenix. Though the way that Yazan desperately attempted to get the talon back they suspected that he knew what it was, and Marcus did a little ghostly observation and learned that the man believed the talon to be from an evolved roc that was at the legendary grade.

    Still, with the backing of the Eazim n, the Guhbaa n was practically steamrolled during the inquiry and their n was going to receive sever penalties for what had happened. Causing them to lose their standing as one of the upper ranked ns and have to pay out a sizable sum of money to several parties while all of the attackers were to be executed and their assets seized.

    Marcus and Mrazivy, also received a number of bounties from several of the assassins that Marcus had apprehend. With the strongest one having been an especially notorious killer with a bounty of thirty thousand gold coins on her head. A monstrous sum she had received on her head for being involved in the deaths of several high-ranking members among the six major ns.

    After it was over though, Marcus and Mrazivy no longer had to worry about any more retaliation form the Guhbaa n. They currently had far too many problems to worry about and another step out of line would mean the end for them.

    This allowed Marcus and Mrazivy to enjoy the festival at their leisure until it was time for the start of the three main tournaments that were the highlights of the festival and would attract the most attention. Being held in a massive domed arena that could hold more than a million people.

    "It certainly puts any of the stadiums from Earth to shame." Marcus said as they approached the venue of the tournaments.

    The arena was farrger than any sports stadium he had seen back on Earth, and he imagined that this arena was at least twenty times the size of the famous Colosseum, if not more.

    "Oh, did they hold fighting tournaments on your original world as well?" Mrazivy asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. Marcus had already told her quite a bit about Earth but there was still plenty more she did not know.

    Shaking his head Marcus exined that therge stadiums were meant for sportingpetitions, and any sort of fighting simr to what they would be doing in Aezam had long been out of practice during the age he was born in.

    Luckily it was currently just the two of them in the carriage since they were being taken straight to an area where only participants could enter. Hence why Amira was not with them.

    This meant that Marcus could answer all of the questions that Mrazivy had about the culture on Earth now that her curiosity had been piqued.

    Soon enough their carriage had been led into the arena and a staff members led them towards the ring where the otherpetitors were gathering for the opening ceremonies before the first match of the day would be held.

    ''Now that''s impressive.'' Marcus thought, seeing the what the stage that all of the matches would be held on was made of.

    The entire thing was adamantine and had a number of enchantments etched into it and was teeming with an extreme amount of mana.

    Just with a few nces Marcus noticed that there were hundreds of magic tools set up on just the floor of the arena. Several which contained powerful defensive enchantments that would protect the audience from the shockwaves generated by the participants.

    "This puts Borealia''s arena to shame. We did not put even a tenth as many resources into our wards." Mrazivy said under her breath.

    "I imagine that is because of the regtion in Borealia preventing people over the age of fifty from participating. The battles there were not featuring the strongestbatants in the kingdom. They certainly need this level of protection to hold apetition featuring people above level seventy." Marcus responded.

    Soon they were brough to a pair of chairs around a small table with several refreshments on it that sat atop therge adamantine stage.

    Looking around Marcus saw that there were simr set ups all over with members of the same n being seated in the same area.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I suppose that most of thebatants are too high ranking to be expected to stand." Mrazivy noted as she sat down.

    Among the participants many were high ranking members of their n, and in the area designated for the Sulb n, Marcus spotted Aziz sitting next to a man who was likely their grand elder.

    "They have certainly got a great number of powerfulbatants over there. And it looks like we have their attention." Marcus said, seeing the members of the Sulb n casting their gazes over their way.

    "Yes, but it is not just them. There are other strong fighters around." Mrazivy said, looking around at the other toppetitors.

    Currently gathered on this stage was likely more than seventy percent of all of Aezam''s military might, and it certainly was very impressive. Marcus was certain that if Boreas and Gwyneira were excluded that Borealia did not quite match up.

    Among the participants in the tournaments, Marcus spotted a few groups of people that were clearly not from Aezam just like them.

    A majority of these other foreigners were sitting close to the Sulb n as their guests, but a few were actually unaffiliated with any of the major ns and had won their way into the tournament from the few open spots that to be obtained through victories in preliminary matches.

    For nearly and hour Marcus and Mrazivy simply waited in their seats, enjoying the refreshments left for them and ncing around at theirpetition and picking out those that felt and looked the strongest.

    Then once everyone of thepetitors had arrived the group of people managing the event came out onto the stage were a podium with voice amplifying magic tools were waiting.

    For several minutes announcements all types were made like an exnation of the rules, and some of the past winners of the tournament were highlighted.

    Overall, it was just standard stuff and Marcus and Mrazivy had already known about it and simply ignored what was going on while continuing to converse with telepathy.

    However, when the initial announcements had ended, and the tournaments'' brackets were disyed on the multiple magic screens around the arena both of them became alert and began scanning the duo tournament for their names.

    "There is no way that these matches were set up randomly." Marcus said seeing a tant trend.

    A majority of their matches were going to be disproportionally against members of the Sulb n. Showing that their excitement to fight them had gone far enough to have the tournament stacked so that most of them would have a chance to do so.

    In fact, only if they made it to the finals would they be fighting against Aziz and the Sulb n''s grand elder.

    "Well, they certainly look excited about it." Mrazivy said, looking towards the Sulb n''s area.

    All of the fighters that were going to have a chance against them were smiling and showing just how much they enjoyed a good fight.

    "I suppose it is better that we are up against other strong fighters. We would not want this to be boring right.'' Marcus said.

    It had been a while since either of them had a good fight and he was looking forward to utilizing his skills in this tournament. Thest time he had been in a truly difficult fight was against the archdevil, but that was a battle with his life on the line and was harrowing rather than fun. Luckily this tournament was apetition, and no one would maliciously be trying to destroy him.

    "Sir Marcus and Lady Mrazivy, I will take you to Grand Elder Akeem''s viewing box now." A staff member said after the opening ceremonies had concluded. They were not going to be fighting today, but naturally they wanted to watch the matches and see how good theirpetition was.

    Quickly they were led though the arena to the area where important and wealthy people had private boxes and were brought to one of the sixrgest.

    Going inside, Marcus and Mrazivy were impressed by howrge the area was. This single box was around three thousand square meters, with just about every facility imaginable inside it. There was even a full-sized kitchen where La and her team were currently cooking. Making it seem more like a small mansion than a viewing box for a tournament.

 Chapter 881 Watching The Tournament

    ''Akeem certainly went all out with this ce.'' Marcus thought, swiftly turning his head every which way and taking in the impressive sight that was the view box for the Eazim n''s grand elder.

    Only moments after they entered La picked up a tray of hors d''oeuvres and personally brought it over to Marcus despite this work being well below her station.

    "Now, I want your opinion on how these turned out. It is my first time serving these ingredients." La said, a gleam in her eyes.

    She had used several of the fruits that Marcus had given her that originated from the Chelmer resort and zed them with a sweet sauce before putting them on skewers. There were also a few types of fish that had been smoked and added to some herb crackers along with a few other apanying items.

    Taking one of each Marcus was greeted with rich andplex vors he very much enjoyed. While Mrazivy simply picked up several and began swiftly eating them without thinking too heavily about the ingredients involved.

    "You really are an amazing chef, La. They are all really good. Would you mind showing me how you made each of these?" Marcus said, his interest piqued.

    Yet, before La could drag him into eh kitchen, Akeem showed up wit a slightly strained smile on his face.

    "So, it was you who was holding up my guests La. I understand that you have a shared passion for cooking with Marcus here, but the first match is about to start, and it would show poorly on us if our esteemed guests missed the match."

    Shrugging her shoulders, La relented on keeping Marcus around to assist her with her recipes.

    "Now if you do not mind following me, I can assure you that we have the best view of the stage in the entire arena." Akeem said, heading away from the kitchen and towards therge window that looked out at the floor of the stadium.

    Not far from the window were ornate and plush chairs that had been set up for the higher-ranking members of the Eazim n as well as Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Already sitting in one of them was Amira, who got up and greeted Marcus and Mrazivy.

    However, while Marcus and Mrazivy were happy to be seeing Amira, there was someone else sitting nearby who they had not seen since their first day in the capital and was not particrly someone they wanted to interact with again.

    Standing up from his seat, Jamal came over with thergest fake smile Marcus had ever seen.

    "It is good to see both of you again. I must admit that I have been very busy, but I am d that my work is finallypleted, and I can once again help to attend to our n''s esteemed guest. I have heard that both of you have already made quite the showing in the earlier events of the festival. Though it is unfortunate that you also attracted trouble from the Guhbaa n. Thankfully our Eazim n was able to help you sort out that trouble, that could have severely spiraled out of control."

    Resisting the urge to role his eyes, Marcus gave a proper greeting to Jamal and made sure to express his gratitude for the Eazim n''s assistance. Of course, he could tell that none of what Jamal had said was genuine and that he was still nursing a grudge against them for refusing to take him as their guide over Amira.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "That is enough for now Jamal. The first match is about to start. It is imperative that we all watch to understand the quality of the fighters in the other ns" Akeem said, breaking up the tension that was building between Marcus, Mrazivy, and Jamal.

    Having finished their greeting, everyone sat down and looked down at the stage below. The first fighters were justing out for the opening match in the tournament.

    Every year the first battle was from a different tournament, and this year it was a group battle with each side fielding sixbatants.

    Both sides in this first match were from one of the six major ns and were boasting several powerful warriors.

    ''So, the Mahir n versus the Siasa n for the first match.'' Marcus thought.

    He had not interacted with any members from these ns, but he had read about them while studying about Aezam''s history and culture.

    Turning his gaze towards eachpetitor, Marcus appraised them all, since even if they had a means of detecting him, it would be impossible to pinpoint who was doing it.

    ''Impressive. No one under level fifty-five among either group with each one having someone in the mid-sixties as leaders. They certainly wanted the opening match to be a spectacle." Marcus thought, noticing that each team was a close match to the other.

    This fight was not going to be a one-sided beat down, but a close battle where both sides gave it their all to win.

    When the match finally began Marcus was caught off guard by not what was happening in the ring, but the window within the viewing box.

    They were quite high up and things were not clear to those without the enhanced vision skill, until the window zoomed in and began focusing on thebatants.

    "You will find that this magic tool makes it easier to see what is going on. It even has a function to rey the events of the match and slow them down. I am sure that the two of you understand that sometimes high-level fighters simply move to fast for the average person to clearly see." Akeem said, obviously proud of the magic tool by the way he held his head up high.

    It was definitely a spectacr device that made it far easier to view the matches.

    ''Now let''s see what these guys are capable of. We may not be fighting in the same tournament, but perhaps I can learn more about how the high-level warriors. in Aezam fight.'' Marcus thought, bingpletely engrossed in the match.

 Chapter 882 882 Watching The Tournament (2)

    "That was certainly impressive. Their coordination was really something and the different weapons on disy were varied and expertly wielded." Mrazivy said after the match, having thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

    Both of thepeting teams for the opening match had fought hard and done their best to win, but the one representing the Mahir n hade out on top.

    A great deal of their sess in the battle came from their back line and the defensive formation they had taken.

    Their leader and highest-level fighter had used several mithril javelins with different enchantments as his main weapons and used his high fire power and adaptability to force his opponents into a defensive position or to take reckless actions to try and push through.

    In the end only two of the members of the Mahir n''s team were incapacitated by the end of the fight while all of the Siasa n members were too injured to continue or rendered unconscious.

    "What did you think? They may not have been from our n, but I want your honest opinion of our countrymen''s warriors." Akeem said.

    "They are good. Their coordination as a unit was impable, better than even mine and Mrazivy''s." Marcus responded, saying what he thought was the truth.

    "Do you think that either of those teams could beat you though?" Akeem asked, his eyes scrutinizing Marcus and Mrazivy''s facial expression and their bodyngue.

    "No. Even if all twelve of them had attacked us together, we would win." Mrazivy said confidently.

    Expert coordination could certainly allow a group of people to beat a stronger foe, but there was just a massive difference in power between the quality that Marcus and Mrazivy had versus the warriors that had just fought.

    After looking at their stats and skills, Mrazivy was confident that none of them would have matched up to even a legendary grade beast of the same level and were closer to being equivalent to a rare grade or at best an epic grade if aparison was made. All twelve of them would not have stood any chance against either Marcus or Mrazivy who were just about as powerful as they could be for their levels.

    "I see. That is what I would expect of the two of you, seeing as how even Bashir recognizes your strength." Akeem said, looking satisfied by their answers.

    "Speaking of Bashir, where is he?" Marcus asked, looking around for Akeem''s head guard.

    "He is going to be participating in the second single''s match of the day and is likely in a waiting room right now." Akeem answered.

    "That means we will get to see him fight. That will certainly be interesting." Mrazivy said, with an excited smile.

    While they had had a few interactions with Bashir and knew he was strong, this would be their first opportunity to see him in action.

    Quickly the next match which featured a one-on-one battle was held and afterwards was the first duo battle.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Neither of these fights were all that interesting to Marcus and Mrazivy as they featured some of the weakerbatants in the tournament and what they were really looking forward to was watching Bashir.

    Eventually it was his turn, but Marcus and Mrazivy''s exactment diminished when they saw his opponent.

    ''That man does not even stand a chance.'' Marcus thought, slumping back in his chair.

    It made sense that Bashir as the strongest warrior of one of the six major ns would not have many rivals, but the man he was up against was only level fifty-three and considerably weaker.

    Certainly, level fifty-three was impressive whenpared against the general poption, but Bashir was level eighty-one and simply far more powerful.

    "I suppose we will just have to wait till theter matches." Mrazivy said with a sigh.

    The moment the match started it ended in one move. Bashir swung his system recognized adamantine halberd and used the t of the de to knock out his opponent before eh could move. Despite this match featuring the strongestbatant of the day, it was the most boring since his opponent could not even respond to the first move.

    After that there was the second duo match followed by one more set of matches from each tournament, and the day was practically over.

    The sun was beginning to sink on the horizon and evening was beginning.

    The over a million people that had been watching the tournament matches began filling out of the arena and went to enjoy the other activities of the festival or go out to bars where they discussed the day''s matches.

    With the end of the first day Marcus and Mrazivy returned to their hotel room and discussed the fighting styles they had witnessed and how they might counter them.

    "I do not see us having any trouble against any of the three teams that won today I am guessing that we will find the strongerpetitors tomorrow. Mrazivy said.

    Naturally Marcus agreed with her assertion. The strongest of the victorious duos wasprised of a level sixty-six and sixty-eight who were only slightly above the average strength for those of a simr level. They could put up a bit of a fight, but they could not really threaten Marcus or Mrazivy.

    "Well, we know that our first match is against members of the Sulb n tomorrow. They are probably going to be tougher than anyone we saw today." Marcus said, pulling out a set of bound papers that Amira had given them earlier.

    It was information on their first opponents. Including things like what weapons they used and their estimated levels.

    For around and hour they poured over this data before deciding to get some sleep. Neither of them desperately needed rest, but they figured it would be best to be as fresh as possible for their first match in the Muharib Festival''s duo tournament. Their goal was to win it all so they were not going to get conceited and bex in their preparations.

 Chapter 883 883 First Match

    "Are you sure we should not cast any enchantment spells before we enter the ring?" Marcus asked Mrazivy.

    Currently they were standing just outside the entrance to the arena''s floor where they would be participating in the Muharib Festival''s duo tournament.

    Unlike in the tournament held in Borealia, magic was not allowed to be cast during the Muharib Festival matches.

    This was because high tier spells were often too unruly to control in a limited area, plus the culture in Aezam was far more heavily focused on close quarters fighting. Unlike Borealia which had an extremely prestigious institution like the Guldur Spire that promoted the advancement of magic, Aezam did not have anything simr. There were very few high-level mages in the country.

    Though while magic could not be used during the matches, it was still eptable to cast long duration spells such as those that increased stats or ones that created longsting barriers.

    Marcus also had several offensive spells he could cast before hand from his iron magic, but most attack spells were instantaneous making them impossible to use during the tournament.

    "I do not think that our first opponents warrant using our magic. We should save it for the more difficult matches to catch our adversaries off guard." Mrazivy said, confident in their victory.

    They had received information on who they would be up against in their first match, and while they were pretty strong, it did not seem like their first opponents would be all that tough.

    One was a spear wielder that was supposed to be in the upper sixties level wise, while the other dual wielded scimitars and should be in the mid-sixties in terms of level.

    Both of them would be strong, but neither of them was higher level than Marcus so it was unlikely that they would match up.

    "Okay, I will defer to you here. But if we lose, I won''t let you hear the end of it for a decade." Marcus said, a teasing smile on his face.

    At this Mrazivy chuckled. Even without using a few buff spells before the match, the two of them had several trump cards that they could use to almost certainly ensure their victory.

    Soon, the announcer called for them to enter the arena and Marcus and Mrazivy walked out into the view of over a million spectators here to watch the tournament.

    Neither of them received much apuse, which made since as they were foreigners participating for the first time.

    Their opponents on the other hand received resounding cheers of support. These two had taken part in thest five Muharib Festivals and made a name for themselves as high-level contenders. Certainly, they had never gotten past the top sixteen teams, but they were well known and had plenty of fans.

    Once they reached the top of the adamantine stage Marcus and Mrazivy immediately appraised their opponents. Since they were about to do battle there was no need to worry about being polite.

    Their opponents did the same but were blocked from seeing Mrazivy''s information by the powerful magic item she kept on herself to disrupt the creature appraisal skill, and the information they collected about Marcus was unfortunately very different from the truth.

    ''Looks like the information we got was close to correct. Both of them must have raised their levels though, since the spear wielder named Casildo had reached level seventy wile the dual scimitar user Fasil is now at level sixty-seven.'' Marcus thought reading the information he had received from his appraisal.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Their stats were a bit more than double what someone who never used any boosting items would get simply by leveling up, showing that they certainly must have consumed plenty of natural treasures to raise their stats.

    Still, even their best stats were still below Marcus and Mrazivy''s worst.

    Among their skills, Mrazivy informed Marcus that only Fasil had a unique skill and only one at that. Other than that, they just possessed skills that almost all high-level warriors had without anything that was worrying or unusual.

    "We can go with your n then." Marcus said.

    Smiling, Mrazivy could not be happier that Marcus had agreed to her idea.

    Quickly the announcer began detailing who everyone fighting in the match was and which ns they were representing. And in the Casildo''s and Fasil''s cases their past performances in previous Muharib Festivals.

    When the announcer finished his announcements and dered the start of the bout, Marcus turned away from his opponents and started walking towards the edge of the stage.

    As part of Mrazivy''s n to show off their skills and impress the Sulb n she was going to be fighting in the first match by herself.

    Naturally this caught Casildo and Fasil off guard, as they could not believe that Marcus had turned his back on them and was leaving Mrazivy on her own.

    "You should keep you eyes on me and not get distracted. Marcus is just going to be a sectator this time, so you only need to worry about me." Mrazivy said, brandishing her top tier adamantine sword.

    "How insolent! You are taking us far too lightly!" Casildo yelled, clearly furious about the situation.

    Fasil shared this sentiment and red at Marcus who was just standing at the back of the stage and watching with his arms crossed.

    "Are you really just going to let your partner fight us by herself?! Do you have no honor!"

    In response, Marcus just shrugged is shoulders and did not engage. He had already agreed to stay out of the fight and was confident that Mrazivy would be fine without him.

    "I thought it told you to keep your eyes on me." Mrazivy said with a deadly cold tone.

    While Fasil had been directing his focus towards Marcus, Mrazivy had moved right next to Fasil and had her sword ced against his throat.

    Neither he nor Casildo had seen Mrazivy move since they were distracted, and a cold sweat began pouring down Fasil''s back as he felt the sharp de slightly cut into his neck.

 Chapter 884 884 First Match (2)

    After getting her point across that she was not to be trifled with, Mrazivy removed her de from Fasil''s neck and jumped back.

    Normally, the position she had him in would be grounds for him to be eliminated, but she moved away before the announcer could call it. Something that just about everyone watching found iprehensible.

    "Now, forget about the fact that Marcus will not be fighting. You are both going to have your hands full dealing with only me. Next time you turn your attention away, I will not pull back." Mrazivy said, her tone sharp and shilling.

    Having gotten a glimpse of Mrazivy''s power, Casildo and Fasil no longer paid any mind to their earlier grievances and kept their eyes trained on Mrazivy. Even if they had not been fully focused on her, they were seasoned fighters with decades of experience, yet she had slipped past their guards and could have taken Fasil''s head off if she wanted to. This was not something just anyone would be capable of.

    Staring off the fight, Fasil crossed his scimitars and sliced through the air and created arge st of mana right towards Mrazivy.

    At the same time, Casildo ran at her from the left side where she had more room to dodge as Fasil purposely angled his attack slightly to the right.

    This was the ssic opening attack that the two of them would use and it had caught plenty of stronger opponents off guard.

    However, while most would try to avoid the attack that Fasil hadunched, Mrazivy held her ground and sliced through the powerful mana attack with her sword.

    The st of mana spit in two around her and continued towards the audience where it hit the powerful barrier protecting them.

    Seeing what happened actually momentarily stole Mrazivy''s attention since the attack was absorbed rather than simply just repelled.

    During thispse in her awareness, Casildo ran in and thrust his spear towards Mrazivy while using his strongest attack skill.

    His spear rotated around fast and shot out at Mrazivy like a bullet.

    Casildo''s attack had an immense amount of power and speed behind it, but without using any skills other than her swordsmanship Mrazivy turned the spear aside.

    "Arghhh!"

    Screaming out to psych himself up, Casildo chained dozens of thrusts at Mrazivy in an attempt to break through her guard, but without moving a single step she swung her sword and blocked every single thrusting her way.

    As Casildo was starting to waver, Fasil jumped in swinging both of his scimitars at Mrazivy the moment she was blocking the spearing for her.

    It would seem this was the perfect opening, but Mrazivy turned on her toes and brought her sword around to deflect the iing attack.

    For several seconds the three of them were embroiled in a high-speed battle of thrusts and swings, but despite being outnumbered Mrazivy blocked every attacking her way.

    She did not take a single step away from the spot she was standing on, simply turning around whenever she needed to deflect a blowing from behind her. There were three weapons that she had to contend withing at her, but with just her single sword she continued to meet Casildo''s spear and Fasil''s scimitars without letting a single attack in or moving her body out of the way.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Mrazivy was disying her overwhelming swords skills that had reached level nine afterpleting the special dungeon, and her stats that far exceeded her opponents.

    Eventually Casildo and Fasil realized they were not going to be breaking through Mrazivy and jumped back to regain their bearings ande up with another strategy of attack.

    ''Oh, looks like they are finally getting serious.'' Mrazivy thought, feeling both of them bing more dangerous.

    Fasil had just activated his unique skill which was called Victory Field.

    This unique skill was simr to the rare support magic in that it raised the stats of those deemed allies of the user and lowered the stats of enemies.

    ''It looks like I lost about six percent of my stats, and both of theirs have been raised by eighteen percent. Not bad, it is a powerful unique skill.'' Mrazivy thought analyzing what had just happened.

    Of course, she knew that this stat lowering for enemies and boosting was not all this unique skill did. It had another power that only effected Fasil and warped probability towards his favor. Basically, it made luckier, or his enemies unluckier.

    Still, if there was a zero percent chance that he could win, it did not matter how lucky he was.

    Feeling that she could no longer continue to fight with just her swordsmanship skill, Mrazivy activated her mana body skill along with several others that increased her physical abilities.

    With several skills now activated she more than offset the decrease in her stats and the increase in her opponents.

    The two of them came at her harder than before, unleashing powerful skill after the next, and Mrazivy could no longer simply stay in ce as their coordination had taken a huge leap forward.

    She used her footwork to move around now and avoid attacks, but she was actually getting hit asionally by Fasil.

    His luck increase made it so that on asion his positioning and timing would be perfect, and he wouldnd a blow against Mrazivy.

    Of course, even when he hit, she was able to position her body so that his scimitars only connected with her armor, and she effectively took no damage.

    Soon, even with his increased luck Fasil found himself not connecting any attacks as Mrazivy got more ustomed to their fighting style and looking out for situations where his unique skill would kick in.

    Then when she felt that her movements had improved as much as they would during this battle, Mrazivy finally attacked.

    During the entire match she had not once swung her sword with the intent to harm her opponents, but now she was ready to end the match.

    ''Sword savant style fourth form, whirlpool strikes.''

 Chapter 885 885

    ''Sword savant style fourth form, whirlpool strikes.''

    Spinning around with fluid movements and unleashing a rapid series of shes, Mrazivy assaulted Casildo and Fasil and forced the two onto the defensive.

    Each strike she made was devastating, and Casildo was the first to fall after blocking her attacks for just three seconds.

    She was able slice the Achilles Tendon on his right foot and stabbed the tip of her de into the elbow joint of his armor on the right side.

    This gave him crippling injuries on both sides, and he was wholly unable to defend against Mrazivy''s final attack against him.

    She easily stepped past his guard and mmed the pommel of her saber into his right temple.

    Casildo tried to protect his head with a quickly formed mana barrier, but the power behind Mrazivy''s strike broke through.

    The moment her attack hit his temple he crumbled to the ground and was clearly not going to be getting up for a while.

    It was in this moment that Fasil viciously attacked Mrazivy with all he had. She had seemingly left herself open when focusing on finishing off Casildo and Fasil was not going to let his partner''s defeat be in vain.

    "Deadly Cross!" Fasil screamed as he sliced both his scimitars down at Mrazivy.

    ''Sword savant style seventh form, warding sh.''

    Turning around faster than Fasil could perceive, Mrazivy sued another one of the skills her master had taught her and swinging her sword in a zigzag pattern in front of herpletely deflected Fasil''s attack and blew him back at the same time.

    She then changed her stance to unleash a finish blow against her opponent whose footing waspletely unstable.

    ''Sword savant style first form, tempest fang.''

    Her sword gripped in both hands Mrazivy shot forward and swung down with all her might.

    Except, Fasil in apletely unpredictable urrence tripped right as Mrazivy was bringing her de down and she swung past him. Carving a deep gash into the adamantine stage that had so far held up to every attack.

    What just happened was almost inconceivable and an effect of the luck boost that Fasil''s unique skill gave him.

    For a single instance after he tripped Mrazivy was showing the perfect opening and Fasil shed at the gap in her armor between her lower back and waist.

    However, despite it seeming like he would connect, as there was no way Mrazivy should have been able to dodge from the position she was in, his de only met air and his target hadpletely vanished from his sight.

    In the next moment he felt a hand on the back of his neck and Mrazivy''s saber slid under his armor and slightly piercing right armpit. From this position she could stab her sword all the way through his body and pierced his heart if she wanted to.

    "I surrender." Fasil said, his head hung low in defeat.

    After the announcer confirmed Marcus and Mrazivy had won, Mrazivy removed her de from under Fasil''s arm and began walking back towards Marcus.

    "It seems that we do not have any fans here." Mrazivy said, looking around at the crowd that was silent and still.

    Normally once a match had beenpleted there would be thunderous apuse and cheering, but everything was currently quiet.

    This was due to how iprehensible Mrazivy''s victory had been.

    All by herself she had handily defeated two high level warriors that were known to have decent showings in the Muharib Festival.

    Certainly, they were not contenders to win any of the tournaments, but Casildo and Fasil were still among the strongest fighters in the nation. Watching them get tossed around without putting up much of a fight was just something those that had watched them in the past could not understand.

    It also did not help that Marcus and Mrazivy were foreign guests appearing for the first time and were unknown by almost everyone.

    But as things were beginning to be awkward, several people sitting in the section reserved for the Sulb n began pping despite theirpatriots having just been soundly beaten.

    As a n that promoted strength above all else, they were acknowledging Marcus and Mrazivy for beating some of their powerful warriors.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Soon the fanfare infected the entire stadium and Marcus and Mrazivy, well mostly just Mrazivy since she was the one that did all the fighting was met with a roar of cheers and pping.

    "I guess that we are famous now." Mrazivy said with a pleased smile. She was not above enjoying a bit of admiration from random people.

    "I think you mean that you are famous. I did not so anything but stand around." Marcus responded.

    At this Mrazivy mischievously chuckled.

    "Don''t worry. Next time will be your turn. This fight helped me get the rust off, so I will leave the next match to you. We will make a better impression if both of us singlehandedly win a match by ourselves."

    "I figured you were going to pull something like this." Marcus said with a sigh.

    Still, it was certainly an effective way to impress the Sulb n. He was certain that after he showed off a bit in the next match that they would likely be able to get approval to enter the Deste Desert which was their ultimate goal.

    With their match finished, Marcus and Mrazivy made their exit and returned to Akeem''s viewing box to watch the rest of the matches for the day.

    When the two of them arrived, they were met with a feast that had been prepared to celebrate their victory in the first match.

    "That was experiential. With that showing everyone will know that you are both formidable." Akeem said, a pleased smile on his face.

    As Marcus and Mrazivy were his n''s guests, the prestige that they built up would positively affect the Eazim n.

    "Yes, it was most impressive. The moves that you demonstrated were beautiful Mrazivy." Amira said.

    Thanks to the yback and slowdown function of the screen that was set up in the box even someone as low level as Amira had been able to see each of Mrazivy''s moves.

    "Those sword skills you used are unlike anything I have ever seen. Where did you learn them? And thatst move you used to dodge Fasil''s attack, what sort of skill did you use" Bashir, Akeem''s head guard asked.

    Normally he just remained silent and stood behind his master to protect him, but as a fellow warrior he could not help but be curious after seeing Mrazivy''s exceptional performance.

    Of course, Mrazivy was about to truthfully answer Bashir and tell him about the Sword Savant, but Marcus mped his hand over his mouth.

    He knew that Mrazivy''s master was a wanderer that cared little for authority, and it was possible that he had been through Aezam before and left less than a ster impression. Marcus saw that there was no good that coulde of Mrazivy''s revealing who had taught her.

    "Sorry, where I learned my sword skills is a secret. But as for the skill I used to avoid Fasil''sst attack, it is called warp steps. It is a sort of more advanced version of the speed burst skill that allows you to move extremely fast almost like teleportation. The skill is hard to learn and uses a great deal of mana to activate. But it is very useful." Mrazivy said, revealing the information Marcus had told her was okay.

    Bashir looked very interested in this skill and wanted to ask more about it when Akeem raised his hand to stop him.

    "I myself am very interested in this skill I have never heard of, but if we keep standing around the food that La prepared will go cold. Let us eat first and we can have a more detailed discussionter." Akeem said, bringing the conversation to an end.

    After that they all moved to arge dining table that had been set up in front of the viewing screen and ate while watching the next match in the tournament.

    "Oh, this will be one to watch. One of these pairs will almost certainly be your opponents in the third match." Akeem said, looking down with interest.

    One side was apparently the strongest duo from the Hayil n which was among the six major ns.

    The other duo was another set of foreigners that were here as guests of the Sulb n.

    However, unlike Marcus and Mrazivy who had been given one of the Eazim n''s slots in the tournament these two had won their way through preliminary matches to get here.

    With one look it was clear that the two of them were twins as they looked almost identical.

    ''I think that they are the first beast people I have seen in Aezam. Judging by the patterns on their ears and tails I am guessing that they a leopard beast people.'' Marcus thought.

    He could also tell without appraising them that the two of them were very strong. The way that they carried themselves showed just how confident they were in their power.

 Chapter 886 886 Tough Competition

    "This is certainly going to be interesting." Mrazivy said, her eyes turning gold and her pupils'' bing slits as she used her dragon eyes to appraise the four participants about to fight.

    On one side was the strongest duo for the Hayil n and on the other a pair of leopard beastwoman sisters that were undoubtably strong.

    Marcus had tried appraising them himself, but they had either items or skills to prevent him from getting any information.

    Luckily, Mrazivy''s dragon eyes could see through just about any protection. Even unique skills like Marcus'' False Status.

    ''So, what do their statuses look like?'' Marcus asked Mrazivy using telepathy.

    ''Impressive all around.'' Mrazivy responded before going into more detail.

    For those representing the Hayil n their names were Kaleem who was level seventy-nine and Malika who was level eighty.

    Just like Marcus and Mrazivy they were a married pair and were the strongest warriors within one of the major ns.

    Mrazivy found that each one of them had three unique skills and that their stats were almost three times what would be attainable from leveling up alone.

    Their normal skills were also impressive with each having weapon skills at level eight along with some rarer skills like mana thief and regeneration.

    Both of them were definitely worthy of being called the strongest members of a major n.

    However, the two leopard beastwoman twins that were their opponents were no less impressive and were actually a bit stronger.

    The older sister was named Zilre and was level eighty-three and the younger sister named Igna was level eighty-one. The older sister had four unique skills, while the younger had three.

    Their stats were simrly nearly three times what would be achievable from only leveling up, and their skills lists were long and filled with all manner of weapon skills.

    After hearing all of the details from Mrazivy, Marcus was definitely excited to fight either duo.

    ''I understand now why Akeem said that one of them was likely to be our third-round opponents. I do not see whoever wins this match losing in their second bout. When we fight against one of their teams that will be the real first test for us in this tournament.'' Marcus thought.

    Soon the announcer finished hyping up the match between these two teams that was certain to be the highest-level battle yet in the tournament.

    When the match was officially started the entire ring seemed to explode as both pairs opened with extremely powerful mana attacks.

    As the blinding light from their opening attacks cleared, all that most people could see were four blurs moving around at high speed before suddenlying to a momentarily stop with their weapons locked, before once again moving too fast to be seen properly.

    However, for Marcus and Mrazivy they were able to keep up with all of the action without the viewing screen ying back and slowing things down for them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''It is rare to see individuals so well versed in as many weapons as those sister''s are.'' Marcus thought while watching the battle.

    The two leopard beastwoman twins seamlessly switched between several types of weapons depending on the situation. Normally people would only stick with one main weapon type, but each of them had a half dozen different weapons they were capable of using at a high level.

    Of course, they both had one main weapon that they were best with as every individual only could receive one superior weapon skill.

    For Zilre, the older sister, this weapon was a long, spiked club called a kanab¨­. A weapon Marcus had never seen before on Mirrion but one he remembered seeingmonly wielded by a certain type of monster in mythology back on Earth.

    The younger sister''s superior weapon was another unusual one, w des that extended around her fingers and allowed her to fight a lot like a cat.

    Both sisters had almost contrasting fighting styles, with the older sister focusing on power and devastating attacks, while the younger sister was agile and would try to outmaneuver her opponents.

    On the other side Kaleem wielded a war hammer that he swung around with incredible force, and Malika used an estoc and shield. Making both of their weapons especially effective against armor.

    ''Looks like the match is finally getting serious.''

    Once around four minutes had passed, each of the duos began using their unique skills.

    This caused the match to be far more explosive than it already had been, and the entire arena shook when the four of them shed.

    ''Damn, is she really going to use something like that in a confined space.'' Marcus thought watching Malika active one of her unique skills.

    It was called Holy Thunder Sword and it enveloped her estoc in radiant golden lighting that could be unleashed in one massive devastating attack.

    This was the kind of unique skill that was used as a finisher and Marcus could feel the immense power behind the attack even from the viewing box he was in.

    Many people in the crowd screamed in terror or even passed out simply because of the prince of the devastating attack that could probably destroy a small city in one move.

    Yet, neither Zilre nor Igna faltered even as they faced off against such a devastating power.

    Zilre pulled out a massive adamantine shield she and her sister could hide behind and activated one of her own unique skills to tank the attack.

    It was a powerful defensive ability called Unwavering Wall and Zilre seemed to produce a tralucent aura around her in the form of arge shield.

    When Malika swung her estoc and unleashed her attack, golden lightning consumed the leopard woman twins and continued on towards the barriers protecting the audience.

    The first barrier held up for all of a single second before being pierced through like wet paper and the defensive magic tools activated in full force to prevent any coteral damage among those that hade to watch the tournament.

 Chapter 887 887 Tough Competition (2)

    ''Is it going to hold.'' Marcus thought, watching the protective magic around the arena crumbling in the wake of Malika''s Holy Thunder Sword Unique Skill.

    Thankfully it seemed that Aezam had applied the absolute best defensive enchantments that they could to the arena, as eventually even Malika''s attack was pushed back by the barriers protecting the audience.

    This was certainly impressive, as these devices had just withstood an attack unique skill from a level eighty warrior.

    However, the ring itself had seen better days, and the small gash Mrazivy had sliced into it was not evenparable to the damage it had just taken.

    Even the enchanted adamantine had been melted by the golden lightning and along the attack''s path the ring was heavily warped.

    Except one spot was still perfectly fine, and that was where Zilre and Igna were standing.

    Zilre''s shield looked worse for wear and was definitely ruined, but neither she nor her sister seemed to have taken much damage despite how devastating Malika''s attack had been.

    "I am really d we entered this tournament now. I cannot wait to fight either duo." Mrazivy said, practically buzzing with excitement.

    It was rare for them to be able to fight such powerful opponents in a friendly match, and of course, Mrazivy enjoyed testing her skills against other experts quite a bit.

    Marcus was also looking forward to it, but he did not relish in battle nearly as much as his wife.

    After Zilre and Igna had tanked Malika''s attack unique skill the match continued to rage on for nearly ten more minutes before a clear advantage could be seen.

    The duo representing the Hayil n started to overwhelm the beastwoman twins.

    Kaleem and Malik''s unique skills were just a bit more suited to battle than Zilre''s and Igna''s.

    This allowed the husband-and-wife pair to slowly beat the sisters who were suffering from several slight injuries at this point.

    Except there was a power that the twins had been holding back on using that drastically increased their powers when it was activated.

    ''So, they finally went ahead and used it. I suppose they were bound to lose otherwise.'' Marcus thought, watching the twin leopard beastwomen undergo drastic changes.

    Almost all evolved beast people had a race ability that awakened their bestial powers and the higher their evolution the more powerful this transformation was.

    Marcus had seen both Treasa and Lyra use this power in the past for explosive increases in power.

    Treasa as a tungsten tiger gained enhanced strength and grew more fur on her body that added a powerfulyer of protection.

    Lyra''s awakening on the other hand was far more powerful. Her being a golden fox beastperson put her at the equivalent of a mythic grade beast and she had several race abilities that were as strong as unique skills.

    As for Zilre and Igna, their awakenings were not quite at the level of Lyra''s, but only a step below it.

    Each one of them was a different type of evolved leopard beast person with Zilre being a magma leopard and Igna being a phantom leopard.

    Once the awakening transformation hadpleted, Zilre''s spots had be red hot, and her body had increased in size by around seventy percent. Making her already normallyrge form that was two meters tall nearly three and a half meters tall.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Igna though had actually disappeared from view. She had already blended in well with her surroundings as if she always had some level of concealment around her, but now she had be fully invisible and intangible. An ability that was normally reserved only for spirits and ghosts.

    Nevertheless, while most could not hope to see Igna anymore, Marcus using his spiritual energy to enhance his eyes was able to make her out just fine.

    Now that the beastwoman twins were exercising the full power of their races, the battle turned once again in their favor.

    Zilre''s already high strength stat had soared and whenever her club stuck the stage a pool of magma erupted around the area.

    Igna, however, was definitely the more difficult opponent for Kaleem and Malika.

    While both of them could use spiritual energy, their level of expertise with the difficult skill was rudimentary.

    It took them both a great deal of focus to just to challenge the energy into their eyes to attempt to keep track of Igna. Trying to enhance their weapons as well took too much effort for them to do while having to also focus on not being crushed or burned by Zilre.

    Eventually Igna''s w des scored a hit against Malika''s neck and blood began pouring out of her.

    Thanks to having the regeneration skill this randomly fatal wound was not going to kill her, but she was unable to defend herself for several moments after taking the hit and Zilre mmed her club into the defenseless woman.

    Malika flew across the arena until she impacted the barrier, and she slid down it and copsed onto the floor unmoving.

    With one look Marcus could tell that Malika had several shattered bones all throughout her body, along with some intense burns from the zing aura Zilre was generating.

    Kaleem tried to avenge his wife''s defeat as best he could, but in a two on one battle he did notst long before Igna had used her de ws to cut through several of his muscles and prevent him from moving around properly.

    In the end Kaleem was deemed unable to continue and the leopard beast woman twins Zilre and Igna were announced as the winners.

    The crowd in the arena went absolutely wild with cheering at the end of this battle. Among all the matches so far during the Muharib Festival, it had been the most intense and explosive. Creating a truly amazing spectacle even for those that could not fully grasp what had urred during the battle.

    "So, do you two think you stand a chance against them?" Jamal asked, a smirk on his face.

    Despite it being in the best interest of his n if Marcus and Mrazivy won, he was hoping that they would express some fear here at the overwhelming disy of power that Zilre and Igna had demonstrated.

    "It will be tough, but I am certain we can stand on equal footing with them." Mrazivy said, not a hint of terror in her expression or tone.

    Jamal grimaced at this response, and it looked like he was going to try and goad them again, when Akeem interrupted.

    "I am sure that our two esteemed guests will do perfectly fine. Bashir has already given me his assertion that both of them are just as powerful as he is."

    Hearing this Jamal froze with his mouth hung wide open. Before all he knew was that they were strong but having thempared directly to the Eazim n''s top warrior really put just how powerful they both were into perspective.

    This finally seemed to shut Jamal up and he made his presence small. Now he knew that if he really pissed Marcus and Mrazivy off, that even his n''s best fighter would not be able to protect him against both of them.

 Chapter 888 888 Marcus Shows Off

    "You''re up this time Marcus." Mrazivy said, pushing him forward and standing at the back of the ring.

    It was now time for their second match in the tournament and just as Mrazivy took on both of their opponents in the first match, Marcus was going to be fighting on his own in this one.

    Their opponents this time were from Mahir n, who in an upset beat the Sulb n members they had been up against in the first match.

    This broke the chain of participants from the Sulb n that were going to be fighting against Marcus and Mrazivy.

    ''The man on the left named Eyad is level sixty-four and the woman on the right named Chardae is level sixty-two.'' Marcus thought, having appraised his opponents.

    At first, he was wondering how they had made it to the second round. Their levels were lower than the pair that Mrazivy had beaten in the first round.

    But when Mrazivy informed him that these two possessed two unique skills a piece and had achieved evolutions that were above average it made sense.

    Still, even after Mrazivy told him what they were capable of he did not feel any sense of danger. Marcus had fought plenty of more dangerous people and creatures before.

    As the announcer rattled off his usual speech about the two teams about to face off against each other, Eyad and Chardae warily watched Marcus.

    Unlike in thest fight when their opponents had gotten offended that Mrazivy would be facing them alone, these two knew that taking Marcus lightly even if he was going to be fighting alone would be a huge mistake.

    The moment that the announcer started the match Eyad and Chardae used both of their unique skills and attacked Marcus with everything they had.

    It was a sound strategy to try and overwhelm him all at once before he could get his bearings.

    Luckily neither one of Marcus'' opponents had unique skills with tricky effects to deal with like Fasil''s Victory Field giving him greater luck. All Eyad''s and Chardae''s unique skills did was boost their base abilities.

    The two attacks reached Marcus at the same time, with Eyad bringing down his adamantine greatsword towards Marcus'' right shoulder, while Chardae was bent low and attacking Marcus from below with two stiletto knives on his left side.

    Their attacks were well coordinated and had a great deal of power behind them that would make it difficult to block both attacks.

    Of course, Marcus did not feel any threat at all and simply stood in the exact ce he had started the match in without moving a muscle. He had no need to take any action.

    At the same instant Eyad''s greatsword cleaved cleanly through Marcus and Chardae''s stilettos pierced into him. Or at least that was what it looked like at first.

    Eyad''s weapon passed all the way through Marcus without connection with anything solid and Chardae''s hands seemed to be pierced all the way through Marcus'' body and hade out the other side without any resistance.

    Thispletely stunned the two attackers and neither understood what had happened or realized an unforeseen consequence of Marcus having be intangible.

    Eyad''s de had not been slowed down at all and he was momentarily dazed by what had happened. Causing him to not notice that his weapon''s current trajectory was going to connect with his partner.

    Chardae''s arms were still pashed through Marcus'' body and Eyad''s greatsword was just an instant away from literally disarming her, when she was suddenly flung back.

    Right before Eyad''s de had caused irreparable damage to his partner, Marcus had kicked Chardae back. This was not a fight to the death and just apetitive match. He was not going to have one of his opponents identally dismember the other one.

    Marcus then punched towards Eyad who was standing their stunned and connected with his face,unching therge man back as well.

    ''I would say that was a pretty good showing of what I can do.'' Marcus thought looking at his two opponents who were sprawled out on the stage.

    Naturally neither of them could truly process what had just happened, and they were not eh only ones.

    The audience had seen Marcus get run through by three weapons without offering any resistance, but in the next instant his attackers who looked to have beenpletely sessful were blown back.

    Very few individuals watching realized what had happened, and even then, none of them could guess that Marcus was a spirit. At least not just from that single interaction.

    Without taking a single step or drawing a weapon, Marcus had undoubtedly won the opening exchange of the bout and after getting back to their feet, Eyad and Chardae did not try attacking again. Both of them just stared at Marcus in confusion and fear.

    "I suppose if you are not going toe to me, I wille to you." Marcus said after having a stare off with his opponents for a little over a minute.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    For the first time since the match had started, he took a step forward and opened up his item box.

    Henguidly moved forward and slowly dragged his recently forged adamantine scythe out of his item box to give off a menacing effect.

    When Eyad and Chardae saw Marcus'' weapon they shuddered uncontrobly as they could sense just how dangerous Marcus had be with his favored type of weapon in hand.

    Without any sense of urgency Marcus continued to walk forward towards Eyad and Chardae as if he was going on a leisurely stroll rather than moving closer to the people that he was fighting.

    Eventually Eyad seemed to snap and let his frustration and anger take over. He felt that if he did not give into an almost mindless assault made in a rage that he would back down and run away. Something that would go against his pride as a warrior.

    Of course, this meant that his earlier coordination with his partner was nowhere to be seen and Chardae was a second behind him.

    Eyad unleashed a flurry of blows against Marcus, but not a single one connected.

    Marcus expertly phased out the parts of his body that were in the greatsword''s path.

    He then swung the butt of his scythe''s handle towards Eyad''s chin without minding the great sword that was pierced through his head.

    Eyad brough up his left arm to block the attack with his armor, but Marcus'' scythe passed right through his arm and the butt of the handle smashed into his chin.

    Once more Eyad went flying without knowing what had just happened to him.

    Chardae, who was closing in, abruptly stopped and ran after her partner instead to help him. And also, because she was not going to fight Marcus on her own.

    ''I can safely say after that interaction that neither of them can use spiritual energy.'' Marcus thought.

    Thanks to his mastery over switching between a solid and intangible form, those that were not well versed in manipting spiritual energy were pretty much helpless against him.

    Even the Doomsday Worm, despite being a monster over level ny, had been unable to harm him since he could just go into his ghost form to avoid its attacks.

    After Chardae had helped Eyad up, the two turned their attention back towards Marcus. A hint of terror in their eyes.

    The unknown was a scarry thing and neither of them could figure out Marcus'' power.

    Their next attempt was to fire a wide range mana attack thatpletely engulfed Marcus. At this point they were simply testing out their options to see what worked.

    But when the attack had cleared Marcus waspletely unharmed. Having allowed the mana attack to pass through him harmlessly.

    For a single moment Eyad and Chardae looked towards Mrazivy, wondering if there was some way they could catch Marcus off guard by attacking her.

    However, Mrazivy was not some damsel in distress that Marcus needed to protect. She was just as dangerous as him.

    Seeing that he was very close topletely breaking his opponent''s spirits, Marcus decided to finally end the match. He figured he had shown off his powers enough.

    "Death Dance."

    One instant Eyad and Chardae were standing about as far away as they could from Marcus and trying toe up with their next n of attack, and the next, blood was spraying out of their bodies in multiple ces.

    Marcus had seamlessly appeared between the two of them without them being able to react and used one of his strongest attack skills to inflict several debilitating wounds.

    Both Eyad and Chardae dropped their weapons with the muscles in their wrists shed and they fell to the floor just a momentter.

    Quickly pools of their own blood began forming under them and the two of them could onlyy unmoving without being able toprehend how they been beaten.

 Chapter 889 889 An Unexpected Meeting

    "The pair of Marcus and Mrazivy have won!" The announcer of the tournament said loudly, his voice resounding over the entire massive stadium thanks to the magic tools throughout it.

    Unlike thest time when Mrazivy had shocked the audience into silence with her impressive disy of prowess bypletely overwhelming their opponents in the first round, this time the audience met Marcus'' disy with thunderous cheers and apuse.

    He had certainly put on a show, and while few understood what sort of ability he had used to allow weapons to pass straight through his body, it was still something that was amazing to watch.

    "Regenerate."

    With his and Mrazivy''s victory confirmed, Marcus cast the tier seven healing magic spell on Eyad and Chardae who were pretty badly injured by Marcus'' final attack.

    In only a matter of seconds their sliced muscles and tensions had fully recovered as Marcus cast what was considered probably the most famous and sought-after healing magic.

    Normally he would not make such a public disy of using this magic, but it was just another way to impress the Sulb n and guarantee their approval and assistance with entering the Deste Desert where the Font of Death was.

    Naturally Eyad and Chardae were stunned by the magic that Marcus had just cast on them, and even as they stood up, could not believe that their injuries hadpletely faded.

    Neither of them had a regeneration skill and would have normally needed several days of recovery with the help of an experienced healer to recover.

    As Aezam was a nation that was focused more on martial superiority rather than magic the number of mages with healing magic was low, and there were only two in the entire country that could use the same spell that Marcus just had.

    "Thank you very much. Is there anything we can do to repay you?" Chardae said, bowing her head to Marcus.

    Despite just having been one-sidedly beat down by him, she was still able to properly express her gratitude for the healing he had provided.

    Eyad joined in a momentter and asked that Marcus let thempensate him, but he just waved his hand and refused.

    "I did it because I felt like it. Nothing more."

    After saying that he turned around and walked towards Mrazivy who had a smirk on her face.

    "You sure were trying your best to act cool there. ''I did it because I felt like it. Nothing more.''" Mrazivy said, lowering and exaggerating her voice to immediate Marcus and tease him a little

    "Sometimes acting is important. We are trying to make a favorable impression here." Marcus said, ncing up towards where the Sulb n''s viewing box was.

    He could feel several intense stares being directed towards them from this direction and he was certain that the grand elder of the Sulb n was among them.

    With the match now over, Marcus and Mrazivy left the stage and returned to the Eazim n''s viewing box to watch the rest of the day''s matches.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, when they arrived there were several unexpected guests and things were quite tense.

    "Marcus, Mrazivy, the grand elder of the Sulb n wishes to speak with you." Amira said, approaching them with a ghastly look on her face.

    With one look Marcus could figure that the Sulb n''s grand elder had burst in here without so much as trying to schedule a proper meeting.

    Along with the man who once and possibly still did hold the title of strongest warrior in the nation was his younger brother Aziz, who Mrazivy had met briefly when he calmed the crowd of the Beast Pushing event.

    ''This is my first time seeing him up close, but the Sulb n''s grand elder really is something.'' Marcus thought.

    Examining the man, he could tell that the grand elder was very powerful. Despite being hundreds of years old, he still looked to only be in his early thirties.

    Once Amira had led Marcus and Mrazivy to where Akeem was hosting the two unexpected guests, she promptly backed off and moved to a corner where she tried to make herself as small as possible.

    "It is a pleasure to meet you Grand Elder Ghazi Sulb and Lord Aziz Sulb." Marcus said, bowing his head.

    Mrazivy did the same a momentter, and the two of them waited for the pair of high-ranking individuals to respond.

    "It is likewise an honor to meet the two of you. I never thought I would have the chance to meet a superior spirit and a dragon. You two make quite the strange pair" Ghazi said, standing up and extending a hand to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Of course, both of them froze in the wake of the Sulb n''s grand elder words. He was a little off the mark in both of their cases, but he had just revealed information that they had been keeping hidden.

    Everyone else in the room looked shocked by this and the momentary hesitation that Marcus and Mrazivy had shown pretty much all but confirmed Ghazi''s assertion even if it was not entirely correct.

    ''I thought that I might be discovered after using my intangibility, but how did he figure Mrazivy out as well?''

    Marcus racked his brain for a second, but nothing came to mind. Mrazivy had not used her draconic transformation or shot out any breath attacks sinceing to Aezam.

    "Is this true!?" Akeem shouted, losing hisposure and standing up abruptly.

    Never had he thought that his n was hosting beings that were in the realms of myth. Dragons were already incredibly rare, but humanoid spirits that roamed the world were basically nonexistent.

    "Before we go any further, I would like to rify a few things. I am not a dragon, but a dragonoid, a type of half human half dragon. At one time I was just a normal human before evolving. Likewise, Marcus was once human as well before bing a spirit."

 Chapter 890 890 Unleashed Suspicions

    A still silence took over the entire room after Mrazivy revealed some more detailed information about herself and Marcus.

    Nevertheless, it was clear immediately that what she had done had its intended effect.

    By iming that she and Marcus were once human as well, it helped to calm the room down a bit. If they were former humans, it made more sense why they were interacting with human society.

    "I have never heard of a human bing half dragon, or bing a superior spirit, but you do not seem to be lying." Ghazi said, able to use his years of experience to tell that Mrazivy was telling the truth.

    Of course, she did not rify that Marcus was actually a great spirit, not a lower ranking superior one, and that he was also a ghost as well.

    "Yes, well long ago I had an ancestor that was a dragon. There were many conditions, but I was able to awaken the ancient blood within me." Mrazivy said, a smile on her face indicating she was not going to say anymore.

    "Now, if I may ask, what gave us away?" Marcus said, interjecting.

    Ghazi turned towards him and was about to answer, when the frantic Akeem could no longer hold back and barraged Marcus and Mrazivy with a series of questions.

    Up to this point he had not dug in too deep because he did not want to strain his n''s rtions with the Chelmer Resort, but he could not help but be suspicious of them now.

    "Are you two really affiliated with the Chelmer Resort? Never before have I even heard of the two of you, but suddenly the entire resort and their vast economic connections seem to havee to revolve around you. Did you threaten the Resort just to get your way? What is it you are really here to do?" Akeem said, all his sessioning out at once.

    He had been polite so far, but now that it was revealed that Marcus and Mrazivy were not truly human, all of his doubts wereing to the surface.

    It made some sense that Marcus and Mrazivy might have used foul y to force the Chelmer Resort''s hand. Their given mission was also somewhat suspect. Few would be willing to go through all the hoops that they had in order to simply obtain the core of a monster they could not even be certain existed. Sure, a mummy lord really did exist within the Deste Desert, but Akeem could not fathom how they knew about it in the first ce. Rumors of such a creature may have made it out of Aezam, but it should have been impossible for any foreign power to determine its existence. And Akeem could not see individuals such as Marcus and Mrazivy traveling here without confirmation of their target.

    This made him suspect that their true aimy elsewhere, and he was correct of course.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Before he was willing to simply wait and see what happened, but now that he knew they were inhuman beings, he felt that their goals might be more sinister than he originally imagined.

    Being questioned by one of the highest powers in Aezam, Marcus and Mrazivy were at a lose for what to do.

    Luckily, an unexpected ally interjected for them.

    "That is enough Akeem. These two are your guests, whether they be human or not does not matter. I do not feel any malice from them. I can tell they do not intend our nation any harm." Ghazi said, reprimanding Akeem for his behavior.

    Being told off by his senior grand elder and possibly the strongest man in the nation, Akeem uncharacteristically backed down and acted meek despite his normal regal presence.

    Still, It was clear that if things stayed the way they were, that rtions between the them and the Eazim n were going to sour as doubt grew in Akeem''s mind.

    "While you may not be able to take us at our word, we did not do anything to coerce the Chelmer Resort into assisting us. We helped them out with a couple of major problems they were dealing with and became close with their leadership. So, while it was recent, we are affiliated with the resort''s leaders. As for our goals, one of them is to take the core of the mummy lord, so that is not a lie. We have another objective, but it is not something we wish to share at this time. Just know that we have no intention of bringing harm to Aezam." Mrazivy said, wearing a stalwart expression.

    She had now revealed all that they were willing to, and if things fell apart and they were asked to leave, then it would be time to simply sneak into the Deste Desert. Sure, they would not receive the support of the Sulb n, but that would only be a minor inconvenience. It would mean that all their efforts up to this point would be for naught, but they had fun as well, so it was not a waste of time.

    Yet while they were bracing to be told to leave, Ghazi said, "I must apologize. My intentions were not to stir up any trouble. I just wanted to meet the two of you. Especially after your disys in the tournament. And to answer your earlier question, I noticed Mraz''s eyes turning gold and bing reptilian whenever she appraised anyone. An ability that I have only heard of dragons possessing. And your battle earlier pretty much confirmed that you are a spirit. I can think of no other being that could so seamlessly move from a corporeal to incorporeal form as you did."

    After exining how he had figured them out, Ghazi also offered to Marcus and Mrazivy that if the Eazim n no longer wanted to support them that the Sulb n would wee them as guests.

    "Now just wait a minute, Ghazi!" Akeem said, understanding the implications of this offer.

    His tune switched quickly, and he vehemently apologized to Marcus and Mrazivy for his earlier outburst and rude behavior. Spurred on by Ghazi''s offer.

 Chapter 891 891 Preparing For The Third Round

    ''Yeah, right he did note here to stir up any trouble.'' Marcus thought after Ghazi and Aziz had left.

    In the end things had worked out okay after Akeem had apologized for his usations and continued to offer his n''s hospitality.

    Still, Marcus was certain that Ghazi hade here personally and confronted Marcus and Mrazivy about not being human with the express purpose of riling them and the Eazim n up. He had wanted to get a read on their true intentions and there was no better way than catching them off guard as he had.

    At the very least it seemed that Ghazi was convinced that they were not a threat and had agreed to give them the aid of his n and permission to enter the Deste Desert should they win in their third round.

    ''Of course, that is not going to be easy.'' Marcus thought, looking down at the stage where Zilre and Igna had just mopped the floor with their second-round opponents.

    Unlike their first match, which had been a fierce battle, the two of them had defeated their opponents in this round in under a minute. Making them Marcus and Mrazivy''s opponents in the next round.

    It was going to be a hard fight to ovee the two of them, but Marcus was confident that if he and Mrazivy worked together it would be feasible. They had gotten immensely stronger since clearing the special dungeon and had not actually fully tested out their capabilities in battle.

    "Marcus, we should do some sparing before our match tomorrow." Mrazivy said, her eyes locked on Zilre and Igna.

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed and after getting permission to fly over the city from Akeem, they left and went far out into the desert.

    Until night the two of them practiced and went all out against each other in preparations for their battle tomorrow.

    All around the desert where they had been sparring was a horrible mess, and it looked like it had been hit by a blizzard, tornado, and earthquake all at the same time.

    "I really don''t stand any chance against you without using magic." Marcus said, sprawled out in the sand after having been trounced by Mrazivy for the eighth time.

    In a physical fight without using any magic, she was hands down stronger than him. Especially now that she had a Supreme Skill that could, albeit only briefly, outperform his own.

    "Yeah, well you are far more focused on your magic than I am on mine. I only have ice magic while you specialize in several types. If this was just a pure magic fight, I would be the one at a major disadvantage." Mrazivy said, to encourage Marcus.

    "Still, you havee a long way. Before you evolved, you could not toss me around like this. I never had to worry about losing then." Marcus said, reminiscing on their earlier sparing bouts.

    Moving up right next to him Mrazivy sat down and began ying with his hair while wearing a dazzling smile on her face.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Well, you can only me yourself for how strong I have be. If not for you, I would be a prisoner, stuck in a horrible life with a man I despised. But instead, you gave me all I could ever ask for. We have already seen more of the world than I thought I ever would, and I am happier than I ever was before." Mrazivy said, shifting her body so that she was sitting on top of Marcus.

    "In that case, it is really your fault. I got charmed by the wild, adventurous, and beautiful princess that does not act like someone of her station should." Marcus said, raising his head until he was looking right into Mrazivy''s eyes.

    In an instant, several walls of ice had formed around them and cut everything off from their view. Leaving the two of them in their own world.

    ˇ­

    It was not until veryte that Marcus and Mrazivy returned to Akeem''s estate.

    When they turned up, the estate went into a bit of a tizzy since they had been gone for so long and Akeem had been worried that they had simply left after what had happened earlier.

    Luckily it did not take long for things to settle down and the two of them returned to their room and got some rest before their match the next.

    When they awoke, both Marcus and Mrazivy went over the strategies they hade up with and checked all of their gear to make sure it was in proper order.

    Marcus was especially meticulous with their armor and weapons. Going over every millimeter and making sure that there were no slight dents or scratches.

    "Here you go Mraz. Your sword should be a bit sharper now." Marcus said, handing the adamantine de over to her.

    After fighting with the weapon for so long, it had gotten the slightest bit dull, but Marcus had expertly sharpened it and with a single swing Mrazivy felt like it could cut better then even when it was new.

    "You did a really good job with it. I feel kind of bad though since none of this is our main gear." Mrazivy said.

    What they had been using in the tournament so far was their old adamantine equipment in order to not stand out too much.

    "It does not look like anyone has been using Amethros so far from what I can see. I think we will stand it in the wrong way if we show up decked out in the stuff. Unless we are really going to lose without it, we should just stick to the adamantine armor and weapons. We may not be able to go all out with them, but they should suffice." Marcus responded.

    Once all their gear was freshly attended to by Marcus, both of them put on their armor and got dressed for battle. Ready to take on their first real challenge in the tournament.

 Chapter 892 892 Marcus And Mrazivy Vs Zilre And Igna

    Entering through the bottom of the arena once again, Marcus and Mrazivy were met with cheers as they walked out onto the fighting stage.

    Now that both of them had put on a show during their first two matches, a good portion of the crowd hade to root for them.

    However, when their opponents entered from the other side, the cheers for them were noticeably louder.

    This made sense though, Zilre and Igna had probably had the fiercest battle so far during the Muharib Festival during the first round.

    ''I guess more people were impressed by them than us. But today we will be showing off what we are really capable of.'' Marcus thought, getting himself pumped up for battle.

    Still, his aura was not nearly as intense as Mrazivy''s. Her eyes were fierce, and she had an ted smile on her face, Clearly, she was very much looking forward to this match.

    Zilre and Igna were likewise looking their ways withpetitive looks and had an aura of battle lust around them. Undoubtedly, they enjoyed fighting just as much as Mrazivy did.

    "It seems that you two are taking this fight seriously. I see that you have already cast enchantment spells on yourselves." Zilre said, noticing the faint effects of magic on both Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Yes, we could not be as confident against the two of you as in ourst matches. This time we have prepared ordingly to deal with the two of you without restraint." Marcus replied.

    For the next couple of minutes, the four of them exchanged a bit of banter while the announcer was giving out his usual speech before the match. All that they needed to listen out for was the start of the battle.

    "And let the match begin!"

    The moment that the announcer finished and started the match, all four of themunched into action.

    To start, Zilre and Igna jumped back to put some distance between them and Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Zilre pulled out arge adamantine shield while Igna pulled out aposite longbow and rapidly fired off several powerful enchanted arrows that were naturally filled with spiritual energy tobat Marcus'' intangibility.

    Running in front of Mrazivy, Marcus held his scythe forward and activated his best defensive skill.

    ''Stalwart full moon.''

    The image of a sphere appeared around Marcus as he activated this skill, and whenever an arrowunched from Igna would touch this sphere, Marcus'' scythe would immediately intercept and deflect it.

    Even the arrows that exploded when connected with were knocked away, and Marcus protected himself and Mrazivy as they approached Zilre and Igna who were trying to keep them away and weaken them with rangedbat.

    asionally Mrazivy would peek out from behind Marcus and send out a mana sh with her sword at Igna, but Zilre always interposed with her shield and blocked the attacks.

    Essentially, they were in a stalemate as things were, since neither side could break through the other''s defenses from afar.

    Nevertheless, Marcus and Mrazivy were slowly closing in, and when they had gotten close enough, Marcus stepped aside and Mrazivy had adopted a bent forward posture with her sword jammed into the sheath at her side.

    ''First form, light speed sh.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In a sh Mrazivy elerated forward and shed out with her sword, aiming for Igna who was less armored.

    Yet, despite her immense speed, Mrazivy did not find her target and instead had her view obscured by what looked like a gleaming green wall.

    Of course, this was not an actual wall, but Zilre''s shield that had seemingly suddenly appeared in front of Mrazivy''s attack.

    Still, Mrazivy did not slow down at all, and her sword bit into the adamantine shield and began carving down it until she cut into Zilre''s shoulder.

    It was an impressive feat since Mrazivy''s sword and Zilre''s shield were made of the same base material. But Mrazivy''s sword was clearly better, being a system recognized item.

    Though, while her attack did make it all the way to Zilre''s flesh, her sword barely pierced the tough leopard beastwoman''s skin beforeing to a stop. The wound was not serious and would be gone in just a couple of moments thanks to Zilre''s regeneration skill.

    A momentter, Zilre tossed aside her shield with Mrazivy''s sword still embedded in it and threw her of bnce for a moment.

    Taking advantage of this opening, Ignaunched the five arrows that she had knocked into her bow at close range right at Mrazivy.

    The five arrows flew right towards their mark, but never connected.

    Marcus had naturally not stood around and had been right behind Mrazivy after sheunched into her attack.

    Spinning his scythe around, he repelled each of the arrows away, but this was exactly what Igna had predicted.

    The five arrows suddenly connected to each other through a maic field and were sucked back towards Marcus.

    Had he been able to use magic Marcus could have easily used his lightning magic to reverse the maism affecting the arrows, but in this tournament that was not possible.

    As the arrows closed in on him, rapidly multiplying as they created a web around him that would trap him even if only momentarily.

    While this was going on, Zilre and Igna were positioning themselves to attack Mrazivy at full force while Marcus was stuck.

    ''Unfortunately for them, this won''t hold me.'' Marcus thought.

    The arrows may have been infused with spiritual energy so that he could not use his ghost form to escape, but he had plenty of methods to get out of this situation.

    ''Lightspeed Movement.''

    Marcus'' body shed brightly and in less than a second he had be a ball of light that shot through the web of arrows forming around him.

    He reappeared right behind Igna and shed towards her with his scythe from her blind spot.

    At thest moment after Marcus had suddenly appeared Igna managed to turn around and leap away, but Marcus had cut straight through her bow that she had held out to defend herself with, and the tip of his scythe had caught her. Carving a three-centimeter-deep diagonal sh from the top of her stomach down to her left thigh.

 Chapter 893 893 Marcus And Mrazivy Vs Zilre And Igna (2)

    ''Waning Gibbous Crash.''

    Following up on his assault against Igna, Marcus spun his scythe up above his head and brought it down with both hands.

    A powerful wave of mana wasunched out of the scythe as he used another of his powerful moon style attack skills.

    In response, Igna extend her adamantine w des that were her favored weapons and attempted to catch the powerful attack Marcus had unleashed.

    Using her own mana, she was able to push back against Marcus'' attack, and perhaps if she had several dozens of kilometers to fly backwards while reducing the power she would have been able to defuse the attack, but asrge as the stage was, it did not go anywhere near the far.

    Igna soon found herself, pressed up against the arena''s barriers as Marcus'' attack slowly crushed her.

    It was but a momentter that Marcus saw something fly by him out of the periphery of his vision.

    A loud crash then impacted against the other side of the barrier and Marcus watched Mrazivy skid down with burns dotting her body.

    He then turned his attention towards Zilre and found that she had entered her awakened state and was exhibiting the full power of a Magma Leopard Beastperson.

    When Marcus turned towards her, he found that Zilre had raised her spiked club towards him, and with a heavy swing she mmed it into the stage.

    Plumes of magma shot up out of the stage in a sight lineing out from where her club had impacted.

    Soon Marcus'' vison was dyedpletely orange and red as the magma came straight towards him at an incredibly fast pace.

    Luckily the attack was not infused with any spiritual energy and Marcus simply went back into his ghost form and flew through it.

    When he reappeared, he was right in front of Zilre and attacked with another of his moon style skills.

    ''First Quarter Star.''

    Like a blur his scythe stuck from above, to the right side, then the bottom, and finally from the left side.

    The attack moved so fast it seemed that each sh came at the same moment.

    Zilre failed to block the first of the shes as she had not imbued her weapon or armor with spiritual energy, and it was only due to her instincts that she moved to the side and only took a ncing wound down her left side.

    The next three attacks she managed to receive, but Marcus was certain now that Zilre was not very adept at using spiritual energy like her sister was.

    "Gah!"

    Blocking Zilre''s counterattack, Marcus barely held onto his scythe as he was sted back by a single swing of her club.

    Feeling the power behind her swing, Marcus now understood how even Mrazivy was blown back by this attack.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Thankfully, he was able to prevent himself from crashing into the barrier as she had by quickly using his Light Speed Movement unique skill to turn into a ball of light and shot back towards the ground.

    When he became corporal again after turning into light, he could see Mrazivy fighting on the other side of the stage with Igna. Just like her sister the younger twin had activated her awakening and used its power to escape from Marcus'' attack.

    Mrazivy seemed to be on the back foot dealing with her right now, but he knew that she still had not used any of her unique skills or powerful race abilities, so he was not worried.

    ''The problem is Zilre. I do not think I can break her easily without being able to use any magic other than what I already cast on myself. I will probably have to use Embodiment of Darkness at the very least if I want to beat her.'' Marcus thought.

    However, he had been hoping to conceal as many of his unique skills as he could until the finals.

    So far all he had actively used was Light Speed Movement, but he did not see it allowing him to beat Zilre on its own.

    While using the power of her awakening she was incredibly resilient, and the wound Marcus had given her had already faded.

    Of course, this was not a one-on-one match, and Marcus had his partner to rely on as well.

    ''Mraz, I am going to create an opening for you. Make sure to strike even if I am in the way.'' Marcus said, using his telepathy.

    Mrazivy sent him a positive response, and Marcus regained Zilre who was a perfect example of a raging berserker.

    Using his greater agility and Light Speed Movement unique skill, Marcus ran circles around Zilre and led her by the nose.

    He added in a few attacks every now and then, but he was not able to get past her guard again and deal any significant damage.

    ''Perforation Strike.''

    Using his defense piercing attack skill Marcus kept Zilre''s attention firmly on him, and she made sure to block whenever he used this attack.

    While she would allow his less damaging attacks though since they did almost no damage, she always met this one with her club.

    However, while her visage as a fiery giant made her look like a berserker, Zilre was actually perfectly calm and able to strategize just as well as anyone else.

    Slowly she started to analyze Marcus'' movement patterns and eventually she caught him right as he was reappearing after using his Light Speed Movement Unique skill.

    Marcus had figured he would be more than capable of dodging her club from this position when she swing at him, but Zilre did not use her main weapon this time.

    She was capable with more than just her best weapons and out of her item box she pulled out a huge, weighted made of adamantine that she tossed around Marcus.

    He tried to phase through it but found that Zilre had infused it with her spiritual energy even if it was a bit sloppy.

    ''Mraz, I made and opening. Do it now!'' Marcus shouted over his telepathy as he watched a magma infused clubing down on top of him.

 Chapter 894 894 Marcus And Mrazivy Vs Zilre And Igna (3)

    Right before Marcus was smashed into the stage by Zilre''s club that was teaming with mana and magma, Marcus created a Dark Portal behind him and slipped out of the that he had been caught up in.

    He reappeared around five meters above Zilre and watched where he had been moments ago getting crushed and bathed in magma. Clearly Zilre had not been holding back on that attack and intended to defeat Marcus even if it killed him.

    Of course, Marcus had escaped thanks to one of his unique skills and was now poised to strike from above.

    However, he was not the only one taking advantage of this opening. Mrazivy hadunched her own attack the instant after Marcus told her to.

    A huge st of cold was flying directly towards Zilre, as Mrazivy had used her breath attack.

    The beam of cold impacted Zilre just a moment after she had finished her full power attack against Marcus, and a huge plume of steam erupted around her.

    Her burning aura fought against the extreme cold of Mrazivy''s attack, and thanks to it she did not end uppletely frozen.

    Still, taking a huge st of cold energy as Zilre had, weakened her quite a bit, and Marcus seeing down from above with his scythe.

    ''Powerful sh.''

    Using the first attack skill he had ever learned Marcus brought his weapon down on Zilre, but he never reached her body.

    Before his scythe as able to hit, Zilre used her Unwavering Wall unique skill to block the attack.

    A powerful shield had formed around her body, and Marcus'' scythe was unable to push through at all.

    ''Damn, this thing is tough.'' Marcus thought, as he was forced back by the recoil of his own attack.

    Naturally it made sense that he could not break through. Zilre had used a unique skill meant purely for defense. Marcus'' normal attack skill was never going to breach it.

    ''Its not as powerful as Lyra''s Reflector Shield, but it certainly covered a wider area.''

    Having been unable to finish Zilre off as he nned, Marcus turned towards Mrazivy who was fighting with Igna on the other side of the Arena and made his way over to them.

    Turning into a ball of light, Marcus traveled the distance in less than an instant and reappeared right behind Igna. nking her with Mrazivy.

    Zilre noticed her sister suddenly being double-teamed, rushed over, but she could not move even close to as fast as Marcus.

    For a single second seconds Igna had to deal with both Marcus and Mrazivy, and her usual fighting style of using her phantom from race ability to slip away waspletely ineffective.

    Mrazivy was quite adept at using spiritual energy and Marcus was able to turn his body intangible just as Igna was. She did not have any hope of getting away from them.

    Almost immediately Igna was unable to block one of their attacks properly, and with a sharp sh Mrazivy sliced her left arm clean off.

    However, neither she nor Marcus were able to make a follow up attack, as Zilre had caught up to them now and unleashed a heavy swing at them with wild abandon.

    She had aimed for Marcus first but noticing that her weapon was not infused with any spiritual energy Marcus simply went ethereal and let it pass harmlessly through him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Yet what might have seen like a grave mistake at first, was actually Zilre''s intention.

    Just as Marcus had, Igna pashed outside of normal reality and Zilre''s club passed right through her and impacted thest person in its way.

    Mrazivy, unable to let the weapon pass through her as Marcus and Igna had, could only meet the zing weapon with her saber.

    She dug her heels in and tried to brace herself, but she was unable to stand up tot eh brute force behind Zilre''s swing.

    Once again Mrazivy wasunched across the arena and this time she was caught up in a zing ball of magma.

    This left Marcus to face both opponents alone, though Igna was certainly not in any condition to fight at full power with her left arm missing.

    Still, Marcus did not stick around, he created another Dark Portal and slipped through it to where Mrazivy hadnded.

    When he saw her, he felt a pang in his chest since she was pretty badly burned all over.

    She may have had the fire resistance skill, but there was no way she could fully mitigate the damage that Zilre''s magma attacks could deal.

    ''Spirit Healing.''

    A white glowing from Marcus'' hands enveloped Mrazivy and her wounds quickly healed thanks to his assistance and her own high-speed regeneration skill.

    "That certainly did not feel good." Mrazivy said once she was back on her feet.

    "I think it is time we change up our strategy." Marcus said, turning his gaze towards their opponents.

    Like them, Zilre and Igna had prioritized recovering, and with her sister''s help holding her severed arm in pace, Igna had managed to reattach it thanks to her own regeneration skill.

    But before the battle could resume, the crowd started booing and shouting out that Marcus and Mrazivy were cheaters.

    Mrazivy''s breath attack and Marcus'' spirit healing specter power had looked like magic to them, and they assumed that this was a breach of rule stating that no magic could be cast during the matches.

    This led to a massive uproar and even the announcer could not seem to get things under control as his voice was being drowned out.

    "ENOUGH!"

    A thunderous roar of a voice sted through the arena even over the hundreds of thousands of discontent voices calling for Marcus and Mrazivy to be disqualified for using magic.

    Everyone''s gaze turned towards the source of this voice, and Marcus saw Ghazi''s standing at the top of the arena with a stern look on his face.

    "The arena has enchantments to detect the use of magic! It has not been activated, meaning that whatever powers that have been used in this match are not magic! All any of you need to do is enjoy watching the match. Let those that are jugging the matches to do their jobs!" Ghazi shouted out so that everyone in the arena would hear him. Bringing a quick end to themotion.

 Chapter 895 895 Marcus And Mrazivy Vs Zilre And Igna (4)

    Marcus and Mrazivy were standing on one end of the arena, while their opponents Zilre and Igna were on the opposite side.

    Both duos stared each other down, waiting to see what the other would do after their fierce sh.

    "Draconic Form."

    Mrazivy, determining that they could not win while continuing to hold back on their best powers, used her strongest race ability to greatly increase her overall power.

    They had been wanting to hide as many of their trump cards as possible until the final round, but their opponents this time were too strong to be taken lightly.

    Swiftly Mrazivy''s body began to transform. Gleaming blue scales formed over her body, concentrated on her arms and legs. Powerful ws took the ces of her finger and toes. Her teeth began to elongate and sharpen. Silver horns shot out of her head, a scaled blue tail sprouted out of her lower back, and finally two powerful wings like those of a bat''s came out of her upper back.

    "RAHHHH!"

    Leaning her head, back Mrazivy let out a deafening roar and a st of her breath attack as shepleted her transformation.

    The audience within the arena werepletely stunned to see this transformation, and several thousands of them began fleeing the arena.

    Mrazivy had just taken on many of the aspects of one of the most fearsome creatures on the, and her appearance was not for show. She contained all the power of a dragon when she transformed. Making her the equivalent of a beast in the mythic grade and one that could be considered a cmity for an entire nation.

    ''It has been a while since Ist saw her like this. She looks even more fierce and dragon-like than before. Even our opponents look a bit shaken by her transformation.'' Marcus thought, seeing Zilre and Igna take a few steps back and where grimacing.

    In her draconic form Mrazivy possessed another race ability called intimidating presence and even strong fighters would lose a bit of nerve when facing off against her.

    "If you will handle Zilre, I can take Igna." Marcus said, creating a Dark Portal right behind his target.

    Igna immediately tuned around to face the portal, expecting Marcus toe out of it, but instead he used Light Speed Movement to appear right in front of her. Forcing Igna to rapidly turn around and meet him.

    However, instead of pushing the attack, Marcus jumped back away from her and swung his scythe behind him. An act that at first seemed to have no meaning.

    Yet Igna felt her danger sense ring a momentter and Marcus'' scythe came out of the Dark Portal he had used as a feint earlier.

    The sharp de of the scythe pierced through Igna''s right shoulder as she failed to dodge on time. Her intangibility unable to help her against Marcus who was a master at using spiritual energy.

    Of course, Zilre was not just going to let her younger sister get beaten and rushed in to assault Marcus.

    CLANG!

    "Sorry, but I am going to be your opponent." Mrazivy said, stopping Zilre''s charge.

    Unlike before when she was unable to block Zilre''s monstrous strength, now that she was in her draconic form Mrazivy was even a bit stronger than her opponent.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her saber bit into Zilre''s club, and as the two fought a battle of strength, Mrazivy whipped her tail around and mmed it into Zilre''s side. Blowing her back.

    Mrazivy''s tail steamed from connecting with Zilre''s burning body, but the damage was minimal and Zilre had taken even more damage from the frosty aura around Mrazivy.

    "Mercurial Ice."

    Mrazivy, using her first unique skill, created arge blob of liquid silver metal with a blue tint that movedpletely to her will.

    Using her mercurial Ice, Mrazivy sent out several tendrils like whips and beganshing at Zilre with it.

    Every time these tendrils hit the ground after Zilre avoided them an acrid mist rose up from the stage.

    Not only was Mrazivy''s unique skill incredibly cold to the point of giving most frostbite after being exposed to it for only an instant, but it also was a deadly poison should it make contact.

    Zilre could sense just how dangerous Mrazivy''s unique skill was, but dodging each of her attacks was limiting her options. Mrazivy was quickly cutting off her ability to maneuver and was forcing her away from her sister who was barely holding her own against Marcus.

    ''Oh, looks like she has decided to use another one of her unique skills.'' Marcus thought, watching an orange glow envelope Zilre.

    She had just activated a unique skill that she could only use once every five days called Unyielding.

    This unique skill basically massively boosted her toughness, making her far more difficult to injure and immune to all manner of status effects while it was active.

    Mrazivy''s Mercurial Frost unique skill was now basically useless against Zilre in terms of offense. She was now immune to poison and could take the cold it was emitting without incurring much damage.

    No longer needing to worry about Mrazivy'' Mercurial Frost, Zilre charged straight towards her and nned to knock her aside to go assist her sister.

    ''Shield form.''

    Changing the form of her unique skill, Mrazivy turned it into a massive shield in Zilre''s way and jumped back.

    She then took a deep breath and waited until Zilre knocked away her Mercurial Frost before unleashing her next attack.

    When her opponent came back into view, pushing aside the liquid metal shield blocking her, Mrazivy opened her mouth and fired her breath attack.

    This time it was nothing like the one she hadunched earlier. Now that she had transformed, the attack carried behind it the same power as a true dragon.

    Zilre tried to push through, but ice began forming around her despite how intense the heat around her body was and when she was around three meters away from Mrazivy she was entirely encased in ice.

 Chapter 896 896 Astounding Victory

    ''It looks like Mraz has nearly wrapped things up with her opponent. I suppose that I need to pick up the pace and finish off Igna.'' Marcus thought, seeing Zilre begin frozen in a massive block of ice by Mrazivy''s frost breath.

    Igna was bleeding from several wounds that Marcus had inflicted on her, and her breath was ragged.

    While her sister was tough and powerful, her strengths came from speed and deftness. Her normal fighting style was to maneuver around her opponents and hit them in their weak spots, but this was not something she could aplish against Marcus.

    He was able to perfectly counter one of her most powerful abilities in being able to turn intangible and invisible, and her speed meant nothing to him.

    Utilizing his two movement type unique skills Marcus was the one that was controlling the area and forcing Igna to move as he pleased.

    Marcus had surrounded the area around them with Dark Portals and was constantly using his Light Speed Movement to reposition around faster than Igna could keep up with. All Igna could do was protect vital areas whenever Marcus attacked and hope to hold out until she could make a counterattack.

    Eventually Marcus found a perfect opening, and appearing out of one of the Dark Portals jammed his scythe into the joint of Igna''s armor behind her right knee.

    He pieced all the way through and nearly severed her leg with this attack.

    Yet when he prepared to move away, he found that Igna had reached around and jammed her de ws into his wrist and was gripping ahold of him.

    Surprise was all over Marcus'' face as this happened. He had not figured that Igna would be able to react fast enough to grab him like this. Her attack had been perfectly timed with his, as if she knew what he was going to do before he did it.

    This was not entirely what happened but fairly close. Igna had realized she needed to take a huge risk if she wanted to catch Marcus and had created an opening that was too good to pass up. She had anticipated Marcus would attack her in the exposed joint and was prepared to grab him when he did.

    Igna, now having Marcus locked down, struck out with her other de w and aimed directly for his neck.

    If Marcus was a flesh and blood entity this attack very likely would have killed him if it connected. Of course, as a very powerful ghost he would have survived even having his head separated from his body, but the attack never even reached him.

    At thest moment, Marcus'' spectral arm appeared in front of him and gripped tightly against Igna''s forearm.

    A loud cracking sound followed and Igna grunted in pain as her forearm was crushed.

    Marcus then felt the control over her spiritual energy falter, and he turned his caught arm intangible and pulled it away.

    "Vorpal Fang."

    Holding his scythe high, Marcus channeled a truly staggering amount of mana into it until the adamantine weapon had reached its limit.

    His attack skill ready, Marcus shed across Igna''s torso and cut through her armor and stomach.

    Blood began pouring out of the wound and Igna copsed down onto her knees and barely kept herself from falling overpletely. She now had two unusable limbs and a horrible wound in her stomach.

    "Do you yield?" Marcus asked, cing the de of his scythe up against Igna''s neck.

    "I give." Igna replied, her head lowered, and her teeth gritted.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The announcement that Igna had been defeated and was no longer able to participate came a momentter, and now it was only Zilre who was left.

    ''Though, it looks like that will be finished soon enough.'' Marcus thought, turning his attention towards Mrazivy.

    The ice she had frozen her opponent in was beginning to crack, and after being trapped for around eight seconds, Zilre broke free.

    Mrazivy, however, had anticipated this and with her sword held in front of her she attacked the instant that Zilre escaped.

    ''Heaven''s Rending.''

    With an overwhelming amount of force, Mrazivy swung her sword and sliced into Zilre''s giant body.

    Boiling blood flew off of Zilre as Mrazivy inflicted deep wounds on her.

    It was not until thest motion of Mrazivy''s attack that Zilre was able to catch her de with her club, and by then she was already horribly injured.

    "GAHHHHH!" Zilre screamed. Pushing down with all her might in ast-ditch effort to crush Mrazivy.

    Her club slowly began to push back Mrazivy''s sword until it was almost up against her face, and Zilre felt that she would be able to win.

    "CRUNCH!"

    Once the club had gotten closer to her face just as she had nned, Mrazivy opened her mouth and sunk her teeth into the adamantine weapon.

    Normally this would have seemed like the most idiotic thing a person could do, and their teeth would have shattered against the adamantine. But in contrast tomon sense, Mrazivy''s teeth sunk into the zing club.

    The magma and immense heat around the club began to dissipate as the near absolute zero colding out of Mrazivy''s mouth wrapped around it.

    Going from extremely hot to blisteringly cold in less than a second, even the magically enchanted adamantine could not hold out, and with onest chomp on it, Mrazivy bit right through the weapon.

    Zilre went wide eyed while watching her prized weapon get ripped apart by Mrazivy''s teeth, and she was wholly unprepared to react to the next attacking her way.

    Mrazivy''s Mercurial Ice wrapped itself around Zilre to hold her in ce. Then Mrazivy lifted her right foot up and kicked as hard as she could into Zilre''s face.

    This final blow broke Zilre''s nose and jaw, and finally incapacitated her.

    After losing consciousness, Zilre''s body began to shirk down as her awakened form reverted back to how she looked normally.

    "Both Zilre and Igna are unable to continue fighting! The winners are the guests and representatives for the Eazim n, Marcus and Mrazivy!"

 Chapter 897 897 Sudden Plans

    ?

    A thunderous cacophony of cheers and pping resounded through the arena at the announcement of Marcus and Mrazivy''s victory. For those who had not panicked and fled when Mrazivy used her draconic form, they had gotten to witness a truly breathtaking battle. Even during the tournaments of the Muharib Festival, it was rare to see such an astounding match. Especially one so far away from the finals.

    At this point, the crowd was almost feverously excited about Marcus and Mrazivy''s prospects. Zilre and Igna were guests of the Sulb n that had done well inst year''s tournament, and frontrunners expected to make it to at least the quarter finals as they had before.

    Yet now these two extremely powerful fighters had been knocked out of the tournament in only the third round, by a pair that were participating in the festival for the first time and rtively unknown.

    Now though, it was apparent that these two were the dark horses of thepetition and would go far. A few even thought that perhaps they could even win in an unbelievable upset and beat the Sulb n''s grand elder and his brother.

    "They sure do seem to be taken by us now." Mrazivy said, waving her hand at the crowd and eliciting even louder cheers.

    Marcus followed and did the same and was surprised when arge section filled with young women gave him the loudest cheering. Some of them even sent flirtatious winks his way and adopted poses that showed of their bodies.

    Mrazivy glowered at the second and released a wave of intimidation their way, and the crowd of women quickly shut up, and many began fleeing.

    "I think that may have been a bit much Mraz. You know that temptations like that don''t really work on me."

    "I can''t help it. Jealousy is a natural feeling everyone gets. Watching those girls try to seduce you pissed me off." Mrazivy said, a low growl in her voice since she was still in her draconic form. Acting nothing like the princess she was and more like a beast.

    Shrugging his shoulder, Marcus could not argue with Mrazivy. If some guy seriously came after her, he would likely find himself suddenly falling from a tall building without knowing why.

    Having won the match and stoked up and scared the crowd, the two of them began to exit the stage, but were stopped by one of their defeated opponents.

    Despite her injuries, Igna had gotten back up and limped over to them.

    For a moment Marcus was afraid that she would be angry and was about to promise to get even with them, but she had a content smile on her face.

    "That was a good match. It is not often that we get to fight like this, and rarer that we taste defeat. If my sister were awake, she would give you her thanks as well for the amazing fight." Igna said, extending her nonbroken arm.

    Mrazivy was the first to shake her hand and Marcus followed after her. But before he released his grip, he cast a powerful healing spell on his former opponent.

    A bright light engulfed Igna and after just a few seconds her barely connected leg, broken arm, and the other debilitating wounds Marcus had inflicted on her began to fade away.

    Igna was shocked for a moment, but quickly remembered Marcus healing his opponents in thest round once he and Mrazivy had been dered the winners.

    "Don''t worry, I will heal your sister as well. Consider a gift in appreciation of our enjoyable match." Marcus said, noticing the nce that Igna was sending towards her sister. It had been writing all over her face that she was hoping Marcus would heal her as well.

    When he reached Zilre, several members of the medical team that were putting her onto a stretcher froze up in front of Marcus.

    "Regenerate." Marcus said, casting the famous tier seven healing magic spell.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In only a couple of moments Zilre''s wounds had closed up and her broken bones had snapped back into ce with audible crunches.

    The moment after her shattered jaw fully pieced itself back together, Zilre''s eyes shot open, and she jumped up in a battle-ready stance.

    Luckily, she did not get too caught up and attack Marcus, thinking that the match was still ongoing. With just a single look around she was able to determine what had happened.

    "I guess that we lost." Zilre sighed.

    Still a momentter she met Marcus with the same smile and seemed quite happy just to have gotten to experience such an exhrating battle.

    She thanked Marcus for the fight and healing her, before inviting him and Mrazivy out to go drinking. Her and her sister''s treat of course.

    Mrazivy was more than willing to agree, wanting to speak more with the two of them, but Marcus was a bit more hesitant.

    It was not like they could just go out to a tavern and sit at the bar. The four of them were foreigners and could not freely move around without guides from the ns that they were guests of.

    But when Marcus brought this up, Zilre shed him a confident smile and said, "Don''t worry about it. I''ll have Ghazi work something out for us."

    Marcus just nodded his head in response, not really expecting anything to happen soon. Except just an hour after they had returned to Akeem''s viewing box to watch the rest of the day''s matches a formal invitation came through.

    ''Wow they work fast.''

    The Sulb n at Zilre''s request had rented out an entire tavern in one of the more upscale parts of the city for the entire night. The message even detailed that the four of them would be the only ones allowed to attend so that they could speak freely.

    Akeem advised them to reject the invitation, stating that it was far too dangerous for them to go alone to meet with opponents they had just beaten. It was rare, but not unheard of for furious losers to try and harm those that knocked them out of the tournament. In his eyes epting the invitation was like willingly walking into an ambush. Something Marcus and Mrazivy had actually done recently.

    Marcus and Mrazivy had to spend several minutes persuading the grand elder of the Eazim n, but eventually they got Akeem''s approval by insinuating that it would be a good opportunity to gather some intelligence on the Sulb n''s remaining fighters.

    Having received Akeem''s consent, Marcus had a response written up and sent out.

    It took a few more letters between them to hammer out all of the details, but it was soon decided that they would all leave for the tavern immediately after the end of the day''s matches.

    When that time came, Marcus and Mrazivy were brought to a carriage that had been prepared for them and got inside without anyone else to apany them. Despite how difficult it was to arrange, both major ns were doing what they could to amodate their guests'' unreasonable demands.

    Soon the carriage had taken off and Marcus spotted a carriage with the Sulb n''s emblem on it going in the same direction.

 Chapter 898 898 Drinks With Zilre And Igna

    ?

    "I would rmend this one. It is made using a fruit that only grows around Antim Lake and I find it to be quite delicious." Zilre said, handing a bottle of brandy over to Marcus.

    Taking the bottle Marcus uncorked it and immediately the strong scent of alcohol along with the subtle smell of the fruit that it was made from wafted around him.

    Excitedly Marcus poured some into one of the many sses around him and watched as the amber colored liquid filled it up.

    When it was around half full, he stopped and began drinking the brandy.

    ''That is pretty good. This ce is certainly not serving cheap stuff.''

    Once Marcus had finished the brady he set the cup down and took a good look at the tavern he found himself in.

    The ce was pretty high ss as one would expect an establishment chosen by a grand elder of Aezam to host their guests.

    But the most surprising thing was that other than the staff only Marcus, Mrazivy, Zilre, and Igna were inside.

    Certainly, it had been agreed upon by Akeem and Ghazi that they would be given their privacy, but Marcus had figured that all manner of hidden guards would be lying in wait, or that agents of the two ns would be acting as members of the staff.

    However, this was not the case. Marcus could not sense anyone hiding within the establishment, and none of the staff were practically high level or had any skills that a spy might have. It was possible that there was someone skilled enough able to avoid being detected, but Marcus doubted that as the case. More likely both ns realized that anyone they sent in would be noticed by their four high level guests.

    "So, how did the two of you end up as guests of the Sulb n?" Mrazivy asked in between drinks.

    Yet instead of giving a straight answer Igna had two bottles of a type of liquor they had not had yet brought over and mmed it onto the table.

    "How about this. If you can beat us in a little drinking coemption I will answer your question. But if we win you will answer one of ours."

    "Sure. But I should warn you that we are not going to lose at a drinkingpetition." Mrazivy said, grabbing the tall bottle and bringing it over to her and Marcus.

    "I would not be so confident about that. This drink is called mes of the Phoenix. It does not go down easy. Most people will find their mouths numb and burning after just one sip." Igna said.

    She then opened hers and her sister''s bottle and a very pungent smell began filling the area.

    Immediately Marcus could tell that some sort of spicy pepper had been used in the creation of this beverage.

    Opening their own bottle, Marcus looked inside and peered down at the light red liquid within.

    "I am sure that you can tell now how strong it is. If you want to back out now, I would not me you." Igna said with a smirk on her face as she poured out a ss for Zilre and herself.

    In response Marcus and Mrazivy exchanged a nce, and Mrazivy pushed the entire bottle over to Marcus.

    "I am ready to start whenever you to are."

    "Um, aren''t you going to pour it out into some sses first?" Zilre asked, a look of confusion on her face.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She and Igna currently had two full cups sitting in front of them, but Marcus was just gripping the bottle without having poured it into anything.

    "There is no need for that. I will drink the entire bottle myself." Marcus said confidently.

    Both Zilre and Igna went wide eyed at this deration.

    This was not the kind of alcohol that could be drank all at once. Not only was it quite spicy, but it was around eighty percent alcohol, and it was in a three-liter bottle.

    Surely individuals at a higher level could handle drinking far more alcohol than a normal person, but they were not immune to it. Even Zilre and Igna were certain they would be fairly wasted if they drank an entire bottle each in one sitting. Half a bottle was doable, but a hole one would be a bit too much.

    "Very well. Just don''t start crying to us when you hurt yourself." Igna said lifting up her ss and getting ready to begin.

    As Mrazivy gave the signal to start, Igna and Zilre both tookrge gulps of the liquid from their sses and drank the highly alcoholic liquor.

    Except when they looked across at Marcus, both of them were stunned to see that he had simply tipped the bottle over and was drinking it like water.

    Both of them hurried and finished their first sses, but before they could even finish their second Marcus put the bottle down.

    "You know I was expecting it to be a bit harsher and not taste all that good. But whoever made this did a pretty good job. It was much smoother than I was expecting, and it was not given a bad taste just to make it spicier." Marcus said,menting on the drink.

    Of course, Zilre and Igna were barely even paying attention to his assessment of the drink. Instead, their mouths were hung open as they stared at him in disbelief.

    Marcus had just easily emptied the entire bottle without one stopping to take a breath or swallow. He had simply poured it straight down into his body. A feat that would be impossible for any flesh and blood person, but certainly not for a ghost.

    ''I still do not know where it all goes though.'' Marcus thought once again pondering what happens to the items he consumes.

    "That''s just not possible." Zilre said.

    "It must be some kind of trick. He probably just opened up his item box in his mouth and poured it into there." Igna used.

    "Nope, Marcus really did drink the entire bottle. Did you forget that he is a spirit. The only physical limit he has is how much he can fit in his mouth at one time." Mrazivy said, wearing a haughty expression as if Marcus''s achievement was her own.

    Zilre groaned when she heard this, and Igna rubbed her face and took another drink. Neither of them had ever shared a drink with a spirit before and did not even consider that a being without a flesh and blood body would be unaffected by alcohol.

    "And here I thought we might be able to beat you two at something after our loss in the tournament. Still a win is a win, even if we never stood a chance." Igna said, before stuffing a handful of dried meat into her mouth.

    She and Zilre then had a quick discussion, before Zilre looked intently at Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Okay, if we are going to tell you how we became guests of the Sulb n, you have to promise not to mention any of this to anyone else."

    "Sure, we are not the types to go gossiping about people behind their backs. We will keep it to ourselves." Marcus said, a sincere expression on his face.

 Chapter 899 899

    ?

    "I suppose that the short answer is that we met Aziz when he was out traveling the world and he invited us to visit his home as guests, but I am sure that you probably want to know more details than just that." Zilre said after pulling out a sound blocking magic tool that isted the area.

    Marcus and Mrazivy of course nodded their heads in response and waited for Zilre to tell them more details.

    "It was around five years ago now that we met Aziz when he was visiting our home nation of Fera which lies on the smaller of the two central continents. I doubt either of you have heard of it before though."

    However, while Marcus shrugged his shoulders indicating he did not have a clue about Zilre and Igna''s home, Mrazivy''s eyes began to sparkle with familiarity.

    "This is the same Fera where the Epic of the Thirteen Beast Kings takes ce, right?!" Mrazivy said, bing far more animated.

    Zilre and Igna were taken aback at first by the sudden excited outburst, but quickly both of them nodded in confirmation.

    "I am surprised that you have read that old book. It does not circte much outside of our nation." Igna said, a slightly bewildered look on her face.

    "It was one of my favorites when I was younger. A tale of thirteen daring young men and women forming a band to fight back against the wicked monsters that were subjugating their people and founding a new nation for all of them to live together. I must have read it at least a half dozen times in the castle''s bookroom." Mrazivy said, a nostalgic expression on her face.

    Yet it was only a momentter when Marcus mmed his hand down on her shoulder and used telepathy to tell her to stop. She had just let slip a very important piece of information about herself.

    Mrazivy went wide eyed and sped a hand over her mouth, and she looked towards Zilre and Igna to see if they had picked up that she had just revealed that she used to live in a castle.

    After all the drinking they had done she had be slightly inebriated and as a result her guard had rxed a bit.

    "So, you lived in a castle when you were younger. And to have ess to the bookroom you must be of a pretty high status." Zilre said, picking up on Mrazivy''s slipup. She had practically confirmed that she was royalty or at least some high-ranking member of the nobility in some nation.

    Thankfully Mrazivy''s royal blue hair was currently changed by a magic tool, otherwise it would be fairly easy to identify her as a member of Borealia''s royal family.

    "I am guessing you two are not just going to forget that?" Marcus asked, wearing a guarded expression.

    "No, but we will keep it to ourselves. We are guests just like you. We have no duty to inform anyone about things we learn about you." Zilre said. Neither she nor her sister were beholden to share information with Aezam.

    This helped to relieve some of the anxiety that Mrazivy was feeling, and she sighed in relief. Both she and Marcus had done well to hide their backgrounds, but she had just willingly given out an important piece of information about herself.

    "Now, Igna and I actually first met Aziz under less than favorable circumstances." Zilre said, getting them back on topic. "He had snuck into Fera and inadvertently invaded the territory of a family of legendary grade beasts that made the area along the border their home. Naturally these beasts attacked him, but as I am sure you both know, Aziz is a powerful warrior and he drove them all away. This caused the beasts to migrate elsewhere, and several stampedes of beasts and monsters began to gue two of the regions of Fera. One from those fleeing the intense battle, and another when the legendary grade beasts settled in a new area and threw the ecosystem into a frenzy. It was a huge mess."

    Zilre had an exacerbated expression on her face when she spoke about this incident and how she and her sister were chosen to investigate what had happened.

    "We tracked down the source of the problem and found Aziz wandering around one of therger border cities and writing things down in a book. Immediately we could tell that he was strong, and we figured he was some sort of spy documenting our nation''s defenses. So, we waited for him to leave the city and tried to capture him. Unfortunately, it did not go so well as we thought it would."

    Igna and Zilre had been unable to subdue Aziz, but Aziz could not beat both of them together either. Leaving the confrontation to end in a draw that left the area they had fought in devastated.

    Luckily, after the battle Aziz surrendered himself and exined why he was there.

    "It turns out he had gotten wildly lost on his journey to therger of the two central continents and was just trying to find his bearings. But he got a bit distracted exploring our nation and forgot about his initial goal. Thankfully, no one had died from the beast and monster stampedes and Aziz offered to help with repairing the damages and repaying Fera for the trouble he had caused. My sister and I then spent the next year as his watchers to make sure he did not cause any trouble. Thankfully he was sincere in his offer to repay our nation and he went above and beyond to use his abilities to help us out. And once it was all over, he asked us to visit his home, which we epted." Zilre said, finishing up the story of how she and her sister met Aziz and ended up as guests of the Sulb n.

    At the end Marcus still had several questions he wanted to ask about Fera and Zilre and Igna''s standing within the nation, but neither of them seemed keen to borate. Likely wanting to hide their statuses just as Marcus and Mrazivy were.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "What about the two of you? How did you truly end up as guests of the Eazim n? We have heard rumors, but what exactly is the truth?" Igna asked, brimming with curiosity.

    Seeing no reason not to oblige, Marcus answered her question. Withholding a few details about how they actually received the favor of those running the Chelmer Resort, and who those individuals really were.

    "Hm, that is not as bad as the rumors that we heard." Igna said.

    Apparently, some of what was going around about Marcus and Mrazivy was that they were ckmailing the Eazim n. Not that they had made a mutually beneficial deal with them through one of their major trade partners.

    ''I have a pretty good idea about where those rumors areing from.'' Marcus thought.

    He could tell that Jamal was antagonistic towards them, and he found it likely that the man had spread these rumors in an attempt to get back at them for imaginary slights against him.

    "Well, it does not matter. We don''t live here and the grand elder of the Sulb n has already confirmed that he would give us his support and approval to enter the Deste Desert. Marcus said, not interested in the rumors going around.

    The four of them then continued to drink and converse until the night was winding down and it was nearly time for them to go their separate ways.

    But before they did, Mrazivy had a question she had been waiting to ask.

    "If you don''t mind my asking, who is stronger, Aziz, or his brother Ghazi, the grand elder?"

    Igna chuckled after hearing this question and said, "I was wondering when one of you would broach this topic. I was beginning to think you were not going to try and fish for information on them."

    "It is only natural that we might want to learn more about our future opponents. We have gotten information from the Eazim n, but I bet you two know a lot more being their guests and having fought them before." Mrazivy replied.

    "You two must be pretty confident if you already think that you are going to reach the finals." Zilre said, raising an eyebrow.

    "Do you think that any of our other opponents stand a chance against us? Mrazivy asked, a confident smile on her face.

    Zilre thought about it for a few moments before shaking her head.

    "No, you are likely not to run into anyone that is able to beat both of you before the finals. But we are not just going to give you detailed information about Aziz and Ghazi. We are rooting for them to win after all."

    Sighing, Mrazivy had expected this answer, but she had been hoping to learn at least a little bit.

    Luckily Igna was willing to give them a little bit of information, even if none of it was specific.

    "It is hard to say which one of them is stronger, but in a fight between them, Ghazi woulde out on top. Still, Aziz''s fighting style is pretty unique and dealing with I the first time is quite tough. If what the two of you showed during our match was your best, then you don''t really stand a chance of beating them."

    "You don''t need to worry about that. We have cards to y that we have not shown off yet." Marcus said assuredly. "But what is this about Aziz having a unique fighting style? From what we have heard, he just uses a single scimitar like many of the fighters in Aezam.

    Unfortunately, Igna was not willing to borate further and just smiled in response. Clearly not going to say anything else.

    Marcus tried a bit more probing to find out about Aziz and ghazi''s powers, but neither Zilre nor Igna gave them anything else. And soon the night of drinking and information sharing came to an end.

 Chapter 900 900 Start Of The Finals

    ?

    Several days had gone by since Marcus and Mrazivy enjoyed drinks with Zilre and Igna and learned more about them.

    The two of them had continued fighting their ways through the duo tournament and without too much difficulty made it to the final round.

    Of course, their opponents were going to be the Sulb n''s strongest fighters. Ghazi''s the Grand elder of the n and Aziz his brother.

    Marcus and Mrazivy had watched most of their uing opponents'' matches, but it was clear that they had never gotten serious in any of them. They still were not a hundred percent sure what they were capable of even after Mrazivy appraised them with her dragon eyes. Just seeing their skills and stats did not give any insight into their fighting styles or what kind of strategies they mighte up with.

    At the very least they did know that Aziz was level eighty-six and Ghazi was level eighty-eight. Truly they were both at incredibly high levels, and in terms of their overall abilities they were certainly above average. Though not as strong as mythic grade beasts like Gwyneira and Retharin who were around the same level as them, both Ghazi and Aziz were likely equivalent to legendary grade beasts in terms of power.

    "Were certainly going to be in for one hell of a fight." Marcus said as they sat in a waiting room before their match.

    Now that it was down to the finals there was only going to be one fight each day and yesterday the battle for the top individual fighter had taken ce.

    Bashir, the Eazim n''s strongest fighter had managed to make it to the finals, but he unfortunately lost to one of the other major n''s strongest warrior.

    Today though was Marcus and Mrazivy''s time to shine and fight against the almost undisputedly strongest fighters in the entire country.

    "Are you sure that you can keep all this up? Even you do not have an unlimited amount of mana."

    Mrazivy was worried about the n that Marcus had detailed since it was going to put a huge strain on his mana.

    "Don''t worry, it should not be a problem. If I get low, I can just steal the mana from our opponents or use Ultimate Refresh to fully restore it. Ghazi and Aziz are not opponents we can hold back against if we want to win." Marcus responded.

    Mrazivy only sighed and shook her head, before saying, "Please don''t waste your Supreme Skill on something so trivial. Just lower your mana expenditure when you need to. When we go all out with our most powerful abilities, we burn out far too quickly. I am going to be counting on you to keep us going throughout this fight. We are not going tost a prolonged battle without your Ultimate Refresh."

    "Don''t worry, it was only a joke. I have no intention of wasting one of my strongest powers. I am sure that with mana regeneration and mana thief I will be able to get by. Probably."

    Once they had solidified their final n and there were only five minutes before their match began, both Marcus and Mrazivy began casting spells in preparation for the battle.

    Certainly magic was not allowed to be used during the match, but they were going to maliciously exploit the loophole that allowed them to cast spells with longsting effects before the fight.

    "Sir Marcus and Lady Mrazivy, I havee to escort you to-"

    One of the upper ranking officials running the tournament hade into the waiting room to bring Marcus and Mrazivy out to the stage as it was almost time for the match to start, but the poor man frozen in shock and fear when he entered the room.

    For a few seconds he just stood therepletely still before turning around and running away screaming. His survival instincts were telling him that he was in terrible danger.

    "I told you that using those two would leave a bad impression. They give off oppressive and dangerous auras. Any normal person would react just like that, or even just pass out." Mrazivy said, pointing to one of Marcus'' spells.

    "We want to win don''t we. I get that these are not the friendliest spells, but we are not fighting average opponents here. We need every card we can y."

    Mrazivy shrugged her shoulder and gave up on trying to get Marcus to end the spells that made her skin crawl. She could tell he was truly determined to go all out in this battle and sue everything at his disposal.

    With their guide now having fled in terror, the two of them simply walked down the corridors of the arena on their own and headed towards the stage. They had done this more than enough time to know the way on their own.

    Along the path to the stage, they came across several other members of the tournament staff, but even the seasoned warriors that passed by them gave them a wide berth. Right now, Marcus and Mrazivy were as imposing as an invading army.

    "And now, entering from the left, this years unexpected powerhouses that have crushed their coemption to make it here to the finals, the guest of the Eazim n, Marcus and Mrazivy!"

    After the announcer called for them to enter Mrazivy led the way with Marcus standing well behind her for good reason.

    The moment she came out the crowd began exchanging confused whispers, but by the time Marcus had shown himself the entire audience had gone quite and many looked spooked and ready to bolt. This was because Marcus and Mrazivy had not entered the ring alone.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Along with them were several creatures created by their magic.

    Mrazivy had half a dozen ice warriors surrounding her like a royal guard and a giant dragon made of ice flying above her head.

    Marcus on the other hand hade in with a giant golem made out of iron along with two entries that were unnatural and would make any living being shudder.

    One was created from the tier five darkness magic spell, ravenous abyss. This was a spell Marcus had not used in a long time, but it had be far more powerful since thest time he used it.

    The giant mass of darkness was much denser now, and several more of its creepy writhing hands spread out from its body.

    However, the other creature of darkness that Marcus had created was even more oppressive.

    This was an entity created by the tier eight darkness magic spell, aptly named gloom titan.

    It was arge four armed vaguely humanoid creature that stood nearly four meters tall and wielded four long wispy whips.

    Its face was ever shifting between one horrific visage after another, and its very presence dropped the light within the entire arena by a degree. Despite it being midday, the light level felt more likete into evening.

    Along with these creatures created by their magic, Marcus and Mrazivy also had many noticeable spells cast on themselves or hovering around them.

    Mrazivy''s entire body was covered in a royal blue ice that took the shape of a dragon thanks to the tier eight spell, Emperor Ice Dragon''s Armor. A powerful magic Mrazivy had picked up from the special dungeon.

    She also had two massive spinning circr saw des made of ice floating above her curtesy of a tier seven spell Gwyneira had taught her.

    For Marcus, he had cast several buff spells on himself, such as lighting warrior and heart of the forge. But the ones that had the most impact were certainly his iron magic spells.

    He had his iron sphere floating next to him and his cataclysmic iron sword shrunk down to only around a tenth of its full size, but still quiterge hovering far above him.

    Then there were the spells that affected his body, such as iron skin, the first spell Marcus had ever used, and iron wings of the archangel. Which caused six gleaming metal wings to sprout out of his back.

    Yet for the most perceptive, they would notice that the small iron chain spinning above Marcus'' head like a halo was the most dangerous of the spells surrounding him.

    "It seems that you two are really going all out for this. I don''t believe there has ever been a disy like this in any past Muharib Festivals. I know that magic is only disallowed once the match has begun, but this is a bit extreme. It is almost against the spirit of thepetition." Ghazi said as he walked out onto the stage with Aziz by his side.

    The announcer had not yet called them in yet, but Ghazi realized that if he did not appear soon, that there was going to be a panic in the crowd. That was simply how terrifying Marcus and Mrazivy''s disy was to the average person.

    Thankfully once two of the heroes of the nation had entered the ring, the people felt a sense of safety.

    Ghazi and Aziz were among the absolute strongest fighters in Aezam, and few would argue that they were not one and two. With them here, most of the audience felt a sense of security. In their minds there was nothing these two could not handle.

    "We''re not breaking any rules, right? We cast all of these spells before entering the ring." Marcus said.

    "Yes, well that is normally only to allow for magic warriors to cast enchantment spells before the battle. Not all of this." Aziz said, waving his hand at the several creatures and creations that Marcus and Mrazivy had made using magic.

    "You should take this as a show of respect for your prowess. We did not use any of these spells against our previous opponents, but against the two of you, we determined that they are necessary if we want to win. Of course, if you absolutely object and want us to limit ourselves, we would be fine with canceling all of our spells." Mrazivy said, making it seem like she was leaving the decision up to Ghazi and Aziz.

    Of course, there was no way that they could tell them to end their spells now. Doing so would seem a sign of weakness. As if they needed a handicap from their opponents in order to win.

    "No, you can keep the spells you have already cast. Rules may need to be revised in the future to prevent this from happening again, but for now, you have not done anything wrong. So long as you do not cast anymore spells during the match, there will be no problems." Ghazi said, wearing a determined expression.

    Even in the face of all of Marcus and Mrazivy''s powerful spells, neither he nor Aziz faltered in the slightest.

 Chapter 901 901 Going All Out From The Start

    ?

    Tensions were rising in the arena as Marcus and Mrazivy stared down Ghazi and Aziz while the announcer was giving his usual introduction. The four of them had basically already started the battle, fluctuating their mana towards each other in a show of power.

    While all of their interactions up till this point had been cordial, this was the final battle of the tournament, and neither duo was going to back down in the slightest.

    For Marcus and Mrazivy, this was their chance to show irrefutably that they could handle themselves in the Deste Desert, and to take the prizes that the victors would receive. But for Ghazi and Aziz, they needed to win to show off the strength of not only their n, but all of Aezam. If they lost to a group of foreign guests, it would show poorly on the nation as a whole and weaken the faith the people put in them.

    It was all too clear which side held the loftier motivation, but just because Marcus and Mrazivy were doing this almost entirely for their own purposes did not mean that they were not going to give it all they had. They hade to win, and that was what they intended to do.

    ''I just wish the announcer would hurry this up. Everyone knows who Ghazi and Aziz are and how impressive they are. There is no need to continue to hype them up so much.''

    Marcus was bing a bit impatient and frustrated, as every moment before the start of the match was eating into his mana reserves. He currently had around two dozen buff spells cast on himself and Mrazivy, along with all his other spells conjuring creatures and items.

    Unfortunately, the announcer seemed intent on extoling every one of Ghazi''s and Aziz''s past achievements before the match could truly begin.

    Eventually when the crowd started to get a bit restless, the announcer wrapped up his long speech that almost intently focused on Ghazi and Aziz and gave the signal for the start of the battle.

    The instant it started Aziz was the first to make his move. It happened incredibly quickly, and Marcus only just barely caught the movement.

    Aziz had already used one of his unique skills, called Sonic Toss, tounch a projectile at Mrazivy.

    His projectile of choice was an adamantine dart, and it flew towards its target at an incredible speed and was aimed directly at Mrazivy''s neck.

    However, before it connected with her, the amethros circlet she was wearing that was currently disguised activated its automatic defensive barrier and intercepted the speeding projectile.

    The mana barriersted for less than a tenth of a second before the dart pierced right through it, showing how powerful the weapon was and the strength of the unique skill behind it.

    Nevertheless, it gave Mrazivy enough time to react and she used her sword to turn the dart away.

    Its momentum continued even as its course was changed, and the small dart impacted into the stage and burrowed into.

    A small seismic event followed, and the entire arena shook for a couple of moments. Showing just how much force had been behind that single dart.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''So, that is what Zilre and Igna meant by his fighting style being unusual.'' Marcus thought, watching another dart appear in Aziz''s hand.

    From all of the intel they had gathered, Aziz had never once used his true fighting style in any of the past Muharib Festivals and simply stuck to his scimitar which was his main weapon. But when he truly fought, he also wouldunch powerful darts with his unique skill. Making him a menace to deal with at any range.

    "Oh, I was not expecting you to block that with it being your first time seeing it." Aziz said, impressed and surprised. Normally when he first used that move it scored big and caught his target off guard.

    "Naturally we already looked at your status and knew you were a master with some type of throwing weapon. I am sure you are used to you magic items blocking appraisals for you, but that will not work on me." Mrazivy said, shing her eyes golden for a second.

    Her body then continued to take on more reptilian characteristics as she used her draconic form. This was not a battle where they were slowly going to reveal their powers as it went on. To beat the opponents before them, they needed to go all out.

    "Embodiment of Eclipse Dark Form. Soul Burst."

    All at once, Marcus exploded with incredible power as he activated his strongest Supreme Skill, and his limit breaking unique skill. He would only have three minutes now to fight at full power, but he knew a drawn-out fight would not be in their favor and was using his best cards right away.

    Mrazivy likewise activated each of her limited use powers that massively buffed her abilities. With the rapid sh Unique skill she became three times faster in all regards, and Apex of Winter slightly increased all of her stats while making the aura of cold around her even more intense. Causing a mini blizzard to form around her.

    "Now this is what I have been waiting for!" Ghazi shouted, a massive bloodthirsty smile on his face.

    As the grand elder of the Sulb n which boasted the strongest warrior, Ghazi enjoyed tough battles above all else and he was thrilled to finally get to engage with new powerful opponents.

    Without much of a hint of strategy he took the massive amethros ax off of his back and began rushing towards Marcus like a berserker. His normally calm demeanor was gone.

    Except, Marcus did not rush to meet the man charging towards him and instead turned towards Aziz who was patiently assessing the situation and waiting to react calmly to whatever unfolded in the wake of his brother''s frenzied attack.

    "Keep him busy." Marcus said, before turning into a ball of light and shooting off towards Aziz on the other side of the arena.

    He and Mrazivy had already decided to try and take out Aziz first since it would be far easier to focus down on the weaker opponent and eliminate him first.

    To that end, Marcus left his conjured creatures to stall Ghazi. He knew that they had no chance of winning, but he figured that they could hold him off for at least a minute.

 Chapter 902 902 Targeting Aziz

    ?

    ''Crescent moon strikes.''

    The moment Marcus regained his physical form after turning into light he moved directly into his most difficult to avoid attack skills.

    His scythe began to shimmer, and it suddenly seemed to have multiplied into six as it stuck towards Aziz.

    At the same time Aziz stuck back, sending a dart directly at Marcus'' left eye with his unique skill and flourishing his scimitar to block Marcus'' mullite directional attack.

    Aziz''s aim was to force Marcus back with his drat, but Marcuspletely disregarded it.

    Certainly, Aziz was able to put an immense amount of speed and power behind his darts, however, Marcus had prepared ordingly to deal with them.

    As the dart closed in on him several small shields of lightyered themselves in front of Marcus'' head. The radiant scales spell he had cast before the match doing its job and automatically protecting its caster.

    Several of the shields cracked like shattering ss, but the dart was stopped a couple of centimeters away from Marcus'' eye.

    Each of Marcus'' strikes reached Aziz an instantter, and for the first time the powerful warrior lost theposed expression he had been wearing.

    Aziz gritted his teeth and swung his scimitar around to deflect Marcus'' attacks, but he was outmatched in terms of speed and power.

    Three of Marcus'' strikes connected with their targets and Aziz had his right foot pierced, his neck shed, and his right hand nearly severed.

    None of these wounds were enough to kill him thanks to how tough his body was and his regeneration skill, but Aziz was now in an incredibly unfavorable condition.

    If he had just been fighting Marcus, perhaps Aziz could have held his own for a bit and tried to recover, but he also had to contend with Mrazivy.

    "Second form, light speed sh."

    After Marcus had sessfully injured Aziz with his first attack, Mrazivy shot forward with her fastest attack skill, moving like a blur.

    Her sword moved with what should have been impossible speed and precision, and Aziz was wholly incapable of properly responding.

    He attempted to create a mana barrier behind him to clock Mrazivy''s attack, but her sword cut right through it and sliced deeply into his waste.

    Yet, no blood flowed out of the wound Mrazivy had inflicted on Aziz began to freeze thanks to the ice magic she had cast on her sword prior tot eh start of the match.

    By the time she had pulled her sword back, Aziz had beenpletely encased in a giant pir of ice.

    It would seem that Marcus and Mrazivy had managed to defeat one of their opponents with an explosive opening attack, but just a second after Aziz was frozen his body disappeared.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Whew! You two really are something. I never expected to use this skill so soon. I am d I prepared in advance. You are both more ruthless than I thought."

    Marcus turned his head to where the source of the voice hade from and saw Aziz standing where he had started the match,pletely unharmed. It was as if all the attacks he had taken simply never happened.

    "That is one. Just two more to go." Mrazivy said, preparing for their next assault on Aziz.

    This caused the confident smile to vanish from his face and he began looking at Marcus and Mrazivy with deadly seriousness.

    Naturally they had known about the unique skill he had used to avoid being defeated thanks to Mrazivy''s Dragon Eyes.

    Aziz had a unique skill called Save Point, which allowed him to return his body to a condition and location he had set a checkpoint at, so long as more than an hour had not passed since he set it.

    In some ways it was simr to Marcus'' Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill, though weaker. The unique skill could only be used three times a week, and it only worked on Aziz himself instead of anyone like Marcus'' Supreme Skill.

    It did have a useful aspect that Marcus'' Supreme skill did not, being able to effectively act as a warp as well as restoring any damage.

    But while it may have seemed like a revival skill, it did require Aziz to actively use it. If he died before activating the skill, it would not take effect. Still, for a tournament where the two sides were not trying to kill each other, it was almost certain he would be able to use the ability.

    Marcus and Mrazivy pressed the attack now that Aziz had been forced to activate his first use of his Save Point unique skill. They needed to beat him quickly before their time limited skills ended.

    To begin their second assault against Aziz, Mrazivymanded the giant dragon made of ice that had been flying overhead to strike from directly above.

    This ice dragon looked almost exactly like Gwyneira and with its jaws wide open it crashed into the ground where Aziz was standing.

    Of course, the high-level warrior did not just stand around and take the attack. He jumped back and out of the way before the icy jaws med around him.

    Nevertheless, this left him open for a follow up attack, and Marcus and Mrazivy were not going to give him any chance to escape.

    Marcus'' catalytic iron sword, now having returned to being two-hundred meters long and packing the force of a speeding freight train behind it shed at Aziz from his right side.

    While from his left side, Mrazivy had her ice warriors closing in. With two archers firing arrows to further limit Aziz''s movements and four heavily armored warriors with spears and shields attacking him from the front.

    To escape, Aziz had only one direction to go, and that was into the air.

    He created footholds with his mana barrier and just barely managed to avoid being hit by Marcus'' tier six iron magic spell that swung just below him. Creating hurricane level winds that sted around the arena.

    Except when Aziz had just escaped the furious attacks from Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s spells, he found someone already waiting above him. Ready to strike him down.

 Chapter 903 903 Targeting Aziz (2)

    ?

    Mrazivy was waiting directly above Aziz who had ascended into the air to avoid the several attacks besieging him on the ground.

    Her top tier adamantine sword was teaming with mana as she sped the powerful weapon with both hands and held it above her head.

    When the moment was perfect, she stuck down with all her might, using the first form of the powerful attack skills she had been taught by the Sword Savant.

    Aziz barely managed to bring his scimitar around to intercept Mrazivy''s weapon, but his stance was off, and he was wholly unprepared to receive such a powerful attack that hade from above him.

    The mana barrier he was using as a foothold to stay airborne crumbled. Sending him plummeting back down towards the stage like a meteor.

    His impact into the stage caused the enchanted adamantine to buckle and the entire arena was shaken by a massive tremor.

    Any normal person would have been reduced to a bloody pulp by taking such an impact, but Aziz was an extremely high-level warrior. It would take more than just a single heavy crash to bring him down.

    He was slightly battered, and his head was ringing a bit, but overall, he hade out with rtively few injuries.

    Yet he was unable to stand up before the next attack came for him.

    Marcus was already rushing towards him the moment he had been hit by Mrazivy attack and was not going to give him a moment to recover.

    His scythe came swinging down from above the prone Aziz, empowered by his wanning gibbous crash attack skill.

    Once again Aziz brough up his own weapon to defend, but he was only just able to hold his ground.

    Slowly Marcus pushed down on Aziz and his scythe pierced into the man''s right shoulder and began digging in.

    It was in this moment that Aziz''s scimitar began to glow with a golden color and Marcus knew he needed to back off. This was one of Aziz''s unique skills and fighting against it in this station would see Marcus as the loser.

    Nevertheless, just because he was unable to continue his attack with his scythe did not mean Marcus was done.

    As he jumped away, he created several Dark portals around himself and Aziz. Many of them were just feints, but with his opponent still staggered and disoriented, Marcus connected a powerful kick to Aziz''s side though one of his portals.

    The man''s body bent as he flew from the force of the kick. Sending him flying directly into the barrier protecting the audience.

    To deliver the finishing blow, Marcus and Mrazivy coordinated their next strikes and both of them shed their weapons through the air and sent out earth shatteringly powerful mana sts.

    Aziz could do nothing to avoid these attacks from his position and could only hope to try and push them back in a contest of pure power. Something he had already lost at against Marcus and Mrazivy multiple times during their sh.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    His only option left to him was to activate his second use of his Save Point Unique skill and heal the damage he had taken while also warping away from the iing attacks.

    When he reappeared the first thing, he saw was a bright sh as Marcus and Mrazivy''s mana shes stuck where he had been before.

    The barrier protecting the audience members had to ramp up its power to absorb the attack and several of the barriers shattered under thebined power of Marcus and Mrazivy''s attacks before finally stopping them.

    Unfortunately, Aziz did not have a single second of respite after using his unique skill to save his hide for the second time.

    Mrazivy''s dragon made of pure ice was waiting for him. He had reappeared exactly where he had started the match just asst time and the conjured creature had been waiting for him to reappear.

    It stuck out with its massive ss and racked across the adamantine stage and left everything frozen in its wake.

    Aziz deflected the attack with his scimitar while throwing dozens of darts into the ice dragon to try and destroy it, but the magically created creature was resilient and took each of his attacks. Striking back with its own powerful attacks.

    Soon Mrazivy joined in with her construct and using her sword skills began pushing Aziz further into a corner.

    "Eclipse Reaper."

    Appearing in a sh of light, Marcus positioned himself directly behind Aziz as he was preupied with blocking Mrazivy''s attacks.

    His scythe was pulsating with light and darkness, and he swung horizontally just below Aziz''s waist.

    In a desperate attempt Aziz threw a dart at Marcus to either force him back or deal a heavy blow, but the attack failed to prate Marcus'' magical defenses just as it had before.

    With his most powerful attack Marcus sliced clean tough Aziz armor and took both of his legspletely off.

    For just an instant Aziz''s body flew into the air with both of his legs no longer attached to his body and a fountain of blood pouring out of him. Dealing with an assault from Marcus and Mrazivy while they were at fully power was simply not something he could handle despite being over ten levels higher than both of them.

    Luckily, he had onest use of his powerful unique skill and he reset his body back to a time and ce before he had been gravely injured.

    "That is thest one. The next time we take him down will be for keeps." Mrazivy said, a confident smile on her face.

    They had just pushed Aziz to the brink three times in only around two dozen seconds and needed only do it once more to eliminate him. Then the two of them could focus on Ghazi and take down the strongest warrior in Aezam together.

    Except as Marcus and Mrazivy were poised to strike down Aziz for the final time, a hulking form went flying through the air and crashed into the ground between them.

 Chapter 904 904 Second Phase Of The Finals

    "Tch! Looks like they could not hold him for long enough."

    Having crashed in between Marcus and Mrazivy before they could finish off Aziz was the upper half of Marcus'' iron golem.

    The powerful autonomous creature created by magic had several deep scars in its armored form and was bisected across the waist.

    ncing behind him, Marcus saw Ghazi now approaching them with his giant amethros ax resting over his left shoulder. Despite having just fought against three of Marcus'' powerful creations, he did not have a single scratch on him, and the lower half of Marcus'' iron golem was copsed on the ground near him.

    Further back, mmed into the magic barrier and missing the upper half of its right side was the gloom titan created by Marcus'' tier eight darkness magic spell. While the ravenous abyss had beenpletely destroyed without a trace of it left.

    Marcus had known that these monsters conjured by his magic would not be able to defeat Ghazi, but he had thought that they would be able to put up a decent fight and keep him busy for longer. Especially the gloom titan which had taken nearly half of his mana to create.

    "What took you so long, Ghazi? These two are far stronger and more relentless than we anticipated. Another few seconds and they would have taken me out" Aziz said, an exasperated, but also relived expression on his face.

    Before he had beenpletely on the defensive and barely able to slow done Marcus and Mrazivy, but now that his brother had arrived, the fear on his face from being assaulted by an overwhelming force was gone, and his confidence had been restored.

    "I may have gotten caught up in ying around a bit too much. I never expected you to be so helpless and get tossed around like that." Ghazi replied, wearing a jovial smile. He had just finished an enjoyable warm-up and was getting ready for the main fight.

    Though while the two brothers were having a leisurely chat, the tension never faded from the arena.

    Marcus and Mrazivy were weighing their options and using telepathy to discuss their next course of action now that their initial goal had failed. They had been hoping to take out Aziz before facing Ghazi together, but that was not going to happen now.

    If they still tried to attack Aziz, they would leave themselves exposed to a counter from Ghazi. Something neither of them wanted to do and forcing them to switch to another n.

    "Sorry Mraz, but I will be leaving the hard part to you. Try and keep him busy until I can win." Marcus said, his demeanor grim now that their initial strategy had failed.

    Mrazivy on the other hand looked excited and turned to face Ghazi with a smile.

    "I will do more than keep him busy. Let''s make this a race to see who can beat their opponent faster."

    After saying this, Mrazivy dashed off towards Ghazi and began relentlessly attacking him. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Not very brave to send your wife off to fight my brother. I don''t like to admit it, but he is stronger than me."

    In response Marcus simply shrugged his shoulders. Showing that he was not bothered by Aziz''s attempt to agitate him.

    "Without being able to use magic, Mraz is certainly stronger than I am. I would be more likely to lose than she is. I am perfectly fine relying on her; it is as simple as that." Marcus said with a smirk on his face.

    "I see you are not above bragging. But let me see if you can take me on without that reliable wife of yours backing you up."

    For the first time during the match Aziz went on the attack, tossing several darts Marcus'' way as he charged towards him.

    Marcus spun his scythe around and the image of a sphere appeared around him as he activated his stalwart full moon defensive skill.

    With each turn of his scythe Marcus deflected the dartsing his way. And even as Aziz acrobatically dashed around him agilely struck out with his scimitar, Marcus easily repelled the onught.

    Eventually Aziz backed off as small cuts were constantly being dug into his exposed flesh with each of Marcus'' counters. Clearly, he had underestimated just how powerful Marcus still was despite fighting alone now.

    ''I need to finish this soon. I only have about a minute and a half left.''

    Knowing that the dominant power he currently wielded was quickly running out, Marcus went on the offensive again and relentlessly assaulted Aziz.

    He once again conjured several Dark Portals around himself and his target and relentlessly threw out attacks from multiple different directions. Marcus could strike seemingly random areas in the air or ground around him and a kick, punch, or a strike from his scythe would appear from out of one of the portals surrounding Aziz.

    It was a horribly difficult fighting style to deal with, as not only did Aziz have to worry about the enemy in front of him but be wary of each of the portals surrounding him.

    At one point he tried sending one of his darts back through the portal to attack Marcus through his own skill, but the Dark Portal instead shattered. It only allowed entities or objects that were imbued with the darkness element through it. And while this might have seemed to be a disadvantage to the skill, in this situation it made it so that Marcus did not have to concern himself with attacksing towards him through his portals.

    Still, Aziz had discovered that if he attacked these portals with more man than what was used to create them that they would dissipate.

    He began persistently attacking Marcus'' Dark Portals faster than Marcus could make knew ones and focused fully on defending himself. He knew he could not beat Marcus right now, but was confident that if he held out, he would have a chance to counterattack.

 Chapter 905 905 Time Runs Out

    ?

    Marcus ushed a continuous assault on Aziz from multiple directions, swinging his scythe with devastating power that caused the adamantine stage beneath them to bend and fracture.

    However, despite his relentless assault he was finding it difficult to deliver a finishing blow to his opponent.

    Aziz''s was focusing solely on defense, and he had a difficult to deal with unique skill that made it unwise for Marcus to attack him too recklessly.

    As the fight went on, Marcus started to be more desperate as his Soul Burst unique skill was closing in on its limits.

    He was able to deal consistent damage to Aziz and was obviously winning, but he would need another minute to im victory at his current pace, but he only had about ten seconds left.

    ''I can''t keep going without taking any risks. I have to bet it all on one big attack.''

    With only a few seconds remaining before he lost his full power Marcus condensed all of the raging energy around him.

    "Eclipse Meteor!"

    His body becamepletely obscured by the light and darkness constantly swirling around him from his Supreme Skill and he sted forward as a juggernaut of pure destructive power.

    It would seem that Marcus''s final and most devastating attack would bepletely unstoppable, but Aziz met him head on with confidence. His scimitar began to glow with gold light as it had before as he activated the unique skill Marcus had been wary of.

    This time though, Marcus could not back down. He had alreadymitted to his attack, and it would be impossible for him to stop the power he had unleashed.

    Aziz''s de met with the energy surrounding Marcus and for a single moment everything around them seemed to go still, before the light and darkness around Marcus was split in two by Aziz''s scimitar.

    As the energy around Marcus became unstable a massive explosion engulfed the area around the two of them and the entire floor of the arena was caught up in the st.

    The protections around the arena strained to hold back the immense power that Marcus had just unleashed, and the barriers began to shatter one after another.

    Cracks began to form in the sturdy stone making up the due to the violent tremors, and the audience started screaming and frantically fleeing from the battle that seemed to be shaking the entire city.

    Thankfully, by some miracle the barriers managed to hold out against Marcus'' eclipse meteor and the damage to the arena and surrounding area was limited to only shallow cracks in the buildings and their foundations.

    When the dust settled there was a noticeable crater in the sturdy stage that was meant to hold up to the strain of high-levelbatants fighting.

    Normally the stage would be able to repair itself with the many restorative enchantments etched within it, but Marcus'' attack had devastated the area and left the magical marvelpletely inoperable. Now it was only arge hunk of adamantine with a huge hole in it.

    Sadly, it was not the only thing to have been severely damaged by Marcus'' sh with Aziz. Marcus and his equipment had not gotten out unscathed. His scythe had been sliced in two and from his left shoulder down to his waist was a massive gash left by Aziz''s scimitar. Leaving his body and armor in shambles

    It also did not help that his Soul Burst had run out and he was having to deal with the bacsh of the powerful ability that left him weary and weakened. But the worst part was that his final full power attack had not been enough.

    At the other end of the arena, Aziz was pushing himself to his feet. Certainly, he was pretty badly injured with his skin ckened in several areas where Marcus'' darkness had taken hold and was eating away at the man. Aziz''s armor was also terribly damage and most of it had fallen off of his body and left him only being covered in his formally ornate clothing that now looked like rags.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Yet there was one item that Aziz carried that waspletely unharmed by his sh with Marcus and that was his amethros scimitar. The powerful de was still unblemished.

    ''So, that is what his Armor Break unique skill is like.'' Marcus thought looking down at his broken scythe and the terrible gash in his body that the gray mist that was his essence was pouring out of.

    Even with all the power he had packed into his final attack, Aziz''s unique skill had been able to cleanly cut through and disregard Marcus'' defenses.

    It was a skill that allowed the use to effortlessly slice through anything that was weaker than the weapon they wielded when used, and Marcus'' weapon, armor, and body were unable to resist.

    Of course, the ensuing explosion had still caught Aziz, as Marcus had nned, but his unique skill had weakened the attack more than Marcus.

    "That was certainly reckless of you. I honestly can''t believe that you would use an attack like that in the middle of a city. What if the barriers had not held?" Aziz said admonishingly as he approached Marcus.

    He was fairly badly injured and was slowly limping over, but Marcus was definitely in the more precarious situation.

    "I knew that the protections around the arena would hold. If I miscalcted anything, it is how tough you are." Marcus said, lowering his head as if ready to ept his defeat.

    Once Aziz reached him, he held his scimitar above Marcus, poised to strike him down.

    "You are beaten, surrender. I can tell that you have exhausted all of your power."

    "Beaten? No, I am just getting started." Marcus said, his mouth curling up into a devious smile as he raised his head.

    In spite of the feeble form that Marcus had been reduced to, Aziz was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of dread and foreboding.

    He swung down with all the strength he had remaining to bring Marcus down for good and eliminate him from the match, but it was toote.

    A silver light sprung up around Marcus, and in a single instant his weakness and injuries vanished like he had just reversed time.

    Fully restored by his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill, Marcus swiftly turned his body to avoid Aziz''s frantic attack and struck out with his right fist.

    Aziz''s stomach caved in from the force behind Marcus'' punch and he was flung back at several hundred meters per second, before crashing into and shattering the regenerating barriers that were protecting the audience.

    Blood was pouring out of his mouth and his head was slumped over to the side and his eyes were lifeless. As powerful as he was, Aziz had taken all he could and been rendered unconscious.

    It took a few seconds for the announcer toe to his senses and announce that Aziz had been eliminated, but when he did, Marcus let out a sigh of relief. He had been afraid that his opponent would get back up at any moment.

    "Still, I can''t rest on myurels just yet, the fight is not over yet."

    Turning his head towards the other end of the arena, Marcus could see that Mrazivy and Ghazi were still locked inbat.

 Chapter 906 906 A Breather Before The End

    ?

    Marcus watched Mrazivy and Ghazi sh against each other several hundred times in a matter of seconds.

    Both of them were incredibly fast, but it was not too long before Marcus noticed Mrazivy starting to slow down.

    Her own unique skills were close to reaching their time limits, and when they did, she would not be able to continue fighting on her own.

    "It looks like you could use some help."

    Appearing in a sh of light Marcus materialized next to Mrazivy and blocked Ghazi''s ax with his mana barrier at full strength.

    His defenses held for only a second, but it was enough for him and Mrazivy to jump back and get some distance.

    Ghazi changed his posture to pursue, but before he could Marcus'' cataclysmic iron sword mmed down in between them and cut him off.

    "I wish I could say that I did not need your assistance there, but I was on myst leg. It still vexes me that I could not beat him though when you managed to win against Aziz." Mrazivy said, wearing a frown.

    Unfortunately, she had been fighting the strongest warrior of Aezam. One of the most powerful nations on the continent. The fact that she could put up as good of a fight as she had was already impressive.

    "There is no need to feel down about it, you were doing well. Had you not used up some of your strength fighting Aziz with me, you might have been able to beat him on your own. Anyway, I only managed to win thanks to your help."

    Mrazivy rolled her eyes as Marcusforted her, but despite trying to shrug it off, she was smiling.

    "Now let me fix you up." Marcus said, conjuring a silver ball in his hand.

    She had several gashes on her arms and legs where she had used her body to defend herself. Normally the hard scales one her limbs could repel most weapons, but evidently, they were not able to stop Ghazi''s amethros ax.

    With his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill, Marcus not only healed Mrazivy''s wounds but also restored her weakened state from hitting the time limits of her unique skills.

    In an instant she was back up to full strength and could fight at nearly her best again. Sadly, her limited use unique skills were still on cooldown just as Marcus'' Soul Burst was, but she was at least no longer suffering from any ill effects from her own powers.

    It was just a momentter that Marcus felt a great shockwave and watched his tier six iron magic spell get shattered.

    Ghazi had swung his giant ax into the giant magical de andpletely destroyed it.

    "I see that we have all managed to recover." Ghazi said, seeing that Mrazivy was no longer injured or breathing heavily.

    Of course, Mrazivy had not been the only one to take damage during their fight. Before Marcus had intervened Ghazi had been missing his left eye, his pinky and ring finger on his right had had been sliced off, and he had numerous other wounds all over his body thanks to Mrazivy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, while Marcus had conversed with and restored Mrazivy to peak condition, Ghazi had been healing himself.

    He had the high-speed regeneration skill at a high level, and his fingers had already grown back and all of the cuts that had been on his body were barely visible. Only slight reddish raw skin showing that he had ever been injured.

    The only thing that had not fully regenerated at this point was his missing eye. But given time even that would grow back.

    Nevertheless, Ghazi''s recovery was not nearly as impressive as Mrazivy''s.

    Thanks to Marcus'' Supreme Skill, not only were her injuries healed, but her mana waspletely replenished. Ghazi on the other hand had to use his mana to heal and was not getting what he used back fast enough to cover his consumption. In a battle of attrition, he would run out of power before Marcus and Mrazivy did.

    "I truly am surprised that you managed to defeat Aziz. Though it seems that it has cost you your shell and fangs." Ghazi said, pointing out hisck of armor and a weapon.

    Regrettably his adamantine equipment had been rendered useless after being his by Aziz''s Amor break unique skill.

    "Don''t worry. I still have plenty of means to fight."

    Marcus then burst forth with light and darkness that wrapped around himself, as he once again activated his Embodiment of Eclipse Supreme Skill.

    Yet instead of allowing the power to simply wrap around himself as usual, he began modeling a part of it into his hand until he had made a scythe out of light and darkness.

    The form was notpletely stable and was constantly shifting in size thanks to the incorporable nature of the elements the scythe wasposed of, but it would still do for a makeshift weapon.

    Ghazi shook his head when he saw this. Obviously not impressed.

    "And here I was hoping that you would bring out your true weapon. I know that the scythe you have been using is something you made recently at one of the forges in Aezam. But surely someone as skilled as you must have a more impressive weapon. I brought out my own best weapon and was hoping that you would do the same."

    "Sorry, but my main weapon is not something to be brough out in public. You will just have to make do with me as I am."

    Sighing, Ghazi was clearly not happy with Marcus'' answer, but could tell he was not going to change his mind.

    "Very well. Then let us begin our match anew. My brother may not have been able to handle both of you, but I can assure you that I will not be as easily beaten as him."

    A loud roar shook the arena as Ghazi charged towards Marcus and Mrazivy. Bringing the match into its final stage.

 Chapter 907 907

    ?

    The sound of metal shing against metal resounded throughout the arena as Mrazivy met Ghazi''s ax with her sword. With each strike the two of them made the ground shook and the adamantine stage beneath them crumpled.

    Both of them were disying extraordinary feats of power, but Mrazivy was clearly at a disadvantage.

    Though she had been able to keep up with him while her unique skills were in effect, now that they had worn off it was taking her everything she had just to receive Ghazi''s blows. Ever sh from his ax caused her hands to go numb and her face had warped into a pained grimace.

    "You seem to be much slower now. What happened to the warrior that was dashing around me and attacking with such ferocity? It is as if I am facing a kitten now instead of a tiger."

    With a disappointed look on his face, Ghazi used an attack skill that greatly boosted the potency of his swing and sted Mrazivy back.

    Even with all of her strength she had been unable to hold herself up and was sent bouncing off the ground before she smashed into the barrier around the stage. And had she been fighting alone Ghazi''s follow up attack likely would have been enough to finish her off.

    However, Marcus interposed himself and began unleashing a barrage of mana sts at Ghazi in order to give Mrazivy the time she needed to recover.

    "Hmph! As if attacks like these will stop me."

    Barely giving any attention to Marcus'' attacks, Ghazi shed his ax into the air and sent a colossal sh of mana at Marcus that dwarfed the sts he had been ushing.

    Of course, the attack was also infused with a great deal of spiritual energy that prevented Marcus from simply using his ghostly abilities to avoid it. As the strongest man in the nation of Aezam, Ghazi needed to be able tobat any threat, and that included intangible beings such as ghosts.

    ''There is no way I can block it.'' Marcus thought watching his entire view get consumed by the green light of the mana attacking for him.

    Had he been able to use magic than perhaps he could have used multiple powerful defensive spells to protect himself, but without casting any new spells there was simply no way he could stop this attack.

    This left Marcus with only one option, to dodge.

    Luckily, in terms of evasion he had plenty of powerful abilities.

    Just before that tack reached him Marcus turned into a ball of light and moved far faster than the human eye even enhanced by skills could keep up with.

    To all those watching it just seemed that he suddenly disappeared before reappearing elsewhere in a sh of light. Except there was one person that had anticipated Marcus'' move.

    Certainly, Ghazi could not keep up with Marcus'' Light Speed Movement, but it was possible to predict where he would appear after using the unique skill.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    To use the unique skill Marcus first needed to pick a location within his line of sight and choose it as his destination before transforming his form into pure light. His body may have been able to move at the speed of light, but his mind was not able to think anywhere close to as fast. It was possible to watch his eyes and figure out his destination before he initiated the skill and move to intercept him. Which is exactly what Ghazi had done.

    ''Damn it.''

    Marcus braced himself to be cut in half by Ghazi''s horizontal swing that was aimed at his waste, but the attack never reached him.

    Right before Ghazi''s ax cut him in two, Mrazivy'' jumped in and blocked him with her sword. Yet unlikest time she was not knocked back and actually pushed Ghazi away.

    Currently Mrazivy was d in a dark blue aura and ushing an unbelievable amount of power thanks to her Supreme Skill that she had just used.

    "Mraz stop! You are not going tost if you keep it activated!" Marcus said, noticing how fast Mrazivy''s energy was draining.

    Her Supreme Skill Strongest Dragon gave her immense power temporarily, but at the cost of draining her mana and spiritual energy at an rming rate. The more strength she summoned the faster she would run out.

    "Sorry, I would not have been able to make it in time or push him back if I did not use it there."

    Mrazivy began to breathe heavily the moment she dispelled her Supreme Skill. Even just using it for that brief moment had cost her a great deal of energy since she had used it at nearly full power. Especially since she was not yet fullypetent with the skill, having received it not long ago.

    "Here, you cannot continue fighting like that." Marcus said, enveloping Mrazivy in a silver light.

    In an instant she was back up to full power thanks to Marcus'' Ultimate Refresh.

    "It looks like you two are not as worn out as I thought. Thatst his was really something. I can''t remember thest time I was hit that hard" Ghazi said, a jovial smile on his face.

    Nevertheless, despiteplementing Mrazivy''s attack, he did not look much worse for wear.

    There were several viable bruises on his body, but they were fading fast thanks to his regeneration skill. If he had taken any serious damage, it had already recovered in the time that Marcus was recovering Mrazivy.

    ''I don''t think a war of attrition like we wanted is going to work. We can''t stop him with half measures while waiting for you to steal the rest of his mana.'' Mrazivy said using telepathy.

    Sadly, it was just as she had pointed out. Marcus had been hoping to exhaust all of Ghazi''s mana and beat him once he was unable to use several of his skills. But the strongest warrior in Aezam was not easy to stop, and each of his attacks threatened to take one of them out.

 Chapter 908 908 Desperate Combination

    ?

    ''If only I still had a proper weapon I could do more. Perhaps it was a mistake to sacrifice my scythe against Aziz.''

    While Marcus was able to attack with the weapon he had created using the light and darkness surrounding his body thanks to Embodiment of Eclipse, he was unable to properly defend with it.

    This left blocking any unavoidable blows that Ghazi sent their way to Mrazivy.

    Currently they were forced onto the defensive as they came up with another n to defeat their opponent, as it was clear that simply wearing him out was not going to work. Sooner orter, he was going to score a devastating attack against one of them and take them out of the fight.

    ''Mraz, we are not going to win this by ying it safe. I have a n, but it is pretty reckless.'' Marcus saidmunicating with Mrazivy via telepathy while they frantically defended against Ghazi''s furious assault.

    Marcus quickly exined his strategy to Mrazivy, but she was quite opposed to it.

    ''There is no way I am letting you take such a risk. And I have no idea if I can pull that move off here. I need a lot of time to focus, and this sword probably won''t be able to take it.'' Mrazivy responded.

    Her top tier adamantine saber was far from in peak condition after exchanging so many blows with Ghazi''s Amethros ax. It had several deep nicks on its de and even a few cracks had formed. Mrazivy was correct that her sword would not likely hold up to the attack Marcus wanted her to use.

    ''If your sword breaks, I can always make you another er. I can''t think of anything else that will let us win. Are you ready to give up after we already came this far?'' Marcus asked.

    Mrazivy gritted her teeth and thought about what she really wanted to do while barely keeping Ghazi''s furious attacks from severely wounding her or Marcus.

    Without much time to consider her options she soon agreed to Marcus'' proposal but urged him to push himself too far.

    She then disengaged from Ghazi and jumped back to the far end of the stage. To pull off the attack Marcus wanted her to use, she would need at least two dozen seconds to focus. An incredibly long amount of time in a battle against someone so strong.

    "As if I will let you get away while we are having such an enjoyable fight." Ghazi said, barreling back towards Mrazivy and practically ignoring Marcus who was in his way.

    During their battle he had been acting as mostly support for Mrazivy and had not truly engaged with Ghazi at all. Hence why the majority of his attention was on Mrazivy.

    "I haven''t used this one yet since it is a real mana guzzler, but I think it is about time."

    After making this deration, the halo made of an iron chain above Marcus'' head spilt at every link.

    The moment the chain had broken apart each one of the links began to grow more chains until the entire area in front of Marcus was filled with iron chains.

    Swiftly more iron chains seemed to grow out of the already existing ones until the entire battlefield waspletely covered by them.

    This was the power of the tier eight iron magic spell, proliferating iron chain. So long as this spell was supplied with mana from the caster it could grow endlessly.

    "Flimsy chains like these cannot hold me back!" Ghazi shouted.

    Being besieged from every direction by a limitless swarm of chains Ghazi held his ax above his head and spun it around his head.

    The force he produced was akin to a hurricane and Marcus'' chains were slowly begin pushed back. He was producing them as quickly as he could, but Ghazi''s attack was destroying them even quicker.

    "Take it all!"

    Forcing out most of his mana Marcus created as many chains as he could until the barrier around the arena was close to bursting simply from the sheer mass. The only ce that was notpletely covered in iron chains was the area where Mrazivy was standing.

    For several seconds Marcus held his ground by exerting the power of one of his strongest spells, but it was not long until Ghazi broke through.

    ''Huh?!''

    As Marcus was controlling the massive phenomenon he had created, he watched his outstretched arms suddenly go flying.

    In an instant he realized what had happened and narrowly controlled his body to the side as Ghazi''s ax made a follow up strike. Had he been a secondter he would have lost his legs as well.

    "That was more difficult to deal with than I thought it would be. But once I disregarded defense a bit, it was easy enough to push through." Ghazi said, pushing himself out of the quickly fading chains that had been surrounding him now that Marcus had lost concentration on his spell. Only the original chain floating above Marcus'' head remained.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Ghazi was covered in wounds from where the sharp tips of iron chains had sliced into his flesh and bashed against his body, but none of his wounds were too severe. Barely enough to slow down such a high-levelbatant.

    Having used up nearly all of his mana, Marcus'' Embodiment of Eclipse began to fade, and he copsed to his knees. He was currently running on fumes and had almost no strength left. Leaving himpletely vulnerable.

    "You think I am going to fall for the same trap my brother did. It is obvious that you can still use whatever power it is you have to recover your strength."

    "Tch! So, you saw through me."

    Activating his Ultimate Refresh for the fourth time during the battle, Marcus restored the damage to his body andpletely replenished his mana. Within less than a second he was back up to full strength again.

    "Your ability to bounce back is impressive, But I shall soon find out what your limit is."

    Pushing off the ground, Ghaziunched himself forward and brought down his ax with a mighty swing.

    Normally this is where Marcus would use one of his movement unique skills to dodge, something Ghazi was looking out for, but this time he stood and took it.

    Marcus created the strongest mana barrier that he could in front of the ax and did all he could to slow it down.

    Naturally his mana barrier was unable to hold up against Ghazi''s attack and shattered, but Marcus had already known this was what would happen.

    Before the ax reached him, he reactivated Embodiment of Eclipse, Dark Form and mmed his hands together with the ax de in between him.

    With all his might he pushed back against the iing ax in an attempt to stop it. And he did eventually manage to seed. Though, only after the ax was already buried from his right shoulder down to his waist.

    A huge plume of gray mist began to shoot out of Marcus'' body as he took the grave wound.

    "Caught you."

    Wearing a massive grin despite the giant gash in his body, Marcus strengthened his grp around Ghazi''s ax and used his lingering tier eight iron magic spell to wrap them up in a cocoon of iron chains.

    Naturally Ghazi did not just sit back and let Marcus do as he wished. At first, he tried to break Marcus'' hold on his ax, but he stayed firm. Unfortunately, this meant that Ghazi soon began swinging his ax around with Marcus still connected to it.

    This went on for a couple of seconds, before the next part of Marcus'' n initiated. Four dark whips wrapped around each of Ghazi''s limbs and held him in ce.

    "You certainly did a number of my gloom titan. But you really should have made sure to finish it off. A tier eight spell is not so weak as to be stopped after only being half destroyed." Marcus said.

    Ghazi nced behind him and saw that the monster of darkness created by Marcus that he had defeated at the beginning of the match had been fully restored. As an entity created by a high-level spell it obviously had the ability to regenerate itself so long as it still had enough of the mana its caster had given to it.

    As strong as Ghazi was, he could not immediately break free from Marcus and his spells. Leaving him open long enough for Mrazivy tounch the attack she had been preparing.

    The moment Ghazi was locked down, he felt an absurd aura explode from where Mrazivy was standing and went wide eyed by what he saw.

    Surrounding her body was no longer the simple untamed blue energy that boosted all of her stats, but the visage of a dragon wrapped around her body.

    Just as Marcus had developed finishing attacks utilizing his Embodiment of Eclipse, Mrazivy had done the same with her own Supreme Skill.

    She was still fairly sloop in her control over the greatest power she had, but given the time she needed to focus, Mrazivy could unleash an attack just as devastating if not even more so than Marcus''.

    "Dragon Strike."

    With her sword held above her head, Mrazivy appeared in front of Ghazi in one bound and shed down on him with her strongest attack.

    However, Marcus was still holding Ghazi''s ax down and was in the way. If Mrazivy''s sword connected with him as well, he would certainly be destroyed by her tremendous power in his current state.

 Chapter 909 909 Victors

    ?

    As Mrazivy was closing in, Ghazi was certain that she would divert her attack away from him when he positioned his body in front of Marcus who was still holding down his ax with his body. Surely Mrazivy would not deliver a killing blow to her partner just to win a tournament.

    Yet, Mrazivy''s de did not falter at all. This was all a part of Marcus'' n after all.

    Right before he was hit by Mrazivy''s sword, Marcus went into his ghost form and becamepletely intangible.

    For anyone to hit him in this state, they would have to channel spiritual energy into their weapon, and Mrazivy had no need to do so when her target was Ghazi.

    Despite the immense amount of power Mrazivy''s saber had behind it, the de passed right through Marcus without causing him any damage and shed against Ghazi''s ax.

    Mrazivy''s sword actually cut into the amethros weapon and cracks began to form on Ghazi''s ax.

    However, for all the damage Mrazivy''s weapon did to Ghazi''s, hers took twice as much.

    It was not long before her top tier adamantine de shattered into pieces and was lost in a spray of metal shards.

    This would seem to be the end of her and Marcus'' final offensive, but the colossal power she had been exerting did not simply disappear now that the de it had been focused into was destroyed.

    The energy that Mrazivy hadpressed exploded out all at once, taking the form of a dragon''s head that bit into Ghazi''s body.

    An earth-shattering explosion then expanded out around them and spread out until it was pressed up against the already wavering defenses protecting the spectators and the surrounding city.

    Soon the final barriers began to crack, and it seemed that Mrazivy''s ultimate attack would not only take out Ghazi, but a portion of the city as well.

    Except right before the capital of Aezam was turned into a hellscape, Mrazivy''s attack died down and thest barrier managed to hold on. Albeit with so many cracks in it that one more attack would certainly destroy it.

    "That was almost really bad." Mrazivy said, wheezing heavily and a painful expression on her face.

    In front of her was now a giant hole in the ground that went straight down further than the eye could see.

    She had managed to direct the majority of her power into the crust of Mirrion and prevent it from destroying her surroundings. Now, Aezam had a hole in the middle of it that went several hundreds of kilometers down into the world.

    Mrazivy waspletely exhausted after unleashing her most powerful attack. Her body had reverted to its normal state and just keeping her torso upright while resting on her knees was all she was capable of doing.

    The worst part through was her arms.

    She was still far from proficient with using her Supreme Skill andpressing all of her might into one attack had caused her a great deal of bacsh.

    Her left arm was broken in several ces and all the bones in her hand had been shattered. But these were far from the worst injuries she had received. Her right arm all the way up to her shoulder had turned purple and the liquefied insides of her arm were spilling out through breaks in her skin.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was unclear to her just how bad the damage was since she was unable to feel anything in her arm, but just looking at it told her just how serious it was.

    Not just blood wasing out of her open wounds but destroyed muscles and bone fragments. Frankly, Mrazivy felt that it would have been easier to deal with if the entire arm had just been obliterated rather than being left in such a state. Plus, without any mana left, she was unable to use her regeneration skill, leaving her without the power to heal her injuries.

    "I guess I am still doing better than him at least." Mrazivy said, looking across the battlefield where Ghazi''s unconscious bodyy resting.

    The man that was believed to be the strongest warrior in Aezam had severalrge puncture wounds in his torso, along withcerations and bruises all over his body. The localized damage Mrazivy had taken to her arm was worse than anything that Ghazi had sustained, but the sheer volume of wounds on his body outssed the damage she had taken.

    Luckily Ghazi did not seem to be in danger of dying thanks to how absurdly tough he was as a level eighty-eight warrior.

    "Looks like you could use some healing." Marcus said, appearing next to Mrazivy fully recovered.

    He had activated thest use of his Ultimate Refresh on himself to heal his injuries and restore his mana.

    This meant he could not use his strongest ability to immediately heal Mrazivy, but he was more than capable of employing one of his other methods.

    A bright sh of white light shot off of Marcus'' hands and his spirit healing began working to repair the damage Mrazivy had incurred from her own powers.

    "I am certainly grateful that you came to me first, but should you not go tend to Ghazi. I do not think he will die, but it is possible with how much blood he is losing. You should go and at least close up some of his more severe wounds. I am not in any danger right now, and it would be bad if we ended up known as the people that killed Aezam''s greatest warrior."

    Mrazivy put on a brave face and gave Marcus an assuring smile that it would be fine to leave her for a few seconds to go and heal Ghazi, but Marcus just shook his head.

    "Right now, I cannot heal him. I would just use long range healing magic from here, but the match has not been called yet."

    Unfortunately, the arena was in a mess in the wake of their battle.

    None of their attacks had made it out of the arena''s defenses, but the shockwaves had still caused some damage to the foundation and several tens of thousands of people had fled. Causing a panic. The announcer was busier trying to keep things under control, rather than announcing the end of the match.

    Now if Marcus were to heal Ghazi and the man got back to his feet before things were called, it would lead to the battle having to continue.

    "He will probably be fine, and my greatest concern is you anyway. You may be good at taking pain, but that does not mean you do not feel it. I can tell that what you are experiencing right now is excruciating. So just let me heal you, and then we can worry about our opponent." Marcus said, wearing a caring expression.

    Mrazivy understood that Marcus was right, and allowed her body to go limp and rest against Marcus who was sitting behind her.

    It took around five more minutes before enough eyes were turned back towards the arena''s floor, but soon enough an announcement echoed out through the arena announcing that Marcus and Mrazivy were the winners.

 Chapter 910 910

    ?

    The announcement that Marcus and Mrazivy were the winners of the duo tournament was not met with resounding cheers butpete silence.

    Not only had a decent number of the audience members fled in the wake of the destructive battle, but those that were still watching could not believe that two of the greatest warriors in all of Aezam had lost.

    Had it been against other citizens of the nation it would have been one thing, but Marcus and Mrazivy were foreign guests. They had just shown that even Aezam''s best could not beat them.

    As a whole, this was almost shameful to the nation. Though, there was one n that was celebrating.

    Being the guests of the Eazim n, Marcus and Mrazivy were representing them in the tournament, and winning against Ghazi and Aziz would bring the n a great deal of prestige even if it was not their own warriors that hade out victorious.

    Seeing that the crowd was not going to turn around, Marcus and Mrazivy left what remained of the adamantine stage that they had been fighting on.

    "I suppose that type of reaction was to be expected. We did just publicly defeat their greatest fighters. I doubt I would be able to cheer for someone if I watched them take down Boreas and Gwyneira. That would just instill me with a sense of fear." Mrazivy said, a slight frown on her face.

    Marcus could only nod and agree in response. For the people of Aezam it would not only humiliating, but also unnerving for their strongest fighters to lose to foreigners. Now it was proven that nobody in the country could stop Marcus and Mrazivy if they decided to turn their powers on Aezam.

    Of course, neither of them nned on doing anything that would disrupt Aezam, but the fear would still be there that it would be impossible to handle them if such a situation arose.

    "I am sure that everything will be fine. At the very least, we know that Ghazi and Aziz will not hold anything against us. It was clear that they enjoyed the fight, especially Ghazi." Marcus said.

    It did not really matter what most people thought, since the higher ups already understood them. Plus, they would not be in Aezam much longer anyway. Now that the tournament was over they would be heading to the Deste Desert. A ce far away from the public eye.

    ˇ­

    "That was astounding. I did not doubt your skills, but to actually best Ghazi and Aziz was beyond my expectations. Truly, Imend both of you for such an amazing performance." Akeem said when Marcus and Mrazivy returned to his viewing box.

    With their victory in the tournament his n was going to receive several valuable rewards and greater influence within Aezam.

    Akeem even went so far as to offer them high ranking positions within the Eazim n that were only below his own.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Naturally Marcus and Mrazivy declined as they were already members of the Borealian Royal Family, and members of the adventurers guild which Aezam was hostile towards for stopping their northward expansion.

    In order to join the Eazim n they would have to cut off these ties. Something they were unwilling to do.

    "I understand. I thought it would be a long shot." Akeem said, looking only slightly upset.

    Soon the entire room became boisterous as a celebration as held for the Eazim n''s far greater than average performance in the Muharib Festival. Not only had they managed to have representatives win one of the tournaments, but they had done quite well in the other two as well.

    Once things had wound down, Akeem invited Marcus and Mrazivy to a private room to discuss their rewards for winning the duo tournament.

    "Normally the spoils of the festival are handed out to the entire n and then given out to the participants based on tehri showing, but for the two of you, I figured I should simply ask what it is you both want. You have already made it clear that you do not want either power or money. If there is something I can reward you both with, you need only ask."

    Turning towards Mrazivy Marcus had a quick telepathic conversation with her before stating thepensation that they would want.

    "The first thing thates to mind is amethros. Oh, but adamantine and parts from high level beasts and monsters are also eptable." Marcus said, knowing that he could never have enough supply of these materials.

    "Powerful naturally treasures would be good as well. Preferably those that work for individuals over level eighty. And depending on the types you have to offer; skill orbs would be wee. Especially unique skill orbs." Mrazivy added.

    Hearing what they expected as rewards, Akeem''s face twitched uncontrobly. His stered-on smile nearly faltered, but he was just barely able to keep his emotions in check. Marcus and Mrazivy had just basically asked for some of the rarest items in the world. Things that even as the leader of a powerful n within arge nation had in short supply.

    "You have both done a great service for my n, so I will do what I can to meet your requests. But amethros and unique skill orbs are likely impossible for me to provide you with. Those are not items that even the Eazim n has in arge supply."

    "That is fine. We figured that those two were longshots. Whatever you consider to be an eptable reward will be fine by us." Mrazivy said, wearing an amicable smile.

    However, Akeem felt a cold sweating on. Mrazivy was leaving everything up to him without giving him an idea of how much they really wanted from him. If he were to be conservative it would likely ruin their rtionship, but he also needed to conserve the valuables of his n as much as possible. He would have much rather had a negotiation than simply being forced to guess.

    "Very well, I will have the materials and items that are desirable to you both gathered and awarded to you in a few days. I will make sure that it is enough to repay you both for the prestige you have won my n." Akeem said, already calcting what valuables in the n''s treasury would hurt the least to part with.

 Chapter 911 911 Arrival At The Desolate Desert

    ?

    "So, this is the Deste Desert. It really lives up to its name."

    Standing atop arge fortress, Marcus looked out at the endless sea of sand before him.

    After achieving victory in the Muharib festival''s duo tournament, he and Mrazivy had been given permission to enter this dangerous area and were receiving aid and information from the Sulb n that oversaw the area.

    Their ultimate goal here was to have Marcus absorb the power emanating from the Font of Death that resided at the center of the desert so that he could get one step closer to achieving his evolution. Of course they had not disclosed this to anyone and had instead given a more believable reason for wanting to enter such a dangerous ce.

    "Yes, it may look like much of the rest of the nation at a nce, but those that look closely can easily notice the difference." Aziz said, simrly looking out at the desert with a hostile re.

    Unlike the rest of Aezam the Deste Desert waspletely devoid of life and an oppressive aura of death permeated thend. Marcus was certain that not even microorganisms were able to live in this inhospitablend that had beenpletely tainted by death.

    It would even be far worse without therge wall that had sectioned off the ce from the rest of the country and was keeping it from expanding.

    The wall extended further than the eye could see and every three kilometers there was a fortress built within the wall. This was absolutely necessary for the defense of Aezam from the hordes of undead monsters that lurked within the Deste Desert. It also showed a significant reason why the Sulb n was more fixated on power more than any other of the major ns within Aezam. Having to deal with such a great threat at all times made it a necessity that they be strong.

    "I see that you have not lost your nerve even after seeing it. Though I figured as much. Let us go and meet with the scouts and find out if they have located our target." Aziz said, leading the way back into the fortress.

    Soon he had brought Marcus and Mrazivy to arge meeting room where a map of the Deste Desert wasid out.

    Several soldiers of the n were standing around it and adding markings to it.

    "Lord Aziz, we have the report that you wanted." Themander of the fortress said.

    Normally he was the one in charge of the fortress, but currently Aziz who was acting as Marcus and Mrazivy''s liaison had taken over and was using it as their base of operations.

    "I am guessing it is not good news." Mrazivy said, seeing a scowl appear on Aziz''s face.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You are correct. The scouts were unable to even find the general location of the Mummy Lord, Baluea. Usually, it is not so hard to find clues as to his whereabouts, but he seems to have ceased his usual activities."

    For almost as long as the Deste Desert had been in existence the Mummy Lord Baluea had been trying to break through the fortifications protecting the rest of Aezam from the Font of Death. Every couple of years the mummy lord would lead an army of undead to force his way through the wall but had been repulsed every time.

    Aziz had told Marcus and Mrazivy of a few times that the powerful undead monster had actually breached the wall, but each time Baluea was driven back by the forces of the Sulb n.

    However, the mummy lord had been abnormally quiet for thest few years and his location was currently unknown.

    "Is it possible that another of the powerful undead within the Deste Desert could have destroyed him?" Mrazivy asked.

    "Perhaps, but unlikely. For the most part the undead do not fight amongst each other. Of course, there is a great deal we still do not know about the undead monsters that inhabit the region. But I do not think a monster that is over level eighty would be easily defeated. More likely Baluea has retreated deeper into the desert beyond where our scouts can travel. It is foreboding though that he has switched up is movements after all this time." Aziz said, his demeanor subtly showing how worried he was about his.

    Frankly everyone that monitored the Deste Desert was happy that no major attacks had happened recently. But now that they were actively looking for the greatest menace within the region yet turning up nothing, a sense of unease had filled the fortress. They had no clue what was happening or what ns the mummy lord might be concocting.

    "If he has pushed deeper into the desert than we only need to find him. That should be easy enough for me." Marcus said.

    All of the solder at the fortress and even Aziz looked at Marcus like he was crazy when eh said this. Going past the fringes of the Deste Desert was incredibly dangerous for a living being.

    "I know you are strong; you beat me after all, but you do not know how dangerous this desert is. The corruption of undeath gets far worse the closer you get to the center and the undead be immensely more powerful. Past a certain point you will find yourself swarmed by thousands of monsters that are attracted to your life force. But that is not the worst. There are terribly powerful monsters like the mummy lord that are difficult for even me to deal with. It is not something any one person can handle. If it was easy to force our way through, we would have long since cleared out this ce." Aziz said, stressing how dangerous the Deste Desert was.

    He instead suggested that they gather a team of high-level individuals to slowly scout out the inner areas of the Deste Desert while searching for their target as safely as possible.

    Seeing as they were guests and knew far less about the area, Marcus and Mrazivy assented to Aziz''s judgment. If someone as strong as him wanted to y it safe, there was certainly a good reason for it.

 Chapter 912 912 Into The Desolate Desert

    ?

    Over theing weeks, Aziz assembled several skilled members of the Sulb n to join their group and head deeper into the Deste Desert in search of the Mummy Lord, Baluea.

    Among those that he assembled Marcus and Mrazivy had already seen most of them in action during the Muharib Festival and knew that they were strong. Not a single member that had been invited was below level sixty-five.

    Except two individuals stood out from among the others as they were not members of the Sulb n.

    "Zilre, Igna! What are you two doing here!?" Marcus said in surprise when the two of them appeared.

    Just like him and Mrazivy they were guests here in Aezam, meaning that they should not have been among the forces that Aziz gathered. The only reason Marcus and Mrazivy were entering the Deste Desert was for their own goals, but Zilre and Igna had no reason to venture into such a dangerous ce.

    "Hehe. We heard that you were getting together a bunch of people for something fun, so we figured that we would join you." Zilre said, a fierce smile on her face.

    Marcus turned towards Aziz who surely knew that they would being but had failed to inform him or Mrazivy about it.

    "Do not me me. It was theirs and my brother''s decision. He wanted toe himself, but I was able to convince him to attend to his duties as the grand elder so long as I included Zilre and Igna who were begging to join. He also told me not to inform you about this in order to surprise you."

    Aziz looked more worn out from his brother''s antics than anyone so Marcus and Mrazivy left it at that. It was not like having Zilre and Igna along would be detrimental. Both of them were incredibly strong fighters.

    "We are looking forward to working with you this time instead of fighting. I am sure that this is going to be exciting." Zilre said, extending out one of her hands towards Marcus.

    Taking her hand Marcus shook it and then Mrazivy did the same. With that Zilre and Igna had officially joined their team.

    The next day after their team consisting of neen individuals had been assembled and was prepared to trek into the Deste Desert.

    "Are we really going on foot? I figured we would fly or at least use sand ships." Mrazivy said as they stood at the exit of the fortress.

    "Ah, I suppose I forgot to mention we would be walking. This is the first time that any foreigners have ever entered this ce." Aziz said.

    He then exined that flying or using sand ships would make them easy targets for the undead that inhabited the Deste Desert. If they did either, it would broadcast their location to pretty much all of the most dangerous monsters in the desert.

    "I am sure if you observed the sky for a while, you would notice that nothing flies over this region. Not even powerful beasts like rocs dare invade the airspace of the Deste Desert. Even above and below is the domain of the dead in thisnd."

    After giving this exnation, Aziz began the march into the desert, taking the lead as a guide.

    The moment that Marcus and Mrazivy took a step out of the fortress they felt essence of death that pervaded the area.

    It was not terribly strong on the outskirts of the desert where they were, but if someone of a low level were to set foot here, they would likely die and be an undead within just a few minutes. Truly it was a terrifying ce for the living.

    "How are you doing Mraz?" Marcus asked, noticing her face tense for a second.

    "I''m fine. This is nothingpared to Daniel''s aura. Plus, Aziz gave us magic tools to alleviate the worst of it. It is just a little ufortable, that''s all. What about you? I know that this does not normally affect you, but are you feeling anything unusual?" <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Closing his eyes Marcus concentrated on the power of death that had seeped into thend and could feel it coursing all around them.

    Unlike most undead he did not radiate an aura of death thanks to being an unbound ghost which was not a typically undead creature.

    Marcus'' race had been created by the Administrator and forced upon him the moment he arrived on Mirrion. He was a very unique case.

    There was also the fact that he had be a great spirit which furtherplicated his status as an undead creature. As he was now, he was a bit of an anomaly that never existed before.

    ''Yeah, I can feel a great amount of energy within the ground and the air. While it must feel oppressive to you, I can feel a source of strength from it. I think my stats have actually gone up a little just from being here.'' Marcus responded, using telepathy this time since he did not want anyone to hear what he said.

    Mrazivy quickly sued her dragon eyes on Marcus and confirmed that his stats had indeed increased by one percent.

    Learning this, Marcus realized that likely every undead within the Deste Desert was receiving such a boost to their stats. And the closer they got tot eh Font of Death, the stronger this increase would be.

    ''No wonder the Sulb n has simply held the line instead of taking out the undead here. The deeper they go in, the stronger the monster will be.'' Marcus thought.

    However, while the undead that were contained within the Deste Desert could gain strength from being in the vicinity of the Font of Death, so could he.

    "Everyone keep sharp. It seems that the weingmittee is here to greet us." Aziz said, his attention trained in front of them.

    Popping up out of the sand was several dozens of forms that looked like dehydrated zombies.

    These were undead known as husks and were among the weakest monsters that resided on the fringes of the Deste Desert.

    Nevertheless, they were still quite dangerous as getting touched by them would inflict any living being with a curse that depleted the moisture in the area they were hit.

    Sensing the group of living people, the husks let out several loud moans and began running towards their targets.

    Still, not a single one of these husks was above level twenty, and within a few seconds each of them was destroyed. Leaving nothing but bones and dried pieces of flesh scattered around.

    "Whoa!"

    After being destroyed the remains of the husks were being sucked back into the sands and soon werepletely gone.

    This was just another part of the Deste Desert that made it a dangerous ce. Even when destroyed the remains of defeated undead were swallowed by the desert and repurposed. In time, the bones and dehydrated flesh woulde together to be another undead entity. At the very least they would not be as strong when they came back.

    "This really does not bode well. That group was far smaller than it should have been, and we usually would have been attacked at least once more before making it this far." Aziz said, wearing a contemtive expression.

 Chapter 913 913 Dangerous Developments

    ?

    "Why is it a bad thing if there are less undead around? Doesn''t that make it easier for us?" Igna asked.

    "No, this ce is normally pretty consistent with the density of undead monsters. The only time that changes is when a stronger undead ismanding the weaker ones. If there are less here, then that means that something likely is going on further in." Aziz said, his stressed tone conveying his worries.

    While it had been a long time since any of the undead had broken out from the wall the contained them, the current situation was signaling that something big was likely to happen soon.

    "Sir, we still do not have enough information to confirm that the undead are congregating. It is possible that we just got lucky to run into so few so far. We should continue and see for ourselves what is going on." Fasil, one of the members of the Sulb n who was a part of their group said.

    He along with his partner in the Muharib Festival Casildo who Mrazivy had beaten in the first round had joined the expedition under Aziz''smand.

    "Yes, you are right. I may be seeing a problem where this is none. Our goal was already to head deeper in, we will find out what we need to know as we carry on."

    With that their group began moving again and Aziz took the lead in guiding them towards an area that the undead were known to congregate in.

    However, when they arrived, everything was mostly quiet with only a few weak undead shambling around.

    Over the next couple of days, they trekked around the outskirts of the Deste Desert, slowly making their way closer towards the center where the Font of Death was located.

    ˇ­

    "This is definitely not good. I have never heard of so many undead gathering before." Aziz said, a grave expression on his face.

    After searching around the Deste Desert, they had found many anomalies, but now their team hade across their target in the worst way possible.

    At a bit further than the halfway point between the wall keeping the dead out and the Font of Death, they had discovered a massive group of undead that had assembled under themand of the Mummy Lord, Baluea in an area that was filled with sand dunes that rose up from the ground like small mountains.

    There were several hundreds of thousands of monsters that were just standing around and being led by powerful undead. It was apparently a far greater army than Aziz had ever seen or even heard about.

    "We need to warn all of Aezam. This is truly the worst-case scenario." Aziz said, pulling out a sending stone and messaging his brother.

    If such a force of undead were to attack anyone spot along the wall, it would be easily overrun and the undead would begin pouring out.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, the main cause for concern was not that they undead had organized themselves into a farger group than ever before, but what had caused things to change.

    Among the ranks of the undead most of them were just mindless monsters that only acted instinctually and hunted down the living on instinct. In order to control them a high ranking undead with at least some sort of ego was required to give themmands and keep them in line. As powerful as the Mummy Lord Baluea was, he was not capable of controlling so many undead on his own.

    Never before had he worked with other intelligent undead, but Aziz was able to identify several other powerful monsters that were known to inhabit the Deste Desert that were now working together.

    "Something or someone must be instigating them to coordinate. Do you know of any undead that might be powerful enough to do this?" Marcus asked, looking towards Aziz.

    Unfortunately, he had not heard of anything that would be strong and smart enough to organize so many undead. Not to mention getting numerous of the strongest undead to work together. If Baluea had been capable of this, he would have done so decades ago, whatever was instigating this was clearly far more dangerous.

    The most likely possibility that they coulde up with was that some powerful undead that already lived within the Deste Desert had finally decided to take control of things or that an outside source could have arrived to form an army out of the alreadyrge number of undead that resided in the region.

    An extremely powerful necromancer or perhaps a lich like Daniel would be capable of such a feat, but whatever had taken the regions on the undead here was clearly bad news.

    "This is far worse than what I had anticipated. We need to get back an fortify our defenses." Aziz said.

    He then turned to Marcus and Mrazivy and apologized that he would no longer be able to assist them with their goal. Preparing the defenses of the nation was more important.

    "I see, that is a shame. I suppose that we will be going it alone now. Thank you for all of the support and the information you have given us." Mrazivy said, not looking discouraged in the least.

    "Wait! You cannot mean to continue. You two are strong, but handling an army like this on your own is impossible. You do not understand just how strong the undead are here." Aziz said, frantic to get them to reconsider.

    Except, both of them actually did know exactly how much more powerful the undead were here than they normally would be. Far better than Aziz did.

    Thanks to Marcus receiving the same buff from the Font of Death due to being a ghost, they knew that the undead in this area had all of their stats being buffed by thirty-three percent.

    "We already have our objective, and we are not going to stop now just because something unexpected happened." Marcus said. "Still, that does not mean we have to stop helping each other. I am sure that we cane up with a strategy that is mutually beneficial for all of us."

 Chapter 914 914 Bringing In Reinforcements

    ?

    Marcus began going over his strategy with Aziz and the others that were there apanying them.

    However, except for Mrazivy, everyone began to look at him like he was more and more insane.

    No normal person would be so confident in the wake of so many undead monsters. Several of which were above level seventy.

    "You are going to get yourself killed. I know you are a spirit, but you cannot possibly believe you can take on so many monsters. Even if we did as you said, you would be putting yourself and Mrazivy''s lives at extreme risk." Aziz said, still denying Marcus'' n.

    Frankly if he was simply concerned with Aezam''s well-being he should have agreed. Even if Marcus got himself and Mrazivy killed, they would certainly take out a fair number of the undead army and give his nation more time to prepare.

    Nevertheless, Aziz was a man of honor and was not going to let the people left in his care act so recklessly.

    "I suppose you are right. This might be a bit much for just the two of us alone. I will go and grab some backup." Marcus said, before opening a Dark Portal and disappearing inside it.

    Aziz stared nkly at the now empty space that Marcus had been upying a moment before.

    He then turned to Mrazivy who was still standing around acting unfazed and asked her what Marcus meant when he said he was going to get backup.

    "Hm, I probably should not answer that. I will leave it up to Marcus to reveal when he gets back." Mrazivy responded, fairly certain she knew who Marcus was going to retrieve.

    Nearly thirty minutes went by before Marcus reappeared in another Dark Portal. Yet despite saying he was going to gather allies, he returned alone.

    But before anyone could voice their questions, three powerful presences jumped out of a portal that formed in Marcus'' chest.

    All of a sudden, arge ck and white wolf, a majestic stag with dragon scales running up its legs and a celestial golden coat, and a small mouse with diamond-like fur had appeared.

    Naturally this put everyone on edge, as three mythic grade magical beasts had just shown themselves. Each one giving off an extremely imposing presence that made their strength clear. Each one of these beasts was a cmity that bring ruin to nations if they went on a rampage.

    "It has been a while, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten. How was your training with Retharin?" Mrazivy said.

    "Who the hell are you two?" Aziz said, unable to keep his surprise in check.

    Even among everyone in Aezam, not a single person was contracted with a mythic grade beast. Yet Marcus had just brought out three like it was nothing. This was a feat that was beyond even the legends he had heard about the nation''s founder who had a phoenix for their partner.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Also, there was another shocking revtion that Aziz and a few others among their group realized.

    The only people capable of having the absurd ability that let them store beastpanions using the system were those that were from another world. By doing so Marcus had just outed himself as a reincarnation or transmigration.

    "We are just travelers that enjoy seeing the world and following our personal objectives. I can understand that you are shocked to see my beastpanions, but you should view this as a chance to use some powerful allies. Our goals algin right now, and it is not like we are hostile towards each other. We''ve gotten along pretty well up to this point." Marcus said.

    Snapping out of his daze from seeing Marcus'' three beastpanions, Aziz came back to his senses and nodded his head.

    "You are right. We have already fought with all our might, and I understand who you both are. I will not pry into your secrets. I still think your n is crazy, but it will be beneficial to my home, so I will ept your help." Aziz said, a smile appearing on his face again.

    He may have had many questions in regard to Marcus and Mrazivy''s absurdity, but he held back his curiosity and focused on the matter at hand.

    Now that Marcus had brought out his three beastpanions, the overall power of their group had nearly doubled, and Aziz was more confident in enacting the strategy that Marcus had proposed.

    "We will make as big of a mess as we can before we retreat. Just make sure not to hit us with any of your attacks by mistake as we run away." Aziz said, holding out his fist towards Marcus.

    "Will do. Let''s end this attack before it begins." Marcus said, tapping his fist with Aziz''s.

    After that, Marcus and his group consisting of himself, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz and Inten broke off from the others and began stealth circling around the massive undead army.

    Their n was fairly simple. Aziz would lead the other members of the Sulb n along with Igna and Zilre and attack the undead army with a series of widescale attacks.

    This would garner the attention of all of the undead and then they would begin fleeing towards the wall encircling the Deste Desert.

    While the army of undead were focused on chasing Aziz and his group, Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten would strategically target the leaders of the army and take them out with a fast and fierce attack.

    Once the strongest undead that were keeping the mindless ones in line were destroyed the entire army would quickly devolve into an unorganized mob and the threat to Aezam would be resolved before it began.

    Of course, there was plenty that could go awry during the execution of this n. Certainly, the powerful undead were not just going to roll over and let themselves be destroyed, and it was also possible that theirmand structure was more disciplined than it appeared and they would not instinctively chase after Aziz and his team when attacked.

    Still, doing nothing would be the worst choice they could make. Marcus needed to thin out the number of undead before approaching the Font of Death and Aziz wanted to protect Aezam.

 Chapter 915 915 Attack On The Undead Army

    ?

    "We are all set over here."

    Holding a sending stone in his hand, Marcus informed Aziz that he and hispanions were in position and ready for whenever the assault would begin.

    "Understood. We are nearly set up. I will message you again when we are ready. And thank you for assisting us. I know that you are after your own goals, but your help here is invaluable." Aziz responded.

    It was nearly another forty minutes until Aziz contacted Marcus that he was ready and the attack on the undead forces began.

    Frankly in terms of numbers they were hopelessly outmatched. The undead army boasted several hundred thousand while among all of them there were barely more than twenty. This would normally seem to be insurmountable odds, but numbers were not everything on Mirrion. Induvial strength yed a far greater role.

    When Aziz and his allies began their attack, they rained down massive mana attacks that created massive explosion that took out thousands of undead at once.

    It was the kind of attack that could decimate a city and massive plumes of sand and the torn apart bodies of the undead flew into the air.

    Of course, this vicious sneak attack had not done as much damage as the spectacle it created might have suggested.

    The moment the attack wasunched the higher-level undead monsters such as the Mummy Lord Baluea noticed and deployedrge scale defenses through either magic or skills.

    Even those at level eight-six like Aziz could not prate a concentrated defense made by thousands of monsters that had entities ofparable strength in their wakes. His and his allies'' attacks had only managed to destroy about eight percent of the undead forces, and the majority of the ones that they had defeated were the mindless and weak.

    Overall, it was not a major blow against the undead army, but it did garner their attention.

    In a matter of seconds, the horde began racing towards Aziz''s position. Instinctually chasing after the living that had just attacked them.

    The structure of the army had developed intoplete chaos as the bulk of the army went after their attackers. This was certainly the greatest weakness of an undead army, theirck of discipline and coordination. At the end of the day, they were just a giant mob.

    "Things seem to be going ording to n. Keep your eyes on our targets and get ready to strike." Marcus said, intently watching the movements of the undead leaders.

    Among the ranks of the undead he had identified around three thousand that were level fifty or over, with twenty-eight among those being above level seventy and the ultimatemanders of the army.

    The quickest and most efficient way to win was to take out the strongest of the undead and then the others would splinter off again without any higher power controlling them.

    This was where Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz and Inten would step in. While Aziz and his team had the undead army''s attention, they would tactically attack the leaders.

    ''Embodiment of Eclipse, Bright From. Plus,st light.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Using his Supreme Skill and tier eight light magic spell in conjunction, Marcus fired off what was one of his greatest attacks directly towards the strongest undead, the Mummy Lord Baluea.

    They had initiated their assault at night when the undead were typically more active but also more unruly, but the moment Marcus used this spell, it appeared as if day had suddenly arrived very early.

    His spell flew fast and stuck its target, creating a huge burst of energy that wiped out everything around it.

    At the same time, attacks from Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten reached their quarry and the entire area erupted from numerous powerful explosions.

    It seemed almost as if the world itself wasing to an end from the force of all of these powerful attacks, as the desert fractured. Large waves of sand rippled, and the earth splintered, andrge cracks formed as if a powerful earthquake had just urred.

    Then, it happened again. Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Intenunched another wave of attacks at the undead and caused more destruction on a scale simr to natural disasters.

    However, their one-sided assault did notst long. Soon the strongest among the undead sent attacks back their way and halted their bombardment.

    "That is our cue. Leave behind the distractions and start heading towards the Font of Death. I will catch up momentarily." Marcus said to the others.

    After that he went back into his ghost form and flew towards thest location of where the mummy lord had been. While it was not his major objective, he did actually want the core of such a powerful undead to use in the creation of a certain magical item.

    Normally flying into the heart of so many undead monsters would be suicide, but Marcus went undeterred thanks to being inviable and intangible.

    Only a few undead could even sense him, and those that could, found it impossible to differentiate him from the rest of their army since Marcus was in his ghost form.

    Soon he found what he was looking for and was unsurprised to see that Baluea had managed to survive.

    The mummy lord was a level eighty-two monster that had existed for centuries and managed to evade destruction from the Sulb n despite constantly attacking them. He was not an easy enemy to defeat, even with a powerful sneak attack.

    Nevertheless, Marcus had done significant damage and the mummy lord was currently in tatters with only around thirty percent of its body still intact. The fact that he was still able to maintain his form just went to prove how absurdly tough high-level undead were. A living being would never be able to survive with most of their torso gone.

    ''Time to finish this.'' Marcus thought before appearing right in front of Baluea.

    The moment he did the mummy lord attacked him with its strongest race ability, that was its most powerful attack. One that had led many of the great warriors of the Sulb n to death in the past.

 Chapter 916 916

    ?

    Marcus found himself surrounded by swirling dark grey sand that had taken the form of a double helix.

    This was the manifestation of a mummy lord''s greatest power called sands of time.

    It was an ability that rapidly aged whatever was inside and ultimately turned most things into nothing but dust.

    Truly it was a terrifying power that even if you escaped from would leavesting damage to any living being. However, this was of no concern to Marcus.

    As a ghost he was already undead and could not be harmed by the passing of time. elerating his age was meaningless to him and the reason that he had allowed himself to be hit with this ability in the first ce.

    "You were too quick to attack me. If you had been paying more attention you would have realized exactly what I am and that your powers are worthless against me." Marcus said, smirking.

    With the Mummy Lord Baluea focused on his attack and believing that it had already granted him victory, Marcus was easily able to take advantage of his target''spse in caution.

    His scythe in hand, Marcus positioned his right arm far behind his back and took a massive swing towards Baluea.

    In one fell swoop he carved into what remained of the mummy lord and left his scythe lodged in its chest.

    Dark green tendrils then began sprouting out from the core of the scythe and eating away at the mummy lord.

    The powerful an old undead monster tried its best to fight back, but it had beenpletely caught off guard and was unable to resist being eaten by Marcus'' scythe which retained some of the powers of the Doomsday Worm, a monster that had been capable of threatening the entire world.

    "Whoa, that is enough!"

    Soon all that was left of the Mummy Lord Baluea was his magic core and Marcus had to wrench his scythe back in order to prevent it from absorbing it as well. He did have ns for this core after all.

    Marcus reached out and plucked the magic core out of the air and tossed it into his item box. With this he had now secured his secondary goal foring to the Deste Desert.

    "Looks like it is time for me to leave." Marcus said, seeing several of the other strongest undeading towards him. He did not have any intention of fighting an endless horde and exhausting himself here.

    Still, before he left, he used his magic to conjure his iron golem and the like. Leaving the magically created monsters to fight with the undead and slow them down.

    After that he reentered his ghost form and began flying off towards where the others were.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    They had been fleeing towards the center of the Deste Desert and it was not long before Marcus caught up with them.

    "How did it go; did you get what you wanted?" Mrazivy asked when Marcus reappeared alongside them.

    In response, he smiled and took out the core that had once belonged to the mummy lord, an over level eighty powerful undead monster.

    "With this I will be able to make something pretty useful. If we had it now, it would help us out a lot, but I need a few more things before I can make what I have in mind." Marcus said.

    Mrazivy asked him what he nned on creating, but Marcus kept it to himself. He figured he would make it a surprise when they had a chance to use the magic item in the future.

    Having destroyed a fair number of undead and disrupted the regions, Marcus and his group found it easier than normal to traverse the inner area of the Deste Desert.

    The undead that remained had been whipped up into a frenzy, and as Marcus had nned were chasing after Aziz and his group who were still making a disturbance.

    He was leading around the undead and causing a disturbance to keep them from reorganizing. At the same time, he was slowly leading them towards the wall encircling the Deste Desert where a great number of troops from the Sulb n were waiting to attack. Or at st, this was the n that Marcus hade up with alongside him.

    This left the path towards the Font of Death far less popted than it normally would have been and was a great boon to Marcus.

    Of course, Aziz was getting a good deal out of their partnership as well. Marcus and hispanions had taken out the strongest leaders of the undead and left theirmand structure ins hambles. Plus, they were using their magic asionally to throw their autonomous magically created monsters around to cause more chaos within the depths of the Deste Desert.

    Now Aziz was able to lead the massive horde of undead towards the bulk of his n''s forces instead of having to worry about being attacked anywhere along the wall.

    "We are close. I can feel it." Marcus said.

    The aura of death that permeated thend had gotten much thicker to the point that it almost seemed visible.

    Marcus'' stats were also up nearly fifty percent from what they normally would be and he could feel certain desires that he rarely experienced attempting to influence him.

    Normally he did not have the urge to devour live as most undead did, but being this close to the Font of Death was dragging out this base impulse that he normally hadplete control of. It was simr to the time he nearly lost himself to his Soul Devour unique skill, but not quite as intense. He was able to control himself so long as he did not lose focus.

    Of course, Marcus was not the only one that was feeling negative effects from being this close to the Font of Death. Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten had to constantly shield themselves with their mana in order to not be eaten away at. This was simply how powerful and dangerous the Font of Death was.

 Chapter 917 917 At The Font Of Death

    ?

    As Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten got closer to the Font of Death, they could feel a powerful presence that was at the center of the Deste Desert.

    Whatever it was, clearly it was not trying to hide itself, or perhaps it simply was not able to.

    The odd thing though was that it did not feel like an undead creature. It was emitting an incredibly powerful aura, but it was not like the energying off the Font of Death. Whatever was at the center of the Deste Desert was very much still alive despite being in a ce that was hostile to the living.

    "It a beast. I can barely make out its scent through the smell of death, but I am certain that whatever is giving off this presence is a mythic grade beast." Roxene said, her sharp senses picking up on something the rest of them could not.

    After hearing this Marcus was able to liken the feeling to when he first saw Gwyneira assume her full dragon form. That was the kind of entity that was at the center of the Font of Death. Thought the question was, why? It made little sense for such a powerful beast to be in such a ce. No matter ow strong of a being they were, so long as they were alive, the Font of Death would wear them down. This was a ce that the living could not inhabit without being corrupted and turned into the dead.

    Still, even with their being a possibly hostile and extremely dangerous foe waiting for them at the Font of Death, they continued. As a group they had already anticipated that they would most likely run into some sort of ruler of the Deste Desert that was tremendously powerful. They hade too far to stop before knowing what was going on.

    However, after they crested the top of arge hill of ck sand that surrounded the Font of Death, they did not see any hordes of undead or some powerful monster like a lich, but a huge bird.

    Before them was a giant vermillion bird that had mes dancing around its body. With one look it was clear that this was a phoenix.

    Yet, it was chained up and mostly submerged in the pool of ck liquid that was close to sludge that sat in the middle of the ck sand hill.

    Without a doubt the phoenix had been forced into the Font of Death and its bright red feathers and mes looked like they had been bleached, having turned impossibly pale.

    "What the hell is going on here?" Mrazivy said, shocked by the sight before them.

    At the very least they now knew what had happened to the guardian beast that protected Aezam, it hade to the Font of Death and been captured. The phoenix was clearly fighting back against the Font of Death, but ultimately, it was slowly losing.

    "Mraz, can you ready its status?" Marcus asked.

    His own appraisal skill had been blocked and he needed to rely on her dragon eyes as he so often did.

    Coming out of her daze Mrazivy nodded her head and her eyes shed golden for a moment, before she winced and closed her eyes.

    She then crumbled to her knees and held her mouth with her hands like she was holding back the urge to vomit.

    "Mraz!" Marcus shouted with concern.

    This was the first time he had ever seen such a reaction after she used her dragon eyes. But whatever had happened was certainly not good.

    Marcus immediately reached out towards her and intended to activate his spirit healing specter power, but instead of the normal white light it was mixed with ck and had turned grey.

    Being this close to the Font of Death was influencing him as well, and he had also activated his life drain specter power. As much as he wanted to heal Mrazivy, it seemed that the negative instincts being brought out by the Font of Death were drawing out a darker nature that Marcus normally kept locked away.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''No!''

    Jerking back, Marcus managed to prevent himself from draining Mrazivy''s life force and hit himself hard with his fists charged with his spiritual energy to get back to his senses.

    Of course, he had not held back when he hit himself with his spiritual energy and Marcus nearly regretted what he had done. It actually hurt him a lot.

    Nevertheless, he was able to refocus his mind and m down a bit thanks to the pain he had inflicted on himself.

    ''I am not just a ghost. I am an unbound ghost and the great spirit of light and darkness. I am here to absorb this Font of Death''s power. I cannot let it influence me.'' Marcus thought, pushing out the negative influence that was creeping into him.

    Once he had regained his senses, Marcus saw that hispanions were looking at him with worry. In the time he had been struggling within himself, Mrazivy had gotten back up. Though she still looked a bit sick.

    "Are you okay?" She asked him.

    "Yeah, I lost a bit of control for a second, but I am fine now. And I should be the one asking how you are doing. What happened when you looked at that phoenix''s status?"

    Frowning, Mrazivy looked unnerved just to remember the experience, but she stayed strong and told Marcus what she had found out.

    She had managed to look at the phoenix''s full status for a moment, before the power of the Font of Death that was corruption itshed out at her.

    Whenever she used her dragon eyes it made a connection with the target, and while normally it should not have been something that was noticeable or able to receive feedback, the Font of Death was far from normal and followed the path back to her.

    Mrazivy swiftly broke the connection when she felt herself in danger but being exposed to the Font of Death had left her sickened for a moment.

    "All I am able to clearly remember is her name, level, and the status conditions guing her. She is called Za, her level is eighty-four, and she has been afflicted with paralysis from the chains binding her, and undeath corruption from the Font of Death. If she is left this way, eventually she is going to be turned into an undead monster." Mrazivy said, her expression grave.

    "Then we need to get her out of here. Luckily, her problems are considered status conditions. So I should be able to fix them easily." Marcus said.

    Holding his hand out, he conjured up the silver light of his Supreme Skill, Ultimate Refresh and began moving closer to get in range of Za.

    Except, Marcus felt his danger sense skill go off rapidly before he was within twenty meters which was the effective range of Ultimate Refresh.

    Just a moment before a st of mana smashed into him, he leapt back and watched where he had been standing go up in arge explosion.

    ''They even infused it with spiritual energy. They must have some way to know I am not human.'' Marcus thought, ring in the direction the attack hade from.

 Chapter 918 918 An Unexpected And Unwanted Reunion

    ?

    On the opposite side of the ck sand hill from where Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz and Inten were, there were four cloaked figures.

    The one that had attacked Marcus to prevent him from getting close enough to Za to heal here was wielding arge amethros war hammer and giving off a sinister aura.

    ''A demon?'' Marcus thought narrowing his eyes at the man.

    He had encountered his fair share of the otherworldly beings that enjoyed sowing chaos and destruction, and this man gave off a simr presence. However, he did not feel like any of the other demons Marcus had ever gone up against. He also felt human, more like he was some type of half demon.

    However, before Marcus could further analyze the situation, he felt Mrazivy explode with fury next to him and she fired her dragon breath in a concentrated beam at one of the figures standing in the middle.

    The hot desert air immediately began to plummet and Marcus along with his beastpanions had to jump away from Mrazivy to avoid being frozen.

    ''What is she doing?!'' Marcus thought, surprise on his face.

    He had not seen her act this rashly before, but she must have seen something when using her dragon eyes that caused her tosh out like this.

    She had not held anything back with her attack, even going so far as to use her Supreme Skill along with it.

    Yet her breath attack never reached its target, as the man that was wielding a war hammer took out a spell sealing talisman and threw it forward.

    Arge void appeared from the talisman in front of Mrazivy''s attack and sucked it in like a ck hole. Quickly erasing her breath attack.

    "My, my, that was scary. Is that any way to greet your uncle Mrazivy." The man she had been aiming at said with his voice being projected over the area, before pulling down the hood of his cloak.

    Disheveled blue hair the same color as Mrazivy''s was the first thing that Marcus noticed, and when he turned his attention towards the man''s face, he was just as enraged as Mrazivy.

    This was the man that had interrupted their engagement party with a horde of demons and tried to take over Borealia so he could sacrifice the poption of the royal capital.

    Standing before them with a confident smirk on his face was Vaughn Borealia, one of the members of Borealia''s royal family that had betrayed the kingdom to work for demons.

    He was the youngest brother of Mrazivy''s father, the current king, and an aplished mage that was originally nned to take Aria''s ce as the kingdom''s Grand Archmage before his betrayal.

    His being here was all the proof that Marcus needed to know exactly who had captured Aezam''s guardian beast and had been rallying the undead to attack.

    "You are not my uncle anymore! You are just scum that I need to eradicate" Mrazivy spat.

    She then turned her dragon eyes on the other still cloaked figures, looking to find her brother Braylen who had also joined Vaughn in his treachery.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But she did not find her brother among those that were present, but instead someone else that was shocking enough to make her forget her anger for a moment.

    Her eyes were locked on the man who was wielding the amethros war hammer. In the past they had been acquainted and even fought together, and never would she have thought to see this man with her traitorous uncle.

    "Looks like I have been found out. No need for this suffocating thing anymore then." The man said before flinging his cloak off.

    With the man now in full view, Marcus was able to see why Mrazivy was in a momentary daze.

    He also knew this man and had even rescued him from a prison stronghold at one point during the civil war in Tralenstein. Back then they had fought together asrades, but now he was giving off a sinister aura and had taken on several fiendish features that made him look like a demon.

    "Argus." Marcus said, in disbelief.

    The man hardly looked the same as he had just a few years ago, but his face had not changed much, and Marcus was instantly able to recognize the former third ranked Great Knight of Tralenstein

    Marcus had heard from Lyra that he had left Tralenstein on amicable terms after it had be stable. He had apparently worked hard on its reconstruction efforts but seeing him here in his current state made it clear what he truly was.

    After Vaughn and Argus had revealed themselves the other two figures took their cloaks off and no longer tried hiding themselves. Under Mrazivy''s gaze their secrets had already been uncovered anyways.

    One of them was a powerful high level undead. A crimson skeleton that was wreathed in blood red mes.

    The other was a young woman with brown hair and deep bags under eyes. She looked like a normal human, but she gave off a frightening presence.

    "Frederica, what are our odds?" Vaughn said to the tired looking girl.

    A blue haze exploded around her body after he said this, and Marcus felt like some sort of force was analyzing him.

    Mrazivy and his beastparisons must have felt the same way, as they tensed up and brought their guard up even higher.

    Still, no attack urred, and the girl named Frederica simply answered Vaughn in a robotic manner.

    "Chance of victory, twenty-eight percent. Chance of escape, ny-nine percent."

    At this Vaughn, who was clearly in charge of this group frowned and let out a sigh.

    "To think that we are so outmatched. I suppose our only option is to run then. It is a shame that we will not be able toplete our objective, but staying alive is more important. We will be of no use to our master if we wind up dead and unable to continue with our ns."

 Chapter 919 919

    ?

    "Do you think that we are just going to let you get away." Mrazivy said, her eyes gleaming with fury.

    In the next moment she took off, flying directly towards Vaughn with her sword ready to cut him down.

    However, the most direct path to her target was by flying over the Font of Death, something that had unforeseen consequences.

    The bubbling dark sludge-like liquid burst up and attempted to entangle Mrazivy. It had sensed her life force and wanted to snuff it out.

    This forced Mrazivy back to the edge of the Font of Death onto the hill of ck sands surrounding it and away from Vaughn.

    "Roxene, Blitz, Inten, go around and cut them off." Marcus said.

    If those that were among the living could not pass over the Font of Death, they would need only go around. Capturing or killing Vaughn was their priority here.

    Yet, before any of them could get far, the crimson skeleton wreathed in blood red mes vanished. It had used space magic to teleport, and this forced Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten to be on guard against a sudden attack.

    Except the crimson skeleton''s target had never been any of them. It reappeared on top of Za who was restrained within the Font of Death.

    It then pulled out a long, barbed spike that was pitch ck in color and jammed it deep into Za''s back until it had disappeared from sight.

    ''Laser.''

    In an attempt to stop the crimson skeleton, Marcus fired his fastest spell at it, but hisser spell never connected.

    The space around the crimson skeleton had been warped by its own magic and theser bent around it and harmlessly flew off into the distance.

    After his failed attack, Marcus watched the crimson skeleton teleport away and return to Vaughn''s side.

    It was quite clear that it was going to warp them all away next, but Marcus was not going to let that happen.

    He used his Light Speed Movement unique skill to travel the distance between them in less than an instant and came out swinging with his scythe. There was simply no way he was letting them get away so easily.

    "CLANG!"

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' scythe did not reach its intended target. He had been aiming to cut Vaughn down in one strike, but Argus had blocked him with his war hammer.

    Still, Marcus took this moment to take out the spatial disrupter he had made with Thabon years ago now. This would prevent them from escaping with space magic.

    "You certainly got a lot stronger since Ist saw you. How the hell did you get so strong in such a short span of time?" Argus said with a grimace on his face.

    While he had blocked Marcus'' attack, the force behind it had caused his hands to go numb for a second.

    Of course, Marcus was not here to have a discussion and prepared his next attack immediately.

    ''Death Dance.''

    Spinning around on the tips of his toes Marcus turned into a whirlwind and began hammering away at Argus with a flurry of attacksing from different directions.

    It did not take long before his scythe had left dozens ofcerations on Argus'' body and red and dark grey blood began flowing out of his wounds.

    Seeing Argus'' blood, Marcus was now certain that he was no longer one hundred percent human. He had somehow been turned into some sort of half demon.

    Nevertheless, while Argus had be much more powerful than he had been during the civil war in Tralenstein due to his demonic transformation, Marcus had reached even greater heights thanks to the special dungeon.

    With just a few more attacks Marcus was certain that he would be able to defeat Argus, but he was not only fighting one opponent.

    Hundreds of iron feathers began swarming around him before he could finish Argus off and a giant sword of iron came crashing down on him.

    Just like Marcus, Vaughn was a user of iron magic, and he had prepared several spells during Marcus'' sh with Argus.

    Having to switch to defense, Marcus cast his own spells to counter Vaughn''s and blew away the masses of iron that had beening at him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Only a bit longer. The others will be here in just a second.'' Marcus thought.

    He may not have been able to beat Vaughn and his cronies on his own, but he had jumped into the fray mainly to prevent them from escaping. In an all-out fight, it was pretty clear that his side was superior.

    But it was right before they were able to begin a concentrated assault that a cmity awakened.

    It had been unclear what the crimson skeleton had done to the Phoenix Za with that long ck spike, but now its effects were apparent.

    The chains around Za ckened and the powerful phoenix awakened.

    However, there was no rity of reason in her eyes, only pain and rage.

    Immediately the entire area exploded in mes, and Za, the guardian beast of Aezam went berserk.

    "It is a shame that we will not be bale to fully control her as nned, but she should serve as a good enough distraction." Vaughn said, smirk on his face.

    This had been his n all along since he realized he could not beat Marcus, Mrazivy, and Marcus'' beastpanions. He had only needed to create a suitable distraction that would allow him and hispatriots to get away.

    "If you want to keep chasing us you are free to, but I wonder how your wife and those beasts will hold out without you." Vaughn said, before flying away with Argus, Frederica, and the crimson skeleton right behind him.

    Watching them get away, Marcus ground his teeth and wanted to go after them, but Mrazivy and his beastpanions were already caught up in Za''s rampage.

    Soon his hesitation did not matter anymore as Vaughn and his group exited the range of his spatial disruptor and disappeared. They had made their escape.

    ''Damn it!'' Marcus thought as he turned around and flew towards the rampaging mythic grade beast.

    The others were able to keep her contained and were putting up a good fight, but Marcus was the only one that could truly put this to an end.

    Za was clearly under the effects of several negative status conditions, something that his Supreme Skill would be able to fix in an instant.

    ''Ultimate Refresh.''

    Once Marcus got within twenty meters of Za, he shot out the silver ball of light that contained the power of his supreme skill. The silver light washed over Za''s body and he pale mes and bleached white feathers that had formed from the corruption of the Font of Death vanished.

    rity quickly returned to Za''s eyes and it seemed that her frenzy hade to an end. Or not.

    Just a moment after she seemed to have recovered from her berserk state, her eyes zed over once again, and she turned her head towards Marcus and opened her beak.

    A st of fire that was more like apressed beam came out of her mouth and consumed Marcus before impacting the desert and carving a molten canyon through it.

    "Marcus!" Mrazivy shouted.

    Normally she would not have been so concerned even if he got hit by an attack, but this was a st that hade from a mythic grade beast that was several levels above them. Even as tough as he was, Marcus was not invincible.

    Frantically she began rushing towards where he had been, but Marcus reappeared in front of her and stopped her before she put herself in the line of fire.

    "I am fine. Got pretty lucky that she is in no state to focus on using spiritual energy." Marcus said with a relieved sigh.

    He had beenpletely caught off guard by that st since he figured that his Supreme Skill had solved the problem. If not for his swift reflex to turn intangible, he would have been burned away to nothing.

    Still, now that he had a moment to think, Marcus could not figure out why his Ultimate Refresh had seemingly failed.

    "I don''t think it was unsessful." Mrazivy said, understanding what Marcus was thinking by the expression on his face.

    "You can see that the undeath corruption has faded and she has recovered from it thanks to your skill. I am guessing that you also cured her berserk state, but the source is still within her. Even if you continue to erase the status effect, it will juste back so long as that stake is inside her."

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed with Mrazivy''s spection. His Supreme Skill erased any negative effects on the target''s status and brought it back to normal, but it did not prevent them from being afflicted with a status effect again. So long as the source of Za''s berserk state was lodged within her body, he would be unable to permanently heal her.

 Chapter 920 920

    Chapter 920920

    Having reached the center of the Deste Desert where the Font of Death was located, Marcus and hispanions had found the nation of Aezam''s guardian beast, the Phoenix Za chained up and slowly being turned into an undead monster by being submerged within the Font of Death.

    However, before Marcus could heal Za, the perpetrators behind the unnatural events within the Deste Desert had impeded him.

    The four individuals causing turmoil that threatened to destroy Aezam using an army of undead had two familiar faces among them.

    One was Mrazivy''s traitorous uncle Vaughn Borealia who had allied himself with demons, and another was Argus, the former third ranked great knight of Tralenstein who had fought alongside Marcus during Tralenstein''s civil war.

    After a brief sh, the group of demon coborators led by Vaughn had managed to teleport away and leave a berserk Za behind as a distraction.

    Now Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten were being forced to deal with the higher level and incredibly powerful mythic grade beast.

    "Scatter!" Marcus shouted as Za unleashed another st of mes from her mouth.

    Flying in different directions, the five of them kept their distance from Za and made it impossible for her to target them all at once with a concentrated attack. As powerful as each of them was individually, they were not at a level where they could block such powerful attacks.

    At the very least Za being in an enraged state that made it impossible for her to think clearly, meant that her attackscked finesse or nning. All she was doing wasunching furious attacks at anything within her sight.

    Once the st of mes that Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten had avoided impacted against the desert dozens of kilometers away, it exploded into a massive ball of mes that consumed everything within several kilometers.

    The area shook and cracked from the pressure and soon searing winds with as much force as those from the strongest hurricanes reached Marcus and hispanions.

    Watching the aftermath of the attack Marcus could only liken it to the videos he had seen back when he lived on Earth of hydrogen bomb detonations.

    ''If we leave her like this, she is going to destroy all of Aezam, if not more. We need to put her down if we cannot cure her.'' Mrazivy said after making a telepathic connection with all of them.

    Marcus'' beastpanions swiftly agreed. They were mythic grade beasts as well and knew just how much destruction Za was capable of. At her level, she could leave a continent a smoldering heap in a few weeks if left unchecked.

    Nevertheless, Marcus was notpletely sold on killing Za without pursuing other options. Also, he was not sure if they would be able to do so on their own. Certainly, the five of them were strong, but this was their first time up against an opponent that was both higher level and in the same ss as they were. Normally they would beat higher level adversaries thanks to their higher quality. This time, they did not have that advantage.

    ''I understand that she is just a victim in this, but keeping her restrained is too much of a ris-

    ''I want to try something else before we resort to that. I have an idea, but I will need the four of you to restrain her while I try it. Can I count on all of you to do that?'' Marcus said.

    ''I understand that she is just a victim in this, but keeping her restrained is too much of a ris-

    ''We can do it for a short amount of time. You have two minutes; after that we will need to concentrate our efforts of beating her.'' Roxene responded, cutting off Mrazivy who was about to refuse Marcus'' request.

    Then, before anything else could be discussed, Roxene''s form expanded into that of a giant wolf that wasparable in size to Za.

    She had activated her Supreme Skill Paragon of Divine Wolf, and at the same time used Soul Burst which was one of the skills Marcus had shared with her when they first became bound to each other.

    With a great leap though the sky, Roxene impacted against Za and the two of them began biting and wing at each other in a ferocious bestial disy.

    Both of them began plummeting out of the sky as they tore into each other.

    Unfortunately, Roxene, even with her sudden boost in power, was nowhere near strong enough to beat Za on her own and was clearly losing.

    ''I guess we are doing this.'' Mrazivy said with a bit of irritation in her tone.

    Still, she quickly flew downwards to assist Roxene in restraining Za, along with Blitz and Inten who had hesitated for only a moment.

    ''I had better make this fast. I hope it works.'' Marcus thought before reverting to his ghostly form and flying directly for Za.

    When he reached the edge of her body, he activated his possession ability and slipped inside her body. If he could not help her from the outside, he would just have to go inside and see what he could do.

    Frankly this was reckless at best, and bordering on suicidal at worst, but Marcus could not help but try.

    Usually, he would have been met with staunch resistance by whatever creature he was trying to enter, but surprisingly it was quite easy to enter Za''s body while she was going berserk. Her normal resistance that protected her soul was far weaker thanks to the object that had been imbedded in her that was the cause of her current state.

    Yet, the moment Marcus felt that things were going far better than he expected, he found the reason for Za''s lowered defenses.

    The ck and barbed stake that had been jammed into her back was not only attached to her body, but her soul as well. And the instant that Marcus infiltrated her and came in contact with her spirit, the powerful magical item began sending its negative effects his way as well.

 Chapter 921 921

    ?

    Marcus immediately began feeling a wave of unceasing rageing over him the moment he sessfully began possessing Za.

    The barbed, pitch-ck stake that had been lodged into her body was releasing thin dark tendrils that attacked the soul of whatever came in contact with it. Driving them into a fury that painted the entire world as their enemy.

    For a moment Marcus almost added his strength to Za''s rampage, but before he was ovee, he managed to keep a steady head.

    He was still experiencing the intense desire to rampage, but thanks to his Still Mind unique skill he was able to resist the effects that would make him lose himself.

    ''Damn, this thing is way nastier than I was expecting.'' Marcus thought as he used his spiritual energy to fight off the tendrils trying to warp his perception.

    While his unique skill did say in its description that it gave him an immunity to mind altering abilities, it was not truly perfect. The magic item that had been used on Za was incredibly powerful, to the point where it was almost overpowering his unique skill.

    Of course, Marcus had always known that his immunity was not actually perfect. In the case of someone else with a unique skill or Supreme Skill that affected the mind, he would not be guaranteed to resist their power.

    ''This is not enough to beat me though.''

    Pushing through the torrent of fury that had consumed Za''s soul, Marcus made his way towards the epicenter of it all.

    His goal was to destroy or remove the barbed stake and bring Aezam''s guardian beast back to her senses.

    However, this was not going to be an easy feat as the close he got to his goal, the more resistance he felt from Za''s soul.

    While entering her body and soul had been easy enough the constant waves of rage that were washing over her soul pushed Marcus back the closer he got to the center.

    It also did not help that he was being attacked by more and more dark tendrils that required more focus to keep at bay. If he let his guard down for a moment, he could find his unique skill not sufficient to protect his mind.

    ''Damn it. I can''t go any further.''

    He could not see where the magic item had anchored itself to Za''s soul, but he was unable to reach it to either destroy it or force it out.

    For an instant Marcus let his frustration get the better of him and he attempted to force his way through by unleashing a burst of his spiritual energy. Except this only caused the pitch-ck stake to ir up and attack him with greater vigor. Trying totch onto the momentarypse in Marcus'' calm.

    Feeling the assaulting for him Marcus had to back off and calm down. He could not allow himself to let his emotions re for even a second or he would find himself entangled by rage.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''There must be something I can do. I do not have much longer.'' Marcus thought, running through each of his powers and finding one that would help him in this situation.

    Unfortunately, the answer that he came to was not one he wanted to consider. He did have some abilities that would likely help, but he was loathe to use them.

    It had been a long time since he had used his Soul Devour unique skill and life drain specter power, but he could not think of anything else he could attempt that would weaken Za''s power enough for him to reach where her soul was being afflicted by the pitch-ck, barbed stake.

    ''Control. All I need to do is siphon off a bit of her strength. I can do this.'' Marcus thought, attempting to psych himself up.

    Frankly he was not sure what was going to happen, he had nearly lost himself to his Soul Devour unique skill before. Nevertheless, he felt he needed to try something. Killing Za just because she had been forced into an unending frenzy did not sit well with him. Plus, he was not sure if they would be capable of killing her in the first ce.

    Like putting a key into a lock, Marcus once again brought out the powers he had kept sealed away and never wanted to use again.

    Immediately he felt an intoxicating tione over him as he began draining Za''s soul and lifeforce. The strength of a phoenix was flowing into him, and he wanted to drain it all until he had it all.

    It had been quite some time since hest used these powers, and he had forgotten how amazing it was to devour not only life, but the very soul itself.

    Faster and faster, Marcus opened up and absorbed more of Za''s Soll and lifeforce. Taking in the power of a being at Za''s level was far different than when Marcus had used this power before. The energy flowing into him was greater than ever before.

    There was a reason he kept his Soul Devour under lock and key and it was because it was so easy to be consumed by his own ability.

    ''MARCUS! What are you doing!?''

    Suddenly hearing a shout in his head, Marcus snapped out of the daze he had gone into and realized that he was not in control at all. He had been draining Za''s life and devouring her soul at full force.

    Coming back to his senses, Marcus reined his abilities in and managed to prevent himself from going too far.

    ''Sorry Mraz, I need to weaken her a bit before I can reach the stake. I promise I am still in control.'' Marcus responded.

    He knew that she must have been checking Za''s status frequently with her dragon eyes and certainly noticed that she picked up more status conditions from Marcus'' life drain and Soul devour.

    ''You know you should not be taking risks like that. Those powers consume you just as much as your target.'' Mrazivy said over telepathy with a chastising tone.

 Chapter 922 922 Quelled Rampage

    ?

    Marcus quickly apologized to Mrazivy for using his dangerous abilities without consulting her first. Normally he kept them tightly locked away, but in this situation, he could note up with any other solution than to use them.

    And indeed, his Soul Devour and Life Drain had been quite effective. Za''s power had dropped by a couple of degrees and was currently suffering from a damaged soul and weakened lifeforce. Her rampage was now far more manageable than it had been before when she was still at peak power.

    Also, Marcus was currently brimming with the power he had stolen from Za. Her soul and lifeforce had been incredibly rich and given him a temporary boost.

    ''I should be able to suppress the item''s effect on her for a few seconds without any problem. In that time, you will need to cut it out of her.'' Marcus said over telepathy to Mrazivy.

    ''Got it. After what you did she is not putting up nearly as much of a fight. Just make sure not to push yourself too far.''

    With their n set, Marcus once again began pushing himself through Za''s soul and towards the teethers the pitch-ck, barbed stake had rooted into her.

    Unlike his previous attempt, Marcus felt far less resistance and easily made it to where the affliction''s core was located.

    From Marcus'' perspective within her soul, he could see that it was causing extreme damage to Za and likely causing her mind shattering pain. No doubt one of the ways that it forced its victim into a berserk state.

    ''Nowes the hard part.'' Marcus thought with a steeled expression.

    He gathered up all of his spiritual energy and began forcing it out within Za''s in an attempt to push away the malignant energy.

    As he did this Za''s soul got shredded as he forcefully ripped out the tendrils of ck energy infecting her.

    Nevertheless, this was within his expectations. At the same time Marcus was employing his spirit healing specter power to repair the damage. It was delicate work and not something that could be easily done, but it was within the power of a great spirit such as Marcus.

    Once he had removed all of the ck tendrils, it was time to push out the stake. This would end the effect it had on Za and limit the damage she would take from its removal. Had they tired to remove it while it was still rooted in her soul and body, Za certainly would have died no matter how tough she was. Nothing could survive having its soul destroyed.

    It had only taken Marcus less than ten seconds toplete his objective, but for him it had felt like an incredibly long time. He had used up all of the energy he had stolen from Za and then some. Still, he had been sessful.

    ''Now Mrazivy. Cut it out, but make sure not to touch it.'' Marcus said.

    Using swift and precise movements, Mrazivy carved into Za''s back where the stake had been lodged inside her.

    Frankly it was a grievous wound and Za cried out in distress as her back was sliced open, but she was unable to thrash about as she wanted.

    Roxene, Blitz, and Inten were all currently holding her down on the ground and keeping her in check. Marcus draining her strength had made it possible for the three of them to contain her.

    That did not mean she was entirely defeated, a zing aura of intense mes was emitting from her body, trying to burn everything around her to ash. It was a war of attrition between Marcus'' beastpanions'' defenses and regeneration versus Za''s power.

    With just a few swings of her sword, Mrazivy had sliced deep into Za''s back and exposed the stake that had been lodged into her body.

    Just a single look at it was enough to tell that it was a wicked item that''s sole purpose was to cause destruction.

    ''Just one more strike.'' Mrazivy thought as she pulled back her sword.

    All she needed to do was hit the stake directly and send it flying out of Za''s body.

    Yet, before she could initiate her final attack, the item fought back. It was like a parasite and was not going to easily be ripped away from its host without resistance.

    A dark smoke began sting out of it and Mrazivy began coughing profusely as it reached her.

    She attempted to stop breath to prevent it from entering her system, but the smoke was able to infect her body through her skin.

    Unable to keep her focus in the smoke that was damaging her mind and body, Mrazivy failed to block an attack from Za''s wing that pped into her.

    Evidently the smoke had not only affected her, but Roxene, Blitz, and Inten who were holding Za down.

    Smacked away, Mrazivy went skipping across the desert like a stone on ake until she was several kilometers away. The damage she had suffered from the hit was negligible, but it had prevented her from dislodging the stake.

    ''Marcus, we failed. The stake created some sort of smoke that weakened us, and Za managed to throw us off. The wound exposing the stake is already rapidly closing. We need to focus on finishing this now however we can.'' Roxene said to Marcus over telepathy.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    His two minutes to try and save Za were up and now Roxene was urging him to rejoin the fight to put the guardian beast of Aezam down for good.

    ''No, it is not over yet. Keep the wound open for just another second. We can still do this.'' Marcus said back, not willing to give up.

    Without waiting for Roxene''s response, he began his next action and leapt out of Za''s soul and body. If Mrazivy was unable to remove the stake he would have to do it instead.

    When he found himself in the outside world, he could see that Roxene had backed him up despite her opposition and her teeth and ws were lodged into Za and tearing at her back. She was keeping the wound that Mrazivy had inflicted open so that Marcus could remove the stake.

    But as Marcus sent out his spectral arm to grab the stake and yank it out, he watched Za rip her head free from Blitz and Inten who were restraining her and bite into Roxene with her beak.

    The power behind Za''s bite was tremendous and Marcus watched Roxene''s side practically copse.

    Thanks to her Invulnerable Fur unique skill her body had not been pierced but the force behind the bite was still crushing her bones and muscles.

    Unfortunately, this was not the worst part of it, Za''s mouth began to glow brightly and it was clear that she was going to release a st of mes from her mouth andpletely engulf Roxene.

    Immediately Marcus turned to protect Roxene over removing the pitch-ck, barbed stake. He could not let her be killed to save Za.

    BOOM!

    Expect, before Marcus did more than turn his attention to Roxene''s blight, a massive spear of ice impacted against Za''s head and bashed her away from Roxene.

    A huge beam of mes released from Za''s beak, but it harmlessly carved across the desert without harming Roxene.

    ''Go ahead and finish this, Marcus. We have everything else covered.'' Mrazivy said, a smirk on her face.

    From afar she beganunching several ice magic spells at Za and containing her movements. Thanks to her intervention the worst had been prevented.

    No longer having to worry about Roxene, Marcus turned his attention back towards the stake and saw that it was nearly covered again by Za''s rapidly regenerating body.

    Holding his scythe above his head, Marcusunched his weapon at Za''s back, and it began moving on its own.

    With surgical precision it exposed the foreign object and Marcus sent out his spectral arm and gripped ahold of it.

    ''You areing out.''

    Using up all the strength he had left, he pulled with all the might his spectral arm could muster.

    Slowly the stake began tearing out of Za''s body and soon he could see the end of it.

    Of course, the insidious magic item was not going to simply let itself be removed with ease. Once again it began emitting the same ck smoke it had used to prevent Mrazivy from removing it.

    ''That''s not going to work this time.'' Marcus thought as he waved his hand in front of him.

    Immediately a sphere of fire surrounded him andpletely cut him off from the outside. All of the oxygen within and near him was consumed by the mes and prevented the smoke from approaching him.

    Normally this would have been an ill-advised strategy for most individuals, but Marcus had no need to breathe and was perfectly fine cutting himself off from the air around him.

    He also could not see, but that was fine. He only needed to continue to pull on the stake with his spectral arm.

    Soon with onest push he yanked it free from Za''s body and swiftly pulled it towards himself.

    It passed through the ming barrier he had created with his fire magic and with an outstretched hand Marcus opened his item box and threw the dangerous item inside where it could no longer cause any harm.

    After being certain that the pitch-ck, barbed stake was sealed away, Marcus canceled his magic and set his sights on Za.

    The moment the stake was removed from her body, she hadpletely copsed and was sprawled out on the ground that had been sundered by their battle.

 Chapter 923 923 Aezamâ€™s Guardian

    Chapter923 923 AezamˇŻs Guardian

    ''We really did a number on this ce.'' Marcus thought as he scanned his surroundings.

    All around him was a hellishndscape that had been razed by the battle. Parts of it was a molten wastnd from Za''s mes, others were frozen over by Mrazivy''s ice magic, but most of it was justpletely shattered and looked like an earthquake of the greatest magnitude had hit.

    However, there was one area within view that had managed to escape being destroyed by the battle.

    The ck sand hill that the Font of Death was resting within had managed to avoid being damaged for the most part. Some of the sands had shifted but that was it.

    As a magical phenomenon born from the abrupt and violent death of hundreds of thousands, the Font of Death was an embodiment of destruction and would not be easily disturbed even by the most intense of battles.

    ''Marcus, if you have finished surveying the surroundings, I could use some healing.'' Roxene said, frustration evident in her voice.

    She was pretty badly wounded by Za''sst attack, and after going all out and using Soul Burst her natural recovery was not working nearly as fast as when she was in peak condition.

    Looking down, Marcus saw Roxeneying on her side and panting heavily. Her injuries were worse than he had thought, and it appeared that she was close to passing out from the pain.

    "Ultimate Refresh."

    Without further dy, Marcus descended from his position in the air an immediately used his Supreme Skill to not only fix Roxene''s wounds, but also recovery her lowered stats that came as bacsh for using Soul Burst.

    Once Roxene was recovered Marcus used telepathy to contact Mrazivy and ask her how she was doing. Last, he had seen of her, she had been smacked away by one of Za''s ming wings.

    ''I''m doing fine, just some minor burns. My regeneration skill has already nearly recovered all the damage I took. Just worry about Aezam''s Guardian. Who knows what kind of nasty aftereffects she is dealing with.'' Mrazivy responded.

    With confirmation that his wife was not heavily injured, Marcus turned his attention to Za who was still passed out after having the malicious magic item removed.

    Marcus examined her wounds quickly and noticed that they were barely healing.

    ''She must have exhausted most of her mana. At this rate she might die before recovering.'' Marcus thought, looking at the horrid wounds all over Za''s body.

    Normally this amount of damage would not have been able to kill a mythic grade beast, but Za had been forced to expend almost all of her power in her rampage.

    Luckily, Marcus had some of the best healing abilities in the world and with another use of his supreme skill he fully restored Za. Even the damage to her soul that he had been the cause of.

    The instant after Marcus had healed her, Za sprung back up, awake and on guard. Thest thing that she remembered was being ambushed by powerful assants.

    "Whoa! We are not your enemies." Marcus said after dodging a w swipe from Za.

    He immediately held up his hands to show that he was not threatening her and used telepathy to tell Roxene, Blitz, and Inten to stand down. Naturally the three of them had prepared to defend Marcus the moment Aezam''s Guardian had sent an attack his way.

    Za''s head moved around rapidly as she took in the situation and examined the unfamiliar individuals that were around her.

    "Who are you, and what are you doing here? I do not recognize you, but that does not mean you are not with that group that attacked me." Za said, clearly still on edge.

    And who could me her, she had been restrained for years in a paralyzed state. Left submerged in the Font of Death to be corrupted.

    "We are friends of the Sulb and Eazim ns. Surely you have a way to contact their grand elders. Just ask them about us and they will vouch for us." Marcus said, keeping his hands raised.

    After a couple more swift nces around to check her surroundings for danger, Za pulled out two sending stones from her item box and contacted Ghazi and Akeem.

    A lengthy conversation ensued once Za connected with the leaders of Sulb and Eazim ns. It had been a long time since anyone had heard from Za, and naturally Ghazi and Akeem were ted to learn that she was alive.

    "I am grateful for all of your concern, but I must get back to the matter at hand. I will contact both of you and the other grand elders at another time." Za said into both of the sending stones, before putting them away.

    her questions for hours.

    When Za turned her gaze back towards Marcus the hostility had Had she let them, the two grand elders would have gone on asking her questions for hours.

    When Za turned her gaze back towards Marcus the hostility had receded from her eyes, but she still held a degree of wariness.

    "Seems that you check out. Ghazi especially held you in high regard. Apparently, you defeated him and his brother in a match." Za said, her eyes ncing towards where Mrazivy was waiting in the distance.

    "It is true that we beat them. But that does not matter much right now. What I want to know is what happened to you. How did you end up out here and chained up in the Font of Death?"

    Za looked pained as she recalled thest events that she could recall, but she told Marcus what urred on the condition that he tell her everything that he knew as well.

    She had noticed a disturbance in the Deste ande to investigate, only to be ambushed by several dozens of individuals that had been waiting for her.

    Among this group Marcus only recognized the description of one of them which was the crimson skeleton. The other attackers Za described were unfamiliar.

    Of course, Za had put up a good fight and killed nearly eighty percent of those that attacked her before she was exhausted and wrapped up in chains that were strong enough to hold her. After that, all she could remember was pain and trying to resist the corruption of the Font of Death.

    "I see, you have my sympathies. I cannot imagine how much you suffered." Marcus said.

    He then exined about what he found when he and hispanions reached the Font of Death and the short sh that had urred.

    "Once they had fled using space magic, the five of us did all we could to free you from the berserk state that you had been forced into." Marcus said, exining everything about their battle.

    Za for her part looked aghast when she heard about the rampage she had gone on and looked around at the destruction around them. They had been lucky to be in the middle of a wastnd like the Deste Desert. Had they been anywhere near a popted area the damage would have been immense.

    "Please, allow me to give you my sincerest thanks and apologize for the trouble that I caused you, Without the five of you intervening, I very well may have destroyed the nation I am meant to protect." Za said, bowing her head to Marcus.

    For such a proud beast as a phoenix, bowing her head to anyone was a sign of great respect, and Marcus could feel the weight behind it.

    A few momentster Za''s form began to shift, and she soon took on the appearance of a young woman with crimson hair wearing a scarlet dress.

    "There it should be easier for us to converse with myself in this form. I understand the broad situation, but I would be grateful if we could have a more detailed discussion."

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus took out a table and chairs from his item box and beckoned his beastpanions and Mrazivy over to join their talks.

    Za looked on with interest as each of Marcus'' beastpanions took on their own humanoid forms, save for Inten who was small enough to perch on Marcus'' shoulder.

    "You are one of Gwyneira''s ilk, aren''t you." Za said, her eyes focused on Mrazivy and her expression not looking the least bit pleased.

    "Yes, Gwyneira is my ancestor. I am Mrazivy Borealia, Thirteenth princess of Borealia." Mrazivy said proudly, not showing any fear even under the weight of Za''s frown.

    Za looked conflicted about having a friendly conversation with Mrazivy, likely due to some bad blood with Gwyneira in the past.

    Nevertheless, Mrazivy had been a part of the team that had saved her from a fate far worse than death, so Za cast aside her animosity. She was smart enough to know it would get her nowhere.

    "Earlier you told me that you knew some of those that were keeping watch over me when you arrived. If it would not be too much trouble, would you give me their names and appearances? If they are still nning to cause trouble in my home, I will hunt them down."

    Nodding his head, Marcus told Za everything he knew, though finding out about a member of the Borealian royal family being involved did not help to improve Za''s view of Mrazivy.

    "It just had to be demons, didn''t it." Za grumbled under her breath.

    Among all creatures that appeared on Mirrion, there were none better at spreading chaos and death than demons. The only thing that kept them from destabilizing the entire world was the fact that they originated from another dimension and could not cross over on their own.

 Chapter 924 924 Into the Font of Death

    Chapter 924 924 Into the Font of Death

    "Allow me to thank you onest time for saving me. If there is anything I can do to reward the five of you, feel free to ask." Za said.

    Marcus and Mrazivy looked towards each other thinking the same thing. Without hesitation they asked for rare skill orbs, unique skill orbs, amethros, and rare materials that Marcus could use in forging.

    Their bluntness in asking for several of the rarest items in the world without holding back at all caused Za''s eyes to twitch. She had honestly not expected their requests to be so brazen.

    "Very well, I will see what I can do. Just do not expect too much. I have been absent for nearly twenty years now. What I can likely get you of what you ask will be very limited." Za said, hoping to curve their expectations.

    She then moved away and reverted to her full phoenix form. Now that she had gotten all of the details about what had happened, she had to get back to being the guardian of Aezam after being absent for so long. The number of preparations and the amount of information she needed to gather was already giving her a headache.

    "She certainly took that better than I imagined she would. If I had found out I had been held captive for twenty years, I am not sure I would be able to maintain my sanity so quickly." Marcus said as he watched Za fly away.

    "I guess it justes with the territory for anyone that has lived so long. Twenty years might still be a lot of time for us, but Za has lived for centuries. Once we get older, we might feel the same way." Mrazivy responded.

    As a ghost Marcus was an ageless being that would exist forever so long as he was not destroyed. And as a high level dragonoid, Mrazivy could live for a millennium or two with ease.

    "You''re right, I never really gave it much thought since we are still pretty young. I almost can''t imagine being around for another thousand years. Back on Earth people rarely lived past a hundred. It actually scares me a bit to think about." Marcus said.

    Naturally he had known sinceing to Mirrion and bing a ghost that he could not die of old age, but now that he had said it out loud, it was really sinking in.

    Frankly he had no idea how living so long might change him. Plus, as of right now, Mrazivy was destined to die before him even if her lifespan was exceptionally long.

    "Oh, there is no need to fret about it. We are in this for the long haul together. I''m not even thirty yet. No point in worrying about things way int eh future. We have far more important issues to deal with in the present." Mrazivy said, seeing through Marcus and knowing exactly what he was thinking.

    "Yeah, we need to inform Borealia about our encounter here. Your father is certainly going to want to take some action now that we have finally gotten another lead on Vaughn."

    Mrazivy nodded, agreeing with Marcus, but that did not change the fact that they were at the other end of the continent.

    Sure, Marcus could return using his Dark Portal unique skill, but Mrazivy was stuck having to travel the old fashion way.

    Also, there was the matter of the Font of Death. They had worked hard to reach their goal and it made little sense to abandon it now.

    "The rest of you can stay here. I will go back and tell those in Borealia what has happened here." Roxene said.

    Stunned, Marcus could not believe what he was hearing.

    Roxene was normally more self-centered than this. Sure, she would help out in fights, but that was mainly so she could get more experience to level up. She rarely did anything that would be considerate for others.

    "What is with that look! I may not normally get involved in matters like these, but that is simply because they are not worth my time. This situation is more dangerous than any of you could possibly know. That is why I am willing to inconvenience myself this time."

    Marcus sighed when he heard Roxene''s exnation. On asion she hinted at having knowledge about certain things but was unable to tell anyone else because of some deal she made with the Administrator.

    At this point Marcus was fairly used to this, but it really did not bode well whenever Roxene alluded to subjects she could not speak about.

    ''Could that blue demon we saw through the portal in the Cordillera Depths be involved?'' Marcus thought, remembering the new demonic appearance that Argus had taken.

    He could still recall how scared Roxene had been when they encountered that demon''s arm sticking through a massive portal. Even when it was not fully manifested, that demon had felt more powerful than Marcus couldprehend at the time.

    "Okay, I will leave it to you Roxene. We will be stuck here for a hundred days while I absorb the energy from the Font of Death. Once I am done we will catch back up to you." Marcus said before opening up a Dark Portal for Roxene to travel through.

    Other than Marcus she was the only one of their group that could pass through thanks to her affinity for the darkness element.

    An instant after Marcus had opened the portal Roxene jumped through and disappeared. Going from one end of the continent to the other.

    "That really drained me." Marcus said.

    Opening a portal from such a distance cost him quite arge amount of mana. Making Marcus a bit woozy since he was still a bit exhausted from the earlier fight.

    "Nope, no time for that. We need to hurry." Mrazivy said, pulling out a potion and shoving it into Marcus'' mouth.

    The liquid in the vial quickly drained down his throat and Marcus felt his mana being rapidly restored.

    "Was it really necessary to use one of our lesser elixirs?"

    "Yes, you were looking pale. Well, paler than usual." Mrazivy said, looking concerned.

    Truthfully Marcus was still suffering a bit from using his Soul Devour unique skill. After all this time it had taken more out of him than he had expected. He had received a very harsh confirmation on why he tried not to use the skill in the first ce.

    "Now, it is time that we get this over with. Blitz, Inten, and I will watch over you to make sure that you stay safe. The undead that reside here might have been scattered for now, but during the next hundred days some of the more powerful ones might make their way back here. But rest assured that we will make sure you stay safe."

    Smiling, Marcus thanked Mrazivy for her assurance and told her not to push herself too hard. While he could take being this near the Font of Death without issue, those that were alive would be chipped away at by being in such close proximity.

    ''I suppose I have to take the plunge. Hopefully this does not do anything negative to me.'' Marcus thought before jumping into the Font for Death.

 Chapter 925 925

    Chapter 925925

    Marcus felt a cold chill through his entire soul the moment he touched the sludge like liquid that made up the core of the Font of Death.

    All at once he felt the amassed anguish, pain, fear, and rage that had created this magical phenomenon.

    Hundreds of thousands of lives had been snuffed out all at once to create this well of undeath and negative energy.

    The cataclysm that had caused so much death had been lost to history, and now all that remained was this Font of Death that spread the resentment of the long dead.

    Thoughts of spreading the destruction that befell the people, beasts, and monsters that had died began to fill Marcus'' mind. The powerful emotions left behind were trying to influence him.

    ''Still, this is not enough to push me over the edge.''

    With his mind steeled beforehand Marcus kept out the intrusive thoughts of spreading death and destruction that the Font of Death was trying to force upon him.

    The voices themselves were loud, but unfocused. They were merely echoes of the past and would not be able to influence Marcus so long as he kept his sense of self strong. Luckily, he already had plenty of practice not losing his mind thanks to his Soul Devour unique skill.

    Once Marcus had found his center and felt he was ready, he allowed the energy within eh Font of Death to flow into him. He would need to bathe within it for a hundred days to meet his second tost evolution condition.

    Time raced by for Marcus, both incredibly fast, and agonizingly slow.

    Most of the time it was easy for Marcus to ignore the influence of the Font of Death, but asionally a very powerful cacophony of voices would try to shatter his will.

    If he let go, it would be easy for him to be absorbed by the Font of Death instead of the other way around.

    ''Mrazivy, Lilia, Roxene, Lyra, Blitz, Inten, Quillon, James, ric, Fallonˇ­''

    Over and over Marcus repeated the names of the people that were closest to him. Even after losing track of time and having his soul and mind encroached on by the Font of Death, he was able to keep himself strong so long as he remembered those he cared about.

    ''You have leveled up to level seventy-two.''

    ''You have leveled up to level seventy-three.''

    ''Evolution Requirement: Bathe in a Font of Death for one hundred dayspleted.''

    The moment he received these notifications from the system, Marcus opened his eyes and saw the now much thinner sludge like liquid of the Font of Death.

    Without any hesitation Marcus pushed off the bottom he had long since settled on and aimed for the surface.

    When he breached the top of the Font of Death, he instinctively tried to take a breath, but felt like he was suffocating.

    ''Get ahold of yourself, you don''t even need to breathe anymore. Calm down.'' Marcus thought.

    It seemed that for an instant his mind had yed a trick on him and instinctually thought that he needed to breathe after being submerged for so long. A vestige from his past life as a human.

    Once he had gotten ahold of himself now that he was no longer in the trace like state he had been in for the past hundred days, Marcus floated out of the Font of Death and survived the area.

    The first thing he noticed was that the pool that made up the Font of Death was noticeably smaller and less thick as it had been before. He had absorbed a great deal of the energy that it contained and severely weakened it.

    His attention was next drawn to just outside the Font of Death where thendscape had taken on a drastic change.

    What used to have been a desert had turned into a frozen wastnd that looked like part of the arctic. Not the hottest part of the continent as it should have been.

    Another disconcerting factor was what looked like thousands of frozen bodies. It appeared that a massive army had approached only to bepletely wiped out by ice.

    Normally seeing this would have been cause for concern, but Marcus could only think of one individual that could have done this.

    ''Look like she has already spotted me.''

    Turning his head, Marcus could see a blue blur closing in on him at a tremendous speed.

    The next thing Marcus knew, he felt a heavy impact against his body and a strong grip around his torso.

    "I''m happy to see you too, Mraz. But if you don''t let up, I think you might break me." Marcus said, feeling his sides caving in from the hug his wife was giving him.

    "You will be fine with a little crushing. Just let me hold you like this a bit longer. Thesest hundred days have been rough."

    Hearing the stress in Mrazivy''s voice, Marcus allowed her to indulge herself for a bit. Clearly it had not been easy guarding him for a hundred days while he bathed in the Font of Death.

    It took her several minutes, but eventually Mrazivy let out a satisfied sigh and released Marcus.

    When he looked down at her face, he could see that she was smiling, but she had heavy bags under her eyes and a sickly pallor to her skin.

    "Before anything else, I want to thank you for keeping me safe. It does not look like it was easy."

    "Your damn right it was not easy. It only took a couple of days before pretty much all of the undead came swarming at once. Whatever you were doing, they were not happy about it. I still get shbacks about the battle. There were so many of them that I thought we would be overrun at some points. We never would have held out if it weren''t for Aziz leading an army to attack the undead from the other side." Mrazivy said, still shaken by the near endless battle she had fought.

    vastly improved.

    "That is much better." Mrazivy said. "Now, can we get out of here? I "Well, I am d to see that you are okay. Here, maybe this will make you feel a bit better."

    With the wave of his hand Marcus used his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill to help Mrazivy recover from her fatigue and the wear on her body that being so near the Font of Death for an extended period of time had caused.

    Mrazivy let out an immediate sigh of relief after Marcus'' skill had brought her status back to its peak. All at once her condition had vastly improved.

    "That is much better." Mrazivy said. "Now, can we get out of here? I really do not want to stay in this ce for another moment."

    "Sure, I don''t practically want to stick around either. Um, but where are Blitz and Inten? They are okay, right?"

    ncing about, Marcus could not see any sign of his two beastpanions who had also been protecting him.

    He knew that they were alive thanks to his connection with them, but it was still possible that they had been severely injured or suffering from some sort of affliction.

    "They are both fine, just needed some time away from the Font of Death to recover. Let us go pick them up and get out of here." Mrazivy said, tugging at Marcus'' arm.

    Understanding just how much she wanted to leave, Marcus allowed himself to be pulled along and followed Mrazivy to where Blitz and Inten were waiting.

 Chapter 926 926 Developments at Home

    Chapter926 926 Developments at Home

    "Princess Mrazivy, Prince Marcus, his majesty wishes to speak with you both immediately. Please follow me."

    The moment that they returned to the castle in Borealia''s royal capital, Marcus and Mrazivy were met by one of the king''s attendants and given a request for a meeting.

    Of course, it was only being presented as a request. This was most certainly an order.

    ''I am guessing your father is not happy about us sneaking out and leaving the country for our honeymoon.'' Marcus said with telepathy.

    ''Yeah. I figured he would call us in fairly quickly, but I thought he would at least wait until tomorrow. We showed up in the middle of the night so that we could at least get a little time to rest.'' Mrazivy responded with an internal sigh.

    They had flown the final stretch of their journey all at once over a three-day period without rest. Physically they were still in fine condition, but mentally they were worn down and wanted to sleep in their own bed after being away for such a long time.

    Nevertheless, they knew that they were going to have to meet with the other higherups of the kingdom. What they had discovered in Aezam needed to be disclosed by them even if Roxene hade in advance.

    Without any dy the attendant brought them deep into the castle to the king''s main office.

    When the doors opened there were six people inside waiting for them.

    Naturally the king was there along with Darius the knightmander who served as his guard, Aria, the nation''s grand archmage, Frostine the crown princess, James, the leader of the sky knights and the oldest living prince, and Boreas, the founder and first king of Borealia.

    Everyone here was among those that Marcus and Mrazivy expected to see, but there was someone that was missing.

    Gwyneira was the guardian beast of Borealia and normally it would have been expected for her to be here alongside Boreas.

    "Come in and take your seats. We have much to discuss." The king said with a stern expression on his face.

    An instant after Marcus and Mrazivy walked into the room, the double doors that had been wide open mmed shut and the magic barriers that blocked sound from escaping and outside forces from looking in activated.

    "Normally I would reprimand both of you for leaving the nation to who knows where without even informing me, but now is not the time for that. Your beastpanion Roxene has already told us some about what urred, but we want to hear it from the two of you as well. Tell us everything that happened in Aezam. Spare no details." The king said.

    "Understood, but it will be a long story." Mrazivy said, taking the lead.

    She then went on to exin why they ended up in Aezam and everything they did while there.

    As she said it took a long time for her to ry everything, but by the time she was finished, everyone save for Boreas looked stunned.

    What they had both done was practically outrageous and incredibly dangerous.

    Going to Aezam alone carried with it some risk as Borealia had close ties to the adventurers guild which Aezam was hostile towards. Had their identities been found out, it was possible that they could have caused a massive incident or even been killed.

    However, what attracted the most attention was their discovery of Vaughn and the group he was with. Everything else was far less important.

    "To think he had traveled to the other end of the continent. No wonder we could not find him." Aria said, an enraged glint in her eyes.

    Vaughn was her grandson just like the king, and out of everyone here, she had been the closest to him. Naturally she was livid when first finding out about his betrayal.

    "I know that this might not be my ce to say, since I long ago abdicated from the throne and was gone until recently, but I think it might be prudent to expand our search outside the kingdom. What Roxene told us wasˇ­ disconcerting. She said she could not go into details about what she knows about this demon, but if it is what I think it is, stopping Vaughn and the others working with him is paramount." Boreas said, a rare look of concern on his face.

    "You know what that thing is? Roxene told me when we first encountered it that it was something we absolutely should not get involved with." Marcus said, his gaze locked on Boreas.

    "Truthfully, I am not sure. I have heard whispers of incredibly powerful demons that are called primeval. The original and strongest demons to exist. Whether this is true or not, or that this demon would be one, is just spection. Still, it must be a powerful demon if it is taking this much effort to bring it into this world. We should do what we can to track down those working for it and stop them."

    The current king of Borealia wore a pensive expression for a few moments before turning towards Boreas.

    "I know that you cannot leave right now since your daughter was just born, but if you could ask Alexandra to personally take over the search, that would be of great help. She has done great work as the Head Royal Investigator, but she will not leave Borealia unless you ask her to. She has only stayed this long to keep her word to you to protect the kingdom that you founded." The king said.

    "I will ask her, but she may not leave even if I do. Out of everyone in my original group, she is the one most attached to this ce." Boreas responded.

    Yet, as they were talking about who to send out to search for Vaughn, Marcus and Mrazivytched onto something else.

    "Wait, your daughter has been born! Does that mean Gwyneira has given birth?! Is that why she is not here right now!? Mrazivy nearly shouted.

 Chapter 927 Developments at Home (2)

    Chapter 927 Developments at Home (2)

    "Yes, Gwyn safely had our child two days ago. She is resting right now and taking care of our new daughter. Later I will take both of you to see them, but for now we have more to discuss here." Boreas said, the smile of a happy father on his face.

    "It is as Boreas said, we have other matters to talk about. Your disappearance caused us no small amount of grief with the adventurers guild." The king said with a sigh.

    Apparently, Valerius, the Grand Master of the Northern Quadrant of the Adventurers Guild had been looking for them intently.

    Both Marcus and Mrazivy had affirmed their desire to be mithril rank adventures after their wedding and now Valerius was trying to have them make good on their word.

    Of course, he was not looking for them just to get done with the formality of promoting them, but because there was a mission that he wanted them to participate in.

    "He would not say what it was exactly, but he looked pretty frantic. When we told him that you were on your honeymoon and had no idea where you had gone, he mobilized guild personnel to try to find you both. When that did not work, he tried to coerce us into telling him where you had gone by slightly raising the cut that guild takes on just about every transaction. Nothing major has happened yet, but it has caused us all quite a few headaches." Frostine said, being the one in charge of dealing with the guild.

    Whatever was happening within the guild, Valerius was clearly desperate to get Marcus and Mrazivy to participate in something.

    Naturally both of them were not happy to hear that Valerius had been making things difficult on their home, but in many ways, it was their fault. They had been putting off following through with the agreement they made in order to pursue their own enjoyment and goals.

    "I suppose we will not be getting much rest. We will go and check in at the main guild tomorrow to inform them of our return. Hopefully that will cool things down." Mrazivy said.

    "Thank you, Mraz, that will be a big help." Frostine said with a relived expression.

    After that, they had a few more minor issues to discuss, before Marcus and Mrazivy were finally able to return to their room for the night.

    "Seems like we are about to set off on another journey right after returning." Marcus aid once they were alone.

    "Yeah, I was really hoping to stick around here for a while, but I am also excited to find out what we are in for. Just wish it waspletely our decision." Mrazivy responded.

    Over thest several months the two of them had gotten used to making their own decisions and following their whims for the most part. But now that they were back in Borealia, there were certain duties that they had to attend to.

    Still, it was far from a bad situation.

    ˇ­

    Upon waking up the next day, Marcus and Mrazivy got dressed in their normal adventuring attire and got ready to go to the guild. It was still unsure what exactly Valerius wanted of them, but there was a possibility they might need to leave today.

    Nevertheless, before leaving the castle they had one stop to make first.

    "Mrazivy, Marcus, I would like to introduce you to Safir Borealia. Our daughter." Boreas said.

    Nestled in Gwyneira''s arms was a small baby girl with a few strands of silvery blue hair on her head.

    But her hair color not being the usual deep royal blue like Gwyneira''s was far from the biggest surprise, it was the face that she had horns, wings, a tail, and sharp teeth.

    From what they had heard in the past about Boreas'' and Gwyneira''s children that the two had conceived long ago, was that they had all been human with dormant dragon blood. However, Safir was like Mrazivy after she had evolved and awakened her blood to be a dragonoid. A true hybrid between human and dragon.

    "We were quite shocked as well when we first saw her. This is the first time I have ever heard of something like this happening. Though it is already rare enough for a beast such as myself to end up with a human." Gwyneira said with a smile.

    However, under her jovial expression as a hint of worry. Safir had been born a dragonoid and was just as strong as a mythic grade beast. They could not let information about her spread.

    There was no shortage of people that would kidnap her for profit or their own purposes if they could. While she was young, she would be the most vulnerable.

    "Oh, it looks like she recognizes another of her own kind."

    Being the young child that she was Safir began looking curiously at the new strangers that hade to meet her, and when she looked at Mrazivy, her eyes shed gold and her pupils turned into slits like those of a reptile.

    Mrazivy did the same back and Safir began giggling and reaching out for Mrazivy.

    "Go ahead and hold her." Gwyneira said, beckoning Mrazivy over.

    With slow and careful movements Mrazivy scooped up her newest rtive and held Safir in her arms.

    "She certainly has quite the grip despite being a newborn. I doubt that a low-level caretaker could keep up with her."

    "Yes, that is a bit of a problem. As much as we would wish to, it is not possible for one of us to be with her at all times in the future. We were hoping that the two of you would help us look after her whenever you can. There are not many that we can trust with her, and honestly, both of you are at the top of our list." Boreas said.

    Among all the people in Borealia, Marcus and Mrazivy were easily within the top ten strongest at this point.

    They were also family and Mrazivy was the only other dragonoid within the nation, or possibly the only other one in existence. Both Boreas and Gwyneira felt it would be best for their daughter to see that there was someone else like her as she grew up. And judging by the way Safir had already taken to Mrazivy only added confirmation to their decision.

    "Sure, I do not see why we cannot look after her from time to time. That is not a problem, right Marcus?"

    "No. No problem at all. I just worry that she won''t have any other children to interact with." Marcus replied.

    At this Boreas smirked and said, "Well then, the two of you just need to have a child right. I am sure that any kid of yours will turn out strong as well. I am sure they would be best of friends with our Safir."

    Mrazivy''s face began to turn a deep shade of crimson after hearing this, and Marcus was sure he would have been right behind her if he was physically able to blush.

    "We have only been married for just a little while. I am sure kids are still a long way off. Plus, it is likely that we cannot even have children. Marcus is a ghost and a great spirit after all. His body is not even flesh and blood." Mrazivy said frantically.

    Marcus wanted to agree with Mrazivy, but he was not so sure that he should.

    This world was already very different from earth, and Boreas and Gwyneira just had another child despite one being a dragon and the other an evolved human. He would not put it past the administrator to have made it possible for any creatures that could take a humanoid form to have children together.

    ''I suppose I could ask.''

    Marcus did have a method for contacting the administrator, though he was only supposed to use it if he ever came across another one of the tomes that could summon horrific beings from another dimension.

    ''What am I even thinking about. It is way too soon to be thinking about that right now. What would we even do if we had to stop everything and worry about a kid right now.'' Marcus thought as he shook his head and pushed the issue to the back of his mind.

    Just a momentter, Safir, wanting to be the center of everyone''s attention again, raised her arms up and began pping her wings.

    "Mrazivy, if you would hold her up above your head. She wants to try and fly." Gwyneira said.

    Safir had some instincts like those of a newborn dragon, and when Mrazivy held her up, the young girl spread the small slivery wings on her back and created a light gust of cold wind that gave her a bit of lift.

    Of course, Mrazivy did not let go, as much as Safir was simting flying, she could not actually stay airborne at this time. She just liked being held up and pretending to fly.

    "I noticed that she is not a frost dragonoid like me, but a freezing gale dragonoid. It looks like she inherited both of your powers." Mrazivy said as she caried Safir around the room.

    "Yes, she is certainly going to be a handful. She has already blown wind and snow into both of our faces on multiple asions." Gwyneira said whileughing.

    As she did, Safir opened her mouth and unleashed her breath attack.

    It was only a weak gust of wind with bits of snow in it just as Gwyneira had described, but this was still far more than what any normal newborn would be capable of.

 Chapter 928 Negotiations and Rank Up

    Chapter 928 Negotiations and Rank Up

    Once Marcus and Mrazivy had finished spending time with Boreas, Gwyneira, and their new daughter Safir, the two of them left the castle and headed towards the head branch of the adventurers guild within Borealia.

    When they arrived a member of the guild''s staff was already waiting for them, and immediately led them to a private meeting room.

    ''Looks like Valerius really wants us for something. He must have been tracking our movements to already be ready for our arrival.'' Mrazivy said to Marcus through telepathy.

    And it was just as she said. Neither of them had given any word of their return, but Valerius was already to meet with them. He was clearly extremely desperate to have them participate in some sort of mission for the guild.

    Within therge meeting room, Valerius satpletely alone. Not even the guild master was with him.

    ''He certainly looks relieved to see us.'' Marcus thought.

    Despite Valerius'' poker face, the man''s expression shifted slightly when he saw Marcus and Mrazivy. Giving away his true feelings.

    "It is a pleasure to see you both again. I am d to see that the two of you are in good health and have be substantially stronger than thest time we met." Valerius said, his eyes appraising Marcus and Mrazivy without the use of any skill other than his long years of experience.

    With but a nce he could tell that both of them were truly powerful and just the individuals he was looking for.

    "Yes, we are overjoyed with meeting with you again, Grand Master Valerius." Mrazivy said with her polite princess fa?ade on full disy.

    After exchanging a few pleasantries, Marcus and Mrazivy sat down across from Valerius and waited for him to begin the discussion.

    "As promised, I have prepared a few unique skill orbs for the both of you to choose from for epting the promotion to mithril rank. All you need to do is sign this contract to be officially promoted."

    Out of his item box, Valerius retrieved two identical forms and handed them over to Marcus and Mrazivy.

    Of course, neither of them went ahead and signed without reading it first. You could never be too careful when signing a magical contract.

    ''Looks to be exactly as expected from the information we gathered. Other than having to respond to emergency summons for things like monster of beast outbreaks, there are no negatives. The resources we will be getting ess to far outweigh the single downside.'' Marcus thought as he read through the contract.

    Everything looked on the up and up, but before going any further, Marcus wanted at least an inkling about what Valerius wanted from them.

    "There does not appear to be anything wrong about the contracts, but before we be mithril rank adventurers and truly official members of the guild, I would like to know what you are nning for us. It is obvious that you are desperate to get us ranked up for some reason."

    "I cannot tell you any details until you officially be mithril ranks, but I can give you a broad overview." Valerius said. "The guild has made a new discovery and is gathering members for an expedition. It is a joint effort that each quadrant is sending members to participate in. As I told you both in the past, our Northern Quadrant is currentlycking in highly talented individuals. Frankly, without the two of you, those that I can send as representatives arecking."

    Hearing this, it became clear why Valerius had been desperate to get them onboard. If it was just an internal matter within the northern quadrant of the guild, he would not need to worry as much. But since this expedition was a joint venture between each of the quadrants, Valerius'' reputation was on the line.

    If he sent weaker representatives than the other quadrants did, it would look poorly on him. Hence why he wanted Marcus and Mrazivy who were far above the curve for their levels.

    ''I don''t sense any lies or attempt at deceit. He seems to be genuinely concerned about receiving ridicule from his peers.'' Marcus thought as he studied Valerius tone and bodynguage.

    "So, if we do agree to this rank up, we will be forced to go on this expedition no matter what?" Mrazivy asked.

    In response, Valerius shook his head. Though he did look distressed that Mrazivy might refuse.

    "No, this is not considered an emergency situation, so I cannot order you to participate. But I can assure you that the rewards for this mission will be great and your standing within the guild will greatly improve. I''ll even owe you a personal favor." Valerius said, looking desperate.

    His demeanor this time was far more submissive than when they hadst met him. Obviously, he knew that trying to strongarm them would get nowhere and was being as sincere as possible.

    "If you are offering a personal favor, then I am in. There is something I want that only you can do." Mrazivy said.

    Valerius looked concerned by what Mrazivy wanted of him, but he told her that if it was feasible, he would do it.

    "Call off the search for my master. I can understand that you are upset that he killed your righthand man in a battle, but it was a duel that they both agreed on. Surely you can realize that it makes no sense to hunt him down when he was not even the aggressor."

    Valerius winced when he heard Mrazivy''s demands, and a hint of rage shed on his face before he was able to calm himself down.

    "Very well, I will retract the bounty I put on his head. It does not seem that I was going to find him anyway." Valerius said with his fists clenched tightly.

    There was no doubt that he still held a great deal of resentment towards the Sword Savant for killing his friend, but he knew holding onto this grudge would only hurt any dealings he would have with Mrazivy.

    After receiving his assurance, Mrazivy signed the magic contract and officially epted the promotion to mithril rank adventurer. With Marcus following quickly behind her.

 Chapter 929 New Unique Skills

    Chapter 929 New Unique Skills

    "You can pick whichever one you want among these five unique skill orbs. I have long since hit my limit, so I only use them for bargaining at this point." Valerius said.

    With the wave of his hand five golden orbs appeared on the table, a soft glow emanating from each one.

    ''To think he can pull out five of these like it is nothing. I suppose that is just a perk of being one of the adventurers guild''s leaders.'' Marcus thought while intently looking at the unique skill orbs.

    Each one of these orbs was worth enough to allow anyone to livefortably for their entire life and anyone that wanted to grow stronger coveted them.

    "Mraz." Marcus said.

    Nodding her head knowingly, Mrazivy''s eyes turned golden, and her pupils became slits.

    With a nce at each of the orbs her dragon eyesid each of their properties bare before her.

    "I will take this one." Mrazivy said, grabbing the one that interested her. They had already agreed that she would get the first pick.

    Not showing any sign of hesitation, Mrazivy learned the skill within, and the lustrous golden orb turned pale and began to crumble into fine particles of dust.

    "That certainly is an interesting trick you have there. If I am not mistaken, those were the fabled dragon eyes." Valerius said, extremely interested in the power that Mrazivy had just demonstrated.

    Among all known appraisal abilities, dragon eyes were the strongest. Able to see even through unique skills such as Marcus'' False Status. There was almost nothing that could hide from the ability given to one of the strongest beasts on Mirrion.

    "Your assessment is correct. It is a power I inherited from an ancestor far down in my family line. I am not a dragon myself though." Mrazivy said.

    She did not borate further, but Valerius now had a keen interest in Mrazivy far beyond just her strength.

    Dragons rarely interacted with people, and when they did, it was often not peaceful.

    Still, their ability to appraise most things with just a single look was a coveted power. Having someone capable of the feat was incredibly valuable.

    ''I hit the jackpot with these two. The other quadrant leaders will not be able to ridicule me for poor management just from bringing in someone with the dragon eyes ability. It was worth it to humble myself to them.'' Valerius thought.

    He was the most junior member of the leading figures within the guild and was put in charge of the weakest quadrant that the guild oversaw. There had been other joint missions where those that came from his northern quadrant were not in the same league as those representing the other quadrants. At times, his leadership had been called into question, and he had received no end of grief because of it.

    However, that was all going to change soon. Not only had he brought Marcus and Mrazivy into the fold, but only a couple of years ago another talented individual had joined the guild within his sphere of influence.

    "I would say that this one will be the best for you. The others are not particrly useful to you." Mrazivy said, picking up one of the orbs and handing it to Marcus.

    After hearing an overview of what it did and receiving Mrazivy''s positive assessment, Marcus learned the skill within. It was a type of power that Marcus had beencking.

    "Hm, so you choose Cursed w and Behemoth Charge. I suppose I should have expected you to take the best of those I was offering."

    Of the skill orbs that Valerius had presented to them, those two were the strongest.

    Mrazivy''s Cursed w gave her five different cures at the tip of each of her fingers. All she had to do to inflict a target with one of these curses was to cut them with her ws. Giving her ess to debilitating effects that would cripple anyone.

    Marcus'' Behemoth Charge on the other hand was just a powerful attack he could utilize once a day. It was not an especially intricate ability, but sometimes you simply needed to hit someone or something extremely hard.

    "With that our agreement has been fulfilled. Now that you are both mithril ranks, I can give you both an official request to join the guild''s uing expedition." Valerius said.

    He then passed over another contract to them that would bind them to a vow of secrecy.

    ''Whatever they found must be pretty special to go through all this trouble.'' Marcus thought as he signed the contract.

    Mrazivy had already agreed to joining in on the expedition on the condition that her master would no longer be hunted by the guild. Naturally this meant that Marcus was going as well. Plus, it was sure to be interesting.

    "Good, everything is order." Valerius once he had confirmed that the contracts were signed.

    "Nearly eight months ago, a new ind was discovered deep within the Usmar Ocean which lies several thousand kilometers southeast of here. And I do not mean that a previously undiscovered ind was found. Thisnd mass had not upied this space in the ocean before. We have plenty of records of the area just having been open water. It is certainly a perplexing discovery."

    Valerius went on to borate that the ind itself was around a tenth the size of Borealia from the estimates measuring its perimeter.

    "Other than a few meters of coastline, the entire ind is covered in a perpetual fog that no skill, race ability, or item has been able to pierce. It is impossible to approach by flying and only those level eighty or lower can set foot on it. Even the leader of the guild tried to force his way in but was unable to. No matter how strong someone gets, it is impossible to go against the system''s rules. Which is why we are gathering an elite team of individuals that are level eighty or lower to explore the ind. We sent an initial scouting party to investigate the area, but they were quickly forced to flee after losing many members. All manner of powerful creatures inhabit the ind. Hence why we need those that are far above average to have any hope of investigating this mysterious newnd."

 Chapter 930 The Guildâ€™s Teleportation Circles

    Chapter 930 The GuildˇŻs Teleportation Circles

    With but a quick signature epting the mission and agreeing to secrecy, Marcus and Mrazivy were now official members of the expedition to explore the newndmass that had suddenly appeared where one had not been before.

    "In all honesty, I have already dyed the expedition about as long as I could while waiting for you both to return. The other Grand Masters of the guild have been berating me to quicken my pace recruiting people, and even the leader of the guild has been less inclined to allow me more extensions as ofte. It would be best if you could both be ready to depart in two days'' time." Valerius said.

    It was easy to tell by his expression that he had been getting pressure from above, and even for someone as high-level and experienced as him, that was never a fun urrence.

    ''Will two days be enough?'' Marcus thought.

    There were a number of things that he nned on doing now that they were back home, but needing to leave so suddenly would limit his options.

    Among the things that he wanted to do was to see Lilia, but now it was likely the best he could do was leave some letters behind for her when she showed back up from her training to be a Grand Witch.

    The most pertinent items on his list now would be to get into the forge and make some of the items he had been nning on creating.

    After their trip to Aezam, he had obtained a tressure trove of materials to work with and getting powerful magic items ready for their journey into an unknownnd was paramount. One could never be too prepared for the worst.

    "I can be prepared in two days. What about you Marcus?" Mrazivy asked.

    Marcus began going over a few quick calctions on how much time he would need to forge the bare minimum of magic items he wanted.

    ''Truly I am lucky I have no physical need to eat or sleep. If I work without rest, it should be possible.''

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed that they could leave after two days of preparations.

    A part of him really did want more time to leisurely rx since they had just arrived back home, but this mission was once in a lifetime and would not wait for them. Plus, it was their assigned duty to appease the guild and make sure that its ties to Borealia stayed strong.

    ˇ­

    ''Finished. Only about an hour to spare, but I managed to get it done.''

    In his hand Marcus held an anklet made of amethros and arge magic core embedded in the front of it.

    Magical etchings were visible all across the surface of the essory and the item would be considered a national treasure if it did not belong just to Marcus.

    He had made a few items for himself in thest two days, but this was the only thing he had created for Mrazivy. As impressive as the item was, it was actually useless for him.

    It utilized the core of the mummy lord and Marcus'' deepened understanding of how the aura of undeath negatively affected the living that he gained from being immersed in the Font of Death for so long to create a protective barrier. With this item even an infant would be able to stand in the presence of a lich and not fall to their deathly presence that desecrated life.

    After their recent foray into such an inhospitable region, Marcus knew that he needed to make something like this. The magic item would be indispensable when they headed off to collect the core of a Ghost King or encountered any other powerful undead entities.

    Satisfied in his work, Marcus left the castle''s amethros forge that was unknown to all but a select few and made his way to where Mrazivy was waiting for him.

    Today was the day that they were going to be traveling farther from home than they ever had. As far away as Aezam had been, it was still on the same continent. Where they were traveling to next was a great distance from Borealia than between the two poles on Earth

    Nevertheless, this monumental journey was going to take naught but a couple of days, and the great majority of the distance would be travelled in one.

    "So, this is what the guild''s teleportation circles look like" Marcus said in awe.

    Etched into the ground before them, made of an unfamiliar stone that had flecks of all manner of magical beast and monster bones mixed into it was aplicated enchantment that was difficult even for Marcus to understand. It glowed with faint purple light and gave off an intense magical essence.

    Space magic was extremely rare, and creating permeant travel points that functioned without an expert present was far from an easy or practical feat. Yet the guild had a circle within the main branch of every nation that partnered with them.

    Using the circle cost an exorbitant amount of mana that it acquired from consuming high grade magic cores. Just teleporting to the nearest connecting circle would take several cores from beasts or monsters that were over level forty. To go even farther required far more than that.

    Of course, not just anyone could use these circles. Only those that were at the mithril rank or higher were allowed to, and most of the time they would need to supply their own magic cores as fuel along with a substantial fee in gold. Such an amazing service did note free after all.

    However, Marcus and Mrazivy were getting their first ever trip through a teleportation circle without any charge.

    The mission that Valerius had personally asked them to join was of great importance to the guild. There was no need to worry about costs when the Grand Master of the Quadrant was the one apanying them. All red tape had been handwaved without issue.

    "This here is one of the guild''s greatest powers. It is without a doubt that our transportationwork is leagues above anything else in the world and is one of the reasons that we an organization that spans the globe." Valerius said with a proud expression.

    After he had finished extolling the virtues of the guild and the benefits that came with Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s new status as mithril rank adventurers, the mage that was stationed to control the teleportation circle informed them that it was ready for their departure.

    "Make sure to brace yourselves. The first trip is almost always nauseating, and with the distance we are going in one go it is only likely to be worse." Valerius warned.

    From the look on his face, Marcus was able to discern that he was bitterly remembering his first time using a teleportation circle and that his warning came from experience.

    ''Thought his not out first-time using teleportation circles. The special dungeon utilized them as well and they were not difficult to handle.'' Marcus thought.

    Expect the circles he was used to were created by the administrator herself, a being with god like powers. These teleportation circles created by the guild were not nearly as high spec.

 Chapter 931 Across the World for Another Adventure

    Chapter 931 Across the World for Another Adventure

    After being engulfed in a bright light, Marcus regained his awareness in a room that looked exactly the same as the one he had just left, save for the people that were working there.

    However, he only was allowed a single moment to take in his new surroundings before a wave of what he could best describe as nausea kicked in.

    Of course, Marcus did not have the physical capacity to feel nausea in the normal sense. The distress he was currently experiencing was from having the mana within him shaken up by teleporting between two circles that were far away from each other.

    ''This is nothing like the ones in the special dungeon.'' Marcus thought as he began calming down his mana.

    He could remember how seamless warping between the floors in the special dungeon had been and the difference was immense. It was like going from a gentle boat ride across ake, to being thrown into roaring rapids on a makeshift raft.

    "I''m impressed. Most people at least lose their bnce the first time." Valerius said.

    "I cannot imagine why. It was such a smooth ride" Marcus replied, his voiceced with sarcasm.

    As he gave his barbed reply back to Valerius, MArcus felt a hand on his shoulder and noticed Mrazivy using him for support.

    While he only had his mana shaken up by the teleportation, Mrazivy had to deal with the effects on her body as well.

    Still, she was incredibly tough and managed to keep herself upright by using Marcus as a brace until she recovered.

    "How do people frequently use these things?" Mrazivy said with a sickened expression.

    "It is just something you get used to. Now that you have experienced it once, I am sure that you have a better feel for how to prepare yourselves." Valerius said. "Now get ready. We are going to be jumping three more times before reaching our destination.

    Without any more warning, the teleportation circle that they were on began to glow brightly again, and Marcus and Mrazivy did their best to steel themselves.

    "See, what did I say. You start to get a feel for it after a few times." Valerius said.

    And he was right. The first teleportation had been the worst, and each subsequent one became easier to deal with.

    At this point Marcus had figured out how to keep his mana from being shaken up in transit to negate any negative effects.

    "I take it we have arrived then. Where are we exactly?" Marcus asked curiously. "I don''t think you ever mentioned what nation this portal is located in."

    "Ah, I suppose I didn''t. We will not be staying long so it slipped my mine."

    Valerius then exined that they were in a country called the Republic of Eios on a continent that was far from Borealia. The nation was only around a fifth the size of Borealia, was popted primarily by orcs, and made most of its money from the eight dungeons within its borders.

    "There are really eight dungeons in such a small nation. Even Borealia only has three. One of which is hardly essible." Mrazivy said in disbelief.

    "Yes, it is certainly a rare ce to have so many dungeons in rtively close proximity. It is a popr spot for adventures of all levels to flock to. Perhaps in the future the two of you could attempt to explore the high-level dungeon that is situated in the center of the capital city." Valerius suggested.

    "But there will not be any time for sightseeing today. The other members from the Northern Quadrant should have arrived and are waiting. I would like to introduce both of you to them before the official meeting for the expedition begins."

    Leading the way, Valerius brought Marcus and Mrazivy to a luxurious waiting room within the massive guild building in the Capital of the Republic of Eios.

    Inside the room were three individuals who were the other chosen representatives from the Northern Quadrant that Valerius had picked out for this joint expedition.

    The most striking one among them was a three-meter-tall female ogre with dark red skin and long white hair.

    Her muscles were striking and the giant top tier adamantine battle axe she kept at her side gave off a powerful and menacing aura.

    However, as eye catching as she was for many reasons, Marcus'' attention was swiftly drawn to the most unassuming looking of the three in the room.

    To Marcus'' surprise, the young man who looked barely to have that Marcus was not going to easily forget.

    reached adulthood was someone he knew.

    It had been several years up to this point since Marcus had seen him, and they had only met for a brief time. But he was someone that Marcus was not going to easily forget.

    ''Miguel!''

    Marcus'' eyes were locked on the young man he had once fought and beat during the first round of the tournament in Borealia.

    While he had grown quite a bit in thest few years since Marcus hadst seen him, there was no doubt that this was the first other transmigrator from Earth that Marcus had met.

    They had not left off on good terms, with Miguel running away before Marcus could have a proper face-to-face conversation with him.

    At the time Marcus had royally fumbled by approaching Miguel in a possessed body in order to get him alone.

    It had worked at first, but when he revealed his power to the kid, he ran away at the first chance he could get. A natural reaction for a fifteen-year-old with trust issues in a strange new world.

    Honestly Marcus figured that it was unlikely he would ever meet Miguel again. But now he was here as another representative for the Northern Quadrant of the Adventurers Guild.

    Except, while Marcus recognized him, Miguel had no clue who Marcus was.

    When they had fought, Marcus had still been in his guise as Irene, and the conversation that came afterwards was while Marcus was possessing a random tournament healer. There was simply no way for Miguel to know who he was.

 Chapter 932 Team Members from the Northern Quadrant

    Chapter 932 Team Members from the Northern Quadrant

    "Do you have a problem with me?"

    After staring at Miguel for a few seconds too long, Marcus received a harsh re and an irritated question.

    "Sorry, I was just surprised to see someone so young among our ranks." Marcus said before averting his gaze and examining the other members that were going to be a part of their uing expedition.

    Marcus had already nced at the red skinned female ogre since her presence was hard to miss, but he had not checked on the final individual that Valerius had gathered.

    And wen he finally spotted them, he was surprised to find that they were an old woman of diminutive size and dark gray skin.

    Clearly, she was not human, but Marcus was unsure what her race was. He had not seen anyone like her before.

    However, the most unsettling thing was her presence, orck thereof. If Marcus did not have his eyes on her, he felt that she would slip out of his awareness entirely.

    "I am d to see that the rest of you are here. It took some time to find them, but these two are the final members from our Quadrant that will be joining the expedition." Valerius said. "Now some introductions are in order."

    At Valerius'' insistence, the other three members in the room stood up and approached Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "I am Thegia. It is a pleasure to meet you two." The dark gray skinned woman of diminutive size said. "Valerius mentioned that he recently found some talented youngsters, and it seems that you both were certainly worth the wait."

    "Name''s Kollo." The red skinned female ogre said.

    "You can call me Miguel, but don''t try to act like were friends. I am just here to do a job because Valerius asked me."

    After these instructions that were a mixed bag of friendly to distressed, Marcus and Mrazivy gave their names as well.

    "Borealia." Miguel mumbled under his breath.

    Naturally he recognized the name of the royal family from the nation he had first arrived in after transmigrating from Earth to Mirrion.

    For several seconds Miguel was lost in thought, before his expression changed and he looked at Mrazivy with a hint of familiarity.

    Mrazivy, picking up on this, said, "I see that you remember me. Yes, I fought in the same tournament that you did in Borealia."

    "Ah, that is it. I thought that you looked vaguely familiar, and it was bothering me that I could not ce it. Though I am surprised you remember me." Miguel said, a bit guarded.

    "There is no way I would forget your match. You did battle against my friend Irene after all." Mrazivy said, giving Marcus a swift knowing nce.

    Miguel frowned at the mention of the person he fought against during the first round of the tournament. Clearly, the first time he lost a fight had not been an experience he looked back on fondly.

    "Oh, do you two already know each other!? It is certainly a small "No, this is our first-time meeting. We only know of each other in passing." Miguel said.

    world sometimes." Thegia snickered.

    "No, this is our first-time meeting. We only know of each other in passing." Miguel said.

    He then moved back to his seat in the corner of the room, making no attempt to continue with any pleasantries.

    "Your strong. Fight me, and if I win, I will be taking you as mine." Kollo suddenly said towards Marcus.

    She had been carefully examining him since he entered the room, and evidently, he met her tastes.

    However, instead of a response from Marcus, she received a growl from Mrazivy and a sh of her intimidating presence.

    For any normal person this would have been enough to scare them into fleeing or even passing out on the spot. But Kollo held her ground and returned Mrazivy''s re.

    Her eyes shing golden and her pupils turning vertical like those of a reptile, Mrazivy appraised Kollo. Having perceived the ogre as a possible threat.

    "That is enough of that!" Valerius said, pping his hands loudly to gather everyone''s attention. He was not about to allow infighting among the team he had assembled.

    "Kollo, stand down. I know that it is part of your race''s culture to seek out strong fighters to mate with, but Marcus is already married to Mrazivy. If you want to be insistent about it, at least wait until after the expedition is over."

    With a deep sigh, Kollo backed off. Despite her rash attitude, she respected Valerius and would follow his orders.

    "Hehe. A young couple partying up as adventurers together. Their feelings for each other are strong, but will it be enough to see them through. This could be good." Thegia whispered to herself from the other side of the room. Looking immensely pleased.

    At some point when tensions had begun to rise, she had sneaked away and was writing things down in a notebook she had not had before.

    ''Are we really going to be able to work with these three?''

    Seeing the personalities of the other members of their team, Marcus had worries that they could implode fairly easily.

    Miguel obviously wanted nothing to do with any of them. Kollo seemed more interested in finding strong people to fight with than anything else. And there was just something off about Thegia that Marcus could not quite ce.

    Plus, these were only the members from their quadrant. There were fifteen other individuals that would make up the entire expedition team, and who knew what issues would arise.

    "Okay, you have all introduced yourselves, so let us devise some strategy. Where the five of you will be going is a dangerous ce that we know very little about. Each of you may be an expert used to working alone or in small groups, but some cooperation will be necessary for this mission. The least each of you can do is give an overview of your capabilities to each other. You never know when you will find someone will powers thatplement your own." Valerius said, trying his best to bring their group together.

 Chapter 933 Team Members from the Northern Quadrant (2)

    Chapter 933 Team Members from the Northern Quadrant (2)

    At Valerius'' behest, each of the five members that he had gathered to helm the guild''s expedition into the uncharted ind that appeared suddenly in open waters began briefly disclosing their abilities.

    "As the oldest, I suppose that I will go first." Thegia said. "My talents lie in magic. I am adept with earth and illusion magic, while I have a decent grasp on water and nature magic. I am alsopetent with detection and stealth skills."

    Of course, Thegia most certainly had other powers at her disposal. There was simply no way that she did not possess at least a couple of unique skills to have been counted among the elite gathered from across the globe to participate in this uing expedition.

    Still, it was unlikely that she would reveal her trump cards unless they became necessary. For now, she was just telling them of what her tried and true skills were. What she would use in every situation, from simple to deadly.

    Going next, it was rather obvious what Kollo was adept at with but a single nce of herrge frame and the battle axe she always kept at her side.

    Her expertisey in pure physical prowess and violence. She was a warrior through and through and did not employ any sort of tricks. Just raw power and skill with her chosen weapon.

    As they seemed to be going in order of age, Marcus found himself up next. Luckily, he had alreadye prepared for this and chosen ahead of time what skills at his disposal he was going to reveal. And thanks to his False Status unique skill, anyone other than Mrazivy was sure to be fooled even if they appraised him.

    "Same as Thegia, I am a user of magic. I consider myself quitepetent with fire, lightning, iron, and healing. In close quarters I can defend myself well enough, and I have the mana thief skill to replenish my stores and drain my enemies."

    Yes, Marcus was passing himself off as primarily just a magic practitioner and was hiding his two strongest magic affinities.

    Frankly, he did not want to give away his true strengths and was keeping his skills with dark and light magic, as well as the scythe a secret. He figured that there would be a greater number of frontliners among the expedition than naught, and that he could simply fill the role of a support mage.

    If push came to shove, he would certainly go all out, but keeping his true powers hidden was par for the course. None of them were going to tip their entire hand when their party was a makeshift and temporary one.

    "To think that you were a user of healing magic, that is fairly rare. I heard that only one other member of the expedition was capable of doing so. Perchance would you tell us what tier of spells you are able to use?" Thegia said, looking all the more interested in Marcus.

    Naturally healing magic was incredibly important, but few adventurers could actually employ it to an exceptional level.

    A majority of high-level healers could live an easy life flexing their talents for a steady and hefty stream of money. They had no need to risk their lives delving into dangerous ces or fighting against powerful beasts and monsters.

    Most adventurers got by in the field by using potions or other magic items that could employ healing, but when it came down to it, nothing beat having the reliability of a capable healer that could employ magic at a moment''s notice. Especially on a long expedition when it was unknown when they could return to employ the services of a professional healer.

    "I can employ spells up to tier eight. So as long as you are still alive, I can bring you back from the brink." Marcus responded.

    Everyone was certainly impressed hearing how high his healing magic skill was.

    For most the tier seven spell regenerate was greatly sought after for being able to heal any physical wound, but for those that reached high levels and had their own regeneration skills, what they were most afraid of was debilitating status conditions. Which the tier eight healing magic spell true restoration could fix most of.

    It came as a great relief to know that they had a capable healer among their members in case of being afflicted with a powerful curse, or a poison that was resistant to normal antidotes.

    "My specialties lie in the art of swordsmanship and ice magic. I am best at closebat but can hold my own from afar as well." Mrazivy said, going after Marcus.

    After Mrazivy, the only one left was Miguel, though he did not look enthused to reveal any of his skills.

    "Miguel, I understand you normally work alone, but your powers are going to be necessary for this mission. I know you only agreed because you feel you owe the guild and me personally. Nevertheless, at least a base amount of cooperation will be needed." Valerius said, urging Miguel to open up just a bit.

    "Fine." Miguel said with a sigh. "I use a sword for my main weapon and a circr shield for defense. As for magic, I can use sacred and summoning magic."

    For all but Valerius, everyone in the room was shocked to hear Miguel''s main abilities.

    Certainly fighting with a sword and shield wasmon, but the types of magic he possessed were both rarer than Marcus'' healing magic.

    "I can see now why someone so young was chosen to join us. To think you have two magic skills I have only ever heard tale of. Would you mind giving a demonstration for me? It is not often I get to see new types of magic at my age." Thegia said, her undivided attention on Miguel.

    He looked quite put off by her insistence, not wanting to show his hand. But Valerius nodded at him, and Miguel reluctantly showed off his magic.

 934 Chapter 934 Team Members from the Northern Quadrant (3)

    934 Chapter 934 Team Members from the Northern Quadrant (3)

    Arge shimmering magic circle filled up the room and engulfed everything in a bright light.

    An instantter arge quadrupedal creature that was around nine meters long and four meters tall appeared in the center of the room.

    It has sturdy red scales covering the outside of its body, with dark red spines that were nearly ck jutting out of its head, all the way down its back, and ending in arge mass at its tail.

    "This is one of my summons. It is called a Peluda. A type of lesser dragon that is ssified as an epic grade beast. I assume that this will suffice to demonstrate my summoning magic." Miguel said in a monotone voice.

    He was not hiding even a bit of his displeasure at having to show off to others.

    Still, for everyone expect Valerius, this was the first time that any of them had seen summoning magic in action, and Miguel''s prickly demeanor was not doing much to dampen their moods.

    ''That certainly is impressive.'' Marcus thought.

    He had only heard of summoning magic briefly and knew little more than that it used defeated magic beasts or monster''s cores as catalysts to summon a copy of the once living creatures.

    This meant that whatever entity was brought forth from the summoning magic was not truly alive. Something that Marcus was able to confirm since his life sense skill could not detect the Peluda that was clearly in the middle of the room.

    Out of curiosity though, Marcus attempted to appraise the summoned entity to see if its status woulde up as normal.

    He had refrained from doing so to the other members of the team as he did not want to offend any of them, but he doubted that this summoned Peluda would have any reaction since it was really just a puppet.

    ''Oh, it worked without a hitch!'' Marcus thought with a hint of surprise.

    Blocking the creature appraisal skill was prettymon at higher levels, and it was rarer for it to get through than not.

    ''Looks like it is level sixty-eight. A pretty strong creature to call to your side at a sudden notice. I can see now how he gets by solo. If he has more summons like this, he can act as a one-man party.''

    Marcus was truly impressed by Miguel''s power and figured that by his nature that this was likely the weakest of the summons he possessed.

    After dismissing Peluda, Miguel showed off a single sacred magic spell which created a powerful defense wall.

    This was a spell Marcus had seen once before when he fought with Tesia against her brother during the civil war in Tralenstein.

    However, Miguel''s seemedckingpared to hers.

    ''I suppose Tesia really was special. She paid a price for not being able to use any offensive skills, but her sacred magic truly was in a league of its own.''

    Once Miguel had finished demonstrating his magic at Thegia''s request and Valerius'' insistence, Miguel sat back down without another word.

    "We seem to have ourselves a pretty bnced party. That is good when exploring unknown territory. Does anyone else mind if we work on some formations?" Mrazivy said.

    She could tell at a nce that no one else here was going to be much of a leader.

    Thegia was the only other one that was remotely vocal, but that was just to further her interests. She was not the type to take charge.

    Of course, had Marcus wanted to take up the position Mrazivy would have been more than happy to yield it to her, but he felt morefortable letting her do it. She had been the leader of her own party for several years before meeting Marcus and knew more about interacting with other adventurers than he did.

    "Why should we follow you, princess?" Kollo spat. It seemed she had not gotten over their short altercation earlier.

    The female ogre who towered over Mrazivy red at her, though Mrazivy did not back down.

    "You don''t strike me as the leading type. But if you really want the position, go ahead and take it if you are confident. However, I can tell you now that Marcus and I will not be following stupid orders."

    Silence permeated the area for several moments as Kollo and Mrazivy stared at each other, before Kollo jumped up and swung her axe down on Mrazivy.

    Therge adamantine weapon came down with a tremendous amount of force and it looked like Mrazivy was going to be cleared in half by its sharp de.

    Yet, just before the axe hit her shoulder, she took out her amethros saber and met the blow while still sitting down.

    A resounding ng of metal on metal echoed through the room when the two weapons met and the floor under Mrazivy shattered. With cracks reaching even up towards the ceiling.

    Still, despite being attacked from above by a sudden attack, Mrazivy had barely adjusted her position to block the swing, and the chair she was sitting on waspletely undamaged thanks to the mana barrier she had used to epass the entire thing.

    "Is this enough, or do you want to have a real match?" Mrazivy said to Kollo with a fierce expression.

    "No, that is enough. If you want to take charge, go ahead." Kollo said, pulling her axe back and sitting down.

    Now that she had tested Mrazivy''s strength, Kollo backed off and let her do as she wanted without offering any more resistance. She already knew she did not have the qualities to lead a party and was just being obstante because she did not like Mrazivy.

    Luckily no one else objected and Mrazivy was able to be their de facto leader and devise some basic formations for their team to follow.

    While there would be fifteen other members as part of the expedition from the other quadrants, Valerius had informed them that it would essentially be more like four separate partiesing together for a singr goal.

 935 Chapter 935

    935 Chapter 935

    Once Mrazivy took charge and began discussing strategy with the other members of their team, things began to take shape.

    While Kollo and Miguel were not particrly helpful in their discussions, neither of them butted heads with Mrazivy''s decisions on how they would hold formation during certain situations. Both of them would follow her directions at the very least so long as it was not tantly wrong.

    Thegia on the other hand was helpful in offering insight into where she would do best rather than Mrazivy simply guessing based on the broad skill sets each of them had listed.

    Of course, she also needed to keep in mind the information Marcus withheld about his abilities and not base her assessment on his true powers. She understood why he wanted to hide some of his skillset and was in agreement so long as it did not be detrimental to them.

    "Okay, so our vanguard will be Kollo and Miguel, our middle guard Marcus and Thegia, while I will be our rearguard. This will be our standard formation while exploring." Mrazivy said, using chess pieces as a visual.

    With this arrangement they would be well suited to protect Marcus and Thegia who were acting as their mages. Normally Mrazivy would have liked to be in the vanguard as well but knew that she would be better suited for the rearguard than Miguel or Kollo thanks to her ice magic. From this position she would also be best to view the battlefield and ry orders from the back. At least, so long as they were dealing with a frontal assault.

    "I would say that this has been a fruitful meeting. The guild has prepared rooms for all of you and if you wish to rest you may. Tomorrow will be the real meeting where all of the members of the expedition will meet, and the Adventurers Guild''s leader will personally give out the details for the mission." Valerius said, bringing their discussion to an end.

    After that guild staff came in and led each of them to their rooms to rest for the night.

    "They really are pulling out all the stops for this. I am surprised that we are going to meet the guild''s leader and get the mission directly from him." Marcus said as he jumped onto the bed in their room.

    The space was not especially luxuriouspared to what they had in Borealia''s castle or the rooms that they used in Aezam, but it was functional and had all the necessities.

    "It came as a shock to me as well. Valerius did mention that the guild''s leader was involved, but I never expected him to be the one that would address all of us." Mrazivy said, before her expression turned concerned.

    Marcus immediately picked up on this and sat up straight and waited for her to say what she wanted.

    "So, are you going to talk to Miguel? You told me about how your previous encounter went and the regrets that you have. Now is the time to set things straight with him if you want."

    Sighing, Marcus had already been toiling with this issue, but now that Mrazivy had brought it up he had to put his entire mind to it.

    ''I already made a bad impressionst time and jumping the gun here could ruin things for our teamwork and put everyone in danger. Worst case scenario, Miguel might even back out of the expedition. But if I do not do it now, trying to reveal everythingter could only deepen his mistrust of me. Tricking him and hiding things to start our conversation is what caused him to panic and runaway in the first ce.''

    During their first encounter Marcus could tell that Miguel had trust issues, and their recent meeting only confirmed that he was the same if not worse now.

    Frankly the easiest thing to do was to never tell Miguel about who he was and let their paths diverge once again.

    Nevertheless, Marcus felt a connection to Miguel due to their shared home world, and he could not forget the pained expression that Miguel wore when detailing how he died.

    ''He was only a kid when he died and got thrown into this world. I was nearly twice his age and still had a hard time in the beginning. I can only imagine what he has been through.''

    Once he had given it some thought, Marcus pped his face and looked up resolutely.

    He was still not sure if speaking with Miguel was the correct move, but he did not want to live with lingering regrets by being inactive. If Miguel rebuffed his outstretched hand this time, then he would give up and let the kid live on his own.

    "I am going to speak with him. We both got dropped into this world and I want to be there for him if possible."

    Hearing his response Mrazivy nodded her head with a smile.

    "Go ahead and find him. I overheard that his room is on the floor above ours at the back." Mrazivy said. She had already figured this would be the case and made sure to pick up this information with her keen hearing.

    "Thanks, I will be back." Marcus said. Oh, and if for some reason Miguel decides to let his sword do the talking, I am expecting you to back me up."

    "Yes, I will be there if that happened. Now get going, you don''t want him to fall asleep before you get your chance to speak." Mrazivy said, pushing Marcus out of the room.

    With his path chosen, Marcus headed towards the stairs and went up to the next floor where Miguel''s room was.

    When he made it to the end of the hall, he balled up his hand and prepared to knock on the door but was interrupted before he could.

    "I do not care what you want, go away! If there is something you want to talk about, we can address it tomorrow with everyone else." Miguel said loud enough for his voice to carry past the door.

 936 Chapter 936 Those Who Come from Another World Meet Again

    936 Chapter 936 Those Who Come from Another World Meet Again

    ''I guess we are doing this the hard way.''

    After basically being told to buzz, Marcus could tell that simply trying to talk to Miguel was not going to move things forward.

    Still, all that stood between them was a door with only decent magical enchantments at best. It would keep out your average person that did not have a key, but to Marcus it might as well have just been an extension of the air.

    Shifting into his ghost form he walked right through the door and into the room where he immediately reappeared in physical form.

    For Miguel this came as quite a shock and he sat on his bed staring at Marcus in surprise.

    However, his shock onlysted but a moment, before Miguel sprung up and leapt towards Marcus with his sword drawn.

    His de arced directly towards'' Marcus'' throat and was poised to take his head clean off. With how untrusting Miguel was, he went for the kill first and asked questionster.

    Except, his de passed through Marcus'' neck without putting a scratch on it. Miguel''s attack had not been imbued with any spiritual energy, so no matter how sharp his sh was it amounted to no threat to Marcus.

    "Calm down!" Marcus said firmly. I am not here to hurt you. Just to talk. I know you came from Earth, just like I did."

    Miguel froze up upon hearing Marcus'' deration. He had not told anyone about his origins except for the individual he met in Borealia that also imed they were from Earth An individual who just so happened to have been Marcus in a possessed body.

    Thanks to Marcus'' words, Miguel had stopped attacking, but now he looked panicked in a different way. His mind racing to formte his best course of action here.

    Marcus could see it on Miguel''s face that he was conflicted. Weighing his options between running, fighting, or listening.

    "You still understand English, correct? This was proof enough for youst time." Marcus said, switching to his native tongue when he used to live back on Earth.

    This caught Miguel by even more surprise and his mind quickly processed what was going on until he reached the truth.

    "It''s you! You''re the one that approached me in Borealia!" Miguel said, wide eyed in shock.

    "Yes, that was me back then. I understand now that I made a poor choice approaching you in another''s body and havee to meet you in my true form this time. Well, one of my true forms." Marcus said, holding back a smile.

    He then switched over to his guise as Irene while Miguel was still stunned from processing everything else. This way he could get out all of the surprises in one go and hopefully overwhelm Miguel''s thoughts so that he did not think about attacking again.

    "I figured I might as well bepletely honest about everything up front since I do not want you to mistrust me. Have I done enough now to prove that I do not mean you any harm so that we can have a conversation?"

    Marcus now in the form of a young woman held up his hands and looked as harmless as he could while waiting for Miguel''s response.

    It took nearly a minute for Miguel to get his head in order after having one shocking thing after another reveled to him, but once he had, he nodded his head and agreed to speak with Marcus.

    "Very well, you just want a conversation, then talk. What are you here for?" Miguel said, his demeanor guarded.

    "Truthfully, as we are both from Earth, I was hoping to form at least some amount ofradery between us. This world can be harsh, and it helps to have friends. I know you have been burned in the past by people betraying you, and I can tell you are still keeping people at arm''s length. But if you want to change that and have someone to rely on, you can feel free to take my open hand."

    Once Marcus had finished giving his offer to Miguel, he waited in silence for the young man to answer.

    "What is it you are ying at? Are you trying to trick me or is it just pity? You feel bad for me, so you want to help me out. You are just doing this to be self-serving so you can call yourselves a good person. You do not really care about me at all. Everyone has some angle that they want to y, which is why I do not depend on anyone but myself."

    "If that is your answer, then I will not bother you any longer. However, you have one thing wrong. I have sympathy for you, not pity. The lines between these two concepts might be thin, but I never looked down on you for your plights in this world and our previous one. I have suffered just as you have which is why I can rte. But I am happy here now because of the connections I have made. So, if you change your mind and want to open yourself up again, my offer still stands."

    With his piece said, Marcus turned around and phased through the door. Leaving Miguel on his own again.

    When he passed out through the other side he had once again taken on his original form and began making his way back towards his own room.

    "How did it go?" Mrazivy asked the moment Marcus reentered their room.

    "About as well as I could reasonably expect. We will see what happens going forward. Scars don''t heal easily after all."

    "No, they certainly don''t. But you have done all you can. It is up to him now." Mrazivy said.

    She then beckoned him over and patted on herp. Offering it to him as a pillow. She could tell that Marcus was a bit upset he had not been able to get Miguel to ept his offer ofradery.

    A small smile formed on Marcus'' face, and he happily took up his wife''s generous proposal. Nothing good woulde of wallowing in his failure.

 Chapter 937 Full Expedition Squad

    937 Chapter 937 Full Expedition Squad

    "Are you ready?"

    "Almost. I am trying to decide on onest piece of equipment to bring ." Marcus responded.

    Over his time learning how to craft magical items, he had made all manner of items to bolster his abilities.

    Among them were his tried-and-true set of amethros scale mail and the boots the color of the deep ocean he had obtained long ago in Loursend.

    For the uing gathering of the most talented adventurers the guild had, Marcus was making sure to wear items that would not have him looked down on.

    Still, there were things he wished to keep hidden, and towing the line between too much and too little was difficult.

    ''I think it will need to be this one after all.'' Marcus thought, reaching towards a certain item he had recently crafted

    On a table in front of him was a number of staffs he had recently made for himself to bolster his magic. As he was going to be passing himself off as dedicated spellcaster, he needed look the part

    Among the staffs was one that was a cut above the rest. This staff was primarily made form the phoenix talon that Mrazivy had won in Aezam, with several glistening golden feathers that Za had gifted to Marcus as part of her thanks for rescuing her.

    Overall, it was a powerful weapon that looked a bit more like a spear than a staff thanks to the tip of the talon having been fashioned into the head.

    With this weapon Marcus could unleash far more potent fire and healing magic spells than normal.

    It was not as powerful as his scythe that was his true weapon, but it was a great addition to his arsenal that allowed him to be more flexible on the battlefield.

    "So, you are going to use that one. I think I told you to just bring your best from the start." Mrazivy said, her hand resting down on the hilt of her amethros saber.

    She was currently outfitted with nearly all of her best gear, with her saber proudly being disyed out in the open on her hip.

    Normally she kept her weapon in her item box since it was more convenient and often easier to pull out and strike with from within the dimensional space. But for this asion, it was important to show off. Making a good first impression with the other top adventurers going on this expedition was crucial.

    It was not long after Marcus finished choosing thest of his equipment to put on full disy that a staff members of the guild came to lead them to the conference room where the other expedition members were waiting.

    When they arrived at the room, they found that they were the first adventurers to arrive and the only others waiting in the room were guild staff that were managing the logistics of the meeting.

    "These are your seats. If you need anything, you need only signal one of the staff." The man who had led them here said before departing.

    Looking around Marcus could see that the room was set up with four tables with five seats a piece. One table for each quadrant and one seat for each member of their team.

    Not long after Marcus and Mrazivy were seated, Miguel, followed by Kollo, and then Thegia entered and sat at the same table.

    "I suppose that it is only natural that we are the first to enter. Our quadrants'' standing has been at the bottom for as long as I can remember." Thegia said, having experienced several joint missions in the past as a representative of the Northern Quadrant.

    Apparently the first to be brought to a meeting were those with the lowest status among participants. Hence why Marcus and Mrazivy who were newly advanced mithril rank adventurers were brought in first.

    Up next was the team from the Western Quadrant.

    Immediately upon seeing them it was clear that they were a coordinated party of five that were not just a ragtag team like those from the Northen Quadrant.

    This was an esteemed group that had fought together for several years and reached near the pinnacle of their levels. All of them were wearing matching armor and their equipment had emblems on them to denote a level of noble heritage.

    Only ncing at them Marcus could tell that each of the members was at least as strong a legendary grade beast ofparable level, and the man who was leading the party was a cut above and on the cusp of the realm of a mythic grade beast.

    And as Marcus was examining them, each of the five members from the Western Quadrant were looking at the new faces from the north.

    While they had met Kollo and Thegia in the past, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel were all new faces.

    It was not long before Marcus felt a familiar unpleasant sensation crawling over his body.

    He knew this feeling well and was honestly surprised at how brazen the leader of this party was to appraise him without consent or any sign of hostility.

    At worst this was considered rude, and some people would take it as a sign of aggression and start a fight over being so brazenly appraised.

    However, the man in charge of the party from the Western Quadrant showed no sign of decorum and appraised Mrazivy and Miguel as well. Though unlike Marcus, he found his skill blocked and no informationing back to him.

    Still, he had seen the status that Marcus was currently putting on disy and sneered at him.

    ''I can already tell that we are not going to be getting along with them.'' Marcus thought.

    There was no doubt in his mind that this party liked to look down on others and as he had learned from the beginning those from the Northern Quadrant of the guild were historically the weakest. Leaving them as the only target for those only one rung up.

 Chapter 938 938 Full Expedition Squad (2)

    ?

    "It looks like Round Table is a rude as ever to those they believe are below them."

    Thegia said, her voice possessing a mysticism to it that prevented it from being heard by those she did not target.

    She had worked with this party of adventurers before and was well versed on their attitude problems.

    Unfortunately, while they may not have been the most cordial to those they viewed as lesser, there was no doubt that their party was strong and earned their spot among the elites of the guild.

    Nevertheless, they were only the second to enter and those hailing from the Southern Quadrant came next.

    And unlike theposition of Round Table that was a full human party, every member that wasing from the Southern Quadrant were of races Marcus had never seen before, and some he had not even heard of.

    In the lead was an arachne with shoulder length auburn hair.

    Her upper body looked exactly like a human woman in her early to mid-thirties, but her lower half was that over a spider with a brown exoskeleton.

    If Marcus was to liken her to a type of spider he remembered from earth, her lower half reminded him of a huntsman spider he had once seen racing across the forest floor when he had been a child.

    On her back was a beautiful bow that''s string was made out of the whisker of a true dragon, and she was wearing light armor made out of amethros and the leather of a clearly powerful beast.

    Behind her were tworge men that were without a doubt rted by how simr they looked.

    Both of them were around two and a half meters tall and were covered in thin grayish fur.

    Their ears were pointy like elves but drooped lower and were not as long, while their noses were a soft brown and shaped a bit like a cow''s.

    Marcus had never seen their race before, but their builds were clearly powerful.

    One had arge top tier adamantine mace and a top tier adamantine tower shield hung over his back, while the other was surprisingly a mage of some kind with a long wooden staff that had several elemental crystals embedded at the top.

    Behind those two was a man whose skin was made of obsidian.

    Overall, he looked fairly human, but light bounced off his ck skin like a polished stone and his eyes were pupils and an even darker color than his skin, making them look almost like voids expanding into infinite space.

    As for his gear he was wearing light armor and had two amethros rapiers at his sides. Clearly, he was a fighter that relied on speed and dexterity despite the toughness and strength that came inherent with his race.

    Finally, thest member hailing for the Southern Quadrant was a weasel beastwoman.

    She was short and skinny, being only around three feet tall and thinner than some of herpanion''s arms.

    Yet for as petite as she was, there was no doubt she was just as deadly as the rest of them.

    Marcus could see she had several daggers on her person and no doubt the skill to use them effectively.

    ''They''re all monsters.'' Marcus thought as he watched the way they carried themselves and examined the gear that they wore.

    Each of them was undoubtedly strong and talented in their respective roles, and Marcus could tell that all of them were in the same league as weaker mythic grade beasts.

    Of course, if they saw his true status, they would have been the ones calling him a monster, for as strong as each of them were, they did not have the sheer number of unique and Supreme skills as him.

    And unlike how the members of Round Table had been rude and dismissive of them, these adventurers from the Southern Quadrant politely nodded their heads towards Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel who they were meeting for the first time.

    "I am guessing that you have worked with them in the past as well, Thegia?" Mrazivy said, wanting to gain some information.

    "Yes, I have met them once before when we were tasked with exploring a newly discovered dungeon around a decade and a half back. Their party is called Intrepid, and they very much represent the ideal of their name. So long as you don''t make yourself a real nuisance or put them and those around them in danger, they are quite friendly."

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy was happy to hear that not everyone was going to be as abrasive as Round Table.

    After just a couple of minutes once Intrepid had gotten settled, the final group of adventurers from the Eastern Quadrant entered.

    As they were enteringst, these five were certainly going to be the most aplished of those present.

    When this final party entered, they were not led by a tough looking warrior like Intrepid and Round Table, but by their frailest looking member who was wearing the vestments of the church representing the Great Spirit of Life.

    Her robes were fairly in and did not have any sh embroidery that a high-ranking member of the clergy would wear, but the material was obviously of the highest quality and could no doubt stop the de of even a skilled fighter with their enchantments.

    A veil covered her entire face but there was no doubt that she was a beauty despite not a single centimeter of her body being visible.

    Frankly she lookedpletely out of ce here in this meeting, but her being here meant that she certainly was an experienced adventurer, and not only that but the leader of her party.

    And while all eyes were on her the moment she entered, hers were staring at a single individual as she had stopped dead in her tracks.

    Feeling her gaze on him, Marcus could not take his eyes away from her either, because he could tell that she was just like him, a humanoid spirit.

 Chapter 939

    939 Chapter 939 For several seconds Marcus and the veiled woman leading the strongest party of adventurers participating simply stared at each other and gauged the other''s presence.

    He had met other humanoid spirits before, but it was not amon urrence, and he certainly did not think that there would be another one acting as an adventurer.

    At first Marcus thought that she might perhaps be an offshoot of a fully realized great spirit like the puppet body he had seen Recha inhabiting on the cruise ship.

    However, after examining her closely, he was confident she was not a great spirit, but a superior spirit that was one rank lower.

    Still, she was stronger than any other spirit Marcus hade across save for the few great spirits he had met.

    ''I wonder what she is doing here?''

    Without any doubt she was connected to the Great Spirit of Life judging by her clothing and the power Marcus could feel faintly emanating from her.

    Most likely she was an adjutant of the Great Spirit of Life just as Alyna had be Marcus'' when he blessed her.

    What she was doing leading a band of adventurers was beyond Marcus though.

    "Evette, is something the matter?"

    After she had been standing still for several seconds, one of her party members who was a male elf with golden hair nudged her with a look of bewilderment and concern.

    "No, nothing is wrong, Amin. Let us find our seats."

    Evette then led her party over to her party''s assigned table and sat down. Though along the way she could not help but continue to steal nces towards Marcus.

    Marcus was naturally also intrigued by finding another spirit among their expedition team, and carefully gauged her and herrade''s abilities.

    Along with the male elf her party consisted of a human female that was wearing long robes and holding a staff, making it obvious she was a mage.

    The next member of her party was a burly bear beastman that had two massive top tier adamantine greatswords on his back.

    And the final member of her party was a rare individual that looked to be entirely made of wood.

    Marcus had not ever seen an individual of this race before, but in the back of his mind he was able to recall hearing about them and that they were called wyrwoods.

    With all of the expedition members now in attendance the actual meeting was set to begin.

    The Grand Masters from each Quadrant entered one by one starting with Valerius and going in order in terms of their prestige and experience.

    Needing only a single nce, Marcus could tell that each of these top leaders of the guild were incredibly strong.

    Of course, to be at the top of an organization that spanned the entire world it was only natural that they had power to back up their authority.

    Still, none of these Grand Masters could match up to Boreas one on one, Marcus was certain of that.

    However, the final individual to enter made Marcus gulp.

    Coming out after the Grand Masters was the leader of the entire adventurers guild.

    The man had short gray hair and a physique akin to a statue of a Greek god. His strength and confidence were apparent with every step he took and the subtle pressure he radiated had the entire room silent.

    This was a man that nobody would look down on. That nobody could. He was without a doubt at the peak of this world in terms of strength.

    ''Is he as strong as a great spirit?'' Marcus thought as his gaze was glued to the adventurers guild''s leader.

    Other than the great spirits he had met, no other being felt quite as overwhelming as this man. The depths of his power felt unfathomable, and Marcus could not gauge his abilities other than being far beyond his own.

    Just seeing this man walk across a room, Marcus now knew why even Boreas referred to this man as a monster.

    Once the leader of the guild sat down, his eyes quickly scanned across the room at the members that had been chosen for the expedition.

    His expression remained unchanged the entire time until he looked directly at Marcus.

    For a split second a show of surprise came over him and Marcus could feel that he had beenpletely seen through. Even his False Status could not hide him from the eyes of such an aplished individual.

    Still, the leader of the adventurers guild was used to seeing unusual entities and regained hisposure in an instant.

    "Allow me to begin by thanking all of you for gathering here today. I know many of you are busy and were working on other assignments, but this expedition is of the upmost importance to the guild and takes precedence over everything else."

    After the guild leader said this, he waved his hand and small rifts in space opened up in front of each member of the expedition and a small packet of papers fell onto the tables in front of them.

    "These documents contain all the details that our first scouting party was able to retrieve about the ind. I am sure that you will soon understand exactly why we have called all of you here who are the best of the best for your levels."

    Picking up the documents Marcus began swiftly reading through them and found the information that Valerius had already disclosed to them and more.

    ''So, the fog is still prevalent once on the ind.''

    Marcus thought, finding the first piece of intriguing information.

    He had already been told about the fog barrier preventing outside perception of the ind expect for its shore.

    Yet while the fog lessened once on the ind it still prevented sight any farther out than three hundred meters.

    But while the dangers on the ind were great, especially because of the restrictions to powers such as flight and far range detection skills, there were several valuable resources to be tapped into that

    made the ind lucrative.

 Chapter 940 Expedition Meeting

    Chapter 940 Expedition Meeting

    ''To think that they found an above ground vein of adamantine ore, a cave filled with high-quality elemental crystals of water and wind, and several different types of rare magical trees. All in less than three days of exploitation before having to flee.''

    Reading through this list, Marcus could understand now why the adventurers guild was so keen on exploring this new ind that had appeared out of nowhere.

    It was not only just out of a sense of discovery, but also to map out and secure the abundant resources that the ind contained.

    Nevertheless, for all the valuables that were on the ind, it held a proportionate amount of danger.

    The first scouting party the guild had gotten together was not a group of weaklings and were all at least level seventy veteran adventurers.

    Yet, this first party had only survived on the ind for two days before losing several members to an entity they never identified and being forced to escape.

    Now the guild was holding nothing back and had gathered the most prominent parties that could set foot on the ind due to its level restriction. Though, for the Northern Quadrant which did not have a single party with enough qualified personnel to match the other groups, the strongest individuals had been gathered instead.

    "Now, I am sure that you have all read through the provided information by this point, so let us move on to the overarching goals of this expedition." The leader of the guild said after a dozen minutes.

    Their main goals were to map the interior of the ind, mark locations with valuable resources, and record information about the monsters and beasts that they encountered on the ind.

    "Forgive my impertinence, but how is it we are expected to collect the status data from the creatures on the ind. The documents you provided for us state that several types of monsters or beast the first scouting squad encountered were unable to be appraised. I at least know that my party does not have anyone with an advanced form of appraisal." The arachne who was leading the party from the Southern Quadrant said.

    The room went quiet after this question and every member of the expedition squad subtle began looking around to try and ascertain who it was that might have a skill that could see through appraisal blocking.

    "Valerius." The leader of the guild said.

    Nodding his head Valerius stood up and everyone''s eyes gathered on him.

    "As I am sure you have all noticed, my Northern Quadrant has brough in three new talents that only recently joined the guild. One of them has inherited the Dragon Eyes race ability from an ancestor. It is their ability that you will be relying on to document the statuses of the creatures you encounter."

    After hearing this all eyes turned towards Mrazivy who Valerius was clearly looking at.

    Expressions of surprise and murmurs between the members at each table followed and all at once Mrazivy became the center of attention.

    ''Well, it looks like you have certainly be popr.'' Marcus said with telepathy.

    ''Naturally. This was sure to happen the moment I let Valerius know about my Dragon Eyes. But trying to hide it would have been pointless. I am sure to be using it at every opportunity. Best to raise my worth among the group.'' Mrazivy responded with a smirk, already having nned for this.

    And just as Mrazivy anticipated, the entire expedition squad was now looking at her in a new light. No doubt she woulde to be considered one of their most valuable assets off her Dragon Eyes alone.

    "If I could have your attention again."

    Once a minute had passed the leader of the adventurers guild called everyone''s attention back to him.

    "There is one more important aspect of your mission that has not been disclosed yet and is the reason that we have so hastily brought you all together. The guild is not the only interested party trying to stake a im on this ind."

    Exining further the leader of the guild told them that every nation that was a member of their organization that had a right toy im on the newndmass had consented to the guild taking the helm, but plenty of hostile or unrted groups wereunching their own expeditions.

    "We are currently negotiating with the more reasonable entities, but there are plenty that will not heed our im as the ones to discover thendmass in the first ce. Should you encounter any other groups, your job is to force them off the ind. Treat them the same as ouws invading a dungeon. The guild has alreadyid its im and until we know more, we cannot let unaffiliated groups explore the ce."

    The atmosphere in the room became deadly serious after this announcement and Marcus was able to glimpse an aspect of the power struggles that were going on in the world.

    Sure, the adventurers guild held a lot of sway over the world, but there were still several nations and organizations that went against them. They were going to disregard whatever the guild wanted, and in the end, whoever came out victorious would be the one considered right.

    ''I suppose that I will just have to hope we do not run into anyone else.'' Marcus thought.

    While the leader of the guild had said to force anyone else off the ind, it was clear what he really meant was to kill them since he had likened them to ouws.

    Unfortunately, this was just the way the world worked a great deal of the time. The guild may have staked their im on the newndmass, but that meant nothing to their enemies or those unaffiliated with them. There were innumerable valuable resources and that meant that people were going to fight over them until someone came out on top.

    In the end, it would be the victor that got to say that they were right.

 Chapter 941

    Chapter 941

    With the meetinging to a close, the upper brass of the guild took a few questions from the expedition members before leaving.

    "You all will be shipping out in two days. In that time the guild will provide you with any items that you might need within reason. I would also rmend that you get acquainted with each other. You will be spending a great deal of time in each other''spany going forward." The leader of the guild said before taking his leave.

    Now therge conference room only had the members of the expedition unit and a few guild staff members in it.

    This allowed everyone to move about and talk freely in order to share information and prepare for the uing expedition that was likely going to take several months if not longer.

    ''It is too bad that they were the ones closest to us.'' Marcus thought as Round Table approached them.

    At the other end of the hall the two parties from the Southern and Eastern Quadrant were greeting each other first. Though many of their members were constantly stealing nces over towards Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel who werepletely new faces.

    "It looks like the Northern Quadrant managed to scrounge up a gem. Mind showing us those fabled Dragon Eyes of yours. If you do, I''ll be sure to let you join our party. It will be a lot better with us than these rabble." The leader of Round Table said, addressing Mrazivy and ignoring everyone else.

    ''Is this guy for real?!'' Marcus thought in shock.

    The leader of Round Table was offering out a position in his party to Mrazivy as if it was a heavenly favor, rather than a huge annoyance.

    His incredibly brazen manner rubbed everyone the wrong way and even Mrazivy''s poker face cracked for a moment as she looked at the man in disgust.

    "Sorry, but I am here representing the Northern Quadrant of the guild and have no intention of joining your party. Plus, I already have a partner who is far stronger than any of you." Mrazivy said, winking towards Marcus.

    Seeing this, Marcus knew what wasing next. Mrazivy had just shoved this nuisance off on him. Though, he was raring to go anyway and was ready to jump in.

    The leader of Round Table turned towards Marcus and looked at him indignantly, before saying, "Really? The level seventy-three. Yeah right, he is stronger than us. He''s definitely the lowest level individual here. You should ditch him and get a real man."

    ''Seriously, where did they find this guy?'' Marcus thought.

    He was bewildered to find someone like this at such a high level.

    Normally people with this type of personality were overconfident due to their hereditary positions and were actuallycking in ability, but the leader of Round Table really did have skills and power worthy of praise.

    Still, just because he had strength and prestige did not excuse his behavior.

    "You must be pretty blind if you only judge people off the information you get from a simple appraisal. Sure, you saw my level, stats, and skills, but my unique skills are still a mystery to you. This is the first time I have ever met someone over level forty that could not assess another''s rtive strength without using any skills. I am surprised you have not gotten yourself killed. Only an idiot blindly epts what they can see with the appraisal skill and believes themselves stronger." Marcus said, giving a pitying look towards the other members of Round Table for their ipetent leader.

    Of course, the leader of Round Table was not going to just take this and for the first time turned his full attention on Marcus with rage in his eyes.

    "You''ve got a big mouth on you, but talk is cheap. How about we settle this in a match if you think you are better than me? I am never going to lose to someone that is six levels lower than me anding from the weakest quadrant."

    "Sur-

    "Sir Cassius, I would ask that you not start another fight. This expedition is far greater than your ego."

    Before Marcus could respond, an interruption came from a most unexpected source.

    "Lady E-Evette!" Cassius stuttered when he turned around and saw the leader of the party from the Eastern Quadrant

    At some point she had finished up her conversation with Intrepid the party from the Southern Quadrant and had interjected herself.

    "I understand that you are not the brightest and normally I do not wish to involve myself with you, but I cannot let you go on disrespecting such an esteemed individual." Evette said, her voice soft, but her tone harsh.

    Everyone in the room went quiet after Evette stood up for Marcus. Her own party members looked especially surprised by it.

    Cassius himself was stunned and his haughtiness hadpletely disappeared.

    As much as he was fine with disrespecting those he thought beneath him, he knew not to defer to people that were above him. And in terms of status among the expedition team, Evette was the leader of the strongest and most esteemed party.

    "Very well, Lady Evette. I will excuse his rudeness towards me on your behalf." Cassius said, before pulling out and leading his party away.

    As he left though, he gave Marcus onest sharp re.

    Unfortunately, as much as Marcus did find Cassius and his party to be a bother, Evette posed a muchrger problem to him.

    He could tell that you had figured him out, and if she went spilling what she knew to everyone else, it could present a bit of a problem.

    "It is truly an honor to meet you, I am Evette Angerona, the leader of Inexorable."

    With a curtsey and a bow Evette introduced herself to Marcus, but also made as show of deferring to him in terms of status.

    The members of her party were now looking at her like she was some kind of alien that had reced their leader and Marcus could understand why.

    Among their expedition unit, she would normally be considered the individual with the highest standing. Yet here she was bowing her head to Marcus who was a new mithril rank adventurer from the weakest quadrant.

 Chapter 942 Introductions

    Chapter 942 Introductions

    ''This is going to be a pain.''

    Marcus could feel that all eyes in the room were on him after Evette had approached and bowed to him.

    Clearly everyone that knew her found this behavior strange and it was drawing unwanted towards Marcus.

    Still, he could not just sit and stare at her with a dumbstruck expression, so Marcus stood up and bowed himself.

    "I am also pleased to make your acquaintance Lady Evette. My name is Marcus Ferrous, a recently promoted mithril rank adventurer. I am not affiliated with a party, but I havee to participate in this mission at the behest of my quadrant''s grand master along with my partner."

    With the slight nudge of his head Marcus motioned towards Mrazivy, and she swiftly stood up and introduced herself to Evette as well.

    "I am Mrazivy Borealia, also a recently promoted mithril rank adventurer, and Marcus'' partner. I am looking forward to working with you Lady Evette."

    "Oh, yourst name is Borealia! That must mean you are a member of the Borealian royal family." Evette said with a hint of surprise in her voice.

    "So, you know of our home. I am amazed that you have heard of Borealia when you live in a separate quadrant so far away."

    "Yes, I have made sure to memorize every member nation of the adventurers guild."

    Once their initial introductions were over Evette turned back towards Marcus and imply stared at him for a few seconds before speaking again.

    "I believe I understand your circumstances to a degree, so I will say nothing more right now. But if it would be possibleter to talk with you in a more private setting, I would be very grateful. Of course, it ispletely up to your discretion."

    "Okay, we can book a private room to talkter. How does two hours after the end of this meeting sound?"

    "Yes, that will be fine. I am looking forward to it." Evette said, her tone conveying a bit of tion.

    She then turned around towards her party members and gestured for them to introduce themselves as well.

    To begin the male elf who appeared to be second inmand went after Evette, but her had a slight scowl on his face as he conversed with Marcus.

    Still, he introduced himself politely as Amin Thah.

    Following him the other members gave their names starting with the female human that was clearly a dedicated mage gave her name which was Roseline.

    After her was Besso the bear beastman, and thest member of their party was Yinceran the wyrwood.

    Each of them looked a little strained during their instructions due to their leader''s uncharacteristic deference towards Marcus, but they had the wherewithal to be respectful.

    "And what might your name be young man? I believe this is our first-time meeting." Evette said, turning towards Miguel.

    She had already met Thegia and Kollo in the past, but Miguel was another new face among those representing the Northern Quadrant.

    "My name is Miguel LaRusso."

    With as curt of an introduction as he could get away with, Miguel briefly stood up and lowered his head slightly before sitting back down. He was making it clear that he was trying to have as little interaction with others as possible.

    This caused Evette''s party to frown, and Amin looked like he wanted to say something, but Evette held up a hand to stop him.

    "It has truly been a pleasure to meet all of you, but I suppose it is time for us to make ourselves scarce. We are not the only ones that want to greet the three new faces."

    Looking behind Evette, Marcus could see that the party from the Southern Quadrant, Intrepid, had finished pleasantries with Round Table and was eagerly waiting for their chance to approach.

    Evette quickly led her party away, and Intrepid came over to take their ce almost immediately.

    "You must be something special if you have got Evette seeking you out and bowing her head to you. What''s your secret?" The arachne leader of Intrepid said before anything else.

    She put her face ufortably close to Marcus'' and he felt a sense apprehension greater than he had in a while.

    Not only was someone he was meeting for the first time invading his personal space and acting overly familiar, but she also had the lower body of a spider.

    Despite being a ghost and spirit now, Marcus still retained his arachnophobia from his first life and felt his soul shudder whenever he encountered one.

    At the very least her upper body was that of a human, so as long as he focused there, he could dampen his phobia.

    "Whack!"

    "OW! Fenmaer, what the hell was that for?!" The leader of intrepid said as she whipped her head around and red at the person that had just smacked the top of her head with their weapon.

    "Fianna, you were being rude again. Before you go bombarding people with a question they clearly do not want to answer, you should at least perform a proper greeting." Fenmaer, one of the giant twins who was wielding a staff said, admonishing his leader like she was a child.

    He then turned towards Marcus and bowed his head to apologize for his party''s leader''s actions.

    Watching this Marcus wondered why Fianna was even in charge when Fenmaer seemed to have a better personality for being a leader.

    "It is, fine." Marcus said waving off the situation.

    After that he began by introducing himself and Mrazivy.

    Once he had finished Miguel took the initiative to stand up and briefly introduce himself on his own terms so that Fianna did not attempt to approach him like she had Marcus.

    "I guess it is our turn next. My name''s Fianna, but you already know that. I am the leader of Intrepid and the best huntress in the Southern Quadrant. There is nothing I can''t hit with my bow." Fianna said proudly as she jostled the elegant bo on her back.

    Going after her, Fenmaer properly introduced himself and his twin brother Per went next.

    Following the twins was the man with obsidian skin named Ashton, andst but not least was Iardi the weasel beastwoman who spoke quietly and seemed to be fairly shy.

    "Now, we have made proper instructions. So, what about you has the Saint of Life and Death so interested in you?" Fianna said, not backing down despite knowing Marcus had no intention of answering her.

    This time he was not saved by one of her party members, and it looked like he was going to have to get out of this on his own.

    "Sorry but I have no idea what you are talking about. I assume that Lady Evette is simply polite and forthright." Marcus said, feigning ignorance.

    "And what did you mean when you called her the Saint of Life and Death." Mrazivy said, steering the conversation in another direction.

    Fianna''s expression morphed into a pout when Marcus sidestepped her question, but she still moved on and answered Mrazivy.

    "That is just a nickname she has earned for her aplishments as an adventurer. She is well regarded and quite famous within her own quadrant. I am sure you noticed that she is affiliated with the Church of the Great Spirit of Life, but along with her healing magic, she is also a master of death magic. Hence where her nickname came from. She is as helpful as she is dangerous."

    Hearing this came as quite a shock to Marcus. He had already figured that she was a spirit of life due to the vestments she wore, but if she also utilized death magic he wondered if she might be like him. A spirit that held power over two opposing powers.

    ''When I first met with Aerial, she told me that dual aspect spirits were rare, but they do exist. Perhaps Evette is a spirit of both life and death. That is probably less unusual than I am at the very least.''

    As Marcus got lost in thought about Evette, Fianna attempted to wring some sort of information out of him, but he just continued to absentmindedly dismiss her.

    "Fine, whatever, she eventually said."

    However, her attention then turned towards Mrazivy and she gave a bright and dazzling smile.

    "I know that Cassius was pretty rude when asking you this earlier, but would you mind showing us your Dragon Eyes race ability. I do not mind if you use it on me. I just want to know to what extent your ability is. Can you see my entire status even through the protections I have?" Fianna said.

    "Since you asked more politely, I do not mind. Just don''t me me for learning all of your secrets if you were trying to hide something." Mrazivy responded.

    Her eyes then shed golden, and her pupils became slits like those of a reptile.

    It only took her a few moments to scan Fianna''s entire status and when she was finished, she said, "So where do you want me to start? With your level and stats, or maybe your eight unique skills."

 Chapter 943

    Chapter 943

    Fianna looked genuinely surprised when Mrazivy urately ryed the number of unique skills she possessed.

    "I have heard rumors about the power of Dragon Eyes, but to think that you really can see my entire status despite the protections I have set up. That is a terrifying power." Fianna said.

    "Yeah, it certainly is. That is just how dragons are though. They love treasure and having an ability that allows them to perceive the worth of just about anything helps with their collecting. Luckily, I did not inherit too much of that instinct from my ancestor." Mrazivy responded.

    However, Marcus could not help but look at her a bit doubtfully.

    After her evolution to a dragonoid he had noticed she had a greater liking for shiny and valuable objects.

    She never cared much for simple gold coins or raw gems, but he had found her on asion admiring works of art she had purchased and the numerous magical items she owned as if they were her own personal horde.

    Still, it obviously would not help to point that out, so Marcus simply held his tongue.

    "The two of you are certainly interesting. Thest time we worked with a group from eh Northern Quadrant wasckluster. I don''t have anything against Kollo and Thegia, they can pull their weight, but the others were just useless for the most part. I am d that we have some capable fighters this time." Fianna said, giving Marcus and Mrazivy a thumbs up.

    "Was it really that bad before?" Marcus asked Thegia.

    "Yeah, thest time we had a joint mission a party of four promising adventurers were brought in from the Northern Quadrant, but they werecking in quality. Their levels were fine, but it was simply a matter ofcking everything needed to be at the top."

    Nodding his head, Marcus understood what she was getting at.

    There could be a huge difference between people even if they were at the same level.

    Quality of equipment, number of unique skills, the attributes of their race, and numerous other factors yed into the overall strength of high-level individuals. Marcus had met numerous people that were at a higher level than he was now, but he was certain that he was stronger than most of them.

    At this point he was even confident he would win in a fight against Darius, Borealia''s Knight Commander, despite being more than ten levels lower.

    After Fianna had settled down, the rest of her party started up a conversation with Marcus and the other members from the Northern Quadrant.

    They tried to get Miguel involved as well, but he would only respond with short answers, if he responded at all.

    ''Seems that Thegia was right. The members of Intrepid are pretty easy to get along with.''

    The more Marcus conversed with them, the more he grew to like them. They were strong but humble, unlike Round Table, that were too proud of themselves. And while Evette''s party was not stuck up, they did have an air about them that made it difficult to approach them.

    For some time, the two groups discussed their respective skills inbat in a broad sense.

    They would be working together for a long time going forward and it made sense to know the basics of what everyone could do.

    Of course, it was just such things as their usual specialties, no one got into what unique skills were or other rarer abilities they possessed.

    Eventually though things began to wind down and after deciding that the leaders of each party would hold a strategy meeting tomorrow, everyone began to go their separate ways.

    "What do you say we go and stock up on some supplies? The leader of the entire guild did say that we could ask for anything within reason." Mrazivy said.

    levels increased, and often he would just take the most valuable parts. Now though, he could just through their entire bodies into his item box and worry about "Sure, that sounds good. We left in a hurry so there are some things I want extra of. In fact, I think it is time I expand our inventory."

    Opening up his status Marcus hovered over his extrarge item box and sunk four hundred sixty-seven skill points into it to upgrade it.

    This was a huge purchase that took out nearly a third of the skill points he had amassed, but it was well worth the expense.

    His newly upgraded skill went from an extrarge item box that contained a volume of nearly six hundred cubic meters, to a warehouse item box that could hold fifty-five thousand cubic meters.

    It was nearly a hundred times the increase in storage space and Marcus could understand now why the price had been so high, especially since it was the max level that the item box skill could reach.

    ''That was a trulyrge number of skill points, but I have to say that it was worth the cost. Calling it a warehouse really is an apt description.''

    With this much storage space Marcus would no longer have to be too picky about what he jammed inside his item box. Monsters and beasts often gotrger as their levels increased, and often he would just take the most valuable parts. Now though, he could just through their entire bodies into his item box and worry about disassembling them at ater time.

    Also, with this uing expedition he wanted to be extra prepared with all manner of supplies.

    As strong as weapons and equipment made from high level materials like adamantine and amethros were, they could still get damaged and needed maintenance.

    In his item box he had some of his forging gear to make repairs if necessary, but if a weapon broke he did not have the proper facilities on hand to fix it.

    But now that he had made the decision to increase the size of his item box, he couldfortably have a fully equipped forge with him at all times.

    ''I am not sure if I can get some of the more specialized items I need from the guild. But a quick trip back to Borealia using a Dark Portal should sort me out.''

 Chapter 944 A More Private Meeting

    Chapter 944 A More Private Meeting

    "I am surprised that they actually agreed to procure nearly everything you asked for." Mrazivy said after she and Marcus finished ordering items from the adventurers guild.

    "Well, we did have to fork over a good chunk of money for some of the items. Though, the guild must really be serious about this expedition to give out so much for free."

    Marcus had asked for several thousand kilograms of food and cold storage magic devices to store the perishable items in.

    The staff members were wondering how he nned to carry all of this, but when he demonstrated the absurd capacity of his item box they were stunned.

    Of course, food was not all he had wanted. He also asked for forging equipment and materials.

    "It really did cost a lot though. Five thousand gold coins per ingot."

    "Naturally, they were not just going to give you adamantine. Still, the fact that they were willing to sell you some for so cheap was a surprise. You got them at the minimum standard market rate. I did not expect them to be so willing to provide such a quantity even if you are paying for it." Mrazivy said.

    Marcus had managed to convince the guild to sell him twenty-five ingots of adamantine. This was more than enough to have on hand for any repairs that might need to be done during the expedition.

    He had likewise attempted to purchase amethros, but that went beyond what the guild was able to supply for any amount of money. The metal was simply too rare to be easily obtainable using only cash.

    Luckily, Marcus still had a bit of amethros leftover, though not enough to really create anything. Only what he would need for a few small repairs.

    "I just hope you don''t shatter your weapon this time. I certainly would not be able to repair your amethros saber if that happened." Marcus said, remembering the fate of the weapon she used in Aezam''s Muharib Festival.

    "Hey! You make it sound like it was entirely my fault. That sword simply could not hold up to my full power. But my amethros saber that Thabon made can. I already tested it out."

    "Yes, I know that my master made you a quality weapon. Still, I cannot help but feel like you might be able to break it as well." Marcus responded with a sigh and looked towards Mrazivy''s sword with exaggerated pity.

    "Why are you acting all high and mighty when you have broken your own weapon before? I remember during your match with Quillon that you shattered your mithril scythe."

    "Yeah, that did happen. But Quillon did have an amethros sword. I am lucky he did not slice right through my weapon from the start."

    Marcus and Mrazivy continued to bicker with each other for a bit longer, but soon enough their fa?ades broke down and the two of them could not helpughing.

    It had been a while since they had verbally jabbed at each other in a yful manner like this and it was refreshing to do so.

    "But in all seriousness, don''t feel ashamed to ask me to do some repairs if your sword gets damaged. I actually do doubt you could break it easily, but it could get nicked since the creatures on the ind are apparently incredibly tough. Best to be prepared for anything."

    "Thanks. It honestly isforting to know you have my back here." Mrazivy responded with a smile.

    Once they finished ordering items from the guild, the two of them killed some time by looking at the mission board even if they knew they did not have the time to ept anything.

    "Looks like ti is about time." Marcus said as he looked towards his portable clock.

    He had agreed to meet with Evette two hours after the expedition meeting ended and it was fifteen minutes until then.

    "Just try to be careful. She may have been acting cordial when we first met to lure you into a false sense of security and could prove hostile. You remember what Aerial said. Some spirits won''t take kindly to you because of your origins and your opposing affinities of light and darkness."

    "Yeah, I will be on guard, but I do not get the feeling she ns to harm me. She seems to be fairly simr to me."

    After Mrazivy gave him a warning, Marcus set off to the room that Evette had reserved for them. Just as she was interested in him, he was equally interested in her.

    When he arrived at the designated room, he moved to knock, but the door opened before he could and inside, he saw Evette sitting down at a table that had tea and snacks on it.

    "Please,e in and enjoy my hospitality if you wish. It is not much but I prepared some refreshments." Evette said as she stood up and bowed towards Marcus.

    "Sure, I will be happy to partake. But if I could ask you to rx a bit and be less formal, that would help put me at ease. It is hard to converse when you are walking on eggshells around me."

    "If that is what you want, then I have no problem with being more informal."

    Evette''s demeanor changed almost instantly once Marcus asked her to rx. Her stiff posture became less tense and the aura around her was no longer as subdued. It seemed she was acting demure due to his status as a great spirit.

    "Oh, this smells nice. I do not believe I have had a tea like this before." Marcus said as he looked down at the cup in front of him.

    "Yes, I imagine that you would not find this particr blend in Borealia. The leaves used to make it are native to my home."

    Picking up the cup Marcus took a sip before eating one of the cookies that had been provided along with the tea.

    As he did, he noticed that Evette had begun taking off her veil and headdress.

    Within a couple of seconds, her previously covered face and hair were revealed.

    For a moment Marcus stared at her stunned by her beautiful features.

    Her hair was dark like the night sky, but her eyes were a piercing gold.

    If he was still human, Marcus was certain he would have been entranced by her otherworldly beauty that seemed to be trying to The allure he was feeling was certainly not just from her attractiveness but something more sinister. It was having no effect draw him in.

    "It seems I was correct to believe that you would be able to resist seeing my face." Evette said with a brilliant smile.

    "Is this the power of some sort of charm skill you possess?" Marcus asked.

    The allure he was feeling was certainly not just from her attractiveness but something more sinister. It was having no effect on him, but he could still feel the power attempting to infect his mind.

    "Yes, this is the work of my unique skill, Ethereal Beauty. It is honestly more of a curse than a boon."

    Seeing the sad look on her face, Marcus could tell that she truly was disturbed by her own power.

    While it may not have worked on him, Marcus was certain that anyone that this unique skill took ahold of would end up as a near mindless ve to Evette.

 Chapter 945 A More Private Meeting (2)

    Chapter 945 A More Private Meeting (2)

    "But that is enough about my unique skill. I am sure you know the true reason for my wanting to meet with you in private." Evette said, a curious expression on her wless face.

    "Yes, it is not every day that I run into another humanoid spirit. Especially one that is also an adventurer. Though I am sure what you are truly wondering about is my status as a great spirit."

    Evette nodded her head and there was a noticeable amount of surprise in her eyes when Marcus confirmed that he was indeed a great spirit. Surely, she suspected as much and was almost certain it was true, but it was still baffling for her to meet Marcus. Frankly he should not be able to exist under normal circumstances.

    "From what I have heard from Lord Bheith, the Great Spirit of Life, it should be impossible for a great spirit to be at such a low level. Yet, that rule clearly does not apply to you. At first, I thought that perhaps you were some sort of weaker offshoot of a great spirit, but that is not what your presence feels like. You are significantly weaker than my master, yet your aura feels like something only a great spirit can possess. How is this possible?"

    ''What should I tell her?''

    Marcus was not sure if he should tell her the whole truth of his ascension to be a great spirit or to mislead her like he had others.

    It was certainly more believable to tell people that he had been brought to this world originally as a great spirit rather than receiving blessings from Roxene''s parents that forced him to transform from being just an unbound ghost.

    ''It is probably not best to lie in this situation. She might notice and souring our rtionship would be problematic.''

    Thus, Marcus went through the lengthy story of how he came to this world andter went under a metamorphosis to be a great spirit of light and darkness. However, he did so on the condition that Evette would exin more about herself as well.

    "I had assumed already that you must be an otherworlder to be so tantly outside of established rules of the world. What I believed was that you were somehow reborn as a great spirit, but to think you were actually given a boon by the administrator." Evette said,plete and utter shock on her face.

    Just knowing about the administrator was fairly rare, but as the godlike being that governed the world, the higher level an individual became, the more likely it was for them to know about administrator.

    Expect, far fewer had ever had any sort of interaction with the administrator. For the most part they let the world run on its own and only worked in the shadows.

    "It was quite the surprise when I became a great spirit, but I believe I have told you enough about myself. It is your turn to tell me how you became one of Bheith''s adjutants."

    "Oh! You truly must be a great spirit to address my lord without any sort of tittle." Evette said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

    On Mirrion great spirits were often the subjects of worship and it was customary that they were spoken of with respect by all.

    Nevertheless, the other great spirits Marcus had met did not seem to care for him to act formally with them. Even if he was a special case, he was still a great spirit after all.

    "I have never met Bheith, but neither Recha nor Forlorieous wanted me to address them with any titles. I am certain he knows of me already and can tell me in person if he has any grievances." Marcus said, showing no respect that most had towards great spirits.

    Normally this would have certainly caused Evette to be enraged to see her master disrespected so, but not in Marcus'' case since he was also a great spirit.

    "Now, you wanted to know how I became Bheith''s adjutant. Truthfully, we are quite alike in our origins." Evette said a nostalgic smile on her face.

    To begin Evette had not always been a spirit but was once human just like Marcus.

    However, she had not been brought from Earth like him, but had originally died on Mirrion ande back as a ghost.

    "It has been almost a hundred fifty years since I died, but the memory still haunts me to this day. I was born into a lower ranking noble house in my home nation of Fullkomin, and thanks to the three blessing I had been granted the head of the house had decided to make me the sessor of our title. This did not sit well with my elder sister who was poised to be the heir until my birth." sister she loved and thought loved her back.

    Evette said before taking a moment to collect herself and continue with her story.

    "She spent years gaining my trust and that of the rest of the house. Acting as if she cared little for the title and only wished to offer up her support. With the help of one of my attendants she began slowly poisoning me to make it look like an illness hade over me. Honestly, I never would have noticed if she had not decided to gloat just before I died after she made sure I had consumed a farrger does than normally slipped into my food or drinks."

    Evette''s face had be clouded over once she had finished telling Marcus about how she had been murdered by the elder sister she loved and thought loved her back.

    Still, he knew that this was not the end of her story and did not interrupt to console her. As Evette had said, this happened nearly a century and a half ago. It might have still hurt her to think and speak of it, but she had surely made her peace with her death at this point.

 Chapter 946 A More Private Meeting (3)

    Chapter 946 A More Private Meeting (3)

    "I am sure you must have already realized what happened after my death." Evette said.

    "Naturally. It is pretty obvious. You must havee back as a vengeful ghost and set out to harm those that had wronged you. But how you came to be a spirit of life and death is still a mystery to me."

    Nodding her head, Evette confirmed that she did be a vengeful ghost, and immediately upon rising headed straight for her sister.

    "My memories of the time immediately after I became a ghost are mostly just a blur. It was like everything was hazy and I was only driven by the single goal to bring suffering to the ones that had killed me in such a cruel manner and left a scar in my heart. But I never actually was able to enact my vengeance upon my sister of the servant that assisted her and the guards that turned a blind eye to the situation."

    After rising Evette had headed directly for her sister, the one that she knew had been the one to orchestrate her death to grab the tittle of their house.

    Yet, by some stroke of luck, the time she had risen as a ghost coincided with her family''s visit to the temple of the Great Spirit of Life.

    When she approached the temple, she had been impeded by a powerful barrier, much like what had happened to Marcus in the past when he first approached the temple of the Great Spirit of Water in Loursend.

    "I recall violentlyshing out at the barrier that was preventing me from reaching my sister, but even though I had gained a great deal of power as a ghost, I never made a dent in the barrier."

    Evette had continued raging against the barrier until the guardian spirit protecting the temple hade out in person to put an end to her.

    "Normally I should have been exercised on the spot and my soul put back to rest, but Lord Bheith arrived before the guardian spirit could act. Instead of eliminating me, Lord Bheith restrained me and used his powers to return my sanity to me. He then gave me the choice to either have my soul sent off into the next life or be one of his subordinates as a spirit of life. Obviously, I chose to remain, I came back as a ghost in the first ce because I felt that I had unfished business."

    "Yes, that makes sense. I have actually done the same thing for someone I met not long ago. But how did you end up be a spirit of life and death? A great spirit should only be able to create spirits within their own domain." Marcus said, a quizzical look on his face.

    "It certainly was a surprise. Even to Lord Bheith." Evette said with a slightugh as she remembered the fateful event that changed her life.

    Apparently, Evette had gained a powerful affinity for the element of death when she became a ghost and this power did not dissipate when she gained Bheith''s blessing of life, but instead became entangled with it to turn her into a dual aspect spirit.

    "Thankfully Lord Bheith did not see my unexpected transformation as abhorrent, but something intriguing and to be celebrated. He understands that life and death are joined together and that both are necessary. He actually does have a favorable rtionship with the Great Spirit of Death, and the two of them work together in tandem quite often. They are not like the Great Spirits of Light and Darkness who I have heard go together like oil and water." Evette said, giving Marcus a concerned look.

    Of course, he had learned from Aerial that any light or darkness spirit would find his existence to be an abomination. This was why he made sure to give a wide berth to any temples for the Great Spirit of Light or Darkness.

    Surely at this point the two other great spirits knew about Marcus, but he figured that Recha was keeping them from doing anything, or perhaps even the administrator had made sure to warn them against attacking him.

    Still, Marcus had avoided getting involved with other spirits precisely because he did not want to stir up any trouble. Though, he did not have much of a choice in regard to Evette, which is why he decided it was better to foster a positive rtionship with her.

    He could not say he was not interested in taking a trip to the spirit world, but that would have to wait until he felt confident in his abilities. Likely not until he achieved his final evolution into a Transcendent Ghost and Supreme Spirit of Light and Darkness.

    "So, if you do not mind my asking, what happened after you became a spirit? Did you continue to seek revenge against your sister? Or did you simply move on?" Marcus asked.

    "Hm, I suppose it might be up to interpretation. I did not let my sister get away with killing me, but it felt more like justice than vengeance to me. With Lord Bheith''s assistance, I was able to return to my old life and incriminate my sister and her aplices for trying to kill me. The story that my lord arranged for me was that I had not truly died but been in a near death state when I was buried. As the Great Spirit of Life, Lord Bheith just happened toe across me and restored me with his power. Of course, this was just a fabrication, but no one was going to argue with a great spirit, and to everyone it did seem as if I had returned in perfect health."

    Once Evette had seen her sister sentenced for her crime of attempted murder as well as a host of others, she entered the church worshiping the Great Spirit of Life. Her family had apparently wanted her to stay and inherit their title, but it had been impossible for them to prevent her from joining the church after publicly being saved by Bheith.

    "Okay, I understand how you became a spirit now, but what led you to bing an adventurer? As a direct adjutant of a great spirit, surely there are more important positions you could be filling?"

    "That is true in a sense. For a time, I actually did serve as the head priestess at my lord''s main temple, but I felt like I could do more. Being an adventurer has allowed me to help far more people, and also spread the faith to areas where it was far less prominent. While I cannot im to be the sole reason, there is no doubt my activities as an adventurer are a major contributor to my lord bing the most worshiped great spirit within the Eastern Quadrant. Plus, I honestly got tired of staying in one ce and wanted to see more of the world."

    She then went on to exin how her party rarely took missions for money and focused on those that would have the greatest impact on helping others.

    Her main goal was mainly to rack up achievements and spread the faith of her lord who had given her a second chance. By being the famous and benevolent leader of a skilled adventuring party, she had spread her name far and wide and brought in many more that worshipped Bheith.

 Chapter 948 948 Setting Foot on the Island of Endless Fog

    Chapter 948 948 Setting Foot on the Ind of Endless Fog

    "Wow. Never thought I would see something like this even in another world."

    From on top of a giant magical beast called a colossus swan, Marcus could see their destinationing into view.

    It looked like a giant swirling cloud that had touched down on the surface of the ocean with only the faintest bit of a shoreline to prove that there was actually andmass within the mass of fog.

    "We will bending in the water soon. Everyone be ready to disembark and make your way to the ind. Tezadus and I are not going to be able to stick around for long. There are dangerous beasts and monsters that patrol these waters thanks to the ind''s appearance." Dulen, the master of the colossus swan Tezadus said to the expedition party.

    He was the individual the guild had tasked with transporting the expedition squad to the ind because he himself was a strong adventurer and was contracted with the perfect beastpanion to safely bring therge group to their destination.

    With incredible grace, Tezadus the colossus swan that was the size of a jumbo jet touched down on the surface of the ocean with nary a ssh.

    Then at Dulen''s direction it swam right up to the shore of the ind and stopped.

    "This is as far as we go. This is where the barrier that keeps anyone over level eighty out starts."

    Currently they were a kilometer away from the shore and would need to travel the rest of the distance without their ride.

    "I suppose that I am up." Mrazivy said, begin the first to drop down to the water.

    However, instead of sinking, the moment her feat touched gentle waves everything in front of her began to freeze over and she created arge ice path to the shore.

    "We really can''t fly here." Marcus said, jumping down right beside Mrazivy.

    As he passed through the barrier, he tried using magic and skills that would allow him to stay in the air, but every trick he used simply fizzled out. He had no means of defying gravity within this area.

    It did not take long before the rest of the expeditionary forcended on the ice path Mrazivy had created and they began heading towards the ind covered in a dense fog.

    "Be careful, the weingmittee is already here." Thegia said, training her eyes towards their left.

    They had not even made it halfway across the ice bridge when the first wave of enemies attacked them.

    Coming out of the water were dozens of long slime fish with long pointed noses.

    When the first one leapt out of the water a loud boom sounded behind it.

    In an instant the fishunched itself faster than the speed of sound and hurled itself like a projectile.

    However, the speeding fish never reached a single person, and when it was just about to pass over the ice bridge, it was lit up by lightning.

    The first fish was followed by several others and each one was fried by a jolt of electricity when it got within a certain range of the expeditionary force.

    ''Pest Zapper.''

    The moment Thegia had alerted them to danger, Marcus had cast a defense tier six lightning magic spell around them.

    This spell created a field of electricity that held very little energy and was practically invisible until something interacted with it.

    When any creature not designated by the caster as allowed to pass through touched the barrier, a surge of electricity would converge on the intruder.

    As fast as these fish were traveling, their speed meant nothing to an automatic lightning attack.

    "Mraz, have you figure out what these things are yet?" Marcus asked.

    "Yeah, they are something called sonic needlefish. Their levels range from sixty to sixty-seven, and judging by their stats and abilities I would guess that they are rare grade beasts."

    Before even setting foot on the ind, they were besieged by a group of beasts that could easily devastate an average city. And this was sure to be the weakest attack that they encountered.

    The needlefish continued to throw themselves at Marcus'' defense lighting magic spell, to no avail, until each and every single one of them was dead.

    They were clearly simple-minded creatures that just attacked whatever entered their domain.

    "This is an incredible spell you are using. Where did you learn it from?" Thegia asked, ever interested in magic.

    "Sorry, that is secret." Marcus replied.

    This was one of the spells he had received as a reward in the special dungeon, and he had no intention of divulging that information to anyone here.

    It did not take long until they arrived on the shore of the ind and jumped onto the beach where Mrazivy''s ice path ended.

    The instant that they madend fall, they watched as Dulen and Tezadus flew away.

    From this point on they werepletely on their own.

    "The ground here feelsˇ­ different." Fianna said, skittering in ce with her eight legs.

    As soon as she said this everyone else noticed as well.

    "You''re right. The earth on this ind is empowered somehow. It does not feel exactly like mana, but there is no doubt thend here is much tougher." Thegia said, their expert on earth magic.

    She knocked on the sandy beach they hadnded on a couple of times, before lifting her hand and smashing it into the ground.

    Despite being a mage, Thegia was still level seventy-eight, and a serious punch by her would cause a fissure to form in the ground if she hit it with all her might.

    Yet, the soft sand took the impact far better than it should of and she only created a four-foot-deep hole.

    "This is just a assumption on my part, but I believe that everything on this ind is much tougher than what we would normally find out in the open world. I can only imagine it is empowered this way because everything that lives here is strong and thend needs to be capable of withstand high-level battles." Thegia said a contemtive expression on her face.

    "What does it really matter? We already knew that the ce was full of dangerous creatures. All this means is that we do not need to hold back as much in fear of damaging thend." Cassius said, wanting to get moving instead of worrying about something he did not care about.

    A small argument soon broke out among several people, but it was not long until Iardi, the weasel beastwoman that was part of Fianna''s party interrupted them.

    "Everyone be quiet. Something ising." Iardi said, her ear down on the ground and listening.

    The once heated argument quickly stopped and the entire expedition force became serious.

    In only a moment they formed up into their predetermined formation and waited for whatever wasing to arrive.

    ''Got it.'' Marcus thought when he felt a ping from his life sense skill.

    He then felt another, and another creature move to within the range of his skill and trained his eyes in the direction they wereing from.

    Yet, despite the heavy fog, the creatures should have been within visual range at this point, but there was nothing there.

    "They are below us! They are traveling under the sand!" Thegia shouted.

    A momentter, severalrge forms burst out of the sand and attacked Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s group that was at the front of the expeditionary force''s formation.

 Chapter 949 949 First Battle on the Unexplored Island

    Chapter 949 949 First Battle on the Unexplored Ind

    Having burst out from the sandy beach were a half dozenrge wriggling red worms.

    Each one of them was around a meter thick, and the exposed parts of their body that extend from the sand were about eight meters long. Though it was impossible to tell their actual length as they were still partially buried underground.

    At once Marcus recognized the creature, or at least its much smaller brethren that had lived on Earth.

    There was no doubt in his mind that these were bloodworms of some type, as they had the characteristic red body and four sharp fangs at the front of their mouths.

    Marcus was thankful he had nevere into contact with one in his past life and only ever seen them in photos or videos and wished that he could have kept from meeting any this time around as well.

    He had encountered plenty of creepy and unnerving creatures sinceing to this world, but these bloodworms were up there.

    "Everyone, stay on your guard. These things are a lot more dangerous than the sonic needlefish we easily dealt out on the water. They are called emperor bloodworms and their levels range from seventy-one to seventy-five. They have poisonous mucus coating their skin and their fangs contain a potent venom. They also have the ability to spray a noxious bloody liquid from their mouths." Mrazivy said swiftly.

    With her Dragon Eyes she had easily read the statuses of these bloodworms and ryed their most dangerous abilities

    If they had more time, she could have given them a moreprehensive exnation of their exact stats and skills, but the emperor bloodworms had not just popped out of the ground to look menacing.

    Just a moment after they had surfaced the six gigantic bloodworms lunged at the nearest living targets, which were Marcus, Mrazivy, Kollo, Thegia, and Miguel.

    Like their counterparts on Earth, they preyed on anything that would fit in their mouths, and with their enormous size this extended to even people.

    However, before the bloodworms finished their lunges, Miguel mmed his sword against his shield and let out a mighty shout.

    He had just used the skill Anchor Roar which goaded targets into attacking the user.

    It was not especially effective on intelligent creatures, but it nearly always worked against mindless beasts and monsters like these bloodworms.

    Immediately the six hungry beasts turned their attention towards Miguel, and he held his shield up in a defensive position.

    ''For not wanting to trust or work with anyone, he is actually a pretty good team yer. I imagine he normally uses this skill to keep attackers off of his weaker summons, but I am d to see he is willing to put himself in danger to assist us.'' Marcus thought as he prepared his magic.

    He quickly cast two spells at once, using fire magic since the staff he was wielding bolstered this type of magic the most.

    ''Heart of the forge. Plus, zegram''s Furnace.''

    Marcus started off by using the two fire magic spells Thabon had created and taught to him.

    Both were powerful tier five spells that Marcus often employed for their high power inparison to their tier.

    Heart of the forge was a powerful enhancement spell that boosted all physical abilities and gave the target a protective aura of heat that could damage weaker foes.

    Yet, as someone on the backlines, Marcus did not use this spell on himself but on Kollo instead. Their partyposition worked fine even if he only acted as a caster.

    His second spell zegram''s Furnace was a straightforward area of effect attack that created a furnace of mes andunched a high intensity st of fire.

    It did not cover close to as much area as the fire storm spell that was in the same tier, but its concertation of power was much greater and better for using in a group where spells that spread out over a wide area could harm allies.

    Marcus'' spell came out strong and consumed the top halves of the six bloodworms and bathed them in an intense heat that could easily melt steel.

    Nevertheless, these were not the kind of beasts that would be done in by a single powerful spell. Their vitality was incredibly strong, and they required a more concentrated effort to be brought down.

    Luckily, Marcus was not working alone.

    Mrazivy unleashed her own magic right after Marcus'' and sent the bloodworms from a fiery hell to a freezing one.

    Following up with her earth magic Thegia constricted and hardened the sand around the Bloodworms to prevent them from escaping back underground.

    "The kill is mine."

    Once the first wave of magic had finished, Kollo jumped right into the fray like the berserker she was and began swinging her giant axe around in one hand.

    With each sh she made an emperor bloodworm fall like a tree being cut by an experienced lumberjack.

    Normally their flexible bodies, protective mucus, and strong muscles would make it incredibly difficult for them to be cut all the way through in one attack, but Marcus'' magic had burned away most of their protective mucus and Thegia and Mrazivy''s magic had caused the bloodworms to be rigid and unable to shrug off impacts like usual.

    The six powerful beasts let out horrible screeches as their top halves were separated from their bodies and they fell onto the sand.

    Still, this was not enough to kill these creates and they were already regenerating and aiming to burrow back underground to escape.

    "Burst sh."

    Before the worms could flee, Miguel unleashed the attack skill he had been preparing and let loose six mana strikes from his sword at once.

    Each of the shinning des of mana sliced into the writhing bloodworms and cut them cut them in half again, from top to bottom.

    This brought an end to all of the emperor bloodworms at once, and their first battle on the ind came to an end without anyone suffering any injuries.

 Chapter 947 947

    ?

    For several more hours Marcus and Evette chatted amongst each other.

    The two of them had a great deal inmon with their origins and both of them were grateful to have met someone that could understand certain aspects of themselves that others could not.

    For Evette though their meeting was even more profound. It was rare for her to meet anyone that could speak to her face to face without being overwhelmed by her unique skill.

    "This has truly been enjoyable, but I think it is about time that I head out. There are a few more preparations I want to make before we leave for the expedition." Marcus said.

    "Yes, I suppose that it has already gotten fairlyte into the evening. I am sure that my party members will start to worry if I am gone for much longer. It is rare that I indulge in one-on-one conversations with someone I just met for so long. Decades have passed since this happened, but at one point when I was just starting out as an adventurer a client attempted to kidnap me during a meeting after catching a glimpse of my face. After that happened my party members have always been a bit overprotective and try to keep me from meeting new people alone." Evette said with a saddened expression.

    Her unique skill was certainly very powerful, but it made it difficult for her to connect with others without the risk of bewitching them by ident.

    In the hands of a less moral person the power could be used to effectively control any number of people, but for someone like Evette it really was more of a curse than a boon.

    "Well, you do not have to worry about that with me. I can tell that your unique skill cannot affect me. It would take more than that to enthrall a great spirit."

    At this Evette smiled, Bheith had once said the same thing to her when she expressed her worries when she first acquired the Ethereal Beauty Unique Skill.

    "Ah, but before we go our separate ways. I know you are a great spirit, but would it be alright if I consider you a friend?"

    "Sure, I already feel like we get along well. It is nice to have another dual aspect spirit to speak with as well. I am not a normal great spirit anyway, so there is no need to worry about any hierarchy with me." Marcus said before leaving and going back to his room.

    When he arrived eh found Mrazivy sitting on the bed with a heavy scowl on her face.

    Immediately Marcus tensed up and wondered what was wrong. He had never seen this expression on his wife''s face before.

    "I am surprised that you returned before the morning. I figured that you would spend the entire night with your new lover." Mrazivy said with a huff before turning her head away.

    "Wait! It is not like that! Evette and I have quite a bit inmon and were just tal-"

    "I don''t want to hear it! I should have known I could notpare to another spirit. It was only a matter of time before you got bored of me and went after one of your own kind."

    Mrazivy then began crying profusely and sending swift nces towards Marcus every few seconds to see his stupefied face.

    Frankly, for as fast as his mind could process information, it took him far too long to realize that Mrazivy was messing with him. Her acting this time had been better than usual and her opening usation had caught him off guard.

    "Okay, I think that is enough. I can see you trying to hide yourughter." Marcus said, putting an end to Mrazivy''s charade.

    "Sorry. I just could not help wanting to tease you a bit." Mrazivy said in between giggles.

    With a sigh Marcus realized the heavy tension that had built up inside him. He felt like if he still had a heart that it would have seized up.

    "So, what did you and Evette discuss? You said you have more inmon with her than anticipated."

    Nodding his head, Marcus disclosed what he had talked about with Evette.

    Mrazivy was surprised to hear that Evette was also a ghost turned spirit, and listened intently to what Marcus had to say.

    "She certainly does sound interesting. I kind of want to speak with her myself, but now is not the time for that. Tomorrow is ourst day before we head out and I have to attend the party leaders meeting in the morning, so I am going to get some sleep. What are you nning on doing?"

    "I think I am going to head back to Borealia for a bit. Now that I decided to upgrade my item box, there are some sizeable tools I left behind that I want to collect. Hopefully we will not have any need for them, but just in case I want to have them on hand." Marcus said, preparing a mental list of the equipment he was going to be stuffing in his item box.

    "Just don''t go too overboard and fill up all of your storage space. There is no doubt that this ind will have plenty to bring back." Mrazivy said before turning over and closing her eyes.

    ''Dark Portal.''

    Opening up a pitch-ck rift in space, Marcus slipped into it and appeared inside his estate back in Borealia.

    ˇ­

    ''She is still not back yet.''

    Around twenty hours after he had left, Marcus slipped back into his and Mrazivy''s room and found that it was still empty.

    He had been expecting Mrazivy to be back by now since the party leaders meeting should have started around nine hours ago, but it seemed she was still busy.

    With nothing else to do, Marcus took out a book he had recently picked up and began reading to pass the time.

    It was not until just before dinner time that Mrazivy came back looking exhausted.

    "That was longer than expected. Did the leader of Round Table give all you some trouble."

    "Yes and no." Mrazivy said with a sigh.

    Before saying anything else she sat down at the table in their room and pulled out a bottle of wine from her item box and filled up two sses.

    Marcus epted her invitation and sat across from her and took a sip of the wine she had offered.

    "This is pretty good. From the royal stock I assume."

    "No, this actually came from Gwyneira''s personal stash. She gave my some of her favorites when I achieved my evolution as a gift." Mrazivy replied.

    She then slowly drank her entire ss before refilling it.

    "So, what made the meeting take so long and wore you out this much?"

    "Positioning. Everyone had their own ideas for how our four groups should arrange ourselves while exploring the ind."

    Mrazivy exined that the first part of the meeting was dedicated to each leader listing the capabilities of their members and what roles they focused on. This part went by fairly quickly and was little trouble, but what came after took an incredibly long time.

    "Both Evette and Fianna wanted their parties to take the front of our nned formation, while Cassius was vehement that our group be at the head. His main argument was that it was my job to identify every creature wee across." Mrazivy said with a sigh.

    However, she told Marcus that she could not sense any sort of malice from Cassius during the meeting. He only made logical arguments and all of his suggestions made at least some tactical sense.

    "I honestly wish that he was just a blubbering idiot full of himself, but he truly does have somepetence. In the end he got his way, and provisionally our group will be at the front of our formation."

    While they were investigating the ind, they would arrange themselves with the northern quadrant out front and the other three in a spread-out vee formation behind them.

    This would ce one of the groups directly behind them for support and the other two out to the sides to have a wider range of view.

    "Of course, we all agreed to keep within detection range of each other so none will be more than three hundred meters apart at a time. In a ce such a finite area that our senses can work in, it is too dangerous to get split up."

    "Well, I am sure we will be able to handle taking the front. Anything that is stupid enough to attack us head on is probably not going to be a problem. Plus, it will give us a chance to show off what we can do." Marcus said confidently.

    "That was one of the other main reasons to put us in front. The others have no idea what we and Miguel are truly capable of, and they want to learn early on if we can truly hold our own by putting us at the front."

    "I can''t say it does not make sense. If we underperform at the beginning, it would be possible to force the expedition to return and reorganize with new members. Though I know that neither of us is weaker than any of the others. We will be able to show them just what we are capable of."

    "Naturally. We did not endure that special dungeon for nothing. This will be the perfect ce for us to really test out what we have gained from pushing ourselves through that hell."

 Chapter 948 948 Setting Foot on the Island of Endless Fog

    <h4>Chapter 948 Chapter 948 Setting Foot on the Ind of Endless Fog</h4>

    "Wow. Never thought I would see something like this even in another world."

    From on top of a giant magical beast called a colossus swan, Marcus could see their destinationing into view.

    It looked like a giant swirling cloud that had touched down on the surface of the ocean with only the faintest bit of a shoreline to prove that there was actually andmass within the mass of fog.

    "We will bending in the water soon. Everyone be ready to disembark and make your way to the ind. Tezadus and I are not going to be able to stick around for long. There are dangerous beasts and monsters that patrol these waters thanks to the ind''s appearance." Dulen, the master of the colossus swan Tezadus said to the expedition party.

    He was the individual the guild had tasked with transporting the expedition squad to the ind because he himself was a strong adventurer and was contracted with the perfect beastpanion to safely bring therge group to their destination.

    With incredible grace, Tezadus the colossus swan that was the size of a jumbo jet touched down on the surface of the ocean with nary a ssh.

    Then at Dulen''s direction it swam right up to the shore of the ind and stopped.

    "This is as far as we go. This is where the barrier that keeps anyone over level eighty out starts."

    Currently they were a kilometer away from the shore and would need to travel the rest of the distance without their ride.

    "I suppose that I am up." Mrazivy said, begin the first to drop down to the water.

    However, instead of sinking, the moment her feat touched gentle waves everything in front of her began to freeze over and she created arge ice path to the shore.

    "We really can''t fly here." Marcus said, jumping down right beside Mrazivy.

    As he passed through the barrier, he tried using magic and skills that would allow him to stay in the air, but every trick he used simply fizzled out. He had no means of defying gravity within this area.

    It did not take long before the rest of the expeditionary forcended on the ice path Mrazivy had created and they began heading towards the ind covered in a dense fog.

    "Be careful, the weingmittee is already here." Thegia said, training her eyes towards their left.

    They had not even made it halfway across the ice bridge when the first wave of enemies attacked them.

    Coming out of the water were dozens of long slime fish with long pointed noses.

    When the first one leapt out of the water a loud boom sounded behind it.

    In an instant the fishunched itself faster than the speed of sound and hurled itself like a projectile.

    However, the speeding fish never reached a single person, and when it was just about to pass over the ice bridge, it was lit up by lightning.

    The first fish was followed by several others and each one was fried by a jolt of electricity when it got within a certain range of the expeditionary force.

    ''Pest Zapper.''

    The moment Thegia had alerted them to danger, Marcus had cast a defense tier six lightning magic spell around them.

    This spell created a field of electricity that held very little energy and was practically invisible until something interacted with it.

    When any creature not designated by the caster as allowed to pass through touched the barrier, a surge of electricity would converge on the intruder.

    As fast as these fish were traveling, their speed meant nothing to an automatic lightning attack.

    "Mraz, have you figure out what these things are yet?" Marcus asked.

    "Yeah, they are something called sonic needlefish. Their levels range from sixty to sixty-seven, and judging by their stats and abilities I would guess that they are rare grade beasts."

    Before even setting foot on the ind, they were besieged by a group of beasts that could easily devastate an average city. And this was sure to be the weakest attack that they encountered.

    The needlefish continued to throw themselves at Marcus'' defense lighting magic spell, to no avail, until each and every single one of them was dead.

    They were clearly simple-minded creatures that just attacked whatever entered their domain.

    "This is an incredible spell you are using. Where did you learn it from?" Thegia asked, ever interested in magic.

    "Sorry, that is secret." Marcus replied.

    This was one of the spells he had received as a reward in the special dungeon, and he had no intention of divulging that information to anyone here.

    It did not take long until they arrived on the shore of the ind and jumped onto the beach where Mrazivy''s ice path ended.

    The instant that they madend fall, they watched as Dulen and Tezadus flew away.

    From this point on they werepletely on their own.

    "The ground here feelsˇ­ different." Fianna said, skittering in ce with her eight legs.

    As soon as she said this everyone else noticed as well.

    "You''re right. The earth on this ind is empowered somehow. It does not feel exactly like mana, but there is no doubt thend here is much tougher." Thegia said, their expert on earth magic.

    She knocked on the sandy beach they hadnded on a couple of times, before lifting her hand and smashing it into the ground.

    Despite being a mage, Thegia was still level seventy-eight, and a serious punch by her would cause a fissure to form in the ground if she hit it with all her might.

    Yet, the soft sand took the impact far better than it should of and she only created a four-foot-deep hole.

    "This is just a assumption on my part, but I believe that everything on this ind is much tougher than what we would normally find out in the open world. I can only imagine it is empowered this way because everything that lives here is strong and thend needs to be capable of withstand high-level battles." Thegia said a contemtive expression on her face.

    "What does it really matter? We already knew that the ce was full of dangerous creatures. All this means is that we do not need to hold back as much in fear of damaging thend." Cassius said, wanting to get moving instead of worrying about something he did not care about.

    A small argument soon broke out among several people, but it was not long until Iardi, the weasel beastwoman that was part of Fianna''s party interrupted them.

    "Everyone be quiet. Something ising." Iardi said, her ear down on the ground and listening.

    The once heated argument quickly stopped and the entire expedition force became serious.

    In only a moment they formed up into their predetermined formation and waited for whatever wasing to arrive.

    ''Got it.'' Marcus thought when he felt a ping from his life sense skill.

    He then felt another, and another creature move to within the range of his skill and trained his eyes in the direction they wereing from.

    Yet, despite the heavy fog, the creatures should have been within visual range at this point, but there was nothing there.

    "They are below us! They are traveling under the sand!" Thegia shouted.

    A momentter, severalrge forms burst out of the sand and attacked Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s group that was at the front of the expeditionary force''s formation.

 Chapter 950

    Chapter 950

    "Was that a good enough showing?" Mrazivy asked, turning to look at the other parties of the expedition squad.

    They had not participated in the battle and left the emperor bloodworms to those from the Northern Quadrant in order to gauge their abilities. Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel were all new faces and it made sense to test them before continuing deeper into the dangerous unexplored region.

    "I certainly did not see any problems. You five handled it like pros. Your teamwork is a bit uncoordinated right now, but that will fix itself with time." Fianna said, holding her right hand with a thumbs up.

    "Yes, it was an impressive disy of your prowess. Those beasts were not weak foes by any means, but you dealt with them handedly. My party is more than happy to know we have such capable allies." Evette said.

    "Yeah, you all will do. You''re at least better than the others that havee out of the Northern Quadrant. Just don''t let this one easy victory go to your heads. Any of us could have finished that fight faster and more seamlessly." Cassius responded.

    Mrazivy nodded with satisfaction, before leading the disassembly of the emperor bloodworm''s bodies.

    They made sure to take samples of the venom and poisonous mucus and each of the beast''s cores.

    "That should do for these. What do the rest of you think, should we continue along the beach, or head farther ind?" Fianna asked once the emperor bloodworms had been broken down.

    "Obviously we head ind. The first scouting party explored this area the most and found nothing but weak beasts and monsters. The real treasures are deeper in." Cassius said.

    "I would have to agree. Exploring this area is not likely to be worth the effort. We should travel for the day and find a ce where we can set up a base of operations to explore from." Evette replied.

    Mrazivy simply nodded her head in agreement as well. Perhaps there were hidden treasures that they might find if they circled the ind and stuck to the beach, but that would be a waste of their time.

    They were an elite group gathered to find out what sort of valuable resources were on the ind. The beach area was already confirmed to be the least dangerous inparison to the interior of the ind and could be thoroughly exploredter by a less specialized force. It made far more sense for them to move deeper in, past where the first scouting party had been forced to flee.

    With their direction chosen, the expedition squad got back into formation and moved past the shore and into eh thick fog that obscured anything beyond three hundred meters.

    ''We were attacked so quickly when we first arrived that I thought we would be ending up in violent encounters every few minutes, but things have been eerily quiet since we left the beach.'' Marcus thought as they walked away from the shore.

    He had figured that every creature would be like the sonic needlefish of emperor bloodworms and attack aggressively, but that had not been the case.

    On multiple asions multiple entities would appear just at the edge of their senses before vanishing back into the fog.

    It was honestly more nerve wracking to not be attacked and have to always wonder if they were being stalked by innumerable creatures that were just waiting to pounce on them.

    ''I never even considered the amount of mental fortitude that would be needed just to move about in this ce. Not being able to tell what anything is beyond a certain distance is unnerving.''

    Marcus was more than used to looking out for danger, but the unique fog on this ind made it feel like there was always something waiting around the corner to jump out and attack when their guard was down. He could easily imagine someone stuck here alone going insane from the constant pressure.

    Nevertheless. Even with the harsh conditions around them, the expeditionary force trudged on and made note of any discoveries that they came across.

    "Wow, there really is an exposed vein of adamantine ore." Ashton, the obsidian skinned man that was part of Fianna''s party said.

    His race had a deep affinity with the ground and was able to tell what minerals were in any rocks that he touched.

    "It goes on farther than I can tell with my powers. I would say that this could be a very valuable mine. Just the earnings from this would probably be enough to warrant this expedition."

    Everyone looked incredibly enthused to hear the good news about the exposed adamantine vein. What was on the surface was clearly not all there was to be had, and the fact that they had only traveled a couple dozen miles ind so far meant that there were likely to be greater treasures deeper within.

    "Well, we have managed to confirm all of the major findings that the first scouting party had. I would say that this is as good a time as any to set up camp." Mrazivy suggested.

    The other leaders talked amongst each other for a few moments before agreeing with Mrazivy.

    Despite the fog blocking their ability to perceive past a certain distance, they could tell that the day was almost over.

    Even if all of them had a means to see at night, it was almost always true that more dangerous beasts and monsters came out with the setting of the sun. It was only their first day and there was no need to push themselves to continue exploring into the night.

    "I am going to set up a barrier to ward off and detect any intruders. Does anyone else have any fortifications they wish to apply? Evette said.

    "Sure, I have a spell that should provide us with some protection." Marcus said.

    Miguel also stepped forward though he said nothing. Everyone else seemed to be confident in Evette''s abilities and did note forward even if they had magic that could create a wide range zone of protection. These types of spells did drain a great deal of mana and too many used at once could cause them to interfere with each other.

    "Okay, let us make sure that we can all have a peaceful rest tonight." Evette said as she prepared to cast her magic.

 Chapter 951 Raising Morale

    Chapter 951 Raising Morale

    "Sanctified Field."

    A bright golden line appeared in front of Miguel as he cast his spell, and swiftly it wrapped around the area in a circle.

    The magic shed brightly once uponpletion before fading away into the ground.

    "There, my spell has taken hold. Nothing with hostile intentions should be able to enter the area now." Miguel said, a faint smile of satisfaction on his face.

    After he finished his protective spell, Marcus cast his own, erecting a web of iron threads that spread out an epassed the area around their camp.

    With this spell, Marcus would be alerted if anything tried to approach, and the iron threads would wrap up any intruder and restrain them.

    "Well, I am d to see that our three spells do not sh with each other. I am sure that we will be save from any external threat now." Evette said looking satisfied.

    The three of them then returned to the center of their camp to find several tents erected and everyone preparing to eat.

    ''Are they really just going with dried rations. I know that we have a limited storage space even among all of us, but I figured that elite groups of adventurers would do better with their food. Although perhaps none of them are well versed in cooking.'' Marcus thought as he watched everyone getting ready for dinner.

    Among the best food that anyone had was dehydrated bags of prepared meals that they were going to reconstitute with boiled water.

    The only one not pulling out anything to eat was Mrazivy who knew that Marcus would be cooking for them.

    ''I can already see what is going to happen when I pull out an entire kitchen. Good thing I made sure to stock up on plenty of food. I may not need to eat, but good food will make sure that everyone has high morale.''

    Walking over to where Mrazivy had set up their tent, Marcus opened his item box and brought out several counters for preparing food, a giant professional grill, and a magic walk-in fridge that was storing fresh food.

    "Mraz, would you grab these items from the fridge and begin cutting them up while I prepare the grill."

    Nodding her head, Mrazivy took the list Marcus handed to her and entered the fridge that was preserving a great deal of food.

    Using his fire magic Marcus lit the grill and checked to make sure that its enchantments were working as intended before pulling out a number of species and sauces from his item box.

    It wasn''t long before he looked like he was ready to begin a giant outdoor barbecue, and everyone''s attention had been drawn towards him.

    "This is certainly an impressive setup you have got here. What are you nning on making?" Thegia said her interest was obvious.

    Beforeing over she had been eating some preserved fruits, but she had put those down to see what Marcus was doing.

    "I am going to be making some simple skewers for Mrazivy and I. We are used to eating freshly cooked food even when in dungeons, so I figured there was no reason to change our usual routine here. Of course, you are free to have some if you want. I made sure to stock up on plenty of ingredients." Marcus said, pointing to where Mrazivy was pulling out items from the fridge.

    "If you are offering don''t mind if I do. Is there anything that I can do to help?'' Thegia said, looking enthused to be eating fresh food.

    "Thanks for the offer, but I think we will be fine. If you just for a bit, it will be ready, and we can all enjoy."

    However, as Marcus moved over to help Mrazivy, Kollo came forward with a less than pleased look on her face.

    "Don''t you think this is a waste. Your item box must be filled with useless items like these. When ites to exploring new areas, being prepared is far more important than luxuries like these. You are putting yourself and all of us in danger by bringing this stuff over necessary gear."

    "Of course, I know that. I would not be bringing my cooking equipment along if I did not have the space for it. I possess thergest possible item box. It is barely half full right now. You do not need to worry about me. I can more than carry my own weight for this expedition. In fact, I am sure that you will find that my cooking is more important than you can imagine. Now, pick out what meat and vegetables you want on your skewers. I will make you the best food you have ever had while out adventuring."

    Seeing the confident grin on his face, Kollo stepped away and allowed him to prove himself useful with his cooking.

    Pulling out a knife Marcus began helping Mrazivy cut up the ingredients they would be using to make dinner.

    Soon he had the first round of skewers prepared and applied seasoning and sauces to them before cing them on the grill.

    A satisfying sizzling sound echoed over the area and an intoxicating smell soon began to reach everyone''s senses.

    It did not take long for the members of the expedition squad to gravitate towards Marcus, enraptured by the scent of delicious food.

    "Um, I know this might be rude to ask since we are in different parties and did not make any ns to share food, but would it be okay if we partook as well." Fianna said, representing her party.

    She was the first from another quadrant to ask and wore an expression of anticipation.

    "That is perfectly fine. I always intended to share with any who asks. Pick out what you want on a skewer, and I will cook it. I may not be a professional, but this is a hobby I have devoted a bit of time to, and I am confident that whatever I make will taste good."

    With a bright smile on her face, Fiann skittered over to where the cut-up vegetables and meat were and began piling them onto multiple metal skewers Marcus had made.

    Her party members followed behind her and Evette soon came over with her party and joined in as well.

    The only ones that held out were the members of Round Table that Cassius led.

    After their less than cordial initial interactions they felt that they could not approach Marcus now.

    ''I wish they would just suck up their pride. If this goes on for too long resentment is just going to build up. Part of the reason I am doing this is to bridge the gap between us.'' Marcus thought as he continued to cook.

    A few minutester the first skewers were finished cooking, and everyone began to eat.

    "Wow! This is really good. The food is not fancy, but the quality and taste are as good as high-end restaurants." Iardi, the weasel beastwoman that was a member of Fianna''s party Intrepid said.

    Despite her small frame she devoured the skewer that was about a third her height in just a minute and went back to make another one.

    The atmosphere around Marcus'' cook station quickly became incredibly jovial and the three parties that were partaking in the food opened up with each other.

    Of course, this left one party out, and Marcus could see several of the members of Round Table sending envious looks towards those that were enjoying the fresh food.

    A part of Marcus wanted to simply invite them over, but he could not bring himself to do so when Cassius had been so rude to himself and Mrazivy.

    ''He''ll have to be sincere if he wants to patch things up and eat my food. It might be a bit petty of me, but I can''t just let it go.''

    The evening continued to wind down and everyone eventually had their fill and began matricting back to their own camp sites.

    "Hey, I know that we agreed that you would take the first watch tonight, but since you did all this cooking for us, I figured that I would take your shift. You know, as a show of appreciation." Kollo said to Marcus once the other parties had left.

    "I appreciate the offer, but I will take my shift just like everyone else. This cooking was something I did more for myself than anyone else. Plus, Mrazivy would throw a fit if I did not cook for her." Marcus said with a chuckle.

    "Hey! I would not throw a fit. I went through years of adventuring without your cooking. I would be fine without it." Mrazivy said stubbornly.

    "Really? I think I remember the first time we met that youined about my rations being cheap and told me about how your old party had a magic bag dedicated to carrying fresh food for you." Marcus replied with a teasing grin.

    "Ugh! How long are you going to keep bringing that up." Mrazivy said with a groan.

    Unfortunately, she could not bring up any argument for her defenses.

    "Hehe. You two really are close." Thegia said with a mischievous smile and a notebook and pencil in hand. "Now, tell me more about this first meeting of yours. Spare no details."

    Her look of extreme interest and heavy breathing as she looked at Marcus and Mrazivy immediately changed the mood.

    "I think it is time that I go to my post and keep watch on the camp." Marcus said.

    "Yes, and I should go and finish setting up the inside of our tent." Mrazivy said, fleeing from the area.

 Chapter 952 A Howl in the Night

    Chapter 952 A Howl in the Night

    After having made his escape from Thegia, who was far too interested in his and Mrazivy''s rtionship, Marcus took his post as the first on watch.

    Even with the defensive spells that he, Evette, and Miguel had cast, this unexplored ind was far too dangerous not to have lookouts at night.

    Marcus was not the only one keeping watch, of course. Each of the four parties had one member staying up and keeping a vignte eye out.

    In most ces this would be considered overkill, but from the intel gathered by the first scouting party during their short stay on the ind, they knew that this ind was teeming with dangerous creatures that wanted them dead.

    Luckily, Marcus'' shift on watch ended without incident and Kollo came to relieve him from his duty so he could get some sleep.

    However, when Marcus entered his and Mrazivy''s tent, he did not go to bed but instead began to experiment now that he was away from prying eyes.

    ''Time to see what I can and cannot do here.''

    Holding his right hand out, Marcus created a Dark Portal and attempted to connect it to one he had left outside of the ind.

    ''No dice huh.''

    Unfortunately, he would not be able to use his unique skill to warp away or back again. If he could it would have opened up several possibilities he could exploit.

    Next, he tried creating two portals within his sight line and found that this worked just as usual.

    ''So, I can still use them to fight. Now the only question is if I can connect two portals on the ind even if I don''t have a visual.''

    Sadly, Marcus could not test this application of his unique skill yet as it would be impossible for him to leave the camp right now.

    Perhaps he might be able to sneak away unnoticed in his ghost form, but he doubted it with Evette around. He would just have to wait to test out the limits of his Dark Portal unique skill when they set up camp in a different location.

    Once Marcus was satisfied with his testing of his Dark Portal unqieu skill, heheld up his hand and made it intangible.

    For obvious reasons he had not disyed any of his ghostly abilities in front of the entire expedition squad and now was his first chance to see how they worked.

    He attempted to phase his hand through the ground but was met with resistance he could not force through.

    ''I guess this ce really is like the special dungeon with all its restrictions to keep people from cheesing it with unusual abilities.''

    After his failed attempt to pass through the ground Marcus jammed his hand into some of the furniture in the tent and found that he could go through them like normal. It seemed that he could go through objects from outside the ind without issue.

    Then he entered his full ghost form and attempted to float but was blocked from moving up and down. Just as he expected.

    The only movements he could make while floating was sliding across the ground in an unsettling manner.

    ''That just about does it for what I can experiment with inside the tent.''

    Leaning back, he rxed and began thinking about what he would do next.

    Normally he would just go to sleep in order to pass the time, but he had no intention of doing so here.

    Without any need to sleep he nned on staying up every night in order to be on the alert for threats.

    He only slept as a leisure activity for the most part or when he was under a great deal of mental strain to rest his mind.

    Currently he would be fine for an indefinite amount of time even if he did not get a wink of sleep.

    ''Guess I''ll read. I brought plenty of books to keep me upied during the night.''

    Yet the moment Marcus let his guard down just a bit and reached to take a book out of his item box, a loud howl echoed throughout the camp.

    Immediately Marcus jumped up and focused his senses to detect if anything was attacking.

    ''It''s not within three hundred meters at least. My life sense skill is not picking anything up nor has my spell been touched. Perhaps it was just some beast howling at something unrted to us?'' Marcus thought letting his tension lessen.

    Mrazivy had not stirred from her sleep so the howl must not have felt threatening to her, and Marcus himself did not detect any danger.

    Still, something felt unsettling to him about the howl. It was not like anything he had ever heard before from any beast or monster he had encountered.

    From the tone he could tell it was not an excited cry of a beast alerting its pack to prey. Nor did it sound like a creature that was injured and crying out in pain.

    There was something eerie about how ambiguous it was, as if it was not meant to ry anything at all.

    Marcus could not get it out of his mind though, and every time he remembered the howl he shivered. On some level he felt it was dangerous for some reason even if his danger sense skill had failed to perceive it as such.

    ''Maybe I am just being paranoid but let me check my status.''

    Opening up his status window, Marcus checked his notifications and went wide eyed when he saw what thetest item was.

    The proof he was looking for that the howl had been anything but harmless was right in front of him and learning what manner of creature had just begun its attack on them was enough to unnerve Marcus.

    Despite having slept through the howl, Mrazivy picked up on the change in Marcus'' demeanor that was now clearly radiating rm.

    "Mraz check your status now!" Marcus said with such urgency that she was taken aback.

    Nevertheless, Mrazivy did as he asked immediately without asking for rification. She knew that he was not one to feign acting so dire just to mess around.

    In an instant her eyes turned golden and her pupils became slits as she used her Dragon Eyes to peer into her own status.

    There she found exactly what Marcus was looking for, and her face twisted into a look of confusion and unease at what she saw.

 Chapter 953 An Incredibly Dangerous Monster

    Chapter 953 An Incredibly Dangerous Monster

    "What does it say?!" Marcus asked with a grave look on his face.

    Mrazivy just continued to stare nkly at her status for a few moments, before Marcus once again prompted her to respond more forcefully. She was having difficulty making sense of what she was seeing.

    "It seems I have been afflicted with a condition called Wendigo Psychosis. But it also appears to be dormant at the moment from what my status disys. I have never heard of a condition being inactive like this before though, nor anything about this particr affliction. I wonder what a wendigo is?" Mrazivy said, a befuddled and concerned look on her face.

    However, unlike Mrazivy, Marcus knew what a wendigo was and how truly vicious they were.

    If this monster was anything like the ones he had read about in fiction and folklore during his first life, then all of them were in grave danger.

    "Okay, first we need to get rid of this status effect. I can assure you that it is more deadly than you can possibly realize, and the fact that it managed to effect you even with all of your high resistance speaks to how powerful this monster is."

    With the wave of his hand Marcus cast the tier eight healing magic spell true restoration.

    This spell was meant to dispel high level status conditions and it could normally be used as a means of getting rid of any and all afflictions a person had incurred.

    Yet, when Marcus asked Mrazivy to check if the Wendigo Psychosis was still present, she nodded her head.

    ''I cannot even get rid of it with such a high tier healing magic spell! Why did the administrator even allow something like this to exist!''

    After a few seconds of internal turmoil, Marcus regained his calm and moved on. He was going to have to have to bring out his best, but he knew he had a definite fix for the Wendigo Psychosis.

    A silver ball of energy appeared in Marcus'' hand, and he directed it towards Mrazivy.

    For a moment her entire body was enveloped in a bright light, leaving her with a warm feeling that left her revitalized.

    Marcus was now certain that Mrazivy was cured thanks to his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill, but he had her check again just to make sure.

    "Yep, it is gone now." Mrazivy said with a relived smile. "Now, would you tell me what this was all about? You clearly seem to know what sort of creature hit me with this status condition."

    Nodding his head, Marcus gave her the rundown of what he knew about wendigos from their lore on Earth.

    From what he remembered they were most often described as having the head of a feral elk with a mouth full of sharp and jagged teeth. Their torsos resembled a human to a degree and their long gangly arms ended with hands that possessed long, sharp ws. Finally, their legs ended in ckened, burnt stumps.

    "Of course, this is all just from legends and fiction from Earth. Their descriptions are not always the same. This is just the one I know from stories I read."

    "They sound like formidable monsters. Do you think we can beat it?" Mrazivy asked.

    "If it came out and started attacking us openly, then we would almost certainly win. Unfortunately, this particr monster is not going to brazenly charge at us like the emperor blood worms did on the beach. Its n is to whittle down our strength and psyches over a period of time before finishing us off. It kept its distance when it let out that howl and judging by how there is nomotion in the camp, no one else registered it as a threat. I only caught it because of a nagging feeling in the back of my mind and because I was able to check my log and see that I resisted the effect."

    "We alert the rest of the camp to this threat. I know you wanted to keep certain things like your Ultimate Refresh Skill a secret. Still, this is too dangerous a situation for us to hold back on."

    Marcus nodded his head in agreement. He had not exined to Mrazivy yet what sort of maddens was brought on by Wendigo Psychosis, but if others had been affected, letting it go untreated woulde back to bite him and Mrazivy. Most likely literally as it was stated in the legends on Earth that when a wendigo wanted to create another of its kind, it would drive a person insane until they ultimately gave into cannibalism and ate the flesh of whoever they might be with at the time.

    Frankly, wendigos were one of the most unsettling monsters Marcus knew about from Earth''s legends, and having to actually deal with one was beyond unsettling. In the worst-case scenario, the entire expedition squad could go insane, and he might be forced to kill everyone else other than Mrazivy before the two of them escaped from the ind.

    Nevertheless, he did not expect it toe down to such a grisly scenario. He may have had a limited number of uses of his Supreme Skill, but he could cure anyone that was afflicted with Wendigo Psychosis just like he had done for Mrazivy.

    "Though, before we tell the others. I want to inform Miguel of what we have found first and consult him." Marcus said.

    "What for? I doubt he is going to be able to offer anything." Mrazivy said, a look of confusion on her face.

    "Maybe, maybe not. Miguel came from Earth just like me, and while he was a lot younger when he died, that does not mean he knows less about this subject. At the very least, I do not want him to be the only one to react with a knowing expression when I bring this up in front of everyone. Judging by how you have never heard of them before, I imagine wendigos are either very rare on this world, or perhaps they did not even exist on Mirrion until this ind appeared."

 Chapter 954

    Chapter 954

    With their n of action set, Marcus and Mrazivy waited until it was Miguel turn on watch before approaching him. Marcus remembered what happened when he intruded on his room back when they were staying at the guild hall and did not want to further antagonize Miguel by entering his tent.

    "What do you two want? I am busy right now." Miguel said with an abrasive tone.

    He never took his eyes off of what was in front of him. Continuing to keep watch and show how little interest he had in making conversation.

    "Sorry to bother you, but I would not do so unless it was urgent." Marcus said, his expression grave.

    Miguel sensed that Marcus was not just trying to make small talk and turned around with a sharp glint in his eyes. Waiting for an exnation.

    "First, I want to ask you if you heard that howl around an hour ago?"

    "Yeah, what of it? Some beast let out a cry in the night. I did not feel any sort of threat from it, and whatever it was never approached the camp and is probably long gone by now." Miguel replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

    He was about to turn around and tell Marcus to stop wasting his time, but stopped when he heard what Marcus had to say.

    "The monster that made that howl was a wendigo. It may not have felt like it, but that howl was an attack. It managed to afflict Mrazivy with a status condition called Wendigo Psychosis without her even realizing. I would not have even realized it was a threat if I had not checked my status and noticed I resisted the effect. If you want to confirm that what I am telling you is true, you need only check your own log."

    His arms crossed and giving Miguel a forceful stare, Marcus waited for Miguel toply.

    Sighing, Miguel did as Marcus said and opened his status to check if the wendigo''s attack had really happened.

    When he saw the confirmation in his own status, his rtively rxed demeanor changed in an instant and Miguel was on full guard immediately.

    "Calm down. It is not going to try and finish us off right now. That is not its style. What we need to do first is get everyone on the same page and figure out who all was affected by its howl. I can get rid of the status condition with one of my skills, so if you have it, I need you to tell me." Marcus said, remaining serious but not allowing himself to loseposure.

    "Yes, you are right. If this thing acts anything like the stories I heard about back on Earth, it won''t make its final move until at least some of us are driven mad." Miguel said as he sheathed his sword. "And you need not worry about me. I resisted the howl as well."

    Marcus was a bit surprised to hear that Miguel had not been afflicted with Wendigo Psychosis. Since Mrazivy had failed to resist it, he figured that almost everyone else would have failed as well.

    Nevertheless, he had no idea about most of Miguel''s abilities and figured it waspletely possible that he had a unique skill that protected him.

    "Before we gather everyone, l want topare what we know about wendigos. Our knowledge may not be exactly correct, but it is a good ce to start."

    Nodding his head, Miguel recounted wat he knew about the horrific monster that made an appearance in all manner of folklore and fiction on Earth.

    Most of what he knew was the same information Marcus had, though Miguel''s knowledge was mostly from games that he had yed rather than the stories Marcus had read.

    There was one thing that Miguel knew that Marcus did not though. It had not been an ability that every depiction of wendigos had, but in some of the games he yed they had the power to give people nightmares that drove them mad quicker.

    "I guess we should ask everyone if they had any bad dreams as well." Marcus said with a contemtive look. "Mraz, what about you? Did you experience any nightmares while asleep?"

    "Not that I can remember. I slept fairly peacefully until I felt your rm when you discovered we were under attack." Mrazivy replied.

    Marcus looked relieved to hear this, but they would need to question everyone else before they could figure out if this particr wendigo had the ability to enter people''s dreams.

    "Let us go to Evette next. She is the most likely to listen to what we have to say and has the most authority of anyone in the expedition squad." Marcus said.

    He and Mrazivy then left Miguel who continued his watch and waited for everyone to be assembled.

    As they approached where Evette''s party had set up camp, Amin, who was on watch, approached them with a curious but also warry expression on his face.

    However, before he could reach them, Evette came out of her tent. She had sensed Marcus'' approach and hade out to meet him.

    "Amin, you can go back to your post. I am not sure what Marcus and Mrazivy want to discuss, but I will deal with it." Evette said, waving off her party member.

    Amin looked reluctant to leave Evette alone but acquiesced to her decision.

    With the wave of her hand, she invited Marcus and Mrazivy into her tent.

    "So, what did you want to speak with me about. I can tell from your expressions that you are not just here for pleasantries."

    Letting out a sigh, Marcus exined everything that he had figured out about the wendigo that was attacking them.

    As she listened, Evette''s demeanor that was normally calm and reserved became clearly distressed.

    "I have dealt with a great many monsters and beasts, but I have never heard of this one before. I knew this ce was going to be dangerous, but never did I imagine that we would encounter something so insidious."

 Chapter 955

    955 Chapter 955

    With Evette caught up to speed, Marcus moved onto his request for her.

    "If it would not be too much trouble, would you gather everyone together so we can figure out who all was afflicted with Wendigo Psychosis. I expect things to go much more smoothly if you make the request rather than us."

    "Of course, I do not mind. But should you not make sure first that I have not picked up this status effect?"

    "No, I have a good reason to believe it cannot affect you. Wendigos eat the flesh of their victims or drive others mad in order to force them to do the same. As spirits, neither you nor I are made of flesh and blood. We are simply spiritual energy having taken solid form. Marcus said, telling Evette his spection. "If you are concerned though, Mrazivy can check your status. But I figured you would prefer not to do so. I am sure you have secrets you want to keep."

    "No, I feel that I have nothing to hide from the two of you. You are a great spirit and if you trust Mrazivy then so do I. However, I expect that many others will refuse to allow someone else to view their statuses. Luckily, I have something that should solve that problem."

    Holding out her hand, Evette opened up her item box and pulled out an ivory b that had detailed magic enchantments etched into it.

    Marcus immediately recognized this as a magic item that was used to disy people''s statuses when having identifications made.

    "It was not easy to get my hands on one of these for personal use, but I figured that it would possiblye in handy while on this expedition. This way everyone can read their own status and not have to worry about an information leak." Evette said, a proud expression on her face.

    Both Marcus and Mrazivymend her for her foresight. Neither of them had thought to procure something like this since they could see their own statuses any time they wanted.

    Now that they had their n of action set, Marcus and Mrazivy left Evette to gather the entire expedition unit.

    Fortunately, it did not take long for everyone to meet in the middle of the camp. No one was going to ignore Evette when she said that there was an emergency that required everyone''s attention.

    "Thank you all for gathering on such short notice. It has been brought to my attention that we havee under attack during this night. I am sure many of you heard the howl in the night and thought nothing of it, but I can assure you that the monster that it originated from means us harm." Evette said.

    She then motioned for Marcus to step up and he exined what he knew about wendigos.

    ''As expected, no one else recognizes the name.'' Marcus thought as he went through his exnation.

    He had been keeping careful watch on everyone''s expressions, and no one gave off any signs of familiarity when he mentioned the name wendigo.

    Naturally Miguel also knew of them, but thanks to prior warning did not allow it to show on his face.

    "I understand how you figured out the monster''s name by having Mrazivy read her own status. But how do you know so much about a monster none of us have heard of before?" Fenmaer, one of the giant twins in Fianna''s party said.

    His question was followed up by plenty of agreement from the others. Only those Marcus had already confided in were not skeptical about his information.

    Of course, he could have juste out and exined that he was a transmigration, but he frankly did not want some of them to know this. Especially Cassius and his party.

    Instead, Marcus told them he had read about an old ount that was stored in Borealia''s royal archive of the monster being encountered in the Great Gome Woods.

    Needless to say, Mrazivy backed Marcus up, and no one was able to disprove that such a record existed even if they had their doubts.

    Evette supporting them also helped to add weight to their words and no one openly disputed them.

    "Now, to figure out who all have been affected by this wendigo, I have prepared a status reading te that you may use. We have a tent set up where you view your own status in private and you need only report to us if you have the condition." Evette said.

    A line quickly formed in front of the tent where the te had been ced and everyone prepared to go in and check on their status. No one had refused.

    However, before they got started, Marcus remembered one thing he forgot to mention that could be important.

    "Wait, before we continue. I need to ask if anyone here experienced any nightmares. Likely one that involved youmitting some form of vile act against those you care about."

    Most of the members of the expedition squad looked confused by this sudden question, but one individual instead went stiff and clearly looked terrified.

    ''One of Cassius'' party members. I believe her name was Dominique.''

    Having picked out the person attacked by the wendigo''s nightmare ability, Marcus approached her and asked if she would go first.

    "I promise you have nothing to worry about. Whatever you saw in your nightmare is not going toe true." Marcus said in aforting tone.

    Dominique looked towards her leader for reassurance, and despite Cassius and Marcus getting off on the wrong foot, he nodded his head. He was not so shortsighted that he would risk the safety of one of his party members just because of a small squabble.

    After she finished using the status disying te, Dominque came out looking paler than she had before. Obviously, it had shown her that she had Wendigo Psychosis.

    And unlike Mrazivy who noted that the status condition was dormant in her, Dominque''s had advanced to the next stage.

 Chapter 956 Searching for Solutions

    Chapter 956 Searching for Solutions

    Even at its most mild form, the first active stage of Wendigo Psychosis had lowered Dominque''s spirit stat by five percent and given her an ever-present fatigue that reduced her physical abilities.

    This was pretty nasty for a condition that came on so fast and was practically undetectable. Over time it would certainly advance even further until it had eaten away at her mind, and she gave into a craving for the flesh of herpanions.

    ''At its first stage it is still manageable, but if left untreated she likely would have only had a few days until she stopped being able to function normally. And I doubt she would have been the only one.''

    After Dominque proved that they were indeed under attack, everyone else swiftly checked their statuses.

    Unfortunately, the results were not at all favorable.

    While only Dominque had an active case of Wendigo Psychosis, the curse had wormed its way into seven other members of the expedition squad and was dormant for the moment.

    If Marcus had not caught onto the Wendigo so quickly, there was a very real chance that an all-out battle between those that were afflicted and those that were not would have broken out within a week.

    ''The only problem is that I can only use my Ultimate Refresh four more times today. I won''t be able to keep up with this many people.'' Marcus thought, a grimace on his face.

    Certainly, he could just wait for his skill''s limit to rest and cure everyone he could not get to today, but that would only work if the wendigo left them alone. And Marcus highly doubted that it would.

    From what he knew they were incredibly persistent monsters that would stalk a group of people for weeks until someone broke and went mad.

    It was also possible it might get fed up at some point and simply attack them, though he doubted that would happen.

    This wendigo was almost certainly intelligent enough to realize it could not beat them in a straight up fight.

    ''Evette, do you happen to have a healing magic spell that might help? True restoration did not work. I only cured Mrazivy using another skill of mine.'' Marcus said over telepathy.

    Out of everyone in the expedition squad Evette was the most skilled and knowledgeable when it came to healing. If anyone might have a chance at curing this curse, it was her as a supreme spirit of life and death.

    ''I do not have a spell that would work on this if true restoration is ineffective. Specialized curses like these are incredibly potent and sometimes beyond the scope of what healing magic can fix. I believe that sacred magic is more likely to have an answer.'' Evette replied, looking towards Miguel.

    Following her gaze, Marcus looked at Miguel as well.

    "You need something. I already said I don''t have the condition." Miguel said, not happy that Marcus was bringing attention towards him.

    "Yeah, I wanted to ask you if your sacred magic might be able to remove the curse. I already confirmed with Evette that normal healing magic does not have a fix for it, but that sacred magic might. The skill I use has a limited number of uses so a more usable option would be preferable."

    Miguel sighed when he noticed he had be the center of attention, with those afflicted with Wendigo Psychosis looking at him hopefully.

    For nearly a minute he just stood there with a contemtive expression, but in the end, he shook his head.

    "I have a protection spell that I could use to protect a single person from any sort of status condition, but I can only use it on one person at a time. I''m personally immune to curses, so I never bothered to pick up a spell that can dispel them. It is also possible that my sacred magic is not high enough level to unlock such a spell." Miguel said with a shrug.

    Marcus wanted to ask if Miguel could use skill points to level up his sacred magic but decided against it.

    He knew what the system given spell for sacred magic was up to level eight thanks to Tesia. That meant that Miguel would need level nine sacred magic to even have a chance at getting the spell they needed.

    It was possible that Miguel did not even have enough skill points stockpiled to do this, and even if he did, he probably would not.

    ''I suppose that in the worst-case scenario just being able to protect one other person is already useful enough.'' Marcus thought, contemting what to do next.

    Killing the wendigo would naturally be the most direct solution. Unfortunately, with the perpetual fog limiting their ability to detect far away threats, it would be nearly impossible to find it if it wanted to stay hidden. This was honestly the best environment for it to thrive in.

    Yet, as Marcus was busy contemting what to do, Evette reached back into his mind with telepathy.

    ''I did not want to mention his since I am not sure if it will work and it does pose some risk to me, but I do have an ability that might be able root out the curse. It is called spirit healing and can heal physical wounds as well as their souls. I have never used it to dispel a curse, though, in theory it should be possible.''

    ''Gha, you''re right! I should have thought of that earlier!'' Marcus replied. Leaving Evette baffled.

    Once he realized that he had confused her, Marcus exined that he also had had the spirit healing specter power and that he had once used it to remove a curse from himself.

    ''I have never tried it on another person like this. Still, I think if we work together, it might work. We should exhaust all of our options before moving to more drastic solutions.''

    If they did not find a reliable way to remove the Wendigo Psychosis, then at the very least they would need to send away some of those that had been afflicted and downsize their already limited expedition squad. In the worst case, they might just need to abandon the ind altogether.

 Chapter 957

    Chapter 957

    "Hey! I thought you said you can heal this Wendigo Psychosis, or whatever you called it. Can''t you see that Dominque is terrified right now. What are you waiting for? Get on with it." Cassius said, snapping at Marcus to get his attention.

    There was no doubt that what he had just done was incredibly rude. Yet Marcus found it hard to truly get mad at the man when his expression clearly showed how concerned he was for his party member.

    It was a look of pure desperation without a hint of irritation. Cassius was only getting angry on behalf of someone he cared about.

    "I understand that you are frustrated by this tense situation but calm down." Evette said reproachfully. We need to weigh all of our options before we continue. The matter is not currently pressing, so just wait a little until we are ready."

    After being chided by Evette, Cassius held back on any more outbursts.

    Of course, his aggravation made sense. His party had the most members that had been struck by Wendgio Psychosis. Plus, Dominque had the worst case of anyone.

    "Okay, everyone with the curse line up. Marcus and I are going to try an advanced form of healing magic and see if it works." Evette said.

    She and Marcus had agreed to pass off their spirit healing specter power as magic instead of revealing what it really was. To the untrained eye, it would seem like the same thing anyway.

    To begin, both of them ced their right hand on Dominque while interlocking their left hands together. This would allow them to sync up their spiritual energy and avoid working against each other.

    A bright white glow began emitting from their bodies once they activated their spirit healing.

    Swiftly the glow flowed into Dominque andpletely engulfed her in the gentle light.

    ''I have done this before, so let me lead the way.'' Marcus said to Evette.

    This was her first time attempting something like this and was relying on Marcus ''past experience.

    However, removing a curse from himself and doing it for another person were far different.

    When he did it himself, he was just navigating his own soul with no resistance, but Dominque''s soul did reflexively fought back against the intrusion.

    Normally spirit healing would not illicit such a reaction, but what Marcus and Evette were attempting to do was outside of its normal parameters.

    This power was meant to heal injured souls and bodies. And while curses caused damage, they were more like viruses than wounds and fell outside of the usual application of spirit healing''s power.

    Nevertheless, what the system said something could do, and what it was truly capable of were not always one in the same. With careful focus Marcus and Evette spread out their spiritual energy through Dominque and searched for the forging body that had clung to her soul.

    ''Found it.''

    At the core of her being, the malignant energy resided, clinging obstinately to Dominque''s soul and slowly corrupting her.

    Just feeling the malevolent power behind this curse made Marcus and Evette nauseous. Given time it would destroy anyone''s sanity until they were forced to give into an uncontroble urge to eat the flesh of theirpanions.

    ''We will have to remove it.'' Marcus said, imagining his spiritual energy like a scalpel.

    ''Wait! Won''t that cause even more damage to her soul?!'' Evette said, sounding distressed.

    ''Yes, it will. But we can fix the damage after we remove the curse. If we do nothing, it will keep spreading until it has fully corrupted her.''

    After a bit more convincing, Evette agreed to help Marcus and the two of them went to work.

    The curse proved to be more resilient than they expected, and it took all their skill to remove it.

    With onest imagined cut to remove the curse, Marcus sliced it away and separated it from Dominque''s soul.

    He then wrapped it up with his spiritual energy and ejected the curse.

    Without a soul totch onto, it quickly faded away into nothing.

    The instant the curse was removed, Dominque copsed. She looked a lot like a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut.

    "What the hell did you do to her!?"

    In a moment of shock and distress, Cassius ran up to his follow party member and shoved Marcus and Evette out of the way.

    From his perspective, Marcus and Evette had been using some strange magic on her when she passed out with a pained expression on her face.

    Though the more Marcus observed Cassius, the more he thought that perhaps Dominque was more to him than just a member of his party.

    Nevertheless, his concern was misced, and he was actually getting in the way. Marcus and Evette may have removed the curse, but they still needed to heal the damage that had been done to Dominque''s soul.

    "I know you are concerned, but we are not finished yet. If you do not let us continue, she is going to have permanent damage to her soul." Marcus saidmandingly.

    With a pained expression, Cassius stood back. The worry never leaving his face though.

    It took Marcus and Evette a few minutes to finish healing Dominque''s soul. But once they had finished, she wore a peaceful expression as she slept.

    After their first sess, they moved onto the next person afflicted by Wendigo Psychosis and removed the curse.

    On those that the curse was dormant, it was far easier to remove. However, it still left them worse for wear and needing time to recover.

    ''Looks like we can remove the curse without having to rely on my Supreme Skill. Unfortunately, it is not easy on the person that was afflicted with it. I suppose that is to be expected. We are removing it like it is a tumor on their soul.'' Marcus thought, analyzing the procedure.

    While they could do so indefinitely, he expected that repeatedly doing so might lead to unforeseen problems down the road. Souls were fragile things and constantly taking out chunks and healing them could lead to serious problems.

    The ultimate solution stilly in finding the wendigo and putting an end to the menace once and for all.

 Chapter 958 Plan for a Counterattack

    Chapter 958 n for a Counterattack

    Now that everyone that had been afflicted with Wendigo Psychosis had been healed, the expedition squad was turning its focus towards dealing with the problem permanently.

    "It is almost certainly nearby in order to keep watch on us. I say we fan out and hunt it down."

    "No, I think we should hunker down and wait it out. Either this monster will get fed up and attack us openly, or it will simply give up when it realizes it cannot break us."

    "I think we should just unleash our strongest attacks in every direction. Sure, we might cause some damage to thendscape, but we are sure to hit it."

    Everyone had their own thoughts on how to approach dealing with the wendigo and ultimately no decision was made even after several minutes of discourse.

    ''We''re all too rattled to right now to have a productive discussion. At this rate things are going to devolve into arguments.'' Marcus thought.

    They were all currently under a great deal of stress from having to deal with an enemy that could attack them from outside their range of perception. Something that had likely never happened to any of them before.

    Most monsters or beasts were pretty straightforward and would charge straight in for an attack.

    Unfortunately, this was not how wendigos fought. They were an especially cruel monster that liked to whittle down their prey for days or even weeks before delivering the final blow.

    ''It is never going to show itself so long as our group remains strong. We can hope that it will eventually notice that its curse is not taking hold on any of us, but I doubt it will give up anytime soon. Even if we can prevent it from driving any of us mad, just being under constant attack will wear down everyone''s mental state. We need to do something, but what?''

    Putting his mind to work, Marcus carefully thought-out different scenarios before voicing the first thing that came to his head like many of the others were.

    In the end what he came up with would carry a certain amount of risk, but it was the most surefire method he could think of to lure the wendigo out.

    However, before he put his proposal forward, he needed to get the consent of the those that he would be putting in danger.

    Naturally the first person he went to was Mrazivy. In his n she was the one that was going to be taking the biggest risk, and the only one he could hope to entrust with the role.

    "Are you sure there is not another way? I would really rather not put myself into such a situation." Mrazivy said, her expression strained.

    Usually, she would have been onboard immediately for any strategy that Marcus came up with. This time though, she was hesitant to put herself in such danger.

    "This is just the idea I came up with that I believe will have the greatest chance of sess. I understand that this is asking a lot of you, so if you don''t want to do it, I am not going to force the issue. I just wanted to bring it to you first before suggesting this strategy to everyone."

    With a deep sigh, Mrazivy weighed their options before looking at Marcus resolutely.

    "I will do it, but you must promise to make sure not to let it go too far. If I say I can''t take it anymore, or if you notice I''ve started slipped, you have to put an end to it."

    "Of course. If things look like they have be too dangerous, I''ll make sure that we stop."

    Now that he had Mrazivy onboard, Marcus needed to convince the next person he needed for his n. Something that was going to be far harder.

    Standing a bit away from the group that was more bickering than holding an actual discussion, Miguel listened intently but was not participating. He had no intention of getting involved.

    However, to increase his n''s chance of sess, Marcus was going to need Miguel''s cooperation.

    "Hey, do you got a minute to listen? I think I''ve got a way to draw this wendigo out, but we will need your help."

    "You can do what you want." Miguel said, showing indifference.

    Yet, as Marcus detailed his n, Miguel became more invested.

    "Yeah, that might work, but it is stupidly dangerous. We are not deal with your average monster here, it is a wendigo. And do you really expect me to trust you both. If it came down to it, you would abandon me in a heartbeat if it meant saving yourselves."

    "I see you do not think very highly of us. We would never leave apanion behind, and that includes you. Your risk in this strategy is actually not very high anyway. But if you really don''t want to do it, we can move forward without you. It is just that your sacred magic is likely to be invaluable in locking down this wendigo." Marcus said shrugging his shoulders.

    Without Miguel onboard he would need to drastically alter the n.

    "I never said I would not help you. I just wanted to see how serious you are. Just don''t expect me to risk myself for either of you. If it seems like I might be in danger, I am going to focus on protecting myself."

    "Thanks Miguel. I promise you will not regret this." Marcus said a pleased grin on his face.

    "Just don''t let this go to your head. We''re not friends. I am doing this for the guild. Valerius especially helped me out so I need to make sure this expedition is a sess to pay back my dept. At this rate the entire squad is going toe apart." Miguel said, looking over to where the debate on what they should do had be more heated.

    It would appear that for even individuals at such a high level and with astronomical strength, fear and uncertainty could drive rationality away.

    ''Not that what I am nning is particrly sensible. Our best course of action would be to leave andbel this ce as too dangerous to explore. But I want this expedition to be a sess like everyone else. Hence why no one has suggested giving up yet.''

    Walking back into the crowd that had made little headway in creating a solid n, Marcus announced his strategy.

    "The three of us our leaving. We are going to act as bait to lure out this wendigo."

 Chapter 959 Plan for a Counterattack (2)

    Chapter 959 n for a Counterattack (2)

    At Marcus'' deration, the bickering that had been going on subsided all at once.

    Of all the ideas and strategies that had been tossed out, not once had anyone suggested splitting up the expedition squad.

    The wendigo itself was an incredible danger, but there were plenty of other unknown entities that called this ind home and might easily pick off a smaller group.

    "Are you serious?! That''s probably suicide!" Fianna said, looking shocked that Marcus would even make such a suggestion.

    Several others backed up her viewpoint and told Marcus that it was too reckless to try something like that.

    Naturally he knew that his n was dangerous, but he did think it had a good chance of sess.

    "I can understand where all of you areing from. We have only been here a day, yet this ind has already shown us just how perilous it can be. Still, at this rate nothing is going to change. This wendigo that has attacked us will not let up until it gets what it wants, or we kill it. There is no way we will be able to properly continue the expedition with such a monster constantly stalking us. Using ourselves as bait is far better than waiting for it to pick us off one at a time when we least expect it." Marcus said, making his point.

    This time he did not receive such staunch refusal of his n. Everyone else had be silent as they understood the logic of using a few people as bait to lure out the wendigo.

    However, there was one person that walked right up to Marcus, and her demeanor showed that she did not approve.

    "There is simply no way we can allow the three of you to risk your lives like this. This ind may be filled with valuable resources, but I would say that it is too dangerous to keep exploring. Our strength may be great, but it means nothing in the face of a foe that can hide out of our range of detection and afflict many of our members with a maddening curse. Our best course of action is to leave and report back to the guild what we have found. Then they can organize another squad that will be entirely immune to this wendigo''s abilities." Evette said, taking charge of the situation now that it hade this far.

    She had stayed out of the discussion amongst the members of the expedition squad, but as the leader of the highest-ranking party here, she felt it was her responsibility to stop any reckless action.

    Nevertheless, while her suggestion might have been sensible, it caused many members of the expedition squad to flinch.

    They were an elite force gathered by the adventurers guild for the express purpose of exploring this ind. Abandoning their mission on the first day would severely damage their reputations.

    "Lady Evette, might I ask that you reconsider your position. We have a means ofbating the curse through your magic. There are still many stratagems that we can attempt before allowing this sole monster to drive us away." Amin said.

    It was rare for him to speak out against Evette who he highly respected, but in this case, it was for her sake.

    Not a single party had every member resist the wendigo''s howl. If they were to leave and ask the adventurers guild to form another expedition squad, their party would not be among it. Amin knew Evette well and understood that she would not exclude any of their members. She would refuse to be part of this theoretical new squad no matter what.

    Should they leave now at her direction, the bulk of the me would rest on her shoulders. This would lower the prestige that Evette had carefully cultivated.

    "Amin, we can not worry about reputation at a time like this. There is a very real chance some of us might die." Evette said in a chastising tone.

    Still, her n was not particrly popr among those that made up the expedition squad. Even with her status being the highest among them, that was not enough to sway everyone in this situation.

    "Evette, while I appreciate your concern, I am not nning on getting myself, or Mrazivy and Miguel killed. I would not suggest this method if I did not think we could pull it off. Surely you know just how capable I am. We can pull this off." Marcus said, continuing to push his case.

    He even went so far as to add a bit of spiritual energy to his voice. He did not like doing this, but he decided to exercise his higher ranking as a spirit to get Evette to back down.

    "If that is what you want, I will acquiesce. Just do note I am not in favor of this n."

    Realizing that Marcus meant to go through with his strategy no matter what, Evette stood down. Albeit reluctantly.

    There were others that thought Marcus'' n was rash, but no one else spoke out against it. They had note up with anything better to get them out of this situation without abandoning their mission.

    "Since we are all in agreement now, I would ask that everyone not joining me wait here. We will wander around the area to draw out the wendigo. We shall n to return within five days at thetest whether we are sessful or not. If we do not make it back by then, assume we are dead."

    After saying this Marcus motioned towards Mrazivy and Miguel and began heading back towards their campsite in order to pack up.

    "Are you sure that you want to just go with the three of you? Kollo and I would be more than happy to join you as well. It may just be temporary, but we are a party." Thegia said, an expression of concern on her face.

    "Thank you for the offer, but I am afraid it needs to be the tree of us. If too many people apany us, the wendigo is less likely to drop its guard and attack us openly." Marcus responded.

    Thegia sighed, but she expected this answer in the first ce.

    ''Sorry, Thegia, but for my n to work, I will need to capitalize on my ghostly abilities. There is no room for anyone that does not already know my secret.'' Marcus thought as he finished up his preparations before leaving.

 Chapter 960

    Chapter 960

    Once Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel had finished packing up their belongs, the three of them set out away from the expedition squad''s camp.

    "I know that you are confident about this n but are you sure that this wendigo is going toe after us? It might stick to the rest of the expedition squad since there are more of them. I imagine that more prey would be appealing to it." Mrazivy said once they were out of earshot of the rest of the squad.

    "That is a possibility, but I find it unlikely. Wendigos like to attack smaller groups. It is easier to drive individuals mad when there are fewer people to support them. And in the case that someone does sumb to Wendigo Psychosis, it is more likely that they will be sessful in their attack if there are fewer people to restrain them. I would give it heavy odds that the moment the wendigo notices we have separated from the rest of the group that it wille after us." Marcus said, giving his informed point of view.

    Of course, this was only applicable if his knowledge from Earth legends held true to the very real monster that was stalking them. He truthfully had no idea how simr or different it would be.

    Still, from the way that it had already attacked them and the general feel of its actions, Marcus felt that it would be at least somewhat simr.

    In the end though, what they were attempting was a big gamble.

    "Okay, I think this is as good of a spot as any. I will make sure to stay within around two-hundred fifty meters. If you need to speak with me use telepathy, but try to refrain from doing so. We have no idea how sensitive our quarry is to such things."

    Marcus then disappeared from sight as he entered his ghost form.

    His n was to trail behind Miguel and Mrazivy undetected and attempt to locate the wendigo as it tracked them.

    While it may avoid getting close enough to be detected by Miguel and Mrazivy, it was likely to stay just outside the edge of their detection range, where Marcus would be waiting.

    This was the main reason that he did not want anyone else apanying them. Miguel and Mrazivy already knew about his identity as a ghost, and he did not n on spreading that information further.

    If he could have, he would have also brought along Evette who knew as well, but there was no way that would work. Her party would never let her go off alone in such a dangerous environment without them.

    ''Now I just need to hope it does not have an innate ability to sense spirits. If it does, this won''t work, but that is just the risk we are going to need to take.'' Marcus thought as he put some distance between himself and Mrazivy.

    Soon he was walking in step with them about two-hundred fifty meters away just as he intended.

    When he felt that he was at a good distance, he began walking a perimeter around them in order to act like a radar. This way he could pick up on many things outside of their view and give them an earlier warning if necessary. The wendigo was not the only danger out her after all.

    It did not take long for Marcus to catch sight of something tracking Miguel and Mrazivy from outside their range of detection.

    However, it was not the wendigo, but a group of small monkey-like creatures jumping from tree to tree.

    ''Hm, I guess even this ce has someparatively normal beasts. I do think that any of these monkeys are over level thirty.'' Marcus thought as he observed them.

    Form what he could tell these monkeys were following Mrazivy and Miguel out of curiosity rather than hostility.

    He thought about appraising them to see exactly what they were and what kind of abilities they had but decided against doing so. Keeping his presence to an absolute minimum was of the highest importance.

    For a few minutes he kept watch on the monkeys, before they abruptly scattered and ran away in the opposite direction that Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel were heading.

    Bracing himself, Marcus searched for the wendigo, figuring that its presence would most certainly be unnerving enough to send the monkeys running.

    Unfortunately, it either had not caught up to them yet, or was still far enough off that Marcus could not sense it. Instead, he noticed that what the monkeys were fleeing from was another type of predator.

    Dropping down from the trees were long serpents that tried to wrap up Miguel and Mrazivy.

    They had impable stealth abilities since Marcus only noticed them slightly before they attacked, and the same went for Miguel and Mrazivy.

    Still, while they were under attack, Marcus did not intervene. There was no reason for him to.

    ''They work pretty well together.'' He thought, watching the noose pythons get ughtered.

    Miguel used his magic and defensive skills to keep the serpents from doing any damage and Mrazivy used her fast and precise sword skills to cleave through them with ease.

    At some point a giant ck sludge creature joined the fray and began sending out tendrils and dragging the pythons from the trees.

    Quickly Marcus realized that this was one of Miguel''s summons that he had brought out to assist with the battle.

    ''I wonder what that thing is. I''ve never seen a creature like it.''

    This was only the second of Miguel''s summons that Marcus had seen and he was impressed by how powerful it was.

    Naturally a power able to bring out such a creature took its toll though. Marcus had looked more into summoning magic and knew that it required arge chuck of the caster''s mana that could not be recovered while the summoned creature was out.

    Nevertheless, it was a strong and versatile power that allowed Miguel to be adaptable to many different situations. The slime he had summoned seemed almost perfect for dealing with the current threat.

 Chapter 961 First Encounter

    961 Chapter 961 First Encounter

    Once the battle with the noose pythons had finished, Marcus felt a tremble in the air from behind and looked towards the disturbance.

    He was hopeful that the wendigo would havee to check on the disturbance the battle had caused.

    Unfortunately, they were not lucky once again.

    This time around it was a huge monster with four arms, long fangs protruding from its mouth, and deep red skin.

    It had a mostly humanoid like form but the feral look in its eyes showed that it had no intelligence.

    With intense power and speed, it mmed into the ground and began swinging wildly with its firsts towards Mrazivy and Miguel.

    There was a great deal of power behind its every blow, but it was not nearly fast enough to catch Mrazivy or Miguel.

    Soon it was wrapped up in golden chains created by Miguel''s sacred magic, and Mrazivy sliced its head off the second it was restrained.

    ''I am d that they got through that battle easily, but this is starting to get ridiculous.'' Marcus thought as he noticed their next challenger approaching.

    For nearly two hours different types of beasts and monsters assaulted Mrazivy and Miguel until the area of the forest they were in was littered with bodies.

    Luckily none of the creatures that had attacked them were particrly strong, with all the beasts being epic grade or rare grade, and the monsters being around the same quality.

    Still, this wave of monsters and beasts went to show why this ind was too dangerous for an average group to explore. Only people that were close to the peak strength of their level could hope to contend here.

    Thankfully once all of the aggressive creatures in the area had been felled, the foggy forest they found themselves in became quiet once more.

    The one monster they did want to show itself, though, had failed to make an appearance.

    Either the wendigo had not thought this attack as enough to weaken its prey, or it had yet to catch onto them leave the main group.

    Nevertheless, with themotion that Mrazivy and Miguel had just caused, it almost certainly knew where they were now.

    During his time observing the beasts and monsters that swarmed towards Mrazivy and Miguel, Marcus had noticed that their senses were not as inhibited by the fog.

    It seemed that only outsiders were so heavily restricted.

    ''I suppose that I found this out is one good thing that came from this attack.'' Marcus thought as he continued to keep watch on the area.

    Several hours passed by as Miguel and Mrazivy removed the cores and collected samples from the monsters and beasts they had killed.

    While they may have separated from the rest of the expedition squad, they still had their main job to do.

    Eventually the day came to an end and the sun began to set. Darkness swiftly taking over the foggy ind that already blocked a great deal of light.

    During the entire day, Marcus had not found a single trace of the wendigo, but he knew that it was far more likely to strike at night.

    Miguel took first watch just as nned and allowed Mrazivy to get some sleep. As much as Marcus felt bad, she was the main bait to lure their target in.

    Unlike Miguel, Mrazivy was not immune to Wendigo Psychosis and was a prime target when she was unconscious and her most vulnerable.

    He figured that it would start with its howl again before using its nightmare ability to infiltrate her dreams and force her to experience all manner of horrors.

    ''Hopefully we can kill it before Mrazivy has to endure too much.''

    Continuing to walk a perimeter around the camp, Marcus found that their were a few creatures that were staying outside of detection range and watching the camp.

    Some of them were merely curious and looked harmless, but others were definitely dangerous.

    However, none were the target Marcus was looking for so he kept his distance and let them be. If all they wanted to do was observe, then he was not going to intervene and alert the wendigo to his presence.

    Time continued to pass, and Marcus began to think that tonight would be a bust since Mrazivy would soon wake up and take her shift on watch.

    No loud howls had echoed through the area and Marcus wondered it the wendigo had decided to stick to the main group after all.

    Yet as he was making his round, he noticed something that was amiss.

    There had been several creatures constantly watching the camp throughout the night, but now they were all gone.

    An eerie chill was in the air that Marcus had not felt before and the absolute stillness of the forest was unnerving.

    ''It is close.'' Marcus thought despite having no concrete evidence at this point.

    He could feel it instinctually that some terrible monster was nearby. Something strong enough to make the other monsters and beasts run away in fear.

    Even though he was hesitant. Marcus decided to widen his radius farther.

    This would cause him to lose sight of the camp where Miguel and Mrazivy were but felt that he needed to take the risk.

    When he reached about four hundred meters away from the camp, Marcus finally caught sight of his target near the edge of his range of detection.

    Despite trying to remain calm, Marcus could not help shuttering when heid his eyes on the wendigo.

    This was by far one of the most haunting creatures he had ever seen, second only to the eldritch horrors that Teivel had summoned with the grimoire that the administrator had confiscated.

    It stood about twelve feet tall even with therge hunch in its back.

    Drops of blood perpetually dripped from its mouth that was slightly open and revealed three rows of sharp jagged teeth that werepletely ununiform.

    Antlers that had cracks in them that looked like screaming mouths protruded out of its elk-like head.

    Its torso looked like an emaciated man''s with its ribs being easily visible as its lightly furred skin clung tightly to its body.

    Long gangly arms that ended in wed hands that were dyed crimson and were raised up and clinging to the tree it was peeking out from behind.

    And finally, its feet were ckened and leaving soot where it stood.

    Marcus had already imagined what this wendigo would look like, and while it was close, all of its most frightening aspects were enhanced beyond what his mind hade up with.

    For several moments he simply remained frozen in ce, unable to look away from the monster he had been trying to locate.

    Frankly he was afraid that if he lost sight of the wendigo, that it would suddenly appear in front of him and strike him down.

    ''Calm down Marcus. There is no need to be afraid. It is just another monster to deal with.''

    Once his fear had subsided, Marcus more carefully analyzed the wendigo to gauge its capabilities inbat.

    Except, he felt a cold chill run through his soul when he noticed that the wendigo was staring directly at him.

 Chapter 962 The Wendigoâ€™s First Move

    962 Chapter 962 The WendigoˇŻs First Move

    The moment that Marcus realized that the wendigo was looking at where he was, he allowed his mind to go nk and made sure that his eyes were not focused on anything in particr.

    He knew that the wendigo could not actually see him in the normal sense while he was in his ghost form as it would have certainly reacted earlier since he was moving around out in the open.

    What Marcus figured alerted the wendigo to his presence was his unrestrained aversion when he first spotted the monster.

    Most creatures at high levels could sense when any sort of strong emotions were being directed towards them, and Marcus had been too unsettled topletely restrain himself.

    ''I''m just part of the air. I''m just part of the air.'' Marcus chanted in his head.

    His hope was that if he masked his presence again that the wendigo would lose interest in him and go back to whatever it was doing.

    Of course, if Marcus thought he could defeat or restrain it with a hundred percent certainty he would have made his move. Yet one look at the wendigo told him that it was not to be trifled with. If he went all-out, he did not think he would lose, but he also did not think he could beat it. That was just the feeling he got from his instincts.

    Unfortunately, Marcus'' wish did note true, and the wendigo was now noticeably warier. This was not a monster thatcked intelligence but was a cruel and cunning hunter.

    It continued to stare at where Marcus was standing for what felt like an eternity, before it suddenly shed one of its ws into the air in front of it.

    The motion may have seemed pointless at first, but Marcus nearly lost his concentration when he felt several invisible wind des pass through him.

    Thankfully they were not imbued with spiritual energy and continued on their trajectory without causing him any harm. Still had he simply been invisible that attack would have sliced off both of his arms and cut him in half at the waist.

    After looking around and sniffing the air a few times the wendigo decided that whatever it had noticed must have moved on.

    Nevertheless, its hunt had been interrupted and some part of it must have felt that continuing was not in its best interest.

    With a great leap backwards, it disappeared back into the fog and outside of Marcus'' field of perception.

    For several minutes Marcus continued to entirely erase his presence. Just in case the wendigo was still watching the area he was in.

    ''That should be long enough.'' Marcus thought, letting out an internal sigh.

    He thought he had understood what sort of monster they were up against, but this wendigo was more terrifying than he could have imagined.

    However, while it had retreated before he could get Mrazivy and Miguel''s assistance, the encounter had not been entirely fruitless. He had found out quite a bit about this wendigo in the short time it was within his view.

    Knowing that he was not likely to find the wendigo again tonight, turned around and head back towards the camp. He needed to tell Mrazivy and Miguel what he had found out.

    Quickly he made his way back towards where they were and noticed that Mrazivy had just gotten up and was speaking to Miguel.

    At first Marcus thought that they were just having a quick discussion about their shift change, but the serious expression on Mrazivy''s face told him otherwise.

    ''Is something the matter?'' Marcus asked, using his telepathy.

    Socked by the sudden voice in their heads, Mrazivy and Miguel turned towards Marcus who was now within ten meters of them.

    Naturally both Mrazivy and Miguel rxed when they realized it was Marcus who was speaking to them, but each of them had drawn their weapons and were faced towards Marcus.

    ''Yes, the wendigo invaded my dream. Though when I asked Miguel, it sounds like it did not use its howl this time.''

    Hearing Mrazivy''s response, Marcus lost his cool a bit and began bombarding her with questions about her condition. Even though this n was his idea, hearing that his wife had been attacked in her dreams put him on edge. He could not help but be concerned for her.

    ''Calm down Marcus, I am fine. Since I already knew about its ability to mess with my dreams, I was able to resist it for the most part.''

    Mrazivy then exined that while she slept, she began having a vivid dream where she was lost in the woods and low on food.

    She was not alone in this dream, though, but with her were some of her closest family members, plus Miguel.

    ''But you''re saying I wasn''t there?'' Marcus asked, sounding a bit hurt.

    ''No, you weren''t there. The wendigo was trying to instill some sort of cannibalistic hunger in me and force me to attack those I cared about and eat them in the dream. I imagine that Miguel was there as well since he is the only that is actually psychically with me right now. As for why you did not show up, I believe it is because I know that you are not flesh in blood. No matter how strong the illusion the wendigo was trying to present to me in my dreams, there was no way it could make me believe I could eat you. Also, if you were there, I know that you would have saved me. As the dream was being manipted by that monster, it would never allow you to appear even though you''re the person I care about he most.''

    After Mrazivy exined this, she told Marcus how her dream went down.

    Since she quickly figured out that it was the work of the wendigo, she resisted with all her might and tried to break the spell.

    Thanks to her resilience, she managed to go against thepulsion to prey upon those around her to feed the gnawing hunger she was feeling in her dream.

    ''Once I got a handle on the dream, I followed the power connecting me back to the wendigo to its source and found it creeping on the edge of the dream and watching. Its form was very simr to the description you told me about before. Still, I was not ready for how horrifying it was.'' Mrazivy said with a shudder.

    She then told Marcus about how it smiled at her when it noticed her looking at it. The wendigo was not upset that she had fought back against its nightmare ability and was instead happy to have a strong subject to break.

    At least, that was the impression Mrazivy got from it.

    ''Soon after the dream began to dissipate around me, and I woke up. I checked my status afterwards and thankfully found that I had not been hit with Wendigo Psychosis again. However, my sleep was certainly not restful, and I feel a bit fatigued. If this were to go on for several weeks, I am not sure I could hold out.'' Mrazivy said, giving her assessment of the situation.

 Chapter 963 A New Advantage

    Chapter 963 A New Advantage

    ''Got it. Don''t feel like you have to force yourself. The moment you feel like fighting its influence over your dreams has be too much, we will retreat. This expedition is worth far less to me than you are.'' Marcus said to Mrazivy using telepathy.

    ''Of course, I already know that.'' Mrazivy replied, a pleased grin on her face. ''Now you still have not told us about what is that you returned to camp for. I am guessing you must have found our target.''

    ''Ah, that''s right!'' Marcus eximed, recalling why he hade back in the first ce.

    He had gotten a bit sidetracked when Mrazivy mentioned being attacked in her dreams and had lost his initial train of thought.

    Swiftly he exined his encounter with the wendigo and what he figured out about it.

    ''Sounds like we are in for a tough time. I can''t believe none of us thought that the creatures living on this ind might be resistant to the fog''s powers.'' Mrazivy said.

    She had used her dragon eyes to look at the status of every beast and monster they had encountered but did not find any sort of skill or race ability that would allow them to see through the fog better.

    Marcus theorized that perhaps it was an inherent trait that every entity born on the ind received and was not disyed by the system. This was at least the best idea he coulde up with without doing some experiments.

    ''Great. So, all you managed to find out is that we are at a massive disadvantage. I only came along with you guys because I owe Grand Master Valerius and told him I would do everything I could to make this expedition a sess and demonstrate the power the Northern Quadrant of the guild holds. But at this rate we are just going to be one-sidedly attacked until we have to give up. I might be better off hunting down the wendigo on my own.'' Miguel said, expressing his dissatisfaction.

    ''You might want to hold off on making snap decisions. I have simply told you about my findings so far. Not how we are going to use them to our advantage.'' Marcus said, a confident smirk on his face.

    ''I see, that certainly is a reasonable dedication. But I am guessing you have not tried it yet?'' Mrazivy said after Marcus exined his new idea.

    ''No, I came back to report what I found first. But I think it is reasonable to assume it will be sessful.''

    ''Yes, that will probably work. I will give it an attempt as well.'' Miguel said, wearing a contemtive expression.

    Marcus and Mrazivy looked surprised by Miguel''s assertion, as Marcus'' n was to possess a beast or monster from the ind and used their less inhibited senses to track the wendigo over a wider range.

    They had no idea how Miguel nned to replicate this strategy when the was clearly flesh and blood.

    ''My method will not be the exactly the same of course. I will use my summoning magic on one of the creatures on the ind. It may not work, but it is definitely worth a shot.''

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed that Miguel''s idea had some merit.

    While he did not know the exact methods used in summon magic, he did understand that it utilized the core of a monster or beast that the caster personally defeated on their own as its base.

    ''I will need to find a suitable creature on my own and perform the ritual to register it out of sight. This should not take me more than three or four hours. Wait here and I will return once I am sessful. Miguel said using telepathy before turning around and bolting away.

    ''Are you sure we should let him go on his own?'' Mrazivy asked, looking concerned.

    ''No, but we don''t have much of a choice. No way am I leaving you here alone when the wendigo is still out there. Miguel is immune to its curse attacks, and his sacred magic is a perfect counter against it. What I am most worried about is that he will end up swarmed by a bunch of strong monsters and beasts and get overwhelmed. Still, all we can do is believe in him. I''m sure he has at least a few tricks up his sleeve.'' Marcus replied.

    With nothing better to do while they waited, he kept his senses spread out and waited for a suitable possession target to wander into range.

    Luckily it did not take long until a group of the monkey-like beasts that popted the area became curious ande to see what they were up to.

    Naturally they could not see Marcus, and they kept the interested gazes glued on Mrazivy.

    ''That one looks like it is the strongest. Let''s see if this trick works.'' Marcus thought as he floated over towards the tree where the majority of the monkeys were hanging around.

    Unfortunately, he could not ascend like he would normally do, and needed some assistance to bring his target down.

    On his signal, Mrazivyunched a mana imbued sword sh towards the branch and cut it down.

    The monkey that Marcus was targeting along with several others let out rmed screeches as they began to fall.

    An instant after the branch hit the ground the troop of half a dozen monkeys began to scatter and run towards the nearest trees in order to return to higher ground.

    However, before the boss monkey was able to react, Marcus activated his possession ability and jumped into its body.

    The only level thirty-three monkey put up barely any resistance, and Marcus quickly took control of it.

    For a second the monkey he had possessed stood still, before Marcus started moving and fled up a tree as if the monkey was still in control. He wanted to make what had urred look as natural as possible just in case the wendigo was still watching them.

    ''Looks like I was right. I can see much better now.'' Marcus thought, exhrated by the much greater reach of his senses now that he was possessing one of the denizens of the ind.

 Chapter 964 A New Advantage (2)

    Chapter 964 A New Advantage (2)

    Through the eyes of the monkey-like beast he was possessing, Marcus could see far better than he had before.

    The fog''s power to inhibit senses had notpletely disappeared, but it was much weaker.

    Now Marcus could see nearly a kilometer around himself, and all of his detection abilities could reach just as far.

    This was a massive increase in his effective detection range and would allow him to better locate any targets on the ind.

    ''It doesn''t seem that the wendigo is within even my increased detection range. I suppose it must be hiding out somewhere a bit farther away. It has always attacked us during the night, so I bet it will keep away from us during the day. We will just have to wait until it shows itself again.''

    With nothing better to do, Marcus hoped from tree to tree and scouted out the entire perimeter around where Mrazivy was waiting.

    Naturally he made sure to always keep her in view, just in case the wendigo made a move since it appeared she was alone.

    As he checked the area, he found it far easier to locate areas that possessed valuable resources, as well as the beasts and monsters that had staked their ims on the territory around these resources.

    While Marcus was tempted to go around collecting the treasure trove of items he spotted, he restrained himself and kept his full attention on watching his surroundings. They were dealing with a crafty enemy that required him to always be on his guard.

    ''Mraz, can you hear me?'' Marcus said over telepathy.

    Once he had finished scouting the area, he decided to test out his skills and see if there was any interference now that he was farther away.

    ''Yeah, you areing in clearly. I can''t detect where you are though. Are you over three hundred meters away from me?'' Mrazivy responded.

    Normally when two or more individuals connected with telepathy they could pinpoint each other''s locations, but right now Mrazivy only got a vague sense of direction Marcus was in.

    Marcus affirmed that he was currently about five hundred meters away from her and that despite her not being able to see him, they could speak using telepathy without any issues.

    He then went around cing Dark Portals in a multitude of strategic spots in case he needed to quickly warp around the area.

    ''Looks like I can connect to any portal I create on the ind. I can still feel the link to the one I created at the camp where the rest of the expedition squad is.''

    Marcus could not help but smile at this discovery. The ind may have been dangerous and difficult to traverse, but once he found an area that was valuable, he could simply leave a Dark Portal there and return at any time.

    For the next several hours Marcus went around testing out his abilities and familiarizing himself with their surroundings until Miguel finally came back.

    ''Oh, it looks like he was sessful. And he certainly came back with an interesting creature.''

    Never before had Marcus seen a creature like this, but he could tell at a nce it was strong.

    Sitting on Miguel''s shoulders with its head held up high as it kept watch on the surroundings was a creature that somewhat resembled a ferret.

    However, the coloration of its fur was that of pure gold, and it had an extra set of legs for a total of eight.

    Its size was also about three times that of a normal ferret''s, being a bit longer than three feet in length.

    ''Judging by the way he has it acting as a lookout for him, I am guessing that his idea to use a local beast for one of his summons worked.'' Marcus thought as he watched Miguel.

    It did not take long for him to realize that he was correct in his assumption, when from outside the range that Miguel should have been able to perceive him, the beast resting on his shoulders turned its head directly towards where he was sitting on a tree branch.

    Miguel abruptly turned a momentter and when he was within three hundred meters Marcus began waving at him with the body of the monkey-like beast he was possessing.

    ''I am guessing that must be you, Marcus.'' Miguel said using his telepathy.

    ''Yup, I decided to use one of the monkeys that live in the trees here. My n worked and I can now use its senses to perceive much farther than before. And I can see that you were sessful as well. What manner of beast is that? For being rtively small it seems to be pretty powerful.'' Marcus said, his interesting clear to see.

    Nevertheless, Miguel was reluctant to answer. He still had problems trusting people and wanted to keep as many of his powers hidden as possible.

    That included what kind of beast he had just turned into one of his summons and the abilities it possessed.

    In the end though, he sighed and decided to tell Marcus. Miguel could see that his expression only held innocent curiosity.

    ''It is a legendary grade beast called an Aurumvorax that is level seventy-two. I found its home about forty kilometers from here. It had set up an intricate tunnel system in a small mountain that was rich with gold deposits that it was eating. Capturing it was difficult, but I managed to lure it out byying out a mound of gold coins. Now that I have it, I can use its vision and acute sense of smell to keep track of a much greater area than my own senses can perceive'' Miguel said proudly.

    Despite his insistence that he did not want anything to do with anyone, once he got talking about his own achievements, he became less cautious and began speaking to Marcus more normally.

    Slowly but surely, Miguel was bing morefortable around Marcus, another reason he had wanted to bring Miguel along on this wendigo hunt.

 Chapter 965 965

    ?

    Now that both Marcus and Miguel had ways to inhibit the restrictions of the fog that permeated the entire ind, they returned to where Mrazivy had been waiting for them.

    When they arrived, Miguel exined about his new summon and how it could alert him to threats beyond his own senses.

    "That is great. This fog has certainly been annoying. I am d that we brought you along Miguel. Would you care to join me and enjoy some tea and pastries?" Mrazivy said.

    While Marcus and Miguel had been busy finding a way to ovee the fog barrier limiting their senses, Mrazivy had sat down at an elegant table and been enjoying some tea and sweets while reading.

    From an outside perspective this might have seemed like she waszing away, but her main job was to act as bait for the wendigo. Keeping her mental state clear and rxed was important tobating the psychological attacks the monster employed.

    "No, I need to keep on guard." Miguel said bashfully, turning his head to the side.

    Seeing this Mrazivy could not help smiling in amusement, since she could tell that Miguel actually did want to partake.

    "I see, perhaps none of these are to your liking. I happen to have something a bit special that Marcus made that he says was quite popr back on your original world."

    Opening up her item box, Mrazivy pulled out a small freezer magic tool and opened it up.

    Inside were several assortments of ice creams that Marcus had personally made for her and likely could not be found anywhere else on Mirrion.

    As someone from Earth, Miguel immediately recognized what Mrazivy had just brought out and could not help but stare at it like he was hypnotized.

    There were some ces that served creations close to ice cream, but their vors were normally pretty basic and unrefined. What Mrazivy was showing to Miguel looked remarkably like what could be found at dedicated ice cream shops back on Earth.

    "It is fine to keep vignte, but you should unwind a bit when you have the chance. The sun is still up so the wendigo is unlikely to attack us right now. Take a load off and rx while you can. Otherwise, you are going to build up stress and slip when it is most important." Mrazivy said, as she served herself a scoop of ice cream.

    Miguel''s gaze followed Mrazivy''s hand, and his reluctance began to crumble.

    "Very well. I will take you up on your hospitality. I suppose that my Aurumvorax will alert me if any dangers approach."

    After being swayed by Mrazivy, Miguel enthusiastically sat down and began scooping some chocte ice cream into a bowl.

    Soon the guarded expression faded away from his face as he indulged in a sweet he had not eaten once since he had been reborn on Mirrion.

    ''I know it might be a bit underhanded, but it looks like my n to lower his walls with familiar food is working.'' Marcus thought as he watched from above in one of therge trees that dotted the area.

    It might have been a devious strategy on Marcus'' part; however, he did not have any intention of harming Miguel.

    He knew that Miguel had been burned in the past and was only as guarded as he was because of several bad experiences with people betraying him.

    Of course, Marcus'' motives could not be considered wholly altruistic.

    Miguel was certainly powerful, and Marcus would not mind counting him among his allies. His rare types of magic were especially worth having around.

    His sacred magic in particr was going to be of the upmost importance against their current enemy. One look was all it took for Marcus to understand that this wendigo was a dangers and slippery opponent. Keeping it from escaping was paramount. If their first attack failed it would certainlye at them far more cautiously.

    ''It looks like the sun is beginning to set. Time to take up my position.''

    Leaping from tree to tree, Marcus headed out to the edge of his new perception range to the point where he could barely see the camp where Mrazivy and Miguel were.

    On the other side of the camp, nearly two kilometers away from him, Miguel''s new summon took up its post. With it working together in tandem with Marcus they could keep watch over a farrger space than before. A massive improvement from what Marcus could aplish alone the day before

    Once the sun had fully set and the ind was wreathed in darkness, Marcus began his route around the area. He now was only moving in a half circle and leaving the other half to Miguel''s Aurumvorax.

    Still, even with their improved search radius, Marcus did not catch any sign of the wendigo after several hours.

    It was not long until the time was nearing when it had attacked the day before, but Marcus had yet to find it, nor had he received the agreed upon signal from Miguel if his summon were to locate it.

    ''Everything is still safe at the camp. Is it not going to make an appearance tonight?'' Marcus thought, getting impatient.

    Nevertheless, while he could not see it or detect it with any of his skills or senses, he had a gut feeling that the wendigo was skulking around.

    He could tell that it was a persistent monster that would not easily give up someone it had marked as prey.

    ''I can tell that it is here. But where?''

    As he continued to search Marcus quickly found himself in an area with an unnatural chill to it and that waspletely devoid of the subtle noise of the forest. Like everything had gone still from fear.

    This is how he had known the wendigo was near the night before, but this time he could not see it anywhere or sense its presence.

    He could even feel the dormant soul of the monkey-like beast he was possessing beginning to offer far greater resistance than before. It could sense the terror that the wendigo''s very existence exuded and wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

 Chapter 966 966 Battle Against The Wendigo

    ?

    ''Sorry, but I can''t let you go just yet.'' Marcus thought, quashing the renewed resistance of the beast he was possessing.

    At barely over level thirty, the poor creature was unable to cast Marcus'' possession off, and even its intense fear was not enough to loosen Marcus'' hold over it.

    Nevertheless, the slight struggle it gave attracted the attention of something, And Marcus felt an intense gaze looking at him.

    At once he knew that the wendigo had noticed him, or more precisely the monkey-like beast that he was possessing. Whether it thought he was anything more than the beast he was controlling was still unknown.

    ''Where is it though? If it can see me, I should be able to see it.''

    However, his attempts to find the wendigo bore no fruit. He could tell that it was looking directly at him, but its presence felt immaterial.

    No matter where he focused his gaze, all he could see was the unchangingndscape, and the ever-present fog.

    Marcus could feel his nerves fraying, as if at any moment the wendigo would appear right behind him.

    Then suddenly, he no longer felt like he was being watched. The wendigo either lost interest or was moving away because it thought Marcus was a threat.

    ''It has to be here somewhere. I just need to focus and find it.''

    Looking around more intently, Marcus stopped trying to specifically find the wendigo and instead looked for any sort of movement.

    He did not know exactly what sort of powers it might possess and was beginning to believe that it might be invisible or perhaps even capable of shapeshifting.

    Still, it was definitely the only other entity in the area as everything else was instinctually afraid of it as Marcus had already experienced himself.

    Staying vignt, Marcus soon caught sight of some movement.

    At first, he thought that it was just the fog being blown around by the wind, but as he observed the entire area, he noticed that only this one patch of fog was moving.

    ''Is it able to move the ind''s fog around itself to create cover? No, I would still be able to feel its physical form then. Don''t tell me that it can actually turn into fog!''

    Realizing what the wendigo''s power was, Marcus could not help but feel that it was wildly unfair on this ind that was perpetually covered in fog. Had he continued only searching for the wendigo, he never would have noticed that it had transformed into a gaseous form.

    Its movement was not fast by any means, but Marcus was unsure if this was a limitation it had or if it was trying to stay better camouged with the natural fog.

    Either way, he could not just keep observing it, as it was creeping closer towards the camp where Mrazivy and Miguel were waiting.

    ''Miguel, I have spotted the wendigo. It is using some sort of ability to turn into fog that makes it difficult to notice. Come to my position and stick with the n. Your sacred magic may be the only thing that can lock it down.'' Marcus said with telepathy.

    The moment he did, the wendigo noticed the mana emitted by the skill and looked back towards Marcus, who it had earlier written off as a dumb monkey.

    ''Inferno cage.''

    Knowing he had been found out, Marcus wasted no time in beginning his attack.

    Originally, he had been nning to use his iron magic to hold the wendigo down until Miguel could arrive, but its gaseous form meant he needed to improvise.

    Of all of his magic skills he deduced that fire would be the best to use to restrain the wendigo even if it was currently made out of fog.

    And to his surprise, the fire magic was more effective than he had anticipated.

    Dozens of pirs of me burst up from the ground and surrounded the wendigo, causing immense heat to wash over the previously chilly area.

    A pained cry followed as the wendigo resolidified, unable to retain its gaseous form when in the close proximity to fire.

    ''I guess it has a weakness to fire. That is good news for me.'' Marcus thought with a smirk.

    With a raised hand he prepared his next spell and the form of a ming bird formed above him.

    ''Phoenix fire.''

    Marcus flicked his wrist and the tier seven fire magic spell burst forwards and threatened to incinerate the wendigo.

    Seeing how well his surprise attack was going, Marcus wondered if he had been too cautious and overestimated this wendigo. Perhaps its horrific features and unsettling presence had simply made it seem more powerful than it really was.

    However, Marcus'' sudden confidence was quickly proven to be wrong.

    With a savage roar, the wendigo released a noxious wind from its mouth that smelled like rotting flesh.

    When the wind reached Marcus'' fire magic it lost its power and was smothered until flickering out.

    All at once his attack and the magic restrained the wendigo had vanished and Marcus was left facing down a livid monster.

    He felt his soul shuddering as he felt the wendigo''s rage directed towards him, but the tactical part of his brain kept him focused. If he were to falter here, he would lose the initiative and the wendigo could easily escape.

    Leaning forward and pressing his feet against the branch he was on, Marcus pushed off andunched himself directly at the wendigo.

    As he closed in he could see that his enemy had reared back and was preparing to sh through him with its ws. Surely the small monkey-like beast he was possessing would be sliced to ribbons easily by a single swipe.

    Yet, just before Marcus was in range, he unpossessed the beast he had been using and kicked it behind him.

    This spared the money-like beasts'' life and left Marcus in an advantageous position.

    The wendigo had been prepared for a small target that was no threat to it physically, when suddenly Marcus appeared, his scythe held above him and ready toe down upon the wendigo.

 Chapter 967 967 Battle Against The Wendigo (2)

    ?

    As Marcus brought his scythe down on the wendigo his body was engulfed in a deep darkness and a blinding light that merged together harmoniously in a way that should have been impossible for two opposing forces.

    Against an enemy that was this powerful and enigmatic, he was not going to hold anything back and immediately used his Supreme Skill, Embodiment of Eclipse, Dark Form to greatly bolster his abilities.

    "Vorpal Fang!"

    For the finishing touch he used one of his strongest attack skills and swung with all his might.

    In a sh far faster than Marcus had expected, the wendigo struck out with its long gangly arms that ended in razor sharp ws.

    The wendigo''s attackcked the same amount of force as Marcus''. But its prioritization on speed meant that its ws reached first.

    Yet, instead of tearing into Marcus, or at least pushing him back, they passed right through him harmlessly as he made part of his body intangible.

    An instantter, Marcus'' scythe came down on the wendigo''s neck and took its head clean off.

    With a sickly sound the wendigo''s horrifying head fell of its body and copsed to the ground. A small puddle of blood forming under it.

    For a moment Marcus stared at the limp body of the terror of a monster he had just beheaded. Frankly he was not expecting it to be so easy.

    Nevertheless, he did not let his guard down and raised his left hand above his head and prepared to use a powerful fire magic spell to incinerate the body just in case.

    ''zegram''s Forge.''

    The image of a furnace createdpletely out of mes appeared above the body of the wendigo and opened up to resale a torrent of intense fire.

    Except, before the mes reached the wendigo its head and body burst into fog.

    At an incredible speed the fog rushed away from the mes and the wendigo reformed several meters away from Marcus and began making a run for it.

    ''Shit.'' Marcus thought as the wendigo got farther away.

    Now that he was no longer possessing the body of the monkey-like beast native to this ind his detection range was limited to only three hundred meters again, and if the wendigo went past this range, he would not be able to find it again.

    Quickly he switched his Embodiment of Eclipse from Dark Form that focused on power and toughness over to Light Form that focused on speed and magic.

    Then as he took off after the wendigo, he stuck out his hand with his index finger pointed at the wendigo and fired off his tier fourser spell.

    It was the fastest attack he couldunch and easily caught up to the wendigo.

    The beam of light shot right through its head, but the monster barely even staggered. The hole in its head resealing nearly instantly.

    ''Damn, its fast!'' Marcus thought as he pursued it.

    In terms of pure speed Marcus was actually a bit ahead of it, but this was the environment it lived in, and it was able to move around far more deftly than Marcus. Plus, its senses were not hindered to the degree that Marcus'' senses were, and it was using the terrain to its advantage.

    Several times Marcus had wanted to use his Lightspeed Movement unique skill to reach the wendigo in practically an instant, but the monster was often darting between tree orrge rocks that made it impossible for Marcus to lock in his destination before using his unique skill.

    If they were anywhere else, he would not have been struggling to this degree. Unfortunately, he did not have the home field advantage like the wendigo did.

    Nevertheless, Marcus did have one major edge over the wendigo, he was not alone.

    "Blest Bindings."

    Bursting out of the underbrush in the direction that the wendigo had been heading. Miguel cast his tier six sacred magic spell.

    Seven golden chains flew out of his outstretched hand and began wrapping around the wendigo.

    The instant the fiendish monster saw the chains it attempted to burst into fog.

    However, even in its immaterial form it could not escape. Sacred magic was meant for protection, halting violence, or binding evil creatures. And wendigos were one of the foulest existences in the world. It never could hope to avoid sacred magic simply by turning into fog.

    As the golden chains wrapped around the fog, the wendigo was forced back into tis normal form and was fully immobilized.

    In fact, despite sacred magic being known for having no offensive applications, the golden chains caused the wendigo''s flesh to steam as if it was being burned by acid.

    It was an entity that''s entire purpose was to bring misery and pain in one of the most horrible ways imaginable. The purity of sacred magic was basically a poison to it.

    ''Wow, I haven''t seen this kind of reaction since I fought against Teval and he summoned those eldritch monsters from another dimension.'' Marcus thought, surprised to see just how effective sacred magic was against the wendigo.

    He figured that it would be effective at keeping it from running away, but he had not expected it to actually damage the monster.

    For a second, he even entertained the idea that it was not a being that was supposed to exist on Mirrion just like the horrors that Teval had summoned.

    Though he swiftly realized that this could not be the case. The beings that Teval had brought forth with that mysterious grimoire were not registered with the system that governed Mirrion, while the wendigo clearly was based on how Wendigo Psychosis was a status condition that could clearly be viewed in anyone''s status.

    ''I suppose that sacred magic is more powerful than I realized. I wonder if it works the same way against demons?'' Marcus thought as he watched the wendigo struggle to break free.

    Eventually the wendigo wentpletely still, and Marcus thought it might be close to death.

    That was when it raised its head up high, and a sickening gurgling sound emanated from its throat.

 Chapter 968 Battle Against the Wendigo (3)

    968 Chapter 968 Battle Against the Wendigo (3)

    The repugnant sounding from the wendigo''s throat grew louder and louder until a fountain of blood erupted from its mouth.

    At first Marcus was unsure if this was some form of attack, or if the wendigo was simply meeting its end.

    However, as the cursed blood poured over its body, the seven golden chains created by Miguel''s sacred magic began to crack.

    "I can''t hold it!" Miguel shouted, trying with all his might to reinforce his magic.

    Though even with his best effort, he could not keep his spell from dissipating, and the wendigo''s blood degraded the magic until it shattered.

    A resounding noise echoed through the area as the sacred chains broke apart. Releasing the wendigo.

    ''Meteoric Inferno.''

    Once Miguel''s sacred magic had failed, Marcus swung down with his raised hand and brought down the tier eight fire magic spell he had been preparing.

    From the high in the sky, a gargantuan ball of fire began falling down on their position, centered on the wendigo.

    So far Marcus had been holding off on usingrge spells, but it was clear now that he could not worry about coteral damage during this fight.

    At the same time as he cast his fire magic, Marcus threw his scythe towards the wendigo and ordered it to attack while he ran towards Miguel.

    His tier eight spell was going to cover a massive area and Miguel was currently well within its range.

    "Miguel,yer your barriers under my own! We are going to have to endure my magic!" Macus said, ensuring that his tone conveyed the urgency of the situation.

    For a single second Miguel stared at Marcus nkly, too many thoughts having been rushing through his head to act instantly.

    When Marcus first cast the spell, Miguel had immediately believed that he was being thrown away and that Marcus did not care that he was about to be caught up in his magic.

    Yet an instantter, Marcus had appeared next to him and was preparing to protect him.

    Doubts rushed into Miguel''s mind, wondering if this was some sort of trap. He had been betrayed in the past and was unsure if he could trust Marcus here.

    Nevertheless, despite his bad past experiences, he could not deny that he had enjoyed Marcus'' and Mrazivy''spanionship during this expedition. He wanted to believe that they were genuinely good people and not trying to use him just to throw him away in the end.

    So, while it might have been out of character, he trusted Marcus and lined up his own defensive skills and magic to protect both of them rather than focusing just on himself.

    It was only a couple secondster that Marcus'' spell fell down on top of them and exploded upon impact with the ground.

    The sphere that was around a kilometer in diameter burst apart and mes hotter than the surface of the sun spread out and consumed everything in the area.

    Marcus'' and Miguel''s vision was filled with the bright light of the mes as they raged around the multyered barrier that was defending them.

    Cracks began to form on their first line of defense which was Marcus'' radiant scales spell.

    Soon the intense heat from his meteoric inferno spell overwhelmed his defensive magic.

    After his radiant scales spell failed, Marcus felt the pressure up against his mana barrier.

    His own attack proved to be stronger than his defenses and Marcus'' mana barrier shattered apart before the mes died down.

    Thankfully, Miguel had cast his own magic and was maintaining his own mana barrier that held out against the power of Marcus'' tier eight spell.

    When the intense fire died down, the entirendscape was ckened and most of the nt life was reduced to ash.

    All of the once mighty trees that stood in the area were missing their leaves and limbs, with their trunks now looking like charcoal.

    Still, the fact that they remained standing at all went to show just how tough they were. Any normal trees would have beenpletely burned away.

    ''Did that get it?'' Marcus thought as he scanned the area.

    He knew where the wendigo had been just before his magic hit since his scythe had been autonomously attacking it.

    Yet, when he finally caught sight of the monster, he was stunned to see the condition it was in.

    Despite having an acute weakness to fire, the tier eight spell had only left it covered in mostly shallow burns.

    Some areas of its body were dark and deeply burned, but all of its vital areas were only slightly singed.

    Marcus could not believe how resilient the wendigo was. He had just dropped the equivalent of a small nuclear bomb on it and the monster had not suffered any major wounds.

    Still, at least its burns did not appear to be healing as rapidly as the earlier injuries Marcus had inflicted on it.

    When he had cut off its head, it had simply turned into fog and reformed like nothing had happened, but it clearly could not do the same with damage caused by fire or Miguel''s sacred magic.

    Marcus recalled his scythe to him and immediately received a relocation of how the wendigo had defended itself.

    Before the meteoric inferno spell impacted, the wendigo had let out another roar of noxious wind and covered itself in its own blood as a means of protection.

    ''It must be at least a bit tired after all of that. If we strike now, we should be able to take it out.''

    Rushing towards the wendigo, Marcus enchanted his scythe with fire magic. He was not going to let it take his shes lightly this time.

    Following Marcus'' lead, Miguel circled around the wendigo and created several walls with his sacred magic to block off its escape routes.

    With a flurry of shes, Marcus kept after the wendigo and kept it on the defensive.

    Each of his attacks forced it to either dodge or block, and none of its strikes could reach Marcus as he would simply go ethereal and let them pass through him.

    Thankfully the wendigo was unable to utilize spiritual energy and its psychic attacks that could inflict curses werepletely ineffective due to Marcus'' Still Mind unique skill.

    Eventually the wendigo realized it could not harm Marcus and turned towards Miguel. His sacred magic may have been dangerous, but at least Miguel was corporal and could be hit.

    Unfortunately, just because Miguel could notpletely nullify the wendigo''s attacks did not mean he was ill prepared to fight it.

    His amethros sword gleamed with a golden aura and the wendigo winced whenever it so much as grazed it.

    Now that they had it pinned down, Marcus and Miguel were proving to be the bane of the wendigo''s exitance. Both of them had abilities that were incredibly effective against the monster.

    In ast-ditch effort, it shook its head from side to side and sent a shower of its cursed blood over the area.

    Then when Marcus and Miguel defend themselves, it turned into fog and attempted to flee.

    While it was a monster that was strong in close quarters battles, its true proficiencyy in slowly wearing down its prey from afar with its curses. Fighting head-to-head against disadvantageous opponents was not its style.

    Yet, as it thought it would escape since no attacks had caught up to it, the wendigo quickly found out why neither Marcus nor Miguel had pursued it.

    A st of cold energy that rapidly turned into ice engulfed the wendigo as it reached around two hundred fifty meters away from Marcus and Miguel.

    Even in its gaseous form it could not move when encased in ice and needed to be physical again to break free.

    The ice cracked with ease under its monstrous strength and the wendigo was free again without a scratch on it. Fire may have been its major weakness, but ice was rtively ineffective against it.

    Still, Mrazivy''s magic had done its job and halted the wendigo''s retreat and forced it out of its gaseous form.

    In a sh of light, the wendigo''s legs flew off from its body and it fell to the ground.

    "I have been looking forward to this. You can''t control everything out in the real world and my de can finally reach you." Mrazivy said, standing behind the wendigo with her sword raised above its head.

    With another sh, she cut it in half, from the top of its head, down to the bottom of its torso.

    Once again, a normally fatal did not prove enough to kill the wendigo and it turned into fog and put itself back together.

    This time, however, it was clearly haggard and running out of energy. Clearly it could not recover from fatal wounds indefinitely.

    As ast desperate attempt to escape, the wendigo let out a horrifying roar and spread out its terrifying presence in an attempt to frighten Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel.

    Unfortunately for the wendigo, it was not nearly as scary now that it was beaten down and on itsst legs.

    Showing no hesitation, Miguel cast his blest binding spell again and wrapped up the wendigo with seven golden chains.

    "Would you like to do the honors, Mraz? You had to put up with the most in order for us to bring this monster down." Marcus said.

    "No, you go ahead. I am already satisfied with what I have done. Your magic will be more effective at finishing the job anyway." Mrazivy replied, deferring to Marcus.

    \

    Nodding his head, Marcus held his hand out and channeled mana into it to cast a spell.

    ''zegram''s Furnace.''

 Chapter 969 Return to the Expedition Squad

    969 Chapter 969 Return to the Expedition Squad

    A stream of intense mes erupted from Marcus'' tier five fire magic spell and engulfed the wendigo.

    Bound, beaten, and basically out of energy, the terrifying monster found it impossible to resist its natural weakness.

    In contrast to its earlier resilience, the wendigo easily caught fire this time and burned better than any wood Marcus had ever used.

    It took only a few seconds before all that remained were a pair of ghastly horns and a gleaming magic core.

    ''Those must be our spoils for the fight.'' Marcus thought, looking at what remained of the wendigo.

    With one look he could tell that its horns and magic core were high quality materials.

    Nevertheless, he hesitated to collect them gleefully as he normally would have done after vanquishing a powerful foe.

    Wendigos were malevolent entities, and he did not know what sort of effect using its materials might have in the creation of magic items.

    "So, how are we going to split these?" Miguel asked, hesitating to take the items as well.

    Though his hesitancy was due tock of experience splitting loot when fighting in a party. Thest time he had truly teamed up with anyone they had tried to kill him in order to steal his stuff.

    "I think it might be best if we store the core and antlers away. Sometimes the personalities of strong monsters remain in their remains even after death. Until we can determine if this holds true for this wendigo, we should be careful." Marcus said, wearing a grave expression.

    He knew firsthand how monster''s wills could linger, especially in their magic cores. The Dread Devour''s instincts still remained in his scythe, and if he had not bound part of his soul to it which gave him control over it, the weapon likely would go around killing everything in its path.

    "That''s fine. You can keep it all if you want. I don''t want to end up with cursed items." Miguel replied.

    "Thanks. I will make sure to make it up to you. If you want some materials of equal quality or want me to make you something, feel free to ask."

    With their decision made on how to handle the wendigo''s materials, Marcus stored the core and antlers into his item box and nned to analyze them more closely once theypleted the expedition.

    "Well, we have finished up our hunt. Let''s return to the rest of the squad. I am sure they will be happy to hear that our stalker is gone." Mrazivy said, relief on her face.

    She was grateful she would not have to deal with any more dreams where the wendigo tried to warp her mind.

    Their missionplete, the three of them packed up their camp and headed back towards the rest of the expedition squad. So long as things had stayed the same, they would be waiting where the adamantine ore vein was and mining the valuable material.

    "It should be this way." Mrazivy said, a smallpass in her hand.

    This was a magic device that always pointed towards a beacon it was locked onto and was how the expedition squad was marking areas where useful resources could be found. Thankfully this type of magic still worked even on this ind, or the ce would be far more difficult to navigate.

    After just a couple days of leisurely travel, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel returned to the adamantine ore deposit and found that everything was pretty much exactly as it had been when they left.

    Just a couple moments into them walking within the perimeter of the camp, arge shadow descend down on them.

    "You''re all back. Did you manage to get rid of that wendigo? Also, did you encounter anything else interesting while you were gone? And Miguel, what is that adorable creature sitting on your shoulders?"

    Havingnded in front of them without warning, Fianna, the leader of Intrepid, the party from the Southern Quadrant, bombarded them with questions.

    "Yeah, we took care of it. As for your other questions, we will answer them in front of the entire expedition squad. No need to have to repeat ourselves multiple times." Mrazivy responded.

    "Okay, then what are we waiting for. Everyone has been antsy since you left and could use the good news." Fianna said, turning around and skittering towards the center of the camp. Her eight legs allowing her impressive agility.

    Following behind, Marcus, Mrazivy and Miguel rushed into the camp where the members of the expedition squad were arriving due to themotion.

    Once everyone had gathered, Mrazivy and Marcus began retelling their encounters with the wendigo. Though they made sure to omit Marcus using his ghostly abilities for scouting and to get the drop on their target.

    "From here on out, we will not have to worry about that monster attacking us in the night." Mrazivy said after finishing their report.

    However, while most everyone looked relieved and congratted them on a job well done, Cassius stepped forward with a concerned look.

    "Yes, you defeated that damnable monster, but what is to say that another one will not appear tomorrow. If we are constantly hounded by them, we will never make any progress."

    "Yes, that is true, but I do not think we have to worry about that. From what I know, wendigos do not like other members of their own kind and typically stay far away from each other. There may be more on the ind, but not anywhere around here. If we do run into another er, we now better understand its abilities and means of attack. We simply will need to deal with he next one should it appear." Marcus said, wearing a confident grin.

    Cassius looked a bit skeptical at Marcus'' confidence, he and Mrazivy were the only ones iming to know anything about his monster from reading about it in Borealia''s royal archive.

    Of course, Marcus'' knowledge about wendigos actually came from lore and fiction from Earth, but he was not about to tell everyone that.

    "Well, all is well that ends well. It is as Marcus said, we just need to be ready for the next threat when it arrives. But let us not bee too absorbed in only one monster. There are plenty of other strong creatures on this ind for us to worry about." Evette said, bring an end to the topic.

    "Now let us have a meeting of leaders. We have been mostly stagnant for thest few days and only made progress on mining the adamantine ore that is here. It is time that we discuss our next move."

    Evette then looked towards Mrazivy, Fianna, and Cassius for conformation. Each of them nodded and the leaders from each quadrant began to head off towards arge  for their discussion.

    But before they got far, Marcus stopped them as he had a question.

    "Before you all go, would it be fine for me to refine the adamantine ore that has been collected? I have the necessary equipment to smelt it into bars."

    The four leaders quickly talked about it among themselves before Fianna responded to Marcus.

    "Sure, go ahead and do that. Speak with Ashton, he has ben in charge of the mining and will be the best to assist you."

    After that, the four leaders continued on their way, and the man with obsidian skin that was part of Fianna''s party approached Marcus.

    "You certainly seem to be equipped for everything. I am surprised that you have the specialized equipment needed for smelting adamantine. Still, refining the ore will help us a lot. Without anything else to do while we waited, we may have gotten a bit overzealous with the mining." Ashton said, a smile on his face.

    He and Marcus made small talk along the way until they reached the area where the adamantine ore had been stored.

    "You were not kidding. This must be several thousand kilograms of ore." Marcus said, impressed.

    Still, he was cable of refining it all, and would be able to get quite a few bars of adamantine from all this ore. It almost made him feel that it was pointless to have purchased so many bars from the adventurers guild beforeing to the ind.

    Opening his item box, Marcus took out several intricate pieces of equipment, that would make most ore refineries in the world jealous. Thanks to his connections and resources, he had procured only the best.

    ''And a little fire magic to get things heating up.''

    With the flick of his wrist, Marcus lit up the furnace and rapidly increased the temperature within until it was hot enough to melt away everything but the adamantine within the ore.

    "Here, let me help. My family actually runs a forge in my home country, so I am ustomed to working with ore and metals." Ashton said, lifting up a massive chuck of ore to show off his usefulness.

    Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus epted the help and the two of them went to work on processing the ore into bars.

    By the time they were done, the nearly twelve thousand kilograms of ore had been turned into around four hundred kilograms of pure adamantine. This had only made eight bars of adamantine, but for such a rare metal this was an astounding amount to gather so quickly. Plus, the vein still had plenty more to give in the future.

    "Good work. I hope you are ready for your next assignment.'' Mrazivy said, approaching Marcus now that he was finished.

    "There is already more for me to do. You sound like a ve driver." Marcus responded, a teasing smirk on his face.

    "Unfortunately, you are the only one with the skillset required for a job of upmost importance. We have decided to celebrate our victory over the wendigo, and I promised we would break out our best food and drink."

 Chapter 970 970 The Great Lake

    Chapter 970  970 The Great Lake

    "This certainly poses a problem." Marcus mumbled under his breath.

    After their sess in ying the wendigo, the expedition squad had continued their journey without much issue, but after around a week of exploration, they found their path towards the center of the ind blocked by a massiveke.

    In front of them was an endless sheet of blue that epassed everything going forward.

    Even using Miguel''s summoned Aurumvorax that could perceive farther than anyone else thanks to having originated on the ind could only see theke spreading out before them.

    "Mraz, do you think you could make us a road?" Marcus asked.

    "Yeah, I could do it, but we have no idea how wide thiske is. Multiple days with only ice as our solid ground could prove dangerous. I am sure all manner of monsters and magical beasts reside in thiske." Mrazivy said, looking out at the water that became too deep to see the bottom of about two hundred meters out.

    With a decision needing to be made about whether they would proceed along the shore or cut through theke, Mrazivy went to gather the other leaders to n.

    While waiting, Marcus moved tot eh shore of theke and stuck his hand in it.

    ''As I thought, there is no life other than nts within the range of my senses.''

    Along the floor of theke Marcus could see plenty of grasses growing, but he did not sense a single fish, crustaceans, or other type of creature that normally lived within water.

    Marcus could only think of a few reasons for theck of life, and none of them were particrly good.

    Conducting a few more tests Marcus found that his boots still worked perfectly fine and allowed him to stand atop the water like it was solid ground.

    ''Okay, I should be fine even if I end up in the water. Some of the others might have some difficulties though.'' Marcus thought looking back at the expedition squad.

    Some of the members would have difficulties swimming due to the physical characteristics of their bodies.

    The members of Fianna''s party in particr would have a difficult time in the water.

    Having the lower half of a spider, Fianna herself would not be able to swim particrly gracefully.

    Then there were the two giant twins Fenmaer and Per who had dense bones that caused them difficulty staying afloat.

    However, the member of their party that did the worst in water was Ashton. As his body wasposed of rock, he would sink to the bottom without being able to maneuver much at all.

    Marcus could even hear Fianna loudly making these points as she made her case to avoid going across theke.

    This would not be like when they first arrived on the ind and needed to travel a distance from the middle of the ocean to the shoreline of the ind.

    They had no idea what lurked in these waters nor the distance that they would need to travel to reach the other side. Theke could be just a couple kilometers, or it could be several hundreds.

    Marcus could easily recall Antim Lake in Aezam that had been truly massive to the point of looking like an ocean, and even on Earth, Lake Superior at its widest point was well over two hundred kilometers across.

    ''Looks like they''re done. Though all of us already know the decision they came to.'' Marcus thought as Mrazivy returned to their group.

    Naturally, with each member of the expedition being high-level adventurers, their hearing was far superior to normal people. It had been easy enough to listen in on the heated arguments that the four leaders had presented.

    "Looks like we will be counting on you. I''ll make sure to support you in any way I can." Marcus said to Mrazivy upon her return.

    A smile forming on her face, Mrazivy thanked Marcus. Evette and Cassius had been in favor of crossing over theke by using an ice bridge in spite of Fianna''s opposition. Of course, Mrazivy with her ice magic would be the one that would be freezing over a section of theke for them to walk across.

    After a few minutes for everyone to rearrange themselves into a new formation, Mrazivy ced her right hand on the surface of the water and used her ice magic to create a path.

    A thick sheet of ice rapidly formed and soon extended beyond the fog and disappeared.

    "That should have reached about a kilometer. Can your summon still see the end of it?" Mrazivy asked Miguel.

    "Yes, the ice has reached nearly the edge of where my summon can see. As of right now, it does not appear that anything hase to investigate." Miguel replied.

    For another few minutes, they waited and watched to see if any sort of beast or monster woulde to investigate the ice, but everything remained quiet.

    With everything seeming to be safe, Mrazivy led the way, with Marcus following right behind her.

    When they reached the end of the current path that Mrazivy had created, she froze another section of theke.

    Nearly an hour passed this way, and the other side of the shore did not seem to be anywhere in sight.

    At there current pace they had covered nearly thirteen kilometers and all that surrounded them was a deep endless blue.

    Below them the water was crystal clear, but even then, it seemed to go endlessly into a dark abyss.

    Everything appeared calm, yet all of a sudden Marcus felt his danger sense begin ring in his head.

    He looked around to see what the cause might be, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary and his life sense did not pick up on anything.

    The only thing he could see was the rmed look on everyone else''s faces. Telling him that their skills were reacting as well.

    It was not until the attack hit that any of them realized what was going on.

    All at once, the ice that was under them shattered, and a huge pir of water shot up from theke.

    At thest second most of the members of the expedition squad had been able to jump back andnd on solid ice, but a few had been scattered into the water.

    "Shit, something ising."

    Looking down, Marcus honed his senses and could make out the water moving. Something from far below the depths was firing offpressed balls of water at them.

    They appeared almost invisible while under the surface, but Marcus already knew how much power was packed in each of these projectiles.

    Without hesitation, Marcus leapt into the water himself and moved to intercept. His boots allowed him to move around in water without restriction, and since he could not fly right now due to the ind''s rules, his maneuverability was actually greater underwater than on solid ground.

    ''Iron Ramparts.''

    Casting a tier five iron magic spell, Marcus erected several iron walls that stood in the way of the water stsing toward them.

    Each wall intercepted the attacks as anticipated, but Marcus winced when he watched the walls buckle after one shot and break apart after being hit with a second.

    ''I can''t keep up.''

    The barrage of water sts outpaced the speed at which Marcus could create barrier to impede them.

    Unfortunately, underwater he was unable to properly use lightning and fire magic, making iron magic all he could rely on if he wanted to continue concealing his light and darkness magic.

    Yet, as Marcus thought he would be overwhelmed, he felt some movement in the water next to him and noticed several golden walls appearing to pick up the ck.

    Looking to see who was assisting him, Marcus found Miguel riding atop a giant deep purple whale that roughly resembled an orca.

    ''The others are regrouping right now. I''ll help you off the attacks until their ready to move.'' Miguel said to Marcus over telepathy.

    Wearing a smile, Marcus thanked Miguel for his assistance and focused on blocking the ceaseless barrage of attacksing from the water''s depths.

    Without letting a single water st through, Marcus and Miguel coordinate their magic and protected the rest of the expedition squad.

    ''Looks like whatever is targeting us has gotten fed up with its attacks being blocked.'' Marcus thought, noticing the bombardment slowing down until it had stopped.

    This did not mark the end of the attack, however.

    From out of the ckness of the deep water, a giant form began to surface.

    At first it only looked like a blurry dot, but the creature moved rapidly and soon Marcus and Miguel could clearly see what had been attacking them.

    Easily over eight hundred meters long and nearly as wide, a truly colossal beast that resembled a snapping turtle was swimming towards them.

    Its shell was jagged and protruding out of it was what appeared to be several cannons, giving it the appearance of a moving fortress.

 Chapter 971 Dangers from the Deep

    971 Chapter 971 Dangers from the Deep ''Level eighty-seven! How is that even fair!'' Marcus thought as he appraised the fortress turtle charging towards them.

    This ind prevented anyone from outside of it that was over level eighty form setting foot on it, yet the indigenous creatures that lived here clearly did not have to adhere to this rule.

    Now they had a legendary grade beast several levels higher than any of theming up from the bottom of theke to kill them all.

    And even though he wanted to do something, Marcus had his hands full just defending against the ceaseless bombardment ofpressed water balls that the fortress turtle was firing off from the dozens of cannons protruding out of its shell.

    ''Everyone up top will just have to protect themselves. At this rate it is going to ram us if I don''t do anything to slow it down.''

    Having made his decision to go on the attack, Marcus changed his posture so that he could swim towards the fortress turtle.

    Except, right before heunched himself through the water, a streak of light came from the surface and rocketed towards the fortress turtle.

    With his enhanced vision Marcus tried to follow the projectile, but he could not get a read on it until it impacted against the barrier protecting the fortress turtle.

    A bright sh of light shone through the water as the arrow aimed at the fortress turtle''s head struck what looked like a sphere of translucent armored tes.

    All around the massive beast from the depths of theke was a spherical barrier unlike anything Marcus had ever seen.

    Without a doubt he figured that this must have been a race ability of this turtle, giving it an addedyer of defense over its naturally armored body.

    Still, despite this barrier being impressive, after a few seconds the arrow broke through, and a powerful explosion shot through the fortress turtle.

    When everything cleared Marcus could see that there was a several dozen meters wide hole in the fortress turtles shell slightly to the right of its head.

    While the attack had been aimed to pierce directly through its head, the turtle''s powerful barrier had diverted the arrow and corresponding explosion away from its most vital area.

    Nevertheless, the attack had been quite effective in slowing the colossal beast''s charge. Of course, Marcus could not think of many creatures that could keep going after suddenly receiving such a grave wound.

    From the front of the fortress turtles'' shell, Marcus could see clearly through to the other side of it and stare down into the depths of theke through the hole.

    ''That arrow must havee from Fianna since she is the only archer in expedition squad. I never imagined she could unleash such devastating power with just one attack.''

    Marcus was truly impressed by Fianna''s disy and figured that for the first time she had elected to use one or multiple of her unique skills. If she was capable ofunching an attack of this level with only normal skills, Marcus would have topletely reevaluate how the powers in this world worked.

    A few seconds after Fianna''s attack, several more people dropped into the water and swam over towards Marcus and Miguel.

    Of those that had joined them, it was mainly the magic casters that would be able to attack from afar.

    ''Are you sure that you should be joining us, Evette?'' Marcus asked with telepathy.

    He had figured that she would remain up top on the ice tform Mrazivy had created, but here she was leading the reinforcements.

    ''Yes, it is imperative that we kill or drive this beast away quickly. This is not the time for me to sit on the sidelines. The other three leaders are on the surface to give out directions, so I will be taking charge here. Also, let me thank you for your quick action in protecting everyone.'' Evette responded.

    She then linked up her telepathy with the underwater group and issuedmands.

    Luckily, they had a few moments of reprieve from the fortress turtle''s attacks to organize themselves. After being heavily injured by Fianna''s arrow, it had backed off in order to allow its regeneration to restore the damage done to its body.

    It did not stay away for long, however. Once its wound had sealed up it initiated its next assault.

    Several openings appeared in its shell and smaller turtles that each only had one cannon protruding out of the center of their shells began flowing out in droves.

    Marcus could only loom out in astonishment as this happened. He never expected this massive turtle to be carrying a fleet of smaller turtles within it.

    ''I think I am finally starting to get used to this world and crazy creatures like this just keep appearing.''

    Shaking off his shock, Marcus took up his position within the underwater teams'' formation and prepared to use his iron magic to its full extent.

    All manners of magic shed with the fleet of smaller cannon turtles that swarmed out of the fortress turtle.

    At first the members from the expedition squad were easily pushing back their attackers, but soon the sheer endless number of cannon turtles attacking from every direction slowly was overwhelming them.

    Yet, before the pressure became too great, several attacks from above fired into the water and sted away the cannon turtles.

    The team that had remained on the surface were providing support from above and using their skills to thin out the swarm.

    However, whenever one of the cannon turtles died, its body did not remain and instead burst into motes of light that returned to the fortress turtle. Apparently, these were not separate entities, but smaller copies being created by some sort of ability.

    ''And unlike before, it shows no sign of getting closer to us. It is being cautious after taking Fianna''s attack.'' Marcus thought, observing the battlefield.

    The fortress turtle was making sure to keep a fair distance and was not allowing any attacks to solidly connect with it again. It no longer was trying to use its immense size to ram them but instead wear them down with its disposable soldiers that it could create endlessly so long as it had mana.

    Still, this only left them at a stalemate. The fortress turtle was unable to overwhelm them with numbers, but none of their attacks could cause enough damage to bring it down.

    ''At its level I am sure it has a great deal of mana, but there is no way it can hope to oust us all. There must be something else that it is nning.''

    Casting a suspicious look at the beast, Marcus tried to gleam any insight into its strategy.

    That was when he noticed that all of its cannons had been retracted into tis shell.

    At first, he thought it had done this to allow for the creation of more of its spawned cannon turtles, but this did not seem to be the case. He remembered that at the start it had contoured its bombardment even while releasing its minions.

    ''Shit! It must be doing the same thing as us.''

    Unfortunately, the moment after Marcus rxed what their enemy was up to, the fortress turtle made its move.

    A giant cannon farrger than any others on its body extended out from its open mouth and was pointed directly towards the entire expedition squad.

    A powerful pulling current followed, and Marcus could visibly see the surrounding water being drawn into the fortress turtle.

    Marcus cast his gaze towards Evette to see if she was ready to unleash her own attack, but she just shook her head to indicate she was not finished with her preparations.

    ''I will stop its attack. Everyone else focus on protecting Evette while she constructs her spell.'' Marcus broadcasted over telepathy.

    He thenunched himself directly towards the fortress turtle and braced himself to intercept its attack.

    As he closed in on the fortress turtle, he applied every defensive buff spell he had and held his shield out in front of him.

    ''Proliferating iron chain.''

    Casting his tier eight iron magic spell, Marcus quickly multiplied the original iron chain until he had created a giant rounded shield made of chains.

    The magic continued to grow infinitely so long as Marcus gave it mana, but he was not given as much time as he wanted to solidify hisrgest defense.

    The fortress turtle was soon ready tounch its strongest attack, and a st of water unlike anything else it had fired shot out from the cannon jutting out of its mouth.

    Even before the attack hit, Marcus could tell that his magic would not be able to hold out for a single second. However, he had one final trump card to y.

    ''Shield of the Just!''

    A shimmering white aura red up around Marcus as the unique skill he had received upon earning the Savior title activated.

    This skill had several restrictions that made it difficult to utilize, but this was the perfect time to use it. Marcus'' enemy had attacked first, and he was acting to protect his allies.

 Chapter 972 Dangers from the Deep (2)

    972 Chapter 972 Dangers from the Deep (2)

    The force of the st of water hit Marcus hard, and he immediately began to lose ground.

    He could feel the iron chains coiled into a shield in front of him breaking apart, and it was only a matter of time until it shatteredpletely.

    Still, he held on and kept up his defiance.

    Soon his tier eight spell was overwhelmed and dissipated, and Marcus felt his mana barrier that was the next line of protection taking the brunt of the attack.

    Marcus watched cracks form in front of him as his mana barrier absorbed the force of the Fortress Turtle''s strongest attack.

    Even with his Shield of the Just Unique Skill active, he was barely holding out and was being pushed back towards the rest of the expedition squad.

    ''I''m not going to be able to hold it!'' Marcus thought with gritted teeth.

    His mana barrier then shattered, and the force of the water st impacted against his body and shield.

    Thanks to his physical enchantments, armor, and naturally tough form, Marcus managed to avoid being blown apart, but his attempt to fully stop the fortress turtle''s attack ended in failure.

    By the time he regained any semnce of his bearings he could see that he had beenunched far away from everyone else and had taken considerable damage.

    ''Ultimate Refresh.''

    Being nearly drained of his mana Marcus found his normal recovery speed to be far too slow and used one charge of his Supreme Skill to instantly bring himself back up to peak condition.

    Unfortunately, he was several kilometers away from anyone else now and was not able to aid them in defending against the powerful water stunched by the fortress turtle''s main cannon.

    Still, his efforts had not been in vain.

    Despite his strategy being reckless, Marcus had been able to weaken the water st to only around sixty percent of its original power.

    Thanks to this, thebined efforts of several members of the expedition squad using their best defensive skills and magic managed to hold out.

    Several of them were blown away simr to Marcus, but no one had been seriously injured and they had protected Evette so she could finish amassing the mana she needed to cast her spell.

    "Demise."

    After Evette said the name of the tier nine death magic spell, a dark wave of pure annihtion spread out in front of her and consumed everything.

    When the smaller cannon turtles were hit by this magic they instantly turned into light and returned to their source.

    The fortress turtle itself realized the dangering for it and turned around with astonishing agility and began fleeing.

    However, it was not fast enough to escape the wave of deathing its way and was engulfed.

    All of its defensive abilities were meaningless in the wake of Evette''s spell. And when the darkness of the death magic had cleared, the fortress turtle was lifelessly floating in the water.

    ''That spell is just as terrifying as the first time I saw.'' Marcus thought, wide eyed at the overwhelming 11:32

    power Evette had disyed.

    ''That spell is just as terrifying as the first time I saw.'' Marcus thought, wide eyed at the overwhelming power Evette had disyed.

    Marcus could still vividly remember when Teivel had used that same spell during their battle during the Tralenstein Civil War.

    He had managed to avoid being hit by it thanks to using his ghost form, but Marcus still remembered the overwhelming pressure of the tier nine death magic spell.

    However, Evette''s use of the spell was far more impressive than Teivel''s. She was able to not only control it far better, but her range was much greater than the former strongest mage in Tralenstein.

    ''That hulking turtle was able to clock or tank just about every attack any of the rest of us could throw at it, but even it could not defend against and attack that simply ends life.'' Marcus thought as he watched the body of the fortress turtle sink back into the depths of theke.

    Yet, as it was bing smaller and looked like a dot in the distance another formed appeared out from the dark abyss of this seemingly bottomlesske.

    A giant wed hand gripped around the fortress turtle''s body and drew it into its mouth.

    An echoing crunching sound reverberated through the water as a creature that dwarfed the fortress turtle in size ate it.

    This new monster had the general form of a humanoid, but that was only because it had two arms, two legs, and a head atop its torso.

    Its hands and feet were webbed and ended in razor sharp ws.

    Dark green scales covered its entire body except for the top of its head which instead of hair was a tangle of ck eels.

    Finally, its mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth, and it had six yellow eyes that moved independently of each other just above its ttened nose.

    ''It must be at least a dozen kilometers tall! What kind of monster even is that?!''

    With a dumbfounded expression on his face, Marcus could not help but stare down at this new monster as it devoured the fortress turtle.

    For several seconds it seemed like the world had slowed down, until Marcus received a telepathicmunication.

    ''We are retreating! Everyone head back towards the surface and return to the shore of thiske.'' Evette said, amanding tone in her voice.

    After seeing just two of the giants that lurked in thiske, she had made the decision that it was too dangerous for them to continue.

    Perhaps they might be able to fight off this new monster, but if creatures of simr power kepting up from the bottom of this hellishke even their group of ace adventurers could be overwhelmed.

    Luckily, no one wanted to dispute Evette''s order after seeing this new monster emerge from theke and casually began snacking on the threat they had just beaten.

    At least for the moment, this titanic monster was only interested in eating the dead fortress turtle and was paying the members of the expedition squad no mind.

    Nevertheless, this could change at any moment and none of them wanted to stick around to find out what would happen.

    Swiftly most of the members that had dove into the water to fight the fortress turtle swam back towards the surface, yet a few that were injured were slower to get going.

    Marcus could see that Evette was using her healing magic to elerate the recovery of those that were wounded, but there was no doubt she was the one in the worst condition despite not having a scratch on her.

    ''That spell surely took a lot out of her. I may not have any tier nine spells yet, but even just tier eight spells are incredibly draining. She must have used most of her mana to finish off the fortress turtle in one blow.'' Marcus observed.

    Using the power of his boots, Marcus rushed over towards his fellow spirit and activated his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill again.

    A small silver ball appeared in his hand and with a single thought he sent it flying towards Evette.

    All at once the haggard look on Evette''s face vanished as she was enveloped by the glow of Marcus'' skill.

    ''Allow me to assist you with healing.'' Marcus said, using his own healing magic to take a load off of Evette.

    ''Thank you, Marcus.'' Evette responded, looking relieved.

    With the two of them working together, everyone that was injured was healed in just a few seconds and on their way back to the surface.

    When they arrived, Evette exined the situation to the entire group.

    "I suppose we do not have a choice. Too many of us are not spec''d to fight in the water." Mrazivy said upon hearing the situation.

    She then turned back towards the shore and began freezing them a new path since the previous one had been destroyed by the fortress turtle''s initial attack.

    "I''ll stay in the water and monitor the situation from below the surface. With my boots I can maneuver underwater without issue, nor do I need to worry about air." Marcus said before jumping back in without waiting for approval.

    He had suggested doing this before they began trying to cross theke, but ultimately it had been deemed he was more likely to attract beast and monsters than if all of them remined above the surface.

    However, this was no longer a problem, as they had already been detected.

    From under the water, Marcus could see that the titanic monster was still within sight, just finishing off thest of the fortress turtle.

    Marcus made sure to keep a careful eye on it, and for any other threats that might emerge from the bottom of theke.

    Thankfully the monster that had emerged to eat the fortress turtle did not show any signs of ascending to attack them.

    Nevertheless, it did not descend back into the depths either, its six eyes were trained on the expedition squad the entire time. It was as if it was saying that they could run back to where they came from, but it would not allow them to cross over to the other side of theke.

 Chapter 973 Around the Lake

    973 Chapter 973 Around the Lake Once everyone from the expedition squad had made it back to the shore and were on solid ground again almost everyone slumped over in defeat.

    Their attempt to cross the expansiveke blocking their path towards the center of the ind had ended in failure.

    Encountering a single high level legendary grade beast had been harrowing enough, but the farger and clearly stronger monster that arose from the depths after defeating the fortress turtle had shown them all that going over theke would be fraught with greater dangers than anticipated.

    Perhaps if they had been on solidnd things would have been different, but too many of the members of the expedition squad were at a massive disadvantage in the water. Especially the members of Fianna''s party.

    Even Marcus had found that his lightning and fire magic were practically useless underwater. Had he used either of them their effects would have been diminished and he would have most likely hit his allies as well.

    "I believe that I said that we should go around rather than risk cutting through! We know that there are greater dangers on this ind than any of us could imagine! Taking unnecessary risks like crossing a humongouske when we have no clue what is living in it could cost us lives!" Fianna said heatedly not long after making it back to the shore.

    Among the four leaders of the expedition squad, she was the only one that dissented against the n to cross theke.

    Evette and Cassius had been strongly in favor, while Mrazivy had gone along with them in order not to cause a tie and possible breakdown in leadership.

    "Your correct Fianna, it was a mistake." Evette said with her head lowered. "I was too overconfident in my own abilities and the powers that this elite squad holds. So far, we have not encountered any creatures that could challenge us. The wendigo was certainly a threat, but only because of the indirect way it attacked. Just three of our members had been able to defeat it when engaging it in battle. I figured that nothing living in thiske would be at the level of that fortress turtle. Or whatever that monster was."

    Evette clearly still looked shaken up by the encounter with the scaly humanoid monster that had appeared from the bottom of theke and eaten the fortress turtle.

    One look was all anyone in the expedition squad needed to know it was a magnitude of strength greater than the fortress turtle.

    It had been too far away for any of them to try and appraise, but its very presence exuded overwhelming power.

    If Marcus had to guess, he would say it was probably in the same league as Ardea, The Grand Witch of the Peaks and Lilia''s master.

    That would have put it somewhere in the upper eighties or lower nies level wise and with the strength equivalent of a mythic grade beast.

    Frankly a monster like that was not something the expedition squad could fight lightly. Maybe they could have won if they all worked together and used every bit of power they had, but almost certainly they would have incurred casualties even if they dide out victorious.

    "Nobody died or even seriously hurt, and we got some intel on the creatures living in thiske. I still stand by my decision to try and cross. Who knows how long it is going to take us to go around it." Cassius said, showing none of the regret that Evette did.

    Fianna stared at him with a cold re because of his brazen attitude.

    While it may have been true that nothing irreparable had urred, the dangers to her party had been greater than anyone else.

    "This is not the time for us to be fighting amongst ourselves." Mrazivy said, stepping in between Fianna and Cassius. "We encountered a heavy setback, but it is not like our mission has changed. If we cannot go across theke, we simply go around. If we fine that thiske epasses the entirety of the ind''s center, we cane back with more specialized adventurers and magical equipment."

    Thanks to Mrazivy''s intervention, neither Fianna or Cassius came to blows, and their argument fizzled out.

    Both of them realized that it was unbing for them as leaders to worsen the situation.

    With things having cooled down the expedition unit reorganized and began walking along the shore of theke.

    ˇ­

    For six days they traveled with theke to their side and no apparent change in direction.

    They had been heading west the entire time, but the endless shoreline continued in roughly the same direction the entire time.

    It was not untilte in the evening on the sixth day, just before they were about to set up camp, that they finally spotted a change.

    Every so slightly the edge of theke began to curve.

    ''Looks like we have finally found what we were looking for.'' Marcus thought, wearing a relived expression.

    With how long their trek had been, he had begun to worry that theke might extend all the way across the ind and that they would have to return to the sand beach area to go around it.

    Thankfully its already massive size did not extend that far. At the very least, they would know soon whether thiske truly made up the whole of the ind''s center, or if they could go around it.

    "There is a clear area that is raised up above the rest of the surrounding area about nine hundred meters ahead. I believe that it will be an ideal ce for us to make camp." Miguel said, rying the information he was receiving from his summoned creature that originated from the ind and could see farther than anyone else.

    However, when they found themselves at the top of this small hill that rose above the rest of the surrounding area, the expedition squad was in for quite the surprise.

    Clearly, they were not the only ones to have identified this as a perfect spot to rest, as there were signs of other people having been here recently.

 Chapter 974 974 Rival Squad

    Chapter 974  974 Rival Squad

    "Echoes of the Land."

    Standing before the traces left by another group of people on the mysterious ind of fog, a member of Cassius'' party named Percival activated one of his unique skills.

    A wave of magical energy rippled around him and images of what happened in the recent past began to y out for everyone in the expedition squad to see.

    Time yed back rapidly until several translucent figures became visible.

    No sound emanated from these figures, but their movements and actions were being yed back as if they were happening again.

    ''Looks like there are thirty-six of them. Almost double our squad''s size.''

    Without being able to see the actual people, Marcus was unsure of how strong the members of this opposing group were, but he could get a rough estimate from the gear they wore.

    He carefully examined their armor and weapons and did not see a single piece that was made from amethros.

    Nevertheless, each member had powerful gear made of adamantine that was only one step below what the majority of the adventurer guild''s expedition squad had.

    Soon Percival''s unique skill reached its limits, and the images of the past began to fade.

    "That is the best I can do for now."

    Wearing a haggard expression Percival looked towards his leader.

    With the wave of his hand Cassius signaled that his party member could rest, before turning to the other party leaders.

    The four of them quickly discussed what the expedition squad would do and came to a unanimous decision.

    "This ind has already been imed by the adventurers guild and part of our mission is to make sure that no other interested parties take it from us. As per the leader of the guild''s instructions we will remove these trespassers by any means necessary." Evette said with a ruthless tone.

    "Thanks to Percival''s unique skill, we know that our enemies were here two days ago. While we would normally rest, catching up is of the upmost importance. To that end, we have decided to break here for only two hours and travel through the rest of the night." Cassius said.

    Naturally there was no disagreement from anyone in the expedition squad. They knew what their roles would be in case they encountered other people on this ind.

    ''I suppose that I should make something that replenishes and maintains stamina.''

    While Marcus would not get tired from the forced night watch, that could not be said for most of the others.

    They needed to eat and sleep in order to stay in peak condition, and traveling on this ind during the night was far more dangerous than just about anywhere else. It would take its toll on all of them mentally and physically.

    From his item box Marcus selected several of the most valuable ingredients he possessed and began cooking several hardy stews that would help fuel the expedition squad''s pursuit.

    Using all manner of magic, he quickly had the ingredients simmering in a dozen pots

    lights¦­¦Ďvel.c¦Ďm When the food was finished everyone gathered around for dinner, even Cassius'' party which had so far refused to partake in Marcus'' cooking.

    However, before taking any of the stew, Cassius approached Marcus and bowed his head slightly.

    "I am not so proud that I cannot admit when I am wrong. I must apologize for my actions when we met. You have proven many times over that you are a valuable member of the expedition. If it is not too much trouble, could my party partake in the food you have prepared?"

    Shock was apparent on Marcus'' face as Cassius sincerely apologized. Frankly he did not expect him to be the type to acknowledge his mistakes.

    "I except your apology. You and your party are more than wee to have some of the food. I am not so petty that I would waken our group for such a minor slight."

    "Thank you." Cassius said before turning around and motioning for his party to advance.

    Now that Cassius had made peace with Marcus, the entire expedition squad unwound together and enjoyed the same food for the first time.

    Of course, Marcus received plenty ofpliments for the food he prepared, which was even higher quality than what he normally produced thanks to the superior ingredients he had used.

    "I didn''t think you would forgive him so easily." Mrazivy whispered to Marcus.

    "It did not seem worth it to drag things out when he took the first step. Sure, it was only when he realized that not eating the meal I prepared would make his party perform worse than everyone else, but at least it was something. If we were not in such a hostile environment, I would have made him apologize to you as well before forgiving him. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury here to create any more friction." Marcus replied.

    Mrazivy nodded her head in agreement. Had Marcus actually gone out of his way to cause more animosity by forcing Cassius to embarrass himself further she would have had to chastise himter.

    "So, what did you really want to talk to me about?" Marcus asked, sensing that something else was on his wife''s mind.

    "I guess I can''t beat around the bush anymore with you." Mrazivy said with a sigh. "Are you going to be able to do it? These aren''t the kind of people we normally fight."

    "I thought I did a better job of hiding my feelings. Should''ve known you would see through me."

    "Naturally. I know you better than anyone else. If it is going to be a problem, you can just focus on support and let the rest of us deal with the dirty work."

    "No. I already made the mistake of not going for the kill before. We are going to have to fight these people no matter what. I would not be able to live with myself if anyone on our side got hurt because I hesitated." Marcus said, his eyes gleaming with resolution.

    He had long since gotten over his aversion of killing people, but normally he only went so far against those that were without a doubt deplorable.

    This time, though, they were going to attack another group of explorers simply for being onnd that the adventurers guild imed as their own.

    These people were not demon worshipers hellbent on brining death and chaos, they were just another group like theirs.

    Still, Marcus knew what this job entailed; this was something that had to be done.

    The adventurers guild was just like any organization in that it would exert its power to get what it wanted. All Marcus could do was be grateful that for the most part they were a decent institution that helped more people than it hurt.

    "Perhaps we will get lucky, and they will willingly leave the ind if we ask nicely."

    Mrazivy let out an exasperated sigh when Marcus made this suggestion. Both of them clearly understood that things were not going to be so peaceful.

    The adventurers guild had made it perfectly clear that they were iming the ind and told everyone else to stay away. This rival squad was not going to be ignorant of such a deration. Once they became aware of each other things could only end in bloodshed.

 Chapter 975 975 Rival Squad (2)

    Chapter 975  975 Rival Squad (2)

    ?

    After a quick search of the surrounding area, the expedition squad picked up the trail of the other group of explorers that were traversing the ind of perpetual fog.

    As per their orders from the top brass of the adventurers guild, they would have to eliminate any trespassers that ignored the guild''s im to this newndmass.

    This ce was a rich with resources as it was dangerous, and the adventurers guild was not going to give it up to anyone else.

    ''It looks like traveling at night is not going to be easy.''

    Even during the brightest parts of the day this ind was unsafe, but at night several nocturnal beasts and monsters that were more vicious than their diurnal counterparts came out.

    In the trees around them several cat-like monsters with dark ck fur were hopping along the tree as they stalked their prey.

    From a nce Marcus thought that they might be like oversized ck panthers, but once he got a good look at one, it became apparent that was not the case.

    For a fleeting moment he was able to spot one of these beasts in its entirety and saw that it had two heads that were closer to a mix between a tiger and a bat.

    He also saw that these monsters had a membrane between their legs akin to that of a flying squirrel. Allowing them to glide around the tree tops.

    They did not appear to be able to achieve actual flight thankfully, as nothing on this ind seemed to be an exception to the no flying rule as of yet.

    Along the back of these monsters were sharp dark spines that were coated in venom.

    Without warning the numerous monsters,unched an attack on the expedition squad.

    The venom coated spines on their backs went flying, and several of therge cat-like monsters leapt down from the trees.

    Their speed was incredible and any lesser group may have found themselves overwhelmed from the onset, but not a groupprising of some of the top parties in the adventurers guild.

    With an adept use of magic and skills, the expedition squad turned away the attacksing towards them before counterattacking.

    ''Voltaic bombardment.''

    Cast a tier five lighting magic spell, Marcus fired dozens of bolts into the trees and sted the monsters attacking them.

    Several of the two headed cat-like monsters failed to avoid the spell and found themselves stunned as massive amounts of electricity passed through their bodies.

    Following up on Marcus'' attack, the other members of the expedition squad finished off the stunned monsters.

    The few that survived the initial assault fled immediately now that they realized the prey they had targeted were far more resilient than expected.

    However, this first attack during the night was far from thest.

    The backfired toe headed cat-like monsters were among the weakest threats in this part fot eh ind, and greater dangers quickly found the expedition squad.

    Through the night they were hounded by all manner of monster and beasts that wanted to kill them.

    Even some creatures that were at the legendary grade took a shot at them.

    Of course, with thebined might of their squad none of these beasts of monsters seeded in killing any of them, but it had certainly been a slog to advance.

    Still, they trudged through the ind during the night in order to catch up to their quarry.

    It took three days for them to finally find the other group of explorers.

    Miguel raised his hand to signal them that his summoned beast had spotted them up ahead.

    "They appear to have recently finished a battle with a hulking monster resembling a troll. Some of them are injured and receiving healing, while others are dismantling the creature they defeated." Miguel informed them all.

    He then told them about their numbers, positions, and the distance between them.

    "We will try to capture at least one of them to figure out who they are working for, but do not worry about holding back if it puts any of us in danger. Our first priority is making sure that we take them all out. This ind was imed by the guild and they made sure to inform every interested party that they would not tolerate other encroaching on this ce." Evette said, her tone deadly serious.

    Naturally there was no discontent from anyone and they prepared their opening move.

    Thanks to Miguel, they knew where their enemies were without being within detection range.

    Using this advantage, they prepared tounch a magical bombardment from a distance before closing in.

    If they were lucky, they would be able to take out multiple of their targets with this surprise attack and then rout the rest in the confusion.

    ''If we are doing this, I might as well go all out.''

    With his staff that was toped with a phoenix talon held above his head, Marcus began waving it in a circr motion as he umted his mana.

    He felt a massive drain on his stores and the phoenix feathers adorned his staff began to glow brightly.

    Far above him a colossal sphere of mes began to form that looked like a second sun.

    This was the same magic he had used against the wendigo, the tier eight fire magic spell meteoric inferno.

    However, this time its power as even greater as Marcus had more time to concentrate his mana and was using his phoenix staff that massively increased the potency of fire magic.

    Once his spell was ready and at the peak power of what he could control Marcus looked around to see what sort of magic the other members of the expedition were casting.

    The closet to him was Thegia. Around her she had conjured several giant pirs of stone that floated in the air and were ready tounch at hermand.

    Marcus had in fact seen this spell before when he witnessed the sparing match between Ardea and Retharin, but Thegia''s paled inpassion to the previous example he had seen. The difference was so great that Marcus was not sure at first that this was the same spell.

    ''I guess I should notpare Thegia to a great witch ten levels above her. Ardea is just in another realm of power.''

    Soon every member of the expedition squad that was preparing magic was ready to attack.

    All of them had prepared tier seven or eight spells that each packed enough power to devastate a small city. Theirbined might was something that could even bring the capital of a decently strong nation to ruin.

    Normally these spells would have been extreme overkill to use on just a few dozen people, but they were not going to be taking any chances.

    At a rough estimate this rival group wasposed of individuals that were only a bit weaker than the average member of the expedition squad. Being careless could lead to several casualties.

    "On my mark,unch your magic." Evette said, begin the one designated to signal the attack.

    When she brought her raised arm down, everyone with prepared spell let it loose and multiple spells that were equivalent to cmities fell down upon the enemy squad.

 Chapter 976 976 Wiped Out

    Chapter 976  976 Wiped Out

    "Jace, are you almost finished removing those tusks?"

    "Just like thest time you asked, I need a bit longer. I am not a miracle worker you know. If you want the job done right, I need to be careful and cut through this stupid troll''s tough muscle. Of course, if you want it done quickly, I can start hacking and shing without concern for the quality of the material."

    "Okay, just try to hurry up. We have already spent more time than expected just mapping the periphery of this ind. If we don''t find out what is at the center soon our superiors are going to give us a real lecture when we get back."

    After rushing one of his subordinates for the umpteenth time, Holden the leader of this operation turned his attention towards the injured and asked the healer of their team how things were going.

    Of course, all he got were snide remarks about how the injuries would have been less severe if he had taken more time to solidify their formation before starting the assault on the titan troll.

    Unfortunately, Holden did not have much leeway for their current mission. He had been told toplete the survey of the ind''s resources and threats as quickly as possible to avoid detection by the adventurers guild who had imed this ind. This led him to making rash decisions when otherwise he would have shown caution.

    "I understand, but we got a timetable to keep. Patch up those that are hurt by the time the troll has been fully dismantled. We still have a lot of ground to cover." Holden said to their team''s sole healer.

    lights¦­¦Ďvel.c¦Ďm Once he had finished rying his order once again, he took out a bottle of distilled alcohol that he had been leaning on more and more recently to steel his nerves. He had been put in charge of helming a deadly operation and whenever he was sober, he only thought about how foolish it was for his nation tounch an expedition onto this ind.

    Not only was it a ce filled with unknown dangers, but the adventurers guild, one of the greatest powers in the world hadid im to it.

    Still, orders were orders, and he intended to follow his. He had not earned his position over century of service just to throw it away because of one perilous mission. If he seeded here, even greater riches and fame awaited him when he returned home.

    This was the driving motivation that kept him going even when they were besieged by upressible monsters on this ind that spat in the face of normalcy.

    Creatures that would rarely appear in the rest of the world were abundant and it prevented any senses beyond a range of three hundred meters of range.

    ''I deserver far more gold andnd than I was promised for leading this team. The emperor better pay out what I am owed when I returned.'' Holden thought as he emptied the bottle of hard liquor he was drinking.

    Yet as he imagined the even morevish life he would have upon his triumphant homeing, holden felt his danger sense began to re in his head.

    Holden looked up towards the sky and saw what looked like the sun falling down upon him and his troops.

    Covered by the blinding light, he also noticed several other powerful magical attacks packing immense power behind them.

    With only a couple of seconds before all hell broke loose, Holden shouted for everyone to use their best defensive powers and braced for the impact of the several spells raining down upon them.

    When the first spell hit, Holden felt himself engulfed by an intense heat like nothing he had ever felt before.

    Following that the ground around him shattered and necrotic energy caused coursed through his body and caused his veins to turn ck as he felt his body being destroyed.

    The unprecedented attack that had hit his team was greater than anything he had experienced and pushed past even the best protections he could deploy on short notice.

    Once things had calmed down enough for him to tell what was up from down, holden could only see a devastatedndscape that was devoid of the allies he had been around just moments before. It was as if he had suddenly been thrust into hell without any warning.

    All over his body was scorched with burns, damaged by necrosis and battered by extreme physical force.

    Thankfully he had survived, and his regeneration skill was hard at work mending the damage, but he had no idea where this attack hade from.

    Clearly, they had been assaulted from outside their range of destruction by a force far greater than anything they had so far encountered on the ind. Certainly, they hade head-to-head with plenty of strong beasts and monsters, but not once had they been sted by a coordinated attack like this.

    Holden swiftly got up despite the intense pain he was in and searched for hisrades.

    Thankfully he found a few that had survived the initial volley of spells and was able to rally them.

    Yet, just as eh was beginning to get he situation under control several unfamiliar people burst out of the fog and began attacking them.

    At once Holden realized that this was most likely the group that had been sent by the adventurers guild which exined why they had been attacked with such prejudice.

    The first adversary that charged towards him was a towering ogre woman that wield a giant adamantine axe.

    Using his shield and mace he parried her vicious attacks, but the injures he had incurred from the initial volley of spells prevented him from going on the offensive.

    Slowly he watched those around him being cut down by superiorbatants that out leveled them and possessed stronger gear.

    By the time most of his squad had been wiped out Holden had gotten an urate count on their attackers and found that they were a force only a bit greater than half their size.

    Nevertheless, by some means this group had attacked them from outside the limited detection range this ind''s fog enforced on any outsiders.

    He and his team were hopelessly out maneuvered and outmatched from the start of the fight.

    The team that had attacked them without warning possessedbatants stronger than the military might of most nations, and despite them being an elite group, Holden and his subordinates found themselves hopelessly outmatched.

    In the end Holden watched a single woman d in church vestments use a spell that instantly killed a dozen of the people eh had been in charge of.

    Their resistance quickly came to an end after this overwhelming disy of power, and Holden was thest one standing.

    He figured that the end wasing for him as well, but his attackers showed no signs of finishing him. They had identified him as the leader and no doubt left him alive to question him.

    ''Like I will give them the chance. If all that awaits me is torture and betraying my nation, I might as well die.'' Holden thought as he found himself surrounded.

    Taking his spear, he positioned it towards his neck and nned to take his own life but felt an invisible force weighing down on him before he could.

    As much as he tried to move his weakened body, he could not easily suppress the power crashing down on his very soul.

    By the time he had found the strength to jam his spear in his throat, a woman with striking blue hair had reached him and pped away his spear.

    Before he could do anything else, Holden found himself restrained, and at the mercy of the group that had wiped out his squad.

 Chapter 977 977 Thegiaâ€™s Magic

    Chapter 977  977 ThegiaˇŻs Magic

    "They were not nearly as formidable as I was expecting." Kollo said with a disappointed expression now that the battle was over.

    The expedition squad''s ambush had been a resounding sess, and they had routed the group of trespassers with ease.

    Of course, Marcus was not so sure if he would agree with Kollo''s statement. If they had engaged this other team of explorers in a head-on battle it would have been a tough fight. Their easy victory simply came from being able to attack from outside their opponents'' range of detection and scoring a crippling blow to them with their opening barrage of spells.

    ''I doubt we would fare much better if a bunch of tier seven and eight spells rained down on us from out of nowhere.'' Marcus thought, looking at the carnage their attacks had caused on thendscape.

    Despite this ind possessing tougher ground and foliage than the rest of the world, the earth was filled with giant craters and the once vibrant forested area had been leveled. Such was thebined might of the expedition squad.

    Still, a little damage to the environment meant little since they had finished up their duty to protect the ind from outsiders without suffering a single casualty.

    "Now, who want to take the lead on interrogating this guy? He doesn''t seem to want to say anything, and I don''t think light persuasion methods are going to work." Cassius said, looking down at their prisoner.

    He had been ring at all of them the entire time and had yet to say a single word.

    Marcus knew a surefire way to get the information, but he had no intention of eating their captive''s soul just to obtain some information he did not really care about.

    Of course, everyone''s mind turned to torture, but Holden was clearly a tough individual that was likely to lose his mind to whatever they subjected him to before spilling anything.

    "I suppose that I will do it. This magic is incredibly tiring, so I hate using it, but I don''t care to waste copious amounts of time trying to break someone." Thegia said, her face showing her clear annoyance.

    Nevertheless, they had an obligation to find out what nation or organization had disregarded the adventurers guild''s im on this ind.

    Once she was in front of their captive, Thegia used her earth magic to wrench his head upwards and force his eyes open. She needed him to be able to clearly see her for her magic to work.

    Back and forth she slowly rocked her staff as it filled with a mesmerizing light.

    Holden naturally attempted to resist, but he was powerless to hold off against Thegia''s magic for long, and the defiant look in his eyes soon faded as he fell into a stupor.

    "Brint Fantasy."

    As the spell took effect the devastatedndscape filled with enemies began to bleed away in front of Holden''s eyes.

    When his wits finally came back to him, he found himself standing in an opulent hall with a number of intricate and beautiful tapestries hanging from the walls.

    At the head of the room was a regal individual sitting on a gleaming throne made specifically to show off their influence and power.

    Realizing where he was, Holden immediately corrected his position and knelt down with his head bowed low.

    "My liege. Please forgive me for forgetting myself in your presence. I must have been dazzled by your brilliance."

    However, the individual on the throne simply waved their hand and beckoned Holden to rise.

    "There is no need to be so stiff. Today is a joyous asion, isn''t? You are here to report your sessful expedition of that new ind, correct?"

    Hearing this, Holden''s body went stiff and the images of a hellish battle where the team he was leading was wiped out passed before his eyes.

    Yet, before these memories could take root, a new set of images overrode them. His team had executed a peerless victory against the squad sent by the adventurers guild and went on to find great treasures on the ind of fog.

    ''That right. We achieved even greater results than expected and have returned home to a hero''s wee. I simply must have been remembering a nightmare I had.'' Holden thought, shaking his head to forget the horrible experience that was surely untrue. If his team had fallen and he was captured, there was no way he would be in front of his emperor right now.

    With the feelings of aplishment raising his spirit, Holden began rying everything that he and his team had seen on the ind as well as their victory over the tyrannical adventurers guild.

    "I see, you have done well for our nation." The emperor said.

    "Of course. I live to serve you and Vothurg."

    "Vothurg, eh." The emperor said with a pleased grin.

    "Your majesty?" Holden said, confusion written all over his face.

    Something about his liege''s mannerisms just now had unsettled him and felt alien.

    Yet before his mind could wander, the emperor drew Holden''s attention back to him.

    "Now, you have told me about the overall sess of your team, but I want to know more about individual performance. I must know who deserves even greater rewards for their exemry service."

    Going back to a topic he felt proud to discuss, Holden began speaking with a fervor about his subordinates'' achievements.

    Eventually the topic changed to other skilled mages and warriors within Vothurg, and while he thought it a bit strange since the emperor already knew all of this, Holden gave his opinion nheless.

    Slowly but surely, their conversation began to feel like an interrogation, and something in the back of Holden''s mind told him that this was wrong.

    His breathing started to be heavy and when he looked at the emperor sometimes their form became unfocused.

    "Your, not his majesty. Who are you?" Holden said, his head feeling like it was being split open.

    "Oh! I guess I must have pushed you a bit too hard then at the end. The fatigue is catching up with me, so I tried to hurry things up. Still, I think I got enough."

    The emperor, no, a deep gnome woman then snapped her fingers and the illusion around Holden shattered.

    In an instant he found himself in a devastated area back on the ind of endless fog, surrounded by the enemies that had destroyed his team. What he had thought was a nightmare all came rushing back to him and dragged him back into a horrid reality.

 Chapter 978 978

    Chapter 978  978

    "No. This can''t be happening. This all has to be the illusion." Holden said, his eyes looking unfocused and his body shaking.

    For a few seconds he was trapped in denial about what had just urred, but as reality sunk back in, he could no longer hide from the truth.

    "Youˇ­ you monsters! What did you do to me?!"

    The moment Holden realized what had happened he beganshing out at everyone in the expedition squad.

    He as undoubtedly a very loyal man to the Vothurg Empire and knowing that he had just given away ssified information to an enemy organization was an even greater blow to him than losing his entire team in the field.

    Holden had been prepared to die while exploring this ind, but he never anticipated being tricked into giving away state secrets.

    While for many nations the adventurer''s guild was seen as a trustworthy and magnanimous organization that helped to move valuable goods and offer protection, for those that opposed the guild, they were a terrifying group that wielded an immense amount of power.

    ''Damn. I didn''t think that he would react this way.'' Marcus thought, watching Holden''s reactions.

    Fairly quickly he seemed to cycle through the stages of grief. Starting with denial, before moving onto anger.

    Finally, once he had reached eptance, Holden lowered his head and said, "Please, just end it already."

    After having his team destroyed and his mind vited, Holden''s will waspletely broken and he knew that all that awaited him was death.

    Every second he remained conscious only gave him more time to ruminate on his failures and bad luck.

    "Very well. I will release you from your suffering." Evette said, walking towards Holden.

    When she reached him, she extended her left hand and tapped his forehead with her index finger.

    A small pulse of dark energy shed from her finger into Holden''s head, and one of the Vothurg Empire''s top generals met his end.

    All at once the life in his eyes vanished and his heart stopped. There was no damage to his body in any way, his life had simply ceased.

    ''Talk about a scary spell. I can see why she earned the moniker Saint of Life and Death.'' Marcus thought while watching Evette work.

    As much as her healing magic was at the level where it looked like she was performing miracles, her death magic was equally powerful and could end lives with only the slightest effort.

    "Okay, the battle is won, and we have obtained the intel we wanted. Let us gather whatever items of value they have. Our expedition is still ongoing, and we may find some items that are of use to us." Cassius said, taking charge of looting the soldiers from the Vothurg Empire.

    It took them a couple of hours to gather and catalog everything that belonged to the rival squad, but the effort was worth it. They were able to procure plenty of mundane items like foodstuffs to replenish their stocks as well as several useful magic items.

    However, the crown jewels of what they acquired were four lesser elixirs and a map that detailed arge area of the ind that the expedition squad had not searched yet.

    "This will save us several weeks of exploration. Plus look at everything they found. Seeing it all at once really shows what a treasure trove this ind is." Mrazivy said excitedly as she looked over Marcus'' shoulder at the map.

    He was currentlyparing the map that the Vothurg squad had created with their own in order to merge them.

    Why this job had been given to him, he had no clue. But simply using his stupidly high stats he was able to do a passable job.

    "With this I would say we now have about fifteen percent of this ind mapped. We''re about halfway done with what the guild wants from this expedition." Marcus said.

    Naturally their goal was not tob over the entirety of the ind, that would simply take too long and many of their members had other obligations that they would need to return to eventually.

    Instead, one of their major goals was to explore around thirty percent of the ind and locate a rtively safe area where the guild could set up anding base for further operations on the ind. After that, the guild wanted to know whaty at the center of the ind since it was clear that the more valuable treasures appeared the further ind you went, and the center would be home to the greatest treasures.

    Of course, the danger of beasts and monsters increased rtive to the value of the items that could be found. Hence why the guild also wanted to know about the creatures that lived at the center of the ind.

    "it''s too bad that they didn''t find the end of that stupidlyrgeke." Marcus said with a sigh.

    Just like their squad, the group from Vothurg had been following the shoreline of theke in search of a way to the center of the ind.

    Unfortunately, this meant that it looked more and more likely that they would have to pass over theke itself to reach their destination. Something that proved too difficult without epting losses.

    "Hey, no need to give up hope yet. We have no idea how theke is actually shaped. It might end sooner than we think." Mrazivy said optimistically.

    "I hope you''re right. Otherwise, we are likely to be asked toe backter with specialized nautical equipment. And we will have to fight that giantke monster."

    Marcus could still picture it clearly and he really did not want to have to fight it.

    Mrazivy likewise shuddered at the thought of the towering creature that had risen up from the depths.

    "We have to find and route. If we are going to deal with a monster like that, I at least want solid footing to work with. Having to fight on the surface of thatke was the worst." Mrazivy said with a clenched fist.

    However, at this point neither of them realized that what awaited them at the center of the ind was far more dangerous than they could have ever imagined.

 Chapter 979 979 The Impossible Stronghold

    Chapter 979  979 The Impossible Stronghold

    "I''m not sure if this is a good or a bad sign."

    Standing at the head of the group, Marcus stared at what was most certainly a stretch ofnd that extended directly into the giantke.

    It waspletely t like a road and was exactly seven kilometers wide.

    Without a doubt it was toorge to be natural and had been ced here to allow for passage to the center of the ind without having to brave the dangerous waters.

    Still, Marcus felt a sense of foreboding looking at this obvious invitation to the very core of the ind.

    ''Is it some sort of trap? Or are there threats just as dangerous as thatke monster waiting for us down this path?''

    Clearly it was supposed to be difficult to navigate this ind due to the fog and the multitude of dangerous entities that called it home. Finally seeing a straight path that seemed to hold no danger was more unnerving thaning face to face with a powerful beast or monster. The unknown of it all meant that anything could be waiting for them.

    Nevertheless, one of their main objectives was to reach the center of the ind and it was obvious that they would follow thisnd bridge to wherever it led. Afterall, braving the unknown was what true adventurers yearned for.

    Putting aside his trepidations, Marcus thought back to when he had first arrived on Mirrion and remembered the exhration he had felt at the prospect of exploring this world.

    So far, he had already seen many wonderous sights, and the center of this ind was sure to be added to that list.

    It took the expedition squad a few minutes to decide on how they would proceed across thend bridge, but eventually they concluded that keeping to the center would be the safest course of action.

    Surely it made it more likely that they would encounter any terrestrial creatures that lived on thend road, but frankly none of them wanted to be anywhere near the water where the beasts and monsters of theke''s depths might sense them.

    To that end they bunched up in a tight formation with Miguel in the center. As his summoned creature was the only means they had to see farther through the fog he was acting as their lookout.

    However, despite their wariness, they did not encounter a single beast or monster during their first day walking along the path that cut through theke. In fact, they did not evene across a single tree or see a stray stone. Thend bridge waspletely clear except for a thinyer of grass that grew over it.

    ''This is definitely not like any other part of the ind. Sure, the ever-present fog is unusual, but the environment felt normal enough. There is no way something like this could ever ur in nature. Is it just an easy path for those that searched around theke or is it more sinister. Though, maybe it is just a joke and will just end in the middle of theke and we will have wasted our time.'' Marcus thought as they camped out for the first night.

    So far this had been the most peaceful part of their expedition, and he was unsure of how to feel about it.

    Most everyone else was in high spirits though. After skirting the edge of theke for a fairly long time, finally and route to the center of the ind had presented itself. Even if it was highly unusual.

    "I know you don''t have to eat, but you have barely touched your food. I find it hard to believe that it is not to your tastes since you made it." Mrazivy whispered to Marcus.

    Sighing, Marcus exined his thoughts to Mrazivy.

    "Yeah, I am sure most everyone is thinking the same thing. Still, fretting over the possibility that something baleful is waiting for us won''t help. We have already prepared what we can, and our group is made up of the best the adventurers guild members under level eighty. At this point, all we can do is trust in our skills and experience."

    "You''re right, and I want to see what is at the center of this ind. But I can''t shake this feeling I have. That we aren''t ready."

    Seeing that Marcus was nervous, Mrazivy stuck with him and helped him get his nerves under control by retelling all the times he had jumped into unknown dangers ande out victorious.

    Thanks to her encouragement, Marcus was able to repress the unease he was feeling and focus on their goal.

    The next day, they resumed their journey, but night came before they reached the center.

    This same process persisted for several days. The expedition squad would walk all day, rest at night, the repeat.

    Slowly they started to rx as they had not encountered a single enemy during their journey across thend bridge.

    Expect, on the seventh day, something other than the grass path appeared in front of them.

    After having traveled exactly seven hundred and seventy-seven kilometers a massive metal wall blocked their way forward.

    "Miguel, can you see the end of it?" Mrazivy asked.

    Unfortunately, he simply shook his head to indicate that the wall went at least a kilometer.

    Cautiously, they approached the wall and Marcus ced his hand against it to gauge what sort of material it was made out of.

    From its color and luster made it appear to be steel, but without getting a feel for it he would be unable to tell for sure.

    Yet, before his hand could touch it, he felt his hand pierce some sort of field.

    Immediately he jerked back since he had no clue what the strange sensation was.

    "This wall is emitting some sort of energy. It doesn''t feel magical in nature though. I''m not really sure what it is though." Marcus said with contemtive expression.

    Nevertheless, he felt like it was somewhat familiar, he just could not ce it immediately.

    Eventually, he remembered where he had felt the sensation before.

    ''It''s an electromaic field. I haven''t used the extreme maism spell in a while, but it definitely feels simr.''

    But before Marcus could ry this information, something more pressing appeared.

    "There is a figure approaching from a top the wall!" Miguel said with rm.

    Immediately everyone cast their gazes upwards and waited until the entity came into view.

    The moment it became visible, Mrazivy used her dragon eyes to look at the figure''s status, but once she had she tilted her head in confusion.

    "It is apparently called a Rob-ot." Mrazivy said hesitantly, unsure of the pronunciation."Apparently, its level is eighty, but all of its skills are things I have never seen before. I''m not really sure what to make of this thing."

    However, there were two members of the expedition squad that recognized this entity and knew that Mrazivy had pronounced its name wrong.

    .c¦Ďm ''What the hell is a robot doing here? I would have epted it if it was called a golem, but why a robot?'' Marcus thought, baffled.

    Sadly, he did not have much time to think about the oddity of this situation.

    As soon as the robot had positioned itself directly above them apartment on its shoulder opened up and a device Marcus never expected to see on Mirrion.

    "Everyone get down and use your best defensive abilities!" Marcus shouted.

    As he gave his warning, he also used his iron ramparts spell to give them as much cover before the robot''s attack began.

    "BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

    All at once a hail of bullets being fired out of the minigun on the robot''s shoulder.

    Of course, these were not normal bullets, if there were, no one in the expedition squad would have been in any danger. The bullets would have simply bounced off their bodies.

    No, these bullets were each enchanted and packed enough power behind them to be equivalent to tier three spells. And while a single tier three spell wasn''t particrly dangerous, having fifty fired at you every second posed quite a threat.

    Thankfully, everyone followed Marcus'' advice and protected themselves with their skills and magic.

    The sound of gunfire never ceased as the robot seemed to have an infinite supply of ammo for its gun.

    "I''m not about to be beaten at a ranged battle!" Fianna yelled, jumping out from behind the protective spells that were blocking her line of sight.

    The moment she was in view, the robot turned its gun on her and rained down the entire force of its main weapon on Fianna.

    Using her spider agility, Fianna leapt around the area and kept ahead of the robot''s ability to track her and aim its weapon.

    At the same time, she pulled back her bow and fired an arrow.

    There was the crack of a sonic boom and the projectile Fianna had fired flew directly for the robot''s head.

    Yet, just before impact a barrier erected around the robot and deflected the arrow away from it.

    Sensing the threat that Fianna posed to it, the robot held up both of its arms and multiplepartments opened up.

    Out of these newpartments, eight rockets appeared, four on each arm.

    While maintaining its fire with its minigun,unched the eight rockets over the area.

    ''Shit.''

    Realizing that these small rockets likely contained a far greater payload than their size would suggest, Marcus poked out behind the protective wall and used hisser spell to intercept them.

    As theser passed through them the rockets prematurely exploded and released sts equivalent to tier six fire magic spells.

    The entire area was bathed in mes, but thanks to Marcus'' quick action the worst of the explosions detonated far above them.

    Slightly singed Fianna jumped out of the raging fire ball with another arrow knocked in her bow.

    This time she was not holding anything back and activated one of her unique skills to give her arrow enough power to push past the robot''s defenses.

    Her arrow flew faster than the arrow could react, and by the time it detected what had happened a massive hole had been sted through its torso.

    The once lively and imposing machine lost all function and copsed on top of the wall.

 Chapter 980 980 The Impossible Stronghold (2)

    Chapter 980  980 The Impossible Stronghold (2)

    With the battle havinge to an end, Marcus was finally able to process what had just urred.

    Yet, the more he thought about it, the less their encounter with the robot made even less sense.

    ''There is no doubt that this is a fantasy style world. Heck, when I agreed to be transmigrated here that was what I was told. So why the hell did a fucking robot just open fire on us with guns and rockets.''

    Frankly this was something that was iprehensible to Marcus, and for the first time he opened up his status and sent a message directly to the administrator.

    Originally this line ofmunication had only been given to him so that he could contact the administrator if he located anymore of the contraband grimoires that had been smuggled onto Mirrion.

    However, in this case he was frazzled enough to not consider any repercussions and was genuinely concerned that the clearly out of ce robot might be an invader of some kind. He knew from the conversations he had had with the administrator that she had enemies out there on a simr level to her. Perhaps some powerful and baleful entity has sent this robot.

    "Marcus, you okay?" Mrazivy asked to get his attention.

    It was only after seeing her concerned expression and the stares from multiple members of the expedition squad that he realized he had been looking at his status window for too long. Making it seem like he had just been nkly staring off into space.

    "Sorry, I was just thinking about something. What''s going on?" Marcus asked, perplexed why so many people were looking at him.

    "You''re the one who warned us to take cover when that thing first attacked. Clearly you knew what that creature was and the dangers its strange weapon presented. This is the second time you seem to possess knowledge that none of the rest of us have." Amin, the second inmand of Evette''s party said.

    His expression showed how suspicious he was of Marcus, and he had made it clear in the past that he did not appreciate Marcus'' private meetings with Evette.

    Nevertheless, he was not the only one that was showing apprehension towards Marcus. Several others also wanted an exnation for his recognition of obscure enemies that none of them had seen or heard of before.

    Of course, Marcus wasn''t actually the only one that knew about these strange entities that had never been seen before on Mirrion. Miguel likewise had knowledge about them since he also originally came from Earth. The difference was that Miguel always secured himself first and foremost. Thinking about the other members of the group afterwards, leading to Marcus always being the one to act first on the knowledge only the two of them possessed.

    Still, Marcus had no intention of revealing his origins as a transmigrator. He had seen what became of the group of undead that secretly ran the Chelmer Resort.

    They had been kidnapped by a grouppletelycking in any morals and experimented on to be turned into weapons.

    And while Marcus did not believe that anyone in the expedition squad would do anything malicious with the information, he did not want it spreading to parties that would. There was no reason to invite trouble in the future.

    "I am sure that we all have things that we want to keep hidden. I have seen these types of beings before. End of story." Marcus said, taking on a harsh tone.

    However, this did not sit right with Amin, and the elvish man continued to push Marcus and bring his trustworthiness into question.

    "That is enough, Amin! This is not the ce for us to be fighting amongst each other. I personally trust Marcus wholly. If you cannot ept my decision, then you are not fit to be a member of my party." Evette said forcefully.

    Naturally, she came to Marcus'' defense. The two of them had revealed their simr origins to each other and built a bond of trust between them. They may not have known each other for long, but Evette thought of Marcus as a friend she could confide in.

    Amin looked like he wanted to protest, but he was too afraid to be chastised any further and could tell that Evette was serious about ejecting him from her party.

    For this reason he backed off, but his resentment and jealousy towards Marcus only intensified as a result. He could not understand why Evette showed him such respect and treated him differently than anyone else.

    "I have to agree with Evette. No need to push him when his insights have helped us out every time. Just cause he knows some things none of the rest of us do doesn''t make him a threat." Fianna said,ing to Marcus'' defense.

    As expected Mrazivy spoke up to protect Marcus as well, and Cassius joined in to make it clear that all of the leaders were on the same page. After being attacked by a powerful unknown entity in a hostile environment, there was no room for discontent.

    Once things calmed down, the expedition squad began collectively discussing what they would do next. In front of them was a hundred seventy-seven-meter-tall wall that was guarded by powerful enemies. So far only one robot had shown itself, but that could easily change at any moment.

    Eventually they came to the conclusion to climb the wall, but a creative solution was needed to do so.

    It only took a single nce to tell that the wall waspletely sheer and impossible to normally climb.

    Luckily, they had a member who could adhere to almost any surface and climb up it without difficulty.

    With her spidery legs, Fiannatched onto the wall and swiftly skittered up to the top.

    When she arrived, she lowered a ropedder down that everyone else could use to ascend the wall.

    Quickly the members of the expedition squad began to climb up, but not before Miguel shouted out a warning.

    "More robots areing!"

 Chapter 981 981 The Impossible Stronghold (3)

    Chapter 981  981 The Impossible Stronghold (3)

    In response to Miguel''s warning, every member of the expedition squad took up defensive positions in preparation for theing assault.

    When the first robot had shown itself, they had dropped their guard since it was such a strange and alien creature.

    Of course, when it suddenly opened fire on them with an unknown weapon only Marcus had recognized, everyone realized that these robots were a massive threat that needed to be taken seriously.

    ''Damn it, they had to show themselves while we are split up.'' Marcus thought while wearing a bitter expression.

    Seven members of the expedition squad had already scaled the stronghold''s wall, but the other thirteen were either still on the ground or in the middle of climbing up.

    Those close to the top were rushing to climb up, while those not yet halfway up thedder were scrambling back down to regroup with the team that was still at the bottom of the wall.

    Naturally all of them knew that being attacked on the ropedder that offered far from stable footing would leave them vulnerable.

    Marcus found himself at the top of the wall along with the entirety of his party from the Northern Quadrant, as well as Fianna who initially climbed the wall to ce thedder, and Besso, the bear beastman warrior that was part of Evette''s party.

    By the time the robots had burst through the fog two more members of the expedition squad had ascended thedder and reached the top. This made for a grand total of nine members at the top and eleven below.

    Unfortunately, even if the entire expedition squad had been together, they would have found themselves outnumbered. From both sides the robots were closing in with around thirty units total.

    However, the two groups attacking them wereing in riding onrge tforms attached to the stronghold''s railings that were equipped with all manner of weaponry.

    On the front of each of these tforms Marcus counted four automatic turret guns that could fire incrediblyrge rounds, three weapons that he guessed were grenadeunchers, and one massive cannon that looked like a tank''s main gun.

    At around two hundred eighty meters away the robots stopped their tforms and aimed their plethora of weapons at the group that was on top of the wall.

    Frankly it was almostical how much firepower the robots had aimed at a group of nine people that were wielding swords, axes, and staves.

    Nevertheless, Mirrion was a world where people could grow strong by leveling up and obtain skills that endowed people with immense power.

    Before the robots could begin their bombardment, Kollo and Besso charged one of the tforms while Mrazivy and Miguel attacked the other.

    From their first encounter it became clear that these enemies were more proficient at fighting from a long range. Up close their high output weapons would be far more difficult to properly use.

    ''Lightning Warrior, Iron Golem, Fire Phnx.''

    Quickly Marcus cast three spells to both protect himself and the others that were making up the backline of his team.

    Thegia likewise used her earth magic to create several walls made of transparent crystals that protected them from the iing hail of bullets and bombs while not cutting off line of sight.

    It didn''t take long for the entire area to erupt in explosions as powerful attacks were unleashed from both sides.

    ''Cure Pulse.''

    Noticing injuries starting to build up, Marcus cast a wide range tier seven healing magic spell he rarely used since it affected everything within its range, even enemies.

    This time though, he did not need to worry about healing their enemies since the robots werepletely mechanical.

    Yet the more Marcus used his magic to support his allies and keep them from incurring fatal damage, the more the robots began to target him. It seemed that they understood that eliminating the healer was a priority.

    ''This is what I get for acting as support.'' Marcus thought as mortar shells rained down on him from above.

    Despite being behind severalyers of protection Marcus found himself bombarded by not only bullets and explosions, but by chemical weapons.

    Some of the mortar shells that impacted near him burst into colorful clouds of poisonous and acidic gas.

    Thankfully, he was immune to poison and the acid was not strong enough to really harm him.

    Had he been a flesh and blood human though, he would have found his nervous system destroying itself from the poison and his lungs melting as he breathed in the acidic gas.

    Marcus wanted tounch a counterattack of his own but had already found his more precise but weaker spells to be unable to breach the robot''s defenses while his stronger spells would hit his allies.

    This was why he was focusing his magic on support which drew the robot''s attention.

    Still, Marcus knew that he couldn''t stop. His magic was pivotal for the frontliners to stay in good condition, and it was not like he couldn''t take whatever the robots threw at him. His form was unfairly tough and could take nearly endless amount of damage and still recover. Unless his entire soul was destroyed all at once, he could bounce back from anything.

    Slowly but surely, the robots began to fall, and it seemed like the battle would soon turn in the expedition squad''s favor.

    Yet, as thest few robots holding out were on the verge of being destroyed, the top of the stronghold opened up in multiple locations and more robots emerged from the inside of the stronghold.

    ''This is just great.'' Marcus thought as several robots appeared right before him.

    Before he could take any evasive actions, several machine guns began sting him with hundreds of rounds every second.

    Marcus'' first thought was to simply turn his body intangible and let the bullets fly through him harmlessly, but if he did so the people behind him were liable to get hit. And while he knew they could take care of themselves; he didn''t want to let anyone else get hit by an attack meant for him.

    ''Iron Wings of the Archangel.''

    As the first wave of bullets reached him Marcus deflected them with his mana barrier before his tier five iron magic took from.

    Once the six wings made of iron feathers had burst out of his back, he moved them in front of his body and sued them as shields to block the iing projectiles.

    Extending his senses Marcus made sure no one was too close to him so that he could go on the offensive without worry of friendly fire.

    When he found that no one was within around thirty meters of him, he smiled and unleashed his next spell.

    ''Cataclysmic Iron Sword.''

    A massive hundred-meter-long ten-meter-wide sword suddenly appeared in the air beside Marcus.

    The robots noticed this gigantic weapon and switched their fire towards it to try and destroy it, but it was already toote.

    With the swing of his hand Marcus spun the sword around and stabbed it towards the robots in front of him that had been sting him with gunfire.

    barriers activated to protect the robots, but it was impossible to fully negate the force behind the giant mass of iron Marcus was attacking with.

    The four assants in front of Marcus ended up mostly unharmed but destroying them was not his goal.

    Each of the robots he hit went flying and wereunched off the top of the stronghold''s wall. On this ind where flying was prohibited, it would take them at least a few minutes to get back into the battle.

    ''Looks like there is one more.''

    Looking in front of him, Marcus saw thest of the five robots that had appeared near him. Not having moved from the same spot since its arrival.

    This one was noticeably shaped differently than the others. It was a head taller and the ting on its exterior was noticeably thicker. Although it was missing something that all the other robots had, and that was the minigun attached to their right shoulders.

    ''Well, let''s see what this one is made of.''

    Marcus pointed his cataclysmic iron sword towards the remaining robot and began spinning the giant weapon like a drill. He could tell with a single look that this type of robot was tougher than the others.

    The moment heunched his attack the bulky robot made its move and two glowing des popped out of the top of each of its writs.

    Using these des, the robot intercepted Marcus'' spell and cleaved right through it.

    Wide eyed with shock Marcus could not believe what he was seeing.

    His cataclysmic iron sword was being destroyed as it came into contact with the robot''s weapons.

    For a moment he thought that it was utilizing the same type of power as destruction magic, but swiftly realized that was not the case.

    Its swords were superheated to the point where they vaporized the iron that Marcus'' magic had conjured.

 Chapter 982 982 The Impossible Stronghold (4)

    Chapter 982  982 The Impossible Stronghold (4)

    ''Thunderbird Strike.''

    Holding his staff aloft, Marcus cast a tier four lightning magic spell. His mana turning into electricity and shaping itself into the form of a giant majestic bird.

    It had been quite some time since hest cast this spell, but it was familiar and packed a great amount of power within it.

    ''Go!''

    Marcus swung his staff down andunched his spell at the looming robot that wielded two superheated swords that could easily cut through his iron magic.

    Nevertheless, Marcus felt certain that the unique properties of its swords would be ineffective against lightning magic.

    And as if to prove him right, therger, more heavily armored robot did not try to cut through the spell and instead erected a powerful barrier around itself.

    When the spell connected Marcus focused its power on the robot and kept it from exploding as it normally would.

    Eventually the spell''s power was spent, but not before breaching the robot''s barrier and scoring a direct hit on it.

    ''Damn! I thought that might be able to short circuit it. These robots must be pretty well insted.'' Marcus thought with a bitter expression on his face.

    While his spell had done a bit of damage to the robot it was mostly superficial. Its heavy armor gave it impressive defensive power and it was made well enough to take even powerful electrical shocks.

    If he wanted to take it down with lightning magic, he would probably need to use the tier eight spell cmity bolt, but that would surely hit everyone around him as well no matter how well he tried to control the spell.

    Unfortunately, as he racked his brain for how to attack, the robot finally seemed to have finished observing him.

    Without any warning it practically disappeared from view and appeared right in front of Marcus.

    He knew that it was fast, but the sudden explosion of speed had caught him off guard.

    Reflexively he moved his left arm forward and activated his shield that burst into form from the band attached to his wrist.

    For a moment he held his ground before being thrown back by what felt like an explosion.

    Fortunately, or perhaps not, he impacted against one of Thegia''s crystal walls and came to a violent stop before flying too far.

    Looking around after quickly recovering, Marcus looked to see if anyone was around to help, but everyone was busy dealing with their own battles.

    Those on top of the wall were embroiled in close quartersbat and those at the bottom were providing ranged support.

    Things had be hectic quickly and the formation atop the wall had turned into mostly chaos.

    Marcus thought about calling Mrazivy to help him but knew that she was already fighting hard against several robots and holding one of the front lines. The battle would certainly be worse if he asked for her aid.

    ''She probably wants me toe help her as well but knows my role assisting everyone is more important. I need to beat this thing quickly on my own and get back to my job as a supporter.''

    Still, he wasn''t quite ready to go all out yet and show off the skills he wanted to keep hidden.

    Instead, he decided to cast a powerful spell he had obtained in the special dungeon. It took a great deal of concentration to maintain so he had only tested it a few times, but he felt this was the perfect chance to try it out in battle.

    ''me Emperor.''

    A massive amount of mana surged around Marcus as he cast a tier eight spell of the highest order.

    Dark purple mes formed around Marcus'' body and fashioned itself into an opulent set of armor with a zing crown floating above his head.

    The mes continued beyond just his body and licked down his staff until reaching the end and taking the form of a trident.

    An incredible amount of strength surged through Marcus'' form, and he almost felt like he had activated a unique skill. That was simply how powerful this spell was.

    However, a spell this strong came with downsides to bnce out its power. It not only guzzled Marcus'' mana far faster than it could regenerate, but also took up most of his focus. He would be unable to cast any other spells while maintaining this one.

    ''Now, let me see what this spell can really do.'' Marcus thought with a smirk.

    He then charged towards the robot that was quickly approaching him to continue its assault.

    This time when he shed against it, he was not sted away and was able to hold his ground.

    Wielding his staff turned ming trident, Marcus swung and stabbed at the robot with a flurry of attacks.

    The two continued to trade blows until it became clear that one of them was superior. Sadly, Marcus was the one proven to be being overpowered.

    Despite his staff being a polearm like his favored scythe, the weapons were vastly different and the gap in skill level between him and the robot was showing. If the weapon created by the me emperor spell was scythe, he would be able to count on his skills, but a trident was too different.

    ''I''ll need to tweak the spelltter and make the weapon a scythe. But for now, I need to think of something else to do.''

    Marcus continued to fight head-to-head against the powerful robot designed for closebat while nning out his next move.

    Though the only way he could think of to earn a decisive victory was to bring out his scythe and use his main weapon. With it this fight would be much easier.

    Gritting his teeth, Marcus epted the situation was dire enough for him to need to reveal one of the cards he kept hidden. He would certainly get questions about his true weaponter, but the current battle was more important.

    Yet right before he summoned his scythe, the sh of gleaming de struck the robot he was fighting and knocked it back. An unexpected ally had arrived to assist him.

 Chapter 983 983 The Impossible Stronghold (5)

    Chapter 983  983 The Impossible Stronghold (5)

    Eyes wide, Marcus looked at Cassius in surprise.

    .c¦Ďm The leader of the Round Table party had just leapt from the ground below and was gripping the railing at the top of the stronghold''s wall with one hand while holding his amethros sword in the other.

    On this ind where it was impossible to fly, his maneuver had been incredibly dangerous. Had he missed the railing he would have kept ascending until the momentum of his jump wore off. Not to mention that fact that thousands of bullets and dozens of rockets were flying around. It would have been all too easy for him to have been hit while in the air and unable to dodge.

    ''Actually, it looks like he did get hit a few times.'' Marcus observed.

    He could see several spots where Cassius had been hit by bullets and was bleeding.

    Thankfully the damage was superficial. The bullets had hit and bounced off him and left only scratches that were already healing. Proof that Cassius possessed incredible durability.

    "There was no reason to put yourself in danger like that. I would have been fine without your assistance." Marcus said with a disapproving tone.

    "I don''t doubt that. Despite your lower level you have proven yourself incurably skillful and invaluable. But you were taking too long, and your magic is needed elsewhere in this fight. Plus, I was barely able to do anything from the ground and was itching to join the melee up here. Just firing off mana shes away from the action isn''t my style."

    Cassius did not seem to care that his actions could have led to a disastrous result and instead kept his eyes locked on the robot he had knocked away from Marcus.

    It was currently looking at Cassius and analyzing the new threat. Thanks to his attack there was now a deep cut in its armor that had previously only been scratched by Marcus'' attacks.

    ''That sword''s stronger than I thought it was. I am certain it did not have a pattern indicating it is system recognizedst time Cassius used it.''

    Marcus'' eyes were glued on the top tier amethros sword that Cassius was wielding. The previous times he had seen it the de had looked far iner and did not emit nearly as much energy as it currently was.

    "I shouldn''t be surprised that you are interested in Excalibur. But we all have our secrets and I have no intention of exining. Just get back to healing and supporting the others, I will take care of this one quickly." Cassius said, his lips curved up into a vicious smile as he prepared for battle.

    A momentter he shed with the robot that had identified Cassius as a greater threat than Marcus.

    The two were trading blows rapidly but it was clear from the start that Cassius had the advantage. His skills were superb, and his weapon far outssed the robot''s superheated swords.

    As this went down Marcus turned some of his attention back to casting his healing magic, but he made sure to keep an eye on Cassius''s battle.

    Of course, his interest was in the sword more so than the oue. He wanted to understand what made it special and was interested in its name.

    ''It must have been named by someone from Earth. When I heard that Cassius'' party''s name was round table I did not want to jump to any conclusions, but wielding a sword named Excalibur as well makes me almost certain.''

    However, while it was likely that the names of Cassius'' party and his sword came from a reincarnation or transmigration, Marcus was certain that neither Cassius nor any of his party members were from Earth. Otherwise, it one of them should have reacted to certain things just like Marcus and Miguel had.

    What Marcus figured was more likely was that Cassius had an ancestor that originated from Earth and passed down the party name and the sword.

    ''Still, I can''t believe that someone decided to name their sword Excaliburˇ­ Unless. Did it receive a name like my scythe did?''

    Marcus'' own weapon had received the name Dread Devourer from the system due to it using the core from a doomsday monster and being of exceptional quality. Perhaps something simr happened with the sword Cassius was wielding. Though even if it hadn''t, Marcus wanted to get his hands on the sword and figure out what made it tick.

    Unfortunately, a proper examination of the weapon was going to have to wait until after this battle. If Cassius would let him see the sword at all.

    The battle continued to rage all around as more robots arrived to rece the ones that had been destroyed.

    So far no one in the expedition squad had been fatally injured thanks to Marcus and Evette''s healing magic, but the intense fighting was starting to weigh on everyone.

    Those at the top were being attacked fiercely by the majority of the robot''s fire power, while those that were below were constantly being bombarded with explosives to keep them from gaining their bearings.

    It was honestly a bit of a miracle that just the twenty of them were holding their own against a swarm of robots using advanced weaponry. This just went to show how powerful they all were for their levels. That even this was not enough to break them.

    Cassius'' addition to the chaotic battle on top of the wall was honestly a massive help. He had been able to destroy the closebat focused robot and was cleaving through robots with ease thanks to his powerful sword that seemed unstoppable.

    Every time he shed, he carved through a robot and crippled it or outright destroyed it. Their barriers and armor barely even slowed him down.

    As things were going, this battle was turning into one of attrition which they were likely to win thanks to their ability to recover quickly from either magic, potions, or skills. Whenever the robots took damage, they were unable to repair themselves. Even with far greater numbers it did not matter if they kept getting destroyed.

 Chapter 984 984 (Spoiler, Title at the Bottom)

    Chapter984 984 (Spoiler, Title at the Bottom)

    ''Looks like that was thest of them.''

    Once the sound of gunfire and explosions had ceased, Marcus looked around and saw the area littered with destroyed robots.

    The fierce battle had gone on for around thirty minutes and ended in absolute defeat for the robots.

    Thanks to Marcus'' and Evette''s expert use of healing magic no one ended up dead despite being heavily outnumbered.

    With how chaotic the battle had been Marcus had been unable to get apletely urate count of the number of robots they had faced, but he was certain it was several hundred.

    Each of the robots had been packing a great deal of power and it was honestly a bit surprising they won without losing anyone.

    Of course, the main reason was that around midway through the fight most of the members of the expedition squad stopped holding back and unleashed their unique skills.

    This gave them a sudden explosion of power that turned the tide of the battle almost instantly.

    The robots were certainly strong, but their attack patterns were simple, and theycked the power to put any of the members of the expedition squad down.

    Nevertheless, the fight was not without its consequences. Several members of the expedition squad still had heavy injuries that required more precise healing. Plus, almost everyone had exhausted all of their stamina. Some were even suffering from the bacsh of their unique skills. This was undoubtedly the most worn down the expedition squad had been sinceing to this ind.

    ''For the wounded I can heal them after I recover my nearly depleted mana, but those suffering the negative effects of their unique skills is another issue. I already showed off Ultimate Refresh during the wendigo encounter so I could use it to restore them to peak condition. But I really do not want to waste any of my daily uses when we have no idea what mighte for us next.'' Marcus thought, pondering what his best y would be.

    Certainly, the overall strength of the group was important, but at the end of the day the ones that he needed to look out for most were the members of his own party. Especially Mrazivy and Miguel.

    ''For now, I''ll worry about those with missing limbs and heavily damaged organs. I can think about how to use Ultimate Refresh afterwards.'' Opening up his item box Marcus took out a couple of high-grade mana restoration potions and downed them.

    Immediately he felt a surge of energy and could feel that the around ten percent of his mana that he had left rapidly increasing.

    He then walked over to Besso who was one of the ones that had fought the most fiercely on top of the wall and suffered the worst injuries.

    Both of his ears had been blown off his head and he was currently missing his right eye.

    Along with those injuries his left arm was charred to the point that Marcus could not see a single millimeter of healthy skin.

    His face also had a sickly pallor to it, a clear sign that he was suffering from being poisoned.

    ''Plus, he has some other minor external injuries and several of his organs are pretty heavily damaged. His regeneration skill is doing its best, but with his mana and stamina almost spent, he is barely healing.'' Marcus observed.

    In all honesty it was a bit surprising that Besso was still alive. A normal person would surely have died already from these wounds. Yet, as a high-level adventurer, Besso was incredibly durable and could take this much damage and survive for a couple days even without treatment.

    Naturally Marcus wasn''t going to test his resilience though. First, he used the tier eight healing magic spell true restoration to clear out the poison and then used the tier seven spell regenerate to heal his injuries.

    It was slow going due to how horribly battered Besso was, but within a few minutes he would be healed.

    While Marcus was tending to his first patient, Mrazivy approached him. Appearing far less injured than most of the others that stood on the front line of the battle.

    "Thanks for the timely support. Whenever I was in a pinch you either healed me or used magic to block an attack meant for me. Though, I think that some of the others might not be too happy about your obvious bias in supporting me so heavily." Mrazivy said, letting Marcus know some of theints he had heard after the battle.

    "They can shove their grievances into a furnace for all I care. I made sure no one died. You''re my wife. Of course, I am going to prioritize you over everyone else. Anyway, you more than pulled your weight. Out of everyone I think you took out the most or second most robots." Marcus replied.

    He truly did not care what the others thought. If he was forced to choose between saving everyone else or only Mrazivy, he would pick Mrazivy every time. Surely, he would not just toss everyone else aside, but he was no hero. When it came down to it, he had his priorities on who he valued the most. Undoubtably everyone else here did as well.

    "Okay, that should do it. Onto the next person." Marcus said once he had finished treating Besso.

    However, on his way over to Fianna who had lost a few of her legs, something entirely unexpected happened.

    Several scattered parts of the destroyed robots began to glow brightly before floating into the air and flying off in the direction of the ind''s center.

    ''What the hell is going on?!'' Marcus thought in shock.

    He attempted to intercept some of the flying parts with magic since he had a bad feeling about what was going on.

    Unfortunately, while he and some of the other members of the expedition squad were able to destroy some of the items, most of them escaped into the dense fog and disappeared.

    "What just happened? The remnants of the robots that had fallen just lifted up and flew away. Did the same thing happen up here." Evette said, after quickly ascending the wall.

    Those that had been at the bottom had all quickly climbed to the top when the robot parts began to move.

    Around half of them still had some serious injuries, but it had been described that it was more important for the entire expedition squad to join up on top of the wall rather than continue to treat injuries.

    "I am not exactly sure, but I expect that something far more dangerous than the robots we just fought ising. Those parts did not just fly away for no reason." Marcus responded, looking towards where the parts had gone.

    Soon Marcus'' prediction came true.

    Miguel, using his summons as lookout spotted a colossal form marching towards them.

    It was a robot just like the ones they had just fought, but it stood a hundred and seventy meters tall and had thousands of weapons all over its massive body. Without a doubt it had integrated the parts from the other robots in order to strength itself and be a greater threat than all of the other robotsbined.

 Chapter 985 985 The Colossal Robotâ€™s Attack

    Chapter985 985 The Colossal RobotˇŻs Attack

    As the colossal robot armed to the teeth approached, every member of the expedition squad that was in any shape to attack prepared.

    Thankfully they had a few seconds of forewarning thanks to Miguel''s summoned beast being able to see farther through the fog than any of them.

    Unlike any of the other creatures they had encountered on this ind, the robots did not seem to have the boon to see through the fog more easily than outsiders. So far, they had only begun attacking once within three hundred meters.

    On Miguel''s signal, everyone that had been prepared to strike unleashed their attacks towards the looming threat. None of them wanted to face the colossal robot in a fair fight and were hoping to take it down before it even spotted them.

    ''Phoenix Fire.''

    Summoning up practically all of the mana left in him, Marcus cast a tier seven fire magic spell andunched it in the direction Miguel had said the robot was approaching from.

    Along with him other powerful spells went flying and those that focused on martial weapons unleashed flying mana attacks weapons.

    Finally, thest to attack was Fianna, her arrows would fly faster than any other attack and she timed it so that they would hit at the same time as the spells and mana attacks.

    ''It won''t be enough.'' Marcus thought. He could instinctually tell that their barrage of attackscked the power to bring down the enemy Miguel had described to all of them.

    Yet, what truly happened was far from even the worst-case scenario Marcus had anticipated.

    By the time the attacks should have hit when the robot was only weapons.

    same time as the spells and mana attacks.

    Finally, thest to attack was Fianna, her arrows would fly faster ''It won''t be enough.'' Marcus thought. He could instinctually tell that than any other attack and she timed it so that they would hit at the their barrage of attackscked the power to bring down the enemy around four hundred meters away, Miguel''s face grew pale, and he stared off into the distance with a look of disbelief.

    "Miguel, what happened? Is the robot still standing? Did it at least take some serious damage?" Mrazivy said, still taking her ce as leader of their party and asking for an update from Miguel who was just standing there stunned.

    Shaking his head, Miguel regained some of hisposure and quickly told them all what his summon had seen.

    "Almost none of the attack connected. Some sort of field around it disrupted the spells and mana attacks and lessened their power to basically nothing. Fianna''s arrows hit but did practically no damage to its thick armor. We can''t stay here any longer. There is no way we can block its attacks in our current condition." After Miguel gave his report, he abruptly turned around and jumped down from the wall. Now that he had warned the others about what had happened, he decided to protect his own life above everything else. He was not going to stay up on top of the wall and leave himself open to being showered in gunfire.

    For just one instance, everyone stared stupefied at Miguel''s figure thatnded on the ground on the side of the wall that was away from the iing colossal robot. Then, the leaders of the expedition squad ordered a retreat and urged everyone to follow Miguel. While they had fought a painstaking battle to im this wall, staying would only see them obliterated by explosives and bullets. Better to put the massive wall between them and the colossal roboting their way.

    Marcus chose to be one of thest to jump and looked behind him just as the colossal robot crested the edge of the fog.

    The moment it spotted its targets, the thousands of guns all over its body came to life and several panels on its body opened up to reveal a cache of rockets. Within this one colossal robot was the same firepower as every other robot they had foughtbined.

    Without any hesitation Marcus leapt from the top of the wall right before the barrage of pullets and rockets wereunched.

    As he fell, he knew that his current exhausted mana pool was not going to be sufficient and used his Supreme Skill Ultimate Refresh to bring his status back up to its peak condition.

    All at once he waspletely revitalized and capable of fighting at his best once again.

    When his feet finally touched the ground, he heard a thunderous roar as tens of thousands of bullets impacted the wall of the stronghold.

    Thankfully the sturdy wall held through the initial barrage of bullets, but the iing rockets were another story.

    A great fiery ball erupted from the other side of the wall and parts of the stronghold began to buckle under the immense explosive power.

    Unlike the bullets that could only fly in a straight line, some of the rockets flew over the wall and began raining down on the expedition squad.

    Everyone still in fighting shape either dodged or used defensive magic and skills to protect themselves and theirrades. Unfortunately, this slowed down their retreat.

    ''We are going to suffer casualties at this rate. I really didn''t want to use this spell since it uses so much mana and I haven''t truly perfected it yet, but we need a defensible position that can take a beating.''

    Steeling his resolve, Marcus turned around and mmed both his hands into the ground. Mana erupted from his body at a speed so great that he began to violently glow as he cast his strongest defensive spell.

    "Castle Ferrous."

    The tier eight iron magic spell immediately went to work, and a gigantic structure of pure iron began forming around Marcus.

    In only a few dozen seconds a miniature version of Borealia''s Royal Castle had surrounded Marcus and the rest of the expedition squad.

    Not long after its creation the castle was bombarded with rockets.

    However, even under the barrage of heavy explosives the iron castle stood strong and protected all those that were within it.

    ''But will it be enough once that robot sts through its own stronghold?'' Marcus thought, racking his brain for what to do next.

    He had offered them temporary shelter, though with a few of their members practically out ofmission and almost everyone already exhausted, their chances of a sessful counterattack seemed slim. Even just trying to run away without losing anyone did not seem possible with explosive rockets raining down upon them.

 Chapter 986 986

    Chapter 986  986

    For the moment everyone in the expedition squad was safe within the protection of Marcus'' tier eight iron magic spell.

    A barrage of rockets continued to rain down outside, but the castle''s defenses kept them all safe from the violent explosions.

    ''We have a little time at least. That robot can''t target us directly since it is still on the other side of the stronghold. Though the rain of rockets is already enough to overwhelm us with so many members injured or exhausted.'' Marcus thought, his mind racing for a solution.

    Unfortunately, the only thing he coulde up with was to go all out and reveal the skills he had kept hidden as well as the fact that he was a ghost.

    With the field around the colossal robot that disrupted mana attacks and magic, the only way to deal any real damage to it was to get up close and hack away at it. However, if Marcus approached it in his material form, he was certain he would be blown apart by explosions or torn to shreds by thousands of bullets.

    Of course, there was also the possibility that the colossal robot would have a means of attacking him while he was in his ghost form, which would be the absolute worst-case scenario. Even if he gave it his all he wasn''t sure if he could beat the mechanical juggernaut if it bypassed his intangibility.

    "I recognize that look. You are nning on doing something dangerous aren''t you?" Mrazivy said, walking up next to Marcus.

    It had only been a half dozen seconds since Marcus had conjured the massive iron castle and everyone except for Mrazivy was still looking around in shock.

    She had not been nearly as surprised since this was not the first time she had seen this spell. The few times Marcus had practiced this spell, she had acted as the attacking force to test its resilience.

    "Yeah, I was. I guess I have gotten too easy to read."

    "That is just how things are when you spend so much time together with another. You can read me just as well after all." Mrazivy said with a wry smile on her face.

    Even while they were under attack from a powerful enemy, she did not show a hint of worry. Likely because she knew that she and Marcus would be fine.

    Thanks to Mrazivy, Marcus did not do anything rash and waited for the other members of the expedition squad to gather ande up with a cooperative n.

    "I say that we try and make a break for it while we can. Fighting that thing is too dangerous."

    "No, if we do that, our wounded and fatigued won''t be able to keep up. You think in our current condition we can defend against the constant sts of those explosive magic weapons without losing someone."

    "I agree, running isn''t going to work. We have no idea if we can actually outrun that thing or for how long it will pursue us. For several hundreds of kilometers all that is in front of us is a straight strip ofnd with nowhere to hide."

    "We could try traveling over the water. Surely that thing cannot float and with how deep theke is it would sink far down into the depths and be unable to attack us."

    "Are you crazy. You must remember thest time we tried traveling over thatke. There are monsters and beasts just a dangerous as that metal monstrosity lurking in those waters."

    Unfortunately, with tensions running high, a cohesive n did note together easily.

    While many had their own ideas, most were put into two camps. Those that wanted to flee and those that wanted to stay and fight.

    Naturally Marcus and Mrazivy were among those wanting to fight. Neither of them was particrly weakened and still had plenty of trump cards they could use.

    Among those that wanted to flee, Evette and Fianna were leading the debate. Fianna was personally pretty beat up, with several missing legs, while Evette knew that she was practically useless against their current enemy. He death magic would not work against a nonliving foe, and pure mana attacks already had proven to be ineffective.

    ''Crap. That is not looking good.''

    As part of Marcus'' spell, he could see everything that was going on within and around his castle.

    Outside the continuous stream of rockets had slowed down, but that was because the colossal robot was focusing its power on breaking through the remainder of the stronghold''s wall in one go.

    From what Marcus could tell, they only had a couple dozen seconds at most.

    "We don''t have much longer. In just a few seconds that thing will have broken through the wall and will be able to target us with all of its weapons. My spell won''tst long under concentrated fire. We need to make a decision now." Marcus said, conveying the urgency of their situation.

    Reluctantly, Evette finally agreed to stand and fight. Forcing Fianna to go along with the n or risk wasting the little time they had.

    Now that they were on the same page, a strike for of their best close-range fighters was assembled to attack the colossal robot directly.

    "Marcus, can I trust you to have my back?" Miguel said, wearing a conflicted expression.

    "Yes. I''ll make sure to protect you. I am on the support team after all. Magic may not be able to damage our enemy, but I can still block its attacks. Even if you do get hurt, I will use my healing magic or even my Supreme Skill to keep you going. You can believe in me."

    "Very well." Miguel said curtly.

    He then turned to everyone else and announced that he would lead the charge.

    This garnered all manner of stunned looks since Miguel had been among those that wanted to run away.

    Still, no one spoke up against him after seeing the resolute look in his eyes and the golden aura that had suddenly red up around him.

 Chapter 987 987 Miguelâ€™s Resolve

    Chapter 987  987 MiguelˇŻs Resolve

    Miguel was surprised with himself. When he had jumped down from the top of the robots'' stronghold after giving a warning to the others he nned to keep running and save himself.

    Yet, once hended, he found himself waiting for them.

    It had perplexed him that he found it difficult to simply leave them and look after only himself. At first, he tried to convince himself that it was just self-preservation, that being with the group would increase his chances of survival. But he knew that was just a fa?ade.

    Then when the decision was made to stay and fight, he volunteered to lead the attack.

    He had wanted to flee in the first ce. Battling such an overpowered enemy seemed foolish to him.

    However, the assurance he had received from Marcus made him want to step up. For the first time he had people he wanted to fight for and that he believed would fight with him.

    The pain of his first death when the friend he tried to help left him to bleed to death in an alley, and how the first adventuring party he had joined betrayed him left him with scars that made it difficult for him to trust.

    He had attempted to act haughty and confident since he had been reborn with amazing powers thanks to his Blessing of the Hero, but the illusion that he was an invincible protagonist was shattered after his loss to Marcus during Borealia''s Tournament.

    Then when Marcus had approached him as another from Earth, Miguel thought he might have finally met someone that could understand him. Except, he ran away upon learning that Marcus was a ghost and possessing someone else''s body.

    Frankly, Miguel had been terrified. He saw how easily Marcus had taken over another''s body and feared that he would be next. That Marcus had only approached him in order to steal his body.

    The first chance he got, he fled and never looked back. Throwing away even the hope that he might meet someone he could trust.

    It was not long after that the guild started to show him favoritism. Somehow, they had found out about his blessing and title.

    At first, he had thought about leaving the guild, but the jobs they sent his way and the preferential treatment he received kept him from going. He would have had no clue what to do had he cut ties with the guild anyway.

    Eventually Valerius personally contacted Miguel and started building him up to be the new face of the Northern Quadrant of the Adventurers Guild.

    It had been grueling at times, and Miguel still did not really trust Valerius, but he knew that the man needed him for his political games within the guild.

    He continued to gain greater power under Valerius'' management and around seven months ago he had earned the title of hero, instead of just his previous title of fledgling hero.

    Certainly, he had helped a great deal of people because of the jobs he had done for the guild, but he still felt like he was undeserving of the title of hero. Not once had he gone out of his way to protect or save people, it was always at the direction of the adventurers guild.

    Nevertheless, right now, in this moment, he wanted to be the hero this world had given him a chance to be.

    Among his unique skills he had one granted to him by his hero title that he had never sued nor thought he would ever get to use. It required him to have allies he trusted and allies that trusted in him.

    He had tried hard, stubbornly hard not to open himself up to anyone, afraid he would get hurt again. But Marcus and Mrazivy had continuously chipped away at the wall he had put up. Now he felt like he could trust them.

    ''If I am proven a fool once again, then so be it. I am tired of being this way.'' Miguel thought as he approached the gates of the iron castle Marcus had made.

    The soft golden glow that had erupted from him when he announced that he would lead the charge against their enemy was still epassing him. Not a single person had spoken out against him once he had released the power of a hero. Everyone simply followed his lead confidently. Assured of their victory so long as he helmed the attack.

    With the wave of his hand Marcus opened up the gate and the stronghold in front of them came into view.

    No longer did it look like an imprable bastion, now its walls were barely standing and looked a stiff breeze away from toppling over.

    Miguel did not falter though; he unsheathed his sword and held it above his head.

    A powerful golden light erupted around him that dwarfed the slight glow he had been emitting.

    "Symbol of Valor."

    With the activation of his heroic unique skill, the golden light around him spread out to his allies and buffed them as well.

    Each of them received a thirty-three percent boost to their strongest stat, a twenty percent boost to every other stat, and a constant aura that lessened damage and healed them.

    It was a unique skill of the highest ss and nearly rivaled even some Supreme Skills. A power befitting a hero.

    However, it would notst but five minutes and after its effect wore off everyone that benefited from the unique skill would find themselves drained of their stamina. Once the skill was used, it was all or nothing. There would be no second chances once its power ran out.

    Still, Miguel pushed all of his worries into the back of his mind and charged towards the wall just as it finally buckled.

    On the other side he could see the colossal robot that he knew he had no chance of defeating on his own. All he could do was press the attack and trust in the allies he had chosen.

 Chapter 988 988 Battle Against the Colossal Robot

    Chapter 988  988 Battle Against the Colossal Robot

    With Miguel leading the charge, the dozen members of the expedition squad that were still in good condition to fight shot towards the colossal robot as it broke through its own stronghold.

    Marcus was trailing right behind Miguel and felt his strength and confidence soaring. Not only did Miguel''s unique skill give everyone a boast to their stats, but Marcus felt that it was improving his determination.

    ''I need to make sure to keep my word. I won''t let even a single bullet graze him.''

    In front of them the colossal robot had noticed their group heading for it and leveled its thousands of guns at them.

    A swarm of bullets flew towards the members of the expedition squad and made the path in front of them appear to be covered in a ck haze due to how many bullets wereing their way.

    "Shield of the Just."

    "Guardian Aroura."

    At the same time both Marcus and Mrazivy activated their defensive unique skills in order to protect everyone.

    From Marcus a thin translucent protective film spread out in front of him and created a barrier. Then a colorful band of dancing lights burst out from Mrazivy''s body and engulfed the squad.

    When the bullets hit the Guardian Aroura, they quickly began to freeze over with ice and lost most of their momentum and energy.

    After that, the little power that remained in each bullet was far from enough to put a scratch on Marcus'' Shield of the Just and bounced off harmlessly.

    Its bullets, proving ineffective the colossal robot prepared tounch a salvor of powerful rockets to blow them away.

    Yet, by the time it was ready to fire the force of expedition squad members had arrived at its feet and began their attack.

    At the front of the assault Miguel was the first to unleash an attack.

    The gleaming aura around him condensed into his amethros sword and with a wide swing he carved into the robot''s leg.

    His attack cut away and smashed the thick metal armor and only stopped when it had cleaved through around a third of the leg.

    The colossal robot lurched forwards from the attack and nearly lost its bnce as one of its legs took critical damage.

    Of course, the assault did not end with only Miguel''s attack, Mrazivy and Cassius stuck out with their des as well and continued to cause massive damage to the colossal robot''s right leg.

    Their strategy was to quickly cripple the robot''s mobility and run around it to prevent it from targeting them with all of its weapons.

    Right before they couldpletely destroy its leg though, the colossal robot gave up on trying to shoot them or blow them up, and simply brought one of its massive fists down on top of them.

    With one look Marcus could tell that this attack was packing a great deal of force behind it and would surely squad them if they did not move.

    However, if they got out of the way, they would fail to destroy its leg and the robot would have more room to maneuver its guns and rocketunchers better and st them with all it had.

    ''Why am I always having to pull stunts like this.'' Marcus thought as he jumped and intercepted the colossal robot''s first.

    This close he could not rely on magic due to the robot''s disruption field, so he put all of his heart and soul into Shield of the Just and hoped it would be enough.

    When the fist impacted, Marcus felt a rush of energy jolt through him and he nearly faltered.

    But with gritted teeth and a resolved expression, he held out and pushed back against the colossal robot''s punch.

    Cracks soon began to web their way through his Shield of the Just and Marcus could feel his momentum giving out.

    He held off for as long as he could, but he reached his limits and the protective barrier created by his unique skill shattered.

    At the same moment there was a bright sh from below and the colossal robot lost its bnce. Causing the fist about to impact Marcus to change trajectory just before hitting him.

    Two violent rumbles roared out as the colossal robot and its right leg both smashed into the ground.

    Thanks to Marcus holding off the colossal robot''s attack, the strike force had managed to aplish their first goal in this attack.

    Unfortunately, Marcus found himself falling towards the ground with no way to maneuver.

    Over a hundred a hundred rockets were flying right towards him in retaliation and with Shield of the Just having been broken and his magic and mana-based skills weakened by the colossal robot''s disruption field he had no way to block the rockets.

    ''Keeping my race a secret isn''t worth getting blown up.'' Marcus thought after weighing his options for a very short moment. He had seen the power behind these rockets and knew he wouldn''te out unscathed if he simply tanked them.

    Instead, he blinked out of existence and reverted to his ghost form. Bing invisible and intangible.

    The powerful rockets flew right through him and kept going until they disappeared into the fog and exploded in the distance where they were not seen or heard.

    Then just before Marcus reached the ground, he became material again and safetynded without any issue.

    ''Looks like just about everyone saw my disappearing act.'' Marcus thought, noticing the numerous curious stares directed his way.

    Nevertheless, they were in the middle of a battle with a formidable enemy. Everyone held their questions for Marcus and focused on destroying the colossal robot.

    It may have been crippled now that it had lost a leg, but most of its armaments were still perfectly operational and it was analyzing the data it had gathered on its attackers and forming a new n of attack. It was not going to be destroyed easily, as Marcus and the others were soon about to find out.

 Chapter 989 989 Battle Against the Colossal Robot (2)

    Chapter 989  989 Battle Against the Colossal Robot (2)

    After having cut off one of the colossal robot''s legs the expedition squads'' strike force rushed in to finish off their crippled enemy.

    They seamlessly split into four groups of three and took different sides of the robot in order to split its focus. Now that it had lost a great deal of its mobility it would struggle to deal with attacks from multiple different directions.

    In only a single instant each of the four groups had taken up their positions andunched themselves at the downed robot with their weapons ready.

    They nned to continuous hack away at the colossal robot until it was inoperable, but it had already analyzed their strategy and developed a countermeasure.

    On their approach it did not use any of its armaments to slow them down and let them get closer.

    Then when it was about to be hit, the colossal robotunched a barrage of rockets and grenades around its body.

    Previously it had refrained from using high yield explosive around its body to prevent causing damage to itself, but it had determined that the expedition squad''s strike force presented more danger to itself than the damage it would sustain from using explosives in close quarters.

    Several thunderous explosions rocked the area as the robot unleashed its payload and everything in sight was consumed by a giant ball of fire.

    ''Damn, I wasn''t expecting a suicide attack.'' Marcus thought as he jumped back and out from the explosion''s radius.

    He had been grouped up with Mrazivy and Miguel, and the three of them had escaped the main st of the explosion.

    Still, it had done no small amount of damage to the three of them, leaving several burns of Mrazivy and Miguel and having shattered Miguel''s left arm that he had used to hold up his shield and absorb most of the impact.

    Marcus himself could feel that his body had cracks all over it from the force of the explosion and saw some of his essence leaking out as a grey mist.

    At the very least they had retreated far enough back that they were out of the robot''s magic disruption field, and he was able to use his healing magic without any difficulties.

    ''Regenerate.''

    To begin with he fixed Miguel''s arm that was hanging limply. He next switched over to Mrazivy and by the time he had finished healing her his regeneration plus spirit healing had fixed his own injuries.

    "I never expected it to self-destruct. I guess it wanted to try and take us all with it when it realized it was going to lose." Miguel said, his expression looking relieved.

    "I''m not sure if that was enough to destroy it. We should keep on our guard until we see it turned into scape." Marcus said.

    He had the sinking feeling that the colossal robot was not finished just yet. Certainly, the explosion around it had been terrifyingly powerful, but he did not think that it would destroy itself so easily.

    "Let us go and check on the others and regroup. Thanks to Miguel''s unique skill still protecting us I don''t think anyone will have died, but we need to act quickly. We are on a time limit after all." Mrazivy said.

    Nodding their heads, Marcus and Miguel agreed and the three of them rushed back towards where the colossal robot had been when it detonated thousands of explosives.

    When they arrived, they found that everyone from the strike force was still in one piece and had likewise gathered to check on the status of the colossal robot.

    However, things were far from what any of them had expected.

    The colossal robot had certainly suffered some damage from its own attack, but it was in far better condition than expected. Some of its outer armor had been warped and it had been ckened by soot, but it was mostly unharmed.

    Still, worse than how little damage it had taken, the colossal robot was being repaired.

    All over its body several smaller robots shaped like ants were going around fixing the damage it had sustained. Even its severed leg had been brought over and was in the process of being reattached.

    This was shocking to everyone for multiple reasons, but the main one was that none of the other robots had shown any ability to restore themselves after being damaged.

    ''Damn it. We should have foreseen this.'' Marcus thought.

    Their n had been to cripple the colossal robot''s mobility and whittle it down until it waspletely destroyed, but that would have only worked on the assumption that it could not fix the damage it took.

    "We will have to hit it with everything we have all at once and hope it is enough. If not, I will at least make sure the three of us get out of here." Marcus said, a grim look on his face.

    Miguel and Mrazivy looked equally dour but agreed. None of them wanted to abandon the others, but if they failed, they would be exhausted and the only thing that would pick them back up was Marcus'' Supreme Skill which he only had four more uses of.

    ''I really did not want to use these since they use so many rare materials, but there is no choice.''

    From out of his item box, Marcus pulled out an adamantine javelin and filled it with magic energy.

    Once it had reached capacity, he tossed it towards the colossal robot with all his might.

    Several guns moved to intercept the flying javelin and sted it off course. The javelin continued to fly, though the hundreds of bullets hitting it knocked it off course.

    It eventually impacted and sunk into the robot where it exploded.

    Chucks of metal blew off the colossal robot and it now had a sizeable hole in its left side.

    "I have three more javelins like that one! I''ll use them to cover our approach! Everyone, get as close as possible and hit it with everything you have got! We need to bring it down quickly before it can repair itself!" Marcus shouted so that the entire strike force could hear him.

 Chapter 990 990 Battle Against the Colossal Robot (3)

    Chapter 990  990 Battle Against the Colossal Robot (3)

    With the situation having changed, everyone in the expedition squad''s strike force rushed towards the colossal robot. They only had a couple minutes left before Miguel''s unique skill faded and left them in no condition to continue fighting. It was time for them all to unleash their strongest attacks in a final bid for victory.

    To start things off Marcus took out another of his one-time use explosive adamantine javelins andunched it at the colossal robot. Hisst strike had done decent damage and he wanted to draw the robot''s attention towards himself to make it easier for the others to approach.

    Unfortunately, his previous attack was a bit too sessful, and the colossal robot had identified Marcus'' javelins as its greatest threat.

    The moment he threw his second javelin, the colossal robot focused most of its guns on the projectile and aimed to shoot it out of the air.

    It was unable to fully stop the javelin with its weapons, yet, just before Marcus'' weapon impacted, in a feat of speed that its size should have made impossible, the colossal robot swatted the javelin with its left arm.

    The javelin exploded on impact, but the damage it caused was far less than the first one since it did not pierce into the colossal robot this time.

    Marcus could only grit his teeth when he saw this and threw his next javelin. At the very least he had garnered most of the colossal robot''s attention even if he wasn''t causing as much damage as he had expected.

    Of course, the next javelin received just as much attention as thest one, but now the robot was targeting Marcus, and by association Miguel and Mrazivy who were next to him.

    His third javelin failed to do anysting damage and a barrage of bullets, rockets, and grenades rained down on Marcus and his team members.

    ''Don''t protect or heal me. I have a unique skill I can only use once I have taken a certain amount damage. With it I should be able to deal some major damage.'' Miguel said over telepathy.

    Reluctantly Marcus withdrew his support at Miguel''s request. He remembered the power Miguel had used during their match all those years ago and figured that this was what Miguel was talking about.

    Nevertheless, a wall of explosions and bullets blocked their way towards the colossal robot, and while it normally would have taken less than a second for any of them to close the three-hundred-meter gap between them, it was proving difficult for them to get close enough to unleash their attacks.

    For several seconds they rushed forwards and backwards trying to find a path towards their target, but with little sess. At least not until a single attack changed the course of the battle.

    Earlier Fianna had fired a single arrow that contained the power of one of her unique skills.

    As the arrow fell on the colossal robot it quickly split apart and multiplied until there were a thousand arrows raining down.

    This was the power of Fianna''s unique skill called Single Arrow Volley.

    The arrows pierced into eh colossal robot and all at once several of its exterior guns and grenadeunchers were either destroyed or damaged to the point of not being usable.

    Overall, the attack had not done a particrly great amount damage, but it had heavily weakened its offensive capabilities.

    ''Let''s see you block this now.''

    Taking advantage of this chance, Marcus pulled out hisst adamantine javelin and tossed it directly towards the colossal robot''s nearly reattached leg.

    It attempted to block Marcus'' javelin, but with its diminished fire power, the colossal robot failed to stop the attack.

    A powerful shockwave ripped through the barely attached leg and tore it back off.

    The colossal robot copsed one again and at the same time the other teams that had been under less fire finally reached their target.

    Cassius was the first to attack and used a unique skill called Ceaseless Onught to turn himself into a relentless storm of devastating sword attacks.

    Following him Kollo raised her top tier adamantine war axe and the powerful weapon erupted in size until it was ten timesrger.

    She then jumped up and jammed her weapon into the right shoulder of the colossal robot in an attempt to disable one its arms.

    Surprisingly the next to attack was from Evette whocked any sort of martial skills.

    However, she had a Supreme Skill called Spirit Sapping Chains that she almost never used but had determined that the situation was dire enough for her to go all out.

    Evette mmed her hands into the ground right at the colossal robot''s reaming leg and ghastly looking spectral chains erupted from the ground.

    These horrid chains quickly wrapped themselves around their target and began to drag down the colossal robot despite its immense strength.

    Normally this Supreme Skill would have eaten away at the souls of anything it had ensnared, but against a robot they only acted as binding.

    Still, it was immensely beneficial for the others and allowed them to focus on their attacks instead of having to worry about being struck by the colossal robot.

    Several others wailed on their singr enemy and quickly the heavy armor that had been protecting the colossal robot was stripped away.

    Finally, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel were thest three to arrive due to having taken the most fire.

    "Valorous Comeback!"

    Leading the charge and racked with injuries, Miguel activated the first heroic unique skill he had received along with his blessing.

    In an instant all the damage he had received was healed and he was bathed in an even greater golden glow. This was a skill meant to turn the tides of a battle and deliver onest strike.

    Miguel jumped up towards the colossal robot''s chest and with a wide sh carved deeply into its armor ting.

    His attack failed to reach the core of the mechanical monstrosity, but that had never been his goal. He had fully filled his role in weaking its defenses.

    "Behemoth Charge."

    Right behind him, Marcus had his staff raised and mmed into the area where Miguel had sliced through the armor using his most recently acquired unique skill.

    The single use attack skill that could only be activated once a day, pack a greater punch than Marcus had imagined, and his blow caved in the inner armor and revealed the colossal robot''s power core.

    It tried to struggle to prevent its most vitalponent from being destroyed, but its limbs were all damaged to the point of being inoperable and most of its weapons had been destroyed.

    "It is time to finish this."

    "Dragon Thrust."

    After Miguel and Marcus had opened up the colossal robot''s chest, Mrazivy delivered the finishing blow.

    Using her Supreme Skill, she had focused all of her power into the tip of her sword and jammed it into the colossal robot''s power core.

    The intense power behind her attack entirely annihted the exposed power core.

    A massive hole burst out of the colossal robot''s back and its power core shattered into millions of pieces and flew off into the distance.

    Without the energy needed to power itself and many of its core systems damaged, the colossal robot ceased movement and copsed for good.

 Chapter 991 991 Final Spiteful Attack

    Chapter 991  991 Final Spiteful Attack

    After touching back down on the ground, Marcus let out a relived sigh now that the colossal robot was no longer moving.

    He had been a bit anxious that even thebination attack utilizing his, Miguel''s, and Mrazivy''s strongest attacks would fail to bring down the mechanical titan.

    Luckily, his worries had been proven to be for nothing, as they had broken through and destroyed the colossal robot''s power core.

    ''And it looks like everyone is still alive. Though some are in worse shape than others.''

    He could see plenty of members of the other teams with injured members, some of which were missing limbs or had horrible burns all over their bodies.

    Evette was already using what mana she had left to administer healing, but everyone was running on fumes and only around a half minute away from suffering the bacsh of Miguel''s unique skill.

    ''I guess I should go and offer my healing as well. Once the effects of Miguel''s unique skill ends, I can use my Supreme Skill to restore mine and Evette''s statuses so that we can continue treating everyone.'' Marcus thought, walking towards the nearest person in need of his aid.

    "Good work out there. Those javelins of yours really helped out towards the end there. I''m not sure how we would have been able to get close without you diverting most of that thing''s attention. Away from the rest of us" Per, one of the giant twins in Fianna''s party said to Marcus with a smile on his face.

    "We all had our roles to y. Without you and Ashton focusing on its remaining leg and crippling its movements, I don''t think we could havended the finishing blow."

    "Hm, I''m not so sure about that. We did some good damage, but I think it was well restrained even without us." Per said, gazing towards Evette.

    It was inrge part thanks to her Supreme Skill that everyone had been able to focus on attacking without worrying about the colossal robot suddenly thrashing about.

    Still, Marcus assured Per that all of them had been necessary to win.

    "Oh, and once we have gotten some rest, if you''ll let me see your weapon, I''ll fix it up for you." Marcus said.

    He was easily able to discern that Per''s adamantine mace was warped and that its edges had dulled with just a single look.

    "Thanks. I''ll take you up on that offer."

    Once he had finished healing the worst of Per''s injuries, Marcus moved on to the next person right as Miguel''s unique skill wore off.

    Immediately he felt like all of his energy had been drained and even standing up felt like a chore.

    Nevertheless, it was not nearly as bad as the bacsh from his own Soul Burst unique skill, so Marcus was used to dealing with worse.

    ''Just a quick use of Ultimate Refresh and I''ll be back up to full strength.'' Marcus thought.

    Yet before he could use his Supreme Skill, something wholly unexpected happened.

    The colossal Robot''s dormant body began to burst with energy and its head that had been still came back to life.

    While tis main power source had been destroyed, it had a secondary backup within its head that was stillpletely intact.

    Of course, its body was far too damaged to move and almost of its weapons were destroyed or damaged beyond usability.

    However, it did have onest attack that it had saved that would exhaust all of its remaining energy at once.

    Its head quickly began to shift, and argepartment opened up to reveal the barrel or a giant cannon.

    An echoing whirling sound resounded through the area as the weapon charged up. Unlike the guns and rocketunchers that made up the bulk of the colossal robot''s weaponry, this cannon was far more advanced and could fire a concentrated beam of light.

    For just a moment everyone stood frozen and stared up in shock. If they had all been in peak condition they would have all jumped into action immediately, but due to exhaustion from the hard fought battle and the aftereffects of Miguel''s unique skill, no one reacted immediately.

    ''Shit!''

    Marcus was the first toe back to his senses as he knew that there was something he could do. With the state everyone else was in, he was the only one that would be able to act.

    In an instant he used his Ultimate Refresh to eliminate his exhaustion and restore his nearly empty mana pool.

    Unfortunately, the short amount of time he had spent stunned by the colossal robot''s reawakening proved to be too long.

    Itsser cannon finished charging just as Marcus was enveloped by the silver glow of his Supreme Skill.

    With an intensity greater than Marcus'' strongest light magic spell the cannon fired at the closest targets.

    Fianna and Ashton were engulfed by the beam of destructive light, unable to avoid or block the attack in their current conditions.

    The colossal robot then turned its head and aimed to sweep through everyone it could with its final attack. It had certainly already lost, but it would take out as many as it could before shutting down for good.

    "No!" Marcus screamed out loud.

    He had watched as Fianna and Ashton were consumed by the attack, but he wasn''t going to let anyone else get hit.

    Without hesitation he used his Light Speed Movement unique skill to appear next to the beam of light and held out both of his hands to catch it.

    As the beam touched him, Marcus felt his Ruler of Light race ability activated.

    He could not be hurt by light-based attacks other than those by another ruler and he could even control light-based powers others used.

    Quickly Marcus had taken over the colossal robot''s own attack and pushed the beam of light back to its source.

    It took only a moment for the intense beam of light to obliterate the colossal robot''s head and destroy the weapon it had originated from.

    Still, Marcus was not done. He used the lingering energy from the weapon to carve into the rest of the colossal robot''s body and turn it into a heap of scrap metal for good measure. He was not going to risk itunching another attack.

 Chapter 992 992 Aftermath

    Chapter992 992 Aftermath

    ''You have leveled up to level seventy-four.''

    Marcus had finished off the colossal robot with its own attack and leveled up in the process. Yet, despite his achievement, he felt no sense of pride or happiness.

    Wearing a pained expression, he looked towards where Ashton and Fiannay on the ground motionless.

    It was honestly a miracle that their bodies were still recognizable after being hit by the colossal robot''s intense beam of light.

    Hoping that there was any possibility that they had survived, Marcus used his Light Speed Movement unique skill to appear next to them in an instant.

    He first looked at Ashton whose obsidian skin was cracked all over and drenched in grey blood.

    Putting his hand on the earthen man, Marcus did not feel a spark of life in him. Without a doubt Ashton had already died.

    Holding back on his despair, Marcus moved Ashton''s corpse that was on top of Fianna and checked her as well.

    Her wounds were horribly grave, with her lower spider halfpletely missing and only her human torso remaining.

    She had terrible wounds all over her body that leaked blue blood. Both of her arms were seared and twisted unnaturally, and she had several holes that had pierced through her in many ces.

    Yet, even as grim as her condition was, Marcus sensed the faintest bit of life still in her. ''Ultimate Refresh.''

    The moment he had ascertained that Fianna was still alive Marcus used his Supreme Skill without hesitation. He was unsure that his best healing magic would act quickly enough and felt it was better not to take any risks. All at once, Fianna''s body restored itself and she returned from death''s door and was brought back up to full health.

    With zed over eyes, she blinked several times before her consciousness returned to her.

    She looked down at her miraculous recovery and could not believe her eyes. Just a second ago she could only feel intense pain and was certain that her life was about to slip away.

    Unfortunately, Fianna''s tion at having survived did notst long. When she saw Ashton''s lifeless body she cried out and rushed over to him.

    "NO! Ashton! Fianna screamed. "Please, you have to wake up! You can''t be gone. What about our party''s dream? We all promised that we would reach the peak of this world together."

    Fianna cried profusely over the body of her fallenrade, but her tears and grief could not bring back the dead.

    However, before she gave into hopelessness, she turned towards Marcus and looked at him with pleading eyes.

    "Please, you have to help him. If he had not jumped in front of me and acted as a shield, I am certain he would still be alive. You were able to heal me, so surely you can bring him back." Sadly, Marcus could only shake his head in response. He could bring anyone back from the brink, but once they crossed over the line and truly died, there was nothing he could do.

    ''No, there might be something I can try.'' Marcus thought, not giving up.

    He opened his status and touched on his healing magic skill. It was currently level eight, but if he were to upgrade it to level nine, he could learn the tier nine healing magic spell miracle of life which could bring the dead back so long as they were not gone for more than a minute.

    It would cost him most of his skill points to bring the skill up to the next level since he only had a slightly above average affinity with healing magic, but in this moment, he figured that it would be worth it.

    However, before Marcus could go through with raising his healing magic skill, he felt a clothed hand on his shoulder.

    "If you can restore my status back to peak condition, I can do it. There is no need to force yourself." Evette said.

    Marcus Internally berated himself for forgetting about Evette. She had not gained the moniker, Saint of Life and Death for nothing. Marcus had seen her use the tier nine death magic spell, so surely, she could use the tier nine healing magic spell as well. He should have thought about her immediately instead of relying only on his own abilities.

    In his right hand he conjured up another silver ball of light and threw it at Evette.

    Within less than a second her stamina and mana werepletely restored, and she began to cast miracle of life.

    The powerful healing magic spell took the form of a bright golden glow.

    The light flew off of Evette''s body and into Ashton''s. The wounds on his body began to heal quickly and soon he was back to normal without a single scratch on his body.

    Evette began to waver after using the spell and leaned against Marcus for support. Normally it would not have taken this much of a toll on her, but time was of the essence, and she had forced out the mana for the spell far faster than she could safely handle.

    "Did it work?" Marcus said, noticing that Ashton''s body still remained unmoving.

    He could not sense a spark of life despite Ashton''s body being in immacte condition.

    ''Were we toote?'' It was hard to gauge how much time had passed since Ashton''s death. Marcus and Evette had acted quickly, but if they had been even a second off, Ashton would not be able to return. "Huuuuh!" After what felt like an eternity, Ashton took a deep breath and began coughing profusely. They had acted quickly enough for Evette''s magic to resurrect him.

    Not waiting for him to recover, Fianna jumped on her party member and gave him a powerful hug.

    Ashton, who was still out of it from just havinge back to life, was unsure why his party''s leader had suddenly jumped on him.

    "Owowow! Fianna, you are going to break my bones." Ashton said as his body let out an unpleasant creaking noise.

    Nevertheless, Fianna did not relent and continued to cling to her longtime friend. Tears of relief flowing down her face like a waterfall.

 Chapter 993 993 Recovery and Celebration

    Chapter993 993 Recovery and Celebration

    It took several minutes for Fianna to eventually calm down and let go of Ashton.

    "So, I really died there for a moment." Ashton said, aplicated look on his face. "I owe you two my deepest thanks. If you ever need us in the future, my party and I will be sure to repay the dept we owe you both." Fianna said to Marcus and Evette. She knew that without their assistance, both she and Ashton would be gone for good.

    "We are all part of the same team. It is only natural that we help each other in any way possible." Evette replied.

    "And speaking of helping, there are still others that could use healing. Why don''t you both go and show your other party members that you are okay while Evette and I tend to everyone else." Marcus said.

    He then left with Evette and the two of them used their magic to heal everyone else. It had been a tough battle that had nearly ended in tragedy, but they had achieved victory over the colossal robot without losing anyone.

    Once Marcus had finished doing the rounds and using his healing magic on those that needed it, he returned to Mrazivy and Miguel who were sitting down and resting. Due to the bacsh of Miguel''s unique skill and using up most of the energy in their final attacks both of them were exhausted.

    "No need to be worried about me. Just go ahead and use your Supreme Skill on Mrazivy." Miguel said before Marcus could say anything.

    He could tell what Marcus was thinking from the conflicted expression he was wearing. Initially Marcus had nned to use his Ultimate Refresh on both of them, but after using it on himself twice, then on Fianna and Evette, he only had onest use of it for the day.

    "This sluggishness is from my own ability, so it is only right that I tough it out. It''s not that bad anyway, and if you recover my status I will be expected to do more today. I already had my hero moment and want to rest. I''m sure you would rather spend time with your wife than me." Miguel said, waving his hand dismissively.

    Marcus wanted to argue with Miguel since he had given his word that he would treat Miguel just like is otherpanions.

    Nevertheless, he could tell that Miguel meant what he had said and wouldn''t hold it against Marcus.

    With hisst use of his Ultimate Refresh Marcus bathed Mrazivy in a silver light and the extreme fatigue her body had been feeling was gone in an instant.

    "Ah. I feel much better now." Mrazivy said as she stretched her arms and stood up.

    Now that they were among the few that were in good condition, Marcus and Mrazivy went around helping the others move. In case another threat appeared, they wanted to move away from where the robot''s stronghold had stood before setting up camp.

    It took a bit longer since only Marcus, Mrazivy, Evette, and Fianna were strong enough to do anything without staining their bodies. Everyone else was drained by the battle and would require a few days of rest beforepletely recovering.

    "Fianna and I will keep watch. So, while we do that, if you two wouldn''t mind making a hearty meal for everyone. I am sure that it would be much appreciated after the battle we just had." Evette said.

    Nodding their heads, Marcus and Mrazivy agreed. A good meal would do wonders to raise everyone''s spirits and restore their stamina quicker.

    "Since Miguel contributed greatly to our victory, I figured I should make some dishes like those he would have had back on earth. I don''t know if they will be exactly traditional since I don''t have all the same ingredients, but I should be able to make things that are close. What do you think?" "I believe that is a good idea. The food might be a bit strange to everyone else, but everything you make is delicious so I don''t think it will be a problem. I for one am looking forward to it." Mrazivy said, a gluttonous gleam in her eyes.

    Seeing how enthusiastic she was, Marcus could not help but smile. After the deadly battle they had juste out of, it felt good to have a bit of fun and enjoy themselves.

    From his item box Marcus brough out severalrge fridges, freezers, and pantries that stored the majority of his ingredients.

    He then gave Mrazivy a list of items to grab and the two of them rapidly gathered what they would need.

    ''I''m not really sure what Miguel''s favorites are, so I will just make a variety of dishes. I don''t have much experience cooking most of these items, but I ate my fair share back on earth and should be able to let my high-level cooking skill help guide me towards the right vors.'' To start Marcus grabbed the ingredients he would need to make arroz rojo (Mexican Red Rice). He knew this was a staple and that the meal would becking without it.

    After that he went a bit crazy and decided to prepare every Mexican dish he could think of.

    Using his skills and high stats he easily did the work of a few hundred normal people and after several hours of work had enough tamales, empanadas, tostadas, queso, guacamole, chile verde, arroz rojo, pozole, and many other dishes that could feed at least eighty people.

    When he and Mrazivy finally brought out the items that they had painstakingly created, almost everyone looked at the food with baffled expressions. They had never seen most of the dishes Marcus had made.

    However, among them, there was one individual that knew what these dishes were and stared at them in shock.

    Miguel had never expected to eat many of these things again. The young man that tried to maintain a cool fa?ade at all times could not help but cry when he saw the food in front of him. Many of them evoked memories of home and a flood of emotions Miguel had been keeping at bay for several years burst forth.

    "I understand that these dishes will be forging to most of you, but I can guarantee that they all taste good. Let us eat well and celebrate surviving another day on this hellish ind. We emerged victorious aigast our greatest challenge yet, so let''s feast and enjoy our victory."

 Chapter 994 Risk or Retreat

    994 Chapter 994 Risk or Retreat

    Standing at the sight of the expedition squad''s battle with the robot''s Marcus looked around him with a frustrated expression.

    While most of the expedition squad were still recovering from the fierce battle, he hade to collect the remains of the colossal robot.

    However, when he arrived everything had disappeared. Other than the devastation of the area there were no signs that a battle had taken ce here.

    ''Where could it all have gone?''

    Marcus had been nning to collect the metal that made up the robot''s armor and study it. He also had a keen interest in its weapons that were simr to what could be found on Earth.

    "Do you think that more of those robots came while we were gone and took everything?" Mrazivy asked. She had apanied Marcus since it would be dangerous for him to go alone.

    "No, I doubt that is what happened. If there were more robots, they would havee and attacked us. Plus, even the parts of the stronghold that were still standing are gone. Only a small part of it was breached by the colossal robot. It used to span the entire seven kilometers of thend bridge''s width; I don''t see how normal means could have just made it disappear without a trace." Marcus responded, a baffled look on his face.

    All he coulde up with was that this was like some sort of event in a game that vanished once it was cleared.Though, the only time he had ever experienced anything simr was within the special dungeon, Realization of Self Perfection. Drawing on thisparison, Marcus toiled around with the idea that it was possible this entire ind was considered a dungeon. It showed a few simr characteristics and was not out of the realm of possibilities.

    Marcus passed his theory onto Mrazivy since she was more familiar with the workings of this world and wanted her opinion.

    "I can''t be sure, but this ce doesn''t feel like a dungeon. We haven''te across any bosses that drop treasure chests and the environments all blend seamlessly together and don''t just change drastically from one area to another. If it is a dungeon, it is not like any I have ever heard of. And if it is considered a special dungeon, it is far different from Realization of Self Perfection. This ind doesn''t have a limit like that ce did, and we know from Boreas that the special dungeon he had been in also had an entry limit. We arecking in information to determine whether this ind is considered a dungeon or not." Mrazivy said, shaking her head.

    Unfortunately, the disappearance of the robots and their stronghold was going to remain a mystery. Marcus might have been able to figure something out if the administrator had responded to his message, but so far all he had received was silence. He did not know whether he had upset her by using the line ofmunication for something it was not intended, or if she just hadn''t seen it.

    Still, he could not shake the feeling that something was amiss here. Some of the things in this world were astounding and made the technology on Earth lookck luster inparison, but they had all been magical in nature. The robots they had fought did not fit with this world''s nature as far as Marcus was concerned.

    ''I should have collected some of the pieces immediately after the battle.'' Marcus thought, admonishing himself for his carelessness.

    Perhaps if the colossal robot had not fired itsst attack and nearly ended Fianna and Ashton, he would not have been so distraught and forgotten to collect the spoils of their battle.

    "Well, there is nothing else for us here." Mrazivy said. "Let''s return and inform the others of what we''ve found. Afterwards we''ll decide what we are going to do next." With nothing else to do here, Marcus and Mrazivy turned around and ran back to where the rest of the exposition squad had set up camp.

    After the intense battle with the robots many had voiced their concerns and suggested that they retreat. Nevertheless, there were others that wanted to continue now that they were so close to the center of the ind. They had just won their most difficult battle yet, and whaty beyond was certainly going to be more valuable than anything the expedition squad hade across so far.

    But before a final decision could be made, the status of the robot''s stronghold needed to be assed. If it was teaming with more enemies, then it would simply be too difficult to continue. No one wanted to go through another fight like the one they had just barely made it out of. This was another reason that Marcus and Mrazivy had revisited the sight of battle.

    ''I''m not sure whether hearing the stronghold and the robot''s remains have disappeared will be good or bad news.'' Marcus thought.

    He and Mrazivy had already discussed with one another and concluded to push towards continuing. Both of them were naturally curious and wanted to find out what was at the center of this ind. For how difficult it was to get this far, there was definitely something special that this ind was hiding.

    Once the two of them returned, Mrazivy immediately held a meeting with the other leaders of the expedition squad, while Marcus told everyone else what they had found.

    Most everyone was shocked to hear that the stronghold and the remains of the colossal robot were now missing. As if they had never existed in the first ce.

    "I think that this is probably good news. Perhaps that stronghold and those strange creatures were like guardians protecting a boss room, and that big one was the boss. I bet there is some great treasure just beyond." Kollo said optimistically. Others quickly agreed with her, and even some of those that had been leaning towards retreat seemed enlivened. Hearing that the way forward waspletely open quashed their fears.

    Eventually, the four leaders of the expedition squad exited from the tent where they had held their meeting and announced their decision.

    Together the four of them had unanimously agreed to continue the expedition. Finding out whaty at the center of the ind was one of their main objectives set forth by the adventurers guild''s higher ups. Aftering this far, they could not return with their tails in between their legs. Taking risks was part of being an adventurer.

 Chapter 995 Center of the Islandâ€™s Bounty

    995 Chapter 995 Center of the IndˇŻs Bounty

    It took another four days of rest before everyone in the expedition squad was back up to full power.

    Luckily, during that time everything remained calm, and they were not attacked once. Other than the robot''s stronghold, it seemed that not a single beast or monster inhabited thend bridge that crossed the giantke that surrounded the ind''s center.

    ''Looks like everything is still the same.'' Marcus thought once they had arrived at the sight where the robot''s stronghold used to be.

    The damage from their battle still remained, but everything else had vanished without a trace and had not returned.

    With the way clear, everyone in the expedition squad continued forward. There was a sense of trepidation, but also anticipation. At any time they could be attacked by an overwhelming force again, though, the possibility of rare treasures trounced everyone''s sense of fear.

    Not far past the area where the robot''s stronghold had been, the scenery that had been the same since they entered the path to the center of the ind changed.

    ''How is this possible?''

    Seeing what had juste into view, Marcus came to aplete stop and stared in astonishment. And he was not the only one, every member of the expedition squad did as well.

    In front of them were several rows of natural treasures all growing undisturbed and without any protection.

    The scene reminded Marcus of the intelligent beasts'' domain within the Cordillera Depths Dungeon, but on a far grander scale. However, unlike the natural treasure being grown there, the ones before Marcus were all top-grade and potent enough to raise the stats of even high-level individuals.

    ''Roxene and I might not have much use for them thanks to our Supreme Skill Greatest Potential, but with this many natural treasures I can make sure that everyone else can max out their stats without any issue.'' After going through the special dungeon, everyone that had apaniedMarcus had maxed out their stats, but as they obtained more levels, they would need more natural treasures in order to keep up.

    The expedition squad had only just entered the area and could only see the periphery of this natural treasure garden thanks to the ind''s fog, but even just what was in sight was enough for dozens of people. ''Miguel, does the garden continue past what we can see?'' Marcus asked using telepathy.

    For a few moments the young hero did not respond as his eyes were locked on the sight in front of them.

    It took Marcus a few more tries before Miguel finally responded to him.

    ''Yes, my summon informed me that the rows of natural treasures extend for as far as it can see.''

    Hearing this Marcus could not help but get excited, and he was not the only one.

    The was not a single member of the expedition squad that was not briming with tion at the natural treasures in front of them. Their energy was simar to a bunch of kids in a candy store that had just been told they could take as much as they wanted for free.

    Nevertheless, before anyone ran off towards the incredible bounty before them, the leaders of the expedition squad made sure to remind them that they were still in a dangerous location and not to drop their guard.

    "We will proceed cautiously. Before we begin collecting the natural treasures, it would be prudent for us to scout the area a bit more. There may not be any dangers within view as of right now, but there is likely some sort of guardian protecting this ce." Evette said, takingmand.

    While they had found plenty of valuable resources on this ind so far, these rows of natural treasures beat out everything else they hade across. Everyone was feeling the urge to run up and begin stuffing their item boxes and magic bags to the brim.

    ''I''ve never been so d that I upgraded my item box to the maximum size.'' Marcus thought as they walked into the garden of natural treasures. He knew that he was going to make out like a bandit.

    For several hours the expedition squad searched through the rows of natural treasures and kept their guards up.

    Yet, for all of their caution, not a single beast or monster showed itself. The entire area was devoid of life except for the natural treasures growing within it.

    Once this was discovered, everyone rxed, and the four leaders of the expedition decided to give everyone a rotation collecting the natural treasures while the others kept watch.

    Several people actually shouted out in joy and began looting the ce at an astounding speed.

    It wasn''t long before everyone other than Marcus had filled up what spare room they had within their item boxes and magic bags.

    ''Looks like everyone else is ready to move on. I still have around thirty percent of my item box open, but I doubt the others would be happy if I kept gathering natural treasures for the next several hours while they can only watch.'' Marcus honestly wanted to stick around until his item box was filled, but he knew that would only bring down the good mood that everyone currently had. He could alwayse back at anytime thanks to his Dark Portal unique skill anyway, so he was not particrly bothered by having to stop early.

    So far, they had only explored aparatively small area of the center of the ind, and still did not know how vast it truly was. To determine this, they cut straight through the natural treasure garden and aimed for the other side. But before they cut through the entirety of the garden, the fog began to clear away, and they found the true center of the ind.

    While the rest of the ind was covered by the fog that limited their senses, this area that spanned a seven-kilometer radius was clear. Allowing the members of the expedition squad to see the majestic tower at the center of the ind that rose high into the sky.

 Chapter 996 Tower of Heaven

    Chapter 996 Tower of Heaven

    For nearly three minutes everyone in the expedition squad stood in silence and simply stared at the enormous tower that sat at the center of the ind of endless fog.

    ''I can''t even tell how tall it is.'' Marcus thought as he gazed upwards.

    Unfortunately, the tower''s top was obscured by the fog once it reached a height of seven kilometers. In order to learn its true height someone would have to try and scale the titanic structure.

    "I don''t sense any creatures. If there are any lurking in this area, they are masters at concealing their presence." Thegia said after using a detection spell.

    Now that they were in an area cleared of the sense dampening fog, everyone could once again detect what was more than three hundred meters away.

    Several more members of the expedition squad used magic and skills to search the area and possibly pick up something Thegia had missed, but no one was able to find a single beast or monster in the vicinity.

    All thaty before them was the giant white tower and an idyllic natural setting filled with lush trees, crystal clear ponds and streams, and beautiful des filled with wildflowers.

    "Well, we have made it to the center of the ind and found out what is here. Now, do we check out that tower, or do we consider our mission sessful and report back to the adventurers guild?" Mrazivy asked to the other leaders of the expedition.

    "Of course, we are going to go to the tower. No one has detected anything that could be a threat, and that is definitely a dungeon. Likely even a special one." Cassius responded his eyes gleaming with ambition.

    "I must agree. We should at least give the ce a cursory examination. Though if it is a special dungeon, we should probably not register with it. I doubt the guild would be happy for us to take up the limited spots without gaining their permission first." Evette said.

    While they have been the ones to discover the tower, they were currently beingmissioned by the guild. The members of the expedition squad were allowed to take certain resources for themselves without issue, but technically everything on the ind was considered property of the adventurers guild. There was no doubt that the higher ups of the guild would be unhappy if anyone in the expedition squad registered with the tower if it was truly a special dungeon that would only allow a limited number of people to enter.

    Cassius frowned and ground his teeth when Evette quashed any chance of them entering the dungeon if it was indeed a special one. He had never entered one before, but had heard rumors that anyone who had ess to a special dungeon was guaranteed to experience explosive growth in not only their levels but skills as well.

    "We still don''t know if that tower really is a special dungeon. It could just be a high-level normal one. No point in worrying about it until we find out for sure." Fianna said with a shrug.

    Unlike Cassius, she was not worried about entering the special dungeon right this moment. After almost dying earlier she wanted to finish the expedition and return home. The dungeon was not going anywhere and there would be very few groups that could make it this far anyway. In the future they could always return.

    With a consensus made, the expedition squad moved forward and continued towards the tower that stood imposingly in the center of the ind.

    ''Now that we''re closer, I can see something carved into the tower walls.'' Marcus enhanced his vison to the greatest degree he could and carefully looked at the etchings all over the tower.

    Each of the different etchings were incredibly beautiful and depicted different scenes. Among the etchings Marcus noticed what looked like a group of angels in most of them, often doing battle against some sort of creature or another.

    Sometimes they were normal people mixed into the scenes, but almost always the group of what appeared to be angels were there.

    Marcus was certain that the etchings were meant to tell some sort of story, but he could not really understand what it was supposed to be.

    ''Perhaps there is more to see on the other sides of the towers that make it alle together.'' Marcus thought as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

    Eventually he was able to pick out one figure that was among the angels that showed up the more often than not and seemed to take center stage in most of the etchings. Still, despite figuring out who the main character of what was depicted on the tower''s walls was, it did not bring Marcus any closer to understanding what the etchings were supposed to convey.

    He attempted to ask the others what they thought, but everyone simply agreed that it was just there to look nice. Often times dungeons would have impressive architecture that was simply meant to look pleasing and convey the majesty of the ce. Sometimes a theme could be derived from how a dungeon was designed and give a hint as to what sort of creatures resided in it, but this was not always the case.

    ''I don''t know. It just seems too detailed to mean nothing.'' Marcus thought as he continued to stare at the etchings.

    Eventually his eyes rested on one near the center that was broken up as it wound around the tower. It was most certainly thergest etching, but too much of it was obscured to tell what it could be. He would need to walk around the entire tower to figure out what it was.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was unable to make heads or tails of the etchings before they finished the short walk to the base of the tower. Perhaps after entering he hoped to find some clues.

    "Looks like the entrance is sealed." Kollo said with a frown.

    There was an easy to see stairway that led up into the tower, however, a sturdy gate was blocking the way.

    Mrazivy looked towards Marcus and motioned towards the gate.

    Nodding his head, he stepped forward and went to examine the gate. If it happened to be trapped, he had the best skills to deal with it and was likely to get away without suffering any serious damage even if he did spring something.

    ''It''s definitely locked uptight. Whatever magic is keeping it sealed is beyond me.'' Marcus thought as he examined the gate.

    He then tried to pass his hand through the bars to see if he could bypass it with his ghost form.

    Nevertheless, as expected a barrier prevented him from going through and pushed his hand back.

    Luckily, his attempt was not in vain as he received a notification from the system directly into his mind.

    ''You do not yet meet the qualifications to enter the Special Dungeon, Tower of Heaven. If you wish to enter, you must prove yourself against the Tower''s guardian.''

    After receiving this message, a visual prompt appeared in front of him asking if he wanted to challenge the guardian of the Tower of Heaven and earn the right to enter the special dungeon

 Chapter 997 Tower of Heaven (2)

    997 Chapter 997 Tower of Heaven (2)

    The moment after Marcus saw the prompt asking him if he wanted to challenge the guardian of the Tower of Heaven, he jumped back away from the gate and did not stop until the image disappeared.

    He then spread out his senses to check to make sure nothing else was happening and breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear that everything was still calm.

    Of course, his sudden and unexinable action caused every member of the expedition squad to look at him in confusion and worry.

    "Marcus, what happened? Are you alright?" Mrazivy asked, her expression showing her concern for him.

    She had already used her Dragon Eyes to appraise him but did not find anything wrong with his status. Still, it was clear that something had happened when he checked the Tower''s gate.

    "I''m fine. Nothing bad happened to me.'' Marcus replied, assuage everyone''s unease.

    After that he told them about the message he had received from the system. Confirming that the tower was indeed a special dungeon, but in order to enter they would be required to face some sort of guardian first.

    "Let me check if it gives me the same message." Cassius said, walking up to the gate confidently.

    Naturally he was unable to enter just like Marcus and returned to confirm that he had received the same thing as Marcus.

    Several more of the expedition squad members went up to the gate, but most of them actually received a slightly different notification.

    Other than Marcus, Mrazivy, Miguel, Evette, Fianna, and Cassius, everyone else was told by the system that their statues were too weak to qualify for entry into the Tower of Heaven.

    This had made all those that were rejected immensely upset.

    All of them were among the strongest adventurers at their levels, and yet they were still being rejected. ''I wonder what criteria it judges people by. It''s probably not just stats since it specially says that it rejects people off of their statues. But how would it quantify skills and race abilities?'' Marcus pondered the mechanisms behind the Tower''s entry conditions, but without moreprehensive data he could note to a conclusion.

    "Well, are we going to fight this guardian or not? Our job was to gather information about this ce, so I believe we should continue. The higher ups of the guild will certainly expect to at least know what sort of creature is acting as a guardian for this newly discovered special dungeon." Cassius said impatiently.

    "I don''t agree. Whatever this guardian is will almost certainly be extraordinarily powerful. Only six of us even meet the criteria to enter after proving ourselves against the guardian. This is just too dangerous for us to continue. I don''t want to see any of myrades dead again." Fianna said, ncing over towards Ashton while wearing a pained expression. Even though he had been brought back to life, seeing his limp and dead body made Fianna want to avoid unnecessary dangers. In her mind they had already discovered what was at the center of the ind and should report back to the adventurers guild. In the future arger and stronger team could be put together to challenge the guardian of the Tower of Heaven.

    "I never took you for a coward, Fianna. Our job is to take risks and seed where others have failed. Isn''t that why we were chosen to go on this expedition in the first ce? We''re all supposed to be the best." Cassius said, shaking his head and looking at Fianna like she was a fool. He could not understand why she wanted to backout after they hade so far.

    "Coward, you say. I may be many things, but a coward is not one of them. There is a vast difference between caution and cowardice. That giant thing called a robot that we recently fought was strong enough to push us to our limits, and the guardian of this special dungeon is likely going to be just as, if not more powerful. We can alwayse back at ater time more prepared and with greater numbers." Fianna said, ring at Cassius.

    With two of the leaders of the expedition squad having stated their opinions, they looked towards Mrazivy and Evette for their input.

    "Personally, I''d like to at least see what sort of creature we are up against, but I won''t push the issue. Just as Fianna said, we can alwayse back and challenge the guardiantter." Mrazivy said, giving her opinion.

    Evette, thest to answer, took a great deal of time to think about what the best option would be.

    Among the leaders there was one strongly against fighting the guardian, one adamantly wanting to fight it, and another that was more neutral. This left the final decision squarely in Evette''s hands.

    "We will challenge the guardian, but not with the intention of defeating it. Our goal will be to quickly assess its abilities, and if it is clearly too much for us, we need only retreat." Evette said, making her choice.

    "I realize that this is a selfish decision on my part, so I will not ask you or your party to participate Fianna. You may wait a safe distance away from the battle and flee if you deem it too dangerous to stay."

    Cassius objected to Evette''s proposal, but Mrazivy interjected and agreed. She mostly just wanted to use her Dragon Eyes to read the guardian''s status rather than attempt to win if the entity seemed too powerful. The special dungeon, Tower of Heaven was not going anywhere, and the adventurers guild would undoubtedly call them back to take on the massive tower once more preparations had been made.

    "Thank you, Evette. I appreciate the offer, but I can''t sit back while all of you put yourselves in danger. My party and I will take up position at a distance and offer ranged support." Fianna said,ing to apromise. She and her party would not be abstaining from the battle, but they would be ready to retreat immediately if things took a turn for the worse.

    Now that the expedition squad had decided to challenge the guardian of the Tower of Heaven, another consensus had to be made on who would ept the prompt given by the special dungeon.

    ''Mraz, push for me to be the one to do it. I''ve already showcased my Light Speed Movement unique skill and can use it to get away if the guardian makes a sudden move and immediately attacks the one who challenged it. Plus, I am definitely the most durable out of everyone here. I can take a hit if need be.'' Marcus said using telepathy.

    Mrazivy was a bit hesitant to put Marcus in such danger, but she knew he was right. With his body just being his soul solidified he could take damage that would be fatal to others and shrug it off. In the worst case, he could even use his Supreme Skill, Ultimate Refresh to make a full recovery.

    Her suggestion to let Marcus be the one to summon the guardian was met with some pushback, but Evette was the one to back Mrazivy up this time. She knew Marcus'' true nature and power and was confident in his abilities. There was no doubt in her mind that he was the optimal candidate to take the risky position of epting the Tower of Heaven''s challenge.

 Chapter 998 998 The Guardian

    Chapter 998  998 The Guardian

    ''Would you like to challenge the guardian of the Tower of Heaven? Yes / No.''

    As Marcus read the familiar prompt in front of him, he pressed the yes button that was floating in the air in front of him.

    The moment that he did, a terrifyingly powerful presence that had been hidden made itself known.

    Marcus'' gaze was drawn upwards at the Tower that was now rumbling, and he saw that therge etching that wound around the tower was beginning to bulge.

    What had once appeared to be a harmless piece of artwork on the outside of the Tower of Heaven, had soon taken on its true form.

    It did not take but a half dozen seconds before the creature that had been sealed away and acted as the special dungeon''s guardian had returned to life.

    ''I think we may be in over our heads'' Marcus thought as he stared up at the gargantuan creature that was wrapped around the Tower of Heaven.

    With just one look her could feel the immense power of the giant serpent that was coiled around the Tower of Heaven.

    Moving his eyes up its body, Marcus could see that it was covered in resplendent scales of many colors.

    At the top of its body, the powerful beast did not have one, but seven heads.

    Each one was a different type of snake that Marcus recognized as some of the most venomous species on Earth.

    Sitting in the middle was a regal golden scaled king cobra that was clearly the leader of the heads due to its cement, size, and majesty.

    Beside the center head on the right side was a dark scaled snake that Marcus identified as being close to a ck mamba.

    To the left side of the main head was a snake with a white and ck pattern that closely resembled a sea snake.

    The other two snake heads on the left side were those of dessert horned viper with orange scales which was right next to the sea snake, and a coral snake that was at the very end.

    On the right side the one sitting next to the ck mamba was a boomng that had green and ck scales that formed a checkered pattern.

    Finally, thest head at the end of the right side of the gigantic beast was a pure white albino spitting cobra.

    Time seemed to slow as Marcus took in the sight of the terrifying and majestic beast that had appeared as the guardian of the Tower of Heaven.

    He felt like he would have continued to stare up at the imposing creature for several minutes if not for the fact that his danger senses skill was suddenly ring in his head.

    Before he could even register what sort of attack wasing his way, Marcus activated his Light Speed Movement unique skill and turned into particles of light.

    An instantter, a thunderous sound resounded through the area as the tail of the guardian smashed into the ground where Marcus had been standing just a moment before.

    When he reformed right next to Mrazivy , Marcus could feel the ground beneath him shaking and saw the giant dust cloud that had been kicked up by the giant snake''s opening attack.

    ''That defiantly would have hurt.'' Marcus thought as he looked at the scar left in the ground by the guardian''s tail strike.

    It had been one of the most basic attacks that the enormous beast could use, yet it still packed the same power of a serious attack from the top members of the expedition squad.

    "So, what are we dealing with?" Marcus asked.

    He could see that Mrazivy''s eyes had turned golden, and her pupils had turned into vertical slits. The telltale signs that she was using her Dragon Eyes race ability to appraise the guardian of the Tower of Heaven.

    This reading took far longer than normal, as Mrazivy had to go over far more skills and abilities than most creatures possessed.

    Luckily, the Tower''s guardian did not seem intent on attacking them from their position around a kilometer away. Its job was simply to guard the tower and act as a challenge, it had no need to pursue those that would flee from it.

    "Well, I can tell you that beating that thing is not going to be easy. It''s a mythic grade beast at level eighty-seven called The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent. It does not possess many skills, but I have never seen a creature with so many race abilities. Each one of its heads has several unique powers that make it a nightmare to deal with. Especially the central head, I''m not even sure if we could put a scratch on it before were all defeated." Mrazivy said, giving her assessment of the enormous beast.

    She then went into more details about the specific powers that each head possessed. Causing everyone who was listening to frown.

    As she went down the list, it became more and more clear that this mythic grade beast was not something that could be taken lightly. Even if they worked together their chances of winning would not be high, and casualties would be nearly impossible to prevent.

    Still, while most were thinking of retreating anding back better prepared next time, one person was unwilling to turn tail and run before at least seeing what The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was capable of.

    "Descriptions of abilities and stat numbers only go so far to tell you how strong something is. We won''t know until we have fought it whether we can win or not." Cassius said, looking stoically towards the Tower''s guardian.

    However, several members of the expedition squad could not help but look at him with their mouths agape. This was brazenness on another level that they had not expected from even Cassius. When he first met Marcus, he had ridiculed Marcus for being a lower level and solely judged him by a number.

    Once he had seen what Marcus was capable of, Cassius had changed his tune, but no one believed that he waspletely reformed and had changed his way of thinking. It was obvious that he just wanted to beat The Celestial Seven-head Serpent in order to secure himself a spot in the special dungeon.

    After making his deration, Cassius did not wait for a response and led his party to battle.

    This left the other leaders of the expedition squad with a hard choice. Would they join Cassius, or leave him and his party to get crushed by the Tower of Heaven''s guardian?

    Letting out a long sigh, Evette passed down her verdict.

    "Everyone prepare to fight. But if things take a turn for the worse, we are retreating even if we must drag Cassius and his party members away screaming and kicking. We''re not going to lose anyone here aftering this far."

    Now that the decision had been made, the members of Evette''s part and Mrazivy''s party fanned out and took up their preassigned position.

    From nearly two kilometers away, Fianna gave her response over telepathy and the members of her party raised their weapons and prepared to provide ranged support. They would not fight on the front lines, but they had already resolved to do what they could from afar.

    Thus, the battle against The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent the expedition squad sent by the adventurers guild began.

 Chapter 999 999 Marcusâ€™ Ultimate Magic

    Chapter 999  999 MarcusˇŻ Ultimate Magic

    Marcus was a bit disgruntled that Cassius had practically forced the expedition squad into an unnecessary battle, but a part of him was also ted.

    This would be the first time he could truly test his abilities against a high-level mythic grade beast that was in the same league as Gwyneira and Retharin. While he had fought against Za, the phoenix that served as a guardian beast of Aezam, she had been in a berserk state and unable to do anything but rampage around and destroy everything around her. The goal of that battle had also not been to defeat her, but to heal her.

    Now, however, he could see how the powers he had been building up since he came to this world staked up against a being that sat near the peak.

    ''Looks like Mrazivy is thinking the same thing.''

    ncing over at his wife, Marcus could see that she had a look of anticipation on her face. She had always enjoyed fighting and challenging herself against strong opponents. He could easily recall the many times the two of them had sparred whenever she got even the tiniest bit stronger.

    "I don''t think I am going to be able to hold back against this opponent. Once I burn myself out, I expect you to pick me back up again." Mrazivy said as she shed Marcus a dazzling smile.

    In response, he could only nod his head and assure her that he would keep her going by using his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill to restore her status after she had exhausted all of her energy.

    With no need to worry about conserving her strength, Mrazivy entered her draconic form and activated her own Supreme Skill to drastically increase her abilities.

    She then kicked off the ground and charged directly towards The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent that was already engaged against Cassius and his party.

    Following behind her, the other front-line members of the expedition squad rushed forward and those that were holding up the rear prepared their spells and skills.

    ''I suppose that this is as good a time as any to test out my new magic.'' Marcus thought, his eyes locked on the gargantuan serpent that''s body was seven kilometers long.

    After the battle against the colossal robot, Marcus put a great deal of effort into perfecting several of the partlypleted spell formations he had received as rewards in the Special Dungeon, Realization of Self Perfection.

    He hade to realize that he needed something that could contend with giant beasts and monsters during the battle against the colossal robot. What he needed was an equally enormous creature that could not be ignored and would soak up hits for him and his allies.

    Putting his hands together, Marcus concentrated every bit of mana within his body and pushed it out.

    The spell that he had created was originally three different tier eight spells of a simr type that he hadbined into one.

    Just having created a spell form that could work had been an undertaking, but the mana necessary to cast this spell took everything and more than Marcus currently had.

    Around halfway through initiating what he considered to be his greatest magic, Marcus took out several mana replenishment potions and downed them in one gulp.

    Still, this was not enough, and he had to resort to pulling out one of the lesser elixirs in his item box and drink it as well.

    This gave him just enough of a boost toplete the tripleyered magic he was casting and activate a spell that was beyond what he could normally handle.

    "Thunderous Molten Colossus."

    The moment Marcus said the name of histest spell, the immense amount of mana he had gathered swelled up in front of him and began to take form.

    Rapidly a creature of monstrous size was constructed, until a giant golem made of molten iron and wreathed in lightning stood waiting for Marcus'' orders.

    Standing at two kilometers tall, the Thunderous Molten Colossus was an imposing figure that garnered the attention of everyone in the area.

    Even The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent could not help but turn three of its heads away and stare at the giant entity that Marcus had just conjured into existence.

    However, while the creature he had just created with his magic was undoubtedly impressive, Marcus'' current condition made him look quite pitiful.

    He had used far more mana than he could handle, and his body and soul were currently paying the price for exceeding his limits.

    Several cracks were running up his arms and all the way to his chest. Marcus could feel his essence leaking out of this injures that he had caused himself.

    Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried to contain the damage, he had gone too far and neither his regeneration, healing magic, nor spirit healing race ability could fix the damage he had caused to himself.

    Slowly the cracks began to web their way through his form, and Marcus had to relent and use his Supreme Skill.

    ''I wanted to save as many charges as I could, but at this rate I am going to break apart and need several days before I can recover.''

    With no other choice, Marcus bathed himself in the silver light of his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill and the damage he had received disappeared as if it had never been there before.

    Luckily when he raised his head after having hunched over in pain, he was able to tell that no one had paid any attention to his deteriorating condition. Naturally, all eyes had been drawn towards the Thunderous Molten Colossus that was radiating a tremendous amount of power.

    ''Level eighty-five and stats and abilities that would put it on par with some legendary grade beasts. That''s even better than I was expecting.'' Marcus thought as he checked the status of the creature he had conjured.

    While it certainly was not going to be able to beat their current opponent singlehandedly, there was no doubt that it would serve its purpose well and force the guardian of the Tower of Heaven to divert a great deal of its focus towards the titanic golem.

 Chapter 1000 1000 Battle for the Tower of Heaven

    Chapter 1000  1000 Battle for the Tower of Heaven

    "Go."

    Upon hearing Marcus'' order, the Thunderous Molten Colossus his magic had conjured took a step forward and began running towards the Tower of heaven''s guardian.

    Each time one of its feet touched down on the ground, a resounding crash echoed throughout the area and the earth itself shook violently.

    In its wake the giant golem left cracks in the ground andrge patches of burntnd. It was no exaggeration to state that the creature Marcus had brought forth was a walking cmity.

    As it approached everyone that had been fighting at close range against The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent to gauge its abilities back away and allowed the titanic golem to take center stage.

    When the Colossus had gotten within its range, the massive serpent uncoiled part of its tail from around the Tower of heaven andshed out against its newest opponent.

    Its tail that was as thick as a skyscraper, smashed into the Colossus and forced it back several steps.

    Nevertheless, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was the one that took the most damage from its own attack.

    The molten body of Marcus'' conjured monster emitted an extraordinary amount of heat and was covered in lightning that flowed into anything that touched it.

    With a swift movement that easily created a sonic boom, the Tower''s guardian pulled back its tail and let out a pained screech.

    At the same time the dent in the Thunderous Molten Colossus'' body swelled with molten metal and the powerful golem was recovered in less than a second.

    After their first sh, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent understood that it could not hope to defeat its current challenger with physical attacks. It may have been nearly three timesrger than the Colossus and physically stronger, but the gigantic golem''s nature made it heavily resistant to physical attacks and dealt great damage to anything that touched it.

    "Bring it down from the tower." Marcus said, rying another order to his creation.

    Currently the gargantuan serpent was wrapped around the Tower and even the lowest part of its body was around a kilometer above the ground.

    Without the ability to fly, the members of the expedition squad that focused on closebat were having difficulty attacking it from the base of the tower.

    Of course, the current situation also kept the Tower''s guardian from effectively attacking with its head, and it had primarily been using its tail as a whip during the opening of the fight.

    However, its more passive approach did notst much longer. Now that Thunderous Molten Colossus had taken center stage in the battle, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent knew that it had to treat the miniscule challengers a bit more seriously.

    For the first one of its heads did more than keep an eye on the battlefield and attacked.

    The moment Marcus'' enormous golem reached out tis hand to try and drag the Tower''s guardian down, the head that resembled a sea snake opened its mouth and released a torrent of water.

    Undoubtably, this attack would have done a great deal of damage to the Thunderous Molten Colossus, but it never reached its target.

    Just as the water shot out of the sea snake''s mouth, a st of cold energy flew up and froze the water along with the head of the sea snake.

    Thanks to her Dragon Eyes race ability, Mrazivy already knew about the powers at The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent''s disposal and had warned Marcus over telepathy about the sea snake head''s ability tounch a high-pressure jet of water its mouth.

    With this information the two of them coordinated together and Mrazivy had intercepted the attack that could deal the greatest damage to Marcus'' titanic golem.

    After being encased in ice, the sea snake head thrashed about wildly in distress, but the other heads did not pay it much mind and simply avoided it as they prepared to intercept the threat that was stilling for them.

    All of the reaming heads except for the middle one fired other attacks from their mouths, ranging from a fire breath from the horned sand viper to a spray of powerful poison from the albino spitting cobra.

    Five powerful attacks impacted the Thunderous Molten Colossus, but the sturdy golem pushed forward and gripped the Serpent''s tail with both its hands despite the damage it had taken.

    It then pulled down with all its might and attempted to wrench the massive beast free from the Tower of Heaven as its master hadmanded.

    Of course, as powerful as the Colossus was, it was not going to be enough to force The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent down to the ground on its own. Luckily, it had more than enough support that had been waiting for this moment.

    While the guardian of the Tower of Heaven was distracted, every member of the expedition squad unleashed the powerful attacks they had been preparing for this moment.

    Spells and mana attacks imbued with offensive skills flew into the air and impacted the immobile beast and the entire Tower it was coiled around was engulfed in several massive explosions.

    Following the barrage of attacks that sent several shockwaves through the area, a deafening thud caused a monstrous earthquake.

    Fissures spread through the once tranquilnd surrounding the Tower of Heaven and everyone had to brace themselves due to the intense shaking. Still the sudden disaster was seen as a good sign. There was little doubt that what had caused the earthquake was The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent falling from the Tower of Heaven.

    ''It took more damage than I was expecting.'' Marcus thought with a grimace.

    From atop arge tree that had stayed standing through the earthquake, Marcus looked to where his Thunderous Molten Colossus had copsed onto the ground.

    There was arge chunk missing out of the right side of its body and half of its left arm was missing. Along with these major damages, the golem was also racked with several other injuries.

    Certainly, it had sustained some damage from the unfettered attacks delivered by the members of the expedition squad, but Marcus could clearly see that its missing arm and the piece missing from its sides were clearly bite marks.

    When it had realized it was about to take a great deal of damage anyway from the expedition squad''s attacks, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent had stopped carrying about avoiding injuries and attacked the Colossus without care for the heads that would be severely burned and electrocuted.

    With only a quick nce Marcus could see that it was the coral snake head and the boomng that had taken bites out of his golem. Both of those heads had terrible burns and were involuntary twitching after having a great deal of electricity pass through them.

    ''None of the heads were even destroyed though. It is just a tough as I excepted and now that it is on the ground, things are only going to get more intense.''

    Along nearly the entirety of the guardian''s body were deep wounds, but the damage was truly only surface level. Even gashes that were a dozen meters deep were only scratches to a creature of its size.

    Plus, its injuries were already healing at a prodigious rate thanks to the one part of its body that was unharmed. The central head that was a golden king cobra did not have a single blemish on it was in possession of a powerful healing ability that it could use to recover from virtually any attack. Not only that, but the central head was protected by a nearly indestructible barrier so long as any of the other six heads remained.

    Seeing its powers in action, Marcus could understand why Mrazivy had singled out this head as the most difficult to deal with. So long as the central head remained The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent could not realistically be defeated, but in order to destroy it, the other six heads had to be dealt with first.

    ''Still, I''ve got to try don''t I.''

    Holding his staff up, Marcus channeled magical energy into it and cast the tier eight lightning magic spell Cmity Bolt.

    A secondter a powerful lightning strike with all the force of a nuclear bomb fell down on the central head.

    Yet, as expected, the powerful spell that could level a town in one go bounced off harmlessly and dissipated into the air without releasing its destructive force.

    Several other attacks from the expedition squad members flew towards the central head, but none of them managed to so much as put a dent in the barrier. It had be clear that their powers would not be even close enough to take out the central head without going through the others first.

    ''I wish we had Quillon was here. As strong as the guardian is, I doubt it could hold up to the attack from his Supreme Skill that specializes in breaking barriers.''

    Unfortunately, as much as Marcus wished that his friends and beastpassion were here to back him up, he would just have to make do with the forces of the expedition squad.

    Of course, he did have at least one person he could count on without any doubt.

    With an attack as fast as a sh of light, Mrazivy, leapt off the ground and her sword cut straight through the already damaged coral snake head.

    Therge head crashed to the ground and a flood of blood poured out from where it had been decapitated.

    Several of the other heads moved to retaliate but found themselves likewise under attack.

    Fianna''s arrows pierced into the eyes of the albino spitting cobra causing it to recoil, Evette had enveloped the ck mamba head in a sphere of necrotic energy, and Cassius had stuck with his own sword and sliced through around a third of the sea snake''s neck.

    Along with their leaders the members of each respective party focused on one of the heads and attacked them with everything they had.

    It did not take long for the battle to descend into a one-sided pummeling as the expedition squad did not let up on viciously attacking their injured and disoriented foe.

    Nevertheless, their dominance did notst for long, the central head quickly activated two of its other abilities in order to turn things around.

    Thousands of the scales that had fallen off of its body rose into eh area and emitted a shimmering light that reinforced them.

    These scales then floated around The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent and attacked anyone that got too close while also fending off ranged strikes.

    At the same time, the golden king cobra head unleashed a horrendous screech that covered the entire central area that was devoid of fog.

    Many members of the expedition squad had their eardrums burst from the ring noise and some fell to their knees with nauseous expressions on their faces.

    By just using these two abilities, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent pushed back the expedition squad and put an abrupt end to their ferocious assault.

    "Looks like this is where the real fight begins." Marcus muttered under his breath as he prepared healing magic to get those in the worst conditions back on their feet.

    With his and Evette''s help, everyone in the expedition squad was soon back in good fighting condition, but the time they spent healing had given their opponent the opportunity to recover as well.

    Other than the head that Mrazivy had taken off in one go, all of the rest of the injuries that The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent had incurred during the battle had vanished without a trace.

    Everyone who saw this felt disheartened to find out that nearly all the effort they had put into attacking the Tower of Heaven''s guardian had been erased.

    "Don''t lose heart yet. We have already begun the battle and we are going to see it through until we win, or it bes clear that we have no chance. Evette said, stoically. "Now prepare to attack again. Let us show this beast what the top adventurers can do."

 Chapter 1001 1001 Battle for the Tower of Heaven (2)

    Chapter 1001  1001 Battle for the Tower of Heaven (2)

    Thanks to Evette''s quick motivational speech, those that were feeling demoralized from seeing their opponent heal most of the wounds they had given it felt reinvigorated.

    It was true that most of them had already used some of their best attacks and were wondering if there was anything that they could do to beat such a high-level mythic grade beast. Still, it was too soon to give up yet. At the minimum they needed to continue fighting in order to gather more information about how the guardian of the Tower of Heaven fought so that they coulde back in the future to take it on again.

    Of course, everyone did want to win if they could. Especially those that already met the qualifications to enter the special dungeon after proving themselves against the Tower''s guardian.

    ''Perhaps I should stop holding back. Keeping some of my powers hidden is important, but I could help on the front lines if I wielded my scythe and used Embodiment of Eclipse.''

    However, as Marcus ruminated on whether he should join the battle with everything he had, Mrazivy came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

    "I can understand that you want to join in with everything you''ve got, but I think your current role is more important. We have plenty of damage deals, but you''re one of only two healers. Plus, your magic is among the best for causing disruption to the enemy. I don''t doubt that if you fought alongside me, we could do a lot of damage. Though, if you did, I think that the effectiveness of the expedition squad as a whole would suffer. Just leave the physicalbat to me and keep working your magic." Mrazivy said with a wink.

    After she had reassured Marcus, those that were applying buff spells finished and the frontline fighters rushed back into the fray to prevent The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent from regenerating its missing coral snake head.

    ''I''ll just do what I can. If things get hairy, I can always jump in.'' Marcus thought as he held his staff up.

    Like a raging river mana flowed out of his staff and towards the damaged Thunderous Molten Colossus that had reengaged The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent.

    Unfortunately, after taking quite a few hits the powerful golem Marcus had conjured was pretty beat up, but he knew that it needed to stick around for longer. It was pretty much the only thing keeping The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent from focusing all of its attacks on the members of the expedition squad.

    "Hehe. It looks like you are having a bit of trouble keeping that creature of yours in good condition. If you don''t mind, I might have a suggestion that could help."

    Suddenly hearing a voice next to him, but not noticing any presence approaching him, Marcus instinctively jumped away and put his guard up.

    Thankfully, when he looked towards the voice''s source, he was relieved to find that it was an ally and not an enemy.

    "Thegia, now is really not the time to be sneaking up on people. I need to focus on the battle. Plus, shouldn''t you be casting magic to help out as well?" Marcus said, turning his attention back to the battle.

    "I''m afraid that most of my magic is not quite potent enough to even serve as a minor distraction. That beastie''s magic resistance is just a bit too high for me to directly do much to it. However, if we work together, I have a spell and two unique skill that should give us a major advantage."

    Hearing that Thegia was nning on using multiple unique skills, Marcus'' interest was piqued, and he asked her for more details on what her n entailed.

    "Okay. I''ll work with you. Just don''t rummage around in my head. If I feel you going into my memories, I''ll kick you out immediately." Marcus said with a stern tone of voice.

    "Naturally I won''t do anything to invade your privacy. Though, if during the battle some cute memories of you and your wife surface to the forefront of your mind, it wouldn''t be my fault if I saw them." Thegia said as she sniggered.

    Marcus could not help but wince when he heard this, but he also knew that the strategy that Thegia hade up with would give them a massive advantage.

    Once she was ready, the short deep gnome that was among the oldest adventurers here ced her hands on Marcus'' back and activated her unique skill called Mind Sync.

    While this skill was active Thegia, and her target could seamlessly share their thoughts between each other and work as one without any need formunication.

    Needless to say, this unique skill would not normally work with Marcus thanks to his Still Mind that made him immune to mental attacks and the like.

    However, for the moment he had suppressed this skill and was letting Thegia link their minds. Though, even without his Still Mind unique skill Thegia required the consent of the other party to use her Unique Skill.

    When she and Marcus werepletely in sync with each other, Thegia activated her next unique skill and kicked off the strategy she hade up with.

    "Arcane Boost."

    A bright purple glow erupted around Thegia allowing her to cast magic with far greater power and speed than she could normally handle.

    Except this skill was a bit of a double-edged sword as it forced her brain to process information faster and could cause serious damage if she was not careful. That was where Marcus came in. With their two minds connected not only could the two of them coordinate perfectly, but Thegia could use Marcus'' mind to share the strain of her Arcane Boost unique skill.

    "Perfect Illusion."

    With the setupplete, Thegia cast her tier nine illusion magic and by far the strongest spell at her disposal.

    Bright lights erupted from Thegia''s body and flew towards Marcus'' Thunderous Molten Colossus that was currently wrestling with two of The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent''s heads.

    As the lights hit Marcus'' conjured creature, the titanic golem began to shimmer.

    Reality and illusions mixed together, and the Thunderous Molten Colossus appeared to split several times until there were nine of them surrounding the guardian of the Tower of Heaven.

 Chapter 1002 1002 Battle for the Tower of Heaven (3)

    Chapter 1002  1002 Battle for the Tower of Heaven (3)

    Upon seeing that it was now surrounded by nine Thunderous Molten Colossi, The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent showed a look of true rm on all of its heads for the first time.

    Even when it had been sted off the tower and had one of its heads chopped off it did not feel this pressured.

    However, while one of Marcus'' ultimate golems was only a minor threat, even a high-level mythic grade beast like The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent could not discount the current danger to its life.

    Of course, only one of the Thunderous Molten Colossi was truly real. Thegia''s magic had simply created eight illusions of the titanic golem.

    Still, these were not the average illusions. Thegia''s tier nine spell was far more powerful than simply creating hollow copies. The illusions were so real that it tricked anyone who saw them into believing that what they were seeing was actually there and could cause psychic damage to those that were attacked by her illusory creations.

    ''Let''s do this.'' Marcus and Thegia thought at the same time due to their minds being synced.

    Normally it would have been impossible for Marcus and Thegia to move the real Thunderous Molten Colossus and Thegia''s copies cohesively, but with their thoughts being shared without any dy, both of them could work together seamlessly.

    All nine of the Colossi moved in tandem and surrounded the giant serpent that was their target.

    Each one threw a perfectly times attack with the other, forcing The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent to defended.

    It attempted to use its floating scales to repel the nine golems, but it did little damage to the real one and absolutely nothing to the eight fakes.

    Pain shot through the body of the Tower of Heaven''s guardian as nine blowsnded on it, and despite eight of them not having any real physical form the powerful beast''s brains still believed it had been hit.

    At the same time, several members of the expedition squad broke through the Serpent''s wanning defenses and struck it while it was distracted. Even with multiple heads, it could not focus on so many attackers at once.

    ''It certainly is powerful, but it doesn''t seem to have much experience fighting. Perhaps this will be easier than I expected.'' Marcus thought, seeing how well the battle was going.

    Certainly, The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent was not an idiot and had realized that most of the Thunderous Molten Colossi attacking it were illusions, but that really did not matter since the threat they provided was very real.

    Naturally it attempted to key in on the real one to destroy it and get rid of the illusory copies in the process, but thanks to Marcus'' and Thegia''s perfect coordination, it was practically impossible to tell them apart unless it was in physical contact with all of them at the same time.

    For several minutes, the same pattern repeated itself. The nine Colossi would provide a distraction too great to be ignored, and the members of the expedition squad would strike.

    asionally a few people would get hit by an attack and be forced back and need healing, but things were going smoothly for the most part and The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent was slowly being whittled down.

    Eventually the albino spitting cobra head was destroyed before the powerful mythic grade beast could recover its already missing coral snake had.

    At this point, The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent had be fed up and beganshing out at everything in its surroundings without worrying about aiming its attacks.

    The earth around it shattered and its thrashing about caused powerful shockwaves to erupt around the area.

    After that, its remaining heads each unleashed different breath attacks that razed the surroundings.

    ''I didn''t expect it to go berserk all of a sudden.'' Marcus thought as he and Thegia moved farther away to avoid the indiscriminate attacks flying all over the ce.

    Thankfully no one was seriously injuries by The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent frenzy since its attacks had been directionless.

    Nevertheless, all the members of the expedition squad had been forced to backoff or risk being killed without putting up any resistance. This had caused their rhythm to be broken and given their enemy a bit of time to get its act back together.

    "Okay, I have finished healing everyone. Drink some mana and stamina potions and get back into the fight. If we can''t bring it down all at once, we will wear it out until it no longer has the energy to resist." Evette said, acting as themander for the battle.

    Once The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent had finished its tantrum, everyone returned to their roles and began the fight anew. Now that they had seen what their adversary was capable of everyone was getting used to the way it moved and things were going more smoothly.

    ''It''s definitely not as powerful offensively as Gwyneira or Retharin. If I had to make aparison, it fights more like the Doomsday Worm. Taking whatever hites its way with its incredible bulk and rapidly healing off and damage it incurs.'' Marcus thought, analyzing the abilities that the guardian of the Tower of Heaven possessed.

    Needless to say, it was not close to as powerful as the deadly doomsday monster that required several of the strongest individuals in the world to defeat. If it was, the entire expedition squad would have already been defeated by this point.

    Eventually a third and then fourth head were destroyed, and the continuous pressure kept The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent from ever fully recovering. At this rate it was only a matter of time before the subordinate heads were all destroyed, and the central head could be attacked. Then once they destroyed the final head, the guardian would finally be defeated.

    Unfortunately, as well as things had been going, it only took one moment for a battle of this level to suddenly make a turn for the worse. And this moment came when The Celestial Seven-Head Serpent caught them off-guard with one of its strongest abilities.

 Chapter 1004 1004 Battle for the Tower of Heaven (5)

    <h4>Chapter 1004 Chapter 1004 Battle for the Tower of Heaven (5)</h4>

    The sense of unease that had been going around the expedition squad after watching Marcus get consumed by The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent''s attack quickly vanished once he reappeared next to Mrazivy.

    This was not the first time that they had seen him do this disappearing act, though only Evette knew exactly how he was able to pull it off. Everyone else could only guess and had decided to allow Marcus his privacy no matter how curious they were. All of them had secrets as well after all.

    With renewed fervor, everyone began attacking the Tower of Heaven''s guardian that they had slowly but surely whittled down.

    ''I should meet back up with Thegia and continue with our strategy. It will not be long before my Thunderous Molten Colossus has burnt the ck mamba head to a crisp and I will want its illusory doubles back by the time it is finished.''

    However, as Marcus turned to head back towards where Thegia was, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent made an unexpected move.

    Its main head did not hesitate to bite into the base of the neck of the ck mamba and rip it out. The powerful beast could already tell that attempting to heal its already severely injured head was not worth the energy and decided to consume it instead.

    Marcus was caught off guard by this and before he even realized it the central head was disregarding the damage it was taking and had begun eating his Colossus as well.

    "Get away from it!" Marcus ordered.

    Immediately the gigantic golem did its best to break free from the golden king cobra head that was devouring it along with the head of the ck mamba, but it did not get away for free.

    Most of its right side had been broken off and it copsed onto the ground with an earthshaking crash.

    An instantter, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent''s tail whipped forward and smashed into the Thunderous Molten Colossus and scattered its liquid body.

    During this time the massive and powerful mythic grade beast had ignored every other attacking its way and focused entirely on eliminating what it considered to be the most annoying enemy.

    Once it had finished destroying Marcus'' creation, it coiled its body back up and started glowing brightly. Its body quickly bulged, and the outer scales peeled away and left behind a colossal snakeskin.

    "I was wondering when it would use that ability." Mrazivy said, wearing a grim look.

    The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent emerged from its shed skin without a single wound on its body. After all the damage that had been done to it, in one move it had made a full recovery.

    At the very least the guardian had not regrown any of its missing heads, and still only had the golden king cobra head and sea snake head remining. Though the central head still retained all of the powers it had obtained from cannibalizing tis already destroyed heads.

    ''It can only use that power once a day. Now we only need to worry about destroying itsst subordinate head and then finishing it off. We can still do this.'' Evette said over telepathy.

    Thanks to that no one lost heart after seeing their progress erased. Nevertheless, it was going to be easier said than done to truly bring down such a high-level mythic grade beast.

    Once it had finished its recovery, it turned both of its heads towards Mrazivy and locked onto her. During this battle, other than Marcus'' Thunderous Molten Colossus she had been the most dangerous opponent it had to deal with. Every time sheunched one of her attacks powered by her Supreme Skill, she caused it a great deal of pain and it had decided to get rid of her.

    Without any consideration for the multitude of other people attacking it, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent focused all of its offensive capabilities on Mrazivy and began chasing after her with its entire gargantuan body. It had already found sess in disregarding everything else in order to destroy Marcus'' gigantic golem that had given it so much grief and nned to use the same strategy to get rid of Mrazivy. From this point on it would simply go after the biggest threat first and not stop until it had eliminated them.

    "Marcus, where are you going?!" Mrazivy cried out frantically as she avoided and blocked flying scales and sts of energy that were perpetuallying at her.

    "I mean, it is clearly after you, and if I stay here with you, I won''t be able to aplish much if I have to protect myself as well. So, sorry, but good luck. I''ll make sure to do something about it soon. Just keep its attention for a bit longer while Ie up with something." Marcus said before turning into a beam of light and flying away.

    Of course, he knew that Mrazivy could handle herself, or he never would have left her alone. He figured that if she focused fully on defense, she could hold out for at least a few minutes.

    Once he had gotten farther away from the enormous beast, he was able to see the full battlefield much better.

    ''I see, so that is what it is doing.''

    Other than attacking Mrazivy with its full force, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was only nothing to block attacks aimed at its final remaining subordinate head.

    It would constantly move its central head in the way of attacks and deflect them with its nearly imprable barrier. And for anything aimed at its torso, it simply allowed its tough and beefy body to soak up the damage.

    The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was fightingpletely differently from during the start of the battle. No longer was it allowing ever single person to take up its attention, and it instead focused solely on killing one individual at a time.

    For a few seconds Marcus considered conjuring another Thunderous Molten Colossus, but he was certain it would take a lot out of him, and he was not sure it would be nearly as effective as before. Since the Tower of Heaven''s guardian was no longer attacking everyone with wild abandon, a giant creature to soak up its attacks would not be nearly as useful.

    ''Without a doubt it is learning how to fight the longer we continue. At this rate, we may not be able to beat it.''

    While everyone was still going strong, inrge part to Evette''s healing, it was only matter of time before people started reaching their limits. When that happened the only thing that awaited them was a death spiral that could not be stopped.

    Unfortunately, things were not looking good. The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was doing everything it could to protect itsst subordinate head and doing damage to its main body was not having much of an impact.

    To defeat the tower''s guardian, the only feasible method was to destroy all of its heads, but realistically it was nearly impossible to do enough damage to the sea snake head now that the central head only had to worry about protecting it.

    ''It will a huge risk, but I don''t see any other way we are going to win this.''

    Having made up his mind, Marcus opened his item box and pulled out a secret weapon he had not expected to need to use.

 Chapter 1003 Battle for the Tower of Heaven (4)

    1003 Chapter 1003 Battle for the Tower of Heaven (4)

    After being perpetually battered, hacked, and sted, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent had reached a breaking point.

    It had done just about everything it could to crush its annoying attackers, but not a single one had been killed or even wounded enough to be forced out of the battle.

    As a mythic grade beast at level eighty-seven, it could tell that none of its assants were as powerful as it, but it was still the one losing. This was uneptable and the proud guardian of the Tower of Heaven could no longer take the one-sided beat down any longer.

    The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was loath to use what could be considered its strongest ability against a group of inferiors, but it felt that it had no other choice if it did not want to eventually lose.

    In an act that stunned every member of the expedition squad, the central golden king cobra head turned towards the lifeless stumps that were trying to regenerate the already destroyed heads.

    Yet, instead of allowing its missing heads to recover, the central head bit into the base of the necks and ripped them off. It then quickly gulped the long headless neck down and swallowed it in one massive gulp.

    Next The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent ripped and ate the remaining three neckless snakes that had lost their heads before scooping up the remains of each of the heads that had scattered around its body.

    Once it had finished this act of self-cannibalism, the golden cobra head began to pulsate and growrger. In a matter of seconds some of its pure golden scales changed colors and matched the patterning of the snakes it had just eaten.

    Now The Seven-Headed Serpent was only sporting three of its original heads, and the remaining sea snake and ck mamba heads looked at the golden cobra in fear, afraid that they would be next.

    Luckily for them, the central head had no intention of using its Kin Devour race ability on the still living heads at this point in time. If it were to do so it would lose its near imprable barrier which would not be worth the trade.

    Still, thanks to consuming its lost heads and destroying them permanently, the golden king cobra had gained most of their abilities and raised its own power exponentially. It may have lost many of its heads, but a numerical advantage had not been helping it during this battle and it felt it needed overwhelming power to destroy its current enemies.

    ''I guess we shouldn''t have discounted that ability. I never thought it would eat parts of its own body.'' Marcus thought once the guardian had finished its meal.

    When Mrazivy had initially told everyone about this specific power that the central head had, none of them had expected this toe into y. The description Mrazivy had read using her Dragon Eyes made it seem that this was a power meant for The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent to use when eating other snake type beasts or monsters. Not one of them had thought it would cannibalize itself.

    Naturally everyone attempted to disrupt the guardian as it dined on itself, but the giant serpent had coiled its massive frame around its heads and focused solely on defense while it ate.

    Unfortunately, the damage that the expedition squad was able to do was far from enough to even seriously injure the bulky mythic grade beast, and it had soon finished its cannibalistic powerup.

    ''That''s not good.''

    The moment the central head raised back up, it opened its mouth and a multicolored beam erupted from it aimed at thergest congregation of people.

    Marcus and Thegia were of course among this group of backliners that had beenunching ranged attacks at The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent since the beginning of the battle.

    With barely a second to react, Marcus picked up Thegia and enhanced himself with magic and skills to jump away as quickly as possible.

    Sadly, his flight from danger was not quite fast enough and he found himself unable to escape from the very edge of the wide beam.

    If there was any constion, it was that thanks to being connected to Thegia via her Mind Sync unique skill, neither of them had to waste time on a coordinated response.

    It pushed both of them past their safe limits to use more magic and caused them to feel a painful pounding in their heads, but utilizing Thegia''s other unique skill Arcane Boost, both of them conjured magic spells to protect themselves.

    Thegia''s magic was the first to activate, creating arge, curved wall of stone in front of them.

    Her magicsted for all of half a second, but it was enough for Marcus to manifest his own spell and give them anotheryer of protection.

    His cataclysmic iron sword burst into reality and pushed back against the enormous st of energy in an attempt to cut through it.

    ''Were not going to make it.'' Marcus thought as he felt his spell breaking apart.

    Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and knew what to do.

    "Wait! Don''t do it!" Thegia yelled just before Marcus tossed her the rest of the way out of the beam.

    Instantly the powers that they had been controlling together faded and Marcus disappeared into the multicolored beam of energy.

    For the few that had the liberty to focus on what was happening, they saw what appeared to be Marcus'' final moments.

    A somber mood took over those that had witnessed Marcus being engulfed by the powerful attack. However, there was one person that did not be disheartened.

    ''What are you guys doing? We need to continue the attack. Marcus is perfectly fine; it will take more than that to bring him down.'' Mrazivy said over telepathy to everyone.

    A secondter, she unleashed her strongest attack on The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent that was momentarily immobile afterunching such a powerful attack.

    With one powerful sh she cut a massive cut through its unprotected midsection and left a gapping wound that had thousands of litters of blood gushing out of it.

    The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent let out a pained cry louder than any it had so far.

    Immediately, its ck mamba head turned around and lunged at Mrazivy with its mouth open so that it could swallow her.

    However, before it could, Marcus'' Thunderous Molten Colossus charged at the head and threw its entire body at it. The ck mamba head thrashed around to get the giant mass of molten iron covered in lightning off of it, but it found itself unable to break the colossus'' grapple.

    It did not take long for the electrocuted and burning head to flop onto the ground in a heavy crash. After incurring a great deal of damage, it could no longer hold itself up under the mass of the giant golem.

    "You doing alright?" Marcus said, appearing out of thin air right next to Mrazivy without a single scratch on him.

    "Well, I am a bit tired after using my Supreme Skill without restraint. Mind giving me a pick-me-up?" Marcus was happy to oblige his wife, and with a smile on his face, he used his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill to bring Mrazivy back up to peak condition.

 Chapter 1005 1005 One Shot to Win

    Chapter 1005  1005 One Shot to Win

    ''I still can''t believe that I made this thing.''

    From out of his item box, Marcus had pulled out a giant adamantine tube that was around twenty meters long. Though, while it was incredibly long, the thickness of the adamantine was only around a quarter of a centimeter.

    During his most recent stint of crafting Marcus had gotten a bit carried away and made this weapon that was quite impractical.

    It was meant to increase the power of his railgun spell to the upmost limit, but the giant adamantine tube was unwieldy and could only be fired once before the enchantments became damaged and needed extensive repairs.

    Nevertheless, Marcus knew that this weapon was the only thing he possessed that might possibly be able to produce an attack that could pierce through the barrier around The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent''s central head.

    Of course, it was going to be a gamble. He was uncertain if it would pack enough of a punch to break through the barrier and he would not be able to produce a second shot should his first one miss.

    ''Still, I feel like I''ve got to give it a try. No one else''s attempts have gotten through and I feel that we are going to run out of steam soon if nothing changes.''

    Having made up his mind, Marcus pointed the giant railgun cannon towards the Tower of Heaven''s guardian.

    A tremendous amount of mana began flowing from his body into the weapon, and the intricate etchings in the barrel glowed brightly.

    Once the initial activation had started, Marcus conjured his iron sphere and ced it inside the bottom of the tube.

    After that, several long spikes extended from the cannon and pierced deep into the ground to hold it in ce. Without these spikes to brace the weapon, it would end up sting itself along with Marcus away when fired.

    Time seemed to slow down for Marcus as he put all of his focus into powering his railgun cannon. This was not an item he could wield without putting his all into it.

    However, as the powerful cannon charged up tounch its single attack, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent felt its instincts calling out to it that it was in danger.

    Despite having been solely focused on catching and killing Mrazivy just a moment before, it lifted its head and turned its full attention towards Marcus.

    Just behind Mrazivy, who had constantly been slicing up its body with her sword skills empowered by her Supreme Skill, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent had marked Marcus as the next biggest threat.

    Yet with its heightened senses and intuition, it could tell that he was preparing an attack that posed it serious danger.

    Abruptly, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent turned away from Mrazivy and made a beeline towards Marcus.

    ''That''s not good.''

    In Marcus'' mind he had envisioned that The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent would continue chasing after Mrazivy, and when he was ready to fire his railgun, he would have her lure it into his line of sight.

    Unfortunately, his n was thrown intoplete disarray when the Tower''s guardian decided to take him out first.

    Now that he had activated the railgun cannon it could not be moved and disengaging it would be impractical. If he stopped now, he would have to give up on using the weapon and any possibility of victory.

    ''Um, I understand that this might be a tall order for me to ask, but I need about two minutes to charge up an attack that might be able to beat the guardian. If we still want to win, I need everyone to work together to keep it off me until I am ready tounch my attack.'' Marcus said over telepathy to the entire expedition squad.

    For a second everything was silent, before he received a number ofints telling him that what he asked for was impossible.

    During the entire battle they had struggled to stop The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent for more than a few seconds at a time. With its sights locked on Marcus and him being unable to move from his position, it would be pretty much impossible to protect him even for just a single minute, let alone two.

    ''I will do what I can, but I make no promises that I can hold it for that long. Please prioritize your safety if things go wrong.'' Evette said, being the first to give Marcus a positive response.

    Immediately after her Mrazivy chimed in and said that she would do all she could as well.

    Following those two that showed no hesitance in supporting Marcus, others like Miguel and Thegia offered their support.

    Soon everyone was onboard whether they liked it or not, and the entire expedition squad put their hopes on Marcus.

    It was not but a moment after everyone put their weight behind Marcus that The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent unleashed a barrage of ranged attacks at Marcus with intense ferocity.

    This was the first of many attacks that would need to be blocked and Marcus had to put his faith in everyone else to protect him.

    Thankfully, before he was overwhelmed, a giant aurora formed around him and offered its protection.

    At the same time Miguel stood in front of Marcus with his shield at the ready and a six-meter tall four-armed creature that was covered in thick, rocky armor and was emitting a holy glow from its face.

    Whatever attacks breached through Mrazivy''s Protective Aurora Unique skill Miguel and his strongest summoned creature deflected.

    "Spirit Sapping Chains."

    Moving to the frontlines, Evette abandoned her role as supporter and healer to use her Supreme Skill to hold down The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent just as she had done to the colossal robot.

    Giant spectral chains rose from the ground and wrapped themselves around the giant beast and began draining its spiritual energy.

    "Rhhhhhhh!"

    After it had been entangled by chains, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent let out something between a roar and a hiss. Try as it might, it could not break free from Evette''s Supreme Skill even as it thrashed its body around.

    Still, as powerful as the chains that bound it were, the guardian of the Tower of Heaven was simply toorge to be fully held down by Evette''s Spirit Sapping Chains. Despite its advance having been slowed, it still pushed its way towards Marcus.

    Others did what they could to slow the giant serpent down, but it was simply too titanic for any of them to fully stop.

    Before long it had gotten close enough to Marcus to attack him physically and reared its central head up.

    With one big motion it moved to m itself down on him and crush him with its sheer mass.

    ''Damn it! Its too soon, but I don''t have any choice.''

    With an attack he could not afford to take eminent, Marcus increased the length of the spikes protruding out of the front of the railgun cannon and angled it upwards. He had not had as much time as he wanted to fully charge up his attack, but he was left with no choice but to fire now or be crushed.

    But right before he pulled the trigger, a single voice called out for him to wait.

    Marcus hesitated for less than a second, before doing as Fianna had said and instead continued to charge his weapon with mana.

    A single arrow then flew in front of his eyes and impacted against the central head of The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent.

    When the arrow connected it shone brightly before transforming into a massive st like a volcano that had just exploded.

    This was Fianna''s Eruption Arrow unique skill and the strongest single attack she could unleash.

    After the power behind the attack had faded, there was still not a single scratch on the central head''s barrier, but it had pushed it back long enough for Marcus to finish preparing his railgun to fire at full power.

    Yet an instant before heunched his attack, the sea serpent head that had remainedpletely on the defense since it was the only remaining subordinate headshed out at Marcus.

    One moment he was looking up at the massive golden king cobra head, and the next thing Marcus knew everything had gone ck.

    As ast-ditch effort, the sea sneak head opened its mouth wide and swallowed Marcus. nning to digest him within its stomach that was filled with powerful acid that could easily melt even adamantine.

    "That was a bad move."

    From inside the sea serpent head''s mouth, Marcus fired his railgun andunched the five meters in diameter iron sphere at Mach twenty-eight.

    Filled with unstable force the iron sphere moved along the maic track within Marcus'' railgun cannon.

    Once it was released, the powerful projectile pierced through the sea snake''s head and sted a giant hole through it. The iron sphere continued to fly in a straight line and impacted against the central head''s golden barrier.

    Sparks flew as an unstoppable force met an immovable object.

    Several seconds went by as the railgun attack attempted to pierce through the barrier.

    The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was focusing all of its power on protecting itself, and it seemed that it would hold out until Marcus'' ultimate attack ran out of power.

    Except, as the iron sphere started to lose momentum, the sea snake head finally perished, and the golden barrier around central king cobra head shattered.

    Without its greatest defense, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent could no longer hold off the attack from Marcus'' railgun cannon, and the speeding mass of iron continued on unobstructed.

    In just an instant the iron sphere pierced through the central head and finally lost all of its power around two thirds of the way in.

    Feeling intense pain, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent began thrashing about in a panic.

    Even after it had part of its central head destroyed by Marcus'' attack, it was still far from dead. Though, it was not going tost much longer despite having survived.

    Now that its protection was destroyed, everyone that had any strength left fired off their strongest attacks.

    Powerful explosions that shook the sky and the earth erupted around The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent, until it finally breathed itsst. Its once majestic body that would bring awe and fear to any that saw it was torn apart and almost unrecognizable.

    ''We won, right?'' Marcus thought as he pushed his way out of the dead sea snake''s head.

    He was covered in all manner of fluids and was truly hoping that the battle was over. If the guardian got back up again, he was certain that he would not have it in him to continue.

    Thankfully, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was undoubtably dead, and the proof came just a secondter.

    What remained of its colossal body began to turn into motes of light that flew back towards the Tower of Heaven.

    Within just a half minute the etching on the tower that depicted the great serpent was restored and the guardian was taken back into the tower now that its role was finished.

    ''Congrattions, you have defeated Tower of Heaven''s guardian. You have now earned the right to enter the Tower of Heaven and the restrictions of Haze Ind will no longer apply to you.''

    After their victory, everyone in the expedition squad received this same message from the system.

    Naturally this came as a surprise, as they had not expected the ind''s restrictions to also be lifted.

    Immediately, Marcus cast the tier three fire magic spell, me jets and shot into the air.

    Unlike before, no unexinable power forced him back to the ground and he was able to fly around with ease.

    Other seeing his tested out their flight abilities as well and likewise were able to ascend without issue.

    ''Okay, that is enough messing around. We still have much to do.'' Evette said, trying to bring order back to the expedition squad.

    It took a minute for everyone to calm down after their victory, but soon they had gathered back in front of the Tower''s entrance.

    Like before those that did not meet some other restrictions could not enter, but when Marcus approached the gate, it opened up to him. In front of him was a staircase that ascended farther into the Tower.

    He was about to turn to the others that could enter and suggest that they give the inside a cursory nce when something else drew his attention.

    From within the Tower, he could hear footsteps and when he turned around, he saw a shadow that was stretching down the stairs and getting closer.

 Chapter 1006 1006 A True Terror

    Chapter 1006  1006 A True Terror

    Instinctively Marcus jumped away from the Tower of Heaven''s entrance once he noticed that someone or something wasing down the stairs.

    ''Is it perhaps this Special Dungeon''s guide just like the one we met in the Realization of Self Perfection?'' Marcus thought.

    However, he found it strange that the Tower of Heaven''s guide that acted as a sort of artificial intelligence would being to meet them outside of the dungeon. Last time the guide only appeared once they entered the first room.

    ''This is a Special Dungeon though. I don''t really have enough information to know for sure if what is happening is normal or not.''

    Unsure of what to do, Marcus stayed on guard as did everyone else.

    At this point everyone could hear the footsteps walking down the stairs and the shadow that was getting ever closer.

    It was not long before they could see what looked like human legse into view, followed by the rest of the person''s body.

    ''He''s just a normal looking guy.''

    Even as Marcus looked at the man, he did not feel anything special about him. He was the sort of person you would see just about anywhere. He had brown hair and eyes with an average build that appeared neither weak nor strong.

    From the way he carried himself, Marcus could tell that he had an air of confidence about him, but he did not give off a powerful presence. He actually felt hollow in a way.

    At first Marcus rxed thinking that this man really was the guide for this dungeoning out to greet them. Yet, he quickly realized this was not the case. The previous guide he had met had simply been a projection created by the Special Dungeon, but this man had true weight about him that could be felt with every step he took. He was most certainly physically present and could interact with the world.

    When he finally reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped out from the entrance to the Tower of Heaven, the brown-haired man looked at everyone in the expedition squad and let out a deep sigh of annoyance.

    "Briar Binding."

    Amin, the male elf in Evette''s party that was her second inmand was the first to make a move and used his magic to restrain the mysterious man. The was no doubt he was not a member of the adventurers guild and the only usible exnation Amin could think of was that he belonged to some other organization and had gotten here first.

    "How many are there in your group? Surely you must know that this ind is under the adventurers guild''s control and that no trespassers are allowed. Since we are nearly finished with our expedition, we will not eliminate you if youe quietly and tell us what we want to know." Amin said in a threatening tone.

    The man that was bound in his magic onlyughed in response. It was as if he found Amin attempting to act menacingly to be cute.

    It was at this moment that Marcus felt a hand grip his left arm.

    When he looked over, he saw that Mrazivy was the one that had grabbed on to him and her face looked pale.

    "Marcus, he doesn''t have a status." Mrazivy whispered to him with a tinge of fear in her voice.

    Immediately Marcus used his own appraisal skill and saw that above the man''s head there were simply three question marks. This was the same information he had received when trying to appraise the otherworldly horrors that had been summoned by the grimoire that did not belong on Mirrion. The system recognized that there was a creature in front of him, but the was no information to be disyed since this man was not connected to the system.

    Feeling a chill through his entire soul, Marcus was about to warn everyone, but the mysterious man started speaking before he could.

    "You pests are more persistent than I was expecting. I had thought that those toys I left by this area''s entrance would be enough to keep anyone out, and even after you got past them, I never thought you would beat this Tower''s guardian. I did not want to do anything conspicuous, but I don''t have any option left but to dispose of all of you myself. Talk about an annoyance." The man said with the expression of someone who was having to take out arge batch of garbage.

    Then without any resistance, he flexed his arms and the magic that had entangled him burst apart into thousands of pieces.

    Before anyone could react, the man appeared in front of Amin and struck him in the head with a single punch. By the time anyone realized what had happened, Amin''s head was missing from his torso and a red mist was falling around his body. Blood poured out of Amin''s now headless neck, and his body went limp and fell over.

    ''What just happened?!'' Marcus thought, stunned by what he had just seen.

    He had been on his guard and prepared to engage the mysterious man if he made a move, yet he had beenpletely helpless to intervene.

    Everyone else was likewise in a daze after witnessing one of their own killed in a single hit without being able to offer any resistance.

    "Hm, now which ones are the most dangerous?" The man said, his eyes quickly moving between all of them as he sized up the members of the expedition squad.

    "Everyone run!" Fianna shouted,ing to her senses first.

    Yet, before a single member of the expedition squad could make a move, the man with no status locked onto his next target and vanished.

    When he reappeared, he was standing in front of Mrazivy and throwing another punch towards her.

    Thanks to having already seen how Amin had been taken down, she had already prepared herself to defend with all her might and had transformed into her Draconic Form and was challenging the power of her Supreme Skill through her body.

    Several barriers created by her magic, skills, and magic items appeared in front of her to protect her from the iing attack.

    The first to take the punch was a thin wall of ice which turned into snow powder the moment the mysterious man''s first connected.

    Next her mana barrier skill shattered into hundreds of pieces like a dropped ss.

    Her thirdyer of defense was her Mercurial Ice unique skill that she had molded into a shield in front of her. Except, just like her first two protections, it barely slowed down the punching her way and the Mercurial Ice shield burst like a bubble.

    After that the automatic defenses that Marcus had enchanted her armor and items with activated, but all of them were pushed aside with ease as well.

    The only possible saving grace was that Mrazivy had guarded her head with her arms and the mysterious man had instead targeted her unprotected stomach.

    When his fist finally impacted her, the sturdy amethros armor she was wearing buckled and was left with a deep dent.

    Unlike Amin whose head waspletely destroyed, Mrazivy''s body was still intact, but she vomited up a mouthful of blood and flew backwards like aet. The force behind the single punch sent her flying through the trees and smashing through whatever was in her way until she smashed into the ground and left a long trench in it.

    "I guess I should have gone for her head even though she focused most of her protections around it. Oh well, one more hit ought to finish her." The man without a status said as if what he was doing was part of a routine he needed to exert slightly more effort on than usual.

    Before he could make another move to attack Mrazivy, however, Marcus appeared above the man with his scythe poised to strike.

    His body was covered in the light and darkness of his Supreme Skill and an unbridled rage was clear to see in his eyes.

    "Eclipse Reaper!"

    Converging the power of his Embodiment of Eclipse into his scythe, Marcus struck down with one of his strongest attacks and aimed to kill the man that had just attacked his wife.

    It had been a long time since he had felt this level of fury, and he held nothing back when he unleashed his strike filled with bloodlust.

    The air crackled from the force behind his swing, and the earth under the mysterious man''s feet fractured.

    But try as he might, Marcus found his scythe stuck in ce, unable to be pushed down any farther.

    When the dust kicked up from his unrestrained attack faded, Marcus could only look down in shock to see that his scythe had been stopped by a single hand.

    "Ouch! I shouldn''t have caught that with my barehand." The man said with an exaggerated tone.

    For all the strength Marcus had put behind his attack, all he had aplished was to slightly cut the mysterious man''s hand. Just a slight trickle of silver blood flowed down the man''s hand, and the injury soon sealed up like it had never been there in the first ce.

    "You were next on my list anyways, so since you volunteered, I''ll take you out now." The man without a status said while Marcus was still stunned by the ineffectiveness of his attack.

    Pulling back his other arm while he kept ahold of Marcus'' scythe, the man sent yet another straight punch at towards Marcus'' head.

    Without the capability to offer any resistance, Marcus watched the fist closing in on him as if it was in slow motion.

    In this moment ofpressed time, he ran through multiple ways to get away, but even when he attempted to evade his reactions felt agonizingly slow.

    It was not until the punch was only a centimeter in front of his face, that Marcus understood that the attack wasing at him too fast for him to properly react. There was nothing he could do to avoid or stop it.

    As the punch hit Marcus'' head, it exploded just the same as Amin''s had. Yet with his body simply being his soul solidified, cracks webbed their way through his form, and hepletely broke apart into a gray mist. His spirit being unable to retain physical form any longer.

 Chapter 1007 1007 A True Terror (2)

    Chapter 1007  1007 A True Terror (2)

    The moment Marcus'' body shattered apart; every facet of his being, along with everything on him disappeared.

    "Oh! He was a spiritual entity. Its ben a while since I had to deal with one of those."

    For the first time since his appearance, the mysterious man who was hellbent on killing everyone in the expedition squad showed a hint of true emotion.

    Still, he was only surprised for a single second before pulling his arm back to deliver another strike. Coating it in spiritual energy, he nned to finish Marcus off now that he had reverted to his ghost form after having his physical body destroyed.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was in a deep daze since his head had been utterly destroyed and he was unable to even recognize the iing threat that was mere moments away from finishing him off for good.

    Yet, the other members of the expedition squad finally managed to pull themselves together and being a counterattack after the unexpected turn of events that had them all stupefied.

    "Demise."

    Pushing herself, to the limit, Evette cast the tier nine death magic spell with all the power she could muster at a moment''s notice. She let her rage at having one of her party members killed drive her and used every ounce of her emotions to fuel her magic. A ck wave of energy pushed out of her body and rushed towards the man that had appeared from inside of the Tower of Heaven.

    Evette held out both of her hands in front of her and coalesced the necrotic energy of her death magic spell and concentrated it all on the target of her wrath.

    Yet, her spell that should have been capable of causing instant death to most living creatures, broke apart and revealed the mysterious man to be barely injured.

    Some of the visible veins on his body had turned noticeably ck, but he was still alive and quickly recovering from the damage Evette''s strongest spell had caused him.

    "That was unpleasant." The man said as he red at Evette.

    He then vanished once again in a burst of speed that was nearly impossible to track. When he became visible again, he was already mid punch and aiming to take Evette''s head off like he had done to Marcus and Amin.

    "Unmovable!"

    Having expected the murderous man to attack Evette next, Cassius was prepared to move in front of her and protect her. He had not truly been able to keep up with their attacker''s speed, but he had anticipated that he would go for Evette''s head and had positioned himself ordingly.

    Using the t of his de he intercepted the punch, Cassius activated one of his unique skills in order to take the hit.

    Normally he would have easily been blown back by the power behind the man''s punch, but his Unmovable kept him in ce no matter how hard he was struck.

    The ground around Evette and Cassis split and the air itself trembled from the impact against Cassius'' sword.

    Once the man had been stopped for a brief instant, Fianna loosed several arrows at him.

    Each one was aimed with deadly precision, but not a single one hit.

    With a single deft step, the man avoided the arrows and rushed around behind Evette. He had set his sights on her and was not going to stop until he killed her.

    "Hero''s Challenge."

    Before the man without a status could attack Evette again, Miguel mmed his sword against his shield and used one of the unique skills he had obtained along with his Hero title.

    This skill forced the target to off its effect to focus on Miguel and exchange blows until one of them was defeated.

    "Tch! You lot are starting to annoy me."

    Feeling apelling force dragging him towards Miguel, the mysterious man could only cease his attack on Evette and rush towards Miguel.

    He moved like a blur and was in front of Miguel in only a fraction of a secondunching another of his straight punches that packed enough power behind them to kill most of the members of the expedition squad in one hit.

    "Bastion Archon!"

    Calling out the name of his strongest summon, Miguel had it appear in front of him and intercept the attack meant for him. The giant creature covered in stone-like armor reached out with its four arms and caught the strike that was aimed at its master.

    With its sturdy body the Bastion Archon caught the man''s fist. Cracks formed through its entire body, but its Unwavering Wall and Last Stand racial abilities kept it from faltering.

    "Avenging Smite!"

    Burning with righteous fury, Miguel shed his sword down with greater power than he ever had before. The unique skill he had just activated could only be used to strike down a foe that had imed the life of arade. This was the first time Miguel had ever been able to use this power as for the first time he finally had people that he considered close enough to meet its conditions.

    A blinding red light enveloped Miguel''s de, as he swung it towards his enemy. It was a perfectly times attack that coincided with his Archon Bastion blocking the man''s punch.

    Yet, just as he did against Marcus'' all-out attack, the man without a status reached with his unupied hand and caught Miguel''s strike.

    The red light around Miguel''s sword sted through the man''s arm, but once the energy behind his attack had faded, the man''s hand was only slightly burned and the sleeve of his shirt shredded.

    "You''re really starting to piss me off. This is the only shirt I have with me."

    Seeming to be more concerned with his damaged clothes, the man for the first time used a different attack other than just throwing a straightforward punch.

    In one quick motion he raised his left leg and kicked the arms of the Bastion Archon that was holding him in ce.

    Having already sustained a great deal of damage just blocking one single punch, Miguel''s mightiest summon found all four of its arms shattering from man''s kick.

    Nevertheless, the Bastion Archon would not go down without getting in onest hit.

    From its glowing face, the powerful celestial being unleashed a beam of bright green light. This was its strongest attack called Holy Beam.

    The attack contained a great deal of energy behind it, but its target was simply overwhelmingly more powerful.

    Throwing just one more punch the mysterious man that had appeared from the Tower of Heaven, cut through the beam and smashed the Bastion Archon to pieces.

    Miguel attempted to use this opening to attack again, but before his sword could reach his target, he felt an impossibly strong impact against his side.

    The man he was fighting had dexterously spun around and delivered a spinning kick to Miguel''s left side.

    By sheer instinct Miguel had managed to ce his shield in the way of the attack, but without having used any other defensive skills his arm was shattered and all of the ribs on his left side were broken in multiple ces.

    As he was sted away by the force of the attack, his body bent in an unnatural way and several of his vertebrae cracked.

    Like Mrazivy, he flew through the forest destroying everything in his path until he hit the ground and left a giant impact crater.

    "He must have either passed out or died." The man said, feeling the effects of Miguel''s Hero''s Challenge wear off. He could not be sure if he had killed Miguel since the young hero''s body was still in one piece, but he was certain that Miguel would not be getting up anytime soon if he did miraculously survive.

    Now that he was no longerpelled to only attack Miguel, the man turned his attention back towards Evette. However, when he took in his surroundings, he frowned at what he saw.

    While Evette, Cassius, and Fianna were still around, the other members of the expedition squad were nowhere to be seen.

    "It doesn''t matter. The only path away from this area is a straight shot for hundreds of kilometers. I''ll clean up here quickly and catch up to the other ones." The man that did not have a status mumbled to himself.

    He then picked up a stone thaty near his feet and tossed it towards Evette.

    The projectile moved incredibly fast and reached nearly fifteen times the speed of sound just from being casually thrown.

    Evette, who was in the process of trying to revive Amin did not notice the attacking for her and would have had her head taken off if not for Cassius'' quick action.

    "No!" Evette screamed as she was pulled away from her fallen party member.

    While Cassius had pulled her away from being fatally injured, the tossed stone still hit her arms and tore both of them off.

    This disrupted her spell and ended any chance that she had to bring Amin back. Even if she was in an entirely peaceful location at peak condition, she would not have enough time to cast the tier nine healing magic spell again.

    "I''m sorry Evette, but we don''t have the leeway to worry about him anymore. If we can''t hold this guy here the others won''t be able to get away. I''m not nning on going down without aplishing anything and we will need your powers if we want tost." Cassius said, a resolved expression on his face.

    He was almost certain that he was going to die in this fight, and as much as he was selfish, he cared about his party enough to give up his life for them.

    Fianna thought the same way which is why she had stayed as well. She felt that it was a leader''s duty to protect those under her in such a hopeless situation.

    The mysterious man sighed when he saw the determination of the three party leaders.

    "You must realize that fighting me is pointless. Even if you buy your friends a couple more minutes, it is not going to change the ouing. It would be a lot less painful if you ceased struggling. I promise to put you out of your misery quickly and without any suffering if you just give up."

    "I''m sure you must know that we will never stop. Even if it kills us all, we are going to bring you down." Evette said as her arms regenerated.

    After giving them an opportunity to surrender, the man could only shrug his shoulders. He had figured that would be their answer, but he wanted to ask just in case it would save him some effort.

    "Very well. A little exercise will do me some good anyways." The man said before rushing towards Evette and Cassius.

 Chapter 1008 1008 Futile Resistance

    Chapter 1008  1008 Futile Resistance

    The moment Cassius saw the man that had appeared from the Tower of Heaven turn into a blur, he spun his sword around and created an omnidirectional burst of mana around himself and Evette. He knew he would be unable to keep up with their opponent, so his only option was to anticipate the attacks that would being towards him and Evette.

    "Unmovable."

    With girted teeth he moved his sword in front of the man''s iing attack and used his unique skill to prevent himself from being blown back. His hands ached from the impact of catching the punch with the t of his de, but his sword which had been given the name Excalibur was able to absorb most of the power behind the man''s attacks.

    Once Cassius had locked down their enemy for a single moment, Evette cast the spell she had been holding.

    Thick ck ropes burst out of her body and quickly wrapped themselves around the man that did not have a status. These ropes were created by her tier eight death magic spell, Death''s Fetters.

    Of course, this spell was not as powerful as the tier nine Demise spell she had cast earlier that failed to do more than irritate the man, but she used this specific spell due to its persistent effect. So long as the ropes were wrapped around the target, they would sap their lifeforce and impose several debuffs.

    The man grimaced as the ropes coiled around him, but he was unable to continue his attack as a volley of arrows came flying towards him at high speed.

    Using both his hands, the mysterious man rapidly knocked down the arrows he could not dodge with a flurry of blows.

    When the arrows finally ceased, he picked one up and exined the arrow tip. With one look he could see that it was coated in a deadly venom and made out a dragon''s fang. As strong as he was, these arrows had the ability to possibly pierce his skin, and even if the venom was not strong enough to do more than annoy him, he did not particrly want to be envenomed.

    "Guess, I''ll take out the sniper first." The man grumbled under his breath.

    Turning away from Cassius and Evette, the man locked onto Fianna who was scrambling down from her current firing spot.

    With incredibly speed heunched himself from where he currently was and arrived in front of Fianna in less than a second.

    Yet, before he could attack her, she disappeared and was reced by one of the arrows she had fired earlier.

    "If we actually survive this, I am going to go broke recing all these arrows." Fianna moaned as she appeared in front of Evette and Cassius.

    The arrow she had just used was called a translocation arrow and was one of many special munitions she had collected over dozens of years as an adventurer. Unfortunately, the current situation did not give her the leeway to hold back, and she was swiftly draining through her stock of powerful arrows.

    "Now is not really the time to be stingy. If I die because you wanted to save a few gold coins, I swear I''m going to haunt you. Now go fine some ce to hide before that guyes back here." Cassius said, waving Fianna away.

    Picking up a few of her arrows along the way, Fianna skittered into the dense foliage and disappeared.

    Then once she had gotten a fair distance away, she found another snipping spot and waited for another opening to fire her arrows.

    During this time, the man had not moved from his spot and was simply holding onto the arrow that had switched ces with Fianna at thest second.

    Soon a palpable rage could be felt emitting from him, and he snapped the arrow by clenching his hand.

    "I did not want to exert any real effort, but I am sick and tired of this futile resistance." The man said under his breath.

    So far, he had simply fought straightforwardly and used his overwhelming strength to dominate the battle. But Evette, Cassius, and Fianna had adapted to his simple way of fighting and were using every trick they had to keep him at bay.

    However, his uplicated fighting style was not a product of his inability to strategize, but because he did not believe he needed to take a bunch of weaklings seriously.

    Nevertheless, the three remaining leaders of the expedition squad had proven themselves to be more tenacious than expected, and he was starting to get fed up with them.

    Letting out a long sigh, the man picked up his right foot andzily swung it backwards before kicking into the ground with immense force.

    In one motion he fractured the ground and kicked up a giantndslide that went rushing towards Evette and Cassius.

    "Shit! Stay close to me Evette." Cassius said, rushing to the side to avoid thendslide.

    Except, when they began running, they found anotherndslideing at them from the direction they were trying to flee in.

    Turning around they saw that two morendslides were approaching them rapidly and that every way they could flee was blocked.

    With no other choice, the two of them flew into the air and got above thendslides that were about to swallow them.

    After they ascended into the sky, Cassius and Evette heightened their vignce and waited for the investable attack they knew wasing.

    "Cassius, behind me." Evette said assuredly.

    She could feel the location of their enemy thanks to the spell she had cast on him and knew that he was swiftly approaching her from her blind spot.

    Cassius moved to intercept and again used his Unmovable unique skill to catch the iing attack.

    But instead of seeing the man that had appeared from within the Tower of Heaven, a giant tree came barreling towards him.

    Having no other recourse but to be hit by the fast-moving projectile, Cassius sliced the tree in half. Yet this put him a half second behind to react to what came next.

 Chapter 1009 1009 Futile Resistance (2)

    Chapter 1009  1009 Futile Resistance (2)

    The man appeared next to him like a sh of lightning and before Cassius could swing his sword, he felt a vicelike grip on his arm.

    "I finally caught you." The man said with a wicked smile.

    Seeing the dangerous situation, Evette desperately cast the spells she had been holding, but the man had been prepared for her intervention.

    With his other hand he tossed one of the arrows Fianna had fired earlier and pierced her through the chest with it. This caused Evette to be blown back and her spells to misfire.

    "Giga Smash."

    In ast-ditch effort, Cassius activated his strongest attack unique skill and punched the man gripping his sword arm with his other hand.

    He aimed for his face and his fist connected with a resounding boom.

    "That stung a little." The man said, his face slightly bruised by Cassius'' attack.

    He then threw his own punch and hit Cassius in the head. Unlike everyone else though, Cassius'' head did not break apart like a burst water balloon.

    Blood flowed out of his head and his skull was clearly cracked but he had managed to survive the attack.

    "You''re tougher than you should be. I suppose it must be this sword''s power."

    "That''s right. Excalibur protects its wielder from most harm. And it deals back whatever attacks I have taken twofold."

    Wearing a blood smile, Cassius activated the final trump card of his weapon that had been granted a name by the system.

    All the power behind each of the hits it had taken throughout this battle erupted from the de and doubled. Allowing Cassius to unleash onest attack that far exceeded his normal abilities.

    For the first time the man without a status showed a hint of fear as Cassius broke free of his grip and swing his sword towards him.

    "Tch!"

    Clicking his tongue, the man showed a displeased expression, before reaching out a gripping what looked like a golden thread.

    In a quick motion he plucked the thread and suddenly vanished from the path of Cassius'' attack. His sword swung wide and cut through nothing but air, hisst desperate attack reaching nothing.

    "To think I would be forced to use my power against you. It truly vexes me to admit you made me get a bit serious even for just an instant." The man said from behind Cassius.

    With a fluid serious of motions, the mysterious man grappled Cassius and wrenched his Excalibur from his grip.

    No longer wielding his sword, the protections it gave to Cassius ceased, and the man easily sliced off his head with a single chop of his hand.

    "I still can''t believe that she gave the people of this world ess to a divine metal like amethros. What a waste." The man mumbled to himself as he tossed Cassius'' sword aside.

    Now that he had eliminated another one of the pests that had interrupted him, he turned his attention towards Evette who had just finished picking herself up after having an arrow pierce her chest.

    Had she been a normal flesh and blood person she would have undoubtedly been killed by the attack, but being a spirit, she did not have any internal organs and was able to recover from what should have been a fatal wound.

    Unfortunately, now that he had seen her unnatural recovery, the man understood that Evette was a spiritual entity just like Marcus and knew how to finish her off for good.

    Landing on back on the ground the man casually walked towards Evette. Without Cassius around to act as a bodyguard for her, he was confident that he could take her out easily enough.

    Despite knowing her magic would not be enough to bring down the monster of a man in front of her, Evette unleashed everything she had on him in order to buy as much time as she could for those that had fled.

    Each time she fired a spell, the man would sidestep away from them faster than Evette could keep up with.

    Soon he was right in front of her with his fist raised and ready to destroy her.

    But just before he could throw his punch, Evette yed herst card even though she hated to do so.

    Gripping the veil that she always wore to cover her face; she ripped the cloth off and revealed her stunning features that could bewitch almost anyone.

    Seeing her inhumanly beautiful features, the man could not help but stand still and stare at her in a daze.

    For the moment he waspletely enraptured, and Fianna took her shot and fired the arrow she had pulled back.

    The projectile flew through the air and struck the man''s right eye and buried itself deep into his head. It was the perfect shot in just the right moment to deliver a fatal attack against an opponent that vastly outmatched them.

    "I let my guard down again." The man said with a disappointed tone.

    He then once again gripped the same golden thread he had when fighting against Cassius and plucked it.

    When the melodious noise it created ended, the man stood in front of Evette without any injuries and the arrow Fianna had fired lodged in the ground at his feet.

    "Truly, I never anticipated you would have such a powerful charm ability. But now that I have seen it once, it won''t work on me again."

    Unable to make sense of what had just happened, Evette stood rooted in ce. She was too stunned to offer any sort of resistance to the attack that was quicklying towards her.

    With an open palm, the man mmed his hand into Evette''s chest and hit her with both physical and spiritual force. Her entire body exploded from the impact and her soul was crushed by the flood of spiritual energy that assaulted her.

    "That''s another one. Now I just need to finish off thest one still resting and clean up the rest." The man said after destroying Evette.

    Turning towards Fianna, he quickly rushed towards her as she fired arrow after arrow at him.

    Sadly, her best efforts proved to be barely able to slow the man down. It was not long before he was looming over her and ready to finish her off.

    Still, she had a few tricks left up her sleeve and teleported away again with another translocation arrow.

    However, this time she had less than a second to recover before the man was bearing down on her again. Every time she warped away, he rushed right back towards her and was on top of her before she could do much of anything.

    Eventually Fianna ran out of translocation arrows and was at the mercy of her the man that had already defeated the rest of the expedition squad''s leaders.

    "Looks like you finally can''t run away from me any longer. You really made this more difficult for me than it needed to be so don''t expect to get off easily." The man said now that he had Fianna cornered.

    Except, before he could move in for the kill, he noticed a bright gleaming sliver light behind him that diverted his attention.

 Chapter 1010 1010 Marcusâ€™ Stand

    Chapter 1010  1010 MarcusˇŻ Stand

    "Oh! You''ve already recovered." The man that had crushed the leaders of the expedition squad said as he turned around to see the bright light that had garnered his attention.

    Bathed in a diminishing silver light, Marcus had reappeared behind him fully recovered.

    After having his head taken off and his physical form destroyed, he had reverted to his ghost form but had been in a catatonic state until just a moment ago.

    The instant he had regained any semnce of consciousness he had used his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill to restore himself to peak condition, but by the time he had, Miguel, Cassius, and Evette had already been defeated, and Fianna was only moments away from being killed.

    "Was it just your natural recovery rate being extremely quick, or did you use one of the special skills of this world?" The man without a tatus asked Marcus curiously.

    Even after Marcus made a miraculous recovery he was not particrly bothered. He had already beaten Marcus in one attack and figured that he could do so again with little effort.

    However, Marcus ignored the man that had beaten down and killed his friends and allies and instead addressed Fianna.

    "Fianna, grab Miguel and Mrazivy and get out of here. I am going to bring this guy down or die trying. At the very least I should be able to buy you enough time to get away." Marcus said, fixing a re at the enemy that had injured his wife and destroyed his head.

    In response, the man simplyughed like he had just heard a good joke.

    "Ah, now that is funny. You did notst even a second against mest time. I''m going to finish you both off quickly and then go after the ones that ran away. All any of you have done is waste a bit of my time."

    Once he had finished saying his piece, the man vanished into a blur and lunged at Marcus.

    This time though, he was ready and turned into a ball of light that shot away.

    Thanks to his timely use of his Lightspeed Movement unique skill, Marcus escaped the man''s initial attack and gave himself a bit of breathing room to activate his trump cards that he had been holding back.

    "Soul Burst"

    "Soul Devour."

    Activating his two limit-breaking unique skills, Marcus'' abilities skyrocketed as his stats doubled from his Soul Burst, and he ate away at his own soul for a temporary exponential increase in strength.

    Of course, he did not neglect to activate his Embodiment of Eclipse and enter his most powerful state. It had been a very long time since he used all of his strongest boosting skills at once, but the resulting power he received was enormous.

    Sensing that Marcus had gotten drastically stronger, the mysterious man narrowed his eyes and wore a more serious expression.

    Unfortunately, there was one other individual that was shocked by Marcus'' sudden transformation and was staring at him dumbstruck.

    "Fianna, go!" Marcus roared. She had been standing around and watching instead of collecting Mrazivy and Miguel.

    Thankfully, Marcus'' second prompting got her into gear, and she used all eight of her legs to rush towards where Miguel wasying limp and unconscious in a crater.

    "Like I''ll let you." The man who was intent on wiping out the expedition squad said on his breath.

    He then leapt towards Fianna, but Marcus moved with incredible speed to intercept him.

    "Behemoth Charge."

    Moving like a speeding freight train, Marcus reached the man before he could attack Fianna and unleashed his newest and only attack unique skill on him.

    Unable to ignore or shrug off Marcus'' attack like he had previously, the man without a status reached out with both of his hands and sped them against both t sides of Marcus'' scythe.

    With a tense expression on his face, he held back Marcus'' charge and kept his de from connecting.

    Still the force of the attack pushed the man back and they traveled nearly four kilometers before Marcus'' momentum gave out.

    Once they had stopped the man pushed Marcus'' scythe away and threw a quick kick towards his stomach.

    It was a powerful and price blow that would havepletely overpowered Marcus before, but in his current state he was able to react.

    ''Stalwart Full Moon.''

    Spinning his scythe around, Marcus created a sphere around himself that was his area of control.

    His scythe then moved like it was possessed and blocked the iing kick.

    The force of the blow was immense, and Marcus was blown back by it, but he did not incur practically any damage.

    "You''ve certainly gotten a great deal more powerful, but it is still far from enough to beat me. I can tell that you are destroying your own soul for this power boost, so it won''tst long. Once you have reached your limit, it will be easy enough to finish you off. Though now that you''re a bit stronger, the energying off of you seems a somewhat familiar."

    Scowling, the man looked appraisingly at Marcus like he was digging up some long-lost memory.

    In only about a second, he seemed to have remembered what it was he wanted, and a look of recognition appeared on his face.

    "Ah, that is it. I can feel some of Lu''s and Kal''s powers in that light and darkness wrapped around you. That must mean you are the one looking after their daughter." The man said with an ted expression. "Although, it does not look like she is with you right now. Truly a shame, she has the potential to be a real threat in the future so it would have been ideal to eliminate her early."

    Marcus could not help but be stunned when he heard what the mysterious man had to say. Never had he expected him to know about Roxene, but it also seemed that he had intimate knowledge about her parents.

    But as Marcus'' focus slipped for just a moment as he processed this information, the man vanished in a blur once again.

    "You really shouldn''t let you guard down so easily." The man said as he reappeared right next to Marcus.

    With astounding speed, he threw a punch towards Marcus'' head and nned to defeat him in one hit yet again.

    This time though, Marcus was ready.

    As the man''s fist was just about to connect with him, Marcus'' head split into two and the man''s punch flew through open air.

    A dumbfounded look on his face, the man could not understand what had just urred. One second Marcus'' head was normal and the next it had separated and moved out of the way of his fist.

    "Vorpal Fang."

    Taking this opportunity, Marcus used one of his strongest attack skills and shed his scythe across the man''s torso.

    His de that was sharp enough to cut through adamantine with ease kicked up sparks as it touched the man''s tough skin, but with a bit of effort Marcus carved a shallow cut from the man''s shoulder to his waist.

    Reflexively, the man jumped back after being wounded and his eyes nced down to assess the damage.

    Overall, the cut was not particrly deep, but the man''s silver blood still flowed out of it.

    "Seems you''re not invincible after all. Your skin is tough, but it should only take me a few dozen more hits to carve you up." Marcus said with a taunting smile as his head reformed.

    It had been the first time he had used this trick, but it was something he had always wondered if he was capable of.

    When utilizing his Master of Soul and Body unique skill he was able to take on the forms of souls he had devoured along with what he used to look like back on Earth, which was his default form.

    However, for a while now he had wondered if he could control the shape of his soul and body at will.

    In this fight he decided to take a bit of a gamble and found that he could with a bit of focus.

    Using this aspect of the unique skill he could move his weak points out of the way of enemy attacks and avoid them even if they were enhanced with spiritual energy.

    "That is a dangerous weapon you have there. To think that it could even sap some of my lifeforce and energy." The mysterious man said, more wary of Marcus'' scythe than the strange body maniption he had just pulled off.

    During the strike Marcus had justnded he had not held back on using his life drain specter power, his mana thief skill, and even the second aspect of his Soul Devour unique skill that could eat away at other''s souls as well.

    Normally he refrained from using most of these powers, but right now he could not afford to hold anything back.

    ''I can''t feel Fianna''s presence anymore, so she must have picked up Mrazivy and Miguel and gotten away. That means I no longer need to worry about mytest trick hurting any of my allies.''

    Now that it was only Marcus and his enemy in the immediate area, he finally feltfortable activating the specter power he had obtained after soaking in the Font of Death for one hundred days.

    "Deathly Dominion."

    From out of Marcus'' feet, a thinyer of the same sludge-like ck liquid that made up the Font of Death appeared and rapidly spread out over the area.

    Before long it had covered everything within several kilometers and created a zone that was entirely under Marcus'' control.

 Chapter 1011 1011 Marcusâ€™ Stand (2)

    Chapter 1011  1011 MarcusˇŻ Stand (2)

    As Marcus''test specter power engulfed thend, it became an area tainted by the power of death. All the remaining greenery shriveled up and withered, while the earth itself lost its luster. Within this Deathly Dominion the living were weakened and snuffed out, while the undead gained greater power.

    For obvious reasons Marcus had never utilized this specter power since it would harm his allies just as much as his enemies. But now that he was fighting alone against a single opponent, there was no need to hold it back any longer.

    "You certainly are chalked full of a bunch of nasty abilities." The man said a disgusted look on his face.

    Marcus could only agree with this statement. While he had always managed to keep himself under control, there was no doubt he had the capacity to be a horrible monster with the skillset he had acquired. Nevertheless, in this movement, against his current opponent, he did not care if he had to be monstrous in order to win.

    With his mind focused on a single thing, he charged towards the man that had earned his ire and attacked with every ounce of ferocity he could.

    ''Death Dance.''

    Turning into a whirling storm, Marcusunched himself at the mysterious man that had appeared from the Tower of Heaven.

    His scythe whirled through the air and attacked in an unceasing barrage that pushed his previously dominant opponent onto the defensive.

    ''He''s no longer trying to win by overpowering me. I can tell that he thinks he wille out victorious so long as he holds me off until I run out of energy. But I won''t let him off that easily.'' Marcus thought as he pushed himself even further.

    Already he was focusing on multiple actions, but he shook off the pain that was mounting in his head and forced himself to bring out more power.

    Suddenly the thinyer of ck liquid that was almost like sludge trembled and several shadowy tendrils burst from it. Rarely did Marcus have the opportunity to use his Tendrils of Shadows specter power since it could not be utilized in areas that were brightly lit, but within his Deathly Dominion this restriction was null and void.

    An innumerable number of tendrils that sapped lifeforce and stamina whipped towards the man while Marcus continued his brutal assault.

    For the first time, the man that did not have a status was clearly on the backfoot and he grimaced as Marcus continued toe at him.

    However, while he was still keeping up with Marcus'' attack, things were about to take another turn.

    ''Ravenous Abyss.''

    ''Gloom Titan.''

    During his flurry of attacks Marcus had been weaving spells and the first two he had prioritized were cast at the same time.

    A great deal of mana left Marcus'' body and coalesced into two gigantic figures of darkness.

    One had a spherical body and a wide, ominous slit in the center of its body that served as its ghastly mouth.

    The other was a several meters tall humanoid monster with four arms and wielding a dark whip in each one.

    These were Marcus'' tier five and tier eight dark magic spells that conjured powerful monsters to fight alongside him.

    Of course, being beings of darkness that were not truly alive, they were not negatively affected by his Deathly Dominion specter power and could still fight at full strength.

    Joined by his two monsters of darkness, Marcus pressed the attack even more viciously.

    Within just a few seconds Marcus had managed to inflict dozens of scratches on the previously indomitable man and was undoubtedly slowly wearing his adversary down.

    "Rending Void."

    When the man stuck a big step back to try and put some distance between them, Marcus fired off the spell he had been saving and sent a giant sphere of darkness flying that destroyed everything in its path.

    The man could only click his tongue in annoyance and dodge to the side as the sphere passed by him.

    Though he avoided being consumed by Marcus'' tier six spell, the Ravenous Abyss and Gloom Titan were waiting for him just as Marcus had nned.

    Several giant ck hands erupted from the Ravenous Abyss'' bulbous body and the Gloom Titan''s whips moved like striking snakes that had a mind of their own.

    "Enough."

    Showing a hint of genuine anger and frustration, the man without a status pped his hands together.

    Due to the sheer strength that he had, the simple act of bringing his hands together in one forceful motion generated a powerful shockwave the blew away the attacksing his way.

    Unfortunately, for him, this maneuver forced him to stop moving for an instant and tied up his hands.

    Jumping through a Dark Portal, Marcus appeared right behind the man. His scythe held at his side, he shed it with incredible speed and aimed to lop off the man''s head.

    Without a moment to spare, the man''s only means of dodging the attack, was to bend his torso down and let the scythe pass over him.

    Yet, as Marcus'' swing went by, he let go of his scythe with his hands and caught it with his Spectral Arm so as to abruptly change the direction of his swing.

    Knowing he could not avoid this attack; the man positioned his left arm in front of his face and caught the de with his forearm.

    Far from when his fist attack was easily blocked and only caused the man without a status a shallow cut, Marcus'' scythe dug into the man''s arm and did not stop until it reached bone.

    A small function of silver blood burst from the wound and Marcus'' opponent wore a truly pained expression for the first time.

    He then attempted to push Marcus away and leap away, but his legs were wrapped up by Marcus'' Tendrils of Shadows and the hand he had used to shove Marcus away passed through his stomach which now unnaturally had a hole all the way through it.

    "Last Light."

    A small ball of light like a miniature sun appeared on the tip of Marcus'' pointer finger as he cast his tier eight light magic spell.

    The area of darkness he had created vanished in an instant along with the Tendrils of Shadows that were restraining the man.

    Immediately he moved to get away, but Marcus was not going to let him. He had cast this spell knowing that it would hit its mark.

    The small ball of light flew from Marcus'' finger and impacted against the man, engulfing him in a shining sphere of searing light.

    Marcus smiled now that he had his opponent where he wanted him, but he did not rest on hisurels. Instead, he lifted up his scythe and prepared for his next attack.

    Light and darkness from his Supreme skill burst out in greater quantities than before and expanded around him.

    For his finishing move he nned to use his Eclipse Meteor attack the instant the man broke free from his Last Light spell.

    Except what happened next was far beyond anything Marcus could have expected.

    A beautiful sound echoed through the area like the string of a violin being plucked by a master. Then before he could understand what was going on, the power of his Last Light spell had vanished along with the man it had consumed.

    "Die."

    From his left side Marcus heard this single word before a powerful impact hit against the side of his head.

    Without being able to understand what was going on, he went flying from the force of the attack and felt his head cracking apart.

    He had not only been hit by a tremendous amount of physical force, but he could tell that a great deal of spiritual energy had been put into the blow.

    His only saving grace was that he was currently far studier than he had beenpared to when he had first gotten hit and his entire head was blown off in one blow. This time he managed to keep his head intact, but the damage was still severe.

    Having no other option Marcus resorted to using the second tost charge on his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill.

    Bathed in silver light, all of the wounds Marcus had incurred from that single hit disappeared and he was back to peak condition.

    Still, things were not looking good for him. While he had been dominating the fight since he went all-out, the man that did not have a status turned everything around in one single unexinable move.

    ''If I had unlimited time I could continue fighting until I figured out what he did, but I am about to slip past less than a minute before Soul Burst runs out. If I don''t finish things up by then, I''ll be screwed.''

    Marcus glowered at his opponent who had suddenly pulled aplete reversal on their situations. All of the damage Marcus had inflicted on the man had vanished and he looked just as he had when he first appeared from inside the tower. Even the clothes he was wearing had miraculously been restored.

    Without a doubt he had some power that worked simr to Marcus'' Supreme Skill, though likely it brought about its effect in a different manner.

    Hurriedly Marcus racked his brain for a way around his enemy''s inexplicable recovery, but he could only think up one possible solution.

    It woulde at no small risk to him, and he was certain his chances of sess were low, but it was all he could think of.

    However, before he enacted his risky n, a sudden telepathic message stopped him in his tracks.

 Chapter 1012 1012 All-Out Attacks

    Chapter 1012  1012 All-Out Attacks

    For several seconds Marcus conversed with the individual that had reached out to him telepathically.

    During that time, he kept on attacking the mysterious man without a status with ranged attacks, but with part of his attention on telepathicmunications, he could not deliver the same fierceness to his blows.

    Thankfully the man was content with simply avoiding the spells Marcus was firing at him and did not go on the offensive. He knew that time was on his side, and every second brought Marcus'' inevitable limit closer.

    ''Fine. If I can''t change your mind, then get ready. I only have a little more than half a minute before my Soul Burst ends. Once it does, I won''t be able to stand up to this guy anymore, so we are only going to have one-shot at this.'' Marcus said to the person that had contacted him with telepathy.

    They had gotten into a bit of an argument, but in the end, Marcus was the one that lost.

    ''I just have to make sure that we kill this guy. As long as he dies, everything else should work itself out.''

    With a new n ready and his conversation over, Marcus turned his full focus back towards his opponent and rushed towards him. He did not have long before he would run out of steam and needed to create an opening to finish the man off soon.

    Once he got close, he created several Dark Portals around them and used his Crescent Moon Strikes attack skill to rapidly unleash a flurry of attacks from dozens of different angles.

    Of course, he already knew that this would be far from enough to bring the man that had appeared from within the Tower of Heaven down. Even when Marcus managed to do some damage, the wounds healed up quickly and no matter how much lifeforce Marcus sapped from the man, he did not grow any weaker.

    ''It''s like he has an unlimited tank of energy. Just how strong is this guy''s soul.'' Marcus thought as he traded thousands of blows with his enemy.

    Still, all he could do was grit his teeth and continue to press the attack and lead the man into exposing an opening.

    Finally, when Marcus only had around ten seconds left on his Soul Burst, he raised his scythe up high and channeled all of the energy from his Embodiment of Eclipse into it. For hisst strike he was going to once again use his Eclipse Reaper attack.

    "I can tell that you are getting desperate, but you should not leave such a ring opening." The man said as he sent a sweeping kick at Marcus'' exposed torso.

    ''Got him.'' Marcus thought, a smile forming on his face.

    This was exactly the sort of reaction he had been aiming to bait. With one leg off the ground the man''s position would make it difficult for him to dodge the finishing attack Marcus had nned.

    Naturally the man figured that Marcus would try to split his body again to dodge the blow, so he had spread out his spiritual energy around his leg so that it epassed a farrger area. The only way Marcus could avoid being hit was to cease his own attack and move out of the way. Or so the man without a status thought.

    Yet, just as his kick was about to connect, Marcus'' entire body disappeared.

    This left a befuddled expression on the man''s face since he knew that even if Marcus had reverted to his ghost form, the spiritual energy of his attack would have still connected.

    No, Marcus had not gone ethereal or moved away, instead he had coalesced his entire soul into his scythe that still hung in the air.

    Attempting this technique for the first time in the middle of a battle was a bit of a risk, but Marcus figured that since a fragment of his soul had already merged with his scythe, it would be possible to unify his entire soul within it for at least a few moments.

    Thankfully his gamble had paid off and he was able to enter his scythe without any issues.

    Then with his spectral arm, he gripped the weapon imbued with the entirety of his exitance and swung down with the strongest attack he had ever created.

    His de sunk into the man''s left shoulder with little resistance and Marcus pushed with all his might as he carved deeper into his enemy''s body towards his heart.

    Eyes wide with panic, the man reached out and gripped the handle of Marcus'' scythe, attempting force it back.With the immense strength the man had, he was able to slow Marcus'' strike down, though he was unable to fully stop it with one hand.

    However, as he was about to reach out with his other hand, a fast-moving projectile caught the man''s eyes. The gleaming weapon was heading right for his neck, and with only a single nce the man knew it had enough power behind it to cause him a grievous wound.

    Halting his move to grab Marcus'' scythe, he swung his right arm at the iing projectile and swatted it away.

    The impact of the powerful amethros saber left a deep gash in his hand, but the man did not care much. He had already concluded that he was in too disadvantageous a situation and moved his now free hand to once again pluck on the golden string that would activate his power and turn everything in his favor.

    Except, before he could, another attack came at him from behind the thrown sword.

    In her draconic form and teeming with the power of her Supreme Skill, Mrazivy charged in with Cassius'' Excalibur raised and ready to strike. The visage of a golden dragon surrounded her, sending a shudder down the man''s back as he felt another attack that could threaten his lifeing towards him.

    He truly wanted to reach out and pluck the golden string, but he could tell that if he did so he would be toote to block Mrazivy'' imminent attack.

    "Dragon Strike!"

    Mrazivy swung Excalibur with everything she had and aimed to carve into the man''s head. Of course, he did not just let her inflict a fatal wound and reached out with his right hand to catch her sword.

    But unlike when he caught Marcus'' first attack, Mrazivy''s Dragon Strike that was being channeled through Cassius'' named weapon was too much for him to stop. The de sliced through his hand and easily cleaved through his bone and muscle.

    Having unleashed attacks with the entirety of their hearts and souls, Marcus and Mrazivy pushed themselves beyond their limits to deliver two different fatal attacks.

    The man without a status struggled to use his monumental strength to push back against them, but he was unable to hold back both of their strikes at the same time.

    "You annoying little shits!" The man roared in fury.

    Along with the eruption of the man''s anger, an unfathomable amount of magical energy burst out from within him.

    Both Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s attacks came to abrupt stops when the man that did not have a status suddenly exploded with power that he had kept hidden this entire time. Even as they pushed with all their might, neither of their des moved another millimeter.

    Then, before they could register what was happening, the man struck both of them with devastating attacks.

    For Mrazivy he brought up his right knee and mmed it directly into her stomach where he had hit her earlier. This reopened the wounds she had only just recently healed, and she went flying high into the air like a limp doll.

    Marcus on the other hand felt the man momentarily release the handle of his scythe before punching it with a strike that contained far more force than Marcus had ever felt.

    The handle made out of a Thunder Behemoth''s bone and reinforced with adamantine could not hold up to the impact. Cracks formed through the handle until it shattered into hundreds of pieces.

    Feeling the sudden shock, Marcus was violently forced out of his now broken scythe. Still in his ghost form he did not go flying very far, but his Soul Burst Unfortunately ended just a momentter.

    Immediately Marcus felt an intense bacsh from both his Soul Burst and Soul Devour unique skills ending.

    His form that had remained mostly intact began to break apart and he was racked with pain and confusion worse than he had ever experienced before. He had truly gone beyond his limits and was now paying the price for it.

    With thest bit of rationality, he could muster, Marcus activated his Ultimate Refresh and used itsst charge to restore himself. Yet even the Supreme Skill that was supposed to be able to recover any sort of damage was not quite enough to fully fix his injured soul. Marcus went too far this time with his Soul Devour and had caused damage that was beyond his abilities to correct. At the very least though, he was no longer in danger of fading away. A small miracle considering how broken he was.

    ''Damn it! Why can''t I move? I have to get back up.'' Marcus thought as he struggled to force himself to continue fighting.

    Sadly, no matter how hard he tried, it was pointless. He had expended everything he had and more in order to fight against the monstrously powerful man that had attacked the expedition squad. There was nothing else he could do but wait to be finished off by his overwhelming enemy.

 Chapter 1013 1013 (Spoiler, Title at the Bottom of the )

    Chapter 1013  1013 (Spoiler, Title at the Bottom of the )

    Currently floating just above the ground in his ghost form and in a suspended state, all Marcus could do was watch the man that had thoroughly beaten him and Mrazivy quickly recover from his wounds.

    The horrible cut that ran through his right arm that Mrazivy''s final strike had caused was already mostly sealed up, and the deepceration Marcus had carved into the man''s shoulder was only a small scar that would soon fade away entirely.

    The two of them had put their all into the attacks that caused these injuries, but in only a dozen seconds the overpowered man that had appeared from within the Tower of Heaven had fixed them with only a peeved expression to show how far he had been pushed.

    ''Mrazivy still hasn''te down yet. I can only hope that she manages to recover enough to escape while she is still in the air. I know she said she would rather fight and die with me than run away, but I can''t bring myself to want her to perish alongside me.'' Marcus thought holding onto the only sce that he could.

    When she had contacted him with telepathy during his battle with the man that did not have a status, he had told her to get away, but she refused. In the end, Marcus had no option other than to except her proposition tounch finishing attacks at the same time or else she might do something even more reckless.

    Now though, he wished he had been able to get her to leave without joining the battle. After witnessing the bottomless power that their enemy had, Marcus knew that they never stood a chance.

    During the majority of the battle, the man had only fought using his physical strength. Not until the very end of the fight did he use so much as a sliver of mana. But when he finally did unleash his power, Marcus was able to feel the full breadth of it.

    Without a doubt this man was the strongest entity Marcus had ever encountered. Not even Boreas, the leader of the adventurers guild, or even the other great spirits had been as overwhelming.

    ''He doesn''t have a status because he''s an invader. He mentioned Roxene''s parents'' names and seemed gleeful when he talked about killing her but was upset to find she was not with me. The Administrator told me she has enemies that have their sights on Mirrion. He must be one of them.''

    Piercing through the information he had obtained; this was the only logical conclusion he coulde to. He already knew that there were other worlds with life on them since he came from Earth, and that there existed other godlike entities simr to the Administrator. Yet, Marcus never expected to encounter one, at least not while still on Mirrion.

    Unfortunately, Marcus hade face to face with an existence far greater than him and been beaten down. He had gone above and beyond his limits to fight evenly against such a strong opponent, but the entire time his enemy had not been taking him seriously in the slightest. And when the man did use just a bit of his true power, Marcus found himself crushed in one blow.

    ''Status.''

    Knowing he had no other recourse, Marcus opened up his status and navigated to the window that would let himmunicate with the administrator. She had never gotten back to him about the robots, but he was certain she woulde if he told her about a forging intruder.

    Except as he tried to send the message, all he received was an error screen in his status.

    "No, I can''t have that. I''m honestly surprised you have a means of contacting her, but it is too soon for me to end up on her radar. I definitely was a bit too conspicuous during our fight, but it looks like she still hasn''t noticed me yet. Looks like the distraction I set up is working well." The man without a status said as he leisurely approached Marcus. It appeared that now that the battle was over, he had reverted back to his more carefree fa?ade again.

    With hisst hope dashed, Marcus could only sit back and wait to be killed. His Deny Destruction unique skill was still on cooldown, so once he was finished off, that would be it for him.

    ''I fought the best that I could and still lost. I guess this is the end of my second life.''

    Marcus tried to act cool in the face of the end, but the vtile emotions he was trying to surpass came bubbling up. He did not want to die again.

    Back on Earth he certainly had plenty to live for. A good job, a loving family, and plenty of excitement. Still, when he died, it was due to an ident and there was not truly anyone that relied on him. In the end he was able to ept his fate. This time, however, he had so much more he wanted to do and several people that he needed and in turn needed him.

    If he died, Lilia would lose thest bit of family that she had left. For Lyra he knew she would get by thanks to having Quillon, but his death would certainly weight heavily on her. Then there was Mrazivy. The two of them had been living their lives together side by side for years as partners now and Marcus was not sure how she would take it if he was no longer with her. Of course, that was only if she was lucky enough to survive in the first ce.

    In quick shes the faces of all the people that Marcus cared about shed before his eyes, and he could not help but feel a deep pain in his chest. He wanted desperately to live, but he only had a couple more seconds left as the man who was his enemy sauntered towards him to deliver the finishing blow.

    Once the man without a status came to a stop next to him, Marcus looked up and saw that the man had raised his foot to literal stomp the out his life.

    A part of Marcus wanted to close his eyes and hope that he would not even realize he was dead until it was already over, but at thest moment he decided to re resentfully into the eyes of the man that was about to kill him.

    In return for Marcus'' re the man simply smirked and brought his foot down. It was a powerful attack filled with spiritual energy, and Marcus knew he would not survive getting hit by it.

    Yet as Marcus watched the attack that would end his life speeding towards him, it suddenly stopped. It was apletely unexpected urrence that left both Marcus and the man that wanted to kill him dumbfounded.

    A small rift in space had appeared just above Marcus, and a delicate looking arm was reaching through it and had gripped the man''s leg. Stopping it in its tracks.

    Then without warning, a massive wave of dark red energy burst out from the hand and engulfed the man that had intruded onto Mirrion.

    Chapter 1013 Divine Intervention

 Chapter 1014 1014 Clash Between Gods

    Chapter 1014  1014 sh Between Gods

    ?

    ''What the?!''

    His face warped in confusion, Marcus could not make heads or tails of what had just urred. One second, he was about to be stomped into oblivion, and the next a giant st of dark red energy had consumed his attacker.

    Immediately Marcus was able to identify the attack as being destruction magic, but it was on a scale far grander than anything he had ever seen before. Other than just a few centimeters around him, everything was blotted out by the dangerous magic that would vaporize him if it so much as grazed him.

    Thankfully, whoever hadunched this attack did not seem to want to harm Marcus. The magic was clearly bent around him, and the caster had already saved his life by stopping the mysterious man without a status from killing him.

    ''Looks like I got lucky. There is only one person I can think off that could do this, so I can just leave the rest to her.'' Marcus thought, letting all of his tension release.

    When the wave of dark red energy finally dissipated, the rift in space above Marcus widened, and as he expected, the Administrator walked through it.

    Just like thest time he saw her; she was in the visage of a young girl with brown hair and looked to be around the age of fifteen. It was a very normal appearance for the being that oversaw the world of Mirrion, but Marcus already knew that this was just an avatar she used here and not what she truly looked like.

    "Sorry I took so long to arrive. Thank you for holding things down for me. I''ll take it from here." She said, wearing an apologetic expression as she looked down at Marcus.

    The Administrator then turned her gaze towards the intruder with a look of intense animosity.

    Following her eyes, Marcus saw a giant cocoon made of silver threads. Despite having been swallowed by the Administrator''s destruction magic, the man that had invaded Mirrion had managed to protect himself.

    Quickly the threads began to unravel to reveal the man without a status. He was mostly unharmed, save for his missing leg. However, it was not the Administrator''s attack that had caused this injury, the man himself had sliced off the leg in order to escape her grip.

    "My, that was a rude way to greet your brother. Especially since it has been so lon-"

    "SHUT UP!" The Administrator yelled, cutting the man off. "Don''t you dare call yourself my brother! We have not been a family for a long time! Now you are just another monster I need to destroy!"

    After her outburst, the Administrator leapt towards the man that imed to be her brother. As she closed in on her target, a cascade of mes swirled around her body and gave her the appearance of a zinget.

    In response, the man swiftly moved his fingers and hundreds of threads moved as he willed. These threads sliced through the air like whips and assaulted the Administrator as she charged.

    Most of the threads were burnt to ash when they touched the fires around the Administrator, but a few connected with her and sliced into her body.

    Nevertheless, she shrugged off the minor injuries and continued until she crashed into the man that had invaded Mirrion.

    An enormous explosion of fire rocked the area when she impacted, and it looked like a small star had suddenlye into existence.

    ''Shit.''

    Watching the ze rapidlying his way, Marcus was certain that he would be swallowed by it and incinerated.

    Yet, when the mes reached him, a barrier appeared around his body and warded off the intense mes that consumed everything in their path.

    When the power behind the attack finally started to fade, Marcus could see that the earth around him had be molten and it looked like he was in the middle of a volcano.

    The only thing in the vicinity that had survived the Administrator''s attack was the Tower of Heaven. It seemed to have some sort of invincibility just like the other special dungeon did.

    "Whew. I see that your fiery temper has not lessened with time. I d that you are not using your true body or that attack certainly would have killed me." The man said, nonchntly wiping off some soot that hadnded on his clothes.

    Other than being a bit dirty, he was none the worse for wear than before the Administrator hadunched her attack. In fact, his missing leg had finished healing, so truthfully, he was now in even better shape.

    The Administrator, however, did not care to banter with the man, and moved onto her next attack immediately.

    Giant pools of boiling water the size of smallkes appeared around her. Each of thesekes swiftly sprouted thousands of serpent heads and beganshing out towards the invader in a ceaseless barrage.

    At the same time, while the man was busy dealing with the Administrator''s water magic, the very sky itself split open like the maw of an enormous creature. All that could be seen within this rift in space was an endless ck void, and there was no doubt that whatever it swallowed would be cast into an endless realm of nothingness.

    The man that had kept his cool so far, finally lost hisposure as the rift in the sky moved down to swallow him. He knew that he would be in trouble if he was caught up in this attack.

    Reaching out in front of him, he gripped the same golden string he had used three times during the battle against the members of the expedition squad and plucked it once again. As the beautiful sound of the golden thread rang out, reality warped, and the Administrator''s spells vanished.

    "So, you''ve retained all of your powers here, even if they are diminished." The Administrator spat.

    "Yes, unlike you, I am using the abilities I have cultivated over a long time weakened though they may be. I wonder if you can truly beat me with the borrowed powers you are taking from this world''s system."

    "It is true that this body is using the skills inherent to Mirrion, but I made sure to handpick all the best ones. This is my world, so of course I made sure to grab some abilities that could counter you whenever you decided to rear your ugly head." The Administrator said, wearing a vicious grin.

 Chapter 1015 1015 Clash Between Gods (2)

    Chapter 1015  1015 sh Between Gods (2)

    The Administrator snapped her fingers and a wave of energy that seemed to sap away the colors in the surroundings burst out from her.

    When this wave hit the man that had intruded onto Mirrion, it revealed a massive web of previously invisible golden threads that stretched out from his body.

    Instantly every single one of these threads snapped and faded away into dust now that they were bathed in the strange energy emitted from the Administrator.

    "There, now you can''t switch to more favorable paths. What is going to ur is locked into ce." She said, a pleased expression on her face.

    Inplete contrast, the man grimaced now that one of his greatest powers had been suppressed. Normally the ability that the Administrator had just used would not be potent enough to strongly affect his golden threads. However, Mirrion was governed by its own rules, one of which was an absolute limit on the upper level of strength any entity could possess and still reside on the world. Not even the Administrator was exempt from this rule, and it served as an absolute protection against both external and internal threats that could potentially destroy Mirrion.

    This infallible rule had caused the man that had snuck onto the world to lower the power of the body he was using until it was at an eptable level to not be caught by the ultimate defense protection Mirrion.

    "I never would have imagined you couldpletely block my dominant magic. I figured I wouldn''t be able to beat you here, but to think that you could shut my powers down to such a high degree. It seems that my ns will be utterly thwarted. But I shall at least im a constion prize."

    Rapidly moving his hands, the man controlled the multiuse of silver threads at the end of his fingertips and weaved them into thousands of arrows that he rained down on the Administrator.

    With an unimpressed look, she waved her hand and burned the thread arrowsing toward her to ash.

    However, she had never been the man''s true target. He had already given up on defeating her and was aiming to do as much damage as possible before he was defeated.

    Most of the arrows he had created from silver thread flew towards Marcus who stilly immobilized. The man figured that he could at least snuff out a potential future enemy here and now. He knew that Marcus would be a major threat should he ever ascend from Mirrion and join the Administrator as an ally.

    "I may not aplish any of my original goals, but I will at least snuff out one of your favorites."

    Eyes going wide, the Administrator looked back and saw that Marcus was about to be impaled by hundreds of thread arrows. She had put a barrier around him to protect him from attacks, but there was a very real possibility it could be broken.

    In his current state, Marcus was helpless and even just getting hit by one attack could easily destroy him.

    "Tch!"

    Clicking her tongue, the Administrator tore a rift in space that opened up in front of Marcus.

    Swiftly she moved to slip through the rift and appear in front of Marcus in order to protect him, but the man manipted his threads and whipped them towards her.

    As she went through the rift, a few of the strings breached her defenses and slices up her back.

    When she did appear in front of Marcus, he could see that silver blood was pouring down her back from several deep wounds.

    Still, injured as she was, the Administrator used her magic to deflect the iing barrage of thread arrows that threatened to end Marcus.

    "It''s almost unbelievable that you still have that same weakness. You are toopassionate. Had you just let that weakling die, you probably could have defeated me just now. Instead, you risked yourself and let me get some hits in to save him. Perhaps I will be able to win after all." The man said with a mocking tone.

    In return, the administrator let out a low angry growl, but she could not refute his words. Nevertheless, she stayed in front of Marcus protectively. She was not going to let him be destroyed.

    "Theˇ­ great sprits. Ifˇ­ you callˇ­ themˇ­ surely you canˇ­ easily beatˇ­ him." Marcus choked out with some difficulty.

    Unfortunately, the Administrator shook her head at Marcus'' suggestion.

    "I''m afraid I can''t summon any of them here. This ind prevents any entity over level eight from entering its confines. I can appear here since I don''t technically have a level, but even the great spirits can''t bypass the rules of this ce. Most of the great spirits are currently dealing with another problem anyway. Pulling them away from it would leave Mirrion exposed to an equally dangerous situation."

    Marcus grimaced when he heard that no reinforcements could be called to help. He knew that the Administrator had just gotten hurt because she was protecting him, but he did not have the resolve to ask her to leave him to die.

    "No need to look so down. I can beat him even if I have to protect you."

    After making this deration, The Administrator ced her right index finger on her forehead and quickly traced a pattern against her skin.

    "Mark of Wisdom."

    Once she had finished activating this Supreme Skill a bright purple glow erupted from her body.

    Along with the overwhelmingly powerful aura that wrapped around her body, a resplendent suit of golden armor that came with a matching spear and shield materialized from thin air.

    Without dy the armor affixed itself to the Administrator and the beautifully crafted shield and spear flew into her hands.

    "I hope that your finished powering up, because I''m ready to end this." The man said, an innumerable number of weapons and creatures weaved from the silver threads he seamlessly controlled.

    Moving his hands like a puppet master, he sent wave after wave of attacks that blotted out the sky.

    From what Marcus could tell, each of the tens of thousands of threaded weapons and creatures were teeming with mana and disyed a multitude of different types of magic. It was the most mind-boggling disy of power he had seen yet, and he honestly wondered if the Administrator could actually block every attack while also protecting him.

    "Athena''s Regalia, Helios Formation."

    The Administrator uttered these code words and the armor, shield, and spear that she had equipped rapidly changed coloration. What had once been pure gold was ented with red and orange patterns.

    Then with a single swing of her spear, she unleashed a ze that even outshined her earlier fire magic.

    Most of the thread attacks that were closing in on her and Marcus were burnt up and reduced to less than ash.

    However, several hundreds of the weapons and beasts made of thread survived the inferno thanks to being coated in types of magic that made them resistant to fire.

    "Aegis."

    Holding her shield forward, The Administrator created several golden barriers in front of herself and Marcus.

    The thread weapons and creatures that had survived the initial st of fire crashed against these barriers and began tearing them apart.

    Each one onlysted a few seconds despite each one being incredibly powerful. To the point Marcus estimated that even his strongest attacks would not be able to put a scratch on one of them.

    "Erebus Formation."

    Activating another of her equipment''s abilities, the armor, shield, and spear the Administrator was wielding changed coloration.

    The bright reds and oranges that ented her golden gear swiftly shifted to a ck so dark that it seemed to draw in all of the surrounding light.

    With her new power, she thrust out her spear with such swiftness that her weapon seemed to disappear.

    Each thrust reached out with an all-epassing darkness that pierced through the weapons and creatures made of threads.

    Hit with the corroding properties of the darkness element imbued within the Administrator''s spear, the resilient threads that survived her initial fire attack began to break apart.

    Having dealt with the initial wave of attack, the Administrator pointed her spear upwards and struck out towards the man manipting threads in the sky.

    Yet, as the trust of darkness flew off from her spear, an enormous cage of threads fell around them and blocked the attack.

    These threads were tougher than the others the man had deployed so far and resisted the attacks that the Administratorunched at them.

    Of course, this cage did not only serve as a defensive measure to protect the man that had intruded onto Mirrion, but it was also an unavoidable deathtrap that was closing in on Marcus and the Administrator.

    "Gaia Formation."

    With the power of her equipment having switched again, the Administrator plunged her spear into the ground and the earth around her and Marcus rose up into giant bulwarks to slow the iing cage of threads.

    "Oranous Formation."

    After creating the necessary defenses with one power, the Administrator changed to another to go back on the offensive.

    The sky for as far as the eye could see grew dark with thick storm clouds and crackled with thunder and lightning.

    Waving her spear down, the Administratormanded colossal bolts of lighting to rain down upon the area in an indictment barrage.

    Every single bolt that fell from the sky contained at least the same amount of power, if not more than the tier eight cmity bolt spell.

    Except the Administrator was not satisfied with just unleashing sts of lightning. She also controlled the winds and brought down hundreds of gigantic tornados that tore apart everything in their path.

    This storm of immeasurable proportions forced the man to halt his thread cage and focus all of his efforts on blocking the Administrator''s attack.

    "Now, time to finish this. Chaos Formation."

 Chapter 1016 A Dirty Move

    1016 Chapter 1016 A Dirty Move

    As the pattern on the administrator''s armor, shield, and spear changed, it took on a formpletely different from any of the ones before.

    Instead of just being one or two solid colors, the pattering on her equipment became a swirling massive of uniformed white and ck that moved around in random ways thatcked any order.

    Just looking at it for a single second Marcus felt like he was staring into an endless void that would destroy his sanity.

    Using what little of his strength that remained, he averted his gaze away from the Administrator and instead looked upwards. In the sky he could see that the unbelievably powerful storm was still raging on. asionally he would spot the man that had invaded Mirrion conjuring thread barriers and dodging the tornados and bolts of lightning.

    The Administrator paid close attention to her target and waited for him to be fully upied beforeunching her attack.

    When she felt the time was right, she kicked off the ground and shot forward far faster than a rocket.

    She moved so incredibly fast that Marcus did not even notice the exact moment when she pierced through the thread cage that had still surrounded them.

    Without slowing down she made her way towards the man and thrust her spear towards him as he was busy defending himself from a giant tornado.

    By what could only be considered a miracle, he avoided being run through by the Administrator''s spear.

    Nevertheless, het strike did pierce the man''s leg and tore it off into a chaotic void that utterly obliterated it.

    However, it was not just the man''s leg that was affected by this void, a thick line stretching out from the Administrators spear ripped through reality and seemed to go on indefinitely.

    "Damn it all!" The man screamed out after his leg was ripped apart. A flood of his sliver blood poured out of the wound, and it showed no signs of healing like his previous injuries.

    Once he realized that his ability to regenerate was being nullified by whatever power the Administrator had just used, he wrapped up the stump that was all that remained of his leg with his threads. Quickly he weaved a recement for his missing limb, but the grimace on his face showed how much pain he was still in.

    Hastily he tried to back away from the Administrator and create some distance between them, but when she held her shield in front of her a dark swirling void like a ckhole appeared and drew the man that was an intruder back towards her.

    Unable to break away from the suction, the man moved his hands like a blur and weaved several weapons, creatures, and barriers out of his threads.

    When the two of them shed, the very world seemed to shake and a giant rift in space that led into an endless void opened up.

    ''What kind of fight even is this?! It looks like the very fabric of reality is going toe undone!'' Marcus thought as he felt the world tremor and the sky above him break apart. He was genuinely worried that the world might be in danger if the two of them continued to fight.

    The two of them traded blow after blow for dozens of seconds until one of them finally faltered.

    Having failed to avoid the Administrator''s spear, the man that had appeared from within the Tower of Heaven was pierced through the stomach. It was a grievous wound that even a powerful entity like him could not shrug off. Especially because the damage inflicted by the Administrator could not be healed.

    Unwilling to go down just yet, the man did manage to kick away the Administrator and pull himself away with threads he had connected tot eh ground. Nevertheless, with a huge hole in his stomach that was bleeding like a waterfall, he would not be able tost for much longer.

    Even after using his threads to seal up the wound as ast-ditch effort, it was clear that he was having a rough time of it. Ready to end this in the next few attacks, the Administrator leveled her spear at the man and prepared to lunge towards him.

    Yet, just before she did, he smirked and initiated his underhanded final move.

    A small group of threads that had been obscured in the distance, quickly reeled in what they had wrapped up. In just a matter of moments, the man had Mrazivy dangling in his threads and at his mercy.

    "It took me a bit to find her, but I caught the other one that fought me with him" The man said, pointing towards where Marcus stilly on the ground. "If you don''t want me to kill her, you''ll stand down."

    To show that his threat was very real, the man tightened a single thread that was around Mrazivy''s throat. With just a single motion he could send her head flying.

    Watching this from the ground, Marcus felt an intense rage and attempted to force himself back up with an even greater will than when it was him who was about to be killed.

    "Go ahead. I don''t care about her. You''re right that I took a shine to him since he is the caretaker of my friends'' child, but she is just a slightly higher than average talent in this world. Her death will be a minor inconvenience to me at most. So, kill her if you want. Just know that the instant you do, I will nt my spear through your chest."

    "My, that is pretty heartlessing from you. Normally you are only that ruthless to your enemies. But I suppose that you would be willing to sacrifice a few innocent people you don''t care for if it meant getting back at me." The man said, a judging look on his face.

    It was obvious that he was trying to inflict some emotional damage on the Administrator and hoped that she would falter, even if just for a second.

    However, despite Mrazivy''s life being on the line, she did not show any signs of hesitancy. She was ready to bring down her enemy the moment he killed Mrazivy and created the slightest opening for her. Of course, the Administrator was more than willing to keep their standoff going. The man that had invaded Mirrion had several unheble injuries, and the more time went by the weaker he would get. Eventually she would be able to end him without having to worry about him putting up any resistance.

    Marcus on the other hand was not willing to let Mrazivy be sacrificed. Despite the damage to his soul that prevented him from moving he pushed himself with every ounce of willpower he could muster. He knew he was in terrible shape but nothing else mattered but saving Mrazivy. He was willing to destroy himself if it gave him even a fraction of a percent of a chance to prevent her from dying.

    Except as he resolved to go beyond his breaking point, the barrier the Administrator had left to protect him wrapped around him and forced him down.

    ''NOOOO!'' Marcus roared internally.

    Unfortunately, no matter what he did, he could not break free from the magic the Administrator had left to protect him. All he could do was watch things y out.

    "Fine. I am not a fool. I know when I am beat." The man said with a sigh.

    He then curled in his left index finger and the thread around Mrazivy'' neck pulled taught. Like a hot knife through butter, the thread cut through her neck and her head flew off.

    Watching this happen Marcus felt like his chest was being gouged out. A despair far greater than anything he could ever have imagined overtook him and tears poured out of his eyes.

    "You are as predictable as ever." The Administrator said wearing a smirk as she jumped back and put some distance between herself and the man that had just removed Mrazivy''s head.

    It was such an unexpected move that he froze up for a second and did not immediately notice what was wrong. The man had no idea why the Administrator would distance herself from him when she had the clear advantage at close range.

    But when his eyes were drawn back towards Mrazivy''s body, he noticed several things that were wrong. No blood was pouring out of her despite her head having been detached from her body. Once the man realized what was going on, it was toote for him to do anything.

    Mrazivy''s "body" swelled up unnaturally, before erupting in a colossal explosion that was more powerful than even the strongest hydrogen bomb.

    The sky lit up brightly like a second sun had just appeared within the''s atmosphere and the vicious storm the Administrator had conjured was blown away by the force of the explosion.

    Seeing all of this ur, Marcus'' warped expression of grief for his wife''s supposed death vanished. Instead, a dumbfounded look appeared on his face as he tried toprehend what had just happened.

    Thankfully, any confusion he had was cleared up when the Administrator contacted him with telepathy.

    ''Sorry about that. I figured he would try a trick like that when I drove him into a corner. Your wife is perfectly fine. I already moved her away from this ce into a separate subspace. That exploding body double was created from one of my skills.''

    After the Administrator finished exining what she had done to Marcus, she casually threw her spear into the explosion that had consumed the man that was a trespasser on Mirrion.

    When the tossed spear exited out of the other side of the explosion, the man that had been her target was impaled on it. Just as the Administrator had said, her spear had pierced through his chest.

 Chapter 1017 Conclusion

    1017 Chapter 1017 Conclusion

    "So, you''re still hanging on." Havingnded next to the man who she had impaled with her spear, the Administrator saw that he was still breathing, and that the life had not yet left his eyes.

    Nevertheless, she felt no reason to be on guard any long. With just a nce she could tell that his strength was fading and soon he would meet his end.

    "It appears that I lost spectacrly this time. So many years of nning, waiting for the right opportunity to infiltrate this world, and it all went awry because one insignificant group interrupted me." The man said, casting his gaze over to where Marcus was.

    "Yes, one never knows when the slightest anomaly will greatly change things. I won''t deny that you got past me. If not for him and hispatriots forcing you to use your powers, I might not have noticed you until you had already seeded in whatever machinations you had. Speaking of which, what might you have been nning here?" The Administrator said, getting to the core of the reason she had not yet finished off the man that had intruded onto Mirrion yet.

    "Hehe. As much as I do enjoy exining schemes, this time I will have to keep it to myself. I''m sure with as smart as you are, you''ll be able to figure it out on your own."

    Sighing, the Administrator figured that this was the answer that she was going to get and moved to pull her spear out and end the man.

    "Although I lost here, I don''t regret it. It really was nostalgic to see you in this form again. I was able to remember the happier times when we still used to be a family. Ah, how I often long for those days. Before we all died and were put on our current paths."

    Hearing what the man had to say, the Administrator''s hand trembled as she hesitated to pull out the spear that had impaled him through the chest.

    "That''s not like you. You normally finish off your enemies so mercilessly. We already hashed this out a long time ago, we are enemies, and nothing is going to change that now." The man said, a hostile glint returning to his eyes.

    "Don''t think this little yfight we had here is going to change anything. The real battle has not even begun yet. And sooner orter we will destroy this littlebatant factory of yours. We are already everywhere, and we will win."

    After the man finished what he had to say, the Administrator, having found her resolve, pulled the spear out of the man''s chest.

    The moment she did, a fountain of silver blood flowed out of his body. Soon thest bit of life that that the man had faded away, and the body he had been using turned into a shriveled-up husk before turningpletely into dust.

    With the battle over and the intruder dealt with, the Administrator ended the effects of the powerful skills she had been using and stored away her armor, shield, and spear. No longer d in an overwhelming aura and powerful equipment, she looked like an unassuming young girl.

    ''It''s over.'' Marcus thought, feeling a sense of reliefe over him.

    He had been through his fair share of harrowing fights, but this one had far exceeded anything else he had ever had to deal with. If not for the Administrator''s intervention there was no doubt that he and Mrazivy would have died.

    "You really did a number on yourself this time. Your soul is all jumbled up and one small push away from falling apart. It''s worse than even the first time you used that Soul Devour unique skill. I believe I already warned you to be very careful of that power." The Administrator''s tone like that of a teacher scolding a child.

    "Sorry, I didn''t really have much of a choice considering the situation. I thought I might be able to win if I went all-out, but I understand now that I never stood a chance against that guy. Still, I just need to wait another day until my Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill is recharged. Then I should be able to fix the damage to my soul."

    However, the Administrator shook her head at Marcus'' misconception and told him the truth of his situation.

    "The damage to your soul is beyond what any of the powers within Mirrion''s system can heal. I know that Ultimate Refresh says it can restore anyone to their normal state, but what you have done to yourself is not something that can so easily be fixed. You used two skills that pushed you well beyond your limits. Honestly, you are lucky to still be in one piece and cognizant of your own existence."

    The gravity of his situation sinking in, Marcus could not help but feel an intense panice over him.

    If his current state was already the best he could get, he was screwed. Right now, he could barely move and just speaking was difficult for him. As things stood, he was pretty much paralyzed.

    "Is there nothing that you can do? Surely you must how powers outside of the system that can fix me?" Marcus asked, searching for a shred of hope.

    "Yes, I have a means that could heal your damaged soul. But I believe that I already told you I would not be helping you again. When you first possessed that dead girl''s body, I gave you the lesser regeneration skill that ghosts shouldn''t be able to obtain to prevent you from ending up in an endless cycle of pain. Then when you first went to a city, I disguised your status so that you appeared as human. And finally, I fixed your soul the first time you used Soul Devour. I can only show so much favoritism. Unfortunately, you are on your own this time."

    Having hisst hope dashed, Marcus felt a deep sense of dread ovee him.

    The Administrator had told him that she would not help and that no power on Mirrion could fix the damage he had done to himself. His future outlook was bleak. Sure, he was still alive, but with no possibility of recovery he would simply remain in his current state for eternity.

    ''No, there might be a way. Once I evolve, my soul should fundamentally change, and it might be enough to fix some of the damage. I can at least cling to there being a chance.''

    Finding his resolve, Marcus decided to not give in until he had explored all of his options. He might not be able to do anything on his own right now, but there were still people that cared about him and would be willing to help. With their assistance, he was sure that they could think of something and bring about a miracle.

    "That''s a much better expression you are wearing now. Make sure never to give up no matter what anyone tells you. As long as you are alive, keeping fighting until the end." The Administrator said with a smile on her face.

    She then snapped her fingers and a rift in space leading to a pure white dimension opened up in front of Marcus.

    "Since you ended up in your current horrible condition due to an oversight on might part, it is only right that I at least fix the damage."

    "I see, you were just ying with me before." Marcus grumbled.

    "You are correct sir! Just a little bit of levity after such an intense fight. After all the investment I put into you, I''m not just going to let you wither away. Though don''t expect me toe to your rescue every time you end up in a pinch. I could only intervene this time because you were dealing with an outsider. One of my primary duties is to protect Mirrion from guys like him and kick them to the curb should they somehow manage to set foot on this world. Just keep in mind that if you do this to yourself again, I won''t be able to bail you out."

    Taking her words to heart, Marcus revaluated how he should view his Soul Devour unique skill. He had avoided using it for the most part, but whenever push came to shove, he did not hesitate to activate it. ''Maybe it is too dangerous to use even as a trump card. I became a littlexer because I figured I could fix the damage with Ultimate Refresh, but that is clearly not always the case. I had better not use it again. At least not until I understand it better.'' Marcus understood that there was a great deal he still did not know about most of his powers. He had mostly just been going off the information the system gave him, but clearly everything was moreplex than the simple numbers and descriptions that were provided.

    "Okay, I think that is enough talking for now. In your current condition just about anything could unravel your barely held together existence." The Administrator said, carefully lowering the rift she had conjured to epass Marcus.

    "Wait! There are still several things I want to talk to you about." Marcus said frantically.

    "Yes, I suppose I owe you at least a few answers. But that can wait until you have been healed. I''ll tell you what I can after that. So, for the time being, just focus on your recovery."

    Without waiting for Marcus'' response, the Administrator sent him through the rift into a separate dimension where his soul would be put back together.

    Once Marcus was gone, the yful expression on her face vanished instantly.

    "Now, I need to figure out how he bypassed Mirrion''s defenses and what he was trying to do here." She said, looking intently at the Tower of Heaven.

 Chapter 1018 Soul Repair

    1018 Chapter 1018 Soul Repair

    Marcus suddenly found himself floating in an alternate dimension while he was in the middle of conversing with the Administrator. He had wanted to say a couple more things, but she had cut their conversation earlier and sent him away before he could say anything else.

    ''I suppose that I will just need to talk to her afterwards. Hm, this ce looks familiar.'' Marcus thought ncing around the shimmering endless white space.

    However, a terrifying premonition came over him once he realized where he was. And unfortunately, it did not take long for his fears to be realized.

    From all around him dozens of small glowing spiders beganing towards him from every direction. Each of the spiders was descending from a single strand of webbing no matter which direction they came from. Making it look like several of them flying from Marcus'' point of view. It appeared that directions like up and down did not exist in this realm.

    ''Why did it have to be fucking spiders?! Couldn''t it have been silkworms, or literally anything else!'' Marcus internally screamed as the spiders descended upon him.

    Soon the first of the Soul Weaving Spidersnded on Marcus. Instinctively he tried to shake it off, but he waspletely immobile and could barely move his eyes around. Despite now having the power to turn cities into rubble, the phobia he had had since he was young and still living on Earth stuck with him into his second life. No matter how strong he became or what changes he underwent, Marcus could not get rid of her fear of spiders.

    Whenever he felt the spiders'' spindly legs crawling on his soul, Marcus could not help but shudder and wish he was anywhere else. In fact, he thought that he would rather have to relive every one of his toughest fights than be where he was right now. Still, the spiders'' work went on regardless of his internal protests.

    The several dozens of glowing spiders surveyed Marcus'' soul and whenever they found a damaged area, they struck their one especially long leg that was sharp and thin like a needle into him. Then they would unravel that part of his soul before creating some thread and stitching it back together.

    Just like thest time this had urred; Marcus could do nothing but watch for what felt like days as the spiders put him back together with whatever strange power they had.

    After what seemed like an eternity, the Soul Weaving Spiders finished stitching thest of Marcus'' soul back together.

    With their jobsplete, the dozens of glowing spiders moved to the edges of Marcus'' soul and jumped off into the white void. Marcus let out a deep sigh of relief now that the spiders were gone. He had not been able to calm down the entire time they were on him. No matter how much time had seemed to pass, he could not lessen his anxiety at all. ''If I ever end up in hell, this is what awaits me there.'' Marcus thought, his soul trembling.

    Yet as he was remembering the horror that he had just lived through, he realized that he could now move again.

    Feeling a bit of trepidation, he clenched his right hand into a fist slowly.

    Unlike after he was stuck with the bacsh of using Soul Burst and Soul Devour at the same time, he could now move just as easily as when he was in peak condition.

    ''Damn, I hate to admit it, but those little creepy crawlies did some good work. I think I might even feel better than before.'' Moving his form around, Marcus could tell that he was in top shape after having his soul repaired. It was a refreshing feeling unlike anything else.

    Nevertheless, he did not care if those Soul Weaving Spiders were miracle works, he had no desire to ever end up in this ce ever again. To make sure he never had need of their services again, Marcus swore to himself that he would be more careful going forward and not push beyond his limits to a point that could not be recovered normally.

    Once he had finished testing out the returned function of his soul, Marcus pondered how he was going to leave this world of endless white. Last time this had happened he had just abruptly woken back up in the same ce he had been, like everything had just been a dream, but this time he was just floating around waiting for something to change.

    ''Did the Administrator forget that I am here? Or did the spiders work faster than expected and I will be brought out of here after a certain amount of time has passed?''

    Unsure what to do, Marcus painterly waited for a few minutes, but when nothing happened, he decided to try to leave on his own.

    To start he opened up a Dark Portal and attempted to connect it to one of the ones he had conjured during the fight with the man that had snuck onto Mirrion.

    Regrettably the unique skill failed to work. Marcus was able to create the portal, but he was unable to reach any of the ones he had left on Mirrion. Understanding that he was not going to be able to leave this ce on his own, he was left with no other option but to try and contact the Administrator.

    ''Okay, at least that worked.'' Marcus thought when he saw the message he had sent get through.

    Not long after he sent the message, a rift in space opened up in front of him and passed over him before he could react.

    When his eyes finished adjusting to his new location, Marcus found himself back at the center of Haze Ind and not far from the Tower of Heaven.

    Except, it looked like time had reversed in the area, as the destroyedndscape that had been left in ruin after the fight with the Tower''s Guardian and the mysterious man was back to normal.

    "How long was I gone?" Marcus murmured, seeing the drastic change.

    "Oh, it has only been around a day in a half. Not long enough that you have missed anything of importance."

    Hearing an unexpected voice, Marcus turned his head and saw that the Administrator was sitting at an ornate circr table that was filled with tea and confections.

    Across from where she was sitting was an open chair that Marcus could clearly tell was meant for him.

    With only the slightest hesitation, he moved over to the table and took his seat.

    "Please feel free to have some tea and whichever of the sweets you want. We can get into the important details after rxing a bit." Nodding his head, Marcus did as the Administrator suggested and grabbed some of the cookies before taking a sip of the tea that had been provided.

    ''Damn that is good. This is better than anything I have ever had. I wonder if I can learn how to make it as well.'' Marcus thought after tasting the tea.

    "Yes, I quite like this brew as well. Though I am afraid you will not be able to make it so long as you are on Mirrion. The leaves used for it do not grow on this world and you would probably need to get your cooking skill up to level ten to make a cup as good as this one even if you did have the ingredients necessary to brew it." The Administrator said.

    Marcus frowned when he heard this but could only ept what the Administrator had said. Though, a couple of secondster he froze up when he realized something what had just urred.

    "Wait, did you just respond to my inner monologue?!" Marcus said in rm.

    "Yes." The Administrator replied innocently before taking a bite of cake.

    Knowing that his mind was being read and that his every thought would be heard unnerved Marcus. While he trusted the Administrator for the most part, he still did not want anyone to know everything he was thinking at any moment. He would not feelfortable even if it was Mrazivy who was able to hear his every thought.

    "Okay, no need to be panicked. I shut off the Supreme Skill that allows me to read minds. Your thoughts are your own again." The Administrator said with a mischievous expression.

    Marcus could not be totally sure that what she said was the truth, but he concluded that there was no use worrying about it. He was not nning on badmouthing her in his head anyway.

    "Your pretty rxed considering what just went down recently." Marcus observed. However, his words elicited a frown from the Administrator.

    "That is because this is my first break in several days. I have been working nonstop to clean up this mess and another one. This is by far the busiest I have been since the original creation of Mirrion." The Administrator said in a huff.

    "I remember now, you said that the great spirits were busy dealing with another issue. And if I recall correctly, I believe that man that came out of the Tower of Heaven said he had set up a distraction for you."

    "Yes, that is right. Beforeing here to rescue you and put down a trespasser, I was having to deal with a huge problem. I am sure that you remember the grimoire that you encountered a few years ago, correct?"

    "How could I forget it. That thing brought forth some truly nasty creatures." Marcus said, shuddering as he remembered the horrors he had to fight back then.

    "Well, a dangerous cabal in possession of a second one reared their head around two weeks ago and caused quite the incident. I had my hands full dealing with it which is why I did not notice what was going on here right away. Though now I know that was just a distraction to cover up that man''s infiltration through the Tower of Heaven."

 Chapter 1019 Conversation with the Administrator

    1019 Chapter 1019 Conversation with the Administrator

    Now that the Administrator had begun discussing what had led up to the expedition squad''s encounter with the dangerous man that had infiltrated Mirrion, Marcus sat up straight and put down his teacup. Giving the Administrator the entirety of his attention.

    However, before they progressed any further into their current conversation, Marcus had a couple of topics that he had to ask.

    "That is certainly interesting, and I do want to know more about it, but there are some things I want to address first. If that is fine with you?" "Sure, go ahead. Just know that there are some things I can''t tell you." The Administrator said, not appearing to be bothered by having the topic of their discussion changed.

    "Okay, then before anything else, where is Mrazivy? What condition is she in, and is there anything that I need t do for her?" Marcus asked, a worried look on his face.

    Now that things had calmed down he could not help but have his wife on his mind and want to know about her current status.

    "Ah, I suppose that you haven''t seen her since you both lost your battle against the intruder. As I told you before I have her in a separate subspace right now. She is still perfectly safe though I do have her in a suspended state, so for her no time has passed since I picked her up. I figured it would be better to wait and awaken her once you were able to exin things to her. It would be a pain to deal with an additional person, so I''ll give her back to you once we are done here. You can go ahead and tell her everything then." Marcus breathed a sigh of relief hearing this, but he still could not feel at ease just yet.

    "Would it be possible for me to see her? You don''t have to wake her up yet, I just want to confirm with my own eyes that she is fine." Marcus pleaded. He could still remember the body double that the Administrator had created being decapitated and until he saw her, he would not be able to calm down.

    "If you insist." With the wave of her hand the Administrator opened up a tear in space. On the other side of the rift Marcus saw Mrazivy floating in suspended animation. Just being able toy his eyes on her and see that she was alive and healthy was enough to take a heavy weight off of Marcus'' chest. The vast majority of the anxiety he had been feeling evaporated and the tension in his form eased up.

    ''It''s really her. I can feel the connection to her soul through the ring I gave her.'' Marcus had been a bit on edge thinking that the Administrator might have switched her with another body double, but he doubted that even she had the power to perfectly clone someone''s soul. He was certain he would have noticed if Mrazivy had been reced.

    "Oh, I just had a great idea!" The Administrator said, wearing an impish expression.

    Marcus got a bad feeling about this when he heard the tone in her voice and saw the look on her face. Unfortunately, he was powerless to stop whatever she wanted to do.

    Waving her hand once more, the Administrator conjured a ss coffin around Mrazivy and changed her battle gear into a beautiful dress. Her hair, that had been disheveled quickly arranged itself into an elegant braid and a light coating of makeup enhanced her already gorgeous features.

    "Hm, perhaps I should conjure a giant thorn covered castle protected by a dragon and put her inside?" The Administrator mused.

    "Wait! Could you not use our lives to reenact a movie from Earth!" Marcus practically yelled.

    "You''re right. The castle and dragon would be excessive and a huge waste of resources. I''ll just leave her nearby in the woods awaiting the kiss of prince charming to wake her up."

    Marcus wanted toin that she should not be doing even that, but he was afraid that she might go back to the idea of putting Mrazivy in a castle guarded by a dragon if he offered any more resistance.

    Simply flicking her finger, the Administrator dragged Mrazivy, still inside the ss coffin out of the sperate dimension and warped her deeper into the forest.

    For a moment Marcus panicked when he saw this, but after reaching out his life sense skill, he was able to find her not too far away.

    "Have you had enough fun at our expense?" Marcus said, the look on his face conveying his displeasure.

    "Yes, I think I have. So, if there is anything else you wanted to ask me before I exin things, go ahead."

    "Yeah, there is one more thing I want to know. The three that died during the battle, can you bring them back?" Wearing aplicated expression, the Administrator did not answer Marcus'' question right away.

    For nearly two minutes she remained silent as she mulled things over before speaking again.

    "It is possible for me to restore their lives, but I am afraid that I won''t be doing so. Just like what happened to you when you first died, their souls have already been sent back to Soul cement. I have Mirrion set up to store the souls of the dead within the system for only a minute after death. Dying what would normally be an immediate departure to Soul cement. But after that time has psed, the souls of the dead are no longer under the governance of Mirrion. It would cost me an inordinate amount of favors and resources to bring them back now. Especially if their souls have already moved onto their next lives already. I''m sorry. I truly feel bad for the two that died because of the intruder that should never have been here, but I can''t afford to bring them back."

    Clenching his teeth, Marcus felt his anger building as the Administrator told him that she would not help to resurrect those that had died. Yet before he exploded, he realized an inconsistency in what she had just said.

    "What do you mean by the two that died? I was not fully conscious for a time, but I still remember that Amin, Cassius, and Evette were killed."

    "No, that is not exactly true. All three of them were defeated, but only the two men perished. The woman that is also an adjutant of the Great Spirit of Life still resides on Mirrion. At the moment that she was struck, Bheith felt her life was about to be snuffed out and used his connection with her to save her soul. It came at a great cost to his own powers, but he prevented her from dying." The Administrator exined.

    Hearing that Evette was still alive brought a great deal of relief to Marcus. Certainly, he still felt bad for Amin and Cassius, but he was not about to lose his temper for their sakes. Amin had pretty much always hated him because of his fast friendship with Evette. While Cassius had been antagonistic to him at first, though the two of them had smoothed things out.

    ''If Evette is fine, then there is no reason to beg the Administrator to bring them back.''

    With his emotions settled down now, Marcus asked the Administrator if she knew what condition Evette was currently in.

    "Well, she is not dead, but I doubt she wakes up anytime soon." The Administrator then exined that her soul was like thest embers of a fire right now. Bheith the Great Spirit of Life was using his powers to keep her from being snuffed out, but it would take anywhere from a couple of years to possibly a century before Evette regained her former strength.

    "The time it takes will dependrgely on Bheith''s efforts and Evette''s willpower. Even I can''t give you a better estimate." "I understand. Thank you for telling me. I''ll go see Bheithter and see if there is anything can do to help. Evette is a friend with a simr origin to me after all."

    Now knowing of Evette''s condition, Marcus added visiting the Great Spirit of Life to his list of things that he needed to do. "Now, is that all that you wanted to ask me?" The Administrator said, a slightly impatient look in her eyes.

    "Yes, that is all I wanted to know before learning about what really happened. I believe that you just told me about a group that was in possession of another one of those grimoires that can summon Eldritch Horrors."

    "That''s right. Like when you dealt with them, I received an rm from the system that being that should not exist on Mirrion had appeared. However, unlikest time, the group that had the grimoire summoned hundreds of otherworldly monsters that were far stronger than the ones you dealt with. I had to deploy most of the great spirits and go myself to deal with it. Honestly the whole ordeal was a massive pain." The Administrator said, a bitter expression on her face.

 Chapter 1020 Conversation with the Administrator (2)

    1020 Chapter 1020 Conversation with the Administrator (2)

    The Administrator grumbled for several minutes about how much difficulty it was to clean up the horrific monsters that the secret cabal had summoned. She had apparently had to section off about a fourth of the continent where the incident had happened and warp all of its inhabitants into a separate dimension to avoid a mass ughter.

    "This incident didn''t ur on the continent Borealia is a part of, did it?" Marcus asked, worried about his friends and acquaintances back home.

    "No, the cabal that had the grimoire in their possession is based practically on the other side of the world from where you live. No need to worry. They probably haven''t even heard of what happened yet."

    Marcus let out a sigh of relief when he heard that Borealia had not been caught up in the attack by the Eldritch Horrors brought forth by the otherworldly grimoire. Of course, when he thought about it, since one already had appeared on the continent it was unlikely that another of the three would be so close by.

    "So, what happened to the cabal in possession of the grimoire?" "Most of them killed themselves in a group summoning ritual. The damned fools offered up their souls to those monsters to bring them forth into this world. Frankly they had no clue what they were actually doing. What awaits them now is a fate worse than even selling your soul to a demon." The Administrator said shaking her head.

    She then told Marcus that she had captured the few members that had survived the ritual and read their memories to find other members of their group that were still atrge. "Still, there is one more thing that is bothering me. If that man used this cabal and the grimoire as a distraction for you, that means he must have been able tomunicate with these people somehow. Did you figure out how he did that?"

    "Unfortunately, I wasn''t able to sus that out of any of the members I captured." The Administrator groaned. Apparently, the cabal was led by some sort of hidden leader that had not participated in the ritual and none of the members that had survived knew anything about this individual other than that they supposedly existed.

    The Administrator tried everything she could to track down this leader, but her search did not yield any results. As she exined, she was not omniscient otherwise she would have noticed the man infiltrating Mirrion despite the distraction he had set up for her.

    "If the leader is still atrge, doesn''t that mean he can gather another group and do the summoning ritual again.?" Marcus said, looking worried.

    "No, they won''t be able to do it again, not without this."

    Holding out her hand, the Administrator summoned the grimoire she had confiscated from the cabal.

    Justying his eyes on it made Marcus shudder. He could sense the truly vile power sealed within it even though the Administrator had it sealed within a powerful barrier.

    ''It''s simr, but that is definitely different from the one that Teivel had in his possession. It looks a bit thicker, and the cover is more detailed and horrific.'' Marcus thought as he analyzed the grimoire.

    And when he asked the Administrator about it, she told him that this one was more powerful than the one that he had retrieved in Tralenstein.

    "I suppose that just leaves one left then." Marcusmented.

    "Yeah. There is one more of these ursed books still on my world. I can only hope it is not as powerful as this one or even stronger."

    The Administrator showed a hint of fear before waving her hand and making the grimoire disappear.

    After that she finished telling Marcus about how she and the majority of the other great spirits wiped out the hundreds of horrors that had been summoned to Mirrion. From the way she described it, Marcus was able to tell that it had been a tough battle even for the strongest entities in the world to deal with.

    "Now you exined what happened with the cabal and the grimoire. But how does that man fit into all of this? I understand that this is portably a difficult topic for you, but you clearly knew him, and he called himself your brother." As Marcus broached this subject, the Administrator was not able to hide the fury on her face and she nearly snapped at him like she had the man. Nevertheless, she kept herself under control and took a deep breath to calm down. She had told Marcus she would exin what she could to him and nned to follow through.

    "To start, that man is not my brother. It is just a monster that stole his visage and memories, nothing more." The Administrator said, the tone of her voice cold.

    Hearing this Marcus could not help but wince. From a certain point of view, he could be considered very simr to what the Administrator had just described. He had Irene''s memories and form that he had obtained from integrating part of her soul into his own. "You shouldn''tpare yourself to him. There are many differences between the two of you. For starters, that girl whose soul fragment you merged with forced herself onto you. She gave all that was left of herself after dying to you in order to save her little sister. You didn''t steal her life; it was given to you. Plus, you look after Lilia as your sister. The differences between you and that man are like night and day." The Administrator said, a hint of bitterness in her expression.

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed with what the Administrator said and felt the weight growing on him lifted. While he was still mostly the same as before he died personality wise, there was no doubt that once he fully epted Irene that he changed a bit. He was a sort of fusion between two people, with one simply being more dominant than the other.

    12:04

    "I thought that you said you weren''t going to be reading my mind anymore." Marcus said usatorily. The Administrator had clearly known what was going through his head and responded before he said anything, so he figured she must still be listening in on his thoughts.

    "As I told you, I stopped reading your mind at the start of the conversation. With the dour look that was on your face, I did not need to be in your head to know what you were thinking."

    "Now back to the topic at hand."

    With the preface out of the way, the Administrator exined that the man that had infiltrated Mirrion was a high-ranking member of a faction that opposed the faction that she was a part of. From what she knew, they were in league with the Eldritch Monsters that had breached into this universe from another one. She also told Marcus how the man managed to sneak onto Mirrion. "I am sure that you know that this ind was not here before. It is one of a few things I added to the world in a recent update. It was during these additions to Mirrion that the man used a backdoor in the system that had been left undiscovered since this world''s creation to hitch a ride along with the Tower of Heaven. This new special dungeon is different from others in many ways. It leads beyond Mirrion if you can reach the top. Though it is only supposed to be a one-way connection, the man used it to reach Mirrion from outside." The Administrator exined.

    Naturally after discovering this issue, she had patched it so that no one else could use the same method to breach Mirrion''s security. Sadly, the initial damage was already done, and it was not known if there were any other holes that invaders could use to sneak onto the world.

    "There are other intricacies going on behind the scenes, but so long as you are on Mirrion, there is no need for you worry about them. I have already told you more than anyone else on this world knows, other than Roxene. If you want to know more, then reach the limits of this world and break free from it. Once you do, I promise to tell you everything." The Administrator said, putting an end to their discussion.

    His curiosity piqued; Marcus looked towards the Tower of Heaven. From what he had just learned, it was a direct means to ascend beyond Mirrion.

    "I wouldn''t go in there yet if I were you. The Tower of Heaven won''t let you leave until you clear it, or you perish. Either way, your time on Mirrion will be over once you enter. There is no need for you to rush. There is still plenty of this world for you to see. I''d rmend you take things slowly and enjoy your life here before thinking about what lies beyond. Believe it or not, Mirrion is one of the more peaceful worlds out there."

    With thisst bit of advice, the Administrator finished off her tea and sweets before standing up and causing everything except the chair Marcus was sitting on to disappear.

    "I have more work that I need to get to, so I can''t stick around any longer. Oh, and don''t go telling anyone else other than your wife about what I''ve mentioned to you here. Since she was involved and I don''t want to drive a wedge in between you two, I''ll make an exception for her, but no one else." Once she finished saying this, the Administrator snapped her fingers and vanished. Leaving Marcus alone.

 Chapter 1021 Leaving the Island

    1021 Chapter 1021 Leaving the Ind

    With the Administrator now gone, Marcus stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and held out his hand. Within less than a second, he made the connection to what remained of his scythe and summoned it to him.

    ''The de is still in good condition, but the handle is unsalvageable. I''ll have to make a new one.''

    Holding the de in his hand, Marcus could feel that the fragment of his soul residing in it was still stable and that the enchantments had not degraded. It would take a bit of work to forge another handle, but as long as he used the scythe would be as good as new.

    After retrieving his weapon and having it hide back inside his form, Marcus turned to where Mrazivy was and quickly flew towards her.

    When he arrived, he found her still in the ss coffin, sound asleep and showing no signs of waking up.

    Normally such an effect would not work on her thanks to her Draconic Resistance race ability, but clearly the Administrator had powers that were far stronger.

    Once he had opened the coffin, Marcus attempted to use his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill to erase the Eternal Slumber status effect that Mrazivy currently had, but the silver ball was sucked up by some sort of rift in space before it could reach its intended target.

    ''Guess I am going to have to go along with the Administrator''s whims.'' Marcus thought while rolling his eyes.

    Knowing that there was nothing else he could do if he wanted Mrazivy to wake up, he leaned over and nted a kiss on her lips.

    The moment he did, he could swear he heard a soft chucklinging from all around him. Ignoring what he hoped was just a sound in his head, Marcus continued to kiss his wife for nearly ten seconds before her eyes finally fluttered awake.

    Immediately she felt the sensation of lips pressed against her own. At first, she prepared to strike down whoever was assaulting her, but before she did, she noticed that the man kissing her was the one individual she would allow to be so intimate with her.

    Mrazivy returned the kiss Marcus was giving her and wrapped her arms around him. Having gone through quite the ordeal, she was more than happy to be in the embrace of her lover and take in thefort it brought her.

    Eventually the two of them pulled apart, and Mrazivy took in a deep breath. Looking down at her, Marcus could see that her cheeks were tinged pink, and her breath was a bit ragged. It was an incredibly alluring sight, and if not for their current location and the fact they had just survived a tragedy, he might have continued.

    "What happened? Thest thing I remember was being hit incredibly hard before passing out." Mrazivy said as she looked around with a puzzled expression on her face. From what she could see, the devastatedndscape had been restored and it was almost like the fierce battles they had fought had never urred.

    There was also the fact that she was lying in an ornate ss coffin and her clothing had changed. All of these inconsistencies with what she remembered left her utterly befuddled.

    Thankfully, Marcus quickly exined everything to her and cleared up her confusion.

    "Sorry, that I wasn''t able to stop the Administrator from doing this to you. I know that it was mostly harmless, but still." "No, it''s fine. She saved both our lives, so having to be used as a little entertainment is a small price to pay. Anyway, it has been a while since we kissed, so I certainly didn''t dislike it." Mrazivy said bashfully.

    Now that she had been caught up to the current situation, Mrazivy pulled herself out of the ss coffin and began inspecting her appearance.

    The dress she was currently wearing was beautiful to be sure, but other than the engagement ring and circlet Marcus had made for her, the rest of her gear was nowhere to be seen.

    Unfortunately, Marcus was unsure what became of the rest of the items Mrazivy had had on her person. From what he had seen the Administrator simply waved her hand and changed Mrazivy''s appearance.

    "Ah, it looks like everything has been put into my item box. It is a bit disconcerting to think that someone else essed it without my knowledge, but I suppose that the fabled Administrator would be capable of such a feat." Mrazivy said, ted to discover that her possession had not been stolen or destroyed.

    However, there was one item that was missing. Her amethros saber was not in her item box. Likely because it had not been on her person when the Administrator rescued her.

    "I tossed it at our attacker, and he swatted it away. It should still be somewhere around here. Help me search for it." Mrazivy said, taking off in the direction she thought her sword had gone.

    Sadly, even after searching the entirety of the central area of Haze Ind, the sword remained missing.

    It was possible that it had ended up somewhere in the giantke that surrounded the area, or perhaps it was whisked away when the Administrator restored thendscape to its original state.

    "And I can''t keep this one, can I?" Mrazivy said, pulling out Cassius'' Excalibur.

    It was a named weapon and far stronger than the saber Mrazivy had used before, but it did not belong to her. She had used it during the desperate battle, but it would not be right for her to keep it when it had belonged to Cassius. Even though he was dead the rest of his party had survived. Returning it to them would be the honorable thing to do.

    "No, I don''t think it would be a good idea to take it. Plus, the sword seems to be a bit like my scythe. I think it has a sort of will of its own. It epted you for a short time in order to avenge its murdered master, but I don''t think it will show its full power to you again." Marcus said, after thoroughly looking over the sword.

    The intricate patterning that proved it was recognized by the system had disappeared and it only felt like a decent amethros weapon now. Marcus was certain that its current state was weaker than the saber Mrazivy had been using. Unless the sword epted you, it was not actually particrly powerful inparison to other amethros weapons.

    "Nevertheless, I doubt there will be a problem with you wielding it until we meet back up with the others. We still have a long way to travel before getting off this ind, and it would be dangerous to go without a weapon." Marcus said, handing the sword back to Mrazivy.

    Nodding her head, she took the de and stored it back into her item box. She then took out her armor and other equipment that the Administrator had taken off her.

    Without any hesitation she took off the lovely dress she was wearing and began to put her adventuring gear back on.

    Marcus stood stunned for just an instant and could not take his eyes off Mrazivy''s bare body.

    In a fluster he turned around, but this reaction only got a snicker out of his wife.

    "You''ve already seen me naked plenty of times. What''s with acting embarrassed all of a sudden." Mrazivy said in an amused tone.

    Sighing, Marcus realized that his reaction probably was a bit excessive. Still, he felt that if he had not averted his eyes swiftly, he might have been entranced by his wife''s wless body. While other women would have little effect on him, the one person he had entrusted his heart and soul to, could certainly rile up his emotions.

    Once Mrazivy had finished putting on her gear, the two of them headed towards the longnd bridge that would connect them back to the rest of the ind. Though before they left the central area, Marcus stopped by the rows of natural treasures and filled up his item box nearly to the brim.

    "How fast should we go? If we throw caution to the wind, we might be able to catch up with the others." Mrazivy asked.

    "There are still plenty of threatening beasts and monsters on this ind. I think that we should move as quickly as we can while not having to sacrifice any of our attentiveness." Marcus responded.

    Now that they had beaten the Tower of Heaven''s guardian, the restrictions of Haze Ind no longer had any hold on them. However, while the thick fog may not have been magically limiting their senses any longer, it still served as a natural impediment for their line of sight. After all they had been through, Marcus felt it would be unwise to discount the dangers of this ce.

    "Okay. I''ll let you set the pace." Mrazivy said.

    Nodding his head, Marcus broke into a run and sped across thend bridge that would take them back to the main part of the ind.

    Just as before, the stretch ofnd that stretched on for over seven hundred kilometers was devoid of any life. Within a little under three hours, they cleared this distance and reached the shore of the massiveke.

    "Looks like the others made it this far. From their tracks, it appears they decided to run in a straight line and head directly for the shore." Mrazivy said, analyzing the ground to get a sense of where the rest of the expedition squad had headed.

    Wanting to catch up with theirpatriots, the two of them followed the tracks until they reached the shore of the ind. Unfortunately, they were never able to catch up thanks to the expedition squad having a head start on them.

    At the very least, judging by the footprints in the sand it was clear that everyone had gotten off the ind, and Marcus and Mrazivy did the same. They were without their ride this time, but it would be easy enough for the two of them to fly back to the maind and meet up with he others at the adventurers guild.

 Chapter 1022 Debriefing

    1022 Chapter 1022 Debriefing

    Having reached the shore of Haze Ind, Marcus and Mrazivy took to the sky and began their trek across the ocean.

    Thankfully the journey was devoid of any dangerous encounters and the two of them soon made it back to the Republic of Eios which was the nearest nation associated with the adventurers guild and where they had originally set off from at the start of the expedition.

    Landing a distance away from the walls of the capital city, they finished the rest of the journey on foot so as to not seem suspicious. Flying in without authorization was sure to get them noticed by the city''s guards and cause no small amount of trouble.

    At the entrance gate, the two of them showed the guard their guild cards that showed they were mithril ranked and the two of them got into the city without any hassle. The Republic of Eios had eight dungeons within its borders and the capital city was known to have an especially popr high-level dungeon within it. For these reasons strong adventurers were quitemon and no one batted an eye at Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Let''s hope the others returned to the guild as well. We need to quell any panic they might have kicked up. As far as they know, the man that beat us all down is still atrge and a looming threat to the world." Mrazivy said, leading the way to the main guild hall.

    After navigating the busy streets of the bustling capital of the Republic of Eios, Marcus and Mrazivy found themselves standing in front of one of the most impressive buildings in the city. As a nation that made most of its money exporting goods obtained from its dungeons, the guild hall in the capital city was naturally incrediblyrge, built with high grade materials, and sporting an impressive architectural design.

    For a few brief moments, the two of them admired the beautiful building before heading inside.

    With their previous stay in this guild hall before the expedition had begun, they both knew their way around and headed towards the reception counter that dealt with high ranking adventurers.

    Except, before they reached their destination, a familiar individual walked in front of them and stopped in his tracks when he saw them.

    "Marcus! Mrazivy! You''re both alive!"

    Ashton, a member of Fianna''s party, stood wide eyed in shock when he spotted the two of them. Thest time anyone had seen the two of them they had been embroiled in battle against a dangerous foe that overwhelmed the entire expedition squad. Both of them had already been presumed dead considering the situation.

    "Yeah, we managed to pull through in the end. I''m d to see that you made it back as well Ashton. Are the others around? What about Fianna and Miguel, did the two of them catchup with the rest of you?" Marcus said, eager to find out what had happened to everyone else in the expedition squad.

    "All of us that fled from that monster is here and safe. Fianna and Miguel did meet up with us along that long stretch ofnd that cut across the stupidlyrgeke. My party''s leader took charge of everyone and brought us all back safely. It was a pretty brutal march though. We did not stop to rest once until we reached the maind." Ashton exined.

    Hearing that the rest of the expedition squad had made it back safely took a weight off of Marcus and Mrazivy''s shoulders. Haze Ind was a dangerous ce and without most of its strongest members it was quite possible that the fleeing expedition squad could have lost members just trying to flee.

    "Ah! We can''t just keep standing around here talking. The others will want to see that you both managed to survive. Follow me, I will lead you to where everyone is. We only arrived two days ago, so we''re all still recovering from the ordeal. Plus, the Grand Masters and even the leader of the guild arrived yesterday to find out what happened. Most of us have spent several hours having to go over everyst detail with them." Ashton said, his tone conveying a hint of annoyance.

    Nevertheless, he happily led Marcus and Mrazivy through the guild to the section where the expedition squad members were staying.

    Along the way some of the others spotted them, and arge train formed as everyone wanted to speak to Marcus and Mrazivy who assumed to have perished holding off the man that had attacked them.

    Yet, before they could tell theirrades about what had urred after Fianna fled with Miguel, they were intercepted by Valerius.

    "I see that the rumors I was hearing about you two returning alive were not unfounded. I am sure that you are both tired, but it is imperative that we debrief both of you as soon as possible. There are still numerous unanswered questions that need to be cleared up."

    Despite the rest of the expedition squad wanting to hear from Marcus and Mrazivy, Valerius used his authority as a Grand Master of the Guild to whisk them away immediately.

    Before long the two of them had been led to a waiting room while Valerius gathered the other Grand Masters and the guild''s leader.

    At the very least he did not leave them waiting for long, as just twenty minutes after he left them alone, Valerius came back to get them.

    "We will start with Mrazivy first as she was the designated leader for the Northern Quadrant''s party." Valerius said in an authoritative tone.

    12:06

    However, as they had already discussed, neither Marcus nor Mrazivy nned on being separated during this debriefing.

    The two of them stood up together and told Valerius as such causing his neutral expression to turn into a deep frown.

    "This is not up for debate. We want both of your unbiased views as to how the events urred. Having both of you together will cause you to influence each other and possibly muddle the information. Now, Mrazivy, follow me." Valerious said harshly.

    Still, neither of them budged. Since the Administrator told Marcus not to reveal what truly happened to anyone except Mrazivy, the two of them hade up with a different series of events. In order to make sure that no holes were poked in their story, it was imperative that the two of them be questioned together.

    Eventually Valerious became frustrated by Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s unwillingness toply and unleashed a wave of intimidation towards them. Though, this was not enough to make them falter. After experiencing the absolute terror of the man that had infiltrated Mirrion, Valerious felt like a kitten trying to act menacing.

    Certainly, he was stronger than either of them, but inparison he was nothingpared to the opponent they had just stood up to.

    "Fine, if that is what you want, then both of youe along." Valerius said, seeing that nothing he could do short of beating both of them down would change their minds. Of course, if he did resort to force, at the very least the guild hall would be reduced to rubble in the ensuing battle.

    Soon he led Marcus and Mrazivy into arge and better furnished room where the other Grand Masters and the leader of the guild were waiting.

    Some of them arched their eyebrows when they saw that Valerius had brought both of them, but no one raised any verbal objections.

    "Let us begin this debriefing. To start recount the flow of events from your point of view. Make sure to spare no detail." Valerius said, motioning for Marcus and Mrazivy to start.

    Going first, Mrazivy recounted what she remembered, beginning with the battle against the Tower of Heaven''s guardian. She went up to the point where she was first hit by the mysterious man and then turned to Marcus to let him continue since she had been knocked unconscious for a few minutes and had not experienced what happened firsthand next.

    Though, Marcus himself did not have much more to add before he himself was taken out as well. He would have liked to fudge the details but since everyone else had witnessed what happened at this point, he had to admit that he was actually a humanoid spirit. There was really no other exnation for how he had survived having his head blown off.

    Luckily none of the Grand Masters nor the leader of the guild seemed to mind that Marcus was not a flesh and blood person. In fact, they did not seem surprised to learn he was a spirit at all.

    After that their story was consistent with what the top brass of the guild had heard from the rest of the expedition squad, until Marcus and Mrazivy reached the point of their final stand against the man.

    At this point Fianna had left with Miguel and left the two of them as the only ones around. So instead of how events truly yed out, they described a far different oue since no one would be able to discredit them.

    In their version of how things urred, the man idently resummoned the guardian of the Tower of Heaven. Then along with the powerful mythic grade beast, the two of them achieved a narrow victory against the expedition squad''s deadly assant.

    "Do you honestly expect us to beli-"

    Immediately after Marcus and Mrazivy had finished, the Grand Master of the Southern Quadrant tried to call them out, but the guild''s leader raised his hand to stop her.

    "Everyone else leave. I wish to speak to the two of them alone."

    Unable to disobey the leader of the adventurers guild, the Grand Master got up from their seats and exited the room. Leaving Marcus and Mrazivy alone with the guild''s highest authority.

 Chapter 1023 Meeting with the Adventurers Guildâ€™s Leader

    Chapter 1023 Meeting with the Adventurers GuildˇŻs Leader

    "The two of you gave a well-rehearsed story that is somewhat usible, but clearly most of what you said was a fabrication. I cleared the room because I can tell that you have your reasons for lying and the Grand Masters were only going to cause a scene if they stayed. However, if you are hiding things because of your unique races or the fact that you have an abundance of rare and powerful abilities, I already know about that. Among my skills I have a Supreme Skill that lets me read statuses. Your true natures are not secrets to me, so if that is why you are holding back, there is no need to." With what he wanted to say out of the way, the leader of the adventurers guild waited for Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s response.

    ''I figured that he had already seen through us. Still, if he does know what our races really are, that makes this easier.'' Marcus thought, having to hold in a sly grin.

    While he had acknowledged that he was a spirit since there was pretty much no way for him to hide it at this point, he had not revealed that he was in fact a great spirit. But with the leader of the guild knowing what he truly was, it gave him a means of exnation that would allow him to divulge as little as possible.

    Putting his hand on Mrazivy''s shoulder, Marcus signaled to her to let him take care of things.

    "You are correct that what we told you is not what actually happened, but it is going to be the truth as far as everyone else is concerned. If you can see my race, then you know who I really answer to. I imagine even you don''t want to bring up trouble with the world''s highest authority." Marcus said confidently.

    "I see. In that case, events urred just as you said. I will make sure that everyone acknowledges the "truth"."

    A hint of tension on his face, the leader of the guild agreed to go along with Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s fabrications. As one of the strongest people in the world he knew quite a bit about the enigmatic Administrator who ruled the world, and he had no intention of getting on her bad side. "Now if that is all, we would like to go and properly greet the other members of the expedition squad. I am sure they are waiting in anticipation to hear what we have to say, and we wish to catchup with them as well." Mrazivy said, trying to beat a hasty retreat.

    Yet, just as she moved to stand up and leave, the leader of the guild held up his hand and motioned for them to stay.

    "While we may have concluded the formal matter for which you were brought here, there is something else I wish to discuss." The leader of the guild said, looking serious.

    Marcus and Mrazivy became anxious hearing this, but once the guild''s leader told them what the topic he wanted to speak to them about was, they both brightened up.

    Everyone in the expedition squad was going to be paid a predetermined amount just for participating, while other rewards would be given out based on thepletion of certain goals set by the guild. However, the guild''s leader believed that Marcus'' and Mrazivy''s contributions to the expedition were worthy of furtherpensation.

    "I believe in fairly rewarding people for their efforts. From what the other members of the squad said, you two were pivotal in the mission''s sess. And while it is unfortunate that three members of the squad perished at the hands of an unexpected enemy, both of you fought hard to make sure that everyone else could get away safely. For these reasons I feel that you deserve greater payment than what is outlined in the contract you signed." Opening up his item box, the leader of the guild began pulling out the items he had decided to reward Marcus and Mrazivy with.

    Soon the table in front of the guild''s leader was filled with rare and valuable treasures.

    Marcus and Mrazivy could hardly believe what they were seeing. Laid out in front of them were ten amethros ingots, two unique skills orbs, six magic cores from high-level mythic grade beasts, and fourteen skill orbs that contained umon skills.

    "Are you sure that we can take these?" Mrazivy asked, a look of apprehension on her face.

    "Yes, these items belong to the two of you now. All of theme from my personal stash so there is no reason to worry about any red tape from the guild. Of course, these are unofficial rewards I am handing out to you, so don''t go bragging about them. That will only create unnecessary trouble for the three of us." The leader of the adventurer''s guild said with a wry smile.

    Having the guild leader''s permission, Marcus opened his item box and stored their extra rewards into it. Now that their business was concluded, Marcus and Mrazivy took their leave. Though right before opening the door the leader of the adventurers guild remembered something else and stopped them.

    "Ah, I almost forgot. I have a letter for Boreas. He promised to invite me over for drinks sometime and catch me up on what he has been doing, but he seems to have forgotten. So instead, I decided to send an invitation to him. I''m sure as his descendant you will not have any trouble delivering this to him, correct?"

    In his hand the leader of the adventurers guild was holding out a letter to Mrazivy.

    Understanding that this was not a request that she could refuse, she took the letter and promised to see it delivered to Boreas.

    "Okay, that is all that I needed from the two of you. Go ahead and meet back up with the other members of the expedition squad while I smooth things out with the Grand Masters." With the leader of the adventurers guild''s permission, Marcus and Mrazivy hastily left the room. They were grateful for his understanding and the valuable treasures he had given them, but both of them felt that the longer they interacted with him, the more likely they were to be drawn into some sort of trouble.

    "Barak, are you sure that it was wise to give them those items? The skill orbs I can understand since we don''t have a need for them, but the amethros ingots and high-level magic cores are always in low supply." A female figure appearing out of the guild leader''s shadow said once Marcus and Mrazivy were gone.

    "I suppose that you could call it a bit of a gamble." Barak responded to his most trusted confidant. "Those two have impable potential and giving them a few resources to help with their growth is a small price to pay if its the guild a couple of powerful assets. I''m expecting great things from them in the future. Perhaps one of them will even go on to seed me as the leader of the adventurers guild." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Oh, that is pretty high praiseing from you. Though I thought you were hoping to rope Boreas into being your sessor."

    "Well, I still haven''t given up on him yet, but he is a fickle man. He goes wherever his whims take him. I doubt he wouldst for more than a decade in the position before up and disappearing without a word. Still, he is the best of the limited options I have right now. Perhaps he can hold things down in the interim until one of the promising youngsters grows up. I do need to find my recement soon; I don''t have too much time left after all." Barak said, a solemn expression on his face.

 Chapter 1024 Reunion with the Expedition Squad

    1024 Chapter 1024 Reunion with the Expedition Squad

    After finishing their private meeting with the adventurers guild''s leader, Marcus and Mrazivy made their way to the section of the guild hall where the other members of the expedition squad were waiting. They needed to ry what happened after everyone else retreated, return Cassius'' sword to his party members, and inform the survivors of Evette''s party that she was not dead.

    Luckily, when they arrived at the lounge area sectioned off for the members of the expedition, they found that everyone was already gathered and waiting for them.

    Naturally everyone was happy to see both Marcus and Mrazivy were still alive. Considering the situation they had been in; it had been assumed that they were killed.

    ''Looks like one person is a more delighted to see us alive than the others.'' Marcus thought, his eyes moving towards Miguel who wore an extremely relived expression and was covering his face with his hands to hide the tears falling from his eyes. With everything he had been through, believing that he had lost the first friends he had finally opened up to had caused him a great amount of grief. Still, seeing that Marcus and Mrazivy had survived brought him an even greater amount of joy.

    "I''m d to see that the two of you made it out of that battle. When I left with Miguel the situation looked precarious at best. Would you mind telling us what went down afterwards?" Fianna said, acting as the representative of the expedition squad.

    Nodding their heads, Marcus and Mrazivy ryed their fabricated series of events to everyone. A few people gave them skeptical looks, but no one called them out. They had juste back from a meeting with the guild''s four Grand Masters and the leader of the guild, so whatever they were saying was sure to be how things were officially reported.

    "Well, I''m certainly surprised that you guys managed to beat that man, but I am d that we don''t have to worry about him anymore. Plus, I know that Evette''s, Cassius'', and Amin''s souls will rest easier knowing you avenged them." Fianna said, wearing a solemn expression.

    The other members of the expedition squad lowered their heads at the mention of their fallenrades, and those from Evette''s and Cassius'' parties looked especially crestfallen.

    Seeing this, Marcus almost came out and revealed that Evette was not dead but held back in the end. The method of her survival was sensitive information that pertained to the Great Spirit of Life. He and Mrazivy had already agreed to only disclose what had be of Evette to her party members.

    "I know that it may not be much, but we at least retrieved this." Opening up her item box, Mrazivy took out Cassius'' sword Excalibur and held it out towards Dominque. From what they knew, she was not only Cassius'' second inmand but also his lover. It was only right that they return the sword to her.

    Taking the de from Mrazivy, Dominque held it to her chest and could not help but start sobbing uncontrobly. She had lost both her party''s leader and the person she loved. "If it brings you any sce, Cassius fought valiantly until the very end. Without him, I am sure that far more of us would have died. Perhaps we would have even been wiped out. I''m proud to have been able to fight alongside him as arade." Mrazivy said, attempting tofort the members of Cassius'' party Round Table.

    In response each of them thanked Mrazivy for her kind words before excusing themselves. None of them wanted to have an emotional breakdown in front of a crowd.

    Once they had left, Marcus asked Fianna what had happened to everyone that had retreated while they stayed behind to fight.

    "There is not much to tell. We simply ran as fast as we could towards the shore and left the ind. It was a pretty harsh march since we did not stop out of fear of being pursued by that monstrous man. We ended up attracting arge chain of beasts and monsters, but with a bit of teamwork and perseverance we drove them off. The fight was intense, but I doubt itpared to your battle. That guy was not a normal opponent. I don''t know how his power worked, but he seemed practically invincible to me." Fianna remembered how she had shot an arrow through the man''s eye, yet somehow, he used his strange ability to bend reality and turn a fatal wound into a missed shot.

    "Yeah, he was tough, especially with that power of his. We only barely managed to beat him by keeping the pressure on so that he did not have time to activate his ability." Marcus said, sticking to the story that he and Mrazivy came out victorious.

    After catching up with what had happened with the rest of the expedition squad, Marcus and Mrazivy simply chatted with their temporaryrades.

    Then once the conversations began to wind down, they took Evette'' party off to the side and informed them about her survival. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Are you certain about this?" Besso the bear beastman of Evette''s party asked.

    "Yes, I''m sure you figured it out by now, but I am a spirit like Evette. I felt her soul escape just before her form was destroyed. I''m positive that she is still alive and recovering at the side of her lord, the Great Spirit of Life. I don''t know what state she is currently in, but if you meet with the Great Spirit of Life, you should be able to learn more."

    Bursting into tears of joy, the three remaining members of Evette''s party thanked Marcus and Mrazivy with bright smiles on their faces. They had thought they had lost two members of their party but hearing that their leader was still alive helped to lift their worn-down spirits.

    With a quick wave goodbye and an assurance that they would pay Marcus and Mrazivy back, Besso, Roseline, and Yinceran took their leave in order to prepare for their journey to find Evette.

    "I guess we''re done here. Let''s head to our room and get some rest." Mrazivy said, stretching her arms and letting out a long yawn. The two of them were still exhausted from the hard-fought battle and the nonstop trek from the center of Haze Ind back to the Republic of Eios.

    However, before they reached their room, they found Miguel waiting for them. Fidgeting around and looking nervous unlike his usual stoic demeanor.

 Chapter 1025 Returning Home with a New Companion

    1025 Chapter 1025 Returning Home with a New Companion

    "What''s up Miguel? Did you need something from us?" Marcus asked, clearly able to see that Miguel wanted to talk to him and Mrazivy.

    "Um, you know, I just wanted to express my gratitude to you both for helping me get away. If the two of you had not fought that guy, I would definitely be dead right now. Ah, and Mrazivy, I need to thank you for using that potion to heal me. I was injured pretty badly and couldn''t move because my spine was broken, but whatever you gave me brought me back from the brink of death. I''m sure it was a valuable item, so I''ll make sure to pay you back for it." Miguel said, seeming a bit flustered.

    "Oh, there is no need for you to repay me for that. We''re friends so it is only natural that I helped you out when you were in trouble."

    Mrazivy waved off Miguel''s assertion that he needed to reimburse her for the lesser elixir she had given him. Sure, it was a valuable medicine that was as powerful as the tier seven healing magic spell regenerate, but she had a few more and did not feel it necessary for Miguel to pay her something she had used of her own volition.

    "Friends, huh. That''s right, were friends." Miguel mumbled under his breath too quietly for Marcus and Mrazivy to hear.

    "Did you say something Miguel?" "No! I mean, we are friends, right?"

    "Of course. I thought that was obvious after we held the banquet following that monstrous robot''s defeat. Though, I suppose if you don''t want to be friends with us, we won''t force you." Marcus replied to Miguel''s question.

    "Wait, that''s not what I meant!" Miguel said hastily. "I just wanted to make sure that you two really saw me that way. It''s been a while since I felt like I had people I could trust, but I still stand by what I said during that battle. Since it is alright with both of you, I would like to be your friend."

    "Sure, that is fine by both of us. We already considered you our friend and are d that you see us that way too." Mrazivy said, wearing an amused smile on her face. Marcus likewise gave his assurance that he thought of Miguel as a friend. He had been trying to break through to the young man that also came from Earth and was happy to finally have seeded. As someone from the same world, he could not stand to see how guarded and dour Miguel was because of the emotional scars he had umted.

    Assuming that Miguel had gotten what he wanted to off his chest, Marcus and Mrazivy gave him a quick farewell and tried to leave to go to their room, but Miguel did not move out of their way. Evidently, he still had something else that he wanted to discuss with them.

    "Well, I know that this might be impertinent of me, but, uhˇ­ I was wondering, if maybeˇ­ Could I apany the two of you back to Borealia!"

    After waiver for a few moments and tripping over his own words, Miguel finally got out what it was he truly wanted to say.

    "Yeah, that shouldn''t be a problem. We''d be happy to have you join us. If you want, I can even have a room in the castle prepared for you indefinitely. I''m sure that my father, the king, would have no problems with you staying with us for as long as you like."

    "No, that''s fine, I wouldn''t want to impose. I can just rent a room at the same inn I stayed atst time in was in Borealia''s capital. I''m not sure if my manners are good enough to be living in the same ce as royalty." Miguel said, distress written all over his face.

    Despite seeing the perfect opportunity to poke fun at Miguel and offer him a room in his manner, Marcus held back since he could tell that Miguel was far from ready to start living with other people. "An inn is probably better to start with anyway. Something close to the center of the city so that we can show you around. I doubt that you spent much time seeing the sightsst time you were there. Of course, you are free to stay with either of us whenever you want. We both have plenty of room at our ces." Marcus said, giving the friendliest smile he could.

    Thankfully this seemed to calm Miguel down now that he did not feel like he had to move into the castle. After that the three of them discussed their ns for a few more minutes until they were satisfied.

    "Finally!" Mrazivy yelled as she jumped onto the bed in her and Marcus'' room. "Ah, how I have missed having a proper bed in an enclosed room. And we don''t have to worry about being attacked by monsters or beasts in the middle of the night. I feel like I could sleep for a week here."

    Mrazivy then exaggeratedly grabbed the pillows and nkets on the bed and wrapped herself up.

    "You know that there is another person that will be sleeping here, right?" Marcus said in an admonishing tone.

    "Yes, and I left you a single pillow. See how considerate I am." Mrazivy said, wearing a mischievous smile and pointing to the smallest pillow on the bed.

    Marcus rolled his eyes at this, but the big smile on his face showed that he was not upset about his wife''s antics. After what they had been through recently, a little levity was wee.

    "Fine. If you need so many nkets, clearly you must be unnaturally cold. Let me warm things up for you."

    Producing a giant floating me, Marcus heated up the room to around thirty-five degrees Celsius.

    Naturally Mrazivy did not particrly enjoy the massive increase in temperature and used her ice magic to counter. The two of them went on with their weather war for a couple of minutes before bursting intoughter.

    Once they were finished blowing off a bit of steam and felt more rxed, they truly prepared for bed and got some peaceful rest after a long time being on edge. Even Marcus, not needing to sleep, was happy to just shut his mind off fully for the first time since the expedition started. The next day the guild handed out the official rewards to the members of the expedition squad. It was arge ceremony where each member was given different awards from the guild and Fianna''s party was formally advanced to the Adamantine Rank which was the highest rank any adventurer could have.

    Evette''s party likely would have gotten the same rank up if not for the fact that two of their members were presumed dead, one of which was their leader. However, Besso, Roseline, and Yinceran did not seem particrly bothered by this. Amin was without a doubt dead, which was a hard blow for them. But thanks to Marcus, they knew that their leader had not perished. She was with the Great Spirit of Life and recovering.

    ''I guess despite our contributions to the expedition being among the highest, we still don''t have enough achievements to get promoted again. We did just get brought up to Mithril Rank not long ago, so I suppose that is fair.'' Marcus thought while Fianna''s party were receiving their Adamantine Guild Cards.

    After the awards were given out and several congrattory speeches from the higher ups of the guild, the true payment was passed out to each of the members of the expedition squad.

    ''Damn, that is a lot of money!'' Marcus looked at the stack of money orders in front of him that could be used in any of the nations associated with the adventurers guild. Each one was worth ten thousand gold coins and he had a hundred in front of him. Everyone that had participated in the expedition was given the same amount and Marcus was certain that this far exceeded the treasuries of most nations. Showing just how much capital the adventurers guild had.

    And this was only the formal payment for aplishing all of the objectives the guild had set. Everyone had also taken valuable treasures from the ind which they were able to keep. Marcus in particr made out like a bandit because of his Warehouse Item Box and its ludicrouslyrge capacity.

    "Now feel free to eat and drink to your heart''s content. All of you have certainly earned it." Barak, the guild''s leader said before stepping down from the podium he was on and leaving the venue.

    Once he was gone, everyone grabbed the free food and drinks that were provided and celebrated thepletion of their sessful mission. While it had ended in tragedy, there was no doubt that all of them had done an exemry job in exploring the dangerous ind and paving the way for the guild to begin developing it. In time it would likely be a hotspot for high level adventurers due to its abundance of valuable resources.

    When the party began to wind down, Marcus and Mrazivy excused themselves and headed back to their room. "So, we are finally going to return home tomorrow. It honestly feels like it has been years since we were back even though it has only been a few months." Mrazivy said.

    "It certainly does feel like it has been a long time. I can''t wait to see everyone again." Marcus responded.

    The two of them talked about what they wanted to do upon returning home for the next few hours untilte into the night. Sleep eventually came to them, but it was far from restful as they were brimming with anticipation for their return home. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As the sun rose, they could not hold back and grabbed Miguel bright and early in order to be the first to use the guild''s teleportation circles.

    Thanks to the permissions they had been granted by Valerius the got ess to the coveted magic device and were soon on their way back to Borealia.

 Chapter 1026: Chapter 1026 (Spoiler, Title at the Bottom of the Chapter)

    Appearing in a sh of light, Marcus, Mrazivy, and Miguel found themselves standing on the teleportation circle located within the main guild hall in the royal capital of Borealia.

    "I really wish that they could find a way to fix how nauseating these things are. It wasn''t as bad as the first time, but I don''t think I will ever get used to this feeling." Mrazivy said, wobbling a bit from the sessive teleportation.

    Miguel and Marcus were doing a bit better than her but both of them were still a bit unstable on their feet.

    "It gets easier to deal with the more you use it. This is my neenth time using them and it only affects me a little. Though I am surprised at how well you are fairing Marcus. This is only your seconds time as well, right?" Miguel said.

    "Yeah, the first time I ever used the guild''s teleportationwork was when Valerius brought us to the Republic of Eios for the expedition. In my case it is my body''s constitution that helps me lessen the burden.

    Still, I can''t do anything about the way it agitates the mana within me." Marcus responded, his already pale face a bit paler than normal because of the ill effects of the teleportation circle.

    Thankfully it only took about a minute before the nausea wore off and the three of them exited the teleportation room.

    From there they exited the guild hall and went their separate ways.

    Mrazivy was going to head directly to the castle, give a report to her family, and deliver the letter from the adventurers guild''s leader to Boreas. Miguel on the other hand nned to book a room at the same inn he had stayed at during the Kingdom''s Tournament and get settled in. Finally, Marcus wanted to stop by his home after having been gone for quite some time.

    He imagined that there was a mountain of letters waiting for him and it would be good for him to let his staff see that he was alive.

    "This should be a good enough ce as any." Marcus murmured to himself.

    Having slipped into an alley that was devoid of people, he transformed back into Irene after a long time.

    "It really has been a while. I might need an hour or two to get used to being in this form again."

    Having gotten shorter and with limbs that were not as long as he was used to, Marcus felt that his movements were a bit clumsy. It was not to the point that he felt particrly impaired, but there was a noticeable difference from how seamlessly he moved before.

    Originally, he had nned to go invisible and intangible and simply fly to his estate but wanting to get ustomed to being in Irene''s form again, he decided to walk instead.

    "Have we met? Cause you look a lot like my next girlfriend."

    "Can you take me to the hospital? I just broke my leg falling for you."

    "I''m learning about important dates in history. Wanna be one of them?"

    "Excuse me, do you have a map? I just got lost in your eyes."

    As he walked down the street, Marcus found himself being approached by several young men, each of them trying out the dumbest pick-up lines on him.

    At the very least no one tried to assault him, but several of them were pretty persistent. Not leaving him alone until he shed his noble identification showing that he was a titled baress.

    ''Damn, I can''t remember thest time something like this happened. I forget how attractive I look as Irene.'' Marcus thought, pulling out a cloak and pulling a hood over his head.

    Luckily this managed to discourage most of the men approaching him, and he was able to walk the streets in peace.

    It took a few hours before he reached the entrance to his manor, but by the time he did, he no longer had any issues with the differences between his form as Irene and his original form.

    "I can understand that the garden is beautiful, but no loitering. Please continue on your way." One of the guards posted at the gate said to Marcus.

    He had been standing and staring at the estate for a bit too long and garnered the attention of the guards.

    "Ah, sorry about that. I forgot I am still wearing the hood."

    Marcus quickly pulled his hood down and revealed his face to the guards.

    The moment they saw who it really was, the guard that had told Marcus to move along bowed his head and asked for forgiveness.

    "I am supremely sorry Lady Irene. I did not know that it was you. Please only fire me for my rudeness." The guard said, a nervous sweat pouring down his face.

    "Why would I fire you? You were just doing your job. I certainly do look like a suspicious individual walking down a road in front of noble mansions all alone with my face covered. It was only reasonable that you asked me to leave."

    With Marcus giving his assurance to the guard that he would not be reprimanded, things soon calmed down and everyone went back to their posts.

    Now that his identity had been confirmed, the guards had the gate opened and one of the maids that was on duty at the guard station came out to meet with Marcus.

    "Lady Irene, I wee you back after your long trip. I am d to see that you are still in good health."

    "Yes, it is good to be back home. And thank you for your kind words, Riley." Marcus said, motioning with his left hand that she could raise her head.

    Coming out of her bow, Riley positioned herself behind Marcus and slightly to his left and began rying important information to him as they walked towards the main building.

    "Lady Irene, during the past few weeks one of your friends has been staying with us and waiting to meet with you. She said it was of the upmost importance and seeing as the two of you are especially close, we invited her to wait in the manor until your return.

    I understand that this might been beyond the scope of our authority, but we felt that it would have been wrong to turn away such a dear friend of yours." Riley said, her tone possessing a fervor Marcus found to be unusual.

    For nearly a minute the only thing Riley told Marcus was about this guest that was waiting for him and how important it was for him to meet with her.

    At first Marcus wondered who it could be, but the only one that came to mind was Lyra. But that didn''t make much sense as she had her duties as a duchess to attend to and would never stay away from her domain for an indefinite amount. Plus, she knew about Marcus'' Dark Portal unique skill and would only need to leave a letter behind if she wanted to meet with him.

    ''I knew I sensed a lingering trace of magic. She''s been charmed.''

    Starting to grow suspicious, Marcus used his creature appraisal skill on Riley and saw that in her status she had the charmed condition. Whoever this guest was had used magic to manipte the staff in order to make them believe that they were one of Marcus'' close friends.

    Nevertheless, Marcus remained calm despite finding out about the disturbing magic controlling Riley. From what he could tell no one had been injured, and whoever it was that was charming his maids seemed intent on meeting with him.

    ''I''ll simply apprehend them the moment we meet. And if they are stronger than I can handle, Boreas and Gwyneira can be here in just a few seconds to back me up.'' Marcus thought,ing up with his n of action.

    "I promise I will meet with my guest as soon as I reach the main building. But is there anything else important that I need to know about?"

    "Oh yes, I nearly forgot!" Riley said, a confused expression on her face. It seemed now that Marcus had assured that he would meet with the person that charmed her that the effect of the magic causing her to be so intense had lessened.

    With the magic having less hold on her now, Riley informed Marcus about something that she normally would have considered of the upmost importance.

    "Your younger sister, Lady Lilia arrived not but a half hour ago. She was a bit dejected when she heard that you were not here, though I am sure that her mood will improve once she learns of your arrival."

    Almost immediately after Riley informed Marcus about Lilia''s return, a powerful explosioning from the main building shook the grounds.

    Sensing two powerful forces shing, Marcus immediately ordered Riley to get to safety and tell everyone else to stay away until things had calmed down.

    He then dashed towards the sounds of battle that were growing farther away from the mansion.

    Following the trail of carnage, it did not take long for Marcus to catch up to the two individuals that were the cause of the series of explosions that had devastated arge portion of the grounds.

    One of the perpetrators was Lilia, fully equipped with her amethros gauntlets and armor.

    ''Good, she is not hurt.'' Marcus thought, relieved to see not a single scratch on Lilia.

    However, the same could not be said for her opponent.

    Facing Lilia and looking incredibly panicked was a beautiful woman with golden hair that came down to her shoulders. Her skin was impossibly white like freshly fallen snow and her eyes were a deep red.

    Yet her usual beauty was marred by several terrible injuries. Blood was pouring out of the stump that used to be her right arm, her left leg was twisted into an unnatural angle, and her stomach was caved in from being hit by a powerful impact.

    These wounds be enough to put a normal person on the verge of death, but the woman with golden hair still looked to have plenty of life left in her.

    "Disintegrat-"

    "Lilia Stop!"

    Marcus yelled at Lilia to cease her attack and at the same time jumped in front of her target just in case he needed to defend her.

    Seeing this unexpected disy, Lilia was too stunned to move and stoodpletely still for a couple of seconds.

    "Irene, what are you doing?! That woman is a vampire that has used her powers to enthrall everyone working on the estate. She even tried to use her Charm Eyes on me! Move aside so that I can finish her off."

    "I''m sorry Lilia, but I can''t let you kill her. I owe her a great debt. While it pains me to say, she has saved my life on two asions." Marcus said, attempting to calm Lilia down.

    "Yes, be a good little girl and listen to your sister." The golden-haired vampire said with a smirk.

    Naturally this only further enraged Lilia, and Marcus swiftly moved right in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders to prevent her from doing anything rash.

    Once he was sure that she had calmed down, Marcus turned towards his "guest" and fixed her with a re.

    "I can guess why you are here, but was there really no better way to go about this? If I hadn''t arrived when I did, you would have been turned into a pile of ash."

    "That was simply a small miscalction on my part. I did not know that your little siter had be so powerful. For several weeks I skulked about in the shadows waiting for you, but I got tired of that quickly. I figured it would be more efficient andfortable to wait in your home for you. I promise I did not harm any of the people under your employee." She said, batting her eyes innocently.

    "Fine, I will believe you for now, Elite Vampiress, Relia Draayer." Marcus said, using his appraisal skill to check her status and find out her race and name.

 Chapter 1027: Chapter 1027 Smoothing Things Over

    "Color me surprised! You have gotten high enough level to appraise me." Relia said after Marcus proved that he had learned her race and name.

    Yet, instead of feeling nervous about finding out that a potential threat was stronger than her, she simply shed Marcus what he could only consider to be an evil smile. She was clearly not concerned in the slightest that he might turn around and attack her.

    Marcus grimaced when he saw Relia''s reaction, but there was not much he could do about it. She had saved his life in the past and there was no getting around the fact that he owed her a monumental debt.

    "If you wouldn''t mind, could you hide in the shadows for a bit. I need to gather my estate''s maids and guards and inform them that the situation is under control. And I am sure that the city watch wille to investigate themotion here. I''ll have to make up something to get them to leave." Marcus said, feeling headacheing on.

    "Oh, why would you need me to hide though? With my powers I should be able to smooth everything out far faster than you can." Relia said, letting her eyes glow for a moment to emphasize her power. With her Charm Eyes ability, she would have no problem putting everyone under her spell and making them believe whatever she wanted them to.

    For a moment Marcus contemted this, but he quickly shook his head at the idea. He did not want those under his employee to be controlled any longer.

    "No, you have already done enough. I will not have you charming my personnel any longer. Just stay out of the way while I handle the situation. Once things have calmed down, I will listen to what you have to say."

    "Okay, you do whatever you want, but I should probably be with you when you meet with your maids. Some of them witnessed your sister attacking me and because they are currently under my spell, they will certainly be hostile to her right now. From their point of view, she attacked me unprovoked." Relia said, shooting Lilia a sidelong nce.

    "Irene, I think we should just kill her. She is a dangerous vampire that has used her abilities to take over our home. We can cleanse the others of her foul power once we have dealt with her." Lilia said in a bloodthirsty tone.

    A palpable force of mana was emanating off of Lilia''s body and she was ready to strike the moment she received Marcus'' approval.

    Unfortunately, as much as Marcus also wanted to strike back against Relia for what she had done, he kept himself under control. He knew that if they killed her, it would only lead to far worse problems. She was just a servant of a more powerful entity, and if she died, more vampires were likely toe with a far less peaceful approach.

    "Fine, you can apany us, but only to break the charm you have put on my people and make them forgot you ever existed." Marcus said, not willing topromise any further. He really wanted to cleanse his maids and guards of her spellpletely, but he knew doing so would cause innumerable problems. The best oue he could think of was for them not to remember Relia.

    "Fine, I suppose that won''t be too difficult." She responded with the shrug of her shoulders.

    Lilia looked displeased about Marcus'' choice, but she held back her fury. Still, she kept a close eye on Relia and was waiting for her to make one wrong move so that she could put her down.

    With things having settled down a bit, Marcus asked Relia if she wanted him to heal her.

    "No, these wounds aren''t that bad. They should fix themselves soon enough."

    True to her word, Relia''s body began rapidly recovering. She had been restraining her normal vampiric regeneration because she was afraid Lilia would attack her again if she started healing. But now that Marcus was here and assuring her safety she no longer held back.

    Within less than fifteen seconds her twisted leg, caved in stomach, and missing arm had all been restored back to perfect condition.

    "There, good as new." Relia said, holding her regrown arm in front of her and rapidly clenching and unclenching her hand to test her control over her new arm.

    "If you are healed, then let''s go. I want your magic cleansed from my maids and guards as soon as possible."

    Leading the way, Marcus used his life sense skill to find where the members of his staff were waiting. Luckily, they had all gathered by the guard station near the gate and where in one ce.

    "Lady Irene, what happened? Is Lady Relia alright? For some reason your sister went ballistic and used magic to attack her." ra said, casting a concerned look towards Relia.

    Once she had assessed that the beautiful Vampiress was seemingly uninjured, she turned towards Lilia and gave her a re that was practically murderous.

    Seeing this only went to show how powerful the charm that Relia had put everyone under way. Normally it would be unthinkable for ra or anyone that Marcus employed to look at Lilia in this manner.

    "Go ahead and erase their memories of you and then break the spell." Marcus said, not wanting to see ra and the others continue to act so unnaturally.

    "Everyone, look at me." Relia said, her eyes beginning to glow.

    In an unnerving manner, each the maids and guards turned towards the Vampiress and looked to be in a trance.

    "You have all taken good care of me for thest few weeks, but I am afraid this is where we part way. Once I have vanished from your sight you will forget about me entirely."

    After giving thisstmand, Relia used her magic to merge into Marcus'' status and broke the spell on his employees.

    The instant the charm over them faded, the zed over look in all of the maids'' and guards'' eyes vanished.

    Most of them had confused expressions on their faces, while a few closed their eyes and heads, clearly in pain.

    Thankfully the negative aftereffects of being under Relia''s charm and being forced to forget her did notst for long. Within just a half minute everyone was back to normal.

    Nevertheless, they each wore panicked expressions on their faces as they still remembered the explosions that had just urred on the grounds. Of course, none of them could recall the cause of these events, as even those that witnessed Lilia''s attack could not bring up the memory.

    "Lady Irene, did you figure out the cause of the explosion?" ra asked, the first toe back to her senses.

    "Yes, I am afraid that it was my fault. I left a more vtile than expected protype weapon in my workshop and when Lilia tested it for me it caused the series of explosions. I am sorry that all of you had to experience this and promise topensate each of you with a bonus this month."

    Marcus waited with baited breaths to see if his fabrication would not have any inconsistencies with what his maids and guards remembered.

    Luckily, not a single one seemed suspicious and expected the exnation at face value. The promise of higher pay for the month grabbed their attention more than anything else.

    Unfortunately, while Marcus could get away with falsifying the cause of the damage, it did not change the fact that part of the main building had been destroyed. It would undoubtedly need extensive and costly repairs.

    "ra, I understand that everyone is still a bit shaken up but would have two of the maids fine a buildingpany that coulde out to assess the damages. We will need to have the manor fixed as soon as possible. And money is of no issue so make sure to hire the best."

    Nodding her head, ra chose Amy and Violet to act as representatives and sent them out with a pair of the estate''s guards.

    Not long after the two maids and guards left, a squadron of twenty-four patrolmen led by one of the city''s knights arrived to investigate the sounds of explosions that had been heard in every direction for several kilometers.

    Fortunately, Marcus was able to give them the same exnation as he had to his staff, and no one questioned him. The knight leading the patrol knew of his reputation as a highly skilled Forgemaster and understood that it would be easy enough for him to make a magic weapon capable of such destruction.

    Still, the knight informed Marcus that he would likely have to pay a fine for disturbing the peace as several of the other noble families that neighbored him had been frightened by the explosions and had issuedints.

    Of course, money was currently the least of his worries. He had just received several money orders from the adventurers guild that were worth in total a million gold coins, No fine was going toe anywhere close to putting a dent in his funds.

    When things had finally calmed down enough that they no longer needed his immediate attention, Marcus headed towards one of the guest annexes in order to have a private chat with Relia.

    Though, while he nned to talk to her alone, Lilia was insistent that she join them. She still did not trust the Vampiress and wanted to stick close to Marcus in case she was needed.

 Chapter 1028: Chapter 1028 Notice

    "Now, what is it you want me to do? I assume that you are here to collect on the debt I owe you." Marcus said staring intently at Relia.

    In contrast to Marcus'' tense demeanor, she waspletely rxed and was eating grapes she had pulled out of her item box whileying down on the couch in the living room of the guest house they were in.

    "Well, you are sort of right, and sort of wrong. I am here regarding your debt, but we do not need you to do anything right at this moment."

    "What do you mean by that? If you aren''t here to get me to do something for you, then why are you here right now?" Marcus said, his voice tinged with anger and frustration.

    "I was getting there, no need to rush." Relia said, eating another grape from the bunch she was holding.

    "My master figured that it would be inconvenient for you if we simply had you drop everything without warning. We want you at your best when you help us with what we need you for after all. Therefore, I have been sent to inform you to get your affairs in order and be ready in four months.

    Well, it was supposed to be four months, but you were gone when I got here to originally tell you, so it is more like two and a half months now."

    Marcus let out a sigh of relief to learn that he was not going to have to immediately do something for the vampires he owed. Currently his scythe was in no condition to be used and there were dozens of other issues he needed to deal with before feelingfortable dancing to the whims of Relia and her master.

    "I see, that is certainly generous of you." Marcus said sarcastically. "But if I only have two and a half months to prepare, could you at least tell me what it is you n on having me do?"

    "Sorry, but that is on a need-to-know basis. You''ll find out the exact details of your mission when I bring you to see my master. She has been ever so interested in meeting you ever since you killed Vesairous."

    Wincing, Marcus remembered his first encounter with a vampire. Ultimately, they came to blows and Marcus ended up killing him. Of course, this was what put him on the other vampire''s radar.

    "So that vampire''s name was Vesairous. He was not a particrly pleasant individual. He had taken a whole town hostage and was slowly tormenting them as he drained the people of their blood. I''m d that I put him down." Marcus said, watching Relia closely to gauge her reaction.

    Unfortunately, she did not seem to really care much about Vesairous and did not give any sort of reaction. This left Marcus without any additional information on her nature or how she viewed her fellow vampire''s actions.

    ''It is hard to get a read on her. She does not feel particrly evil like Vesairous did, but neither does she seem to be virtuous in any way. I can''t figure out what she might do, and that makes her dangerous.'' Marcus thought, staring at Relia warily.

    "I will go as well. If you are going to be forced to help these vampires, then I will help you."

    With a resolute and pleading expression, Lilia looked towards Marcus for his consent to apany him on whatever sort of task the vampires would give him.

    "Sure, you cane along if you want, the more manpower we can get the better." Relia said before Marcus had a chance to respond. She was perfectly fine getting another powerful asset for free.

    Naturally Marcus was not going to allow Lilia toe with him into what was likely to be a very dangerous situation. He told her that she would not being with him under any circumstances.

    "Anyway, what about your training with Ardea?" Marcus asked, wanting to change the subject.

    "That is on hold for now. Around a week ago something urgent that she would not tell me about came up and she left me to practice on my own. After a couple of days working on my earth magic, I got a bit homesick and figured that I could train here as well as anywhere." Lilia said, putting an end to the subject Marcus wanted to distract her with.

    She then tried again to convince him to take her along, but Marcus was adamant that she stay out of it.

    "But I want to be of help to you. You''ve done so much for me and I want to do something to pay you back. What was the point of getting stronger if you still won''t let me apany you."

    Lilia was incredibly obstante and Marcus could tell that she was not going to back down easily.

    "Fine, there is something that I could use your help with soon, but not whatever I have to do for Relia and her master. I''ll deal with the vampires on my own." Marcus said hoping to pacify Lilia.

    She wanted to push him for more details on what he wanted her help with, but he nced towards Relia and shook his head. He did not want her to know what he was going to be up to.

    "Hm, I wonder what you mean when you said you would deal with us on your own. Did you forget that your foxy friend also made a deal with me as well? I fought pretty hard to stall that Cibor guy for the both of you. He tore me apart during our battle and I was sore for weeks afterward. So, I am expecting both of you to work hard to pay me back for that."

    Grimacing, Marcus recalled the time Relia showed up and helped him and Lyra out with the former strongest Great Knight of Tralenstein. Up till this point he had been focusing on when she saved his life by giving him the mythic spirit gem. He had not exactly forgotten about the second time she hade to his rescue, but it was not at the forefront of his mind until she brought it up.

    "You don''t need Lyra, do you? I will take on whatever sort of job you wanted her to do." Marcus said, ready to put himself on the line for his closest friend.

    "Sorry, but you can''t take her burden as well. Plus, my master wants to meet her as well as you. I''ve already been by her home anyway and informed her to be prepared to go at the same time as you. We''ve got special jobs lined up for the two of you. And at least that means you will have a familiar face along with you." Relia said, rejecting Marcus'' proposal.

    She then pulled out an ornate golden sk that was etched with powerful magic enchantments and began drinking.

    With his keen sight Marcus could tell that the liquid was bright red and viscous. Along with the distinct smell of iron there was no doubt that she was drinking blood.

    "This isn''t your house, so stop making yourself at home." Marcus said, his tone filled with irritation. "If you have already finished what you are here for, then go ahead and leave. I really don''t want to have to deal with you any longer."

    "Wow, is that anyway to treat someone that has saved your life twice." Relia said with a hurt expression on her face that was clearly exaggerated. "The sun is still shining down outside, and you want to send me out into it. How cruel can you be? Surely you must know that vampires turn to ash if exposed to sunlight."

    "Yes, I am well aware of that fact. Though, you seemed to be perfectly fine earlier when you were fighting against Lilia. You were out in the sun for several minutes and did not seem to be affected by it."

    "Ah, so you noticed that. Yes, I have a means of mitigating my weakness to the sun, but it is exhausting. I would prefer to wait until it is night. I will be sure to leave then, so just allow me to rx here for a few more hours." Relia said, taking another sip from her golden sk that contained blood.

    However, Marcus was fed up with the Vampiress'' presences, and wanted her gone immediately.

    "I wonder if the power you use to prevent the light of the sun from burning you to ash works on light magic as well."

    Holding up his right hand, Marcus pointed his index finger towards Relia and created a small glowing orb of light with his magic.

    Immediately Relia''s eyes went wide with terror, and she shot up from the couch she had been lounging on and hid behind it.

    "Okay, I get it! I will go hide somewhere else until nighttime. Please stop pointing that at me. I really will die if you hit me with that."

    Satisfied that he was able to get back at her a little, Marcus flicked his finger and dispelled the light magic he had been aiming at Relia.

    Once the threat of being sted was gone, the frightened Vampiress rose up from behind the couch and gave Marcus a genuinely aggrieved expression.

    "Alight, I have given you your notice, so make sure that you are ready to leave within two and a half months. Don''t even think about crossing us, it will not end well for you." Relia said intimidatingly.

    Though, her attempt at being menacing lost its effect when she cowered behind a nearby chair when Marcus raised his hand in her direction.

    After that she did not try to get in anyst words and simply turned into a shadow and left the building.

 Chapter 1029: Chapter 1029 Preparations for Another Trip

    Once Relia was gone from the grounds of his estate, as far as Marcus could tell, he let out a visible sigh of relief.

    "Are you sure that it is smart to do what she wants?" Lilia asked, worry written all over her face. "I am sure that if we went to Boreas and Gwyneira that the two of them could handle things for you. We could fight bac instead of roll over."

    Unfortunately for Lilia, Marcus shook his head at her proposal. While it was true that Boreas and Gwyneira were strong, and he did not see them having any problems with Relia and the other vampires behind her. They would not be able to keep watch over Marcus and those he cared about forever.

    He was certain that he would incur a grudge that wouldst for an eternity should he go back on the debt he owed to Relia. Eventually she would find a way to make Marcus regret it if it came to that. At least that is the feeling he got from her.

    "I understand your concern Lilia, but this is something I need to do. Relia saved my life twice, as much as it pains me to admit. So long as what they want me to do does not go past my bottom line, I don''t n on running away or fighting."

    Lilia let out an annoyed, childish groan when it became clear that Marcus was not going to budge on this matter.

    "Hey, no need to pout. I get that you want toe with me to help, but I still don''t know what is in store for me. I''d be putting you in unnecessary danger if I brought you along. Plus, even if things turn out to be safe, you would still be put to work for free. They might even say that you''re helping me out means that I did not aplish enough to erase the debt I owe."

    With thisst bit of convincing, Lilia seemed to finally ept that she would not be going with Marcus when he dealt with Relia and whoever the master behind her was.

    Nevertheless, she remembered him telling her that there was something else he would need her help with and asked for details now that their unwanted and uninvited guest had left.

    "Well, as I am sure you know, I have been getting closer to achieving my evolution. After bathing in a Font of Death for a hundred days, I now only need the core of a ghost king. I''ve got a lead on where one might be and would like your help going to get it. Of course, only if you are up for it?"

    Vigorously nodding her head, Lilia agreed to apany Marcus without hesitation. Just as he expected.

    He the told her about the intelligence he received from the lich, Daniel, who was a transmigration from Earth just like him.

    "Our best bet is in a kingdom called Houten that lies on the continent west of Borealia." Marcus said, taking out a map he had obtained and pointing to the country. "From what I have heard, its old capital turned into a nest of undead when the king three hundred years ago turned himself and the citizens into undead monsters in order to push back against an invading nation."

    Marcus continued to exin what little he knew about Houten to Lilia, and she nodded along all the while.

    "Do you mind if I ask ric to join us? I am sure he would be more than happy to assist you as well." Lilia said, once Marcus had finished telling her about Houten and their objective.

    "Sure, that should be fine. As long as he has the time and won''t get in trouble that is. Unlike us, he has a stable job with his position at the Guldr Spire. I''m not sure if he will be able to take off for such a long time."

    "I doubt that will be a problem. Remember, he only recently attained his position there and is still just a low-ranking member. With his level and skills, he can undoubtedly get all the work expected of himpleted as easily as breathing. I''m sure that a break for just a couple of months will be easy enough for him to get."

    Figuring he could leave it to Lilia, Marcus gave her the okay to recruit ric. For this mission he would not mind having the additional help.

    Once the conversation pertaining to Marcus'' debt to Relia, and his n to obtain a ghost king''s core wound down, he began asking Lilia what she had been up to for thest several months since she left to be Ardea''s apprentice.

    Thankfully this topic was not particrly heavy, and Lilia was more than happy to talk about what she had bene up to.

    "We traveled to a lot of ces, mostly mountains of course. At one of the ranges there were some unsavory types that were recklessly st mining a mountain and polluting the area, so Ardea had me go and set them straight. Ah, I also have been practicing earth magic. It was not as easy for me to get the hang of as force magic, but with diligent effort I have gotten the skill up to level six."

    Lilia animatedly told Marcus about her exciting time wandering the world with Ardea until it was time for dinner.

    Not long after the sun set, ra along with several of the other maids entered the guest house Marcus and Lilia were staying in with several trolleys containing food.

    Expertly, they set the table and waited on Marcus and Lilia as they ate.

    Then once they were finished eating, ra informed Marcus about thepany that Violet and Amy had hired to fix the main building.

    "They will be sending a team tomorrow to assess the damages, as well as the time and cost repairs will take."

    "Thanks, I knew I could count on all of you to take care of this. I have other things to attend to, so I''ll make sure to give you ample funds and leave it in your capable hands."

    "As you wish Lady Irene. We will not let you down." ra responded.

    After that Marcus dismissed the maids and told them that he would be resting for the rest of the night and would not need their assistance again until the morning.

    ˇ­

    Come the next day, Marcus was up bright and early and was looking through the mountain of letters that had piled up for him. Most of them were requests to craft gear for knights or high-level adventurers, but a few were marriage proposals, since as far as most people knew, he was a wealthy and unmarried baress with a close connection to the royal family.

    ''I can simply ignore most of them, but for the higher-ranking nobles I will need to send letters back.'' Marcus thought, grumbling internally.

    Still, with his high status and untiring body he deftly wrote all the letters he needed to in less than an hour. Having plenty of time left before he nned to meet back up with Mrazivy and Miguel.

    After enjoying a leisurely breakfast, Marcus headed out to the spot where he, Mrazivy, and Miguel had agreed to meet up. At the same time, Lilia took a carriage to the Guldur Spire to see ric and invite him toe with them to Houten where they would hopefully fine a ghost king.

    ''Looks like someone is here early.'' Marcus thought, seeing Miguel waiting around in the za they had all agreed to meet at.

    Finding a deserted nook, Marcusnded and returned to his solid form.

    He then approached Miguel and gave him a friendly wave.

    "Do you need something mis- Wait! Marcus, is that you?!" Miguel said in surprise.

    As he was still in his guise as Irene, Miguel had failed to recognize him at first, but quickly realized who he really was.

    "Yep, it''s me. I have some errands to run as Irene today, so I figured it would be easier just to stay in this form. Aren''t you lucky, you will be escorted by two beauties today." Marcus said, deciding to take this chance to poke some fun at Miguel.

    This caused the innocent young hero to look away and his face became noticeably redder. Though it wasn''t long after that he hung his head in shame, remembering his first interaction with Marcus during the tournament when he acted like a hotshot and hit on him.

    Not long after Marcus arrived, Mrazivy came walking down the road. Her hair color disguised so that she did not stand out.

    "I see you had no trouble ditching your guardian knight." Marcus said, noting that Mrazivy was alone.

    "Naturally. At this point I only need to have guards for show during formal events. Even my father does not worry about sending a protector with me anymore. The only one that could honestly keep up with me at all would be Knight Commander Darius."

    With as strong as she had be, Mrazivy would really be hindered during an attack if she had guards around her. She would have to end up protecting them if an actual threat came her way.

    "Now, let us go and see the sights of the city. Today we are just three normal people enjoying a day out on the town." Mrazivy said, leading the way to the first destination she wanted to show Miguel.

    However, before they left, Marcus stopped Mrazivy and Miguel and told them he had something important that had juste up that he needed to discuss with them.

 Chapter 1030: Chapter 1030 Preparations for Another Trip (2)

    "I see, so that has finally caught up with you." Mrazivy said a scowl on her face.

    Marcus had just finished rying his recent encounter with Relia and how she hade to collect on the debt he owed her and her vampiric master.

    Naturally Mrazivy had already known about the two previous times Marcus had been saved by Relia, and both of them knew that this was something that coulde up at any time.

    Miguel looked a bit confused by what Marcus was saying at first, but quickly got the gist of it.

    "I guess that you are hoping for us to assist you, right? I''m not really sure how well I will do around vampires, but I want to help if I can." Miguel said, a resolute look in his eyes.

    Mrazivy likewise nodded her head and assured Marcus that she would go with him and do whatever she could.

    Yet, despite their determination, Marcus only shook his head and asked them not toe with him.

    "I still cannot be sure what their intentions are and the less people I care about getting involved the better. However, there is something else I want you two to help me with. If your up for it that is." Marcus said, addressing hisst statement mostly to Miguel. He was sure Mrazivy would being with him to Houten no matter what.

    "I already decided to stick with you guys for a little while at least. It is not like I have anything better to do right now anyway, so I''lle along and help you out. Though, Houten huh. For some reason that name sounds familiar." Miguel said, wearing a ponderous expression.

    For nearly half a minute he looked lost in thought, before abruptly making a face that made it clear he had remembered exactly what he was trying to recall.

    "Yes, I believe I heard Grand Master Valerious talking about that ce. If what I recall is correct, they recently joined the adventurers guild around a half a year ago. He was grumbling about it because it is split almost cleanly in half between the Northern Quadrant and Western Quadrant. There were apparently disputes on which Quadrant would govern the nation."

    This bit of information came as a surprise to Marcus and Mrazivy. When they had initially gotten their information about a possible ghost king residing in Houten''s former capital from Daniel, he had not mentioned anything about the nation being involved with the adventurers guild.

    However, when they looked back on their conversation with the lich that ran the Chelmer Resort from the shadows, both Marcus and Mrazivy realized that it had been more than six months ago. At the time Houten was not a nation that had a partnership with the adventurers guild.

    ''I suppose that makes entering the nation a lot easier. I had nned on simply sneaking in if it proved difficult to enter legally, but as Mithril Rank adventurers we can go to any nation within the guild''s sphere of influence.'' Marcus thought.

    He asked Miguel if he had any more information, but this was unfortunately all he knew about Houten. He had only heard a little bit in passing from Valerious'' grumblings.

    "Well, no matter. I am sure we can find out more at the main guild hall here in Borealia''s capital." Mrazivy said. "If we are lucky a teleportation circle has already been established in Houten and we can arrive instantly without having to worry about crossing the ocean by boat or flying."

    Agreeing that stopping by the adventurers guild would be a good idea, Marcus added it to the list of ces to visit today.

    Still, he did not want today to be all about work, so he made sure to insist that they stick to their ns of showing Miguel some of the sights around the city. There was plenty of time before he would have to worry about Reliaing to collect on his debt and a single day of leisure was not going to cause any harm.

    To start out their day, Marcus and Mrazivy brought Miguel to one of thergest concert halls in the city. Inside was beautiful architecture and paintings on the ceilings which were as much of a draw as the performances that were put on.

    After finishing up a tour of the concert hall, the three of them listened to a performance by the concert hall''s premier orchestra.

    "Wow, I did not know that this world had such sophisticated and beautiful music. Though, I am pretty sure that a couple of those songs did originallye from Earth." Miguel said animatedly at the end of the performance.

    Ever since he had been transmigrated to this world, he had not done much more than work as an adventurer or sit around and read in between jobs. He had not really soaked in the culture of the Mirrion despite having lived in it for several years now.

    "Yeah, you will find little bits of Earth''s influence around. I suppose since this kingdom was founded by a transmigration like us, it is more apparent here than some ces though." Marcusmented.

    Once they had finished up at the concert hall, they made their way towards Sublime Fantasia, which was one of the best restaurants in the city.

    Normally it would have been impossible to get a table on such short notice, butst time he was at the restaurant Marcus had helped out with an intitled high ranking noble that was terrorizing the staff and won the owner''s favor. Should he want it, a table was always open to him.

    "Wow! This is pretty good." Miguel said as he took the first sip of the restaurant''s soup of the day.

    "Yeah, they have a skilled kitchen staff and use the best ingredients around. Other than the royal castle, I haven''t found another ce in Borealia with food of the same quality."

    "There is actually another ce that I can think of. Whenever you are cooking your home has food that is just as good." Mrazivy said, a smirk on her face.

    Miguel quickly followed suit, saying that the best food he had ever had was during the feast Marcus had made following their victory over the colossal robot. Though, in this case, the fact that Marcus had made several nostalgic dishes for Miguel likely yed arge role in his favoritism.

    When they had finished with their food, the three of them continued on their tour of Borealia''s royal capital until they eventually found themselves outside of a particr store.

    "Wee to the best armor and weapon store as well as forge in Borealia." Marcus said, presenting the zegram Forge to Miguel.

    It had been a while since Marcus had been back and he figured that he would visit Thabon and the others while showing Miguel around at the same time.

    "Oh! Irene, you''re back!" The receptionist on duty said the movement Marcus walked in.

    The young man that Marcus had given some pointers to in the past did not seem to even notice Mrazivy and Miguel who entered at the same time and rushed up to Marcus excitedly.

    It wasn''t long before most of the apprentices and seasoned veterans came out to greet Marcus before he could even head back into the forge proper.

    "It has certainly been a while. How''ve ya been Irene." Gurrom said, pushing through the throng of people sounding Marcus.

    "I''ve been doing well for the most part. A few unfortunate things happened recently, but that is life. I managed to pull through, though notpletely unscathed." Marcus said, pulling the de of his scythe out of his item box.

    The moment that the few forgemasters that were in the know saw the gleaming purple de, they went wide eyed in shock. Before them was a legendary piece made of amethros. The rarest and strongest metal in the world and something all great forgemasters aspired to work with.

    "What is that?"

    "I don''t remember ever seeing a metal like that. Do you think it is mithril that has changed color from being forged with other materials?"

    Among the apprentices and less seasoned forgemasters, questions like these spread quickly. While amethros was not really a secret, it was so rare that few knew about it.

    "This is without a doubt a masterpiece." Gurrom said, eyeing the scythe de. "But it seems that the handle has been entirely destroyed. You''re telling me you went up against something that could break such a powerful weapon?"

    "Yeah, it waspletely unexpected, and I nearly lost my life. Still, I managed to scrape away with only my weapon being broken. I want to repair it, but I don''t have a personal facility capable of working with amethros. I could use the royal family''s if I asked, but there are some other things I want to discuss with Thabon.

    so I figured I might as welle by here instead." Marcus said, exining one of his reasons for being here.

    He then pointed towards Mrazivy and Miguel who were patiently waiting for the mor to die down.

    "I get it, you want to show them around the facility. Normally that would be a no go, but since it is you, I doubt that Master Thanbon will have a problem with it. He is in his personal room right now, busy as usual. But I am sure if I tell him you are here, he''lle out to meet you." Gurrom said, turning around and heading into the heart of the facility to fetch Thabon.

 Chapter 1031: Chapter 1031 Reunion with Thabon

    After Gurrom left to fetch Thabon, Marcus figured that now was the perfect time to show Mrazivy and Miguel around the forge''s storefront. Unless they were incredibly lucky, Thabon would not stop working on whatever project he was currently engaged in immediately.

    Marcus knew the man that taught him the ways of the forge well enough to understand that Thabon would be too engrossed in his craft to put down his hammer until he had reached a satisfactory stopping point or had finished.

    Inside the shop that mainly dealt in armor and weapons, Marcus showed his twopanions around.

    Certainly nothing on disy was even close to the quality of the gear they currently had, but it was all impressive work, nheless.

    "Is there anything on disy that you made?" Miguel asked partway through the tour.

    "Possibly. But I haven''t actually made anything for the storefront in a while. Most of what I have been working on in recent years is directmissions. It''s not like adamantine or even top tier mithril items are put on disy. Still, I did make some usual weapons in the past that might be collecting dust in a corner somewhere."

    Sensing that Miguel wanted to see something he had personally worked on; Marcus led the young hero around on a quest to find anything he might have forged years ago that still remined in the store.

    Thankfully, of all the items he made in the past, one was on disy in the umon weapon section of the store.

    "It is only made of bronze, and I definitely made it towards the beginning of my carrier as a forgemaster, but this is definitely my work." Marcus said, holding up a certain weapon for Miguel.

    "The enchantments are pretty decent for bronze. Though, I have never seen this exact weapon before." Miguel said, testing out the item Marcus had handed to him.

    "That there is called a Katar. It is sort of like a type of dagger."

    Absentmindedly nodding his head when Marcus told him the weapons'' name, Miguel looked it over for another few seconds before putting it back. Obviously, he had lost interest once he saw that the item wasn''t anything special other than its unique design. Naturally what he really wanted to see was some of Marcus'' high-level work.

    Once the three of them had finished looking at the items on sale at the storefront, Marcus led them back into the reception area of the forge to wait for Thabon. Luckily, they did not have to wait but another three minutes before Gurrom came out with him.

    "Irene, it is good to see you again after all this time. I heard from Gurrom that you encountered quite the monster that managed to break your weapon. Mind if I take a look?"

    Thabon had a sparkle in his eyes as he asked Marcus to see the remains of his scythe. He had pretty much skipped over any pleasantries and gone straight to what interested him.

    Still, Marcus obliged his master and took out the de of his scythe which had only a small part of its former handle still attached.

    Without any restraint, Thabon reached to grab the damaged weapon, but Marcus swiftly pulled it away. Damaged as the scythe was, the power and instinct of the Doomsday Worm was within the magic core that served as the focal point of the weapon. In anyone''s hands other than Marcus'', the scythe was liable to be unruly.

    "What gives Irene? It is not often even for me to see such an exquisite piece. Even damaged it is still part of a system recognized amethros weapon." Thabon said indignantly.

    "Sorry, but if you want to look it over, I need to keep a hand on it. I''ll exin more about itter." Marcus replied, his expression serious.

    "Okay, as long as I can look it over."

    Diligently, Thabon examined the de of Marcus'' broken scythe. He tapped the metal with his fingers and a small hammer, tested the sharpness of the de and at one point Marcus thought that he might even lick it.

    "Hm, as far as I can tell the de is still in perfect condition despite the handle breaking. It should be an easy enough fix granted you have the right materials." Thabon said, giving his assessment.

    "Yeah, that is one of the reasons I am here. Though, I did alsoe by to show some friends around." Marcus said, pointing towards Mrazivy and Miguel.

    Finally noticing their presences, Thabon turned towards Marcus''panions with a look of shock on his face.

    "Sorry, I should have greeted you earlier Princess Mrazivy."

    Even with her hair color disguised by a magic item Thabon recognized Mrazivy immediately. Even though he did not care much for authority, he still knew to show a minimum level of respect to the royal family.

    "There is no need to be so formal, Thabon. I did note here in any official capacity. Today I am just a normal girl named Mraz that is friends with Irene."

    "Sure, if that is what you want." Thabon said, quickly rxing his speech and posture. He wasn''t going to stand on ceremony if the other party did not care.

    "And this here is Miguel. Someone I met a few years ago but did not really get to know until recently. We are showing him around the city and figured that the zegram Forge had to be a part of the tour." Marcus said, introducing Miguel.

    "Nice to meet you, Miguel. Any friend of Irene''s is a friend of mind. If you ever need anything rting to the forge, feel free to stop by. Though, since you can just go to Irene, I doubt you will have much need of my services." Thabon said holding out his hand.

    Miguel then thanked Thabon for his generosity and shook Thabon''s outstretched hand.

    "Oh! What do we have here?" Thabon said, noticing the bracer on Miguel''s wrist that had been mostly covered by his sleeve.

    Losing out to his fascination, Thabon pulled up Miguel''s sleeve and began inspecting the bracer without a moment''s notice.

    At first Miguel instinctively tried to yank his arm away but found that Thabon''s iron grip was not so easily broken.

    "This is definitely Ivan''s work. You must have some connections high up in the adventurers guild to be able to get him to do work for you."

    Thabon was able to tell exactly who had made the bracer on Miguel''s arm that could transform into his amethros shield after examining it for just a dozen seconds. There weren''t many forgemasters that could work with amethros, and as one himself, Thabon knew all of the forgemasters within the adventurer''s guild that could.

    "Yes, I believe that is the name of the man that made a few pieces of gear for me. I never actually met him since Valerius acted as an intermediary." Miguel said, pulling away from Thabon.

    "That makes sense. I could see Valerius doing that for a young talent like yourself." Thabon said, nodding his head. Even though Miguel''s status was protected by a magic item, Thabon''s vast wealth of experience told him that the young man in front of him was no ordinary individual.

    "I can understand your interest Thabon, but if you would not mind saving it forter. I was hoping to repair my scythe with your facility and assistance." Marcus said, drawing his master''s attention away from Miguel who was looking distressed.

    "Sure, that shouldn''t be a problem. Of course, that is as long as you have your own materials and resources. I''m sure that you know how costly it is to run the furnace capable of heating amethros."

    "Yeah, I have plenty of high-grade magic cores that can be used as fuel. And as far as materials go I have more than enough of everything. Well expect for celestial tinum. I was hoping I could trade you this for some."

    Opening up his item box, Marcus pulled out an adamantine ingot that he had processed from the ore deposit on Haze Ind.

    Its gleaming green surface caught Thabon''s attention, and he happily agreed to the trade. Adamantine was far rarer than celestial tinum after all.

    "This is certainly going to be fun. I recently got my skill level to go up for the first time in decades thanks to the motivation you gave me to improve. I wonder what sort of weapon we will create?"

    Thabon was clearly pleased by the sudden chance to work with a system recognized amethros weapon. Even in his long career this would be a first.

    Yet, before he rushed off to his personal workroom with Marcus in tow, he turned towards Mrazivy.

    "I can''t believe I forgot up to this point, but would you mind lending me the saber I made for you, Mraz. Now is as good a time as any for me to perform maintenance on it. As what I consider one of my greatest creations, I would be remiss to miss this chance to look over it again."

    Expectantly, Thabon waited for Mrazivy to hand over the sword. Yet she made no moves to bring it out. In fact, she instead took a step back and wore a guilty expression on her face.

    Seeing this, Thabon''s elevation plummeted, and he looked at Mrazivy in disbelief. He could tell that something had happened to the precious weapon he had put his heart and soul into creating.

    "Did it break just like Irene''s scythe?" Thabon asked with a look of horror in his eyes.

    Unfortunately, the answer was far worse than he had been expecting. A broken weapon could still be put back together or in the worst case melted down and repurposed. Mrazivy''s amethros saber, however, was lost for good.

 Chapter 1032: Chapter 1032 Reforging the Strongest Scythe

    Thabon looked devastated when he heard that the saber he had made for Mrazivy was lost. It had been one of his finest creations, but now it would never again be used by anyone.

    "I''m sorry. We were in a real do or die situation, and I threw it at our enemy. It was the same one that broke Ma- I mean Irene''s scythe. After the battle we searched for it, but I think it sank to the bottom of a monster and beast infestedke that was too dangerous for us to continued looking in. Truly, I am sorry." Mrazivy said, giving a heartfelt apology to Thabon.

    It took several minutes before Thabon got over the shock, but eventually he let out a deep sigh and regained a bit ofposure.

    "I suppose that was just the fate of the weapon. At least you were able to use it to defend your and Irene''s lives. As much as it pains me to here that it is gone for good, that at least provides some sce."

    Clearly Thabon was notpletely over the loss, but the crestfallen expression on his face had at least lifted.

    Nevertheless, every bit of anguish Thabon was feeling was soon washed away by what Marcus had to say next.

    "So, there you have it, Mrazivy''s weapon is gone, and she is currently without one. Of course, that means that we will need to make her a knew one. I happen to havee into possession of enough amethros to repair my scythe and make a new saber for her. If you have time, I would be incredibly grateful for you to work with me in creating an even greater sword than her previous one."

    Immediately Thabon became animated again and jumped at the opportunity. He was not going to miss out on any chance he got to work with amethros. Even for him it was rare that he got the opportunity to work with the strongest and rarest metal in the world.

    The two of them quicklyunched into a brainstorming session about what sort of supplementary materials they should use, but Mrazivy soon interjected.

    "Actually, I would like it if you could hold off on making a new weapon for me. There are a few items I need to gather that I want you both to use in its creation. Still, I will need a couple days at least. During that time the two of you can focus on Irene''s scythe instead."

    "Sure, that shouldn''t be a problem. But what sort of materials are you nning on obtaining?" Marcus asked. He already had inside of his item box a treasure trove of rare and valuable monster and beast parts that would outss most nation''s treasuries.

    Yet, Mrazivy only shook her head and said that it was a secret. She wasn''t even going to tell Marcus what she nned on gathering.

    "Ah, but before we part ways, could I see the cores the guild''s leader gave us?"

    A bit confused about the sudden request, Marcus still did as Mrazivy asked and opened his item box and took out the six cores they had been given.

    As soon as she could see them Mrazivy''s eyes shed golden, and she carefully examined each of the cores.

    "As I thought." Mrazivy murmured to herself as she appraised the cores.

    Then after a couple of minutes, she pointed to one of them and asked that it be used as the focal point of her new weapon.

    "As for the others, would you mind if I take them?"

    Marcus was taken aback by this and wanted Mrazivy to borate, but when he saw the determined and pleading look in her eyes, he handed the cores over to her without question. He did not know what she wanted them for, but he trusted her.

    Once that had been sorted out, Mrazivy took Miguel with her to continue showing him around the city and give Marcus time to work on fixing his broken scythe with Thabon.

    "Now, let us go to my work room. I can''t wait to work with amethros again. It has bene nearly three months since thest time I got my hands on any." Thabon said enthusiastically.

    The moment the door to room was closed, Thabon pulled the leveler next to his workbench that brought his special scarlet ore furnace meant for working with amethros out of the ground.

    Just like thest time Marcus had seen it, the sight of the immense and powerful magical furnace was awe inspiring. Truthfully, he wanted one for himself, but had yet to have the time to build one on his property.

    "Let''s see what kind of cores we will be working with." Thabon said, opening thepartment where the furnace would turn the magic cores into fuel.

    From out of his item box, Marcus brought out twenty cores from beasts and monsters that he had fought on Haze Ind. Every creature on the ind had been over level sixty so all of the cores were incredibly powerful.

    Nodding his head, Thabon approved and started out by throwing half a dozen into the furnace to get it going.

    "While it warms up, why don''t you show me the material you are nning on using to create your scythe''s new handle."

    "Got it." Marcus responded.

    He then took out what remained of the phoenix talon he had obtained in Aezam along with parts from the nightskitter and Archon Shedu that Ardea had given to him when he first made his amethros scythe.

    All of these materials came from powerful beasts or monsters over level eighty and would be perfect to strengthen the amethros Marcus nned to make his scythe''s new handle out of.

    "You really never cease to amaze me, Irene. These are all fantastic." Thabon said, astounded by the quality of the materials Marcus had.

    Except, Marcus was not quite done just yet. As a reward for his help in freeing Za from her berserk state, the guardian of Aezam had given him some parts from powerful beasts and monsters.

    "This should be enough. We only need to get started now." Marcus said, satisfied with the materials he had chosen.

    Thabon''s eyes were filled with excitement at the prospect of working with such high-quality items and swiftly moved over to the furnace and began pouring his mana into it.

    Soon the mes were strong enough to melt amethros and Marcus used his spectral arm to move the gleaming purple metal along with the beast and monster parts into the center of the furnace.

    Within around an hour the amethros and supplementary materials had melted together and were poured into an ingot mold to cool.

    Naturally the opposing light and darkness elements had nearly caused a dangerous explosion but having had plenty of experience getting the fusion to work before, Marcus had kept things under control and the enhanced amethros came out perfectly.

    "Your skills are impressive as always. To think you could get such a vtilebination of monster and beast parts to work together. It is nothing short of a miracle." Thabon said, impressed by the ingot they had created.

    As powerful as amethros was on its own, when forged together with powerful materials from monsters and beasts, its true strength would show.

    "Yeah, at level nine, my forge skill is good, but for this, I think I should raise it for thest time."

    Marcus had been hesitating to use his skill points to bring up his forge skill again but seeing the ingot he and Thabon had just created, he knew that his current skill level would not be enough to get the most out of it.

    With almost all of the skill points he had stockpiled, Marcus raised his forge skill to level ten and brought it up to the highest possible level achievable.

    At once Marcus was able to sense a profound difference. The hammer in his hand felt lighter and he could easily picture the best way to swing it. His intuition for forging had reached even greater heights than before and he felt as if something that had always been there but invisible was now clear.

    "There you go cheating again. I wish it was so easy for me to raise my skill level." Thabon huffed.

    He had spent decades working as a forgemaster, but Marcus had easily surpassed him in just a few years thanks to his innate talent from his blessing of iron, his endless stamina as a ghost, and his Personal Status unique skill that allowed him to assign his skill points to whichever skill he desired.

    "Sorry, I know it is not really fair, but this is likely going to be thest time I make a personal weapon. I want it to be the best that I can create."

    Thabon continued to grumble about the unfairness of the world, but he still kept going and prepared to assist Marcus.

    However, before they created the new handle for Marcus'' scythe, he looked down at the still intact de and frowned.

    With his skill level raised to max, he could now see a few slight imperfections that he never noticed before. The de had received the system''s approval and even been given a name, but it was not absolutely perfect.

    "Were going to need to melt the de down and start from scratch." Marcus said, not able ept the current quality of the scythe.

    "Really, it already appears to be impable. What more could you expect?"

    Naturally Thabon could not spot the very slight ws that Marcus could now instinctively see and feel. Though, when Marcus carefully pointed them out Thabon was able to see them.

    "The faults are so small and insignificant I struggle to see how you could do any better, but you are the one with the higher skill level. I''ll follow your lead." Thabon said, wearing a pensive expression. He was trying to figure out how to improve the scythe''s de but could not figure it out himself.

    "I feel like I need to reforge itpletely. I''ll have regrets if I don''t try. Even if it turns out worse at least I will know I gave it a shot."

    Having steeled his resolve, Marcus brought the de over to the furnace and began the process of melting it back down into an ingot.

    As the melt began to be malleable, he reached in and plucked out the Dread Burrower''s core so that it was not damaged by the mes. Once the scythe was ready, he would imnt the core into it once again.

    ''It certainly has be unruly again.'' Marcus thought, feeling the vestiges of the Doomsday Worm''s awakening within the core. Now that it had been removed from the scythe and the connection Marcus'' soul had to it, the core was no longer under his control.

    Nevertheless, he easily dealt with it by tossing it into his item box. He would simply leave it in there until he needed it.

 Chapter 1033: Chapter 1033 New and Improved Weapons

    "Impressive. I dare say this may be the most powerful weapon in the world."

    Marveled by the finished scythe, Thabon could not help but heap the highest praise he could upon it.

    "Certainly, it is in the highest ss of weapon, however, I don''t know if I would go so far as to say it is the strongest." Marcus replied.

    He had seen two other weapons that were simrly as powerful as his reforged scythe. One was Cassius'' Excalibur, and the other was Boreas''nce named Tempest. He hadn''t been able to examine either of these weapons'' capabilities closely, so he was unable to determine if his scythe was truly stronger than them.

    Still, as he held up the gleaming, system recognized scythe that was nowpletely made of amethros, Marcus wore a proud smile on his face.

    As powerful as it had been when he first made it, the current Dread Devourer was a tier above what it had been before.

    Thanks to his maxed-out forge skill and Thabon''s years of experience they had crafted a perfect weapon thatcked even the slightest of ws. In fact, it was almost too powerful for Marcus to control in his current state.

    The remnants of the Doomsday Worm''s instincts were fighting him for control and even with the fragment of his soul in the weapon Marcus had to keep at least some amount of focus on the weapon at all times to prevent it from getting out of hand.

    "Let me thank you again Thabon. I would not have been able to reforge my scythe without your facility and expertise. This joint effort of ours has shown me that I still have much to learn. Just having a higher skill level doesn''t equate to more knowledge."

    "I already told you that there is no need to thank me." Thabon said admonishingly. "You gave me a chance that most forgemasters can only dream of. I will forever have had a hand in forging a legendary weapon."

    Thabon was all smiles and could not contain his tion.

    Soon he had brought out several casks and bottles from his personal alcohol stash and began a celebratory drinking party with Marcus.

    The two of them went on drinking and eating snacks Marcus pulled out of his item box for several hours until Gurrom knocked on the door.

    "Mrazivy! What happened to you?!"

    When Gurrom opened the door, he was not the only one there. Standing alongside him was Mrazivy who had undergone an unbelievable change.

    Outwardly she looked the same as ever, but the strength of her body and mana had drastically increased.It felt like she had gained several levels, but that would be impossible in only the couple of days since Marcusst saw her.

    Also, along with her marked increase in power, she was clearly haggard. As if she had recently fought a battle that pushed her body and soul to its limits.

    "I just did some special training. Though, I don''t really want to discuss it with anyone other than you." Mrazivy said, ncing at Gurrom and Thabon.

    Tactfully the two dwarven forgemasters left Mrazivy and Marcus alone in Thabon''s personal workshop and sealed the room so that no one could eavesdrop.

    "Now, what happened? No ordinary special training could give you such a massive increase in strength in just a couple of days. It feels like you have gotten at least twenty percent stronger."

    "Actually, my stats have gone up by twenty-two percent." Mrazivy rified.

    However, Marcus only frowned at this answer. He did not particrly care about the exact increase in stats she had obtained, but how the sudden boost was achieved.

    Mrazivy was hesitant to answer, but eventually she resolved herself and exined.

    "My Supreme Skill Strongest Dragon has another ability other than allowing me to increase my powers temporarily. It also lets me permanently steal the strength of other dragons. I didn''t mention this since it seemed unlikely we would have any dragons as enemiesˇ­ And because I was worried that if Gwyneira knew, she would be afraid of me.

    Perhaps she would always in the back of her mind think that I coulde after her to strengthen myself. And I couldn''t even me her. Sometimes I even imagine doing so."

    After Mrazivy hadid bare her insecurities, Marcus embraced her.

    "I understand how you feel. With my Soul Devour unique skill I can eat people''s souls to empower myself. While it is not often, there I times I feel the urge to use it indiscriminately. Nevertheless, I know doing so will lead me to losing myself."

    Marcus continued tofort Mrazivy for a few minutes until she got her emotions back under control.

    She then told him that the six cores that the adventurers guild''s leader had given to them all belonged to dragons. The five that she had taken were what she had used to rapidly increase her stats in only a couple of days.

    "I suspect he must have seen the true nature of my Supreme Skills and given us those specific cores on purpose. I was hesitant to use them at first, but after beingpletely helpless against that man, I knew I could not pass up the chance to be more powerful."

    Nodding his head, Marcus understood this sentiment. He was prioritizing obtaining a ghost king''s core so that he could evolve for this very reason. They had been utterly defeated and it was clear that their current level of strength was far from enough to contend with the true powerhouses out there.

    ''Perhaps we even grew a bit conceited.''

    The training in the special dungeon had put them leagues above most individuals, and Marcus knew he had believed that in the worst-case scenario they could easily get away if they came up against a powerful opponent. Unfortunately, this proved to be far from true.

    "What about the final core? Are you sure that you don''t want to absorb it? We have plenty of other powerful cores that could be used for you new weapon."

    "No, that one is special. In order to absorb the power of a dragon I have to beat them in battle. In case of only having the magic core, I have to ovee the lingering will of the dragon within. I''m not sure if I could beat thest one." Mrazivy exined.

    "Got it. The I promise to use it to make you a weapon of unparalleled power."

    "Thank you, I would expect nothing less. But I also have some other materials I want you to use."

    From out of her item box Mrazivy pulled out a bag that contained two dozen fangs, a pair of glittering blue horns, several dragon scales, and fourrge bottles of blood.

    Immediately Marcus recognized where she had gotten these items and looked at Mrazivy with concern.

    "I don''t want to hear anything from the guy that cut off his own arm. It''s my body and I figured that any weapon made for me would be stronger if a part of myself was used in its crafting. I''m basically a mythic grade beast, so these should all be premium materials."

    As much as Marcus wanted to rebuke Mrazivy for her rash decision, he really did not have a leg to stand on since he had done the same thing.

    ''She looks to have healed already. But just in case.''

    Holding out his hand, Marcus created a silver ball of light and sent it towards Mrazivy.

    In just a second, she was fully enveloped by the restorative properties of Marcus'' Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill.

    She did not have any visible injuries, but the weary look on her face was gone and her general demeanor seemed to have recovered.

    "Thank you, I feel better now. Taking on the wills of five dragons and removing parts of my body left me a bit worn out."

    With what she wanted to do finished, Mrazivy left the zegram Forge so that Marcus could focus on creating a new sword for her. She knew that if she stuck around, she would only serve as a distraction.

    Thabon entered the workshop not long after Mrazivy departed and got to work on preparing the equipment needed for creating a saber.

    "You two certainly are birds of a feather. Most people would never even consider cutting off a part of themselves to be used as materials." Thabon said once he saw the fags, horns, scales, and blood Mrazivy had left. Still, he could not deny that each of these items were of incredibly high quality.

    Once the furnace had heated up Marcus added the amethros along with the Mrazivy''s fangs, scales, and horns. It took longer than expected, but eventually everything melted together into one and was ready to be turned into an ingot.

    When it came time to mold the metal into a sword, Marcus and Thabon hammered the ingot in turn and used Mrazivy''s blood to temper the metal. Honestly Thabon felt that what they were doing was dangerously close to breaking a taboo, but since Mrazivy had willingly provided the blood and pieces of her body it was in a sort of grey zone.

    Luckily, the weapon did note out cursed or otherwise have any sort of negative attributes attached to it.

    As Marcus held up thepleted de, it began to glow and a pattern of snow and ice covered it, giving it a mystical appearance.

    ''Ah! it looks like a dragon.''

    Carefully looking at the pattern, Marcus could make out the likeness of a dragon within the snow and ice.

    However, just receiving the system''s blessing was not the end. Marcus and Thabon soon received a message from the system just a momentter. The saber they had just forged had been given a name. From this point on, it would be known as Bahamut''s Fang.

 Chapter 1034: Chapter 1034 Off to Houten

    "I honestly don''t know if I cane up with the proper words to describe it. This saber feels so natural in my hands, more than any other de I have ever wielded. It''s like an extension of myself."

    After picking up her new weapon for the first time, Mrazivy was instantly amazed by it. For several minutes she gazed at it while lightly adjusting her grip and asionally extoling how great the sword was.

    Eventually she asked for something to test the de out on, and Marcus held up an adamantine ingot for her.

    With a single sh, she cleaved the adamantine in half. There was almost no resistance as the de cut through. The feat all the more impressive because Mrazivy had not enhanced her or the saber''s abilities in any way. The attack had simply been the result of her skill and the weapon''s innate power.

    "Such a clean cut. You''d think she had just sliced through butter instead of the second strongest metal." Thabon said, shocked to see how easily Mrazivy had sliced through the ingot.

    Naturally, when they examined the saber for any dulling or chips on the de, neither Marcus nor Thabon found the slightest bit of damage.

    "If it can cut through adamantine so easily, I wonder how it will fair against amethros." Marcus said, pulling out a gleaming purple ingot from his item box.

    Mrazivy was more than happy to try her new saber out again and held her weapon in both hands above her head.

    This time she enhanced both her body and sword with mana, knowing that she would likely be unable to as effortlessly cut through this ingot as she had thest.

    When Mrazivy was ready, she brought her sword down so fast that it looked like a blur.

    Sparks flew the moment her de reached the amethros ingot Marcus was holding out and he had to brace himself to prevent being smashed into eh ground by the force of the blow.

    A loud grating sound echoed through the room as the de quickly sliced through the ingot, until finallying to a stop around eighty percent of the way through.

    Seeing that she had not cleaved the amethros ingot in half, Mrazivy clicked her tongue in irritation. She had been hoping to do better.

    Nevertheless, this feat was still worthy of praise. Marcus knew that she had not used anywhere near her full power. Had she, the amethros ingot surely would have been sliced in two without offering any resistance.

    "I think that should be enough for now. Any further tests will need to be somewhere that no one will mind the surroundings getting destroyed." Marcus said, noticing a dangerous glint in Mrazivy''s eyes. If she lessened her control even just a bit, there was a good chance the entire zegram forge could end up as a pile of rubble.

    "Yeah, you''re right. We need to go and pick up our beastpanions from the Retharin before leaving anyway. I''m sure they are tired of just raining in the mountains. We can test out our new weapons when we get them."

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed. He also wanted to test his newly reforged scythe out and figured that Retharin would be more than happy to spar with him. He was a magical beast that enjoyed a good battle after all.

    Having finished up their business at the zegram Forge, Marcus bid farewell to Thabon, Gurrom, and the rest of the members of the forge. A part of him wanted to stay longer since it had been a while since he hadst spent time working with everyone, but he only had a couple of months before having to pay back his debt to Relia.

    "What do you want to do now?" Mrazivy asked once they exited the forge.

    "I think we should head for the Verkoudhied Mountains. I want to hurry up and leave for Houten. There will be time to rx once I have a ghost king''s core."

    "Got it. I need to inform everyone at the castle that I am leaving for a bit. Why don''t you tell Lilia and once you are done, we can meet at the capital''s northern gate."

    With their n''s set Marcus and Mrazivy went their separate ways to inform their families that they would be going on a short trip. Then a few hourster they met back up and flew towards the Verkoudhied Mountains where their beastpanions had been training with Retharin.

    When they arrived, Retharin dragged them into severalrge-scale battles, but this at least gave Marcus and Mrazivy ample opportunity to get a feel for their new weapons.

    After three days of nearly nonstop fighting, Retharin was finally satisfied and let Marcus, Mrazivy, and all of their beastpanions go.

    Upon returning to the royal capital, Marcus and Mrazivy, along with their beastpanions, headed directly for the adventurers guild''s main headquarters in the city. They nned to meet up with Lilia, ric, and Miguel there and immediately teleport to Houten.

    ''Looks like everyone is here.''

    Entering the guild hall Marcus quickly spotted Miguel sitting by himself in one corner of the guild, while Lilia and ric were speaking with a member of the guild''s staff.

    Seeing that his sister and ric were busy, Marcus made his way towards Miguel first.

    "I was starting to worry you wouldn''t show up." Miguel said, ncing towards therge clock in the guild hall.

    "Sorry, we got a bit held up going along with a friends'' requests."

    "I see. So then, those four must be your beastpanions, right?" Miguel asked, an edge of wariness in his voice. He could sense how powerful Roxene, Blitz, Inten, and Eirwen.

    "Yeah, these three are my beastparisons, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten. While this guy here is Mrazivy''s beastpassion Eirwen." Marcus said introducing his and Mrazivy''s beastpanions who had taken human form.

    "I can''t believe they just casually brought four mythic grade beasts into a city." Miguel muttered to himself. All of their beastpanions would be considered living cmities that most nations would not want anywhere near a popted area.

    After they finished up with introductions, Mrazivy was the first to ask Miguel what he had been able to find out about Houten.

    Unfortunately, Borealia was pretty far away from the newest country joining up with the adventurers guild and information was scarce. All Miguel had found out was that it would take them three jumps using the guild''s teleportation circles to reach Houten.

    "I was told that if we wanted to learn more, it would be best to ask once we reach in Houten. Since we are mithril rank most intel will be easily obtainable at the guild hall upon our arrival."

    "That''s not anything to go on, but I suppose that is to be expected from a nation on another continent that Borealia has almost no rtionship with." Mrazivy said, wearing a slightly frustrated expression.

    Sadly, it seemed that in order to find out anything they would need to simply head to their destination.

    "Though, I''m not sure if ourck of information is our biggest problem. Only adventurers can use the teleportation circles. How are you nning on getting your beastpanions toe along. If you reveal what they really are, there is going to be an uproar." Miguel said.

    "That won''t be a problem. I did some identity farming, and they are all gold rank adventurers that are our party''s junior members as far as anyone is concerned."

    Marcus had an evil grin on his face as he exined how he had used his False Status unique skill to create several identification papers and guild cards for hispanions.

    However, before Miguel couldment on Marcus'' tant disregard for severalws, Lilia and ric, along with Lilia'' beastpanions Aurelia and Zareen came over.

    "So, this must be the new friend you mentioned. Nice to meet you, I''m Lilia, Marcus'' sister."

    Turning towards the person that had addressed him, Miguel prepared to introduce himself, but stopped when he saw her face.

    An ufortable silence permeated the area as Miguel stared at Lilia without saying anything.

    "It is also a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am ric, Lilia''s fianc¨¦."

    A hint of jealousy in his tone, ric introduced himself as well in order to break the trace that Miguel appeared to be in as he gazed at Lilia.

    Coming back to his senses, Miguel returned the instructions and then looked away embarrassedly.

    "Well, we are all together now, so how about we reserve a timeslot to use the teleportation circle." Marcus said to break the awkward tension.

    Thankfully this worked like a charm and their group of eleven headed towards a guild counter that was only mithril rank and higher adventurers.

    "Of course, your highnesses. We will get the teleportation circle ready for your departure posthaste." The guild employ said after hearing Marcus and Mrazivy''s request. He recognized them from thest time they had used the circle when Valerius had acted as their escort.

    For this reason, as well as their statues as members of the royal family, they received expedited permission to use the teleportation circle.

    Within less than twenty minutes their entire group was engulfed by bright light and on their way to another nation that sat on the eastern edge of the continent to the west of Borealia.

    Then after another two jumps they found themselves standing on the newly created teleportation circle inside Houten''s recently built main guild hall.

 Chapter 1035: Chapter 1035 A New Assignment

    The moment the light around the teleportation circle faded, Marcus nced around the room.

    Like the other teleportation rooms he had been in this one had a pretty standard design, but it was clear that it had been only recently constructed due to the sheen and generalck of wear on everything.

    ''Looks like the consecutive teleportation took a toll on everyone. Well, except for Lilia for some reason.'' Marcus thought, turning to look at hispanions.

    Out of everyone he was doing the best except for his younger sister. For some reason she did not seem to have experienced any negative effects from the teleportation circles that made everyone else feel nauseous.

    Marcus could only chalk it up to Lilia''s Empyrean race being unnaturally resilient or perhaps one of her unique skills offering protection against teleportation sickness.

    Thankfully it did not take too long for everyone to recover, with Marcus being the first to get over his mild symptoms, followed by Miguel who had the most experience using the teleportation circles.

    Once their entire group was back in peak condition one of the guild staff members in the room headed over to greet them.

    She was a fairly pretty young woman with shoulder length brown hair that looked to be in her mid-twenties. On her face was a bright smile and she looked ecstatic to see Marcus'' party for some reason.

    "Hello, it is an honor to greet your esteemed party. My name is Vivi, and I will be more than happy to show you around the guild. Though, before anything else, I am sure that you wish to sign up for the mission. If you follow me, we can get the paperwork finished in just a couple of minutes."

    Vivi then turned around and began briskly walking towards the exit, but Marcus along with everyone with him just stood there dumbfounded. They had note to Houten for any specific job and certainly had no clue what Vivi was referring to.

    When she noticed that no one was following her, Vivi turned around with a concerned expression.

    She asked if they had yet to recover from their teleportation sickness, but Marcus confirmed that they were all doing fine, which only added to Vivi''s confusion.

    "Um, what mission might you mean?" Mrazivy asked to break the ufortable atmosphere that was forming.

    "Huh? Did you note here to join the operation to take back the old capital? Many adventurers havee from across the continent to join since His Majesty is offering lucrative rewards to high-ranking adventurers who participate. I figured that a group that has mithril ranks in it must havee here for that reason. Did you perhapse to Houten for something else?"

    Vivi looked a bit crestfallen at the prospect that Marcus and hispanions would not be participating in the operation to liberate the old capital from the undead that had overtaken it for centuries. Apparently, she had quite a bit of patriotism.

    "Ah, that is what you meant. Yes, we most certainly came to help retake the old capital. I just wasn''t certain that is what you meant." Marcus quickly replied.

    Of course, he honestly had no prior information on this mission entailed, but his goal foring here was to enter the old capital and take down the ghost king that was hopefully within the former royal castle.

    There was a good chance that by joining this mission he could get easily ess to information he wanted as well as possible gain plenty of unwitting allies that would help distract the hundreds of thousands of undead that supposedly resided within the old capital.

    ''If it seems like it will be more hassle than it is worth, we can always leave and a pay a breach of contractter.''

    Once she heard Marcus'' positive reply, the smile that had begun to waver on Vivi''s face bloomed even brighter than before. She did not know exactly how strong Marcus'' party was, but since they had mithril rank adventurers among them there was no doubt that they would be immensely helpful with recovering the long-lost old capital.

    "That is great. Please allow me to guide you all to a private room and I will bring you the necessary forms to formally ept the mission."

    With a pep in her step Vivi brought Marcus andpany out of the teleportation room and into a nearby room meant for discussions with high-ranking adventurers.

    Within less than two minutes Vivi had brought over the documents pertaining to the operation.

    Marcus, Mrazivy, Miguel, Lilia, and ric immediately began looking over the documents, though none of their beastpanions were so inclined. They could care less about the particrs of what was going on. They had simplye along to assist the people they had contracted with and enjoy the trip.

    ''Looks like this is a pretty big operation. They''re mobilizing the majority of the kingdom''s main army and are hiring adventurers as an additional force. I wonder if getting more high-levelbatants for this might be the main reason Houten joined up with the adventurers guild in the first ce.

    From what Miguel told us it has been only a little more than half a year since they became affiliated with the guild, yet almost immediately they started recruiting for this mission.''

    Marcus was fairly certain he had hit the nail on the head, but it did not particrly matter considering his objective. He did not care about whatever was going on behind the scenes so long as he got his hands on the core of a ghost king.

    "This is a pretty generous payout even considering the dangers involved and the fairly lengthy specified time of the mission." ric said, his attention having been drawn to the section detailingpensation.

    "Yes, His Majesty, the current king, is very dedicated to restoring the old capital to its former glory. From what I have heard he considers money no object so long as the lost city can be retaken." Vivi said, a dreamy look in her eyes. She certainly appeared to have bought into whatever propaganda was going around.

    She continued to praise the king and his devotion to the nation, but neither Marcus nor any of hispanions were really listening. Instead, they were having a telepathic conversation about what they should do.

    ''I think we should ept the job. There are almost negatives to joining up with such arge force.'' Lilia said, giving her opinion.

    ''Hm, I don''t know. There is a use in the contract that all monster and beast materials belong to the kingdom and that we will only receive mary bonuses for collecting these items. If we do ept the mission, then technically the ghost king core would belong to Houten if we do obtain it. Plus, we will have to dy until the army is ready to move.

    The details say that the attack is currently scheduled to ur sometime within the next two to six weeks. That is a pretty big window of time.'' ric said, pointing out the demerits of joining the operation to reim the old capital.

    There was a bit more back and forth from everyone for a couple of minutes, but in the end, everyone turned towards Marcus to make the final decision. They were here primary to help him after all. He was the one that needed a ghost king''s core so they would leave what they would ultimately do up to him.

 Chapter 1036: Chapter 1036 A New Assignment (2)

    "Everything looks to be in order. You are now officially registered for the operation to retake the old capital." Vivi said, looking quite pleased.

    After a bit of careful consideration, Marcus figured that there were more positives than negatives to epting the mission. They would almost certainly be privy to information that would have been difficult to obtain on their own and having arge force to draw the attention of the hordes of undead that resided in the city would be incredibly beneficial.

    As for the fact that technically the ghost king''s core would belong to the kingdom of Houten, Marcus figured it would be fine to ignore that use in the agreement. Even if they were found out, he imagined that the worst that would happen was needing to pay a fine and getting reprimanded by the guild.

    "Thank you for speeding along this process Vivi. Now if you would not mind showing us to the guild hall''s exit, we will be on our way."

    "Oh, I was just doing my job." Vivi said with a quick bow. "Ah, but your party is not from Houten, so if you want, I can arrange for transportation and a guide. You''ll be expected in Fortress City Armadura within ten days, and I would hate for any of you to get lost on your way."

    Marcus was about to turn down Vivi''s offer, but Mrazivy stopped him with a quick telepathicmunication.

    ''It''s true that we could probably arrive faster if we just go by ourselves, but where is the fun in that. Even if we arrive at Armadura tomorrow, we will just be stuck waiting around until things get started. There is no need for us to rush around everywhere. A slow leisurely journey is not bad every once in a while.''

    Seeing the pleading look on Mrazivy''s face, Marcus agreed to ept Vivi''s offer of a guide and a ride.

    "Of course, we would be happy to have an expert on the area show us around, and it is true that we don''t have a vehicle, so transportation would be appreciated."

    "Understood, I will get that prepared for you if you just wait here for a little while."

    Like a whirlwind Vivi then left the room.

    "We certainly are receiving the royal treatment here." Liliamented once Vivi was gone.

    "Yeah, back in Borealia the guild staff never acted like this." ric said, agreeing with Lilia.

    "I think it is likely just because of the current circumstances. The guild hasn''t been established here for very long so there are likely not many strong native adventurers. They are probably counting a lot on foreign adventurers to add the extra manpower they need to take back their lost city. On paper our group here possesses three mithril rank adventurers, two tinum ranks, and six gold ranks.

    Even though they don''t know what our true capabilities are, they can tell that we are a party that brings with it a great deal to the table. It only makes sense that they would want to give us a warm wee if it means we will lend our strength to their cause." Miguel said, giving his exnation for their ster treatment.

    For around five more minutes the eleven of them continued with idle conversation and enjoyed some refreshments provided by the guild until Vivi came back.

    "Pardon the wait. It took me a bit longer than expected, but I managed to find the perfect guide for all of you and a caravan that will be heading to Armadura tomorrow that will be more than happy to have you with them."

    ''That took her longer than expected. She was only gone for a bit more than five minutes. How quickly does she normally work?'' Marcus thought.

    Still, Marcus was perfectly fine with the expedience and listened to the details of the arrangements that Vivi had made for them.

    For their guide, Vivi had pinned down a local silver rank adventurer that was already nning on heading to Armadura. However, for the caravan, she had actually brought several tags that adventurers would take when epting a posted job.

    "Naturally you do not have to ept the request to act as guards for this caravan and I can get you all epted as normal passengers as well. Though, I image that in the case somethinges up you all would be likely to jump in to help anyway, so you might as well get paid for your efforts."

    She then showed them the generouspensation they would receive for acting as guards for the massive caravan bringing supplies and personnel to Armadura. It was all almost a little too good of a deal for just a few days'' work that could end up beingpletely peaceful.

    ''There is little doubt she really wants us to join this caravan.The question though I why?'' ric said over telepathy.

    Swiftly the eleven of them talked it over and decided to try and figure things out before epting.

    "You know, we are grateful for the guide and finding this caravan for us, but we don''t really want to travel with such arge group. Are there perhaps some smaller traveling traders we could go with? Or even just a normal carriage service we could use would be eptable." Marcus said, putting on an apologetic expression.

    As he asked for another means of travel Vivi''s smile twitched slightly but she quickly caught herself.

    "I''m afraid there is not much else heading towards Armadura within the next couple of days. A private vehicle could likely be procured, but it would be expensive and less amodating than the caravan. My uncle happens to own a fair-sized alchemy shop that has a contract with the kingdom to deliver potions and will be a part of the group leaving tomorrow.

    I nned to speak with him and make sure that all of you would receive the very best treatment."

    "I see. But your uncle must have regr guards that he relies on. We would not want to ruffle any feathers with them."

    "Please, there is no need to worry about something like that. Your party is made up of esteemed high-ranking adventurers, anyone would be happy to have you all along as guards. Also, the majority of the usual guards my uncle hires are not currently in the city, so you should have nothing to worry about in that regard." Vivi said, a look of desperation in her eyes.

    ''Looks like we are getting closer to the true reason she wants us to join this caravan. Still, I feel like there is something else.''

    With a bit more effort Marcus was eventually able to get Vivi to spill everything.

    The main reason she wanted them to join the caravan was because it currentlycked sufficient protection by a wide margin. Most of the capablebatants that were normally within or around the city had headed off to Armadura to participate in the uing operation.

    This had left the city with far less personnel in it than usual, and criminals that normally slinked in the shadows had be bolder. There were apparently often attacks in broad daylighttely and the skeleton crew of guards that remined to police the capital had their hands full.

    "Justst week a group of ruffians made off with a shipment of mithril ingots and have yet to be caught. This only encouraged other criminals to act up and try to earn an ill-gotten fortune. Even some normallyw-abiding citizens that are down on their luck have been caught resorting to thievery since so many of the city''s veteran guards went with the army to Armadura.

    I''m just worried about my uncle, which is why I was hoping to get your party to join up with his caravan. I am sorry for trying to mislead you all."

    Vivi bowed her head deeply and apologized to Marcus and hispanions. She then told them that she would make other arrangements for them to travel to Armadura.

    Yet, before she left the room, Marcus topped her.

    "No, I think we will go with the caravan. It is not like you lied to us at any point, even if you did hide some information. There really aren''t any other groups that are going to be traveling to our destination in the next few days, correct?"

    "Yes, the one my uncle is a part of is the only one leaving in the next few days. There is another one scheduled to depart in five days, but it would likely not deliver you to Armadura on time. Of course, I can rent some carriages and coachmen for your party if that is what you want. You really don''t need to join the caravan."

    "As I said, we will be fine acting as guards for the caravan your uncle is a part of. It''s been a while since we have done any escort work, and it could serve as a good change of pace." Marcus said. He could see enthused looks on several of hispanions'' faces. It seemed that they were excited to have the opportunity to travel with arge group and beat-up on some thieves.

    "I cannot thank you all enough. Of course, the pay I quoted you is urate. Though, I can probably get more if you feel it is necessary." Vivi said.

    "No that is not necessary. The amount being offered is already nearly double the usual rate for adventurers of our ranks. If you could direct us towards a good inn, that will be enough."

    "Okay, I will go and book rooms at the best inn in the city." Vivi said, rushing out of the room.

    When she returned, she informed them that she had reserved fourrge suites for them at a heavy discount since she was good friends with the owner''s wife.

 Chapter 1037: Chapter 1037 Around Houtenâ€™s Capital

    "So, you are the foreign adventurers that Miss Vivi wishes for me to show around. My name is Agustin, and I am a humble silver rank adventurer. It is a pleasure to meet all of you."

    Bowing in an exaggerated fashion to Marcus and hispanions was the man that Vivi had tasked with guiding Marcus and hispanions.

    ''He''s certainly got a unique sense of style.''

    Looking at the clothes that their guide was wearing, Marcus thought he looked more like a stage performer in costume rather than an adventurer.

    On top of his head was a bright red cavalier hat that had arge golden feather sticking out of it and the rest of his clothing was equally colorful with a purple cape draped over his back.

    His long orange hair was also eye catching and the way he moved with dramatic flourishes to his movements only further drew attention to him.

    The only thing that gave him any semnce of being a fighter was a single ornate mithril alloy rapier at his waist.

    "It is likewise nice to meet you. My name is Marcus, and I am the leader of our party. We will be in your care while we are here, so thank you in advance." Marcus said, greeting their guide politely.

    Following him, the rest of hispanions introduced themselves.

    "Now, what might you wish to do now? I can take you to the inn Miss Vivi reserved for your party, or perhaps you would like me to show you to some of the local hotspots?"

    "The inn first sho-

    "Let''s go see the local hotspots!" Mrazivy said enthusiastically, interrupting Marcus. They were only going to be in the city for a single day and she figured that they might as well have some fun while they were here.

    "Fine, I guess we will look around the city for a bit."

    "Excellent, I shall make sure to show you the very best of this fair city." Agustin said, turning around flourishing his cape and heading towards the guild hall''s exit.

    Once outside, Marcus andpany were finally able to get their first view of Houten''s capital city.

    Rows ofrge buildings popted the area they were in and had a Mediterranean architectural design.

    ''It''s not nearly as hot as Aezam was, but it is a lot warmer than Borealia. The wind also has a faint scent of salt, so this city is probably located near the ocean.'' Marcus thought as he observed his surroundings.

    Naturally everyone else was just as intrigued by the area and were turning their heads every which way.

    "I smell something good from that direction." Roxene said, using her keen sense of smell to locate the best food in the area.

    "Ah, you have a good nose youngdy. One of the most popr caf¨¦s in the city has a storefront in a za not too far from here. The food they serve is incredibly high quality. Of course, it is a little on the pricey side, but I am sure that aplished adventurers such as yourselves are not hurting for coin. If you want, I can lead the way?"

    "Sure, that sounds good." Marcus responded for the group. He could not say he wasn''t interested in the local cuisine.

    When they arrived, they found the caf¨¦ they were looking for and were swiftly seated by one of the many professional waiters on staff.

    For their orders, Marcus went ahead and got one of everything on the menu. With a group of twelve, half of which were actually magical beasts, he knew that even arge quantity of food was not going to go to waste. Worst case scenario he could eat everything since his stomach was pretty much an infinite void as far as he knew.

    "This fruit is really good. I wonder what it is. I don''t think I have ever had one before." Lilia said as she dug into a type of fruit tart.

    Luckily, Agustin knew what the fruit''s name was and Marcus made sure to add it to a list of items to purchase.

    After spending a little over an hour enjoying their meal, they left the caf¨¦ with satisfied expressions and continued to follow Agustin around the city.

    However, as they were going down a street just a bit off the main roads, the sound of ss breaking resounded through the area.

    In front of them a group of eight people with their faces covered burst out of a shop with bags stuffed with money and the high-end carpets the shop sold.

    A dingle young and inexperienced looking guard that was patrolling the area was alerted to themotion, but when he tried to stop the thieves, they easily tossed him against the side of a building where he crumpled to the ground.

    ''They really must be short staffed right now. That guard is only seventeen years old and level six. He never stood a chance against eight people who range from levels nine to fourteen.'' Marcus thought, quickly assessing the situation.

    Turning to look at Agustin, Marcus could tell that the man wanted nothing more than to spring into action and apprehend the miscreants. As a silver rank adventurer who was level twenty-seven it would be easy enough for him to bring down even eight people that were more than ten levels lower than him and likely did not have muchbat experience.

    Still, he did not rush after the thieves despite wanting to. Currently he was on the job as Marcus'' party''s guide and could not drag them into trouble of his own ord.

    Of course, Marcus could see that several of hispanions were ready to spring into action, and likely would soon whether he said anything or not.

    "I suppose we could use a bit of light exercise after such arge meal. How about we go and stop those guys from getting away. Its hard to enjoy ourselves with eyesores like them around."

 Chapter 1038: Chapter 1038 Cleaning Up

    The eight thieves that had just robbed a store on the street Marcus and hispanions were walking down were running away and about to duck into an alley and disappear into the backstreets of Houten''s capital.

    Unfortunately for them, Marcus, Mrazivy, Miguel, and Lilia had locked their sights on them, and their chances of escape had been reduced to zero.

    Naturally, Marcus could have stopped the thieves from where he was standing with his phantom pressure, but that would not have been any fun. When miscreants are running away from the scene of a crime, it is thematic to chase after them on foot.

    "Ah, thank you. I will go and stop them myself. If you all just wait here, I will be back once I am finished." Agustin said, taking Marcus'' words as permission to purse the thieves.

    However, before he rushed off, Marcus raised a hand to stop him.

    "No, that is fine. You stay here. The four of us will go apprehend them." Marcus said, motioning to hispanions that also wanted to go after the thieves.

    Agustin looked like he wanted to say something else, but Marcus did not give him the chance. With a single step he shot forward at an explosive speed.

    ''Oops. Better be more careful.'' Marcus thought, having felt the cobblestone below his feet shatter from the force of his running.

    Thankfully he only caused damage with his first step and adjusted his strength ordingly the rest of the way.

    Within just a couple of seconds he caught up to the group of thieves as they wove through the nearby alley.

    In an over-the-top manner, he did a front flip over the eight thieves and twisted his body in midair tond in front of them.

    "That is far enough. I''ll be having all of you return what you have stolen and pay for your crimes." Marcus said, fully embracing the role of a passing by do-gooder.

    His sudden appearance surprised the thieves, and they stopped in their tracks and stared at him with shock in their eyes. Being experienced criminals, though, they quickly came back to their senses and looked behind them to find an escape route. They had somebat skills but ultimately preferred fleeing over fighting if they could.

    Yet when they turned around, they found Mrazivy, Miguel, and Lilia standing behind them and cutting off their escape route.

    With no other choice the thieves pulled out their hidden weapons and tried to make themselves look intimidating.

    ''I suppose I should not have expected anything even halfway decent. They''ve got knives, billy clubs, brass knuckles, and a crowbar. Allmon and cheap weapons.''

    When it did not seem that Marcus or hispanions were scared of the sudden showing of weapons, the man nearest to Marcusshed out at him.

    The solid iron crowbar came swimming in fast and the man was certain he was about to shatter Marcus'' corbone where he had been aiming.

    Except, instead, Marcus simply moved his forearm into the crowbar''s trajectory and easily stopped it.

    The sturdy iron should have easily broken bone, yet instead it bent out of shape from impacting against Marcus'' arm.

    "You really shouldn''t swing things around so forcefully. You''re likely to end up hurting yourself that way." Marcus said admonishingly.

    He then cast the tier one lightning magic spell spark and sent a strong current of electricity through the iron crowbar the thief was holding and that was still in contact with his arm.

    Shaking violently and letting out a pained scream the man fell to the ground and continued to twitch for a few moments even as he fell unconscious.

    Fear was evident on the other thieves'' faces as they watched theirrade being easily dealt with. Still, they continued to fight since they knew that being caught would see them dealt a harsh punishment for the crimes they hadmitted.

    Two of them came at Marcus while the other five tried to force their way past Mrazivy, Miguel, and Lilia.

    Of course, things did not go well for the criminals that ranged from level nine to only level fourteen.

    They were so weak that even if there were a million of them, they would never have stood a chance.

    After just a couple of seconds, only one criminal was left standing, and she let out a loud whistle.

    ''Hm, more people areing.''

    Marcus could feel with his life sense skill that fifteen more individuals were rushing towards their location.

    When her allies showed up, the female thief that had signaled them looked hopeful that things would turn around. Sadly, she did not get to see what would be of herrades as a quick jab from Lilia knocked her out.

    ''They certainly had quite a bit of backup lurking around. One of these guys is even level seventeen and has some staplebat skills. He''s pretty strong if you consider that the average level for people is thirteen.'' Marcus thought, appraising the neers.

    Like the thieves that had been fleeing from the scene of their crime, these individuals had hastily put on masks to cover their faces. Clearly, they had put some thought into their criminal activities.

    Nevertheless, they had run into some supremely bad luck by attracting Marcus and hispanion''s attention.

    It did not take long for these new criminals to begin dropping like flies under the assault of Marcus, Mrazivy, Miguel, and Lilia.

    "Let''s see how you handle my trump card." The strongest criminal and leader of the group said just like a cliched two-bit viin.

    From out of a pouch on his belt he swiftly pulled out an ornate magic wand with a fire elemental crystal attached to the end.

    As he channeled some mana into the wand, the spell within it activated and a st of fire shot out of the tip as it produced the tier two fire magic spell methrower.

    Overall, the spelling out of the wand was as weak as it could possibly be, but it could still easily prove fatal to any normal person.

    "To think that you would use something like that in such a confined space. Don''t you realize that you almost burned up several of your friends as well." Marcus said as he shoved his bare hand through the methrower spell and gripped the wand to stop the magicing out of it.

    Then with one quick motion he snapped the wand and made sure that it could not be used again.

    The moment the strongest thief realized what had just happened, he took a step back and looked at Marcus in absolute terror and mutter, "Monster."

    "I mean you''re not entirely wrong, but the way said it was still a bit hurtful." Marcus replied before swiftly punching the man in the stomach.

    Unable to stand up to the impact, the strongest criminal crumpled and fell over unconscious.

    With all of the thieves incapacitated, Marcus and hispanions pulled some rope out of their item boxes and rapidly tied up the miscreants.

    It was around this time, that a worried-looking Agustin rushed into the alley and looked at the scene in front of him with surprise. Last he had seen Marcus, Mrazivy, Miguel, and Lilia has chased after eight thieves, but now there twenty-three people tied up together int eh cramped alleyway.

 Chapter 1039: Chapter 1039 Cleaning Up (2)

    "Ah, Agustin, you are just in time. We got the thieves and their aplices, but we really aren''t certain what to do with them now." Marcus said.

    However, Agustin did not reply immediately. Instead, he continued to stare at twenty-three people that had been tied up.

    With just a few nces he could see that all of them were unconscious and were injured to varying different degrees. Yet when he looked closely at Marcus, Mrazivy, Miguel, and Lilia he did not see a scratch on them.

    Then he noticed that the oddest thing going on was that Lilia, the smallest of the group, was easily dragging the criminals by herself with one hand.

    "Agustin, you there? We want to know what to do with the criminals we captured?" Mrazivy asked, bringing him back to reality.

    "Um, I suppose that we should bring them to a guard station. Or perhaps even the city watch''s headquarters since there are so many." Austin said, a strained expression on his face. He knew that dragging around such arge number of people was going to draw the wrong kind of attention.

    "Okay. We will follow your lead since we don''t really know anything about the city." Marcus responded.

    After that, they dragged the thieves back out onto the main street and met back up with the rest of their group.

    There they could see that a bit of a crowd had gathered and were looking around curiously. Except, the most eyes weren''t on the criminals being dragged out of the alleyway, or the shop that had bene robbed, but Aurelia who was using her unique skill Versatile Luminescence to heal that young guard that had been shoved aside.

    The dazzling six floating orbs of light were emitting a soft glow that had attracted the attention of the onlookers.

    It did not take long for the young man to wake up and jump to his feet in a panic. Thest thing he remembered was rushing onto the scene of a crime and being attacked by thieves.

    Nevertheless, as he looked around things had drastically changed from thest thing he could recall.

    Agustin luckily cleared things up. Apparently, he was fairly famous around the capital because of his vibrant clothing and being a generally good person.

    Eventually more guards showed up because of themotion and took the criminals that had been captured into custody. Saving Marcus and hispanions from having to make a trip to the city watch''s headquarters.

    "The city really iscking in protectors right now. Those guards all had levels in the single digits other than the captain who was level neen and looked like the only one with any experience. Is this city going to be okay?" Mrazivymented after things had settled down.

    Agustin wore a strained expression as he heard Mrazivy''s words, but he did not say anything in defense of the state of the city. Clearly, he knew how bad things were.

    Of course, the capital had not devolved intoplete anarchy. Certainly, there was heightened crime due to the lesser quantity and quality of guards on patrol, but obviously the rulers of the nation were putting at least some effort into keeping order. The guards responded expediently, but they were just too low level andcking in numbers to deal with all the opportunistic criminals.

    "I am sorry that you had to see that. Normally crimes like that would not happen in broad daylight. Unfortunately, the majority of the strongest fighters have already headed off to the Fortress City where His Majesty is personally amassing forces to take back the former capital.

    I''ve have stayed behind to do what I can do help deter criminals, but the money really is too good which is why I am leaving tomorrow with all of you." Agustin said,ying his feelings bear.

    Marcus could easily understand where the man wasing from. The payout to participate in the operation for adventures ranked silver and higher was exceptionally generous. Even someone with clearly upstanding morals like Agustin was not going to let this chance pass him by. Everyone needed money for various things, especially adventurers.

    Gear was not cheap and there almost never seemed to be enough money.

    Now that the incident had been resolved, Agustin began showing them around the city once again. Eventually the sun fell lower in the sky, and he brought Marcus and hispanions to the inn they would be staying at for the night.

    From the outside it was clear that therge five-story building was well taken care of. There was a fresh coat of paint that had been recently applied and the sign on the front of the building was undoubtedly created by a skilled artisan.

    Walking inside, the interior was just as impressive as the exterior. Arge hearth had a warm fire burning in it and several seats where guests could rx were set up around it.

    ''Oh! I can smell several delicious scents. They must have an experienced chef preparing the meals.'' Marcus thought as he examined the inn.

    If they had more time, he might have tried to make friends with the kitchen staff to share recipes with them, but since they were only staying one night, he knew that there would not be enough time to gain their trust.

    With Agustin taking the lead, he spoke to one of the receptionists who seemed to know him and got Marcus'' party''s amodations squared away.

    Just as Vivi had said, they had fourrge rooms ready for them and at a heavily discounted price for such a nice inn. Dinner and breakfast were also included in this price, everyone shuffled into the dining hall before even going to see their rooms.

    There they were served several local dishes that all tasted phenomenal. Marcus could tell from each dish that the chef was exceptionally skilled. Likely having their cooking skill at level five which was pretty rare.

    After dinner the eleven of them split up into their four rooms.

    Marcus and Mrazivy took one, Roxene, Blitz, and Inten took another, Lilia, ric, Aurelia, and Zarren stayed in the third room, and Eirwen and Miguel took thest room.

    "Looks like someone can''t sleep." Marcus murmured, noticing a presence stealthy moving through the inn.

    Mrazivy had already fallen asleep and was not stirring since the presence was someone that they knew and trusted. Still, Marcus wondered what he was up to and used his ghost form to follow behind him.

    Soon the person Marcus was following stopped on the roof of the inn and gazed out on the town with a serious look in his eyes.

    "What are you doing up here, Miguel?" Marcus asked, appearing suddenly next to his recently acquired friend.

    Startled, Miguel leapt away incredibly swiftly and pulled his sword and shield out in one fluid motion.

    "No need to be so jumpy." Marcus said in a friendly voice.

    Seeing who it was that had unexpectantly appeared, Miguel let out a sigh of relief and put away his sword and shield.

    "I''m pretty sure that anyone would be surprised to suddenly find someone appearing out of thin air next to them. Next time you could at least give me a bit of warning."

    "Sorry, but sometimes I have to follow my ghostly instincts and spook people a little. But I''ll try to refrain from doing it to you again."

    "Thanks, I guess." Miguel responded with a doubtful expression.

    The two of them then stood on the roof without saying anything for a couple of minutes. From what Marcus could figure, Miguel was waiting for him to leave.

    He wanted to know what his friend was doing up here, though, and broached the subject again.

    "Now, are you going to tell me what you were about to do, or are we just going to stay up here all night? I don''t need to sleep after all."

    "Fine." Miguel said reluctantly. "I was nning on paroling the city. If crime is bad during the day, it must be worse at night. I figured that I could at least do something to help."

    "I see. You really are a hero aren''t you. Now all we need to do is get you a bat themed costume so that you can strike fear into the hearts of criminals." Marcus said jokingly.

    For a moment Miguel was about to shoot back at Marcus about how unnecessary that would be, but stopped himself and instead went along with the joke.

    "Fine, but if I am wearing the bat costume, then you with have to put on a red, yellow, and green custom and be my sidekick."

    Smiling, Marcus was happy that Miguel had decided to y along. It showed that they were getting just a bit closer.

    "I''m not sure if I can pull of those colors. Perhaps I should just switch my form over to Irene and don a simr bat custom and we can be partners instead.

    However their banter stopped there, as both of them heard a crashing sound a couple of kilometers away with their keen senses of hearing.

    "I don''t; think that either of us will have any trouble with the miscreants in this city. How about we split up to cover more ground. I wasn''t really nning to do anything tonight anyway and this will serve as a decent form of entertainment for me." Marcus said.

    "Sure, do what you want. It''s not like I really care what happens in this city. I just don''t like criminals getting away with hurting whoever they like."

    Their conversation havinge to an end, Marcus and Miguel faced different directions and jumped from roof to roof as they hunted down thieves taking advantage of the city''s currentck of guards.

 Chapter 1040: Chapter 1040 The Caravan

    "That was quite the night. Didn''t think I would run into hat many thieves." Marcus muttered as hended on the roof of the inn, he and hispanions were staying at.

    He and Miguel had run around the city during the night and dished out some vignte justice on the criminals running rampant through the city due to most of the experienced guards being away.

    Still Marcus had stopped around eighty-seven crimes and apprehended no less than three hundred people that ranged frommon pickpockets to murderers.

    It had been a busy night, but it was at least a good means to pass the time. Marcus had a bit of fun bounding around the city and it certainly felt good to help out people that were in trouble.

    Nevertheless, he would not want to y at being a hero for any long length of time. It was honestly pretty mentally exhausting to keep vignt over an entire city for an extended period of time.

    "Well, I am guessing that between Miguel and I, we probably heavily cut down on the criminal poption. This city has millions of people in it, so perhaps only encountering a few hundred criminals is to be expected."

    Feeling satisfied with his efforts, Marcus sat down on the roof and watched the sunrise. Soon the orange glow of first light crested over the horizon and the city was enveloped by a soft, beautiful gimmer.

    As he sat on the roof another presence appeared and moved directly towards him.

    "A lovely morning to gaze at the sunrise, isn''t it? Not a cloud in the sky and the rays of light bouncing of the city are quite pretty." Mrazivy said, sitting down next to Marcus.

    In her hands she was holding two cups of tea, and she held one out towards Marcus.

    With a smile he took it and sipped the tea. It had a nice mint vor and was ever so slightly sweet. Just the way he liked it.

    For a few minutes, the two of them simply sat next to each other looked out onto the horizon as Mirrion''s sun slowly rose higher into the sky.

    "So, what were you up to all night? You didn''t go off to cheat on me, did you?" Mrazivy said teasingly.

    "Of course not. I''m honestly afraid of what you might do to me if I ever did something like that. Miguel wanted to suppress some of the crime in the city, so I helped him out since it seemed like it would be a bit fun."

    "Oh! You should have invited me. There is no way I could do something like that in Borealia, but here it would have been fine."

    "You were already dead asleep by the time Miguel started sneaking around. I didn''t want to wake you up. Plus, we are going to being acting as guards today. I know you would be fine even if you missed a week of sleep, but no reason to push yourself."

    "I suppose you are right. We could run into a really nasty monster, or perhaps some legendary or mythic grade beasts will attack." Mrazivy said, looking excited at the prospect of encountering dangerous foes.

    "That was definitely a big red g that you just raised." Marcus said with a sigh. "Still, I don''t mean to sound conceited, but most things aren''t going to prove any threat to us. We may have just dealt with one perilous encounter after the other on Haze Ind, but most of the world isn''t that dangerous. I imagine that our journey with the caravan will be mostly uneventful."

    "Now who is raising red gs. We''re probably going to get attacked by a Doomsday Monster now."

    "Please don''t even joke about that. I never want to deal with one of those living cmites again." Marcus said, a grimace on his face.

    After a bit more back and forth banter, Marcus and Mrazivy left the roof and returned to their room. They were expected to meet up with the caravan and head out in less than an hour.

    Once everyone had finished up a quick breakfast, Agustin came into the inn to get them. He would be acting as a guide again and taking them to the city''s north gate where the caravan was located.

    Upon arrival at their destination, Marcus was shocked to see just how many carriages and wagons were gathered. He had figured that there would be somewhere between twenty to fifty, but with a quick count he found that there were over five hundred vehicles.

    ''Damn, there''s enough people here to form a small town.''

    Marcus honestly had not expected anywhere near this number of people. Using his life sense skill, he was able to get a fairly urate count of around two thousand individuals.

    "You''ve noticed it too, right?" Lilia asked.

    "Yeah, there is a severeck of fighters among them. If you don''t include our group that joined at thest minute, there are only a bit over forty with any real skill from what I can tell. And maybe another thirty or so that have above average levels but don''t have much in the way ofbat abilities."

    For such arge group there were definitely far too few defenders. Perhaps if this world was more peaceful, they could get away with it, but there would undoubtedly be monsters and beasts along the way that would attack such arge group hoping to pick off any stragglers.

    Not to mention that there would always be people attracted to the allure of making a big score by stealing the valuable items the caravan was transporting.

    "Well, it really shouldn''t matter now. I''m pretty sure that just one of us would be sufficient to make sure they reach Armadura." ric said confidently.

    Of course, they all agreed with him for the most part. For their levels they were among the strongest in the world. Only something powerful enough to threaten an entire nation would be any real challenge to them.

    After a swift survey of the caravan, Agustin led Marcus and hispanions towards the front of the group where Vivi''s uncle was. He was actually the leader of the caravan thanks to his shop being thergest among those present.

    ''Level twenty-two and level twenty-six. Both a decently strong for guards being hired by a single shop.'' Marcus thought, appraising the two men that were vigntly watching the area around the front of the caravan.

    He was pretty sure that these two were likely fulltime guards that Vivi''s uncle was employing. However, the two of them were the only ones around the eleven wagons and carriages at the front of the caravan that looked like fighters.

    From what Marcus had gathered from speaking with Vivi, her uncle would usually hire a trusted group as additional security for long trips, but those that he normally hired had already left for Armadura. Leaving him with only his two fulltime guards.

    Naturally the two alert guards noticed Marcus andpany approaching and tensed as they sized them up.

    Thankfully they both rxed when they saw that Agustin was leading them. Clearly the two of them knew the silver rank adventurer that Vivi had personally enlisted to be Marcus'' party''s guide.

    "Agustin, are we d to see you." The higher level of the two guards said with a smile. "If you''re here, then these people behind you must be the new adventurers that showed up yesterday.

    "It''s good to see you as well, Manuel. And yeah, these are the adventurers that used the teleportation circle in the guild hall and arrived yesterday. Thanks to Vivi''s persistence, they agreed to join the caravan as guards. I''m sure that I don''t need to tell you how lucky we are to have them joining us."

    "Obviously. I have heard the rumor that only those that are level fifty or higher can be mithril rank adventurers. That would make them as strong as one of the army''s generals. With them along, we should have nothing to worry about."

    Manuel had a clearly ecstatic expression on his face as he looked at Marcus'' party. As one of the guards of arge caravan that was severelycking protection, having several strong fighters join up was the greatest boon one could ask for.

    Thanks in part to the smallmotion that Manuel was causing, several of the other members of the caravan cast curious nces towards Marcus and hispanions.

    Soon a short man that was only a bit taller than one and a half meters made his way directly towards their group.

    He walked with an air of importance, and with just a quick look Marcus could see a bit of a resemnce to Vivi.

    "Ah, sir! Agustin has brought the adventurers Vivi managed to agree to join the caravan as guards." Manuel said, greeting his boss.

    After quickly nodding his head in acknowledgement of his employee, Vivi''s uncle approached Marcus who was standing at the front of the party and acting as the leader.

    "My name is Louis and as I am sure that you have already figured out, I am Vivi''s uncle. It is reassuring to know that we will have such aplished adventurersing along with us. I humbly thank you for agreeing to the request. If there is anything that any of you need, I will do my best to be of assistance."

    Louis even went so far as to slightly bow his head to Marcus and his party. Something he normally would not do for temporary guards.

    Nevertheless, he knew that Marcus and hispanions were not like most individuals that needed to travel in arge group as a form of protection. The eleven of them could more swiftly and safely head to their destination on their own. If at any point they felt like abandoning the caravan, there was nothing any of them could do.

    "Please go ahead and raise your head. You are technically the one that hired us. We''ll be sure to do our jobs and not cause a fuss. We want this journey to be as enjoyable as possible for everyone." Marcus said in a friendly manner.

    Hearing his reply, Louis let out a sigh of relief. Sometimes those with great power enjoyed using it to lord over others, and while his niece had told him that they seemed to be an amicable group, he still had his reservations. There was no doubt that they held his and his employees'' lives in their hands.

    After a series of quick instructions, Marcus asked Louis where he wanted to station them, but the leaders of the caravan did not give them any assignments.

    "Oh, that will not be necessary right now. We are still within the city and the other guards are keeping watch. Even if there a plenty of idiots going around taking advantage of the current situation, no one will be stupid enough to try anything here. Not when we are so close to the northern gate which is always well protected." Louis said assuredly.

    "Okay. I guess we will go and introduce ourselves to the other members of the caravan then." Marcus said, figuring this would be a good time to get acquainted with some of the people they would be traveling with for the next few days.

 Chapter 1041: Chapter 1041 The Caravan (2)

    "Everyone certainly was friendly. Honestly, I''m not sure if I''ve ever received such a warm wee before." Lilia said, once they had finished making the rounds around the caravan.

    "It only makes sense. We are the ones that they are going to be counting on to keep them safe. Without us, they would almost certainly lose many of their numbers along the way. Their so-called guards are all extremely weak." Roxene said in reply.

    And while her words may have been harsh, they were not entirely untrue. Without their sudden arrival the caravan would have been sorelycking in powerfulbatants. The strongest guard that the caravan had outside the members of Marcus'' party was only a level thirty silver rank adventurer.

    Not long after Marcus andpany finished getting acquainted with most of the caravan leaders and guards, Louis announced that they would be moving out.

    Immediately everyone hastily packed up and prepared their vehicles to set out.

    As everyone else got ready, Louis approached Marcus'' party and directed them to three carriages that were noticeably higher quality than most of the vehicles around them.

    "I''m sorry that we don''t have anything better than these to offer, but I can assure you that they are among the best that my shop owns. Normally I would not even bring them out of the city, but once Vivi informed me that we would be having mithril rank adventurers joining us, I made sure to get them outfitted immediately."

    "Thanks, your consideration is appreciated. But shouldn''t we spread out among the caravan to keep watch? We''re not here as simple passengers but were hired as guards. Won''t everyone think we are cking off if we just hole up in carriages the entire time?" Marcus said, his tone conveying a hint of concern.

    "Perish the thought. Everyone knows just how powerful mithril rank adventurers such as yourselves are. Even if something doese up, you''ll still be capable of springing into action no matter if you are resting inside a carriage."

    Louis was obviously doing his absolute best to cater to Marcus and hispanions. Just having them around was more than enough to bolster the confidence of the entire caravan.

    "You may be right about that, but I think we will take shifts guarding the caravan and keeping watch as normal. Frankly we would be bored out of our minds just sitting in carriages the entire time." Marcus responded. The whole reason they were traveling with the caravan in the first ce was for to kill time.

    They could easily arrive in Armadura in a single day if they wanted to, but then they would just be stuck waiting around the city.

    "Of course, you are free to do as you wish. Though, I am sure it will serve as afort for everyone to see you all so dedicated in your role." Louis said,ying his praise on thick.

    After louis left to board his own carriage, Marcus and hispanions had a quick strategy meeting to figure out how they would split themselves to guard the caravan.

    "Okay, we will have to at the front, two at the upper middle, two at the lower middle, and two at the back at all times. That will leave three to be resting in the carriages. Does anyone have any objections?" Marcus said.

    Everyone agreed to this n as it would allow them to keep watch over the entire caravan and give them enough time to rest when they wanted.

    The eleven of them then decided on the first shift and at what intervals they would switch out.

    "Looks like we are starting to move. Everyone go ahead and take up your positions."

    Along with Mrazivy, Marcus headed towards the front of the caravan for their first watch.

    When they arrived, they found Manuel mounted on a horse next to Louis'' carriage which was leading the entire procession.

    "Do you mind if we walk next to you? The two of us will be guarding the front for today."

    "If that is what you want, then I would be more than happy to have yourpany. But are you going to be okay walking the entire time? I am sure that I could find some horses for you both to ride." Manuel said, a look of concern on his face.

    "No, that won''t be necessary. We can keep up this pace pretty much indefinitely. I''m pretty sure we are faster than any of the horses here anyway." Mrazivy replied. Right now, they were only moving at a fast, walking pace. For individuals over level seventy, this would never tire them out.

    "I see. You are mithril ranked adventurers after all. Since you''re both over level fifty, I bet you could easily keep up with the horses even if we went at full speed."

    "Yeah, I would say that would be easy enough. But enough about us, how about you tell us a bit more about the stores that are traveling with us. We only briefly introduced ourselves and still don''t know much about everyone in the caravan." Mrazivy said, fishing for some information.

    Luckily Manuel was more than happy to tell them whatever they wanted to know, and they continued with their casual conversation until reaching the north gate.

    It took a while for the more than five hundred vehicles to exit the city, but once they did the caravan set out on the wide-open road towards the Fortress City Armadura.

    ''Wow, that was quick. They didn''t even wait until the city''s walls were out of view.'' Marcus thought, sensing three individuals in front of the caravan and off to the side.

    From their location off the road and their obvious attempt to stay hidden, he was pretty certain that these people were likely scouts for some group that nned on robbing the caravan.

    Only he and Mrazivy had noticed them, and it was pretty clear that they were skilled at being stealthy. Without their enhanced senses from being high level it would be impossible to notice the scouts scoping out the caravan.

    "I can''t be certain from this distance, but I think they are likely all between levels twenty and thirty. This is definitely not their first time doing something like this. They''re likely pretty experienced scouts." Marcus said, focusing his life sense skill towards the three individuals.

    "Should we be proactive and get rid of them now?" Mrazivy asked.

    "No, that would be a bit rash. We don''t really know what their intentions are yet. Let''s just leave them alone for now. And if they are as we expect, scouts for a group of brigands intend on attacking this caravan, we need only repel them when the timees."

    Shrugging her shoulders, Mrazivy went along with what Marcus wanted to do. Whoever these watchers worked for would be far less likely to try something if their scouts did not report back. She had pushed to join this caravan because she thought it might be fun. However, if the entire journey was peaceful, that would be boring.

    Honestly, she was hoping that they would be frequently attacked by monsters, beasts, and thieves to keep things interesting.

 Chapter 1042: Chapter 1042 The Brigandsâ€™ Ruthless Plan

    "Ah, Franco, your back. How was your mission? Is everything still as expected?"

    "Things went well, I am certain we weren''t spotted. We watched them leave from the gate and tailed them for a few days to make sure that no one else was going to meet up with ''em. Our initial intel was a bit off though, they left with eleven more guards than expected." Franco said to his boss.

    "Eleven more, that is not too many. What did you think of them? Did they seem strong enough to ruin our n?"

    "Nah, they all looked pretty weak. None of them even had any weapons on ''em or wore armor. I bet that they were just hired at thest minute for some extra numbers. They''re probably just some rookie adventurers looking to make some coin."

    "Ha, weaponless guards. They must have been pretty desperate for some extra hands if they hired schmucks like those." Axel, the boss of therge brigand group that was targeting the caravan Marcus'' party was apart of said whileughing.

    He figured that the eleven extra guards must be weak and poor if they could not even afford basic weapons. However, what he did not know was that none of them carried weapons with them because they did not need any for something as simple as guard work.

    "Well, if nothing else has changed then we will go ahead with the n. Gather up eight of our newest members and get them prepped."

    "So, you are still nning on doing that. It could pose some risk to us if we are not careful. Plus, moral will take a hit." Franco said, looking hesitant to enact the strategy his boss hade up with.

    "Gah, there is nothing to worry about. We will stay far enough away to not be noticed, and we''ve got a half dozen fire magic wands just in case. As for the eight "runners", just tell them that they can expect a big reward once this is all over. Tell them they will be showering in gold and fine booze once we finish this job."

    "If you''re set on it, boss, then I guess I''ll just have to pick the guys we''ll miss the least. With what they are going to be luring, I doubt any of them survive."

    "Just make sure that they aren''t too slow. Don''t want them all getting killed before they bring those monsters to the caravan."

    "Understood boss. I''ll gather ''em up and get ''em ready." Franco said, leaving Axel''srge tent.

    As he did, his boss could not help the giant grin that appeared on his face. He could already envision the riches he was going to obtain from this big score.

    ˇ­

    "Those are some impressive trees. I''m not sure if I have ever seen any as big in Borealia." Mrazivymented as the caravan approached what looked like a giant wall of brown and green.

    For as far as the eye could see, a massive forest stretched out in front of them from one end of the horizon to the other.

    The forest was not filled with normal trees, but ones that looked like redwoods on steroids. Even the juvenile trees fighting for their ce in the forest stood at a towering three hundred meters, while the ones that were fully grown easily reached around seven hundred meters.

    "They are pretty big, but honestly, they don''t hold a candle to the World Tree I once saw. That thing was sorge that it grew all the way to the edge of the atmosphere. Some time we will have to go and check it out together." Marcus said.

    "That sounds like fun. But first how are we nning on getting through the forest. It doesn''t seem like we are nning to go around." Mrazivy said, enhancing her eyes and closely scanning the edge of the forest.

    Quickly enough she noticed a conspicuous hole that cut through the trees and a what looked like a well-traveled dirt path. It would seem that at some point a road had been cut through the forest.

    The road was not particrly wide, though. For a caravan asrge as the one they were currently traveling with, they would have to change their formation that had many vehicles moving together side by side to more of a long line.

    "I''m'' betting that this is where those guys that have been scouting us out n to attack. With how long the caravan is going to be it will spread the guards pretty thin. Plus, the trees will serve as perfect cover tounch an ambush and retreat once things are finished." Mrazivy said, telling Marcus her conjecture.

    Naturally he was inclined to agree with her. For thest few several rotating groups of scouts had been constantly keeping an eye on the caravan''s movements. They were already fairly far from any poption center so the fact that an attack had not happened yet was likely because they were waiting for an opportune moment.

    "Well, we will just need to be on our guard and ready to respond to whatever happens."

    A few hours after the forest hade into view, the caravan finally reached the entrance to the road that cut through it and slowly formed a line that had only two vehicles next to each other. Then they slowly entered the forest with Louis''s carriage leading the way.

    Up until around sunset the journey through the forest was mostly uneventful, with only a few curious beastsing to check out themotion before running back into the woods and disappearing.

    However, not long before the caravan was going to stop for the night at arge clearing that had been made specifically for travelers, five human presences pinged Marcus'' life sense skill.

    ''It is too few to be a raiding party. Are they a group of adventurers that got lost or something? Or maybe they are with the brigands and are trying to join the caravan secretly by acting like they are in distress?'' Marcus thought, unsure who these people he was sensing were or what they might be doing this far into the woods.

    Yet it did not take long before his skill picked up on several more clearly inhuman entities chasing after the five people he had detected. Something a lot worse than regr people wasing their way at a fast pace.

 Chapter 1043: Chapter 1043 The Brigandsâ€™ Ruthless Plan (2)

    Not long after Marcus noticed the iing people and monsters a loud scream erupted from the woods and one of the human signals he was detecting with his life sense skill vanished.

    Naturally several people close to the front of the caravan noticed the echoing shriek of pain and fear.

    Confusion set in first but was quickly followed by a wave of panic that was swiftly flowing through the caravan.

    To make matters worse another howl of anguish came just a couple secondster.

    "Everyone stay calm. Some people running this way are being chased by monsters, but we will make sure to protect all of you." Marcus said, trying to calm people down.

    Thankfully, his status as a mithril rank adventurer did give everyone a sense of security and they looked towards him and Mrazivy with hope in their eyes.

    The other guards that had been momentarily shocked by the screams came back to their senses and helped to keep people calm and got into defensive positions.

    ''Lilia, how is it going in the back?'' Marcus asked over telepathy to get an understanding of the entire situation.

    ''ric and I have managed to keep them mostly calm, but a few curious people left their vehicles and are trying to get a closer look at what is going on. I''d rmend that you keep an eye out for any idiots that leave the vicinity of the caravan.''

    Marcus thanked Lilia for the update and then contacted Roxene who was currently guarding the upper parts of the middle of the caravan, and Miguel who was in the lower middle.

    Once everyone was updated, he strained his eyes and carefully looked through the gaps in the trees to see the people running towards them as well as the monsters giving chase.

    ''What the hell?!''

    The moment Marcus spotted the first of the people charging at the caravan, he waspletely baffled by their appearance. The man wasn''t wearing a shirt but instead was smeared with fresh blood and had several cuts of recently butchered meat hanging from his neck like a grotesque scarf.

    With just the one quick look Marcus could see that absolute terror on the man''s face as he ran for his life from whatever horrifying monster was chasing him.

    Then a secondter, Marcus was able to see the other two remaining men that were trailing behind in a simr sate to the first man.

    Still despite his life sense skill detecting multiple monsters trailing the three men, Marcus did not see them right away. Not until one pounced on the slowest of the three men.

    From out of nowhere, a three-meter-tall bipedal monster covered in moss dropped out of the trees andnded on one of the men.

    Its unnaturally long armspared to its bodyshed out at the man and impaled him with its sharp ws.

    With its prey secured the monster jumped back onto one of the giant trees and swiftly dragged the now dead man up into the canopy.

    "Marcus, that monster is called a moss troll. Its level twenty-four and its stats are focused on strength and agility. Of course, it also has the annoying race abilities that all trolls have." Mrazivy said, having used her Dragon Eyes to appraise the monster the instant it came into view.

    Marcus grimaced when he heard what it was they were dealing with. A single troll would be easily enough to beat, but his life sense skill was picking up several dozen. Many of which felt stronger than the one that had just shown itself.

    At the very least they finally knew how the brigands nned on attacking them. Marcus had recognized the fastest of the men as part of the groups that had been keeping constant watch on the caravan since they left Houten''s capital.

    "To think that they would sick a bunch of trolls on us by using their own people as bait. That''s not something someone with any morals would do." Mrazivy said, shaking her head.

    "Yeah, that''s true, but most people with morals don''t be murderous thieves that kill people on the road. I''m more surprised that they came up with a somewhat intelligent n. If we weren''t here, the caravan would definitely be wiped out." Marcus replied without any urgency in his voice.

    While this would be a massive threat to most people, less than a hundred monsters under level forty weren''t going to be enough to challenge Marcus or any of hispanions. Though since the monsters were trolls, they would at least be annoying due to their tenacity.

    As the second of thest three surviving brigands acting as bait was scooped up by another troll, the fastest man finally reached the caravan and attempted to rush past without stopping.

    However, before he could get by, Marcus stepped in front of him and casually extend his foot to trip the man.

    In aical disy the man that had been running at full speed fell face first into the ground and bounced off it a couple of times like a stone skipping across water.

    If not for the fact that the man was a member of a group that wanted to kill everyone in the caravan and then plunder their goods, Marcus might have actually felt bad for what he had just done.

    Nevertheless, he checked to make sure that this final runner was not injured enough to be dying since he had questions, he wanted to ask the manter.

    Yet when he was focused on the health of the man, a single moss troll jumped down from one of the tree branches hanging overhead and aimed to grab the defenseless prey that had just fallen over.

    Before the troll had even descended half of the way to the ground though, itsrge body split vertically in half.

    A doze liters of disgusting looking orange blood spilled out of both halves of the monster and drenched the brigade that had been used as bait to lure the trolls towards the caravan.

    "Thanks for getting that one, Mraz. I got a bit distracted for a second."

    "No need to thank me, just finish it off already. It smells horrible." Mrazivy said, her unsheathed sword in one hand and her other hand clenching her nose shut.

    Unfortunately, despite being cut in half, the troll was not dead and was already moving to put itself back together.

    This was the most annoying part of dealing with trolls. Their regeneration was among the strongest in the world and they would not die unless certain conditions were met. Even if its body was turned into mincemeat, it would still eventually regenerate.

    Luckily, Marcus had the mostmon and easiest way to defeat trolls at hismand.

    "Fire shot."

    Casting the tier one fire magic spell, Marcus ignited the bisected troll''s body.

    Like tender soaked in oil the troll went up in mes almost immediately. Its body was incredibly mmable and would be reduced to ashes in less than a minute.

    Still, they had only taken care of a single troll, and with his life sense skill, Marcus could tell that therge tribe that had been lured her had spread out among the trees and surrounded the caravan.

 Chapter 1044: Chapter 1044 Decimation

    ''That''s one down. Just several more to go.'' Marcus thought, looking up from the burning troll into the trees above.

    Thanks to him and Mrazivy quickly dispatching the first troll, the others had not attacked yet as they cautiously surveyed the situation.

    Marcus could feel that an especially great number of eyes were on him in particr. Naturally the trolls had seen him use fire magic and were wary of him since he could conjure their greatest weakness.

    Unfortunately, they were not nearly afraid enough to flee from such a bountiful feast of livestock and people.

    "Well, I''m going to leave them up to you since it would be annoying for me to actually finish them off. If they do make it past you though, I''ll make sure that no one is hurt, so go get them." Mrazivy said, patting Marcus on the back with a big smile on her face.

    "Thanks. I really wanted to fight all of these smelly trolls on my own after all. I''ll do my best so that you don''t have to lift a single finger or have your delicate self osted by their horrible scent, your highness." Marcus responded sarcastically.

    "Good, that is exactly what I would expect of my manservant." Mrazivy said haughtily.

    "Manservant? I thought I was your husband?"

    "Oh, what''s the difference." Mrazivy quipped back.

    However, Marcus did not respond back to her this time and instead looked upwards with a sharp glint in his eyes.

    "Looks like we are out of time for jokes. I''ll take them out as quickly as I can, but I won''t be able to get them all at once without torching this part of the forest, so I''ll be counting on you and the others to keep the caravan safe." Marcus said before jumping off the ground and ascending into the air.

    Less than a second after Marcus leapt into the air, dozens of trolls began falling from the tress and dropping down towards the caravan.

    ''me Scythe.''

    Marcus rushed towards the nearest troll as he cast a tier one fire magic spell that was a modified version of the me de spell.

    A burst of fire erupted from his hands and quickly formed the shape of a deadly scythe.

    With a single sh, Marcus cleaved through the first troll before it could react, and its body burst into mes as it continued to fall.

    He then turned towards the next one and jumped off the mana barrier tform he had created under his feet.

    ''Death Dance.''

    Rapidly spinning around Marcus turned into a fiery blur as he moved through the air and killed a troll every time he swung his scythe.

    Most of the trolls were too slow to even notice Marcus'' attack before they were already dead, and the few that did, had no means of avoiding or blocking his me scythe.

    The difference between Marcus and their levels was simply far too drastic. The strongest of the trolls were only in the low thirties and never stood a chance against Marcus who was level seventy-four.

    Screams echoed through the forest as most of the people that were part of the caravan panicked. All around them burning corpses of monsters were falling from the sky. Though no one had actually been injured thanks to Marcus'' swift intervention.

    Still, he was only one person and a few trolls that had been farther away got past him andnded on the ground around the caravan.

    The other guards moved to intercept these trolls, but most of them were quaking in their boots in the face of the three-meter-tall monsters that loomed over them.

    "Out of the way."

    Pushing through eight guards that had encircled three trolls, Roxene fearlessly approached the monsters that had everyone else terrified.

    Currently she was in her humanoid form and looked like a delicate young woman to everyone present.

    "Wait, miss! Its too dangerous, get back behind us." One of the guards called out.

    Yet it was toote, a troll had already lunged towards Roxene who seemed like defenseless prey that had offered herself up on a tter.

    Except instead of being torn to shreds and devoured, Rexene simply waved her hand andunched several des of darkness towards the troll.

    In an instant the monster that most people would consider formidable was torn apart like a piece of fruit in a blender.

    Roxene then waved her hand again and the des flew directly for the remaining two trolls and easily made mincemeat out of them as well.

    Elsewhere, Lilia was fighting with five trolls that had gotten past Marcus.

    This group consisted of slightlyrger and higher-level individuals that were among the top echelon of this tribe.

    Still, their incredible physical might and agility did them little good against Lilia. She darted around the battlefield faster than they could follow and shattered their bones with every punch she threw.

    Soon enough she had crippled all of them and rounded them up close together.

    "y Cell."

    With her target now in range, Lilia cast a tier three earth magic spell she recently learned from Ardea.

    The earth around the trolls grew soft and malleable before turning into arge jail cell around them.

    Once her magic had fully formed Lilia held both of her hands in front of her body and motioned with her hands like she was squeezing something.

    In response to her will, the y Cell constricted and slowly crushed the five trolls inside of it.

    "Well, they''re not dead, but that should keep them from causing any trouble. I''ll have Marcus light them on fire when he has finished eliminating the ones still in the trees."

    While Lilia was taking on her own set of trolls, the other members of Marcus'' party were likewise doing their jobs and protecting the caravan.

    Luckily the strongest of the trolls was only level thirty-seven and between the eleven of them they easily surpassed the entire tribe without letting a single person get injured.

    It did not take long for Marcus to finish off the final troll lurking in the treetops. Overall, he killed around eighty of the monsters within just a bit over a minute. And when he returned to the ground, he found around three dozen more trolls in various pitiful states but still alive.

    Each of hispanions had easily dealt with their share of the monsters either done enough damage to slow their regeneration to a crawl or bound them with magic.

    Of course, Marcus was the one that had to go around finishing off each of the trolls with his fire magic. The others could have lit torches or used consumable items but left it to Marcus because it was easier and more cost effective.

    In less than three minutes the entirety of the trolls were either on fire or already turned to ash. The panic that had spread through the caravan quickly dissipated and everyone looked at Marcus and hispanions with awe and disbelief.

    They had known that theirst-minute guards were supposed to be strong, but what they had just witnessed was almost ipressible. A force of powerful monsters that should have destroyed them was decimated by just eleven individuals.

 Chapter 1045: Chapter 1045 Questioning

    Having yed thest of the trolls, Marcus marched past several stunned people as he made his way back to the front of the caravan where Mrazivy and the brigand they had captured were.

    Now that the immediate threat was dealt with, he wanted to get some information on the group that had set their sights on the caravan.

    When he arrived, he was met by a frazzled Louis who was apanied by his guard Manuel.

    Louis took a step forward and his mouth floundered like he wanted to say something, but before hemitted, he stepped back and stared at Marcus with reverence, fear, and shock.He had objectively known that a mithril rank adventurer would be incredibly strong, but what he had just witnessed was beyond his imagination.

    Marcus had just flown around like a legendary figure from a story and ughtered dozens of powerful monsters that collectively could have toppled arge town.

    "How long has he been like that?" Marcus whispered to Mrazivy once he caught up to her.

    "Pretty much since you started cutting the trolls down midair. I''m pretty sure most people go their whole lives without seeing a disy like that."

    "Really?! I haven''t even been on Mirrion for a half dozen years yet and I''ve seen stuff way more amazing than what I just did even within my first year on this world. It''s not like individuals level fifty or higher are all that rare. We meet incredible people that could easily do the same all the time."

    "Marcus, you must realize that you are an astronomically rare anomaly, right? Most people don''t throw themselves into life threatening situations at every chance they get and level up as quickly as you did. The only reason that something like what you just did seems normal to you, is because you have always been doing crazy things since you arrived on this world.

    As for all the high-level people we have met, that is simply because the strong are naturally attracted to each other. Usually, mithril rank adventurers wouldn''t take a simple guard mission for a caravan like this. Normal people aren''t ustomed to seeing people fly through the air and effortlessly chop up monsters with powerful magic."

    "Okay, maybe my worldview is a little skewed, but I don''t throw myself at every dangerous encounter thates my way." Marcus said, not wanting toe off as some sort of thrill seeker always wanting to put his life on the line.

    "Really now?" Mrazivy replied skeptically. "The second time we met, you dove into a dungeon by yourself and fought a boss monster that was out of your league. At that point we barely even knew each other so it was baffling to me that you would risk your life for an acquaintance you only spent a few hours with previously."

    "I mean, I heard you were in trouble and didn''t want you to die. Also, it wasn''t like my motives werepletely selfless. I did want to make you indebted to me since you are a powerful princess."

    However, Marcus'' rebuttal was met with Mrazivy offering up more examples of his recklessness. Like the time he epted a haunted and cursed mansion, and when he faced down a dangerous demon simply because an intelligent beast asked for his assistance.

    And while Marcus wanted to respond with several examples of times Mrazivy had demonstrated the exact same behavior, he was unable to thanks to their captive finally waking up.

    During their bantering they had been keeping a close eye on the brigand they had captured and waiting for him to regain consciousness after his nasty fall.

    Of course, they could have sped up his recovery with healing magic or a potion, but they didn''t want to waste such a thing on a murdering, piging scumbag.

    "Ugh. Where am I?" The brigand that had been used as bait said the moment he woke up.

    Clearly, he was confused about what had happened since he had taken a sudden fall and been knocked unconscious.

    "You''re currently with our caravan. The one you led a bunch of trolls to."Marcus said, squatting down so that he was eye level with the man who was leaned up against one of the carriages.

    The man''s face immediately lit up with realization, and he looked around in a panic to see what was going on around him.

    Yet reality was far from the image he had in his mind. He had been expecting to see people running and screaming as trolls ughtered the members of the caravan. But everything was calm, and the only signs of carnage were severalrge smoldering bodies that clearly belonged to monsters rather than people.

    "Impossible." The brigand muttered in disbelief.

    "Sorry to burst your bubble, but reality is what you see before you. We wiped out all the trolls you led here without suffering a single casualty. Now we''ve got some questions for you, and we expect you to answer them honestly. Though, if you feel like keeping your mouth shut or lying, I can show you a fate worse than what happened to those trolls."

    Marcus stared directly into the brigand''s eyes and unleashed his Phantom Pressure with just enough force to not crush the man''s soul.

    Nevertheless, feeling the pressure exerted on his very existence, the man started hyperventting and a cold sweat drenched his body. Instinctually he could tell that he was only a moment from his life being snuffed out in a manner far worse than a normal death.

    Once he was sure that he had gotten his point across, Marcus retracted his Phantom Pressure.

    The brigand inhaled sharply now that the mountainous weight had been lifted off of his soul.

    "Now, I know that you must have some buddies waiting around somewhere. Why don''t you first tell us where they are and how many are in your group?"

    Thankfully, the brigand they had captured spilled his guts without any resistance. It had only taken the one quick interaction with Marcus for him to know that he was far scarier than his boss Axel or any of the other brigands in his group. Plus, they had forced him to act as bait for the trolls which destroyed just about any loyalty he ever had for hispatriots.

    "I see. So, they are hiding around five kilometers away to the northwest. Thanks for your cooperation. You can go back to sleep now, and we''ll figure out what to do with youter. I wouldn''t get my hopes up, though."

    The man attempted to protest and plead his case, but Marcus did not wait for him to get a single word out. With a swift chop to the back of the neck, he knocked their captive out.

    "So, what do you want to do now?" Mrazivy asked now that they had information on the band of brigands targeting the caravan.

    "Hm, it would probably be easy enough to send a big spell in their general direction and wipe them all out, but that would be a bit boring, and I don''t want to cause undue damage to the forest. How about we guide them this way and make a show of crushing them.

    We''ve managed to learn some useful things from the members of the caravan, but I think they will open up more if they see us taking down this group of bandits."

    "Sure, let''s go with that. But how are we going to bring them here? They don''t seem like your typical dumb as bricks criminals. I''m sure they''ll send more scouts out beforeing here in force."

    "Oh, I''ve got a pretty good idea." Marcus replied, wearing a devious grin on his face.

 Chapter 1046: Chapter 1046 Mythic Encounter

    "It is probably about time. Franco, lead some of your guys to scout things out and report back. If everyone is dead and the trolls have moved on, we can begin collecting our loot."

    "Got it boss. It''s just too bad none of the runners made it back. One of my best was among the group to make sure that the trolls reached their destination. I honestly figured he would make it through." Franco said, looking mildly disappointed.

    "Truly, it is a pity, but we will make sure to sing his and the other runners'' praise during our celebration tonight. I heard that this caravan has plenty of good booze and food they were transporting for the officers of the army gathering in Armadura. We''re going to party like never before tonight." Axel said, letting out a loud bellowingugh.

    The other brigands around let out a series of cheers when they heard this and began urging Franco to hurry back so that they could quickly get onto the revelry.

    Yet while he was gathering up some of the guys that were in his scouting squad, a young woman walked out of the woods behind them.

    Naturally every single one of the brigands turned their attention towards her. For a few seconds there was bafflement on every one of their faces. It was certainly notmon for an unapanied person to randomly appear in these woods. Especially a beautiful young woman.

    Nevertheless, the confusion did notst long. Soon all of the brigands were grinning and leering at the woman.

    "Looks like fortune has really smiled upon us today. We figured that the trolls would kill everyone so that we wouldn''t get to have any ymates for the night, but a lucky survivor hase and presented herself to us." One of the brigands said, licking his licks as he looked the woman up and down.

    She had incredibly striking features, with a wlessly beautiful face, lustrous hair that was half ck and half white, and mismatched eyes, with one being ck and the other being white. There was an exotic alure to her that none of the brigands had ever seen before.

    "Hehe. Why don''t youe here littledy. We promise we''ll treat you nicely all nightlong." Another of the brigands said while slowly walking towards Roxene.

    However, before he took more than two steps, Axel, who had felt a sense of unease sense the woman had appeared called out to his men.

    "Nobody get any closer to her! She''s dangerous!"

    All of the brigands stopped at their leader''smand, but many of them looked befuddled. How could a lone unarmed young woman be any sort of threat to them. Their group was over two hundred strong and each of them had higher than averagebat abilities thanks to their profession.

    "All of you get into formation now! That ain''t a normal little girl. If she was a survivor from the caravan she wouldn''t have approached us from that direction."

    Understanding fell over the faces of the brigands. Their visitor was not just some lost girl but hade here purposefully to ambush them.

    "It seems that one of you actually has a decent sense for danger. Unfortunately, it really doesn''t matter if you are on your guard or not." Roxene said, a vicious smile on her face.

    The brigands attempted to fire arrows, throw knives, and cast spells at her, but a powerful mana barrier appeared in front of Roxene and blocked them.

    In the next moment her lithe figure began to warp and expand as she retook her normal form.

    A single second seemed to go on for eternity as the brigands watched her transformation and a sense of dread overcame all of them.

    Standing before them now was no longer a young woman, but a giant wolf that was twelve meters long and five meters tall.

    Roxene no longer restrained her aura and allowed the brigands to witness the full majesty of a powerful mythic grade beast.

    "We''re doomed." Axel said in despair.

    Even if he nor any of his men could fathom the true power Roxene possessed, they could feel that she was overwhelmingly stronger than them. Before them now stood a type of creature that would normally only be spoken of in stories or fables. Unfortunately, what was happening to them was not a story but reality. A mythic grade beast had appeared before them.

    A few of them muttered something about the forest''s "Reaper," but Roxene just ignored them since their muddled words of fear did not interest her.

    For a few moments she stood there menacingly waiting for them to flee, but all of the brigands simply continued to stare at her in utter terror.

    ''Um, did I hit them with too much intimidation? They were supposed to run away, and I would lead them back towards the caravan. At least that is what Marcus asked me to do.'' Roxene thought, dumbfounded by what was happening.

    Instead of fleeing in a panic, the brigands looked like they had given up on life and were simply waiting for their inevitable ughter.

    Though, while it would be easy enough for Roxene to kill them all here, that did not align with the n she had agreed to. The others wanted to look good in front of the caravan so that they would have an easier time getting information from them.

    Roxene herself did not really care about the minutiae of what Marcus was trying to aplish, but she knew she would likely get scolded if shepletely failed here.

    ''He never specified that I needed to keep all of them alive. Maybe if I retract my intimidation and bat some of them around the others will start running.''

    By diminishing her aura Roxene made herself appear a bit less terrifying.

    There was a noticeable difference in the brigands now that they were not being suffocated by her power. Their wits appeared to have returned to them and at least a few were looking around for ways to survive.

    Seeing this Roxene was satisfied and leapt into the crowd of brigands and swiped her paw at the two that had been making uncouthments towards her.

    Both of them died before they could even feel the impact of the attack and their limp bodies crashed against one of the towering trees in the forest and leftrge red smears where they hit.

    Fear and panic spread through the band of brigands and most of them began running away in several different directions as their flight response kicked in.

    However, a few dozen remained rooted in ce, unable to fathom escaping such a powerful beast.

    ''Oh well. It should be enough.'' Roxene thought as she leisurely swatted the frozen men and killed them with easy.

    Once she had eliminated the ones that no longer had the will to run away, she turned her attention to the ones that had fled.

    They had spread out all over the ce like a bunch of baby spiders, but none of them were close too fast enough to escape Roxene.

    Despite herrge size she moved swiftly and quietly through the forest without so much as rustling a single leave.

    When she spotted a group of fleeing brigands, she would appear in front of them and kill one of them.

    Using this method, she herded them towards the caravan, and not a single of the remining men realized exactly what she was doing.

 Chapter 1047: Chapter 1047 The Forestâ€™s Reaper

    ''Looks like they''re finally here.''

    Gazing in between the tress, Marcus could see a few groups of terrified looking men dashing through the forest like their lives depended on it.

    There was no doubt these were the brigands he had sicked Roxene on.

    Still, he was a bit surprised to see how few of them were left. The man they had captured had told them that his group consisted of around two hundred fifty individuals. However, there were only around sixty that were currently making their way towards the caravan.

    ''Roxene must have really torn them apart. There''s not as many of them as I was expecting, but I guess it will have to do.''

    Marcus wanted to make another big show of protecting the members of the caravan so that they would loosen their lips and be willing to tell him and hispanions the information they wanted. So far, they had gotten some of the intel they wanted, but clearly some people were holding things back.

    Nevertheless, after his party''s showing protecting the caravan from two major threats, Marcus was certain that almost everyone would feel incredibly grateful to them and open up a bit more.

    "Brigands! Were under attack!" one of the caravan''s guards shouted when the men running towards them came into view.

    Of course, Marcus and hispanions had noticed the iing people far before anyone else but felt no need to alert the caravan when the threat was still so far away.

    Though, if anyone looked closely, they would notice that the brigands did not have a shred of hostility in their eyes. They were far too focused on running for their lives from Roxene to think about looting the caravan, which had been their original objective.

    "We''ll take them on. The rest of you stay back just in case." Marcus saidmandingly to the rest of the guards.

    None of them had to do as he said, but naturally they fell in line after watching him dash around in the air and ughter powerful trolls.

    He and hispanions, minus Roxene, stood in front of the caravan and waited for the brigands to arrive.

    When they finally did burst onto the road, it was easy enough for the ten of them to detain the fleeing brigands.

    "Wow. They barely put up any fight at all. Roxene must have really terrified them." Liliamented once they had the sixty-three surviving brigands tied up.

    Even now that they were immobilized, some of the still conscious brigands were shaking and muttering about the forest''s reaper.

    Neither Marcus nor any of hispanions knew what they were talking about, but when Manuel, who hade to check on the situation, heard what the brigands were saying, he turned ghastly pale.

    "Do you know something about this ''reaper''?" Marcus asked when he saw the man''s reaction.

    "Y-yes. It is said to be a terrifying creature that whisks people and livestock away without even showing itself. urrences of it taking people happen every few years for as far back as the kingdom''s history goes from what I have heard.

    Still, it only rarely appears and all attempts to find and kill it have only seen the forces hunting it vanishing without a trace, so it isrgely considered the same as a natural disaster that cannot be dealt with. For it to be nearby is a bad omen though. We can only hope that it got its fill taking the brigands that had set their sights on us."

    Manuel looked truly terrified as he ryed this information to Marcus. It seemed that the forest''s reaper was like a sort of boogeyman to the people of Houten that even just mentioning was taboo.

    However, Marcus knew that even if this "reaper" was a real creature living in this forest, it had not been the one to attack the brigands. Roxen was the one who had heard them towards the caravan after all.

    ''Um, does this mean that the forest''s reaper is going to be considered a giant wolf from now on. Manuel said it had never actually bene spotted, but Roxene definitely showed herself to these guys.''

    A part of Marcus wanted to clear up the misunderstanding to prevent the spread of rumors and panic, but doing so would mean revealing Roxene''s true identity. Telling everyone that they had a mythic grade beast traveling with them was likely not going to help them calm down.

    "I''m sure things will work themselves out." Mrazivy said reassuringly.

    "Yeah, I suppose so."

    With nothing else to do but let things y out, Marcus shrugged his shoulders and helped drag the captured brigands over to the caravan.

    Normally they would have just killed all of the men that were undoubtedly some of the worst criminals around, but some of the merchants in the caravan asked them to spare their lives. While most types of very were ouwed in nations affiliated with the adventurers guild, criminal very was still allowed.

    These brigands had trampled on other people''s lives for their own ill-gotten gains and were going to lose their human rights as punishment.

    Being higher level than average and decently skilled fighters, they were going to be forced to serve on the frontlines during the operation to retake the former capital.

    Perhaps their fate was a bit cruel, but Marcus was not going to go out of his way to defend or show pity to a bunch of murdering scumbags. Their n to wipe out everyone in the caravan did include him and hispanions. Even if their attack never posed any threat to them.

    "Lilia, are you okay with this?" Marcus asked, remembering her past experience.

    "Yeah, it''s fine. This ispletely different from what happened to me. These guys deserve what ising to them. I''m sure all the people they''ve killed in the past will rest easier knowing they are getting punished for their crimes."

    Lilia looked a bit tense as she responded to Marcus, but he could tell that she meant what she had said. It was not like these brigands had been suddenly abducted like her, they chose a life of crime for their own gain and were paying for it now.

    Marcus and hispanions swiftly brought the surviving brigands over to the group of merchants that would be transporting them the rest of the way to Armadura.

    Yet, as they were being loaded onboard, one of the brigands suddenly disappeared.

    It hadepletely out of nowhere and the magic had been so subtle that even Marcus and the members of his party had not noticed until it had already urred.

    ''No way!''

    They had just heard about this forest''s so-called reaper from Manuel, but what had really attacked the brigands was Roxene. Except, what had just happened was clearly not the work of Marcus'' beastpanion or any of the other members of his party.

    While extending his life sense skill to find where the attacker was located, one of the nearby horses vanished as well.

    Another brigand was taken shortly after the horse, and Marcus finally got a read on the creature that was attacking them unseen.

    Except, as he was about to alert everyone to its presence, he felt a thin thread of mana touch his body and he was forcefully warped away as well.

 Chapter 1048: Chapter 1048 The Forestâ€™s Reaper (2)

    ""Marcus!""

    The instant Marcus disappeared, both Mrazivy and Lilia shouted out in distress. One moment he had been standing next to them, and the next he was gone.

    Frantically the two of them looked around for any sign of him, and when they could not find him, they looked ready to rush off and indiscriminately search the entire area.

    "Stop, both of you!" Blitz called out to prevent them from running around aimlessly. "Marcus is still alive and unharmed. I can sense his general location through the magic that connects us. I''ll lead the way to him so that we can rescue him. Not that he will likely need our help in the first ce."

    Hearing Blitz''s words helped to calm Mrazivy and Lilia down. They had let panic get the best of them, but objectively, Marcus could handle himself. Out of all of them, he was probably the most difficult to kill after all.

    There was also the fact that their group freaking out was causing fear to spread through the caravan. Their party was by far the strongest protectors, and if they lost their cool, naturally everyone else was going to as well.

    Still, when another person, this time one of the members of the caravan disappeared without warning, it set off a chain of unrest.

    "ric, is there anything you can do?" Lilia asked hastily.

    "I''m already trying, but whatever this thing is, it''s not using normal magic. It''s either a unique skill or race ability that it''s using to warp people away."

    ric was attempting to prevent anyone else from being whisked away by the forest''s reaper by using a unique skill called Magic Disruption, but he was having little sess. If it had been using normal space magic, he would have been able to stop it, but he was only slowing down the thin strands of mana that were appearing at random and taking people.

    "Let me try as well."

    Stepping up, Miguel amassed a great deal of mana and cast the tier eight sacred magic spell Undefiled Sanctuary.

    He wasn''t able to cover the entirety of the caravan with his spell, but so far people had only been taken from a small area, so he focused his magic there.

    Within the spell''s effective range violence was impossible and a calming effect came over everyone that was inside of it. Nevertheless, it was still unknown if it would be capable of preventing the forest''s reaper from warping people away.

    "Okay, Miguel, ric, Inten, and Eirwen, you four stay and protect the caravan. The rest of us are going after Marcus and this so called "reaper". Blitz, lead the way." Mrazivy said, takingmand now that she had calmed down.

    Having decided on their course of action, Mrazivy, Lilia, Blitz, Aurelia, and Zareen, chased after Marcus. They may have been heading directly towards an entity said to have killed every force that attempted to hunt it down in the past, but they showed not a hint of fear.

    ˇ­

    Unable to resist the pull of mana that had hooked into him, Marcus found himself being teleported away from the rest of his party.

    When his vision finally returned to him, he noticed that he was inside of a cylindrical space that was faintly glowing orange.

    Yet, before he could get his bearings, his body was rapidly tossed around and caught up in a force of pure mana.

    ''What the hell is going on?!'' Marcus thought as he was rapidly spun around a vortex within the cylindrical space he found himself in.

    The mana pushing him around soon began cutting into him despite his incredibly tough form and the gray mist-like essence that made up his form began leaking out.

    Watching his escaping essence, Marcus saw it being sucked downward and being absorbed by some sort ofrge bulb.

    However, his essence wasn''t the only thing being drawn in, the two brigands and the horse that had been taken before him had several cuts all over their bodies, and their blood was being sucked out of them.

    ''This thing is pretty strong whatever it is, but if it is not using any spiritual energy, it can''t hold me.''

    Marcus immediately went intangible the moment he realized he could easily escape so long as he did not have a physical form.

    Once he was fully a ghost again, the swirling mana lost its hold on him, and he came to apete stop within what he assumed was the stomach of the creature that had attacked the caravan.

    No longer being violently swirled around, Marcus was able to assess the situation he was in.

    ''So, it''s a level eighty-five nt type monster called a Cauldron Bloom.'' Marcus thought as he used his creature appraisal skill on the monster that had eaten him.

    Unfortunately, he was not able to get any more information that its name and level since it was higher level than him, but that was enough for him to realize how dangerous this Cauldron Bloom was.

    He did not know exactly what sort of powers it had, but being able to forcefully transport other entities directly into its stomach was a fearsome ability.

    His time to leisurely assess the situation did notst long, though. Just a second after he appraised the Cauldron Bloom, another person suddenly appeared inside of it.

    Except, unlike the horse and brigands who Marcus did not feel the need to protect, this individual was someone he recognized as part of the caravan. He had been hired as a guard, so he could not just sit back and let them die from having all of their blood drained.

    ''This is going to be annoying.'' Marcus thought as he floated over to the young man that had just bene caught in the Cauldron Bloom''s vortex.

    Without hesitation, he threw up his mana barrier around the man in an attempt to protect him.

    Yet, the powerful storm within the Cauldron Bloom''s stomach quickly began to rip apart the mana barrier.

    Marcus next cast a few defensive spells, but they too became unstable within the torrent of mana. The Cauldron Bloom appeared to have some sort of power to distort any sort of mana rted skills used within its stomach.

    Bing frustrated, Marcus ran through his avable options. He could easily escape on his own, but protecting the man from the caravan was proving to be quite difficult. If another person or two showed up, he would really have his hands full.

    ''Thankfully, I''m not going to have to do this alone.''

    Even from within the Cauldron Bloom''s stomach, Marcus could feel the connection with his beast,panions, and could tell that both Blitz and Roxene were closing in on him. In just a few seconds he would have all of the help that he needed.

 Chapter 1049: Chapter 1049 The Forestâ€™s Reaper (3)

    ''Marcus, can you hear me?''

    ''Yeah, you''reing through loud and clear, Roxene.'' Marcus responded with telepathy.

    After noticing Marcus had suddenly disappeared from his previous position, Roxene had noticed that something was wrong and taken off after him.

    ''I should be close enough to see you, but there is no sign of you. Even your scent ispletely gone. Where are you right now and what''s going on?''

    ''Sorry, I''m not exactly sure where I am since I''m inside the stomach of a monster. It''s called a Cauldron Bloom and is level eighty-five. Though the locals seem to have given it the name, reaper of the forest.''

    For a couple of seconds, Roxene remained silent as she processed the unexpected information Marcus had just ryed to her. Unlike the others, she had not known he had been warped away by a hostile entity since she had still been patrolling the woods to make sure none of the brigands got away.

    ''Why do you sound so calm if you are currently being eaten?!'' Roxene shouted into Marcus'' head.

    Normally she would not have allowed her emotions to re up like this and show such tant concern for him, but the situation had caught her byplete surprise. Originally, she thought that Marcus was just using his ghost form for some sort of mission. Only now she had learned he was in some sort of danger.

    ''I''m perfectly fine right now. The creature that has me in its stomach doesn''t seem to know how to use spiritual energy, so I''ve just gone intangible to avoid being eaten. The problem is that it also got one of the people from the caravan. I''m doing my best to keep them from getting killed, but it''s not easy. It''d be difficult for me to counterattack with things the way they are.

    If you could, I''d like you to attack it from the outside and make an openin- Oh shit! Another person just got teleported. Sorry Rexene, I''m going to be busy keeping everyone that gets brought in here alive. I''ll have to leave fighting it on the outside to you and the others. Ah, and make sure to watch out for any thin strands of mana. That''s how it teleports people.''

    With thatst piece of advice, Marcus cut off telepathicmunication with Roxene and turned his entire focus on keeping those eaten by the Cauldron Bloom alive.

    "I''m going to make him cook up some premium meat for me after this." Roxene grumbled while searching for the Cauldron Bloom.

    However, the monster was undoubtedly an expert at concealing itself, as even her keen senses could not pick up a trace of it.

    Still, she knew it must be nearby since she could sense Marcus'' presence in the vicinity.

    Roxene attempted to locate it by firing off several spells in every direction in case it had concealed itself with some sort of skill or race ability, but her attacks only hit the numerous giant trees that made up the forest.

    ''Guess there''s only one ce left for it to be hiding.'' Roxene thought, looking down at the ground below her.

    Having eliminated the other possibilities, she figured that the Cauldron Bloom was most likely hiding undergrown. This would make it annoying to reach, but not impossible.

    Rapidly mming her front legs down, Roxene began digging into the earth and excavating arge hole.

    It was as she was doing this that Mrazivy, Lilia, Blitz, Aurelia, and Zareen finally arrived.

    "The creature that''s eaten Marcus is probably underground. Help me dig it out." Roxene said, getting right to the point before anyone could ask any questions.

    Of course, Mrazivy and Lilia especially wanted to know more, but they held off since slowing things down just to get more information would not help them at the moment. Their current objective was to dig, so they got to it.

    Thankfully, with their incredibly high stats, they were able to disce an immense quantity of dirt quickly, and soon found the top of the monster that had been stealthy attacking the caravan.

    The top of the monster looked like a giant orange flower that was currently folded up into a bud.

    However, the second it was disturbed and the dirt covering it was removed, the Cauldron Bloom''s flower opened up and revealed a giant circr mouth filled with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth that were rapidly rotating like saws. Clearly it could devour things even without first teleporting them directly into its stomach.

    In a rage, the Cauldron Bloom shot out of the ground and forced Mrazivy, Lilia, Roxene, Blitz, Aurelia, and Zareen back.

    Now that it hade out of the ground, almost the entirety of its massive form was visible.

    While it did not stand as tall as the mature trees in the forest, it easily rose a towering two hundred meters into the air, and its stem was around thirty meters in diameter.

    Arcane lights could be seen shing throughout its body, and those with practically keen eyes could see what looked like several figures being churned around within it.

    Lilia was the first to act now that their target had revealed itself.

    Immediately she formed her amethros gauntlets around her hand sand charged in as fast a bolt of lightning.

    After pulling her right arm back, she threw a heavy punch towards the base of the Cauldron Bloom.

    Yet, the attack never connected. Her fist instead passed through a tear in space that opened up a portal and sent her own attack right back at her.

    Unable to respond to this unexpected development in time, Lilia ended up punching herself directly in the chin and being flung away by her own power.

    "Aurelia, go make sure she is okay. Everyone else, let''s try probing its defenses with ranged attacks first." Mrazivy said, takingmand of the battle.

    Following her orders, Aurelia changed from her humanoid form back into a golden lioness and rushed after her master.

    Blitz and Zareen likewise transformed back into beasts in order to disy their full power. The monster they were facing was undoubtedly something they could not beat with only half measures.

 Chapter 1050: Chapter 1050 The Forestâ€™s Reaper (4)

    Up against the powerful spatial barrier the Cauldron Bloom possessed, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Zareenunched a barrage of ranged attacks to test out how much it could take.

    Unfortunately, every single one of their attacks was drawn into a portal and spit back out towards the attacker.

    Even when they quickly changed positions their own attacks would directlye back at them.

    "So, it''s not just simply bouncing our attacks back the way they came." Mrazivy grumbled.

    Thanks to its ability to seamlessly send anything directed at it back towards the source, the four of them were having a difficult time finding out just how much it could take. If they were to use their strongest attacks, they would just end up hurting themselves just as Lilia had with her initial attack.

    Of course, the Cauldron Bloom was not just sitting around passively. Along with its seemingly unbeatable barrier, it had hundreds of long whiplike tendrils that wereshing around rapidly. Then there were its nearly invisible strands of mana that it had cast all over the area that would immediately teleport anyone they touched into its stomach. Overall, it was an immensely tough monster to fight.

    "I can see why no one that ever came after this thing ever returned. It''s almost unfair. A perfect defense and an instant win offense that brings you directly into its stomach." Lilia angrily spat upon her return.

    Thanks to Auralia healing her she did not have a mark from taking her own punch, but she was clearly livid.

    "d to see that you are alright Lilia. With you and Auralia joining us we might be able to outpace its barrier. Stay mobile and pepper it with attacks you can easily block or avoid. We''ll figure out its limits soon enough." Mrazivy said, rushing over to update Lilia on her n.

    However, Lilia had her own idea on how to break through the Caldron Bloom''s defenses.

    After being humiliated by it, she could not hold in the rage she was feeling. ying it safe and slowly finding out tis limits was not going to serve as a proper release for the emotions building up inside her.

    "Sorry Mraz. I''m not waiting around. I''m going to bust this thing open right now." Evelyn said, her voice tinged with fury.

    "Wait Lilia! Calm down!" Mrazivy said frantically.

    It was toote, though. Lilia had already made up her mind and activated her strongest power.

    "Divine Might!"

    Golen bands of light sprung up around Lilia''s body and an energy unlike any other in the world coursed through her.

    Mrazivy attempted to grab Lilia and stop her from acting recklessly, but her hand was violently repelled. Even if she could not use this ability for long, Lilia was practically invincible while it was active.

    With unbelievable speed, she once again charged directly for the Cauldron Bloom. Except this time, it could not stop her.

    Sensing the dangering its way, the colossal monster focused every single one of its tendrils towards Lilia and extended the thin strands of mana the teleported creatures directly into its stomach towards her.

    Yet, it''s so far unstoppable warping ability bounced off of Lilia harmlessly, and she ripped through its multitude of tendrils like they were made out of wet paper.

    Lilia threw jabs and kicks like she was a tornado and cut her way through to the Cauldron Bloom''s main body.

    When she soon reached the spatial barrier around it, her blows tore right through and shattered it without resistance.

    "This is the end for you." Lilia said confidently as she punched with all her might.

    Except, the instant before her first connected with the base of the Cauldron Bloom, it vanished.

    Lilia''s unparalleled strike hit only the air and sent a powerful shock wave ripping through the forest.

    Sadly, the damage she did to the nearbyndscape did not reach her target. Just before it was hit, the Cauldron Bloom used its spatial warping powers to teleport itself far away from Lilia. It had identified her as a threat it could not stand up to and had followed its instincts to flee.

    Wearing a look of shock on her face, Lilia could not believe that her attack had missed. Her concentration then wavered, and the power of her Divine Might racy ability faded.

    With its power no longer enhancing her, Lilia fell to her knees and began breathing heavily. Even just a few seconds using Divine Might was enough to fully drain her of her energy. This was the price she had to pay for power far beyond normal capabilities.

    "Damn it, Lillia. I told you to wait." Mrazivy said angrily as she hurried to Lilia''s side.

    She really wanted to give her little sister-inw a long lecture about teamwork and listening to others, but now really was not the time. Marcus and the other victims the Caldron Bloom had warped into its stomach had been taken with it.

    Lilia herself was ovee with shame. She had charged in assured of her victory, only to fail spectacrly.

    "I''m sorry." Lilia eventually sputtered out in between heaving from exhaustion.

    "What''s done is done. Just make sure to learn from this mistake." Mrazivy replied. "Now we need to go after that thing. Blitz which way did it go?"

    Nodding his head, Blitz indicated the direction that he sensed Marcus in. From what he could tell the monster had teleported around two kilometers away and was continuing to move away from them.

    "Okay. Roxene, Blitz, let''s go."

    Deciding to leave Lilia''s beastpanions with her, Mrazivy only took Marcus''panion with her to chase after the Cauldron Bloom. It would prove difficult to fight the powerful monster with fewer forces, but right now Lilia was practically defenseless. Just in case something else happened she would need protecters to cover for her.

    Still, Lilia could not stand holding things back anymore and ordered her beastpanions to pursue the Caldron Bloom and assist with taking it down.

    "I can understand your intentions Lilia, but one of us must stay with you until you''ve recovered. If you''ll permit me to act as your guardian, Aurelia can go on ahead. I''m only good at brute force, so her powers will be more useful for the current situation." Zareen said, a pleading look in her eyes.

    Since Lilia had formed a contract with them through a seal of domination, if she truly ordered them both to go, there was nothing they could do but obey or take the penalty for disobedience.

    "Fine. Zareen, stay with me. Aurelia, you go and help Mrazivy, Roxene, and Blitz. Make up for my blunder."

    Nodding her head, Aurelia turned towards where the others had gone and bounded through the forest after them.

 Chapter 1051: Chapter 1051 The Forestâ€™s Reaper (5)

    ''Marcus how are things going inside of that thing?'' Mrazivy asked once she was close enough to form a telepathic connection.

    ''I''m holding out, but I''ve got four people in here that I can barely protect. I possessed the first guy that arrived so that I can use my own stats and skills to protect him, but defending the other three is proving to be a losing battle. I can keep it up for a while longer, but eventually I''m going to run out of mana. If you could hurry up and beat this thing, I''d be pretty grateful.''

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy had only bad news to ry to Marcus. She quickly told him about Lilia''s failed assault and the Cauldron Bloom''s powerful defensive ability. So far only Lilia had been able to breach its spatial barrier, but she was out for the count for at least a day.

    ''I hate to suggest this, but perhaps it will be easier to attack it from the inside. I haven''t been able to test how effective that would be thanks to having to protect the caravan members, but if one of you allowed yourselves to be eaten, you might find more sess.''

    Mrazivy grimaced at the idea, but it was better than continuing to attack the Cauldron Bloom only to have their attacks reflected back.

    Still, Marcus'' description of the inside of the monster''s stomach was far from pleasant. There was a ceaseless vortex of mana spinning around that swept up everything inside and slowly cut people and beasts alike until it had drained them of all of their blood.

    If an assault from the inside failed, whoever jumped in would be in serious danger. Marcus was the only one that could turn intangible and escape without any resistance.

    ''Are you sure that there''s no way you can try attacking it from inside?'' Mrazivy asked.

    ''I could, but I''d have to let three of the caravan members die. I''m not ready to give up on saving them just yet.''

    After receiving a far from positive respond from Marcus, Mrazivy clicked her tongue and racked her brain for how to deal with the current situation. She really did not want to be eaten but attacking from the outside had proven ineffective so far.

    "We still haven''t tried hitting it with any big moves. Perhaps a unique skill attack will prove too much for it to send back." Roxene proposed as she ran next to Mrazivy.

    Currently they were simply trailing the Cauldron Bloom as it fled deeper into eh forest. They were hoping toe up with some sort of n before attacking again, but the only things any of them coulde up with were extremely reckless.

    "What are we going to do if it can fully reflect our strongest attack. We''d end up seriously injured if hit by something like that."

    "Sure, but I''m tired of doing nothing. Lilia''s charge may have been reckless, but she''s still the only one of us that managed to aplish anything. I''m ready to throw everything I have at this thing and seeing what works."

    Roxene was bing impatient and tired of cautiously probing their enemy. They had not learned much of anything yet, and she was ready to pull the trigger just like Lilia had.

    Thankfully, Roxene did not rush ahead on her own without consulting anyone else. Before she went all out, she wanted to coordinate with her allies.

    "Fine. We''ll try and hit it hard and fast to see if we can''t break through. Just let me try something else first."

    Going on ahead of Roxene, and Blitz, Mrazivy used her magic to create severalrge walls of ice and boxed in the Cauldron Bloom. She wanted to see what it would do if its escape route was cut off.

    "As I thought."

    After being trapped the Caldron Bloom used its ability to teleportation to escape without any issue. It seemed like it would be pretty much impossible to lock it down without any specialized abilities or items meant tobat abilities that manipted space.

    Marcus had a spatial disruptor that he had made with Thabon several years ago, but it had ended up getting destroyed when he brought it out within the Caldron Bloom''s stomach. It just was not strong enough to contend with such a powerful monster.

    Mrazivy was contemting the best method to attack the Caldron Bloom when Aurelia finally caught up with them.

    "I thought that you were going to stick with Lilia?" Mrazivy asked.

    "My master wanted me to offer my aid in beating this monster. She feels ashamed by her failure and wants me to continue fighting in her stead."

    Shrugging her shoulders, Mrazivy was willing to take whatever help she could get.

    Nevertheless, as powerful as Aurelia was, adding her to their force did not seem to be worth much. None of their attacks had been effective except for Lilia''s. It did not matter how strong they were if nothing they did got through to their enemy.

    "Aurelia, what is the Supreme Skill you got from the special dungeon? Mine just makes me stronger, so it''s not going to be much use in this situation. I likewise know what Blitz and Roxene are capable of, but I''ve never heard what you can do." Mrazivy said, fishing for something else to try before mming their heads into a brick wall and hoping to bust through.

    "I''m sorry to disappoint, but my Supreme skill probably won''t be of much help. It''s just a support type called Thirteen Braves." Aurelia said apologetically.

    She then went on to exin the specifics of her Supreme Skill.

    "Well, it can''t hurt to have. If you wouldn''t mind using it on all of us, that should at least give us some extra protection against this thing."

    Nodding her head, Aurelia activated her Supreme Skill, and a red glow enveloped her, along with Mrazivy, Roxene, and Blitz.

    "Now I think I''m ready. I''m going to let that thing eat me, and I want the three of you to hit it with your best attacks from the outside while I cause havoc inside of it. If we''re lucky, that will be enough to bring it down."

 Chapter 1052: Chapter 1052 The Forestâ€™s Reaper (6)

    Having steeled her resolve, Mrazivy charged towards the Cauldron Bloom.

    During her approach she fired off a few low tier spells to get the monster''s attention.

    As expected, the barrier around it opened up several tears in space that redirected the attacks back at Mrazivy.

    Naturally she dealt with them easily enough since they were her own attacks to begin with.

    "Come on already. Deploy those threads of mana and teleport me into your stomach already." Mrazivy grumbled as she ran around the titanic monster and assailed it with numerous weak attacks.

    For several minutes the Cauldron Bloom seemed intent on ignoring her and continued to flee after feeling threatened by Lilia.

    Nevertheless, it eventually gave into its instincts to gobble up its attacker and extend the nearly invisible threads of mana it used to ensnare people with.

    However, this time Mrazivy did not keep on her guard and avoid the thin threads, but actively ran towards them.

    The moment she touched the closest one, she felt a magical force being exerted on her and allowed herself to be taken without resistance.

    When her vision came back to her, she found herself within the stomach of the Cauldron Bloom.

    Immediately the powerful vortex of mana within it attempted to sweep her up in it, but she had known what wasing was prepared to deal with it.

    A dark silverish liquid erupted from Mrazivy''s body and wrapped her up within a protective cocoon that extended strands towards the walls of the Cauldron Bloom''s stomach.

    Thanks to her Mercurial Ice Unique skill, she was able to root herself in ce and create a small sanctuary for herself within the vicious vortex of mana.

    Still, she could feel the immense pressure on the outside battering away at her protection and knew she could not keep it up for long.

    ''I''m guessing you''ve got a n, Mraz. Otherwise, you wouldn''t have jumped in here, right.'' Marcus asked over telepathy.

    Naturally he had seen her arrival and wanted to know what she was going to attempt.

    ''Yeah, I''ve got a strategy in mind. Though if it doesn''t work, I''ll be counting on you to bail me out. I can''t leave here whenever I want like you can.'' Mrazivy responded.

    She then gripped her sword and began pouring power into it. From outside her attacks may not have been reached, but on the inside, she was certain she could strike down the Cauldron Bloom.

    ''Now!''

    Over telepathy Mrazivy shouted out to her allies to signal the start of her attack.

    With her sword teaming with mana, she swung rapidly and released several powerful sts of cold energy.

    A giant razor-sharp blizzard formed within the stomach of the Cauldron Bloom and fought against the vortex of mana it used to tear apart its food.

    For the first time the giant monster screeched in pain as its insides were shredded and frozen.

    Just a secondter, Roxene, Blitz, and Aurelia attacked from the outside with some of their strongest attacks.

    Distracted as it was from the attacksing within, it was unable to fully deploy its warping barrier and was battered by a devastating st of light from Roxene, fried by a giant bolt of lightning from blitz, and had the base of its body torn apart by Aurelia''s ws and teeth.

    The Cauldron Bloom shook violently as it was struck by four powerful attacks from mythic grade beasts.

    Large parts of its body were destroyed and its previously rigid body that stood upright fell over and mmed into eh ground with a thunderous crash.

    It nowy in a massive crater, unable to move. Still, it had not died quite yet. As a nt type monster, it had exceptional vitality, and it would take more to finish it off.

    "Mrazivy, you nearly killed the people I''ve been giving my all to protect! Why did youunch such a wide range attack in a confined space when you knew there were bystanders around?!" Marcus yelled as he rushed over to his wife with the four caravan members he was protecting in tow.

    "Oh, I gave you warning before I attacked, and it looks like they are all still breathing. Against a creature thisrge, a powerful but localized attack wouldn''t have done enough damage. Plus, I made sure to concentrate most of my power away from where you were. "

    Marcus wanted to say something else, but before he could the inside of the Cauldron Bloom, where they still were, quaked.

    "You can give me yourintster. Let''s get out of her before this thing recovers and catches back up in that vortex." Mrazivy said as she sliced an opening in the Cauldron Bloom.

    Fortunately, her new sword cut through the Cauldron Bloom''s stomach with practically no resistance.

    The two of them then forced their way out with the four caravan members and swiftly put some distance between themselves and the monster that had given them an immense amount of trouble.

    After making sure that people from the caravan were safe, Marcus and Mrazivy regrouped with Roxene, Blitz, and Aurelia to finish off the Cauldron Bloom, which had been named given the name forest''s reaper by the people of Houten.

    Except, just before they could fire the finishing blows, the ancient monster vanished once again. It had finally recovered enough to use its teleportation and wisely fled the area.

    "So, what now? We''ve saved the people it ate. If we want, we can head back now." Mrazivy suggested. After the tedious battle with the Cauldron Bloom, she was ready to be over and done with it.

    "As much as I''d like to do that, taking it out will be for the best. It could recover ande back after the caravan if left to its own devices. Best to nip a possible future problem in the bud while we can. Also, there are some magic items I''m certain I can make with its materials.

    Some things that will help us when we inevitably have to deal with another creature that uses space magic or simr abilities." Marcus said, determination in his eyes.

    "Fine. Let''s just make it quick. I''m tired of dealing with this thing."

    With their course of action set, Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Aurelia went after the Cauldron Bloom once again. Hoping that they would finally be able to put it down.

 Chapter 1053: Chapter 1053 Return and Arrival

    "Five hours. It took us five hours to finally take this thing down." Mrazivy said in between gasping for air.

    She was sending a re Marcus'' way and letting him know about her irritation. After they had rescued the caravan members it had eaten, they could have left it alone. While the possibility it woulde back was not zero, most likely it would have stayed away to recover in the depths of the forest. Their attacks had left it wounded and on the run after all.

    "Sorry, Mraz. I didn''t think it would take this much effort to kill it after how much damage you, Roxene, Blitz, and Aurelia did to it."

    The Cauldron Bloom had proven to be a slipperier foe than expected.

    Its attacks were not particrly potent other than its ability to warp creatures directly into its stomach, but its spatial barrier and its ability to teleport away whenever it was about to be damaged made it a nightmare to fight.

    Every time they got close to hitting it with another substantial attack, it would just run away or deflect it back at them.

    Still, after chasing the monster around for five hours, it eventually started to run low on mana and they were able to kill it.

    "I hope that this was worth it. I''m beyond exhausted now, plus there''s no telling what everyone waiting at the caravan is thinking. At this point it wouldn''t be a surprise if they thought we were dead." Mrazivyined.

    "I''m not going to lie and say this wasn''t more of a hassle than expected, but you''ll see that it was well worth the effort soon enough. Monsters with the power to manipte space are rare. With its core and parts of tis body, I''ll be able to make some extremely useful items for all of us."

    After storing what remained of the Cauldron Bloom''s body into his item box, Marcus asked Mrazivy to lead the way back to the Caravan. Eirwen, who was her beastpanion, was still with them, so she was able to easily detect where they were through their connection.

    Thankfully it did not take more than twenty minutes for all of them to return to the caravan by flying in a straight line all the way back.

    When they arrived, they found that pretty much everyone looked tense and that a foreboding had taken hold.

    "Boy am I d to see you guys. Every moment since you left it seemed like a panic was only a moment away from breaking out." Miguel said once Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Aurelia hadnded.

    Naturally the members of the caravan were spooked to learn about the allusive and legendary reaper of the forest attacking them. Many of them had thought that it was only a matter of time before they all disappeared without a trace.

    Lilia arriving back with Zareen in an exhausted state had also not done any good with helping to alleviate the growing fear among people. To them, it was all but certain that Marcus, Mrazivy, Roxene, Blitz, and Aurelia were dead.

    "Your back! And you brought the missing people with you! What exactly happened?!"

    Louis came rushing over faster than anyone would think his short legs could carry him and began barraging Marcus with a multitude of questions. As the leader of this caravan, he felt he needed to be apprised of the situation.

    "Yes, it took longer than expected to deal with the forest''s reaper, but we managed to rescue the people it took and drive it off and back into the depths of the woods. I don''t believe that it wille and attack us again." Marcus said, making sure to leave out that they had actually killed the monster.

    There was a possibility that the leadership of Houten might try to confiscate it from them upon their arrival in Houten, so he figured that it would be better that no one other than hispanions knew about what had really happened.

    Louis already looked plenty surprised to hear that with just half of their party that they were able to fight off a monster said to be capable of destroying armies and never having left a single witness behind.

    However, he did not have any grounds to doubt what they said. Not only had Marcus and his party members returned with the people that had been spirited away, but there were several witnesses that saw Marcus get taken as well. He would have to have escaped from the forest''s reaper in order to have made it back.

    "Then if you fought it, that means you must have seen the monster. You''ll all be treated as heroes just for bringing back its description. Perhaps it will finally be hunted down once the type of creature is known." Louis said excitedly.

    Quickly he asked for details about the monster known as the reaper of the forest, and Marcus was more than happy to oblige. It was already dead and in his item box, so he did not really care if other people went on a wild goose chase for itter.

    Once things had finally settled down, the caravan began moving again. Despite the tumultuous day everyone had had, they had a schedule to keep and had already lost several hours thanks to the sessive attacks.

    ˇ­

    The rest of the trip went by mostly uneventfully, with only minor incidents along the way that were easily solved.

    "So that''s Armadura. Houten''s northern most city and their forward base to try and reim their lost capital." Marcus murmured when therge white stone walls came into view.

    With a single look it was easy why it was called a fortress city. Massive ramparts encircled the ce and watch towers were at close intervals on the wall. This may have been the most heavily fortified city Marcus had ever seen.

    "Looks like they don''t have enough room for everyone inside the city. There''s practically a sea of tents set up outside the walls." Mrazivy said, enhancing her vision to get a closer look.

    Just as she mentioned, for almost as far as the eye could see were tents and temporary buildings that had bene put up to amodate the massive influx of people. The city was well over capacity and metaphorically bursting at the seams.

    "I don''t think we''re going to be able to find a ce to stay. Guess we''ll be sleeping in our tents for a while longer." Liliamented, her expression glum.

    "No, it''s likely they''ll find space for us in the city. Do remember how desperate they were to get us to join the operation since we have mithril rank adventurers among our party. I expect them to treat us well so that we give it our best when the fighting starts." Aric surmised.

    "Well, either way, we''ve finally made it. In hopefully just a week or two the battle to reim the city will begin and we can get what we came here for." Marcus said, his gaze looking beyond Armadura.

    Just a bit farther to the north was the former capital that had be a necropolis. With any luck a ghost king would be residing within, and he could obtain thest item necessary for him to evolve.

 Chapter 1054: Chapter 1054 Machinations in the Shadows

    In a long, dimly lit hallway that did not have a single window, three cloaked individuals were walking towards arge set of double doors.

    One of them was in the lead with two other two trailed slightly behind and off to the side. From a single look it was clear to see that the individual up front was in charge and that the other two were acting as guards.

    "I''m going to wring Vaughn''s neck if this isn''t important. I was in the middle of an important ritual when he called this stupid meeting." The person at the front grumbled.

    From her voice, she sounded like an innocent young girl, but her violent words were anything but innocent.

    "Lady Mara, this gathering was approved by three of the Eminences. It would be impossible for you to refuse as one of the six. Plus, it was not just Lord Vaughn, Lady Cami has a matter of the upmost importance to discuss as well. This meeting would have urred even without him bring something to the table." One of her attendants said.

    His deep voice andrge build that was easily seen even through his cloak showing that he was a strong individual.

    "I know that already, Draegan." Mara snapped back at her attendant.

    She was mostly irritated simply because she did not like Vaughn. He had rubbed her the wrong way ever since they first met.

    Still, she could not just bail on this meeting. Her position would not allow it.

    "Lady Mara, if you want, I could use my powers to ''inconvenience'', Lord Vaughn." Mara''s other attendant said.

    Unlike her first attendant, the second one was clearly a woman. Herrge cloak failed to hide her sizable bust, and a bit of pink hair could be seening out of her hood.

    "Yes, I might just have you do that Usi. It will be a good way to show him what a capable new subordinate I''ve obtained." Mara said, a sinister grin on her face.

    At this point the conversation between the three of them ended, as they had reached therge set of double doors.

    There were no guards of any kind posted, but the doors opened automatically when Mara stood in front of them.

    Beyond the doors was arge round table, that had six seats around it. Five of them were currently filled, and behind each of the upied seats were two attendants standing at the ready.

    Mara confidently walked into eh room and sat down at the single empty seat, while Draegan and Usi stood behind her.

    "And here I was beginning to worry that you weren''t going to show, Mara. But I suppose betterte than never." One of the other seated individuals said condescendingly.

    "Yes, well, some of us actually have important work to be doing. Unlike a failure like you, Vaughn, I''ve been getting results."

    At Mara''s barbed response, one of the individuals standing behind Vaughn took a step forward, but with a quick wave from his master he stood down.

    "Looks like you need to keep your dog, Argus, on a tighter leash. I did not say anything untrue, so there is no reason to get upset with me." Mara said haughtily.

    The tension between Mara and Vaughn began to heighten and were on the verge of exploding, when another of the seated people spoke up.

    "That''s enough out of the two of you. We''re here to discuss important information that is vital to the sess of our n. If you two want to quarrel with each other, you both can do so afterwards."

    "Fine, Cami. I''ll behave if he does." Mara said, glowering at Vaughn.

    "Very well, there is no point in getting upset with a child." Vaughn said, smirking at Mara.

    Thankfully the two of them kept under control and did notsh out again. Allowing the meeting to finally get underway.

    "So, do you want to go first, or should I?" Cami said, addressing Vaughn. The two of them were the ones that had called this meeting to disseminate information to the other Eminences, who were the top of their organization.

    "I shall start if you don''t mind?" Vaughn replied politely.

    Nodding her head, Cami indicated that she would defer to him.

    "As much as it pains me to admit, there are some unforeseen elements that have proven to be nuisances in several of my operations. At first, it was only minor things that weren''t worth mentioning, but they''ve now foiled two very important plots. If not for them, our King may have already been able to appear in this world."

    "We''ve already heard about your multiple failures. Why does it matter to us if some people are getting in your way? Deal with them yourself. Don''t get us involved with your problems." Mara said, frustration in her voice.

    As heads of their organization, they were in charge of operations within certain territories and rarely got involved with each other. She saw no reason that any of them should worry about Vaughn''s issues.

    Naturally the other Eminences were in agreement with her, but Vaughn had called this meeting to stress the danger those that had been getting in his way were.

    "You would be correct normally. But these individuals pose a threat to all of us. In fact, some of my little birds have told me that they are currently marching towards one of your schemes, Mara. Recently they left Borealia and arrived in Houten. If you''re not careful, they''ll unravel everything you have been working towards."

    Vaughn then pulled out a dark silver orb from his sleeve and ced it on the table.

    Once he took his hand off of it, the orb rolled to the center of the table and projected several images into the air for everyone to see.

    For a few moments the Eminences and their attendants scrutinized the images, before two of them erged and covered up the others.

    "Among their group, these two are the ones that have been the biggest headaches. My niece, Mrazivy Borealia, and her husband, Marcus Ferrous."

 Chapter 1055: Chapter 1055 Machinations in the Shadows (2)

    "First, Marcus Ferrous joined hands with the spirit Voda to kill a demon I had working with a necromancer in Loursend. After that, both him and Mrazivy teamed up and defeated one of the demon prodigies handpicked by our King in Cordillera Depths Dungeon. Next, they became involved in the civil war in Tralenstein and lowered the expected casualty rates.

    Then, the two of them intervened during my n to take over Borealia and sacrifice its people to our King. Finally, several months ago the two of them appeared in Aezam and brought a swift end to my n to corrupt the nation''s guardian beast and plunge the entire continent into a war with the undead residing within the Deste Dessert."

    Vaughn quickly listed off the many plots that Marcus and Mrazivy had stifled thanks to their interference.

    "So what? You got beat by your niece and her husband at every turn. That doesn''t mean I can''t handle them. If they really do try to make a mess of my ns, I''ll simply destroy them. You may have failed to beat them Vaughn, but I''m not a weakling like you." Mara said, confident in her own abilities.

    "As much as I would like to see you floundering about after they trounce you, they have already caused enough damage to our operations." Vaughn said, increasing the size of some of the other images he had disyed alongside Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Six mythic grade beasts all estimated to be around or higher than level seventy, and five people of simr strength. These eleven individuals are currently making their way towards Houten''s old capital. The ce where you are currently cooking up a major operation."

    After hearing Vaughn''s description of the powers that Marcus and hispanion''s possessed, Mara could not help but begin to sweat a little.

    She certainly considered herself powerful. She was level eighty-one after all.

    Still, even if she brought all of her forces to bear, handling even half of Marcus'' party would be difficult. They were just that strong.

    However, while Mara was considering her options, one of the other seated figures, one that had not said a word so far, pointed directly at one of the disyed images and enhanced its size.

    "Oh, do you know him, Autar. Among their group he is the only one that I''ve had no encounters with. All I know about him is that he is a mithril rank adventurer named Miguel LaRusso." Vaughn said, sounding intrigued.

    "Yes, he has stuck his nose into some of my ns over thest few years. He is the adventurers guild''s new golden boy. A transmigration that has earned the title of hero."

    As Autar said the word hero, the entire room became cold as all of the Eminences grew agitated.

    Being a group that worshiped one of the Primeval Demons, heroes were considered to be one of their greatest enemies. Wherever they went, heroes always stamped out demons and their allies.

    "So, not only are we dealing with several high-level entities that are all mythic grade beasts or in the same ss, but a hero is involved as well. I agreed with Vaughn that this group is too dangerous to be ignored. I second a joint mobilization to eliminate them." Cami said, being the first to support him.

    One by one the other Eminences agreed, until only Mara was left to cast her vote.

    Naturally she did not want to ept any n put forward by Vaughn, but she was not so dumb as to let her ego and pride get in the way of the organization''s true mission.

    "Very well, I agree to a joint operation as well. However, since it will be urring in my territory, I will be the one in charge of all of our forces. Even those under other Eminences. Do the rest of you find this eptable?"

    Without any resistance, the other five Eminences agreed to Mara''s request. If something simr urred in their territories, they would want to be inmand as well.

    Now that a consensus had been reached, each of them discussed which of their subordinates would be sent to assist Mara in eliminating Marcus and Mrazivy, along with the rest of theirpanions.

    Back and forth negotiations went on for several hours, but eventually arge squad of qualified individuals was decided on.

    "Vaughn, I believe that concludes that issue that you wished to discuss, correct?"

    "Yes, Cami, I am finished. You may begin whenever you want" Vaughn said, ceding the conversation to her.

    "Good, then let us get to a matter of grave importance." Cami said, her lips upturning into a devilish smile. "I''ve finally found one. It lies at the deepest part of the Kirvista Ocean in the Virborg Trench."

    A shocked silence filled the room after Cami revealed her information. Each of the Eminences knew what she was referring to. They had long been searching for a specific type of entity and finally one had been found.

    "Then what are we doing sitting around here! This takes precedence over everything. Forgot the group that Vaughn wants us to deal with. We need to make our way to Virborg Trench with all the forces we can muster immediately." Autar said, standing up abruptly and mming his hands on the table.

    The other Eminences seemed equally antsy to immediately address the news that Cami had brought forth. Even Vaughn did not seem to mind that his own issue was going to be ignored.

    "Please calm down, everyone." Cami said, being the only one to have fully retained her cool.

    "If it were possible to reach it, I would already have my people working to secure it and beginning preparations for the ritual. Unfortunately, I was not the only one to find it. Those Grand Bitches- Oh sorry, a slight slip of the tongue. The Grand Witches have discovered its location as well. Several of their members have gathered in the Virborg Trench and are attempting to seal it away.

    I''m sure that you all understand that I alone don''t have the forces to drive them away."

    Nodding their heads, the other five Eminences understood where Cami wasing from. Very few groups wielded as much powers as the Grand Witches. It would be impossible for Cami to oppose them alone.

    "Then what should our n of action be? Should we all abandon everything and prepare to go to war against the Witches?" Mara asked.

    Some of the others seemed to agree with her, but Cami just shook her head.

    "I''m afraid that even if we brought all of forces together, we would have little chance of defeating them. At least as we are now. We should instead focus on dealing with Vaughn''s issue, though I suppose that it is really Mara''s issue now. After that we should have obtained enough animus to summon one of our King''s greatest servants.

    With their help, we should be able to beat back the Grand Witches and im it for ourselves."

    Vaughn quickly seconded Cami''s suggestion, while Autar and Mara were not far behind. The remaining two Eminences soon followed and the six of them came to a unanimous agreement. First, they would destroy Marcus'' party, and then they would go after the Grand Witches.

 Chapter 1056: Chapter 1056 Exposed

    With their meeting concluded, the six Eminences worshipping the blue primeval demon left the room and went on their way to make arrangements for their uing ns.

    Some of them went off together, but Mara left only with her two attendants in tow.

    However, as she made her way to her room within the base, she noticed an unwanted guest waiting in front of her door.

    "Get out of my way Vaughn. I''ve got a lot to do, and don''t have time to deal with you right now." Mara said, her tone of voice conveying how irritated she was.

    "Now, now, Mara. I''m not trying to pick a fight here. I am just interested in your new subordinate. I don''t believe that you brought her with youst time we held a meeting." Vaughn said, turning his gaze towards the woman called Usi.

    Hearing what exactly had caught his interest, Mara''s lips curled up into a smirk.

    "Ah, yes, she is new. Joined my operation a few months ago and worked up the ranks quickly to be one of my top lieutenants. She is certainly more talented than your man Argus. I wonder, are you possibly jealous?"

    Mara seemed to enjoy the frown that was visible on Vaughn''s face that could be seen under his hood. She figured that she had hit the nail on the head.

    However, Vaughn could care less about Mara obtaining a new pawn. What was eating at him was a nagging suspicion he could not get rid of.

    "She only joined you recently and you are letting her apany you to a meeting with all of the Eminences Present. That is quite a bit of faith you put in her. How can you be sure she is not an agent sent by someone else?"

    "Are you an idiot. Of course, I considered that she might be a spy. I personally performed a mind search on her. She''s clean. Usi'' as loyal as theye." Mara asserted. At this point Vaughn was beginning to frustrate her and she was only moments away from forcing him out of her way.

    "If you say so, I suppose I must believe you. Still, I would like to see her face just in case. She reminds me of someone that I know."

    At this Mara was about to explode. Vaughn was here questioning the loyalty of one of her most rusted subordinates, and the only reason she could think of was that it was a means to antagonize her.

    Yet, before she let loose, Usi ced her hand on Mara''s shoulder to stop her.

    "It is fine Lady Mara. If Lord Vaughn wants to see my face, then I will simply show him."

    After preventing her master from going ballistic, Usi ced both of her hands on either side of her hood and pulled it back.

    Now unhidden by the hood, Usi''s striking face was clear for everyone to see.

    She was undoubtedly beautiful, with light blue eyes and dark pink hair. Her elven ears were long and pointed and gave away her race.

    "So, do you recognize her? Is she anyone you know as you im?" Mara asked sharply.

    "No, I''ve never seen her face before. I must have been mistaken since her hair color is simr." Vaughn said, his eyes locked on the top of Usi''s head like he was looking for something.

    "Good, if you''re done now, get out of my way! I won''t ask nicely again."

    Mara radiated obvious hostility towards Vaughn and was ready to forcibly move him if he continued to block the door to her room.

    Holding up his hands, Vaughn showed that he had no desire to fight and moved away from the door.

    Yet as he was walking past Mara and her two attendants, Vaughn stopped and addressed Usi directly.

    "You know, your disguise this time was almost perfect. Unfortunately for you, I''ve had to stay on my toes around you for a long time. Back in Borealia, I considered you a greater threat than even Gwyneira. I spent so long wary of you and observing the way you work that I developed a sort of extra sense just for you, Head Royal Investigator, Alexandra Olympia."

    Without warning, Vaughn pulled out a small glowing bead from under his robe and tossed it towards the ground.

    An immensely bright light burst from the magic item as it shattered, and the shadows wrapped around the woman calling herself Usi were blown away.

    When the light faded, the beautiful elven girl that had been standing there before was gone. Instead, she was reced with a light pink haired rabbit beastwoman.

    The moment her disguise was destroyed, Alexandra took a step back and kicked with all of her might towards Draegan.

    Having caught the man off guard, she sent him flying with her strike and knocked him directly into Mara who was currently stunned to see that her trusted attendant Usi had never truly existed.

    Draegan''s body crashed into Mara with the force of a freight train, and the two of them went crashing through the walls of the secret underground base they were in.

    "Argus, kill her." Vaughnmanded.

    Letting out a loud growl, the man that had once been the third ranked Great Knight of Tralenstein transformed into a fully demonic form.

    The robes that had been covering his body tore apart as his body exploded in size.

    He then lunged at Alexandra like a savage beast. Sharp ws protruding from his hands and ready to tear her to pieces.

    Except, his fierce attacks only sliced through the air as Alexandra agilely stepped out of his range.

    She did not just dodge though, in her ce was a small ball that exploded in Argus'' face.

    Its yield was not particrly high, but it was not intended to cause much damage. Instead, it released arge smokescreen that Alexandra used to cover her escape.

    With lightning speed, she bounded off the walls and down the hall towards the nearest escape route she had mapped out earlier.

    ''Damn it! I can''t believe my cover got blown already. Still, I need to get out of here and warn Boreas and Marcus. If we don''t put a stop to their ns, it will mean the end of the world.'' Alexandra thought as she rushed through thepound.

    A ring rm soon resounded through the entire area, and everyone was alerted that an intruder had snuck in.

    Soon all manner of cultist and demons filled the halls and attempted to capture Alexandra.

    Their efforts, nevertheless, proved to be ineffective.

    Alexandra was near level ny and could not be stopped by weaklings, no matter how numerous they were.

    Wielding twin daggers, she cut down anyone that got in her way and soon made it towards the base''s exit.

    Unfortunately, a powerful barrier had been erected to keep her inside and prevented her from advancing.

    "This won''t stop me." Alexandra muttered as she unleashed a barrage of blows to break the barrier.

    Within just a few seconds the extreme power she wielded shattered the magical wall blocking her way.

    Still, this slight dy was long enough for a truly dangerous entity to catch up with. A demon contracted to be the protector of this base.

    "It''s been so long since Ist got to eat rabbit. You smell so tasty; would you mind if I just took one bite." A pitch-ck demon with a giant mouth filled with razor sharp teeth said.

    Alexandra turned around and attempted to strike the demon with her daggers, but before she could reach, its mouth had mped down on her arms.

    There was almost no resistance as it sliced through flesh, muscle, and bone alike.

    Her arms torn off and reduced to blood stumps, Alexandra copsed to her knees and stifled a scream of pain and terror.

    "Delicious! You taste just as good as you look. Perhaps I''ll take another bite." The demon said as it opened its mouth wide and moved to swallow Alexandra whole.

 Chapter 1057: Chapter 1057 Fortress City Armadura

    "Let me thank you all again. Without your help, our entire caravan surely would have been wiped out. We all owe you guys our lives."

    Currently, Marcus and his party were at the adventurers guild in Armadura and Louis as the representative of the caravan had just finished the paperwork confirming thepletion of their guard mission.

    After he had made sure they received their payment he began vehemently expressing his gratitude to them.

    "We were just doing our job. You hired us and paid more than it would normally cost to retain a party of adventurers of our ranks. It was no big deal." Marcus said, downying their efforts.

    Louis, however, would hear none of their modesty and continued to heap praise upon them.

    Eventually though, Manuel nudged his employer. Now that they had arrived, it was paramount that they deliver their goods to the army and collect the money they were owed.

    "I suppose that this is goodbye for now. If you ever need anything that I can assist you with, pleasee and seek me out. Also, I want to wish you good luck in the operation to reim the former capital. I''m sure that your strength will bring us victory." Louis said before taking his leave.

    Once he was gone, the guild employe that had marked their quest asplete approached them. She had been hovering around waiting for them to wrap up their conversation from the start.

    "Excuse me. There is some other paperwork that needs to be filled out regarding the mission to clear out the old capital of undead monsters. If you would please follow me, we can get everything taken care of quickly." The guild employee said, her face and voice tense with nervousness.

    "Sure. Lead the way." Marcus replied in a friendly manner.

    The young woman then brought them bac over to the reception counter and handed out a few forms to Marcus.

    Thankfully it was all just routine items that were easy to deal with and they were finished in just a couple of minutes.

    "Thank you for your time. That is all the guild needs from you. But if there is anything else that I can assist your party with, I would be more than happy to help."

    "Actually, we just arrived in the city and don''t have a ce to stay. We were hoping that the guild might have some rmendations for us." Marcus said, wearing a mildly distressed expression on his face.

    Normally they would have gone out into the city and looked for a ce to stay, but with how packed the streets were and the thousands of temporary structures and tents outside the city walls, it was unlikely that they would find anywhere with vacancies on their own.

    "Um, that might be difficult right now. All of the inns in the city are full to capacity from what I''ve heard."

    "I see. Well thanks anyway. I guess we''ll just have to rough it outside the city in out tents." Marcus said, his lips down turning into a frown. As far as their camping equipment went, it was some of the most luxurious in the world, but it still could notpete with having an actual room.

    Yet before they could leave, the guild employee called out to stop them.

    "Wait. There may be something that the guild can arrange for your party. Please give me a few minutes to speak with my superiors to see what I can work out."

    In a bit of a fluster, she ran off into the bowels of the guild hall.

    For nearly twenty minutes she was gone, beforeing back with a raven-haired woman with sharp yellow eyes.

    With a single look, Marcus and all of hispassion could tell that she was not a normal person. The air about her and the way she carried herself spoke to her strength.

    "I''m the head guild master of Houten, Este. It is a pleasure to meet all of you."

    For a single moment Marcus could not hide the shock on his face. He had not expected the highest authority for this nation''s adventurers guild toe out to meet them.

    Still, he quickly reined in his surprise and introduced himself as well.

    "Marcus Ferrous, mithril rank adventurer from Borealia. I''m the leader of this party."

    After Marcus gave his introduction, the rest of hispanions followed suit.

    "So, to what do we owe the honor of the head guild mastering to meet with us? Surely, you''re not the one that is going to help us find a ce to stay in the city?" Marcus said jokingly.

    "As a matter of fact, that is why I am here. It would cause all kinds of problems if we forced a party consisting of mithril rank adventurers to stay outside the walls. Not to mention foreign royalty." Este said, turning her gaze towards Mrazivy.

    "I see, so you know about that." Mrazivy said, a stiff smile on her face.

    "Well, if you were trying to hide it, you are not doing a good job of doing so. Your guild card clearly states your name, your highness. Houten may be far away from Borealia, but that does not mean I don''t know of the other nations that are part of the guild."

    "Okay, so you know about my wife''s status. But right now, we are here only as simple adventurers looking to do a job. Our party is trying to not get caught up in any pomp and circumstances. We''d be grateful if you kept this a secret." Marcus interjected.

    "I''m afraid that I''ll have to inform a few people about your party, but I''ll make sure that you don''t get wrapped up in any annoying formalities." Este assured.

    She then got down to business about what sort of amodations she could arrange for them.

    "If you want, I can prepare some rooms within the guild hall for you. If that is not eptable, I''ve got enough pull to open up some rooms at any of the nicer inns in town. I''ll probably have to get some fat cats kicked out, but I''d rather deal with theirints than any of yours."

    "The rooms in the guild hall will be fine. We don''t want to cause any trouble." Marcus responded affably.

    "Got it. It will probably take a couple of hours to make the arrangements. If you want, I can offer you a meeting room to wait in until then."

    "No, that''s fine. We just arrived in town today and want to look around the city. Part of the reason we are here is to experience another country''s culture." Marcus said with an excited smile on his face.

    "Sure, do what you want. I don''t think that you will find much culture in this city, though. It''s mostly for military use after all, Plus, the number of people currently here is far beyond what it was meant to handle. Most of what you''re going to find is traffic and ces that are packed to capacity."

    "You''re probably right, but you never know what you might find in a new city. And if the roads are too congested, we can always just jump from rooftop to rooftop."

    "Please don''t get into any trouble at least. I''m already up to my ears in incident reports from adventurers getting into fights with each other or military personnel. Thest thing I need is to hear about your group got into an altercation and blew up part of the city." Este warned.

    "There''s no need to worry. We aren''t looking for any trouble." Marcus said assuredly.

    With their business at the guild now concluded, Marcus and hispanions turned around and exited the building. They were going to be staying in Armadura for the next week at least and wanted to familiarize themselves with the city.

 Chapter 1058: Chapter 1058 Consolidating Information

    Once Marcus and hispanions had exited the guild hall, the eleven of them immediately split up.

    While the city of Armadura was not among thergest ces they had been, it was still sizable and there was too much ground for them to cover if they stayed together as a group. Instead, each of them was taking part of the city and scoping it out while at the same time gathering intel.

    During their time with the caravan, they had obtained a great deal of information, but the only way to learn the current situation in the city was from the people that lived there.

    ''Time for a little spectral eavesdropping.'' Marcus thought as he slinked away into a deserted area and went into his ghost form.

    Now unseen and able to pass through solid objects, he made his way through the streets and checked things out while listening in on people''s conversations.

    For the next several hours he went around this way and picked up on several interesting things that were currently going on in the city.

    When Marcus returned to the entrance of the guild hall where he and his party members agreed to meet back up at, he found that his three beastpanions were the only ones to have arrived.

    "It looks like the two of you enjoyed yourselves." Marcus said, looking at the several bundles of food that both Roxene and Inten had collected. From all appearances it seemed that the two of them spent their all of their time going around eating.

    "Yeah, this ce has some good restaurants. I was surprised to find that their specialty is actually meat from a type of snake monster that they rear inrge enclosers." Roxene said unabashedly as she threw a fried nugget filled with snake meat into her mouth.

    When Marcus looked to Inten, he found that the great diamond mouse had purchased all manner of seeds, nuts, and cheeses.

    "So, you two did not gather any information of importance?" Marcus said, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

    "That''s all a matter of opinion. We are going to be here for several days and figuring out where we will be getting our food is of great significance. Whatever the people of this city are up to is of no interest to me. I''ll leave stuff like that to you." Roxene said, continuing to eat her bounty.

    Inten looked a bit more remorseful that he had not done anything but gather food, but that did not stop him from shoving a handful of seeds into his mouth.

    "What about you Blitz? I see that you don''t have armfuls of food. So, did you learn anything during your excursion?" Marcus asked, his tone conveying that he was not expecting much.

    "Like my other fellow magic beasts, I''m not particrly well-versed in dealing with humans, but I did learn a few things from another source."

    Unlike Roxene and Inten, Blitz actually did manage to learn some interesting information.

    Instead of eavesdropping like Marcus had, he had gone around to several stables and talked with the horses and other mounts in them.

    Some of these magical beasts were rare grade and actually older than a century. They were able to tell Blitz about several of the failed campaigns to reim the old capital.

    Of course, Marcus had already learned from the members of the caravan that every new monarch that came to power in Houten would try and inevitably fail to defeat the undead that had taken over the former capital. Still, these old beasts had firsthand ounts of these failed operations that they had told to Blitz.

    "Now that is interesting. The undead don''t just fight like one big horde but operate like a trained army. That means there must be several intelligent undead monsters that act asmanders." Marcus said, finding this bit of intel interesting.

    However, this was not all Blitz found. One of the beasts he had talked to used to be the mount of a prince and knew one of the reasons the royal family of Houten was so desperate to regain control over the city.

    "Oh, so Houten''s royal family doesn''t have the magical device that serves as proof of their rulership."

    Marcus did not know much about these magic devices that allowed people to gain positions of power, receive noble titles, and gain ess to special magic within their own territories, but he did know that they were necessary for anyone that wanted to properly control a nation in this world.

    ''I remember that Boreas once told me that he found the device he used to establish Borealia in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon. If the only way to obtain one is to get lucky in a high-level dungeon, I suppose going after one that exists already, even if it is in such a hostile environment, makes more senses.'' Marcus thought analyzing the information he had just learned.

    Nevertheless, even without the magical device, it seemed that Houten was managing to get by. Most likely the royal family had a lesser one in their possession that still gave them at least enough power to continue running the nation.

    "Good job Blitz. The intel you collected is definitely not something that can just be found on the street. The second piece of information is almost certainly on the level of a national secret." Marcus said, patting Blitz on the back.

    He then promised to make Blitz whatever dish he wanted, and the Emperor Kirin happily epted Marcus'' offer and began listing his requests.

    Feeling left out, Roxene and Inten attempted to weasel their way in and get Marcus to make them whatever they wanted as well, but he shut them down quickly.

    "You two already have plenty of food you bought in the city. Blitz spent his time actually doing what I asked, not gorging himself like you two." Marcus said, wearing a smirk.

    Roxen and Inten looked crestfallen, but Marcus simply turned away from them and looked off into the distance. He had sensed their presences a while ago, and now he could see Mrazivy, Lilia, and Miguel approaching.

 Chapter 1059: Chapter 1059 Consolidating Information (2)

    "So, what did you guys find?" Marcus asked once Mrazivy, Lilia, and Miguel reached him and his beastpanions.

    Immediately he was able to gauge how sessful their information gathering was by the expressions on their faces.

    Mrazivy was all smiles and looked ready to share, but Lilia and Miguel were frowning, and it was clear that their time out on the town had not been as fruitful.

    "Sorry, I thought that I might be able to learn something down at the publicundry from gossiping men and women, but all I heard about were the multitude of affairs going on in the city. Some of them were about high-ranking officers, but unless we n on ckmailing them for some reason, I don''t think anything I learned is going to be of any use." Lilia said, looking exasperated.

    She had gotten a high volume of information, but pretty much all of it was worthless for their goals.

    Miguel did not do much better. He had spent thest several years actively avoiding meaningful contact with people and wascking in social skills. He was capable enough to speak with people normally, but starting conversations and trying to lead them towards certain topics was beyond him.

    "I did locate some weapons shops and stores catering towards adventurers, but I''m pretty sure that we already have everything we need in those regards. Sorry I wasn''t able to do anything else. I''m not really used to this kind of thing." Miguel said, a remorseful expression on his face.

    "No, there''s no need to worry about it. We all went out alone to cover as much ground as possible. I already knew that some of us weren''t going to turn up anything. We''ve only been here a few hours, so it''s not a big deal."

    Marcus made sure to assure Miguel and Lilia that they did not need to let it eat them up inside.

    "Now, you look pretty eager to talk, I''m guessing you found out something interesting." Marcus said, finally addressing Mrazivy.

    "You bet I did. I focused my intel gathering on the forces within the city. I did not learn everything, but I know the approximate number of soldiers, sell swords, and adventurers in and around the city." Mrazivy said proudly.

    With great enthusiasm she told all of them about what she found out.

    To start, there were around eight hundred thousand soldiers, city guards, and knights that all worked directly for the kingdom that had gathered. From what Mrazivy had dug up, this was pretty much the entirety of Houten''s military forces. They were throwing everything they had at taking back their lost capital.

    "No wonder the capital had a crime problem. Almost every single decent fighter in the country is here." Miguelmented, his expression conveying his disapproval.

    "It certainly is a bit weird. I can understand why they want to take back the former capital, but aren''t they worried about protecting their borders?" Marcus wondered out loud.

    "Oh, did you forget, Houten has the protection of the adventurers guild now. If any of the other countries around attack them, it will bring down the wrath of the entire guild. An emergency quest will go out to every mithril and adamantine rank adventurer on the continent and they will assist with repelling any invaders.

    Only idiots or nations with enough power to fight against the guild would attack Houten even if their borders are practically defenseless right now."

    Hearing Mrazivy''s exnation, Marcus nodded his head in understanding. If the leaders of adventurers guild got serious, they could bring together a force strong enough to topple just about any country in the world.

    "Okay, so they aren''t worried about being attacked by outside forces and have mustered every single person they can for this attack. What about adventurers though? Did you find out anything interesting?" Marcus asked.

    "Of course. I learned that there are around forty thousand adventurers in the city waiting to participate in the operation. From cooper to adamantine rank, pretty much everyone on the continent that could make it in time is here. The pay was just that alluring."

    Mrazivy then told them about the number of high-ranking parties that were currently in the city.

    At the tinum rank there were apparently eighty-two parties that had at least one tinum rank adventurer. As for mithril ranks, there were twenty-two parties not including their own. And finally, there was only a single party of adamantine adventurers in the city.

    "Did you find out anything else about the top adventurers here? I''m particrly interested in the party of adamantine adventurers."

    "Sorry, I did not get any details about them, or any of the other high rankers. Still, since we''re here as mithril rank adventurers, I''m sure we''ll have a chance to meet them before the mission starts."

    With the number of soldiers and adventurers out of the way, all that was left were the sell swords that were not affiliated with any organizations.

    Their numbers apparently were around sixty-five thousand, though most of them were nothing too impressive from Mrazivy had heard.

    "Overall, were looking at a bit more than nine hundred thousand people. That''s quite the force that Houten''s put together. Almost seems like overkill." Lilia said.

    "Hm, I don''t know. Houten''s former capital city is a den of the undead now. It would not be impossible for their numbers to be well over a million. It''s not like we know how many people were in the city when it fell. Plus, all the people that have died in the failed attempts to reim the city will have been added to the undead army." Miguel said, wearing a grave expression.

    It was very possible that their side would be the ones that were outnumbered.

    "Well, it is not like we need to worry too much about which side is stronger. Our objective is only to obtain a ghost king''s core and maybe some other leftover treasure. Whether Houten wins or loses doesn''t matter to us." Marcus said, shrugging his shoulders in indifference.

 Chapter 1060: Chapter 1060 Consolidating Information (3)

    After waiting around and discussing the intel they had gathered, eventually Eirwen, Zareen, Aurelia, and ric returned as well.

    "It''s fine that neither of you learned anything of importance. I didn''t find out anything useful either." Lilia said,forting her two beastpanions.

    The two of them really had tried to scope things out, but they just were not meant for stealth. Their humanoid appearances were incredibly striking, and they had attracted attention wherever they went. It was pretty much impossible for them to find things out under the radar, and neither of them had the social skills to use their natural charisma to get intel out of people.

    "What about you Eirwen, did you have any sess?" Mrazivy asked her beastpanion.

    "Yes, I did pick up one bit of information that I think is pertinent."

    Eirwen went on to exin that he did a bit of digging around in a military archive and found a document listing the types and levels of some of the higher ranking undead found within the former capital.

    "There was no mention of a ghost king, but among the strongest monsters encountered in just about every attempt to reim that city was a level seventy-seven phantommander. Since that is another ghostly entity, I think it lends credence to their being a ghost king within Houten''s former capital." Eirwen said, a slightly proud smile on his usually expressionless face.

    He then passed around the list of notable undead monsters sighted with the city for everyone to see.

    "That''s a sizable number of powerful monsters. And these are only the ones that Houten has confirmed. We might be in for a tougher time than expected." Mrazivy said once she had finished reading the list.

    There were one hundred and sixteen undead in total that had been confirmed to be over level sixty and only twenty-four had been defeated over thest several centuries. This left ny-two still in the city and these were only the ones that Houten was certain of.

    "Well, we knew it wasn''t going to be a walk in the park. We came prepared and will have arge army acting as a distraction for us. It will be impossible for the bulk of undead to focus on us." Marcus said to disperse a bit of tension.

    The eleven of them continued to discuss the known undead within the city and countermeasures that would be effective against them.

    When they finished going down that avenue, Lilia spoke up and asked ric what he had found. He was thest one among them to give a report other than Marcus.

    "I wanted to figure out what sort of strength the top brass of Houten has, so I broke into a few military offices to eavesdrop and look through some documents." ric said, opening his item box and producing several items he had copied.

    Everyone else just looked at him with stunned expressions on their faces. Out of all of them ric had been the most brazen and done something that could have gotten him into a great deal of trouble. Had he been caught; the punishment would have been severe.

    Still, there was no denying the usefulness of the information he had gathered. They now knew who exactly was in charge of just about every part of the army as well as the strongestbatants in Houten.

    "This was probably one of the most interesting things I found. The top general of Houten''s army, a woman named Xiomara, suddenly began shifting around the top-level personnel and bringing in outside people to take up important positions. Also, I found out that she is the one that brought in the single adamantine rank party that will be participating in the operation.

    From what I can tell, while the royal family has definitely thrown their weight behind this, she is the true driving force behind taking back the former capital."

    Marcus skimmed over the documents that ric had obtained and found them a bit unusual. The personnel shift seemed to haveepletely out of nowhere around five days ago. If this Xiomara had several strongbatants she could have called in from the start, it was strange that she was only doing so now.

    "It''s only the first day, but I would say that this is something to keep an eye on. You never know what could be going on behind the scenes with events this big. This is just spection, but Houten''s top general might be making a move to be this nation''s true ruler. If she knows about the magic device that gives a ruler their authority, she could be trying to secure it for herself."

    Having learned quite a bit about what was going on in the city and the history surrounding Houten''s lost capital, Marcus was pretty satisfied. They had not even been here for three weeks and already they knew more than most people in the country did.

    "Okay, you''re the only one left that has yet to tell us what you found out. I''m guessing it must be good since you''ve been holding out until the end." Mrazivy said while elbowing Marcus in the side yfully.

    "Yeah, I found some of the same intel as others, though not nearly as detailed. However, there was something bugging me that I managed to learn about. I''ve been wondering why the undead don''t leave the city, and I finally got the answer.

    When the undead outbreak originally started, the Great Spirit of Death erected a barrier around the city to prevent the undead from spreading and wreaking havoc across the continent. That means that whatever the past king did to turn himself and his followers into undead monsters posed enough of a threat to get a great spirit involved."

    This revtion was shocking to the others. Great spirits only dealt with problems that could have a profound negative effect on the entire world.

    "But why didn''t the Great Spirit of Death just wipe them out? Surely that would have been easy enough for such a powerful being." Miguel said, finding it strange.

    "I''m not sure. The only way to know for certain would be to ask. Perhaps she just didn''t want to exert the effort, or maybe she figured that if the people of Houten wanted the city back, they would have to solve the problem that was of their own making."

    Unfortunately, Marcus did not have all the answers. He may have been a great spirit himself, but he was a special case. He still did not understand exactly how the others operated.

 Chapter 1061: Chapter 1061 Calm Before the Storm

    "We''ve learned a lot, but I think we should call it for the day. By now I''m sure that Este has found us some rooms in the guild hall. I''m ready for a shower or bath and to get some sleep." Lilia said, stifling a yawn.

    It had been a long day and while none of them could be considered physically exhausted, mental fatigue was still something they needed to worry about. They had been busy since dawn and gathering information for several hours was not rxing in the slightest.

    With everyoneing to a consensus, Marcus'' party decided to take it easy for the rest of the night and all day tomorrow. All work and no rest would burn them out after all.

    Thankfully, when they entered the guild, the staff members that had originally helped them came up to them and told them that Este was looking for them.

    Upon reaching the guild master''s office, they found her at her desk with a mountain of documents and hard at work.

    "Ah, there you all are. I''ve prepared four rooms for the eleven of you. It was the best that I could do, so I hope it is good enough."

    Putting down her pen, Este motioned for one of her assistants to make some tea and then turned her attention back towards Marcus and hispanions.

    "Thank you for finding some space for us. Four rooms will be plenty. It certainly beats sleeping in tents outside the city." Marcus responded with a cordial smile on his face.

    "I''m d. If you were the type to throw a fit about it, I''m not sure what I would have done." Este said exaggeratedly. Clearly, she already knew that they were not the type to make a fuss about something like this.

    "Here are the keys to your rooms and a map showing their locations. None of them are particrly close to the others, but just preparing this many rooms was already a feat in of itself."

    Taking the keys and the map of the building''s interior, Marcus gave it a quick once over.

    Immediately he was able to determine that Este had gotten one room that only had a single bed, another that had three beds, and two that each had four beds.

    "Thanks again for this. You really helped us out. If there is anything we can do to return the favor, feel free to ask." Marcus said, not actually expecting Houten''s head guild master to actually take him up on the offer.

    "Hm, well, if you don''t mind, I''ve got a lot of paperwork that''s piled up. With eleven pairs of extra hands, I could finish things up a lot faster." Este said, a smirk on her face.

    A momentter Marcus felt the map and keys he was holding yanked out of his hands and several gusts of wind behind him.

    When he turned around, he found that every single one of hispanions had made a hasty retreat before being assigned work to do.

    "I suppose that even just one additional helper would still be useful."

    Sighing, Marcus resigned himself and assisted Este untilte into the evening. She had gone out of her way to find them lodgings, so it was the least he could do to repay her.

    Once things were beginning to wind down and Marcus was about to leave, Este called him over for onest thing.

    "Here, this is an invitation for you, Mrazivy, and Miguel. A banquet is going to be held six days from now for the high-ranking officers of Houten''s army, and adventurers that are mithril and adamantine rank. You are not required to attend, but I would rmend it.

    This is probably the only opportunity you will get to meet most of the powerful individuals that will be participating in the operation to take back the former capital."

    Marcus took the invitation from Este and told her that he would need to discuss whether any of them would be attending with the rest of his party members beforeing to a decision.

    "Sure, that is fine. Oh, and there will likely be a simr though less grand event held at the guild hall at the same time if the lower ranked members of your party want to enjoy themselves. Those in charge want to boost morale with a bit of revelry before going off to battle." Este exined.

    After asking for a few more details, Marcus left the guild master''s office and went to find hispanions. They had fled before figuring out who would get what room, so he had no idea where he would be sleeping.

    At the first room, he found Roxene, Blitz, and Inten. They had taken the room with three beds.

    Next, he found Lilia, ric, Zareen, and Aurelia sharing one of the four beds room. Though unlike his beastpanions, Lilia was kind enough to inform him that Mrazivy was waiting in the room with one bedroom which she had reserved for them.

    "Got it. Thanks Lilia." Marcus said, before going off to find his room.

    Upon arriving, he found the door locked and knocking did not elicit any response.

    He tried reaching out with telepathy, but despite connecting with Mrazivy, he did not get a response.

    ''What''s she up to? No way she is in trouble, so she must be messing around with me.'' Marcus thought, wondering what to do.

    Eventually he did a quick look around to make sure no one was watching before going into his ghost form and passing through the door.

    "I was wondering how long you were going to just stand out there. You almost had me worried that you would wander away withouting in and making my efforts worthless." Mrazivy said, wearing a coquettish smile.

    She was currentlyying on the bed in tantalizing lingerie. Candles that were emitting a sweet scent had been lit, and Marcus noticed that several magic items that would block sound and other means of perceiving what was going on in the room were set up and ready to be activated.

    "This really isn''t the ce for this, but I couldn''t call myself a man if I denied my wife''s desires. Don''t expect to be getting any rest tonight." Marcus said, slipping into bed with Mrazivy and spending a fulfilling night with her.

 Chapter 1062: Chapter 1062 Calm Before the Storm (2)

    "You know sometimes, I wonder if it isn''t you who is part beast." Mrazivy said jokingly.

    Currently she had her headying against Marcus'' bare chest as he held her.

    They had finished the deed not long ago, and Mrazivy''s breathing was heavy, and her body was still flush and dripping with sweat.

    Just as he had said, Marcus did not let her get a moment of restst night, and the faint light of dawn could be seen shining through the closed blinds of the room''s single window.

    "I may not be particrly lustful now that I''m a ghost and spirit, but I''m still a guy. Even the most docile predator would pounce on a defenseless rabbit willingly offering itself up."

    Marcus then began kissing Mrazivy''s neck, but before he could make another move, she flipped her body over so that she was on top of him. With her hands she pinned his arms down and pressed his legs down with her own. Her strength stat was higher than his, so he could not break her grip through sheer force alone even if he wanted.

    "Hehe. Unfortunately, you did not actually jump into bed with a bunny, but a dragon. You should be more careful, or you might be the one eaten up."

    Mrazivy''s eyes shed golden, and her pupils became vertical slits as she stared directly into Marcus'' eyes.

    He could see a hunger in them and knew that she was ready to go for another round despite the night already being over.

    Sadly, their intimate moment was abruptly cut short by a loud knock at the door, followed by a telepathic message from Lilia.

    ''Marcus, are you both alright in there? Your room ispletely sectioned off. I can''t hear or sense anything inside.''

    Marcus could hear the tinge of worry in his little sister''s tone and knew that ignoring her to continue with Mrazivy would not be an option.

    ''Yeah, were fine Lilia. Mraz and I will be out in a couple of minutes. I''m guessing you came to get us for breakfast?'' Marcus responded.

    His sister sent back her reply and acknowledged that it was indeed time for breakfast. The guild hall was packed, so if they wanted to get any good food before it ran out, they would need to leave soon. Apparently the two of them were the only ones that were not ready yet.

    Hastily both of them cleaned off and put on a new set of clothes. Thanks to their absurdly high stats, it only took them a few minutes to clean up the mess fromst night''s activities and make themselves presentable.

    Once Mrazivy deactivated thest of the magic tools that isted their room, Marcus opened the door and saw Lilia waiting in the hall for them.

    "Sorry for the wait. We''re ready now."

    "Good. If we take too long there won''t be anything left. You may not need to eat, but the rest of us do."

    Turning on her heels, Lilia began speedily walking towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. She was interested in seeing what sort of food would be provided by the guild hall of another nation.

    Marcus and Mrazivy walked quickly to catch up with her and the three of them descended towards the ground floor.

    "So, what were you two doing that required isting your room? Were you perhaps forging something?" Lilia asked innocently.

    From her questions, it was clear she had not even thought about what the two of them had actually been up to.

    However, when neither of them answered immediately and an awkward atmosphere took over, Lilia realized that something was going on.

    "Lilia, since you''re engaged to ric, I''m sure you''ve, uh, heard that there are certain activities married couples do. It''s quite healthy for the rtionship after all." Mrazivy said sheepishly. She could not meet Lilia''s eyes as she answered, but that was still better than Marcus. He was just looking down at the ground and it seemed that his mind had short-circuited.

    "Oh! I see!"

    Lilia''s voice went high pitched as she responded, and her face turned as red as a lobster. Her future mother-inw had made sure to inform her about this topic once her and ric''s engagement had be official.

    After that the three of them walked in silence to the guild hall''s dining room.

    When they arrived the other members of their party were waiting for them in line and waved them over.

    "Lilia are you okay. Your face looks a bit red."

    ric''s expression clearly conveyed his worry as he reached up and felt Lilia''s forehead. Frankly it waspletely impossible for her to catch any normal diseases, but ric was simply reacting flexibly and had not thought about how unbelievably hardy Lilia was.

    "I''m perfectly fine!"

    She pulled back away from him, and her face became even brighter red. No doubt she was thinking about what would happen in the future. Their wedding was nned for a little under two years from now. What felt like a long way away before seemed much closer to Lilia in this moment.

    Thankfully someone without any awareness of the situation spoke up to break the growing tension.

    "Could you all y aroundter. I''m hungry. Let''s hurry up and grab some food before it runs out." Roxene said, getting behind everyone and pushing them forward with her monstrous strength.

    Having no choice but to go along with her, the eleven of them got into line and piled their tes full of food before finding seats.

    Once they had sat down, everyone ate in silence for a few minutes until Marcus brought up an important topic.

    "Last night after all of you abandoned me, Este gave me an invitation to a banquet that will be held a few days from now. It''s only for Miguel, Mrazivy, and I, however, since were mithril rank.

    He went on to exin a bit more about the banquet and the coinciding celebration at the guild hall that everyone else could participate in.

    "I think I''ll pass. You two can go as representatives of our party."

    Miguel showed no interest in the banquet. He was slowly shedding his asocial tendencies, but that did not mean he wanted to go to arge banquet filled with important people he did not know. If he had to, he would rather attend the less formal celebration at the guild hall. It would allow him to have a much easier retreat to his room should he grow tired of the festivities.

    Este had told him that attendance was not mandatory, so Marcus did not push Miguel. He and Mrazivy would go to make an appearance and scout out the other high-level individuals participating in the operation.

    With that settled, all of them got back to eating, though the uneasy atmosphere had been dispelled. Normal conversations popped up between them and it was like the events of this morning had never happened.

    After finishing their food, Marcus'' party split up and went about their day. Yesterday was for information gathering, but today was free time for everyone to rx. Each of them had their own ns and were going to enjoy themselves in and around the city.

 Chapter 1063: Chapter 1063 Prebattle Banquet

    The days went by quickly in the city of Armadura and now it was the evening of the several celebrations meant to boost morale before therge-scale mission to retake Houten''s former capital began.

    Being mithril rank adventurers, Marcus and Mrazivy were getting dressed up in formal wear to attend the Banquet meant for Houten''s army''s top officers, and the highest ranked adventurers.

    "So, how do I look?"

    Having just finished applying some light makeup and her jewelry, Mrazivy twirled around slowly for Marcus.

    "Stunning as always. That silver dress enhances your natural beauty. I almost don''t want to let anyone else see you." Marcus said,ying out his honest feelings.

    "Why thank you. Naturally, you look great yourselves. I may have to beat the women at this banquet away with a stick to keep them off you." Mrazivy said in jest. Though, Marcus wondered if she might really pull out a weapon on anyone that got too close to him.

    Her dragon instincts made her very possessive of her treasures, and she always called him her greatest treasure. Not that he minded of course. She was the only one for him.

    Once they were certain that everything was in order, they exited their room and walked down to the guild hall''s reception area.

    There they found the driver for the carriage they had rented waiting and boarded their ride for the evening.

    The carriage ride took around an hour thanks to the bustling streets, but Marcus and Mrazivy had ounted for this and arrived on time.

    After passing through a few checkpoints, the carriage pulled up to the back of the city''s castle where the viceroy lived. The normally mostly empty grounds were bustling with activity and pretty much all of the guest rooms were filled.

    "Your invitation?" A guard asked as they walked up to the entrance. They''d already needed to present the document multiple times, but it seemed that with so many VIPs attending tonight''s banquet that security was not going to bexed in the slightest.

    When the man looked at the invitation, his expression changed to one of shock before ncing back up at Marcus and Mrazivy.

    From their clothing he had expected them to be upper-level nobility, yet instead he found they were actually adventurers.

    Both of them were actually foreign royalty, but for now they were going around as just mithril rank adventurers. Very few people knew about them.

    "Everything looks in order. You are both free to go in."

    Now past security, they walked through arge hallway that opened up into the castle''s Great Hall.

    It was a truly massive room with hundreds of people either sitting at tables or milling about.

    With only a quick nce around it was easy to tell the adventurers from the nobility or military officers.

    While they had on decent clothing, most adventurers did not worry about purchasing finery that would normally be worn at an event like this.

    "Perhaps we should not have brought out some of our best. We definitely aren''t going to be blending in with most of the other adventurers." Marcus whispered.

    "I don''t know about that. There are other ways to prove ourselves as adventurers. My etiquette teacher would have a heart attack if she saw what I''m about to do." Mrazivy said, a devious smile on her face.

    To prevent her from causing a scene, Marcus grabbed her hand to hold her back.

    He then convinced her that there was no need for any overt action on their part. Just introducing themselves and sticking near the other adventurers would be fine.

    "Oh, it''s not like I was going to do anything that bad. My n was just to grab a mug of beer and drink it all in one gulp. You can see some of the other adventurers thoroughly enjoying the provided alcohol."

    Mrazivy pointed to one section of the Great Hall, and it was quite obvious who the adventurers were from how much they were putting away.

    Wanting to find the ideal group to begin interacting with, Marcus scanned the area until his eyes stopped on an individual that was walking right towards them.

    To his surprise it was someone that they both knew. An old acquaintance they had not seen in several years.

    "Fancy meeting you here Princess Mrazivy. This really is quite the surprise, your pretty far from home."

    "Novak! It''s good to see you again. But what are you doing here? I thought that you were traveling across the continent Borealia was on. Last time we met you told us that you had already finished exploring all of the guild affiliated nations on this continent." Mrazivy said, a shocked expression on her face.

    (A/N. For those that don''t remember, Novak is the leader of an adventuring party that Marcus and Mrazivy met during Borealia''s tournament. He first appeared in chapter 276 andst appeared in chapter 335.)

    "Yeah, we just finished up over there and came back home before setting off again. However, we heard about the big operation here and decided to earn some major cash before setting off again." Novak said a jovial smile on his face and his cheeks slightly flushed from alcohol.

    "I guess congrattions are in order. If you''re here, you must have rank up from tinum to mithril." Marcus said joining in on the conversation.

    "Oh? Yes, my party achieved mithril rankst year. But I don''t believe that we have met before. My name is Novack, and you are?"

    "What are you talking about? I''m the one who introduced you to Mrazivy back during the tournament''s banquet. Perhaps you remember the person that beat you party member y in the final preliminary round." Marcus said, pointing to himself and trying to jog Novak''s memory.

    Nevertheless, the man just looked at Marcus in bewilderment. He had no idea who he was.

    "I''m afraid that you must be mistaken. It was Irene Geist that introduced me to her Highness Mrazivy and defeated y during the tournament. I don''t know who you are."

    It was at this moment that Marcus realized he had messed up. During Borealia''s tournament, he had still mostly been going around as Irene. Except right now, he was his normal self. Of course, Novak did not recognize him. He''d finally majorly slipped up because of his two main identities.

 Chapter 1064: Chapter 1064 Prebattle Banquet (2)

    ''Crap!''

    Marcus had not made too many mistakes with his double life, but now he had justmitted his stupidest error ever. Since he was out of Borealia, he had gotten toofortable and acted like he still knew Novack despite the two of them never having met while he was in his current form.

    He began racking his mind for some way to recover this blunder, but thankfully his better half was quick to bail him out.

    "Oh, sorry about that, this guy with me is actually Irene. She obtained a unique skill that allows her to disguise herself, and currently she is acting as my husband to ward off and unwanted advances that would being our way if we arrived without partners."

    Novak looked befuddled by this exnation at first, but it seemed that he bought it after a moment of thought. There were plenty of unique skills out there, and one that allowed someone to disguise themselves would be considered fairly tame.

    Of course, a good part of what Mrazivy had said was a lie. While Marcus was also Irene, he was not currently in disguise, nor did his form changing have anything to do with a unique skill. Plus, they really were married.

    "I get it now. Good to see you again Irene." Novak said, looking a bit awkward about the whole situation.

    "Likewise, Novak. Ah, but while I''m in this form, please call me Marcus. Also, please try to keep my identity a secret."

    Novak nodded his head and said his lips were sealed. And thus, another person sort of became privy to Marcus'' double identity.

    With the initial reunion conversation over, Novak brought Marcus and Mrazivy over to the rest of his party.

    y, who was in the middle of stuffing his face, was the first to recognize Mrazivy and his expression morphed into one of utter shock.

    Novak''s other party members, Emerie, Jovie, and Landyn were simrly surprised. Though, they did not have their mouths filled to the brim with food, so their reactions were not nearly as pronounced.

    "Wow, now this is a st from the past. Honestly never thought we''d meet you again Princess Mrazivy. But who''s the dude standing next to you?" y said after choking down the food he had been eating.

    Marcus quickly introduced himself to them, but unlike Novak he made sure to keep his identity as Irene a secret. It probably would be of little consequence if they knew, but more people being privy to the secret made it likelier that it would leak.

    "Wow, married to a beautiful princess. You''re a lucky guy." y said, patting Marcus on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

    "Still, what is a foreign princess from another continent doing over here in Houten? I know you''re an adventurer, but I''m surprised that your family let you leave your nation." Jovie, a dwarven woman with long dark brown hair and a couple of battle scars on her face asked.

    "Well, I''m only the thirteenth princess. I don''t really have many responsibilities. Plus, my father wants me to focus on keeping up good rtions with the adventurers guild. This job will help on that end."

    Hearing Mrazivy''s exnation, the members of Novak''s party seemed to understand. It was undoubtedly storage for a member of a royal family to be an adventurer in the first ce, but it was clear that Mrazivy thought of herself as such more than being royalty.

    The seven of them continued to converse for a while and soon began talking about what they had bene up to since theyst met. Novak''s party had continued to tour around the nations on the same continent that Borealia was on and reached a high enough level to achieve Mithril Rank.

    Marcus and Mrazivy told them a bit about what they had been up to but kept to the tamer stuff. Certainly, they were not going to tell Novak and his party about what they had just gotten up to on Haze Ind.

    Once they had talked for nearly an hour, Novak offered to introduce them to some of the other adventurers at the banquet that he and his party already knew.

    Naturally Marcus and Mrazivy were not going to refuse and happily epted.

    "Whew. Networking sure can be difficult." Marcus said, before downing arge ss of chilled wine

    He and Mrazivy had just finished making their way around the banquet and speaking with around seventy percent of the adventurers present.

    Most of them had been friendly enough, but some of them seemed a bit too bloodthirsty and tried to intimidate them.

    Thankfully none of the other mithril rank adventurers they met were anywhere near as powerful as they were. Without using an appraisal skill Marcus could not know for sure, but he gauged most of the other mithril rank adventurers to range from the low fifties to low sixties level wise. A few had seemed a bit stronger than this, but not by much. Certainly, none of them had been up to level seventy.

    Nevertheless, there was one party that they had not yet met. The only adamantine party was not currently present.

    Marcus'' curiosity reaching its peak, he decided to ask Novak if he knew anything about the highest-ranking party that would be participating in the operation to reim the former capital.

    "I''ve seen them a couple of times since arriving in Houten, but we haven''t spoken. I''m pretty sure that they were here earlier but went off to speak with some bigwigs in private. They''ll likely be back at some point though." Novak said.

    When pressed for more details, he told Marcus and Mrazivy what he knew about them.

    They were only a party of three, but apparently all of them were incredibly powerful. Each of them was quite famous among adventurers and even had nicknames.

    "Their leader is a man named One-Stroke Kill Sato Tachibana. While the other two members are known as Annihtion Spear Lisa, and Unbreakable Bastion Adonis." Novak said, giving the names and epithets of the three adamantine rank adventurers.

    Immediately Marcus was drawn to the name of the leader since it was almost certainly that of someone from Earth or the descendant of one. Plus, it also seemed oddly familiar. He felt that he had heard it somewhere before.

    However, Mrazivy seemed far more excited about them when she heard the names. As a seasoned adventurer, she already knew about them. In fact, they were among those that she looked up to.

 Chapter 1065: Chapter 1065 Bigwigs

    "Marcus,e on, there is no way you have not at least heard of them, right?!" Mrazivy asked excitedly.

    "Sorry, I think I might have heard the leaders name once before, but I don''t know the other two."

    Seeing that he really did not know, Mrazivy told him about this adamantine party''s most notable achievement within Borealia.

    "It was decades ago, before they were even mithril rank, but they strolled into Loursend and beat all three of the bosses in the Ocean Bluff Temple in one day. It was so astounding that pretty much any adventurer active in Loursend for a decent amount of time hears about them. If you look into some of their public records, you will find other amazing achievements.

    Like one time, they single handedly fought against a horde of monsters led by a towering Infernal Cyclops."

    Mrazivy continued to recount some of Sato Tachibana''s party''s greatest feats like a hyped-up fangirl. She rarely raved about other adventurers like this, but when the topic came up, she went all in.

    Still, one thing she mentioned did cause Marcus to recall hearing about this party before. He could distinctly remember learning about their triple boss monster clear in a single day.

    ''Though it''s not like we could not easily do the same thing now. Even the strongest only reaches up to level thirty-three.'' Marcus thought.

    Of course, he did not voice what was going through his head. There was no need to put a damper on things.

    For several minutes the conversation stayed centered around the only adamantine party in Houten until an obviously important group entered the Great Hall where the banquet was being held.

    The boisterous conversations between both adventurers and the military officers quieted down almost immediately and all eyes were focused on the dozen and a half individuals that had just arrived.

    Among the group, Marcus'' eyes were immediately drawn to a man that had clearly Japanese features. Sinceing to Mirrion, Marcus had only seen a handful of people that looked simr, and when he asked around, he found out that they were the descendants of a transmigration.

    However, this time, Marcus was certain that this man was not someone that had been born on Mirrion. No doubt he was Sato Tachibana, and that he was also originally from Earth. It was just something that Marcus could feel.

    ''He''s strong too. Better than Knight Commander Darius. Probably around as strong as Ghazi, Aezam''s best warrior.''

    Marcus intently examined the way that Sato moved and focused all of his attention on estimating how powerful the man was.

    His gaze did not go unnoticed, though. Sato soon turned and locked eyes with Marcus. He had noticed someone staring at him with a greater intensity than anyone else.

    Realizing he had been found out, Marcus shuddered and quickly nced away. He wanted to make himself look overwhelmed to not give away his true strength. If anyone were to try and appraise him right now, they would find that he was only level fifty-four. There was no way anyone at that level could stare down someone of Sato''s caliber.

    Thankfully his ruse seemed to work, and he felt the highest-ranking adventurer around look away from him.

    In the clear, Marcus looked back up and nced around to look for Sato''s party members. This time he would not attempt to fully gauge their strength and just get a quick look.

    Thankfully it was not too difficult to find them since they were standing right next to Sato.

    The woman known as Annihtion Spear Lisa had dark orange hair andrge ck horn sticking out of her head. Her eyes were alsopletely ck voids, and a long dark red tail like that of a smander was jutting out of her lower back. Marcus was unsure of her race since he had never seen anyone quite like her before and appraising her to find out would only cause trouble.

    Unbreakable Bastion Adonis on the other hand was a race Marcus recognized. He was a massive orc and stood at a towering three and a half meters in height. Though not only was he tall, but his bulk was also incredible. The man looked like he was built like a tank. It was easy enough for Marcus to see why he had earned the nickname Unbreakable Bastion.

    As for the other people that had just entered, he was unsure of most of their identities. Luckily, he had someone that was more familiar with them to ask.

    "Novak, do you know who those people with Sato, Lisa, and Adonis are?"

    "Huh? Oh, yeah. That man in the ornate robes and decked out in jewelry is Cerdo Houten, the third prince of Houten. Officially he is the one that is in charge of coordinating us adventurers with the kingdom''s army. The man next to him with the scowl on his face, is general Jaiver Borbon.

    He is the prince''s military adviser and the one that is really calling the shots in regard to how adventurers are going to be deployed in the field. The others are either the princes guard knights or the general''s top subordinates."

    After listening to Novak''s exnation, Marcus better understood what was going on. He had already heard about the prince and the general through his and hispanion''s sleuthing. But this was the first time seeing either of them, so now he could attach what he learned to actual faces.

    ''The general is the real deal, but the prince is clearly no fighter. He''s probably got a decent level, somewhere between thirty and forty, but he almost certainly obtained it through power leveling.'' Marcus thought as he carefully watched these two prominent figures.

    There was another person he was incredibly interested in but they had not made an appearance at tonight''s banquet so far.

    Yet when he asked Novak about her, he was just as uninformed.

    "Sorry, I''ve never seen General Xiomara. All I know is she is the top military official in the city and heading the operation. She''s probably just too busy to have time for events like this."

 Chapter 1066: Chapter 1066 A Royal Pain

    Marcus inaudibly clicked his tongue when Novak told him that Houten''s top general was not present, nor had she made any public appearances in Armadura.

    From the snooping around that ric had done, it was clear that she was up to something. All the suddenly added personnel and moving officers around was suspect. Marcus was almost certain that she must be up to something.

    ''I want to see if I could figure anything out by meeting her, but I guess that is not likely to happen. Maybe some ghostly investigating will be in order.'' Marcus thought, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind.

    Nevertheless, he had other things to focus on for now. This banquet was just as much a means of building morale as it was a chance to make connections with the top adventurers and officers of Houten''s army. It would not be long before they were all fighting together and even just a passing familiarity with everyone would be important.

    However, as Marcus and Mrazivy continued to socialize with other adventurers and the asional member of Houten''s military, it became impossible to not notice the constant nces towards them from a certain individual.

    "This could be trouble. We''ve walked out of his line-of-sight several times, but he keeps moving so that he can continue looking at us. Or more specially, you Mraz." Marcus said, his voice tense.

    "Yes, I know. He''s not even trying to hide his gaze. And it''s not like I''m the only one. He''s looking at just about every other woman here lecherously."

    Mrazivy did not hide the disdain in her voice, but confronting the guy would only cause problems.

    The man who was looking around the banquet at women like he was shopping for groceries was Cerdo, Houten''s third prince. It seemed that he was of a simr type to Mrazivy''s disowned and deceased brother Soith.

    Regrettably, Cerdo did not seem to be content with only looking and sent some of his advisors and guards towards the individuals that had most caught his eyes.

    "You know, maybe you should havee here as Irene. Then I could have used you as a distraction again." Mrazivy said in jest to lighten the mood.

    The scowl forming on Marcus'' face quickly vanished and a slight chuckle escaped his lips. He could vividly remember the time Mrazivy dressed him and the fiery archimage Diana in revealing dresses in order to divert attention away from herself. At the time he had not appreciated it, but now he could look back on it fondly.

    This did not change the situation they were currently in, but at least things did not feel quite so heavy. The two of them would just quickly deal with the problem and move on.

    "Ahem. Excuse me miss. His highness Cerdo would like to speak with you in private. He has something important to discuss with you."

    The one speaking to them was an intelligent looking man with graying blonde hair. His demeanor was clearly that of a schr more than of a warrior, and it was easy to decern that he was one of the prince''s advisors.

    Standing next to him though, was a young man wearing mithril armor and a weapon at his side trying to look menacing. He was most defiantly one of the prince''s guard knights.

    Still, it wasughable that he thought he could intimidate any mithril rank adventurers. The young knight was undoubtably below level forty.

    "Actually, I am the leader of our party. If the prince is looking to discuss a matter rted to the uing mission, it would be better if it was with me." Marcus said, interjecting. He was hoping that these guys would back off if their pretext fell apart.

    Sadly, they were persistent.

    "His highness only wishes to speak with her. The matter does not concern you." The advisor said, glowering at Marcus.

    Perhaps this was enough for him to usually get his way, but not this time. He clearly did not have much experience dealing with high-ranking adventurers. It only took a quick look around to see that the prince''s otherpdogs were failing with the other women they were propositioning.

    "I''m afraid that it does concern me. If he really must speak with her, he can do it with me present as well. I''m not only our party''s leader but her husband as well." Marcus said, making his position very clear.

    At this point the knight seemed to lose his temper. This probably was not his first time doing this and he was used to resorting to a show of power to coerce people.

    Yet, as he put his hand on his sheathed sword, some else''s hand grabbed his and prevented him from drawing.

    "Now, I think that is enough. This is a banquet to boost morale. You don''t want to turn us mithril rank adventurers against your prince, do you?" Novak said, a calm but fierce look in his eyes.

    With a quick examination of the Great Hall, the prince''s advisor could see that most of the mithril rank adventurers were agitated. They were not citizens of this kingdom and cared little for the actions of the Cerdo. If push came to shove, they would side with their fellow adventurers over their employer.

    In cases like these, adventurers needed to stand together to show that they could not be pushed around.

    "Novak, thank you, but there is no need toe to my defense. I can deal with this myself." Mrazivy said, moving forward and wearing a gentle smile on her face.

    At first the advisor thought that someone was finallying to their senses and that Mrazivy would ept the prince''s invitation. Except his expectations were shattered immediately.

    "Please tell his highness that I refuse to meet with him under any circumstances. I have no time to waste on someone as rude as him."

    Mrazivy''s expression the entire time was serene, but her eyes were filled with disgust. She knew exactly what kind of person Cerdo was and had no desire to interact with him in any shape, way, or form.

 Chapter 1067: Chapter 1067 Putting a Pig in His Place

    The prince''s advisor looked stunned by the way things were developing, but there was little he could do now.

    His muscle, one of the Cerdo''s guard knights, was still being held back by Novak. And it was clear that neither Marcus nor Mrazivy cared about the prince''s status. They did not live in Houten, and being mithril rank adventurers, the two of them could easily leave the nation whenever they wanted.

    "How dare you insult his highness in such a manner!" The guard knight yelled.

    He then attempted to shake Novak off, but to no avail. His strength stat wasn''t even half of what Novak''s was.

    "Why don''t you take a nap."

    Moving incredibly quickly, Novak brought his free hand up to the knight''s head and flicked him.

    The force of the strike rattled the man''s brain and despite his training and rtively high level he was unable to remain conscious.

    "What are you doing?!" The advisor said in shock.

    "I''m saving this man''s life. You do not want to mess with those two. It will only end badly for you." Novak warned.

    In fact, he had intervened from the start to protect the guard knight. It was easy to see how things would have ended had he not from the murderous glint in Marcus'' eyes.

    With everything going against him, the advisor concluded that his best bet of action was to beat a hasty retreat. He could see that the other female adventuers had turned away the people the prince had sent to persuade them to meet with him. None of them were the usual doe eyed young girls hoping to curry the prince''s favor nor were any of them afraid of his status.

    In utter defeat everyone the prince sent out to pick up women for him returned to him.

    Naturally a self-centered prick like him was furious despite him being in the wrong, and when he discovered that one of his guard knights was knocked unconscious, he became livid.

    ''Yeah, I figured that this was how things were going to go down.'' Marcus thought seeing the prince ring over towards him, Mrazivy, and Novak.

    "Should I just preemptively deal with the problem?" Marcus asked Mrazivy with a hushed voice.

    For a few moments she thought about it, but ultimately shook her head.

    "No, it will be more fun to just embarrass him. He cane air his grievances all he wants; I''ve got a couple trump cards to y. Just back me up and we should get through this easily enough. Though if ites to it, go ahead and do whatever you need to."

    Mrazivy was not afraid of any reprisal from the prince. She and Marcus alone were strong enough to fight their way out of the castle, and it was clear that just about every other adventurer present was on their side. There was simply no way that the entire kingdom would side with Cerdo just to save his pride when it would mean costing them the ire of every adventurer present.

    Not when it would mean costing them an incredibly powerful force necessary for reiming their lost capital.

    Unrestrained anger and irritation on his face, Cerdo approached Marcus, Mrazivy, and Novak with his entire retinue in tow.

    "You three! Do you know what you have done?! Attacking a royal guard knight is an offense worthy of execution!"

    The prince continued to rant at them, but none of them took him particrly seriously. Marcus was actually having a hard time not bursting out intoughter since he could only imagine the prince as a tiny, yappy dog trying to seem intimidating by barking loudly.

    "If you three kneel and beg for forgiveness I may not have you punished! Especially if you personally apologize to me!" The prince said haughtily and pointed at Mrazivy. It appeared that he still had not given up on his original sickening objective.

    Still, this was well within Marcus and Mrazivy''s expectations. While the prince had several knights by his side none of them were all that strong.

    As for the military officers of Houten, not a single one of them looked likely to interfere unless something drastic urred. Undoubtedly, they did not have a particrly high opinion of Cerdo either.

    The prince was almost certainly used to getting his way, but this time he had vastly overestimated himself.

    "I believe that it is you that owes us an apology. You do not seem to know who it is that you have been insulting. This is Mrazivy Borealia, thirteenth princess of Borealia. Unless you wish to start a war, I rmend that you beg us for forgiveness. For someone of your station, your actions have been disgraceful. We''re here as your nation''s guest and are lending you our power and expertise.

    Yet here you are trying to coerce several women into your bed. I wonder if the guild would stay associated with your kingdom if it knew how the royal family treats its high-ranking adventurers."

    Without resistant Marcus berated Houten''s third prince. He already knew that he and Mrazivy held pretty much every card.

    For several moments Cerdo was stunned with his mouth agape. However, when he looked around and saw that hundreds of adventurers were snickering at him, his fury overtook his shame.

    "Y-you dare speak to me that way! I''ll have your heads mounted on spikes!" Cerdo yelled.

    Yet before he gave the order for his knights to attack, his closest aide grabbed his shoulder and whispered into his liege''s ear. When Houten had joined the adventurers guild, he had made sure to familiarize himself with the other nations aligned with the guild.

    "Your highness, I do not believe that they are bluffing. That woman likely is a member of another country''s royal family. Borealia is a powerful kingdom on the continent west of ours. She bears the deep blue hair that is seen as a symbol of their royals. We do not want to cause any unnecessary trouble at this time. Please consider backing off for now."

    The advisor wore a fearful expression as he tried to convince Cerdo to cease antagonizing Marcus and Mrazivy. If things escted the prince could bring about ruin for Houten. Just looking around it was evident that the other mithril rank adventurers were ready to intervene at any moment.

    Unfortunately, Cerdo was not one to listen to sound council in the first ce, and certainly not when he was this infuriated.

    "Knights, seize them. If they resist, kill them." Cerdo said, a sadistic smile on his face.

    At once the prince''s loyal knights drew their weapons, but before things could escte further, a single man stepped in between the two groups to put an end to things.

    "I believe that is enough. This is hardly the time or ce for something like this. A banquet is mean to be enjoyed."

    Sato Tachibana stood in front of both Marcus, Mrazivy, and Novak, as well as Cerdo and his followers.

    The imposing aura he was emitting stopped everyone in their tracks and a heavy tension spread throughout the entire Great Hall.

    Except there was one person too dense to grasp the severity of the situation.

    "Sir Sato! As yourmander, I order you to assist in capturing these criminals that dared to insult me!"

    Cerdo''s lips bent upwards into a confident grin now that he believed a powerful ally had shown up to assist him.

    Yet instead of following the entitled prince''smand, Sato gave him a bone chilling re.

    "Shut up. I''m trying to prevent any bloodshed. If things escte any further, I will have to side with my fellow adventurers."

    Sato then turned his full attention towards Marcus and Mrazivy. He could see that they were on edge, but neither of them showed any fear towards him. There was no doubt in his mind that out of everyone here, they were the only ones in the same league as his own party. To fight them in a popted area would be a catastrophe.

    The prince looked shocked that he had just bene told off by someone he expected to listen to him, but this time he did not snap back. Unlike with Marcus and Mrazivy, he knew how powerful Sato was and was terrified of having the man as his enemy.

    "I understand that you have your grievances, but could I ask you both to stand down. I''ll personally ask General Xiomara to confer with Houten''s King so that Prince Cerdo is suitably punished." Sato said to appease Marcus and Mrazivy.

    "Sure, that is fine. I don''t care to think about him for another second. Just keep him away from us and there will be no problems." Mrazivy replied. She had wanted to put Cedro in his ce since he reminded her of her detestable former brother. And while events had not proceeded exactly as expected, this was an eptable oue.

    Seeing that the situation had calmed down, Sato motioned for the prince to leave, and despite normally being obstinate, he did as he was told. Fear was a powerful motivator and Cerdo hastily left the Great Hall like he was running away from an especially nasty monster.

    "Thank you for your assistance. If possible, I would like to show you my appreciationter, Tachibana Sato." Marcus said, wearing a knowing smile.

    It was only for a moment, but a look of astonishment appeared on his face. It had been a very long time since anyone had addressed him with his family name first like he had been during his first life. Only someone from Earth with at least a little familiarity with his former home would know to do so.

    "Yes, I would like that. Actually, if it is fine with you, we can speak right now?" Sato responded, an intense fervor in his eyes.

 Chapter 1068: Chapter 1068 This World

    Marcus followed behind Sato as the other transmigrator led him to a private room where they could speak.

    Once the door was closed and he had activated a magic device that would prevent any eavesdropping Sato opened his mouth and began the conversation.

    "From your appearance, I''m guessing that you are a reincarnation rather than a transmigration like me. Unless people on Earth have started being born with tinum hair and purple eyes."

    From Sato''s point of view, the way Marcus looked was outside the realm of possibility for anyone on Earth unless they dyed their hair and put in colored contacts.

    However, Marcus'' hair and eye color changing from how they were back on Earth was from his race being changed to an Unbound Ghost.

    "Actually, I am a transmigration. My hair and eye color are like this for other reasons. It''s a big world and things happen." Marcus said, staying intentionally vague. He had just met Sato, and just because they were both from Earth did not mean he was going to spill his secrets immediately.

    "I see. And here I had been hoping that you might have been a Japanese person like me." Sato responded, his tone slightly mncholic.

    Still, he only let his disappointment show for a moment. They may not have been from the same country, but that did not change the fact that both of them were from Earth.

    "Ah, I just realized, I know your name since your pretty famous as the leader of an adamantine party, but you I haven''t introduced myself yet." Marcus said. "It''s nice to meet ya, the name''s Marcus Ferrous.

    After introducing himself in a friendly and causal manner, Marcus waited for Sato''s reply.

    Except instead of answering right away, several different expressions passed through Sato''s face incredibly quickly. It was pretty unsettling for Marcus to watch since the first one was clear hostility.

    Nevertheless, Sato''s face turned into a mask devoid of any emotions and he picked up their conversation as if nothing was wrong.

    "Yes, it is a pleasure. As you already know, my name is Tachibana Sato, though, everyone in this world calls me Sato Tachibana or just Sato. I''ve been here a long time, so there''s no need for you to worry about adhering to the culture of our old world."

    With introductions out of the way, the two of them went through topics just about any transmigrations or reincarnations would when meeting with another. Such things as how old they were when they died, where they were from, and how long they had been on Mirrion.

    "I can''t believe that you have not even been here for a decade. I''m over two hundred years old but you''re already nearly as strong as I am. It almost makes me feel like the effort I''ve put in has beencking heavily." Sato said in a slight self-deprecating manner.

    "No, that''s definitely not true. I''m only this strong because of some lucky encounters, and either getting dragged into incredibly dangerous battles, or sometimes charging headlong into them. There have been several times that I have ended up being very close to death." Marcus said, trying to make Sato feel better.

    Unfortunately, this did not seem to work. Although Marcus was not trying to cause any friction, Sato was unable to hide some of his envy. It had taken him over two centuries to get where he currently was, but Marcus had nearly caught up in less than a decade. This would be disheartening for just about anyone.

    Nevertheless, he pushed down any sense of jealousy to not cause any unnecessary tension. There was one thing he truly wished to ask Marcus.

    "I understand that this might be a bit of a heavy question to ask since we just met, but as another person from Earth, I want to know your opinion on this subject. What do you think of this world called Mirrion?"

    Taken aback, Marcus had not expected to be presented with such a question.

    For a few minutes there waspete silence as Marcus seriously thought about the topic. He could tell from the serious look on Sato''s face that a half-assed answer would not be eptable.

    "Overall, I would have to say that I like this world. There have been hard times, but I''m having fun most of the time and enjoying my life with people I care about. There are some strange things that popup every now and then that I still have difficulty wrapping my head around, however, I try not to get hung up on the unexinable."

    After hearing Marcus'' honest feelings, Sato looked disappointed. Clearly, he had not received the answer he wanted.

    "It seems that I was not quite specific enough." Sato said, a scowl on his face. "Don''t you find this world to be nonsensical? People from Earth have been here for centuries, yet technology has not rapidly advanced. There are no cars, no trains, not even hot air balloons!"

    Having it tantlyid out before him, Marcus finally understood where Sato wasing from. There certainly were some things that seemed off about the world if one thought about how many people from Earth had arrived on Mirrion. Surely at least one person would have attempted to recreate certain technologies from their past life.

    Even though Boreas had founded his own nation, more advanced technologies like cars and nes had never popped up.In fact, something like electricity and tools it could power were absent as well.

    Still, this world had many things that Earth did not. The most ring difference being magic.

    While they weren''t widespread, there were teleportation circles that could transport people across great distances in a single moment. Also with his forge skill, Marcus could create things that honestly outstripped any of the technology on Earth.

    Honestly there were many things on Mirrion that worked better than simr things on Earth.

    Of course, most of the highly advanced magical tools were only used by those born into privileged families, or the people that rose up to a high enough level to earn a prestigious position.

    "Okay, I get what you mean now, but isn''t that just because magic takes the ce of the things you mentioned? What are you really getting at?"

 Chapter 1069: Chapter 1069 This World (2)

    Tired of beating around the bush, Marcus just came out and asked Sato to get to the point. Sure, there were several differences between Mirrion and Earth, but it was clear that the more senior transmigration was trying to get to something more profound than just a list of variations between two different worlds.

    "I suppose that you must not have given this topic much thought or ever attempted to recreate a technology from Earth that does not exist here." Sato said, letting out an exasperated sigh.

    He then told Marcus that it was not just that no one had ever attempted to create things like trains or cars, but that they could not.

    Whenever anyone from Earth got close to developing an unallowed technology, they would receive a message from the administrator telling them to cease and desist.

    "And do you know what happens to anyone that does not heed this order. They simply disappear. The same being that brought us all here is controlling things from the shadows. And then there are the great spirits. They call themselves protectors of the world, yet they rarely get involved, as directed by their cruel master. Just recently a Doomsday Monster appeared, and you know what they did, nothing!"

    Sato continued to furiously rant about the administrator and her callousness. From his perspective, everyone on Mirrion was just her ything.

    Still, Marcus knew that things were not so ck and white as Sato believed them to be.

    While it was true that the administrator could be uncaring, she was protecting Mirrion from forces far more dangerous than any monster or beast that currently existed within the confines of the world.

    He''d only scratched the surface of it, but there was arge and far more dangerous conflict urring outside of Mirrion.

    Of course, the number of individuals that knew about this could likely be counted on both hands. To most, it would appear that the administrator was a heartless god that ran this world from behind the scenes with an iron fist.

    ''There is also the possibility that everything I have seen involving her was an borate performance, but I doubt it. Thatst battle was especially too real to just be fabricated to convince me of some lie.''

    Marcus finally realized exactly what Sato was trying to broach. Unfortunately, his viewpoint was undoubtedly in opposition.

    "I certainly hadn''t heard about that technology stuff before, but it doesn''t really matter to me. I can run or fly faster than any vehicle on Earth. Plus, other things like lightbulbs and phones have been substituted with magic items. I''ve seen golem carriages that work pretty much just like a car, and some of the mithril ships out there are more advanced than anything Earth had.

    And don''t forget that we chose toe here. We were told that we would be brought to a fantasy style world after our deaths, so I don''t think it''s wrong to have to fit in with the that theme. Perhaps if magic was used as a basis for creating things like a train, it would be allowed. It''s all just a matter of perspective." Marcus said, giving his counterpoints to what Sato had been saying.

    However, this was clearly not what the other man from Earth wanted to hear.

    For a moment a palpable rage erupted from Sato''s body, and he looked ready to kill.

    Sensing the sudden hostility, Marcus jumped back and prepared to defend himself if necessary. He did not want to make the first move and escte things, but he was ready to fight if it came to it.

    Thankfully, Sato calmed down quickly, and it almost seemed that his sudden burst of enmity had been an illusion.

    "Sorry, I should not have gotten angry at you for your ignorance." Sato said, looking at Marcus like he was a pitiful child that knew nothing of the mistake they had just made.

    "Perhaps speaking of technology was not the correct starting point. This world is not just inexplicable because of that, but also because of the level of violence. It''s rife with death, destruction, and injustice. Surely you must have seen this if you have ascended to such a high level? To level up efficiently, it is necessary to kill after all."

    Unable to refute this, Marcus nodded his head. In Tralenstein he had experienced a war that cost over a million lives, and the Dread Burrower had caused a great deal of damage to the northern part of Borealia. Though the lives lost in thetter incident were minimalpared to what would have urred if a quick response had not been put together to defeat the Doomsday Worm.

    He could still remember the administrator''s words in the white space he had been brought to after activating his Deny Destruction unique skill.

    She had set this world up to create conflicts that would bring some individuals up to the highest level and gain enough power to be useful as an ally.

    Marcus had his own feelings and doubts about the administrator, but after hisst interaction with her he felt like he had gotten a better glimpse at who she really was. She''d saved him and Mrazivy from an unfathomable threat, so it was harder for him to truly think bad of her now.

    ''It is not like she is causing people to fight in a bloody war for survival each day. If you avoid dangerous ces like dungeons and territories controlled by powerful monsters and beasts, things are typically pretty peaceful.''

    Of course, there was plenty of crime in certain ces, but that was true for Earth as well. Whenever people congregated there would be those that did not follow the establishedw either for their own benefit or entertainment.

    In some ways Mirrion might even be considered safer than Earth. There was pretty much no threat that a tyrannical maniac could start a chain reaction that had the entire world blown up by superweapons. Even if someone high level did destroy a city or two, one of the Great Spirits would intervene to prevent the world from being thrown out of bnce.

    There was pretty much no way all of Mirrion could be destroyed.

 Chapter 1070: Chapter 1070 Dissonance

    "I''m pretty sure that we are not going to see eye to eye here. What you''re saying has its points, but it''s not like there is anything that you can do to change things. I figure that it is probably just better to enjoy our second chance at life."

    Marcus went ahead andid his feelings bare. He was finished arguing with Sato and figured it was time to end things in a definitive manner. The two of them were clearly not going to agree with each other.

    "I see." Sato said, his tone icy cold. "You say you''ve faced death many times, but I can tell your still just living a carefree life, enjoying the powers you were given in this world. It''s clear you haven''t lost anyone yet."

    Seeing the wrathful and envious expression on Sato''s face, Marcus truly understood where the root of the man''s disdain for the world came from. It did not have anything to do with the administrator''s control or the general dangers of the world, but the fact that he had lost someone close to him and could not move past the pain.

    "That''s not true. I''ve lost a friend before. They were killed by someone after me. I still have to live with the loss, but I''m not going to let it control my entire life." Marcus said, his expression bing saddened.

    It was years ago now, but he could still remember the time when he was with the Eternal Queens and the wind mage Jared had attacked them.

    Marcus had ultimately won, but Branna had died.

    The pain had hit him pretty hard, especially since the person that had attacked them was only after him.

    Still, this tragedy did not make Marcus hate Mirrion as Sato seemed to.

    "Sure. Perhaps some people you''ve cared about died. But it''s easy to see, no one that you would go to the ends of the world for, someone you would give your very life for, has been taken from you. If they had, you would understand what I am talking about."

    The powerful emotions that Sato had been disying soon vanished and when he turned his eyes back towards Marcus, they werepletely empty. It appeared that any interest that he had was now gone.

    "I think that we''re both done here. It was nice to meet someone else from Earth, but I can tell that we aren''t on the same wavelength. I wish you luck in theing battle to retake Houten''s former capital."

    Having said what he wanted to, Marcus turned around and moved towards the door to leave.

    However, when he put his hand on the doorknob, Sato spoke up onest time.

    "Just a piece of advice from someone in a simr situation with more experience, you should tread lightly. Things may have worked out for you so far, but it only takes a single moment for what you care about to be ripped away from you."

    Ready to leave, Marcus nearly did not respond, but he felt that he would be the loser in this encounter if he did not.

    "That''s true. But I''ll just grow strong enough to crush anyone or anything that ever threatens me or those I care for."

    With thosest words, Marcus left the room and headed back towards the Great Hall where Mrazivy would be waiting for him.

    Once Marcus was gone, Sato remained standing in the private room, until the door opened again.

    His two party members entered the room, and Lisa gave him a disapproving look.

    "What was that about? You went off without either of us after making quite the scene. Do you know what kind of headache we had to deal with in your stead."

    "Sorry, that man is like me. Someone not originally from this world. I wanted to speak with him, but it turns out that we can''t get along. It''s really too bad. I was hoping that I could help him out and get him on our side. Unfortunately, it doesn''t seem like that will be possible." Sato said, sighing in disappointment.

    He then exined in detail his conversation with Marcus and everything it had entailed.

    Both of his party members frowned deeply once Sato had finished. There was no doubt that he had made quite a blunder.

    "This is why we can''t let you go anywhere on your own." Lisa said in exasperation.

    Adonis did not say anything, but he nodded his head in agreement with Lisa.

    "C''mon. I had to try. I can''t help but have a soft spot for others from Earth. But don''t worry, it won''t change anything. Our goals are still to change this irrational world" Sato said, a grim determination in his eyes. Whatever it was that he was after, he would charge towards it fanatically.

    ˇ­

    "I''d have to rate that as my second worst meeting with another transmigration or reincarnation. My first encounter with Lyra still takes the top since we tried to kill each other, but I don''t think I''ll be reconciling with Sato like I did with her."

    Upon meeting back up with Mrazivy, Marcus told her everything that he had spoken about with Sato.

    The man''s image as a gant and top adventurer did not really fit with who he really was. That was almost certainly an act from what Marcus could tell.

    "Really, he said all of that. I guess people are moreplicated than what you just hear about."

    Mrazivy looked a bit disheartened to hear about the contents of Marcus'' meeting with Sato. She had looked up to him since he was a legend in Loursend.

    Still, it was not like her entire world view had been shattered by finding out her idol was someone far from what she expected. The person she truly looked up to was Boreas, and he was every bit as impressive as the legends made him out to be.

    "It was thest thing that he said to me that really stuck though. It sounded less like a warning and more like a threat to me. I think we should be cautious of them. There''s something going on here that we still haven''t gotten the full picture of yet." Marcus said, a nagging feeling in the back of his head telling him that something was wrong.

 Chapter 1071: Chapter 1071 Briefing

    Three days had gone by since the banquet and the entire force that Houten had gathered was set up just outside the former capital city that was now a den of undead monsters.

    As the leader of his party, Marcus was currently attending a meeting for adventurers that was detailing the attack strategy that would be deployed.

    "While the army will do most of the fighting on the open streets and areas that have been cleared of obstruction, you adventurers will be assigned into smaller groups that will eliminate the undead that are hiding in any buildings. In the past sudden ambushes from hidden attackers has halted our progress. But this time, we shall have all of you to even the field." General Javier Borbon said.

    He was the person in charge of coordinating the adventurers with the army.

    Previously the third prince was supposed to be the one officially inmand, but thanks to his poor actions at the banquet he had been relieved of his position. Pretty much every mithril rank adventurer that had been presented disdained him after what he had done.

    The meeting continued, and towards the end the floor was opened up to questions.

    "If you are worried about surprise attacks from inside buildings, why not just raze them to the ground? Surely a constant bombardment of high tier spells and powerful ranged skills could level the city." One of the adventurers asked.

    Many others seemed to agree with him. If the buildings were a problem, then they just needed to take get rid of them.

    "That would be fine if we were aiming for total destruction, but do remember, we want to retake the city. Turning it into a pile of rubble would be counterproductive to our goals. Anyway, the undead would not sit by idly as we attempted the bombardment.

    Around a hundred twenty years ago the king at the time attempted to do so and was met with a fierce rain of attacks that killed over half of Houten''s forces at the time. Clearing out and securing the hundreds of thousands of buildings is one of the main reasons we have brought in you adventurers."

    Unlike the army which mainly specialized inrge scale battles against other nation''s militaries, adventurers were used to fighting in smaller groups in enclosed spaces. Most adventurers spent their time in dungeons, or hostile untamed wildness.

    The inside of buildings may have been a bit outside of their normal hunting grounds, but dealing with enemies in confined spaces was often a part of their job.

    Once the briefing had ended, several of the general''s aids passed out papers detailing the assignments that each party would receive and the officer who would be acting as their liaison.

    ''You''ve got to be kidding me!''

    When Marcus saw the area his party had been tasked with securing, he knew that it must have been some sort of reprisal. While it was true that Cerdo had been in the wrong, that did not change the fact that he and Mrazivy had embarrassed the entitled prince.

    Out of all the ces in the city, he and hispanions were in charge of clearing out arge part of the former capital''s sewer system.

    Almost anyone would consider this to be the worst possible assignment possible. It would be dank, dark, and devoid of glory. Not to mention that there were almost certainly some very nasty monsters lurking beath the city. Most undead preferred dark ces to bright ones. Though only a few types of undead like vampires and shadows were truly weak to sunlight.

    Marcus unfortunately knew thatining was not going to help him out of this. The military would just say that all assignments had been random or was tailored to each individual party and the other adventurers would think less of him for trying to get a different mission simply because he got the short end of the straw.

    He was not the only one that had been given this area of the sewers, though. Novak''s party had as well, giving more evidence that they were being punished.

    "Guess we''ll be working together for the duration of this job. I know we got a bum position, but I''m d to know that you''ll be having our backs. I can''t think of anyone more reliable than you and Mrazivy." Novak said cheerfully.

    "Thanks." Marcus responded halfheartedly.

    The two of them then met with the officer that would be their army liaison who was at the rank of major.

    His name was Leopold, and he looked the party of a well-respected, disciplined military man.

    As for his level, Marcus judged him to likely be in the low or mid-thirties. The way he held himself showed that hisbat skills were sharp as well. No doubt he had earned his strength rather than having been power leveled.

    "So, you are the unlucky parties that received the sewer assignment. There aren''t many details about the area from past operations, but I''ll give you what I have." Leopold said, a hint of pity in his eyes.

    However, when Marcus and Novak received the information about the part of the sewers that they were meant to clear out, there was almost nothing of worth.

    Other than the fact that any scouting party that that had ever ventured into it did not return, there was pretty much no intel. Frankly it seemed that they were being sent into a death trap.

    "This is not ''many details'', this is nothing! We don''t know what we''re going up against and you''re only sending in two parties without any other support!" Novak said, unable to suppress his outrage.

    Any adventurer that made it to mithril rank knew that collecting information about where you were going and what you would be up against was paramount. And if the case came up that you had to go into something without any advance knowledge, that ample strength and other preparations were necessary.

    "We have an entire city to cover. Personnel is scarce all over. This ce may be considered an unknown danger zone, but that is why we are sending in two powerful and aplished parties with mithril ranks in them. Unless the rumors that a single mithril rank adventurers are worth an entire battalion are untrue, I''m sure that you all will be fine.

    In the worst-case scenario, you are permitted to retreat. Just learning what is down there will be a great boon."

    Major Leopold told them that he would do what he could to support them, but everything he said was pretty much lip service. This was definitely a punishment for Marcus and Novak and there was nothing their liaison could really do to help whether he wanted to or not. His rank may not have been low, but he was still just one of many officers following orders.

    With nothing else to do but ept the awful assignment given to them, Marcus and Novak left themand tent and headed back to where their parties were set up. They needed to tell them about what their mission entailed. Early in the morning tomorrow, the operation to reim Houten''s former capital would officially begin.

 Chapter 1072: Chapter 1072 The Operation Begins

    "You know, I honestly think that this might be to our benefit." Mrazivy said after Marcus shared the details of their party''s assignment.

    Pretty much everyone else looked displeased to hear that they would have to traverse the sewers, but she somehow saw a positive side to it.

    "What could possibly be good about this? It''s going to be cold and smelly down there. Ugh, and I already know that the shambling corpses will be rotting." Roxene said, holding her nose and grimacing. With her acute sense of smell, sewers, especially ones with undead in them, were one of thest ces she wanted to go.

    Nevertheless, as Mrazivy borated on what she meant, everyone came to understand.

    By being relegated to the sewers, they had the perfect opportunity to sneak into the former capital''s castle and seek out the ghost king they hade here for.

    With only Novak''s party being assigned to the same area, they would be able to act without worrying about having any eyes on them.

    The sewers also very likely could serve as ess into the castle or at the very least get them close by.

    "I mean, I''m not going to deny that it''s definitely a dour assignment, but it does offer us some opportunities."

    Thanks to Mrazivy, things appeared to be at least a bit more optimistic.

    "Well, I''ll spend tonight working on some items to dampen bad smells, but for now, I finally finished what I''ve been working on."

    From out of his item box Marcus grabbed several different items. Cloaks, boots, rings, cuffs, and more. Each of them crafted using materials from the Cauldron Bloom.

    "These will help us should we go up against another enemy that specialized in spatial manipting abilities. Some of them will block forced teleportation, others can allow you to slip through barriers created by space magic. Though the one I''m most proud of are these cloaks.

    Its not quite on the same level, but it can mimic the Cauldron Bloom''s barrier." Marcus said, wearing a proud expression on his face. He had spent time off and on over thest several days creating these items for everyone in the party.

    Happily, everyone but Miguel grabbed a full set of the magic tools and began putting them on. They would undoubtedly be useful since items that could utilize space magic were very rare.

    Noticing Miguel''s reservations, Marcus had to force him to take them. One of the functions of the cuff was to designate how far away anyone else possessing a copy was and allow for instant teleportation to them. It was an invaluable tool for them since even if one of them got into trouble, it would only take a second for help to arrive.

    "Fine. I''ll take these for now. But I''ll make sure to pay youter. There is no way I can take such valuable items for free." Miguel said, hesitantly taking a full set of the spatial magic tools Marcus had made.

    Marcus wanted to tell him that it was fine to ept gifts from a friend but held off. Miguel was still getting used to truly trusting people again and there was no point in pushing him right now.

    For the next several hours, Marcus and hispanions tested their new magic tools. It was important to familiarize themselves with the items, though, around halfway through it really just became them ying around.

    As time went by, night came by and everyone other than Marcus went to sleep so that they would be well rested for theing day.

    Instead of resting, Marcus continued to work on several tools that would help alleviate unappealing scents just as he said he would. Sleep was mostly unnecessary for him anyway.

    Even before the sun crested over the horizon, the enormous encampment of soldiers, adventurers, and sell swords was bustling with activity.

    The assault on the former capital was set to begin at first light, and this necessitated getting prepared early.

    "Wear these around your necks. It won''t eliminate bad smells, but it will lessen their intensity." Marcus said, handing out some quickly made mithril pendants.

    After a quick final check, everyone was certain they were ready and headed out.

    Only the army would participate in the initial assault. Until a foothold was established in the city it would be impossible to maneuver all of the forces that had bene brought.

    Thankfully, the opening stages of the battle went well and before noon Houten''s army had secured arge area on the outskirts of the city to serve as a forward base.

    At a steady pace, everyone was brought inside and began setting up. This was going to be a long operation as they systematically took over the city.

    "Looks like the barrier doesn''t work against me. I was a bit worried, but I''m guessing being a great spirit as well as a ghost puts me outside the conditions it uses to ck exit or entry." Marcus said, wearing a relived expression.

    Since he was technically an undead monster there was chance that the barrier the Great Spirit of Death had erected around the city might reject him. Luckily, just like when he slipped past Forlorieous'' barrier around the world tree, this one did not affect him.

    Still, now that they were inside the former capital, the barrier became the least of their worries.

    The instant he set foot in the city; Marcus could feel danger in the air. It wasn''t quite to the level of the Font of Death, but this ce was covered in a dark energy.

    "It''s so cold. What happened here?"

    Lilia rapidly looked around like a frightened woond creature and shivered. She had evolved into a type of divine being and her senses were heightened against forces that were considered wicked. Such as demons, devils, and of course, undead.

    "I sense it too. There is a lot of resent meant and negative energy in this ce. No doubt several terrible tragedies have urred here." Roxene said. Her eyes narrowed as she stared off in a single direction.

    Naturally all of them felt the built-up animosity of all those that had unjustly died within the city, but there was something else as well. It was far away but an intense fury was being directed at the entire force Houten had brought. Something was watching them from afar and was immensely displeased by their presence.

    "That direction is towards the castle, right?" Miguel asked, his hand hovering nervously over his sword.

    "If the maps I read are correct, then yes." ric replied.

    Without a doubt, something powerful was observing Houten''s forces from afar. While most of the soldiers were unaware of this, those with hones senses could feel it. The monster that had its eyes on them was not trying to hide and wanted them to know that they had angered it.

    Marcus almost wanted to follow the presence back to its source and see what it was that was surveying Houten''s troops, but he held back. If he did so, it would put him squarely on the strongest undead monsters'' radars.

    "There''s no point in worrying about something that far off right now. Let''s go check in and get started. We''ve got a sewer system to explore." Marcus said, leading his party to themand post Major Leopold was stationed at.

 Chapter 1073: Chapter 1073 Deadly Bowles of the City

    "So, who wants to go first?" Inten asked, breaking the silence.

    Currently Marcus'' and Novak''s parties were standing around a manhole that was sealed tightly.

    Within the vicinity of the area where Houten''s army had established its forward base within the city, this was the closest entrance to the sewer system.

    "I suppose that we will go first. If something happens, please rush down to assist us." Novak said, a look of resignation on his face.

    He and y then bent down and removed the cover sealing the manhole.

    The putrid smell of decay erupted from the now unsealed entrance, and everyone instinctively took a step back.

    "Yeah, there is no way that is just from normal waste. Not after this ce has been abandoned by the living for three centuries." Miguel said, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

    Thankfully the magic tools Marcus had made for everyone in his party were helping to alleviate some of the rancid smell.

    Novak and his party members though, were having to face the full brunt of the awful scent.

    In the end, before going down, they each affixed a perfumed cloth around their mouths and noses.

    "Faire Lights."

    As Novak took the lead down into the sewers, Marcus cast a light magic spell to illuminate the pitch-ck space.

    Dozens of softly glowing spheres of light flew off of his hands like dandelion seeds on the wind.

    Slowly they descended with Novak and his party. Giving them more than enough light to see for around thirty meters in every direction.

    "It''s all clear down here. At the very least there aren''t any monsters within this chamber of the adjoining hallways." Novak called up once he and his party reached the bottom.

    Having received the message, Marcus began heading down with the rest of his party following behind him.

    When he reached the bottom of the shaft, Marcus found himself in a small square shaped room that had four pathways leading out.

    "Looks like where in some sort of junction. I''d guess that through these corridors that anyone that needed to do maintenance could reach just about anywhere done here." Novak said.

    Of course, they weren''t down here for any routine checks, and there was undoubtedly something a lot worse than a clog or damaged piping waiting for them.

    Marcus looked down each of the different paths and listened carefully, but even his heightened senses could not detect anything.

    He tried focusing on his life sense skill, but as he expected he did not pick up anything. Even if there were undead within the range, they would not be picked up by the skill.

    "Honestly, from the reports that no one has evere back from exploring this ce, I was expecting there to be hundreds of zombies or skeletons lurking down here." Marcus said, a look of suspicion on his face.

    Despite being able to feel the deadly energy all throughout the city, he had yet to see a single undead monster. Sure, Houten''s army had secured the area before moving in any adventurers or sell swords, but he had not even caught a glimpse of a single shambling corpse.

    ''It''s like every single undead has simply run away. But for what reason? Something must be giving themmands, since any unintelligent low level undead monster should single-mindedly be rushing towards the hundreds of thousands of living people that just infiltrated the city.''

    Marcus pondered what the objective of the monsters in the city might be. He had a few theories but the most usible one he coulde up with was that the undead were amassing and waiting for night. They would have the overwhelming advantage in the dead of night. Still, he could not help but wonder if there was something more sinister afoot.

    Except, as he was deep in thought, Marcus suddenly felt a p against the back of his head.

    "I can see that you''re trying to think things through, but you''re not going to glean any masterful insights standing around here. We''ve prepared the best we can, so we''ll find out more by jumping in and looking for things ourselves. Overtly worrying about stuff we don''t know about and can''t control is only going to slow us down." Mrazivy said.

    Now that they had entered into hostile territory, her eyes had a serious glint in them, and she was carefully looking around.

    "Yeah, you are right. Let''s get started." Marcus replied.

    He then conferred with Novak, and they decided to split up into four different groups. It would be impossible for the sixteen of them to effectively fight together in such confided spaces and they had four paths that needed to be covered.

    In the end it was decided that Novak''s party of five would handle the corridor heading south. Marcus, Blitz, and Inten would go east. Mrazivy, Eirwen, Miguel, and Roxene would go north. And finally, Lilia, ric, Aurelia, and Zareen would head south.

    "Are you sure that this is the best to send one of your parties without a mithril rank with them?" Novak asked, casting a concerned nce towards Lilia''s group.

    From what he could see, all of them looked like young adults that had only recentlye of age, and their adventurer ranks were the lowest. Two tinum and two gold ranks would in most ces be considered quite the force, but down here there was no telling what sort of danger they might encounter.

    "Yeah, I trust their skills. Plus, they are heading south which is towards the edge of the city, I expect there to be less enemies in that direction. Everything should be fine." Marcus said confidently.

    However, Lilia''s party''sposition was pretty much set in stone even if he wanted to change it. Aurelia and Zareen would only follow Lilia, so they had to go with her. As for ric, he would probably do what Marcus asked, but his performance would definitely drop if he was away from Lilia. Especially if Marcus reced him with Miguel to bnce out the groups based on rank.

    After bringing up his worries, Novak did not make anotherment and instead focused on his own party''s task.

    "Okay, we will meet back here an hour before sunset. If something goes wrong, don''t be afraid to retreat." Marcus said, before each group went down their own path.

 Chapter 1074: Chapter 1074 Deadly Bowels of the City (2)

    Following the eastern path, Marcus, Blitz, and Inten carefully inspected every alcove and corridor they came across.

    With pen in paper in hand, Marcus made a map as they walked. He had gained some experience doing this on Haze Ind and gained the cartography skill.

    Thankfully, the sewer system was immensely easy to chart inparison since it was not apletely open space nor was it covered in a fog that prevented perception farther than a certain distance.

    "Marcus, I was wondering why you did not bring Roxene with us. I figured that it would make more sense for all of us to go together. It is not like Mrazivy, and that new boy really need her help." Inten said, breaking up the monotonous silence as they searched the sewers.

    "I did consider it but decided it would be better for us to be in separate groups. Light magic is especially effective against certain types of undead and having both of us here would be inefficient. Then there is also the direction Mrazivy''s group headed in. They took the northern path which leads towards the center of the city.

    If something dangerous is lurking down here, its most likely in that direction."

    Of course, Marcus was probably just being overly protective. Even without Roxene, Mrazivy, Eirwen, and Miguel probably could handle anything they came across.

    Continuing down the sewer, Marcus, Blitz, and Iten continued to converse in hushed tones as they went.

    Eventually the conversation moved to a topic that was on all of their minds.

    "Milord, are you sure that one of us should not have apanied Novak and his party? They are strong by most standards, but even all five of them together is still weaker than one of us." Blitz said.

    "Yeah, I wanted to, but it would have seemed like an insult to them. Their party already has five members, and technically they have a higher adventurer rank than most of us. If I had sent one of you two, from their perspective it would have seemed idiotic to lower our numbers and give them a gold rank as protection. They''re all level fifty or higher, so I''m sure they can take care of themselves.

    If something does go wrong, Novak has a sending stone he can use to contact m-

    Before Marcus could finish what he was saying, something caught his and his beastpanions'' attention.

    It''s small size and impable stealth skills had allowed it to get extremely close without any of them noticing, but with it being only around fifteen meters away now, it was unable to continue obscuring its presence.

    "That is certainly a disgusting monster. I can''t believe that something like that exists." Inten said, a grimace on his face.

    Marcus and Blitz were wearing simr expressions as they looked at the first undead creature they hade across.

    It was a single severed hand that was grey and rotting.

    The monster was clinging to the ceiling a distance away, and a single clouded eyeball on the back of the hand was staring at them.

    "It''s called a Revenant Skulker and is only level twelve. Still, it has several surveince and stealth race abilities. I''m guessing that it is a scout for something else since it has an ability named irvoyant Bond." Marcus said after appraising the hand that was watching them.

    Thankfully, the undead hand was not yet aware that it had been discovered. Marcus, Blitz, and Inten had been careful not to look its way for more than moment. Making it seem that they were just routinely scanning the area.

    Waiting for about a minute, Marcus wanted to see what the Revenant Skulker would do, but it simply kept watching them.

    "Let''s try heading back and see if it follows us." Marcus suggested.

    Blitz and Inten nodded in agreement and the three of them turned around and went back the way they came.

    For a few moments the hand stayed still, but soon enough it crept across the ceiling and followed them.

    "Looks like we''ve got some otherpany." Inten said, his ears twitching as the cacophonous sound of several somethings moving.

    Less than ten secondster a horrific creature burst through one of the nearby intersections.

    It was an undting mass of severed arms that barely fit within the sewer''s tunnels.

    Within the seemingly endless writhing arms was a giant malformed skull made up of hundreds of bones from different creatures.

    Among all of the monsters he had ever seen, Marcus ranked this one as one of the most abominable. Perhaps even more than the Wendigo he had encountered on Haze Ind.

    "HRASHHHH!"

    The terrifying amalgamation of several people opened its mouth and released a screech that created a deafening sonic st and shaved away at the sanity of any who heard it.

    Marcus winced as the sound hit him, and when he looked over at Inten and Blitz, he could see that both of them looked pale.

    Thankfully, the attack had not been strong enough to do any real damage and had been more a irritating than anything else.

    Still, had they been at a lower level and had weaker resistances to mind altering effects, the three of them would have found themselves turned into gibbering vegetables by that screech.

    When the ghastly monster saw that its opener had not achieved the usual results, dozens of its arms grabbed onto each other and it flung them towards its prey.

    Even detached from the creature, its arms still moved and flew towards Marcus, Blitz, and Inten like heatseeking missiles.

    Marcus shook off his astonishment fromying eyes on this nightmarish undead monster and switched into battle mode. He had been caught off guard by its appearance and allowed it to make the first move, but he was not going to just stand around and let it do as it pleased.

    "Iron Threads."

    Casting a tier two iron magic spell, Marcus created dozens of thin wires that shot out of his fingertips.

    With them he wrapped up the flying arms and sliced them into ribbons in one fluid motion.

    Except, despite being shredded, the pierces of flesh and bone thatposed the arms Marcus had destroyed slowly began moving and crawled their way back towards the undead creature''s main body.

    At least for a couple of moments that monster did not make another move, and Marcus used this chance to appraisal their current adversary.

    "We''re dealing with a level forty-seven monster called a Carrion Beast. It can regenerate and has a lot of nasty abilities, but it should not be much of a threat to us. Let''s hurry up and destroy it so that we don''t have to look at it any longer."

    In terms of threatening their lives, this Carrion Beast was not anything to be worried about. Nevertheless, the mere sight of it was causing psychological damage.

    Wanting to be rid of it just as much as Marcus, Blitz and Inten nodded their heads and prepared to attack.

    The first to act was Blitz, casting the tier three lightning bind spell to restrict the undead horror''s movements.

    It thrashed around to break free, but the Carrion Beast was more than twenty levels lower than Blitz, it had no chance of escaping from his spell.

    Inten was the next to go, and used his powerful race ability to conjure and control diamonds to encapste the monster in a sphere that only had a single small opening.

    "And this will finish it. Burn to ashes and may the souls of the people used to create you rest peace. Fire Ball."

    A small pebble sized bead of fire shot from Marcus'' outstretched hand and into the single remaining opening of the diamond sphere Inten had created.

    Once it passed through, the Great Diamond Mouse closed the opening.

    Marcus'' fire ball exploded within it an instantter and the raging magical fires engulfed the Carrion Beast was reduced to cinders.

    "Ugh! I hope we never have to deal with something like that again." Inten said, shivering in disgust.

    "I wish the same, but I don''t think we are going to be so lucky." Marcus said, looking over his shoulder at the Revenant Skulker that was still watching them.

    When the undead hand specialized in stealth and surveince realized it had been noticed, it attempted to turn around and flee, but it was already toote for it.

    One of Marcus'' iron threads coiled around it andpletely immobilized the monster.

    He then reeled it in and hung the hand in front of his face so that he could look directly into its single eye.

    "I don''t know who or what you are, but I''m going to find and destroy you. That you can be certain of."

    After making this deration, Marcus tore apart the Revenant Stalker and incinerated it. He had gotten his message across and no longer needed it around.

    "Are you sure that was a good idea?" Blitz asked.

    "Probably not, but I''m a bit pissed off."

    Marcus knew for a fact that monsters like the Carrion Beast and Revenant Stalker were created through some sort of wretched necromantic experiment. A normal undead like a zombie or skeleton often came to be because of lingering resentment from hundreds that had met violent ends.

    But whatever was puppeteering the monsters they met down in these sewers was actively creating undead monstrosities that would not normallye into existence.

    "Well, we''ve got its attention now. I''m betting it will send more undead after us. Let''s continue on before were swarmed." Inten said, his tone conveying his resignation. He knew that his wish to never again encounter another monster like the Carrion Beast was going to go unanswered.

 Chapter 1075: Chapter 1075 Deadly Bowels of the City (3)

    "There''s no end to them!" Lilia said frustratedly as she punched a skeleton rushing towards her to dust.

    Currently, she, ric, Aurelia, and Zareen were surrounded on all sides by a horde of zombies and skeletons.

    Each of these monsters were low level undead that were not particrly strong on their own, but their current numbers exceeded more than ten thousand.

    Of course, even these many undead monsters had not reached a threat level greater than an annoyance for Lilia and her party. A bunch of monsters in the single and low double-digit levels were not going to be able to harm them.

    Still, thanks to being in the sewers, none of them couldunch any massive attacks to wipe out the undead horde all at once. If they did, they would likely copse this section of the sewers and the city above it.

    "Force Cannon."

    Casting the tier two force magic spell, Liliaunched a small projectile of pure kic energy into the surging wave of undead.

    This attack blew apart the monsters at the front of the line and destroyed several hundred more as it pushed the tide of skeletons and zombies back.

    Still, the spell eventually lost its potency and the seemingly endless mob pushed aside their fallenrades and continued to charge towards the sources of life calling to them like moths to a me.

    At the same time from another corridor, Aurelia had the six glowing balls from her Versatile Luminescence Unique skill floating around her head and firing off a rapid barrage of light sts.

    All of her attacks were restrained to prevent causing too much damage to sewer''s walls, but they still cut through multiple skeletons and zombies with each shot.

    From a third direction since they had been caught at a t-intersections, Zareen unleashed a constant stream of fire from her mouth. The low-level undead swarming themsted less than a second against her mes and were reduced to piles of ash.

    "ric, have you found the best way out yet?" Lilia asked, once again sting through the endless swarm of zombies and skeletonsing at her.

    "I''m trying, but there is a lot of movementing from every direction. It''s difficult to concentrate my wind magic with so many reactions. Ah wait, I think I just found something!"

    Lilia waited expectantly for what ric had discovered, but unfortunately it was not the good news she was hoping for.

    Instead of a way out, he had discovered the cause of the undead incursion hellbent on killing them.

    "I''m not sure exactly what it is, but around a kilometer away to the west is a farrger undead monster. From what I can tell with my magic, its spewing zombies and skeletons out of its mouth and replenishing their numbers. Wait! It suddenly disappeared.

    Spreading out his wind magic, ric tried to find the monster again, but it was not until around three minutester that he located it.

    However, it was no longer down the western corridor, but had appeared down the southern one that Zareen had nearly cleared out.

    "How did it get all the way over there so fast? You did not detect any paths it could sue to directly travel that far, did you?" Lilia asked in a fluster.

    "No, I can''t even find a proper route with the current range of my magic. It also suddenly disappeared on mest time, so I hate to say this, but I think it might be an intangible type. There''s no telling where it will pop up." ric replied, his face twisted into a scowl.

    He then felt the monster disappear again once it had replenished the army of zombies and skeletons that Zareen had decimated.

    Thankfully he was able to anticipate its next move and focused his wind magic down the path that Aurelia was holding down. As he expected, the monster had appeared in this direction.

    When he announced its current location, Lilia asked him to hold down her corridor and rushed off towards the monster that was the source of their problems.

    With a wedge-shaped mana barrier in front of her, Lilia bulldozed her way through the zombie and skeleton horde.

    Thanks to her immense strength stat, she was barely slowed down the thousands of weak undead as she pushed them aside.

    In less than ten seconds she reached the location of the giant undead creature that was unleashing lesser undead from its mouth.

    Laying eyes on it for the first time, Lilia stopped in her tracks due to how grotesque it was.

    Therge undead monster had a face resembling an angler fish and its jaw unhinged and its mouth opened as wide as its entire body length.

    Along with its horrifying head and mouth, the creature possessed a malnourished looking humanoid body that had six arms and legs that ended in webbed feet and hands.

    Its skin was a sickly pale, rotting in certain ces, and clung tightly to its bones.

    Honestly Lilia was seriously unnerved by the monster''s appearance and the unbelievably putrid smelling from its body.

    Some morbid curiosity of hers wanted to know what this thing was, but for the most part she was thankful that she did not possess the creature appraisal skill so that she could not look at its status even if she wanted to.

    Eventually she was forced out of her daze when zombies and skeletons began mbering over each other to reach over her mana barrier.

    "Out of my way!"

    Punching forward with an unbelievable amount of power, Lilia blew away all of the zombies and skeletons in front of her and opened up a path to the monster that was spawning them.

    "Force Cannon."

    Again, firing her tier two spell, she aimed to destroy or at least heavily inure the monster in one attack.

    Yet, before her magic connected, the repulsive monster vanished from sight.

    In her hast Lilia had forgotten ric''s suspicion that this create could turn intangible.

    "Still, I was forced to practice learning how to deal with this type of monster."

    Naturally Marcus had trained with Lilia and gotten her used to fighting against foes that could be immaterial just like him.

    Lilia quickly channeled spiritual energy into her eyes and looked around for the undead monster, expecting it to try andunch a sneak attack on her.

    Except, what she saw instead was the foul creature running away.

    Instead of facing her, it was halfway through passing through a wall and escaping.

    "Like I''ll let you." Lilia said, leaping towards where the intangible monster had just disappeared.

    With one quick motion she mmed her gauntleted hands into the wall and used her earth magic to open it up. She figured that a little damage to the sewer system would be eptable so long as she eliminated such a threatening undead.

    Suddenly having its cover pulled away from it, the intangible monster moved to phase into eh ground instead, but it was toote. Lilia had control of the area and was not going to let it slip away.

    "Force Wave."

    Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Lilia cast a tier four spell and imbued it with spiritual energy.

    The wide st of force impacted the undead monster, and its form was quickly ripped apart. While its ability to nearly infinitely create lesser undead was impressive, its own capabilities were extremely low for its rtively high level of fifty-one.

    After her magic had run its course, the creature was destroyed and had only left behind a magic core to prove that it had ever existed.

    As for the zombies and skeletons it had spawned, they remained even now that their creator was gone. Still, it would be a simple matter for Lilia, ric, Aurelia and Zareen to clean them up.

    "You think we''re going to get in trouble for this?" ric asked, looking at the damage Lilia had caused with her final attack.

    Not only had she rearranged some of the walls and a section of the floor with earth magic, but her Force Wave spell had done some significant damage to the surroundings.

    "This was unavoidable coteral damage. Plus, I should be able to put it back to rtively what it was before."

    Lilia sounded skeptical of her ability to cover up the damage she had caused, but with her earth magic she was able to at least close off therge holes she had made and put things back into the general shape they had been. Though, the structural integrity of the area had definitely taken a hit.

    Once she had finished cleaning up the destruction she had caused, Lilia as party leader dered that it was time to head back. If they continued exploring, they would only have another half hour before it was time to leave anyway.

    Unfortunately, the denizens of the sewers had other ideas. Not once in all of the years since the city became a necropolis had they allowed a single living person to return to the surface after entering their domain. And they were not about to allow their record to be broken today.

 Chapter 1076: Chapter 1076 Deadly Bowels of the City (4)

    Mrazivy looked towards Eirwen, her expression telling him what she wanted to know.

    "Yes, another one is closing in. I can hear it skittering along the stone to the west of us. Perhaps around two hundred meters away." Eirwen responded.

    Sighing, Mrazivy looked toward Miguel, and he nodded his head in response.

    A momentter he disappeared like a sh.

    When he reappeared, he was right below a Revenant Skulker that was crawling on the ceiling and cut it in half with his sword.

    "That''s the seventh one. Whatever is down here really wants to keep tabs on us at all times." Miguel said upon his return to the group.

    "Yeah, and we already know what follows one of those spying hands. Get ready for battle everyone. It won''t be long until our opponents arrive." Mrazivy said, her tone conveying her annoyance.

    In less than a minute the sounds of growling echoed through the area of the sewers that they were in, and bloated, shambling corpses that were dripping water arrived in mass.

    Mrazivy had already sued her Dragon Eyes to appraise these undead monsters and found that they were called Draugr.

    None of them were above level twenty, but each time a Revenant Skulker found their location a horde of at least a thousand Draugr would not be far behind.

    Of course, For Mrazivy, Roxene, Miguel, and Eirwen, these enemies were little more than a temporary hindrance. A thousand or more weaklings would only slow them down for a few minutes at most.

    "Mercurial Ice."

    Using her first unique skill, Mrazivy created a web of viscous liquid that branched out and engulfed the Draugr shambling towards them.

    Almost immediately the extreme cold of the Mercurial Ice froze each of the undead monsters in ce and left them as unmoving statues.

    However, this was not enough to fully destroy them. Eventually they would dethaw and begin moving again if left alone.

    "Quazar st."

    Naturally after more than a half dozen encounters with these monsters, their party had developed an efficient way to deal with them. Mrazivy would first freeze them with her unique skill and then Roxene would destroy them with her tier six light magic.

    "Okay, let''s keep moving. Undoubtedly something is farther down this path and doesn''t want us getting any closer." Mrazivy said, walking over the shattered remains of the undead that she and Roxen had just defeated.

    Yet, something unexpected appeared as she attempted to continue down the northern corridor that would take them closer to the former capital''s castle.

    A towering suit of adamantine armor that stood around four meters tall and nearly scrapped against the top of the corridor appeared.

    "Looks like a strong one has finallye to greet us." Mrazivy said, her lips curling into a fierce smile.

    Her eyes turned golden and her pupils became vertical slits as she appraised this new monster with her Dragon Eyes.

    To her surprise, she found that the monster they were facing was called a Dybbuk and was level seventy-two.

    However, it was not some sort of animated armor with a soul attached to it, but a type of specter that had possessed the armor and was simply using it as a vessel. Even if they destroyed the armor, it would not destroy the undead monster within it.

    "I wish Marcus was here. He could probably force the specter out of the armor and make it far easier to defeat."

    Unfortunately, Mrazivy and her party were going to have to fight this undead monster the hard way. First, they would have to crush its shell and then force it out into the open where they could attack its spiritual form. Though this was easier said than done. Being over level seventy, this undead creature was a truly powerful threat.

    It would not be simple to defeat it, especially when trying to keep damage to the surroundings to a minimum.

    Miguel attempted to use his sacred magic to exercise the undead specter from the armor it was possessing, but the Dybbuk''s powers were too great, and his magic shattered from the strain.

    "I guess we''re doing this the hard way." Roxene said, transforming from her humanoid form back into a wolf. To face an enemy of this level she would need her full power.

    Eirwen, sadly, was unable to follow Roxene''s example. He could transform but his size would prevent him from moving around with any sort of precision within the confined space of the sewer.

    Still, he possessed powerful magical abilities and stood in the backline ready to support the others.

    "Sword Savant Style, First Form, Tempest Fang."

    Her sword held above her head, Mrazivy vanished in a burst of speed and shed down on the suit of armor.

    "ng!"

    Stopping her sword from reaching the armor, the Dybbuk intercepted Mrazivy''s de with the cuddle it was wielding.

    The thick adamantine weapon stopped Mrazivy''s attack, but a deep nick formed where the cudgel met the de.

    "Heaven''s Rending."

    Mrazivy'' seamlessly switched forms and unleashed a rapid series of attacks on the adamantine amor.

    With expert movements, the possessed suit used its weapon and shield to protect itself, but it took everything it had just to defend against Mrazivy''s assault.

    While she had its full attention, Miguel and Roxene dashed in and carved small shucks out of the armor with their own attacks.

    The Dybbuk attempted to counter them wherever they stuck, but Eirwen would use his ice magic in those moments to freeze its joints and momentarily halt its movements.

    Against one of them, the undead specter might have been able to put up a decent fight, but with it being four on one, it could not contend with their overwhelming power and expert teamwork.

    "You''re just a big mass of physical power. That might be enough against most people, but not us." Mrazivy said, her body erupting in power and her sword ringing out as she fully synchronized with the weapon.

    Bahamut''s Fang was a system recognized weapon that had been created with parts of her body. Just like Marcus'' Scythe, she was able to reach a level of harmony with it far beyond what an individual could normally achieve with their weapon.

    Unleashing a single powerful strike, Mrazivy cut through the already damaged armor and cut it clean in half.

    Ice that nearly reached absolute zero then covered the remains of the adamantine suit as it crashed into the ground.

    A momentter, the specter that had possessed the armor appeared.

    Its face was that of a man twisted in madness and its bloodred hands were spasming like a maniacal puppet master.

    Having the form it was controlling destroyed, the undead monster set its eyes on Mrazivy and flew towards her. It was a type of undead that grew bitter over not having a physical form and would do anything to possess one. Whether it was an inanimate object or a living person, it did not care.

    However, before it could reach Mrazivy and attempt to possess her, Miguel appeared and shed through it with his de coated in spiritual energy and sacred magic.

    The Dybbuk was both cut apart and purified at the same time by Miguel''s attack.

    All of the resentment it had umted after being turned into an undead monster seemed to vanish in an instant, and it looked towards Mrazivy, Roxene, Miguel, and Eirwen with a tranquil expression as it faded away.

    "Thankˇ­ you. I''mˇ­ finallyˇ­free. Bewareˇ­ the witch. Her ˇ­ grudgeˇ­ knowsˇ­ no bounds."

    After giving them this cryptic warning, the man fully dissipated and vanished. His long-tormented soul put to rest.

 Chapter 1077: Chapter 1077 Deadly Bowels of the City (5)

    Novak and his party had managed to trek through the sewer system without issue up until it was time to turn back around and head towards the manhole where they had initially entered.

    "We made some good progress on mapping this ce out today. Let''s head back to meet up with Marcus'' party and call it a day before nightfall." Novak said, satisfied with their progress.

    Naturally the rest of his party members agreed. None of them particrly wanted to be down in such a dark and damp ce where danger could jump out at them at any moment. So far, they had not encountered any undead monsters, but there were traces of them traversing the sewers all over the ce.

    However, what they did not yet know was that theirck of encounters with the denizens of the sewers was by design. When Novak''s party attempted to head back in the direction they came, it quickly became clear that something was afoot.

    "You''re certain you did not read the map wrong?" y asked, looking over Emerie''s shoulder and scrutinizing the papers in her hands.

    "Of course I am!" Emerie snapped back. She was their party''s scout and confident in her skills. No way would she ever make a wrong turn when they just passed through the area, and she had a map of her own making.

    Still, where there had once been an open path now stood a solid wall blocking their way.

    For a moment, they thought it might have been an illusion, but when Novak attempted to push his hand through the wall, it met solid stone.

    Unfortunately, this did not relieve any of their worries and only caused each of them to well up with anxiety.

    "Emerie, you detect anything approaching us?" Novak asked, his lips curled into a frown.

    "Sorry, none of my detection skills are picking up anything. The same as they have been the entire time we''ve been down here. But something had to put this wall here. My instincts are telling me we''re being lured into a trap."

    She was not the only one that felt that this situation smelled rotten. Every member of Novak''s party could feel the danger in the air.

    Nevertheless, they were veteran adventurers that had all reached the mithril rank. Time and time again, they have had their backs against the wall and pulled through every time thanks to the experience and teamwork. It would take more than this to make them lose their calm.

    "y, put a hole through this wall. We should see the tunnel we came through on the other side."

    A confident grin on his face, y held his ive in front of him and thrust it forward.

    Adding a spin to his strike, his top tier mithril weapon drilled through the stone wall with ease.

    Except, far from his expectations, once he had buried the length of his weapon into the wall, it still had not pierced all the way through. This meant that something or someone had erected a truly massive wall in their way, or more troubling, that the passages were moving.

    "Should we just try and blow a hole through the ceiling back to the surface?" Jovie asked, her held titled upwards and looking at the stone overhead.

    "No, let''s save that as ast resort. That could cause an immense amount of rubble to fall on our heads, and our instructions were to cause as little damage to the city''s structures as possible. We should attempt to head back towards the entrance we used, but we''ll keep an eye out and use the first one wee across. But first, let me contact Marcus and warn him about this."

    Novak pulled out the sending stone that was paired with one that Marcus had in his possession.

    Yet as he tried to make a connection, all that he could hearing from the magic device was static. Either the other sending stone it was trying to reach was broken, or something was interfering with the signal.

    "Trapped in a moving sewer system and no way to call for help. This really does not bode well." Novak could not help but mutter.

    If it had not beenpletely clear before, there was now no doubt that they were under attack by some sort of sinister force.

    There was nothing they could do but push forward, though. As they had already nned, their party attempted to head back towards the point where they entered the sewers and looked for another exit along the way.

    Eventually, they reached an area of the sewers that had lost its structural integrity and sunk into the ground. Arge pool of grimy water had settled in this area and went on for as far as the eye could see.

    "Let''s turn back and go another way. I''ve got a bad feeling about this."

    Doing as Novak ordered, the members of his party attempted to turn around and go back the way that they hade, but after walking for around five minutes they reached a dead end.

    "Damn it! We''re being corralled like a bunch of farm animals." Jovie shouted, mming her gauntleted hand into the wall blocking their way in a fit of frustration.

    The area around them shook and dust fell all around them from the impact.

    At this point Novak seriously considered attempting to force their way back up to the surface. Up to the point nothing had attacked them, but it was obvious that they were being led exactly where their unseen enemies wanted them to be.

    "I did not want to do this, but Jovie, you''ve got my permission to dig us a way out. Put those dwarven skills of yours to work."

    The frown on the dwarven woman''s face instantly vanished, and she happily took out her war pick.

    With a powerp and a might swing, she aimed towards the weakest point in the ceiling that she could see.

    A thunderous pping sound echoed throughout the area as the attack hit, and the ceiling above them shattered.

    Novak and his other party members used their skills to blow the falling rubble away and waited for Jovie tond so that she could attack again.

    "What?!" Jovie yelled in shock when she looked back up at where she had just struck.

    The ceiling above them that had taken serious damage was rapidly repairing itself. Within less than a minute the hole she had created with her attack had fully sealed itself. As if there had never been any damage to begin with.

 Chapter 1078: Chapter 1078 Endless Horizons in Trouble

    After their failed attempt to break through the ceiling and no other path to go down, Novak brought his party back to the sunken area of the sewer.

    Every single one of them knew that this was a trap and that they were being led around by the nose, but there was nothing else they could do. Their only option as to face whatever waited for them head-on and hope that the skills they had cultivated over a long career as adventurers would be enough to see them through safely.

    "Emerie, are you sensing anything down there?" Novak asked his party''s scout.

    "Sorry, from what I can tell with any of my skills, it''s just an empty stagnate pool of water. But my gut is screaming at me that something dangerous is lurking beneath the surface." Emerie responded, a grim look on her face.

    This was the answer Novak had expected. No matter how much this area seemed to be devoid of any monsters, it was clear that they had been brought here for a reason.

    Perhaps if they were dealing with some mischievous fairy, it would only want tough at their misfortune as they waded through the vile water, however, there was no way any undead monster would act in such a benign manner. Whatever had forced them to this ce wanted them to meet a horrid and violent end.

    "Landyn, I''ll leave this to you."

    Nodding his head, Landyn, who had been silent up to this point stepped forward.

    He was the tank of Novak''s party and was not much for talking. Nevertheless, he was an expert at keeping his friends protected and fiercely loyal to them.

    When he reached the edge of the copsed section of the corridor, he ced his hand down on the ground.

    In a sh a translucent green barrier extended out from his body and created a small tform over the water. Out of all the members of Endless Horizon''s, Landyn was the only one that could fully manipte the mana barrier skill and use it for applications other than a quick defense.

    Landyn took the lead and slowly retracted his mana barrier from behind while extending it in front of himself. Effectively he had created a flying walkway for him and his party to use so that they did not have to enter the obviously suspicious pool of water.

    Slowly they made their way across the stretch of the path that had sunken into the ground.

    Along the way, each of them kept a careful eye out below them, but the only thing that was visible was the dark water and some floating rotten wood.

    As the end of the pool of disgusting water came into sight, Novak and the members of his party began to believe that perhaps they would reach the other side without incident. Despite their expectations nothing had risen up from the water to attack them.

    Yet, it was in this moment, when their guards dropped ever so slightly once the end was in sight that the creature lurking below the merk made its move.

    Bursting out of the murky water, what had appeared to only be some old and rotting wood floating on the surface was actually a creature created from several trees that had been corrupted by necrotic energies and fused together.

    The abomination that spit in the face of nature struck out with a gnarled and malformed limb and shattered the mana barrier that the members of Endless Horizon''s had been using to circuNovelFireent the pool below.

    Acting fast, Jovie mmed her war pick into the side of the wall to stop her descent, while Emerie bounded from wall to wall in a show of expert agility and dexterity.

    Landyn hastily created a new smaller mana barrier for himself, but y and Novak were not so lucky.

    y wasunched to dark away from the walls or the ceiling and had nothing to use to halt his plunge into the water below.

    As for Novak, he found himself falling directly towards the monstrous amalgamation of rotting wood.

    Another of the undead creature''s arms burst up, this one being long and pointed at the end like a spear.

    It aimed to pierce straight through Novak and end his life in one move.

    "Like I''ll let you."

    "Ferocious Tiger Strike."

    Novak''s adamantine w des erupted in a bright light as mana rushed into them as he activated one of his best attack skills.

    His weapons cleaved through the undead creature''s arm with ease, and Novak sshed into the polluted water below without taking any damage.

    Unfortunately, while his first maneuver had worked out, underwater he lost a great deal of his mobility and was unable to avoid the next attacking his way.

    The giant monster made from dead trees kicked him with one of its thick trunk legs.

    At thest moment he guarded by crossing his arms in front of him, but the force of the impact sted him out of the murky water and crashing into the ceiling above.

    For a few seconds Novak had lost consciousness, but when he came to, he found himself embedded deeply into the sewer''s ceiling.

    Foul smelling water and blood dripped down his face, and his entire body felt sore.

    Honestly, he just wanted to close his eyes and pretend that everything was fine, but there was no way he could do that while the rest of his party was still fighting.

    He could not really see much of what was going on from his current position, but the sounds of fighting were reaching him loud and clear.

    "It''s been a while since I took a hit that hard, but it''s nothing I can''t handle." Novak said to psych himself up.

    Reaching down towards a magic pouch at his side, he pulled out a healing potion.

    With just one swift sip he would be able to fix his injuries and get back into the fight.

    Except as he brought the potion up to his mouth, the ceiling around him began to constrict around him. The entity controlling the structure of the sewers was no longer content with just leading Novak and his party members around. Now that it had an ally to serve as a distraction, it was time for it to fight as well.

 Chapter 1079: Chapter 1079 Endless Horizons in Trouble (2)

    Novak winced as he felt his body being crushed by the stone around him.

    Still, he did not panic and instead focused on escaping. He''d been in plenty of tough situations before and this was far from the worst.

    Activating several skills at once, he felt a surge of power coursing through his body. At level fifty-four, Novak was expectantly strong and was not going to be contained by normal material.

    Under the strain of Novak''s might, the stone around him began to crack.

    Then with one massive push with all his limbs, he fractured the enclosing ceiling and opened up a hole to escape from.

    Unfortunately, this had him falling back towards the murky water below without any means of stopping himself.

    A couple of secondster he found himself plunging back into the pungent water that smelled of rot and death.

    At this point he would have loved a moment to clean off and get the vile taste of tainted water and blood out of his mouth. Yet even submerged under water he could hear and feel the impact of his party''s battle with the undead mass of trees.

    As Endless Horizons'' leader, Novak knew he could not sit back while everyone else was fighting. No matter how much he wanted a few seconds to recover, he knew that time was in short supply.

    Novak kicked his legs hard against the water and propelled himself out of it.

    When he finally surfaced, he saw the four other members of his party fighting against the monster that had lodged him into the ceiling with a single kick.

    Thankfully none of them looked particrly injured. Landyn was focusing on keeping the creature''s attention and allowing y, Emerie, and Jovie to attack.

    The damage that they were inflicting on the amalgamation of rotting trees was not amounting to much though.

    Every one of their blows splintered its body, but a sludge-like sap seeped out of its body and quickly began restoring its form. Even the arm that Novak had severed into several pieces, which was only one eight, was already around halfway to being fully recovered.

    Watching this Novak wished that he or one of his party members could use magic. Sadly, none of them had the talent for it and he had never gotten around to trying to recruit a dedicated mage. For any monster that they needed to use magic against, they had gotten by with spell sealing talismans or wands.

    From what he could see, none of the items they had on hand were going to be close to powerful enough to bring down a monster like this.

    "We''ll just have to bust through it faster than it can heal then!" Novak shouted, both to inspirit himself and his party members.

    He shed through the air with his w des and sent six mana shes flying towards the gigantic creature.

    His attack was ultimately intercepted by one of the monster''s thick arms and left little more than a few deep scratches, but Novak was not disheartened.

    The water once again embraced him as he fell, but the second he had something he could find purchase on he kicked off and angled himself towards one of the nearby walls.

    In an acrobatic feat simr to what Emerie was aplishing, Novak bounced from one wall to the other and returned to the main battle.

    "You''ve already revealed yourself, so that''s not going to work."

    Just before he reached the other, the wall that he was about to reach sprouted several sharp spikes.

    Had he not been expecting something like this to ur, he likely would have ended up severely injured, but Novak had already seen the walls being manipted by some sort of creature.

    Rapidly he sliced up the spikes with his w des and agilely spun his body around so that his feetnded on the now clear wall.

    Below him he felt the wall trying to grip his feet, but he kicked off of it before it could firmly secure him.

    Finally, back in the main battle, Novak warned his friends about the walls moving and began a fierce assault against the undead tree monster.

    Attack after attack, Novak and his party members rent apart their enemy.

    Whenever it seemed like they might be starting to make progress on bringing the monster down, the walls, ceiling and even the sunken floor would move to interfere with their efforts.

    Had they only needed to deal with one opponent, victory already would have been in their grasp.

    However, as the battle went on, exhaustion began to creep up on all of them. This entire time they had been fighting on horrible terrain that gave them little room to maneuver. Every decent attack took too much time to deliver and every strike against them threatened to be deadly.

    Sensing that their strength would notst, Novak ordered an all-out attack. It would be a gamble, but this was the only thing left that would give them any chance to win.

    "Don''t worry about anything else, just hit it with everything you''ve got!"

    Trusting in their leader, y, Emerie, Jovie, and Landyn charged up their weapons with mana and prepared to unleash their strongest attacks.

    Of course, as they focused their all on the rotting wooden monstrosity, the undead controlling the walls struck out towards them.

    This was the most brazen attack it hadunched and aimed for when all of the members of Novak''s party were at their most vulnerable.

    Yet, none of its attacks reached them.

    Novak had been readying his own attack not to strike down the undead tree monster, but to stop any interference from the one manipting the walls.

    Cutting through the air with swift strikes, he sent ying shes of mana towards the protruding walls and cut them down before they could reach his friends.

    A momentter their best attacks reached the wooden create they had been fighting.

    ys ive leaved a trail of green light as she shed down in one great arc.

    His attack swift and powerful, he cut off the two arms that moved to intercept him and cleaved into the body of the undead monster.

    Jovie''s strike hit next and left arge dent in the side of the creature''s central truck that acted as its torso. Rotten wood and polluted water sprayed out over the ce, and the entire monster crashed into the nearby wall from the force of the blow.

    Following up, Landyn rammed into the staggered undead with his shield and mmed it fully into the murky water below. Cracks formed all along its main body and the monster''s body creaked dangerously as it tried to move.

    Atst, Emerie finished preparing her finishing move.

    In her crossbow, a brightly glowing bolt shone with silver light.

    This was her strongest trump card and recing it was likely to cost her eighty percent of her cut from this job''s reward.

    As she pressed the trigger on her weapon, the bolt flew at an incredible speed and sunk into the center of the monster''s body.

    At first it seemed that the bolt did practically no damage. Until it exploded in a cacophonous burst of sound that blew the wood around it apart.

    Having the core of its body destroyed, the monstrous amalgamation of trees was no longer able to get up.

    The corrupt sap within it attempted to mend the damage, but even its powerful regenerative abilities could not repair the loss of its central truck.

    Several sshes followed the defeat of their main enemy as every member of Endless Horizons fell into the repulsive water below.

    After unleashing everything they had in ast-ditch effort to defeat their enemy, all of them were nearly out of energy.

    What little strength they had was focused on their surroundings. The main threat may have been down, but the monster controlling the walls was still around. All of them were expecting it to attack them while they were still exhausted.

    Except it did not make a move, for it had no need to.

    As Novak and his party members kept an eye out for an attack, they disregarded the body of the monster they had already defeated. Certainly, it was unable to continue fighting, but it had one final move to y.

    The wooden debris in the water began to pulsate and swell. Soon the energy inside of them had reached its limit and several explosions of necrotic energy enveloped the area.

    Novak felt his blood turn cold, and a horrible pain racked his entire body as he was hit by the explosions.

    He watched as his veins turned ck and his skin turned gray in multiple ces.

    When the explosion eventually died down, he found himself still alive, but in incredibly rough shape.

    Floating on top of the water nearby, he saw that hispanions were in a simr or even worse condition.

    Being heavily armored, Jovie and Landyn began to sink now that they had lost even the strength to tread water.

    Pushing himself, Novak swam towards them, yet his progress was quickly halted.

    Something from below was wrapped around his leg and he felt it begin to drag him underwater.

    With onest look before being pulled below the surface, he saw that the rest of hispanions were sinking as well. The monster that had been manipting the structure of the sewer had reached out from below and grabbed all of them. Now that they were too weak to resist, it would drag them all to a watery grave.

    ''I guess this is the end.'' Novak thought as he felt his consciousness waning. They put up a good fight, but it had not been enough.

    Except just as he had given up, he felt whatever had held him loosened and suddenly he was yanked out of the water.

    "It looks like you guys could use some help. I hope you don''t mind if I cut in."

 Chapter 1080: Chapter 1080 Rescued and Damaged Pride

    ''Whew. Barely made it in time.''

    Marcus looked down at Novak and his party members after pulling them out of the water with his iron threads spell.

    Each of them had been on the verge of drowning as some sort of entity dragged them below the surface by manipting the stone that made of the sewer''s floor.

    From the wounds all over their bodies, Marcus could tell that they had been fighting in a fierce battle for some time.

    "True Restoration. Major Cure."

    Seeing that his allies were severely injured and suffering from a couple nasty status effects, Marcus quickly cast a couple of healing spells to restore them back to health.

    Almost immediately their bodies that were decaying from being hit by a powerful necrotic energy returned to their usual color.

    A momentter the members of Endless Horizons sputtered and began coughing up the tainted water that had entered their lungs.

    "Oh, you still want to fight?" Marcus said, turning around and seeing a section of the wall behind him beginning to move.

    Holding his left hand in front of him, he created a mana barrier as dozens of sharp spikes shot towards him.

    As the assault continuous attacked him, Marcus'' eyes flittered about as he searched for the monster manipting the stone.

    "There you are."

    Being able to easily search out other spiritual presences, he located the exact location of the ghost that was capable of possessing structures and controlling them as it wished.

    It was honestly not a particrly strong monster called a Wall Wraith. At level forty-six its stats were undeniably low. Looking closer to what would be expected of an average level thirty. All of its strength appeared to be focused in its specialized race ability that allowed it to merge with building and manipte them.

    Certainly, this was a strong power, but there was nothing else notable about the Wall Wraith.

    "Darkness Bullet."

    Marcus cast the tier one darkness magic spell and imbued it with his spiritual energy.

    With a single shot he pieced through the sewer''s wall and hit the Wall Wraith before it could even react.

    The pitiful monster burst like a balloon the moment the magic reached it. Marcus'' spiritual energy was far too powerful for it to take for even a single instant.

    Now that it was destroyed the walls stopped moving and everyone could tell that their enemy had been defeated.

    "Ire- Marcus, what are you doing here?!" Novak said once he had regained hisposure.

    "Well, your party did not show up at the meet up point on time and you never answered any of my calls over the sending stone, so I came looking for you guys. Truthfully it is pretty lucky that I found all of you when I did. A couple more minutes and you would have all died."

    Of course, Marcus left out exactly how he had found them. Currently they were in apletely isted section of the sewers that had no entrances or exits. Normally it would have been impossible for anyone to reach them. Well, for those that could not walk through walls at least.

    With his life sense skill extended to full range Marcus had rushed around without worrying about any obstacles in his way as he searched for Novak and his party.

    "I guess we all owe you our thanks for saving our lives. But uh, before anything else. Could you please put us down. I don''t mean to sound ungrateful, but this is a little demeaning." Novak said, casting his eyes down at the iron threads that had him wrapped up.

    He had tried breaking free on his own now that he had recovered, but Marcus'' spell was simply far too strong. The only option left was to ask the caster himself to let them go.

    "Oh, sorry. I was in a rush, and this was the fastest way for me to grab all of you at once. Just give me a second and I''ll set you guys down."

    Marcus moved his fingers like a puppet master and the iron threads responded to hismands.

    Quickly they dropped Novak, y, Emerie, Jovie, and Landyn on the edge of the not copsed portion of the sewer''s floor.

    "Now, which way to get out of here? I''m sick of this ce." Jovie said after being put down.

    At this question, Marcus'' face twisted into an expression of panic for a moment before being reced by a smiling mask.

    "Sure, I''d be happy to lead all of you towards the exit. But uh, first, which direction do your partye from to reach here?"

    "We came from that way." y said, pointing. "But it''spletely sealed. You must havee in from somewhere else, so please lead the way."

    Reassuring them that he knew the way out, Marcus turned around and began walking confidently towards another dead end.

    ''Scythe, I''m going to need you to go ahead and carve a path.'' Marcus transmitted to his weapon.

    Receiving itsmand, Marcus'' scythe slid out of his soul and moved through the ground unseen by anyone.

    When it reached the other end of the tunnel, it began swinging around violently and cut its way into the nearest section that was connected to the rest of the sewer.

    It took a bit of time with several wrong turns along the way, but Marcus eventually brought Novak and his party back to the entrance they had used to enter the sewer.

    By this point it was already pitch-ck outside as night had fully consumed the sky.

    "They''re still not back?" Marcus said incredulously. The only ones waiting in the area were Inten and Blitz who Marcus had left when he went to search for Endless Horizons.

    "Yeah, they''ve gotten closer, but both Mrazivy and Lilia''s groups keep periodically stopping in one ce for a while. I''m guess that they keep getting ambushed just like we were." Inten responded.

    He was holding up his arm and showing the spatial magic cuff that every one of them shared a copy of. On it the magic tool disyed several glowing dots that represented theirpanions and which direction they were in and how far away they were.

    "Wait, you came looking for us when your own party mates were in trouble?!" Novak said, his expression warped into one of confusion and disbelief.

    "I mean, we can track their progress, but I had no way to tell if you guys were in trouble." Marcus replied. Hoping to brush off Novak''s question.

    The real reason he had gone off to help them first was because he trusted hispanion to be capable of handling themselves. Novak and his party were not weak by most metrics, but the undead creatures roaming down here were a bit more than they could handle.

    Marcus had seen that they had managed to defeat one monster, but that hadpletely worn them out and left their entire group helpless against their second foe.

    "I see." Novak said, his eyes downcast. As much as Marcus was trying to spare his feelings, the veteran adventurer understood. He and his party were weaker than any of Marcus''panions and had prioritized them for that very reason.

 Chapter 1081: Chapter 1081 Reconvening

    It took nearly an hour before Lilia''s team arrived at the sewer entrance and another twenty minutes after that for Mrazivy''s group.

    After asking them about it, Marcus learned that both groups were attacked by a nearly endless wave of undead monsters.

    Most of them had been weak, but some among the hordes were quite strong. Being unable to use any wide range attacks without copsing arge section of the sewer system, it had proven a timely endeavor to fight their way through.

    "They were awfully persistent. It wasn''t until we got close enough to call for your aid that they finally retreated and gave up on chasing us." Lilia said with a huff.

    While most of the monsters down here were merely shambling corpses, a few still possessed some amount of intelligence. When it became clear that it would be impossible to stop Lilia and her team, they retreated instead of allowing the entirety of their forces to be wiped out.

    Mrazivy faced a simr but even fiercer assault. Unlike the undisciplined mob that attacked Lilia''s group, what Mrazivy could only consider to be a proper army assaulted her party.

    "Most of the skeletons and zombies had been outfitted in armor and wielded weapons. Among them were more advanced undead that gave orders and kept the weaker ones in line. Honestly it was a pretty big pain to deal with them. We even had to fight three monsters that were level seventy or higher."

    This came as a bit of a shock to everyone as all of the powerful entities Mrazivy''s team had encountered were undocumented. Either during Houten''s past attempts to reim the city they never encountered these monsters before, or anyone that did never survived to report back.

    ''I''d guess it is likely thetter. They''ve sent scouts down here before, but none have ever returned. No wonder why though. No average team, heck no group that would generally be considered exceptional could surviveing down here.'' Marcus thought while ncing at Endless Horizons.

    They were a mithril rank party and their five members were all between level fifty and fifty-four. This put them well above the strength most people had. Yet their party had nearly perished down here after only a single battle.

    Naturally, Novak, y, Emerie, Jovie, and Landyn were the most surprised by this news. A single level seventy monster had the right to be called a cmity. It could topple a city in a day and cause untold damage before a force strong enough to handle the creature was dispatched.

    Of course, for Marcus and hispanions dealing with monsters and beasts of that level was not an umon urrence. They themselves were all over level sixty-five after all.

    "H-how did you possibly survive such an encounter?" Novak asked, his expression tinged with disbelief.

    "Well, the battle was a bit tough, but nothing we couldn''t handle. I''ll trust that all of you can keep a secret, so I''lle right out an tell you that I''m level seventy-eight."

    Upon hearing Mrazivy''s reply, Novak and his party members stared at her with wide eyes and mouths hanging wide open.

    Mrazivy was around level eighty which was often around the level even the strongest person in a nation would be. On powerful nations like Aezam and Borealia would have someone at a higher level.

    "D-does that mean, that the rest of you as well?" Emerie said, turning away from Mrazivy and looking at everyone else.

    "Yeah, we''re all around the same level. Mrazivy is the highest though." Marcus said. He did not feel like there was any reason to keep this from Endless Horizons. They were trustworthy and did not seem the type to go revealing other people''s secrets.

    Thankfully the five of them agreed to keep their lips sealed and promised not to speak a word to anyone else.

    After that their two parties exited the sewers and headed back to their designated liaison to report what they had uncovered.

    "Those bastards!" Novak said once they had finished meeting with Major Leopold.

    Despite disclosing how dangerous the sewers were, Houten was not going to dispatch any other teams to help with the exploration. Apparently, they were already spread too thin with the operation on the surface.

    "Are we just an after thought to them? What''s the point of send the sixteen of us down there on our own if they don''t seem to really care whether we seed or not." Jovie said, her expression furious.

    "Sorry, this is likely our fault. We embarrassed one of the kingdom''s princes and this is probably a means of getting back at us." Mrazivy said apologetically.

    "No, it''s not your fault. I stepped in and offered my assistance because I thought it was the right thing to do. I just hope that Houten realizes what they are doing. They should not underestimate the pull a party of mithril rank adventurers have."

    Novak had a dangerous gleam in his eyes. No doubt he would be spreading some unfavorable information about how the nation treats the adventurers assisting them.

    Still, their two parties were stuck on sewer duty alone for the foreseeable future. This was not as big a deal to Marcus and hispanions though. They were confident in their strength, and it was honestly better for their ultimate goals that there were less people keeping an eye on them.

    ''We''ll continue clearing the sewers out like normal until we find a way into the castle. Once we can get in, we can find hopefully find a ghost king and maybe help ourselves to some other long-lost treasures.''

    Of course, there was one other thing that Marcus was worried about, but he had made some arrangements to hopefully head off any problems. He had had to call in a favor, but hopefully with some extra assistance everything would sort itself out nicely.

    "Okay, we''re done here now, right? I am famished, so let us hurry and eat. Marcus, you''re cooking. I want something especially good for all the effort I had to put in today." Roxene said, the look in her eyes offering no objection.

    "Sure, I''ll make a feast. It was a stressful day, so let''s unwind with some good food and drink."

    At this all of Marcus''panions let out a cheer, and Novak and his party looked at them with interest. They had never had Marcus'' cooking but from everyone else''s reactions, it was clear that it must be good.

 Chapter 1082: Chapter 1082 The Heart of the Sewers

    Nine days went by in a sh.

    During this time, Marcus'' and Novak''s parties continued to search the sewers and eliminate any undead monsters they came across.

    However, their teamposition changed slightly from the first day. As a precaution, at least one member from Marcus'' party always apanied Endless Horizons.

    This was a bit of a hit to their dignity as adventures, but Novak, y, Emerie, Jovie, and Landyn understood that they simply weren''t strong enough to beat some of the more powerful monsters lurking in the sewers. As much as they wanted to prove themselves, they knew this would only cause problems.

    "Looks like there is some sort ofpound ahead."

    With her hand on the ground Lilia had used abination of her earth magic and force magic to scout out what was farther ahead.

    Except instead of the usual tunnels and rooms, she found arge, fortified area around two kilometers away.

    "You''re sure about that?" Marcus asked.

    He had been rotating with different teams and was today with Lilia and her beastpanions.

    "Yeah, no doubt about. Plus, the ce has been enchanted to make it more difficult to find and peer into. From here my magic can only just pick up the faint outline of the ce. There is just no way that this used to be a part of the original sewer. If I had to guess, I''d say that the one controlling all the undead we''ve been fighting down here is in there."

    Nodding his head, Marcus agreed with Lilia''s conclusion.

    He then pulled out several sending stones and contacted the rest of his party members.

    "We''ve located the monsters'' base of the operations down here in the sewers. Come to our location and so that we can raid the ce."

    Marcus received affirmative responses from everyone, and they halted their own searches to converge on his location.

    Within around two hours, their entire party had gathered and began conducting a strategy meeting.

    "Are you sure that it was the right call to send Endless Horizons away?" ric asked. He had been the one tagging along with them today and had seen the downcast expressions on their faces when he ryed Marcus'' request to them.

    "Yeah, this is going to be too dangerous for them. We don''t know exactly what we are going to be facing in there. If things got out of hand, it might be impossible for us to protect them. Better to hurt their pride than let them die."

    Each of Marcus''panions understood this logic, but it did not change the fact that they also could sympathize with Novak and his party members. They were aplished and high-ranking adventurers but since starting this mission they had felt like dead weight. Unfortunately, they just were not strong enough to contend with the centuries old high level undead lurking in these sewers.

    For nearly a half hour the eleven of them worked on creating an attack n against the underground fortress. Lilia''s magic had detected magical protections and several guards wandering around outside.

    Nevertheless, this was far from enough to dissuade their party.

    "Okay, lets get started." Marcus said, leading the assault.

    A great deal of magic erupted from his body as he cast his Iron Golem and Gloom Titan Spells.

    Following his lead, Mrazivy used her own magic to conjure several ice warriors, while Lilia created her own golem with her earth magic.

    ric created a powerful elemental monster made from wind, smoke, and death magic thanks to his Mold Magic unique skill.

    Finally, Roxene created a Gloom Titan of her own to round out the cast of conjured creatures.

    Receiving an order to destroy every undead they came across and break into the fortress ahead, the two gloom titans, earth golem, dozen ice warriors, wind, smoke, and death elemental, and iron golem rushed off.

    "This almost feels a bit unfair." Miguelmented.

    "I get what you''re saying, but this is the safest way to go about this. We''ve been attacked by wave after wave of undead monsters, so it is time for our adversary to receive the same treatment." Mrazivy said, a merciless smile on her face.

    After that the eleven of them waited around while monitoring the progress of their conjured creatures.

    At first a great many powerful undead came out to meet them, but eventually their forces were annihted.

    Whenever one of their magically crafted monsters was defeated, they would simply create another one and send it along.

    Through this method they crushed the opposing forces without having to directly get involved.

    "That''s some solid defense. Even my Gloom Titian can''t break through."

    Once all of the undead outside of thepound were destroyed, Marcus, Mrazivy, Lilia, Roxene, and ric ordered their monster to break into therge structure that was almost certainly the base of whatever was controlling the undead lurking down here.

    However, its magical protections were incredibly powerful and would not buckle easily.

    "Looks like we''re up finally. How about we go and greet our ''gracious host'' and tell them how much we''ve enjoyed their hospitality." Lilia said, her aura exuding malice.

    While nothing had so far been much of a threat to them, the horrid smelling environment and ghastly looking undead monster that they had been constantly fighting was grating on all of their nerves. The was no doubt that each and every one of them wanted to get back at the one that had been making their lives a living nightmare.

    When their party did reach the entrance to the fortified structure, it was glowing with a powerful barrier that was repelling the attacks from their magically created creatures.

    "Let''s see what we''re working with."

    Using his expertise in creating magical items and his high-level glyph tuning skill, Marcus examined the magical protections covering their foe''s base.

    "Nope, I can''t disable this." He concluded.

    The protections around the underground fortress wereplex and brimming with mana. Marcus would need to create some specialized tools and have several months to analyze the defenses around this ce to begin taking it apart.

    Of course, that was only if he wanted to do it by disabling the magic formations. Another means was to simply overwhelm it with brute force.

    Following Marcus'' suggestion, everyone took up positions around the structure and began bombarding it with attacks. There was a limit to how much punishment it could take, and eventually they would break through.

 Chapter 1083: Chapter 1083 Undercity Witch

    For nearly four hours, Marcus and hispanions continuously attacked the barrier surrounding the sewer fortress.

    The ce was incredibly sturdy, having hundreds of protective enchantments and an immense quantity of mana to power its defenses.

    Still, under the assault of eleven high level individuals that were nearly as strong as possible for their levels, it eventually reached its limit.

    With a sound like ss shattering, the final barrier broke apart and the enormous structure could no longer keep intruders out.

    After everyone came back together at the entrance, Marcus went about disabling a few traps that were meant as ast resort to prevent outsiders from entering.

    "And there we go." Marcus said once he disabled the final trap.

    He then ced his hands on therge double doors and pushed them open.

    They spread out seamlessly, and not a single squeak or creak could be heard despite how ancient thispound was.

    "I was expecting something truly terrifying to be waiting for us, but it''s just an empty hallway."

    Mrazivy had been ready with her Dragon Eyes already glowing. Naturally every member of their party had been anticipating that some sort of guardian would intercept them the moment they broke in.

    Except all that they found was arge metal hallway with several doors leading into a multitude of rooms.

    "Lilia, would you do the honors?" Marcus asked.

    Nodding her head, she walked into therge corridor and ced her hands on the ground.

    Her detection magic was more urate than anyone else''s so now that the enchantments cloaking the outside of the fortress were disabled, she searched the area again.

    "Every room but arge central chamber appears to be abandoned. There are all manner of tools and materials in them though. Some of them are pretty ghastly." Lilia said, looking a bit sick.

    She had uncovered several rooms that had dissected and mutted bodies, piles of bones, and even a few living animals in cages that she could only surmise were being subjected to all manner of cruel experiments.

    At the very least, there did not seem to be any cognizant creatures among the few living beings in thisboratory.

    "Got it. Then we don''t need to worry about coteral damage. Let us make our way to where master of thispound is waiting."

    Following Marcus'' lead and Lilia''s directions, all of them purposefully walked down the shortest path leading to their destination.

    Along the way several traps slowed their progress, but Marcus dealt with them easily enough thanks to the skills he had cultivated in the special dungeon.

    When they reached the door to the central room, they found it sealed up tightly. Surprisingly the entire ce was made out of adamantine ted mithril. It was like a tough bunker, but nothing that Marcus and hispanions could not break through.

    Mrazivy brandished her sword and unleashed a few swift shes that cut through the metal and created an entrance for them to walk through.

    Inside the room a musty smell of rot wafted around and would have been unbearable if not for the air cleansing magic tools that all of them were carrying.

    Once he walked through the doorway, Marcus saw that this ce was some sort ofrgeboratory. There were all manner of magical implements as well as experimental subjects.

    ''Its like the workce of that necromancer I fought in Loursend, but far worse.''

    There were corpses and skeletons of all manner of people, monsters, and beasts stored in tubes filled with a vile-looking gray liquid.

    Marcus could only think that this was their of some deranged, mad scientist that had long ago lost any semnce of sanity.

    Of course, the owner of this ce was in full view, not even attempting to hide herself.

    At the other end of the room, everyone could see her fiddling around with several bodies and wicked magic tools.

    The entire ce was steeped in malice and the air was filled with necromantic energy. No shortage of abominable experiments must have urred in this ce.

    ''Revenant Witch, level eighty-two. She is fairly strong, but she only has two unique skills that are not much to be worried about.'' Mrazivy transmitted to everyone with telepathy.

    While it appeared that the master of the city''s underground was alone and disregarding Marcus and his party''s presence, that was far from the truth.

    Lilia had already detected that there were several dozen high level undead monsters lurking about in hidden areas waiting to strike.

    "Ahem! Are you just going to keep ignoring us to continue working."

    Marcus wanted to see what sort of reaction the Revenant Witch before them would have to being called out to. It was possible that her mind was so far gone that she could only continue to focus on the experiments she was fixated on.

    However, this assumption proved to be untrue as the Witch put down her tools and the bodies she was enchanting with necromancy.

    She then turned around and faced the trespasser that had broken into her sanctuary.

    A vestige of the beauty she must have had in life still lingered despite her skin having gray and rotted in ces, her hair having be a muted brown that looked like it would crumble to dust if touched, and her eyes being clouded over and almost pure white except for their burning red irises.

    The robes she was wearing were clearly those of a high-ranking mage and reminded Marcus of the garments that the archimages of Borealia wore.

    Undoubtedly, she had been someone important before the tragedy that had befallen Houten a little more than three centuries ago.

    "Why won''t you die already you annoying pests? Gah! You''re interrupting my worked and have ruined everything!"

    The Revenant Witch swung her left arm behind her and shattered several ss containers on theboratory table be in a manic fit.

    While she still retained some intelligence and fragments of her personality, she had clearly gone insane.

    "Do you think you can do anything for her?" Mrazivy whispered to Marcus. She had seen him turn Alyna from a wraith into a spirit and save her from the burden of undeath.

    "No, her mind and soul are probably too far gone. Even if I did return her sanity and made her a spirit, I doubt she would be able to continue on once she realized the weight of everything she has done."

    Marcus understood why Mrazivy wanted him to try and bring back this woman''s rationality. She would likely know what had urred all those years ago when Houten''s king at the time turned this city into a necropolis.

    Unfortunately, this was far different than when he assisted the undead controlling the Chelmer Resort from the shadows. All of them had retained most of their mental faculties and had not let bing undead eat away at their souls.

    It was only because of their strong force of wills and the skills that they had obtained using the Personal Status unique skill that allowed them to avoid being corrupted.

    The same could not be said for the Witch before them. She was unhinged and had delved into some of the darkest necromantic arts. There was nothing but a true monster left.

 Chapter 1084: Chapter 1084 Undercity Witch (2)

    "Die already! Die! Die! Die! Die!"

    The Revenant Witch that was the ruler of Houten''s former capital''s sewers began raving when Marcus and his party shoed no signs of weaking.

    She had flooded the room with poison and necrotic energy that should have been impossible for most living creatures to withstand.

    Fortunately, the items that Marcus had made and given to his party members purified both the poison and necrotic energy.

    "Gah! Why did you intruders have to show up now!" The Revenant Witch screamed. "I was so close to finally destroying that moronic bastard. I won''t let him get away with what he did to me. I''ll use your bodies to make new servants and crush him."

    Clearly the Revenant Witch was unhinged and her grip on reality had long slipped. Still, Marcus could tell that what she had just said was meaningful. It at least confirmed that not all of the undead in the city were following a single ruler.

    ''I was wondering why this ce was so well protected. It made little since to invest that many resources when none of the forces intent on reiming the city have ever gotten close to this point. But it makes sense now.''

    The fortifications around thispound and the swarms of undead patrolling the sewers likely were not there to deal with the forces from Houten, but to fight against whoever this Revenant Witch''s enemy within the sealed city was.

    "I see, the ordeals you have endured must have been truly terrible. But there is no need to kill us. I havee to offer an alliance. We can take down your enemy together." Marcus said, a cordial smile on his face.

    He did not actually n on working with such an unstable monster that was likely to stab them in the back at any moment even if they dide to some sort of an agreement. What he was hoping for was to glean some more information about the entity she was hostile towards.

    "No. No, no, no, no! You must be his agents. You''vee here to destroy me. But I won''t let you."

    Having lost all interest in continuing to converse, the Revenant Witch ordered the undead monster she had hidden to attack.

    It was an expected oue, though, Marcus was a bit upset that he had not been able to gather more intel about the city and the monsters that inhabited it.

    "Mrazivy, Roxene, break her barriers. Everyone else, keep the other monsters off of us."

    At Marcus'' orders, his party members leapt into action. They had all been ready for a fight and fell into their roles immediately.

    There were all manner of horrid undead creatures moving out from hiddenpartments, but Lilia, ric, Miguel, Blitz, Inten, Eirwen, Aurelia, and Zareen moved to intercept them.

    Being in a sturdy fortress that was not technically part of the sewers, they did not need to worry as much about causing coteral damage to their surroundings and used widespread attacks to destroy the elite monsters that the Revenant Witch had kept in reserve.

    Roxene and Mrazivy, then rushed straight towards the ruler of the sewers and unleashed several ferocious attacks.

    Naturally, a several centuries old monster who had undoubtably been a powerful mage in life had all manner of protective magic items to defend herself.

    However, Mrazivy and Roxene tore through her barriers and easily deflected her counter attacks. The Witch was high level, but in terms of quality she wascking in many aspects.

    ''Now.''

    Covered in a powerful light and darkness from his Embodiment of Eclipse, Marcus shot forward while using his Behemoth Charge unique skill.

    There was no reason to prolong this battle and he aimed to finish the boss here off in a single attack.

    Thanks to Mrazivy and Roxene''s preemptive attack that had severely weakened the Revant Witch''s defenses and fully garnered her attention, Marcus arrived in front of her without any resistance.

    At thest moment the Witch attempted to flee using a teleportation item, but the spatial disruptor Marcus had crafted using the Cauldron Bloom''s core blocked her escape.

    ''Vorpal Fang.''

    Adding one of his most powerful attack skills to his swing, Marcus cleaved through the Revenant Witch''s neck with ease and separated her head from the rest of her body.

    The immense light elemental energy and the spiritual energy he had imbued his attack with began to purify her corpse and soul.

    For just a moment the visage of the woman she had been before turning into an undead monster smiled at Marcus peacefully. He had seen this same phenomenon happen before and understood that this was her way of thanking him for saving her from the nightmare her existence had be.

    "After all the difficulties we had clearing out the sewers that was a little dissatisfying." Mrazivy said.

    "Well, it was just a matter of different situations. We did not need to hold back as much here, and our enemy was just too much weaker than us to pose much of a challenge."

    Turning around Marcus saw that the party members he had left in charge of fighting the Revenant Witch''s minions had already finished up. The eleven of them had just seamlessly defeated a threat that could bring a nation to ruin.

    Nevertheless, their work was not done yet. There were many wretched materials in this ce that needed to be disposed of. There was no telling what someone with malicious intent could aplish with the resources here. There were spell books on advanced necromancy and research notes that could assist even a novice mage in creating their own undead horde.

    "Marcus, you are going to want to see this." ric said, wearing a grim expression.

    He had been rummaging through an old, dust-covered cab and pulled out several ancient documents.

    Marcus wondered what could have been so awful inparison to the other stuff here that ric had called out for him specifically.

    When he took the scrolls that ric had found, he understood exactly why the young half elf had asked for him.

    Written in great detail on these documents was the method to forge a powerful undead weapon.

 Chapter 1085: Chapter 1085 Secrets of a Three-Hundred-Year-Old Tragedy

    Marcus carefully looked over the schematics he had received from ric that outlined how to produce an undead weapon.

    Many of the techniques detailed were beyond horrid. The materials could not just be from in beasts, monsters, and people, but those that were tortured for several weeks until their very souls were corrupted by an all-consuming malice.

    Surely any weapon forged by following these directions would be incredibly powerful, but it would be one filled with malevolence and bring ruin to any who wielded it.

    "Thabon told me that it was one of the three taboos of forging, but I never knew how truly abhorrent the creation of one was." Marcus murmured, a dour look on his face.

    He hadmitted one of the taboos himself, but being a great spirit, he could not fail at creating a soul bound weapon.

    And the practice of creating a soul bound weapon itself was not particrly odious, it was only in failure that killed or drove the crafter mad that had it deemed as a taboo.

    However, the same could not be said for forging an undead weapon. From the first step to thest, Marcus could only view the entire process as truly wicked.

    "Do you think that they really made this thing?" ric asked, his skin appearing paler than usual and looking sickly.

    Even though he was not a forgemaster like Marcus, he was a highly experienced mage that knew death magic and had studied under some of the best minds at the Guilder Spire. This allowed him to understand many sections of the schematics. In fact, if he and Marcus worked together, they could probably sessfully create a weapon following the steps that were detailed. Not that they ever would of course.

    "I wish I could say no, but my intuition is telling me that they did. A desperate king looking for a way to turn the tide in a losing war could easily be swayed to pursue any method to win. Even one as abominable as creating an undead weapon." Marcus said, his tone grave.

    From the clues that they had gathered, it seemed likely that the forging of an undead weapon was the cause of the entire city being plunged into a gue of undeath.

    It would have started with the person that first tried to wield the weapon and spread out from there until everyone in Houten''s former capital had been transformed.

    "I suppose in some ways you could say that the former king was sessful. The invaders that had besieged the city were wiped out and no other sessful advances have been made since."

    "But the price for that victory was far too high." ric said, looking around at the ghastlyboratory they were in.

    "Your right, and it would have been far worse if the Great Spirit of Death had not gotten involved. The entire continent could have turned into a den of moving corpses."

    After finishing his discussion with ric, Marcus stored the documents pertaining to the creation of an undead weapon into his item box. A part of him wanted to destroy them immediately, but there was a very real possibility that a terribly powerful undead weapon still existed within the city.

    As much as he did not want to do so, studying the ns might allow him to find some sort of weakness in its construction.

    "Now, let''s get back to searching this ce. We still don''t know why the Revenant Witch ruling the sewers had them."

    Marcus had looked around theb, but nothing here gave any indication that the Witch was attempting to create her own undead weapon. There was also the fact that the schematics were locked away in a cab that looked like it had not been touched in years. It was all just one big mystery with more questions than answers so far.

    Eventually, once they had torn the ce apart, they found a few more enlightening books and journals.

    One of which was a research log and diary of the Revenant Witch before she had be an undead monster.

    Her name had been Zia Niem, and she was the top mage within Houten before the tragedy that had turned everyone into undead monsters.

    "No wonder she had so much resentment." Mrazivymented as they all crowded around and read the woman''s notes.

    While she had gone along with the creation of the undead weapon at first, when she realized exactly how horrid the process was, she attempted to put a stop to it. Unfortunately, the king at the time and the forgemaster that had appeared suddenly one day with the documents to forge the abominable item forced her to continue working with them.

    In the end, thest entry she wrote looked almost like insane scribblings, but the message was very clear. She and the forgemaster seeded in making the undead weapon.

    With this information it was quite clear to Marcus and hispanions why the Revenant Witch was down here. The animosity that had grown inside of her had continued to fuel her even after bing an undead monster. All this time she had been fighting against the king that had destroyed her life.

    "There was also this. Seems like she has been recording the forces that now undead king has at his disposal. And it is a lot more detailed than what Houten''s military had." Lilia said, handing over another journal to Marcus.

    The very first entry was about the king himself, and while the information they had found down here was truly horrible, Marcus could not help but smile.

    "Ghost King Arriba Houten."

    Up until now Marcus only had the intelligence he had obtained from Daniel to go on. There had been no guarantee that a ghost king resided in this city of the undead, only that it was the most likely ce the lich ruling over the Chelmer Resort knew of.

    However, Marcus now had undeniable proof that the monster he was searching for was here. All he needed to do was put the long since dead king to rest and obtain his magic core. Then he could finally evolve.

 Chapter 1086: Chapter 1086 Infiltrating the Castle

    Nearly a week after Marcus and his party had defeated the Revenant Witch ruling Houten''s former capital''s sewers, they finally found an entrance directly into the castle.

    It had been hidden well as appeared to be a secret passage meant for evacuation in the case of an unwinnable siege, or internal coup.

    The undead had caused them little trouble once they had defeated the one creating the seemingly unending monsters. Thanks to this it was rtively easy for Marcus and hispanions to explore thebyrinth beneath the city.

    Of course, they made sure not to report their sess to their liaison Major Leopold and convinced Novak and his party to do the same. For their n to seed they needed unrestricted ess to the sewers. So as far as anyone else knew, the ce was still crawling with powerful monsters, and they had made barely any progress mapping the ce.

    Thankfully the situation above ground assault was just as stagnant as Houten''s military believed that the operation to clear the underground was.

    Even with all the forces they had gathered, themanders of the army were failing at just about every turn. Not that theirck of sess mattered much to Marcus. To him they were just a distraction to thin out the monsters and give the hordes of undead a more enticing target than his group.

    "It seems that they are going to attempt arge-scale attack tomorrow to push past the points they have been stuck at. I''d say that this is the chance we have been waiting for." Mrazivy said, having just got back from collecting information about the army''s movements.

    While they had found the secret entrance into the castle, they had refrained from entering right away and instead were waiting for the opportune moment.

    "Sound good to me. When the others get back, we can tell them that begin tomorrow."

    As darkness cloaked the sky and the light of the sun faded, the remaining members of Marcus'' party reconvinced at their tents after going out on their own to gather intel.

    There everyone shared what they had found and easily came to a consensus to sneak into the castle. Their main objective was Ghost King Arriba Houten, but a secondary prize was any treasure left in the castle. The disaster that had plunged the entire city into undeath happened suddenly. It was almost certain that no one had time to loot the castle''s vaults.

    This would be underhanded and against the contracts they signed, but it was what they had intended from the beginning. At the end of the day their efforts would go a long way to reiming the city, so it was honestly not a bad deal. Though, Houten''s authorities would have no idea what actually went on behind the scenes.

    "And what about our shadows? Are they still watching us?" Marcus asked Roxene.

    "Yeah, they''ve kept watch over us since day one. Still, they don''t show any signs of making a move."

    Thanks to the Supreme Skill she had obtained from the special dungeon, Absolute Awareness, Roxene could feel if anyone was watching her or had hostile intentions towards her. It did not matter what means they employed, whether it be through magic, skills, or items, she could feel their presences and knew what direction they were in and how far away they were.

    Of course, as a Supreme Skill it had more functions than just this.

    "Hm, I suppose that we will need to get rid of them tomorrow before we begin. Let''s deal with them once we''ve lured them deep into the sewers."

    So far, they had ignored the group that had been following them since it would only have caused more problems to eliminate. However, now that they were going to make their move and attack the castle, there was no need to worry about causing a scene anymore. These spies were not part of Houten''s forces after all. Stay with m_vl_em_p_yr

    Once the eleven of them had solidified their ns, they all went their separate ways for the night to get some rest. Theing day would begin the end of their mission here in Houten.

    ˇ­

    Bright an early, at dawn, Marcus and his party entered the same sewer entrance they had bene using for nearly three weeks now.

    Not long after they did, their tails did as well.

    Roxene kept track of them, and once they had traveled several dozens of kilometers from their entry point, Inten, Blitz, Aurelia, and Zareen turned back into their full beast forms and attacked the rouges from every direction.

    The only way to describe what happened next was a ughter. The people that had been following them were high level, but their skills were geared towards stealth and observation. Against four battle hardened mythic grade beasts, they never stood a chance.

    "Was that all of them?"

    "Yeah, I don''t sense- Wait! Someone else is now watching us. They weren''t there until just a moment ago."

    Roxene told Marcus that only a few seconds after all of the individuals surveilling them had been killed, she sensed a new presence peering at them.

    Except this one was very far away. Several hundreds of kilometers from what Roxene could tell.

    "Ah, there it is. Looks like someone is using high tier magic to keep track of us."

    Following where Roxene was pointing Marcus could just barely make out a shimmer in the area when he enhanced his eyes with mana and spiritual energy.

    "Magic Disruption."

    Using one of his unique skills, ric destroyed the scrying spell that was being used to observe them.

    "Well, they certainly know that we''re on to them now." Liliamented.

    "Yeah, no doubt about that. Let''s move quickly before they can respond." Marcus said, taking the lead and running down the path leading to the secret entrance into the castle.

    Within only around forty minutes their party reached the false wall in the sewers that served as an emergency escape route.

    Using his glyph tuning skill, Marcus disabled the protective enchantments and the wall opened to reveal a staircase covered in thick dust. Clearly no one had used this ce in a very long time.

    With everything appearing to be clear, all of them walked up the staircase until it opened into a small room. There were old and long rotted away supplies that those fleeing the castle would have taken in case of an emergency.

    "This is it. Once I open this wall, we will be in the castle proper." Marcus said, urging everyone to brace themselves.

    There was no telling if there would be an immediate response to their trespassing. Skelton and spectral warriors coulde rushing towards them the moment that they entered.

    Yet, despite expecting the worst, when Marcus activated the mechanism to open the wall, all that awaited them was an empty room.

    "I think that this must have been aundry room." Mrazivy said.

    There were degraded baskets full of mostly rotted clothing, andrge shallow tubs through the room.

    Just like the hidden room that they had juste from, thisundry area was equally undisturbed. No one had been in this ce for centuries. They had undoubtably entered into a castle devoid of the living.

 Chapter 1087: Chapter 1087 Defenders of Houten Castle

    Marcus and hispanions stepped out of the empty and dustyundry room where the hidden entrance into the castle was located and found themselves in arge corridor.

    Immediately signs of ancient violence became evident. There were chips in the stone where weapons had stuck and rusty brown streaks of blood covering the walls.

    Of course, there were no bodies to be seen anywhere. No doubt that anyone killed in this ce continued to move even after their deaths. This was a cursed ce that would not offer even the dead any rest.

    Thankfully, there did not appear to be any undead sentries in this part of the castle and their group was able to continue forward without any issue.

    "I honestly thought we would be attacked immediately. Yet there doesn''t seem to be anything here." Miguel said, looking around warily.

    "True, you would think that there would be monsters at the center of undead capital. I''d honestly rather that they juste out and get it over with rather than keep building up suspense." Marcus replied.

    Naturally none of them believed that the entire castle would be empty.

    When they originally entered the sewers, they received no response at first as well though. Still Roxene confirmed that nothing was watching them as of right now, so any undead in the castle were unaware of infiltration.

    "Perhaps we underestimated Houten''s forces. More monsters that normally dwell within the castle might be out fighting than we expected." Mrazivy suggested.

    Her conjecture soon appeared to be true.

    Once they reached an area close to the main gates, many tracks in the long-umted dust could be seen. It seemed that a huge army had moved out from here not too long ago.

    Had they snuck into the castle without joining the operation to reim the castle, the halls would have been crawling with thousands of undead.

    Fortunately, the reanimated corpses that normally wandered the castle were nowhere to be seen and they waltzed into the inner section where the throne room would be located. This was where they expected Ghost King Arriba Houten to be.

    "Looks like we''ve finally found some guards." Lilia said, peering around a corner at two armored figures.

    Both of them werepletely d in mithril armor so it was impossible to see what they looked like beneath, but the blight of undeath stuck to them strongly, so there was no doubt of what they were.

    "I''ll deal with them quickly and quietly. If we''re lucky we won''t attract any attention." Marcus said, before vanishing.

    Using his intangibility, he phased through the walls until appearing right next to the two knights.

    ''Cleansing Luminescence.''

    Marcus cast a tier five light magic spell the moment he was in range.

    A soft warm light enveloped the two undead sentries and purified them. The lingering malice that kept their corpses moving was instantly expunged and they slumped over unmoving.

    Then before they could fall over and cause amotion, Marcus ced their bodies, armor and all into his item box.

    Upon his return to his party, Mrazivy smiled at him, and said, "It certainly is abnormal for a ghost to be using light magic to purge a pair of zombies."

    "Tell me about it. What was the administrator thinking?" Marcus responded, figuring it would give his wife less ammunition to tease him if he went along with her joke.

    Everyone else chuckled lightly at this exchange. Usually this would not be the ce for fooling around, but a bit of levity helped to keep them all calm. Being overly tense would only slow their reactions to danger.

    With the way now clear, Lilia pushed open the doors using force magic to prevent them from making any noise.

    Inside they found arge room that appeared to be a hall for entertaining guests.

    All of the ornate furniture that had once stood proudly in this room was rotting and broken apart. Most of it having been shoved unceremoniously against the walls.

    There were no other sentries in this area, but the closer they got to the throne room, the more resistance they encountered.

    "Hm, I don''t think my magic will easily work on them. They''re too high level and the necrotic energy cleaning to them is far more powerful than any of the other monsters we''ve encountered so far."

    After finally making it to the corridor just outside what they believed to be the throne room, a team of eight knights guarding the door.

    Each one was decked out in magical armor and gear made of adamantine. Something that undead monsters normally would not have on them.

    "They''re all Death Knights. Ranging from level seventy-four to eighty-three."

    Mrazivy using her Dragon Eyes analyzed the monster''s levels and capabilities. Read now on m_vl_em_p_yr

    From what she could tell each one of them were pretty powerful. Nothing they could not handle, but it would not be possible to beat them quietly as they had the other protectors throughout the castle.

    "Let''s just st them with everything we have and be done with it. They are only a minor obstacle on the way to our objective." Roxene said, looking unconcerned.

    At this point Marcus would normally turn down her destructive suggestion, but he seriously considered it. The castle would take immense damage, but that really was not their problem. Even if Houten''s army reached this point a fight against such high-level entities would undoubtedly bring destruction to everything within the vicinity. One massive attack might honestly cause less damage.

    "Okay. We will go with that n. Everyone, begin preparing a suitable attack. Then on my signal we''llunch everything at once."

    Since their enemies seemed to either not have noticed them or werepletely ignoring their presence, Marcus and hispanions had ample time to prepare a series of unbelievably strong attacks.

    ''Last Light.''

    All at once they leapt out from their hiding ces and fired magic and ranged attack skills at the Death Knights blocking their paths.

    Not holding anything back, Marcus cast his tier eight light magic spell.

    A cataclysmic explosion of all manner of magic erupted from the castle, and the sturdy structure that had stood for centuries even after bing the home to only the dead copsed almost entirely.

 Chapter 1088: Chapter 1088 King Arriba Houten

    In the aftermath of their joint attack, Marcus and hispassion found that the castle around them had been reduced to rubble.

    Even the floor that had been under their feet was now gone, and each of them was hovering in the air using either magic or by creating a tform with the mana barrier skill.

    Yet, even in the wake of their explosive power, the area directly in front of them was still standing and looked to be barely damaged. The throne room had all manner of magical protections that kept it intact.

    "It seems that one of them has survived." Roxene said, her eyes drawn to the sole figure in front of the orange doors leading into the throne room.

    The level eighty-three Death Knight that was the strongest of the guards protecting the room where Ghost King Arriba Houten was presumed to be located stood tall with its shield held up defensively.

    Of the eight original Death Knights he was the only one remaining. The others had been utterly annihted.

    A dark aura burst from the monster, and it charged towards the intruders that had attacked it.

    In less than a second it closed the gap between them, and shed towards Marcus who was the closest to it.

    Normally a strike from a higher than level eighty monster would be the end of most people, but Marcus did not even need to move. His friends had already moved to intercept the de.

    Miguel easily repelled the strike with his shield, and Roxene, Mrazivy, and Lilia tore the monster apart.

    The battle was over before it really began, and the now unmoving remains of the strongest Death Knight fell to the ground below.

    "I was expecting a little bit more from something that high of a level." Roxene said disappointedly.

    "Well, it was in pretty bad condition already after taking our opening attacks. I''m honestly surprised that it was still able to fight back at all." Mrazivy said, before abruptly turning towards the throne room doors.

    All of a sudden, a heavy malevolence seeped epassed the entire area. Destroying part of the castle and crushing the group of Death Knights had awoken the anger of something very powerful that was only a single room away.

    "If you were looking for a more challenging fight Roxene, you may be getting one soon."

    Marcus understood better than the rest of them just how dangerous the entity on the other side of the doors in front of them was. The strongest type of ghost awaited them and all of the malice and madness it had umted over centuries was being directed at them.

    Thankfully it did not seem that the king was going toe to them. In royal fashion even intruders would have to present themselves before his majesty.

    Taking the lead, Marcus walked up to the doors and pushed them open. Some sort of death curse had been ced on them, but it had no effect on him. While he was not like most undead, technically he was still a ghost even if he was also a great spirit at the same time. Magic meant to sap the life out of whoever came into contact with it had nothing to take from him.

    ''Whew. That is unbelievably dense.''

    Just opening the doors caused an intense wave of necrotic energy to spill out. Any average person would have turned into a corpse on the spot and then rose as an undead monster.

    Truthfully other than the Font of Death, this was the strongest necrotic power that Marcus had ever felt. It exceeded even what Daniel and the other undead Transmigrations and Reincarnation residing under the Chelmer Resort emitted.

    The source of this malignant aura was a translucent man sitting upon an opulent throne that had stood the test of time.

    His features were certainly regal. A well-groomed brown beard covered his face, and his dark blonde hair looked to be cut neatly.

    Arge crown sat atop his head, and a thick purple cloak rested over his shoulders. In his hands was an ominous scepter that''s shaft was made out of bone and arge bulbous mound of what was undoubtedly flesh made up its tip.

    Clearly this was what he must have looked like in life, but before them was clearly no living person, but a specter of what King Arriba once was.

    ''They really did make that thing. It is far worse than I ever imagined it would be.''

    Marcus'' eyes were drawn not to the ghost king himself, but to the weapon he held. Its appearance was ghastly, but the spectral wails it emitted that seemed to pierce directly into the mind were far worse. It was as if it was trying to force the horrid torture experienced by the creatures that had been used in its creation on everyone else.

    Even Marcus believed that he would be driven mad if he wielded the undead scepter for an extended period of time.

    "You stand before the King of Houten. Kneel and await oblivion for your crimes."

    Along with the first words that the Ghost King spoke, a powerful force assaulted Marcus and his party members.

    Arriba was attempting to exert his will over them and force them to their knees.

    At once Marcus recognized this power. It was simr to his phantom pressure specter power. Perhaps it was even the exact same ability.

    Still, as intense as the force was, it was not nearly enough to make Marcus or any of hispanions kneel as hemanded.

    "We have no reason to prostrate ourselves before an abomination like you. You''re a failure of a king that brought ruin to his people. All that you rule now is a dead city of monstrosities. I''d recognize a slug as a monarch before you." Mrazivy spat. Her own royal presence overwhelming the faint vestiges of what remained within the former King of Houten.

    Confusion reced themanding expression that Arriba had been wearing a moment ago. Not only were the insurgents that had trespassed into his castle and throne room unaffected by his powers, but one of them had delivered to him an insult of the highest order.

    "Insolence!" The Ghost King shouted as he stood from his those and mmed his scepter into the floor with enough force to cause a web of cracks to form.

    "I was going to spare all of you with a quick and merciful death, but your crimes are too grave for such leniency. Prepare to suffer for eternity for your disrespect."

    "I think that we will have to pass on that. You''re the one that will be meeting his end today. I hope that you do better in your next life."

    Wearing a confident grin, Marcus aimed his magic focusing lenses that he had rarely had the chance to use recently and unleashed the spells he had been preparing while Arriba was busy posturing.

    ''Quazar st, plus Rending Void.''

    As he had done many times in the past, Marcusbined his tier six light and dark magic spells and channeled their powers through his focusing lenses.

    An enormous spiraling st of darkness and light filled with spiritual energy shot forward and annihted everything in its path.

 Chapter 1089: Chapter 1089 Battle Against the Ghost King and His Court Begins

    ''I should have known that it wouldn''t be that easy.''

    Despite Marcus'' attack having an immense amount of power behind it, the st created frombing two tier six spells never reached Arriba.

    Fifteen spectral entities had suddenly appeared the moment that their king was in danger.

    One that appeared as a heavily armored knight intercepted Marcus'' attack with his shield and another three that had likely been mages in life conjured several barriers as well.

    Theirbined efforts had been enough to stop the preemptive attack against their liege.

    Reflexively Mrazivy activated her Dragon Eyes to read all of the new ghosts'' statuses and ryed the information with telepathy to everyone else.

    To their surprise, not a single one of these apparitions was below level eighty. And their leader, Ghost King Arriba, was the highest at level eighty-seven.

    Marcus'' party was outmatched in both numbers and levels, but that did not mean that they were destined to lose this confrontation.

    "I''ll take the two on the far right."

    "I''ve got the one on the left of the king."

    "Leave the those two to me."

    "I can handle that one."

    "The one in the center seems especially tough, I''ll deal with it."

    Swiftly everyone took their pick of opponents until only the Arriba and Marcus were left. All of them had decided long ago that he would be the one to take on the Ghost King.

    Of course, the vassals of a king would not simply abandon their ruler to go off and fight, but they did not have much of a choice.

    Mrazivy, Roxene, Lilia, ric, Miguel, Blitz, Inten, Eirwen, Aurelia, and Zareen were not enemies that could simply be ignored.

    Each of them viciously attacked their designated adversaries and drove them away.

    Within just a few seconds Marcus and Arriba were the only ones left in the throne room and gigantic shockwaves and explosions from intense battles surrounded them.

    "Grahhhhh!"

    Seeming to lose whatever semnce of intelligence he had left, the Ghost King let out a horrid wail.

    The unbelievably loud noise was meant to rip the soul away from anyone who heard it, but to Marcus it was just an unpleasant sound, like nails on a chalkboard.

    "You certainly have a great deal of nasty powers, but they aren''t really that effective against other ghosts." Marcus said tauntingly.

    He then activated his Supreme skill before turning intangible and flying towards Arriba at high speed.

    His opponent may have been a higher level, but thanks to the information he had received from Mrazivy, Marcus knew that his spirit stat was higher when he was using Embodiment of Eclipse. If he could enter into a battle purely based on the powers of their souls, he would likely be the winner.

    To facilitate this, he rushed right up to the Ghost King and activated his possession ability.

    Immediately their souls became entangled and the battle for dominance began.

    At first Marcus held the undisputed advantage, but as their spiritual brawl progressed, he was slowly being pushed back.

    ''Damn, I didn''t expect it to be this potent.''

    Marcus had been having little trouble with Arriba himself. It was truthfully the undead scepter that he was wielding that was the problem.

    Once it had realized that its host was in danger, it began attacking Marcus'' soul along with the Ghost King.

    The built-up negative energy within the scepter was causing quite a bit of damage to Marcus and he was assaulted by an immense amount of pain whenever it attacked his soul. It felt like the malignant weapon was attempting to corrupt his entire existence.

    ''Ultimate Refresh.''

    Realizing that he was at a disadvantage, Marcus fully restored himself with one of his Supreme Skills and broke away from the fight he had started.

    He had been hoping for a quick victory. Unfortunately, it was not going to be so easy. He was up against a truly cmitous monster and weapon that had once brought ruin to an entire city.

    "Looks like I will need to deal with that thing first." Marcus said, ring at the undead weapon.

    From their initial encounter, he knew that the scepter was more dangerous than Arriba. Even being a high-level monster that was incredibly strong, he was only a puppet for the weapon in his possession. It had long ago turned him into an undead creature and had been controlling him ever since.

    In his right-hand Marcus summoned his scythe, while in his left he grabbed his amethros forging hammer from out of his item box.

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    As he did, the head of the undead scepter began to pulsate, and dark red blood burst from the fleshy mound.

    The blood surrounded Arriba and hundreds of bright red skeletons rose up out of it. In less than a second, he had a legion of undead monsters at hismand.

    With the wave of his hand, the Ghost Kingmanded his army to advance and crush the renegade attempting to usurper him.

    "You''re not the only one that can create minions."

    Tobat his enemy''s new forces, Marcus cast the tier eight darkness magic spell, Gloom Titan.

    Powerful mana leaked from his body and formed arge pool of darkness that quickly took the form of a fearsome monster with four arms.

    "Keep those skeletons off of me." Marcus ordered his conjured monster.

    A whip in each hand, the Gloom Titan sent a barrage ofshes towards the blood skeletons and ripped them apart.

    This was unable to fully destroy them as each one that was brought down began to reform quickly.

    Still, a path to his target had been opened up and Marcus charged forwards without worrying about any of the small fry.

    ''Powerful sh.''

    When he reached Arriba, he swung hard with his scythe and enhanced its power with the first attacks kill he had ever obtained.

    His opponent met his strike and the resounding sound of weapons shing echoed throughout the area.

    Marcus attempted to push back against the Ghost King, but he remained firm and the scepter he was wielding began to glow ominously.

    However, as they were locked in ce, Marcus gripped the hammer in his left hand firmly and swung it directly at the undead weapon.

    A shrill cry that sounded like a cacophony of thousands of voices crying out in anguish followed the blow.

    Marcus smiled as small cracks began to form where he had struck the scepter. Thanks to his level ten forge skill, he had a keen eye for any weak points in weapons, armor, and the like.

    Along with a new skill called weapon breaker that he had spent his skill points to buy and raise to level seven specifically for this battle, he was well prepared to destroy the abomination in front of him.

    "You fiend! How dare you damage the royal scepter!" Arriba screeched while retreating away from Marcus.

    An even greater rage was now burning in his eyes, and he was looking at Marcus like he had murdered his family rather than slightly damaged his weapon.

    "I understand that you can''t see that thing for what it really is. But don''t worry, I''ll free you from its grasp soon enough."

 Chapter 1090: Chapter 1090 Marcus Vs Arriba

    After Marcus'' first strike against the undead scepter, the Ghost King attempted to keep his distance from him.

    Hundreds of baleful specters flew out of the top of the malignant weapon and flew towards Marcus.

    Each one was between level forty and level fifty and possessed dangerous abilities that could easily kill most people with a single touch.

    Nevertheless, to Marcus they were simply a minor inconvenience. With his phantom pressure he crushed their souls a dozen at a time and realized them from the eternal torment that they had been experiencing trapped within the undead scepter.

    "Eclipse Reaper."

    Channeling all of the power of his Supreme Skill into his scythe, Marcus unleashed one of his strongest attacks and ripped through the defensive powers that the Ghost King was attempting to protect himself and his weapon with.

    He then swung his forging hammer again and mmed it into another weak point in the undead weapon.

    More minor cracks spread out from the point of impact and a dreadful screech resounded through the area.

    In response Ariba cast a powerful spell he had been preparing to eliminate Marcus in one go.

    "Pr Abyss."

    An unbelievable wave of cold energy erupted and froze everything in its path as the Ghost King released his tier nine ice magic spell. Even his own conjured minions were not free from the effects.

    Still, despite the immense power behind the spell, it failed to stop or even hinder the individual that it was meant for.

    "me Emperor."

    Wreathed in dark purple mes, the ice that had frozen everything else retreated away from Marcus.

    The frost continued to squirm and move to consume him, but the immense heat he was generating kept it at bay.

    "That one managed to give me a little scare. Thankfully, I''m pretty used to deal with ice magic already." Marcus said with a smirk.

    Arriba responded to his taunt with another horrid wail meant to destroy the souls of those that heard it. Never since he became a ghost king had he been so insulted.

    In rapid session he conjured several more spells ranging from tier four to tier six. Theycked the power of his Pr Abyss but were able to beunched quickly. Continue your journey on m-v-l-e-m-p-y-r

    Still, Marcus repelled each attack with rtive ease. The spells were powerful butcked coordination. Each one was only being used to attack with sheer force. There was no finesse in the assault.

    "Your strong, but you clearly have no real experience with fighting."

    Once he had gotten close again after weaving through and deflecting all of his opponent''s attacks, Marcus tore apart Arriba''s defense again, and struck the scepter with his hammer a third time.

    Histest attack against the undead weapon caused a new reactionpared tot eh first two times. Instead of a cacophony of screams from tortured souls sealed inside of it, the bulbous flesh top burst apart.

    Unfortunately, this was not because Marcus had finally destroyed the sphemous creation.

    In order to better protect itself, the scepter released thousands of thin sinewy strands of decaying muscles that attacked the one trying to destroy it.

    Seeing this happen, Marcus could not help but stare at this unsettling disy with a look of disgust on his face.

    Unable to stay close without being torn to shreds, this time he was the one to back away.

    Naturally the undead weapon pursued him relentlessly as he ran and soon had him trapped within a thick web of its muscle strands.

    Yet instead of panicking, Marcus just smiled as he was less than a second away from being impaled by thousands of needlelike threads of muscle.

    Just before he was hit, he leaned back and fell through what looked like a ck tear in space.

    When he reappeared through another Dark Portal, he was standing right next to the Ghost King and poised to attack.

    "Crescent Moon Strikes."

    A fast series of attacks pierces through Arriba''s restored barriers and caused a decent amount of damage to him.

    This was not Marcus'' goal though. The instant he had momentarily incapacitated his enemy, he turned his attention back towards the scepter and mmed his me covered hammer into it with greater force than any of his other attacks.

    Farrger cracks formed along the boney shaft of the abominable weapon and less of a scream and more of a whimper escaped from it.

    Of course, the scepter and Arriba did not just wait and allow Marcus to get in another attack. Both of them aimed all of their wrath and their full might towards him immediately after his strike.

    Before either of them could reach him though, he had already turned into a ball of light and moved shot away in a bright sh.

    "Just three or four more hits ought to do it." Marcus muttered to himself when he reappeared after using his Light Speed Movement to escape his adversaries'' retaliation.

    A fierce volley of attacks sped towards him the second Arriba and the undead weapon keyed in on his new location.

    Unlike before, now they did notmit their all to offense and were wary of Marcus'' Dark Portal and Light Speed Movement unique skills.

    "Why won''t you obey me?!"

    His hand raised; the Ghost King had been trying to control Marcus since their first sh.

    Normally he should have been able tomand most undead weaker than him, and his ability was especially potent against other ghosts.

    Thankfully, Marcus being a great spirit as well as having the Sound Mind unique skill protected him from having his will suppressed by Arriba. Had he still only been an unbound ghost like when he first arrived on Mirrion, his fate already would have been sealed. Instead, all he felt was an annoying buzzing sound in his head.

    "Death Dance."

    After maneuvering around the battlefield and avoiding several attacks, Marcus was confident that he could reach his target again and activated one of his attack skills to cut his way towards Arriba.

    The fearful Ghost King slipped into the ground below to attempt to escape, but he found this trick to be useless against someone that could just as easily slip into the earth.

    Easily catching up to his fleeing enemy, Marcus used his spectral arm to grab Arriba and hold him in ce momentarily.

    Still, intangible the undead weapon sent several deadly attacks at Marcus desperately, but he evaded or blocked all of them.

    With another mighty blow he smashed the scepter with his hammer.

    The force of the blow caused small fragments to break off the abhorrent creation, and weapon and wielder went flying upwards back towards the surface.

    Marcus followed close behind, ready to unleash a barrage of attacks against the undead weapon until it finally was annihted.

    Except, just before he could deliver the finishing blows his danger sense started ring in the back of his mind.

    Heeding the warning he was receiving; he stopped his momentum and flew backwards as quickly as he could.

    A secondter he watched a giant amethros mace head attached to a chain fly past him.

    The powerful strike crashed into a nearly copsed wall and shattered it into dust. Showing just how much force was behind the blow. Had Marcus taken the attack, he would have been dealt quite a bit of damage.

 Chapter 1091: Chapter 1091 Creators of Taboo

    Marcus turned towards the source of the attack that had stooped his momentum in the battle against The Ghost King.

    He had one-sidedly been pushing Arriba into a corner by targeting the scepter that was a powerful undead weapon and the true source of his power. Though before he could deliver the finishing blow against the abomination of a weapon, someone else had interfered.

    Looking at the interloper, he appeared to look like a normal human around seventy years old. His hair was graying, and he had the presence of a veteran warrior.

    Still, Marcus could see through this fa?ade. There was something far more sinister about this man than the outward appearance that he was disying.

    "That''s a pretty good disguise, but don''t think I can''t feel the disgusting presence you emit, demon." Marcus spat.

    For a moment the man wore a face of confusion, but he dropped the act almost immediately when he noticed the certainty in Marcus'' eyes. It was obvious to him that his ruse was not going to work.

    "Guess, there''s no use trying to fool you huh."

    The corpse that was being piloted by the demon opened its mouth and a hideous pale wormlike head pushed out of its mouth.

    Seeing this vile disy, Marcus took a step back and winced. He had seen quite a number of appalling things since arriving on Mirrion, but this was among the worst.

    In that instant when his guard had dropped, the Ghost King regained his bearings and unleashed a powerful attack of pure mana and spiritual energy he had been preparing.

    Sensing the iing danger, Marcus understood that the demon had only revealed itself to him as a distraction.

    Holding out his right hand, Marcus intercepted the attack with his shield that suddenly formed from one of the bands attached to his arm.

    At the same time, he had to move his scythe to intercept the iing attack from the demon''s chain mace.

    Both blows were heavy, and it proved impossible for Marcus to fully block them both.

    Eventually he was able to push back the strike from the demon that was puppeteering the body of a long dead person, but Arriba''s st broke past his guard and exploded around him.

    Just before taking the attack Marcus managed to slip into the ground below him, but it only damped the st the slightest bit before it caught up to him.

    Once the light of the mana and spiritual energy st faded, Marcus found himself floating in the bottom of arge crater. From his right side he could feel a dull pain, and he did not even need to look to know that his arm was missing. He had used it to absorb most of the power behind the Ghost King''s attack and had lost it in the process.

    Thankfully this was honestly not all that much damage to him. Even if he did nothing to speed up the process, his arm would be back in perfect shape in just a minute or so thanks to his high-speed regeneration skill.

    Of course, he did not think that his enemies were going to give him even that much time and quickly used his spirit healing specter power and healing magic to elerate his recovery.

    However, even as he waited for more attacks to follow, neither the demon nor Ghost King.

    Within a couple of seconds his abilities had alreadypleted their work and he was back up to full strength.

    ''What are they ying at?''

    Marcus could not understand his opponents'' passivity. They had had him on the backfoot but were not pressing their advantage. In their position he would have kept attacking without giving his adversary the chance to recover.

    For a moment he considered that they might have believed him to already be destroyed. Though that seemed to be fairly unlikely. The demon aside there was no way that Arriba would not be able to sense his presence since they were both powerful ghosts.

    Expanding his perception, Marcus was able to tell where and what the two of his foes were currently doing.

    He had been hoping that perhaps they were fighting each other which was why neither had pursued him. Unfortunately, this turned out to be far from what was actually urring.

    The demon was conversing with Arriba amicably and appeared to be inspecting the scepter the Ghost King wielded.

    At the very least Marcus was able to confirm that they were not setting up an ambush for him. Still, their apparentradery brought several questions to his mind.

    ''Guess I''ll need to go up and confirm what is going on for myself.'' Marcus thought, righting himself and floating out of the deep crater he was at the bottom of.

    When he reached the surface, he turned his gaze intently towards the demon controlling the corpse of a deceased man.

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    It was carefully assessing the undead weapon and had several tools in its hands that it was using to apply emergency repairs.

    Immediately this disy gave away the identity of the demon.

    "So, you''re the one that created that atrocity." Marcus said, his tone conveying his animosity.

    Turning towards Marcus, the demon wore an amused grin on the face of the dead man he was wearing like a suit.

    "You wound me. How could you call my masterpiece an atrocity?" The demon said in an exaggerated manner. "As a fellow forgemaster, surely you must be able to assess the immacte quality of my work."

    "You could have created the most powerful weapon in the world, and I would still consider it garbage because of the methods that you employed. I read the ns used to make that thing. How many people, beasts, and monsters did you have to tortured and killed to create that monstrosity?"

    "Oh, but don''t we both use whatever means are necessary to get what we want? I can tell at a nce that the scythe you wield is a soul bound weapon. While I don''t care one bit about the societal constraints the people of this world limit themselves with, that doesn''t change the fact that both of us forged weapons that are considered taboo by most.The two of us are not so different.

    In the eyes of the masses, we''re both monsters."

 Chapter 1092: Chapter 1092 On the Ropes

    While Marcus wanted topletely deny the demon''s words, he found that he could not.

    There was no denying that he had broken one of the taboos of forging, and unlike the first time when he did it identally, for his current scythe he had done so knowingly.

    Whether he was truly a monster was a matter up to debate, since he was also a great spirit, but he was not going to argue that point with a demon. Especially with it being clear that the fiendish creature was simply trying to unnerve him.

    ''At the very least he is not with them.''

    Marcus had been fearing the worst, but it seemed that the demon forgemaster that had been the principal creator of the Ghost King''s undead weapon was not working with another group he was wary of.

    Nevertheless, that did not change the fact that he posed a major threat.

    Alone Arriba was not particrly threatening to Marcus thanks to hisck ofbat experience. Certainly, he was powerful, but his fighting style was simplistic and relied almost entirely on brute force.

    The demon that had interrupted their fight, however, was undoubtedly the crafty type. His interference had already caused Marcus to take a powerful attack from the Ghost King that he normally would have had little issue avoiding.

    ''The others still seem busy with their respective opponents. I''ll just have to take these two on by myself.'' Marcus thought with a grimace.

    He then prepared to continue fighting, but the body of the many the demon was controlling raised its hand and smiled at him amicably.

    "Come now, there is no need for hostilities. We''re both skilled forgemaster. I believe that we could learn a great deal from each other. Why don''t we let bygones be bygones and work together? I''m sure that it would be a mutually beneficial partnership for both of us."

    Marcus scoffed at this offer and was about to refuse it, when he was cut off by Arriba.

    "Zorot, what sort of nonsense are you spouting? That man is the leader of a band of insurgents intent on taking my life and bring my kingdom to ruin. You have been an invaluable servant, but if you are in league with them, I will have to deal with you in the same manner."

    The Ghost King then backed away from the demon named Zorot and directed some of his hostility towards his perceived ally.

    For just a second there was a sh of irritation on the face of the demon''s puppet, but it quickly shifted into a subservient grin.

    "Of course not my liege, I was just hoping to bring him to your side since he appears to be quite talented. But if you feel so strongly about it, I suppose that it will not be possible. Allow me to assist you in disposing of him then."

    Watching this farce, Marcus wanted to yell at Arriba that he was being yed like a fiddle, but he held his tongue. After spending centuries as an undead specter, the once proud king was a shell of his former self and devoid of sanity. He perceived things the way he wanted to, and it would be nearly impossible to change his point of view.

    Zorot seemed more than happy to y along with Arriba''s delusions. He swiftly reverted back to acting like the Ghost King''s subordinate and prepared to fight Marcus alongside him. It was evident that whatever interest he had in teaming up with Marcus was of a lower prioritypared to a scheme he had been working on for more than three hundred years.

    Though perhaps if Marcus had seemed more receptive to a partnership, he would have switched his allegiance.

    "I''ll just have to collect your soul after defeating you and devour your expertise. I''ll lose out on your skills and some of your knowledge, but it should still be quite the treat." Zorot said, wearing an ecstatic smile and licking his lips. In this moment he looked every bit the demon that he was.

    Marcus did not wait for the two of them to continue attacking him.

    While they had been conversing, he had been gathering mana and preparing to cast one of his strongest spells.

    "Last Light."

    Channeling the immense amount of power of his tier eight light magic spell through his scythe and focusing lens, he empowered the already monstrous spell to even greater heights.

    Aiming at Zorot, Marcus released the spell. He had determined that the demon was more dangerous than Arriba even though thetter was likely more powerful.

    Unfortunately, he had not been the only one preparing a deadly attack.

    From out of the mouth of the man he was possessing, Zorot''s true body appeared and released a monstrous beam of dark green energy.

    The spell and beam met each other, and an enormous explosion engulfed the area around them. Destroying everything in the vicinity.

    Hastily Marcus leapt backwards to avoid being caught up in the st, but he found Arriba flying towards him to cut him off.

    The sinewy strands of decaying muscle that sprouted out of the undead scepter rushed towards him and at the same time, sixty ck hands erupted from the Ghost Kings back and began closing in to cover any escape routes.

    Without much time to think, Marcus determined the safest ce nearby to retreat to and used his Light Speed Movement unique skill to escape Arriba''s attempt to ensnare him.

    Except, when he reappeared his danger sense began ring in his head.

    Sadly, it was already toote. The demon had predicted his movements and had already preemptivelyunched his giant mace directly towards where Marcus was most likely to flee.

    Just barely he twisted his body around and received the strike with his scythe. Still the heavy impact knocked him off his feet and sent him flying.

    In an attempt to create some room to recover, Marcusunched several spells at his foes. He used only tier four or lower spells since he could cast them quickly and did not consume too much mana which he was beginning to run out of after using several high tier spells and powerful attack skills. Discover worlds on m-v le-mpyr

    ''Damn it! How is their coordination so good?'' Marcus thought as his spells were easily repelled.

    During his battle against only Arriba, things had been going well for him, but now the Ghost King was fighting like a different person.

    He was focusing less on devastating attacks and devoting all of his strength to cutting off Marcus'' movements.

    This created several openings for Zorot to strike and their teamwork left Marcus almost no room to counterattack while the two of them were slowly beating him down.

    ''Ultimate Refresh.''

    Beginning to run out of energy, Marcus was forced to employ another use of his Supreme Skill. He wanted to save as many resources as he could just in case, but fighting two high level opponents was draining his strength quickly.

    Thankfully he was able to bring himself back up to peak power and catch Arriba and Zorot off guard for a moment.

    ''Eclipse Meteor.''

    Coalescing the energy of his Embodiment of eclipse around his form, Marcus turned himself into a destructive projectile.

    With immense speed he headed directly towards Zorot. Hoping to eliminate the demon or at least take him out of the fight.

    The explosion following the impact of his attack shook the earth and caused another wave of devastation for everything in the surroundings. At this point the castle and surrounding city that had stood for centuries was now reduced to less than rubble from the high-level battles urring in the vicinity.

    Yet, even one of Marcus'' best attacks proved insufficient to bring down his target.

    The moment before he made contact with Zorot, the demonic forgemaster had deployed several powerful magic items to protect himself.

    Most of them had been destroyed in the process, but he had protected himself from most of the power behind Marcus'' Eclipse Meteor.

    ''It took me over a century to create all of those charms. You really are something else. How about it, I will offer an alliance between us onest time. ept and I''ll assist you in taking down Arriba. Oh, but stop trying to destroy my masterpiece.

    I''m not done with it yet and having it broken would be a major inconvenience to me.'' Zorot said, contacting Marcus with telepathy so that the Ghost King would not overhear him.

    Marcus could not help but role his eyes at this offer. Even if Zorot did help him, making a deal with a demon never ended well. He had already seen plenty of examples of what happened to those that did. Even when they obtained what they wanted it came at a horrible price.

    Letting his actions serve as a response, Marcus pointed towards Zorot and fired aser spell at him.

    The attack failed to actually reach the demon, but it got the message across.

    "So be it. When I drag your soul into the Abyss, you will wish that you took me up on my offer." Zorot shouted in response.

    After this reply, there was no othermunication between the two of them. The fierce battle continued between the three of them, with Marcus slowly losing ground.

    He had been attempting to hold out long enough for one of hispanions to finish their fights and join him, but it seemed that Arriba''s ghostly followers were giving them some trouble.

    ''I didn''t want to have to reveal this if I could help it, but I''m going to lose at this rate.''

    Wearing a reluctant expression, Marcus stood in ce and epassed himself with several defensive barriers from skills, spells, and magic items.

    This protection would notst him long, but he needed only a moment to use one of his race abilities for the first time to turn things around.

    With his hand reached out, a rift in space formed in front of him, but it was far different from his Dark Portal unique skill.

    Cracks formed in the air and what looked like an iridescent doorway began expanding.

    "Alyna, I need you. This is an order,e to my side and lend me your power."

 Chapter 1093: Chapter 1093 End of the Ghost Kingâ€™s Reign

    From out of the glowing rift in front of him, a young woman wearing golden robes with ck ents appeared.

    Her eyes like Marcus'' were a light purple, and her waist length hair was mostly a light tinum until bing ck at the tips.

    "You called boss." Alyna said, a beaming smile on her face.

    Unlike thest time they had met when she had just been freed from the curse of undeath that had turned her into a dread wraith, the gloomy and mncholic air around her hadpletely vanished. Her life now was like a blissful dreampared to before.

    "Yeah, I know I warned you beforehand, but thanks foring. I was in a bit of a bind fighting against those two."

    Marcus, with his hand outstretched, pointed towards Arriba, and Zorot.

    The two of them had ceased attacking him for the moment thanks to his summoning Alyna.

    Arriba had backed away warily, while Zorot wore an expression of shock and disbelief.

    "Impossible. That is a power only a great spirit should have." The demon muttered to himself.

    He had spoken quietly and almost certainly did not expect hisment to be heard, but Marcus responded anyway.

    "That is correct. I''m a great spirit. You two are a bit too much trouble for me to deal with on my own, so, I''ve called in my adjutant to take some of the pressure off of me."

    His confirmation of his race seemed to further shock Zorot and put a surprising amount of fear into the demon. Normally great spirits were considered to be among the strongest entities on the and when one showed itself to anyone as an enemy, they were sure to be destroyed.

    Of course, Marcus was a far cry from the power that a fully realized great spirit possessed. He had learned that normally to qualify to be one it was necessary to be at least level ny-seven. He was still more than twenty levels below this.

    "The addition of one more insurgent will not make a difference. You will all fall to my power and authority." Arriba screeched once the surprise of Alyna''s appearance had worn off.

    With the wave of his scepter, he sent a barrage of spells and sts of necrotic energy towards Marcus and Alyna.

    The two of them swiftly jumped into a dark portal that Marcus had created to avoid the barrage and reappeared around a kilometer away from their previous position.

    "Alyna, I would like you to keep the demon that is puppeteering that body busy. He is fairly strong, but I''m pretty sure you can handle him."

    "It''s fine if I do more than just upy his attention, right? You don''t care if I go ahead and defeat him." Alyna said, his lips curved up into a confident grin.

    "Sure, go ahead. So long as you aren''t putting yourself in too much danger."

    Having Marcus'' permission to beat her opponent, Alyna felt ecstatic. She wanted to show off just how much stronger she had be thanks to her training in the Special Dungeon that Marcus had guided her and her friends to.

    From out of her item box, she pulled out two top tier adamantine scimitars.

    They were twin des, with one having the pattern of a sun and the other having the pattern of a moon on it.

    This was the first time Marcus had ever seen these weapons and he was honestly impressed by them. Both were clearly powerful weapons and had been made by a true master.

    "Razing Twilight."

    Unleashing a whirling attack, Alyan vanished from her ce next to Marcus and rushed directly towards Zorot. She was thrilled for her first battle as Marcus'' subordinate. Finally, she would be able to repay some of the enormous debt she owed to him.

    Her fierce assault knocked Zorot out of his daze, and the demon was forced to focus all of his attention on blocking her rapid series of attacks.

    "Sorry but I''m your opponent." Marcus said appearing right next to Arriba.

    The Ghost King had been preparing to attack Alyna, but Marcus naturally was not going to let him do as he pleased.

    Using another Dark Portal he had appeared next to the former king of Houten and started his assault anew. He had been interruptedst time by Zorot, but now that the interloping demon was currently preupied, there would be no more interference with their battle.

    Using his magic and attack skills without restraint, Marcus crushed Arriba''s defenses and weaved through his simplistic attacks.

    Soon he was within striking range, and smashed his hammer into the undead weapon the Ghost King was wielding.

    The emergency repairs that Zorot had administered to the monstrous item broke apart, and a piercing screech of thousands of tortured souls rang out.

    In retaliation the Ghost King Fired off an omni directional mana attack, but Marcus had been ready for this.

    Activating his Light Speed Movement unique skill, he vanished in a sh and rematerialized just outside the range of his enemy''s attack.

    He then began casting several spells. nning to strike the moment that Arriba''s st of mana died down.

    Bolts of lightning, pirs of fire, and waves of darkness rained down on the Ghost King.

    Marcus was relentless in his onught and did not give his adversary even a second to rest.

    While he had struggled to deal with both the Ghost King and Zorot together, one on one he held an undeniable advantage.

    Soon he had broken through Arriba''s guard again and creating several Dark Portals as feints he flew directly towards his target.

    The Ghost King, in a desperate attempt to escape, phased into the ground.

    Nevertheless, this was a trick that had not worked against Marcus the first time and it would surely fail again.

    Just as easily he slipped into the earth and chased after Arriba. His eye could see nothing but the direct in front of him, but the immense spiritual presence of the Ghost King was easy to follow.

    ''This is the end.''

    Once he caught up to Arriba, Marcus used magic and his spectral arm to bind the Ghost King and keep him in ce.

    Wielding his scythe in one hand and his hammer in the other, he cut through Arriba''s arm and mmed the scepter with his hammer.

    The undead weapon tried to strike Marcus with several vicious attacks once it was separated from its host, but it proved to be unable to stop him. While its powers were great, they matched up horribly against Marcus.

    With a flurry of blows he struck the abominable creation over and over again.

    It was not long before he bashed it back to the surface.

    Cracks having formed all over it, the scepter pointed down towards Marcus and unleashed a st of all of the negative energy it had sealed within it in ast desperate struggle to survive.

    ''Stalwart Full Moon.''

    Marcus Utilized the defensive skill that was part of the Moon Series he learned in the special dungeon to disperse the attacking at him.

    Like an unstoppable tide he surged forward and reached the undead weapon that was at the heart of the city''s centuries old tragedy.

    When he finally reached it the scepter transmitted images and pleas directly into his mind. It offered him great power beyond his wildest imagination. It would give anything to prevent its own destruction.

    A weaker person might have given into the temptation with little resistance. Despite how monstrous it was, the undead weapon was immensely powerful.

    Still, not for a single instant did Marcus consider epting the scepter. In his eyes it was a sphemous creation that needed to be destroyed.

    "NOOOOOOO!"

    Screaming loudly and forcing his way past Alyna, Zorot rushed to stop Marcus, but he was too far away.

    Before the demon forgemaster could prevent his greatest creation from being destroyed, Marcus had already swung his hammer.

    The culmination of all the damage the undead weapon had incurred over the course of the battle reached its limit with thisst strike and it shattered into hundreds of pieces.

    "Cleansing Luminesce."

    An unimaginable amount of malice released from the now broken scepter, and Marcus immediately cast his light magic to purify the remains of the undead weapon.

    Thousands of baleful souls erupted from the broken undead weapon, but before they could get far the light Marcus was emitting reached them.

    Unable to resist the allure of release from their centuries of torment, the souls of the people that had been trapped within the scepter flew towards Marcus.

    When they touched the light around him the ill feelings that had festered within them were exorcised and they were freed from the hell that had been their exitance.

    Watching this, Alyna wore a somber expression. At one time she had been in a simr position to these people.

    Nevertheless, thanks to Marcus she had been released from the agony that had been her life.

    Casting the same spell that Marcus had, she let her magic and emotions wash over the specters and help them pass on peacefully.

    During all of this Zorot had copsed to his knees at the shock of watching his masterpiece being destroyed. This was the perfect time to attack, but his mind was in too much disarray to do so.

    As for the Ghost King, having the connection to his scepter severed had hit him with an immense spiritual bacsh that had stunned him. The two had been intertwined for so long that their beings had been tied together.

    "Alyna, I will leave the rest to you. There is something else that requires my attention." Marcus said, once the remaining trapped souls had been brought down to a manageable number.

    Canceling his magic, he floated down towards the ground and focused on his spectral arm.

    He still had Arriba held in its grasp underground and brought the Ghost King back to the surface.

    Unlike before, the deranged look in the phantom man''s eyes was now gone. Reced by a nk and feeble look.

    The undead weapon had been the one truly controlling him, and now that it was gone, he was simply a broken shell. If he were ever to recover, it would not be any time soon. Time which Marcus was not going to give him.

    His scythe raised high; he channeled the energy emitted by his Supreme Skill into the weapon.

    Empowered to the highest possible degree that he could currently manage, Marcus brought his weapon down on the Ghost King. Stay tuned to m v l e m p y r

    Without any resistance, his scythe cut through Arriba''s neck and separated his head from the rest of his body.

    Purifying light flowed through the Ghost King''s form like a web until hepletely fell apart. Marcus'' strike had finally destroyed Arriba and set him free from his three hundred years of misery.

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